Life with Lucas January-March 2024 by Life With Lucas

Through laughter and tears, truth will burrow into your spirit! DR DICK FOTH

WITH LUCAS APPLYING GOD’S WORD TODAY

JANUARY – MARCH 2024

Miracle Town

A WORD FROM JEFF

WELCOME TO LIFE WITH LUCAS! Miracle Town It’s the one location on planet Earth where Jesus did more miracles than anywhere else. It was there that He confirmed His selection of His disciples, it became His base of ministry, and He taught truths there with authority and clarity. The place is the town of Capernaum, which, as we’ll see, is described in the New Testament as ‘Jesus’ town’. We’ll consider the events that led to Him deciding that Capernaum would be His home base. And we’ll see, those marvels had little lasting impact on most of Capernaum’s citizens. Early in our journey, we’ll consider Christ’s condemnation of the town: zooming in on what He did there will help us to understand His judgment call. Tracing the chronology of Jesus’ ministry is a challenge – the writers of the four gospels were more concerned to tell us what happened rather than when and where! But I have carefully researched and tried to put some order into the unfolding events. Scholars disagree about the precise timelines, and so my findings are by no means infallible. So let’s go to Capernaum – the miracle town, the Jesus town! I’d like to thank those of you who have helped us to produce Life with Lucas with your financial support. If you’d like to join them, go to lifewithlucas.co.uk and click on the ’support’ button. Finally, I want to dedicate this edition to the memory of David Newman, a friend from Bible college days who, together with his wife Gayna, encouraged and helped support this Bible note ministry. He went home to be with Jesus on the 9th October 2023. As always, thank you for joining me.

© Son Christian Media (SCM) and Novio Published 2024 by SCM/Novio – PO Box 3070, Littlehampton, West Sussex, BN17 6WX, UK All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of SCM/Novio. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, The “NIRV”, “New International Reader’s Version”, “Biblica”, “International Bible Society” and the Biblica Logo are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Publisher. Design by Piero Regnante – Rogfog Creative | rogfog.co.uk Printed by Halcyon

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INTRODUCTION

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF LIFE WITH LUCAS! CHOOSE A TIME Find the best time that works for you, ideally the same time, same place every day, when you can concentrate and have the least number of distractions. PAUSE AND TALK TO GOD Take a moment to focus on God and ask Him to speak to you as you read and reflect on His word. READ GOD’S WORD Read the daily passage from your Bible. Don’t be tempted just to skip this part. It’s important: who knows how the Holy Spirit might speak to you as you read the actual text? MAKE NOTES

ONLINE VIDEO INTRODUCTIONS, AND GOING DEEPER When you see the video icon, this points you to a brief Video Introduction to the subject. Make the most of the occasional Going Deeper resources when you see this icon. They will help you delve further into the passage. GIVE YOUR DAY TO GOD Thank God for what you’ve learned and ask for help if the day’s notes brought to light anything especially applicable to your life at the moment.

Writing slows you down and helps you focus. Write in your Bible, a notebook, or in the white space in the devotions. Don’t hesitate to underline, write in the margins, or circle words. 5

MON 01 JAN

TO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN

READ Luke 12:35-48 Mark 2:1-2

FOCUS Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. Luke 12:48

VIDEO INTRODUCTION lifewithlucas.co.uk /intros

Looking back on my life, I am grateful that I have experienced a few miraculous events. My call to ministry was sudden, when a man of God not only spoke about my future, but did so after God revealed my first and last name to him. That caught my attention! My theory is God did that because I needed a shout from heaven to propel me into confidence and obedience. There have been amazing seasons of provision. Yet I am not only grateful as I look back, but I’m challenged too, because blessing creates responsibility. As we will discover, Capernaum experienced so much of the presence and power of Jesus – as I mentioned, more than any other location on earth. He spent a full year there, and it became the base for His wider ministry. Jesus performed more miracles there than in any other single place, together with many not described in detail in the gospels. As we will see, it was there Jesus raised a child from the dead and healed the nobleman’s son. There He healed a demoniac, Peter’s mother-in-law, a woman with a haemorrhage, two blind men, a centurion’s servant, and a paralysed man who was lowered through the roof by some friends. Not only did He teach in the synagogue, the heart of the Jewish community, but crowds gathered outside Peter’s house there. Jesus was the talk of the town – His ministry was very public. In Christ, we’ve all been given much. As we begin this new year, let’s seek to give Him our all, and respond to His work in our lives. Prayer: Lord, may I have a tender, willing heart, sensitive to Your work, alert and ready to respond. Amen.

TUE 02 JAN

MUCH IS REQUIRED

READ Matthew 11:20-24 Luke 10:1-15

FOCUS And what about you, Capernaum? Will you be lifted up to heaven? No! You will go down to the place of the dead. Matthew 11:23

Despite all that Jesus did in Capernaum, ultimately He was met with indifference and even accusation from a few. Not only did He strongly condemn the town, but He also changed His ministry style, once He’d made that judgment call. Still using Capernaum as His base for wider ministry, now He cut back on His public teaching ministry, and taught more in parables. He also used strong words to denounce the town, comparing Capernaum with the infamous city of Sodom (Gen. 19:28-29). Ultimately, Capernaum was judged because of pride and hardness of heart. Some commentators believe the rhetorical question, ‘Will you be lifted up to heaven?’ refers to the stubbornness and arrogance of the people. And despite Capernaum being the place where light shone so brightly because the Light of the World lived there (Matt. 4:15-16), tragically, the town’s folk chose darkness. By the 13th century, Capernaum was reduced to the ruins that we can still visit today. It lay undiscovered for centuries until the excavations of the twentieth century. I can think of Christians who have stayed faithful through decades of doubt and seemingly unanswered prayers. Through it all, they have held tightly to Christ. And I know of others who have literally seen miracles, but have chosen to drift or walk away from Him. There are no guarantees. Let’s stay humble, open and teachable, and by the grace of God, walk close to the Christ who loves us so. Prayer: Keep me close to You, Jesus. Amen.

WED 03 JAN

GOD’S WILL EMERGES

READ John 2:1-12 Proverbs 3:5-6

FOCUS After this, Jesus went down to Capernaum. His mother and brothers and disciples went with him. They all stayed there for a few days. John 2:12

As I have shared before, in my early years as a follower of Jesus, I became obsessed by a need to discover God’s will for my life. Terrified by the possibility I might make a wrong decision, I was paralysed by fear. As the years passed, however, I discovered God’s purposes for us are often revealed as we go about our lives, intentionally making ourselves available to Him, and trusting His ability to direct our paths. Perhaps something like that happened as Jesus, together with His mother and half-brothers, travelled 23 miles to visit Capernaum for a brief visit following the amazing miracle at Cana. The family probably went there to join the caravan trail to Jerusalem for the Passover celebrations. Scholars suggest they stopped off in Capernaum, perhaps to visit wider family members and rest before the arduous walk to the Holy City. It’s conjecture, but perhaps it was while Jesus was in Capernaum for this brief stay that He began to sense this would be the place where He would spend much of His life. And the disciples He’d met earlier – Peter, Andrew, Philip and Nathaniel – were with Him for that time too. Having initially invited them to become His followers, their calling would later be reaffirmed, but for now, the relationship between them all was developing. Sometimes God reveals His will to us, and sometimes He directs us without informing us. He’s at work! Let’s trust God to steer us as we go about our everyday lives. Prayer: As I acknowledge You in all my ways, Heavenly Father, guide my paths according to Your purposes for me. Amen.

THU 04 JAN

HE IS WORTH IT

READ John 1:44 Matthew 19:27-30

FOCUS Philip was from the town of Bethsaida. So were Andrew and Peter. John 1:44

SPECIAL MESSAGE

lifewithlucas.co.uk/ goingdeeper

It’s one of the so-called contradictions that critics of the Bible often point to. Scripture tells us that Peter (together with Philip and Andrew) came from the village of Bethsaida. But then we are told Peter lived with his extended family in Capernaum (Matt. 8:14). So which is correct? The answer is probably both! I come from Essex, but have since relocated. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, lived in Egypt as an infant, grew up in Nazareth, but then, as we will see, moved His base to Capernaum. It seems when Peter first met Jesus, he was living in Bethsaida, but after the encounter, he moved seven miles south to Capernaum, perhaps to be closer to the learning community Jesus was forming. Peter would later say to Jesus, ‘We’ve left our homes to follow you’ (Luke 18:28, NLT). I’ve always assumed this meant he had left his home in Capernaum behind, but as Jesus performed miracles there, it’s more likely Peter was referring to his relocation. For Peter, discipleship came with a cost, and Jesus would later warn him that it would ultimately cost Peter, and most of the disciples, their lives. I am in awe of missionaries who have chosen to forsake the comfort of homeland, family and friends to take the gospel to unfamiliar and sometimes hostile cultures. But the call to sacrifice and obedience is for all of us who embrace Christ as our Lord. Jesus is disruptive. Are we still fully available to Him, whatever the cost? He is worth it. Prayer: Lord, when obedience is inconvenient and demanding, help me to show my love for You by my response to You. Amen. 9

FRI 05 JAN

GOD THE STRATEGIST

READ Matthew 4:12-17 Matthew 9:1

FOCUS Jesus left Nazareth. He went to live in the city of Capernaum. It was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. Matthew 4:13

There are some Christians who believe everything that happens in life comes as a result of God’s will. If it happens, it was in the plan of God – or so they think. I am not one of them. I don’t believe we are puppets, with God pulling the strings of every circumstance. If every event is God’s will, then why are we taught to pray, ‘Your Kingdom come, Your will be done’? I do not believe God wills women to be raped, innocent children trafficked, nor that a host of other tragedies are in His plan. But that said, surely God can redeem circumstances of which He is not the architect, in order to fulfil His purposes. We see that principle repeatedly in Scripture. When we consider that Jesus made His base in Capernaum for at least a year, His ‘own town’, we have to ask – why there? But as we study Scripture, we discover there were three possible reasons for the relocation: the arrest of John the Baptist, Jesus’ rejection by the people of Nazareth, and the strategic location of Capernaum. It was on a main highway with easy access to Jewish communities around the Sea of Galilee, reachable by boat across the lake. We will consider each of these factors shortly. But there is a fourth reason: the move fulfilled a prophecy given by Isaiah. Earthly circumstances, some of which were tragic, were being used to fulfil God’s much greater plan. And God can do the same for us, as we look beyond the immediate and ask Him to work out His big purposes in our lives. Prayer: Lord, You are able ultimately to bring Your will to pass. Do that in my life, I pray. Amen.

WEEKEND 06 - 07 JAN

GOD’S ZEAL

READ Isaiah 9:1-7 Luke 2:25-32

As we have seen, seven centuries before it happened, Isaiah prophesied Jesus would be the light to appear in the Galilee area, ‘by the way of the sea’ (notice from yesterday’s reading that Matthew had emphasised Capernaum was ‘by the lake’). Matthew wants to stress Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled: ‘What the prophet Isaiah had said came true’ (Matt. 4:14). Simeon had also prophesied about Jesus being the ‘light to be given to those who aren’t Jews, [that would] bring glory to your people Israel’ (Luke 2:32). But as we celebrate the timeless God whose work spans the ages, let’s not miss the motive for His move – and we discover it as we look closer at Isaiah’s promise. All of this happened because of the ‘zeal of the Lord’. The word used to describe God’s heart here means, ‘ardour or jealousy’. It’s linked with an Arabic verb meaning ‘to become intensely red’ – the colour that floods a person’s face when they feel profound emotion. The Hebrew version of the word is used for a husband’s jealousy for the love of his wife (Prov. 6:34), the envy that drives human effort (Eccl. 4:4), and the love that burns in the hearts of a bride and groom (Songs 8:6). It also speaks of a warrior psychologically ramping up before going to battle (Isa. 42:13). There is nothing passive or indifferent about God – He is passionate about the rescue of His people. He is passionate about me, and you. Thank God. To ponder: Do you think of God being passionate about you?

MON 08 JAN

IN GOD’S TIME

READ Mark 1:14 Matthew 14:1-5

FOCUS After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee. He preached God’s good news. Mark 1:14

GOING DEEPER

lifewithlucas. co.uk/goingdeeper

There was nothing just about the arrest of John the Baptist. He’d boldly confronted the local governor, Herod Antipas, the son of the so-called Herod the Great, infamous for the nativity massacre. Antipas had dumped his wife and married Herodias, the wife of his half-brother Philip. When John brought a prophetic rebuke to the couple, arrest quickly followed. But as we saw earlier (it’s worth reaffirming), behind the various factors that influenced Jesus’ decision to relocate to Capernaum, including the arrest of John, God’s plan was unfolding. Jesus did not emerge into the fulness of His ministry until John’s public work was done. Once John’s preaching ministry down by the Jordan was silenced, Jesus stepped up, knowing that the time had come. Tom Wright says: ‘Everything we know about Jesus suggests that he would have prayed and waited upon his Father for the sense that the moment had arrived. But God speaks through situations and events as well as through the still, small voice in the heart, and God was now saying that if this Kingdommovement was to go forwards rather than backwards, it was time for Jesus to go public with his own vocation. So he came to the Galilean villages as a wandering prophet... a messenger urgently needing to tell people what was going on. And his message was that God’s time had come.’1 This is our moment. Let’s make ourselves fully available to the Lord, and not miss it. Prayer: Lord, may I know what You are saying to me clearly. Give me the courage to obey. Amen.

Tom Wright, Mark for Everyone, (London: SPCK, 2004) p9

TUES 09 JAN

INTO THE STORM

READ Luke 14:25-35 John 2:13-22

FOCUS Suppose you start building and are not able to finish. Then everyone who sees what you have done will laugh at you. Luke 14:29

Recently I met a young university graduate who was preparing to serve as a missionary. She feels called to go to a nation where Christians are persecuted relentlessly. She will be in constant danger, but she has calmly made her decision, and having counted the cost, she will head into the storm. Yesterday we saw there was clear continuity between the ending of John’s public ministry and Jesus’ decision to launch His own mission. But when we look closer at Mark’s language throughout his gospel, we discover another link. In the English translation of Mark 1:14, where we read of John’s arrest, Mark uses a word that should be translated as ‘handed over’. He uses that word no less than eleven times. Just as John was handed over to the prison guards, so Jesus would be handed over to those who would crucify Him. Mark wants us to see the connection. As Jesus took the Kingdom baton from John, He surely knew a similar fate was before Him, and He would later repeatedly predict His arrest and death (Matt. 16:21, Mark 9:30-32, Luke 18:31-34). So how do we apply this challenge to ourselves? Not all are called to risk their lives in cultures hostile to the gospel. But for all who follow Christ, there will be a cost: it may be ridicule in the workplace, making difficult moral choices, or faithfully serving and not feeling appreciated. We too are called to count the cost and, where necessary, to embrace the challenges of faithfulness willingly. Prayer: Faithful God, may I be found faithful to You, especially when the cost of following You seems very high. Amen.

WED 10 JAN

NO HAPPY ENDING

READ Mark 6:14-29 1 Peter 4:1-13

FOCUS He sent a man right away to bring John’s head. The man went to the prison and cut off John’s head. Mark 6:27

When I’m reading a novel or enjoying a film, I like endings where the good guy wins, the villains are found guilty, and the planet is saved from destruction. I want my life to unfold the same way, especially when I’m doing my best to obey God. But before we move on from the arrest of John the Baptist, let’s see that even though God’s big plan of redemption was unfolding, it didn’t mean John’s life ended in a delightful sunset: on the contrary. Choices made at parties are often perilous, especially when too much alcohol is imbibed. That was true of Herod, a weak man whom Jesus would later describe as a ‘fox’ (Luke 13:32). Set up and manipulated by his wife, and too embarrassed to withdraw what was obviously a drunken promise, he ordered John’s execution. Over the years, I have watched as Christians have drifted or marched away from faith, disappointed and angry with God because life has been cruel. But even a basic knowledge of the New Testament reveals we’re not promised an easy journey; none of us will navigate life on earth without pain. We may not welcome the struggles, but we should not be surprised by them. I’m sorry if you find yourself in a place of shadows today, and I’m pausing to pray for my readers who are enduring rather than enjoying the day. My prayer for us all is for strength, help, healing, and that, whatever the season, we will know God’s faithfulness to us and, in response, as we saw yesterday, we will be faithful to Him. Prayer: Father, I do not want to be unsettled from faith when the clouds gather. May I hold ever more tightly to You. Amen.

THU 11 JAN

MANAGING GOD

READ Luke 4:14-23 Matthew 11:1-20

FOCUS Jesus said, ‘Here is a saying you will certainly apply to me. ‘Doctor, heal yourself! Luke 4:23

As we turn to the terrible rejection of Jesus by the people of His hometown, Nazareth, it does seem that one of Jesus’ earliest visits to Capernaum is alluded to but not described in detail in the gospels. Apparently, news of Jesus’ miraculous ministry there had reached Nazareth. Luke succinctly describes this period of ministry that followed the wilderness temptation: ‘Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit. News about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him’ (Luke 4:14–15). Now, in Nazareth, Jesus confronts the heart attitudes of His own townspeople, who want Him to do miracles like those He had performed in Capernaum. In short, they felt able to tell the Son of God what to do. Mark’s reporting of the rejection shows us that Jesus was not at all like the Messianic figure they were anticipating – they just viewed Him as a local boy. Managing God – or at least attempting to – can be a temptation for all of us. The heart of prayer is humble request, not arrogant command. And when God acts, or doesn’t act, in a way that is to our liking, we need to bow our hearts before Him. That doesn’t mean we can’t express our frustrations to Him – the Psalms repeatedly make that clear. But ultimately, the root of rejection in Nazareth was Jesus’ refusal to ‘dance to the tune’ the people there were playing. Let’s remember this simple, vital fact. He is God. Prayer: Lord, help me to trust You when I least understand You. Amen.

FRI 12 JAN

OFFENDED BY GRACE

READ Luke 4:24-27 Ephesians 3:8-9

FOCUS And there were many in Israel who had skin diseases... But not one of them was healed except Naaman the Syrian. Luke 4:27

We Christians believe God loves all people everywhere. We want Him to show love to us, to people like us, and to those we love. But there are others who make our blood boil. When we see news reports of terrible atrocities, cases of multiple child abuse, or the tyranny of dictators, many of us would prefer God to send a fatal lightning bolt rather than an offer of gracious forgiveness. But Jesus brought news of grace for quite unexpected people. And when He mentioned that in His brief remarks in Nazareth, the response was negative indeed. Jesus wasn’t rejected in His hometown just because He was a local boy who sounded incredibly pretentious. As He mentioned the stories of Elijah and Elisha, who brought God’s miraculous power to the lives of two Gentiles, He created a furore. God’s chosen people assumed they held the franchise on the love of God, and found the idea of God including the Gentiles in His plans completely unacceptable – a very live issue that the Early Church also struggled with for many years. It’s interesting that Satan invited Jesus to jump from a great height in temptation, and now the ‘home crowd’ try to do away with Him by tossing Him off a cliff. Let’s be honest and allow God to search our hearts. Is there someone God loves, but we don’t, and we’d actually prefer that He punish rather than bless them? Unforgiveness can send us over the edge or, as in Jesus’ case, very nearly send Him over the edge. Literally. Prayer: Lord, help me to see people as You see them, and offer grace as You offer it. Amen.

WEEKEND 13 - 14 JAN

A COSTLY STAND

READ Luke 4:28-30 Isaiah 53:6

We saw yesterday that Jesus upset His audience with news of grace to be offered far and wide, way beyond Israel’s cultural and geographical borders. Up until this point, He had enjoyed local respect as a fine, upstanding young man, and a gifted teacher. But as He declared the promised liberator was among them, those who had once honoured Him began to hate Him, especially when He spoke words that would have been considered unpatriotic, with His inclusive attitude towards the Gentiles. Israel was an occupied nation at this time, and so shared viewpoints were important in cementing the nation together for survival. Contrary views would not just be viewed as controversial, but as treasonable betrayal. The idea of Israel being God’s chosen people was a vital source of hope: Jesus’ teaching would have been considered as a dilution of that truth. He was deemed a traitor, not just a dissenter. Sometimes the crowd is not only wrong, but also fickle, and we have to risk losing our popularity with them if we are to be faithful. Let’s be careful with this, because some Christians are quick to insist they are being persecuted for their faith, when nothing of the kind is happening. They’re just irritating and rude, and being marginalised because of their own bad behaviour, which has little or nothing to do with God. Yet there are times when we are called to go against the flow of popular opinion, and risk the ire of others as we do so. To ponder: Have you ever suffered because you broke step with the crowd? Do you regret it?

MON 15 JAN

TYING GOD’S HANDS

READ Mark 6:1-6 Matthew 13:53-58 FOCUS Jesus laid his hands on a few sick people... But he could not do any other miracles there. He was amazed because they had no faith. Mark 6:5-6

GOING DEEPER

lifewithlucas. co.uk/goingdeeper

As we turn to Mark’s and Matthew’s reports of the response Jesus received in Nazareth, we discover that, in a sense, it is possible to tie God’s hands. The stubbornness and lack of faith among the townsfolk meant He was either not able or was unwilling to do many miracles there. A few were healed, but Nazareth was not destined to witness much of Christ’s awesome power. And Jesus found their lack of faith amazing. Mark uses that word ‘amazed’ only once in connection with Jesus. In his gospel, people are repeatedly amazed at Jesus, but this is the only time He is described as being amazed. Matthew and Luke record one other episode of amazement for Jesus – His response to the faith of a Gentile centurion (Matt. 8:10). As that event happened in Capernaum, we’ll look at it closely later. The ‘amazing’ lack of faith shown in Nazareth is not honest doubt. Some Christians say they never have doubts, although personally, I doubt it! Actually, dealing with doubt can be part of the process of building faith. As Frederick Buechner says, ’Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith – they keep it awake and moving.’2 This is unbelief – an attitude of solid refusal to consider the evidence and have faith, even when we’ve seen or heard of God’s power being unleashed. We will consider unbelief in more detail later. Who are we more like – the centurion or the people of Nazareth? One way or another, we too can amaze Jesus. Prayer: I would like ‘amazing’ faith, Father. Increase my faith and trust in You. Amen.

frederickbuechner.com/quote-of-the-day/2016/10/26/doubt

TUE 16 JAN

REJECTION IN HIS HOMETOWN

READ Matthew 13:53-58 Mark 12:1-12

FOCUS ‘Aren’t all his sisters with us? Then where did this man get all these things?’ They were not pleased with him at all. Matthew 13:56–57

Arriving at a conference centre for a church weekend retreat, Kay and I felt apprehensive. I’d been invited as the guest speaker, but we knew nobody. Checking in, and handed a room key by a sullen volunteer, I asked where the vicar of the church was. ‘Over there’ she pointed. The minister looked up, and headed towards us – or so I thought. He marched right past us, pointedly ignoring us, and exchanged only a few words with us throughout the weekend. We learned later that he didn’t want us there, and only agreed to our invitation because members of his leadership team were keen. He didn’t like us at all, and it made for a tough weekend. Trying to minister in the smog of rejection was almost impossible. As we imagine Jesus walking away from the people amongst whom He had been brought up, surely He felt deep hurt, made worse because members of His own family also dismissed Him. His four half-brothers (James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas) didn’t acknowledge His authority before the resurrection (Mark 3:21; John 7:5). James would later become a significant leader in the Jerusalem church, and probably wrote the book of James. Jude in turn probably wrote the epistle of Jude. We don’t know what happened to the other siblings. But this we know: Jesus knew the pain of rejection, but ultimately some who misunderstood Him became His loyal followers. If you’re experiencing rejection, may you be comforted by the truth that Jesus knows how it feels. Prayer: Dear Father, when I experience rejection because of my faith, grant me grace to endure. Amen. 19

WED 17 JAN

ONE OF HEROD’S GANG?

READ John 4:46 Luke 10:30-37

FOCUS A royal official was there. His son was sick in bed at Capernaum. John 4:46

Before we begin to look at what Jesus did while He was present in the miracle town of Capernaum, let’s consider a stunning miracle that unfolded there, while Jesus was still ‘out of town’ in Cana. As I said earlier, it’s difficult to build a certain chronology of the gospel events, but many commentators believe this event happened when Jesus was kicked out of Nazareth. As a man approached Jesus in Cana, (John reminds us this was the location of the wedding/wine miracle), we discover he was a ‘royal official’. Most scholars believe the ‘royalty’ referred was no other than Herod Antipas, the man who divorced his Nabatean wife, married Herodias (the divorced wife of Philip, his half-brother), and then had John the Baptist arrested. At very least, Jesus might have kept the official at arm’s length. He might be a spy. Or Jesus might have rebuffed him simply because he was associated with the ‘fox’, Herod. But as he came to Jesus in desperate need, he found help and compassion. We can tend to lump people into categories. I recall sharing a conference with a fellow Bible teacher who came from a denomination with a reputation for being critical. I assumed we were in for a difficult time. I was wrong, and sharing the event with him was a delight. Let’s not categorise people or judge them as guilty because of their associations. Jesus was inclusive to those viewed as outsiders. Let’s be like Him. Prayer: Lord, when I tempted to rush to judgment, or even just have unfounded negative expectations of others, help me to be gracious. Amen.

THU 18 JAN

KEEP ON IN PRAYER

READ John 4:47 Luke 18:1-8

FOCUS The official... went to Jesus and begged him to come and heal his son. The boy was close to death. John 4:47

As this royal official approached Jesus, there are a couple of observations we can make about prayer. The word translated ‘begged’ is in a continuous tense – this frantic father was persistent. He’d made a journey of twenty miles because he had heard about the miracles Jesus was performing. The situation was desperate, and so he kept on asking – and this was a man who, because of his status, was used to commanding. Surely we can apply the interaction between the official and Jesus to prayer, because that’s how we bring our requests – some of them desperate – to God. The Bible has plenty to say about the need to be persistent in prayer. Jesus taught the parable of the widow because ‘He wanted to show them that they should always pray and not give up’ (Luke 18:1). The apostle Paul echoes the call: ‘Always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people’ (Eph. 6:18). But why do we need to persist? Surely one reason is that, for most of us, prayer is difficult. In a sense, it’s unnatural to talk to someone who is invisible and mostly silent. Our minds easily drift, surrounded as we are by the multiple distractions and demands of everyday life. We battle against discouragement and even doubt when we pray about something repeatedly, without apparent response. And then we meet situations which seem utterly beyond the possibility of change. Perhaps you struggle with prayer, as I do. Join the crowd. We’re not alone, but by grace, let’s persist. Prayer: Teach me how to pray with faith and tenacity, Lord. Help me by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Amen. 21

FRI 19 JAN

A CAUTION

READ Exodus 14:1-15 Joshua 7:1-10

FOCUS Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ‘Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people of Israel to move on.’ Exodus 14:15

Let’s press ‘pause’ in this story today, because the call to persistent prayer needs some qualification. Sometimes we need to change our prayers, because what sounds like faith can actually be an unwillingness to face reality. One writer and former pastor describes the dilemma: ’I was asked to visit a critically ill man to pray for him. When I arrived... it was clear... [he] was near death. He was unconscious and hospital staff had suggested family members come quickly to say their goodbyes... in the room was also a pastor from another church. We were both invited to pray. I gave thanks for the gentleman’s life, for the love that was shared, and for the opportunity to say good farewells. Then the other pastor prayed. He laid his hands on the dying man and called on God to heal him, raise him up to full health and restore him to his family. I thought the prayer was incredibly cruel, that rather than helping the man and his family through the dying, farewelling, and grieving process, it kept them stuck in denial and false hope. I am sure the other pastor thought my prayer lacked faith in the miraculous power of God. Maybe he even thought it was my lack of faith that resulted in the elderly gentleman soon passing away. For me this rather extreme example raises an important issue. At what point do we accept suffering, pain, and the process of dying and cease asking for God to miraculously heal them?’3 We’ll ponder this vital question more tomorrow. Prayer: I need wisdom as well as faith when I pray, Lord. Grant me both. Amen.

scottjhiggins.com/about/about-me/

WEEKEND 20 - 21 JAN

WHEN OUR PRAYERS NEED TO CHANGE

READ 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 Philippians 1:12-30

GOING DEEPER

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I’ve witnessed firsthand the challenge that I described yesterday. Others have prayed and fasted, asking and believing for healing. It gets to the point where there is little time left – but the praying people refuse to acknowledge that, feeling that to do so is lacking in faith. And the result? There are no beautiful, meaningful opportunities to say goodbye. I knew of a man who knew he was about to die, but kept it a secret because he didn’t want to disappoint those who were interceding for him. If anyone should be able to die well, it’s us, as followers of Jesus. So how do we pray when the prognosis is bleak, and healing has not come? We can pray both ways. First, we pray for God’s reign and rule in the situation. We recognise we live in a broken world that includes sickness, and we affirm that ultimate wholeness for some will only come in eternity. We pray for strength, grace and comfort for the one who is suffering and for loved ones who suffer and grieve. And we understand that not every prayer will be responded to as we want – and it’s not due to lack of faith. The apostle Paul spoke of his ‘thorn in the flesh’ and some believe that this was a physical condition. Three times he asked God to remove it, but no relief came (2 Cor. 12:7-10). And he was able to speak about the possibility of his upcoming death. We are called to pray continually, but surely we need to be sensitive to when the content and tone of our prayers need to change. To ponder: What would you say to someone who refuses to accept that a loved one is about to die?

MON 22 JAN

TELL HIM HOW YOU FEEL

READ John 4:48-49 Hebrews 4:14-16

FOCUS The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” John 4:49

As we return to the story of the royal official, there’s subtle but beautiful detail in the way John describes it. Twice, he uses the word ‘son’, but when the official’s plea is detailed, he uses a different word, translated ‘child’. The word, literally translated, is ‘my little lad’. The phrasing speaks of the tender affection and heartbreak of a parent. Not only did the official tell Jesus what he needed, but he also expressed how he felt. And when we study the prayers contained in the Psalms, we hear the writer pouring out his heart, describing not only the circumstances faced but the emotions they evoked. Surely Jesus did this in His own life of prayer: ‘Jesus... made his appeal with sincere cries and tears’ (Heb. 5:7). Encouraged by this, I spent some time today praying about a few situations that have been troubling me for a while. But in what felt like an experiment, rather than just going through a list of requests, I spent time sharing my feelings about those challenges: my fears, disappointments, and in some cases, anger and frustration, not only with the circumstances, but with what seems to be God’s lack of action to change them. I felt a fresh sense of intimacy with the Lord as a result. And I’m encouraged by those words from Hebrews: 'We have a high priest who can feel it when we are weak and hurting’ (Heb. 4:15). Let’s tell Jesus how we feel, and know that He feels our joy, our gratitude, and our pain. Prayer: I want to come near to You with boldness, Lord, expressing what is truly in my mind and on my heart. Amen.

TUE 23 JAN

FAITH IN THE GAP

READ John 4:48-51 Hebrews 11:1-40

FOCUS The man believed what Jesus said, and so he left. While he was still on his way home, his servants met him. John 4:50–51

Perhaps you’ve been on the London Underground and have heard those words while getting on the train: ‘Mind the gap.’ When I hear that announcement, I often think of people I’ve known who have lived ‘in the gap’. They’ve prayed, and not seen an apparent answer. They lived through decades of physical pain or disability, believing God is able to heal, but relief and wholeness has not come. Yet, ‘in the gap’ they have trusted God and been found faithful. Surely they are heroes. Scripture celebrates that kind of resilient trust in Hebrews, and speaks of some of the faithful in history like this: ‘All these people were still living by faith when they died. They didn’t receive the things God had promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a long way off’ (Heb 11:13). The official exercised that kind of faith, firstly because he accepted that Jesus wasn’t going to travel with him back to Capernaum. Instead, Jesus just declared that the child was now healed. But then he began his long journey home – and the text shows us this involved an overnight stay, because his servants met him the next day. I wonder what the official felt as he tried to sleep that night? Having taken Jesus’ promise at face value, were there moments when question marks edged into his mind? But he had accepted what Jesus said. If you are trusting in the gap, and especially if you have been there for a while, I pray today that God will strengthen you, and give you peace. Prayer: When I find myself living in the gap, Lord, help me to stand firm. Amen.

WED 24 JAN

COINCIDENCE

READ John 4:43-54 Luke 17:11-19

FOCUS That was the exact time Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’ So he and all his family became believers. John 4:53

During a recent holiday, Kay and I had the joy of sharing our faith with a lovely couple who seemed very open to hearing the good news. I told them about some of the supernatural happenings I’ve witnessed in my own journey with Jesus. An eminent academic, he nodded, but added, ‘I’m sure that these things are meaningful to you.’ I got the distinct impression he was suggesting what I saw as clear, staggering answers to prayer were just coincidences. I’m sad to report he had a nominal belief in God, but in his thinking, Jesus was aloof and uninvolved. Following the first miracle at Cana, when water was turned into wine, the disciples had ‘put their faith in him’ (John 2:11). Now the royal official and his household became believers. As they heard about the precise timing of the miracle, they realised Jesus truly was the source of it, even though He was miles away. This wonderful event was not something to be dismissed. Sometimes I bring a request to God, and sometime later, the prayer is answered – but I can be tempted to write it all off as coincidence. Faith can be challenged, not only before a miracle, but after it too! I love the dry wit of William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury in the 1940s. He is well-known for saying, ‘When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don’t, they don’t.’ Let’s not be like those nine men who experienced healing from Jesus, but didn’t bother to give praise to God. Let’s thank God for divine ‘coincidences’! Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to have a heart of faith and thankfulness after You answer prayer. Amen.

THU 25 JAN

IMMEDIATELY

READ Matthew 4:18-22 James 4:17

FOCUS At once they left their nets and followed him. Matthew 4:20

As we turn to the season when Jesus made the town of Capernaum His home base, we discover what some scholars see as a second, confirming call for the disciples. He had already met the men who would form the core of His team – and they had been with Him at the Cana wedding (John 2:2). Now we discover a further development in their relationship with the Lord, and their response is decisive. Perhaps many of us can remember the rather antiquated form of payment, known as a cheque! It meant we could simply write an amount on the appropriate piece of paper, sign it, and the deal was done. And we could write a post-dated cheque. If you wanted to get money to somebody, but didn’t have the funds immediately at your disposal, you could proffer a cheque with a future date on it. Sadly, it’s possible to offer God post-dated commitment. We do this when we know there is action to take – a relationship to repair, a sin to turn from, a commitment to regular, sacrificial financial giving – but while we insist we are going to get to that eventually (which is comforting and potentially self-deluding) we never actually do. As Jesus calls His first disciples, Matthew repeatedly used words describing the immediacy of their response: Simon Peter and Andrew left their nets ‘at once’. James and John join the team, ‘right away’. Perhaps we know what we should do, but are deluding ourselves by procrastinating. It is time for action. Prayer: When I know what is right, help me by Your Spirit to do what is right. Amen. 27

FRI 26 JAN

THE LORD OF THE WHOLE OF LIFE READ Luke 5:1-7 John 14:23-24 FOCUS Simon answered, 'Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’ Luke 5:5

GOING DEEPER

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As we look at Luke’s account of the confirming call of the disciples, we see that he includes a further detail, of a miraculous catch of fish. Fishermen know how to fish, and having learned their trade over many years, they usually don’t take kindly when people without their expertise try to offer advice. If in doubt, find someone who is fishing, but hasn’t caught anything, and see how they react when you tell them what to do! Here, Jesus, a man with a carpentry/building background, offers directions about fishing – and a bumper catch results, one that stuns the seasoned fisherman Peter. But it took some humility and hard work to recast the net, which was laid out in the water in a semicircle, with a one-hundred-foot spread. Peter didn’t just idly toss a net in for another try. In obeying Jesus, he had to go to a great deal of effort. The call of Jesus affects every part of our lives, including how we behave in our workplaces, our leisure time, and when nobody else is watching. Luke has deliberately organised the results of his ‘investigation’ to make a strong point about the authority of Christ. Perhaps we’ve compartmentalised life, keeping the door of one part of who we are firmly closed to God. When we do that, we end up with frustration and fruitlessness. When Peter did what he was told, there were stunning results. Perhaps it’s time to surrender to make space for a miracle, but even if no miracle comes, let’s surrender anyway. Prayer: Lord, help me to obey You when it’s hard for me to do so. Help me to trust that You do know best. Amen.

WEEKEND 27 - 28 JAN

PLEASE GO AWAY, LORD

READ Luke 5:8-9 1 John 1:5-10

When I first became a Christian, every time I tried to pray, worship, or read Scripture, I was mugged by a smothering sense of shame. This was not guilt, which can be such a gift, as a healthy conscience, perhaps nudged by the Holy Spirit, lets me know that I am edging into bad and sinful choices. Rather, this was shame. It was not a specific sense that I was making an error, but came as a stifling, paralysing fear that I was just overwhelmingly bad and there was nothing I could do about it. It wasn’t a positive experience. As Peter hauls in such a stunning catch of fish, he suddenly becomes aware that he is in the presence of one very special man. At this stage of his journey with Jesus, he has no clue as to His full identity: revelation and understanding would follow in the ensuing three years. But as Peter was aware he was in the presence of someone unique and powerful, he felt the weight of his sinfulness heavily. There was something good about this, because Peter came to Jesus with authentic humility. On the other hand, Jesus didn’t agree to Peter’s request that He ‘go away’. Instead, He wanted Peter to be with Him. Let’s know the difference between healthy guilt and smothering shame. Perhaps we feel hopeless because we have done, again, the very thing we promised God and ourselves that we’d never do again. Let’s not ask Him to go away, but to come close, bringing grace and forgiveness with Him. To ponder: Have you ever wanted Jesus to ‘go away’? Why? What happened?

MON 29 JAN

CATCHING PEOPLE

READ Luke 5:8-11 Ephesians 2:1-10

FOCUS Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid. From now on you will catch people.’ Luke 5:10

The other day I learned, courtesy of a lawyer in Nigeria, that I am about to inherit a huge fortune. Apparently, someone called Lucas has died and left 150 million pounds in an estate – but has not named a benefactor. So, this legal gentleman has tracked me down and agreed I am to receive this huge sum, minus his commission, of course. All I have to do is provide him with a few details and pay an upfront fee as a retainer, and the millions will be mine. It’s now a well-known scam. And now that identity theft is a multi-billion-pound criminal industry, we’re quick to ask, ‘What’s the catch?’ Hearing Jesus tell Peter that he would ‘catch’ people might make us nervous, as if there’s some subterfuge in mission. But we needn’t fear. The words Jesus uses mean ‘catch alive’, or ‘catch for life’. Jesus doesn’t con people with small print; on the contrary, as we’ve seen, He makes it very clear that to follow Him might cost us everything. But when we ‘catch’ people, we are snatching them away from mere survival and calling them to life. The image of rescuing a drowning person comes to mind. Reaching people for Christ is no sleight-ofhand con, and we can be totally truthful about the joys and pains of following Jesus. But we’re called to catch people alive, for life. We’re offering peace, purpose, grace, and a pattern for beautiful living, both for now and eternity, as we offer the good news of Jesus. Peter heard the call. Will we? Prayer: Make me a good fisher of people Lord, that I might be instrumental even today in ‘catching’ people for true life in You. Amen.

TUE 30 JAN

AUTHORITY

READ Luke 4:31-32 Mark 1:21-22

FOCUS They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority. Luke 4:32

It was a bizarre conversation. We’d been in a Sunday morning family communion service, during which the preacher had been incomprehensible. Apparently oblivious to his audience, he droned on about form criticism in the New Testament, a subject that might fascinate scholars but left us all rather restless and bored. An hour later, as we left the service, I asked a minister friend what he’d thought about our shared time of torment. ‘It was good’, he said. ‘I didn’t understand most of what was said, but it was really deep.’ Apparently, some Christians think that ‘deep’ means ‘incomprehensible’ – which it does not. As Jesus teaches in the synagogue in Capernaum, the effect was electrifying. The word ‘amazed’ has been translated to mean, ‘to be struck with panic or shock’. One writer says of the preaching style of Jesus, ‘it packed a powerful punch.’ And His words were not just arresting, but carried weight and authority. The word, ‘authority’ occurs nine times in Mark’s gospel – six of them refer directly to Jesus, and the other three describe the authority that Jesus gave to His apostles. Mark contrasts the teaching of Jesus with that of the scribes, the teachers of the law. Where Jesus is, authority is. He comes, not as our advisor, but as our Lord. Pray for all those who preach and teach, that the words they bring will be clear and relevant, and filled with the authority that is not theirs, but rooted in the final authority of God’s word. Prayer: Lord Jesus, strengthen and bless those with the heavy responsibility to teaching Your word. Amen. 31

WED 31 JAN

CONTROL

READ Mark 1:23-28 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

FOCUS What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the Holy One of God! Mark 1:24

There can be a moment that preacher and public speakers fear, and adept stand-up comedians usually welcome. The sudden interruption of a heckler creates tension in the crowd or congregation, terror in the preacher, and fuel for the practised retorts and banter of the seasoned comic. We’re not told when Jesus was interrupted by a yelling demoniac, but we do know that demons make a lot of noise – the man, ‘cried out’ and then demons ‘came out of him with a scream’ after Jesus demanded they be quiet (literally, ‘be muzzled’) and leave. This is the first of many times in Mark’s gospel that the demons identify Jesus (1:34; 3:11; 5:7). So why did they do that? Many commentators believe that, back in that day, there was a popular belief that demons could control an exorcist if they knew his or her name. At the very least, this would be intimidating for a person who sought to confront the powers of darkness. That reveals a primary strategy of the enemy of our souls, who looks for every opportunity to control and manipulate. When we look back at the barrage of temptation that Jesus experienced in the wilderness, we see that Satan sought to manage and corral Him (Luke 4:1-13). As followers of Jesus, we are called to freedom, to self-control. As Paul puts it, ‘some of you say, “I have the right to do anything.” But I will not be controlled by anything’ (1 Cor. 6:12). Here’s a challenge: what has power and control over us? Prayer: Lord, I want to live a self-controlled life. Empower me today to walk in freedom. Amen.

HOLY LAND TOURS 11TH-18TH NOVEMBER 2024

Join Jeff and Kay Lucas on a very special tour of Israel that will transform and inform your Bible reading time. Sharing practical, biblical insights as they travel, they will take you to the famous biblical locations, including Galilee, Nazareth, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Register your interest now and look forward to a well-organised and informative visit. And there will be lots of fun too! Some highlights of the visit will be to biblical locations where Jesus walked such as the Sea of Galilee, Caeserea Philippi, Capernaum, the Mount of Beatitudes, and the garden of Gethsemane. We will also visit the Dead Sea, Masada and Qumran, the Garden Tomb, walk the streets of the old city of Jerusalem, and visit the Western (Wailing) Wall. Professional local guides share their wealth of historical and archeological knowledge; Jeff offers teaching as we tour, and Jeff and Kay host the entire experience – one that some travellers have enjoyed so much they have returned to do the same trip a second and even a third time! With excellent hotels, amazing food, and the unforgettable experience of exploring the stunning old city of Jerusalem (with markets where you can haggle for a bargain) this trip will delight and inspire. Come with us! 34

What previous guests have said: This trip is life-changing and highly addictive – you will want to return again and again... It was so valuable having local guides and the knowledge they are able to impart is so rich. – Lisa Thank you, Jeff and Kay, for all that you organised, for the experiences you gave us, for the wisdom you imparted to us and for the love you showed us. Charlie and I feel so blessed to have been part of this trip. We will never forget it: it will stay in our hearts forever. – Angie This trip (my second time!) has forever changed my walk with God. – Debra

Thanks so much for a wonderful trip. We enjoyed it so much – saw amazing sights and met lovely people. Your insights are gentle, humble and real, and not at all ‘preachy’ which just allows everyone to meet God in their own way. – Hilary and Lisa

To register your interest so that you are among the first to get all the information you need, visit: www.jefflucas.org 35

THU 01 FEB

AT THE END OF THE DAY

READ Mark 1:29-34 Luke 4:38-41

FOCUS All the people in town gathered at the door. Jesus healed many of them. Mark 1:33–34

Perhaps you know the feeling. You’ve worked hard all day, there have been some frustrations along the way, and now you just want to get home and put your feet up. Some mindless relaxation, maybe binge-watching a television series is on the agenda. And then, just as you kick your shoes off, the phone rings, and somebody needs your attention. Groaning, you put your coat on, resentful at the intrusion. With a heavy heart and a weary sigh, you realise this is not going to be the evening you had planned. Jesus has had an extremely busy and demanding day, but still He ministers healing and deliverance, not only to Peter’s motherin-law, but to the crowds in Capernaum who had gathered, clamouring for His help. He is a picture of serving in the midst of weariness. And that mother-in-law is a similar example, because the moment she is healed, she begins to serve too. Faithfulness is about consistently extending ourselves for others or for a good cause when we least feel like it. Miracles can happen in those times when we push through tiredness and serve anyway. Preaching and travelling as much as I do, I confess there are times when I’d rather not show up; faith is low, or I’m battling something in my own life, and the thought of ministering to others isn’t attractive. My friend Adrian Plass reminds me that, in those times, I’m just the messenger, and I need to faithfully deliver the message, whatever I feel. And he’s absolutely right. Prayer: Lord, enable me to serve gladly when I least feel like it, realising that in my weakness, Your strength can shine. Amen.

FRI 02 FEB

BY HIS STRIPES

READ Matthew 8:14-17 Isaiah 53:1-12

FOCUS He suffered the things we should have suffered. He took on himself the sicknesses that should have been ours. Matthew 8:17

Before we move on, let’s take a look at Matthew’s version of this wonderful evening’s events. Matthew always points his Jewish audience back to Old Testament prophesies, showing they are fulfilled in Christ. And so, he turns to the prophet Isaiah. This passage has been widely misused to suggest it is always God’s will to bring physical healing. Those who teach this suggest that, if Jesus took our sin and sicknesses upon Himself, then ‘with His stripes we are healed’ (Isaiah 53:5, KJV). They teach that just as we apply forgiveness from sin into our lives by faith, so now we just need to appropriate and claim physical healing from sickness by faith as well. If we are not healed, they suggest, then it is because we don’t have enough faith. Those who suffer long-term or terminal illness are made to feel guilty and ashamed – not only sick, but sad with it. This idea is not only terribly damaging, but is a misuse of Scripture. We do pray for divine healing for the sick, and there are times when miracles occur. But not every blessing that Christ has won for us is fully available now. Christians get sick and die. One day, sickness and death will be totally banished forever, when ‘By his power he will change our earthly bodies. They will become like his glorious body’ (Phil. 3:21) We live between two worlds – the ‘now and not yet’ of God’s Kingdom. Let’s take great care that we don’t misuse Scripture, and cause great harm as a result. Prayer: Dear Father, thank You for Your word. Enable me by Your Spirit to rightly interpret and apply it, especially when I or others are suffering. Amen.

WEEKEND 03 - 04 FEB

THROUGH THE ROOF

READ Mark 2:1-4 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

After withdrawing from Capernaum for a while, Jesus had returned, word got out, and crowds thronged the house where He was staying – probably Peter’s home, shared with his wife, mother-in-law, and brother Andrew. As Jesus taught, He was interrupted by a commotion coming from above His head. Four men were vandalising the roof – Mark’s description literally means they were ‘digging out’ the roof. Having made the effort to get their paralyzed friend up there, now they had to break through about a foot of packed earth laid on reeds, branches and thistles, which rested on roof timbers laid parallel about two to three feet apart. All in all, a major task – but one they took on because they loved their friend. Thank God for those who give themselves to the tough labour of loving others. Francis Schaeffer describes the early years of the L’Abri community: ‘In about the first three years of L’Abri all our wedding presents were wiped out. Our sheets were torn. Holes were burned in our rugs. Drugs came into our place. People vomited on our rugs... How many times have you had a drug-taker come into your home? Sure it is a danger to your family, and you must be careful. But have you ever risked it?’4 If you’re a ‘roof digger’, a hard worker like those men (and Paul the apostle) and especially if nobody around you seems to appreciate your faithfulness, then thank you. And may you know, as we’ll discover tomorrow, that there is One who notices. To ponder: Do you know any ‘roof diggers’ who could be blessed by some appreciation and encouragement?

Francis Schaeffer, The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1970)

MON 05 FEB

SHAMED

READ Mark 2:1-5 Luke 5:17-20

FOCUS Jesus saw their faith. So he said to the man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Mark 2:5

Living out in the country in Colorado, we have no refuse collection service, and so it’s my job to take the recycling and the bulging bags full of rubbish to the local tip. I love that moment when I toss the smelly trash bags into the dumpster; there’s something liberating about getting rid of the garbage. I feel similarly when I know that I have been forgiven. Shame is a heavy load to cart around. Jesus ‘saw’ the faith of the tenacious four – but then he looked past the physical disability of the poor man who’d been lowered through the roof. For whatever reason, the man had been disabled by shame. Extreme guilt was somehow the root of his paralysis, and so rather than just declaring healing, Jesus proclaimed forgiveness, which led to healing. In speaking forgiveness to him, Jesus used a word that means, 'let the pot drop'. Whatever specific shameful events that punctuated this man’s past, Jesus alone is able to tell him: 'drop the past, and pick up your bed'. Are some of us tormented by yesterday’s awful failure, or emotionally bed-ridden because we feel so ashamed? Let’s come to Jesus and hear Him speak words that infuriated the religious people, yet comforted sinners: 'Drop it'. We can never pay for our sins, and we waste our lives trying to do so, when the bill has already been paid in full. The price of grace was high, costing Jesus everything. Let’s not just be amazed by grace, but allow grace to bring life, hope, and relief from our shame. Prayer: When shame comes to shroud me, may I know how to drop it because of Your beautiful grace and mercy, Jesus. Amen. 39

TUE 06 FEB

JUST SITTING THERE

READ Mark 2:1-12 Galatians 6:1-10

FOCUS Some teachers of the law were sitting there. Mark 2:6

GOING DEEPER

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Attending a football match recently, I was intrigued by some of my fellow spectators. Some looked like they hadn’t kicked a ball in years, but that didn’t stop them from yelling advice (and in some cases, abuse) at the professional athletes performing with consummate skill on the pitch. Spectators can be loud, aggressive, and angry, all the while doing what spectators do – just sitting there, watching! Mark notes the religious leaders were sitting down. We’re not surprised about their posture – the scribes and Pharisees were treated with great respect in Jesus’ day. People would stand when they arrived, and they infamously had the ‘best seats’ in the synagogues. But in this episode they are shown in sharp contrast to the sweating foursome who hauled their disabled friend up onto the roof and hacked their way through it to get him into the presence of Jesus. Recently I spotted some harsh online criticisms of a local church – vitriol delivered by a couple who actually do very little to serve or volunteer. They are armchair critics. As I mentioned earlier, if you are currently ‘up on the roof’, serving, giving, praying, and especially if you’re weary – then may you know God’s grace, strength, and smile. As Paul says, ‘Let us not become tired of doing good. At the right time we will gather a crop if we don’t give up’ (Gal. 6:9). And if we’ve become spectators – and loudly critical of others – perhaps we should adjust our posture and volume. Prayer: I don’t want to be numbered among the armchair critics, Lord. Help me to play my part, and bless others as they play theirs. Amen.

WED 07 FEB

FORGIVEN

The man’s face was crestfallen, his shoulders slumped in defeat. I’d just finished teaching about God’s wonderful grace and forgiveness, and he was struggling. Perhaps we all have a tendency to define ourselves by our worst sinful moments. ‘It all happened years ago, Jeff. I made such a terrible mistake. I’ve repented of it a thousand times, put the situation right as far as I can with the person that I hurt. But my problem is that I just don’t feel forgiven.’ Through decades of ministry, I’ve seen too many believers whose lives are blighted by their inability to receive forgiveness by faith. What we feel is immaterial.

READ Luke 5:17-26 Daniel 7:13-14

Before we move on, let’s notice a vital truth. To the onlookers, and this previously paralysed man, his healing was very obvious. The evidence was clear – he picked up his mat and went home. But the man (and the crowd) had to accept that he’d been forgiven as an act of faith. There was no outer evidence to confirm that truth.

FOCUS “I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Luke 5:24

In Capernaum, Jesus preached with authority, had authority over demonic powers, took authority over sickness and disease and now, asserts He has authority to declare forgiveness. And He does so as ‘the Son of Man’ – surely the One the Old Testament hero Daniel saw in a vision, when he said, ‘he was given authority, glory and a kingdom. People from every nation and language worshipped him. His authority will last forever’ (Dan. 7:14). Jesus has all authority. Let’s take Him at His word. Prayer: Today, loving Father, I rest in the truth of Your forgiving heart. Amen.

THU 08 FEB

CUT THE ROPE

READ Matthew 9:9-13 1 John 1:5-10

FOCUS As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew. He was sitting at the tax collector’s booth. Matthew 9:9

As we have seen, too many Christians live under the weight of unresolved shame. Often people tell me they believe God forgives generally – but they fear He won’t forgive them specifically. In the wonderful film, The Mission, Robert de Niro plays Mendoza, a slave trader traumatised by guilt, who had captured and killed members of an Amazonian tribe, and even murdered his own brother. Eventually he agrees, as an act of penance, to accompany a team of Jesuit missionaries on a trip to the Amazon. He insists on dragging a rope bag full of armour and swords, tied to his back. These are symbols of Mendoza’s old life. He can’t bring himself to sever the cord. Finally, they come across the tribe that he had oppressed. He expects death, but instead, one of the tribesmen cuts the rope, and kicks the heavy bag into a ravine. It’s a beautiful moment of liberation. Matthew lived as a social outcast. He was based in a tax office in Capernaum. It was believed that if a tax collector entered any house, the food and the entire house was rendered unclean by their presence. Some rabbis even taught that repentance was completely impossible for the tax collectors. They were seen as collaborators with the occupying forces, lackeys of Rome. No wonder there was such conflict when some of them became Jesus’ friends. His decision to have one of them as a disciple was stunning. But grace is stunning. We saw earlier that Jesus said, ‘Drop the pot’. Let Him cut the rope. Prayer: Lord, show me where I might be dragging negative elements of my history around, and help me to allow You to bring freedom. Amen.

FRI 09 FEB

DIVERSITY AND CONFLICT

READ Matthew 9:9-10 Ephesians 4:1-6

FOCUS “Follow me,” Jesus told him. Matthew got up and followed him. Matthew 9:9

Speaking at a Christian family camp recently, I saw the church at her very best. Old and young, and every age in between, gathered together to laugh, sing, play games, listen to preaching, and end the day eating breakfast cereals and peanut butter on toast. What a delight it was to see that silvery-haired elderly lady giggling in conversation with an uber-cool 19-year-old with green hair and fearsome looking tattoos. It’s a brilliant picture of the Kingdom – people who would otherwise have no reason for meeting, finding themselves meeting under the inclusive shadow of the cross. In bringing Matthew into His inner circle, Jesus created what could have been a dangerous situation. First, as we’ve seen, nobody loved the tax gatherers. Then Matthew plied his trade in Capernaum, very possibly intercepting some of the Capernaum-based disciples as they drew their boats ashore, decimating their profits by grabbing his taxes at the end of their long day’s toil. Now they were on the same team. Then there was Simon the Zealot, probably so-called because he had been part of a group who believed in overthrowing the Romans violently. Matthew had lined his pockets by cosying up to those very same oppressors. The potential for in-fighting was high. Let’s be grateful for the church, but accept we are not immune to conflict. When difficulties arise, may we work hard to resolve them and maintain the unity the Holy Spirit gives. Prayer: Thank you for the beautiful diversity of Your church, Lord. When diversity creates tension, help me to be an agent of grace. Amen. 43

WEEKEND 10 -11 NOV

ALL IN

READ Luke 5:27-28 Matthew 19:28-30

Earlier I mentioned a young graduate making some tough choices to follow Christ. More recently, I met a brilliant young medical student. She has the potential of a glittering career – her professors judged her the best of her class. And she has decided to invest her life responding to a missionary call to an impoverished, dangerous country. Turning her back on the security, comfort and prestige offered here in the UK, she has opted instead for uncertainty, a pittance of an income, and, especially painful for someone with such a close family, distance from those that she loves most. Why has she done it? Because she has been captivated by Jesus, and her commitment to Him is total. Something similar happened to Matthew, called Levi here by Luke, another medic who chose missionary service. The disciples who were fishermen were able to go back to their self-employed businesses, and occasionally did so. But when Matthew vacated his tax collector’s stand, he abandoned the franchise. Others would have been waiting in the wings to step up and take his place. And because tax-gathering was such a despised occupation, having it as an occasional job would have been quite incompatible with being on Jesus’ team. Once the decision was made, there would be no turning back. As followers of Jesus, there will be times when obedience calls for bravery and faith. If He’s calling us to a hard pathway, may God give us grace to respond. To ponder: Have you ever made a very costly decision because you felt God’s call to do so? How did it turn out?

MON 12 FEB

GENEROSITY

READ Luke 5:29 Luke 19:1-10

FOCUS Then Levi gave a huge dinner for Jesus at his house. Luke 5:29

Matthew had spent his life taking. Tax gatherers were pariahs, and they hurt hard working people with their demands, imposing hefty surcharges on those unable to pay on time. Travellers also had to pay them tolls and customs fees to use the main road that passed through Capernaum. There were rich pickings for the tax and toll gatherers. But now, having met Jesus, everything has changed. Matthew has become generous, an immediate and noticeable character shift. He holds a ‘huge dinner’ for Jesus at his house. And like that other famous reformed taxman, Zacchaeus, who made extreme reparations to those whose money he had extorted, Matthew shows he has truly opened his heart to Jesus by opening his wallet for Jesus. As Gordon MacDonald put it, ‘Profound conversion of heart produces a natural generosity.’5 A beautiful, joyful ‘beggars’ banquet’ results, as Matthew hosts his own farewell party, marking his retirement from his flourishing business! And the party – the first of many in Luke’s gospel – points to a wonderful party to come in the future. We’ve all met people who do everything they can to avoid paying for a round of coffees or buying a meal for others. They justify their stinginess by calling it thrift, but the truth is, in most cases, they’re just mean. Generosity of heart is not just about money – it can be about giving time, listening, or service away. It is about being focused on others. Today, let’s give. Prayer: You are the ultimate, magnificent giver, Father. I want to be like You, in giving of myself, especially when the cost is great. Amen.

Gordon MacDonald, Generosity Devotional, generouschurch.com/generosity

TUE 13 FEB

HOSPITAL

READ Luke 5:30-32 James 2:1-13

FOCUS Jesus answered them, “Those who are healthy don’t need a doctor. Sick people do.” Luke 5:31

GOING DEEPER

lifewithlucas.co.uk/ goingdeeper

Today I heard a beautiful story about a man who was part of a church in the UK. He was, as one leader described him, ‘difficult’. He had some anxiety issues which meant there were times when he emailed members of the church leadership team up to fifty times a day. He would sometimes interrupt the preacher with inappropriate comments. And his family found him unbearable and ostracized him. But when he died, the church leaders determined that his funeral would not be sparsely attended by a huddle of reluctant relatives. A call went out in the church for as many as could attend the funeral to come. On the day of the event, the few family members were staggered as the church was absolutely packed. Amazed, the family asked the question: how could this many people love a man that they, as his family, had found quite unlovable? When I heard the story, my heart warmed: this is church at its very best. Let’s be reminded that Matthew was not just held in suspicion as an authority figure who presented an unwelcome annual bill. Tax collectors were completely rejected by society. They bought a ‘territory’ from the Romans, and then levied taxes as they wished, demanding extra for themselves. But Jesus shattered that rejection by offering table fellowship – a symbol of love and hospitality – to this man who others found quite unlovable. That was His mission. It’s easier to write about than practice, but it’s still our mission today. Prayer: The idea of loving the unlovely is easier than doing it, Father. Help me. Amen.

WED 14 FEB

LOOKING BACK

READ Matthew 10:1-4 Acts 22:1-21

FOCUS Next are Philip and Bartholomew, and also Thomas and Matthew the tax collector. Matthew 10:3

I’ve spent some time today pondering my childhood and youth. Memories are like files in a cabinet – mostly hidden from view, until we mentally determine to pluck them out and take a look. I recall a generally happy but confused childhood, raised by parents who were struggling to make sense of life and love after the horrors of World War Two. Ambition was not encouraged in our house; there was not too much conversation either. And faith and spirituality were never on the agenda. Christened as a baby, entirely because that’s what parents did back then – they had the baby ‘done’ – I had no interest or enthusiasm for religion. On the contrary, I used to give Christians a hard time whenever I encountered them. Meeting up with some old school friends recently, they told me that I had been the bad boy of the pack, the one who invariably led them into trouble, and they were shocked when I ‘found God’ and became a minister. God rescued me, and I’m glad. Matthew appears in all three lists of the twelve apostles, but only in the gospel that he wrote himself is he described as ‘Matthew the tax collector’. It seems that he wanted to remember from whence he came, not to glory in his murky past, but to glorify the Jesus who had rescued him from it. Paul does something similar, as he looks back with regret at his terrible career as a persecutor, but then celebrates the one who saved him. Reflection like that spurs gratitude. Look back, and give thanks. Prayer: Father, thank You for saving me. Amen.

FAITHFUL

Perhaps we’ve all seen examples of this. Someone comes to faith; their conversion is unexpected, dramatic and they are almost giddy with enthusiasm. They show up for every event, are passionate in worship, and share their love for Christ at every opportunity. But then time passes, disappointments come, doubt erodes faith, and the passion diminishes. The fervent disciple becomes a ‘steady’ churchgoer, or perhaps they slowly drift away from Jesus and His people altogether.

READ 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 2 Timothy 4:1-8

We’ve already seen that Matthew responded to Jesus with generosity and commitment. But did that dedication last? The answer is positive. After the resurrection, Matthew is numbered among the disciples who joined together in persistent prayer. And as we turn to church tradition, we find that Matthew was martyred in about AD60. He had preached the gospel in Ethiopia but then fell foul of the king of the region, who was lusting after his own niece. Matthew was staked and speared.

THU 15 FEB

FOCUS All who take part in the games train hard... to get a crown that will not last. But we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 1 Corinthians 9:25

The tax collector’s love for Jesus went way beyond that celebratory party: back then, as we’ve seen, he’d been generous, but ultimately Matthew gave his all, faithful all the way home. Just as the apostle Paul was able to say, ‘I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now there is a crown waiting for me’ (2 Tim. 4:7–8), so Matthew also kept the faith as well. Whatever our own challenges and struggles, may we be found in their good company. Prayer: Father, whatever I face, please grant me grace to be faithful and true to You, all the way home. Amen.

FRI 16 FEB

HUSH

READ Luke 5:33-39 Psalm 66:1-20

FOCUS “John’s disciples often pray and go without eating. So do the disciples of the Pharisees. But yours go on eating and drinking.” Luke 5:33

In Luke’s version of Matthew’s banquet, he includes Jesus’ teaching about fasting. So let’s consider Christ’s response to the question He was asked. I’ve frequently mentioned our trips to the Holy Land. During one of them, at a holy site location, a group of tourists were told to ‘hush’ by a tetchy priest. What a contrast it was to visit another site and be greeted by a smiling priest, who invited us to sing together at the front of the building. Jesus was celebrating at a party hosted by a previously dubious character, and the religious establishment were not happy; ultrareligious people usually frown when others smile. Fasting was a prominent part of Jewish life; people lived under pressure to fast no less than two days each week, Mondays and Thursdays. Fasting for the Jew was a sign of mourning. But Jesus defended His partying by insisting that His way was not just an amendment of old covenant living, but an entirely new way of living in the Kingdom of God. Patching the two together would never work. Fasting does have a place in our lives: Jesus called us to be people of fasting and prayer. But we are not called to joyless, solemn religion, which I still encounter, especially when I speak in churches where laughter is viewed with suspicion – I don’t usually get invited back. Who invented celebration and laughter? Perhaps if we were better at throwing Kingdom parties, we might attract the attention of a few more notorious sinners. Prayer: Bless Your church with an ability to truly celebrate, loving God. Amen.

WEEKEND 17-18 FEB

Yesterday I mentioned a recent trip to the Holy Land. Being there on the Sabbath was a fascinating experience. There was the feasting I spoke of yesterday: our guide described his eager anticipation for the coming evening, when he and his family would gather around a shared meal and hear stories from the week.

LORD OF THE SABBATH

In a culture where so often we eat on the move, and food becomes a fuel rather than a shared celebration, I felt envious of his weekly pauses, and the opportunity he and his family had. But then there was, for me, a negative element to the Sabbath. The hotel where we were staying had a ‘Sabbath elevator’. Orthodox Jews believe it is a sin to complete an electrical circuit on the Sabbath, and so these elevators stop at every floor. It takes a long time to get anywhere, but nobody has to press a button. And then there were Sabbath settings on the hotel room lights, so they automatically come on as the sun set and shut down again late in the evening: again, no switch should be operated. I was saddened by the labyrinth of rules (and the ingenious ways devised to get around them) but also the impression that God is picky about switches.

READ Luke 6:1-5 1 Samuel 21:1-6

Jesus and His friends were criticised for plucking corn on the Sabbath – but He defended His actions by insisting that He was Lord of the Sabbath, a stunning claim which would have shocked his accusers. Let’s pause, rest, reflect – but not allow religion to hijack those pauses. To ponder: Why do we add more demands to those in the Bible?

MON 19 FEB

FINDING FAULT

READ Luke 6:6-11 Jude 1-25

FOCUS The Pharisees and the teachers of the law... wanted to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. Luke 6:7

Some people seem to go on the lookout for reasons to be irritated and offended, even in the local church. Offence will always be a possibility: I often say that if we’ve been part of a church for more than six months, and nothing has irritated us yet, then we’re probably clinically dead! But some people positively delight in pointing out what is wrong, or even claim to have been hurt by something trivial. The worship song selection was not to their liking, the version of the Bible used was not the one they prefer, or the service went on longer than anticipated. We can all become fault finders. In the Pharisees’ case, it was not that they were looking for truth. They were hunting for opportunities to criticise, and their obsessively pernickety behaviour blinded them to the beauty of miracles taking place right before their eyes. And that’s the way it works when we’re compulsively offended: we see problems, faults and failures with 20/20 vision, but are either oblivious to or deliberately ignore good and positive things. Are some of us ‘watching closely’, eager to be proved to be right because we’ve insisted somebody else is wrong? Perhaps it would be good for us to pause and look a little more closely for something good and wholesome, rather than hunting for reasons to be irritated. Going on safari for offence is damaging, and we’d do well to ask why we do it. Prayer: When being critical becomes a habit or even a joy, Lord, show me what creates that unhealthy drive in me. Amen.

TUE 20 FEB

PEOPLE, NOT OBJECTS

READ Luke 6:1-11 John 8:1-11

FOCUS But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were very angry. They began to talk to each other about what they might do to Jesus. Luke 6:11

At first glance, this episode might make us feel uncomfortable, because a man with a debilitating health condition – a withered (literally ‘dry’ hand) is invited to stand up before a congregation. It seems he is being used as an object lesson for Jesus as He teaches about the Sabbath. Initially, we might be reminded of the day when the Pharisees ‘used’ a woman caught in adultery, dragging her, red-faced and shamed, into a debate about whether she should be executed. But this episode was actually a public display of mercy and kindness, as Jesus speaks a word to the man, who is instantly healed. Jesus was humanising the conversation, reminding His critics their concerns should not just be about issues and ideas, but about doing good, in acts of love and mercy. Sometimes we Christians engage in debates and make statements about controversial subjects, forgetting that people are involved. That’s exactly what the Pharisees were doing – and how vehemently they responded to what Jesus did here. The other gospels tell us they actually plotted to kill him (Matt. 12:14; Mark 3:6). Tom Wright observes: 'The irony is that Jesus didn’t do anything that either Jewish law or the unofficial codes of the Pharisees would have deemed illegal. He didn’t even touch the man. Telling him to stretch out his hand could hardly be counted as ‘work’, and hence be forbidden.’6 Who are we more like – the angry Pharisees – or the merciful Christ? Prayer: You love mercy; You are stunningly kind, Jesus. Make me like You. Amen.

Tom Wright, Luke for Everyone (London: SPCK, 2004) p68.

WED 21 FEB

SEEMS LIKE MADNESS

READ Mark 3:20-30 Acts 26:1-32

FOCUS His family heard about this. So they went to take charge of him. They said, “He is out of his mind.” Mark 3:21

I recently read an article written by a man who was celebrating historic church buildings in the UK, but had no time for faith. ‘My mother decided that she wanted a proper Jewish funeral’, he wrote, ‘but with no mention of God... she understood that religion can identify who you are but doesn’t mean that you lose your common sense.’ I was stunned by such a sweeping statement – the idea that to have faith in God is ludicrous, even mad. It’s a tragic moment in the story of Jesus: as He ‘enters a house’ (and commentators believe that Mark is pointing us to the same place where crowds had previously gathered, Peter’s home in Capernaum) then his mother and brothers arrive, ready to stage an intervention, anxious that Jesus has lost His mind. The Greek uses a very strong expression which means 'to arrest’. The family came down to Capernaum with the sole intention of forcibly taking Him under their control. The apostle Paul also had his mental health questioned when he stood before Festus, the Procurator of Judea. ‘While Paul was still speaking up for himself, Festus interrupted. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you crazy!” “I am not crazy, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable”’ (Acts 26:24-25). Sometimes we get intimidated when our faith is mocked. We can be made to feel like fools. But when that happens, let’s stand firm. With Jesus and Paul, we’re in good company. Prayer: When my choices are mocked by those who profess wisdom, help me to stand true to You, Lord Jesus. Amen. 53

THU 22 FEB

THE BEST MOTIVES

READ Mark 3:31-32 Luke 9:51-55

FOCUS Jesus’ mother and brothers came and stood outside. They sent someone in to get him. Mark 3:31

Jesus’ family must initially have looked back with regret on their thwarted attempt to forcibly restrain Him. John’s gospel tells us that even at the very end of His ministry, His own brothers did not believe in Him (John 7:5). His mother, of course, had been told her son was the Saviour of the world – but even that dynamic revelation didn’t make her immune to anxiety, especially when she heard that He wasn’t even able to take time to eat. So why did the family set out on this intervention? I believe they did it because they loved Jesus deeply, and were genuinely concerned for His welfare. And although this episode is surprising, it’s continually being repeated. Every day, good, genuine people who love the Lord do foolish things in His name. James and John were keen on seeing a village consumed by fire, which was not in God’s plan at all! History is littered with terrible actions perpetuated by the Christian church; countless people attacked, tortured and executed, their lands and homes ravaged, all by Christians who felt they were being faithful to God and serving His purposes. Just as Jesus’ family were doing the wrong thing for the best of motives, so the religious leaders who came from Jerusalem and accused Jesus of acting in demonic power were perhaps genuinely concerned about the source of His authority. In loving Jesus, let’s all make sure that what we do for Him is what He is calling us to and what He wants! Prayer: Save me, Father, from foolish and harmful actions that may come from a true desire to serve and love You. Amen.

FRI 23 FEB

A NEW FAMILY

READ Mark 3:31-35 Ephesians 2:11-22

FOCUS He said, “Here is my mother! Here are my brothers! Anyone who does what God wants is my brother or sister or mother.” Mark 3:34-35

I’ve often written about it, because it was one of the major turning points in my life – the day when I decided to become a follower of Jesus. A friend and I sat in rapt attention as the good news was explained to us, and we both agreed: we wanted to know Christ. We knelt and prayed. A few words of congratulation followed, and we opened the door of the room where we’d be sitting, expecting to find an empty church hall. The Sunday evening service was long over, everyone should have gone home. But the hall erupted in claps and cheers of celebration – everyone had waited to welcome these two new believers into the family. I knew that I was home. With His mother and brothers waiting outside, Jesus poses a rhetorical question – one that seems dismissive and harsh: ’Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’ (Mark 3:33). But He was not rejecting them at all. In His teaching, He condemned the way the Pharisees neglected their parents (Matt. 15:1-9), and in the midst of the horror of the cross, He made arrangements for his mother’s security (John 19:25-27). His mother and brothers were later present in the upper room at Pentecost (Acts 1:14). Jesus was showing there is a beautiful family tie among His followers, those who love Him and do the Father’s will. Anyone who has travelled in ministry will know the joy of strangers met on the other side of the world, but who are kin to us because of our shared love for Jesus. And this family will be together forever! Prayer: In a lonely world, I am so grateful to be part of Your family. It’s often flawed – as am I – but I belong. Thank You. Amen. 55

WEEKEND 24 - 25 FEB

HUMBLE FAITH

Sometimes faith is found in the most unexpected places, as is demonstrated in this next episode. A high-ranking officer in the Roman army, possibly quietly converted to be a follower of Israel’s God, although he had not become a formal proselyte. But his faith is evident, not only because he had built a synagogue for the people of the Capernaum, but because he was held in such high esteem by the local Jewish elders, who pleaded on his behalf that Jesus might heal the waning servant. The picture of Jews commending Romans is rare in the New Testament! But in this interaction, there’s an interesting detail that we might miss. The Jewish elders declared the centurion to be worthy of Jesus’ attention, because of all that he had done for the community – but the centurion himself never asked for that to be part of the speech, instead declaring himself to be unworthy of Jesus’ coming under his roof. True faith is authentically humble, but religion tends to make people feel they have gained merit by their actions.

READ Luke 7:1-10 Romans 5:1-8

Today, we are rescued by Jesus because we are loved, and He is outrageously gracious. That should not only spur us to grateful thanksgiving, but true humility as well. When we’re tempted to feel we don’t deserve God’s love because of the bad things we have done, or that we do deserve God’s love because of the good things we have done, let’s take a leaf out of the centurion’s book, and express humble faith that even startles Jesus. To ponder: Many think that Christianity is just about trying to be a good person. Have we, the church, not been clear enough?

MON 26 FEB

AUTHORITY

READ Matthew 8:5-13 Matthew 28:18-20

FOCUS “But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” Matthew 8:8-9

My experience as an army cadet taught me one very important lesson: I didn’t want a career in the military. The annual camp I attended was the final straw. Awakened every morning by a yelling sergeant, being told my bed had to be made with razor sharp corners, and spending hours buffing and polishing boots so they shone like mirrors – it was not for me. Add spending three days crawling around in mud during our mock war exercises, and being shot in the rear end by a careless chap who discharged a rifle blank in my direction – no thanks. But what those days did teach me was how authority works in a military context. In short, you do what you’re told. When the sergeant barks, you jump. The centurion understood that concept well, and applied it to faith. As far as he was concerned, Jesus had the authority to speak to his servant’s illness, and that was that. This was simple, uncluttered faith. I know that the life of faith doesn’t always work like that – prayers go unanswered, and trust is vital as well as faith. But I’m challenged today as I realise I care about some situations, yet act as if Jesus has no ability to do anything about them. My prayers for those issues have faded into nothing. I no longer ask. One day, Jesus will be totally in charge – of everything. In the meantime, we keep praying, ‘Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.’ We ask Him in faith to just ‘speak the word’. And we trust when waiting is called for. Prayer: Dear Father, let faith in You and Your authority be found in me for those situations. Amen.

TUE 27 FEB

PARABLE AND MYSTERY

READ Matthew 13:1-17 Luke 10:23-24

FOCUS That same day Jesus left the house and sat by the Sea of Galilee. Matthew 13:1

Let’s examine a sample of what Jesus taught in Capernaum. As we read that Jesus left ‘the house’, scholars generally believe this refers again to Peter’s home. The Sea of Galilee is just yards away. As a local church leader, I have occasionally heard the following, usually from a disgruntled person as they left the congregation: ‘I’m not being fed.’ This is an ingenious weapon, because no instrument can measure the depth of Bible teaching. Recently I responded to someone who made the complaint by informing them only babies, or those disabled by age or infirmity, need to be fed. As Jesus uses parables, we’d be wrong to think that He is dumbing down truth, using pithy little stories to spoon feed the masses. Rather, as He speaks of the ‘mysteries’ of the Kingdom, He wants to activate a search, and invite His listeners to wrestle with His teaching in order to get to the truth, and then make decisions about their discoveries. And He already knows that there are some (in the crowd, rather than amongst His disciples) who just won’t get it because they are already under judgment – these parables come after increasing resistance and ‘hardness of heart’ from the people of Israel. The sermon shouldn't end our search for truth, but provoke us to activate our own search. Calvin Miller described a great sermon as a place where ‘intrigue is born.’7 When the ‘Amen’ is said at the end of the talk, let’s continue to prayerfully wrestle with its truths. Prayer: Help me to seek You with my whole heart, Father, to be one who asks, seeks, knocks and finds. Amen.

Calvin Miller, Spirit, Word and Story, (Dallas Tx, Word Publishing, 1989) p. 19

WED 28 FEB

SEED

READ Matthew 13:18 Luke 8:4-8

FOCUS ‘Listen! Here is the meaning of the story of the farmer.' Matthew 13:18

As I have said before, I am possibly the world’s worst gardener. I am no good at planting or pruning. My main deficiency is a lack of patience: I just don’t like the idea of planting seeds and then having to wait, not just days, but months for a result. I like things to happen quickly, even instantly. I learned that about myself yet again this morning. My computer was slow in starting up. I huffed in frustration, irritated that I’m never going to get those two wasted minutes back. Give me blossoming plants, porridge, information, and a Wi-Fi connection right now, if you please. Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God, the rule of the living, loving God, comes to human hearts slowly, like seed. That encourages me. As a preacher and writer, I can feel the pressure to see ‘results’ – people making decisions to follow Christ at the end of a sermon, or coming forward to make a prayerful response to the message. But my task is not to always reap, but to sow. Perhaps you’re patiently waiting for someone that you love to respond to Christ, and despite your best efforts, it’s not happening. Continue to sow sensibly and sensitively, and pray that seeds planted will eventually bear fruit. And pray for the protection of those seeds too: that they won’t be stolen away, lost because life becomes difficult, or choked by life’s worries and cares. If the seed is still very much underground, and there’s no fruit just yet, hold steady. That’s the way it is with seeds. Prayer: Today, I choose to be patient and tenacious in faith, Father. Grant me grace. Amen. 59

THU 29 FEB

MUCH FRUIT

READ Matthew 13:19-23 John 15:1-17 FOCUS But the seed that fell on good soil is like those who hear the message and understand it. They produce a crop 100, 60 or 30 times more than the farmer planted. Matthew 13:23

GOING DEEPER

lifewithlucas.co.uk/ goingdeeper

As I shared yesterday, I’m no gardener. Although I have bought those little packets of seeds – the ones with colourful photographs of gigantic vegetables that promise much – but I’ve never managed to actually raise a flower or a carrot. Speaking to a community that was centred around agriculture, Jesus’ famous parable would have been quite shocking – not least because He describes a farmer who seems perfectly willing to waste two thirds of his seed supply on ground that will prove to be unsuitable. But when Jesus talked about fruitfulness, His audience would have gasped. Farming in that area usually produced a crop of seven to eight times the amount of the seed sown. And so when Jesus describes a harvest that could even be as much as a hundredfold, the crowds would have been stunned. He is offering a life of possibility, or potential, that is almost beyond their imagining. He offers the same to us. We’re invited to be people who bear ‘much’ fruit (Galatians 5:22-23) – that includes joy, influence, character development (as the ‘fruit’ of the Spirit grows in our lives). But if that is to happen, we need to both hear and understand God’s word – and surely understanding includes applying the word consistently, so that we are hearers and doers of the word (James 1:22). We’re back to where we were yesterday, hearing a call to wrestle with truth, to allow it to get under our skins and into our hearts. Today, God working in us, we can live fruitfully. Prayer: May the fruit of the Spirit blossom in my life as I walk with You today, Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

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FRI 01 MAR

WAITING

READ Matthew 13:24-43 Lamentations 3:24-26

FOCUS It is the smallest of all your seeds. But when it grows, it is the largest of all garden plants. It becomes a tree. Birds come and rest in its branches. Matthew 13:32

It’s time for more confessions. Standing politely in a lengthy queue in a crowded coffee shop yesterday, I suddenly became rather incensed. A couple of ladies darted into the line, simply pushing in front of the gentleman who was standing behind me. As he rolled his eyes, we shared a glance, both frustrated by the rudeness and irritated at having to wait in line. Waiting isn’t my favourite thing, whether it’s being held on hold on the phone (while listening to tinkly electronic music composed by mad people), waiting for the test result, or wandering around the platform hoping that the delayed train will show up. The common theme of the parables of the weeds, mustard seeds and yeast, is waiting. In all these brief stories, patience is called for. It appears that judgment is coming, but not yet; the tree will eventually grow tall, but later; and the bread will be brought from oven to table, but only after it has been baked. Perhaps Jesus told these stories in part because He knew that His Jewish audience were tired of waiting for deliverance from their Roman oppressors. Waiting is part of the Christian life; the prayer doesn’t always get answered quickly (or at all); we worry about the test result, the unhappiness of our children. We wait. Perhaps you’re in that waiting mode right now. One day all will be put right, although that might not bring the comfort I’d wish for you. But in the meantime, as you wait, grace to you. Prayer: My eyes look, in faith, to You, the Lord My God. I wait patiently for the Lord. Amen. (Adapted from Psalm 123:1-2)

WEEKEND 02 - 03 MAR

TREASURE FOUND, JUDGMENT AVOIDED

Just yards from my home when I was growing up was an irrigation ditch, a popular spot to play for my friends and me. As I looked down at the murky water one day, I saw a small suitcase bobbing around, apparently hastily discarded. Scampering down and opening the case, I was thrilled to discover it was full of gleaming jewellery. My mind raced. Had a fleeing burglar tossed this aside, desperate to discard the evidence of his crime? My parents called the police, who took the bag away and told me that if nobody claimed it in thirty days, the contents would be mine. I was thrilled. Jesus describes the Kingdom of God as a treasure that surpasses everything. Two men find it – one apparently stumbles upon it, the other makes the discovery after a long search. What matters is not how we find the Kingdom, but that we find it. In using a picture of treasure found, Jesus reminds us of the true riches that are ours who are in Him. Paul knew that, and considered everything else worthless. Be grateful today. Heaven is ours; and judgment, pointed to in the parable of the net, has been averted.

READ Matthew 13:44-52 Philippians 3:7-11

And that ‘treasure trove’ I found? Nobody claimed it. It became mine. It was paste jewellery, totally worthless – quite unlike being in God’s Kingdom, which is priceless. In the Kingdom we have a relationship with the One who created us, power to live His way, purpose in our mission, and the promise of eternity together with Him. Treasure indeed. To ponder: Jesus said, 'For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’ (Matt. 6:21, NIV). What does that mean? 63

MON 04 MAR

FEAR

READ Luke 8:40-56 1 Peter 5:7

FOCUS Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe. She will be healed.” Luke 8:50

Nobody has to teach us how to be afraid. Fear comes very naturally. Anyone who has ever had the misfortune to be awakened by a telephone call in the middle of the night knows that fear can hurtle through our minds at high speed. Before we answer the phone, we have the capacity to imagine all kinds of terrible tragedies. In this story of two healings in Capernaum, Jesus not only demonstrates His ability to perform miracles of power, but shows the heart behind the power – He is tender and compassionate. Before we look at these healings more closely, let’s know that He cares deeply about the needy people that he encounters. To the synagogue ruler, He offers gentle but profound advice: don’t be afraid. And then Jesus shows that He himself wouldn’t bow down to fear, either a fear of becoming ritually unclean (because being touched by a woman with an issue of blood and touching a dead body would render him unclean), and He wasn’t afraid of any criticisms that might come his way from the religious barons if He did so. Jairus must have been frustrated and then grief-stricken, because Jesus was being delayed by the clamouring of the woman with the haemorrhage, and then he gets news that his daughter has passed. It’s then that Jesus instructs Jairus to not be afraid. Put simply, if Jesus tells us not to be afraid (as a command) then it must be possible to obey that command, to trust him in the face of fear, to pray instead of worry. Are you afraid today? May grace enable us to respond to the call of Christ, and resist fear. Prayer: When fear stalks me – especially during the night – enable me to still my heart with faith. You care for me, loving Father. Amen.

TUE 05 MAR

WHEN GOD DELAYS

READ Matthew 9:18-26 Psalm 70:1-5

FOCUS He said, “My daughter has just died. But come and place your hand on her. Then she will live again.” Matthew 9:18

As we turn to Matthew’s description of this event, we discover God is open to suggestions, which is why we pray. When Peter walked on the water, it was his idea. And here, in this story of a desperate man, another suggestion is put to Jesus. If He will just lay His hand upon the rapidly cooling corpse of a young girl – the synagogue leader’s recently deceased daughter – then she will come back to life. Believing that such a thing was possible was surely a stretch. But then there was an additional cost for this grieving dad, because this was a season of criticism for Jesus, as we’ve already seen. The religious barons were circling with their questions about Jesus’ dining habits and His insistence on offering forgiveness. Now a pillar of the Jewish religious community – a synagogue leader no less – was putting his faith in the Galilean healer. Risky indeed. Jesus agrees to return with Jairus (Mark and Luke tell us his name) to his home, when something wonderful and frustrating happens. Another desperate soul, this time a woman with a long history of haemorrhaging, interrupts the journey. I can imagine Jairus nervously hopping from one foot to another, frustrated that his most urgent mission has been interrupted. As a dad, I know that nothing else in the world would matter if one of my children had died. We talked earlier about seeds, and waiting. Again, waiting is part of the Christian life. We wait still for His coming. Prayer: When I am called to wait on You and for You, grant me patience and enduring faith, Father. Amen. 65

WED 06 MAR

SELF TALK

READ Matthew 9:18-26 Psalm 42:1-11

FOCUS She thought, “I only need to touch his clothes. Then I will be healed.” Matthew 9:21

As we meet this woman who had battled haemorrhaging – and probably anemia as well – for twelve years, we read in one version of our focus verse, that 'she said within herself' (KJV). This is self-talk – that inner dialogue, those thoughts and interactions that go on in our minds but are never externally vocalised (except occasionally when we are alone). Her self-talk was positive and proactive – it led her to faith and healing. She probably mingled superstition with faith, because faith is rarely pure and perfect, but Jesus didn’t mind. I can’t say that my self-talk is always as healthy. Like us all, my life is not without its challenges and burdens; there are things that trouble me, issues I’d like to see resolved, concerns that occasionally keep me awake at night. So I’ve caught myself engaging in patterns of negative self-talk, obsessively turning over the various problems and possibilities in my mind, rather than praying about those challenges – which would be far more helpful. Martyn Lloyd Jones brings a challenge: ‘Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?’8 The Psalmist gave himself repeatedly to positive self-talk and self-exhortation, as three times he spoke to his own soul: ‘Why are you downcast?’ Healthy inner dialogue takes practice and discipline. My self-talk usually brings dark emotional clouds. Let’s check our inner selftalk today. Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock, my redeemer. Amen.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Its Cure (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965/2002), pp20-1.

THU 07 MAR

HE IS KIND

READ Mark 5:35-43 Luke 1:67-80

FOCUS He took her by the hand. Then he said to her, “Talitha koum!” This means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” Mark 5:41

In the synagogue ruler’s darkest moment, Jesus offers far more than power. His kindness breathes warmth and life into the scene. A friend delivers a hammer blow: too late, Jairus, your daughter is dead. The mourners’ wailing turns to derisive laughter at Jesus, as they confirm the terrible news. She is gone. Gently, Jesus encourages the distraught dad to continue in faith. Mark loves to record quotes from Jesus exactly as they were spoken (Mark 7:34; 14:36); the literal translation of Jesus’ comforting nudge to faith is, ’Be not afraid, go on believing.' And then at the girl’s bedside, Jesus used a tender phrase in Aramaic, which Mark translates for his nonJewish readers. The word translated ‘little girl’ has the same affectionate tone to it as calling a child a ‘lamb’ in English. The child stirs and gets up, to the astonishment of her parents. Concerned for her ongoing welfare, Jesus instructs the stunned parents to give her food. Sometimes ‘spiritual’ people forget to be practical. At every step, Jesus shows that His power is far more than a firework display. He offers genuine concern and comfort as well as the authority to make death itself cower. Let’s never relegate God to a power source when we need a breakthrough, or demote Him to be our personal GPS system when we need guidance. He wants to be so much more. As old Zechariah said, ‘...our God is tender and caring. His kindness will bring the rising sun to us from heaven’ (Luke 1:78). Prayer: Your loving kindness is better than life, Lord. My lips and my heart shall praise You. Amen.

FRI 08 MAR

WE CAN BE WRONG

READ Matthew 9:27-34 Matthew 12:22-28

FOCUS But the Pharisees said, “He drives out demons by the power of the prince of demons.” Matthew 9:34

GOING DEEPER

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He was one of the most obstinate people that I have ever met, and he could argue that black was white. A self-proclaimed expert in just about everything, he pontificated loudly wherever he got the chance. Any attempt to correct him was rebuffed, but he took great delight in correcting others. Often, after preaching, he would approach me with the dreaded words: ‘Thanks for the message, Jeff, but...’ He could never admit to being wrong. The Pharisees took a similar stance, and resorted to a terrible tactic when faced with yet more undeniable miracles of healing (the two blind men) and deliverance. Exorcisms in Jewish culture were not uncommon, and Jesus had confronted demons before. But now, watching the amazed reaction from the crowd, the Pharisees have one last resort. They can’t deny the miracle – a man who had previously been mute was now talking – and so they switched tactics and suggested that Jesus’ power came from Satan. It was a ridiculous idea to suggest that Satan would drive himself out, as Jesus would later point out, but He was often accused of acting under the influence of dark power (Mark 3:22). Rather than admitting they were wrong and conceding that Jesus was doing wonderful things, the Pharisees resorted to blaspheming God. They were so incredibly stubborn. Ironically, Jesus helps blind men see, but the Pharisees, tagged as ‘blind’ by Jesus, (Matt. 23:16-17) chose to stay stuck in their blindness. Let’s not be like them. Prayer: Father, when I feel most confident in being right, give me a humble, teachable heart, because I know I can be wrong. Amen.

WEEKEND 09 -10 MAR

MCMESSIAH

As we turn now to Jesus’ teaching about how He is the bread of life, we know that He shared this teaching in Capernaum, because John says: ‘He said this while He was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum’ (John 6:59). In a bizarre but true story, Latreasa Goodman recently went through a McDonalds drive through, but was told some news that obviously traumatised her. They had run out of Chicken McNuggets. The distraught lady was so upset that she called 911 (the American equivalent of 999) to report the disaster to the police. It was a case of massive consumer disappointment. She was also probably a little downhearted when she was charged with wasting police time. In John 6, John presents a similar event, as the crowds demand Jesus become a fast food Messiah. They even used some historical manipulation to demand their menu choices. Having experienced the free food-fest of the feeding of the 5,000, they wanted some more, and so tried to pit Jesus against Moses in nudging him to perform a convenience miracle. They wanted a convenience God.

READ John 6:25-41 Isaiah 29:13-16

As we consider this portrait of Jesus as the bread of life, we must first consider whether we also try to make Jesus what we want him to be. We have all met people who say, ‘I like to think of God as being like...’ and then describe some idea of their own. But it isn’t just non-Christians who do this. We can be guilty too. Let’s allow God to challenge us as we think about this portrait of Jesus, the bread of life. To ponder: How might we tend to treat God as being there simply to meet our wants and needs? 69

MON 11 MAR

GOD IN MY POCKET

READ John 6:34 John 4:4-26

FOCUS “Sir,” they said, “give us this bread from now on.” John 6:34

There’s nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked bread. Perhaps that’s why home sellers used to be told to bake some bread and put on some fresh coffee when their home was viewed by potential buyers. Freshly baked bread represents home comforts, and a cosy atmosphere. Like the woman at the well who wanted the wonder water that would solve the problem of thirst for good, these people were hungry for some ‘wonderloaf’. Of course, there’s a danger that we can also develop a costless, cosy spirituality, one that we embrace because it makes us feel good and isn’t challenging. Princeton sociologist Robert Wuthnow wrote: ‘At one time theologians argued that the chief purpose of humankind was to glorify God. Now it would seem that the logic has been reversed: the chief purpose of God is to glorify humankind. Spirituality no longer is true or good because it meets absolute standards of truth or goodness, but because it helps me to get along. I am the judge of its worth. If it helps me to find a vacant parking space, I know my spirituality is on the right track. If it leads me into the wilderness, calling me to face dangers I would rather not deal with at all, then it is a form of spirituality I am unlikely to choose.’9 It is right to follow Christ, not because of the feelings we get, or even because His way works, and produces the kind of life we want. Whatever the danger, however bleak the wilderness, we follow Him because He is who He says He is. Prayer: May I be a faithful follower of Yours, Jesus, wherever You lead, whatever may come. You are with me. Amen.

Robert Wuthnow, ‘Small Groups Forge Notions... of the Sacred’, (Christian Century, December 8, 1993) pp1239-1240

TUE 12 MAR

GOD OF MY NATION

READ John 6:30-33 Daniel 3:1-30

FOCUS “Long ago our people ate the manna in the desert. It is written in Scripture, ‘The Lord gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” John 6:31

I’m nervous whenever people start talking about the uniqueness of their nation in the eyes of God. It’s good to be grateful for the blessings of God, but that can easily lead to arrogance. Christians should be hesitant patriots: human governments are flawed, whoever is in power, and God doesn’t do favouritism. There may come a time when we have to make a choice between being good citizens of an earthly nation, or faithful citizens of the Kingdom of God – as Daniel and his friends famously demonstrated. When there is conflict, our allegiance to God must come first and foremost. And we are the Kingdom people, who are more concerned about the Kingdom of God than any national identity. Part of the crowd’s appeal to Jesus was in reference to their national history. They point back to Moses – he fed all of Israel six days a week for forty years with bread from heaven. The implication is: we are Israel, so do for us what Moses did for Israel back then. But as Paul points out in Acts 10:34-35, ‘God treats everyone the same... He accepts people from every nation... anyone who has respect for him and does what is right.’ Letting God define our political commitments is one thing – letting our political commitments define God is another. Beware of patriotism that turns into proud nationalism. And don’t fall into the trap that, because national leaders say something is right, slavish obedience to them is required. They can be very wrong. Prayer: Help me to always remember that my primary identity is as a citizen of Your Kingdom, Lord Jesus. Amen. 71

WED 13 MAR

I AM

READ John 6:35 Exodus 3:1-14

FOCUS Then Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever go hungry. And no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty.” John 6:35

sciencefromscientists.org

What is Jesus’ response to those who seek to manipulate Him? Unsurprisingly, it is the same response that God gave to Moses so many years earlier: “I AM WHO I AM” (Exod. 3:14). As Jesus affirms that He is the bread of life – the very basic substance of existence – we remember we are not just dealing with a Galilean rabbi, but with the One without whom nothing was made that has been made (John 1:3). And what a mighty God He is. Brennan Manning once remarked that the stars call us out of ourselves. Hold up a twenty-pence piece against the night sky, and that tiny coin will be covering 15 million stars in our Milky Way. A sun explodes with each tick of the clock. The light that He has made travels at 186,000 miles a second, (at that speed, a bullet could go around the earth and clip your arm seven times in less than a second). Inside your head, there are 75-100 billion brain cells, each one having as many as 10,000 connections to other nerve brain cells. We are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psa. 139:14). He is the source of everything. Carl Sagan says, ‘To make an apple pie from scratch, first you have to make the Universe.’10 Jesus, the bread of life, is not an option for living – He is the only route to real life. Without Him, we endure mere survival, just marking time. And with Him, we are friends with the mightiest King in creation. As we’ll see over the next few days, our response must be worship, witness and faithfulness. Prayer: Glorious, all-powerful God, thank You that You are mindful of me today. Enlarge my vision of Your greatness. Amen.

THU 14 MAR

WORSHIP

READ John 6:36-37 John 4:21-24

FOCUS All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. John 6:37 (NIV)

GOING DEEPER

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Another confession: I don’t always enjoy worship. I get rather restless during those hour and a half sessions where the band are enjoying singing the same song twenty times over, but no one else is. And then to add insult to injury, there have been times when I have been desperate for the incessant time of singing to end, and the worship leader announces, ‘Heaven will be just like this. Only sooo much longer.’ Yikes. Jesus is the bread of life, the core of all that is, and surely our fitting response is to bring worship – whatever we feel like. Our commitment to worship, which is life itself, far more than singing – brings us back to what really matters. But our ‘acts’ of worship, together, matter too. Song and liturgy and sermon affirm that Christ is the Great ‘I am.’ Just as Jesus included the call to worship in His ‘I am’ conversation with the woman at the well, so the truth that He is the bread of life calls us to be with Him as worshippers. It was Kierkegaard who suggested that we’ve got confused about who’s doing what in worship – we think of worshippers as the audience, pastors as entertainers, and God as prompter. In fact, the worshippers are the performers, pastors are prompters, and God is the audience. When we gather for worship, we perform a drama with different parts – speaking and singing and praying and giving money and baptising and eating bread and drinking wine – all for the delight of God. Prayer: Bread of life, sustainer, provider, I worship You today. Amen.

FRI 15 MAR

WITNESS

READ John 6:38-59 Romans 5:12-21

FOCUS “What I’m about to tell you is true. Everyone who believes has life forever.” John 6:47

Sometimes we can be seduced into believing that some people really don’t need Jesus, at least in this life. They appear happy, contented, and successful; their family life stable and resilient. Compared to some Christians that we might know, who seem anything but ‘together’, these good, godless happy folks look like they’re doing fine. And, in many ways, they are. But look again at this portrait of Jesus, who reminds us that He is the bread of life. These words could only come, as C. S. Lewis pointed out, either from a madman, or from God himself. With these words, Jesus is saying that He is the bare necessity for every human being on the planet. No one is complete without Him in their lives. This is a bold claim indeed. If all that is true, shouldn’t we be sharing him more? While I don’t believe that Christians are called to be aggressive, loud people who shout the gospel before they’ve even earned the right to speak it, there is surely a danger that the pendulum swings in the other direction and we fail to share Christ at all. The Bible calls us to always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us (1 Pet. 3:15) and that we live lives which provoke questions. Whenever we can, we should be pointing people to Christ. I think that I’ve reacted to cringy, offensive evangelism by being a little too quiet about Jesus. What about you? Perhaps we need to get our voices back, because we have news that affects eternity. Prayer: Enable me to live a life today that provokes questions, Lord. Help me to be bold for You. Amen.

WEEKEND 16-17 MAR

FAITHFULNESS

One of the unusual sides of Jesus the Rabbi is that He kept giving His apprentices the opportunity to leave Him – or, more positively, to reaffirm their commitment to Him as they realised the cost of following in His footsteps. When they first became His disciples, they would have had no idea what it would mean – even though He warned them it would cost them dearly. Now, as Jesus creates incredible controversy with His words about His flesh and blood, He turns to His disciples and asks the most poignant question: ‘You don’t want to leave also, do you?’ Something similar happens with Peter at the end of John’s gospel. The resurrected Jesus takes Peter and his weary friends out for breakfast, and it is here that Peter not only is restored from his denial, but also learns that very tough times – including martyrdom – are ahead. Think about that. Peter would live the rest of his life on prophetic death row. And now, with that understanding, he is once again issued an invitation from Jesus: follow me?

READ John 6:60-71 John 21:18-19

We are surely very different from the people we were when we first gave our lives to Christ, perhaps many years ago. Perhaps we’ve been wounded in church. We’ve got some serious bumps and bruises. There are questions about aspects of our faith that weren’t there before. We know more now than we did then. Whatever has changed about us, He remains who He says He is – the bread of life, the great ‘I am.’ Will we leave Him, or continue to follow – today? To ponder: Have we ever been tempted to ‘leave Him’? What prompted that? 75

MON 18 MAR

DON’T FIGHT EVERY BATTLE

READ Matthew 17:24-27 Matthew 5:9

FOCUS “Take the first fish you catch. Open its mouth. There you will find the exact coin you need... give it to them for my tax and yours.” Matthew 17:27

It’s a strange story, again from Capernaum, where a very useful miracle was performed – money from a fish’s mouth to pay a tax bill. Tax was a very contentious issue in Jesus’ day – and of special interest to Matthew, who, as we’ve seen, previously made a profitable career for himself as a tax collector. Jews were often stripped in the streets to see if they were circumcised, and therefore liable to pay the Temple tax. It wasn’t a great amount – a didrachma, a little coin, and the money was used to help support the work of the Temple. Jesus makes the point that, as the Son of the Father, and therefore the Son of the owner and ruler of the Temple, He had no need to pay the tax – although by law, He was still liable. But on this occasion He chose not to make an issue out of it, and paid the tax anyway. Those who choose to make a fuss out of every issue are destined to cause trouble in churches, friction in marriages, and erosion in friendships. Some people even seem to relish a fight and go looking for a reason to create conflict and tension. But Jesus, unafraid to confront other hypocritical behaviour patterns, decided to just go ahead and pay the money. The time would come for Him to turn over the tables in the Temple and prophesy its total destruction – which happened in AD70. But for now, with a measure of humour (with the fish-catching incident), He paid up. Let’s resist the temptation to fight every battle. Prayer: May I never be hungry for conflict; never eager to offend for the sake of offence. Amen.

TUE 19 MAR

SIMPLICITY AND HUMILITY

READ Matthew 18:1-9 Matthew 19:13-15

FOCUS “You need to change and become like little children. If you don’t, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3

I try not to talk too much about my grandsons – but becoming a grandparent has reintroduced me to the wonders of being a child, when the child is raised in a healthy, safe environment. My grandsons are great at soccer, drums, hugs – and receiving. When we bring them gifts, which is often (our job description is to spoil them) they are delighted to receive without protest or hesitation. They happily and gratefully take, and we love them for it. We assume this episode took place in Capernaum – it happened right after the tax and fish story that we considered yesterday. Using a child as an illustration, Jesus calls us to recognise that true greatness is not found in human accomplishment, but in the ability to receive with childlike simplicity. What has all this to do with humility? Everything. The Pharisees and teachers of the law felt that they could earn merit with their meticulous, picky, legalistic obsessions. Legalism is pride with a religious face; it masks an attitude that says we can pay for salvation and forgiveness ourselves rather than freely admitting our need and embracing God’s outrageous grace. But this doesn’t lead us to passivity. The vivid imagery of cutting off limbs shows that our response to God’s grace is radical, decisive commitment to holiness. Let’s be clear – no self-mutilation or self-harm is advocated here, but in picture language, Jesus is calling us to be determined, committed disciples. Prayer: Help me to receive like a child, and respond to Your love with radical commitment, Lord Jesus. Amen.

WED 20 MAR

DOUBT AND UNBELIEF

READ Matthew 11:20-24 Hebrews 3:1-19

FOCUS Jesus began to speak against the towns where he had done most of his miracles. The people there had not turned away from their sins. Matthew 11:20

Our visit to Capernaum is almost over, and we return to Jesus’ judgment of Capernaum. During our trips to the Holy Land, we visit these places Jesus condemned, and it’s sobering. The former towns and villages are desolate and deserted – there is very little left of Bethsaida, and although the ruins of Capernaum and Korazim are fascinating, one cannot get away from this fact: these places that were once bustling are now empty sites for tourists and archeologists. It’s important to note that Jesus condemned these places because those who lived there had clearly seen multiple miracles yet refused to put their faith in Him. The evidence was clear, but just as the scribes had attributed Jesus’ power to a demonic source, these people had either ignored or rationalised the miracles they’d witnessed. They were without excuse. Ultimately, they ignored all He had done: we’ll consider that more tomorrow. And it’s also vital to know there is clearly a difference between doubt and unbelief. Doubt strikes all (or most of us) some of the time. Sometimes the circumstances and unexplained tragedies of life make the existence of God seem questionable. Or perhaps unanswered questions accumulate, and we waver. We shouldn’t feel sinful if doubt strikes – it is part of believing. But there is a stubborn attitude of unbelief, one of resistance and rebellion, refusing to consider whatever God has done. Let’s wrestle with doubt. And run from unbelief. Prayer: Again, Lord, I pray: increase my faith. Amen.

THU 21 MAR

IGNORING HIM

READ Luke 10:1-16 Ephesians 4:17-32

FOCUS “And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.” Luke 10:15 (NIV)

It’s a feeling that I get sometimes when I look out on a congregation. Many are there because they are eager to learn, ready to worship, passionate for Christ. But there are others who might just be checking a religious box; fulfilling a vague religious obligation, or even placating a loved one. There’s great danger in that attitude, because despite hearing about Christ’s love every week, there is still no deep response, no repentance that leads to a change of life and the hardening of heart described frequently throughout Scripture deepens. Let’s remember that the people of Capernaum never persecuted Jesus, and only a few of them strongly criticised Him. They never mocked Him, and unlike Nazareth where He grew up, they never ran Him out of town, or threatened His life. Most of the people were law-abiding and decent. When it came to Jesus, they were interested, intrigued even, but ultimately indifferent. G. A. Studdert-Kennedy (better known as Woodbine Willie), wrote in his poem ‘Indifference’: When Jesus came to Birmingham, they simply passed Him by. They would not hurt a hair of Him, they only let Him die; For men had grown more tender, and they would not give Him pain, They only just passed down the street, and left Him in the rain. Let’s always be ready to respond quickly to the Lord. And if you know and love someone who is ‘nominal’ in their faith, pray that the Holy Spirit will truly awaken and stir their hearts. Prayer: Lord, may I always be tender towards You. Please meet those I love, who seem indifferent to You. Amen. 79

FRI 22 MAR

JUST AS HE SAID

READ John 2:12-22 Mark 13:1-2

FOCUS His disciples later remembered what he had said. That was after he had been raised from the dead. John 2:22

As Holy Week begins tomorrow, we will end our time in Capernaum today. After denouncing Capernaum, Jesus only visited there occasionally. The days of great public miracles were over, and He tended to speak more in parables. He was eager to speak truth to those who were keen to wrestle with His meaningful stories, rather than pander to the vaguely interested masses. So what happened to Capernaum? Historical evidence suggests there was a Christian population there in the first and second centuries. In AD68, many buildings in the town were levelled by the Romans during the Jewish revolt which ultimately led to the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in AD70, prophesied by Jesus – it happened just as He said. The synagogue where Jesus preached was probably destroyed in another revolt in AD131, and then the final blow to the city was struck five hundred years later by a Muslim attack. The town continued to deteriorate, and a pilgrimage there in 1334 found it unadorned and in ruins. The remains of Capernaum were only uncovered in the early twentieth century. The ‘town of Jesus’, judged for its indifference, was utterly wiped out, and now only ruins remain. It happened. Just as He said it would. After He left Capernaum, Jesus would ultimately end up in Jerusalem. He would be arrested, suffer and die. And He would rise again, as He had promised. Thank God, that happened as well. His Word is true and utterly trustworthy. Prayer: Your Word is tried and true, Father. Help me to live confidently in Your promises. Amen.

WEEKEND 23 - 24 MAR

GOD NEEDS US

READ Matthew 21:1-11 Zechariah 9:9

As we begin Holy Week, let’s initially consider some of the report that Matthew, the Capernaum taxman gives us. I’m trying to imagine what I would do if a total stranger showed up at my house and asked me to hand over the keys to my car, with a promise that he would return it to me later. I’d certainly want a good reason for the request. And I’d be worried if the response was ‘God needs it.’ As Jesus makes His entry into Jerusalem on a colt rather than a warhorse, a Messiah who is Prince of Peace rather than a military man of war, a donkey is required. Jesus didn’t need this donkey because His legs were tired. He was declaring His identity as Messiah to the nation of Israel as He rode in this way, and fulfilling Zechariah’s 500-yearold Old Testament prophecy. This would certainly have turned heads – it would be like the King of England processing down The Mall on a tricycle! And then, as He entered the city and crowds shouted their affirmation of His messiahship, He made no move to stop them. His message was getting through – but He ‘needed’ the cooperation of a donkey owner (and a compliant donkey) to make the message clear. Sometimes it’s said that God doesn’t need anything – and yet He does. Jesus needed His friends in Gethsemane, and later He would leave the gospel in the hands of His fragile followers – He needed them to get the word out after His resurrection and ascension. And today, weak though we may feel, God needs us to fulfil the purposes He has for our lives. Make no mistake. We’re needed and wanted. To ponder: Do you really feel that God needs you? 81

MON 25 MAR

REMEMBER

READ Matthew 21:12-17 Mark 11:15-18

FOCUS Jesus entered the Temple area. He began chasing out all those who were buying and selling there. Matthew 21:12

GOING DEEPER

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This morning I spent some time specifically looking back, remembering decisions my young family and I made in our determination to follow the will of God. I was stirred to gratitude as I recalled how we moved house (and country) because that was what we felt the Lord was asking us to do. It’s good to remember. Remembering is a key part of faith; that’s one reason for us breaking bread and sharing communion. As Jesus storms into the Temple courts and turns tables over, He does so because injustice angers Him. He hates exclusion, too – Mark’s version of this story mentions Jesus saying that the Temple was to be a house of prayer for all nations. It seems that the swindling traders set their stall up in the court of the Gentiles, the only place where non-Jews could gather. But this action was also symbolic, designed to stir the memory of the nation. After all, the crooked traders would be back in place the next day. Nearly two hundred years earlier, the Temple had been rededicated after its ritual defilement at the hands of Antiochus Epiphanes, who used pork as an offering to pagan gods, and turned the Temple cubicles into a brothel. Judas Maccabeus had led the way, and the nation had sung ‘Hosanna!’, waved palm branches, and looked forward to redemption. Now the true Messiah had come. Jesus’ act invited them to remember, and join the dots. What forgotten episodes of God’s handiwork in our journey do we need to remember? Prayer: By Your Spirit, help me to remember Your work that has slipped my mind. Amen.

TUE 26 MAR

FAITH CREATES FRUIT

READ Matthew 21:18-46 John 15:1-17

FOCUS He saw a fig tree... but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Right away the tree dried up. Matthew 21:19

At first glance it seems like petulance, as Jesus curses a fig tree because it has no fruit. Bertrand Russell, a philosopher with an unusual concern for trees(!) responded to this episode by accusing Jesus of ‘vindictive fury’. But we need to go beyond a superficial response. Jesus wasn’t angry because of a lack of food – He’d gone without that for forty days before. This was a symbolic action, just as the clearing of the Temple was loaded with symbolism, as we saw yesterday. Jesus was ‘calling time’ on the Temple (even the reference to ‘moving mountains with faith’ was a reference to the so-called Temple mount), and He was declaring judgment on Israel. The nation of Israel was often represented by a fig tree (see Mic. 7:1-6; Jer. 8:13), and now it was barren, like this tree, which gave the impression it had fruit because of its leaves. Elsewhere we read we too are called to fruitfulness, as we dwell in Christ each day and cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. I touched on this earlier, but it bears repeating: some people call themselves Christians, but there is no obvious evidence of life change; their belief is vague, something in their head for Sundays, and there is a clear disconnect with Mondays. James blasts that kind of ‘faith’ in his epistle. Jesus declared judgment over a Temple and tree that was fruitless. Today, let’s walk in step with the Christ whose power is at work in us – and then fruit will grow. Prayer: Holy Spirit, may my life bear much good fruit, and so glorify Christ. Amen.

WED 27 MAR

BIRTH PANGS

READ Matthew 24:1-14 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

FOCUS “Do you see all these things?” Jesus asked. “...Not one stone here will be left on top of another. Every stone will be thrown down.” Matthew 24:2

We jumped into action, because this was the moment we had been waiting nine long months for. We’d been excited by false contractions. But now what she was experiencing was very real, and so we bundled the previously packed suitcase into the car and headed for the hospital. The birth-pangs signalled the new life that was about to appear and change our lives forever. Something similar is described in this chapter of Matthew. Jesus is drawing ever closer to arrest, trial and crucifixion. As they headed away from the city of Jerusalem towards Bethany, where the team would spend the night, the disciples marvelled at the beauty of the Temple. And marvel they should, because it took 46 years to complete, and was the pride of the nation and the epicentre of its national life. But as we saw earlier, Jesus promised that it was coming down, something unthinkable at this stage of history, even though throughout the Old Testament God had warned that judgment on the people of Israel meant judgment on the Temple. Again, in AD70, the prophecy that Jesus gave was fulfilled. And so, this passage speaks of both immediate fulfilment, but also the ‘birth pangs’ of the long-term future, when Christ will return. Teaching about the second coming of Christ has been neglected, largely because of foolish ideas about it. But let’s remind ourselves today that human history will not end in chaos, but in consummation. Christ will come again. Prayer: Risen Jesus, when the turbulence around me suggests chaos reigns, remind me You are the Lord of history. Amen.

THU 28 MAR

THREE CONTRASTS

READ Matthew 26:1-30 Psalm 118:1-29

FOCUS Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. Matthew 26:30

I was reduced to tears today by a Facebook posting. It was a video of a young man, standing on a beach, enjoying the sunrise. He announced that he had probably never been awake so early before: it was obvious this was a very special occasion. Given a prognosis of a devastating cancer, and aware that the future is highly uncertain, this man with everything to live for – he has a beautiful young family – was expressing thanks for all who had sent messages of love. He said he was grateful for prayers for healing, and expressed simple, stunning faith and trust in God. It was quite unforgettable. In these episodes, Matthew paints a series of contrasting pictures of worship, betrayal and trust. The woman with the perfume brought an offering worth around £16,000 in today’s money. Unsurprisingly, some objected, but she made history: her legacy shows us that sacrifice is at the heart of worship. And then Judas’ betrayal is a bitter contrast to the trust Jesus shows as He shares the last supper. Some believe Judas did this because he was trying to spark a confrontation between Jesus and the authorities; then, perhaps Jesus would react and become the military messiah that Judas and indeed Israel longed for. Trying to control God is vain. Trusting is the way that Jesus showed as He sang the Hallel hymn (Psa. 115-118), which is filled with hope and praise. He sang before He went to the cross. If today is dark, may you be enabled to trust. Prayer: When darkness closes in, may I be enabled to sing your praises, and trust You, faithful God. Amen.

FRI 29 MAR

EPIC FORGIVENESS

READ Luke 23: 26-43 Matthew 5:23-24

FOCUS Jesus said, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.” The soldiers divided up his clothes by casting lots. Luke 23:34

It’s a terrible and beautiful scene. The excruciating agony of the cross is mingled with staggering forgiveness. If I was being led out to die for crimes which I did not commit – and Jesus’ accusers blatantly lied in order to get rid of Him – I would most likely be screaming about the injustice of it all. I would ensure I did not go quietly but would let those tormenting me know of their awful crime. But Jesus prays for His executioners – not that God the Father would rain down judgment upon them, but would forgive them. Even though their actions had been so cleverly calculated, Jesus recognises the fallen, foolish human condition, and asks for grace because of their ignorance. And then one of the thieves crucified alongside Jesus asked for forgiveness. In comparing the gospel accounts, it seems that both thieves began the harrowing execution experience by mocking and reviling Jesus. But then, one had a change of mind, perhaps impacted by Jesus’ graciousness; he changed his tune, and immediately Jesus gave him far more than he was asking for. The thief was asking to be remembered by a Jewish Messiah who might rise to overthrow the Romans. Jesus was offering him a place in an eternal Kingdom that would endure long after the Roman Empire had disappeared into the dust of history. Forgiveness is never easy, but is always beautiful to behold, especially when it involves the kind of lavish, unanticipated generosity that Jesus modelled, even on the cross. Prayer: Jesus, if I need to forgive, take me on a journey that begins with being willing to consider it. Amen.

WEEKEND 30 - 31 MAR

FRAGILE WORLDCHANGERS

READ Luke 24: 33-49 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Hallelujah! He is risen! As we bring our time in this edition to a close this Easter weekend, let’s take a look at the people to whom Jesus was to entrust the most important mission of all time. He was going away, and after all that He had said and done, all the joy and the pain He had experienced, He was handing over the responsibility for getting the good news to the world to a select group of friends and followers. But these were not elite troops. There’s those two on the road to Emmaus. I love the thought that, in a sense, they were walking in the wrong direction. As soon as they realised the wonderful truth, they turned around and headed back to Jerusalem immediately – but during their seven mile walk, going the wrong way, Jesus walked with them. That picture encourages me. Even when we get off the right path, we’re not deserted. That is surely of special encouragement to those of us who love someone currently living a prodigal life, away from God. Whatever road they are on, God can meet them. Then there’s the gathered disciples back in Jerusalem. The resurrection did not answer every question for them – in fact it created many more. As Jesus appears to them, they think they’re seeing a ghost, they are startled and frightened, they doubt. Far from being superheroes, these are profoundly ordinary people called to be game-changers for the world. Fragile, but called. Nothing has changed. And thanks, as always, for joining me. Happy Easter! To ponder: Take some time deliberately ‘counting yourself in’ once again for God’s purposes. 87

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NEXT TIME: HOPE FOREVER! Paul’s two letters to the young church in Thessalonica are packed full of practical instruction and heartwarming encouragement! As John Stott says, ‘The letters show us how the gospel shapes the church and the church spreads the gospel’. Paul addresses many issues that are of vital importance today, such as Christian community, church leadership, moral living, evangelism, and what we need to know about the end times. In these turbulent days, we will find a treasure trove of wisdom that will help us to walk faithfully with Jesus!

It’s been called the ‘miracle town’ - and for very good reason. Capernaum was the place where Jesus made His home after He was rejected in Nazareth. He performed countless miracles there, and shared much of His amazing teaching in Capernaum. As we visit that place, and consider some of the wonderful works that the people there witnessed, we wonder: what was their response to a year-long visit from Jesus Himself? And what can we learn from their experience? Let’s go to the miracle town!

Life with Lucas is written by Jeff Lucas, an international author, speaker, broadcaster and coach. Married to Kay, his passion is to equip the Church with biblical, practical Bible teaching, marked by vulnerability and humour. Jeff is a best-selling author of 34 books, and broadcasts weekly on Premier Christian Radio. He is a Senior Executive Pastor at Timberline Church, Fort Collins, Colorado. JeffLucasUK

JeffLucasUK

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