Month: April 2024

GIVE MORE

GIVE MORE

Mark 12:41-44 NET.

41 Then he sat down opposite the offering box, and watched the crowd putting coins into it. Many rich people were throwing in large amounts. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, worth less than a penny. 43 He called his disciples and said to them, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the offering box than all the others. 44 For they all gave out of their wealth. But she, out of her poverty, put in what she had to live on, everything she had.”

We have been tracing the life of Christ, particularly the commands that he gave his disciples and others. Today’s text does not contain an actual command from Jesus. However, it does illustrate many of Jesus’ commands regarding giving. But before I begin talking about this particular text, I want to talk about the context in which it is given.

Where we are in the story

We have moved from the gospels section discussing Jesus’s final ministry before his appearance in Jerusalem. Most of that final ministry’s events took place in the Perea region. But we have now moved to the final phase of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Our location has changed to Jerusalem itself. After Jesus gave his parable of the Minas, the next event that happened was his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This was Jesus’ formal entry into Jerusalem and his formal presentation to Israel as king.

We celebrate the triumphal entry of Christ every year. We use that celebration of Palm Sunday to proclaim that Jesus is king — the coming king. Ironically, Jesus’ triumphal entry marked the beginning of an onslaught of attacks against him by the leaders in Jerusalem. Each group of leaders attacks Jesus with accusations, questions, and criticism. They questioned his identity. They questioned his theology about the resurrection. They questioned his standing as a Jerusalem citizen under Rome’s authority.

But they were not the only ones on the attack. Jesus symbolically cursed a fig tree. It shriveled and died. People could not help but realize that Jesus’s curse of the fig tree represented his judgment upon Israel. They had been tried and found wanting. Once again, Jesus attacked the temple. He wanted to defend the temple, but there was such evil going on there that he had to drive out the moneylenders.

Today’s text represents the only good thing Jesus found in Jerusalem when he arrived. Besides the praise of those who welcomed him into Jerusalem, the only good thing reported now is this woman’s gift, this widow. Nobody else seemed to notice it. But Jesus sat down and was watching. He watched as the rich people poured in their contributions to the temple treasury. Their loud displays of giving attracted the attention of many listeners. But nobody seemed to be watching when this widow came by. Nobody noticed when she gave her two pennies. But Jesus noticed. Of all the people who gave that day, Jesus drew attention to her and her gift. Why is that so?

This phase of the chronology of Christ Also includes his condemnation of the religious leaders and his prayer over Jerusalem, which he weeps over the city. He came as the king of Israel, but he was not accepted. The leaders did not receive him. He was not appreciated at the temple. And the only positive sign he draws attention to is this widow’s gift.

He knew this woman.

He knew that she had given all that she had. How did he know that? Did he assume it was because she was dressed poorly? Many people could have been dressed poorly and yet have been rich. No, he knew it because he knew her. Jesus knows all things. He knows you, and he knows me. He knows us inside and out. He knows how good we are and how bad we are. He knows what’s in our bank account. He knows what we have and what we can afford. He knows what we give.

Years ago on the mission field, we used to travel with a ministry team to villages in other parts of the country. We would go to churches and preach in those churches. But often, we would also put on dramas with our students. I remember one of the dramas that we performed. It had to do with the subject of giving. I remember one of the props we had for that drama. We had taken a photocopy of a 500 peso bill. Then, we enlarged that copy so that it was huge. Then we printed it out. In the drama, one student would put something in the collection plate. She would pull out that huge 500 peso bill. She would place it in the collection plate. But before she did that, she would lift it so everyone could see it. Her character wanted to make everyone know how generous she was.

I thought of that when I read today’s text. That was what was going on in the temple that day. Lots of people were giving who had lots of money. They were given out into the open so everyone could see it. They were giving loudly and obviously. Jesus had taught his disciples that they should not give that way. He taught them that they should give privately and in secret. He taught them they should give and only announce it to their heavenly father. But the people who gave in the temple that day wanted their giving to be noticed. But Jesus had taught that if others see our giving, that notice will be our only reward.

This widow in today’s text gave so littl that her giving could hardly be noticed. The only one who saw it was Jesus, who was looking for it. In contrast to all the other givers, her gift was noticed by Jesus. I want to believe that Jesus notices my giving. But the reason that Jesus saw this woman’s gift is that Jesus already knew her. The secret to appropriate giving is a relationship with God. This woman’s giving was appropriate because she had an honest faith in God.

He taught about investment.

I want to draw your attention to the lesson from last week. Remember that Jesus had taught a parable to the disciples. He taught the parable of the Minas. In that parable a nobleman was going to a foreign country to be crowned king. He gave his slaves some money to invest in his absence. When he returned, he saw that his slaves were accountable for their investment while he was away. Most of his servants had invested what he had given them. But one of his servants had refused to invest what he had given him. That nobleman called that servant wicked and lazy.

What caused this servant to be criticized by his master? He was criticized because he had been given something but refused to invest it.

There are many things that the Lord has given believers in Christ. One of the messages of the parable of the Minas is that each believer is responsible for investing what his Lord has given him. That includes much more than just money, but money is in the picture. Today’s text serves as an illustration of that fact. The widow that Jesus saw had very little to invest. She had no property. All she had to live on was two small coins. But when she came to the temple that day the Lord impressed her that she should give to the temple. All she had was two small coins. The question possibly tempting her was, why not just give one of the coins and keep the other? This was a free-will offering, after all. No one expected her to give everything. No one would be impressed by her gift. Her gift would be practically meaningless with all this elaborate giving around her. And yet she chose to give all. She decided to give more than what was expected.

He taught about giving by faith.

Jesus taught a lot about faith. He encouraged people to live by their faith. He encouraged them to overcome their fears and live by faith. This widow served as an illustration of how to do that. In his parable of the Minas, the wicked and lazy servant would not invest what he was given because he was afraid. But in today’s story, this widow overcame her fear and gave everything out of faith. She is the one positive example of something happening in Israel during Christ’s presentation. Of all the negative things that were going on at the time this one positive thing was noted by Jesus. This woman, who would hardly be noticed in the crowd, got Jesus’ attention. She got Jesus’ attention because she had the faith to overcome her fears and give more than expected.

God blesses those who give as a demonstration of their faith, those who look for the need and fill it, and those who dare to show that they trust God by how they give. This woman gave sacrificially. She gave very little, but it was all she had. That means that she gave more than anyone else. She gave more than the rich people pouring their money into the collection plates. She gave more than the people who were prominent and prominently known for their giving.

We recently concluded a fundraising program here at our church. The Penny Crusade program is an annual fundraising program for international missions. Even though we’re a small church, we collected much for that cause. There are a great many of our churches that are small and yet contribute significantly every year to that program. Every year, I’m amazed at how much a group of small churches in a small denomination collects. Having been on the mission field for many years, I know how grateful people are to receive mission funds. For many, those funds represent a large percentage of their livelihood. Many ministries are affected by the gifts from these small churches. Most of us will never be able to visit these ministries in foreign countries. But we can invest in those ministries by faith through our giving.

He taught about trust.

The widow in today’s story is also an illustration of living the kind of life that Jesus called us to live. She gave because she trusted God to take care of her. She overcame her fears and trusted God to make good on her investment. She could give all because she trusted God to make up for her loss. She may not have known where her next meal was coming from, but she knew who it was coming from. That is the kind of attitude that Jesus commends. He wants us all to learn to trust the way that widow trusted. It isn’t just in the area of finances that we need to learn to trust.

We need to learn to trust God for our future. As I talk to people regularly one of the things I hear most often is that they are afraid of what is happening in the world today. They see things are getting worse and worse. Young people are scared to raise children. Older adults wonder if they are going to survive. People who have little are wondering if they’re going to make it. People who have lots are wondering if they’re going to keep it. There is an attitude of fear that is prevalent today. Now, there are many reasons for that kind of fear. Looking at what’s happening today, we will find many causes for that fear. But God does not want us to fear. He wants us to learn to trust him instead. He wants us to trust him with all our hearts and lean not on our understanding. He wants us to put our fate in his hands. He wants us to trust him amid the turmoil. That is never easy to do. But if we do not learn the lessons of trust, our environment will always defeat us.

In today’s story the widow had learned to trust. She had learned to put her fate in the hands of her heavenly father. She had learned that her destiny did not depend on how much money she had in her pocket. Her destiny did not depend on who was king. Her destiny did not depend on who was in control of the temple. Her destiny was not dependent on the fate of her nation. Her life was simple. She had put her life in the hands of a loving God. She had learned to trust in God.

He taught about sacrifice.

Jesus had taught his disciples that they were to live a life of sacrifice. He served as an example of that sacrifice. He said his goal in life was not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. He was in Jerusalem then because he had a date with destiny. That destiny was not the crown. It was the cross. He had taught his disciples that if they wanted to follow him, they must take up their cross and follow him. There’s only one reason to take up a cross. The cross is an instrument of punishment and death. The cross is a death sentence.

It took the disciples a long time to recognize this truth that Jesus was teaching. But after his resurrection, they understood that they were also being called on to sacrifice their lives. With every confidence in a resurrection, all but one of those disciples eventually sacrificed his own life as well.

The lesson we are learning today is that as believers in Jesus Christ, we also are called to sacrifice. We may have plans. But following Jesus may call on us to alter those plans. We may have expectations. But following Jesus may call on us to put aside those expectations.

Today’s text does not tell us the whole story. We do not know whether this widow intended to give both coins. But perhaps the Holy Spirit spoke to her and told her to make that sacrifice. She recognized His voice and made her choice. The Holy Spirit is in each one of us. He will give us opportunities like that to show our faith in God by going above and beyond the world’s expectations. When he does so, may we obey his prompting and give more.

For further study:

Rowlandson, W. H. The Gospel according to St. Mark, with prolegomena. 1869. pp. 59-60.

Sabin Marie Noonan. The Gospel According to Mark. Liturgical Press 2006. pp. 111-113.

Sadler, M. F. The Gospel According to St Mark. 1884. pp. 290-291.

Sawyer Leicester A. First Gospel Being the Gospel According to Mark. Walker Wise 1864. p. 39.

Schweizer Eduard and Donald Harold Madvig. The Good News According to Mark. John Knox Press 1970. pp. 258-260.

Solly Henry Shaen and Sunday School Association. The Gospel According to Mark: A Study in the Earliest Records of the Life of Jesus. Sunday School Association 1893. pp. 175-176.

Story Cullen I. K. The Beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ According to Mark: From the Jordan River to the Open Tomb. Xulon 2004. pp. 230-232.

Stubbs Charles William. The Gospels According to S. Matthew & S. Mark. J.M. Dent; J.B. Lippincott 1901. pp. 141-142.

Sumner, John Bird. A Practical Exposition of the Gospel According to St. Mark in the Form of Lectures. London: J. Hatchard, 1847. pp. 398-401.

Sweetland Dennis M. Mark: From Death to Life. New City Press 2000. pp. 156-159.

Swete, Henry Barclay. The Gospel According to St. Mark: The Greek Text. London: Macmillan, 1913. pp. 274-277.

Taylor Joseph Judson. The Gospel According to Mark. Sunday School Board Southern Baptist Convention 1911. pp. 163-164.

FAITHFUL OR FEARFUL?

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FAITHFUL OR FEARFUL?

Luke 19:11-27 NET.

11 While the people were listening to these things, Jesus proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. 12 Therefore he said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13 And he summoned ten of his slaves, gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.’ 14 But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to be king over us!’ 15 When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he summoned these slaves to whom he had given the money. He wanted to know how much they had earned by trading. 16 So the first one came before him and said, ‘Sir, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 17 And the king said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, you will have authority over ten cities.’ 18 Then the second one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has made five minas.’ 19 So the king said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 Then another slave came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina that I put away for safekeeping in a piece of cloth. 21 For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You withdraw what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 The king said to him, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked slave! So you  knew, did you, that I was a severe man, withdrawing what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow? 23 Why then didn’t you put my money in the bank, so that when I returned I could have collected it with interest?’ 24 And he said to his attendants, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has ten.’ 25 But they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten minas already!’ 26 ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 27 But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and slaughter them in front of me!'”

We have been studying the commands of Christ. But we have found that the commands of Christ that appear in the Gospels are often hidden within other kinds of statements. That is the situation we find ourselves in when looking at today’s text. It is primarily a parable. Jesus doesn’t give any commands within the parable. But there is one character in the parable who does give commands. When we study this parable of the Minas, we learn how to prepare ourselves for the coming Kingdom. We will find commands in this parable, but we must be careful not to make this parable say more than it says. Jesus gave parables to illustrate something that he was teaching. One danger in studying the parables is that we make the parables walk on all fours. In other words, we make them say more than they are meant to say. So, we must look very closely at the context in which we read this parable today to understand its meaning. If we do that, we will discover it has much to say today. As long as we let it say what it meant to say instead of what we think it meant.

The text picks up where we last left off in the story of Zacchaeus in Jericho. The Lord had welcomed Zacchaeus. All the people were surprised that he had done that. And then Jesus begins to teach about the coming Kingdom. But he is addressing a particular problem. Luke says that Jesus proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem, and they thought the Kingdom of God would appear immediately. The people who believed that were the crowd following Jesus to Jerusalem. They thought they were following the king to his inauguration. We know now that Jesus was not going to Jerusalem to be crowned as king. He was going to Jerusalem to die on the cross for our salvation. Jesus accepted the title of king but told people that his Kingdom was not of this world. It was not of this age. His Kingdom is coming at another age. It’s coming at the end of the age. So Jesus had to teach the people in the crowd that there would be a long delay between his going to Jerusalem and his being crowned as king of God’s Kingdom. That is what this parable is for. This parable is designed to do two things. It is intended to show believers how to conduct themselves in this present stage of God’s Kingdom. It is also intended to make unbelievers fully aware of what will happen to them when Christ does come as king.

With that in mind, let’s dive into this parable of the ten Minas to see what Jesus is teaching and commanding us. I want us to take several of the characters of this parable and try to understand each one. To do that, I’m going to ask a question for each character.

Who is this nobleman?

Jesus identified the first character of this parable when he said a nobleman went to a distant country. Who is this nobleman? The crowd was very familiar with the idea of a nobleman going to a foreign country to gain a Kingdom. In the city of Jericho, a man named Archelaus had left his palace and proceeded to Rome to be anointed as king in place of his father, who had just died Herod the Great. It is quite possible that Jesus and Zacchaeus were within visual distance of Archelaus’s palace when Jesus said this parable. That means that Jesus’ audience would understand the idea of someone going to Rome to be anointed as king. They knew all about Archelaus. They knew about his steward Philippus. While he was away, Philippus had been left in charge of Archelaus’ fortune. So, several aspects of this parable would resonate with the crowd as they walked through Jericho.

But the crowd also knew that Archelaus was not the nobleman Jesus had in mind in his parable. This noble one was going to be crowned as king. And then he would return and bless the stewards that work for him in his absence. Jesus was talking about himself when he talked about this nobleman. He was going to go to the far country of heaven itself. There, God the Father would grant him the authority to be king over heaven and earth. And then, at some time in the future, our Lord, the king of heaven and earth, would return to earth and take his throne. But Jesus used this parable to warn us that there would be a long period in which he would be away and not yet present on earth.

When I talk about this long period, I usually talk about the Kingdom and its present stage and the Kingdom when it comes to fullness. Often, when Jesus talked about the Kingdom, he spoke of a time in the future when he was going to come as king. But he also said we can receive the Kingdom today. We can accept Jesus as our king today even though he is absent. Everyone had to choose what they would do with this nobleman in the parable. The slaves had to decide whether or not they were going to obey his commands. The citizens had to choose whether or not they were going to accept him as their king. So, the message for all of us today as to who this nobleman is is that it is Jesus. He is God’s coming king. Today’s message for this world is have you accepted God’s coming king? The message for believers today is, are we serving God’s coming king?

Who are these slaves?

The second character in this parable is a group of people identified as slaves. There are 10 of them. Each of these slaves is given a mina, a sum of money. They are given a Mina to invest while their master, the nobleman, is away. This parable is similar to another parable Jesus gave, the Parable of the Talents, But there are some significant differences. One of the major differences is that in the parable of the Minas, each servant is given the same amount. That is significant because the exact amount is given to every believer. But the same amount of what? We are not given the same amount of gifts. We are not given the same amount of natural talent. We are not blessed with the same amount of natural resources. Some of us are poor, and some are rich, like Zacchaeus. What is this commodity that we have that all of us have in common?

There are actually many things that could answer the question: What is the meaning of the mina? One thing it could stand for is time. You and I are given the same amount of time. We don’t all live the same amount of time, but we all have the same amount each day. The Lord has invested with us a 24-hour day, our seven-day week, and a 365-day year.

Another thing that the Mina may stand for is salvation by grace. Each of us who are servants of our Lord has been blessed with salvation by his grace through his death on the cross. None of us has earned this grace. There’s nothing we could do to gain it. It is a gift of God and not of our works so that we have no basis to boast.

Another thing that the Mina may stand for is opportunity. We don’t all have the same gifts, but we have the same opportunity to serve the Lord as everyone else. This is a very satisfying truth. One of us has been given one thing that we don’t deserve. We have been given a chance to show how faithful we are to the one we call our master. The question in the title of today’s sermon is faithful or fearful. Will we live lives that are faithful to Christ, or will we let our fears keep us from serving him?

In the parable, two servants are identified as having been obedient to the Lord — obedient to their Lord and are rewarded accordingly. But one servant is humbled by his Lord because he refused to invest his Lord’s money, disgracing him. This parable is Jesus’ way of teaching us to stay diligent and serve him during this time before he returns. The parable is not designed to teach us that we will be rewarded differently when he returns. The point of the parable is that we should stay faithful. The Lord has allowed us to serve him. We must take advantage of that opportunity.

Who are these citizens?

But let’s go now to the parable’s question of who these citizens are. They are called citizens of the Kingdom in verse 14. It says that his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying we do not want this man to be king over us. They were citizens but they were not acting like citizens. That’s why the Lord changes his name for them in the parable. In verse 27, the Lord calls them his enemies. He says As for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and slaughter them in front of me.

Several commentators say that these enemies are the nation of Israel. It is true that the Israelites as a nation rejected their Messiah and crucified him at Calvary. But Jesus is coming back not just as the king of the Jews but as the king of all the kingdoms of the earth. The citizens who are the king’s enemies are all those who refuse to acknowledge his Kingdom. That includes everyone who fails to accept Jesus. When we talk about accepting Jesus, we have to remember that there is no second choice. Only Jesus is going to reign as king over the universe. If we refuse to accept Jesus as our king, we are asking God to destroy us. There’s no other option. There’s no other Kingdom for us to be part of. There’s no neutral territory in God’s eternal Kingdom. Only those who have pledged loyalty to Christ will live forever with him on the new earth. That is why, in this parable, the enemies are slaughtered when the king returns. Jesus tells us that in hell, his enemies will be destroyed body and soul. The apostle Paul calls it permanent destruction. That is the fate of everyone who chooses some other king other than Jesus.

What is Jesus’ command?

Finally, I want to ask what Jesus’ command is here. The nobleman’s command to his slaves was this: ‘Do business with these until I come back.’ Jesus is telling us the same thing. He reminds us that each of us has been given a limited amount of time to show our loyalty to him during this stage of his kingdom. He has blessed us all with the same undeserved gift: salvation by grace. His question for us now is what we are doing with that precious gift. Are we investing it in the lives of others to help bring them into the kingdom? Or are we hiding it away? Each of us has an opportunity to show our appreciation for God’s love by loving others. Are we taking that opportunity?

For further study:

Blanchard, John, and John Blanchard. Luke Comes Alive! Welwyn: Evangelical, 1986. p. 126.

Bliss, George R. Commentary on the Gospel of Luke. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1884. pp. 279-282.

Bonaventure. Saint Bonaventure As a Biblical Commentator: A Translation and Analysis of His Commentary on Luke Xviii 34-Xix 42. University Press of America 1985. pp. 111-126.

Bond, John, Brooke Foss Westcott, and Fenton John Anthony Hort. The Gospel according to St. Luke: being the Greek text. London: Macmillan and Co, 1890. pp. 140-141.

Byrne Brendan. The Hospitality of God: A Reading of Luke’s Gospel. Liturgical Press 2000. pp. 152-153.

Caird, G B. Saint Luke. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1978. pp. 208-211.

Campbell, Colin, James Donaldson, and James Donaldson. Critical Studies in St Luke’s Gospel Its Demonology and Ebionitism by Colin Campbell, B.d. Minister of the Parish of Dundee; Formerly Scholar and Fellow of Glasgow University; Author of ‘the First Three Gospels in Greek, Arranged in Parallel Columns, Etc.’. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1891. pp. 213-217.

Clark, George W. Notes on the Gospel of Luke, Explanatory and Practical: A Popular Commentary Upon a Critical Basis, Especially Designed for Pastors and Sunday Schools. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1876. pp. 415-418.

Collins Donald E. The Reign of God Is in Your Midst: Praying the Gospel of Luke. Upper Room Books 1993. p. 178.

Craddock, Fred B. Luke., 2009. pp. 215-223.

COME DOWN QUICKLY

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COME DOWN QUICKLY

Luke 19:1-10 NET.

1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 Now a man named Zacchaeus was there; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to get a look at Jesus, but being a short man he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, because Jesus was going to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, because I must stay at your house today.” 6       So he came down quickly and welcomed Jesus joyfully. 7 And when the people saw it, they all complained, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 But Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I now give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone of anything, I am paying back four times as much!” 9 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this household, because he too is a son of Abraham! 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

We have been studying the commands of Christ. We are looking for clues as to what Jesus wants. Unfortunately, we do not have a written list of commands from Jesus that applies to us. Instead, we have to figure out what Jesus wants us to do based on his interactions with others and his commands to others. Today’s story might be a little tricky. It tells about Jesus’s interaction with Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was up a tree, literally. Jesus tells him to come down from that tree. He plans to stay at Zacchaeus’s house. Zacchaeus responds by obeying Jesus’ command. He also seems to have had a conversion experience. The problem with a story like this is that most of us do not climb Sycamore trees. We are not put in a position like Zacchaeus was. Jesus is not walking through our town on his way to Jerusalem. And even if Jesus was coming in our direction, we are not like Zacchaeus, seeking to get a glimpse of him. We are his followers, so we are more like those in the crowd. But I think there is a message in today’s text for us. We can understand what Jesus wants us to do if we follow three steps.

The first step is to examine Zacchaeus and compare him to another man we encountered recently in the Gospel of Luke.

Compare Zacchaeus with the rich ruler of Luke 18.

They were both rich. When Jesus saw this rich young man coming, he loved him. But when this young man wanted to join Jesus’ disciples, Jesus required that he give up all his wealth. The rich man was not willing to do that. He went away sad because he had a lot of money. He wanted to be a believer and a follower of Jesus, but he did not want to sacrifice his wealth to do so. Jesus was not willing to accommodate his wishes. He told his followers a rich man couldn’t enter the Kingdom. It was like a camel going through the eye of a needle.

And so, this man, Zacchaeus, appears on the scene. He is also a rich man. Will Jesus say the same thing to him? Will Jesus turn him away? We know already from the text that Jesus does not. That is a comfort. Knowing that you can be rich and still be accepted by Jesus is a comfort. But what was the difference in Zacchaeus? How did Jesus know that Zacchaeus was fit for the Kingdom? Why did Jesus accept Zacchaeus and reject the rich young man? We will leave that question for a moment.

They were both famous. Both Zacchaeus and the rich young man were famous among their population. People knew their names, and they knew what they did. They were not renowned for the same reason. They were famous for the opposite reasons. The rich young man was famous for being a righteous person. Zacchaeus was not. Zacchaeus was a tax collector. He was the chief tax collector. Zacchaeus was a significant person in a city like Jericho, famous for its role in trade and commerce. But he was also a very despised person. He got rich by preying on the people. He cheated people for a living. He was the kind of famous person you didn’t want to have at your house.

They both sought Jesus. The rich young man sought Jesus to have a guaranteed eternal life. We are not sure why Zacchaeus sought Jesus. Perhaps he was looking for something that he had never found anywhere else. But no one else knew about what Zacchaeus wanted. Everyone thought Zacchaeus was a scoundrel, and they didn’t think Jesus would have anything to do with him. They were a little upset when Jesus decided to join Zacchaeus at his home.

They both had a decision to make. The rich young man had a decision to make. He had to decide whether joining the Kingdom of God was worth giving up all of his wealth. He had to determine if he wanted to change his life to get eternal life. He went away sad because he would not make that decision. He decided that the destiny of eternal life was not worth a current life of poverty. But look at the decisions Zacchaeus made. He had a very similar decision to make. He knew that coming to Christ would mean changing the way he lived. He knew that self and money would have to come off the throne. He knew that to follow Jesus, he had to change how he lived. But he decided to do that. This is what we call repentance.

Now, after we have examined these two men and their decisions, we can discuss the crowds. Remember I said we were more like the people in the crowd that day?

Consider the crowds that day.

They all hated Zacchaeus. Their pockets were a little less full because of Him. They despised the man. If Zacchaeus had tried to reach Jesus through the crowd, they would have tried to stomp him and rough him up a bit. He was not popular with anyone. The only ones who would have tried to look like his friends were the people who worked for him.

The people in the crowd were obstacles to Zacchaeus’ salvation. They were not just obstacles to him physically getting to Jesus. By their actions, Zacchaeus was prevented from contacting Jesus. They wanted to follow Jesus to Jerusalem but did not intend to invite Zacchaeus.

They were critical of Jesus’ choice to favor him. The text says that they all complained that he had gone in to be a guest of a man who was a Sinner. They thought that Jesus had made a wrong choice. But what Zacchaeus did showed that Jesus did not make a wrong choice. Zacchaeus made a vow to give half his possessions to people experiencing poverty. He also vowed to repay all the money he wrongfully took from people. He was showing true repentance. But the crowd did not like Zacchaeus. They did not consider him worthy of Jesus. They could not understand how Jesus could accept Zacchaeus.

They were ignorant of his potential for change. They had made a value judgment based on their prejudice. When they saw someone like Zacchaeus, they wrote them off as unredeemable.

Now, here is the point where you and I have to confront a problem we might have. We have to consider whether or not we are like that crowd. To help us consider this, it would be nice for us to ask a few questions about ourselves.

Ask yourself these questions.

If Jesus is seeking the lost, am I? Most of us would quickly say yes, we are seeking the lost. But I wonder if when we really get down to looking at it, we only look for the lost people we want to be saved. Are we like that crowd who immediately dismissed Zacchaeus as a candidate for salvation? Are we seeking the lost but only the lost that we want to come to Christ? Or are we willing to let the Holy Spirit decide who comes to Jesus?

Am I willing to befriend people to share Christ with them? You might notice that in today’s text, Zacchaeus came to Christ because Christ first came to him as his friend. All Jesus said was for Zacchaeus to come down and that he would eat at his house that day. Jesus did not yell up that tree for Zacchaeus to repent for being a Sinner. Jesus did not recite the four spiritual laws to Zacchaeus. Jesus did not quote any Bible text to Zacchaeus. He invited Zacchaeus into his life. I wonder if we would have more people accept Christ through our witness if we first tried to befriend them. Most people I know do not want to talk theology to someone they don’t know. But they don’t mind talking theology with their friends. I imagine the same is true about going to church. They are likelier to attend church with a friend than to appear at a stranger’s invitation.

The essence of friendship evangelism is making friends to reach those friends for Christ. The advantage of friendship evangelism is that people do not want to lose their friends. They are more likely to respond favorably to an invitation from their friends than someone they don’t otherwise know.

Who do I consider unreachable? Probably everyone in the crowd that day thought that Zacchaeus was unreachable for Christ. None of them offered to put Zacchaeus on his shoulder so that he could see Jesus or to bring Zacchaeus to Jesus. He was a hated tax collector, a tool of the Roman oppressors. Most people did not even want to think about Zacchaeus, and they certainly didn’t think about him in the context of religion.

Friends, there are many people like that in today’s world. They are people we might know but not want to be around. They are undesirable. We tolerate them because we have to, but there are people we do not want to get closer to. They are like Zacchaeus. Guess what? These people need Jesus.

Someone told me a story recently about something that happened to them. They were on a road one day, and a long line of cars had pulled to the side of the road. Another car came by. A very popular and famous man drove a costly vehicle. He went by some of the cars, and they all waved at him. He waved back. He drove by more cars, and they all waved at him. He waved back. When it reached the end of the road, everyone heard a tremendous splash. He had driven his car into a large wave of water. He had to exit the vehicle and swim to safety. When he got to safety, he asked the people why they had not tried to stop him. But they all said they did try to stop him — that’s what they were waving for.

I thought about that story in conjunction with today’s text. I wonder if we are like that crowd. I wonder if many people go by us daily, and the signal they get from us is that everything is fine. When, in fact, we know everything is not fine with so many people’s lives. Lots of people need Jesus. They need someone to flag them down and keep them from going into a disaster. But mostly, they don’t hear that from us. It seems as if we are letting everyone drive by. The crowd in Jericho that day was content to allow Zacchaeus to be left behind. They did not consider him to be redeemable. But the message we get from today’s text is that Jesus loves people like Zacchaeus. He came to seek and save the lost; we should be about that business, too. We should make it our business to look for people like Zacchaeus who are up a tree. We need to look for signs that people are looking for salvation. We need to go out of our way to befriend those people. If we dare to do that, we will find that our evangelism will improve.

For further study:

Abbott, Lyman. The Gospel According to Luke. New York: A.S. Barnes & Company, 1878. pp. 118-120.

Adeney, Walter F. St. Luke: Introduction. New York: H. Frowde, 1906. pp. 332-334.

Allen, Ronald J. Preaching Luke-Acts. St. Louis, Mo: Chalice Press, 2000. p. 130.

Ardizzone, Edward, and J B. Phillips. St. Luke’s Life of Christ. London: Collins, 1956. pp. 80-81.

Balmforth, Henry. The Gospel According to Saint Luke: In the Revised Version, with Introduction and Commentary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1930. pp. 256-257.

Barclay, William. The Gospel of Luke. Edinburgh: Saint Andrew, 1997. pp. 276-279.

Barrell E. V and K. G Barrell. St. Luke’s Gospel: An Introductory Study. J. Murray 1982. pp. 137-138.

Baugher, H L. Annotations on the Gospel According to St. Luke. New York: Christian Literature Co, 1896. pp. 346-351.

Beck Brian E. Christian Character in the Gospel of Luke. Epworth Press 1989. p. 180.

Blaiklock, E M. Luke. London: Scripture Union, 1978. pp. 70-71.

WHAT DOES THIS CEREMONY MEAN?

WHAT DOES THIS CEREMONY MEAN?

Exodus 12:25-27 NET.

25 When you enter the land that the LORD will give to you, just as he said, you must observe this ceremony. 26 When your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ — 27 then you will say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, when he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck Egypt and delivered our households.'”

As we come to the Communion table this morning. I want us to focus on Moses’s instruction to the Israelites, as reflected in this text. There were reasons why Jesus chose the Passover meal when he added on the particular ceremony that we call Communion or the Lord’s Supper.

Moses knew that the children would be curious.

He said that they will ask what this ceremony means. Their asking about Passover would be the opportunity for their parents to explain it. If you have ever sat down to a Passover meal, you would be lost in understanding the meaning of all its symbols without someone explaining it. The Communion is similar to Passover in the meaning attached to the various elements. Jesus explained the elements of Communion and encouraged the disciples to perform the ceremony regularly because it would create curiosity among new believers and provide an opportunity to teach the fundamentals of the faith.

Moses knew that the parents needed to pass on their faith.

Evangelism was not invented with the Great Commission. God wanted the Israelites to pass their faith on by instructing their children and grandchildren about it. Passover was a means of doing that. Communion is an opportunity we have to do the same thing.

Moses instructed them to share about what God had done.

Every significant aspect of Judaism can be traced back to something that God had done or was doing for his people. Christianity is the same. Communion was designed to help us remember what Jesus did for us. The bread represents his body sacrificed; the cup represents his blood spilled. The basis of our faith is God and his grace. It’s not about us; it’s about Him.

Heavenly Father, here we are again at the table, reminding ourselves of your grace. We thank you again for your Son’s sacrifice. Thank you for what he did to cleanse us from sin and reconcile us to you.

THE SPIRIT OF ADOPTION

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THE SPIRIT OF ADOPTION

Romans 8:12-17 NET.

12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh 13 (for if you live according to the flesh, you will die), but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) — if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.

Every first Sunday of the month, we celebrate Communion and have also been studying the gospel message as presented by the Apostle Paul in Romans. We are learning about justification by faith in God’s grace brought about by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross as our substitute. We are also learning that justification is never alone. You cannot be saved by grace without that salvation making a difference in your life. A change of status marks that difference. Among other things, that difference is called regeneration or redemption. Regeneration is the new birth. Redemption is God’s rescue of our lives from sin and its consequences.

By the time we get to chapter eight of Romans, we learn about the difference the Holy Spirit makes in a believer’s life. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of adoption in today’s text. Most people think of Romans as Paul’s way of explaining justification by faith. But for Paul, you cannot explain justification without talking about sanctification. Put another way, you cannot explain what Jesus did for us on the cross without mentioning what the Holy Spirit is doing today. God has a plan, and the death and resurrection of Christ were only part of that plan.

We also learn from Romans that the Holy Spirit is not an additional option for only the most spiritual and committed. He is part of God’s plan for every Christian. That fact comes through in today’s text. Paul writes to his brothers and sisters in Rome, but his message applies to all his brothers and sisters everywhere. He tells us that the Holy Spirit is God’s plan for all Christians. He is the Spirit of adoption. The only natural-born Son of God is Jesus Christ. All the rest of us must become members of God’s family through adoption. The Holy Spirit is the means of that adoption.

That is why there is no such thing as a Christian without the Holy Spirit. Earlier in this chapter, we learned that if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him (Romans 8:9). So, when Paul writes to the believers in Rome, he does not try to convince them to receive the Holy Spirit. They already have the Holy Spirit, and so do we. If you believe in Jesus Christ today, you do not have to jump through any hoops to receive the Holy Spirit. You already have Him.

Paul’s purpose in today’s passage is to explain why Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit – particularly in terms of what the Holy Spirit does for us as the Spirit of adoption.

The Spirit of Adoption guides our lives (12-14).

Paul says the Holy Spirit leads believers as sons of God. Since we are adopted into God’s family by faith, we do not automatically possess the ability to do things that please our heavenly Father. We are naturally born children of Adam, so our natural inclination will be to live according to the flesh. When we become Christians, God does not perform a fleshectomy on us. [My spell-check went wild on that word].

No, God did not remove the flesh. So, we are still inclined to live according to the flesh because before we came to Christ, that was the only way we knew how to live.

What God did for us was to add the presence of the Holy Spirit to our lives. The Holy Spirit is like God’s GPS. He guides us in living according to God’s will, in step with the walk of Christ, and in tune with the word of God.

Most of you know that when Penny and I travel, I usually drive, and she navigates. We might sometimes use a GPS on one of our phones, but sometimes even that is wrong, and I’m thankful that Penny usually knows when. Sometimes, she uses two phones with two different apps, but we still defer to her. Having those apps on our phones is nice, but they are not always reliable.

The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit leads us. But the problem is that we are born with another means of guidance and are already used to it. That other means of guidance is what Paul calls the flesh. But Paul has already taught earlier in this chapter that the flesh GPS is not a good source of guidance. He taught in verses 5 and 6 that those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh. And the outlook of the flesh is death. He says in today’s text that if you live according to the flesh, you will die.

Now, imagine you were shopping for a phone app that is supposed to guide you as you travel. Suppose you are looking at the advertisement for an app that would provide a GPS location and help you get from point A to point B and back. But what if you look at the fine print and it says, ” If you use this app, you will die?” I don’t think anyone would be tempted to buy and use such an app.

Paul is saying that we are born with a guidance system already installed and ready to go. The only problem is that it is designed to lead us off the cliff—that is what the flesh does. So, we all need to upgrade to a new GPS, and that system is the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of Adoption testifies to our relationship with God (14-17).

The Holy Spirit within us is also the means of connecting us to our heavenly Father. He enables us to cry out to God – not just God as creator. He enables us to recognize our new identity in Christ, leading to our calling to God as Father. Paul uses both the Aramaic word ἀββά and the Greek word πατήρ in verse 15. Both words mean father. Paul said the same thing to the Galatians. He said that when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights. And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who calls “Abba! Father!” (Galatians 4:4-6).

The Spirit of adoption does more than ratify our legal adoption by God. It creates an emotional and psychological relationship that was not there before we received him. Our loving Father sent His Son Jesus into the world, and he sent His Holy Spirit into us. That Spirit of adoption allows us to relate to God in a way we could not before. He replaced our fear of God as judge and enabled us to relate to him as a loving Father.

Why do we need that? Well, as God’s children in a world dominated by his enemies, we are going to suffer as Jesus did. We will suffer with him, but not vicariously. The world only needs one Savior. But we will suffer precisely because of our new identity in Christ. We need the Holy Spirit because he will keep us crying out to God amid all our suffering.

Penny and I have been watching the reality series “Alone.” It is about people brought to the wilderness and left alone to see who will survive the longest. One complaint we often hear is not about the weather or the wild animals. The contestants regularly complain that they miss their family. They imply they could handle the hardships if their loved ones were with them. The Holy Spirit is in us to remind us that the Father is always with us.

The Spirit of Adoption reminds us of our future destiny (18).

The Holy Spirit is also our guarantee of an inheritance that we did not qualify for. Verse 17 says that we are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. We are going to inherit the same thing that Jesus will. We will be glorified with him, and that glory will be revealed to us. The author of Hebrews wrote that God’s purpose was to bring many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10). If you are a believer, you are one of those sons. He is bringing you to glory. You have a destiny.

Destiny is not the same thing as a destination. Lots of people talk about going to heaven. God’s plan is not to take us to heaven. His plan is to glorify us because he will restore the universe. He is going to make all things new, but he has already started by making us new. He is getting us ready, not for a new destination but a new destiny. The preparation process is called sanctification, and the new destiny is called glorification.  The Holy Spirit within us is a constant reminder of the glory we will share with Christ in the future.

For further study:

Moule, Handley Carr Glyn. The Epistle to the Romans. London: Pickering and Inglis, 1861. pp. 218-226.

Murray, John. Epistle to the Romans. Eerdmans, 1959. pp. 292-299.

Newman Barclay Moon and Eugene A Nida. A Translator’s Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. United Bible Societies 1973. pp. 152-156.

Nicoll, W. Robertson. The Expositor’s Greek Testament. v. 2. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1910. pp. 647-648.

Nygren, Anders. Commentary on Romans. Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1949. pp. 325-329.

O’Donnell, Wayne. Romans. 2020. pp. 87-89.

Palmer Earl F. Salvation by Surprise: Studies in the Book of Romans. Word Books 1975. p. 99.