Allen Jackson - Rejecting Jesus - Part 1
We're in the midst of a discussion that is really a review of the Gospel of Luke. I've been encouraging you, inviting you, to join me in reading the Gospel of Luke. It's extracurricular activity, I know. "We're already on a Bible reading plan, and now you want me to read, what? Is there no end"? There is no end to the opportunities. I don't want to take you away from that systematic reading of your Bible is transformational. If you don't have the habit, you need a new habit. But I have invited you beyond that to read the Gospel of Luke. It's not that heavy of a lift. It's only 24 chapters. You can read it in a single sitting. It takes less time than watching a football game.
Now I'm meddling. You know, if your schedule permits, some of you have more bandwidth. It comes with seasons of lives. If you can't read the Gospel of Luke daily, maybe you only get through it 3 days in a week, but that's still a real, maybe it's reading it once a week would be all that you're scheduled. Maybe all you could do would be to read it over the course of this month, but take some time. It's in the repeated reading of it, you're gonna gain a familiarity that you don't do the first time you go through it. You'll begin to get a sense of the thought of what Luke is trying to communicate or the vocabulary he uses. You'll get past being shocked by the stories and you'll be kind of familiar with them and you'll start to see patterns, which is what I would like to do with you.
I'm just gonna pull some threads from the Gospel of Luke. Themes, if you prefer. You see, I believe that when a writer writes a book, I was taught this: that if someone writes a book, they have something to tell, a point to make. What's the ax they're grinding? And I believe when Luke wrote the Gospel that bears his name, and he also wrote the book of Acts, if you didn't know, the Gospel, he says, is an investigation and a presentation of Jesus's life and ministry. The book of Acts of the ministry of those who were Jesus's disciples, his apostles, after his ascension back to heaven. And Luke has some points he's trying to make. It's generally the same material as in the other Gospels, but the point he's making is somewhat different.
If you interviewed ten people about what happened at church today, you'd get ten different stories about what happened at church. Not contradictory: different perspectives. So, trying to understand that. Engage with me. I believe it'll be a benefit to you in learning to read your Bible in some new ways far beyond just what we would derive from the Gospel of Luke. So today, we're gonna look at some portions from chapters 5 and 6. I'm not moving very fast. It doesn't look like with the other things on the calendar, I'm gonna get through the whole Gospel in this sequence, but we'll come back. It won't go away. Hopefully, we'll still have access to Bibles later. But don't let the pace of it bother you.
I pray that we really gain some insight in what it means to be Christ followers in this world. I don't wanna read my Bible with you and do it as historians or theologians, you know, and try to analyze. The point of reading the Bible is that we be transformed into the image of Jesus. It's not that we learn to spell "Nebuchadnezzar". I'm not opposed to that, but that's not really the goal. We're in the midst... Jesus has begun his public ministry. In Luke chapter 4 that was initiated. The previous session, we looked at that. If you missed it, you can hear it. It's saved online.
So we've begun the Jesus's public ministry. He's gone back to Galilee and he's moved to Capernaum to set up, really, shop for his ministry, and now he's beginning to recruit his closest followers, and that's where we start. It's in Luke chapter 5 and verse 1: "One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret," that is, the Sea of Galilee. It's called multiple things. It's like streets in Murfreesboro. They have more than one name. If you moved here, it's a trick. We are trying to confuse you and there is no straight street. They all wind around. They're uphill, over dale, and we will not tell you the secrets. But nevertheless, Jesus is standing by the Sea of Galilee, "with people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, and he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by fishermen, who were washing their nets".
They fish at night on Galilee. The water's clear, they fish at night. It's morning, they've finished, they're ready for a rest. "He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and he asked him to put out a little from shore. Sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.' And Simon said, 'Master.'" You can almost see the eye roll.
"'Master, we worked hard all night and we haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I'll let down the nets.' When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. And they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and when they came and filled both boats, they both began to sink. And when Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, 'Go away from me, Lord; I'm a sinful man!' For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they'd taken. So were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. And Jesus said to Simon, 'Don't be afraid; from now on you'll catch men.' So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him".
Luke relates that to us as if it's normal. That is a scene filled with weird stuff in so many ways. Jesus borrows a boat. That's not too abnormal. The northern end of the Sea of Galilee is kind of like an amphitheater. The hills rise coming out of the water, so if the crowd gathers and you got a little space from the shore, it would be easier to talk to the people. He borrows the boat for that. And when he's done, the carpenter gives the fisherman some instructions about fishing, and the fisherman kindly, but nevertheless, points out, "Your instructions make no sense. We fished all night, when we're supposed to. We caught nothing. It's daytime. Nevertheless, because you say so".
And then they fill two boats with fish. Peter has a bit of an awakening. I think you could say Peter, at this point when we meet him, is co-operative. He borrowed, he lends his boat to Jesus. He takes the counsel on how to fish from Jesus. He's co-operative. But for the most part, he's unaware and uninformed. He knows very little about Jesus. The ministry's new. He's just been willing to co-operate. And when he has this revelation that there's something about Jesus that is different, he's never known anybody like that, he's spent his life fishing on this lake, his choice is remarkable. And in it, there's a lesson for us. He is repentant. It says he got on his knees and said, "Go away from me. I'm a sinful man".
When was the last time you had that response? How quaint. Humility in public in front of his buddies. "I'm a sinful man". I'm telling you, it's a bizarre response. He gets a new assignment from Jesus. In the context of Luke's Gospel, not bizarre. At the opening verses, we meet Zechariah. He gets a new assignment from Gabriel: "You're gonna be a father". He says, "Wait, I'm way old, and my wife..." Mary gets a new assignment: "You're gonna be with child". "Wait a minute, I'm not even involved in the behavior". Joseph gets a new assignment: "Don't be afraid of Mary". That's a God thing. Jesus begins his public ministry, 30 years now. It's a completely different assignment.
When he begins to recruit, Peter is going to get an assignment: "From now on, you're gonna fish for people". Do you understand that to be a Christ follower is intended to bring with it a sense of assignment and purpose that redirects the course of your life? That's not the way we presented the gospel. We've talked about not sinning anymore, maybe changing our vocabulary or our beverage list. Perhaps you have to go to church more often. But the real point of all of that was so that eternity would be different. The impact in time is pretty minimal. That really isn't what Luke is showing us.
All the characters we've been introduced to up until chapter 5, and including 5 and 6, are going to be dramatic life changes when they begin to encounter the purposes of God. I wanna invite you to begin to think about something beyond attending church, being polite and kind and cleaning up your vocabulary a little bit, volunteering a little time, occasionally stroking a check, making a donation. I want you to imagine a transformation of your journey under the Son.
"Look, Pastor, I just came to church today". Peter's response, again, Luke presents it and we read it like it's normal: "He left everything and followed Jesus". "I'm in," he said, pushed all the chips into the middle of the table. "Let's go". You see, Luke is going to present us with a series of contrasts. We've looked at some of them: the difference between Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up, and Capernaum. Nazareth, they tried to kill Jesus. Capernaum, they began to bring all the sick people they could find and say, "This guy will help you".
He's gonna show us the contrast between Simon Peter and some of his friends who are fishermen who actually aligned themselves with Jesus and multiple people that we'll meet in a few moments who do all they can to shut Jesus down. Luke is very clearly pointing us at the fact that we have choices to make. It's important. We have to have the courage to say to the world in which we live there's a choice to be made about how you're going to live your life, how you're going to conduct yourself, what you're going to invest yourself in. Your choice will determine your eternity. But you can't make a choice about eternity and ignore how you live in time.
There's some opportunities and choices that Luke makes very clear. Same chapter, verse 17: "One day as he was teaching Pharisees and teachers of the law who had come from every village of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem". Galilee is the northern region of Israel, Judea is the southern region, and Jerusalem would be the largest city in that southern region. So they've come from all over Galilee and there's even some who've come from the southern part of Israel. In Luke's day, it would have been at least a couple-day bus ride.
"They were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and they tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. They couldn't find a way to do this because of the crowd, so they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles in the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus". Many of you know this account. "When Jesus saw their faith, he said, 'Friend, your sins are forgiven.'"
Well, I'm pretty sure they didn't lower that guy down in front of Jesus so his sins could be forgiven. Is that fair? So Jesus is redirecting them. Luke is pointing us at something more important than physical healing. I give you one of the phrases I've used for Luke is dimensional living. I understand there's more than one dimension, but I chose the word purposely because we tend to live pretty flat lives, almost totally engaged in a single dimension: this material universe we live in. And Luke presents us other dimensions. In this case, Jesus isn't nearly as concerned about his physical condition as he is his spiritual condition. He said, "Your sins are forgiven," because he saw the faith of his friends. "And the Pharisees and the teacher of the law began thinking to themselves, 'Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?'"
Here's that dimensional thing again. Jesus knows what they're thinking. "Jesus knew what they were thinking and he said, 'Why are you thinking these things in your heart?'" Now, you would think that would slow down your resentment. All right, if you're sitting having a thought and the person you're having the conversation with says, "I know what you're thinking," maybe you should start to make friends with said person. But no, they're gonna double down. "'Why are you thinking, which is easier: to say, "Your sins are forgiven," or to say, "Get up and walk"? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.' He said to the paralyzed man, 'I tell you, take your mat. Get up, take your mat and go home.' And immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he'd been lying on and went home praising God".
You think? How many think that's a little understated? Well, he went home, praising God. Do you think he was humming the tune of his favorite worship chorus? I don't think that's the way he went home at all. "Look at me"! Yeah? More like that? "Watch! What do you think"? "How did it happen"? "I don't really know. Jesus, that guy over there in the house. It's crowded". I think that would stir a little community. I think it could. "They were filled with awe and they said, 'We've seen remarkable things today.'"
Yeah, I bet they did. Luke is giving us a very stark contrast between people seeking, seeking Jesus with great faith and anticipation to the willingness they're willing to climb up on roofs and open holes and lower people, be very disruptive, quite a bit of risk involved in all of them. I mean, nothing about that is casual. Casual would have waited until Jesus was done. "We'll catch him when he's done. You know, he's gotta walk out this way. He's been staying in town. We'll get him another time. Not a good time for us. It's gonna be hot on the roof, the roof's kind of slopey".
Oh. Casual would have been many, many other things. And yet in spite of what Jesus does, there's resistance. There's a group of people determined, rather stubbornly, not to co-operate. And Luke again is presenting us a narrative. We're reading this, trying to learn about Jesus and what ministry looked like, not from your experience, not from your family history, not from the denomination you prefer. Luke is giving us some firsthand accounts of Jesus's life and ministry with the hope that will impact how we understand that.
So I wanna ask you a question or really give you an invitation on a regular basis to consciously consider how you are responding to Jesus and his invitations in your life. Does it make you mad when you recognize God is putting an invitation before you? Does it annoy you when he makes you uncomfortable with some part of your life? You get mad at the messengers? Are you climbing up on roofs with expectation and anticipation? Are you disrupting your habits and your patterns to see that other people get a presentation of Jesus? The outcome isn't guaranteed. There's a lot of risk involved. How are you processing those invitations? Don't just read this stuff and read past it and go, "Check. I did the reading for the day".
Same chapter, verse 27: "After this". Now, the "after this" is the healing of this paralyzed man. There's some momentum building. We're onto something here. This Jesus guy, he's a heck of a fisherman and he's good with people that have some mobility issues. "After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. 'Follow me,' Jesus said to him, and Levi got up". Well, he's gonna take Peter's pattern. "He left everything and followed him". Luke's giving us something now that's kind of building on, there's, like, momentum to this. There's a group of people when Jesus invites them, they reorient completely and say, "I'm going, let's go".
Except this is the opposite end of the spectrum. You know, we had Peter, a hothead, a big mouth, fisherman. Now we got Levi. He's a thief, a tax collector, he's a crook, and Jesus invited him. "So Levi holds a banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others", he's got all the thieves with him, and Jesus is in the house. "And the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, 'Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and "sinners"?'" In the original language, they answered, "Because they're more fun than you". That's not true. I made it up.
Verse 31: "Jesus answered them, 'It's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I haven't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.' And they said to him, 'John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.' And Jesus said, 'Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he's with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; and in those days they'll fast.'" And he tells them a parable about putting a patch on a new garment. He said, "If you do that, you'll have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new won't match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wine skins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins".
When new wine ferments, gas is released. If it's a new skin, it can stretch. If it's an old skin, it'll just tear and break. So Jesus is giving them a parable and he said, "No one drinking the old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.'" Again, Luke is pulling forward this narrative: Levi leaves everything. And we turn our page. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law complain. They're critical. "We don't like the way you're doing it". Here's this choice again.
The biggest thief in town raises his hand and said, "I'll follow Jesus. I'll totally turn my life upside down. No more extorting of taxes". He just killed his cash flow. He just disrupted his business. He's changed the economic realities of the world he was living in to become an itinerant follower of this itinerant rabbi. The institutional religious people go, "You're not doing it the right way". The Pharisees and the teachers of the law, they complain and they're critical. Then Jesus has this larger gathering with sinners. But the message he gave them was a call to repentance. This is very important. There's a lot of literature and contemporary evangelicalism that says we need to have sinners parties.
And I believe that. I believe we need to be engaged with people who don't know anything about the kingdom of God. The challenge, I think, we faced is we've done these sinners parties and we've gathered to sympathize with their sin. We wanted to be sure they know we're empathetic, that we understand. Jesus met with them to call them to repentance, which is a change of thought and a change of behavior. The message we hold out to the world isn't that we know it's difficult to say no to sin. We do know that. We've all struggled with that ourselves.
The message we hold out is that if you will repent and choose a new way of life, there's a better kind of existence under the Son. And I would submit to you, at least from my vantage point, and I have enough experience that it's an informed opinion, that too often we've wanted to attract sinners by diminishing holiness. I don't find any place where Jesus did that. You will never make a case that is so ironclad, so moving, so significant, that you will cause God to agree with you in your ungodliness.
So the question is, are we willing to choose a new response? Or are we going to tenaciously cling to what we've always done? I don't believe that is ungodly or against scripture. It sounds a great deal like the message Jesus brought. He's talking to the covenant people of God. The people he's talking to are all worshiping in the temple. They attend the synagogue, they read their scripture portions. They keep the right holidays, they have the right diet. They are very religious people. They are the covenant people of God, but they are standing unwilling to co-operate with the purposes of God.
I do not want to find myself in that place, nor do I want you to. I believe Luke has given it to us as a cautionary tale. It grows more intense in chapter 6. The opposition to Jesus is gaining boldness. They recognize the threat that he represents. People are beginning to follow him. And if they follow him, there'll be less following them. The tension of that is going to step right off the pages. Chapter 6, verse 1: "One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. And some of the Pharisees said, 'Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?'"
Okay, at this point, we've seen Jesus is really good with fishing. He's really good with people that have limited mobility. He's been great at helping people reorient their lives towards the principles of scripture, whether they're fishermen or tax collectors. And the best response the Pharisees have is, "You're not keeping the right rules. You are not worshiping in the right way". It's a theme Luke gives us. There's going to be consistent criticism. It is rooted in an incomplete understanding of scripture, but his critics are bringing scripture to him.
Luke has already established for us in the temptation of Jesus when he was in the wilderness that Satan knows the scripture. The devil quoted scripture to Jesus. That should make you smile just a bit. The devil quoted scripture to Jesus, the living Word. So if he did it to Jesus, trying to manipulate him to forfeit God's purposes for his lives, I would submit to you, you should anticipate the devil using scripture to either give you license towards ungodliness or try to limit your effectiveness with your kingdom assignment. It's why you need to know the Word of God, the context of the Word of God. You need more than a verse of the day.
Before we go, I wanna pray that God will give you a revelation, a vision, of who Jesus is that will change your future. Let's pray:
Father, I thank you for your Word and the value it has in us. But I ask that by your Spirit, you would open our hearts to understand you and your kingdom as never before. In Jesus's name, amen.