Week of 18 Pentecost - C
This is a Three-Year Lectionary based on the Lutheran Book of
Worship 3-year Lectionary (for public worship), "Prayers of the
Day..." (Propers), p. 13-41, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis,
1978. It is based, with only minor variations, on the Revised Common
Lectionary, used by many denominations, including the Episcopal,
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Church of America, General Rubrics VIII. Scripture lessons for
Matins and Vespers, p. 299 - 304, Philadelphia, 1918.
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Podcast Download: Week of 18 Pentecost - C
Sunday 18 Pentecost - C
First Posted September 26, 2010;
Podcast: Sunday 18 Pentecost - C
Amos 8:4-7 – Indictment of God's People;
Psalm 113 – Helper of the Humble;
1 Timothy 2:1-8 – Prayers for All People;
Luke 16:1-13 – The Dishonest Steward;
Amos Paraphrase:
Listen, you who take advantage of the needy and bring down the poor;
you who can't wait to sell food at high prices, who give undersized
measures for high prices and use inaccurate scales to cheat. You buy
the poor for money and the needy for shoes, and sell the poorest
quality provisions. The Lord promises that he will never forget what
you are doing.
Psalm Paraphrase:
Let us praise the Lord! Let his servants praise his name! May his
name be blessed from now on, for evermore; from dawn to dusk! The
Lord is great above all nations, and his glory is higher than the
heavens!
Who can compare to the Lord our God. He is seated high above, but he
sees all that happens in heaven and on earth. He lifts up the poor
and needy from dust and ashes. He seats them among the princes of
the people. He gives barren women homes and the joy of being mothers
of children. May the Lord be praised!
1 Timothy Paraphrase:
Paul was discipling his ministerial protege, Timothy. Paul taught
him that prayers should be made for all leaders, so that believers
could lead quiet, peaceable, and godly lives. It is acceptable to
God, who desires that all people should be saved and come to know
divine, eternal truth: that there is one God and one mediator
between God and man, Jesus Christ. Jesus gave himself as a ransom
for all people, and this has been testified to at the perfect time.
Truly, Paul was appointed a preacher and apostle (messenger; of the
Gospel) and teacher of the Gentiles (pagans; non-Jews) for this
purpose. So then may all people in every place (of worship) lift
holy hands in prayer (a common posture of prayer) without anger and
quarreling.
Luke Paraphrase:
Jesus told his disciples a parable (a story of common earthly
experience to teach spiritual truth) about a dishonest steward: A
rich man heard that his steward was wasting his goods, so he called
the steward to give an accounting. The steward realized that he was
going to lose his job. He wasn't strong enough for hard physical
labor, and didn't want to beg. So the steward decided to ingratiate
himself with his master's debtors by reducing their bills, so that
when he was fired, they would welcome him into their homes. The
master commended his steward for the steward's prudence in worldly
affairs, because worldly people are wiser in worldly matters than
the people of God (children of light). So Jesus told them to use
worldly wealth to make friends for themselves, so that when worldly
wealth fails they would have somewhere to fall back on.
Commentary:
God has created this world to be very good (Genesis 1:31). The bad
things that exist in this world are the result of human sin
(disobedience of God's Word). God has allowed the possibility of sin
because he wants us to have the freedom to choose whether to trust
and obey his Word or not, and the opportunity to learn by
trial-and-error that God's Word is good, acceptable (possible) and
perfect (our very best interest; Romans 12:2).
God is the provider of every good and necessary thing, and he
provides abundantly for all. The reason that some lack necessities
is because of injustice in the distribution of the resources God has
provided.
God intended us to be able to live quiet, peaceable, and godly
lives. The reason we can't is because of human sin. We should pray
and work for knowledge of and obedient trust in God's Word, so that
this objective may be attained.
I believe that the meaning and purpose of this lifetime in this
Creation is to allow us the opportunity to seek, find and have
fellowship with our Creator (Acts 17:26-27), and to be spiritually
“born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) to eternal life.
We are all born physically alive into this creation, but spiritually
unborn. This Creation, and we ourselves, are limited by time,
because God is unwilling to allow disobedience and rebellion
forever, or at all in his eternal kingdom.
God has designed this Creation so that we all need forgiveness of
sin (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), and he has designed a Savior,
Jesus Christ, into Creation from the very beginning (John 1:1-5, 14;
see God's Plan of Salvation, sidebar, right, home). Jesus' death on
the cross is the only sacrifice acceptable to God for our
forgiveness and salvation from eternal condemnation.
Jesus is the only one who “baptizes” with the indwelling Holy Spirit
(John 1:31-34), only his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John
14:15-17). The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a personally
discernible, ongoing, daily experience (Acts 19:2). The Holy Spirit
is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life
(2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).
The Lord has given us two commandments which summarize his entire
Law (Word; Matthew 22:36-40): to love him (so that we will trust and
obey his Word), and to love other people as much as we love
ourselves. If we did that, there would be no poor and needy people;
we would all live quiet, peaceable, and godly lives.
Worldly people know how to use the worldly system to their temporal
advantage. Godly people need to learn how to use God's Word to their
eternal advantage.
There is a Day of Judgment coming soon, when everyone who has ever
lived will be accountable to the Lord for what they have done in
this lifetime. God promises not to forget the sins of those who have
victimized the poor and needy. Those who have accepted Jesus as Lord
(“boss”) and have trusted and obeyed Jesus will have been
spiritually reborn in this lifetime and will enter eternal life in
God's kingdom in heaven. Those who have rejected Jesus as Lord, who
have refused or failed to trust and obey Jesus, will be condemned to
eternal destruction in hell with all evil (Matthew 25:31-46; 2
Thessalonians 1:5-10).
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus'
disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John
14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first
truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ
and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew
28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity
(1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Monday 18 Pentecost - C
First posted September 27, 2010;
Podcast: Monday 18 Pentecost - C
Psalm 146 – Hymn of Praise to God;
Paraphrase:
I will praise the Lord as long as I exist; as long as I have life.
I will not put my trust in humankind; even the most highly regarded
are unreliable. When they die, their plans perish with them.
The people who are happy are those who trust and hope in the Lord.
He is the Creator of heaven and earth and sea, and everything that
is in them. He alone is faithful; he executes justice for the
opressed and feeds the hungry. The prisoners he sets free; the blind
he heals. He lifts up those who are bowed down, and helps those who
are widowed and orphaned. He loves the righteous, but he
brings ruin to those who are wicked.
The Lord will reign over Zion for ever. May he ever be praised.
Commentary:
Only the Lord is truly good (Matthew 19:17). Because he is good, he
will give justice to the oppressed, feed the hungry, heal the blind,
lift up the humbled, and help the widowed and orphaned. He will
release those who are unjustly imprisoned, but he will bring the
wicked to ruin.
Trusting in any human being is going to ultimately fail and
disappoint, because humans are fallible and temporal. Hope in this
material world is hopeless, because this will all pass away.
This lifetime is intended by God to be our opportunity to seek,
find, and have fellowship with him (Acts 17:26-27). This lifetime is
our opportunity to learn that his will is good, acceptable
(possible) and perfect (our very best interest; Romans 12:2).
This lifetime is our opportunity to learn to know, trust and obey
God's Word. God has given us his Word in the Bible, and in the
“living Word,” Jesus Christ, the fulfillment, embodiment, and
example of God's Word, lived in this world in human flesh (John
1:1-5, 14). If we will begin to apply God's Word in our daily lives,
we will learn that it is reliable and true, and our faith in God's
Word will grow.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus'
disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John
14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first
truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ
and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew
28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity
(1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Tuesday 18 Pentecost - C
First Posted September 28,
2010;
Podcast: Tuesday 18 Pentecost - C
Amos 6:1-7 -- Warnings;
Background:
Amos was not a professional prophet; he was a layman, led by God to
prophesy against the Northern Kingdom of Israel of the divided
monarchy, during the reign of Jeroboam II (786-746). It was a time
of military security and economic affluence.
Text Paraphrase:
Woe to those who are comfortable and feel secure in Zion (Jerusalem;
capital of the Southern Kingdom of Judah), and in Samaria (the
capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel). These people in the
upper class in both kingdoms imagine themselves to be great people,
and their kingdoms to be greater than the surrounding kingdoms. They
think they could do injustice and not be held accountable.
Woe to those who are living in luxury and comfort, with rich food,
and amuse themselves with music on instruments of their own
invention, like David (see 1 Chronicles 23:5). They drink wine by
the bowlful, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, and are not
grieved over the impending ruin of Joseph (the beloved son of
Israel/Jacob). So they [the Northern Kingdom] will be the
first to go into exile.
Commentary:
The Northern Kingdom was conquered by the Assyrians with the fall of Samaria in 721 B.C.. The able-bodied were relocated to other conquered lands and the ten northern tribes effectively ceased to exist. Those who remained, intermarried with aliens brought in by the Assyrians to repopulate the land, and became the Samaritans, of mixed race and religion, at the time of Christ.
The Southern Kingdom didn't heed the warning and the example of the Northern Kingdom's downfall. As the result they were conquered by Nebuchadnezzar and exiled to Babylon (Chaldea) for seventy years in fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy (Jeremiah 25:11-12).
Israel and Judah thought that because they were “God's people,” nothing bad was going to happen to them, although they were not obeying God's Word. They thought their military security and economic affluence were signs of God's favor. They were warned, but failed to repent and return to obedient trust in God. In both instances, they had plenty of warning and time to repent, but they thought they would never be held accountable for the injustice they were doing.
Judah's seventy-year exile in Babylon was effectively a life sentence for people who were adults at the time they went into exile. God brought back a remnant so that he could complete his purpose to bring forth the promised Savior who had been designed into Creation from the beginning (John 1:1-5, 14).
The defining characteristic of God's Word is its fulfillment (Deuteronomy 18:21-22), and because it is eternal, it is fulfilled over and over, as the conditions for its fulfillment are met. We need to hear the warning and examine ourselves. Do we think success and affluence are signs of God's approval? Have we strayed from obedient trust in God's Word? Do we think that church membership saves us from being accountable to God for what we do?
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Wednesday 18 Pentecost - C
First Posted September 29, 2010;
Podcast: Wednesday 18 Pentecost - C
1 Timothy 6:6-16 – Godliness with Contentment;
Paraphrase:
Godliness with contentment is of great benefit for those who practice it. We didn't bring anything into this world and can take nothing out of it. Let us be content with the basic necessities like food, clothing (and shelter; Paul was a tentmaker by trade). Those who aspire to wealth become ensnared in temptation, and into desires that are sensless and hurtful, and ruin and destroy people (themselves and others). “For the love of money is the root of all evils” (1 Timothy 6:10a); because of it, some have strayed from the faith and suffered many heartaches.
But Timothy (and all godly people) should make it their firm commitment to shun all this. Strive for righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. Faith is a struggle in this world, and one must take hold of the eternal life we were promised when we made the “good confession,” affirming Jesus as Lord, to the Glory of God, witnessed by the congregation. Jesus made the good confession before Pontius Pilate. (John 18:33-37).
Paul advised Timothy to keep the commandment (Jesus' teachings; The Great Commission: Matthew 28:19-20) without stain and unreproachable on the Day of Christ (Christ's return on the Day of Judgment). And that day will be revealed at the proper time by the Sovereign God, the “King of kings and Lord of lords.” He alone possesses immortality; he dwells in unapproachable light (Psalm 104:2). He is invisible: no mortal has or ever can see him. He alone is worthy of honor and dominion forever. Amen.
Commentary:
Christians should make the pursuit of godliness (reflecting God's nature and character revealed in Jesus Christ) their priority, and be content with what they have. God provides generously for his people. Jesus promises that if we seek God's Kingdom and righteousness, we will have all the other things we need as well (Matthew 6:25-33; but not everything we may want).
It took me a long time to learn and experience this truth, but I certainly have, and so testify. First God took away half our income, then all our savings, our silverware and jewelery. These were all things we thought we could rely on to get ourselves out of trouble. I didn't see how we could make it. He took those things away to teach us to trust him to provide for us.
Over the years since, we've never lacked for clothing, food, shelter, bikes and then cars for our children, their college educations, great health care, and many luxuries beside. As I began to trust and obey the Lord and follow his plan for my life, he began to give us all that we needed and more beside.
If we pursue worldly necessities first, we'll never get around to seeking and finding the kingdom of God, because security in worldly things always takes just a little more than what we've got.
God makes plenty of resources to go around for everyone. The reason some don't have enough is because others want more than they need or is their “fair” share. We've recently begun to experience an economic crisis in America and throughout the world because of the “love of money.” Many people were financially ruined and destroyed by the collapse of the stockmarkets, banks, corporations, and by Ponzi schemes.
Christians are subject to the same temptations as worldly people, and succumbing to those temptations will cause people to stray from obedience to God's Word.
The promise of eternal life must be claimed by each Christian personally by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus. “But to all who received him, who believed in his name (his entire person and character) he gave power to become children of God” (John 1:12-13). We have to receive Jesus as our Savior and Lord (Revelation 3:20). We have to use the power we've been given to become children of God: We have to trust and obey Jesus.
By God's will and purpose, the children of God are spiritually “born-again” by the “baptism” of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). It possible for one to know personally for oneself, if one has been baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).
I believe that the “commandment” that Paul is referring to is the “Great Commission” to go into the world, after being “born-again” (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8), and make “born-again” disciples, teaching them to obey all Jesus teaches (Matthew 28:19-20; note the doctrine of the Trinity). Paul had personally demonstrated his obedience to that command. Paul (Saul of Tarsus) was discipled by a born-again disciple, Ananias (Acts 9:10-12; 17-18), after Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9), until Paul was “reborn,” (Acts 9:17-18) and then Paul immediately began to make the good confession everywhere Paul went: that Jesus was Lord (Acts 9:19b-22). Timothy is an example of Paul's disciplemaking (2 Timothy 1:6-8), teaching the newly-reborn disciples to repeat the process (2 Timothy 2:2).
Jesus is God in human flesh (Colossians 2:8-9; John 20:28). No one has ever seen God because God is Spirit; the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9). Only Jesus can reveal God to us through himself: “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him" (Matthew 11:27; compare John 14:7). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus (Romans 8:9; note the doctrine of the Trinity).
There is a Day coming when Christ will return to judge everyone who has ever lived in this world. Jesus is the righteous judge and the standard of judgment. Those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord and have trusted and obeyed him will have been born-again in this world and will enter eternal life in God's kingdom in heaven. Those who have refused or failed to accept him as Savior and Lord will be condemned to eternal destruction in Hell with all evil
On the Day of Christ's return, everyone will bow before him and and acknowledge Jesus as Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11), but then it will be too late to change our eternal destinies.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Thursday 18 Pentecost - C
First Posted September 30, 2010;
Podcast: Thursday 18 Pentecost - C
Luke 16:19-31 – A Rich Man and Lazarus;
Paraphrase:
Jesus told a parable (a story of a common earthly experience to teach spiritual truth) of a rich man, and a poor man named Lazarus. The rich man dressed in fine clothes and dined sumptuously every day on rich food. A poor man named Lazarus, covered in sores, lay at the rich man's gate, desiring to be fed what fell from the table of the rich man. Even worse, dogs came and licked Lazarus' sores. Lazarus died and was carried to Abraham's bosom (heaven) by angels.
The rich man also died and was buried. The rich man went to Hell, and from there he saw, far off, Abraham and Lazarus. The rich man called and asked “Father Abraham” to have mercy upon him, and send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool the rich man's tongue, for he was in anguish in the flames of Hell. Abraham addressed the rich man as “son” and told him to remember that the rich man had received good things in life, while Lazarus had received evil things, but now Lazarus was comforted, and the rich man in anguish. Besides that, there is a chasm between heaven and Hell so that it is impossible to pass from one to the other.
So the rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus to his father's house, to warn his five brothers, so that they wouldn't wind up in torment in Hell. But Abraham replied that the rich man's family had Moses (the Law) and the prophets (the Jewish Bible; our Old Testament); let them listen to them. But the rich man said that they would not do that, but if someone would come to them from the dead they would repent. Abraham replied that if they would not listen to Abraham and the prophets, neither would they be convinced if someone arose from the dead.
Commentary:
The point of the parable is that there is sufficient information in the Scriptures (the Bible) for one to be “saved” (from eternal condemnation: to believe and repent). At the time of Jesus' physical ministry, the Jews knew the Old Testament Scriptures, but they were not applying them.
In a sense, the rich man was violating the seventh, nineth and tenth commandments about coveting and stealing (taking) what is your neighbor's (Exodus 20:15, 17). Jesus summed up the Ten Commandments into two: loving God and loving one's neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40).
God provided enough resources for everyone. The reason some go without is because of unjust distribution of those resources. The rich man had more than he needed, while Lazarus went without; and the rich man was unwilling to share even the scraps from his table with Lazarus. He certainly didn't love Lazarus.
The rich man, even in death and Hell, regarded Lazarus as his servant, to cool the rich man's tongue; and his errand boy to take a message to his family. Similarly, The Jewish leaders dressed in fine robes and had special status and benefits in society, but had no regard for Jesus, the Son of God.
The Scriptures had been foretelling and describing God's “anointed” (Christ and Messiah each mean “anointed in Greek and Hebrew, respectively) Savior and eternal King throughout, and yet they did not recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah.
Jesus raised several people from the dead including another man named Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, of Bethany, just a couple miles from Jersualem, and the Jewish leaders knew it, and in fact plotted to crucify him partly because of it (John 11:43-53). The Jews did crucify Jesus. And even when Jesus' resurrection was witnessed by over five hundred eyewitnesses (1 Corinthians 15:3-8), many of the Jews refused to repent and believe in Jesus.
We have the New Testament eyewitness accounts of Jesus Christ as well as the Old Testament, and we have the testimony of every truly “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) Christian, that Jesus is the Christ and is risen and eternally alive. Each truly “born-again” Christian has personally experienced the presence of the risen Jesus.
A Christian is a disciple of Jesus Christ (Acts 11:26c) who has been born-again (John 3:3, 5-8) by the “baptism” of the Holy Spirit which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a personally discernible, ongoing, daily event (Acts 19:2). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).
Many people in our world today and even in our Churches haven't read the Bible completely and daily, and haven't personally experienced Jesus' resurrection.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Friday 18 Pentecost - C
First Posted October 1, 2010;
Podcast: Friday 18 Pentecost - C
1 Corinthians 1:4-9 – Testimony of Christ Confirmed;
Paraphrase:
Paul was thankful to God for the grace which the Corinthian Christians had received in Jesus Christ. They had been enriched in speech and knowledge, as they confirmed the testimony to Christ, so that they lacked none of the spiritual gifts, as they waited for Christ to be revealed. He will sustain them guiltless at the Day of Christ's return.
God, who called them into fellowship with Jesus Christ, his son, is faithful.
Commentary:
Salvation is by grace (unmerited favor; a free gift) to be received by faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). Saving faith is obedient trust in Jesus Christ; faith is not like wishing on a star; its not getting whatever one believes if one believes “hard enough.” Paul rejoiced in the Corinthians who had believed in the Gospel and had received that grace.
Their testimony that Jesus is Lord was confirmed by their words (testimony of Jesus Christ), knowledge, and the evidence of their spiritual gifts given them through their baptism of the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit gives “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) Christians what to say at the moment it is needed for witnessing (Mark 13:11; Luke 12:11-12). The Holy Spirit (of the risen Jesus; Romans 8:9) opens the minds of born-again Christians to understand the scriptures (Luke 24:45), teaches all things, reminds us of Jesus' teachings (John 14:26), and leads us into all truth (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts necessary for born-again Christians to accomplish what they are called and guided by the Holy Spirit to do (1 Corinthians 12:7-11).
They were using that speech, knowledge, and those gifts as they awaited Christ's return. We're not to be hanging around all the time with other Christians in Church, or letting the Pastor do all the evangelism.
Christians are called to go into the world to make born-again disciples and teaching them to obey all that Jesus teaches (Matthew 28:19-20), only after they themselves have been born-again (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8; the Church is the “New Jerusalem”). New believers are to be baptized in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (the Holy Trinity).
And Christ will sustain them guiltless in that day. Christians are by definition disciples of Jesus Christ who have been born-again [“you must be “born-again;” John 3:7 KJV]. Christian discipleship is a spiritual growth process. Living daily by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will grow spiritually as we learn to trust and obey the Lord. We will come to know with certainty his faithfulness, power, and love. We can be assured that we will be mature and blameless at the Day of Christ's Return.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Saturday 18 Pentecost - C
First Posted October 2, 2010;
Podcast: Saturday 18 Pentecost - C
Matthew 22:34-46 – The Great Commandment
Background:
The Pharisees and Sadduccees were rival factions of Judaism.
Text Paraphrase:
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadduccees, the Pharisees came together, and one of them, a lawyer, to test him, asked Jesus which was the great commandment in the Law. Jesus replied that the great commandment was to love God with all one's heart, soul, and mind. This is the great first commandment, but there is a second commandment which is like it: to love one's neighbor as one's self. Jesus said that all the law and prophets (the Jewish Bible) is fulfilled in these two commandments.
While the Pharisees were still gathered around, Jesus asked them a question, asking them whose son they thought the Christ (Messiah) to be. They replied that he was the son of David, so Jesus asked them how, inspired by the Holy Spirit, David had called him Lord. Jesus quoted Psalm 110:1: “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I put thy enemies under my feet”?
Jesus asked how the Christ could be David's Lord and also his son. No one was able to answer him, nor did anyone dare ask anymore questions.
Commentary:
The first three of the Ten Commandments have to do with our relationship with God. We are to have no other gods (idols). We are not to use his name profanely, superstitiously, or to lie or deceive. We are to keep the Sabbath holy (set apart for God's service).
The other seven have to do with our relationship with other people (our neighbors): our responsibility to our parents; our responsibility to not kill, to not commit adultery, to not testify falsely, to not covet anything that belongs to our neighbor.
The Ten Commandments are themselves a summary of all the Law of Moses, but Jesus reduced them to two. If we love God we will do what the first three command. If we love our neighbor as we love ourselves we will do what the rest command.
In Luke's account the lawyer wanted Jesus to define who the lawyer's neighbor was (Luke 10:29). The lawyer wanted to limit his responsibility, so that he could show that he had fulfilled the commandment and was righteous (acceptable to God).
Everyone is our neighbor. The question for the lawyer and for us is: Who will we choose to be a neighbor to? Jesus warns that we aren't fulfilling the commandment by loving only those who love us; and by greeting only our brethren, we do no better than pagan, worldly people (Matthew 5:46-47).
Jesus asked the Pharisees what they understood about the Christ. Was he merely the human descendant of David, or was he God's Son in human flesh? The first “Lord” in the quoted Psalm refers to God; the second (“my Lord”) refers to Christ.
Jesus is the Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, in the virgin Mary (Matthew 1:18-20; Luke 1:34-35). His heavenly father is God the Father; his earthly father is a descendant of David (Matthew 1:20). So Jesus is the Son of David and the Son of God; fully God (Colossians 2:8-9), and fully human (Hebrews 415b).
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
