This week we did not show an on-location video from Israel. We showed the video "Strangers" which illustrates how each life lived for Jesus can effect countless others. We will return to our own video segments next week. The button below should allow you to play the ignite Video seen in service today.
Other passages to read: this week we encourage you to read "horizontally" in these passages that are parallel to our text from Luke:
·
Choosing the Twelve: Matthew 10:1-4; Mark 3:13-19
·
Ministering to the diverse crowd: Matthew 4:23-25;
Mark 3:7-8
·
Other verses: Genesis 12:1-3 (Promise to Abraham); 1
Samuel 17 (David & Goliath)
Other Resources: This
week’s recommended resource is Luke,
Volume 1: That You May Know the Truth (Preaching the Word Series), by R.
Kent Hughes. The author was the pastor
of College Church in Wheaton, IL for many years. His solid expository preaching
has been crafted into a very readable and inspirational commentary. He
is one of my personal favorites.
Sermon Notes: "Jesus is for Everybody"
Read Luke 6:16-19, (esp.
v. 18) and Luke 5:12-26
While Pastor Randy only got through the first point in his sermon, we are including his whole outline for you.
Lessons to learn:
- A Physical healing that illustrates spiritual truth: Jesus makes filthy people clean.
- Jesus took care of other people…and He took care of Himself.
- People need Jesus and it is our great privilege to bring them to him. Remember, there is always going to be an obstacle.
- Avoid Religious ‘Separatism’ – quit treating others like lepers.
- If you get to Jesus, He will fulfill you. If you fail Jesus, He will forgive you.
Points to ponder: In your
study this week, you might want to think about one of these questions:
- Why (for what purpose) did Jesus choose the twelve?
- Why did he choose those particular twelve men? Can
you think of at least two reasons this group would be a counter-intuitive
choice?
- Read the parallel passages in Matt. 4 and Mark 3 and
locate on a map where the crowd listening to Jesus had come from. How far
are you willing to go to hear Jesus?
- How could so many people from such diverse and even
contentious backgrounds all gather together in one place?
- If we believe that physical healing is still available today, and we do, why are some people healed and some people not healed?
Questions to ask ourselves: The
following questions are intended to help us move towards greater application of
what we learn about Jesus…
- Is there anyone that seeks Jesus out whom he turns away?
Are any disqualified from seeking Jesus and being saved by his grace?
- To what is Jesus calling each of us today?
- Is there something in your life that is keeping you
from answering Jesus’ call to come, hear, and follow him?
- Are there things you desperately desire Jesus to
heal in your life? Write them down. Take those issues to Jesus in prayer.
Also, feel free to call the church for prayer as well.
- What is the key to being a congregation of people from diverse backgrounds who worship well together?
Previously on “Ponderables”:
- What is Jesus saying about David’s actions in 1 Samuel 21? How are the two situations parallel? Jesus is saying that the issue was human need over religious rules. That is the heart of the Sabbath. David, God’s anointed king refused to take things into his own hand and rebel against Saul. He trusted God to elevate him to the thrown in God’s own time. However, Saul had the priest killed for innocently helping David on his way. I think there could be a subtle allusion here to the actions of Saul and Doeg the Edomite and the future actions of the Pharisees against himself and his followers. Leon Morris writes, “It is the Son of David who is Lord. If David could override the law without blame, how much more could the much greater Son of David do so?” (Luke, 135)
- Is there some area where we have become “religious” that doesn’t foster relationship with God? This is not really a question that I can answer for you. Hopefully you spent time thinking about this. Our walk with Christ should not be primarily moralistic, but relational. What is it that we treasure the most? Is it biblical? More questions…they just keep coming!
- Like last week, what details does Luke supply, that are not found in Matthew or Mark? The disciples are described as having “rubbed the grain in their hands” (which violated rules about threshing) and in describing the Pharisees’ reaction to the healing of the man with the withered hand Luke says they were “filled with fury”. However, both Matthew and Mark also add unique details to the story…did you notice? Remember, observation is important!
- What does the Sabbath
mean to us today? How should we apply the principle in our lives? Sabbath
is no longer a command to us, for it is fulfilled in Christ (Col. 2:16-17).
However the Sabbath principles are still very helpful to us today in being
able to remain effective for the Lord (and our families) over the long
haul. We need regular rest from our work and all the electronic
accessories that go along with it! Pastor Randy did a great job unpacking
that in his sermon.
- Read Hebrews chapters
3-4 and ask yourself, “What is the key to entering into God’s Sabbath
rest?” The key is not working harder, or being better; the key is our
believing or trusting in Jesus! God in his love reaches down to us to
bring us into true rest if we will only respond!
R. Kent Hughes on the four friends digging through the roof:
“The four then proceeded to tear a hole in the roof! The typical roof of that day consisted of timbers laid parallel to each other about two or three feet apart. Sticks were closely laid crosswise upon the timbers, and the structure was padded with reeds, thistles, and twigs. The whole thing was overlaid with about a foot of earth [crushed limestone], which was packed down to minimize leakage. All told the roof was about two feet thick. During the spring grass flourished on these primitive roofs. So the paralytic’s friends had their work cut out for them—they were performing a mini-excavation.” (R. Kent Hughes, Luke Vol. 1, That You May Know the Truth, Crossway, Wheaton, 1998, 174.)Since our message this morning does not spend time teaching about the choosing of the twelve apostles (6:12-16) we will take a more extended look at that section here with this excerpt again from Do You See Him? Expository Studies from the New Testament, by Greg Dueker.
"Jesus
Appointed Twelve Apostles
A) Who
Were They?
When we talk about apostles what do we
mean? As we have seen, Jesus called many
with Him to the mountain, but of these, He chose only a few, twelve to be
exact, to a special relationship with Him.
These twelve men Jesus designated as apostles, which involved
more than being a student or disciple, it meant "one who is sent out with
a commission, having the authority of the sender." To put it simply, these men were called,
"missionaries," or "ambassadors" by our Lord. As it is written,
Mark 3:13-19
"Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and
they came to him. He appointed twelve‑‑designating
them apostles‑‑that they might be with him and that he might send
them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to
whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to
them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); Andrew, Philip,
Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the
Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him."
Luke 6:12-16
"One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent
the night praying to God. When
morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom
he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother
Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of
Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas
Iscariot, who became a traitor."
In addition to these lists of the names of the
apostles, there are two other lists of the apostles that may be found in
Matthew 10:1-4 and Acts 1:13. There have
been some questions over the years concerning these lists of names because of
apparent differences. However, there are
really no unreconcilable problems with the lists. Most of the problems come because of the use
of one or the other of an individual's names, making it look like they refer to
two separate people. Actually, there is
great similarity between these lists, put forth in three groups of four. In all the lists, Simon Peter, Philip, James
the son of Alphaeus, and Judas Iscariot always hold the same positions.
These are the twelve men that Jesus designated as
apostles:
1) Simon: Jesus surnamed him "Peter," which means
"Rock."
2) Andrew: Peter's brother; led Peter to Jesus; a former
disciple of the Baptist.
3) James: John's brother, a son of Zebedee, surnamed with
John "Boanerges," which was a Hebrew expression for "Sons of
thunder or tumult."
4) John: Referred to himself as "the disciple whom
Jesus loved;" a former disciple of the Baptist. James and John are believed to be cousins of
Christ as their mother Salome may be the Salome that was the sister of Mary.
5) Philip: A Greek name that was not uncommon in Galilee; he
led Nathanael to Christ.
6) Bartholomew: Also known as Nathanael; most likely he was
"Nathanael Bar Tholomew" for Bartholomew is a patronymic meaning
"Son of Tolmai".
7) Matthew: His name meant "a gift of God"; also
called "Levi, the son of Alphaeus".
He was a former tax-collector.
8) Thomas: Called "Didymus" meaning "the
twin;" was ready to die with the Lord but is more famous for doubting the
news of the resurrection, though when he did see Christ, he made the wonderful
confession "My Lord and my God!"
Thomas has not been treated fairly.
9) James
son of Alphaeus: Perhaps the
brother of Matthew (Levi) but because Alphaeus was a common name we cannot be
sure; also called "James the younger."
10)
Simon who was called the Zealot:
This title may have referred to his personality as being zealous for God, but
most likely refers to his former membership in the political party of the
Zealots.
11)
Judas son of James (a.k.a. Lebbaeus, or
Thaddaeus): James was also
called "Lebbaeus" meaning "big-hearted" and
"Thaddaeus" which has its origin in the word meaning
"praise." So his real name
would have been Judas Lebbaeus and his surname Thaddaeus. It is believed by some that Judas was the
brother of James, not the son of James; further they would say that based upon
the testimony of the ancient historians that James, Judas, and Simon were
brothers and "cousins" of Christ on Joseph's side. We cannot be sure.
12)
Judas Iscariot: Iscariot may mean
"man from the town of Kerioth," a town in Judea, in which case he was
the only non-Galilean of the group. One commentator
suggests that the name "Iscariot" is equally likely to have meant
"dagger man" (like today's "gunman").
B) How
Did Jesus Approach this Very Important Decision?
When Jesus came to the place in His ministry when He
began to switch His emphasis from teaching the crowds to preparing a select
group to establish the church after His own death, He approached the decision
of whom to choose very carefully. The
choice of whom we are going to invest our lives in is very important. The text teaches that Jesus spent the whole
night in solitude and prayer, to make sure that He had the Father's heart on
the matter. He did not want to be
influenced by the thinking of the crowd.
After praying all night long, Jesus chose the
apostles by exercising His divine will (in full submission to the Father)
making a sovereign choice. As it is
written, "Jesus went up on a
mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to
him." (Mark 3:13)
In considering the "How?" of Jesus' selection of apostles, we must
understand that He was exercising sovereign choice, doing the will of the
Father, establishing His "cabinet" for the Kingdom of God as
represented in the Church. Yet whenever
one talks of sovereign choice at this point, the question of Judas Iscariot
comes up. Did Jesus make a mistake? Did He somehow miss God's will in choosing
the last of the apostles? After all,
eleven out of twelve is a pretty good batting average (.917 for you baseball
fans). Of course we would see that this
is wrong thinking. It is apparent that
Jesus chose Judas Iscariot, in love, seeing his potential, yet knowing that
Scripture must be fulfilled and that it would be through the actions of Judas
Iscariot that prophecy would be fulfilled.
As it is written,
Zechariah 11:12-13 "I told
them, "If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep
it." So they paid me thirty pieces
of silver. And the Lord said to me,
"Throw it to the potter"‑‑the handsome price at which they priced
me! So I took the thirty pieces of
silver and threw them into the house of the Lord to the potter."
There can be no other basis for the selection of the
apostles other than sovereign choice, for Jesus later said to the apostles, "You did not choose me, but I chose
you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will
last." (John 15:16a)
C) What
Kind of Men Did He Choose?
Jesus did not generally choose the rich and powerful
to be His apostles but, rather, He chose simple, common, average people, men
who were teachable and who, after spending time with Him, might be able to
teach others also. They were not perfect
men but men in whom and through whom God saw fit to work out His plan. It has been said, and rightly so, that, "The apostolic character, in short,
must combine freedom of conscience, enlargement of heart, enlightenment of
mind, and all to the superlative degree."
[1]
Yet Jesus did not choose them mainly for some
quality which they had, nor for what they were at the time, but for what they
might become upon spending time with Him.
For example, Jesus' statement to Simon (Peter) in John 1:42 shows that
Jesus was looking at their potential.
They must have appeared to Jesus to be sincere and teachable (except for
Judas) and all, except Matthew (Levi) in the beginning and Judas in the end,
seemed to have been fairly religious as well as morally respectable. However, as Lockyer wrote,
"The transformation of the twelve was not the
least, it was almost the greatest of Christ's miracles…The application for our
hearts in all this is that it is not what we are, in ourselves, when we hear
and respond to Christ's call, but what by His grace and power He can make us as
we company with Him."[2]
There are no self-made Apostles and no self-made
Christians in the kingdom of God--we owe all to His wonderful grace. The encouraging thing is that what God did in
the lives of these simple Galileans, He also desires to do in our lives today,
if we will only "follow Him."
D) Why
Did Jesus Choose the Twelve?
Jesus did not just choose the twelve so that He
might have something to do or feel like He was important. Rather, Jesus chose the apostles for reasons
that are obvious from the texts listed at the beginning of this section. It is appropriate for us to relate this to
the parable of the grain of wheat, that unless it dies it cannot yield a
crop. Jesus chose the twelve, into whom
He sowed His life, that after He was gone and the Holy Spirit came upon them,
they would yield an eternal crop of redeemed souls. Jesus was preparing twelve men to teach
others about Him. Jesus was doing as the
apostle Paul admonishes us to do, as it is written, "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many
witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach
others." (2 Timothy 2:2)
The purpose of the Lord was foreshadowed by His use
of the phrase "fishers of men" in the calling of the four
fishermen--though at the time I'm sure that they did not fully understand His
meaning.
1) To
be with Him. The foremost reason that Christ had appointed
them apostles was that they might be with Him.
This special calling would eventually send them forth but first they
must spend time with Him, learning at His feet.
They were called to a special relationship with their Savior above all
else.
2) To
be sent out. Secondly, they were to learn and grow so that
they might be sent out as missionaries and ambassadors of Christ, ministers of
the Gospel (good news). When Christ
commissioned them and sent them out two by two, they had two main functions: to
preach and to minister to people's needs (e.g., to cast out demons).
a)To preach. The message that they preached was, until
after the Resurrection, for the Jews only, giving the children of Israel first
chance to repent and believe that the Kingdom of God was at hand. That repentance was possible and that the
spiritual Kingdom of God (where God could reign in their hearts) was good news
indeed and many believed.
b)To have authority to minister to people's needs. Their
preaching was to be accompanied by the supernatural and very practical casting
out of demons that were afflicting people.
This also included healing the sick.
They were designated apostles, given a message and given power to verify
the message by ministering to the people's desperate needs.
3)Twelve
is the number of governmental perfection. Many teachers might have had two
or three disciples, some would have had more, but to have twelve would have
been quite a statement. It seems obvious
enough to our study that their number was symbolic of the twelve tribes of
Israel. Perhaps this implied that Jesus
was laying claim to the whole nation.
Perhaps it was a statement as to the "new Israel" that would
be established by the Messiah, certainly it established a parallel between the
Church and the chosen nation Israel.
Later Jesus tells them that they would rule over the twelve tribes when
all things are made new. As it is
written,
"Jesus
said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when
the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also
sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." (Matthew
19:28)
4) They
were representative of mankind. Although there was not someone from all the
various nations nor even from many various towns, they were somehow
representative of the human race. They
were not a group that you would have found together apart from Christ. Not only were their occupations, educations,
and goals quite different, but they were of differing personalities. Lockyer comments,
"For instance, Peter is forward and
self-assertive, but Andrew, his brother, keeps in the background and is never
obtrusive. James is like a volcano, but
Nathanael is like a quiet summer pool.
Philip always looked before he leaped, but Peter leaped before he
looked. Some of the band were born to
lead, others were content to be led . . . " [3]
For a more in-depth character study on the apostles,
Lockyer's book entitled All the Apostles of the Bible would be an
excellent place to start. Although I do
not agree with all that has been assumed or hypothesized about the
personalities of the various apostles, this book contains much interesting
information."
[1] A.B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, Eerdmans, 1894, 1971,1988, 14.
[2] Herbert Lockyer, All the Apostles of the Bible, Zondervan, 1972, 11.
[3] Herbert Lockyer, All the Apostles of the Bible, Zondervan, 1972, 16.
[2] Herbert Lockyer, All the Apostles of the Bible, Zondervan, 1972, 11.
[3] Herbert Lockyer, All the Apostles of the Bible, Zondervan, 1972, 16.
In a testimony to the "Jesus for Everyone" theme this blog has been viewed this week by people on six continents (no views from Antarctica)! Tell your friends!
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