Sermon Video

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

ANZAC Day 2010 - The Difference a Great Commander Makes

ANZAC Day 2010
The Difference A Great Commander Makes
Luke 7:1-10


I’ve titled today’s message “The Difference a Great Commander Makes”, and as we read the story from Luke 7 a little earlier you may have assumed that the commander I am referring to is the centurion mentioned in the story. He was a commander in the Roman army and a person of great significance in the community.

For sure he was a man who exhibited a number of signs of greatness, which we’ll talk about a little later, but the most impressive demonstration of his character was in the way he acknowledged Jesus as someone greater than himself. (Kind of reminds you of John the Baptiser doesn’t it)! Here was a man who enjoyed respect and commanded obedience because of the position he held and the way he treated others, yet he feels unworthy to have Jesus enter his home. He believes that Jesus can command his servant to be well and it will be so, regardless of where Jesus is when He makes that command. Such faith impressed Jesus greatly, and it provides a great lesson to us.

Before we explore that lesson today I want to fill you in a little bit on why we’re looking at this today - we 6 weeks into a study in the gospel of John and suddenly we’re darting over to the gospel of Luke! The reason is ANZAC Day. We’re going to take a brief look at some of the events surrounding the Gallipoli campaign that was the first combat action that the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps faced, landing in what is now called ANZAC Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula on April 25th, 1915.

First, let me fill you in a little bit on what was going on on the political scene. The Ottoman Empire (what we now call Turkey) was becoming allied with Germany and the other Axis powers, and had been attacking Russia in the Black Sea and across the Caucasus mountains. Russia asked Great Britain to attack Turkey from the Mediterranean in order to distract the Turks from attacking them, and also to provide a way for Russia to receive supplies since they were almost completely cut off from their allies in Europe.

The idea was to sail a fleet of warships up a narrow passage called the Dardanelles and to capture the Ottoman capital city of Istanbul, which would take Turkey out of the war and provide a sea link for Allied supplies and reinforcements.

What most people don’t realise is that British agents were in secret negotiations with the Ottoman Empire, and had been authorised to offer them 4 million pounds to withdraw from the war. However on March 15th 1915 they were ordered to cease negotiations because the British had discovered that the Turks were short of ammunition for their forts guarding the Dardanelles. They decided to use military force rather than political persuasion and bribery, and the result was over 140,000 Allied casualties and over a quarter of a million Turkish casualties - 130,000 men killed and 260,000 wounded. If only they’d known that the costs would be so high and their objectives would never be met. I think it would have changed their decision!

Three days later on March 18, 18 British and French battleships, escorted by smaller warships, attacked the Dardanelles forts. One officer wrote that ‘it looked as if no human power could withstand such an array of might and power’. Yet 3 of the battleships were sunk, leading them to abandon the naval push until ground forces could neutralise the forts. If only they’d known that those forts were almost out of ammunition and would probably not have withstood another naval assault.

After a horrific landing operation on April 25th, a commander of one the British landing forces walked to within 500 meters of the strategic village of Krithia. If only they’d known that the village had been abandoned, they could have rushed to occupy it on that first day. Instead they spent time consolidating their positions on the beaches, and never got so close to Krithia again.

On August 7th the ANZACs mounted a coordinated assault on the high ground of Chunuk Bair and Baby 700. (Remember the ANZACs had been pinned down on the beaches below those ridges for months). The New Zealand force was to take the highest peak of Chunuk Bair in a surprise attack during the night. An Australian Battalion was also to take out the machinegun positions that guarded the ridge called the Nek leading to a hill called Baby 700. Then artillery units would bombard the Turkish trenches at Baby 700 and two regiments of Australian Light Horse would climb out of their trenches and attack the Turkish lines in waves of 150 men at a time (by the way they’d left their horses in Egypt!) While this was happening the New Zealanders were to storm down from the peak at Chunuk Bair to catch the Turks from the rear in a classic hammer-and-anvil manoeuvre.

However the New Zealanders did not capture Chunuk Bair till the following day, and the machinegun positions overlooking the Nek were also not destroyed. Nevertheless the attack was ordered to begin. Unfortunately, the officer in charge of the artillery barrage had not synchronised his watch with the officer in charge of the ground assault, and the result was there was 7 minutes between the barrage stopping and the ground attack starting. This meant that the Turks had time to re-take their positions and were warned in advance that an attack was about to occur. The first wave over the Nek were slaughtered, as was the second. One officer tried to halt the attack, but was overruled. However as the third wave stalled the attack was finally called off. Unfortunately the message did not get to the officer in charge of the fourth wave, who commanded his men to continue the attack. About 80 more men left their trench and were mown down before the order was finally passed through. If only they’d known.

This is pretty depressing and frustrating stuff. But ANZAC is meant to remind us of these things. It’s to remind us that war is not glorious, it’s ugly and futile and we need to do everything we can to avoid it, and to rescue those around our world who are caught up in it.

But there are also some important spiritual truths that relate to our everyday lives that I want to share with you, based on what we have been reflecting upon so far.

Romans 8:28-39
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

As the ANZAC story demonstrates, we make plans thinking we have the resources to carry them out, but so often they fail. God has a purpose for us, but His purposes never fail. He knew the outcome of His plan before He even began the first step of putting it into place. God foreknew us as His children before we ever accepted His offer of new birth into His family. He predestined us to be made like Jesus before we had even breathed our first breath. Because he knew and planned out these things, He has done what is necessary to bring them about.

31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I want you to understand there is a spiritual battle being described here. The objective for this battle is not a thin strip of land in Turkey as it was for the ANZACS, the objective is our membership in God’s family. The objective is our participation in God’s eternal Kingdom. The objective is for us to know the love of God that will never be exhausted and can never be overcome.

Many people have thought that achieving that objective is through some sort of human endeavour – being good enough, being religious enough, being generous enough or whatever.

But none of us are capable of winning that battle. None of us can achieve peace with God. None of us deserve to be included in His family, allowed into His kingdom. Despite our best efforts we all break God’s laws and we are all corrupted by evil which God cannot accept.

The good news is that God has dealt with this problem for us. Jesus’ death and resurrection has won us forgiveness and victory over sin. Our acceptance by God does not depend on what we do by but on our acceptance of He’s done. Our enemy, Satan, would like to prevent us from living in God’s kingdom, and he accuses us of things that would make God have to reject us. But because our sins are dealt with by Jesus, Satan does not have a leg to stand on. He does not possess greater power with which to steal us away from God, and since Christ has taken the evil stain from us Satan has no claim on us for himself. We are washed clean! We are safe! The victory is won, not by us but by our great Commander, Jesus Christ.

Now I want you to notice the things Paul lists from verse 35:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

Is Paul saying that God’s love and power protects us from these things – prevents us from experiencing them? Nope, he’s writing to people who are and will be going through exactly these sorts of things! The encouragement is that none of these can steal the victory that Christ has won for us. None of these things can steal our eternal salvation. None of them can stop us from experiencing the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and all that He produces within us: love, joy, peace, patience and so on. None of these things can separate us from God’s all-conquering love.

That’s a mindset that you really need to develop. Too often we use tough circumstances as an excuse for ungodly behaviour and attitudes. We agree that forgiveness is important but what that person did was just too horrible. We agree that you shouldn’t break the law but we were running late for work so we went faster or ran that red light. We agree that we shouldn’t take our anger out on other people but it was a hard day at work – couldn’t the kids see I was exhausted?

Yesterday we had 5 guys for basketball which meant none of us got a rest. I played almost the whole second half with a stitch! During that half the ref made what I thought was a tough call against one of our guys after an opposition player yelled out some advice! I said to the ref that it was the wrong call and that he shouldn’t let that player tell him how to referee the game. I wasn’t being aggressive but that comment was still out of line. It was not respectful or loving to the referee and did not show godly character. A bit later I came alongside the ref and apologised, and I need to make sure I don’t do it again. Regardless of what any other player is doing or how well I think the referees are going, I need to live by the Spirit and show the fruit of the Spirit in my conduct. Circumstances are not God – don’t allow them to control you the way only God should. Jesus has won the victory so live in that victory.

You might say “If God loves us so much why does he allow us to suffer in these sorts of ways? Why doesn’t he take away my sickness or restore my loved one or prevent that crime and so on.”

You might have had the misfortune of hearing so-called Christian teachers who teach people to actually abandon the way of Christ and expect God to give them nothing but ease, health, pleasure and wealth.

There are many things we could say about that today, but I’m going to restrict myself to focussing on just one approach to that question.

Let’s go back to Luke 7:1-10.
When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them.

This centurion is a great guy. The Jewish leaders in Capernaum love him, which is really unusual! Normally Jews would despise Gentiles and especially a centurion in the oppressing Roman army! They would not associate with such a person, certainly never enter their house or eat with them. Yet this man respects their religion so much that he has even built them a house of study and worship – a synagogue. So the elders go on his behalf to ask Jesus to heal his critically ill servant for him. It was probably quite humbling for the elders to do this, but such was their respect and appreciation for the Roman.

But notice the way the elders speak to Jesus – “This man deserves to have you do this for him, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue”.

Does that sound a bit rich to you? Imagine praying to God in that way “Lord, you should heal so and so because they have served you more faithfully than most others do”; or “Lord, after all I’ve given to the Church over the years can’t you just help me through these financial problems?”.

I don’t think too many of us would be that blatant about it, but I do wonder whether sometimes we have a sense of entitlement that is not appropriate. God has given us everything in Jesus, yet sometimes we demand what we think we deserve. Well if God gave us what we deserve we’d all be in a lot of trouble!

Sometimes we don’t trust our all-knowing and all-powerful Commander to accomplish His good purposes that come from His love for us. When the going gets rough we think that Satan must be winning, or circumstances have got the upper hand. Something’s gone wrong. Nope, in “all things God works for the good of those who love Him” (Rom 8:28). We need to learn to tune in to the good work that God is doing instead of allowing those things to interrupt our relationship with Him. We need to learn to trust in His love for us and His power at work in and for us. We need to learn that His purposes are bigger than temporary comfort, possessions, status and so on. As hard as it is sometimes, faith shifts us to a greater perspective. Look at the perspective that the centurion has:

Luke 7:6-10
“Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

The centurion doesn’t use the usual term “Rabbi” when addressing Jesus, he calls Him “Lord”. A commander in an occupying army of the world’s greatest empire calls a wandering teacher in a fairly obscure corner of that empire “Lord”! Not only that, but he does not consider himself worthy of Jesus’ personal attention and presence. He believes that Jesus has such authority as to be able to command miracles at a distance, and Jesus proves him to be correct in that judgement.

Is it wrong to ask God for miracles? Absolutely not. But ask knowing who is Lord. Don’t ask with a sense of entitlement, ask with humility.

I listened to a sermon recently where the preacher was commenting on the way most Christians pray. We pray as if God were our servant, not our master. We bring a list of things that we would like God to do. His suggestion was that we need to spend more time asking God what He would like us to do.

This centurion knew about authority, and he knew Jesus had it. He was familiar with battlefield dynamics and how difficult it can be to have orders properly followed, but he seemed to recognise that if Jesus said something it was as good as done.

Let’s finish by going back to Gallipoli. The Gallipoli campaign was very complex, and there were a lot of things that were done very well. Ultimately though it failed primarily because of bad decisions from those in command.

Imagine being a soldier in an army where the Commander knew absolutely everything. His plans always succeeded. He was completely undefeatable. Would you be trying to tell that Commander what to do, or would you be asking that Commander what His orders were for you to carry out? Imagine the confidence you would have in carrying out those orders knowing that they had come from this Commander. That’s what it’s like to live with Jesus in charge of your life.
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Monday, April 19, 2010

Discovering Jesus Pt 6 - John 1:35-51


Discovering Jesus Pt 6
John 1:35-51
18/04/2010




The series we are doing in the Gospel of John is entitled “Discovering Jesus”, and as we go through the book I hope you really will discover the amazing picture of who Jesus is that John paints for us through the stories he tells of Jesus’ life.

John starts by introducing us to Jesus and then to John the Baptiser, and once he’s done that he proceeds to tell us about one incredible week that began Jesus’ earthly ministry.  This one week sets the tone for everything that will happen afterward.  All of the key characters are introduced, and so is the tension that is going to drive the events of the gospel toward a dramatic conclusion.

Let’s do a quick recap of the people and events of the first two days, that Chris went through with us last week.

We have John, who is baptising people with a baptism of repentance, which was also a baptism performed by John instead of a self-administered ceremonial washing as people were used to.  John’s baptism required recognition both of our sin and our helplessness – we cannot save ourselves.  As John is baptising people in this way Jesus appears, who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  He is the fulfilment of what John is doing.

So you have these partners – John the forerunner, the one who prepares the way, and Jesus, who is the fulfilment, the One who completes the work.

We now have the first two characters in our story, Jesus and John the Baptiser.  Next is a group of characters which I’ve simply called the Religious Leaders.  The religious leaders are described in a number of different ways in the gospels, depending on who’s doing what at the time.  Religious leaders were people such as Priests, Scribes, Levites and Elders – they were the people who held some type of religious office that gave them authority.  Many of these people were part of Sanhedrins – ruling councils in towns and cities.  The most senior of them were part of the Great Sanhedrin which met in the temple courts in Jerusalem.  These religious leaders also tended to be identified by other labels.  Some belonged to the party of the Pharisees, others belonged to the party of the Sadducees.  There were other groups as well which pop up from time to time in the gospels.  The key idea is that there is this whole hierarchy of religious leaders who have a lot of clout in every part of Jewish national life.  There are different parties and different people all trying to gain influence and popularity, but it is this group who run the show.  They are the keepers of the Kingdom of God on Earth.  They are the Righteous ones.  They are in control.

And so you have John as Chris described last week as a prophet out of control – out of their control.  He was under God’s control.  He’s telling the religious leaders that they need to repent just like everyone else.  He has the audacity to say that they are not righteous and that they are not in control, they need help!  What an arrogant upstart this guy seems to be!

These leaders are the people that you are supposed to go to for help if you want to be righteous.  You bring your offering, they sacrifice it for you so you can be cleansed.  Every year they present sacrifices for the cleansing of the whole nation.  Every year it’s one of them who enters into the holy of holies to make atonement for the nation by sprinkling blood on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant so God would forgive the sins of the nation.  Every day they sit and teach people and make decisions about disputes – they are the authority in all religious matters and most of the civil matters and John thinks that they need to be baptised by him?  Ridiculous!

Was this John full of himself?  No, he was full of the Spirit!  When Jesus appeared John acknowledged him, and realised that unlike the religious leaders Jesus had no need of a baptism of repentance.  However as we read in the other gospels, Jesus did want to be baptised both as an example for us and identification with us but more significantly as Chris explained last week, it marked the beginning of His priestly ministry on our behalf.

So there we have the primary characters in the story: Jesus, John the Baptiser and the Jewish Religious Leaders.  Before I introduce you to the supporting cast I want to point out a few more things about Jesus and John.

The Religious Leaders represented the status quo – they represented what God had done in the past, which had slowly been corrupted and made into primarily a human enterprise.  God was not in it anymore, He was doing a new thing that these leaders did not even recognise.  They didn’t know who John was supposed to be (vv19-28 tell us about that) and they did not recognise Jesus either despite John clearly informing them of His presence and His status.

To be fair, there were some religious leaders who did respond to John and to Jesus and we’ll meet some of them soon, but for the most part the religious leaders stood against what God was doing through John and through Jesus.

Now John removed himself from mainstream society.  He went out into remote places, ate weird food and wore weird clothes.  He never allowed any alcohol to touch his lips.  He called people out of their normal environment to come and repent and be made right with God. 

Contrast that with Jesus.  Jesus stayed in towns and hung out with all the worst people.  He was called a glutton and a drunkard because that’s what people who he hung out with were often like.  He went to where people were in order to make them right with God.

If you were trying to figure out what a righteous person looks like, John and Jesus would just leave you confused.

Jesus says in Luke 7:33-34
33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”’ 35 But wisdom is proved right by all her children.” [1]

This one incredible week begins with John calling people out of their normal lives and normal environments in order to come and be made right with God.  The week finishes with Jesus going into the fairly normal environment of a wedding celebration and being God with them (remember one of His names was Immanuel – God With Us).  We’ll explore that story in a few weeks time – it’s a real blockbuster!  Most of us don’t realise just what a big deal it was for Jesus do what He did at that wedding, so stay tuned for that one.

But for now, let’s just be clear on what’s happening in chapter one.  We have Jesus and John, both doing the Father’s will but doing it in very different ways.  John is the forerunner, Jesus is the fulfiller.  Then you have the religious leaders who hold all of the official positions and who seem like the people who are in charge of God’s work, but they are for the most part not even involved in it.  God has begun a new work and they haven’t joined Him in it.  In fact, they are opposing it.  They are opposing it because they don’t understand it.  They are opposing it because they don’t agree with it.  They are opposing it because they are not in control of it.

OK, now it’s time to get to know our supporting cast of characters.  Remember, these are not made up characters but real people involved in real events.  The more we understand these people the better we will understand the story and what it means for us today.

As we go through our passage today we get to meet some of these people.

John 1:35-36
35 The next day [we’re into day three now!]  John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

So here we find John’s Disciples mentioned.  I want to fill you in a little bit on what a disciple actually was in this situation.  A disciple was a student, someone who was being trained by the rabbi – the teacher.  However it was not anything like what we do in our society in terms of students coming into a classroom and then going home again afterward.  To be a disciple meant living alongside the rabbi in order to learn from how he lived as well as what he said. 

In fact, it wasn’t just rabbi’s who had disciples, it was normal practice in other occupations for this to happen also.  If you wanted to be a master carpenter for example you would go live with one, be part of his family and immerse yourself in his whole life in order to become like him.  As the master considered you to have a solid grasp the basics he would give you more and more opportunity to join in with the more challenging parts of his craft.

A disciple would see how his master conducted himself and how he applied his knowledge and skill in everyday situations.  Wisdom is caught more than taught.  Disciples need not only teaching but training.  That’s why Christian fathers for example are told to bring up their children “in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Eph 6:4).  Not just instruction - not just telling them what to believe and how to behave - but training them by being an example, letting them see how you apply your faith to life, and helping them to do the same thing.

A disciple would also serve his master.  In the Old Testament we have an example in Elisha, who was the personal attendant of Elijah, which involved pouring water on his hands for washing (1 Kings 3:11).  Later Jewish writings contain the following rule for disciples: “All acts a slave performs for his master, a disciple performs for his rabbi, except untying the sandal”[2].

So John has these disciples who may even have joined him in eating honey and locusts and abstaining from alcohol.  They would have stayed with him in remote places rather than enjoying the comforts of normal home life and participation in normal social events.  As they did that they had the opportunity to see the genuine work of God in and through John, and they modelled themselves after him.

Remember though that John was a man unlike any other.  He was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth (Lk 1:14).  Jesus described him as the greatest person who had lived up to that point in history (Matt 11:11).  Imagine that!  Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Plato, Confucius, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon…. none of the great figures of history are seen by Jesus as being greater than John the Baptiser. 

It’s no wonder that he attracted disciples.  It’s also little wonder that these disciples held him in the highest regard.  They would have tried their hardest to emulate his life and his teaching, yet since they did not have the aid of the indwelling Holy Spirit they would have constantly fallen short.  Having the Holy Spirit indwelling us does not make us instantly perfect – you and I know that.  John the Baptiser was not perfect.  But he was a man of immense spiritual power and character.

Now John points two of them to a greater teacher to follow – Jesus the Lamb of God. 

John 1:37-38
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

Have you ever been struck by their response to Jesus’ question?  They’ve come to check out this Lamb of God, and when asked what they want they say “Where are you staying?”!

Why didn’t they ask “Why did John call you the Lamb of God?”, or “Where did that voice come from that said ‘This is my Son’?”, or “How will you baptize people with the Holy Spirit?”?

“Where are you staying” seems like a pretty lame opening question to me!

But think about what it meant to be a disciple.  It meant attaching yourself to your teacher.  It meant living with them and serving them.  I think that what these two disciples were doing here was politely offering themselves as potential disciples of Jesus.  At the very least they are indicating a desire to travel for a while with Him and learn more about Him.

You would never just invite yourself to be the disciple of a rabbi – it was an honour reserved for the most gifted students.  In asking where He was staying they opened the door for Jesus to invite them to accompany Him if He wished to do so.

Remember that John the Baptiser considered Jesus to be so great that he was not even worthy to untie the thongs of Jesus’ sandals.  In other words, John did not consider himself to be worthy of being a slave of Christ, let alone a disciple.  If John isn’t worthy of being a disciple of Jesus, who is?

What hope was there for these two disciples of John, when even their master – the greatest man in history - was not worthy?

John 1:39
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.

The two disciple may not be worthy in themselves to be disciples of Jesus, but they are invited anyway!  They got to spend the day with Him, and as we learn later on they are invited to be with Jesus for the rest of His ministry. 
How do they respond to this gracious invitation from Jesus?

John 1:40-42
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

Here we find out the name of one of those two disciples of John – it’s Andrew.  The other one was probably the John who wrote this gospel, as he has a habit of not naming himself or drawing attention to himself.

He does point out Andrew’s response.  When Andrew realises that this great teacher was willing to accept disciples like him, he races off to fetch his brother Simon.  Notice Andrew’s faith – he straight away identifies Jesus as the Messiah, the anointed ruler that God promised would deliver His people.

Andrew is so excited to have found the Messiah and to have become a follower of the Messiah that he spontaneously does what Jesus would later command all of us to do – go and make disciples.  He goes to get his brother Simon and says, “We have found the Messiah”; and brings Simon to meet Jesus for himself.

The name Simon means “to hear” or “to listen” and he lives up to that by listening to Andrew and coming to meet Jesus.  There he receives a new name, “Cephas”, which is an Aramaic name which when translated into Greek is “Peter”.  This name means “Rock”, and is a hint of the foundational role that Peter will play in the work that Jesus is doing, the establishing of the Church.

It’s quite likely that John also fetched his brother James to come and meet Jesus around this point of time, but we don’t know from the gospel whether that occurred or not.

We do get to meed two other new disciples of Jesus, Philip and Nathanael.

John 1:43-51
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.

So here we have Philip invited to be a disciple and again his response is to go get someone else, in this case Nathanael.  By the way, Nathanael is not mentioned in the other gospels but a man named Bartholomew is.  There’s a good chance that Nathanael was known by a couple of different names, which was not unusual.

Anyhow, Philip says that they have found the one written about in the law and in the prophets – Jesus of Nazareth.  Nathanael’s response is classic – “Nazareth (pffff)”!

This might show that Nathanael has a bit of a prejudice against the flyspeck, peasant village of Nazareth.  It was out of the way and unimportant in every respect, although there is a possibility that a Roman garrison was housed there.  I think what it actually shows is that Nathanael was familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures. 

The Jews expected that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem, not Nazareth (Matt 2:1-12).  Most of the action surrounding the Messiah was to be centred on Jerusalem.  What did the Galilean village of Nazareth have to do with anything?

There’s an interesting mention of Nazareth in relation to prophecy in Matthew chapter 2, but the reality was that no-one at the time could ever have expected the Messiah to come from there or that God would have any particular interest in the place.

This was a time when many Jews yearned for the Messiah to appear and liberate them from Roman oppression.  They were studying the Scriptures intently to find clues that pointed to His arrival. 

The idea that the Messiah might have come from Nazareth, undetected by the scholars and leaders would have seemed a little silly to Nathanael, but nevertheless he goes to investigate.

John 1:47-51
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

This is great stuff!  Nathanael is a true Israelite who studies the Scriptures diligently and sincerely, yet his understanding is not complete.  Jesus shows him that He has authority to correct the misunderstandings of Nathanael and other students of the Scriptures by demonstrating His divine knowledge.

Simply revealing his knowledge of what Nathanael was doing before Philip called him was enough to convince Nathanael, who responds with an incredible statement of faith “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel”.

Jesus’ response is fascinating.  He uses Nathanael’s knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures to say something amazing about Himself, and what Nathanael would come to experience in the future.

He says: “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.”

Indeed, Nathanael would witness many miracles and ultimately Christ’s resurrection and ascension. 

 51 He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Jesus is making reference to the story of Jacob in Genesis 28.  Jesus had already referred to Jacob earlier on when He called Nathanael a “true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false”.  The Israelites are named after their ancestor Israel, whose name used to be Jacob.  Jacob used deception to get what he wanted before God wrestled with him and gave him a new name – a new identity.  Nathanael was a true Israelite, not a deceiver like Jacob had been.

Before his name change, Jacob had been given a vision of a ladder from Earth to Heaven, with angels ascending and descending on it.  God repeated the promises that He had given to Abraham, and promised Jacob that “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.” (Gen 28:14). 

We read in Genesis 28:16-17: “16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” [3]

He called that place Bethel, which means “House of God”.

Roughly 2000 years later Jesus says to Nathanael that instead of the angels ascending and descending between Heaven and Earth on a ladder touching down at Bethel; Nathanael will witness them doing so on Him.  He is the new ladder between Heaven and Earth.  He is the dwelling of God on Earth.  He is the gate of Heaven.

That would have blown Nathanael’s mind!  The fulfilment of all of God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was standing here right in front of him.  The history and the future of his nation - in fact the entire world - was all wrapped up in Jesus Christ.

Nathanael called Him the Son of God; Jesus called Himself the Son of Man – in truth He is both: Son of God, Son of Man, the bridge between Heaven and Earth.

And so we have our new group of characters – disciples of Jesus. 

Our last group of characters I have simply called “The Crowd”.  There are a whole bunch of people who pop up in various stories in the gospel, and there is usually a group of people listening or watching what is going on.  Their reactions as well as their lack of reaction at times is very interesting, and we’ll monitor that as we go through.

So far we have covered the first four days of one incredible week that John begins his gospel with. 
q     On day one John the Baptiser tells the religious leaders, his disciples and the crowds about a greater one in their midst whose sandals John is not even worth to untie. 
q     On day 2 he identifies Jesus as this great person – the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the One who would baptise with the Holy Spirit. 
q     On day 3 he again identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God, and two of his disciples leave him in order to follow Jesus.  Jesus now has 3, possibly 4 disciples following Him – Andrew, John, Peter and James.
q     On day 4 Jesus gains another 2 disciples, Philip and Nathanael.

Jesus and His disciples then travel up to the town of Cana in Galilee, where on day 7 of this first week Jesus performs His first recorded miracle, turning water into wine.  We’re going to be studying that amazing story in a few weeks time.

Conclusion
In closing, I want to ask you to do something that I think will be of great help to you.

Today I’ve given you a fair bit of information about 5 of our characters or groups of characters in the story.  This is built on what Chris and I have already shared with you in previous weeks.

I would love for you to take this simple list away, together with whatever notes you might have made, and ask God to speak to you through each of them.  Read through chapter one of John’s gospel again in your own time and ask God to speak to you personally.

Are you willing to follow after Jesus like those two disciples of John?  Are you bringing others to Jesus like Andrew and Philip?  Are you receiving a new identity from Jesus like Simon Peter?  Are you devoutly studying the Scriptures like Nathanael, being open to having your own understandings challenged as Jesus speaks to you?  Do you consider Jesus as highly as John the Baptiser did?

As the Apostle John tells these stories to help us get to know Jesus, are you growing in your faith in Jesus and your worship of Him as we discover more of His majesty and what He means to each one of us?

[1]Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptures are from The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[2] The Babylonian Talmud (Ketubot 9a), quoted in Spangler & Tverberg, “Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus”, Zondervan, 2009.
[3]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ge 28:16). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
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Monday, April 12, 2010

Discovering Jesus Pt 5 - John 1:19-34


Prophet Out of Control!

John the Baptiser did not fit within the religious system of his day - he was not controlled by the status quo.  The Jewish leaders did not know what to do with him and the radical baptism that he performed. 

By not towing the line of human structures and regulations, John was able to respond to the control of God's Spirit in pointing people toward Christ - something which the religious leaders were mostly unable and unwilling to do.

The question for us is who is in control - is it the set systems that we have grown accustomed to?  Is it our own prideful independence?  John's baptism called people to recognise their own inability to be righteous and instead to rely on God for forgiveness and cleansing.  Jesus appeared as the Lamb who would take away the sins of the world - the one who makes that forgiveness and cleansing possible.

Will we hand over control of our lives to Him?  Will we relinquish our own control?  Will we stop being controlled by other people and other people's rules?
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Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Easter Sunday 2010 - The Reality of the Resurrection



Matthew 27:57 – 28:10
57 As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, 58 went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him. 59 Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. 60 He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. 61 Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.
The Guard at the Tomb
62 The next day, on the Sabbath, the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate. 63 They told him, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ 64 So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.”
65 Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure it the best you can.” 66 So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it.
The Resurrection
28 Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.
2 Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. 3 His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. 4 The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.
5 Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. 7 And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”
8 The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message. 9 And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”
The Report of the Guard
11 As the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened. 12 A meeting with the elders was called, and they decided to give the soldiers a large bribe. 13 They told the soldiers, “You must say, ‘Jesus’ disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole his body.’ 14 If the governor hears about it, we’ll stand up for you so you won’t get in trouble.” 15 So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say. Their story spread widely among the Jews, and they still tell it today.
[1]

I want to talk about 2 key questions this morning:
  1. Did Jesus really come back to life on the third day?
    Most people are happy to accept Jesus as a really good man, an inspired teacher who even possibly chose to sacrifice himself for others, but isn’t it a bit much to expect intelligent people to believe that he expected to come back to life on the third day and then actually pulled that off?  Isn’t it a bit much to expect an angel to move the stone and for Jesus to suddenly appear and disappear in a bunch of different locations before leaving to go and be in Heaven with God the Father?  Surely that’s just a story his followers made up.

  1. Does it matter anyway?
    What difference does it make if you believe that story or not anyway?  Can’t you follow the teachings of Jesus just as well if you don’t go in for that resurrection stuff?

We’re going to start with the second question before we come back to look at the first.  We need to decide if the resurrection really matters to see if it’s even worth bothering to find out if it happened or not.

Does the Resurrection Really Matter?

I was watching the news on TV last night and I saw a report about a group of three friends who put in to buy a Lotto ticket together.  They won 13 million bucks!  The problem is, that money has been frozen by the courts because the three guys have gotten into a fight about how it should be split up between them!

It reminds me of a story in the gospel of Luke…

Luke 12:13-21
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

Do you see what Jesus is saying here?

We don’t know how long we have on this earth.  From God’s point of view, thinking only of our own happiness and comfort on this earth, with no thought of eternity, is foolishness.  He wants the person in the crowd to stop fighting about money, which is temporary and can only buy temporary pleasures, and start thinking about what God thinks of his life.  He wants this person to trust God, not money; and to want to please God, rather than squabbling to have his own desires satisfied.

As He often did, Jesus then gives more detailed instructions to His closest followers.

Luke 12:22-34
22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
27 “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.[2]

On this occasion He is teaching His disciples to live with trust in God and generosity toward others.  He contrasts selfish grasping to selfless giving.  Selfish grasping comes about when we rely on our own resources and so we fight to get what we need, selfless giving comes from a reliance on God to provide for us.  If you really trust God you will be generous toward others as He wants you to be.  That’s why looking at a person’s finances is a great way to gauge the strength of their faith in God!

But Jesus doesn’t just promise that God will give us what we need in this life – He promises that God will give us “the kingdom”.  He urges us to lay up treasures in heaven by living lives of trust and obedience here on Earth.

The passage continues…

Luke 12:35-40
35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Whenever a king visits his subjects, he would expect to be served, and he would expect gifts to be given to him.  That’s just how things work, right?  Kings are a big deal, and ordinary folks are… ordinary!

Yet when Jesus returns, He is bringing with Him a kingdom which God is pleased to give us!  Part of that includes rewards for the service we have offered to Him in our lives.  Not only that, but Jesus even describes the master as waiting on his own servants at the table as a reward for their faithfulness.  This is a great picture of God’s delight in his faithful servants and His intention to bless them.  But none of this makes sense without the resurrection. 

In Luke 12 there are two warnings given.  The first points out that none of us know how long we have on this earth before we die and face judgment by God for the lives we have led.  The second points out that none of us know how long it will be until Christ returns to judge the Earth and establish His kingdom.  So be ready!

But how can Christ return if He is dead?  How can He speak about life after death with any authority unless He demonstrates its that there is such a thing?

I want you to understand that the teaching of Jesus were inextricably intertwined – you could not separate them – from His expectation to die for our sins, come back to life on the third day, ascend into heaven and then one day return.  He had all of that in view when He taught people how to live.

Jesus taught that the manner of our life in this life prepares us for the manner of our life in the next.  If you accept Him in this life He will accept you in the next.  If you deny Him in this life He will deny you in the next (Matt 10:32-33).

None of this makes any sense if there is no life after death!

You can’t say Jesus is a good teacher if he is lying about the reality of life after death.

That’s why in 1 Corinthians 15:19 Paul says “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” 

If Jesus did not fulfill His promise to rise from the dead, how can we be expected to believe that He truly was God?  If He did not fulfill His promise to rise from the dead, how can we be expected to believe that He qualified as a sinless substitute for us?  He was a liar!  If He did not fulfill His promise to rise from the dead, how can anyone else expect anything at all after death?  It remains a terrifying mystery or a welcome void.

Furthermore, if Jesus did not really rise from the dead, why should we trust anything else that the Bible says about Him?  We are left with no foundation for this life or the next, except our own ideas.

The resurrection of Jesus matters because it is our guarantee of life after death.  It is our guarantee of the reality of salvation through Jesus Christ.  It is the reality that shapes the way we live in this life, with Jesus as our Saviour and our Master.  We live as people striving to be ready to depart to be with Him, and people who are ready should He come to be with us!

There is another vital reason that the resurrection matters, and that is Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit to live within us until our time comes to be with Christ in person.  Before Jesus returned to Heaven He promised that He would not leave us alone, but that He would ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to come and live within us.  Because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we have a personal connection to God at all times.  We will reflect more on this in just over a month’s time when we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, the anniversary of the occasion where the Holy Spirit came and filled the first Christians with supernatural power.  He continues to live within God’s people today, helping us to know Christ and live for Him day by day.  That couldn’t happen without the resurrection of Jesus.

Glenn Stevens, governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia
"I would say that, despite claims to the contrary, there is a God. This is worth checking out and the critical issue people have to deal with is, was Jesus Christ who he claimed to be? If he wasn't then you can forget about it, and if he wasn't then I am living in a fool's world."[3]

Christianity only makes sense with a risen Christ.  We don’t follow a dead man we follow the risen Lord!

Did the Resurrection Really Happen?

OK, so if the resurrection really is important, can we be sure that it actually happened or are we basing our whole lives on a myth?  Are we living in a “fool’s world” as Glenn Stevens put it?

I believe in looking at both sides of an argument, so I’ve read arguments for and against the resurrection.  I’ve read plenty of theories about what else might of happened on that first Easter.  We don’t have time to go over every single argument today, but we’ll cover a few of the basics.  Let me just say though as far as I have discovered, it is a lot harder to believe Jesus didn’t rise from the dead than it is to believe He did!  A lot of people dismiss the resurrection because it is impossible – it’s impossible for a man to say that He would die and rise again on the third day then actually do it.  It’s impossible that this would fulfill prophecies made hundreds of years previously.  The only way this could happen would be if this person were not just a man, but that He was something more than a man.  That’s the key issue.  If you are prepared to believe that there is a God and open to the evidence of His existence, I believe that the evidence for the resurrection wins hands down!  If you are not prepared to acknowledge the existence of God, then you have no option but to ignore or reject anything that suggests you are wrong.  That’s why we have so many other crackpot theories about what might have happened instead of what actually did happen.

I’m going to respond to a few crackpot theories very briefly…

Crackpot Theory 1 – Jesus didn’t really die in the first place!
You mean Roman soldiers couldn’t tell if someone was really dead?  To be on the safe side, one of them thrust a spear into His side – not a gentle jab, but a killing thrust delivered by a professional soldier.  The blood and water that flowed were evidence of the internal trauma Jesus suffered due to blood loss which led to His organs shutting down.  After that, Jesus still hung on the cross for some time while arrangements were being made for His burial – it wasn’t the case of making a few calls on a mobile phone!  He was then wrapped in layers of bandages and spices which would surely suffocate even a person who was in the best of health to start with, and left for a couple of days with no water, food or medical assistance of any kind.  Then somehow He needs to move a 2 ton boulder, overpower a group of probably between 10 and 30 professional soldiers and make His escape!

Crackpot Theory 2 – Jesus’ followers looked in the wrong tomb
I’ll do this with…
Crackpot Theory 3 – Jesus’ followers stole his body
The rise of Christianity caused a huge storm in Jerusalem and across the Roman empire within only a few years of Jesus’ death.  The Jewish and Roman authorities knew where Jesus was buried, and could have stopped the whole thing by simply producing His body.  Even if His followers couldn’t find the real tomb, these people would have!  But the fact was that they had the tomb but not His body, so they needed a story to cover that fact.

Matthew’s gospel tells us that the guards were paid to accuse the disciples of stealing the body while they were asleep.

It’s hard to imagine a whole group of men sleeping through a 2 ton boulder being rolled up a stone channel (how many men would it take to do that I wonder?).  It’s hard to imagine that every single soldier would fall asleep when the mission was so critical to the political stability of the region, and such a gross failure of duty would almost certainly result in execution.  It’s also hard to imagine the same guys who ran away in the garden of Gethsemane when their leader was alive, suddenly having the courage to take on a Roman guard company when their leader was dead.  The gospel account of them being shattered and afraid seems much more likely!

Crackpot Theory 4 – The Resurrection Story was invented much later on, when the original witnesses had died off.
Lies have a way of being found out.  If the disciples stole Jesus body or just claimed that they had seen Him after He had died, eventually someone would have let the truth slip.  One of them would have changed their story under torture.  One of them would have bragged to a grandchild about their daring raid on the tomb.  One of them would have confessed out of a guilty conscience.  None of those things happened, which has led many people to conclude that they were telling the truth.  But what if they never claimed Jesus rose from the dead, but that part of the story was written in later on, after the first Apostles and Christians had died out?

We know from a large volume of ancient documents that the resurrection account was a vital part of the teaching of Christianity right from the beginning.  Many of the apostles and early Christians were tortured and killed because of their hope in the resurrection.  This affirms that they had either seen the resurrected Jesus themselves or trusted the testimony of those who had.  When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he tells them that many of those who saw Jesus after his resurrection were still alive.

We could list many other evidences for the resurrection of Jesus and against the alternative theories, but  I want to close off today by bringing the focus back to us.

  • What difference will the resurrection make for you?

  • Will you acknowledge that Jesus is who He claimed to be?

  • Will you trust that His death paid the penalty for your sins and that His resurrection proved the reality of life after death?

  • Will you accept forgiveness and live with Christ as your King?

  • Will your daily life demonstrate the reality that this is what you have decided?

You can’t claim to live by the teachings of Jesus if you deny His resurrection, but if you believe in Jesus as your risen Saviour you must live by what He taught.

Is your life demonstrating the truth of Easter?


[1]Tyndale House Publishers. (2004). Holy Bible : New Living Translation. "Text edition"--Spine. (2nd ed.) (Mt 27:57-28:15). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.
[2]Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptures are from The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan..
[3] “Stevens uses 'God given capabilities' to steer economy” ABC News – www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/31/2861385.htm .
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Good Friday 2010 - The Story of Two Thieves



The Story of Two Thieves
Good Friday 2010

I saw a poster at a shopping centre during the week celebrating Easter as a four-day weekend.  I like four-day weekends!

I picked the kids up from school on Thursday and they were armed with Chocolate eggs and pictures of bunnies!  I like chocolate eggs, bunnies, bilbies and whatever else!

It would be an absolute tragedy if that sort of stuff was all that Easter is about for you.

We have come together today to remember the real meaning of Easter.  We’ve come to experience the significance of it.  As we look at the story of Good Friday together you will discover why it is an essential story for you to live by.

This morning we are going to read together from the Bible, and to help you follow along we have put the readings onto the screen for you.

We pick up the story in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 27.  Jesus has been arrested by Jewish religious authorities and given a sham trial in which paid liars have accused Him of crimes against God.  In the end, it is Jesus’ own words that convict Him, when He answers truly that He is the Son of God.  This sends His accusers into a rage and they haul him off to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate in order to have Him put to death.

Matthew 27:11-44
Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.
12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” 14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.
15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.
19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”
20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.
“Barabbas,” they answered.
22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify him!”
23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”
25 All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”
26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38 Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”
41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

I’d like us to get to know the robbers who were crucified with Jesus just a little bit better.  We can do that by flicking over to the gospel of Luke, where we will finish the story of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Luke 23:32-46
32 Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him. 33 When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. 
35 The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. 37 They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 A sign was fastened to the cross above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”
39 One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”
40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”
43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
[1]


Why did Jesus choose to endure the torture and the taunts that were inflicted upon him by sinful people?  Why did He choose to die?

The Gospels are clear – He knew it was coming, He had the power to avoid it, but He chose to endure it.  It was His mission.

We have heard the answer to the question of why Jesus chose all this in the words of the songs we have sung today and in the words of ancient scriptures, where God revealed through the prophet Isaiah what was going to happen over 700 years later.  Let me remind you of the last part of our reading from Isaiah 53…

Isaiah 53:3-6
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.[2]

We discover in this passage that all of us have turned to our own way, and have sinned against God.  The Bible tells us that all have sinned (Rom 3:23) and that the penalty for sin is death (Rom 6:23).  Yet God loves us so much that He does not want to treat us as our deeds deserve, He wants to forgive us and cleanse us from all the junk in our lives.  He wants us to be in His family forever, with sin and death and every form of evil and suffering as a thing of the past.

In order to do that the penalty for our sin must be paid.  The only way to do that was for God Himself to take our punishment for us.  That’s why Jesus came into this world, and that’s why He chose to die.  He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, and the punishment that bought us peace with God was upon Him.

On that awful day that we now call “Good Friday”, Jesus took the very worst of what humanity had to offer: humiliation, injustice, torture - naked hatred in all it’s ugliness.  He took that from people and said “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”.  Wow!

One of the thieves hanging next to Jesus, despite his own agony of suffering, hears these words and notices the response of Jesus to his tormentors.

He has a change of heart – from being one of those who heaped insults on Jesus, he realises in that moment that his mocking is out of place and that he is actually in the presence of the Son of God.  Hearing the other criminal continue to insult Jesus this thief rebukes the other: “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong”

There’s an acknowledgement here of guilt – “we are punished justly”.  You and I might say that being crucified is a pretty harsh punishment!  But what matters is that he recognized his guilt.  He was being punished by the Romans, but he has also recognized also that he is accountable to God, and that both he and the other thief would soon meet God, which is a fearful prospect.
So as he hangs on that cross, faced with the reality of death and a meeting with God, what can this guy do?  He can’t make promises to God to reform his life and try and make his good deeds outnumber the bad ones!  He doesn’t start making excuses to Jesus about how tough life has been and how he really is a good person.  He says simply “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

He casts all his hopes on Jesus!  He can see that Jesus is heading for death just like he is, but He believes that Jesus is still going to receive a kingdom, and he wants to be part of it.  He casts himself completely on the mercy of Jesus.

It’s a smart move, because Jesus turns to him and says: “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

This man recognized his guilt, believed in Jesus Christ, and put his trust in Him for eternal life, and Jesus promised that him that He would receive it.

Some people think that they have done too much bad stuff to ever be forgiven by God.  But just look at how most of the people in our story today treated Jesus, yet even in the midst of His agony He longed for the Father to forgive them.  He longs for your forgiveness also.  The Bible tells us that God doesn’t want anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance – just like that thief did.  He had a change of heart and a change of direction which led to a change of destiny.  It can happen for you too.

Some people think that God is not that interested in them.  But Jesus came into this world in order to bring us into God’s family – everyone who is willing.  Most people rejected Jesus and still do today.  But some people accept Him as their Lord and their Saviour, just like the thief did.  They are forgiven by God and accepted as His child.  The Bible tells us that all Heaven rejoices every time this happens.  There must be a lot of partying going on in Heaven!

Will you acknowledge today that you need forgiveness?  Will you believe that Jesus’ death has paid the penalty for everything you’ve ever done and ever will do that deserves God’s punishment?  Will you accept new life in God’s family, with Jesus as your King?

I am going to pray to God my own personal prayer.  If you agree with what I’m saying to God, just acknowledge that silently in your own mind – God knows our thoughts and He will hear that agreement just as easily as if you were saying it out aloud. 

Prayer
God I acknowledge today that I have sinned against you and against others.  I know that I deserve to be condemned by You.  I know that there is nothing I can do to deserve to be in your family and enjoy your goodness forever.  But God I thank You that Jesus has paid the penalty for my sin.  I gratefully accept the forgiveness that you have offered, and the eternal life that you have promised.  Help me now to live as your child, with Jesus as my King.  Amen.

If this is the first time you have trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins and accepted Him as the Lord of your life, it marks a turning point in your life.  You will never be the same again.  I’d love to talk to you more about that so please speak to me before you leave today or write down your details on one of the cards in the basket just outside the doors into the foyer so I can catch up with you later.  If you have reaffirmed your trust in Jesus today let me encourage you to make sure that your life demonstrates the gift you have received from God and the commitment that you have made to God.

[1]Tyndale House Publishers. (2004). Holy Bible : New Living Translation. "Text edition"--Spine. (2nd ed.) (Lk 23:32-43). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.
[2]Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptures are from The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan..
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