Chapter 17 has a theme which is that there is an ambiguity to human actions; we seek one thing and often get another instead. With that in mind, the first 10 verses show an ambiguity in our pursuit of tranquility.
Right off, we this in action in the first three verses:
Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife.
A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son and will share the inheritance as one of the family.
The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.
The idea of having only a dry crust to eat is intended to illustrate poverty. Yet in this case, poverty is coupled with peace and contrasted with wealth and problems. We all know that problems afflict people of all economic circumstances, but wealthy people, in addition to having the same basic dangers and the poor, have levels of trouble far and above those of the poor. Wealth does not bring happiness or peace.
In verse 2. We have a prudent servant, who has no expectations in life beyond a paycheck on Friday, to put this into modern terms. The servant has the boss’ disgraceful son under control, something the boss couldn’t do, and as a result may well find himself in the boss’ will, so grateful is that boss. In fact, this was the custom back in Solomon’s time.
In verse 3, there is a metaphor in play. The crucible and the furnace are tools used to refine silver and gold ore into their pure states, burning off all impurities. The human heart is purified in that way; God does the testing.
As you continue reading the remaining verses (17:4-10) you can easily see this ambiguity continuing to play out, and as you consider the verses, it isn’t difficult to see how all of this plays out in modern life, where a person intends one thing, and ends up with another in life.
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
1Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Jesus has been speaking to His disciples in a sort of an aside in front of a very large crowd when suddenly a man in the crowd shouts out a request: He wants Jesus to tell his brother to cut him in for a piece of his brother’s inheritance. Presumably, their father left his estate to the brother, probably the firstborn of the two… or maybe the more responsible of the two. Jesus isn’t getting involved in their dispute, but tells a parable instead, one that should be quite familiar to us…
A well-to-do farmer has a bumper crop of grain, much more than he can store in his barn. What will he do??
His solution is to tear down his old barn and build a new bigger one so he can store up his harvest and take the next few years off for a big party. That very night, he dies suddenly; who will get his riches?
Here’s the pinch line:
“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” (12:21)
I’ve heard it said in our time that ‘he who dies with the most toys wins’. But what do they win? Jesus’ point is that if we spend our whole life worried about amassing a great fortune, we will have nothing when we die, for while we could have been working and devoting ourselves to projects with an eternal purpose and reward, we wasted our efforts on something that will do us no eternal good whatever.
A person’s life is very short, blink and it’s about gone. Eternity is forever, so which of these should be a greater priority for us?
How about that? This pretty much what Jesus was telling the disciples in their little chat before the man asked Jesus to help him with his brother.
Looking Forward: Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness. (16:31)
Living to old age was the mark of a special blessing in the days of Solomon, as relatively few lived long enough to have grey hair. Grey hair then, is attained by righteous living in God’s favor.
Looking Inward: Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city. (16:32)
This gives us an interesting comparison, one that we might not phrase this way today, yet it still makes the point well. It is far better for a person to be patient and have self-control, than to be constantly putting themselves in harm’s way without thinking things through first. I have found that when taking a test, I should always go with my first impulse for an answer and not to question it. But in matters involving confrontation reactions and confrontation, my first impulse is usually wrong.
It is fair to say that I’m a very good test-taker, and usually a guy who has a cool head in a tough situation.
Looking Upward: The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. (16:33)
As we travel through this life, it is important for us to recognize that ultimately, God is in control of events. It is true that He gave us free will and a long rope, but ultimately, He is in control. Back in Old Testament times, lots would be cast in certain circumstances to determine what God’s will was in that situation, and while we don’t usually cast lots now, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, which people then were not. Thus, it’s great practice for us to seek His will in prayer and contemplation on a regular basis and to follow His lead as best we can in every situation.
Some time back I came upon a scene; this tree grabbed my attention because it was unusual…
The unusual thing about the tree isn’t the scar, but how well it has done in spite of the injury it sustained. I’m not sure exactly what happened to the tree, my first thought was a lightning strike, but who knows? It seems likely that whatever happened was storm related in some form…
We all deal with storms in our lives, sometimes literally, other times the storms are of a different sort. Many of these are caused by our own actions and choices, many are not. More important than anything else is how we respond to them.
When times are tough, do we let the circumstances keep us down; do we let circumstances defeat us? When we are hurt by life’s storms will we dwell in our pain or rise again from it? One of the most difficult lessons in life, at least in my life, was learning that we do have this choice.
Even more important than learning that we have a choice in how we respond to damaging storms in life is learning that we need not try to recover all on our own. It may sound overly simplistic to some, but we can turn much of this over to our Lord, for His strength is greater than ours. We can rely on Him, we can lean on Him, we can trust in Him. Living a Christian life is a life of setting self aside and serving the Lord Jesus Christ, and dealing with times of trouble is no different, so it stands to reason that He will sustain us all the more when we put our trust in Him and keep on serving others instead of serving ourselves.
Some may question all of this, but all I can say to them is “Come and see”
The other day I received a comment from Pete left on my post Earthly Kings. It was a great comment that raises so many timely and important questions for those of us in the USA, and they are just as applicable for those of you in other countries as well. I thought it would make for an interesting Saturday topic. Here is Pete’s comment:
Good comments. I had a brief discussion yesterday with a new believer about our responsibility towards governing officials. It’s sometimes difficult to know just how far we are to support earthly governments. Be that as it may, God clearly tells us that governments, good or bad, are appointed by God, and resisting them, resists God (Romans 13:1-2). It’s easy to find fault, and reasons, not to subject oneself to government. After all, they are faulty and, most, are not aligned with God. Yet, we are commanded to pray for our governments (1 Timothy 2:1-2). Do we complain more than we pray? Sometimes we get the government we deserve.
See what I mean? Great comments, great question!
First off, thank you Pete for your comment. Pete’s site is The Bible Blogand I hope you will check it out.
Back in the days when the debate over Obama Care were the talk of the town, my 87 year old mother called and spoke at length of her frustration and irritation about the way the debate was going, or maybe it was just the way it was being presented on Cable News that she watched all day. Then she asked me a question that I really couldn’t duck; it was something like this:
You’ve had lots of experience in Washington, when do we get to the part where Members of Congress discuss what is best for the country?
She was right, I have more experience in Washington than is healthy for anyone, and I am ashamed to admit it now, but when she asked me about that last part, I burst out laughing. I felt terrible about being so rude, and yet I had a really hard time stopping. When I finally settled my laughing, I had to tell her the truth, a truth she was not prepared to handle.
The good of the country- seriously?
The good of the country in Congress is about as important as truth is in Court. Court is not about truth, it is about what you can demonstrate to be true, not what actually is true. In Congress, motivation comes from what they can sell to their constituents, and what keeps the donors contributing to the campaign coffers, because being reelected is priority number 1.
As for presidents? Pretty much the same thing. This conversation was about 15 years ago, and the situation is worse now. Looking at world news, we aren’t the only ones.
I don’t say any of this to be negative, even though it may sound that way at first. What I am saying is that we have a fabulous opportunity here!
When I was growing up, I was taught that the top priorities in life are these: First God, then family and country and baseball. What’s the first one… God? With God, all things are possible. Where we are weak, God is strong. God has no limit of what He can do. Can God turn things around? Yes. Can God bring us better leaders? Yes. Can God change hearts and minds and lead Nations and Peoples from darkness to light? Yes.
Yet God also rewards Nations with the leaders they deserve. Look at the leaders around the world today… What do we see?
Problems.
Still, we have answers to problems. The problems we see are spiritual in nature, and we have those solutions if we choose to use them. First is repentance; each of us (or nearly so) needs to turn away from the distractions of this earthly life, the day-to-day cares of this world, and the things that take us away from our relationships with God and other believers and re-focus our attention on the things and priorities of God. Second, we need to do some serious and bold praying. We need to pray for the leaders of our countries, including not only political and administrative leaders, but cultural and media leaders, that they would turn their attention to the things of God, and that they would lead their Peoples in His ways, and against the urges and priorities of Evil. This is especially true for the leaders you don’t like. We need to live like Ambassadors of Christ and shine His light in the darkness around us, not simply to point fingers of accusation, but to offer a helping and merciful hand to those who are hurting or lost.
More and more people around the world are starting to recognize that the main problems facing humanity today have a spiritual cause. Yes, they are out there, usually being trashed in the press… go figure. We all need to wake up and recognize that we are in a spiritual conflict.
So, let’s pray with confidence and boldness for the day to quickly come, where God’s Will is done on earth, as it is in Heaven… where it is the only will that is done.
Well now, that’s a fine rant for a Saturday. Have a great weekend!
Jesus is confronted by an “expert in the law” who asks what he must to “inherit eternal life”. Jesus, as He often did, answered with a question: “What is written in the law; how do you read it?” Seems like a fair question to ask an expert in the law… The man replied:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (10:27)
Jesus told the man that he has given the right answer and that if he did this, he’d be in great shape. But the expert in the law had tried to challenge Jesus; Jesus had just made it obvious to everyone that the man was trying to snare Him, since he already knew the answer to his own question. Thinking quickly, he asked a follow up question: “Who is my neighbor?”
The response to the question is vintage Jesus; He told a parable…
What follows in 10:30-36 is another very familiar parable, the parable of the “Good Samaritan” As Jesus often did, He follows the parable with another question: Which of the three men in the story were a neighbor to the injured man? The expert said that it was the one who had mercy on the injured man. Jesus’ classic response to another correct answer is priceless: “Go and do likewise”.
So, what should we take away from this story?
First is that it isn’t a good idea to try to trap Jesus; He was pretty quick on His feet. Second, is that we should show mercy to people who need it… which is pretty much everyone at one time or another. Third, it wasn’t the very religious who showed mercy to the man, it was an unclean nasty Samaritan who went out of his way and out of his pocket to help the stricken man who had been left to die by robbers. Finally, we are to put our faith, our love into action to serve those in need, and that we don’t get to heaven by engaging in arguments or rhetorical tricks or word games.
You see dear reader, God doesn’t care so much about how much you know, or your important status, He cares about putting our faith in action and sharing His love with those who need it.
This battery of verses deal with people who may find themselves being considered troublemakers for the community at large.
The appetite of laborers works for them; their hunger drives them on. (v. 26)
Hunger might motivate a person to work hard for a time, but work might not always be noble. Hunger drives people to extreme measures, history is full of this, it may even drive them to revolution, just ask Louis XVI. If he can find his head somewhere, he’ll back me up on this.
A scoundrel plots evil, and on their lips it is like a scorching fire. (v. 27)
A scoundrel (lit. worthless) is always plotting and scheming. Their restlessness can only be satisfied by harming others and causing discord and division in the community.
A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends. (v. 28)
How often have we seen this acted out? This type of troublemaker literally is a destroyer of Community, and that includes communities of faith, i.e. Churches.
A violent person entices their neighbor and leads them down a path that is not good. (v. 29)
It’s easier for a violent person to stir up a mob to violence, than it is for a peacemaker to settle the mob.
Whoever winks with their eye is plotting perversity; whoever purses their lips is bent on evil. (v. 30)
This is the third parable in Matthew Chapter 25, and oddly enough, many scholars do not even include it as a parable. These seem to take the position that it is more of a prophecy than a parable, and a case can be made for that, I suppose. I, on the other hand, treat it as a parable because it contains all of the elements of a parable, and parables are all prophetic in one way or another. I think you will see what I mean as we go through it.
At the beginning of our trip through Matthew 25, the Parable of the Ten Virgins, I said that I would give you the easy explanation first for this batch of parables in Chapter 25, and the hard part at the end. This is the hard part.
Matthew 25 is the second part of The Olivet Discourse which covers chapters 24 and 25, taking place immediately after Jesus pronounced the Seven Woes upon the Priests and Teachers of the Law in Chapter 23. The Discourse is Jesus’ answer to a question posed by His disciples in Matthew 24:3:
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
This is a two-part question, the first part is answered through the rest of Chapter 24, and the second in Chapter 25 in our 3 parables. The question that sets the context for all of Chapter 25 is 24:3b:
…what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?
The Parable of the Sheep and Goats answers the question asked in 24:3b in a unique way, for here we are not dealing with virgins awaiting the bridegroom or servants awaiting the master’s return, but instead, with judgement day.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Matthew 25:31-33
The parable begins with Jesus sitting in judgment of the Nations where His followers (sheep) are at His right and His non-followers (goats) on the left. Then His judgment begins:
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ (25:34-36)
The righteous want to know when they did those things… and Jesus answers:
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (25:40)
No doubt you will recall that Jesus spoke of “the least of these” several times in Matthew’s account already− what we are seeing here is what being “ready” for His return looks like. Those who took care of “the least of these” went into the Kingdom that was prepared for them, but the others went elsewhere (24:46).
How do we live our lives− are we kind, generous and attentive to the needs of others? Do we put others ahead of ourselves? Are we willing to give to those in need?
Or do we prefer to let others get their hands dirty… or reach for their checkbooks?
I remember how old Ebenezer Scrooge answered that question: “Are there no prisons, are there no workhouses… Surely the taxes I pay to support these institutions are enough…”
For a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven, that is clearly not enough, for Jesus has made it crystal clear that the way we each live our lives is the determining factor in whether or not we are “ready” for His return… which could happen Today.
How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!
Proverbs 16:16
This verse begins another collection of wisdom proverbs that continues through 16:23. This collection urges all of us to acquire wisdom, and as you can see, getting wisdom and insight is better than gold and silver.
The highway of the upright avoids evil; those who guard their ways preserve their lives.
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.
Proverbs 17-19
These verses provide an interesting prelude to the rest of this collection. Notice that verse 17 speaks of a highway or a way or route of the upright and protecting oneself from destruction in the process. This comes together like a metaphor for vv. 18-19. With that in mind, stay on that righteous road and protect yourself from evil ways to preserve your life… and vv. 18-19 tell you how to go about it.
Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.
The wise in heart are called discerning, and gracious words promote instruction.
Prudence is a fountain of life to the prudent, but folly brings punishment to fools.
The hearts of the wise make their mouths prudent, and their lips promote instruction.
Proverbs 16:20-23
The collection ends with these verses that tell us what the result of acquiring wisdom will look like as if to ask, “OK Reader, which is it going to be?”
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