April 21, 2013
All Things New | It is Written
- Luke 24:45-49
- Rev. Scott Shelton
ALL THINGS NEW – IT IS WRITTEN
Thanks to worship team….All things new – life is still new for the early disciples in the time just after the Resurrection, before Jesus ascended to heaven, and for us at ZPC as we study that time on these Sundays.
When we come here on a Sunday morning, we can ask each other some big questions:
“Why do we go to church? Why do we believe what we believe? Why do the gospel writers include what they include?
And by coming we discover and claim our beliefs.
We nail down the basis of our faith: belief in the triune God as revealed in the Bible.
When we know our basic beliefs and have confidence in them, we can live with significance and purpose.
Today’s study of the Luke and John near the end of their gospels gives us some answers.
Let’s read then…
Scripture: Luke 24:44-49 and John 20:30-31 – read out of RED BIBLE
Luke 24:44-49 (NIV)
He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
John 20:30-31 (NIV)
The Purpose of John’s Gospel
30 Jesus performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe[a] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Let’s pray – Most loving God, open our minds, that we may too believe that you are the Christ the Son of the living God, and by believing we may have life, life that is significant and has purpose. Help us to understand and apply your word. Amen.
Bullet points below paragraph:
I’m excited today again to be with you, because we get to – not a have to – it is a get to- get to talk about Jesus. May favorite topic in the Bible – the person of Jesus and who he is and why we believe in him. Everything points to him.
Jesus was both fully human and fully divine.
As God, we worship him, show him reverence, and realize that his sacrifice gives us life.
As fully human, he shows us how to live a life filled with truth, compassion, and a healthy focus on God on others – which informs our lives for today.
Here’s how we’re talking about Jesus today.
See your bulletin – and in it some bullet points – inside cover.
“According to Luke and John, Jesus is the Christ.
The Christ is the Messiah as predicted in the Old Testament.
Jesus opened the disciples’ minds to understand the Scriptures.
The gospels were written down so that we can believe in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God.
By believing in Jesus, we have life with significance and purpose.
Don’t wait. Study Jesus, study the disciples, and believe.”
Let’s break it down even simpler parts – two – Study Jesus and study the disciples.
Study Jesus:
- A. Jesus fulfilling the Old Testament – Luke 24:44-45
- B. Jesus’ purpose – Luke 24:46-47
- C. Jesus’ miracles – John 20:30
Study the disciples:
- A. Startled, frightened, doubting, joyful, amazed – Luke 24:37-41
- B. Then: They understand, preach, witness, wait – Luke 24:47-49
- C. Now: We understand, believe, have life, don’t wait – John 20:31
As we study Jesus, he tells us, that he fulfills the OT and he explains this to the disciples, it says in verse 44.
Imagine being there, in those days after the resurrection
and hearing Jesus explaining his role of how he fulfilled the fact that he is the Messiah in the law, prophets, and the psalms.
Jesus might say to them, “I was fasting in the wilderness and when tempted by the devil, I quoted Deuteronomy – God’s law. Not only could I quote, I can fulfill it.”
In Matthew 4:
Jesus said, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[b]”
7 Jesus said, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[d]”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[e]”
Jesus could say I lived the scripture and you can too.
Jesus could say, “You know how God the Father laid out a sacrificial system – now I have fulfilled that system with a once and for all time sacrifice as the Lamb and we don’t need sacrifices any more. Tell that people that they need to put faith in me to forgive sins, I am the way, the truth and the life, not the sacrificial system anymore.”
When Jesus said I AM, as he often did, the people knew and his disciples knew he was referring to Exodus, The Law, When God said, I am who I am. Jesus is the same and claims to be the great I AM.
Jesus could have said, “You know how the law was written for Moses on stone tablets. – check out what Jeremiah predicted. (Jeremiah 31:33-34)
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.” Wow, Jesus is fulfilling Jeremiah’s prediction.
Or he could say from the prophets again, Isaiah was talking about me and my birth when he said….
(Isaiah 9:6-7)
I am the
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 I will reign on David’s throne
That’s me!
Later Isaiah said this about me too…(part of Isaiah 53)
Isa. 53:4-6 - Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering…
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
and by his wounds we are healed. (STOP)
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him (Jesus)
the iniquity – (our sin) - of us all.
11 After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied”
Jesus could say, that’s me. I took the sin upon me, so that you could live.
And then finally in the Psalms. Most of us know Psalm 23, but not all know Psalm 22.
22:1 says;
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Jesus could say,
That’s what I said on the cross.
Later…
“they pierce my hands and my feet.”
and
“18 They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.”
That’s what happened when I was on the cross.
You see everything that the OT predicted is coming true in me, Jesus.
I am the Messiah. I am the Christ. I AM God.
Jesus opened their minds and the disciples understood the scriptures.
He explained to them what was written – that he would suffer and die, and that forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.
What does John say?
He talks about miracles – here’s what it says:
“Jesus performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.”
Are there really miracles? Can we believe in them today?
A 2012 survey in the US said this:
55% of Americans are certain that miracles happen (a 20% increase since 1991).
80% of Americans believe that miracles certainly or probably occur.
A miracle is at times a supernatural occurrence; at other times it could be God breaking to the normal order of things to bring about his will in a new and wonderful way.
Why did Jesus do the miracles he did?
Among others, three main miracles Jesus did were these:
Jesus healed the sick
Jesus fed the hungry
Jesus raised the dead
John says this as well…
But these are written that you may believe[a] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
So why are the miracles recorded in John’s gospel?
So that we may believe and be inspired, encouraged, to have faith in Jesus and to live for Jesus.
Jesus healed the sick 2000 years ago. He can heal you too.
When has he healed you? Of a place where you have been hurting, or your family, you have been frightened, alone, and you have seen God at work, by providing in a miraculous way you didn’t expect.
About 18 years ago I heard a church member who had cancer share as he had to have help standing at a podium at a spiritual retreat, that he gave thanks for the cancer which was taking his life. I remember thinking that was crazy. Yet he said, that through the cancer he had time to see what was most important to him – and he was healing in his faith in Jesus, grew closer in his marriage, and became a better father. He was thankful for the cancer and although he lost the physical battle, spiritually he grew in miraculous ways.
Jesus fed the hungry. He can feed your needs as well.
When have you felt that you had a need? Were you faithful and did God provide? Maybe God provided in a way you did not expect. God has done that for me over the years. When we pray and tell God, I am hungry to learn more of you, I am thirsty to drink more of the living water that Jesus told the woman at the well about, then he will give it to us. He will feed us and provide for us in miraculous ways – that we don’t expect.
Jesus raised the dead. He gives new life even today.
As a pastor I get to attend or officiate at many funerals. What a joy it is to be in the midst of sorrow and grieving, but to be with a family who their loved one had great faith.
Jesus says in John that he gave us signs that we should be believe and have life in his name. What a joy it is to hear people share that their loved one had faith in Jesus.
In our repentance and in his forgiveness, as it says in Luke 24.
Think about the link from the disciples until today: That we have faith because of what Jesus did – but also because of the faithfulness of the disciples – we have life in his name.
Chuck Colson was a great man of faith who died just recently. He began a ministry called Prison Fellowship with a vision to reach all prisoners with the good news of Jesus. Colson was a speaker and the author of more than 30 books. He led a daily radio commentary, BreakPoint, which was heard in its original format on more than 1,400 radio stations across the United States. He also went to prison for his role in the Watergate coverup in 1974.
Colson talks about how the disciples give great evidence for the resurrection.
Disciples then – better than Watergate…
READ STORY…
So…
Wolfhart Pannenberg, German theologian, said this:
“The evidence for Jesus' resurrection is so strong that nobody would question it except for two things:
First, it is a very unusual event.
And second, if you believe it happened, you have to change the way you live.”
WHAT ABOUT US? Will we change?
The disciples then lived vastly more bold lives based on the facts that they had seen with their own eyes.
They began confused and afraid, but were seeing Jesus alive, and being taught how the scriptures all made sense and pointed to Jesus as the Messiah. They were empowered by just being with him.
We are to be empowered by reading about Jesus, seeing his miracles, seeing him at work in our own lives, and knowing him personally.
So what’s next?
Let’s look again at what we can learn today and what to do with it:
Study Jesus:
A. Jesus fulfilling the Old Testament – Luke 24:44-45
B. Jesus’ purpose – Luke 24:46-47
C. Jesus’ miracles – John 20:30
Study the disciples:
A. Startled, frightened, doubting, joyful, amazed – Luke 24:37-41
B. Then: They understand, preach, witness, wait – Luke 24:47-49
C. Now: We understand, believe, have life, don’t wait – John 20:31
The disciples were to wait for the Holy Spirit to come and give them God’s power – we’ll see that soon in Acts 2.
We don’t have to wait. When we understand, have belief, have life in Jesus – we can live differently right now.
I encourage you to look for ways this week to serve study Jesus through the Bible or other devotionals, to stake your claim to faith in Him, and to look for what God would you have do or say because you believe.
Let’s pray.