Wednesday, April 17, 2019

A timeless question for Easter week...


At the church where I serve we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled “Invite”. During this series we are looking at several events from history where Jesus engaged and invited those who were far from Him to follow Him and live in relationship with Him. During this series, we are going to discover what Jesus said to invite those who were far from Him to follow Him and live in relationship with Him. During this series, we are going to discover how Jesus said what He said to invite those who were far from Him to follow Him and live in relationship with Him. And as we go through this series, our hope and prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit in our heads, hearts, and hands in a way that equips and empowers us to follow the example of Jesus when it comes to inviting those who are far from Jesus to follow Jesus and live in relationship with Jesus.  

This week I would like for us to pick up where we left off last week by looking at an event from history that is recorded in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. Last week, we looked on as Jesus told a parable, which is an earthly story designed to reveal a deeper spiritual truth, that was directed to those in the crowd who trusted in what they did for God in order to be right with God.

The target audience for this parable were those in the crowd who compared what they did for God with what others did for God and looked down on others as being of little value and worth because their performance for God did not measure up to how they performed for God. After telling the parable, Jesus then made a statement that many people may not realize comes from the Bible. “for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Jesus told this parable to point to the reality that everyone needs the message of the gospel. Both religious people and irreligious people need the message of the gospel. Jesus point was that the gospel is neither religion nor irreligion. Instead it is something else altogether. Religion makes law and moral obedience a means of salvation, while irreligion makes the individual a law to self. The gospel is that Jesus pays the penalty of our disobedience, so we can be saved by grace.

The problem is that there are people who do not see their selfishness and rebellion that separates them from God and therefore do not realize that they need to change the trajectory of their life that is moving away from God back to God. That is why Jesus would point such self-righteous religious people back to the commands of God, so that they might become aware of their rebellion and need for rescue. And it is in this context after Jesus had told this parable that we are going to jump into this event from history together, beginning in Luke 18:18:

A ruler questioned Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

Luke brings us into this event from history by explaining that as Jesus finished telling this parable; and as Jesus engaged young families who were bringing their babies to Jesus so that He might bless them and pray for them, a ruler engaged Jesus so that he could ask Him a question. This ruler, who would have been considered a leading political and social figure in the Jewish culture of Jesus day, asked Jesus "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

In other words, this political and social leader was asking Jesus “What must I do to be right with God so that I can be with God in Heaven?” This political and social leader was looking past this life and was wondering what would happen to him after this life. And this political leader wanted to be in a position that he could experience life with God in Heaven. 

And this is a question that has been asked by humanity throughout history. You see, there is something within us that recognizes that there is more to this life. And that recognition leads us to seek and search for answers when it comes to what is beyond this life. And this ruler, who grew up with a knowledge of God, wanted to make sure that he knew what he had to do so that he would be with God for all eternity in Heaven.

You see, word had reached this ruler that Jesus was a teacher that seemed to have all the answers. Jesus was not only able to answer all the questions that the religious leaders were asking Him; Jesus was asking questions that the religious leaders were not able to answer. So, as far as this ruler was concerned, Jesus was a good teacher that would be the natural choice to ask this question. Luke reveals for us how Jesus responded to the ruler’s question in verse 19:

 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

Luke explained that Jesus responded to the ruler’s question with a question of His own: "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.” Jesus basically asked the ruler three questions is one question. Jesus basically asked this ruler “How do you define goodness? What is true goodness?” And “Why are you calling Me good?”  Now a natural question that arises here is “Well Dave, why would Jesus respond to the ruler that way? Why answer his question with a question?”

The reason why Jesus responded to this ruler the way that He did was because Jesus wanted to question and challenge this ruler’s view of goodness. You see, in the Jewish culture of Jesus day, just as it is today, people tended to view good on relative terms. We tend to view good on a sliding scale, don’t we? You know what I mean. We may look at our life and rate ourselves as an 85 on the good scale. We see someone that we work with and find ourselves saying, that guy is only a 70 on the scale, I am better off than he is; but that guy, well he is a 90 and I am not nearly as good as he is.

However, before the ruler could answer His questions, we see Jesus redefine the concept of good by revealing the reality that God is the only source of true goodness. But why would Jesus do that? Why would Jesus redefine that ruler's concept of what good is? The reason why Jesus redefined good for this ruler was so that He could challenge the ruler’s view of who He was. Jesus is basically asking this ruler “so you believe that I am good. Well the only source of true goodness is God. So since you are calling Me good, do you believe that I am God?”  Jesus was, in essence, asking the ruler if he believed that Jesus was God.

Now I want us to take a minute and imagine ourselves in this event from history as this ruler. I want us to take a minute and place ourselves in his shoes. You have heard the word on the street about Jesus. You have heard that Jesus is an amazing teacher that can answer any question and that asks questions that no one else can answer.

And you have questions. You have questions because there is something within you that senses that there is more than this life. You recognize that there is a God and you want to make sure that you are with God for all eternity in Heaven. So you approach Jesus and ask Jesus what you need to do to make sure that you will be with God in Heaven because you believe that Jesus is a good enough teacher to provide you the answer to that question.

And instead of answering your question, Jesus asks you a question. Instead of immediately answering your question about being right with God, Jesus asks you what your standard of goodness is, and if you believe that He is God. You are this ruler. What would you be thinking? How would you be feeling? How would you respond? If you were this ruler, wouldn't you be caught off guard? However, before the ruler could answer Jesus question, Jesus continued to engage this ruler by beginning to answer his question in verse 20:

"You know the commandments, 'DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.'"

Luke tells us that Jesus continued to engage this ruler and his question by quoting the 7th, 6th, 8th, 9th and 5th commandments of the Ten Commandments that God had given the Jewish people through a man named Moses. In a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of our Bibles called the book of Exodus, God had given the Jewish people a series of commands that were designed to reveal His nature and character and the nature and character that the Jewish people would need to posses in order to live in a right relationship with God, which the Jewish people referred to as the Law. In Exodus 20, God began to give Moses what would become known as the Law by giving Ten Commandments that were written on two stone tablets to be taken by Moses to the Jewish people.

When Jesus quotes the 7th, 6th, 8th, 9th and 5th commandments, these commandments are all horizontal in nature and deal with our relationships with others as we live in community with one another. Jesus is basically saying to this ruler “You know the answer to this question because God already answered this question. Remember the Ten Commandments that God gave Moses? Remember all those commandments that deal with how you treat others. You need to keep those commandments”. Jesus was attempting to help this ruler see that he did not measure up to the standard of goodness that had been defined by God. Luke then reveals how the ruler responded to the answer that he received from Jesus in verse 21:

 And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth."

Now this ruler’s answer, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “All of those commands I have followed and obeyed since I was a child. I haven’t slept with someone else’s wife. I haven’t killed anyone. I haven’t stolen from anyone. I haven’t lied to anyone or about anyone. I have always treated my parents well. If that is the scorecard; If that is all I have to do, then I’m good with God. If that is all I have to do, I’ll be in Heaven.”

Now, while Luke doesn’t tell us what Jesus was thinking at that moment, don’t you wonder what Jesus was thinking at that moment? I mean, I wonder if Jesus was thinking “Really. Are you going to try to tell me that you have never broken any of those commandments?” I wonder if Jesus was thinking “this guy must have missed my sermon on what constitutes adultery and murder, because, if he would have been at that sermon, he would have answered differently.”

However, while Luke does not tell us what Jesus was thinking at that moment, in another account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Mark, Peter gives us a glimpse into the mindset of Jesus at that moment. In Mark 10:21, Peter tells us that Jesus looked up at this ruler and felt a love for him. You see, this ruler genuinely wanted to be right with God. This ruler genuinely wanted to be with God in Heaven. This ruler was genuinely searching and shopping for answers to his question.

However, this ruler was oblivious to the reality that he was in desperate need for the mercy and forgiveness of God. This ruler was oblivious to the reality that he was the subject of Jesus previous parable. This ruler missed the point of Jesus previous parable and the point of Jesus statement that only God is good. After all, the ruler thinks that he is pretty good as well, doesn’t he? “All of these things I have kept from my youth”. And Jesus loved this ruler and his desire to search and shop for answers to his question.

Tomorrow, we will see Luke reveal for us how Jesus responded to this ruler and his answer…

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