Hebrews - Talk 2

Everyone needs a Big Brother!
And Jesus the Supreme Son of God (who has defeated death’s power and penalty), is our Brother, so fix your thoughts upon him in this life when you face opposition!

INTRO
A couple of years ago I was on beach mission on the Central Coast. And the first day of beach mission is set up day, where you spend time slaving away in the hot sun, putting out tents, marquees and even building a kitchen, believe it or not!

Now on this particular day, we decided to kick off with a laid-back event for the first night, so we had an open-air cinema, and we put on a kids movie. Now as night-time fell, and the movie started, the crowds began to flock in. And we had quite a few people come to watch, but as with any open event, near the beach, we got a couple of people we would have preferred didn't come as well!


So the kids were sitting and enjoying the movie, and meanwhile these two guys, in particular, were enjoying the kids movie just a little too much, which made it clear that it had more to do with their beer and a lot less to do with the movie. In fact it looked like the beer had started quite a few hours before the movie!

So as the movie continued these guys got louder and louder, and quite frankly ruder and ruder, until the point that their language was just out and out foul. And so as I was sitting, at the back of this scene. I was thinking to myself someone should say something to these two. Then it dawned on me, that I was the oldest one there, surrounded by a bunch of 20 year old Uni students, so that someone was probably me!

This prospect didn't thrill me at all, let me tell you. But it had to be done, so I wandered up to the main guy and quietly and politely asked, ‘could you keep the language down because a lot of people had brought the little kids with them’.

His response was to mumble something, and he seemed reasonably okay with what I had asked. So peace was restored.

For about two minutes, and then the scene was repeated only this time the guy wasn't so positive to my request, in fact it would be safe to say he didn't take it well at all, he stood up and faced me and said, ‘no one comes here and tells me what to do!’.

To which I replied, ‘I wasn't telling, I was asking’ but he didn't seem convinced by this linguistic distinction, and seemed to think this would be better sorted out by more physical than cerebral means.

Now that's the funny thing about drunk people isn’t it, they think they're being so cunning in what they are planning, but if you are sober you can tell what they are thinking straight away. You can almost see the gears moving inside their brains.
So let me tell you this scene was getting extremely tense, and he kept muttering something about, ‘not being told what to do’, and all the meantime he was squinting at me, obviously trying to size me up!

It really was about to turn ugly, hat full of ugly, for your first day of Beach mission in front of a lot of the campers and their little kids!

Now I have to admit, I didn't really fancy being where I was. But in the scheme of things, well this guy was older than me, he was smaller than me, and he was profoundly drunker than me, (not that I was drinking on beach mission but you get the point) so out of the two of us, the odds were not in his favour. But at this point it didn’t seem to have bothered him.


But then all of a sudden the squinting eye’s of this guys drunk gaze, turned into a wide eyed amazement, with eyes the size of 50c pieces. And I knew why! You see the guy was no longer looking at me, but passed me, and I knew why, without even turning around. And his demeanour changed totally, suddenly he was all smiles and friendly. And he looked past me, and asked the question, ‘what is your name?’.

And like I said I knew the answer without even turning around, because one of my good mates, a good Christian mate, my Christian brother if you like, was on the same mission team as me, in fact we had been on this team together for a number of years, and I knew without looking he'd be standing right behind me. This drunk guy did not until that point notice my mate. Now my Christian brother, is a gentle fellow, but he is 6 foot four and 100 kg and quite capable of looking after himself, (and the rest of us for that matter if it came to that!).


So it quickly became apparent to our drunken friend, that discretion is the better part of valour, although I am pretty confident he would not have used those exact words, but that's what he meant, and he decided it was time he made an exit stage left.

Now I could have gone on for the rest of beach mission telling people about how I stood up to this guy, but it wouldn't have been the truth would it, this guy did a runner not because of me, but because I had a big brother basically. Even this profoundly drunk guy can work out when he is beaten, even if he may have yelled obscenities at us from his truck as he drove away from the car park, (yes he drove away in that state with his own kid in the front seat), well if even a drunk can work out when he is beaten, then even the devil is smart enough to work out when he is beaten, and that is what the writer to the Hebrews is reminding us today.


We all need a Big Brother when we face opposition, and the writer to the Hebrews is telling us that Jesus, the son of God, the supreme Lord, is our big brother. And when we face sin, and when we face evil in this world, we face a foe who has already been defeated, by our big brother. So we need to remember how big our brother is;

Jesus is not just a man – but the Supreme Lord because he defeated death
(No power will stand)

Now today's reading was fairly long, so we are going to focus on 2:14 through to 3:1, because in these verses we have the hub of all the ideas brought forward in the wider reading we just had.

V14 ‘Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity, so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.’

Jesus is not just the man but the supreme Lord he is the lord over everything and even death, and he who uses the power of death - the devil.

Mankind's great opposition in this life, is their death. In fact whole life, whether consciously, or unconsciously, or even subconsciously are shaped by the fact that we will die. This frightens the life out of any sane person doesn't it? (If you’ll pardon the expression). If you stop to admit it, what ever it is in life that you fear, in one way shape or form it can always be traced back to death. It seems in my experience you see it in older women, because they obsess over health issues, and you see it in older men, because they ignore health issues at all costs!

Our society today doesn’t like to talk about death, so it will put it as with all things in more politically correct terms, like being short of time. People today feel time poor, and that is because they do not having enough time to do everything they want to do, and we all know this is; because we die, we are finite.

Death hangs over us, and rules our existence, like the spectre of storm clouds that slowly, come over the horizon. They hang and then encroach over our entire lives.

Who truly can face up to the reality of death, this spectre of storm clouds that comes over the horizon, and most of us know what is there, but choose to focus upon the last rays of light of the sun, but even though they too will be eventually eclipsed by this dark cloud called death. Time gets away from us all, and the scary part is, very few of us realise, how quickly the storm clouds are approaching.

And for those of us for whom the storm clouds to approach slowly, well is it really any more benefit? Because it only becomes more and more apparent how the light is gradually becoming dull. From the lines of their face to the arthritic knee to the final diagnosis by the doctor, this cloud hangs over all of us


And in those few moments, when we do choose to acknowledge the reality of the storm clouds approaching, we hear these faint words in our ear;
‘You haven't done enough!
You haven't done enough and time is passing you buy!
It won't count and you won't matter in the end!
And when you do die you will get what you deserve!’

We hear accusation about our life, about how we have lived it, and about how we have failed to live up to all that which we have been given. We hear words of accusation, but that is not surprising, because the Devil's name is Satan, which literally means the accuser. And he wants us to be buried under the weight of his accusations.

And human tyrants throughout time have picked up on this accusation, they have always threatened the common man with the ultimate finality - death.
The tyrant's lordship has always involved the threat of death, whether the killing fields of Pol Pot, the death camps of Hitler, all the waste land of Siberia to Stalin, death has always been the tool of the tyrant lord.

At one level, any sane man does fear death, and as a result we are slaves in this life to whomever holds the key's to our death. And the one who stands behind them all, every tyrant and every scheme that holds men captive in his life, the one who stands behind them rattling the key chain, on which is the key that opens the door to our death, is the devil.

But the son of God became flesh and blood, he became man and he shared in our humanity. Jesus became God incarnate, and Jesus lived under the spectre of death himself, in all the frailty that humanity involves.
And he was not defeated!


In fact in the arena of humanity in Mankind himself, God defeated mankind's great enemy of death. Jesus the son of God, defeated the great enemy of death, by defeating its agent the devil. We no longer fear death, we no longer fear accusation, Christ has defeated them both.

No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from his hand.

Christ crushed him who holds the power of death, he brought him to nought, both his powers and his accusations have been destroyed. Christ has thrown open the cell door of our slavery to death and has set the captives free. Christ has shown himself to be the true Lord, the sovereign Lord, and in his humanity, and in his obedience, and most pointedly in his death, he has set you and me, the captives to death - free. We do not need to fear death or its accusations any longer because, we know the Lord overall things, Christ who died to set us free from this fear.

So now we serve our new Lord, the one who came to save us, to save us from our slavery to Sin and death, to live a life of freedom and service under his Lordship and for his glory. We do not live with death as our master any more.

Jesus is not just a man but the supreme Lord because he defeated death.

Jesus is not just a man – but the Supreme Saviour because he has perfectly dealt with sin.
(Because No sin will stand)

In V17 we read, ‘For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful High-priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.’

All of mankind owed a debt to God because of sin. All mankind is guilty of Idolatry, of fashioning their own god, with their own hands, and serving and honouring it, rather than serving an honouring the true God.

And Idolatry is like treason before God, to choose another who is no God at all before him. It is an untruth, and a lie, that there is any god other than the true God, an untruth a holy God cannot justly allow to stand.

Treason is punishable by death. Our sin against God our creator, results in our being under a death sentence, and the devil himself is our jail warden. All mankind is guilty before God, all mankind has a debt before God. Mankind had to fix the debt they owed to God, and in the man Jesus Christ, God himself took on humanity to rescue humanity from its death sentence.

In V17 we read that, ‘for this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way’. Romans three puts it like this that in Jesus Christ, God is both just and the Justifier, of those who have faith in Jesus.

Christ took on himself, human flesh, real humanity, and all the weakness and frailty particularly in regard to temptation that being human involves. He faced every temptation - and yet did not sin.

And in the second half of V17 and V18 we learn that Christ is the supreme saviour, because he is a faithful High-priest. Christ is faithful as a high priest in two ways, firstly, he is faithful to God as High-priest, and secondly, he is faithful to man as their High-priest. Jesus is the faithful High-priest the mediator between God and mankind.

Now this language of high priest is old Testament imagery, and it brings up the way in the old Testament God used to deal with the sin of Israel. Israel's sin could only be dealt with in the way God had appointed for them, and it focused around the temple in Jerusalem which was built by King Solomon, King David's son in around 1000 BC. The temple was the place where the Ark of the covenant resided, and on the top of the Ark of the covenant between the wings of these carved cherubim, was a place called the Mercy seat.

The temple itself, was the place where God caused his name to dwell on earth and it was the place where you did business with God. And in particular from amongst the Israelite people God appointed one family Aaron's family to represent the people to God within the temple.

The temple had a system of worship and sacrifice, including that God had appointed one place to deal with man's sin, the Mercy seat above the Ark of the covenant, in the centre of the temple, for which one person was appointed from among Aaron's family, the high priest. And there was one day on which he was appointed to offer the blood of the sacrifice that dealt with man's sin, in that place, and that day was the day of atonement. One person in one place on one day.

You getting the picture that this is important, and how you go about dealing with God and your sin is important. If your High-priest does not get it right, it has repercussions for all the people, because he is their sole representative, the one guy who has the one chance to get it right for everyone. The people need a faithful High-priest, and God we will not accept a high priest who is not a faithful.
The high priest is the one mediator between God and man.

So firstly Jesus is the faithful High-priest to God. Jesus is the faithful High-priest, because he is the one man who lived the obedient life before God in this fallen world. Jesus whole life of obedience of course culminated in his death upon the cross. And because of his perfect obedience to the father as the one faithful man, the sacrifice of his life, was the one sacrifice that could pay the penalty that man's treason before God deserved. Christ the high priest, sacrificed himself, in order to be a faithful High-priest before God.

The key word atonement means quite a few things within the Bible, but in particular it means two things; two good Biblical words, propitiation and expiation. Now they may sound a bit geeky and technical (because they are geeky and technical), but they are good words because they assure us of what we have received in Christ's death. Propitiation simply means in this context of Jesus death, that the wrath of God has been satisfied. The whole amount of God’s just wrath has poured out in an awful judgement upon Jesus, and there is nothing left for us to fear.

Expiation simply means in the context of Jesus death, that our guilt and shame from our sin, has been taken away. We are cleansed, as white as snow. And it is the cross of Christ and his bloodshed that washes away sin.

No guilt in life, no fear in death this is the power of Christ in me.

Christ is a faithful High-priest to God because he is able to offer the one sacrifice, in the one place, at the one time, that truly dealt with the sin of the world. No one else could offer the perfect sacrifice, at the perfect place, at the perfect time. Christ alone is faithful in all gods house.

And so secondly, Jesus is a merciful and faithful High-priest on account of his brothers. Christ represents humanity in his life of obedience and in his one and only sacrifice to God, and because of this he alone is a faithful High-priest for his brothers.

But the writer to the Hebrews and goes on to point out that Jesus is not just faithful - but merciful. Christ not only withstood the onslaught of the frailty of humanity, and the temptation of sin, in order to offer the perfect sacrifice, but in the process he learnt personally and deeply, the real grief humanity feels in the face of temptation to Sin, and our vulnerability to, and fear of, the impact of evil, and our susceptibility to the schemes of the devil, in our created world.

Christ is a merciful High-priest, because he suffered temptation in a way we can only imagine. Most of us like Eve, can be bought off in temptation at the bargain basement price of an apple, or an extra 10 grand a year if you really hold out!
Jesus resisted;
the temptation to escape death,
the temptation to rule over the whole world,
the temptation to get out of the mire that this humanity in this broken and frail world.
And Christ withstood the temptation, he is the expert on it, and he went to the cross anyway, to save his brothers like you and me, who were unable to resist temptation like he was.

So now we are able to approach Christ in our times of hardship knowing that he is a faithful high priest, who has paid the penalty that we deserve to pay, and more than that, he is merciful to us because he can identify with us in our frail human existence, in the face of temptation, Sin and evil.

And as he stands in victory Sins curse has lost it’s grip on me,

Jesus is not just a man but the supreme saviour, as our faithful High-priest.

The writer to the Hebrews is telling us in this passage, that Jesus has defeated the power of death and the devil, and he has done it for us by Ransoming us from slavery, the jail cell has been sprung open.

And he has done it because he is a faithful High-priest who has dealt with sin through his obedient life and his atoning death. Christ paid the debt of our release, because he is a faithful High-priest who has done business with God in regard to sin, on behalf of his brothers, who could not represent themselves and could not pay the price.

Christian people like you and me belong to Christ, he bought us at a price, and we're no longer slaves to sin. Christ has defeated the power of sin in death because he paid the penalty of sin through his death, but as Christian people the question is;
what about the presence of sin in this world.
What are the Christian people to do when they face sin, temptation, the Devil, and evil.

Well our writer to the Hebrews answers that in 3:1.


Fix your minds on Jesus - the Supreme Son of God
(So No Fear any longer – But Faith)

In 3:1 we read, ‘Therefore holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the Apostle and High-priest whom we confess’.

Then v6 we read, ‘and we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast’.

When I find myself in times of trouble
this passage of Hebrews comes to me
speaking words of wisdom
look at Jesus.

We are called Jesus Holy brothers, we share in his heavenly calling, and we are told to hold onto our courage, and the hope we confess. What this means is that Christian people no longer live in fear of Sin and death, but we live by faith.

We live by faith, we trust that Jesus is our brother, the supreme Lord, the supreme saviour, our merciful and faithful High-priest, who was able to identify with us in the suffering hardship of living in this world, and who will comfort us in our trial and opposition. We can boast in our brother, because even the difficult battle's we face in this world, we know that the war has already been won.

The way we face the evil and temptation and trial in this world, is changed entirely, if we remember who our brother is, what he has done, and what he will do for us now, and who he will be revealed to be when he returns and puts these things right once and for all in the future.

Compared to the power, and the Majesty, and the sovereignty of the Lord, our Creator, evil certainly is a real and terrible ordeal for humans, But it is a part of the creation that is on a very short leash, when compared to the power of the Almighty himself.

Our goal in life is not to escape the difficulty that comes our way, because that is not what our brother did, he became like us so that we may become like him, and he did it trusting in God his father, and our father, that he would be faithful in all things, even in the midst of his poverty, his temptation, and his violent and unmerited death.

In times of trial and temptation and difficulty in suffering, we don't look for strength within ourselves, but we set out eyes upon our brother, Jesus the author and perfect of our faith. In him fear has been dealt with, faith is now possible, and the hope of glory has been assured. By faith Christ's treasure becomes our glory.

Fix your minds on Jesus the supreme son of God.

Hebrews 1:1-2:4

The Supreme Son

The Supreme Son has spoken, so be careful to pay attention so you do not drift away from his Word of Salvation.

Introduction to Hebrews
Because of the events of this week, time has got a little away from me, so rather than having a detailed sermon today, and we will be having a talk that focuses on the main theme of chapter 1, but also introduces us generally to the book of Hebrews and some of the themes we will find as we look this book over the next 10 weeks or so.

The book of Hebrews is often one that is not that familiar to Christians as many of the images used to convey the message, rely heavily on having a good understanding of the old Testament, which lets face it a lot of Christians today do not have.

But Hebrews is a book of gold and I’m excited about studying it for the rest of the year.
It is a profound book with depth because it ties together so many themes of the entire Bible, and it does this to point out the author’s great point, (and his main point) which is the supremeness of Jesus in every way!

Jesus is superior to the prophets; superior to the Angels; superior to Moses; superior to the word that Moses brought, the law; Jesus is superior to the high priests of the old Testament, and he is superior to all of the creation, because he is in fact the creator.

Jesus is superior in every single way, because Jesus is the supreme son of God.

The book of Hebrews is written in the form of the sermon and this can be detected not just by the style but also at the end in chapter 13 the author says as his book is a ‘word of exultation’, the author is calling them to hear the truth about the Son, and act in response.

The book itself seems that it is written as a profound apologetic or defence for the Christian faith, in the face of opposition for this small Christian house church. This small house church it seems was being pressured and ridiculed and potentially even persecuted (which the author tells us was not yet to the point of shedding blood in 13:4, but it has an ominous tone about as to how far their discipleship will take them).

The temptation for them was to drift back into their former way of life of Judaism. Judaism was an expression of religion that would have been more socially acceptable to their families, but also a form of religion that had special protection rights under the Roman Empire. Christianity shared neither of those things, they had no standing in the Roman Empire and a were essentially regarded as outcasts by society, with weird religious practices.

The temptation to the recipients of the letter to the Hebrews, was to drift back In to a way of life that was just a little bit more socially acceptable, and just a little less difficult.

The Question
It seems to me that the background to the sermon to the Hebrews, is that it is an answer to the question, ‘why would you want to bet everything you have on following Jesus, he is just a man?’

And you know what, that’s the question people have always asked, and they still ask it today, and they ask it of you and me. The sermon to the Hebrews, is a living and active word of God to us today, and it remains a powerful apologetic into our world as well, you see the question people still ask today is,’ why would you bet everything you have on following Jesus he is just a man?’.

I mean that’s what the Jewish people say today don’t they?
And that’s what the Muslim people say today don’t they?
That’s what the Jehovah’s Witnesses say today they?
That’s what the new-age religion says today that they?
That is what Oprah says today doesn’t she?
That’s what the secular world says today don’t they, Jesus is just a man?
Exception to that of course is, that for Monty Python, he is merely a naughty boy!

Our world has a vested interest in not wanting to hear about the Lordship of Christ, but the writer of the sermon to the Hebrew argues for Christ with a poignancy and passion that makes getting away from his argument, well it is like trying to out flank and avalanche. He gives a full throttle, tour de force, double-barrelled argument as to the truth that Christ is the Lord, he is the supreme son of God in every single way. And this is the truth on which the writer wants us to take our stand, and then to stand firm.

To use rugby league parlance, this book is theologically, the hard yards up the middle of the ruck, the author is not afraid of some world view biff, there is no post-modern mincey relativism here, just hard true truth from God, about God the Son, but he does it to encourage his hearers to go on to complete what they started despite the hardship because, it will end in victory.

Today we are going to briefly focus upon two section of our reading today, on verses 1-4 in each of chapters 1 and 2.

First Point, Jesus is not just a man but the Supreme Son of God (V1-4)
[and that changes everything]

NIV Hebrews 1:1

In the past God spoke
to our forefathers
through the prophets
at many times and
in various ways,
2 but in these last days
he has spoken to us by his Son,
whom he appointed heir of all things,
and through whom
he made the universe.
3 The Son is the radiance of God's glory and
the exact representation of his being,
sustaining all things by his powerful word.
After he had provided purification for sins,
he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
4 So he became as much superior to the angels
as the name
he has inherited is superior to theirs.


~ Jesus is the creator of all things so he is above all things – His not just a man but the Son of God

~ Jesus is The revelation that surpasses the revelation of the Prophets (OT) because he is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. He is not just a man but the Son of God.

And I’d like to expand on this one idea a little. This truth claim of the preacher to the Hebrews means that God existence and character is not proved by extrapolating from the actions of some Intelligent design of microbes in a laboratory, in this slightly presumptuous jump of logic, they are ordered and designed, therefore God exists.

I don’t get that approach at all to be honest!


It’s like looking at my child Emma and deducing there is must be a mother and we can guess some things about her because of the child’s appearance. And I think, ‘that’s a nice deduction poindexter, but you could Just go over there and talk to Kath and not worry about speculating about some general mother at all, but instead just meet the personal and particular mother of Emma, and save us all a lot of effort because of unclear and unhelpful speculation.’

The Supreme Son is the Supreme revelation of God, the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. Can you imagine the same poindexter talking to the apostle John, ‘I can prove there is a creator’.

And John could reply,’ No kidding Freddie he is standing over there feeding 5000 and healing the sick, and his name is Jesus, and if that is not enough, we already met God when he spoke to us in the Old Testament’.


Jesus is the supreme Son of God, the supreme revelation of God, and it changes everything, especially how we know that God exists and what that God is like. We meet him in his word of salvation the Gospel, found in his living and active word the Bible, and because of this we can confidently and faithfully not only share the truth with people that God exists, but also share the truth what God is really Like. God in Jesus did become man, but he was never just a man.

~Jesus provided purification for sins- He is not just a man but the Son of God

~ Jesus inheritance, his name and his position in glory is greater than even the angels who worship him as the unique son. Because he is the Son of God.

Jesus is the unique son of God, that is the truth, but do you live more like it was a useful fiction?

Jesus is the Son of God is the truth claim that must change everything about our lives. The truth about the Lordship of Jesus are like glasses that we must out on to see his world rightly.

[Illustration] My Mum’s good room.

The world thinks the Christian faith is like a good room, something you are allowed to have but you keep to yourself, you compartmentalize it off from the rest of your existence and it isn’t supposed to be used in day today life. But our preacher to the Hebrews is reminding us that the Lordship of Christ is not just restricted to some personal realm, but he Lord over everything because he is superior to everything; Jesus is not just a man but the Supreme Son of God (V1-4)
[and that changes everything]


Christianity is not just a private opinion; but a truth, the true truth, that God has placed over and through all reality. Christianity is not just a faith or religion, It is also essentially world view, in fact THE world view, that we should be willing and able to contend for in the marketplace of ideas about the world, because not only is it reasonable but it is also true isn’t it?
And because it is true, it is able to make sense of our world in a way that untruth will not.

Jesus isn’t just a man but the Supreme Son of God and that changes how we view all of life, from how we use our time, to what we think of stem cell research, from how we conduct our business, to the words that we speak, to how we raise our children, to what the who world is about and how we can and should live the ethical life in response.

Christianity claims for itself a unique truth, that Jesus is not just a man but the supreme son of God, and we must be changed in all our lives as a response if we understand that truth.

But as we go on in the chapter the writer seems to anticipate his questioners objections, the objection, ‘how can you claim these things?’.
Now in the next section from v5-14, the writer supports the first 4 verses and explains the sure grounds on which his is able to claim that Jesus is the Son of God, is in fact the Old Testament message, that trustworthy word of Moses that you think invalidates him actually proclaims and validates him.

Now as an aside, what is the big deal about Angels and the like?
Well the law was thought to have been mediated as revelation and then held in effect by the angels of God. And we learn this later in the book of Hebrews, but also in Acts 7 and Galatians 3:19. But we will get a chance to look more at the role of the angels in the argument of Hebrews in the coming weeks.


5 For to which of the angels
did God ever say,
"You are my Son;
today I have become your Father"?
Or again,
"I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son"?

6 And again, when
God brings his firstborn into the world,
he says,
"Let all God's angels worship him."
7 In speaking of the angels
he says,
"He makes his angels winds,
his servants flames of fire."
8 But about the Son
he says,
"Your throne, O God,
will last for ever and ever,
and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness
and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God,
has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy."

10 He also says,
"In the beginning, O Lord,
you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
11 They will perish,
but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
12 You will roll them up like a robe;
like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
and your years will never end."
13 To which of the angels did
God ever say,
"Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"?

14 Are not all angels ministering spirits
sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

The preacher to the Hebrews is challenging his opponents; who are saying that the prophet’s and the message of Moses is a better and more trustworthy word than this man Jesus.

But our preacher of the book of Hebrews confidently claims the same message of truth that Jesus did about these trustworthy words of the Old Testament, that they are a good and proper word from God, but they are not a superior revelation to Jesus, they in fact the OT purpose is primarily to testify clearly to the fact that Jesus is not just a man, but the supreme Son of God. So the preachers oppositions argument is standing on very sandy ground isn’t it?

This section of the text from 5-14 reinforces the truth that Jesus is not just a man but superior to the Angels because;
~ Jesus is God’s Son and because of that the Angels worship him, and no body worships someone who is lower than them do they?
~ Jesus is eternal, but angels are created by Jesus just like the heavens, and the heavens will be rolled up and be changed, but Jesus will remain.
~ Jesus is God’s anointed Son and king, who has all of God’s authority as he sits upon his throne with his servants the messengers or angels at his service.
~ Jesus is the saviour who won his people’s salvation, Angels are just God’s servants sent to serve men, to dish out the portions of salvation as it were, the salvation that Jesus the Supreme Son of God has won for his people.


Second point, Pay attention to the message of Salvation we have heard, (because we know who we heard it from), so we do not drift from it into judgment! (2:1-4).

NIV Hebrews 2:1

We must pay more careful attention,
therefore,
to what we have heard,
so that
we do not drift away.

2 For if the message
spoken by angels was binding,
and every violation and disobedience
received its just punishment,
3 how shall
we escape
if we ignore such a great salvation?
This salvation,
which was
first announced by the Lord,
was confirmed to us
by those who heard him.
4 God also testified to it
by signs, wonders and various miracles,
and gifts of the Holy Spirit
distributed according to his will.

In the testimony about Christ from Christ, we have all received a sure word of salvation from God. We have received the true truth from God about God and about ourselves. We have been saved from the mire of our own sin, how can we now just slip back into it again?

God’s word of salvation to us is gracious, but it is binding, no exceptions. This is the heart of the preacher to the Hebrews message, ‘hear the word of the Lord, the word found in Christ and testified to by the witness of the scriptures, the Apostle’s and the Holy Spirit of God himself. Hear the word of the Lord, and do not be stubborn like Israel was in the wilderness, do not let yourself be distracted, and do not drift away from Christ by one little compromise on top of each other. But set your eyes, your hearts desire, your will and purpose in this life upon Jesus the author and perfector of your faith. The true and trustworthy word from God, the rock upon which you will stand. Because every other alternative the world throw’s at you is refuse that will be shown for what it is, just in the hard places of this world, how much more so when we meet a holy and just God face to face at the end of our days.’
Pay attention to the message of Salvation we have heard, (because we know who we heard it from), so we do not drift from it into judgment! (2:1-4).

Heb 12:1-3,
‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Mark 10:32-45

Christ’s Glasses

Introduction
As you may remember from last week from marks gospel we looked at a couple of scenes from Mark 10, where Jesus continues to explain to his disciples what discipleship will mean for them. Jesus try to explain to them what it means to follow him and he explains it through engaging a cast of characters who come to him and ask him questions.

So in the first scene last week, Jesus was talking with the rich young ruler, the one who was unprepared to give up his idol of money in order worship and serve the true and living God. Then in the second scene we saw Jesus interact with the disciples, and in particular Peter who said that he has left everything to follow Jesus. But now he like the rest is going to find out just how deep the rabbit hole will go for them in following Jesus.


Now again our versus today break into two scenes. The first scene sees Jesus announce a teaching and prophetic monologue in front of all his disciples, and the second scene seems to split into two parts. In The first part, Jesus talking to James and John, and then in the second part Jesus is talking to the remaining 10 disciples.

Now The heart of Jesus teaching today is from V45, that the Son of man will ransom himself to purchase you.

So let me ask a question straight up, did he get the whole package, Did he purchase all of you, batteries included? Or are you holding out to offer sections of yourself as additional optioned up packages?

God the Son gave his life, is there anything in the whole world more costly than that? Is there anyone else worthy of our whole lives as a response?


Scene 1
So we start in verse 32 and Jesus and his followers are on their way up to Jerusalem. And this is quite amazing really, as Jesus has already predicted twice in this gospel, that he will die at the hands the chief priests. And what is amazing about this scene is that instead of Jesus being dragged kicking and screaming like a normal man on death row heading towards there impending death we read in verse 32 in contrast that Jesus is seeking it out;

‘They were on their way up to Jerusalem with Jesus leading the way and the disciples were astonished all those who followed were afraid and again he took the 12 aside and told them what was going to happen to him.’

We see that Jesus is ‘leading the way’ and the disciples are following, which is a great example of what is really going on in this whole story. Jesus is leading the way he is showing what it means to be the servant of God, and in that his disciples are seeing how they should emulate and follow him.

The disciples are astonished about what Jesus is doing, and as we read this were not sure that we shouldn’t be astonished, at them being astonished, as this is the third time that Jesus has told them that this will happen; and yet they still seem surprised!

Now to be fair their reaction of astonishment is coupled with their reaction of fear, which probably indicates they have some sort of sense that this is not going to end well for Jesus or them either. But in Marks GOSPEL, the disciples are often portrayed as not really getting what is going on. They don’t really seem to fully understand what Jesus is on about, they only seem to see in part, and they don’t really understand what it is that he has called them to either, again they only seem to see that in part too. And this is going to be highlighted in the next scene, in particular with James and John; but then with the other 10 disciples as well.

So Jesus in this verse is resolutely setting out to Jerusalem, knowing what will happen to him. Which in other words is; he did it; ‘knowing what will come to pass’.
There is great sense in Jesus language and intent in this scene, of it all being God ordained, that what is going to happen is God’s will and Jesus sets out to make sure that it happens.

In verse 33 we read we are going up to Jerusalem, ‘he said, “and the son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles.”’

Jesus knows not only that his trip is going to cost him his life, he actually knows who’s going to take his life from him. It is quite amazing really isn’t it? He is openly and willingly putting himself (in more than harm’s way) to certain death, because of his obedience to God.

And these verses are quite symmetrical in telling how the son of man is going to be betrayed by the chief priests and the teachers of the Law, then it also says he will be betrayed to the Gentiles as well. The NIV says ‘handing over’ but the same word of betrayed is used of both.
The effect of this is that, The chief priests and the teachers of the law here, have been clearly equated with the Gentiles. Now this is a massive slap in the face when you think about it.

The chief priests and the teachers of the law are the two groups of people who should have known what God’s Messiah would look like, the two groups of people who should have seen him and recognized him when he came, and they are the two groups most responsible for the death of God’s Messiah.

The chief priests and teachers of the law will work in an unholy alliance, (an axis of evil), with the Gentiles, (of all people!) to kill the one who is the son of man, the one who is God’s son.

And in a real sense here, Mark is telling us that the whole world (both Jew and Gentile) is being held responsible for the death of God’s son.

Now the question lurking underneath this whole passage for us should be, Why?

Not why are they being held responsible, that’s pretty obvious, but why are they doing it in the first place?
Why would they want to kill God’s son?
What would drive them to do this?

Well a political explanation is, well because of the Roman Empire itself. If Jesus is claiming to be the Messiah, the King of the Kingdom of Israel, that would be seen as a threat to Caesar. And we certainly learn this in the other gospels as the high priests there were concerned that this row, in a sense, could be the match that lit the flame under the Roman Empire coming down and exterminating the whole Jewish nation. Politically the Jewish leadership sees this as a disaster waiting to happen.

But then you still need to be able to explain why the Gentiles would want to have any part in this? Do they just fear Caesar as well?

IT seems that the heart of the answer is not political, the answer is theological, the answer is sin.

Humanity has always sets up its self as its own idol its own god. Society, (which is another way of saying the creation), has always wanted to throw off the shackles of the Creator, creation has always thought it knows better than God, and tries to take every opportunity to show it. And deep down for the chief priests, and the teachers of the law and the Gentiles, this was just one more chance to rule their own world their own way, another chance (even THE chance) to worship at their own idol, the idol of their own autonomy.

In the most tangible and yet probably in an unconscious way, the chief priest and the teachers of the law gave the ultimate expression to the hardness of every person’s heart, in their willingness and desire to overthrow God’s rule in their own life, to choose to try and rule their own life, their own way. A chance to be their own God.

So what will God do in response?
God is holy, and because of this he is also just. God cannot accept untruth, the unloving and unjust untruth that there is some other god other than him.

God cannot allow that injustice of this bold untruth to stand in his world, and be a just God at the same time. He cannot be a God of truth and allow this of all untruths to stand. And God did not stand on the sidelines, or merely condemn judgment upon this usurping behaviour of man. God entered into his world and did something about it.

In verse 34 we read, Jesus was handed to the Gentiles, who will mock him, and spit on him, flog him, and kill him.

This is how creation has treated its creator, it hasn’t just ignored God as many would have people believe, it hasn’t just not noticed him, it has actively and purposefully set out to humiliate God, and then shamefully kill him.
The one person in this whole mess that creation can be, who does not deserve death, they murdered. And we like all humanity before then, at that unique time and since then, stood there watching on, at best indifferent, and at worst hostile, to the mobs shameful treatment of our creator and Lord.

At the heart of all this, Jesus is giving his disciples a visual demonstration of what discipleship looks like, for the purpose that they may see what it means to serve and follow God.

The disciples will serve and follow God, literally they will follow him up to Jerusalem, but later they will watch him suffer and die, and it is a lesson to them as to what their life will look like also.

Now, we need to make sure we are completely clear on this, there is an absolute uniqueness, about what Jesus will undergo. And will learn a little more about that in a moment in the next scene, but Jesus life itself also a clear example of what the life of discipleship and faithfulness to God in service looks like.

Christ was mocked, he was spat on, he was flogged, and he was killed in a shameful and humiliating death. God the creator, hanging on a thief’s cross as a public spectacle, and an object of ridicule. A shameful act by shameful men, but an act of love by Jesus our Lord who has been ridiculed for it ever since, by every generation that has come afterwards, including ours.

Paul says that I seek to fill up in my body what is missing of Christ’s sufferings, to share in the fellowship of his suffering, and this list is thrown in front of us today to challenge us. What does our discipleship look like?
What of those four things have we willingly undertaken on Christ’s behalf, because Christ on our behalf, undertook all four for us?

Now I’m pretty confident that none of you have undergone the last of those death (If you have let me I never saw mine coming and heaven is something of a let down!). But of the other three, how does our discipleship measure up?
Brothers and Sisters, there are people all over the world, Christian people, who have undergone at least three, and sometimes all four for the sake of Christ, what does your discipleship look like?

The truth is in our society today the worst we will ever suffer is mocking, (and even then it usually will not even be to our face).

How can we keep silent about the cross?
How can we keep silent about all that God has done to demonstrate his love for us, suffering the shame, indignity (for the most dignified of all humanity) and humiliation of the cross?
How can we keep silent about the cross when it is the only hope for lost people, no matter how hostile they are towards God?

The first followers of Jesus definitely and willingly suffered all four (Just look at Stephen in Acts 7). In our society we really only will suffer one; and that is to be mocked, it’s not that bad is it?
How can we be silent about the cross?

The end of verse 34 continues, and Jesus again has a sting in the tail for his hearers, when he tells them, ‘three days later he will rise’.

The disciples no longer need to fear the Roman Empire, the disciples no longer need to fear death. Jesus is the Lord, he is the lord over death, he is the lord over the Roman Empire, he is the Lord of all creation, and he is the Lord of your life.

Jesus has defeated every enemy, he is the Lord! And the proof is that he was raised from the dead and he is now seated in glory with his father.

Jesus costly discipleship ended in glory for him, and he is calling you to follow him, to suffer for him now, that you may share in his glory later.

Scene 2
But as we get to scene two today it seems that some of the disciples would rather have the glory now, and maybe avoid the suffering altogether (I suspect they are not on their Robinson Crusoe their). The disciples throughout Mark’s gospel have been this great foil for us as readers through their frailty and humanity. They seem to just not be able to get it right, they don’t really get Jesus, and they don’t get how they are supposed to act around him, like a teenage boy around girls, they just get weird!

So, if you stop for a moment and consider the scenario, Jesus has just explained to his disciples how he will die, and his disciples (possibly with not the most pastorally sensitive response to someone saying they are going to die), essentially ask the dying man, can I have your house, and my brother your car?
Not exactly the ideal response.


In verse 35 James and John the sons of Zebedee come to Jesus with that quaint phrase we often use, ‘can I ask you a question’, to which the answer is; ‘you already asked me a question’. But unsurprisingly, Jesus being a bit more circumspect than myself, essentially says, ‘sure, what do you want me to do for you?’.

And then the two asked the real question, and it’s not some tiddler like the rich young ruler about how do I inherit eternal life, instead they go one better, they want to be able to sit and Jesus right hand and left hand in glory!
And Jesus rightly says to them, ‘you do not know what you are asking’. No Kidding they don’t!
I mean let’s face it, if you have got one chance to ask someone a favour, these guys haven’t missed the mark have they?

It is a pretty brazen question isn’t it, and especially in the company they were in. Essentially what they’re asking is Jesus give us a share in your inheritance! In fact it’s really asking can we have all of your inheritance, it’s a pretty bold ask, it’s a bit rich isn’t?
But then again what do you pray for when you get the chance to ask God for a favour? Maybe our requests aren’t all that flash either!

And Jesus point out to them that they don’t even understand what it is that just asked for. It is so enormous that cannot comprehend just how brazen they have been, because the position they are talking about belongs to Jesus himself (it seems to me) alongside the father!

They want God’s own position in glory!
(But then isn’t that what every human wants, even if they are not bold enough to ask for it!)

So Jesus asks them, ‘can they drink the cup he will drink, will they be baptised in the way he is baptised’. In this way he means, will they drink the cup of God’s wrath like he will, and will they be baptised into his death like he is.

And they respond, ‘we will’.

But in truth they can’t possibly drink THE cup or undergo THE baptism, because there is a profound uniqueness to Jesus Cup and his baptism. Jesus is the one man, the good man, the God man, who can drink this cup and be baptised in this death in order to pay the ransom for the entire world.
James and John cannot do that, they don’t qualify, only the God man can do that.

Jesus point out to them that their discipleship will in fact involve them drinking a cup and being baptised in a real way into Jesus death (as it does for all Jesus disciples), but it will not be the unique death that only he can die. And that is that!

The glory they were after, even the Son cannot give to them, that glory belongs to the father to distribute. God the son again shows his obedience to God the father in carrying out the fathers will, and not taking for himself that which belongs to the father.

The obedient son of man is the polar opposite Son of God in contrast to; the disobedient Adam, and in contrast to the disobedience Israel, and in contrast to the disobedient chief priests and teachers of the law, and in to contrast to the disobedient gentiles.

Mankind sin was of shameless self service. Christ’s righteousness was a shameful service of others.

The one who was God did not grasp hold of his God-ness but took on the nature of a servant, a Slave, to save those responsible for his own death.

So Jesus tells James and John that they will suffer in a similar way to what he will, but glory belongs to the father to distribute as he sees fit alone.


Now just to prove that none of the disciples seemed to get what Jesus is on about, the other 10 are indignant at James and John, and not just because of the brazenness of the question (although it includes that), it seems they are most upset that they didn’t think of question first!

That the other two would seek such prime positions at the expense of others, but then this isn’t the first time the disciples have done this sort of thing in the Gospel anyway. Back in mark chapter 9:35 a similar event occurred.

Is it any wonder that Jesus feels such a need to explain to his ‘children’ what discipleship looks like for ‘adults’!

Jesus is God, he is Lord over all, he is Lord of the death, his Lord over all creation, and he entered into that creation to become the servant of all. God is not distant from man’s suffering in this world, he entered into the midst of it to deal with it himself, to know it personally, then to fix the problem.
God became the servant of all, and Jesus call to discipleship is the call to follow him. His disciples must be like him, they must be the servants of all.

In verse 45 Jesus sums up the purpose of why he came to earth, (in fact it is the purpose of why Mark wrote the gospel also), ‘for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’.

Christ’s death on the cross has atoned for yours and my sin, that we may have confidence of how we stand before God and hold fast now to sure and certain hope we have. But Christ’s cross also give’s our life purpose, we follow the son of man as his disciples, not to be served, but to serve, to pay the price of discipleship so that many may hear that the ransom has been paid for them, that they may hear of the wondrous Cross of Christ.

This whole section of Marks gospel has been about discipleship, the cross shaped all of Jesus life, from cradle to cross, the question is does it shape your life in the same way?

But being willing and able to follow Jesus in this way is not just an act of our will, but profoundly and foundationly, it is the work of the Holy Spirit in renewing us and changing us to be more like him and for this we need to pray. And pray also for boldness, that we would stand for Christ and his cross no matter what the opposition just like Christ himself did, just like the disciples did, just as many of our brothers and sisters do throughout the world today.

Mark 10:17-31

Where is this relationship going?

Introduction
Good morning everyone this week we are back looking at Marks GOSPEL and in particular were looking at chapter 10 versus 17-31. Now the passage in front of us today breaks up into two clear scenes. Scene one is where Jesus and a rich guy meet, and the second scene is where Jesus talks to his Disciples and in particular Peter gets a mention, which is not uncommon for him.

Trick
But before I get started, I realize that it is school holidays, and when there are kids involved in a talk, the golden rule apparently is have a visual.
So here it is… not very exciting is it?
Not particularly visual either is it?
So to spice things up a bit, I need some audience participation. What I need is everyone to grab out their keys, like this… ok everybody needs to have their keys up in the air. Right now they need to go into the bag like this.
Everyone put their keys in, in they go, and I’m going to do a trick at the end!

Scene 1
Now scene 1 today starts in verse 17 with “Jesus started on his way”.
So Jesus is in Judea and he is heading up towards Jerusalem, and just after the end of the section we had read earlier, Jesus tells us why he is heading to Jerusalem. verses 32-34 read,
“they were on their way up to Jerusalem with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. again he took the 12 aside and told them what was going to happen to him. we are going up to Jerusalem, he said, and the son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of law. they will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who’ll mock him, and spit on him, flog him and kill him. three days later he will rise.”

This was the third time in marks gospel Jesus told his disciples what is going to happen to him. Jesus tells them clearly that the Messiah will be crucified. Their leader and teacher will be handed over to die.

But while Jesus sets out on his way, in V17 a man runs up to Jesus and falls on his knees in front of him.

This is quite a display really isn’t it?
It’s the sought of thing people do in front of kings or deities isn’t it?

But rather than seeing Jesus as a king or a deity, this man calls Jesus ‘good teacher’. Which is the only time in the Gospels, (or anywhere in the Bible for that matter), that those two words are put together. And this man asks this teacher this question, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’.

So this guy has done the two most important things anyone can do in life. Firstly, he sought out and came to Jesus, and then he did the second thing, he asked the most important question you can ever ask life, the question you need to ask, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’.

Can you answer that question?
Truthfully, do you know for certain the answer? Maybe you should do something about that?

Now Jesus answer to this question is a little cryptic isn’t it?
It is a bit of surprise, when we were expecting something a bit more direct.

It is kind of surprising given last week in verses 13-16, where children came to Jesus and he tells them that the kingdom of God belongs to them. And then in V32 of this chapter he tells us about the cross, he tells why his going die, but in this scene he doesn’t say anything like that. And you have to ask yourself the question why?

It’s because Jesus has already answered the question about ‘how you get eternal life’, but it appears that this rich guy thinks there might be another option!

So Jesus answers the man, ‘why do you call me good?’
It seems Jesus sees right through this guys big display, and then goes on to state like a good orthodox Jew.
‘no one is good but God alone’, or another way of saying that is, ‘there is no one good, except the one God’,
Like the shema of Deuteronomy 6:4, ‘Hear o Israel the Lord is God, the Lord is one.’ It seems like Jesus wants to test out this Jews orthodoxy. And so next he tests him on the commandments.

Next Jesus asks him, ‘you know the commandments, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud (which is likely another way of saying covet!), honour your father and mother.’

And what do you notice about those commandments?
What stands out about them?
It seems to me what stands out is not because of what is included, but because of what’s missing!

Jesus asks him what is essentially commandments 5 through 10. SO what is missing is commandments 1-4. Jesus summarised the law elsewhere in the Gospels in two commandments, which were?

Firstly, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength, and Secondly, Love your neighbour as yourself.

The Commandments Jesus spoke to this man on this day are all about how you relate to your neighbour.

And so Jesus question is kind of strange and a little astonishing. But not half as astonishing as the guys response, he says to his new teacher, ‘all these I have kept since I was a boy’.

Anyone here game to do that? Never stolen, lied and always honoured their parents? Not Likely!

But this guy says to Jesus, ‘I have loved my neighbour’, but it’s almost like Jesus is setting up this guy for a fall, because then the teacher has a question with a sting in the tale for his new student.

V21 ‘Jesus looked at him’. Now the language here of ‘Jesus looks’ is through this whole story, and it happens again in scene two with the Disciples. When Jesus looks it’s not just looking generally, it seems to have notion of ‘perception’ attached to it.

Jesus looks, not just at the person, but into the person, Jesus is looking not at the exterior of the person, but into their heart, into the depths of their being.

And strangely the passage tells us Jesus response is that he loved this rich man, but he sees the idolatry in his heart and says ‘one thing you lack’, ‘go and sell everything you have, give to the poor, and then you will have treasure in heaven, then come and follow me.’

so Jesus starts with the commandments, to love your neighbour, and the man responds, ‘I love my neighbour’.

Jesus has circled around and now he strikes at the heart of the issue, and he says you lack one thing (and the one thing is what found in the first four commandments). You shall love God above all others!

The first four commandments are, ‘you shall have no other gods before me, you shall not make an idol and worship it, you shall not misuse the name of Lord your God, and you shall keep the Sabbath day, (which is an expression of your relationship with God).’

Jesus is clearly telling this guy he doesn’t love the Lord your God with all his heart. He has another lover and it is his mistress or idol of his money. He worships his money he serves it by investing his time and his money and his energies, he talks about when he walks, he talks about when he lies down, he thinks about when he sleeps, and he wakes in the middle of the night to check how Wall St is trading!

And Jesus solution for him is simple, get rid of the idol, give the money to the poor they need it, and then follow Jesus. Give what is the worlds to the world and follow the king of the kingdom of God.

Let me spell it out, Jesus answer to this guys question is repentance, trust and obedience. Turning from his worldliness, trusting in Jesus the saviour and then following him no matter what the cost.

This guy needed to have treasure not on the on earth, where the moth will destroy but in heaven where the market cannot speculate on it!

In so many ways this guy has the outward appearance of a right relationship with God, he knows Orthodoxy he knows there is only one God, he knows what the commands are, and he tries to love his brother. But there is no heart to his religion, on the inside he does not love the Lord his God with all his heart, the truth is he loves his money.

It was afoot in each camp, he wanted a bet each way, he wants all the outward trappings of being a nice person and being religious, but he does not want to pay the price and personal costs to follow Jesus. You shall have no other gods before me. God will not tolerate and idol.

Jesus perceived into this guys heart and he saw through the external façade and saw into what’s really going on and inside and he saw the idol that he worships. And this should be a warning to all of us, that Jesus is no fool, he knows the hearts of men, and he will judge the hearts of men.

Brothers and sisters do not have an Idol. And if you’re being honest with yourself, if there is an idol that is stopping you from following Jesus like this man, get rid of it or it will consume you.

So the story moves on In verse 22, and, ‘at this the man’s face fell. He went away sad’, (Literally shocked and disappointed), ‘because he had great wealth’.
But that is not a surprise to us because back in Mark4;19 Jesus had warned us about the seed planted in the ground where the deceitfulness of wealth choked it and made it unfruitful. And now we have seen it in person.

This man got the person right, he came to Jesus, this man got the question right he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life’ , but he got the response totally wrong and he went back to his old way of life.

Don’t make the same mistake!
brothers and sisters, do not be someone who hears the word and does not do what it says!

This man had all the appearances of being a religious man and he turned out to be nothing more than a rank pagan who worshipped an idol. Do not make the same mistake.

Yeh Great! But what about the Bag, Relax, we’ll get to it, we’ll get to it!!
Scene 2
Well now we get to V23 and this second scene starts and Jesus again looks around, and this time he is surveying the scenery, and is perceiving the people and their response. He is looking to see whether they also, will be like this man. And he seems to perceive the disciples question, and says, ‘how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!’

And the disciples in response are amazed and his words have staggered them. I mean if the rich guy was shocked the Disciples are absolutely flabbergasted by all this
(which is fair enough at one level, because the disciples like us have not got to the end of the gospel story yet either!).
But you can imagine them thinking, ‘this rich guy didn’t even make it and he kept the last commandments, what chance do we have?’.

And Jesus responds to their amazement, by calling them ‘children’.
Now this is evocative for us as we read Marx GOSPEL in two ways. Firstly it reminds us of how it was used back in the beginning of chapter 10 in verses 13-16, where people are bringing ‘children’ to Jesus and he says, ‘the kingdom of God belongs to ones such as these!’. The answer to, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life’, is to accept the gift like a child. So when Jesus calls the Apostle’s ‘children’, it is a word of comfort to them, a word of comfort that they are the ones who will inherit the kingdom of God, not like the rich guy who turns out to be a pagan worshipper of money.

But secondly, the term ‘children’ is also important because in Jesus time, being a child wasn’t exactly a commendation of your mental faculties. Children are people who need instruction, who lack knowledge. They are not old enough and responsible enough, to care for themselves, and it seems to me these apostles of Jesus are still children in their understanding of what discipleship for them looks like. In this next section Jesus is going to explain to them the debths of what discipleship calls them to, because at the moment they are children in regards to following Jesus.

And then Jesus tells them, well we know what he tells them, but is this part of the story, this expression, a metaphor, a saying, some sought of limerick, or a riddle?
Whatever it is, it is quite clearly filled with irony and we are supposed to see the humour in this, the image he uses is ridiculous. Jesus says, ‘children how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’

And a lot of people try to explain this one away by various interpretations, usually the rich people who try to say it is a metaphor or a spiritual reality, as opposed to the poor guy who goes ‘stuff the metaphor and give me the money!’.
It’s supposed to be funny, and it supposed to be hyperbole, but it’s supposed to be clear, that rich men love their money more than God.

Now as I said usually rich men at this point try to come up with an explanation, as to how a camel could fit through the eye needle, just to make themselves feel better about keeping their money and their chances of getting into heaven.

I heard one preacher suggest; using a bit of nouse and that if you are going to give it a try, you’d better start with the tail! - Like threading the needle!
Another preacher suggested a second option; just go brute force,
Grease the camel up and push real hard!!

Quite plainly Jesus is taking the Mickey here, the Mickey out of rich people in their own stupidity, their stupidity in Idolatry.

Whatever Idol you have, that gets in the way of following Jesus wholeheartedly, cut it out and throw it away. Give back to the world what belongs to the world and you follow Jesus.

Now we live in a Western society, so to be truthful money probably is a problem for us all. We are people who have lots of money, when was the last time anyone here went without a meal, for any other reason than laziness or they forgot their wallet?

we are the wealthy and it is problem for us; because we live as part of a secular culture that says this world is all there is, so buy whatever you want and use it, please the body, because that is all that life is.

But as Christians our wealth is neither financial nor material but it is real and kept safe for us with God, because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Here’s a diagnostic question, how much did it bother you that the stock market took a bath this week. Maybe you need to ask yourself why it bothers you so much?

Jesus may be using hyperbolae in his language but what he is saying, he means, and what he says you should do.


Now Your Idol may not be material wealth, up in the mountains were not the wealthiest people in Sydney. But we could just well be the most comfortable people in Sydney. I never met so many people that live one suburb from where they grew up! You Idol may not be material wealth, but it could well be your comfort, (I mean there are good reasons of family near by, and good ‘christian’ schools for the kids!) but are you prepared to give up your idol of comfort to come and follow Jesus?

V26 we read, ‘the disciples were even more amazed and they said to each other, who then can be saved?’.

Which is the same question the rich ruler just asked Jesus, and in V27, ‘Jesus looked at them’, (looking again in this way of perceiving what was really in their hearts), ‘Jesus looked at them and said with man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God’.


In V32 Jesus goes on to explain how it is possible we are his children, it is because Jesus went to the Cross and paid the penalty (that terrible penalty) of sin by handing himself over to the pagans and cruel men, to pay yours and mine penalty towards God. And he did it to set us free, that we may be sure of a heavenly hope, but obedient in response to his call now that we would pick up our cross and follow him.

And as our story continues in V28 Peter responds. (Now so far in this gospel when Peter speaks up first it hasn’t gone well for him). But this time Peter answers rightly and says, ‘we have left everything to follow you’. And Peter means what he says, but he just does not know how deep this rabbit hole called discipleship will take him, because Peter like his saviour in the end will give up his life

And V29 Jesus says, ‘I tell you the truth, no one who has left home, brothers and sisters, mother and father, children or fields, for me and the gospel will fail to receive 100 times as much of these things in this age and in eternal life.’ This is the real stuff of life.
Jesus isn’t all about suffering, he is saying give up the shadow of what is good, to grab what is truly good, but he has warned that following him will result in persecutions in this age. If the Lord has suffered in this age which one of you is above your master? following Jesus will mean suffering. But it is a suffering that ends in glory just like his did.

There’s a real contrast here in these two scenes between the rich guy, and the Disciples. The rich guy can’t even give up material wealth to follow Jesus. That is the easiest thing in the world to give up, Following Jesus can cost relationships and that is the real challenge that disciples of Jesus face.

I was at a regional conference recently and talking to a guy who is a retired minister now, and has been a minister for the last 50s. And he was saying he met up the other day with high school friends who were Christian Brothers. And at their lunch in the city, they had such a wonderful time of Christian fellowship, as they shared together, and he said that he then realized that on the way home, he felt a bit resentful,
because it dawned on him that because he was in Christian ministry for the last 50 years he had missed out on spending good time with his friends in Sydney, it had cost him time in these relationships he loved so much. Now he is okay with it, because he knows he did it for the gospel and Christ. He knows it was the right thing, but it cost him personally to follow Jesus. And this is only a small area but a real and personal cost, how much more the missionary?

People often look at this passage and pronounce Jesus language as metaphorical, but you do have to ask yourself the question, If you haven’t given up money, and you haven’t had to give up brothers, or sisters, mothers, or fathers or children or fields, if you haven’t chosen to make yourself uncomfortable for the Gospel and Jesus, the question you need to ask yourself is am I’m really following him at all?

Well what are you going to do with the rest of your life?

Throughout this passage Jesus has perceived the hearts of men, the hearts of the rich and the hearts of the disciples, he knows what’s going on!
And you know what Jesus is perceiving your heart now.
What are you going to do in response, are you going to go back to your life, or are you going to follow him no matter the cost?

Jesus said that many who are first will be last, and the last shall be first. The external pretences in this life count for nothing, it’s the hearts of men that God is interested.

Learn the lesson from this passage, a rich ruler came to Jesus and he should have repented from his own old life and followed Jesus. Leave behind the idols of this world for this world. You follow Jesus.

My mate who I used to ride motorcycles with had a tshirt that said, ‘ride it like you stole it!’. Maybe we should have Tshirts that say, ‘live as Aliens and Stangers’.

Now I kept my magic trick for the back of the end of the service.

Now originally the trick was to be I was going to make every-ones keys disappear!
Impressive, not really , I wasn’t going to use any spectacular means, but make them disappear by just walking out the door with them, and then selling what ever they belong to and giving the money to the poor. Not only would it have been biblical, it would have been funny!

But instead of annoying everyone, I thought maybe just one person, so I’ll just pick out one set of keys at random.

Now realizing some people mightn’t find this funny, I thought why not just one key?

So here we go?

How would that feel?

People we need to live like it doesn’t belong to us – Aliens and Strangers in this world, it is a challenge for every person here, myself included.
Jesus and the treasure we have in him needs to be our sustenance in the life and sharing the gospel is our goal, even if it is uncomfortable!

So here’s the deal, you can have your keys back at the end of the service, but before you do, you need to write one thing on your bit of paper the one main thing that is stopping you right now, from following Jesus Whole heartedly that you are going to give to God, and no longer serve, and put in the bag and then follow Jesus. No more false dawns with this idol, give back to the world what belongs to it and you follow Jesus

The son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of law they will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him and spit on him flogged him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.

Ephesians Talk 4

Live a Life worthy of your calling as Christ body in oneness of faith, knowledge, service, and speaking the truth in love that leads to maturity.
Intro:
They say that people in society can be divided into two basic categories, and they are those for who the glass is half full, and those for who the glass is half empty. So I thought I’d take a straw poll and we could see what kind of people we are.
So Let’s see some hands,
who would describe themselves as a glass half full kind of person?
and who would describe themselves as a glass half empty kind of person?

Well that’s interesting, now I suspect that we aren’t always a good judge of ourselves in this area. So I decided to come up with a highly scientific, deeply rigorous, in fact full proof way of discerning with you belong to one category or the other. Are you ready?
Put your hand up if you’ve ever thought about what would be written on your own epitaph (you know you’re headstone)?
Own up to it, hand up if you’ve ever thought about it?

Well congratulations I think it’s probably safe to say you are the glass half empty people. But that’s okay, because I’m one of them too, and personally I think you just have a healthy grasp of reality.

Now one of my favourite Epitaph’s (not that I read a lot, mind you), is from a man who definitely was a glass half empty person (despite outward appearances) Spike Milligan. Spike’s Epitaph on his headstone in Ireland reads, ‘I Told you I was ill’.

But the last words and testament someone can be quite an indictment on the life a person has lived, whether they’re written by themselves or someone else.

Now oddly enough from the Bible epitaph’s have had quite a profound effect on me and in particular the ones from the book of Kings. Now in the book of kings you read epitaph of a king after another, and they divide into three main categories. Those who followed in the footsteps of their father and did evil and the eyes of the Lord.
Those who followed in the footsteps of their father and did good in the eyes of the Lord, which is all obvious enough.
But the ones that have the most profound effect on me were the ones who followed in the footsteps of their father and did the good in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly. These epitaph’s the scary ones, because deep down these are the ones I think I can relate to. Knowing what is good and not doing it wholeheartedly.

And it is in light of this kind of thinking that Paul speaks to us from Ephesians today. Paul is calling us to have an epitaph that says, ‘life worthy of their calling they were given from the Lord.’ When I end my days I hope and pray that that is what people are able to say about me, ‘lived a life worthy of their calling’. That is what the Apostle Paul has done, and that is what he is calling us today and we see that in the first section of our text today which goes from versus 1-6.

1. Live a Life worthy of your calling to keep the Unity of the Spirit through love and peace V1-6

NIV Ephesians 4:1
As a prisoner for the Lord, then,
I urge you to live a life worthy of the
calling you have received.
2 Be completely
humble and
gentle;
be patient,
bearing* with one another in love.
3 Make every effort* to keep the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace.
4 There is
one body and
one Spirit—
just as you
were called to
one hope when you were called--
5 one Lord,
one faith,
one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all,
who is over all and
through all and
in all.

Paul begins this chapter in V1 by offering something of a theme statement for the whole chapter, (in fact it could be a theme statement to the whole of the rest of the book of Ephesians). Paul is urging the Ephesian believers to live a life worthy of the calling that they have received.

So far in his letter Paul has outlined what great riches these people have received in Christ. God has called them out of the darkness, God has called them out of their sin, God has called them out of this world and he has called them into Christ, to sit with him in the heavenly places. They have received a great calling from God (in all the grace they have received), and Paul is calling them to live a life worthy that calling.

But in case they have any visions of grandeur because of this great calling, it’s incredibly instructive that in V1 Paul writes this to them as a prisoner for the Lord, the calling is one of greatness, but it is one of difficult service in this world. And this idea is born out in more detail as we move along versus two in three.
So V1 is the theme of living a life worthy of the Lord and versus two and three is the explanation of what will this mean for the Ephesians, what will this look like to live a life worthy of the lord?

In these versus Paul says they’re calling is to keep the unity of the spirit.
There is a theological truism going on here, that they are already unified in the Spirit. God has unified them in the spirit of the of his Son and they are to make every effort to keep this unity. And they are to do it through a love that expresses its itself in them bearing with one another through being humble and gentle and patient. Now if this language looks familiar, well it should, because it’s picks up the language that Paul uses in describing Christ in Philippians. The language is of humility of Christ who did not consider equality with God something to be grasped at and he was gentle and patient he served the needs of others to secure their salvation.

This love we are to exhibit to one another is one of service of one another.

Paul is reminding us that God has given us the unity in the spirit and we are to keep to this unity. So what this means in real terms I think is, Paul is calling us to bear with one another’s foibles, we are to bear with one another’s weaknesses, we are not to be impatient with one another because we are different, or we find each other difficult. We are to have the same concerns and attitude as Christ himself that we would serve these people.

So hopefully you look around at this congregation at this church, and think to yourself, ‘Gee a there are some weird people here’. If a congregation doesn’t have some weird people in it, we are probably be doing something wrong.
If think the congregations all the same as you, well we really have probably done something wrong!
But if you look around at the people and think, ‘they are not like me, in fact they’re a little weird and sometimes annoying’, well this is a good thing, because it gives us the opportunity to serve them in love, and that’s what were called to do.

God is calling us to serve one another so that our lives would be worthy of the calling we have received, that we would bear with one another in love, that we would be patient humble and kind to each other so that we would keep the unity of the spirit that God has given us.

In V4 Paul goes on to explain the grounds on which it is that we can be unified. These verses are both a declaration and an appeal as to why we are unified, and why we should be unified in verses 4-6.

Paul uses this great Trinitarian explanation for the unity that we have. This theological truism that we are one body the body of the one Lord, because of the one spirit, who unites us. All this has happened because of the one God who is the father of us all, the one in v6 who is overall and through all.

This is the all consuming nature of this relationship we have with the God who has saved us.
The point of all history in all creation is God’s purpose that is focused upon Jesus who is Lord of all, and in this amazing way this is what we have been called to be part of.

The three distinct persons of this one Trinitarian God are at work in their unique roles, acting together in harmony to bring one body, under the one Lord. A body that has many parts, but is united by the one spirit.

In a real way the Trinitarian co-operation is a model to God’s people. In the way the persons of the trinity unite in such a oneness of purpose (they are in fact one Lord!) we are to similarly (and yet with the obvious distinction that we are in fact different people not one) we are to be similarly united in purpose as the one body of the Lord.

And God’s oneness of purpose is borne out in the oneness of our response, we are one body because of the one spirit, and this is borne out in our one calling, in our one hope, one faith, and one baptism.

Christ rules his body through his spirit and his word. And in his word and by the power of his spirit he is calling us to keep the unity of this spirit being humble and patient with one another.
We are to serve one another to keep the unity of the spirit in this one body.

And as we move on Paul, in the second section of the text from Vs 7-13, is saying;


2. Each one of us has been given grace to serve Christ’s body, so that we may all achieve our unity and maturity, in the knowledge of the Son of God
7 But to each one of us grace has
been given
as Christ apportioned it.
8 This is why it says:
"When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train
and gave gifts to men."
9 (What does "he ascended" mean
except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?
10 He who descended is the very one
who ascended higher than all the heavens,
in order to fill the whole universe.)
11 It was he who
gave
some to be apostles,
some to be prophets,
some to be evangelists, and
some to be pastors
….and teachers,
12 to prepare God's people for works of service,
so that the body of Christ may be built up
13 until
we all reach
unity in the faith and
in the knowledge of the Son of God and
become mature,
attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Now as we look at this section of the text, the mainline of the argument starts in v7, We’re Paul says, ‘but to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it’. But then his main line of argument jumps down to verse 11 when he says, ‘it was Jesus who gave some to be Apostle’s, Prophets, evangelist pastors and teachers’.
Now the purpose of these roles that Christ has appointed, is that the body of Christ would be built up, and they would serve one another. Their service has the goal that they would be built up, and have unity in their faith and knowledge of the Son of God. That they would have a maturity and fullness of Christ.

That is the main line of Paul’s argument in the second section of the text and Vs 8-10 is something of an aside. It is as though Paul starts his argument in verse 7 and gets distracted in verses 8-10 and then continues the mainline of his argument in verse 11. But versus 8-10 aren’t just a distraction they are the important grounds by which Christ can distribute these gifts.

Christ is the Lord overall who fills the entire universe, he’s the one who has descended to the depths and now has ascended to the heights, in imagery that is again very reminiscent of Philippians 2. Christ is the Lord who gives gifts to his servants as he sees fit, and Paul is going to explain in verse 11 what this gifting is about. Christ has saved us all by his grace, but as the Lord he assigns different roles to his servants for the good of the whole body. We are equal in the body of Christ but we are not identical, we all have our own responsibilities within the body of Christ for the good of the body of Christ.

Now as we look at the list of roles or like gifts if you like in verse 11, the list of gifts certainly is not exhaustive! And Paul seems to focus on particular roles that are based around speaking.

Now when Paul talks about the Apostles and Prophets, he is not so talking about a gifting for everyone, but the particular role given to those to whom God revealed the scriptures. The apostles being the writers of the new Testament if you like, and the Prophets being representative of those who wrote the old Testament.
(and you see this kind of idea repeated throughout the book Ephesians in chapter 2 V20 with the apostles and profits are the foundation and Ch3 V5 again the apostles and Prophets are seen together as almost representatives of the old and new Testament scriptures).

So what the apostles and Prophets have spoken is in a primary and real way, foundational for the church in the building up the Church.

The roles of the evangelist and the pastor and the teacher on the other hand seem to relate to what new Testament believers who are leaders in the church, are called to do. They are to speak and teach the truth of what has been revealed to the apostles and the prophets, they are to be faithful overseers and shepherds of God’s people the church. And we see this kind of ideas picked up in the description of overseas and shepherds in the book of Titus. While of course the evangelists are to be faithful with the Gospel message to a lost and broken world.

These roles remind us that speech is the most primary gifting God has given his people for them to be built up to the full measure of Christ. That we would have unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God. We exist to build one another up in the truth of God by the way we speak to each other.

Now if you’ve been around any church for while, you often hear a call to improve the sense of unity within our church. The solution people usually offer is something about common events to get people to, so we can to spend time together. Now there is some truth in that, in that we are physical beings and time together relationally helps to express our fellowship.

But Ephesians is implicitly saying here that long lattes, or coming together for an egg and bacon roll is not the centrality of Christian Fellowship, it might work if you’re a member of the bowling club or the Australian Jockey club to build unity. But profoundly, foundationly and primarily Christian unity is built-up and expressed around the word. We speak the truth to each other that we all may grow in the knowledge of the son of God.
This is the unity in the faith that comes from this knowledge and how we mature to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ in the Spirit.

And this is why the bible and song and creeds are so central to our time meeting together as a church, it is the means by which we all grow together in our unity, and express the realities of the unity that Christ has already won for us.

And Paul here in v13 is calling us to attain the whole measure of what Christ has already won for us, and versus 14-16 is going to spell out the little more detail what that means.

3. Do not be infants any longer but speak the truth in love that we may be a mature Christian community v14-15.
14 Then (subj) we will no longer be infants,
tossed back and forth by the waves,
and blown here and there by every wind of teaching
and by the cunning and craftiness of men
in their deceitful scheming.
15 Instead, speaking the truth in love,
we (subj) will in all things grow up into him
who is the Head, that is, Christ.
16 From him the whole body,
joined and held together by every supporting ligament,
grows and builds itself up in love,
as each part does its work.

Paul here says, ‘don’t be immature any longer, but be mature in our relationships by speaking the truth in love to one another.’

This passage is warning us of the reality, that there are deceitful teachers out there claiming to follow Christ who are not. Paul uses the language of ‘deceived’ which is quite evocative for us as we hear it, because in the Bible there is one father of deceit and he was at work even since the time of the garden of Eden.

‘The snake was crafty than all the beasts of the field’, and Paul is warning us that he is still at work today, he is still trying to deceive God’s people. And Paul is telling us not to be immature anymore and frightened and deceived by this kind of thing.

But how are we to stand against this deceit, well together and we are to speak the truth to one another in love. The truth of God and his Son the Lord Jesus as revealed in the Bible, the truth of the one faith of the one Lord who is Lord overall and through all and in all. We are to remind each other of the truths of the great calling we have received, we have been saved and we are to serve one another by reminding each other of these great truth.

Paul is reminding us again that speech is central to the Christian faith, we remind each other of the truth of the Christian faith, we encourage one another as to the truth of the Christian faith, but we do it in love.

We do it to the benefit of our brothers and sisters, we do it as an expression of our other person centred-ness and we do it to their good. We do it in humility in gentleness in patience. We do it bearing with one another in love and we do it as a form of making every effort to keep the unity of the spirit that we already have in Christ.

We are to work together to grow together and in particular we are to protect each other from going astray and being to see it by speaking the truth in love to one another. Each one of us has a part to play in this, each one of us is part of the supporting ligaments or part of the body, to grow the body up in love and we are all called to do our work in this.

So the challenge for us is, are you at work in the body?
Are you speaking the truth in love to one another, the truth of the Christian faith, that we may grow a maturity that we would not be deceived into false teaching.

Are You at work in the body?
Our society today is increasingly becoming a spectator community, and just look at what people have been doing over last week and a half, all we do is spectate. But in reality we are such a passive and consumerist society we aren’t even good spectators anymore. In fact our society has become so in disengaged from any kind of any obligation or communal commitment, we don’t actually even go to the grounds anymore to spectate, people consider it a great commitment to watch an event on television. We have become laughably disengaged from doing anything, even spectating, properly.

So are you disengaged from the body?
Or Are You serving and the life of the body of Christ to which you have been saved and called?
Are You were working ligament or muscle?
Or are you more like an appendix who does nothing, but when you do get involved it only causes trouble and stops the rest of the body from functioning properly?

In the book Proverbs we told to consider the ant and how it works, and there is great truth in that for us as the body of Christ. Each Ant goes about its work to the good of the other and the whole, not it’s own interests. We should do the same. I’m sure we would all like to be part of a church were everyone was like ants, people going about their business and serving as they should serve, imagine how good that would be. Imagine we wouldn’t even need rosters.

And realistically, I’d settle for to be part of a church where people want to be on a roster because it is a chance to serve! Even that would be a huge step in the right direction for all of us being at work in the body, to help build up the maturity to help us grow together in love.

I mean it is a bit laughable isn’t it, yes I know Christ died for me but I just don’t want to be tied down by a regular commitment like a roster, I mean sure Paul we all know you are in gaol for Christ, but a roster just gets in the way of my free time.


Our lives are to be about living a life worthy of our calling, we are to serve the body in humility like Christ served us.

16 I pray that
out of his glorious riches
he may strengthen you
with power through his Spirit
in your inner being,
17 so that Christ may dwell
in your hearts
through faith.
And I pray that you,
being rooted
and
established in love,
18 may have power,
together with all the saints,
to grasp
how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
19 and to know this love
that surpasses knowledge—
that you may be filled
to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able
to do immeasurably more than all
we ask
or imagine,
according to his power
that is at work
within us,
21 to him be glory
in the church and
in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations, for ever and ever!
Amen.