Luke 11: the Parables of the Widow, the Sleeping Neighbour, and the Loving Father.

Following Jesus' utterance of 'the Lord’s Prayer' and in response to the disciples' insistence that Jesus teach them to pray, he tells them a couple of parables. One is about a man who gets out of bed solely because of his neighbour's persistence (11:5-8, cf. Luke 18:1-8); another relays how a father will not do his child harm in response to his child’s request – i.e. giving a snake for a fish or a scorpion for an egg. We must be persistent in approaching God and have faith that He will give us what is best – He will do so even more than an earthly father does for his own children (v.13). Since the Kingdom is here and will be fully realized, we must act accordingly: "ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened (vv.10-11)." We must display the ethic of perseverance in approaching the Lord with the faith that he will give us what we need.

Click HERE to read the parables of Luke 11.

Ethics of the Kingdom of God - According to Luke's Record of the Parables of Jesus

Luke 10: The Parable of the Good Samaritan.


In Chapter 10, Luke records Jesus as telling the famous parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37; cf. Mt 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-31) in response to a lawyer's question about what one must do to inherit eternal life (v.25). The lawyer, when affirmed in his assertion that "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself (v.27; cf. Deut 6:5, Lev. 19:18)," asks Jesus who is his neighbour. At the conclusion of the familiar parable, Jesus responds to the question of the lawyer (v.29) with his own question: "which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers (v.36)?" The man responds that it was "the one who showed him mercy (v.37)." Jesus then tells him to do likewise. Showing mercy is central to this parable and a key ethic to be displayed in the already arriving Kingdom of God.

Click HERE to read the parable - and all of Luke 10 - on-line.

The Purpose of Parables (and of the Sower)

(Mark 4:10-12, Matthew 13:10-17, Luke 8:10)

Jesus is recorded as using parables many times in the scriptures. More than one third of his recorded teachings are parabolic in nature. These "sayings perform the classic function of Hellenistic histories of interpreting the meaning of the narrative"*1  as a whole, particularly in Luke. In all three accounts of this parable, the parable about the sower, Jesus tells us directly his purpose for speaking in parables before explaining it directly to his disciples.

It is interesting that Luke records Jesus as saying in verse 10, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that 'looking they may not perceive, and listening they may not understand.'"*2 The reference to the "secrets" (mysteria, v. 10) that they have been told, "occurs in this context in all three Synoptics. Mark 4:11 uses the singular form mysterion; and Matthew (13:11), like Luke, includes the word "knowledge" (gnonai, lit., "to know"). Only in this situation does mysterion occur in the teachings of Jesus."*3  This then is significant.

Also significant in this sub-section is the fact that others are not meant to understand -as is stated in Mark's account of Jesus discourse - "so they may not turn again and be forgiven (4:12)." There is a certain irony to this in the fact that the disciples themselves in Mark's gospel often seem to be the one's who don't understand.

About the Parable of the Sower then: this is a parable that should mean something to its original audience. Israel was indeed a story-telling culture and, at the time Jesus spoke this parable, an agrarian society. The possibility that the seed may fall on each of the kinds of ground should ring true to them: the good ground, the thorny ground, the places where the soil was shallow over limestone rock, the path - in first century Palestine, instead of a fence between each man's field, there would be a narrow well-beaten path, like the one mentioned in the parable; these were often as hard as pavement.  People would have been aware of this. "Jesus' parables draw upon the familiar world but the familiar is used in a new way."*4  Those listening then should have been able to listen, hear, and understand this parable. However, they could not necessarily. This is an irony that is inherent to the parable; we can only hope that the truth of this parable - and Jesus' parables in general - will not be lost on us today.

Click HERE to read the Parable of the Sower in Luke (8:1-15) and see what it says for yourself...

Dr Was and Holiness

Ephesians 5-6 and Psalm 119:1-80

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Leviticus and the environment

Canada's official opposition has just selected Stephan Dion, a former Minister of Environment for its leader. He has a dog named Kyoto. This got my mind thinking about God's commands about the land (specifically relating to Palestine) in Leviticus 25, 26.

The land itself shall enjoy its Sabbath rest (25:2, 26:34,35) just as man is commanded to (Exod. 20: 8-11, Deut 5:15), and as God did (Exod. 20:11, Gen. 2:3). If the 'tenants' (25:23)fail in their responsibility to carry out that duty, then the owner of the Land -who cares about His land- will remove them from it. And He did remove Israel: "He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. The land enjoyed its Sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfilment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah. (2 Chronicles 36:20-21)." The land is the LORD's. He cares about His land and therefore so should we.

Any thoughts about this or what it means for us here today - if anything- e-mail me at ramsay@havelock-viha.com

OT: was Israel supposed to be a Communist Theocracy?

"The nation of Israel...was a theocracy. God was the Head of the nation. He had chosen Israel and had promised in that period to channel his saving grace particularly through that nation...To Israel he gave his revelation through the prophets. To Israel he gave the order of true worship at the tabernacle and temple. God dwelt in the midst of Israel and at last became incarnate as a Jew of Nazareth. Therefore, in Israel things that we call sacred and profane were mingled together. Before the monarchy much of the secular administration was in the hands of the priests. There was no separation of church and state."

(Expositor's Bible Commentary)

"In a sense Israel had a kind of communism. The wealth was partially redivided every few years... This was the communal sharing that works well in a family where all have the strongest ties of love and interest...Israel, like the early church, was a community of people united in worship of the true God and sanctified in him. In times of revival, at least, the bulk of Israel's citizens would have been God-fearing men and women earnest in obeying God's law."

(Expositor's Bible Commentary)

How's this for a discussion topic? Anybody have any thoughts on this?...send me an e-mail: ramsay@havelock-viha.com

Until this subject is wholly exhausted...

Yet another perspective...

From Holiness and How to Get It!
by Andrew Bale

the Journal of Aggressive Christianity (JAC):

. Holiness is both possible and essential ('without holiness none shall see the Lord!)
. Holiness makes Christians fruitful and effective
. Holiness leads to revival
. Holiness is conditional upon
     - Conviction
     - Renunciation of all that is sinful and doubtful
     - Consecration (absolute surrender)
     - Obedient faith
. Holiness is the work of God not man
. Holiness brings about complete and instant deliverance from sin (Holy people do not sin)
. A holy life is exemplified by a love for God expresses in practical love for others

Read whole article: http://www.armybarmy.com/article3-46.html
JAC Home: http://www.armybarmy.com/jac.html 

Good-bye Grandma.

Margery Garraway
GARRAWAY, Margery (Marge) Margery passed away peacefully on November 28, 2006 at the age of 90. Margery was born in Silver Stream, Saskatchewan. She was predeceased by her loving husband Francis and her brother Allan. She is survived by her son Lyle (Mary) Garraway, her daughter Linda (Keith) Ramsay and her sister Joan (Neil) Christensen. Gramma Marge played an important role in the lives of her grandchildren: Dale Garraway, Helene (George) Hayek, Renee (Paul) Kelly, Michael (Susan) Ramsay and Lorinda Ramsay. Margery was so proud of her seven great granddaughters: Amanda, Miranda, Rachel, Rebecca, Sierra, Sarah-Grace and Abigail. Margery will be missed by her many friends, especially Jo White and Ina Harris. She, also, leaves behind her sisters-in law Nellie, Alice, Pat and May (Don), as well as many nephews and nieces. Margery and Francis lived in Flin Flon, Manitoba; Colonsay and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; and Victoria, BC. They owned grocery stores in Colonsay and Victoria. In Victoria, Margery worked at Woolworth's, Kelly Douglas and Sears. Margery was very involved in many activities at First Baptist Church. Her faith was important to her. It was a comfort to know that she was going to be welcomed Home when she closed her eyes for the last time. The family would like to thank the many people at Esquimalt Pharmasave, John Alfred Manor and Mount Tolmie Hospital who helped to ease Margery through her final months. We thank you all so much! You were so supportive to us all! A memorial service will be held during the Christmas holidays to allow her family and friends to say goodbye. The time and place will be announced at a later date. Condolences may be offered to the family at www.mccallbros.com 321190 Published in the Victoria Times-Colonist on 12/2/2006.
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Stephan Dion Wins!!!

Congratulations,

Please join me in praying for this new leader (-: