Category Archives: Faith

Gender – Woman and Man

Posted on by
words and attitudes can we convey to each other that delight in our own gender and respect and appreciate our opposites

How did Jesus say ‘woman?’ What attitude was in his tone of voice? In John 2:4 and again in John 19:36, Jesus calls his own mother ‘woman.’ I know that when Jesus spoke to a woman in public, he used the term woman with an attitude that was gender affirming. He referred to women in a way that affirmed His own creativity. The word of God makes it clear that in eternity past, the genders were created by this same Jesus!

Today, we hear Jesus speak to her……

Luke 13: 10-17

Verse 12              And when Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.”

“Woman, you are freed from your sickness.”

It is strange for us to hear her addressed simply as ‘woman.’  I have to tell a story here….

I was renting the downstairs apartment in my home to a young couple and on a particular day, I was in the basement doing the laundry. I over heard, through the thin apartment door, the young husband loudly yell to his wife, “Woman!  Get me a beer!”  She responded, “Why should I?”  His answer was, “Cuz you da woman and I da man, and da woman do what da man say!”  About that time I went upstairs knowing I had overheard way too much. Continue reading →

Jesus called her over…

Posted on by
Jesus called her over

Jesus called her in some way that communicated to her that He was the greatest authority in that room.
Jesus called her in some way that communicated that He could take care of the leaders who would object.
Jesus called her in some way that communicated that close proximity to him was the safest location in the world.
Jesus called her in some way that communicated that if she obeyed, good things would happen.

There is so much more to the story……

Luke 13: 10-17

Verse 12              And when Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.”

He called her over………

The synagogue arrangement was such that the woman who was bent over double because of an 18 year sickness caused by Satan, found herself with the other women at the worship service.  The women were required to be behind a lattice work wall, separate form the men who would have been in closer proximity to Jesus who was seated on the raised platform near the middle of the room.

The fact that He saw her at all is of great interest and it is clear that in seeing her Jesus also knew every thing about her and the illness that bound her making the ground her most familiar view. Continue reading →

When Jesus Saw Her…

Posted on by
the arrangement placed the women in side galleries screened off by lattice work walls.

The audience was divided by gender. Sometimes, down the center of the room was a wall five or six feet high with the men on one side and the women on the other. In other cases, the arrangement placed the women in side galleries screened off by lattice work walls.

More about the un-named woman…….

Luke 13: 10-17

Verse 12              And when Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.”

Jesus saw her……..

The synagogue was usually constructed on the highest ground in the town.  It was constructed so that when worshipers entered or prayed, they would be facing Jerusalem.  Inside the building, on the Jerusalem end of the structure, was a special place reserved for the ark which was an ornamented chest which housed the sacred scrolls of the law when they were not in use.  In front of the ark was the eight branched lamp which was lighted only on great festival days and beside that was another lamp which was kept burning perpetually.  Nearest this area were the seats of honor. Continue reading →

A Woman

Posted on by
And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all

She was utterly unable to straighten herself or to look upward. The sickness that she suffered caused her body to be bent double so that her natural view was to the ground. Her deformity was in fact grotesque and known to all who saw her.

The story continues…….  Luke 13 10-17

Verse 10 & 16a

9       And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all

15    “And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years…

A woman was there in the place of worship that day.  There must have been lots of women and men as well.  We do not know her name but we know a few things about her. Continue reading →

Daughter of Abraham

Posted on by
day set aside for worship

On the day set aside for worship, Jesus could be found in the synagogue in whatever town He was in, participatory role. He gave of Himself and His relationship with His heavenly Father.

There is an account in the book of Luke about a woman who’s story has so much meaning and such wonderful application, that I have gone back to it again and again.  I can not share all that I see in her encounter with Jesus in a short time, so I will do it over a period of days.  Each day will be a continuation of the one before.

Her story is found in Luke 13: 10-17

The three-year public ministry of Jesus is in its final year.  The leaders of Israel have rejected Him for the most part and are looking for ways to discredit Him as His popularity among the people is drawing large numbers to His teaching and healing ministry.  As our story opens, He is on His great final teaching tour as He has turned His face to the cross.  He is pressing on toward Jerusalem. Continue reading →

Spirit

Posted on by
The human spirit. What is it? It is ours to control?

The human spirit. What is it? It is ours to control?

Luke 23:46 (NASB)  And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last.  (NASB)

The final words of Jesus who is called the Christ, spoken from the agonizing death scene at Calvary, are addressed to His Father in heaven.  He summoned all the strength that remained in His human form to cry out with a loud voice, within the hearing of all those present that day.  Someone recorded His final words so that I can ponder their meaning today. Continue reading →

Finished

Posted on by
It is finished

Notice that He did not say, “will be!” He said dear one, that “it IS finished.” The plan of salvation was finished at that moment on the cross of Calvary because the sin problem was taken care of.

John 19:30 (NASB)  Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!”  (NASB)

Receiving the sour wine on the sponge raised to His mouth was the final act, which fulfilled the prophecies given in the Old Testament concerning His agony on the cross.  Now Jesus utters the words, “It is finished.”  What was finished?  To whom was this statement directed?  I believe that His words were directed toward His Father as were His very first words recorded at the outset of this ugly crucifixion event.  On that occasion, He asked the Father to forgive those who were nailing His body to the cross.

What is the “it” that He referred to here?  Surely it is the purpose for His life.  He is nearing the end and will soon take His last breath.  He is saying that the purpose of His life has now been accomplished.  The plan of God for His life, His reason for living, has been completed. Continue reading →

Thirst

Posted on by
I am thirsty

I have to wonder if sour wine sucked into His mouth from a sea sponge atop a branch of hyssop was anything of a thirst quencher. Perhaps the thirst He was expressing was more about a spiritual desire for the sweetness of perfect union with His Father whose face was now turned away as Jesus “became sin for us.”

John 19:28-29 (NASB)  After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.”  A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon [a branch of] hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.  (NASB)

Jesus knew what He was supposed to do.  He knew what His life was about.  He was not compelled to be on that cross, He knew He was there by assignment from His Father in heaven.  In fact, the purpose for His life was accomplished while He experienced the most horrible death ever endured.  He was the “promised one” spoken about in the Old Testament scriptures, and His thirst experienced in such agony was foretold in a prophetic statement in Psalm 69:21.

The sour wine near the cross was there as the chosen refreshment for the Roman soldiers.  Hyssop shrubs were a common hardy perennial herb, which grew about 18 inches high.  The soldier who responded to His words of thirst may have stripped the leaves and tiny, sweet-scented, purplish-blue flowers off the severed branch to turn it into a stick that would extend his reach.  Earlier, as the ugly process of crucifixion had begun, they had offered Him another wine that was mixed with myrrh, which is believed by some to have had stupefying effect.  He would not drink that wine, but now He takes the sour wine to quench His thirst and to fulfill the scriptures. Continue reading →

Why?

Posted on by
Why have You forsaken Me

“Why have You forsaken Me?” It was true! In those moments while Jesus hung on the cross, His body suspended by nails, God abandoned Him, leaving Him to experience the agonizing death alone. The question that even Jesus needed to ask was “Why?”

Mark 15:34-35 (NASB)  At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  When some of the bystanders heard it, they [began] saying, “Behold, He is calling for Elijah.”  (NASB)

 The cruel events on Golgotha started in the morning at nine o’clock and, by noon, a strange darkness had come over the whole land.  It was not an eclipse as it was the time of the full moon, but the sun was obscured, resulting in darkness, which did not hinder the mockery of the crowd surrounding the three crosses on the hill outside Jerusalem.

Jesus, suffering physical agony while struggling to breathe on the cross, was drawing inward as all the forces of His physical life were focused on the effort of drawing yet another breath.  Continue reading →

Decisions

Posted on by
Which way will you choose - decision

One apparently withdrew in anger and disgusted resignation, choosing to die as he had lived… railing against those who would give him direction. The other faced death knowing that he had come to this place of punishment by his own doing. With an attitude of fear before the God who knows all, he asked Jesus to remember him in His Kingdom.

Luke 23:39-42 (NASB)  One of the criminals who were hanged [there] was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!”  But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  “And we indeed [are suffering] justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”  And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”  And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”  (NASB)

Three crosses were raised and dropped into the holes in the ground that would keep them standing erect for all to see this cruel punishment they inflicted upon those who dared to live outside of the law of Rome.  Two of the three men whose bodies hung from those beams were criminals and were receiving a just sentence for their crimes.  One looked toward the future, which was certain death, with the idea that Jesus ought to get them out of the situation and help Himself off the cross in the process.  The other looked toward death with the fear of God which the Psalms tell us is the beginning of wisdom. Continue reading →