I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 (NIV)
In 1775, the American British Colonies were preparing for open war with Mother England. George Washington commissioned six schooners with the task of harassing British supply ships. They became known as “Washington’s Cruisers.” It was America’s first navy.
Betsy Ross had yet to stitch the stars and stripes as an official flag of the United States, and Washington’s Cruisers wanted a banner to sail under. The sailors turned to English philosopher, John Locke, who argued that when people live under tyranny and no appeal can be made to an earthly judge there is still “an appeal to heaven” that can be made. They stitched the words on a white flag with a pine tree representing the American pines that England tyrannically mandated could only be used for masts on British ships.
In today’s chapter, Paul urges his protégé and all the believers in Ephesus to make an appeal to heaven for “kings and all those in authority.” It must be noted that Paul’s command to pray for “all” in authority included the one man who was the highest human authority in the Roman Empire at the time: Emperor Nero. Paul had already been imprisoned in Rome once waiting for his appeal to Caesar to make its way up the docket. In a few years from the writing of this letter Paul will be imprisoned again. His appeal to Nero will never be realized and Nero will have Paul executed.
Paul, however, remains laser focused on his appeal to heaven. Paul appealed to Caesar back in Acts 25 knowing that, if successful, he would have an opportunity to share his story and Jesus’ message with the most powerful human authority on earth. Paul’s eyes were fixed on Jesus, and bringing God’s Kingdom to earth. His rights as a Roman citizen technically afforded him an opportunity to be ushered into Caesar’s throne room, and since the charges against him were rooted in his faith in Jesus and the riot it caused among his Jewish brethren, Paul would naturally have to testify regarding his faith as part of the trial. Paul is dying for the chance to share Jesus with Nero. In fact, the attempt will ultimately cost him his earthly life.
But that’s still a few years in the future. As he writes Timothy, he urges that everyone pray for all in authority, including the dreaded and debauched Emperor Nero who has murdered some of his own family members and had sex with others. Nero, who will cover Christians in pitch and burn them alive on stakes as entertainment and illumination for the orgy in his garden.
Pray for him.
When there is no other appeal to be made on earth, there is still an appeal to heaven.
In the quiet this morning, I can’t escape the current realities of our political divide, political hatred, political violence, political vengeance, and political retribution. I stand in the tension and have watched it on both sides of the political spectrum as it has progressively escalated in both camps over the past decade.
And so, Paul reminds me this morning along with Timothy. It doesn’t matter how dreaded and debauched, how deceptive and dastardly, I am called to make an appeal to heaven for “all those in authority.” Ultimately, God is the final appeal. So, I might as well make that appeal today.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
“I have sinned,” [Judas] said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”
“What is that to us?” [the chief priests and elders] replied. “That’s your responsibility.” Matthew 27:4 (NIV)
I made a decision years ago not to be affiliated with any political party. A few years ago I changed my non-affiliated status to vote for an individual whom I believe in during the primaries, but then I switched back to being non-affiliated. I know people on the right who think I’m too far left and people on the left who think I’m too far right. There are individuals on both sides of the aisle who lump me in with “those people” in the opposite party. It is what it is. I know, love, and respect people across the political spectrum who have very diverse views and opinions.
When Jesus sent The Twelve out two-by-two to share His message in towns and villages around the Sea of Galilee, He told them to be “shrewd as serpents and gentle as doves.” I have found that advice sage whenever I am navigating the world, whether that’s reading the news, operating in the business world, or doing my civic duty by participating in elections.
Along my life journey, I’ve observed that both sides of the political spectrum are guilty of looking the other way and justifying it when someone on their team is guilty of corruption, but then scream for blood and justice when one of “those people” on the other side do the same thing. I get it. This is just how the world works.
As a disciple of Jesus, I’ve been tasked with being “in the world, but not of it.” So, along the way I personally chose out of both sides. I know fellow disciples who feel called to serve in one of both major parties. That’s cool, too. The Great Story is filled with examples of God using different people in different political contexts. Jeremiah was a prophet inside the (corrupt) political system of his day. Elijah was a political outsider and voice in the wilderness. Among The Twelve Jesus chose a far-right zealot named Simon and a far-left Roman collaborator named Matthew. I have learned along the way that God leads different people on different paths for different reasons yet does so for His same eternal purposes.
I find that the Great Story is, at its foundation, a conflict between good and evil; A war between the kingdoms of this world and the Kingdom of God. Nowhere is this more abundantly clear than in the events of Jesus arrest, trials, and execution.
In today’s chapter, Judas feels remorse for his betrayal and returns the 30 pieces of silver to the religious leaders at the Temple. He tells them that Jesus is innocent and that “innocent blood” is on his hands.
“What is that to us?” they ask Judas in excusing their actions.
In asking this question, they expose tremendous hypocrisy. It should mean everything to them. They are leaders of the Hebrew people. They are “experts” in God’s Law. They are the authorities over God’s given system of justice. They know that in Deuteronomy God established that entire system of justice and explained the reason saying:
“Do this so that innocent blood will not be shed in your land, which the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance, and so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed...You must purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, so that it may go well with you.” Deuteronomy 19:10 (NIV) [emphasis added]
Ironically, the same legal section of God’s Law gives specific instructions about false witnesses like Judas and the others they put forth at Jesus’ trial:
“If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse someone of a crime, the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you.” Deuteronomy 19:16-19 (NIV)
The Chief Priests and Elders knew that they were breaking many laws in their railroading of Jesus. To ask, “What is that to us?” was a mockery of God’s entire purpose for the Law. God was establishing a system of justice that would protect the innocent and poor and hold the rich and powerful accountable. The Chief Priests and Elders used this system to become rich and powerful. They are now using the Law to protect that wealth and power while they ignore the laws that call on them to free Jesus and hold Judas accountable for his false testimony (though they broke that same Law in paying Judas for that false testimony).
Judas throws the silver from his betrayal at their feet and flees.
To make their hypocrisy even more blatant, these men who are supposed to be the keepers of the Law but have flaunted the most basic of God’s Laws regarding justice now look at the blood money and say, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.”
This is how the world works. Left and Right. Conservative and Liberal. Fox and CNN. Catholics and Evangelicals. Fundamentalist and Frozen Chosen. Choose the rules you want to follow and those you want to ignore depending on how and when it suits your personal benefit and political purposes.
“Rules for thee but not for me.”
The irony continues later in the chapter as the Chief Priest and Elders “persuade” the crowd (I assume there was more silver involved) to call on Pilate to release Barabbas and crucify Jesus. Pilate, the non-Hebrew Roman, knows that Jesus is “innocent blood” and wants nothing to do with this injustice. The Hebrew Chief Priests, Elders, and their good Hebrew mob-for-hire then scream to, Pilate:
“His blood is on us and on our children!”
I couldn’t help but remember Jesus words to these same Chief Priests and Elders just a few days before:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!” Matthew 23:29-32 (NIV)
In the quiet this morning, I am reminded that as Jesus’ disciple I am both a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven, and therefore an ambassador of that Kingdom here among the kingdoms of this world. The more I’ve taken this spiritual reality seriously, the more I’ve discovered how it requires me to be shrewd as a serpent and gentle as a dove. Nevertheless, in my thoughts, words, actions, and relationships I don’t want to mindlessly be another example of how the world works. I want to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, even if I’m crucified for it.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
“‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.’” Leviticus 19:15 (NIV)
I’m sure that I’m not the only one who has noticed that the level of vitriol between both individuals and tribes of individuals has risen dramatically in the last 10 years. The political divide has a lot to do with this. In my observation, the mainstream media and cable news (on both sides) have helped spur the increased animosity. All I have to do is take about 30 seconds to scroll through the feed of X or BlueSky and my mind and soul will be coated with the residue of anger, rage, and savage written attacks against the “other” of whoever is spewing their personal prejudice and hatred.
So far in this chapter-a-day journey through the ancient Hebrew priestly manual known as Leviticus, God has prescribed offerings and ritual sacrifices for the Hebrews. He has appointed priests, given them instructions for their job, and instituted the sacrificial system. God then explained what made people ritually “clean” or “unclean,” and prescribed an annual Day of Atonement in which the High Priest made one sacrifice for the sin of all the people, and foreshadowed the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus would make on the cross. The final section of Leviticus (chapters 17-26) are instructions God gives to His people for “holy” living. Today’s chapter is like a potpourri of individual prescriptions, each one of them standing on their own.
As I read through the instructions in today’s chapter, there were some that make little or no sense in today’s world and even scholars will agree that the purpose and meaning has been lost over time, like not wearing clothing made woven of two kinds of material. There are cultural taboos that had to do with being “different” from the tribes around them and the connotations that came with them at that period of time, like having tattoos (fyi: Wendy just got her latest tattoo yesterday. It’s gorgeous). But most of the prescribed instructions in today’s chapter have to do with treating others, all others with respect, honesty, courtesy, and love. It is from today’s chapter that Jesus quotes the second of the two commands that He said sum up all of the Law and the Prophets: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” (vs. 18)
Parents, employees, children, the disabled, immigrants, the elderly, customers, neighbors, slaves, rich, poor, and the tribe as a whole are called out as those one is to deferentially treat with love, generosity, honor, and dignity. I personally found it fascinating that one of the prescriptions instructed the Hebrews to not show partiality to either the great or the poor, but to treat each fairly and objectively. I found it particularly poignant as I see one side of the political spectrum demonizing the rich with a broad brush as greedy, heartless, law breaking charlatans. The other side, meanwhile, demonizes the poor with a broad brush as lazy, freeloading, drug addicted, and worthless drains on society.
In the quiet this morning as I pondered these prescriptions for treating others, I thought about a conversation Wendy and I had on vacation a few weeks ago. We were in New Orleans for the week before the Super Bowl (unintentional timing) and then spent a week on a cruise. We were surrounded by crowds and we interacted with a diverse swath of humanity both weeks and in our travel to and from New Orleans. What we witnessed was people treating one another with kindness and respect. We met people from all walks of life. We interacted with different races, ethnicities, geographic backgrounds, education levels, and socio-economic status. With it being Super Bowl week, believe me that the uber rich were there right along with NOLA’s regular homeless residents. We were encouraged by our experiences with everyone.
Which leads me to think that perhaps the best thing I can do for my mind and soul is to stay away from the mainstream media and just ignore the feeds on X and Bluesky. If I focus on doing as God prescribes with the people I interact with today in my circles of influence I will have a greater affect on this world than if I spend my day screaming my political opinions to the internet.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. Mark 1:38-39 (NIV)
Other than a four year sojourn to the outskirts of Chicago for college, I have lived my entire life in Iowa. As I network for work with business people on both coasts, I find that most people a) don’t know exactly where Iowa is on the map and b) have never been here. Iowa is known as “flyover” country. Business, politics, and culture in America are driven primarily by people on the either coast. Here in Iowa It’s mostly rural farmland dotted with small towns. We’re an easy target for comedians. The only reason anyone pays attention to Iowa is our first in the nation caucuses every four years that kick of the presidential race, and every four years the important and elite talking heads on the coasts gripe in the media about us having that little sliver of the political pie.
In the 40-plus years that I’ve been studying this Great Story from Genesis to Revelation, one of the things that I find lost on most people is the giant cultural divide between the worldly powers of Jesus’ day and where Jesus chose to begin His earthly ministry. For those living in Judea, the center of everything elite and important was in Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem was New York, L.A., and Washington D.C. rolled into one. Just as people flock to those centers of business, politics, and entertainment to “make it” in the world today, so would those who wanted to “make it” in Jesus day go directly to Jerusalem. Every one who was anyone of power and prestige was in the big city.
The north shore of Galilee, on the other hand, was the “flyover” country in its day. That’s where Jesus chose to begin his ministry. When I visited the area I was amazed how remote it still feels today. To get to some of the little villages where Jesus taught we had to navigate back-country roads to places it’s obvious few people ever visit. It’s remote, isolated, and about as far away from “worldly power” as one could get.
Today our chapter-a-day journey begins a trek through the gospel of Mark, written by a man named John Mark, who has his own interesting story. Mark was a young man when his mother, Mary, became a follower of Jesus. He was among the throng of followers who are often forgotten in the shadows behind The Twelve who got most of the attention. Mark’s mother was among the women with means who financially supported Jesus’ ministry and in theevents after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus’ disciples and followers met at and lived in Mary’s home. Mark is in the background of most of the events of those early years of the Jesus’ Movement. He was with Paul on the first missionary journey, spent much of his adult life living with and assisting Peter. At the end of Paul’s life, Mark is there by his side.
I felt a spiritual connection between person and place this morning as I meditated on the first chapter of Mark’s biography of Jesus. Jesus chose to center His ministry in a rural area dotted with small villages of simple people just trying to catch fish, grow crops, and survive. Jesus’ followers were, for the most part, blue-collar workers with little education and zero prominence in the world. People like Mark, who was just a kid whose mom decided to follow Jesus, and so he lived his life in the background of events that would change the world. He was a stage-hand in the drama of the Jesus Movement – listening, learning, and then sharing Jesus’ teaching. Just one of those names in the program to which no one really pays attention.
And, I think this is the point. Through the prophet Isaiah, God said that His ways are not our ways. He doesn’t do things the way Wall Street, Washington, Hollywood, or Silicon Valley believe that things should be done. God sent His Son to flyover country to simple people living in rural areas who are just trying to make a living and figure out life.
I find something endearing and profoundly significant in this, especially in a culture where popularity, fame, and influence have become the currency of power in an online world that has become an endless cacophony of voices. Jesus’ message has never broadly resonated in the power centers of this world where the kingdoms of politics, education, commerce, and even religion hold sway. I am reminded that at the very end of the Story in Revelation, those kingdoms will still be lined up against God.
And so, in the quiet this morning, I sit in flyover country. Few people can find me on a map, and most people will avoid visiting. The further I get in my life journey the more I appreciate it. Jesus taught that I should seek first the Kingdom of God. Along life’s road I discovered that the closer and more enticed I become with the Kingdoms of this world, the harder it becomes find the eternal treasures that Jesus said were most important. I think Mark understood this. What a great role model; Living life in the background listening, learning, and sharing Jesus’ teaching among simple people who are just trying make a living and figure out life.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Interpersonal and International (CaD Ezk 23) –
Wayfarer
“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you have forgotten me and turned your back on me, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution.” Ezekiel 23:35 (NIV)
In this election year, the headlines and pundits have gone into overdrive in analyzing the United States’ relationships with the international community and certain individual nations. Foreign policy is a major issue. I have regularly read think pieces purporting that World War III is near. Lord, have mercy on us.
I have grown up reading and hearing a euphemism that addresses political alliances between nations. That euphemism is that one nation “is in bed with” another nation.
I’m no etymologist, but given today’s chapter, it’s obvious that the euphemism has roots in the ancient prophets like Ezekiel.
In today’s chapter, God through Ezekiel offers a raw and rather shocking metaphor regarding the unfaithfulness of the divided kingdoms of Israel (Samaria) and Judah (Jerusalem). They are presented as daughters of the same mother who become prostitutes, getting “in bed” with other nations. The language is neither subtle nor ambiguous, and it would certainly make my late mother blush. Ezekiel’s message is certainly worthy of a parental advisory as he describes one wantonly promiscuous “daughter” as lusting after her lovers, “whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.” (I’m sorry, who said the Bible is “boring?”)
It was, of course, the shock value that God was trying to leverage in giving this explicit message through Zeke. He was trying to get through to His people who, the chapter reports, were committing acts of child sacrifice in Solomon’s Temple, the temple dedicated to Him who demanded of His people that they look out for, protect, and provide for orphans, widows, and foreigners. To get through to their shockingly hard hearts, God is resorting to a shockingly hardcore metaphor.
So what does this have to do with me?
There are a couple of thoughts rattling around in my head and heart as I meditate on today’s chapter.
First, my 40+ years of being a follower of Jesus has taught me that God is not like the uptight “Church Lady” type caricature that the world likes to paint. Though I admit that certain self-proclaimed followers help to promote the notion. When Jesus talked about His willingness to leave the flock to rescue one last sheep, He was speaking of the great lengths to which He would go to get through to the lost. In Ezekiel’s message we learn that He’s willing to get downright crude, if necessary, to get through to deaf ears and the thick walls of a hardened heart.
Second, I continue to believe that Jesus’ teachings were specifically addressed to individuals and intended to direct a person’s interpersonal relationships and behaviors. They were not intended as prescriptions for international politics. When one confuses the two, things get wonky.
That said, it does not mean that God is not concerned about kingdoms and nations. The Great Story makes clear that He very much is concerned with kingdoms and nations. They play a crucial part in the Great Story, as today’s prophetic chapter makes clear. It is, however, a very different type of relationship. The Great Story makes clear that the nations and “kings of the earth” are currently under the dominion of the “Prince of this World” who, while standing condemned, will lead “the kings of the earth” into an ultimate conflict against God (Revelation 19:19).
So, where does that leave me?
In the quiet this morning I am reminded of the things that I control and the things that I don’t control. I control my thoughts, words, and behaviors. As a disciple of Jesus, this means following His instructions regarding those thoughts, words, and behaviors in my interpersonal relationships, my daily life, and my dutiful citizenship. It means that I am mindful and prayerful about current events and the individuals affected by them, being generous and active as I am able and led to do so. But it also means having faith with those things that I don’t control, and trusting God with the Story He is authoring with each passing day.
Speaking of which, it’s time to once again enter the fray. Have a great day, friend.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain.’” Ezekiel 17:22 (NIV)
As I write this, the 2024 Presidential election is 47 days away. Yesterday morning, Wendy and I found ourselves finding other news to read. We are so tired of reading about the election and the prognostications about what will or won’t happen if one candidate or the other wins. There’s also the daily clairvoyant journalistic pieces about our enemies and what they must be thinking and preparing for should one candidate or the other win. It reminds me of 2004 when The Guardian published a piece about official predictions that in less than 20 years major European cities will drown under rising seas and Britain will become a Siberian-like climate. Well, it’s now 2024.
Editors know fortune telling and doomsday predictions always make good click-bait.
The political intrigue is, of course, real. Nations and empires are always posturing and looking out for their own interests. This has always been true in human history. Ezekiel’s prophetic message in today’s chapter is predicated on it.
Jerusalem and the nation of Judah happened to lie right at the crossroads between empires. Egypt to the southwest, Babylon and Assyria to the northeast, and the infant Greek and Roman empires soon to be birthed to the northwest. Empires, of course, compete with one another in a global game of King of the Mountain to control the most territory and wealth. As Ezekiel is writing the two super powers are Babylon and Egypt. Babylon has the upper-hand and Jerusalem is a vassal state of the Babylonian empire with a treaty to be loyal subjects.
The king in Jerusalem is a man named Zedekiah. He’s playing political poker and has gone all-in with Egypt, breaking his treaty with Babylon. Interesting to note that some scholars claim that treaties like that between the king of Babylon and the King of Judah were vows made to their respective deities, such as, “May my Lord slay me if I break this treaty.”
What’s fascinating about Ezekiel and the other prophets of his day, is that God is spiritually at work behind the scenes of the history taking place. The book of Daniel makes it clear that God is at work in the person of Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar. God is taking an intimate interest in the individuals and the empires.
In today’s chapter, Zeke’s message is an allegory addressing Zedekiah’s betrayal of his treaty with Nebuchadnezzar. God takes Zed’s betrayal personally and considers that Zed had broken a covenant with God himself, lending credence to the notion that when he swore an oath of loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar it was an oath made to the Lord. Once again, Zeke is delivering bad news. Jerusalem and Zedekiah will pay the consequences for Zedekiah’s bad gamble.
For the second chapter in a row, however, Zeke’s message ends with a Messianic prophecy of hope. God declares that He Himself will plant a sprig on top of the mountains of Israel that will grow into a proverbial Tree of Life. It’s branches will bear fruit (sound familiar?) and “bird of every kind” will nest in it and find shelter in its branches.
As a disciple of Jesus, I once again find in Ezekiel’s prophetic message some comfort in our own crazy political climate. I do believe that all of human history is part of the ebb and flow of the Great Story that God has authored from Genesis to Revelation. I do believe as a disciple of Jesus that my citizenship is ultimately in God’s Kingdom, and that I have a responsibility on this earthly journey to respect the human authority under which I reside. I’m called to honorably live and participate as a citizen. If I really believe what I say I believe, then I can trust that no matter what happens 47 days from now it is part of the Story.
I trust the Story.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” Acts 23:6 (NIV)
It is a major election year here in the United States, which means that politics is already at a fever pitch and it’s only going to get worse. Both the trials of a former President and a number of important appeals before the Supreme Court with regard to hot political issues and elections have put politics and the legal system on a collision course.
Another hot topic of late is a new book by Salman Rushdie regarding his miraculous survival of being attacked and stabbed 15 times. Rushdie has famously been living under the threat of a fundamentalist Islamic fatwa calling for his death for decades.
Politics and religion are both kingdoms of this world and I have long observed that they often intertwine. They came to mind this morning as I read the chapter. Paul is on trial before the religious ruling council in Jerusalem, the same body that tried Jesus and had Him executed some 20 years earlier. Now it is Paul who has threatened their power and fundamentalist religious politics.
You’ve got to hand it to Paul. He was a lawyer trained by the very system that is now trying him. He knows that system and its internal politics as well as anyone, and he makes a brilliant political move. Paul knew that the ruling council was politically divided into two major factions who hated one another. He also knew that the major divisive issue between the two factions was whether there was a resurrection and life after death. So, he loudly proclaims “I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.”
It was a shrewd political play. Suddenly, he shifts the focus from himself and Jesus and stirs the festering theological rancor that divides the ruling council itself. In making a stand for “resurrection,” he makes allies of every Pharisee on the ruling council while tearing off the scab of a festering conflict within the ruling body itself. The entire ruling council erupts, turns on each other, and Paul is whisked away by the Romans amidst the tumult. Paul was a Roman citizen, and he knew that the Romans would politically refuse to let the Jewish ruling council harm one of their citizens.
Paul is safely placed under the political protection of Rome, while 40 of his fundamentalist religious enemies take an oath to neither eat nor drink until they’ve murdered him. I can’t help but think that Paul and Salman Rushdie could have a fascinating conversation about living under the threat of death from fundamentalist religion.
Politics and religion. Two kingdoms of this world combine to make a combustible cocktail. It was true in the events of today’s chapter. This is true in current events. All I have to do is read the headlines.
In the quiet this morning, I am once again reminded of the contrast between the kingdoms of this world, and the Kingdom of God that Jesus brought to this world. The Kingdom of God on earth is focused on each individual disciple who is empowered and called upon to live and relate in a manner consistent with Jesus’ teaching and opposite the kingdoms of this world. If my personal faith in Jesus and my focus on daily living as His disciple transforms into being just another member of an earthly, collective religious system then my faith withers on the Vine and I become just another religious minion subject to a kingdom of this world.
Note: I will be out traveling on business for the next two days. Lord willing, I will plan on posting again on Friday, April 26.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Peace that's Not of this World (CaD Jhn 14) –
Wayfarer
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27 (NIV)
Judas Iscariot is in the process of his betrayal of Jesus. The wheels are in motion and the climactic event that Jesus has clearly stated is about to take place. Jesus knows that He will be arrested, He will suffer, and He will be executed. The religious leaders and the Romans? They’re just the pawns. What’s about to happen is the result of a larger spiritual conflict that has been brewing since before the beginning. As Jesus finishes His last meal with the disciples and prepares, He even says to His disciples, “The Prince of this World is coming.”
I find it fascinating that amid these impending events, Jesus declares that He has peace. In fact, He has enough peace that He will generously give it to His disciples. He also clarifies that His peace is not “as the world gives.”
This got me meditating in the quiet this morning about how I’ve observed the world offering peace.
I watch politicians on both sides screaming of the aisle that their side is the only path to peace and prosperity. The other side will bring only death, destruction, and the end of democracy. So both sides claim they will bring peace if the other side is obliterated, subjugated, and goes away. Peace comes only through the absolute and total destruction of your political enemies.
Last October, a group of terrorists tortured, raped, and slaughtered 1200 human beings. They took others hostage. I’ve been told that this all happened to bring peace to one group of people and will be achieved if the other group of people they terrorized are wiped off the face of the earth. Both groups continue to kill one another to achieve peace.
When I was a young man, it seemed that the world promised peace if you had certain things. Those things could be tangible like money, cars, designer gear, etc. They could also be intangibles like success, popularity, fame, status, and power. This is still the Prince of the World’s game. In fact, it fuels our economy and continues our seemingly endless need for more. If I just add that thing everyone’s talking about to my pile of personal possessions I’d probably feel so content as to never needing another thing.
In my lifetime, I’ve observed that the world’s promise of peace has gotten more insidious with its intangible paths to inner peace. Thanks to social media, the world convinces children and their parents that peace will be yours if you have followers and likes, or because you have a sudden case of Tourette’s or gender dysphoria that makes you special. Peace is promised for the latter at the end of hormones, drugs, and life-altering surgeries.
Jesus promised peace that is spiritual in nature. He said it would come with spiritual oneness that happens when I surrender, follow, believe, and obey. Jesus promises His Spirit to indwell me. That’s the source of the peace. The following, believing, and obeying are rooted in His teaching that there really is something much larger going on in my life in the same way there was something larger going on in the events of His arrest. If He is in me, and I am following His teaching, there is peace that comes with His presence and with seeing the larger, spiritual, eternal perspective which allows me to view my momentary troubles in a very different way.
Peace, my friend.
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Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. John 7:43 (NIV)
Here in America, the news is filled with talk about the deep political divisions that seem to have only widened in the past decade. Both sides of the political aisle have their version of extremists to which the other side can point and stoke up fear and loathing that politicians have proven motivates crowds to action like nothing else. Both sides ignore the worst and most obvious flaws in their own presumed candidates while believing the worst accusations and exaggerations of the candidate on the opposite side. Meanwhile, the media giants (who are equally divided among political lines) in their insatiable need for clicks, likes, shares, and revenue relentlessly exploit the worst of the opposition while ignoring the glaring newsworthy problems on their own preferred side of the political narrative. It’s not a great situation.
This came to mind in the quiet this morning simply because in today’s chapter John focuses on how incredibly divisive Jesus was at the peak of His public ministry. The scene is an annual seven-day Jewish harvest festival called the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot. Jewish pilgrims from all over flocked to Jerusalem to celebrate the harvest at the Temple.
John begins by simply stating the fact that the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem were looking for a way to kill Jesus. Obviously, tensions are high. John spends the rest of the chapter focusing on three distinct groups of people and their opinions about Jesus.
First, there is Jesus’ own younger brothers. The younger sibs are currently of the opinion that their eldest sibling is whacked. They (and presumably the rest of the family) are headed to Jerusalem for the feast. When Jesus begs off, they sarcastically tease him in true sibling fashion that if He wants to stay at the top of the #trending charts He shouldn’t pass up going to the feast where He can have maximum public exposure.
The “crowds” of everyday people on pilgrimage are the second group John mentions. The Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem are the third. The distinction between these groups falls along eerily familiar socio-political lines. The Jewish religious leaders are the educated, wealthy “elites” who view the crowd of pilgrims as uneducated deplorables from fly-over country.
John reveals that among both of these groups, there was tremendous division over who Jesus was. Some believed that Jesus was the Messiah, a prophet, or at least a good man and teacher. Others saw Jesus as a deceiver or an agent of the devil. Among the elite religious leaders, the die has already been cast and they secretly have put a price on Jesus’ head. They are even spinning the narrative that Jesus can’t be a prophet or the Messiah because He comes from Galilee and “no prophet comes from Galilee.” Their spin was absolutely wrong. Jonah came from Galilee, and God can raise up a prophet from wherever He chooses. But the elite are used to being able to say whatever they want and the system will obediently line up behind them. John is careful to note, however, that Nicodemus (who made a clandestine visit to Jesus back in chapter 3) was willing to call his colleagues on their own self-deception. There was at least some quiet opposition among them.
The entire book of John is about John presenting his primary source account of Jesus to readers. At the time of his writing, the question about who Jesus was was no less divisive, perhaps only more so. John clearly embraces this fact, acknowledging that those reading his account could be anywhere on the spectrum between believer and antagonistic rejector. His job, which he states up front in the prologue, is to share what he saw, heard, and experienced being one of Jesus’ most intimate followers. John is silently begging the question: “Who do you believe Jesus is?”
So in the quiet this morning, I can’t help but ponder this question anew. Jesus famously shared that “the truth will set you free,” but He equally shared that the truth will also sharply divide. Today’s chapter is John’s testimony as to the latter. As a disciple of Jesus, among the exhibits of this divide is the reality that Jesus’ famous quote “the truth will set you free” has a caveat that literally no one includes with the famous quote:
“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (emphasis added)
My observation is that everyone wants “truth” and its promised “freedom” without Jesus, His teaching, or the need to hold to that teaching. As a disciple of Jesus, I can’t expect the latter without submitting to the former.
So, once again I enter another day on the journey endeavoring to hold to Jesus’ teaching, believing that He is who He said He was, and trusting that I will continue to find both truth and freedom as I make the trek.
I’m back on Facebook for those who liked to read my chapter-a-day posts there! Facebook refuses to give me access to my old, hacked account, but I have started a new account. Please search for me on Facebook and friend me. If Facebook won’t let you friend me, please go to my Facebook profile and “Message” me, which should then allow me to friend you. Cheers! -Tom
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[Jesus] replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:18-20 (NIV)
Not long ago, I mentioned in a post that Jesus’ teaching was directed, not at nations or human institutions, but to individuals. It was directed to me. This is just one example of God’s message through Isaiah when He says, “Your ways are not my ways.”
Human institutions from Government to businesses to universities to churches operate on a system of top-down power structure. For human beings, this can work relatively well depending on the level of corruption, pride, and greed that exists in the upper levels of the system. The messiah that those of Jesus’ day were expecting was simply another version of this top-down paradigm. They expected the messiah to show up, wipe out evil through domination, put the Hebrews in charge, and exert salvation via righteous tyranny.
But, “your ways are not my ways” God had already proclaimed.
In today’s chapter, Jesus exemplifies the paradigm of His ways both via example and via parable.
Jesus appoints 72 more disciples and sends them out by two-by-two as as advance teams to the towns where He would be visiting. Their charge is to humbly stay with whoever will put them up and eat whatever they are given. No extra clothing. No purse full of money for emergencies. They are simply to do what Jesus did. Heal the sick, drive out demons, and proclaim the same teaching they’d heard from Jesus. If they were not welcomed, they simply wiped the dust off their feet and went to the next town. No demands. No force. No threats. Act humbly, live simply, and love mercifully.
Then a teacher of the law approaches Jesus. He is part of a human religious institution that operates like all human institutions. The elite and privileged at the top institutional food chain demand submission from the masses below. They drive obedience by threat of expulsion. They squash dissension and threats to the system (especially threats to the power and authority of the elites at the top of the system) with swift retribution, violence is used if needed.
The institutional lawyer asks Jesus what the law demands. Jesus quotes the two commandments that Jesus tells the crowds sum up God’s law: 1) Love God. 2) Love your neighbor. The institutional lawyer then asks Jesus to define “neighbor.” This prompts Jesus to launch into the famous story of the Good Samaritan.
What is lost on most casual readers is that Jesus deliberately describes those who pass by the robbed, bleeding, and injured man on the road as elite members of the very religious institution the lawyer represents. They are part of the human system which had, in top-down power fashion, exempted themselves from basic human compassion by dictating and justifying who was worthy of their precious time, energy, and resources both emotional and financial. In passing by the victim of assault and robbery lying on the road, these powerful figures of the religious institution were acting as they’d been taught and conditioned to behave by that system.
Jesus then chooses to describe the man who has compassion for the needy and helpless victim as a Samaritan. Samaritans were the enemy. Samaritans were excluded from the institutional religious system. The lawyer had been taught by the system to ignore, avoid, and treat Samaritans with prejudice, judgment, and contempt.
The Good Samaritan highlights Jesus’ ways, God’s ways. An individual acts with simply humility, compassion, mercy, and extravagant generosity towards another human being in need – even a stranger. This act is a bottom-up, subversive, human religious system disruptor, and it’s how Jesus intends His followers to change the world one humble act of charity at a time.
This bottom-up disruptor paradigm of God’s kingdom versus the world’s top-down power paradigm is highlighted once more by Jesus in today’s chapter. When the 36 advance teams return to Jesus, they report that they cast out demons and exercised power and authority over the powers of hell. Jesus quickly warns them not to let it go to their heads and infect their hearts. Rather, He tells them to humbly find joy that they have received love, mercy, and grace from God to be simple citizens and participants in God’s Kingdom.
In the quiet this morning, I find myself endeavoring to be a disruptor in this world. I don’t want to be a disruptor through power, politics, and protest. I want to be a disruptor Jesus’ way. I want to disrupt through bottom-up acts of love, humility, mercy, and generosity one needy person at a time.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
