#Luke22 - When Darkness Reigns

Click here to read Luke 22:

1. What stood out to me from this chapter?

Perhaps it was because I read this right after seeing a Living Last Supper drama. Perhaps it was because I am reading this on Maundy Thursday of Holy Week. Perhaps it was because I am not as familiar with the gospel of Luke as much as the other gospels. Or perhaps because of this journey I'm on to dig daily into God's word, I am noticing more details as I read the familiar stories. Whatever the reason or combination of factors, reading this chapter tonight felt more personal and emotional. I noticed that Jesus was agonizing in telling his disciples about the Passover feast and his suffering. I noticed the earnestness in Jesus' prayer in the garden. I noticed the exclamation marks when Jesus was telling the disciples to put away their swords. Finally I noticed the sentence that defined the next couple of days for Jesus in verse 53. "This is your hour - when darkness reigns." It was a literal darkness, since they came to arrest him at night when nobody would notice them, but it was also a spiritually dark time when the Son of God would be humiliated and killed.

2. How does this relate to any other Scripture I know?

In Ephesians 5:8-12, Paul encourages Christians to live as children of light, since we are now light in the Lord. He goes on to warn Christians not to have anything to do with the "fruitless deeds of darkness." It just seems to be that the physical darkness and spiritual darkness may not be all that disconnected. It seems that much of what is spiritually dark is done when it is physically dark because, as Paul also mentions in this passage, "It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret." If you want something to be secret, you do it in the dark. That was really an interesting connection.

3. What does this mean for my life?

As a personal application of this, another passage came into my head from Romans 6:11-13. Here's what it says.

"11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness."

I need to be on guard that I don't give in to the temptation to obey these desires of darkness, but rather dedicate my body and life to do what is right in God's sight.

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

I don't understand what Jesus was trying to say about selling your cloak and buying a sword. I don't think the disciples did either, because they apparently scrounged up two swords, but Jesus said, "That's enough!" Later he rebuked the disciples for using their swords. I bet they were confused then too.

Those are my thoughts for this chapter. I'd love to hear yours. God's blessings to you and KEEP DIGGING IN!

In Christ,
Dan

image from http://www.emfi.org/library/Biographies/Judas/images/m-capture.JPG

#Ephesians5 - Paul's Controversial Marriage Advice

Ephesians 5:

Quick note, the image I used today is a book called Love and Respect, which my wife and I read as we were preparing to be married. It remains one of the best books on marriage that I have read so far. Whether you have a great marriage or a struggling one, this book can put some tools in your tool belt to strengthen your marriage and get you out of the crazy cycle. Click here to view the Love and Respect website, or click here to purchase the book on Amazon or Christian Book Distributors.

1. What stood out to you from this chapter?

Paul moves from talking about living as a Christian in general to some specific Christian instruction for marriage and family. However he uses a word that raises the blood pressure of some people today who have fought for the "Independent Woman" model of feminism. This vein of feminism would suggest that no woman should ever have to submit to any man. It seems to be a pushback against the thought that every woman should submit to every man. Neither one of these is what Paul is teaching here. Paul shares with us that God's design for marriage is that the husband would be the head of the household, and that the wife should submit to the husband, and as we'll find out later the children would submit to their parents. Notice Paul doesn't place the wife on the level of the children, but rather as an equal with her husband. And yet, there is still this command to submit. I believe the key is then to read on to see the instructions Paul has for the husband. The husband is called to love and serve the wife like Christ loved and served the church, and Jesus died for us. That's an incredibly high calling. I have to believe that there are very few women who would really have a big problem "submitting to" and respecting a man who loved her like crazy and sacrificed for her, who made every decision with her best interests (or that of the family) in mind.

To bring a closure to this talk, and hopefully hit a few objections that arise, I believe that what Paul shares here is God's design for marriage. However, I realize that not every marriage is exactly what God designs. Sometimes one or the other spouse are not living according to God's call, and that makes it hard to submit, love, and respect. Other times there is only one parent in the picture. Those are obviously "exceptions", but I believe that if husbands and wives took this advice there would be a lot fewer "exceptions" today.

2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture I know?

In verses 8-14, Paul uses the imagery of light and darkness to talk about our lives as Christians. Paul isn't the only apostle to use this example however. In 1 John 1-2, light and dark are used to talk about sin and the righteousness that is found in Christ. In another very familiar Christmas passage written 700 years before Jesus was even born, Isaiah also uses light and darkness to talk about the hope found in the Messiah. "On those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned." Light has always been a symbol of hope, truth, goodness, and peace.

3. So what does this mean for my life?

One phrase from this chapter really pierced any possible shred of self-righteousness I may have been feeling and caused me to remember my need for a Savior. In verse 3, Paul says, "there must be even a hint of..." and then lists a few things like sexual immorality, impurity of any kind, greed, obscenity, foolish talking, coarse joking, and getting drunk. Anyone convicted yet? Paul raises the bar for people (like me) who tend to think, "At least I haven't done THAT bad of stuff. I'm PRETTY good." To some degree, if that's you, you do have reason to celebrate how God has kept you from those things. However, our measure of good is not other people, nor is it our own ideas of what is right and wrong. Our measure of good is Jesus Christ, and the whole of Scripture. Lord, help me to have a filter on all of my thoughts, and all of my words, that they may be cleansed from all unrighteousness.

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

Ephesians 5:5-7 warns believers that those who live in disobedience by practicing these deeds (mentioned earlier) have any inheritance in the kingdom of God. Then verse 7 says, "Therefore do not be partners with them." What does this mean? My real question, when boiled down is, "What level of association are we supposed to have with people who are either unbelievers or living unrepentant sinful lives?" I know Jesus spent a lot of time with "sinners" because they were often eager to hear the good news about God's salvation through faith. So I am far from thinking that we should create a "holy huddle" and just gather up all of us "righteous people." That makes me want to throw up just saying it, because I know in my heart I wouldn't belong in that crowd. But I do feel like Paul is saying there is a "line in the sand" that should be drawn before we commit to a great relationship with them. I just did a little research on www.blueletterbible.org to help shed some light on this. He uses the word, "partners," which is maybe more accurately translated as "partakers," which the King James version uses. The word in Greek is symmetochos, which looks like the word symmetry. It seems as though Paul is saying, "Don't be a mirrored reflection of them. Don't look like people who do these things. Don't do what they do." It doesn't seem like he's saying, "Don't be around them at all." Well, I guess I helped answer my own question, but that's why I ask.

God bless, and join me tomorrow as I wrap up Ephesians with chapter 6.

In Christ,
Dan