Year: 2012

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Bible

Listen to Understand

Doctor Luke writes that Jesus tells the people to listen carefully to what he says. When they do, they will understand — and then even greater understanding will follow.

But there’s a warning, too. Those who don’t really listen will lose whatever understanding they currently have.

Listening to Jesus results in more understanding; not listening results in confusion.

If we are to understand, we need to listen to him — really listen.

[Luke 8:18]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Six Woes

One time Jesus skipped the ceremonial hand washing before he ate. The Pharisees took notice of his omission and were about to criticize him when he took preemptive action, giving them a teaching about six woes:

  1. Tithing, but neglecting justice and God’s love (v 42)
  2. Loving others to be noticed and respected (v 43)
  3. Being like unmarked graves — an unseen danger (v 44)
  4. Making unrealistic demands of others (that they don’t do) and not helping out (v 46)
  5. Implicitly honoring the sins of their ancestors (v 47-51)
  6. Hiding the truth from people — and missing it themselves (v 52)

When considering these six woes, ceremonial hand washing isn’t a big deal.

[Luke 11:37-54]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Worthy or Not

There’s a story about a military leader, a centurion, who desires Jesus to heal his dying servant.

The centurion doesn’t approach Jesus himself, but instead he calls in a favor, asking some Jewish leaders to go on his behalf. If these men are like most of the religious leaders we read about in the Bible, they don’t like Jesus and must be humiliated to ask him for help.

In presenting their case, the Jewish leaders claim the centurion is worthy to receive Jesus’ assistance. This perspective is consistent with the people’s understanding of the Old Testament, which they see as focusing on right behavior.

Despite the admirable qualities of the centurion, the reality is no one deserves God’s favor. But while we can’t earn God’s attention, he gives it anyway.

Jesus agrees to help, but the centurion deems himself unworthy to meet Jesus or for Jesus to come to his house. In and of ourselves, we are not worthy either; it’s only through Jesus that we become worthy.

Jesus is amazed at the centurion’s faith; the servant is made well in absentia.

[Luke 7:1-10]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Do You Need a Doctor?

Jesus said, “It is not healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus came for the sick. (Since he came to heal and to save, we may be able to comprehend this both literally and figuratively, that is, the physically sick and the spiritually sick.)  Jesus came for sinners — those who miss the mark.

Conversely, Jesus did not come for the healthy, the righteous. What exactly does that mean? Perhaps:

  • People who are righteous (good and law-abiding) don’t need Jesus. (Is Jesus implying their path is through the Old Testament covenant and following the Law of Moses?)
  • People who think they are on the right track will never know they need Jesus, so he is dismissing them.
  • Everyone needs Jesus, but some people delude themselves, thinking they are the exception.

None of these ideas is an adequate explanation for me of what this text means. Although the first one seems heretical, it is also the most direct understanding of Jesus’ actual words. The other two responses require an interjection of ideas, some assumptions to be made — of basically reading the text through our own theological glasses.

Fortunately, I don’t need to understand this text completely. What I do know is I need a doctor — and his name is Jesus.

[Mark 2:17, Matthew 9:12-13, and Luke 5:31-32]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

May I Have Your Attention Please?

There’s a story in the Bible of Jesus instructing some fishermen to try fishing from the other side of the boat. Imagine that, a carpenter giving fishing lessons to commercial fishermen.

The amazing thing is once they moved to the other side, they caught a boatload of fish. It was as if Jesus was trying to get their attention — and it worked.

In fact, it worked so well, he did it twice!

The first time was early in his ministry, when he was looking for disciples. He definitely got their attention, because they immediately left everything to follow him.

The second time was at the end of Jesus’ ministry, after he rose from the dead, but before he returned to heaven. The fishermen-turned-disciples didn’t know what to do after they saw Jesus die, so they resorted to fishing, but caught nothing.

Jesus hollers for them to try fishing from the other side of the boat. They did and another miraculous catch occurred. Again, he got their attention — and they believed he was alive.

Twice Jesus got their attention. The first time they followed him and the second time they believed in him.

[Luke 5:4-11 and John 21:4:14]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Jesus’ Party

Tuesday’s post was about Jesus’ invitation to side with his life-party. This is not a raise-your-hand, say-a-prayer, or sign-a-card decision made without careful consideration, but a total, lifelong commitment regardless of the consequences. To grasp the enormity of this, contemplate the verses where this phrases appears in the Amplified version of the Bible:

  • …became His disciples [sided with His party and followed Him] (Matthew 4:20).
  • …joined Jesus as disciples [sided with His party and followed Him] (Matthew 4:22).
  • “Be My disciple [side with My party and follow Me],” (Matthew 9:9).
  • “…be My disciple [side with My party and follow Me]” (Matthew 19:21).
  • …become Your disciples [sided with Your party and followed You] (Matthew 19:27).
  • “…you who have [become My disciples, sided with My party and] followed Me,” (Matthew 19:28).
  • …followed [with] Him [joining Him as disciples and siding with His party] (Mark 1:18).
  • …went off after Him [to be His disciples, side with His party, and follow Him] (Mark 1:20).
  • Follow Me! [Be joined to Me as a disciple, side with My party!] (Mark 2:14).
  • …take up his cross, and [joining Me as a disciple and siding with My party] follow with Me (Mark 8:34).
  • “…we have yielded up and abandoned everything [once and for all and joined You as Your disciples, siding with Your party],” (Mark 10:28).
  • …they left everything and joined Him as His disciples and sided with His party and accompanied Him (Luke 5:11).
  • “Join Me as a disciple and side with My party and accompany Me” (Luke 5:27).
  • And he forsook everything and got up and followed Him [becoming His disciple and siding with His party] (Luke 5:28).
  • “Become My disciple, side with My party, and accompany Me!” (Luke 9:59).
  • “I will follow You, Lord, and become Your disciple and side with Your party,” (Luke 9:61).
  • “…follow Me [become My disciple, join My party, and accompany Me],” (Luke 18:22).
  • …many believed in His name [identified themselves with His party] (John 2:23).

This is what it means to follow Jesus.

[See biblical references to Jesus’ party and a few others too.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

What’s Your Party?

Regardless of what country you live in, there will be at least one political party, and usually many to choose from. People who read and follow the Bible often affiliate with a particular party in order to best align their politics with the Bible.

What’s interesting is they can read the same book and reach different conclusions about which party to join. This, I think, points to the diversity of the Bible — and the God behind it — as much as the varied interpretations of its readers.

But setting politics aside, what if there was a life party, a holistic philosophy that covered everything? Might you join a compelling life party? I have.

In the Amplified Bible, Jesus invites people to “side with my party.” This wasn’t about politics, but about life.

When Jesus calls people to do this, it usually accompanies phrases such as “be my disciple” and “follow me.” Other supporting thoughts include “take up your cross,” “forsake everything,” “identity with me,” “leave everything,” and “join with me.”

Being part of Jesus’ party isn’t about politics; it’s about all of life. It’s not an opinion to be held, it’s about a complete, all-in, sold-out commitment to side with him.

Will you side with his party?

[Biblical references to Jesus’ party (and a few others, too)]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

More Holy Spirit Power

The Bible writes that Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit and the result of this spiritual/physical union was Jesus — it was a virgin birth.

This supernatural impregnation was the spiritual superseding the physical. And if God can do that, he can certainly heal our bodies and restore us to health. He has the power to do that. (When and why he does so is a different discussion for a different time.)

However, there are some within Christendom who deny the possibility that a baby could be conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. These are often the people who also disregard God being able to heal.

Their view of God is more limited than mine, but just because our respective understandings of God are different, it would be wrong to assume one is right and the other, wrong.

God is a big God and even the grandest of our comprehension of him is small and understated. So we understand him the best we can and to the degree we are able — and I suspect that is enough.

[Luke 1:35]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Holy Spirit Power

Although the terminology and even the timing vary between the various Christian traditions and perspectives, a generality is that first someone decides to follow Jesus and then the Holy Spirit is given to guide and direct them.

While each stream of Christian thought assigns different terms to these events and has a diversity of understanding as to the how and why, this is the generally prescribed order.

So how then does this square with John the Baptist being “filled with the Holy Spirit even before he was born?” Things certainly seem out of sequence for him.

True, it would be unwise to rewrite our theology on the basis of one verse that seems to offer an exception to our understanding of the normal order of how things are done.

However, at the least, this verse should give us pause before we adamantly assert there is a specific way and time for one to receive the Holy Spirit.

Apparently, not everyone’s journey to God is exactly the same.

[Luke 1:15]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

The Lord’s Prayer

When Jesus’ disciples asked him how to pray, he gave them a short little example. It’s commonly called “The Lord’s Prayer” (though some suggest “The Disciples’ Prayer” would be a more appropriate label.) Others refer to it as “Our Father” after its opening phrase.

Did you know there are multiple versions of the Lord’s Prayer in the Bible? Matthew records the most common version. It’s found in Matthew 6:9-13. In the NIV, it’s only 53 words long and 66 words if you include the additional text at the end that is not found in all manuscripts:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, you will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (53 words)…“ for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen,” (13 more words; 66 total).

The Lord’s Prayer is also found in Luke 11:2-4. Compared to Matthew’s version, it omits two phrases and simplifies others, so it is even shorter, at only 34 words.

“Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And leads us not into temptation,” (34 words).

I’ve never heard anyone use Luke’s version. But it is in the Bible and is worth considering.

However, it doesn’t really matter which of these three versions of this classic prayer we follow, for I don’t think Jesus intended us to recite it verbatim, but to use it as a model or a template to form our own prayers.

What wording do you prefer for the Lord’s Prayer?

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.