A Mile in My Shoes

Re:Verse reading–Luke 4:14-30 (day seven)

Human nature tends to cause us to think of ourselves uniquely.  Our heart tells our mind that we would never fall down the same traps as everyone else.  Warned of great danger ahead, we scoff, thinking we are different somehow than all the other people who have ever walked this earth.  We do this with Jesus too.  He calls us into discipleship with him, and as He tries to shape us we give Him that “unique” spiel, “Jesus I’m different than all those other people, I don’t need the restriction, I don’t need the beginner stuff.  Just walk a mile in my shoes and you’ll see.”

In that moment, our pride is beaming.  We mean well, but our self-assessment is flawed beyond comprehension.  Jesus did walk a mile in our shoes.  He came down to earth to show us exactly what He would do this week if He were in our shoes.  Frankly, He didn’t even have to show us, it was already written in Isaiah.

If Jesus were walking in your shoes this week he would take care of the poor, he would take care of the captive, he would take care of the blind, he would take care of the oppressed, he would take care of the widows, and he would take care of the foreign lepers.  Jesus would seek out those things this week.  He is here to help whomever is in spiritual or physical trouble today. Jesus already walked two miles in your shoes, and that is what he did. What are you going to do?

Hard Words

Re:Verse reading–Luke 4:14-30 (day six)

And he added, “I tell you the truth…” Luke 4:24

I need hard words from Jesus, often. I need the chisel of his word to chip away the hardness of my heart. I need the two-edged-swordness of his word to cut between the bone and marrow. In his graciousness, Jesus doesn’t say the things we want to hear, but those things we are desperate to hear, the kind of words that are meant to lead us to repentance.

Paul, when writing to Timothy, told him that there would be a day when people would gather around them “ear ticklers.” (2 Tim. 4:3) Truth is our ears don’t need ear ticklers for our ears to be tickled; we tend to tickle our own ears just fine, all we have to do is avoid the chisel and sword of God’s Word.

This year 2018, more than ever, open his Word, read it, need it. Embrace his hard words, don’t avoid them.

Resolution

Re:Verse reading–Luke 4:14-30 (day five)  vs. 16 “and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.”

The first week in January is when many of us will make resolutions.  Changes, course corrections, and new patterns are all possibilities-  diet, exercise, Bible reading plans.

“Everything Jesus said and did was to make us trust him and imitate him.”- John Piper Jesus’ place on the Sabbath was the synagogue.  It was where reverence and recognition were given to the Lord’s day and His Word.  He was faithful and consistent.  Will we trust and imitate Jesus pattern of attendance?

Will you resolve this year to be in your place on Sunday mornings-  giving reverence to the Lord’s Day and Word?  Will you resolve to be a constantly engaged in the growth and life of a New Testament Church?  Will it be said of you…”As was your custom”

Rejection

Re:Verse reading–Luke 4:14-30 (day four)

V. 18 – Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah…in our Scriptures, it is Isaiah 61 and 58. This passage was written following the Babylonian exile. It was a passage recognized by the Jews as a messianic passage.  The Jewish concept of the messiah was a warrior who would exalt Israel and free their nation from their oppressors.  In Luke 4, the Jews of Nazareth waited to hear what Jesus, one of their own, would say about this passage.  “It is fulfilled today in your hearing…”  Not what they expected to hear!  Jesus was giving a view into His ministry in Galilee.  (He would meet spiritual needs as well as a physical needs.)  He was claiming to be the messiah, but He did meet with their expectations.  They rejected His claim.

How do you reject Jesus?  If Scripture does not say what you think it ought to say…do you reject it?  Or ignore it?  Or justify it?  We are quick to condemn the Jews of Nazareth, but are we guilty as well?

 

 

Voice

Re:Verse reading–Luke 4:14-30 (day three)

“All spoke well of him.”  Jesus will eventually warn people that the “yea-sayers” pose a particular kind of danger to the human soul. We’ll gravitate toward those who give us good press, and pretty soon, we’re not loving people, just using them to prop up our self-regard.  Jesus remained unfazed by the initial rave reviews.  How did he do that?  Well, it’s not insignificant that immediately prior to his visit to Galilee, he spent an extended time away in solitude. The Bible indicates that Jesus often did this.  Jesus understood that one must be able to live alone if one is going to live with others.  In these times of separation, he could listen for neither supporters nor detractors, but only for the voice of God.  And then he would return to the presence of people in love and discernment.

A Good Teacher

Re:Verse reading–Luke 4:14-30 (day two)  And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. vs. 15

Before he challenged their comfort with the prophecies of Isaiah the people of Galilee were astonished by Jesus’ knowledge of scripture, and his ability to unpack it for them. Jesus was not out creating new doctrine or shouting outside the temple. He was with the people. Teaching them. They already had all the texts they needed. What Jesus was doing was helping them connect truths in ways they were never able to consider before. A good teacher will do that for y0u. Even if you have all the facts it can be a very daunting task to try and put it together without someone who knows what the final outcome should be.

Jesus can still connect the dots for you if you struggle with making sense of life, of faith, of him. He is still a good teacher.

Independence day

Re:Verse reading–Luke 4:14-30 (day one)

Wrong holiday?  Maybe not!

When Jesus returned to Nazareth, His hometown, it was quickly evident that his ideas had grown and changed.  Stretched the limits of the narrow nationalism and “us first” competition with other cities.

Wasn’t a popular move.  As Jesus preached a God who was good to Gentiles, a God who revealed himself on the condition of faith (see Matthew 13:58, another day in Nazareth), the people of His city were offended.  Angry.  Who does He think He is?!

The more a man depends on the Spirit, the less he will hold or parrot the ideas of popular society.  He will be “original” in the truest sense.

Paul later gave testimony.  “For me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court. . . but the one who examines me is the Lord.”–1 Corinthians 4:3-4

Happy New Year, friends!  Happy Independence from the thoughts of men!

Deuteronomy

Re:Verse passage – Luke 4:1-13 (day seven)

Jesus loves Deuteronomy.  Every time the devil threw a fast ball at Jesus he hit it out of the park with Deuteronomy.
Temptation 1:  Deuteronomy 8:3
Temptation 2:  Deuteronomy 6:13
Temptation 3:  Deuteronomy 6:16

“It is written…” is a perfect way to respond.  It is written that the devil will lose, Revelation 20:10: “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

Jesus loves Deuteronomy, and you should love Deuteronomy.  You should memorize it and treasure it in your heart.  For one, it gives you a chance against temptation, and two, it prepares you for the devil’s curveball.  You noticed in Jesus’s third temptation (Luke 4:10-11) the devil himself uses Scripture to back Jesus off the plate.  Satan knows, abuses, and manipulates Scripture with the best of them.  Be ready!  Just because someone is throwing a Scripture reference at you does not mean they know God.  The only way you overcome the devil’s chin music is to treasure Scripture in your heart by doing something like memorizing Deuteronomy for the opportune time.

Righteousness

Jesus’ death and resurrection carry no weight apart from his righteous life; always faithful, always trusting in the promises of God. Verses like Romans 8:29 make little sense without it,“For those whom God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.”

Those 40 days in the dessert without food, facing temptation from the devil, are a microcosm of Jesus’ entire life, for it is not as if these were the only times he faced temptation as a man, much less directly from the devil, or that somehow the rest of his life was a cakewalk. They are also a microcosm of the righteous life that would be given to us so that we could conform to the image of the Son. We have no righteousness of our own apart from the righteous life of Jesus.

Israel was rebellious and faithless for 40 years in the desert; Jesus was faithful and righteous for 40 days (a true picture of His righteousness)! We rejoice in His righteousness for in it we not only are afforded forgiveness(by way of the cross) but also His holiness.

Questioning

Re:Verse passage – Luke 4:1-13 (day five)  3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

There is striking similarity in the strategy of Satan in the temptation of Jesus and the temptation and fall of man.  Satan calls into question the truthfulness of God in order to create confusion and uncertainty about the nature and character of God.  “Is His Word true?”  At stake in these temptations and responses is the character of God. Can we really believe Him?  Can we really trust Him?  Can we count on Him to keep His promises?  Scripture says “Yes!” ” A thousand times Yes!!”  The temptation was more about the trustworthiness of God than the identity of Jesus.  Jesus models the correct perspective.  Is our faith and trust in God and His Word bigger than our self-image and self-esteem?