John Tillman - The Park Forum

July 11, 2022July 10, 2022

A Path Into Darkness

Scripture Focus: Luke 22.14-6; 31-32; 61-62
14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.

From John: As we prepare for Student Writers to take us through the book of Acts, we will look this week at the last three chapters of Luke’s gospel. Don’t forget that, beginning on July 15 and continuing through August 10th, approximately 90% of donations to The Park Forum will be directed to scholarships/stipends for these talented students. Give during this time to support our ministry and theirs.

Reflection: A Path Into Darkness
By John Tillman

Luke 22 is a turning point. The triumphal entry and Temple confrontations fade. A path into darkness and death begins. And not just the death of Jesus. Many of the disciples’ expectations and trusted truths would die.

At least three moments in this chapter depict something dying for the disciples, especially Peter.

“I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you…I will not eat it again…”

For the disciples, Passover was like Independence Day, Christmas, and Easter rolled into one. Political and spiritual freedom were tightly intertwined. They expect a victory speech, but Jesus speaks of his death. At Passover, the shadow of death was held at bay, but Jesus brings it into the room with him. Through this moment, Jesus begins to deconstruct their ideas about power, kingdoms, and deliverance.

“I have prayed for you…when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Simon was ever-so sure of himself. His courage, strength, righteous anger, and sword hand, would stand by Jesus to the end. Or so, he thought. Jesus rebukes him and prays that his faith won’t fail and that when he repents, his focus would be on strengthening others, not declaring his own strength.

“The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered…”

Written like a screenplay, this detail in Luke is heartbreaking. Right when Peter does what he swore he wouldn’t, Jesus meets Peter’s gaze.

Perhaps Peter was planning something other than lurking. Perhaps he imagined rescue and escape, or making a great argument at the trial, winning over the crowd. But whatever it was…that plan died when he met Jesus’ eyes. Peter remembered.

What may need to die in us and what may need to be remembered as we follow the path of Jesus—the path of the cross?

Some suggestions to reflect on:
Victories won by worldly power and wealth are on the path of the betrayer, not the path of Christ.
Christ doesn’t need our strength. We need his.
Any plan we have that relies on our power to “help Jesus,” is a betrayal.

Every time we betray Jesus, we’ll find him meeting our gaze with love that is intended to turn our hearts back to him. Our failures, like Peter’s, are inevitable and predictable. Yet, Jesus eagerly desires to be with us. After weeping, repentance, and forgiveness, we can strengthen others with what we have learned.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
Jesus taught us, saying: “…If your brother does something wrong, rebuke him and, if he is sorry, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times a day and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I am sorry,’ you must forgive him.” — Luke 17.3-4

Today’s Readings
Isaiah 40 (Listen -5:09)
Luke 22 (Listen -7:58)

Read more about In the Face of Betrayal
Imagine Christ’s face looking at Peter…The look you imagine on Christ’s face says a lot about what you believe about Jesus.

In the Face of Betrayal

Read more about The Flavors of Betrayal
Where do we find ourselves in the garden? What form does our betrayal and abandonment of Jesus take?

The Flavors of Betrayal

July 8, 2022July 6, 2022

The Way of the Remnant

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 37.32
32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.

Reflection: The Way of the Remnant
By John Tillman

At this point, Isaiah has seen kings come and go. He has seen that ultimately his country is doomed to destruction and his people are destined for exile. But even with darkness looming, there is light and hope for God’s remnant.

Isaiah has no illusions about suffering, hope, and ultimate reality. After seeing God’s throne room, kings like Sennacherib, who threatens Judah, seem unimpressive. Isaiah brushes off Sennacherib’s boasts with a strong rebuke and a promise of God’s protection.

Sennacherib’s army will be conquered by the God he compared to a powerless idol.
Sennacherib will be killed while praying to his own powerless idol, which could not save him from the ambition of his own sons.

The way of kings seems to have a pattern:
Out of callousness, cruelty.
Out of confidence, despair.
Out of pride, disgrace.

There is a different pattern for the remnant that God will zealously protect:
Out of hopelessness, faith.
Out of shame, honor.
Out of loss, victory.

This faith, honor, and victory won’t always look like that on the surface. There won’t always be miraculous deliverance from armies. We won’t always see the convenient self-destruction of our foes. Sometimes the enemy army will win. Sometimes, like the faithful remnant, we will be taken into exile. Sometimes, like Isaiah, we will suffer, and perhaps die.

This suffering we endure won’t always be at the hands of enemy kings, like Sennacherib. That might be easier to understand. We are just as likely to be harmed at the hands of unfaithful or misguided fellow believers as unbelievers.

Isaiah was killed by the last king of Judah he served, Manasseh.
Jesus was killed by the Romans, but it was at the insistence of the most dedicated and well-respected of Jewish scholars, scribes, and teachers. (Luke 19.47)
Stephen, the first martyr of the church was killed by zealous followers of God, the Sanhedrin.

If we suffer, let it be for doing good, not evil. Let us suffer for generosity not selfishness. Let us suffer for kindness not violence. If we, like Isaiah, keep the image of God’s throne room in mind, that vision can wash away misplaced reverence for human leaders or fear toward human enemies.

Let us embrace the way of the remnant—rejecting callousness, confidence, and pride. God is zealous on the remnant’s behalf. Let us be faithful in hope and trust in God’s ultimate victory.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
I will call upon God, and the Lord will deliver me.
In the evening, in the morning, and at the noonday, I will complain and lament, and he will hear my voice.
He will bring me safely back…God, who is enthroned of old, will hear me. — Psalm 55.17

Today’s Readings
Isaiah 37 (Listen -6:47)
Luke 19 (Listen -5:29)

This Weekend’s Readings
Isaiah 38 (Listen -3:20), Luke 20 (Listen -5:07)
Isaiah 39 (Listen -1:35), Luke 21 (Listen -4:18)

Read more about Temple Confrontations
Like Isaiah, we need to be confronted with our individual and collective uncleanness.

Temple Confrontations

Read more about Clear the Old Growth
The foes we face don’t determine our fate. Like Hezekiah, we can turn them over to God.

Clear the Old Growth

July 5, 2022June 28, 2025

Healthy Patriotism

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 34.1-2
1 Come near, you nations, and listen;
pay attention, you peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!
2 The Lord is angry with all nations;
his wrath is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy them,
he will give them over to slaughter.

Mark 14.27, 29
27 “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them…
29 Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”

Reflection: Healthy Patriotism
By John Tillman

It is all nations, not some, that the Lord is angry with in Isaiah’s prophecy.

Why is God even mad at these nations? They didn’t have the commandments, the covenant, the Temple… What does God expect of them? And what does God expect of us?

Israel did enjoy a special relationship with God, with special privileges and responsibilities. However, God desires, even demands, all nations to worship him, not just Israel. (Acts 17.26-31) Israel was to be like a priest before the congregants—a guide and model. God is angry with all nations because all nations, even Israel and Judah, became rebels and traitors.

Especially around times of patriotic celebration, it can be difficult for us to read about God being angry with “all nations.” We feel or say, “Surely not us, Lord!” We must sound to God a bit like the disciples when Jesus said they would fall away. “Not me, Lord!”

The gospel writers, Mark and Matthew, show two moments in which Jesus confronted them with predictions of betrayal. (Mark 14.18-21, 27-31; Matthew 26.20-25, 31-35) One is direct betrayal to the authorities. All of them say, “Surely not me, Lord,” and only one of them, Judas, is guilty. The other is a more collective, or group betrayal, “You will all fall away.” Peter is the loudest objector but all the disciples deny the prediction. And all of the disciples, including Mark and Matthew were guilty. Mark, most commenters agree, is the young man who not only fled, but fled naked when he was grasped by his clothing. (Mark 14.52)

It is a grave theological error to mistake our own nation, wherever we live, for “God’s nation.” No modern nation is the spiritual inheritor of Israel and even if it were, that nation could and would fall. The Bible tells us that Israel became as evil as Egypt, Assyria, or Babylon. History tells us that believing one’s nation is “God’s nation” consistently leads, time and time again, to political atrocities in the name of God.

There is nothing sinful about patriotically celebrating what is good. There is, however, spiritual danger in denying national sins and glorifying national leaders. Eventually we’ll be asked to bow to their statues or demands. Directly or indirectly, we can betray Christ for patriotism.

Rarely are nations totally evil or good. Most are a mixture. Healthy patriotism, like healthy Christianity, celebrates good while lamenting and resisting evil.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
“Because the needy are oppressed, and the poor cry out in misery, I will rise up,” says the Lord, “And give them the help they long for.” — Psalm 12.5

Today’s Readings
Isaiah 34 (Listen -2:59)
Luke 16 (Listen -4:27)

Read more about Celebrating Earthly Kingdoms|
Celebrating the country in which one lives is not un-biblical but it can be a dangerous, idolatrous trap.

Celebrating Earthly Kingdoms :: Readers’ Choice

Read more about Jeremiah, the Unpatriotic Prophet
Jeremiah’s refusal to embrace a politically expedient alliance with Egypt, gained him the hatred of ‘patriotic’ Israelites.

Jeremiah, the Unpatriotic Prophet

July 1, 2022June 30, 2022

Prophets in Our Path

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 30.10-11
10 They say to the seers,
“See no more visions!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,
prophesy illusions.
11 Leave this way,
get off this path,
and stop confronting us
with the Holy One of Israel!”

Reflection: Prophets in Our Path
By John Tillman

Isaiah describes a caravan in the Negev desert. They carry valuables and gifts of honor through dangerous territory, filled with lions and snakes. They are envoys from Judah sent down to Egypt to seek protection.

It is an interesting reversal. Israel left Egypt, carrying away Egyptian gold and treasures as they were liberated from slavery. Now, here they are, crawling back through the desert to seek audience with their former abusers.

Why are they returning treasure and pledging fealty to their former captors? Why are they begging for “the shade” of Egypt when God promised they would sit under their own vine and fig tree? Why are they becoming like the grumbling Israelites in the desert who said, “Wouldn’t it be better to go back to Egypt?” (Numbers 14.3-4)

Then, like Balaam on the way to curse Israel, these envoys are confronted and warned. A prophet stands in their path with a message from God. But they brush off the warning and tell the prophet to get out of their way and stop confronting them.

These envoys wanted sweet verses from prophets. But prophecy is often ugly. They longed to hear comforting promises. But prophecy is often disturbing. They sought convenient confirmations of what they already believed. But prophecy often holds inconvenient truths.

How like these envoys are we? How easily do we seek bargains from worldly powers and shelter from our enslavers? How often do we seek prophets to confirm our decisions rather than confront us with truth?

Let us repent:
When an inconvenient prophecy stops us in our tracks…
When an ugly truth comes to light…
When we are caught holding a check written to evil forces of this world, asking their protection…

Don’t push past prophets in your path lest this verse be about you: “the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation…but you would have none of it.” (Isaiah 30.15)

Let us have the salvation that God longs to give us. Let us listen to prophets in our path.

“…the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. — (Isaiah 30.18-19)

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness. — Psalm 103.8

Today’s Readings
Isaiah 30 (Listen -5:52)
Luke 12 (Listen -7:42)

This Weekend’s Readings
Isaiah 31 (Listen -1:49), Luke 13 (Listen -5:02)
Isaiah 32 (Listen -2:46), Luke 14 (Listen -4:36)

Read more about Balaams and Balaks
These modern Balaams do their best to put words in God’s mouth that are pleasing to the powerful.

Balaams and Balaks

Read more about Today’s Roots, Tomorrow’s Fruit
Prophecies can tell of coming salvation or warn of coming disaster. There’s no question which we prefer to listen to.

Today’s Roots, Tomorrow’s Fruit

June 28, 2022June 26, 2022

Previsualizations of Promises

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 27.2-6, 13
2 In that day—
“Sing about a fruitful vineyard:
3 I, the Lord, watch over it;
I water it continually.
I guard it day and night
so that no one may harm it.
4 I am not angry.
If only there were briers and thorns confronting me!
I would march against them in battle;
I would set them all on fire.
5 Or else let them come to me for refuge;
let them make peace with me,
yes, let them make peace with me.”
6 In days to come Jacob will take root,
Israel will bud and blossom
and fill all the world with fruit.

13 And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

Reflection: Previsualizations of Promises
By John Tillman

In many of Isaiah’s writings three things are being described at the same time—the destruction of Israel in the immediate future, the return from exile in the near future, and the ultimate fulfillment of Israel in the far future.

When we remove things from this context we can misinterpret them. For example, the often-quoted promise that God will “keep in perfect peace” those who trust in God, (Isaiah 26.3) may have been misread by Isaiah’s audience. They could easily have interpreted it as an assurance of earthly political peace and the absence of suffering or conflict. We might do the same.

Of course, we can and should pray this verse and long for peace. However, any earthly peace we create or experience now is representative, not ultimate. This doesn’t mean earthly peace is pointless. Peace we create now points to the peace to come.

God gives his people previsualizations of ultimate reality. These are intermediary places or persons or events that stand as a picture of the promises of God.

The Tabernacle and the Temple of Jerusalem previsualize Heaven and the City of God, where people can approach God, see his glory, and understand his holiness.

Joseph, Moses, and David previsualize a suffering servant, a liberating savior, and a reigning king that are fulfilled in Jesus.

Enslavement in Egypt and exile in Babylon describe our current state. Liberation from Egypt and the rebuilding of the temple previsualize our ultimate future. We live now as exiles and foreigners in a world enslaved and ruled by sin, but one day we will be ultimately freed and the world we are meant to live in will be rebuilt. This will be the ultimate fulfillment of all God’s promises, including Isaiah 26:3.

Isaiah 25-27 describes the coming of God’s heavenly city to Earth, similar to John’s account in Revelation. (Isaiah 25.6-8; Revelation 21.1-7) This banquet is for all the peoples of the world and every face will be covered in tears, yet God himself will wipe those tears away.

We can take refuge in him and make peace with him. As we do, he will wipe every tear from our eyes and we will bear the fruit that we were always intended to bear. (Isaiah 27.5-6) This promise we may know and fulfill now in part, but then, we will know fully and be fully known. (1 Corinthians 13.12)

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Our days are like the grass; we flourish like a flower of the field;
When the wind goes over it, it is gone, and its place shall know it no more. — Psalm 103.15-16

Today’s Readings
Isaiah 27 (Listen -2:16)
Luke 9 (Listen -8:05)

Read more about Fruitful in Suffering
Joseph shows us a preview of Jesus, the suffering servant, upon whom the Holy Spirit would rest and be given without limit.

Fruitful in Suffering

Read more about Public, Prayerful, Persistent Protest
Daniel’s protest softened the heart of a king and changed the leadership of an entire nation. What might ours change today?

Public, Prayerful, Persistent Protest