REVELATION: Lukewarm Laodicea

** It should be noted that almost all of my material on Revelation has been influenced directly by the teaching of Ray VanderLaan and the main sources that were mentioned toward the beginning of this series. It is not my intent to claim credit for their incredible work. The original lesson that influenced my teaching here can be seen in VanderLaan's series through Focus on the Family titled "That the World May Know" **

And now we come to our final “letter” in Revelation — the letter to Laodicea. We’ll start with a little bit about the cultural backdrop of Laodicea.

Laodicea sat in between two other cities, Hierapolis and Colossae. Hierapolis was a major attraction because of the natural mineral hot springs that flowed from the cliff face there. The water was renowned for its incredible healing properties (even to this day) and was a great place for people to come for vacation or rest. Colossae, as we’ve seen before, was off the beaten path and not on the main road. It was known for its colossenus, which seems to have been a special red wool people made robes and coats out of, and the city also had a freshwater spring providing a constant source of cool and refreshing water.

The white mineral cliffs of Heirapolis

When the major earthquake of AD 60 hit the area, Rome sent money to rebuild Hierapolis and Laodicea, for obvious reasons. Colossae was not integral to the stability of Rome, so they received no money. Not long after, the city vanished from history. Hierapolis accepted the money and rebuilt their city. Laodicea, however, chose to reject the money and rebuild on their own. There’s no evidence their rejection of assistance was viewed as an insult, but Laodicea also served as one of the major mints/banks for Rome, and in the late first century they printed local coins that bore the phrase: “We did it ourselves.”

If you visit the ruins of Laodicea today, you find the remnants of an ancient arena (from the first century). Seating roughly 60,000 people, the arena served as a regional center for gladiatorial combat. The best of the best gladiators in the world were centered in Laodicea, and people would come from all around to watch them engage in combat. The Roman military even used the location as a training station. As the gladiators created new weapons and became experts in them, the Roman military stationed itself in Laodicea to learn from the experts how to use the new weaponry.

The arena at Laodicea

Because of the large and constant military presence, one of the things the region was known for was the soldier’s demand for a meal. According to Roman law, a soldier could knock on your door at any time and demand a full-course meal. Some of the other cities in the region (like Hierapolis, which had to entertain the soldiers who were on leave) actually wrote to Rome and asked them to loosen the demand on local citizens. Soldiers were always stationed there, and getting a knock on your door was a routine draw on the residents in a way that wasn’t common in other places. While some cities complained, Laodicea never did. Just as their coins said, they were proud to be able to take care of themselves with no assistance from others.

In a similar way to the colossenus wool from Colossae, Laodicea was known for its black wool that was used to make what they called traumata. They also exported a famous eye salve, using mineral mud from Hierapolis and making a medical treatment known to heal blindness. It was also the home of a famous orator name Zeno. He had three children (one son and two daughters) who all ended up marrying royalty from different areas, becoming king/queens.

Finally, the one negative thing Laodicea was known for was its water. There was not a good water source at Laodicea. The hot mineral water of Hierapolis combined with the cold spring water of Colossae to make a lukewarm, somewhat destructive water. Attempting to pipe water in from 35 miles away (which they still do to this day, I’m told), their ancient systems did not work, and they struggled to find good drinking water. There are now remnants of a fountain in Laodicea, which has been replumbed multiple times as the pipes clogged with crusted mineral deposits.

The ruins of the fountain at Laodicea (notice the white mineral deposits)

Now, to read the letter from John:

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

“… you are neither cold nor hot. … because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” I can’t tell you how many youth group lessons I sat through where this passage was used to spur us out of apathy. “Quit living on the fence!” they would say. “Get in or get out! God would rather have you against Him, than have you on the fence.” This well-intentioned lesson could not have missed the point more. The teaching here is clearly pulling on two things that are beneficial and useful. The hot mineral water of Hierapolis brings healing, and the cold spring water of Colossae is refreshing and life-giving. Be something! Be useful! But don’t be useless — some poisonous combination of both that makes you good for nothing.

“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ ” This is a great depiction of the attitude of the ‘we-did-it-ourselves’ Laodiceans.

“I counsel you to by from me gold refined in the fire …” — as opposed to the mint and banking institutions of Laodicea,

“… white clothes to wear …” — a contrast to the black traumata of Laodicea,

“… salve to put on your eyes …” — and a reference to the famous mineral salve they exported.

“I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” John references the practice of local soldiers who would come knocking at the door, demanding a meal. Jesus will come knocking, but he makes no demands; should you choose to open the door, he will dine with you and invite you to sit and dine with him (something you would never do with the soldiers).

“… I will give the right to sit with me on my throne …” Some have suggested this could be a reference to Zeno and his children, who went on to sit on thrones.

And where does the material come from? We could look to Isaiah 55:

“Come, all you who are thirsty,    come to the waters;and you who have no money,    come, buy and eat!Come, buy wine and milk    without money and without cost.Why spend money on what is not bread,    and your labor on what does not satisfy?”

We could also turn to Isaiah 65:

“Whoever invokes a blessing in the land    will do so by the one true God;whoever takes an oath in the land    will swear by the one true God.For the past troubles will be forgotten    and hidden from my eyes.”

In Hebrew, the phrase “one true God” could also be translated “the God who is amen.” There’s a shared usage in the Septuagint, and the context of Isaiah 65 (even the reference “hidden from my eyes”) will play into the teaching here to the church at Laodicea.

We might even suggest a looser connection with Proverbs 3:

My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline,    and do not resent his rebuke,because the LORD disciplines those he loves,    as a father the son he delights in.

Blessed are those who find wisdom,
    those who gain understanding,
for she is more profitable than silver
    and yields better returns than gold.
She is more precious than rubies;
    nothing you desire can compare with her.
Long life is in her right hand;
    in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are pleasant ways,
    and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her;
    those who hold her fast will be blessed.

There would be numerous prophets to give us the following idea, but Hosea 12 might be the clearest in this context:

The merchant uses dishonest scales    and loves to defraud.Ephraim boasts,    “I am very rich; I have become wealthy.With all my wealth they will not find in me    any iniquity or sin.”

And the famous reference of “spitting/vomiting you out of my mouth” is certainly not unique to Revelation and could be pulled straight from Leviticus 18:

“ ‘The native-born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things, for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.’ ”

Or Leviticus 20:

“ ‘Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you.’ ”

What I love about the history lesson of Laodicea is that they received a sharp rebuke from God through John in Revelation. I think we often assume (at least I do) that these churches didn’t learn their lesson and were punished. However, the church in Laodicea would end up becoming quite a presence in the world of Asia Minor. Archeologists have recently uncovered a church with a brilliant mosaic referencing Polycarp, John’s first disciple.

May we learn the lessons we need to learn and let the Lord discipline us as a child He loves. May we wake from our slumber and sloth to seize the calling to be useful in God’s Kingdom.

ROMANS: Grafted (part one)

We left off as Paul was concluding his warning to his Jewish audience about the ways they had missed God’s mission in the past. Paul has already mentioned that this certainly does not mean the Israelites were cast off or forsaken by God; he now takes the time to say it again:

Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!

Paul expresses great optimism in the people of God and their ability to learn from the path God has them on to correct their trajectory. Only this God who is in the business of redeeming broken things could take their mistakes and turn them into glory. Paul points out that God used their stumbling to bring the Gentiles into the family. If this is true, how much more could — no, not “could,” Paul says “will” — their repentance bring? When the people of God see His goodness and His plan and decide to partner with what God’s doing in the world, just imagine all the things that could be accomplished with that group of people!

NOTE: I hate the translation of “inclusion” here. The NIV84 used to translate it “fullness,” as does the KJV. The translation of “inclusion” only heightens the misconceptions of replacement theology, since the “they” in the passage is clearly the Jews. The Jews aren’t being “included” in anything; it’s their story to begin with. It is the Gentiles who are being included and that very inclusion is what drives the writing of Romans. But indeed, that’s where the passage heads next.

Paul now shifts his attention to the Gentiles and is kind enough to let all of his readers know:

I am talking to you Gentiles. In as much as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

Paul says a large part of his ministry is done in the hope that his own brethren would see the story of God correctly and join him in blessing all nations. Paul isn’t just in this for the Gentiles — he’s in it for his own Jewish family, as well. He wants all people to understand the story of God and His plan to restore all of humanity. The phrase “arouse my own people to envy” in the Greek definitely carries the idea of provocation. It is Paul’s desire to prod and provoke his fellow Jews to do the right thing in the way they interact with the Gentiles in their world.

Paul also reminds his readers that God’s story is a Jewish story. If God has chosen to work through the Jewish people, then this Jewish story must be the right one and it must be enough. If this story is based on the right ideas — if the lump of dough is holy and if the root of the story is holy — then the rest of the story is going to share in that goodness.

If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

Paul tells his Gentile readers to make sure they check their arrogance at the door, because a proper understanding of the story they are part of will lead them to speechless humility. Paul points out that if Israel was a cultivated olive tree (a common image in the Scriptures for Israel), then the Gentiles were a wild, uncultivated olive tree. To the ancient world of the Middle East, the contrast would be a stunning one. A cultivated olive tree is a beautiful sight to behold; with light green leaves and big beautiful olives, the cultivated olive tree is incredibly pleasing to the eye. The olive tree gone wild, on the other hand, is stunted in its growth, producing pitiful leaves and virtually no fruit. It is not very attractive to look at and useless for production.

Wild olive branch on left; cultivated on right

Yet Paul says the story of God works in such a way that when the people of God stumbled, He pruned His cultivated olive tree, chopping off some of the branches that didn’t bear any fruit and preparing it for new growth. God then took wild olive tree branches and grafted them into His cultivated tree. Now, I’m no botanist, but I did have one tell me once that such an idea would be craziness. The wild olive tree branches would have a negative effect on the purity of the cultivated olive tree once the grafting process was complete. As wild branches drew off of the nourishing sap of the main tree, the rest of the trees’ productivity would be drawn back.

And yet, Paul says this is what God does. 

God’s gospel is foolishness. God’s love is scandalous. God’s forgiveness is complete.

As this lesson gets longer and longer, I can see that we’ll need to break it into two parts. So this is a good place to stop. We have much to consider. Most of my readers will be Gentiles and Paul gives them all a lot to ponder about the story of God and how He’s been at work. God has been at work for thousands of years trying to bless all nations. Way back in the beginnings of Genesis, God selected a partner and built a nation He desired to put at the “crossroads of the earth” and help Him restore the world — a kingdom of priests who would show the world what God is like.

But God’s people (Jew and Gentile alike) have often lost the plot of the story. We forget the scandalous nature of the God we claim to serve and worship and we begin to serve self. Throughout this story, God has always corrected, sometimes gently and sometimes with great discipline. God has pruned his tree when necessary and invited His children to new levels of fruitfulness.

And somewhere along the way, the Great Gardener decided in His infinite wisdom that it was time to graft into this cultivated tree some of those wild olive branches He loves so much. He decided it was time to display the beauty of inclusion in this tree that is His people. God’s tree has become His masterpiece.

You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

ROMANS: Always a Remnant

We left the last conversation making a simple observation: sometimes we find it incredibly difficult to spread the same open-handed generosity and inclusion that was extended to us. Often without a conscious effort, we hoard all of the grace for ourselves and miss out on the primary mission of God in the world. This is where Paul continues the conversation for his Jewish audience.

But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. But I ask: Did they not hear?

Paul agrees, this message is often difficult to extend to others, and he points out that not all of the Israelites throughout their history wanted to accept the good news of God’s great restoration project. Quoting Isaiah, Paul reasons that maybe these Israelites didn’t know the message — maybe they hadn’t heard or been taught. But Paul say this isn’t the case:

Of course they did:

“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,    their words to the ends of the world.”

By quoting Psalm 19, Paul does something that’s incredibly consistent with his ongoing argument. The Psalm speaks of the heavens giving voice to the goodness and greatness of God; this message from creation itself goes out “into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Paul has been arguing that Gentiles have all the ability to know God and believe in His promises, even without extensive education in Torah or the Word of God. They are able to hear the “Word of God” quite clearly. If this is true, and if Gentiles are able to worship Adonai by simply observing creation around them, then the people of God will certainly be without excuse. It will be their own religiosity that gets in the way. (To be sure, I hope everyone realizes these principles do apply to all religious people today. I hope my readers understand I’m not trying to “pick on” the Jewish people. Instead, we should be able to learn from these timeless truths in our own experience.)

Paul then proceeds to quote more passages from the Old Testament — Deuteronomy 32 and Isaiah 65:

Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,

“I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;    I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.”

And Isaiah boldly says,

“I was found by those who did not seek me;    I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.”

But concerning Israel he says,

“All day long I have held out my hands    to a disobedient and obstinate people.”

If you do the work to look back at the context of those quotations, you’ll understand why Paul is using them in his argument. Both passages will speak of Israel’s disobedience and refusal to partner with God in the work He’s doing in the world. In Isaiah 65, the prophet proclaims nations that weren’t even looking for God found Him, but His own people have been obstinate and stiff-necked. The quotations leave the Jewish reader with a question: Will we repeat their mistakes?

Truly, for all of us who would claim to be followers of Jesus, the question extends itself to us, as well.

In light of all this, it’s truly amazing God doesn’t abandon and reject His stubborn people (all of us, not just Jews)! But no, His grace rings true for all — even the stiff-necked.

I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

Paul makes it clear that God is not rejecting His people, but neither is Paul rejecting his own brethren and heritage. He has not abandoned his Jewish identity in the least, but understands he is a true Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin. He also says God is always saving a remnant of people who are willing to partner with Him to carry out His purposes. Paul reminds us of Elijah and his self-righteous perspective at Horeb, how he was able to think he was the only one who loved God. But God reminded Elijah that He was at work in ways Elijah could never understand. The same was true for those believers in Rome.

The same is true for us today.

What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, as it is written:

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,    eyes that could not see    and ears that could not hear,to this very day.”

And David says:

“May their table become a snare and a trap,    a stumbling block and a retribution for them.May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,    and their backs be bent forever.”

We could take quite some time to unpack these quotations. The more I study Paul, the more amazed I become at his use of the Text and his ability to teach rabbinically. His quotation and teaching mechanics are fantastic (and this would be expected from a student of Gamaliel). Paul quotes what seems to be Deuteronomy 29; although it is not a clean quotation, there is some discussion about whether Paul is employing another gezerah shavah and combining this Deuteronomy quotation with another quote from Isaiah 29. This would make all kinds of sense considering the context of the two passages.

But let’s stick with the Deuteronomy 29 portion and note the context of the quotation. Deuteronomy is the record of the renewal of the covenant, and the passage quoted is the section where they are remembering they are the ones who have seen the miraculous deeds of the LORD in Egypt. It is their story to tell and who would understand the redemption of God better than those who were redeemed from Egypt? A fitting quotation, to say the least.

This is then combined with a quote from Psalm 69:22–23, a Psalm where David has said earlier, “May those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me.”

May that be the prayer of each of us who calls ourself a child of God and a follower of Jesus. May we constantly remind ourselves of God’s incredible grace and His pursuit of all nations and all peoples. May we keep this mission of God in the forefront of our minds so we might be appropriate ambassadors to His work.

And may those who choose to hope in the LORD not be disgraced because of us; instead, may they find the acceptance, love, and belonging God longs to give all people — the same acceptance we have experienced. May we be counted amongst the remnant God is using to put the world back together.

ROMANS: A Potter and His Clay (part two)

In the first part of our conversation, I stated that I believe we miss the entire point of Paul’s larger argument in this section of Romans because we immediately get hung up on theological projections that weren’t within the original conversation (e.g., God’s sovereignty/election, etc.). Paul’s larger conversation is about God’s willingness to show mercy. He is trying to speak to his Jewish listeners and tell them God has always been in the business of showering mercy and grace on people who don’t belong. The word of God has not failed them; rather, it has born witness to this truth throughout the ages.

This inclusion of the Gentiles into the fullness of God’s story and family is far from unfair; it is the very nature of who God is and always has been!

So we pick up where we left off:

One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ”

When we read this passage in its previous light, we hear it talking about blame and our election or salvation. But I think the context of this conversation shows us that Paul’s imaginary rebuttal is asking a far deeper question. This Jewish audience is going to respond to God’s sovereign show of mercy to the Gentiles with this (reworded) rebuttal: “Then why does God ask us to follow Him and partner with Him and then hold us accountable to our actions … if He’s just going to throw open the floodgates of acceptance anyway? If God is going to pursue all men and all nations, then He’s ultimately going to have His way and our part in this story means nothing!”

But Paul tells this projected audience to remember their place. He is the Potter, and they are His clay. He knows why He makes vessels. He knows how He intends to use them and how He will accomplish His purposes with each vessel He creates.

Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?

What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?

Paul reminds the reader that God has the right to use the same lump of clay to make vessels He will use as fine china, but also other vessels to store last night’s leftovers. He’s the Potter and He understands His own intentions.

Then Paul makes a startling statement I believe we have a tendency to misread because of the theology we project onto our interpretations. Paul says, “What if…? What if God chose to make some vessels that were prepared for destruction?” What if God chose to make vessels out of the clay, and we are sure they will be doomed to the garbage heap? Cracked and beaten up. Good for nothing. Worthless. What if God did this on purpose? These vessels Paul refers to are obviously a reference to the pagan Gentiles (“vessels prepared for destruction”).

But Paul says God wanted to “show his wrath and make his power known” and so He created those vessels and then “bore with great patience” those vessels prepared for destruction.

What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory—even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

What if God did all of this on purpose in order to show us His glory and His mercy? What if God did all of this to show us (Jews and people on the “inside”), the objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory — what if He did all of this to show us His incredible plan and the riches of His glory, to shower mercy and acceptance onto those “objects prepared for destruction”?

Scandalous.

Paul then quotes two major prophets who are announcing Israel’s failure to live according to God’s plan. Paul reminds them that they too have experienced what it means to be “objects prepared for destruction.” And they too know what it means to have God bear with great patience and shower His mercy on them. The story of Hosea is not a pretty one and the woes of Isaiah did not bear great tidings.

As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;    and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”

and,

“In the very place where it was said to them,    ‘You are not my people,’    there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ ”

Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,    only the remnant will be saved.For the Lord will carry out    his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”

It is just as Isaiah said previously:

“Unless the Lord Almighty    had left us descendants,we would have become like Sodom,    we would have been like Gomorrah.”

Paul will then begin to shift gears by pointing out this is the same trajectory the nations have been on with God. Those Gentile believers who worship in Rome have the same faith and have experienced the same acceptance of the same “good news” from God.

What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. As it is written:

“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble    and a rock that makes them fall,    and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”

Paul closes with an unbelievably brilliant gezerah shevah where he ties two different passages from Isaiah (8:14 and 28:16) using the theme of “stone” to do so. By creating this Isaiah quotation, Paul sets up the condemnation of Isaiah 8 — which says God has placed a stone that the people of Jerusalem will stumble over as a trap and snare — and he combines it with a prophecy that says those who trust in that stone will be saved. By making this “stone” Jesus, Paul is issuing an invitation to his Jewish audience not to be tripped up by this hard teaching of inclusion for the Gentiles, but to trust in Jesus. At the same time, Paul is alluding to the fact that these Gentiles are already trusting in Jesus and finding freedom and salvation. It’s a stunning textual move by Paul.

Indeed this will be a hard truth. For most of my readers, this is good news for them as Gentiles! And yet, for those Gentiles who call themselves believers and have found themselves in the community of faith for some time, there is a real opportunity for us to open our ears and consider whether we have swapped out some of the labels and the details for others things in our day and age.

Is God still the Potter? Does God still get to choose who He wants to shower mercy on? Even today, is the point we ought to be making to people not about a morality code, but about the person of Jesus? Are we really inviting people to put their trust in Him and find a justification by faith alone? Or do we too struggle with the “stone of stumbling” — the scandalous grace of Jesus? Do we too seek to make people pursue a righteousness that comes from behavior, rather than a righteousness that comes from God?

What if God is showering His grace on all of “those people” in our lives, just to remind us of what He’s up to? Forgiveness. Mercy. Acceptance.

A Potter is making His vessels.

ROMANS: No One

Based on a proper understanding of the context of Romans, the opening chapters of the book make much more sense. Looking at this complex situation in Rome, Paul addresses a church with three dominant groups (which are somewhat different than the three groups of Galatia; again, this is why context for each letter is so important). The church in Rome is going to have new Gentile converts who are just coming out of their pagan ways. They will also have Gentiles who have been following this gospel for quite some time and have been transformed in their walk. Then there will be the Jews who once formed the core of this believing community.

Paul addresses all three groups in his opening three chapters. While I considered addressing these three chapters in depth, I decided against it, thinking it was well beyond the scope of this material. The discussion is full of hotly debated details and theories surrounding the nuances of what Paul is saying. Is he building a false argument against the worldviews he’s speaking to — almost as a satirical, faux dialogue? Is he speaking more literally and making an argument just as it reads? These questions are only some of those represented in newer scholarship surrounding the Pauline letters.

But this doesn’t change the bulk of Paul’s arguments in the first few chapters, nor his conclusions. Paul’s point is that all of humanity deals with the same brokenness. Whether the group is submitted to the Law or not, the same brokenness is present in all of us. We all try to live by a law of some kind, and no matter which law we submit to, we always fall short. This insecurity is the very condition to which the gospel attempts to speak.

First, Paul speaks to those corrupt pagans who have given themselves over to a Hellenistic worldview. It might be useful to review Hellenistic culture and the driving premises that lie behind their worldview. About them, Paul says this:

So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

That’s almost an exact description of the culture of Hellenism. Paul says they try to live by their own new ‘law’ that man is the measure of all things. This, however doesn’t work and Paul says their own laws are dysfunctional:

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

However, some of those Gentiles who have been rescued from such thinking might start to see themselves as quite spiritually evolved. Paul quickly turns his attention to those who are willing and able to see the fault in such kinds of thinking:

Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

Paul says that just because they are “better than those other people” doesn’t mean they don’t have their own problems. The fact that they see these things means they now live according to their own law.

For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

If they are willing to recognize a “better way,” that way now becomes their new law. Only those who obey this new ‘law’ would be justified by it. So if the person ever transgresses their own understanding (which we all do) then we can’t claim to be in much better of a situation than the pagans. They still have this haunting insecurity, a “conscience that bears witness” to the fact that they fall short of their own self-imposed standard.

But there is a third group which might be sitting there thinking they are far above this pitiful Gentile crew — the Jewish believers. But this same line of thinking applies to them under “the Law,” as in the one given by God:

But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

In the end, all of humanity finds themselves in the same predicament. They all fall short of whatever law (or Law) they are trying to live up to. If they are trying to find their justification in any system, any standard, any law, they are doomed to a conscience that testifies against them.

So our cleansed conscience, our salvation, our redemption must come from some place other than our ability to live up to a standard. It must be bigger than getting the standard right, finding the right law (or Law), or adjusting to the right moral code.

Six or Seven?

It seems that while the Pharisees are taking this information about Jesus’s yoke, Jesus doesn’t even give them time to set up a trap. Suddenly going on the offensive against the Pharisees now (it was the Sadducees earlier), Jesus gives them a real brain-teaser that apparently stumps the teachers so much that “no one dared to ask him any more questions.”

But Jesus isn’t about to let them off the hook. Having just made a minor public spectacle of some highly trained teachers, Jesus turns to the crowds and his disciples saying:

“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

It should be noted that Jesus does affirm the place of these teachers within Jewish society. He affirms their devotion to obedience and the soundness of their teaching, along with their commitment to the Text. The thing that Jesus appears to have a problem with is their interaction, expectation, and dealings with other people. He doesn’t like how they tie up expectations and load up the guilt without doing anything to help relieve people of their burdens. He also isn’t a fan of how they seem to put their righteousness on display in order to receive the approval of men. Instead, he’s wanting to call people to serve one another, not impress them.

However, Jesus has some tough things to say to the Pharisees in the crowd that day:

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. 

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.”

Now, for the Jewish listener, the moment you heard a teacher prophetically give a list of woes, you are going to think of Isaiah immediately. In chapter 5, Isaiah gives his own list of woes.

Woe to those who join house to house,    who add field to field,until there is no more room,    and you are made to dwell alone    in the midst of the land.The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing:“Surely many houses shall be desolate,    large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,    and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”

Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
    that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
    as wine inflames them!
They have lyre and harp,
    tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD,
    or see the work of his hands.

Therefore my people go into exile
    for lack of knowledge;
their honored men go hungry,
    and their multitude is parched with thirst.
Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite
    and opened its mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down,
    her revelers and he who exults in her.
Man is humbled, and each one is brought low,
    and the eyes of the haughty are brought low.
But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice,
    and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture,
    and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.

Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,
    who draw sin as with cart ropes,
who say: “Let him be quick,
    let him speed his work
    that we may see it;
let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
    and let it come, that we may know it!”

Woe to those who call evil good
    and good evil,
who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
    and shrewd in their own sight!

Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
    and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    and deprive the innocent of his right!

If one were to compare these two lists of denouncements, they would notice the kind of person described is quite different. Go ahead, take a second to look at Isaiah 5 and ask the question, “What kind of person is being condemned?” Then, ask the same question of Matthew 23.

What did you find?

I do this exercise with my students and they never fail to articulate the same thing. Isaiah’s woes describe a person who is wrapped up in selfishness and greed. It’s a disgusting picture of a person who has completely lost the plot of God’s story. They oppress others, serve self, and live for injustice. The woes of Matthew 23 describe a person who is self-righteous.

But did you notice? Extra credit to anyone who counted the woes.

In Isaiah, there are six woes; an appropriate number for woes that are denouncing sin, right? But in Jesus’s denouncement, there are seven.

Jesus’s point: “You have perfected the art of evil and sin.”

Do you know what’s even worse than a greedy person? A self-righteous person.

How can you possibly take sin and greed and take it to the next level? You can become a cold, self-righteous “know-it-all” who actually destroys the work of God. This is why self-righteousness is so significant. These people claim to speak for God, yet they put a completely counterfeit version of God on display to the world around them. It’s even worse than the sin of greed, because at least people know greed when they see it.

By inserting a seventh woe, Jesus says they have completed the sin of their forefathers. This is evidenced further by reading Jesus’s closing to this denouncement:

“Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”

Jesus says, “Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.” 

In the NIV, Jesus says,”Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started.”

It’s a striking warning that I try to be reminded of frequently. I belong to a generation bent on restoring justice to the world we live in. We cringe at the idea of greed and the oppression of the weak. Yet, if we are not careful, we can be in danger of an even greater sin. We have been repentant of the greed and waste and destruction of our forefathers. We have seen the abuse of the earth, the abuse of aliens and slaves, the abuse of resources, the abuse of power. We must be very careful not to miss the pride that lurks under the surface of our self-righteousness. We must work to hear the words of Jesus warning us to make sure we see ALL people, help and serve ALL people, and pursue humility in our walk after God.

Let’s not perfect the art of sin.

Let’s not complete what our fathers started.