ANSWERS
#836 ANSWERS
Scripture Acts 2:1-13 Orig. 10-4-79
Rewr. 10-20-86
Passage: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” 13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Purpose: To lead Church Training in a study of the Book of Acts
Keywords: Bible Study Holy Spirit
Timeline/Series: Acts
Introduction
Acts, chapter one, introduced the church. It identified the meager beginning and the handful of Jesus’ followers who took great comfort in meeting together in a small, second story room in Jerusalem. Chapter two introduces the Holy Spirit who will infuse power into their lives and turn them into living dynamos of personal witness.
We have already discussed the fact of the relationship of the Holy Spirit to this book.
Acts of the Apostles
Acts of the Holy Spirit
Acts of the Ascended Christ
It is interesting that in the combined 68 chapters of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, there are thirty-four references to the Holy Spirit. In the combined chapters of the writing of John, there are twenty-one references. In Romans and 1 Corinthians, there are thirty-two. But in Acts alone there are fifty-six occasions of the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is to be the means to the end of communicating the gospel. The disciples are instructed to wait, and they are content to wait, in the “upper room” until they are infused with this power of gospel enablement. The church, if it be the church at all, must have the capability of communicating the message.
Some time ago I watched a special TV program, “I Heard the Owl Call My Name.” It was about an Anglican vicar with a terminal disease. He had been sent to the village of Kingcome in British Columbia. The bishop had reasoned that if the young vicar was to learn, he must learn rapidly, and he needed a hard place to serve, and Kingcome was that. One incident, in this true story, was of an elderly lady named Marta Stephens who had been there longer than anyone else. She had seen the procession of vicars who had come and gone, who had done their best, and who asked to be relieved. After worship one day, the vicar, whose name was Mark Brian, said to her, “Mrs. Stephens, tell me something. Do you remember the first man who came here for the church?” She replied, “Yes, he had a long, white beard. He had to learn our language so he could teach us his.” It is through the Holy Spirit that we are able to learn the language of “others” so that we can teach them our language and His.
I. First, We Must See the Introduction of the Holy Spirit. V1 It was Pentecost and an undeniable spiritual presence surprised and surrounded them. We must first measure the significance of Pentecost. Judaic roots spring from Leviticus 23:15 where it is referred to as the Feast of Weeks and counts the passing of seven Sabbaths. It is called Pentecost because it begins 50 days after Passover. Spiritual harvest lay waiting.
Farmers must employ harvest equipment. Farmers, tractors, and combines were the only ones who could get in the fields. With the river rising, 23 pickers in one field was an awesome sight to see.
At one of the great festivals, every male Jew within 20 miles was legally bound. Others were expected to try. Travel conditions were ideal. Keep in mind these travelers to Jerusalem.
II. Now, the Significance of Unity Among the Disciples. They waited for they-knew-not-what. They knew a galvanizing “joy” when they were together. Acts 1:13 told of the return to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, to an “upper” room. Perhaps the room where Christ had graced their fellowship. So, 11 or 120, coming and going, but always back to this place.
The contemporary church must recover this sense of togetherness. It begins with an unbridled love for Jesus. It understands the need for the Holy Spirit’s leadership. Notice there is total equality: “they were all together,” “it filled all the house,” “resting on each of them,” “all were filled with the Holy Spirit.”
III. Now, an Attempt to Sort Out what Happened to Them There. The elements of this event included (1) tongues of fire (a symbol of God’s presence—see Exodus 3:2 and Deuteronomy 5:4); and (2) the “sound” of wind--not wind but sound, or pneuma (spirit or wind). This is a consequential, spiritual event. (We try to describe it concretely.)
R.L. Maddox wrote, “God in the form of the Holy Spirit came upon the people. Did the Christians sigh under the weight of the first breath of wind? Did the lamps flicker? Did strands of their hair rustle like angels’ wings? Who knows? But they would talk about that day for the rest of their lives.”
There is no evidence that they would ever try to re-capture or repeat the experience, but similar events happened among the “aliens” in Samaria (Acts 8:14) and the gentiles in Caesarea (10:44-45). Frank Stagg (B104p52) surprises us. “The great release of power on the day of Pentecost is not in the least to be minimized, but it evidently did not stand out so uniquely for first century Christians as for some of us. It is not mentioned in extant first century Christian writings outside the second chapter of Acts.” There were enduring problems. Some were afraid they would not so encounter; others were afraid they would.
Let’s back up and spend a little more time on “cloven tongues of fire.” “Cloven” means parted, divided. What was there, we will never know. What they saw, they described. And what it symbolizes, we can depict. We can only go back in time, “down into Egypt to see Moses leading God’s people.” A thing is done that was never done before. Exodus 13:21 “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud; . . . and by night in a pillar of fire.” Cloud and wind by day, fire by night.
IV. Then there is the significance of the “filling” and the “speaking” that followed. V4 “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak in other tongues.” Thus is magnified the reality of Christ’s presence. Thus is amplified the need of yieldedness on their part to His will. Thus is qualified that function of proclamation of the gospel. Remember the Holy Spirit is not “It.”
Pentecost was necessary to get Christianity out of the Aramaic language. The big question has to do with the meaning of the “tongues” experience for the future of the church. The Holy Spirit did not have his inception at Pentecost.
Psalms 51:11 “Take not thy Holy Spirit”
Isaiah 63:10 “Vexed his Holy Spirit”
John 20:19-23 “Receive the Holy Spirit”
Genesis 1:2 “The Spirit of God moved”
Nor was glossolalia the matter. What is really at issue? Upholding our position to the rebuke of any other? My Holy Spirit encounter is normative, therefore you seek? Trying to tie the hands of the Holy Spirit?
What happened at Pentecost? People heard the gospel. They came to understand and believe. He magnifies the proclaimed word. Do we seek for Him to do so? Do we wait upon media blitzes? When believers are “filled” with the Holy Spirit, when they speak in “tongues,” do others become targets of Holy Spirit ministry?
What is not the Holy Spirit? Wind is not the Holy Spirit. Fire is not the Holy Spirit. Language is not the Holy Spirit. They were evidences of His presence.
Why the Spirit came—To empower Jesus’ teaching. To convict of sin. To comfort. To consecrate for service. To guide the Christian life.
THE DEATH OF THE BAPTIST
#820 THE DEATH OF THE BAPTIST
Scripture Mark 6:17-29 NIV Orig. 1-29-84
Passage: For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him. Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” “The head of John the Baptist,” she answered. At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Purpose: In continuing the study from Mark, to relate the death of the Baptist to Jesus’ ministry to His disciples.
Keywords: Biography John the Baptist Repentance
Series: Mark
Introduction
The first things that come to mind when we consider John the Baptist are that he was a solitary man, a little strange actually, living in the wilderness, wearing clothes made of animal hair. Additionally, we are told that he was the son of a priest named Zechariah, and his wife Elizabeth, who was also of a priestly family. (Luke 1:5). In fact, his mother, Elizabeth, was a kinswoman of Mary, the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:36), a cousin perhaps.
Because of his parents’ advanced age at the time of John’s birth, it is likely that neither of them survived to see him grow up. Tradition has it that he was taken in by one of the Essene groups, who are known to have taken in boys like John to bring them up in the strict legalism of their communities and the privations of the desert.
A look at John’s life: Luke 1:80 “So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.” So, as an orphan he was taken in by one of these Essene groups that inhabited the waste places of Judea, west of the Dead Sea. They were deeply religious Jews concerned about Messianic fulfillment. The movement was very strong about the time of Jesus. Into that kind of electric atmosphere, he was born. No variance from this belief was tolerated.
John was taught this legalistic expectation of the Messiah, that Elijah would precede him. Malachi 4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their sons, and the hearts of the sons to their fathers, or else he will smite the earth with a curse.”
Would John, from such a background, be able to perceive of himself as Elijah? John 3:28 “You, yourselves, bear me witness (John 1:20f) that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’”
It is thus, then, that we encounter John preaching in the wilderness. He was preaching of the coming kingdom. He was declaring the need for repentance. Isaiah 40:3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight in the desert, a highway for our God.” It was to be a repentance, then, that resulted in a change of life: Make his paths straight, turn the hearts of the fathers. Baptism was never seen as the catalyst in such a conversion, it was seen as a symbol. John had learned this from the Essenes. John did not wish to baptize Jesus simply because it symbolized what he knew in Jesus not to be the case.
The link of Christ’s Ministry with that of John: Mark 1:7, 8 “And [John] preached saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Jesus came from Nazareth to Bethany to give personal credence to John’s ministry. And to establish the Messianic link to his own ministry. But the Jews did not then or now understand that his anointing of God (Christ) was not as political leader for Israel. His purpose was that of Saviour.
John then acknowledges Jesus’ presence. John 1:29 “Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.” (Isaiah 53:7) Jesus began his ministry in Judea. John 4:1f seems to indicate that for a time Jesus and John had parallel ministries. At about the time that John was imprisoned, Jesus went to Galilee.
Finally, Jesus, acknowledging that His death is eminent, prepares His disciples. Mark 1:14-15 “Now after that John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God, and saying, the time is full, the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe.”
Thus, everywhere Jesus goes in Galilee, He goes preaching and healing, first for the sake of the people, then for the disciples to learn. Then, one disturbing day, He learns that John is dead. Not long before, John had sent his disciples to Jesus. “Are you the One?” Matthew 11. And the word was sent back, even to John, saying, “You have to act on what you see”: Faith was the key.
His death was caused as we have read it here. Herod Antipas had taken his brother Philip’s wife, Herodias, who, by the way, was a niece to both. Philip was tetrarch of Ituraea, to which place Jesus often resorted. John rebuked Herod for his illegitimate marriage. Herodias arranged his death.
Jesus has taught His disciples that the same way John had preached repentance and the Kingdom of God, and as He likewise did, they were to do.
Closing
The church today is Jesus’ ministry to the world. First, it is the declaration of repentance and the Kingdom of God. Secondly, we are to administer that message.
A MAN UNDER AUTHORITY
#807 A MAN UNDER AUTHORITY
Luke 7:1-10 NIV Orig. 11-9-83
Rewr. 10-17-90
Passage: When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it. When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
Purpose: Continuing a Sunday evening series on New Testament characters, here explaining significant characteristics of this unusual man.
Keywords: Centurion Man Worth Christ Healer
Timeline/Series: Sequential/New Testament characters
Introduction
Public generosity is not a new twist. It has been around as long as man has tried to live in community. And, through all of those years, there have been some who gave to get. Their expression, taken by some to be community concern, was, in fact, nothing more than an advanced payment on expected gratuities.
It happens every day. A Louisiana pastor had a wealthy church member come to him. He needed the pastor to intercede in the church financial records and give a business associate credit for money he claimed on tax records to have given to the church, but in fact, had not done so.
It happens in small towns and large. It involves payoffs, scams, double-dealing, fraud, etc. It happens at the university level, and to him who is not smart enough to know that he is being had.
But the centurion who cared about the religious welfare of the people around him, and built them a synagogue, also had a heart of compassion. He could certainly stop traffic with his benevolence. He could also show deep personal feeling for an individual, and go all out to help him. It is wonderful, indeed, to see public generosity sustained by domestic kindness.
The centurion, A Man under Authority, also described in Matthew 8:5f, is the object of our search this evening. We will look at his compassion, complaisance, compromise, composure, and complexity.
I. First We Look at Compassion. V2 “And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die.” Before anything else, we are shown his caring concern for his servant. Remember, he was Roman. He was also a high-ranking military officer. Barclay p. 82 calls him “backbone of the Roman army.” Such men were held in contempt. Interestingly, those mentioned in the New Testament are spoken of well.
Lk 23:47. “The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, ‘Surely this was a righteous man.’”
Acts 10:22. “The men replied, ‘We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people.’ A holy angel told him to have you [Peter] come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.”
Acts 22:26. “When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. ‘What are you going to do?’ he asked. ‘This man [Paul] is a Roman citizen.’”
Acts 23:17, 24. “Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, ‘Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him. . . .[The commander said] provide mounts for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.’”
The man for whom he shows such concern was a slave (doulos)—a thing possessed. Usually, they were treated thusly. Little can be known about the servant. Was he a Jew? We do not know. Was the servant a man of faith? It is not described. He is said to be “ready to die,” meaning he is at the point of death. What takes place can be perceived only as physical healing. The miracle takes place apart from the actual presence of Jesus.
II. We Come Next to His Complaisance. V4f The centurion “was worthy . . . for he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.” The Roman presence expected such complaisance within certain limits. They were to work with the people as much as possible. Though they were a military, security presence, they could work in behalf of such local authority. The Herodians were a party of Rome; the Sadducees were wealthy, intent on salvaging their wealth. Gibbon, in The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, wrote: “The various modes of religion which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosophers as equally false; by the magistrates as equally useful.”
This man gives evidence of a contrite heart toward the religion of his subordinates. He was probably a much-traveled man. He knew Greek history and the language, and may have served in Egypt and elsewhere. He likewise shows deep humility in relation to Jesus. The controversy was not unknown to him. Five times in the last quarter of Acts, it is a centurion who is at the forefront of the controversy around the faith. It takes a man of real substance to humble himself around subordinates. Augustine said that while [the centurion] counted himself unworthy that Christ should enter his doors, he was counted worthy that Christ should enter his heart (Lockyer p. 178.)
III. Then Note a Man Compromised. V7: “Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: . . . I also am a man set under authority.” He knows what it is to command, and to be commanded. He knows the limits of command, and how often he would have commanded this illness, but it would not. Being a Roman, it is his right to command these Jews to heed his request. The word for “sent” is apostelien—to send on mission (willingness). Jesus to many was only a Jew. He sends to Jesus “beseeching.” Different words make such requests: aiteo—a petition from a subordinate; erotao—a petition from/to equals; parakaleo—in Matthew 8:5, to ‘beseech,’ to ask for help. Erotao is the word always used by Jesus in expressions to the Father.
Not only does he see Jesus as his equal, but of even greater worth than he.
IV. From the Man Compromised We See a Man Composed. V9 “I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel.” His constraint of Jesus is a last hope. Does he expect Jesus to comply? An observer reports the transaction to him: I think so. Remembering the Jewish aversion to entering gentile homes, he sends word. “Say in a word, and my servant will be healed.” He does not withdraw the request, only the need to come in person.
In humbling himself, we see the true heart of an upright man. He asks for no sign. He attributes all power to an absent Christ. Matthew 8:13 adds “as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.” Both record his return to wholeness.
V. A Final View is Gained When We See Him as the Cumulative Man. V9 “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” That statement may sound familiar. Luke 4/Matthew 15 tell us of the Syrophoenician woman. Like this man, also a gentile. Like him, petitioning for another. As he does, he believes unerringly that Jesus can meet this need. It is shown to be a great faith (Laidlaw/Lockyer, p 179): Great coming from a man outside the covenant; great ascribing all/total power to Christ; great making no superfluous request; great in its self-forgetting benevolence. One other thought is brought to mind: Here is a non-Jew treated as an equal. Here is the first opportunity for the gospel to touch gentiles. Remembering the struggle in the early church, this is an example. Recognizing that we still have problems with this, he opens the door.
Conclusion
A medical journal quoted by the Nashville Banner on June 5, 1986, tells of a year old baby falling in a swimming pool. The mother got her out, not breathing, and dialed emergency. Informed of a strike, she started screaming. A neighbor, who lost both legs in Viet Nam, rolled 80 yards in a wheelchair, crawled up 60 feet and five steps to the pool, and administered CPR. The baby revived. “It was God’s hand that saved the baby, not me.” How long has it been since we were instruments working for the good of someone else?
THE MAN NAMED JOHN
#501 THE MAN NAMED JOHN
Luke 1:5-15a NIV Orig. 12/14/1990
In the time of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest name Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years. Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.
Purpose: Continuing a series for Sunday evenings on New Testament characters, here presenting John the Baptist as a man striving to please God.
Keywords: Biography John the Baptist’s History
Timeline/Series: Sequential/New Testament Characters
Introduction
As noted last week, we are indebted to Luke for much that we know about John’s roots. All of chapter one, remember, is unique. In that lengthy chapter, VV 5-25 and 57-80 tell us about the birth of John, and the near-miraculous nature of his conception.
Zechariah was a priest, married to Elizabeth who was also of the priestly line. They were godly people, of advanced age, who had struggled somewhat with the barrenness of Elizabeth.
The estimates for the time suggest that there may have been as many as 18,000 priests divided into the 24 courses. All would be in Jerusalem for the major festivals (Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles). Otherwise, each course would serve one 8 day stint every six months in Jerusalem, from Sabbath to Sabbath (BI F88 p49).
One day Zechariah was chosen by lot to burn incense in the temple. (Exodus 30/I Kings 11). This happened morning and evening each day, however in the morning four were involved, in the evening only one. It is likely that this honor would fall to a man only once in his lifetime.
He entered the Holy Place, took incense from a bowl, and put it on burning coals atop the altar of incense, and then prostrated himself for a short period of prayer.
I. In This Setting, Then, the Angel Gabriel Made His Appearance, Gave His Message of the Birth of a Special Son. (Luke 1:14-16). Because of his disbelief, Zechariah would become mute, which, with recovery of speech at John’s birth, would be an enabler of many people recognizing this birth as a step, or a fore-work of the coming of the Messiah (V 76-79) “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
Conclusions that we can reach about this man named John are drawn from v 13 “Thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.” Repeating what is already established, the parents were elderly, childless; they were both of priestly lineage (of the division of Abijah: I Chron 24). There is a familial link between John/Jesus. Mary and Elizabeth were kin (v 1:36 “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.”) Their babies enjoyed unusual, even miraculous, births. Both would bear names given them by the angel Gabriel: John—Yahweh gives grace, and Jesus—Yahweh is salvation.
Of the boyhood of John, we can only surmise. He was to be reared a Nazirite V 1:15. The Nazirite vow is described in Numbers 6, and Samson and Samuel are examples. Who takes over to rear a child born in the twilight of life? No family is left to assume responsibility. One thing is known: v 80 “And the child was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.” One strong tradition suggests that John was reared by the Essenes, who were known to take orphaned boys and to live by strict rules of abstinence. What this does not address is the fact of John’s priestly lineage. It would be expected of him. One writer (BI W82 p36) suggests he kept this covenant, but broke with them discovering what many had become. We might well divide them today between liberal and conservative.
Matthew’s description of John lead us to close the door on the Essenes. His raiment was camel’s hair; he wore a leather girdle; his diet was of locusts and honey; and he had a message as austere as his dress. His message was as austere as his dress. V 3:8 “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
II. Our Next Concern, Therefore, Must be Message. Luke 3:3 “he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” The gospel writers all affirm a prophet. Luke (1:15) brings in the Holy Spirit, the Source of the divine message.
The message proclaimed is repentance. For us: a change of mind as consequence of sin. New Testament Greek: a change of mind from evil to good, worse to better. The Old Testament word for repentance: shuv is more often translated “return again.” Remorse, regret, humiliation, grief because of sins against God mean much more than tears. I Kings 21:27: “When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly. Hebrews 12:17: Esau “found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.”
That repentance was to show in their lives. Their deeds were to give evidence. “Fruits meet worthy”—from the Greek axiom. Our “axiom” means self-evident truth.
Additionally, John was to be the one who would introduce the Messiah. It was a call to preparation. “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” Matthew 3:3/Luke 3:4. There is no need even to comment on his expectation of a particular person. How well did he and Jesus know each other? The link of their mothers does not guarantee any relationship. John recognized Jesus as the appointed one. Did he, however, recognize Jesus as the son of his mother’s kinswoman?
III. Finally, What Stands Out of John’s Example? V16 “And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.”
His ministry began as a prophetic ministry of preaching and baptism. Luke 3:3 “preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sin.” Some say the unnamed disciple of John the Baptist (1:35f) was the other John. John the Baptist offered the example of prayer. Luke 1:11 “Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples.” Certain aspects can be taught. We know it more caught than taught.
He taught them to fast (abstain from food). Matthew 9:14 “Then came to him the disciples of John saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?” Pharisees: practiced legalism which Jesus rebuked. Religious disciples from his Spartan days with the Essenes. Jesus’ answer to them (Matthew 9:15) was that “the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
Conclusion
We still have much to learn from John in the exercise of commitment. What they learned from him they practiced. They were jealous for him. In John 3:25 they argue with the Jews, and question John about Jesus’ early success. John’s disciples are still at work long after his death. In Ephesus (Acts 19:1f, c. 65A.D.) “disciples” of John the Baptist are ministered unto by Paul, subsequently baptized “in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Though, as this indicates, some were slow to follow, John the Baptist pointed people to Jesus. His whole ministry was predicated on forecasting the Messiah. Four Gospels: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” The “way” is the very word used by Jesus of Himself. John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” He exercises a humility in relation to Jesus that most of us have yet to learn. John 1:27, 30: “He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie….This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” John 3:30: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
ON THE EDGE OF LIFE
#807 ON THE EDGE OF LIFE
Luke 7:11-17 NIV Orig. 11-23-80
Rewr. 10-25-90
Passage: Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up.” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
Purpose: Continuing a Sunday night study in the lives of people around Jesus, here discovering Jesus’ reaction to a funeral
Keywords: Compassion Hope
Timeline/Series: Biography
Introduction
In my file are obituaries of all of the funerals that I have preached. I am not quite sure why this material has been saved. I don’t ever look through the list, I don’t even know how many there have been. I suppose there have been a hundred or more. Old men and women, but some not so old. A few have been youths, several infants. They always have merited special attention, but never has there been some passing thought of restoring life. We have gone about the intended business of depositing the corpse in the grave, and encouraging the mourners to get back to the business of living.
I suppose that Jesus went to other funerals. What His demeanor was there, I do not know. Surely, He was at Joseph’s funeral. And John the Baptist! When He went to this event, however, He went of purpose.
Billy Graham can go to London for a crusade, and 50 to 60 thousand people may come out to hear him. Millions more may watch a playback of the crusade a few weeks later. The impact of such a crusade is enormous.
Jesus had no such luxury. He had a commission from God (Luke 4:43): “I must preach the Kingdom of God to other cities also; for therefore am I sent.” The village of Nain is one of them, and one with a reputation. One of the roads out of town, perhaps this very one, led Shumen, where Elisha restored life to the son of the Shumanite (II Kings 4:18). They will be talking about this for a long time to come. I’ll just keep filing obituaries.
I. First of All, We Watch Jesus Seeing. V12 “. . . behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.” The funeral procession was coming out from the town as Jesus’ procession entered. Do you see coincidence, or providence at work? Two crowds meet. One gives ground to the other. The women are at the front (A61.1 p. 180): “They who brought death into the world must lead it out.”
What Jesus sees however, is a grieving mother. Perhaps He thinks of His own, of the day when she will walk thus. He sees a widow about to lay to rest her almost grown son.
There are three such occasions recorded: A child raised immediately (Matthew/Mark/Luke); a youth from cemetery road (Luke); Lazarus after four days (John). The first, sought; the second, unbidden; the third, discouraged. In every case, the death angel admonished with few words: “Young man, arise.” / “Maid, arise.” / “Lazarus, come forth.”
Jesus saw the grip of death on mere mortals and He addressed it boldly. Shelly’s Adonais (lament for Keats). “As long as skies are blue, and fields are green, Evening must usher night, night urge the morrow. / Month follow month with woe, and year wake year to sorrow.” Wordsworth—She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways: “She lived unknown, and few could know when Lucy ceased to be: But she is in her grave, and, oh, the difference to me.” John Donne—Devotions: “Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
Do I choose to leave my death to Jesus? Or another?
A long day in Oakdale haunts me still. Only relative a brother. When the time came, his remark to me was, “This won’t take long will it?” It’s the only time in my life I’ve wanted to hit a man.
II. Secondly, We Watch Jesus Feeling. V13 “When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.” The feeling He feels for her is empathy. There is a place for sympathy. The distress felt by those who can’t, or won’t, do anything. The commiseration absolved by gifts. What Jesus offers is feeling for: Not the word for pity, sympathy;actually the word for bowel (spleen).
Have you felt such yearning to help that you actually hurt? Clearly, He works in the young man’s behalf, but He is not the object. All of us know the story of Hezekiah in II Kings 20: Hezekiah was spared from death and 15 years were added to his life; at Hezekiah’s death his son Manasseh became king at 12 years old. One of my questions centers around what became of the widow’s son. Did he follow?
We must not overlook His feeling for the people who saw, and who heard. There was a grieving company of family, friends, paid mourners, as well as many others who were in the group with Jesus. V11 “many disciples . . . much people.” V12 “much people of the city.” What happened there that day will be told far and wide. V17 “This rumor of him went forth.” As far as I know, only the KJV uses the word rumor; others use “It is logos, ‘word.’”
But see to it, this is not a public relations spectacle. Jesus’ heart hurts for this woman. It is within His power to do something. Compare the story with that of Elisha. Notice Luke’s special designation. V13 “And when the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her and He said, “Don’t cry.”
III. Only in This Last Regard Do We Watch Jesus Coping. V14 “He came and touched the bier: . . . and he said, ‘Young man I say unto thee, arise.’” There are certain things that we can bring to funerals. We can bring memories: how important they are, recalling things forgotten, other things not even known. What catharsis there can be. We can bring kindness and friendship. When a loss has occurred, the need is for stability; we saw that picture of a grieving Bossier City grandmother, upon learning of the deaths of two daughters and four grandchildren in a fire. We can even bring nourishment.
But what we cannot bring to the funeral is hope: We cannot clip the death angel’s wings. We cannot disengage unbelief’s power. This is exactly what Jesus brings to the funeral. Whether bidden or not, He brings hope. Whether in the milling crowd, or in the lonely vigil, He represents hope. In life’s confrontation with death, Jesus is hope. Martha: “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” John 11:21.
Conclusion
A children’s book tells the story of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Alexander awoke to find gum in his hair; he tripped on his skateboard trying to get to the bathroom; got his clothes wet while brushing his teeth; had a particularly bad day at school; and a dental appointment awaited after school. He had lima beans for supper, bath and bedtime were a disaster, his pillow was gone, and the Mickey Mouse light wouldn’t work. His cat chose to sleep in his sister’s room.
If Jesus hasn’t been bidden to the funeral, nothing else will take His place.
THE PARABLE OF TREES
#784 (use with #33) THE PARABLE OF TREES
Scripture Judges 9:7-15 NIV Orig. Date 8-26-51
Rewr. Dates 9-26-90
Passage: 7 When Jotham was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. 8 One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’
9 “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’
10 “Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’
11 “But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’
12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’
13 “But the vine answered, ‘Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?’
14 “Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’
15 “The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’”
Keywords: Parable
Timeline/Series: Old Testament Parables
Introduction
Our story begins with Gideon. He was chosen as judge of the people. He sought confirmation. Judges 6:36f “If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, Behold I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand.” So, both Gideon and the people knew that he was their leader. They responded to him accordingly.
In later years, they had come to depend on him so completely that they offered him rule over them. Judges 8:22 “Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.”
The word for rule implies sovereignty. It may or may not have the effect of royalty. It is nonetheless clear that they were satisfied with all that had happened and were willing for the descendants of Gideon to come to the office and role of rule if not to the place of monarchy.
Gideon rejected these advances. He made it clear “I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the Lord shall rule over you” (Judges 8:23).
Besides king-like rule, Gideon left behind seventy sons “of his body begotten” (8:30), and a son, by a concubine, whom he called Abimelech. At Gideon’s death, Abimelech struck quickly. He went to Shechem, his mother’s home, claimed to be one of them, and the royal son. Together, they went after his half-brothers, killing all of them but Jotham, the youngest, who was delivered from this attempted assassination.
The message here, a parable or fable, is Jotham’s message to the men of Shechem who have followed Abimelech’s wiles.
I. It is First of All About Trees. Judges 9:8, “The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them.” It has the quality of a fable, but it is meant to stand out as a moral lesson. The meaning is hidden, but barely. These Shechemites are to see themselves. Jotham means for them to not like what they see.
There are some things we need to remember about trees. They derive their sustenance from soil. They take from the soil what they are fitted to take to meet their own needs. The trees are not valued equally in the codes of human economy. They are different in terms of size, and sight, and fruit.
Jotham then begins to identify certain of these trees and plants. The olive tree was asked to reign over the forest. One tree can yield a half ton of fruit per year, and there were numerous orchards. It offers food and building supplies. The olive branch is a symbol for peace.
The fig tree was called forth to reign. The fig tree provides food; in I Samuel 25:18, Abigail, an Israelite woman, made 200 cakes of pressed figs. Adam and Eve used its leaves to cover themselves. It is the first fruit mentioned in the Bible.
The vine was singled out. It produced fruit for nourishment and for medicinal purposes. In Numbers 13:23, the spies sent out by Moses cut a branch with a cluster of grapes, and also brought pomegranates and figs. Micah 4:4, “But they shall sit every man under his vine, and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid.”
Finally, the great cedar was pictured. It was the greatest of Bible trees. Herbert Lockyer wrote that a cedar could be as much as 120 feet tall, with a girth of 40 feet (A36p334). Both Solomon’s temple and palace included cedars. In Judges 9:15 fire devours the Cedars of Lebanon.
A bramble is offered the role. It is a plant with no fruit of worth. Some use it as fuel. It could be used as a hedge, 12-15 feet high. The parable does not effect repentance.
II. The Prophetic Message of the Parable/Fable. Judges 9:15, “If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow.”
The olive tree has to do with covenant privilege. Romans 11:17-21: 17 ‘And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, [2] and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. 20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.’
It is evergreen, suggesting eternality. In Exodus 27:20 the Hebrews were to bring “pure” olive oil for use in the tabernacle.
The fig tree seems more to stand for the national privilege. I Kings 4:25 “Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree.” That is similar to Micah 4:4; Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah. Zechariah 10:12 forecast the messianic time. Think of the intended sweetness of the fig. But the Christless Zion is the bane of most non-western nations. Also, the great parable of Christ in Matthew 24:32, “Now learn a parable of the fig tree: when his branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, ye know that Summer is nigh.”
The vine seems to speak of spiritual privilege. Isaiah 5:4, “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?” The vine is God’s chosen symbol for joy. The vine brought forth alien fruit. Psalm 80:14, “Look down from heaven and visit this vine; and the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted; . . . turn us again, O Lord of hosts, cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.”
The bramble speaks of liberty, responsibility, privilege being sacrificed. The bramble is willing to reign. The cedars are willing to allow it. The demand of the bramble is for the cedar to “put your trust in my shadow.” It is said that when the Messiah comes, He will build the new temple, again of cedars, but instead, His head was anointed with bramble.
JOYFUL COMMUNION (DELIVERANCE FROM ONE’S FRIENDS)
#522 JOYFUL COMMUNION (DELIVERANCE FROM ONE’S FRIENDS)
Scripture: Psalm 4, NIV Orig. 12/13/61 (1/78)
Rewr. 4/14/87
Passage: Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer. How long will you people turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false Gods? Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him. Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the Lord. Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?” Let the light of your face shine on us. Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound. In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, let me dwell in safety.
Purpose: Continuing series from Psalms, here sharing David’s prayer asserting God’s gracious presence in his life.
Keywords: Communion Prayer Deliverance
Timeline/Series: Psalms
Introduction
A Keene, TX, woman by the name of Marie Crawford tells about a most disconcerting experience a few years ago when she was traveling in the Appalachian Mountains. She became suddenly, and seriously ill, and knew that she must immediately seek medical assistance. She was in the small town of Banner Elk, NC. Because she was with a tour, it was necessary for her friends to continue without her.
Being thus alone, she discovered that she would have to have surgery, and that it would not be wise to wait until family arrived. Being assured that the surgery was not life-threatening, she gave her consent.
In her room, after the surgery, and as the sedative began to wear off, her first conscious thought was that someone was in her room. Not knowing what to think, or who it could be, she struggled to clear her mind. When finally managing to get her eyes opened, she was shocked to see two strange mountain women in her room. She had never seen them before. Had no idea who they were. They were sitting side-by-side in rocking chairs. Both wore bonnets, and rocked with their hands folded in their laps.
She managed to get her wits together enough to speak. “I’m sorry, ladies, you must be in the wrong room,” she said.
The younger of the two women turned to Mrs. Crawford and replied, “Now, don’t you fret honey. We ain’t going to bother you one bit. Poor Papa died in this room, right in that bed, one year ago today. Me and Mama jus’ want to set here a spell and rock, and think about Papa.”
David is in need of a time and a place where he can feast on the Father’s presence. Thus, he speaks his heart.
I. We Must First Compare with the Prior Chapter. Both are called Psalms of David. Both bear the imprint of a man at prayer. There is a noteworthy difference in the object of his prayer. There may be a heading: Psalms 3, a Morning Prayer, and Psalms 4, an evening prayer. Chapter 3 you remember was a prayer seeking deliverance from his enemies. V5 “I laid down and slept; I awakened; for the Lord sustained me.” Chapter 4, however, is a prayer seeking deliverance from his friends. V8 “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for thou, Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety.”
Clearly, Psalm 4 is a Prayer Psalm. V1 “hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness.” It is a prayer of David, called so in the title. Neginoth means “stringed instruments.” Note Psalm 5—Nehiloth—flutes. The anxiety of a man on the run penetrates the 3rd Psalm. Adversity surrounds him as Absalom seeks the throne. Here is the prayer of a man pressed in, not by his enemies, but by his friends. Counselors may mis-advise him. Special interests may seek favors from him. He must be a man alert to God’s leading.
II. We Also Understand the Ground Upon which David Prays. He prays because God has dealt justly with him. V1 “thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress.” “Have mercy, hear, as you have before.” He comes to God without any claim to merit. During the time of Saul’s jealous rage with David (I Sam 18:14) “David behaved himself wisely and the Lord was with him.” He comes, because he is wise, asking to be heard, because God is merciful. V3 “The Lord will hear when I call unto him.”
III. As We have Learned the Ground of His Prayer, We Know Also the Subject of His Prayer. His so-called friends have confronted him with wrong choices. V2 “O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame?” Rom. 1:21f “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” They were men of prominent station. David points them to the One who is his keeper. “The Lord will hear” (v3), and who insists upon their recognition “stand in awe, commune, offer the sacrifices,” is his very good advice to them.
It defines a “set-apartness” that we must not overlook. The Christian shares this separateness.
II Corinthians 6:17 “Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord.” The conditions of relationship are not changed: wrong to capitulate to the world, wrong also to avoid contact, wrong to reflect haughtiness/
arrogance.
David points his friends to a conditional trust. The condition is that they stand in “awe” of God. RSV: “Be angry and sin not.” KJV “Stand in awe and sin not.” GNV “Tremble with fear and stop sinning.” Find a place where worldly thoughts will not distract from God’s presence: “upon your bed”/“still.” Alone with one’s own thoughts, at a place of their own choosing, where distractions are minimal.
IV. Having Found Such a Place, Offer the “Necessary Sacrifices to the Lord.” Ps. 27:6 “therefore will I offer in his tabernacle, sacrifices of joy.” Psalm 51:17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite spirit.” Isaiah 1:11 “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices.” Hosea 6:6 “for I desire mercy and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” Micah 6:8 “What doth the Lord require?”
His prayer is that they may know as he knows. Doubt, skepticism abound. V6 “There be many that say, Who will show us any good?” Such negativism abounds today. What better do we have to reflect God’s presence than the joy of relationship? V6 “Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us”—not to see us but to see God within blessing. What David has is of far greater value than the best of what they have. V7 “Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.”
David had to share what those around him needed. V
8 “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.” Psalm 3:5 “I laid me down and slept; I awakened for the Lord sustained me.” Odee Parker’s “What do I pray for?” “Peace!”
Conclusion
Listen to a final admonition from Habakkuk: 3:17-18 “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
THE MAN NAMED JOHN
#501 THE MAN NAMED JOHN
Luke 1:5-15a NIV Orig. 12/14/1990
In the time of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest name Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years. Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.
Purpose: Continuing a series for Sunday evenings on New Testament characters, here presenting John the Baptist as a man striving to please God.
Keywords: Biography John the Baptist’s History
Timeline/Series: Sequential/New Testament Characters
Introduction
As noted last week, we are indebted to Luke for much that we know about John’s roots. All of chapter one, remember, is unique. In that lengthy chapter, VV 5-25 and 57-80 tell us about the birth of John, and the near-miraculous nature of his conception.
Zechariah was a priest, married to Elizabeth who was also of the priestly line. They were godly people, of advanced age, who had struggled somewhat with the barrenness of Elizabeth.
The estimates for the time suggest that there may have been as many as 18,000 priests divided into the 24 courses. All would be in Jerusalem for the major festivals (Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles). Otherwise, each course would serve one 8 day stint every six months in Jerusalem, from Sabbath to Sabbath (BI F88 p49).
One day Zechariah was chosen by lot to burn incense in the temple. (Exodus 30/I Kings 11). This happened morning and evening each day, however in the morning four were involved, in the evening only one. It is likely that this honor would fall to a man only once in his lifetime.
He entered the Holy Place, took incense from a bowl, and put it on burning coals atop the altar of incense, and then prostrated himself for a short period of prayer.
I. In This Setting, Then, the Angel Gabriel Made His Appearance, Gave His Message of the Birth of a Special Son. (Luke 1:14-16). Because of his disbelief, Zechariah would become mute, which, with recovery of speech at John’s birth, would be an enabler of many people recognizing this birth as a step, or a fore-work of the coming of the Messiah (V 76-79) “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
Conclusions that we can reach about this man named John are drawn from v 13 “Thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.” Repeating what is already established, the parents were elderly, childless; they were both of priestly lineage (of the division of Abijah: I Chron 24). There is a familial link between John/Jesus. Mary and Elizabeth were kin (v 1:36 “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.”) Their babies enjoyed unusual, even miraculous, births. Both would bear names given them by the angel Gabriel: John—Yahweh gives grace, and Jesus—Yahweh is salvation.
Of the boyhood of John, we can only surmise. He was to be reared a Nazirite V 1:15. The Nazirite vow is described in Numbers 6, and Samson and Samuel are examples. Who takes over to rear a child born in the twilight of life? No family is left to assume responsibility. One thing is known: v 80 “And the child was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.” One strong tradition suggests that John was reared by the Essenes, who were known to take orphaned boys and to live by strict rules of abstinence. What this does not address is the fact of John’s priestly lineage. It would be expected of him. One writer (BI W82 p36) suggests he kept this covenant, but broke with them discovering what many had become. We might well divide them today between liberal and conservative.
Matthew’s description of John lead us to close the door on the Essenes. His raiment was camel’s hair; he wore a leather girdle; his diet was of locusts and honey; and he had a message as austere as his dress. His message was as austere as his dress. V 3:8 “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
II. Our Next Concern, Therefore, Must be Message. Luke 3:3 “he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” The gospel writers all affirm a prophet. Luke (1:15) brings in the Holy Spirit, the Source of the divine message.
The message proclaimed is repentance. For us: a change of mind as consequence of sin. New Testament Greek: a change of mind from evil to good, worse to better. The Old Testament word for repentance: shuv is more often translated “return again.” Remorse, regret, humiliation, grief because of sins against God mean much more than tears. I Kings 21:27: “When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly. Hebrews 12:17: Esau “found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.”
That repentance was to show in their lives. Their deeds were to give evidence. “Fruits meet worthy”—from the Greek axiom. Our “axiom” means self-evident truth.
Additionally, John was to be the one who would introduce the Messiah. It was a call to preparation. “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” Matthew 3:3/Luke 3:4. There is no need even to comment on his expectation of a particular person. How well did he and Jesus know each other? The link of their mothers does not guarantee any relationship. John recognized Jesus as the appointed one. Did he, however, recognize Jesus as the son of his mother’s kinswoman?
III. Finally, What Stands Out of John’s Example? V16 “And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.”
His ministry began as a prophetic ministry of preaching and baptism. Luke 3:3 “preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sin.” Some say the unnamed disciple of John the Baptist (1:35f) was the other John. John the Baptist offered the example of prayer. Luke 1:11 “Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples.” Certain aspects can be taught. We know it more caught than taught.
He taught them to fast (abstain from food). Matthew 9:14 “Then came to him the disciples of John saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?” Pharisees: practiced legalism which Jesus rebuked. Religious disciples from his Spartan days with the Essenes. Jesus’ answer to them (Matthew 9:15) was that “the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
Conclusion
We still have much to learn from John in the exercise of commitment. What they learned from him they practiced. They were jealous for him. In John 3:25 they argue with the Jews, and question John about Jesus’ early success. John’s disciples are still at work long after his death. In Ephesus (Acts 19:1f, c. 65A.D.) “disciples” of John the Baptist are ministered unto by Paul, subsequently baptized “in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Though, as this indicates, some were slow to follow, John the Baptist pointed people to Jesus. His whole ministry was predicated on forecasting the Messiah. Four Gospels: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” The “way” is the very word used by Jesus of Himself. John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” He exercises a humility in relation to Jesus that most of us have yet to learn. John 1:27, 30: “He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie….This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” John 3:30: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
BIBLE STUDY
#477 BIBLE STUDY
Scripture Luke 14:1-24 NIV Orig. 3/13/68
Rewr. 3/1971, 12/1974
Passage: One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way. 5 Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child[a] or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” 6 And they had nothing to say. 7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. 11 For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” 12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” 15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” 16 Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ 19 “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20 “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ 21 “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ 22 “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ 23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”
Keywords: Banquet Disenfranchised
Timeline/Series: Bible study
Introduction
Luke records four of the seven occasions of Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath. (1) In Chapter 4, the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law; (2) in Chapter 6, the man with the withered hand; (3) in Chapter 13, the woman with an 18-year infirmity; and (4) here, a man with dropsy—an excess of body fluids, known today as edema.
It would seem that anyone so intent on upgrading man’s physical and spiritual condition would have drawn the immediate acceptance of the people. Jesus, however, was hated by many.
Jesus’ Attitude at the Supper. 14:1 Jesus never refused any man’s invitation to hospitality. He went into the house of one of the Chief Pharisees on the Sabbath day to eat bread. They watched Him: Jesus never lost patience with men even in times of stress.
Jesus’ Action at the Supper. 14:2-6 His first responsibility is the alleviation of human suffering. V4 And He took him and healed him and let him go. Attention is called to the Pharisees’ lack of value judgment. “Which of you will not remove your beast from a pit on the Sabbath day?”
Jesus’ Analogy About a Supper. 14:7-11 His teaching is always relevant. V7 He marked how they chose out the chief rooms. His teaching here is in regard to humility. V9 When you are bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room. Humility is retained by examination and by comparison.
Jesus’ Advice to His Host at the Supper. 14:12-14 His advice is to examine our motives. V12 Do not invite your friends, your brethren, your kinsmen, thy rich neighbours, lest perhaps they also invite you. Their motives would be, perhaps, a sense of duty, self-interest, vanity, or an effort to befriend. The result will be blessing from God rather than men. V14 And thou shalt be blessed, for they cannot recompense thee.
Apposition: Jesus Was Rebuffed By a Guest at the Supper. 14:15 The guest who said “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God,” was perhaps incensed at Jesus’ word to the host. What right had He, through healing, to contradict the Law? What right to instruct the spiritual leaders? What right to advise the Chief Pharisee? The guest might have said, “What do you know about blessing? He is blessed who is of the spiritual heritage of Israel.”
Application: Jesus Rebuked False Claims of the Jews at the Supper. 14:16-24 Even a word spoken to a cynic is spoken in kindness.
But those to whom the kingdom was offered, rejected it: Because of vocation, and so immersed in work that there is no time for fellowship—“I have bought a piece of ground”; because of avocation, so taken with some novelty—“I have bought five yoke of oxen” (Did you know that 80,000 people a week see the Saints play football?!); because of invocation, in that the Mosaic Law says a man with a new wife will not go to war or be charged with business for one year—“I have married a wife.”
Closing
There are those to whom the Christian life is a melancholy and a dread. Swinburne, the poet, wrote, “Thou hast conquered, O pale Galilean, The world has grown gray from thy breath.” John Ruskin, an English author, told of a jumping jack given to him as a child, taken away by a pious aunt with the remark that toys were not things for a Christian child. It’s little wonder that his brilliant mind turned to socialism and nature. Wesley founded a school where the rule was no play, “because he who plays as a child plays as a man.”
Jesus, however, pictured His Kingdom in terms of a feast.
***THE REMAINDER OF THIS BIBLE STUDY HAS BEEN LOST***
NO MORE CHANCES
#463 NO MORE CHANCES
Scripture Luke 13:6-9 NIV Orig. 2-16-68
Rewr. 10-26-81
Passage: Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’”
Purpose: Continuing the series on the parables to remind my people of the teaching of Jesus relative to our responsibility to use our opportunities.
Keywords: Grace Judgment Providence Revival Uselessness
Series: Parables
Introduction
As Jesus continued his teaching, one of his Judean listeners raised a question. There was no great love lost between the Judeans and the Galileans, and a report had been recently circulated that Pilate had stormed out against their rebellious character by having his guards strike some of them down even while they were offering sacrifices. The one who raised the question was implying that they probably got what they deserved. If there is any place that a right-thinking person ought to be safe it is at the appointment of sacrifice. If, therefore, harm fell to them there, it simply means that they are guilty as charged and got their just deserts.
Jesus then answers directly. Do you think that those Galileans were the chief sinners among Galileans because that happened to them?” Jesus then laid the burden of sin right at their feet. “No!” he said, “They were not necessarily the chiefest of sinners just because they were killed.” Then, addressing their own disdain of God’s purpose for them, he continued. “Unless you repent, you will also perish.”
Then he brought up the case of a recent natural disaster. The tower of Siloam in Jerusalem had fallen causing the death of 18 people. He implies that if such as this can happen in Jerusalem, then the people must think that these victims were somehow deserving what happened to them. Again Jesus addresses their own sin problem. “That is not the case.” He says, but unless you repent of your sin, then you will ultimately perish just as violently as they did.
He does not deny that these Galileans and these workmen in Jerusalem were sinners. There is just not anything that he can do for dead sinners. His concern is for the living and for their errant rationale that allowed them self-justification. They were not safe from judgment simply because they were Jews. They were not to be excused from the necessity of repentance simply because of the chance of their birth to a Hebrew mother. Thus he shared with them the parable of the barren fig tree.
I. The Parable Addresses Opportunity: The fig tree owned a special providence. V6 “He came seeking fruit thereon.” Perhaps the significance of a parable needs to be restated. It is a story with a hidden meaning. The significance of such a story is never in what is obvious. It is not about a fig tree, but what the tree represents. It must somehow relate to productivity.
If this is just about trees, then there are many factors to be considered: size, fertility, climate, etc. If about trees, it can produce only what it is. But if its meaning is about people then we startlingly discover that a person can do much more than just produce another being like unto himself. Not only can he improve upon what nature has given, he can do more. He can produce a thought, an idea, a word, and a deed which, by the way, may be good or evil.
It is a consuming thought to come to realize that the master of the orchard is conscious of every plant. He expects no more that the plant, or that which it symbolizes, is capable to produce. Of a fig tree, he would expect a fig. But of one created to produce more and better things, he would expect that also. The master of the orchard knows the opportunity of each of us and expects that of which we are capable.
II. The Parable Addresses Obstructions to Opportunity. The fig tree reminds us that uselessness invites disaster. V7 “Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none.” Some would like to apply the parable to Jesus’ hearers, thus the Jewish nation. It is true that Isaiah foresaw such an eventuality. He describes the beloved’s vineyard “on a fruitful hill” and marks its destruction. Isaiah 5:1-7 “I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard. My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. That more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it. The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness but heard cries of distress.”
We dare see not see it, however, as relating to other than ourselves. Judging a tree we examine its leaves—right size and of good texture; its roots deep and strong; its fiber soft, pliable, moist; but if it bears no fruit, cut it down.
III. The Parable Asserts Offensiveness. The fig tree will understand that nothing which only takes and does not give can survive. V7 “Cut it down, why doth it cumber the ground?” The literal meaning is why does this plant allow the ground to be reduced to inactivity? Not only is the tree useless, the soil beneath it is rendered useless. An interesting parallel exists with other parables: Prodigal—“Lost,” loss of wellbeing; Strait Gate—“Destruction,” loss of wellbeing; Fig tree—“cumber,” loss of wellbeing; Fig tree—“cut it down,” loss of wellbeing.
The message is a twofold one, for empires and for individuals. We must never passively keep someone else from achieving their spiritual best, and we must anchor our lives to a bold, assertive spiritual activity.
IV. The Parable Speaks of Obligation. By the grace of the keeper of the orchard, a second chance is extended. V8f “Let it alone for one year more. I shall dig about it, and if it bear fruit, well.”
We are not directed to do something about our past, for we cannot; Thomas Hardy wrote in The Ghost of the Past, “We two kept house, the past and I.” We are not to be dazzled by the future, for we cannot grasp what it may hold; Longfellow wrote in A Psalm of Life, “Trust no future howe’er pleasant! Let the dead past bury its dead! Act, act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o’erhead.”
Be sure only of this, that God in Christ gives to each of us, to all, a second chance. Christ, on the cross, prayed “Father, forgive.” The foundling church offered to Israel a second chance to believe. Acts 13:46, First to Israel, “But seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.” The nation, the denomination, the individual church, the believer, likewise understand that our very being (wellbeing) is “second chance.” The mind of the Father and the Son is the same that repentance spurned. The soil must be cleared for one who will repent.
V. Finally, the Parable Acknowledges Oblivion. The fig tree testifies that there is coming a last chance. V9 “If it does not bear fruit after this year, then, cut it down.” The judgment made by the gardener is based on its fruitlessness. It is not the fault of the gardener. It is not the fault of the soil. The fault rests only upon the agency judged. Understand this, please, of the judgment of God: It will always be upon spiritual potential denied. He will not judge any person for something they were incapable of doing. What one is capable of, and what one “wills” to do with that capability is, sadly, too often, two different things.
We, who have been favored to live in a part of the world graced by the finer things of life must accept a responsibility to do with these things to the glory of God. Who then must face a more severe judgment? The Russian who grew up being taught that God was a capitalist plot? The remote tribesman whose only notion of God is the predictability or unpredictability of nature? The third world refugee who knows nothing so completely as he knows hunger? Or the polished citizen of a western culture who has the best of all things, but who ignores the clear warnings of sin, and judgment, and last chances?
Make no mistake, we are accountable. The divine gardener pleads “spare.” It is he who finally declares “cut it down!” Recall please the message of John the Baptist, the forerunner. He admonished Israel to repent, and then warned, “and even now is the axe laid unto the root of the trees: Every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.”
Conclusion
We are called therefore to believe. That belief requires repentance, for we have sinned, and in spite of our sin the second chance has been given. Finally, acknowledging that second chance means that we choose to live in such a way that others understanding our commitment to life in our Lord Jesus Christ will begin to reckon their own lives in relation to Him.