Day 22 Lent 2023
Some days I am more blind than others. I should probably wait for the coffee to complete brewing before starting this morning, but I have a full day. If I don’t get this done first thing, it won’t get done.
Georgia is in the middle of another cold snap. This is the last one for the season, I think. It will warm up soon. We complain about the weather here frequently, but I suspect it’s no different for other places on the globe. It amazes me to no end how our modern, up-to-date meteorologists can’t tell us if it’s going to rain or not in our area with accuracy today, and at the same time, some people believe with certainty what the weather will be like in ten years. It simply boggles my mind there.
Enough about the weather. Let’s look at scripture. Today, we have some parables. The Spirit can put layers of stuff into these, so if you get something beyond, in addition to, or different from what I received, feel free to post it in the comments. I’ll do my best to respond as I am able this weekend.
39And He also spoke a parable to them: “A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?
40“A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.
41“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
42“Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
Luke 6:39–42 (NASB95)
Like yesterday, this section has some words we’ve likely heard before. Verse thirty-nine is another great example of why each person should open their Bible and study God’s Word independently. I one-hundred percent agree that I am blind. I’m guessing. I am, and so is everyone else. Now, are my guesses good? Yes, I think they are. In fact, I think what I have is more than just a guess (or I wouldn’t post it to you.) I think I have exactly what God needs me to have right now. If what I have is also good for you, all the better. Great. However, I’m just as certain what I’ve been given is not for everyone. If what I have to say doesn’t sit well with you, perhaps my message isn’t for you. Perhaps God has other things for you. As long as you confess, Jesus is the Christ, repent of your sins that He died for, and believe He sits as the right hand of God to judge the quick and the dead. Again, great. Go with God, God bless, and Godspeed.
For those still reading, yes, we are the blind leading the blind. We need to study individually. Even if you nod in agreement, we should read the words for ourselves. It is always a good feeling to be agreed with, to know someone else thinks as you do. That agreement reinforces your understanding and moves you forward with purpose. We should move with purpose in God’s Word.
I’m going to post both the NASB and KJV on this one. I really like the wording in the King James.
40“A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.
Luke 6:40 (NASB95)
40The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
Luke 6:40 (KJV 1900)
The “pupil” or “disciple” is a great word. The Greek is concise. It means the “learner.” Someone who learns, who needs instruction, and who can be taught. That last one is important for adults.
Children are always being taught because those over them know what the world is like. The Mothers and Fathers know their children don’t know everything and, in fact, don’t even know enough to function out in the larger world. Those parents protect their children from the world outside that is largely unknown to the child.
I don’t care how old you are on this earth. You are a child to God. There is a reason scripture refers to the followers of God as His children. We neither understand nor are even aware of the larger world in which God operates. He is trying to teach us through His Son, Jesus, how that world operates.
The Greek word for “trained” or “perfect” has a lot of nuance to it. Let’s look at that.
Greek Strong’s Number: 2675
Greek Word: καταρτίζω
Transliteration: katartizō
Phonetic Pronunciation: kat-ar-tid’-zo
Root: from <G2596> and a derivative of <G739>
Cross Reference: TDNT - 1:475,80
Part of Speech: v
Vine’s Words: Fit, Fitly, Fitting, Frame, Mend, Perfect, Perfectly, Preparation, Prepare, Prepared, Restore
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
perfect 2
make perfect 2
mend 2
be perfect 2
fit 1
frame 1
prepare 1
restore 1
perfectly joined together 1
[Total Count: 13]
from <G2596> (kata) and a derivative of <G739> (artios); to complete thoroughly, i.e. repair (literal or figurative) or adjust:- fit, frame, mend, (make) perfect (-ly join together), prepare, restore.
James Strong, “Καταρτίζω,” Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary (WORDsearch, 2020).
Words like “repair,” “mend,” and “restore” add a much more rich meaning to this passage. We learn as children what God thinks to be restored to what we were before. We need to be repaired or mended because we are broken. What is the “before” that we need to be restored to?
21And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Genesis 2:21–25 (KJV 1900)
There is a lot of talk about “body positivity” in the world but little talk of self-restraint. We are called to accept everyone “just as they are,” but little discussion about what might be broken that needs mending. In the beginning, we had none of those problems. We weren’t ashamed of ourselves naked before God and each other. Now, we hide behind online handles in case anyone figures out who we really are and tells the world.
We need to be repaired. We need to be mended. We need to be restored, and only one person can do that, Jesus Christ.
41“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
Luke 6:41 (NASB95)
It’s that little thing that suddenly bashed into the eyeball that causes us to flinch uncontrollably. We rub and rub, and it won’t come out. We blink and blink, but it’s still there. If sin were only that obvious, we would immediately stop what we’re doing and dig it out. Unfortunately, it’s more like that piece of spinach stuck between our teeth. We don’t know it is there, but everyone can see as we talk or laugh.
Others can see that piece caught in our teeth, but we have no idea it’s even there. Most people don’t say anything. We only find out when we get to see in a mirror after everything is over and we are home. Then, recent events flash through our mind as we realize who saw us that way, and we become privately ashamed.
Sometimes, on rare occasions, someone tells us about the embarrassing thing they see. Sometimes we listen and make a change because we realize how we appear to others. Sometimes. Other times we let it sit and worry at it trying to get rid of the speck without really seeing it. That takes longer, is harder, and doesn’t always work or get it all.
On even rarer occasions, we stop what we’re doing and rush to the closest mirror to evaluate and look for what we are told is there. Sometimes we don’t see it, but other times we do, and we attend to it. In either case, we are still ashamed it was there at all.
Does the potential for that speck of spinach, that unattractive bit of food, mean we should stop eating that thing? Maybe. Maybe not. If not, how do we know it didn’t happen again? Usually, that same person who discreetly pointed it out in the first place becomes a confidant we can ask to look and see if it’s there again. Trust.
We are not meant to do this thing called Life alone.
18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
19Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
20The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
21So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.
22The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
23The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
Genesis 2:18–23 (NASB95)
Some don’t like this passage because they think it gives men a higher position over them. That’s foolish. Different. Not superior. If you, as a man, read that passage and puff up thinking, “I was first, so they should listen to me.” You’re missing the point, and that attitude is why they don’t listen to you. Remember that speck? It’s pride, and it’s as big as a log. Figure out how to humble it.
We were at one time united in the created being of Man, capital “M,” meaning all of humanity. It isn’t sexist; it’s a word. It means everybody. From out of that Man, both male and female, came when God, divided what He had created. There’s that speck again. It’s insecurity. I’ll be honest here. I don’t know how to address it. I’m a man, not a woman, and I do not purport to know the inner workings of the ladies. I will say that perhaps from our side, we can reassure you more often. From your side, perhaps it is seeking the congress of other godly women with which to discuss Life. But, again, I don’t know and freely admit it.
42“Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
Luke 6:42 (NASB95)
This verse goes back to that bit of food in our teeth. The Judge Not crowd loves to use this one to tell the finger-wagging Christian they “aren’t being scriptural.” They’re not all wrong. We do need to look inside and assess our own house first. Yes, I tend to be a finger-wagging Christian. I can’t help myself. I’m also very prideful, but I’m working on it. Humility comes first to admit we aren’t perfect and other people might know things. Next comes the idea that there are more ways to accomplish a task than just my way. Once those two are in place, real progress can be made.
However, that doesn’t mean we “finger-wagging Christians” are wrong. Sin is still sin. God’s Word is still His unchanging Word. Jesus still called us to repentance, and He is still the only way to Heaven. Anything else is just the serpent in the garden. God bless and Godspeed.