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Friday,
February 15, 2007 |
Make a Ripple - Make a Difference |
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Good Morning,
Doves |
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JESUS THE REVOLUTIONARY
by
Chris Hansen
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Yes, indeed! Jesus was
very much the revolutionary. The pattern begins to
weave itself together. Luke chapter 5 contains an
episode in which Peter and his business partners
fish all night with no success. Along comes Jesus
the revolutionary. Even though they have gone a
whole night without sleep, Jesus commands them to
try one more time. Suddenly, the catch is so
massive, that the fishing nets begin to break apart.
This would require hours of repair, but it was worth
it all, because the catch was so huge. Even
more astounding was this: Jesus was proving that He
possessed real power over nature, something the real
Messiah was expected to possess. Peter, feeling
guilty in God’s presence tells Jesus to go away from
such an unworthy one. Jesus the revolutionary
invites Peter to abandon catching mere fish, and
start catching men and women on a brand new kingdom
of God adventure! Next, in Luke 5:12, we see Jesus
actually touch a man with a terrible skin disease.
Touching someone like that violated all sorts of Old
Testament rules, but Jesus flew in the face of all
that. Next, in Luke 5:17, Jesus heals a man
paralyzed for years. More surprising, Jesus actually
claimed the divine right to forgive sins, something
only God had any right to do! Jesus merely swept all
that aside and forgave and healed, thus claiming
Godhood. Next, in 5:27, Jesus goes right into the
heart of evil itself, and calls a wicked tax
collector to follow him. This was truly scandalous
behavior on his part. Worst of all, Jesus actually
had dinner with that collection of hated tax
collectors! Jesus then pointed out to his critics
that his whole mission in life was to reach out to
those "sinners" and that he really wasn’t interested
in the "righteous." Yet, the Pharisees had
built their whole lives on being "righteous," and
this Jesus wanted nothing to do with them? He
preferred those "sinners over them? Next, in Luke
5:31, Jesus is criticized for not going through long
hours of fasting and prayer, as everyone else did,
including John the Baptist. Jesus makes his critics
look ridiculous, (again,) and asks them this probing
question: Would it be right to force the guests at a
wedding to fast while the bride and groom are
celebrating? Obviously not! Earlier, Jesus had
teased his critics by asking: Isn’t it proper for a
physician to go to the sick? Why would a physician
treat the "healthy" as you claim to be! So, Jesus
makes his critics look as silly as healthy people
trying to lie down in hospital beds, or as silly as
guests who refuse to enjoy themselves at a wedding
feast! Then, in Luke 5:36 Jesus explains that His
new kingdom is so radical that, trying to reconcile
it with the Old Testament way of doing things is
about as useless as taking a brand new piece of
cloth and sewing up an old garment. He further
explains that you’ve ruined a new garment by tearing
off a piece to use in repair, and you’ve then made
the old garment look awful in the process. So,
trying to make the Old and New Testament kingdoms
work together ruins them both. His critics must have
been seething by this time, because their whole way
of living was built on the Old way of doing
everything. They new nothing else. They felt about
Jesus the way we feel about some new prophet coming
along and telling us that our New Testament just
won’t do anymore! We respond, and rightly, that our
Old and New Testaments are just fine, thank you very
much! Well, that’s the way Jesus probably made his
critics feel. Yet, Jesus just went right on, knowing
that his New way really was the right one. Jesus was
humble, yet he had an exasperating self-assurance
that infuriated his critics, while filling his
followers with confidence and bewilderment, all at
once. Then, in Luke 6, Jesus rolls right on and
violates some Sabbath rule, (again!) What terrible
rule had he broken now? His disciples wanted a bit
of breakfast! So, they did what was lawful. The poor
were allowed to help themselves to the edges of a
farmer’s field. And the silly Pharisees thought this
was work done on the Sabbath! I should think that
going hungry is harder work than picking a few ears
of corn! Evidently, Jesus thought so. There is no
use in dueling with Jesus over Scripture! Jesus was
within his rights to eat from the cornfield. "For
six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the
crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie
unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people
may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat
what they leave." Exodus 23:10. So an animal was
allowed to eat, and a man was not? Absurd! Exodus
23:12 points out the reason for the Sabbath: "so
that your donkey may rest and the slave born in your
household and the aliens as well, may be refreshed."
So, animals and slaves and foreigners may be
refreshed, but disciples of Jesus the rabbi must go
hungry? Absurd! Jesus reminded his critics of a well
known story in 1 Samuel 21:5 in which David’s men
were starving, and they were allowed to eat
consecrated bread so they could continue their
flight from the wicked king Saul. So, the legendary
David is allowed to eat holy bread, yet poor
disciples can’t even pick a few ears of grain?
Absurd! Later, in Luke 6 beginning with verse 23,
Jesus begins to outline very radical ways of dealing
with mankind. The revolutionary says that we should
rejoice when persecuted, worry when we are wealthy,
love our enemies, and give to anyone. Absurd from
the world’s way of thinking! In chapter 9:23-27
Jesus actually points out that dying on a cross as
his disciple would be less painful than losing your
own immortal soul! Yes, indeed, Jesus really was,
and is, a true revolutionary!
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