“He replied, “‘Go tell that fox, ‘I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.”
~ Luke 13:32
Hi James and Ellen,
What do you do each day? What does your dad and ma do each day? What do you think that a missionary does each day? What do you think that Jesus did each day? A kid is going to spend his or her days differently than a dad and ma are going to spend their days. A dad and ma are going to spend their days differently than how missionaries like your grandmaa or grandpaa are going to spend their days. Your grandmaa and grandpaa while they were living cross-culturally as missionaries in Bolivia and in Guatemala spent their days differently than how Jesus spent His days. Kids – like you, spend their days having fun and accruing knowledge. A dad and ma – like your dad and ma, spend their days working diligently to meet the financial needs and obligations and the expectations of their nuclear family. Missionaries – like your grandmaa and grandpaa, spend their days in cross-cultural settings dreaming dreams while surviving reality. Jesus spent His days confronting evil and projecting truth. Other than obeying his or her dad and/or ma at home and doing his or her best in school, a kid is not expected to shoulder responsibilities. A dad is expected to shoulder responsibilities – such as physically caring for his wife and kids, putting food on the table, insuring a roof over the heads of his nuclear family and creating a positive, optimistic environ. A missionary will go to another country or to an ethnic or a hidden people group to share his or her faith as a Christ-follower – believing that God – as God the Spirit, will guide him or her to a guy, gal and kid who God – as God the Spirit, has prepared to become a Christ-follower after which the missionary will teach, disciple and mentor the guy, gal or kid so that he or she as a new Christ-follower is enabled to go to his or her neighbors with the message of hope that the missionary told him or her and that he or she accepted as being absolutely true. Jesus did not let any guy or gal impose his or her expectations on Him. Jesus went about becoming known as He meandered through the countryside’s of Galilee, Judah and Samaria without letting Jewish worship mores or Roman political norms stop Him from doing what He probably did most every single day for nearly three years.
Luke – in his Luke Book, sometimes takes on the tone of a narrator as he scribed what Jesus did. Luke 13 is a good example of what Jesus did over a very short period of time. Jesus answered questions. Jesus explained why the Galilean guys who Pilate killed were not worse sinners than the Galilean guys who Pilate did not kill. The Galilean guys who Pilate killed may have broken an important Roman regulation – which Pilate was expected to enforce. Jesus explained that the eighteen guys who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them were no more guilty than the guys who lived in the city of Jerusalem who Pilate had not killed. There was a prevalent mindset at this time among guys and gals that calamities only happened to guys or gals who did something that was known to be illegal or considered to be unconscionable. Jesus told parables. Parables are word picture stories. Jesus told a story about a guy who had a fig tree that was not producing fruit. After three years and the fig tree was still not producing figs, the fig tree’s owner told the guy who he had taking care of the fig tree to cut down the fig tree. The guy who had been asked to take care of the fig tree promised the fig tree’s owner that he would work extra hard in an attempt to get the fig tree to produce figs – if the fig tree’s owner would give him one more year to try to get the fig tree to produce figs. Jesus may have been pointing out to God’s specially chosen guys and gals – who were now known as Jews, or to Gentile guys and gals who God through this parable was giving one more season or year to begin to produce the kind of fruit that would demonstrate that he or she was a true Christ-follower – or else. Jesus miraculously healed. When Jesus spotted a gal who had suffered for eighteen years with a paralyzing back issue, Jesus healed the gal. Because Jesus healed the gal on a Sabbath, this got the synagogue’s ruler really upset at Him. The synagogue’s ruler thought that if Jesus was going to heal the gal, that Jesus could have used one of the week work days to heal her. The synagogue’s ruler thought that healing a guy or gal on a Sabbath was work and wrong to do. Jesus confronted hypocrisy. Jesus called the synagogue’s ruler a hypocrite. Jesus told the synagogue’s ruler that taking his ox and/or his donkey on a Sabbath to where the animal could drink water was no different than Him healing a gal who had suffered for eighteen years with a very painful, immobilizing infirmity. When Jesus was told by some guys who were called Pharisees to ‘run for it’ because Herod wanted to kill Him, Jesus’ response to them is found in verse 32, “He replied, “‘Go tell that fox, ‘I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.”’ Jesus instilled hope. When Jesus was asked to explain what the Kingdom of God is like, Jesus used as examples a mustard seed – a mustard seed being a tiny seed that when it takes root will grow into a monster bush in which a bird can make a nest, and yeast – yeast being a living organism that will activate dough to rise so that it can be baked as breads to eat, to explain. Jesus is a symbol of the mustard seed and yeast. Jesus is why the Kingdom of God exists today. The entrance into the Kingdom of God has the cross that Jesus – as God the Son, was hung and nailed to for guys, gals and kid to pass by as they are about to enter the entrance to the Kingdom of God.
Every single guy, gal and kid who has passed through the faith/grace door into the Kingdom of God has the ability to answer questions, tell truths, heal infirmed, confront evil and inspire hope in the lives of guys, gals and kids who are living next door, in a community, in another country/people group and everywhere on planet Earth.
Luke 13 (717)