Don't let pride ruin our ministry
Devotion for Msn Comm • Sermon • Submitted
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Passage: Lk 20.1-8, 19-26
“One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?” He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.” Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”” (Luke 20:1–8, NIV)
“The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken… against them. But they were afraid of the people. Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” He saw through their duplicity and said to them, “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.” (Luke 20:19–26, NIV)
When I read this passage, I was struck by an irony here…we read in today's passage about how Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts, and proclaiming the good news… and they listening and hanging on to the words of Jesus, while the elite of the temple, and the Jewish society -> namely the chief priest, the scribes and the elders came questioning Jesus, rejecting him and trying to ambush him…Why is this an irony?Well, for this, we need to know the context and the structure of the Jewish temple…There are a few courts in the Jewish temples, and not everybody can go into every part of it…For the inner courts, only male Jews can go into it…And in fact only male Jews who are cleansed and prepared can enter the temple courts…So for females, and children they cannot go into the inner courts and there was a special court for them…This was unlikely to be the place mentioned here because Jewish men wouldn't want to go in for fear of being contaminated and disqualify them before entering the inner courts…And then for the Gentiles and the proselytes… ppl who are non-Jews and are seeking…They are usually found in the outer court or court of the gentiles, and that is the closest they can proceed without being literally stoned and killed…The Jewish ppl take their faith very seriously…Then there is another court, called the court of IsraelNot quite the temple itself, but the area just outside of the temple…That is the closest a non-Priest can go to without being stoned..I can't be sure which court this passage was referring to, but it would be one of the later two, the outer court and the court of Israel.If I were to guess, I would say, the court of the Gentiles… because they were able to listen so attentively to Jesus, who to the Jewish leadership was seen as a heretic… without being disturbed by the rest of the Jews…So, now that I explained the court structure, where is the irony?You see, these Gentiles who were denied the ability to come into close proximity with God (at least in the eyes of man)Were deprived of the ability to partake of the sacrificial rituals Deprived of the privilege of growing up in a Jewish family and having the benefit of being exposed to Jewish culture and education while growing upThey were so hungry for God's words and for GodThough they were the outcaste, they were treated to the first-class seat in front of the incarnated God, Jesus, and being able to listen to and receive the Good News and able to take in education the Creator God Himself…On the other hand, Those who were so privileged, growing up in an Jewish family and culture, being respected by the society…Being endowed with the privilege of serving in the holiest place - the chief priest, being given the privilege of handling the most sacred text - the scribes, and having the privilege of upholding justice - the elders… Being given first class seat in the temple and societies all their lives, have given up their first class seat and chose to be an outcaste…Those endowed with the word of God, the το λογος, missed the fact they were in the presence of το λογος,Those endowed with serving God in the holiest place, decided to reject the chance to be in the presence of the incarnated GodThose endowed with the chance to uphold justice in society, decided to pervert justice, by getting ppl to pretend to be sincere with the expressed purpose of trying to kill Jesus…Those who had been given little were given more because they had a disposition of desire and want…Those who had been given much gave up what they had because of their pride…Prov 11.2 tell us“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2, ESV) Don't get me know… this story is not about needing to be poor to receive, but it is about the disposition of our heats…We can be with much resource and yet can be humble and God honoring…We can be poor and yet grieve God with our attitudes and pride…The narrative here is to remind us to always have the heart of humility and to constantly seek God for His guidance and leading…
And I thank you, Msn Comm, that you have been the personification of this attitude of having much resource and yet having a disposition of humility, always seeking God for His guidance…May it continue to be so, and may God continue to be the one leading us…And may we never be blinded by the resources we haveAnd may we never look at the things we have and think we did it ourselves…And may we ever be generous with our resourcesTo partner our Lord in His wonderful work…To help our missionaries, missioners, partners…And blessed to be a family of God, to bless the community and the nations… Amen