road2answers

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Blessings and Woes

Read Luke 6:17-26[i]

Jesus spent all night in prayer. Then he chose and ordained the twelve to be His Apostles, His specially chosen messengers, followers and disciples.

Coming down from the Mountain, He met with a large crowd. The crowd included the twelve, a large number of disciples and then a multitude of others.

The discourse that follows seems the same as Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount, but there are several differences. Most notably, in Matthew, the discourse takes place before the choosing of the twelve, and in Luke, it is given immediately after the choosing of the twelve. The discourse in Luke covers some of the same as the discourse in Matthew, but it is shorter. Jesus repeated many of His teachings, and therefore this may well have been a different occasion.

Luke 6:19 says, “Everyone tried to touch him, because healing power went out from him, and he healed everyone.”

There was healing power in Jesus. John 1:16 says, “From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.” While He walked and lived among us, Jesus healed many. Psalm 103:2-3 says, “²Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me. ³He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.” This is one of the characteristics of God. He is gracious. He forgives our sins and heals all our diseases. This characteristic of God was evident in Jesus’s ministry. This characteristic is evident in Luke 6:19 when it tells us that He healed everyone.

God has not changed. He still forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases.

While Jesus was engaged with people in this type of ministry, He turned to His disciples and gave the message of Luke 6:20-26. His message to His disciples that day included blessings and woes, or joys and sorrows. The teaching He gives on this day connects to the abundant grace He was pouring out. “From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.” Part of this grace is teaching us how to live in this present world.

Would you rather live with joy or sorrow? Would you rather have blessings or woes?

On the day Jesus came down from the Mountain, people gathered to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases. I believe this draws people to Jesus today. What draws you to Jesus?

Luke 6:18 includes the statement, “and those troubled by evil spirits were healed.” There is still a need for many to be delivered from evil spirits. The abundance of grace that comes through Jesus extends to freeing us from spiritual oppression.

Jesus’s teaching in Luke 6:20-26 shows us how to choose blessings or joy. At the same time, it teaches us how to live free from spiritual oppression. Part of His ministry of healing and deliverance was teaching us how to live.

We know the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart. Jesus’s teaching in Luke 6 shows us some of what that looks like.

First, we will need to observe that the blessings and woes listed correspond to each other. For example, the first blessing is “God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours.” This blessing corresponds to the first woe, which is “What sorrow awaits you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now.” The relationship of the two is that they are opposites. The poor are opposite of the rich. The kingdom of God is opposite of having your only happiness now.

Another correlation is not as obvious, but just as important. Each joy and sorrow pair has a corresponding human desire or appetite. These appetites or desires are summarized for us in 1 John 2:16. “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.” (ESV)[ii] The riches of the world as opposed to the kingdom of God represent the desires of the eyes. The desires of the flesh are represented by two blessings and sorrows. Hunger and weeping are set against fat and laughing. These both represent two types of bodily fulfillment, satisfaction and ecstasy. Satisfaction is what we experience when we have enough to eat. Ecstasy or thrill is what we experience when we laugh. The pride of life is represented by the opposites of being loved or hated by the world. It is what we experience when we seek for the praise of the world.

By addressing these human desires or appetites, Jesus addresses us where we live. We all have these desires. We all end up living to satisfy these appetites in one way or another. However, Jesus shows us how these desires should be used.

First, look at what he teaches regarding our desire for riches. He says, “God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours.” This does not mean that a person should have no property. Abraham and David had property. However, even the world realizes the contentment of holding possessions loosely. But, we as Christians recognize that all that we have comes from God. We are at our best when we recognize that we own nothing and are but stewards of what God has entrusted to us.

In another place, Jesus taught us:

¹⁹“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

God tells us to be content in whatever circumstance we are in, whether we have much or little. The Apostle Paul says, “I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. ¹²I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything.” (Philippians 4:11-12) The key here is not that we should be poor and living in a hovel. Rather, the key is to set our hearts on the Kingdom of God and live for treasures that last. Notice that the sorrow is that the only happiness is now. When we are poor in the sense that Jesus is talking about, we can be happy now and in eternity.

The first key to living free and happy is to store up treasures in heaven.

The second is to offer our bodies as living sacrifices.

The second pair of blessing and woe corresponds to the desires of the flesh. Jesus says, “God blesses you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. God blesses you who weep now, for in due time you will laugh.” (Luke 6:21) He sets this in opposition to those who are fat and prosperous now and those who laugh now. The key idea behind this is who owns our body. When warning us about over indulging the desires of the body Paul says, “¹⁹Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, ²⁰for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

We can eat whatever we want. We can drink whatever we want. We can hold our head in an industrial smoke stack and breathe deeply for several hours, but this might not be good for our bodies. Here again I will refer to the words of the Apostle Paul. “You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is good for you. You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is beneficial.” (1 Corinthians 10:23) As the temple of the Holy Spirit, we are to take care of our bodies. When we offer ourselves up to God, we desire to give the best. Part of offering ourselves up to God is to give up pursuing the pleasing of our bodies. It means also being willing to mourn with those who mourn and weep with those who weep. True joy and true happiness are much deeper than the surface of bodily satisfaction and laughter.

We have seen two keys to living free. First, we said we must store up treasures in heaven. Second, we said we must offer our bodies as living sacrifices. The third key is to live to please God.

The blessing and woe pair Jesus gives is the difference between being hated by the world or praised by the world. This corresponds with the human desire for praise, recognition and position. The world offers this and attracts many into competition for applause and recognition. The praise of others and especially of large numbers of others can be exhilarating and some say intoxicating.

Strong warnings accompany the discussion of this desire. Jesus says, “Their ancestors also praised false prophets.”

Trying to please others with what we say is a sure way to end up lying and misrepresenting the truth. It is a source of false teaching and error. So many lies begin with not wanting to hurt somebodies feelings, or wanting to look better to someone than we actually are.

I remember as a little boy poking a hole in the bottom of a conditioner bottle. I was playing in the bathtub and it just seemed like the thing to do. When mom found the empty bottle with a hole in it, she was upset. I wasn’t afraid of getting in trouble, but I wanted to keep my saintly reputation so when she asked if I had done it, I of course said no. All of the other children said no as well. Of course, they were telling the truth. This scandalous cover-up ended with us all being penalized.

This childish behavior is nothing compared to the cover-ups in government, industry and churches that cost people their lives, health, retirement, etc. This desire for other people’s approval is especially dangerous.

When Paul was speaking with the Galatians about straying away from the Gospel of Christ, he said to them, “¹⁰Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” (Galatians 1:10)

The answer to this is living to please God. The New Testament instructs us, “Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more.” (1 Thessalonians 4:1)

We have all received of the abundance of the grace of Jesus Christ. He heals our diseases and sets us free from spiritual oppression. In order to live free and stay free, we need to live according to the principles of God’s word. There are three keys to living free.

We must store up treasures in heaven.

We must offer our bodies as living sacrifices.

We must live to please God.

These are also summed up in the commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart.

[i] Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Steam, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

[ii] Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Glory

Luke 9

Luke 9 begins with an account of Jesus sending out His disciples on an itinerant ministry.

This served a double purpose of training the disciples as well as multiplying the ministry of Jesus.

Jesus’s ministry was so effective that it got the attention of King Herod. Herod was confused because he thought that perhaps John the Baptist had come back from the dead. This, in his mind, was the reason Jesus was able to work miracles.

Jesus’s ministry also got the attention of the common people. For example, when His disciples returned from their itinerant ministry, Jesus took them to a deserted place to be alone. However, word quickly spread and a large crowd gathered.

Jesus taught the crowd and healed the sick that were brought to Him. It was a deserted place, and at the end of the day, Jesus did not want to send them home without food. Therefore, He fed them. Five loaves and two fish fed a huge crowd with twelve baskets left over. After more than five thousand people ate their fill, there was more left than what they had started with.

After all this, Jesus asked His disciples who people were saying He was. Luke 9:19 tells us, “They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.’”[i]

Then he asked them who they thought He was. Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”

Luke 9:9 tells us that Herod kept trying to see Jesus. He had beheaded John the Baptist, and with a heart weighed down with guilt and a lust for power, he had no room for understanding or seeing who Jesus was. He had the same evidence as everyone else, but his heart was far from receiving the truth. He saw a dim reflection of Jesus’s glory in the works that Jesus was doing, and this made him curious. He wanted to see Jesus’s glory, but only as it related to his power. He wanted to know if this was John the Baptist come back. He was threatened by the glory he saw.

The crowds that followed Jesus were seeking miracles. They heard about his miracles, and were hungry for more. They listened to his teaching and brought the sick for Jesus to heal. They saw a reflection of Jesus’s glory in the works and the words of Jesus. They were a mixed group. There were the curious who were there to see more, and there were the sick that were needy. John 6:26 sheds light on this when Jesus tells us that they sought Him because they were fed. They did not accept Jesus as the Messiah because the cares of this world kept their eyes from the truth. Their hearts were not ready to receive the truth because they hungered for this world’s goods rather than the righteousness of God.

Then there were the disciples. They saw and understood.

Jesus took this opportunity to teach the following lesson:

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. ²⁴For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. ²⁵What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Luke 9:23-25

Much of what we see depends on what we are pursuing. This is especially true spiritually. Much of what we see is determined by what we want.

Herod, who was pursuing power and riches, saw a possible threat. The crowd, which was pursuing what the world had to offer, saw a possible supply of goods.

This is why Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23

The disciples were doing what Jesus said. They had left careers and families in order to follow Jesus. Because of this, they saw many things that the crowd did not. Jesus even said to them, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables to teach the others so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: 'When they look, they won't really see. When they hear, they won't understand.'” (Luke 8:10)

The disciples were given insight because of their willingness to follow and obey the truth. Jesus taught, “Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” (Luke 8:18, ESV[ii]) They were given more because they followed and obeyed.

The disciples were privileged, blessed with seeing Jesus in all the circumstances of life, blessed with hearing all of His teaching. They saw His glory like no one else. Luke 9:26-28 tells of a time when Jesus showed His glory to His three closest disciples.

Jesus took James, Peter and John with him on a mountain to pray. It was hard for Jesus to get alone with His disciples. Previously in chapter 9 of Luke when Jesus had tried to get alone, great crowds had gathered.

With those who seek to listen and obey, Jesus will make a way to be alone with them.

An example of this from the Old Testament is Moses. God met with Moses alone on the Mountain.

In our relationship with God, our part is to listen and obey.

Jesus made a habit of prayer. Throughout His ministry, we are told that He prayed. Here is Luke 9, Jesus is praying, and this is not the first time or the last, that the disciples fell asleep while Jesus prayed. They were the privileged few, and yet their spiritual dullness is seen in their inability to watch and pray with the Master. In spite of this, Jesus included these three in His intimate time with the Father.

In the Garden, when He was preparing to go to the cross, these same three were included in Jesus’s time of prayer. At that time, they fell asleep. Jesus said, “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” (Matthew 26:41)

In our relationship with God, we must pray continually.

Even knowing their weakness, Jesus continued to invite these three to accompany Him when He prayed. He invites us too. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Never stop praying.” Scripture tells us many times to keep praying, because it is easy to stop or to be spiritually dull and unmotivated in prayer. The three men closest to Jesus almost missed the glorious moment of His transfiguration because they fell asleep when they tried to pray. May I encourage you with one more Scripture on prayer? Ephesians 6:18 says, “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.”

John, Peter and James woke up to a transformed Jesus, shining and speaking with Moses and Elijah. They were overwhelmed. Peter blurted out a response without knowing what He was saying.

The voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him.” (Luke 9:35)

As Jews, they had grown up under the teaching of the Law and the Prophets. Everything they knew about God was learned from the Law and the Prophets.

The first five books of the Jewish Scriptures were called the Law, and they were written by Moses. Another section of Jewish Scriptures was called the Prophets. The prophets did not necessarily foretell the future. Their job was to speak to the people for God. Hebrew scholars count 55 Old Testament prophets, 48 men and 7 women.[iii] These people all spoke for God, and the common or accepted representative of the prophets was Elijah. Moses and Elijah represented how God had spoken to His people in the past. In blurting out, “Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Peter, without knowing it, references the important place God’s spokespersons have played. God had made Himself known to His people through the Law and the prophets, Moses and Elijah. The voice from the cloud clarified the priority of revelation. Jesus is the culmination, the completion of the Law and the Prophets. He is not a prophet. He is greater than a prophet. Hebrews 1:1-2 tells us:

¹Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. ²And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son.

In our relationship with God, we must listen to Jesus.

Jesus is the completion of the Law and the prophets. The Law and the prophets are still an important part of our knowledge of God. However, they serve to point us to Jesus.

Jesus promised that anyone who comes to Him would not be cast out or rejected. However, Herod and the crowd never saw His glory. It is because they were seeking the things of this world. Friendship with the world is enmity toward God. God is a friend to those that fear Him. He shows us this in many ways. He shows this when He revealed His glory to Moses, and He shows this when He reveals His glory to Peter, James and John.

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6, ESV)

What is it that you are hungering and thirsting for?

Are we, like Herod, hunger and thirsting for power, position or safety?

Are we, like the crowds, hungering for food and what the world has to offer?

Is the glory of this world worth living for?

What would you give up for a glimpse of God’s glory?

Do you seek to be alone with Him?

Do you seek to listen to Him and obey?

Do you pray continually?

[iii] http://www.jewfaq.org/prophet.htm

Monday, February 1, 2016

Prejudice

Luke 4:22-30[i]

Jesus says, “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” (Luke 4:21)

He is talking about Isaiah 61:1-2 where it says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.”

Luke 4:22 tells us, “Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips.”

The setting for these events was Nazareth, Jesus’s boyhood home.

Jesus was the subject of quite a bit of conversation. Luke 4:14-15 tells us:

¹⁴Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. ¹⁵He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

The reports about him included His ministry in Capernaum and around the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Mark 1:45 tells us that he was so popular that he could not publically enter a town anywhere without instantly drawing a huge crowd. Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons and taught the Word of God with authority.

Now, He was in His hometown.

The people of Nazareth swelled with pride as they spoke well of Him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from His lips.

They marveled at Him.

They said, “How can this be? Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

Jesus has just told them that He has been sent to proclaim the time of the LORD’s favor. However, the day is about to go sour. It will end badly.

Let’s jump to the end of the day.

Luke 4:28-30:

²⁸When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. ²⁹Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, ³⁰but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.

What could have turned the crowd so quickly? What did He say?

Luke tells us what Jesus said, and it does not seem that bad. However, when we analyze these few words of Jesus that turned the crowd, we will see something about the human condition. He confronts something so basic, so deep down, that we, as humans, will kill to protect it. It is tied to our pride, and it is evil. We all have it. We are born with it. It is part of what we call the sin nature. It is so pervasive that we are all its victims and its perpetrators.

I am talking about judging. The word prejudice fits, but it carries with it all the cultural baggage of our day. The word hatred would work also but it does not seem to be the starting point. At its core, this judging is tied to our pride.

It runs contrary to God’s command to love our neighbors as ourselves.

It keeps many people from coming to the Savior.

It is what kept the people of His hometown from coming to the Savior.

Jesus’s words confront the prejudice of the people of Nazareth. This prejudice concerns the person, the performance and the populace. We are going to consider each of these in turn.

First, Jesus confronts their prejudice in regard to His person.

It all starts with them knowing Jesus. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:22)

They had seen Jesus on the street while He was growing up. They had seen Him with His family, in the synagogue, in the market and in Joseph’s carpentry shop. Therefore, they thought they knew Him.

Most of us hear of Jesus while growing up. We may have sung Sunday school songs about Him. We may have even watched the Jesus movie. But, do we know Him?

When we judge another person, we do it with very little information. How much do we really know about another person? James 4:12 says, “God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?”

We have to make up our minds about Jesus. Each one of us is confronted with the truth of who He is. We must choose to either accept or reject this truth. The thing most likely to keep us from seeing the truth here is our pride. We think we know more than we do, and so we do not investigate who Jesus is for ourselves.

The same is true when it comes to judging our neighbor. We think we know the person, but can we really know the other person? God’s law is that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.

We need to give up our preconceived notions concerning the person, and then move on to look at our expectations surrounding performance.

In Nazareth, Jesus could not overcome their expectations for His performance.

He said:

“You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’” (Luke 4:23)

The people of Nazareth had certain expectations. They expected Jesus to perform.

We expect Jesus to perform.

I have been guilty of wanting the miracles more than the miracle worker, wanting God’s gifts more than I want God.

What we want from Him is another thing that keeps us from the Savior. We come to Him with preconceived ideas or expectations of what we want. We do not come to surrender, but to get. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain by coming to Jesus, but He does not perform according to our expectations.

This is true of other people as well.

This can be illustrated by cultural differences. One culture has the expectation that one should bow when greeting another person. Another culture has the expectation that one should shake hands. The person who bows will be offended by the one who sticks out his hand, and the person who shakes hands will be offended by the one who bows. Of course, we live in a world that understands these cultural differences so they are not much of a problem. However, these performance expectations are a huge problem in marriages, business relationships and race relations. We want or expect certain things from others and they do not give us what we want. Therefore, we judge them. They are rude. They are inconsiderate.

In Philippians 2:3-4 Paul says:

³Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. ⁴Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

We should seek to love the person and have humility in regard to performance. There is one more concern that Jesus confronts. It is the populace.

We, as humans, tend to judge in large groups. We will judge the populace of an area. A person who lives in Kansas grows wheat. A person who grew up in Idaho grows potatoes. A person who grew up in the Middle East is a Muslim. A person who grew up in Russia is a communist.

In Nazareth, Jesus confronted this issue with two illustrations.

He says:

²⁵“Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. ²⁶Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. ²⁷And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.” (Luke 4:25-27)

In this context, Jesus is talking about the fact that He would not be accepted in His hometown. The people of His hometown had their opinions of His person and His performance and therefore were not willing to accept His role as Savior. Jesus points this out to them, and He would have remained their friend if He had not put His finger on the root of the problem.

The two incidents Jesus refers to involve Gentiles receiving blessings of God in preference to Jews. He was speaking to Jews. These people would not enter the house of a Gentile. They considered Gentiles unclean, impure, sinful dogs. This was so deep-rooted that at Jesus’s words they were furious, jumped up and mobbed Him.

He touched their pride. They thought they were better than others were. Jesus would not let them get away with this. Because of this, they tried to kill Him.

Pride still keeps many from Jesus. To come to Jesus, we must admit we are sinners. This stops many.

God loves Muslims and wants to save them.

To those who hate Muslims, this could be upsetting.

God loves homosexuals and wants to save them.

To those who hate homosexuals, this could be upsetting.

God loves Baptists, and wants to save them.

To those who hate Baptists, this could be upsetting.

As humans, we tend to think that we are better than others. The Pharisee believes he is better than the publican. The Democrat believes he is better than the Republican, and the Republican believes He is better than the Democrat. The straight person believes she is better than the homosexual, and the homosexual believes she is better than the straight person.

Of course, we all tell ourselves we are above this. We know better. However, pride is insidious. It cannot be rooted out except by the Spirit of God.

Romans 8:7 sums it up when it says, “For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.”

Seeing the violent reaction of the people of Nazareth can serve as a wake-up call to all of us. We need to ask God to free us from our pride. We should not recoil from anyone. We should reach out in love to everyone.

Our mission is to proclaim the time of the LORD’s favor. This Good News is for everyone without exception. There is no room for prejudice.

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

The Time of the Lord's Favor

Luke 4:14-21

The preliminaries were over.

Jesus had been baptized and tested. His reputation as a teacher was growing.

He had some disciples following him. He performed his first miraculous sign at a wedding in Cana of Galilee.

John the Baptist recognized him, announcing to everyone that this was the Lamb of God.

However, He had not publicly declared himself. By this time, He had traveled some in the area of Galilee, speaking in the synagogues. Everybody gave good reports of Him. Luke 4:15 says, “He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.”[i]

When it was time to announce His ministry, His message and His mission, He starts in his hometown, Nazareth.

He recognized, “No prophet is accepted in his own hometown.” (Luke 4:24) Nevertheless, He started in His own hometown.

We can learn a lesson from where Jesus chose to start. The lesson is that we should start right where we are. If you believe God has called you to a ministry, start where you are. God will open doors for you. We all must face our origins. You may have come from the wrong side of the tracks. You may feel God cannot use you because of where you come from. Or, perhaps you believe where you come from makes you special. Any issue of this nature will eventually have to be faced.

Even though He knew it would not be accepted, Jesus chose to announce His ministry, message and mission in His boyhood home.

Nazareth was not the center of the nation. It was a backwater town. When Philip told Nathanael that they had found the very person that Moses and the prophets had written about, Nathanael said, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46) Jesus did not look to go to Jerusalem, Rome or any of the important cities of His day. Just as His birth took place in a stable, He announced His ministry in an out-of-the-way place.

His announcement covered three things. These three things were: 1) His ministry, 2) His message, and 3) His mission.

Following His example, we can learn much about our own calling as His followers. His ministry, message and mission have not changed.

We do not need to seek out the big places, the Romes or Jerusalems of our day. Rather, we need to be sure we are on task with the ministry, message and mission that He announced, carried out and then entrusted to us.

First, let’s consider what He said was His ministry.

I am using the word ministry in its sense meaning service. The word minister originates with the meaning to attend to the needs of someone.[ii]

In a short time, Jesus built a reputation as an exceptional teacher. Luke 4:15 tells us that He was praised by everyone. Therefore, when the scroll was handed to Him in His hometown synagogue, there were great expectations. Jesus chose to read from chapter 61 of Isaiah. Of course, it was a scroll. It was not divided into chapters. It was not in English. It was not even punctuated or divided out in the ways we are familiar with today. However, Jesus went unerringly to the precise location He wanted, right where it says, “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me.” In our current translations, the location He is reading from is Isaiah chapter 61 verses one and two. However, He does not even read all of verse 2. He stops in the middle of the sentence.

For His audience, this is part of His statement. They know this passage. Stopping in the middle would be similar to us saying, “For God so loved the world…” You and I know to fill in the rest, “that he gave His only begotten Son…”

These people are waiting. Verse 20 tells us, “All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently.” They are wondering, “What can we expect from this man?” So, Jesus tells them, “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” (Luke 4:21)

The focus of “What can we expect?” is the focus of ministry. It is the question of service. Government offices are called ministries. There are ministries of education, finance and the interior. The expectation for the ministry of education would be that it would serve in the area of education.

The passage Jesus chose starts with “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.”

Although this does not seem to define an area of service, it is the definition of His ministry. It is the definition of our ministry.

Consider the first part Luke 4 with me. Verse one tells us, “Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.” Then verse fourteen tells us, “Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power.” It is hard to miss the stress on the fact that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Here is the point: His ministry, our ministry, is not need driven, is not purpose driven, is not goal driven. It is Spirit driven.

I love Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Church. Our ministry does need to have purpose. I support our local food bank, and I am not speaking against need-based ministry. However, as important as need and purpose are, these do not define who we are or what our ministry is.

We are the Body of Christ. As His Body, the Spirit of God controls us. Jesus was not squeezed into the mold of His day and culture, because He ministered/served according to the Spirit’s direction, and not according to external indicators, demands or needs.

This is an important distinction for us to make, because although we are concerned with needs, social concerns and the problems of the world around us, these things are not our primary focus. Too often, these things become the tail that wags the dog.

This is the first thing we see in Jesus’ announcement, His ministry. The second is His message, our message.

He refers to it when He says, “Good News,” and uses the word, “proclaim.” However, there is something that should be obvious to us all. He is quoting Scripture. He is not making these words up as He goes. As God, these are His own Words, but as the man Jesus, standing in the synagogue in Nazareth, these are the Words of God taken from the book of Isaiah.

His message, our message, is the Word of God.

Jesus stressed this. He said, “The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.” (John 14:10)

I read and hear a lot of material that tries to explain why the Bible is not God’s Word. This is foundational. If we cannot trust the Bible, we have no reason for even gathering. If this book is not God’s message to us and for us, we are without a message. The Bible can stand up to examination. It is supported by historical evidence. An honest, inquiring mind will find honest answers. However, the Church that denies the authority and inspiration of the Scriptures cannot and will not stand. It has lost its foundation.

Jesus said:

¹⁸I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. ¹⁹So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 5:18-19)

Our ministry is defined by the Holy Spirit, our message is shaped by the Word of God, but what is our mission?

We find our mission in the action words used in the passage that Jesus quoted.

Before we look at those action words, let’s review the commission that Jesus gave us just before He ascended into heaven.

Matthew 28:19-20 says:

¹⁹Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

This commission, given when He departed, is consistent with what He announced at the beginning of His ministry.

In Luke 4:18, Jesus says He is anointed to bring Good News, and sent to proclaim.

His mission is proclamation. It is delivery of the message.

His Good New was for the poor. His proclamation was that captives will be released, the blind will see, and the oppressed will be set free. These are all aspects of salvation that, as the Savior, Jesus accomplished. The completion of the deliverance is included in the latter half of the passage, the half that Jesus did not read. The completion of all that He came for is waiting His return. However, our deliverance from the spiritual poverty, bondage and blindness we were in is realized already. Jesus announced the favorable time of the Lord, the Jubilee. Our debt has been forgiven. We have been set free.

The point is our mission is the proclamation of the Good News. This is the favorable time of the Lord. Today is the day of salvation.

We are not the providers of salvation. We may suffer for the cause of Christ, and thus, as Paul says, “I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church.” (Colossians 1:24) Even this participation in the sufferings of Christ was understood by Paul as being subject to the mission. He states the mission in verse 25, “God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you.”

The life-changing power of the Church lies in the Holy Spirit empowered, proclamation of the Word of God. This is our Ministry, Our Message and our Mission.

[ii] https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#safe=active&q=define+minister