Luke 23:27 - 31

This past year we lost several of our peach trees to a root fungus commonly known as "Oak Root Fungus".  The tree pictured on the right may just look dormant but it is already dead.  The normally pinkish living twigs are dark brown and shriveled.  Where there should be small fuzzy dormant buds there are only dry dead pieces of once living tissue.  I still need to dig up the dead trees and throw them in either the compost or burn pile.  None are big enough to be of any use as firewood.

While walking to the place where he would be executed, Jesus was followed by some women loudly wailing about his coming demise.  He turned around and told them to cry for themselves instead.   He said, "if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"   If I were to restate what he said in my own words it would go something like this, "What will life be like when God’s presence goes unrecognized not because men are blind but because he is not there to be seen."  Tealeese  

When Jesus lived  God was very present with us but he was not recognized for who he was.  The tree was green.  What would life be like when God cannot be found because he does not want to be found.  The tree is dry.  Jesus mentioned that at that time people would want to hide in a cave and ask to be buried alive rather than experience it.  I guess I really don't get it.  I believe that time has not yet come.  God seems very present to me now.   I cannot imagine living without that presence.  I think maybe I should savor each moment when God's presence is most real to me.  Maybe I should slow down my life a bit more and see if there is anything else I am missing.

Personal Integrity Luke 23:18-25

You can see in the picture that we have brush growing in the fence line.  As long as the root remains the stuff grows back, and you can’t dig it out without removing the fence!  What is a farmer to do?  How about just a little bit of brush killer?  Lots of farmers use the stuff to make their lives easier. 

I have even read about conventional sunflower farmers using Paraquat to kill weeds and defoliate their fields and therefore enable an earlier harvest.  Then I read that Paraquat was actually called “Agent Orange” during the Vietnam War where 20 million gallons were sprayed on the jungle and farmer’s fields in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.  The leaves fell and the crops died.  Soldiers and farmers on both sides suffered from exposure to the chemicals.

For an organic farmer the acceptable ways to kill unwanted vegetation are limited to mostly mechanical means rather than chemical.  On more than one occasion I have dreamed of using a little “round up” on a stubborn poison oak sprout or a scrub oak growing right on the fence line where I couldn’t dig it out.  What keeps me from using chemicals like these on my farm?  Am I afraid that an inspector will find out?   No, because I have not chosen to cooperate with the organic certification process.  So what then?   Why don’t I sneak a little bit of weed killer here and there when weeds and brush grow faster than I can control them?

The enemies of Jesus brought him to Pontius Pilate the Roman governor of Judea.  They asked for Jesus to be put to death because he was “stirring up the people” and was claiming to be a King.  After examining the evidence Pilate admitted to the crowd that he could not find Jesus guilty and offered to release him.  Instead they all cried out for Pilate to release someone who had really stirred up the people.  Barabbas was his name.  Barabbas had been arrested for causing an insurrection in the city and killing someone.  The crowd shouted that they wanted Barabbas released instead of Jesus.  Now Pilate had a dilemma.  He knew Barabbas was guilty and that Jesus was innocent but the crowd was pressuring him to release the wrong man.  What would he do?  Luke wrote, “and their voices began to prevail”.  (Luke 23:23)  John the Apostle’s writings included another insight. He said that the crowd was accusing Pilate of being an insurrectionist himself if he let him go.  They said if Pilate let Jesus go he was no friend of Caesar!   (Kind of funny that Pilate actually DID let an insurrectionist go anyway, Barabbas.) 

So Pilate caved and Jesus was sent off to be executed.  So why do I choose not to use chemical weed killers on my farm?   I don’t want to be like Pilate who caved to the pressure of the moment.  I would rather let the weeds and brush go free because I believe having weeds is better than freeing chemical herbicides for use on my farm. 

Luke 22:66-71 I Am

This passage has always seemed awkward to me.  Jesus’ response to the question about if he was the Son of God or not.   I almost wanted him to just say yes or no.   Some translations make it sound as if he merely repeated what they had said without admitting anything.  Other translations more plainly show him answering in the affirmative.  

One thing for sure is that the trial was over.  They did not need any witnesses because he had admitted something from his own mouth.  It was enough to get the death penalty.  The prosecution rested its case.  There was no need of defense unless it would be for a possible plea of insanity. 

So Jesus was eventually executed because he claimed equality with God.  So then, the “religious right” of Jesus’ day killed the god they were fervent to protect.  (What kind of gods need protecting/defending anyway?) 

I wonder about fundamentalism that demands we all conform to a single rigorous standard.  A standard where a mere verbalization of dissent is met with unprecedented retribution.   Like a death sentence for blasphemy. 

Does the mere outward form of a religion constitute purity of that religion?  The very thing Jesus sought to change was that the heart of religion had died.  All that was left was the form. 

Form can be maintained by coercion and fear but the heart cannot.  I wonder if this is the purest expression  of idolatry.  Replacing the heart of religion with the outward shell and then legislating the form into law in the illbegotton(illegitimate)  hope that it will somehow replace the heart .   The form then becomes the focus of worship.   

I guess a compulsory allegiance to God is as good as any other?   Is it equal to a voluntary submission to God out of love and loyalty?  I say no it is not.  These are not equal.  One is the expression of a cowering soul to its master and the other is an expression of allegiance and devotion.   The Bible says that in the end of all things God will have both, but the event of Jesus demonstrates God would rather have the latter.  

Luke 22:63-65 "Undefended Innocence"

My beloved team of Belgian draft horses has moved on to a new home.  After 16 years and hundreds of hours working in a delightful partnership I had to say good-bye.  I am grieving like someone has died.  Even so, My life is very much the richer having made their acquaintance.  I have learned more about myself and life in general over these years that I ever thought I would.  I have learned about trust and what it means to have “heart”.   

Dusty and Prince depended on me to take care of them.  They were always willing to help me with a task.  We drilled oats into a 12 acre field in the fall of 2009.  I worked with the boys about 2 hours a day to get the job done.  I think Dusty would have worked until he dropped from exhaustion.  I knew that, so I never asked him to go that far.  I took my responsibility for their care seriously.  . 

One day waiting for customers in downtown Healdsburg at my carriage stop a young man approached me with a sullen look.  He said to me, “Don’t you think that is unnatural?”   He was referring to me using an animal to pull a carriage around town and give tours.  He was clearly becoming disgusted.   I wondered to myself, unnatural compared to what?  Did he envision huge herds of draft horses running free on the prairie?  These wonderful animals have come to live in partnership with humans.  They do not have any other “natural state” than that.  We work together and I take care of them.  They would have no existence without that partnership.  

I could abuse my responsibility and cause them to suffer.  I feel deep sorrow when I see an emaciated or crippled horse that has been abused by its owner.   I also feel sad when I see a horse owner demand the servant hood of his partner with threats of violence.  I never beat or whipped my horses to get them to work for me.  I just had to ask and they responded. 

All this horse talk brings me to think about “Undefended Innocence”.    There are times when I look around me and see the innocent being cruelly taken advantage of or injured by the strong.  It makes me mad.  Children abused by their parents, teachers, and religious leaders.  Dogs, cats, horses, being very badly treated by their custodians. The poor dying of starvation in countries where war and famine run rampant.  The ignorant being indoctrinated by radical ideologies. (And you can add some more I am sure.)   I have asked myself, “Does God get it?”  Does he understand this terrible burden that the innocent have placed upon them by others in places of power? 

I have been wondering about the three verses in Luke 22:63-65.  Why did Luke write them down?   Why was this story remembered and passed along?  Jesus is being beaten and mocked.  They blindfold him and hit him asking if can “prophecy” and tell them who did it.  He hasn’t had a trial.  He has no one to defend him.  There was no one with a cell phone to record the beating and call for an investigation of police brutality!   What I see is that Jesus experienced being innocent and undefended.  He experienced what it was like to be at the mercy of the merciless. 

So if God gets it, why does he allow it?   Either I make a determination that God is weak, ineffective, and doesn’t much care about what goes on in the world or like the weeds and evil forces of darkness I have looked at previously, the experience of “Undefended Innocence” is a part of life.  If so I still hate it!   Jesus went through it.  He experienced it without deciding that God was weak, ineffective and uncaring.  This is one of those things I think that I have no satisfactory answer for.  I have to assume that I can still trust God’s goodness even when I see examples of “Undefended Innocence.”  But I still hate it.

Luke 22:54-62 The Rooster Crows

One of my favorite farm sounds is the sound of a rooster crowing early in the morning.  I am an early riser anyway so I don’t mind the noise.  The posted picture above, is our favorite Americana rooster who used to sing for us every morning.  That is, until his demise in the jaws of a marauding bobcat.    Now the mornings are silent. 

Occasionally when I hear a rooster I think of the story Peter told about his night with Jesus at the High Priest’s Home in Jerusalem.  He said that Jesus told him earlier that before a rooster crowed the next morning he would deny that he even knew him.  And there in the courtyard of the High Priest’s home, warming himself by a fire, Peter denied that he even knew Jesus.  Peter said that as he made his third denial he heard a rooster crow.  He looked in the direction where Jesus was being held and their eyes met.  They both heard the rooster crow and "knew". Jesus had earlier predicted what Peter had just done, and Peter immediately realized what had happened.  The Bible records that Peter left the scene and “wept bitterly”.   

Sometimes events, smells, sights, etc trigger memories from our past.  I saw a television program about old-fashioned Scandinavian cookie making with a cooked press. As I watched I remembered my grandma making the same cookies when I was a kid.  I could almost smell and taste them.  When I hear a rooster I feel connected with the farm and farm life.  When Peter heard a rooster I am sure he would occasionally remember that night in the courtyard.  The look on Jesus’ face.  The feelings of sorrow and regret.   

I have experiences in my own past that I wish I could undo.  Things I never thought would happen, but they did.  Every now and then something triggers a buried memory and I weep a little inside where no one can see. I think I know how Peter may have felt when he heard a rooster crow. 

Luke 22:47-53

The Coyotes are out by the barn again this morning.  I can hear them singing.  We are down to one adult barn cat out of 12.   The one black and white cat that is left hisses at me when I feed her.  She should be a little more thankful.   The coyotes have been most efficient at hunting cats.  So far no attempts at killing goats but I am sure that will come soon when other game gets scarce.   I am about out of cats!  I have noticed that the coyotes would rather hunt at night than the daytime.   I guess because it is easier to be sneaky.  If you want to kill something to eat you don’t want it to see you coming before you pounce.  I guess that in this respect coyotes are a lot like people… they like the dark to hide activities that they don’t want noticed.  Jesus was betrayed by Judas and taken into custody at night.  It was dark because the sun was down and dark because evil had an appetite for blood.   As Jesus is being arrested He comments on those who have come to take him into custody.

“But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.” Living Bible

I think I recognize 12 or 13 different insights from my meditation on this story about Jesus’ arrest.   Here are a few of them:

1. There are times when the power of darkness reigns.  (Some of the low points in life may be the result of evil spiritual forces.  It is not an abnormal spiritual walk to endure them.  They are a part of life like the weeds I wrote about last week.)
2. Sometimes the reign of darkness is necessary to advance the reign of light. (For a Christian there would be no Easter resurrection if there had been no death by crucifixion a few days earlier.)
3. Sometimes those in positions of power and leadership lead the way in doing wrong instead of protecting me from it.  (It was the leaders that led the crowd to arrest Jesus not a lynch mob coming to the leaders asking for his arrest.)
4. Some of these moments are personal.  No one else can fight to protect me from them.  (Jesus told his disciples to put away their swords.)
5. These moments are never fair; they are painted with irony, trickery and deceit. (Judas attempted to greet Jesus with a friendly greeting.) 
6. These moments happen when you are the most vulnerable.  (They did not try to arrest him when he was in the public’s eye but at night when he was alone with the disciples.)
7. Jesus was not powerless during this time. (He still healed the ear of the high priest’s servant.  I would probably tend to look at what was going wrong rather than what I still possessed.)
8. Jesus recognized that those who were doing bad things thought they were right.  (They considered Jesus a criminal and that it was the right thing to arrest him.  Very seldom do others or I do things that we do not feel fully justified in doing – right or wrong.)

We all experience times when a predator “stalks us at night” so to speak.  If you believe in good and bad spiritual forces like Jesus did, then a normal life includes attacks, when we are vulnerable, by others who feel justified in what they are doing.  We should not loose sight of the strength that we still have or the hope of a good final outcome in spite of all our spiritual battles.

Luke 22:39-46

The southwest corner of our farm is part way up the side of a 2,480-foot tall mountain.   (OK maybe a big hill?)  The mountain is called Mount Olive.  There are no olive trees growing on the mountain and the mountain is covered with brush so thick you cannot walk or crawl through.  I met a local Native American elder one afternoon hiking around looking for a rock outcrop that was supposed to be important in a local Native American legend but he could not find it.  I asked him why the mountain was named Olive but he had no idea either. 

The Biblical Mount of Olives in the Middle East is 2,676 feet tall and rises East of Jerusalem.   About the same height as my Olive Mountain.   It was named for the groves of Olive trees that were there.   I saw a picture of the modern day Mount of Olives and there is not much green to see.  Lots of rock, dirt, a big hotel, cemetery, an ancient convent and a few olive trees and tourist attractions.  In the Bible it was mentioned as a favorite place for Jesus to visit.  Reminds me of how we often take something beautiful and cover it up with a “memorial”.   Where you once used to go seek a peaceful place to pray becomes a “tourist attraction” so we can visit the spot where that “peaceful place to pray’ used to be.  I can just hear some parent saying to their kid, “Look Son, that’s what a peaceful place to pray looks like!” 

After Jesus had supper with his disciples they left Jerusalem and went out to the Mount of Olives to a garden called “Olive Press”  (Gethsemane)  This was one of his favorite spots.  He went there to pray and prepare himself for the ordeal he was about to endure.  Someone must have heard him praying because they recorded his prayer request.  He asked God if what was about to occur could be avoided in any way.  In any case, he told God he was willing to accept it, nonetheless, if it that is what God wanted. 

I grew up in church hearing about the details of how Jesus died.  All the grueling details which included the preacher pounding on the pulpit to simulate the sound of the hammer driving the nails into his hands and feet.  You could almost hear the flesh tear and the bones crack.  Roman Crucifixion was a horrible way to die.  And Jesus was innocent of any crime deserving that kind of death sentence.  I was encouraged to repent of my sins because Jesus had gone through all this and died for me!  But as I was meditating on this passage I came to realize that this horrible death is not what Jesus was asking to be delivered from.  There were a lot of other people who were tortured to death by crucifixion besides Jesus.  His death was the same as theirs.  Nobody pounded the pulpit to simulate his or her horrible end.  They died in obscurity. Jesus was not asking God if he could avoid dying. 

Why don’t we talk about what cannot be fathomed about Jesus’ death?  Why don’t we speak about what that cup was that Jesus asked about avoiding?   In Isaiah 53:12 is a hint into what I think Jesus was concerned about.. “…for he bore the sin of many…”  I have tried to imagine what this might mean.  I cannot illustrate this sin bearing in any way that is significant compared to what it must have meant to Jesus, to God.  I do not get it.  I get what it means to me but not what it meant to them.  Maybe that is why we can’t get past the gruesome details of the crucifixion because we cannot illustrate the more gruesome details of becoming a sin bearer.  It is much easier to faint at the sight of blood than at the sight of sin.  It is easier to wretch at the smell of physical death than its spiritual counterpart. 

I am going to be reminded of this inability of mine to comprehend what really happened when Jesus died for me every time I work in the field and look South West to my own Olive Mountain.  It will be a “memorial” that I did not build anywhere except in my mind. 

  ¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
   and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
   and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
   and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:12

Luke 22:35-38

I have such a bountiful crop of star thistle this year.  It seems to grow better than anything I plant on purpose.  If I were alive in California during the Gold Rush I would not yet see a single star thistle in anyone’s garden.   Someone brought star thistle seed to America about that time.   It is not a native plant.  I have read one estimate that there are now 15 million acres of this invasive species growing in the United States.     I think I have more than my fair share.  But before I complain too much I have to admit that weeding in the field I have learned something about my life.  It is a lot like battling weeds from season to season.

In verse 35 – 38 Jesus reminded the disciples of how in the past they did not have to worry about food, money, clothing, their personal safety.  No worries.  Now He said things were about to change.  They needed to have money, a packed suitcase, and be prepared to defend themselves.   What had changed?  Sometimes life goes along without too much turmoil sometimes it is incredibly difficult.   Jesus’ explanation for the change was that his life was following a path.  This change of circumstance was part of a cycle.  It was part of a design.   It was not a reaction to any thing that was happening at the moment. (I do not agree with those who want to see every disaster as God's attempt to punish us.)

I mention in my last post how faith seems to survive regardless of circumstance.  One of the ways I am learning to mentally survive turmoil is to recognize that sometimes hardship is as much a part of life as weeds are a part of farming.  Farmers were doing battle with weeds before I started farming and they will still be battling weeds when I am gone.  Some things about life are just like weeds.   Having weeds is not a sign of personal failure.  (Maybe letting them go to seed and having more of them next year is?)   I hope you get what I mean.  I think I should not take every bump in the road of my life so personally.  The next traveler will hit the same bump. The problem is with the road not the traveler.

I also think that the best way to survive weeding is to discover that everyone else has weeds too.   Does your life have a good healthy crop of thistle?  We should probably let each other know. 

Luke 22: 31 - 33 (continued)

When I was about 8 years old our family took at trip to visit Grandma in Louisiana.  Dad had been raised on a farm near Winnfield Louisiana along with 8 other brothers and sisters.   There were fig trees on the farm when dad was young.  During a trip to the now abandoned farm, dad dug up some small suckers from the fig trees to bring to California.  I remember we hid them under the seat to make it past the agriculture inspection station coming back into California.  We planted them in the backyard where I grew up.  Every place that I have lived, I have planted a cutting from the trees dad planted at my childhood home.  If I lived in an apartment I had a tree in a planter.  When we moved to Kelseyville one of the first trees that I planted was my dad’s fig.  That tree has become a symbol of something that has lasted generations.  Not only has the tree endured but as I watch it grow I feel connected to something that lasts.  Something that will continue to endure long after I am gone.

Farming has been harder than I had ever imagined. At times it has tested my faith.  (I have to admit that at times I have blamed God for it being so hard.)   How does one’s faith stand up during a trial?  What does that type of faith look like?   Jesus told Peter that this “sifting” the disciples were about to endure was so severe that it was necessary for Jesus to pray for Peter’s faith to endure.  I have experienced events in my life that should have driven me away from my faith in God.  I have at times doubted the validity of my own walk with God.  I have questioned if I even had any faith at all.  And then like a trick birthday candle that relights after you blow it out, a spark from somewhere unknown snaps the flame, ever so small, back into existence.  I do not will it.  I do not seek it. It is as if it seeks me.  Yes I know that those who mock my faith, from a position of never having had any, would suggest that I am flawed in this respect.  Yet I am not interested in convincing them otherwise.  They may have their fantasy and I shall have mine… or perhaps more correct.  My so called fantasy shall have me.  

My observations about the disciples “sifting” experience and their faith:

1.  Jesus’ prayers are always answered.  Jesus said, “When you have returned” not “If you return”.   God preserves faith without human help. 
2. Wherever Peter was returning from, his faith had never left him on the journey.  Where was he and what was the journey like?  I think I can compare my own journey with Peter's.
3. He was humiliated. He had boasted that he would die for Jesus.  In the past I have said a lot of things about my faith in God.  If they could see me now.
4. He was grieving.  After he denied Jesus, Jesus looked him in the eye and Peter recognized what he had done.  He ran off and wept.  I have often felt sorrow about my own weak faith.
5. He was afraid.  When he saw Jesus was going to be executed he was afraid he would end up the same way since he was his follower.   I have sometimes wondered if my weak faith would bring disastrous results in my life.
6. He hid.  Peter lost his courage and ran away to protect himself.  I have run from God and other people to try a find a safe place to be.
7. He was disillusioned.   He had lost his focus.  One of the gospel writers mentioned that Peter went back to fishing.  He went back to doing what he had done before he met Jesus in the first place.  Out of my struggle for spiritual clarity I have been looking for a safe haven in things that have brought me peace in the past.
8.  He was wondering.  I am sure Peter wondered about his own faith in Jesus.  He had spent three years of his life a disciple and now that was over.  Enough said.
9. Peter’s faith, that endured, had no outward evidence of its existence.  He ran away.  Jesus predicted he would deny him three times.   I should not be so quick to judge who I think, has, and who I think, lacks, real faith.  I should be kinder to myself and the other Peters I meet in my life.
10.  Peter could not tell that his present faith condition would be gone in a matter of hours.  He said, “I am ready to die for you”.   I should be careful when I think my own faith feels invincible.
11. "Faith without works" (as is often quoted from the book of James) may be dead but works do not in of themselves demonstrate the faith that overcomes some trials.  That type of faith must be a gift from God and that faith outlives works.  I am thankful that when my own experience with God seems to lack any real dynamic, there is something still alive in the relationship.  I have not been abandoned.
12. If Jesus is praying for me I can be sure of the eventual outcome. My dad had a favorite hymn.  It is an old hymn written by David Whittle in 1883. The words of the chorus go like this, "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day". 

Luke 22:31 - 33

 Part 1

How many times have I heard someone tell me that God is just trying to teach me something every time I endure some trial in my life?  Or maybe they suggest that I have been bad and God is just trying to discipline me.   I could get sucked in to believing that line of thinking very easy.   I don’t know everything so I always could learn something new, and for sure I am never going to be perfect.  And I must admit that in some of my worst days I have learned a lot about myself, God and the world I live in… maybe more than if life had always been smooth.  But that does not explain the times when the trials seem out of proportion to the need to learn something or the need for a kick in the pants. 

Over the past few months I have had a very personal struggle with keeping my farm dream alive.  I went broke farming last year and used up all my savings to pay bills.  This year the peaches did not set fruit, the hay crop was ruined by the rain, and the bobcats have killed all but a couple chickens.  I started a part time job which left very little time for farm chores so the potatoes never got planted, the peas and raspberries did not get picked,  the star thistle is waist high, the livestock is being neglected, the firewood is still unsplit and I am trying to get the greenhouse completed…. Shall I go on?  Last week the well quit, a rock put a hole in the transmission of my car, my wife’s car developed a coolant leak in the heater core, my 87 year old mother fell and was hospitalized, and the coyotes became brave enough to come all the way to the house and kill one of our pet cats.  

On the evening before Jesus was arrested and led off to execution the Disciples thought they were prepared for anything.  They were ready to die for Him.  I think they were at a pretty high point in their faith in Jesus and confident about what lay ahead.  Jesus pulled Peter aside and told him point blank that Satan was about to sift him and the rest of them “like wheat”.  It was going to be so bad that Jesus also said he was praying for Peter so that he would not lose his faith altogether.  

So why the sifting?  Were Peter and the others in need of learning something?   Were they in need of correction and in need of severe discipline?    What if instead the sifting was Satan’s attempt to prove to God that the disciples were all really more like Judas?   Betrayers.   They really only stayed with Jesus because he protected them, fed them, cared for them.  Remember the story of Job?  Satan told God the same thing.  Job only is faithful because you bless him.  Take away the blessings and he will curse you! 

I think that in regards to my personal trials: 

1. Sometimes I learn something.  (Trials that stimulate my personal growth)
2. Sometimes someone else learns something.  (Someone else’s growth is stimulated by my trial)
3. Sometimes no one needs to learn anything.  (These trials are for reasons only God can explain and he usually has chosen to keep his mouth shut.  God usually gets blamed for these too.) 
1. Trials caused by the laws of nature.  Gravity, natural disasters, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.
2. Trials caused by evil men and women on purpose.
3. Trials caused by accidents, errors in judgment, miscalculations, human mistakes.
4. Trials with causes that lie beyond this physical world. “Life sifting events”.

Luke 22:28-30

In 2010 I received a grant from the USDA for the construction of a greenhouse.  Only problem was that I had to build the greenhouse BEFORE I received the money to do so.  I was about to give up on the project when in January of 2011 some supporters "granted" me some front money so that I could get started.  Yesterday we put most of the plastic on the structure.  I will breath a big sigh of relief when the project is finally completed, I get my money from USDA and pay back the loans from all those wonderful supporters. 

In Luke 22 verse 30 Jesus announces to his disciples that He is going to give them a "grant".  Not money,  and not now.  He was giving them a place at his future "table" and a position as judge.  I was wondering why Jesus intended to give them the grant.  At first glance it seems that this grant may be a reward for "sticking with him through thick and thin" as the Message paraphrase puts it.  If that is so, I guess Jesus was not  including the next few hours when they would all run off and hide when he was arrested.  Oh that's right.  One of them didn't run off.  Peter followed him at a distance and then before he ran off, he verbally denied that he even knew him.

The table is a picture of the disciples being included with Jesus in the hereafter.   That is a good thing.  When I die I expect to be included too.  Judas was not included.  Some others through the years may not be included either. On what basis were they included?  Not on the basis of performance, because in that regard they were failures.  Jesus said, "Just as my father has granted me a kingdom."   Why was the kingdom granted to Jesus?  Our place at the table is granted for the same reason "as my father has granted to me a kingdom".  Well  it can't be based on performance.  Jesus performed flawlessly and we do not.  The grants are based on God's sovereign choice.   He grants to whomever he chooses whatever he chooses.

And then the matter of granting them a "throne".  He just gave them a lecture about true greatness because they were arguing about who was the greatest among them.  He set them straight by telling them that the greatest was the servant.  So what about this granted "throne"?

Here is what I think.  When Jesus mentions that the disciples had been with him in verse 28 he is not stating the basis for a future reward.  He is only making a statement about those who remained with him.  One of them did not remain. (Judas)  His promise of future reward is not based on performance.  If  the reward was based on performance then all of them would have forfeited the prize in the next few hours when the failed to "remain".   Secondly the reward of a "throne" is not a reward but a place of service.  They just had received a condemnation for arguing who was the greatest.  Jesus had told them the greatest was the servant.  Now he promised them a future of servant-hood not "Greatness" where they could "lord it over someone".

Now we can conclude that the future holds two good things.  A position and a purpose.  A position at the table  (we will be with the Lord) and a purpose (we will have a place of service). 

But just like my greenhouse grant, there is no funding for a while.  I am trying to wait patiently Lord.

Luke 22:24-27

I have been meditating on these few verses for weeks.  What a depth of insight about what I am like and how I was designed.  Every sermon I have heard on this passage could be summed up by some kind of admonition against being prideful. But,  I have been wondering WHY the disciples felt the need to argue about who was the greatest among them.  They had just completed a survey of each other wondering who was going to be the betrayer.  Now they have gone from who was the worst to who was the best!   Why do I feel the need to compare myself with someone else?  Sometimes I feel elated when I think I am better than someone and other times I am depressed because I don't measure up.  But still I cannot seem to avoid the desire to compare.  It is as if I need someone other than myself to validate my worth. 

I wonder if I should try to avoid the comparative impulse or am I to learn to embrace it by directing its focus?  I grew up being taught in church to avoid pride whatever the cost.  Never figured out how to do that very well.

Then I was thinking about what the world must have been like at the beginning.  That longing to look somewhere for validation must have been there from the beginning.  Adam and Eve were tempted to be dissatisfied with who they were.  Satan told them they could be more than they were.  Instead of allowing God to validate them... that they were "good" as it says in Genesis, they chose to look elsewhere.  They were looking for another opinion.

I think this is how I can fill that empty spot in me that was designed to be filled by God alone:

1. I have to direct my focus by looking at Jesus not another human being.  The disciples were arguing among themselves... they were not comparing themselves to Jesus but to each other.  Jesus' response to their discussion was basically Look at me, "I am among you as the one who serves" v27
2. I experience this focus by/in worship. After I look at Jesus and compare myself to him I humbly bow.  He inspires me.  He humbles me.  "I AM AMONG you as THE one who serves"v27  With our thoughts we choose to compare ourselves with Jesus.  But based on the truth of who he is, he invites us to experience who he is in a profoundly personal way.
3. I accept my validation from Jesus. Jesus said, "but it is not this way with YOU".   Jesus did not say it should be this way with people, Christians, Jews, humans, etc.  He said "you".  These were special people to Him.  He did not walk away from them because they didn't get how to live.  They had value to him.  In the next few hours he would demonstrate his ultimate validation of them by giving up his life on their behalf. 
4. I should practice my focus by service.  Jesus said they must "become like a servant."  Serving someone else helps me direct my longing for validation back to God and away from people.  This is one practical thing I can do to discipline myself to avoid comparison with others.  Become the servant.  The one person no one wants to compare themselves to.
    

Luke 22:21-24

Jesus told the disciples that one of them was betraying him.  Then Luke writes that the disciples began to discuss among themselves who it might be that would do such a thing.   My first thought is that no one but Jesus could tell who the betrayer was.  It was someone who had already betrayed him (verse 21 says “betraying” not “will betray” sometime in the future.  Judas had already gone to the religious leadership and cut a deal.).  So each disciple looked at the outward signs of loyalty because they could not see into their neighbor’s hearts.  Everyone looked pretty loyal, evidently so did Judas.   In fact they quickly went from wondering who showed the most signs of being a betrayer to who showed the most signs of loyalty.  Luke noted that the disciples now started to argue among themselves who was the greatest.  (Verse 24)   

It reminds me that I am often inept at making a sound appraisal of myself or another’s loyalty to Christ.  How often has it been that you or I have come to a wrong conclusion about our own or another’s attempts to follow Christ?  If there is one lesson Jesus taught over and over it was that people have the capacity to act one way outwardly and be completely different on the inside

Luke 22:20

I was asking myself the following question.  “Do I really know what the covenant is that Jesus wants me to remember?”  The King James Version of the Bible I remember translates this phrase in verse 20 as, “This cup is the new testament in my blood.”  Well since a little boy in Sunday School I could tell you that the Bible is divided into to sections.  The Old Testament and the New Testament.  “Testament” and “Covenant” are two words that mean the same thing.  A Testament or Covenant was an agreement.  We could also call it a contract or a pledge.  In the old days two people made an agreement (covenant) with each other and sealed it with a handshake.  Now it takes a Notary and signatures on 50 legal documents to make a “deal”. 

Hebrews 10:1-18 describes the wonders of this new covenant compared to the old.   It is summed up in verse 17 & 18. I like the way the Message Paraphrase says it, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.  Now when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.”

So then with the Old Covenant people lived day-by-day “sitting in their own filth (sin)” until the next animal sacrifice.  With the New Covenant people live day by day forgiven (clean) by a single sacrifice (Christ's death) in the past.  No waiting!  What does this make possible?  A very close walk with God, continually, no intermediary, no priests needed, no acts of contrition to get you in the door, no resumes, no special permission to approach.  I think that is what Jesus wanted us to remember with the cup.  The cup was to represent this New Covenant made possible by his self sacrifice. 

Many of us want to live under the old system.  We feel the need to do something to atone for our foolish acts and thoughts.  We spend years trying to undo things we are ashamed of.  Offering a sacrifice of good “Christian” deeds to earn some kind of forgiveness.  What a waste of time. 

Luke 22:20

"This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood”  NASV

“This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed (poured out) for you.”  KJV

I have officiated and participated in more Lord Supper services than I can remember.  Hundreds.  I am embarrassed to say that I have always made the assumption that the cup referred to in verse 20 represented Jesus’ blood.  Seems a logical progression, the bread represented his body and the wine his blood… but.  This week I have once again looked at many translations of this verse.  They all really say the same thing.  The cup represents the  covenant.  “in my blood” is a phrase that modifies the word "covenant".  It tells us information about this covenant.  The covenant is also a “new” covenant as well as a covenant “in my blood”.  I do not believe that this verse is saying,  “This cup is my blood poured out for you as a new covenant.    I remember diagramming sentences in my English class and Seminary.  The basic sentence is as follows.  

Cup          is           covenant

(All the other words and phrases are used to describe words of the basic sentence.)

Cup          is           covenant 
 

“new” describes the covenant not the cup.

“in my blood” describes the covenant not the cup.

‘which is poured out(shed) for you may describe either the cup or blood.

So I guess I have to ask myself what it is that I am supposed to remember when I observe the Lord’s Supper.  Is it Jesus “blood shed for me” or the new covenant that his shed blood made possible?   When he described us participating in the Lord’s Supper, Paul later wrote that we “show forth the Lord’s death till he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).  Maybe that verse is why we tend to dwell on flesh and blood instead of the New Covenant that his death made possible.    Assuming Paul was speaking of Christ's death instead of what that death accomplished.  Like observing the Passover and remembering the lambs that were slaughtered and forgetting the deliverance  from Egypt.   

Luke 22:10

Every Christian church has some moment of celebration based on this verse and verse 11 that follows.  The Lord’s Supper, Communion, and Eucharist, are words I have heard used to name this event.   Some of our beliefs about this observance separate us into denominations instead of bringing us together.   Even within denominations beliefs separate us into other groups.  For instance some Baptists believe in “Closed” Communion and others believe in “Open”.   (Closed can mean members of a local church only, or only Baptists.)  

It is hard to objectively look at any verse of the Bible without being influenced by what our past church experience has been.  But Jesus definitely wanted us to routinely observe a time to remember Him just as he was taking the time to observe the Passover.    He passed out bread during the Passover meal and told his disciples, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."   

What am I to remember with this bread?  In what sense was Jesus’ body given for me?   Only given when he died?  I don’t think Jesus’ sacrificial death is entirely what this means.  I really think it involves all of Jesus’ humanity because it does not end with his death.  It began with his birth. His body was given then, it was given  with his sacrificial death and it continues even still to be given for me forever.  He still has his human body, glorified as it is. He did not inhabit a human body for a few years and then leave it to go back to heaven.  God made a permanent commitment to us when Jesus was born.  I really don’t understand the cost for Him to make that connection to humankind.  But to me it means that something about me was important enough for God to do so.  I must be of great value to him. Others must be also.  I need to see myself and others through God's eyes.

Luke 22:17-18

Luke is the only gospel writer who mentions more than one cup being shared at the Passover meal.  As I wonder about that fact, I think that it is a possibility that Jesus did not drink any of cups.  I will tell you why.  Verse 17 sounds like he told his disciples to share the cup among themselves.  Verse 18 is interesting.  The word translated “from now on” can have an alternate meaning of “now”.   You can see both examples in the translations below”

“I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes”  NASV

“I will not (now) drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come”  KJV

"Take this and pass it among you. As for me, I'll not drink wine again until the kingdom of God arrives." MESSAGE

Jesus just said (in verse 16) how he had longed to eat the Passover with his disciples this one last time and that he would never eat it again until it was fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. That statement included the four cups.  They were part of the meal.  But now Luke writes down that Jesus also said something about not drinking of the “fruit of the vine” until the Kingdom of God comes.   If Jesus declined to drink any of the cups that night… what would have been a possible reason?  This is what I thought of:

• Priests were not allowed to drink wine and enter the temple to offer sacrifices. Leviticus 10:9
• A person who had taken a Nazarite vow could not drink wine, or ingest any grape product,while they were living out the days of their vow.  Numbers 6:1-27

I can see Jesus setting himself aside for God’s special purpose by taking a Nazarite vow.  And I can also see him as my high priest entering the Holy of Holies with the ultimate sacrifice for my sin.  Either would have required his abstaining from the cups that evening.

Every now and then I like to paraphrase what I have read in the scripture.  I am not inspired so you don’t have to accept what I have written.   But here is how I would say what Jesus was saying in Luke 22:17 – 18.

“You guys go ahead and partake of these cups tonight.  I cannot this time since I have set myself apart to God for the task of becoming the sacrificial lamb tomorrow evening.  I will celebrate with you later when the Kingdom of God comes.”  Tealease

If this is true that Jesus set himself apart for God’s purpose by denying himself certain things, (like not ingesting anything coming from a grape vine) then perhaps I should look at my own life and do the same.  Are there times or moments when I should change my behavior to demonstrate my dedication to my spiritual journey?  I think maybe yes. 

Luke 22:16

¹⁶for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."
Jesus is facing his own torturous death and yet he is thinking about the future.  He is making plans even as he faces the end.  He says that this is the last Passover he will celebrate… until the next one.  He says that He will eat the next Passover after it’s meaning is fulfilled in the kingdom. 
  
In Exodus 6:6-7   God mentioned four things he was going to do for the Israelites in Egypt.

“I will bring you out” 

"I will deliver you"

“I will redeem you”

“I will take you to me for a people”

Each of these promises was celebrated at the Passover meal by a cup of wine.  The first two cups were drunk during the meal and the last two after the meal.  (Some add a fifth cup after the meal from a promise in verse 8, “I will give it (the land) to you for a possession.”)  I personally think that the cup Jesus called the “new covenant in my blood” was the third cup.  The cup of redemption, as his blood would release us from sin’s prison.  The fulfillment of the fourth and maybe fifth cup was yet to come.  I would like to imitate Jesus example of facing hardship that I see demonstrated in this verse.

As Jesus faced hardship, he believed he had a future. 

As Jesus faced hardship he believed that the difficulty was a smaller part of a bigger drama.

As Jesus faced hardship he tried to give the vision to others. 

As Jesus faced hardship he believed that there are some meaningful things that survive any difficulty, even death.

Luke 22:15

Jesus sat down with his disciples to celebrate the Passover.  He tells his disciples, as The Message paraphrase puts it, “You’ve no idea how much I have looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you before I enter my time of suffering.”  So I just have to ask, Jesus, why did you so “look forward” to this time?  Jews usually observed the Passover with their families, but where was yours?  Jesus, how could you have thought of food at a time like this?  You were headed for the toughest moments of your life?  

How do I face trouble?  I usually avoid people and suffer on my own.  What do you do?

Jesus wanted to be with his disciples doing something, not just hanging out.  He was celebrating the Passover.  Why the Passover.  Why not just enjoy a fishing trip or a sight seeing tour of the temple?  Jesus saw his own identity in the Passover.  He identified so closely with it that he renamed portions of the meal in his own honor!  “This is my body”.  “This is my blood”.   Jesus wanted to be with the Disciples but he wanted to share his life with them as well. 

When I am with others what part of myself do I share?  Is there anyone in my life that knows my inner longings my sense of purpose?  The reason why I am here?  Do I know?

Jesus would be arrested in a few hours and events would begin that would crescendo until his physical life ended before sundown the next day.   He wanted to be close to his disciples and he wanted to share more of himself with them.  He really looked forward to it.  He wanted to spend the time.  He wanted to share his life.  We should probably imitate his example more.

Kind of sucks when you think that our modern Lord’s Supper celebration usually amounts to a blip on a church bulletin somewhere between the announcements and the offering.

Luke 22:7-13

All or Nothing?

I remember the story about Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  Goldie found that the lukewarm porridge was “just right”.  (Neither hot nor cold).  Jesus said that if he found a follower to be like that (lukewarm) he would “spew him out of his mouth”. (Revelation 3:16)  I have difficulty in my spiritual path following Jesus when it comes to an acceptable level of commitment or devotion.  Is it really all or nothing or is it all or something? 

Why did Jesus tell Peter and John to go to town and prepare the Passover?  Why did Jesus maintain this connection with the Jewish Religion when the leaders of that very Religion were plotting his death?  I guess, if I were to be honest, I would have abandoned the whole thing.  It would have be an “all or nothing” thing for me.  But even though Jesus often showed contempt for what the Jewish religion had become, He did not abandon it.

I think Jesus saw some things I don’t often see without some effort.  He saw something worthwhile mixed together with something that was not.  (Sort of like seeing me and my life.)  He also saw himself in that thing of value.  When he celebrated the meal he made mention that the meal did more than commemorate the delivery of Israel from slavery in Egypt.  He revealed a new message in an old practice, “this is my body” and “this is my blood”. 

I have met many people in my lifetime who have abandoned the Christian faith and their own spiritual journey because they were disillusioned by churches, people, or God himself.  For them it was all or nothing.  There is another old saying that I have heard a lot.  It was first found in print in England about 500 years ago.  “Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water.”  In other words it may not be all or nothing, but maybe all or something. 

Teale

Luke 22:1-6

Luke says it was time for a week of celebration... the passover.  In the midst of celebration there was a plot to have Jesus arrested by the authorities.  Judas, one of the 12 closest to Jesus, met with the religious leadership and promised to assist in the arrest.  Why did Judas betray Jesus?  I think he really believed he was doing the right thing.  I think that it cheapens the betrayal to suggest that Judas was so under the control of Satan that he had no choice.  I think Judas was absolutely convinced he was doing the right thing.  Why did he think it was the right thing to do?  I don't know.   But I think it hurt Jesus more to have Judas turn against him on his own than to have Satan force him to do it.  Satan tried to convince Job to turn against God but failed.  If Satan had forced Job to curse God it would have been meaningless.  But if on the other hand Job cursed God because he thought it was the right thing to do given his terrible circumstances in life... well you get the picture.  

The next thing I notice in this story is that Jesus remains calm.  He knows that his life fits into a plan of some kind.  Even with betrayal coming from among his closest 12 he holds his mud together.  I wonder if there are circumstances in my personal pilgrimage when I forget that those who cause me harm may be fellow actors in some grand production.  I cannot control  all the events in my life where I may feel betrayed.  Those who betray me probably feel justified in their actions...convinced they were doing the right thing at the time.  I wish I could be more like Jesus.  Confident that the unavoidable pains in relationships may somehow be a part of a bigger picture.