trying to find His way
“There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.” (Luke 13:28) Jesus is describing the moment when some people realize they are not saved.Weeping and gnashing of teeth describes an angry, shocked surprise.It is not…
“Away from me, all you evildoers!” (Luke 13:27) Jesus is asked about how many will be saved, or will enter the kingdom.Jesus redirects them away from how many, to how we ourselves enter.The kingdom is not about ‘getting in’, it is about ‘doing good’.Those who do not enter are “evil-doers”, literally “workers of unrighteousness”.They may have…
“What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like a mustard seed.” (Luke 13:20) Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a mustard seed and to some yeast.On the one hand it is small, insignificant, almost invisible.And yet it packs a punch, and impacts much and many!Most people have a hard time seeing…
“…Whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years.” (Luke 13:16) Her physical condition is described as “crippled by a spirit”. (Luke 13:11)Is arthritis a crippling spirit, or is cancer being bound by Satan?Is there a spiritual element to all our physical conditions?The creation story suggests that all suffering is the result of the curse.Jesus comes to…
“Leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it.” (Luke 13:8) Jesus tells this parable as part of the call to repent, to turn around.The idea of bearing fruit ties in with the call to live a life of love.Is God like the man with the fig tree, expecting good…
“Unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Imagine a rowboat drifting in the Niagara River, toward the Falls.If the occupants don’t do something, they will perish.Our world is drifting in the current of evil towards destruction.It is not only really bad people who perish, everyone is in the same boat.The current of greed, hate,…
“As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way…” (Luke 12:58) We live in an angry, contentious and violent world.Jesus suggests we need to ‘read the room’, and act accordingly.“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone…”“Do not take…
“How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?” (Luke 12:56) Jesus is talking about discernment, being able to ‘read the room’.Wisdom is the ability to piece things together, to predict what is going on.Scientists of every kind do this with natural, social and psychological phenomena.We should be able to do this…
“From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.” Jesus did not come to turn families against each other.But such division is a consequence of Jesus’s appearance.The reason for the division is not in Jesus, but in us.We see division from the start,…
“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” (Luke 12:49) How can kindling a fire, or division (v.51) make things better?Fire not only destroys, but it purges as well, making gold purer.Division is healthy when it involves separating good from bad, healthy from unhealthy.In our impure, unhealthy…