Inward and Outward

October 1, 2023 Background Scripture: Romans 2:1 - 29 Lesson Passage: Romans 2:12 - 24, 28, 29 The Apostle Paul penned this letter to the Christian congregation located in Rome. Much of Christian doctrine is derived from different passages found in this letter. It is worth noting that at the time he wrote this letter, Paul had not visited this group. He was familiar with their reputation for having faith. In the opening section of this letter in Chapter 1, Paul expressed how God's anger is stirred up against the unrighteous living of people in the world. He went on to write that the unrighteous living was occurring among people who knew God's Law as well as among people who did not know God's Law. But even the ones who did not know the Law of God outwardly, had been convicted by it inwardly through their conscience. Paul's opening conclusion is that everyone will be judged for their unrighteous living—whether they know the Law of God or whether it has been revealed in their conscience. This context is established in Chapter 1 and is needed to properly comprehend Chapter 2, Otherwise, Chapter 2 reads like an angry retort to something that is not defined in Chapter 2. Put another way, it is easier to understand Chapter 2 when viewed in the context established by Chapter I. Chapter 2 focuses on people judging each other. The only judgment that can be properly rendered is based on God's righteousness and that judgment is of the inward person. Although a person may obey the Law outwardly, such as through circumcision, their overall behavior reflects the inward condition of the person's heart. It is only through the Spirit of God that a person's heart can be circumcised so that they will live outwardly righteous. Judging a person for not adhering to a religious ritual while behaving the same as they do is a condemnation on the one judging. True faith is shown by a behavior governed by a righteous heart—even if the person has not conformed to an external religious ritual. Knowing and teaching the Law of God is not what pleases God. God is pleased when a person lives according to the righteousness defined by His Law. That righteousness is not based on conformity to external, or outward, rituals. The Law of God defines the righteousness that changes the person on the inside. When God changes a person on the inside, it will show up on the outside in their behavior. In the meantime, we must be careful to avoid judging others for behaviors that we engage in as well. Many of the first century congregations were composed of Jews and Gentiles. This struggle between inward change and outward religious rituals would have occurred on many occasions. Today, the struggle may be more between those who have always been "churched" and those who grew up outside of the church. Of course, we should acknowledge that being in church doesn't make one any more a Christian than being in a garage makes one a car. Christianity is what happens to a person on the inside. We can learn all the expected behaviors in a church environment by simply growing up in that environment from childhood. However, those church behaviors don't necessarily reflect the inward condition of a person's heart. I believe the first year of the pandemic gave local congregations the opportunity to reflect on our agendas. What were we doing that advanced Jesus Christ's agenda in this world versus what made us comfortable among ourselves? When there were government mandated shutdowns of congregational gatherings, which agenda was really impacted? Was it Jesus' agenda or the local church's agenda? We saw that those two were not necessarily the same. The church's agenda is often an outward behavior that does not need an inward change. Jesus' agenda cannot be pursued continuously without an inward change within the persons involved. I suppose the real question is, "Can we walk it like we talk it?" Robert C. Hudson September 23, 2023

Jesus Prevents Two Stonings

September 24, 2023 Background Scripture: John 8:1 - 11, 39-59 Lesson Passage: John 8:1 - 11, 56 - 59 When capital punishment was specified by the Law of Moses, it typically was administered by stoning the person to death. However, during the times of Jesus' earthly ministry, the Jews were under the political governance of the Roman Empire and not allowed to use capital punishment. They were free to judge each other on a local level, but they were not allowed under Roman law to put a person to death. It was this political dilemma the Jewish leaders hoped to use to entrap Jesus. As Jesus was teaching the people at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Jewish leaders interrupted His teaching. They brought a woman amid the crowd around Jesus and leveled the accusation of adultery against her. They claimed that she was caught in the very act of adulte1Y. (It is worth noting that if they desired to do the right thing, they also should have brought the other person she was reportedly caught in the act with.) They reminded Jesus that the Law required that she be stoned to death. They asked Jesus for His opinion concerning the matter. Jesus kneeled and began to write on the ground with His finger. They continued to talk and question Him while He continued to write on the ground. The bible doesn't record what He wrote. If Jesus had answered their question, of entrapment, it would have put Him at odds with either the Law of Moses or the Roman law. Instead, Jesus responded by recommending that the one among them who was without sin should throw the first stone at her. Then He continued to write on the ground. They all left beginning with the oldest. Then Jesus addressed the woman after all her accusers were gone. He told her that He did not condemn her and for her to leave and not sin anymore. Jesus did not condemn her, nor did He condone her sin. Afterwards, Jesus got into an exchange with some Pharisees concerning God and fatherhood. They sarcastically referred to Jesus as an illegitimate person by birth. They did not understand or accept the virgin birth, but they apparently knew that Mary was pregnant with Jesus before she was married. Jesus pointed out that God is His Father. They countered that Abraham is their father. Jesus pointed out that He did the works of His Father, but they were not doing the works of Abraham. Jesus spoke of Abraham rejoicing to see His day, and that set off a storm of conversation. How could someone less than fifty years old speak of Abraham's emotions as though he was Abraham's contemporary? Jesus responded, "Before Abraham was, I Am." This response to their question about Him knowing Abraham personally was a clear indication of His deity. That "I Am" identified Jesus as the God in the burning bush Who talked with Moses. A man claiming to be God was the ultimate in blasphemy for Jews. They immediately picked up stones to stone Jesus to death. Jesus hid Himself and left out through the midst of them. The bible does not explain how He hid Himself. It seems that He did not disappear, but rather left out by going through the midst of them. Perhaps He blinded them, so they were not able to see Him. Regardless of how He did it, Jesus would not allow them to stone Him. Later, Jesus would offer His life for them, but His life would not be taken by stoning. Jesus' death required that He be attached to a tree (the cross). By doing so, He would become sin and be judged by God as a substitute for the sins of everyone who places their trust in Him. Jesus prevented two stonings. One was for the benefit of a woman allegedly caught in the act of adultery. The other was for the benefit of all of us who would otherwise perish for our sins without Jesus' death on the tree of Calvary. Robert C. Hudson September 8, 2023

Jesus Glorifies God

September 17, 2023 Background Scripture: John 7:14 - 24 Lesson Passage: John 7:14 - 24 In today's lesson, Jesus offered a different perspective on how to evaluate a person's minist1Y. One's ministry can be received from others, it can be of the person's own creation, or it can be received from God. The source of a person's ministry determines how we will direct our praise for what we appreciate about that minist1Yi If we are excited and appreciative about what one teaches or does, we will praise the work and the source. If we believe a person attended an excellent school, and we observe great works from him, then we will praise the school for producing such an amazing student. If we believe a person to be self-taught or gifted from birth, then we will praise their creativity or creative expression. In fact, we will likely label them a genius, or prodigy. If we believe a person's ministry to be the results of a well-known mentor, then we will heap praise on the mentor because of the person's service. In each of these situations, we tend to respond to a person's service or work of excellence by directing praise to what we believe to be the source, or inspiration for such. In essence, this is what we refer to as giving glory to the source for the good works that are produced. Jesus was different from the other Jews. The difference generated much discussion among the Jews—including their religious leaders. There was no doubt among them that Jesus was performing miracles. However, they questioned the source of His ability to do so. Some of the leaders stated that Jesus was using some type of demonic power to do the miracles. One reason they said it was because He worked some miracles on the Sabbath. They argued that Jesus was disobeying God by working on the Sabbath and therefore what He did could not have been of God. The Jewish leaders sought to kill Jesus because He healed a man at the pool of Bethesda on a Sabbath. As a result, Jesus stayed away from Judea and began to minister in the region of Galilee. When one of the three great annual Jewish festivals approached, Jesus' brothers went to Him sarcastically. The Law required all Jewish men to present themselves at the temple in Jerusalem during the three annual festivals. At that time, Jesus' brothers did not believe in Him as being the Son of God. They challenged Him to go to the festival and work His miracles openly so that all the Jews could see and believe in Him. Jesus told them to go to the feast because He was not going yet. They went to the feast and Jesus remained in Galilee. It was a seven-day festival. Jesus went to it on the fourth day, in the middle of the feast. Jesus entered the temple and taught the people. The Jewish scholars were amazed because of His knowledge although He had not attended their school. They asked, where did He receive such knowledge? In other words, where should they direct their praise for such profound teaching? Jesus stated that the One who sent Him gave Him His doctrine. Jesus did not want them to think His doctrine was of His own creation. Then, they would praise Him for it. The praise for Jesus' teaching belonged to God. Jesus used that opportunity to address the Jews' misguided intentions of seeking to kill Him. They intended to kill Him because they didn't understand the Sabbath Law. Jesus pointed out that they obeyed the Law concerning circumcision by sometimes performing it on a Sabbath. Yet, they sought to kill Him for healing a man on a Sabbath. Killing Him would break the Law God gave to Moses for the Jews. They could never judge the Sabbath law righteously when they were so willing to violate the Ten Commandments by seeking to kill Him. They could only judge the Law righteously when they would be willing to obey it themselves. The motivation to do so must come from God. Then they would be willing to give God the glory for His righteousness expressed by His Law. Jesus identified God as the source of His ministry. In doing so, Jesus glorified God through His ministry. Robert C. Hudson September 8, 2023

Jesus Silences Critics

September 10, 2023 Background Scripture: Luke 14:1 - 6 Lesson Passage: Luke 14:1 - 6 How do we handle our haters? Or more specifically, how do we handle people who look for opportunities to criticize us? One of my most used tactics is to avoid them altogether. Jesus, on the other hand, seems to have made no attempt to avoid His haters. When they invited Jesus into a setting that seems to have been a trap for Him, Jesus responded by accepting the invitation and going. The Jewish religious leaders comprised one of the groups that seemed to look for occasions to criticize Jesus, Today's lesson focuses on one of the many interactions between Jesus and the religious leaders, It is worth noting that Jesus was often a guest in the home of a Pharisee. Luke wrote about several instances of it. It is difficult to imagine that their religious ideology was anything other than opposite that of Jesus'. Yet, they believed there was value in getting to know Jesus on a personal level—or perhaps they thought it was their opportunity to expose Jesus as something other than what the "common" people believed about Him. Whatever the reason might have been, they often invited Jesus to dine with them. Since I don't think the gospel narratives present the Pharisees and scribes as great humanitarians, I look with an air of suspicion at the fact that it seems there was always someone around at the time who just happened to need healing on a Sabbath! Put another way, some of these dinner invitations look suspiciously like setups to entrap Jesus to me. Nevertheless, Jesus did not change based on the situation. He was consistently Himself. Jesus went to the Pharisee's house to eat on the Sabbath and the scriptures note that they watched Jesus closely. Whether it was a setup or not, they expected Jesus to respond as He always did, and they were watching Him. Jesus used the situation as a teaching moment. Rather than act and then defend His actions, Jesus preemptively posed a question to them instead. He challenged those Jewish religious leaders to interpret the Law regarding healing on the Sabbath. It is noteworthy that none of them dared to respond to Jesus' challenge. Jesus did not wait for them to break their silence. He healed a man who was present with them. They were the religious leaders of the Jews. They were teachers of the Law for the Jews. Yet, they all kept silent. So, Jesus shared a very practical way of looking at how to interpret the Sabbath Laws concerning doing good for others. Jesus challenged them with the thought that they would have compassion on their livestock that would haply fall into a pit on the Sabbath. Given that perspective, how could they not understand the greater good of having compassion on a fellow human being on a Sabbath? Jesus told the Pharisees earlier in His ministry that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. The Jewish religious leaders had taken what God had given to be a blessing for mankind and caused it to become a burden. Jesus pointed out the obvious to those who seek first to do God's will. There are no provisions in the Sabbath Laws that would preclude a person doing good for a fellow human being. As Jesus entered the house to eat bread with them, they were watching Him and perhaps hoping to see Him do something that would give them a reason to criticize Him. Instead, they witnessed a miraculous healing and received a Bible Study on Sabbath Laws. That left them speechless. They couldn't deny the validity of His teaching because it revealed the truth about them. Therefore, they had no grounds to criticize His actions. Jesus accomplished three great works that day. He provided tremendous teaching concerning the Sabbath Laws for all of us to understand, He healed a man, and He silenced His critics. C. Hudson August 26, 2023

Jesus Silences Critics

September 10, 2023 Background Scripture: Luke 14:1 - 6 Lesson Passage: Luke 14:1 - 6 How do we handle our haters? Or more specifically, how do we handle people who look for opportunities to criticize us? One of my most used tactics is to avoid them altogether. Jesus, on the other hand, seems to have made no attempt to avoid His haters. When they invited Jesus into a setting that seems to have been a trap for Him, Jesus responded by accepting the invitation and going. The Jewish religious leaders comprised one of the groups that seemed to look for occasions to criticize Jesus. Today's lesson focuses on one of the many interactions between Jesus and the religious leaders. It is worth noting that Jesus was often a guest in the home of a Pharisee. Luke wrote about several instances of it. It is difficult to imagine that their religious ideology was anything other than opposite that of Jesus'. Yet, they believed there was value in getting to know Jesus on a personal level—or perhaps they thought it was their opportunity to expose Jesus as something other than what the "common" people believed about Him. Whatever the reason might have been, they often invited Jesus to dine with them. Since I don't think the gospel narratives present the Pharisees and scribes as great humanitarians, I look with an air of suspicion at the fact that it seems there was always someone around at the time who just happened to need healing on a Sabbath! Put another way, some of these dinner invitations look suspiciously like setups to entrap Jesus to me. Nevertheless, Jesus did not change based on the situation. He was consistently Himself. Jesus went to the Pharisee's house to eat on the Sabbath and the scriptures note that they watched Jesus closely. Whether it was a setup or not, they expected Jesus to respond as He always did, and they were watching Him. Jesus used the situation as a teaching moment. Rather than act and then defend His actions, Jesus preemptively posed a question to them instead. He challenged those Jewish religious leaders to interpret the Law regarding healing on the Sabbath. It is noteworthy that none of them dared to respond to Jesus' challenge. Jesus did not wait for them to break their silence. He healed a man who was present with them. They were the religious leaders of the Jews. They were teachers of the Law for the Jews, Yet, they all kept silent. So, Jesus shared a very practical way of looking at how to interpret the Sabbath Laws concerning doing good for others. Jesus challenged them with the thought that they would have compassion on their livestock that would haply fall into a pit on the Sabbath. Given that perspective, how could they not understand the greater good of having compassion on a fellow human being on a Sabbath? Jesus told the Pharisees earlier in His ministry that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. The Jewish religious leaders had taken what God had given to be a blessing for mankind and caused it to become a burdens Jesus pointed out the obvious to those who seek first to do God's will. There are no provisions in the Sabbath Laws that would preclude a person doing good for a fellow human being. As Jesus entered the house to eat bread with them, they were watching Him and perhaps hoping to see Him do something that would give them a reason to criticize Him. Instead, they witnessed a miraculous healing and received a Bible Study on Sabbath Laws. That left them speechless. They couldn't deny the validity of His teaching because it revealed the truth about them. Therefore, they had no grounds to criticize His actions. Jesus accomplished three great works that day. He provided tremendous teaching concerning the Sabbath Laws for all of us to understand, He healed a man, and He silenced His critics. Robert C. Hudson August 26, 2023

Jesus Confronts Hypocrisy

September 3, 2023 Background Scripture: Luke 1 1 :37 - 44 Lesson Passage: Luke 11:37 - 44 I don't know anyone who is not upset at being called a hypocrite. The use of that word implies the person is void of personal integrity. It is derived from a Greek word used to describe actors in live stage plays. The actors would literally hold a mask over their face to portray a character and they would use a different mask to portray another character. The mask implied that the actor had become someone else although in the absence of the mask, it was the same person on stage! Hypocrite is a very befitting word to describe a person who projects himself as someone else. Furthermore, hypocrisy often involves double standards. There can be one set of standards for them and one set for others. In today's lesson, Jesus confronted Pharisees and scribes for their way of life which was often hypocritical. This confrontation did not happen in the public square but rather in the home of a Pharisee. Jesus was an invited guest in the Pharisee's house. The confrontation occurred when the Pharisee saw that Jesus did not wash his hands prior to dinner. The bible does not record that the Pharisee said anything about it. It just says the Pharisee saw it and was amazed. Perhaps the look on the Pharisee's face conveyed his thoughts. Jesus addressed the Pharisee's attitude from the viewpoint of the totality of a person. A person has both a physical outside and a spiritual inside. Jesus stated that the Pharisees and scribes were concern about outside cleanliness and not about the inside. Jesus referenced their greed and wickedness as evidence that the inside needed cleaning. Then Jesus criticized their preciseness in giving tithes of the smallest herbs, and yet failing to be concerned about larger matters involving justice and the love of God. In essence, their religion was more about an outside show than it was about an internal change of heart. Additionally, their insides were made evident by what they cherished outwardly. They loved the accolades of people and to be seen as important in their society. They were modeling a behavior that would lead people away from God and His eternal love. As role models, they represented a deadly trap for anyone who followed them. People tend to be very focused on external appearances. Just as hypocrites, they wore the masks people were accustomed to seeing them wear. They gave people the show they expected. As leaders, they were dangerous to the eternal wellbeing of their admirers and followers. They were masters at doing the easy stuff. Demonstrating the love of God and helping those who could not repay them were much more difficult tasks. Those were more difficult because of the rebellion of the flesh against the Spirit of God. Human flesh does not like to submit to the sovereignty of God. What they did was for the purpose of gaining something for themselves in their society. Being motivated by the needs of others did not provide an advantage for them. However, being motivated by the needs of others is the heart of what God's love is about. Jesus did not tell them to not do the small things they did. He emphasized they should not have left the larger things undone. Would the answer be for them to do both? No. If they attempted to do the other things, they would discover the need for God in their lives. Their need for God was no different than the need of others they might have looked down on. They did the easy stuff because they could do it and it promoted their cause. The hard stuff required God' s help. They were shocked, or appalled, that Jesus did not wash His hands prior to dinner. Had they known that Jesus had come into the world to do the hard stuff for them, it might have positioned them to be better role models for others. They were trying to impress people they should have been trying to help. They were hypocrites, and Jesus confronted them. Robert C. Hudson August 25, 2023