Jesus: Liar, Lunatic, or Lord? (HC:LD14)
*Sorry, no audio this week. đ *
One of the people in that video, the artist, Makoto Fujimura said that at one point in his life Jesus became real to him. He said, âThis historic figure was no longer just this historical figure⌠and he wanted to reveal himself to me in a way I could understand.â The author, Eric Metaxas, make some logical statements about Jesus and then said, âBut thereâs more to this than logic. Believing that Jesus is God is one of those things that at the end of the day, God has to⌠reveal it.â
I believe both of those statements are true. Christianity has a logical consistency, a good argument behind it, based not only in scripture and philosophy and faith, but also on eyewitnesses, historical evidence, archeological consistency, textual stability, and more. The story of Jesus, the person of Jesus, when looked into from clinical, apologetic, evidence-based, even scientific viewpoint, holds up to scrutiny â but at the same time, because of the hardness of our hearts, our love for sin, and the work of the Enemy, that evidence is never enough.
No one is ever convinced or argued into the Kingdom of God. You canât walk up to someone who hates God, loves sin, hates the church, show them a pile of solid proofs about who Jesus is, and suddenly have them repent and follow Jesus. People can look at all the proof in the world, read every line of the Bible, know dozens of Christians, and listen to weeks and weeks of sermons, but if their heart is turned away from God, itâll never be enough to cause them to repent. Faith and repentance, becoming a Christian, requires a movement of the Holy Spirit in their heart that cannot be manufactured with any level of convincing conversation.
That doesnât mean that apologetics and good scholarship and archeology and study bibles and arenât important. It means it isnât enough.
Jesus, the Stumbling Block
Why? Because the person of Jesus, the nature of Jesus, the true, historical Jesus, is a stumbling block. This is why people keep trying to craft different Jesusâs for themselves and their own religions. So they can create a more easily understood, more malleable, more consumer-friendly, more simplistic version of Jesus that doesnât offend or confuse people. They remove parts of who He claimed to be â His divinity or His humanity, His compassion or His anger, His love for sinners or His vengeance against them â because one of those pictures donât line up to whom they want Jesus to be.
Turn with me to Matthew 21:23-27. This event occurs during Passion Week, the last week before Jesus is crucified. Everything in Jesusâ life is turned up to 11. We see more preaching, more teaching, more confrontations, more explanations of His mission, and more people trying to kill Him. In todayâs passage, we are on the Tuesday after Palm Sunday or the Triumphal Entry, and the opposition is really starting to heat up.
Jesus has spent Monday night with some friends in the town of Bethany, a couple kilometres from Jerusalem. He had a busy Monday where, while he was walking back to Jerusalem in the morning to teach, he was looking for some breakfast and passed a fig tree full of leaves. He expected to find some little buds to eat, but there was nothing there. Just leaves. He cursed the tree and kept walking. Why did he curse it? It was a parable to teach his disciples about the city of Jerusalem, especially the temple. The tree had the look of health and fruitfulness, but it was actually worthless. In the same way, Jerusalem looked like a fruitful, worshipping city with a temple dedicated to God â but there was nothing under the surface. It was a hollow, dead, fruitless temple, with a hollow, dead, fruitless religion.
As he entered the city He and the disciples saw the parable come to life. Jesus came to teach and worship and found part of the temple full of corrupt money changers and salesman profiting off the poor pilgrims. He drove them all out by force and began to heal the blind and the lame. This infuriated the Jewish leaders, but they couldnât do anything because of the crowds. Jesus stayed for a while and left to spend the night in Bethany again.
The next day they walked past the same fig tree and saw it withered and dead. Jesus had removed the hypocrisy of the false growth and shown what good the tree really was so no one would ever mistake it for being fruitful again. Another picture of Jerusalem. They walked to the temple and once again saw the parable come to life. Before Jesus is able to do anything else, the group of Jewish leaders were waiting to confront him.
It says in verse 23,
âAnd when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, âBy what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?â Jesus answered them, âI also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?â And they discussed it among themselves, saying, âIf we say, âFrom heaven,â he will say to us, âWhy then did you not believe him?â But if we say, âFrom man,â we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.â So they answered Jesus, âWe do not know.â And he said to them, âNeither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.ââ
Notice that weâre back to the question weâve been asking for weeks now, âWho is Jesus?â The chief priests and elders are indignant with Jesus and say, âWho do you think you are? What right do you have to come in here, drive people out of the temple, teach different things that we do, go against our traditions, make us look like fools, and cause a bunch of people to call out and worship you? Only a great prophet like Elijah could have that authority. Only someone who comes in the name of God with the power of God would be allowed to do that! And we know you canât be from God because youâre not following our traditions and doing what we tell you to doâŚâ
Jesus, as usual, doesnât give them a straight answer because it wouldnât have made any difference. They werenât asking Him to learn, they were trying to trap Him so they could have an excuse to stone Him to death. So Jesus shows everyone, especially His disciples, how much like the fig tree they really were. He implies that He has the same authority as John the Baptist and asks what they thought of him. Everyone knew that as popular as John was, these Jewish leaders hated him and refused to listen to His message. But the Jewish leaders knew that almost everyone around them believed John to be a real prophet. Jesus turned their trap against them. How did he do that?
Because they were forced at that moment to either declare that John the Baptist and Jesus were either from God and therefore to be obeyed (meaning that in rejecting them, these leaders had rejected God) â or say that Jesus and John were merely human and a couple of liars who had defrauded all the people (therefore implying that the crowds had rejected God by following false prophets).
Hereâs the thing, this is the same choice that everyone who is confronted by Jesus is given. Is Jesus a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord? And everything changes depending on that answer. The answer to that question sets a personâs entire worldview. All a personâs decisions, hopes, dreams, and plans are filtered through that question. How they see the origins of the universe, the problems of the day, and how they react to crisis and blessing, all depend on answering that question. Is Jesus a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord?
Liar, Lunatic or Lord?
Theologians call this the âtrilemmaâ and itâs an argument that goes back a long time. It goes like this (and you heard it referenced in that video): If Jesus claimed to be God, but knew He wasnât and was just saying that to manipulate people, gain followers, become popular, or for whatever reason â then He was a liar. Nothing He says should be trusted. Hundreds, thousands, and up to today, billions of people claim to put their faith in Jesus as God, as Saviour, as the one who saves them. They pray to Him, believe Him, and change their whole lives based on His claims. But if He knew He wasnât God and was a liar, then it is one of the worst lies in history. He shouldnât be counted as a great moral teacher, but a moral monster. And everyone who trusts him is a naĂŻve, fool who believes a great and terrible lie.
But, if Jesus claimed to be God, and actually believed it, but wasnât, then Heâs a madman. If someone came to you and said they were God, perfect and powerful in every way, a deity in human flesh, and they really believed it â told a bunch of people, gathered disciples, youâd assume they were crazy, right? And youâd assume anyone who believed Him was just as crazy. Anyone who would follow a man saying heâs God, even to the point of facing torture and death, giving up their time, money, abilities, and freedom to whatever He says, must either be utterly stupid or totally insane. So thatâs option 2. Jesus and all His followers are nuts.
Or thereâs option 3. Jesus is exactly who He says He is. He is very the Son of God, the Way, the Truth, the Life, and the only Saviour of Mankind, one with the Father. He is, as the Nicene Creed says,
âLord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made; of the same essence as the Father. Through him all things were made.â
There are no in-betweens there. He is either God or He isnât. You canât have Jesus as a great moral example if He, and by extension, His followers are the perpetrators of the greatest lie in history. You canât have Jesus as a great teacher if He is one of the most insane people in history. You either dismiss Him as a liar or a lunatic, or you worship Him as Lord.
HC:LD14 â Confessing the Real Jesus
This is the question raised in the Heidelberg Catechism today. Itâs based on the third statement of the Apostles Creed. The Heidelberg, in question 35 asks the question,
âWhat do you confess when you say: He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary?â
and answers it,
âThe eternal Son of God, who is and remains true and eternal God, took upon himself true human nature from the flesh and blood of the virgin Mary, through the working of the Holy Spirit. Thus he is also the true seed of David, and like his brothers in every respect, yet without sin.â
Consider the gravity of those two statements! That Jesus did not have a human father, but was conceived by the Holy Spirit of God Himself, but born as a very human baby to a young woman named Mary who had never known a man (Matthew 1:18). That means He is not just another guy, however special and talented He was. It means Jesus is the Son of God (Matthew 17:5, Luke 1:35; Matthew 16:17, 8:29; Romans 1:1-3), the incarnation of God (John 1:1-14; Phil 2:5-11; Matthew 1:23; Col 2:9-10). It means that even though Jesus was no longer in Heaven, while He walked the earth He still contained the very nature of God, the power of God, the authority of God. It meant that Jesus was not only of the Son of God but of the Lineage of the human King David (Matthew 1:1, 12:23, 15:22, 21:9), of the tribe of Judah, heir to the throne of Israel, and had the right and power to overthrow Herod and Rome. It meant that He was the embodiment of all the prophecies of the Old Testament, and the very author of not only the Law of Moses and the entire Bible, but every strand of DNA in every human being â and creator of everything in existence (John 1, Matthew 5-7, John 8:48-59). It means that when Jesus speaks, it isnât merely a good idea, an interesting message, a powerful teaching â it is the very words of God, perfect in authority â greater than Elijah or Moses or Solomon, greater than any other priest, prophet or king, of any religion, in any place, for all time (Hebrews 1-3, 7-10). When He says something, it happens. When He curses something, it is cursed. When He forgives someone, they are totally forgiven (Mark 2:1-12). It means that Jesus wasnât born under the curse of Adam because He was not a child of Adam and would therefore have no sinful nature. He would be a new Adam, faced not with one bad option in the tree of knowledge, but surrounded by a world steeped in Sin, overrun by the enemy, temptations on every side, facing weakness, sickness, pain, betrayal and death â and yet faced them all perfectly, remaining pure and holy for His entire life. (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15)
Which means that there is no one else in all existence like Jesus. He is the perfect prophet (knowing Godâs thoughts perfectly because He is God), the perfect priest (sinless, ageless, yet tempted in all the ways we are, and the once-and-for-all sacrifice for our sins) and the perfect king (will never die or be overthrown, with the very authority and power of God).
That statement from Jesus, His followers, this creed, and our church, is a massive claim, but itâs what we believe. And it doesnât leave wiggle room. I wonât go through them all here, but when I post this sermon, Iâll footnote a bunch of supporting scriptures for you to look up.
Agnosticism: Have Your Cake and Eat it Too
So, back to our text. Jesus has just asked these Jewish leaders about where John the Baptistâs authority comes from and it says in verse 25,
âAnd they discussed it among themselves, saying, âIf we say, âFrom heaven,â he will say to us, âWhy then did you not believe him?â But if we say, âFrom man,â we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.â So they answered Jesus, âWe do not know.ââ
These people didnât even care which answer was right â they were afraid of either answer. Today, we might use the term agnostic and itâs where a lot of people get stuck because they donât want to choose. They like the idea of Jesus as a moral teacher and they canât argue with the historical or textual proofs. They donât want to call Jesus a liar or a lunatic. When they look into it they see there are good arguments, compelling evidence, actual good scholarship â but they know thereâs a consequence to making a choice. It means they have to call Him âLordâ â and theyâre not prepared to do that. So they ride the fence.
Look at question 36 of the Heidelberg.
âWhat benefit do you receive from the holy conception and birth of Christ?â
In other words, âSo what? What good does it do you to believe all these claims about Jesus? Why not just remain agnostic? Why not just play the middle ground and stay on the fence? Why not just say you think Jesus is a great guy, and say you believe in God, but not actually repent and make Jesus your Lord? Then you can have you cake and eat it too. It gets people off your case. You can say youâre a âspiritual personâ. You can say you are a âbelieverâ and people will leave you alone because they will rarely actually ask what you actually believe. So why not ride the fence?
The Heidelberg answers, Because
âHe is our Mediator, and with his innocence and perfect holiness covers, in the sight of God, my sin, in which I was conceived and born.â
Jesus doesnât let you sit on the fence. The Bible says that âthere is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ JesusâŚâ (1 Tim 2:5). No other. The Bible says that âthe wages of sin is deathâ (Rom 6:23) and âwithout the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sinsâ (Heb 9:22) and that it will either be our death and our blood, or the death and blood of Jesus that will determine where we spend eternity. Ephesians 1:7 says, âIn him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his graceâŚâ We cannot sit on the fence, we cannot embrace agnosticism, because the claims of Jesus doesnât allow us to â and the problem of death and eternity is something we must all face.
Conclusion
One thing that amazes me about Jesus is His patience. He lets people sit on the fence for much longer than I would if I were Him. In His love, He desires that many would be saved. He gives grace to the underserved and gives them the gift of time. He presents the truth to them but lets them spin their tires, play with idols, mess up their lives, develop addictions, ignore Him, insult Him and His people, and waits. He never lets them go though. He works in their hearts, their conscience, their lives, to try to bring them back to Him until they are utterly lost. And then He lets them hit bottom⌠and goes and finds them and offers again to save them.
Heâs the shepherd, leaving the 99 to go and find His one lost sheep. Heâs the father from the parable of the prodigal son, waiting with His eyes on the gate for His child to come home, ready to cover them, heal them, restore them, and celebrate with them. Heâs far more patient than I am. But His patience is not forever. And so I say to you today, if God has been tugging at your heart to make a first time commitment to Jesus, admitting your sin and your need for a Saviour â or to come back to Jesus because you are in rebellion, donât wait.
Donât harden your heart like the Jewish leaders who stood before Jesus, saw the evidence, but refused to believe because they didnât want to let Jesus be their Lord. Yes, thereâs a cost. It will cost you everything. Youâll have to give up your sin, yourself, your future, your grudges, your addictions, your control, your finances, your toys, your family, your job â everything. Eventually, He will demand it all from you.
But today He merely asks the question, âWill you believe? Will you stop your arguments, stop making excuses, stop pretending you canât hear me and let me in? Let me be your Lord, your God, your Saviour, and your Friend. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. My yoke is easier than the yoke youâre pulling. My burden is lighter than the one youâre carrying. My way is better than the way you are going (Matthew 11:28-30). Let me help you. Let me save you. Stop, turn around, and follow me.â
Iâll close with the words of Mark 8:34-38,
âAnd calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, âIf anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.ââ
Why is Jesus Called âOnly Begotten Sonâ and âLordâ? (HC:LD13)
The question weâve been answering for the past few weeks is âWho is Jesus?â Weâre going through the Heidelberg Catechism, which, at this point, is taking us through a line-by-line, word-by-word study of the Apostles Creed, the oldest and most reliable summary of Christian beliefs we have. It goes all the way back to the very beginnings of the church and is a simple statement of the very core of what a Christian must believe in order to be called a âChristianâ.
If you recall, a âCreedâ is âa formal statement of Christian beliefsâ and a âCatechismâ is âa summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answersâ. So the Heidelberg Catechism, in order to teach the summary of the Christian religion, is using the statements in the Apostles Creed as a jumping off point. The second line of the Apostlesâ Creed says, âI believe in Jesus Christ, his only-begotten Son, our Lordâ.
Over the past couple of weeks, weâve been unpacking this summary by carefully going through each of these words. What does the word âJesusâ mean? What does the word âChristâ mean? And today, we head into the last two, âWhat does âonly-begotten Sonâ mean?â and âWhat does âour Lordâ mean?â
Are You The Christ?
âAt that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, âHow long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.â Jesus answered them, âI told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.â
The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, âI have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?â The Jews answered him, âIt is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.â Jesus answered them, âIs it not written in your Law, âI said, you are godsâ? If he called them gods to whom the word of God cameâand Scripture cannot be brokenâdo you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, âYou are blaspheming,â because I said, âI am the Son of Godâ? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.â Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. And many came to him. And they said, âJohn did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.â And many believed in him there.â (John 10:22â42)
Hopefully, this brings to mind last weekâs message where the Jewish leaders crucify Jesus because He claimed to be the Christ. Obviously, that wasnât the first time theyâd asked.
One thing that is often said of Christians is that we have exaggerated or even fabricated what Jesus said about Himself. They say that Jesus was a good morality teacher, a powerful preacher, and an influential guy, but all the stuff about Him being the Messiah, Godâs Son, the Lord, is all made up by Christian leaders so they could grow their sect and use His name to manipulate people. They say that Jesus never claimed to be a Saviour or God.
These people havenât read the Bible. In this passage, Jesus makes some very specific claims about Himself and you can see how his audience reacts.
There has been a bit of a stalemate between Jesus and His opponents because they have become split over Him. Heâs obviously a miracle worker. Jesus has performed at least 20 major miracles â many in public â including feeding the 5000, healing a man born blind, casting out demons, and raising the dead. The leaders of the Jews have not only heard witnesses but actually seen things for themselves that were clearly miracles. Some of the group want to believe Him, others want to condemn Him, while others just want to leave Him alone.
At this point, Jesus is walking and teaching in an area around the Temple called Solomonâs Colonnade when a gang of Jewish leaders stop Him, form a circle around Him, and confront Him. They have finally come up with a question that they are sure, if He answers it publically, is going to allow them to kill Jesus.
In Verse 24 they basically say, âOk, quit beating around the bush with all this teaching and miracles stuff and just spit it out. Are you the Christ or not?â Jesus had never publically said that He was the Messiah or the Christ because He knew that everyone who heard it would completely misunderstand it to be a military and political term. He didnât want His gospel message of repentance and salvation clouded with all of that baggage and misinterpretation.
Now, do you think that if He said, âYes, I am, so follow meâ that it would have had any effect at all? Of course not. Their minds were made up.
They Hear My Voice and Follow
So what does Jesus answer? First He says in verse 25, âIâve already told you in multiple ways, but you really donât care, do you? The evidence is staring in your face, but youâve already got your minds made up. You donât want to believe and you canât believe because your heart is so hard.â
There are a lot of people like this, arenât there? They see evidence for the existence of God all around them in creation. They have a sense of conscience inside them that points them to right and wrong. They hear the name of Jesus, the claims about Jesus being God, Saviour, and Lord. They attend some church services, watch some YouTube videos, read some Bible, maybe even have a few conversations with their Christian friend or family member, but in their heart of hearts, it doesnât really matter what they hear, because they donât want to believe.
They are willfully blind because believing in Jesus, putting their faith in Jesus, has consequences they donât want to face. For the Jewish leaders, it meant admitting they were wrong in their interpretation of the law, wrong in their application of it, and asking forgiveness of God and the people they mislead. It meant stepping off the throne and letting Jesus be in charge. It meant admitting they were wrong and changing. And they just couldnât do that. They loved themselves and their sin so much that they were able to look at the evidence for the Messiah, the One standing right in front of them⌠who actually said, âYes, Iâm the Christ. Look at my miracles and you will know. Look at the scriptures and you will know. Listen to the witnesses and you will know. Listen to me and you will know.â deny the obvious, pick up rocks, and try to kill Him so Heâd shut up.
Sometimes people wonder why Jesus doesnât just show up to them, do some miracles, tell them exactly everything they need to know, answer their questions, provide evidence, and do whatever other little dance they demand. The answer is two-fold.
First, He already did all that. You want lightning, thunder, plagues, the sun to stop, the storms to quiet with a word, the dead to rise, the blind to see, to watch him walk on water? He did that. Oh, but he didnât do it right in front of you so it doesnât count? So, heâs supposed to do that for every human being, individually, for all time? Everyone, on their 13th birthday, gets a visit from Jesus where He blows their minds and tells them everything they ever need to know, and then moves on to the next person? And then later, when they forget, to come back and do the dance again to remind them? Why not just do a whole bunch of things in front of credible witnesses and have them pass along the whole story? Like, maybe in a book.
So thatâs the first reason. God already showed us everything and isnât a circus performer. Second, it wouldnât work anyway. In Romans 1 it says that because people love their sin so much they actually âsuppress the truthâ (Rom 1:18). Regardless of the evidence or what is happening inside of them, the cutting of their conscience, the feeling of guilt and shame, the desire to know God, they âsuppress the truthâ so they donât have to face the consequences. It says,
âFor although they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.â (Rom 1:21)
Thatâs what Jesus meant by, ââŚyou do not believe because you are not among my sheepâŚâ Look at verse 27. What makes someone a follower of Jesus? What makes us one of his sheep? He says, âMy sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.â
Say you go to a dog park and there are dozens of dogs and owners. How do you know whoâs dog is whoâs? Because when they call their dog, the dog listens and follows. Or say you go to a playground that is full of children with moms and dads everywhere. One mom realizes itâs time to go and yells, âOk, honey, time to go!â What happens? One kid perks up, looks around, findâs their mom and leaves. Why? They know the voice and they follow it.
Every dog in the park, every kid in the playground heard the same voice, but only certain children respond. A lot of people heard Jesus. Many had seen the same evidence, same miracles, heard the same witness, studied the same scriptures. But only some followed. What sets apart the followers of Jesus is that He so captivates their hearts that they are willing to humble themselves, listen to His voice, and obey what He says.
Maybe you know people like this. Maybe you are someone like this. You all have access to the scriptures. You have all been listening to the same sermons. You all have access to the same Spirit. Youâve felt convictions in your heart about something or other, recognized sins, bad habits, fears, anxieties, and needs. Youâve been reading your Bible and have literally heard, somewhere deep in your soul, something important. Youâve heard the voice of Jesus saying, âDrop that garbage and come to me. Stop doing that thing thatâs killing you and come to me. Stop going to that place that is ruining your soul. Let go of that sin, that control, that fear, that worry, and come to me. Iâm trustworthy. Iâll take care of you. My way is better. Iâll free you from that if you let me.â
And youâve been faced with a choice. To listen to the call of Jesus, to repent, to admit youâre wrong, to ask forgiveness, and to do what Jesus is saying. Or to ignore it. To prefer your sin. To embrace your doubts. To argue with Jesus. To fill your eyes and ears with noise so the Holy Spirit canât break through. Youâve looked at the evidence that Jesus is calling you, but instead, youâve decided to pick up stones and crush that voice so you can keep on sinning.
Jesus tells you to let go of your control, but you say no. Jesus says to forgive that person, but you prefer your bitterness and fantasies about punishing them. Jesus says stop working so much, to rest, to worship, to be with your family and church, but you say no so you can get more money, more toys, more accolades from your peers because you donât think Jesus will do enough to compensate or take care of you. Jesus says stop being lazy and get to work, but you prefer your sloth and manipulating people into helping you. Jesus says to stop and pray, journal, trust, study, read, but you say, âNo, Jesus. The hours of this day are mine. Back off.â
Each day, each morning, everyone here is presented with a choice: to live in submission to Jesus, trusting His Word and His way as one of His followers â or to âsuppress the truthâ so we can keep on sinning. God, in His grace, gives us that choice â and then allows the consequence of that choice to affect our lives.
Why Jesus?
But why? Why should we be following Jesus? We see two good reasons in verses 28 and 30. First, Jesus says, âI give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.â
For those interested, we see here we see in this passage a lot of the doctrines of Calvinism. We see Total Depravity in the unbelief of the Jews, Unconditional Election in that God the Father gives Jesus the sheep, Limited Atonement in that there are some non-sheep who will not have eternal life, Irresistible Grace in that everyone who is called follows, and the Perseverance of the Saints in that no one is able to snatch the sheep out of Jesusâ or Godâs hands. So⌠do whatever you want with thatâŚ
But the point is that one reason that we follow Jesus is that He alone gives the gift of eternal life and eternal security. We talked about this last week when we covered Peterâs question, âLord, to whom shall we go?â, right?
But the second reason Jesus gives them, and us, is when He says in verse 30, âI and the Father are oneâŚâ or further on in verse 38, ââŚthe Father is in me and I am in the FatherâŚâ.
What did Jesus mean by that? Itâs a big idea that leads us back around to the Apostles Creed and the Heidelberg Catechism. When we are asking, âWho is Jesus?â and âWhy should we follow Him?â the Creed is very compressed? Because Heâs âJesusâ, the Saviour. Because Heâs âThe Christâ, the Messiah. And further, because Heâs the âonly-begotten Sonâ and âLordâ.
Question 33 of the Heidelberg asks the question,
âWhy is he called God’s only-begotten Son, since we also are children of God?â.
In other words, if every human is technically a âchild of Godâ, what makes Jesus special?
In John 3:16, the most famous passage of scripture it says,
âFor God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.â
That term âonly Sonâ is an important one. The NIV says, âone and only sonâ, the old King James Version actually adds a more complicated word, âonly begotten Sonâ, trying to explain the concept.
The term doesnât mean that Jesus was created by God or was born by God, itâs something else. When the Bible presents these big thoughts about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, human language falls short, so the Bible uses a combination of imagery and the best possible words so we can get close. In this case, calling Jesus Godâs âonly begotten Sonâ is a title. Itâs connected to a lot of other places in John and the rest of scripture, going all the way back to when Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac (Gen 22:2, 12). âBegottenâ draws a whole bunch of concepts and scriptures together into one word. (John 1:1-18, Heb 1)
So, why is Jesus called the âonly begotten Sonâ? The Heidelberg answers this way,
âBecause Christ alone is the eternal, natural Son of God. We, however, are children of God by adoption, through grace, for Christ’s sake.â
Again, this takes a little more explaining, but remember last weekâs lesson from Hebrews about Jesus being, âthe radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his natureâ (Heb 1:3)? Thatâs the idea. In simple language, Jesus being the Son of God means He is âthe unique, one of a kind, perfect incarnation of God, the One the Father sent to be the sacrificial offering for sin, the Light of God, the Word of God, the person of God in the flesh.â
Itâs a big concept, but an important application. So the first reason we wake up in the morning, listen to His voice, and choose to obey Him is because He is the Son of God! Not only does He offer His children wisdom, knowledge, forgiveness, peace, help and hope â but as God, He deserves our worship, attention, and obedience.
Our Lord
Which leads to question 34 and the next reason we ought to submit to Jesus.
âWhy do you call him our Lord?â
And the answer is,
âBecause he has ransomed us, body and soul, from all our sins, not with silver or gold but with his precious blood, and has freed us from all the power of the devil to make us his own possession.â
The first reason we submit to Jesus is because of who He is, He is God. The second reason is because of what Heâs done. Jesus was often called âLordâ when He was on earth (Lk 7:13; Acts 5:14; 1 Cor 6:14; Jas 5:7; John 13:13, 20:28) It was another title, one of respect, faith, reverence and worship. In John 13:13 Jesus said, âYou call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.â When Peter preached the first sermon at Pentecost he said, âLet all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.â (Ac 2:36) In Philippians 2:9-11 Paul says,
âTherefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.â
Jesus is the Lord. Jesus is God. Jesus deserves the worship God gets. It glorifies God when we worship Jesus as Lord because Jesus is God. Thatâs a fact. At some point, every knee will bow to Him â every knee. If youâve read the gospels you know how the demons reacted when they met Jesus. They hated Him, but they still reacted with fear and humility. They know.
But God, in His grace, offers us the choice to kneel now and accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour or kneel later when His patience has run out.
When John the Baptist was calling people to repentance, telling people to get right with God before the end comes, he said this,
âI baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.â (Matthew 3:11â12).
Jesus is Lord whether we acknowledge it or not. The truth is still the truth regardless as to whether we choose to believe it or try to âsuppressâ it.
Conclusion
Let me close with this. Jesus is God because of who He is. His nature is divine. And Jesus is Lord because of what Heâs done. He has conquered. He has ransomed. He has won the battle against sin and death. That is truth whether you like it or not, and now you are presented with a choice.
If you are not a Christian, will you, right now admit yourself to be a sinner in need of a saviour? Will you admit that you need forgiveness from God, to be ransomed from Hell because you cannot pay your own way, asking for it only in the name of Jesus?
And if you are a Christian today, will you finally allow Him to be the Lord of all areas of your life? Of your time, abilities, finances, choices, relationships, body, and mind? Will you look inside yourself, at the things that Jesus has been asking you to do â whatever that is â and say âyesâ now? Not because you feel like it. Not because you understand it. Not because youâve got it all worked out. Not waiting for the right moment. Not trying to negotiate terms with God. Just say âYes, Lord. I will do that.â because Jesus is your God. Jesus is your Lord. Jesus is your Saviour. And you owe him your obedience and worship.
This is a call to repentance. A call to evaluate your life and turn it completely over to Jesus. Would you bow your heads with me and pray this prayer in your hearts?
âLord, I admit myself to be a sinner who has loved sinning, but now I see it clearly and I hate it. I want to be free of it and I cannot free myself. I am guilty and ashamed and I need you to save me, clean me up, restore me back to you, and set my feet on the right path. I give it all up, Jesus and I call you my Lord, my Saviour, my God. I do this because there is no one greater to go to except you. You are the one who died on the cross for me, who shed their blood for me, who rose again from death so that sinners could be free. I want to be free.
And so I say, with you as my Lord. This day is yours â every moment. My choices are yours âevery one. My money is yours â do whatever you want with it. My work is yours â let it be for you. My children are yours â make them into who you want to be and help me to raise them your way. My marriage is yours â help me love my spouse as I am supposed to according to your Word. My school is yours â use it to prepare me for whatever you want me to do. My reputation is yours â I will proclaim you as Lord even if people think Iâm crazy. My entertainment is yours â I will turn my internet, tv, cell phone, books, magazines, music choices, all over to you and only use them for things that honour you. My calendar is yours â I will work when I am to work and rest when I am to rest, according to your will. My body is yours â I will eat, drink, sleep, speak, listen, and serve your way, even if my body is crying out for garbage, I will obey you. My future is yours â I give you permission to decide where I will go to school, how I will be trained, what my job will be, who I will marry, what church I will attend, what friends I will have, what missions I will go on, what home I will live in, how my retirement will go, how long you allow my mother and father to live, how long you allow my friends and family to be with me, how long I will live, and when and where I will die. Itâs all yours. Itâs yours because you are my Lord and my God. And when this prayer is over Iâm going to sing to you because you deserve my song. Help my whole life be lived as a song of praise to you. Amen.â
Why is Jesus Called “Christ”? (HC:LD12)
Turn with me to Mark 8:27-33. This scripture occurs in the final year of Jesusâ earthly ministry as His focus has grown more steadily towards His journey to Jerusalem and the cross. He has already gathered His disciples and they have been with Him for a couple years. He has already done much travelling and teaching and has had a lot of run-ins with a lot of different people. At one point in his travels, it says,
âAnd Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, âWho do people say that I am?â And they told him, âJohn the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.â And he asked them, âBut who do you say that I am?â Peter answered him, âYou are the Christ.â And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, âGet behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.ââ
You gotta love, Peter. He goes from telling Jesus who He is to arguing with Jesus about the very same thing. âWho am I?â asked Jesus. Peter says, âYou are the Christ.â, meaning the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Son of the living God and divinely anointed leader who will liberate Godâs people from their great oppressor. In Peterâs mind that meant military victory over Rome and the establishing of the Jewish people as the rulers of the earth. Then Jesus starts to clarify what it meant for Him to be the Christ. He told them what would happen soon â rejection from the leaders of Jerusalem, a false trial before the chief priests, cursed to be crucified on a Roman cross, but then to rise again in victory. Thatâs not what Peter wanted to hear. Peter had an identity crisis on behalf of Jesus. The Christ canât die! That sounds like defeat! So Peter starts to argue with Jesus, rebuking the One he had just called Christ. âNo way! Thatâll never happen! You have the power to stop that. You could use your power to overthrow Rome! You donât need to die on a cross. Surely the angels will protect you.â Sound familiar?
Now turn to John 6. You will see at the beginning of this chapter the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. Everyone was really excited about that. Look at verse 14.
âWhen the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, âThis is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!â Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.â
Another identity crisis. Jesus, in His compassion, feeds the hungry masses. They are impressed, call him âThe Prophetâ, meaning a man like Moses who God used to miraculously feed Israel manna in the desert, and immediately want to force Him to become King. And Jesus takes off. Now why did the people want to make Jesus King, and why would Jesus take off on them? After all, being the Christ makes Him king, right? Why run away?
Turn to verse 25-26,
âWhen they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, âRabbi, when did you come here?â Jesus answered them, âTruly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.ââ
Same problem as Peter. Jesus Christ had come to save the people, not from the oppression of Rome, but from a much greater oppressor â death. And that plan required Him to go to Jerusalem, be falsely accused, have the sins of the world placed on His shoulders, and for Him to die under the curse. His coronation would come later, but thatâs not what the people wanted. They wanted a king now. They wanted a new Moses. Jesus wanted to give them more. And if Jesus would have become King then, everyone in His Kingdom would still be under the curse of sin and death because He wouldnât have gone to the cross. Jesus had a bigger picture.
Over and over in Jesusâ life, people kept misunderstanding who He was, why He had come, and what He was supposed to do. His family, friends, followers, and enemies all argued with Jesus about who He was and what He was doing. He was called crazy, demonic, and a blasphemer. Eventually, by the end of John 6, a huge amount of His disciples would leave, angry and confused about who Jesus claimed to be.
The Christ
As we go through a study of the Apostles Creed in this section of the Heidelberg Catechism we are answering a few fairly straightforward questions that people have been asking about Jesus for literally two thousand years: Who is Jesus?
Last week it was the question, âWhy is the Son of God called Jesus, that is, Saviour?â In other words, what makes the name of Jesus so significant, and what does it mean to us? And the answer was, âBecause he saves us from all our sins, and because salvation is not to be sought or found in anyone else.â The name âJesusâ means âGod Savesâ and throughout His life Jesus claimed â and the Christian church has claimed ever since â that faith in Jesus is the only way anyone can be saved from the judgement of God against their sin.
Today we move from the significance of the name of Jesus to His title, âThe Christâ. When Peter answered the question, âWho do you say I am?â that was His answer, and it was packed with significance.
Question 31 of the Heidelberg asks the question,
âWhy is he called Christ, that is, Anointed?â
In other words, âWhat is the significance of calling Jesus âChristâ? What does it mean that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Chosen One?
During the trial before His crucifixion, Jesus stood silently as He was accused of a lot of things, but none of them held up, even in that false, kangaroo court they had come up with. But the High Priest, who didnât care who Jesus really was and just wanted Him dead, had one more card up his sleeve. It says in Matthew 26:63-66,
âAnd the high priest said to him, âI adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.â Jesus said to him, âYou have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.â Then the high priest tore his robes and said, âHe has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?â They answered, âHe deserves death.ââ
Jesus was crucified because of the claim that He is âthe Christâ. Why was that such a big deal? The Heidelberg summarizes it this way:
âBecause he has been ordained by God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Spirit, to be our chief Prophet and Teacher, who has fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our redemption; our only High Priest, who by the one sacrifice of his body has redeemed us, and who continually intercedes for us before the Father; and our eternal King, who governs us by his Word and Spirit, and who defends and preserves us in the redemption obtained for us.â
Why was Jesusâ and His followersâ claim that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one, such a big deal? Because He it said, and the Christian church says today, that Jesus is Godâs perfect prophet, priest, and king. Those are the only people that get anointed by God â prophets, priests and kings. What does that mean?
Prophet, Priest, King
It means that Jesus claims, and we believe, to be the greatest of all the prophets or teachers. Over and over Jesus claimed to not only be talking about God but to be speaking the very words of God (John 8:28, 12:49-50, 14:24). In that way, He is greater than Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist or Peter. Jesus is our chief teacher because He is the One who has fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will of God because He is God. He is the best interpreter of the Law because He is the lawgiver. He is the best preacher of the gospel because He Himself is the good news. He is the best proclaimer of the kingdom of God because itâs His kingdom. Everyone other than Jesus knows a part of Godâs plan. Jesus knows everything and was willing to teach us a lot of it when He came, and then even more through His Spirit within.
He is also the greatest priest, greater than all priests that came before. A prophetâs job is to tell us Godâs word. A priestâs job is to bring the people before God by doing what is necessary to make us worthy and then interceding on our behalf. Jesus does this better than any other. Every other priest is sinful, Jesus is sinless. Every other priest offered animals, Jesus offered Himself. Other priests have to repeat sacrifices, Jesus was once and for all. Other priests offer sacrifices for a certain group of people, Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. Only one priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and then only once per year, Jesus lives in Heaven and stands before God Himself. Other priests die, Jesus lives forever.
And Jesus is the greater King. Other kings are appointed by military might or birth Jesus was appointed by God. Other kings have boundaries to their kingdoms, Jesusâ kingdom has no borders. Other kings have thrones on earth, Jesus has a throne in heaven. Jesusâ kingdom has the greatest armies, the greatest victories, the highest power, the best laws, and will last for eternity because no one can overthrow Him. His word is not only law, but can actually bend reality to His will.
Who is Better than Jesus?
In the book of Hebrews in the New Testament the Christians there are being faced with persecution because of their faith and are considering giving up and either turning back to Judaism or their pagan roots. The whole argument of Hebrews stands on this question, âTo where will you turn that is better than Jesus?â Back to Caesar, back to Moses?
Thatâs an echo of our question today. What makes Jesus special? Why should we put our whole faith in Him and no other, especially when itâs difficult, inconvenient, and causes us frustration or pain? Isnât Jesus just a prophet like some other religions say? Isnât He just a great moral teacher, as some secularists say? Isnât He just a good model to live by, but not to take so seriously? Do we really have to give our whole allegiance to Him and Him alone, even when the world comes against us? Why does He deserve that kind of allegiance?
Thatâs what the audience to the letter of the Hebrews were considering. They were like the crowd in John 6 we talked about, standing before Jesus, asking for more loaves and fishes, as He said, âIâm not here to fill your bellies with bread. I am the Bread of Life. I was sent by God, spoken of by the prophets, and anyone who believes in me alone for salvation, that my flesh and my blood are the only way, will have eternal life. Everyone else who tells you any other way is a liar.â
Listen to what happened after Jesus said that.
âAfter this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.â (John 6:66)
That claim â Jesusâ claim to be the Christ, the greatest prophet, priest and king, the only way of salvation, the one to whom you must swear sole allegiance to on His terms â was too much to ask for many. They didnât want Jesus they wanted bread, so they left. It continues,
âSo Jesus said to the twelve, âDo you want to go away as well?â Simon Peter answered him, âLord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.ââ (John 6:67â69)
Gotta love Peter.
This was the same choice that was being given to the believers that the letter to the Hebrews was sent to, and is the same choice we are given now. Sure, we donât live in a land where we face direct persecution or imprisonment for our faith, but our allegiance is tested in other ways every day.
I want to show another one of those videos that I showed you last week so you can see how this argument is shown in Hebrews, and hopefully inspire you to do your own study.
Conclusion
The Application for today is a simple one, and it comes from Question 32 of the Heidelberg.
âWhy are you called a Christian?â
That title is an important one. If Jesus is the Christ and we are Christians, then there must be a connection. And the answer is this,
âBecause I am a member of Christ by faith and thus share in his anointing, so that I may as prophet confess his name, as priest present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to him, and as king fight with a free and good conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and hereafter reign with him eternally over all creatures.â
Thereâs a lot going on here that Iâm not going to get into about the priesthood of believers and our eternal destination and place in Godâs Kingdom, but I want to make this simpler. Do you trust Jesus as your Christ? Is He your perfect prophet, the One to whom you turn for ultimate truth? Do you trust Jesus as your perfect priest, the One who through His atoning sacrifice has made a way for you to stand before God cleansed from all your sins? Do you trust in Jesus as your perfect king, the Lord of your life who you obey with your whole heart? Where will you turn that is greater than He?
And then further, do you, as a follower of Christ, a Christian, in the Greek meaning âlittle Christâ â act as a âlittle Christâ? Do you publically profess and confess to being one of His, spreading the truth as one of his little-prophets, spreading the gospel, the message of reconciliation as what the Bible calls, one of Christâs âAmbassadorsâ (2 Cor 5:18-20)? Do you, as a little-priest under Jesus, present your life to Him as a continual sacrifice (Rom 12:1), thanking him every day for what He has done for you? And, do you, as a little-king under Jesus, put on the armour of God (Eph 6:11) and do battle against your sin (1 Tim 1:18-19) so your life glorifies your Lord and King, Jesus?
This is not a threat from Jesus to âdo a better jobâ, but an invitation to walk with Him. He offers you forgiveness and strength, defence and protection, a hope and a future, a mission and a reward if you are willing to accept Him as your one and only saviour. Will you do that today, and then live out that relationship every day?
Why is Jesus called “Jesus”? (HC:LD11)
âPaul, an apostleânot from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the deadâand all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospelânot that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.â (Galatians 1:1â10)
Acts 2 tells the story of what happened on the day of Pentecost. At that time, thousands of Jewish people from all around the Roman world who had gathered in Jerusalem. The followers of Jesus had all gathered together in one room, about 120 people, and in fulfillment of the promise of Christ, the Holy Spirit came rushing in, filled each one, kicking off the next phase in Godâs plan of salvation â the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world. The followers of Jesus began to speak in languages they previously didnât know and everyone who heard was amazed and wondered what was going on.
Then Peter, the leader of the group, stood up and addressed the crowd with a sermon outlining what had been happening in Jerusalem, how it fulfilled the prophecies, and how it all revolved around Jesus of Nazareth, someone that theyâd no doubt been hearing about. He told them of His life, false trial, lawless crucifixion, and His miraculous resurrection which could be attested to by the hundreds of witnesses standing around them. He told them that it was their sin, their rebellion, which had put the Messiah, the Lord, the Christ, on the cross. Jesus was crucified by their hands.
Acts 2:37 says this,
âNow when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, âBrothers, what shall we do?ââ
In Acts 16 Paul and his partner Silas are arrested, severely beaten, placed in stocks and dropped into a prison. Hereâs what scripture says happens next,
âAbout midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, âDo not harm yourself, for we are all here.â And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, âSirs, what must I do to be saved?ââ
What would your answer be to these people? Pretend you are Peter. There stands before you the very group of people that crucified Jesus. Among them are the very people that chanted, âCrucify Him! Crucify Him!â There stand the lawyers who kicked off the false trial, the people that spit on him as He carried His cross to Golgotha, who mocked Him while He was dying on the cross. A group of people corrupted by false teachers, full of hypocrisy, claiming to be the chosen people of God, but who despised and killed His Son, the Lord whom you love. Now they stand before you, their consciences on fire, frightened of the judgment of God, and they say to you, âWhat shall we do?â
Or pretend you are Paul. Youâve been working hard in ministry but almost everyone in town seems to be against you. They mock you, the crowds beat you, the city magistrates have you stripped and beaten, and youâve just spent the evening in jail, lying naked in a pool of your own blood, your feet bound in stocks. Now, standing before you is this pagan, Roman, jailer. So far from Christian, itâs almost unfathomable. Heâs been listening to you sing and talk about Jesus all night and has just had a brush with death as he contemplated suicide to escape the wrath of his masters, and now Heâs worried about the wrath of this new God heâs been hearing about all night. Heâs on his knees before you, terrified and confused, utterly undone. He looks up at you and says, âWhat must I do to be saved?â
What do you say? Maybe your temptation is to blast them. Stop being hypocrites! Stop persecuting us! Stop worshipping your own good deeds. Start listening to what we have to say! Get on your knees and kiss the dirt, thanking God he doesnât blast you right here! And you, Roman Jailer, you pagan, your life is a total mess! You need a complete overhaul. Let me write a list for you of all the things you need to do in order to be a good Christian. First you need to clean up your life. Go to church, listen to some sermons, join a small group, start serving, and donât forget to tithe⌠oh and pray and study your bible and fast and sell your belongings and stop drinking and smoking and playing cards and⌠andâŚ. But thatâs not right.
Paulâs answer was, âBelieve in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.â (Acts 16:31). Peterâs answer was, âRepent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sinsâŚâ (Acts 2:38).
The answer to the question, âWhat must we do to be saved?â is a simple one. Believe Jesus is who He said He is â the friend of and saviour for sinners. Then, show that you believe in Him by admitting you are a sinner, repenting of your sin by changing your life, and be baptised in His name. Itâs not that the repenting and baptizing save you. After all the thief on the cross who hung beside had no time to change his life, pay back his debts, do any good deeds, or be baptized, and yet Jesus says Heâs in heaven right now (Luke 23:39-43). What saves you is faith. What shows your faith is a changed life and humbling yourself in baptism.
LD11: Why Jesus Alone?
Letâs turn to this weekâs questions from the Heidelberg Catechism. If you recall, in this section of the Heidelberg we are studying the Apostles Creed and are on the second stanza, âI believe in Jesus Christ, his only-begotten Son, our LordâŚâ. So question 29 is,
âWhy is the Son of God called Jesus, that is, Saviour?â
The name, Jesus in Greek or âJoshuaâ in Hebrew, was a common name at the time and literally translates to âYahweh Savesâ or âGod Savesâ. Many Jews gave their children this name as a reminder to wait for Godâs salvation, but in Jesus it took on new meaning. It didnât mean âGod will save us somedayâ, but âHere is Godâs salvation!â
So the question, âWhy is the Son of God called Jesus, that is, Saviour?â is answered,
âBecause he saves us from all our sins, and because salvation is not to be sought or found in anyone else.â
Question 30 follows by asking,
âDo those who seek their salvation or well-being in saints, in themselves, or anywhere else, also believe in the only Saviour Jesus?â
In other words, if we put this in our modern context, is everyone who talks about Jesus, knows the name of Jesus, or claims to have faith in Jesus â but clearly puts their faith in other things as well âsaved? Is someone who says they are a Christian, talks about Jesus, sings about Jesus, but also believes in praying to saints, uses magic or astrology, lives superstitiously, or trusts in their own goodness or abilities an actual, saved Christian? What about Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, and Roman Catholics who all talk about Jesus but add a whole bunch of other beliefs and requirements to the gospel. Are they saved?
The answer in the Heidelberg and I believe it is scriptural is:
âNo. Though they boast of him in words, they in fact deny the only Saviour Jesus. For one of two things must be true: either Jesus is not a complete Saviour, or those who by true faith accept this Saviour must find in him all that is necessary for their salvation.â
In other words, the Jesus they talk about, cannot be the Jesus of the Bible.
This is what Paul was saying in the passage in Galatians. When he said,
âI am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospelânot that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.â (Gal 1:6-7)
he didnât mean that the gospel distorters were leaving the church or had stopped calling themselves Christians. He meant that they were staying in the church as teachers, but adding things to the gospel that were nullifying it, making it a message that damns instead of saves. (Check out this article)
This is what Paulâs letter to the Galatians is all about â false teachers coming into the church and teaching that not only do people need to believe in Jesus for their salvation but that there is a list of a bunch of other things they had to do as well.
I want to show you a video that outlines the whole of Galatians so you can see Paulâs full argument here. Iâm doing this for two reasons. First, I believe that this video explains this much better, more visually, and more concisely what Paul is saying in Galatians. And second, because I want to inspire you to watch the rest of these videos on RightNow Media.
Iâve talked about the importance of starting up some small groups in this church, and this might be a great series to do in your home. You can find that series when you go to the Recommended Studies section of the Beckwith Baptist Church page on RightNow Media. And, if you want to study the book of Galatians in more detail, then I recommend a new study series that has come out by Kyle Idleman. I linked to it on the Heidelberg Helps section on our RightNow media church page. Itâs only 6 weeks long, the videos take only 11 minutes to watch, the discussion guides are all free, and if youâre worried you wonât know how to lead it, the leaderâs guide is only $8. No excuses not to have a small group in your home.
Back to our study though.
Jesus And
I hope you see, from scripture and the catechism here, how seriously God takes the idea of adding anything to the gospel. There is no salvation in âJesus and something elseâ. Our human nature makes us want to add a bunch of religious hoops to jump through, traditions that must be kept, and lifestyle changes that need to be made in order to be saved, but thatâs not how Christianity works. Thatâs how cults and false religions work, but thatâs not the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Jesus said, âI am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.â (John 14:6) As the Apostles say, âThere is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.â (Acts 4:12)
Our human nature, even when we are presenting the Gospel, even with the best intentions, makes us want to include a list of laws, books, and to-do lists with salvation. We want to tell people about Jesus and salvation, but also about how to clean up their lives and become good people â meaning, people like us. But thatâs not the gospel. Jesus didnât tell us to go and make versions of ourselves, turning people into little Pastor Alâs, or little youâs. He told us to tell people that salvation is a free gift from Him and to follow Jesus alone.
In the New Testament, it was the Judaizers who wanted people to add the Torah to the gospel. Then it was the Catholics who wanted to add traditions and religious superstitions. Then it was the Mormons and JWâs who wanted to add good works and strange rules and new bible books. All of these are equally wrong, offensive, and paths to hell. Why?
Because even if these people use the name of Jesus,
âThough they boast of him in words, they, in fact, deny the only Saviour Jesus. For one of two things must be true: either Jesus is not a complete Saviour or those who by true faith accept this Saviour must find in him all that is necessary for their salvation.â
In other words, they donât believe in Jesus for salvation. They talk about Jesus but believe that his perfect life and crucifixion isnât enough. They believe Jesus needs their help. Jesus needs their help. And Jesus refuses, God refuses, to share glory, to share worship, to share His holy temple, or the temple of your heart with someone else. To do so is blasphemy. To say Jesusâ perfect life, death on the cross, and glorious resurrection was insufficient to save, is blasphemy.
Do you remember last week when I said that believing Godâs provision to be transactional only leads to pride or despair? This is the same thing. Believing that we are the ones who must save ourselves by following a list of rules will either lead to pride because we saved ourselves and therefore steal glory from God, or it will lead us to despair because we will always be worried that we havenât done enough to earn Godâs favour and will, therefore, be damned no matter what we do. Thatâs the message of the world religions, cults, and false Christian groups. Take pride in saving yourself, or always feel guilty, ashamed, and afraid because youâll never be good enough for God. Itâs terrible, and why Paul was so upset when he heard about it.
Conclusion
Let me close with this. The only way we can say we are ever right with God is because of our belief in what Jesus did for us â not because of anything we did for ourselves. All we must do is believe in Jesus as the risen Lord and we are saved. Yes, this requires seeing ourselves as sinners which leads to the desire to repent, and then to obey him by identifying ourselves as His follower through baptism and worship and joining a church and changing our lives â but none of that saves us. If we believe in Jesus, we are saved â no matter what sins we have committed, and even if we completely mess things up afterward.
Thatâs why 1 John 1:9 says,
âIf we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.â
Not, if we beat ourselves up, or clean ourselves up, or do enough prayers, or read enough verses, or pay it all back, or anything else. Forgiveness comes to all those who believe in Jesus and ask for it. Itâs automatic, built on the covenant He wrote, in His blood, on the cross. He did all the work.
I like something that Kyle Idleman, the guy who did the Galatians series on RightNow, said.
In Galatians… âPaul is letting the people in Galatia know that he has been down the religious road before and it doesnât lead to freedom it leads to slavery. It doesnât lead to transformation, it leads to frustration. It doesnât lead to life, it leads to death. But Jesus has set him free from all of that. And what the gospel of freedom did for Paul, the gospel of freedom can do for you.” (https://www.rightnowmedia.org/Content/Series/229928?episode=Trailer)
Communion
In a few moments, we are going to have communion. We are going to come to the Lordâs Table, by His invitation, to celebrate and remember His life, death, and resurrection and His promise to save us if we would put our faith in Him alone for salvation from the consequences of your sins and the wrath of God. My encouragement to you is, as we sing the next song â maybe you donât need to sing right now, maybe you need to pray instead while others sing â as we set up the table, as we stop for a moment, before we take the bread and cup, I want you to check your heart. Do you recognize yourself to be a sinner in need of repentance and salvation? Do you come to Jesus alone for that salvation or do you have other idols besides Him? Have you asked for and accepted forgiveness? Can you take the bread and the cup, knowing you are one of His children? Or, is there hypocrisy within you â false beliefs, other saviours that you turn to, the desire to save yourself, or secret sins that you refuse to admit or repent from? Are there people in your life you need to forgive as youâve been forgiven, or you need to ask forgiveness from in order to be right with them and God?
You donât need to clean yourself up to come to Jesus. You donât need to be religious to come to Jesus. But you do need to admit yourself a sinner in need of Him as your saviour, and then get right with God in a prayer of confession. Take some time to talk to Him in song, in prayer, and in silence, before we take communion.
God the Provider (HC:LD10)
Iâm consistently amazed how we can start studying something months ago, using commentaries written over a hundred years ago, studying a catechism written 450 years ago, based on scriptures written thousands of years ago â and how they all speak directly to our needs for today. Truly, our Lord, His Holy Spirit and âthe word of God [are] living and activeâ (Heb 4:12).
Please open up to Matthew 7:7-11.
âAsk, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!â
https://player.rightnow.org/241186
A couple weeks ago, before we were interrupted by winter deciding to come all at once, we studied how God is not only the Almighty, Creator of the Universe, but also a loving Father. To quote the Heidelberg,
âThat the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and all that is in them, and who still upholds and governs them by his eternal counsel and providence, is, for the sake of Christ his Son, my God and my Father. In him I trust so completely as to have no doubt that he will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul, and will also turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this life of sorrow. He is able to do so as almighty God, and willing also as a faithful Father.â (Q.26)
Todayâs study picks up on one of the words in that answer and explains it further. Itâs the word âprovideâ. The more I study the Heidelberg, the more I like it, especially because this is such a natural next question.
I can imagine sitting with someone and having this conversation. We talked a bit about this last time. I ask them, âDo you believe in God?â, they give some vague answer like we heard, and then they ask me, âOk, what do you believe about God?â and, like a good boy, I give answer #26. But, whatâs their natural next question? âBut youâre life isnât perfect. How can you say that God is all-powerful and all-good and all-loving, but so many of His faithful followers are going through such rough times? What about the terrible tragedies we see all the time?â
Question 27 asks that same question,
âWhat do you mean by the providence of God?â
How do you reconcile that God is your great provider when at the same time you are in want?
Right? We just read that Jesus said, âAsk, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be openedâŚ. how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!â So what gives? Why isnât every Christian on earth healthy, wealthy, safe, and comfortable? What do you mean by saying God is your provider and you trust Him?
So What?
The answer in the Heidelberg goes as follows:
âGod’s providence is his almighty and ever present power, whereby, as with his hand, he still upholds heaven and earth and all creatures, and so governs them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things, come to us not by chance but by his fatherly hand.â
Question 28 follows,
âWhat does it benefit us to know that God has created all things and still upholds them by his providence?â
In other words, âSo what?â. If the answer to, âWhat do you mean that âGod providesâ?â is that âeverything happens according to His planâ, that doesnât really answer why Christians arenât healthy, wealthy, safe, and comfortable, does it? So, the next, logical question is, âHow does it help you to know that all things come by the hand of God, even if some of those things are tragedies and adversity?â
The answer to 28 is that it means,
âWe can be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and with a view to the future we can have a firm confidence in our faithful God and Father that no creature shall separate us from his love; for all creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will they cannot so much as move.â
This is what it means to have faith in a God that is all-powerful, all-good, and all-loving. It means that we believe that whatever happens, whether ârain and drought, fruitful and barren years, health and sickness, riches and povertyâŚâ they all come by the hand of a loving, faithful, wise, good, God who knows what is best â even when I donât understand or agree with Him. In a word, it means âtrustâ. I go back to that line in answer 26,
âIn him I trust so completely as to have no doubt that he will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul, and will also turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this life of sorrow. He is able to do so as almighty God, and willing also as a faithful Father.â
God Tickets and Stuffed Bears
This doesnât make sense to most people, even Christians, especially Western Christians, because, just like so many before us, we equate comfort and wealth with Godâs blessing. If times are good, then we must be doing things right and have enough faith â but if times are bad, then that means we did something wrong and God is either mad at us or we donât have enough faith. But thatâs absolutely NOT how God works. The Bible says that God âmakes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.â (Matt. 5:45) The idea that God is only good to good people, faithful to faithful people, loving towards loving people, generous to generous people, is unbiblical, and a dangerous thought for believers to have.
Why? Because it means that our faith, our forgiveness, our peace, our joy, our provision, our hope, is in our hands. It means that our faith is transactional â that we spend our good-boy and good-girl tokens at the God store and He dispenses blessings. We treat God like one of those arcades where you play games and get tickets. Youâve been to one of those, right? Where if you do well at skee-ball, hit the right number on the spinning thing, sink enough shots in the basketball game, that it spits out tickets to spend at the little shop so you can get a prize. Sometimes we treat God like that. We think that if we do enough good deeds weâll gain enough tickets to spend on blessings and miracles. And if Godâs not giving us what we want or need, it means we donât have enough tickets for that item so we need to try harder.
But whatâs that doing to our heart? When you go to one of those arcades and look at the items, and finally find that one thing you want â the video game, the giant bear, the cool shirt â what do you immediately think? That it takes way too many tickets. They want 20,000 tickets for that bear and the skee-ball machine only spits out like 12 at a time. This place is unfair. Itâs a scam. We start to think of God like that. Godâs unfair. Godâs asking too much. God is a scam.
Or say we do really good at the games, hit lots of jackpots, sink a tonne of baskets, and get those 20,000 tickets. When we walk up to the counter to get our prize, what are we thinking? âIâm so great. Iâm such an awesome person. Look at all the work Iâve done, the good Iâve done, and wow, do I ever deserve this blessing. Iâve earned it. Iâm the best. God, all I need from you is for you to exchange these good deeds for that miracle, please. Then Iâll talk to you later once Iâve built up my stash again.â
Believing Godâs provision to be transactional does not lead to faith in God, dependence on God, trust in God, hope in God, believe that Godâs way is best â it leads to either pride or despair. Pride that youâve done so many wonderful things that youâve earned all the good in your life and didnât need Jesus at all â or despair that you will never be able to do enough good deeds to get the really nice prizes from God, because God is unfair. Both of those are terribly dangerous versions of faith â but are very popular in the world.
Whatâs the solution to that type of thinking? Trust. And how does God grow trust in His people? By giving us opportunities to trust Him, so that we can know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that we cannot be our own saviours or our own providers.
Ask, Seek, Knock & James
Many people here can attest that this is true. That, it was during times of struggle or lack that they learned the most about Godâs love and provision. That, it was during times of pain and confusion that they learned the most about Godâs comfort and care. That, it was during times of fear and worry that their pride was finally broken and they came to God for help and learned what it meant that He is their almighty, loving Father. Sure, there were times of anger, whining, complaining, lashing out, depression â but at some point in all that, they fell to their knees, gave up trying to control the situation, gave up believing in their own goodness and willpower, and realized that God doesnât just love them sometimes, only when they are good, but at all times, and that He will âturn to⌠good whatever adversity he sends me in this life of sorrowâ because His love and provision is present and active even in adversity.
The man in that video figured it out and showed it through patience, service, and faithful tithing. He could have reacted a lot of different ways â self-pity, anger, grasping every penny, threats and arguments, refusing any work that wasnât in his own skill set â but he didnât. He took the jobs as they came with a thankful heart, waited patiently, gave faithfully, and allowed God to be His provider. Thatâs how it works in the Christian life.
Thatâs why Jesus says in that passage in Matthew 7, âAsk⌠seek⌠knockâŚâ. It is when we stop struggling, gathering, controlling, hoarding, fighting, and eating ashes, and finally relent and come to God, humbly realizing that He is our saviour and provider (and we are not) that He can work.
To âaskâ God for something requires that we not only understand that we have a need, but a need we cannot provide for. Why would we ask for something we know we can just get for ourselves? To âseekâ means to connect those prayer requests to a life of faith, seeking âfirst the kingdom of God and his righteousnessâ, knowing âall these things will be added to youâ as you are seeking because God knows what you need (Matthew 6:32-33). To âknockâ means to persevere in that faith and in that seeking.
Why doesnât God just answer when we âaskâ? Why does He require we âseekâ and âknockâ as well? Because we are such slow-learning creatures. These lessons take such a long time to learn.
Consider the words of James, written to Christians spread around the Roman world, who were suffering through persecution and poverty, oppression from without and conflict and church splits within, and the temptation to give up. Turn with me there, and weâre going to jump around a bit, but I want you to see the whole argument. Start in chapter 1:2-4.
âCount it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.âŚâ
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to changeâŚ.
You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passionsâŚ..
Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and mercifulâŚ.
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.â (James 1:2â4, 16â17; 4:2â3; 5:7â11; 13â18)
Remember The Prophets
I know thatâs a large section of scripture, but I think itâs critically important for us to read today, because we need to understand that God is our provider and He is worthy of our trust. Sometimes we need to be reminded that God loves you where you are at right now and is more than willing to provide what you need. Not what you want, but what you need. Sometimes we donât have because we do not ask. Sometimes we donât have because we ask with wrong motives. Sometimes we donât have because God is doing something special in our lives and the only way for us to become steadfast, perfect and complete in our faith, the only way for Him to build our faith-muscle, our faith-skill, is for Him to use âtrials of various kindsâ that require us to go through a time of testing.
In James 5:10 it says that when we get narrow-minded, near-sighted, and confused about Godâs love we should look to those who came before. âAs an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast.â In other words, we hold in high esteem those who go through tough times and come out the other side even more faithful than when they went in, right? So, when you are facing difficult times â trials, lack, fear, confusion, persecution, uncertainty â I want you to turn to two places.
First, to scripture, to remember what the lives of faithful people in the Bible looked like. Jesus was the most loving, faithful, perfect, most spiritual, most giving, person to ever live. How did His life go? Times of rest, times of testing, times of suffering, times of success, times of betrayal, and in the end, He was crucified for crimes He didnât commit, and then rose to life in the greatest victory in history. We follow in Christâs footsteps, do we not? So we too will also see times of rest, testing, suffering, success, betrayal, death, and victorious resurrection.
Consider the life of Paul. Same thing, right? A terrible sinner who hated Christians converted by a miracle to become a great missionary and faithful servant of Jesus. When he was a Christian killing Pharisee, he had power and prestige. When he became a follower of Jesus he followed in the footsteps of Christ â times of rest, testing, suffering, success, betrayal, death, and victorious resurrection. Who would make the trade from oppressor to oppressed? Paul did. Why? Paul answers this way in Philippians 3:7-8
âBut whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.â
Consider the life of Joseph. Blessed and loved from birth as a favoured son. Given great revelations from God of the power and influence He would have. And what was Godâs preparation ground for that greatness? To be hated by his brothers, sold into slavery, to be falsely accused, and spend years in prison.
Consider Job, the most righteous man on earth. His life was full of blessings. But what was Godâs plan for him? The same path as Jesus and many believers. To use Job to show Satan what real faith looks like, and to teach the world a lesson about faith that would be passed on for generations. What did that look like in Jobâs life? God allowed everything he had to be destroyed in a day.
What was Jobâs reaction?
âThen Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, âNaked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.ââ (Job 1:20â22)
Those are the words of a man who understood and trusted God as his provider.
And I could keep going with names. If you know scripture, you know that this is the standard pattern for all those who are faithful to God. It is normal for God to send âtrials of many kindsâ to his people for our good and His glory.
But I told you that there are two places to turn. First, to scripture, and second, to other believers. Certainly, to those in this church who have experienced adversity and anxiety and who have faced it with faith and hope, because they are right here. This is one of the greatest values of small groups and home groups â which I hope you are in â because they allow you to not only share your concerns but also hear from other people who have gone through (or who are going through) similar times.
But these Christians donât just need to be in our church, they can also be elsewhere. Like the stories on RightNow Media, or in books and movies.
And so, I want to close with a clip from a man that I admire as a faithful, godly, Christian pastor. He is a famous author who has written around 90 books that have sold millions and millions of copies. But he does something that not too many other authors do. First, a lot of his books are available free on his website, but the second one might surprise you.
Thatâs a man who understands the danger of losing sight that God is his provider and has set up boundaries in his own life to make sure he never forgets.
God the Father Almighty, Creator (HC:LD9)
Weâre back into the Heidelberg Catechism and are now in Day 9. Just a quick review before we jump into it though.
Our church, since last August, has been working out way through a teaching tool called the Heidelberg Catechism. Itâs called âHeidelbergâ because it was written in the 16th century by a man named Zacharias Ursinus in the city of Heidelberg, Germany, about 20 years after the death of Martin Luther. Itâs called âCatechismâ because it is a question and answer summary, written for churches, to teach children and new believers the basic principles of Christianity over the course of a year.
We are currently in Week 9, or Lordâs Day 9, is itâs called, and weâve already covered a lot of ground. It began on Day 1 with the most important question: âWhat is your only comfort in life and death?â. Thatâs critical, right? âWhen it all comes down to it, when everything else is stripped away, when trouble and trial come, when you are faced with the discomforts of life and the danger of death â where do you, as a Christian, turn for hope?â
The answer was
âThat I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit he also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for him.â
The rest of the catechism is really an exploration of that first answer, using all manner of scriptures and creeds to explain why thatâs true.
So it asks things like, âWhat do I need to know in order to have this hope?â, âWhat happened to make things go so wrong with the world?â âWhat is sin and why is it a problem?â And when we find out that sin leads to judgement from God and eternity in Hell, it covers topics like âHow can I escape this judgment?â, âWhy canât I save myself?â, âWhat makes Jesus Christ the best and only answer?â
Which is the end of the first section and leads to the second, which asks question 21 and 22 on Day 7, âWhat is faith, and what must I believe in order to be saved?â. All of this leads to a study of what is called âThe Apostleâs Creedâ, the oldest and most trusted theological summary Christians have, dating back almost 2000 years.
The Apostleâs Creed is divided into three sections, God the Father and our creation, God the Son and our redemption, and God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification. This brought us to Day 8. Historically, it is on Day 8 that whoever is teaching is supposed to talk about not only those divisions, and the doctrine of the Trinity, but also a bunch of the attributes of God. Thatâs a tall order for one week, so I got stuck there for a few weeks â ok, a couple months â until the Christmas break.
This brings us up to now where we are about to get into Day 9 which covers the first line of the Apostles Creed, and which I think is incredibly applicable for us today.
Where Does My Help Come From?
Please open up to Psalm 121 and letâs read it together. I want you to notice, before we read, that at the top of the Psalm this is called a âSong of Ascentsâ. The Songs of Ascents are travelling songs meant to be sung by those who were making their pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship God. Some of these Songs of Ascents are thanksgiving songs, others laments, while others are about the beauty of Godâs city and the history of Godâs people. They were written to prepare the hearts of Godâs people to come before Him â to face their sins and admit their need, to declare their trust in God, to share their anticipation of standing before Him, and declare to each other Godâs goodness and steadfast love, even in the face of difficult times.
I think itâs appropriate that we read this one today, especially in light of the events of the past while, especially this week. I think itâs good for us to read it today.
âI lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.â
Now, before we get into the question of the day, I want to show this video.
A lot of people say they âbelieve in Godâ, donât they? We all have friends and family members that, when they are asked if they believe in God, they say they do. Question 26 of the Heidelberg Catechism asks that question as it covers the first line of the Apostleâs Creed, âWhat do you believe when you say: I believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?â Thatâs usually the question we donât really get to, isnât it? Weâre almost afraid to ask, because we donât want to start an argument or get into a debate with someone we care about, so we just leave it at âDo you believe in God?â and rarely press forward to, âOk, what do you mean when you say you believe in God?â
Psalm 121 ties right into all of this, because the first line of the psalm is like an Old Testament version of this question. As I said, this was a travelling psalm to be sung on the way to Jerusalem for one of the annual celebrations. Picture the pilgrim having walked for miles and miles through the wilderness â there were no nice roads or walking paths in those days. Heâs been walking for days, his feet are sore, his muscles ache, and his destination seems very distant. Suddenly, he sees the hills of Judah in the distance.
This is where commentators are split. Either this guy looks at the hills of Judah, knowing that he is finally close to Jerusalem, and breaks into a song of praise to the Lord for protecting him on his journey and bringing him so near the end â ooooorâŚÂ he sees those hills and thinks, âOh, great! Hills. I get to walk up great big hills now. This is where it gets really dangerous. Now I not only have to worry about wild animals and exposure but robbers and terrain and having to climb and climb all day long. How am I going to get through this?â And then breaks into the same song, saying, âThese hills wonât get the best of me, because my help comes from the Lord who made every one of them.â
I sort of wish the interviewer in that video would have asked the question the way the Psalm did, âWhen you lift your eyes to the hills, where does your help come from?â Or, âWhen good times and bad times come, where do you look for who will bring you through it?â because that would have given a better answer.
The Heidelberg answers like this:
âThat the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and all that is in them, and who still upholds and governs them by his eternal counsel and providence, is, for the sake of Christ his Son, my God and my Father. In him I trust so completely as to have no doubt that he will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul, and will also turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this life of sorrow. He is able to do so as almighty God, and willing also as a faithful Father.â
One thing that always impresses me as we study is how beautiful this document is.
God the Father
When Christians say they believe in God, we are making a very specific statement. As we saw, a lot of people in western society, are not very specific. This is why we spent some time talking about Special and General Revelation, which tells us that we donât get to create a god of our own design based on whatever makes us feel good or seems right to us, but that we must believe in God the way He has revealed Himself.
If you donât, you end up with what we saw in the video. Like that guy who said, âYes, I believe in God, because Iâm Buddhist.â Thatâs contradictory because Buddhists do not believe there is a God. Or, âYes, I believe in God, but not really one that can be written down.â Or âYes, because you gotta believe in something but I have no idea what that is.â So, then, how do you know what you believe?
As Christians, we absolutely believe that our God not only makes sense, but has told us a lot about Himself, and so it makes sense that a Biblical catechism and creed would make some very specific claims about God. As it says, a Christian believes âin God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?â
What does that mean? It means that we believe that God has revealed Himself as a Father. That means He is personal. We talked a little about this on Christmas Eve when I preached on how God makes us part of His family through our faith in Jesus Christ. If you recall, I quoted Ephesians 1:3-5 which said,
âBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his willâŚâ
God reveals Himself as a Father. First, He is the eternal Father of Jesus, which we already covered in the sermon on the Trinity. And second, He is the Father of all mankind, since He is the One who created us in His image and continues to protect and guide us. When we sinned, we tried to divorce ourselves from our Father, attempting to usurp His position and make ourselves above Him and were, therefore, cast out from His family, but through Jesus are invited to be adopted back as His sons and daughters again.
Thatâs why Romans 8:15 says to Christians who are tempted and afraid to call out to their Father,
âFor you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, âAbba! Father!â
We are taught in scripture, in Old Testament and New, that God is our Father because He has chosen to be. In Isaiah 63:15-16, the people of God cry out to Him in distress and say,
âLook down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me. For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.â
The Jews were always tempted to rest their hopes and prayers on the mere privilege of being descended from Abraham. Regardless of how messed up they were, they would say, âWell, Abraham is our father, so God has to bless us.â Here we see the Jews renouncing this attitude and saying that their genealogy doesnât really matter â what matters is that God has chosen to make them His children, and it is by that relationship that they make their appeal.
When Christians say that we âbelieve in Godâ we are saying we believe in God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has adopted us into His family to be His children.
God Almighty, Creator
The second thing we are saying when we say we believe in God is that God is âAlmightyâ. We already talked about this when we covered Godâs attributes of Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence, but it is worth mentioning again. The Apostles Creed begins âI believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earthâŚâ Jeremiah 32:17 says,
âAh, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.â
Thatâs the God we are talking about. The God who designed and upholds and governs all things. The God who is higher and wiser and bigger than all. The One who knew what would happen when He created everything, already had a plan in place, and that can use everything, no matter how terrible, no matter how difficult, no matter how much grief it brings Him or us, for our good and His glory. Thatâs the God we believe in. Which is why, as the Heidelberg says,
âIn him I trust so completely as to have no doubt that he will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul, and will also turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this life of sorrow. He is able to do so as almighty God, and willing also as a faithful Father.â
We covered this on Wednesday night when we talked about Jesusâ words about not being anxious because God knows what we need, right? This is why Romans 8 says, âAnd we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.â (vs 28) and âIf God is for us, who can be against us?â (vs 31) and âWho shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?…. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.â (vs 35, 37)
Conclusion
I love the line out of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe where Mr. Beaver says that Aslan is ânot⌠a tame lion.â At the beginning of the story, when Lucy first hears about the Great Lion Aslan (who is a Christ-figure), she gets scared and asks, âIs he safe?â and Mr. Beaver gives the answer, âSafe?… Who said anything about safe? Of course he isnât safe. But heâs good.â
This is the God in whom we believe and trust. He is not only the Almighty Creator, but also our Father. We do not believe in a god of our own making, for that god would be weak and useless when we needed it. Gods of our own design always fail because we know in our heart they are pretend. But the One, True God, who has revealed Himself to humanity, is real, alive, active, and powerful. He isnât a being of our own design and is therefore not someone we can control. But since He has shown us what He is like, what He is capable of, and what kind of character He has, we can trust Him. This is the God our church believes in, so let us have faith in Him.
In what areas of your life are you struggling to believe God is not only your caring Father, but the Almighty one who can make it happen? What part of your life do you believe you must control because you donât think God will do a good enough job? What do you need that you do not believe God cannot or will not provide? Have you shown God that you trust Him? Have you given your Father the chance to provide? Are you obeying Him, in faith, demonstrating that trust? Because He is faithful.
This is the God our church believes in, which we pray to, who provides for us, cares for us, who sent Jesus to save us. Romans 8:32 says, âHe who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?â Jesus Himself said in Matthew 16:18, âI will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.â If you are a believer this morning, and part of His church, that includes you.
The Lawyer, The Good Samaritan & Martha (New Years 2018)
Please open up to Luke 10:25â42, but before we read it I would like you to notice something as we read. I want you to notice that even though we are going to read two seemingly distinct stories, happening at different times and in different ways, they are actually very similar. Both are quite famous parts of scripture, but itâs sometimes forgotten that they give the same message. The first one is pretty easy to understand but the second one is more subtle. Letâs read it together.
âAnd behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How do you read it?’ And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.'”
So pause there a second. The beginning of this story makes it pretty easy to understand whatâs going on, doesnât it? Up comes a lawyer, who we already know is probably a bad guy because lawyers and Pharisees and Sadducees often came against Jesus to try to trap Him, trick Him, embarrass Him, or discredit Him â but they always end up losing to Jesus â until the end of the story where they break their own laws to crucify Him. So, by the fourth word we can have a pretty good idea that some shenanigans are about to go down.
Whatâs the context here? Everyone is sitting down somewhere and Jesus is in the middle of teaching when suddenly a Lawyer stands up to âtestâ Jesus. We donât necessarily know his motivation is bad until we read the next verse, 29, which says,
âBut he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, âAnd who is my neighbour?ââ
This lawyer had come to hear Jesus teach, and had either been impressed by Him or was getting progressively more upset at Him, but at some point pops up out of the group to ask Jesus the most difficult, important question he can think of: âHow can I inherit eternal life?â Or, how can someone be saved from sin and death?
Remember, this is a Lawyer and in his mind, and in the mind of many Jewish people at the time, because of the teachings of the Lawyers and Pharisees, the way to impress God, to make God happy, to gain favour with God, to get eternal life with Him, was to obey the Laws of Moses.
Thatâs why they had devised so many extra laws on top of them. God said, âDonât use my name in vain.â So the Lawyers and Pharisees said, âOk, no one is allowed to say the name of God at all, ever, or even write it down.â God said, âRest on the Sabbath.â So the Lawyers and Pharisees devised lists and lists of rules about every part of life â how far to walk, how to eat, how to wash, how many knots you can tie in a rope. So many rules that Godâs âday off to rest and worshipâ became a terrible burden and frustration to the people. But if God wanted obedience and eternal life was at stake, better safe than sorry, right?
So thatâs the mindset that this man had when talking to Jesus. Rules and laws make people holy and win Godâs favour. So Jesusâ answer to Him is perfectly tailored: âWhat do you think Godâs Law say about Eternal Life?â And the Lawyer gives the right answer. âLove God with everything youâve got and love your neighbour as much as you love yourself.â
But hereâs the thing, and this is something everyone here understands and struggles with â me included. Knowing the right answer and understanding what it means are two different things. And then, understanding what the right answer means and then living by that truth are two different things too!
Talkative
Iâm reading through Pilgrims Progress again and just finished the part where a character named Faithful has had a conversation with someone he meets on the road named Talkative. Itâs a really interesting encounter and I highly recommend you read the whole book, but it essentially goes like this. The main character, Christian, is walking with his friend Faithful and theyâve been having a great conversation. As they walk, they catch up to a man named âTalkativeâ who Christian knows but Faithful doesnât. Christian hangs back so as to not have to walk with Talkative, but Faithful trots on ahead to strike up a conversation. Things seem to go pretty well because Talkative is really good at talking â and doesnât care what the subject is. Faithful is quite impressed with how godly and religious Talkative is and falls back see whatâs up and invite Christian to join the conversation.
Christian grins at his friend and says, âThis man whom you are so taken with is fooling you just as heâs fooled so many before.â Faithful is surprised because Talkative seems like he knows so much about God and religion and faith, but after a while Christian basically says, âIf you want to see what Talkative is really like, go ask him to talk not only about religion but ask him plainly how his belief Jesus has changed His heart and life.â
Faithful does so and it doesnât take long until Talkative gets so offended and angry that he takes off. It seems that even though Talkative loved chatting about religion and theology and faith â he had allowed none of it to penetrate his heart and change his life.
Itâs the same with this Lawyer, and most of the other religious leaders Jesus bumps into. They knew a tonne of scriptures, had memorized the entire Old Testament and had been trained to be experts in debate and interpretation â but as much as they knew about Godâs Law, they had completely missed having a relationship with the Lawgiver. As much as they worked hard to obey the Laws, they had forgotten Who had written them and why they had been written in the first place â not to burden Godâs people but freedom, not to separate them from God but to show them how to grow closer to Him, not to be a hammer to pound on their fellow citizens but a guide to help them know how to love one another and get along.
Who Is My Neighbour?
Jesus responds saying essentially, âYes, your words are exactly right. If you love God and everyone else you come in contact with perfectly, you will have eternal life.â Sounds simple, but it isnât. Our sinful nature makes this impossible. We canât love God or anyone else perfectly because our sin not only clouds our judgement but makes us selfish and lazy. We cannot live in perfect love with anyone.
Notice that in the next part we see that the Lawyer jumps right past the âlove the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mindâ part because he thinks he does that already. Like the Rich Young Ruler, he believes that he has obeyed the entire law perfectly. Therefore, he assumes, he must love God perfectly. But, then, maybe because his conscience has been tweaked by something heâs done, or because he wants to impress the crowd or trap Jesus, the Lawyer asks one more question. ââŚwho is my neighbor?â
Why did he ask this? Because as a Lawyer, he wants to know the boundaries of the law. Whatâs the limit, the line, the border that canât be crossed? How far can I go before Iâve broken the law? Itâs the same with us, right? Just consider when weâre driving. The speed limit is 70, but how much can we get away with before we actually get in trouble? 75? 80? How much checking our cell phone is too much? How far do I have to go before I absolutely have to wear my seatbelt? How long does the red light have to be red before Iâm in trouble? What if it turns red as Iâm driving through? Our question isnât âHow can I obey this law perfectly?â but âHow much can I get away with before Iâm in trouble?â That shows the sin in our heart. Thatâs what the lawyer was doing here.
âOk, so I know God says Iâm supposed to love my neighbour, but who, technically, does that include? How big of a circle can I draw before the people outside of it donât matter? Who can I offend without worrying about it? Who can I ignore without God caring? Who can I hate and despise while still being able to say I love my neighbour?â From verse 30 Jesus gives the very famous answer.
âJesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, âTake care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.ââ
Jesus tells the story of The Good Samaritan and gives a lot of details. Everyone would assume the victim was a Jew, and everyone knew that the trip between Jerusalem and Jericho was full places where people could get mugged and left for dead. Then come two good, law-abiding, religious, Jewish leaders, a priest and a Levite, who knew that Godâs law said that if they touched a dead body they would be defiled and ceremonially unclean and therefore unable to perform their duties in the temple. So, better safe than sorry, they ignore the man so they can keep doing their jobs in the temple. Seems harsh, and the average person would have thought this wasnât very nice, but the Lawyer, presumably, completely understood. But then the story takes a weird turn. Next comes a Samaritan. Jews hated Samaritans with pure, racist hatred. For a Samaritan to be the hero of a Jew would have been scandalous. But there it was.
If youâre having a tough time grasping the story, maybe think of the story this way: A man who had just finished working late at night in downtown Ottawa was walking up the stairs of a parking garage. It was Saturday at 2am, he was tired and already had his keys in his hands, when suddenly a group of men came through the door, mugged him, beat him, took his car, and kicked him down the cement stairs.
Not long after another man, a surgeon at CHEO who had been called in to do emergency surgery on a child came up the stairs and saw the unconscious bleeding man. He knew he couldnât risk infection or contamination, and was in a hurry, so he stepped over the manâs body and headed to his car. Next came the pastor of a local mega-church. He had been doing some late night counselling and was headed home for some much-needed rest before he had to preach in the morning. He saw the beaten man, stepped over him, and walked away.
Next, up the stairs, came another man, a pimp. He had spent the evening collecting money from the women under his employ and shooting scenes for his porn website. He was a little drunk, a little high, and his knuckles still hurt from having to get a little rough while he was collecting his dues. But when he saw the man lying on the stairs, he had compassion. He lifted him up, brought him to the hospital, made sure he got a room and then went to the gift shop to buy some magazines for when the man woke up. He even told the nurse that if no one came for the man to give him a call on his cell phone so he could help out.
Now look at verse 36,
â’Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You go, and do likewise.’â
Jesus forced the Lawyer to answer his own question. He was looking for the borders and loopholes in the law and Jesus closed them tight. Who is your neighbour? Who does God want you to show love, compassion, and care to? Everyone.
The priest and the Levite were encumbered by their interpretation of the Law. In no way was Godâs Law meant to be frustrating, burdensome, and an excuse to prevent someone from showing compassion, and yet they somehow managed to make it that way. Jesus wiped all that nonsensical interpretive garbage clean and forced the lawyer to admit the truth. The way to love God is not to nit-pick laws so you can find loopholes and excuses, but to love God by loving everyone as your neighbour.
Mary and Martha
But now we turn to the next story in the passage. Letâs read it, starting in verse 38,
âNow as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.’â
Do you see the echoes of the previous story? Jesus is teaching a group of people when someone stands up and asks Jesus a question that is very close to their heart. For the Lawyer, it was a question about the Law, but for Martha, it was a question about priorities. And both ended up the same way. What was the Lawyer trying to do when he asked, âWho is my neighbour?â? He was trying to justify himself. And what was Martha trying to do? To justify how busy and distracted she was.
But this story is much more subtle. In the first one, itâs a Lawyer â booo. Heâs testing Jesus â booo. Whatâs Martha doing? Sheâs serving. And not just serving, sheâs serving Jesus and the disciples! Martha welcomes Jesus, the famous Rabbi, and all of his disciples into her home. They would all need to have their feet washed, to be made comfortable, and to have a meal prepared for them. We donât know how much help Martha had, but she clearly didnât think it was enough. She was frazzled and distracted and anxious and getting angry.
But she wasnât a bad guy like the Lawyer, was she? She was doing a good thing! Just like the Lawyer, she felt justified in her actions. He obeyed the law; she was a great and wonderful hostess, preparing extra special things for her guests. How could anyone look at Martha and criticize her? How could anyone compare her to the Lawyer? Itâs easy to criticize the Lawyer, but super-servant, super-frazzled, Martha? Isnât she just trying to do a good job for Jesus?
But what does Jesus say? Verse 41,
âBut the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.’â
This whole section is telling the same story. How does one gain eternal life? Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. How do we show that? We love our neighbour. Who is our neighbour? Everyone. How did the Jewish people mess this up? By believing that the way to love God is to work so hard to obey His Law that they actually offend, hurt, and ignore loving God and their neighbours. They became more concerned with how many knots they could tie, and how ceremonially pure they were, or how far walked â that they forgot to worship and enjoy God or show love and compassion for their fellow man.
Martha makes the same mistake. She has prioritized hosting, serving, and working, over loving Jesus and Mary. Was she doing something wrong? No. Was she breaking laws? No. But where was her heart? She was working so hard to serve her guests that she was no longer able to find joy in it. She wasnât fuelled by love. She was fueled by frustration, anger, pride, and jealousy. She forgot that Jesus Christ, the miracle-working Son of God, the source of light and life, was sitting in her living room. She didnât care what he was saying. She didnât care that Mary had the privilege of listening. She only cared about her own plans and priorities to the point where this wonderful, gracious, generous host, who was so excited to have Jesus over â actually comes into the room and yells at her sister in front of Jesus, accuses Jesus of not caring, and then tries to tell Jesus what to do! âLord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.â âCâmon Jesus. Chop chop! I clearly care more about these people than you do, Jesus. I clearly have a better grasp of whatâs important. Tell my sister to stop listening to you.â
Her priorities were as messed up as the Lawyerâs. She wasnât serving out of love. She wasnât loving God â who was sitting in her living room â or loving her neighbour â who included her sister and Jesus. Thatâs why Jesus responds as he does. He says her name twice, probably to get her attention and to show dissatisfaction with her (He does this with Peter and Paul too (22:31, Acts 9:4)). And then He essentially says, âYou think youâre priorities are right, but theyâre not. You are so worked up, so upset, so troubled and anxious about all the serving you are doing that you have forgotten the most important things â to love God and your neighbour. All this serving is only driving you away from your guests, away from your sister, away from love, and away from Me.â
Martha was doing exactly what the Priest and the Levite did â using a good, legal excuse to be able to ignore loving someone. âI canât love Mary right now, the sandwiches need to be made. I canât listen to the teachings of Jesus right now, I have too much to do. I should walk in there and give Jesus and Mary a piece of my mind. Iâm in the right here. Jesus is wrong.â
And not only were her priorities a mess, but she actually tried to suck Mary into her whirlwind. âJesus, tell Mary to stop listening to you, stop learning from you, stop sitting in your presence, stop letting her sit in front of a Rabbi, doing something very few women were ever allowed to even do, and force her to be as distracted and upset as I am.â
Jesus says, âNo Martha. Youâre not right. Your heart isnât right. Your priorities arenât right. And youâre not going to cause Mary to stumble into your own sin.â
Conclusion
So what does that mean for us today? I think this is an appropriate message for the beginning of the year because the lesson here is something we all struggle with. Regardless of whether you make New Yearâs resolutions or not, we all are trying to figure out whatâs wrong with us and how to improve our lives â whether that be our spiritual lives, our health, our relationships, or our careers. And as we try to come up with the game plans what will fix everything, itâs really easy to get our priorities out of whack.
The lesson in what weâve read today teaches that a godly life doesnât start with a list of rules and regulations, more knowledge and willpower, or trying to cut out all the toxic things in our life. Those arenât bad things â just like Martha wanting to serve people and the Lawyer obeying the Law werenât bad things â but they arenât things that lead to eternal life, that lead to grace and hope and joy and peace.
What did we learn today? That in order to live a life of love, of service, sacrifice, obedience, and holiness, doesnât come from a list of laws â it comes from a changed heart.
So before you do anything, before you decide on a diet, exercise routine, schedule, life plan, bible reading plan, spiritual retreat, marriage counselling, personal counselling, killing a habit, battling an addiction, or anything else, remember that it will be meaningless, even cause your love to grow cold and become callous to the things of God if you are not connecting with Jesus as your first priority. If you donât, it wonât be long until you are either looking for loopholes like the Lawyer, or trying to drag other people into your personal tornado like Martha.
What does that look like? Well, consider that the Samaritan was a man living outside the Law of Moses but still had a heart for the things of God. So, itâs not about white-knuckling through the Bible-In-a-Year, or forcing yourself to wake up at 6am, or fasting so many days per week, or promising to be more generous and forgiving. Itâs about connecting your heart to God, trusting that He will guide you, lead you, and help you.
Once youâve settled in your heart that you need Jesusâ presence in your life more than anything else, things fall into place. When you come to a moment when you need self-control, you wonât trust your own rules and laws and willpower but will lean on Him and ask for help. As you trust His guidance, youâll learn that sometimes your personal rules and outlook actually prevent you from doing his will â like the priest not helping the man who was attacked. Youâll learn how to be flexible, kind, and generous because youâre living by Godâs priorities and not your own. And when you inevitably mess up, you wonât see yourself as a failure or a victim who should just give up, but as a sinner in need of a Saviour, a work in progress that God is ever forgiving and always willing to help.
My hope for you in 2019 is that you will begin by cultivating this attitude and mindset of faith. That you will know that life comes from loving God and others, but that love is not simply a list of rules and anxiety driven service driven by your own willpower and personal agenda â but a heart that has experienced the love of God and is allowing it to flow into the rest of your life. First to yourself, your family, and then to the world.
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