Messiah and us - turning
the world’s values upside down!
We live
in a dark, fallen, confused and chaotic world.
Darkness covers the Earth and a deep and profound
darkness covers the peoples of the world. The
powerful and destructive forces of Satan, sin
and death have affected every aspect of who we
are - our relationship to God; our relationships
to one another; these overwhelming forces have
corrupted our body, soul, spirit; mind, emotion
and will. We desperately need redemption, but
we can’t redeem ourselves from the corrupting
forces of Satan, sin and death. We are in the
greatest need of salvation, but we are totally
incapable of saving ourselves!
Yeshua
really is the sinless Son of God who alone can
rescue us from our dilemma! He really is the mighty
Immanuel - God with us! The Jewish Messiah really
came from Heaven to Earth! He always did what
was perfectly right. Everything He said and did
perfectly pleased His Heavenly Father. He understood
the mind of God, the will of His Father, the Torah
of the Lord better than anyone else - better than
any of Israel’s greatest sages, scholars, rabbis
and Torah experts of His day - or any day.
When the
long-awaited Messiah finally came, how did the
religious leaders of the Chosen People respond
to the Seed of the Woman? With recognition and
acceptance and love and loyalty and faith? With
cries of Baruch HaBa B’Shem Adonai? Blessed is
he who comes in the name of the Lord? With joy
and enthusiasm? No. With unbelief and rejection.
Why? Part
of the reason was that in Messiah’s day, some
of the teachings of Judaism had been corrupted.
Some of the interpretations had deviated from
true Torah, and Yeshua knew it. Some of the man-made
traditions were wrong, and Messiah went against
them. Theological error is very dangerous because
if the truth sets us free from the destructive
forces of Satan, sin and death, then error keeps
us enslaved to those harmful powers.
In addition
to the problem of embracing very serious theological
errors, another problem was that some of the values
of our people had become too materialistic. Messiah
understood an overemphasis on materialism is bad,
and He challenged those worldly values.
Messiah
was very wise in Torah and graciously and lovingly
tried to correct the errors of the Judaism of
His day. But, instead of accepting and understanding
and appreciating what Supreme Rabbi Yeshua was
doing, many of the leaders resented Him for it.
It wasn’t easy for the young rabbi from Nazareth
to challenge the religious authorities and go
against the majority of the nation, but for the
sake of the truth and faithfulness to God and
the benefit of people, Messiah did so - and He
suffered because of it.
Messiah
asks us to have the same attitudes He did, and
challenge the theological and materialistic errors
of our day, and be willing to go against the majority,
and go against our religious and political leaders
who are in error.
The Holy
Spirit, speaking to us through His servant Luke,
begins with yet another account of another controversy
concerning the legality of miraculous healing
taking place on the Sabbath. This incident occurred
in the home of one of the leaders of the Pharisees.
It
happened that when He went into the house of one
of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath
to eat bread, they were watching Him closely.
And there in front of Him was a man suffering
from dropsy (an abnormal accumulation of fluid
beneath the skin, or in one or more cavities of
the body). And Yeshua answered and spoke to
the experts in the Torah and Pharisees, saying,
"Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or
not"? But they kept silent. And He took hold
of him and healed him, and sent him away. And
He said to them, "Which one of you will have
a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not
immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day"?
And they could make no reply to this.
First,
Messiah asked these religious leaders a question
designed to get to the heart of the issue, and
lead them to the right conclusion. The correct
answer to His question is yes - it is legal, it
is in keeping with Torah, to heal on the Sabbath.
Second,
to show that Yeshua was right, God used His Son
to immediately and fully heal the man, demonstrating
God’s approval of Yeshua and that Yeshua’s teaching
on this issue was correct.
Third,
Yeshua gave further teaching to clarify the issue.
Here is the argument of Israel’s Supreme Rabbi:
If, on the Sabbath, human beings are willing to
work in order to meet the needs of their animals
or children who are in danger of harm, or to prevent
them from suffering, it is right for Messiah to
be used by God to meet the needs of human beings
for healing. The human need to be removed from
danger and to be alleviated from suffering is
more important than a legalistic observance of
the Sabbath.
Messiah
and us - turning the world’s values upside down
by purposely humbling ourselves
We need
healing on the outside - physical healing, which
one day Messiah will completely and eternally
provide for all those who know who He is and join
themselves to Him; and we need healing on the
inside - mental and emotional and attitudinal
healing - which Messiah also can provide.
Human
nature has been deeply corrupted by the Fall.
This is manifested in many ways. One of the ways
we have been damaged is by having feelings of
inadequacy. So often we feel so insecure. Frequently
we don’t feel good about ourselves.
Maybe
we don’t feel good about ourselves because we
aren’t good! Maybe we feel inadequate - because
we are inadequate! Maybe we feel inferior - because
we are less than what we should be!
There
are right ways to deal with these feelings of
inadequacy and inferiority and insecurity and
wrong ways to deal with them. Let’s start with
the wrong ways: by comparing ourselves to others;
by having unhealthy desires to be first; by trying
to be seen as better than others and by putting
ourselves above others.
We try
to feel better about ourselves by competing with
others in various ways. If we win some or all
of the various competitions in life, then we think
that we are better than others, and we feel good
about ourselves.
We complete
in many ways:
We compete
to gain higher social status.
We compete
for money and wealth.
We compete
in our careers.
We compete
for power and control over others.
We compete
in the arena of looks - trying to make ourselves
prettier, or more handsome than others.
We compete
to gain more and better things - wearing more
expensive clothes, driving a more expensive car,
living in a bigger home, buying more expensive
toys and gadgets and things.
We compete
in sports and games and athletics.
We compete
in the arena of education, to get higher grades,
better test scores, and graduate from the most
prestigious schools, receive academic degrees
and honors. We want to be seen as brighter than
others, smarter than others.
We want
to come from what is considered the best family,
the best people and the most prestigious nation.
There
is even competition in the area of religion. There
is competition for place and status within individual
congregations. Often there is competition between
religious leaders for status and influence.
In general,
we want to be seen as better than others, as more
important than others. We want to come before
others, to be above others. If only we can get
in that higher position, we think: I am not inadequate.
I am worthwhile. My life is significant. I am
important. I can feel good about myself.
Sometimes
to raise ourselves up, we will put others down.
But, all
these are the wrong ways to deal with our sense
of inadequacy, and try and make ourselves feel
good about ourselves. Yeshua wants to teach us
the right way. Instead of comparing ourselves
to others, and competing with others, and trying
to raise ourselves up by putting others down,
Yeshua teaches us to do the opposite! To raise
ourselves up we must lower ourselves and raise
others up!
And
He began speaking a parable to the invited guests
when He noticed how they had been picking out
the places of honor at the table, saying to them,
"When you are invited by someone to a wedding
feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone
more distinguished than you may have been invited
by him, and he who invited you both will come
and say to you, 'Give your place to this man,'
and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the
last place. But when you are invited, go and recline
at the last place, so that when the one who has
invited you comes, he may say to you, 'Friend,
move up higher'; then you will have honor in the
sight of all who are at the table with you. For
everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and
he who humbles himself will be exalted".
The right
way to feel good about ourselves is not by competing
with others. It is not by putting others down.
If we
get reconciled to the good God from whom the whole
world is estranged - and that is the real source
of all of our problems; if we get right with the
Creator, and have genuine peace with God; if we
know that Yeshua is indeed the only Savior and
Redeemer; if we know that we are saved, and that
we are approved of by the One whose approval really
counts; if we know that God loves us and we are
one of His beloved and precious children, and
that we will live forever with Him; if we understand
that God makes each individual as a unique entity,
with his own special gifts and talents according
to the will of the Creator - we won’t need to
raise ourselves above others, or put others down,
or climb over them, or stab them in the back to
feel adequate and feel good about ourselves. Our
security, our sense of well-being, our sense of
self will be rooted and grounded in God and God’s
love for us and His design and plan for us and
His acceptance of us!
Then we
will be free to raise others up; to love others,
to help them reach their God-given potential.
We won’t be threatened by them reaching their
potential, and by the blessing of the Lord on
them and by their successes.
Do you
know that God really loves you? That you are loved,
accepted, welcomed, honored by the Creator of
all things? That you are precious to Him? That
you are inherently valuable, because you have
been made in the image of God, and are one of
His exalted and eternal sons and daughters because
of the redemption provided by the Messiah? That
you are His special creation, with gifts and talents
that He has given you?
Messiah
and us - turning the world’s values upside down
by making friends with those farther down the
social and economic ladder
It is
natural for us to want to be with those who are
at the same or higher level on the social and
economic ladder. It helps us maintain or increase
our social and economic status. It is unnatural
and less desirable to associate with those lower
than us on the social and economic ladder. What
benefits can we get from that? Yeshua addresses
those wrong values as well.
And
He also went on to say to the one who had invited
Him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers or
your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they
may also invite you in return and that will be
your repayment. But when you give a reception,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
and you will be blessed, since they do not have
the means to repay you; for you will be repaid
at the resurrection of the righteous”.
In our
social interactions, we are to make special efforts
to reach out to those who are at a lower level
on the social and economic scale. They too are
human beings, made in the image of God, and equally
valuable to the Creator of all flesh. To the God
who does not look at the outside, but at the heart,
differences in social and economic status make
no difference. Nor should they to us.
It is
the poor and the needy who especially need our
help. Since they might not be able to repay us
for our graciousness extended to them in this
world, the righteous God who is aware of all things,
will repay us in the World To Come. Let that that
knowledge, that faith, change our values and our
motivations and who we make efforts to relate
to.
Messiah
and us - turning the world’s values upside down
by understanding that many of the prominent religious
people won’t be saved, while others will
When
one of those who were reclining at the table with
Him heard this, he said to Him, "Blessed
is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom
of God"!
True!
The problem is that those whom most of the people
thought would be eating bread in the kingdom of
God would not be enjoying the delights of that
very real place, and many of those whom people
thought would not enjoy eternal life, would eat
bread in God’s Kingdom - and Yeshua knew it!
But
He said to him, "A man was giving a big dinner,
and he invited many; and at the dinner hour he
sent his slave to say to those who had been invited,
'Come; for everything is ready now'. But they
all alike began to make excuses. The first one
said to him, 'I have bought a piece of land and
I need to go out and look at it; please consider
me excused'. Another one said, 'I have bought
five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them
out; please consider me excused'. Another one
said, 'I have married a wife, and for that reason
I cannot come'”.
All of
these people who had been invited to this big
dinner, which took a lot of expense and preparation,
and had been expected to come - developed other
priorities. They dishonored the host who had graciously
invited them, and they refused to come.
And
the slave came back and reported this to his master.
Then the head of the household became angry and
said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the streets
and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor
and crippled and blind and lame'.
Because
the first group refused to come to the dinner,
those lower down on the social and economic ladder,
who were not originally invited to this nice dinner,
were invited. But unlike the first group, they
did not make excuses and refuse to attend. This
second, poorer group came!
And
the slave said, 'Master, what you commanded has
been done, and still there is room.' And the master
said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and
along the hedges, and compel them to come in,
so that my house may be filled.
This third
group are those even lower down on the social
and economic scale. They did not receive a mere
invitation, but more forceful means were used
to get them to come to the dinner. And, sure enough,
they responded and came to the banquet in the
great home.
Now Messiah
gives us the point of the story: For I tell
you, none of those men who were invited shall
taste of my dinner.
Yes, many
people will enter the very real and wonderful
and amazing and eternal kingdom of God. But, many
of the Chosen People who seemed so religious,
like the Torah experts and the Pharisees and the
priests, who received the initial invitation,
wouldn’t experience eternal life, because they
wouldn’t humble themselves. They refused to recognize
that Yeshua was the Messiah that God had sent
and given His approval to.
But, many
of the common people, who weren’t so religious
on the outside, but who had simple faith, and
believed in God and Torah, were able to understand
that Yeshua was the Messiah, and humble themselves,
and they would be saved.
And, many
of those at the very bottom of the socio-economic
ladder - sinners and tax collectors and prostitutes,
who were able to recognize that Yeshua was the
Messiah, and were willing to humble themselves
and repent, would also be saved.
And, eventually,
many of those very far from God and salvation
- the uncircumcised, the despised Gentiles, would
also enter into the glorious kingdom of God.
What makes
the difference between salvation and damnation,
life and death, Heaven and Hell? The willingness
to humble ourselves. Coming to God on His terms
- simple recognition that Yeshua is the Messiah
and Lord and Savior and Immanuel - God with us.
Is that you?
Many of
the Jewish people who lived during the past 2,000
years are going to be very surprised, as they
see the despised Messianic Jews and Gentile Christians
being welcomed into the New Jerusalem, and themselves
excluded!
And, many
people who are alive today, who claim to be Christians,
who may be baptized, and go to church, and pray
and sing and worship, they too will not enter
God’s wonderful and eternal kingdom, because their
religion is not based on humility and repentance,
and a real relationship with the living Messiah.
Their religion is form over substance. They too
have developed other priorities, and in essence
they too, like the experts in Torah and many of
the Pharisees of Yeshua’s day, have refused to
come.
May God
prevent that from happening to us, and enable
each one of us to really know the Lord, and find
our adequacy because of our relationship to God,
and get the mental and emotional and attitudinal
healing that Messiah provides, and reject the
world’s corrupt values, and humble ourselves,
and lift others up, and reach out to all people,
and bring the message of salvation and the love
of God to rich and poor and Jew and Gentile, and
eternally serve the Living Three-In-One God!
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