Psalm 57, Galatians 4:1–11, Luke 7:20-30
Paul words to the Galatians are a warning and yet imbued with hope and grace. Paul recalls for them that they were slaves to statues, sacrifices, and temples that did not give them life. In fact, these things took life. When we are talking about life here, we’re not speaking of biological life, but spiritual life. The Galatians were spiritual captives to those that wanted to keep them chained up.
This spiritual enslavement is both Jewish (to the Mosaic law and to the Rabbinic law put over it) and Gentile (to the pagan and Roman cultures and religions to which they began). Paul’s concern is that they are being called/cajoled/harassed by both insiders and outsiders to return to “their roots,” whether Jewish or Gentile, respectively.
This is why the concept of slave and heir are important here. A way to think of it is that their souls have been enlightened by the Holy Spirit. They are now children of God. However, in similarity to those enslaved by the “old” ways, they aren’t quite free yet. They have a choice to make. They can choose to be free, fully accepting the inheritance of God, or they can choose the comfortable old way, where they are not free. They are free to choose, but only one path leads to true freedom.
By and large, the rituals of both the pagan and Jewish traditions were to satisfy the rules and to make things okay. On the other hand, Christianity has many traditions and rituals. All of them are (supposed to be) a response to what was already completed by Jesus Christ. However, even the Christian church can sometimes forget that it is free of those requirements. How easy it is to follow the old ways!
In the time of Jesus, we cannot forget that Jesus wasn’t the only wandering teacher. He also wasn’t the only person called a prophet. The sad truth is that there are always those who set themselves up as prophets, and many people would follow them. These followers were seeking the release of what was holding them down, though many could not put it into words. We even still see this today.
The interplay between Jesus and John is significant, as John is testing and validating Jesus’ prophetic call, and Jesus is affirming John’s prophetic call. This ties them together as far as many of the people are concerned. Yet, the trap of having a prophetic voice to follow is that people will often find themselves always following the latest and greatest prophetic voice. The church is no different.
Often pastor, elders, and leaders do the same. It is human nature to want to be near the successful. The successful, though, are often as trapped (if not more so) than “normal” people.
When Jesus and John validate each other’s calling, there is a sense of mutual submission. They are looking to the other for validation and confirmation. This is unusual when it comes to those who put themselves up as prophetic voices, for they then consider their voice the only one to be listened to.
- 1) When you seek voices to speak into your life, do you test them? If so, how? If not, why not?
- 2) Thinking of the grisly deaths of Jesus and John, why would anyone set themselves up to be a prophet?
- 3) Where do you see voices in our modern context trying to be prophetic influencers? What seems to be the primary motivation?
- FD) What does it mean to have someone speak into your life?