by Tatiana Overduin
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Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not? (Luke 20:22)
Read Luke 20:19–26
When adults hear about paying taxes, they often grimace. Tax time isn’t always a favourite time for people as they organise documents, receipts, and appointments to claim on a return. We tend to grumble that we don’t get enough back!
Without getting all political here, there is a positive side to paying our taxes. And Jesus distinguished this. In his own words, today’s reading differentiates between ‘what we give back to God and what we give back to Caesar’, understood here as the ruling government. Now, Jesus knew the duplicity of the teachers of the law and chief priests, yet, despite this, he directly instructed what was the accurate thing to do.
I’ve been fortunate to have travelled several times throughout my life, as perhaps you have also. Many times, upon arrival back home to this beautiful country, my heart has been very grateful. Despite ‘the Australian way’ of grumbling about what isn’t good, there is much we can be thankful for daily. Of course, there are genuine areas of improvement to be made. But despite the higher food prices, we continue to enjoy a very high standard of good quality food. Despite the rising cost of living, our homes are cool in summer and warm in winter. Despite the occasional pothole in the road, we can generally get from A to B quite comfortably and quickly. And then there are the many avenues of support available for those who need it. Most importantly as Australians, we can freely worship our Triune God in our Christian churches. I think you get my point. My travels to other countries haven’t always proven so comfortable or convenient.
Teaching a business and economics class of 13-year-old high school students, I reiterate this point: despite our complaints, we have much to be grateful for – even paying taxes, which support infrastructure and the general livelihoods of all Australians.
God knew the precise thing to do when it came to managing finances. There is much advice in the Scriptures on how we use this God-bestowed gift, including how to tithe. May we reflect today on how our finances including our taxes, can continue to help others and our country.
Loving Father God, thank you for instructing us in all matters of life. Help us to be good stewards of our finances and not grumble about what we don’t or can’t have, but rather, with grateful hearts, acknowledge all things you freely give to us. In gratitude and humility, we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Tatiana is married to Jim, and they live at Largs North, a seaside location in Adelaide. They have two adult children and six grandchildren who are a wonderful blessing to them. Tatiana teaches full-time in English, History and Religion teacher; she gained a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Australian Lutheran College in 1996 and, in her spare time, she enjoys knitting, gardening, singing for church, writing and swimming. Her home congregation is Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide.
by Tatiana Overduin
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone (Luke 20:17b).
Read Luke 20:9–19
Have you felt rejected? Of course you have. Who hasn’t? It’s within our human nature to experience this type of emotion, from micro-rejections to full-blown macro-rejections. But how could these occurrences possibly compare to what Jesus suffered? Jesus was rejected by the very people he came to save. Have you ever experienced rejection because of your faith in Jesus Christ?
Many martyrs throughout history, until modern times, have felt rejection – and even death – for the sake of the gospel. Jesus warns us that we as his followers, will encounter rejection.
Many biblical texts point to this truth, but two come to mind. In John 15:21, Jesus says, ‘They will do this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me’. Here, Jesus refers to a rejection of himself as well as a rejection of God the Father – the ‘one who sent him’.
In Matthew 10:22, Jesus says, ‘You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved’.
It could be easy to become frightened or worried about how it’s humanly possible to ‘stand firm to the end’, and so, we immediately recognise we cannot. Only with God’s help can we endure rejection or even hatred from others, especially for our faith in Jesus. So, this is what we do – we receive. Jesus is the Cornerstone; all things are grounded solidly in him, and God promises to be with us when we seek him in all and for all things.
‘For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’ (Romans 10:13).
Dear God, we give thanks for all that you give us. Forgive us for not recognising you right beside us: holding us in the palm of your hand all through the suffering and rejection of life. Have mercy and forgive us, Lord, when we fear or fail to testify to your message of salvation by standing firm in our Lord Jesus Christ. We ask that you fill us with your Holy Spirit, Lord, to not despair during difficult times but empower us in faith. We make these requests in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.
Tatiana is married to Jim, and they live at Largs North, a seaside location in Adelaide. They have two adult children and six grandchildren who are a wonderful blessing to them. Tatiana teaches full-time in English, History and Religion teacher; she gained a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Australian Lutheran College in 1996 and, in her spare time, she enjoys knitting, gardening, singing for church, writing and swimming. Her home congregation is Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide.
by Tatiana Overduin
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Who gave you this authority? (Luke 20:2b)
Read Luke 20:1–8
So far this week, our readings have built on a foundation of God’s truth, and today’s devotion reiterates this message established in God’s word.
Jesus is questioned by the chief priests, teachers of the law and elders about the authority of his words and actions. And in response, Jesus refers to another part of his story, John. John was born for a purpose and chosen by God to prepare the way for him, for Jesus as Saviour. Here, Jesus consults events that have already occurred, through John’s experience, who was also part of God’s truth about the way of life to Jesus.
As the prophet Isaiah proclaimed: ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God’ (Isaiah 40:3).
We, too, can trust in the Bible, God’s holy word, given to us as a gift for our very existence to verify ‘the truth’. Here, Scripture is referenced against Scripture to test the truth.
Jesus is the Truth. Jesus is the Word. Jesus said: ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth’ (Mathew 28:18).
The Bible continues to be a guide for us today: to take reassurance in what and who the truth is.
So, when we are tempted to be swayed by ‘all kinds of truths and authorities’ in this world, we can continue to lean on and rest in Jesus’ truth and authority.
And just as the chief priests, teachers of the law and elders could not confirm an answer in response to Jesus’ authority and the truth, we can have faith in his power and peace.
‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased’ (Luke 2:14).
Holy Triune God, the authority over all things in heaven and on earth. Help us to become faithful to your word, the truth. We pray that we can continue to develop our dependence on your word of truth to share your message of hope with others. May we continually seek to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, who comforts and reassures us through your word. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Tatiana is married to Jim, and they live at Largs North, a seaside location in Adelaide. They have two adult children and six grandchildren who are a wonderful blessing to them. Tatiana teaches full-time in English, History and Religion; she gained a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Australian Lutheran College in 1996 and, in her spare time, she enjoys knitting, gardening, singing for church, writing and swimming. Her home congregation is Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide.
by Tatiana Overduin
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
It is written, my house shall be a house of prayer (Luke 19:46a).
Read Luke 19:41–48
Our devotion text for today highlights three main points. Firstly, Jesus’ sorrow regarding the state of Jerusalem and the apparent lack of peace. Secondly, the suffering that is to come upon the people. And, thirdly, the sacredness of peaceful prayer in the temple.
Jesus is weeping, the second time an account of such deep sorrow being felt by the Son of Man. As he rides on the colt, in his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, Jesus is weeping over a city full of people: people who, on this day, spread their cloaks as he processes into the city, shouting, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ (Luke 19:38). But he also knows that beyond this time, the people will soon betray him, reject him and shout, ‘Crucify him’. (Jesus is weeping over them.)
Every day, Jesus was teaching at the temple, and he saw what was happening. He made it clear that the temple was a house of prayer (verse 46), and there was no room in this place for business transactions. As we live our lives and journey in this world, we often get caught up in the ‘everyday business’ of our lives. It’s easy to forget that Jesus is also king over our finances, work matters and other ‘business’ activities.
We can remember to ask him in prayer for all that we need. In the gospel story, Jesus speaks with his disciples about paying the temple tax. He instructs them to, ‘Go to the sea and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a coin; take that and give it to them for you and me’ (Matthew 17:23–27). All worries relating to life can be taken to God in prayer.
As it is written in the gospel, ‘For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I with them’ (Matthew 18:20). We are reminded that prayer is a gift to us – a way to unburden all our cares and worries to God. May this assurance be close to hearts in all matters.
God of love and truth, please teach us to pray. Lord remind us that you are there with us when we gather in prayer. Teach us to be grateful and to praise you at all times. Help us to seek you when we worry or doubt and to acknowledge prayer as a gift of communicating with you, Lord. Lord, save us from our disbelief. In your holy name, we pray. Amen.
Tatiana is married to Jim, and they live at Largs North, a seaside location in Adelaide. They have two adult children and six grandchildren who are a wonderful blessing to them. Tatiana teaches full-time in English, History, and Religion; she gained a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Australian Lutheran College in 1996 and, in her spare time, she enjoys knitting, gardening, singing for church, writing and swimming. Her home congregation is Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide.
by Tatiana Overduin
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Go into the village ahead of you … you will find a colt tied there … If anyone asks you … say, the Lord needs it (Luke 19:30,31).
Read Luke 19:28–40
We worry about the future, don’t we? Well, I do sometimes. Even when I don’t want to worry, it still creeps in. So many things can trouble us in this world in which we live. So, what jumped out at me from this Scripture text today was Jesus’ confident foreknowledge of what was to come. He told his disciples to fetch the colt and even told them they would be asked about their actions and what they should say. Most importantly, everything would be as it should be – just as he had instructed.
God knows everything: our past, present and future. God knit us together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13). He was there and he is here. He is here for us today, so we can be assured that he is also already there in our future. How often do we contemplate this truth? That God is already there before us, holding us in the palm of his hand. There are countless examples we can read about in the Bible of ‘God’s foreknowledge’, but one other that can be referred to in this devotional account is when Jesus foretells his death and resurrection (read Mark 9:30,31). Jesus knew that was his mission; he was born to bear our sins and bring them to the cross. Jesus was born to die for the atonement of our sins, and he knew this from the very beginning of time.
Jesus tells us that we, too, are born to bear the struggles in our daily walk with God. The Scriptures warn us that we will suffer persecution because of our faith in God (2 Timothy 3:12). But we are also reassured that God will be there with us through these struggles (1 Corinthians 10:13).
We do not need to be afraid of the past: Jesus has redeemed us (Isaiah 43:1). We do not need to fear today: Jesus walks with us (Matthew 14:27). We do not need to be anxious about the future: God promises to us that he is already there (Matthew 6:25–34).
Dear Lord, thank you for guiding my life journey so far, holding me in the palm of your hand, in this very moment in the here and now, and assuring me of your presence ahead in the future. Please help me to trust in you for all things. Help me also to entrust my loved ones to you to quench any fears of their salvation. May you enliven the Holy Spirit’s work within me so that I may be a light for others when they struggle to understand your work in their life journey. We hope for you always. Amen.
Tatiana is married to Jim, and they live at Largs North, a seaside location in Adelaide. They have two adult children and six grandchildren who are a wonderful blessing to them. Tatiana teaches full-time as an English, History, and Religion teacher; she gained a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Australian Lutheran College in 1996 and, in her spare time, she enjoys knitting, gardening, singing for church, writing and swimming. Her home congregation is Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide.
by Tatiana Overduin
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth (John 16:13a).
Read John 15:26,27; 16:4b–15
What a loaded word: ‘struth!’
Pilate asked Jesus, ‘Quid est veritas?’ We can ask the same words today: ‘What is truth?’ Today, in our contemporary world, it would appear that truth can be whatever you want it to be. Whatever is truth for me is my truth. But does this make it the truth? To understand this better, we can look at the definition of the word and learn that the meaning points to that which is ‘factual and to that which is real’. In our modern world of technological advancement and artificial intelligence, it’s only getting more difficult to differentiate what is fabricated, and what is true.
What about telling the truth? Do we always tell the truth? Not possible, is it, unless we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to ‘speak the truth in love’ (see Ephesians 4:15). In today’s reading, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as ‘the Spirit of truth’ and that when we receive the Holy Spirit from Jesus, he will make the truth known to us (verse 15b). Therefore, we can establish from the Scriptures that ‘the truth’ is given by God alone.
Happy birthday, Christian church! The gift of the Holy Spirit was given to us at Pentecost. Today, we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the Christian church: the day Christians commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit to the apostles and other followers of Jesus. You can read about it in the Book of Acts, chapter 2, verses 1–31. And, just like any birthday celebration, those named by God can enjoy this special day – a gift for us to live ‘truthfully’ in a world riddled with all sorts of teachings about the concept of truth.
We can stand together in solidarity, believing only the Holy Spirit does ‘prove the world to be in the wrong, about sin and righteousness and judgement’ (verse 8). In verse 11 of our reading, Jesus says, ‘… the prince of this world now stands condemned’. We who believe in Jesus do not need to concur with the falsities that the teaching of this world implies, those that ultimately divide and deceive us, sometimes even within the church. We stand in the truth: in God’s holy truth! Accordingly, we may now celebrate this day with the assurance that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
Lord, thank you for gifting us with your truth. Your word is truth. Amen.
Tatiana is married to Jim, and they live at Largs North, a seaside location in Adelaide. They have two adult children and six grandchildren who are a wonderful blessing to them. Tatiana is a full-time English, History, and Religion teacher; she gained a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Australian Lutheran College in 1996. In her spare time she enjoys knitting, gardening, singing for church, writing and swimming. Her home congregation is Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide.
by Neil Bergmann
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I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live (Psalm 104:33).
Read Psalm 104:24–35
The recommended reading for today is Psalm 104:24–34,35b. That immediately made me think, why leave out part of one verse (Psalm 104:35a)? The ‘offending’ passage is: ‘But may sinners vanish from the earth, and the wicked be no more.’
Now, we are all sinners (as well as saints), so perhaps we are afraid that we are calling for our own destruction. Maybe we don’t like to ask God to punish people who are not much different from us.
However, we now live in the light of our post-resurrection understanding of what it means to be human, which changes how we understand such passages. At the same time, we are saints and sinners, as are all children of God. So maybe this problem verse is asking God to get rid of the ‘sinner’ side of our nature and increase the ‘saint’ side.
This saint side grows as we praise God beside the praise of all other creatures, it grows as we acknowledge that it is God, not us, who is in control of the world, and it grows as we look at the world with awe and wonder.
Our sinner side is greedy, proud, and reckless, and it believes we are in control. Our sinner side is small-minded, petty and vindictive. Let that side vanish from the earth and be no more.
Creator God, your creation is too wonderful, awesome, and glorious for us to think we are in control. Please help us give up our delusions of mastery and instead sing praises to you as long as we live. Amen.
Neil Bergmann worships at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Rochedale, Queensland. He enjoys the quieter pace of life after retirement, being able to spend more time with his wife, Margit, and their daughter, Elina.
by Neil Bergmann
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once (Luke 19:11).
Read Luke 19:11–27
There are a couple of interesting points in the parable in today’s reading.
In real estate, it is said that the three most important characteristics of a property are location, location, location. For biblical passages, one might similarly say that the three most important aspects are context, context, context. This parable happens just before the disciples go off to find a donkey for the entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Additionally, the focus verse above reminds us that people thought Jesus was about to enter Jerusalem as a conqueror.
Also, the parable doesn’t have a detailed explanation. Some parables, like the one about the persistent widow earlier in the week or, most famously, the parable of the sower, have detailed explanations. Some, like the Good Samaritan or the Prodigal Son, have clear meanings. Then, there are ones like this parable, which are confusing and don’t fit our neat theological ideas like salvation by faith alone and love your enemies. Here servants are rewarded based on their works and enemies are brought to be killed in front of the king.
Parables speak in different ways to different people. For me (and it may be different for you), this parable is about the king going away and us waiting. After his death and resurrection, King Jesus has returned to heaven, awaiting his bodily return to earth at the End Times.
Now, we know our salvation at that time is secure. We know our eternal destiny doesn’t depend on our works. However, this parable tells us we can live in the kingdom of heaven here and now, working for our king and using our talents, time, and treasure to invite others to join in that kingdom.
King Jesus, we often find it too easy to bury our talents and wait confidently for your return. Give us the strength, courage and wisdom to use our time on earth well. Amen.
Neil Bergmann worships at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Rochedale, Queensland. In addition to professional qualifications in engineering, he has coursework and research master’s degrees in theology.
by Neil Bergmann
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today’ (Luke 19:5).
Read Luke 19:1–10
As a tax collector, Zacchaeus was a social outcast. Not only was he hated because he worked for the occupying Romans, but it seems like he was known to cheat on how much he collected and passed on.
Which do you think came first – being an outcast or being a tax collector? Most likely, he had been an outcast in society for a long time – perhaps ridiculed for his short stature – and not part of the in-crowd. This is likely true for many of the ‘sinners’ Jesus encountered in his travels.
As Jesus came through Jericho, the crowds surrounded Jesus. Although Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, too, the crowd blocked his view. How often do we, in our desire to focus on Jesus as Lord and Saviour, form a huddle that keeps outsiders away? We are comfortable with those like us and often uncomfortable with those who don’t fit.
Zacchaeus was so keen to see Jesus that he climbed a tree. Jesus was always on the lookout for the outsider and the outcast and gave Zacchaeus the one thing his wealth couldn’t give him – acceptance and inclusion.
Luke 19:10 says, ‘For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost’. We are called to do the same – to seek out the lost and let them know they are accepted and loved.
Jesus, move us out of our comfort zone. Help us to look around our communities to find the lost and make them feel welcomed and included. Amen.
Neil Bergmann worships at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Rochedale, Queensland. He enjoys being part of the monthly Messy Church planning team at Our Saviour.