John 1:43-49: Can Anything Come From Under A Fig Tree?

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” - John 1:43-49

 People always seem surprised in the Bible when God sees them resting under a fig tree (see Jonah 4). Nathaniel's was a true Israelite whose fault was not lack of integrity but rather lack of imagination. He couldn't imagine a Messiah that came from Nazareth. We don't grasp how Jesus could be in a situation because our imagination is too small.  Fortunately, God doesn't need to meet our requirements before he acts. If we let him, he will blow our mind, allowing us to discover how much he knows us and our world. Once we see that, then maybe we can also let him be the expert in other areas.

Acts 17:1-9: How We React Shows What Is Going On Inside

Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women.

But some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the crowd. Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too. And Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all guilty of treason against Caesar, for they profess allegiance to another king, named Jesus.”

The people of the city, as well as the city council, were thrown into turmoil by these reports. So the officials forced Jason and the other believers to post bond, and then they released them. - Acts 17:1-9

Why the other Jews felt jealous? How they reacted gives a clue about what was going on in their internal world. When they reacted by gathering some troublemakers, it speaks volumes about their inner motivations and Luke calls it out: jealousy. They had plenty of time to dispute with Paul in the open discussion that Paul fostered when he arrived. They must have felt threatened by their loss of influence: among some Jews, among the God-fearing Gentiles in whom they prided themselves for their evangelistic efforts, among the prominent woman of status and probably wealth (the same phrase is used for women who supported Jesus' ministry, some of whom are identified as belonging to politically influential families). Even then, this threat to their status was a test for them: are you genuinely interested in the truth? If they were righteous, the ploy of getting together morally-questionable thugs to route out Paul and the household where he was staying reveals them to be mafia in church clothing.

It is worth asking why we are so upset and what our reaction is saying about our inner life. Sometimes the other party is deliberately being provocative. Sometimes we are sensitive to an area where we have been hurt before. Sometimes we are defending those who we perceive are without defense in a situation. Or it could be something our identity-who we see ourselves to be, our pride-protecting others perception of us, or our status-other ability to control or influence others, or our desires-what we want and we realize that others have some measure of control over achieving what we want. Even if I am right in an argument, I may fail the test.

Matthew 25:1-12: Do We Really Want What We Say We Hope For?

Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

“At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’

“All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’

“But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’

“But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’

“But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’ - Matthew 25:1-12

Some of the dangers of waiting to be ready are inherent to waiting, in the same ways that the bridesmaids fell asleep. All ten fell asleep. But there are other dangers that are related to not being prepared for a sudden change. Long waiting can lead to complacency, or assumptions about how really ready you have to me. What I see here is the need to be ready for a change. God has told us all sorts of things that we might be asked to do-be hospitable, be caring, be kind, be generous, or even something as simple as rejoicing or as complicated as Christ returning. The difference between being ready and not being ready is hoping like what is hoped for is unbearably desirable and willing to be interrupted.

Am I willing to be interrupted when Jesus shows up, in whatever guise?

 

Psalm 76: Being On God's Good Side Is Not Anything I Did

God is renowned in Judah; in Israel his name is great. His tent is in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion. There he broke the flashing arrows, the shields and the swords, the weapons of war.

You are radiant with light, more majestic than mountains rich with game. The valiant lie plundered, they sleep their last sleep; not one of the warriors can lift his hands. At your rebuke, God of Jacob, both horse and chariot lie still.

It is you alone who are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry? From heaven you pronounced judgment, and the land feared and was quiet—when you, God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land. Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.

Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them; let all the neighboring lands bring gifts to the One to be feared. He breaks the spirit of rulers; he is feared by the kings of the earth. - Psalm 76

The NLT translates verse 10 as Human defiance only enhances your glory,  for you use it as a weapon.

Fear of God is downplayed in Christian circles, partly because we don't like to think of our loving God getting angry (v. 7) and partly because we are taught we don't need to fear God. After all, perfect love expels all fear (1 John 4:18) But Psalm 76 shows what an encounter with the living and powerful God when he is angry. For God to sit back and do nothing while people hurt those who he loves, would he truly be loving? Justice says that we get what is appropriate and fear is when we face that judge while in our own guilt knowing that he has full within his own power to carry out judgment. 

Since I am in Christ, I no longer have the fear relationship with God but I have full respect of what God should rightfully do to me if it weren't for his declared love for me in Christ.  

1 Peter 1:3-9: What Is Suffering But Hope Certain but Deferred

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 

These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. - 1 Peter 1:3-9

we are receiving the end result of your faith. Suffering has many varieties of pain but they are all temporary. It does not diminish in any way the reward the we will receive. Suffering proves we are alive and will go on living. Suffering proves that this world is not where it ought to be, that I am not who I ought, and in that gap-the distacce between what is and what ought to be-we are reminded how to long for Christ to make everything right.  

 

Hebrews 11:32-12:2: Not Competitors But A Cheering Section.

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets,  who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 11:32-12:2

We are wimps. That's the impression I  get when I look at the men and women of faith. But they are not competition, they are the cheering section. There are two types of struggles: one of which we may never encounter, but one which we shared with them in full measure. Whether we encounter the great challenges is not our choice, but we can win that battle that we share. "...the sin that so easily entangles..." One type of struggle handicaps us in any attempt to overcome the second type of struggle.

Jesus chose to do only what the Father put in front of him. At each turning point, the thing which would trip him up was not the failure of God's power to see him through, but the temptation to take the detour of convenience and sin. 

Don't worry about the big challenges, Worry about the stumbling block of sin, and let God worry about whether you will overcome the big challenges.

Luke 12:35-59: The Perpetual Waiting

 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”

The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

“The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?

“Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.” - Luke 12:35-39

It is interesting in the first of Jesus' stories he adds the phrase, "If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into." In this setting it can't be referring to Jesus himself, since he would be the 'master of the house' Instead it seems to be referring to the other thief 'Satan' One of the roles, then of those who were waiting for the bridgegroom was prevent the thief from breaking into contents of the house, the feast, maybe the gifts. That is, those waiting were not just 'waiting' but rather making sure that everything remained ready.

Both of the stories at the beginning emphasize being ready. I guess it is easy to put off effort if you think there is still a lot of time left (like the foolish mains). I guess it is easy to develop other priorities if you think there is still a lot of time left. I think Jesus' point is we are always on the cusp of a new age. We are never in a period of complacency. It is a form of spiritual laziness that I am prone to, especially after many years of struggling (and often failing) to change to say "I guess this is good enough/"