Summer Wake Program Study Jesus’ Parables 7
Have you ever wondered what you would be like on a snowboard, skateboard, or wakeboard without fearing injury? Would you have progressed more than you have now? Or would you be incapacitated and living daily in a wheel chair? I think we would all agree that our favorite professional athletes deal with facing their fears constantly, and the incredible focus they have of facing their fears is what makes them the best at what they do. So, ask yourself right now, what is it that makes Jesus such a good role model for facing one’s fears and taking risks?
In the parable of the ten minas, Jesus takes the complexity of what the disciples are feeling and facing at Zacchaeus’s home, painting a picture through story of what he is NOT going to do in the near future. At this time the disciples, as well as the rest of the Jewish population, are yearning for a new leader because they were under constant persecution by the Roman government. Therefore, Jesus’ disciples and followers literally believed that as Jesus stepped foot into Jerusalem, God would appoint Jesus as the new leader of the Jewish people and free them from their Roman oppressors. The picture painted in this parable is an actual historical account of a recent happening in Jerusalem where the current Roman leader ruled by fear and force. Jesus’s message is to tell his followers that he is not going to do to the Romans what the Romans had done to them; he is not going to repay evil for evil, but his business in Jerusalem is for a much different purpose. His purpose for going to Jerusalem was to atone for the sins of the world through dying on a cross and rising again 3 days later. I am sure Jesus felt afraid because he knew what he was walking into. But, he understood that man could only kill the flesh. In Matthew 10:28 it says, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Is God leading you to share the Gospel with someone who is maybe uninterested, discouraging, or even completely against God? That can not only be uncomfortable, but scary. However, you can take heart in Matthew 5:12, which says, “rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Fear is a good feeling to have because it keeps you from harm, but when you fear people more than God you are enslaved to your feelings, instead of what God’s will is for your life. Allow yourself to be under God’s command; he will keep you safe for all eternity. Take a risk and push your faith to new heights with cultivating new spiritual disciplines. Think of one way you could push yourself in your faith life that is risky this week. Just as a professional athlete is constantly taking risks to push his or her talents and abilities, God has given all his followers the tremendous gift of his Holy Spirit, but as followers we must remember to open the gift and use what we have been given for his glory.
Jake Tastad JSAW Wakeboard Program Leader