Jesus and His twelve disciples return to the region of Judea and the city of Jerusalem where the religious leaders are anxious to confront Him.

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   Having determined to go to Jerusalem inconspicuously and without fanfare, Jesus passed through Samaria with His disciples and arrived in Jerusalem. The phenomenon of Jesus was "big news" in the entire region of Palestine at that time, and the arrival of Jesus and His disciples in Jerusalem could not go unnoticed.

(139) Is He the Messiah? - John 7:11-36

   The Jewish religionists were on the "look-out" for Jesus. The crowds of religious peoples were quite aware of the religious leaders' antagonism toward Jesus, and their fear of the oppressive authority of these leaders quenched open discussion of His identity and ministry among those attending the festival in Jerusalem. Oppressive religious authority has quenched open discussion throughout the history of man and continues to do so to this day. But in clandestine discussions the people debated whether Jesus was a good man or a heretic, and some were convinced He was indeed the expected Messiah.

   Not fearing the religious leaders, and knowing that this was not the time for the final show-down, Jesus went to the Jewish temple and taught openly. Even the Jewish leaders marveled at His knowledge since He did not have acceptable rabbinic educational credentials. Uneducated people, the amhaares, were viewed condescendingly by the religious leaders, and were regarded as incapable of genuine virtue or piety because of their ignorance and lack of proper instruction. Jesus explained that His teaching was derived from God, and that anyone (especially the Jewish leaders) who really wanted to know and to do the will of God would know that this was God and not mere man speaking, for the total expression of His life, teaching and behavior was the character of divine righteousness which brought glory to God. Religion continues to be preoccupied with acceptable education and credentials, unable to recognize when divine character and ministry is derived from God.

   Jesus continued to expose the religionists by noting that despite their intense reverence for the old covenant Law, they constantly violated the Law and did not keep it. His case in point was the eighth day circumcision of male infants (Gen. 17:9-14; Lev. 12:1-3) which was performed even on the Sabbath. This religious rite which was intended as a pictorial prefiguring of the cutting off of sin from the hearts of the people of God (Lev. 26:41; Deut. 10:16; 30:6; Jere. 4:4) was allowed to supersede their Sabbath regulations, but when Jesus had completely healed a man on the Sabbath at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-17) these same religious leaders sought to kill Him (John 5:18) for Sabbath violation. Some in the crowd did not realize or remember the murderous intent of the religious leaders when their misunderstanding of the Sabbath was exposed, and concluded that Jesus was suffering from delusionary paranoia caused by a demon.

   Some in Jerusalem speculated that since Jesus was allowed to speak publicly even though He was a "wanted man," perhaps the rulers recognized that He was the Messiah. This was probably a sarcastic taunt of the temerity of the religious rulers. Others in the crowd were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah based on His supernatural and miraculous activity.

   Trying to take advantage of the divided opinions about Jesus, the Pharisees convinced their hated religious cohorts, the Sadduccean chief priests, to join them and send temple officers to arrest Jesus. This has always been a typical religious maneuver ­ to squelch opposition by whatever means possible. Jesus indicated to the crowds and to the officers who had arrived that He was only going to remain for a brief time, and then would be returning to the presence of the One who sent Him; that He would be going to a place where they could not come or find Him. In essence He was saying to the religionists that they would never find God nor come into the presence of God as long as they remained caught up in their religion.

(140) Spiritual Thirst - John 7:37-52

   On the last day of the feast of tabernacles Jesus audaciously asserted that if people were really thirsty beyond the water libations which were part of the Jewish feast, then they should receive Him into themselves spiritually, that is drink of Him. Whenever they did so "rivers of living water" would flow through them, the activity of the Spirit of God as foretold by the prophets of old concerning the activity of the Messiah (cf. Isa. 44:3; 58:11; Zech. 14:8; Joel 3:18). Religion can never satisfy the needs of mankind; only Jesus Christ can do so. Most of the crowd did not understand what Jesus was saying, although some were convinced He was a prophet and others that He was the Messiah.

   The officers sent by the Jewish leaders were so enamored by the words of Jesus that they failed to arrest Him and returned empty-handed. This incensed the Pharisees who declared that no one with any intelligence would be duped by this deceiver. Their disdain for the common people, the laity, is revealed by their scornful comment about the people being ignorant of the Law and accursed of God. Religious "know-it-alls" are contemptuous of common and ignorant "know-nothings." "Damn the people; It's our agenda and program that must be promoted and preserved," seems to be the motto of religion.

(141) Religious Stone-throwers - John 7:53 ­ 8:11

   Despite the absence of this account from the oldest of all extant manuscripts, the incident certainly seems indicative of the character of Christ and is consistent with Jesus' confrontation of religion.
When Jesus came to the temple area the next morning the scribes and Pharisees barged into His teaching session dragging a poor bedraggled woman who they alleged had been caught in the very act of adultery. Were they a bunch of "peeping-Toms"? With no sensitivity for the woman and her feelings, they were now "using" the woman just as much as the man with whom she had laid. With calculating malice, they were using her as a pawn to lay a trap for Jesus. There is more than one way to "prostitute" a person, and religion often "uses" people for their own needs and service.

   The religious leaders alleged that Moses had commanded them in the Law to stone such women, based on Deut. 22:22-24, but in actuality their corruptions of the Law had not exercised such a penalty for a long time and the Jewish religious authorities were not allowed by the Romans to execute anyone (cf. Jn. 18:31). In consistency with their old covenant Law (Deut. 17:7), Jesus exposed their hypocrisy by saying, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Legally they did not dare do so, and spiritually they were all indicted as an "adulterous generation" (Matt. 12:39; 16:4; Mk. 8:38). The "dirty old men" among them departed first, soon followed by the others, and the woman was left with no accusers. Case dismissed! Without diminishing the reality of her sin, Jesus explains that He does not intend to judge or condemn (Jn. 3:17), and advises her to refrain from sinning.

   The religious stone-throwers are always present. They are intrusive, accusative, conniving and exploitive. They are legalistic, punitive and persistent. In their "guilt transference," they will not face up to their own sinfulness.

(142) The Light of the World - John 8:12-20

   Standing in the area of the temple treasury, Jesus may have used the large candelabra which were lighted during the Feast of Tabernacles to commemorate the pillar of fire that was the guiding light for the Israelites in the wilderness (Exod. 13:21) as a "take-off" to declare that He was the true "light of the world." He could declare this because "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all" (James 1:5), and only by partaking of Him are men "delivered from the domain of darkness" (Col. 1:13) to participate in the "light of life."

   Illustrating that "the light shined in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it" (Jn. 1:5), the Pharisees raised a legal objection of self-borne witness being invalid (cf. Jn. 5:31). Jesus retorted that divine witness and judgment is always true, for God cannot lie (Titus 1:2 ; Heb. 6:18), but they adamantly refused to accept Him as who He was. Furthermore He indicates that His witness is twofold as required by Law (Deut. 17:6; 19:15), for His witness is corroborated by the witness of His Father, two divine witnesses. In their spiritual obtuseness, the religious leaders ask, "Where is your Father?", knowing full well that He referred to God as His Father. Jesus then indicts the religious leaders for not even knowing God whom they allege to serve, for there is an inseparable link between knowing Jesus Christ and knowing God. "No man comes to the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6). The indictment against religion and its adherents remains: They do not know God through Jesus Christ.

(143) Where is He Going? - John 8:21-30

   In the continuing verbal confrontation that Jesus had with the Jewish religious leaders in the temple area, Jesus utters the most blatant exposure of their religious position. Holding no punches Jesus reveals the antithesis between Himself and religion.

   Again He explains that He is going where they cannot come and will not find Him, that because He is going to the presence of God and their nature and character is so contrary to the nature and character of God that they cannot enter into the perfect presence of God, but will die in their sinfulness. The destination and destiny of Jesus and those identified with Him as Christians is antithetical to that of those participating in religion. They are going two different directions. Christians, identified with Christ, are going to heaven, and those who remain in religion apart from Jesus Christ are going to hell.

   Clearly cognizant that He was referring to His going to a spiritual place, the religionists insinuate that He is going to commit suicide and go to hell. On the contrary, Jesus indicates that it is they, the religionists, whose origin and orientation is from the nether world. Religion originates from hell, from the "god of this world" (II Cor. 4:4), from the "spirit of the world" (I Cor. 2:12), who has affected the whole of mankind (Eph. 2:2; I Jn. 5:19) in the world (I Jn. 4:4), working in them his "power of death" (Heb. 2:14) to cause them to die in their sins. Jesus, on the other hand, is "from above" (John 3:31), and those who are identified with Him are "born from above" (John 3:3,7) and "not of this world" (John 17:14,16), but "citizens of heaven" (Phil. 3:20). The Christianity that Jesus Christ came to bring in Himself is worlds apart from religion for they are derived from two opposite spiritual sources. Christianity is derived from God; religion is derived from the devil.

   "Unless you believe that I AM (Exod. 3:14)," Jesus said to the religionists; "unless you are receptive to the ontological indwelling presence of Yahweh, by My spiritual indwelling within your spirit, you will die in your sins, despite how religious you might be." "Well, who do you think you are?" the religionists respond. Jesus explains to them that He had repeatedly affirmed that He had been sent from the God who is true (John 3:3; 7:28), the One who is ultimate Reality, and that He derived everything that He said from Him. "I do nothing of My own initiative," from an independent exercise of divine authority or action, Jesus said, "but what I say is what the Father says, for the Father abiding in Me does His works" (John 14:10). Jesus was not "left alone" in the incarnation to do a solo performance, but was in spiritual union with God as the God-man, allowing God the Father to manifest His character and activity in the humanity of Jesus in a manner that was totally pleasing to the Father. Christians identified in spiritual union with Christ are likewise not relegated to being "left alone" in religious performance, but are to derive all that they are and do from His activity, for "apart from Him, we can do nothing" (John 15:5) and are "not sufficient in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves" (II Cor. 3:5).

   "When you religionists lift me up in crucifixion (cf. Jn. 3:14; 12:32,34), then you will know that I AM the personification of Yahweh who has come to take your sin and give you His life," Jesus tells them. When the remedial action of Christ's death for men's sins is made evident in the restorative action of the very life of God restored to man by the resurrection, then the reality of God's action in Jesus is revealed.

(144) Truth and Freedom - John 8:31-37

   Religion always asserts that it has discovered the truth in its ideological and propositional belief systems and moralistic codes of conduct, but Jesus asserted that the only way to be a Christian disciple and to know the reality of divine Truth is to settle in and abide in His expression of the Divine as the Word of God, thus allowing the divine Truth to make you free to be man as God intended man to be. Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6) who sets the Christian free (Gal. 5:1) and calls us to freedom (Gal. 5:13) from all the strictures and structures of religion.

   Like religionists throughout the centuries, the Jewish leaders did not want to admit that they were or had been in bondage to any man, even though they had been in bondage to Egypt, Syria and Babylon, and were now reacting to the bondage of Roman rule. Jesus was not talking about being in bondage to man, though. The English word "religion" is derived from the Latin word religo which means "to bind up." Religion is inevitably a bondage to rules and regulations and rituals of devotion, but deeper still it is a spiritual bondage to subservience in the expression of the character and activity of Satan. The sinful and murderous religionists who were arguing with Him were in bondage to and enslaved by the diabolic source of all sin. The one who commits sin derives what he does from the devil (I John 3:8). Religion is the sinful pastime of the devil himself as he inspires men to engage in the self-effort of subservient performance which can never please God, but only binds up the performer in a false hope.

(145) Spiritual Derivation of Religion - John 8:38-59

   Proud of their physical descendancy from Abraham within the Jewish religion, the religious leaders then reacted to Jesus' referring to God as His Father and His being the Son who would abide in God's house forever while they, the religionists, were but slaves of sin who were duped into thinking that they were "working" and performing in God's house but would have to return to the permanent quarters of their slave master. "Abraham is our father," the Jewish leaders asserted. "Your sinful and murderous intents to kill Me reveal that your spiritual paternity is not the same as Abraham," Jesus charged, "for your character and deeds are contrary to those exhibited by Abraham." In order to be blessed of God along with Abraham, one must have faith in God like Abraham (Gal. 3:6,9), and these religious antagonists did not have such. They could not see and understand what God was doing in His Son, Jesus Christ. "You must have another spiritual father other than the one that Abraham had," Jesus said to them. Such a charge of spiritual illegitimacy when they believed themselves to be "God's chosen people" within a special relationship with God involving racial superiority, prompted the Jews to assert that they were not illegitimate children, but claimed God as their father. "God's children love God and recognize what God is doing," Jesus responded, "and you do not love Me nor accept what I am doing, so you must not be spiritually related to God."

   The boldest and most blatant indictment of the religionists is then expressed when Jesus said, "You are of your father the devil." The children of the devil are obvious (I John 3:10) because they act like the devil! The homicidal and murderous intentions of the Jewish religionists evidenced their affinity of character with the devil, who in the beginning inspired Cain to murder his brother (I John 3:12). Though religion always thinks that they have the content of truth, it is all a pack of lies for they derive their thinking from the "father of lies." Religion is of the devil. It is derived ek diabolos. It is not of God, and God hates religion. When Jesus lived sinlessly as a man expressing perfectly the righteous character of God in all that He said and did for thirty-three years, the prevailing religion of the region did not recognize God in action because they did not know God.

   Having exposed the illegitimacy of their religion, the only response that the Jewish leaders could muster was to attempt to cast aspersion on Jesus' physical heritage and spiritual condition by hurling an insulting epithet calling Him a "Samaritan with a demon." Jesus calmly points out that one who has a demon does not honor God and seek His glory. Then He invited them to join Him in expressing the character of God whereby they would avoid the everlasting death consequences of sin. In scorn and derision they assert their identification with their religious father-figure, Abraham, noting that he died and Jesus must really be demon-crazy to think that He could offer people a life that could not die. Jesus took the argument the other direction into the past by asserting that Abraham rejoiced in faith to see the day of salvation that He was bringing as the Messiah, for prior to Abraham even being born He had pre-existed as the I AM of Yahweh, whom these Jewish religionists were now rejecting.

   In this argumentative clash with the Jewish religionists Jesus had "passed the point of no return" in His confrontation with and exposure of religion as the antithesis of everything He came to bring in Himself. Blinded with rage, the religious leaders would have killed Him themselves right there in the temple in violation of both Roman and Jewish law, had Jesus not exited expeditiously.

(146) Who is Really Blind? - John 9:1-41

   The "face-off" between Jesus and the Jewish religious authorities in Jerusalem continues. On a Sabbath day subsequent to the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus and His disciples passed by a man who had been blind since birth. The Jewish religion, and all religion in general, tends to explain physical suffering as a direct consequence of specific sins for which God is causing or allowing retributive or punitive effects. Such natural religious reasoning becomes more difficult when there is congenital blindness, but they often revert to explanations of sin in a previous existence, pre-natal sin, punishment for future sin foreknown by God, or the sin of the parents. The disciples asked Jesus about the cause of the condition of this man's congenital blindness. Jesus is not interested in the religious "cause and effect" arguments, the natural explanations of human logic, the "whys" and the "wherefores," but instead wants to look forward to the opportunities of observing what God can do. Avoiding procedural speculations, Jesus felt a sense of urgency and priority to explain that the time of his temporary redemptive mission was brief and He was obliged to illumine mankind as to His true being.

   Consistent with the prophecies of the Messiah bringing sight to the blind (cf. Isa. 29:18; 35:5; 42:7), Jesus made clay from His spit, placed such on the eyes of the blind man, told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam, which he obediently did, and the man saw for the first time. Recall that John the Baptist was assured of Jesus' Messiahship by fact that "the blind receive sight" (Matt. 11:5).

   Since their rules and regulations were more important than the plight of people, the Pharisees regarded the making of clay as a inexcusable violation of the prohibition of working on the Sabbath. They failed to understand God's intent for the Sabbath as a day of rest to enjoy what God had done and is doing, much less that Jesus came to make all of life a rest in the sufficiency of God's grace (Heb. 4:1-11). In their presupposition that Jesus was a "sinner" because of His Sabbath violation, they would not believe that this was a supernatural work of God in causing a congenitally blind man to see. Unable to intimidate the healed man to deny the miracle that had taken place in his body, the religionists then attempted to intimidate his parents to reject their son under the threat of excommunication. Unable to do so, the religious inquisitors returned to interrogate the man again, trying to force him to agree that Jesus was a sinner. In their narrow exclusivism religion tends to accuse all nonconformists of being "sinners."

   When the previously blind beggar outwitted the religious leaders by his honesty, the religious Pharisees fell back on their false-loyalties of being "disciples of Moses," even though Jesus had previously said, "if you believed Moses, you would believe Me" (Jn. 5:46). Exercising their false religious authority, the religionists excommunicated the healed man consigning him to a life of social ostracism.

   Who were the ones who were really blind? Religion is blind to the spiritual reality of Jesus Christ, blinded in their unbelief by Satan himself (II Cor. 4:4). Such spiritual blindness is indicative of all natural men, but those who become aware of their blindness can have their eyes opened to turn from darkness to light (Acts 26:18) in conversion. Religion, on the other hand, is blind to their own blindness (doubly blind), adamantly claiming to "see" spiritual things in their epistemological creeds, doctrines and theologies, and to be intellectually enlightened, thereby remaining confirmed and fixed (Jn. 12:40) in their spiritual blindness, proud unbelief, and sinful spiritual condition. Jesus repeatedly referred to the religionists as "blind men" (Matt. 23:17,19,24,26; Lk. 6:39) and "blind guides of the blind" (Matt. 15:14; 23:16).

(147) The Good Shepherd and False Shepherds - John 10:1-21

   Religionists are exposed again in the allegory that Jesus uses of His being the Good Shepherd of God's sheep, which was also a Messianic expectation (Isa. 40:11; Ezek. 34:23; 37:24). In the spiritual kingdom that Jesus came to bring in Himself, He is both the door through whom all God's people must enter, and the shepherd who leads, cares for, converses with, and lays down His life for the sheep. Religionists, on the other hand, are false prophets, wolves in sheep's clothing (Matt. 7:15), self-appointed false shepherds, who steal from the people (Lk. 11:39), plunder the people (Matt. 23:14), murder (Jn. 8:44) and destroy (II Thess. 2:3). The strange voice of religion preys upon people and destroys people, robbing them of all hope and fleecing them of their possessions. Religious leaders are hirelings and mercenaries who are not prophets but are engaged for the profit. Having no genuine love or compassion for God's people, they have become paid professionals for their own personal interest and gain. They are not willing to invest their lives for people, but when trouble comes they bail out and flee to save their own hides; "worthless shepherds who leave the flock" (Zech. 11:17).

   As the Good Shepherd of God, Jesus has an intimate relationship of spiritual union with His people, wherein they know Him and He knows them, and they listen to His voice in obedience. This is much deeper than the religious epistemology that merely "knows about" Jesus and advocates legalistic obedience and commitment to Him.

   Jesus also challenged religious exclusivism and racial superiority by indicating that He had "other sheep, not of this fold," that is other than Jews. The gospel of the kingdom is a universal invitation to all peoples to become one flock, one Body (Eph. 4:4), one People (I Pt. 2:9), one humanity (Eph. 2:14) in Jesus Christ, based upon His voluntary death and resurrection for all mankind. "Jew and Gentile; all are one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28).

   The Jewish religionists were quite aware that they had been painted in a bad light by Jesus' allegory, and that their proud and exclusivistic attitudes of superiority had been challenged. They reverted to hurling the same old hackneyed charges of Jesus being insane and possessed of a demon (Jn. 7:20; 8:48).

(148) Seventy Sent Out - Luke 10:1-24

   Whether the seventy were sent out in Judea, Galilee or elsewhere is not known. The significance of the number seventy has been variously correlated with the seventy elders who were selected to assist Moses, the seventy members of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the seventy translators of the Septuagint, and the Jewish reckoning of seventy nations in the world.

   As with His instructions to the twelve disciples when sent throughout Galilee (Matt. 9:35-11:1), Jesus refers to the urgency of the spiritual harvest while there is still time to reap, and cautions against the religious wolves who would tear them apart. Protracted oriental greetings were to be dispensed with along with all religious scruples about proper food items. The message to be shared was that "the kingdom of God has come near." Jesus Christ has come to function as King in the lives of mankind. Those who rejected their proclamation were not rejecting them personally but rejecting Christ who they proclaimed.

   When the seventy returned they testified of demons being subject to them, and Jesus noted that Satan was indeed a defeated foe. He cautioned them about spiritual pride, encouraging them instead to rejoice that by God's grace they were citizens of heaven. Jesus Himself rejoiced that the religious leaders who were regarded as wise and intelligent could not understand spiritual things, but the simple people who were receptive to what God was doing received the revelation of God through the Son. He reminded the sharers that many of the prophets and kings of the past had desired to see and hear the fulfillment of God's promises, but "died without receiving the promises" (Heb. 11:13), while they had the privilege of seeing God's restoration of life in Him.

(149) Love For Your Neighbor - Luke 10:25-29

   Perhaps feeling the sting of being portrayed as wise and intelligent yet ignorant of spiritual realities, a Jewish religious lawyer, well-versed in Jewish Law, tried to test Jesus by asking, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus responded with another question, asking, "What does the Law require? How do you interpret it?" The lawyer replied by quoting the familiar Jewish Shema, to which Jesus countered, "Do this, and you shall live." This religious leader understood the letter of the Law but not the spirit of the Law (II Cor. 3:6). He did not understand that eternal life is not a consequence of religious performance, but is extended by God's grace embodied in the person of Jesus Christ and received by faith. Jesus knew full well that to love God and one's neighbor required the presence of the God who is Love (I John 4:8,16) and the active expression of such love toward others by God's grace activity, manifesting the character of the One who is eternal life.

   Trying to save face after asking such an obvious question and failing to understand the answer, the lawyer attempts to embroil Jesus in a discussion of who should be regarded as a "neighbor" and thus recipients of one's love. "Who is my neighbor?" he asks, knowing that the Jews in their religious exclusivism did not regard anyone other than other Jews as legitimate recipients of their love. Samaritans and Gentiles did not qualify as lovable. Beyond that the Jewish religionists in their intolerance of nonconformity were not very neighborly in their love of Jesus either, as they were attempting to kill Him.

(150) Parable of the Wounded Traveller - Luke 10:30-37

   Jesus told a parable about a wounded traveler whose racial identity is not noted, though it is often assumed that he was Jewish since the majority of travelers between Jerusalem and Jericho were Jewish. He was accosted by robbers who beat him and left him for dead. A Jewish priest passed by, but would not risk being defiled by touching what might be a dead body. Then a Jewish Levite distanced himself as far as possible from dealing with an ailing man in distress. Neither was very neighborly in their love, and Jesus was obviously indicting religion for its insensitive and heartless lovelessness. What can you expect from those who do not know the love of God in Jesus Christ (I John 4:7,20)? To add insult to injury in the story, it is a despised half-breed Samaritan who exhibits neighborly love to the wounded traveler, evidencing the fraudulent nature of Jewish exclusivism and racial prejudice.

   In contrast to the proud exclusivism and performance of the Jewish religionists, Jesus indicates that a person will only understand God's gracious love of others in the kingdom when he has made the "end-run" of religious "works," and is "down and out" and ready to die like a wounded traveler on the road of life, unable to save himself. Jesus Himself would bring eternal life out of death, when as a wounded traveler on the path of this world, He would be "despised and forsaken, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief" (Isa. 53:3). The kingdom of God is comprised of wounded travelers who have been accosted by thieves, rejected by religionists, but often outside of the accepted religious orders they have been recipients of God's grace in Jesus Christ in order to be restored to spiritual health and functional holiness by the presence and expression of Christ's eternal life.

   Jesus was not saying that the Samaritan religion was better than the Jewish religion because they knew better how to perform "good" acts for those in need. Neither was He encouraging exemplary religious imitation of the "good" acts of the "Good Samaritan," as religion has proceeded to misname this parable. Rather, Jesus was exposing the bigotry, pride and exclusivism of all religion, contrasting such with the condition of the wounded traveler who in his dying condition was a recipient of God's grace which becomes the modus operandi of the Kingdom of Christ, as the dynamic of the One who is eternal life and love extends Himself to every neighbor in need. The parable of "The Wounded Traveler" reveals that a basic reality of the kingdom is life out of death which is then offered to all in need.

   When Jesus asked the Jewish lawyer which character was most loving to his neighbor in the parable, the lawyer could not bring himself to admit it was a Samaritan, and replied only, "the one who showed mercy." Jesus exhorted the Jewish lawyer to "Go and do likewise," not as an admonition to imitate the example of moral goodness and nicety of the Samaritan, but knowing that the only way one can love that way is when "the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Rom. 5:5) in order to "love one another" as the "fruit of the Spirit" (Gal. 5:22).

(151) Mary and Martha - Luke 10:38-42

   On some occasion while Jesus was in Judea, He passed through the village of Bethany and was received into the home of two sisters, Mary and Martha. The thematic connection of this incident to the previous one cited by Luke may the common mind-set of Martha and the lawyer that the performance of good works has a meritorious benefit before God.

   Though Martha seems to have issued the invitation for Jesus to dine with them, she immediately became preoccupied in the preparations for the meal. Troubled and anxious, worried and bothered, about "serving the Lord" (along with many in religion), she failed to realize that "God is not served with human hands, as though He needed anything" (Acts 17:25). Meanwhile Mary found a seat in front of Jesus and was listening attentively to His every word. Martha's attitude soon became critical and jealous, and she began to have a personal pity-party. She chastised Jesus for being uncaring, and instructed Him to command her sister to assist her in the meal preparation. This woman was certainly out of place, for Jesus could never be legitimately charged with being uncaring about people, and it was not her place to tell the Lord what to do.

   "Martha, Martha," the Good Shepherd called her by name, "you are fretting and fussing, distracted by many details; the one thing needed is that you should be devotedly dependent upon Me, listening receptively in obedience." Many within religion have become preoccupied with their busyness in serving the Lord, failing to be receptive vessels focused on Jesus Christ, listening to His direction, and allowing Him to function through their behavior.

(152) Prayer and the Friend of Man - Luke 11:1-4

   Ever the slow-learners, the disciples of Jesus came to Him after observing Him in prayer, requesting some "how-tos" for a religious regimen of prayer, like John the Baptist offered his disciples. Religion clamors incessantly for disciplines of prayer, thinking that discovering the secret of certain techniques and procedures will put them in touch with God and prove beneficial to their lives. To rely upon God's grace always seems so nebulous, insubstantial and undocumentable.

   Jesus repeats some of the concepts of prayer enunciated to those gathered on the hillside (Matt. 6:9-13). Those having a personal, spiritual relationship with God as children of the Father, address Him as such recognizing He has provided for everything they need in Jesus Christ. They are aware of the holiness of God's character invested within them by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Participating in the kingdom, God's people are desirous that Jesus Christ might reign as Lord and King in their lives in the midst of every situation. Having received forgiveness by the presence of the Forgiver, Jesus Christ, they learn to appropriate and appreciate God's forgiveness all the more as He continues to manifest His character of forgiveness through them unto others. They know that God will not allow them to be tempted beyond what they are able to endure (I Cor. 10:13) by the sufficiency of the indwelling work of Christ. Christian prayer is Christocentric prayer that repeatedly remembers the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

(153) Parable of Friend at Midnight - Luke 11:5-13)

   In the parable of the friend approached at midnight Jesus emphasizes that prayer is the process of remembering that the grace of God gives us everything we need. The history of religious interpretation of this parable reveals that they have consistently misinterpreted the story, believing that human prayer prompts God into action on their behalf and that persistent nagging, begging and haranguing will cause God to concede and cater to their desires. Some have even had the audacity to suggest that we have a "right" to demand that God act in accord with our desires and "divvy-up" His blessings and prosperity. Religion tends to regard prayer as a "discipline" or "work" that we engage in, whereto God has subjected Himself to an inexorable "law of prayer" to employ the "power of prayer" when we persistently engage in the proper technique. On the contrary, Jesus is explaining the correct attitude of prayer in this parable.

   God is the greatest friend that mankind has, and He is at "rest" in the sufficiency of His works. In the midst of our darkest midnight hour we approach God with our need. If God were a mere man He might be tempted to dismiss us as selfish beggars seeking more hand-outs, and inform us that He does not want to be troubled with our last-minute requests. But God is not a mere man; He knows our every need; and God is particularly responsive when we come before Him with an attitude that shamelessly and desperately admits our own inadequacy and inability to provide, willing to rely on Him for His provision. God's grace sufficiently supplies as much as we need. When we ask and seek and knock, knowing that our life depends on such receptivity of God's grace, we can be sure that God's sufficient grace will supply. The attitude for the "prayer of faith" is expressed when we admit, "I cannot; only You can. I have not; only You have. I seek; only You can supply." The emphasis is not on persistence in prayer, but on the desperation of attitude that admits personal inability.

   To cap His point about prayer being receptive to the grace of God, Jesus notes that if religious people, deriving their character from the Evil One, know how to give good gifts to their children, then how much more will God in His grace give men what they really need, the dynamic of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, to participate in "all things" (I Cor. 3:21-23) of God's intent, as they are receptive to such in faith.

(154) Who is of the Devil? - Luke 11:14-26

   Seeing a man who could not speak because of demon activity, Jesus cast the demon out of him. The Jewish religionists who were grasping at every opportunity to deride Jesus, again charged (cf. Matt. 12:24; Mk. 3:22) that he was casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, that is by the black-magic power of Satan. Jesus noted that civil war is always self-destructive and that the diabolic destroyer is smart enough not to destroy his own kingdom. He then questioned whether they would employ the same reasoning about their Jewish colleagues who were also engaged in exorcisms and would not appreciate such critical reasoning.

   The only logical conclusion to be drawn was that Jesus was casting out demons by the divine activity of "the finger of God" (cf. Exod. 8:19), evidencing that the victorious kingdom of God had come to earth in defeat of Satan (Heb. 2:14; I Jn. 3:8), allowing God to reign in His people. The diabolic strong man could hold his own in the empire of evil until the divine Strong Man of the Messiah (cf. Rev. 18:8) came and conquered him, setting men free from his possession and control. Jesus turned the tables on the Jewish leaders, indicating that it was not He who was employing the power of the devil, but they who were allied with Satan. Using a parabolic analogy, Jesus indicates that God desired to cast the unclean spirit of Satan out of Judaism as a whole. The Messiah had come to thus exorcise Judaism and put humanity in order. The Jewish peoples, however, would not accept what God was doing in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and because of their unbelief, pride and self-righteousness they remained spiritually thirsty, restless and unfulfilled. As a result of such Jewish rejection the demonic spirits returned to Judaism seven times worse than before, and would incur the greater judgment of God. Jesus clearly indicated that there can be no middle ground between Christianity and religion for these form a polarized antithesis. Whoever is not spiritually united with Christ is an antagonist aligned with the Evil One. Those not united in Christ often engage in religious divisiveness, sectarianism and the disunity of mankind.

(155) Blessedness - Luke 11:27,28

   In the midst of Jesus' exposure of Jewish religion an unidentified woman blurts out an adoration of Jesus' physical mother. This is consistent with religious fertility cults and their attempts at feminine deification of goddesses, which later was evidenced in the "Mariolatry" and worship of Mary in Roman Catholicism. Instead of accepting this pronouncement of the blessedness of His mother, Mary, Jesus noted that it is Christians who are blessed (Eph. 1:3) when they listen to God, receive the Word of God in Jesus Christ, and allow Him to live in and through them.

(156) Greater Than Jonah - Luke 11:29-36

   Jesus continued to explain that the religious generation that was opposing Him was wicked in their identification with the Wicked One. They constantly tried to put Him to the test seeking supernatural signs of His Messiahship which were in essence asking God to perform on demand. Once again (cf. Matt. 12:39; 16:4) Jesus offered only the "sign of Jonah," implying that just as Jonah proclaimed a coming judgment of God and the need of repentance, He who was greater than Jonah was doing the same. The religionists of Palestine did not have the same good sense as the Ninevites, however, and were persisting in their unbelief. The religious leaders, like Jonah, were angry at what God was doing in being gracious and compassionate through His Son, Jesus Christ. The Ninevites therefore stood in condemnation of the first-century Palestinians who refused to repent and participate in God's mercy.

   Even the Queen of Sheba recognized and sought after the wisdom of God expressed through Solomon (cf. I Kings 10; II Chron 9), but the first-century Jews failed to recognize and seek the wisdom of God in Christ (cf. I Cor. 1:24,30), who was greater than Solomon, seeking instead to kill Him. A heathen, Gentile queen would therefore condemn those who thought they were God's people.

   The light of the gospel of Jesus Christ cannot be hidden, however. It could not be placed in the dark cellar vault of the unbelieving hearts of the Jewish people, nor covered by the baskets of their indifference. The spiritual light of Jesus Christ will inevitably serve to illuminate all mankind. Those who have spiritual vision and receptivity will allow the fullness of Christ to illuminate every part of their being as "children of light" (Eph. 5:8). Religion, on the other hand, is spiritually blind seeking false "enlightenment" that is actually spiritual darkness.

(157) Pharisees and Lawyers Denounced - Luke 11:37-44

   Repudiating the false piety of religion which isolates itself in a "holier-than-thou" attitude of superiority, Jesus accepted the invitation of a Pharisee to have lunch with him. Without pretense, haughtiness or condescension Jesus accepted all peoples as equals, and was willing to have social table-fellowship with them, contrary to the religious practices of that day. The Pharisee observed, however, that Jesus did not participate in the ceremonial and ritualistic washings inculcated by Jewish religion to cleanse oneself of defilement (as if water could wash away sin or evil).

   Straight-forwardly and unabashedly, Jesus charges the Pharisaic religionists with cleansing the exterior of the cup, but being internally full of the rotten character of spiritual impurity. Religion is so often senselessly and socially concerned with the externalities of propriety, while totally ignorant of internal spiritual cleansing by the work of Jesus Christ. "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (I Sam. 16:7). Spiritual cleanness is only a result of the purity of God's character indwelling a Christian person, and such can then be offered to others rather than trying to protect oneself from the defilement of others.

   The second charge against the Pharisees pertained to the minutia of tithing laws which they so meticulously tried to keep, meanwhile missing the expression of God's character of justice, love and genuine givingness. Genuine Christian giving within the kingdom of God is the expression of the givingness of God's character, and not mandated percentages of material things.

   Indicative of most religion, the Pharisees sought respectability from the laity, demanding prestige, popularity and esteem in being recognized with titles of honor. Religion does not seek the honor and glory of God, but the honor and glory of men.

   Jesus indicated that the Pharisaic religionists were like unmarked graves, full of spiritual death and defilement, into which unsuspecting people could fall unawares into the rotten hole of darkness. Religion is but a pit of death, whereas Christianity is life in Jesus Christ.

(158) Lawyers Denounced - Luke 11:45-54

   One of the Jewish lawyers who was present at this luncheon, seated in proper order of worthiness, complained that Jesus was also insulting the legal academics in his denunciation of the Pharisees. Jesus does not apologize, but rather lambastes the lawyers just as severely.

   With their legalistic imposition of religious rules and regulations the lawyers caused the people to be "bound-up" and burdened with unending and confusing requirements. Meanwhile the religious lawyers found loopholes and favorable interpretations by which they considered themselves to be "above the law." Religious leaders seldom live up to the expectations they have for others, and often mock and ridicule the people who sincerely attempt to keep all the rules they have imposed.

   The religious lawyers of Jesus' day were involved in building elaborate tombs and monuments to the prophets of the old covenant, hypocritically ignoring the fact that their Jewish ancestors had killed many of these prophets. Jesus exposed them by noting that their hearts were no different than their ancestral fathers, for they were trying to kill Him, the climactic prophet of God. The culpability of their fathers in murdering the prophets who foretold of the Messiah would be added to their own accountability for the murder of the Messiah Himself.

   A final indictment of the Jewish lawyers charged them with taking away the key to knowledge of God. Religion has traditionally engaged in obscuritanism which seeks to make God so complex and confusing that the average person cannot hope to know Him, except through the intervention and mediation of the religious leaders. Religion hinders people from the simple knowing of God through Jesus Christ (cf. John 17:3).

   Not surprisingly, the hostile reaction of the religionists soon terminated the luncheon. The Jewish leades still wanted to interrogate Jesus in order to ambush Him in a misstatement.

(159) Pharisaic Hypocrisy - Luke 12:1-12

   Luke records an extended teaching session that probably took place somewhere in Judea, though the location is not recorded. A multitude of people had gathered and Jesus employs many of the same themes that He used in the Sermon on the Mount. There seems to be a greater sense of urgency in Jesus' teaching now, as He warns the people of impending judgment and the need for repentance, aware of His own imminent death and the coming destruction of Palestine by the Romans.

   Jesus begins by warning of the pervasive permeation of the hypocritical attitudes of the Pharisees. Hypocrisy is not just insincerity, deception, pretense and fraud, but is inclusive of the role-playing that goes through repetitive religious motions believing that they will in some way please God. Such religious play-acting will be unmasked, for such hypocrisy does not escape God's scrutiny. The hidden self-motivations of religion will be revealed. "God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus" (Rom. 2:16; cf. II Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:11-15).

   As His followers prepare to be scattered and sent out throughout the world, Jesus cautions them not to be afraid of the persecution of the religionists who can kill the body but not the soul. They may seem to have so much power and authority, but the One to fear is God who will judge all men. In the midst of such persecution and suffering it is important to remember that nothing is insignificant to God, whether it be a sparrow or the number of hairs on one's head. God's people are precious to Him, and He will care for His own. Even when they are hauled before religious and governmental authorities, they need not be anxious about defending themselves, for the indwelling Holy Spirit of Christ will be the dynamic who puts words in their mouth.

   To agree with God that Christ is the Messiah allows for an eternal concurrence with the character of God. To deny or reject Christ as Messiah creates an incompatibility with the character of God that can become so fixed in the defiant repudiation of apostasy that one can develop a hardened heart by which they place themselves beyond the effectiveness of God's forgiveness. The Jewish religionists attacking Jesus were in danger of such an attitude of fixed antithesis to God's activity and blasphemy of the Spirit of God that they would be irreversibly damned. All participants in religion are in danger of such as they essentially deny the ontological dynamic of the life of Jesus Christ.

(160) Parable of Rich Fool - Luke 12:13-34

   When an inquirer asked Jesus to settled a legal dispute with his brother, Jesus recognized his covetous greed and his attempt to "use" Jesus' didactic authority without submitting to His divine authority as Lord. Jesus explained that real life is not to be found in the greedy acquisition of supposed possessions, though much religion regards such prosperity as a sign of God's blessing, but life is found only in Him who is life (John 14:6). Mankind does not own or possess anything, but as a derivative man is receptive to a spiritual source.

   The parable of the rich fool exposes the false security that religion often places in material things, though such false security can also be placed in correct procedures and rituals, or in orthodox belief-systems, etc. Such false placement of one's security often causes one to become self-congratulatory, to attempt to rest on one's laurels, and to engage in hedonistic self-pleasure. Spiritual riches are found only in Jesus Christ (cf. Eph. 1:7,18; 2:7; 3:8,16), who alone is the basis of our security.

   The life that God intended for mankind is much more than mere concern for survival sustenance. God is our provider, and we need not have an undue preoccupation of anxiety for the externalities of physical survival. Our priority should be to seek a full appreciation of the kingdom of God (cf. Matt. 6:33) wherein all our needs will be supplied (cf. Phil. 4:19) as Christ reigns in life in us. The "nations of the world" seek physical security, but the "citizens of heaven" (Phil. 3:20) find their security in Christ. The "little flock" of God's people who follow the Shepherd, Jesus Christ, and participate in the kingdom are not so much concerned about material acquisitions as they are in expressing the givingness of God's character by giving what they have been entrusted with to others, revealing that their heart is filled with the spiritual treasure of Christ. When Christ is our treasure (II Cor. 4:7), such is not vulnerable to earthly loss or destruction, and provides us with eternal security.

(161) Parable of Faithful Steward - Luke 12:35-48

   Seeking to prepare His disciples while at the same time addressing and redressing the Jewish religionists, Jesus tells the parable of the faithful and alert steward. The coming judgment of God requires God's people to be on the alert, to be expectant and available to all that God wants to do. The sudden and unknown timing of the coming judgment will be like an intrusive thief who does not send calling cards with appointments. Jesus knew that a catastrophic judgment was coming upon the Palestinian peoples within a few decades. He could see that the Jewish religion was completely dilatory in preparing the people for such, and served as the primary contributor to their rejection of the Messiah. Consistent with all religion, they were abusing the people and engaging in self-serving pleasure. They would undoubtedly pay the punishment for such irresponsible leadership. The Son of Man did come in judgment upon the unbelief of Jewish religion in 70 A.D. Many of the Palestinians Christians were alert and prepared spiritually by faithful receptivity and expectancy, along with the repudiation of temporal materialism, while the Judaic leaders and peoples paid the consequences of their unbelief and materialistic preoccupation. Religion today continues to be unprepared for the coming of the Son of Man, engaging in the same kinds of abuse of people and pleasure-seeking. They mistakenly believe that readiness for the coming of Christ is achieved in being virtuous, living the Christian life as one ought, getting involved in religious service, and having all sins confessed. They engage in speculation of the imminence of a future coming of Christ, rather than in faithful expectation of His impending coming by alert availability and appreciation of His life. They, too, will face the consequences "with the unbelievers."

(162) Judgment is Coming - Luke 12:49-49

   Looking forward to all that He was going to do through His death and resurrection, Jesus exclaims, "I came to set the earth on fire, and how I wish that it were already ignited into an incendiary conflagration." The fire of God's activity among men was yet to be graphically illustrated on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:3) after Christ's resurrection, as well as in the fire of judgment in 70 A.D. Prior to this overwhelming of fire, Jesus knew that He had to undergo an overwhelming of suffering and death at the cross, and it weighed heavy on Him that such should be accomplished. When all of this transpired, however, it would not be in accord with the Jewish expectations of the Messiah conquering the oppressors and bringing a utopian peace wherein the Jews would be in control of their own destiny. Rather, the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6) would bring conflict and a division of loyalties even among family members, for some will resist and refuse to receive the spiritual peace that He brings (cf. Rom. 5:1; Phil. 4:8). The priority of Jesus Christ as life demands a detachment from physical attachments, in order to find solidarity in Christ, as the family of God, the Body of Christ.

   Still thinking of the coming judgment of God upon the Jews, Jesus again (cf. Matt. 16:2,3) charges the Jewish peoples with being able to evaluate the meteorological matters of the Mediterranean weather patterns, but at the same time being spiritually ignorant and unable to discern "the present time" when a catastrophic storm was brewing wherein God would bring judgment upon them all. Jesus is explaining that the present time is a time for the Jewish people to make some important decisions. Instead, they are like a man on his way to face the judge and be indicted and sentenced to prison, but they adamantly refuse to come to agreement, to give in, to change their mind in repentance, to be reconciled and to accept freedom in Christ. By their own choice, they will therefore have to pay the penalty for their own sins in full.

(163) Repent or Perish - Luke 13:1-5

   Some listeners reported to Jesus that Pilate had murdered some Galileans, probably thinking that He would sympathize with people from His own region, and denounce the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. Jesus does not address the grievance, but seems to indicate that such is a minor calamity compared to the major catastrophe that is facing the Jewish peoples of Palestine unless they repent. He brings up another incident when eighteen Jewish people were killed while they were on a work detail for Pilate, building the tower of Siloam. The prevalent Jewish thinking was that they were punished by God for working for the Roman governor. Jesus foretells that all of the people of Jerusalem are going to suffer a similar plight when the walls of Jerusalem fall upon them in the destruction of the entire city. Political judgment and gravitational judgment both picture the divine judgment coming upon the unbelieving Jewish people.

(164) Parable of Fig Tree - Luke 13:6-9

   The parable of the fig tree illustrates that the Jewish peoples in their Jewish religion had been unfruitful in their persistent unbelief in what God was doing. Though deserving of God's immediate judgment, they were being spared and given a last chance of a limited probationary period prior to the enactment of His judgment in order to repent and receive Jesus Christ as Messiah, Savior and Lord. This limited window of opportunity would soon be closed, and if they were not penitent and receptive to Jesus they would be "cut down" in divine judgment, as they were in 70 A.D.

(165) People are Most Important - Luke 13:10-21

   In His last recorded work in a Jewish synagogue, Jesus healed a woman who had been demonically diseased for eighteen years. She was freed from the captivity and bondage of Satan's control. Jesus did this on the Jewish Sabbath, demonstrating that He was not confined in the religious bondage of Jewish Sabbatarian scrupulosity, and that He recognized God's true intent for the Sabbath to be a day to enjoy God's work.

   The Jewish synagogue official was appalled that Jesus would do such work on the Sabbath. Jesus responded by exposing the hypocrisy of having more concern for animals than for a Satan-bound individual. The religious adversaries were ashamed, as religion ought to be, publicly humiliated by their lack of compassion for people.

   Such religious insensitivity for people and legalistic preoccupation with rules and regulations will not be able to quench the growth of the kingdom of God, however. Reiterating the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven (cf. Matt. 13:31-35; Mk. 4:30-32), Jesus predicts the inevitable growth and conquest of the kingdom. Though the size of the group involved in the kingdom seemed small and insignificant at the time, just Jesus and a few disciples, like the tiny mustard seed the kingdom of God would grow into a full-sized tree, and the religious "birds" would nest in its branches. Like leaven, the dynamic reality of the life of Jesus Christ would permeate and pervade the world of mankind causing them to be "raised to newness of life" (Rom. 6:4). No power in the world will be able to stop the triumph of Jesus Christ.

(166) Observe My Works - John 10:22-39

   The Feast of Dedication was not a feast established in the Old Testament, but commemorated the purification and rededication of the temple by Judas Maccabeus in 164 B.C., after it was defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria, when he offered a pig on the altar of the temple (cf. I Macc. 4:52-59). This feast is still celebrated today in the Jewish Hanukkah which is still scheduled in the winter month of December.

   The antagonistic Jewish leaders encircled Jesus in the temple and challenged Him to "lay it on the line" as to whether He was claiming to be the Messiah. Jesus knew they were not honest inquirers, but were seeking to find justifiable charges to bring Him before the authorities. He simply cited His prior claims to be doing His Father's work.

   Picking up the theme of His being the Good Shepherd, Jesus noted that the religionists were not of His flock. Those who are Christians in Jesus' flock know Him, listen to Him, follow Him, have eternal life in Him, and will never be destroyed. The Jewish religion, along with all religion, is not in the flock of Christ. They do not have intimacy with God, obedience to God, eternal life or security, and will be destroyed. Security is in Christ, for there is no one more powerful than God. "I and the Father are one," Jesus declared. By this He did not mean that He and the Father were merely one in purpose, objective or will, but that He and the Father were ontologically one in Being, in essence, in nature. In other words, "I am God!"

   The Jewish religionists clearly understood His claim. They were enraged at what they considered a blasphemous pronouncement, and were intent on stoning Him to death (Lev. 24:16) right there in the temple, which would have violated both Roman and Jewish law. The blind rage of religion knows no bounds.

   When they came to Him with rocks in hand, Jesus calmly asked for the criminal charges for which they sought to kill Him. "I've never heard of anyone being stoned to death for doing good works," He says. "For which good work are you stoning Me?" The religious leaders admit that they seek to stone Him for blasphemy, for they regard Him as but a mere man who makes Himself out to be God. Jesus then plays their own game of semantic double-talk in order to show the absurdity of their actions. He cites Psalm 82:6 where the magistrates were regarded as having the authority of God and were called "gods," using such as a legal precedent for such personal designation. While the legalistic religionists were mulling over that argument, Jesus proceeded to emphasize again that the Father God was in Him and He was in the Father, implying that the Father was doing His works in Him (cf. John 14:10). Eluding His adversaries, Jesus left the temple area and the region of Judea.