Pretenders--Luke 20

Luke 20 contains some very captivating dialogue between Jesus and the "religious" people of the day.  In Luke 20:1-8, Jesus' is doing what Jesus did.  He was teaching and preaching the gospel in the temple.  The chief priests, scribes, and elders came to Jesus and asked Jesus a question.  They asked, "Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority."  I do not think this is, necessarily, a bad question, but they were asking Jesus.  Jesus did not answer the question.  He asked them a question.  They did not answer him, so Jesus did not answer them.  This brings us to Luke 20:9-18.

Jesus tells a parable about "wicked tenants."  I will let you read this parable for yourselves, but Jesus is obviously speaking indirectly about the scribes, chief priests, and elders.  Then beginning in verse 19 (after Jesus finished the parable) we read this:

The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.

They wanted Jesus gone.  They wanted Jesus dead.  They wanted Jesus done away with.  Tthey were terrified of the people.  They were fearful of the backlash against them if they did not do something.  Beginning in verse 20, we can see what they decided their strategy would be.  Read what Luke 20:20 says:

 So they WATCHED him and SENT SPIES, who PRETENDED to be SINCERE, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. (emphasis mine)

They watched Jesus.  They sent spies to watch Jesus, but these were no ordinary spies.  They were pretenders.  They were pretending to be sincere.  They were pretending to be interested in what Jesus was doing so they could get close to him.  Why would they want to get close to him?  They wanted to get close to him so that they could catch him in something that would ultimately lead to his death.  They wanted to "deliver him up."   Listen to their words in Luke 20:21-22

So they asked him, "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God.  Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?"

Now, I want to say this.  Before we come down to hard on these "so called religious folks," one needs to realize that we do the exact same thing.  We, more times than we will ever admit, are pretenders.  We pretend to honestly care about the things of God, but in all reality we are really just seeking self-righteousness.  We are seeking to justify our positions.  We are seeking to justify our lifestyles.  The sad thing is we fool a lot of people and these men probably fooled some of those who were watching.  They DID NOT fool Jesus. 

But he perceived their craftiness...

Jesus knew what they were up to even if no one else did.  Question, who are we trying to fool?  Ourselves?  Others?  God?  One might succeed in his or her attempts at fooling the first two groups, but one will NEVER fool God and these men did not either.  Jesus gave them some teaching about "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's."  Notice how this section ends.

And they were NOT able in the presence of the people to CATCH him in what he said, but MARVELING at his answer THEY BECAME SILENT.

We must stop trying to fool ourselves, others, and God.  We must marvel at the teachings of the Christ that we say we believe in and trust.  We must become silent in the ways of this world and rest in the comfort and teachings of Christ.  Did these "pretenders" in this text come to Christ?  I do not know and you do not know either.  I do know one thing, however.  There is still time for you and I.  Let's stop pretending and marvel at the teachings of Christ.

Blessings!

 

What Do You Need to Leave Behind?....

I generally read several chapters from Scripture in the mornings when I first get to my office at the church.  Today has been no different except I can't get through 11 verses.  I recently finished a several day (maybe week) journey through the Gospel of John during my reading time.  Beginning two days ago (Monday), I felt that I needed to begin a journey through the Gospel of Luke.  I read the first 4 chapters on Monday.  Yesterday I did some different things throughout Scripture (I like to change it up every now and then).  Places like John 14 and 1 Corinthians 3. 

This morning, I returned to Luke 5, but I just cannot get beyond verse 11.  Here is what it says in the English Standard Version:

And when they had brought their boats to land, they LEFT EVERYTHING and followed him.

(emphasis mine)

Hopefully you see why I cannot get beyond verse 11 of Luke 5.  They (Peter, James, and John) once they had an encounter with Christ, they left it all.  What specifically did they leave?  To answer this question you must look back at verses 4-6.  They read:

And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."  And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!  But at your word I will let down the nets."  And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.

There are several things that I think we can see from theses three verses.  

First of all, the command of Jesus.  Jesus told three experienced fisherman how to fish.  Does this seem odd to anyone else?  

Second, notice the response from Peter.  Don't you realize that we have been fishing all night long and we have caught nothing?  Don't you realize that we are the experienced fishermen here, not you?  Don't you realize that we are in lots of trouble financially because we didn't catch anything?  After all, this is how we make our living.  Somehow, though, Peter (or Simon) obeyed.  We are not told why, but he did.  Peter and the others let down their nets.

Finally, notice what happened.  After putting their nets down into the deep, they caught so many fish that their nets could not hold it and their nets began to break.  If we were to read verse 7 we would see that Simon called for James and John to come over and help him.  When the three men finally got all of the fish in their two boats, the boats were so full that they began to sink.  

Now, back to the original question.  What did they leave behind to follow Jesus?  They left a fortune (think about how much they could have gotten for all those fish).  They left their jobs or professions.  They left their security.  They left their families.  They left their possessions.  They left themselves.  For what?  To follow Jesus and "catch men" (verse 10).  Christ is requesting the same of you and I.  

What do you need to leave behind?