Pressed Passed the Threshold || Jesus’ Return Policy #1

I hear this verse a lot during the offering collection at church. 

Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full – press down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. (Luke 6:38)

It’s made me wonder what my gift return will be like. If I give $10 to the plate, how can it go through this process? 

This is imagery painted by Jesus. It brought to my mind scooping flour when making cookies or sweets. You might press it down, shake the excess off, or dump the overflowing scoop into your batter or dough when you scoop it. The results of it come back to you in a sweet treat. Jesus is trying to teach us his return policy in a similar way. 

Over the next four weeks, I will take apart each step in the return policy to see what it means and how the concept is shown in other parts of the Bible. I hope you’re ready for my latest series called “Jesus’ Return Policy.” Let’s start the first part by examining how our gifts will be pressed down. 

The Greek word used here is piezó (pee-ed’-zo), which means to press down. This is the only time the word gets used in the New Testament, which often reinforces a unique and special message being taught to me. There’s actually a term for this called “hapax legomenon.” Words were often created to associate with the author’s identity, meaning the original audience would see the word and automatically associate it with a specific person. We see this happen a lot in Paul’s letters. Other factors can explain how often a hapax legomena occurs: 

• The length of a text 
• The topic of the text
• The audience of the text 
• How long ago the text was written

I believe it to be a way for the author to connect directly and intimately with their audience. I will have a link at the end of the blog that takes you to the Wikipedia page (do not judge -_-) about Hapax Legomenon if you want to learn more.

Because this verse is the only time the word is used, we will look at an alternative form of the word. This word is piazó (pee-ad’-zo), which means to lay hold of or to take.

John 8:20

20 Jesus made these statements while he was teaching in the section of the Temple known as the treasury. But he was not arrested because his time had not yet come.

What statement was he making that almost got him arrested?

John 8:12

12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” 

I wanted to provide the context because of the focus on him not being arrested. This comes after the interaction between Jesus and the woman caught in adultery. Jesus spoke to the crowd about how his light will lead them to life. The law teachers argued that this statement wasn’t valid because there weren’t enough witnesses to support Jesus’ claim. Jesus even quoted the law back to them (Deuteronomy 19:15) and said he and God were the witnesses. Jesus then shared that since they didn’t know him, they didn’t know God. 

It’s mentioned on multiple occasions that Jesus taught this message in the Treasury part of the Temple, located in the Court of Women. In this section, there were thirteen collection boxes. Seven were dedicated to the temple tax, and the other six were for freewill offerings. There would also be candles burning to symbolize the pillar of fire that led the people of Israel through the wilderness. (Exodus 13:21) For this context, Jesus called himself this fire, this light of the world. The fire represented God’s presence, protection, and guidance. Imagine the offense from the law teacher’s having someone claim to be the same essence you’ve worshiped for almost 1,500 years. This, to them, was blasphemous for Jesus to claim, which is why they were always ready to kill him. Yet, this moment wasn’t when it needed to happen. This moment wasn’t in God’s plan for his death to occur, so he was free to go. 

This wasn’t the only time Jesus was threatened.

John 7:20

20 The crowd replied, “You’re demon possessed! Who’s trying to kill you?”

The crowd was most likely not aware of the plot to kill Jesus. A select few attempted to make it happen, but most were still trying to decide what they believed about Jesus. 

Throughout this section of John, we find this wrestling among the people. Some claim that Jesus is a good person, and others say he’s a fraud that deceives people. Good thing we don’t do that in 2024, right? (…right?…)

Jesus began preaching with the claim that people will discern for themselves if what he teaches is from God or for his own ego. He even claims that people who speak out of pride want the glory for themselves, but one who wants to honor God will speak the truth.

John 7:19

19 Moses gave you the law, but none of you obeys it! In fact, you are trying to kill me.” 

It feels out-of-pocket compared to the rest of the paragraph, but he goes into detail more about verse 20. Jesus talks about a double standard that he’s facing. He did a miracle on the Sabbath (a huge no-no if you’re a Jewish law teacher), and they were amazed by it. Yet, they work too on the Sabbath if they follow Moses’ law of circumcision. NOTE: I struggled to find a clear, definitive explanation as to what this law of circumcision is. The most repeated answer was Leviticus 12:3 and Genesis 17:10-14. I didn’t dive further into this because of the lack of acknowledgment of the Sabbath in either section. Anyways, back to John 7. 

Jesus says that if the need for circumcision falls on the Sabbath, they went ahead and did it to avoid breaking the law of Moses. Why should they, in turn, be mad at Jesus for healing a man on the Sabbath. I love Jesus’ closing words in this section because it fits into many of our situations today.

John 7:24

24 Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly. 

Don’t judge something or someone before you learn the facts. How often do we judge others based on our perception of their appearance or their actions? How often are we judged because of one little thing we do or say that gets taken out of context? We quickly judge based on face-value assumptions. Jesus wants us to look deeper. Don’t look at the what, but look at the why.

Mark 12:41-44

41 Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. 

42 Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins. 

43 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions.

44 For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.” 

We’re in the same setting we discussed earlier, the Temple treasury located in the Court of Woman. This widow gave all she had to live on. Imagine how you’d react when you see or hear about someone writing a check for everything they have in their savings and checking account? You’d think they’re crazy. You’d believe they were foolish and dumb. Yet, Jesus says her contribution is worth more than all the others making their offering. It wasn’t about the amount she gave, but the percentage. I used to give a set amount every paycheck. I try to align with the 10% tithing standard, but I’ve waived back and forth about my belief in that. I tried to give a set amount that God and I talk about regularly, but it hasn’t been that way lately. Granted, with the job loss and minimal income I’m making now, I’ve been mindful of how I spend my money. I typically give whatever cash I have in my wallet unless I know of a bill or expense upcoming where I absolutely need that money. I typically feel good about giving what I can. Sometimes, I feel like the widow, but most times, I feel like the rich people who give just a tiny part of my surplus. 

As believers, we should always see if we should increase our giving. Not just financially but also in our time and talents. As involved as I was in the church, I often felt like what I gave financially and through my time and resources was reasonable. The goal is to reach a point beyond what’s convenient, calculated, and comfortable (a good series title for a stewardship campaign). We should always be striving towards this mindset, going beyond what feels normal to me. There’s a boundary to set with burnout, but there’s a perfect area where God can use your time, talent, and treasures. Just don’t do it begrudgingly. God doesn’t want you to give out of that mindset, but because you want and feel called to. When you give, take heart. Small gifts, like a dollar in the offering plate or an hour in the nursery, mean more to God than large gifts when they’re given out of a place of gratitude. 

I know we’re in a rocky financial time, and everyone is hard-pressed with the accessible spending cash they have. That’s why small gifts have just as much meaning as large ones to God. Give what you can when you can, and leave the rest up to God. There’s no set amount churches require for you to give (unless the 10% tithing rule is a standard). What you give is between you and God, and he would love you to be obedient to his task of giving instead of feeling ashamed that you can’t give enough.

Let’s switch gears and talk about everyone’s favorite book of the Bible, Revelation. We’ll discuss being hard-pressed regarding the beast and the false prophet being captured.

Revelation 19:20

20 And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast – miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

The beast is identified with Rome because the Roman empire often encouraged evil lifestyles, persecuted and opposed Christians, and went against God. The beast also symbolizes the Antichrist, who is someone under Satan’s power and control.

The Antichrist resembles a combination of the four beasts Daniel saw centuries earlier in a vision, which is in Daniel 7:

• The first beast was like a lion with an eagle’s wings. 
• The second looks like a bear. 
• The third looked like a leopard with four heads and four wings on its back. 
• The fourth was so terrifying and strong that it ate and crushed its victims with huge iron teeth and trample their corpses beneath its feet. It also had ten horns. 

I am completely thankful I have never seen a combination of this creature or heard rumors of this creature outside of the Bible. This creature battles God, while the best from the sea (which I believe is understood as the Leviathan) wages war against Jesus and can be viewed as the false prophet. Again, this is heavy vision and apocalyptic imagery that I have not studied at all. Make sure you do your own research, but don’t take this at face value. Please. 

With the early Roman empire acting anti-Christ (not as the Antichrist, but the anti-Christ; as in they were against Christ), many other powers have been associated with the Antichrist. Many Christians believe that Satan’s plan will culminate as a final Antichrist resembling an influential person, organization, or institution that will use its powers for evil against Christians. We don’t know what this looks like, though, nor has anything been confirmed about this, but be wary in making assumptions about the end times. No one knows when that will be other than God. What’s written is imagery revealed to us through prophets via visions they had. 

With Revelation 19:20, I wanted to add Revelation 20:10 and 20:14 as connecting scripture.

Revelation 20:10, 14

10 Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 

14 Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. 

First, the Antichrist and false prophet, then the devil, then death, and the grave itself. This order of things will be destroyed before a new Eden is created at the end of Revelation. What does ANY of this have to do with being hard-pressed? 

The concept of hard-pressed is associated with being captured. John wants his audience to capture their faith in Jesus. The end times will be dark and scary based on the imagery given to us, but we will not be hard-pressed as long as we have faith in Christ and accept him as our Lord and Savior. I’m reminded that Jesus told his disciples and us that there will be suffering from following him. The end times will contain a lot of suffering, but because we have Jesus, we know that we can lean on his strength to get us through it. 

What does it mean to be pressed down? It’s about finding the truth beneath what’s seen. It’s about capturing the essence behind the why and not the what. It means leaving no room for error and having a solid foundation to build the next layer. We’ll shake this together next week and continue looking at Jesus’ return policy! Until then, stay blessed!