watch & listen to series messages
Sermon notes
Part 1, Luke 4:14-44
The Teachings of Jesus
We are starting a new subseries of Luke today titled “the teachings” as we look at the teachings of Jesus.
V14-15 Jesus Begins His Ministry
Jesus came from His time of testing stronger than ever. In chapter 3 the Spirit comes upon Jesus, and then He is filled with the Spirit and led by the Spirit into the desert and now He returns from this experience in the desert walking in the power of the Spirit emboldened for the work of the ministry. Though He was already filled with the Spirit (Luke 4:1), He continued to walk in the power of the Spirit after experiencing victory over temptation. Jesus’ focus in ministry was teaching, and at this early point in His ministry He had no organized opposition. This is what Luke means by being glorified by all
V16-17
We notice 3 things about Jesus Teachings here: It was his custom, He was bold, He knew His bible.
It was His custom: Jesus made it His custom to get together with God’s people for worship and the Word of God. If anyone didn’t need to go to church (so to speak), it was Jesus – yet, it was His custom to do so.
He was bold. Jesus and His teachings are bold. The usual order of service in a synagogue began with an opening prayer and praise; then a reading from the Law; then a reading from the prophets and then a sermon, perhaps from a learned visitor. On this occasion Jesus was the learned visitor. Since this synagogue was in Nazareth, Jesus would have attended it often before, and now He would read and teach in His hometown synagogue.
He knew his bible. He wielded the word properly. Jesus wields the Scriptures with such precision.
V18-19
Draw close attention to what Jesus is saying here. His first teaching in the book of Luke in a synagogue is about how He will teach, who He is as a teacher, and what He will teach:
The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me: The one speaking in this Isaiah passage is the Anointed One; the Messiah, the Christ.
Because He has Anointed Me: The word “anoint” means to rub or sprinkle on; apply an unguent, ointment, or oily liquid to. Persons in the Old Testament were often literally anointed with oil. For example, priests were anointed for their special service to the LORD (Exodus 28:41). Literal oil was applied, but as a sign of the Holy Spirit upon their life and service. The oil on the head was only the outward representation of the real, spiritual work going on inside them.
He has anointed Me to: In this prophecy, the Messiah announced that He came to heal the fivefold damage that sin brings. Sin does great damage, so there must be a great work of redemption.
To preach the gospel to the poor: Sin impoverishes, and the Messiah brings good news to the poor.
To heal the brokenhearted: Sin breaks hearts, and the Messiah has good news for the brokenhearted.
To proclaim liberty to the captives: Sin makes people captive and enslaves them, and the Messiah comes to set them free.
Recovery of sight to the blind: Sin blinds us, and the Messiah comes to heal our spiritual and moral blindness.
To set at liberty those who are oppressed: Sin oppresses its victims, and the Messiah comes to bring liberty to the oppressed.
Thankfully, Jesus didn’t come to only preach deliverance or even to only bring deliverance. Jesus came to be deliverance for us.
To Proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord: This seems to describe the Old Testament concept of the year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:9-15 and following). In the year of Jubilee slaves were set free, debts canceled, and things set to a new start. Where Jesus stopped reading from Isaiah helps show us the nature of prophecy and its relation to time. The Isaiah passage goes on to describe what Jesus would do at His second coming (and the day of vengeance of our God, Isaiah 61:2). This is a 2,000-year-old comma between the two phrases. Jesus wields the word so perfectly in His teachings.
V20-22
We see that Jesus doesn’t just read the Scriptures here, He teaches it. As Jesus sat, He prepared to teach instead of returning to His seat among the congregation. Everyone wondered how He would explain what He had just read. There’s something to be said about when and how we communicate. Jesus intentionally paused for them to ponder His word. He then opens His mouth with, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” With these words Jesus answered two questions.
“Whom did Isaiah write of?” Jesus answered, “Isaiah wrote of Me.”
“When will this come to pass?” Jesus answered, “Isaiah wrote of now.”
They Marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. This seems to mean that Jesus continued to speak on the theme just mentioned, and He did it with words that were literally full of grace. They sensed the goodness and grace of God in the announcement that the ministry of the Messiah, the anointed one they had been waiting for, was now.
That is their first response. The second response is, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” The response of Jesus following shows that this was not an impartial comment. After their initial amazement, they then began to resent that someone so familiar (Joseph’s son) could speak with such grace and claim to be the fulfillment of such remarkable prophecies.
Application Point: This is why it is so important for us as Christians to reconcile the things of the past. Your life is a testimony to the teachings of Jesus. When we deal with the teachings of Jesus it causes us to reconcile the things of the past. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of walking in the newness of Christ. Yes and amen, absolutely walk in the newness of Christ! And from that newness, allow God to use you for triumphant change in the wake of destruction that old way of life may have left. You do not get to accept Jesus and know the forgiveness of the Father with no framework for fixing failures. Jesus isn’t a cop out for failure He is the catalyst for forgiveness. When I come face to face with the teachings of Jesus, they change the way I think, act, and speak. They have to! Our church word for learning the teachings of Jesus and following the teacher is the word disciple. Discipleship requires putting off the sinful patterns of our family of origin and relearning how to do life God’s way in God’s family. -Peter Scazzero
Our testimony matters. People are going to ask you harder questions than they asked Jesus. A challenge for you this week will be to think through how God might want you to go back so that you can go forward. Notice how they could not blame Him for any of the sin in His life. The only thing they could bring against Him is, “Aren’t you the carpenter’s son?”
V23-27
Jesus answers their objections. Luke doesn’t directly tell us that the people said whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do here also in your country; perhaps they did and Jesus quoted their words back to them. Or, it is just as likely that Jesus understood and explained their objection. They wanted Jesus to prove His claims with miraculous signs. Apparently, Jesus had already done miracles in Capernaum, not recorded in Luke (but in places like John 1-4). The people of Nazareth wanted to see the same kind of thing, demanding the miraculous as a show or a sign. They no doubt argued, ‘He is a Nazareth man, and of course he is duty bound to help us here in Nazareth’. They considered themselves as being his big start, and so now he owes them and they could command his powers at their own discretion. Jesus then says,
No prophet is accepted in his own country: Jesus understood that it is easy to doubt the power and work of God among those most familiar to us. It was easier for those in Nazareth to doubt or reject Jesus because He seemed so normal and familiar to them.
Application Point: I’m all for wanting to see miracles. Wanting proof, or doubt, is a natural tendency for me. My real problem with doubt is when I doubt without hope. And make no mistake, this is where these people are: doubting without hope. One of my favorite prayers recorded in the new testament is a prayer of hopeful doubt. In Mark 9 we have this amazing miraculous experience! Peter, James, and John have this mountain top experience with Jesus and they are truly seeing the miraculous.
They see Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus, the voice of God the Father speaks and says, “this is my beloved son; listen to him.” They come down off the mountain and there is a crowd gathered around a father and son. And this father wants the disciples to heal his son and the disciples can’t. Doubt without hope. Jesus steps into the picture and tells the father, “bring him to me.” Bring me your son. Jesus looks at him and sees the boy is demon possessed and asks the father how long this has been going on. The father says since he was a small child he’d try and throw himself into fire or into water to destroy himself. This father finally says Jesus if you can do anything please do it. And Jesus has a famous line where he says, “All things are possible for one who believes.” -Jesus Finally, my favorite prayer of hopeful doubt in the new testament in Mark 9:24 Immediately the father cried out and said, “I believe, help my unbelief.”
Can you imagine the years of dealing with his son? The hopelessness, the shame, the fear of losing him. If you are here this morning, and you’re looking at the teachings of Jesus, you’re looking at how God has worked in others lives and you are doubting that He can do it for you, cry out to him. JESUS I BELIEVE! HELP MY UNBELIEF! Run to Jesus this morning. He doesn’t owe you a miracle or have to prove Himself, He already did that at the cross. But what he does with a hope filled doubt is absolutely amazing. He takes even a small mustard seed of faith and produces salvation. That’s my Jesus. I believe, help my unbelief. Isn’t that so true? I’m all for doubt, let it be filled with the hope of Jesus like this father, and not hopeless like the people of Nazareth.
Jesus then shows a few stories of Elijah and Elisha to cement His ideas to them. I love the way Jesus teaches.
Jesus made at least two points. First, the fact that they did not receive Jesus had nothing to do with Jesus, but everything to do with them. He was truly from God, but they would not receive Him. Their rejection said more about them than it did about Jesus. Second, it showed that God’s miraculous power operates in unexpected and sovereign ways. People that we often consider undeserving and perhaps strange are many times recipients of God’s miraculous power.
V28-30
Gives us a key insight into how they truly just wanted Jesus to do things for them, they didn’t want to learn from His teachings. When they heard these things, they were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city: This was quite a response to a sermon. They were angry to be told that there was something wrong with them, that their request for a miracle was denied, and that Jesus implied that God also loved the Gentiles; not just them. Luke set the tone for the whole story of Jesus’ life here in Luke 4. Jesus came, sinless and doing nothing but good for all – and they wanted to kill Him.
Application Point: Jesus didn’t primarily seek to please His audience and He didn’t use their approval as the measure of His success. If you are following the teachings of Jesus, you shouldn’t either.
To follow the teachings of Jesus is to perform for an audience of one. Christ and Christ alone. If you do that correctly, the by product is so far reaching. Your life is changed, your family’s lives are changed, your church, your neighborhood, it is all affected.
V31-37
He was teaching them on the Sabbaths and they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority: Jesus pursued His primary calling as a teacher, taking advantage of the courtesy of the synagogue. We are not told what Jesus taught, but we are told of the effect the teaching had on His audience. They were astonished. They had never heard anyone teach quite like this before. The authority of Jesus was not only evident as He taught, but also in His life. This would be demonstrated in the encounter with the demon-possessed man.
The terms unclean spirit, evil spirit, and demon all seem to be the same, referring to evil powers of darkness who are the enemies of God and man. These powers are organized (Ephesians 6:12) and led by Satan himself. What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? It is ironic that the demons knew who Jesus was, but the chosen people – those from His own city – did not appreciate who Jesus was. Did You come to destroy us? This question “reflects the belief that the advent of the kingdom of God would spell the demise of demonic control over the world.” I know who You are; the Holy One of God! The demon himself testified that Jesus was holy and pure. The demons admitted that their wilderness temptations failed to corrupt Jesus. The manner of Jesus’ dealings with the demon in this passage is a clear demonstration of His power and authority over the spirit realm. People were amazed at the authority of His word in both teaching and in spiritual living.
V38-39
Jesus Entered Simon’s house: Jesus did a rather public miracle in the synagogue. Now He would display His power in a private setting. Jesus was not a mere performer for the crowds. He stood over her and rebuked the fever: In this situation, Jesus saw the fever itself as something to be rebuked. Perhaps He perceived that there was some spiritual dynamic behind this seemingly natural illness. And it left her. immediately she arose and served them: This was not only the healing of a disease, but also the immediate granting of strength. One doesn’t normally go from a high fever to serving others though it is a beautiful picture for us as the church of how we respond to meeting Jesus.
Application Point: When we meet Jesus, He heals us, and we serve. This is because serving is not an obligation to the Christian, it is our privilege. Just like Simon Peter’s mother-in-law was miraculously healed, so are we when we come to know Jesus. Her inexplicable strength comes from the Holy Spirit, you’ve got to see that. And just as she is strengthened by the Spirit so are we. strengthened by the Spirit we then serve the Lord according to the teachings of Jesus. This is our great privilege in life to be a light as He is a light.
V40-41
Jesus meets the actual needs of people. He’s not above that work because “He’s a pastor or teacher.” If Jesus isn’t above serving people, neither are any of His followers. You have to see how Jesus lived His teachings. He didn’t display in Simon Peter’s mother-in-law something different than what He would do. It is quite literally the very next verse: She serves, He serves. The teachings and the way of Jesus is to serve, how can we not?
V42-44
We see Jesus went into a deserted place: Jesus knew the value of solitude with God the Father. He spent most of His time ministering among the people but needed such times in a deserted place. The great work that Jesus did in His ministry did not draw on the resource of His divine nature, but on His constant communion with God the Father and His empowering by God the Holy Spirit. The time in a deserted place was essential for that. As an extreme extravert in ministry, I can tell you there is great need to learn from Jesus and get away with the Father. Value solitude. Value time spent with God not just doing for God. this matters deeply in the teachings of Jesus.
Conclusion
I must preach the kingdom of God: He taught about the kingdom of God, in the sense that He announced the presence of the King and corrected people’s misconceptions about the kingdom. For this purpose I have been sent: Jesus saw His main ministry, at this point, to be preaching the kingdom.
Miracles were a part of that work, but not His main focus. And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee: This was the clear emphasis of Jesus’ work before the great work of atonement on the cross – he was a teacher and a preacher, both in public and in houses of worship. His work of miracles and healings was impressive, but it was never His emphasis. I never want to be found emphasizing something about Jesus that He doesn’t emphasize.
Did he heal? Yes. Did He cast out demons? Yes. If you were to ask Jesus what matters most about His ministry, He would clearly tell you: The Teachings. Let’s Worship together.
Part 2, Luke 5:1-16
Who do you think of when you think about, “A man of his word?” This phrase speaks of a man who keeps promises, who can be trusted. This expression, which uses “word” in the sense of “a promise or undertaking,” was first recorded in 1542. I’m learning how to become a man of my word. Does anyone else feel me? I realized I didn’t grow up with this being a big deal. I had to learn how to become a man of my word. Nothing has done the trick quite like having kids.
Your word matters. Not just in telling the truth or keeping promises, but in a broader sense, every word that comes from our mouth matters to God and it should matter to us. Keep that thought. Luke introduces a new key element in Jesus’ Ministry: the gathering of disciples.
We looked last week at why people became interested in Jesus. But where should Jesus’ mission and an interest in Him lead? What type of people come to him? From Chapter 5 verse 1 until chapter 6 verse 16 we are going to watch the master gather disciples. In our first portion of text this morning, we’ll see Jesus answer in the picture of the miraculous catch of fish. Here is the first discipleship passage, which also is a call to mission. Because those who respond to Jesus are to follow him in calling people to God. They are to be “fishers of people” even though they, as fishers, are sinners themselves.
V1-3 Jesus Teaching
We pick up in chapter 5 and we see Jesus doing what He does best, teaching. The large crowd showed the increasing popularity of Jesus as a teacher. The crowd was so big that Jesus got into one of the boats and taught the multitudes from the boat. Jesus had some strange pulpits in His day. Now the lake, Here’s a portion for your bible knowledge, The Lake of Gennesaret: This was another name for the Sea of Galilee, as it is more familiarly known. It was also sometimes called the Sea of Tiberias. Just a note for your bible knowledge. What is important is that Jesus is teaching on a lake in a boat to the large crowd and Luke makes sure to mention that it’s Simon’s boat. Simon must have felt privileged that Jesus wanted to teach from his boat. We can also be sure that Simon listened to this teaching all the more attentively.
V4-5 At Your word
After Jesus had finished teaching, He wanted to do something good for Simon, who had lent Him the use of the boat. Peter could not give something to Jesus without Jesus giving even more back to him.
Isn’t that true about our Jesus? Whatever you give to Jesus He gives back abundantly more. Now Jesus says, “Hey Peter, let’s go fishing” kind of. He really says you’re going to go fishing. Peter could have come up with any number of possible excuses. “I worked all night and I’m tired.” “I know a lot more about fishing than a carpenter does.” “The best fishing is at night, not in the daytime.” “All these crowds and loud teaching have scared the fish away.” “We already washed our nets.” “Jesus may know religion, but He doesn’t know fishing.” Peter seemed to know something about Jesus that we should learn also: All excuses fall short in the face of Jesus. We talked about this idea of “bowing the knee” in the temptation of Jesus but notice here in Philippians how clearly Paul makes this thought that every excuse falls short in the face of Jesus: Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:9-11 The bible has few but very certain black and whites. This is one of them. Every knee will bow at the name of Jesus. There is no excuse for sin in the face of Jesus. It is either the acceptance of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, and we gladly bow the knee. Or, in utter humiliation we accept the price of our sin, and we bow the knee to the king.
This was Peter’s great statement of faith, and trust in Jesus’ word. God’s people throughout all ages have lived and gone forth with this confidence in the word of Jesus. He is a man of His word. He keeps His promises. Jesus At Your word, there was light. At Your word, the sun, moon, stars, and planets were created. At Your word life came to this earth. Your word creation is held together and sustained. At Your word empires rise and fall; history unfolds His great plan.
V6-7 Miraculous Catch
Peter didn’t make such excuses, and His faith in Jesus was well rewarded. Peter understood that he probably knew more about fishing than a carpenter did and that he had worked all night without any results. The only reason why Peter did what Jesus asked was because he believed in Jesus, not because the circumstances seemed right.
Application Point: When Jesus directs our work, it makes all the difference. We can work – even work hard – for a long time with no results. But when Jesus directs our work, we see results; and we always miss something great when we make excuses instead of allowing Jesus to direct our work.
Psalm 127:1-2 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
Peter had to work with others to get the job done. Others jump into help, the other boat even comes in to help. And Peter doesn’t say, “Hey! This is my fish, my turf, my miracle. Step off!” He signaled to his partners in the other boats and asked for help. And they came to help. This story reminds me of the beauty of the church.
V8-11 Peter’s response to the teachings
He fell down at Jesus’ knees: Jesus had already miraculously healed Peter’s mother-in-law (Luke 4:38-39). Yet there was something about this miracle of the blessed catch that made Peter worship Jesus and surrender himself to Him.
Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord! When Peter saw the great power of Jesus – displayed in Jesus’ knowledge in an area where He should have no knowledge – it made Peter realize his own spiritual bankruptcy compared to Jesus. Because Peter was such an experienced fisherman, and because he knew how unfavorable the conditions were, he knew all the more what a great miracle this was. Peter had hardly met Jesus, yet he already knew much about Jesus; and because of that he understood some things about himself.
· Peter knew that Jesus was Lord.
· Peter knew he was a man.
· Peter knew he was a sinful man
· Peter let this make him a humble man.
When we take Jesus at His word, our response always becomes a response of humble faith. We might say that Peter’s prayer was good, but there is even a better prayer to pray: “Come nearer to me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
Do not be afraid: In the grammar of the ancient Greek, this is literally stop being fearful; it calms an existing fear. Peter was afraid of Jesus in the sense of holding Him in such great awe, but Jesus told Him to put away that fear. God wants to relate to us on the principle of love, not the principle of a cowering fear. There is a trust we build on the principle of His love that brings us back to His teachings, brings us back to His word.
From now on you will catch men: When Jesus told Simon that he would catch men, He told Simon that he would do what Jesus Himself did. There was never a greater fisher of men than Jesus Himself, but He wanted others to do the work He did also. Jesus started with these three, then twelve, then hundreds, then thousands, and millions upon through the centuries. Clarke says that the word catch signifies to catch something alive. That is true evangelism; it isn’t to bring dead people into a building, but to bring real life to a dying people, dead in their sin.
They forsook all and followed Him: They followed Him in the way that students followed their teaching rabbi in those days. In some aspects Jesus offered them a traditional education at the feet of a rabbi; in other aspects this was very different from a normal rabbinical education.
They started out relatively untrained and uneducated, but Jesus taught them. Their education and training came more upon an apprenticeship model than a classroom model. “The word ‘follow’ is a technical term in Luke for discipleship. He is training and teaching them. I don’t like the idea of people talking about the apostles as if they were untrained losers. That is true, and then they encounter a man of His word, the teacher, who trained and developed them through the teachings into great men of faith. It was a 3 year journey of learning under the master himself. Why do we have seminaries and bible colleges? So that we can also train and develop great men and women of faith. We need to walk away from surface level Christianity in some of our thoughts and this is one of them. If we can’t do that we end up getting stuck in backwards thinking. I feel it when we say things like “Jesus is enough!” I think, what does that mean? Enough for what? That’s barely a sentence! Shhh, Pastor Aaron, don’t make me think! It feels good to say it, it doesn’t have to make sense. Jesus is enough. My answer? He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than I can think or ask. He’s not enough. You could study your whole life, and that’s what I’m trying to do, and He will never be just enough. What I’m getting at here is we shouldn’t shun training, Jesus set the model for us to train, equip, and develop men and women of God for the work of the ministry. We as a church are called to disciple in this way. This is a great commission mindset in action: From now on you will be catching men.
V12 Leper Begs Jesus for Help
In the ancient world, leprosy was a terrible, destructive disease – and still is in some parts of the world. Being full of leprosy, this man had no hope of improvement, so he came to Jesus with a great sense of need and desperation. For these reasons leprosy was considered a picture of sin and its effects. It is a contagious, debilitating disease that corrupts its victim and makes him essentially dead while alive. Therefore society and religious people scorned lepers. Rabbis especially despised them, and saw lepers as those under the special judgment of God, deserving no pity or mercy. Nevertheless, the leper came to Jesus by himself and despite many discouragements.
He knew how terrible his problem was. He knew most everyone thought his condition was hopeless. He had no one who would or could take him to Jesus. He had no previous example of Jesus healing a leper to give him hope. He had no promise that Jesus would heal him. He had no invitation from Jesus or the disciples. He must have felt ashamed and alone in the crowd.
The leper had no doubt about the ability of Jesus to heal; his only question was if Jesus was willing to heal. This was significant because leprosy was so hopeless in the ancient world that healing a leper was compared to raising the dead; yet this leper knew that all Jesus needed was to be willing. This leper wanted more than healing. He wants cleansing, not only from the leprosy, but also from all its debilitating effects on his life and soul.
Application Point: At some point in facing the teachings, facing Jesus the teacher, you come to this same realization. The realization is that I too am in great need of healing and cleansing. And I know that, at your word God, you can bring healing and cleansing. Do you feel your condition is hopeless this morning? Are you carrying the guilt and shame of your life on your own? Jesus stands ready to heal you. To speak hope in your hopelessness, to heal and cleanse guilt and shame. He’s a man of His word. All of His promises are yours and He gives them to you freely, though it cost Him everything. We must see our condition as desperately as this leper saw his or we will never see our great need for a savior.
V13 Jesus Heals
He put out His hand and touched him: Jesus did not have to touch the leper in order to heal him. He could have healed him with a word or even a thought. Yet He healed the leper with a touch to show compassion to this man who, in his culture, was thought to be untouchable, and to show that the touch of the Messiah makes men clean instead of receiving their impurity. I am willing: By both His words and His touch, Jesus showed that He was in fact willing. He showed the leper more than His power to heal; He also showed His willing and compassionate heart to heal. It is common for people to doubt the love of God more than His power. The former leper’s life was changed forever. He was not only healed, but as he had requested he was also cleansed.
V14 Jesus Tells Him to Testify
Jesus often commanded people to be quiet about a healing or some miraculous work that Jesus had done for them. He did this because He wanted to calm the excitement of the crowds until the proper time for His formal revelation to Israel. In addition, Jesus’ miracles were not primarily calculated to make Him famous or a celebrity (though they certainly did give testimony to His ministry).
More so, Jesus healed to meet the needs of specific individuals and to demonstrate the evident power of the Messiah in the setting of love and care for the personal needs of humble people. Jesus commanded the man to give a testimony to the priests, and what a testimony it was! The Mosaic Law commanded certain sacrifices upon the healing of a leper, and when the man reported it to the priests, they had to perform ceremonies (Leviticus 14) that were rarely (if ever) practiced. Going to the priest also helped to bring the former leper back into society. Jesus wanted the healing of the man’s disease to have as much benefit as possible.
V15-16 Fame and withdraw
The news of the remarkable healing of the leper became widely known. Luke doesn’t specifically tell us that the leper himself was responsible for this, but Mark does tell us (Mark 1:44-45). He told many despite the command of Jesus to tell no one. It’s a strange fact that the one Jesus commanded to tell no one told everyone, and we who are commanded to tell everyone can be found telling no one. I’m not trying to condemn you this morning, I hope it is an exhortation. If you know that you have come from death to life, you too should share the good news of Jesus in your life. Through your words, your actions, your thoughts, the way in which you do or do not post or comment on people’s stuff on social media.
Jesus had a great following as a healer, but He never seemed to promote or encourage it. The crowds came to hear, and he also healed them. In this season of increasing popularity and publicity, Jesus made a special point to withdraw into the wilderness for prayer. The demands of life pushed Jesus to prayer, not from it. The love in the eyes of God compensated him for the hate in the eyes of men. That’s what prayer does. It causes us to focus on the things that matter and block out the things that don’t. It causes us to hear correctly.
Conclusion
I told you I’m learning how to be a man of my word. It’s so crucial to me now as a Christian and it didn’t mean much to me before. Jesus is a man of His word. Through all of His teachings, His miracles, all that He was stemmed from deep conviction, deep truth. In essence, the passage challenges us to trust in Jesus’ word, acknowledge our need for His healing and restoration, bear witness to His transformative work in our lives, and prioritize communion with God through prayer. As we strive to become people of our word, may we also become steadfast disciples of Jesus, following Him in faith, obedience, and prayerful communion with the Father.
Part 3, Luke 5:17-39
As we read Luke 5 we see Jesus is redefining something they already knew. If you were to ask a Jew of Jesus day about the messiah, they could’ve easily told you what the messiah was to do and what tribe he’s from, where he’s prophesied to come from, and all of these things. They even knew that the messiah was to bring change. It was an expectation of the messiah, that He would cause change.
This is a known fact! But, the irony of this whole scene is that the Messiah offered change, they wanted change, they knew change was coming, yet when change was in front of them, they realized they only really wanted change “their way.” Let’s take a moment to effectively feel on a super small scale what Jesus was doing on a larger scale.
V17-19 Jesus’ Teaching is interrupted
Again, here’s Jesus doing what he does best, teaching. At this point it is so normal. Luke writes, “on one of those days,” as if this is still so common that Jesus is teaching. What is so profound and uncommon, the change, is that people are gathering from all over to hear Jesus and really see if this is a change for good or for bad. And the Pharisees are sitting by. I am so glad, I really am! Where is the greatest place to find out about the truth of the gospel and rid yourself of the religious baggage and things holding you back?
At the teachings of Jesus. In the presence of Jesus. Whatever it is you may be carrying today, bring it to Jesus.
And the power of the Lord was present to heal them: One might say that whenever Jesus was present, the power of the Lord was present to heal. Yet even in the ministry of Jesus there seemed to be times of a greater demonstration and reception of God’s healing work. There were times when Jesus did not do many miraculous works because of the general unbelief of His audience (Matthew 13:58). We should note that the power of the Lord was present to heal them after Jesus withdrew into the wilderness and prayed (Luke 5:16). Because of the crowded room, the friends of the paralyzed man had to lower him down through the roof – certainly, an unusual interruption to a sermon. This proved the determination and faith of friends of the paralytic. They counted on Jesus healing their friend, because it sure would be a lot harder to bring him back up through the roof than lowering him down.
Application Points: Spurgeon spoke of the quality of men and women who would bring a friend to Jesus in such a way: “They need be strong, for the burden is heavy; they need be resolute, for the work will try their faith; they need be prayerful, for otherwise they labor in vain; they must be believing, or they will be utterly useless.” These friends had so much they wanted to see Jesus do. They, by faith, expected God to do the miraculous. I stand with you today asking the same of God. God, do the things that only you can do! Change minds, change hearts, change us for your glory!
V20-22
When He saw their faith: Jesus looked up at the four men struggling with crude ropes tied to each corner of the stretcher with a paralytic on it. He looked at them and saw their faith.
Their faith could be seen. Their bold, determined action to bring their friend to Jesus proved they had real faith. There is something lacking in faith if it can never be seen.
In this account, the emphasis is on the faith of the friends of the paralyzed man. We need to have faith for more than our own needs, but also have faith that Jesus can and will meet the needs of others whom we bring to Him. We can imagine how the friends on the roof felt. They went to a lot of trouble to see their friend healed of his paralysis, and now the teacher seemed to only be concerned with his spiritual problems. This wasn’t the change they wanted to see! Jesus knew what the man’s real need was, and what his greatest need was. What good was it if the man had two whole legs, and walked right into hell with them? Jesus did not mean that the paralyzed man was especially sinful, or that his paralysis was directly caused by sin.
Instead, He addressed the man’s greatest need, and the common root of all pain and suffering – man’s sinful condition. Jesus doesn’t change just for the sake of change nor does he just treat symptoms. He is the catalyst for this change, the greatest change the world has ever seen; the rooting out of our core problem in this world: Our sinful condition.
Here was the question: Who can forgive sins but God alone? The religious leaders used the right kind of logic. They correctly believed that only God could forgive sins, and they were even correct for examining this new teacher. Their error was in refusing to see who Jesus actually was: God the Son, who has the authority to forgive sins. This reminds us that only God can solve our sin problem. We can’t even forgive ourselves, because we don’t have the power and authority to forgive ourselves. We must be persuaded that God has truly and rightly forgiven us in light of what Jesus did at the cross. Our rest in the sense of forgiveness is always created by the certainty that it is the gift of the grace of God.
V23-26 Jesus Answers and Demonstrates the power and authority of God alone.
Which is easier, to say: For us, both real forgiveness and the power to heal are impossible; but for God, both are easy. It is a logical assumption that if Jesus had the power to heal the man’s disease, He also had the authority to forgive his sins.
- In a way, it was “harder” to heal the man than to forgive his sins, because forgiveness is invisible – no one could verify at that moment the man was forgiven before God. Yet it could be instantly verified whether or not the man could walk. Jesus was willing to put Himself to the test in a way where the results would be immediate.
But that you may know that the Son of Man: Jesus often referred to Himself as the Son of Man. The idea was not of the “perfect man” or the “ideal man” or even the “common man.” Instead, it was a reference to Daniel 7:13-14, where the coming King of Glory, coming to judge the world, has the title Son of Man. - Jesus used this title often because in His day, it was a Messianic title free from political and nationalistic sentiment. Jesus could have more commonly referred to Himself as “King” or “Christ” but those titles, in the ears of His audience, sounded like “the One Who Will Defeat the Romans.” Not the sort of change Jesus was going for.
Imagine the tension in this scene. The scribes were tense, because Jesus challenged them, and said He would demonstrate He was the Son of God. The paralyzed man was tense because he wondered if Jesus really would heal him. The crowd was tense because they sensed the tension of everyone else. The owner of the house was tense because he wondered how much it would cost to repair his roof. And the four friends were tense, because they were tired by now. The only one not tense was Jesus, because He had perfect peace when He said, “arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” At those words, immediately he arose. Jesus’ power to heal and authority to forgive sins was immediately vindicated.
This has to be my favorite miracle in Luke. Not because of what is done, but because it rightly preserves the purpose of Jesus’s miracles throughout scripture. “But that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins, arise.”
The major point of Jesus’s miracles were two fold:
- So that the compassion of God would change people’s lives. They would see their God in a light they may not have seen in quite some time.
- All of Jesus’ miracles are to show His authority as God and give testimony to His great work, the forgiveness of sins.
In V27-32 Jesus calls Levi.
Jesus’ outreach to outcasts continues. But now he deals with the social outcast rather than the physically handicapped. We focus on Jesus’ association with sinners, an association that He initiates. The contrast between the changes they thought the messiah was bringing and what He is actually doing is very clear here. Jesus, you’re allowed to make changes, but on our terms. Jesus’ example here teaches us as a church community that we need to seek and associate with the outcast as a part of mission, even though there might be some who would frown on such personal relationships. Jesus goes from forgiving sinners to openly associating with them.
That is because Mission requires more than casual contact. Jesus engages with those in the culture. They sense that he cares for them and does not just preach at them. This passage exposes the personal character of His mission. An additional and significant note is the change in the sinner. This idea, though only alluded to here, is still of great significance for Luke and it should be for us. Levi will leave all. Jesus asks for repentance. The sick need healing and are made well by Jesus’ ministry. But now, Levi pictures such a transformation and represents the model disciple. Luke’s description of Levi shows that discipleship is part of Jesus’ goal in reaching out to the sinner.
You have to see how intense this is. Tax collectors were seen as both traitors and extortioners. When a Jew entered the customs service he was regarded as an outcast from society: he was disqualified as a judge or a witness in a court session, was excommunicated from the synagogue, and in the eyes of the community his disgrace extended to his family as well.
You have to see the changes Jesus is making and see how people respond just in chapter 5: First Jesus gets a bunch of fish. Everyone is stoked with that change. Then He heals a leper. You know what? Atta boy, Jesus. That guy needed to be healed. I don’t really want to hang out with Him, but it’s a good thing. Then the friends lower down the guy into their church. Ok, that’s super distracting but whatever let’s see how Jesus handles it. We’re ok with the healing but come on, Jesus. You’re going to forgive sins? I’m not ok with that, but let’s move on. Now he’s going to personally invite and hangout with a tax collector? This is where I draw the line. Why do you eat and drink with sinners, Jesus? And why does your glass of grape juice smell like wine?
THESE AREN’T THE CHANGES YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BRING JESUS! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO CONDEMN ALL OF THEM AND TELL ME THAT I’M RIGHT! WE ARE SUPPOSED TO PLAY CHURCH AND LOOK DOWN ON EVERYONE ELSE THAT DOESN’T THINK AND ACT LIKE I DO!
Jesus’ answer was both simple and profound. Jesus is the physician of the soul, and it makes sense for Him to be with those who are sick with sin. Of course His critics were sick with sin also, but they refused to see themselves that way. They thought other people were sick with sin, not themselves. A friend of mine put it this way and I just love it:
There are many possible reasons why a sick person might refuse the services of a doctor.
· Perhaps you don’t know that you are sick.
· Perhaps you know you are sick, but you think you will get better on your own – you don’t know that you need to go to the doctor.
· Perhaps you know you are sick, and know you need a doctor, but do not know there is a doctor to help you.
· Perhaps you know you are sick, and know you need a doctor, and know there is a doctor, but do not know the doctor can help you.
· Perhaps you know you are sick, and know you need a doctor, and know there is a doctor, and know the doctor can help you, but do not know the doctor wants to help you.
· Perhaps you know you are sick, and know you need a doctor, and know there is a doctor, and know the doctor can help you, and know the doctor wants to help you, but you know what the doctor will tell you to do and you just don’t want to do it
Jesus is the perfect doctor to heal us of our sin.
· He is always available.
· He always makes a perfect diagnosis.
· He provides a complete cure.
· He even pays the doctor’s fee!
V33-39 Jesus declares that under Him, things are different.
Jesus answered their question with an allusion to the wedding practices of His day. A wedding feast was the most vivid picture of joy and happiness in that culture. During the weeklong wedding feast, it was understood that joy was more important than conformity to religious rituals. If any ceremonial observance would detract from the joy of a wedding feast, it was not required.
Jesus said that His followers should have this kind of happiness. Basically, they thought Jesus was too happy. When was the last time you were accused of being too cheerful or too happy? right? There is a slight dark note in the words, “the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them.” It was as if Jesus said, “They are going to take Me away; I threaten their system.” It is one of the first slight hints of His coming rejection.
Jesus’ point is clear. You can’t fit His new life into the old forms. This explains why Jesus did not begin a reform movement within Judaism, working with the rabbinical schools and such. Jesus says, “I haven’t come to patch up your old practices. I come with a whole new set of clothes.” Jesus formed a new institution – the church – that brought Jew and Gentile together into a completely new body.
Jesus clarifies what He is telling them with a final one liner: And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, “The old is better”: Just because people are more comfortable with the old, some assume that it is better. Our modern age is more taken with the shiny and new rather than what is old; yet we shouldn’t accept or reject anything simply because it is old or new. I’m going to say that again: we shouldn’t accept or reject anything simply because it is old or new. God has given us the great gift of salvation and this is what He’s talking about. His changes lead to life, lead to the kingdom of God, and He is rallying those around Him to join in.
Conclusion
Change is uncomfortable. Can I be super honest and raw with you? This is a hard passage to teach in light of our church going through some changes. I elected not to springboard into any of our changes because seeing in this chapter those who are onboard with Jesus’ changes and seeing those who are opposed are hard enough to look at and deal with. I want you to be able to sit with this passage and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you. Before you as my church, and before God, I tried my very best to draw out an application for us that would not be super divisive or point one way or the other. Let me tell you what I’m saying: I’m not leaving you subliminal messaging of what’s to come for our church. I do believe, however, that God would bring us to such a passage so that we could see the heart posture of those of Jesus day in facing change and say, “Lord, search my heart.” You should sit with it and seek the Lord for your circumstances, absolutely. But our circumstances aren’t the main point of this passage.
The narrative of Jesus’ ministry as depicted in this passage underscores a profound truth about human nature and divine intervention. Despite the longing for change and the recognition of its necessity, humanity often clings to familiar patterns, resisting the very transformation it seeks when presented in an unexpected form. Jesus, through His teachings, miracles, and interactions, challenged the prevailing expectations of the Messiah, offering not just superficial alterations but a radical reformation of the heart and society.
His actions and words were a vivid demonstration of God’s kingdom breaking into the world, calling for a shift not just in external circumstances but in internal orientations. The resistance He faced reveals the tension between divine purpose and human preference, illustrating that true change—transformational and lasting—demands openness to God’s ways above our own. As Jesus navigated these challenges, He exemplified compassion, authority, and an unwavering commitment to His mission, inviting all to embrace a new way of life grounded in forgiveness, healing, and inclusion. This journey with Jesus, from confronting our expectations to experiencing the fullness of His transformative power, invites us to participate in the ongoing work of God’s kingdom, where change is not merely an aspiration but a lived reality, deeply rooted in love and grace.
Part 4, Luke 6:1-19
One of my favorite things God ever created for us is plant life. I have quite a few plants in my office, shameless plug and a huge thank you to Lendon floral! I’ll be seeing you all later next week for my wife’s birthday flowers. And speaking of my wife, she too loves plants! The issue is, Alexis will tell you this also, she’s got a black thumb. It’s kind of like a green thumb you know what I mean? People with a green thumb can grow anything! Well Alexis has the exact opposite of that trait, she can kill any plant, no problem! Succulent? Dead. Snake plant which can live through a nuclear holocaust? No problem, meet my wife. Dead. It’s an ongoing joke for us now. Spring last year, I ended up building her a gardening bed and prepared the whole thing for her. I was so thankful that she was willing to give it another go. We planted tomatoes. And by the grace of God, they sprouted and started growing! Later on they even started producing tomatoes! Well, A storm had it, snapped our poor tomato plant, and we thought that was the end of it. Seeing it lying there decimated was so sad. We decided we needed to help this plant so we bought a tomato trellis. It was this little metal cage to put around it and believe it or not, the tomato plant healed, started growing, and we harvested some beautiful tomatoes! All it needed was some help, this trellis, and it would grow and be fruitful. Keep that thought in mind for today’s teaching.
To understand our passage today, you have to understand two key cultural pieces and that is: 1. Who are the pharisees? And 2. What is the sabbath?
Pharisees: The pharisees were Jews that were top notch bible scholars. I mean these guys understood the resurrection of the dead, they had so much good in their theology and so much bible knowledge. They were also the ones holding the line on biblical and conservative theology. They weeded out all of the nonsense of their day and kept to the scriptures. The teachers of the Pharisees were brilliant as well!
They went through extensive study starting at 5 years old. Top students would have Genesis to Deuteronomy, the Torah, memorized. They would then have their first passover at 12 and that’s where we saw Jesus at 12, remember?
Then they’d spend from 12 to 30 studying and memorizing not just the rest of the Hebrew bible, but all of the traditions and teachings of the most famous teachers leading into this. Why am I sharing all of this with you? Because this isn’t just some dumb Jews coming against Jesus, these are the greatest bible scholars and pastors of Jesus day! Today this would be what we would call the conservative bible believing and bible teaching people. This isn’t the progressive christians or the seeker friendly churches. These are the people who are serious about their bible and are serious about their God. Make no mistake, if it were a bible test, these guys would ACE it!
Sabbath: Now the Sabbath. Sabbath was very important to the Jews and still is to this day. The Sabbath is traditionally observed from sundown Friday night to sundown Saturday night. It literally means to cease from your work. It’s the 4th commandment in our 10 commandments. God would say it this way: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11
V1-5 The Lord of The Sabbath
V1-2 Not stealing, and the question “why are you doing what is not lawful? There was nothing wrong with what they did.
Their gleaning was not considered stealing, according to the provision for the poor of the land given in Deuteronomy 23:25. The problem was with the day on which they did it, and the customs and cultures they had for that day. Don’t touch that service time, Jesus! I know there isn’t a bible verse about it, but you better not!
The Rabbis made an elaborate list of “do” and “don’t” items relevant to the Sabbath and this violated one of the items on this list. But, Jesus wasn’t playing nice with their church rules and church culture. He wanted to do one thing and one thing really well: The teachings of Jesus reveal the heart and mission of God, in the word of God, for the people of God. Let me give that a bit more depth for you: Jesus taught that this didn’t break the sabbath law because He knew the heart of God, His heart, isn’t to make a law just for the sake of a law.
He knows it is healthy that people rest and delight in God as a rhythm for their life. It’s also part of the mission of God to reach all people so He removes boundaries that would keep people from knowing God. As we’ll see here, He then points them to the word of God where it is shown and can be trusted. Ultimately he does this as a part of restoration with His people.
V3-5 Jesus answer
The son of man is Lord of the Sabbath. Sabbath was created into the fabric of our world by The Lord of the Sabbath. Hold on to that statement. They were mad about that deity claim, absolutely. Jesus is saying He is God. But what got them just as mad is how Jesus dealt with their church rules and culture. We have our own church rules and culture as well.
Part of our job as a church is to set those things up in a healthy way that is conducive for people to get to know Jesus and feel cared for by their community. These were the changes that Jesus was making as well through His teachings. The Pharisees fell into the trap of assuming that what God was doing was specifically just for them and they forgot that they were called on mission with God to bring what they had to the whole world. Again, this can happen in a healthy way with unhealthy conclusions: We honor and fear God. We know the Scriptures. And if we want to see God move, we remove sin from our life and God restores. Not a bad thought.
Key ingredients are missing: the leading of the Holy Spirit, and pruning for new growth. They were paralyzed by fear of change and then became aggressive because change affected the status quo.
Application Point: If the way in which we set up our church is not conducive to letting other people in to join us, then it has to change. We need to be led by the Spirit and allow for pruning. Do you know what the biggest fights in church are? You’d think it’s something noble, right? Reaching people for the gospel! Yeah! How about the resurrection from the dead? Yeah! How about Jesus coming back again? Yeah!
NOPE! not the biggest fights in church.
Here are the top 5 categories for church conflict in America:
- Worship and music style
- Service time change
- Proper attire for church service
- Lack of clarity and disagreement on who makes decisions
- Length of worship services
I’m thankful that God is and has been producing mature believers in our church. So that when we have conflict, we talk to each other and handle things that might be uncomfortable, but we do it empowered by the Spirit and in a way that honors God and honors one another because love is our greatest asset. Relationships matter more to us than music preference and service time preferences, right? These are things that other churches might fight about, but we don’t because we choose to love God and love people until this whole valley knows.
The reference to David’s use of the holy bread (showbread, or Bread of the Presence) in 1 Samuel 21:1-6 is the best case study. The incident with David was a valid defense, because: It was a case of eating. It happened on the Sabbath (1 Samuel 21:6). It concerned not only David, but also his followers. Jesus is revealing something in His teachings and actions here which is an essential piece to our understanding of Scripture and God. The biblical principle is this: Human need is more important than religious ritual.
This is exactly what many people, steeped in tradition like the Pharisees, simply cannot accept.
We believe that what God really wants is mercy before sacrifice (Hosea 6:6).
We believe that love to others is more important than religious rituals (Isaiah 58:1-9).
We believe that the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart; these, O God, You will not despise (Psalm 51:17).
“Any application of the Law which operates to the detriment of man is out of harmony with God’s purpose.”
V6-11 Healing on The Sabbath
Now Jesus heals a man on the sabbath. In His question to the religious leaders, Jesus emphasized the truth about the Sabbath. There is never a wrong day to do something truly good. In the legalistic approach taken by the religious leaders of Jesus’ day (which went beyond the commands of the Bible itself), they clearly neglected acts of compassion and love to those who need it.
When Jesus commanded the man “stretch out your hand,” He commanded the man to do something impossible in his current condition. But Jesus gave both the command and the ability to fulfill it, and the man put forth the effort and was healed.
Isn’t that how our God works? He commands it, and then gives us the ability to fulfill it, and we meet him in that with what effort we have. That is my sincere prayer for us as a church, that we would know the command of God, be empowered by Him to do it, and then we meet Him with all our effort. Oh That we would love God, Love people, until this whole valley knows.
They were filled with rage: The reaction of the religious leaders was shocking, but true. When Jesus did this miracle on the Sabbath, He met the needs of simple people and broke the petty religious traditions of the establishment. Obviously, their rage and plotting of murder were far greater violations of the Sabbath than the healing of the man’s withered hand. Jesus often rebuked the religious leaders of his day for this kind of heart. He said of them, laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men…all too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition…making the word of God of no effect through your tradition. That’s Mark 7:8-13 summarized by the way.
Practical Application: Now that I’ve given you a proper working definition of what sabbath was like for them, and you’re hearing the inner workings of a fight between Jesus and the Pharisees here, I want to shift our time together to talking about, in our family service, something I made mention to earlier: Sabbath is woven into the very fabric of creation. You were made to Sabbath. One of the healthiest spiritual disciplines Alexis and I started in our home was a real sabbath.
Jesus said it this way: The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Mark 2:27
Sabbath is a core spiritual formation discipline. It’s a gift from God that we are invited to partake in like prayer or reading the scriptures. We aren’t saved by any of this, we are saved by the finished work of Jesus on the cross. But I’d wager that if you aren’t praying, or reading the bible as a Christian, you aren’t growing much. In the same way, I believe in our modern culture, sabbath is just as important for our souls as praying and reading the bible.
Sabbath has to work like this:
- Stop. We stop on sabbath because we realize God is on the throne. He manages really well without me and I stop to honor Him and see that I’m not in control. This is healthy for my soul.
- Rest. you have to determine what is restful for you. If you work a desk job, maybe getting outside is restful or tinkering in the garage under the hood, or mowing the lawn is restful. Maybe you work on your feet all day and to rest you just need to kick your feet up, eat something yummy, and take an afternoon nap. Find out what is restful for you and do it.
- Delight. Delight in God. We are invited to enjoy God’s world and the gift of life. If the day turns into don’t do this don’t do that we’ve missed it. You should really look forward to this time and have fun! Worst thing we can do as Christians in my opinion is suck the joy out of things. Talk about bad PR for the kingdom of God. Delight yourself in the Lord, have fun, and source your joy in Him.
- Contemplate. We see the invisible God in the visible creation around us. We slow down and ponder the love of God. this becomes the focal point of our sabbath. This may look like opening up God’s word, this may look like prayer, this may look like a time of throwing on worship music.
The key focus in Sabbath is rhythm. You need to use this as a structure for rhythm in your life. Please give yourself a lot of grace and don’t fall into the trap of perfectionism. God doesn’t love us any more or less for how long we do any of these things: the goal is communion with God to just be with God.
You need to focus on the healthy rhythms of your life. I’ll tell you why this matters so much: When we pray, and we read the scriptures, and we practice something so counter cultural like a sabbath, we allow God to nourish our souls. We also effectively partner with God in resisting principalities, and powers, the devil. This is a fight. Because I know I’ve got all of us in here today, I want to encourage and exhort us in this area. Dad, mom, we need to focus on the discipleship of our homes. The fact that you are here this morning tells me that you are serious about discipleship in your home. I am so proud of you. I truly am! The family unit is the core unit of discipleship.
V12-16 Calling the 12 Apostles
Jesus was at a critical point in His ministry: He offended the traditions of the religious leadership and they began to plot His death. Great crowds followed Him, but they were not interested in spiritual things, and could be quickly turned against Jesus. And now He is making a critical decision in how he is going to structure His church. In response to these pressures and changing situations, Jesus secluded Himself for this time of special prayer. It’s like He’s modeling to the pharisees and His own disciples the purpose of Sabbath and prayer: Being with God matters more than doing for God.
Jesus was about to choose His disciples. In one sense, there was nothing in Jesus’ three years of ministry before the cross more important than this. These were the men who would carry on what He had done, and without them the work of Jesus would never extend to the whole world. No wonder Jesus gave this critical choice an entire night of prayer.
Conclusion
Let’s talk about our tomato trellis. You see when God gives us spiritual disciplines like prayer, reading the word, fellowship, sabbath, silence and solitude, fasting, this might look like at first glance a cage. I wonder if that’s what my tomato plant was thinking. Let’s make my tomato plant a modern Christian: How dare you cage me and put my spirituality behind bars! And then after the changes in my tomato plants life, this trellis, it was able to grow and see fruit. This is what God had always intended with spiritual disciplines.
This isn’t a cage. This isn’t God trying to oppress you. It’s a freedom. A rhythm in your life for upward growth and that you would see fruit. Good fruit. I want to challenge you this week to think through the rhythms of your life and invite Jesus in to help set these necessary spiritual disciplines, or the trellis, in the garden of your life.
In both the old and new covenants God gives instructions for how his people are to live in faithful response to him. Observing the Sabbath rest is one such example from the law. Yet in both the old and new covenants human nature is the same in our tendency to take God’s instruction and make it external rather than internal, religious rather than faithful, law rather than grace.
These two Sabbath-conflict stories are going to show this human tendency and speak directly against a legalistic, gospel-less way of living. Jesus points us toward God and toward Himself. On the one hand these stories show us that, as the true representation of God, Jesus must be the focus of our religious devotion.
At the same time, Jesus shows us that gospel living entails compassion toward those in need, because this is God’s heart as well. So, in both ways the gospel is shown to be a matter of the heart—a heart of faith toward God and a heart of compassion toward others. This is the true gospel life: living not merely according to rules but in faithful obedience to God’s gracious purposes revealed in the law.”
Part 5, Luke 6:20-49
What an amazing time we had last week for Easter! We are jumping back into the book of Luke in our final teaching for the series “The Teachings” as we take a closer look at the teachings of Jesus. Jesus is sharing about very practical things in this portion. If we don’t get this portion right, Jesus would say we are in danger of being hypocrites. In my opinion, this is the part of Christianity that can look so beautiful when done right, and so ugly when we don’t do it right.
V36-38 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful
In the Kingdom of Jesus, we have a pattern for the way we should give mercy to others. We should be merciful to others the way God has been merciful to us. That’s a lot of mercy, and would only require more mercy from us, not less.
Judge not, and you shall not be judged: With this command Jesus warned against passing judgment upon others, because when we do so we will be judged in a similar manner. Among those who seem to know nothing of the Bible, this is the verse that seems to be most popular. Yet most of the people who quote this verse don’t understand what Jesus said. They seem to think (or hope) that Jesus commanded a universal acceptance of any lifestyle or teaching. Just a little later in this same sermon (Luke 6:43-45), Jesus commanded us to know ourselves and others by the fruit of their life, and some sort of assessment is necessary for that. The Christian is called to show unconditional love, but the Christian is not called to unconditional approval. We really can love people who do things that should not be approved of. So while this does not prohibit examining the lives of others, it certainly prohibits doing it in the spirit it is often done. A biblical case study of unjust judgment was the disciples’ condemnation of the woman who came to anoint the feet of Jesus with oil (Matthew 26:6-13). They thought she wasted something; Jesus said she had done a good work that would always be remembered. They had a rash, harsh, unjust judgment.
- We break this command when we think the worst of others.
- We break this command when we only speak to others of their faults.
- We break this command when we judge an entire life only by its worst moments.
- We break this command when we judge the hidden motives of others.
- We break this command when we judge others without considering ourselves in their same circumstances.
- We break this command when we judge others without being mindful that we ourselves will be judged.
Jesus expanded the idea beyond simply judging others. He also told us to condemn not and to freely forgive.
THE BIBLE IS A BUNCH OF DO’S AND DON’TS!
Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over: Jesus encouraged the freedom to give without fearing that we will become the loser in our giving. He wanted to set us free from the fear of giving too much. This is true and has been tested when it comes to generosity with material resources. Simply said, you can’t out-give God. He will return more to you, in one way or another, more than you give to Him. Yet the most pointed application of this in context is not so much the giving of material resources, but with giving of love, blessing, and forgiveness. We are never the loser when we give those things after the pattern of God’s generosity.
With the measure you use, it will be measured back to you: This is the principle upon which Jesus built the command, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” God will measure unto us according to the same measure we use for others. This is a powerful motivation for us to be generous with love, forgiveness, and goodness to others. If we want more of those things from God, we should give more of them to others.
We might say that Jesus did not prohibit the judgment of others. He only requires that our judgment be completely fair, and that we only judge others by a standard we would also like to be judged by.
When our judgment in regard to others is wrong, it is often not because we judge according to a standard but because we are hypocritical in the application of that standard – we ignore the standard in our own life. It is common to judge others by one standard and ourselves by another standard – being far more generous to ourselves than others. According to the teaching of some rabbis in Jesus’ time, God had two measures that He used to judge people. One was a measure of justice and the other was a measure of mercy. Whichever measure you want God to use with you, you should use that same measure with others. We should only judge another’s behavior when we are mindful of the fact that we ourselves will be judged, and we should consider how we would want to be judged.
Practical Application: There is a distinct C word that we fall prey to- cynicism. That bad C word is best seen by two other C words- Complaining and condemning. Can I challenge you this week? I want you to take note of how many times you complain or condemn this week. If you have someone that you trust in your life, and here’s the caveat, someone who won’t allow this challenge to become nuclear, have them also take note of how many times you complain or condemn. I want us to be a people that Jesus has called us to be: known for our love, known for our joy, known to be serious about mercy, and giving. Cynicism is the very antithesis of Christ.
V39-42
In verses 39-42 Jesus shares what he means with a couple illustrations: Can the blind lead the blind? This is obvious. The blind can’t lead the blind. Therefore we should never look to other blind men to lead us; nor should we try to lead others in our blindness. Instead, we should make Jesus our leader, our teacher, who sees and knows all things. Jesus reminded us that some supposed leaders are blind – beware of them.
Later Jesus said of some of the religious leaders of His day, They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch (Matthew 15:14) Though the Pharisees and teachers of the law had scrolls and interpreted them in the synagogues, this does not mean that they really understood them…The Pharisees did not follow Jesus; so they did not understand and follow the Scriptures. In these words of Jesus we see the guilt of those who are blind leaders of the blind. We also see the responsibility of followers to make sure their leaders are not blind.
A disciple is not above his teacher: A disciple was much like a student, with the added element of following and patterning after the master or teacher. In this way, the disciple would never be greater than the teacher, yet everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. We will become like those we follow, so we must decide to choose good teachers to follow. In this perfectly clear and logical truth, Jesus gave a wonderful promise. As we are taught by Him and grow in Him, we will become more like Jesus. More and more, we are conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29) and ultimately, when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).
The Lord Jesus became like unto us in our low estate, that we should become like Him in his glory…There must ever be the limitation of the creature as compared with Him by whom all things were made. But in our measure there shall be the same perfect beauty – his beauty upon us.
Jesus indicates that the one with the log in his own eye would not immediately be aware of it. He is blind to his obvious fault. It is the attempt to correct the fault of someone else when we ourselves have the same (or greater fault) that earns the accusation, “Hypocrite!” Jesus is gentle, but he calls that man a ‘hypocrite’ who fusses about small things in others, and pays no attention to great matters at home in his own person.
Our hypocrisy in these matters is almost always more evident to others than to ourselves. We may find a way to ignore the plank in our own eye, but others notice it immediately. A good example of this kind of hypocrisy was David’s reaction to Nathan’s story about a man who unjustly stole and killed another man’s lamb. David quickly condemned the man, but was blind to his own sin, which was much greater (2 Samuel 12). Jesus didn’t say that it was wrong for us to help our brother with the speck in his eye. It is a good thing to help your brother with his speck, but not before dealing with the plank in your own eye.
V43-45
This fruit is the inevitable result of who we are. Eventually – though it may take a time for the harvest to come – the good or bad fruit is evident, revealing what sort of tree we are. Not every tree is the same. Not to have good fruit is to have bad: there can be no innocent sterility in the invisible tree of the heart. He that brings forth no fruit, and he that brings forth bad fruit, are both only fit for the fire. It is not merely the wicked, the bearer of poison berries, that will be cut down; but the neutral, the man who bears no fruit of positive virtue must also be cast into the fire.
Just before this Jesus warned us to judge ourselves first, to look for the log in our own eye before turning our attention to the speck in our neighbor’s eye. Therefore before asking it of anyone else, we should first ask: “Do I bear fruit unto God’s glory? A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good…out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks: Our words reveal our heart. If there is good treasure in the heart, it will show; if evil, that also will show in time. Our words say more about us than we think, and reveal that some are good men and some are evil men.
V46-49 But why do you call Me “Lord, Lord,” and do not do the things which I say?
Jesus made a distinction between those who merely make a verbal profession of faith, and those who actually both hears His sayings and does them. This warning of Jesus applies to people who speak or say things to Jesus or about Jesus, but don’t really mean it.
It isn’t that they believe Jesus is a devil; they simply say the words very superficially. Their mind is elsewhere, but they believe there is value in the bare words and fulfilling some kind of religious duty with no heart, no soul, not spirit – only bare words and passing thoughts.
This warning of Jesus applies to people who say “Lord, Lord” and yet their spiritual life has nothing to do with their daily life. They go to church, perhaps fulfill some daily religious duties, yet sin against God and man just as any other might. “There are those that speak like angels, live like devils; that have Jacob’s smooth tongue, but Esau’s rough hands. Here, in three brief points, Jesus described the one who does follow Him in wisdom and truth – and went on to illustrate the wisdom of that one.
Carefully note the three-fold condition.
1. ‘Every one that comes to Me,’ surrender.
2. ‘And hears My words,’ discipleship.
3. ‘And does them,’ obedience.”
In Jesus’ final illustration of the two builders, each house looked the same from the outside. The real foundation of life is usually hidden and is only proven in the storm. Jesus warned that the foundations of our lives will be shaken at some time or another, both now (in seasons of difficulty) and in the ultimate judgment before God. It is better that we test the foundation of our life now rather than later, at our judgment before God when it is too late to change our destiny.
Time and the storms of life will prove the strength of one’s foundation, even when it is hidden. We may be surprised when we see who has truly built upon the good foundation.
“At last, when Judas betrayed Christ in the night, Nicodemus faithfully professed him in the day.” Merely hearing God’s word isn’t enough to provide a secure foundation. It is necessary that we are also doers of His word. If we are not, we commit the sin that will surely find us out, the sin of doing nothing (Numbers 32:23) – and great will be our ruin. Yet no one can read this without seeing that they have not, do not, and will not ever completely do them. Even if we do them in a general sense (in which we should), the revelation of the Kingdom of God in the Sermon on the Mount drives us back again and again as needy sinners upon our Savior.
Conclusion
The teachings of Jesus can lead us to a place where we can live good lives. And that’s a good thing, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not the reason He taught. He taught us to show us “the Kingdom of God way of living” which is the way of Jesus. I have done you a disservice if I have taught you the teachings of Jesus and not offered you the kingdom of God which He did. To be a part of the kingdom of God you don’t have to say a prayer, or be baptized, or give a certain amount of money. These things are by products of the main point Jesus is getting at. It’s that what we believe becomes so core to us. For those of us that are a part of the kingdom of God, we understand that to be a part of the kingdom of God we trust Jesus. We trust what He said, we trust what He did, and we trust who He is. He said believe in me, trust in me. What He did is, He took on all of my sin and paid the price for it so I could live freely in Him. And who He is? He is the king of that kingdom. He is God Himself. Ruling and reigning. He says that today is the day of salvation. You can trust Him today. You can live this life today. I want to invite you to join the kingdom of God today. I want to invite you to trust the teachings and the teacher.
