Who Is Jesus? part 5: The Called and the Blessed

 

Who is this Jesus? We have seen He was regarded as the son of Joseph, but God the Father keeps telling us He is His Son. He didn't come to be just a carpenter, but to do the works of His Father. The works involved performing miracles. However, the purpose of the miracles was not to make Himself popular, but to demonstrate the mercy and love of God, showing the time of Redemption--The Jubilee--has come, when all debts are forgiven. The healings demonstrated that God has forgiven their sins. 

Now Jesus is going to show more about Himself by choosing Disciples, and talking about a new way of doing things. We have already seen a glimpse of this in how women are portrayed in the Gospel. He is already stirring things up by telling the people in His hometown that they were like their ancestors who rejected Elijah and Elisha's message from God. He is also beginning to assert His authority over the Jewish leaders. He refuses to make a hostile takeover by force. His method is love and forgiveness, offering the common people compassion and mercy. He is by no means a milquetoast, a whimp, or a delicate snowflake. He was more than willing to speak up to the leadership of the day who were addicted to religious and political power, and harshly treated people. 

What will this new way look like? What is this Kingdom of God He has been preaching about? Luke 5:27 through 6: 49 tells us more.

The Kingdom is not for the "Righteous" 5:27-32

We have already seen Jesus call four fishermen to be His Disciples. This just was not how Rabbis did it. You didn't call someone who worked a stinky job like that, who was obviously not a scholar. Simon even admits he is a "sinful man." exactly what Jesus is looking for. What is He doing?

Now Jesus approaches someone from the most despised business of all. Tax collectors were considered traitors. No one likes taxes, but when you are required to pay them to enemy invaders, that's even worse. Add to that that the tax collectors were known for their unfairness, extracting more revenue from the people than required in order to line their own pockets. You really want this guy, Jesus?

The Pharisees were quick to question Jesus hanging out with "tax collectors and sinners." Jesus reply was that He didn't come to heal healthy people or call for the righteous to repent. There is an undertone to what Jesus was saying that the Pharisees may or may not have missed. He was basically saying, "Why would I hang out with you? You think you're healthy and righteous already." This would not be the last time Jesus called out the Pharisees for their arrogance, and the insults will get much more explicate. 

The Kingdom is not a patch job 5:32-39

Within Christian circles, I often see one set of believers criticizing another for differences in how they practice various rituals. This season of the year, many observe Lent by fasting on certain days, or giving up doing or eating certain things. I definitely don't see anything wrong with that, even though I come from a non-liturgical background. The important part, I think, is doing it with the proper attitude toward God, and toward those who don't follow the same "rules" as you do. 

“One of the marks of a certain type of bad man is that he cannot give up a thing himself without wanting every one else to give it up. That is not the Christian way. An individual Christian may see fit to give up all sorts of things for special reasons--marriage, or meat, or beer, or the cinema; but the moment he starts saying the things are bad in themselves, or looking down his nose at other people who do use them, he has taken the wrong turning.”

― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

We have a tendency to look at fellow Christians and judge people for not being as outwardly devote as we are. I gave up "such and such" for God; they should have to, too. It is the same kind of jealousy the elder brother had for the prodigal. (Luke 15) "I did all this extra work while my brother was off enjoying himself, and what did I get for it?" There is also a nostalgic element involved, or "We never did it that way before," or "I like the old wine better (even though I haven't even tasted the new wine)."

Each situation calls for something different. It was not appropriate for the Disciples to fast at that time; they would fast when He was gone. But also notice that Jesus is hinting beyond the question of fasting. He is saying that something new is coming which will not just be a patch over the old, but a whole new garment. The Gospel of the Kingdom is not just some patches to cover a few holes that have become evident with the old garment; that would not work, and would ruin the new. The new garment fulfills the requirements of the old worn out garment, and replaces it. (See Romans 8:4.)   

The Kingdom establishes a new relationship with work 6:1-11

The next scene reminds me of some Hobbits traipsing through Farmer Maggot's fields and stealing some of his crops. But that is not what is happening here. Whoever was in charge of that field was apparently following the law that made provision for the poor.

“When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.  Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God. (Lev 19:9-10).”

 

There was nothing unlawful about gleaning from the fields, and Jesus and His Disciples were happy to take advantage of this. There are many different ways that a government can provide food for the poor. In the United States, the Agriculture Department administers the SNAP and other programs. My wife and family and I benefitted from these programs when our children were very young. We also took advantage of private food banks from time to time. 

Jesus was not breaking any laws by gleaning, but the Pharisees still tried to put a stop to what they were doing. The Pharisee had a long list of what was considered work you could not do on the Sabbath, and gleaning was on the list. Talk about your red tape to try to get a bit of legitimate help!

But Jesus answers them that there was a higher authority than their traditions, and He was it. He is the Lord of the Sabbath, and He decides what work can be done on that day. The Sabbath was made for the benefit of people (Mark 2:27). It wasn't made so the leadership could come up with a set of rules to make it harder for people to live. Jesus also gives an interesting history lesson which affects the applicability of laws. Old Testament laws were not meant to be a list of do's and don'ts that applied to every situation. The law stated that only the priests were allowed to eat the consecrated bread. Yet, David and his companions ate it. Exceptions to the rules--the law--could be made under certain circumstances. What's more important? The law that requires that only priests could eat the bread, or the needs of those who are famished? The law of love always trumps any other law. Always.

Which leads us to the next scene. Here are those pesky Pharisees again. They are just waiting to have a chance to find Jesus doing something wrong. They bring along their mental list of Sabbath no-no's, including the one about healing on the Sabbath. Jesus knows their intentions, and asks, "which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” (verse 9) I am imagining Him staring down each and every one of the Pharisees and daring them to answer. But they knew Jesus had the upper hand. They knew He was right, but they still were angry when the man's hand was restored. Their power was more important than the welfare of the man with the shriveled hand. 

The Kingdom includes diversity 6:12-16

Talk about inclusion and diversity! Jesus pulls together an amusing assortment of protégés to teach. These are to be the Apostles--the ones He's going to give authority to? Who are these guys?

• Four fishermen: Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John
• Two more Hicks from Galilee: Philip and Bartholomew 
• A tax collector: Matthew (apparently the one also called Levi)
• Three we know very little about: Thomas, James the son of Alpheaus, Judas (called Thaddeus elsewhere) son (or brother) of James
• A Zealot, from a sect which sought to overthrow Rome: The other Simon
• The traitor: Judas Iscariot

This is not a list any Rabbi except Jesus would have chosen. At least Judas was good with money... oh, wait. Okay, Simon the Zealot might be good in a fight... oh, wait. Okay there's Matthew: he ought to be accepted readily into the group... oh, wait. Seriously, I wonder how many squabbles Jesus had to settle along the way.  But this is the group He chose. 

The Kingdom has a new standard 6:17-49

The scene here is often referred to as The Sermon on the Plain to differentiate it from The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. A large crowd of people gathered, and they were apparently not all Jews. The text specifically mentions people from Tyre and Sidon. This reminds me of the passages in Deuteronomy 27 and Joshua 8 which describes the reaffirmation of the Sinai Covenant after the people enter the land. Joshua 8:33 specifically mentions that there were foreigners living among the Israelites who were present. 

In Joshua 8, the whole nation was gathered in the valley of Shechem where the tabernacle was being set up until it would get a more permanent home in Jerusalem. Four of the tribes stood before Mount Gerizim representing the blessings of the covenant; the other four stood before Mount Ebal representing the curses in the covenant. Joshua says all the law of Moses was read to the people at that time.

Jesus was inaugurating at new covenant. It is much shorter, and the blessings and curses (woes) are not based on following the minutia of the Mosaic Law, but on the law of love. Jesus offers mercy and justice to those who the system had said were the ones on the outside. Their lot in life (according to the system) showed they must not be worthy of God's blessing. On the other hand, He pronounces woes on those who thought they had God's blessing now because of their positive circumstances, but would eventually find themselves of the other side.

The poetry uses repetition and symmetry, but loses some of its symmetry at the end. If we put the repeated ideas together, it helps us understand what Jesus is getting at. (From the NIV)

Blessed are you who are poor,                        But woe to you who are rich,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.       for you have already received your comfort.

Blessed are you who hunger now,             Woe to you who are well fed now,                for you will be satisfied.                                for you will go hungry.

Blessed are you who weep now,                Woe to you who laugh now,
    for you will laugh.                                        for you will mourn and weep.

Blessed are you when people hate you,    Woe to you when everyone speaks
    when they exclude you and insult you        well of you
    and reject your name as evil,                        
        because of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, 

because great is your reward in heaven. 

For that is how their ancestors                    for that is how their ancestors

treated the prophets.                                    treated the false prophets.

Israel had a history of treating false prophets well, because they told them what they wanted to hear. They also had a history of persecuting the true prophets, because they didn't like what they had to say. The people of The Kingdom know how to wait. They know their reward is in heaven. That doesn't mean that their reward is all in the future. Those in God's Kingdom are able to rejoice even while they are being hated, excluded, insulted, and called evil if it's because of Jesus. We should not rejoice, thinking we are being persecuted for the sake of Jesus, if we are just being obnoxious, uncaring, selfish, or butting in to people's business. (See 1 Peter 4:15. That's a whole sermon in itself!) 

If we are being persecuted because of Jesus, it will be because we are are following His way of love. This goes way beyond just loving people who are nice to us. We are to do good things to people who hate us. There are those who interpret the response to the slap on the cheek and the extra mile as ways of shaming those who take advantage of us. It is sometimes interpreted as a call for "audacious civil disobedience." However these ideas are meant, the whole tenor of Jesus argument is an attitude of love. Treat other as we would like them to treat us. I can see how it could be argued that we would want to be treated that way if we were so out of line like the perpetrators in Jesus' examples. But we need to be careful not to indulge in a smug attitude that says, "Well, I showed them, didn't I?" 

A corollary to loving our enemies is not judging. This is perhaps the hardest teaching of Jesus to follow. It is so easy to criticize others while letting ourselves slide. Being non-judgmental does not mean that we close our eyes to evil. Jesus didn't come to condemn, but He sure was upfront about calling out evil. There is a difference. Jesus treated people with compassion and understanding. He didn't put up with sin, but He recognized that what the leadership was calling sin was not always really sin. And He freely offered forgiveness.

Jesus was the only One who did not have His vision impaired with objects in His eyes. We need to remember we are not Him, which calls for us to examine our own imperfections and motives before attacking others. (I know that pokes me in the eye.) I am not calling for us to constantly browbeat ourselves. Finding fault with ourselves to the point we become nonfunctional is not what Jesus intended, and ignores His grace and mercy. 

Being nonjudgmental does not men we should not be discerning. Eating from the wrong tree can kill us. Fortunately there are signs which indicate what type of tree we are looking at. I am not a mushroom hunter, but those who are had better know the difference between species. "The mouth speaks what the heart is full of." If you have a discerning heart, you can know the basic character of a person by how they talk. Are they speaking words of compassion and encouragement, or are they spewing hate and judgment? 

Finally, those in the Kingdom are not those who just call Jesus Lord, but those who do what He says. Putting His words into action is like building a house on a firm foundation. Those who hear but don't put His words into practice are like a house built on sand. If the foundation isn't love, the house will collapse in hard times. If you are building your life on love, it with weather the storm.