Day 19 - Luke 13

Finally! We get to talk about hell! Well, at least a little bit...

Read Luke 13 (find it here)

Pilate, a name that Jesus will match with a face here soon. 

Within Jesus' culture, there was this prevailing thought that people were punished by God for their sins while still alive.  Even today that is still a touchy subject that I guarantee most Christians can't articulate with complete certainty.  All of us want to believe in total justice but we really admire complete mercy, too, right?

It is unclear as to exactly what happened.  If these Galileans weren't priests then offering sacrifices in the Temple is a crime.  But would Pilate, the Roman governor, punish Jews for breaking non-Roman laws?  If you know how Jesus is crucified, then you know the answer to this question is YES!

Jesus basically asks the question, "Did they deserve to die? Not at all!" (vs. 2-3)  He could've left it there and we would've been satisfied, but Jesus continues by saying, "you (not they) will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God." (vs. 3, 5) I can definitely see a double-meaning here.  I believe the more we follow ourselves and shut out God, we naturally bring chaos and ruin in our lives.  The other meaning is, obviously, that separation from God apart from this word equals hell (also called the second death).

The next parable is a continuation of Jesus' point.  If you had an apple tree that you planted, pruned and watered continuously without seeing any fruit, would you keep wasting your time with it or cut it down and get another?  In other words, is God blessing you just so you can waste his time? Remember, a good tree is defined by good fruit. Those who consistently produce bad fruit are cut down and burned. (Yeah, another double-meaning).

In a quick side story, Jesus heals a deformed woman on the Sabbath while teaching in the synagogue. Jesus did nothing but lay his eyes on her, had compassion and claimed her healed! (v. 13) Of course, its the Sabbath, no working is allowed, so the religious leader in charge freaks out! Instead of fussing at Jesus, the leader turned his anger to the crowd (and to the woman) by basically saying, "Don't come to church on the Sabbath to be healed!" (v. 14)

Jesus flips the script on this dude, calls him a hypocrite and tells him why.  Do you remember me telling you that one of the rules on the Sabbath was no tying knots?  Well, apparently Jesus knows that this leader unties and ties a knot every Sabbath! How could this guy compare not working to not getting healed when she had been like this FOR 18 YEARS! How heartless do you gotta be?

The mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds. It averages about 1/20th of an inch. However, it can grow into a large bush or shrub that can grow upwards of 6.5 feet! The Kingdom of God is something that can be so easily overlooked but it has the capability to protect you like a bush protects birds. Make sense?

In the same way, a little bit of yeast changes the whole complexion of bread. A tiny bit of yeast can change your bread from pita to King's Hawaiian bread! When the Kingdom of God becomes a part of our lives, it will overpower the dullness and change everything about ourselves.

Just like small is hard to see, the narrow door is easy to miss. Someone asked Jesus if "only a few will be saved." (v. 23) It isn't about trying your best because Jesus says that "many will try to enter but will fail." (v. 24) Faith and humility are much more important necessities of salvation (being saved).  If you're found outside the door (in other words after God has judged all of the world) it will be too late.

Even those who plead and insist that they've gone to church, read their Bible and not cussed, God will reply "I don't know you..." (v. 25) Wow! Are you getting this point? If you try to earn heaven and/or salvation you're doomed to fail. If you persist in your effort to obtain perfection, God will insist that it was never about Him; He will reject you. Trying to obtain perfection is equivalent to evil-doing in God's eyes because its ultimately one of the grossest forms of cockiness (the opposite of humility).

Let me bring you into a realization. When Jews heard the phrase, "there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (v. 28) it wasn't second-nature to think of burning in hell like most American Christians read it.  One of the very first punishments for sin was excommunication (levied on Cain, which is to force someone to leave the safe-haven of a community, city or family).  Being cast out into outer darkness where there's weeping  and gnashing of teeth would equal to being thrown out of a community or city (where no light existed, no protection) and being overcome with tears (sadness) and anger (gnashing of teeth). Make sense? Don't always jump to they're going to hell. Are you God?

Jesus doesn't want anyone to end up in hell, by the way.  At the end of Luke 13, Jesus is deeply troubled over how those in Jerusalem (his own people) will not accept him or the Kingdom of God.  He wants to protect them, nurture them but will never do so by force.  The same goes with us. He wants to love, care and protect us but we must continually accept that. It will not be forced upon us.  Ironically, Jesus respects you too much.




Questions


1.) What do you think about the tension between justice and mercy? Do you believe that God punishes people for their sins while still on this earth? How would you answer that question when thinking about what you know about the Bible and Jesus? How about when you think about your life?


2.) Salvation has a double-meaning in many ways.  We need to be saved from ourselves and the horrible tendencies we have to lie, cheat, etc towards others and also we need to be saved from the eternal consequences those sins have on us. Have you ever thought of salvation having a double-meaning? What within yourself do you need saving from? Why not ask God now to deliver you from it with the power of His Spirit?


3.) When you read weeping and gnashing of teeth what did you first think of?  Isn't it easy to misinterpret the Bible? We all do it.