God and Caesar Tiberius

Matthew 22:15-21   Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.  They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.

“Teacher,” they said, “we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.  You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are.  Tell us then, what is your opinion?  Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?  Show me the coin used for paying the tax.”

They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this?  And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (NIV).

   Ironically the passage discussed in my last piece involved Greeks and this passage involves a Roman emperor.  The Roman Empire, a history subject I was weak on, has been contemplated by me this week since I have been reading a book about it by Dr. Thomas Burns, footnoted below.  The author is a longtime scholar and expert on the subject.  Though quite cold towards Christianity, from his expertise I have gained some Bible context.

   I learned from Dr. Burns why Roman taxation incited anger from a number of people of conquered countries.  “Taxes were not uniformly imposed.  Until late in the second century, citizens paid less, and those in Italy paid hardly at all.” (1)  Also, their cruelty against newly conquered countries is shown as they often enslaved many people from their new territory. (2)  And their all-encompassing label of people from other countries as “barbarians” is dehumanizing in my opinion.

   Also, the emperor at the time of the ministry of Christ was Caesar Tiberius, and emperor worship was already established.  Dr. Burns mentioned emperor worship taking place within the military. (3)

   Thus we have the background for this passage.  The Pharisees and Herodians thought they could trap Jesus, because if He said they did not need to pay taxes to Caesar, He would have been committing a crime against the ruling Empire, and the Herodians would have probably been quick to report that.  And if Jesus merely said they should pay taxes to Caesar, He would seem to be betraying His fellow Jewish people who were ruled and suppressed by a foreign country which even practiced blasphemous emperor worship.  The Pharisees would have probably been quick to spread that around.

   Yet Jesus went to work to reveal the true God.  Brilliantly using a coin to aid His point, Jesus in one sentence denied the deity of Caesar, and divided the issue of money verses true love.  Money could be given to Caesar.  Love, to the ultimate extent of worship, is to be given to God.

   Israelites knew the Shema: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5 NIV).  And this command continues for all since Jesus taught it as is recorded in Matthew 22:37-38.  (And the teachings of Jesus are for everyone – Matthew 28:20.)  First and foremost, the call of a believer in Jesus is to love God to the degree of worship.  We are to love people also, as Jesus went on to teach in Matthew 22:39.  Jesus was not teaching they could forgo loving the human being Tiberius.  Jesus was saying worship is due to God, a true love which is proper for God, and God only!

   Obey what Jesus states here, and devote your entire heart to our Holy God, the One who first loved us.

Hunter Irvine

(1) Thomas S. Burns, Rome and the Barbarians, 
100 B.C. - A.D. 400

(Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 

2003), 31.

(2) Ibid., 105.

(3) Ibid., 154.

Revelation to the Greeks

 John 12:20-29   Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast.  They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request.  “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”  Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.  Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds.  The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.  My Father will honor the one who serves me.  Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say?  ‘Father save me from this hour?’  No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.  Father, glorify your name!”  Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”  The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him” (NIV).

   Why did Jesus refrain from talking with these Greek gentlemen?  Seems like the perfect opportunity to show His divine wisdom.  Yet Jesus did not talk with the Greeks, rather after this event which included some more interaction with the crowd, He “hid himself” (verse 36).
   The Bible never records Jesus discussing Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle, though those philosophers were still huge in the culture of His day.  This seemed to be Jesus’ chance to be a witness for the truth in the face of the world’s great philosophers.  Seems like a prime opportunity for Jesus to rock the philosophical world.  Instead Jesus reiterated His mission, which involved death, and then He opened an opportunity for God to be audibly revealed.
   Greek discourse, which I was raised on, involves question and answer sessions, and strives towards logical statements of an “if –then” nature.  Yet in telling of His mission Jesus used an “Oriental” style.  This style involves a bit of a vague discourse, usually containing metaphors, where the main message may be tucked away in the middle of the address rather than stated upfront or in the grand conclusion.  “Oriental” discourse was the culture of the Ancient Near East, thus it fit the culture of Judah.  In this manner Jesus talks about His mission to the Cross.
   After Jesus affirmed and exalted His mission, God the Father spoke from heaven.  Wow.
   I do not think Jesus was ignoring the Greeks, rather He took the opportunity to have the living God directly reveal Himself from earth and from heaven.  God does want us to engage in discourse with folks.  When studying at Colorado Christian University, I did some research on the writings of early Christians.  A topic of interest to a number of early Christian writers was Greek philosophers.  Makes sense because the early Christian writers were usually highly educated.  Sometimes these early Christians would try to explain that the wisdom of Christianity did not contradict certain Greek wisdom rather was a real life fruition.  And look at Paul’s great statement in Athens to the Greeks regarding the altar to the “To An Unknown God,” in Acts 17.
   Yet the foundation of discourse must be that God revealed Himself.  We fallen humans are not able to obtain the wisdom of God on our own accord.  We fallen humans could never have discerned God had He not revealed Himself to us.  (I learned that from John Stott.)  God revealed Himself that day in an audible voice from the Father in heaven to all who were willing to listen.  And God revealed Himself in Jesus Christ.  Jesus was Immanuel, which means “God with us.”  The truth of the person of Jesus is He was God incarnate, which means God in the flesh.
   His divine nature was expressed more and more throughout His ministry as He continued performing miracles.  This may be the reason even Greeks wanted to talk with Him.  But this is also the reason why He threatened many religious leaders who expressed their concern they were going to lose their lofty positions, since the Empire had a history of squashing countries or territories they perceived to be insubordinate.  Or maybe their secret fear was Jesus was going to defrock them.  So they worked to murder Jesus.  Yet Jesus allowed Himself to be murdered, the result of which was that Jesus was the atonement for sins for anyone.  Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Law and the Prophets by being the sacrificial atonement on the Cross for the wages of sins, which is spiritual death.  Then the Father resurrected Jesus, and He lives today.  If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will not perish, rather you will have eternal life with Jesus forever.
Hunter Irvine

Marriage

Matthew 19:3-6   Some Pharisees came to [Jesus] to test him.  They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”  “Haven’t your read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two, but one.  Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate” (NIV).

   In this passage from Matthew, Jesus quotes from the book of Genesis.  Marriage was God’s plan in the beginning!  Marriage has been carried out in most cultures throughout history.  Jesus ordained marriage!

   But marriage has been frequently degraded at various times throughout history, and marriage is being rapidly degraded in my country, the United States, now.  Just in my lifetime, marriage is less common and more frequently ignored.  And tragically, in some Christian communities in my country, ministers are teaching it is fine to engage in sexual intercourse outside of marriage.  They reject the teaching of Jesus as recorded here in Matthew 19.

   In my opinion, the disagreement between various Christian communities regarding whether sexual intercourse is moral only within marriage, or not, has been the most divisive issue since the fiery dispute regarding the immorality or morality of slavery, which resulted in the Civil War.

   Yet marriage between a man and a woman is good!  Now marriage is not a requirement.  Singleness being chaste is an option.  Personally I have accomplished much ministry work which probably would not have been possible or best had I been married.  Yet I still have the dream of being married.  And marriage is an opportunity for many.

   Yet for continued happiness, a marriage needs both partners to live by the love of Jesus.  Why?  Because Jesus’ true love is needed by everyone, single or married.  His true love was manifested in that Jesus died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for the consequence of sins, which is spiritual death.  If you believe in Jesus, you will have eternal life with Him.  And you will be changed throughout your life to be more and more loving.  Enabled by Jesus, you can even be more and more loving to a spouse, if you gain one.

Hunter

Love

   Sometimes I struggle.  Recently I celebrated my birthday.  Every year in the past I have cherished birthdays.  Even as I get older, I continue with thanksgiving for how God has blessed me during another year.  But this past year, I have been so unsuccessful in gaining employment there have been rare feelings of diminished hope.  Also marriage has been a dream ever since my youth, but it has not happened after a half century.
   Working to stay encouraged by God, invitations were sent to a few friends for a birthday event.  The people who came: my dear friend who is like my sister and her children, of whom I am like an uncle.  Had they not been available, I would have been lonely on my birthday.  With such pathetic circumstances recently, I would have been crushed.  Instead, because of their expression of love, I had one of the best birthday parties I have ever had!
   Over the past 27 years of following Jesus there have been some occasions when I needed, truly needed, an expression of His love in some personal way.  This past birthday is an example where God gave me needed hope through the love of my three genuine friends.  Jesus Christ commanded we love God and love people.  My friends love Jesus, and they loved me on my birthday, and I am immensely thankful.
   So today, simply a statement from a teary eyed follower of Jesus saying if you love someone even this week, you may influence their life more than you can imagine.
Hunter

Why is Good Friday good?

   Yesterday afternoon I was driving to a park to go for a walk.  Turning on the radio to a Christian station, the D.J. was talking with a woman.  She said she had worked a job for fifteen years, but then in 2014, she was laid off.  Then she went to a temp company, and they placed her in a job.  It turned out to be her favorite job ever.  She woke up at 5:00am every weekday morning looking forward to her job.  But yesterday morning the temp company informed her the job was ending.  In one week it will be over.  Speaking to the D.J., she sobbed.  Then the D.J. started praying for her.  His prayer touched me.  And I prayed for her on my walk.
   Walking in the park my thoughts were flowing.  Like that woman, I have been in a job which I loved which came to an abrupt halt, actually several times and for various reasons, and each time it was extremely hurtful.  After working so hard and being so devoted to Jesus through it all, it hurts, and it can seem unreasonable.  If a job is enjoyed so much, why does God allow it to come to a premature or abrupt end?  If a child of God is working hard at a position, should not God reward that person by allowing her or him to continue in that employment?  And as I have mentioned previously, I have been unemployed for a long time, and that has been hard.  God keeps encouraging me, but no door has yet opened.
   After all of that thinking in the park while I walked around and around, the whole subject was rather overwhelming.  Yet I was blessed to acknowledge after my time thinking that because of sin, this world is full of daily tragedy, yet God will bring goodness from tragedy for those who turn to Him.

   Regarding tragedy, God allows people to make their own choices, day after day.  When those choices are not within the will of God, people get hurt in some manner.  Yet praise be God, if you turn to God in the wake of being hurt in a tragedy, He can bring goodness for you.  This is revealed in the Bible: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28 NIV).
   This does not mean that all things are good.  The Bible teaches sin is bad and hurts people.  However, for those who love God, and thus are willing to do His will, He will work in their lives to bring goodness.
   Today is “Good Friday,” when Christians remember the crucifixion of Jesus.  Why was it good Jesus was murdered?  It is the ultimate event where God brought the ultimate goodness out of the ultimate tragedy.  The ultimate tragedy is that Jesus, who was Immanuel which means God with us, was murdered.  Yet His plan was to die and be the substitute for the consequences of sins, which is spiritual death in h-ll.  When Jesus was murdered, He became the atonement for sins, which is available for anyone.  Shedding His blood for the salvation of people was the ultimate goodness.
   Jesus could have chosen not to suffer death.  He did so because He loves us.  Many of us have gone through tragedies we could not avoid.  There are times when I have suffered or when I have seen someone else suffering when I have considered God does not love us.  I think, “How can God love us if He allows us to experience such extreme tragedy and suffering?”  Suffering all started because of the disobedience of people against God.  Yet Jesus suffered the atoning death on a cross to make it possible for us to one day suffer no more, since believers in Jesus will be with Him for eternity in heaven.  If you do not know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you can believe in Him right now and be saved!
   I hope you can say with me this “Good Friday,” “Thank You Jesus!”

Hunter

Scripture Love Blog

The voice of the Good Shepherd

   Back in the early nineties, I worked in Washington D.C. for three and a half years commuting on the subway from northern Virginia.  My dad commuted to Washington D.C. on that same subway line from Virginia, though he lived in a different town than myself once I was an adult.  We rarely saw each other on the subway.  One point about the D.C. subway is there are certain lines which overlap for a certain length, and then split.  Thus before you get on a train you need to look to see if it is the correct line you want.
   Once I was at a subway station which is a junction for two different lines, the orange line and the blue line.  I was waiting for an orange line.  A long blue line train came to the station and slowed to a halt.  Suddenly I saw my dad in a seat in the car just to the right of me.  He was sitting reading a book.  The doors opened and people immediately departed the train.  Then I jumped in the doorway and said, “Dad!”
   My dad, who was bent over reading, after a moment, raised his head.
   “You’re on a blue line,” I stated as he looked at me.
   He grabbed his briefcase and walked off the train.  As the train pulled away, we were both glad and amused I happened to be just at the right spot on a rare time when dad happened to be on the wrong train.
   And though there may have been a number of fathers on that train, my immediate reaction was to call him what I always call him.  And my dad said in the midst of reading, when he heard someone loudly say “Dad,” he recognized my voice.  Before he looked up, he thought, “That’s Hunter.”
   In a sermon in a church where I worshiped this past Sunday the pastor was teaching on John 10 and made the statement that all followers of Jesus are in one flock.  He said there is only one flock and there is only one Shepherd.  Sounds obvious, but sometimes we Christians are so enamored by our human institutions we do not act like there is one flock.  Jesus does not divide the sheep based on denomination membership or ethnicity.  There are no sub-flocks.  The flock of God started out with Jewish believers within the Mosaic Covenant, and in the time of Christ was expanded to consist of people from all ethnic groups of all nations who believe in Jesus.  Jesus has one flock, children of God who have been adopted into the forever family of God.  Those of us who truly believe in Jesus have God as our Father in heaven.  People are not in the flock if Jesus is not their Savior and Lord, however active they are with a church institution.  Membership in the flock is not based on human merit or family history.
   Jesus stated, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand” (John 10: 27-28 NIV).
   Have you heard the voice of the Good Shepherd?  The Bible records teachings, discourses, and discussions by Jesus.  In my Bible, His words are even in red letters.  Though words on a page, the longer I follow Jesus, the more I hear the “voice” of Jesus as I read what He stated.
   I started with an old subway story, and I conclude with one.  When I was a rather new Christian, I got that job in Washington D.C.  Every day after work, I read the Bible on the way home.  Having only read a small amount of the Bible from the Old Testament in high school, I started by reading the entire New Testament for the first time.  Months in the future I shifted my Bible reading to the morning subway ride so I would read when more rested.  As my learning journey continued, Bible reading became more of a “study.”  Then came the ultimate; Bible time on the subway involved personal reflection and meditation.  All this happened on a subway over the course of six years.  And all along I grew in my understanding that when reading the Bible, Jesus was talking to everyone, including me.
   Soon after those six years of Bible learning and much other education at my special church, I became a youth pastor.  Though I had only been a Christian for seven years, time listening to and learning from the Good Shepherd predominantly on a subway train of all places, resulted in me being able to discern His voice.  And throughout all these years, I have been able to follow Jesus because I have listened to His voice in Scripture.
   To hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, you simply need to read the Bible trusting God that you will hear from Him, the One who loves you.
Hunter Irvine

Teach

   What is the name of a teacher who had a large impact in your life?

   My dad had a life changing teacher in junior high school.  Over forty years later, standing in an airport my dad heard two people talking behind him.  Without seeing either person, my dad recognized the one voice as that influential teacher.  The man was working as a volunteer at the airport information desk.  My dad went to him, introduced himself, and then told his former teacher what a great influence he had been in his life.  That story is one of my favorites because I think it is incredible my dad recognized the voice of a teacher he had not heard in over forty years.

   I have had some great teachers over many years of schooling, and two professors at Virginia Tech, Professor Ed Falco and Dr. J.W. Tubbs, had a life long influence.  Yet the personal story I will share here is from my freshman year at Virginia Tech.  The university was still on the quarter system, and the general education requirement for all students, besides engineering and math students who had even more advanced freshman math classes, included a quarter of Algebra, a quarter of Trigonometry, and a quarter of Calculus.  Not being a math person, they were hard for me.  (General education requirements are different at Tech these days.)  For those three classes, and a required entry level English class, Tech used graduate students as teachers.  My teacher for Calculus for the spring quarter was a graduate student from Tennessee.  That man turned out to be one of the best teachers I have ever had.  A Calculus expert, he would go through an equation problem on the chalk board at a nice pace for our sake.  Each step was explained!  Then he would ask if everyone in the class understood how he carried out the equation.  If only one person in the class did not understand, he would do it over again.  A few times he even went over a tricky step three times.  His patience was epic.

   One day around noon I was in the dining hall as usual.  Normally I sat with friends, but none of my friends were around that day.  Sitting alone at a large round table, I saw the Calculus teacher.  After he got a milk, he came over to my table and asked if he could sit with me.  I was honored to have my teacher sit with me and I enjoyed talking with him during lunch.  No other teacher had done that before, and none has done it since.

   We all have different gifts, and each of us prefer some subjects to others.  Whatever the subject, if your teacher was great, I speculate he or she has a passion for that subject.  And if your teacher was life changing, I speculate he or she cared about you.

   The last point Jesus instructed in the “Great Commission” is for followers of Jesus to teach everything He commanded.  Just as most of us have been aided by others in our Bible education, Jesus wants us disciples to be a part of the teaching process and assist in the education of others.  First we must learn from Him.  Preaching, teaching, and healing were grand aspects of the ministry of Jesus, and now His teachings are recorded in Scripture.  I personally am always learning from daily Bible study.  Second we must truly teach.  I love teaching, and promoting discussions by asking questions and being open to questions are one mode of teaching I employ to keep folks engaged.  Yet the call to teach is not only for those of us with a teaching gift.  You parents teach your children simply by how you live your life.  And if teaching is not your thing you can still foster Bible education by buying someone a Bible, treating your Sunday school teacher to lunch, or aiding the tuition of someone engaged in ministry studies.

   For twenty-two years of my life, though I had some prime education experience, I did not know the Gospel, I could not have named the first five books of the Old or New Testament, I had only read a small bit of the Bible, and I had never taken a theology class.  Boy has my life been radically different the past twenty-six years!  May that encourage us both when I say that right now education is more widespread and accessible than ever in history due to technology, however Bible unfamiliarity is common.  As education accessibility increases, Bible expertise seems to be diminishing.  Possible reasons might include the fact information overload is common, and our culture is more complicated.  Our duty remains, thus followers of Jesus need to keep learning from the Bible, and then share our knowledge in appropriate manners.

   For those of you who are not followers of Jesus, I invite you to take the opportunity to learn what Jesus taught.  His teaching can have even more than a “life time” influence; His teaching can have an eternal result.  Jesus, God the Son, gave teachings which reveal the Way to eternal life.

Hunter Irvine