Verse

5. In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. 7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years

Explanation/Exegesis/Exposition

The Gospel of Luke starts its argument for Jesus by introducing a Holy Couple, but not Mary and Joseph, but a Priest and his wife.  These had lived a long life, and were blameless and upright in the sight of God.  This is contrasted later by priests and lawyers being upright in the sight of men, but sinners before God. 

This Holy couple however were childless, but not by choice, but because Elisabeth was Barren.  Children are a reward of God it says in Ps 127:3, and yet this couple are held up as holy and perfectly loyal to God their whole lives, yet they are living without the coming blessing other people may have.   They didn’t however use this lack of blessing to excuse any behaviors’  or lifestyle choices that were not ‘blames less’ before God.

Relevance for Today

It is possible to live a blameless life and be keeping all God’s commandments and regulations, according to scripture,  This is standing in contrast to those who say we can’t do it.  It must be noted however that perfect obedience doesn’t entitle the Christian to every blessing they desire.  These people have lived a very long life,, and yet are unable to conceive.   So today the Christian doesn’t follow God and his requirements with expectation of reward, or approach God and delineate their Good works, and deeds as reason for God’s blessing.  God’s blessing is because he is good, not because we are good.

Although the Christian may live blamelessly before God, the grounds of spiritual Blessing is because of the blood of Jesus, and subjects to God’s perfect knowledge and will.  Sometimes we won’t see or understand this until living with God in eternity.  Inversely not experiencing God’s blessing or riches or wealth is no excuse for unspiritual living or breaking of his commands.  Their blameless lives did put them in position for the blessings of the next few verses however, that should they have not been faithful, they would not be fitted for.

Your Response to God

I desire to live blamelessly and acceptably keeping all the statutes and requirements of God.  This will mean changing some of the behaviors I have come to enjoy and even excuse.  I know that I can’t do this for reward or as a bargaining chip with God as this is the minimum expectation for anyone in his presence.  However even if there was no heaven or hell, I would still choose to live that way, because life is so much better in Jesus presence than without him.

Verse

…the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you

Explanation

Here Luke declares the credentials and intention of the gospel of Luke, the credentials are an investigated, researched and thoroughly accurate account of Jesus life and ministry.  This book is not organized, not chronologically or by subject, but organized as a large essay or argument designed to convince the reader of the authenticity and truthfulness of Jesus being messiah, and belief in his person and mission.

Real life Meaning

When reading the book of Luke, we can expect each story, miracle and teaching will follow this “orderly account”  principle.  So each verse builds on the points raised in the verse before.  So when we read a verse or see something difficult to understand or out of place in Luke, we can explore the previous and next stories, knowing Luke has carefully placed each on with the purpose of continuing and building on the arguments before and afterward as a harmonious whole designed to create a belief in Jesus.  

So when studying the gospel of Luke, our first work is finding out the authors original intent.  Searching for this first, gives us the best chance of reading the Bible for what it is trying to say and not reading into it what we want it to say. 

When studying every difficult passages and every passage, finding the context of the argument and following it through should inform our interpretation of the passage.

Your Response to God

Dear God, please let me be faithful when reading this book, and listen to your voice through the careful inspiration of this Book of your Bible.  Teach me the plain meaning through of these verses in the context of these passages.  So I can accurately apply the lessons learned to my life.

This post is a little longer, as it is more detailed.

fear is the common link, need to be repeated

“Have you counted the cost?”

Intention:

I want my listeners to renew their life experience and examine if they are really trusting Jesus with their all.  To make a recommitment to the blessings he can bring.

Indentation

Identification:

“Who is this?”

Introduction:

We had been training for weeks, months probably, when the day finally arrived and almost one hundred of us loaded the 40 kg or so of supplies that would be our only possessions for the next week into our canoes, and we started to paddle.  After that first day we were hurting, we had only paddled about 10 kms But our muscles were making their presence known.  I’m not sure who thought of it, but as a group we had this crazy idea that it would be a cool way to spend a week by paddling almost 100km.

                Ingression:

On That last day we travelled almost 20 kilometres, some of it in the open water.  The longer we waited, and the slower we went the harder it would get because the tide would turn on us. And it was really hard to push against the tide.  The really awesome part of this experience is that from it I have a better understanding for how long a 20 kilometre trip is if you have to paddle it yourself.   Do you know that’s exactly the same distance Jesus requested his disciples to travel across lake galilee.

Inspiration:

Luke 8:22-24     Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. 23     But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. 24     And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him. ^[1]

                Ingression:

As a child I always imagined that when Jesus asked his disciples to travel across the lake that he was on the left side of this massive lake and he asked the disciples to travel to the right side.  Well a recent trip to the holy lands my wife and I went on showed that on this lake, the trip Jesus asked his disciples to make was the longest trip possible.  It went right from the top left side of the lake down to the bottom right side.  About 20 kilometres. 

Itemization (1)

Ideation:

Instruction:

A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.^[2]

^24The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”

Lake galilee has a bit of a history of being rough at times, and calm at times.  There are massive mountains almost all around it, except to the south, one of the characteristics of lakes like it is the mountains can bring suddenly changing weather, combined with the shallow depth of the lake, this is a recipe for very violent waves on the surface.  In fact when lake galilee experienced a particularly low level heaps of stone walls to protect the fishing boats from being damaged.  One of these storms suddenly breaks over the waters of lake galilee and the waves are high enough to place fear into the hearts of toughened sailors.  Their boat is filling with water, I imagine they are cold and wet, the wind is howling, the waves are crashing, and all their effort and skill is getting them nowhere.

Illustration:

One experience that helped me to realise a little bit more how hard it can be to manage a boat that is taking on water.  When I was on that canoe expedition at one point we had to haul our canoes 300 meters over a mangrove mudflat to get to the river on the other side.  That would be all well and good except that we loaded our canoes onto a trailer for the stopover, and when I arrived to get my canoe, which I began to feel attached to, someone had already nicked it. 

I was pretty ticked, how dare someone take my canoe.  But a few minutes into the journey I discovered why, water started lapping at my feet, so I glanced over my shoulder while doing a j stroke to see where it was coming from to find a fountain of water springing up in the back of my canoe.  Talk about springs of water bringing life!  I just wanted to get where we were going and finish that part of the trip.  But we had a problem, by the time I noticed how fast it was coming it we were hundreds of meters from the shore, and travelling further from it.  About this time I discovered that although a canoe sits in the water, and I am heavy, a few hundred kilograms of more water in your canoe makes it a lot harder to catch up to the other boats, no matter how hard you try.  Before someone yoinked our boat we were mostly up the front of the back, but trying to paddle a boat that weighs a few hundred kg more than it’s supposed to and bailing to keep it afloat makes for very slow travel.

I just had a hole in my boat, in calm weather, going upstream, my life wasn’t in danger, unless the boat capsized and one of those sea snakes tried to bite me, unlikely. 

But the disciples, they were in a small boat, and it wasn’t calm.  They lived their life on the water, they would have been used to it’s nature, that of loving them one minute, then at times trying to kill them the next.  This time was different, they were scared.  They knew what to do, to try and point the boat in the direction of the waves, to minimise the water coming in, and I can tell you it’s not fun being stuck in the middle of the lake with your stuff getting wet, but I’m sure it’s even less fun having your boat about to sink kilometres from the shore, where if you were a really good swimmer, you’d probably still drown, if you were a trained long distance swimmer, you might be able to make it in good weather, but I don’t know if you’ve ever been in rough surf, it can really knock you about a bit.  Lets just say they know there is not much hope for them.

But then in Matt 8:23 they finally see Jesus and realise he is asleep.  Peaceful through this whole event, so they wake him, and he’s like, BATTLE STATIONS, MAYDAY, we’re going down, we need some angel helicopters here.  No, but I wonder what the disciples were thinking when they asked him to save them?

So Jesus filled with the peace of heaven, camly stands up, and addressed the howling wind, and rebukes the crashing waves, and – there is calm. 

The disciples have exactly what they were asking for, to be saved.  But the reaction is one of shock, it seems they are more shocked that it all went quiet than they would have been if they were thrown into a icy lake.

Implementation:

Jesus answered their prayer, they actually prayed, “save us we are drowning” and Jesus did.  But what did they expect him to do?  Did they expect him to come and help them row the boat?  Or bale water from the boat to keep it afloat?  Walk on water, pick the boat up and tip the water out a few times?  I really don’t know what they were thinking, but I know for sure that they weren’t expecting that. 

I don’t think they actually thought about what they were expecting, I think they were just out of options, and Jesus was their only hope.

They weren’t expecting him to simply calm the storm.  Then they could finish bailing the water out of the boat.

I wonder if that’s like us? We only turn to God when we are out of options, and even then we don’t expect him to do anything.  How many times should we actually ask God for something, or do we actually ask God for something, but underestimate his power and capability to deliver? 

What things in your life do you need to ask him for today?

Interconnection:

What emotions do you think the disciples were feeling when they were out in the middle of that 600 square kilometres of water, just before they see Jesus and cry out we are dying, we are drowning, we are finished. I think disbelief maybe, they had just ministered to multitudes, Jesus was healing so many people, finally the crowds were believing that he was something special, and now this?

Imagine the mixed emotions and fear after the waves are calmed.  But the story doesn’t finish there, if the deciples thought the’d felt enough fear for one day they could think again.

Itemization (2)

Ideation:

Instruction:

                The next thing that happens is Mark 5:1-4  Here I can just see the disciples running back to the ship that they were terrified of just the night before, now it becomes their safety.  Talk about an emotional rollercoaster, the night before the were about to get killed by the waves, now they are going to get killed by a daemon possessed man that does so much damage to people that nobody can walk past with their life. 

These deamon possessed men had freedom right?  The didn’t have to answer to authority, they didn’t have to pay taxes, they couldn’t be arrested as they would just break the chains, nobody told them what to do.  They were free from everybody but the devil and themselves.

But then disciples who are traped by their own fear turn around and see Jesus isn’t afraid, he’s actually facing the enemy head on, and the man is bowing at his feet.  Talk about a reality check.

 For the second time in less than 24 hours the disciples can experience fear, for the second time in 24 hours they get to see Jesus incredible power at work.

Jesus simply casts out the deamon, and a heard of pigs go running into lake galilee and drown.   This experience with the pigs so struck the handlers of the pigs that they went back into the town and told their owners what had happened.  As the people came out to see what was happeneing, big surprise, they got scared. 

But unlike the disciples who were afraid of Jesus power, but stayed with him, these people asked him to leave.  They didn’t want him to give them freedom from the things that they still had in their lives. 

If we invited him into our villiage, sure he might heal the sick, and make us more healthy, he might even cure all the deamon possessed people, but imagine what we would have to give up, riches of pig farming, and who knows what he’ll pick on next.

Illustration:

This part is a personal story that I only outlined in point form… but there were some big things in coming back to the SDA church that I was afraid of.

Implementation:

                                                Which one of these people do you best relate to?  Are you the disciples who get scared every time Jesus works, who only look to him after they have exhausted all their options.  Are you the deamon possessed man, who just needs to give yourself to Jesus, and say fix me, I can’t do it myself.  Or are you the townspeople who are counting the cost, and are not sure if it would be worth it to trust Jesus with their lives. 

Imploration

But you remember my story in the beginning about how there was a newspaper reporter and fanfare at our arrival at the end of our journey.  Jesus some time later went back to genessera, but instead of calling it that, it was called decapolos.

Though the people of Gergesa had not received Jesus, He did not leave them to the darkness they had chosen. When they bade Him depart from them, they had not heard His words. They were ignorant of that which they were rejecting. Therefore He again sent the light to them, and by those to whom they would not refuse to listen.  {DA 340.2} 

     In causing the destruction of the swine, it was Satan’s purpose to turn the people away from the Saviour, and prevent the preaching of the gospel in that region. But this very occurrence roused the whole country as nothing else could have done, and directed attention to Christ. Though the Saviour Himself departed, the men whom He had healed remained as witnesses to His power. Those who had been mediums of the prince of darkness became channels of light, messengers of the Son of God. Men marveled as they listened to the wondrous news. A door was opened to the gospel throughout that region. When Jesus returned to Decapolis, the people flocked about Him, and for three days, not merely the inhabitants of one town, but thousands from all the surrounding region, heard the message of salvation. Even the power of demons is under the control of our Saviour, and the working of evil is overruled for good.  {DA 340.3} 

Even the most hopeless of cases, the townspeople who rejected Jesus were overruled by God’s power, if there is hope for them, and they could actually be influential at bringing hope to thousands to accept the saviour, then there is hope for us.

What are you afraid of letting go for God.  Whatever it is I guarantee it’s nothing that God can’t fix.  Fear or Faith?

---

^[1]The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.) (Lk 8:25). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^[2]The Holy Bible : Today’s New International Version. 2005 (Lk 8:23). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

I was sitting on the hill overlooking galilee, from right here I could see where most of Jesus preaching took place.  My mind rushes back to a story recorded in Luke chapter 9.   Here we see Jesus send out the disciples on an evangelistic mission.  He gives them great power, power to work miracles healing the sick, power to cast out demons.  power to be provided for with taking supplies, just being sent my Jesus was going to have to be enough.

Excitement fills the air, it’s electric, you could feel it.  Grinning from ear to ear in celebration they return.  They have done such amazing things in the community.  Nothing was impossible for them, they had healed anyone who was sick, cast out evil spirits, and as far as evangelism goes, they bought  a crowd of 5000 people back with them to meet the messiah.  So powerful was their mission that the king was scared that a mighty prophet such as John the Baptist was back from the dead. 

For the people of the day it was like the legendary day or miracles was back. Fully back to life in flesh and blood.  The disciples were so powerful they didn’t know what to do with it.  We see the disciples brimming with confidence, they have passed every test in this mission, it was a success, they know Jesus gave them power to heal, power over the satanic forces.  It’s theirs, it’s been given to them. 

All is right with the world, until Jesus says, hey these people have been listening to be along time, they are hungry, feed them.  What! When Jesus said feed these 5000, it was out of their comfort zone.  They can’t do that.  It’s like they have these boxes they’ve put Jesus Christ in, tell us to make a paraplegic walk again, can do, heal the leper, easy, cast out the devil possessed person, not a problem, witness and convert an entire town, easy. 

But there is another box, that of money, Lord 200 pennyworth is how much it would cost to feed them all for just one meal, and that’s a lot of money.  No the box of feeding people, that wasn’t Jesus box, that’s the disciples box, their responsibility.  They were used to performing miracles when it came to daemons, and healing, but food, that’s a money problem, Jesus has all this power, but he doesn’t have unlimited money.

So Jesus asks them what they have, takes 2 loaves and a few fish, and feeds the 5000 to overflowing.  It’s like Jesus is screaming I am so much more, I can do so much more than that little Box you have me in. Just trust me with it all.  Will you trust him?

Verse

⁶ Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. ⁷ But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years. 

Explaination

Here we find two upright and holy people that the Bible declares were have been blamelessly serving God all their lives. Her husband Zechariah is working just inches from the very physical presence of God himself. Yet this perfect service and working in close proximity to God has seen their prayers unanswered. They were praying for two things, one was a child, the other the messiah. In Verse 13 the angel says that in response to his prayer, his wife will have a son.

Real life meaning

Just because your life is perfectly obedient to God doesn’t mean that God will give you everything that you want. And just because he doesn’t answer immediately doesn’t mean that he hasn’t heard your request. Just like Elizabeth and Zechariah, you may have to wait your whole life for an answer, as some prayers can only be answered in God’s timing. God needed their child to make a huge statement about who Jesus was, and they were given a place of amazing honour as John the Baptist’s parents. He needed to be born at the exact time of history to prepare the way for Jesus to come. Be patient with God, and trust him, you never know the big plan, but when you see it, you would never choose any other way.

Your possible responses

You might have a prayer that is seemingly unanswered, or something that you need to happen. Still trust in God, he has the Big Picture. Pray that you will have the trust and patience to accept whatever that is. Knowing that sometimes the reasons might not be known till eternity. But look over the things that you could have had but would have missed out on if your prayers were answered the way you wanted immediately.