Luke 11 and Matthew 12
October 21, 2014

Luke 11 on prayer:    The Lord's Prayer is not meant to be a magical incantation that is recited without thought to somehow ward off evil and supply our every need.   The words can be used just as written, but we have to understand what we are asking for.   In my mind, the Lord's Prayer is telling us that we need to focus on simply asking for God to supply our daily needs, and then on the larger stage, ask that God will continue to work out His will... in His way... all over the earth...and especially in our lives.   Of course, satan is prowling around, so we need to ask for protection from him.

No matter what words we use, these are the things that we should be concerned with.   Jesus himself tells us that God will act on our behalf simply because we are His children and He loves us, even if for no other reason.    Therefore, since God is predisposed to look at us with love and favor, we don't need to ask for every little thing.  God knows what we need, and we can trust that He will provide it.

I wish I could tell you how many times God has provided for me when I haven't prayed specifically for what I needed.   I can't do it, partially because I don't remember them all, and also there are more than I am even aware of.    God always watches over us.   Part of the Lord's Prayer is simply resting in and acknowledging that fact.

When I read today that the Pharisees and teachers of the Law accused Jesus of being a demon, and casting out demons using demonic power, I thought about our political process.  It seems that our politicians "spin" everything.   They have a whole staff employed whose sole responsibility it is to take bad news and make it sound good.   And when it concerns their political opponent, they try to make anything good (or at least benign) sound toxic.     This is what is happening to Jesus.  The leaders of the day don't like that He insulted them (when He said "woe to you...").   I don't blame them for being hurt by that,  even as I read it today I know that my skin would crawl if the same things were said to me.   It would take humility and maturity to make the necessary in-course corrections to become righteous again.   Sadly, the Pharisees and Teachers had neither attribute.     Because of that, they try and "demonize" Jesus,  just like the proud and arrogant among us today.  Jesus offends them, so they try and discount the man and His teaching.

Matthew 12
What is okay to do on Sunday?   Jesus says it's okay to "do good", even it you are the one who benefits...like pulling your donkey out of the pit...or your Dodge truck out of the ditch.  No need to wait until Monday am...you can do it now and not be guilty.    Exactly how much we can do on the Sabbath is somewhat of a mystery.  Some take a very spartan view and don't do anything, others treat the day just like any other day.   I suspect both sides are wrong, and that Jesus had in mind that the Sabbath would be a day in our week unlike any other day.  The priority for the day would be glorifying God...all through scripture we are told that followers of God are identified by the Sabbath.   So we should do something different on that day that sets us apart as followers of Jesus.     Attending church, and helping others are two great examples.   Spending the whole day with your kids and sleeping in will identify you as a good parent, maybe.    But it won't identify you as a follower of Christ or as a good spiritual role model.  

12:43 and following underscores the importance of following Christ and allowing the Holy Spirit to fill the void left when satan is driven from our lives.   If we don't, then we can expect to be overrun sometime later by even more demons.  While they are driven from you, take the opportunity to reinforce your life with God's presence.

Speaking of which, the "unforgivable sin" is mentioned in this passage.  I take it to mean that we are in danger of never being forgiven when we give credit for what God has done to any other person or claim that what is happening is coincidence or accident.   I can't conceive of any sin that the blood of God himself is not able to atone for....but I think that the case here is that Jesus is saying "Look, I will forgive whatever you do or say....unless it is directed at discrediting the Godhead"    It isn't that He can't forgive it, it's that He chooses not to.     In either case, avoid anything that could even remotely be connected to the "unforgivable sin".   Run from it like it's the black plague, or the ebola virus.    Don't come near it, don't touch it, don't even think about it.   Pray that it never comes to your house, or your town....or your country.     The stain of being "unforgiven" is the worst possible fate of mankind.



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