Nougat 28

What do we remember most about Luke 15? Some would say it’s the chapter that features The Prodigal Son. We may even have noted that the chapter focuses on lostness; others might see it as a chapter of recovery and redemption. Hopefully, some of us will recall that Y’shua’s stories resulted from the Pharisees’ pushback on Y’shua’s ministry. It’s a reminder to us on how to treat negativity. Consider Today’s Holy Nougat

What do we remember most about Luke 15? Some would say it’s the chapter that features The Prodigal Son. We may even have noted that the chapter focuses on lostness; others might see it as a chapter of recovery and redemption. Hopefully, some of us will recall that Y’shua’s stories resulted from the Pharisees’ pushback on Y’shua’s ministry. It’s a reminder to us on how to treat negativity. Consider Today’s Holy Nougat

Luke 15:2, 7 CEVDCI

[2] So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses started grumbling, “This man is friendly with sinners. He even eats with them.”

[7] Jesus said, “In the same way there is more happiness in heaven because of one sinner who turns to God than over 99 good people who don’t need to.”

Dealing with Negativity

Although Luke introduces us to Pharisees and/or Teachers of the Law who seemed to respect Y’shua, our overall experience of them in the Gospels suggests they didn’t really appreciate Y’shua’s theology. Let’s not kid ourselves – Y’shua’s theology often left them out. He was firm in His beliefs, which often contradicted theirs. Their disagreements were publicly known. Our Nougat is but one example.

Self-Check

How do we deal with people who consistently and publicly disagree with us?

Digging Deeper

Siblings, John’s account of Y’shua’s trial and crucifixion shows very clearly that there were religious leaders who believed in Jesus. Some were even described as ‘secret’ disciples. Nicodemus was defending Him during the trial, and Jairus is likely to have become a secret disciple after his daughter’s healing. This indicates that the disagreement wasn’t between Y’shua and every religious leader. And John 3 proves that some received Y’shua, despite His strongly worded arguments against their faith praxis.

We note that here in Luke 15, Y’shua opted to use 3 vignettes – stories – of lostness and redemption to respond to the Pharisees’ critique. Whether it was unfounded or not, Y’shua used storytelling as a means of countering opposition. [You are welcome to read Luke 15 for yourselves]

Y’shua’s approach, including His summary (our Nougat), offers us the chance to think about our response to negativity and baseless criticism.

These stories of lost valuables shift our perception of the degenerates – the diseased, discarded, destitute, desolate, desperate, disadvantaged, and distressed. For if Y’shua used those vignettes to justify His association with those people, we can surmise that the degenerates in every century, in every place are valuable to Y’shua and worth saving.

It also tells us that we can shift the timbre of opposition by finding that point of convergence. That approach offers our ‘opponent’ to see/hear our argument in context. We can make our point without attacking them. Of course, this approach assumes that we are keen on listening to each other, which may not be the case. We may need to determine whether we’re more interested in proving our point or maintaining relationships.

Point to Ponder

When opposed by ‘our own’, what motivates our response – vindication or restoring relationships? Selah

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May all we seek be found in Christ