Trying to imagine what it may have been like walking the 7 miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus...
Luke 24:26-27
"Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
This could have been part of what Jesus shared:
Genesis 3:15 points to Jesus as the seed of the woman, coming to destroy the work of the devil but to suffer as he conquers him.
Genesis 22 points to Jesus in the life of Abraham, as the ram who would be our substitute, offering himself up in death to God.
Exodus 33 Moses points to Jesus as he intercedes for God’s people, offering to sacrifice himself if God won’t forgive them.
Leviticus as a whole points to Jesus as our high priest and our sacrifice, making us acceptable to God and mediating with God on our behalf.
In Numbers, we recognize that Jesus suffered so that God’s people could enter the ultimate, heavenly promised land. He is also the bronze serpent, raised up in death, to which if anyone looks, he or she is healed of their sins.
In Deuteronomy, we recognize that Jesus’ takes on the punishment we deserved and his life grants us the blessings of God.
Joshua pictures Jesus, who leads us in the discipling of not just one nation, but all the nations of the world.
In Judges, we recognize that Jesus redeems us through his death and resurrection when we are being oppressed by our sins and enemies.
In Ruth, Jesus is pictured as our kinsman redeemer, giving us an inheritance through his death and resurrection when we have lost ours.
In 1-2 Samuel, David points to Jesus as the king after God’s own heart, whose faith leads him in triumph and who leads us to be faithful.
In 1-2 Kings, Jesus brings unity, not division through his blood, making one united family out of all the nations of the earth (Eph 2:11-22).
In 1-2Chronicles, we see that because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, God’s love continues even after we’ve experienced his discipline and correction.
Ezra pictures Jesus whose death and resurrection makes his people holy and extends the holiness of God into all the nations of the earth.
In Nehemiah, we see that Jesus through his death and resurrection is rebuilding the people of God to serve and worship him and bless the nations.
Esther points to Jesus as the one who received the death penalty for pleading for the life of his people.
Job points to Jesus who was the ultimate undeserving sufferer, yet trusted God in his suffering and blessed his friends.
In the Psalms, we see the prayer life of Jesus, and we see him taking the punishment due to the wicked so that the blessings of the righteous might be given to sinners like us.
Proverbs shows us Jesus, the embodiment of wisdom, taking the punishment of the fools so that they might become wise and receive the blessings that accompany wisdom.
In Ecclesiastes, we see Jesus as the one who worships God and keeps his commandments, which gives us meaning and purpose in a life that often seems meaningless. His life shows there is meaning, his death and resurrection show that God will restore and redeem life under the sun.
In the Song of Solomon we see that marriage, love and sex honor God, and this points to the greater love that Jesus showed us by dying for us on the cross to make us his beloved.
Isaiah shows us Jesus as God with us, who comes to rescue his people by suffering for their sins.
Jeremiah shows us that Jesus keeps the New Covenant for us, guaranteeing blessings to us by removing our sins and restoring us to fellowship with God.
Lamentations shows us the heart of Jesus, who weeps over our brokenness and whose death and resurrection replaces our mourning with joyful song.
Ezekiel shows us that Jesus offers himself in death so God could bring us back to life and strengthen us by his Spirit to be his people filling the world.
Daniel shows Jesus as the king who suffers and is vindicated by God to reign over a kingdom that ends up filing the whole earth.
Hosea shows that Jesus’ death and resurrection redeems us from spiritual slavery and prostitution.
Joel shows that Jesus’ death and resurrection brings the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to strengthen the church.
Amos shows Jesus confronts hypocrites and dies to forgive all who return to God.
Obadiah shows that God will love his people and free them from oppression through Jesus death and resurrection.
Jonah shows that Jesus has to pass through death and resurrection to save us from our self-righteousness, so we can bless the nations around us.
Micah points to Jesus as the descendant of king David, who would come forth from Bethlehem and through his death and resurrection would re-establish the kingdom of God to bless the nations.
Nahum points to Jesus as the coming judge of all the earth, whose death and resurrection seals the judgment against all of his enemies.
Habakkuk shows us Jesus’ death and resurrection guarantees God’s blessings no matter what life’s circumstances.
Zephaniah pictures Jesus as the coming Lord who, in the midst of judging the nations and the hypocrites of Israel, will undergo death and resurrection to restore his people to blessing.
Haggai pictures Jesus as the head of the church who calls and empowers his people to build up the church, so that the blessing of God’s presence might be seen and experienced by all.
Zechariah shows Jesus, our high priest, was pierced for our sake, taking our filthy stained garments of sin and giving us a spotless robes of righteousness.
Malachi shows us that Jesus is coming, and in his death and resurrection he opens heaven to let the blessings flow.
Showing posts with label Luke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Luke. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Application of "Disciples in the Gospel of Luke"
What's the point of the previous post? Understanding this provides powerful protection against two ways that the call to "sell all and follow me" has threatened to destroy the faith of many.
1. There are people who have felt guilty for saving money or for enjoying ANYTHING beyond a subsistence level of living. They have been taught that to really trust God, they should give up everything. The fact that Jesus doesn't issue this call to everyone, and that it was part of a historically unrepeatable era in the history of God's work in the world (namely the earthly ministry of Jesus establishing the kingdom of God) should free people today from feeling a burden that Scripture does not support.
2. Perhaps more prevalent is the notion that to be a "true disciple" requires the giving up of everything, or the leaving family and friends and inheritance and everything that this world offers. There are several instances where Jesus makes some incredibly lofty claims on people who would follow him (i.e. Luke 9:57-62; 14:26-33; 18:22-23). Many genuine Christians who are sensitive and honest about their own struggles and imperfections have been made to feel that they are not worthy to consider themselves disciples because they have not matched up to the requirements that Jesus lays out in these "call to discipleship" passages. The previous study should clear the way to understand that Jesus' call to his disciples to follow him had specific reference to the first century band that went with him to Jerusleam. It doesn't mean that these passages don't also apply to the church today, but we need to be careful to haphazardly apply these texts to ourselves today without making appropriate distinctions.
1. There are people who have felt guilty for saving money or for enjoying ANYTHING beyond a subsistence level of living. They have been taught that to really trust God, they should give up everything. The fact that Jesus doesn't issue this call to everyone, and that it was part of a historically unrepeatable era in the history of God's work in the world (namely the earthly ministry of Jesus establishing the kingdom of God) should free people today from feeling a burden that Scripture does not support.
2. Perhaps more prevalent is the notion that to be a "true disciple" requires the giving up of everything, or the leaving family and friends and inheritance and everything that this world offers. There are several instances where Jesus makes some incredibly lofty claims on people who would follow him (i.e. Luke 9:57-62; 14:26-33; 18:22-23). Many genuine Christians who are sensitive and honest about their own struggles and imperfections have been made to feel that they are not worthy to consider themselves disciples because they have not matched up to the requirements that Jesus lays out in these "call to discipleship" passages. The previous study should clear the way to understand that Jesus' call to his disciples to follow him had specific reference to the first century band that went with him to Jerusleam. It doesn't mean that these passages don't also apply to the church today, but we need to be careful to haphazardly apply these texts to ourselves today without making appropriate distinctions.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Disciples in the Gospel of Luke
So while finishing my sermon last Sunday on Jesus' encounter with the Rich Ruler, I re-read the entire gospel of Luke, trying to determine if the call to "sell everything and follow me" was universal to all the people Jesus talked to, or if it was something special just for the rich ruler.
I learned two things:
1. No, this was not the universal of Jesus to everyone. At least 29 times in the gospel, the call from Jesus was not to sell everything, or to leave everything, and in those times, it also wasn't a call to "follow him." Most of the time in Luke, Jesus was content to affirm people's faith and trust in him, and did not encourage people to give up everything to follow him.
In the 13 instances where people were either told or did leave everything and follow Jesus, it refers to one of three groups of people:
a. The 12
b. The 70
c. The rich ruler
What we have here is a window into understanding how to categorize the people of faith during the ministry of Jesus. You could think about it in terms of two concentric circles. The outer circle was comprised of those who had faith that Jesus was the savior and were living under his authority. The inner circle were those people who were committed to following Jesus to Jerusalem.
This is helpful because it explains the flow of the conversation between the Rich Ruler and Jesus. The Rich Ruler asks Jesus how he can inherit eternal life. After confronting his flattery, Jesus tells him that if he wants to inherit eternal life, he needs to be in the outer circle. You can tell who will inherit eternal life by looking at the fruit of their life. Those who keep covenant with God will inherit eternal life.
In his self-deception and self-righteousness, the Rich Ruler responds to Jesus by expressing his opinion that he's in the outer circle. So Jesus pushes him by inviting him into the inner circle so that the Rich Ruler would understand that he's not in either circle. This is why Jesus issues this unusual call to him.
2. The word disciple in Luke is not synonymous with person who believes in Jesus as the Messiah. In Luke, the disciples were those people who were traveling with Jesus and following him to Jerusalem. Revisiting the notion of the two concentric circles above, if you read through the gospel, the disciples were in the inner circle, the rest of the believers were in the outer circle.
Having said this, the word does take on a broader meaning after the resurrection of Jesus.
That's it for now.
I learned two things:
1. No, this was not the universal of Jesus to everyone. At least 29 times in the gospel, the call from Jesus was not to sell everything, or to leave everything, and in those times, it also wasn't a call to "follow him." Most of the time in Luke, Jesus was content to affirm people's faith and trust in him, and did not encourage people to give up everything to follow him.
In the 13 instances where people were either told or did leave everything and follow Jesus, it refers to one of three groups of people:
a. The 12
b. The 70
c. The rich ruler
What we have here is a window into understanding how to categorize the people of faith during the ministry of Jesus. You could think about it in terms of two concentric circles. The outer circle was comprised of those who had faith that Jesus was the savior and were living under his authority. The inner circle were those people who were committed to following Jesus to Jerusalem.
This is helpful because it explains the flow of the conversation between the Rich Ruler and Jesus. The Rich Ruler asks Jesus how he can inherit eternal life. After confronting his flattery, Jesus tells him that if he wants to inherit eternal life, he needs to be in the outer circle. You can tell who will inherit eternal life by looking at the fruit of their life. Those who keep covenant with God will inherit eternal life.
In his self-deception and self-righteousness, the Rich Ruler responds to Jesus by expressing his opinion that he's in the outer circle. So Jesus pushes him by inviting him into the inner circle so that the Rich Ruler would understand that he's not in either circle. This is why Jesus issues this unusual call to him.
2. The word disciple in Luke is not synonymous with person who believes in Jesus as the Messiah. In Luke, the disciples were those people who were traveling with Jesus and following him to Jerusalem. Revisiting the notion of the two concentric circles above, if you read through the gospel, the disciples were in the inner circle, the rest of the believers were in the outer circle.
Having said this, the word does take on a broader meaning after the resurrection of Jesus.
That's it for now.
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