Bill Smith, Author at Kuyperian Commentary

On September 15, 2019 By Bill Smith In Counseling/Piety, Theology Like

The Courage of Faith

Most (if not all) of us can identify with the disciples in the boat with Jesus during that big storm recorded in Luke 8. We would love to identify more with Jesus: resting so confidently in his Father’s protection that he can sleep through the middle of a hurricane. But we don’t. At least not normally. We identify with the disciples and their fear. We know that Jesus plans to take us to the other side of the sea, but it looks like somewhere along the way he may have changed his plans. So we, logically (at least in our minds) begin to worry. We’re afraid like they are.

Because we think we are being sensible, the waking words of Jesus to the disciples—to us!– sting a bit when we hear them: “Where is your faith?” That hurts. I’m just being rational and looking at the very real situation that is around me at this time, analyzing the situation in my great wisdom, and coming to a very logical, well-reasoned conclusion. A little boat in the midst of a hurricane-like storm doesn’t stand a chance. “Jesus, if you were a fisherman and fished this sea as much as us, you’d understand that. You need to know that it is time to be afraid.” Sounds perfectly logical, yet Jesus, knowing what normally happens to boats in storms on the sea, still questions the faith of his closest companions and the ones who will be the foundation of the church.

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On September 8, 2019 By Bill Smith In Wisdom Like

Parabolic Perspective

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter riddles from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of YHWH, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments…. (Ps 78.1-7)

In the opening lines of this Psalm, Asaph makes it clear what he is doing: he is speaking a parable, a riddle from of old. What comes after this quoted passage is a sketch of Israel’s history from Egypt through the wilderness to the establishment of David’s kingdom. Throughout the parable, Asaph emphasizes the consistent unfaithfulness of Israel in contrast to the faithfulness of God. (I encourage you to read through the entire Psalm to see what I’m talking about.) All of Israel’s history is parabolic; it is all a dark saying, a riddle. In Israel’s history, God has shown his purposes, plans, and promises. Israel’s history is hidden the mystery of the kingdom.

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On September 1, 2019 By Bill Smith In Theology, Wisdom Like

The Mystery of Marriage

This is a homily delivered on the occasion of the wedding of my son, Joshua, and his wife, Naomi.

Paul, quoting Genesis 2.24 and then commenting on it says to the Ephesian church, “’For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

This is a great mystery. Our word “mystery” is brought over directly from Greek, but in its trek through history, it has picked up some connotations in English that Paul did not intend. When we hear the word “mystery,” we tend to think of that which is unknowable or incomprehensible; something shrouded behind an impenetrable veil that we could never hope to get our minds wrapped around. Though there are enigmatic elements in what Paul means when he speaks of mystery, that is not the totality of what he means.

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On August 25, 2019 By Bill Smith In Counseling/Piety, Theology 1

Plowing In Hope

The whole story of man can be told from the perspective of farming. We see these images popping up everywhere at the beginning of our history. God makes a world in which the land that emerges from the water becomes lush with vegetation. Then, after creating the man, he creates a special Garden for the man to work and to protect. Farming was man’s original task. These images were even evident in the relationship between the man and the woman. God told them to be fruitful and multiply, filling the earth. Man’s relationship with his wife would be like farming; it would be like tending and guarding the Garden. After the fall of man, God promises a seed who will come. God will make a new Garden that will be fruitful and will overcome the seed of the serpent, who are the thorns and thistles.

Creation and redemption can both be explained in terms of man’s vocation as a farmer. In giving man this vocation, God was also teaching man something about himself as well as leading him to meditate on how the entirety of his life is reflected in the world of agriculture. Man learns truths about himself and his relationships with God and others as he observes what goes on with land, seed, plants, and cultivation. This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Remember, man was created out of the dust of the ground (Gen 2.7). This means that man, though distinct from the ground, nevertheless, corresponds to the ground in many ways. Man is the ground formed and filled with the breath of God. We are living, breathing plots of ground who are called to be farmers. This is why, not so incidentally, these parables of Jesus about seeds, soils, and sowers aren’t “far out-there” analogies. They are as natural as they can be. How much more basic can you get than going back to our original creation and understanding the correspondence between us and the ground from which we were birthed, so to speak? Jesus teases out the implications of this relationship in all of these agricultural parables, calling us to reflect upon our lives in light of what God is doing in this world in and through Christ Jesus and by the Spirit.

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On August 18, 2019 By Bill Smith In Counseling/Piety, Theology 1

Healing Forgiveness

The scene must have been shocking because of the reckless display of love. Simon, the Pharisee, invited Jesus along with many other guests to come and feast with him at his house. While reclining at the table, a nameless, well-known woman comes in to express her loving gratitude to Jesus who has forgiven her many sins. She is most likely a prostitute. The words that Luke records along with her actions all point to this. The “uncovering” and caressing of a man’s feet in that culture would have been considered a sexual advance. Simon indicates this when he speaks of the woman “touching” Jesus, a word that can have sexual connotations. Add to this the fact that she lets her hair down in public, an act that would have been reserved for a husband and wife in private—or a prostitute and a client—and we can be fairly certain that this “sinner” is a prostitute.

She has many sins. Jesus says so. She knows it. That’s why she came to Jesus for forgiveness. And she received it. The loving grace of forgiveness that she received drove her to reciprocate in expressions of love for her Lord. Jesus tells her in front of everyone that her sins are forgiven. He adds, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” (Lk 7.50).

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On August 11, 2019 By Bill Smith In Counseling/Piety, Theology 1

Stumbling Over Mercy

Jesus follows John the Baptizer as substance follows shadow, as antitype follows type. Jesus is the glorious fulfillment of John’s prophetic ministry in every way. John’s miraculous conception to a barren woman is announced by an angel. Jesus’ more glorious conception in the womb of a virgin is also announced by an angel. John’s birth is followed by the prophetic singing of his father, Zechariah. Jesus’ birth is followed by the angelic singing of the heavenly armies. Everything that happens in the life of John typifies what is to come in the life of Jesus. The difference is that what is fulfilled in Jesus will have greater glory than in the life of John.

This makes sense when you consider whose relationship John and Jesus reflect from the story of Scripture. John comes in the “spirit and power of Elijah” (Lk 1.17). Jesus says unequivocally that John is “Elijah who is to come,” that is, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi (cf. Mal 4.5; Mt 11.14). If John is Elijah, then who is Jesus? Elisha, the prophet anointed by Elijah who receives a double portion of Elijah’s spirit (2Kg 2.9). Jesus’ ministry is a continuation and glorious fulfillment of John’s life and ministry.

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On July 28, 2019 By Bill Smith In Theology 1

The Compassion of Jesus

What was left of her world was lying lifeless on a bier being carried out of the city to its resting place. She already lost her husband. Now her only son was dead. Besides the fact that she loved her son dearly, he was her means of protection and provision in her old age. Death had stolen from her everything but her own existence; all the joys of marriage and motherhood. She was left vulnerable to a leadership in Israel, who, even though they were supposed to help widows, devoured their houses (Lk 20.47).

As this widow moves with a great crowd through the city of Nain, mourning and carrying her son to his resting place with his father, Jesus and his entourage are drawing near the city gates. “Drawing near” certainly speaks of Jesus closing the geographical gap between himself and the city, but, with an understanding that later comes out that “God has visited his people” (Lk 7.16), the connotations of Luke have deep Scriptural echoes. “Drawing near” is what happens at the Temple through offerings. The worshiper draws near to God and God draws near to the worshiper. God comes to save and destroy; save his faithful people and destroy his and our enemies. God is drawing near to this city and, more specifically to this widow and her dead son, to do precisely that.

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On July 21, 2019 By Bill Smith In Family and Children, Theology, Worship Like

A Baptism Exhortation

But why do you call Me `Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say? “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. “But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great. (Luke 6.43-49)

Prayer: Almighty God, who formed the earth out of water and through water by your word, who saved Noah and his family through water while destroying the wicked, who delivered your people Israel through the Sea while defeating Pharaoh and his armies, all of which are types of baptism into Christ Jesus, we pray that you will look mercifully upon Diana, saving her with your people while destroying sin and death. May she, throughout her life, relying upon the grace you give to her this day, continue to mortify sin so that at the last day she may participate in the resurrection of the just and reign with Christ Jesus eternally. Amen

At the end of what is commonly called “the Sermon on the Plain,” Jesus speaks a parable to the great crowd of disciples. This parable is a contrast between two different people. These people aren’t different in what they hear or in the fact that they will face floods in their lives. Both hear, and both will be assaulted by floods. The only difference between these two people is what they do with the words of Jesus. One person lives according to Jesus’ words, and the other one doesn’t.

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On July 14, 2019 By Bill Smith In Counseling/Piety, Humor Like

Mr. Beam, Ophthalmologist

The most well-known, weaponized phrase used against Christians by non-Christians and other Christians alike is, “Judge not” (Lk 6.37; Matt 7.1). Any time someone’s actions are called into question as being sinful, the broad sword “judge not” is wielded in the fashion of William Wallace fighting the English. The attacker must back down. He doesn’t stand a chance. How could he? These are Jesus’ own words being recited as a command to his followers.

But is Jesus saying that we are not to judge anything at all in anyone else’s life? Hardly. Within the context of Luke’s account, Jesus calls his disciples to see the difference or judge between those who are “blessed” and those who are under “woe.” He goes on to speak of people as trees who are known or judged, by the fruit they bear. Disciples of Jesus will be able to judge people as good or evil by their words and actions.

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On July 7, 2019 By Bill Smith In Counseling/Piety, Theology, Wisdom 1

Merciful Coals of Fire

“If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For so you will heap coals of fire on his head, And Yahweh will reward you.” (Prov 25.21-22; cf. also Rom 12.20).

Since the fall, a line of antithesis has been drawn between the serpent and his seed and the woman and her seed (Gen 3.15). We are mortal enemies. We each desire the other’s destruction, though destruction doesn’t mean exactly the same on both sides of the line. The serpent and his seed desire and work toward the annihilation of God and his image; utter destruction. The woman and her seed desire and work toward expulsion or conversion of the serpent’s seed.

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