April 14-April 20

Jesus Teaches About Our God
Ed Tritschler
St. Louis, Missouri

We have a powerful section of scripture to digest this week. At McKnight where I worship some folks have nicknamed me "three-point Ed". It will be hard, but my goal is to keep the tradition going.

In Luke 13 & 14 we find Jesus teaching, healing and even defying the Pharisees by healing on the Sabbath. When you think of the Pharisees what do you think of? Negative? Positive?

In Luke 13:10-17 we find Jesus on the Sabbath day teaching in the synagogue and he heals a woman suffering for eighteen years from a muscular infirmity. The Jewish rulers get indignant simply because Jesus healed on the Sabbath. In Luke 14:1-6 we again find Jesus on a Sabbath day with an opportunity to heal. This time Jesus asks the Pharisees that are with him for permission to heal. Their reply was silence, so Jesus healed. Is that not a powerful statement? Silence.

Point number one is simply a question for each of us to search our heart this week. In what ways are we like the Pharisees today?

Luke 15 is one of the most powerful chapters in the Bible. In the first two parables Jesus clearly shows God can be found and when that happens there is great rejoicing in Heaven. In the third parable `God' is represented by the father. The son is a sinner. The older brother is a good son with a spiritually weak heart. Jesus clearly teaches it is better to be a returning sinner than to be good with a weak spiritual heart. Point number two is also an opportunity for us to search our heart. Are we a sinner who needs to come home? Does your spiritual heart need an overhaul?

In Luke 17 Jesus concludes this section by teaching on forgiveness, faith and servanthood. Forgiveness has no end as Jesus uses the biblical perfect number seven to illustrate there is no end to forgiving others. Jesus challenges us to be rooted and planted in his word. I leave you with a paraphrase of verse ten "serving is simply our duty".

[Ed is retired from a forty-year financial service career. Ed and his wife Nancy will soon celebrate forty-nine years of marriage. They have three children and six grandchildren. Ed is a former elder at McKnight Road Church of Christ, but strong feels you never stop being a spiritual elder.]