"Faith is ... the certainty of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1)
livingwithfaith.org
  • HOME
  • ARTICLES
  • E-BOOKS
  • BLOG
  • ABOUT

Ten Lessons from the Meals in Luke

12/1/2021

 
Picture
Luke’s Gospel indicates that the evangelist may have particularly appreciated good food – at least it shows clearly that he noticed and commented on food more than any other Gospel writer!  But Luke does not simply mention food and meals – he draws lessons from them.
​
As a frame of reference, we should notice that Luke’s account of the life of Jesus really does have a noticeable focus on food. For example, while Matthew uses the word “eat” 18 times, and John only 15 times, Luke uses the word 33 times. Mark also uses this word quite frequently (25 times), but overall Luke uses a number of eating and food-related words twice as many times as Mark and the other Gospels, so his emphasis on this is clear. Within his Gospel, Luke also – uniquely – describes ten meals in which Jesus participated, and we will look at them all briefly.   Click here to continue reading.

Growing the Two Directions of Love

6/7/2017

 
Picture
​As Christians we know that the greatest responsibility and opportunity we have in the lives we are given is to love God and our fellow human beings (Matthew 22:37-39). But none of us is perfect in this regard; so how do we grow in love for God and others? 

The apostle John gives us an answer to this important question. In his letters, John talks extensively about love, mentioning the concept no fewer than 34 times, including his well-known summary statements such as “…God is love” (1 John 4:8). But John’s teaching on love is not as general as it might sometimes appear. 

In his first epistle, the apostle talks about an easily overlooked aspect of the two directions or dimensions of love – love of God and love of people – that must both be present in our lives. In doing so, John answers the question of “How do we increase our love for God and man?” by answering a slightly different one: “How do we know if we love God and others?”  He gives us the answer first in terms of whether we truly love God or not.  Notice what he tells us:

“Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister” (1 John 4:20-21).

The proof of our love for God, John says, is that we love others.  In the next chapter of his letter, John repeats this fact:  “... everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him” (1 John 5:1).  But the apostle then reverses the direction of this understanding:
“This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:2-3).

The proof of our love for others, John tells us here, is that we love God and are obedient to him. Just as it is not possible to truly love God without loving his children (1 John 5:1), it is also impossible to truly love God’s children without loving him (1 John 5:2). Together, these verses show the two directions that love must work in.  In the first case, our love and obedience to God involves – and is proved by – our love of our brothers and sisters. In the second case, we are told that our love for our brothers and sisters is based on – and proved by – our love and obedience to God.

Simple as it may sound, this two-way definition can be tremendously helpful to us as Christians.  We can see what John says as both admonition and encouragement.  First, there is clear admonition for all of us in the understanding that we cannot claim to love God if we cannot bring ourselves to love all people, and conversely, that we cannot pretend we truly love people if we do not deeply love God.  Love of one without love of the other is not genuine love.

But the encouraging side of this equation relates to our original question:  “How can we grow in love of God and others?”  What John shows us indicates we can increase our love of God by loving people more, and if we want to increase our love of others, we can do that through actively developing our love of God.  It may seem counterintuitive, but it is a truth that solidly underlies much of what John tells us.

Why is this? The reason is that unless God is the center of our life – what we love above all else –  we will never  truly love others as much as ourselves, because without God at the center of our lives, we will love ourselves above all else – we will primarily be “lovers of ourselves” (2 Timothy 3:2).  Conversely, if we do not love others as much as ourselves, we are not fulfilling God’s command and our love of him will always be limited.

What John shows us is that as we grow in our love for God, our love for others will naturally increase at the same time.  The closer we grow to God, the more he changes the way we think about ourselves – and others – and the more we begin to love others.  As we grow to love the children of God more, it is a direct reaction that we begin to be less self-centered and our love for God naturally increases as a result.

John’s words on the two directions of love may indeed seem counterintuitive at first, yet they are profoundly true in showing us how we can know and grow our love for God and others.

Another FREE e-book for You!

10/12/2016

 
Picture
We are very happy to announce that our latest free e-book is now available for download.  How We See Things  looks at the way we see physical things, ourselves, others and God – and shows that how we see things affects every aspect of our Christian lives. 
​
You do not need to have an e-book reader to enjoy our books – the PDF version can be read on any computer – though you also have the option to download Kindle and Nook or ePub formats if you wish.

Like all our e-books, you do not need to register or give an email address to download How We See Things - just click on the download link below (which takes you to our sister site, TacticalChristianity.org) and it's yours!

​You can download this free new e-book here.

What Does "Have Salt among Yourselves" Mean?

8/10/2016

 
Picture

​“Everyone will be salted with fire.  Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other” (Mark 9:49-50).



​The passage found in Mark 9 regarding Christ’s words about salt is usually explained or expounded by simple reference to the fact that biblically salt was a symbol of preservation or purity, but if we look closely, these verses actually vary the significance of salt by stressing different meanings.

In Mark 9:49 the words “Everyone will be salted with fire” clearly refers to purification, but when we move to verse 50a the statement “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?” just as clearly refers to the disciple’s commission to serve as “salt” of this world (Matthew 5:13) – a function of making the world palatable to God.

But in the final statement using salt as a symbol: “Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other” (Mark 9:50b), neither of these previous meanings fits the saying. “Have salt among yourselves” does not make sense in terms of purification or making the world palatable – how would either meaning relate to being at peace with one another?

It is most likely that in the latter part of verse 50 Jesus’ comment refers to the fact that in ancient Judea and in the wider ancient Near East, salt was used extensively in making covenants and treaties between individuals or groups.  We see this in biblical verses such as:

Numbers 8:19:  “Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the Lord I give to you and your sons and daughters as your perpetual share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord for both you and your offspring.”

2 Chronicles 13:5:  “Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?”
​
Leviticus 2:13: “Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.” This last verse is usually said to be based on the purificatory aspect of salt, but the text says specifically the salt is the “salt of the covenant.” 

To “eat salt together” meant to make peace and enter into a covenant – or what we call today a “peace treaty” with someone. In Acts 1:4, where Jesus met with the disciples after his resurrection, most translations say he was “with” the disciples, but the Greek is literally “being together salted” – perhaps especially significant after the disciples had only recently deserted and disowned him.

Now, going back to Mark 9:50, the context of Jesus’ words in that verse is clear.  The disciples were arguing about who among them would be the greatest, and Jesus had to rebuke them for this attitude (Mark 9:33-35). But his words recorded at the end of the chapter spoke to the lack of peace between the disciples caused by this – and doubtless other – arguments.  In telling the disciples to “have salt among yourselves and be at peace with each other” (vs. 50), Jesus was probably urging them to use the symbolic salt of covenant relationship – specifically of a covenant of peace – and thus to be at peace with one another.

We do not always know when the writers of the Gospels bring together related sayings that may have been spoken at different times, but which share a common theme.  That could be the case in Mark 9 where we see different uses of the symbolism of salt, but it is also possible that Jesus simply varied the meanings of the symbol as he occasionally did in other instances.  In either case, the reference to having “salt among yourselves” seems to be clearly related to the role of salt in covenants and treaties of peace.

    BLOG

    Follow @livingbelief

    RSS Feed

    For a smart browser-bookmark showing new blog postings, click on the RSS Feed icon.  

    Author :

    Unless otherwise stated, blog posts are written by R. Herbert, Ph.D.,  who writes for a number of Christian venues – including our sister site: TacticalChristianity.org
    ​
    For more about us, see our About Page.

    Categories :

    All
    Behind The Stories
    Bible Study
    Biblical Concepts
    Books Of The Bible
    Christianity & Culture
    Christian Living
    Dealing With Doubt
    Discipleship
    Encouragement
    Faith Hall Of Fame
    Faith & Trust
    Faith & Works
    Family
    Fellowship
    Forgiveness
    Giving
    God
    Gratitude
    History & The Bible
    Hope
    Knowledge & Wisdom
    Love
    Persecution
    Prayer
    Relationships
    Scripture In Question
    Spiritual Growth
    The Christian Calling
    The Christian Faith
    The Life Of Jesus
    Truth
    Works Of Faith

    Archives :

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    Community :

    Picture
    - Charter Member -
© 2014 – 2022 LivingWithFaith.org