Monthly Archives: October 2010

Luke 5:[27] After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” [28] And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
[29] And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. [30] And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” [31] And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. [32] I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors and we have been predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). Everybody wants to know what Jesus would do. People almost think that WWJD is a biblical quote. From the way many people talk about doing what Jesus would do it seems that Jesus wouldn’t like our style of church services, wouldn’t dress like us, wouldn’t talk about sin and hell very much and He would only hang around young upwardly mobile folk. There is a great tendency to make Jesus look like us even when we ask what He would do.  But we see Jesus doing something here that would be very good for all of us to seek to imitate.

Jesus ate with sinners.

Christians should not be people who isolate themselves from sinners, from people who do not know Christ. We are called to flesh out the Gospel. We are called to make disciples and we will not do that if we do not socialize with sinners. Inviting people to meetings is a good thing to do but it is not how we are called to flesh out the Gospel. It is not how we will be like Jesus.

One of the greatest tragedies of the church is how we have managed to ghettoize believers. We over programme, over schedule church activities so that it is almost impossible for Christians to get to know their neighbours. If our neighbours knew where it is that we are always driving off to, they wouldn’t want to come – it doesn’t leave us much time for anything else. Why join a church that is taking us away from home so much? The place where the saints meet is meant to be a place where we worship and fellowship. We have turned Christian service in the church into an attempt to exhaust the saints. We are to worship together. We are to fellowship together. We are to eat the Lord’s Table together. And when we break away from our various gatherings we are to eat with sinners.

We are to show them Christ in how we behave and they cannot see how we behave if they are not with us. This means eating with and praying over our food when we eat with them, even if they don’t. It means being forgiving and loving even when they are sniping at each other. It means not joining in on the gossip when it is how they talk. It means helping them and telling them we pray for them. It is listening to them with a caring ear because we really do care and are not just seeing them as potential converts. It means loving them even if they never come to Christ.

It means being such people that they want to eat with us. Jesus never let people get away with sin and yet they wanted to be with Him. Who can you think of who you like to spend time with who you knows really cares about you and lets you know when you do what is wrong? That is a real friend and that is what we are called to be.  We spend time with them because they are our friends and we enjoy being in their company. They are people, not projects. This takes time.

People with great sin loved to eat with Jesus even though He let them know that they were sinners. They knew He loved them. It has been said that the average believer in North America has no non-believing friends two years after they have been converted. That is a tragedy of great proportion. Keep your non-Christian friends. If they go where you cannot then let them know you’ll see them later.

Eat with sinners.

Luke 5:[27] After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” [28] And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
[29] And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. [30] And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” [31] And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. [32] I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

“Those who are well have no need for a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

I desire the wrong things sometimes. I say the wrong things sometimes. I omit to say the right things sometimes. I hurt people with my words sometimes. I think evil thoughts sometimes. I think I am  better than others sometimes. Sometimes I speak when I should be quiet and say nothing when I should speak. Sometimes I impugn the motives of others. Sometimes I am short tempered and easily frustrated. I want my own way, get irritated when I don’t, and seek to justify the pursuit of my way over the way of others. I sometimes think that I know better than everybody else, that the successes of my life are because of my superior wisdom or skill and the failures are because of unavoidable circumstances beyond my control. Sometimes I am greedy for more money and things. I sometimes want to be left alone when I should be with others and want to be with others when I should be alone. Sometimes I envy others, want more, resent the rich, look down with scorn on the needy and only pretend to care. I sometimes break the law when I drive and treat the road like it is mine and everyone else is borrowing it from me. I can be rude, quick tongued, self-centred, unloving, unkind, impatient. The list is very long and it is not a happy game to play, this thing that I have just done. I am one sick puppy and I am not proud of the things that I am able to put on this list. It is shameful – and Jesus came for me because I am so desperately sick. And if you think you are not sick – then He did not come for you.

Luke 5:[17] On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. [18] And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, [19] but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. [20] And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” [21] And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” [22] When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? [23] Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? [24] But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” [25] And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. [26] And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

The problem with the Pharisees was not that they were wrong to try to make sure that Jesus was legitimate. There were probably all kinds of charlatans claiming to be the Messiah in and around Palestine who needed to be checked out. As people responsible for the spiritual well being of the people, they would have been shirking their God given responsibilities not to put travelling teachers and healers to the test. But the problem with the Pharisees was the standards they had erected. Their measure of what is right and wrong was not the Scriptures given by God. Their measuring rod was their own self righteousness, their own flawed traditions, whether biblical or not, their own power and influence, and whether Jesus would submit to them. No one could pass such a test. No one can today.

Whenever a person measures others against himself the ones he is measuring will always look less than required. Whenever someone criticizes, they then get measured against the grid of how much they agree with that person’s words and actions. Disagree? Then you are the bad guy. It is all so very convenient.

There is no way that Jesus will ever pass the Pharisees’ tests. The tests are flawed and Jesus is not. Jesus will not agree with the Pharisees because they are wrong. He will not submit to them because to do so would be to forsake God for sin filled tradition and hypocrisy. The Pharisees understand their job of filtering out evil. But they do not know the difference between good and evil and the real thrust of the Law or the measure of what God really wants or finds pleasure in. Given their distance form real truth there is no way that Jesus will ever look good to them.

What a lesson for us. We too can set up standards that reflect us more then the Scriptures. We too, can make agreeing with us the measure of righteousness. We too can come to believe that submitting to us and our way of doing things is what God requires. And God will be no more pleased with us in doing these things than He was with the Pharisees in their opposition to Jesus.

When it comes to judging between right and wrong, determining what leader to follow, what statements to believe, the first thing to ensure is that our measuring rods are accurate. We need to know and believe and practise and be reading and memorizing and studying the Word of God. Even then it is possible for us to err. But we will err much more if we do not know our Scriptures. We are not the standard of righteousness. We are not the measuring rod of truth. We are not the embodiment of what others need to follow. The Word of God and the triune God are. We do not put Jesus to the test. He tests us and it is our job to make sure that we listen to him and change our lives into that which He directs.

Luke 5:[17] On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. [18] And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, [19] but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. [20] And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” [21] And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” [22] When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? [23] Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? [24] But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” [25] And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. [26] And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

What a great response to the Pharisees as they complain that Jesus has taken upon Himself the right to grant the forgiveness of sins, based on the faith of the man before Him. “Which is easier to say”, Jesus replies, “get up”, or “your sins are forgiven”? The point is obvious. Jesus is claiming that He is capable of doing both with just a word. Whatever He says will be. As soon as Jesus said “your sins are forgiven, they disappeared from the man’s record – forever. And just as soon as He said “get up” the man was able to walk. Any one of us can say these two phrases equally easily. It is not hard to say either one. But for us it is impossible for us to say them and have the words become the truth of the matter.

A few things that we notice in this account:
1) Jesus does not argue with the Pharisees when they say only God can forgive sins. He performs a miracle to show that He has the right. He is agreeing with them that He has the right to forgive sins by virtue of His power over the man’s illness. He is saying “Yes, only God can forgive sins and that is who you are talking to.” And the Pharisees knew that was the message.
2) Jesus no doubt had every intention of healing the man, but He took care of the faithful man’s sin first. It was his bigger problem. Quite often believing churches are accused of not really caring for people since they preach the Gospel constantly and do not do much, in the opinion of some,  for the social and material needs of people. Many Gospel preaching churches probably should be doing more for the material needs of their community, but any church that truly delivers the true Gospel does care for people. They show it in giving the Gospel.
3) There is something even more important than the man’s health, and that is a right understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus plainly states that the reason He is about to heal is so that they might know that He has the right to forgive sins. In the world today there are countless numbers of faithful in Jesus Christ who suffer in all kinds of ways and who will not get release from the things that cause them to suffer. This does not mean that God has forgotten them. It means that they have an opportunity to show who Jesus is in their troubles while others have that opportunity in their relief. Our number one concern is that He be glorified in our lives and that others know who He is, not our material betterment.
4) Believers have a relationship with this same Jesus who did this amazing thing so many years ago. Let’s live today in a desire to glorify Him and demonstrate Him to others.

[17] On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. [18] And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, [19] but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. [20] And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” [21] And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” [22] When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? [23] Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? [24] But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” [25] And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. [26] And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

Luke 5:17 – “… Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem …”
Why were all the Pharisees from the region and others from further afield coming to listen to Jesus? They had no doubt heard the reports about Jesus and had come to check things out. There is nothing inherently wrong about that, if the goal behind their investigation is to determine if Jesus is being biblical and fits the office that so many are claiming that he has, that of promised Messiah. There were no doubt many such claims being made in the face of the Israel’s oppression and it was not evil in itself to check to see if this one was as bogus as the rest. From what we know of the Pharisees however, it is likely that not all of them had pure motives. There were those who simply wanted to see if their power was going to be threatened, if Jesus was willing to tow their line and submit to their leadership. Jesus’ popularity was so great at this time that to have Him on your team would be a great asset. We know that Jesus did get genuine followers from the ranks of the Pharisees and so there would be some in this number who were genuinely open to the possibility that this was a man worth following, and that He was who He said He was.

Then the text says that the power of God was with Jesus to heal people. All the Pharisees are there and Jesus has the power to heal. In other words, they are going to see a display of power that will help them see that Jesus is no usurper, that He is the genuine article. And the miracle that we have recorded for us shows Jesus doing what He did in order to demonstrate to this fairly large assembly of Pharisees, just who He is. It is the well known account of a paralysed man being let down through the roof of a house so that Jesus can heal him. The firs thing that Jesus says is “your sins are forgiven”. He says this because it is evident from what is happening that they believe in Jesus.

But Jesus did not always pronounce forgiveness before He healed. He does so here so that the Pharisees can witness it. Jesus is about to show great mercy and grace. When the Pharisees grumble that a man dares to pronounce the forgiveness of sin, Jesus then heals the man to prove that He is indeed the One who can legitimately grant forgiveness. This healing is a statement that He is the Son of God. This is what Jesus says “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”. This is a clear statement that He is God.

He proves to them with the miracles that He has the right to forgive. The Pharisees have just said that only God can forgive and Jesus does not contradict them. He does not say “Oh no you are wrong. God can forgive sins and I can too.” Not at all. He agrees with them that only God can forgive sins and then He demonstrates why it is that He can. Conclusion? There is only one. Jesus is God.

The Pharisees will not accept this because their preconceived notions are more important to them than the truth. The supreme issue is always Jesus; who He is, what He is, what He did. They are crucial questions. The Pharisees valued their power, the ir popularity, their influence, both over people and with political leaders, more than they valued the Truth. There is so much that can ba applied to believers today from this but suffice it for now to conclude this. If a person’s understanding of Jesus is flawed, the rest just does not matter.

Psalm 100: [1] Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
[2] Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

[3] Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

[4] Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

[5] For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

“Serve the LORD with gladness”. What a marvelous commandment. And we should have no doubt that it is a commandment. We are commanded to serve God with gladness. It is a sin to serve the Lord without being glad about it. This cannot mean that we are never to be sad. Even our Lord got sad sometimes. So it must mean that we are to be glad that we can serve Him. We are glad that we are serving Him in whatever capacity we happen to be doing it at the time. We are glad that He allows us to serve Him. So it means that we will not grumble about things we are called to do for the Lord. We will not grumble about going to church, giving money, helping the poor, giving the Gospel. We will not try to hide from people because of what they are going to ask us. We will serve God with gladness.

As with most things in the Christian life, this is a matter of knowing God better. The God who can cause rocks to rise up and praise God is the God who does not need us to serve Him at all. He can do better what He commands us to do. The very fact that we are commanded to do something for the sovereign Lord of the universe should make us glad. It is when we take our eyes off Him that serving Him becomes more duty than delight, more obligation than privilege, more “should” than “may”.

But this commandment also means that God wants us happy. And happiness is found in service to Him, no matter what capacity we do the serving. God wants us happy and He knows how best to get us there. We get ourselves in trouble when we start telling Him what will make us happy. We reason that if God wants us happy then why does He allow/put such things into our lives? “If He wants me happy then why doesn’t He make me healthy , make me wealthy, make me trouble free?” This is, of course to say that we know more than God – and such an attitude will never end in happiness. Only God is God and as hard as it is for us to see it at times, He does know what He is doing. We do not sit in judgement on Him. We do not assume that we could do better.

Serve the Lord with gladness. It begins with knowing Him and growing in our knowledge of Him. It means being stunned at the thought that God wants me happy and remembering that He knows what He is doing. Put yourself under His great, sovereign, loving, leadership. It’s the best thing you could ever do for yourself. It produces happiness.

Luke 5:[15] But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. [16] But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

Busy busy, busy. It seems that the better our technological devices are to help us live life more leisurely, the busier and more stressed out we become. But even in the culture of the first century A.D. getting time alone to meditate and pray took some powerful manoeuvring.

Jesus heals and teaches and amazes people at every turn. And that was where the danger was, for Jesus. He is so popular that His time for the greater things is threatened.  If He succumbs to the temptation to pray less because of His busy schedule, then He will be less useful for them than He can be.

In order for the incarnate Son of God (no less) to be able to bring glory to the Father, as was His mission (John 17:4), to seek out the lost (Luke 19:10), to do His Father’s will (John 6:38), He needs to spend time alone with His Father in prayer. So what is a busy Man supposed to do? He will not do what we do.
We are prone to say that the demands of the work necessitate us spending less time in prayer. I was trained in this being considered a good thing. Busyness was considered godliness, if what you were busy at was part of Christian work. The more you did the better. A full day planner was the sign of closeness to God, or so it seemed to the young man that I was when older pastors proudly showed off their full calendars. Wicked pride is what it is.

Jesus didn’t think like that and as much as the old guard complains about the laziness of the young and as much as the young show signs of hiding in their studies, we need to be more like Jesus. Jesus was a busy man. He was constantly being hounded and hunted to help people in some manner. So what DID He do? He frequently got away to be alone to pray. This is what verse 16 is telling us. The force of the verb “withdraw” means that he was continually withdrawing away from people to be alone and pray. He would frequently go to “desolate” places. People would be less likely to follow Him to places of desolation. He would not be interrupted. He could be alone to pray.

This is precisely what Christian workers, especially pastors, need to be doing on a regular, continuing basis. If you are a pastor and do not do this, then you are not fuelling up the way you ought to be. You are not nearly as useful as you may think – even if your work seems to be booming.  If you are not a pastor, pray that your pastor will do this and start doing it yourself too. He, and you, will be no use if you do not.

This isn’t about a forty hour week or getting days off or having a sabbatical. It is about maintaining a close walk with God so that when we are called upon we will have something worthwhile to give to those in need, whatever that need is. The answer to an over-busy schedule is to get away and pray and get your head together and fuel up in the Word.

Christians need to do this. They need to leave the work undone and get to doing the work that is done on the knees or all the other work will be done poorly, or worse, detrimentally. We are not the indispensable element in Christian work. He is. And we need to be tapping into Him in prayer by getting away to lonely places where no one else will find us, so that we can pray and truly love our people as we seek to give them the glories that we are called to give.

Luke 5:[12] While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” [13] And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. [14] And he charged him to tell no one, but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” [15] But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. [16] But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

“If you will, you can make me clean”.

What a statement of faith this is. Some will tell us that we do not need to pray “if it is your will” when it comes to healing, because it is always God’s will to heal. They believe that what Jesus said to this man is a general statement to all people everywhere for all time. It’s just bad Bible interpretation. There is nothing here in this account that says that it is always God’s will to heal all people if they ask. The final victory over death is not yet, and probably not for awhile.

But what can we learn from this account of Jesus healing this man? More than we will say right here, but note at least this:

1) This is precisely how we ought to approach Jesus when we want something from Him. “If you will”. This is what Jesus told us to pray when He gave the Lord’s Prayer. “Your will be done …”. James tells us that we should not even presume to say that we will be in a certain place tomorrow, because we don’t even know if we will live to see tomorrow. Instead, James says, say “if the Lord wills …” (James 4:13-15).

2) The man knows that the issue is not one of power. Even believers today give themselves too much credit for what they can accomplish on their own outside of the power of God. Jesus told Pilate that all his power, including the power to put Him to death, was from above. Without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). He does everything after the council of His own will (Ephesians 1:11). We need a conscious, grateful, awe inspiring understanding that we are not called by God and sent by God because He needs us. He does not. He can do everything He commands us to do – and do it better. The reason He chooses to use ordinary jars of clay is so that He will be glorified (II Corinthians 4:7).

3) The man knows that it is OK to approach Jesus and make his wishes known. It is never wrong to ask for anything that does not contradict the Scriptures. God may, at times, say “no” to our requests. But He will never say “Don’t bother me, I have no time for you.” Never. We have a high priest who was tempted in every way yet never sinned so we therefore can go the throne of grace with boldness and make our requests known and find grace and mercy to help us in our time of need. And should he say “no”, He will provide the grace to go on without the thing that we had asked (II Corinthians 12:6-10). What a Saviour.

Luke 5: [1] On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, [2] and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. [3] Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. [4] And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” [5] And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” [6] And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. [7] They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. [8] But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” [9] For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, [10] and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” [11] And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Verse 8 – Depart from me, for I am a sinful man .

Have you ever seen a real miracle? The word “miracle” gets bandied about so much that it begins to lose its force. Some teach that miracles are common place, which makes them less than miraculous. If they are common place then that means that the breaking of the normal laws of nature is a common thing and that must mean they are not unusual.  It means that the laws  are not laws. What makes a miracle a miracle is not just that the impossible happens. It is its breaking out of the common. It is an extra – ordinary event. Common miracles will diminish the awe that ought to accompany them. And that is what happens.

Far too many believers thinking that they deserve a miracle, a special visitation from God. And when they actually think they have had one, the response is very interesting. There is no sense of wonder, or awe or humility. We hear people telling us that we can have a miracle everyday as well. No big deal.

Miracles are, well,  miraculous. They defy what science says can happen. They break the rules that we have discovered are the ways that things work. People cannot walk on water, make food for 5000 people from a boy’s lunch, raise the dead after four days. But Jesus did just these things and more. And they should stun us. But also more than that. They should make us fall and they should make us fear. It is a fearful thing for sinful mortals to come into the presence of sovereign holiness.

When Jesus caused Peter and his companions to catch a great number of fish after having failed to catch any all night the last thing that Peter wanted was for Jesus to stay. Why? Because he knew he was in the presence of something far greater than himself. This miracle brought him face to face with the fact that he was a sinner and standing in the presence of holiness. When Isaiah had his vision of the Lord, high and lifted up, it caused Isaiah to fall and fear for his life. It caused Ezekiel to fall down as a dead man and the Holy Spirit had to get him back on his feet. It caused Daniel to fear for his life. It made John the Apostle fall down as if dead.

What in the world is wrong with us? We can talk about visits from God and miracles as if it is as eventful as a bowl of porridge. And the reason is that most of the time what people are calling miracles and visits from God just aren’t. Listen closely to those who speak and write about their visions and miracles and audiences with the Almighty. They speak more about themselves than God. They speak about their message, their call, their need for funds, their uniqueness as messengers of God. What they do not talk about is God and the terrifying thing it was for them to be in His presence – because they weren’t.

For a sinner to enter into the presence of God is an awesome thing. It can only happen by the power of the cross and when it happens it will change us, not put us on the hustings for our ministry. The way to come into the presence of God now is through faith in Jesus Christ.

We rejoice in this even though we have not seen Him – and the vast majority of us have not (I Peter 1:8). We have seen Him with the eyes of faith and one day we shall see Him as He is – but not yet (I John3:3). Miracles? I believe God still performs them. And I believe that a real one will do more for us than what we normally have recounted to us. Live a life of holiness – now there is a miracle.

Luke 4:[16] And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. [17] And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

[18] “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
[19] to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

[20] And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. [21] And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” [22] And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” [23] And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” [24] And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. [25] But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, [26] and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. [27] And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” [28] When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. [29] And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. [30] But passing through their midst, he went away.

What a striking passage of Scripture. Jesus reads from Isaiah 61 and other texts and sits down and verse 22 tells us that everyone there speaks well of Him. They marvel at his gracious words. These are people He grew up with. This is His home town. There are people there for whom he did some carpentry. His synagogue teachers are likely present. His boyhood chums, the girls who would have loved for Him to ask them to marry Him but had to choose second best because He just didn’t seem interested. They are there. They are all very pleased that this local boy is demonstrating such insight into the Scriptures.

And then Jesus baits them. He knows their hearts. They are thrilled that He is one of them until He starts peeling away the surface praise and revealing the true state of their hearts. And that is exactly what He does. He knows that they have heard about the things He has been doing in nearby towns and cities. The water into wine miracle has already happened in Cana and the news of that has no doubt trickled into Nazareth. The people there want a similar display. Jesus knows this and that is why He cites the proverb “Physician heal yourself”.

And then Jesus just blows things out of the water. His work, He tells them, is not just to His own little hometown. It is not even just for Israel. He quotes from the Old Testament about God doing great things for Gentiles in the time of the prophets. And just as quickly as that, everyone turns on Him. A few moments ago they were all a buzz about this orator and miracle worker being from their own town. Now they drag Him out to a cliff to murder Him.

Only Luke records this incident and it fits well with the purpose for which God inspired him to write it. Imagine Theophilus, the recipient of this letter (1:4) as a Gentile believer, who lived during the days of the first theological crisis of the church – can Gentiles be saved as Gentiles – reading this account. Jesus came to offer life to Gentiles – as Gentiles. Jesus sets the purpose of His mission right from the start. It is to save the world – not just Jews. It cost Him dearly.

And if we are faithful to the Gospel, it will cost us too. The problem with the Jews of Jesus’ village was that they thought the Messiah was exclusively for the Jews.

There is a similar problem today but it is the reverse side of the coin. Today the issue is not so much is Jesus for non-Jews, but rather, is Jesus the One whom non-Jews need? The question is not “can Gentiles come to Jesus?”, but rather “Must Gentiles come to Jesus?” What Jesus is saying here is not only that Gentiles can come but that He came for them because without Him they are lost. Jesus is the only Saviour for anyone who will be saved. There is no other way.

Theophilus would have rejoiced to read this account and know that he was included in the people Jesus came to win. Today this very truth is what offends people. But it is still true. Jesus came for all peoples. And all people need Him. Let us who know the life that Jesus gives to all, be sure to tell everyone that He is for them and that nothing and no one else will do. It may get us dragged to a hill to be thrown off. But it is what needs to be delivered if people are going to be saved.