“The Resurrection is the Key”
[Acts 24:1-27]
May 8, 2011 Second Reformed Church
What is the absolutely essential, most important, non-negotiable teaching or doctrine of Christianity? No fair looking at the sermon title.
Would it surprise you that there are people – people who claim to be Christians, people who teach in our seminaries, people who preach in pulpits around the country and around the world, who say that the Physical Resurrection of Jesus from the dead is irrelevant to the Truth of Christianity? Would it surprise you to have someone who claims to be a Christian say to you, “It makes absolutely no difference whether Jesus physically rose from the dead or not as far as what Christianity teaches and means”?
In today’s text, we will see that the Physical Resurrection of Jesus is key to Christianity – there is no Christianity – and no salvation – if Jesus did not physically rise from the dead.
So, we will remember from last week that Paul had been transported by armed guard for his protection from the barracks of Claudius Lysias to the governor’s palace in Caesarea. Paul was now under the protection of Governor Felix of Caesarea, and Paul was under house arrest in Herod’s palace. However, as a Roman citizen, he has been granted the right to move about and receive guests – at least until Paul’s accusers came to bring their case against him.
According to the laws of the day, this would likely mean that Paul would have one arm chained to a centurion by a long chain, but, otherwise, he would be free and allowed to move about and do whatever he wanted, including visiting his friends and preaching and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And we will remember that Felix had been friends with Emperor Caligula, and Felix was known by the historians to have “served with all cruelty and lust.” Felix was known for inciting riots, engaging in corrupt deals, and perverting justice to gain pleasure and power for himself. At this time, Felix served under the current reigning emperor, Nero.
After five days, the high priest, Ananias arrived with some of the elders and a lawyer they had hired by the name of Tertullus. And, in accordance with Roman law, the accusers were allowed to speak first:
Tertullus began by buttering Felix up, “Since through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight, most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation, in every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude. But to detain you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly.” Whatever you choose to call this, it was baloney to try to get Felix on the side of the Jews.
Then Tertullus presented their case, such as it was:
First, he accused Paul of starting riots among the Jews all over the world.
Second, he accused Paul of being the leader of the Nazarenes.
Third, he accused Paul of attempting to profane the Temple.
And the Jews all agreed, “Yes, you tell him, Tertullus, hoo hoo hoo ”
Then Paul was given a chance to respond, and Paul acknowledged that God had given Felix the position of judge, so, for the sake of God’s appointment to that position, Paul cheerfully made his defense:
First, Paul explained that it was only twelve days now since he had returned to Jerusalem from his missionary journey, and when he returned home to Jerusalem, he went up to the Temple to worship. What the Jews found when they hauled him away, was that he was in the Temple, giving alms to the poor and taking part in the ceremonial purification rites. He hadn’t taught or preached anything to anyone since he returned, and he certainly wasn’t causing riots. He was doing what every Jew was expected to do in the Temple, and there was no one who could witness otherwise against him.
As to the second point, yes, Paul admitted he was a member of the Way – (which was the original name for Christians). What that means, Paul explained, is that he worships the God of his fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. He believes everything that was written in the Law and the Prophets, and he has his hope in God – just as every one of his accusers before him – and every Jew – that there will be a resurrection of the just and the unjust. That is what Jews have always believed and taught and that is what he believed and taught. Paul said he believed everything that his accusers – and every Jew – says that he believes.
And thirdly, Paul said again, that he had returned after a long time – several years – to Jerusalem, bringing alms for the poor and offerings to the Temple. When he was hauled away, he was in the Temple purifying himself according to the Law of Moses. There was no crowd, no tumult, no riot. He was taken from the Temple while he was doing everything that is instructed for a Jew to do – while he was doing his duty. But there were some Jews from Turkey – but none of them came to Caesarea to accuse him....
In fact, he explained that he was brought before Claudius Lysias and the Jewish High Council, the Sanhedrin, and no one could produce a charge against him. The only thing that he did that caused a problem was that he cried out, “It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.”
“The only thing I have said this whole time that has gotten these people upset is that there is a resurrection of the dead. But the resurrection of the dead is taught by the Law, and the Prophets, and in the Temple, and by the Pharisees....”
We can imagine that Ananias’ face was beet red. How could he answer this? Everything Paul said was true. The problem they had with Paul was that he said that Jesus physically rose from the dead, and the Romans wouldn’t care. They had to push the idea that Paul was causing riots – that the Romans would address – but they had no witnesses to put forth the claim.
Nothing has changed, has it?
Just about everyone is ok with Jesus, so long as you don’t go too far with Him, right?
“Jesus was a great moral teacher.” “He was an example of how we should all live.” “He showed one of many ways back to God.” “Jesus taught us to love everyone.”
But, is Jesus God?
“No, no, no. Well, in the same way that we all have the spark of divinity in us. He showed us how we can fulfill our potential.”
Did Jesus physically rise from the dead?
“No.”
Why not?
“Only monsters and serial killers can come back from the dead. Jesus was just a person, and people don’t come back from the dead. I mean, if you mean that Jesus is always with us in spirit – that His ideas live on – that He is an inspiration – yes. But, two thousand years ago, did He get up and walk out of the tomb, no.”
And the scholars chime in, “It doesn’t matter whether Jesus physically rose from the dead or not – it doesn’t change His message of love and social rebellion. Jesus’ being physically alive adds nothing to what he taught.”
Really?
Paul wrote, “Now, I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain.
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is within me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preached and so you believed.
“Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testify about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life alone we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied” (I Corinthians 15:1-19, ESV).
Paul says, if you don’t believe in the Physical Resurrection of Jesus, you don’t believe the Gospel. Because if Jesus did not survive the Wrath of God against Him for our sins, then Jesus failed – He did not pay the debt for our sins and credit us with His Righteousness.
If Jesus did physically rise from the dead, then we shall physically rise from the dead. If Jesus did not physically rise from the dead, then we shall not physically rise from the dead.
If Jesus did not physically rise from the dead, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain – it’s useless.
If Jesus did not physically rise from the dead, then we have been lying about God, because we teach what the Gospel says, that God physically raised Jesus from the dead.
If Jesus did not physically rise from the dead, then our sins have not been forgiven.
If Jesus did not physically rise from the dead, then those who have died, believing in Jesus, have gone to Hell.
If Jesus did not physically rise from the dead, then our faith is only about living a “good life” now, and we are still going to Hell in the end, and we above all people ought to be pitied for being such utter fools.
Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in their tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:25-29, ESV).
At the moment Jesus died on the cross, we read, “And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many” (Matthew 27:51-53, ESV).
And when Jesus returns, we read, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened. Then another book was opened which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were throne in the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15, ESV).
And Job testified, and we will sing the hymn based on this text shortly, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth. After my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me ” (Job 19:25-27, ESV).
There is a book out right now which attempts to answer the question, “What is the least I can believe and still be a Christian?” That is a foolish thing to ask; we are to believe the whole Word of God because it is the Word of God.
However, understand this, if you do not believe that Jesus the God-Man, Who was put to death in His Real, Physical Body on the Cross, and really, physically rose from the dead in that same Physical Body and is alive, you don’t believe in Christianity.
Does the Physical Resurrection of Jesus matter? Yes It is the key to Christianity. Without the Physical Resurrection of Jesus, Christianity is a lie, we are dead in our sins, bound for Hell, and we are fools.
Paul said, “It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.” Brothers and sisters, it is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that we will stand before God on that final day. Don’t slough it off as an unimportant issue – for it is the key to Christianity.
Governor Felix knew about the Way and their teachings, so he told them that he was going to put his decision off until Lysias arrived to give his account of what happened. According to Roman Law, Paul should have been set free – there was absolutely no precedent for holding him, but he was put back under house arrest.
Some days later, Felix and his wife, Drusilla, who was a Jew, sent for Paul and asked him to preach to them about Jesus. Amazing, isn’t it? And Paul preached to them about Jesus and righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, and Felix became alarmed and said, “Go away ”
Why? Because Felix was being convicted. Felix not only loved power and pleasure – at any cost, but he had been married three times, as had his historically, fabulously beautiful wife – and their marriages had been unions of pleasure and power, not legal unions in the sight of God.
When Paul explained that God holds us to His Standard of Right and Wrong and the Only Hope for anyone is faith in Jesus Christ, Felix became terrified. This wasn’t fun anymore Felix was feeling guilty, and that didn’t give him pleasure. So – for now – “Go away ”
Yet we see in verse twenty-six, that Felix called him back to speak many times – not because he wanted to hear Paul preach, but because he was hoping after awhile that Paul would get tired of even house arrest and offer him a bride to let him go – to slip him the key – to forget to post the centurion. But Paul wouldn’t bribe him.
After two years, Nero recalled Felix back to Rome and made Porcius Festus governor of Caesarea. You see, there had been an uprising among the Jews about the cruelty of Felix towards them, and word had gotten back to Nero, so Nero was calling Felix back for trial. In the hopes of kinder testimony from the Jews, Felix didn’t release Paul; he just left him in chains. “It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.”
Do you believe in the Physical Resurrection of Jesus? It makes all the difference in this life and in the life to come.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You that You are Sovereign and that You kept Your promise to Paul and used him to spread Your Gospel through the Roman Empire. We thank You for the testimony we have in Your Word that Jesus did physically rise from the dead, and You have physically raised others from the dead in times past, and You will physically raise all people from the dead on the last day. Help us not to be confused by the pop dismissal of the Resurrection by modern people, but help us to examine the evidence and understand why the Resurrection matters and why it is the key to Christianity. For, as Job prophesied, we shall all see You in our flesh. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Sunday, May 08, 2011
Friday, May 06, 2011
Review: "Life Without Limits"
Nick Vujicic is an inspirational young man – in fact, an inspirational speaker and minister of evangelism. He was born without arms or legs, but has turned from looking at himself as disabled and pushing the limits of what it means to be able.
I very much wanted to love and recommend his book, Life Without Limits. Vujicic is a Christian and wants people to receive Jesus. He rightly believes that God is Sovereign over our lives and whatever happens to us is part of God’s Plan for our lives. God can be trusted; He is not surprised or taken aback.
However, I cannot recommend this book, because its theology is, basically, wrong.
Two points:
“God helps those who help themselves” (16). Although this is a popular adage, it is simply not true. What the Bible tells us is that we are born dead, unable to help ourselves, “But God, being rich in mercy with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5, ESV). God doesn’t give us “a leg up,” (no pun or offense intended), He raises us from the dead.
“God has a truly great purpose for your life” (229). This, again, is a popular thing to say, but it is simply not true. Paul explains, “Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of one lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use?” (Romans 9:21, ESV). God indeed has a purpose for each person, but for some, their purpose is to experience the Wrath of God for His Glory.
That being said, I wish Vujicic well. I thank God for his faith and his attitude. I would recommend more biblical and theological training.
Multnoma
[This review appears on Amazon.com and my blog. I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.]
I very much wanted to love and recommend his book, Life Without Limits. Vujicic is a Christian and wants people to receive Jesus. He rightly believes that God is Sovereign over our lives and whatever happens to us is part of God’s Plan for our lives. God can be trusted; He is not surprised or taken aback.
However, I cannot recommend this book, because its theology is, basically, wrong.
Two points:
“God helps those who help themselves” (16). Although this is a popular adage, it is simply not true. What the Bible tells us is that we are born dead, unable to help ourselves, “But God, being rich in mercy with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5, ESV). God doesn’t give us “a leg up,” (no pun or offense intended), He raises us from the dead.
“God has a truly great purpose for your life” (229). This, again, is a popular thing to say, but it is simply not true. Paul explains, “Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of one lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use?” (Romans 9:21, ESV). God indeed has a purpose for each person, but for some, their purpose is to experience the Wrath of God for His Glory.
That being said, I wish Vujicic well. I thank God for his faith and his attitude. I would recommend more biblical and theological training.
Multnoma
[This review appears on Amazon.com and my blog. I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.]
"Use the Law; Love Your Neighbor" Sermon Acts 23:12-35
“Use the Law; Love Your Neighbor”
[Acts 23:12-35]
May 1, 2011 Second Reformed Church
We return to our look at the book of Acts this morning – and it’s been awhile – so let’s remember where we were:
Paul returned from his third – and unbeknownst to him – final missionary journey to Jerusalem. Jews who had thrown riots in Ephesus, in what we now call Turkey, had followed him to Jerusalem, and there they accused him of teaching people to turn against the people of Israel, the Temple in Jerusalem, and the Law of God. And they decided to kill Paul.
As the crowd began its attack on Paul, the noise rose to the ears of a Roman tribune by the name of Claudius Lysias, and he and his centurions stepped in to stop the riot and the murder of Paul, binding him and demanding that the crowd tell Lysias what was going on, but they couldn’t give him a satisfactory answer.
The mob seized forward and tried to take Paul from Lysias, but Lysias was ready and had the centurions lift Paul over the crowd to bring him into the barracks. There, Lysias questioned Paul, and Paul explained to Lysias – in Greek – who he was and asked that he be given an opportunity to explain to the crowd what he really taught.
Lysias allowed Paul to speak to the crowd, and Paul stood up before them and spoke to them humbly in Hebrew. He explained in detail who he was, who trained him, his work as a Pharisee, employed by the very high council – the Sanhedrin – that was now coming after him. He explained that he had met the risen Jesus Christ Who proved Himself to be the Promised Savior, and so Paul was now witnessing to Jesus as the Savior; Paul never spoke against the people of Israel or the Temple or the Law of God – he was a faithful Jew who believed that God’s Savior had come, just as the Scriptures promised.
Paul told them that Jesus told him – before his first missionary journey – that he was to leave Jerusalem, because they would kill him if he stayed, and instead, God sent Paul to the Gentiles to bring the Gospel of Salvation to them.
Up to this point the crowd was listening quietly, seeing that they had been misled, but when Paul said that the Savior and the Gospel were not just for the Jews, but for the Gentiles – for the non-Jews – for all the people of the whole world, the crowd went wild again and called that he immediately be put to death.
Lysias continued to be confused as to what the problem was with the Jews and Paul, but he thought they might be satisfied if he had Paul tortured with the flog. But as he was readying Paul to be tortured, Paul revealed that he was a Roman citizen, and since it was illegal for a Roman citizen to be flogged, and Lysias unbound him, but returned him to the barracks.
The next day – the day before this morning’s reading – Lysias allowed the Sanhedrin – the high council of the Jews – to meet with Paul to discuss their differences. Paul claimed his innocence of all charges, and the high priest had Paul struck. Noticing that both Pharisees – who believed in the resurrection of the body – and Sadducees – who denied the resurrection of the body – were present in the Sanhedrin, and that discussion with them was hopeless, Paul got them to fight with each other by telling them that the reason he was a Pharisee by training and the reason he was being persecuted was that he believed in and taught the hope of the resurrection of the body.
The Pharisees and Sadducees began arguing with each other over the resurrection of the body, and they began to get violent. To save Paul and the Romans, Lysias again instructed them to take Paul into the barracks.
During the night, Jesus came to Paul and comforted him and told him that he was not to worry about the crowd and their desires against him, because Jesus would make sure that Paul got to Rome to testify of the Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus before Nero.
Our Scripture picks up the next morning: forty Jews made a secret plot and vowed that the would not eat or drink until they killed Paul. These forty went to the chief priests and the elders and told them that they had taken a vow and would not eat or drink until Paul was dead. And they told the Sanhedrin, “What we need from you is to ask the tribune to bring Paul down to your council chambers that you might examine him again more carefully to really understand the case against him. As he crosses from the barracks to your chambers, we will kill him.”
Have you ever told someone a secret and “the cat got let out of the bag”? Have you ever told several people a secret and had it spread? Can we imagine what might happen when forty people try to keep a secret – and not even forty – they told the chief priests and the elders, as well – it could have been more like eighty people in on the secret?
Well, they didn’t keep the secret. In fact, immediately, word got to Paul’s nephew of the plot against Paul Talk about not keeping the secret Immediately, Paul’s family knew what they were plotting.
So, let us see, first this morning, that Jesus will see Himself glorified, no matter what men may plan. Jesus had promised Paul that he would not be killed in Jerusalem; in fact, Paul was going to preach the Gospel to Nero in Rome.
The Psalmist wrote, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.’
“He who sits in heaven laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, ‘As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.’
“I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make your nations a heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them into pieces like a potter’s vessel.’
“Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Psalm 2:1-12, ESV).
The nations – the kings – the rulers – plot against God. They meet in secret and plot to overthrow God and not allow God to accomplish His Plans. And God laughs: “Are you kidding Me? I created you – everything you have is from Me – and you think you are going to stop My Will? Watch out ”
We are taught on every page of the Scripture that the God of Creation, the God of our Salvation, the God of everything that is and will every be, is Absolutely Sovereign. That means, if God makes a promise, it will happen. It means, no matter how much anyone dislikes God’s Plan and wants to stop it – it can’t be stopped. As the old musical said, “You arms are too short to box with God.”
Solomon says it very straightforwardly: “No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against God” (Proverbs 21:30, ESV).
To the person who loves God, this is wonderful news: God is Sovereign and Jesus will see Himself glorified, no matter what men may plan to do or not do. God does not stand or fall based on what we do or do not do. God is not crippled by our disobedience, and God is not suddenly able to accomplish His Plans when we follow Him. God is God and God is Sovereign and God will accomplish all that He has planned to His Glory.
To the person who hates God, this is terrible news – news they will not admit. Instead, they will foolishly plot against God and His Savior and do everything they can to overthrow Jesus and stop the Will of God from coming to pass, and God says, “Are you kidding Me? I created you – everything you have is from Me – and you think you are going to stop My Will? Watch out ”
So much for the secret plot – Paul’s family knew about it right away. So, Paul’s nephew asked to talk with Paul, and he told Paul about the plot. And what did Paul do? Did Paul call for a centurion and tell him that, as a Roman citizen, he demanded those involved in the plot on his life be brought to trial and condemned for attempted murder? No, he didn’t. He called for a centurion and told him that the boy had something he needed to tell Lysias. As a Roman citizen, he had the right to have messages conveyed to the Roman authorities, and Paul used the Roman law to his advantage and to the Glory of God.
So, let us notice two things:
First, it is acceptable for us as citizens of our country and state and town, to use the laws that are in place for our good and our neighbor’s good and to the Glory of God. For example, in this country, we have a “Bill of Rights” in which it states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
I am using that law this morning by preaching to you that there is Salvation Only in Jesus Alone. In telling you that God came to earth in the human person Jesus of Nazareth – that He lived and died for our sins according to the Scripture, rose from the dead and ascended back to the Right Hand of God the Father – I am exercising a right that I am given by this country.
Not everyone agrees with what I just said about Jesus and the Gospel and the way to salvation. Senator Harry Reid and Senator Mitt Romney are both Mormons, and they would disagree with what I just said about Jesus, but we have a law in the country which allows us to speak freely, and so we should – to the Glory of God.
Second, we are to love our neighbors. We are to do everything we can to help our neighbors be everything God has called them to be and to keep them from falling into sin. What does that have to do with our text? What did Paul think of the Jews that were trying to kill him? Paul wrote, “I am speaking the truth in Christ – I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit – that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belongs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. In them belong the patriarchs and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 9:1-5, ESV).
Paul could have had the Jews tried for attempted murder, because he was a Roman citizen, but in wisdom and love, he did not use that part of the Roman law, but loved the very people who were seeking to kill him. Why? Because Paul understood that he was just as much a sinner as they were, and they need Jesus and His Salvation just as much as he did.
Paul loved his kinsmen so much, he tells us, that if it were possible for him to be damned to hell in exchange for the salvation of the Jews, Paul would volunteer to be eternally damned – that’s love of neighbor.
Paul tells us that for the sake of Christ and His Gospel, we are to love even those people who want to kill us. We are not to seek vengeance against them, but to seek their salvation through Jesus Alone. Not easy, is it?
Is there ever a time to pursue prosecution? Yes, the Scripture is clear that there are times. We don’t have time this morning to discuss every crime that has ever been committed. Let us understand that we are not called to be doormats or to let people “get away with murder,” as the expression goes, but we are not to seek vengeance, and we are to seek the benefit and the Salvation of everyone. OK? If you have a specific example you’d like to discuss, we can do that another time. For now, let us see that Paul loved those who sought to kill him.
Paul’s nephew explained to Lysias that the plot was afoot, and Lysias believed Paul’s nephew. Lysias also used wisdom in his response – having dealt with these parties over the past few days.
Lysias called two of his centurions and told them to get two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen at 9 P.M. and transport Paul to Antipatris – about forty miles away. In the morning, the seventy horsemen would take Paul the rest of the way – about thirty miles – to Caesarea, where Felix, the governor, would handle Paul’s case.
And Lysias sent Paul along with a letter to Felix stating the facts of the case: First, the Jews were trying to kill Paul, and when Lysias found out he was a Roman citizen, he interceded and gave Paul protection. Second, after questioning Paul and the crowd, Lysias found that Paul was guilty of nothing requiring imprisonment or punishment – Paul and the Jews just disagreed about how to understand their religion. And third, when Lysias discovered a plot to murder Paul – right under his nose – he thought it best, since Paul was a Roman citizen – to get him to the protection of the governor and have him sort the matter out.
Paul was safely taken to Governor Felix in Caesarea, and the letter was read to Felix. Felix asked where Paul was from, and he told him Cilicia. And Felix said he wanted to hear his accusers so he would be able to make an informed decision about Paul and his case. So Felix confined Paul – not in prison, but in Herod’s palace.
Just as a glimpse into what we will see, Lord willing, in the next few weeks, Felix had been a slave who rose up through the ranks and eventually earned the role of governor. He was smart and resourceful. However, the historians of the day also say that Felix, a friend of Caligula, “served with all cruelty and lust.”
Paul was a prisoner. The Romans didn’t know what to do with him, but they had to protect him because he was a Roman citizen. The Jews wanted to kill him, but Jesus had promised Paul that he would preach the Gospel before Nero in Rome.
Let us be encouraged that our God is Sovereign and will carry out His Plans and keep His Promises and Glorify Jesus – just as the Scripture says. No human or government can thwart God’s Will.
Let us remember that God has given us government and rulers, and we are to use the laws of our world for the good and to the Glory of Jesus.
And let us remember that we are to love our neighbors – even those who want to kill us – not seeking vengeance, but looking for ways to let them know the Gospel – that salvation is Only through Jesus Alone – praying for them and seeking their good – to the Glory of Jesus.
And as we join together in receiving the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, let us remember that our Sovereign God and Savior, Jesus, meets with us spiritually in the bread and the cup, and He ministers to us and gives us the grace to follow after Him in wisdom, to live for Him, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
May Jesus equip us this day for all He has called us to do today.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You that You are Sovereign and Trustworthy. We thank You that no human being can stop Your Hand or call Your Will into question. Fill us with confidence and hope in all that You have said. And give us Your wisdom that we might live wisely, using the law and loving our neighbors, that the whole world would know Jesus is Lord and Savior. For it is in His Name we pray, Amen.
[Acts 23:12-35]
May 1, 2011 Second Reformed Church
We return to our look at the book of Acts this morning – and it’s been awhile – so let’s remember where we were:
Paul returned from his third – and unbeknownst to him – final missionary journey to Jerusalem. Jews who had thrown riots in Ephesus, in what we now call Turkey, had followed him to Jerusalem, and there they accused him of teaching people to turn against the people of Israel, the Temple in Jerusalem, and the Law of God. And they decided to kill Paul.
As the crowd began its attack on Paul, the noise rose to the ears of a Roman tribune by the name of Claudius Lysias, and he and his centurions stepped in to stop the riot and the murder of Paul, binding him and demanding that the crowd tell Lysias what was going on, but they couldn’t give him a satisfactory answer.
The mob seized forward and tried to take Paul from Lysias, but Lysias was ready and had the centurions lift Paul over the crowd to bring him into the barracks. There, Lysias questioned Paul, and Paul explained to Lysias – in Greek – who he was and asked that he be given an opportunity to explain to the crowd what he really taught.
Lysias allowed Paul to speak to the crowd, and Paul stood up before them and spoke to them humbly in Hebrew. He explained in detail who he was, who trained him, his work as a Pharisee, employed by the very high council – the Sanhedrin – that was now coming after him. He explained that he had met the risen Jesus Christ Who proved Himself to be the Promised Savior, and so Paul was now witnessing to Jesus as the Savior; Paul never spoke against the people of Israel or the Temple or the Law of God – he was a faithful Jew who believed that God’s Savior had come, just as the Scriptures promised.
Paul told them that Jesus told him – before his first missionary journey – that he was to leave Jerusalem, because they would kill him if he stayed, and instead, God sent Paul to the Gentiles to bring the Gospel of Salvation to them.
Up to this point the crowd was listening quietly, seeing that they had been misled, but when Paul said that the Savior and the Gospel were not just for the Jews, but for the Gentiles – for the non-Jews – for all the people of the whole world, the crowd went wild again and called that he immediately be put to death.
Lysias continued to be confused as to what the problem was with the Jews and Paul, but he thought they might be satisfied if he had Paul tortured with the flog. But as he was readying Paul to be tortured, Paul revealed that he was a Roman citizen, and since it was illegal for a Roman citizen to be flogged, and Lysias unbound him, but returned him to the barracks.
The next day – the day before this morning’s reading – Lysias allowed the Sanhedrin – the high council of the Jews – to meet with Paul to discuss their differences. Paul claimed his innocence of all charges, and the high priest had Paul struck. Noticing that both Pharisees – who believed in the resurrection of the body – and Sadducees – who denied the resurrection of the body – were present in the Sanhedrin, and that discussion with them was hopeless, Paul got them to fight with each other by telling them that the reason he was a Pharisee by training and the reason he was being persecuted was that he believed in and taught the hope of the resurrection of the body.
The Pharisees and Sadducees began arguing with each other over the resurrection of the body, and they began to get violent. To save Paul and the Romans, Lysias again instructed them to take Paul into the barracks.
During the night, Jesus came to Paul and comforted him and told him that he was not to worry about the crowd and their desires against him, because Jesus would make sure that Paul got to Rome to testify of the Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus before Nero.
Our Scripture picks up the next morning: forty Jews made a secret plot and vowed that the would not eat or drink until they killed Paul. These forty went to the chief priests and the elders and told them that they had taken a vow and would not eat or drink until Paul was dead. And they told the Sanhedrin, “What we need from you is to ask the tribune to bring Paul down to your council chambers that you might examine him again more carefully to really understand the case against him. As he crosses from the barracks to your chambers, we will kill him.”
Have you ever told someone a secret and “the cat got let out of the bag”? Have you ever told several people a secret and had it spread? Can we imagine what might happen when forty people try to keep a secret – and not even forty – they told the chief priests and the elders, as well – it could have been more like eighty people in on the secret?
Well, they didn’t keep the secret. In fact, immediately, word got to Paul’s nephew of the plot against Paul Talk about not keeping the secret Immediately, Paul’s family knew what they were plotting.
So, let us see, first this morning, that Jesus will see Himself glorified, no matter what men may plan. Jesus had promised Paul that he would not be killed in Jerusalem; in fact, Paul was going to preach the Gospel to Nero in Rome.
The Psalmist wrote, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.’
“He who sits in heaven laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, ‘As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.’
“I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make your nations a heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them into pieces like a potter’s vessel.’
“Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Psalm 2:1-12, ESV).
The nations – the kings – the rulers – plot against God. They meet in secret and plot to overthrow God and not allow God to accomplish His Plans. And God laughs: “Are you kidding Me? I created you – everything you have is from Me – and you think you are going to stop My Will? Watch out ”
We are taught on every page of the Scripture that the God of Creation, the God of our Salvation, the God of everything that is and will every be, is Absolutely Sovereign. That means, if God makes a promise, it will happen. It means, no matter how much anyone dislikes God’s Plan and wants to stop it – it can’t be stopped. As the old musical said, “You arms are too short to box with God.”
Solomon says it very straightforwardly: “No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against God” (Proverbs 21:30, ESV).
To the person who loves God, this is wonderful news: God is Sovereign and Jesus will see Himself glorified, no matter what men may plan to do or not do. God does not stand or fall based on what we do or do not do. God is not crippled by our disobedience, and God is not suddenly able to accomplish His Plans when we follow Him. God is God and God is Sovereign and God will accomplish all that He has planned to His Glory.
To the person who hates God, this is terrible news – news they will not admit. Instead, they will foolishly plot against God and His Savior and do everything they can to overthrow Jesus and stop the Will of God from coming to pass, and God says, “Are you kidding Me? I created you – everything you have is from Me – and you think you are going to stop My Will? Watch out ”
So much for the secret plot – Paul’s family knew about it right away. So, Paul’s nephew asked to talk with Paul, and he told Paul about the plot. And what did Paul do? Did Paul call for a centurion and tell him that, as a Roman citizen, he demanded those involved in the plot on his life be brought to trial and condemned for attempted murder? No, he didn’t. He called for a centurion and told him that the boy had something he needed to tell Lysias. As a Roman citizen, he had the right to have messages conveyed to the Roman authorities, and Paul used the Roman law to his advantage and to the Glory of God.
So, let us notice two things:
First, it is acceptable for us as citizens of our country and state and town, to use the laws that are in place for our good and our neighbor’s good and to the Glory of God. For example, in this country, we have a “Bill of Rights” in which it states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
I am using that law this morning by preaching to you that there is Salvation Only in Jesus Alone. In telling you that God came to earth in the human person Jesus of Nazareth – that He lived and died for our sins according to the Scripture, rose from the dead and ascended back to the Right Hand of God the Father – I am exercising a right that I am given by this country.
Not everyone agrees with what I just said about Jesus and the Gospel and the way to salvation. Senator Harry Reid and Senator Mitt Romney are both Mormons, and they would disagree with what I just said about Jesus, but we have a law in the country which allows us to speak freely, and so we should – to the Glory of God.
Second, we are to love our neighbors. We are to do everything we can to help our neighbors be everything God has called them to be and to keep them from falling into sin. What does that have to do with our text? What did Paul think of the Jews that were trying to kill him? Paul wrote, “I am speaking the truth in Christ – I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit – that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belongs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. In them belong the patriarchs and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 9:1-5, ESV).
Paul could have had the Jews tried for attempted murder, because he was a Roman citizen, but in wisdom and love, he did not use that part of the Roman law, but loved the very people who were seeking to kill him. Why? Because Paul understood that he was just as much a sinner as they were, and they need Jesus and His Salvation just as much as he did.
Paul loved his kinsmen so much, he tells us, that if it were possible for him to be damned to hell in exchange for the salvation of the Jews, Paul would volunteer to be eternally damned – that’s love of neighbor.
Paul tells us that for the sake of Christ and His Gospel, we are to love even those people who want to kill us. We are not to seek vengeance against them, but to seek their salvation through Jesus Alone. Not easy, is it?
Is there ever a time to pursue prosecution? Yes, the Scripture is clear that there are times. We don’t have time this morning to discuss every crime that has ever been committed. Let us understand that we are not called to be doormats or to let people “get away with murder,” as the expression goes, but we are not to seek vengeance, and we are to seek the benefit and the Salvation of everyone. OK? If you have a specific example you’d like to discuss, we can do that another time. For now, let us see that Paul loved those who sought to kill him.
Paul’s nephew explained to Lysias that the plot was afoot, and Lysias believed Paul’s nephew. Lysias also used wisdom in his response – having dealt with these parties over the past few days.
Lysias called two of his centurions and told them to get two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen at 9 P.M. and transport Paul to Antipatris – about forty miles away. In the morning, the seventy horsemen would take Paul the rest of the way – about thirty miles – to Caesarea, where Felix, the governor, would handle Paul’s case.
And Lysias sent Paul along with a letter to Felix stating the facts of the case: First, the Jews were trying to kill Paul, and when Lysias found out he was a Roman citizen, he interceded and gave Paul protection. Second, after questioning Paul and the crowd, Lysias found that Paul was guilty of nothing requiring imprisonment or punishment – Paul and the Jews just disagreed about how to understand their religion. And third, when Lysias discovered a plot to murder Paul – right under his nose – he thought it best, since Paul was a Roman citizen – to get him to the protection of the governor and have him sort the matter out.
Paul was safely taken to Governor Felix in Caesarea, and the letter was read to Felix. Felix asked where Paul was from, and he told him Cilicia. And Felix said he wanted to hear his accusers so he would be able to make an informed decision about Paul and his case. So Felix confined Paul – not in prison, but in Herod’s palace.
Just as a glimpse into what we will see, Lord willing, in the next few weeks, Felix had been a slave who rose up through the ranks and eventually earned the role of governor. He was smart and resourceful. However, the historians of the day also say that Felix, a friend of Caligula, “served with all cruelty and lust.”
Paul was a prisoner. The Romans didn’t know what to do with him, but they had to protect him because he was a Roman citizen. The Jews wanted to kill him, but Jesus had promised Paul that he would preach the Gospel before Nero in Rome.
Let us be encouraged that our God is Sovereign and will carry out His Plans and keep His Promises and Glorify Jesus – just as the Scripture says. No human or government can thwart God’s Will.
Let us remember that God has given us government and rulers, and we are to use the laws of our world for the good and to the Glory of Jesus.
And let us remember that we are to love our neighbors – even those who want to kill us – not seeking vengeance, but looking for ways to let them know the Gospel – that salvation is Only through Jesus Alone – praying for them and seeking their good – to the Glory of Jesus.
And as we join together in receiving the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, let us remember that our Sovereign God and Savior, Jesus, meets with us spiritually in the bread and the cup, and He ministers to us and gives us the grace to follow after Him in wisdom, to live for Him, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
May Jesus equip us this day for all He has called us to do today.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You that You are Sovereign and Trustworthy. We thank You that no human being can stop Your Hand or call Your Will into question. Fill us with confidence and hope in all that You have said. And give us Your wisdom that we might live wisely, using the law and loving our neighbors, that the whole world would know Jesus is Lord and Savior. For it is in His Name we pray, Amen.
May Sermons
D.V., I plan to preach:
5/1/11 Communion
Acts 23:12-35 "Use the Law; Love Your Neighbor"
5/8/11
Acts 24:1-27 “The Resurrection is the Key”
5/15/11
Acts 25:1-12 “Using the System to the Glory of God”
5/22/11
Acts 25:13-27 “Providential Passing the Buck”
5/29/11
Guest Preacher: Rev. Dr. Solomon Tivade
5/1/11 Communion
Acts 23:12-35 "Use the Law; Love Your Neighbor"
5/8/11
Acts 24:1-27 “The Resurrection is the Key”
5/15/11
Acts 25:1-12 “Using the System to the Glory of God”
5/22/11
Acts 25:13-27 “Providential Passing the Buck”
5/29/11
Guest Preacher: Rev. Dr. Solomon Tivade
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
This Week
The pastor is in school through Thursday and is unavailable. If you are in need, please call a member of the Consistory.
Our evening studies will resume, D.V., in June -- watch for the announcement.
Our evening studies will resume, D.V., in June -- watch for the announcement.
"They Worshiped Him" Sermon: Matthew 28:1-10
"They Worshiped Him”
[Matthew 28:1-10]
April 24, 2011 Second Reformed Church
After His late-night trial, Jesus was handed over to the governor, the Roman, Pontius Pilate. He was tortured, loosing massive amounts of blood. He was crucified, hanging on a cross for three hours until He died. And then, to make sure their was no life in Him, a centurion pierced His side with a spear and ruptured His heart. Jesus was dead.
They quickly buried Jesus, but didn’t finish the burial preparations because the Sabbath was upon them, and it was against the law to work on the Sabbath. So the women planned to return to finish their preparations after the Sabbath, but they knew that a massive stone had been rolled in front of the tomb to keep anyone from stealing the Body and a guard of centurions – perhaps as many as sixteen centurions – we stationed in front of the tomb, and the women had no idea how they would get in.
Still, in faith, at the dawn of the first day of the week, Sunday, Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, and Salome, and a number of other women headed off for the tomb to finish the burial preparations. And on their way, there was a great earthquake.
Once they reached the tomb, they understood what had happened: the angel of the Lord had descended from heaven and hit the earth with such force that he caused an earthquake. And then he rolled the stone away – the sixteen, muscle-bound centurions all fainted as though dead at seeing the arrival of the angel – and the angel sat on top of the stone.
Even when angels appear in the form of humans, they are terrifying: we’re told that his appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The angels of heaven are holy, and though the light of holiness that emanates from them is nowhere near as strong as the Light of the Glory of God Himself, it is still a blinding light – stronger than any light we have ever seen on earth.
And the women were filled with fear, because they didn’t know what was happening – why an angel of the Lord had appeared in their presence. But the angel spoke words of comfort to them, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”
Is that why you’re here this morning? Do you believe the tomb was empty? Do you believe that Jesus physically rose from the dead and is alive? Or is something else more likely?
Could it be that the small band of women overpowered the sixteen centurions and then convinced them to lie to the chief priests about what happened?
Could it be that the women devised some sort of pyrotechnics display, which was buffeted by a convenient earthquake, and then pushed the massive stone out and away from the tomb?
Could they all have come up with the story about the angel and kept the story straight and stood by it for the rest of their lives? (Don’t doubt that they were questioned and questioned again for the rest of their lives about that morning )
Could they have stolen Jesus’ Body and hid it so no one would ever find it, yet stick to the story that He was alive for the rest of their lives, without deviation, and be willing to suffer and die for it?
Could they have found a look-alike, bearing crucifixion wounds, Who could appear and disappear and walk through walls and cause one hundred and fifty-three fish to jump into a boat and convince His closest disciples – whom He had spent three intimate years with – that He was the risen Jesus – Someone Whom they would be willing to die for even then?
Or does it make more sense, as unusual as it is, to believe that the history is true – that Jesus physically rose from the dead?
The women looked into the tomb – it was empty. The burial clothes were there on the slab where He had been laid, but the Body – Jesus – was gone.
So they ran from the tomb filled with fear and joy – they didn’t know how Jesus had risen from the dead – they didn’t understand the full implications of what it meant – but they knew Jesus was alive. Their Teacher, their Friend, the One they believed was the fulfillment of the prophecy of God’s Savior – He was alive
So they ran to tell the disciples, “Men, come out of hiding. Jesus is alive ”
And as they ran back to tell the disciples, Jesus met them, “Greetings ” The word that is used is a greeting, but the implication is greater than our English word, “greetings ” Jesus said, “Rejoice Be filled with joy Be delighted It is I.”
And they went up to Him and fell at His Feet and grabbed hold of them, and they worshiped Him.
Do we remember how the Ten Commandments begins? (In the Bible, not the movie.)
The first two commandments, as we divide them, read: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:2-6, ESV).
What was God commanding?
The Heidelberg Catechism explains that this means that we are not to be involved in any sort of idolatry. We are not to pray to any human or any creature. We are to acknowledge that there is One and Only One True God, trust in Him alone, and look to Him, humbly and patiently for everything that we need, worshiping God and God Alone. We are to be willing to live without and/or give up anything that goes against God’s Will in any way. We are not to worship God through images or statues or pictures, but in spirit and truth alone – that is, as God has commanded and taught in the Scripture.
It would be a sin, then, to worship a mere human being.
Our Scripture tells us the women “departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell the disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings [Rejoice Be filled with joy Be delighted It is I.]’ And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.”
These were devout Jewish women who were looking for the Savior that God promised according to the Scripture. So for them to worship Jesus, we can only conclude one thing: they believed that He is God.
And that is what the Church concluded in its earliest years: the only way for Jesus to take our place before God was for Him to be a real human being, and the only way for Jesus to survive God’s Wrath for our sin and earn the righteousness we need to be right with God, is if Jesus is God Himself.
Paul taught that Jesus is God: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8, ESV).
Peter taught that Jesus is God: “[Jesus’] divine power has granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (II Peter 1:3, ESV).
It was necessary for the Savior God sent to be both completely human and completely God, so He could legally be our Substitute and survive the punishment for our sin. Since Jesus did come as our Substitute and suffer that we might be forgiven – and He survived and lives, He is worthy of our worship.
“Greetings ” indeed Jesus is risen Rejoice Be filled with joy Be delighted Jesus has paid our debt and made us righteous before God – and He is changing us from glory to glory into the Image of the Son.
That is why we are here – that is why we can rejoice in knowing that Jesus did rise from the dead – because Jesus is the One True God – the One Who is worthy of all worship. That is why we gather – and that is why we do anything and everything we do here – because Jesus is worthy of worship as God.
Paul tells us that the day is coming when everyone who ever lived will know that Jesus is God, “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11, ESV).
And we have this picture of worshiping Jesus from John: “And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,
“‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood your ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’
“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of myriad angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,
“‘ Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing ’
“And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
“‘To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever ’ And the living creatures said, ‘Amen ’ and the elders fell down and worshiped” (Revelation 5:6-14, ESV).
Jesus’ Resurrection makes it clear that He is God, because He is worthy of worship, and only God is worthy of worship. Let us hold fast to the Truth of the Resurrection and worship our God and Savior. Let us show others in what we do and say and how we live before the Face of God, that we truly believe.
And let us come to the Sacrament, expectantly, believing that we will meet with the same Jesus Who rose from the dead two thousand years ago. That our God will meet with us and give us His Grace that we might be His people and have the strength and ability through Him to accomplish all He calls us to do.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, You Who came to earth and lived and died and rose again, You are worthy of all worship, and we humbly come before You in prayer asking that You would direct us towards Your Face – that we would seek You and long for You and declare Your Worth in everything we do and say and are. Minister to us now that we might worship You all the more. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
[Matthew 28:1-10]
April 24, 2011 Second Reformed Church
After His late-night trial, Jesus was handed over to the governor, the Roman, Pontius Pilate. He was tortured, loosing massive amounts of blood. He was crucified, hanging on a cross for three hours until He died. And then, to make sure their was no life in Him, a centurion pierced His side with a spear and ruptured His heart. Jesus was dead.
They quickly buried Jesus, but didn’t finish the burial preparations because the Sabbath was upon them, and it was against the law to work on the Sabbath. So the women planned to return to finish their preparations after the Sabbath, but they knew that a massive stone had been rolled in front of the tomb to keep anyone from stealing the Body and a guard of centurions – perhaps as many as sixteen centurions – we stationed in front of the tomb, and the women had no idea how they would get in.
Still, in faith, at the dawn of the first day of the week, Sunday, Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, and Salome, and a number of other women headed off for the tomb to finish the burial preparations. And on their way, there was a great earthquake.
Once they reached the tomb, they understood what had happened: the angel of the Lord had descended from heaven and hit the earth with such force that he caused an earthquake. And then he rolled the stone away – the sixteen, muscle-bound centurions all fainted as though dead at seeing the arrival of the angel – and the angel sat on top of the stone.
Even when angels appear in the form of humans, they are terrifying: we’re told that his appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The angels of heaven are holy, and though the light of holiness that emanates from them is nowhere near as strong as the Light of the Glory of God Himself, it is still a blinding light – stronger than any light we have ever seen on earth.
And the women were filled with fear, because they didn’t know what was happening – why an angel of the Lord had appeared in their presence. But the angel spoke words of comfort to them, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”
Is that why you’re here this morning? Do you believe the tomb was empty? Do you believe that Jesus physically rose from the dead and is alive? Or is something else more likely?
Could it be that the small band of women overpowered the sixteen centurions and then convinced them to lie to the chief priests about what happened?
Could it be that the women devised some sort of pyrotechnics display, which was buffeted by a convenient earthquake, and then pushed the massive stone out and away from the tomb?
Could they all have come up with the story about the angel and kept the story straight and stood by it for the rest of their lives? (Don’t doubt that they were questioned and questioned again for the rest of their lives about that morning )
Could they have stolen Jesus’ Body and hid it so no one would ever find it, yet stick to the story that He was alive for the rest of their lives, without deviation, and be willing to suffer and die for it?
Could they have found a look-alike, bearing crucifixion wounds, Who could appear and disappear and walk through walls and cause one hundred and fifty-three fish to jump into a boat and convince His closest disciples – whom He had spent three intimate years with – that He was the risen Jesus – Someone Whom they would be willing to die for even then?
Or does it make more sense, as unusual as it is, to believe that the history is true – that Jesus physically rose from the dead?
The women looked into the tomb – it was empty. The burial clothes were there on the slab where He had been laid, but the Body – Jesus – was gone.
So they ran from the tomb filled with fear and joy – they didn’t know how Jesus had risen from the dead – they didn’t understand the full implications of what it meant – but they knew Jesus was alive. Their Teacher, their Friend, the One they believed was the fulfillment of the prophecy of God’s Savior – He was alive
So they ran to tell the disciples, “Men, come out of hiding. Jesus is alive ”
And as they ran back to tell the disciples, Jesus met them, “Greetings ” The word that is used is a greeting, but the implication is greater than our English word, “greetings ” Jesus said, “Rejoice Be filled with joy Be delighted It is I.”
And they went up to Him and fell at His Feet and grabbed hold of them, and they worshiped Him.
Do we remember how the Ten Commandments begins? (In the Bible, not the movie.)
The first two commandments, as we divide them, read: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:2-6, ESV).
What was God commanding?
The Heidelberg Catechism explains that this means that we are not to be involved in any sort of idolatry. We are not to pray to any human or any creature. We are to acknowledge that there is One and Only One True God, trust in Him alone, and look to Him, humbly and patiently for everything that we need, worshiping God and God Alone. We are to be willing to live without and/or give up anything that goes against God’s Will in any way. We are not to worship God through images or statues or pictures, but in spirit and truth alone – that is, as God has commanded and taught in the Scripture.
It would be a sin, then, to worship a mere human being.
Our Scripture tells us the women “departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell the disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings [Rejoice Be filled with joy Be delighted It is I.]’ And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.”
These were devout Jewish women who were looking for the Savior that God promised according to the Scripture. So for them to worship Jesus, we can only conclude one thing: they believed that He is God.
And that is what the Church concluded in its earliest years: the only way for Jesus to take our place before God was for Him to be a real human being, and the only way for Jesus to survive God’s Wrath for our sin and earn the righteousness we need to be right with God, is if Jesus is God Himself.
Paul taught that Jesus is God: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8, ESV).
Peter taught that Jesus is God: “[Jesus’] divine power has granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (II Peter 1:3, ESV).
It was necessary for the Savior God sent to be both completely human and completely God, so He could legally be our Substitute and survive the punishment for our sin. Since Jesus did come as our Substitute and suffer that we might be forgiven – and He survived and lives, He is worthy of our worship.
“Greetings ” indeed Jesus is risen Rejoice Be filled with joy Be delighted Jesus has paid our debt and made us righteous before God – and He is changing us from glory to glory into the Image of the Son.
That is why we are here – that is why we can rejoice in knowing that Jesus did rise from the dead – because Jesus is the One True God – the One Who is worthy of all worship. That is why we gather – and that is why we do anything and everything we do here – because Jesus is worthy of worship as God.
Paul tells us that the day is coming when everyone who ever lived will know that Jesus is God, “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11, ESV).
And we have this picture of worshiping Jesus from John: “And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,
“‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood your ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’
“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of myriad angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,
“‘ Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing ’
“And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
“‘To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever ’ And the living creatures said, ‘Amen ’ and the elders fell down and worshiped” (Revelation 5:6-14, ESV).
Jesus’ Resurrection makes it clear that He is God, because He is worthy of worship, and only God is worthy of worship. Let us hold fast to the Truth of the Resurrection and worship our God and Savior. Let us show others in what we do and say and how we live before the Face of God, that we truly believe.
And let us come to the Sacrament, expectantly, believing that we will meet with the same Jesus Who rose from the dead two thousand years ago. That our God will meet with us and give us His Grace that we might be His people and have the strength and ability through Him to accomplish all He calls us to do.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, You Who came to earth and lived and died and rose again, You are worthy of all worship, and we humbly come before You in prayer asking that You would direct us towards Your Face – that we would seek You and long for You and declare Your Worth in everything we do and say and are. Minister to us now that we might worship You all the more. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
Friday, April 22, 2011
"Open & Secret" Sermon: John 18:19-24
“Open & Secret”
[John 18:19-24]
April 22, 2011 Second Reformed Church
After Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Passover and Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. When He finished, Judas, the betrayer, came, and with him a band of Roman soldiers and officials from the high priests and the Pharisees.
Judas walked up to Jesus and kissed Him – the sign that this was the Man they were coming to arrest, and they bound Jesus took Him to the home of the high priest where Annas was waiting. Peter and John went with Jesus, but Peter waited outside; John went in. This is where our Scripture picks up.
It was after midnight when they began to question Jesus, and it was illegal to hold a trial at night, still they began to browbeat Jesus with questions about His disciples and His teachings. The high priest and his retinue revealed the depths of their corruption, not merely because they were illegally trying Jesus, but because they brought no indictment forward – they brought no witnesses against Jesus (at this time). Their plan was for Jesus to trip up and provide them with evidence that they could convict Him with.
“Who are Your disciples? Where do they work? What are their views on Rome? Do they follow God’s Law? What do You teach? What are Your views on the Scripture?”
They were hoping that Jesus would say something new, something novel, something that went against the received teaching of the Scripture. But Jesus would have none of their games.
“I have spoken openly to the world.” “I don’t teach a secret knowledge or a secret way to God. Everything I have taught has been out in the open – to the world. Not just to My inner circle, not just My disciples, not just the Jews – I have preached to the whole world – to anyone and everyone who would listen, I taught the same things of God, openly.”
“I have always taught in the synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.” “I have spoken in the Temple and the synagogues, in front of crowds – in the accepted forums, in the legal venues, where anyone could hear Me, and where everyone knows to go to hear preaching and discussions. I have said nothing in secret. The Truth of God and His Salvation – the Gospel that I preach – is not a secret – there is no secret teaching that one has to learn or a secret knowledge that one has to achieve to get to a higher level with God.”
Paul explained to the Corinthians, “But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God” (II Corinthians 4:2, ESV).
In the early Church, there arose numerous groups of false teachers that we now call Gnostics – from the Greek word for “knowledge.” The thing that these false teachers all had in common was that they taught that Jesus and His Gospel were good for the common people, but, if you really wanted to be spiritual, if you really want to ascend to the heavens, there is a secret knowledge – a secret interpretation, that you need to be able to discern.
Paul told the Corinthians that this is nonsense: the Gospel of Jesus Christ is straightforward, and it is the same for every person, and it is proclaimed openly in every place. The Gospel is the same for every person – no secret knowledge or learning is necessary to receive the Gospel and God’s Salvation. Paul told the Corinthians - this is the Gospel, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scripture, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep” (I Corinthians 15:3-6, ESV). This is the history of a Person – a human being – Who lived in the midst of people who saw Him and knew Him.
True Christianity has no secret message: the message is open and proclaimed outright: The Savior died for our sins in accordance with the Scripture. He was buried. On the third day He was raised from the dead, and He appeared to over five hundred people – most of whom you could still talk with in those days, as they were still alive – eyewitnesses to Jesus and the fact that He rose from the dead.
The Gnostics were not the only ones to teach that a secret knowledge is necessary to become right with God – to know God – to become God, as some false religions argue. The religious teachings of the Masons teach there is a secret knowledge of Jesus which is higher than what the common people receives and which is necessary for true enlightenment. The Jewish Kabbalah is all about a secret knowledge – not just red string bracelets. The Mormons teach there is a secret knowledge – first in their scripture and then in addition to their scripture. In Christian Science – it’s the secret knowledge and the realization that the material world doesn’t exist. Orthodox Jews believe that all of world history is secretly hidden in the Torah for the most enlightened to find. There are levels of enlightenment in Islam and Buddhism and Hinduism.
Isaiah prophesied of the Coming Savior, “I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right” (Isaiah 45:19, ESV).
The Message of Jesus was open and clear to all those who had ears, “I am the Messiah. I am the Savior. I am the Christ. I am the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Son of Man. I am the Son of God. I and the Father are the Same One God. I am the God Who revealed Himself to Moses.”
Jesus’ Message has never been secret or hidden – it’s right out there for anyone to hear. And still, in this country, people of all religions are willing to say, “I don’t believe in Jesus as God the Savior, but I believe He was a good teacher.” Really? If one of the teachers in our public schools system told our children, “I want you to understand that I am god and the only hope for you and the world is to believe in me and follow me as your savior.” Would we really say, “Oh, isn’t he or she a good teacher ”
C. S. Lewis, in a famous quote, said that the one thing that is perfectly clear from the Gospels is that we cannot merely say Jesus was a good Teacher – that option is not open to us. If someone says that he is god, the only savior – that is not a good teacher – that person is either a liar, or a lunatic, or he is exactly who he says he is – God. There is no other choice.
The Message of Jesus was open and clear to all those who had ears, “I am the Messiah. I am the Savior. I am the Christ. I am the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Son of Man. I am the Son of God. I and the Father are the Same One God. I am the God Who revealed Himself to Moses.” There were and there are and there will forever be only three choices – three responses to Jesus’ claims: He’s a lair. He’s a lunatic. Or, yes, Jesus is God the Savior, just as He said He was.
In the first century, there were over five hundred eye-witnesses to Jesus’ Resurrection – and don’t you doubt for a moment that they were questioned and questioned and questioned. We have, in the Bible, the written testimony of a few of those who knew Jesus and testified to being eyewitnesses to His Resurrection from the dead.
If what Jesus said is open and clear now, it was even more so then. Jesus was there, in the flesh, speaking for Himself, testifying to Himself, day after day, for three years making the same claims about Himself. And the high priests and the Pharisees heard Him and knew His testimony – the claims He was making.
So Jesus said, “Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.” “Annas, why are you asking me what I teach and what I believe about Myself. Are you denying that there are hundreds of witnesses who could testify to what I said? Are you denying that you, yourself, have heard Me on many occasions, and you know exactly what I teach and preach? Are you really pretending to be ignorant, high priest of God, of what all the common people of Israel know?”
Whack “Is that how You talk to the high priest? ”
“If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”
They couldn’t say He was wrong. That hated what He was saying. But they couldn’t say He was wrong. They didn’t have any credible witnesses against Him. But they wouldn’t admit that He was right – that He was telling the truth. So, in frustration, they hit Him. And they tied Him up and sent Him away.
Dan Brown (and friends) with his The Da Vinci Code (and others) write impoverished imaginary historical novels that pretend to expose the secrets of Jesus and the Gospel. The books open by saying they are novels but everything in them is historically accurate. And we assume that they would never have any reason to lie.
Surely, the Pharisee and the high priests would never have a reason to lie about Jesus. They wouldn’t condemn Him in an illegal night trial and blackmail a Roman governor to have Jesus put to death...
Brothers and sisters, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a secret. There are no mystical rites that we have to go through to understand it. There is no “higher life” we have to rise to to be “Real Christians.”
The Gospel is that God came to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ, lived, died for the sins of all those who would ever believe in Him, rose from the dead, and ascended back to His Throne at the Right Hand of the Father.
God came to earth, lived, died for our sins, rose, and ascend back.
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9, ESV).
It is not a secret.
Years ago, my friend Tim and I worked in a Christian bookstore, and Billy Graham’s book How to Be Saved had come out. Tim picked up this two hundred or so page book and looked at it, then he looked at me and said, “I don’t think it’s that complicated, Billy.”
Jesus said, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in the synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.”
Don’t be confused:
God came to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ – openly, not in secret.
Jesus lived His life – openly, not in secret.
Jesus was taken by a mob, brought before the religious and political leaders, and a great crowd of Israel – openly, not in secret.
And on that first Good Friday, they crucified Him, and He died – openly, not in secret.
In a few minutes we will receive the Lord’s Supper, and we will remember the life and death of Jesus on that first Good Friday. But we will also meet with Jesus now – openly – in the bread and the cup, as He ministers to us, strengthening us with His Grace. And we will also find our hope renewed, believing that Jesus has risen from the dead and ascended back to the Father, and the day is soon coming when He will return in glory to bring us into His Glorious Kingdom – openly, and not in secret.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for coming to earth and living a public and open life, calling all people to receive You as God and Savior. As we consider that our sin sent You to the cross, may our seeing Your Image in Your Word cause us to repent and follow after You all the more diligently. And may we be open and tell others about what You have done for all those who will believe. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
[John 18:19-24]
April 22, 2011 Second Reformed Church
After Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Passover and Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. When He finished, Judas, the betrayer, came, and with him a band of Roman soldiers and officials from the high priests and the Pharisees.
Judas walked up to Jesus and kissed Him – the sign that this was the Man they were coming to arrest, and they bound Jesus took Him to the home of the high priest where Annas was waiting. Peter and John went with Jesus, but Peter waited outside; John went in. This is where our Scripture picks up.
It was after midnight when they began to question Jesus, and it was illegal to hold a trial at night, still they began to browbeat Jesus with questions about His disciples and His teachings. The high priest and his retinue revealed the depths of their corruption, not merely because they were illegally trying Jesus, but because they brought no indictment forward – they brought no witnesses against Jesus (at this time). Their plan was for Jesus to trip up and provide them with evidence that they could convict Him with.
“Who are Your disciples? Where do they work? What are their views on Rome? Do they follow God’s Law? What do You teach? What are Your views on the Scripture?”
They were hoping that Jesus would say something new, something novel, something that went against the received teaching of the Scripture. But Jesus would have none of their games.
“I have spoken openly to the world.” “I don’t teach a secret knowledge or a secret way to God. Everything I have taught has been out in the open – to the world. Not just to My inner circle, not just My disciples, not just the Jews – I have preached to the whole world – to anyone and everyone who would listen, I taught the same things of God, openly.”
“I have always taught in the synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.” “I have spoken in the Temple and the synagogues, in front of crowds – in the accepted forums, in the legal venues, where anyone could hear Me, and where everyone knows to go to hear preaching and discussions. I have said nothing in secret. The Truth of God and His Salvation – the Gospel that I preach – is not a secret – there is no secret teaching that one has to learn or a secret knowledge that one has to achieve to get to a higher level with God.”
Paul explained to the Corinthians, “But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God” (II Corinthians 4:2, ESV).
In the early Church, there arose numerous groups of false teachers that we now call Gnostics – from the Greek word for “knowledge.” The thing that these false teachers all had in common was that they taught that Jesus and His Gospel were good for the common people, but, if you really wanted to be spiritual, if you really want to ascend to the heavens, there is a secret knowledge – a secret interpretation, that you need to be able to discern.
Paul told the Corinthians that this is nonsense: the Gospel of Jesus Christ is straightforward, and it is the same for every person, and it is proclaimed openly in every place. The Gospel is the same for every person – no secret knowledge or learning is necessary to receive the Gospel and God’s Salvation. Paul told the Corinthians - this is the Gospel, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scripture, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep” (I Corinthians 15:3-6, ESV). This is the history of a Person – a human being – Who lived in the midst of people who saw Him and knew Him.
True Christianity has no secret message: the message is open and proclaimed outright: The Savior died for our sins in accordance with the Scripture. He was buried. On the third day He was raised from the dead, and He appeared to over five hundred people – most of whom you could still talk with in those days, as they were still alive – eyewitnesses to Jesus and the fact that He rose from the dead.
The Gnostics were not the only ones to teach that a secret knowledge is necessary to become right with God – to know God – to become God, as some false religions argue. The religious teachings of the Masons teach there is a secret knowledge of Jesus which is higher than what the common people receives and which is necessary for true enlightenment. The Jewish Kabbalah is all about a secret knowledge – not just red string bracelets. The Mormons teach there is a secret knowledge – first in their scripture and then in addition to their scripture. In Christian Science – it’s the secret knowledge and the realization that the material world doesn’t exist. Orthodox Jews believe that all of world history is secretly hidden in the Torah for the most enlightened to find. There are levels of enlightenment in Islam and Buddhism and Hinduism.
Isaiah prophesied of the Coming Savior, “I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right” (Isaiah 45:19, ESV).
The Message of Jesus was open and clear to all those who had ears, “I am the Messiah. I am the Savior. I am the Christ. I am the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Son of Man. I am the Son of God. I and the Father are the Same One God. I am the God Who revealed Himself to Moses.”
Jesus’ Message has never been secret or hidden – it’s right out there for anyone to hear. And still, in this country, people of all religions are willing to say, “I don’t believe in Jesus as God the Savior, but I believe He was a good teacher.” Really? If one of the teachers in our public schools system told our children, “I want you to understand that I am god and the only hope for you and the world is to believe in me and follow me as your savior.” Would we really say, “Oh, isn’t he or she a good teacher ”
C. S. Lewis, in a famous quote, said that the one thing that is perfectly clear from the Gospels is that we cannot merely say Jesus was a good Teacher – that option is not open to us. If someone says that he is god, the only savior – that is not a good teacher – that person is either a liar, or a lunatic, or he is exactly who he says he is – God. There is no other choice.
The Message of Jesus was open and clear to all those who had ears, “I am the Messiah. I am the Savior. I am the Christ. I am the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Son of Man. I am the Son of God. I and the Father are the Same One God. I am the God Who revealed Himself to Moses.” There were and there are and there will forever be only three choices – three responses to Jesus’ claims: He’s a lair. He’s a lunatic. Or, yes, Jesus is God the Savior, just as He said He was.
In the first century, there were over five hundred eye-witnesses to Jesus’ Resurrection – and don’t you doubt for a moment that they were questioned and questioned and questioned. We have, in the Bible, the written testimony of a few of those who knew Jesus and testified to being eyewitnesses to His Resurrection from the dead.
If what Jesus said is open and clear now, it was even more so then. Jesus was there, in the flesh, speaking for Himself, testifying to Himself, day after day, for three years making the same claims about Himself. And the high priests and the Pharisees heard Him and knew His testimony – the claims He was making.
So Jesus said, “Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.” “Annas, why are you asking me what I teach and what I believe about Myself. Are you denying that there are hundreds of witnesses who could testify to what I said? Are you denying that you, yourself, have heard Me on many occasions, and you know exactly what I teach and preach? Are you really pretending to be ignorant, high priest of God, of what all the common people of Israel know?”
Whack “Is that how You talk to the high priest? ”
“If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”
They couldn’t say He was wrong. That hated what He was saying. But they couldn’t say He was wrong. They didn’t have any credible witnesses against Him. But they wouldn’t admit that He was right – that He was telling the truth. So, in frustration, they hit Him. And they tied Him up and sent Him away.
Dan Brown (and friends) with his The Da Vinci Code (and others) write impoverished imaginary historical novels that pretend to expose the secrets of Jesus and the Gospel. The books open by saying they are novels but everything in them is historically accurate. And we assume that they would never have any reason to lie.
Surely, the Pharisee and the high priests would never have a reason to lie about Jesus. They wouldn’t condemn Him in an illegal night trial and blackmail a Roman governor to have Jesus put to death...
Brothers and sisters, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a secret. There are no mystical rites that we have to go through to understand it. There is no “higher life” we have to rise to to be “Real Christians.”
The Gospel is that God came to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ, lived, died for the sins of all those who would ever believe in Him, rose from the dead, and ascended back to His Throne at the Right Hand of the Father.
God came to earth, lived, died for our sins, rose, and ascend back.
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9, ESV).
It is not a secret.
Years ago, my friend Tim and I worked in a Christian bookstore, and Billy Graham’s book How to Be Saved had come out. Tim picked up this two hundred or so page book and looked at it, then he looked at me and said, “I don’t think it’s that complicated, Billy.”
Jesus said, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in the synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.”
Don’t be confused:
God came to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ – openly, not in secret.
Jesus lived His life – openly, not in secret.
Jesus was taken by a mob, brought before the religious and political leaders, and a great crowd of Israel – openly, not in secret.
And on that first Good Friday, they crucified Him, and He died – openly, not in secret.
In a few minutes we will receive the Lord’s Supper, and we will remember the life and death of Jesus on that first Good Friday. But we will also meet with Jesus now – openly – in the bread and the cup, as He ministers to us, strengthening us with His Grace. And we will also find our hope renewed, believing that Jesus has risen from the dead and ascended back to the Father, and the day is soon coming when He will return in glory to bring us into His Glorious Kingdom – openly, and not in secret.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for coming to earth and living a public and open life, calling all people to receive You as God and Savior. As we consider that our sin sent You to the cross, may our seeing Your Image in Your Word cause us to repent and follow after You all the more diligently. And may we be open and tell others about what You have done for all those who will believe. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
"The Humility of Love" Sermon: John 13:1-17; 31b-35
“The Humility of Love”
[John 13:1-17; 31b-35]
April 21, 2011 Second Reformed Church
The Lectionary text is far too large for me to cover this evening, so I would like to have us look at the theme of “the humility of love” in this evening’s text and just point a few things out to us.
Let us begin with the question, have you ever had guests in your home? Have you ever taken off their shoes and washed their feet?
It helps us to understand our text to know that in Jesus’ day, people wore sandals, or just walked in their bare feet, so their feet would become filthy. For the sake of a guest being comfortable, and to keep the guest from traipsing dirt all over the house, the host would instruct the lowest of his servants to wash his visitor’s feet. It would be the lowest servant who would be commanded to wash the visitor’s feet because..., well, no one wants to wash feet.
With that in mind, let us look at our text:
Jesus had gathered to have a meal with His disciples before the Feast of the Passover. It was at this time that Jesus knew His time had come – He was ready to die and return to the Father. This was the time that the author of Hebrews wrote of: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV). Jesus knew it was His time, and He could look forward to it with joy, while despising the suffering He would endure, because of the greatness of the joy of returning from the world of sin and death to His Throne at the Right Hand of God.
And because He had loved all those that the Father had given Him, and because He had loved them until the end. Jesus was ready to die and return to the Father, because He had completed – and was completing His Mission – which was one of humbled love – that God would humble Himself in love of His elect to come to earth in human flesh, live, die for our sin according to the Scripture, and rise, ascending back to the Father. He loved us enough to purchase us with Himself: “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price” (I Corinthians 6:19b-20a, ESV).
And He loves us until then end. What does that mean? It means that Jesus loves us throughout our lives until the end of our lives, but it also means that He loves us to the furthest extent and to the depths of our need. Jesus loves us from sinful destitution to glory in the Kingdom. Jesus loves us from before the Creation. He loves us when we hated Him. He loves us when we received Him. He loves us when we continue to sin against Him. And He will love us until He receives us into glory to sin no more.
This love for all those who would believe in Jesus Alone was not diminished by Judas’ betrayal – Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray Him – it had been prophesied and was necessary.
Jesus knew that the Father have given Him everything: He had come from the Father – He was God, Himself, and He was returning to the Father, rejoicing with the Other Persons of the Trinity in Glory.
Knowing all these things – that His time was come, that Judas was betraying Him, that He is God the Son, Who was with the Father from before the Creation and was returning to Him – therefore, He stood up, took off His outer garments, tied a towel around His waist, poured water in a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel.
We don’t have to imagine what the disciples thought – Peter gives us the answer: “Lord, do you wash my feet?”
“What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”
“You shall never wash my feet.”
The washing of feet was the duty of the lowest of the servants – not their Rabbi, not their Teacher, not the Savior, not God Incarnate. It was not the place of God to wash the feet of humans. It was beneath Jesus Wasn’t it?
Jesus answered Him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”
Peter responded characteristically, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head ”
Jesus had told Peter that if Peter did not allow Him to wash his feet, there would be a break in the bond between them, and Peter, assuming that more is better, told Jesus if washing his feet strengthened the bond between them, then, if Jesus gave him a complete bath – that would even be better.
But Jesus corrected him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”
What was Jesus talking about? This was more than a discussion about bathing habits and hospitality, wasn’t it?
In what way were the disciples clean that Judas was not clean? John explains in his first letter, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (I John 1:7, ESV). The other disciples had believed in Jesus savingly: they had confess[ed] with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe[d] in their heart that God [would] raise[] Him from the dead, [and they were] saved” (Romans 10:9, ESV). The other disciples believed that Jesus is the God the Promised Savior – Judas did not. And through the blood that Jesus would shed, they had all been cleansed of their sin. They had been delivered from their slavery to sin. But, as we have just said, even if one were to bathe and be clean, if one were to walk through the dusty, muddy roads in sandals, or barefoot, one’s feet would get dirty, right?
So, if we are righteous before God, if our sins have been cleansed through the Blood of Jesus, if we are clean – what does it mean to say that our feet still get dirty? Our dirty feet that still need to be cleansed every day are the sins that we commit every day. Jesus has cleansed all those who will ever believe, and Jesus cleans the feet of everyone who will ever believe until we are brought into Glory.
A. W. Pink explains (708) that their persons were clean – they had received salvation through Christ Alone – but their walk – their day-to-day living – was still dirty – they still sinned, just as you and I do until Jesus returns. That is why we need to repent of our sin daily – if not more often.
Paul explains, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25b-27, ESV).
So then through the hearing of the Word of God, we receive Jesus – we are cleansed of our sin, all of our sins are forgiven and we are no longer inclined towards sin – we are made righteous. However, becoming holy – sanctified – is a process that continues until Jesus returns to bring us into Glory. God the Holy Spirit is working in us now to remove those “spots and wrinkles” that still remain in us – to wash our feet from the sin we daily pick up and track around in our walk.
The disciples were already Christians – believers in Jesus Alone for salvation – they were righteous through the Sacrifice Jesus was going to offer on Good Friday – their bodies were clean. But they were not holy – they continued to sin – so it was necessary for them to wash their feet every day – for the Holy Spirit to work repentance in them each day. And the same is true for each one of us. We are forgiven – justified; Jesus has paid the debt for all of the sin of everyone who will ever believe, yet we still turn away and sin, and we do not lose our salvation in sinning, but we are called to repent of our sin and to continue by the Power of God the Holy Spirit working in us to become holy.
Then Jesus asked the disciples if they understood what He had just done – that He had symbolically shown them that though they are righteous through Jesus, becoming holy is a process of God working in us.
Then Jesus said, “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.” Jesus could have received the death penalty for saying that: Jesus said, “You call me didaskolos and kurios, and you are right for so I am.” “You call me master rabbi and...” The word kurios is used in the New Testament as the Greek translation of the Hebrew word adonai, and the Jews used the word adonai for yhwh, the most holy and personal of God’s Names that God told to Moses. The disciples would have understood the words – if not the entire meaning, Jesus said, “You call me master rabbi and Almighty God, and you are right, for so I am.”
We can imagine them in stunned silence as Jesus continued, “If I then, [the Almighty God and master rabbi], have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
Jesus said, a servant is not greater than his master. If the master does x, it is not below the servant to do x. In fact, the servant ought to follow the good example of his master and do x.
Jesus, the master rabbi and Almighty God, had done something that would have been scandalous for a merely human master to do – He has washed His disciples’ feet. He was showing them that becoming holy is a process, although we are instantly justified through Jesus’ Sacrifice, becoming holy is a process that God works in us.
Was Jesus teaching them that they ought to literally wash each others’ feet? Most scholars and denominations say He was not. So what was Jesus teaching them – and us? Is there something that we can to do help each other progress in holiness? Is there anything we can do to help each other refrain from sin?
Although He is God Who restores the Image of God in us and makes us holy like His Son, God works through us to accomplish His Will. So we are to watch out for each other’s feet. In love, we ought to do everything we can to help lead each other away from sin and to follow after good. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves.
If we know someone is tempted to sin in certain circumstances, we ought to do all we can to keep that person from being tempted and falling into temptation. Don’t offer an alcoholic a drink or bring him to a bar. Don’t give a glutton a whole cake. Don’t tell a gossip a juicy piece of news. If someone starts to badmouth someone, tell them you’re not interested in hearing it. Invite people to give food to the poor, to attend worship, to see the good in another person, to take better care of his body. And so forth.
We ought to do all we can to keep each others’ feet clean – to turn each other away from sin and to lead each other towards the good.
After Judas had left, Jesus told the rest of the disciples that He was now glorified and God was glorified in Him, and that since God was glorified in Jesus, Jesus would also be glorified, and He was glorified in that moment. Jesus was revealed for Who He is – God’s Plan was revealed, and God was better seen by the disciples in that moment.
And He told them again that they could not go where He was going; Jesus had to face the Wrath of God alone – as the One Sacrifice for everyone who would ever believe savingly in Him.
And Jesus said, “A new commandment I give 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 you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Well, how much did Jesus love them? Jesus explained how to be great to the disciples: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25b-28, ESV).
And Paul wrote: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, thought he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8, ESV).
How much does Jesus love? Enough that the Almighty God would humble Himself by taking on a human person, serving His Creation, and allowing Himself to be put to death for those He came to save.
This is not masochism. Jesus does not call us to learn to enjoy being abused by people.
This is not being a doormat. Jesus stood up for what was right and He spoke the Truth and exposed sin.
This is the humility of love which says, “I’m going to refrain from doing something because Peter is here, and I know if I do this or say this, it will lead Peter into sin.” This is the humility of love which says – privately, “Peter, I’m concerned that you are sinning and don’t even realize it, could we talk about what you’re doing?” This is the humility of love which says, “If I do this or say this, it will help Peter, he may become a more faithful Christian, and it will glorify God.”
This is the humility of love which says – ultimately, as we saw in the book of Acts, when Peter and the apostles had been let out of prison with the warning that they were not to teach about Jesus again, “But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at the right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him’” (Acts 5:29-32, ESV).
This is the humility of love which says, with Paul in prison, “Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be ashamed, but with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet, which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, Because of my coming to you again” (Philippians 1:18b-26, ESV).
God has called us to a life of service in glorifying Him, and by serving Him, we receive joy. Jesus has shown us that we are not above doing anything for anyone for the sake of the Gospel. And in washing the disciples’ feet, He has shown us that we are to humble ourselves in love to help each other progress in holiness – to the Glory of God.
Shortly, we will receive the Lord’s Supper. In the elements of the bread and the cup, this same Jesus Who physically walked on this earth two thousand years ago, will meet with us spiritually and give us the grace that we need to be able to do all that God has called us to do. Let us trust Him, and follow after Him in humility, showing love, that the whole world will know that we are His disciples.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, our Master Rabbi, we hear that You washed the disciples’ feet, and we respond with disgust, not wanting to do likewise. Humble us and let us see that if God Himself was willing to come to earth to save us from Your Wrath for our sin, we ought to be willing to do anything You call us to do in love and to Your Glory. Strengthen us now for the work You have given us to do, mature us and make us holy, after the Image of Your Son, for it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
[John 13:1-17; 31b-35]
April 21, 2011 Second Reformed Church
The Lectionary text is far too large for me to cover this evening, so I would like to have us look at the theme of “the humility of love” in this evening’s text and just point a few things out to us.
Let us begin with the question, have you ever had guests in your home? Have you ever taken off their shoes and washed their feet?
It helps us to understand our text to know that in Jesus’ day, people wore sandals, or just walked in their bare feet, so their feet would become filthy. For the sake of a guest being comfortable, and to keep the guest from traipsing dirt all over the house, the host would instruct the lowest of his servants to wash his visitor’s feet. It would be the lowest servant who would be commanded to wash the visitor’s feet because..., well, no one wants to wash feet.
With that in mind, let us look at our text:
Jesus had gathered to have a meal with His disciples before the Feast of the Passover. It was at this time that Jesus knew His time had come – He was ready to die and return to the Father. This was the time that the author of Hebrews wrote of: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV). Jesus knew it was His time, and He could look forward to it with joy, while despising the suffering He would endure, because of the greatness of the joy of returning from the world of sin and death to His Throne at the Right Hand of God.
And because He had loved all those that the Father had given Him, and because He had loved them until the end. Jesus was ready to die and return to the Father, because He had completed – and was completing His Mission – which was one of humbled love – that God would humble Himself in love of His elect to come to earth in human flesh, live, die for our sin according to the Scripture, and rise, ascending back to the Father. He loved us enough to purchase us with Himself: “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price” (I Corinthians 6:19b-20a, ESV).
And He loves us until then end. What does that mean? It means that Jesus loves us throughout our lives until the end of our lives, but it also means that He loves us to the furthest extent and to the depths of our need. Jesus loves us from sinful destitution to glory in the Kingdom. Jesus loves us from before the Creation. He loves us when we hated Him. He loves us when we received Him. He loves us when we continue to sin against Him. And He will love us until He receives us into glory to sin no more.
This love for all those who would believe in Jesus Alone was not diminished by Judas’ betrayal – Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray Him – it had been prophesied and was necessary.
Jesus knew that the Father have given Him everything: He had come from the Father – He was God, Himself, and He was returning to the Father, rejoicing with the Other Persons of the Trinity in Glory.
Knowing all these things – that His time was come, that Judas was betraying Him, that He is God the Son, Who was with the Father from before the Creation and was returning to Him – therefore, He stood up, took off His outer garments, tied a towel around His waist, poured water in a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel.
We don’t have to imagine what the disciples thought – Peter gives us the answer: “Lord, do you wash my feet?”
“What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”
“You shall never wash my feet.”
The washing of feet was the duty of the lowest of the servants – not their Rabbi, not their Teacher, not the Savior, not God Incarnate. It was not the place of God to wash the feet of humans. It was beneath Jesus Wasn’t it?
Jesus answered Him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”
Peter responded characteristically, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head ”
Jesus had told Peter that if Peter did not allow Him to wash his feet, there would be a break in the bond between them, and Peter, assuming that more is better, told Jesus if washing his feet strengthened the bond between them, then, if Jesus gave him a complete bath – that would even be better.
But Jesus corrected him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”
What was Jesus talking about? This was more than a discussion about bathing habits and hospitality, wasn’t it?
In what way were the disciples clean that Judas was not clean? John explains in his first letter, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (I John 1:7, ESV). The other disciples had believed in Jesus savingly: they had confess[ed] with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe[d] in their heart that God [would] raise[] Him from the dead, [and they were] saved” (Romans 10:9, ESV). The other disciples believed that Jesus is the God the Promised Savior – Judas did not. And through the blood that Jesus would shed, they had all been cleansed of their sin. They had been delivered from their slavery to sin. But, as we have just said, even if one were to bathe and be clean, if one were to walk through the dusty, muddy roads in sandals, or barefoot, one’s feet would get dirty, right?
So, if we are righteous before God, if our sins have been cleansed through the Blood of Jesus, if we are clean – what does it mean to say that our feet still get dirty? Our dirty feet that still need to be cleansed every day are the sins that we commit every day. Jesus has cleansed all those who will ever believe, and Jesus cleans the feet of everyone who will ever believe until we are brought into Glory.
A. W. Pink explains (708) that their persons were clean – they had received salvation through Christ Alone – but their walk – their day-to-day living – was still dirty – they still sinned, just as you and I do until Jesus returns. That is why we need to repent of our sin daily – if not more often.
Paul explains, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25b-27, ESV).
So then through the hearing of the Word of God, we receive Jesus – we are cleansed of our sin, all of our sins are forgiven and we are no longer inclined towards sin – we are made righteous. However, becoming holy – sanctified – is a process that continues until Jesus returns to bring us into Glory. God the Holy Spirit is working in us now to remove those “spots and wrinkles” that still remain in us – to wash our feet from the sin we daily pick up and track around in our walk.
The disciples were already Christians – believers in Jesus Alone for salvation – they were righteous through the Sacrifice Jesus was going to offer on Good Friday – their bodies were clean. But they were not holy – they continued to sin – so it was necessary for them to wash their feet every day – for the Holy Spirit to work repentance in them each day. And the same is true for each one of us. We are forgiven – justified; Jesus has paid the debt for all of the sin of everyone who will ever believe, yet we still turn away and sin, and we do not lose our salvation in sinning, but we are called to repent of our sin and to continue by the Power of God the Holy Spirit working in us to become holy.
Then Jesus asked the disciples if they understood what He had just done – that He had symbolically shown them that though they are righteous through Jesus, becoming holy is a process of God working in us.
Then Jesus said, “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.” Jesus could have received the death penalty for saying that: Jesus said, “You call me didaskolos and kurios, and you are right for so I am.” “You call me master rabbi and...” The word kurios is used in the New Testament as the Greek translation of the Hebrew word adonai, and the Jews used the word adonai for yhwh, the most holy and personal of God’s Names that God told to Moses. The disciples would have understood the words – if not the entire meaning, Jesus said, “You call me master rabbi and Almighty God, and you are right, for so I am.”
We can imagine them in stunned silence as Jesus continued, “If I then, [the Almighty God and master rabbi], have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
Jesus said, a servant is not greater than his master. If the master does x, it is not below the servant to do x. In fact, the servant ought to follow the good example of his master and do x.
Jesus, the master rabbi and Almighty God, had done something that would have been scandalous for a merely human master to do – He has washed His disciples’ feet. He was showing them that becoming holy is a process, although we are instantly justified through Jesus’ Sacrifice, becoming holy is a process that God works in us.
Was Jesus teaching them that they ought to literally wash each others’ feet? Most scholars and denominations say He was not. So what was Jesus teaching them – and us? Is there something that we can to do help each other progress in holiness? Is there anything we can do to help each other refrain from sin?
Although He is God Who restores the Image of God in us and makes us holy like His Son, God works through us to accomplish His Will. So we are to watch out for each other’s feet. In love, we ought to do everything we can to help lead each other away from sin and to follow after good. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves.
If we know someone is tempted to sin in certain circumstances, we ought to do all we can to keep that person from being tempted and falling into temptation. Don’t offer an alcoholic a drink or bring him to a bar. Don’t give a glutton a whole cake. Don’t tell a gossip a juicy piece of news. If someone starts to badmouth someone, tell them you’re not interested in hearing it. Invite people to give food to the poor, to attend worship, to see the good in another person, to take better care of his body. And so forth.
We ought to do all we can to keep each others’ feet clean – to turn each other away from sin and to lead each other towards the good.
After Judas had left, Jesus told the rest of the disciples that He was now glorified and God was glorified in Him, and that since God was glorified in Jesus, Jesus would also be glorified, and He was glorified in that moment. Jesus was revealed for Who He is – God’s Plan was revealed, and God was better seen by the disciples in that moment.
And He told them again that they could not go where He was going; Jesus had to face the Wrath of God alone – as the One Sacrifice for everyone who would ever believe savingly in Him.
And Jesus said, “A new commandment I give 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 you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Well, how much did Jesus love them? Jesus explained how to be great to the disciples: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25b-28, ESV).
And Paul wrote: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, thought he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8, ESV).
How much does Jesus love? Enough that the Almighty God would humble Himself by taking on a human person, serving His Creation, and allowing Himself to be put to death for those He came to save.
This is not masochism. Jesus does not call us to learn to enjoy being abused by people.
This is not being a doormat. Jesus stood up for what was right and He spoke the Truth and exposed sin.
This is the humility of love which says, “I’m going to refrain from doing something because Peter is here, and I know if I do this or say this, it will lead Peter into sin.” This is the humility of love which says – privately, “Peter, I’m concerned that you are sinning and don’t even realize it, could we talk about what you’re doing?” This is the humility of love which says, “If I do this or say this, it will help Peter, he may become a more faithful Christian, and it will glorify God.”
This is the humility of love which says – ultimately, as we saw in the book of Acts, when Peter and the apostles had been let out of prison with the warning that they were not to teach about Jesus again, “But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at the right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him’” (Acts 5:29-32, ESV).
This is the humility of love which says, with Paul in prison, “Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be ashamed, but with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet, which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, Because of my coming to you again” (Philippians 1:18b-26, ESV).
God has called us to a life of service in glorifying Him, and by serving Him, we receive joy. Jesus has shown us that we are not above doing anything for anyone for the sake of the Gospel. And in washing the disciples’ feet, He has shown us that we are to humble ourselves in love to help each other progress in holiness – to the Glory of God.
Shortly, we will receive the Lord’s Supper. In the elements of the bread and the cup, this same Jesus Who physically walked on this earth two thousand years ago, will meet with us spiritually and give us the grace that we need to be able to do all that God has called us to do. Let us trust Him, and follow after Him in humility, showing love, that the whole world will know that we are His disciples.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, our Master Rabbi, we hear that You washed the disciples’ feet, and we respond with disgust, not wanting to do likewise. Humble us and let us see that if God Himself was willing to come to earth to save us from Your Wrath for our sin, we ought to be willing to do anything You call us to do in love and to Your Glory. Strengthen us now for the work You have given us to do, mature us and make us holy, after the Image of Your Son, for it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Review: "5 Things Every Christian Needs to Grow"
We recently used Dr. R. C. Sproul’s book, 5 Things Every Christian Needs to Grow, in our evening study.
Sproul argues, first, a healthy and growing Christian must be studying the Bible, because it is through God’s Word that we are brought to faith and begin to gain the mind of Christ. Sproul notes that if we disagree with a passage of Scripture, we have either not understood it or we are just sinning, and we ought to wrestle with such a passage until we submit to God. He ends this chapter with some resources for understanding the text, and he also recommends places to begin reading in the Bible.
Second, prayer. Here, Sproul argues prayer is a duty – God said to, a privilege – we can come before God, and a means of grace – we are matured and strengthen through prayer. The chapter concludes looking at the Lord’s Prayer and other patterns of prayer.
Third, worship. Sproul begins with the history of Nadab and Abihu to argue that worship is serious business and that God has set what is appropriate for and in worship. He then explains what it means to worship “in spirit and in truth,” and he argues for preparation before the worship service.
Fourth, service. Sproul explains that all five disciplines are means of grace. Then he explains that God did not save us out of slavery to sin and Satan to go and do whatever we want. Our salvation is form slavery to sin and Satan to slavery to God. Sproul explains that all calls are valid and may be done to the Glory of God, yet he warns that the best we can do is only what is required of us, so we ought not to become prideful in our service.
Fifth, stewardship. Sproul explains that we are stewards fo everything – nothing we have or use is our own, but belongs to God, and God has set us as stewards of all He blesses us with, beginning with the stewardship of the Creation given to humanity in the Garden. He then discusses the tithe, arguing that the tithe is the basic giving unit, and that it is still binding on the New Testament Christian. However, he argues that the tithe doesn’t need to go just to the church on worships in, but may be divided with parachurch ministries. This, I believe, is a mistake. The tithe was always intended to be the amount that adds up for the maintaining of the building and the pastor (priest). It does not seem biblical to my understanding, to give less than the full tithe to the church, and then give more to the church and other organizations.
The books ends with a Q & A section in which Sproul addresses whether or not God hears the prayers of unbelievers, whether worship ought to be “seeker-sensitive,” and the frequency of the Lord’s Supper. With regards to frequency, Sproul admits that the argument of Calvin was for reception of the elements every time the church gathers, which one sees in Corinthians and in the documents of the early church fathers. However, Sproul gives in to the “but it won’t seem special” argument, which surprised me, and states that they receive the elements once a month. If the Sacrament is a means of grace, and the biblical and historical example is for frequent reception, I cannot but disagree with Sproul. Even without the evidence, would one really argue to see one’s spouse once a month, so the visit would remain “special”? This is a spurious argument, and I regret he includes it.
Overall, this is an excellent book – one well worth going through with our fellow Christians. However, be prepared for discussion, and even to disagree with Sproul on a few points, and be ready to explain why and what the Scripture says.
May God continue to us Dr. Sproul to His Glory.
Sproul argues, first, a healthy and growing Christian must be studying the Bible, because it is through God’s Word that we are brought to faith and begin to gain the mind of Christ. Sproul notes that if we disagree with a passage of Scripture, we have either not understood it or we are just sinning, and we ought to wrestle with such a passage until we submit to God. He ends this chapter with some resources for understanding the text, and he also recommends places to begin reading in the Bible.
Second, prayer. Here, Sproul argues prayer is a duty – God said to, a privilege – we can come before God, and a means of grace – we are matured and strengthen through prayer. The chapter concludes looking at the Lord’s Prayer and other patterns of prayer.
Third, worship. Sproul begins with the history of Nadab and Abihu to argue that worship is serious business and that God has set what is appropriate for and in worship. He then explains what it means to worship “in spirit and in truth,” and he argues for preparation before the worship service.
Fourth, service. Sproul explains that all five disciplines are means of grace. Then he explains that God did not save us out of slavery to sin and Satan to go and do whatever we want. Our salvation is form slavery to sin and Satan to slavery to God. Sproul explains that all calls are valid and may be done to the Glory of God, yet he warns that the best we can do is only what is required of us, so we ought not to become prideful in our service.
Fifth, stewardship. Sproul explains that we are stewards fo everything – nothing we have or use is our own, but belongs to God, and God has set us as stewards of all He blesses us with, beginning with the stewardship of the Creation given to humanity in the Garden. He then discusses the tithe, arguing that the tithe is the basic giving unit, and that it is still binding on the New Testament Christian. However, he argues that the tithe doesn’t need to go just to the church on worships in, but may be divided with parachurch ministries. This, I believe, is a mistake. The tithe was always intended to be the amount that adds up for the maintaining of the building and the pastor (priest). It does not seem biblical to my understanding, to give less than the full tithe to the church, and then give more to the church and other organizations.
The books ends with a Q & A section in which Sproul addresses whether or not God hears the prayers of unbelievers, whether worship ought to be “seeker-sensitive,” and the frequency of the Lord’s Supper. With regards to frequency, Sproul admits that the argument of Calvin was for reception of the elements every time the church gathers, which one sees in Corinthians and in the documents of the early church fathers. However, Sproul gives in to the “but it won’t seem special” argument, which surprised me, and states that they receive the elements once a month. If the Sacrament is a means of grace, and the biblical and historical example is for frequent reception, I cannot but disagree with Sproul. Even without the evidence, would one really argue to see one’s spouse once a month, so the visit would remain “special”? This is a spurious argument, and I regret he includes it.
Overall, this is an excellent book – one well worth going through with our fellow Christians. However, be prepared for discussion, and even to disagree with Sproul on a few points, and be ready to explain why and what the Scripture says.
May God continue to us Dr. Sproul to His Glory.
Welcome to Holy Week
D.V., our Holy Week schedule is:
4/21/11 7 PM Communion Maundy Thursday Worship
4/22/11 7 PM Communion Good Friday Worship
4/23/11 3 PM Prayer Meeting
4/24/11 10:30 AM Communion Easter Worship
4/21/11 7 PM Communion Maundy Thursday Worship
4/22/11 7 PM Communion Good Friday Worship
4/23/11 3 PM Prayer Meeting
4/24/11 10:30 AM Communion Easter Worship
Monday, April 18, 2011
Review: "Max on Life"
I have enjoyed Max Lucado’s books for many years. He is very readable, Christ-centered, and like talking with an old friend. His latest book, Max on Life: Answers and Insights to Your Most Important Questions, is no exception. Lucado goes through 172 questions and answers, as well as an appendix which addresses the desires of would-be writers.
Over-all, Lucado’s answers are straightforward, good, and comprehendible.
Some are especially good, addressing issues and misunderstanding that I have found in my ministry:
Much like John Piper, Lucado explains that “God exists to showcase God” (29). God’s primary desire it to Glorify Himself, because He is Worthy. Our greatest joy is found in showing God to be Who He is.
Serious illness maybe God’s way of getting us to rely on Him (88). As difficult as it may be to understand (and I write this as someone with an incurable, chronic, and fatal disease), there are no simple answers for why x happens to y. It may be due to our sin. It may be to the fact of the Fall. It may be to bring glory to God. It may be to help us to mature in the faith.
The material world is good and will be restored to it’s pre-Fall state (217). Unlike what the churches taught that I grew up in, the Bible teaches that the Creation will be purified and restored, and we will live on the earth in the Kingdom; the material world will not be destroyed – we will not get wings and harps and float among the clouds.
Our job is to witness, not to convert (219). I have heard horrible and frightening stories about what God will do if we don’t get x to convert, but that is not what the Scripture tells us – we are called to proclaim the Gospel, conversion is God’s job.
After the appendix, there are very useful Scriptural and topical indexes.
However, I was troubled to find some serious errors (if I understand the Scripture correctly):
Lucado says that our salvation is based on our belief, not on grace alone (11). If salvation is based on our decision, then we are, in part, our own savior. I see the Bible teaching that God saves us through Jesus Alone by Grace Alone – our response of confession actually comes after God has regenerated us.
God can do anything (64). I don’t think Lucado actually believes this: Can God created a rock that is too heavy for Him to lift? Can God sin? There are things God cannot do – God cannot do anything that is contrary to His Nature. That does not make God less than God, it only defines His Nature.
Prayer gets God to change His Plans/Mind (77). There are passages of “condescension” where it says that God relents or changes His Mind, but if that is literally what has happened, then God is either evil or not Sovereign; a Sovereign God cannot be mistaken or shown a better way. These passages refer to our not getting the big picture, not to God’s insufficiencies.,
He persistently misapplies II Peter 3:9 (220-223). II Peter 3:9 says that “God is not willing that any perish.” But that does not mean that God wants everyone to be saved, otherwise, God would be a failure – God’s Will would be thwarted. In it’s context, the “any” that Peter is referring to are – go back one verse – “the beloved” – Christians – not everyone in the whole world, but those whom God has chosen/elect to save.
One final misgiving I have with this book is the amount of Scripture that is given in The Message and The Living Bible. Paraphrases may have a place, but not for quoting as what the Scripture says – they are not translations.
For all these reasons, and despite all the good in this book, I cannot recommend it for the average person. It might be useful for a pastor/le4ader to read through to cull out the good, but there is too much amiss that will mislead people to put this book in the hands of the laity.
[This review appears on Amazon.com and my blog. I received this book for free from Thomas Nelson Publishing Group for this review.]
Over-all, Lucado’s answers are straightforward, good, and comprehendible.
Some are especially good, addressing issues and misunderstanding that I have found in my ministry:
Much like John Piper, Lucado explains that “God exists to showcase God” (29). God’s primary desire it to Glorify Himself, because He is Worthy. Our greatest joy is found in showing God to be Who He is.
Serious illness maybe God’s way of getting us to rely on Him (88). As difficult as it may be to understand (and I write this as someone with an incurable, chronic, and fatal disease), there are no simple answers for why x happens to y. It may be due to our sin. It may be to the fact of the Fall. It may be to bring glory to God. It may be to help us to mature in the faith.
The material world is good and will be restored to it’s pre-Fall state (217). Unlike what the churches taught that I grew up in, the Bible teaches that the Creation will be purified and restored, and we will live on the earth in the Kingdom; the material world will not be destroyed – we will not get wings and harps and float among the clouds.
Our job is to witness, not to convert (219). I have heard horrible and frightening stories about what God will do if we don’t get x to convert, but that is not what the Scripture tells us – we are called to proclaim the Gospel, conversion is God’s job.
After the appendix, there are very useful Scriptural and topical indexes.
However, I was troubled to find some serious errors (if I understand the Scripture correctly):
Lucado says that our salvation is based on our belief, not on grace alone (11). If salvation is based on our decision, then we are, in part, our own savior. I see the Bible teaching that God saves us through Jesus Alone by Grace Alone – our response of confession actually comes after God has regenerated us.
God can do anything (64). I don’t think Lucado actually believes this: Can God created a rock that is too heavy for Him to lift? Can God sin? There are things God cannot do – God cannot do anything that is contrary to His Nature. That does not make God less than God, it only defines His Nature.
Prayer gets God to change His Plans/Mind (77). There are passages of “condescension” where it says that God relents or changes His Mind, but if that is literally what has happened, then God is either evil or not Sovereign; a Sovereign God cannot be mistaken or shown a better way. These passages refer to our not getting the big picture, not to God’s insufficiencies.,
He persistently misapplies II Peter 3:9 (220-223). II Peter 3:9 says that “God is not willing that any perish.” But that does not mean that God wants everyone to be saved, otherwise, God would be a failure – God’s Will would be thwarted. In it’s context, the “any” that Peter is referring to are – go back one verse – “the beloved” – Christians – not everyone in the whole world, but those whom God has chosen/elect to save.
One final misgiving I have with this book is the amount of Scripture that is given in The Message and The Living Bible. Paraphrases may have a place, but not for quoting as what the Scripture says – they are not translations.
For all these reasons, and despite all the good in this book, I cannot recommend it for the average person. It might be useful for a pastor/le4ader to read through to cull out the good, but there is too much amiss that will mislead people to put this book in the hands of the laity.
[This review appears on Amazon.com and my blog. I received this book for free from Thomas Nelson Publishing Group for this review.]
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Review: "The Radical Disciple: Some Neglected Aspects of Our Calling"
In what John Stott calls his final book, The Radical Disciple: Some Neglected Aspects of Our Calling, he seeks to address eight areas in which he believes the Church is lacking.
He begins by explaining that by “radical disciple,” he wants to emphasize the teacher-student relationship between Christ and the Christian, as well as the necessary deep-rootedness of commitment that Jesus requires from His disciples (14-15).
First, Stott argues that we have not exemplified nonconformity. Rather, we have sought escapism or conformism, Nonconformity is “a call to engagement without compromise” (19).
Second, Christlikeness. Stott argues that The Westminster Shorter Catechism is not strong enough – what God has called us to is to become like Christ. We are to be like Him in being incarnational, servants, loving, patience in enduring, and like Him in His Mission (31-34).
Third, maturity. Stott argues the greatest problem of the modern church is “growth without depth” (38).Maturity comes as one gets a clear portrait of Jesus through prayer and study of the Scripture (48).
Fourth, Creation care. Stott explains tat both dominion and being created in the image of God bear on our stewardship responsibility to care for the Creation, as well as the Scripture’s teaching that the Creation will be restored on the last day – not destroyed. (I found this the weakest chapter because he does not explain how to care for the Creation.)
Fifth, simplicity. Not asceticism, but biblical simplicity. Rather that explain this briefly as Stott does with his other chapters, he prints the entire document, An Evangelical Commitment to Simple Life-Style (65-82). This would ave served better as an appendix; in the body of the book, I found myself going from listening to a kind teacher to slogging through a marsh.
Sixth, balance. In this chapter, Stott examines six metaphors that Peter uses to describe the disciples, and Stott shows that each is a balancing act as they all work together (97-98).
Seventh, dependence. This is the humility to accept that w not only need God but we need each other, both in understanding, and in emotional and physical well-being. (102).
Eighth, death. Stott examines the relationship of the fact of death to salvation, discipleship, mission, persecution, martyrdom, mortality, and the necessity of death if we are to live (133).
Stott’s book covers a great deal of necessary material for the 21st century Church, though I would wish it had some expansion, and some additional editing. Also, in looking for the books that Stott quotes, I found that most of them are out of print, though somewhat available through the usual sources.
I hope Stott will write more on these issues or that others will take up his mantel and continue to show how we might become the radical disciples Christ has called us to be.
He begins by explaining that by “radical disciple,” he wants to emphasize the teacher-student relationship between Christ and the Christian, as well as the necessary deep-rootedness of commitment that Jesus requires from His disciples (14-15).
First, Stott argues that we have not exemplified nonconformity. Rather, we have sought escapism or conformism, Nonconformity is “a call to engagement without compromise” (19).
Second, Christlikeness. Stott argues that The Westminster Shorter Catechism is not strong enough – what God has called us to is to become like Christ. We are to be like Him in being incarnational, servants, loving, patience in enduring, and like Him in His Mission (31-34).
Third, maturity. Stott argues the greatest problem of the modern church is “growth without depth” (38).Maturity comes as one gets a clear portrait of Jesus through prayer and study of the Scripture (48).
Fourth, Creation care. Stott explains tat both dominion and being created in the image of God bear on our stewardship responsibility to care for the Creation, as well as the Scripture’s teaching that the Creation will be restored on the last day – not destroyed. (I found this the weakest chapter because he does not explain how to care for the Creation.)
Fifth, simplicity. Not asceticism, but biblical simplicity. Rather that explain this briefly as Stott does with his other chapters, he prints the entire document, An Evangelical Commitment to Simple Life-Style (65-82). This would ave served better as an appendix; in the body of the book, I found myself going from listening to a kind teacher to slogging through a marsh.
Sixth, balance. In this chapter, Stott examines six metaphors that Peter uses to describe the disciples, and Stott shows that each is a balancing act as they all work together (97-98).
Seventh, dependence. This is the humility to accept that w not only need God but we need each other, both in understanding, and in emotional and physical well-being. (102).
Eighth, death. Stott examines the relationship of the fact of death to salvation, discipleship, mission, persecution, martyrdom, mortality, and the necessity of death if we are to live (133).
Stott’s book covers a great deal of necessary material for the 21st century Church, though I would wish it had some expansion, and some additional editing. Also, in looking for the books that Stott quotes, I found that most of them are out of print, though somewhat available through the usual sources.
I hope Stott will write more on these issues or that others will take up his mantel and continue to show how we might become the radical disciples Christ has called us to be.
"Hosanna" Sermon: Matthew 21:1-11
“Hosanna”
[Matthew 21:1-11]
April 17, 2011 Second Reformed Church
Our Scripture brings us near Jerusalem, about a week before the Crucifixion. Jesus was preparing to enter the city and complete the work that He came to earth to do. And Jesus and His disciples stopped on the Mount of Olives. And Jesus sent two of His disciples to a nearby village and told them that when they got to the village, they would see a donkey – a female donkey, with a young colt with her. And Jesus told the disciples to take them and bring them to Him, and, if anyone should question what they were doing, they were to say, “The Lord needs them.”
How did Jesus know there would be a mother donkey with her colt in the nearby village? How did Jesus know that the owner would respond positively to the disciples cryptically saying “The Lord needs them”?
We’re not told anything more about this interchange and the gathering of the donkey and the colt; it happened just as Jesus said it would. So, here we have a glimpse at the Divinity of Jesus. Jesus knew what animals there would be and where they would be and that the owner would let them go with the simple command, “The Lord needs them.”
More importantly than how Jesus knew what He knew and why the owner of the donkey and the colt responded the way he did, is the question of why Jesus told the disciples to get the donkey and the colt in the first place. It certainly wasn’t too far for Jesus to walk from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem; He was use to walking all over Israel. Why, now, did He command the disciples to bring Him a donkey and her colt?
There are at least three reasons, and the first one is quite explicit in our text:
Jesus told them to get the donkey and her colt to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah: “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
The people of Jesus’ day knew the Scripture well enough that they would see Jesus coming into Jerusalem on a donkey, with her colt, and they would associate what He was doing with this prophecy – that the King of Israel was coming to claim His Throne and deliver them.
We will remember that Israel was under Roman rule at this time and a large percentage of the population was looking forward to the day when they would throw off their oppressors and be the people of God, under His Rule alone. So, this and other Scriptures like it would have been particularly on the minds of the Jews.
The second reason follows naturally from the first – after three years of telling people not to tell anyone Who He was, now the time had come – Jesus sought to draw attention to Himself – He was finally, publically proclaiming that He is the King of Israel, the long-awaited Savior.
As He rode into Jerusalem with the crowd around Him, praising Him and glorifying God, all of Jerusalem was swept up in the procession – some welcoming Jesus, others wanting to know Who He thought He was.
The third reason Jesus commanded them to bring the donkey and her colt, we can gather from our look at the idea of dominion that we have considered with the Image of God over the Lenten Season: our God is a God Who cares about the Creation He created. So, knowing that the donkey had a young colt with her, which would be upset – to say the least – to have her mother taken from her while she was yet so young, Jesus compassionately instructed the disciples not to separate the donkey and her colt, but to bring them both for His Triumphal Entry.
And so, they brought the donkey and the colt to Jesus, and they put their cloaks on the donkey, and as they began to make their way toward Jerusalem, many other people threw their cloaks on the ground and cut branches from the trees to cushion the donkey’s way as she carried Jesus, God the King and Savior, into Jerusalem.
Let us notice the type of people that lauded Jesus and marched with Him into Jerusalem – they were not the rich, the politicians, the influential members of society, and the religious leaders – at least the majority of them were not. How do we know that? Well, no one had a saddle for the donkey – they spread cloaks for Jesus to sit on. No one offered a horse and chariot for this Triumphal Entry. Their offerings – physically – were extremely modest. Jesus was welcomed and lauded by the poor, the outcasts, and the sick – the people He had spent most of His time ministering to.
And the crowds announced Jesus and praised Him by quoting the Psalmist:
“Hosanna to the Son of David Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest ”
What were they saying? What does ‘hosanna” mean?
The word “hosanna” means “Save, we pray ” And it is implied in the word that that salvation that people are looking for is deliverance from the corrupt rule of humans and the restoration of the Rule of God. The intent of the word “hosanna” is the same as when we pray “Thy Kingdom come.”
When the people cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David ,” they were crying out, “Save, we pray Through Jesus, God’s King and Savior, the Rightful Heir to the Throne of David, bring us under Your Rule, God, and Yours alone.”
The poor, at least, had grown tired of being under Roman rule and even under the rule of bad kings in Israel and Judah. They had had enough – they wanted to return to the days before Saul when God alone ruled over them.
Are you tired of petty politics? Are you tired of wars? Are you tired of following God and then following after sin and then following after God and then following after sin? The day is coming when the cry of the people of Israel before Jesus will come in all its fulness. John describes it this way:
“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessings ’ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, ‘To the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever ’ And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen ’ and the elders fell down and worshiped” (Revelation 5:11-14, ESV).
The announcement had been made: Jesus is the Legitimate Heir to the throne of David, and He will restore the Kingdom of God in all its fullness, with God as the Sovereign Ruler over all in His Kingdom on earth.
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord ”
Jesus came in the Name of the Almighty God – that is, Jesus came with authority which comes from God.
Luke records, “One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, ‘Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who is it that gave you this authority.’ He answered them, ‘I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?’ And they discussed it with one another, saying, ‘If we say, “From heaven,” he will say, “Why did you not believe him?” But if we say, “From man,” all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.’ So they answered that they did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things’” (Luke 20:1-8, ESV).
The author of Hebrews writes, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV).
Do we remember what it means to be “seated at the right hand”? To be “seated at the right hand” means “this person’s authority comes from.” So, what the scribes and elders and chief priests could not admit, and what the author of Hebrews explains to us, and what the crowd cried out to Jesus as He made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem is, “Jesus’ Authority comes from God”; “the Authority of Jesus is the Authority of God.”
Thirdly, in emphasis, the crowd cried out, “Hosanna in the highest ” “Save, we pray, in and from the heavens ” “The salvation that we require is from God – and that is the salvation that we receive through Jesus, our Redeemer and Savior.”
The nobodies of Israel flocked around Jesus as He rode into Jerusalem, calling attention to Himself, bringing to mind the prophecy of the God-King Who would come and restore the Sovereign Reign of God on earth.
And they cried out from the Scripture:
Jesus is the Legitimate Heir to the Throne of David.
Jesus’ Authority is the Authority of God.
Jesus is the Savior and Redeemer that has been sent from heaven.
But some of the people of Jerusalem couldn’t see – they didn’t understand what was happening, “Who is this?” “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
The Only Answer that God provides to the request – the petition – “Hosanna ” – is Jesus. Jesus restores and brings the Kingdom of God among us and fulfills it in its fulness in the Kingdom.
Why didn’t everyone understand Who Jesus is? Why didn’t everyone welcome Him as He rode into Jerusalem? Why do the rich and the powerful and the knowledgeable tend to dismiss Him or minimize Him, while the poor and the rejected and the common person more likely see Him for Who He is and receive Him and His Salvation?
Hear this history:
“One of the Pharisees asked [Jesus] to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house, and he took his place at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing beside him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of a woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.’ And Jesus answering said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ And he answered, ’Say it, Teacher.’
“‘A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denari, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now, which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.’ And he said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then turning to the woman he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven – for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.’ And he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ Then those who were at the table began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you, go in peace’” (Luke 7:36-50, ESV).
As it was in Jesus’ day, so it is today: those who understand how great their sin is are more often those who turn to Him for forgiveness and salvation. Jesus Alone answers the cry, “Hosanna – save, we pray ”
I pray we all recognize Him as He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey with her colt in tow.
Let us pray:
Almighty God and Savior, You Who hold all authority as the Sovereign God and Only Ruler for all of eternity, we praise You and rejoice that You chose to send Your Son to live among us under Your Law and then to obediently follow You into Jerusalem, announcing that He is Immanuel – “God with us” – knowing the horror He would face at the hands of sinful human being – like us – for revealing Who He is. Help us day by day to become more bold in proclaiming Who You are, for we have much to be forgiven for, and You are the Mighty Savior. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
[Matthew 21:1-11]
April 17, 2011 Second Reformed Church
Our Scripture brings us near Jerusalem, about a week before the Crucifixion. Jesus was preparing to enter the city and complete the work that He came to earth to do. And Jesus and His disciples stopped on the Mount of Olives. And Jesus sent two of His disciples to a nearby village and told them that when they got to the village, they would see a donkey – a female donkey, with a young colt with her. And Jesus told the disciples to take them and bring them to Him, and, if anyone should question what they were doing, they were to say, “The Lord needs them.”
How did Jesus know there would be a mother donkey with her colt in the nearby village? How did Jesus know that the owner would respond positively to the disciples cryptically saying “The Lord needs them”?
We’re not told anything more about this interchange and the gathering of the donkey and the colt; it happened just as Jesus said it would. So, here we have a glimpse at the Divinity of Jesus. Jesus knew what animals there would be and where they would be and that the owner would let them go with the simple command, “The Lord needs them.”
More importantly than how Jesus knew what He knew and why the owner of the donkey and the colt responded the way he did, is the question of why Jesus told the disciples to get the donkey and the colt in the first place. It certainly wasn’t too far for Jesus to walk from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem; He was use to walking all over Israel. Why, now, did He command the disciples to bring Him a donkey and her colt?
There are at least three reasons, and the first one is quite explicit in our text:
Jesus told them to get the donkey and her colt to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah: “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
The people of Jesus’ day knew the Scripture well enough that they would see Jesus coming into Jerusalem on a donkey, with her colt, and they would associate what He was doing with this prophecy – that the King of Israel was coming to claim His Throne and deliver them.
We will remember that Israel was under Roman rule at this time and a large percentage of the population was looking forward to the day when they would throw off their oppressors and be the people of God, under His Rule alone. So, this and other Scriptures like it would have been particularly on the minds of the Jews.
The second reason follows naturally from the first – after three years of telling people not to tell anyone Who He was, now the time had come – Jesus sought to draw attention to Himself – He was finally, publically proclaiming that He is the King of Israel, the long-awaited Savior.
As He rode into Jerusalem with the crowd around Him, praising Him and glorifying God, all of Jerusalem was swept up in the procession – some welcoming Jesus, others wanting to know Who He thought He was.
The third reason Jesus commanded them to bring the donkey and her colt, we can gather from our look at the idea of dominion that we have considered with the Image of God over the Lenten Season: our God is a God Who cares about the Creation He created. So, knowing that the donkey had a young colt with her, which would be upset – to say the least – to have her mother taken from her while she was yet so young, Jesus compassionately instructed the disciples not to separate the donkey and her colt, but to bring them both for His Triumphal Entry.
And so, they brought the donkey and the colt to Jesus, and they put their cloaks on the donkey, and as they began to make their way toward Jerusalem, many other people threw their cloaks on the ground and cut branches from the trees to cushion the donkey’s way as she carried Jesus, God the King and Savior, into Jerusalem.
Let us notice the type of people that lauded Jesus and marched with Him into Jerusalem – they were not the rich, the politicians, the influential members of society, and the religious leaders – at least the majority of them were not. How do we know that? Well, no one had a saddle for the donkey – they spread cloaks for Jesus to sit on. No one offered a horse and chariot for this Triumphal Entry. Their offerings – physically – were extremely modest. Jesus was welcomed and lauded by the poor, the outcasts, and the sick – the people He had spent most of His time ministering to.
And the crowds announced Jesus and praised Him by quoting the Psalmist:
“Hosanna to the Son of David Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest ”
What were they saying? What does ‘hosanna” mean?
The word “hosanna” means “Save, we pray ” And it is implied in the word that that salvation that people are looking for is deliverance from the corrupt rule of humans and the restoration of the Rule of God. The intent of the word “hosanna” is the same as when we pray “Thy Kingdom come.”
When the people cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David ,” they were crying out, “Save, we pray Through Jesus, God’s King and Savior, the Rightful Heir to the Throne of David, bring us under Your Rule, God, and Yours alone.”
The poor, at least, had grown tired of being under Roman rule and even under the rule of bad kings in Israel and Judah. They had had enough – they wanted to return to the days before Saul when God alone ruled over them.
Are you tired of petty politics? Are you tired of wars? Are you tired of following God and then following after sin and then following after God and then following after sin? The day is coming when the cry of the people of Israel before Jesus will come in all its fulness. John describes it this way:
“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessings ’ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, ‘To the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever ’ And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen ’ and the elders fell down and worshiped” (Revelation 5:11-14, ESV).
The announcement had been made: Jesus is the Legitimate Heir to the throne of David, and He will restore the Kingdom of God in all its fullness, with God as the Sovereign Ruler over all in His Kingdom on earth.
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord ”
Jesus came in the Name of the Almighty God – that is, Jesus came with authority which comes from God.
Luke records, “One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, ‘Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who is it that gave you this authority.’ He answered them, ‘I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?’ And they discussed it with one another, saying, ‘If we say, “From heaven,” he will say, “Why did you not believe him?” But if we say, “From man,” all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.’ So they answered that they did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things’” (Luke 20:1-8, ESV).
The author of Hebrews writes, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV).
Do we remember what it means to be “seated at the right hand”? To be “seated at the right hand” means “this person’s authority comes from.” So, what the scribes and elders and chief priests could not admit, and what the author of Hebrews explains to us, and what the crowd cried out to Jesus as He made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem is, “Jesus’ Authority comes from God”; “the Authority of Jesus is the Authority of God.”
Thirdly, in emphasis, the crowd cried out, “Hosanna in the highest ” “Save, we pray, in and from the heavens ” “The salvation that we require is from God – and that is the salvation that we receive through Jesus, our Redeemer and Savior.”
The nobodies of Israel flocked around Jesus as He rode into Jerusalem, calling attention to Himself, bringing to mind the prophecy of the God-King Who would come and restore the Sovereign Reign of God on earth.
And they cried out from the Scripture:
Jesus is the Legitimate Heir to the Throne of David.
Jesus’ Authority is the Authority of God.
Jesus is the Savior and Redeemer that has been sent from heaven.
But some of the people of Jerusalem couldn’t see – they didn’t understand what was happening, “Who is this?” “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
The Only Answer that God provides to the request – the petition – “Hosanna ” – is Jesus. Jesus restores and brings the Kingdom of God among us and fulfills it in its fulness in the Kingdom.
Why didn’t everyone understand Who Jesus is? Why didn’t everyone welcome Him as He rode into Jerusalem? Why do the rich and the powerful and the knowledgeable tend to dismiss Him or minimize Him, while the poor and the rejected and the common person more likely see Him for Who He is and receive Him and His Salvation?
Hear this history:
“One of the Pharisees asked [Jesus] to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house, and he took his place at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing beside him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of a woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.’ And Jesus answering said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ And he answered, ’Say it, Teacher.’
“‘A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denari, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now, which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.’ And he said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then turning to the woman he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven – for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.’ And he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ Then those who were at the table began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you, go in peace’” (Luke 7:36-50, ESV).
As it was in Jesus’ day, so it is today: those who understand how great their sin is are more often those who turn to Him for forgiveness and salvation. Jesus Alone answers the cry, “Hosanna – save, we pray ”
I pray we all recognize Him as He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey with her colt in tow.
Let us pray:
Almighty God and Savior, You Who hold all authority as the Sovereign God and Only Ruler for all of eternity, we praise You and rejoice that You chose to send Your Son to live among us under Your Law and then to obediently follow You into Jerusalem, announcing that He is Immanuel – “God with us” – knowing the horror He would face at the hands of sinful human being – like us – for revealing Who He is. Help us day by day to become more bold in proclaiming Who You are, for we have much to be forgiven for, and You are the Mighty Savior. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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