My kids and I picking up a car at COSI.
Women Fighting, and Men Doing Little About it
3 hours ago
Monday, November 09, 2009
Sunday, November 08, 2009
[Matt's Messages] "Jesus and the Sinners"
“Jesus and the Sinners”
Certain of Jesus: The Gospel of Luke
November 8, 2009
Luke 5:1-32
We’re in the Gospel of Luke together, and we’re learning about Jesus so that we can be certain about Jesus.
Last week, at the beginning of His public ministry, we learned that Jesus is good news for needy people.
Jesus went all around the region of Galilee preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God and doing many miracles to show that it had begun in Him.
And there were wildly different reactions to Him, weren’t there?
What did they think of Him in His hometown of Nazareth?
They tried to drive Him out of town and kill Him!
What about in Capernaum? There, they didn’t want to let Him go!
Remember how old Simeon had said that Jesus would divide people? The rising and falling of many people in Israel? That division has begun. And it’s just going to get deeper.
Jesus has come on the scene and proclaimed that He is the fulfillment of Isaiah 61.
He said, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.’
Jesus claimed to be good news for needy people.
Well, in chapter 5, we see even more of this.
We get a sense of what kind of people gather to Jesus.
And they are very needy people.
In Luke 5, there are four stories about people who come into contact with Jesus and then He changes their lives forever.
And there is one theme that runs through these four stories. It’s the theme of sin.
Over and over again, Jesus interacts with sinners. “Jesus and the Sinners.”
Now, you and I know that we are all sinners. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23.
So, this chapter is all about us. It’s about our sin.
But we don’t always think about ourselves in that way, do we?
Sometimes, we use the word “sinners” to refer to notorious sinners–the bad guys that do really bad things. The folks who don’t even try to pretend that they are good.
Sometimes, that’s the way the word is used in the Gospel of Luke. To describe “nogoodniks.” People known for their bad deeds–sinners, yuck.
How do you think Jesus feels about sinners? How do you think Jesus interacts with sinners?
This chapter begins to answer that question for us. And it’s good news for people like and you me.
The first story takes place by the lake. Verse 1.
“One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, [another name for the Sea of Galilee] with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.”
Do you get the picture?
There is a big crowd, and Jesus is pressed. So he jumps into a boat and makes it his floating pulpit. His voice can carry over the water, more people can see Him, and He isn’t crushed by the crowd.
Notice who the boat belongs to. Simon (who Jesus will eventually re-name Peter). This is the One whose mother-in-law Jesus has healed.
Professional fishermen were not at the top of society. They were stinky and smelly, they worked at night, they smelled like fish.
They were strong, had to be good businessmen, but they weren’t much liked.
But Jesus obviously liked them. He hung around a lot of them–especially this Simon guy. And He decides to do Him a favor. V.4
“When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’”
Sounds pretty reluctant, doesn’t he?
Well, it stands to reason.
They had worked all night. How many here have worked all night?
Night is the best time for catching fish on the Lake of Gennesaret.
And how much have they caught. Nada, right?
Well, how does Peter feel? He feels wiped out! He feels exhausted. He’s tired. He wants to go home to bed.
He’s happy to let the Master do His teaching thing, but He’s probably all whipped sitting there listening to Him.
But, okay, Jesus, if you say so, I will...even though you’re a carpenter by trade, and I’m a fisherman by trade...if you say so, I will.
And, to his credit, he does. V.6
“When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.”
These boats could be 25-27 feet long and 7 feet wide!
There’s several tons of fish being hauled into these boats.
There’s fins and flippers flying everywhere! It’s a miracle! V.8
“When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’ For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men.’ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”
Isn’t it interesting how Simon responded to this miracle?
He didn’t say, “Oh, Jesus! Thank you for the fish. You’ve made my business day!”
He didn’t say, “This is so cool. You are so cool, Lord!”
He said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man.”
#1. JESUS’ POWER REVEALS OUR SIN.
Jesus hadn’t said a word about Peter’s sin. Peter brings it up.
When you come into contact with the raw power of God, it makes you aware that you are a sinner.
That’s what happened to Isaiah in Isaiah 6, isn’t it?
Peter had been fishing all of his life, and he’d never seen anything like this.
He knew that God was doing something unique in Jesus, and it scared him. It scared him because holy power reveals sinful hearts.
Jesus’ power reveals our sin.
And that scared Peter.
How did Jesus react to this fear?
V.10 says that he told him to not be afraid.
You see, Jesus IS holy, and that should scare sinners. But that’s not ALL He is. He’s also...a lot of other things we’re going to see as we move on.
And instead of heading off or sending Peter away, He calls Peter to Himself and gives Him a mission.
Fully Follow Him, Catch Men
“From now on you will catch men.” You guys are going to be a new kind of fishermen. You are going to fish for men.
And you’ll catch them alive, too.
These men (v.11 says) left everything and followed Him.
They made a decisive break with their old lives and began to follow Jesus.
And they began to cast their nets for people to follow Him, too.
Question: Have you left everything and begun to follow Jesus?
Are you on the lookout for people to need to be caught?
I’m thankful that the Gideons are with us today. They have a historic track record of following the Lord and fishing for men.
But we can’t leave it up to the Gideons.
This is a call for all of us: Fully Follow Him; Catch Men.
What are you doing right now to attract others to Jesus?
How are you sharing the gospel or building a relationship with someone to share the gospel?
“From now on you will catch men...[they] left everything and followed Him.”
Now, in story #2 (verses 12-16), Jesus doesn’t actually interact with sin as much as with a picture of sin.
He heals a man who has a skin disease, one of many that go under the name of leprosy. And leprosy, in the Bible, was not sin itself but it was a picture of sin and what sin does.
If someone was a leper, they were un–what? Unclean.
And they even had to shout that everywhere they went. Because uncleanness separated people. The clean and the unclean.
And being unclean is a picture of sin. Leprosy itself wasn’t sin but it was a picture of sin and it’s ugliness and how it divides people. V.12
“While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. [This man is very needy, isn’t he?] When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’”
Notice this man’s bold faith. He actually comes near to Jesus. Near enough to fall before Him on the ground. The whole way up, he would have had to be yelling out, “Unclean! Unclean! Unclean!”
But now he begs, “‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
And here’s where it gets amazing. V.13
“Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man [You’re not supposed to do that!]. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ And immediately the leprosy left him. Then Jesus ordered him, ‘Don't tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.’ Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
This is amazing.
Jesus touched a leper. And instead of Jesus becoming unclean–which is how it is when anyone else touched a leper–the leper became clean!
#2. JESUS’ TOUCH CLEANSES OUR SIN.
It really happened. Jesus sent the man to go get it verified by the priest. He wanted him to do it quietly so that no extra trouble got stirred up and so that His identity would more slowly become known. But you could hardly stop the good news from traveling. That’s crowds came more and more and Jesus had to carve out time to go to lonely places and pray.
It really happened! This man, who may not have felt someone touch him for a very long time (was he a Daddy? A husband?)–was touched by Jesus and completely cleansed.
This is a picture of what Jesus does with our sin.
We are all sinners, tainted, tarred, painted with wicked rebellion–unclean.
But Jesus, because of what He did on the Cross, has power to touch our lives and cleanse us.
Application: Boldly Believe In Him, Be Cleansed.
This unclean man believed that Jesus could heal him and make him clean again.
And He was.
I know a lot of people who believe that they are not worthy of Jesus’ cleansing.
“I don’t feel worthy.”
“I don’t deserve it.”
You know what? You’re right! But don’t let that keep you from seeking it.
Call out for cleansing–and He will touch you.
And that’s true for those who have fallen into patterns of sin after becoming a Christ-follower.
Call out for cleasning–and He will touch you.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Boldly Believe In Him, Be Cleansed.
The third story in this chapter features another healing and a confrontation over forgiveness. V.17
“One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. [Whoa! Now Jesus has a real audience!] And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. [Things are happening!] Some men came carrying a paralytic [a man who is paralyzed] on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.”
Interesting! There is standing room only, and here are some very determined men. They can’t get in the front door, so they head up onto the roof–dismantle the roof (which might have been a big job!) and then lowered their friend down the roof on his mat.
Right in front of Jesus.
Do you get the picture?
Jesus. Power. Cleansing Power.
The Pharisees–the chief teachers of the law, the Jewish Religious Leadership.
A big crowd.
Some loving friends.
A hurting man.
What is Jesus going to do?
What is this story about? Is it about healing? Only partially.
It’s actually about Who is Jesus and how does He interact with sinners. V.20
“When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.’”
Huh? Did you think that he was going to heal him?
Instead, He forgave him.
Well, the resident theologians get their knickers in a twist over this one. V.21
“The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, ‘Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’”
And they have a point.
I mean, if I sin against Ernie back there. Let’s say, I stole his car.
Would it be okay for Jen Kerlin down here to forgive me for that?
Have I sinned against her? No.
I’ve sinned against Ernie.
But all sins are fundamentally against God. So, if someone comes around handing out forgiveness to people–He’s claiming to be especially related to God!
“Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’”
That’s the point. V.22
“Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, ‘Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?”
Stop there for a second. Which one is easier to say?
I think that means easier to say and get away with apparently?
It’s “get up and walk.”
I mean if you say, “Your sins are forgiven,” how do you know it happened?
But if you say, “Get up and walk” and then they keep lying there–you don’t have any real authority. V.24
“But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins....’ He said to the paralyzed man, ‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’ Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, ‘We have seen remarkable things today.’”
#3. JESUS’ AUTHORITY FORGIVES OUR SIN.
Jesus actually has the authority to forgive sin.
What does that say about who He is?
Jesus is the Son of God. Like we’ve been seeing all along.
You know, the purpose of this book is grow us in certainty about Jesus.
Are you certain that your sins are forgiven?
Jesus has the authority to forgive them.
And do you see how He wants to?
He delights in forgiving sins.
Not that it was easy! Jesus had to die to forgive those sins because someone had to pay the penalty for them.
But He did. And He loves to dispense grace to those who wholly trust Him.
Application: Wholly Trust in Him, Receive Forgiveness.
I think that sometimes it’s hard for Christians to feel forgiven.
We can feel defeated by sin.
We can feel distracted by temptation.
We can see our imperfections and our besetting sins.
It feels like we’ll never be perfect, doesn’t it?
But Christians aren’t perfect yet. They are forgiven.
Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient to pay for all of my sin and all of your sin!
And He has authority to say to you, “Forgiven.”
“Your sins are forgiven.”
He’s saying that to every Christ-follower here.
“Your sins are forgiven.”
This month, we celebrate Thanksgiving.
And while we have many blessing to count–more than we have toes and fingers for, our greatest blessing is what Jesus’ authority says, “Your sins are forgiven.”
“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
“Your sins are forgiven.”
That’s why He came.
The fourth story, and we’ll only get through the first part of it today, explains just that–Jesus came for sinners. V.27
“After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.”
I love this story–one of the reasons why is because I was named after this guy. His other name is Matthew.
Tax collectors were even further down the list of respected people than fishermen or shepherds.
These were bad guys in league with the Romans and know for practicing extortion.
But this one, Levi, becomes a Christ-follower. Like Peter, he left “everything and followed him” (v.28).
And Levi was so happy to have come to Christ that he threw a party.
And I think that one of the reasons he did it was to be a fisher of men.
Look who he invited. V.29
“Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. [Great crowd! This is one of those crowds that you say if a bomb dropped on this building, it would be good for the public! That’s at least what the Pharisees thought. V.30] But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?’”
Why do you go to their parties?
Why do you hang out at their bar?
Don’t you know that those folks are sinners? Yuck!
How does Jesus feel about sinners?
How does He interact with them?
This is why He’s here.
“Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’”
He knows that they are sinners.
And He doesn’t love their sin. Doesn’t condone it. Doesn’t applaud it. Doesn’t participate in it.
But that’s who He’s come for.
Not the healthy (or those who think they are). Not the righteous (or those who think they are)–but sinners, the sin-sick.
And the doctor is here.
He loves sinners.
#4. JESUS’ LOVE HEALS OUR SIN.
All we have to do is turn.
Application: Repentantly Turn to Him, Be Healed.
Do you see that in verse 32.
“I have not come to call the righteous (or self-righteous), but sinners to repentance.”
That’s our part.
We have to turn away from our sin.
We can’t keep loving it, nurturing it, excusing it, turning towards it.
We have to repent and turn to Him.
And when we do, we meet the Sin Doctor.
And we are healed.
“[Jesus] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”
But to get healed, you’ve got to turn to the doctor.
Repent.
Do you see better now how Jesus feels about sinners?
How He feels about you?
How do you feel about sinners?
Do you have a love for the wayward and the lost?
If you are caught, then you’ll want to be a fisher of people yourself.
If you have been forgiven, you’ll want to throw a party like Levi–and introduce your friends and loved ones to the Savior.
Jesus’ Power Reveals Our Sin–and it’s scarey.
But Jesus’ Touch Cleanses Our Sin.
Jesus’ Authority Forgives Our Sin.
Jesus’ Love Heals Our Sin.
If we turn to Him.
Certain of Jesus: The Gospel of Luke
November 8, 2009
Luke 5:1-32
We’re in the Gospel of Luke together, and we’re learning about Jesus so that we can be certain about Jesus.
Last week, at the beginning of His public ministry, we learned that Jesus is good news for needy people.
Jesus went all around the region of Galilee preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God and doing many miracles to show that it had begun in Him.
And there were wildly different reactions to Him, weren’t there?
What did they think of Him in His hometown of Nazareth?
They tried to drive Him out of town and kill Him!
What about in Capernaum? There, they didn’t want to let Him go!
Remember how old Simeon had said that Jesus would divide people? The rising and falling of many people in Israel? That division has begun. And it’s just going to get deeper.
Jesus has come on the scene and proclaimed that He is the fulfillment of Isaiah 61.
He said, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.’
Jesus claimed to be good news for needy people.
Well, in chapter 5, we see even more of this.
We get a sense of what kind of people gather to Jesus.
And they are very needy people.
In Luke 5, there are four stories about people who come into contact with Jesus and then He changes their lives forever.
And there is one theme that runs through these four stories. It’s the theme of sin.
Over and over again, Jesus interacts with sinners. “Jesus and the Sinners.”
Now, you and I know that we are all sinners. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23.
So, this chapter is all about us. It’s about our sin.
But we don’t always think about ourselves in that way, do we?
Sometimes, we use the word “sinners” to refer to notorious sinners–the bad guys that do really bad things. The folks who don’t even try to pretend that they are good.
Sometimes, that’s the way the word is used in the Gospel of Luke. To describe “nogoodniks.” People known for their bad deeds–sinners, yuck.
How do you think Jesus feels about sinners? How do you think Jesus interacts with sinners?
This chapter begins to answer that question for us. And it’s good news for people like and you me.
The first story takes place by the lake. Verse 1.
“One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, [another name for the Sea of Galilee] with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.”
Do you get the picture?
There is a big crowd, and Jesus is pressed. So he jumps into a boat and makes it his floating pulpit. His voice can carry over the water, more people can see Him, and He isn’t crushed by the crowd.
Notice who the boat belongs to. Simon (who Jesus will eventually re-name Peter). This is the One whose mother-in-law Jesus has healed.
Professional fishermen were not at the top of society. They were stinky and smelly, they worked at night, they smelled like fish.
They were strong, had to be good businessmen, but they weren’t much liked.
But Jesus obviously liked them. He hung around a lot of them–especially this Simon guy. And He decides to do Him a favor. V.4
“When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’”
Sounds pretty reluctant, doesn’t he?
Well, it stands to reason.
They had worked all night. How many here have worked all night?
Night is the best time for catching fish on the Lake of Gennesaret.
And how much have they caught. Nada, right?
Well, how does Peter feel? He feels wiped out! He feels exhausted. He’s tired. He wants to go home to bed.
He’s happy to let the Master do His teaching thing, but He’s probably all whipped sitting there listening to Him.
But, okay, Jesus, if you say so, I will...even though you’re a carpenter by trade, and I’m a fisherman by trade...if you say so, I will.
And, to his credit, he does. V.6
“When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.”
These boats could be 25-27 feet long and 7 feet wide!
There’s several tons of fish being hauled into these boats.
There’s fins and flippers flying everywhere! It’s a miracle! V.8
“When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’ For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men.’ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”
Isn’t it interesting how Simon responded to this miracle?
He didn’t say, “Oh, Jesus! Thank you for the fish. You’ve made my business day!”
He didn’t say, “This is so cool. You are so cool, Lord!”
He said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man.”
#1. JESUS’ POWER REVEALS OUR SIN.
Jesus hadn’t said a word about Peter’s sin. Peter brings it up.
When you come into contact with the raw power of God, it makes you aware that you are a sinner.
That’s what happened to Isaiah in Isaiah 6, isn’t it?
Peter had been fishing all of his life, and he’d never seen anything like this.
He knew that God was doing something unique in Jesus, and it scared him. It scared him because holy power reveals sinful hearts.
Jesus’ power reveals our sin.
And that scared Peter.
How did Jesus react to this fear?
V.10 says that he told him to not be afraid.
You see, Jesus IS holy, and that should scare sinners. But that’s not ALL He is. He’s also...a lot of other things we’re going to see as we move on.
And instead of heading off or sending Peter away, He calls Peter to Himself and gives Him a mission.
Fully Follow Him, Catch Men
“From now on you will catch men.” You guys are going to be a new kind of fishermen. You are going to fish for men.
And you’ll catch them alive, too.
These men (v.11 says) left everything and followed Him.
They made a decisive break with their old lives and began to follow Jesus.
And they began to cast their nets for people to follow Him, too.
Question: Have you left everything and begun to follow Jesus?
Are you on the lookout for people to need to be caught?
I’m thankful that the Gideons are with us today. They have a historic track record of following the Lord and fishing for men.
But we can’t leave it up to the Gideons.
This is a call for all of us: Fully Follow Him; Catch Men.
What are you doing right now to attract others to Jesus?
How are you sharing the gospel or building a relationship with someone to share the gospel?
“From now on you will catch men...[they] left everything and followed Him.”
Now, in story #2 (verses 12-16), Jesus doesn’t actually interact with sin as much as with a picture of sin.
He heals a man who has a skin disease, one of many that go under the name of leprosy. And leprosy, in the Bible, was not sin itself but it was a picture of sin and what sin does.
If someone was a leper, they were un–what? Unclean.
And they even had to shout that everywhere they went. Because uncleanness separated people. The clean and the unclean.
And being unclean is a picture of sin. Leprosy itself wasn’t sin but it was a picture of sin and it’s ugliness and how it divides people. V.12
“While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. [This man is very needy, isn’t he?] When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’”
Notice this man’s bold faith. He actually comes near to Jesus. Near enough to fall before Him on the ground. The whole way up, he would have had to be yelling out, “Unclean! Unclean! Unclean!”
But now he begs, “‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
And here’s where it gets amazing. V.13
“Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man [You’re not supposed to do that!]. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ And immediately the leprosy left him. Then Jesus ordered him, ‘Don't tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.’ Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
This is amazing.
Jesus touched a leper. And instead of Jesus becoming unclean–which is how it is when anyone else touched a leper–the leper became clean!
#2. JESUS’ TOUCH CLEANSES OUR SIN.
It really happened. Jesus sent the man to go get it verified by the priest. He wanted him to do it quietly so that no extra trouble got stirred up and so that His identity would more slowly become known. But you could hardly stop the good news from traveling. That’s crowds came more and more and Jesus had to carve out time to go to lonely places and pray.
It really happened! This man, who may not have felt someone touch him for a very long time (was he a Daddy? A husband?)–was touched by Jesus and completely cleansed.
This is a picture of what Jesus does with our sin.
We are all sinners, tainted, tarred, painted with wicked rebellion–unclean.
But Jesus, because of what He did on the Cross, has power to touch our lives and cleanse us.
Application: Boldly Believe In Him, Be Cleansed.
This unclean man believed that Jesus could heal him and make him clean again.
And He was.
I know a lot of people who believe that they are not worthy of Jesus’ cleansing.
“I don’t feel worthy.”
“I don’t deserve it.”
You know what? You’re right! But don’t let that keep you from seeking it.
Call out for cleansing–and He will touch you.
And that’s true for those who have fallen into patterns of sin after becoming a Christ-follower.
Call out for cleasning–and He will touch you.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Boldly Believe In Him, Be Cleansed.
The third story in this chapter features another healing and a confrontation over forgiveness. V.17
“One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. [Whoa! Now Jesus has a real audience!] And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. [Things are happening!] Some men came carrying a paralytic [a man who is paralyzed] on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.”
Interesting! There is standing room only, and here are some very determined men. They can’t get in the front door, so they head up onto the roof–dismantle the roof (which might have been a big job!) and then lowered their friend down the roof on his mat.
Right in front of Jesus.
Do you get the picture?
Jesus. Power. Cleansing Power.
The Pharisees–the chief teachers of the law, the Jewish Religious Leadership.
A big crowd.
Some loving friends.
A hurting man.
What is Jesus going to do?
What is this story about? Is it about healing? Only partially.
It’s actually about Who is Jesus and how does He interact with sinners. V.20
“When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.’”
Huh? Did you think that he was going to heal him?
Instead, He forgave him.
Well, the resident theologians get their knickers in a twist over this one. V.21
“The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, ‘Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’”
And they have a point.
I mean, if I sin against Ernie back there. Let’s say, I stole his car.
Would it be okay for Jen Kerlin down here to forgive me for that?
Have I sinned against her? No.
I’ve sinned against Ernie.
But all sins are fundamentally against God. So, if someone comes around handing out forgiveness to people–He’s claiming to be especially related to God!
“Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’”
That’s the point. V.22
“Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, ‘Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?”
Stop there for a second. Which one is easier to say?
I think that means easier to say and get away with apparently?
It’s “get up and walk.”
I mean if you say, “Your sins are forgiven,” how do you know it happened?
But if you say, “Get up and walk” and then they keep lying there–you don’t have any real authority. V.24
“But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins....’ He said to the paralyzed man, ‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’ Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, ‘We have seen remarkable things today.’”
#3. JESUS’ AUTHORITY FORGIVES OUR SIN.
Jesus actually has the authority to forgive sin.
What does that say about who He is?
Jesus is the Son of God. Like we’ve been seeing all along.
You know, the purpose of this book is grow us in certainty about Jesus.
Are you certain that your sins are forgiven?
Jesus has the authority to forgive them.
And do you see how He wants to?
He delights in forgiving sins.
Not that it was easy! Jesus had to die to forgive those sins because someone had to pay the penalty for them.
But He did. And He loves to dispense grace to those who wholly trust Him.
Application: Wholly Trust in Him, Receive Forgiveness.
I think that sometimes it’s hard for Christians to feel forgiven.
We can feel defeated by sin.
We can feel distracted by temptation.
We can see our imperfections and our besetting sins.
It feels like we’ll never be perfect, doesn’t it?
But Christians aren’t perfect yet. They are forgiven.
Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient to pay for all of my sin and all of your sin!
And He has authority to say to you, “Forgiven.”
“Your sins are forgiven.”
He’s saying that to every Christ-follower here.
“Your sins are forgiven.”
This month, we celebrate Thanksgiving.
And while we have many blessing to count–more than we have toes and fingers for, our greatest blessing is what Jesus’ authority says, “Your sins are forgiven.”
“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
“Your sins are forgiven.”
That’s why He came.
The fourth story, and we’ll only get through the first part of it today, explains just that–Jesus came for sinners. V.27
“After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.”
I love this story–one of the reasons why is because I was named after this guy. His other name is Matthew.
Tax collectors were even further down the list of respected people than fishermen or shepherds.
These were bad guys in league with the Romans and know for practicing extortion.
But this one, Levi, becomes a Christ-follower. Like Peter, he left “everything and followed him” (v.28).
And Levi was so happy to have come to Christ that he threw a party.
And I think that one of the reasons he did it was to be a fisher of men.
Look who he invited. V.29
“Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. [Great crowd! This is one of those crowds that you say if a bomb dropped on this building, it would be good for the public! That’s at least what the Pharisees thought. V.30] But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?’”
Why do you go to their parties?
Why do you hang out at their bar?
Don’t you know that those folks are sinners? Yuck!
How does Jesus feel about sinners?
How does He interact with them?
This is why He’s here.
“Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’”
He knows that they are sinners.
And He doesn’t love their sin. Doesn’t condone it. Doesn’t applaud it. Doesn’t participate in it.
But that’s who He’s come for.
Not the healthy (or those who think they are). Not the righteous (or those who think they are)–but sinners, the sin-sick.
And the doctor is here.
He loves sinners.
#4. JESUS’ LOVE HEALS OUR SIN.
All we have to do is turn.
Application: Repentantly Turn to Him, Be Healed.
Do you see that in verse 32.
“I have not come to call the righteous (or self-righteous), but sinners to repentance.”
That’s our part.
We have to turn away from our sin.
We can’t keep loving it, nurturing it, excusing it, turning towards it.
We have to repent and turn to Him.
And when we do, we meet the Sin Doctor.
And we are healed.
“[Jesus] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”
But to get healed, you’ve got to turn to the doctor.
Repent.
Do you see better now how Jesus feels about sinners?
How He feels about you?
How do you feel about sinners?
Do you have a love for the wayward and the lost?
If you are caught, then you’ll want to be a fisher of people yourself.
If you have been forgiven, you’ll want to throw a party like Levi–and introduce your friends and loved ones to the Savior.
Jesus’ Power Reveals Our Sin–and it’s scarey.
But Jesus’ Touch Cleanses Our Sin.
Jesus’ Authority Forgives Our Sin.
Jesus’ Love Heals Our Sin.
If we turn to Him.
Messages So Far in Certain of Jesus:
Certain of Jesus
The Back-Story of Jesus
The Birth of Jesus
Jesus - A Very Special Child
Preparing the Way for Jesus
Jesus Is the Son of God
Jesus in Galilee
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
After My Papers
For those of you counting (and praying, I hope!), I still have 2 papers to write for my doctoral classes: one medium-sized, one larger. I'm hoping to nail at least one of those today.
I've begun to make a list of things I'm going to get to make a priority after my papers are done:
Woodpile
Circulator in Heating System (Not sure it's working right)
Blog Layout
Target Practice for Hunting Season
Homeschool Phys. Ed with Kids
The amazing thing is that when these 2 papers are done and sent in with all the rest, I'll be DONE with my coursework for a D.Min degree at WTS. I'll still have 2 major exams and the great big humongous applied research paper to go, but I won't have any more "classes" to work through.
With the classes I took at Biblical (2004) and TEDS (2005, 2006), I've been working on this for the last five years.
It really feels significant to reach this place. Hooray!
Sunday, November 01, 2009
[Matt's Messages] "Jesus in Galilee"
“Jesus in Galilee”
Certain of Jesus: The Gospel of Luke
November 1, 2009
Luke 4:14-44
Today, we are continuing our series on the Gospel of Luke – “Certain of Jesus.” Luke wrote this to help people to grow in certainty about who Jesus is, what Jesus has done, and what Jesus wants from us and for us. Certain of Jesus.
Last week, we learned about Jesus’ miraculous baptism, His genealogy, and his testing in the wilderness–a test that He passed for us with flying colors. Jesus is the Son of God.
Now, at the end of chapter 4, Luke tells us about the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee–the northern territory of the nation of Israel. “Jesus in Galilee.”
The passage is broken up into 2 parts. I’m going to read both of them for you and then comment upon them together.
The first part (after a general statement about all of Galilee) focuses on Nazareth. It runs from verse 16 through verse 30, and it tells the story of the time Jesus came back to His hometown and tried to preach a sermon and how people reacted to it.
It’s a sermon unlike any other that you and I will ever hear.
So verses 16 through 30 take place in Nazareth.
Verses 31 through 44 take place in Capernaum.
Both of these are cities in Galilee.
And I want you to notice how different the reactions are to Jesus in Capernaum versus Nazareth.
Same Jesus. Same message. Very different reactions.
Okay? Let’s read verses 14 through 44 and then pray.
[Scripture reading, prayer]
Did you notice how different the reactions were between Nazareth and Capernaum?!
How did Jesus play in Nazareth? Not so good! I’m glad that no one has ever responded to one of my sermons like that! But then again, maybe mine aren’t very good. Jesus preaches the best of all and gets run out of town.
Why?
It started out okay. In verses 14 and 15, we read that everyone in all of Galilee was praising Him, at the start!
And even in Nazareth, they started out happy with their hometown boy (v.22).
Why did things go South?
We’ll talk about that in a second.
How did they respond in Capernaum to Jesus’ ministry?
Verse 42 says that they didn’t want him to leave! They tried to keep Him there.
Same Jesus. Same message. Very different responses.
Let’s look first at the Nazareth one.
Jesus has returned in the power of the Spirit from His testing in the wilderness. Remember, it was the Spirit that took Him there and the Spirit that brings Him back.
And he heads home. V.16
“He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.”
Synagogues weren’t temples, they were more like schools, local religious schools spread throughout the countryside. And there was religious instruction there on the Sabbath.
Jesus had the habit of visiting synagogues.
And now, back at His home synagogue, where He had probably heard over a thousand sermons on the Old Testament, He offers to preach one Himself.
The synagogue leader gives Him a scroll, and He picks out His text very much on purpose. Verse 17.
“The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.’ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.”
Sitting down was the appropriate custom for a teacher at that time. We stand up to preach, but they sat down to teach the Scriptures.
So, Jesus has announced and read His text–it’s from Isaiah chapter 61, and it’s about the Servant of the Lord–this mysterious Person that shows up in Isaiah doing God’s will, proclaiming God’s favor, and bringing in the Kingdom of God.
And here’s the riveting moment. V.20
“The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’”
“Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Wow! Isaiah 61 is coming true right here, right now?
This sounds good!
Verse 22, I think shows the range of reactions that come with Jesus’ pronouncement.
“All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. ‘Isn't this Joseph's son?’ they asked.”
The first part of that very seems to indicate that they were excited by Jesus’ words. They sound good. Jesus is a good speaker. He’s saying something that people want to hear. How long have we waited for Isaiah 61 to be fulfilled?!
But the second part of that verse seems to show that they quickly grew skeptical.
“I mean, this is Jesus. He used to play with our boys.
This is Joseph’s son, right? The carpenter?” Joseph is probably dead already by now.
“This is Jesus? We know Jesus. He’s a great kid, but he’s no ‘Servant of the Lord!’
If he’s the Messiah, I guess we don’t need the Messiah!”
We can just about see the quizzical looks on their faces. “What’s going on here?”
Here’s what’s going on here. Jesus is saying that He is the Messiah, the Servant of the Lord, the fulfillment of God’s promises, the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.
And they’re not going to believe it.
Jesus is saying that He is good news for needy people. V.18 again.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
v.21 “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
JESUS IS GOOD NEWS FOR NEEDY PEOPLE.
He brings good news. He has been anointed to bring good news. And He is the fulfilment of that good news!
He is, in a word, the Messiah.
This is quite a claim.
It doesn’t shock us because we already believe all these things about Him.
We know His backstory and the story of His birth and the story of His baptism and His family. We know what He went through in the desert.
But the folks don’t. And they aren’t going to believe Him.
Jesus claims to be good news for needy people.
Notice the four kinds of needy people in verse 18.
The Poor
The Prisoners
The Blind
The Oppressed
Those are descriptions of truly needy people, aren’t they?
The poor don’t have anything.
The prisoners don’t have freedom.
The blind don’t have sight.
The oppressed don’t have peace or joy.
I’m sure that these categories relate to the materially poor, the physically incarcerated, the physically blind, those oppressed by other humans.
But I also think that those categories point to the more ultimate, spiritual categories.
Poor in Spirit.
Enslaved and Jailed by Sin.
Blinded by Idolatry
Oppressed by Hate, Doom, and Demons
These point to our more ultimate neediness–spiritual neediness.
And Jesus says that the Spirit (who led Him into the desert to be tempted and now into the synagogue to preach) is upon Him, anointing Him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor–the coming of the Kingdom of God!
Jesus is good news for needy people.
The real question is, “Do we see ourselves in these categories?”
Do we realize that we are poor?
I think that the poor in spirit, are those who realize that they are bankrupt spiritually on their own. The poor in spirit are those who realize that they are spiritually needy.
Do you sing, “I need thee, O I need thee, every hour I need thee...”
There is good news for you in Jesus.
The spiritual prisoners are those who are enslaved and incarcerated by the power of sin. Sin is powerful.
Everyone who is addicted to something knows that. And most of us are addicts of some kind or another.
Do you see yourself as imprisoned?
Jesus proclaims freedom for the prisoners.
The blind are those who cannot see, spiritually, the glory of the Lord and have been deceived by Satan and fallen into his traps.
Do you see yourself as blind?
Jesus brings sight to the blind.
The oppressed are those are beaten down by tormentors. Maybe depression. Maybe despondency. Maybe demonic oppression. Maybe by your own sin.
Do you see yourself as oppressed?
Jesus brings release for the oppressed.
Jesus is good news for needy people.
But we have to see ourselves as needy!
I think that’s where the good folks of Nazareth went wrong.
They thought they were good folks!
Jesus knew their hearts. He knew how they felt about Him and how they were going to react to Him. So He put it into words. V.23
“Jesus said to them, ‘Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! [You see a problem here? I think the problem is you! You think you’re so great? Do a sign for us.] Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.'’ [News has spread of the miracles He’s already done, and there is more to come. But not here.] ‘I tell you the truth,’ he continued, ‘no prophet is accepted in his hometown.”
And then He gets personal. V.25
“I assure you that there were many widows in Israel [God’s nation!] in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them [Israelites], but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon [A Gentile!]. And there were many in Israel [God’s good people!] with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed–only Naaman the Syrian [also a Gentile].’
And then the townspeople got furious and tried to kill Him!
If He wasn’t the Son of God and it wasn’t His time yet to die, Jesus would have been killed right there on the spot.
Why?
I don’t think these Nazarenes wanted to think of themselves as needy.
Jesus was putting His divine finger on, not just their ethnocentricism, their racism, and their lack of love for Gentiles. He was putting His finger on their pride.
He was basically saying that they were worse off than Phoenician widows and Syrian lepers!
Because they wouldn’t recognize it!
And they thought this was insulting.
This is why John wrote this in chapter 1 of his gospel, “[Jesus] came to that which was His own, but His own received Him not.”
These folks didn’t want to see themselves as needy like that.
And if they had needs, they weren’t going to look to Jesus to fill them!
And they turned into an angry mob.
We have to see ourselves as needy and see Jesus as the answer to our need.
In verse 31, Jesus took His message and His miracles to another Galilean city–Capernaum.
“Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.”
The Spirit is on Jesus. And He teaches like no one else does.
Everyone else quoted authorities. Jesus spoke as an authority.
And He began to back up His message with demonstrations of power.
V. 18 is beginning to be fulfilled.
Jesus is good news for needy people.
Good news for the demon-possessed.
Verses 33-36 and again in verses 41.
Jesus confronts these evil spirits. And they always lose.
They try to control Him by saying His name. Doesn’t work.
He controls them. And He doesn’t need their testimony to prove that He’s the Messiah!
He uses His kingdom authority to start bringing that freedom to those who were imprisoned by demon possession.
Good news for the sick.
First with Simon’s mother-in-law. She had high fever and there was no ibuprofen.
Jesus bends down and “rebukes” the fever. As if the fever was a person, it’s rebuked.
And she feels so good that she gets up and starts to serve others with the health that’s been regained!
Jesus is good news for the sick!
These miracles are tangible demonstrations of the Spirit’s power that is working through Jesus.
They are a taste of the good news of the Kingdom that Jesus is bringing to the neediest of the needy.
And the folks in Capernaum receive it! V.42
“At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place [I assume, to pray]. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said, ‘I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.’ And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.”
Now, I don’t imagine that the folks in Capernaum understood all of what He was saying and that their response was one of total faith.
Maybe they just like the miracles.
But their response was much better than those in Nazareth who didn’t receive Jesus at all.
They were seeing, at least in part, that He was Who He said He was–the fulfillment of Isaiah 61.
Good news for needy people.
Now, how do we apply this passage to our lives?
I can think of several things.
First, we can be glad that God has love for Gentiles.
The Nazarenes didn’t love Gentiles, but Jesus loves to tell stories about how God met the needs of Gentiles, non-Jews.
This is good news for us because most of us here are not Jewish. We’re all on the outside. We’re all widows of Zarephath and Naamans of Syria!
I’m sure that the good Jewish folks in Nazareth never expected Isaiah 61 to apply to Gentiles like you and me.
But Jesus is good news for needy people in Western Pennyslvania, too.
We can be glad that God has love for Gentiles.
Second, we have to recognize our need.
Jesus came for needy people. Elsewhere He says, “The healthy people don’t need a doctor. I have come for the sick.”
We need to humble ourselves and recognize our need.
That goes for the person who is not yet a Christ-follower and for the person who has been following Christ by faith the longest.
Are you poor, imprisoned, blind, oppressed?
Jesus is good news for you.
Jesus lives a perfect life and then died on the Cross for our sins to bring the good news of the Kingdom to all who trust in Him.
But we have to admit our need.
It matters how we respond to Him.
Whether we want Him to stay or to go away.
Jesus came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.
But those who did receive Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become [dependent!] children of God.
Not only do we have to recognize our neediness, we have to recognize that Jesus is the answer to our neediness.
And third, we need to turn to Him while we still can.
Why do I say that?
Because Jesus left off a part of the verse.
When Jesus read Isaiah 61, He stopped in the middle of the verse.
Listen to Isaiah 61, verse 2.
The Spirit has sent me to “to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor...and the day of vengeance of our God...”
Jesus left that part off. Why?
Not because He didn’t believe it.
But because it wasn’t time for that yet.
Right now Jesus was emphasizing the first part with His first coming.
Jesus had come to bring good news to the needy.
But He will come again and bring bad news to the bad.
He will bring vengeance when He returns.
We need to turn to Him while we still can.
Are you a faith-follower of Jesus Christ?
If you are not yet a faith-follower of Jesus Christ, I urge you to turn to Him today.
Trust in Him for the forgiveness of your sins and the hope of eternal life.
He did everything on the Cross, everything needed for your hope and salvation.
Repent of your sins and put your trust in Him.
Don’t be like Nazareth, rejecting Him once again.
Receive Him and be His child.
If you are His child, don’t stop being needy.
Every day sing, “I need thee, O, I need thee, every hour I need thee!”
Admit your poverty, your imprisonments, your blindnesses, your oppressions and see Jesus bring hope and change and transformation piece by piece bit by bit in your life.
Because Jesus is good news for needy people like you and me.
Certain of Jesus: The Gospel of Luke
November 1, 2009
Luke 4:14-44
Today, we are continuing our series on the Gospel of Luke – “Certain of Jesus.” Luke wrote this to help people to grow in certainty about who Jesus is, what Jesus has done, and what Jesus wants from us and for us. Certain of Jesus.
Last week, we learned about Jesus’ miraculous baptism, His genealogy, and his testing in the wilderness–a test that He passed for us with flying colors. Jesus is the Son of God.
Now, at the end of chapter 4, Luke tells us about the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee–the northern territory of the nation of Israel. “Jesus in Galilee.”
The passage is broken up into 2 parts. I’m going to read both of them for you and then comment upon them together.
The first part (after a general statement about all of Galilee) focuses on Nazareth. It runs from verse 16 through verse 30, and it tells the story of the time Jesus came back to His hometown and tried to preach a sermon and how people reacted to it.
It’s a sermon unlike any other that you and I will ever hear.
So verses 16 through 30 take place in Nazareth.
Verses 31 through 44 take place in Capernaum.
Both of these are cities in Galilee.
And I want you to notice how different the reactions are to Jesus in Capernaum versus Nazareth.
Same Jesus. Same message. Very different reactions.
Okay? Let’s read verses 14 through 44 and then pray.
[Scripture reading, prayer]
Did you notice how different the reactions were between Nazareth and Capernaum?!
How did Jesus play in Nazareth? Not so good! I’m glad that no one has ever responded to one of my sermons like that! But then again, maybe mine aren’t very good. Jesus preaches the best of all and gets run out of town.
Why?
It started out okay. In verses 14 and 15, we read that everyone in all of Galilee was praising Him, at the start!
And even in Nazareth, they started out happy with their hometown boy (v.22).
Why did things go South?
We’ll talk about that in a second.
How did they respond in Capernaum to Jesus’ ministry?
Verse 42 says that they didn’t want him to leave! They tried to keep Him there.
Same Jesus. Same message. Very different responses.
Let’s look first at the Nazareth one.
Jesus has returned in the power of the Spirit from His testing in the wilderness. Remember, it was the Spirit that took Him there and the Spirit that brings Him back.
And he heads home. V.16
“He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.”
Synagogues weren’t temples, they were more like schools, local religious schools spread throughout the countryside. And there was religious instruction there on the Sabbath.
Jesus had the habit of visiting synagogues.
And now, back at His home synagogue, where He had probably heard over a thousand sermons on the Old Testament, He offers to preach one Himself.
The synagogue leader gives Him a scroll, and He picks out His text very much on purpose. Verse 17.
“The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.’ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.”
Sitting down was the appropriate custom for a teacher at that time. We stand up to preach, but they sat down to teach the Scriptures.
So, Jesus has announced and read His text–it’s from Isaiah chapter 61, and it’s about the Servant of the Lord–this mysterious Person that shows up in Isaiah doing God’s will, proclaiming God’s favor, and bringing in the Kingdom of God.
And here’s the riveting moment. V.20
“The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’”
“Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Wow! Isaiah 61 is coming true right here, right now?
This sounds good!
Verse 22, I think shows the range of reactions that come with Jesus’ pronouncement.
“All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. ‘Isn't this Joseph's son?’ they asked.”
The first part of that very seems to indicate that they were excited by Jesus’ words. They sound good. Jesus is a good speaker. He’s saying something that people want to hear. How long have we waited for Isaiah 61 to be fulfilled?!
But the second part of that verse seems to show that they quickly grew skeptical.
“I mean, this is Jesus. He used to play with our boys.
This is Joseph’s son, right? The carpenter?” Joseph is probably dead already by now.
“This is Jesus? We know Jesus. He’s a great kid, but he’s no ‘Servant of the Lord!’
If he’s the Messiah, I guess we don’t need the Messiah!”
We can just about see the quizzical looks on their faces. “What’s going on here?”
Here’s what’s going on here. Jesus is saying that He is the Messiah, the Servant of the Lord, the fulfillment of God’s promises, the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.
And they’re not going to believe it.
Jesus is saying that He is good news for needy people. V.18 again.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
v.21 “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
JESUS IS GOOD NEWS FOR NEEDY PEOPLE.
He brings good news. He has been anointed to bring good news. And He is the fulfilment of that good news!
He is, in a word, the Messiah.
This is quite a claim.
It doesn’t shock us because we already believe all these things about Him.
We know His backstory and the story of His birth and the story of His baptism and His family. We know what He went through in the desert.
But the folks don’t. And they aren’t going to believe Him.
Jesus claims to be good news for needy people.
Notice the four kinds of needy people in verse 18.
The Poor
The Prisoners
The Blind
The Oppressed
Those are descriptions of truly needy people, aren’t they?
The poor don’t have anything.
The prisoners don’t have freedom.
The blind don’t have sight.
The oppressed don’t have peace or joy.
I’m sure that these categories relate to the materially poor, the physically incarcerated, the physically blind, those oppressed by other humans.
But I also think that those categories point to the more ultimate, spiritual categories.
Poor in Spirit.
Enslaved and Jailed by Sin.
Blinded by Idolatry
Oppressed by Hate, Doom, and Demons
These point to our more ultimate neediness–spiritual neediness.
And Jesus says that the Spirit (who led Him into the desert to be tempted and now into the synagogue to preach) is upon Him, anointing Him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor–the coming of the Kingdom of God!
Jesus is good news for needy people.
The real question is, “Do we see ourselves in these categories?”
Do we realize that we are poor?
I think that the poor in spirit, are those who realize that they are bankrupt spiritually on their own. The poor in spirit are those who realize that they are spiritually needy.
Do you sing, “I need thee, O I need thee, every hour I need thee...”
There is good news for you in Jesus.
The spiritual prisoners are those who are enslaved and incarcerated by the power of sin. Sin is powerful.
Everyone who is addicted to something knows that. And most of us are addicts of some kind or another.
Do you see yourself as imprisoned?
Jesus proclaims freedom for the prisoners.
The blind are those who cannot see, spiritually, the glory of the Lord and have been deceived by Satan and fallen into his traps.
Do you see yourself as blind?
Jesus brings sight to the blind.
The oppressed are those are beaten down by tormentors. Maybe depression. Maybe despondency. Maybe demonic oppression. Maybe by your own sin.
Do you see yourself as oppressed?
Jesus brings release for the oppressed.
Jesus is good news for needy people.
But we have to see ourselves as needy!
I think that’s where the good folks of Nazareth went wrong.
They thought they were good folks!
Jesus knew their hearts. He knew how they felt about Him and how they were going to react to Him. So He put it into words. V.23
“Jesus said to them, ‘Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! [You see a problem here? I think the problem is you! You think you’re so great? Do a sign for us.] Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.'’ [News has spread of the miracles He’s already done, and there is more to come. But not here.] ‘I tell you the truth,’ he continued, ‘no prophet is accepted in his hometown.”
And then He gets personal. V.25
“I assure you that there were many widows in Israel [God’s nation!] in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them [Israelites], but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon [A Gentile!]. And there were many in Israel [God’s good people!] with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed–only Naaman the Syrian [also a Gentile].’
And then the townspeople got furious and tried to kill Him!
If He wasn’t the Son of God and it wasn’t His time yet to die, Jesus would have been killed right there on the spot.
Why?
I don’t think these Nazarenes wanted to think of themselves as needy.
Jesus was putting His divine finger on, not just their ethnocentricism, their racism, and their lack of love for Gentiles. He was putting His finger on their pride.
He was basically saying that they were worse off than Phoenician widows and Syrian lepers!
Because they wouldn’t recognize it!
And they thought this was insulting.
This is why John wrote this in chapter 1 of his gospel, “[Jesus] came to that which was His own, but His own received Him not.”
These folks didn’t want to see themselves as needy like that.
And if they had needs, they weren’t going to look to Jesus to fill them!
And they turned into an angry mob.
We have to see ourselves as needy and see Jesus as the answer to our need.
In verse 31, Jesus took His message and His miracles to another Galilean city–Capernaum.
“Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.”
The Spirit is on Jesus. And He teaches like no one else does.
Everyone else quoted authorities. Jesus spoke as an authority.
And He began to back up His message with demonstrations of power.
V. 18 is beginning to be fulfilled.
Jesus is good news for needy people.
Good news for the demon-possessed.
Verses 33-36 and again in verses 41.
Jesus confronts these evil spirits. And they always lose.
They try to control Him by saying His name. Doesn’t work.
He controls them. And He doesn’t need their testimony to prove that He’s the Messiah!
He uses His kingdom authority to start bringing that freedom to those who were imprisoned by demon possession.
Good news for the sick.
First with Simon’s mother-in-law. She had high fever and there was no ibuprofen.
Jesus bends down and “rebukes” the fever. As if the fever was a person, it’s rebuked.
And she feels so good that she gets up and starts to serve others with the health that’s been regained!
Jesus is good news for the sick!
These miracles are tangible demonstrations of the Spirit’s power that is working through Jesus.
They are a taste of the good news of the Kingdom that Jesus is bringing to the neediest of the needy.
And the folks in Capernaum receive it! V.42
“At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place [I assume, to pray]. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said, ‘I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.’ And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.”
Now, I don’t imagine that the folks in Capernaum understood all of what He was saying and that their response was one of total faith.
Maybe they just like the miracles.
But their response was much better than those in Nazareth who didn’t receive Jesus at all.
They were seeing, at least in part, that He was Who He said He was–the fulfillment of Isaiah 61.
Good news for needy people.
Now, how do we apply this passage to our lives?
I can think of several things.
First, we can be glad that God has love for Gentiles.
The Nazarenes didn’t love Gentiles, but Jesus loves to tell stories about how God met the needs of Gentiles, non-Jews.
This is good news for us because most of us here are not Jewish. We’re all on the outside. We’re all widows of Zarephath and Naamans of Syria!
I’m sure that the good Jewish folks in Nazareth never expected Isaiah 61 to apply to Gentiles like you and me.
But Jesus is good news for needy people in Western Pennyslvania, too.
We can be glad that God has love for Gentiles.
Second, we have to recognize our need.
Jesus came for needy people. Elsewhere He says, “The healthy people don’t need a doctor. I have come for the sick.”
We need to humble ourselves and recognize our need.
That goes for the person who is not yet a Christ-follower and for the person who has been following Christ by faith the longest.
Are you poor, imprisoned, blind, oppressed?
Jesus is good news for you.
Jesus lives a perfect life and then died on the Cross for our sins to bring the good news of the Kingdom to all who trust in Him.
But we have to admit our need.
It matters how we respond to Him.
Whether we want Him to stay or to go away.
Jesus came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.
But those who did receive Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become [dependent!] children of God.
Not only do we have to recognize our neediness, we have to recognize that Jesus is the answer to our neediness.
And third, we need to turn to Him while we still can.
Why do I say that?
Because Jesus left off a part of the verse.
When Jesus read Isaiah 61, He stopped in the middle of the verse.
Listen to Isaiah 61, verse 2.
The Spirit has sent me to “to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor...and the day of vengeance of our God...”
Jesus left that part off. Why?
Not because He didn’t believe it.
But because it wasn’t time for that yet.
Right now Jesus was emphasizing the first part with His first coming.
Jesus had come to bring good news to the needy.
But He will come again and bring bad news to the bad.
He will bring vengeance when He returns.
We need to turn to Him while we still can.
Are you a faith-follower of Jesus Christ?
If you are not yet a faith-follower of Jesus Christ, I urge you to turn to Him today.
Trust in Him for the forgiveness of your sins and the hope of eternal life.
He did everything on the Cross, everything needed for your hope and salvation.
Repent of your sins and put your trust in Him.
Don’t be like Nazareth, rejecting Him once again.
Receive Him and be His child.
If you are His child, don’t stop being needy.
Every day sing, “I need thee, O, I need thee, every hour I need thee!”
Admit your poverty, your imprisonments, your blindnesses, your oppressions and see Jesus bring hope and change and transformation piece by piece bit by bit in your life.
Because Jesus is good news for needy people like you and me.
Previous Messages In This Series:
Friday, October 30, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Family & Church: Two Ditches to Avoid
Great points!
Update: That title looks terrible! Just to be clear, the family and the church aren't ditches!
Update: That title looks terrible! Just to be clear, the family and the church aren't ditches!
What's Best Next
One of the blogs I follow is by a guy named Matt Perman who works for DesiringGod.
It's called What's Best Next, and it's about productivity.
I read everything he says, it seems like he knows his stuff--but I'll be honest--I don't do what he says all of the time, even if it makes sense.
It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
Matt's having a subscriber special right now. Check it out.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
[Matt's Messages] "Jesus Is the Son of God'
“Jesus Is the Son of God”
Certain of Jesus: The Gospel of Luke
October 25, 2009
Luke 3:21-4:13
I enjoyed being away last weekend, but I always miss worshiping with you, and I’m so glad to have the opportunity to open the Word of God with you again today!
What a privilege it is to have the Word of God in our own heart language. And what a privilege it is for me to be able to set aside time during the week to study it for you to prepare a sermon for you like a good meal and then to stand up here on Sunday mornings and offer it to you to consume.
Thank you for having a great appetite for the Word of God! Last week, my picture was in the paper for pastor appreciation month. Thank you for that–especially for the little captions that you put in there. This year it said, “Pastor Matt, thank you for helping us to see what is really important in life.”
And you are talking there about the ministry of the Word. I’m glad that you are hungry for it. It is a great privilege and joy to be your pastor.
Today, we return to the Gospel of Luke. Does it feel like we’ve barely gotten started?
Six messages into our series, and we’re still only in chapters 3 and 4! Jesus, so far, has only said two sentences! And the book is all about Him!
By now, you’ve probably noticed that every title in this series has Jesus’ name in it.
Certain of Jesus
The Back-Story of Jesus
The Birth of Jesus
Jesus - A Very Special Child
Preparing the Way for Jesus
Luke’s Gospel is all about Jesus.
And I’m going to try to use His name in every sermon title through the whole series in Luke.
Today is Name Tag Sunday, and we’ve emphasized already everybody’s names.
There are a bunch of names in today’s passage. Especially in chapter 3 verses 23 through 38. I’m going to read them all. Don’t worry about my pronunciation. If don’t know it, I just fake it!
There are a lot of names in this passage.
But there is only one name that is above every name. And that is Jesus Christ.
Today’s passage is going to be Luke chapter 3, verse 21 through chapter 4, verse 13. And that covers a lot of ground, very diverse territory.
But there is one theme that runs throughout this passage that ties it all together.
It’s a theme that, for most of the rest of the book, runs underground and is implicit.
But here it is front and center and explicit. It is the unique Sonship of Jesus.
JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD.
That’s what Dr. Luke wants to show. He does it in three ways. First, through the story of Jesus’ baptism. Then, through a listing of Jesus’ genealogy. And finally, through the story of the temptation of Jesus.
And all along, Luke is seeking to show us and grow us in certainty about how Jesus is the unique Son of God.
Now, you may already believe that. I hope you do.
But don’t tune out because you do. Tune in and see it again with eyes of faith.
Open your heart to that truth and experiencing what it means for Jesus to be the unique Son of God.
Because it makes all of the difference for our lives.
And if you are not yet convinced, listen up. Because this is the difference between life and death eternally.
When we left off last time, John the Baptist had been preaching repentance to prepare hearts for the coming King.
And the sign and symbol of this repentance was baptism in the waters of the Jordan River.
John said that he was as forerunner of the Messiah. He came before Him and prepared the way for Him. He was the voice crying out in the desert, “Prepare the Way for the Lord!”
And he said that One greater than him was to come. One whom John wasn’t worthy to untie His shoelaces.
Now in verse 21, that Great One appears. And He, too, wants to be baptized.
He never had anything to repent of! But still, He comes forward to be baptized. Baptism is an identification with someone or something. Jesus comes to be identified with us.
And the most amazing thing happened when He did. Look at verse 21.
“When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’”
Okay, I’ve got to say it–“Yikes! Wow!”
This was amazing.
Notice that Jesus was praying. Only Luke brings that part out.
John was baptizing. Jesus was praying.
And God showed up in a miraculous way.
The heavens opened up. I don’t know what that means. But it sounds awesome!
And the Holy Spirit visibly, bodily, something like a dove, descended upon Jesus. People could see it! John certainly could. He talks about it in one of the other gospels.
And then God spoke from heaven!
This wasn’t some angel!
This wasn’t Gabriel.
This was God Himself!
What did that sound like?
More importantly, what did He say?
He basically said one thing. And it was a message for Jesus.
It was this– “Jesus, You are My Beloved Son! And I’m proud of you.” V.22
“And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’”
Can you imagine?
Now, I’ve noted that the entire Trinity is present here. Father speaking, Spirit descending, Son being baptized. I’ve preached on the Trinity before, and it’s important that it’s all here.
But that’s not the most important thing.
The most important thing in these 2 verses is that God shows up and says that Jesus is His son.
Jesus is the Son of God. God Himself says so!
#1. BELOVED.
God says to Jesus, “You are my Son, whom I love.”
The King James translates it, “Thou art my beloved Son.”
That’s how God feels about Jesus.
He is loved. Uniquely loved. He is loved as the most precious thing in the universe to God.
I have three sons. I love them all dearly.
Drew, you are my beloved Son.
Peter, you are my beloved Son.
Isaac, you are my beloved Son.
(Robin, you are my beloved daughter!)
That’s what God is saying to Jesus.
I love you, Son!
I’m happy with you! V.22, “...with you I am well pleased.”
“You are a good boy.
You are a perfect representation of me.
You are have obeyed me perfectly for the first 30 years.
You have love, trusted, and obeyed me.
You are perfectly God-centered.”
And this is before Jesus has begun His public ministry!
“You are a good Son. And I love you, Son!”
Can you imagine?
This alone should lead us to worship Jesus.
We should be in awe of Jesus and hold Him in reverence.
He is unique. He is special. He is God’s Beloved Son.
There are a lot of people who “like” Jesus but don’t worship Him.
They are more like what I call, “Godlians.” They aren’t Christians. They aren’t Christ-followers. They say they believe in God.
Good.
But that’s enough.
You have to believe in Jesus.
If you truly believe in God, you will believe in Jesus. And even worship Him.
And even LOVE Him.
Because that’s what God thinks about Him.
Our church exists to bring people into a love relationship with Jesus Christ.
Do you know why?
Because God the Father has that kind of a relationship with Him!
Beloved. “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
#2. OFFICIAL.
Where would you go after the baptism of Jesus? Those two verses are totally amazing and miraculous and deep in meaning. If you were Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, where would you take your readers next?
A genealogy, of course!
We’ve learned over the years that God is interested in genealogies. And not for history alone–but for theology.
Every genealogy in the Bible has a point that it’s making. At least one point.
And that point drives the names that get included in it. Every genealogy is selective. And that’s not to leave out information for no reason but to demonstrate certain points.
The genealogy in verses 22 through 38 is very different from the one in Matthew.
For example, it descends from Jesus to down through the Old Testament instead of ascending from the Old Testament up to Jesus.
And both genealogies skip generations–that’s normal–but they skip different ones to prove their own points.
Matthew’s begins with and emphasizes Abraham.
Luke’s ends with and emphasizes Adam.
Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus is divided up into 3 groups of fourteen names.
Luke’s genealogy of Jesus is divided up into 11 groups of 7 names covering a longer period of time.
Now, there are a lot of other details in this genealogy that I could point out, and a number of interpretative difficulties that I studied this week, but I’m not going to talk about this morning.
If you’re interested in that kind of stuff, see me afterwards.
But what I do want to show you as we go through it is what I think Luke is most interested in proving.
It’s that Jesus is the Son of God. Officially.
This genealogy, I think, isn’t so much concerned with bloodline and DNA like we might be, but about Jesus’ official legal standing as a Son of David, a Son of Abraham, and the Son of God.
He is, after all, adopted! And I think this genealogy shows that as an adopted son, He is official. Let’s look at it.
Imagine having these names on your name-tag! V.23
“Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, [remember chapter 1. He was born of a virgin!] the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melki, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Melki, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Kenan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Jesus was the OFFICIAL Son of God.
Listen to what Darrell Bock says about this genealogy and the point its trying to make.
I think that’s right. I don’t know how to bring it all out as we read it together, but I think that’s all there.
Jesus is the OFFICIAL, legal, rightly recognized Son of God.
That was important for Luke to establish, because for Luke it established Jesus’ qualifications for what He was about to do.
What does it mean for Jesus to be the Son of God?
Well, the whole rest of the book is going to explain that. Everything Jesus does is tied to His Sonship.
Part of being the Son is being the Messiah–the Royal Rescuer that had been promised throughout the Old Testament.
Well, Jesus is the Son of David. Legally.
Psalm 2, right? God says to the Davidic King, “You are my Son!”
Jesus was qualified to do all that it meant to be our Savior and Lord.
There is no other genealogy in the Bible or in other ancient documents that ends like this one does. V.38
“The son of Adam, the son of God.”
Jesus is the Son of God.
God said it!
The genealogy says it!
And now, it’s going to be get put to the test. Chapter 4, verse 1.
“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.”
Now, let’s get the story straight.
The devil led Jesus into the wilderness, right?
Wrong. Who did?
The Holy Spirit did?
Why would He want to do that? The devil was going to be there!
God wants a face off.
God allows Jesus to go through a TEST.
You know that He does the same for us, don’t you?
When Satan is tempting, often God is testing!
Don’t ask which it is. It’s both.
Jesus is going to be tested. Where?
In the desert for 40 days.
What does that make you think of?
Israel right? They were taken care of in the desert for 40 years. But they failed their test. Will Jesus pass?
Who else was tested at the beginning?
Adam was, right?
Did he pass or fail?
He failed, too.
Was he allowed to eat?
Yes, Adam was allowed to eat everything in a nice garden except the fruit from one tree.
Jesus is fasting. It’s a harder test.
Was this real fasting or just fake? Did this really affect Jesus?
You bet it did. He was a real person like you and me. What does v.2 says?
“He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.”
I’ll bet!
He was weak, no food, in the harsh conditions–and the devil comes along to test Him.
What’s the test about?
It’s about whether or not Jesus was the Son of God. V.3
“The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’”
That’s a test. Have you ever been hungry?
Now, we can learn a lot about how to resist temptation from this story.
I remember hearing the famous preacher E.V. Hill preach this passage and teach us to “Hit Satan with the Word” “Hit him!”
Because that’s what Jesus does. And the Word is effective in warding off temptation.
But that’s not the point of this passage.
The point of this passage is that Jesus is the Son of God.
#3. LOYAL.
Jesus is the loyal Son of God.
The way that Satan poses the question in verse 3 is meant to sound like this, “Jesus, since you are God’s Son, and God must care a lot about you. Beloved? I think He once called you...then surely you can use your supernatural powers to feed yourself. If God really cares about you, then He’d want you to be well fed. Tell this stone to become bread. You can do it!”
It’s a test of His loyalty. Is God really good?
Is God good when we’re hungry and suffering? When bad things happen to us?
Is God really good?
Does He really love us?
Maybe He doesn’t.
Maybe we’re on our own.
Maybe we need to take things into our own hands.
Jesus says, “No.” V.4
“Jesus answered, ‘It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'’”
Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 3.
“Hit him with the word!”
“Devil, I may be hungry, but I’m doing only what I know God wants me to do. I listen to His Words and they are more important than bread.”
I don’t listen to you. I listen to Him.
Loyal.
Do you see how He’s acting like a loyal son?
Satan tries again. V.5
“The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, ‘I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.’”
Do you see what Satan is offering?
He’s offering the world without the Cross. By-passing the Cross to win the world.
I can see how that would be tempting.
But Jesus doesn’t take the bait. He fights back. Again, with Scripture. Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 13. V.8
“Jesus answered, ‘It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'’”
Take that, Satan.
Jesus is loyal. He is the Son of God, and He will worship no God but God!
He is loyal.
One more time, the devil tries His hardest. V.9
“The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down from here.”
[Come on! Take a nose dive. Since you’re the Son of God. God will protect you. Prove it once and for all!]
For it is written [Satan knows the Bible, too!]: ‘'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'’ [Psalm 91]
Jesus answered, ‘It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'’ [Deuteronomy 6:16]
[Satan, that’s not how it works. God tests you. You don’t test Him.]
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.”
Now, again, we can learn a lot about how to stand up under temptation from watching Jesus here.
And we are all tempted every day to go in our direction.
God’s Word, His promises, have power to keep us from giving in.
But the main point of this passage is that Jesus didn’t give in!
Jesus is the Son of God. The perfectly loyal Son of God.
The Father was right to say, “I am well pleased” with You, Jesus!
Because unlike Israel, unlike Adam, unlike you and me, Jesus passed the test!
And that makes Him qualified to be our Savior.
Did you ever think about that?
If Jesus had turned the stone to bread or briefly bowed the knee or bungie jumped off of the temple, we would all be lost forever.
But He didn’t.
He stayed perfectly loyal.
He didn’t give in.
He passed the test for us.
He truly is the Son of God.
And because He is, we can become sons and daughters of God, as well.
Jesus passed every test perfectly and He offers His perfect scores to you and me.
When He died on the Cross, He took our failures on Himself. That’s what His baptism pointed to.
And when He came back to life, He offered His life, His perfect record to be given to us.
That’s the greatest news in all of the world. It’s the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Do you see what I say that this is the difference between death and life eternally?
Are you trusting in Him and what He did at the Cross and His resurrection?
If you are not, I invite you to do it now. He invites you to trust Him now.
He is the Son of God!
Believe in Him.
And worship Him!
And love Him!
And follow Him!
And center your life on Him!
And talk about Him!
Tell other about Him and what He did for you!
He is God’s Beloved Son.
God’s Official Son.
God’s Loyal Son.
And He offers Himself to you.
Certain of Jesus: The Gospel of Luke
October 25, 2009
Luke 3:21-4:13
I enjoyed being away last weekend, but I always miss worshiping with you, and I’m so glad to have the opportunity to open the Word of God with you again today!
What a privilege it is to have the Word of God in our own heart language. And what a privilege it is for me to be able to set aside time during the week to study it for you to prepare a sermon for you like a good meal and then to stand up here on Sunday mornings and offer it to you to consume.
Thank you for having a great appetite for the Word of God! Last week, my picture was in the paper for pastor appreciation month. Thank you for that–especially for the little captions that you put in there. This year it said, “Pastor Matt, thank you for helping us to see what is really important in life.”
And you are talking there about the ministry of the Word. I’m glad that you are hungry for it. It is a great privilege and joy to be your pastor.
Today, we return to the Gospel of Luke. Does it feel like we’ve barely gotten started?
Six messages into our series, and we’re still only in chapters 3 and 4! Jesus, so far, has only said two sentences! And the book is all about Him!
By now, you’ve probably noticed that every title in this series has Jesus’ name in it.
Certain of Jesus
The Back-Story of Jesus
The Birth of Jesus
Jesus - A Very Special Child
Preparing the Way for Jesus
Luke’s Gospel is all about Jesus.
And I’m going to try to use His name in every sermon title through the whole series in Luke.
Today is Name Tag Sunday, and we’ve emphasized already everybody’s names.
There are a bunch of names in today’s passage. Especially in chapter 3 verses 23 through 38. I’m going to read them all. Don’t worry about my pronunciation. If don’t know it, I just fake it!
There are a lot of names in this passage.
But there is only one name that is above every name. And that is Jesus Christ.
Today’s passage is going to be Luke chapter 3, verse 21 through chapter 4, verse 13. And that covers a lot of ground, very diverse territory.
But there is one theme that runs throughout this passage that ties it all together.
It’s a theme that, for most of the rest of the book, runs underground and is implicit.
But here it is front and center and explicit. It is the unique Sonship of Jesus.
JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD.
That’s what Dr. Luke wants to show. He does it in three ways. First, through the story of Jesus’ baptism. Then, through a listing of Jesus’ genealogy. And finally, through the story of the temptation of Jesus.
And all along, Luke is seeking to show us and grow us in certainty about how Jesus is the unique Son of God.
Now, you may already believe that. I hope you do.
But don’t tune out because you do. Tune in and see it again with eyes of faith.
Open your heart to that truth and experiencing what it means for Jesus to be the unique Son of God.
Because it makes all of the difference for our lives.
And if you are not yet convinced, listen up. Because this is the difference between life and death eternally.
When we left off last time, John the Baptist had been preaching repentance to prepare hearts for the coming King.
And the sign and symbol of this repentance was baptism in the waters of the Jordan River.
John said that he was as forerunner of the Messiah. He came before Him and prepared the way for Him. He was the voice crying out in the desert, “Prepare the Way for the Lord!”
And he said that One greater than him was to come. One whom John wasn’t worthy to untie His shoelaces.
Now in verse 21, that Great One appears. And He, too, wants to be baptized.
He never had anything to repent of! But still, He comes forward to be baptized. Baptism is an identification with someone or something. Jesus comes to be identified with us.
And the most amazing thing happened when He did. Look at verse 21.
“When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’”
Okay, I’ve got to say it–“Yikes! Wow!”
This was amazing.
Notice that Jesus was praying. Only Luke brings that part out.
John was baptizing. Jesus was praying.
And God showed up in a miraculous way.
The heavens opened up. I don’t know what that means. But it sounds awesome!
And the Holy Spirit visibly, bodily, something like a dove, descended upon Jesus. People could see it! John certainly could. He talks about it in one of the other gospels.
And then God spoke from heaven!
This wasn’t some angel!
This wasn’t Gabriel.
This was God Himself!
What did that sound like?
More importantly, what did He say?
He basically said one thing. And it was a message for Jesus.
It was this– “Jesus, You are My Beloved Son! And I’m proud of you.” V.22
“And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’”
Can you imagine?
Now, I’ve noted that the entire Trinity is present here. Father speaking, Spirit descending, Son being baptized. I’ve preached on the Trinity before, and it’s important that it’s all here.
But that’s not the most important thing.
The most important thing in these 2 verses is that God shows up and says that Jesus is His son.
Jesus is the Son of God. God Himself says so!
#1. BELOVED.
God says to Jesus, “You are my Son, whom I love.”
The King James translates it, “Thou art my beloved Son.”
That’s how God feels about Jesus.
He is loved. Uniquely loved. He is loved as the most precious thing in the universe to God.
I have three sons. I love them all dearly.
Drew, you are my beloved Son.
Peter, you are my beloved Son.
Isaac, you are my beloved Son.
(Robin, you are my beloved daughter!)
That’s what God is saying to Jesus.
I love you, Son!
I’m happy with you! V.22, “...with you I am well pleased.”
“You are a good boy.
You are a perfect representation of me.
You are have obeyed me perfectly for the first 30 years.
You have love, trusted, and obeyed me.
You are perfectly God-centered.”
And this is before Jesus has begun His public ministry!
“You are a good Son. And I love you, Son!”
Can you imagine?
This alone should lead us to worship Jesus.
We should be in awe of Jesus and hold Him in reverence.
He is unique. He is special. He is God’s Beloved Son.
There are a lot of people who “like” Jesus but don’t worship Him.
They are more like what I call, “Godlians.” They aren’t Christians. They aren’t Christ-followers. They say they believe in God.
Good.
But that’s enough.
You have to believe in Jesus.
If you truly believe in God, you will believe in Jesus. And even worship Him.
And even LOVE Him.
Because that’s what God thinks about Him.
Our church exists to bring people into a love relationship with Jesus Christ.
Do you know why?
Because God the Father has that kind of a relationship with Him!
Beloved. “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
#2. OFFICIAL.
Where would you go after the baptism of Jesus? Those two verses are totally amazing and miraculous and deep in meaning. If you were Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, where would you take your readers next?
A genealogy, of course!
We’ve learned over the years that God is interested in genealogies. And not for history alone–but for theology.
Every genealogy in the Bible has a point that it’s making. At least one point.
And that point drives the names that get included in it. Every genealogy is selective. And that’s not to leave out information for no reason but to demonstrate certain points.
The genealogy in verses 22 through 38 is very different from the one in Matthew.
For example, it descends from Jesus to down through the Old Testament instead of ascending from the Old Testament up to Jesus.
And both genealogies skip generations–that’s normal–but they skip different ones to prove their own points.
Matthew’s begins with and emphasizes Abraham.
Luke’s ends with and emphasizes Adam.
Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus is divided up into 3 groups of fourteen names.
Luke’s genealogy of Jesus is divided up into 11 groups of 7 names covering a longer period of time.
Now, there are a lot of other details in this genealogy that I could point out, and a number of interpretative difficulties that I studied this week, but I’m not going to talk about this morning.
If you’re interested in that kind of stuff, see me afterwards.
But what I do want to show you as we go through it is what I think Luke is most interested in proving.
It’s that Jesus is the Son of God. Officially.
This genealogy, I think, isn’t so much concerned with bloodline and DNA like we might be, but about Jesus’ official legal standing as a Son of David, a Son of Abraham, and the Son of God.
He is, after all, adopted! And I think this genealogy shows that as an adopted son, He is official. Let’s look at it.
Imagine having these names on your name-tag! V.23
“Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, [remember chapter 1. He was born of a virgin!] the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melki, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Melki, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Kenan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Jesus was the OFFICIAL Son of God.
Listen to what Darrell Bock says about this genealogy and the point its trying to make.
Jesus’ genealogy in 3:23-38 ties all humankind into one unit. Their fate is wrapped up in Jesus. His ministry, as seen from heaven, represents the focal point of history. The introduction of the genealogy right before the commencement of his ministry serves to highlight the scope of Jesus’ concern for humans. It points to his universal perspective. Jesus is not some isolated minister to Israel; he does not merely minister to a tiny nation of subjected people seeking political deliverance from a dominating Rome. Rather, he is the culmination of a line of descendants stretching back through the great men of promise like Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. The lineage confirms his position and suggests his ministry’s comprehensive character. In him, the entire hope of the [Old Testament] is inseparably and eternally bound. In him, as well, the fate of all divinely created humans is bound together.[BECNT, pg. 360]
I think that’s right. I don’t know how to bring it all out as we read it together, but I think that’s all there.
Jesus is the OFFICIAL, legal, rightly recognized Son of God.
That was important for Luke to establish, because for Luke it established Jesus’ qualifications for what He was about to do.
What does it mean for Jesus to be the Son of God?
Well, the whole rest of the book is going to explain that. Everything Jesus does is tied to His Sonship.
Part of being the Son is being the Messiah–the Royal Rescuer that had been promised throughout the Old Testament.
Well, Jesus is the Son of David. Legally.
Psalm 2, right? God says to the Davidic King, “You are my Son!”
Jesus was qualified to do all that it meant to be our Savior and Lord.
There is no other genealogy in the Bible or in other ancient documents that ends like this one does. V.38
“The son of Adam, the son of God.”
Jesus is the Son of God.
God said it!
The genealogy says it!
And now, it’s going to be get put to the test. Chapter 4, verse 1.
“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.”
Now, let’s get the story straight.
The devil led Jesus into the wilderness, right?
Wrong. Who did?
The Holy Spirit did?
Why would He want to do that? The devil was going to be there!
God wants a face off.
God allows Jesus to go through a TEST.
You know that He does the same for us, don’t you?
When Satan is tempting, often God is testing!
Don’t ask which it is. It’s both.
Jesus is going to be tested. Where?
In the desert for 40 days.
What does that make you think of?
Israel right? They were taken care of in the desert for 40 years. But they failed their test. Will Jesus pass?
Who else was tested at the beginning?
Adam was, right?
Did he pass or fail?
He failed, too.
Was he allowed to eat?
Yes, Adam was allowed to eat everything in a nice garden except the fruit from one tree.
Jesus is fasting. It’s a harder test.
Was this real fasting or just fake? Did this really affect Jesus?
You bet it did. He was a real person like you and me. What does v.2 says?
“He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.”
I’ll bet!
He was weak, no food, in the harsh conditions–and the devil comes along to test Him.
What’s the test about?
It’s about whether or not Jesus was the Son of God. V.3
“The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’”
That’s a test. Have you ever been hungry?
Now, we can learn a lot about how to resist temptation from this story.
I remember hearing the famous preacher E.V. Hill preach this passage and teach us to “Hit Satan with the Word” “Hit him!”
Because that’s what Jesus does. And the Word is effective in warding off temptation.
But that’s not the point of this passage.
The point of this passage is that Jesus is the Son of God.
#3. LOYAL.
Jesus is the loyal Son of God.
The way that Satan poses the question in verse 3 is meant to sound like this, “Jesus, since you are God’s Son, and God must care a lot about you. Beloved? I think He once called you...then surely you can use your supernatural powers to feed yourself. If God really cares about you, then He’d want you to be well fed. Tell this stone to become bread. You can do it!”
It’s a test of His loyalty. Is God really good?
Is God good when we’re hungry and suffering? When bad things happen to us?
Is God really good?
Does He really love us?
Maybe He doesn’t.
Maybe we’re on our own.
Maybe we need to take things into our own hands.
Jesus says, “No.” V.4
“Jesus answered, ‘It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'’”
Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 3.
“Hit him with the word!”
“Devil, I may be hungry, but I’m doing only what I know God wants me to do. I listen to His Words and they are more important than bread.”
I don’t listen to you. I listen to Him.
Loyal.
Do you see how He’s acting like a loyal son?
Satan tries again. V.5
“The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, ‘I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.’”
Do you see what Satan is offering?
He’s offering the world without the Cross. By-passing the Cross to win the world.
I can see how that would be tempting.
But Jesus doesn’t take the bait. He fights back. Again, with Scripture. Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 13. V.8
“Jesus answered, ‘It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'’”
Take that, Satan.
Jesus is loyal. He is the Son of God, and He will worship no God but God!
He is loyal.
One more time, the devil tries His hardest. V.9
“The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down from here.”
[Come on! Take a nose dive. Since you’re the Son of God. God will protect you. Prove it once and for all!]
For it is written [Satan knows the Bible, too!]: ‘'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'’ [Psalm 91]
Jesus answered, ‘It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'’ [Deuteronomy 6:16]
[Satan, that’s not how it works. God tests you. You don’t test Him.]
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.”
Now, again, we can learn a lot about how to stand up under temptation from watching Jesus here.
And we are all tempted every day to go in our direction.
God’s Word, His promises, have power to keep us from giving in.
But the main point of this passage is that Jesus didn’t give in!
Jesus is the Son of God. The perfectly loyal Son of God.
The Father was right to say, “I am well pleased” with You, Jesus!
Because unlike Israel, unlike Adam, unlike you and me, Jesus passed the test!
And that makes Him qualified to be our Savior.
Did you ever think about that?
If Jesus had turned the stone to bread or briefly bowed the knee or bungie jumped off of the temple, we would all be lost forever.
But He didn’t.
He stayed perfectly loyal.
He didn’t give in.
He passed the test for us.
He truly is the Son of God.
And because He is, we can become sons and daughters of God, as well.
Jesus passed every test perfectly and He offers His perfect scores to you and me.
When He died on the Cross, He took our failures on Himself. That’s what His baptism pointed to.
And when He came back to life, He offered His life, His perfect record to be given to us.
That’s the greatest news in all of the world. It’s the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Do you see what I say that this is the difference between death and life eternally?
Are you trusting in Him and what He did at the Cross and His resurrection?
If you are not, I invite you to do it now. He invites you to trust Him now.
He is the Son of God!
Believe in Him.
And worship Him!
And love Him!
And follow Him!
And center your life on Him!
And talk about Him!
Tell other about Him and what He did for you!
He is God’s Beloved Son.
God’s Official Son.
God’s Loyal Son.
And He offers Himself to you.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
[Matt's Messages] "Preparing the Way for Jesus"
“Preparing the Way for Jesus”
Certain of Jesus: The Gospel of Luke
October 11, 2009
Luke 3:1-20
After a great visit from the Durocher Family last week, we are returning to our study of the Gospel of Luke, the series I’ve entitled, “Certain of Jesus.” Luke told us in the first paragraph of the book that he’s written it to assure us of the certainty of Who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. And so, we are studying it together to grow in that certainty.
We’ve reach chapter 3. This is where the story really gets rolling.
We’ve gotten past the “Back-Story of Jesus” where his conception and that of his relative John’s were predicted, and past his humble and yet glorious birth, and past the few yet significant details about his very special childhood.
Now, the story really gets going. In fact, Luke just about begins again in chapter 3 with a new introduction. The prologue is over; the story has begun.
And it begins, again, with John, the son of Zechariah. We call him, “The Baptist.”
In chapter 1, we left John in the desert, growing strong into adulthood and waiting until the time for his public appearance in Israel (1:80).
It’s now time. Just as his father, Zechariah, had predicted John’s job was to prepare the way for Jesus. Zechariah had said, “You, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins...” (1:76-77).
And that’s exactly what he did.
Luke 3. Verse 1.
“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar–when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene–during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert.”
Let’s stop there for second.
Notice how Dr. Luke is doing his historian-thing again. This time, Luke sets his story in the context of not just one ruler so that you know when this all happened, but in no fewer than seven historical figures: Tiberius, Pilate, Herod (this is Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great who we talked about in chapter 1), his brother Philip, Lysanians, and Annas and Caiaphas.
Again, these are historical people. They really lived. They really had positions of authority during this time period. The date is about 29 AD.
Luke is careful to make sure that we know that this stuff is not a fairy tale or a myth. This really happened in space/time history.
I think that’s more and important in our day when the historicity of the gospel accounts is so much under attack. This really happened.
Now, what happened? V.2, “...the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert.”
John was called to be a prophet. God’s word came to him in some special way–and he had to proclaim it. What was this word? V.3
“He went into all the country around the Jordan [that’s a river in Palestine], preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
This is why we call him, “John the Baptist.”
He had unique ministry. Under the inspiration of God, John was preaching that people–good Jews even!–ought to get baptized to symbolize their repentance to prepare for the forgiveness of sins. Water as a symbol of cleansing.
This was a preparatory baptism, a preparatory repentance, preparing for forgiveness.
How do we know that? Luke fills us in on what this meant in verse 4. John’s baptism of repentance was preparing the way for the Lord. V.4
“As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: ‘A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God's salvation.'’” Isaiah 40:3-5.
Luke sees that John fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy.
He is “The Voice.” It’s his job to call out in the desert “Prepare the Way for the Lord.”
That was John’s message. Point #1 of 3 this morning.
#1. PREPARE FOR THE KING!
This repentance, this baptism that John was preaching was preparatory. It was getting hearts ready, getting people ready for the coming king.
I love the picture in verse 5.
“Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.”
What is Isaiah talking about?
He’s talking about building a highway.
How many have taken the new 322 highway from Port Matilda to State College?
How about the new I 99 from Altoona to State College? Pretty cool, huh?
It seemed like those construction projects would never be done, didn’t it?
What did they have to do to build those roads?
They had to move the mountains didn’t they? And it was a bigger project than they predicted, wasn’t it? Because they found that acid rock.
They had to cut through the mountains and move a lot of dirt to make those highways.
That’s the picture in Isaiah 40 and in verse 5 of Luke 3.
They are making a highway. Who is going to roll in on the highway?
The KING! The Lord.
“Make straight paths for the Lord.”
The King is coming.
Make a royal highway for him!
Prepare for the King!
That’s John’s message. Prepare for the King!
Now, what does that look like? John says that it looks like repentance.
And if you come to him for baptizing, repentance is what you are saying by getting baptized by John, “I repent.”
The mountains and the hills and the valleys that need leveling are sins that must be turned away from. This is a highway into the hearts of God’s people.
A baptism of repentance to prepare the way for the Lord.
Before the King comes, His people must get ready, and the way to get ready is to repent.
And crowds of people started coming out to the desert to get baptized!
Can you imagine the sight?
The Bible says that John was a strange man with strange clothes and strange diet in a strange location.
And people come flocking out to see this strange man and submit to his message and his baptism.
Clearly, something is happening.
John is preaching repentance. Is anyone listening?
Are we listening? When the subject is repentance, are we tuning or tuning out?
Is repentance just for non-Christians or is it for everyone?
Is repenting just something you do once and then you’re done?
John was trying to get people ready for the coming of the Messiah, the King.
But he wasn’t convinced that everyone who was coming to be baptized was the Real Deal. V.7
“John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?”
I don’t think that John would have won any popularity contests!
What a response! Here come all of these people out to hear him and be baptized, and this is how he treats them?
He sees that many are not genuine. They are a bunch of snakes. They feel the heat of the fire coming, and they snake out looking for somewhere safe.
But they are not real. Real repentance can be verified. V.8
“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.’”
John was quite a preacher, wasn’t he? Vivid! Stones and axes and fruit.
Some of the people coming out didn’t think they needed repentance. Because they were Jewish! They were Hebrew. They were children of Abraham.
“Abraham is my father! I don’t need this ‘baptism of repentance’ thing.”
John says, “Oh yes, you do!”
Being a child of Abraham is nothing. God can raise up a child of Abraham wherever he wants. It’s not race, it’s grace!
And we to hear today, too.
God has no grandchildren, only children.
You don’t get into the Kingdom by belonging to a godly family.
The Durochers who were here last week, they have a great family. All happy and holy–loving the Lord. But just because you are a Durocher doesn’t make you a Christian.
Everyone has to repent for themself.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a part of this church for 80 years, if you are not repentant yourself, you are outside of grace.
Everyone has to repent for themself.
And it’s important. John says, “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
This is a “repent or else” message. It IS “turn or burn.”
Those are the only two choices. It is that important.
Judgment is coming. It is imminent.
Notice John’s message.
#2. “PRODUCE FRUIT IN KEEPING WITH REPENTANCE.”
And if you don’t have it, you’ll be chopped down and burnt up.
What is John saying?
John is saying that true repentance includes a change in behavior.
Repentance is a heart-thing, right? It starts in the heart.
But it doesn’t stop in the heart, does it?
No, it always works itself out in a change in behavior.
Produce Fruit in Keeping with Repentance.
The root is our hearts. That’s where repentance happens.
But if it is true repentance, our root will produce fruit that shows it.
The crowd wants examples. V.10
“‘What should we do then?’ the crowd asked. John answered, ‘The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.’”
Want to know what repentance looks like? It looks like sharing. It looks like generosity. It looks like taking care of others. V.12
“Tax collectors also came to be baptized. ‘Teacher,’ they asked, ‘what should we do?’ ‘Don't collect any more than you are required to,’ he told them.”
Whenever you see the word “tax-collector,” you should think, “Boo, Hiss!” and maybe spit. These guys were hated in Israel for not just collecting money for the Romans but forcing people to pay big amounts on top of the Roman tax–just because they could.
John says, if your baptism of repentance is real, then you’ll cut that out. You’ll only take what you should.
Another hated group was the soldiers. V.14
“Then some soldiers asked him, ‘And what should we do?’ He replied, ‘Don't extort money [don’t shake people down] and don't accuse people falsely–be content with your pay.’”
Produce Fruit in Keeping with Repentance.
Change your behavior if you really mean it.
Now, I want you to notice what John does not say.
What John does say seems pretty basic. “Give to others. Don’t steal. Be content. Don’t lie.”
What doesn’t he say?
He doesn’t say, “Go through all of these motions. Take on these rituals.” Sure, baptism, but not if you don’t mean it. And not a lot of other rituals–no extra sacrifices, no new religious rigamarole. Let’s get religious! No.
And he doesn’t tell them to get all emotional, either. Sometimes, we think that repentance is a feeling that we need to work up or have come over us. No, there is no navel-gazing here, no working up your feelings.
Repentance is a radical change of heart that leads to a radical change of life.
And that radical change is to live holy and loving lives.
You say that you are repentant? John says, “Okay. Show me.”
Here’s the question:
Is there fruit in keeping with repentance in your life and mine?
Now, I would urge everyone here that professes to believe in Jesus to get baptized.
Everyone who believes in Jesus should either get baptized or be planning to get baptized. That’s a matter of obedience.
But the real and deeper question is whether or not our baptisms point to real repentance or not.
Has there really been a change in our lives?
Is there fruit in keeping with repentance in your life and mine?
Or is it just “talk?”
Now, John wasn’t calling the Jews to claim perfection. He was calling them to change their ways.
And God is calling us to the same thing.
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
I’m working on a paper right now for one of my classes on my information addiction.
Did you know that I’m an information junkie?
I am.
I love to know things. Sometimes, I feel like I HAVE TO KNOW THINGS!
This last week, I was worrying about a financial transaction–whether some money that I had asked to be deposited had been deposited in time so that I didn’t get another “speeding ticket” like I mentioned this last Summer.
And so, I checked my balance online–online banking, right? Great idea.
I checked my balance–30 or 40 times a day for a couple of days.
My wife pointed out very lovingly (by laughing at me) this was not a healthy use of my time. In fact, it was sinful. And she was right.
And I needed to repent.
What would fruit in keeping with repentance look like for me in this situation?
It would mean only checking once or twice a day, right?
And what else? Using that redeemed time to love my family and my church, right?
The Lord wants you and me to be repentant, to turn from sin.
That’s one of the things that our baptisms symbolize–though they symbolize more than that now that Jesus has come.
But he wants us to turn, to repent.
Where is the Lord looking for repentance in your life right now?
Is it an addiction of some kind like my information addiction? Maybe an addiction to food or gossip or something else.
Is it a relationship or a behavior or an attitude?
It isn’t enough to feel bad about it.
God is calling for us to change.
Not to become perfect all at once–but to turn away from our sin and produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
Maybe it has to do with money for you. Did you notice how all three examples of repentance that John gave were about stewardship and generosity?
What is your checkbook saying right now about your repentance, about where your heart it?
Repent! God will give you the grace. Repent.
I have a third point this morning, but I want pause right here for a second and pray for us that we would produce this kind of fruit in keeping with repentance.
[prayer]
Now, John was stirring things up. He didn’t care a bit about what people thought of him. And people kept coming and coming and coming.
And some people were changing. It seemed like the King was arriving! There was something big happening. It was making the officials uncomfortable.
And people started to get excited and expectant that maybe the Messiah was here! V.15
“The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ.”
Is this it? We are preparing the way for the Lord!
John says, “No. I’m not the Christ.” He’s someone much greater than I am. V.16
“John answered them all, ‘I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’”
Number 3. This is John’ message.
#3. PONDER THE POWER OF CHRIST!
Oh, no, friends. I’m not the Christ! He’s still coming. And boy is He powerful!
I’m not worthy to untie his shoelaces.
You think I’m something?
I just baptize in water. He baptizes in God the Holy Spirit and with fire!
Now, I’m not sure what that fire refers to. I think it might be the fire of Pentecost on the heads of the disciples. Or maybe the purifying fire that refines us who are believers.
But my main thought is that it is the fire the separates the believer from the unbeliever in final judgment. V.17
“[The Messiah’s] winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
The picture here is that the Powerful Messiah, the Christ, holds a winnowing fork, a great big wooden fork that you pick up the grain with and toss it in the air to thresh.
The heavy stuff which is good lands down on the floor and is kept and useful.
The light stuff, the chaff blows away and then is only good for a fire.
The Messiah is powerful and brings judgment.
And there is no escaping Him! Remember verse 9 and His ax at the root of the tree.
Ponder the Power of the Coming Messiah!
I am not the Christ. He is still coming.
And you’d better repent while you still can!
That’s John’s message.
Some people received it. Others did not.
Herod Antipas did not. V.18
“And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them. But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and all the other evil things he had done, Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.”
Herod had stolen his brother’s wife.
And John preached against it. He didn’t care who Herod was.
And Herod locked him up and eventually killed him.
But that didn’t stop him or his message.
#1. Prepare for the King! The King is coming. Make a highway. Do whatever it takes, move whatever it takes to get ready for His coming.
#2. Produce fruit in Keeping with Repentance. Stop. Turn. Change. Do something differently. Walk out your talk.
#3. Ponder the Power of the Christ! He is coming! And is Great! And He is powerful. He is going to bring judgment. Repent while you can.
That’s John’s message.
What do you think is going to happen next?
In the next verse, which we’ll read in two weeks, Jesus steps out onto stage.
And He gets baptized.
But His baptism is not a baptism of repentance. It’s a baptism of identification–with us.
While our baptism says that we’re sorry for our sins, Jesus’s said, “I’ll take your sins on me. I’ll be one of you.”
And that’s how baptism becomes “a baptism for the forgiveness of sins.”
Jesus dies for those sins.
He pays for those sins.
He pours out His blood for those sins.
Repentance opens the doors of our hearts for the Lord to come in.
But it was His work on the Cross that cleanses us.
That’s what we now celebrate at this table.
If you are a faith-follower of Jesus Christ, that is producing fruit in keeping with repentance, then you are invited to eat and drink this meal with us today.
If you are not yet a faith-follower of Jesus Christ, then please do not eat and drink with us yet. But instead use this time to ponder the power of Christ.
Do you believe in this history?
Do you believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah?
Do you believe that there is a judgment coming?
Wheat and chaff separated?
Chaff burned with an unquenchable fire?
An ax laid at the root of the trees? And every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire?
If you are not yet trusting in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sin and the hope of eternal life, I urge you turn today and trust in Him.
Repent and believe in Jesus.
Tell Jesus that you want to turn and trust in Him.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire!
This is the good news.
If you do believe the good news, don’t stop repenting.
The Christian life is a race of repentance.
The Lord is probably putting His finger on some sin in your life. Some area that hasn’t been conquered yet.
Tell Him that you want to change and you are ready to be radical about it.
He will help you.
He wants your transformation more than you do.
Use this time to talk to the Lord about what you need to repent of and how you can about doing it.
Thank Him for being broken for your sin and pouring out his blood for your sin.
And tell Him how you want to change because of it.
Tell Him that you want a highway in your heart that the King smoothly ride right on so that all mankind will see God’s salvation.
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
A New Forgiveness Quiz
Chris Brauns, author of Unpacking Forgiveness has posted a new quiz about the subject on the one-year anniversary of the publishing of his book.
Take the quiz, enter a contest to win a copy of the book and/or a Flip Camera.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
A New Friend - Steve Lutz
We met through the Gospel Coalition.
Check out his ministry: Missio Dei.
Good to meet likeminded brothers!
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Filled Up
“Filled Up”
Love gives up himself and ends up receiving.
Love takes up his cross and ends up relieving.
Love loses his life and ends up finding.
Love is bound up in death and ends up unbinding.
Love loses it all and ends up keeping.
Love dies to make seeds and ends up reaping.
Love owns nothing at all and ends up giving.
Love hates his own life and ends up living.
- BRW
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Concert Report
Excellent!
And what a joy to have them and get to know them better.
If you can come to church at Lanse tomorrow (9am Paul is going to speak, 10am worship and preaching), don't miss it!
Friday, October 02, 2009
Craig & Carolyn Williford - Blog
The new president and first lady of Trinity International University have begun a blog.
For those who care about TIU, their posts will probably be something important to read.
Concert Tonight!
Paul and Judy Durocher and 10 of their kids are currently running along I-80 on their way to Lanse Free Church for tonight's free concert.
We're all ready to be blessed and to be a blessing to our community.
And--NEW'S FLASH--the Durochers are going to be back to worship with us on Sunday!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Old Look, New Features
All of a sudden, Hot Orthodoxy has a classic, throw-back look!
I went back to my old template when I upgraded to the new Blogger features (I know--it's about time).
One thing I've promised myself is to update the links and features in my side-bar. They haven't been touched in over a year.
So, this is the first step.
Many of you probably read this through an RSS feed, so it doesn't matter to you.
But I want the information on the blog itself to at least be current, if not fresh.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
[Matt's Messages] "Jesus - A Very Special Child"
“Jesus - A Very Special Child”
Certain of Jesus: The Gospel of Luke
September 27, 2009
Luke 2:22-52
Last week, in our study of Dr. Luke’s orderly account, we surveyed some of the most familiar words in the whole Bible–the Christmas Story of the Birth of Jesus.
This week, we’re going to study His entire childhood.
Don’t worry; it won’t take long. Luke records in just 30 verses almost everything we know (though Matthew’s gospel does includes a few things that Luke’s doesn’t), but almost everything we know about Jesus’ babyhood and boyhood are found here in these 30 verses–half of a chapter.
Often, at Christmastime, we end at verse 21 of Luke 2, and we almost never hear about the second half of this chapter. We’re normally off and thinking about the New Year the next Sunday after Christmas.
But today, we pick up where Luke left off. And we learn nearly everything we need to know about Jesus as a child.
Have you ever wondered what Jesus must have been like as a baby and as a young boy?
I have.
People have speculated about this for all of church history. In the second, third, and fourth centuries after Jesus, some people wrote fantastical stories about Jesus’ boyhood that are among what is called the “gnostic gospels.” These aren’t real gospel, not written by apostles or eyewitnesses or first century Christians, but much later.
These are some of the documents that skeptics try to bring up each year to discredit Christianity–“The Gospel of Thomas,” “The Gospel of Judas” etc, etc.
But not only are they proven to be written much later and not be recognized by the church, but there is something very different about the gnostic gospels than the biblical ones. Something that doesn’t ring true.
The young Jesus that you find in those documents isn’t anything like the Jesus you find in Matthew and Luke. He’s all bug-eyed and doing stupid, pointless miracles, and/or full of confusion and fear and frustration. Not at all like what we’re going to see here.
I don’t know why the Lord didn’t preserve more for us about Jesus’ babyhood and boyhood–but I know that He preserved for us exactly what we need to know for our faith in Him to be solid and growing. For us to be certain of Jesus.
So, as we study this passage, we’ll get almost everything God wants us know about Jesus as a baby and a boy.
And, I think I could summarize it all like this: JESUS WAS A VERY SPECIAL CHILD.
Now, you and I both believe that. We know that. But I think that we need to see it again with fresh eyes and hear it again with open ears and believe it again with open hearts.
In Luke 2:22, we find out what kind of parents Joseph and Mary were. They were faithful, obedient, pious and poor Jews. V.22
“When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord’), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: ‘a pair of doves or two young pigeons.’”
Forty days have passed since Jesus was born.
Joseph and Mary are following the Mosaic Law to a Tee.
Mary was to have 7 days from giving birth as a week of purification according to Leviticus 12.
And then 33 days of seclusion. And then, according to Exodus 13, Mary’s firstborn was to be presented and dedicated at the temple and to offer a sacrifice of consecration–normally a lamb. Remember this from when we studied Exodus and Numbers?
But Jesus’ parents, however pious, are also poor. So they offer the poor man’s sacrifice–“a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” As we’ve seen, they are humble people of humble means.
But this is no normal child born of poverty. And there are two people who meet Jesus that day who proclaim how special the child Jesus really is. They can see it with eyes of faith.
The first is a man named Simeon. V.25
“Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ.”
Ohh. This is interesting.
For 400 years, God has been silent. But now, he’s been talking to some prophets.
He told this man Simeon, of whom we know almost nothing except that he was godly, righteous and devout. He was a godly man who was waiting, waiting, waiting for the consolation (the comfort) the blessing to come on Israel.
Simeon appears to be an old man. It doesn’t say that directly, but most people have inferred from the few details here that Simeon was old and had waited a long time for God’s promises to Israel to be fulfilled.
The language here is that of the last third of the book of Isaiah. Chapter 40-66. Where God calls for comfort for His people and promises comfort and salvation to come through the LORD’s Servant–a Messianic figure.
Simeon has been waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled. And he’s been given a special message by the Holy Spirit, that he would see it with his own eyes!
And he does! V.27
“Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: ‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’”
Wow!
Can you imagine?
This man comes up to Mary and Joseph and asks to hold the baby and then says this?
“‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss [Nunc Dimittis in Latin] your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’”
V.33 “The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him.”
Joseph and Mary probably have a lot to get to used in raising Jesus!
Jesus is a very special child.
He is a child of [#1.] PROMISE AND SALVATION.
Simeon can see with the eyes of faith that this child was the child of promise.
We talked about that last week.
Simeon could see it.
This child was everything God had promised.
Which is bigger? The Old Testament or the New?
The Old. 39 books in the Old Testament–chock full of promises.
27 books in the New Testament–with this message–the promises have been fulfilled in Jesus.
Imagine that (probably) old man cradling this little baby and saying, “Here it is. Here is salvation. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, and now I can die.”
He calls this child of promise and salvation a “light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
That brings in Isaiah’s language again.
Jesus was the glory of Israel. Everything promised to Israel–including salvation from all of their enemies–including Satan and Sin!
And a light to the Gentiles. That’s us!
Simeon could see, however dimly, that we would be included in the salvation promised and fulfilled in this special child!
Wow.
Mary and Joseph didn’t know what to think. But Simeon had more to say. V.34
“Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: ‘This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.’”
Jesus was a very special child.
A child, not only of promise and salvation, but [#2] DIVISION AND PAIN.
This child would divide people into two categories.
You will be either for this child or against this child.
And there will be no middle ground.
This child will divide people and change everything! V.34
“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel.”
Some will fall. Some will rise.
“And to be a sign that will be spoken against...” Ouch. How would you like to hear that on the day that you dedicate your child? “This one will be spoken against...so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.”
Jesus will reveal hearts. Hearts will have to choose.
Are you for Jesus or against Jesus?
Are you on the side of salvation or damnation?
Are you rising or falling?
There is no neutral ground.
After this child is born, nothing will stay the same.
And it will hurt. It will even hurt his mother. V.35, “And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
Division and Pain.
It’s going to hurt to be Jesus’ mother.
You’d think if you had borne this miraculous baby, that your life would be easy–but the opposite is true.
A sword in the soul. Pain and distress will come with being connected to Jesus.
He is a very special child, indeed.
In fact, all who belong to Jesus will suffer in this life.
And don’t believe anyone who tells you different.
Jesus was a child of promise and salvation, yes.
But also division and pain.
Where do you stand with Jesus today?
You’re hear in church, that’s good.
But I can’t tell by looking at you if you’re hear at church with Jesus or without Jesus.
Whether you are falling or rising.
Which side of the divide you are on. You can’t straddle the middle.
“...the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.”
Where do you stand?
Anna stood on Jesus’ side. She was the second prophet to approach Jesus’ family that day. V.36
“There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old [she was old!]; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four [the Greek is difficult, perhaps it means that she had been widowed for 84 years–either way she’s old!]. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”
Jesus was a very special child.
And Anna could see it with eyes of faith.
Notice that she doesn’t just talk to the family.
She talks (v.38) to “all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”
She’s prophesying!
She’s calling out, “Here He is! Here is redemption! Here is promise! Here is fulfillment! Here is salvation! Here is judgment! Here is revelation! Here is redemption!”
Can you imagine?
She could see it. She could see how special Jesus was.
And she was following Him even then.
Are you following Jesus?
If you were on trial today for being a Christ-follower, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
V.39 doesn’t tell us what Mary and Joseph thought about this. They were probably overwhelmed by it all.
But it does tell us that they (at some point) headed back to Nazareth.
Matthew’ gospel fills in details about the “wise-men” and the escape to Egypt. But Luke moves on from here back up to Nazareth. V.39
“When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.”
Jesus was a special child.
A Child [#3] OF WISDOM AND GRACE.
V.40 tells us that Jesus was a special child.
It doesn’t answer all of our questions about what it must have been like to live with Jesus.
How His personality developed.
How His education developed.
How He played, what He liked to do.
Who His friends were.
Jesus was fully human and grew in the same way we do.
And yet, He was different. He was special.
We still have all of those questions about what it was like.
But, we know what we need to know. v.40, “The child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.”
You know, that’s a great verse to pray for our children.
That one and verse 52, “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”
I pray that one for my kids several times a week.
“Lord, grow up my kids in wisdom and stature and in favor with you and others.”
But, these verses aren’t here primarily to tell us what to pray for our kids.
They are here to tell us that Jesus was a very special kid Himself!
He grew up in wisdom and grace like no one else ever did!
He grew up like we do–He had to grow up.
But He grew up like no one else ever did!
“He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.”
This became crystal clear one day when Jesus was twelve.
When Jesus was twelve, he went with his family to the Passover feast. V.41
“Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. [Very pious, obedient Jews.] When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.”
Now, this may sound strange, but it probably wasn’t all that strange. These families traveled in great big groups–caravan style.
And Mary and Joseph just assumed that Jesus was with some other part of the family–he probably had been on the way down–riding in the mini-van with his cousins (or whatever the mode of travel was). V.44
“Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.”
Imagine their shock! “What, he’s not with you? You mean he’s not with you? Where could he be?”
Luke says that it took three days to find him. I think that’s day one traveling without realizing he’s gone. Day two traveling back in haste hoping to find him among the estimated 200,000 festival attenders. And day three finding him. Where? V.46
“After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.”
A special child. A child full of wisdom and grace.
Jesus is sitting among the theological experts of His day, and He’s holding His own.
He’s asking insightful questions. And He’s following the discussion. And He’s maybe asking a few stumpers. And He’s able to give thoughtful, meaningful, significant answers to questions put to Him.
Full of wisdom and grace.
And He only got wiser as His days went on!
Do you go to Jesus for your wisdom? The Book of Colossians says that ALL of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Jesus! All of them.
He is the place to go for wisdom! Even as a child.
V.47, “Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.”
Everyone, that is, except his parents!
They had something else on their mind.
Have you ever lost a child at a mall or a ballpark?
I lost Drew once at an outdoor wedding on a big estate. I couldn’t think of anything else. My heart was pounding. And I don’t know if I was more scared or angry.
You’re scared until you find them, and then you’re angry! V.48
“When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.’”
You’ve got to sympathize with them. They’re not used to having trouble with this boy!
Why?!
This, I think, is some of the first “sword in the soul” fulfillment of Simeon’s prophecy from verse 35.
This hurt. And Jesus, for all His perfect sympathy at other times, isn’t sympathetic here. And that probably hurt some more. V.49
“‘Why were you searching for me?’ he asked. ‘Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?’”
Now, I never noticed this before until this week, but these are the earliest recorded words of Jesus Christ.
This is the first thing that He ever said that was preserved for us through the ages.
“‘Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?’”
Or if you have the King James Version, “How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?”
Jesus knew something, in His wisdom, that his parents hadn’t gotten yet, but obviously should have.
And that’s how special a child He really was.
He was a child [#4] OF GOD–IN A UNIQUE WAY.
Jesus was a child of God in a unique way.
He called God, “My Father.”
And no one else in the Bible had ever done before.
Jesus at age twelve understood Who He really was in a profound way.
He understood Himself to be the Son of God.
Not just A Son of God but THE Son of God.
God was to Him, “My Father.”
And that’s actually the most amazing thing in these 30 verses.
Not Simeon. Not his prophecy of salvation and division and pain.
Not Anna. Not her proclamation of redemption in Jesus.
Not even Jesus’ wisdom and grace exhibited among the teachers of Israel.
But Jesus’ own understanding of His identity–The Son of God in a unique way.
“Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s House?”
This is where I belong.
I have to be about My Father’s business.
I am the Son of God.
Wow!
What do you do with that?
Mary and Joseph didn’t know what to do with it. V.50
“But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”
Did you notice all of the responses to Jesus throughout this chapter?
Most of them are “marveling” (v.33), being “amazed” (v.47), being “astonished” (v.48).
Jesus is astonishing.
But there is also Mary’s “treasur[ing] all these things in her heart” (v.51).
Mary didn’t get it all, but she was trying. She was pondering. She was meditating and chewing on this.
Who is this child I have given birth to?
What did that angel mean when he came to me in Nazareth?
This is one special child!
A child of promise and salvation. For all who trust in Him.
But also a child of division and pain. He parts all people into 2 groups: for or against. And it hurts sometimes to be belong to Him.
A child of wisdom and grace. Growing like no one ever did.
A child of God?! He calls God, “My father.” And He obeys us, but He really obeys Him!
Who is this very special child?
Do you know this Jesus?
Are you astonished by this Jesus?
Are you following this Jesus?
Do you love this Jesus?
I think it’s amazing that this last story took place at the Passover.
You know what the Passover feast symbolized don’t you?
When the angel of death passed-over those Israelites whose doors were bloody with the blood of a blameless lamb.
Twelve year old Jesus would have been there in Jerusalem when Joseph slit the throat of a little lamb and they all celebrated the bloody salvation that God had provided for His people.
And it was then that Jesus stayed back and talked theology with the teachers in the temple.
He knew. I wouldn’t be surprised if He knew then what was coming in just a few decades.
The cross.
“Didn’t you know I had to be about my Father’s business?”
I am glad He was.
Certain of Jesus: The Gospel of Luke
September 27, 2009
Luke 2:22-52
Last week, in our study of Dr. Luke’s orderly account, we surveyed some of the most familiar words in the whole Bible–the Christmas Story of the Birth of Jesus.
This week, we’re going to study His entire childhood.
Don’t worry; it won’t take long. Luke records in just 30 verses almost everything we know (though Matthew’s gospel does includes a few things that Luke’s doesn’t), but almost everything we know about Jesus’ babyhood and boyhood are found here in these 30 verses–half of a chapter.
Often, at Christmastime, we end at verse 21 of Luke 2, and we almost never hear about the second half of this chapter. We’re normally off and thinking about the New Year the next Sunday after Christmas.
But today, we pick up where Luke left off. And we learn nearly everything we need to know about Jesus as a child.
Have you ever wondered what Jesus must have been like as a baby and as a young boy?
I have.
People have speculated about this for all of church history. In the second, third, and fourth centuries after Jesus, some people wrote fantastical stories about Jesus’ boyhood that are among what is called the “gnostic gospels.” These aren’t real gospel, not written by apostles or eyewitnesses or first century Christians, but much later.
These are some of the documents that skeptics try to bring up each year to discredit Christianity–“The Gospel of Thomas,” “The Gospel of Judas” etc, etc.
But not only are they proven to be written much later and not be recognized by the church, but there is something very different about the gnostic gospels than the biblical ones. Something that doesn’t ring true.
The young Jesus that you find in those documents isn’t anything like the Jesus you find in Matthew and Luke. He’s all bug-eyed and doing stupid, pointless miracles, and/or full of confusion and fear and frustration. Not at all like what we’re going to see here.
I don’t know why the Lord didn’t preserve more for us about Jesus’ babyhood and boyhood–but I know that He preserved for us exactly what we need to know for our faith in Him to be solid and growing. For us to be certain of Jesus.
So, as we study this passage, we’ll get almost everything God wants us know about Jesus as a baby and a boy.
And, I think I could summarize it all like this: JESUS WAS A VERY SPECIAL CHILD.
Now, you and I both believe that. We know that. But I think that we need to see it again with fresh eyes and hear it again with open ears and believe it again with open hearts.
In Luke 2:22, we find out what kind of parents Joseph and Mary were. They were faithful, obedient, pious and poor Jews. V.22
“When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord’), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: ‘a pair of doves or two young pigeons.’”
Forty days have passed since Jesus was born.
Joseph and Mary are following the Mosaic Law to a Tee.
Mary was to have 7 days from giving birth as a week of purification according to Leviticus 12.
And then 33 days of seclusion. And then, according to Exodus 13, Mary’s firstborn was to be presented and dedicated at the temple and to offer a sacrifice of consecration–normally a lamb. Remember this from when we studied Exodus and Numbers?
But Jesus’ parents, however pious, are also poor. So they offer the poor man’s sacrifice–“a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” As we’ve seen, they are humble people of humble means.
But this is no normal child born of poverty. And there are two people who meet Jesus that day who proclaim how special the child Jesus really is. They can see it with eyes of faith.
The first is a man named Simeon. V.25
“Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ.”
Ohh. This is interesting.
For 400 years, God has been silent. But now, he’s been talking to some prophets.
He told this man Simeon, of whom we know almost nothing except that he was godly, righteous and devout. He was a godly man who was waiting, waiting, waiting for the consolation (the comfort) the blessing to come on Israel.
Simeon appears to be an old man. It doesn’t say that directly, but most people have inferred from the few details here that Simeon was old and had waited a long time for God’s promises to Israel to be fulfilled.
The language here is that of the last third of the book of Isaiah. Chapter 40-66. Where God calls for comfort for His people and promises comfort and salvation to come through the LORD’s Servant–a Messianic figure.
Simeon has been waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled. And he’s been given a special message by the Holy Spirit, that he would see it with his own eyes!
And he does! V.27
“Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: ‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’”
Wow!
Can you imagine?
This man comes up to Mary and Joseph and asks to hold the baby and then says this?
“‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss [Nunc Dimittis in Latin] your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’”
V.33 “The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him.”
Joseph and Mary probably have a lot to get to used in raising Jesus!
Jesus is a very special child.
He is a child of [#1.] PROMISE AND SALVATION.
Simeon can see with the eyes of faith that this child was the child of promise.
We talked about that last week.
Simeon could see it.
This child was everything God had promised.
Which is bigger? The Old Testament or the New?
The Old. 39 books in the Old Testament–chock full of promises.
27 books in the New Testament–with this message–the promises have been fulfilled in Jesus.
Imagine that (probably) old man cradling this little baby and saying, “Here it is. Here is salvation. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, and now I can die.”
He calls this child of promise and salvation a “light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
That brings in Isaiah’s language again.
Jesus was the glory of Israel. Everything promised to Israel–including salvation from all of their enemies–including Satan and Sin!
And a light to the Gentiles. That’s us!
Simeon could see, however dimly, that we would be included in the salvation promised and fulfilled in this special child!
Wow.
Mary and Joseph didn’t know what to think. But Simeon had more to say. V.34
“Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: ‘This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.’”
Jesus was a very special child.
A child, not only of promise and salvation, but [#2] DIVISION AND PAIN.
This child would divide people into two categories.
You will be either for this child or against this child.
And there will be no middle ground.
This child will divide people and change everything! V.34
“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel.”
Some will fall. Some will rise.
“And to be a sign that will be spoken against...” Ouch. How would you like to hear that on the day that you dedicate your child? “This one will be spoken against...so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.”
Jesus will reveal hearts. Hearts will have to choose.
Are you for Jesus or against Jesus?
Are you on the side of salvation or damnation?
Are you rising or falling?
There is no neutral ground.
After this child is born, nothing will stay the same.
And it will hurt. It will even hurt his mother. V.35, “And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
Division and Pain.
It’s going to hurt to be Jesus’ mother.
You’d think if you had borne this miraculous baby, that your life would be easy–but the opposite is true.
A sword in the soul. Pain and distress will come with being connected to Jesus.
He is a very special child, indeed.
In fact, all who belong to Jesus will suffer in this life.
And don’t believe anyone who tells you different.
Jesus was a child of promise and salvation, yes.
But also division and pain.
Where do you stand with Jesus today?
You’re hear in church, that’s good.
But I can’t tell by looking at you if you’re hear at church with Jesus or without Jesus.
Whether you are falling or rising.
Which side of the divide you are on. You can’t straddle the middle.
“...the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.”
Where do you stand?
Anna stood on Jesus’ side. She was the second prophet to approach Jesus’ family that day. V.36
“There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old [she was old!]; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four [the Greek is difficult, perhaps it means that she had been widowed for 84 years–either way she’s old!]. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”
Jesus was a very special child.
And Anna could see it with eyes of faith.
Notice that she doesn’t just talk to the family.
She talks (v.38) to “all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”
She’s prophesying!
She’s calling out, “Here He is! Here is redemption! Here is promise! Here is fulfillment! Here is salvation! Here is judgment! Here is revelation! Here is redemption!”
Can you imagine?
She could see it. She could see how special Jesus was.
And she was following Him even then.
Are you following Jesus?
If you were on trial today for being a Christ-follower, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
V.39 doesn’t tell us what Mary and Joseph thought about this. They were probably overwhelmed by it all.
But it does tell us that they (at some point) headed back to Nazareth.
Matthew’ gospel fills in details about the “wise-men” and the escape to Egypt. But Luke moves on from here back up to Nazareth. V.39
“When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.”
Jesus was a special child.
A Child [#3] OF WISDOM AND GRACE.
V.40 tells us that Jesus was a special child.
It doesn’t answer all of our questions about what it must have been like to live with Jesus.
How His personality developed.
How His education developed.
How He played, what He liked to do.
Who His friends were.
Jesus was fully human and grew in the same way we do.
And yet, He was different. He was special.
We still have all of those questions about what it was like.
But, we know what we need to know. v.40, “The child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.”
You know, that’s a great verse to pray for our children.
That one and verse 52, “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”
I pray that one for my kids several times a week.
“Lord, grow up my kids in wisdom and stature and in favor with you and others.”
But, these verses aren’t here primarily to tell us what to pray for our kids.
They are here to tell us that Jesus was a very special kid Himself!
He grew up in wisdom and grace like no one else ever did!
He grew up like we do–He had to grow up.
But He grew up like no one else ever did!
“He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.”
This became crystal clear one day when Jesus was twelve.
When Jesus was twelve, he went with his family to the Passover feast. V.41
“Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. [Very pious, obedient Jews.] When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.”
Now, this may sound strange, but it probably wasn’t all that strange. These families traveled in great big groups–caravan style.
And Mary and Joseph just assumed that Jesus was with some other part of the family–he probably had been on the way down–riding in the mini-van with his cousins (or whatever the mode of travel was). V.44
“Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.”
Imagine their shock! “What, he’s not with you? You mean he’s not with you? Where could he be?”
Luke says that it took three days to find him. I think that’s day one traveling without realizing he’s gone. Day two traveling back in haste hoping to find him among the estimated 200,000 festival attenders. And day three finding him. Where? V.46
“After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.”
A special child. A child full of wisdom and grace.
Jesus is sitting among the theological experts of His day, and He’s holding His own.
He’s asking insightful questions. And He’s following the discussion. And He’s maybe asking a few stumpers. And He’s able to give thoughtful, meaningful, significant answers to questions put to Him.
Full of wisdom and grace.
And He only got wiser as His days went on!
Do you go to Jesus for your wisdom? The Book of Colossians says that ALL of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Jesus! All of them.
He is the place to go for wisdom! Even as a child.
V.47, “Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.”
Everyone, that is, except his parents!
They had something else on their mind.
Have you ever lost a child at a mall or a ballpark?
I lost Drew once at an outdoor wedding on a big estate. I couldn’t think of anything else. My heart was pounding. And I don’t know if I was more scared or angry.
You’re scared until you find them, and then you’re angry! V.48
“When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.’”
You’ve got to sympathize with them. They’re not used to having trouble with this boy!
Why?!
This, I think, is some of the first “sword in the soul” fulfillment of Simeon’s prophecy from verse 35.
This hurt. And Jesus, for all His perfect sympathy at other times, isn’t sympathetic here. And that probably hurt some more. V.49
“‘Why were you searching for me?’ he asked. ‘Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?’”
Now, I never noticed this before until this week, but these are the earliest recorded words of Jesus Christ.
This is the first thing that He ever said that was preserved for us through the ages.
“‘Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?’”
Or if you have the King James Version, “How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?”
Jesus knew something, in His wisdom, that his parents hadn’t gotten yet, but obviously should have.
And that’s how special a child He really was.
He was a child [#4] OF GOD–IN A UNIQUE WAY.
Jesus was a child of God in a unique way.
He called God, “My Father.”
And no one else in the Bible had ever done before.
Jesus at age twelve understood Who He really was in a profound way.
He understood Himself to be the Son of God.
Not just A Son of God but THE Son of God.
God was to Him, “My Father.”
And that’s actually the most amazing thing in these 30 verses.
Not Simeon. Not his prophecy of salvation and division and pain.
Not Anna. Not her proclamation of redemption in Jesus.
Not even Jesus’ wisdom and grace exhibited among the teachers of Israel.
But Jesus’ own understanding of His identity–The Son of God in a unique way.
“Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s House?”
This is where I belong.
I have to be about My Father’s business.
I am the Son of God.
Wow!
What do you do with that?
Mary and Joseph didn’t know what to do with it. V.50
“But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”
Did you notice all of the responses to Jesus throughout this chapter?
Most of them are “marveling” (v.33), being “amazed” (v.47), being “astonished” (v.48).
Jesus is astonishing.
But there is also Mary’s “treasur[ing] all these things in her heart” (v.51).
Mary didn’t get it all, but she was trying. She was pondering. She was meditating and chewing on this.
Who is this child I have given birth to?
What did that angel mean when he came to me in Nazareth?
This is one special child!
A child of promise and salvation. For all who trust in Him.
But also a child of division and pain. He parts all people into 2 groups: for or against. And it hurts sometimes to be belong to Him.
A child of wisdom and grace. Growing like no one ever did.
A child of God?! He calls God, “My father.” And He obeys us, but He really obeys Him!
Who is this very special child?
Do you know this Jesus?
Are you astonished by this Jesus?
Are you following this Jesus?
Do you love this Jesus?
I think it’s amazing that this last story took place at the Passover.
You know what the Passover feast symbolized don’t you?
When the angel of death passed-over those Israelites whose doors were bloody with the blood of a blameless lamb.
Twelve year old Jesus would have been there in Jerusalem when Joseph slit the throat of a little lamb and they all celebrated the bloody salvation that God had provided for His people.
And it was then that Jesus stayed back and talked theology with the teachers in the temple.
He knew. I wouldn’t be surprised if He knew then what was coming in just a few decades.
The cross.
“Didn’t you know I had to be about my Father’s business?”
I am glad He was.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Loving the Lord's Bride - In Particular
RCO with a short but incisive post on loving a particular local church as loving the Kingdom.
Not everything that could be said, but helpful and wise.
Not everything that could be said, but helpful and wise.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Audio for Luke
I'm going to try to remember to post links to the audio for Matt's Messages.
Here is Luke, so far:
1. Certain of Jesus
2. The 'Back-Story' of Jesus
3. The Birth of Jesus
To listen, click on "Launch Jukebox." (You can also subscribe to the feed to get them automatically or download them to listen to them later.)
Here is Luke, so far:
1. Certain of Jesus
2. The 'Back-Story' of Jesus
3. The Birth of Jesus
To listen, click on "Launch Jukebox." (You can also subscribe to the feed to get them automatically or download them to listen to them later.)
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
All in a Day's Work
Thanks to some great friends who loaned us a log splitter, some other great friends who serviced the splitter, some great kids who helped on Monday, and a great day who worked all day long helping to cut, split, and stack wood--we got a lot of wood ready for the winter.
Pile to Cut - BEFORE
The Pile Left to Cut - AFTER
The Pile to Split - BEFORE
The Pile to Split - AFTER
The Burnable Pile - BEFORE
Sunday, September 20, 2009
[Matt's Messages] "The Birth of Jesus"
“The Birth of Jesus”
Certain of Jesus - The Gospel of Luke
September 20, 2009
Luke 2:1-21
These are some of the most famous verses in the whole Bible–ranking up there with John 3:16 and Genesis 1:1!
In my mind, I can hear Linus with his little blue security blanket reciting these words on the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Can you?
We read them every December, multiple times, especially on Christmas Eve. This is one of those passages that we love to hear read in the King James Version, because it is so beautiful and familiar.
I’m going to read it today in the NIV, not because it’s a better translation, but I don’t want us to be familiar with it today. I want us to experience it anew.
There is no way that most of us can truly pretend that we’ve never read this one before. It’s just ingrained in us.
But let’s, at least, ask God to help us to hear it with fresh ears and open hearts.
Because this is the story of the “The Birth of Jesus.” Dr. Luke, in writing in his gospel, has the purpose of assuring us of the certainty of the things we have been taught about Jesus.
Luke has done his homework, as a good historian, and has compiled an orderly account of Jesus’ life and ministry and shared it with us.
Last week, we got a bit of the amazing “back-story” of Jesus. How his relative John’s, birth was pre-announced to his father Zechariah. How His birth was similarly pre-announced by an angel [!] to His mother–Mary. And how the two babies met in-utero and John jumped for joy! And how Mary and Zechariah felt and what they thought when these two babies were announced.
John has been born and named, as predicted.
Now, it’s time for Jesus.
As we go through verses 1 through 21, we’re going to stop along the way, and pick up 3 major themes that I want to apply to our lives today.
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.”
Now, this little paragraph or so is pretty amazing just by itself, but it doesn’t seem that way at first blush.
When you first read it, it sounds kind of blase, like just a fragment of news or history.
Caesar Augustus, yada, yada, yada, Nazareth, Galilee, Judea, Bethelehem, yada, yada, yada, pledged to be married, expecting a child.
{Not to mention what we learned in the last chapter, that this child was conceived supernaturally! Mary not just pledged to be married but was still a virgin and was expecting a child!}
But when you read these verses just by themselves, it sounds kind of like just a fragment of history.
And that’s the first theme I want to emphasize this morning: HISTORY.
This IS history.
This happened.
This is not a fairy tale. Not a myth. Not a made-up story. Not a movie.
This IS history.
There WAS a Roman Ruler called Caesar Augustus. His other named was Octavious. He was the grand-nephew of Julius Ceasar. And he was a fierce fighter who won the Roman rule away from Mark Antony (the man who was mixed up with Cleopatra) and was named by the Roman Senate: “Augustus,” meaning “Revered” or “Holy.” He was a considered something of a god by the Romans.
Caesar Augustus really existed, and Luke is careful to situate his account in history by using the reign of Caesar Augustus to date his story. More than that, there was a governor, under Augustus named Quirinius who was governor of Syria. This is history.
And, according to Luke, during these days, Caesar Augustus made a law that called for a census of the entire Roman world. Everyone was to be counted. Everyone was to be registered for tax purposes. This is history.
This really happened.
Many people think that Christianity is just a bunch of stories. It’s a bunch of fairy tales, like the Brother Grimms’ fairy tales to teach us morality–how to live.
Many people think that Christianity is not historical.
I had someone say that to me just a couple of weeks ago.
I post these sermons on my blog (my personal website), and a man named Cameron Reily left a comment on the first message in this series. In that message, if you remember, I said that Luke was a capable historian and was writing so that we can be certain of Jesus.
But Cameron was hostile to this message.
This is what Cameron said:
But I thoroughly disagree. I believe that what we are talking about here is not myth but genuine history.
Here’s how I responded to Cameron. I wrote:
Certain of Jesus - The Gospel of Luke
September 20, 2009
Luke 2:1-21
These are some of the most famous verses in the whole Bible–ranking up there with John 3:16 and Genesis 1:1!
In my mind, I can hear Linus with his little blue security blanket reciting these words on the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Can you?
We read them every December, multiple times, especially on Christmas Eve. This is one of those passages that we love to hear read in the King James Version, because it is so beautiful and familiar.
I’m going to read it today in the NIV, not because it’s a better translation, but I don’t want us to be familiar with it today. I want us to experience it anew.
There is no way that most of us can truly pretend that we’ve never read this one before. It’s just ingrained in us.
But let’s, at least, ask God to help us to hear it with fresh ears and open hearts.
Because this is the story of the “The Birth of Jesus.” Dr. Luke, in writing in his gospel, has the purpose of assuring us of the certainty of the things we have been taught about Jesus.
Luke has done his homework, as a good historian, and has compiled an orderly account of Jesus’ life and ministry and shared it with us.
Last week, we got a bit of the amazing “back-story” of Jesus. How his relative John’s, birth was pre-announced to his father Zechariah. How His birth was similarly pre-announced by an angel [!] to His mother–Mary. And how the two babies met in-utero and John jumped for joy! And how Mary and Zechariah felt and what they thought when these two babies were announced.
John has been born and named, as predicted.
Now, it’s time for Jesus.
As we go through verses 1 through 21, we’re going to stop along the way, and pick up 3 major themes that I want to apply to our lives today.
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.”
Now, this little paragraph or so is pretty amazing just by itself, but it doesn’t seem that way at first blush.
When you first read it, it sounds kind of blase, like just a fragment of news or history.
Caesar Augustus, yada, yada, yada, Nazareth, Galilee, Judea, Bethelehem, yada, yada, yada, pledged to be married, expecting a child.
{Not to mention what we learned in the last chapter, that this child was conceived supernaturally! Mary not just pledged to be married but was still a virgin and was expecting a child!}
But when you read these verses just by themselves, it sounds kind of like just a fragment of history.
And that’s the first theme I want to emphasize this morning: HISTORY.
This IS history.
This happened.
This is not a fairy tale. Not a myth. Not a made-up story. Not a movie.
This IS history.
There WAS a Roman Ruler called Caesar Augustus. His other named was Octavious. He was the grand-nephew of Julius Ceasar. And he was a fierce fighter who won the Roman rule away from Mark Antony (the man who was mixed up with Cleopatra) and was named by the Roman Senate: “Augustus,” meaning “Revered” or “Holy.” He was a considered something of a god by the Romans.
Caesar Augustus really existed, and Luke is careful to situate his account in history by using the reign of Caesar Augustus to date his story. More than that, there was a governor, under Augustus named Quirinius who was governor of Syria. This is history.
And, according to Luke, during these days, Caesar Augustus made a law that called for a census of the entire Roman world. Everyone was to be counted. Everyone was to be registered for tax purposes. This is history.
This really happened.
Many people think that Christianity is just a bunch of stories. It’s a bunch of fairy tales, like the Brother Grimms’ fairy tales to teach us morality–how to live.
Many people think that Christianity is not historical.
I had someone say that to me just a couple of weeks ago.
I post these sermons on my blog (my personal website), and a man named Cameron Reily left a comment on the first message in this series. In that message, if you remember, I said that Luke was a capable historian and was writing so that we can be certain of Jesus.
But Cameron was hostile to this message.
This is what Cameron said:
Sorry Matt, we can't be certain at all. Who was "Luke"? We don't even know. We don't know anything about him, including his name, and therefore we know nothing about his credibility or the veracity of his information. What we do know, however, is that much of what's contained in "Luke" is copied out of Mark and the Q Source, therefore the author's claims to being a historian are completely dubious.I really appreciate Cameron’s honesty and willingness to interact with these ideas.
The facts are that there is no evidence to verify whether or not the Jesus of the gospels existed or not. Not a single eyewitness or contemporary account. Just some myths passed down amongst uneducated peasants living in Palestine thousands of years ago. Hardly historical.
But I thoroughly disagree. I believe that what we are talking about here is not myth but genuine history.
Here’s how I responded to Cameron. I wrote:
Thursday, September 17, 2009
New Math
The latest issue of EFCA Today has hit the stands. It's on church & ministry in the struggling economy. Many good thoughts here.
When I found out that EFCA-T was doing this issue, it was one of the impetuses for preaching the In God We Trust series this last Summer.
In this issue, I have a short book review of Groundswell: Winning In a World Transformed by Social Technologies. The book review is on pg. 22 of the .pdf.
When I found out that EFCA-T was doing this issue, it was one of the impetuses for preaching the In God We Trust series this last Summer.
In this issue, I have a short book review of Groundswell: Winning In a World Transformed by Social Technologies. The book review is on pg. 22 of the .pdf.
High Signs
I just discovered a great new EFCA-related blog by communications expert Donna Jump.
It's called High Signs and it's all about EFCA happenings--especially news stories.
So much "news" out there is negative. High Signs is clearly positive and encouraging!
Check it out.
It's called High Signs and it's all about EFCA happenings--especially news stories.
So much "news" out there is negative. High Signs is clearly positive and encouraging!
Check it out.
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Cameron,
Welcome to Hot Orthodoxy! It's good to have you drop in and comment.
Are you open to other ways of looking at the evidence or are you stuck in just believing what folks have told you?
If you are open minded, I'd suggest reading this article by Craig Blomberg: Jesus of Nazareth: How Historians Can Know Him and Why It Matters.
I think that Luke is very up-front that he isn't an eyewitness but that he's done his homework.
And he's up-front that he has used sources. All historians use sources. And in the ancient world, directly copying sources was a legitimate way of doing history. Plagiarism wasn't an issue.
I also think that Luke can be identified by the "we" sections of his second volume: Acts.
By your standards, I'm not sure we can know anything about Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar. History in the ancient world was done differently than now. Not necessarily worse, just different.
I believe that in John's and Matthew's gospels, we have eyewitness accounts and in Mark's and Luke's we have well researched firsthand sources.
And these "uneducated peasants" were willing to die for what they were writing. That gives them lots of credibility in my book.
If you're willing to really do some hard thinking about these issues, I'd be willing to buy and ship to you a copy of either The Historical Reliability of the Gospels by Craig Blomberg or Can We Trust the Gospels? by Mark D. Roberts.
Just tell me that you'll read them with an open mind and give me an address: [hotorthodoxy AT lansefree DOT org].
Christians have nothing to hide when it comes the historicity of the biblical Jesus.
And non-Christians have everything to gain.
Because what we’re dealing with here is history.
And if this TRUE history, then these are some of the most important events that have ever occurred since the beginning of time!
History.
Now, before we move on, I want you to think about one other aspect of history.
And that is that God bends history to His plan.
Where should the Messiah of Israel be born? What do the prophecies say?
Bethlehem, right? Where do we find that in the Old Testament?
Micah 5:2. “...you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
Now, where do Mary and Joseph live? Nazareth. How far is that from Bethlehem?
It’s about 80 miles. In that region, that’s like half-way across the country.
Now, how is God going to get Jesus born in Bethlehem? What’s he going to do?
He’s going to use Caesar Augustus in Rome! And He’s going to use a tax census that affects the entire Roman World just to make sure that Jesus makes it to Bethlehem.
Now, who’s in control of history? Caesar or the LORD?
The Lord bends history to His plans.
Okay. Joseph and Mary make their way down to Bethlehem. Even though he is a poor man from Nowheresville, Joseph (and probably Mary, too) is a direct descendent of King David. And so, he has to go to “Davidstown” to register for the tax census.
80 miles. We mentioned a couple of weeks ago that there is no donkey mentioned. Perhaps Mary had to walk those 80 miles, very pregnant, very uncomfortable.
And when they got there, there was no place to stay.
No rentals. No hotels, no motels, no inn with a room.
There isn’t anything here about a stable, either. There might not have even been a stable, a shelter of any kind. And Mary had to deliver her baby. It was time. V.6 puts it very plainly.
“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Here’s our second theme for today: HUMILITY.
This is another “Yikes” passage when you really think about it.
Mary had been told by no less than the Angel Gabriel that she would be carrying the Son of the Most High God.
She might have been forgiven for thinking that her life was going to be easy from here on out!
It’s time for ivory palaces and refined living! God’s son is coming! Build me a mansion!
But instead of she walks 80 miles and then gives birth out back somewhere.
And there is no cradle.
She wipes off the birth stuff with some linen cloths and wraps him up and puts him in the feeding trough for the animals!
You don’t get any lower than this!
Humility.
How low can you go?
Last week, we heard Mary sing about humility and we were encouraged to humble ourselves to receive mercy from God.
Well, God Himself is not afraid to be humble!
God’s Son didn’t consider equality with God something to be held onto but emptied Himself and became a servant.
He became a man.
He descended from Highest Heaven and came down to be a humble baby.
Born in the humblest of circumstances.
Isn’t this amazing?
God in flesh. That’s amazing.
God in flesh in a feeding trough is truly unbelievable!
Humility.
If God, who has everything going for Himself, can be humble, how much more can you and I be humble?
Are you and I cultivating humility?
There was another group of people had much to be humble about. They were shepherds.
Shepherds were just a rung higher than lepers on the social ladder of Israel at this time. They were often shifty and untrustworthy, rough and tumble, and they smelled like sheep. Peee-uuuu.
They were living nearby at this point out in the fields with their flocks.
We don’t know what time of year this was. There is nothing in the text to indicate that was December. We don’t know the date. December 25th was just a date that Christians chose along the way (4th century) to have a celebration of Jesus’ birth.
So, it could be today just as likely as it would be December 25th. We don’t know.
So, we don’t know if it was cold and wintery out there, but we do know that it was dark. And that the shepherds weren’t expecting what was about to happen to them! V.8
“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.”
Yeah! I like the King James here, “They were sore afraid.” They were so scared that it hurt!
Notice that almost every time an angel shows up in the Bible, the first thing they have to say is “Do not be afraid!”
These are scarey beings!
It’s night time and it dark and black and then all of a sudden the glory of the Lord shone around these...shepherds?!!
These aren’t cute little kids in bathrobes.
These are the real deal. Real shepherds. And real ANGELS! V.10
“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ [of all places!] Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’”
Yikes! Wow!
There’s a whole army of angels. When it says, “heavenly host” that’s what it means. An army of angels.
How many people can Beaver Stadium hold? Is it over 100,000?
Imagine if all of those people were angels, bright shining burning beings?
And they all of a sudden appeared and spoke together (it says “said” in verse 13, not sang, though I don’t doubt that it was beautiful as music).
Together this angelic army said, “Glory to God in the highest, and onearth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
Glory to God and peace to men because of this baby born in Bethlehem.
Wow!
One pastor said that this was probably the greatest manifestation of God’s glory on earth since the giving of the law at Mount Sinai. I think he’s right!
Can you imagine?
I think that just highlights the humility.
The angels can’t even help showing up and showing some glory when the Son of God becomes a humble baby in Bethlehem.
Now, the third and last key theme that I want to emphasize here is IDENTITY.
History.
Humility.
And IDENTITY.
Who is this baby?
Who is this humble that He’s laid to rest in a manger?
And yet...
Who gets this kind of a demonstration when He gets born?
Who is this baby?
The angel said it in verse 11.
“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news [gospel] of great joy [mega joy] that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”
There are three identity markers there in verse 11.
#1. A Savior.
#2. The Messiah.
#3. The Lord.
First, a savior. This baby has come for a purpose. He hasn’t come for himself–just to see what it’s like to be a human.
He hasn’t come just to be a teacher, though He will teach the most important things.
He hasn’t come just to be an example, though He will give us the best example imaginable.
He has come to SAVE.
And not just salvation from Roman or salvation from Israel’s earthly enemies.
This baby has come to bring full salvation. Salvation from Sin!
And He’s going to do it through His sacrificial death on the Cross.
You want to see humility?
I was wrong when I said that you can’t get lower than this.
This was the not the lowest day of this baby’s life.
He was born in humble circumstances.
But He died in the lowest of low. Crucified between two bad guys.
But in doing that, He purchased our salvation.
Good news of great joy!
Have you trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior?
I invite you to trust Him today.
Savior. Christ or “Messiah” is the Hebrew way of saying it. That’s His identity.
This means that this baby boy was the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament promises of a Messiah who would rescue God’s people.
Everything God had promised was bound up in this baby boy.
Everything that Mary and Zechariah had sung about was bound up in this baby boy.
Can you imagine? This little guy, smaller than any baby here, was the fulfillment of all of those promises.
Again, do you know the promises of God? This book is full of them. And they are what we live on! Promises are like fuel.
Yesterday, I was running a log-splitter. Drew and I are trying to get some wood ready for the winter. And in the middle of splitting a good sized log, the thing just up and quit on me.
And you know what I thought–I’m out of fuel.
And guess what? I was right! I got that one right.
All it needed was some gas in the tank, and it was back at it.
Are you sputtering and spitting and stopping?
God’s promises are fuel in our tank. They keep us going. And they are all bound up in Jesus.
Messiah–Christ. That’s His identity. And one more: Lord.
That means Boss. That means King. That means the one in charge.
Jesus doesn’t come into our lives to offer suggestions.
He comes in to take over.
And it’s grand. It’s good news of great joy that He’s the King.
But He is the King.
Are you following the King?
Here’s His identity: A Savior who is Christ the Lord.
Do you know that this is the only place in the whole Bible where these three titles all come together in one verse? It is.
This is who He is: A Savior who is Christ the Lord. V.15
“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger [of all places!]. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.”
That’s His identity: Jesus.
Now, what should we do about this passage this week?
What is our last word of application?
Let’s remind ourselves of the themes we’ve talked about this morning.
First, History. This stuff is real. Caesar August is real. Quirinius is real. Joseph and Mary are real. The angels were real! The shepherds were real!
They were eyewitnesses! And they told people all of what they had heard and seen.
This stuff is history.
You have to take that into account.
If you are not yet certain of Jesus, I challenge you to look deeper into these accounts. And then act accordingly!
Second, Humility.
We should marvel at our Lord’s humility. V.18 says that everyone who heard about the child in the feeding trough who was the Messiah to come was amazed. The King James says that they “wondered” at it.
But v.19 says that Mary (humble Mary) “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”
Mary will have a lot of pondering to do. We’ll see that again next week.
Have you pondered on these things, yourself?
Have you meditated on the humility of our Lord?
I think that when we see His humility, there is call for us to put on humility, as well.
And thirdly, Identity. His name is now Jesus (just like the angel said) and He is a Savior, the Messiah (the Christ), the Lord!
Have you received Him as Savior?
Trusted in Him as Messiah?
And follow Him as Lord?
His identity makes all of the difference, doesn’t it?
We know what Child Is This!
And, like the shepherds, we need to get the word out.
The shepherds couldn’t hold it in. V.17 says that they “spread the word.”
Who are you going to talk to about Jesus this week?
Who are you going to invite to the concert on the 2nd?
How are you going to spread the word about Jesus?