Category: Band

Jesus had died on Friday and had been in the grave for a couple of days. Now, it was Sunday and the women went to the tomb to fully prepare his body for burial. They had left him on preparation day and didn’t return on the Sabbath because of the commandment that they must not do any work on that day.

But when they returned back, they didn’t find Jesus in the tomb. Instead, it was empty! And the same with Peter who went running there along with John after they had heard the report back from the women. And they all wondered what was going on. Where was Jesus?

A couple of the disciples – Cleopas and another man – headed toward Emmaus, and Jesus caught up with them on the road and explained to them what the scriptures said about him. They went running back to the rest of the disciples to report that they had seen Jesus and that he was truly alive, and it was at that point that Jesus appeared to all of the disciples at once.

They couldn’t believe it! Here he was, standing in their midst, showing them his hands and his feet, allowing them to see him and touch him. And what was more, Jesus ate something with them so that they could see that he was real. He wasn’t just a figment of their imagination. Otherwise, they would still have the fish that they had given him. He wasn’t just an apparition, or a spirit. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to take and digest the fish. No, he and his full body were there and functioning in the physical world.

But like Jesus had done with these two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus explained to the disciples yet again all that had been written about him. He reminded them that the scriptures spoke about him. The law and the prophets pointed to him:

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.”

Luke 24:44

And now, everything was being fulfilled, and it was being fulfilled in their presence. They were witnesses. They had seen all that Jesus had done. They knew the truth of what Jesus was saying because they knew the Old Testament scriptures and they knew what had happened in their midst. Now, Jesus was helping them to draw the connection between the two. He was helping them to see the fulfillment because now they would speak of this to others as well.

We don’t necessarily have the luxury or privilege of being the ones who are there to see, but we have the words of those who were there. They have testified to what they saw and have explained to us what they had done with Jesus, allowing us also to see the connections. Even further, through the Holy Spirit, we also can confirm the fulfillment of the prophecies. We can read what was done in the books of the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, and we can affirm that Jesus did fulfill the prophecies as well as became the real life example of many of the traditions and celebrations that the Jews would hold, and still even continue today.

This is an important part of our testimony. Jesus performed an incredible miracle of resurrection, but then he took his disciples directly into the scriptures to prove that they spoke about him through the fulfillment of what the prophecies said. Let us see and be able to also explain the connection between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Without the Old, there is no New. The scriptures are one story, the story that God is telling. It is the story of Christ.

Jesus had stayed silent as he was before Pilate and Herod. Even as he had been before the Sannhedrin, he had said very little in his defense. Jesus already knew God’s plan and had been telling his disciples that he would be handed over to the chief priests and the rulers to be killed, but would then rise again from the dead.

The chief priest, Pilate, and Herod all would have expected that Jesus would want to save himself. Who would despise their life enough that they would want to die, especially when they are innocent of the charges of which they have been accused? But this process of accusation to “trial” to condemnation and death was moving quickly, and so Jesus was simply letting the metaphorical train run down the tracks. He already knew that he was headed to his death, so he was allowing the process to play out.

The people, as they stood before Jesus as he was being crucified, called on Jesus to prove that he was the Messiah by saving himself.

The soldiers, the same thing.

 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

Luke 23:35-39

Ironically, Jesus was the Messiah and he was acting perfectly in accordance with what had been prophecied for him to do. He was the King of the Jews, but this King was to give himself for the people so that they could live.

The people couldn’t imagine a scenario in which Jesus would want to die. They couldn’t even begin to imagine what Jesus was doing. He was giving himself as a sacrifice to God for the sins of the people – for them. And yet they were mocking him.

If you are the Messiah, save yourself!

Jesus was the Messiah, and instead of saving himself, he was saving them. He was saving them from their sins, if only they would believe. Now, we have the same choice. Will we believe that Jesus has also come for us? That he has done this according to God’s plan? That he was the Messiah, and precisely for that reason he was killed on the cross, taking the punishment for our sins?

Or will we continue to deny him and imagine that the greatest and highest thing that we could experience would be to save our lives?

In at least a couple of separate times, Jesus told his disciples that they shouldn’t worry about what they would say to others because he would come to them, and through the Holy Spirit, he would tell them what to say.

I have frequently had this quoted back to me by Christians in our churches today. They say things like:

Why do I need to learn to share the Gospel?

Or… Why do I need to learn to share my testimony?

Or… Why do I need to learn some structured way to make a disciple?

I want to be led by the Holy Spirit!

Ah, OK… So, we would like to be trained and prepared for a job. Or we would want to take a class to understand how to do a particular hobby. But we definitely shouldn’t try to prepare ourselves for a conversation about Christ. Hmmm… that seems a little strange to me.

Context matters. The situations in which Jesus said this were that he had promised the disciples persecution. In the first case, Jesus was intentionally sending the disciples out as “sheep among wolves” to proclaim and demonstrate the Kingdom of God. He told them that they would be beaten in the synagogues and taken before governors and kings to give an account for what they were saying.

The second situation was similar. In that case, Jesus spoke of the end times. The time just before he would return. Again, he tells the disciples that they will be beaten and that they will be called upon to give an account but that Jesus would be with them and give them words of wisdom so that they (we!) can speak of him and give an account for him.

“But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. And so you will bear testimony to me. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. Stand firm, and you will win life.

Luke 21:12-19

In both of these cases, you can imagine that there would be significant anxiety and fear on the part of the disciples; that nerves might be on edge, that it would be difficult for them to speak. But Jesus promises that he would be with the disciples in those very circumstances.

So, if I am speaking plainly and honestly, those that tell me that they don’t need to learn or don’t need to prepare because the Holy Spirit will be with them simply sounds like an excuse to me, an excuse to be a lazy Christian. And frequently I hear these same people say that they wish God would use them more. Or that they are looking for ways to be more fruitful for Christ.

But don’t worry…when the day comes – if it ever comes – to be able to speak for Christ, the Holy Spirit will be there to give the words. I hope that will turn out to be true! In the meantime, I want to encourage the rest of us to continue to prepare, to hone our message, to look to the lost, and bring reconciliation to God for those who are lost and do not know Him.

The first and last stories of Luke 18 are stories of persistence. In the first story, Luke says that Jesus was teaching his disciples to keep praying and never give up so he tells a story of a woman who is persistently pleading for justice to an unjust judge. He explained that even the unjust judge, just so that he can save himself from a widow, one of the weakest, and possibly least-valued, people in the society is concerned about himself, and so he will respond to the woman’s request and give her what she wants because of her persistence.

Then, at the end of the chapter, we see that a blind man heard that Jesus was passing by. He called out for Jesus to have mercy on him, but the crowd told him to be quiet. Ignoring them, he called out even louder for Jesus to have mercy on him.

But he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Luke 18:39

So Jesus stopped and asked the man what he wanted him to do for the man, as if it wasn’t clear enough already! The man wanted to see and so Jesus gave him his sight.

We learn here that God wants to hear from us. He intends and expects that we remain dependent upon Him. He wants us to call out to Him, to invoke Him and ask Him to intervene. And He will. Sometimes it won’t be in the timing that we want. Sometimes it will. Infrequently, at least in my experience, it will be what we expected. Frequently, at least in my experience, it will be even better than what we expected.

Let’s call out to God and depend upon Him for what we need. Everything we have comes from God and we can go to Him, to the source, to receive what we need if we are persistent.

God has put things in our hand that we can use for us, or we can use for Him and His Kingdom.

Jesus told a parable of a manager who had been accused of embezzlement and so his boss called him to an appointment to give an account of what he had done. The man knew that he would be found out, so he thought that he would use his present position to improve his future. He called in some of the people who owed his master – his boss – money or goods and asked them each how much they owed the master. In each case, he marked down the amount for the person that owed to the master, thus giving them a discount and making the person who owed his master think well of him.

As it turns out, the master approved of the man’s shrewdness, presumably because he at least received something back.

While I can understand the difficulty in understanding why Jesus would tell this story as a good example, given that the man had been a liar and a cheat, and then subsequently given discounts just to help himself, he – Jesus – did tell the story as an example of using what we have been given as an investment for the future. The man was using what had been put in front of him now to prepare his way for the future. He couldn’t do manual labor and he didn’t want to beg for money, so he used what he had been given as an investment.

“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Luke 16:8-9

This struck me this morning because here in Catania, we have noticed over the last several years that we have routinely run into the same problem. The people that we work with, the immigrants and refugees, have significant needs. They frequently don’t know where they will sleep, nor what they will eat, and they find themselves scratching to survive on a daily basis. That is a difficult position to be in when you are trying to help someone think about how they can turn over their life to Christ and live for him. They have no stability and are desperate, so while it is certainly good and right, and definitely the right time, to be considering what God is doing in their lives, when you are trying to figure out what you will eat or where you will stay, it is difficult to have space within your mind for those conversations.

A few years ago, we started Agape Bici as a way to simply fix bikes or give them away to those in need. However, we noticed that this was something that God had put in our hand and that we could invest in for the future. We didn’t need an income, as God has provided for us through the support of those who believe in what God is doing through our work, but it would allow us to invest in the Kingdom of God, offering work for people here in Catania, and we hope one day, in other places as well. Those whom we have prayed would become workers within the Kingdom would also have the opportunity to support themselves for the future.

We see this as a way that we can invest in the Kingdom. We can use what God has given to us to see His Kingdom continue to grow. We can take what God has offered to us and make more out of it for the purpose of glorifying Him. If we are able to raise up and support more workers – as in workers for the Kingdom amongst the people groups that we are serving – we can see more people come to Christ, more disciples made, and more churches planted.

Let us use what God has given us so that we can invest for the true future, the future of the Kingdom.

The Pharisees continue to look for ways to accuse Jesus so that they can get rid of him. Jesus keeps showing them the hypocritical state of their heart, continues to, in fact, embarrass them, but Jesus doesn’t seem to be phased. These things are all moving forward according to the plan that the Father has set out for him.

This time the Pharisees and teachers of the law come saying, in fact muttering:

This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.

Luke 15:2

To respond, Jesus tells them three stories. It is as if he responds to them saying, “You bet. That’s exactly right. I do welcome sinners, and here is why…”

Jesus tells a story of a man who had lost one of his sheep. 99 are still there, but 1 has wandered off. The man leaves the other 99 to go find that 1. The man goes looking because that 1 is important to him.

He went on to tell another story of a woman who lost one of her ten coins. She turns her house upside-down to look for it.

And then finally, Jesus tells a story of a wayward son who takes half of his father’s property and goes to spend it on himself, squandering the inheritance on prostitutes or any number of other worthless self-indulgences. When the son comes back, the father runs to greet his son and welcome him back.

Jesus is telling the Pharisees that these people that he is spending time with are lost and he is out looking for them. He is doing it because like the man, like the woman, like the father, those things and those people who were lost were precious to them.

We don’t go looking for the things that aren’t precious to us. And so, for this reason, we frequently don’t follow in Jesus’s footsteps. We don’t go looking for those who are lost because we don’t have the same heart as that of the Father. Jesus is clear that sinners – those who are lost – are precious to him, but to the Pharisees, they are nothing.

And so today, what do we say? Yes, of course these people are precious to us. Yes, of course we want these people to come to Christ. Yes, of course we try to reach them.

Do we though? Have we actually gone searching as the people did when that thing or that person was lost? Have we really looked, or maybe we’ve sent some money to someone else who is doing something?

Let’s take the next step. Beyond going, is the good news of salvation through Christ actually being shared? Through whom? How many times in the last week? In the last month? In the last year?

I suspect and fear that the answer to those questions is few, or possibly none. And so I think we have a problem. We don’t have the same heart as God for that which is lost, so we don’t go looking. We don’t go looking so we never actually tell people the Good News, the Gospel of Christ, that they can have salvation through him. We have other priorities. We have other things that we are worried about.

I noted here that in each case, there was a party at the end of each of the stories that Jesus told. Each time that the thing or the person who was lost was found, the person who found that which was lost called all of those around to celebrate. Each time. We should learn to come to know that joy, to celebrate the lost being found. We should learn to routinely bring others to Christ and throw a lot of parties because what was lost is now found.

Jesus doesn’t do half measures. His perspective seems to be that you either do it or you don’t. You don’t do it half way.

Jesus is God represented in the flesh, represented as a human being. He was all-in and brought all of His deity to the earth in the form of a human.

He came to the earth to re-establish His Kingdom, with Jesus himself as the King. He purchased for God people from every tribe, nation, and language, and he purchased them not with money, but with his own blood. That is most certainly a sign of being all-in, to give yourself for others, especially others who have not only not loved you, but have shown disdain for you.

I could go on with examples, but suffice to say that Jesus calls us to have the same level of passion and commitment to him and his Kingdom as he did for us. Jesus was explaining this to the crowds that were following him. He said:

In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

Luke 14:33

It is as if he was telling them, “You can’t just follow me around and say you’re my disciple. There is much more than that.”

Jesus had told his disciples that they must “hate” their father and mother, their brothers and sisters, their wives and children. Otherwise they cannot be his disciple. Are you prevented from following Jesus because of your family? You aren’t fit to be Jesus’s disciple, he says.

Jesus told his disciples that they must carry their cross and follow him. Are you prevented from following Jesus because you are afraid of being shamed by others for your association with him? Are you afraid of the possibility that you would be put to death because of your association with him? You aren’t fit to be Jesus’s disciple.

There is no half measure with which you can be Jesus’s disciple. Following him doesn’t mean just trying not to sin. It means that you go to do what he calls his disciples to do. You go to be the person that he calls you to be. This is the level of discipleship that Jesus calls us into. That is the Jesus in the Bible, and if we don’t understand this, and we don’t follow him in the way that he has called us to follow him, we won’t have a part with him. We won’t actually be his disciples.

God, help me – help all of us – to not only understand the cost of being a disciple, but even more, to truly be the disciple that you have called us to be. I pray that you won’t count us among the people who are just casually walking along, but those who have counted the cost and are willing to follow Jesus wherever he sends us, wherever he calls us to go. Do with us what you will, Lord. May you be glorified as a result of our lives and what we give to you.

Jesus was asked whether there would only be a few people who would be saved from God’s wrath and judgment. I think the people had begun to understand that Jesus was speaking of different conditions for salvation than what they had understood previously from their teachers.

The Israelites had always been known as God’s people. God had chosen Abraham and then Isaac and Jacob, that through them God’s blessing would be passed down to all people. In fact, it would be through them that Jesus would come, that the Messiah who would save his people would be revealed.

Now, though, I think the people are understanding that Jesus is teaching a different way. He isn’t just talking about nationality. He isn’t talking about ancestry. He is calling the people to repentance, to holiness, to salvation that can only be found in the Kingdom of God, by way of the King. And there is only one King, King Jesus.

As they ask Jesus about salvation, they ask whether many will be saved or only a few. Jesus says that they must enter through the narrow door to come into the Kingdom of God. So he answers them clearly: Not everyone will come in. Only a few. And if we play out the metaphor, Jesus himself is the narrow door. He is the one who will allow the people entrance into the Kingdom.

But Jesus also goes further and says that there is one who will close the door while many will be left outside. And what is more, there are people who will come from every direction – from the north, the south, the east, and the west, who will take their place at the banquet table, at the feast in the Kingdom. He is saying that there are people from everywhere who will enter the Kingdom because they have come through him, they have come through Jesus. Not just Jews, but there will be people from everywhere. Yes, Gentiles too. People from all nations, and in fact the last – the Gentiles who hadn’t been chosen before now – will be first, and the first – the Jews who had been God’s people before now – would be last.

Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”

He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’

“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’

“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’

“But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’

“There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

Luke 13:23-30

Like the Jews in their day, we must strive to enter through the narrow door to enter the Kingdom of God. We must go toward it and go in. We must leave everything to come through that door. Otherwise, we will be left outside where there is weeping, where there is gnashing of teeth. Not only do we not want what is outside, we will agonize over it. Let us not be caught there.

But instead, let us enter with the King. Let’s go into the Kingdom to the banquet hall and eat with those who celebrate Jesus as the King in his Kingdom. Let us not just know of him but truly know him, King Jesus.

It might seem to you that God is silent. It might seem, even, that He turns you away. It might seem that He isn’t responding. But God will respond if you keep asking.

Jesus’s disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray and Jesus gave them this:

“When you pray, say:

“‘Father, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

Luke 11:2-4

Those were the words that he gave them, what would amount to three verses within the Bible which covered five topics, which are:

• Worshiping God and His holiness
• Calling on God to bring His Kingdom here on the earth
• Asking for what we need on a daily basis
• Asking for forgiveness of our sins in the same way that we give forgiveness to others
• Asking God to keep us away from Satan and from his temptation

So these are the things that he taught us to say, but since the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, Jesus continued on further teaching them something just as important, so important that he used a story to illustrate.

Jesus told them of a man who didn’t have food to feed his guests, so the man went to his neighbor and friend’s house in the middle of the night to ask his friend for bread so that he could feed his guests. The friend initially turned the man away because he was already in bed, but the man kept asking. He kept calling out to his friend, and eventually his friend would wake up, get out of bed, and give him all that the man wanted because the man continued to ask.

Jesus used this example for his disciples saying that they should continue to ask God for the things that they want to see happen. He said that they should ask, seek, and knock…continuously…until you receive a response.

Jesus didn’t speak about what we should ask about, what we should seek, nor why we should knock because he had just addressed that issue in what he told his disciples they should pray. Are we not seeing God and His holiness worshiped? Call upon God to respond, and keep calling. Have we not yet seen God’s Kingdom come here on the earth, or His Lordship come into a particular situation? Keep seeking out God to intervene. Are you not receiving what you need to sustain you in that particular day, your daily bread? Knock on God’s door morning, noon, and night and He will give you the bread that you need.

Jesus told his disciples that God is a good Father. He will answer. He will give his children not just what they want, but good gifts. For example, He will give the Holy Spirit:

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Luke 11:13

Our Father in heaven wants to hear from us. He wants to see us live and move, and be about His business, depending on Him for what we need. He wishes to answer our prayers that align with His will. He wants to be our good Father. He wants us to walk with Him, and He wants us to continue to call upon Him to provide what is needed.

Jesus had sent out his disciples with his authority to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal those who are sick. As his disciples returned, they were excited about what had happened. They said that they had even seen the demons submit to them in Jesus’s name.

They were excited about the power that they wielded before the evil spirits.

They were excited about the fact that they had the authority to tell the evil spirits what to do, and if I’m right based on what I read in other places about the, they may have even been excited about showing others the authority that they were able to wield.

But Jesus tries to return them back to the right prioritization. They shouldn’t be thinking about the authority that they carried. They should be thinking, instead, about the fact that they too have been saved. They too have received forgiveness for their sins and, through Christ, are able to be saved from wrath and judgment. Jesus told them:

However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

Luke 10:20

Very frequently, as we think about doing a ministry work, we can think about how we look, or we can dream about how it might turn out one day. We can imagine that God will use us for great things. We can think of the throngs of people who will come to know Christ as a result of our efforts.

But this can fool us into thinking wrongly about our relationship with God. We can think that we are deserving of a relationship with him. We can forget the humility with which we have come into the Kingdom. We can even eventually think that we are much more than what we are, imagining that we are great, imagining that we are clearly worthy when, instead, whatever we have we have been given to us by God.

I think that this is Jesus’s point to his disciples. Don’t rejoice because the evil spirits obey you, Jesus said. Instead, let’s simply remember that you have been saved from God’s wrath. You have been spared from judgment.

Amen. That is good for each of us to remember as well. Whatever we have, we have been given. What we are able to do for God is because this is God’s work and he is using us to do it. There isn’t reason for us to rejoice because of what we can do, but we should rejoice because of what Christ has done for us.