| Jesus: His Mission |
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JESUS: His Luke 19:1-10 (10) Jesus’ coming to this earth divided history, at least for the Western World it did. Not all calendars in the world recognize B.C. and A.D. but in the Western World they do. And even though in Jesus was born – there are few who deny that fact. But WHY was He born? Why did Jesus come? What was His mission? That’s what we are going to be looking at today. As I have read and re-read the Gospels these past 9 months, various things have stood out to me. By about the 4th or 5th time through Matthew and Mark and Luke and John, I began to notice things I had not noticed the first time through back in January. So I took a notebook and began to write things down. And in June and July and August and September I have added to this notebook. I noticed over and over the repetition of the phrase: “I have come to…” As a matter of fact, I have 16 entries that talk about why Jesus came. And no, we are not going to have a 16 point sermon today. I have chosen only 5 of them. Let’s begin reading here in Luke 19 (1-10). To seek and to save the lost. The story is pretty self-explanatory. Jesus did not conform to the religious rules of His day. It’s not that He broke God’s commands, but He didn’t fit in with how men had twisted those commands. Hanging out with “sinners” is not what the religious establishment thought a religious person ought to do. But Jesus was not a religious person. And His actions often frustrated those who were. Zacchaeus responded to Jesus’ loving attitude toward him. Something changed in his heart when Jesus came to his house that day. And His changed heart was evidenced by his changed behavior. For a wealthy tax collector to give away half of his possessions and to make restitution for how he had cheated people, there has to be a change of heart. That day with Jesus had changed Zacchaeus forever. Then comes Jesus’ summarizing statement in v.10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. Jesus said that there are people who are lost, and that He came to seek for them and to save them. What does it mean to be lost? It means that you have a current location, and you have a des I remember one year when several of us towed our boats to Sieku to fish for salmon on the Straits of Juan de Fuca. We used to do that every year early in September, and had some wonderful times. We all had CBs in our boats, and one year I got a call from one of our men: he was out in the fog somewhere, his motor had quit and he could not get it started. He was lost. He knew where he was – out on the water. But he did not know where he was in relationship to where he wanted to be – safe at the dock. Soon he could hear the waves crashing on the rocks. He could hear it, but he couldn’t see the rocks – yet. But he and I both knew he was in trouble. Lost, and in danger of being smashed on the rocks. Jesus said, that’s what life is like for us. We are lost; we are in danger of being smashed on eternal rocks and in need of someone to not only show us the way, but to give us a tow. Even if I knew where the lost boat was, and could have directed him to the harbor, it would have done no good. He had no power to get to the safe harbor. And neither do I; and neither do you. We are not only lost, we are powerless to do anything about it. Jesus came not only to seek us, but to save us. We are drifting and without power and heading for certain destruction. Our only hope is that someone would come and rescue us. That’s why Jesus came. John 1 Timothy That was His mission in coming to this earth – to seek and to save the lost. Here’s a second part of that mission… To give His life a ransom for many. In Mark 10, the disciples were vying for positions in Jesus’ coming kingdom. James and John had gotten Jesus’ ear and were asking if they could have the places of greatest honor at His right hand and His left hand. Jesus told them that those places of honor were not for Him to give. But the rest of the disciples heard about the request and they were pretty upset. So Jesus talks to them about serving. And then in v.45 He says: 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. He came to serve; He came to give His life. And the purpose of giving His life is that it would be a ransom, He said. A ransom! This coming Wednesday, we have a team leaving for But they make us sign this paper, as all missionaries do. And here is part of what it says: “I understand and accept the following policy of the Assemblies of God World Missions regarding ransom payments: ‘The Assemblies of God World Missions Executive Committee has determined that it will not pay ransom nor yield to the demands of anyone who takes one of our missionary family or staff hostage. The Assemblies of God World Missions pledges itself to every effort in prayer and other appropriate means to obtain the release of one taken hostage should it ever occur.’” Pay ransom for anyone taken hostage – it’s the same word that is used here in Mark 10, and it has the same meaning. The meaning of the word used in Mark 1 John The image again here is one of our hopelessness, and our need of intervention from Someone far greater than ourselves. Who would be worthy, who would be able to pay the ransom for a single person, let alone the whole world? Only Jesus, only the Perfect Lamb of God Who would give Himself in our place. Here’s another reason He came… To preach the good news. (turn to Luke 4). It’s early in Jesus’ ministry. He has just spent 40 days fasting and praying, and being tested by Satan. It’s no wonder that verse 14 says: Jesus returned to He went to His hometown of “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” “I have come to preach good news, especially good news to the poor.” “The Gospel” it says in the older King James Version, but the root word means “good news”. “To bring good news, to announce glad tidings. In the NT used especially of the glad tidings of the coming Jesus did not come to bring us bad news; He came to bring us good news. The good news is that although we are drifting helplessly toward the rocks, Jesus will tow us to safety. The good news is that although we are being held hostage, Jesus has already paid our ransom and will set us free if we come asking Him to. The good news is that prisoners can be set free, the oppressed can be released, the blind can be made to see again, that this is again the year of the Lord’s favor. Good news! Geico TV commercials: some people love them, others hate them. Most of the commercial sets us up with the bad news, then comes the line: “But I’ve got good news. (Yeah? What’s that?) I just saved a bundle of money on my car insurance.” Jesus’ good news is really good news, not just hype. The bad news is there: we are lost; we are heading for an eternity separated from God. John 3:18 says Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. What must I do to be lost? Absolutely nothing! What must I do to spend eternity in hell? Absolutely nothing! That’s where I am heading. That’s where all of us are heading without Jesus. We don’t start out holy and only if we accumulate sufficient demerits with God we will be separated from Him for all eternity. We start out separated from Him. We are born sinners. That’s the bad news. The good news is that Jesus came to save us from our sins. Which brings us to the next thing. He came… To call sinful people to repentance. In Luke 5, Jesus is again upsetting the religious establishment. He has just called Levi, who is better known as Matthew. He was a tax collector before becoming one of Jesus’ 12 Disciples. And he throws a great banquet and invites many of his fellow tax collectors to meet Jesus. And again the religious leaders ask: “Why do you eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Verse 31 says Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” I came to call sinners to repentance. Most people today don’t like the word “sinner”. But it’s still a good word. If one who swims is a swimmer, and one who runs is a runner, one who sins is a sinner. It’s not a finger-pointing term, for Romans It’s not that you are a sinner and I am not; we are all sinners. It’s usually our pride that doesn’t like that word: “I’m not a sinner!” Jesus said that until you are willing to admit that you are, there is no way you can be saved. If you think you are a righteous person, then you have no awareness of your need of a Savior. Only sinners know they need a savior. Jesus did not come to call sinners to apologize, or even to feel sorry for our sins. He called us to repent. The root word here means: “to perceive with the mind, to understand, to have understanding; to think upon, heed, ponder, consider.” Repentance is not a shallow thing; it is a deep thing. It is understanding what you have done and to turn from it with the determination that you are not going back. Lucy’s little brother Linus in the Snoopy cartoons always has his security blanket. But from time to time he determines he is going to throw it away. And he does, but he always holds on to a string of it so he can pull it back again when he regrets throwing it away. And that’s the way we sometimes do with our sin. We throw it away, but hang on to a part of it so we can bring it back when we get tempted. That’s not repentance. The full word that is translated “repentance” here in Luke 5:31 means “to change one’s mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins.” Did you catch that last phrase? Abhorrence. Synonyms are “disgust, repugnance, revulsion.” Repentance is seeing our sin as God sees it, seeing it for what it really is and turning away from it, disgusted by it, with the determination we are not going back. That’s what Jesus came to call us to – to repent of our sin and turn to Him. Finally, Jesus came… To give us abundant life. In John Jesus came to take away your sin, but He did not come to take away your enjoyment of life. He came to make your life far more enjoyable than it could possibly be without Him. Is it selfish to want all that God has for me? Is it selfish to want a life that is full and abundant and overflows? Not at all, as long as you seek those things in Jesus. He made us with a deep desire for meaning in life, with a deep desire for security in life, with a deep desire for freedom from guilt and for hope as we consider our future. Seeking those things in Him and then enjoying them when we find them in Him is not selfishness; it’s living the life He came to give us. Let me bring this to a close. I have two questions taped to my computer monitor in my study: “So what?” and “Now what?” All that we have heard to day is good information. But unless we ask the question “So what?” that’s all it remains – information. “So what?” asks how this applies to my life. Information does not change my life until I ask “So what?” What difference does this make to my life? In Jesus eyes, either I am lost or I am found. If I am found, I need to rejoice and to praise Him for finding me and rescuing me. If I am lost, I need to call out to Him that He would save me. And when He does, then I need to partner with Him in bringing other lost people to Him. Are you lost today? Or has Jesus found you and rescued you from the awful fate you were facing? Are you saved today? Then what are you doing to bring others to Him? “Now What?” What will you do with what you have just heard today? Will you go away unchanged by God’s Word, or will you allow Him to change the way you are living? Will you repent of your sin, turning completely away from it with no strings still attached? Will you determine to speak His good news to others so that they could have a chance to be saved? |
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