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Tag: faith

Three Widows & a Widower
Fifteen years ago I became a widower. (We had been married more than two decades.) I know personally the loss of the widow (& widower).

Jesus spoke of three widows:
1. one, in a parable on the persistence of prayer to God
2. one, of an unnamed widow who sacrificed only two mites to God at the Temple (leptons or half-farthing, worth less than half of one cent)
3. and one, a familiar widow from scripture.
Jesus’ illustrations were not so much about what Christ followers must do for widows.

Jesus uses these widows to demonstrate faith to us.

Jesus’ rebuke here is how God used a faithful widow who was NOT part of the family of God (Israel). He spoke to the people of his own hometown, Nazareth, were Jesus was rejected.

Let the church remember our widows and widowers, that Christ might not need to site the faith of an unbeliever to christians.

Luke 4:25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

1 Kings 17

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Widow of Zarephath

8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath.

And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks.

Suppose you could only gather sticks to cook some food (what little they had) during a drought. Enter the Prophet of God, Elijah.

And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.”

The widow humbly obeys, as she would her deceased husband or any man of authority.

11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

Now this destitute woman challenges the bold request of this strange man.

12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.”

13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said…

(‘Good. I’ll be done with this bothersome stranger,’ she must have thought, ‘and return to my misery.’)

The widow’s son is obviously unable to gather firewood, perhaps because he is only a boy in need of everything (as children must depend on father and mother for everything).

Yet the man of God continues:

… But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son.

14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’”

For thus says the Lord…

A command to be obeyed (only IF the man is a true Prophet of the Lord God of Israel).

15 And she went and did as Elijah said.

Time passes, but the provision of God does not.

And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

More time passes.

17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God?

Once more the woman is bold because God has taken the life of her son.

She continues:

You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!”

How inexplicable had been the death of his father to the widow’s young son.
- How great the loss of a mother or father to a young child.
Yet with the help of the Prophet, she has raised her son through her grief; and before her grief is ended her son also dies.
- How tragic to lose your husband.
- How sorrowful to lose your wife.
- How unexpected and hopeless is the untimely death of your own child: the flesh and blood of you own womb; the joy of your own seed!
19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.”

And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. 20 And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?”

Elijah is crying out to the Lord in prayer. The Man of God is pleading for the life of this son even as his mother has plead to the Man of God in her bold faith.

21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.”

22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother.

And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.”

24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

RESURRECTION! Bodily resurrection and the resurrection of the soul: both are possible! Both have been witnessed. Both require great faith, as the widow has shown.

The widow of Zarephath had said of Elijah: “Now I know that you are a man of God;” however before she knew it, she had great faith.

Along comes Jesus to His neighbors in Nazareth and it seems that (like many of us) that they have very little faith.

IF a man came to you and asked for your last morsel of bread, would you give it even to Jesus?

Matthew 25:

35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me…

42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food,

I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,

43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me,

naked and you did not clothe me,

sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’

44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’

45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’

46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal.

Have you remembered the widows?

The widowers?

Those dejected by the trials of this earthly life?

Perhaps you are gathering your last sticks for the hopeless situation of your family and along comes one asking you for your last morsel of bread.

How will you answer?

Will you have faith?
April 10, 2014
How much do you owe God?

You think of every dollar, euro or yen you make as being yours – it is what you earned.

This is not a reminder of what you may owe the government on ‘tax day’ nor a reminder that our benevolent government may “refund” some money to you (as if you had not earned it instead of them).

This is not even a Biblical reminder that we are obligated to give one tenth of our income back to God (a tithe) and also give to Caesar what is Caesar’s (another tithe, or so…).

Jesus poses a question to us about what we owe to God; in this context, not so much as may be measured in dollars and cents, euros or any measure of gold, but what we fail to measure of God giving what they deserve to those who we think deserve something different.

Consider this:

What do you deserve from God?

(Should you expect a large refund?)

Luke 7

English Standard Version (ESV)

36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.

Let’s pause here for a moment from a story of which you may be too familiar.

Suppose Jesus comes over to your house? What would you have for dinner? Where would He sit? How would you welcome Jesus to eat at your table?

We are Pharisees. We know a lot about God and we know a lot about the Bible. Jesus, (of questionable parentage, from Nazareth) a sojourner in His own land, accepts your invitation to dinner. The crowds have been talking about Him and even fellow worshipers of God have witnessed miracles.

“Come in. Sit over here. Let’s talk about God. ”

Now, a common prostitute slips in while you are eating! (You know her, because she came to church once, but is still plying her trade. {Of course, none of the men of the church hang out with here at the pub down the street.}) Before you can ask her to leave, she makes a scene directly with your guest. (What would God think?)

The woman has thrown herself on Jesus at His feet. (No doubt this woman has thrown herself at many men.) She is crying out to Jesus and caressing His feet. (Who knows what she may do next?) Then she splashes a large amount of expensive perfume over Jesus’ sandals and feet – the odor so great as to ruin the aroma of our well-prepared meal. What will this teacher of God do? Will He allow me, even ask me to throw her out of my house?

39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”

40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

(Here it comes… Jesus’ permission for me to get rid of her.)

41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

(What? This Jesus has gone back to talk about God and things of God as we were doing before. Maybe this so-called prophet couldn’t care less what’s going on here.

Let’s see… what answer?)

43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

(Of course. That was an easy one. But what is His point? I know this Rabbi is going somewhere with this. What does this comparison have to do with God? God is no moneylender. I guess the moneylender is like God. I think I would want both men to pay me back.)

Then Jesus looks down to His feet and the woman making the scene.

(Now, at last, He has had enough and will ask me to have her leave. I guess she has caused us no harm… only embarrassment.)

44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

(I should have welcomed Jesus. He is right: I was unsure of Him and did not treat Him as my guest of honor. But this woman! This is not her house. She should not even be here.)

47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

(Remarkable! He did know. Now He’ll send her on her way. … “But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” The debtors! She is the debtor. Of course. She owes God much because of all of her sins.)

49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”

50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

(My guest has just told a prostitute, “Your sins are forgiven.” What can this mean? He said, “Your faith has saved you.” How can this be?)

Romans 1

English Standard Version (ESV)

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Romans 2

God’s Righteous Judgment

2 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

Two debtors: one, a repentant prostitute; the other, an unrepentant believer (expecting a refund).

Which are you?

Romans 3

No One Is Righteous

9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all.

For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, areunder sin, 10 as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”

How much do you owe God?

For our Heavenly Father has sent His only Son to the cross for our sins – a great debt none can repay.

Yet, fellow sinner, we do owe Jesus our Lord much worship and love; love as unabashedly shown by the humility and repentance of the woman who bowed and wept at Jesus’ feet.

Though we are sinners and great debtors, Christ Jesus IS a great and gracious Lord.

Worship Him will all your love; for He sacrificed all of His love for you.

March 3, 2014
Resurrection Before Jesus

Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son

Luke 7:11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him.

12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her.

(Recall that Jesus had told the people of Nazareth of Elijah being sent to a widow outside of Israel.)

13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still.

And he said, “Young man, I say to you,arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

Imagine… get the picture. A widow no longer has a husband to support her. A woman cannot (in this culture or most) support even herself. A son becomes responsible for taking care of his mother; but the son himself is sick and dies.

It is a picture of hopelessness for this widow of Nain.

Yet as the providence of God would have it, Jesus, God Emmanuel walks into town just as all wail for her great loss at the funeral. Jesus has compassion for her, touches the unclean bier with the unclean dead body of her son. He sits up!

16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”

17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

It is the same compassion by which he has fed the multitudes and healed the sick (even from a distance); yet this time Jesus has done that which cannot be done without the Hand of God. He has resurrected a dead man.

(There is a precedent the Jewish crowds would know well from a town of old nearby.)

A woman once perceived another Prophet of God.

2 Kings 4:

Elisha and the Shunammite Woman

8 One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food.

9 And she said to her husband, “Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. 10 Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there.”

11 One day he came there, and he turned into the chamber and rested there. 12 And he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” When he had called her, she stood before him. 13 And he said to him, “Say now to her, ‘See, you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’” She answered, “I dwell among my own people.”

(The woman is content to have the blessing of showing hospitality to a true Prophet of God.)

14 And he said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.”

(Again, as we have just seen in the story of Jesus, a widow has great need of a man to take care of her. The woman and old man have no son, considered to be a blessing to a faithful family of God.)

15 He said, “Call her.” And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway. 16 And he said, “At this season, about this time next year, you shall embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not lie to your servant.” 17 But the woman conceived, and she bore a son about that time the following spring, as Elisha had said to her.

What a joy for a woman to conceive a child, especially the miracle of conceiving after the age of traditional childbirth as demonstrated by several important faithful women of God throughout the many generations of the Bible. Such births are always witness to the power of God to bring forth life where there cannot be life (by the world’s ordinary standards).

It seems like a conclusion of God’s story of witness; but like Jesus, Elisha travels from place to place as God instructs and this chapter of Elisha’s miracles is more like a conclusion of ‘Act One’ for this couple blessed by the Prophet. Elisha’s room is always ready for his unannounced return.

18 When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. 19 And he said to his father, “Oh, my head, my head!” The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died.

Tragic. Yet a God who can bring life to a lifeless womb can restore life where and when the Lord pleases. We see now a remarkable faith of this woman (similar to that of the Roman centurion).

21 And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door behind him and went out. 22 Then she called to her husband and said, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again.” 23 And he said, “Why will you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.” She said, “All is well.” 24 Then she saddled the donkey, and she said to her servant, “Urge the animal on; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.” 25 So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite. 26 Run at once to meet her and say to her, ‘Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with the child?’” And she answered, “All is well.”

‘All is well,’ answers the woman whose only son has just died in her arms?

27 And when she came to the mountain to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came to push her away. But the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.”

Now, the grieving mother pleads to the Prophet:

28 Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me?’”

Like Jesus did in Nain, Elisha shows compassion for the woman.

29 He said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not reply. And lay my staff on the face of the child.” 30 Then the mother of the child said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he arose and followed her. 31 Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. Therefore he returned to meet him and told him, “The child has not awakened.”

32 When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. 33 So he went in andshut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. 35 Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up and stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36 Then he summoned Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. And when she came to him, he said, “Pick up your son.” 37 She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.

This is but one demonstration of God’s power over life and death (the only one through the great Prophet Elisha). It is one of many demonstrations of God’s miraculous power to heal, even unto life. Jesus would, in addition to His own later resurrection after three days, raise a man from the dead as beloved to Him as this woman’s family must have been to Elisha: Lazarus.

Later, Jesus is challenged by the Sadducees of the Temple of Herod about the resurrection. The witness of the Shunammite family at the time of Elisha was certainly recorded in their own Bibles! The evidence of Jesus’ miracles must certainly have been in evidence by many witnesses to all; yet they did not believe.

Oh, you of little faith…

Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.

How is your faith? Do you believe in life through Christ Jesus? Is He your Lord by faith?

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. –

1 Peter 1:3-4

February 26, 2014