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Tag: sin

Jesus – Disaster & Sin – Tower of Siloam
“I tell you, no! But …

What day’s NEWS doesn’t HEADLINE: DISASTER? The world asks why God would allow this. Were those killed worse sinners than others, so God punished them by death?

This is how we think. Even if we acknowledge sin (in others) we want to blame God for punishment, especially in providential ‘acts of God’ which end lives unexpectedly.

The Good News of Luke briefly describes two such incidents.

Such disasters do imprint our memories for a time, for example in this 21st century just mention of NINE-ELEVEN.

Like the unexpected question, Who Sinned? , here Jesus gives a similar answer to disaster similar to the “WHY” about a man born blind from birth.

This time the crowds had complained of persecution of Galileans by the Roman Prefect of Judea Pontius Pilate. Jesus responds to the crowds with a rhetorical question about sin. (You need to think about what the Lord tells us here about the nature of sin and how we must approach it.)

Unless you repent …

Luke 13:

2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no!

But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Were these who died at the hand of Pilate worse sinners? NO.

The Messiah then addresses a local disaster, a recent act of God well-known to Jerusalem.

4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?

5 I tell you, no!

But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

‘Unless WE REPENT,’ the Messiah’s listeners must have thought? This rabbi preaches the same message as John the Baptizer and the Prophets of old.

Then in typical His typical teaching technique, Jesus tells a symbolic parable to illustrate his point that we must repent or we will also perish.

The fig tree, an ancient symbol of life in Israel and the middle east, represents prosperity, peace and righteousness throughout the Bible.

Parable of the Fig Tree

6 Then he told this parable:

“A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any.

No life in the tree, no prosperity for the owner of the vineyard, no peace here in Jerusalem where fig trees blossom and bear fruit.

7 Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard,

‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’

The Son of Man, the Messiah has been sowing righteousness in the land for three years. Does Jesus ask this crowd of Jews (keeper of God’s vineyard), ‘Why has your faith not yielded fruit?’

Some Jews have believed and followed their Messiah. A faithful servant in God’s vineyard would plea for mercy for the vine. So his repentant answer would ask the Owner of the vineyard for mercy. He will promise to do his Lord’s work of righteousness once more.

8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

You too will all perish

There’s something about disaster and death which gets demands our attention: our own mortality.

Any story of suffering and sudden death of others reminds us of our own helpless before Almighty God. And some will recall their own past sins and immediacy of repentance.

One recent story of annual flooding in Jerusalem reminds us of the suddenness of the expected. These events often reveal the heritage of our past in addition to the mortality of its victims.
- Jerusalem flooding Feb 2019
- Ritual Bath Judea Jan 2020
- Luzon Philippines earthquake 1990
DISASTERS! “But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
Siloam was an area just outside the walls of Jerusalem on the southeast side of the city. A spring-fed pool was there, which was the scene of one of Christ’s miracles (John 9). The tower of Siloam may have been part of an aqueduct system or a construction project that Pilate had begun. In any case, the tower fell, and eighteen people were killed in the catastrophe.
Why did Jesus mention the tower of Siloam in Luke 13:4?

Why mention a recent disaster?

Second COVID-19 death sparks fears, lockdown in Italian towns – Agence France-Presse
Posted at Feb 22 2020 08:08 PM [local time]

I could have chosen pictures & NEWS from just this month, February 2020, even from contemporary Jerusalem where Jesus addressed sin and disaster in speaking of both the tower and pool of Siloam.

Refugees of natural disasters, even so common as annual hurricanes or typhoons (as pictured here from 2013 in the Philippines) remind us that our earthly home is temporary. The displaced ships in Luzon Philippines (above) are part of a witness by Pastor BERMIE DIZON who lived there at the time. He witnesses comparison to Jesus’ teachings about the tower and pool of Siloam.

“I was only a few miles away from the volcano, Mt. Pinatubo when it exploded in 1991. At that very moment of explosion, I really thought my family and I will die buried like those in the ancient city of Pompeii.
Pastor Bermie Dizon of GCI Ministries, Luzon Philippines bermiedizon.com/disasters/

I ask the same question of Jesus of those who perished in the fall of the Tower of Siloam:

Contemporary application by paraphrase of Jesus’ questions

“Do you think that these FILIPINOS were more sinful than all the other FILIPINOS because they suffered these things?

3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well.

COVID-19 tally: 76,785 cases, 2,249 deaths, 34 cases in the U.S.
Published: Feb 21, 2020 2:50 p.m. ET

“Or those two thousand killed by the #Coronavirus —do you think they were more sinful than all the other people who live in China and other places in this world?

5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well.”

Therefore, feed your faith

“‘… Perhaps it will produce fruit next year, but if not, you can cut it down.’”
Luke 13:9 CSB – Jesus’ Parable of the Barren Fig Tree
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God-willing we will return to the pool of Siloam in John 9.
To be continued... 
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February 22, 2020
Who May Judge SIN?
Continuing in the Gospel of John

‘Who made you judge and jury,’ some ask the Christian who applies the Law? “Don’t judge sin,” some even preach deceptively. Many a sinner will quote Jesus to you: “Judge not, that you be not judged. – Matthew 7:1

We have been following the Good News of the Messiah Jesus told by John, only surviving disciple after all others had died for their witness of Truth, rather than recant the only Way to heaven, Christ Jesus. His Good News is explanation and not necessarily chronological.

Previously in John 7 at the Jewish Festival of Booths Jesus shouted out an invitation to the crowds:

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

Now we move on to a discussion the following day about authority in the Law. Religious authorities who love to judge sin confront the Messiah with one of their favorites, adultery.

John 8:

2 At dawn he went to the temple again, and all the people were coming to him. He sat down and began to teach them.

Let’s not miss that Jesus had been teaching on the Holy Spirit of God the previous day.

He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
John 7:39 CSB

Jesus said this about the Holy Spirit as witness to Himself as the Messiah of the Living God!

Wouldn’t you want to know more about this Man claiming the very power of the One Lord and God? So the crowds came, along with those who claimed earthly authority over the Law of Moses.

How do YOU judge sin?

3 Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. 4 “Teacher,” they said to him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery.

Now, dear christian in this twenty-first century crowd, you think very little of the seriousness of her first century indiscretion with a man to whom she was not married. In fact, in all likelihood many of you commited a different and similar sin when you first loved the significant other of your own life. We are oh so ready to condemn any man who claims the authority of God over our own less severe way to judge sin.

5 In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”

So does Jesus believe in capital punishment?

How dare she sleep with another man! After all, she is married.

6 They asked this to trap him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse him.

You know the old (not so funny, really) question of the lawyer: “When did you stop beating your wife?” No right answer to the prosecuting question as stated. There’s more to her story than the evidence presented.

By the way, have you already answered without having had additional evidence presented – facts which perhaps only God may know?

Is accusation not guilty until proven innocent in these last days?

So here we look to the Messiah confronted an accusation of adultery in a court having already judged sin of the accused woman.

Jesus as Judge

The crowds look on. Religious officials have stated the Law clearly and ask for sentence confirming their judgment of this accused violator. Surly the Messiah who claims that every jot and tiddle of the Law must be fulfilled will not show mercy to this woman who sinned.

Yet Jesus does not speak a sentence to judge sin clearly accused of this woman.

7 When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them,

“The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.”

8 Then he stooped down again and continued writing on the ground.

How does the Messiah of God judge sin?

Jesus has already witnessed the standard by which the Lord will judge sin.

“I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
John 5:30

“Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.”
John 7:24

One reason the Pharisees confront Jesus rather than having arrested Him at that time is continuation from a previous confrontation.

John 7:50 Nicodemus—the one who came to him previously and who was one of them [the Pharisees] —said to them,

51 “Our law doesn’t judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he’s doing, does it?”

Neither does the Lord Jesus judge this woman accused of adultery without full evidence of what she has done. In His judgment Jesus shows mercy.

God is Light and Life – Sin is Darkness & Death

Do you, man or woman of flesh, judge sin?

Jesus stood to render His decision as Judge:

“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
John 8:7b KJV

8 Then he stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. 9 When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only he was left, with the woman in the center.

Justice?

Was the full justice of the Law served here? Certainly not.

Did Jesus grant mercy to the woman who sinned against her husband and the Law of the land? Yes, mercy and grace where penalty could have been demanded.

Would He judge sin at a later time? (Perhaps you had not thought of His temporary grace calling this sinner to repentance.)

Will Jesus judge sin – adultery, dishonesty, failure to show mercy to the poor or unjustly accused, victims of hateful vengeance?
- “Put boundaries for the people all around the mountain and say: Be careful that you don’t go up on the mountain or touch its base. Anyone who touches the mountain must be put to death. – Exodus 19:12
- “Whoever strikes a person so that he dies must be put to death. – Exodus 21:12
- “If a person schemes and willfully acts against his neighbor to murder him, you must take him from my altar to be put to death. – Exodus 21:14
- “Whoever strikes his father or his mother must be put to death. – Exodus 21:15
- “Whoever kidnaps a person must be put to death, whether he sells him or the person is found in his possession. – Exodus 21:16
- “Whoever curses his father or his mother must be put to death. – Exodus 21:17
- “Whoever has sexual intercourse with an animal must be put to death. Exodus 22:19
“Observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Whoever profanes it must be put to death. If anyone does work on it, that person must be cut off from his people. Work may be done for six days, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD. Anyone who does work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.
Exodus 31:14-15

His Merciful Sentence

“He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” –
Jesus’ question to accusers who would judge sin – John 8:7 NASB

“I am the light of the world.

You judge by human standards. I judge no one. And if I do judge, my judgment is true, because it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.
Jesus’ standard to judge sin – John 8:15-16 CSB

Is Jesus the Messiah?

If Jesus was, IS, and will always be the Lord God, the Messiah, then He IS Light itself. Jesus is the very image of Light of the Father God our Creator, sustainer and Judge.

12 Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”

13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying about yourself. Your testimony is not valid.”

14 “Even if I testify about myself,” Jesus replied, “My testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I’m going. But you don’t know where I come from or where I’m going. 15 You judge by human standards…

Is this not true of every man or woman who must judge another man or woman?

Therefore what is our standard of temporal justice, prior to the judgment of our souls?

Leviticus 19: Laws of Holiness – Separation to the LORD

לֹא־תַעֲשׂ֥וּ עָ֨וֶל֙ בַּמִּשְׁפָּ֔ט לֹא־תִשָּׂ֣א פְנֵי־דָ֔ל וְלֹ֥א תֶהְדַּ֖ר פְּנֵ֣י גָדֹ֑ול בְּצֶ֖דֶק תִּשְׁפֹּ֥ט עֲמִיתֶֽךָ׃

John does not present every proof of witness that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel, but closes his Gospel written after many proofs of the resurrection of Jesus with this:

But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:31 CSB

Light of Life from beyond the grave

12 Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”

… “You know neither me nor my Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew me, you would also know my Father.”

20 He spoke these words by the treasury, while teaching in the temple. But no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.

… and you will die in your sin. Where I’m going, you cannot come.”

… You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”

25 “Who are you?” they questioned.

“Exactly what I’ve been telling you from the very beginning,” Jesus told them.

Do you believe the Light or hide in the darkness of death?

26 “I have many things to say and to judge about you, but the one who sent me is true, and what I have heard from him—these things I tell the world.”
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To be continued...
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February 14, 2020
Disaster From Disobedience, A Savior From Before Eden – 6

Instruction in Good and Evil

This is My command: Love one another as I have loved you. – John 15:12

The Lord loved the work of His creation, especially man, made in his own image. Adam and Eve were more special and blessed than any of God’s created ones. The Lord had been like a father instructing them and walking beside the man and the woman in Eden.

In our last look at Adam’s temptation and original sin we established the radical change required now that man knew good and evil. At first Adam had only one rule to obey. The Lord commanded. DO NOT desire the knowledge of good and evil. That’s it; don’t eat that fruit! Everything else? Fine.

Now man will require some instruction as to what is good and what is evil. Not so easy. The Lord will instruct them.

Adam and Eve have children (after all, not only was it pleasurable and fulfilling, but the Lord had commanded it). These first parents had a relationship with God and could ask the Lord for help with their children. (We do that, right? … or at least we should.)

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” – Genesis 1:28

God had instructed them like a loving father; now these original parents will instruct their children in that same love. Children who know nothing of evil and have never seen paradise will learn of good and evil, with God’s help.

Godly Instruction in Good and Evil

You will recognize sin leading to a later Commandment, ‘Thou shalt not murder;’ but note other sins present here as well. Our familiarity with two of Adam’s sons, Cain and Abel, could obscure some of the Lord’s instruction.

Your full consideration of Scripture linked here is always welcome, however let’s read just an excerpt.

Genesis 4:

6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent?

For our instruction in good and evil, note the Lord’s two descriptive emotions: furious and despondent. Think of your own emotions related to jealousy or envy of another, as was the case with Cain of Abel.

“Why art thou wroth,” reads the King James, for translation from Hebrew of Charah חָרָה speaks of a burning anger.

Do you suppose that Adam, also now knowing good and evil instructed his sons in righteousness? What parent doesn’t? And for that matter what parent does not also need the help of the Lord?

(God help me with this child! What parent has not made this plea?)

The other emotion mentioned also causes us much anguish, perhaps as consequence of our powerless ability to please others. Again, the King James translates, “and why is thy countenance fallen?”

Despondent is apt image of the fallen face of one so disappointed. If we have eyes to see the face of another we can always see it, just as a face may also reflect radiant joy.

Our sin and guilt will cause a fallen countenance, translated from the Hebrew: פָּנִים paniym or face נָפַל naphal or fall. After man’s fall, a fallen face due to our inability to please the Lord.

What instruction could the Lord have for the son of Adam about his fallen condition?

A Caution to choose Good and not Evil

^{Genesis 4:7}If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted?

We do not automatically receive God’s blessing. The Lord instructs us to consider our choices.

In this case, Abel had received blessing, but Cain’s offering to the Lord was not accepted. It begs a weighty question for us when we fall short of the Lord’s expectation (and we all do at times).

What should I do to be accepted by God?

The Lord’s answer seems so simple, ‘do what is right,’ yet it comes with a caution as well.

But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door.

Again, a helpful picture, ‘sin crouching at the door.’ This is actually the Bible’s first reference to sin, חַטָּאָת chatta’ath, from the root word חָטָא, meaning ‘to miss the mark.’ I can easily picture the Lord’s caution to not trip over the obstacle of sin before the doorstep of heaven.

Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

Do you also find it interesting that the Lord personifies sin here as having desire for you?

Desire is certainly a human trait; but as we learned from Satan’s fall, also an angelic trait.

Sin! crouching at our door: its desire is for you and for me.

But we must rule over it, says the Lord. We must defeat sin in the great and ongoing battle between good and evil.

Cain failed and sinned. Yet do not condemn Cain like the son of another, but rather have pity for him like you would your own son. And have compassion on other sinners. With God’s help some who fall short will do good and gain the Lord’s acceptance. And in Christ even a sinner like you and me has hope.

Now That We Have the Knowledge of Good and Evil

Perhaps on occasion your face falls at the thought of our past and inevitable sin. For the task of our earthly knowledge of good and evil weighs heavily upon us. ‘There is no one righteous, not even one.’

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. – Romans 3:23

Do you recall that Adam and Eve had more sons? For we are sons of Seth, Son of Adam. Therefore our instruction in good and evil must progress.

The Lord will not only give us the Law through Moses, but also redeem us from our sin by the Son of Man.

To be continued…

June 21, 2018