Who Can Be Saved?

Matthew 19:13-30

12/1/24

The average global household income is $12,235 per year. Likely, you make more than double the global average. Four times the global average is just under $49K: for many of you, I imagine your household brings in a good bit more than that.

Considering our ease, our abundance, the time we spend on entertainment and leisure, our shopping for non-essentials, our Christmas spending; we are a fabulously wealthy people. Relative to the 8 billion alive today, and certainly relative to all of humanity past, we Americans are among the wealthiest people that have ever existed on planet earth. Even our low-income earners are rich relative to a global and historical perspective.

I’ve been with Zambian orphan boys whose home is the street and their bed is the gutter. I’ve walked through a Central American slum built into the edge of a landfill where people live in poverty that would shock you. In Iraq I’ve visited Syrian refugees packed into a tent city, displaced by war, with no economic means, with virtually no hope of ever returning home.

In these moments, and others like them, I’m hit with a tsunami of swirling emotions. My heart breaks for those with such insurmountable needs and I’m flooded with a mixture of compassion and helplessness. I’m filled with gratitude that my family and I have never known suffering like that. My head spins with the disparity, and their extreme poverty freshly awakens me to just how tremendously rich I truly am.

And it is not just me. It is us: we who live in the wildly prosperous US of A. This is what I want to plant firmly in your mind before we get into the text: Materially speaking, we are the rich. We are camels in need of an impossibly tight squeeze.

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How interesting that chapter 19 began with the subject of marriage, then lands us in the significance of children.

Read vs 13

As Jesus continues to move south towards Jerusalem, teaching and healing, parents are bringing their children to Jesus. They clearly recognize that Jesus is a holy man, perhaps He is even the Messiah. Wanting the very best for their children, they want Jesus to lay His blessed hand upon their children and pray for them.

Given the opportunity to bring your child before Jesus, wouldn’t you jump at the chance? The more you understand who Jesus is, the more you would yearn for such an opportunity.

But the men who have been following Jesus for nearly 3.5 years – who should know Jesus better than anyone – they rebuke the parents for bringing their children. The disciples are evidently gripped by a sense of superiority. They are headed to Jerusalem, the seat of Jewish power; and to the temple, the earthly seat of the Almighty Yahweh. What could kids possibly add to their monumental task? They come with their silliness and naivety, all they have are needs, they are neither strong nor powerful.

They are insignificant, and Jesus doesn’t have time for them right now. Shouldn’t this be obvious to the parents who keep swarming them? The disciples sternly rebuke them.

But here it seems that the disciples are suffering from amnesia. Have they already forgotten what Jesus has been teaching?

They heard Jesus’ prayer: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”            -Matthew 11:25-26

Just a few days ago, back in Capernaum, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

                                                                             -Matthew 18:3-4

The disciples should have understood by now. But once again, with great forbearance, Jesus teaches them how the kingdom of heaven works.

Read vs 14-15

The disciples couldn’t have gotten Jesus more wrong. The Messianic kingdom, the heaven that was breaking upon the earth, belonged to the likes of children; not the powerful, not the significant, not the wealthy. Those who are marked by their need, their dependency, their hopefulness, their eagerness to follow, their hunger for relationship, they are the ones that possess the kingdom of heaven.

It is absolutely counterintuitive to worldly considerations, the type of consideration the disciples found so difficult to shake. It would take thorns and nails to set their thinking right.

But here along the road to Jerusalem, Jesus gathered the children to Himself and He laid His hands upon them. This is Matthew’s way of saying that Jesus prayed over them. The parents’ request was happily granted, and the children received a blessing from their Creator.

After Jesus and the 12 move on from their encounter with the children, someone else approaches them. And this approach is meant to be juxtaposed to that of the children.

Read vs 16

The Rich Young Man

The only detail that Matthew gives us about this man is that he is young – see that in verse 20. Cross-referencing with Mark and Luke, we also learn that he is a rich ruler. Additionally, Mark writes that the man came running up to Jesus and fell on his knees; probably indicating that the young man was passionately devout. It’s not the behavior of the indifferent or slightly interested. This is a fervent Jew filled with youthful enthusiasm.

And he eagerly wants to know what additional good deed he must do to earn eternal life. There is a mountain of implications behind the young man’s question. I will point out only two.

The first implication is that the man is very religious. Scrupulous rule keeping, trying to look as good as possible, endlessly working to better himself, straining and striving until he is finally good enough; such are the marks of the religious motivation – and how ambitiously this man is driven by religion. He legitimately thinks he can make it.

And yet, he knows he has not yet made it. That leads us to the second implication of the man’s question: He feels a nagging insecurity. He thinks he can earn his way into heaven with good works, but he does not know if he has earned enough. In fact, there is no way to know if he has earned enough – if he is good enough. Evidently, this anxiety has so plagued the young man that he is willing to throw himself down at the feet of Jesus.

But the man does not throw himself at Jesus’ feet in faith and humility. To me it looks more like the desperation of a narcissist, with a dramatic display born from either manipulation or delusion. We have seen others recognize Jesus as a prophet, as the Messiah, even as the Son of God. This young man only recognizes Jesus as a teacher – someone who will teach him how to place the last piece of the religious puzzle.

The man stands in stunning contrast to those to whom Jesus said the kingdom belongs – trusting, dependent, needy children. Still, Jesus begins to reveal how to find the entrance into the kingdom.

Read vs 17

Notice how Jesus doesn’t let the man get away with imprecise language: “There is only one who is good.” If the zealous man thinks himself one step away from achieving his own salvation, his own careless language betrays him. As Jesus has said,

 ^“I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”                                                           -Matthew 12:36-37

The man cannot see who stands before Him. He cannot see the God of all good in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. How clearly Jesus sees that his own words condemn him.

And yet Jesus is in no way condemning. He is patient and gentle, humble and incisive. “If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”

The young man was looking for that final puzzle piece, that one good deed that would merit his entrance into glory. Would it be some great act of religious piety? Shall he cross the sea to make a convert? Preach repentance in a foreign city? Instead, Jesus says he needs to keep the commandments. How mundane.

Understanding that the Rabbis taught that the law contained 613 commands, the young man persisting in the face of Jesus’ prosaic answer.

Read vs 18-19

It is interesting that Jesus lists only commandments related to how we are to treat others. Was the man caught up in spiritual observances (disciplined devotions, extended times in prayer, lengthy fasts) while he was lacking obedience to love others?

And yet these commands were observable, measurable. They could be used like a checklist used to see if a person passed inspection. Without skipping a beat, the man confidently asserted that he passed inspection.

Read vs 20

Hear the insecurity in the young man’s question. Though he thought he kept the law, he passed the inspection, he understood it wasn’t enough. No amount of law keeping and rule following gave him a feeling of security. Surely there was something he still lacked, something more he could do, one final payment needed to absolve his debt.

Indeed. And the payment cost more than all he owned.

Read vs 21

Jesus cuts to the heart of the matter. This whole time the man was asking what it would take to become perfect. He felt like he was just one step away from perfection. Being perfect, as is used in verse 21, is not merely a matter of moral flawlessness; it is more about being complete, fully mature, thoroughly reflecting the image of God.

Jesus (who Himself is the image of the invisible God) answers the man in earnest. If he wants to be perfect, and so gain entrance into the kingdom of heaven, he must do three things. 1: Sell all of his possessions. 2: Give it all away to the poor. 3: Spend his life following Jesus. If he is willing to do these three, then he will have treasure in heaven. If the man was looking for some grand religious act, certainly he has found it now. Problem was, it was too much.

Read vs 22

The rich, young ruler walks away from Jesus dejected, defeated, grieved. This is not sorrow that leads to repentance – obviously, he leaves Jesus. This is the grief of self-pity, an onset of self-oriented, woe-is-me depression. This is the sorrow of unbelief.

Compare the rich young ruler to a parable Jesus told. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” -Matthew 13:44

Against all odds, the man in the parable finds this treasure buried in the dirt in the middle of a field. When he realizes what it is that he has found, and how it is more valuable than anything else, he joyfully/gladly/easily sells everything he owns in order to buy that field and gain this supreme treasure.

Truly it is grievously sorrowful that the rich young man stood before Yahweh become flesh and saw no treasure. But the man was not there seeking a relationship with God. He didn’t want to follow Jesus. He wanted to use his good works to buy his way into heaven. He bought everything else he wanted, why not a kingdom pass?

And it turns out that the young man’s primary issue was not his religiosity. It was that he worshipped at the feet of wealth.

Read vs 23-24

For more than a century, some people have taught that the eye of a needle was a name for a small middle eastern gate. A camel had to be stripped of all its baggage and led on its knees to pass through. It was possible to lead the camel through, though it was not easy.

But there is absolutely no historical evidence that, in Jesus’ day, such a gate was called the eye of the needle. It is a complete fabrication. Additionally, Jesus’ illustration is about impossibility, not possibility with enough effort. Jesus is imaging the eye of a sewing needle, and the preposterous idea of passing a camel through it.

But even as absurd, as impossible, as getting a camel through the eye of a sewing needle is, it is even more difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is unnatural, futile. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount:

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

                                                                   -Matthew 6:24

This is what Jesus has been driving at: though the young man thinks he worship God, he really worships his possessions, his money. More precisely, his possessions and money are self-serving pursuits. Through his wealth he gains comfort, security, reputation, and independence. With a bank full of money he needs to rely on no one. But it is all in service of self, and this is whom he truly worships: self. And Jesus says you cannot have two masters. Therefore, the rich, young, religious, man cannot serve God.

If you are paying attention to what is happening in this text, then an electric shock should have just struck at your American heart. For we are the rich. Even if we don’t have much compared to those wealthier, compared to billions of others, we have great possessions. We are comfortable. We numb our struggles with pills and screens and indulgences. We have few actual needs, yet we overflow with wants. We have accumulated so much, built our own little kingdoms, we have it pretty good.

Now I know that not everything is wonderful for us. There are plenty of struggles and money issues. But I speak broadly. And if your struggles and money issues were suddenly resolved, would you somehow be immune to the consumeristic culture that you breath in every day? It’s unlikely.

This text forces you to ask, am I – wealthy American that I am – like this rich man? In spite of all of my religious fervor, do I love money/possessions/comfort/security/myself more than I love Jesus? Will I be left wanting, my wealth and works inadequate, and despite my riches I find myself too poor to pay the entrance fee into the kingdom of God?

Even poor Jewish fishermen felt this question like an electric shock.

Read vs 25

Twice in a row Jesus has stunned the disciples. Last week we saw them effectively say, “Who then can be married?” Now they say, “Who then can be saved?”

This kind of response comes from a very worldly way of thinking. Here is a young man of promise, well versed in Judaism, rich, passionate: and he misses out? Think of all the potential, all the good he could have done for the kingdom! If he is not fit for the kingdom of God, how could I possibly be?

But that is not how the kingdom of God works. The kingdom is not about what you can bring to it. The kingdom is about entering empty, trusting that you will discover righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 14:17) once you enter. It is very much akin to being like a little child: dependent and needy, nothing to offer, approaching in trust, hopeful, eager.

Did Jesus say that the kingdom belonged to those who have it all together, that have a lot to offer? Or did He say it belonged to those like little children?

But the disciples are stunned. They can’t get over that a young man of such promise was not fit for the kingdom of God. With jaws on the floor, Peter speaks for the group, “Who then can be saved?”

Read vs 26

If God wants to, He can squeeze camels through needles. He can bring the rich into the kingdom of God. Did He not do this with Zacchaeus, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and a number of other wealthy individuals?

And selling everything was never a requirement, as if it were the one good deed that would gain them entrance into the kingdom. No! God opened their eyes to see to see their salvation wrought on a cross, their death defeated in an empty tomb, their everlasting life in the promises of the Risen King. God the Spirit opened their eyes to see Jesus as the most precious treasure, and it would be a joy to sell everything if that’s what it took to follow Him.

Giving your possessions away, forsaking comfort and security and reputation, it is not a payment. It’s a response. If He has loved you, and given Himself for you – and as a result you have eternal life and eternal security and eternal significance – then what a joy to give everything away if only to magnify the name that is above every name!

Like Paul writes: But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.        -Philippians 3:7-9

          But Jesus promises, that whatever loses we suffer for His sake, these will be abundantly restored to us.

Read vs 27-30

The disciples are still thinking transactionally: “We’ve given up everything. Have we earned the kingdom of God.” Again Jesus is patient. He implicitly concedes that the disciples have indeed left everything to follow Him. Instead of rebuking their transactional thinking, Jesus offers them heavenly promises. He is so gracious!

Verse 27 is a bit mysterious to me. In some capacity, Jesus will give these 12 men the authority to judge Israel. I do not know exactly what this means, I just know that it is an honor far above what they deserve. The grace and love and generosity of our God confounds earthly standards!

And then Jesus goes further and makes a promise that applies to every disciple through all time. Whatever family or possessions you have left to follow Jesus, God will return more than you can ask or imagine in return.

          Brothers and sisters, we must ask ourselves, are we willing to give up everything for the sake of Jesus? Would you sell your house to follow him? If you have finished raising your children, would you leave them behind to advance the gospel? Would you give everything away to serve the poor and needy? If following Jesus meant persecution, and the sacrifice of your health, would you go?

          I know these are hard questions. I could add all kinds of clarifications and qualifications to soften these questions. But Jesus doesn’t. His words are stark and full of force. And the people who want to be comforted with softer words are the very ones who need to hear what Jesus said to the rich young ruler, “Sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.”

For if you were to sell everything and become poor, how much more clearly would you see the treasure that is in heaven. And that treasure is not a mansion in the sky, it is not gold and jewels. The treasure that is in heaven is Jesus Christ. The most valuable thing in all of existence is relationship with Him. His nail scarred hands are outstretched, and He says come, follow me, even at the cost of everything else, it will be worth it.

Come to Him like a little child. Come to Him dependent and needy, nothing to offer, approaching in trust, hopeful, eager, wanting nothing more than to be in His arms of love. He will by no means turn you away.

Many who are first shall be last, and the last first. (Next week’s parable will drive this saying home, so I will save it until then.)

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.                                 -Matthew 5:3-10

No Longer Two, But One

Matthew 19:1-12

Immanuel – 11/24/24

          Marriage, divorce, and singleness: Each of these are sensitive topics in our present moment. For some these are more sensitive than for others. But I imagine there is something in this text to make everyone in the room feel uncomfortable at some point. I just ask that you put your biases aside, that you open your heart to the word of God, and you allow your understanding to be conformed to what Jesus says, and not what the world is telling you, and not what you feel. His word is our life.

And today we begin with His word in Matthew 19:1, where we read, After He finished these sayings. These words are the formal conclusion to Jesus’ Discourse on Relationships in chapter 18.

          As you may recall, it was a teaching delivered to Jesus’ twelve disciples in a house in Capernaum – likely Peter’s house. But they were only stopping by the house. Ever since Jesus first prophesied that He would suffer at the hands of the religious leaders, be killed, and rise on the third day; He had set His face like flint to go to Jerusalem, to go to the place He would be murdered.

          Jesus and the disciples have now left Galilee. They will not return until after the resurrection. Matthew writes that when they left Galilee they went to Judea beyond the Jordan. That likely means they traveled south along the eastern side of the Jordan River. Such was the custom for Jews so they could avoid traveling through Samaritan lands.

          Of course, Jesus had no ill will towards the Samaritans. If you know the story, then you know that the feast of Passover approaches. It was a feast where the Lord required the people to travel to Jerusalem and the temple there. Thus the eastern road would be choked with Jews headed to Jerusalem for Passover, and Jesus’ first priority was to reveal himself to the Jews.

          And just like His Galilean ministry, crowds continue to swarm to Jesus. I do not believe Matthew is indicating that the crowds follow Him from Galilee. Rather, they come from the countryside, the villages He passes through, they meet Him along the road. Flowing with compassion and humility, meeting them right where they are, Jesus heals the brokenness of humanity.

          But even while Jesus met that brokenness with love, some voice rose against Him in contempt.

          Read vs 3

          To understand the scheme of the Pharisees, we need a little background. Let us first go the Torah (the Books of Law), where divorce is mentioned.

          Read Deuteronomy 24:1-4

          This law was ultimately a provision and protection for women. An unmarried woman was extremely vulnerable to economic destitution. Therefore, the man initiating a divorce was required to make the divorce official with a legal document. Otherwise, if she wanted to remarry, (like marry the man she had an affair with) the ex-husband could say, “No, she is still married to me!” If he were vindictive, he could prevent her from ever getting remarried again, guaranteeing her poverty and shame. Even though she was an adulteress, the certificate of divorce prevented further injustice. Through this law, God was giving mercy to sinners.

          See this also: if this law needed to be given to Israel, it meant that the people were already getting divorces. God gave this law to prevent a bad thing from getting even worse. The law was containing sin. In fact, that is the purpose of the law: to contain sin. Because if sin goes unchecked it only leads to more chaos and more destruction and more hurt. Again, the law made a provision for divorce so a woman could get remarried and not descend into poverty, and a man would not be forced to stay with an indecent wife.

          But through the years, a question arose: What were these indecencies that allowed a man to divorce his wife?

By the time Jesus came on the scene, there were two main schools of through among the Jews. Shammai was the conservative school of thought, and they held that adultery was the only indecency that legitimized divorce. The far more liberal school of thought, Hillel, disagreed. The Law commanded adulterers to be stoned to death. What’s the point of divorcing a dead person? Thus, Hillel said these indecencies were anything displeasing to the husband. Famously, one Hillel rabbi taught that a husband could divorce his wife if she spoiled her husband’s dinner.

So, the Pharisees are effectively asking Jesus, “Are you Hillel – allowing a husband to divorce his wife for any reason at all – or are you of the more conservative Shamai?” They wanted to box Jesus into a political party (more like religious party) so they could divide the people and stir up the opposing party against Jesus.

This was their trap, their test. But with just a few words Jesus masterfully blows up the whole concept of opposing parties, he destroys their trap, and He reveals the glory of marriage.

          Read vs 4-5

          Creation vs Corruption

          The Pharisees have asked Jesus about the Law, but Jesus goes back to something that supersedes the Law. Jesus turns their attention all the way back to the beginning, when the Creator infused purpose into His creation.

          Let’s look at that account together.

          Read Genesis 2:20-25

          From the beginning, Jesus said God designed humanity to be male and female. Perhaps we are living in the only moment in history where that statement is contentious. There are only two sexes, only two genders: man and woman. And when God creates new males and females, knitting them together in the wombs of their mothers, He does not slip and accidentally drop a male gender into female biology, or vise versa. He purposefully, lovingly, creates two distinct, unchanging, image-bearing, categories of human: man and woman.

          Why didn’t God create only one gender? Why not a spectrum of innumerable genders? Because, as I have said, God had a specific purpose in mind, an image He wanted projected into the created order. Male and female image-bearers would live in their created purpose as they left their fathers and mothers and held fast to one another. Their hold on one another would be so deep, so intimate, so enveloping, that the two distinct beings become one flesh.

          The Greek word for hold fast, in verse 5, carries the image of gluing objects together, cementing them, even welding two objects into one object. Somebody once said that “Webster’s dictionary defines wedding as ‘the fusing of two metals with a hot torch.” Though they got a little mixed up, there is something of a truth in it.

          God pulled a piece of the man’s body out of him, made a new and distinct being out of Adam’s body – Eve, the woman – so that through the intimacy and love of their relationship, they would become one whole, together. When God first brought Eve to Adam, when man first beheld the beauty and dignity and glory of woman, he had this overwhelming emotional eruption: “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23).

The cheesy and cliché idea of “you complete me,” has a truth rooted in Eden and this first sacred marriage. Jesus then further emphasizes the sanctity and profundity of the marriage union between man and woman.

          Read vs 6

          When a man and woman get married, in the sight of God they are no longer what they were, they are something new now, bound together, a two with one flesh, a mystical unity.

          This is nothing less than a reflection of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit, three persons united in one Being. Not only are we image-bearers as individuals, but when a man and woman are united in marriage, they are imaging the divine Trinity.

Truly, our marriages projects into the world a reality that is beyond our understanding. It is awesome and holy and should cause us to tremble with the ineffable purpose God has woven into marriage.

          But the images do not stop there. God works in layers. The Apostle Paul writes, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.                                              -Ephesians 5:31-32

          Jesus left His Father and stepped down from transcendent glory to rescue His beloved bride, to become flesh of her flesh and bone of her bone, to heal her wounds and break her chains, to wash her with His word, to love her and serve her, to sacrifice His life for hers, and to take her from her broken home to a paradise He prepared just for her.  

          The Bride of Christ is the church, and we who believe are a part of the bride. We are united to Christ by faith. One of the most powerful statements of the unity between us and Jesus also comes from Paul.

          I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.                                                           -Galatians 2:20

          What a unity! It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me! His death is our death, He died it for us. His life is our life, as He lives forevermore so shall we! By faith in Jesus, the Divine Trinity has made us one with the Son.

Our Creator purposed for marriage to broadcast the union of Christ and the church into the shadows of creation.

          So husbands, as you love your wives self-sacrificially, you are imaging Christ’s love for the church, His bride. Wives, as you love your husbands and submit to them, you are imaging the church’s love for Christ. Such a truth is awesome and holy and should cause us to tremble with the ineffable purposes God has woven into marriage.

          Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate. It is an imperative, a command. It comes from the mouth of God. What God has joined together, man must not separate. To separate is to violate what God has created!

          Understandably, this provokes the Pharisees to ask a clarifying question. I’m certain they are also eager to get their scheme back on track.

          Read vs 7-8

          Look closely at the turn in language. The Pharisees say Moses commanded. Jesus corrects them. “You guys have gotten it all wrong, Moses did not command, Moses allowed.” It was a sad concession to cope with the fallout from sin’s destructive power.

          But from the beginning, when He first brought together man and woman, God never purposed for divorce. Woefully, sin entered into that paradise when Adam and Eve chose their own will over God’s will – self instead of God. Their selfish choice was worse than the world’s most powerful nuclear warhead, spewing its toxic ash across the beauty of all creation.

Sin separated man and woman from God, sin separated man and woman from paradise and rest, and sin would eventually separate man from woman. That’s what sin does, it separates, destroys relationship, reaps destruction in the world and brokenness in the heart. And unless we are saved from our sins another separation is eventually reaped; sin separates us from our own life, eternally.

          It is why Jesus took our sins upon Himself and was forsaken, or relationally separated, from the Father. So that when He died, He died our death – the death we deserved. But when the Father raised Him from the grave, that death was defeated. Now if we come to Jesus with trusting hearts, to live in relationship with Him, the Spirit of God unites us to Jesus. His life is our life and we are reconciled to God!

          God has made a glorious provision to save us from our sins in the life and death and life again of Jesus Christ! So too was it a provision when God permitted divorce in the law, a provision to protect people from being further harmed by the hard heartedness of men and women, and the destructive force of sin.

          Read vs 9

Jesus explicitly gives an exception clause! We cannot treat this lightly. To divorce and remarry is to commit adultery, unless either spouse has broken the covenant of marriage through sexual immorality. Sexual immorality could be adultery, it could be addiction to porn, it could be acting upon homosexual lusts. Sexual immorality is a broad category for any sexual activity outside the confines of marriage.

The sacred union between husband and wife is violated, severed, through sexual immorality. The sin of sexual immorality invades a marriage and fractures it; Jesus says divorce is allowed as a recognition sin’s destruction of that marriage. But divorce is not a requirement in such situations, it is merely permitted. By the grace of God, and the healing power of the Holy Spirit, broken marriages can be reconciled; and we praise God when they are!

          And though we praise God when reconciliation occurs, we are not to require nor expect marital reconciliation in cases of sexual immorality.

How verse 9 has been twisted and abused! Since Jesus’ argument began with the beginning, there are many people in the church who say that there are absolutely no provisions for divorce; because when God established the sacred institution of marriage, and all that it is meant to image, He never intended divorce to separate husband from wife. And Christians, acknowledging that there was this one Old Testament provision, will often say, “Since we are recreated in Christ, called to be holy as He is holy, then we as Christians must obey the original terms of marriage. There are, therefore, no justifiable grounds for divorce among believers.” I know people that take such a position have good intentions – they are trying to understand the best of what Jesus had in view – but this is so clearly a twisting what Jesus means.

Sadly, it is Christian women who have suffered under this kind of twisted understanding the most. Imagine a scenario. A husband commits adultery, the wife finds out. She wants a divorce and respectfully brings her concern before the Elders (which Scripture requires to be men). The Elders say, “Yes, you have the right to divorce your husband, but you’re a Christian, and Jesus has a higher calling for your life. You should instead pursue reconciliation.” And the woman is crushed by guilt for ever having thought she should divorce her husband – cheater though he is.

Yet it is the man who has broken the vows and violated her trust and destroyed the relationship. But she is required to suck it up and take the higher road? King Jesus Himself has given her the right to divorce her sexually immoral husband; only Pharisees would guilt her into staying.

Now let’s make this a little more complex with a second scenario. Now imagine the adulterous husband fully repents, and through tears begs for forgiveness. Is the wife required to stay with him?

No! She is required to forgive him. We saw Jesus command this last week: She is commanded to forgiven him 70x7 times! In forgiveness, and with an open heart, she is required to receive him as her brother in Christ. But she is not required to receive him as her husband. She may, but she is not required.

The church should not load the wife with unbearable burdens and force her to carry a stigma for the rest of her life because she divorced the husband that destroyed their marriage. That’s something Pharisees would do; it is not from the gentle and lowly heart of Christ. (These two scenarios work in reverse: If the wife committed adultery and the husband pursued divorce.)

God’s word gives another provision for divorce: abandonment.

If the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace.                         -1 Corinthians 7:15

If a spouse takes off and wants nothing to do with their husband or wife, then they are acting as an unbeliever. In the eyes of the church, if they do not repent and return, then they are an unbeliever. The remaining spouse is free to get a divorce and remarry if desired.

I would also add physical abuse as reasonable grounds for divorce, though this is not discussed in the Bible. Yet it couldn’t be more clear that if a husband is beating his wife (or vise versa) every single purpose for marriage is destroyed. There is no love in the relationship, no trust, no respect, no intimate union, no imaging as God intended; there is only fear and bitterness and the projection of sin.

          Let me summarize that clearly. I see three clear and obvious reasons that permit divorce: sexual immorality, abandonment, and physical abuse. There are many other situations that are less clear, that get into the grey areas, that require nothing short of divine wisdom to navigate. God gives the Elders to the church to help shepherd the flock through the grey shadows we encounter as we traverse this valley of the shadow of death. It’s why you should pray for your Elders and it’s why the Elders need to desperately seek the wisdom of Christ, our Over-Shepherd.

          Back to the text. Not only does Jesus give a permission for divorce, He also says that if remarriage happens following an invalid divorce, then those who have remarried are adulterers.

          One final scenario: One I’ve witnessed multiple times. A Christian woman wants to divorce her husband, but there is no Scripturally valid reason. Perhaps she has come to despise him, or their communication is trash, or she feels her indifferent husband doesn’t care for her, or a whole host of other marital issues. She wants to end it. She says, “I know God wants my happiness. I am not happy with my husband. But I’ve been praying and I feel peace about getting divorced.”

          But do you know what? Jonah had so much peace about rebelling against God’s will that he went on a vacation. He had such great peace that he slept like a baby even while a storm threatened to break apart the boat. God’s will is not discerned by how you feel. God’s will is discerned by immersing yourself in His word! God’s will is discerned when you sit in the Biblical council of others. Your feelings would have you shipwrecked!

          Remarriage after an invalid divorce is adultery. Though I know God always has a provision of grace where there is sin, it is such a shocking statement that it elicits a reaction from of the disciples.

          Read vs 10

           I hear the disciples saying this with a sarcastic chuckle. They certainly understand that Jesus’ standard for marriage is exceedingly highly.

          Even if they are joking, Jesus gives a very serious response.

          Read vs 11-12

          A eunuch was a castrated manservant who served in royal court, particularly serving royal women. A castrated man would pose no adulterous threat in the haram of a king. They became eunuchs by men.

          Those who were born eunuchs: this is Jesus’ way of talking about those who were born without functioning sexual organs. Then there are those who have made themselves eunuchs. Jesus is not talking about self-mutilation, but those who have deliberately chosen singleness and celibacy.

          Such people have a glorious place in the kingdom of God!  Look again at verse 11. Singleness and celibacy is a gift given by God to only a few. It is a blessing filled with power and purpose. God gives this gift so the single may invest their lives for kingdom purposes in a way that would be very difficult for married people.

In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul encourages the unmarried to stay single so they can remain free from the encumbrances of marriage and give their life away in service of Jesus. Think of the radical life Paul lived on the very frontier of the kingdom, facing all kings of hardships as a result. Could he have lived in such a way if he were married? Paul didn’t think so.

I know of one young woman from our area who is, today, living in a dangerous city in the Middle East, courageously making disciples. She knows that if the wrong people discover her kingdom work, she could be martyred. She also knows that she is presently called to singleness, and it has given her the freedom to risk everything for the sake of Christ.

God has placed a bold calling upon her. He also has a bold calling for all those He has gifted with singleness. So, if God has given you this gift, it might not be to a place equally as dangerous; but it will be bold, it will take courage, it will be to serve and sacrifice and proclaim for the advancement of the kingdom, it will be for the glory of Christ. And if you follow this path in faith, blessed single one, Jesus will be walking it with you. In Him you will find the most deeply satisfying relationship in your life.

          Even still, Paul writes, Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.  -1 Corinthians 7:17

          Generally speaking, if God has called you to be married, you will want to be married even with all the relational hardships. If He has called you to singleness, you will want to serve the kingdom in a radical way, even in spite of the sufferings you shall face.

If you are divorced, and to remarry is adultery, then stay single and spend yourself for the advancement of the gospel, the growth of the kingdom, and the glory of King Jesus. For it is no longer you who lives, but Christ who lives in you.

          Brothers and sisters, no fault divorce is one of the greatest evils of our age. Divorce is so easy and encouraged, the divorce rates are so high, because we live in an unbelieving society; and unbelievers have no power within themselves to repair that which is broken.

          But we who believe, whom the Lord has chosen, we are called to a higher vision of marriage, to see the union of husband and wife as sacred, imaging the union within the Trinity, broadcasting the love of Christ for the church and the church for Christ. We see that marriage requires laying aside our own desires, our rights, our selves, so the other flourishes in the Lord and in life.

          And if you are called to singleness, then the church is your family and Christ is your closest friend.

          But married or single, we are all called not to live for ourselves, but for others, and to give our lives in service of the King. And together we hope, we anticipate, we believe, that God has set a date. He has not left us. There will never be a divorce. Jesus is coming for His Bride. He will vanquish our enemies – even death. He shall wipe away every tear, heal us of every pain, and give us an everlasting inheritance of glory and life. And we will be with Him, face to face, and when we see Him we shall be like Him.

          Brothers and sisters, when Jesus returns for His church, the purposes of our one God – Father, Son, and Spirit – will be fulfilled in our lives and over this sinful age. What a wedding it shall be!

Is there a limit to how much we should forgive? We just heard a big command, not a suggestion or a recommendation. Jesus commands us to forgive.

Here in Matthew 18 Peter is asking Jesus about the limits of forgiveness.

When you consider the wrongs that have been committed against you, is there a limit to the number of times you will forgive someone? Is there a limit to how many times you think God can forgive you? Do you ask God to forgive you but you refuse to forgive other people? Is there a consequence if you don’t forgive other people?

Many questions.

I’m guessing if you’ve lived long enough, you’ve been offended or hurt or insulted or harmed by someone. Someone has sinned against you.

So before we talk about forgiveness we have to talk about sin, because we wouldn’t need forgiveness if our lives were free of sin.

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” -1 John 1:8

None of us can claim we have no sin. So we must recognize the depth of our own personal need for forgiveness, we will see that we are called to forgive others, and we will see we are given the power to choose to accept the forgiveness that Christ offers us.

So we’re leaving Matthew for a moment. Let’s turn first to Romans 1:28.

”And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”

That last part there is the scariest. They not only sin but they approve of those who sin. Could this be any more relevant than it is today when you look at the world? The lies you read or see on TV, the way Satan can deceive the minds of people to believe hate is love and love is hate? To believe murder can be called healthcare or “a choice…” to believe you can be any gender you want to be? A society filled with sin and lacking both common sense and godliness.

Many people have "exchanged the truth about God for a lie” instead of believing in the Word of God which is alive and powerful and full of truth.

Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness…”

Sin is rebellion against God, where people choose their own evil desires rather than the goodness of God.

Then there are things you do that you don’t want to do, but you do them anyway. From Romans 7:

“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

Sin is nothing new. In Genesis 3 we can read the account of humanity’s first sin. Adam and Eve are in the Garden of Eden. Paradise… overflowing with beauty and an abundance of everything they could possibly need. Satan lies and deceives Eve with a piece of fruit. Both Adam and Eve rebelled against God’s authority. The consequences of their sin were immediate: they were ashamed, they hid from God in fear, they were judged for their sin, they were separated from God, and no longer allowed to live in the perfection of the Garden. Pain and suffering had entered humanity.

In this story we also see the birth of the necessity of forgiveness. While disobedience made us all sinners, God had a plan to restore mankind to Himself through Jesus.

“For as by the one man's disobedience (Adam’s) the many were made sinners, so by the one Man’s obedience (Jesus’) the many will be made righteous.” -Romans 5:19

While Adam was disobedient and failed, Christ was obedient to death on the cross and succeeded.

In the days of Noah great wickedness ran rampant. The sin of the people was not occasional: it was constant. Every intention of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil all the time. Every person was infected with sin and rebellion against God, so God flooded the whole earth.

Later in Genesis we find another reminder of the consequences of sin. “Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.” Immorality, impurity, violence, pride, arrogance, greed, rebellion. But most of all a rejection of God and a refusal to repent. So God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

Sin is so detrimental to us we are separated from God because of our sin. And there is no way we can overcome this problem except through Christ.

We need forgiveness.

So now as we get into Matthew 18:21 Peter asks Jesus a question about the limitations of forgiveness:

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”

Peter probably thought he was being generous by suggesting 7 times. The Jewish rabbis taught that a brother could be forgiven only three times for the same offense, but not four times. Peter is most likely trying to be a superior Law keeper here, so he doubled the three times and added one: seven times. Surely seven times would be enough and surely there must be a limit.

Peter did not anticipate Jesus' response, which was not a compliment but instead a correction.

22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Jesus said he should forgive lavishly and Peter’s suggestion of 7 times was severely inadequate by Jesus’ standards. (Different translations will say “seventy times seven” which would be 490 times. But whichever translation we look at, whether it be 77 or 490, if you’re caught up in that you’re missing the point: Jesus is speaking about forgiveness in a way that represents an abounding unlimited amount.)

Jesus tells Peter and the rest of His disciples that they should forgive continuously and without limit, just as God forgives them. Jesus is speaking of forgiveness on a scale you can hardly imagine.

If you are a believer in Christ He has forgiven you far more than you will ever be asked to forgive. We must live with a spirit of continuous forgiveness, not an unforgiving spirit of counting offenses and keeping score.

The abundance of God’s forgiveness is a radical idea because we live in a world where grudges are held and offenses are not forgotten.

Jesus said to forgive 77 times. Does that mean if someone commits sin #78 they’re finished? Can’t be forgiven? Certainly not. In Luke 17:4 Jesus suggests unlimited forgiveness by saying if your brother sins against you seven times and repents seven times you must forgive him. It’s not about keeping count, but about forgiving continuously, just as God forgives us.

(Now to know that forgiveness is abundant is not a license to sin! We will all sin but let us never sin on purpose or become comfortable in our sin because of the availability of forgiveness. Sin is a heart issue. Sin should no longer dominate and control you if you have surrendered your life to Christ.)

23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.

24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.

Take note that it says this servant was “brought” to him so perhaps he wasn’t looking forward to this interaction. Perhaps he didn’t come willingly. We can reason he probably wasn’t eager to face the reckoning.

One talent was equivalent to 15 years’ worth of wages. So to pay off a debt of ten thousand talents, the servant owed roughly 150,000 years’ worth of wages—an absurdly insurmountable debt.

25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.

Sadly being forced into slavery to settle a debt was common in the ancient world. It was expected and anticipated in situations like this where repayment is unlikely or impossible.

It’s also important to see that this servant and his family would not command a selling price equal to 150,000 years’ worth of wages. They were not ordered to be sold to pay off the debt. This was a punishment.

26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’

The servant must know his promise to pay the master everything he owes is an impossible undertaking! Feeling desperate, he is begging for mercy and forgiveness. Given the absurd amount of his debt there is no hope for the servant to ever be able to pay his own way out of the debt. The only hope for this servant and his family is forgiveness of the debt.

And just like this servant, we owe a sin debt that is far greater than any sum we could ever pay!

27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.

This is a remarkable turn of events. The idea that this servant could somehow pay is so absurd, so ludicrous, that it emphatically demonstrates the abounding generosity of the king. Moved by compassion, the king forgives the entire debt. His decision to offer forgiveness instead of judgment saves this servant from a life of slavery and poverty. Notice also that the master does more than the servant requests. The servant only asked for time to pay. The master completely released him of the debt and set him free.

28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’

This servant who had received an infinitely greater pardon from the king—whose whole life had been salvaged from ruin because of the king’s forgiveness—should have joyfully extended forgiveness to this debtor but instead he chokes him, a threatening act, and demands that he pay up.

Now 100 denarii is equal to 100 days’ wages. Compared to the first servant’s debt of 150,000 years of wages, 100 days is a tiny minuscule sum.

29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’

30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.

Instead of showing the same mercy he had received, he has the man thrown into prison.

Now let’s not be too proud here and tell ourselves we would never do something like this unforgiving servant. We may struggle with forgiveness, especially when the wrong committed against us has caused us considerable harm. We may be bitter, angry, filled with hate… but when we struggle to forgive we must look at ourselves and own our sinfulness and our own need for forgiveness. If we have suffered because of the wrong someone else has committed against us, consider the suffering Christ endured because of the sins WE have committed against God.

Jesus endured great suffering—crucifixion is one of the most painful, horrible forms of death—and He died on the cross willingly and obediently. Jesus has infinite power. If He wanted to He could have ended the existence of anyone there who opposed Him. Jesus said, "Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” 72,000 angels! Instead, Jesus was obedient to death to fulfill the Scriptures and to fulfill God’s plan to redeem us from our sins.

The prophet Isaiah wrote:

“…he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him (Jesus) the iniquity (the sinfulness) of us all.” -Isaiah 53:5-6

It is Jesus alone who offers forgiveness and salvation from the judgment that sin deserves, and He alone makes us righteous.

31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.

There’s an important observation to be made here. Yes, the servant owed the debt. Yes, the servant could legitimately be sent to prison because of the debt. However, these fellow servants clearly recognize the injustice that has been committed. They react in anger to the arrogance and the unforgiving heart of the first servant who had been forgiven so much yet refuses to forgive.

32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.

33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’

The king is outraged when he hears of what this servant has done. This servant was released because of the king’s mercy and forgiveness. You can hear it in the words the king chooses. He said, “I forgave you ALL that debt.” A great emphasis is placed on the magnitude of the forgiveness extended by the king. Now the same servant who was forgiven so much… then refused to forgive so little.

God forgives us. Therefore, how can we claim the right to withhold forgiveness? One commentary says, “A community of the forgiven must be a forgiving community.”

As a believer in Christ, forgiveness should be our response to those who sin against us.

34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.

This master originally forgave the debt this servant could never pay but now would not forgive the servant’s refusal to forgive the much smaller debt of his fellow slave.

We know that the man’s debt was insurmountable. So once he was in jail, he would never get out.

Like jail, refusing to forgive binds you in chains of bitterness and prevents you from fully experiencing the freedom that Christ offers.

In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus teaches us to pray these words: “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” -Matthew 6:14-15

In verse 35 the parable warns us of the dangers of an unforgiving heart.

35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Jesus issues a sobering warning. This unforgiving servant, despite receiving great mercy, ultimately faced severe consequences for his lack of mercy when he wouldn’t forgive.

To be clear, we are not talking about believers losing their salvation. We are saved in order to DO good works, but we are not saved BY our works.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” -Ephesians 2:8-10

Forgiving abundantly goes against everything in our human nature. The only hope we have of doing anything good is if Christ is working in us. How can you accept the forgiveness of Christ who covers the sins you’ve committed but you refuse to forgive another person for the wrong they’ve committed against you?

James wrote:

“For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” -James 2:13

Jesus said:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” -John 13:34-35

Just as Christ has loved us, we are to love one another. Just as Christ forgives us, we are to forgive one another.

In our own strength, we don’t want to forgive. We want to get even. We want people to get what they deserve! Yet we should be abundantly thankful God doesn’t give us what we deserve!

Christ calls us to forgive just as we have been forgiven. Lavish, abundant, infinite forgiveness is not an option or a suggestion—it’s a command.

“bearing with one another and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” -Colossians 3:13

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” -Ephesians 4:32

Jesus said the greatest commandment is, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Then he said the second is, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

When you love God and you are in right relationship with Him then you will have the ability to love other people and to forgive.

Back in the beginning, you heard several examples of destruction being brought upon people because of their sin.

In the book of Jonah we find the potential destruction of another large population of people, but this time the people were saved from destruction because of their repentance. Normally when you think about the story of Jonah, you think about Jonah being swallowed by a great fish. But today we will focus on the end of the story. The city of Nineveh was so filled with sin and wickedness, God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach against it because of its wickedness. Jonah didn’t want to go. He didn’t like the people of Nineveh. He didn’t want God to forgive them. So Jonah ran from God, but after a series of events he finally obeyed and went to Nineveh to preach… he told the people to repent or in 40 days God would destroy them. And the whole city repented! Even the King repented. One of the greatest revivals in the history of the world at that time. And you know what God did? He forgave them.

“When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.’” -Jonah 3:6-9

“When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.” -Jonah 3:10

Repentance leads to forgiveness.

Do we forgive like Christ or are we like Jonah? Do we struggle to forgive? Or do we forgive lavishly and abundantly just as Christ forgives us?

Even when a person experiences the worst persecution imaginable, forgiveness is possible.

Joseph’s brothers betrayed him. They were jealous of him. They hated him. They threw him in a pit and left him to die.

Then an opportunity presented itself and they sold him into slavery and made some money on him instead of just leaving him to die.

As a slave in Egypt Joseph was falsely accused and thrown into prison. Then through a series of improbable and extraordinary events, Joseph is appointed as second in command over all of Egypt. He went from being a slave and a prisoner to becoming one of the most powerful men in the world.

Years later when a famine struck, Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt looking for food. They had no idea their brother they betrayed was now the ruler who controlled whether they would eat or die.

You could say Joseph had a right to revenge, but instead he offers up one of the great acts of mercy and forgiveness in the Bible.

He said to his brothers: “do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.”

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…”

Forgiveness is a choice to let go of resentment and trust in God’s plan and also to trust in God’s justice.

How can we possibly forgive like this?

We can’t!

Unless the power of Christ is alive in us. Unless our hearts are filled with thankfulness for the forgiveness Christ lavishes upon us. This kind of forgiveness can only come from a heart that has been transformed by Christ.

“…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” -2 Corinthians 5:17

If you are a new creation, you can forgive like it.

Jesus was willing to give His life for you so that you can be forgiven. When He was hanging on the cross, in the final moments before his death, Jesus said these words:

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” -Luke 23:34

We all have a choice to make. We can repent and be forgiven or we can keep sinning, reject the forgiveness of Christ, and refuse to forgive other people.

To repent means to turn: to turn away from your sin and to turn to God.

“For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.” -2 Chronicles 30:9

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." -1 John 1:9

God does not LIMIT forgiveness but He does place a DEADLINE on forgiveness and after that you can no longer be forgiven. The time will come when your time is up. If you die without first repenting of your sins and accepting Christ it’s too late.

That’s why the Bible says, “…behold, now is the day of salvation.” -2 Corinthians 6:2

James 4 says,

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

Jesus said,

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” - John 11:25-26

Do you believe this? That’s the most important question you’ll ever answer in your entire life. Or do you choose to not believe?

Those who do not believe in Christ consider everything I just said to be foolishness.

“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” -1 Corinthians 1:18

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” -Proverbs 14:12

If you do believe in Christ your sins are forgiven.

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." - Romans 8:1

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses… God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” -Colossians 2:13-14

Today you must make a choice. If you have not made the decision to follow Christ, don’t leave saying you’ll decide some other time.

Up until now maybe you’ve lived your life and you have rejected God and you have rebelled against Him. But there is a way back to restore that relationship. It is not too late.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” -1 John 1:9

Jesus offers you complete forgiveness. You must choose to accept Christ or to reject Christ.

To be a believer in Christ means you have been set free from the curse of sin. You have been released from your sin debt. You are no longer condemned. You are set free from fear. You no longer have to fear death. You are set free from ALL your guilt and shame. Jesus paid the price to cover ALL of your sins. You have become one of God’s children. You are FORGIVEN.

“…you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." -1 Peter 2:9-10

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” -Ephesians 2:4-7

When you make Jesus the Lord of your life, you can leave all your sins behind you. No more guilt. No more shame. Jesus offers you freedom from your past, hope for the future, and abounding forgiveness only He can provide.

And once you’ve experienced the forgiveness that Christ offers you, you will be able to forgive other people the way Jesus commands us to forgive.

Paying Taxes

Matthew 17:24-27

Immanuel – 10/20/24

          Purpose

          This is not a miracle story. This is a revelation about the freedom found in Jesus.

          As you remember, Matthew has arranged his gospel as a travel narrative. The entirety of the first half of the book Jesus is operating in and around Galilee. Since Peter’s confession everything shifts. Jesus has now set His face like a flint to go to Jerusalem.

          Last week we saw Jesus leave the area around Caesarea Philippi and return to Galilee. This week we see Him in a house in Capernaum. Likely, this is the same house that He used as His home base for so long. He is back, but only to pass through. Perhaps He was gathering a few items and saying some goodbyes, before that final march toward Judea and Calvary.

          Read vs 24

          This verse is the last time Capernaum will be mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus has spent so much time here, years of His ministry, healings and teachings and the stuff of normal life; all of it in Capernaum. But Jesus’ public ministry in Galilee has officially closed.

In chapter 18 we will see Jesus give an extended and private teaching to the disciples. It’s one of the five great discourses in Matthew. Perhaps Jesus offers this private teaching before they set out from the Capernaum house.

          One more note about the Capernaum house: Church tradition holds that this is none other than Peter’s house – a meaningful detail as we progress.

          But while they are in this familiar Capernaum house, it means that Jesus can now be found. He’s home; though it has been a long time since He was here last.

          The Two-Drachma Tax

          The local tax collectors have been waiting for an opportunity like this. Notice how verse 24 says they are a particular type of tax collectors: two-drachma tax collectors. This is a temple tax, and these tax collectors represent the temple system.

          Wherever Jews lived across the Roman Empire, the two-drachma tax was collected from Jewish males, 20 years and older, for the upkeep of Jerusalem’s temple and its system. But even more fundamentally, the tax paid for the priesthood and religious leaders to perform their duties – which included the upkeep of the temple and its systems.

The concept was grounded in the Mosaic Law.

          The Lord said to Moses, “When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord…Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this:…half a shekel as an offering to the Lord….You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting.”                                                         -Exodus 30:11-12,13,16

          The two-drachma tax was loosely based upon this ancient law, though it has evolved over some 1,500 years. The law only required for a male to pay this tax once in their lifetime. But by Jesus’ day the Pharisees, wanting to encourage (or coerce) a better righteousness, started asking for this tax annually. Thus, the two-drachma temple tax was technically optional. It was optional, but culturally it wasn’t optional. If you were a good Jew, payment was expected.

Notice, the tax collectors in this passage are not Jewish puppets of Rome; not like Matthew was. These are Jewish patriots in service of the Jewish temple. And every Jew revered the temple.

          But do you remember what Jesus said back in chapter 12?

          “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”                             -Matthew 12:6-8

          Make no mistake, this was scandalous for the Jews when Jesus said something greater than the temple had come. What could be greater than the temple? It was the dwelling place of God upon earth.

          But something greater than the temple had indeed come, the only thing that could possibly be greater: God Himself, God become man. And if the people chose the temple over their God, then both the people and the temple necessarily would fall under judgment. Jesus’ rhetoric was increasingly moving in that direction, more and more in conflict with the temple and its systems.

In fact, once Jesus reaches Jerusalem, the temple system will only resist and resent Jesus. Jesus will prophesy the temple’s destruction. And Jesus’ rejection of the temple was one of the primary reasons the religious leaders – who derived their comfortable livelihood from the temple – wanted to kill Him. There is a mighty tempest gathering on the horizon.

          But all the way back in Capernaum, these tax collectors were not religious leaders. These are devoted Jews just trying to do their job. Certainly, they would have gotten wind of Jesus’ mood towards the temple. Perhaps this is why they approach Peter instead of Jesus. Additionally, it likely being Peter’s house, the homeowner is responsible for everyone under his roof. Maybe the tax collectors waited until Jesus was inside, so they didn’t have to approach Him directly.

          You just get the sense that these local tax collectors are a little nervous. Even their question to Peter seems a bit timid: “Does your teacher not pay the tax?”

          Since Jesus couldn’t go anywhere in Galilee without a crowd, I wonder if some local religious leaders were looking on, listening for how this question would be answered, using it as another test.

          Read vs 25

          I love how Peter just answers the tax collectors, “yes”; and then goes inside to see how Jesus will answer. Have you ever done something like that, assumed you knew how someone else would answer? Has someone assumed how you would answer?

I get this a lot; people assume they know what I am thinking or what my opinion is on a matter. It’s because they are operating out of expectation rather than actual relational knowledge. You know what this is like: when people really get to know you, they are often surprised to learn that you do not meet their expectations. Sometimes, when you’re not the way people expect you to be, they suddenly vanish. Turns out they wanted what they expected rather than who you are. Let’s not be like that. Let’s not be so dogmatic about our expectations and choose to really get to know people instead. Isn’t that what love would do?

Of course, I am not talking about Biblical expectations regarding clear matters of sin. That’s an entirely different category.

          The annual temple tax was not a matter of sin. As I said, it was optional. But paying it was a matter of culture, of patriotism, of perceived devotion to God. For God and country. (I’ve heard that somewhere before.) Peter’s answer assumes Jesus will meet Jewish expectations for God and country.

          Maybe Jesus is demonstrating His supernatural knowledge, or maybe He just overheard them talking outside of the door; either way He knows why Peter approaches. Jesus cut’s Peter off at the pass with a preemptive question.

And when He does this, Jesus elevates the discussion from temple taxes to all forms of taxation: Jewish taxes, Roman taxes, tolls, sales tax, income tax, capital gains tax, any tax of any kind from any governing body.

          “What do you think Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?

Read vs 26

Let’s recognize that in a democratic republic like ours, there is no autocratic king giving tax-exempt privileges to his sons (so it should be). But for the vast majority of earth’s history, kings required taxes from the people while exempting his sons own from such a tax.

Peter answers, “From others.” The king taxes people that are not his children.

          Jesus, affirming Peter’s answer, say something simultaneously simple and power: “Then the sons are free.” Free from what? Free from paying taxes.

          Of course, Jesus is not actually talking about governments and taxation. This is a metaphor. To understand what is behind the symbols of Jesus’ metaphor, let’s go back to that passage in Exodus from which the temple tax came.

The Lord said to Moses, “When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord…Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this:…half a shekel as an offering to the Lord….You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting.”                                               -Exodus 30:11-12,13,16

Notice some key phrases. A person paid the tax as a ransom for their life. In the last sentence, the tax is also called atonement money. If you are a thoughtful reader, this should compel you to ask the question: In what way was a tax paid to the temple, a ransom?

          Does not a ransom mean that something is required for your life? Or a ransom means that a value is applied to your life?

          What value has God applied to your life? What does He require for your life?  What is the value? God has imprinted His image upon you and given you dignity and worth.  What does He require?

          He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?       -Micah 6:8

          Justice, loving kindness, humility, continual walking with God. That is what God requires. And if you were to sum those different attributes up in a single word, what would that word be? Righteousness. Most fundamentally, God requires righteousness from us.  If we are to bear His image, then we are to be righteous as God is righteous.

          The temple tax, the atonement money, was a payment to the priesthood. They would perform extensive ceremonies and cleansings in order to consecrate themselves, that they might worship God in righteousness on behalf of the people. In other words, the tax was to pay someone else to be righteous in your place. When that tax was paid, it helped to atone (or cover) your unrighteousness.

          It is still true that God requires men and women to live in righteousness before Him. But all of us fall short. Quoting the Old Testament, Paul writes,

“None is righteous, no, not one; No one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

                                                                             -Romans 3:10-12

          No one is righteous, though it is what God requires of each and every person. And our inability to be righteous, and our love for sinning, is our disgrace. We render ourselves worthless in God’s eyes, having defiled His image.  And in your house, what happens with worthless things? They are thrown away. In God’s house – which is all creation – worthless things are likewise thrown away, cast from His presence, consigned to the eternal darkness of hell.

What a plight we have before our Creator! Where is the temple to which we should turn? Where are the priests who will intercede on our behalf? Where is the tax that we may pay our ransom? Oh, what can a man give in return for His own soul (Matthew 16:26)?

          Remember, something greater than the temple has come. The God once concealed by temple walls has come forth in righteousness. If we have made our lives worthless with unrighteousness; Jesus’ perfect righteousness, pure sinlessness, makes Him infinitely worthy. But even more, above Jesus’ righteousness, He is the Son of God. Did we not hear the voice atop Mount Hermon? “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him” (Matthew 17:6).

          And this perfectly righteous one, this Beloved Son, He has said,

          “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”                                           -Mark 10:45

          Jesus gave His infinitely worthy life, on that criminal’s cross, as a ransom for our unworthy lives. His righteousness in place of our sinfulness. This is the essence of the gospel.

For our sake [the Father] made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.                                -2 Corinthians 5:21

          Jesus makes payment for us. He bore the punishment for our sin, so that His righteousness could be applied to us. Jesus paid the ransom tax in His blood, that our lives might be atoned for, forgiven, made righteous.

          And if we receive this by faith, if we believe it, then God adopts us as His own sons and daughters.

          “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.”                        -Romans 8:15-17

          If you trust in Jesus, if you have given your life to follow Him, then Jesus has paid the ransom for your sins, you are forgiven, and you have been adopted by God the Father. You are an heir with Christ. The Father exacts no tax from you. God does not expect you to be righteous, He gives you righteousness and He has recreated you into the image of His Son!

           You are free from condemnation. You are free from the fear of death. You are free from trying to make yourself good enough. You are free to give your life away in service of Jesus. You are free to live in righteousness.  You are free!

          Then, in demonstration of this truth, Jesus performs an odd miracle.

          Read vs 27

          Though Jesus is free not to pay the tax, He is also free to pay the tax. Jesus freely choses to pay the tax because He is more concerned about preventing the tax collectors from becoming offended. These are just simple people trying to do their job, why make their lives difficult? Why put them in an awkward position with their bosses? Why put a bad taste in their mouth? Out of His freedom, Jesus is choosing to serve the tax collectors more than He is choosing to pay the tax.

          And Jesus pays the tax with the provision of God. Some Galilean Jew dropped a shekel in the water. A fish – always attracted to shiny things – attempted to eat it. Evidently it was unable to, for the shekel got lodged in its mouth. Then it swam to the exact right spot at the exact right time for Peter to throw in the first line and hook the exact right fish. A series of events too strange to be coincidental; it could only be the provision of God.

          And that’s what Jesus wanted Peter, and all of us, to see. God provides for His sons and daughters. God paid the price. The children are free.

We are not told that this miracle happened. But Jesus’ command is as good as done. The price was paid, the debt was satisfied.

          Brothers and sisters, fellow children of God, how amazing it is when we live in our blood bought freedom! We are free from condemnation. We are free from the fear of death. We are free from trying to make ourselves good enough. We are free to give our life away in service of the King. We are free to live in righteousness.  We are free!

          And the more we learn to live in that freedom, rather than law and obligation and coercion, the more we shall see the power of God at work within us and around us in absolutely stunning ways.

          (Parenthesis)

          Now I want to shift gears a moment. I mentioned that Jesus elevated the nature of freedom to a level above the temple, to all the kingdoms of earth. Let’s talk about our freedom as it relates to the kingdom of the earth in which we live. This is especially pertinent as we are 16 days away from a national election.

You are free. You are free to submit yourselves to the governance of the land, as Jesus did. You are free to vote however you want. You are free to choose according to your conscience. You are free to ask, what most accords with the righteousness of God?

          As children of God, we know that abortion is evil. Abandonment of the God-given gender binary is abhorrent. Continually increasing unsustainable debt is destructive. Placing the US Constitution between the covers of a Bible is repulsive. Arrogance is wicked.

          Brothers and sisters, we are free. Let us not become bound to a political party that is marked by those evils.  Let us not lash our identity to conservative or liberal.  Listen to this amazing quote,

“The church is not to be found at the ‘center’ of a left/right political world. The Church is to be a species of its own kind, confounding both left and right, and finding its identity from the ‘center’ of God’s life. As Christians, we are called to offer something all-together different for the world to see. We must seek to see the humanity [of] others, drawing near to them with compassion. This is what God has done to us and with us through Jesus Christ.” -Rich Villodas

Let us not conform to the ways of this world, not even in shades of red or blue. Prayerfully and freely cast your vote on November 5th, but do not let your identity get all tangled up with it. Division, resentment, and an us-and-them mentality, only follow those who put their hope in politics. 

But we are a species of a different kind, sons and daughters of the living God, redeemed to freely give our lives in service of His kingdom. If the kingdom of the United States would benefit as a result, praise God. But your citizenship belongs elsewhere, and your King is not heralded from the propaganda pulpits of Fox News or CNN.

(Close Parenthesis)

There are two main lessons for us in this passage today.

First, by the blood of Christ, we have been freed unto love. We know freedom of the love of the Father towards us. We know the freedom found in loving one another. Let’s live in that freedom, and worship God as we see the power of His grace working in us and through us.

Second, we should not think that God will always work a miracle to get you out of something difficult, like coins showing up in fishes’ mouths. But God will work powerfully to help you pursue the path of freedom and sacrificial love. That may seem impossible to you. What may seem impossible for you, is possible with God.

Read Galatians 4:1-7

The Transfiguration

Matthew 17:1-13

Immanuel – 10/6/24

          Two weeks ago we came to the thematic center of the Gospel of Matthew. After Peter makes his confession – that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God – everything changes. This shift is profoundly demonstrated when, for the first time in Matthew, Jesus begins to teach that he will suffer and die at the hands of the religious leaders and then in three days raise from the grave.

          The disciples were shocked by this claim. How could the Messiah, the glory of Israel, suffer; let along be killed by the very people that were supposed to champion Him?

          Then, after rebuking Peter and the disciples for their deeply flawed perspective, Jesus teaches them that His disciples through all time must likewise go to the cross. Let’s read that passage again.

          Read Matthew 16:24-28

          Don’t miss that last part, Jesus was promising that within the lifetime of some of His disciples, they would see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. Today we come to a fulfillment of that promise. If it is not the full fulfillment, then it is most certainly a foretaste.

          Read vs 1

          “After six days” …Outside of Jesus’ final week, this is the only time Matthew tells us how many days passed between events. This means Matthew is linking events together, wanting us – the readers – to take them in a single contextual package. And as we dive into our passage, we will find numerous overlapping themes between the Transfiguration and Peter’s confession.

          Peter is again at the center of the story, as well as the brothers, James and John. I want you to notice that this entire account of the Transfiguration centers on the perspective of the disciples. Though things are happening to Jesus, we are hearing about the experiences of Peter, James, and John; it is what they see, hear, and feel.

          The perspective fits Jesus’ design. Clearly, He takes these three disciples up the mountain to isolate from everyone else, even the other nine disciples. He has chosen these three, wanting more intimate time with them, entrusting to them a revelation He knows is coming.

          But before we get to the supernatural revelation, let’s consider the mountain they ascended. Church tradition holds that Mount Tabor in southern Galilee was the site of the Transfiguration. But for a few reasons that will become apparent, I disagree. I think it is far more reasonable to locate the transfiguration atop Mount Hermon, a good distance north of Galilee.

          Verse 1 says they ascended a high mountain. Mount Tabor is a modest 1,900 feet tall. It’s a large hill. At 9,200 feet, Mount Hermon is by far the tallest mountain in all of Palestine.

          Consider the last known location of Jesus and the disciples: Caesarea Philippi. Six days after it says they are in the city, they are ascending a tall mountain. It’s unlikely that Jesus – a man who was never in a hurry – rushed the disciples some 50-60 miles to get solitude on Mount Tabor. Additionally, more recent archaeological discoveries suggest that there was a settlement on Mount Tabor in Jesus’ day – not a place to be alone.

          You might think my debating between mountains is all a bit much. But there is a good reason I am doing this. There is one more powerful reason to think that Jesus was transfigured on Mount Hermon, and it is incredibly significant.

          Remember, from two weeks ago, when Jesus led the disciples to Caesarea Philippi, He was leading them into the ancient territory called Bashan. In the Jewish consciousness, this realm was a primal demonic stronghold. Let me read again a quote by Dr. Michael Heiser.

For the disciples, Bashan was an evil, otherworldly domain. [They had] reasons to feel queasy about where they were standing. According to Jewish tradition, Mount Hermon was the location where the divine sons of God had descended from heaven—ultimately corrupting humankind via their offspring with human women (see Gen 6:1–4). These offspring were known as Nephilim, ancestors of the Anakim and the Rephaim (Num 13:30–33). In Jewish theology, the spirits of these giants were demons (1 Enoch 15:1–12).¹

Add to this that the Canaanites believed their supreme god, Baal, was enthroned upon Mount Hermon. The Jews understood Baal to just be another fallen son of God. Listen to this little tidbit from 1 Chronicles.

The members of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land. They were very numerous from Bashan to Baal-hermon.                       1 Chronicles 5:23

Mount Hermon was once named Baal-hermon. The mountain was named after both a fallen son of God, and it was his stronghold. Additionally, the Jews believed that demons/fallen angels/fallen sons of God were thrown down from heaven and landed on Mount Hermon. Mount Hermon was the beachhead from which they launched a demonic rebellion against God.

Can you see why it makes so much sense that Jesus was transfigured atop Mount Hermon? The unfallen Son of God, fully God and fully man, uncorrupted and incorruptible, launched a redemptive mission from the summit of Mount Hermon. And glance at the next passage, Jesus descends from Mount Hermon and immediately exercises authority over the demonic. Then His path goes straight to Jerusalem and the demon-defeating, serpent-crushing cross that waited there.

          But before the soon coming trials, Jesus receives a gift from His Father.

          Read vs 2

          Other

          Matthew makes it seem like while Peter, James, and John are looking at Jesus, something otherworldly happens. Jesus’ face begins to shimmer, to radiate light. Luke simply says that Jesus’ face “became other.” Jesus’ clothes also become luminous.

How I wish this was better described! I want more details, but we are simply not given them. But what we have is enough; and suffice it to say that Jesus’ other nature, His divinity, began to burst forth from His human form. Fully God. Fully man.

          But the astounding sights didn’t end there.

          Read vs 3

          I doubt Jesus had everyone introduce themselves, but somehow the disciples just knew that standing in front of them were Moses and Elijah. Moses, the great lawgiver; Elijah, the greatest prophet of old. They undoubtedly appeared physically, but their appearance was also symbolic. God was communicating that the full revelation of the Law and the Prophets, all of Scripture, finds its fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth.

          And these great Jewish figures have come to speak with Jesus. Matthew doesn’t tell us about what, but Luke says they spoke to Jesus about the mission He was to accomplish in Jerusalem. In other words, they spoke to Jesus about His death.

          But while they were encouraging Jesus, Peter blurts out foolishness.

          Read vs 4

          Peter isn’t totally insane to suggest that he build some tents for the three radiant figures. Ever since the days of Moses the Jews would hold a festival called Sukkot where they would build tents/booths/mini tabernacles, to remember the time when God visibly dwelt with His people. Peter has just seen the godness of Jesus, and in a cultural knee-jerk reaction he wants to build tabernacles worthy of these three magnificent figures.

          Luke adds that Peter didn’t know what he was saying. It was just an impulse, a speaking before thinking kind of moment. Peter is ignored, because in that very moment his words are overshadowed.

          Read vs 5

          When we read that a cloud overshadowed everyone on the summit, we might get the impression that this is a dark cloud, casting shadows. But the opposite is true; it’s a bright cloud. Clouds cannot emanate light, but this cloud has light spilling out of it, like Jesus’ shimmering face.

          Overshadowed did not mean that no one could see one another, as if they were in a dense fog. It means that they were surrounded by this glory cloud. And though it was physical, tangible, somehow made of matter; it was also a symbol that Peter, James, John, Jesus, Moses, and Elijah were suddenly in the immediate and extraordinary and glorious presence of Yahweh.

          Suddenly the otherworldly and engulfing presence speaks: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.”

          Those fallen angels may have been created by God, but they in no way imaged their Father. But Jesus, He is the true Son, the one and only Beloved. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature (Hebrews 1:3). God is pleased with Him alone!

          Of course, these words must remind us of Jesus’ baptism. More than three years prior, just as John the Baptist was about to plunge Jesus beneath the water, the heavens opened and a voice cracked the air,

          “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”        -Matthew 3:17

          How precious these words must have been for Jesus to hear again. Don’t we all desire to have love reassured? To hear your father say I love you, I am proud of you; or your mother? To hear your spouse express their love again, and truly mean it? Perhaps you should find a moment to express your love again. Do it today, for the days pass so quickly.

How Jesus’ heart must have swollen as His Father said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

It was all the more meaningful because six days earlier Jesus first spoke of how He must suffer, be killed, and rise again. Jesus has now directed His path directly into that crucible of pain and shame more terrible than we can imagine. How heavy that burden must have weighed upon Him! And yet the words of His Father lift His spirit, galvanize His gentle and lowly heart, fortify His body to be broken.

Also, six days earlier, Peter had confessed that Jesus is the Son of the living God. Now the living God surrounds Peter, and the revelation is both confirmed and forever engraved upon the disciples’ hearts. In addition to the Father expressing pleasure in His Son, God also says to the disciples, “listen to Him.”

This is a direct and intentional reference to something Moses once prophesied: that God would one day send a Prophet greater than Moses. Moses prophesied,

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to Him you shall listen…And the Lord said to me… “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And whoever will not listen to my words that He shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.”                                                                         -Deuteronomy 18:15,17,18-19

          Jesus is the prophet who would come from among the people of Israel. Not only are the words of God in His mouth, He is the embodied and living Word of God. If anyone does not listen to Jesus, or obey Jesus, then the Almighty God of the universe will require it of Him. In other words, if you don’t listen to the ultimate prophet, you shall stand condemned.

          And Jesus is that ultimate prophet! He is God become man! Listen to Him!

          So said the voice from the midst of the glory cloud. Was the voice carried in mighty gusts of wind? Did it come in a rumble? Did they hear the voice with a clap of thunder? Was it a whispering breeze? However the voice was heard, it so terrified the full-grown men that they fell down paralyzed.

          Read vs 6-8

          Shining white light, a shimmering puffy cloud, it all sounds so serene; as if it were found behind the lens of a Halmark Channel movie camera. But this couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Peter, James, and John have seen just about everything now: raging demoniacs, people raised from the dead, furious storms silenced with a word, a legion of demons possess a suicidal herd of pigs. Strange things. Otherworldly things. And as astonishing as it has all been, not once have they fallen to the ground in terror.

          But the voice of Yahweh melts the strength of men. I am reminded of a Psalm.

          The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; He utters his voice, the earth melts.

                                                                             -Psalm 46:6

          In the most literal sense of the word, the disciples experienced something awesome; so awesome that at the sound of the divine voice they melt. And when it must have felt like they were about to be consumed by the supernatural dissimilitude of another realm, the Savior was there. Jesus brings them back to the familiar, He strengthens them, with the warmth of His touch.

          With His touch he healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, cleansed lepers, raised a little girl to life, and He calms the fears of His trembling disciples. Christ was with them. “Rise, and have no fear.” They were not dead. It was time to get on with the business of living. Christ was with them.

          Indeed, when they finally picked their faces out of the dust, they saw no one but Jesus only. Jesus is alone now. He is alone to face His mission. He alone is the mediator between God and man. He alone is the salvation of His people. He alone is the King of kings. He alone is the fulfillment of Scripture. He alone is the true Son of God.  Christ alone!

          And from this awesome mountaintop experience, Jesus takes His disciples to descend into the valley of the shadow of death.

          Read vs 9-10

The Inaugurated Eschaton

          What I would give to hear the conversation between Jesus and the disciples! Clearly this is only a small sampling. The disciples must have been euphoric and full of questions, reckoning with the gravity of what they had just experienced; and Jesus was there to talk them through it all.

          Yet once again we see Jesus charge the disciples to tell no one. If the crowds found out about God’s glorification of the Messiah, misunderstanding would threaten Jesus’ whole mission. And you bet, after hearing the voice from the cloud, the disciples will listen to Jesus and tell no one!

Since we are on the other side of the resurrection, we understand why Jesus’ glorification was only for a moment. We understand that Jesus’ glory cannot be rightly understood without the empty tomb, and the cross that must first be bloodied. Our sinful hearts want glory now; an easy road to health, wealth, and prosperity. The abominable prosperity gospel seizes upon these satanic and selfish desires. But the cross of Jesus Christ teaches humility before honor, self-sacrifice before security, suffering before glory.

          And then the disciples ask about the prophetic return of Elijah. They just saw Elijah on the summit, and they knew he had eschatological significance. (Eschatology is the study of the Eschaton, or the study of the last things.)

For centuries, the scribes had been teaching the Jews that Elijah had eschatological significance. It had entered the collective consciousness of the Jews that before the Messiah would appear, Elijah had to come first – to restore all things. Not that Elijah himself would restore all things; but Elijah would initiate the process through which the Messiah would come, and all things would be restored.

          And this teaching wasn’t just a scribal creation. Let’s read the last words of the Old Testament.

          Read Malachi 4

           The Jews widely understood this last passage of the Old Testament foretold of the coming of the Messiah, the Son of Righteousness. The Messiah would defeat evildoers and bring joy and freedom for those who fear the Lord. The law of God would flourish in His coming messianic kingdom. And when these things broke upon the earth, it was called the great and awesome Day of the Lord. But before the Day of the Lord dawned, Elijah would reappear; to prepare the hearts of the people.

          The disciples now unequivocally understood that the Day of the Lord had come, that Jesus was the prophesied Son of Righteousness, the Messiah. They had just received the most definitive assurance conceivable that the Day of the Lord was upon them. So, what about Elijah? How did he factor into all of this?

          Read vs 11-13

          Jesus says nothing about John the Baptist. But the description Jesus gives makes it easy for the disciples to infer he speaks of John. Also, Jesus has already told them who Elijah was.

          “For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

                                                                                      -Matthew 11:13-15

To be clear, John the Baptist was not Elijah reincarnated. John came in the spirit and power of Elijah. Before John was conceived, an angel appeared to his father, Zechariah. The angel said,

Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John… And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

                                                                                      -Luke 1:13,16-17

          The Old Testament closed by prophesying that Elijah would come. The New Testament opens, and after briefly introducing Jesus, it speaks of John the Baptist. John came in the spirit and power of Elijah, preceding the messianic Day of the Lord.

          I belabor this point because there are people who think Elijah is still to come. They think he will make a reappearance before a great tribulation at the end of history. But Scripture testifies by Jesus’ own words that Elijah has already come, 2,000 years ago, preceding the great and awesome Day of the Lord – burning like an oven.

          The Eschaton had been inaugurated in Jesus, and the disciples knew it. Elijah had come. The Messiah was with them. Salvation and judgment were being rendered. Glory was on the horizon, but suffering first. The Son of God’s victory over the demonic, but through a cross. A world of brokenness made new, but first Jesus must be broken.

          The Transfiguration is a powerful and decisive revelation of Jesus’ identity, His mission to restore a fallen world, His victory over the demonic, His relationship with His Father, and His eschatological place in history. The Transfiguration is jam packed with meaning. And how must we respond? Listen to Him!

          So, if we are not a people in His word, how are we to listen to Him. From front to back – the Law, the Prophet, the Gospels – all testify to the awesome person that is Jesus the Christ, Son of the living God. Get in His word and listen to Him!

And finally, remembering that Jesus shows us humility before honor, self-sacrifice before security, suffering before glory; He has called us onto the same path, to deny ourselves, to take up His cross and follow Him. And though the Beloved Son of God has gone before you, He is not gone.

          He alone is our mediator between God and man. He alone is the King of kings. He alone is the salvation of His people. He alone faced the mission of the cross so that in our mission, we are not alone. He alone is the courage in our fear.

We will not die, so let’s get on with the business of living. Christ is with us. Hear the very last words of the Gospel of Matthew:

          “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”             -Matthew 28:20

¹Heiser, M. (2018, April 10) What Did Jesus Mean by “Gates of Hell”? Logos. https://www.logos.com/grow/jesus-mean-gates-hell/?msockid=13832abc28ea67ea1ad338d9299466c5

The New Heavens and the New Church

Matthew 16:13-20

Immanuel – 9/22/24

          As I said in the beginning of this sermon series, there are five major thematic shifts in Matthew. Though there are these five shifts, Peter’s confession marks the most dramatic change. It is the thematic center of the Gospel of Matthew, and afterward everything changes.

          Jesus’s ministry in Galilee is over. He still performs miracles, but they are far more infrequent. Jesus begins speaking about His death and resurrection; teaching His disciples what it really means to be the Messiah. There are far more confrontations between Jesus and the religious establishment; and Jesus’ anger burns against their self-righteous ways. With Peter’s confession, Jesus now sets His face like a flint towards Jerusalem, knowing full well what awaits Him there.

What you see on the chalkboards is a quote from Isaiah 50.

          The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me?                                                       -Isaiah 50:7-8

          A rock of flint is exceptionally hard and can be used to start fires. Jesus has set His face like a flint towards Jerusalem. His resolve is hardened, like flint, to face the horrors of the cross. His life will set a fire, like with flint, that will ignite both fires of judgment and fires of refinement – the world will be set aflame.

          All these transitions follow our passage today, where Peter confesses Jesus to be the Messiah and Son of God.

          Purpose

1.      Show you the powerful context behind today’s passage.

2.      When we truly understand the identity of Jesus, He shows us our true identity.

3.      How will the church overcome the gates of hell?

Read vs 13

Jesus has led the disciples into Gentile territory, away from the Jewish crowds that so frequently followed Him. But Jesus didn’t randomly pick Caesarea Philippi for seclusion. This particular Gentile area was steeped in pagan history and bursting with cosmic significance.

Caesarea Philippi was built at the foothills of Mount Hermon, the tallest mountain in all of Palestine. But this city was built upon the ruins of other cities, and those cities upon others. In fact, civilizations had been building cities in this area for millennia. Because breaking the cliffs that rose above the city, was a huge yawning cavern. The ancients believed that somewhere within the depths of the cave was the entrance to the underworld, the place of the undead. These pagan people referred to the cave as the “Gate of Hades”.

Not only did they believe they could access the underworld from Caesarea Philippi, but the Romans dedicated the city to Zeus. Before them, the Greeks worshipped Pan. But long before both Greeks and Romans, this was the most significant site for the Canaanite worship of Baal. Jeroboam, one of Israel’s evil kings, worshipped Baal here; and he built a nearby city so Israel could come and worship Baal too. Canaanite and reprobate Israelites would come to the gates of hell and worship Baal, their king of gods.

Back then this region was known as Bashan. If you know your Old Testament, then you know that the Jews associated Bashan with demonic territory. Of this, Dr. Michael Heiser writes:

For the disciples, Bashan was an evil, otherworldly domain. [They had] reasons to feel queasy about where they were standing. According to Jewish tradition, Mount Hermon was the location where the divine sons of God had descended from heaven—ultimately corrupting humankind via their offspring with human women (see Gen 6:1–4). These offspring were known as Nephilim, ancestors of the Anakim and the Rephaim (Num 13:30–33). In Jewish theology, the spirits of these giants were demons (1 Enoch 15:1–12).¹

 When Jesus led His disciples to Caesarea Philippi, once called Bashan, it was filled with cosmic significance. For according to their Jewish tradition, Jesus was leading them into the demonic heart of darkness, to stand before the gates of hell. The demonic significance of where Jesus had taken them would not have been lost on the disciples.

Do you remember the scene in Lord of the Rings when Frodo and Sam look upon the black gate of Mordor and it fills them with despair: imposing, impenetrable, crawling with enemies, spewing evil into the world. It was as if Jesus had taken these 12 Galilean Jews to the black gate of Mordor, to the gates of hell.

And standing before this ancient stronghold of darkness, Jesus asks, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is? He was, of course, asking who people say He is.

Read vs 14

Of the prophets that are listed, perhaps the most unexpected is Jeremiah. But the Jews regarded Jeremiah as “the Weeping Prophet”. His people constantly opposed him, the religious leaders persecuted him, and Jeremiah accurately prophesied about the total destruction of the temple. More than the people realized, it was incredibly appropriate to compare Jeremiah and Jesus.

Nonetheless Jeremiah was still just a prophet. Even if the Jews thought Jesus was one of the great prophets – which was a profound honor – it still fell short of His true identity. Yes, Jesus was a prophet; and He was so much more. If anyone would know this, it should be the disciples.

Remember what Jesus told the disciples back in chapter 11.

“To you it has been granted the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.”                                               -Matthew 13:11

Yes, if anyone should know who Jesus truly is, it is the disciples.

Read vs 15-16

The Confession

We have already seen Peter speak for the rest of the disciples. He has become their leader: first among equals. Here he speaks again for his friends. And yet, based on how Jesus responds specifically to Peter, it would seem that Peter came to his conclusion before the rest, or somehow had a more robust understanding than the other eleven.

Either way, what Peter proclaims is the most comprehensive understanding of Jesus’ identity in the entire Gospel of Matthew.

The Christ. It is the Greek name for the Hebrew Messiah. Certainly, this is not the first time Peter has thought of Jesus as the Messiah – it is why he is following Jesus. But Peter’s understanding of what Messiah means is far more comprehensive than what it once was. (Though, as we will in next week’s passage, Peter’s understanding is still deficient.) None-the-less, Peter understood that Jesus was the prophesied man that would deliver Israel, the hope of the nations, and the one to bring the kingdom of God unto the earth.

Son of God. Son of God was also a title associated with the Messiah; but in the context of Matthew, “Son of God” carries divine connotations. Additionally, in the shadow of Mount Hermon, where Jewish tradition dictated that the fallen sons of God (demons) descended to corrupt the earth, Jesus’ divine sonship was juxtaposed against the fallen ones. He was the unfallen, uncorrupted, perfect Son of God. And His victory over the demonic was decisively greater, as He cast out demons everywhere He went. He was there to bind Satan. He was the greater Son of God: The Son that was with God and was God!

And Peter doesn’t just say that Jesus was the Son of God, but the Son of the living God. The word “living” is added in, and is intentional. Obviously, God is living; it was the fundamental belief among all Jews. But to add “living” in as Peter did, was to emphasize that God is present and involved. He is the personal and dynamic God who actively weaves all things together for His good purposes.

This was Peter’s confession about Jesus: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus then bursts into a moving affirmation, and it must have been very emotional.

Read vs 17

Again, I am reminded again of what Jesus said in Matthew 13.

“Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”           -Matthew 13:16-17

This is why Peter, son of Jonah (Bar-Jonah), is so blessed. He sees, truly sees, who Jesus is! But it is not because Peter was able to figure it out. It’s not because he was able to collect all the pieces and solve the puzzle. It is because the active and living God the Father has revealed it to Him. For only those that the Father has chosen will see the true identity of the Son of God! Heaven has broken into Peter’s heart, and what comes out of his mouth proves that he is cleansed from the sins which would drag him down into the cavernous depths of hell. 

Read vs 18

See what is implied? Jesus has accepted Peter’s confession as true, implicitly communicating that He is indeed Israel’s Messiah and the Son of God. Then, as Peter rightly identified Jesus, so does Jesus rightly identify Peter. More precisely, because Peter has acknowledged Jesus’ true identity, Jesus gives Peter his true identity.

Take note of this, this is true for all time: only when we acknowledge Jesus’ identity, do we discover our true identity.

We live in an age that is all about discovering your authentic self. And society would tell us that the best way to discover your authentic self is to look within, follow your heart, love yourself. But this is thinly veiled demonic deception. The Bible tells us that our hearts are desperately sick, who can understand them?!

The way to discover your authentic self is not to spend time getting to know yourself, it is to spend time getting to know Jesus. You want to know who you are, then what does your Creator say about you? He loves you; He formed you, He knows you, and He has a purpose for you. He has a name just for you.

Jesus said, “To the one who conquers…I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.”

                                                                             -Revelation 2:17

Jesus has a name for you, and a purpose. He has created you for something awesome, and God will use your life to bring His name glory! You want to be significant? The God of the universe knows you by a unique name, has a plan for your life, and had imprinted upon your heart a magnificent identity.

But these things are only true when a person comes to understand the true identity of Jesus. Again, that’s not something that anyone can figure out on their own. It is a revelation that must be given by God the Father. He chooses, He pursues, He reveals, He calls you by name, and through Jesus we find our true identity. And if today you do not know if these things are true for you, then Jesus said; seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  (Matt. 6:33)

It's what happened to Peter. At birth, his parents gave him the name Simon. Back when Jesus first called Simon to follow Him, Jesus gave him the name Cephas (John 1:42). In Greek, the name Cephas is Peter. The name means rock. But only after Peter has confessed Jesus’ true identity does Jesus tell Peter what his name really means: “On this rock I will build my church.”

Jesus has just affirmed that Simon is named “rock”, and then says that He will build His church upon this rock. There are volumes to say about this statement, and much controversy that follows it.

I believe that both the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church get this verse very wrong. They think Jesus is giving Peter the chief place among the apostles. (If that were true, why do James and John think the chief place is vacant when they ask to sit at Jesus’ right hand in chapter 18).

The Pope is supposed to be the spiritual descendant of Peter, and he wields tremendous power. The Orthodox church has a bishop that they also believe has spiritually descended from Peter. What they do is make the church become dependent upon a mere, corruptible man…as long as the church exists. That is not what Christ is doing. For it is the man who testifies Jesus’ true identity that Jesus will build His church upon, but just in its initial stages.

Think of how this works in the book of Acts.

Acts 2: At Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit falls and 3,000 Jews come to faith in Jesus, who was preaching? Peter.

Acts 8: When God gave the Holy Spirit to the Samaritans, who was there proclaiming the gospel and praying for them? Peter.

Acts 10: When God again expanded His kingdom and the Holy Spirit fell upon Gentiles, who was the one proclaiming the name of Jesus to them? Peter.

Then, not too long after this, Peter virtually drops out of the narrative of Acts. Through the giving of the Holy Spirit, God had used the preaching of Peter to expand His kingdom to Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles. Jesus was just beginning to build His kingdom from every tribe, tongue, and nation; and it was upon Peter’s preaching – upon Peter’s continued confession of the identity of Jesus – that this church would be built.

And “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Broken Gates

The purpose of gates are two-fold: to keep people in or to keep people out. The lost are imprisoned by their sins, bound to eternal separation from God, careening towards the doom of hell. But the gates of hell will not prevail against the church! The church wields the power of the gospel, proclaiming truth and freedom and life in Christ! And God uses the proclamation of the church to rip the lost from hells clutches and deliver them into the kingdom of light!

As Paul writes: I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

                                                                   -Romans 1:16

The gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and as we, church, faithfully proclaim the gospel, the lost are rescued from the clutches of hell! The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church!

In the context of our passage, the gates of hell also represent the stronghold of Satan, the fortress of the demonic. But such strongholds cannot withstand the courageous church, armed with the gospel of Jesus Christ, unashamedly proclaiming that “Jesus Christ is Lord!” And every soul that hears and believes is another stronghold demolished. Addicts experience freedom, the unlovable are loved, the shamed find favor, the unclean are cleansed, those lost to the darkness are brought into His marvelous light!

Just as Jesus said to Paul, “I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

                                                                   -Acts 26:17-18

What was true for Paul is true for the church: As the church faithfully proclaims the gospel, the strongholds of Satan are torn down.

Fear not little flock, if God is for us, who can be against us! We saw a little taste of this yesterday as 14 of us walked the streets of Corn Hill, a place that many would consider a stronghold of darkness. People received prayer, some heard the gospel; all of them had seeds planted, and the kingdom of God came near.

Read vs 19

Sadly, the modern charismatic world has widely misunderstood this verse, and it has to do with blessings. They incorrectly believe that God’s blessings are hindered by the Devil, and so they must “bind” Satan in order to “loose” God’s blessings. But if this were real, then God would be weak – so weak that Satan can stop His blessings and God needs people to help Him out. That is not how God’s blessings work and that is not what Jesus is talking about.

As Job rightly said to God: I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.                                   -Job 42:2

If God has purposed to bless someone, Satan cannot delay it, diminish it, nor block it! When God makes a promise, it will inextricably come to pass! The Charismatic “word of faith” movement is a false teaching!

But to know what Jesus is talking about, we need to understand a 1^st century Jewish idiom. In Jesus’ day, binding and loosing had a very specific meaning; and it had to do with conduct. To “bind” meant to forbid or to impose an obligation. Conversely, to “loose” meant to permit or to remove an obligation.

Again, the book of Acts illustrates how this principle functioned.

Acts 5: Peter confronts Ananias and Sapphira for their deceit and greed, they fall down dead as they are effectively cast from the church.

Acts 8: Simon the Magician tries to buy the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter condemns this behavior and calls Simon to repent or lose everything. Simon does repent and is added to the church.

Acts 10 and 11: through Peter, the church declares that eating foods that were formerly unclean, were clean; and the Gentiles are added to the church.

Acts15:  Peter oversees the Jerusalem Council that rule on what is permitted or prohibited (bound & loosed) in the church. 

But Jesus didn’t just give the power of binding and loosing to Peter. It was given to the rest of the disciples and all of the church in Matthew 18. There Jesus teaches about church discipline, and what the church allows and doesn’t allow. Jesus then says,

“Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”           -Matthew 18:18

In other words, Christ has given His church the authority to make judgments on things that are Christlike and not Christlike. And observing these behaviors, the Church has the authority to bring people in for their Christlikeness or cast them out for their godlessness.

You might say, “Wait, isn’t that so arbitrary? Can’t people just make that up?” For two reasons they cannot. First, the true Bride-of-Christ-church would never abuse her God-given authority. Second, because what the church declares as right and wrong, as those who are in or out, has already been declared in the heavenly places.

Let me highlight how the Legacy Standard Bible translates Matthew 16:19. I think it is very enlightening.

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”                               -Matthew 16:19 (Legacy Standard Bible)

Every single commentary I read said this is the correct way to translate the verse. It totally changes the dynamic. What the church binds are the very things that heaven binds. What the church looses are the very things that are loosed in heaven. Catch this, it is so important: We are not the ones making things happen in heaven. We – the church – are the ones who see the things of heaven and bring them to bear on earth. Through our binding and loosing, the spiritual realities of heaven are invading our physical reality on earth.  Let me put it another way.  Jesus has ordained that through the activity of the church, the kingdom of heaven will advance upon earth. 

Then, after declaring this to the disciples, Jesus tells His disciples to hide His identity.

Read vs 20

Even after Peter accurately identifies Jesus, he still doesn’t quite understand what Jesus’ identity means. We will see that demonstrated in the very next passage. Peter still conceives of the Messiah as a militaristic figure. And if Peter doesn’t fully get it, this leader of the disciples, how much less will the public understand Jesus’ identity? Better to keep it secret until He can accomplish His mission of humility and self-sacrifice. For only after His death and resurrection will the true nature of the Messiah be understood.

But through the pages of this book we have seen Jesus’ death and resurrection. We have seen Him purchase our freedom in His own blood, crush the head of the enemy, and kill death. We have seen the Risen Son of God ascend to the right hand of the Father where He reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords.

If you confess these things with your mouth, and believe them in your heart, you will be saved (Romans 10:9)! And when you know the true identity of Jesus the King, He will reveal your true identity to you: son or daughter of the living God, chosen and precious, a new creation, sent out as an ambassador of Jesus Christ, proclaiming how all people everywhere can be reconciled unto God.

And the gates of hell shall not prevail against us, church!

Be wise to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.                                                                                              -Romans 16:19-20

Church – you overcomers, let us go from here in courageous, Satan crushing, Gospel proclamation.   And, as we do, Jesus will see that the kingdom of heaven advances upon earth!

¹Heiser, M. (2018, April 10) What Did Jesus Mean by “Gates of Hell”? Logos. https://www.logos.com/grow/jesus-mean-gates-hell/?msockid=13832abc28ea67ea1ad338d9299466c5

Hypocrisy

Matthew 15:1-20

Immanuel – 9/1/24

          We spent most of August in a flashback. Since Matthew 14:3, Matthew has taken us back in time, back to when John the Baptist was martyred by Herod Antipas. We then saw Jesus’ response to the news of His cousin’s death, His miraculous feeding of an enormous crowd, and He and Peter walk on water. It was a remarkable 48 hours in the life of Jesus.

          When we come to chapter 15, things snap forward into the overarching timeline as Matthew is presenting it. By way of reminder, and for the most part, Matthew has not arranged his Gospel in chronological order. He has arranged the book as a travel narrative: Jesus begins in Galilee, journeys through Judea, and ends in Jerusalem.

          Already we have seen the beginning of the end for Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. So many of the towns of Galilee have refused to repent, the people of His hometown have violently rejected Him, the religious establishment opposes Him, and Herod – the ruler of Galilee – looks on Jesus with dangerous suspicion.

          Capernaum had been Jesus’ homebase of operations. But now He abandons the city, becoming a homeless wanderer. He will pass through again, but only on His way to other places, often non-Jewish places. It is as if He is not welcome among the majority of Galilean Jews – that is, unless they want to get some miracles out of Him.

          As we see today, opposition to Jesus is only mounting. And before Jesus can travel to Jerusalem, Jerusalem comes to Jesus. It is not a happy meeting.

          Read vs 1

          The Jerusalem Delegation

The most authoritative Jewish religious leaders were in Jerusalem – the holy city. The delegation they sent to rustic Galilee was an extension of their authority, a representation of their elite status and power. And they do not extend this authoritative arm with an open mind; it seems they have already drawn some conclusions about Jesus.

          Jesus’ fame had indeed grown. Herod looks suspiciously on Him, and now Jerusalem has come to Jesus looking to pick a fight. There are no pleasantries, no warmth at all. Jerusalem’s delegates ask a question filled with oppositional force.

          Read vs 2

          The religious leaders question Jesus’ disciples, but in reality, they are confronting Jesus. Disciples, by definition, follow their teacher. If the disciples are not washing their hands, it is because Jesus has taught them to do so. In other words, the Pharisees are assessing whether or not Jesus is a false teacher, though it seems like they’ve already made up their minds.

          They see Jesus’ teaching run contrary to the tradition of the elders – on a number of levels – but here they cite the washing of hands. To us it may seem like hand washing is a minor issue, but we can hardly overstate how important it was to religious Jews in those days.

          Let me provide a bit of context surrounding handwashing. In the books of law, God said to Israel,

“I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.”                                                                          -Leviticus 11:44

As God is set apart, altogether different in His pure holiness; so He was setting His people apart, to be holy and pure. Thus, the people of God were to avoid becoming unclean. This had a spiritual side and a physical side, a moral aspect and a bodily aspect. On the physical/bodily side, the ceremonial law dictated what was clean and unclean.

For instance, the ceremonial law of God says that the following things are unclean: dead bodies (human or animal), blood, people with infectious diseases (like leprosy), pigs, and many more. Then, anything that came in contact with these unclean things also became unclean. Thus, if you touched an unclean thing, you became unclean.

Likely, you can see the merit in all of this. God was teaching His people to be hygienic. But, unless you were a temple priest, God did not require His people to wash regularly; only when obvious contact was made with something unclean. Then there were the Gentiles, who didn’t follow Jewish ceremonial laws. Without adherence to the law, they were also unclean.

And yet, a funny thing happened. What if you touched something unclean, but you did not realize it. What if a person with a discharge of blood had sat on a bench, and then later you sat on that same bench. Had you become accidentally unclean? What if an unclean Gentile brushed up against you as you passed through a crowded street?

An oral tradition arose starting with the assumption that everything was unclean. The religious leaders created endless regulations going wildly above and beyond the ceremonial laws of God. Important requirements developed surrounding handwashing – especially handwashing before you eat.

Through the centuries, these traditions grew, eventually got put into books, and embedded themselves in the Jewish identity. What began in good intentions, desiring to be holy as God is holy, mutated and corrupted. By Jesus’ day the “traditions of the elders” were so numerous that only the scribes could keep track of them, the common people were terribly burdened by them, and the poor and uneducated could never hope to keep them.

          In the minds of Jerusalem’s religious elite, if Jesus was teaching His disciples, they didn’t need to wash their hands before they ate, it was an assault on the very identity of the Jewish people. It was an assault on them who so rigorously upheld the traditions. And Jesus called Himself a religious leader? Outrageous!

          But they could not see that they could not see. Like the Proverbs teach, a fool does not know he is a fool, but thinks himself wise. Speaking words charged with divine authority, Jesus rebukes centuries of corrupt, unjust, overbearing, traditions of man.

          Read vs 3-6

          Jesus addresses three groups of people: first the religious leaders, then the crowd in general, and then His disciples privately. Notice how Jesus does not directly address the Pharisee’s question at all. He does not defend Himself nor the practice of the disciples. These scribes and Pharisees, who loved the art of debate, were probably hoping that Jesus would try to defend Himself. Instead, Jesus attacks another tradition of the elders.

          Jesus does this by first posing a counter question: “Why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” He has just taken the Pharisee’s question and eviscerated it. The traditions of man must never supersede what God has spoken. And do not miss what Jesus is getting at. He is not saying that despite their traditions they break the law of God. Rather, Jesus is saying that it is precisely because of their traditions that they break God’s law.

          Jesus then gives a condemning example: a tradition of the elders commonly called “Korban.”

          Jesus quotes two commandments of God (Exodus 20:12 and Exodus 21:17). Many of you will know that in the 10 Commandments, “honor your father and mother” is the 5^th commandment. But for the sake of Korban, the tradition of the elders made provision for the people to dishonor their father and mother.

          Korban was the practice of vowing, or promising, to give food, money, or property over to the temple treasury. The tradition presented korban as a way to please God; but the temple leaders lived off of the temple treasury. Turns out, they were pleased too.

It was not uncommon for a young man to get caught up in a religious fervor and make a rash vow, pledging large amounts of money or significant portions of land to the temple; and the sly religious leaders did not question the appropriateness of such an oath. Money that should have been used to support aging parents was swallowed up by the temple leaders. This is one reason why, in Luke 21:47, Jesus said the scribes “devour widows’ houses.”

          As Jesus says in verse 6, Jerusalem’s religious establishment, and their copious traditions, were making void the word of God. Pharisees were welcoming people to dishonor their father and mother, calling it a good thing, and then profiting from it.

          Read vs 7-9

          Hypocrites! Jesus perfectly describes the hypocrisy of the Pharisees later on in the Gospel of Matthew.

          “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”                                            -Matthew 23:27-28

          That’s the sort of hypocrisy Jesus sees in these religious leaders, these leaders of the Jews. Back in our passage, Jesus says the religious leaders are as wicked as the religious leaders in the days of the prophet Isaiah. Their worship is superficial, empty, meaningless, self-righteous. It’s just a show. They talk the talk, but they do not walk the walk.

This is “exhibit A” in how religion is not the same as relationship with God! The scribes and Pharisees were deeply religious, rigorously committed to their beliefs. But their hearts were far from God, they had no relationship with Him.

Paul wrote to the Romans about this:

They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.                                                           -Romans 10:2-3

          In other words, the scribes and Pharisees, and all of earth’s practitioners of religion, can be overflowing with passion for their god/s. But they do not know the True and Living God. They have no relationship with Him. And consequently, they are far from God’s righteousness and lost in their own self-righteous works of wickedness.

And then, for the scribes and Pharisees that confront Jesus, what is even more damning is that they teach other people to do the very same thing: teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. They teach people to nullify God’s word so they can uphold their superficial, empty, self-righteous traditions. Jesus is effectively saying that by placing their traditions above God’s word, they place themselves above God, and then teach others to do the same.

Make no mistake, Jesus is angry. In Matthew 23 He will pronounce seven woes over the scribes and Pharisees and call them children of hell. But here His anger is more muted. None-the-less, the lines have been drawn. One commentator writes, “After this dialogue the breach between Jesus and the scribal establishment is irreparable.”¹

Then Jesus turns His attention to the crowds, to the very people the scribes and Pharisees had been foisting their unbearable and wicked traditions upon. Jesus directs no anger toward them, but instead offers a path to freedom.

          Read vs 10-11

          Internal, Not External

If the scribes and Pharisees were upset with what Jesus was teaching His disciples, verse 12 informs us that they were fuming as He instructs the crowds; a fact that Jesus would not have been oblivious to.

          He says, “Hear and understand.” From the highest to the lowest, elite religious leader to poor beggars, Jesus is calling the people to think – to think deeply.

          I’ve said it before and I will say it again, following Jesus is not a mindless endeavor. Jesus calls us to be thinkers, to follow Him with our minds as well as our hearts. Just as we can be lazy in our deeds, so can we be lazy in our thinking. If a fool does not know he is a fool, how can he come to know his condition? One way to answer: think deeply upon the words of Christ.

          “Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

          Jesus gives no explanation to the crowd. His words carried all the truth the people needed, if only they applied their minds to hear and then understand. But to the disciples, Jesus does provide explanation. This is an example of “to those who have, more will be given” (Matthew 13:12).

          Read vs 12

          Last week we saw Peter walk on water. Now he is speaking as a representative of the 12 disciples. We know this because Jesus’ answers are not just for Peter, but for the group. Peter has now emerged as the leader of the disciples.

          And, on behalf of the disciples, he wants to make sure that Jesus knows about the insulted religious leaders. Did the disciples think that Jesus had pushed a little too hard? Did they think He needed to go smooth things over?

          Jesus does not think so.

          Read vs 13-14

          The scribes and Pharisees peacock around in their robes of authority, but their authority is neither given by God nor founded in God’s word. Like a parasitic weed in a garden, God will rip them from His good soil. Take note, this is a word of judgment; and it is not spoken about future religious leaders. It is spoken about the religious establishment of that generation, leading the people like blind guides.

          Blind guides indeed. They could not see the way to God, they could not see the righteousness of God. They thought their freshly washed hands were enough, but they could not see – would not see – that they were filthy with unrighteousness.

          “Leave them alone.” With these three words, Jesus sidelines the scribes and Pharisees in the kingdom of God. They make themselves prominent, but they are nothing in the kingdom of heaven. Let them flaunt. Just leave them alone. Let them be. Their day is coming. For without repentance, the pit these blind guides will fall into burns with eternal flame. Anyone that would follow them falls endlessly in with them.

          Read vs 15

          In the sense that we understand it, Jesus has not just told a parable. But in the Greek sense of the word, a proverb – or wise saying – can also be called a parable. This is what Peter refers to when he asks for clarity on behalf of the disciples.

          Read vs 16

          Jesus is angry with the religious leaders, but He is frustrated with the disciples. They should know by now. They should know that it’s not about all these exterior things, it’s not about religious performance, but God seeks relationship with His people.

They heard Jesus teach all these principles in the Sermon on the Mount and the Parable Discourse. They watched as Jesus touched lepers, demon possessed people, a woman with a discharge of blood, and dead bodies. He did not become unclean, but they became clean. Nearness to Jesus is what was making people clean.  But those closest to Jesus, the disciples, are still not getting it.

          Have you ever had to tell your kids, or a student, or an employee, the same thing over and over and over again and still they don’t seem to understand. So it was with Jesus and the disciples. So the next time you get frustrated because they still don’t get it, know that you have a share in Jesus’ sufferings, and He in yours.

          But despite His frustration, Jesus patiently explains:

          Read vs 17-20

          What you eat and drink is simply that, they do not render a person unclean. The things that come out of the mouth, these betray the condition of the heart. This is very much like what James writes:

          If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.                                              -James 1:26

          With your mouth you can speak gossip, or cut someone down with sharp words, or be condescending, or lie. All of these betray evil in the heart. Though sarcasm has its place, I know my sarcastic tongue has hurt too many people. There is sin in my heart, and I have to work to bridle my tongue. And part of that work is to repeatedly ask for forgiveness – from God and from those I’ve offended – and then pray that God give me grace for self-control.

Jesus mentions evil thoughts in verse 19. Evil thoughts come from an evil heart. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, hatred betrays a murderous heart. Lust betrays an adulterous and sexually immoral heart. Additionally, covetousness betrays a thieving heart; envy, a slanderous heart; arrogance, a deceitful heart.

          “These are what defile a person.” Eating with unwashed hands has no moral bearing on a person. Contact with external things, like food and drink, does not render a person morally defiled.

          With words like these, Jesus has flipped the religious world upside down, stripping it of its superficial and self-righteous traditions. Indeed, the reality of Jesus would forever change the identity of the people of God; no longer marked by their strict adherence to rules and traditions but marked by their relationship with Him: where His disciples think deeply on what He has said and allow their lives to be transformed by them, where disciples are washed clean through nearness to Him.

          Brothers and sisters, following Jesus is not about living by a strict set of regulations: do this, don’t do that. Don’t be a hypocrite, no one can live under such burdens, not even you! Following Jesus is about loving Jesus because He has loved you, because He emptied Himself as He gave Himself for you.

God’s word tells us that we are all born with hearts that are diseased with sinful desires, hearts that are spiritually dead. Diseased and dead hearts: unclean! Right down at the deepest part of who we are, in our inmost being, we are unclean.

But by faith, all of your uncleanness was placed upon Jesus at the cross. The moral filth of God’s people was placed upon Him and He became sin who knew no sin. He was crushed for our iniquity, pierced for our transgressions. But on the third day, when Jesus defeated death, He was raised in blinding light, whiter than white, perfectly spotless and infinitely clean: holy, holy, holy!

And to all who trust in this truth, He pours His Holy Spirit upon you, and you are cleansed! Listen carefully to God’s word.

Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.                                           -1 Corinthians 6:9-11

          What freedom we have in Christ! Indeed, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (1 Corinthians 3:17)! You are free to eat what you like and drink what you like, you are free to touch what you like, you are free. But because you live in relationship to Jesus, whatever you do, do unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23-24)! Or, as St. Augustine put in different words: “Love God, and do whatever you please: for the soul trained in love of God will do nothing to offend the One who is Beloved.”

          I leave you with a psalm of David.

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.                                                 -Psalm 24:3-4

¹France, R.T. (2007). The Gospel of Matthew. Pg 575. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Feeding 5,000

Matthew 14:13-21

Immanuel – 8/18/24

If there is any place on earth where you might expect to feel welcome/ accepted/loved, it is home. But when Jesus went home to Nazareth, and taught in the synagogue there, He was violently expelled. Even His own family members did not receive Him.

Shortly afterwards, Jesus caught wind that His ministry had drawn unwanted attention from the treacherous ruler of Galilee, Herod Antipas. Herod was even wondering if Jesus was really John the Baptist, resurrected.

And then Matthew gives us a flashback. We go back, probably only a few weeks, perhaps a month or two, to a lavish banquet at Herod’s palace. It’s a terrible story of deceit, debauchery, incest, manipulation, injustice, and murder. It ends with the head of John the Baptist on a platter; served, ultimately, to Herodias.

Jesus hears of His martyred cousin, and it fills Him with tremendous grief. And so, as anyone would want to do, in sorrow He withdraws to seek solitude.

This is where our passage picks up. Keep in mind that we are still in Matthew’s flashback. In fact, this flashback is not only about John’s death and Jesus’ response to it, but also an account of an extraordinarily remarkable 48 hours in Jesus’ life. The flashback will only end as chapter 14 concludes.

In this flashback we move from the hedonistic banquet in Herod’s palace to one less decadent and far more wholesome. The event we study today, the feeding of the 5,000, is extraordinary enough that every Gospel writer records it. In fact, it is the only miracle of Christ’s (apart from the resurrection) that is in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Read vs 13

The Gathering

In this flashback, Jesus is still primarily operating out of Capernaum. Everyone knew that Capernaum was His home base, and crowds of people were constantly drawn to the lakeside city, hoping to benefit from the powerful miracle worker who was living there, wondering if He truly was Israel’s Messiah. Mark writes that the crowds were so intense that Jesus and the disciples couldn’t even take a break to eat (Mark 6:31).

So when Jesus hears that His beloved cousin is dead, and He desires to get some space, the only escape is to leave town and find some desolate place. Matthew doesn’t make it explicit, but the disciples are also with Him on the boat. The Gospel of Mark corroborates this.

The solitude Jesus seeks is not complete isolation, but one with His disciples. Though Jesus did sometimes seek solitude to pray, all of His life was lived in community. He loved people, He invested, He gave of Himself. Even in times of great grief, still He gave.

And since Jesus is the supreme example of a godly life, we too are called to give of ourselves, and give of ourselves, and give of ourselves – even in the midst of deep sorrows, even when you know there will be no return. God created us to flourish in community, and to generously invest in one another despite our own personal situations. Such is the day-to-day meaning of Jesus’ words:

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

-John 15:12-13

Just as Jesus selflessly gave of Himself, so are we to give of ourselves. I know how easy it is to elevate “me time;” but that is the construct of a selfish world. Jesus knew of no such thing. He gave, and He gave, and He gave. He gave of Himself even to the point of death.

Read vs 14

Jesus could not escape the crowds, even on a boat. The people most certainly would have seen them launch from Capernaum’s docks. Jesus and the disciples would have been easy to spot on the lake. Watching from the shoreline, the crowd followed, passing through other lakeside communities. Word was spreading to these villages and beyond. More and more continued to join in pursuit of Jesus.

Though we don’t know exactly where Jesus and the disciples landed, it is reasonable to assume that they went somewhere to the east of Bethsaida. Here’s three reasons why:

1. The geography fits: It was desolate and mountainous.

2. It was outside of Herod’s territory, and therefore a little safer.

3. It was anywhere from 5-8 miles away, a reasonable distance from Capernaum for the crowds to follow.

Indeed, the crowds have come. Verse 21 says 5,000 besides women and children. On the conservative side, if there was one woman or child for every man – and I imagine women and children showed up without any men – the hillside was easily filled with 10,000 people. Here’s an image to help visualize the numbers Jesus may have seen as He approached the supposed desolate place.

They have come because they still need healing. Matthew, Luke, and John each emphasize the healings Jesus performed for them; which means that the crowds have brought with them their sick and disabled – likely not an easy task. This mass of humanity: sweaty, dirty, tired, and desperate to for Jesus. Thousands and thousands of them: far more than He left behind in Capernaum.

There was no disappointment in Jesus’ heart, no annoyance, no begrudged, “here we go again.” From verse 14: He had compassion on them. His own agenda, His own desires, His own emotions, were contentedly laid aside. As His boat neared the shore, and He beheld the sea of needy people, His heart broke for the people. In that moment, Jesus wanted nothing more than to serve them: to give and to give and to give again.

And as I behold that moment, I simultaneously see how much I love Jesus, how I want to be like Him, and how dramatically far I fall short. For such sincere, compassionate, generous love is the very essence of Christ’s own heart; gentle and lowly as it is.

Read vs 15-16

Bread That Satisfies

Matthew only tells that Jesus healed the sick. Mark tells us that Jesus also taught the crowds many things. Luke adds that He taught them about the kingdom of God.

It must have been morning when John’s disciples told Jesus the sad news. Because the boat ride, the healing, the teaching, it all must have taken hours and hours. It is now well past dinner time. Jesus doesn’t seem to be wearying, perhaps He might go all night. And He doesn’t seem to be losing the crowd, no one is dispersing.

The crowd is riveted. I imagine that very few of them had ever seen anything like Jesus before. As astounding as it all was, the disciples were more familiar with these things, and they were likely quite hungry by now. Apparently, they thought it was time for some pragmatic decision making, because they interrupt Jesus from healing and/or teaching, with some practical concerns.

The disciples basically say, “Everyone is hungry. Being a desolate place, there’s no possible way to feed them. It might be wise to bring things to a close. Send them off and let them fend for themselves.” Do you see that, in verse 15? The disciples command Jesus: “Send the crowds away.”

But despite all appearances, and all earthly common sense, Jesus says that the people do not need to go away. In other words, the crowd has everything they need right here. Then Jesus returns a command to the disciples: “You give them something to eat.”

Instead of just dismissing everyone – instead of being dismissive – Jesus invites the disciples into considering how they might help the situation. He invites them to look upon the mass of people with more than just their dismissive eyes.

But they are still unable to do that. They know Jesus can meet any need – He’s just been healing all these people – yet they fail to see with eyes of faith. Soon enough, Jesus will speak the words, “Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Such doubt is present before these hungry crowds.

Read vs 17

According to the Gospel of Mark, after Jesus told the disciples to feed the people, they went searching through the crowd for food. I imagine word quickly spread; Jesus was asking if anyone had food. In all those thousands and thousands of people, all the disciples could find was five loaves and two fish.

These loaves would have been roughly cupcake sized. John tells us that a young boy was offering the food. Likely, this came from a mother supplying her son with provisions for the afternoon.

Surely, there was more food in that crowd. In fear of going hungry, were people hiding food for themselves? Fear does lead people to hold back, but this boy, with slightly more than enough for himself seems to eagerly offer it up. So little for so many, but it was what he had; and the Lord was asking.

Jesus’ plans had been laid aside for the desires of the crowd. Now He begins to take control of the situation; and His control is exercised in a perfect display of compassion and generosity.

Read vs 18-20

Like the head of the household, Jesus gives thanks for the food on behalf of the thousands of people. He then broke up the loaves and fish and gave the pieces to the disciples. What was already a tiny meal has just gotten a lot smaller. He tells the disciples to distribute the bits of food.

Apparently, the miracle takes place in the hands of the disciples; for as they give, there is somehow more to give. What little they had becomes more, becomes abundant, becomes bountiful beyond all imagining. The disciples are giving, but it is more truly Jesus who is giving. The miracle is His alone, though He uses the hands of the 12.

And 5,000 are fed, and 10,000. 12 baskets left over: one for each of the disciples, one for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. You may remember from sermons past; the Jews consider 12 to be the number of the people of God. 12 baskets of abundance, an overflow to represent the full satisfaction of the people of God. It is a satisfaction found in the power of Christ as the people of Christ serve one another.

But there are more than miracles happening here, so much more. The past and the future are being echoed.

At the beginning of this sermon series, I pointed out that there are numerous times when Jesus relives Israel’s history. This is one of them. Consider when God used the great prophet, Elisha, to miraculously feed 100 men.

A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give to the men, that they may eat.” But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” So he repeated, “Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’ ” So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord. -2 Kings 4:42-44

Elisha miraculously fed 100. Jesus fed overwhelmingly more. But there was another, even greater, miraculous feeding in the Old Testament. In a desolate place, on the side of a mountain, God rained bread from heaven for the hungry people of Israel – recently freed from Egypt. Under the leadership of Moses, God used manna to sustain His people in the wilderness for 40 years.

But it didn’t take long for Israel to complain. They were tired of bread and wanted some meat. They complained to Moses and Moses complained to God.

“Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ I am not able to carry all this people alone, the burden is too heavy for me. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once…Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.” -Numbers 11:13-15,21-23

When Jesus saw the need of the people He felt compassion, and He perfectly trusted His Father, thanking Him, and He served the people with bread and meat. When Moses saw the need of the people he felt exasperation, inadequacy, despair; he had little faith and complained to God. Despite this, God sustained His people with bread and meat.

But just as the feeding of the 5,000 reveals, Jesus is the greater Moses and Elisha. He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. He is the greater sustenance. He is the Bread of Heaven. Just after John’s account of the miraculous feast, Jesus said to the people,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to Him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” -John 6:32-35

Jesus is the Bread of Life, come down from heaven. He is the sustenance we need. Like the crowds, we don’t need to worry about what we will eat. We just need to be near to Jesus. We need to be in His word and meditate upon Him. He is a feast for our souls! We come to Him and know His compassion, we feel His love, we experience His rest, we are flooded with joy. Jesus is heaven’s greatest food given to us!

But bread isn’t eaten for sitting around only thinking about things. It gives the energy of life. We need to get up, put away our pragmatic fears, and follow Jesus.

There are four very significant verbs in our passage today: take, bless, break, give, eat. Can you think of another time when these four verbs are used in the same sequence. It is no coincidence.

Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” -Matthew 26:26

When Jesus fed the 5,000, He was foreshadowing things to come. Of course, these words are from when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, communion. Jesus instituted this during Passover. Not coincidentally, in John’s account we learn that Jesus fed the 5,000 as Passover was at hand (John 6:4). Approximately one year before the Last Supper and the breaking of the bread, and the breaking of the body on a cross, Jesus gave up His grief to compassionately feed the mass of humanity.

There were echoes of the past and the future when Jesus fed the 5,000. But what we see, no matter where we look, is that Jesus gave of Himself, and He gave of Himself, and He gave of Himself.

He took the bread and He blessed it. He broke it and then He gave it to the disciples. They were to eat; but they were also to give the bread to others to eat. Just like their Lord, they were to give, and to give, and to give. And just like their Lord, each of the 12 would give their lives for the sake of distributing this bread from heaven.

But these 12 disciples started with so little. They were poor, or despised, ordinary, obscure, with nothing significant to offer. They were the ones of little faith, who constantly didn’t understand the man they followed. But they followed. They were eager. And whatever they had, like the boy with loaves and fish, they offered it to their Lord.

And Christ took what little they had, and multiplied it. Between the 12 of them (minus Judas plus Paul) they would take the gospel to the ends of the known world. Their testimony would impact billions – we read it even today. Even today, as we read Matthew, one of the 12 disciples passes to us this miraculous bread given by Christ.

Listen to what a commentator of Mark, James Edwards writes, “The miracle brings the Divine will to perfect expression, for God wills to fill His creatures with Himself, to meet their needs with His surplus, to expand their smallness by His greatness, and to transform mundane life into abundant life.”1

Jesus desires to expand your smallness with His greatness. Your life, short as it is, insignificant as it may feel, Jesus would transform into abundant life!

And though we need to address practical concerns, do not let your practical concerns stand in the way of Jesus’ divine will. Your ducks do not need to be in a row to serve Christ and His people. Your family, your bank account, your daily bread, none of it should stop you from following Jesus to give and to give and give.

There are hungry people in the Mohawk Valley who need bread. There are countless more starving for Jesus. There are people all over this planet perishing without Christ. Who will give them this bread? Who will tell them of the gospel of the kingdom of heaven? And even as I ask these questions, I imagine there are all kinds of practical concerns that cause you to dismiss me and say, “Not me.”

But look at how Jesus cares for His people. Look how He satisfies. See how generously, compassionately, selflessly, He gives, and He gives and He gives. And look at what Jesus can do with so little. What might He do with you, if you were to truly offer the very little that you have?

Remember, the power of Christ is displayed as the people of Christ love and serve one another; laying aside personal agendas, desires and emotions.

1Edwards, J. (2002). The Gospel According to Mark. Pg 196. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Prophets Without Honor

Matthew 13:53-14:13a

Immanuel – 8/11/24

Since October of last year, we have been slowly working through the Gospel of Matthew. And as we methodically dig through Matthew, we seek to uncover the priceless treasures that are to be found: whether they are easy to grasp or deep beneath the surface. Treasures are to be found!

Let us recall a few details from the past 13 chapters. Matthew opens declaring that Jesus Christ is the son of David, the son of Abraham, born of a virgin, born in Bethlehem. In other words, Jesus is the prophesied Messiah.

Then John the Baptist, a prophet of God, proclaims this about Jesus:

I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.

-Matthew 3:11-12

John was speaking about the Messiah, prophesied millennia before, but had finally arrived in Jesus of Nazareth. Soon after, John baptized Jesus; and when he did so a voice from heaven spoke,

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” -Matthew 3:17

Jesus of Nazareth: Messiah and the Son of God! He would be the one to finally unite heaven and earth. Only a short time later Jesus began His public ministry with the announcement:

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” -Matthew 4:17

Jesus then delivered the exceedingly famous Sermon on the Mount. We spent 12 weeks sifting through it. The heart of the sermon is in Christ’s following words:

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” -Matthew 6:33

After the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus performs a series of powerful miracles: cleansing a leper, healing a boy on his deathbed, calming a storm, healing a paralytic, raising a dead girl to life, restoring sight to two blind men, and healing a man unable to speak.

Jesus then sends out His disciples, as sheep among the wolves, to proclaim the very same message He has been proclaiming:

“The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” -Matthew 10:7

Immediately following the disciples’ mission, we hear from John the Baptist again. He has been imprisoned by Herod, and he has been having doubts. If Jesus is the Messiah, and if John is the prophetic voice to announce Jesus as Messiah, then why is John rotting in Herod’s jail cell? Jesus simply assured John that He is the Messiah, and John’s doubts are assuaged.

John the Baptist is a mixture of doubt and belief, something that so many of us can relate to. Meanwhile, most people refuse to believe in Jesus and repent. Others outright reject Jesus. People were too comfortable, too selfish, too proud to let someone like Jesus into their lives.

And their sins are a reflection of our sins; for we are afflicted by the same indifferent, selfish, arrogance. We think more highly of ourselves than we ought. We don’t want someone telling us we are wrong. We are comfortable living without any thought of God and His ways. Jesus spoke woes over those who refused to repent, and woe to us if we refuse to repent. If separation from God is what we want, then eternally separated we shall be.

Some – like the disciples – did embrace Jesus, and they received all the benefits of the kingdom of heaven. But regardless of how people responded to Jesus, in the midst of them all, He cried out:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” -Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus offers a wholesale invitation to any and all that are exhausted from the work of life and weighed down by its burdens: just come to Him to find rest. His is a rest that no circumstances can shake, a rest that is experienced even while you work, a rest in the very depths of your being. Through a relationship with Jesus you will know you are loved by God, your heart will be filled with hope and joy, and you will know a peace that surpasses understanding. In other words, Jesus offers you a soul that is at rest. All you must do is come to Him in faith.

Over the past three weeks we unpacked the Parable Discourse of chapter 13. Jesus and the disciples were proclaiming that the kingdom of heaven was at hand – near – in their very midst; the Parable Discourse is a series of seven parables that unfold the nature of that kingdom. Through the parables, Jesus answers the following questions: How do people enter the kingdom, how does the kingdom grow, and what does it look like?

Jesus concludes with three parables revealing that the kingdom of heaven is worth everything, even if at the loss of all earthly possessions. The kingdom is a treasure worth living for, the kingdom is a treasure worth dying for! Jesus, as the King of that kingdom, is where one begins in search of such treasure. In fact, what we come to understand is that He is the treasure. Everything else follows after a person begins to trust in Him.

I highlight these specific moments in Matthew because when we come to our passage today, it is absolutely jarring. We follow Jesus into two sad collisions, and these turn into a pivot point within Matthew’s Gospel. The echoes of sorrow will only increase from here.

Read 13:53-56

A Prophet Rejected

Jesus’ base of operations has been in Capernaum. The Parable Discourse largely took place on a boat in the waters of the Sea of Galilee, right on the shores of Capernaum. But Jesus leaves the lakeside and travels inland, to the town He was raised in: Nazareth.

This is the first time Jesus has returned to Nazareth since His ministry has begun. Mark and Luke also record this event. Presumably, Jesus spent some time visiting His family. When the Sabbath day came around, Jesus taught in Nazareth’s synagogue. Of course, this is His childhood synagogue. He knew the religious leaders there, and they knew Him.

From the very beginning, it had been Jesus’ custom to teach in the local synagogues.

And [Jesus] went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So His fame spread throughout all [the region].

-Matthew 4:23-24

It was Jesus’ custom to teach in synagogues. And after the Nazareth’s religious leaders heard about what their hometown hero had been up to, they were probably eager to hear from Him on the Sabbath…at least, initially.

Matthew leaves out the content of Jesus’ teaching, but Luke tells us that Jesus, quoting from the prophet Isaiah, was teaching that He was Israel’s long awaited Messiah: that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him to proclaim good news to the poor and liberty to the captives, to give sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:16-30)

In verse 54 you will notice two things that impressed the Jews of Nazareth: His wisdom and His mighty works. They heard His wisdom firsthand, as He taught in the synagogue. They’ve heard of His mighty works as His fame spread all around Galilee.

His wisdom was expressed in revealing that He was Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. And from Luke’s account we know that the people were demanding Jesus perform mighty works just like He had done in Capernaum and elsewhere, but Jesus refused to give them a spectacle. This is the unbelief that verse 58 talks about.

Read 13:58

Jesus’ miracles were not meant to be a performance. He was not an on-demand magician. He is not a vending machine for wonders. Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God; His miracles were an expression of His compassion and a testimony of His identity, and both were meant for building faith.

But it was this dual dynamic – that Jesus taught His Messiahship and that He refused their demands of miracles – that the people took offense.

Look again at the series of rhetorical questions they ask: “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And are not His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all His sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at Him.

The people are saying, “Jesus is from here. He used to work construction around the corner. We know His family. We can name them. We saw Him grow up. Where did He get these amazing gifts – we know nothing good comes out of Nazareth (John 1:46)!” But ultimately, all those rhetorical questions aim at one simple, closeminded, claim: Jesus is no better than us, He’s one of us.

How easy it is to tear people down when they have success beyond our own. And this is Jesus, literally God in the flesh. How quickly the people tear down their God and King, who was raised in their midst.

Read 13:57

Crowds from all over the region flock to Jesus. His fame is growing. Even in spite of people’s varied responses to Jesus, there are always those who have honored Him. But not in His hometown. Not among His family. He’s still their hometown boy, and little more.

And can’t you relate to this on some level? No matter what experiences you gain in life, no matter the achievements, you’re still just a kid when you go home. It can keep you grounded, and such humility is good. But when people are insecure and proud and sinful, they can begin to feel threatened by you. They lash out. They say foolish things. They remind you of who you were back then. Maybe it was you, resenting the person you grew up that is now successful.

If you have experienced such hometown animosity, then amplify that a hundred-fold for Jesus. Because Luke tells us that after these things happened in Nazareth’s synagogue, a riot effectively broke out. They dragged Jesus to the edge of a cliff to throw Him off. They were so offended by Him, so threatened, that they wanted to kill Him.

Again, Luke informs us that it’s right at this moment that Jesus performed a miracle. He somehow slipped through the crowd, like water in a clenched fist, and escaped the mob violence. It was not the miracle they were looking for, but it was the miracle they received.

I said we have come to a pivot point in Matthew’s gospel. From this point forward, Jesus will no longer teach in synagogues. He leaves behind the corrupt and unbelieving religious establishment and chooses to no longer operate within their parameters. He was another prophet, in a long line of prophets, that was rejected by the very people He came for.

In addition to being the Son of God and the Messiah – by Jesus’ own words in verse 57 – He was also a prophet. You might say, the Prophet of all prophets. He was without honor, they rejected Him, they tried to kill Him, yet He escaped. Now we turn to another prophet without honor, and for whom there would be no escape.

Read 14:1-2

A Prophet Martyred

Just as the people of Nazareth had heard of Jesus’ miraculous works, so also has Herod the tetrarch heard of Jesus’ fame.

Herod is a family name, much like Matlack is my family name. When the Gospel of Matthew opened, Herod the Great was in power. But in chapter 2, he died. The kingdom of Herod the great was broken up into three dominions and given to three of his sons.

Philip the tetrarch would get the northern portion of Trachonitis and Iturea – largely Gentile lands.

Herod Archelaus would get the Jewish lands of Judea and Samaria. (Archelaus would do such a poor job governing his dominion that Rome would seize it from him and install their own governor. Eventually, this territory would be given to a Roman hard-man, named Pontius Pilate.)

Herod the tetrarch in Matthew 14:1 is also known as Herod Antipas. Antipas governed the split territory of Galilee and Perea; split geographically and split between Jews and Gentiles. Antipas is the Herod that ruled Galilee for nearly all of Jesus’ life, from 4 BC to 39 AD. When the New Testament talks about Herod, it is almost always referring to Herod Antipas.

This Herod, Herod Antipas, had heard of Jesus’ fame; and how could he not? Everyone was hearing about Jesus and His miraculous works. But when Antipas hears about Jesus, he is struck with some mixture of superstitious fear and guilt. For in this superstitious delusion, Antipas believes that John the Baptist has come back; John the Baptist whom he had killed.

Then, in Matthew’s narrative, we get a flashback.

Read 14:3-11

All throughout the Bible, prophets are a confrontational bunch. They confronted people with their sins, called for repentance, and stood up for the truth. John the Baptist was no different. And we see in verse 4 that John was speaking out against Antipas, for his unlawful marriage to Herodias.

The law John claimed Herod was breaking came from Leviticus 18:16.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. - Leviticus 18:16

In other words, it was not lawful for a man to have sexual relations with his brother’s wife. That is exactly what Herod Antipas was doing.

Let’s take a moment to plunge into the spiderweb that was the Herod family. Here is a very simplified diagram of that family.

You can see that Herodias, the woman of our passage, was first married to Herod Phillip. Phillip and Herodias had a daughter together, Salome, the dancer in our passage.

Meanwhile, Herod Antipas was married to the daughter of a Nabatean king. Despite their respective marriages, Antipas and Herodias began an affair. Antipas’ wife, the princess, found out and ran off to her father. In response, the Nabateans made war with Antipas and would have wiped him out if it weren’t for Roman intervention. Afterwards, Herodias abandoned Phillip and came to live with Antipas, bringing Salome with her.

You can also see in this diagram that both Antipas and Phillip were the uncles of Herodias. And you thought your family was messed up! The Herod family was a tangled and complex web of incest, deceit, backstabbing, and broken relationships.

And living under Antipas’ rule, John the Baptist – prophet of God – could not quietly stand by! But since someone like John would hardly have access to confront Antipas personally, he spoke against Herod publicly. Eventually, Antipas had enough, and he arrested the Baptizer.

Herod maintained two palaces: one in Tiberias of Galilee and one in Machaerus of Perea. Since John’s ministry took place in the Jordan River, just north of the Dead Sea, Antipas arrested John and imprisoned John at Machaerus, the same palace where the party of Matthew 14 takes place.

Back to the party. Salome, Herodias’ daughter and Antipas’ niece, dances for a room full of drunken men. The whole scene is debauched, and I will not elaborate upon it. But whatever happened in that dance, combined with abundant wine, Antipas is so pleased that he made a foolish vow: to give Salome anything she asked for.

Apparently, Herodias has taken John’s rebukes very personally, and she hated him. She prompted her daughter to ask for the head of the prophet. Even though Antipas was afraid of the public outcry, and perhaps had a secret respect for John (as the Gospel of Mark may imply), he had backed himself into a corner. In his mind, he had no choice but to do what was demanded.

Violating every Jewish law, no trial was held. The prophet would die so Herod’s reputation would not be stained. John’s severed head was served to Salome, and ultimately Herodias, as a reward for that hedonic dance.

Read 14:12-13a

By bringing news of John’s death, the implication is that John’s disciples looked to Jesus for leadership. They saw Jesus’ ministry as a continuation of John’s. It was only natural that Jesus would become their leader. We know that Andrew and John, and perhaps Phillip, 3 of Jesus’ 12 disciples, had first been disciples of John the Baptist. The tradition already stood: the Baptizer had prepared his disciples to ultimately follow Jesus.

When Jesus heard of John’s death, He withdrew to desolate places. John was His cousin. They were just a few months apart in age and likely shared many childhood memories. As adults, they ministered together for a time. They were close. John’s death compels Jesus to withdraw, to escape the crowds and be alone, to pray, to mourn, to feel the grief.

Here again, we see the humanity of Jesus, how relatable He is, how He shares in so many of our experiences. Truly, Jesus was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3).

Perhaps there was a secondary motivation for Jesus to withdraw: Herod. Had Herod Antipas, and his Machiavellian maneuvering, become a threat to Jesus’ ministry? Not sure.

But John’s death signals another change in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus’ home base will no longer be in Capernaum. He will become a wanderer, traveling in and out of the region of Galilee. Yes, Jesus will visit Capernaum again, but only to quickly pass through.

Jesus has been rejected in His hometown. His synagogue engagement has ended. His dear cousin has been martyred. And the man who martyred John has now cast a dangerous eye upon Him. Indeed, Jesus was a prophet without honor. It is at this point that Jesus truly becomes homeless, while the dogs of grief and persecution nip at His heels.

But even in the midst of all these experiences, and the emotions that came with them, never did Jesus give in to self-pity. He experienced the full force of those raw emotions, and He did it without sin. All the while, surely, He must have understood that John’s death was a foreshadowing of His own.

1. John spoke out against the political establishment’s adultery. Jesus spoke out against the religious establishment’s spiritual adultery.

2. As John was hated, so would Jesus be hated.

3. John was imprisoned. Jesus would be imprisoned.

4. Herod was reluctant to execute John but was manipulated into it. Pilate was reluctant to execute Jesus and was also manipulated into it.

5. John was executed without trial. Jesus was executed with a sham of a trial.

6. John’s disciples buried John’s body. Jesus’ disciples buried Jesus’ body.

The greatest similarity is that both John and Jesus were executed in shame, martyred for the God they served. But there is one big difference between these two men. In a fit of superstitious delusion, Herod only thought that John had resurrected. Jesus actually did rise from the grave! For when a few female disciples returned to the tomb of Jesus, where they had buried Him, they found only an angel:

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen.” -Matthew 28:5-6

Death was defeated the day Jesus rose from the grave. The people in His hometown couldn’t have been more wrong: Though He was one of us, He is so much more than any of us. He is God become flesh, slain for our sins, risen that we may share in His everlasting life. He is the only Lord over life and death, and this is what He says about Himself:

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” -John 14:6

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

-John 11:25-26

Brothers and sisters, the kingdom of God is at hand. All you must do is come to Jesus, come to Jesus in faith! He lived and died for you, so that you can live and die for Him. He lives again so that you can live with Him forevermore. Trust in Him, and you shall not be put to shame!

A Treasure, A Pearl, A Net

Matthew 13:44-52

Immanuel – 8/4/24

This is our third, and final, week in Matthew 13’s Parable Discourse. After a whole series of different responses to Jesus - acceptance, doubt, unbelief, and resistance – the crowds follow Jesus to the shore of the lake. He pushes out in a fishing boat with the 12 disciples and begins to teach the crowds in parables.

In our first week, with the Parable of the Sower, we learned how it is that people come into the kingdom of heaven. It is through earnest listening, obedient hearing: the type of hearing where a person genuinely wants to learn how to follow Jesus, and then goes out and does it.

The Parable of the Weeds, the Parable of the Mustard Seed, and the Parable of the Leaven all taught us how the kingdom of heaven grows upon the earth. From the smallest of beginnings – a single man from Nazareth – the kingdom grows to fill the whole earth, influencing and transforming everywhere it spreads. Of course it will not always feel heavenly, because while the kingdom grows the weeds grow with it. Believers and unbelievers, the righteous and the wicked, wheat and weeds, until Judgment Day.

Today we come to the final three parables in the Parable Discourse, each one very brief. Among these three, two themes dominate.

Purpose

1. Jesus is the treasure of heaven and earth.

2. It is worth it to count everything as loss in order to gain Christ.

Read vs 44

Kingdom Values

This is a very short parable, but it has a ton of context behind it that Jesus’ original audience would have understood.

Let’s say there was a wealthy landowner who was about to go off on a long journey. With roads plagued by thieves, he could not travel with his wealth. With no banks to hold his money, he simply couldn’t leave it sitting in his house. So what could he do with his money? Bury it in a secret place: a common practice in the ancient world.

Additionally, if you were fleeing an invading army and had to travel fast and light, you might bury your valuables so at some point in the future you could return and retrieve them.

Now, suppose that wealthy landowner didn’t survive his journey, or those fleeing an army were overtaken and killed. What do you think would happen to the buried valuables? Nothing. They would sit there, forgotten, hidden, waiting.

This practice was so prolific in the ancient world that today people are still finding hidden treasures. Take for example this horde of Roman coins found in 2016, as construction workers were laying pipes beneath a Spanish park. 1,300 pounds of coins, that was an incredible amount of money when they were first buried. The treasure’s worth is incalculable today.

The man in Jesus’ parable has just found a treasure like this, something of incalculable worth. But two factors decided who got to keep that treasure. First, who owned the land on which the treasure was found? Second, who pulled – or lifted – the treasure from the ground?

Commentator Leon Morris explains this in a helpful way.

“If the finder was an employee, his employer could argue that he was acting as an agent, especially if the employer happened to own the land where the find was made. And if he was his employer’s agent in ‘lifting’ the treasure, then the treasure belonged to the employer. This will be the reason the man hid the treasure instead of ‘lifting’ it straightaway; if he ‘lifted’ it before the field was his, it might be argued that when he did the ‘lifting’ he was acting as the owner’s agent. By buying the land before ‘lifting’ the treasure he removed all possibility of dispute.”1

The man bought the field so that when he lifted the treasure from the ground, no one else could possibly make a claim on it. It was legally his.

Now we know that finding a buried treasure was a real thing and understand the reasons behind the man’s quest to own the property in which it was found. With context in hand, we can better discern the meaning of Jesus’ parable.

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. This means at least three things:

The kingdom is present.

The kingdom is hidden.

The kingdom is valuable.

We come to understand the value of the kingdom by the man’s response. Upon finding the treasure, the man has a four-fold response.

1. He immediately covers it up. He doesn’t want to lose it. The treasure is so valuable he cannot bear missing out on it.

2. He is filled with joy. Everything has changed. If he can possess this treasure, he knows his life will be forever transformed.

3. He sells everything that he has. And notice that he sells everything happily. Everything in his life cannot compare to the treasure. The treasure is more precious than the combined worth of all his other possessions.

4. He buys the field. Whatever the price to acquire the treasure, he is happy to pay it. And even though all he owns doesn’t come close to the value of the treasure, the man is still able to acquire the treasure.

Just so there is no confusion, Jesus is not implying that a person can buy their way into the kingdom of God. That would go against so many of His other teachings. Rather, Jesus is teaching that everything should be counted as loss next to the surpassing worth of the kingdom of heaven.

We see this highlighted again as Jesus tells another, and very similar, parable. The themes stay the same, but there is one significant difference; and this difference reveals another valuable aspect of the kingdom of God.

Read vs 45-46

The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. To trade in pearls indicates that the merchant is a person of means. As some reckon it, he already has wealth. But all of that changes in a moment.

The man in the field accidentally stumbled across his treasure, but not this merchant. He is on the hunt, scouring the earth for the best in pearls. And though he knows what he is looking for, he finds something that he did not expect: a pearl that changes his life.

It is so valuable that he eagerly sells everything and effectively leaves the pearl trade behind. All the other pearls were like nothing as compared to this single, priceless pearl. His joy comes not from the profit he can make from the pearl, but from the fact that he possesses it. Now he is no longer a pearl merchant, but the owner of the earth’s greatest pearl; and it was worth giving up everything to gain!

This parable reveals the kingdom of heaven in a slightly different way than the Parable of the Hidden Treasure.

The kingdom is present.

The kingdom is to be sought and found.

The kingdom is valuable.

Jesus is teaching a paradox: the kingdom of God is present, but it is hidden. And though it is hidden, anyone who seeks will find it. Does this remind you of something else Jesus said?

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” -Matthew 7:7-8

Certainly, some will stumble upon the kingdom of heaven, but far better to earnestly seek it.

A person may be going about their life, totally unaware of the kingdom of heaven, and then a friend, a neighbor, a family member, tells them about the gospel of the kingdom of heaven and suddenly they realize its overwhelming worth. They have just stumbled across earth’s greatest treasure.

Perhaps God might use you to show someone the great worth of the kingdom: That they might see they were lost in their sins, separated from God and destined to be thrown into eternity’s fiery furnace. But God, being rich in mercy, and because of the great love with which He loved us, sent His only Son to give His life in place of our own. Jesus lived a sinless life – which we did not, He faced our punishment – which we dare not, and He rose from the grave – which we desperately desire. Our greatest desire, found in the wounds of a first century man from Nazareth!

And whether this kingdom is found by accident, or with intention, it is so valuable, so precious, that it is worth the loss of everything else. Listen to how the Apostle Paul talks about this very concept. Paul begins by listing all the things that gave him earthly value, like he is showing the types of pearls he used to own. But then there is a shift, and he gladly renounces all other pearls for the supremely great treasure that is Christ!

Read Philippians 3:4b-16

Paul lists his former pearls: his heritage, his accomplishments, his reputation, his earnestness, his religion, his upright morality. All of these were reasons he was a person to be admired, the reasons he was significant. In other words, this is how Paul sought to be treasured by the world.

We do the same thing, collecting pearls in things the world celebrates: beauty, strength, achievement (which is what the Olympics is all about), or children with achievements, status, position, money, whatever else. And what we are really seeking is that the world would see us as valuable, that we would be the treasure. And if we feel like we have no achievements to offer, we feel worthless, without value, unlovable.

But Paul underwent a radical transformation when he encountered the Living Christ on that Damascus Road. Suddenly Paul realized that he was not the significant one, but Jesus is. Immediately, everything else became loss compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. It all became as rubbish that he might gain Christ and be found in Him.

Jesus is the treasure. And to know Him is to know peace that surpasses understanding, hope that transcends the darkness, love that is worth your life, and life that will never die. Nothing in all creation is more valuable than Christ, who loved you and gave Himself for you.

And if Christ is the treasure, then the pearls you formerly owned are worthless. So whether they were valuable in the world’s eyes or not, Christ is still the treasure. And your value as a person is derived from that which you value. This is exactly where the next parable takes us.

Read vs 47-50

This parable is so similar to the Parable of the Weeds, which we looked at last week, so I will not spend lots of time here. The kingdom spreads across the earth and gathers up all kinds of people: good and evil, those who repent and those who do not, those who follow Christ and those who reject Him.

Good and evil will grow together until the final Judgment, when Christ sends out the angels to separate the worthy and the worthless. The worthy will be with Him forevermore. The worthless will be thrown to the everlasting flame.

Let me present a question that opens a powerful understanding of the Parable of the Net. Since they are so similar, why is the Parable of the Net not grouped together with the Parable of the Weeds; just as the parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price are grouped together?

And I think it is because placing the Parable of the Net after two parables about the kingdom’s worth highlights this powerful truth: your value as a person is derived from that which you value.

God is the most valuable being in all existence! He has created all things. He sustains all things in this very moment, even your own life. And despite the fact that we are sinners, every one of us falling short even this morning, despite knowing all of this, still God has given us the Son, who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. His power and joy and grace and patience and gentleness and lowliness knows no measure. And all of it is directed in an overwhelming and unrelenting deluge of love towards any who believe.

Without question, God is the most valuable being in all existence!

As God in the flesh, there is no number that can be attached to Jesus’ worth.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. -Colossians 1:15-20

That in everything, Jesus might be preeminent. In other words, He is worthy!

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and blessing! (Revelation 5:12)

And at His name every knee will 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 2:10-11)

Jesus is worthy! He the treasure of heaven and earth, the Preeminent One, worthy of living for and worthy of dying for. To see this, with the eyes of faith, is to joyfully count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. (Philippians 3:8)

Therefore, if we do not value Jesus as our greatest treasure, and choose instead to pursue lesser things, things that are worthless compared to Jesus, then that means we too become worthless. To reject the most valuable being for things that will bring you no lasting joy, and cannot give life beyond death, is to be a fish in the net which has no value. They are thrown into the eternal garbage: the fiery furnace, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Read vs 51-52

I love how the disciples answer Jesus, “Yes.” Certainly, they understand far more than the crowds around them. And Jesus did say that the secrets of the kingdom were being revealed to them (Matthew 11:25). But for them to agree that they understand everything Jesus is talking about is a bit glib. They still have no understanding of the cross and resurrection.

None-the-less, they understand enough. And Jesus does not question, or give a sideways glance, He just lovingly and generously keeps giving them more of the kingdom. And He compares them to scribes, trained for the kingdom of heaven.

In the kingdom of heaven, the scribes are the ones who bring out new things and old things. Notice again the language of treasure. The new treasures are the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, which Jesus presently speaks about. The old treasures are the gems hidden all throughout the ancient Scriptures – from Genesis to Malachi.

There is all kinds of wisdom in the world, all kinds of valuable knowledge, but there are no greater treasures than what we find in the pages of Scripture, for these lead us to Him whom is the greatest of all treasures: King Jesus. Therefore, a scribe trained for the kingdom of heaven can bring out treasures from the Old Covenant and treasures from the New, and all of them point to Christ.

Contrast this with the Jewish scribes that were in constant conflict with Jesus. They neither understood these treasures nor knew where to look for them.

But I praise God for the scribes of the kingdom who are a part of this local body. They teach our children. They bring out treasures for the women. They unfold the Scriptures in Adult Sunday School. They join me in this pulpit. Praise God that He has placed scribes of the kingdom in our midst, for the edification of us all! Let us regard them as the treasures that they are, treasures given by the King!

I love this part of Matthew 13. The parables of the kingdom that Jesus tells in this section should lead the church to worship. Because those secrets of the kingdom are hidden, but God has chosen to reveal them to little children like us.

If Jesus truly is the treasure of heaven and earth, then may he also be the treasure of our hearts. Let go of your former pearls. It is worth it to count everything as loss in order to gain Christ and be found in Him!

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” -Matthew 6:19-21

As Jesus asked His disciples, I as you: Have you understood all these things?

1Morris, L. (1992). The Gospel According to Matthew. Pg 359. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

How the Kingdom Grows

Matthew 13:24-43

Immanuel – 7/28/24

Once again, we are in the middle of another of Matthew’s great discourses: these five prolonged teachings of Christ. Matthew 13 is called the Parable Discourse, because in it we find seven parables.

As I said last week, parables do not carry their meaning on the surface, but they beckon the listener to engage with the teaching, to wrestle with it, to think deeply about it. And because Jesus teaches in parables so prolifically, it tells us something about the type of person He is looking for: He wants people ready to engage, ready to think, and ready to be about the difficult work of following Him. He does not want people who are resistant or shallow or uncommitted.

But as Jesus teaches in the Parable of the Sower, there will be many who listen carelessly, or have a shallow understanding rooted only in emotions, or who allow what they hear from Jesus to get choked out by worldly anxieties and/or materialism. All such listeners have no place in the kingdom of God; and for their irresponsible listening, all that they have will be taken from them. But for those who listen to be changed, who truly treasure Christ’s words, to these Jesus will multiply blessings.

These were some of the lessons found in the Parable of the Sower, the first of seven parables in this Parable Discourse. Today we consider another three parables. The Parable of the Sower teaches how a person enters the kingdom of heaven: through obedient listening. In each of today’s parables, Jesus teaches how the kingdom of heaven grows upon earth. That means that each of today’s three parables are prophetic and eschatological.

Purpose

I want you to see how Jesus says His kingdom is to grow throughout history.

Read vs 24-30

Let me point out a few details from this parable. Jesus put a parable before “them.” We know from verse 34, that “them” means crowds. Jesus is teaching the crowds in parables.

In the last parable, Jesus talked about what happened to seed that fell into different types of bad soil. This parable talks only about what happens in the good soil. The Sower sows only good seed into only good soil.

Of course, the enemy comes along and sows bad seed into the good soil. In the last parable some soil was bad because it was filled with weeds. In this parable we have good soil filled with weeds. Here is a lesson in parables. Sometimes the imagery in parables overlaps and sometimes it does not. And so we are clear, there is no overlap with the weedy soil from the Parable of the Sower and the weedy soil in the Parable of the Weeds. The two images of weeds mean very different things.

You’ll notice in today’s parable, in verse 26, that the weeds are only identifiable as weeds by the time they have fully matured and born fruit. In all other stages of life they looked exactly like the wheat. In the part of the world where Jesus is speaking, there is a common weed that looks almost exactly like wheat until the full grain appears: darnel, often called “false wheat.” From the very earliest days of the church, the weeds in Jesus’ parable were recognized as darnel.

I stumbled across a fascinating article about darnel:

For many centuries, perhaps for as long as humans have cultivated cereal grains, wheat’s evil twin has insinuated itself into our crops. In a big enough dose, this grass, darnel, can kill a person, and farmers would have to take care to separate it out from their true harvest—unless they were planning to add darnel to beer or bread on purpose, in order to get high.

Darnel occupies a grey area in human agricultural history. It’s definitely not good for us. When people eat its seeds, they get dizzy, off-balance and nauseous, and its official name, Lolium temulentum, comes from a Latin word for “drunk.”

Darnel is a “mimic weed,” neither entirely tame or quite wild, that looks and behaves so much like wheat that it can’t live without human assistance. Darnel seeds are stowaways: the plant’s survival strategy requires its seeds to be harvested along with those of domesticated grasses, stored and replanted next season.

In his book Bread of Dreams, the Italian scholar Piero Camporesi argued that European peasantry lived in a state of semi-permanent hallucination from bread adulterated with more malign grains, which they may have sought as an escape from daily life. Certainly, people seemed to know what darnel did and how to use it.1

Interesting that darnel carries a nefarious history, associated with poisoning and drunkenness and hallucination. In fact, in the Middle Ages, darnel intoxication was often confused with demonic possession.

In Jesus’ parable, very much like in real life, the life-giving wheat and the dangerous weeds grow up together, indistinguishable. The workers want to tear it out right away. But the Farmer, exercising greater wisdom, knows it is best to wait. To pull the weeds is to certainly tear out some of the wheat. He will not tolerate a single destroyed wheat plant.

He knows the weeds can be more easily separated out after the harvest. And once they are, the wheat will be gathered together into the barn, but the weeds will be thrown immediately into the fire where they will have no poisoning effect.

This is a parable of the kingdom of heaven. Then, with no explanation and barely a transition, Jesus launches into another parable about the kingdom of heaven.

Read vs 31-32

Small Beginnings

Jesus says that the mustard seed is “the smallest of all seeds;” but He is not making a literal claim, like the mustard seed is earth’s smallest. Rather, it is a hyperbolic way of saying that the mustard seed is remarkably small. But even from such small beginnings, it grows into quite a large tree. Really, mustard trees are large bushes; small compared to our eastern hardwoods, but large for an arid Galilean garden.

Listen to the parallel account in the Gospel of Mark:

“[The kingdom of God] is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” -Mark 4:30-32

The mustard tree grows and fills the whole garden. It absolutely takes over.

Now, for this parable and the next, Jesus provides no explanation; so, let me explain these two. For just as the Parable of the Weeds is not merely a teaching, these parables also carry prophetic and eschatological weight.

The kingdom of heaven has the smallest of all beginnings: a single man, Jesus of Nazareth. But His disciples will make disciples, and those disciples will make more. And they will go to the ends of the earth so that the kingdom fills the whole garden – or the whole earth. (Or maybe the whole earth becomes a garden as the tree grows).

And what is this bit about birds landing in the tree’s branches? Jesus is pulling on an ancient symbol there. Numerous times in the Old Testament, a tree is used to symbolize a kingdom, especially great kingdoms, are compared to especially large trees. As these trees stretch out their vast canopies, birds come to nest in its branches. Certain places spell out what those birds symbolize. Take for example Assyria being compared to a great tree:

All the birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs; under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth to their young, and under its shadow lived all great nations.

-Ezekiel 31:6

The birds are nations. Birds that nest in the branches of the tree are nations being folded into the great kingdom. According to Jesus’ parable, the kingdom of heaven will grow so large upon earth that nations will fold into it.

It is critical to notice the progression. The kingdom of heaven does not come all at once. It starts small, grows slowly, and expands through time. As the kingdom gets progressively larger, more and more nations integrate themselves into the spreading influence of the kingdom.

The next parable is very similar to the Parable of the Mustard Seed, with one key difference.

Read vs 33

Just like the Parable of the Mustard Seed, the Parable of the Leaven has small and insignificant beginnings, but progressively, over time, through a process, has an effect on the whole lump – the whole earth.

But the key difference is that in the Parable of the Mustard Seed, the beginning is localized in a single individual and spreads out from that one point. In the Parable of the Leaven, the leaven mixes in with the whole lump; not starting in one place and expanding, but integrating into the whole, having its effect everywhere all at once. Everywhere that there is leaven, there is also transformation.

Now, 2,000 years later, does it seem like Jesus’ prophetic parables have been accurate? I believe it has. I believe that Jesus picked two parables that perfectly revealed how His kingdom would grow.

As it has been realized in the church and through the church’s influence, the kingdom of heaven has spread across planet earth. In terms of spread, it started with one man and a small band of disciples: Today there are an estimated 2.6 billion Christians. The influence of Christianity has founded nations and toppled others. Countless others have adopted Christian principles, intentionally or unintentionally.

In terms of transformation, Christianity has produced a worldview that has birthed hospitals, educational systems, scientific pursuit, the upholding of human rights, and the admiration of compassion – just to name a few. Never has there been a higher standard of living; with bountiful food, time for leisure, comfort from the elements, and human freedoms than there is in this moment of history, in large part because of the blessings wrought by the expanding kingdom of God.

Yes, what began in the obscurity of Galilee has spread across the globe, transforming it everywhere it has gone, like only the Son of God could have predicted. We, brothers and sisters, are its beneficiaries.

And not only are we its beneficiaries, we are also kingdom ambassadors. For truly, there is much work to be done. If there are 2.6 billion people who call themselves Christian, there are 5.5 billion who do not know Jesus. They need to hear the gospel. There are still thousands of people groups that remain unreached and unengaged by the gospel. Someone, some brave ambassadors, need to go to them! There is much work to be done!

What has started so small continues to grow, but it grows because God’s people are commanded to be faithfully obedient, bearing fruit 30, 60, 100-fold! How much fruit will your life produce?!

Let us now return to the Parable Discourse.

Read vs 34-35

The crowds expected a political, militaristic Messiah. But by using parables, soaked in images of farming, and kitchen work, and fishing; He distanced He and His kingdom from the expectations of the day. Jesus was teaching that His kingdom was altogether different.

Additionally, as we saw last week, Jesus taught in parables because parables have a powerful paradoxical effect. They simultaneously veil their meaning to some, and to others they enlighten and simplify spiritual truths. Parables paradoxically are a judgment to some and a blessing to others. Thus, with the dual purpose of subverting expectations and exerting the power of paradox, Jesus preferred the parabolic teaching method. Of course He taught in other ways, but He preferred parables when teaching crowds.

Finally, not only was this according to Jesus’ preferences, but it always was in accordance with ancient prophecies. Pointing this out, Matthew quotes Psalm 78:2. Let me read from the verses immediately surrounding that quotation.

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and His might, and the wonders that He has done. -Psalm 78:1-4

You can hear the paradoxical nature of parables in this prophesy. Parables reveal ancient things, hidden things; they speak of the glorious deeds of the Lord, the wonders He has done. And while for some these parabolic sayings are veiled, for others it brings knowledge and understanding.

It is interesting that the Psalmist, Asaph, starts his prophetic writing with, Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

Isn’t that so similar to Jesus saying, “He who has ears, let him hear”?

Again, we are reminded that hearing is key, hearing to understand, understanding to obey. Jesus is looking for the same type of people that God has always been looking for: people who are ready to engage, ready to think, and ready to be about the difficult work of following Him. He does not want people who are resistant or shallow or uncommitted.

And with that in mind, Jesus leaves the crowds and focuses on His disciples. He explains the Parable of the Weeds to them, and tells them four more parables (which we will see next week). But in the Gospel of Matthew, from this point forward, the vast majority of Jesus’ teachings will be geared for His disciples; those that are ready to be about the difficult work of following Him.

Read vs 36-43

The wheat sown into the world are the sons of the kingdom. And who sowed them into the world? The Son of Man. Jesus Christ. If you are a son or daughter of the kingdom of heaven, it is because Jesus Himself has made you so. You are His handiwork, His creation, His good seed.

But the devil has come along and prolifically sown His seed too, and weeds grow up all around us: the cowards, the faithless, the detestable, murderers, the sexually immoral, idolaters, and all liars. But they can flourish only for a limited time, for the harvest is coming.

The harvest, of course, is the end of history as we know it. It is the end of this age. It is the consummation, when judgment and salvation will finally and ultimately be dispensed upon all people who have ever lived. In this age they were allowed to live together, in the next age they will be eternally separated.

This, indeed, is an eschatological parable!

Jesus will send the angels to separate the good from the bad, the wheat from the weeds. Not only will they remove the sons of the evil one, but verse 41 says that they will also remove all causes of sin. All the things that so ensnare our flesh, the countless traps of temptation, and all deviant desires, all of these will be separated from the sons and daughters of the kingdom.

Listen again to what Jesus said will become of all evil things, and all evil doers: They will be thrown into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus is describing hell: a real place of eternal and conscious torment. Weeping is about grief and regret. Gnashing teeth connotes unrestrained hatred (towards God) or overwhelming remorse (in endless hopelessness) – or both.

This is an estate so horrible that we can hardly fathom it. This is the agonizing end for those who had little, even what they had was taken from them (Matthew 13:12). We cannot imagine, nor do we want to. How desperate the plight of those who do not know Jesus. We must sense the terrible urgency for the lost. The time is so short! Do not hesitate to speak the gospel!

But the righteous, they will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. They shine like the sun not because of the amazing things they have done in their life, not because they have earned such brilliant, meritorious, radiance. They shine because they have been given the radiant robes of Christ’s own righteousness.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. -2 Corinthians 5:21

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. -Galatians 3:26-27

Because Christ became sin for us, dying in our place; by faith we are clothed in Christ, blazing with the very brilliance of God’s own righteousness. It’s a stunning promise. We shall shine like the Son. Not because we are brilliant in ourselves, but because we reflect the radiance of the Son of God; we are new creations in Christ!

And all this eschatological language of parabolic interpretation gets a powerful echo in Revelation.

And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and He will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” -Revelation 21:5-8

Judgment and salvation. Insiders and outsiders. Wheat and weeds. It’s no coincidence that Jesus’ parables paradoxically are a judgment to those who do not understand and salvation to those who do. These are truths woven into reality, woven even into Jesus’ preferred method of teaching.

Let’s now sum up how the kingdom of heaven grows upon earth elucidated from the three parables we consider today.

The kingdom of God has the smallest of beginnings, insignificant, obscure, unbelievably humble. But from there it will grow, and has grown, to spread across planet earth; both in terms of numbers and influence. The nations will embrace it. The world will benefit from it.

But the kingdom will not experience uncontested growth. There will be resistance. The evil one has sown in weeds. Evil will be done, and unbelievers will both sow discord and proliferate wickedness. It will go on until the end of the age and the final Judgment Day. But make no mistake, the kingdom will grow – weeds among the wheat – expanding, filling the planet, God’s unstoppable force of gospel transformation on earth. Behold, He is making all things new!

On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. -Matthew 16:18

For [Christ] must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

-1 Corinthians 15:25

1Laskow, S. (2016, March 22) Wheat’s Evil Twin Has Been Intoxicating Humans For Centuries. Atlas Obscura. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/wheats-evil-twin-has-been-intoxicating-humans-for-centuries

The Secrets of the Kingdom

Matthew 13:1-23

Immanuel – 7/21/24

Week after week I have reviewed the different responses to Jesus: the Pharisees reject Him, the crowds are amazed but unrepentant, John the Baptist has doubts, and the disciples fully accept Him. The parable we read today gets into the weeds of those responses.

The Parable of the Sower begins the third great discourse in the Gospel of Matthew: the Parable Discourse. In chapter 13, Jesus will tell a series of seven parables, all of them having to do with the nature of the kingdom of heaven: how it will be received, how it will grow, and what it will look like.

Parables are a unique method of teaching. In the New Testament, Jesus is the only one to use parables. Parables are so powerful because they draw upon commonly understood elements of life – such as agriculture – to teach hidden spiritual realities. Parables are also paradoxical, because they simultaneously veil their meaning to some, and to others they enlighten and simplify spiritual truths.

Since a parable does not carry its meaning on the surface, it beckons the listener to engage with the teaching, to wrestle with it, to think deeply about it. This should tell you something about who Jesus is looking for as followers: He does not want people who are resistant or shallow. He wants people ready to engage, ready to think, and ready to be about the difficult work of following Him.

Also remember, that He calls to Himself the weary and heavy laden; but He gives to those who are weary a yoke that is easy, and to the heavy laden He gives a light burden. There is work in His rest, and that work begins with hearing.

Purpose

A fruitful life lived for Christ begins with seeking to truly understand His word.

Read vs 1-2

That same day: the same day as Jesus has performed miracles, prophesied, and proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom. He healed a demon-oppressed man, spoke about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and the binding of Satan, condemned that generation for their unrepentance, and said that those who do the will of the Father are His truest family.

All these things appear to have happened in the Capernaum house He was staying in. In verse 1, Jesus leaves that house. It seems that He leaves because, as the events of chapter 12 have unfolded, more and more people were gathering around the house. Crowds had formed. He leaves the house to seek a more suitable location from which to address the crowds. As He walks to the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee, even more people gather.

Jesus and the disciples – likely just the 12 – get onto a boat and push off just a short way. And since sound travels remarkably well across water, this is the perfect location for Jesus to teach the multitudes.

Jesus’ parable describes a Sower casting seed; that seed is then received by four different types of soil.

Read vs 3-9

The soil of the path. We may tend to think of paths that run along the border of a field, but that is not how paths worked in Galilee and that is not how paths work in many parts of the world today – I’ve walked paths like these in Zambia and Iraq. People have a habit of taking the shortest route from point a to point b, thus paths would cut through the middle of a field.

Paths have compacted soil. The soil is so hard that it cannot receive the seed, and the seed just sits on the surface. Hungry birds swoop in and devour the seeds.

The shallow soil. In many places in Galilee there would only be a shallow covering of soil over the bedrock. The sun hits that soil and rapidly heats it. Such shallow soil does receive seeds, and warm soil promotes rapid growth from seedlings. But hot, shallow soil is unable to retain moisture and the seedlings are unable to establish mature roots. When the hot sun rises, the seedlings quickly scorch and die.

The thorny soil. The thorny soil receives the seed and it sprouts, perhaps healthy at first. But it sprouts in the midst of overpowering competition. The weeds are already established, soaking up all the water and nutrients, choking out the new seedling. The seedling does grow, but its growth is pathetic. It is lean and feeble and unable to produce any fruit.

The good soil. Then there is seed that is received by good soil, deep and rich, free from competition. The seedling grows at a healthy pace, receiving all the nutrients it needs, and it produces fruit to varying degrees: 30, 60, 100-fold. 30-fold represents a strong return. 100-fold represents an abundant return.

After talking about a Sower, seeds, and soil, Jesus says to the crowds, “He who has ears, let him hear.” And that concludes the parable. The crowd gets no explanation. The disciples saw that Jesus had concluded, and they can’t help but recognize that the whole scene is rather bewildering.

As a speaker and expositor of God’s word, it is my endeavor to make things as understandable and accessible as possible. Jesus on the other hand, was perfectly comfortable leaving the listeners confused, with no explanation and no application.

The disciples are also confused. Why would Jesus teach so cryptically? Why not be clear?

Read vs 10-12

The secrets of the kingdom have been given to some and not to others. And who reveals these secrets? God Himself.

This perfectly comports with what Jesus said back in chapter 11.

“I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” -Matthew 11:25-27

Again, the secrets of the kingdom have been given to some and not to others. This also means that people cannot discover the secrets of the kingdom unless God reveals them to a person. There are insiders and there are outsiders.

It’s even more pronounced when we consider the setting and who is where. The crowds are on the shore, separated from Jesus. The disciples are in the boat, by His side, receiving special teachings that no one else is privy to (except for every reader of Matthew 13). The disciples are the insiders, being given the secrets of the kingdom. The crowds are outsiders, unable to perceive the kingdom of God. Does not the Bible teach, from cover to cover and garden to garden, that there are those inside God’s kingdom and those outside?

For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but for the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

This reminds me of our capitalistic saying, “It takes money to make money.” Jesus is certainly not promoting capitalistic ideals, but there is a similar compounding principle at work. If a person uses the spiritual truth they have been given that truth will grow. More will be added. If you do not use that spiritual truth, it will wither away, bit by bit.

Muscles work similarly. If you use them they grow, your body strengthens, you’re able to engage in more physical activities. If you do not use your muscles they become soft, then atrophy, and your physical capabilities dramatically decrease. If you do absolutely nothing, you will atrophy to the point of death.

Read vs 13

Jesus directly answers the disciple’s question about why He teaches in parables, and again, He sends us on a collision course with God’s sovereign will. Everything that exists, and everything that happens, has its place in the purposes of God. He is Creator and Sustainer. Even people’s response to the gospel accords with the plan of God.

As Leon Morris writes, “The disciples were not disciples because, left to themselves, they had decided that this would be a good thing. They were disciples on the Gospel view because God had chosen them. And it was in the outworking of this divine choice that they came to see Jesus for who He was for what He was doing in bringing the kingdom of God. They could understand the parables because of the insight that God gave them, but God did not give this insight to those who rejected Jesus. The word of God is always effective: it brings enlightenment or judgment – enlightenment to the disciples and judgment to those who rejected Jesus. It was in this sense that it was the divine purpose that [those who reject Jesus] should not understand.”1

To sum that up, Jesus teaches in parables as a judgment to those who do not want to truly understand Him. But this is a paradox, and as we will see in a moment, the parables are also a blessing to those who are pursuing Jesus, who are seeking after the kingdom of God.

(Parenthesis)

In the boat, along the shore of Galilee, Jesus’ teaching is not exhaustive. For nothing is said in all of chapter 13 about outsiders becoming insiders. But as long as people live, there will always be the opportunity to enter the kingdom of heaven. Think of Saul, who initially rejected Jesus – even persecuting the church – only to encounter Christ and be transformed into the Apostle Paul. The opportunity for those outside of the kingdom to enter is always there.

(Close Parenthesis)

Then Jesus cites an Old Testament precedent for teaching in a veiled way. He quotes Isaiah 6:9-10.

Read vs 14-15

Verse 15 says people have closed their eyes. Closing your eyes is something you do on purpose. It is a deliberate refusal to see. Because people have closed their eyes and do not want to see, because they have shut their ears and refuse to hear, God will not force them.

They will hear, even if they do not understand; and their lack of understanding is their judgment. But the good news is proclaimed so that those who do want to hear, who have their eyes open in eager anticipation, so they will understand!

Every heart is diseased by sin, and it is our death. Those who shut their eyes to the word of God will not receive healing, and will die in their sins. Even what they have will be taken away.

But those who see with their eyes, those who hear with their ears, those who understand with their heart (understanding with the heart is what this is really about), they will be healed. Their sins will be forgiven, they will be given a new heart, and they shall be freed from the power of sin and death. They shall live forever in the presence of Christ. To those who have, more will be given!

That is the healing Isaiah speaks of and Christ quotes! What a blessing it is to understand these truths in your heart!

Read vs 16-17

Understanding that Jesus is the Messiah, and the nature of His kingdom, this is the goal, this is the purpose, this is the understanding that brings blessing.

Many times I’ve heard people say they wish they lived in Old Testament times, when God moved in pillars of fire and smoke, when He parted oceans and made the sun stand still. Of course, it would be amazing to see such things, but they are mere shadows compared to the brilliance we are privileged to behold.

The faithful ones of old, the prophets and the truly righteous, they longed to see what we can see, but they were born in an age too early. (Here too is something of God’s sovereign choosing.) The disciples, and every reader who has come since, we get to see the glory of the ages: the kingdom of God arrived in the person of Jesus Christ!

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

-1 Peter 1:10-12

Then, after saying how blessed the disciples are (every disciple) for what their ears are hearing, Jesus says, “Hear then the parable of the Sower.” To the understanding that the disciples have, Jesus is about to add more.

And He says this to you, “Hear then the parable of the Sower.” You are meant to be active in this. The way you listen to the words I am about to read reveals what kind of soil you are.

Read vs 19-23

It is important to notice that Jesus starts by identifying what the seed is in verse 19. The seed is the word of the kingdom. You could also say, the gospel of the kingdom. Very simply put, the gospel is the message that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

The soil of the path: this is the careless hearer. They hear the words that are said, but they are not willing to wrestle with its meaning. Sure, they have a surface level interest, there isn’t any real desire for change. They like things as they are. They’re happy to keep their eyes shut.

Knowing that the gospel – even carelessly heard – always poses a threat to him, the devil then swoops in and snatches away anything that could possibly become productive. Perhaps he uses doubt, or lies, or temptations, or any other number of things that careless hearers use to justify why they will not repent. What they have heard has been lost. Even what they had is taken away.

The shallow soil: this is the shallow hearer. Unlike the careless hearer, this person joyfully receives the gospel. They respond to the gospel immediately and everything looks exciting and transformed.

But soon enough, life happens. Difficulties come, or persecutions. What is revealed is that their reception to the gospel was pure emotionalism. Excitement about Jesus, a feeling of spiritual ecstasy, these things are not enough. Because when trials come, happy feelings do not come with them. And for a person whose relationship to Jesus is only based on how good they feel, the sorrows of struggle scorch their delusion of faith.

Sadly, so many churches today are basing their services off of good-feeling emotionalism. They are pumping out people who think they are Christians, but really they are shallow hearers who will fall away when things get hard. Though there are churches committed to emotionalism, shallow hearers are everywhere. And it grieves me to see, from this beloved body, numerous people fall away when things have gotten hard. But it is just as Jesus said would happen. The gospel received by emotions only looks good at first, but leads to disaster later.

The thorny soil: this is a hearer filled with worldly anxieties and/or materialism. In this instance the gospel is received, and it takes root. It begins to grow, even if slowly. But in time, the commands of Christ are outcompeted by the cares of the world (worldly anxieties), or deceitfulness of riches (materialism).

Here’s how these competing anxieties and materialistic desires choke out the gospel of the kingdom. You want people to like you; so to not offend someone, or look like a fool, you tell no one about Jesus. You stay silent. You want to be secure and comfortable; so you never get out of your comfort zone and serve the church, or go on a mission trip, or visit someone in a desperate situation, or take up your cross and follow Jesus. You love your stuff, or maybe your bank account; so you never give your money to the house of God, or your resources to those in need.

There are a million other examples of how worldly anxiety and materialism destroy the word of the kingdom. Ultimately it comes down to this: instead of a selfless life pursing Jesus and loving His people, thorny soil people live a quiet self-serving life.

We have now seen, multiple times, that Jesus has called His disciples to leave everything behind to follow Him; even to regard Him as more important than their own families. A thorny soil person is not willing to part with much. In the end, they are choked to death by their own selfishness. They produce nothing of value for the kingdom and are worthless.

The good soil: this is a person who hears the word and seeks to truly understand it. They do not listen carelessly, but they engage with the word of Christ and wrestle with it. They will not rest until they know how the word of Christ is meant to change them.

Good soil people are happy to experience emotions, and they do receive the word of Christ with joy, but they understand that there is a deeper commitment needed, something completely life changing. And though they receive the gospel with joy, there is a soberness to it, because they understand there is a heavy cost to following Jesus.

And when that cost is counted, good soil people are prepared. They pull the weeds of their lives. They want nothing in their life that will compete with the word of the kingdom. They want nothing that might prevent them from whole-heartedly following Jesus. Good soil people live in a posture of repentance.

Such people will produce an abundance of kingdom fruit: 30, 60, 100-fold. This fruit is not one dimensional, but multifaceted: gospel proclamation, making disciples, spiritual maturity, serving the church, carrying one another’s burdens. Or simply put, the fruit is obedience to the Father. As Jesus said,

“Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” -Matthew 12:50

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” -Matthew 7:24

How will you receive this word? Hearing the word is not as simple as listening. Don’t let Christ’s word get plucked from your heart. Don’t be a shallow listener. Don’t be content with a worthless faith as you give your heart to worldly anxieties and materialism.

Meditate upon God’s word. Wrestle with it. Know that you need to be changed by it, and then engage in that change. Obey Christ and give everything to follow Him!

One final point. This is not called the parable of the four soils, but the Parable of the Sower. Is that because those who will become the beneficiaries of this parable are the very ones who will be sowing seed? Perhaps Jesus gives this parable, yes so that we can assess what kind of soil we are, but also so that we – His disciples – will not become discouraged as we proclaim the gospel and see people responding in all kinds of disappointing ways.

Such is the nature of Christ’s kingdom, and the rest of the parables in chapter 13 will only build on these truths.

He who has ears, let him hear.

1Morris, L. (1992). The Gospel According to Matthew. Pg 341. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Faith, Not Miracles

Matthew 12:38-50

Immanuel – 7/14/24

Perhaps the world’s most famous living atheist is the biologist Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion. In an interview, Dawkins was asked, “What would it take for you to believe in God?” Dawkins answered, “Well, I used to say it would be very simple: the second coming of Jesus or a great, big, deep, booming voice saying, ‘I am God and I created.’ But I was persuaded…that even if there was this booming voice and the second coming in clouds of glory, the more probable explanation is that it is a hallucination or a conjuring trick by David Copperfield. A supernatural explanation for anything is incoherent, it just doesn’t add up to an explanation for anything.”

Recognizing that Richard Dawkins didn’t actually answer the question, the interviewer pressed again, “So what would persuade you?” Dawkins said, “Well, I’m starting to think nothing would; which in a way goes against the grain because I’ve always paid lip service to the view that a scientist should change his mind when evidence is forthcoming. Trouble is, I can’t think of what that evidence would look like.”1

In other words, nothing could possibly make Richard Dawkins believe in God. Stupendous miracles, voices from heaven, nothing could persuade this atheist of the divine. If that’s not dogmatic belief, then I don’t know what is!

Somewhere not far from the northwest shores of Galilee, we find that same sort of close-minded, dogmatic belief. This time it is not atheists who are gripped by dogmatic belief, but religious leaders.

Let me list again the miracles that Jesus has performed in this region of Galilee: cleansing of a leper, healing a boy on his deathbed, healing a fever, calming a storm, freeing people from demons, healing a paralytic, raising a dead girl to life, restoring sight to the blind, healing a mute man, healing a man with a withered hand, and many, many more. Then, on top of all that, there is Jesus’ teaching, so powerful that the people were astonished at it.

Even with all this miraculous evidence, it still isn’t enough. The religious leaders want more.

Read vs 38

The chronology that began in chapter 11 continues into our passage today. That’s important to note, because just moments before Jesus prophesied judgment on cities, called Himself the Son of Man and the Lord of the Sabbath, and He is the one who can bind Satan and bring God’s kingdom. Not only are these all messianic claims, some of them are divine claims.

The religious leaders may not be picking up everything Jesus is putting down, but they certainly recognize that Jesus is making monumental claims; so they demand a sign.

But since they swam in the Old Testament Scriptures, this request is not wholly unreasonable. God told Moses to go to the people of Israel and be like the voice of God to them; but Moses wasn’t sure if the people would grant him such authority.

Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you.’ ” The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4 But the LORD said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— “that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” Again, the LORD said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.” -Exodus 4:1-9

Miraculous signs were also given to Gideon (Judges 6:36-40) and Elijah (1 Kings 18:36-39). Ahaz and Hezekiah were given signs to authenticate Isaiah’s prophesies (Isaiah 7:10-14, 38:7-8). There was robust precedent for God to empower His prophets to perform signs to authenticate their ministries.

With such a history, were the scribes and Pharisees really so unreasonable to ask for a sign?

Read vs 39

An evil and adulterous generation: this is a biting rebuke! Wicked because they refuse to repent. Adulterous because they chase after gods of their own making, gods they have crafted from their twisted religion, the gods of pride and greed and power. And it isn’t just the religious leaders that are wicked and adulterous, but that whole generation.

This is now the second time Jesus has singled out and condemned that generation. Jesus repeats this language again in verses 41, 42, and 45. Something has metastasized within that generation of Jews, something especially wicked. Powerful and numerous miraculous works of the Messiah have been done in their midst. The evidence is there. The authentication has happened.

And even if their request was genuine – if they really would believe if Jesus performed another sign – how presumptuous to think that miracles will happen simply because they demand them! God is not a circus act, and He does not dole out miracles at the demands of people, especially unbelieving people!

Like Richard Dawkins, are there any amount of miracles that would cause that generation to believe? God become flesh, the Living Word stands before them, and they cannot see Him. Not only are they blind, but they refuse to see; and their inability to do so proves their opposition to the God they claim to worship. Theirs will be the more severe judgment.

Read vs 40-41

God sent the prophet Jonah to Nineveh, the capitol city of the Assyrian Empire. They were a pagan people infamous for their brutality and violence. They were so infamous that Jonah did not want to go there. And in his attempt to escape God’s calling, Jonah get’s himself into trouble. Ultimately, he ends up being tossed into the ocean and swallowed by some great fish. Three days later, still miraculously alive in the belly of the fish, Jonah is vomited onto the shore nearest Nineveh.

Until the day Jonah is vomited ashore, for all intents and purposes, he was dead. When he hits solid ground again, it’s a virtual resurrection. And having been delivered from death, Jonah preaches to that wicked city, and the whole of Nineveh repents.

Jonah began to go into the city…And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. -Jonah 3:4-5

Only one sign was given to Nineveh: a washed-up prophet bleached white from three days in the belly of a fish. Jonah’s preaching, accompanied by that single astounding miracle, was enough for the entire city of Nineveh to repent and believe. The Ninevites condemn the Israelites.

In verse 41, Jesus is not speaking literally, as if the people of Nineveh will actually become prosecutors of that generation during the final judgment. Rather, the Ninevite’s conduct set a standard which the current generation of Jews woefully failed to meet.

Additionally, the greater one that Jonah foreshadowed now walked the streets of Galilee. The long-awaited Messiah, the Son of God, was in their midst. And He came producing far more signs than Jonah ever did: miracles over the natural and the supernatural, miracles of healing and cleansing, miracles of compassion and power. Still the Jews refused to repent. Still they did not believe.

The only thing left for them to see was the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Jesus is prophesying; and this is one of the clearest pictures He gives of what is yet to happen to Him. He will go into the heart of the earth – a metaphor for the place of the dead. Jesus is prophesying that He will die, and after three days of death He will rise again.

This is the sign Jesus will give to that generation. And after Christ’s resurrection many Jews will repent and believe. In fact, by the time you get to Acts 4, there are at least 5,000 Jews who turn to Jesus in faith. But the vast majority of Jews will not believe; and they incurred a great judgment for rejecting their Messiah.

For not only is Jesus greater than Jonah, He is greater even than Solomon.

Read vs 42

Solomon was the son of King David, and the Bible says this about him:

God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all other men… And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom. -1 Kings 4:29-31,34

The Queen of Sheba was one who came to hear the wisdom of Solomon. She came all the way from modern-day Yemen. Just as the Ninevites set a standard of repentance, so did the Queen of the South as she earnestly sought Solomon’s wisdom. But Solomon’s wisdom was a mere shadow compared to the wisdom of Christ.

Jesus is greater. Jonah was a powerful prophet, Jesus is greater. Solomon was a wise king, Jesus is greater. Prophet and king: two of the three most significant spiritual offices in Israel. Do you know what the third is? The temple priest. Jesus already talked about this:

“I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.” -Matthew 12:6

Jesus is priest, prophet, and king; but He is greater. He is God the Son, the Word become flesh. All of Israel’s great offices have come together in a single man. Jesus is the ultimate and final priest, prophet, and king. Woe to those who see Him and refuse to repent!

The Ninevites and the Queen of Sheba believed, yet they were all Gentiles! But the Jews, especially the religious leaders, refuse to believe. Woe to them! And to drive that point home, Jesus tells a story: as one commentator puts it, “a somewhat puzzling ghost story.”

Read vs 43-45

We need a little context to make sense of Jesus’ story. In the Old Testament the wilderness, a waterless and arid landscape, was the haunt of demons. And according to Jewish tradition, demons did not like the desert. They wanted to break into human habitations. Better yet, they wanted to possess human bodies. It is unclear how possessing a human brings rest to a demon, but that’s irrelevant to Jesus’ point.

Let’s look at the story to understand Jesus’ point. First, we must remember that Jesus speaks it as an indictment against that generation; see that in verse 45. Jesus is not delivering a teaching on how demons operate, though it may have those implications. The story is not about individuals; it is about that generation.

As we saw last week, one of the reasons Jesus came to earth was to defeat the works of Satan. As soon as His ministry began, He was casting demons out of people. If Israel was a house, Jesus was cleaning it of all its unclean spirits, leaving them to wander in desolate places.

But Jesus was going away, as He has just alluded to in His prophecy. After the Jews reject Him and the Romans crucify Him, after three days and an empty tomb, after He ascends to the right hand of the Father in heaven; what will happen to the house of Israel when He is gone? Will there be faith? Will they repent and believe?

Already, I have answered this. Many will believe, but the vast majority will not. Even after all the signs that Jesus performed, it wasn’t enough for them. They chose never to believe; like so many atheists of our day.

For the Jews, as for you, the house needs to be filled with some kind of spirit. If not the Spirit of Christ, if not the Holy Spirit, then the house is empty and vulnerable. And if the house is empty, the demonic pours in. The condition of Israel will be far worse than when Jesus began.

History testifies that this is exactly what happened to that generation of Jews. In 70 AD the Romans lay siege to Jerusalem and Josephus, who witnessed the siege, wrote about the madness that gripped the Jews.

A number self-proclaimed prophets arose spinning patently transparent falsehoods; yet thousands of the Jews followed them to their own demise. There was an outbreak of transgenderism and appalling sexual immorality. People executed one another over baseless accusations. Crazed mobs relentlessly attacked one another. Thousands were slaughtered as Jewish factions warred for control of the city. The Jews burned their own food supply, driving themselves into a deep famine. They ate what no humans should eat. Some ate their own children. Fathers slaughtered their families, attempting to spare them from a more brutal death.

It was as if an army of demons had possessed the people of Jerusalem, and their state was far worse than the days before Jesus cleaned house. I believe we see this prophetically described during the 5th Trumpet Judgment in Revelation 9. I preached on Revelation 9 back in April of 2022.

Jesus has prophesied His own death and resurrection, and now He has also prophesied a great judgment coming upon that generation. That is the point of Jesus’ story: it’s a prophetic warning. Without repentance, without accepting Jesus as Lord, that generation will be overrun by demonic madness.

It seems that just as Jesus is concluding his prophetic story, there is an interruption; and this interruption will really drive home the point of today’s sermon.

Read vs 46

Mark also tells this same story in his gospel (Mark 3:31-35). There we learn that Jesus’ mother and brothers were attempting to control Jesus. Perhaps they wanted to spare Him from embarrassment. In John 7:5 we read it explicitly, they did not believe in Jesus.

If you watch the Chosen, here is an area where I think the show isn’t accurate. The Chosen depicts Mary with unwavering faith in Jesus. And it is true when she is present at the cross. There at least she has a fledgling understanding of Christ. But here in Galilee, it seems that her faith isn’t so strong, or is confused, or isn’t all there. The brothers don’t believe at all.

Jesus’ mother and half-brothers standing on the outside, looking to control Jesus.

Read vs 47-50

Jesus is not saying that His biological family is not His true family. But, Jesus is elevating His family, His truest family, to everyone who trusts in Him as Lord and Savior. And it is worth saying that His mother Mary will come to truly believe. Two of His brothers, James and Jude, will believe and two of their letters are in the Bible for us.

But it is not blood that unites you to Jesus, it is faith. For everyone who does the will of His Father are adopted into the family of God. It is startling to recognize that Jesus said this with the scribes and Pharisees surrounding Him.

It is startling because the scribes and Pharisees were some of the best rule keepers that have ever lived. They followed the law of Moses down to the smallest detail, and yet Jesus still called them a wicked and adulterous generation. This is because being in the family of God is not about legalistic law keeping; it is not about prohibitions and allowances. Doing the will of the Father is not about strict rule following.

Remember the Sermon on the Mount.

“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” -Matthew 5:20

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” -Matthew 5:3,7-8

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” -Matthew 6:33

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” -Matthew 7:7

Jesus has been proclaiming an obedience that comes through relationship; one that requires trust and dependency. He wants us to see that no amount of rule following will ever make us righteous enough. But we become righteous by trusting in Him, by seeking to know Him, by earnestly following Him. This is how we do the will of the Father. This is how we live in obedience. This is how we enter into the family of Christ.

Repent and believe, and become a child of God, brothers and sisters of King Jesus.

To all who did receive Him, who believed in [Jesus’] name, He gave the right to become children of God. -John 1:12

Skeptics and fools see Christianity as a blind faith. But all the evidence is there. In Jesus the supernatural breaks into the natural. His love transcends hatred and evil. His mercy overcomes judgment. He truly does bring rest to the weary and heavy laden. And God has preserved His word so that we can be assured that what we read in the Bible is historically true (though that is a discussion for another time).

Those who have blind faith are those who are confronted with the reality of Jesus, and all the evidence that surrounds Him, and refuse to see. That is willful blindness, demonic darkness.

Jesus is the ultimate and final priest, prophet, and king. Any who receive Him as such, who believe in His name, they shall be brought into God’s everlasting family reunion.

For just as Jesus prayed:

“I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes Father, for such was your gracious will.” -Matthew 11:25-26

1Barnett, T. (2019, January 16) What would persuade Dawkins to believe in God? YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vG_8wkwhr0

The Binding of Satan

Matthew 12:22-37

Immanuel – 7/7/24

You may recognize that one month ago, Eric Moore preached on this very same passage. It is no accident that I preach again from Matthew 12:22-37. This passage is so rich that he and I planned to both preach from this same passage, but focusing on different elements.

Eric focused on Jesus’ conflict with the Pharisees, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. He did such a good job that I will not revisit those themes. Today I will focus on the parable tucked inside the larger passage.

Purpose

1. Unpack the parable of the strong man.

2. The power of the gospel limits the power of Satan.

Let’s review a few elements. Jesus has performed a series of miracles, and those miracles elicit a series of responses from people. John the Baptist has doubts, the crowds have unbelief, the region has unrepentance, the religious leaders have hatred. But in chapter 12, it seems like something might change.

Another miracle: Jesus casts a demon out of a man. Among other things, the demon made the man blind and mute, but now freed from the demonic, he can see and speak. Interestingly, with this exorcism the crowds also begin to see and speak. They begin to see Jesus for who He truly is, and they speak, “Can this be the Son of David?” In other words, “Is Jesus the Messiah?”

And we as the readers begin to wonder, are the people beginning to believe? Are they finally seeing and hearing?

But another voice rises in an attempt to steal away any seeds of faith. The venomous and hateful Pharisees immediately contend, “He’s not the Messiah. Jesus is Himself possessed by a demon!”

You can see that a clearer understanding is coming over the Jewish people, but the religious leaders instantly pounce, try to deceive, and desire to destroy the truth of Jesus Christ. There is something larger going on behind the scenes, something far more sinister. And what we come to realize is that it is not Jesus who is under the power of Beelzebub (Satan), the Pharisees are under the power of Satan. The Pharisees speak as if they are the sons of Satan.

In fact, that’s exactly what Jesus calls the Pharisees in the Gospel of John.

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.

-John 8:44-45

The Pharisees speak lies about Jesus, they try to steal away the truth, and they are murderers like their father the devil. Did we not see last week the Pharisees begin seeking a way to destroy Jesus (11:14)? Truly, there is a demonic spirit at work in these religious leaders. These have become agents of the kingdom of darkness.

In stark contrast, Jesus is from God the Father, filled with the Holy Spirit, come to offer life and rest to all those who are weary and heavy laden. It is He – the Light of the World – who brings near the kingdom of heaven!

It is in the shadow of these events that Jesus tells a short, but exceedingly potent, parable.

Read vs 28-29

I know this parable can sound a little perplexing within the larger context of the chapter, so let me open it to you.

Jesus has been accused of working for Satan. But Jesus points out how ridiculous that notion is. Why would Satan work against himself? If you try to build something, and you continually sabotage your own work, then that building will fail. If Jesus were possessed by Satan, why would Satan work to sabotage himself?

With that as the immediate backdrop, Jesus tells the parable to explain exactly how His work relates to Satan – and it is related to Satan.

The parable in verse 29 has four primary elements. There is a house, a strong man, the strong man’s possessions, and an even stronger man capable of subduing the strong man.

The strong man owns a house, and that house is filled with highly desirable possessions. If someone else is going to take those possessions, he has to do three things: first, he has to be even stronger than then strong man. Second, he must break into that house. Third, he needs to bind the strong man. Only after these things are accomplished may the stronger man evict the subdued strong man, keep the house, and take the possessions as his own.

Now, let’s remove the veil of metaphor and think about what Jesus is really saying. What are the four elements of the parable? The house is the earth, the strong man is Satan, the possessions are people, and the stronger man is Jesus.

Let me back this up with some Scripture, because we always want to interpret Scripture with Scripture. Most immediately to our passage, in verse 26, notice how Jesus does acknowledge that Satan has a kingdom. What is the kingdom of Satan?

We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. -1 John 5:19

The whole earth lies in the power of Satan. The whole earth is the kingdom of Satan. This is why Satan was able to offer the nations to Jesus when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:8-9). Again and again, Scripture testifies that this world – the house in which we live – is under the grip of Satan and his demonic horde.

And it’s not hard to understand. Everywhere you look there is brokenness and evil. The world is filled with hatred and violence and sexual exploitation and greed and selfishness and on and on. But this is not how God had created the world, and this is not how He created us. He created us to image Him in this world. We had perfect relationship with our God and perfect relationship with one another.

As God’s image bearers on earth, God gave our first parents the earth as their kingdom. God said to them:

“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over [it].” -Genesis 2:28

But Satan, wanting to destroy what God had created, slithered into that paradise and spoke a deception. Man and woman believed it, chose to disobey God, and fell; the whole earth fell with them. The curse of sin and death entered the world, and Adam and Eve abdicated their kingdom; unknowingly placing it in the wicked hands of Satan.

Satan became the ruler of this world, ruling humanity through deception, the temptations of sin, and the fear of death. He lies to us to make sin look delicious, and we bite into his temptations. He relentlessly accuses us of our failures and our sinfulness, “Who could love such a broken being?” and it makes us remember the condemnation of death, and we are struck by terror.

Everyone born since then has been born a slave to sin; in the same way a heroin addict is a slave to heroin. We keep going back to it, we crave it at the cost of everything else, we love it and we hate it. And there is the Devil, controlling the streets, constantly pushing the narcotic and the needle, gloating in his ruination of God’s world and God’s image bearers.

Again, in Jesus’ parable, the house is the fallen earth and Satan is the strong man. We are the valuable possessions, fallen, and slaves of the strong man.

But in that very dark hour, when the world had first fallen into sin and death, God sent a lightning bolt of hope. He said to Satan:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.” -Genesis 3:15 (NIV)

Many refer to this promise as the protoevangelium, the first echo of the gospel. A son would descend from the woman, and though he would receive a wound, He would utterly destroy Satan forever.

Jesus is that promised seed.

Were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons… So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

-Galatians 4:3-5,7

According to the promise God made in the garden, when the fullness of time had come, Jesus was born – the prophesied offspring of the woman. When He was born of a woman, He invaded the house. He invaded the earth and the kingdom of darkness. And He did this, as we have just read, to redeem us and adopt us. In other words, Jesus came to the earth to free us from our slavery and take us as His own beloved possessions.

But before Jesus could break our bonds and adopt us as His own, He had to do something else first.

Read vs 29

Jesus had to first bind the strong man. How does Jesus bind the strong man? How did He subdue Satan? He had to allow the enemy to strike His heel. For Christ’s death was Satan’s destruction.

“Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death He was going to die. -John 12:31-33

When Jesus is “lifted up,” that’s the cross. The cross draws all people to Him; also meaning that it binds Satan. Jesus crushes the head of Satan, and casts him out, by dying on the cross. Casting Satan out of the world, that language of exorcism; like when Jesus exorcises demons from individuals. Jesus is also exorcising Satan from this earth.

It’s important to understand the mechanics of how this works, of how the cross defeats Satan?

Our selfishness and pride stand in such opposition to God and are so offensively contrary to the way He created us, that we deserve to die – eternal death. But Christ took our sins upon His shoulders and died in our place. Then, on the third day He rose to life everlasting.

Anyone who comes to Jesus in faith has all their sins forgiven. Now that you have been forgiven, what accusation can Satan now levy?

If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn”…Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? -Romans 8:31-34,35

You are forgiven and freed from any of Satan’s accusations! Praise God, the cords of guilt have been broken!

And now that you are forgiven, you are no longer under the power of sin. You are a new creation, with a new heat, new desires. No longer are you enslaved to the power of Satan’s temptations.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. -1 Corinthians 10:13

Temptations still come, but God now provides an escape. Satan is now powerless to enslave you with temptations! By the grace of God at work within your new heart, you can overcome the Devil!

And not just the Devil, but death is overcome as well.

“If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.” -John 8:52

Though you die, yet shall you live (John 11:25-26)! You are not condemned; you shall not be cast out! God’s perfect love towards you – displayed on that bloody cross – casts out all fears and the Devil with them.

Sins are forgiven, Satan’s accusations are silenced. Temptations are escapable, Satan’s deceptions are overcome. Death has been defeated, and Satan holds no power of fear over us. Indeed, Jesus has bound the strong man.

Writing to the Colossians, Paul puts all these ideas together. And when you hear Paul writing about rulers, authorities, and powers; it almost always refers to Satan and demons.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with [Christ], having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him. -Colossians 2:13-15

You see, it is the gospel of Jesus Christ that binds Satan. For anyone who hears and receives the gospel, coming to Jesus as King, then Satan no longer controls them. They are free. And every person that receives the gospel is a further binding of Satan. One more soul where his power has been restricted.

Someone just asked me the other day; didn’t Satan see it coming? Why did he go through with the crucifixion if he knew what would happen? It’s a great question. I don’t know the answer for sure, except to say that if we are blinded by pride, how much more is Satan blinded by pride. He thought he could win by killing Jesus.

But by striking His heel, he had his head crushed. And is that not the epitome of being put to open shame! [God] disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in the crucified and risen Christ, the offspring of the woman, the Son of God, the Lord of lords!

Satan is disarmed and shamed. His head is crushed and he is a defeated foe. Or as we read in Jesus’ parable, the strong man had been bound. If we believe in that gospel truth, then we are the plundered possessions, redeemed and adopted as God’s sons and daughters.

But there is something more that has happened when Jesus bound the strong man. After the bloody cross and empty tomb, Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father. And just before He ascends, He says,

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” -Matthew 28:18

Jesus has bound the strong man and taken control of the house. As we read earlier, Jesus has cast Satan out of the world. No longer is Satan the ruler of this world, but all authority has been given to Jesus of Nazareth, the King of kings. His name is above every name and every knee – even Satan’s – will bow before Him, to the glory of God the Father.

Let us recognize this is an already-not-yet reality; meaning, it is already true, but it not completely finished. This fits into the doctrine of inaugurated eschatology. Inaugurated eschatology means that Jesus has brought the kingdom of heaven to earth, but the kingdom has not yet come into its fullness.

The devil is already defeated, but he is not completely defeated. He has been cast out, but he has not totally left. Jesus has bound the strong man; but binding is not the same as destroying. For still this strong man thrashes around in his bindings and causes all kinds of trouble.

The writer of Hebrews addresses this already-not-yet situation.

Now in putting everything in subjection to [Jesus], [God] left nothing outside His control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to Him. But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. -Hebrews 2:8-9

Even though Jesus is in control of everything, it doesn’t always look like it. It is an already-not-yet reality. Satan still thrashes around, people are still swallowed by their sins, deception still grips the nations. But Jesus, who has already achieved the victory and bound the strong man, He has a plan for finishing the work.

Let’s go back to when Jesus talks about the authority He has.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” -Matthew 28:18-20

This is the Great Commission.

Jesus sends out His church – He sends us out – to proclaim the gospel to the nations. We are commissioned as Christ’s ambassadors, proclaiming forgiveness of sins and life everlasting in the name of Jesus. As we go and proclaim, the gospel simultaneously breaks the cords of slavery and binds the strong man. More and more people are plundered, redeemed and adopted, by Jesus Christ in and through our message.

Jesus advances His kingdom through the church’s obedience to the Great Commission.

“I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

-Matthew 16:18

Jesus began the invasion of the kingdom of darkness. Over these past millennia He has been sending His church to dismantle and destroy the works of the enemy. Even their strongest gates will not prevail against the gospel proclaiming, love saturated, church of Jesus Christ.

The strong man is subdued, and we are wrestling this world, and the souls within it, from Satan’s restricted grip.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. -Ephesians 6:12

Brothers and sisters, do not let this world tell you what your life is about. Its shameful ruler is defeated, and he sells only lies and fear. Christ is the true King, and His is a higher calling!

You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. -1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Lord of the Sabbath

Matthew 12:1-21

Immanuel – 6/30/24

Our passage begins with the words, “At that time.” At what time? Sometime shortly after the events of chapter 11. Though it is true that Matthew does not arrange this book chronologically, there are chronological arrangements. Chapter 11 through our passage today is one such chronological arrangement.

So, to be sure we understand what Matthew is driving at, let’s take a moment to refresh our memories.

First there were the disciples of John the Baptist. John was in prison, hearing about all the miraculous things that Jesus was doing. Still, John remained in prison. If Jesus truly was the Messiah, why hasn’t He begun taking steps to overthrow Israel’s oppressors and perhaps spring him from his cell? Doubts had visited John in his prison cell.

But Jesus assured John that He is the Messiah. Then, Jesus said words that touched off the series of events we find ourselves in today, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me (11:6). “

After John’s doubt, Jesus rebuked that generation of Jews for their unbelief. Doubt and unbelief are very different things. Jesus denounces the Jewish cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. These cities had seen the works of the Messiah and refused to repent.

At that time, Jesus called the weary and the heavy laden to Himself, offering rest for their souls.

Read 11:28-30

We camped out for two weeks on those precious words.

But there you see a whole series of responses to Jesus’ Messiahship: doubt, unbelief and unrepentance, and today we see offense – offense regarding rest. Remember, Jesus said, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” The ones that are the most offended by Jesus are the ones that are the most religious.

Read vs 1-2

Jesus had concluded speaking to the crowds the day before or earlier on this same day. Either way, it is now Sabbath; and like a faithful Jew, Jesus plans to go to synagogue. Taking His disciples with Him, they evidently have a relatively short walk. We know the walk was short because tradition prohibited walking more than half a mile on Sabbath – something that religious leaders would never do. And it appears that along this short walk, they bump into a group of Pharisees. It seems they are also walking to synagogue.

It's after this point that Jesus’ disciples meander from the road and begin to pluck heads of grain to eat. I imagine that since they began following Jesus, they have grown accustomed to eating in such a way. According to the Law of God, farmers were required to allow the poor and hungry to eat from the corners of their fields (Leviticus 23:22).

The Pharisees see this, and they pounce!

Rabbinic Law – which means religious traditions based off of God’s law but not God’s law – had agreed upon 39 prohibited activities during Sabbath. Here they all are: carrying, burning, extinguishing, finishing, writing, erasing, cooking, washing, sewing, tearing, knotting, untying, shaping, plowing, planting, reaping, harvesting, threshing, winnowing, selecting, sifting, grinding, kneading, combing, spinning, dyeing, chain-stitching, warping, weaving, unraveling, building, demolishing, trapping, shearing, slaughtering, skinning, tanning, smoothing, and marking.

By plucking heads of grain the disciples were reaping. They would roll the grain in their hands to get out the seeds: threshing. Then they would blow the fibers out of their hand while keeping the seeds: winnowing. This whole act, for the purpose of eating, was both harvesting and preparing a meal (which fell under cooking). The disciples were participating in at least five forbidden activities during Sabbath. The Pharisees couldn’t overlook such obvious and brazen guilt.

And since Jesus is their Rabbi/Teacher, they raise the accusation, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”

Read vs 3-4

It was June 18th, last year that we studied the exact story Jesus is talking about here. David, and a small band of loyal soldiers, were on the run from Saul. They were hungry. David went to the tabernacle for other reasons, but while he was there he also sought food for him and his men.

Every Sabbath, the priests placed freshly baked “show bread” in the tabernacle as an offering to the Lord. Then, later in the day, only the priests were allowed to eat the bread. But, because David and his men were starving, the high priest, Ahimelech, allowed David to eat this bread. It is critical to remember why Ahimelech allowed David and his men to do this: Ahimelech knew David was anointed by God to be king. Though it was not lawful for others to eat the show bread, it was because of who David was, and the mercy to feed his hungry men, that it was lawful for him to eat the bread.

And yes, of course the Pharisees had read this story. They knew it well.

Jesus brings up this example because He has an even greater identity than that of Israel’s greatest king. David was God’s anointed to rule Israel. Jesus is God’s anointed to rule over all the earth. Indeed, Messiah means ‘Anointed One.’ If the Pharisees understood who it was that they were talking to, and that Jesus was allowing His disciples to eat, they would never levy accusations.

Then Jesus brings up another point about how what is unlawful for everyone else is lawful for some.

Read vs 5-6

We saw in the list of 39 activities that slaughtering, carrying, and burning were all forbidden activities. But to carry out the Sabbath sacrifices, which the law required (Numbers 28:9-10), the priests had to engage in at least these three activities; and it was lawful. They were leading the people in worship and they were guiltless.

So it was for anyone who performed temple duties on the Sabbath. But something greater than Jerusalem’s temple had come: a new and living temple.

As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house… “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”

-1 Peter 2:4-5,7

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ…Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. -1 Corinthians 3:11,16-17

Jesus is the chief cornerstone of the new and living temple. Everyone who repents and believes in Him is a living stone, built upon Christ. No longer would God dwell in a house made by human hands, but He would dwell in human hearts: the Spirit of Christ dwelling in our hearts.

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. -Romans 8:8-11

I point to this passage because here we can clearly see that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit have taken up residence in human hearts when people come to Jesus Christ in faith.

Oh yes, something greater than the temple is here! This is the hope of the Old Testament. This is the promised new covenant. This is the arrival of the kingdom of God.

And in the kingdom of God, there is a priesthood of all believers; meaning everyone whose heart is filled with the Spirit of Christ becomes a priest unto God. Thus, these priests of the kingdom of God may pluck and eat from the field and remain blameless, just as the priests of the temple may make sacrifices and remain blameless: because it’s not about the sacrifices, it’s about the mercy.

Read vs 7-8

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. He both determines what rest is and knows who is resting. And how does He do this? By offering rest for the soul and by knowing who comes to Him to find it.

Read Matthew 11:28-30

Only the Lord of the Sabbath can offer true soul rest! When Jesus calls Himself the Lord of the Sabbath, it is another divine claim. The one who created the Sabbath is also the one who created the world – and on the seventh day He rested. Once more, we see Jesus equating Himself with God.

As God, Jesus perfectly knows the will of God: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. This is the second time Jesus has quoted Hosea 6:6 to the Pharisees. The last time was back in 9:13, when the Pharisees were scoffing at Jesus for hanging out with tax collectors and sinners.

Jesus is not after sacrifices for the sake of sacrifices. God is not pleased by the sacrifices you make on Sabbath, whether animal sacrifices or the activities you sacrifice. You will not gain His favor by offering Him money, or giving up drinking, or reading the Bible for hours on end, or coming to every church activity. Your works and your sacrifices will not impress God.

What He desires is mercy, a heart that is tender like His gentle and lowly heart. And as we read in the Beatitudes,

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” -Matthew 5:7

The merciful are merciful precisely because they understand that they have received mercy from God. Before God we are broken and sinful, festering with selfishness and pride, unable to help ourselves. It is only by mercy that God would overlook our depravity. The merciful know they have received such mercy. The merciful have heeded Christ’s call and found rest for their souls in His mercy. And because they have received mercy, the merciful understand how important it is to give mercy.

If you are sacrificing as a person who has received mercy, rather than someone who is earning God’s favor, then your sacrifices are acceptable to God. So sacrifice your activities, give of your finances, read your Bible, come to church; for such things are being done in humble obedience and not favor-seeking achievement.

Again, the arguments Jesus has presented to the Pharisees work in the following ways. Jesus has a greater identity than David, and thus it is lawful for Him to show mercy to his hungry men even on the Sabbath. Jesus has initiated something greater than the temple, thus anyone who believes in Jesus is a priest unto God. So long as they are living worshipfully, they may do as they please.

The disciples have eaten. Jesus has masterfully used Scripture to defend them. He has called them blameless. He has equated Himself with Yahweh. The Pharisees are furious. They have more than taken offense. The words of Christ should echo in your mind: “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Read vs 9-10

Notice how verse 9 says that Jesus entered their synagogue. All of the events from chapter 11 until now have been happening somewhere along the northwest shore of Galilee – in the area of His home base. That means the synagogue He has entered in chapter 12 is a local synagogue, just as much His synagogue as anyone else’s. But by calling it their synagogue, Matthew is highlighting a rift that is about to grow into a chasm.

Up until this point, the Pharisees opposition to Jesus has been incidental (observing the disciples violating the Sabbath). Now they intentionally and overtly oppose Christ. Now they are looking for ways to condemn Him. Now they are setting traps.

All of them are inside the synagogue now, and so also a man with a cripple hand. The Pharisees are well aware that Jesus can heal, and that He heals prolifically. Here is a man with a withered hand, why would Jesus not heal?

Even though healing was not one of the 39 prohibited Sabbath acts, the religious leaders had a tradition that healing (like a doctor might engage in) was prohibited except in the case of a life-threatening situation. A withered hand, inconvenient as it was, was not a life-threatening situation. According to the Pharisaic, legalistic mind, these religious leaders had Jesus in a corner.

Read vs 11-12

In the grain field, Jesus rebutted the Pharisees accusations on the basis of Israel’s history, hope, and law. Now He rebuts the Pharisees on the basis of common sense. The Law did tell the Jews to help protect their neighbor’s assets – like if a donkey fell into a well; but it didn’t say anything about doing such a thing on the Sabbath. But common sense would dictate that helping livestock in crisis was a noble and acceptable thing to do, no matter what day it was.

Everyone in the synagogue who heard Jesus’s rhetorical question would have been nodding along – of course they would help their fallen sheep!

And if they would help a sheep – in a life-threatening situation – how much more does a person deserve help? The man with a withered hand might not be in a life-threatening situation, but he is so much more valuable than an animal. Jesus saw no reason why this man should suffer for one moment more. Mercy before sacrifice.

Read vs 13-14

Jesus commanded the man to do what he could not do: stretch out his hand. But because Jesus issued the command, what was once withered and crippled is stretched out in perfect shape and strength. There could be a whole sermon on that one truth: When Jesus commands people to do what they cannot do, it is joyfully accomplished. But that will have to wait for another time.

The man is healed, and His healing is all the more pronounced because of the attention that the Pharisees drew to the situation. And being that this is a local synagogue with local people, the whole congregation likely knew this man and celebrated his miraculous healing.

And being that this was a local synagogue with local people and Jesus was one of the locals, I wonder if Jesus encountered this man before in the synagogue. And if so, that means Jesus chose not to heal him before, though the man would have been anxious to be healed much earlier. But Jesus was waiting for the right moment, a moment that would echo through the ages, a moment that was the first step towards the cross. For immediately afterwards, the Pharisees begin to plot how they might destroy Jesus.

Of course, I speculate about Jesus knowing the man. But perhaps there is an application for someone in that observation. Jesus may wait because He has a bigger plan that is far better than our short-sighted desires, and that bigger plan might first traverse some difficult terrain.

Read vs 15-16

Crowds of people followed Jesus, and He healed them all. The people were with Jesus. But notice verse 14 again, the Pharisees left the synagogue. In verse 9 Matthew had called it their synagogue. But it is almost like Matthew is subtly suggesting that after the man’s withered hand was healed, the synagogue got flipped: from the Pharisees to Jesus. Now many, presumably from that same synagogue, are all following Him.

Jesus only withdrew from the synagogue because there is now a murderous intent against Him. Jesus does not want open conflict. Now is not the time for confrontation. He orders His followers not to make Him known.

When the time comes for a show down in Jerusalem, Jesus will not hold back. But even there, Jesus does not seek attention and He is not looking to grab power from those who hold it. He is fighting for truth and mercy and rest for His people.

Always, Jesus prefers to operate on the edges. He wants no celebrity. It is just as was prophesied.

Read vs 17-21

Matthew is quoting from Isaiah 42:1-4. Words of this prophesy have already been spoken over Jesus; when the Father spoke over His Son, still wet from baptism:

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” -Matthew 3:17

This beloved Son will bring justice to the Gentiles. Already we see the Jewish establishment beginning to reject Jesus. But it is by their rejection, and the cross they will bloody, that the Gentiles will receive the greatest news ever to break upon the earth.

God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us…For while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son (Romans 5:8,10).

We Gentiles, of Immanuel Baptist Church, have heard this good news and we have come to Christ! In His name we Gentiles have found our hope! The prophecy is fulfilled, and it is being fulfilled!

In verse 20 the prophecy talks about a bruised reed and a smoldering wick. Reeds were used as measuring rods, or flutes, or writing instruments, or a whole host of over things; and reeds grew by the millions along the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan and other waterways. If a single reed became bruised and lost its straightness, the reed was worthless. Naturally, you would throw away the bruised reed and get a better one to work with.

A wick was made from flax. Flax was cheap and abundant. If a flax wick wasn’t functioning properly, and smoldered instead of burned, it was a nuisance. It didn’t give proper light and it filled the air with unpleasant smoke. It could be fixed, but that was tedious work requiring much patience. It was far easier to snuff out the smoldering wick and replace it with a better one.

But Jesus does not take the easier road. He does not do what everyone else would naturally do. If you are in Christ, Jesus will never throw you away. He will never leave you nor forsake you! He is filled with endless reservoirs of patience and care. He loves to give light where there is darkness. He loves to heal the bruised and battered. He loves to lift our heavy burdens and give rest to our weary, smoldering hearts. For He is gentle and lowly of heart.

The Pharisees created 39 prohibitions during Sabbath. Each forbidden activity was a larger category for hundreds and hundreds of lesser forbidden activities. They were exacting. The amount of work it took to make sure you were resting was exhausting. Their demanding lists of rules and traditions created very heavy burdens for the people. Who could lift such punishing weights?

That’s what legalism does. That’s what sacrifice, for sacrifice’s sake, creates. Exhaustion. Heavy Burdens. When we make ourselves the morality police; when we insist that people meet the demands of our expectations, we are like the Pharisees: foisting legalistic and heavy burdens on people’s backs.

When we would rather be right than merciful, that’s legalism. If we think we’re never doing enough for God, that’s legalism. If we more quickly judge rather than seek to understand what a person is going through, that is legalism. If we give a lot of advice and rarely take it ourselves, that’s the effect of legalism. If we quietly enjoy when people get what they deserve, that’s legalism.

Listen again, priesthood of believers, to the words of Jesus:

“I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.”

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

“For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

“Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Rest For Your Soul

Matthew 11:28-30

Immanuel – 6/23/24

Last week we spent the entirety of our time together considering Jesus’ words, “I am gentle and lowly of heart.” How precious these words! For this is the only time Jesus ever directly speaks about the inner state of His own heart. And I pray that the posture of His heart would be imprinted upon our own hearts.

Today we move from considering the inner state of Jesus’ heart, to consider what it is that He is calling us into. What is this rest that He offers? How does He help those who labor by giving them a yoke, and the heavy laden by giving them a burden – which we see in verses 29 and 30?

I finished last Sunday’s sermon by saying these words: A yoke is for working. His yoke is easy. A burden is toilsome. He bestows a burden that is light. Jesus does not promise a rest of laziness. His promise of rest comes also with a promise of work. His way to lift your burden is by giving you a different sort of burden. And when you take up this yoke, and lift this burden, in a way that seems strange to the world, you will find rest for your soul.

Purpose

This is our aim today: to explore the strange sort of rest that Jesus offers, a rest that comes through work.

As you know, while we were in Marrakech we spoke with many Moroccans. I was surprised by how highly they spoke of Americans. Multiple times they singled out one attribute of Americans that they admired. Can you guess what it is? Our work ethic. Generally speaking, people of other countries often regard Americans as hard working.

And for the most part, I don’t think they’re wrong. We do work hard. We are an industrious people. Just take for example one of the most common responses to the question, “How have you been?” “Busy.” “Life is so busy right now.” And everyone accepts that answer as a good answer. They are busy too. It’s good to be busy.

Though some cultures admire the American work ethic, there are others that don’t understand. When Meg and I were in Zambia some years ago, we very quickly learned their name for white people: mzungu. It means “a person who walks in circles,” a restless person. To them, our work ethic just looks like senseless restlessness.

And for the most part, I don’t think they’re wrong. Most of us work at least 8 hours a day, then there are meetings on top of that, there are projects at home, chores that need to get done, hobbies to pursue. We pour ourselves into our children and/or grandchildren. Even our vacations become so full that when we get home, we could use a little vacation.

This is often how my life feels and I’m sure you can relate. Lots of things to do, and almost all of those things are good. But it’s the good things that will kill us. Genesis 3 says that fruit hanging from that forbidden tree was a delight to the eyes – it looked really good. But there was death in that fruit. Perhaps there is death in all the many things we are doing, even if they seem good. There is death in busyness.

Mandarin Character for Busy

So many of us fill our lives with busyness, with good things that will kill our hearts. So ask yourself: Do you really need to start that new project? Do you really need to take on those extra hours at work? Do you really need another hobby? Do your kids really need to be doing another activity?

These can all be good things – and sometimes the answer to those questions is “yes” – but if we allow busyness to go unchecked in our lives, then our lives will be so choked by good things that we will starve to death. We become unable to find nourishment in Christ, our Bread of Life, who satisfies the rest our hearts crave.

I admit, Matthew 11:28-30 is not ultimately addressing busyness. But busyness has so infected the American psyche that it must be addressed. You see, we’ve bought a lie that if we work hard enough, we’ll earn approval, we’ll earn the right to rest, and we’ll teach our kids to do the same. But the dreadful reality is that busyness is separating us from Jesus and killing our hearts.

Let us not buy the lie! Let us not be choked by the cares of the world! We are called to be in the world, but not of the world. Christ has something altogether different for our lives. It is neither working ourselves to death nor is it sitting around on our hands and waiting for Him to make everything all better.

Again, Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me…For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus has a yoke and a burden for us. A yoke is for work, but His work will be an easy delight. A burden is crushing, but His will lift our souls in unshakable peace.

4 Ways Our Christian Rest is Work

1. Wrestle to abide in Christ’s love.

If you have been a Christian for any amount of time, then you know that it is work to abide in Christ. But from Jesus’ own mouth, abiding is imperative.

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing… If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. -John 15:5,7

Abiding is all about positioning yourself to experience the Father’s love for you. See how Jesus links His words and asking with abiding?

Of course, we find Jesus’ words in the Bible. We must be in His word! How else will you know God’s love for you if you do not know His word? And Jesus isn’t just asking us to intellectually know His word, but to abide in it. Meaning, His word is meant to house your heart.

A few minutes reading a passage, or merely reading a quick devotional, this is not how you abide. That’s more like checking off another box in a busy life. Abiding in Jesus’ words is to read it and meditate upon it. Spend time thinking about what you’re reading.

Ask some simple questions of the text. What does this teach me about God? What does it teach me about humanity? What commands can I obey and what sins should I avoid? Are there any promises to cling to?

As you read God’s word and seek to answer questions like these, you will find that your reading time will become more fruitful. You will feel yourself growing closer to Jesus. You’ll be in His word and His word will be in you. It is work, but you’ll be abiding.

Then there’s the asking. Asking God for things is the essence of prayer. As sinful humans, surrounded by painful work and heavy burdens, we have all the need. But our God – who is gentle and lowly in heart – He is generous beyond measure. He is so willing to give! How much more will we be at rest when we are trusting in His provision rather than trying to scrape it from the earth?

Remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. Your heavenly Father knows all the things that you need.

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” -Matthew 6:33

That is a statement of rest. Abide in God’s provision, abide in His word, and a rest will come to your soul that cannot be found in any other place.

2. Fight against the temptation to rest in anything other than Jesus.

As I have already mentioned with busyness, there are so many good things we can pursue. But if we pursue them as the world pursues them, we will not find rest, only turmoil and death.

And indeed, chasing rest in anything other than Jesus is to live in disobedience.

Those who formerly received the good news failed to enter [God’s rest] because of disobedience… Let us therefore strive to enter rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. -Hebrews 4:6,11

See again the inextricable link between rest and God’s word?

I love that statement: strive to enter [God’s] rest. It is work. It is striving. Fight against the temptation towards disobedience. First and foremost, disobedience is not believing that rest is found in God. Busyness, achievements, finances, vacations, activities, fame: Do not be tempted to find rest in these things!

Similarly, if lies begin to creep into your heart, fight against these temptations. The enemy want you to believe that God doesn’t love you, or that He grows inpatient with you because you haven’t done enough, or haven’t been obedient enough, or haven’t abided enough. These are lies that all of us fall into at some point or another. How dangerous it is if we abide in those lies – or give up, lie down, and rest in those lies!

Use God’s words to fight against such deceitful temptations! And what better place to go than to the end of Matthew 11? Jesus is gentle and lowly in heart. He does not look down on you. He does not grow frustrated. He is not severe or indifferent or uncaring. He loves you; and still he calls, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.”

Fight against the temptation to rest in anything other than Jesus. Though we can be disobedient, He is patient. His forgiveness and grace cannot be measured. Come back to the good news of Jesus Christ – slain for sinners, risen as our life, King over heaven and earth – come and rest in this gospel news!

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. -Galatians 5:1

3. Lift each other’s burdens.

All of us struggle a great deal with abiding and fighting temptation. Where Christ has given us rest, we so quickly mutate it into labor. On top of this, we all feel the weight of the burdens of life. And if nothing changes, we will be crushed.

But just as Christ lifts our burdens, so has He given us to each other – brothers and sisters in Christ – to help ease the weight and soften the work.

Listen to these verses.

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

-Galatians 6:2

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” -Romans 15:1-3

When we were in Marrakech, we all felt the burden of our work: the oppression of Islam, the struggle for the women to find English speakers, and not seeing anyone respond positively to the gospel. And then we met three brothers – two missions workers and one Moroccan. They prayed over us and for us, praised our efforts, quoted Scripture, and spoke to our hearts.

I can truly say that though we were already exhausted from a full day, and it was late, and we talked for hours, we walked away recharged, ready for more, with a renewed eagerness to work for the gospel. We were filled with spiritual energy, as if we had just rested.

By divine appointment, those men helped to bear our burden. It was beautiful.

So, when you are speaking to someone, and you learn of a burden that weighs on them, don’t wait. Pray for them in that moment, even if it is only a sentence or two. It is so powerful when we care for each other through prayer.

Jesus gives us the words of life. If we abide in Him, then His words abide in us. Let us also let those words out. Speak Scripture to one another. We get more advice than we want to hear, and opinions are cheap. But how rare and precious it is when a loving person speaks just the right Scripture into a situation. What if we were a people that intentionally and lovingly pulled treasures from pages of the Bible, and spoke them into each other’s lives? It was so good when those men did this for us.

Praying for each other and encouraging each other is so important, so also are practical ways to serve. Sometimes we lift people’s burdens by bringing them a meal, or helping them move, or paint, or mow the grass. We can care for children, or visit the sick, or spend time with the lonely. There’s a thousand ways we can serve one another and work to lift the burdens of others.

Let me now quote to you our (Matlack’s) family verse.

I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you…I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. -2 Corinthians 12:14-15

There is something joyful in helping to lift a person’s burdens. Paul says he did it gladly. Certainly, it is hard work! But whether it is through prayer, scriptural encouragement, or service; it is a joy to help people with their burdens. I have experienced it again and again: when the Spirit of Christ has used me in such a way, my heart feels peace, a satisfaction. I might be exhausted afterwards, but my soul is at rest.

4. Work to advance the gospel advance.

It is impossible to read the Bible and not see that there is incredible joy in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Immediately, upon Jesus’ birth, the angel proclaimed to the shepherds:

I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. -Luke 2:10

Great joy! When your heart is filled with great joy, anything you put your hand to, will be a delight. With joy in your heart your work will ease, and your burdens lighten. The news of Jesus is for all the people, to fill their hearts with great joy!

And what a joy it is to watch the joy of the Lord come rushing in to someone’s heart. In all my days following Jesus, there is nothing more energizing and joyful than seeing Christ transform a life, and a soul go from death to life.

All around us people are suffocating under the weight of their burdens. They are struggling to scratch rest from the ruins of their lives, but apart from Christ they will find no rest. The word of Christ is in our hearts, we must proclaim it! We must tell them that there is another way! Do not let your silence condemn them to an eternal restlessness.

“The wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

-Isaiah 57:20-21

Jesus took our restless wickedness, our greatest burden, upon His shoulders at the cross. And when He died, He killed that burden. He killed our shame. He annihilated our guilt. He destroyed our brokenness. He cleansed us of all our wickedness.

This beloved Son of God, Jesus Christ, did not stay dead, but rose from the grave. And when He did, He secured eternal life for any who would believe Him enough to obey Him. Though there is joyful, peaceful, hope-filled rest for today; He secured a rest that will never end.

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” -Revelation 14:13

Your neighbors need to hear about Jesus, and your coworkers, and the people at the grocery store, and the lost in Morocco and Malaysia and Thailand and Russia. There is good news of great joy they must hear, and the Son of God shed His blood that they might know how much God has loved them!

Brothers and sisters, Christ has made us new creations and sent us out as His ambassadors! He has commissioned us to make disciples of the nations! It is your purpose. It is the command over your life. And when you take up Christ’s command – no matter how difficult it may be, no matter the sufferings you may face – your soul will be at rest. For you will know that you have given your mouth, and your life, in obedience to the King of all kings.

Your soul will know no greater rest than that.

So let us wrestle to abide, fight temptation, lift each other’s burdens, and strive to advance the gospel. Though this is a tremendous work, it is an easy yoke and a light burden.

There is one more detail to point out from our passage today. Look at verse 29. Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.” I want you to see that this is a learning process.

As with anything we are learning, we start by making lots of mistakes. Jesus knows this, and in His gentle and lowly heart, He is patient with us. Rest in the truth that He treats us tenderly.

But to truly learn, we have to be intentional, we have to exert effort, we have to work at it. It’s not something to put off until later – when the kids are less needy, when work slows down, when you get past this latest hurdle. These things are for now! The work begins now! And the more you put towards it, the more your soul will know rest. Throw away your excuses, they’re killing you; and people are dying all around you. Jesus offers you rest through this glorious yoke!

And while we are learning, and making mistakes, and having successes, proclaiming the gospel, always laboring for Christ; we must constantly heed His call.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Let misfortune, sin, death, and whatever the devil and the world loads upon you assail and assault you, if only you remain confident and undismayed, waiting upon the Lord in faith, you have already won, you have already escaped death and far surpassed the devil and the world. -From Martin Luther’s Final Sermon¹

1(2022, February 18) The Last Sermon of Martin Luther, Preached In Eisleben, Matthew 11:25-30, February 15, 1546. Immanuel Lutheran Church. https://immanuellutheran.net/2022/02/18/the-last-sermon-of-martin-luther-preached-in-eisleben-matthew-1125-30-february-15-1546/

The Gentle and Lowly Heart of Jesus

Matthew 11:25-30

Immanuel – 6/16/24

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He is the image of the invisible God, the radiance of His glory, the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. And God has bestowed upon Him the name that is above every name. One day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father!

(From John 1:1, Hebrews 1:3, and Colossians 1:15-18, Philippians 2:9-11)

And this supremely glorious Son of God, resplendent in majesty, high and lifted up; He says of Himself that He is gentle, and lowly of heart. Jesus, gentle and lowly of heart.

Read vs 25-30

This passage at the end of Matthew 11 is precious beyond measure. It is so rich that as I spent time meditating upon it, I became convinced that we needed two weeks to dwell upon these verses. This week we focus on the heart of Christ. Next week we will focus on what Christ promises: a yoke that is easy, work that is rest.

In full transparency, there is a book from which I am drawing much. If you have not read Gentle and Lowly – by Dane Ortlund – I couldn’t recommend it strongly enough.

The book begins by pointing out a startling truth about the heart of Christ. The New Testament provides so many insights into the heart of Christ. We can see His actions, hear His words, contemplate His being; and know Him truly and incredibly thoroughly; perhaps even better than we can know a spouse. But do you know that there is only one place – one single moment – where Jesus opens His own heart to us?

Right here, in this most precious passage, Matthew 11:29, Jesus opens His heart: I am gentle and lowly in heart. It is the only place in the entire Bible where Jesus tells us about the inner state of His heart: gentle and lowly.

Remember the words Jesus uttered just before.

“No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” -Matthew 11:27

But the Father has chosen to reveal such hidden things to little children. Jesus’ very next words are to call the little children to Himself: “Come to me.” And then He reveals Himself, “For I am gentle and lowly of heart.” What Jesus says no one knows – Himself – He then reveals: “I am gentle and lowly of heart.”

And what makes this self-revelation even more precious, is that Jesus opens this window into His heart not so that we would all stand back in awe – though that happens. He does this to encourage the weary and the burdened little children to come to Him. It’s a gentle summons. If you take out all the qualifying statements in verses 28-30, and boil Jesus’ words down to their most fundamental elements, Jesus says: Come to me, for I am gentle and lowly of heart.

Jesus reveals His heart so that we would come to Him. In other words, His heart is that we would come to Him, because His heart is gentle and lowly.

Before we consider Jesus’ invitation, let us first behold His heart – gentle and lowly.

Gentle: compassionate, tender, sympathetic, desiring to please. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not quench (Matthew 12:20).

Lowly: humble, meek, simple, unassuming, modest, accessible. He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant…He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:6-8).

How prone we are to consider Jesus’ perfect holiness and righteousness, and to perceive Him as austere, rigid, severe; that He merely tolerates us with all of our fears and failures. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. He sees us with our heavy burdens and broken efforts, and His heart swells with lowly gentleness, and He says, “Come to me. Come to me and I will give you rest.”

Already we have seen Jesus’ gentle and lowly heart beautifully demonstrated in the Gospel of Matthew. He promised His kingdom to the poor in spirit, the mourning and meek, the hungry and thirsty, the persecuted.

We saw a leper approach Jesus and say, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” Jesus said, “I will.” Then doing what no one would dare do, He touched the man and cleansed him from all his leprosy. Jesus sailed through a storm to free two men from demon oppression. He loved a tax collector. He healed the blind and the mute and the lame.

The people that everyone else rejected and despised; Jesus never held at arm’s length. He drew near to them in their lowliness. He was gentle with them. He helped them. He genuinely loved them. Indeed, this is what makes Christ’s heart light up, beat a little faster: to come near to sinners and sufferers – for He is gentle and lowly of heart.

Think about it. If Jesus’ heart truly is lowly, then He loves nothing more than to come down into your lowest moment and meet you there. If His heart truly is gentle, then there is no amount of brokenness that He will not tenderly care for. It is who He is. It is His nature. He who holds the universe together by the word of His power is also the one who emptied Himself to serve the beaten-down and burdened.

Jesus, the Son of God, stepped down from glory to plunge into our world of brokenness, so He could say to us so broken, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden…for I am gentle and lowly of heart.”

We all have cast ourselves into a life of sin, where we are battered by continual waves of suffering. All around us we look and see nothing but turbulence, a vast expense of swirling cataclysm. We know that we have no hope of surviving such a stormy life; not on our own. We may be able to swim, but only for a moment, and certainly not long enough to save ourselves.

There is but one rock, one refuge from the waves. In the midst of the chaos, surrounded by waves that would carry us away, Christ’s voice rises above the tempest: “Come to me! Come to me, for I am gentle and lowly of heart! Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden!”

He is the rest in restlessness, the peace in the consuming frenzy. And if you come to Him, just as He invites, none of life’s tsunamis could ever sweep you away. He has promised it:

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” -John 6:37

No matter how broken, however destitute, however filthy; if you come to Jesus, He will never cast you out. He is gentle and lowly of heart. Your past sins, your present sins, your future sins; if you come to Him, He will never cast you out. It is almost too hard to believe.

Regarding our struggle to believe such a breathtaking promise, Dane Ortland gives powerful expression:

“No, wait” – we say cautiously approaching Jesus – “you don’t understand. I’ve really messed up, in all kinds of ways.”

I know, [Jesus] responds.

“You know most of it, sure. Certainly more than what others see. But there’s perversity down inside me that is hidden from everyone.”

I know it all.

“Well – the thing is, it isn’t just my past. It’s my present too.”

I understand.

“But I don’t know if I can break free of this any time soon.”

That’s the only kind of person I’m here to help.

“The burden is heavy – and heavier all the time.”

Then let me carry it.

“It’s too much to bear.”

Not for me.

“You don’t get it. My offenses aren’t directed towards others. They’re against you.”

Then I am the one most suited to forgive them.

“But the more of the ugliness in me you discover, the sooner you’ll get fed up with me.”

Whoever comes to me I will never cast out. (Gentle and Lowly, pages 63-64)

We all know this struggle: the struggle to believe that Jesus will not be severe or impatient with us, that He will actually treat us gently, that He will actually love us. Because we know our filth. But Jesus knows it even better. And His posture is so lowly that He reaches down into our filth to pull us right out.

Take note, that though Jesus is tender toward us little children, He will not allow us to fester in our sins. He loves us more than that. So with great care and gentle sanctifying power, He pulls us from the mire, washes us in His word, and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. It will take a lifetime, but He is not above the painstaking work.

All we must do is come to Him, just as He summons. He does not need your works. He does not need you to figure it out. He does not need your assistance. He does not need your promises. He does not need your disciplines. All He needs is for you to come to Him, come to Him with your sinful, broken-down life. Bring to Him all your heavy burdens of suffering. Come to Him and He will transform your life.

Again, from Dane Ortlund,

“But for the penitent, His heart of gentle embrace is never outmatched by our sins and foibles and insecurities and doubts and anxieties and failures. For lowly gentleness is not one way Jesus occasionally acts towards others. Gentleness is who He is. It is His heart. He can’t un-gentle Himself towards His own any more than you or I can change our eye color.”

(Gentle and Lowly, page 21)

He is gentle and lowly. It is His very heart. This means that He takes unspeakable joy from ministering to you, from lifting you up out of the mire. He loves to heal. He loves to bring rest. He loves for you to know you are loved. In fact, I am convinced that He loves to give these things even more than we love to receive them.

Let me illustrate this.

As an infant, my daughter Autumn came down with some sort of respiratory infection: coughing, gurgling, sleeplessness, and misery. Meg and I exhausted ourselves trying to help her, but it didn’t take long before there was nothing more we could do. Naturally, we took her to the ER. A battery of tests were quickly run, but to our dismay everything came back negative. No one had any idea what was going on in Autumn’s body.

Her symptoms, mixed with the uncertainty, compelled the hospital to place her in quarantine. Only Meg was allowed to be with her, isolated in quarantine, unable to leave. Every healthcare worker that entered the room was suited up like a spaceman.

You can imagine how distressing all of this was for us, having no idea how serious things were. I can’t quite remember how, but after a few days of isolation the doctors finally determined that she had bronchiolitis.

Autumn started getting better, the quarantine was deemed unnecessary, and eventually her and Meg were allowed to come home.

I ask you, in that situation, who do you think experienced more joy: Autumn for her healing or Meg and I for having a daughter restored? Even if Autumn were older, and could better appreciate the situation, the greater joy belongs to her parents! Our love for her is more than she knows, and our understanding of her plight was far more profound.

So it is with Christ and us. He loves us beyond our comprehension and His understanding of our plight is infinitely more profound. And remember when, back in verse 25, Jesus compares us with little children?

“I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” -Matthew 11:25-26

So, when we come to Jesus, like needy and helpless little children, He does not receive us with indifference or severity. He is not too good to get down on the child’s level. No! He lowers Himself and receives us with all gentleness. And in His heart Christ rejoices, because He is doing the very thing that makes his gentle and lowly heart beat.

Make no mistake, Jesus proclaimed woes over the cities that rejected Him, that would not repent. We saw this in verses 20-24. If rest can only be found in Jesus, then to reject Him is to have no rest. It is to forever labor and be heavy laden. Such is the woe of those who refuse to come to Jesus in repentance.

But if you feel the weight of your burden, if you see the stain of your sin, then come to the foot of the cross. See there your Lord, gentle and lowly. With great strength He hangs under the weight of your burden, and mine, and every weary sinner that has come to Him.

It is His joy to bear such sorrows. For you would have been forever quarantined from God. But Christ came into our quarantine chamber, and totally cleansed us from our disease of sin. Forgiven, He has said. Righteous, He has declared. You are free. You are redeemed. You are reconciled unto God.

All of this because you have seen that Jesus is gentle and lowly of heart, and you have come to Him. Coming to Jesus is not getting yourself all better so you can leave the quarantine and go find Him. No! It is as simple as lying in your sick bed, turning your eye to Jesus, and believing that He loves you and He can save you. It is in that moment that He rushes in!

Read vs 28-30

And if you have come to Jesus, then He has promised to give rest to your souls. The way He will do this is by transforming your labor and your burden. See that in verses 29 and 30: take my yoke upon you…For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

A yoke is for working. His yoke is easy. A burden is toilsome. He bestows a burden that is light. Jesus does not promise a rest of laziness. His promise of rest comes also with a promise of work. His way to lift your burden is by giving you a different sort of burden. And when you take up this yoke, and lift this burden, in a way that seems strange to the world, you will find rest for your soul.

But these things are for next week. I pray you’ll return to hear how this gentle and lowly King of kings offers a rest that cannot be matched. Come to Him, for He is gentle and lowly of heart.

The Son of Revelation

Matthew 11:20-27

Immanuel – 6/2/24

Last week I defined two terms for you.

The Eschaton = The culmination of the divine plan and the initiation of the final age.

Eschatology = The study of the last things, or the study of the eschaton.

In the time since then, I think the feedback I heard most frequently was, “I had no idea there was so much eschatological significance in that passage.” And indeed, echoes of the eschaton were absolutely bursting from those verses.

Though you’ll be able to hear some of those echoes today, it will be much less significant. Instead, we will hear a thunderclap of the nature of Jesus Christ, the Son of Revelation. What He reveals about Himself, and His relationship to the Father, is incomprehensibly deep. We’ll only be able to scratch the surface, for Jesus cracks open the door to a reality that confounds the reach of human minds.

So again, as I said last week, let us focus our minds that we might see beyond what eyes can see. And what is amazing is that these unimaginably deep truths have been revealed not to the wise and understanding, but to those with a child-like trust; trusting that Jesus will make it known.

Read vs 20

According to how Matthew has arranged this book, Jesus has confined His travel to Galilee. All the deeds of the Christ – “The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news preached to them” (Matthew 11:5) – these have all broken upon Galilee. The point at which the eschatological kingdom of heaven first touched earth was upon the shores of Galilee.

In the history of planet earth, there has been nothing as significant as Yahweh stepping down from glory, becoming a man, and bringing with Him all the hidden promise and humble majesty of the kingdom of heaven. Truly, if Galilee was the beachhead where heaven invaded earth – in the person of Jesus of Nazareth – then there can hardly be a more privileged people than the Jews of Galilee.

And yet this spectacular blessing has become a curse to them; a mournful, horrible, curse. For the Son of God stands in their midst and denounces them. Look carefully: Jesus denounces these cities because He performed works that could only be from God, and the people did not repent.

Remember the heart of Jesus’ message? “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” -Matthew 4:17

To receive the kingdom of heaven, there must be repentance. What is repentance? It’s a call of total life change; to turn away from the former ways of self-reliant living and turn towards complete dependence upon God. It is a new orientation for life, and being sorry for your sins is not enough. Sorrow must be followed by pursuit of a new life. Emotions of sorrow must be followed by a lifestyle of repentance!

But as we see in verse 20, the people of Galilee did not repent. They remained comfortable in their proud, selfish, sinful, self-reliant way of living. They were amazed by Jesus, they admired Him, but they made no changes to how they lived.

Read vs 21-22

Chorazin and Bethsaida were two large towns on the north shore of Galilee; predominantly populated by Jews. Peter, Andrew, James, and John – some of Jesus’ own disciples – were from Bethsaida. Chorazin was less than an hour’s walk from Capernaum; certainly a town Jesus frequented.

We have now had plenty of time to observe how the Jews of these cities responded to Jesus. The majority were excited about Jesus; but they were excited because of the spectacle, not because heaven had come to touch earth. The religious leaders were a mixture of suspicion and resentment. Certainly, there were the faithful followers, but this was an insignificant minority.

By and large, Chorazin and Bethsaida remained unmoved, hardhearted, comfortable. They are Jews. They are the chosen people of God. If the kingdom of heaven belongs to anyone, isn’t it them? Why would they need to repent? But bloodlines mean nothing in the kingdom of heaven, only repentance.

Conversely, if Jesus had gone to Tyre and Sidon – two ancient Gentile cities – they would have turned out in repentance. Sackcloth clothing and ashes on the head were two customary displays of mourning and repentance. Dawning such vestments was a visual announcement that you have been undone; you have been humbled, broken.

Jesus knows Tyre and Sidon would have repented thus. And Jesus isn’t picking Tyre and Sidon randomly. Does He do anything randomly? There are numerous prophetic denouncements of both Tyre and Sidon in the Old Testament. Again and again, they are condemned for their staggering arrogance. Here’s a brief denouncement of Tyre:

Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,’ yet you are but a man, and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god…therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you, the most ruthless of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendor. They shall thrust you down into the pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas. -Ezekiel 28:2,7-8

Tyre and Sidon, a signal of arrogance in the Jewish mind, even they would have humbled themselves in repentance if Jesus had walked through their streets. Jesus is effectively saying that Jewish Chorazin and Bethsaida are more arrogant than Gentile Tyre and Sidon.

Woe to them! Their judgment shall be severe. For the Son of God had brought to them the kingdom of heaven, and they did not want it. Woe to them when that final, eschatological judgment comes upon men. Their rejection of God is far more intense than Tyre and Sidon’s ever were, and thus their condemnation is more severe.

But Capernaum; Capernaum’s woe is even greater.

Read vs 23-24

Capernaum was Jesus’ home base for ministry. Though He didn’t have a home, He effectively lived there. No one had seen more of the Son of God than did those in Capernaum. Still, they did not repent.

There is no city in the entire Bible that symbolizes wickedness like Sodom. It wasn’t that long ago that we studied the fall of Sodom – in all of their perversity and pride. But even wicked Sodom would have repented if the Christ entered its gates. Woe to Capernaum for failing to receive the King of heaven and earth! How great will their judgment be!

And why are these cities so doomed? Did not Jesus just look like any ordinary man, a carpenter with a Nazareth accent? How can God blame the people of these cities for missing it? Well, apart from miracles (the like of which no one had seen) if they were to look beyond looks, they would have seen the very face of the Living God.

[Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. -Hebrews 1:3

[Christ] is the image of the invisible God…For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. -Colossians 1:15,19

To see Jesus is to see God. To be in His presence is to bump up against the kingdom of God. The people of Capernaum have no excuse. Woe to Capernaum. Woe to Chorazin and Bethsaida, for you did not recognize the time of your visitation.

And then Jesus begins to pray aloud.

Read vs 25-26

We have heard Jesus talk about His Father, we’ve heard Him teach on how we should pray to the Father, but this is the first time we hear Jesus pray to His Heavenly Father. How precious that Jesus gives us a peek into His prayer life with His Father.

And this is a prayer of thanksgiving. How strange this is, because Matthew intentionally links this prayer to what Jesus has just been saying. He was just pronouncing woes over unrepentant cities, and now Christ’s heart overflows with thanksgiving.

See the complexity of Christ’s emotions: pronouncing woe followed by a flood of thanksgiving. And His thanksgiving has nothing to do with the woes, it has everything to do with God’s revelation.

I wonder if you can relate to such complex emotions. You’re filled with one emotion, and then another emotion swells up and eclipses the other. These emotions can flow seamlessly, even if they appear to contradict one another. It is such a human experience, and here Jesus is having it. And yet, His divinity is clear within it.

Pay close attention as to what causes Jesus’ heart to swell with thanksgiving. I wonder if you saw it. He is struck by the nature in which God makes Himself known, and Jesus suddenly bursts with gratitude. He is so overcome that He just starts declaring His prayer so all can hear. Picture it.

And why is Jesus so overcome with thanksgiving? I’ve already mentioned it in brief. Because of how the Father has chosen to make Himself known.

First, let’s consider what Jesus means when He says, “These things”: as in, you have hidden these things. “These things” are the hidden things. And what is hidden? The kingdom of heaven; the very thing that Jesus has been telling everyone is so near. Listen to what Jesus says elsewhere.

“The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

-Luke 17:20-21

The treasures of the kingdom of God are the hidden things that God has revealed. And God the Father has revealed these precious treasures to little children. Of course, Jesus isn’t talking exclusively and literally about children.

This may remind you of another of Jesus’ sayings:

“Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” -Luke 18:17

Little children depend upon others. They cannot do things for themselves. They need someone stronger, more capable, wiser than them. They are helpless without their parents. And so they implicitly trust in their parents, love them and listen to them.

People who understand that they are sinners, completely incapable of earning a spot in the kingdom of heaven, these are like little children, dependent upon God to change their desperate estate. They understand their unworthiness and trust that their Heavenly Father has made a way. In short, the little children Jesus speaks of are those who are desperate for the Father’s salvation.

Jesus’ heart is a flood with thanksgiving because it is to these dependent little children that God graciously lavishes His salvation.

But the wise and understanding, they miss it. Here again, Jesus is not being literal; because you can be wise and understanding, you can be intelligent and well learned, and still have faith like a little child. But those that think they know it all, who can find a way for themselves, who are happy with their self-reliance, who don’t need any help (thank you very much): the Father has hidden the kingdom of heaven from them.

Perhaps you can think of someone who is absolutely brilliant, with a formidable intellect, but they look down their nose at Christians for being weak and foolish.

Paul writes about this exact dynamic.

Read 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

How good it is that the doors of the kingdom of God are open wide to the unworthy, the desperate, the needy, and the weak! Such people have no payment to give, no mighty works to offer that would gain them access into the kingdom of heaven. All they have is their trust in the goodness and mercy of their Heavenly Father. So, if there is any reason to boast, we boast in the Lord. For all things are from Him and through Him and for Him.

And if these truths are causing some gratitude to stir in your heart, know that you are in good company. For Christ’s heart was so stirred that He was moved to loud thanksgiving.

Read vs 27

Once more, Jesus says, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father.” What things? Again, it’s the treasures of the hidden kingdom. But being that these treasures have been handed to Jesus, He has authority over them. It’s much like Jesus’ last declaration in Matthew’s Gospel: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

Jesus then tells us how He exercises His authority. You’ll want to pay careful attention to this.

First, Jesus says that the only one in existence that truly knows Him is the Father. But similarly, no one knows the Father except the Son. This is not a knowing of intellect; like having facts about each other. This is a relational knowledge: a deep knowing of what each other loves and dislikes, of what brings pleasure and pain, of what makes the heart soar and the heart sink.

Truly, Jesus is revealing mysteries beyond our wisdom. The relationship held between God the Father and God the Son is more intimate, and more loving, than our minds can comprehend. They are so unified that they are one. So much so that what one does, it is completely within the will of the other. And what the other does, it is completely within the will of the first. They are one.

Our most intimate relationships – like within the very best of our marriages – is only a faint echo of the oneness that the Father and the Son experience. Their love for each other is incomparably perfect.

Jesus isn’t mentioning the Holy Spirit in this prayer, but this is a profound revelation of the Triune Godhead. Three persons that are one God. One God that is three persons. It is such a powerful relationship that the universe pivots upon it; and all things are from Him and through Him and to Him!

Hear Jesus’ words again: “no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son choses to reveal Him.”

The knowledge of the Father – which the Son so intimately knows, which is beyond the wisest wisdom of men – this knowledge, the Son reveals to whom He pleases. There is no greater revelation of God than what Jesus Christ has made know.

[Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. -Hebrews 1:3

[Christ] is the image of the invisible God…For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. -Colossians 1:15,19

This is exactly why Jesus can rightly claim that He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). And if – as you hear Jesus’ words and behold His miracles – you see in His face the very face of God, then that means that Jesus has chosen to reveal the Almighty Father, awesome in all His sovereign plans, wildly generous with His love; then Jesus has chosen to reveal Him to you.

And knowing that there is nothing within you that deserves such revelation, cry out with Christ, “I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children” like me. Thank you for showing me the truth of Jesus, that you have made Him my hope in life, and that He is my only way into the kingdom of heaven.

Cling to Christ little children. Repent of your self-reliance and cling to Christ. He is gentle and lowly of heart, and He will bring rest to your soul.

The Worthy and The Worthless

Matthew 10:34-42

Immanuel – 5/19/24

What a blessing it was to hear from one of our Elders, Josiah Stevens, last week! While you were all here listening, I was simultaneously watching the livestream. How deeply I appreciate his words. In his opening remarks he said, “I desire to be God’s instrument to increase the church’s value and understanding of [God’s] word.” I am confident that while Josiah was preaching, God met his desire.

I praise God that He has blessed Immanuel with Josiah and His leadership, as well as our other Elders: Dave Fuller, Dave Nauss, Geoff Christian, and Eric Moore. Yes, truly, God’s blessing is upon this church!

Josiah’s desire is also my desire for this morning. May our hearts burn within us as we come before the very words of the King of kings and Prince of Peace.

Speaking of Jesus’ words, let us remember that chapter 10 is the second of five great discourses in the Gospel of Matthew. Each discourse is an extended – and dare I say extremely powerful – teaching of Christ’s.

In this discourse, Jesus is teaching His 12 Apostles how they are to gather in the harvest, how they are to be faithful ambassadors of Christ. How clear it is that when Jesus sends them out, their mission is filled with danger; and yet its risks are far outweighed by the everlasting glories abounding in the mission. Yes, Christ is making His disciples an extension of His own purpose.

That’s exactly what Jesus means when, in verse 24, He said, “A disciple is not above His teacher, nor a servant above His master.” Jesus is our great teacher, the Lord of our lives, thus He summons us to follow Him and to take up His purpose.

As we have seen over the past couple of weeks, these summons are filled with dangers. In verse 16 Jesus says He sends His disciples out as sheep among wolves. He then tells them they will be persecuted, betrayed and hated – even within the context of family. In verse 23 we see Jesus say that there will even be times the disciples will have to flee.

Yet in verses 24-33 Jesus encourages His disciples that come what may, our sovereign God holds them fast in His perfect plan. Everything they will experience; Jesus has already experienced. And no matter what they experience – no matter what you experience – the Father holds His beloved children secure, tenderly caring for us, providing, eager to lavish with glory and honor.

The Apostle Paul perfectly captures the spirit of what Jesus is saying:

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. -2 Corinthians 4:17-18

In light of this eternal weight of glory…

Read vs 34

Look at those words, “I have not come to bring peace to the earth.” These words abound with revelation; for this is not something a normal human can say. Does this not imply that Jesus chose to come into the world for a purpose, that He pre-existed His natural birth? Here again, is another glimpse into Jesus’ divinity and His eternal existence. He is truly man and He is truly God.

The God-man did not come to bring peace to the earth, but a sword. People who say they interpret the Bible literally might stumble here; because if Jesus is talking literally, then this means that Jesus entered the earth to bring a sharp, metal blade commonly used in ancient warfare. Of course, Jesus is speaking in symbols, metaphors. He uses the symbol of a sword to say that He has come to bring division, strife, and struggle.

But wait! Did He not say in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). On top of that, isn’t Jesus called the Prince of Peace?

An ancient prophesy foretold that Jesus would bring peace.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. -Isaiah 9:6

If Jesus is the Prince of Peace, if He says that it is blessed to be a peacemaker, then how can He simultaneously claim that He has not come to bring peace, but a sword?

Here I think it would be helpful for us to hear His words as recorded by the Apostle John.

Turn to John 3:16-21

We saw it implied earlier in Matthew, and John states it explicitly elsewhere, Jesus is the Light of the World. Sinners loving the darkness hate it when the Light exposes their works as evil. They rage against the light.

Using a different metaphor, Paul states the same truth.

For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? -2 Corinthians 2:15-16

If you have trusted in Jesus, if you have received forgiveness and redemption from Christ, you are in the light. You have become a fragrance of life to life and death to death.

Meaning, that if you are around anyone else who is also in Christ, then you smell like life to them. Conversely, if you are around anyone who hides in the dark, still clinging to their sins, then you smell like death.

Your presence is a constant reminder of their separation from God and their impending judgment. You remind them that hell is coming – and they will hate you for it. They want nothing to do with your fragrance of death. You are a stench to them, an offense.

How clearly Scripture testifies – here and elsewhere – that the truth of Jesus has a powerful dividing effect. His words sift humanity into two camps: believers and unbelievers, for and against, forgiven and condemned.

So the sword that Jesus has come to bring is one, not of warfare, but of truth. Truth is divisive because it means that there is an objective wrong and an objective right. If something is objectively true, then it is true regardless of your experiences, regardless of your feelings, regardless of your desires. And if you are going to be in the truth – or in the light – then there is a division between you and those who reject the truth.

So it is with the truth of Christ. The reality of Jesus divides people, causes disunity, tears apart, as people come to different conclusions about the identity, purpose, and calling of Jesus Christ, the God-man.

The disciples of Jesus are given this sword, and we are commissioned to proclaim it, not recklessly or arrogantly, but in love and with humility. Even still, such a truth will cut so deeply, that even families may be torn to pieces.

Read vs 35-36

The reality of Jesus will divide families, so much so that “a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.” How true and terrible are these words of Christ!

On March 9th, 2022, news broke that a Kurdish female was found, brutally stabbed to death, in northern Iraq. Her murder took place near the Erbil international airport, in a predominantly Christian district of Erbil. Just a few weeks earlier, Eman Sami Maghdid – choosing the Christian name “Maria” for herself – announced on social media that she had recently converted from Islam to Christianity and was eagerly preparing to be baptized.

Quoting the news outlet Asia News, “It appears that she was punished by her family for leaving Islam, specifically for being emancipated and embracing the Christian religion; in short, she was ‘guilty’ of apostasy.” For the crime of embracing Christianity, Maria’s uncle and brother murdered her, calling it an honor killing. Maria was 20 years old.1

Families – places meant to be filled with love and security, with peace – brooding with division and danger; all because some members of that family have been gripped by the word of Christ.

Maria’s story is just one in a sea of countless others like it. A little over two weeks after Maria was martyred, I flew into that same Erbil airport. I met with Iranians who had been disowned by their families and others that had to flee their hometown for fear of persecution.

Of course, these examples come from Islamic lands, and here in America we do not face such dangers. But I know of countless families, many of your families, that have divided over Christ. You love your family members, you want them to know Jesus, you want them to be with you in eternity; but they reject the gospel, they reject the conversation, and now your relationship is marked with an ever-present tension. Some of you have been written off by your own children: I have seen the anguish it brings you.

Jesus’ words are as true now as they were when He first uttered them.

Read vs 37

Jesus is saying, your commitment to me must be even greater than your commitment to your family. The truth of Christ, the person of Christ, we must hold as more valuable than your father, your mother, your spouse, even your own children. For which one of your family members can save your soul?

As the theologian Leon Morris writes:

“No mere man has the right to claim a love higher than that for parents or children; it is only because He is who He is that Jesus can look for such love. The words imply that His is more than a merely human teacher and leader. Of the one who lacks this love for Him He says that he is not worthy of me. We must not forget that Jesus knew what it was to experience misunderstanding in the family, for His own thought Him mad (Mark 3:21). Jesus is not asking from His followers something He did not know for Himself.”2

Absolutely, the Bible testifies that we are to love our families; that we are to hold them with the utmost care and respect. In fact, one of the 10 Commandments instructs us to honor our father and mother. Love your children. But that love cannot supersede your love for Christ.

Let’s consider the inverse of this. If you fear that by following Jesus, you will lose family members – and therefore decide not to follow Jesus – then, as Jesus puts it, you are not worthy of Him. If you love your son or daughter more than you love Jesus, you are not worthy of Jesus. If your life is so oriented around your children to the neglect of Christ, you are not worthy of Christ.

The truth of Jesus is more valuable than your children, more valuable even than your own life.

Read vs 38-39

When the disciples first heard these words, they didn’t yet know that Jesus would be crucified. They couldn’t yet feel the full weight of His words. But they would have understood that Jesus was talking about a one-way journey.

Everyone condemned to be crucified had to carry their cross to the place of crucifixion: a terrible walk with an excruciating ending. And once that awful burden was thrust upon your back, there was no turning back.

The image would have been clear enough: Jesus was talking about the utmost denial of self. For if you would be willing to take up your cross to follow Jesus, you were marching towards the death of self.

But Jesus is not calling His disciples into a life of self-harm or asceticism. No. He says that if you lose your life, for His sake, you will find life.

At the beginning of our passage, we hear Jesus tell us why He had come into the world. Let’s look at another time He said He had come into the world. Speaking of His disciples, Jesus says,

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” -John 10:10

Life, and life abundantly! Yes, every follower of Jesus will be given life eternal! Death will not be the end of you, but merely the transition into everlasting life.

Life that does not end, that is abundant indeed. But that is not where it stops, for what is an everlasting life devoid of purpose? So this abundant life that Jesus has come to give is a life filled with meaning and purpose. What is that purpose? In the context of Matthew 10, that purpose is to go out and work the harvest!

The harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few. We pray that God would send laborers into the harvest, and then, lo and behold, Jesus sends His disciples to work the harvest: like sheep among wolves, proclaiming the kingdom of heaven, fearing no man, but revering our Heavenly Father.

So, all those things you thought you wanted to devote your life to – success, travel, notoriety, academia, sports, even family – if you look for your life in those places you will lose it. But if you lose your life of selfish desires, to follow Christ and obey His calling, you will find a purpose that will so deeply satisfy your soul. Yours will be an abundant life!

Again: concentrate your energies on yourself and you will get lost in self-destruction. Lose yourself in service of the King, and you will find your truest self!

Read vs 40-42

As you go out on mission for Christ, anyone who receive you also receives Christ. To receive Christ is to receive the Father. What deeply profound unity woven between Father and Son and disciples. There is a sermon just in this verse!

Does this not show us how invested Jesus is in our mission? He is there with us, even when our family rejects us, even when we are reviled and persecuted for His name’s sake, Jesus is there with us. He identifies Himself with us, just as we identify ourselves with Him. Therefore, what happens to us, it is as if it happens to Him.

Who is the God that would bind Himself to man, in all our imperfections, and fears, and sufferings?

So, whoever receives you in peace, they receive peace. Whoever receives you in righteousness, receives righteousness. For to receive you is to receive your message, and to receive your message is to receive Christ. Very similarly, this is what it means to receive a prophet and get a prophet’s reward.

For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophesy. -Revelation 19:10

To receive a prophet is to receive the testimony of Jesus Christ. And what a reward it is to receive the King who gives life, and life abundantly!

Verse 42 shifts a little bit, moving from rewards given to those who receive you (as you are out there working the harvest), to rewards you receive as you work the harvest. The term “little ones” is really about those who are neglected, overlooked, dejected, lost, helpless. And giving a cup of cold water would be considered the least of all gifts you could give. A cup of cold water was something inexpensive and easy to do; just draw it up from the well.

God is so invested, so united to His disciples, that even a simple little gift, given to the most dejected disciple, will be rewarded. It is as if you are giving that gift to Jesus Christ Himself.

But that cup of cold water is the smallest gift you can give. This whole discourse is ultimately about going out into the world, even in the face of great danger, even at the loss of your loved ones, to give the gift of the gospel. And if you were to deny yourself and give the gift of the gospel, to quench the thirst of desperate souls, how great will your reward be!

As I said at the beginning of this message, when Jesus sends His disciples out, our mission is filled with danger; and yet its risks are far outweighed by the everlasting glories abounding in the mission. Christ is making His disciples an extension of His own purpose, an extension of His own life. No matter what you experience, the Father holds His beloved children secure, tenderly caring for us, providing, eager to lavish with glory and honor.

Yes, whoever finds his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for the sake of Christ will find it. You shall be the fragrance of life to the living and the fragrance of death to the dying, and when it comes time for you to die, Christ will say “worthy!” And He shall raise you to abundant life without end.

I conclude with the words of Martin Luther from that old hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God:

Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever.

1(2022, March 9) Maria, 20, killed in Erbil by relatives for converting to Christianity. Asia News. https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Maria,-20,-killed-in-Erbil-by-relatives-for-converting-to-Christianity-55319.html

2Morris, L. (1992). The Gospel According to Matthew. Pg 268. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Proclaim As You Go

Matthew 10:1-15

Immanuel - 5/5/24

At the very end of chapter 9, we heard Jesus say, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” -Matthew 9:37-38

Like I said last week: In this illustration, Jesus imagines the earth like a vast field, ripe for people to be gathered into His kingdom – people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. And if this harvest is going to be brought in, the first place to start is on the knees.

Christ tells His disciples to pray earnestly. Pray with great effort. Pray with sincere longing – that God would move, that He would stir people’s hearts, that He would raise up workers to go into the field and proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God!

But praying is where things start. It’s only the beginning. For the very next thing that Jesus does is appoint disciples to go into the harvest. Again and again, we have seen enormous crowds following Jesus around. From these crowds comes a smaller, committed bunch: Jesus’ disciples.

But out of this larger group of disciples, Jesus calls 12.

Read vs 1

Jesus appoints 12 of His disciples for a special mission, specifically for working the harvest. And look in verse 2, there they are called apostles. The word apostle comes from the Greek “Apostolos.” It literally means a “sent one.” It is a delegate or ambassador, given special authority to carry a specific message.

That’s just what we see Jesus doing. The message these Apostles will carry is found in verse 7: Proclaim as you go, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus gives the Apostles authority in verse 1: authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. These 12 will go with Jesus’ message and Jesus’ power.

And then Matthew lists those that Jesus names as His Apostles. Peter is first, because he was their leader. In chapter 4 we saw Jesus calling Andrew, James, and John. In chapter 9 was the initial calling of Matthew. The rest are not mentioned in Matthew’s gospel; that is, except for Judas – Judas who betrays Jesus.

After he betrayed Jesus, Judas kills himself. James, John’s brother, is beheaded by Herod (Acts 12:2) in Jerusalem. The rest of the Apostles spread across the Roman Empire proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. But some went further: Church tradition tells us that Thomas traveled all the way to India and Matthew likely made it to Ethiopia.

But nearly every Apostle listed here will be martyred for the gospel, most of them dying very cruel deaths. Only John lived to old age and died peacefully, though he suffered terrible persecutions throughout his life.

Truly, these 12 were committed. Truly, they had seen something in Jesus that absolutely transformed them and changed the course of their lives. And right here, in Matthew 10, Jesus prepares them for their very first mission.

For the rest of chapter 10, Jesus will deliver instructions on how His disciples are to go on mission, how they are to become laborers in the harvest. This powerful teaching is Jesus’ second of five discourses in the Gospel of Matthew.

Read vs 5-6

A Message And A Mission

Back in 9:36, Jesus had compassion on the crowds because they were like sheep without a shepherd. They were harassed and helpless. Jesus expands this image beyond the crowds that surrounded Him, to all the people of Israel. All of Israel was in need of a Shepherd. The Apostles were going to find them, wherever they were scattered, and tell them that the Shepherd has come.

See how Jesus forbids them to go to the Gentiles or Samaritans? Jesus and the disciples were in Galilee, a predominantly Jewish territory. But they were surrounded by non-Jewish, Gentile lands to the west, north, and east. In the south were Samaritan lands. Jesus was effectively limiting the Apostles’ first missionary journey to Galilee, and only to the Jews in Galilee.

But there was a greater purpose. The Jews were the chosen people of God, thus they were to hear the good news of the kingdom of God first.

I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

-Romans 1:16

The gospel first went to the Jews, and then the rest of the world. For after the cross and resurrection, Jesus says to these same Apostles:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” -Matthew 28:18-19

But for now, in this very early stage of Jesus’ ministry, and at the very beginning of the disciples’ career as Apostles, the mission is limited to Galilee. To the Jews first.

Read vs 7

Again, this is the message the Apostles are to carry with them. It is verbatim, Jesus’ own message.

Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” -Matthew 4:17

John the Baptist also proclaimed the same message:

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. -Matthew 3:2

The Apostles are not sent to preach topical sermons, they are not sent to give their interpretation of what Jesus has been doing, they are sent to proclaim His exact words: the kingdom of heaven is at hand! Any deviation from what Jesus Christ says, and their mission fails.

The kingdom of heaven is at hand: Meaning, it is near, it is imminent, it is almost upon them. Those who hear such a message must, therefore, respond with urgency. There is no time to wait. Come today and receive the kingdom.

And this message they are to proclaim as they go, everywhere they go, all along the way. While they journey to their destination, they are to proclaim. While at their destination, they are to proclaim. Returning from their destination, they are to proclaim.

Again, with their message, we see Christ giving them authority.

Read vs 8a

The only miraculous act we see the disciples performing in the gospels is the casting out of demons (Luke 10:17-20). The rest of the miracles we see occur in the book of Acts, though there is no record of a leper being cleansed by them that I could recall.

But what is more important is that in Matthew 8 and 9, these were the same works that Jesus performed to demonstrate His incomparable power, and His authority as the Son of God. Thus, Jesus sends these 12 Apostles with His same message and His same authoritative acts. This is less about the miracles and more about the powerful and unique authorization from Jesus.

To be clear, the authority to perform these miraculous works was given only to the 12. The rest of the disciples, out of which the 12 were called, were not given this same authority. We can therefore deduce that the authority Jesus gave to the 12 Apostles was unique; not for all disciples through all time.

So, Jesus gives a peculiar authority to the Apostles for laboring in the harvest. And then Jesus goes into the strategy that is to guide them while they are out there working the harvest.

Read vs 8b-15

Look at what Jesus says the disciples should not do:

1. Vs 9 - Acquire no money for your belts. In other words, do not charge for your services. It was customary at that time, among both Jews and Gentiles, that traveling teachers and philosophers would expect payment from the people who were listening. Jesus says, don’t do that. This is not a money making venture.

2. Vs 10 – Take no bag, extra tunic, or footwear. Don’t pack extra clothes.

3. Vs 10 – No staff. Take no protection.

The theme of these don’ts is that the disciples are supposed to travel light, taking very little with them, and not worry about their provisions. Their strategy will be to faithfully proclaim in the authority of Christ, and to depend upon God for all their needs.

Here we should be reminded of what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: “Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’…Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” -Matthew 6:32,33

Just as the Apostles were going out to proclaim the nearness of the kingdom, so was Jesus setting them up to simultaneously seek the kingdom. How awesome! The very message they proclaim, they must remain dependent upon!

The harvest, ripe and ready, is dependent upon the spiritual provision of the kingdom of God – which the disciples proclaim. At the same time, the disciples are dependent upon the harvest for physical provision. There is an interdependent relationship here. No one is independent. No one can thrive without trusting in Christ, whose authority and message is proclaimed, and who is ultimately responsible for all provision.

Now look at what He says the disciples should do:

1. Vs 10 – This one is implied, but the laborer deserves his food. This means, expect that the laborer will find provision from the harvest.

2. Vs 11 – Find who is worthy. Find the people that welcome you and your message.

3. Vs 11 – Stay with those worthy people.

4. Vs 12 – Greet the worthy house (house means household, those who live in that house).

5. Vs 14 – If no one receives you, or if a household proves worthless, shake the dust from your sandals and leave.

Notice, as the Apostles go out on mission, there will be two results. Some people will receive them, proving themselves to be worthy. Other people will reject them, proving themselves to be unworthy. The worthy will receive peace, the unworthy will receive judgment – for they have rejected the kingdom of God.

Here at Immanuel, we call these worthy people, “Persons of Peace.” We get that term from Luke 10, where Luke calls these people “sons of peace.” In both Matthew and Luke, the disciples are to greet with peace. If a worthy person receives that greeting, receiving also the disciple and his message, then peace rests upon that person. They are a person of peace.

You must capture the importance of this. As the Apostles go and proclaim, they are to look for persons of peace. They are to stay with them and minister to them. In return, those persons of peace will provide for the disciples. Christ has chosen to expand His kingdom through persons of peace!

Let me now show you how Jesus’ words do apply to all disciples through all time. As I have said, the authority Jesus gives to the 12 Apostles is uniquely powerful. But in verse 8, when Jesus says, “you receive without paying; give without pay;” isn’t that true for every disciple of Jesus?

Your faith is a gift, your life is a gift, your inheritance is a gift, and your mission is a gift. You have earned none of it. So too should you give without expecting anything in return. We have now shifted from things only true to the 12 Apostles to things true for every one of Christ’s disciples.

2 Principles for Mission

The authority given to the Apostles is unique, but the principles of the mission are for every disciple. The fundamental principles are twofold:

1. As you go, proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God.

2. Seek and disciple Persons of Peace.

Now, I would like to give you a simple way to know if you have found a person of peace. If you have taken Ambassador Training, or any other 4 Fields Intensives, then you’ll be familiar with what I am going to do next.

Draw Traffic Light

The 12 Apostles had a unique ministry in all of history. Unless your name is listed in the gospels as an Apostle, or your name is not Paul of Tarsus, then you are not among them. You have not been given the same authority as they had been given, and neither has anyone else.

That said, there are apostles today. As Paul writes, among prophets, evangelists, and shepherd-teachers, Christ also gave the church apostles.

[Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. -Ephesians 4:11-12

Today the title “apostle” is used and abused. There are countless false apostles claiming to hear new revelations from God, boasting of unverifiable miracles, and filling their money bags with gold, silver, and copper. Because of these abuses, we don’t use the term apostle very often.

A true, modern-day apostle is someone who takes the word of God to people who have never heard it before. True modern-day apostles are frontier missionaries. Garrett Simerson is a modern-day apostle. The Lord has called Garrett to take the message of the gospel to unreached peoples in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India.

Again, an apostle is a delegate or ambassador, given special authority to carry a specific message. Today, apostles have a specific calling to go to places unreached by the gospel. Not all of us have this apostolic calling on our lives, but all of us are called as ambassadors.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come…All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. -2 Corinthians 5:17,19,20

Though we are not all called as apostles, and though none of us are the 12 Apostles, everyone who is a new creation in Christ is an ambassador for Christ. All of us have been authorized to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God. All of us are to be working the harvest, looking for persons of peace.

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. The church has prayed for God to send laborers. Will you serve the Lord of the harvest? Will you work the field? Will your life be marked by not just faith, but also obedience? Will you proclaim as you go?

Transcript:

The Abounding Harvest

Luke 10:1-20, John 4:34-38, Matthew 13:24-30

Immanuel - 11/6/22

As a follow-up to the sermon series on Revelation, we have been considering the Church’s ministry of reconciliation. In 2 Corinthians 5 Paul declares that God is reconciling the world to Himself. This is His world, and He will not allow it to be lost or destroyed. No! He is reconciling it to Himself. In fact (marrying two passages), for God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son, to reconcile sinners to Himself.

And since Christ has ascended to the right hand of the Father – as King of heaven and earth – He sends out His Church as ambassadors. We have been given the ministry of reconciliation. Our work is to reconcile this world unto God through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We are Christ’s ambassadors. If we are going to live as faithful ambassadors, then we need to understand how to do our job, how to speak our message, and how to understand our context. Such has been the goal of this sermon series. I want you all to be equipped for the work of the ministry of reconciliation.

Today we are going to look at a series of parables in which Jesus illustrates our evangelistic calling with images of a harvest: Luke 10:1-20, John 4:34-38, Matthew 13:24-30.

Purpose

1. The harvest parables informs our ministry of reconciliation.

2. It is time for the laborers to reap the harvest!

3. Three effects of reaping.

Read Luke 10:1-20

The last time we visited this passage, we focused on the particulars of Jesus’ commission to the 72. As the disciples go out, they carry the gospel with them. As they come near, so comes the kingdom of God.

Even today, the kingdom of God is near, as close as your breath, as present as this room. It is entered and experienced through the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was true then, it is true now.

Grievously, there will be many who greet the gospel of the kingdom of God with indifference or hostility. It might sound harsh, but Jesus instructs His disciples not to waste their time on such people. Elsewhere, Jesus said,

“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” -Matthew 7:6

Neither should we cast the treasures of the kingdom to those who would only trample them underfoot. Instead, we move on. Find the person of peace who will welcome you and your message. They are the ones in whom we should invest our energy and resources.

Those were some of the particulars we considered. Today will now zoom out for a larger, more universal view. There we will see a bigger picture of the ministry of reconciliation.

I told you that we would be looking at some of Jesus’ parables; but, to be sure, Luke 10:1-20 is not a parable, it’s a narrative. And yet, embedded within it is a short, mini parable. We find it in verse 2.

Read vs 2

Image and Truth

There’s the parable. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” And we are going to dive deeply into it.

Jesus says the harvest is plentiful. To see just how abounding it is, let’s put ourselves inside Jesus’ image for a moment.

Imagine being surrounding by fields, fields that stretch to the horizon, fields in all directions. All these crops are ready to be harvested. Yes, harvesting is hard work, but finding where to harvest is the easiest thing in the world. Step in any direction and find the harvest. Reach down in any place and pull up ripe grain.

Yet as you survey the harvest – exciting as it may be – you cannot help but be overcome by the overwhelming task, for only several other workers dot the golden landscape. Let’s say you count 71 in your sight. You know that over the horizon the fields continue. Cross the oceans and still find ready harvest. Even if you, and a thousand more, work yourself to the bone, and spend your whole life gathering harvest, you will barely make a dent.

This is the kind of harvest Jesus speaks of; and the implication is that you are surrounded by fields, fields stretching to the horizon, fields in all directions.

There are many passages where Jesus employs elements of this same imagery. Let’s go to our second harvest parable for today.

Read John 4:34-38

“My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” -John 4:34-38

Again, the harvest is plentiful and ready. Here, Jesus says it is white for harvest. In this passage Jesus is saying now is the time for harvest. When Jesus spoke these words, it had eschatological significance. The prophet Amos applied such an abounding harvest to the new covenant age (Amos 9:11-15).

The disciples did not need to wait, they were living in the dawning of the new covenant. It was harvest time. It was time to work. It’s why Jesus told them to proclaim, “The kingdom of God has come near you (Luke 10:9).”

And, it is why Paul wrote, Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. -2 Corinthians 6:2

The disciples lived in the dawning of the new covenant. They were the firstfruits. The first grains to be harvested. In 2022, the new covenant Son has fully ascended and abundantly shines God’s favor upon sinners. How much more is the favorable time now? How much more is today the day of salvation?

Yes, the fields are just as white today as they were in Jesus’ day. There is no reason to think the harvest is not yet here. And God has appointed us, each one of us, to reap this abounding harvest.

Jesus told the disciples that His food was to do the will of the Father. Obedience sustained Jesus, energized Him, satisfied Him. Obeying the Father is the highest height of Jesus’ soul.

In the context of John 4:34, Christ is talking specifically about His obedience to gather in the harvest. God sent Jesus to gather in the elect, so Jesus lays down His life for the mission. And as the Son of God dies for the elect, the Father is deeply pleased in His Son’s self-sacrificial love. And to have the favor of the Father is the Son’s greatest pleasure. It was the joy set before Him.

Jesus went before us, to show us what it means to obey the Father and bring glory to God. Just as He laid down His life, 1 John 3:16 tells us that we should also lay down our lives. Just as Jesus devoted His life to gathering in the harvest, so should we devote our lives to gathering in the harvest.

To do so is to fulfill the Great Commission, is to be faithful ministers of reconciliation. To do so is to obey the Father and Son.

Now, let’s look at just some of the elements in Christ’s parables and apply their real-world meaning. So, we’re going to strip away the imagery because we want to be as simple and clear as possible to truly understand what Jesus is telling His Church.

· The fields represent the world.

· The crops are the people that fill the world.

· The plants that are ready to be harvested are people ready to receive the kingdom of God. They are ready to come to Jesus in faith.

· We – the ambassadors of Christ, the people of the Church – are the labors; we gather in the harvest.

· The seed that is scattered and the sickle to gather, both are gospel proclamation.

Once we step out of the image, it becomes painfully obvious that this is just an illustration; and no single illustration can capture the complexity of the real world. Life is messy, and never exactly the same as what a single image can convey. This is one reason Jesus gives us so many different images.

For instance, though there is an abounding harvest, Jesus also tells we don’t just encounter only good and ripe crops. There are also weeds.

Read Matthew 13:24-30

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ” -Matthew 13:24-30

This is certainly an added layer of complexity to the Great Commission. As we proclaim the gospel, weeds will come in with the harvest. Stripping away the imagery: people will positively respond to the gospel, they will appear as if they belong to the church, but they are weeds.

They have not come to Jesus recognizing their own sinfulness and helplessness, seeking forgiveness and life; they have come to feed their own self-righteousness and religiosity. They are such good hypocrites that no man can properly sort them out. Only God, who judges the heart, knows the wheat from the weeds.

So it will always be in this new covenant age. This is why we receive warnings to look into the depths of our own souls.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. -Philippians 2:12-13

Notice the link between knowledge of salvation and obedience. Let the weeds of the Church hear the warning of Christ’s parable: if you do not repent, and in faith, obey, you will be gathered up and burned!

But for us who are new creations in Christ, there is a helpful application here. As you share the gospel and people come to faith (perhaps even in your own family) but later they fall away; do not rack yourself with guilt. It is not your fault that anyone turn away from God. In these parables, their turning away proves they are weeds. It is not that they lost their salvation, it is that they were never wheat to begin with.

Note, the weeds are only categorized as weeds at the judgement, at the sorting. Sometimes it is hard to tell if a person is a weed, or a wheat bearing fruit, until then. Because as long as it is called today, they can be saved. Weeds can repent and become wheat, entering the kingdom of God!

3 Effects of Reaping

Now, let us consider three effects of reaping. Remember, proclaiming the gospel is how God’s laborers reap, and gather in the harvest. Jesus tells us three things will happen when we faithfully proclaim the gospel. For this we will return to Luke 10:1-20.

Read vs 3

1. You Will Be Hated

When you proclaim the gospel, as Christ’s faithful ambassadors, some people will hate you for it. They will treat you as ravenous wolves treat helpless sheep.

No one wants to hear that they are not good enough; that they are evil. Even worse, no one wants to hear that their most authentic self earns condemnation from God.

This is precisely why Jesus went to the cross, to face God’s wrath so we would not have to. He died the death we all deserve. Then He rose from the grave, defeating death, and ascended to heavens throne as our Lord.

Now, if we would repent and believe that Jesus gave Himself for us, God forgives us and brings us into His kingdom. He became sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

This is the gospel, and it tells us that our identity, apart from Christ, is evil and condemned. But everyone who is in Christ is a new creation, and given a new identity: sons and daughters of God, ambassadors of Jesus Christ, ministers of reconciliation.

Still, our depravity is a critical element of the gospel, because it shows us that we need a salvation we cannot achieve for ourselves. We need a Savior. This fits into what Paul calls the “offense of the cross” (Galatians 5:11). And it is for this that people will hate us.

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that His followers would be reviled, falsely accused, and persecuted. And remember what Jesus said about throwing our pearls before pigs? If we are not careful, we could get ourselves attacked. In other words, as we proclaim the gospel, some people will treat us as ravenous wolves treat helpless sheep.

Or, they will try. We are helpless only in the sense that we will not revert to dishonest tactics nor pick up arms and fight. We are not entirely helpless.

Listen to the parallel that we read in Luke 10:3.

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” -Matthew 10:16

I’m going to paraphrase this: when sharing the gospel, don’t be an idiot. You can get yourself into a lot of trouble by indiscriminate gospel sowing. You can get others into trouble too. In this room, some of you could lose your jobs, alienate loved ones, get kicked out of organizations, and have all kinds of hateful things said about you.

These things may happen because you have been a faithful ambassador. But, it is possible that these things happen because you have been cavalier, your have rushed situations, you have been unnecessarily forceful, or other hasty and foolish tactics. The way of wisdom is to boldly maximize your ministry of reconciliation, while minimizing the collateral damage.

Again, for faithful gospel proclamation, there may be real life consequences. But the consequences we may have are dwarfed by what other flocks face.

There was one particular moment this past year that I will never forget. I was in the Middle East, and the group I was with had just finished training some brothers and sisters how to be ambassadors in their own country, a country other than the one we were all presently in, a country where Christians regularly disappear. If their government catches them laboring to bring in the harvest, they face consequences that only hide in the shadows of our American nightmares.

Before we parted, and they prepared to smuggle the kingdom of God back into their country, I and the other Americans circled around them in prayer. The weight of what they were walking into was heavy on all of us. We all prayed. I prayed Matthew 10:16 over them: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” As they faced the possibility of death, this verse came alive.

Surely, we can bear our American dangers for the sake of the gospel! For what good is it to gain the whole world and lose our own souls (Mark 8:36)? If people hate us for speaking about our great, reconciling God, then we are blessed; for our reward is great in heaven (Matthew 5:11-12)!

2. Ingathering

The second effect of gospel proclamation in our world is ingathering – the bringing in of the harvest. People believe in the gospel and are brought into the kingdom of God! They are saved. They become worshippers of the crucified, risen, and ascended King of all the earth. You, brothers and sisters, are a part of that ingathering.

But something strange happens to every grain that is gathered into the kingdom. They are immediately transformed from harvest to laborer. Everyone brought into the kingdom of God is expected to then turn around and work for the harvest, to become an ambassador.

According to the Great Commission; we believe, we are baptized, and we are taught to obey Jesus. In order to obey Jesus, we then go out to fulfill the Great Commission. The harvest becomes the harvesters.

In Luke 10:2, Jesus said we should be praying for laborers. Though there are a couple ways to understand this, I think Jesus primarily has in mind the very many fields where there are no, or nearly no laborers. There are hundreds of people groups, and millions upon millions of individuals that will never meet an ambassador of Christ. They need ambassadors to come to them!

Every other month we highlight one of these Unreached Unengaged People Groups (UUPG). Next week we will highlight the Kunbi people of India, an enormous field with nearly no laborers. As it stands today, nearly every single Kunbi person – more than 15 million – will live their whole life and never hear about their King, Christ Jesus. Pray that God would send laborers. Perhaps God would send you.

The harvest is exceedingly bountiful. Though there are weeds and wolves, there is no lack to the people that are receptive (yellow and green lights). According to Jesus, they are everywhere. All you need to do is believe Jesus, draw courage from His words, go out there and proclaim the gospel. You do not save, you speak. Swing the sickle of the gospel and be amazed at the ingathering!

The third effect of gospel proclamation is supernatural.

Read vs 17-20

3. The Felling of Satan

Jesus told the 72 that they would be like sheep among wolves. I imagine they set off on their mission with a heaviness upon them. But they return joyful and excited. They can’t believe that the demons are subject to them.

Let’s take a brief moment to consider what Satan, as the ruler of the demons, is trying to accomplish on the earth.

“When [Satan] lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” -John 8:44

“The thief (Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” -John 10:10

Hours before Jesus is arrested and crucified, He said,“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.” -John 14:30-31

From these three passages, we can see that Satan is trying to rule this world, and he uses his unholy powers: lies, theft, murder, destruction.

Do you see how the gospel of the kingdom of God topples all these powers?

Satan’s lies are shattered by the eternal truths of the gospel. Where Satan tries to steal our joy and peace, the gospel offers heaven’s treasure of unceasing joy and peace that surpasses all understanding. Where Satan murders, Christ gives live, and life abundantly. Where Satan destroys, God makes all things new!

Satan’s feeble attempt to overthrow God have been thwarted. The ruler of the earth is not the devil. No. This earth belongs to the Lamb, standing though He was slain, the Lion of the tribe of Judah! To Him has been given all authority in heaven and on earth!

Satan is no king. He has fallen like lightning. The cords of the gospel have bound him and thrown him down. He has not been entirely vanquished. But so long as the gospel goes forth, the devil’s power to kill, steal, and destroy is ever diminishing!

Oh the power of the gospel of the kingdom of God! It offends the wicked, gathers the harvest, and binds the enemy. Through the gospel, God is transforming the world, reconciling it to Himself. Let us not be shy, then, in our proclamation. Let us with boldness and love, call all people everywhere to be reconciled to God.

Today is the day of salvation!

We live in the midst of an abounding harvest. You have been given the sickle and the time for reaping is now. The Lord of the harvest calls you to harvest!

The Discipling Church

Ephesians 4:11-16

Immanuel – 10/30/22

This is week eight of a sermon series entitled “The Ministry of Reconciliation.” Let us briefly review by considering where we began: our identity in Christ.

We live in a culture starved for identity. People lash their identity to their political party, to their class of oppression, to the likes on social media, to some pursuit of success, to their independent nature, or whatever else. But all these false gods cannot conquer our fears and they certainly cannot give life.

Only the True and Living God, our Creator, can vanquish fear and abundantly give life. And if we are in Christ, then we have come to that life. It is a life that has profound purpose. Through faith in Jesus, we have been given new life and a powerful identity: we are the ambassadors of Christ.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

With identity comes purpose. Again, from the first sermon in this series, we consider the highest of purposes.

The Creator of this world did not purpose His world for failure, to fall to the destructive schemes of the Devil. No, God is reconciling this world to Himself, and He purposes that His will, will be done, that His kingdom will come, that His name will be hallowed. As it is in heaven, so it will be on earth.

As we have just read, God is reconciling the world to Himself through the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you are in Christ, then you have been gripped – body and soul – by that very gospel. And by the gospel, you have been reconciled unto God.

We considered this gospel in the third week of this series: God, Man, Christ, Response.

Your Creator is holy and righteous. Though He created you in His image, you are a rebellious sinner that has broken that image; and such rebellion earns His just and eternal condemnation. But God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to die for our sins and provide a path to forgiveness. Jesus then rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. All you must do is receive the free gift of faith - turn away from your sins and trust Jesus with every aspect of your life - and you will be saved, reconciled unto God.

God, Man, Christ, Response. God calls us – the reconciled – to carry this gospel message to all the nations, to the whole world, to our neighbors. We go to unashamedly proclaim the gospel and make disciples, even if it takes us into uncomfortable territory.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. -Romans 1:16

The gospel is like a mighty cable through which the power of God rushes electric into the heart of the unbeliever. And this divine gospel charge is so powerful that it takes what is dead and springs it to everlasting life. Through it you believe and through it God saves you. As we read in 2 Corinthians 5, God uses the gospel to recreate you – a new creation – an ambassador of Jesus Christ.

But we are not to be ambassadors in isolation; called to shoulder the weight of reconciliation all alone. It is more than individuals are meant to bear. We both represent Christ and disciple the nations more effectively when we come together in community. Christ intends His ambassadors to gather together in the community of the church.

We must understand that the Great Commission, and our calling as ambassadors, cannot be divorced from the community that Jesus has given to us, the community for which He died; the community of the church.

To be sure, we all belong to the Church Universal, the body of Christ comprised of all believers across the planet and spanning the new covenant age. But the Church Universal is far larger than what any of us can experience or understand in this lifetime. So Christ expects us to participate in the life of the local church.

Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation make this abundantly clear. Christ the King delivers powerful messages to a constellation of churches. What He says to these seven local churches is really for all churches – for the Church Universal. But to receive Christ’s message to the whole church one must belong to the local church; for the messages are meant to be obeyed within the community of the local church.

Purpose

1. Ambassadors of Christ need the local church.

2. How does the local church disciple us to be better representatives of King Jesus?

Read Ephesians 4:11-16

The Essential Church

Though there are truths for the Church Universal in this passage, is it meant for the local church. I think you should all be able to clearly see that. Evangelists and shepherd-teachers operate within the context of the local church. Each Christian ministers within the context of the local church. We all work together in the context of the local church.

This passage is showing us how profoundly we ambassadors need the church.

Two years ago, the government told us that church is nonessential. It told us that we can get on with life just fine without going to church. But man cannot live on bread alone. We need to be fed with the word of God. And the word of God could not be more clear: there is no earthly establishment more essential than the church, because through the church the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ is being realized on earth; and each one of us is part of that fullness.

Just one chapter earlier, Paul wrote this to the Ephesians:

Through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. -Ephesians 3:10

We are ambassadors of Christ to the world; and, through us, the hordes of hell are beholding the manifold wisdom of God. Consider the weight of that! Paul says that right now the demons are seeing the wisdom of God on display through the church. It is a wisdom that breaks down their gates and thwarts their efforts. It is a wisdom that transfers sinners out of the demonic kingdom and into the kingdom of God’s marvelous light. It is a wisdom that binds Satan.

Oh yes, the church is most certainly essential. No grocery store, or pharmacy, or bar has cosmic effect; but the church most certainly does. And how we ambassadors need it!

The manifold wisdom of God – that’s another way of saying the fullness of the wisdom of God. Ephesians 4, as we have seen, talks about the fullness of Christ. Both aspects of fullness are revealed in the church.

We need to know how this fullness comes to be seen through the local church. It’s all about the Word of God.

Read vs 11

The Church’s Leaders

See at the beginning of verse 11 that Jesus Himself has given the church its leaders. He has both established the leadership roles and He has given specific people, at specific times, to fill these roles. In other words, your church leaders are literally gifts from the King.

That should be a comfort to you and a weight to your leaders.

Consider Paul’s words to the elders of the Ephesian church.

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood.

-Acts 20:28

God gives each faithful local church their leaders: apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherd-teachers.

Three times in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul uses the phrase “apostles and prophets.” Here is one:

[The Church is] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone. -Ephesians 2:20

I don’t want to spend time discussing who apostles and prophets are, but I do want you to know that these are foundational offices. The primary role of apostles and prophets is to first deliver the gospel to the church. So Paul lists apostles and prophets first because they are foundational.

Next come the evangelists. They take that gospel and herald it, sowing its life-giving seed generously and broadly. Do not be fooled, Christ calls every Christian to be an evangelist; but there are some people He powerfully gifts with evangelistic success. These are the evangelists to which Paul refers. They are easily identified, because through their ministry many come to faith and are gathered into the church.

Once gathered – into the church – they need to be taught. In verse 4 we read about shepherds and teachers. But these are not two different roles. Think of it more like a shepherd-teacher. This is obvious when we consider Jesus shepherded through teaching.

When [Jesus] went ashore He saw a great crowd, and He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And He began to teach them many things. -Mark 6:34

Jesus saw the people needed a shepherd, so He began to teach.

Notice, of the four different roles in Ephesians 4:11, only the shepherd-teachers regularly interact with the local church. Apostles and prophets are foundational. In other words, they lay the foundation. They neither build the building nor maintain it. Evangelists’ main concern is outside of the church, though they send people into the church.

But the shepherd-teacher is in the church day in and day out, protecting from wolves, mending wounds, leading to green grass, guiding to living waters: and all this is primarily done through the regular teaching of Scripture.

But they don’t teach with cold indifference. He is a shepherd, and his teaching is especially beneficial because he knows his sheep. He lives with the flock. It is his regular duty, and joy, to disciple the people of the local church with the word of God.

I am a shepherd-teacher of this local church. But so are the other elders (Dave Fuller, Dave Nauss, Josiah Stevens, Geoff Christian, Jim Talento, and Norm Fuqua). The role of elder is the role of shepherd-teacher. Listen to Peter’s words:

I exhort the elders among you…shepherd the flock of God that is among you.

-1 Peter 5:1,2

Twice Peter writes “among you” – as in, the people among you. Peter is so clearly talking about local churches. Shepherd-teachers shepherd local churches primarily through loving, relationally informed, Biblical teaching. It is why I am here at Immanuel.

The Bible also tells us that the church is to respond in a specific way to their local shepherd-teacher:

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. -Hebrews 13:17

Just a quick caveat: elders, or shepherd-teachers, are under shepherds. Jesus Christ is the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4). If the local shepherd is not himself following Jesus, then you need not follow them.

Ok, Jesus has given the local church its leaders. But He has given these gifts to accomplish a purpose.

Read vs 12

Ministers

Church leaders, and me as one of your shepherd-teachers, labor to make you into ministers. You are the real ministers. You are the real builders of the church. With Scripture on my lips, I am here to teach you how to be ministers.

These past eight weeks I have been teaching you how to build the church through evangelism. I have been teaching you how to be faithful ambassadors for Christ, obedient to the Great Commission.

Yes, we want to see more and more come to faith in Jesus Christ. We want to see baptisms and we want to rejoice in brand new worshippers. But conversion must not be our only focus.

The primary focus that you ministers of the church must have is spiritual maturity. Otherwise, churches will fall into gimmicks, or seeker sensitive shallow attractionalism, or all kinds of compromising endeavors. Making disciples, as we have been commissioned to do, is mostly about teaching people to obey everything that Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:20)!

This focus is exactly what Paul has in mind.

Read vs 12-13

We’ve already spent some time talking about the fullness of Christ on display through the local church. And what an incredible goal it is! We want to see in one another, as much of Jesus as is possible. We want to see the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Is this not the epitome of selflessness?

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. -Philippians 2:3

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

-Romans 12:10

Jesus said: “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

-John 17:22-23

This glorious display of the fullness of Christ is not something that can be seen in any individual. It can only be revealed through the collection of us – through the church. So we work, ministering to one another, building each other up, until we all attain such unity of love and faith.

Oh, you cannot live this life from the couch. It is a high calling given us!

Read vs 14

Speaking Truth in Love

We church, help one another not be carried away with every wind of doctrine, or catchy idea, or clever lie. There are lots of things in the world that sound good, they even sound like doctrine, but they will carry you away, they will carry you to your death. To think that you are not susceptible to this brand of deception is supremely naïve. As we learned from Proverbs, a fool does not know he is a fool.

We need each other in the local church to protect one another from these falsehoods. It is hard sometimes, but we need to be shown when we begin to head down a path of folly and falsehood.

At Immanuel I have heard people concerned about the mark of the beast in a vaccine, or a current world leader bringing with him the end times, or a diet proclaimed as if it were the gospel, or fear that some sin was too much for Christ to forgive, or a whole host of other falsities I could name.

False doctrines, human cunning, and deceitful schemes lead the sheep astray. Far too often, it is because the sheep are not submitting to the local shepherds given to care for them. Instead, they scroll through YouTube’s pastures. Not content with what Christ has given them, too many sheep are hungry for greener grass offered by far more famous shepherds. A difference in preference, in style, in personality, and the sheep think their hunger is greater than what Christ has given them.

Though pastors of other flocks can offer benefit, Jesus has not given them to shepherd the sheep of this local flock.

Each time I see someone wander off into deceitful ideas and foolish thinking, it is my duty – not just as pastor, but as a fellow member of the local church – to lovingly and gently redirect them towards the truths of Scripture. It is your duty too.

In fact, this is the first way which we, as members of the church, are to love one another: by lovingly leading each other to the truths of Scripture.

Read vs 15-16

This verse is not directed at the church’s leaders. Rather, Christ is calling all of us to speak the truth in love to one another. And where else do we get rock-solid, reality-grounding, unshakable truth, but from the Bible?

When someone expresses a doubt, a foolish idea, a questionable doctrine, a disordered priority; they don’t need your opinions, they need the words of God. Speaking the truth in love means grounding what we say to one another in Scripture. According to the focus of Ephesians 4, this is how we minister to one another.

From verses 15 and 16, notice what happens when we minister to one another, speaking the truth in love.

1. We look more like Jesus (who is our Head).

2. We are joined together: We are unified as we love one another.

3. We work properly: We are healthy, functioning as Christ intended.

4. Our body grows: I think in terms of spiritual maturity and in terms of numerical growth.

5. We are built up in love: I take this to mean that we become a living expression of the love of God.

In love, speak to each other Biblical truths. It is how this local church will attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

If we, together, are to become the fullness of Christ, then we must remember that we belong to one another. Your burdens are my burdens, as are your joys, and your hopes, and your weaknesses. And mine are yours. We are here to serve one another. As Christ laid down His life for us, so are we to lay down our lives for one another.

By this we know love, that He laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. -1 John 3:16-18

We are members one of another. -Ephesians 4:25

OK, what does all of this have to do with this evangelistic sermon series? Well, we are ambassadors and as ambassadors we have been given the ministry of reconciliation. In Ephesians 4:12, did we not read that the church is all about equipping the saints for the work of ministry?

Therefore, if we are going to be successful ambassadors, we need the church to equip us for the work of ministry – the ministry of reconciliation. We need the church to protect us from the falsehoods that would carry us away. Therefore, you need to be discipled by the church, and so also does every person that needs the kingdom of God.

When you find that person of peace, and have offered them the gospel, whether they are a yellow or green light, bring them to church; or send them to a church that is local to them. They need the church! They need to be taught what it means to be a new creation in Christ. They need to understand that they too are called into the ministry of reconciliation. And if Christ conquers their heart, then they are needed to further display the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

The means Christ uses to transform sinners into His own image is through the discipling church.

Make Disciples

Matthew 28:18-20

Immanuel – 10/16/22

In my mind, the New Testament gives the church two great calls to action; two calls that give us our ultimate purpose on earth. You might say worshipping God, or glorifying God, is our ultimate purpose. You would be correct. But through these two calls, God is telling us how we are to glorify Him on earth; and both of them demand action, both of them demand obedience, both of them are the means through which we worship God.

One of these two great calls is what this sermon series is based upon.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

We are new creations in Christ and we are ambassadors. These are the two fundamental elements of our identity in Christ: new creations and ambassadors.

And with this new identity, we are given the ministry of reconciliation. We give the world the gospel of Jesus Christ in order that the world would be reconciled to God. The way God has transformed you is the way God is transforming the world – through reconciliation.

The second great call to action was spoken by Christ Himself. I imagine you already know where I am going with this.

Read Matthew 28:18-20

This, of course, is the Great Commission. Briefly, I want you to see that there are four fundamental elements to the Great Commission.

1. Jesus is King of heaven and earth (where He possesses all authority).

2. The King tells us to go – which means uncomfortablity is built into obedience to Christ.

3. The King tells us to make disciples.

4. The King says that He is with us.

Today we are going to focus on the third element of the Great Commission. We want to focus on this precisely because Jesus is King and He has commanded us to make disciples.

We have already talked quite a bit about the “going” aspect of the Great Commission; we’ve just talked about it in slightly different language. We are ambassadors, and as ambassadors we need to be proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, going to those who need to hear it, calling people to be reconciled unto God. That, indeed, is the “going” part of the Great Commission.

Purpose

But once you have gone, once you have given the gospel, how do you practically begin making disciples? That’s the question I want to answer today.

Last week I showed you an image of a traffic light. This diagram is helpful when considering the people to which you have offered the gospel. This categorizes responses to the gospel, and as a result, helps you know how you should respond.

Red Light – As you can see, someone who is not interested in the gospel is a red light. They are a no. Move on and search for a person of peace, for someone who is receptive to you and to the gospel.

Yellow Light – These are people who say “maybe.” They are not ready to give their lives to Jesus, but they are interested in understanding more.

Green Light – These people say yes. They hear the gospel and respond with repentance and belief.

Then there are those who you have shared the gospel with, and they respond, “I already follow Jesus.” Consider if there is a way you can partner with that person for kingdom purposes.

Last week I mentioned that we are to consider both yellow-lights and green-lights as persons of peace. These are the ones we are to invest in. These are the ones we are to disciple.

But the way a yellow-light and the way a green-light needs discipling is inherently different. And if Christ calls us to make disciples, we should know what that means, and how to do it, in ways that are actually helpful.

(Parenthesis)

To be sure, I cannot give an exhaustive explanation of how to disciple yellow-lights and green-lights in this message. Today I am just giving a few basics.

But know that in the next couple of months, the Elders are bringing a more robust evangelism and discipleship training to Immanuel. Its purpose is to better equip you to be obedient to Christ, to fulfill the Great Commission, and to be more effective ambassadors.

Additionally, this training will be mandatory for anyone that this church sends on future mission trips.

(Close Parenthesis)

Yellow-Light Discipling

Ok, one way or another, you’ve given someone the gospel and they respond with interest. They are a person of peace. They are a yellow-light.

And if it isn’t obvious, a yellow-light is not saved. They are not yet a follower of Christ. As long as they are interested, it is your goal to disciple them so they can become a green-light, so they become a follower of Christ.

How does that happen? What are you supposed to do next?

Remember Paul’s words:

Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

-Romans 10:17

That phrase, “word of Christ,” that means all of Scripture. But it is not just all of Scripture; it is how Jesus is the fulfillment of all of Scripture. From Genesis to Revelation, The Bible is pointing towards Jesus. Once people understand that, faith is born; because faith comes through hearing the word of Christ.

Therefore, what you want to do next with a yellow-light is spend time with them in the word of Christ. You want to get them in front of the Bible. You might want to give them a Bible, in a translation that you know and trust.

Take this scenario as an example: You recognize a person is a yellow-light after you have given them the gospel and you hear, “I don’t think I’m ready to become a Christian, but you do raise a lot of questions in my mind.”

You should then respond with, “Well, I’d be glad to get together with you and look at what Jesus said. Perhaps we can find some answers in the Bible.”

If they accept, then schedule a time right then-and-there to meet-up. Once you have it scheduled, feel free to ask, “Do you know anyone else who might be interested in joining us?” This will do two things. First, if they are joined by someone they know, it will help them to feel more comfortable. Secondly, it will give you an opportunity to share the gospel with more people.

Ok, the time for the meeting has come. You want to crack open the Bible and begin showing them Scripture; because you want to introduce them to Jesus. Because you want them to encounter Jesus! You want them to hear and believe!

(Parenthesis)

This means that you must have a basic understanding of Scripture yourself. You don’t need to be an expert, but you do need to know the basics. What kind of ambassador would you be if you don’t know enough to teach someone else what the Bible says?

If you feel like that is you, then start now. Begin studying some passage or book or idea so that you know it well enough to communicate it to someone else. Again, you don’t need to become an expert, and a yellow-light doesn’t necessarily need an expert, but they do need you to understand how a particular part of Scripture relates to Jesus and how it relates to them.

Once again, the trainings that the Elders will be providing will, in part, teach you how to do this through something called an inductive Bible study.

(Close Parenthesis)

If it were me, and I was going to pick some piece of Scripture to walk a yellow-light through, I would begin with one of the gospels.

In fact, a few years back, I was meeting with a yellow-light couple. We scheduled a weekly time where we would get together and study the Bible together, and I walked them through the Gospel of Mark. I chose Mark because it is the shortest gospel, and it is very easy to understand. After about 10 months of studying the life and teachings of Jesus, the husband gave his life to Christ. Some of you might remember, I baptized Arik right behind me.

Right now I am meeting with another person once a month, and we are slowly working through Mark’s gospel. Pick your favorite gospel and walk through it with a yellow-light individual, or individuals.

There was another time where I was meeting with a yellow-light Muslim couple, and I also took them to Mark. But after nearly two years nothing seemed to be changing. So, being respectful, I got very direct with them about Christ’s call to repent and believe, and the consequences of rejecting Him. Still, no movement. I came to recognize that though they might be presenting as yellow-lights, their hearts were red. They were neither devout Muslim nor interested in obedience to Christ.

You might encounter the same thing. In fact, that’s the nature of yellow-light: they are meant to change. In a spiritual sense, yellows can turn either green or red. If they turn red, then you know what to do: peacefully move on.

But what happens when they turn green? How do you disciple green-lights?

Green-Light Discipling

You have shared the gospel with a person and they have accepted, or the yellow-light has turned green; either way, the person has repented of their sins and believed in Jesus Christ.

They also need to be shown Scripture. If faith comes by hearing, and they need their brand-new faith to grow, then they need to hear Scripture!

But because you are interacting with a green-light, your goal is not to introduce them Jesus – as it should be for a yellow-light – your goal is to teach them to obey Jesus. Isn’t that what Jesus said in the Great Commission?

“Make disciples of all nations…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” -Matthew 28:19, 20

If new followers of Jesus, or new disciples, are going to obey Jesus, then they need to be shown His commands. That’s your job ambassador. Christ commissioned you to do this, not just your pastor; you!

So what are the commands of Christ? Where should you start? How about right here, with the first of the two great calls to action in the Bible. Take them to this passage and read it together.

Read Matthew 28:18-20

Inductive Bible studies are so helpful here. Again, if you want to learn how to lead an inductive Bible study, look for those future trainings.

You have read the Great Commission together. And in that very passage Christ calls you to teach them. So what does the new disciple need to understand about the Great Commission?

1. Jesus is King of heaven and earth (where He possesses all authority).

2. The King tells us to go.

3. The King tells us to make disciples.

4. The King says that He is with us.

Surely, you can teach this to a new disciple! Flesh it out for them. Teach them what it means that the King of heaven and earth is present with them right now. Teach them what it means to go, and to whom. Teach what it means to be an ambassador. Teach them how they, new in the faith as they are, even they must also go and make disciples.

If you have never witnessed it before, you may be surprised with the new disciple’s fervor of obedience. Often what happens is that they tell everyone they know about Jesus and how He has transformed their heart. You will witness dynamic, and even convicting, obedience to the Great Commission.

After you have studied the Great Commission together, you are not finished. There is more to learn. Perhaps you could hop over to 1 Thessalonians 5.

Admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. -1 Thessalonians 5:14-18

This teaches them about the Christian life. Here, the commands of Christ speak for themself. They are so simple and so straight forward that the simplest explanation is adequate. And yet, the depth is profound and there is much you could elaborate upon.

Perhaps the new disciple might ask, “What does it mean to pray without ceasing?” What a blessing it is to answer such a question. Invite questions. Encourage them. Do your best to answer, and if you are unsure, say you don’t know, but you would be happy to explore that together. It is good for a new disciple to see that you are still learning too.

The green-light new disciple also needs to be taught something else very early on.

Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some.

-Hebrews 10:23-25

Teach the new disciple that they need church. One of the best ways we hold fast to our hope, remember the promises of God, stir one another to love and good works, is through our regular gathering within the local church. Christians who neglect the local church, with this kind of investment, are living in disobedience to the commands of Christ. Don’t let such neglect become your habit! Teach them this.

This command is so important for the new disciple that as soon as they repent and believe, you should be inviting them to church. Christ calls them, just as He calls you, to be a part of a local church.

And part of entering into the unity of the church and obeying Christ, is getting baptized. Remember, in the Great Commission, Jesus called us to baptize new disciples? It is not wrong to take that new disciple and baptize them yourself in a nearby river. But better, is to baptize them within the community of the church.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:12-13

Baptism signifies not just union with Christ, but union to the church body. Therefore, being baptized within the gathering of that body is profoundly honoring to the head of that body, who is Jesus Christ.

Teach the new disciple that Jesus commands them to be baptized, and bring them to church where we can celebrate their baptism together! Here at Immanuel, the door is open for you to participate in a new believer’s baptism.

Brothers and sisters, I have not given you formulas. I have given you tools and ways to think about what Christ has commanded you. As ambassadors of Christ, you are to make disciples – every one of you.

Whether they are yellow or green lights, they need Scripture. Yellow-lights need to be introduced to Jesus. Meet with them as often as possible and teach them the Bible, that they might encounter our King!

Green-lights need to be shown the commands of Christ in Scripture. Teach them what it means to obey. Let them ask questions. Teach them their need for, and bring them to, church. Teach them they need to be baptized, and lead them down that path.

Read Matthew 28:18-20

The Person of Peace

Luke 10:1-12

Immanuel – 10/9/22

I want to lay a foundation for today’s message by considering our world and reviewing what we have learned in this series thus far.

Peace is impossible to find when there is no point to living. Our world, which desperately attempts to reject our Creator, is a humanity without meaning. Paul wrote to the Romans that God has subjected this world to futility (Romans 8:20). Everything is bound by futility. Futility, meaning no meaning, no purpose, no point.

King Solomon – who God gave unparalleled wisdom – wrote of this futility:

I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. -Ecclesiastes 1:13-14

Futility, vanity, meaninglessness – these are the characteristics of a world that has tried to throw off our Creator. Even Friedrich Nietzsche understood this. He wrote:

What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions?

Is there still any up or down? Are we not straying, as through an infinite nothing? God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. -The Parable of the Madman (1882)

Nietzsche, Solomon, and Paul were all touching on the exact same truth. Life is pointless without God; and in a pointless world, anything goes.

But because God created us all in His image, with meaning built into the deepest parts of our being, we cannot tolerate a pointless existence. It breaks our souls.

So we make gods for ourselves; things that would give us meaning or numb the emptiness. But because these are all lies, they are just as meaningless. This is how, as Paul writes, God has subjected our world to futility – to a pointless existence apart from Him.

Yet despite the meaninglessness that humanity has plunged itself into, we cannot escape the knowledge of God. We looked at this a few weeks ago:

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. -Romans 1:19-20

What a shocking truth: everyone knows God as God truly is. Even still, this does not mean that people have a saving knowledge of God. Our natural knowledge of God is suppressed and corrupted through sin. We exchange the truth of God for meaningless lies.

But this is not God’s plan for the world, for us. He did not create all of this so that it would be lost in worthless lies and emptiness. No, God plans to reconcile this world to Himself, restoring it to His created intention.

In Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the ministry of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. -2 Corinthians 5:19-20

Christ has commissioned us as His ambassadors. For this job, Jesus has equipped us with the very thing that will reconcile the world to our Creator: the gospel. As we have seen, it is a message succinctly broken into 4 parts: God, Man, Christ, Response.

Hear those four parts in the gospel:

Your Creator is holy and righteous. Though He created you in His image, you are a rebellious sinner that has broken that image; and such rebellion earns His just and eternal condemnation. But God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to die for our sins and provide a path to forgiveness. Then He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. All you must do is receive the free gift of faith - turn away from your sins and trust Jesus with every aspect of your life - and you will be saved, reconciled unto God.

This is our message. This is what we are to proclaim. Last week we considered the power of weaving the gospel into our testimony. For your testimony is the clearest expression of gospel power in your life.

Purpose

1. The kingdom of God brings peace.

2. Think about how people respond to the Gospel.

3. What happens after you have shared the gospel with someone?

Read Luke 10:1-12

Kingdom Ambassadors

Jesus is employing some powerful strategy in this passage. Clearly, He has plans to visit specific places. But before He goes to those places, He sends His disciples ahead of Him. Even though the language is not used here, Christ is sending out these 72 disciples as His ambassadors.

It is critical to see that wherever these ambassadors go, it is exactly where Jesus wants them to be. He is aware of the type of reception they will face. Regardless, they are going to the place that Jesus wants them to go. Jesus is sending them to the people in that place. Similarly, wherever we are, God has put us here, sent us here, for a purpose.

This means that the people around us are not here for us. We are here for them. Jesus has sent us to them whether they are at work, school, neighborhood, or wherever else there might be interaction. Jesus has sent us to them with a message.

Ambassadors carry the message of Jesus to the places Jesus sends them on behalf of Jesus. And look at the message they carry.

Read vs 9

The 72 declare that the kingdom of God is near. How has it come near? It has come near because they, the ambassadors, have arrived. Their presence is the nearness of the kingdom. The implication is that later, when Christ arrives in those towns, it is the coming of the kingdom of God; for wherever the King goes, so goes His kingdom.

The ambassadors go ahead of Jesus so when He arrives, the people are ready to receive Him as King; thus entering into His kingdom.

But this dynamic alters slightly after the cross, resurrection, and ascension; because only then is the gospel of grace fully unfurled. Then, when the Holy Spirit is poured out upon men, Christ comes to dwell in human hearts. Therefore, we ambassadors, we disciples of Jesus, have become the kingdom of God.

To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. -Revelation 1:5-6

In Christ we are the kingdom of God. Revelation tells us that when we receive the gospel, we become the living kingdom of God. The church is the living kingdom of God.

How much more true it has become that, as we interact with the unbelieving world, the kingdom of God has come near; for we carry the kingdom of God with us. Additionally, the gospel is the message of the kingdom of God. It is the door through which people enter the kingdom.

But notice, it is not just the nearness of the kingdom that the 72 are to proclaim.

Read vs 5

We are to declare peace! Indeed, is not the kingdom of God the only thing that offers true and lasting peace in this world? We’ve already considered the senselessness of trying to reject God; and how the rejection of God ruins our world and strips us of all meaning. It is impossible to find peace apart from God.

Therefore, all of us can be confident that the message we carry is the only way the human soul can find true and lasting peace. No amount of self-help or success or indulgence works! Truly, peace only comes through the gospel of the kingdom of Christ. And as Christ’s ambassadors, we want everybody to know about this peace!

Ok, you have been a faithful ambassador. You have proclaimed peace. You have offered the gospel of the kingdom of God: God, Man, Christ, Response. You have spoken it. Now what?

You have asked someone, or perhaps multiple people, to respond. The next step should be obvious, right? Understand how they respond.

2 Fundamental Responses

In Luke 10, Jesus tells us that people will respond in two fundamental ways.

First, we see in verse 10 that some people will not receive your message. They don’t want the gospel. But look, it is not just your message they reject. They reject you also. You proclaim peace, and they reject you as a person. They don’t want you around. They may even persecute you.

Again and again, Jesus tried to prepare us for this response.

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you…Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know Him who sent me….Whoever hates me hates my Father also.” -John 15:18,20-21,23

When people reject us and persecute us, Jesus is saying we shouldn’t take it personally. It is Jesus they hate. And if they hate Jesus, then they hate God. This goes right back to what this world is trying to do: reject their Creator. Your message reminds them that they are incapable of doing this, and they will hate you for it.

So when you are rejected for the sake of the gospel, Jesus tells us what to do.

Read vs 10-12

The gospel you have shared was rejected. Jesus said three things should follow.

1. Wipe the dust from your feet. In other words, if they don’t want it, let them alone.

As Jesus said elsewhere: “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” -Matthew 7:6

Don’t continue to offer the gospel to people that have rejected you. Jesus compares that to giving pearls to pigs. They don’t understand its value and are happy to treat the gospel as if it were mud. And if you continue to throw pearls at them – if you continue to preach the gospel to hard hearts – they may become so angry that they attack you. They will treat the gospel as mud and they will treat you like mud.

2. Therefore, if they don’t want Jesus, do not continue to offer. Turn and walk away. Spend your energy elsewhere.

Remember, Jesus said the harvest is plentiful. If you are rejected, fear not, there are plenty of people hungry for the gospel! Spend your energy looking for them and bring the Kingdom to those who want it.

Look closer at verse 11.

3. Jesus says that even as we wipe the dust from our sandals, remind them a final time of the nearness of the kingdom of God.

So, if someone is rejecting you and your message, fine, that’s on them. They will face God one day and you will not be responsible for their hardness of heart. But as you turn to find a person of peace, remind them once again that if they change their mind, they can still enter the kingdom of God, they can still be reconciled to God.

And this leads us to the second fundamental way people will respond to the gospel. Some will respond with peace.

Read vs 6-8

If you tell someone about Jesus, share your testimony, speak the gospel, and they respond with peace; then it is your peace – the peace of the kingdom of God – that is resting upon them. Do you know what that means? It means the Holy Spirit is working. If someone responds with peace to the message you are proclaiming, then something supernatural is happening. The Spirit is working.

Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” -John 6:63

The person who responds in peace, let’s call them the “person of peace.” When you begin the ministry of reconciliation with them, and they respond with peace, then the Spirit of God is at work.

Jesus gives us ways we can tell if someone is a person of peace. They are hospitable, generous, they share their needs with you – enough that you might know what needs healing.

Let’s be very practical. What does it look like today, in our context, when someone is a person of peace?

I met a person of peace over the summer. I got to chatting with a friendly individual in my neighborhood and our conversation very quickly turned spiritual. I could sense the hunger in this person’s heart. I shared a testimony of something that God had done in my life. It was a very friendly conversation, they were receptive, and then we parted ways.

Since then, this same person randomly bought me a pizza. They invited me and my family over to swim in their pool. This person of peace has been nothing but generous, hospitable, and warm towards us.

That means I want to do everything Jesus has instructed me to do. I want to eat whatever they put before me. (Not very hard when it’s pizza!) If they invite me into their home, I want to take them up on it. If they express a hurt, I want to be praying for their healing.

In other words, a person of peace is the place we invest ourselves. Don’t spend your gospel energy on people who reject you. Spend it with those who warmly receive you and your message, because it is Christ they are receptive to; and if it is Christ they are receptive to, then they are receptive to reconciliation with God.

OK, in Luke 10 we have seen two fundamental ways that people will respond to you as you speak the gospel. I want to get just a little more nuanced than this and give you 4 categories of response. I think this will help you tremendously as you interact with people around you.

Traffic Light Slide

The first type of response is a red-light response. Red lights respond with a hard “no.” They might be polite or they might be rude, but the response is the same; they are not interested in you and they are not interested in Jesus.

As we have already seen, your response is then to move on. Keep looking for the person of peace. You are still responsible to speak the gospel.

I do want to mention that things are different with family members and neighbors – and by neighbors I mean people your home is located next to, not the Good Samaritan type of neighbor. We cannot just abandon family and it is ridiculous to up and move if the gospel is rejected.

Consider family and neighbors as long-term, even life-long, investments. If they reject the gospel, then don’t force it down their throats. Love them with good works, pray for them, serve them, and hopefully gospel opportunities will open. It’s a marathon.

The second type of response is a yellow light response. Yellow lights respond with a “maybe.” They might not be ready to accept Jesus, or believe in everything you are saying, but they are interested in learning more. They are curious. They are a person of peace.

Whatever they offer – hospitality, generosity, time – accept. This person is worth building a relationship with and investing in. It is your objective then to help them move from yellow light to green light.

The third type of response is a green light response. Green lights respond with “yes.” They repent of their sins and believe in Jesus. These people need intensive discipling. They need to learn what it means to follow Jesus. They need to learn how to read the Bible. They need to participate in church. And God has sent you, as an ambassador, to teach them all these things. If it is not obvious, green-lights are also persons of peace.

The fourth type of response is when someone says they are already a follower of Jesus. Praise the Lord! At this point, it is not a bad idea to see how you two can partner for the sake of the gospel.

You are discovering that Christ has stationed the two of you, both ambassadors, at the same embassy. Figure out a way to work together to find and minister to persons of peace.

Also, in that process, you might discover that the person you are talking to does not truly understand what it means to follow Jesus. At this point, look for opportunities to open the gospel to them; which might mean that you need to lovingly and gently confront them.

I think it should be fairly clear what we do when we encounter red-lights and other Christians. It might not be so obvious what needs to happen when we encounter yellow and green-lights. Really, both yellow and green lights need investment and discipleship, though the types of investment they need is quite different. Next week I want to spend some time on how we disciple these two categories of people.

Brothers and sisters, in an attempt to throw off God, this world has lost all sense of meaning. In such a world, there is nowhere to find peace. But Christ has come to reconcile us to God, returning meaning to humanity and peace to souls. Let us, as ambassadors of Christ, faithfully proclaim the gospel of grace!

And as we do, we need to know what to do as people respond to our message. If people do not want to hear about Jesus, then there is no need to force it. If someone says “maybe” or “yes,” then we engage further. If someone says they are already a Christian, then we look for ways to partner.

The harvest is plentiful. Wherever we find ourselves, Christ has sent us to that corner of the field. He has sent us to the people that surround us. He has given us the gospel and a testimony, the tools of harvest. Let us call all people everywhere to be reconciled to God!

Make It Clear

Colossians 4:2-6

Immanuel - 10/2/22

We are all shaped by things we cannot control, and these things shape us more than we can possibly imagine. After my mom died, they said I was a very angry 3 year old. That anger followed me through childhood, and in my teen years it translated into empty rebellion. I caused heartache and I knew heartache.

In countless ways I attempted to fix this yawning emptiness - girls, status, attention, adventure. Nothing worked. Nothing even came close. I knew it to the core of my being, I am a broken sinner. And I knew that my sinfulness is in conflict with my Creator.

And yet, God was using all of this to shape me in a way I could not possibly imagine.

For, running parallel to the emptiness and rebellion in my life, there was hope. I was raised in a home with wonderful Christian parents - my dad remarried. From my earliest memories I knew Jesus as Lord and Savior, even during all the anger of my childhood and dissonance of my teens.

From 15 to 20, God used a series of unrelated events - some born out of my own stupidity, some beyond my control, all by God’s grace - to drive truth from my head and down into my heart.

The weight of God's love began changing me, love that He demonstrated when He sent His Son to die my death. I deserved the judgment that Jesus took. And because Jesus took my condemnation, I am forgiven. No longer does God look on me with judgment, He only looks on me with favor. He loves me like a son because, by grace, Jesus’ righteousness has been applied to me.

The cross of Christ conquered my rebellious heart, and His love filled the emptiness that I could not. This is the testimony of how God transformed my life; and honestly, it is a transformation that is still underway. By faith, I know I have been reconciled unto God.

I am a new creation in Christ, and as His ambassador, this is my testimony.

Purpose

1. I want to know the power of your testimony.

2. I want to give you two ways to think about your testimony.

Read Colossians 4:2-6

Everything in this passage orbits around that phrase, “declare the mystery of Christ.” To be sure, Paul is using the phrase “mystery of Christ” interchangeably with the word, “gospel.”

The Gospel

In fact, Paul uses very similar language when he writes to the Ephesians, and I think you can see how he inextricably links mystery and gospel.

[Pray] for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. -Ephesians 6:19-20

Here Paul says he wants to proclaim the mystery of the gospel. It was a mystery because it is hidden from men until it is revealed from heaven. In the old covenant world, the gospel was a mystery until the new covenant was revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. In our world, the power of the gospel is a mystery until God opens our eyes to it and radically transforms us with it.

Read vs 3

The gospel is the mystery of Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ, we are called to speak the gospel in order to make the mystery of Jesus known. Paul went so far as to take the chains of prison for the sake of the gospel. Eventually he gave his life, all to make the mystery of Jesus known to the world.

I wonder, how far are we willing to go for the gospel?

As we saw last week, the gospel is easily broken up into 4 parts: God, Man, Christ, Response. Here it is: God created mankind for relationship with Him, but by our sin we treated that relationship like garbage. The penalty for sin is eternal separation from Him - eternal death. But because of God’s great love, He offers reconciliation through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus took our sins upon Himself, even while He was sinless, and died in our place. But three days later He rose from the grave, ascended to the throne of heaven and earth, and from there gives His pure righteousness and eternal life to everyone who repents and believes. This is the mystery revealed in Jesus Christ. This is the gospel: God, Man, Christ, Response.

Whether people know it or not, this gospel is the yearning of every heart and the hope of every soul. It is the only healing for the greatest of humanities’ diseases: separation from God because of sin. The gospel reconciles sinners with their Creator. We must repent and believe!

The singular focus of Paul’s life was to declare this gospel. He wanted people to pray for his ability to clearly communicate the gospel. He wanted people to pray that God would open gospel opportunities. He wants to continue doing the very thing for which he was in prison.

How amazing that even from prison, he did not forsake his identity as an ambassador. In fact, in his letter to the Ephesians, he calls himself an ambassador in chains. Despite the chains, he wanted opportunities to share the gospel. Paul was dauntless.

Read vs 4-6

Clarity

Even though Paul was dauntless, He was not reckless. He wanted his words to be gracious. He wanted his words to be filled with wisdom. And in verses 5 and 6, Paul is exhorting every other Christian to do likewise. It should be a comfort to us that Paul, this incredibly powerful Apostle of Jesus Christ, is concerned that he would clearly communicate the gospel. It’s why he asks for prayer.

What an encouragement Paul’s appeal should be to us! Likely, we feel similarly. Perhaps you are worried that you won't say it right, that you’ll miss something important, that you’ll just come across as offensive. Pray that God would help you to be clear. Imagine, if everyone in this church was praying for everyone else, that we would all be able to speak the gospel clearly and lovingly to those around us.

Do you know that you already have in your possession, one of the clearest ways of offering the gospel to others? Your testimony is the clearest expression of gospel power in your life. Your testimony is the story of how God has changed your life, of how you received the gospel and were transformed, or how it currently is transforming you. And if God has changed your life, then He can change anyone’s life!

But let me be clear, a long winded, over-detailed story about your life, is not a helpful way of sharing your testimony. You don’t want to lose people’s interest. You want them to be gripped by what God has done in your life. Has it not gripped you? Indeed! It gripped your heart and changed you. Therefore, seasoned with grace and love, let your story be clear enough to grip someone’s heart.

At the beginning of this message I took some time to share my testimony. I testified of how God showed me my great need for Him and how He met that need. And I wove the gospel message into that testimony.

When the gospel is woven into our testimony, it makes the gospel so much more relatable.

But perhaps you will not always have that kind of time to share your testimony. I mean, you are all compelled to sit there and listen to me. So think of a couple ways of packaging your testimony. Sometimes you’ll be able to go into more detail, and weave the gospel into it, as I have done today. Other times, you might only have a few minutes to share your story.

What I spoke in longer form can be boiled down to a few sentences. I can speak it in 30 seconds. For example: when I was younger my life was marked by rebellion and emptiness, but a time came when I understood the forgiveness and love of Jesus, and He transformed my life. Now I have peace and I know purpose because of Christ. Have you ever experienced anything like that?

Notice how that brief testimony is followed by a question. I want the person I am talking to, to think about their own life. I want them to think, “Can what happened to him, happen to me?” You’ll be amazed at the gospel opportunities that come from a 30 second testimony followed by a question, “Have you ever experienced anything like that?”

I highly encourage you, figure out how to share your testimony in two versions.

Version 1: Give yourself 5 minutes to share your testimony while weaving the gospel into it.

Version 2: Give yourself 30 seconds to share how life was, how you encountered Christ, and then how life is different now. End with a question that will lead to gospel conversations.

In either version, the purpose is the same, to share the gospel!

You want to have these two versions of your testimony ready because different circumstances will provide different opportunities. And whatever the opportunity, you want to be prepared. Practice each version a few times, even practice it with a friend. When the moment comes, you want to be comfortable and confident in the things you are saying.

Remember, part of your identity in Christ is that you are His ambassador. You need to know what to say! What kind of ambassador faces a foreign entity and has no idea what to say? It is your job to know what to say, and it is your job to say it well. Practice truly does help. God has not given you your testimony so you can be reckless with it. Be wise. Make the best use of your time.

Yes, let us pray for one another, that we would all speak the gospel clearly. But let us also prepare ourselves. God doesn’t call us to sit around and wait for magical words from heaven. Christ does encourage us not to become anxious about what we will say, and to not try to strategize every possible scenario we might face. Even still, we need to prepare ourselves, because wisdom prepares, and Paul exhorts us to walk with wisdom.

Sometimes it is helpful if we see this modeled. Vin and Ben

Notice how Vin and Ben brought together the last few sermons. Everyone knows God, but that knowledge is suppressed with lies. Even still, those lies are built upon something true. That truth was identified, and the gospel was applied to that place of truth. And then, when we can apply the gospel with our testimony, it makes the gospel so much more relatable.

And do you know, there are over 1,100 people in our community that should be easy for you all to relate to. In fact, this was the purpose of Fall Fest. Fall Fest was not a time to proclaim the gospel. It was not an evangelistic effort. It was a bridge building event. We were, very gently, sharing the love of Jesus. When people left our lawn, we want them to feel a sense of warmth and happiness when they think of Immanuel.

That way, when you are talking to someone in an aisle at Hannaford, or speaking with another parent at a soccer game, and you say that you go to Immanuel, that person might just say, “Oh, I know that church. I’ve been to their Fall Fest. What a great group of people!” Immediately, you have a way of relating to them.

It will then be your job, ambassadors of Christ, to turn a superficial conversation into a spiritual conversation. Ask questions. Listen to them. Is there a moment to share your testimony? Is there a gospel opportunity? Pray that the Spirit would give you words of wisdom and clarity when you are in that moment. It is my firm conviction that He will. He absolutely will!

You know, everyone knows God, even if they suppress that truth.

You know the message of the gospel: God, Man, Christ, Response.

You know the power of your testimony.

Take it home and practice.

You are ambassadors of Jesus Christ, you must tell people how to be reconciled unto God!

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

-2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Next week we will look at what happens after we have shared the gospel with someone. What happens next?

The Gospel

Immanuel - 9/25/22

Today we are not working from a single text. Today is all about the significance and the message of the gospel. For this we will draw from numerous passages. Have your Bibles ready.

Purpose

What is the significance of the gospel?

What is the message of the gospel?

Have you bowed your knee to the King of heaven and earth? Do you confess that Jesus Christ is Lord? Do you believe that your life is not your own, but that you were bought with a price?

If your answer to these is truly yes, then you are in Christ. You are redeemed, reconciled unto God through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. The old way of living is to die, for you are a new creation in Christ; and you have experienced the saving power of God through the gospel.

Is this not why we gather in this building every week, to worship God who has made us new, to again remind one another of the awesome power of the gospel? Because it is the hearing of the gospel through which we have life-changing encounters with our Father in heaven, with King Jesus, with the Spirit of Power.

I do not mean that we have some physical encounter with God. I mean that through the hearing of the gospel we have come to know the reality and person that is God; and in light of Him, we have understood much about ourselves. Such an encounter, such an understanding, is utterly transformative.

This kind of encounter brings you to your knees and makes it impossible not to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. You know that the price He paid is worth far more than all your life can offer, but still you offer. This is the kind of encounter that changes you forever. This is the kind of encounter one can only experience through the gospel.

This is the power of the gospel.

As we saw two weeks ago, being in Christ does not end with some moment of salvation, that moment you become a new creation. That’s the beginning, but now there is something you are to do with the new life you have been given. Christ calls all of us to be His ambassadors, ministers of reconciliation.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

We are new creations and we are ambassadors. In other words, there is no such thing as a Christian who is not calling people to be reconciled to God. There's no such thing as a silent Christian.

Last week we also learned that everyone knows God. We are covenantal beings created in God's image. Every person truly and inescapably knows God as God truly is; yet in our sinfulness we suppress the truth of God, happy to build for ourselves worlds of lies and delusion.

But even a world of lies needs to be built on something real, something true. Every lie is in some way grounded in the truth. It would be wise for us ambassadors to understand the lie a particular person is believing, find the truth within it, and boldly, gently, apply the gospel to that place of truth. Last week I walked you through one small example of how this might work.

Remember, the gospel is what we ambassadors offer, not opinions, not politics, not self-help methods, not programs and positivity and personality. We offer the gospel of Christ crucified, risen and reigning.

Like Paul writes: When I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. -1 Corinthians 2:1-2

Paul is not saying that he abandoned dynamic language and wisdom. In fact, he employs those very things as he writes to the Corinthians. Instead, Paul is saying that he was not proclaiming the gospel in such a way that would draw people to himself. He was happy for the world to see him as a fool so long as he was faithfully speaking the gospel.

Read Romans 1:16-17

Above everything else, Paul wanted people to hear the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation! As ambassadors, it is our purpose to tell people this same gospel. It is the power we wield, the healing we offer, the news so good it is worth dying for.

And as we saw in Revelation, the gospel is the testimony of Jesus Christ, powerful enough to conquer the world and make all things new. Like Paul writes to the Corinthians, the gospel is powerful enough to reconcile the world unto God: the power of God unto salvation, our salvation and the salvation of this world.

You can hardly overstate the significance of the gospel. It is literally changing the world, just as it has changed your world.

But do you know the gospel message? Are you able to clearly articulate it? We must be able to, because it is the primary message given to all the ambassadors of Christ. If we do not know the gospel, then we cannot do what we have been called to do.

The gospel is easily broken down into 4 parts: God, Man, Christ, Response. Let’s take them one at a time.

Gospel Part 1: God

God is our Creator. He is holy and faithful and loving. Everything He does is good and just. His word is true and can be entirely trusted. And all that He does and is, is the epitome of love, is saturated in love, defines love.

And as you should expect, because God is this way, He hates everything contrary to His nature. Because He is holy, He hates wickedness. Because He is faithful, He hates faithlessness. Because He is loving, He hates hatred. God hates things contrary to His nature because anything contrary to His nature introduces pain, brokenness, chaos, and death.

God hates sin and one day everyone will have to give account to Him.

Paul captures all these elements of God in His address to the Athenians. Also, remember last week’s message. Paul is picking out the truth in a world of lies, and applying the gospel to it.

Read Acts 17:22-31

All 4 parts of the gospel are present in this proclamation. But Paul begins with his incredibly high view of God. Before getting to anything else, Paul wants to make it clear who He is talking about, and why it matters.

He says that God is Creator, Lord of heaven and earth, Holy and set apart from mankind, yet He lovingly sustains our lives. And perhaps more than any other reason, this matters because God will judge the world in righteousness. He will judge the lives of each person - every thought and action - to see if they meet His standard of righteousness, or not.

Part 1 of the gospel is the reality of God’s existence. God is your holy and loving Creator, and one day He will judge you.

Gospel Part 2: Man

As we explored last week, God made man in His image. He created us to perfectly represent Him on earth. He made us personal and relational with morality and reason, and God inlaid those image-bearing elements in beauty and righteousness. God created man and woman to be powerful expressions of His glory in the physical world.

And God’s glorious image in us would forever remain beautiful and righteous so long as we lived in right relationship to Him. Because God also created us to be covenantal beings: made for relationship with Him.

But into our paradise slithered a lie, and our first parents chose to believe the lie instead of God. They willingly sinned, rebelling against God and rebelling against His created order. Perfection and paradise were lost. Now, every human ever born is a sinner by birth and a sinner by choice.

To be a sinner is to come under the wrath of God and be condemned to eternal, conscious, death - forever separated from Him.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. -Romans 3:23

The wages of sin is death. -Romans 6:23

God will judge every person according to what they have done. One lie, one arrogant thought, one lustful glance, one hateful urge, just one, proves that you are not holy, not faithful, not perfectly loving, and not bearing His image as He created you to do. Broken mirrors are thrown away. Unrighteous image bearers are condemned to hell, and hell is a place where the ungodly will experience the eternal condemnation of God.

There are so many who shrink back from this part of the gospel. The gospel is the good news, but what I have just reviewed is anything but good news. This is horrible, judgmental, difficult news. This news means we are all condemned and headed to hell.

But we cannot skip, or even minimize, this painful truth. If we minimize the news about judgment and condemnation, we castrate the gospel. It is precisely because of how terrible is the news of hell that the good news - the gospel - becomes so transformatively precious.

For God has created a way for broken and sinful image bearers to be remade righteous, restored, and reconciled unto God! God has exerted His unimaginably gracious power to save sinners from the fires of condemnation.

I read the most famous part of Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death”; but do you know what the rest of the verse says?

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 6:23

Gospel Part 3: Christ

Where sin brought condemnation and death, Christ brought righteousness and life! God the Son took on human form in the man of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus lived a sinless and perfectly righteous life. He perfectly imaged the Father and perfectly fulfilled all the terms of covenant with God.

Then, in the greatest act of love and righteousness, Jesus died on a criminal’s cross, offering His life in place of sinners. He took the death we deserve. Now, through His death, we can have forgiveness and life.

God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

-Romans 5:8

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. -Romans 5:18

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

-Romans 8:1

Jesus died for sinners! But death was a feeble foe for the Son of God! For three days later Jesus burst from the grave, conquering death, vindicating the truth, and securing eternal life for all who would believe. Hallelujah!

There is no news that is greater than this gift freely given to mankind: that God did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all (Romans 8:32). This news is the power of God unto salvation! This news is so powerful that through it Christ is reconciling the world unto God! The gospel is absolutely the most transformative truth and the greatest news that will ever circulate the globe.

But, if you stop here, the gospel is incomplete. What comes next may be uncomfortable, but it is imperative. The gospel demands a response. You must include how God expects people to respond to this news!

Gospel Part 4: Response

Remember what we earlier read from Acts. There, Paul said:

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. -Acts 17:30

God commands all people to repent. And from the very beginning of His ministry, Jesus has issued this same command.

Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

-Mark 1:14-15

Repentance and belief are two sides of the same coin; the coin called faith. We believe God is our Creator, that we are sinners who fall short, that Jesus died on the cross so we could be forgiven, and that He rose from the grave to defeat death. We believe!

And that belief drives us to repent. For if we truly believe that Jesus was shamed and brutalized for our sins, then why would we want to pile more sins upon His bloodied shoulders? Our belief drives us to forsake sin; to no longer walk in unbelief and rebellion, but to pursue a life of godliness and faith.

No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps sinning has either seen Him or known Him. -1 John 3:6

Daily forsaking sin and yearning to be more like Christ is repentance.

You can’t have repentance without belief. You can’t have belief without repentance. If we call people to believe without also calling them to repent, we will make false converts. They will never see Jesus in their lives nor know Him in their hearts. Repent and believe: that is what it means to have saving faith.

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. -Romans 10:9

God calls all people everywhere to repent, repent and believe in the gospel. But response to the gospel does not end at the initial moment of salvation. It means we surrender every part of our life for Christ to govern, rather than indulging in our selfish sins. Rather than believing in lies, we must surrender to Christ with every day, in every moment.

And part of the way we allow Christ to govern our lives is by taking every opportunity God gives us to share the gospel. For indeed, we are not just new creations in Christ, we are also Christ’s ambassadors. So we boldly share the gospel, calling people to respond.

I took a lot of time as I laid out the 4 parts of the gospel. When you are sharing the gospel with a friend, or a co-worker, it will likely not be appropriate to preach a sermon to them, as you have been listening to me do.

See if you can identify the 4 parts as you hear me give a much more condensed version of the gospel (God, Man, Christ, Response).

Your Creator is holy and righteous. Though He created you in His image, you are a rebellious sinner that has broken that image; and such rebellion earns His just and eternal condemnation. But God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to die for our sins and provide a path to forgiveness. Then He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. All you must do is receive the free gift of faith - turn away from your sins and trust Jesus with every aspect of your life - and you will be saved, reconciled unto God.

That is a more condensed version of the gospel. Certainly you can condense it even further. And the gospel presentations I just gave, both the extended and condensed versions, were not personalized at all.

As we considered last week, it is important for you to carefully listen to the person you are talking to, ask lots of questions, seek to truly understand them and the lie they are believing. Then, with the lie discovered, discern the truth embedded within that lie. Gently and boldly begin applying the gospel shaped around the truth they believe. Again, I showed you an example of that last week.

This is how we can cater the gospel to an individual without compromising any of the four gospel elements. Because God has made the gospel to fit with the needs of every human heart.

When Jesus called the disciples, He told them that He would make them fishers of men. In our day, when we think of fishing, we think of recreation, something we do in our spare time. And that’s just how far too many Christians treat the Great Commission. But fishing was not this way when Jesus walked the shores of Galilee. Fishing was a full time job. It was demanding. It took expertise.

Therefore, if we are to be fishers of men, we need training, we need to practice, we can’t be afraid to be out all day and catch nothing, we can’t be afraid of rejection. We should be afraid of not being faithful to the calling bestowed on us by Christ, the King of heaven and earth!

We are fishers of men. We are ambassadors.

We need to make it our business to learn how to speak the gospel in a way appropriate to the context around us. We need to learn how to do this in a winsome way, a way that draws people in. And we need to both know how to boldly proclaim all the parts of the gospel and to proclaim with gentle love.

As ambassadors, we all should be working to become experts at sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yes, certain people will be more gifted than others in this area, but it would be sinful for you to feel so inadequate or ashamed that you stay silent.

Jesus said:

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it…For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” -Mark 8:34-35,38

Therefore, like Paul writes, let us never be ashamed of the message of the gospel! It is the power of God unto salvation and through the gospel Jesus is reconciling the world unto God. What wonder that God has ordained to send us out as His ambassadors, that He is transforming the world through the message which we are all to herald.

Everyone Knows God

Romans 1:18-23

Immanuel – 9/18/22

Last week we began a new sermon series entitled “The Ministry of Reconciliation.” It is a series that is meant to give legs to many of the glories we beheld in Revelation. If God is making all things new, and He is largely doing it through His Church, then we had better be about it!

Last week, in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, we learn that God is reconciling the whole world back to Himself through the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s an amazing truth! For unless God’s plan fails, the world is not going to burn, it is going to be reconciled to God!

But more than that – stunningly – God has entrusted to us, His Church, the ministry of reconciliation. God’s plan for this whole fallen world is that it would be reconciled back to Him through the gospel of Jesus Christ, the very gospel we hold and herald.

2 Corinthians 5 also clearly reveals our identity in Christ: we are new creations and we are ambassadors. You cannot be a new creation and not be an ambassador. You cannot be an ambassador unless you have been recreated. If you are in Christ, then you are both: new creations and ambassadors. Therefore, to neglect one or the other, is to neglect – or live in disobedience towards – your identity in Christ.

This sermon series focuses particularly on the ambassador side of your identity. It is meant to teach and train you to fulfill your calling as an ambassador working to reconcile the world unto God.

Today we consider another stunning truth. No matter how it may appear, no matter what you are told, everyone knows God. And I do not mean that everyone knows that God exists. I mean that everyone truly knows the one-and-only living God, the Christian God.

Purpose

How is it that everyone knows God?

What is it that everyone knows about God?

Why is it that no one appears to know about God?

How does this help us in our ministry of reconciliation?

Read Romans 1:18-23

Fundamental Principles

Before we get to the text, an illustration:

A cricket moves along the ground. You also move along the ground. A cricket needs food to stay alive. You also need food to stay alive. Crickets reproduce. People reproduce. Despite these similarities, and countless others we can deduce, you and the cricket are worlds apart. So much so that your commonalities are far outweighed by the vastness of your differences.

Yet, the difference between you and the cricket is miniscule, compared to the chasm between you and the omniscient, omnipotent, infinitely perfect, eternal God of the universe. It is much easier to relate to a cricket, and understand the being of a cricket, than it is to the Being that is God.

In fact, God is so otherly, so far beyond our reckoning, that it should be impossible for us to perceive Him. Like a cricket cannot comprehend the nature of a human, to an even greater degree, we cannot comprehend the nature of God.

Though those statements are completely true, you must realize that they are not entirely true. After all, the sermon is titled, “Everyone knows God.”

Truly, it should be impossible for us crickets to perceive the infinite God; except that God did two completely astounding things in order for us to know Him. And we find these two things at the very beginning of the story.

God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion…over all the earth”…So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion…” -Genesis 1:26,27-28

First, God made us all in Him image. God placed parts of His nature inside of us. He hardwired Himself into us.

Therefore, as God’s image is within us, to know something true about ourselves is to know something true about God. And to know something true about God is to know something true about ourselves.

“There can be no separation between the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves. To the extent that we know ourselves truly, to the extent that we know God truly; the two are inextricably moored. This is part of what it means to be image of God.”

-K. Scott Oliphint “Covenantal Apologetics” pg 43

God hardwired this into us. He hardwired the knowledge of Himself into our very being. This means that we cannot truly live unless His image is being expressed within us. If His image is broken, we are broken. If we attempt to kill His image, we attempt eternal suicide.

The second thing that God did so we would know Him, is that He condescended. God blessed Adam and Eve, and He spoke a purpose to them. The very moment God spoke to man, He had to condescend through the vastness that separates us; so we could relate to Him and He to us, so that we could have a relationship. God wanted to condescend, so He created us to need relationship with Him.

And that relationship is fundamentally covenantal. Meaning, God blesses us and we are all obligated to worship Him and obey Him. And we primarily do this by having dominion through imaging Him. So, from the very beginning, God created us to be covenantal beings. If we want blessing from God, if we want a life that is fulfilling and joyful, if we want relationship with the Almighty, then we are obligated to worship and obey Him.

Promise on one side, obligation on the other – that’s the nature of covenant. But make no mistake, this is fundamentally founded on love. God promises to love us, through pouring out blessing a favor. In return, we are to love Him, through worship and obedience.

Our relationship to God is nothing like our relationship to crickets, because our relationship to God is fundamentally covenantal.

Therefore, every human being is bound by nature and bound by covenant, to worship and serve our Creator. And because this is how our first parents were created, imaging God and fulfilling the terms of the covenant was as easy as breathing.

That is, until the fall. With sin, God’s image was corrupted and the covenant broken. Then, like unknowing crickets, Adam and Eve immediately tried to hide from their Maker. But there is nowhere to escape the eye of God. In an attempt to kill the image of God, we had killed ourselves. The punishment for sin was, and always will be, death. Because not only is sin an offense against God, but it destroys our very nature.

In time, at the fulness of time, God condescended even farther. He became a man in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus perfectly imaged the Father and fulfilled the terms of every covenantal obligation. He, the perfect man, then stood in the place of the image breakers and covenant destroyers. He died our death, the death of a shamed criminal and a condemned rebel.

Now all who place their trust in Jesus, surrendering their brokenness and corruption unto Him, are reconciled to God. We are justified according to the covenant, and we are transformed – from one degree of glory to another – into the image of the Son of God; we are reconciled to God and He reconciled us to our true nature. We can truly have peace.

Now, to all who have been reconciled, Christ calls us into the world as new creations and ambassadors. We speak these glories to the dead and dying, that they might have life, that they might be reconciled unto God.

Now that we have established some fundamental principles, let’s return to our text.

Read vs 18-19

Knowing God

In verse 19, Paul makes an absolutely earth-shattering claim: What can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. The “them” in Paul’s statement, is found in verse 18: all godless and unrighteous men. And since we know from Romans 3:10 that no one is righteous, all godless and unrighteous men is all humanity. Paul is unashamedly stating that everyone knows God.

Once more, Paul is not claiming that everyone knows God exists, or has a sense that there is some higher power. No, Paul is talking about true knowledge of the true God. Knowledge of the God of the Bible, the only God, is plain to every single person. Everyone knows God as God truly is.

In fact, the word for known, as in what can be known about God, the Greek is gnostos. It means “to apprehend with certainty”; to know beyond a shadow of a doubt. That’s the kind of knowledge Paul says every human has regarding the Christian God.

It really is quite a claim. Then, in the next verse, Paul reveals exactly what it is that every person knows about God.

Read vs 20

Since the beginning of time, and from within the core of our being, every human knows three things about God: He is eternal, He is all powerful, and understands His divine nature. This last term, divine nature, is quite a general category. All the attributes of God are found within His divine nature. This means that everyone knows that God is love, He is good, He is omniscient, He is holy, He is merciful, He is Judge, and on and on.

And because we bear the image of God, we can see reflections of God in the things that He has made. Just as Paul writes, we clearly perceive knowledge of God through the things that God has made. God’s goodness in a summer rain, His power in a thunderclap, His beauty in a sunset, His love in a babbling baby. We humans see it all and we know from where is has come.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. -Psalm 19:1-3

David writes that every day, all day, creation declares the glories of God. The last sentence of this passage means that there is not a single living person who does not hear creation’s declaration.

Again, every person knows God as God truly is; which is exactly why Paul writes – at the end of verse 20 – that all men are without excuse. So when you think of people in a remote Amazonian village, or those growing up in an Islamic society, know that they have enough knowledge embedded within them to have a covenantal relationship with God. They may not know the name of Jesus, but they certainly know about their Creator. All men are without excuse.

Ok, we have now thoroughly answered the question, “How is it that everyone knows God?” (1) We know God because He created us in His image, (2) He created us to be covenantal, (3) and we can see knowledge of Him reflected back to us through creation.

We know God because we are absolutely swimming in knowledge of Him: from the depths of our being (image bearers), springing out of our desires (which are intrinsically covenantal), streaming in from every corner of the universe (creation).

Also we have mostly answered the question What is it that everyone knows about God? In short, everyone truly knows the divine nature of God. But there is one more thing that everyone knows about God. And this is not knowledge that came with creation. This knowledge came with the fall.

Read vs 18

The fallenness of the world, the suffering of humanity, so much of what could be, isn’t; all of it points to the same, singular reality. It is heaven revealing that God’s wrath is against all the unrighteousness and the ungodliness of men.

You may ask, why is there so much suffering in the world? Because we are so deeply sinful. We were meant to image God as we exercised dominion. But because we have corrupted His image, everything under our dominion is likewise corrupted. The internal corruption we feel, is externally expressed in the corruption of our world. This cause and effect is the expression of God’s wrath. It is the consequence of a broken covenant.

Now we see that man clearly knows 2 things about God.

We know the nature of God (eternal, powerful, divine).

We know God’s wrath is extended towards us because we are ungodly.

This is the knowledge that every human being has of God, the knowledge that God has hardwired into us. Just as Adam and Eve discovered, God is definitively inescapable.

And because knowledge of God is part of our nature, and we are unable to escape it, we defiantly suppress that knowledge. Like verse 18 says, we suppress the truth.

Suppressing the Truth

Why does every single human willingly suppress the truth? Because, like Adam and Eve, we know we have been exposed and we are deeply ashamed. We hate it that we are not good enough. We hate it that God’s wrath is coming for us. And because we cannot escape these shameful realities, we do everything we can to deny them, to pretend like they don’t exist. We use lies like little fig leaves, and try to hide what is so nakedly true.

We suppress the truth of God, and we suppress the truth of ourselves.

This is why no one seems to know about God. Everyone has exchanged the truth of God for a lie. And humans are so profoundly good at self-delusion. We latch on to a lie so completely that it seems utterly true, to ourselves and to everyone around us.

But such self-delusion is absurd. Everyone believing in a lie does nothing to rescue you from the truth. And suppression of the truth has grave consequences.

For when we suppress the truth about God, and therefore suppress the truth about ourselves, we end up at war with our very identities. And we turn our world upside down seeking what is forever unattainable: autonomy. We are covenantal beings, made for relationship with God. Autonomy is diametrically opposed to our nature. Thus, we create for ourselves a world of delusion and lies, a world of futility and brokenness, a world of darkness.

And is this not the world that we see all around us. Men truly believing they are women and women truly believing they are men, murder of the unborn labeled a human right, the powerful profiting from the powerless.

Such suppression of truth, such darkness, is the expression of foolish hearts.

Read vs 21-23

There is no room in the Christian worldview for an agnostic; for someone who is unsure of the existence of God. Such ignorance does not exist. There is only truth and the willing suppression of truth: the refusal to acknowledge God as God truly is.

This means that, according to Scripture, all agnostics, all those who place their faith in science, all Buddhists, Mormons, Muslims, non-Messianic Jews, all who do not fear God, all are gathered together and categorized as atheistic: deniers of the true and living God. We have all exchanged the truth of God for a lie. We’ve sold the glory of the immortal God for the fleeting things we can see, touch, and taste.

And once more, we are all without excuse, because we would rather have 30 pieces of silver rather than the glory of God. No one is guilty of ignorance. All are guilty of rebellion. All are enemies of God. All will face His wrath.

As Paul writes to the Ephesians:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. -Ephesians 2:1-3

Because of who we are, from our deepest desires to our most fleeting thoughts, all are touched by the lie. Sin pervades everything. This is the same as saying that we are totally deprave. We are, by nature, children of wrath. And it certainly does not look like everyone knows God.

Ok, we have answered the first three questions. We know how it is that we all know God. We know what it is that we know about God. And we know why no one appears to know God.

Ministry of Reconciliation

Now let us answer the final question. How does all of this help us in our ministry of reconciliation?

Because we have what every human heart desperately desires. We have the gospel. And whether people know it or not, the gospel satisfies the deepest longing of the human heart: the longing to be reconciled to God.

But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. -Romans 5:8-11

Look at all the antidotes to the sinful condition in this passage! When we deserved wrath, God showed His love by giving His one and only Son. When we were covenantally condemned, Christ justified us with His own blood. When we were dead, God gave us life. This is the greatest news possible; we sinners can be reconciled unto God!

The problem is that unbelievers may not realize the goodness of the gospel. They believe in the lie so thoroughly that they are lost in the darkness of self-delusion. They are blind to the truth. They are unable to see the light.

Therefore, if we are going to be successful ministers of reconciliation, we need to show people the Gospel. We are covenantal beings, made to have relationship with God, and every time we speak Scripture, God condescends once more, speaking to His image bearers, calling them back into covenant. The very fabric of our being comes alive as we hear God’s word.

Either that, or we recoil, remembering the truth and the coming wrath.

Regardless of the outcome, if we are going to be effective ambassadors, we need to show people God’s word, not our opinions.

To be effective ambassadors, we need to be able to diagnose the unbelieving condition. We understand that everyone knows God, we understand what it is that people know about God, and we understand that everyone suppresses that truth.

And because we know this, we immediately have an advantage. We understand the unbelieving position better than the vast majority of unbelievers.

But, usually, we do not deal with categories of people. We deal with individuals. Therefore, we need to be able to diagnose the unbelieving condition of the particular person you are talking to. What is the particular way that person is suppressing the truth of God? What is the lie they are believing?

So, when you are engaging with an unbeliever, it is your job to listen carefully and ask lots of questions. Truly try to understand their way of thinking. Because, because they are covenantal beings created in the image of God they cannot escape the truth. Embedded within their lies are actual truths: truths about themselves, truths about the world, truths about God.

Brothers and sisters, those truths are what we are looking for. What are the truths embedded within their lies? If we can identify them, then – with prayer and the Spirit’s guidance – we can gently offer God’s word shed the light on their lie. That tiny truth is a potential highway to the much larger truth of all reality, the truth of God.

It is impossible to explore all the ways we can do this, but I want to give you one example of how this might work. To be sure, this is example is far more simplistic than real life, but for the sake of this sermon, it gives you an idea.

After speaking and listening with someone at length, you come to understand that because they believe they have endured so much pain, how on earth could God love them?

Identify the lie: If pain exists, God is not loving. God is certainly not loving towards me.

Identify the truth embedded within the lie: Pain does exist, and it is a terrible problem.

Pray. Ask for the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Before responding, remember that we are covenantal beings, and we are covenantal because God condescended. So how is their lie undone by God’s condescension through the gospel?

Gently answer with gospel principles:

Pain does exist, and it is a terrible problem. Almost everything we humans do is an attempt to escape pain. But God entered our pain by becoming a man in the person of Jesus Christ.

He endured every hardship common to humanity, and then the very worst of suffering and shame as He was crucified on a criminal’s cross. This was a demonstration of God’s great love for you. He loved you so much that He sent His one and only Son to soak up all the suffering we deserve.

And if we believe in Him, we will not perish, but have eternal life; an eternal life where God will wipe away every tear and every sorrow. He will take this broken world and make all things new.

If the Spirit so chooses, the very fabric of that person’s being will come alive as they hear God’s word offered with gospel application. Either that, or they will recoil, remembering the truth and the coming wrath.

Regardless of acceptance or rejection, such a strategy will help every ambassador of Christ fulfill the ministry of reconciliation. This is how we can hear the unbeliever’s words and respond to their heart.

Everyone is made in God’s image and are covenantal beings. Therefore, every knows God as God truly is. But every unbeliever suppressed the truth of God and believes in a lie.

But because we cannot escape the truth of God, make it your habit to identify truths embedded within lies. Apply the gospel to those truths. See what the Holy Spirit does next. Such is the task of the ambassador of Christ. Such is the ministry of reconciliation.

Ambassadors

2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Immanuel – 9/11/22

Though we are beginning a new sermon series today, we are not beginning something new. This sermon series is meant to be a continuation, a follow-up, of the book of Revelation. Because, of the many glories we beheld in Revelation, I know that I have been gripped by the immense and important responsibility Christ has given to His Church. I hope you have likewise been gripped.

Revelation tells us that unquestioningly, Jesus Christ is the victor of history and the hope of the nations. There is no salvation apart from Him. There is no eternal life without Him. And today He reigns on Heaven’s throne.

As Peter writes: Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to Him.

-1 Peter 3:21-22

Jesus is King over the power of sin; He offers freedom and forgiveness to all who come to Him. He is the King over the power of death; He offers eternal life to those who entrust their lives to Him. Additionally, angels, demons, and all spiritual beings have been subjected to Jesus. Ever since Christ’s ascension, Jesus reigns as the indisputable King of heaven!

But heaven is not the only place that falls under Christ’s domain. Revelation showed us that Jesus’ kingdom unites heaven and earth; for at the moment of the cross, Jesus began to draw heaven and earth together. Like we read in Revelation 11:

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.” -Revelation 11:15

Yes, since Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension; He forever reigns over heaven and over earth. Just before ascending to Heaven’s throne, Jesus said,

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” -Matthew 28:18

In no uncertain terms, Jesus is clearly declaring that He is the supreme King of heaven and earth.

I think we have an easier time understanding how this works in heaven – clearly Jesus rules sin, death, angels, and demons – but we have a harder time understanding how Jesus currently is King of the earth. Just take two seconds to look around our world and you cannot escape the evil, misery, disaster, and death that pervades. Is this all a part of Christ’s kingdom?

The answer is yes, and no. The writer of Hebrews put it rather simply:

Now in putting everything in subjection to [Jesus], [God] left nothing outside of His control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to Him.

-Hebrews 2:8

Do you hear what Hebrews is teaching? Everything is already subjected to the reign of Jesus, yet it does not always appear that way. The kingdom of Jesus has come, and it is yet to come. It is here, and it is coming here more completely, more fully.

Jesus said: “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” -Matthew 13:31-32

So how does how does this mustard seed grow? How is the kingdom of God filling the garden in which we all live? How are we able to see, to ever increasing degrees, that Jesus is King over heaven and earth?

God has ordained that this seed grow, that His kingdom increase, that Christ’s reign expand, through the mission and work of the Church. As the Body of Christ expands, matures, and conquers; the transformative power of the gospel is remaking the world. The Church is God’s agent of advancing the kingdom of heaven upon the earth.

Or, you might say, in Christ God is reconciling the world to Himself, and we – the Church – have been given the ministry of reconciliation.

Purpose

Cast vision for this sermon series, and the Christian life.

God’s purpose for the Church is to reconcile the world to Himself.

Your identity is tied to that purpose.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

God’s ultimate purpose for all of creation, and therefore for every living being, is to glorify Him. As Paul writes to the Romans:

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. -Romans 11:36

All creation, in heaven and on earth, has been created to glorify God. We saw this beautifully pictured multiple times in Revelation as all creation erupts in worship around the throne and the Lamb.

But beneath that great, ultimate purpose, there are penultimate purposes – purposes that accomplish the greater purpose.

You see, on planet earth, there are particular ways through which God plans to accomplish His ultimate purpose. Our passage today contains two of the clearest, most profound statements of how God intends to glorify Himself on earth. These two purposes are not divorced from one another, but work together like a husband and a wife, like a head and a body, like a melody and a harmony.

First, the melody. The melody is the center of the song, it draws you in, gets stuck in your head, stays with you. The song glorifies God, but the melody carries the tune through which He is glorified.

The melody is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Read vs 19a

I want you to notice that this is the center of the passage, both physically and spiritually. This is the melody, the center of the song. Today, we will start here and build out from it.

And this is how the melody of our song sounds…

When sin entered the world, humanity fell away from God. Ever since, each person is a broken sinner: a sinner by birth and a sinner by choice. We are enemies of God. And because of our rebellion against God, all physical creation was subjected to futility (as Paul writes in Romans 8:20). Our corruption spilled out upon the earth in thorns and death.

For indeed, death is the consequence of sin, and all of us sinners deserve to die.

But out of the devastation of the fall, a melody began to rise, reaching crescendo when God the Son became a man. The melody of creation is that God is reconciling the fallen world to Himself through Jesus. All this to His glory!

And do you see how He does this? It says it right there in verse 19. By not counting their trespasses against them.

God is reconciling the world to Himself by forgiving sinners. He is turning enemies into allies and rebels into family. And this happens through Jesus. How in the world does that happen through Jesus? Verse 21 tells us.

Read vs 21

That is the message of the gospel. On the cross Jesus chose to sacrifice His perfect life on behalf of ours. All the sins of the elect were placed upon His shoulders; He then suffered our shame, our separation, our death. He became sin, when we were the sinners; and He suffered the consequences we have earned.

But it does not end there! Behold, from an empty grave bursts the gospel of Jesus Christ, soaring to highest heights of heaven, where we are seated with Christ (Ephesians 2:6). 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that Christ has given His own righteousness to all who believe.

You were wretched, pitiable, and poor, yet God has flooded you with the extravagance of His love. Once wretched, now beloved. Once pitiable, now lights of the world. Once poor, now possessing everything.

Is there no measure to the generosity and love of our God!? Let us, with hearts united, glorify our great God through the melody of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, seated upon the throne as King over all the earth.

Jesus became sin so that you could become the righteousness of God! This is a transformation so complete, so exhaustive, that Scripture calls it new creation.

Read vs 17

Jesus reconciles you to God through recreating you. For when He gives you the Holy Spirit, faith springs to life, and you are made new – born of the Spirit.

Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God… unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” -John 3:3,5-6

If you are in Christ, the Spirit is in you, and God has recreated you. Behold, the old has passed away and the new has come! Paul so thoroughly understood this that he could write:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. -Galatians 2:20

Being a new creation means that everything is different. You no longer live like you once did, like a person enslaved to sinful desires and selfish pursuits. Now you live as one who has died to sin and lives unto Christ, pursuing the things of Christ and His kingdom. You have been made new.

This is the God-glorifying melody of the gospel.

But there is another part, a harmony. For immediately after the crescendo, when God became flesh, the harmony enters the song. This is the second penultimate purpose found in our passage today; another and complimentary way through which God is glorifying Himself.

Read vs 18

God has given us – the Church – the ministry of reconciliation. Let’s put that another way. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ, God is reconciling the world to Himself; and the way He is accomplishing that is through the mission and work of the church. We carry the harmony and have been given the ministry of reconciliation.

The melody is Christ and His gospel, the harmony is the Church going to the ends of the earth proclaiming that gospel. Look how verse 20 builds on that.

Read vs 20

Because we have been given the ministry of reconciliation, we are ambassadors for Christ. In case you were unaware, to be an ambassador is to be a high-ranking diplomat temporarily sent to a foreign country in order to represent, uphold, and advance the interests of a home country. And we know, from Revelation, that our home country is the New Jerusalem, the kingdom of God.

Therefore, we live in this world to represent, uphold, and advance the interests of the kingdom of God.

But here’s the difference between the kingdoms of men and the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is coming to rule the kingdoms of men, because Jesus is already the King of the earth! We are not going away to a different home, our home is coming here. We do not escape to a foreign land (or dimension) and wait for this place to burn.

Remember these words from Revelation:

He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

-Revelation 21:5

God’s recreative work starts with individuals, person by person, as God reconciles us to Himself through Jesus – as 2 Corinthians 5:18 says. But it doesn’t stop with individuals. It doesn’t even stop with nations. Again, like it says in verse 19, God purposes to reconcile the world to Himself. God reconciling the world to Himself, and God making all things new, are the same thing.

God is not going to make everything new by destroying it and starting over, but He will make all things new by reconciling the world to Himself through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, we are ambassadors sent to transform this earthly kingdom into the heavenly kingdom; the heavenly kingdom that is already here and coming in greater and great waves.

Every person that receives the gospel of Jesus Christ and is filled with the Holy Spirit, is a person that has entered and expanded the kingdom of God. Every broken family that is reconciled to God and reconciled to each other, is territory conquered by the kingdom of God. Care Net’s buildings in Utica and Illion were once used to perform abortions, now they are used to save the unborn: the kingdom of God advancing. Iran, one of the most anti-God and oppressive governments in the world, is today rapidly decaying as earth’s largest revival moves like wildfire through its population: the kingdom of God advancing.

Every one of these examples, and the countless more that are out there, are happening at the hands of the ambassadors of the kingdom of God. Jesus is working through His Body. God is reconciling the world to Himself through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we are the ambassadors carrying that gospel.

God’s purpose for the church is to reconcile the world to Himself. The gospel is the melody. The gospel proclaiming, Spirit-filled Church, is the harmony. The song is to the glory of the Father!

Now, let us consider how this great purpose is inextricably linked to our identity. Again, look at verse 17.

Read vs 17

Every Christian has a new identity: we are new creations. Once we were children of wrath, now we are adopted sons and daughters of God. The comfortable, unconcerned, selfish individuals that we were, have passed away. What has come are newly created people – forgiven and reconciled – that love, serve, and give their lives away for the sake of others, as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us.

Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” -Mark 8:34-35

Jesus said we will lose your old life and live in a whole new way. Indeed, we are new creations, living in a new way. We no longer live for self, as the rest of the world does, we live unto Christ. We follow Him even if it means we lose our physical lives, for we know these physical lives are short and momentary compared to the eternal weight of glory that awaits in life everlasting.

But that is not where our identity in Christ ends. There is a second part to our identity found in today’s passage. For to be made new, is to be made into something new. To be a new creation does not mean that the work is finished, and you get to sit around content with your newness. There is a new way to live now, a new purpose meant to grip your new life.

The second part of our identity in Christ is clearly stated in the beginning of verse 20. We are new creations and we are ambassadors. We’ve already discussed what it means to be an ambassador. We live in this world to represent, uphold, and advance the interests of the kingdom of God.

As ambassadors, we have been given the ministry of reconciliation. The reconciliation that God wills for the world, He entrusts to us.

Ok, I know that I have labored this point. But that’s because we need it to be drilled into our heads. We need it to penetrate our hearts. We need it to shape out lives. Because here is what this means: you cannot be a new creation in Christ and not also be an ambassador. You cannot be an ambassador for Christ if you are not a new creation in Christ. You cannot have one without the other.

If you are truly in Christ, then you rejoice in the fact that He has made you new, that you have been saved, that you are forgiven and redeemed and reconciled unto God. You know these things and they are your joy, to the glory of God!

But are you equally stirred that you are an ambassador of Christ, that God has entrusted to you the ministry of reconciliation – the ministry that unites heaven and earth? What an incredible job we have been given!

I hope you are. Because there is a lot of work to do. There is an enormous task before us. The whole world reconciled unto God, is a task far too great to any person or any local church. But what we can do is think about our own local context over which we have direct influence.

Let’s consider our local context for a moment. Immanuel’s population lives primarily in Oneida County, with a number coming from Herkimer Country. I want to share with you the latest census data about the population in these two counties.

Area

Population

Percent Protestant

Population Protestant

Percent Lost

Population Lost

Oneida

229,577

7.5%

17,218

92.5%

212,359

Herkimer

61,833

13.9%

8,595

86.1%

53,238

Totals

291,410

8.9%

25,813

91.1%

265,597

New York

20.22 Million

11%

2,224,200

89%

17,997,800

According to information from the 2020 census.

These numbers are troubling and the amount of souls passing into eternal destruction is staggering. Clearly, we can see that there is an incredible task before us, a great burden of responsibility that God has placed on our shoulders; for He has placed us ambassadors here, in this moment, to tell these people about how to be reconciled to God.

But here is a hopeful thought: if we put all of our lives together right now, and add together all of our families, friends, classmates, coworkers, neighbors; we have access to influence around 5,000 of these people. That’s without going out of our way.

Imagine what would happen if just 50 of them were reconciled unto God, and made new. They would likewise become ambassadors, spreading the good news of the kingdom of God to their different areas of influence. Then those disciples make more disciples, and so on. It is the model of the New Testament: disciples making disciples.

Here is an assumption of mine: most of us feel some form of guilt for not evangelizing more, or better. We have made too few disciples. We have not been able to live out the Great Commission as we want to.

In our context, I believe there are three reasons for a lack of evangelization.

Laziness. We are too comfortable. Telling people about Jesus is uncomfortable. Leave it to the evangelists and pastors, they are the professionals. But no, you are ambassadors. The job is yours. It is your identity as new creations in Christ. You must be about it!

Fear. Some of us run a real risk of losing friends or jobs or reputations by talking about Jesus. But Jesus said that we must take up our cross and follow Him. For if we try to save our lives, or our reputations, we will lose them. Be courageous in Christ the King, who possesses all authority in heaven and on earth. If He is for you, then who can be against you?

Ill Equipped. You want to be a better ambassador, but you don’t know how. You are not confident in what to say. You don’t know who to approach and how. You might feel like you’ve been dropped into the middle of a song, and you know the song, but you have no idea how to play your instrument.

Laziness and fear are conquered through listening to the word of God and obeying. Trust Jesus, follow Him, and overcome laziness and fear.

Through this sermon series, and a class soon coming to Immanuel, I want every person in this church to be trained. I want you to be able to identify who to approach with the gospel. And when you do, I want you to have effective words. I want your evangelistic confidence to grow so that you can be dynamic ambassadors for Christ, new creations bringing new creation.

Next week will begin thinking about the people around us. The Bible tells us that all of them, regardless of how it appears, all of them know God.

Then we will consider the message we carry, the gospel.

The first Sunday of October we will think about how to clearly tell people about the gospel.

Then, what do we do when someone is receptive.

And on we will go from there.

We have been reconciled to God. We are new creations in Christ. We have been caught up in the melody, in God’s great purpose to reconcile the world to Himself through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We have been given the part of the harmony. We have been given the ministry of reconciliation. We are ambassadors of the kingdom of God and everywhere we go we are to declare this message:

Read vs 20b-21

Jesus is King of the earth, and people need to know!