Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Luke 10:29–32

Luke 10:29-32

  The young lawyer here reveals the goal of his efforts.  He doesn't want or feel like he needs Jesus to justify him.  He wants to justify himself, that Jesus would be amazed at his logic or his wisdom.  
  Jesus, though, hasn't come so that we might make good efforts at justifying ourselves.  Jesus has come so that we might understand our brokenness and allow ourselves to be justified by God.  To that end, he pushes, gently, on the young lawyer's idea that love has boundaries or lawyers.  
  Jesus tells a story about a man who is left for dead by robbers.  A priest and a Levite come upon him, and they pass him by.  We don't know the reasons they did -- there are likely plenty.  Did they love the man like they loved themselves?  It's hard for us to know the limits of our own actions.  Where do we draw the lines?  We always do somewhere.  Jesus is trying to teach us that God doesn't draw a line.  There's no limits to God's love.  We can't justify ourselves -- the good news of the Gospel is that we don't have to.  

Monday, April 6, 2026

Sports, Disappointment, and the Gospel

Luke 10:25–28

Luke 10:25-28 
  It's one thing to know the rules of the road.  It's another to follow them.  The kids sometimes point out that I'm not obeying the posted speed limit on the freeway.  I know what the rules are, but do I follow them 100% of the time?  I do not.  
  Here, we have a lawyer approaching Jesus.  He has all the head knowledge he will ever need.  He comes to Jesus with a simple question about eternal life.  Jesus asks him a basic question, and when the lawyer answers correctly, Jesus tells him so, and the adds a command.  Go and do.  It's not enough just to know, but the lawyer, and all of us, have to go out and follow the law of God.  We're called to love the Lord with all our hearts and soul and strength and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  I agree with the pastor who said that one of our biggest sins is that we don't love God enough -- we love other things more.  Each of us has something different, but the takeaway is that we don't make time to fall in love with God every day.  We wake up in the morning and busy ourselves, and the rest of the day often rushes onward from there.  Are we falling in love with God?  If we can start there, God will show us how to love one another.  I believe that.  
  It's one thing to know.  It's another to do.  May we pray for the courage and wisdom to obey.