Quote from Forum Archives on August 11, 2008, 3:40 pm

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

 

SERIES: LIVING GOD’S UNSHAKEABLE TRUTH #5/5

 

 

THE LIVING BIBLE

August 10, 2008

 

 

TEXT:  Luke 10:25-37

 

 

In the early 1970s, a new version of the Bible appeared that created a bit of a stir.  The Living Bible was a paraphrase of the Old and New Testaments.  The creators of the Living Bible were open and honest about their version and its purpose.  In the preface, they wrote, “To paraphrase is to say something in different words than the author used.  It is a restatement of an author’s thoughts, using different words than he did.  This book is a paraphrase of the Old and New Testaments.  Its purpose is to say as exactly as possible what the writers of Scripture meant, and to say it simply, expanding where necessary for a clear understanding by the modern reader.”  There were also comments about the shortcomings of a paraphrase included in the preface.  No one was trying to fool anyone about the purpose or the nature of the Living Bible.

 

Nevertheless, there was an outburst about this version.  Some opposed to it claimed that it was distorting the Word of God and deceiving readers.  I think that such a claim is really stretching things, but there was a lot of cultural upheaval going on at that time and some opponents of the Living Bible saw it as one more threat to orthodox Christian belief.  In the end, I think that the Living Bible accomplished, and accomplishes, what its creators set out for it to do: to open the Word of God to everyday folks in a way that made it a bit easier to understand.  Nothing wrong with that.  And, in the decades since, many more translations and versions of the Bible have been published that continue to meet the challenge of allowing readers to understand the Word of God and, at the same time, be as accurate as possible to the original languages and intent.

 

I do not think that Jesus minds at all our attempts to make his lessons as plain as possible.  Centuries ago, well before the age of mass printing, Jesus used and applied his own version of a Living Bible.  I’m using a little play on words here, so understand that Jesus did not publish a new version of the Bible; instead, he taught us how his followers are to be the Living Bible.  As the saying goes, we might be the only Bible a person reads.  How does this work?  Well, Jesus gives us the perfect demonstration in Luke 10.

 

“On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.  ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’” (Luke 10:25)  The episode begins with a lawyer who asks Jesus a question not for personal knowledge and growth, but to put Jesus to the “test.”  Like so many others, he wants to see if there is any chink at all in Jesus’ spiritual armor.  Can he find any way to discredit Jesus as either a person or a religious teacher?  So he asks Jesus a basic question about inheriting eternal life.

 

In turn, Jesus counters with a question that is more than a question.  “’What is written in the Law?’ he replied.  ‘How do you read it?’” (Luke 10:26)  The fellow challenging Jesus is, after all, an expert in the law, meaning the Law of Moses.  He should know something about the Scripture.  Jesus appeals to this man’s own knowledge by indicating that the answer is found in the Law he knows.  So, the lawyer answered, “‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Luke 10:27)  To which Jesus replied, “You have answered correctly.  Do this and you will live.” (Luke 10:28)

 

Here, now, is the lawyer’s moment of decision.  He now knows Jesus’ answer to his own question, for it is the same answer he gave Jesus in response to the question he was asked.  “Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor.”  Not difficult to understand, actually.  But this is where the lawyer stumbled.  Suddenly, he understood that this answer required action.  It required a response.  See, up to this point, the lawyer could deal with God’s Word on the theoretical level.  It was a great ideology to espouse.  After all, who doesn’t think that the answer to love God and to love the neighbor is the right answer?  This is a great ideology and theology and theory.  In fact, forms of it are expressed in many religions and philosophies.

 

But the lawyer knew that he was put on the spot, because he admitted that he knew that he was to love God with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind.  However, he could pretend to do this and get away with it before men.  He could go around saying this all day long and act in public as if he meant it though he really didn’t.  The Gospels expose in many places the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and experts in the law.  They kept getting their overabundant self-righteousness and their deficient obedience exposed by Jesus, and they did not like that.  This expert in the law recognizes the precarious position he has placed himself in, so he thinks quickly for a way out.  “But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’” (Luke 10:29)  In other words, “You’ve got me, Jesus.  I know I’m on the spot.  So can we just keep this theoretical?  Ya’know, like let’s not go overboard on this love your neighbor stuff?”

 

There is nothing wrong with theory and ideology.  In fact, one of the challenges in our culture today is that an ideology of humanism has been replacing a theocratic worldview.  Many are casting their lot with the temporal wisdom of man instead of the eternal wisdom of God, which is causing big conflict and big problems.  As much as we would like to hope and pretend, two or more conflicting ideologies cannot long exist side by side.  Ideology is important.

 

That said, though, it is also important to understand that ideology without action is useless.  Or, to put it Biblically, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” (James 2:26)  Jesus wasn’t about to let the lawyer off the hook, but he also wanted to build him and any other hearers up with a lesson.  Jesus, ever the perfect teacher, knew a teaching moment when he saw one.  So he launched into the engaging story of the Good Samaritan.

 

We recognize some important elements in Jesus’ story that made it stand out in the minds of those hearing Jesus that day.  The first two travelers passing by the beaten victim should have been exactly the kind of neighbors about which the lawyer was asking.  They, too, knew what was written in the Law, but they still chose to not only pass by, but to pass by on the other side.  Jesus made them out to be the perfect example of non-involvement.  As a priest and a Levite, their ideology and theology were flawless – in theory.  But guess what?  Jesus wanted more than theory, and the lawyer knew that.  That’s why he was seeking to justify himself.

 

Jesus wanted a living Bible.  Yes, we need a right ideology.  Yes, we need a right theology.  But we also need application, not theory.  So Jesus brought into his story a character who would have been a villain in the minds of his audience.  The Samaritans and the Jews, although sharing some common heritage, were more like feuding cousins in this time of history.  The Jews did not consider the Samaritans to be orthodox, largely over their difference of the proper place of worship.  Just let it suffice that they did not get along very well, so if anyone had cause to pass up the beaten victim, a Jew, it would have been the Samaritan.  We know, though, that of the three travelers who came upon the victim, it was the Samaritan who showed compassion.

 

Jesus’ final question had only one answer, but it was important for the expert in the law to answer it.  “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” (Luke 10:36)  No way to answer that one with anything but the obvious answer without looking foolish, is there?  “The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’” (Luke 10:37)  Could there be any other answer?

 

This year’s Vacation Bible School concluded with the unshakeable truth that my actions show what I believe.  Like the lawyer who tested Jesus, we can talk about how much we love Jesus all day long – and we should – but it is our actions that will tell others more accurately what we believe than our words alone.  Jesus wants us to be his Living Bible.  It has never been enough to simply say what we believe if we cannot live what we believe when the moment comes.  This is a truth that even our children and grand-children can understand.  They do understand.  But they have trouble applying it, too.  So how are they going to learn?  Well, one way is by the example they are shown.  So go be a Living Bible.  That’s what Jesus tells us: “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:37)

 

 

 

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

179 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

www.bhfirstbaptist.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

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