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Not long after Jesus was “transfigured” on the mountain the Gospel of Luke records three incidents in which Jesus had to correct the behavior of his disciples.
The first incident (Luke 9:46) the disciples were discussing who of the disciples were the greatest. Jesus took a little child and told them that the disciple who cares more about little children than about the noble of the world was the greatest disciple.
The second incident (Luke 9:49) occurred when the John, the beloved disciple, saw a fellow casting out demons and told him not to do it because he was not one of the ones following Jesus. Jesus told John to leave the guy alone.
The third incident (Luke 9:54) occurred when the James and John were insulted by the negligent actions of some Samaritan villagers and wanted to kill them suggesting to Jesus that he send down fire from the sky to do so. Jesus rebuked them for their anger towards the villagers.
Sometimes we are just like these disciples, we focus on personal achievement and fame when we should be focusing on the needs of others… especially the needs of those who can’t help themselves.
Sometimes we’re quick to condemn other religious groups who are doing wonderful things for Christ because they may not understand the Bible just like we do.
And sometimes we are too easily offended and tend to over react against those who have offended us.
Jesus knew the weaknesses in his disciples and worked with them until they overcame those weaknesses. He’s patient and working with us too.
In Luke 22:31, Jesus informed Peter that Satan had asked permission to tempt Peter and Jesus had granted permission. I wonder why Satan chose Peter? I think I know why.
Satan knows all the followers of Jesus including you and I. Satan picked out Peter because he knew Peter was dangerous and important to Jesus.
Satan knew that Peter was the one in Matthew 16 who identified Jesus as the “Christ.. the son of the Living God”.
Satan knew that because of that confession Jesus had granted Peter the honor of opening the doors to the Kingdom of Heaven by preaching the first Gospel message on the day of Pentecost.
Satan knew that Peter was one of three special disciples chosen by Jesus to witness his transfiguration.
Satan likes a challenge and always has. With God’s permission he personally tempted Job, one of God’s best people. He tempted Jesus in the wilderness and finally he tempted one of Jesus’ best soldiers… Peter.
Satan singles out God’s best for temptation because the routine temptations of earthly living aren’t enough to cause God’s best to fail. Prepare yourselves to give your best to God and prepare yourselves to receive Satan’s worst and in so doing prepare yourselves for eternal blessings from God.
- Jesus demonstrated that like in the Old Testament when God fed the people with quail and manna that he could still take care of the physical needs of his people. This time with fish and bread.
- Even though God expects us to work for our own food and provide for ourselves… when that fails he is there for us.
God sometimes uses his people to take care of the physical needs of his people, i.e. the daily ministration in Acts 6.
- Even the disciples doubted Jesus ability to feed the people. They wanted to send them away.
Satan had more faith than the disciples. He knew that Jesus could turn rocks into bread.
- Jesus can provide for all the needs of his people. He can make peace between us and God, he can cure our illnesses, he can feed us and he can protect us from Satan.
The first six chapters of 1 Corinthians identify three cases of rampant sin going on within the congregation; Jealousy and strife in regards to following religious teachers, Sexual impropriety and Christians going to court with each other before Pagan judges.
It’s a big problem because the unity among Christians is the primary evidence to the deity of Jesus Christ (John 17). The church is supposed to be a shining beacon of righteousness to attract the spiritually sick of the world. The Corinthians were failing.
Paul admonishes (1 Cor. 4:14) them for these sins. Let’s look at his method as concerning the sin of their “Jealousy and strife”.
- Paul identifies the sin… “I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, I follow Cephas, I follow Christ”
- He identifies the preposterousness of the sin… “Is Christ divided?”
- He reminds them of their lowly station in life when they were called to be Christians and asks them how they became so smart as to elevate themselves over each other.
- He absolves himself of guilt, recounting how he presented the Gospel message to them.
- He assigns guilt to two groups of people; The Corinthian Christians because they were perpetual spiritual infants, i.e. not growing in the word (3:1-3) and those teachers who he left behind to help them develop (3:12-14).
- He identifies for them the full extent of their sin… they had judged Paul, an Apostle of God, to be inferior to their other teachers. (4:3)
- Finally he charges them not to “boast in men” but to “boast in the Lord”.
The Corinthian Christians had made a horrible mess of things. They thought they were spiritual giants but were instead spiritual infants. Paul was not ready to pull their spiritual lifeline. He knew the proper medicine for their illness was admonishment. Let’s not fail to admonish and do so in an effective manner. Otherwise a spiritual sickness, untreated, may lead to a spiritual death.
Every once in a while when I’m stopped at a traffic light I’ll see a cattle trailer stuffed with cattle headed for Sam Kane’s slaughter plant and it makes me a little sad because…. I know where they’ve been and I know where they’re headed.
Prior to my occupation as a Veterinarian I did part time ranch work. We would put out feed, move cattle around to different pastures, etc. About twice a year we would gather the cattle on horseback and separate out the ones to go back on pasture and crowd the others on to cattle trucks to go to slaughter.
Of course I’ve had the occasion to work in slaughter houses as well and seen these gentle creatures pushed through chutes and a bullet or “captive bolt” put into their brains and seen their processed carcasses end up in deathly quiet freezer lockers. These cattle factories of death are stream lined and efficient.
It sort of reminds me of what happened to Jesus… that kind and gentle soul who walked the countryside of Judea and touched the lives of everyone he interacted with until the Jewish leaders decided his time was up and gathered him out of the Garden of Gethsemane and delivered him to the Roman death factory.
Just like the workers in a cattle slaughter house the Roman soldiers had developed an institutionalized art and method for the killing of people. It started with a process of shaming and physical abuse until the victim was half dead and the driving of iron nails through the hands and feet fixing the poor creature to a timbered cross. All in a day’s work for Roman soldiers. They were stream lined and efficient.
Of course their purpose was not only to administer the death penalty but to do it in such a horrible manner that it would stun the observers into submissiveness.
When I see cattle trucks loaded with cattle I’m saddened because I know what awaits these gentle creatures and when I take the Lord’s Supper I’m reminded of the Roman death factory that brutalized and killed my gentle friend and savior Jesus.
One of the reasons Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper was so that we (Christians) could collectively remember him. For the last 47 years of my life, with few exceptions, I have done that every Sunday. It’s sad but… it’s good for me. If you have been neglecting the Lord’s Supper or just taking it casually it’s time to correct that. We all need Christ’s sacrifice and we all need to remember it by taking of the Lord’s Supper.
