As we’ve been working our way through the book of Luke we’ve really focusing on two key themes - first, jesus is a man on a mission. that’s our theme for the whole book of Luke. We’ve seen that jesus is intent on fulfilling the mission given to him by the father, no matter how people try to get him to serve their agendas or define for him how to do his ministry. the second major theme is that jesus is a man of marvels. Wherever Jesus’ mission led him, people marveled at the things he said, the works he performed and the compassion that he showed. In todays passage, we see how these two theme’s of mission and marvel go side by side.
If you’ve been following along with us in Luke over the past few months, we’ve been discussing and hopefully challenged by the ministry methods of Jesus. Jesus ministered to to people in a way that blew the doors off of anyone’s expectations of what the ministry of the messiah should be like. Instead of coming in judgement, he came to preach grace. Instead of consuming sinners in a baptism of fire, Jesus touched and healed and forgave. Instead of pointing people to the law of God and to the morality of man, Jesus extend love that stretched beyond the law, healing people on the Sabbath, touching lepers, letting a sinful woman touch Him. Jesus defied people’s expectations of him and his ministry so much that even John - the man who introduced Jesus to the world - even John doubted. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus’ ministry method can be summed up like this: Preach and Live Radical Grace. He saw no barriers, he viewed no one as outside of the love and reach of God.
That attractive message, as well as the miracles of healing and deliverance, drew great crowds as well as attracting great criticism, especially from religious people. And here is the criticism - if we throw open the doors that wide, if we preach grace so freely, how do we protect the movement from people who just come to Jesus for healing, or to hear a message of forgiveness, but do not illustrate any change of life. How do we reconcile John’s ministry of “Repent or perish” with Jesus’ ministry of radical grace?
Now let’s consider for a moment the effect the presence of this woman would have had on the Pharisee. To the Pharisee, this woman is a contagion. In his mind, the spiritual effect of this woman in his home would be like someone bringing in an aerosol can filled with swine flu and spraying it around. Pharisees were not, under any circumstances to associate with any woman other than their wives, and especially were not to identify with any one known to be a transgressor of the law. Yet he’s in a bit of a conundrum because as a good Jew, his home was to be marked by a hospitality that is a bit foreign to us today. Jewish homes often had a courtyard of which they left the door open to any who would enter - this is how the woman got in. Yet under normal circumstances people understood their place and a sinful woman like this one would never presume to enter into a Pharisees home. Yet what the Pharisee didn’t know, but yet was about to, was that when we invite Jesus into our homes “normal” is thrown out of the window.
Luke 7:18-35 [Audio link at bottom]
Expectations. Movies, Marriages, Ministries.
Jesus Did Not Meet People’s Expectations
Luke 7:18 The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, 19 calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 20 And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” 21 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
I did not meet John’s expectations. Yet Jesus stressed to John that He was indeed fulfilling the Messianic ministry that He was anointed by the Lord for according to Isaiah 61. Jesus fully recognized that His ministry did not fir the popular conception of what the coming of the Messiah would be like, thus He finished his statement to John almost apologetically, “blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
After John’s people left to go back to John, Jesus uses the platform accorded Him by John’s question to speak to the crowds about their expectations. In speaking to the crowds of his generation, I think Jesus has some very biting words to say to our generation as well.
John Met and Exceeded People’s Expectations
Luke 7:24 When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, “‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John.
John met and exceeded people’s expectations. John serves as a natural contrast to Jesus, just as he has his whole life. Jesus’ point here is that just as much as his own ministry did not meet people’s expectations, John’s ministry on the other hand, met expectations. What did you go out to the wilderness to see? A spineless, spoiled people pleaser? No! You went because you heard that John was a prophet and you wanted to see the spectacle. This was the draw, a true prophet has come in the tradition of the great prophets. People were drawn to the spectacle of seeing something that had not happened for nearly 400 years, a true prophet preaching in Israel. Yet here’s the problem with expectations - sometimes when someone or something meets our expectations we begin to take them for granted and not look more closely at them because they were what we thought they would be, so we still keep them in our own little box.
John met and exceeded their expectations. John was not just any prophet, but was in fact the forerunner and the one sent to announce the Messiah. They went out to see a prophet, but didn’t realize that he was not just any prophet, but the greatest prophet that ever lived.
The greatness of a prophet is measured by the clarity of the message announced. By that standard, John was not only a prophet, but was the greatest prophet who has ever lived, for he pointed out the Messiah in the flesh. You want clarity - there He is! You wanted to see a prophet, john was the greatest there ever was. Yet even though John’s ministry met and exceeded people’s expectations, some people still rejected his ministry. This brings us to a third observation:
John’s Ministry was Received and Rejected by People
Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 29 (When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, 30 but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)
John was a great prophet, yet the one who who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he, and the crowds heard this and justified God, for they had received John’s baptism. This is a confusing statement by Jesus and a curious response noted by Luke as well. John was a great prophet because He pointed to the Messiah, yes, but what does it mean that “the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he”?
Perhaps this: John’s ministry was to direct people to Jesus, yet Jesus was criticized for, directing his ministry to those considered to be the least. John’s ministry pointed people to the Messiah, and as we saw last week, the Messiah’s ministry was pointed toward those who were considered to be the least: the blind, the lame, the leprous, the deaf, the dead, the poor, the outcasts. In the kingdom, the least have been raised up to a place of special honor. John’s ministry, then, signaled the end of the old order of things, and now is Jesus, a kingdom is being proclaimed that turns the conventional patterns and expectations upside-down.
Upon hearing Jesus say this a murmur went through the crowd. For the crowd is filled with people who were labelled the least (v. 21); that is, they were the least before John and Jesus came on the scene. This is why Luke says that they justified God, NIV - they acknowledged God’s way to be right - the very fact that they, the least, had responded so overwhelmingly to John’s message proved that God was right to send a messenger like John. All types of people went out to see John, the spectacle, but only certain people responded to his message of repentance. Just like the reaction to Jesus is divided, so the reaction to John was: The Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. This brings us to the heart of this passage, Jesus’ scathing words of critique.
Jesus’ Critique of the Expectations of the Crowds Luke 7:31 “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”
Here’s the ironic point Jesus is making. Jesus’ own ministry did not meet up to people’s expectations, so people criticized Him. John’s ministry on the other hand met and even exceeded people’s expectations yet people still criticized and rejected him. Jesus says, “Man, this generation acts like children!” Rarely is Jesus so frustrated with us.
- We Still Judge God According to Our Expectations Jesus’ words were pointed to His own generation, yet are we any better? If anything, living is a culture as we are, so saturated with consumerism, probably means that we really have to explore our own hearts. Under a consumeristic mindset, God is a product that we buy, and if he doesn’t meet our expectations, we trade Him in for something else, something more shiny and easy to manage. God is not a product! He is not something for us to buy and sell, and He frankly is not all that concerned with whether he meets our expectations. God’s ways are higher than our ways. Isaiah 55:8-9: "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. When we judge God according to our expectations, we put ourself in the place of God and He becomes our little dancing entertainment. Do this God, no now do this! Let me ask you: when has God failed to meet your expectations? How did you respond? Did you become bitter toward Him because He didn’t do what you wanted? Or did you humbly recognize that He is God and that His ways are higher than your own and His ways may not always be about meeting your expectations, but yet if you trust him you may find that He exceeds your expectations.
- We Still Judge God on the Basis of How His People Meet Our Expectations See some of us would counter that we’d never presume to judge God, but in fact we continually judge God as we judge his people. So we find fault with His people whenever they don’t meet our expectations, and again set ourselves up as judge. Our generation is perhaps the worst at this. We judge churches saying I don’t like his style, or I’m not into that music, or they are just not meeting my needs. Now I want to be careful, because as a person in ministry it may sound like I’m griping, and I’m not trying to gripe, I’m trying to preach this text. And what I learn from this text is that I need to be very careful that my heart isn’t judgmental toward the different forms good ministry takes. That doesn’t mean that it’s never proper for us to evaluate ministries and minsters. In fact, we are told in scripture to evaluate ministries and ministers on the basis of character, maturity orthodoxy, and fruit. 1 Timothy 3 - character and maturity, 2 Timothy 4 orthodoxy and fruit. Yet, we’ve got to be careful and watch our heart when we find ourselves criticizing others simply for stylistic reasons and to whether they are catering to our own expectations.
- God Uses Diverse Approaches to Ministry to Reach People Here is the amazing contrast in this passage. John and Jesus could not have had more different approaches to ministry. John stayed at the margins of society, away from people, preaching at them and calling out to them in fiery messages of judgement. Jesus went to people, finding them, touching them to heal them. Yet Jesus highly commended John for fulfilling the mission God gave him, and notes that John’s ministry was justified by the people who were saved. Wisdom is vindicated by her children. Various approaches to ministry is not a bad thing. I used to get discouraged by all the different denominations and Christian ministries in the city. Wouldn’t it be better if the city had one church doing one thing? After all Jesus prayed that his church would be one as He and the Father were one. So how did my thinking change? I think I understand the Trinity better! Reflection on the Trinity reveals that oneness does not mean sameness. So with God, so with God’s people.
- Don’t Worry About People’s Expectations, Find God’s Call on Your Life and Fulfill Your Ministry.
- God’s Calling: The one thing that John and Jesus shared in common is that they both clearly understood the ministry that God had called them to. What’s yours?
- Fulfilling God’s Call on your life: Be yourself! Don’t try to be someone you aren’t. Find your own voice and style in ministry. You’re not me and I’m not you. And we trust that diversity is a good thing.
- Get thick skin. People will criticize your style. They’ll say that your not doing it right. Why can’t you be more like so and so. Now don’t ignore criticism - there often is something there that God can use to mature you. Yet no one has ever produced fruit for the Lord by pleasing people and catering to everyone’s expectations.
Jesus and John understood God’s call on their lives and lived out that calling in their own lives in different ways. Jesus failed to meet people’s expectations of what the Messiah was to be, John exceeded people’s expectations of what a prophet was to be. Both of them were ultimately killed by people who were not able to receive their message.
After finishing his orientation with the multitudes of new disciples, Jesus returns to the regions around the sea of Galilee to continue in his ministry to the poor and oppressed. In order to understand Luke’s intent for this chapter, I want to start at the end, with the report of these things to John and his response, and explore this question: what is it about the ministry of Jesus that suddenly causes John to doubt as to whether Jesus was indeed the Messiah or merely another prophet preparing the way for someone else? After exploring that question a little bit, then we’ll go back and look at the miracle stories themselves.
Luke 6:35-49 [Audio Link at Bottom]
Today we will continue on with Jesus’ great sermon in Luke Chapter 6. Last week I described this passage as being a sort of orientation for his disciples. Jesus has been gathering quite a following as he goes about ministering to the poor and oppressed and teaching all about the grace of God. As Jesus has had to narrow his focus to keep his mission always in front of himself, so now he orients his disciples around the same mission.
To sum up what we learned last week, Jesus re-oriented us around two major premises. These are basic to our Christian identity. You can’t miss these. If you can’t get the first, you won’t do the second.
- Jesus Re-Orients Us Toward the Source of True Happiness: True happiness is found only in and through our identification with Christ in His sufferings.
- Jesus Re-Orients Us Toward Radical Love for Others: this is nothing less than radical love, a radical reorientation of values. for we are not instructed to love only those who love us, but are to love our enemies, blessing them, praying for them. This love is extended not only in words and in secret (for I can bless someone and pray for someone in private) but it is to be openly and publicly extended to our enemies through actual acts of goodness and kindness. This is not theoretical, but actually requires us to seek out those who hate us, and do what we can to bless them and do to them what we wish that they would do to us. This takes action on our part. Finally, we are to give to others, yes, even our enemies, without asking for anything back in return.
As Jesus re-orients us to find our happiness in Him alone so that we can love our enemies, he goes on to remark that we will join him in His mission by doing two things. Part of our orientation is learning what we are to do.
- Gracefully Emulate the Father
- Humbly Participate in Jesus’ Mission
The first we actually spoke of a the end of last week:
Gracefully Emulate the Father (6:35-38)
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.
Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.
We looked at this quite a bit last week, so I’m not going to spend a lot of time here this morning, but I want you to notice one thing quickly: what quality of the Father are we to emulate as we represent as disciples of Jesus, representing him to the world around us? Be merciful even as your Father is merciful. I am fascinated by what Jesus does here. This construction was well-known to the Jewish people from the book of Leviticus, but there it was stated “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” The people of God were to be known as a people set apart. It would have been shocking to hear Jesus change the most important word in such a well-known construction. Interestingly, this is not the only time Jesus changed the construction to serve his message. In his famous sermon on the mount in Matthew, Jesus is talking to people who would attempt to stand before God on the basis of their own righteousness. You want to stand before God in your own righteousness? “Be therefor must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Good luck with that. Here however, Jesus is talking to those he has healed, those he has saved, those he has forgiven, those who have come to him to find grace, much like many in this room have come to Jesus to find grace, how are we to emulate the Father? Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. We ought to be the least judgmental and condemning people in the room, because we have known that depths of the Father’s mercy and love that He has showered upon us in Christ. This is how we emulate the Father. This is attractive grace.
Humbly Participate in Jesus’ Mission (6:39-42)
He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
Here we have one of the most misapplied passages of Scripture, springing from the instruction to “judge not” from a few verses before and continuing into the removing of the log out of our own eyes. This passage is misapplied when it assumes that any Christian instruction is by its very definition judgement and hypocrisy. So a Christian brother or sister confronts us in sin - we don’t like that so we strike back - judge not! What is missed in this passage is that it assumes that Jesus’s disciples will lead others, teach and take specks out of other’ eyes. Read carefully. If you’re dealing out your opinions indiscriminately, you are like a blind man leading the blind. However, as we are trained by Jesus, our master teacher, we become like him so that we are no longer blind, but like him. Again, notice that yes though we are to remove the logs out of our own eyes, when we do, we will then be able to see clearly to take the specks out of our brother’s eye. Jesus is not telling us not to teach, lead, and disciple others, but that we are to do so carefully, humbly, with great introspection.
So we emulate the Father and we participate with Jesus in His mission, but again, grace comes before guidance. Radical love comes before humble instruction, but is never completely severed from it. Joshua Harris’ Humble Orthodoxy: Harris lays out two alternatives to humble orthodoxy. The first is arrogant orthodoxy, where our doctrine is correct but we are unkind and unloving, where we are self-righteous and spiteful in our words, attitudes and behaviors. The other alternative is humble heterodoxy where a person abandons orthodox Christianity but does it very nicely. Christian orthodoxy should be humbling because of the content of the gospel. We are sinners saved by grace.
So so far in Jesus’ orientation He’s re-oriented us our values toward happiness and radical love, he’s defined for us our function: we are to emulate Father and participate in Christ’s mission of grace and guidance. Finally, He gives us a little bit of guidance as to how we are do do these things. How do we emulate the Father and participate with Jesus in mission.
First, let me ask you a question: How do you approach the Christian life?
Again, just like last week, there are two premises and you can’t get the second without getting the first, though you need them both. To use orientation language -spatial language - we need to be re-oriented so we understand that Jesus is both in us and above us.
- Jesus is In Me: Transformation by the Internal Work of Christ
- Jesus is Above Me: Conformation to the External Words of Christ
Jesus is In Me: Transformation by the Internal Work of Christ (6:43-45)
For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Here Jesus speaks of the natural outflow of a rightly oriented heart. It’s connected to what he’s said before, when we emulate the Father, we produce fruit - do the works of the Father. He this is seen as an inside-out process. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good. When set in the context of scripture we understand that when Luke says “good person with good heart”, this is not something we come to have in and of ourselves, but that this is something God works in us through Christ.
John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Col. 1:27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Gal. 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Eph. 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Jesus changes our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit so that we have a new nature which produces fruit.
Jesus is Above Me: Conformation to the External Words of Christ (Luke 6:46-49)
Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.
Yet almost in the same breath, Jesus paints our maturity as something external. Here is someone who calls Jesus, “Lord” but is not bearing fruit of obedience. Here the process is not as organic but of response, hearing Jesus’ words and doing them. Again, set in the broader context of scripture, we see that it is the word of God that requires a response in us.
1Th. 2:13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
Heb. 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
2Tim. 3:15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
So to Jesus, our spiritual maturity and effectiveness to bear fruit comes from internal and external processes. There is an inside-out process going on even as there is an outside-in response. Our orientation: Jesus is in me, Jesus is above me.
How can this be: the internal life and the external obedience seem like two separate ways to us, at times it seems like there are almost two separate Christianities. One focuses on the inside out, one on the outside in. How do we reconcile the two ways:
- Notice that the bible holds both in perfect harmony: Phil. 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
- Second, I think that it is helpful to contrast the process Jesus is talking to with the another inside-outside process - temptation. We are tempted when our inner desires are awakened and lured away by external stimuli. So I had an inward orientation in my heart, a proclivity toward sin, so when the opportunity to sin comes calling, I am enticed and dragged away. So temptation is both inward and outward. How do I fight temptation? I both have to shore up my inner resources, set my heart on things above, renew my mind, pray that God would captivate and dwell richly in my heart, yet I also must be wise unto righteousness and avoid sin, cut off opportunities to sin, as Jesus taught us to pray, “Lead me not into temptation.” That’s temptation. No let’s compare that to faith and righteousness. I think what Jesus is saying here is that, through faith in him, he are reoriented, our heart’s have a new orientation, so that we in fact are able to produce good fruit. Yet again their is an external process but in this case the external stimuli is the word of Christ, the gospel. So in order to bear fruit and grow secure in your faith, feed on the word of God and respond in obedience, for this will stimulate your inner man unto righteousness.
Set another way, there are four types of people:
- Those whose inner inclination is toward evil, and reject the words of Christ. These are unbelievers and need to hear the gospel and for Christ to change their hearts.
- Those whose inner inclination has been reoriented in Christ, and whose lives are filed with the Word of Christ and marked by obedience. These are generally fruitful Christians who have a good grasp of the inner and outer life.
- Those whose hearts are either still yet unregenerate, or who have withered hearts, who yet still try to obey Christian teaching. The often have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. Religious people displaying outward morality yet decaying within. The answer to these people, often they try to add more obedience, more formality, more rules, but what they need is more inward attention to Christ. They need to experience the joy of their salvation. They need God to grant them a willing spirit to sustain them. (David prayed for both these things in Psalm 51). Christian, if this is you, you need to fall in love with your saviour again. Worship, cry out for the Holy Spirit to change you from within. Set aside the business of life and pray. Pray in the Spirit, sing in the Spirit. Repent and go back to your first love. Turn your eyes upn Jesus and look full in His wonderful face. Personal worship.
- The fourth type is Christians who believe that their inner life is in order, yet simply do not obey the words of Christ. They wrongly equate obedience with legalism, and in their false freedom they have turned the grace of God into a license to sin. They lie to themselves, God is ok with what I’m doing. Me and God, we’ve got an understanding. I’m a spiritual person, so I don’t worry about living my life according to outside rules. Yet there is no foundation in their life and thus they are in a very precarious position. These people need to see Jesus not only as within them, but above them. How can we call him Lord, yet not do what He says?
(Sermon by Adam L.)
The people listening to Jesus did this same thing. They heard what they wanted to hear. And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” Out in the Narthex they threw a party. Jesus, hometown boy, chosen to be the Messiah! Finally our little town will gain some notoriety, this will put on the map. If Messiah has come to Israel and he’s one of us, that’s good right? After all, “Doctors look after their own bodies first right”, so if God’s going to use him to do all these things everywhere else, just think how things are going to be for little old Nazareth!
Let me illustrate for you what is going on. This summer I read an article online about
Marissa Meyer, the new CEO of a small company called Yahoo. Marissa Meyer is the youngest CEO ever of a fortune 500 company, only a year older than me. She also is one of only a few women CEO’s in the tech industry – she’s been called the most powerful woman in tech. It was an interesting article for in the article she talked about her life priorities, for her it is God, family and then Yahoo. But what caught my attention was a reference to the Green Bay Packers, that she grew up a packers fan. Well that’s my part of the country – and then it hit me, Marissa Meyer? I know a Marissa Meyer, and sure enough a quick Wikipedia search later confirmed that she indeed was the Marissa Meyer that graduated from my high school the class before me. My first thought: Woah, our high school’s going to get a nice tech endowment.
I can imagine all Nazareth is like, put us on the map Jesus! Jesus, actually has an answer for them: And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.”
As we begin, I want to introduce you to a couple of ways this passage has been taught, just to mention them, but we’re not going to take either of these approaches today.
• As a Model for Us to Follow: There is some benefit to us to study the temptation story as a model for our struggle with temptation. It is true that just like Jesus, before one enters into a ministry the Lord has called them to, there is often a period of testing. Often the battleground for testing is in solitude – the wilderness, and sometimes a retreat into solitude is necessary for spiritual progress and overcoming temptation. Many commentators have mentioned that the types of bait Satan uses remain the same throughout scripture: the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. Also the strategies for resisting temptation remain the same, being filled with and led by the Holy Sprit, as Jesus was, as well as hiding God’s word in our heart, that we might not sin against God, using the word as a sword, to combat the lies of the enemy. So yes, there is much for us to imitate here as a model for our own struggle against sin. But I’m not going to focus my meditation on this.
• As a Theological Conundrum: For 2000 years theologians have had particular interest in the temptations of Jesus. What does it mean for Jesus to be tempted? How can God be tempted, especially since James 1:13 states that God cannot be tempted by evil? Could Jesus have sinned? If yes, than how is He God? If no, than how can we say he was actually tempted? If you like big $5 theological words, this is the question of Christ’s impeccability. While I don’t want to take a lot of time on this morning, I don’t want to duck the question either, so I’ll just say two things. First, this is a good example of “bumper bowling” theology. The Bible puts down bumpers and as long as our ball remains between them we can disagree with one another and change our position and still find ourselves within the range of orthodoxy. So here are the bumpers: Christ was tempted as we are, Christ was without sin. Secondly, Jesus didn’t cheat the system. The gospel writers present Jesus’ resisting of temptation as an act of his will, not something that just happened because of his divine nature. So a better question is not to ask, “could Jesus have sinned” but “why didn’t Jesus sin.” Because by relying on the Word of God coupled with the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus willed himself not to sin. Here’s an illustration: say a world-class swimmer decides to break the record for swimming, which I believe is around 80 miles. Yet he also doesn’t wish to drown so he hires a boat to follow him. Is it possible for the swimmer to drown? No, because he has the boat. So the swimmer swims the 100 miles - why didn’t the swimmer drown? Because of the boat? No! Because he kept swimming! The boat in this illustration is Jesus’ divine nature – it is impossible for Jesus to sin. Yet Jesus did not sin because he being tempted like us in every way, used the same resources available to us to resist temptation.
Though I’ve said a little about seeing Jesus’ resistance of temptation as a model for us and spoken a little to the theological conundrum, I want to spend the remainder of our time this morning considering the scope and the nature of Jesus’ temptation.
Here’s my hope for today? That you would fall more and more in love with Jesus Christ, the Son of God. That in seeing him more fully, you may love him more dearly. We’ve only scratched the surface. Had we more time this morning I could show in how in Matthew, Jesus being the Son of God means that He is the perfect embodiment of the nation of Israel. How in Hebrews, Jesus being the Son of God means that He is the only perfect representative to stand between God and man. How in Colossians, Jesus being the Son of God means that He is image of the invisible God, holding together the universe and preeminent in all things. The Bibles revelation of the Son of God is so multifaceted, so glorious. Don’t try to force every Son of God passage into your favorite picture. Let the glory of the Son of God in scripture affect you like a perfectly cut diamond, every cut radiating and reflecting the light back at a different angle, so you step back and marvel.