Woodland Hills Church

Jesus described God’s Kingdom like a mustard seed and like yeast. What did he mean? And what do Jesus’ unusual parables have to do with our lives today? When we consider how his original audience would have heard Jesus’ words, it helps us discover just how challenging his teachings are for us today.

Jesus called a crippled woman forward despite the many forces working against her. She answered the call by stepping into the powerful healing of God, and immediately she stood up and praised God. We can see this as an analogy for responding to the call of God in today’s hurting world and the powerful forces that we come up against.

Religion or relationship? We need to be careful about which term best describes how we engage our faith. Through his actions and teaching, Jesus shows us clear distinctions between viewing Kingdom life as a religion or as a personal relationship.

Our passage this week shows Jesus healing a crippled woman. Jesus and his disciples regularly healed the sick and the lame and cast out demons by taking authority over the situation “in Jesus' name.” This challenges us to consider the power and authority our own words and actions have in our daily lives.

We are called to live as daredevils, but most of us are bound by fears of some kind. God didn’t make us to be timid people who are dependent on worldly things; we are meant to be free from fear and complete in love. He wants to set us free so that we have the confidence to be daredevils.

Forgiveness is always easier to talk about than to actually do. But without it we are alone and isolated, and can be consumed by hurt. Jesus taught about how we should forgive each other through parables: because we experience God’s great forgiveness, we share the same with others who have wronged us. And as a result, we learn how to live our lives with each other and experience the freedom that God wants for us.

Jesus often taught about the love of God, but in this passage he also says “...unless you repent, you will all perish.” This is a very unpopular passage as it is commonly understood, as most people assume Jesus is using the fear of hell to scare us into repentance. The truth is that sin really does lead to perishing, but it’s not because of God’s arbitrary wrath.

Tragedies happen. This world is far from God’s ideal, and we must be ready to respond in God’s way when we find ourselves in difficult situations. Jesus shows us some clear ways to think and act so that we don’t fall into traps of judgment or guilt when life doesn’t work out the way we want. We also must remember that even though God doesn’t cause painful situations, he can always bring good out of them.

Many people blame God for the terrible things that happen in our world: the death of a loved one, illnesses, natural disasters, even acts of terror. Some claim that these are ways that God judges and punishes us. But Jesus gives us a very different picture of God. Jesus reveals that despite the evil in our world, God is always on our side, wants what is best for us, and loves us beyond measure.

God is a FIRE. To all who are open to him, God’s presence is a fire of love, salvation, healing and purification. To all who are not, God’s presence is experienced as a fire of destruction. Jesus reminds and warns us to build our lives on him; depending upon where our hearts are, God’s fiery and holy love either saves and purifies us, or it destroys.