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The sign of contradiction. (Series on the Gospel of Luke, #3)
The Gospel of Luke used to drive me crazy because it is so obviously out of chronological order. And, as an Engineer, I like order. But as an Engineer I also like Logic; and it wasn’t until this go around that I realized that a logical exposition was precisely what Luke set out to give us. Two blogs ago, I began my excursion into this Gospel by focusing on what I called, the formula: Repentance + faith = forgiveness of sins which produces Love. Today I want to continue where I left off. In doing so, I need to flesh out in more depth some of what I talked about then.
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Logically, my dear Luke
I have been going through the Gospel according to Luke with his admonition in mind that what he has written there was done with method: arranged to teach us, the way Greek tutors taught their pupils. As he says in the introduction to the Gospel, his purpose is to enable us to know the certainty of those things in which we have been instructed, the things we have believed.
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The formula
If there were a formula for turning paper into gold, and you had it, what would you do with it? You’d use it and get rich, why not? If there were a formula for turning water into gasoline, and you had it… Hey, no more $3, $4 a gallon fill ups, right? If you knew the formula for living a successful life, and you could apply it, wouldn’t you?
What’s a formula?
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The Incarnation
Most of the sermons posted on this blog come from the Sunday services that I have held at a local Jail, over the years. This one is from a service there this Christmas. Sometimes we just need to let Scripture speak for itself. And sometimes another worker of the harvest has already said something better than I could ever say it. That was the case this Sunday. (All my scripture quotes are taken from Darby’s translation.)
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A reasonable Faith – A Journey through the Sermon on the Mount. The End: The Ultimate Authority
In our journey through the Sermon on the Mount, last time we reached Chapter 7 of Matthew’s gospel. The admonition – or commandment – Judge not lest thee be judged gave us two important themes that we should always keep in mind as we strive to follow Jesus. First, was the concept of like for like: If I really want my Father in Heaven to bless me, to take care of me, to be merciful with me when I need it, to rescue me when I have stumbled, to rescue me when I have fallen so far that I can’t even tell where I am, to feed me when I am starving, to give me shelter when the storm has just torn my life apart… if that’s what I want and what I need, then like for like: I need to turn around and do all these things for his children. It is a law of the universe our Father created. We cannot walk in the Kingdom and ignore it.
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A reasonable Faith – A Journey through the Sermon on the Mount. Part 3.4
There is another dimension to the rule “Judge not lest thee be judged” that we need to talk about. Remember back when Jesus was talking about anger? He said that to call someone Raca (empty headed) makes us answerable to the court. But calling anyone a fool puts us in danger of the fire of hell. Why? Why is calling someone a fool, so wrong? Because, as Jesus’ Jewish audience would understand, this is an allusion to Psalm 14:1 (and Psalm 53) The fool says in his heart, there is no God.
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