Ol' Fuzzy's Cave: July 2017

Monday, July 31, 2017

A Commentary on the Book of Hebrews, Part 1

I want to start a commentary on the most enigmatic book of the New Testament after the Book of Revelations. The Book of Hebrews has been billed as another letter, but from the style of writing, one can easily tell it was not written as a letter. Most of the textual critics and scholastic theologians debate that Paul was not the author of the book. Of course these are the same scholars who claim that Matthew Levi didn’t write the Gospel of Matthew, and John Mark didn’t write the Gospel of Mark, and Luke the Physician didn’t write the Gospel of Luke, and John bar Zebedee didn’t write the Gospel of John, and… well you can get the drift.

My respect for the scholastic movement in theology could not be any lower. Any student of homiletics could tell you this book is the transcript of a sermon. The doctrinal message has the Pauline stamp on it. And no other authorship seems appropriate, unless of course they claim it’s a hoax. Many scholars of the Bible make that claim.

Originally, the bishop of Rome, not yet claiming supremacy over the Church, refused to accept the canonisity of the Book of Hebrews in the New Testament. But by the time the Counsel at Nicaea was held that ratified the New Testament cannon established at a prior counsel, the book was accepted by the whole Church as scripture.

The theme of the book is the preservation of the faith in Christ by Jewish Christians. Apparently some of the Jewish believers didn’t realize Who is Jesus Christ nor understand His place compared to the Old Testament prophets. The majority of the book compares the Christian faith to the practices of Judaism. Some of the loftiest and most beautiful metaphors are in the words of the Book of Hebrews.

In my next post I shall begin a commentary on the whole book. Let me give you and outline:

I. The Superiority of Christ (1:1-10:18)

A. Introduction: the supreme revelation (1:1-4)

B. Christ’s authority is superior to the angels’ (1:5-2:18)

C. Christ’s rest is superior to Moses’ (3:1-4:13)

D. Christ’s priesthood is superior to Aaron’s (4:14-7:28)

E. Christ’s worship is superior to Moses’ (8:1-10:18)

II. Persevering Toward the Entrance and Rest (10:19-13:19)

A. Persevering in worship (10:19-39)

B. Persevering in faith (11:1-40)

C. Persevering in discipline (12:1-29)

D. Persevering in holiness (13:1-19)

III. Conclusion (13:20-25)

Ol’ Fuzzy is not employable and was denied for disability benefits. The only thing I have is the blogs. But I don’t qualify for ads on the blogs until September. If you like the scribbles I post, please help me keep it going. You can leave me a gratuity by dropping a buck or two in Ol' Fuzzy's Tip Jar. This is a PayPal account I opened on Wednesday, April 5, 2017.

Sunday, July 30, 2017

The Sermons of Jesus, Part 36

The grand finale of the Sermon on the Plain was delivered to the people of Judea in the first century, but it’s aimed at those living today. Let us look at the ending of the chapter.

“46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you whom he is like: 48 he is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock; and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it; for it was founded upon a rock. 49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemantly, and immeciately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”

Look at the edifice of your soul. Do you have a foundation of working the work of Christ? What do you mean, preacher? We are saved by grace, not works. Yes by grace are we saved, but for the purpose of doing the work of Christ, which is rooted in the twin commandments Jesus gave, LOVE God and LOVE your neighbor. Love is the work of Christ.

Jesus told us to be aware of the intention behind everything we do, and be sure it is love. If we don’t love, we are just acting out, like in a play, for the crowd to enjoy. Dig deep into your heart, that part of your soul that is the seat of volition, reason and feelings. Find the Rock that is Christ’s love. And build your house of faith upon it. Then none of the storms and floods of the devil’s attacks upon you can shake your faith, you have a foundation.

In the time this was delivered, not many people dared to call this itinerant preacher and teacher from Nazareth Lord. Today we have millions who do so for the purpose of garnering the good will of the crowds. They don’t care one whit about Jesus. Nor do they have a speck of love in their hearts for God or their fellow human beings. They have no foundation, and when the trials of the devil come upon them, they abandon the pretense and go their own selfish way. The choice they make is to separate themselves from the grace of God.

Well let me warn you, there’s only one place in all of creation that you can be separate from God, and it was made for the rebellious angels, not for men and women. If you chose to be separate from God, He has only one option to grant you your choice, you’re going to hell. It isn’t a matter of punishment, it’s a mercy to put people who hate God in a place where they’re no longer exposed to the eternal presence of their Creator. And people go into it with both eyes open.

I urge you to take what Jesus has taught in these two sermons into the core of your being. Make them the foundation of your life. And live the life Christ promised, abundant life. Build your house upon the Rock!

Saturday, July 29, 2017

The Sermons of Jesus, Part 35

Let us look at another parable in the next three verses. Jesus is telling His analogy of the good tree and the bad tree.

“43 For a good tree bringeth not corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasures of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”

This is at the same time a simple analogy and a deep spiritual truth. Jesus compares people to trees and plants in the agricultural society where He preached. The fruit a plant bears is the means by which that plant is identified, whether a good plant or a weed. The same is true of people. The fruit we bear is the actions we perform without thinking. One of my mother’s favorite sayings is, “Actions speak louder than words.” Yet all too often we look on at the words (especially if they’re words we like) and excuse the actions. Let’s go deeper still.

The figs can be looked at as the religious practices of prayer, fasting, gathering with the Church and alms. These are things that are good when used for supporting a sincere and profound faith in Christ. Figs are good food, they nourish the body, just as good religious practices nourish the soul. An evil person usually can’t be bothered by these practices.

The grapes are the deep abiding love a true believer has toward God and his fellows. Grapes are used to make wine, which can be intoxicating. I know from experience, both romantic and divine, that love is also intoxicating. This is the only high God wants us to have, love. If we produce the fruit of love, it shows in all of our daily activities. Love shines like daylight from our hearts.

Therefore, if you see these fruit, you can tell the person is genuine in faith. If on the other hand, the fruit that person produces is thorns of anger and thistles of arrogance and egoism, you can tell the person is only acting as if in a play, a hypocrite. Be careful to examine your own fruit, as I do every hour of every day, to be sure it is good and not evil. If you find evil fruit growing in your life, make haste to root out the cause of that evil before it overcomes your entire heart.

The things you allow to reside in your heart, either love, faith and joy, or anger arrogance and egoism, will manifest in your words and deeds. It is only natural. So just as you can tell if a teacher is for real or only acting, others can tell your intent as well, and be sure they’re watching. You may be the only scripture that another person reads. Make it a good one that is filled with the revelation of God.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

The Sermons of Jesus, Part 34

Jesus’s Sermon on the Plain, unlike the more well known Sermon on the Mount, contains parabolic teaching that Luke is ever ready to transmit. Look with me at the next four verses.

39 And he spoke a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? 40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. 41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.

Parabolic teaching, using stories that convey the truth you want to expound, has not been popular for a few hundred years in Western culture. Yet the most profound truths are delivered in parables. Here Jesus uses a metaphor of blind men to represent religious teachers that will not see the truth before them. How can someone follow one of these and expect to arrive at the truth himself? If your leader is not on the way of salvation, where do you think you will be led? Jesus is provoking us to think it out for ourselves because we will understand it better than merely stating it outright.

He says a person who follows a teacher cannot rise above the level of that teacher. If the person who is mentoring you in the faith is not very far along himself, how far do you suppose he can lead you in the path?

Next Jesus takes aim at those who look for other people’s faults. The Greek word that we derive the word hypocrite from means an actor in a play. Jesus is pointing out that the fault-finders are play actors trying to impress other people, when they should be serious about impressing God. No one is without a fault of their own. A few weeks ago on Facebook I posted, “I believe in fighting sin, but I don’t have to go looking for the sins of others. I have enough sin of my own to keep me busy fighting sin for a lifetime.” This is a distillation of the philosophy on sin that the desert hermits in the Fourth Century held. There is a story about one, Moses the Ethiopian, who, when asked to judge another monk for his sins, at first refused to go. Then when the elders insisted on his presence, Abba Moses took a gourd with a hole in it, filled it with water, and carried it under his arm to the place of judgment. When the elder asked him, “Abba, what is the meaning of this?” he replied, “My sins run out behind me like water, and I cannot see them, and today I am asked to judge the sins of another.” As the story goes, they forgave the brother who was in error and went back to their cells.

The intent of the act is what Jesus is talking about again. If you are trying to deflect attention from your own sins by pointing out the sins of others, you are merely acting the part, not living it. If instead you are diligently working to rid yourself of all that misses God’s mark, you won’t have time to judge others for their sins. The sin of hypocrisy is far worse than any sin you may find in another’s life. Work to be sincere in Christ, “Seek first God and His kingdom,” then you will see, as God does, that the things you would be stressing about in another are of no import compared to the sins you are ridding yourself of.

This is an echo of the same teaching Jesus gave on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel. It is important enough to Him to repeat it many times, often enough that two of the four Evangelists included it in their accounts. If it means that much to Christ, it ought to mean as much to Christians.

Saturday, July 22, 2017

The Signs of the Times, Paul's Second Letter to Timothy

Today I have to do something different. I must follow the leading of the Holy Spirit lest I burst. Turn with me, if you will, to the second letter Saint Paul sent to Timothy. Let us look at chapter four, verses one to eight.

4 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 preach the word; be instant in season, and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. 6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

Look around you. There is “fake news” that people prefer to believe over the truth. There are religious myths being promulgated as Gospel. The ancient Pagan cults are returning with new teachings to fit the modern way of life. Humans who call themselves “Christian” reject the teachings of Jesus Christ himself and turn to self-fulfilling, egoistic doctrines of religiosity and not faith. Those who follow the faith of Christ as He handed it down are persecuted in their own churches, in their jobs, and in society as a whole. Can you look at this and not conclude the time is now?

When I studied this passage in Bible college, I thought Saint Paul was only referring to religious doctrine in verse three. But in the United States political climate, people are willing to believe the most outrageous falsehoods if they satisfy their political prejudices. A man that was a true hero, whose body was broken by enemy torture, is denigrated and his heroism denied in false reports made up to satisfy the political whims of the president, and people will swallow the falsehood over eye witness accounts because it satisfies their own “itching ears.” If this isn’t the last days, I hate to think of the mayhem to come.

Saint Paul firmly believed until the day he was beheaded by the Romans that the Day of the Lord would come in his lifetime. Only when he was certain that it was not to be, did he write these words to his prodigy. Can you, with Saint Paul, say that you are ready to be offered up? That your time of departure is at hand? That you have fought a good fight, finished your course and kept the faith? Do you have a crown of righteousness laid up for you by the Lord until His judgment? If you answered no or are unsure of any of the answers, my suggestion is to make it right.

Friday, July 21, 2017

The Sermons of Jesus, Part 32

In today’s post Jesus gets into the meat of His doctrine of love. Let’s look at the next five verses.

“27 But I say unto you which hear, do good to them that hate you, 28 bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. 29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak fobid not to take thy coat also. 30 Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. 31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.”

What Jesus gives us in this little passage is the outward signs of inward love. The word rendered hear in verse twenty-seven actually has a more broad meaning, to understand and obey. Jesus is commanding everyone that understands and obeys Him to act in love toward everyone, not just the ones who love you, nor just to include the indifferent majority, but even and especially the ones who hate you.

The various acts of forgiveness and generosity He speaks of are the natural output of a loving heart. A parent would not, under normal circumstances, ask his child to return the things the child uses up, such as food, hygiene items, cleaning material, etc. But that parent, out of love for the child offers even better things than those the child took. The same kind of love is to be shown to everyone, especially those who have made themselves your enemy.

Jesus goes on to describe how you are to act toward violence. In other places, Jesus has not condemned the use of violence when used to stop a worse violence or in time of war. But Jesus does condemn the use of violence merely to stop an insult like a slap on the cheek. This admonition is exactly the opposite of the boasting of Nimrod, the “mighty hunter before the Lord.” The words in Genesis were rendered wrong anyway. It should have been rendered, “Nimrod became a terrible rebel in the Face of the Lord.” The Hebrew wording supports both renderings, but the one I propose fits better in the context. But I digress.

Jesus tells us not to chase down the thief who steals from us, but if we catch him, we are to offer him more. There is a story of a monk of the desert who returned to his cell to find a thief loading all his possessions on a donkey. The monk then helped him load the donkey, bid him farewell, and praised God that he was delivered from the bondage to material possessions.

Jesus is outlining the ‘Golden Rule’ that is delivered in the Sermon on the Mount. We are to treat each other, even our enemies, the way we wish to be treated by others. This fits in to the Law of Reciprocity. What you do comes back on you. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In the spiritual sense, the opposition is in direction, not purpose. Therefore, when love goes out of you, love returns in the same measure. The best part of this is that when love is spent thus, your capacity to love grows in equivalent measure as well.

Tomorrow’s post expands on this topic.

The Sermons of Jesus, Part 33

Let us look at the next seven verses today.

“32 For if ye love them that love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. 33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. 34 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. 36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 38 give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”

These seven verses are one topic from different angles. Jesus is telling us that we will receive the same treatment we give to others. Notice the way He phrases the question, “...[W]hat thank have ye?” Jesus gives the impression that God directly rewards us for our deeds. From my own experience, I can attest that the reward is not just in the hereafter. You are rewarded immediately in your own soul for the deeds you do to others.

Again Jesus speaks of the intent behind the act in verses 34 and 36. Why you do something is more important to God than what you do. If you act out of egoism, greed or selfishness, God will not honor your deed, and your reward is in this world. But if your actions are done out of love, spontaneously, your reward is immediate and eternal. Your own soul grows to be more like God each time you love. “...[F]or God is love,” as saint John put it (1Jn 4:8).

All of the actions Jesus gives as examples are actions of a loving, generous heart. And the law of reciprocity is expressed in verses 37 and 38. Saint Paul put it like this, “Don’t kid yourself, you don’t fool God. Whatever you do to others will come back on you.” The Hindus call this karma. But they add the baggage of reincarnation to it. We don’t believe in reincarnation, “For it is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgment.” Jesus is saying it will happen in this life and in the one to come.

In my own experience, the reward for doing good comes immediately in my soul, a sort of joy that lifts my spirit for the rest of the day, especially if the good is unpremeditated.

This is not to say we are to be reckless in our personal liberality. Rather, we are to be loving, to meet the immediate needs of the one before us. We are not to go out looking for ways to become fiscal martyrs. There have been people in history who divested themselves of all they possessed to give to the poor, but they were called to the life of poverty by God. If God gives you plenty, it is to share, not squander. And if God gives you poverty, it is to foster your trust in Him for your needs. I myself have had no income for the past eight months besides the little from these blogs. God has seen to it that I have all I need to eat, my power and rent is covered by a loan, and my transportation needs are met, all by His grace. But it doesn’t mean I have any greater favor of God, only that I am so hard-headed that I need harder lessons.

Conclusion is: foster an attitude of love in your heart; be generous to all, friend or foe; do the good deed God has placed before you; and God will see to it your reward is in full.

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

The Sermons of Jesus, Part 31

Today I finally start on the woes of the Sermon on the Plain. I think there is some resistance in the spirit world to me telling the words of Jesus on this matter.

“24 But woe unto you who are rich! for ye have received your consolation. 25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! For ye shall mourn and weep. 26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”

This is heavy! And again there is some hyperbole in it, that inescapable Semitic figure of speech. But the hyperbole is understated here, not as blatant as we would like. Jesus is not saying that it is impossible for a rich person to get into a close relationship with God. Rather He points out that the love of luxury and comfort is a distraction from such a relationship. People who are living large are already filled with their own selves and don’t make room for God. The next verse is an expansion on the first woe. Because if you have abundant food, and someone else is hungry, you are egoistic enough to ignore God.

Those who laugh now are the ones who put partying and distraction ahead of a relationship with their Creator. Often they will mock someone who is sober and reverent, even mocking God Himself. Don’t respond to the mockery. They shall receive what is coming to them.

The last woe is the one that I fear the most. As I try to do the things God leads me to do, many people say nice things about me. For some reason I am more comfortable with slander and reviling than with praise. I think it comes from my recognition that I am prone to arrogance. Those who knew me at high school can attest to that. But I have learned through humiliation, how to be humble under praise. To God be the glory! I am nothing but a servant.

I realize that this is a short one. I could expand and expound upon Jesus’s words here for pages and pages. But it is sufficient to let Him speak for Himself.

Thursday, July 6, 2017

The Sermons of Jesus, Part 30

Today I get into the meat of Jesus’s Sermon on the Plain.

“20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed are ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. 22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. 23 Rejoyce ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in like mannor did their fathers do unto the prophets.”

This is the complete list of beatitudes or blessings Jesus made on the plain. He opens up with His woes next, something not included in His Sermon on the Mount. I will cover them in the next post. Much of this is an abbreviation of the Beatitudes Jesus gave on the Mount. So I won’t repeat myself. Jesus has changed up the delivery from the previous sermon. The inclusion of woes leads me to believe that this sermon was delivered at a later date, after the scribes and the Pharisees began to follow Him to find ways to trip Him up.

The words Jesus uses in this sermon are an echo of the Sermon on the Mount. It is the same words for poor, kingdom, hunger, filled, weep/mourn, etc. But Jesus changes the rhythm and the cadence in this one. Notice verse 22, Jesus states the blessing as if He knows already these persecutions are coming upon His followers. It’s not delivered as a conditional statement, if men shall hate you. Jesus is telling us that we will be hated by the people who hate Him. This is something He wants us to be prepared for and not to be afraid of.

Read the Old Testament, how each of the prophets were persecuted by the people who were bound by the enemy of our souls. Jesus wants us to be assured that their curses are not binding on us, that we are blessed of our Father in Heaven. The devils have no other power over us than to temp and tease us, attacking our minds. The demons are no better off so long as we give them no homage. It is only when we entertain the thoughts these evil entities place in our minds that they gain control over our lives. That is why Jesus reassures us here that we are blessed, not cursed, when we follow Him.

An interesting aside: The title Jesus uses here in reference to Himself, the Son of Man, is first used in reference to Him in the Book of the Prophet Enoch, when Enoch met the preincarnate Christ in Heaven. It is sad that this book was removed from the Old Testament in the Third Century, AD. It is one of the greatest Gospels of Christ in the whole Bible, right up there with Isaiah and John.

I realize that this one is shorter than most, but I have already covered these blessings in previous posts, and I just needed to cover the differences between the sermons.

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

The Sermons of Jesus, Part 29

This post begins Jesus’s other recorded sermon known as The Sermon on the Plain. It is found in the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 6, verses 17 though 49. The first three verses of the passage are setting the stage for the actual sermon. Let’s take a look at them.

17 And he came down whith them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; 18 And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed. 19 And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.

Jesus didn’t work things the way modern evangelists do. In today’s evangelistic meetings, the preaching comes first and the healing and other needs are attended to afterward. Jesus went first to the needs of the people. He healed the sick, cast out demons and tended to their bodily needs before He opened his mouth to preach. This ought to be and example to us today.

Modern preachers are afraid the crowd would get what they want and leave before hearing the brilliant words they polished for so many hours to be perfect. Too many of our preachers are caught up in the acclaim they receive for their spiffy homilies. They have fallen into the trap set beside the way. They love the public spotlight and the approval of men.

I too would have probably fallen into such a trap. I cannot condemn them, that's not my job anyway. But I can point out the problem and warn others. To work the way Jesus did, we must meet the physical needs of the people before we attend to the spiritual stuff. Are they hungry? Feed them. Are they thirsty? Give them something to drink. Are they wearing clothing that is too warn to be serviceable? Clothe them. After that is taken care of, then preach to them. And if they leave before the sermon, it’s their loss, not ours.

The last verse is interesting in that it shows a link between the physical and spiritual worlds. People wanted to touch Jesus because power went out from Him when physical contact is made. The Greek word translated virtue is the word we derive our English word dynamite from. In Greek this word denotes the physical power to perform work. The very touch of the hand to Jesus’s clothes was dynamic. Power came forth from Him when contact was made. POWER. That’s awesome.

We see the same thing happening today when someone in faith touches the hand or the clothes of some perceived holy person and gets a miraculous occurrence. It is real. There is a connection between the physical and spiritual worlds in the soul of every human being. This connection can extend to inanimate objects when touched by a human. The spiritual influence of the last person who touched and object continues to linger for quite some time, and can be transferred to the next person who handles the object.

This has been recognized by pagans and magicians for hundreds of years. Christians seem to have forgotten it in the modern world. That is why so many are under oppression by demonic activities and unnecessarily suffer. I don’t recommend complete avoidance of physical contact with the world and the things that are in it. But I do recommend that all Christians keep it in mind that we are engaged in a spiritual war for control of the world. The enemy of our souls is using whatever means is available. And it is a boon to him if we ignore the threat. Forewarned is forearmed. If you are aware of these influences, you can take precautions in your own soul to contend with the influences of evil and receive the influence of God.

Next post begins the text of Jesus’s Sermon on the Plain.

Monday, July 3, 2017

The Sermons of Jesus, Part 28

This post wraps up the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus gave a conclusion that rocked the ancient world.

“24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Jesus’s parable here is often misunderstood, used by the self righteous to condemn those to whom they want to feel superior, and quoted by preachers to encourage attendance. Yet none of that is Jesus’s intent. He never said the foolish example of a man is condemned to hell, merely that his “house” fell, “and great was the fall of it.”

So tell us, what the parable means, smarty-pants. Alright, I’ll tell it like I received it. The word in Greek here rendered heareth means to listen intently, to understand. So Jesus isn’t talking about people who hear slogans spouted about salvation. Jesus is talking about people who listen to what He said with attention and understood what He meant. The house He refers to in the parable is the life on Earth of the listener. If you listen to what He told us in the sermons that He preached, and you carry out the commands and do the works Jesus put before you, then you are building your life on the foundation of rock. If you listen intently to His words, and you understand what He means, but you don’t do any of it, you are foolish and your life will be in ruin.

I doubt that Jesus was measuring life the way we often do, by the balance of the bank account. The structure of one’s life is far more than material wealth. The actual structure of your life is the relationships you build every day with all those around you. If you build those relationships on the teachings of Jesus Christ, you are building them strong and lasting, able to withstand the storms of this life. But if you know what Jesus taught about how to treat other people, with love, and you do not do it, you are building all your relationships on sand, and the storms of life will wash them away.

The concept is easy to express, yet difficult to practice. Frustration, irritation and worry tend to grind away our patience. If that patience is a veneer covering egoistic selfishness, the relationships have no glue to hold them together. But if it is a patina of varnish covering love, the relationships are strengthened by the abrasion because the reality of your heart is revealed.

The reflexive human response since the fall of man has been to lash out whenever we are abraded by these things. But the response of love is patience and concern. Proverbs 27:17 says that we rub against each other to hone our faces. In ancient times the concept of face was more of the persona you displayed toward others than the visage you see in a mirror. All these abrasions make us better at relationships.

The last two verses are repeated whenever Jesus gave a public speech. Jesus taught like the Lawgiver and not the lawyer. He never quoted other authorities, His own authority is greater. This amazed the people. They had never seen the like.

Sunday, July 2, 2017

The Sermons of Jesus, Part 27

Let’s look at the next nine verses today. They go together.

“15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Danger! Beware! There are people who will fake it to gain your trust and bring you to hell with them. A long time ago the Devil and his angels joined the Church. They like to get at the people in charge and turn them into one of their own. Others start their own religion and try to lure unwitting faithful into a trap of sweetness and light that covers in a thin veneer the vitriol and darkness inside them. Jesus is warning us to watch out for them.

How do you tell the good from the bad? Look at their actions and their message. If they teach you selfishness, ego and greed, they’re definitely not from Christ Jesus. If on the other hand they do and teach love and compassion, and they genuinely care about others, then you can be sure Christ is in them because love comes out of them. Jesus uses the analogy of fruit bearing trees to make this point. Grapes don’t grow on brambles, only blackberries do. And figs grow on sycamore trees not thistles. Likewise love grows from a heart in which God dwells, not a heart given over to vice and the devil’s agenda.

It is not only the doctrine of the teacher you must watch out for, but the deeds as well. If a preacher is talking the good talk, dogmatically correct, but he or she is perverse in their personal life, the message is suspect because they don’t practice the word they preach. How can you follow one who directs but does not lead? Do not fall into the other trap we covered in the last posts about judgment of others. Your job is not to condemn anyone, but to seek the Kingdom of God in your soul.

Jesus tells us how He will deal with them on the day of judgment. His job is to sift the hearts of humans and decide truly who is and isn’t His. We can’t see what He sees. But there are many people who are self-deluded into believing in their own perfection, who go about making a great show of godliness, doing deeds in Christ’s Name, but their hearts are full of themselves, and there is no room in them for love. Those are the ones Jesus will profess, “I never knew you.”

Throughout the sermon, Jesus has been giving us warnings about the evil inside us. This is the first passage in which He warns us about evil outside us. We cannot take it out of that context. We must be ever diligent to root out our own vices and build up our own virtues, not being concerned about ferreting out the sins of others. So why does Jesus warn us about these others? So we can avoid being ensnared by them. The traps are set on all sides of the way. If you take your feet off the path, you will trigger the trap. Watch your step.

Saturday, July 1, 2017

The Sermons of Jesus, Part 26

I am going to cover three verses today. Verse 12 is an epilogue to the previous five verses, but that’s not enough to fill a post. So we have two subjects, and they’re big ones.

“12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

Verse twelve is the Golden Rule. It seems strait foreward. But most folks are incapable of applying it. Are you a Republican who gets upset when Democrats denounce your intellegence? Then why do your call them stupid? Jesus didn’t make exceptions for any reason. In the Greek text the first word of this verse is panta, literally everything. He encompasses every possible situation in that one word. Always treat everybody the way you wish them to treat you.

Ooh, don’t that sound easy? It isn’t. The urge to lash out immediately at someone who touches a nerve is intense, riled up by the evil powers of darkness who linger in your thoughts trying to trip and trap you at every turn. To ensure you carry out this command of Christ, and it is imperative, you have to think first before you do, say or post anything. Panta means all of it. Never do anything, say anything or write anything that you wouldn’t want to have done to you, said to you or written about you. That takes discipline. James tells us the tongue is the most difficult part of the body to tame. That applies to your thumbs when you tweet. Do not be a Trump tweeter.

In verse 13 we start a new paragraph. The word used in the Greek text that was translated strait is better rendered in modern English as narrow, skinny or difficult to fit through. In archaic usage, strait once meant that. Now it means without a curve. Not the original meaning at all. Many people with an unbending attitude toward others prefer to use the modern meaning to excuse their lack of love. Rest assured this is not what Jesus intended.

The road is narrow and the gate it passes through admits only one at a time. That is because everyone enters salvation alone. You can’t get a group discount. The gate is too narrow. The road is too narrow. Single file in both places. Don’t use this as a bludgeon to beat the sinners that you feel are inferior to you. If you feel that way, it is evidence you took the wrong turn somewhere. The broad and easily-accommodating road is not the one we want. The yawning gate leads to separation from God for eternity. That is hell.

Basically, this illustrates the work required to discipline the mind and act according to love. When I was young, commercial announcers loved the saying, “Can thirty million Americans be wrong?” My answer to them then and now is the same: Yes! The more people are doing it, the closer I look at it to see if it leads to destruction of my soul. You can’t shirk the work. You have to bridle your tongue (and thumbs, for all you who tweet). You must think before you act. You can’t just go with the flow, because the flow is leading you away from God, over the lip of an abyss.

That is why the Apostle Paul wrote, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” (emphasis is mine). This isn’t a joy-ride or a Sunday drive in the country. This is the journey to eternity. What road are you on? I am checking the one I follow.