Grading on a Curve

The Life of Jesus Series:

How Jesus interacted with others.

Luke 7:36-50

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%207%3A36-50&version=NIV;ICB

 

When I was in school, most of my teachers graded on a curve; except of course for Mr. Van Note. He was famous for saying things like, “You missed the boat” and, “I’m going to teach to the fast learners. The rest of you will just have to keep up”. He was a tough, but fair math teacher. But, going back to grading on a curve; how does it work?

 

According k12academics.com, "In education, grading on a bell curve is a method of assigning grades designed to yield a desired distribution of grades among the students in a class…  The instructor can decide what grade occupies the center of the distribution. This is the grade an average score will earn, and will be the most common. Traditionally, in the ABCDF system this is the 'C' grade”.

 

Although grading on a curve is normally thought of in terms of education, it can apply to every area of our lives. In fact, it would seem to be human nature to “grade on a curve”, especially when it’s to our benefit.

 

Consider the story in Luke 7. The sinful woman shed tears on Jesus’ feet; then dried them with her hair and finally anointed his feet with expensive perfume. In the mind of Simon the Pharisee, the situation was black and white. He was righteous and she was a sinner.

 

³⁹ The Pharisee who asked Jesus to come to his house saw this. He thought to himself, “If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman who is touching him is a sinner!”                        ICB

 

In response to this, Jesus told a story about a moneylender who forgave the debts of two different people. One a very large debt and the other a moderate sized debt. What’s important here is that the moneylender forgave both the big and the small debtor. In the same way, Jesus offered forgiveness to both the sinful woman as well as the Pharisee.

 

So, who do you relate to in this story?

 

A more important question is; how do you respond to sin in your life? Are you blind to it like the Pharisee? Or, like the sinful woman, do you cry out to Jesus in love and faith, asking for his forgiveness and grace?

 

¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.                       Hebrews 4 NIV

 

 

 

 

 

A Force to be Reckoned With

The Life of Jesus Series:

How Jesus interacted with others.

Mark 2:1-12

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%202%3A1-12&version=NIV;NLT

 

My eight year old granddaughter is playing in her 4^th year of soccer. After a recent game, I made the comment that one of the players on the other team was a “force to be reckoned with”. She asked what that meant. I explained to her that the girl was really good and because of that, she changed the course of the game.

 

Even though Jesus was in the early stages of his ministry, he was a force to be reckoned with. Included in the large crowd in this story in Mark were a paralytic and his friends. As the story goes, the paralytic’s friends carried him to the roof, dug a hole in it and lowered him down, right in front of Jesus.

 

Of course they did this for the paralytic to be healed. It was obvious. The paralytic was handicapped and his friends had gone to a great deal of trouble to get him in front of Jesus who they thought could do the job. After all, Jesus was a force to be reckoned with.

 

But, what if Jesus had only forgiven the sins of the paralytic? What if he didn’t heal him so that he could walk out of the house as a physically whole person? Would his life have been changed forever?

 

I’m reminded of Joni Eareckson Tada who suffered a diving accident at the age of seventeen resulting in her being paralyzed from the shoulders down. Jesus didn’t heal her physically, but he did forgive her. Because of this, she used her disability as an opportunity to minister to others. As a result, she became a force to be reckoned with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What about you or me? Jesus has forgiven us. Have we become a force to be reckoned with?

 

 

 

 

 

I Want My Mommy

Revelation 21:1-5

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+21%3A1-5&version=NIV;NLT

  

Growing up, did you ever feel like crying out, “I want my mommy”?

 

I did. In fact, there was even one time, as an adult, when the circumstances of life had been exceptionally painful. During a business trip, while driving down a lonely highway at night, I cried out for my Mother who had passed away recently.

 

The world around us can be cruel. Circumstances, people, the human condition and life in general can weigh heavy on our hearts. It can hurt us in ways we don’t even realize at the time. The world within us can be just as cruel when we feel hopeless, powerless, doubt, fear, rejection and loss.

 

Into this world around us and within us, we feel the need for love, security, hope and purpose. When the world is out of control, we desperately cry out for someone to help us. We may cry out to God, or it might even be to our Mommy. But it’s to someone who we feel will love us unconditionally.

 

John wrote Revelation during a period of time when many Christians were being persecuted because they refused to worship Caesar as Lord. In fact, John himself had been sent to the island of Patmos because of his Christian beliefs and witness.

 

In part, Revelation was written as an encouragement to those believers experiencing first-hand the wrath of the Roman authorities. They experienced physical and emotional persecution. They felt isolated and alone. At times, they probably wondered where God was. How could He allow these things to happen?

 

³ I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”      Revelation 21:3-4 NLT

 

Into their pain, John pointed them to what lay beyond the persecution; beyond the trials of life. He pointed them to that day when God would hold them in His arms. He pointed them to the promises of God. That God would always be with them; would always be faithful to them; would always be at work in their lives; would never desert them.

 

Those same promises are true for you and me today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Triple Dog Dare

The Life of Jesus Series:

How Jesus interacted with others.

Mark 2:1-12

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%202%3A1-12&version=NIV;NLT

 

In the 1983 movie, “A Christmas Story”, Ralphie was an eye witness to the famous flagpole scene where one of his friends is forced to place his tongue on the frozen metal flagpole because of a “triple dog dare”.

 

His friend had no choice but to do it. Is that what happened to Jesus in this story?

 

Let’s consider the circumstances. Jesus had returned to Capernaum and was likely at Peter’s home. There was a huge crowd; so big that people were standing outside to listen, or to just get a glimpse of Jesus. Those who needed healing may have been waiting for hours.

 

It’s possible that this is a part of the back story of the paralyzed man and his friends. They may have faithfully and patiently waited for hours. Finally, not giving up hope, they devised a plan of desperation; a plan to lower their friend down through the roof of Peter’s house right in front of Jesus.

 

Following this is a series of events that is very revealing.

⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  ⁶ Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷ “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”                       NIV

 

To the teachers of the law Jesus responded, ¹⁰ “So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, ¹¹ “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” ¹² And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers.                 NLT

 

Was this the result of a “triple dog dare”? Was Jesus forced to heal the paralytic like Ralphie’s friend was forced to stick his tongue onto a frozen flagpole?

 

 

What if the story had ended before the paralytic was healed? What if the only thing that Jesus had done for him was to forgive his sins?

 

I think the point of this story is not the faith of the paralytic and his friends. It’s that Jesus had the authority to forgive sins even before the crucifixion and resurrection. And, as the religious leaders so insightfully pointed out, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?”          

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m a Leper

The Life of Jesus Series:

Looking at how Jesus interacted with others.

Luke 5:12-16

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%205%3A12-16&version=NIV;NLT

  

Can you think of a class of people that are considered outcasts? What about homeless people?

Virtually every time we go grocery shopping at Meijer, there’s a homeless person at the corner begging for food, often holding a sign that says, “Homeless - please help” or “Homeless family of three. Can you help?”.

 

Lepers, at the time of Jesus, were banned to live outside of the city. They were banned from going into the temple. And when they approached another person, they had to yell, “Unclean! Unclean!” In fact, they were social, emotional and spiritual outcasts.

 

Desperate and hopeless, the leper fell at Jesus’ feet with his face looking at the ground. He was so ashamed, he couldn’t even look Jesus in the face. With no pride or self-respect left, he literally begged Jesus to heal him; to make him clean. In this setting, Jesus made a bold statement into the leper’s life.

 

¹² While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” ¹³ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.                NIV

 

What’s so amazing in this story is not that Jesus healed the leper, but that he actually touched him. Most people wouldn’t have. They would have been afraid of being contaminated. It may have been the first time another human being had touched the leper in weeks, months or even years. And by touching him, according to the law, Jesus himself became unclean.

 

In a way, I’m a leper! We all are. Don’t we all come to Jesus, “covered in sin”? We may not walk around yelling “Unclean”; but we are unclean; we’re sinful. We all need his healing, cleansing and forgiving touch in our life. Like the leper, Jesus’ touch can change our life. But to do that, we have to call out to him.