Blog Archives - WELCOME TO THE JOY OF TROY

June 13, 2021

6/13/2021

Religion Out of Focus

        There came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? Matt. 15:1-3.

    We have to congratulate the scribes and Pharisees on their persistence. No matter how far they have to travel to attack Jesus they will do it. It is unfortunate that they couldn't find a better purpose for their dedication.

    The conflict between Jesus and the Jewish leaders recorded in Matthew 15 and Mark 7 centers outwardly around ceremonial defilement. But at a more profound level, it involves the very nature of religion and the depth of human sinfulness.

    The Pharisaic party had a purpose: to question Jesus about why His disciples broke the tradition of the elders. Note, they were not accusing Him of doing so, but of teaching His disciples to disrespect the traditions. And in that accusation they were quite right.

    According to Matthew's Gospel, the problem had to do with the washing of hands. Here it is important to note that the issue wasn't sanitation but ceremonial uncleanliness. In their genuine and sincere desire to honor God, the Pharisees had picked up on His instruction on priestly washing in the sanctuary (Ex. 30:17-21) and expanded the idea to everyday life. In addition, they multiplied the number of things causing defilement and ritualized the cleansing process. So important did ceremonial washing become to them that they eventually devoted an entire book of the Mishnah (the written version of the oral tradition) to it (called Yadaim, or "Hands"). The faithful were required to wash their hands in the prescribed manner, or their food, and by extension their whole person, would be unclean and unfit for worshipping God. Meanwhile, Jesus illustrated in Matthew 15:3-6 that some of their traditions led them to transgress the Ten Commandments, notably the one directed at loving and caring for their parents.

    Here we have a case of the sin of devotion--a sin of religious people trying hard to be religious and manufacturing rules in the process. That is not a pharisaic disease, but is also found among Catholics, Baptists, and Adventists. It shows up in the angry deacon, the Inquisition, and those who blow up when someone does not eat as they think they should.

June 12, 2021

6/12/2021

June 12                                The Mystery of Providence

        "It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am One who bears witness to Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness to Me." Then they said to Him, "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also." These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come. John 8:17-20, NKJV.

    One gets the impression in reading John 8 that something like a court trial is taking place. On the other hand, one wonders who is being tried. First impressions are that the Jewish leaders are sitting in judgment on Jesus. But the more one meditates on the chapter, the more it looks like as if it's the leaders who are on the defense.

    That was certainly so in the case of the woman caught in the very act of adultery (John 8:1-11). The Jewish leaders had come out strong in not only condemning the woman but also in seeking grounds on which to find Jesus guilty. Yet after He wrote a bit on the ground they all slunk off in shame. Jesus had the evidence, and there was no one left to cast the first stone except Him. He was in control. They had been judged.

    Beginning with verse 12, the Jewish leaders entered yet another round of judgment and sparring. This time it centered on Jesus' claim to be "the light of the world" and that those who followed Him were in the light. That left the Pharisees, by implication, in the darkness.

    At that point the Pharisees launched into an attack on Jesus that was in essence a defense move rather than one of prosecution. They argued that He was out of bounds in His claims, because He was witnessing to Himself to be the light, which in Jewish thought was tantamount to ascribing to Himself the functions of God and the Messiah. Jesus didn't back down, claiming not only that His witness was true but that His Father joined Him as a second witness. Jesus had His opponents on the defensive. Yet, remarkably, they did nothing to "lock Him up," even though it was becoming more and more obvious that it was what they desired to do.

    And why didn't they arrest Him? Because "His hour had not yet come." Here we have a phrase that John uses repeatedly. All through his Gospel Jesus is moving toward His "hour." And that hour will finally come. But only after everything is ready.

    There is something important here. We as humans will never fully understand God's activity in human history. Yet He in his providence is always carrying out His plan. And that providential working is taking place daily in each of our lives.

June 11, 2021

6/11/2021

God Leads Us One Step at a Time

        The officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why did you not bring him?" The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this man!" The Pharisees answered them, "Are you led astray, you also? Have any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him?..." Nicodemus...said to them, "Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?" They replied, "Are you from Galilee too?" John 7:45-52, RSV.

    Jesus' world continued to crumble as He entered into what seemed to be an endless round of confrontations with the Jewish authorities. He knew what was happening, yet did not back down in the face of encroaching pressure, speaking openly in the Temple and challenging the nation's religious leadership.

    The problem got to be so obvious that the common people began to discuss why the leaders weren't taking action against Him. "Can it be," they asked, "that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?" (John 7:27, RSV).

    That was too much. It was the last straw. The leadership sent a delegation to arrest Jesus and put an end to the trouble. But that too backfired. Amazed by Jesus, those very officers of the law returned empty-handed, claiming that they had never heard anything like His words.

    That event could have provided the religious authorities with a wake-up call. But all they could reply was that it was only ignorant peasants who had believed in Jesus. None of the Sanhedrin or Temple officials or the Pharisees had accepted Him.

    It was in that context that one of the rulers of the Sanhedrin did speak up. Nicodemus, who had cautiously come to Jesus at night in John 3, suggested that Jewish law did not judge a person without a hearing. For that he received scorn.

    Note that Nicodemus was still cautious. He didn't exactly defend Jesus. Nor did he come out in the open as a follower. But he carefully expressed a few words that indicated that the mysterious wind of the Spirit was operating in his heart and life (see John 3:7, 8).

    Nicodemus did not carry his protest any further. Apparently, as one author puts it, his heart told him to defend Jesus but his head told him not to take the risk.

    But he had taken another step on a pathway that would lead into full openness when he and Joseph of Arimathea buried the crucified Christ (John 19:38-42).

    God had guided him step by step. That is the same way that He is leading you and me.

June 10, 2021

6/10/2021

Where Else Can I Go?

        After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?" He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was to betray him. John 6:66-71, RSV.

    All good things on earth come to an end sooner or later. For a time the multitudes flocked after Jesus. They couldn't get enough of Him. Many were excited at His miracles. Others had come to be baptized by His disciples--so many that it had been an embarrassment (John 4:1-3). Jesus could hardly escape the press of the people. And it merely got worse after the feeding of the 5,000 in John 6:1-15. At that time they attempted to make Him king.

    But Jesus had different ideas and dismissed the crowds. And then He gave that talk about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, claiming to be the bread of life.

    That was too much. The beginning of the end was already in sight as many of His followers "drew back and no longer went about with him." Some of them had begun to see more clearly where Jesus was headed. After all, you can't challenge the authorities time after time and expect to get away with it. They could recognize that He was destined for disaster.

    They followed Him willingly as long as the loaves and the fishes were plentiful. Seeking what they could get out of it, they had gone after Him for purely selfish reasons. But, they were not interested in following a person who didn't have enough sense to take the kingship when it was offered to Him.

    And then there was the first foreshadowing of the dark side of Judas. He had his own ideas about helping Jesus move in what he considered the right direction.

    In the light of the changing times, Jesus asked the 12 if they would forsake Him also. Peter's response is a classic: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

    That answer has sustained me many times as things have gotten difficult and even church looked like a mess. Like Peter, I did not understand everything, I was not happy with things, and I couldn't see into the future. But I did know one thing for certain: that Jesus and faith in Him made more sense than anything else. Where else could I go? I have never been sorry that I stuck with Jesus through the bad times as well as the good.

June 9, 2021

6/9/2021

Faith Develops

        He was there alone, but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land....In the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea....And Peter [asked] him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water. Matt. 14:23-29, RSV.

    Peter could walk on water! Great stuff! Look at me, guys!

    And that's when the trouble began. The most adventurous of Jesus' disciples did fine with water walking as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus. But then, in good Peter style, he began to focus on himself and how well he was doing. It is at that point that he noticed the wind and the fierceness of the storm and his walking-on-water life of victory began to fall apart. And it didn't take much time.

    As soon as he took his eyes off of Jesus, the source of his power, he began to sink. In desperation, he shouted out, "Lord, save me."

    And He did! He would do so time after time as the great apostle struggled between the poles of faith and doubt. Jesus does the same thing in our lives as we move forward rather haltingly in our spiritual journey. There are days when even I "can walk on water." But other times I find myself sinking fast. The one constant is the availability of Jesus, who is ready to "save" at our request.

    The scene in which Peter walks on water takes place after Jesus had sent the disciples away after the feeding of the 5,000. When He finished praying He went to meet His disciples, who were at that time battling a fierce storm. That is when Peter did his water-walking thing and learned the importance of keeping his eyes on Jesus.

    But there is another, and even more important, truth in this storm incident. When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the storm miraculously stopped, and the disciples "worshipped him, saying, 'Truly you are the Son of God' " (Matt. 14:33, RSV).

    That is the first time that the disciples give that title to Jesus, but it will not be the last. And with each repetition the title will have greater meaning as they ever more fully understand the identity of their Lord.

    Their experience foreshadows ours as day by day we gain a fuller understanding of that Jesus who is the object of our worship and the source of our power.

June 8, 2021

6/8/2021

The Need of Prayer in the Midst of Success

        Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place; so the men sat down, in number about five thousand....When the people saw the sign which he had done, they said, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!" Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. John 6:10-15, RSV.

    Ever feed a large crowd? Even a couple dozen guests can drive a host to distraction in the planning and the supplying.

    Try 5,000! Or, better yet 20,000, since the count in those days was males only. Wives and children need to be added in. But even feeding 5,000 is a pretty good achievement if you can do it with two small fish and five diminutive barley loaves.

    The crowd did not miss that significance of the miracle. Immediately energized, they identified Jesus as "the prophet who is to come," a reference to Deuteronomy 18, in which Moses proclaimed: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren--him you shall heed" (verses 15, 18, RSV).

    "Here is the promised one" flashed through the minds of the crowd. Here is the second Moses. Just as Moses provided miraculous manna in the wilderness, so Jesus supplies us with bread from heaven (John 6:5-14). And just as Moses delivered us from our oppressors, the chain of logic ran, so his successor will rescue us from the Romans. They determined to make Jesus king on the spot. Even the disciples got carried away with the possibility. Mark tells us that Jesus had to "make" or "compel" them to get into their boat and leave Him, while He dismissed the crowds (Mark 6:45, 46).

    We miss an important point of the story if we fail to see Jesus here being enticed to obtain the kingdom without a cross. He is facing His ultimate temptation. Here we have a repetition of His first wilderness temptation, but with greater forcefulness. Now He had demonstrated that He could indeed make bread out of "stones," and it profoundly impressed the people. "Build the kingdom of bread. Make it the first point in Your program to abolish hunger. Multiply loaves and fishes all the time, and the people will love You."

    We sense the seriousness of the temptation for Jesus reflected by the fact that immediately after dismissing the crowds, "he went up on the mountain to pray" (verse 46, RSV).

    Doing God's will in the accomplishment of His mission remained central in His life. And doing God's will is always a matter of prayer, even for me this day.

June 7, 2021

6/7/2021

Invisible People Make a Difference

        A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick....Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?" This He was saying to test him, for He himself knew what He was intending to do. Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them...."Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many people?" John 6:2-9, NASB.

    Too often we overlook the common people in the Bible story, those quiet individuals, who are "just there." Largely ignored in their own time, and probably by most Bible readers today, those individuals made a difference. We find a lesson for us here. You don't have to be a Peter or a Billy Graham for God to use you as a blessing to other people.

    Central to today's passage are three individuals whom we don't hear much about in the Bible, even though two of them are disciples. The first of the "hidden" figures in the feeding of the 5,000 is Philip. Outside of listings of the 12 disciples, none of the Gospels except the fourth even mention his name. In John 6 Jesus asks him how much food it would take to feed the crowd. Philip's answer was about six months' wages (200 denarii). The only thing he contributes to the miracle story is to highlight its magnitude. But his approach is basically pessimistic: "There is nothing we can do. The situation is hopeless."

    Then there is Andrew, another of the hidden disciples. He is best known as the brother of Peter. The world is full of such types. The introduction of, "Meet so-and-so, he is the brother of, wife of, husband of, son of so-and-so." There are the "really important people" and there are the Andrews.

    But Jesus teaches us in John 6 that the Andrews of life make a difference. Moving beyond the pessimism of Philip, Andrew is the one who said, "I will see what I can do." Andrew may not have been the star of the show, but he functioned as the spark plug who got things off of dead center.

    His part in ministry was doing something simple. In this case, finding a boy, two dried-up sardine-sized fish, and five barley loaves, the cheapest of all bread.

    And then there is the boy himself. Probably clueless as to what he was doing in salvation history. But he was willing to give the little he had.

    Help us today, Lord, to give what little we have, realizing that no matter how humble our person or our gift, we make a difference.

June 6, 2021

6/6/2021

A Shadow of the Future

        At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, and he said to his attendants, "This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him." Matt. 14:1, 2, NIV.

        When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot. Verse 13, NIV.

    A new threat to Jesus arises in Matthew 14:1, this time in the person of Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee. Although Herod was quite familiar with John the Baptist's ministry, he seems to be relatively ignorant of Jesus. Thus, probably as a result of both superstition and an overwrought conscience, Herod confuses the two men and fears that perhaps Jesus is a resurrected John.

    And he had good reason for an inflamed conscience. Some time earlier the prophet of repentance had confronted Herod regarding his unlawful liaison with his brother's wife. The upshot was that the ruler had John arrested and would have put him to death had he not feared the people, who had held the Baptist to be a prophet (verse 5).

    A weak man, Herod not only feared the people but also his lover, who maneuvered him into beheading John against Herod's better judgment. Because he also feared the opinions of his guests, he allowed himself to be manipulated (verses 6-11).

    The story shows Herod Antipas to be an irresolute person who more than once in a short period goes against his conscience. As a result, his imagination gets the best of him when he learns about Jesus' ministry.

    Herod is hardly a man to be trusted. Thus it is little wonder that Jesus "withdrew...to a solitary place" after John's disciples report his death to Jesus (verses 12, 13). But the crowds follow Him. He soon feeds some 5,000 of them, which results in a desire to make Him king.

    Meanwhile, we need to return to the significance of John's death. There is a reason that Matthew and Mark spend so much precious space on it. Namely, the telling of John's end is integrally linked to Jesus' own forthcoming death. The death of John foreshadows that of Jesus. Just as John had been Jesus' forerunner in ministry (Matt. 3:1-11), so will he be His forerunner in death. Jesus understands that and begins to withdraw so that He can more fully prepare His disciples for what is to come.

June 5, 2021

6/5/2021

God Always Takes the Initiative

        The Son of man is come to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19:10.

    Lost!

    Here is a Technicolor word, especially to anyone who has ever actually been lost.

    Have you ever been lost? I remember once as a teenager I got lost while hiking in the redwood forests of northern California. At first I remained fairly calm. I knew that if I tried hard enough and long enough I would find my way out. But the further I went, the more lost I became, as I no longer saw anything that even looked familiar. It was then that panic set in.

    Lost is not a good feeling. But it is an impressive one. A person who is lost has only one goal and hope--to become unlost.

    When reading the Bible, we need to pay close attention to the meaning of "lost." The word does not mean damned or doomed. Rather it indicates being in the wrong place. People are lost when they have wandered away from God, when they have rebelled against His will and struck out on their own path in life.

    Some lost people are totally oblivious to the fact, as were the Pharisees of Jesus' day and the "holy" types of all generations. They managed to get lost in the church. But other types know that they are spiritually lost and desire to be rescued. Such are the Zacchaeuses of the world.

    One of the most important truths ever uttered by Jesus is that He came to seek and save that which is lost. And He doesn't care if you are lost in the church or in a house of prostitution. He has a mission.

    That mission we see reflected in Scripture from one end to the other. No sooner do we find Adam and Eve sinning than we find God searching them out in the garden. So it was with the lost coin and the lost sheep of Luke 15. Salvation is never a matter of us approaching God. It is always Him coming after us. God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son into the world to search out that which had been lost. His love and grace is always proactive. He does not wait for us to make a move. Instead, He seeks us out.

    Thank You, Father, for the dynamics and richness of Your grace. Thank You for searching me out. And now, please help me to keep hold of Your hand.

June 4, 2021

6/4/2021

Jesus Transforms Scuzzballs

        And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham." Luke 19:8, 9, RSV.

    Meeting Jesus changes your life. Repeatedly throughout the four Gospels we discover that when people encounter Jesus they are never the same afterwards. Not merely a nice man with some kind and wise words, He was a transformer of lives.

    So it was with Zacchaeus, the money-grubbing tax collector who had been gouging everybody in town financially. A genuine experience with Jesus changed his life forever. And all the community knew it.

    Committing half of his goods to the poor, the other half got whittled down by his decision to restore fourfold anything he had unjustly taken. In that pledge he exceeded the requirements of Jewish law, which stipulated a double-the-value restoration (Ex. 22:7). A transformed person, he was determined to do more than the law demanded.

    The Desire of Ages, in commenting upon this story, notes that "no repentance is genuine that does not work reformation. The righteousness of Christ is not a cloak to cover unconfessed and unforsaken sin; it is a principle of life that transforms the character and controls the conduct. Holiness is wholeness for God; it is the entire surrender of heart and life to the indwelling of the principles of heaven....

    "If we have injured others through any unjust business transaction, if we have overreached in trade, or defrauded any man, even though it be within the pale of the law, we should confess our wrong, and make restitution as far as lies in our power" (pp. 555, 556).

    I still remember the day I read those words as a young Christian. They hit me between the eyes and lodged in my conscience. At first I tried to get rid of them and move on with my life.

    But I could get no peace. For the six years that I had worked in a grocery store I had helped myself to candy bars and whatever else I wanted. Bit by bit it added up.

    And now I was convicted that I should meet with the store's manager, confess, and plop a fair piece of money on his desk. But I was broke and trying to earn my way through college. I had lots of "buts."

    But I was also a Christian. The Zacchaeus path was my only option.