What does Jesus say about manhood? (in Luke’s gospel)

A while ago I started reading through the Gospel of Luke to see what Jesus said specifically to men and I have written a couple of posts on it. I wanted to see if Jesus gave a specific theology of manhood. Surprisingly, (and maybe the reason why I didn’t finish the series earlier), Jesus says relatively little directly on the subject. (I’m coming back to it because I have a talk to give on the subject!). He doesn’t come out with great proclamations “Men, act like this” or “Women, act like that”. He does, however say things to individual men that can be applied to all of us (to men and women) and to individual women which also apply to men. And of course, we can take his example as the perfect human, as Mark Driscoll outlines here.

I covered chapters 1-3 and 4-8 in previous posts. The rest of the book has more indirect teaching on attitudes which can apply to men and to women. From these, I would say that Biblical manhood is less about becoming a ‘real man’ whatever that might mean, and more about becoming a real disciple.

Here are a couple of passages from Luke 9 onwards that struck me as being relevant, but they are far from being an exhaustive list.

From chapter 12, I was struck by the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21). The man stored away his wealth in barns and had so much wealth that he decided to make bigger barns. It reminded  me of great natural disasters, such as the earthquakes in New Zealand and the Tsunami and quake in Japan last year. They are both wealthy countries which had a lot of devastation from the disasters. The people who died were no more or less deserving of their fate than anyone else (cf. Tower of Siloam Luke 13:4) and they were going about their lives in a normal way when devastation struck. Many lost their lives, many more lost everything they had. Wealth is worth surprisingly little in this life.

Later (Luke 20), Jesus is teaching and some teachers of the law wanted to catch him out in what he said. So they sent people to ask a question that might get him into trouble. “Is it right for us [Jews] to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”. If he said ‘Yes’, the Jews would be upset as they resented the Roman presence as an occupying force. If he said ‘No’ they could legitimately take him to the governors under the charge of undermining the authorities.

To answer, Jesus asks the poser of the question for a Denarius (a coin) and notes that Caesar’s image is on the coin, much like the Queen’s profile is on our coins today. He then remarks “give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s” (Luke 20:25). The unspoken question that follows is “Who’s image in on you?”. Every Jew would know that they are made in the image of God, and that if they owe the coin to Caesar, they owe their life to God. This is a call to close discipleship once again, and is applicable to men and to women.

To conclude, from my first post (chapters 1-3) we have a call to commitment to God and to your family, bringing them up in the way of God.

From my second (chapters 4-8)  we have an exhortation to work hard, be honest in what you do, and content in what you have. We can bring God’s wisdom and attitude into everything we do, not leaving him at the door. Again from Jesus’ interactions with the man who was healed of demon possession, there is a call to be committed to family by being there for them and representing Jesus in the place where you are.

And in this post, the emphasis of the passages seems to be about allegiance – to God above everything else.

Biblical manhood, is about biblical discipleship. Becoming fully human in God is emphasised more than trying to match up to a version of manhood or womanhood.

Men in Luke 4-8 – be content and speak about God

The second of my posts looking at what the Luke’s gospel to men, using William Hendriksen’s commentary as a guide. There are three short passages that jump out at me today. The first is from John the Baptist’s preaching whilst he was baptising in the wilderness. He had called people to repentance and with repentance comes a desire to live better.

“What should we do then?” the crowd asked. ¹¹ John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”¹² Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” ¹³ “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.

¹⁴ Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.” (Luke 3:10-14)

Three groups of people come: the crowd (presumably men and women), tax collectors (men only) and soldiers (men only). John’s first answer is a general one that applies to all – share your food and your clothes with those who do not have them. This is an instruction to exercise Christian love. Tax collectors were notorious for adding a little ‘bonus’ on top of their basic pay by collecting more money from the people than they were supposed to and keeping the excess. Their consciences were pricked and the instruction is to do their jobs honestly and fairly – for them this will be part of ‘producing fruit in keeping with repentance’ (Luke 3:8). The soldiers were also (according to Hendriksen) used to engaging in extra unsanctioned activities for more pay – extorting from others. They are told to be content with what they get.

None of these things mean that we shouldn’t apply for better jobs or make sure that our families are provided for, but it simply means that we trust God and find our purpose, meaning and contentment in him who provides. Paul was able to say that he “knew the secret of being content in every situation” (Phil 4:12 – and he often faced difficulties) because of the trust he had in God to provide.

The second passage concerns the calling of the first disciples – fishermen Simon, James and John.

⁴ When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” ⁵ Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

⁶ When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. ⁷ So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. (Luke 5:4-7)

The thing that struck me here is that Jesus, a carpenter, tells fisherman how to do their jobs. Simon and co. had already been out all night (the best time for catching fish) and caught little. now Jesus tells them to put out again in the middle of the day. With stuttering faith, they agree and pull in a great catch. This says much about Jesus’ omniscience – he knew where the fish would be and was happy to direct the fishermen to the right place. The application for Christians (men and women) is ‘do we take jesus into our workplaces?’. He will not always guarantee us worldy success through it, but I’m certain that we will understand God and his priorities more.

Finally, just a short note on the man who was demon possessed by Legion. After having been miraculously cured by Jesus, he begs Jesus to follow him:

³⁸ The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him. (Luke 8:38-39)

This man’s place, as is the place of most of us, is based at home, speaking about the things that God had done for him. In fact, he did even better as he spoke about Jesus all over town, not just in his home. The calling for most men is to acknowledge and witness to Jesus in the place where they are. To begin, we need to be aware of what God is doing in our lives. For most of us, it is less dramatic but no less praiseworthy than that of the former demon-possessed man.

Men in Luke 1-3 – Turn the hearts of the parents to their children

I’ve decided to start reading chunks of the Bible looking to see what it says about a particular topic. As I’ve had an interest in in male roles and responsibilities I thought I’d start there, beginning with the Gospel of Luke. There are some passages which address the topic distinctly, which I shall get to, but there are also passing references to male responsibilities throughout. Today I read chapters 1-3. The Angel Gabriel is speaking to Zechariah in the temple telling him that his wife, Elizabeth, will become pregnant with a child who will be John the Baptist.

And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:17)

John will be the new Elijah, preparing the way for the Lord to come in his cousin Jesus. Through John’s work, the hearts of the parents will return to their children and people will turn to righteousness, ready for Jesus’ coming. What does it mean for the hearts of parents to return to their children? Gabriel repeats what the Lord said through the prophet Malachi. (Mal 4:4-5)

Some commentators have suggested that it isn’t to do with natural parents, but with spiritual parents. After Jesus the spiritual parents – the patriarchs of Israel -  Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will return to look kindly upon their child, Israel. This is not a good interpretation and gives the impression that our forbears are simply interested spectators of what is going on here on earth and doesn’t fit with the teaching of other parts of scripture on this.

A more likely interpretation is the more literal reading – actual parents.

As a result of mixed marriages (Mal 2:11) and easy divorce (Mal 2:14) family relationships have been disrupted. (William Hendricksen, Luke)

Hearing of God’s message through John and Jesus, and through the gospel preached throughout the ages causes hearts to be changed. Family life which can often be upset by separation or lack of interest can be reinvigorated. And when we have committed spouses and parents we get strong families, well adjusted children and a cohesive society. The message for men here is, as you hear the gospel, allow your hearts to be changed and committed to your family.

Why is this a preparation for the Lord? (Luke 1:17). Does the commitment of parents to children not echo the commitment of a covenant God to his people, and therefore witness to it? In fact, does it not echo the interconnected relationships of Father, Son and Spirit? The act of committing allows us to experience something of the love of God for us and to understand it for ourselves. As we love our children, God loves us – even more so. As we provide for our famlies, God provides for us. As we teach our children how to live, God does so for us.

How do we get into heaven?

Following the recent discussions about Rob Bell’s orthodoxy and his view of hell and salvation, it is worth repeating an illustration that Rob once used in one of his sermons on Philippians a couple of years ago. A lot of the discussion is surrounding who is right and who is wrong – what is sound theology and what is heresy. Good theology is important, but here is a warning about getting our priorities right when it comes to faith and doctrine.

The entrance to heaven is not like that. We do not simply recite the right answers to be granted safe passage into the afterlife. Peter is not standing at the pearly gates giving us a pop quiz. It is about how we live and who we live for. Simple head knowledge is not enough.

Some relevant passages which illustrate the believing and doing aspect of faith:

• Matt 7:21-23 – True Disciples
• Matt 25:31-end – The Sheep and the Goats
• Luke 23:39-43 – The penitent thief
• James 2:14-2nd – Faith and Deeds

And while we’re about it, here’s a sermon I preached a year or so ago on that James passage.

• Audio: Faith and Works
• PDF: James 2 Faith and Works

Martin Luther King on nations coming back to God

I’ve just been reading Martin Luther King’s ‘The Measure of a Man’. In it, King mentions the story of the prodigal son, in which a son demands his inheritance from his fathers estate even though his father is still alive, leaves home, squanders the money and comes home begging for forgiveness. The father welcomes him home as a son who “was dead but is now alive” and before the son can even ask for forgiveness, he is embraces by his loving father. Martin Luther King responds to this story in applying it to the civil rights issues of his day:

This is the glory of our religion: that when man decides to rise up from his mistakes, from his sin, from his evil, there is a loving God saying, ‘Come home, I still love you’…

It seems that I can hear a voice saying to America: “You started out right. You wrote in your Declaration of Independence that ‘all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. Among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ But America, you strayed away from that sublime principle. You left the house of your great heritage and strayed away into a far country of segregation and discrimination. You have trampled over sixteen million of your brothers. You have deprived them of the basic goods of life You have taken away from them their self respect and their sense of dignity. You have treated them as if they were things rather than persons. Because of this a famine has broken out in your land. In the midst of all your material wealth, you are spiritually and morally poverty-stricken, unable to speak to the conscience of this world. America, in the famine situation, if you will come to yourself and rise up ad decide to come back home, I will take you in, for you are made for something high and something noble and something good.” (p19-20)

This applied very clearly to the civil rights movement of MLK’s day. I wonder how it applies to the western world today. Perhaps God sees the material wealth of the West and compares it to the poverty of the developing world and weeps for them. Perhaps he sees that the current global food crisis id driven by the western worlds desire for ever cheaper material goods and ever cheaper oil. Perhaps he sees what we are doing to His environment, again due to the desire for economic success. Perhaps there are many more… What would he have us do?

I don’t pretend to know the ins and outs of each of these situations or how they can be fixed, but I’m sure God grieves over them.

The poor in the gospel of Luke (viii) – summing up

Ending my series on the subject of the poor in Luke’s gospel. Other posts in the series can be found here: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

We’ve got up to chapter 19. The only other references to the poor between chapter 19 and the end are these two. The first is from the calling of Zacchaeus the tax collector:

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount. (Luke 19:8 )

And the second is the example of giving from the poor widow:

As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on. (Luke 21:1-4)

Zacchaeus was not poor, but in a way he was an outcast. A Jew working for the Roman government to collect taxes would now have gone down well. And it seems that he cheated in what he took. When confronted with Jesus, he immediately came down and followed, honoured that Jesus would want to be with a ‘sinner’ like him. His immediate reaction is to recognise his sin at cheating people and pay them back four times, and gice half of what he has left to the poor.

The widow was giving money to the temple treasury which would go to pay the priests and for upkeep of the temple. She put in financially not a lot, but it was a great amount of what she had, Jesus commends her for it.

These, and the example of the rich young ruler from 18:18-30 may not tell us much about the poor per se but serve and example to all of us in giving. Often we have the idea that a Christian is to tithe 10% of their income to the church and charity. Here we see the rich young ruler being asked to give away all of his possessions (100%), Zacchaeus volunteered to give away half, plus more to those he cheated, and the widow gave away ‘all she had to live on’. These all add up to far more than 10%.

Rather than coming to any hard and fast rule that Christians should stick to, as that would be legalism, I think the principle is that we give out of generosity, like Zacchaeus and the widow, not out of duty. Giving should perhaps be the first thing on our agenda. Too often its gets relegated to what we have left over.

Summing up what Luke said about the poor:

• Jesus came for them as well as all people, but he message is good news for the poor in particular who were being overlooked by society. Is that still the case?
• They are often more willing to receive from Jesus, trust him, and follow as they recognise that they can’t do everything on their own. Others feel they have too much to lose, so they lose out on the mose precious thing. The lesson here is humility.
• There is nothing inherently wrong with riches and wealth, but they cannot save and often distract from God
• There is an expectation that those who have money and wealth will care and provide for those who don’t. Generosity and care seems to be a value of the Kingdom of God.
• Justice and mercy are also marks of the kingdom seen in Luke. In the parables that Jesus told, the poor were able to gain justice and a fair hearing that they are often denied in the world. If Christians are living out ‘kingdom values’ and giving a foretaste of the kingdom to come (already, but not yet), then a social conscience is a necessary part of that. Without it, Christians cannot be said to be living the values of the kingdom to which they claim they belong.

The poor in the gospel of Luke (vii)

After a longish break, back to my series on the poor in Luke’s Gospel. We’ve got up to chapter 18.There are three incidences in Luke 18 that I want to look briefly at. They are not directly about helping the poor, more about attitudes to God.

The first is the parable that Jesus tells at the beginning, the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8). Although these are not directly concerned with the poor, they do involve those on the edge of the Jewish society. The widow was powerless and wanting justice. The judge had the power but not the inclination to use it for good. Through the widow’s sheer persistence, almost nagging at the judge, she would see justice. Jesus’ point is that even if an unjust judge delivers justice, how much more with God who is just. He cares about the plight of those who do not have a voice and will see to it that their case is heard.

The second passage is the incident with the rich young ruler (18:18-30), obviously a good man. He is wealthy and seemingly has everything he needs, but the one this he doesn’t have is something he cannot control – assurance about eternal life. When he came to Jesus and asked “What must I do to inherit eternal life” I don’t know what answer he was expecting – give away a bit of money, build welfare strictures for the poor, give to the temple Maybe one of these.

But the answer he finally gets is interesting. Jesus says “Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (18:22).

The point here isn’t directly about money or the poor, although Jesus sees them as worthy recipients of the money. The sticking point for the rich man was that his possessions were becoming his god. That is why he needed to get rid of them – they were getting in the way, and he couldn’t give them up. For the rich man, only by doing this could he have ‘treasure in heaven’.

This does say something about the attitudes that God wants in following Jesus. In a sense, we must all become poor – not in a material sense but in the way we come towards God. We are poor in that we get all we have and need from Him, material and spiritual. We will always need God first and foremost no matter now much else we may have.

Finally, there is a short incident with a blind beggar at the end of the chapter (18:35-43), when compared to the incident with the rich man, this story is amazing. This was a beggar. He was materially poor. He had nothing and needed to beg for his money for food. Yet when he hears that Jesus is coming he does all he can to be heard. I don’t know how many people must have passed him that day and maybe given him a couple of coins. Many more must have ignored him completely. Yet when he hears Jesus is coming he doesn’t ask for money, or food. He asks to see. He knows that Jesus can do it, and indeed, Jesus does have mercy on him and heals him. I guess he has nothing to lose, but his attitude is one of dependence and humility, relying and trusting in the power of God even though he had no power of his own. He was poor, but he became rich, gaining his sight and praising God.

The poor in the gospel of Luke (vi)

Onto Luke chapter 16…

The Rich Man and Lazarus is a classic story told by Jesus of a rich man who does nothing to help a poor man (Lazarus) living at his gate. It is presumed that the rich man knew that the poor man was there and was in need.

When both of them die, the poor man gets taken up to be in heaven at Abraham’s side. The rich man gets sent to hell. There is no indication of why the poor man was taken to heaven – his faith is not mentioned. The thrust of the passage, however, is on the actions of the rich man. It could be read that riches in this life are bad and that we receive in the next life the opposite of what we had on earth. However, I don’t think that this is what the passage is getting at.

The rich man gets taken to hell, it seems, because he didn’t help the poor man at his doorstep. Although not mentioned directly, the implication is that it is the rich mans attitude to his riches that seems to be criticised. I wonder if he was living all out for this life, storing up his treasures for himself only, like the man with the barns in Luke 12. The riches are not considered bad, but his attitude towards them. He kept them all for himself instead of helping those in need. Elsewhere, Jesus talk about loving your neighbour as yourself. This might be part of the thing he was talking about.

But although social justice is part of the parable, Tom Wright argues that the point of it is to call people (particularly in this case, the Pharisees to whom Jesus is talking) to change their ways and repent while there is still time.

Once in hell, the rich man quite naturally wants to warn his brothers. Abraham does not let him. They have already been given ample warning through Moses and the prophets (i.e. scripture). Even someone rising from the dead would not convince them – and for many, Jesus’ rising from the dead did not. Presumably, if the rich man had repented at the words of the prophets, his attitude to his wealth would have been transformed and he too would have been with Abraham in heaven. We too have scripture as well as the work of Jesus and the present work of the Spirit to guide us towards God and to gradually transform us so our live are lived with justice to those around us.

How will we repent from ignoring the plight of the poor on our doorstep? Who are the modern day rich men? Surely it includes all those who live in comfort whilst there are people close to poverty in our cities. But doesn’t it have to be western nations in general – those who have the power to help pull smaller nations out of poverty, but do not because it might damage our economic position? Surely we are guilty of storing up treasures for ourselves like the rich man did? In today’s world, the doorstep – those we hear about – is so much bigger than in Lazarus’ day.

I have read some disturbing facts about how little it would take to solve some of these problems, like poverty, aids, clean water etc. Often less is spent on that than what the US spends yearly on cat food.

The poor in the gospel of Luke (v)

On to chapter 14 of our walk through Luke

”Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.“ (Luke 14:12-14)

Jesus said this in the context of of a dinner banquet. He has noticed that some people were deliberately taking the best seats at the table – sitting at the most important positions. I guess a modern day equivalent might be to walk into a wedding reception and automatically presume that yours is the seat next to the groom. So the context is about self-importance, or self-exultation. The contrast is humility and self-giving.

Therefore, Jesus said, inviting people to dinner is fine – but it is not showing self-giving (or generosity) if you are expecting them to invite you back. Instead, invite people that you know will not be able to invite you back – that is true giving. Who are these people? The poor, crippled, lame and blind. Generosity to them will also not go unnoticed, but it will be repaid by God. It may have no earthly reward though. This shows not only God’s care for the poor, but his insistence that our attitudes are focussed outside of ourselves, and on him.

Jesus then follows this teaching at a banquet with a parable of a banquet (14:15-24). A man was holding a banquet and sent out invitations to his friends to come. When the time of the banquet arrived, all of them gave excuses to why they couldn’t come.

“Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’” (14:21)

This is a parable of kingdom. It is those that seem most undeserving and most unlikely to get invited who actually do get to come. The invitation is extended to the poor, crippled and lame – people who were considered social outcasts at the time, and they are brought into the kingdom, often at the expense of the ‘righteous’ who have failed to recognise the invitation for what it is. Jesus does bring good news to the poor as so often, without him, they get overlooked and stuck at the bottom of society. Here, they are actively invited in.

In Matthew’s version of this parable (Matt 22), there is a twist at the end. Once at the banquet, the king notices that one of his guests is not wearing wedding clothes, so he is tied up an thrown out. Although the invitation is open to all, including the poor, lame, blind and crippled, there is an expectation that once inside, the guests will start to live in a way fitting of those in the kingdom.

What does this mean for us today? Here’s a couple of initial thoughts

• We should love the poor because God does
• All are welcome in the kingdom, we are not to pick and choose who should come
• We must become aware of our motivations when giving – are we giving to get back?
• From Matthews twist at the end, we are to help people to live lives consistent with God’s kingdom, through discipleship etc.

Treasuring Christ

Following on from my last entry on the poor in the Gospel of Luke -

Last week i was at the New Word Alive Christian conference in Pwllheli, North Wales. I was thinking about that verse in Luke anyway ?“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:34). It had led me to think about actively putting my ‘treasures’, that is those things I value most highly like time and money, into  such things that would draw me towards God – they would ast as a kind of investment.

Then I get to the conference and John Piper is due to speak on ‘Treasuring Christ’ from a text of Romans 8. He said that Christ is our treasure. Christ came into the world so that we may have him and this is the highest goal of life – to treasure him. Piper remarked that ‘treasure’ is a verb as well as a noun – an actively seeking to treasure those things that are important. If we say Christ is important, treasuring Him is the goal of our lives. I’m sure I don’t treasure him enough.

This would have a radical effect on life – if it is Christ who is being treasured above all things, then our hearts will naturally turn towards him and towards God. Our investment will be in him. Our desires will be in tune with his.  Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

He went on to talk about treasuring through suffering – if you can go thorough suffering or persecution and still say that Christ is my everything – not only is this a test of faith in yourself and a revelation of the faithfulness of God in suffering, but then people might just believe you when you say that he is more important than anything. Money, wealth, fame, health, everything.

The talks are well worth listening too – they can be found here:

Treasuring Christ and the Call to Suffer Part 1

Treasuring Christ and the Call to Suffer Part 2

Now, how do we treasure Christ day by day? That is possibly a topic for another blog entry.