Discipleship
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."Matthew 7:21
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70 Times 7
“Adah and Zillah, listen to my voice, you wives of Lamech, give heed to my speech, for I have killed a man for wounding me; and a boy for striking me; if Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”
Genesis 4:24 NASB Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”
Matthew 18:21-22 NKJV Some modern translations render “seventy times seven” in both cases as seventy-seven times. But if “sevenfold” means seven times, then “seventy-sevenfold” would mean seventy seven-times. The placement of that little hyphen changes the numeric value considerably. But it’s more important to see the correlation between these two passages, as Jesus was using the former hyperbole from Genesis to reinforce His point.
Lamech considered his killing of another man, in an unknown way for an unknown reason, such a heinous act that he felt he deserved to die 500 deaths (70 x 7)! Such an exaggeration to emphasize what a terrible thing he felt he’d done.
And it is this exact reason that Jesus uses it as an opposing example to explain the significant value of forgiveness. By virtually quoting the prior, He effectively reverses that principle of vengeance. To most of us, outside of the cultural context of Jewish teaching, Jesus’ words here don’t hold much meaning. We get it, but not really. Against the backdrop of the passage in Genesis, however, and knowing that Jesus’ hearers would have been quite familiar with the reference, we see the point in a new light.
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Where Have Those Feet Been?
Foot-washing was a very common practice in ancient times, since all roadways were generally regular old dusty dirt . . . with an added bonus. Folks all wore sandals of some fashion, but those nearly bare feet, combined with often hours of travel, resulted in quite filthy feet indeed.
Keep in mind, of course, in those days, people weren’t driving Toyotas, Fords, Chevys or Subarus, replete with their toxic emissions. No, they were driving camels, oxen, sheep, donkeys and goats, replete with their toxic emissions! Such transportation and walking cargo did not “hold it” until the next gas station. The animals relieved themselves as they moved, which was on the very highway on which everyone else was traveling.
This means that those designer sandals did nothing but keep stones from piercing the soles of their wearers’ feet, failing to protect them from the literal filth on the ground. While the sandals would keep such stuff from squishing through their toes (nice and steamy in the early morning), it didn’t keep it off their feet.
So when people came to their own or another’s abode, how did they keep such junk from being transplanted into their home? Well, typically, they’d simply remove their shoes and wash their own feet before going inside. But if there were household servants present, then they would be tasked with the job of washing guests’ feet. Sometimes that same servant that was awarded the responsibility could then get up and go prepare a meal. And this courtesy extended to any visitor of the home, whether strange or familiar, for it was important that the filth of the world not contaminate their dwelling place.
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Slavery Is Easy
I know, I know. But let’s talk about this. Heading back to the Old Testament book of Exodus, we’re reminded that God led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, not to the Promised Land . . . but into the Wilderness.
Christians tend to consider the Wilderness as only that place of wandering we sometimes stumble into from time to time. But the reality is that the Wilderness is where we live, and there is no leaving it until such time as we are granted admission into the Promised Land at the end of our great journey.
We look at the history of the Israelites having spent several generations as slaves in Egypt, not knowing any other kind of life. In fact, God allowed them to remain slaves long enough to erase their memory and history of any other existence. And that’s why He inspired Moses to write down their history, so that they could learn where they came from after the fact.
And just like the Israelites, we too have no idea what life before slavery looked like. Our slavery to sin is all we’ve ever known. We were born into slavery, raised by slaves, and grew to become great slaves.
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Making the List
Blessings or curses. Wrath or favor. Heaven or hell. Why did we all grow up believing that either God rewards or punishes us based on our behavior? Where did we hear about this God? Was it our parents, using God as a “threat” against us for misbehaving? Maybe somehow the threat of eternal damnation was good enough to keep us in line… So they hoped. But did they even believe it was true, or was it just a tactic their own parents may have tried?
Santa Claus has become pretty much the same thing. Parents have latched onto the idea of Santa (as a God replacement) as some magical being who holds their children’s fate in his hands (or sack). Based solely on a child’s behavior, they can look forward to receiving that long-awaited gift… or the dreadful lump of coal. And because of this idea, kids the world over attempt to “win back favor” with Santa to stay on or get back on the “Nice” list during the last days before Santa shows up and their fate is decided. Christmas morning, they rush to the foot of the tree to discover whether or not they were “good enough” to be in the Christmas Club, praying they are not a tragic recipient of the dreaded Coal Award.
Just like Santa, we’ve come to believe that we’re either in or out of God’s grace because of our deeds.
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Slaves of Righteousness
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
Romans 6:5-7 NIV When one is enslaved, he has been taken against his will to live and serve a new master in constant fear. Initially, the slave’s desire is simply to escape and return to what he used to know. But as a result of the pain and suffering he must endure under the charge of his new master, his desire soon changes to simply getting through the day without injury or recourse.
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No One Left Behind
It should be pretty clear by now that being a follower of Christ is an active process. You see, Jesus is never standing still; he is always in motion: healing, loving, turning over tables, sharing the Good News, walking on water, and performing miracles. And it was these actions, in concert, that demonstrated his love for others and for us, providing numerous examples of just how we might “love our neighbors as ourselves.”
Jesus is (and has always been) God’s Word in action. That’s why his ministry kept him moving all the time. He rarely stayed in one place for very long; but when he did—and while he was traveling along the way—he was expressing his love through those actions.
It may be interesting to note that in every example Jesus ever gave us of loving others, he never told us to say “I love you” to others. His examples and teachings were always about demonstrating love through our actions.
“What is written in the Law?” [Jesus] replied. “How do you read it?” [The man] answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
Luke 10:26-28 -
Undermining Our Foundation
When we “mine under” something, we mine, drill or excavate, ultimately removing the material that supports the foundation something is built upon. As a result, the foundation itself loses the integrity it needs to support the structure on which it stands.
Typically, we don’t pay much attention to the foundation once it’s been laid. Since the foundation is typically immovable, we usually don’t expect it to shift or change over time.
Ironically, however, experience tells us that foundations do shift over time, because the earth beneath it is ever-changing. Since the planet we live upon was created from kinetic components (even the hardest rock is made up of moving particles), it’s silly to think it would never move.
In the same way, regardless of the material used to lay the foundation of our relationships, the ground on which it was laid continues to shift and settle. How much more, then, does that ground change when more dramatic forces are applied to it? How often do we see images of homes tumbling down the hillside after torrential rains? At these times, it’s not the foundation that fails, but the earth beneath it that can no longer bear the weight.
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The Little Things
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”
Luke 16:10 While Jesus spoke these words to admonish us to take care in handling what’s been entrusted to us, it’s interesting to see how this truth applies to us in the way in which we deal with our relationships; especially the one we have with Him.
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As the Arrow Flies
The term “sin” has often been commonly related to an archaic archery term that meant to miss the mark (or target). But this term is more effectively translated as falling short of the target.
However, when we casualize sin in this way, we blind ourselves to the truth of how God defines sin. It is certainly written in that “all have sinned and fall short of God’s glorious standard
Romans 3:23 ,” and must realize that nobody who has ever lived, or will live, apart from Jesus, did so without sin. But there’s more to the context of this passage than just a passing reference.But while “falling short” does match the archery term in the same way, this really just becomes analagous to saying “nobody’s perfect.” Admitting that you are not Jesus is certainly no revelation. But it’s more important to understand that sin is, in fact, the practice of aiming everywhere but the target.
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Second Place
Pride is a wonderful thing. It gives us an amazing power to achieve great things. The only drawback is that it directs us to accomplish things that only give us glory, instead of God.
We seek that glorious prize—a 1st place trophy, a trophy home, a trophy car, or a trophy life—and we do so with a fervor that allows us to sacrifice better things to have it. Over time, we become convinced that reaching that goal is the most important thing, and that once there, everything will be better than it was.
We set goals and often work overtime to achieve them, only to get there and find that we are no more satisfied with our success than others are. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t set goals and work diligently to accomplish them, but it does mean that the reasons for achieving these goals must be different.
