Sunday, September 30, 2012

Jesus’ Command to Sell All You Have

We are studying David Platt's book entitled 'Radical' in our Thursday morning men's group. Pastor Platt has amazing stories of his faith journey where he has traveled the world, helped and witnessed to the poorest of the poor, and is now leading a mega-Church in Birmingham, Alabama. And in our Men's group we are up to chapter 6 in his book, where Pastor Platt suggests with a straight face that we Americans should sell our possessions and give to the poor (Luke 12:33; Mark 10 (story of the Rich Young Ruler)). He points out that nowhere in the New Testament does it suggest that a person's obedience will lead to material blessings. And if God is the source for all of our skills, abilities and talents, and placed us in this wonderful, opportunity filled country of America, shouldn't we be willing to freely give to others what we have received? He also brings the hammer down on American believers by suggesting that rich people who neglect the poor are not people of God.

He suggests American Christians have a blind spot on this issue. As the Jewish people during the time of Jesus had a blind-spot of self-righteousness that prevented them from seeing Jesus, so Americans have a blind-spot about our wealth. The Protestant work ethic of 'I worked hard, I'm talented, and I deserve everything I worked for' does not leave much room for acknowledging God as the source for all blessings. And if material wealth is "earned" by us, then it is much harder for us to give it away to those who don't deserve it – you know, those who don't work so hard, aren't so smart or talented, or who live in a foreign land. Pastor Platt condemns these attitudes, and believes we need to do more, much more in helping the poor throughout the world.

This is a tough message. Won't we always have the poor, no matter what I do? Shouldn't I help those in my local community first, rather than "wasting" money overseas? Isn't the government already doing enough? To combat my attitude, I decided to look at what Jesus taught:

First is Jesus' teaching in John 14:15, which says If you love Me, keep My commandments.

We are told that the greatest Command is to love God, and the second is like it, to love others. But what does the Command to "love others" look like?

In the 'New Treasure of Scripture Knowledge' entry for 1 John 2:3, all of Jesus' commands from the Gospels were assembled. And the most frequently given command (24 times) is His command to love others by giving. Here are the verses:


 

Love Others (Giving/Generosity)

Charitableness, Mt 18:10. Lk 6:(37), 38. give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you;

Clothing to be shared with needy, Mt 5:40. Lk 6:29.

Giving, Mt 5:42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

Mt 10:42 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.

Mt 19:21 (Rich Young Ruler – go sell all and give to the poor);

Lk 6:30, Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.

Lk 6:38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

Acts +*20:35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'

Give according to ability, Lk 11:41n. But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.

Invite poor for meals, Lk 14:13. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

Liberality/generosity, Mt 5:42 (Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.) 6:30 (But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?) 12:33 (Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.), 34. Mk 12:41-44 (And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."), Lk 12:33 (Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.). Ac +*20:35 (In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.').

Lending, Mt 5:42 (Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.). Lk 6:34, 35 (And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.).

Pay adequate wages, Mt 10:10. Lk 10:7 (And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages…)

Sell what you have, Mk 10:21 (And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."). Lk 12:32-34 ("Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.)

Support of the ministry, Lk 10:7. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house.

Support of the poor, Lk 14:13, 14. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

My prayer is that this topic and these verses are a blessing to you to help you see how best to help the poor and needy. In Christ, /s/Tom Wolff

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

John 14:12_Believers will do even greater works than Jesus?

Hi everyone, in today's post I am providing you with some research that I have done on the controversial passage of John 14:12-14. Here are the verses:

John 14:12-14 (ESV)
12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.


 

Context 1) In John 14:6 Jesus reveals to the disciples that He is the way, the truth and the life, and that no one can come to God the Father except through Jesus. After Jesus tells the disciples that He is the "way" to the Father, Phillip asks to see the Father (14:8). Jesus suggests to Phillip that whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father (14:9). Jesus then tells Phillip that he should believe on at least the basis of the miracles (NIV, other translations uses "work") he has done (14:11).

Which brings us to the amazing promise of verse 12, which is that whoever believes in Jesus will also do the same works and even greater than what Jesus has done.

Some Commentators limit this promise of greater works of the Apostles, which does not give due credit to Jesus' phrasing ("whoever believes"…) Another attempt to limit this promise is to point out that the geographical scope of the works done is now much greater. But again this has the problem of looking at the promise as if it was made to a group of believers, rather than the individual nature of the promise (whoever believes…) A better look at this verse is given by John Calvin:

John Calvin's analysis: It perplexes many that He said that the apostles would do greater works than He had done. I pass by the other and usual answers and will be content with just one thing. First, we have to understand what Christ means. The power by which He proves Himself the Son of God is so far from being bound to His bodily presence that it must shine forth in more and greater examples when He is absent. Now Christ's ascension was soon followed by the wonderful conversion of the world (Greek omitted), in which His divinity was displayed more powerfully than when He lived among men. Thus we see that the proof of His divinity was not confined to the person of Christ but was diffused through the whole body of the Church. Again, this doing of which He spoke was not peculiar to the apostles alone, nor to a few of the godly, but related to the whole body of the Church.

    Tom's Summary – Jesus' power was not bound to His body itself. Instead, when He is seated in heaven, His power, glory and divinity will shine more clearly than when He walked on Earth. And this doing of greater works is not limited to the apostles, but is given to the whole body of the Church.

I like the way another commentator has put it, focusing on the relationship that is available to us: As the Father abides in (Gk. menō, v. 10) Jesus so too the Spirit abides in (menō, v. 17) the believer. Thus the confidence of Christ can be ours: as the Father was committed to his Son, so Jesus through his Spirit will stand with us in every need (vv. 13–14). The point in these verses is not that every prayerful request will be granted, but that the character of Christ's relationship with God at this level may be ours. But here we must recall Jesus' consistent subordination to his Father's will (5:19, 30; 6:38; 7:16f.; 8:28f.) and his desire simply to glorify (12:28; 17:4) and please God (8:29).

The provision of Jesus that will bring about this relationship is declared to be the indwelling Spirit (vv. 15–17), who now bears two new names: the Paraclete (niv Counselor, v. 16) and the Spirit of truth. Elwell, W. A. (1995). Vol. 3: Evangelical Commentary on the Bible. Baker reference library (Jn 14:4).


 

Context 2) What is the "work" that Jesus is promising that believer's will be doing greater than even Jesus himself when He returns to heaven? It could be bringing others to a saving faith, such as what took place on Pentecost when 5,000 believers were saved in one day (Acts2). But remember that Jesus told Phillip to believe based if on nothing else on the work that Jesus has done (14:11). The NIV actually translates this as "miracles" and I think it has the right idea here. These works of Jesus included feeding thousands with nothing more than a few loaves of bread and fish, healing the sick, casting out demons, and His teaching. Again, John Calvin is helpful here:

John Calvin's analysis:
Because I go to the Father. The reason why the disciples will do greater things than Christ is that when He has entered into possession of His kingdom, He will demonstrate His power more fully from heaven. It is therefore clear that His glory is no way diminished; for after His departure the apostles, His mere instruments, did more excellent works. Moreover, from this it was plain that He sits at the right hand of the Father, that every knee may bow before Him. And a little later He Himself plainly declares that He will be the author of everything that will be done by the hands of the apostles.

    Tom's Summary – The apostles did greater things than Jesus because He was in heaven. And this does not diminish Jesus' glory in any way. His apostles were mere instruments. Mere instruments do nothing on their own. Instead, it all points to the holder of the instruments, Jesus Christ who is the author of all that the apostles did.

Finally, do not miss the reason for the greater works – that the Father may be glorified in the Son (v. 13). Calvin again provides excellent analysis: This passage agrees with what Paul says: "That every tongue should confess that Jesus is Christ, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:11). The aim of everything is the sanctifying of God's name. But here is declared the true way to sanctify it – in the Son and by the Son. For although the majesty of the Father is in itself hidden from us, it shines in Christ; although His hand is concealed, we have it visible in Christ. Accordingly, in the benefits which the Father bestows upon us, we have no right to separate the Son from Him, as it is said, "He that honors not the Son, honors not the Father". Vernon McGee makes a great point here, Have you noticed how often Jesus speaks of His Father? The Father is mentioned twenty times in this passage, and it is always the Lord Jesus who mentions Him.