Each photo below corresponds to a chapter-a-day post and podcast for the book of Philippians published by Tom Vander Well in Decemer 2023 and January 2024. Click on the photo linked to each chapter to read the post or listen to the podcast.
You’re caught up. Posts in this series will be added here as they are published. Please feel free to share any post with those you think might enjoy it. Thanks!
– Tom
When [John’s disciples] came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’”
Luke 7:20 (NIV)
John the Baptist languishes in prison. The passionate preacher in the wilderness had, not long before, commanded vast crowds who gathered to hear his fire-and-brimstone messages. He railed against the evils of his day, spoke against the powerful and corrupt, and called people to repent of their sinful ways. People flocked to be baptized by him. The religious establishment scorned him. His voice carried weight and his rhetoric swayed multitudes. Then he crossed Herod.
Part of the secret of the Roman Empire’s success was that when they conquered and occupied a foreign land, they allowed the local rulers to reign and the local religions to remain. The local rulers of Judea were three sons of Herod the Great. Theirs was a powerful, violent, and corrupt dynasty. Herod Antipas had a political marriage to the daughter of Arabia’s ruler, but he had a lusty thing for his niece, Herodias. The only problem was that Herodias was already married to Herod’s brother. This didn’t stop Antipas from scheming, conniving, and bullying until he had what he wanted.
John the Baptist called him out, and that wild man preacher could sway multitudes. It was a PR nightmare for Antipas, who like all good politicians, tried to pass himself off as a good, God-fearing Jew. So, he did what politicians do to this day. He censored and silenced his critics. He threw John into prison. Nothing to see here.
John, meanwhile, is waiting for Jesus to do His thing. The thing he told the crowds about. The fire from heaven! The ax of judgment cutting down the corrupt! The victorious messiah who will wipe out the likes of Herod and establish an eternal earthly kingdom of justice and righteousness!
Oh, and yes, get me out of this stinking prison.
But, it wasn’t happening.
“I’m still here. This is not what I expected. This was not what I had envisioned for how things would play out.”
Impatience sets in.
“Maybe I was wrong about Jesus. Maybe Jesus isn’t the ‘Marvel Messiah.'”
So, John tells his disciples to go find Jesus and get an update. When are you going to take down the Herod Administration? When are you going to set up your Kingdom? When are you pushing these Romans back across the Med?
“When can I expect you to get me out of prison?”
Jesus responds to John’s question:
“Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”
It’s a paraphrase of the same prophecy of Isaiah that Jesus quoted in the synagogue back in Nazareth:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Yet, in Jesus’ paraphrase, He omits the part about “proclaiming freedom for the prisoners” and “setting the oppressed free.”
Ouch. That’s quite an omission, cuz.
Along my life journey, I have found myself languishing at certain waypoints on life’s road. This wasn’t what I had planned. Things aren’t working out as I envisioned them. What’s worse: nothing is happening. I feel stuck. God, don’t seem to be doing anything. What about those promises? How long? How long will I be stuck here? God? Hello?! I. don’t. want. to. be. in. this. place. any. longer!!
Here’s what I’ve learned from those seasons. There were reasons I could never see in the moment that I can now see in the review mirror. Circumstances that needed to change. I needed to change. Situations needed to be set up for the next stage of the journey. People needed to be moved. Life has a lot of moving parts.
I have also learned from those seasons the hard lesson that John learned in today’s chapter. If I have faith that “all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28), then I surrender the right to define what “good” looks like.
John the Baptist will be beheaded.
So will Paul.
Peter will be crucified upside down.
Jesus’ Kingdom is not a kingdom of this world. That’s what He told Pilate. As a disciple of Jesus, I must embrace that my life journey through this world may not always be as I had envisioned because it’s not about me and an earthly kingdom. It’s about me channeling God’s kingdom while I’m here. Sometimes, that means being patient, surrendering, and having faith to persevere when I’m languishing in my present circumstances.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you.”
Luke 6:37-38a (NIV)
Jesus’ teaching was entirely personal. He didn’t talk about international policy. He didn’t talk about business. He barely touched on family. In today’s chapter, Luke records pieces of Jesus’ core teachings. Much of it is from Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” found in Matthew’s account.
As I read through the words multiple times this morning, I recognized two key things, make that three. First, I realized that it is directed to every individual. Second, the teaching is entirely about how I, as an individual, should act with every other individual treating each person, without exception, with mercy, grace, generosity, kindness, and forgiveness. Third, the motivating factor is that God, our creator and ultimately our judge, has already treated me with mercy, grace, generosity, kindness, and forgiveness.
Jesus makes no exemptions.
Jesus offers no caveats.
Jesus provides no exceptions for ethnicity, nationality, political affiliation, worldview, sexual orientation, religion, socioeconomic status, criminal behavior, past offenses, morality, or personal suffering.
Jesus makes it clear that there is a divine reciprocity in the eternal scheme of things. My behavior toward others matters, and the further I progress as a disciple of Jesus the more inescapable I find this simple truth. In fact, I find it fascinating that the institutional churches I’ve attended throughout my lifetime have been quick to preach morality while largely ignoring the prevalence of meanness, lack of generosity, condemnation, holding of grudges, prejudice, or contempt of others.
But how easy it is to start talking about larger human systems when Jesus’ teaching was directed to me. The only person I ultimately control is myself. So, I enter another day of the journey mindful of how Jesus expects me to behave in relationship to every person with whom I interact without exemption, caveat, or exception:
“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
I’m listening, Lord. Help me to increasingly act like it.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
Luke 5:20 (NIV)
I have a sticker on my iPad cover of Caravaggio’s The Calling of Matthew. It’s one of my favorite works of art both because no artist has brought the dramatic moment to life than then the troubled Italian. And, it’s one of my favorite stories in all of the Great Story because of what it represents.
In today’s chapter, Jesus continues his Miracle Ministry Tour as the crowds of followers continue to grow. Twice, again, in today’s chapter Luke mentions the swelling and astonished crowds as Jesus prompts a miraculous catch of fish, heals a leper and then a man with paralysis.
But underneath the obvious miracles and the public spectacle, Jesus begins to hint at something deeper.
When the paralytic man is lowered through the roof to reach Jesus, Jesus initiates the encounter, not by healing his physical paralysis, but by forgiving his sins and healing what sin had done to his soul. For the first time, the religious leaders get bent out of shape, because they know only God can forgive sins. Jesus uses the conflict as a teaching moment, healing the man’s physical paralysis as well.
In the very next episode Luke shares, Jesus calls the local tax collector to be one of his disciples. Remember that Jesus’ base of operations in Capernaum is a diverse population of both Jews and non-Jewish (aka Gentile) residents who were Greek an/or Roman pagans. Levi was considered a traitor by his fellow Jews because he worked for Rome and got rich off the taxes he charged and collected. I’ll bet Levi made sure Peter made a hefty tax payment on that miraculous catch from earlier in the chapter. Jesus’ choice of Levi (aka Matthew) could not have been popular with his growing crowd of Jewish followers.
Jesus, however, ignores His Jewish critics and visits Levi’s house for a dinner party. Being a tax collector Levi rubbed shoulders with other tax collectors as well as prominent Romans and Greeks who were pagans who also lived in Capernaum. Jesus’ own people considered these people dirty and socially unacceptable. Simon, James, and John would never have crossed the threshold of Levi’s doors so as to show consideration for the Roman traitor or to be contaminated by the Gentile “dogs” he considered friends.
But Jesus did. I think The Chosen captures the moment well:
Once again, the good Jewish religious leaders are appalled by this Miracle Man. He certainly does miraculous things, but He refuses to stay in the well established and accepted Jewish lane.
Jesus response? “The healthy (God’s people) don’t need a doctor, but the lost sheep (Levi) and sinners (Levi’s Gentile friends) do.” Jesus’ choice to dine with Levi and his Gentile friends would have made Him a pariah to his Jewish followers, but would have won a lot of friends among their Gentile neighbors who were typically treated with contempt by the Jewish residents.
In both the forgiving of the paralytic, the calling of Levi, and his attendance at Levi’s dinner party, Jesus is firing a shot across the bow of the religious establishment. He can heal people all day long, but a paralytic who now walks makes just another walking sinner in need of a remedy for his spiritual affliction. Jesus’ mission is to bring spiritual freedom and healing to every tribe and nation and people and language.
In the quiet this morning, I confess that for many years I ran in certain Christian circles, and the religious establishment among those Christian circles were no different than the Jewish establishment of Jesus’ day. I was told to avoid modern-day Levis and their non-Christian ilk, just like Jesus. The further I got in my journey as a disciple of Jesus, the further away I was led from those religious establishments.
I love that Jesus was so bold in crossing religious and cultural boundaries right out of the gate. I love God’s heart, that all the way back in Genesis looked at everything that He created and loved it. Being a disciple of Jesus has led me to believe that any human religion that does not reflect the love of God for all of His creation does not reflect the heart of God.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.
Luke 4:28 (NIV)
As I was driving home from a client meeting yesterday, the song Rockstar by Nickelback came on. I’ve always liked the song. It’s incredibly catchy. The song is about our common desire to be famous and live the life of a rockstar. In the music video, everyday people on the street lip sync the lyrics along with real life rockstars and celebrities. It got me thinking about fame.
I started blogging back in 2006. It’s been a fascinating journey. The whole things has evolved a lot over the years. I’ve become a better writer, I’ve honed my blog, a few years ago I started podcasting my posts for those who prefer listening to reading. In doing so, I found out there are a number of you who prefer listening! Thank you! I once played around with “monetizing,” which is how bloggers and podcasters start to turn the writing and broadcasting into making a living. Over the almost five years since I set up “monetization” I’ve made $14.07.
It has fascinating for me as I plug along on this journey to witness those who go viral and become “influencers” on social media. If you have thousands or millions of followers, advertisers will pay you a lot of money to “influence” your followers for them. For some, it happens in almost an instant. In 2019, a study revealed that 86% of young people in America want to grow up to be social media “influencers.”
Today’s chapter recounts the beginning days of Jesus’ ministry. He established the fishing town of Capernaum as his base of operations. Capernaum was fascinating because it was culturally diverse. There were a number Jewish synagogues, but it was also a hub of Greek culture in the region. Luke records that once He started teaching and healing, Jesus went viral:
“…news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in the synagogues and everyone praised him.”
“…they were amazed at his teaching…”
“All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!” And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.”
By the end of the chapter, Luke records that crowds of people were following Jesus wherever He went.
Amidst Jesus going viral, Luke reports that Jesus went to His own hometown of Nazareth and delivered the message in the synagogue. He tells them:
“Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
The days of Elijah and Elisha that Jesus referenced were a time when the Hebrew people had turned their backs on God. The two people who Jesus referenced as being cared for and healed were non-Hebrew “Gentiles.” In delivering this message, Jesus is prophetically foreshadowing what He is going to do, and what is going to happen. He is going to bring God’s message of love, salvation and forgiveness to the Gentiles (whom the Hebrew people despised and treated as dirty and inferior), and His own people will kill Him for it. Sure enough, the riot Jesus sparked led to a mob trying to throw Him off a cliff.
In the quiet this morning, I meditated on Jesus going viral. When you’re publicly healing people and casting out demons, I would imagine you draw a pretty big crowd of followers. As I contemplated the crowds and Jesus’ popularity, I was reminded of the words of John, who was a primary source witness of those heady early days in Capernaum:
…many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.”
As I observe from the outside the experiences of influencers and viral bloggers and podcasters, it’s easy to see how silly things can get. Fame can be fleeting, especially in a world of cancel culture. Crowds are fickle. Even Jesus seemed to enter this “viral” stage of His ministry knowing that the same crowds gathering for his “Miracle” tour and putting Him at the top of every “trending” category known to man, will essentially be the same crowd screaming “Crucify Him” in a few years.
It’s fascinating that today’s chapter about Jesus going viral begins with the Evil One taking Jesus to a high place and showing him “in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Jesus passed on the opportunity. I will follow.
My mousepad is Van Gogh’s “the sower.” Each morning, as I write these posts and record my podcast, it metaphorically reminds me of my compulsion to continue this chapter-a-day journey. Each post, every podcast, is a seed that I cast out there praying that it will land, take root, and bear fruit wherever God intends. That yield, whatever it might be, is priceless. It’s certainly worth more than $14.07.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
[John the Baptist] went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Luke 3:3 (NIV)
One of my mother’s first cousins passed away recently. She and my mother were dear to one another, and the fact that the two of them both descended into dementia and died in the same year doesn’t surprise me in the least. Along my life journey, I’ve observed that there can be unexplainable “connections” of spirit between certain family members. Our families got together on an occasional basis when we were growing up, and when it happened it was always a major event. There was so much fun and so much laughter. I have so many good memories with my cousins.
My mom and her cousin, and my childhood memories of our families, came to mind as I meditated on today’s chapter in the quiet this morning. I find John the baptist to be one of the most intriguing people we meet in the entire Great Story. Luke provides us with more background information about John than Matthew, Mark, and John put together. Much of it in today’s chapter.
The fact that John and Jesus were related through their mothers Elizabeth and Mary (exactly how they were related is not explained) and that Mary stayed with Elizabeth during their pregnancies leads me conclude that John and Jesus spent time together growing up. How fascinating to think of the two playing together and hanging out as boys when the families got together.
The connection between John and Jesus was more than DNA. God made clear from their respective miraculous births and angelic pronouncements that they were an integrated part of the same chapter of the Great Story.
As I meditate on the person of John, there are two major themes that come to mind. First, the adult John is the archetype of the Lone Stranger that is already established in the Great Story before in persons like Melchizedek, Elijah, and Elisha. In fact, Jesus makes clear that John is the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophetic words that conclude the Old Testament:
“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes….”
John the Baptist is like the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophets. He represents the ending of one section of the Great Story as Jesus is about to usher the beginning of an entirely new section. Jesus repeatedly noted that God’s people murdered the prophets God sent to them. John became the last living example.
The other things that comes to mind as I think about John is water. The act of ritual baptism was prevalent in those days. Even at the base of the Temple mount, archaeologists have uncovered baptismal pools about the size of a modern hot tub. Three steps in and three steps out. It is likely that people would be ritually baptized or “cleansed” before ascending to the Temple mount. In the area of the wilderness around the Dead Sea where John operated, a sect known as the Essenes lived in caves in which there were vast networks of these ritual baptismal pools. Baptism was not a novel ritual concept that John created. It was a well-known ritual in which individuals cleansed themselves as a form of spiritual preparation.
That’s what John was doing. His baptism, Luke tells us in today’s chapter, was a baptism of repentance. John’s baptism was a preparation for Jesus and the forgiveness He would bring through His death, as well as the baptism of Holy Spirit that would follow His resurrection.
In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking about the season of Advent that we are in. John and Jesus are connected on multiple levels, but primarily in John I find God modeling for us the importance of spiritual preparation. Like John’s baptism, Advent is spiritual preparation for what has done in Jesus first coming, for what God is doing in my own heart and life in this season, and for what God will do when Christ comes again in the climactic end of this Great Story.
I can’t help but believe that the better my preparation, the more transformative the full-fill-ment.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.
Luke 2:25 (NIV)
Here at Vander Well Manor, it’s beginning to look a little bit like Christmas. Wendy fractured her foot a few weeks ago, had surgery to repair it, and has been rolling around the house on a scooter. So, the decorations are not up yet, but there’s seasonal music playing in the kitchen each morning and boxes of toys and books and other Christmas gifts for the kids have begun to arrive daily. Our crew in Scotland is moving back to the States and will be with us, which has Yaya and Papa pretty excited for this year’s Christmas celebration.
As I looked at the latest delivery of children’s gifts on the counter yesterday, I thought about our grandson and the giddy excitement he must be feeling about Christmas. I suddenly had a nostalgic flood of memories from my own childhood. Back in the day, the Sears Christmas Wish Book catalog that arrived each year would be tattered and dog-eared as the toy section was perpetually reviewed daily. The list for Santa was endless. The anticipation of Christmas morning was excruciating.
This past Sunday, I gave a message among my local gathering of Jesus’ followers. My message was an unpacking of what’s known as the season of Advent. Among my local gathering are people of very diverse religious backgrounds, and many have no experience with or understanding of Advent. Among followers of Jesus around the world, there are those who follow a liturgical calendar in which there are seasons coinciding with key celebrations throughout the year. The season of Advent is the traditional season that leads up to the celebration of Jesus’ birth on Christmas Day.
Advent comes from the Latin word Adventus, meaning “coming or arrival.” It is a season of waiting that traditionally included an Advent calendar which counts down the days until Christmas. Advent calendars used to have little candies or pieces of chocolate for each day, helping children get a little daily fix before the main event arrives. Today, you can get Advent calendars with just about any kind of treat for each day before Christmas including different wine samples or a shot of a different brand of bourbon. Ya gotta love commercialism.
Today’s chapter is a traditional Christmas chapter. What is once again fascinating about Luke’s account is the detail he provides that you won’t find in Matthew, Mark, or John’s biographies of Jesus. As part of his investigation into Jesus’ story, tradition tells us that Luke spent time with Jesus’ mother, Mary. The first two chapters read like a recitation of what must have been Mary’s first-person account of the events surrounding Jesus’ birth.
Among those stories is a simple, but meaningful story of a man named Simeon. Simeon was a sincere believer in God, and he was waiting for God’s messiah, the savior, to arrive. God’s Spirit had assured him that he would not die until he had seen this messiah with his own eyes. Prompted and led by God’s Spirit, he goes to the courts of the Temple. The temple courts would have teeming with people like a shopping mall the week before Christmas. There among the crowd were Joseph, Mary, and 40-day-old baby Jesus. They were there to perform a traditional purification ritual prescribed in the Law of Moses.
Luke doesn’t go into details, but Simeon is led to the infant Jesus by the Spirit. That which he had been waiting for is finally fulfilled. He hold’s God’s promise, and speaks hard prophetic words to Mary. The waiting over, Simeon boldly proclaims that he is now ready to die, having seen “God’s salvation” with his own eyes.
In the quiet this morning, I can’t help but think about the stories of today’s chapter in connection to my message this past Sunday and the season of waiting that has commenced leading to Christmas. Christmas toys and Advent calendars filled with bourbon shots aside, the traditional season of Advent calls me back from the precipice of nostalgia and commercialism to something deeper, more personal, and more meaningful. Simeon provides the example.
Simeon’s wait was individual and personal. Simeon’s was connected to God’s Spirit which was both the source of the wait and its fulfillment. Once it was fulfilled, Simeon experienced a spiritual freedom, release, and satisfaction.
As a child, I remember the hangover that descended when all the presents had been opened and a few days had gone by for the newness to wear off. That’s bound to happen if my treasure is found in the Sears Wish Book. Simeon found something deeper and far more satisfying. Advent softly beckons me to join him, if I only can hear the whisper amidst Mariah Carey beckoning for the 100th time that all she wants for Christmas is me.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
