Ephesians 5 is definitely a “What Would Jesus Do?” chapter. Several times Paul writes that we are to think and act like Christ. Here are some examples:
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” v 1
“And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” v 2
“Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” v 17
“Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.” vs 8-10
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” v 25
“In the same way [as Christ loved the church] husbands should love their wives as their own bodies….just as Christ does the church….” vs 28-29
There is a lot in Ephesians 5 and it would do us all well to reflect on that chapter. The chapter’s focus is applying all we know about what Jesus would do in our situations. In a nutshell, we are commanded to be like Christ.
To be imitators of God is to imitate His behavior. We are to understand His will. We are to do what is pleasing to Him.
The section specifically singles out husbands. The verse tells Husbands to love their wives in the same manner that Christ loved the Church. How is that? Husbands are to exemplify for the world the love that Christ has for these who belong to Him. How did Christ love the Church, His bride, whom He bought by the price of His death on the cross? He came down from the highest place to become a servant. He loved and prayed and served and washed feet. He walked the narrow way to the cross. He did not hold on to His rights. Likewise, husbands are commanded to show the world the love of Christ toward the church by the way they love their wives.
And what is this love like? In Philippians 2: 1-8 beautifully describes Jesus’ love for the church:
“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
We are all to live out this to the best of our ability—male, female, husbands, wives, children, parents—with the full aid of the Holy Spirit. We must bring ourselves to the cross of Christ daily to submit to His will and His ways, so that in full measure, we are showing the world who Jesus is and how He is alive in His people. Begin today by praying and starting to dig deeply into His word to learn of Him and His ways.
His word to all of us is: “Be imitators of God, as beloved children.”
“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Colossians 3:17
What’s in a Name?
When Paul asks that our words and deeds be said and done in the Name of Jesus, what does he mean? What would it mean if you gave someone permission to say or do things in your name?
Today we actually do that all the time. Whenever we sign contracts, checks, tax forms, loans, and a host of other documents, we put the integrity and promise of our “name” behind the legal requirements we are committing to. In this case, “in our name” means “appeal to, reference to, or representative of an authority.”* The signature, words, and name represent the person, promise, and entirety of the person with authority: the person called by that name.
When given the authority to use the name of another person, we are their representative. It is as if they themselves are saying, signing, or doing the thing promised. If your boss sends you to get office supplies at a store in his name you are signing or paying for something on the boss’s behalf. The boss’s authorization to use his name puts your signature within the boss’s authority. If I authorize you to act for me “in my name,” you are fully able to act “as me” as I would. We actually understand this idea quite well and do it all the time without a thought.
What doesn’t it mean?
To sign in someone’s name doesn’t mean that the signer can perform, pay, or complete the requirements of the contract or proposition. The authorizing authority alone has those abilities and qualifications. The signer requires 1) authorization by the authority, and 2) permission to request or promise something within the authorizing authority’s desired expectations. In other words, the person whose name you are acting in must want you to do the thing and have given you permission to do it.
This is very pertinent to the verses that talk about Christ-followers praying, speaking, or doing things in the name of Jesus. There are many verses, many right out of the mouth of Jesus in the gospels, telling Christ-followers that they are within the authorized group to pray, to speak, or to act in His name. Those who are within His fold, His flock, His sheep, i.e., those who believe in Him, are the ones He has authorized to act and pray in His name and to see answers to prayer.
Some verses that relate:
“If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” John 14:14
“And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:11
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.” Proverbs 18:10
“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” John 3:18
“So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Phil 2:10-11
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:20
However, the other part of this question is that signers must represent the authorizing authority and only sign for what the authority authorizes. In other words, the signer will not be authorized to request things not according to or even against the will of the authority. You don’t go to the office store to buy supplies for work and your boss and then decide, “Oh, I like that computer, I think I’d like one of those, too” and then sign for as if it were authorized. Obviously, doing that would be unlawful.
We need to realize that the same principle works for prayers and actions done in Jesus’ name. We can’t expect Him to answer prayers that are outside of what He would want or authorize just because we can speak as if we were saying a magic word. To expect Him to have to hear us if we say things in a certain way (or any other trick like that) is not understanding what it means to be under His authority. (See the post, “Naming Names“).
Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me.” (John 10:27) As Jesus’ followers, we need to be listening to Him closely, learning of Him deeply, meditating, studying, hearing, reading, memorizing His words, so that we understand what He is saying to us. We want to live in His word, in His name. As we grow to hear Him better, we will be better at discerning between what He is saying to us and what we just want to hear. We will be better at living out lives that reflect His purposes for us.
Apparently there are people who are having controversy over what name to call Jesus. Some are saying you must use the transliterated Hebrew word, <Yeshua> or maybe <Yehoshua> or some other version of it (like, <Yeshua Hamashiach> which would mean, “Jesus the Messiah” or actually, “Jesus Christ”). Do we need to use or pronounce a particular form of Jesus’ name in order for Him to hear us? Does it need to be pronounced a certain way for it to “work”? Do we, who don’t know ancient Hebrew or Greek, need to use those tongues to say His name?
Put that way it sounds as silly as it actually is. We know the character of God from reading the Bible and we know what Jesus was like from the New Testament. Does the above worry about correct pronunciation fit with what we know about God’s character as shown through what Jesus did and taught in the New Testament? In a word, no it does not.
Naming the Name of Jesus in the Original
The Bible was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek. Yeshua is a Hebrew name.
The Hebrew alphabet doesn’t have the vowels, so it would be יֵשׁוּעַ, and יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, in a later period (<Yehoshua> or Joshua, more so when Jesus was walking the earth). The reason that the word “Jesus” is used, is because we read the New Testament to learn about Him, and that was written in Greek. You would read in the original Greek of the New Testament that Jesus’ name was clearly “Jesus” or the Greek, /Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν/ which is pronounced ‘Ee-su’ or ‘Ye-su’. Historically, in the English language, which we speak here and in English-speaking countries, there were some shifts over time in which the vowels and the ‘y’ sound shifted to a ‘j’ sound and that accounts for our pronunciation today, in a nutshell.
Nerd alert:
And no, Americans had nothing to do with this at all, as I have seen some accuse. Changes in Old English happened when a ‘y’ sound or the Lateral Approximant, /ʎ/ shifted to the ‘j’ sound or a Voiced post-alveolar affricate, /d͡ʒ/; in other words, when the initial sound of “Yeshua” changed to the initial sound of “Jesus.” You can see why this may have happened if you say the first syllable of both words “Ye” and “Je” over and over a few times and pay attention to where the back of your tongue is placed to say the consonants with the following vowels.
In time, changes like that happen in languages to make the consonant closer to the vowel and easier to say. A big change like that happened in English and some other Germanic languages (i.e., English is a Germanic language) regarding those sounds and that is why the change happened to pronounce basically a ‘y’-sounding Greek word to an English ‘j’- (or /d͡ʒ/-) sounding word.
Naming the Name of Jesus Today
Remember, the Jesus we know was told about to us in the New Testament Greek. God chose to use the Greek to write the New Testament in. We know about Him specifically from the Greek language, not the Hebrew. Not to say that it isn’t important to read the Hebrew and Old Testament. Jesus was foreshadowed often in the words of the Old Testament Hebrew. He actually spoke the common tongue, Aramaic to His disciples. But again, I say (and for many good reasons) the New Testament we have today was written in Greek.
So, when people are making claims about what to call Jesus—as if we should go by what the Hebrew use was in the Old Testament—they are adding something to the Bible that has not got any evidence to back it.
Naming Names: What Matters?
Beyond all that, this website and Facebook page (“Whatever Happened to WWJD?”) is about how we can get more deeply into what the Bible has to teach us about following Jesus. To be picky and self-righteous about the linguistics of the name or the way someone says it has nothing to do with–and actually distracts us from–applying Jesus’ words to our life and growing in the knowledge of Him. We all would do well to focus more on that, rather than inaccurate views of pronunciation and made up controversies.
We speak English and so use the name Jesus. If we spoke another language, we would use whatever way the name is translated from Greek to that language. Simple as that. I think probably only English-speaking people would be making a big deal about a letter ‘Y’ or a ‘J’ in Jesus’ name. It is another distraction from actually living out the Kingdom lives that Jesus calls us to live.
Which is the main point with being a Christ-follower: Knowing who it is we call upon. Jesus.
We all know that the Bible was not originally written in English. The Old Testament text is in Hebrew with small bits in Aramaic (i.e., some short quotes in Daniel, Ezra, and Jeremiah). The New Testament text is in Koine Greek. Unless you are able to read the Bible in those original languages, you are reading a translation into English (or whatever other language you read). Because of this, an important issue is finding an accurate and trustworthy translated version in which to read the Bible.
Often people have a favorite version. Sometimes people have even said that their favorite is the “only” or “best” version of the Bible to read. The truth is that there are many very good translations (and a few that are bad, like those sponsored by cults), plus some that are paraphrases, i.e., with easier to understand language, that aims to be understood by non-scholars. Such paraphrases (e.g., The Living Bible, The Message) might be less accurate for word-study, but are fine for general reading or especially for certain individuals. The difference within translations has to do with the aim and audience for the text.
Bible Translations: Exact Translation
For example, if you are translating something—anything—and your goal is to replicate an exact one-for-one transfer of meaning from one language to the other, you will need to use more words to capture the nuance and all the intention of the original into the second language. However, there is no end to how detailed you would need to be in order to capture all the meaning into the second language. You might need to use a whole sentence to capture the meaning of one word or a grammatical aspect of the original that doesn’t easily translate. A translation with that level of detail might be much more difficult to follow and actually might be too difficult for new believers to understand unless they had a high degree of theological and or background knowledge. Such a translation actually might not be a good-fit read for some people.
An example of a more detailed attempt at translation would be the New American Standard Bible (NASB) or even more so, the Amplified Bible, in which phrases are used to define some of the words in the original. However, a lot of people find reading versions with that level of nuance and detail more difficult, specifically, if they are doing devotional reading (i.e., a chapter or book at a time), since, usually such translations are wordier and have more complex sentence structure. Readers can get lost in the details of the translated text and find it difficult to follow. They might give up altogether and say the Bible is hard to understand or archaic.
Bible Translations: Simpler Translations
On the other hand, if you are translating and your goal is to make it easy for people to follow the thread of the text, to read for the big picture and to understand the concepts in a more general way, or to help people of all levels of education and experience with the Bible, you would be better off to be less complex in the sentence structure, to make word choices that would be understandable to that audience, and to simplify the vocabulary.
Reading these simpler versions is accessible for more people. Simpler versions includes the aforementioned paraphrases and also some of the “modern” translations, like “Good News for Modern Man” / “Good News Bible” (a translation, not a paraphrase). Such translations aim to be easier to understand and they use everyday language and simpler structures. These simpler versions have the advantage of opening the doorway for people of all ages and backgrounds to begin reading the Bible. They have helped many people develop a life-long habit of Bible reading that starts them on the path of true discipleship. For more info on Reading the Bible, check out the previous blog post, “Read the Word”
But as sources for verse study, easy-read versions are not necessarily the best way to dig deeply into the “What does it say?” part of a Bible Study practice. Simpler translations are somewhat distanced from the most accurate word-for-word translation you would expect in something like the English Standard Version or many other translations that don’t have the goal of being easy-to-read. For more info on studying the Bible, check the previous blog post, “Study the Word.”
Bible Translations: Finding a Translation
For reading then, pick a version that you feel comfortable reading and for study, pick a version that will represent for you in English, text that is as close as possible to what it says in the original language.
Another point about this is that it is very helpful to look up verses in your study time in a variety of versions. There are even “Parallel Bibles” that will show by column a comparison of a verse or a chapter or a book of the Bible in more than one version so that you can gain a deeper understanding of what it says in the original. Remember it is the original words of the text that are what we need to study and understand, not just what it says in our own language. Most of us need translations, unless we want to study the original languages and read the Bible in Hebrew or Greek; however, there are ways to dig in more deeply to learn and know and understand what the Bible says and it is a rich and worthwhile investment of time to do it.
In this day and age, particularly as English speakers and readers, we are highly blessed with the availability of excellent translations, both in physical Bibles and in the online sort. We can really learn what God is saying to us by studying and reading. We can make use of all these resources to grow in our knowledge of the Word of God so that we can ask what it says, what it means, and how it applies to our own life. The area of Bible translations has to do with the “What it says” part. We have to actually read it, but we have so many options available today! For a refresher on hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating on the Bible, check out this previous blog post, “Five Ways to Get the Bible into Your Life.”
Bible Translations: Some Resources:
There are probably many others, but these three websites are a great place to start for finding Bible texts in a variety of versions and even other languages. The sites also have access to some Bible study resources like Bible Dictionaries and Concordances. You can start on each of these for free. Some of them might also offer additional resources that have a charge, but you can click any of these and get access to multiple versions to get started in studying, reading, and comparing the meaning expressed in the different translations.
BibleHub: “Bible Hub Online Parallel Bible, search and study tools including parallel texts, cross references, Treasury of Scripture, and commentaries. This site provides quick access to topical studies, interlinears, sermons, Strong’s concordance, and many more resources. Our mission is best summarized as follows: 1) Increase the visibility and accessibility of the Scriptures online. 2) Provide free access to Bible study tools in many languages. 3) Promote the Gospel of Christ through the learning, study and application of God’s word.” Free
Bible Gateway: “Bible Gateway is a searchable online Bible tool hosting more than 200 versions of the Bible in over 70 languages that you can freely read, research, and reference anywhere. Including a library of audio Bibles, mobile apps, devotionals, email newsletters, and other free resources, Bible Gateway equips you not only to read the Bible, but to understand it.” In 2008 Bible Gateway became a division of Zondervan, and is, today, a member of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. Free
YouBible: “The original Bible App offers multi-media experiences, and houses the largest digital library of Christian content. Zero ads, always free.” Has a “lite” version that works for people in areas where their internet connection is weaker or they have data restrictions, as well as a Bible app for kids. Free
“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?”
Luke 12:25
Chew on this for worry or fear:
When you worry, you are running a thought over and over in your mind. What about putting a Bible verse there instead?
The things we worry about, the things we fear, the things we focus on too much can be used for both good or ill. Those things can fight against faith. What if we could find ways to use them instead to draw us closer to Jesus and build our faith? What if we can let those things prompt healthy thoughts for ourselves and those around us?
Ask yourself, “What am I worried about? What am I afraid of?” You may not even know exactly, so it may take you some time to ascertain. However, if you ask it prayerfully, God will help you understand it.
Once you have identified what you are worried about or afraid of, get out a notebook, journal, scrap of paper, etc. and jot it down. Next, use a Concordance (or just google the thing + the phrase “Bible verse”) to find Bible verses that counter that worry or fear. Write down the verses. Study them. Meditate on them. Read them to yourself. Say them to others. Memorize them. Go back to those verses to fill the place that worry or fear has previously held in your heart and mind.
Worry is something that occupies a space in your mind and thoughts, even in your heart. When you worry you are running those thoughts over and over in your mind. Instead, replace those worry thoughts with Bible verses to run over and over in your mind. Go deep into what the verses mean and what they mean to you. This is a great way to “take captive your thoughts” as is found in 2 Corinthians 10:5.
Spiritual Warfare is our way of fighting spiritual battles in the world. However, take note of this verse, because, as with everything else for Christ-followers, we are to conduct ourselves in Jesus’ way, not our own.
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Worldly Fighting is not Spiritual Warfare
First of all, this verse distinguishes forever the Christian view of what sort of fighting we do to promote the Kingdom of God. The above verses are preceded by this statement in verses 1-2: “By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am ‘timid’ when face to face with you, but ‘bold’ toward you when away!I beg you that when I come, I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world.”
Humility. Gentleness. Two key words that define the rest of this, as well as the rebuke here to those who think that as Christians we should take up earthly methods to “fight” for the Kingdom of Jesus.
This is pertinent today because if you look around at the atmosphere on social media, politics, etc., you will often see it is actually Christians leading the support of “worldly methods” to supposedly promote Christ’s Kingdom. Can Christ’s Kingdom be won by worldly methods? No, no, no. The New Testament says “No.” Jesus said “No.” The Apostles said, “No.” Worldly fighting only shows that those who use these methods have no idea of what the Kingdom of Christ is all about.
What do I mean by worldly methods?
I think we all know, but here are some:
Boasting
Pride
Vengeance taking, rather than leaving that to the Lord
Physical violence
Threats
Name-calling
Falsehood telling
Trust in worldly governments and trust in man
Prayerlessness and lack of faith that God answers prayer and leads us
Judging by outward appearances
Prejudice and contempt toward others, instead of a heart of love and self-sacrifice
Lack of compassion toward the weak and hurting
Selfishness and a self-orientation of our thoughts
Commending oneself rather than commending others
Not following the “Love list” in 1 Cor. 13:4-8 “Love is patient, love is kind….”
Not thinking, speaking, and acting on the list of Philippians 4:8 “Whatsoever things….”
Mislabling intensions as godly when they are worldy.
Spiritual Warfare: How Should I Then Live?
The above verses are often construed to be about “demolishing strongholds…arguments…pretensions” out there somewhere in the Public sphere, or the kingdoms of this world. That can be so, through prayer.
However, notice that the Apostle Paul goes on telling us to “take every thought captive to Christ.” He continues in the chapter to speak about individuals and their inner life. These are not instructions on how to fight using worldly efforts. Paul ends chapter 10 with vs 12-18: “But, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.”
Furthermore, in the very next chapter, 2 Cor. 11, Paul follows with vs 3-4:
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”
Paul sees how off-center these people have gotten in their thinking. He rebukes those who have forgotten that our faith has to do with maintaining the integrity of our individual walk with Jesus. This is an exhortation for us to show Jesus everyday in our lives and thoughts. We must uphold Him as the center in all the things we value.
Applying This to Spiritual Warfare
We need to focus on allowing the Spirit of God the free rein into our thoughts and lives. We need to let the Holy Spirit use the spiritual tool of the word of God (See Ephesians 6:10-18 for the Verses on the Armor of God) to go deep into our thoughts and demolish the strongholds, pretensions, non-biblical viewpoints, in our own lives.
Everyday, we need to lay ourselves at the feet of Jesus to let Him seek us out in our inner self and to convict us of the ways in which we need to repent of worldly thoughts and selfish, not Christlike, patterns in our lives.
Above all, we need this. If we don’t apply this to our own walk, we are hardly fit for a spiritual battle to bring people into the Kingdom of Jesus. What good is a worldly kingdom, one which will pass away without accomplishing a change in hearts for Christ.
Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”)When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.
John 21:20-24
Many people, including myself, have been a bit confused by the moniker that John gives himself as he is writing the gospel: “The disciple whom Jesus loved.” Does that mean that Jesus loved one disciple more than he did others? Does it mean that Jesus played favorites? Is it a comparison between them?
It wasn’t until sometime later that I realized that it was only in the Apostle John’s writings that this name for John appeared. When I realized this, I saw that rather than a comparison between disciples (which as we know, John and his brother James had earlier requested to be at the important right hand of Jesus when He came in His glory), but rather, as John’s way of seeing and knowing himself: he was loved by Jesus, despite all and overwhelmingly so.
This name that John gives himself in his writings shows up first at the Lord’s supper when John is sitting next to Jesus (it says reclining because they sat on the floor to eat) and he is asked by Peter to find out from Jesus who it is amongst them who will betray the Lord. John refers to himself from that point on as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Importantly, one must realize that the verses in Luke and Matthew that describe the request of James and John to a prominent place in Jesus’ kingdom (i.e., with or prompted by their mother), happened at an earlier point and most likely, the indignant feelings that the other disciples felt at this request (Mark 10:41-45; Matthew 20:20-28) for favoritism and the rebuke of Jesus at it, must have humbled John and James.
Jesus felt hurt and disappointment that John and James had so deeply misunderstood his message. He calls them all to remember that His kingdom is not like earthly kingdoms where the leaders “lord it over” people, but rather, “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” Jesus said basically that James and John were thinking the way the world works, the opposite of His Kingdom way. They were thinking in a way that opposes His kingdom.
One can imagine that continuing to follow Jesus after such moment of shame—note that John doesn’t mention the incident at all in his gospel—must have humbled John to the core and truly caused him to focus on the forgiveness and love that Jesus had for him, despite this and other failings. John shows in his writings that he thought of himself from then on only within the framework as one loved by Jesus.
“The one whom Jesus loved” had become his identity.
“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’ So he [Jesus] told them this parable: ‘What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.’”
Luke 15: 1-7
What does Jesus value, as shown in this parable?
In this section, Jesus is telling us the value He puts on looking for and finding lost sheep. He states that finding those who are lost is of the greatest value we can imagine: that of leaving the large majority behind and going after those who are lost. Does that make you feel unloved, if you are a follower of Jesus who hasn’t left the fold? I am betting that this idea has crossed a few of our minds. Why would the Shepherd leave 99 sheep behind in the open field where they might encounter wolves or other dangers, just so he might possibly find one that is lost? He has 99 good ones already, isn’t that enough or at least good enough?
A few points about this:
In Luke, you will notice that the context of this section follows some griping comments made by Pharisees and Sadducees about Jesus’ propensity to dine and associate with “tax-collectors” (i.e., traitors to their nation) and sinners (i.e., those who are not following or trying to follow the laws of Moses and the religious traditions of the Jews). These leaders of the religious mind of the nation of Israel were complaining about Jesus not following their laws and purification requirements, making Jesus unclean.
You will also notice that in his parable, you might think that Jesus is contrasting the lost sheep with the “righteous” or at least those who think of themselves as righteous. In actuality, we know from elsewhere in the New Testament, that Jesus died because no one was righteous and free from the need to repent. So He wouldn’t have been thinking that way; to think that way is to think in an earthly way, which we have been warned about. (For more on this, you might check out my posts, “Take a Turn” or “Our Citizenship”.) In other words, Jesus is not saying here that He doesn’t love those who are not lost or that He cares less about them. He focuses instead here on His feelings about those who need Him to find and rescue them.
The Greek word used for lost in Luke 12: 3 is not just describing something misplaced, but rather it means something being irretrievably lost, something or someone in danger of being destroyed, like a ship “lost” at sea. The Titanic was not just misplaced; it was ruined, shattered, smashed, wrecked, that kind of lost.
In the similar passage of this parable, Matthew 18: 12-13, the word in Greek is not lost as in Luke, but has to do with the idea of straying. The Greek word there (πλανηθῇ /planēthē/) has the same root as the Greek word from which we derive the English word, planet, which actually meant originally, wandering body. The word in Matthew, planáō properly means ” to go astray, get off-course; to deviate from the correct path (circuit, course), roaming into error, wandering; (passive) be misled.” All of that doesn’t have so much to do with righteousness before God but right thinking and acting. The focus in both verses is not about the “who” that Jesus loves more, but on His feelings of love toward those who need Him.
Therefore, this verse is not so much telling us to compare the 99 (or ourselves, for that matter) with the lost sheep, but rather to focus on Jesus’ reaction to someone who is wandering off in their thinking and acting out to the point where they are about to be lost irretrievably, shipwrecked, and sunk at sea.
So, how does this apply to me?
Well, two things are relevant here. 1) We are the kind of being who can be lost. And we are the kind of being who can be found. If you find yourself sinking into what seems like an irretrievable lostness, you are not misplaced by God, but you might be on a course that has taken you astray from the fold. If that is the case, you are still able to be found and carried gently on His shoulders back home. “Back home” might not actually be a place you’ve ever been before, since you may not really know or understand what kind of kingdom Jesus taught about. However, you are never too far from God’s grace and good intentions of help. Just ask Him to show Himself to you and rescue you. Then, when He speaks to you, listen and respond with a full heart.
2) And this is more for those who are wanting to know and live by Jesus’ kingdom and follow a “What Would Jesus Do” course of life: one must continually ask oneself if their heart and intention follows that love that Jesus has for those who have gone astray. How do I feel about the weak, the lonely, the powerless, the forgotten, the poor in spirit, the poor in provision? For those different from you in heritage, religion, gender, race, ethnicity, politics? Do you have the same heart as Jesus for all people, even if you think they are astray or lost? Even if you disagree on some things, important or unimportant?
These are very serious questions we must all ask ourselves continuously if we truly want people to see Jesus alive today. He lives in His people and so the world will only see Him alive in us. What do they see?
As discussed in the previous post, “Making Disciples”, the first step in discipleship as Jesus taught, was to repent, or turn away from what what we were, to what He wants us to become. That would be in modern day terms, “to take a 180° turn” to travel in the opposite direction.
To start the Christ-following life, you must realize that you were going the wrong way and that you need to turn around and go the completely opposite way. To note here, one cannot just say, “Oh, I am pretty good already, not as bad as ‘those people’ so I don’t need to go quite the opposite way, I’ll just maybe add a bit of a difference to the way I already am.” No. That kind of thought is not Jesus’ teaching.
The whole point of starting a Jesus Kingdom walk (i.e., becoming a Christian) is realizing that no matter how “good” you think you are, you are not able to free yourself from the self-orientation of your life on your own. Everyone needs a savior. Being, seeming, or looking like a good person, like a religious person, a church-goer, or a Christian will not be the basis for actually being a Christ-follower or disciple. Being a Christ-follower has to do with knowing Christ in a personal way and accepting that he is worthy of following completely. “You must be born again” Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3, and in Matthew 16:24, He said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Jesus took the cross to a hill and died on it. This is what it means to have a new life in Christ: you turn away from your old life and take up the new life Jesus gives you. That “being born again” thing which many people don’t understand has to do with dying to your old life and being made a new creature. (See the last post which discusses what it means to “Believe.”)
Being a new creature entails that you are different and new.
The really good news in this isn’t just that you are going to heaven when you die, but rather, that you have a new kind of life here to live on earth before you go to heaven. That new life reflects a mirror of who Jesus is: the new creature who speaks what Jesus would say, acts and thinks as He does today. Jesus does this through making you into a new person and through you being a disciple on the planet Earth who shows His Kingdom values through your actions and words. Through your choices, not those that you assume other people will make. Through your words, not the words that your pastor preaches on Sunday. Through your interactions with family, friends, co-workers, strangers, enemies. Even—and very much so—the intentions of your innermost being, your heart.
As Jesus said:
The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Luke 6:45
To understand this is the beginning of understanding what it means to be a disciple, a Christ-follower. Jesus called disciples. As he said in the parable of the seeds, there are many who have some interactions with the seeds He sows, but not all of the seeds grow up and bear fruit. A disciple is not perfect, and sometimes the mirror image of Jesus is duller than it could be, but a disciple is the plant growing and bearing fruit in the soil in which Jesus has planted His seed and tends it lovingly every day.
To make a disciple, you must be a disciple. What does that mean?
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
John 15: 5-8
In the “Great Commission” in MATTHEW 28: 16-20 discussed in the previous blog post, Jesus commanded His followers to:
make disciples of all nations,
baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teach them to obey everything He commanded.
Notice that He didn’t command people to make converts or new believers. He commanded them to make disciples. Of course, conversion is the basic underlying foundation of becoming a disciple. So what does to convert or to believe mean?
What does it mean to “believe”?
Well, the first words Jesus preached in Matthew 4:17 were, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The Greek word “Repent” used here (μετάνοια, metanoia) means “to change one’s mind; to have a transformative change of heart; to take on a completely different way of thinking; to have a conversion; to utterly repent.” Jesus went about speaking this message before He spoke the Sermon on the Mount, the verses in which we often think of as Him explanining how we are to live in a Christ-like way.
Yes, the Sermon on the Mount teaches how we are to live, but first came the message to “repent, change, convert, think completely differently.” Jesus wanted followers who were committed to turn away from the old patterns toward His Kingdom values, the new way to think, speak, and act, which He unfolded through His Sermon on the Mount. To believe means that we need to accept that we are first of all, putting behind us our old ways, doing this before we can put on that new life that Christ calls us to. Yes, you might call this conversion, because it means that there is a complete change of inner being for those who believe in Him as His followers.
But the word believe doesn’t mean the same thing today, as it did in when Jesus used it to His followers. Today, we think of believe as more like a wishful thought or whatever we happen to be thinking about. Something like, “I believe my sports team will win,” or “I believe that I am the best flute player here” or “I believe that Coke is better than Pepsi.” Those things are opinions or preferences.
What Jesus means by “to believe” is very different than an opinion or preference. The word believe (πιστεύω, pisteuo) in Greek, means “trusting in, relying on, and adhering to,” which is much more than just a casual acceptance of fact. This concept is much more like the Biblical meaning of faith, which would be the Greek word, πίστις, pistis. As you can see, the Greek words are related. Faith means a lot more than we think of it meaning today. Today, you might say, “Good job, I had faith that you would win the game,” but in that, we are really just expressing an opinion or preference or hope or wish.
Both believe and faith are more like the person who is willing to actually sit down in a chair, believing that it will hold them up or the person who is willing to personally jump-in to something, rather than just expound about it with their mouth. One might compare this to the difference between an aerialist walking a high wire hundreds of feet up in the sky vs the person standing on the sidelines watching. Both might believe in a modern sense that the aerialist can walk that tightrope, but only the person walking it believes it in a Biblical sense: that person is doing it, living it out, experiencing it, committing to it, knowing it is real, trusting it and knowing that all will turn out. Taking the risk, in other words, that what they are trusting is true and worthy of the trust.
Does this advocate for people to do crazy things like walk on tight ropes? No. But rather, it does mean that believing and having faith has to do with doing the things that Jesus commanded. If we believe in Him, we need to model ourselves on His thoughts, words, and deeds—and His motivations.
Sometimes we can do something that we think is what Jesus would do, but our inner motivations are nothing like those that motivate Jesus. This, too we must beware of! He is looking at our hearts, from which all our actions and words will flow. To be a disciple first and foremost means to focus on doing what Jesus would do and for His reasons, not our own.
Following Jesus and doing WWJD must start with a heart that is converted and turned to Him. We must do as He said in His first proclamation: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
