Tag Archives: Pharisees

Love is Key, October 26, 2020

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

It seems the more things change, the more they stay the same. We think we progressed so much over the last centuries, but I’m not so sure. When we think of Jesus’ day and the early Christian church, we too often think of the Middle-ages with its feudal systems and the monks and monasteries. But the first century found itself embroiled in Rome’s politics, and in Israel, the fight between the different factions within the Jewish religion.

We think we have a divide between the Republicans and Democrats here, and we do. In recent years, we managed to tear each other apart until now we have come to the point of both extremist sides protesting anything the other says with violence, riots, burning down innocent victims’ property, shootings, and killings. We have become maniacal in our drive to push our agenda without listening to the other side.

Jesus’ day didn’t appear much different. The Sadducees held the seats of power. They had the honored seat of the priesthood and the powerful reign as chief priest. What the chief priest decreed; the people obeyed at risk of their eternal soul. But problems erupted in the politics of the arrangement.

The Sadducees gained their position through violence when the Maccabees overthrew the Seleucids, and the Hasmonean dynasty began. The Pharisees and Sadducees’ views were about as opposite as the Democrats and Republicans. And they hated each other about as much as the two parties seem to hate each other today.

The Sadducees, considered conservative among Jews because of their strict adherence to the Law of Moses, accepted only the first five books of scripture as authoritative. They believed heartily in an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth punishment. They did not recognize a final resurrection or many other rituals or details of the Law the Pharisees believed because they accepted only the Torah.

Despite their conservative approach to Judaism, their wealth, power, and cooperation with Rome labeled them Hellenistic. The people despised them and looked for ways to overthrow their tight rule over the priesthood. Several sects grew out of the populace, including the more familiar Essenes and Pharisees.

If the Sadducees were the far-right in Jesus’ day, the Pharisees represented the far-left. They wanted to overthrow the current reign of the Sadducees and take control of the priesthood. The Pharisees believed in all the scriptures’ authority in the current Hebrew Bible, which includes the Wisdom Books and the Prophets. They believe in bodily resurrection, after which a final judgment will separate God’s chosen people and proselytes to Israel’s God and reward them in the ‘age to come.’

While appearing pious and godly in public, the Pharisees funded, plotted, and planned several revolts to overthrow the Sadducees and the Roman occupation to rid the nation of both entities. The Pharisees would gladly break their own laws to rid the country of their enemies, no matter who they were.

Politics! Isn’t amazing how we have not changed in 2,000 years—party attacking party. Behind the scenes, action stirring up trouble to do more name-calling and pointing out flaws than announcing what the party stands for and how it will accomplish what it says it will do for the people. Dirt uncovered or made up and splashed across whatever grapevine is handy. Say it enough times, and it must be true, right? Have the right person announce it, and it must be true, right? Put it on the right platform, and it must be true, right? We have become so gullible on both sides; quite frankly, we are pretty pathetic as a nation when it comes to politics.

One difference between the Sadducees and Pharisees and our political parties now is that at least they came together for one purpose – to get rid of Jesus. Here’s one example out of many that didn’t work.

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together,
and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him,” ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
This is the greatest and first commandment.
And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:34-40 NIV)

The Sadducees tried to trapped Jesus with their question about marriage at the resurrection. Jesus confirms the resurrection but blasts their misunderstanding of what the resurrection is like and their misunderstanding about scriptures, declaring God is God of the living, not the dead. The Sadducees slink away defeated. So their enemies, the Pharisees, take up the battle against Jesus at the Temple.

This scene is different to me because I see so little common ground among the people we send to Washington, the politicians. I know it is not true of the neighbors around me, or the people who live across town from me, or the owners of the stores downtown or their workers. I know it’s not true of the average American citizen. I believe deep inside, most of us have a lot more in common than we have against each other.

Like the people in almost every country I’ve visited, I believe most of us want a few things in life. We want a stable economy and standard of living that makes us comfortable, not necessarily rich or wealthy. We want our kids to have a better life than we did. We want to know we can walk the streets at night without the risk of being mugged or killed. We want to sleep at home in safety. We want to worship in the way we choose without ridicule, harassment, or government involvement. We want basic services at a reasonable cost, police, fire, water, sewage, healthcare, and the like. We want honest men and women in elected positions who serve the people instead of growing their bank accounts on the people’s backs.

Christians should live as good citizens of the country where they live, act as the voice for those who cannot speak for themselves, and do something about injustice, poverty, and crime. But Christians must also live as citizens of the Kingdom of God first. That is our true citizenship, and it means we must live by Jesus’ commands. All authority in heaven and earth is placed in him, and his command is given in the verses we just read. Love God and love your neighbor. Elsewhere Jesus tells us you can’t love the invisible God you can’t see; if you don’t love your neighbor, you can see.

Does name-calling fall within the rights of a Kingdom of God citizen? I don’t think so. Does rioting fall within those rights? I don’t think so. Does violence against another meet the criteria? Again, not according to what I see in Jesus. We need to stand up for what is right, but not in the way it happens on Facebook or some of our streets today. Even what we see on C-Span or the news outlets, how interviews, or more like interrogations, are handled, they do not reflect a citizen of the Kingdom spirit. Am I judging? Yes. I think when we see behavior clearly violating the spirit of God’s law, that’s not judging the heart. I can’t see a person’s heart and cannot evaluate a person’s state before God. But I can certainly identify behavior so outlandishly against what Jesus would accept in his Kingdom.

It’s time we stop and think before we act. If we are children of the Kingdom, we need to act like it. We need to share the gospel, not hatred. We need to remind ourselves and others that Jesus was crucified, died, and buried. He was raised from the dead and is alive, sitting as King of the world. Put your faith and hope in him. Pray a lot about this election. Go and vote your conscience. Someone will win, someone will lose in this election, but it doesn’t change the real ruler. That will never change. Jesus is and always will be the King of kings.

One day, ‘every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess, that Jesus is the Lord.’ There is no other.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Scriptures marked NIV are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV): Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™. Used by permission of Zondervan

Seek Him, January 13, 2020

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Last week I talked about John’s description of Jesus as the Word. We are bombarded by words every day that attempt to sway us to the world’s way of thinking, but Jesus gives us truth because he is truth. I want to go back to John’s description again, but in a different light.

Imagine yourself living in Jesus’ day. You live in a small village outside Jerusalem and see Roman soldiers pass through your town almost every day. When you see them coming, you do your best to make yourself invisible because the Roman soldiers have a reputation for cruelty. You hate the very fact they occupy your nation and live among you. You detest the abuse they inflict on innocent villagers who happen to be in their way or hesitate to do what they ask or look at them with anything other than honor and respect.

You’ve witnessed the verbal abuse, the floggings, and the crucifixions these beasts made an art form in their heinous subjugation of others. You’ll do anything to keep your family and yourself out of their sight as they pass through.

The Pharisees that rule the synagogues and temple are not much better. The rules they pile on you to appease God create such a burden it seems impossible to please the God Moses told us to serve. Is he any different than the pantheon of Roman and Greek gods who demand so much? The Pharisees have added so many laws, things we must and must not do to please God, it seems easier to satisfy Zeus than Jehovah.

But you’ve heard of a prophet named John, who has said the Messiah has come. He says we should repent, and he has called the Pharisees vipers because they tell us to do things they do not do themselves. He calls them hypocrites to their faces. So you go out to see this prophet. And you happen to be there when the writer of the gospel of Matthew describes an incredible event: “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.

And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17 NIV)

God arrived. The Kingdom of heaven came to earth. The Messiah, the Redeemer, lives with us. There is hope for peace and relief from the struggle you’ve faced all your life. Something good is about to happen. This man you saw come up from the water will change everything. You can feel the excitement in the air as all around you experience the beginning of his ministry today.

Someone beside you reminds you of the power of the voice of God as they sing out one of David’s Psalms:

Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

Ascribe to the LORD the glory of his name; worship the LORD in holy splendor.

The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over mighty waters.

The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.

The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the LORD causes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare; and in his temple all say, “Glory!”

The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.

May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace! (Psalms 29 NIV)

This man is the one. His voice carries the strength and power of the Almighty because he is the Son of Jehovah. His voice separated the waters at creation. His voice has the power of the whirlwind and shakes the earth. His voice rings across the water and through the valley where you stand, and you feel the majesty in it. As he speaks, you know he fears nothing.

The Romans from whom you cower are nothing to him. The Pharisees standing on the shore quiver at his gaze. The poor and outcast feel his compassion. The mood of those around him changes as his eyes make contact with theirs. It seems no one can encounter him without being affected. It’s like he can see into your soul.

The crowd would follow him anywhere right now. But he left as soon as he came out of the water. No one really knows where he went. Some think he went to Jerusalem, but the road is too busy for someone not to notice him. Some say he went back to Gallilee, but again the road is too heavily traveled for him just to disappear. Some say he was led into the wilderness by an angel. But who is to say how an angel looks?

Whoever this man is, you know you want to see him and hear his voice again. Wherever this man has gone, you know you want to follow him. There is something about him that draws you to him like a moth to a flame. You know he will satisfy the hunger in your heart as nothing else can. If only you can find him once more, you will never let him get away from you…ever.

Perhaps a few thought like the man described in this story. Most did not. The same is true today. We have 2,000 years of evidence that Jesus is who he said he was. We can trace with our technology, all the cross-references between Old Testament prophecy and Jesus’ fulfillment of those prophecies, almost 500 of them. The odds that Jesus is not the Messiah based on prophecy fulfillment statistical analysis alone is so great as to be irrefutable, better than our best criminal DNA matches to a single individual.

So, if that’s true, why do we resist him so much? He never told us to do anything that would hurt anyone, or that would hurt us. His commands are simple: Love God; and love others. Those two commands are not always easy to carry out, but they are simple to remember. So, why do we not listen? Why do we push him away? Why are we so insistent on having our way and not his? A single word answers the question and it’s the same word that caused Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Selfish. I want what I want. Period. Even at the expense of eternal separation from the God who made me and gave his all for my redemption.

This year, put yourself in the place of the man in the story just outside Jerusalem. Long for the one John baptized. Seek the voice of the one who can give peace and joy in a world filled with war and anger. He is here. He wants us to find him. It doesn’t take much effort, but we do have to walk away from the world to him. I guarantee it is worth the effort.

Look for Him, December 2, 2019

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Can you believe Advent has begun? Well, actually, it’s not hard to believe it’s here given the number of months the Christmas trees and Black Friday sales have been beating us over the head. It seems the commercialization of the season gets earlier every year. I think I saw the first Christmas tree sale in June this year and the first mention of early Black Friday sales before Halloween.

So for some, Advent means all those commercials finally come to a screeching halt. Not really, because after Christmas, all the retailers try to get rid of their inventory before taxes come due. New Year’s sales bombard us just as vigorously as Black Friday sales, just not as long. But Advent for those retail clerks means the mad rush is slowing down a little.

For some, Advent means pockets fill because of those weeks of sales. Marketing reaches the highs of the year to get all the merchandise sold. It means long hours but with a substantial financial reward if all goes well. Owners like Advent for the boost in profits and the hope of a better bottom line when markets start a little sluggish or stagnate in the middle of the year.

But for Christians, Advent means something very different. It’s a time to remember a past event when God descended to earth to dwell among us in human flesh. Jesus lived with us, suffered all the things we suffer, worked, played, laughed, cried. He was human in every respect. Jesus was also God in every respect. God incarnate. Advent looks to the past at the incredible love God demonstrated by becoming like us.

Advent also looks to the future. It reminds us Jesus said he would return to take those who believe in him to live with him forever in a new creation, a new heaven and earth born from the destruction of this one. He told his followers to watch for his return. But Jesus did something some think peculiar. He didn’t tell them when he would return, just to be ready.

Jesus taught in parables most often because we remember stories so much better than we remember lectures. So his lessons come through the stories he told. Many of his parables deal with the warning to be ready for his coming. But He sometimes gave straightforward warnings about preparations for his return. One such warning appears in the lectionary for the First Sunday of Advent that starts the new Christian calendar year. It comes from Matthew chapter twenty-four:

“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left.

Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left.

Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.

Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

It would be nice if God told us when he would come, but you know what would happen. In my travels around the world, I’ve found that people can and will do incredibly horrible things to each other. We see it here in the drug and sex trafficking. We see it through the news media every day as political parties attack each other just because they can. We seldom hear the whole truth anymore about any story. The story twists to what someone wants to persuade us to lean to their side. It’s easy to understand why Pilot asked Jesus, “What is truth?”

If God told us when he would return, we would be horribly evil and do terrible things against each other until a few hours before his return. Then the churches would be full. Altars would be lined with seekers asking forgiveness. Most of us would wait until the very last minute to try to squeak into heaven on God’s good graces.

God doesn’t want us to squeak by. He wants us to worship him because he is God. He wants us to love him because he is love. God wants us to serve him because of the sacrifice he made for us out of his love for us. God wants us to understand who he is and so give ourselves as a living sacrifice to him so that others will know him.

God wants us to demonstrate every day the love he has for the world by loving others the way he demonstrates his love for us. Jesus told us all the Father’s authority rests in him. Then he told us all the commandments can be summarized in just two. The first, love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. But before anyone could question him about that one, he said the second commandment is like the first. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Those are the two commandments Jesus told us to follow. Love God and love others. And he told us you can’t love an invisible God if you can’t love the visible people around you. Then he showed us what love looks like by allowing himself to be arrested unjustly tried and executed in a manner reserved for the worst offenders of the law. Laws he never broke.

Even the laws the Pharisees said he broke concerning the Sabbath, when you read them carefully, Jesus only spoke most of the time. He told the man to stretch out his hand. He told the man to stand and walk. He told the woman she was healed. Most of his Sabbath healings, he just spoke. Even those in which he did something physical were not so dramatic physically that they violated the law. He spit on the ground and made mud. He touched a man’s ears. He touched a man’s eyes. Nothing worthy of the charges brought against him.

Even the charge of blasphemy for which the council finally found a reason to crucify him in their mock trial. Jesus never said the words for which he was convicted. As you read the transcript, you’ll find the chief priest asked the question, “Are you the Messiah?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am.” Is that Jesus confirming the truth or the high priest confirming the truth of his claims? Who is guilty here? So Jesus never broke any of the laws of Moses. Still, he was crucified based on those laws.

The real reason for his death? The council proclaimed it. If Jesus kept doing the things he did, people would believe him and follow him. The Romans would come and take away their place of power and their nation. They envied his position as Messiah, the Savior of God’s people.

Jesus is coming back. We will stand on the side of those who believe in him for eternal life, followers of his way of life. Or we will stand with Pharisees and Sadducees, envious of his power and position as God. It’s been that way since Satan tempted Adam and Eve with what they thought was the opportunity to be like God. They were not; we are not.

There is only one God. He came to live with us. He died for us. He promised to live in us. We celebrate Advent because of that promise and his promise to return to take us with him forever. Look for him in all you do in celebrating this year.

Guys, get it right! (Luke 11:39-41) November 9, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 128-130

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 11:39-41
Jesus: You Pharisees are a walking contradiction. You are so concerned about external things—like someone who washes the outside of a cup and bowl but never cleans the inside, which is what counts! Beneath your fastidious exterior is a mess of extortion and filth.
You guys don’t get it. Did the potter make the outside but not the inside too? If you were full of goodness within, you could overflow with generosity from within, and if you did that, everything would be clean for you.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Obsessive compulsive disorder is a terrible problem for those that have a severe case of it. It can be very debilitating causing you to go through repetitive rituals dozens of times before you can move on to the next item of the day. Maybe it’s as simple as tapping the bed or touching a spot on the vanity or seemingly benign things like lining shoes up in a particular way before you can get on with your life. But sometimes these rituals can take on a life of their own. Sometimes they can become bizarre activities that make no sense to anyone, even the person that goes through them over and over, but just can’t stop until the routine is complete for fear that something bad will happen if they don’t.

That’s the sense I get when I read these verse about the Pharisees and their cleansing rituals. I often think about OCD and the terrible plight of the disorder’s victims when I hear about the rituals the Pharisees demanded the Jews follow in their daily routines. When we look back at the book of Leviticus at some of the cleansing ceremonies that God prescribed for the wandering Israelites in the deserts of the middle east, it’s easy to understand many of them.

Having served in army units that spent a lot of time in the field, I know how important some of those personal and community hygiene rules are. It doesn’t take much for disease to spread through a unit if soldiers aren’t following good hygiene rules. In fact, until recent years, disease accounted for the vast majority of casualties every army around the world suffered in times of war. Even today, there are far more soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan due to illness and injury than from battle injuries.

When you have three million people moving across the desert, living in tents, eating from open cook fires, things can get a little dicey. They didn’t have our current medical knowledge. They didn’t use our current medicines. They didn’t have the same kinds of equipment with which to travel. They needed some practical instruction from God to survive.

But by the time Jesus came to visit us, Rome had some pretty good systems in place. Medicine had progressed significantly. Running water appeared in some houses. They understood the importance of hygiene for the most part even though they didn’t understand germs and viruses and the mechanics of disease communication. But the Pharisees took those Levitical laws and turned them into OCD actions. It seemed like somewhere along the line one of the chief priests really had undiagnosed OCD and just multiplied all the rules by ten and no one had any breathing room about anything. It became impossible to keep up with the rituals.

So Jesus intervened. “You guys don’t get it.” It’s what’s on the inside that counts. If you were generous on the inside it would show by your giving. If your were happy on the inside, you’d be smiling and laughing on the outside. If you cared about people, you would try to lift their burdens instead of adding to them. If you loved God, you would love people.

So what would Jesus say to us if He came to visit? Do our services and our institutions look like we have OCD? Do we get so wrapped up in the routine activities that just have to be done in just the right order and just the right way that we forget why we come to church in the first place? Do we forget that what God wants from us is our worship and that when we gather for fellowship it isn’t the ritual that’s important but the relationships we build with people that supersedes everything else? It’s not what we eat or what we drink or how we wash our hands or how we set the table or whether the silverware matches the plates or the napkins match the tablecloth. None of that matters if we love people and care about the relationship we are building.

The Pharisees took their rituals to an extreme to try to assuage their spiritual conscience. It didn’t do any good. They still didn’t meet God’s standard because what God wanted was their devotion and love for each other. They could give neither as long as they were so focused on getting the ritual right. It’s the same with us. Until we get it right and love God and each other, we, like the Pharisees, will try to substitute our rituals, our activities, for the right stuff. Like Jesus says, “Guys, get it right!”

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

How will they know? (Luke 7:31-35) October 13, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Proverbs 29-30

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 7:31-35
Jesus: The people of this generation—what are they like? To what can they be compared? I’ll tell you: they’re like spoiled kids sitting in the marketplace playing games, calling out,
We played the pipes for you,
but you didn’t dance to our tune!
We cried like mourners,
but you didn’t cry with us!
You can’t win with this generation. John the Baptist comes along, fasting and abstaining from wine, and you say, “This guy is demon-possessed!” The Son of Man comes along, feasting and drinking wine, and you say, “This guy is a glutton and a drunk, a friend of scoundrels and tax collectors!” Well, wisdom’s true children know wisdom when they hear it.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

People are so fickle when it comes to hearing the truth. We find every excuse under the sun to figure out how to turn away from it and assume the truth doesn’t apply to us, don’t we? That’s what was happening to Jesus and His disciples in this scene.

The Pharisees and the religious leaders of His day didn’t like the crowds Jesus gathered around Him as He talked about the scriptures in the market places and on the hillsides. These discussions were supposed to be taking place in the temple and synagogues under their tutelage and with their interpretations. Not as some unknown carpenter thought the scriptures should be applied. Who did He think He was? But the crowds kept coming. They liked what they heard. They listened with great intensity because what Jesus said made sense and He had such authority in His voice. More so that any of the scribes and Pharisees and priests they heard, anyway.

So once again the Pharisees confront Jesus and try to calm Him down and get Him to stop preaching. They try to get Him to stop these proclamations He keeps making about who He thinks God is and what religions is supposed to be about. So Jesus upends their arguments once again. Did you like John and His message? No, he obeyed your commands too much. He took vows of poverty and ritual cleansing and fasting that you thought went too far. He made your rituals look like movie trailers compared to his practice of real righteousness and you didn’t accept him as authentic in his worship.

You said he needed to dress better, eat more, get around people and behave like they did. Don’t be such a hermit. Don’t spend so much time praying and fasting and preaching. People will think you’ve gone off the deep end on this righteousness stuff. You can’t look too holy or no one will like you. They’ll think you’re better than them or something. Or they’ll think you’re crazy. No one will believe your story if you look and act too much like John.

Then Jesus comes along. Jesus ate with the tax collectors and thieves and rabble of the cities because they needed to hear God’s message of forgiveness. They knew they were far from God and they couldn’t go into the temple and the synagogues because they weren’t accepted there. How were they to find God if they couldn’t get to the altar and hear His message? The religious leaders would have nothing to do with them because they were sinners. They were obviously lost and they were without help from the holy people. So they were without hope…until Jesus came along.

Jesus ate with them. Drank with them. Sang with them. And Jesus gave them a message of hope and forgiveness. One the Pharisees and religious leaders knew was contained in the pages of the scrolls they memorized, but they would never dirty their hands to share it with ‘those people’. But Jesus did. He shared the message God sent to the world. The message of atonement, forgiveness, cleansing from the guilt of sin. These sinners soaked up the message the Pharisees and religious leaders hoarded within the walls of their sanctuaries and refused to share outside the confines of their collective pious gathering.

Is it any wonder Jesus was welcomed by the crowd from the other side of the tracks so often? Is it any wonder He feasted with the tax collectors and prostitutes and obvious sinners? They longed to hear the message the priests refused to share outside the confines of their ‘club of the uber pious’. They needed to hear that they could be freed from the guilt that weighed heavily on their souls. They needed to hear they could be forgiven of the wrongs they committed and weren’t doomed forever with no way to make restitution to man or God. They needed to find a way back into God’s kingdom.

But they couldn’t find a way…until Jesus became their friend and shared the joy of knowing sins can be forgiven for the asking. The chains of sin can be broken for the asking. The slavery to Satan can be redeemed by the blood of the spotless One when we accept His atonement for our sins. We can be made free once again when we live for Him instead of living for ourselves. We can find freedom in Him.

But how will those who don’t darken the door of our churches and synagogues and temples knows that message unless we befriend them and tell them?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Do some good today (Luke 6:9-10) September 29, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Proverbs 26-27

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 6:9-10
Jesus: Here’s a question for you: On the Sabbath Day, is it lawful to do good or to do harm? Is it lawful to save life or to destroy it?
He turned His gaze to each of them, one at a time. Then He spoke to the man.
Jesus: Stretch your hand out.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus made a habit of doing good. He also made a habit of going to the synagogue or the temple on the Sabbath. He knew the importance of both. He knew we were created to do good for others as a demonstration of the love God pours into our lives individually and collectively. It’s important to show God’s love through actively doing good for others. The Pharisees, though, began to obscure the lines. They didn’t understand the two fit together the way Jesus did. They knew we should do good for others, but not at the expense of the Sabbath rules.

Are we guilty of the same, today? Do we let rules get in the way of doing what’s right? The Pharisees’ traditions about how far you could walk, how much weight you could carry, what kind of activities you could perform, all led to this farce concerning the purpose of the Sabbath. Jesus knew the Sabbath was created for our good. To make sure we rested from our labor and recovered from the toil that came as part of the curse on humanity for the sin of Adam’s race. We needed that day of rest and a reminder that God gives us our both our purpose and our ability to carry out that purpose.

The scribes and Pharisees, those who should have known best, perverted the Sabbath and made it something God never intended it to be. They made it a burden just to make it through the day without violating one of the many rules the religious rulers set in place. There were so many, it was impossible to keep up with them and many of them didn’t make sense even to God. Like allowing a person to get his ox out of a ditch on the Sabbath, but not allowing that same person to take a meal to a sick friend on the Sabbath. How does that make sense? Isn’t it more effort to get the ox out of the ditch? And aren’t people more important than oxen?

Do we do what the scribes and Pharisees did and pervert God’s intent for our setting aside time to remember Him? Do we forget that our purpose is to worship Him and demonstrate His love for us by doing good for others? Do we focus on rules instead of doing good and get those roles reversed? Do we get so hung up on our petty traditions that we forget that people are the most important thing around us?

It’s a lesson that’s so easy to forget. I think that’s why the gospels included this story. I’m not sure Jesus intended to heal anyone that day. I’m not sure He expected to face down the Pharisees once again on that Sabbath day, but then again, He’s God, so He might have known all about it. In any event, Jesus saw the opportunity to help a man in need. He saw the chance to do good for someone and He took it. Why? Because doing good for others is how we can best demonstrate God’s love.

Did Jesus break the Sabbath? Not so sure He did. Paul and the writer of Hebrews say Jesus was sinless. If that’s so, then His actions on the Sabbath certainly did’t constitute sin. And if His actions on that Sabbath day were in violation of the fourth commandment to keep the Sabbath holy, then it would have been a sin, right? So what the Pharisees saw as wrong in their perverted sense of what it meant to keep the Sabbath and what God intended for us in keeping the Sabbath are obviously in opposition to each other.

So which pattern should we follow? The rules and regulations that burden us and make us look pious to those around us or those that Jesus showed us, doing good for others? I think the answer is clear. Does that mean we should go out and work to make a living on the Sabbath? There are some that must work on the day that some hold as the Sabbath. Firefighters, police, healthcare workers, and a host of others don’t have a choice as they provide essential services to our community. But many of us do have a choice and should set aside a regular day to stop and remember God and recover from our routine labor.

Jesus said it best, the Sabbath was made for us, not the other way around. It was made as a time for us to not just consider God and His love, but to demonstrate it to a world that needs it so much. Is it right to do good on the Sabbath or harm? It’s a pretty easy answer. Go do some good for someone today and everyday.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Just as it is written (Mark 9:12-13) August 11, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Proverbs 16

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 9:12-13
Jesus: To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Peter, James, and John get to see first hand the glory of Jesus as He talks with Moses and Elijah on the mountain top one day. He is clothed in garments brighter than the sun. The three of them are not just bathed in light, but radiate light so bright that the men cannot look at them. These three, the inner circle of Jesus’ closest disciples witness the most amazing sight they have ever seen. They have no doubts at this point that Jesus is the incarnate God. He came from heaven to rescue His people from the oppression and burden the guilt of sin lays upon each of us.

They fall on their face as the three figure in front of them converse. They don’t know what the three talk about in the short distance beyond them. They speak quietly among themselves and the disciples are so overwhelmed with the spectacle in front of them that the words would not register with them even if they could hear. These three just remain awed by the presence and power of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.

After a few minutes, the light fades, Moses and Elijah are gone. Jesus stands alone and returns to His three friends. They rise and Peter offers the suggestion to build three tabernacles in honor of the three figures they just witnessed on the mountain top. Jesus refuses. Then the questions about the days leading up to the final judgment. Isn’t Elijah supposed to usher in the Messiah?

And Jesus answers their question implying John the Baptist served as Elijah, the prophet in the wilderness proclaiming the coming of the Messiah. The one heralding the good news that the Anointed One had come to redeem His people from the evil of this world. Peter, James, and John, the three closest friends of Jesus would become the pillars of the early church. Because of what Jesus shared with them in these intimate moments, they would never falter from the faith. These moments would cement their knowledge that Jesus was God incarnate.

But in this exchange, Jesus mentions one more thing at the end that many forget when they look at Jesus’ life and the way His lives of those around Him turned and twisted during His time on earth. “Just as it is written about him.” In those few words we can be assured that Jesus is who He said He is. Many around the world today will tell you that Jesus was a good man, a prophet, a wise teacher, but God? No. They just can’t believe it.

But look at these few words and then think about the probability that Jesus could fulfill all the prophecies about Him if He were not the Messiah. Some might say, “Well, He just studied the scriptures and followed along to make sure He did what the prophecies said.” But that doesn’t quite work, does it? How would He influence His virgin birth? Don’t think that’s possible. How would He influence Joseph and Mary leaving Bethlehem and escaping Herod’s murder of all the infants as a child less than two years old? Don’t think that hold much merit either, but there’s prophecy about it. How could Jesus make His parents live in Bethlehem, then Egypt, then resettle in Nazareth so all the prophecies could be fulfilled about Him before He was a teenager? Not possible unless He really is the Messiah.

Then look past His childhood. He did all the things the Old Testament said He would do. He taught, He prophesied, He healed, He became the sacrificial lamb for us. He did everything scripture talked about. So maybe His everyday actions as an adult could be a checklist of things He needed to do as Messiah. Maybe if we really stretched we could come up with a checklist and say someone could figure out how to create that itinerary.

But if He could make the checklist from the scriptures, how could He get the scribes and Pharisees and chief priests and Romans to play along? After all, they didn’t want anyone to recognize Him as the Messiah. They were doing their best to discredit Him, right? So why would they fulfill scripture by hanging Him on the tree, crucifying Him? Why would the Romans cast lots for His garments? They didn’t know they were fulfilling centuries old prophecy and certainly wouldn’t have if they knew. Why would they not break His legs as was their custom when they wanted to make sure they were speeding up the execution process? It would have taken little more effort or time snap Jesus’ shins than to thrust a spear into His side. So why fulfill prophecy if Jesus were not the Messiah? The Romans didn’t know any better. The Pharisees and chief priests would certainly have stopped it if they remembered.

What’s the probability that anyone could fulfill the prophecies about the Messiah in the Old Testament that Jesus fulfilled? Peter Stone and Robert Newman wrote a book several years ago entitled Science Speaks that determined the probability of the fulfillment of just eight of those prophecies – 1 in a quadrillion. That’s one with seventeen zero’s behind it. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning or winning the lottery. So just based on statistical analysis alone, I’d say odds are pretty good Jesus is the Messiah. Just as it is written. What do you think?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Beware the yeast and leaven (Mark 8:15-21) August 6, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – John 3-4

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 8:15-19
Jesus: Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.
The disciples didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about and discussed it among themselves.
Some Disciples: What?
Other Disciples: He’s saying this because we have run out of bread.
Jesus (overhearing them): Why are you focusing on bread? Don’t you see yet? Don’t you understand? You have eyes—why don’t you see? You have ears—why don’t you hear? Are you so hard-hearted?
Don’t you remember when I broke the five rounds of flatbread among the 5,000? Tell Me, how many baskets of scraps were left over?
Disciples: Twelve.
Jesus: And how many were left when I fed the 4,000 with seven rounds?
Disciples: Seven.
Jesus: And still you don’t understand?

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Yeast and leaven. It spreads through the dough so quickly and thoroughly. In baking, it is such wonderful stuff. It makes tiny little air pockets in the dough so it makes it puff up and makes bread and cakes light and fluffy. Whoever discovered you could use leavening agents in baking did a great service for the world because it makes baked goods taste so good. But then again, maybe it was also part of our downfall since we have a tendency to eat too much of those tasty treats and it adds to the obesity of our generation. I digress, back to the story.

The disciples thought Jesus was talking about bread. He wasn’t. He was thinking about His recent encounter with those snakes, the Pharisees. He was thinking about they way they refused to listen and believe God even when they saw the evidence right in front of them of His hand at work. They wanted one more sign, one more proof, one more miracle, one more something. They were never satisfied because they wanted to be the center of attention, not God.

That’s want Jesus was talking about with the disciples that day. The Pharisees’ brand of religion put this selfish thought upper most in everyone’s mind. Put my way first. Put my rules first. Put my thoughts above everything else. It doesn’t matter what God wants. My way is more important. Self takes precedence. So when the Pharisees encountered Jesus and He challenged their structure and their way of life. They couldn’t handle it. When He disagreed with their emphasis on the petty things of life that they held as most important, they called Him an instrument of Satan.

The biggest problem, though, is Jesus saw their philosophy and their influence had the same influence in the world as yeast or leaven in bread. Once it gets into action, it is so difficult to stop it. It spreads and is hard to stop. People pick p on it and spread it and share it because Satan pulls this veil over our eyes. We like Adam and all of his offspring after him have this selfish seed in us that wants to believe Satan instead of God. We want to satisfy this selfish drive instead of giving ourselves to the God who made us.

And Herod was just as bad. His problem was not just hiding behind a religious veil saying he was a Jewish king, but then living the life of a Roman. He indulged in all the vices of the pagan world around him, but said he lived as one of God’s chosen people. The duel citizenship he thought he could live only showed how far away from God he really was. Yet many followed him thinking it was okay to live his same lifestyle since he was king.

Do we do the same thing today? Does the story fit us in this generation? I’m afraid so. Whether we want to talk about the Hollywood celebrities so many emulate, or the sports figures that pocket millions in salary but find themselves on the wrong side of the law, or politicians that think themselves above the law, or any number of other segments that we tend to focus on, there are those that spread leaven in our society. They plant seeds of evil, lifestyles that run contrary to the life God wants us to live. Yet we flock to them thinking it’s okay to follow their pattern of life. It’s not.

Look around, though, and you’ll find people wearing the same style clothes, styling their hair the same, using their same speech patterns. We fall into the trap of letting these leavening agents of sin slip into our lives, sometimes without even thinking about it. Jesus warns us, “Beware of the yeast, the leaven.” I don’t think He would use the terms Pharisee or Herod today. But instead He would point to those figures of authority we tend to blindly follow that will lead us to our destruction if we are not carefully discerning whether they are following God or self.

How can we tell? Know God’s word. If they act in a way that is not in concert with His word, beware. God does not contradict Himself. Beware the yeast and leaven. It spreads before you know it.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

We don’t need signs (Mark 8:12) August 5, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Daniel 1-6

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 8:12
Jesus (sighing with disappointment): Why does this generation ask for a sign before they will believe? Believe Me when I say that you will not see one.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

The Pharisees must have all been born and raised in Missouri. We know that state’s nickname as “the show me state” because of Missourian’s tendency to ask for evidence to support every statement. They want to statements followed up with verifiable facts before they believe it. “Show me.” The Pharisees would fit right in. This encounter with Jesus teaches us that about them. He had just fed thousands of people. He showed up on the opposite side of the Sea of Galilee after no boat was available to transport Him there. He healed every illness and disease they were unable to heal. He spoke about the scripture with an authority and understanding they could not match. And still they come to Jesus with this demand, “Give us some sign so we know your teaching is from God.”

Really? This guy is doing things that no one can dispute. What other sign do you need than feeding 4,000 people from one lunch? Who can do that? What other sign do you need than people watching Him climb up the hill to pray while all the boats leave the shore and then He shows up on the other side of the Sea of Galilee in the morning with all the people in those boats telling you about their experience with the storm and their seeing Him walking on the water in the early morning hours? What other sign do you need that watching hundreds of lame, deaf, blind, diseased, deformed, sick, healed of their various maladies with just a spoken word or a touch of His hand?

These guys are even worse than Missourians. We would probably call them nut jobs needing more evidence than what they had already seen and heard to this point. And it seems Jesus feels the same way. You get no more signs. His actions speak for themselves. The healing, the teaching, the feeding, the compassion, the preaching, the love He pours out all around Him is enough to show He is who He says He is and no other sign is necessary.

It wasn’t enough for the Pharisees. They still rejected Him. Why? Because they just didn’t want to believe that God would visit us from heaven. They couldn’t believe He would correct their thinking about the law He had given Moses and they had been interpreting for Him through the centuries. Surely they were right and God in the flesh was wrong. They just couldn’t believe they needed to adjust their way of thinking.

But then…

What about us? Do we need a sign to believe that Jesus is who He says He is? Do we ask Him to do one more thing before we believe? Do ask for one more miracle or one more piece of evidence. Do we need one more fact before we can give our life to Him? What one more would it take? That was Jesus point with the Pharisees. They were not going to believe no matter what He did. So what about you? Does it matter what sign you see? If you’re waiting for a sign, it really doesn’t matter what that sign is, you still won’t believe, because you’ll ask for one more.

You’re answer when you see it will be, “Well, maybe that was a fluke. Well, it might not have been God. It was probably going to happen anyway.” And you’ll ask for one more sign. Just like the Pharisees. You see, it’s not about signs, it’s about faith. Do you believe He is the Son of God, able to forgive your sins or not? It’s really that simple a question. And when you believe He can and ask Him to, He will and He does. It’s just that easy.

But He doesn’t deal in signs. He doesn’t deal in hocus-pocus. He doesn’t make deals. He works in issues of faith. You believe or you don’t. You love Him or you don’t. You obey His word or you don’t. You live for Him or you don’t. It’s pretty black and white. No signs. No flashes in the sky. No banner headlines. No great visions or spirits rising from the grave. Just faith in Him. That’s the deal.

He still cares. He shows us that by what He did for those who were with Him for those three days without food. He fed them all until they were full. Probably some of those in that crowd hadn’t eaten until they were full in a while. But they did that day with baskets of food left over. Jesus cares. He showed it to those crowds by sticking around and healing all those who came to Him for healing. He touched everyone of them and took away whatever was wrong with them. They didn’t ask for a sign, they just asked for help and believed He could do it.

That’s what He asks from us. Just believe. Just trust. Just know that Jesus is the Son of the Living God. He was there at creation, He loves us and cares about our needs. And when we meet Him with eyes of faith, we don’t need any signs, we know who He is without them.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Inside out (Mark 7:18-23) August 1, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Leviticus 22-24

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 7:18-23
Jesus: Do you mean you don’t understand this one either? Whatever goes into people from outside can’t defile them because it doesn’t go into their hearts. Outside things go through their guts and back out, thus making all foods pure. No, it’s what comes from within that corrupts. It’s what grows out of the hearts of people that leads to corruption: evil thoughts, immoral sex, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wicked acts, treachery, sensuality, jealousy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All of these come from within, and these are the sins that truly corrupt a person.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Did you notice the list of things Jesus points out that makes us corrupt? What a list! But not one of them has to do with the things we seem to point out most of the time when we want to point out the bad in society. Did you notice? That person doesn’t attend the right social events. This one doesn’t wear the right clothes. That one doesn’t belong to the right clubs. He doesn’t support right to choose. She doesn’t agree with the LGBT movement.

And then we really start getting picky in the church. He doesn’t sing the right kind of songs. She wears her skirts too short. He wears shorts to church. His sermons are too long. She spends too much time with that guy. He’s too friendly with gay people. She has friends that have had abortions. He’s divorced. She’s in her forties and not married. He doesn’t like the color of the carpet we picked. She picked the paint and I don’t like it. She wears too much makeup.

We think the stupidest things make us righteous or unrighteous. The Pharisees thought it was their rules and rituals that made them righteous. If they could just do all the right things, they would be all right with God. If they washed properly, ate the right food, prayed the right prayers, gave the right offerings, did the right things, everything would be alright.

But Jesus saw through their hypocracy. He saw their hearts. He saw their devotion was not to God but to themselves. They were more interested in obeying their rules than in obeying God. And He called them on it. So when His disciples asked about His comments, He explained Himself. It’s not the rules that make someone good or evil, it starts with a wicked thought.

If you’ll recall Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount from Matthew, He talks about the fact that murder starts with the thought of hating your brother. Adultery starts with a lustful thought. Those evil thoughts are the spart of evil actions and those evil actions are sin. James tells us the same thing in his letter to the churches. Corruption starts from the seed of a thought that we hang on to and let germinate in our mind until we let it become not just a thought but an action with our body.

Jesus then talks about some things all of us agree with right away. Everyone would give a resounding amen to those evil things – murder, theft, wicked acts, treachery. But you know, our society starts chipping away at what’s right and what’s wrong with some of those others. Some have even become common place today. Find a television program that doesn’t promote sensuality today. Not too many are there? Pride? Is that a sin? We say it is, but we often hide it as ambition rather than pride, don’t we?

But Jesus didn’t mince words when He laid out His list of evils as He shared with His disciples – evil thoughts, immoral sex, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wicked acts, treachery, sensuality, jealousy, slander, pride, and foolishness. Did He really say foolishness? Yep. That’s evil? It can be. Proverbs warns against foolishness a lot. Foolishness wastes effort, resources, hurts people carelessly. It’s not the same as having fun and enjoying life. Foolishness is the opposite of wisdom and harms God’s creation. So, yes, foolishness is evil.

We like to skip over those things that society says is okay, but they’re not. Sex outside of marriage is not okay despite what the world may say. Adultery is not okay regardless of who else might engage in it. Greed is not healthy for society or for the individuals that engage in it. Jealousy hurts not only the one who is jealous but it taints every relationship that person has. Slander creates distrust across society and is worse that theft because things can be replaced, but reputations can be destroyed forever. Pride sets us up for a mighty fall because it always puff us up falsely. Foolishness causes us to do things that just lead us into trouble unnecessarily. Yet all these things the world often thinks are okay. None of these are condemned the way Jesus condemns them .

So who will we listen to, the world or Jesus? If we want to live eternally, the answer better be Jesus. After all, He’s the one who will stand as our judge at the end of time. It’s probably best to do what He says.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.