" Those who repay favours give thought to the future; when
they fall they will find support."
Nowadays we say we are paying it forward. Humbling ourselves before the Lord shows we
understand the great gulf that separates us from God. How often do we plead with him on
intellectual and rational terms rather than simply saying, "Nevertheless,
thy will be done." We must come to
terms with the distinction between creature and creator if we are to come to
the throne of grace appropriately. It is
easy to bring God down to our level but we need to instead avoid that
temptation and bow before the throne in humility recognizing as Job ultimately
did,
"I have uttered what I did not
understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know."
Really, they argued about which of THEM was
the greatest. In light of the
Transfiguration, in light of the healing they had just witnessed that none of
THEM could do, it matters not a whit which of THEM was the greatest does
it? Compared to Jesus the word great is
meaningless, same as the word good is defined only by Him. We do that today in the church when we think
too highly of ourselves or when we esteem one preacher too greatly and ascribe
God's work to any man. Jesus never
raised up a single man anywhere in His ministry, nor did he raise up Himself,
His one desire was to glorify the Father.
Sometimes we forget that Jesus was fully God AND fully man. In His humanity He was the most humble man
who ever lived by deferring to the Father at all times. When He speaks of greatness He says become
humble as a child.
The people of Rome want to hear from Paul
but they want him to understand that this sect, Christianity, is spoke against
everywhere. Paul teaches as best he can
from the Old Testament to show them that Jesus is the Messiah who has been
promised and, as always, some believe and some don't. Paul's final word on the matter is that it
has always been this way, since the days of Isaiah, some will not come to hear
the truth because they already know all they need to know, their ears are not
open to the Word of God. He has done his
best and now it is time to move on to those who are receptive to the message,
whether Jew or Gentile. Here, the second
part of Luke's Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles, ends. Originally, this was treated as part of the Gospel,
the continuing action of Jesus in the Holy Spirit to extend the kingdom of God.
We are the unwritten part of the Gospel, it continues to be written through the
work of the church today. Where does
your personal story enter the larger story?
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