It's Day 27 and we're in Luke 13.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 34 - Many times these days Christians complain (justifiably) about the moral state of America. I wonder if our attitude should be more like this verse - pained longing, rather than our usual righteous finger-pointing.
Help:
- Verse 24 - This is not saying there are many who want to enter the Kingdom and have done everything they should have but God will not let them in. Rather, it's saying there are many who will presume that they're ok with God only to have God confront them with the fact that they haven't done what God said was necessary to enter the Kingdom. See Matthew 7:13-14 for a similar passage. Those Matthew verses are then followed by a lot of talk about how essential it is to actually obey the teaching of Christ. I think a similar idea is at play here: there are a lot of people who claim to love God, but who are not obeying the teaching of Christ in their lives. They will "seek to enter" when they get to heaven, but "will not be able" because they didn't do what Jesus said to do.
If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.
If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.
Your Questions and Comments:
- "In v 1 is the idea that God knows everything or is there some public airing of sins and secrets coming? Can you please tell us more about v 49-53? Why are families being divided? Is He speaking about separating believers from non-believers? Is he talking about heaven and hell or some separation here on earth?" - Good questions. I'll handle them one by one.
"In v 1 is the idea that God knows everything or is there some public airing of sins and secrets coming?" - Verses 1-3 speak of what is done in secret being made known. I do think it speaks to a public Final Judgment, although we can't be certain about that. Some disagree with me and think Final Judgment will just be "me and God," without witnesses. At the very least, what it means is that the things we do that no one else knows about are known to God and will be brought out at Final Judgment. (For Christians, that judgment is not about our salvation but instead about our rewards.) The larger point that Jesus is making here goes back to v. 1, where He mentions the danger of hypocrisy. We should not live our lives with a public image and a different private reality. Instead, because we know that our "behind-the-scenes" is known to God, we should try to live a life where we are genuinely changed and close to Him.
"Can you please tell us more about v 49-53? Why are families being divided? Is He speaking about separating believers from non-believers? Is he talking about heaven and hell or some separation here on earth?" - There are some who might believe that message of the Messiah would unite everyone and cause them all to be on the same page. No so, says Jesus. His message will be embraced by some but will be strongly rejected by others. This is, of course, exactly what happens during Jesus' time on earth - some willing to die in His name, others who want to crucify Him. His message is powerful, life-changing, and radical - but it's also controversial because it doesn't fit into the way some people want to live their lives. He is coming to bring "fire on the earth" (v. 49) - that is, a message that will transform lives but will be controversial. This is focused on His death and resurrection, which is the "I have a baptism to undergo" that He mentions in v. 50. (It's not His literal baptism but it's the symbolic baptism of dying and resurrecting.) Will what He does in all this "bring peace on earth" (v. 51)? No, it will bring "division" (v. 51). Even with something as normally unified as a family, there will be those who believe in Him and those who reject Him (vv. 52-53). This is a reference to believers and non-believers in this life disagreeing on who Jesus is and whether He is worth following. It's not really speaking, as you ask, to a "separation" here on earth, but more toward a disagreement here on earth about whether Jesus is worthy to be believed and followed. This has proven true in many families over the centuries where Jesus has been a dividing point.
