Luke 4:1-13
This was a family service talk, and we began with lots of questions (and rewards!) to see what actually happened to Jesus in Luke 4. Answers are in italics after each question:
Q: So who does God say Jesus is? Jesus is God's Son – God loves his Son, Jesus, and is pleased with him.
Q: What happened to Jesus just before God spoke? Filled with HS
Q: Where did the Spirit lead Jesus in Luke 4? Desert
Q: How long was Jesus there? 40 days
Q: What happened while he was in the desert? Devil tempted him.
Q: How did Jesus feel? Starving hungry!!
Q: What did the devil say to tempt Jesus? “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread”
This is a tough test – Jesus is starving hungry – he hasn't eaten for days & days.
“Look”, says the devil, “see this rock – imagine it's a fresh, warm, crusty, tasty loaf of bread. You're the Son of God – just say the word and you've got lunch.”
Remember, we've just been told that Jesus is the Son of God. That means he has the power of God. Whatever God does, the Son can do - he could turn that stone into bread with just a word.
But the Son must obey his Father.
And Father God has sent his Son into the world to save the world, not to serve himself.
The devil is tempting Jesus to serve himself – to look after his own needs – instead of obeying God and serving others.
Q: What does J say to the devil? “It is written, 'Man doesn't live on bread alone'”
Q: Who can finish the quote? “but from every word that comes from the mouth of God”.
Jesus is saying that there are more important things in life than eating, drinking and shopping.
Knowing God, living for God, worshipping God – this is what life's really all about.
Q: What happened next? vv5-7 "The devil took Jesus up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world."
And the devil tempts Jesus with all the power and glory that the world offer:
> the power to boss other people around.
> the glory of fame and fortune.
But that will only come if he worships the devil.
Q: What does Jesus say? 'It is written, 'worship the Lord your God and serve him only.''
If Jesus serves & worships the devil he'll get the temporary authority & splendour – the authority & splendour of this world.
But Jesus serves & worships God, so he'll get God's eternal authority & splendour – the authority & splendour of heaven.
Q: What was Jesus' final temptation? verses 9 – 11: "The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here.”
For it is written: "`He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
No-one likes to suffer. And the devil is tempting Jesus to test God – if Jesus throws himself off the temple, will God stop him from suffering?
But Jesus won't test God like that. Jesus knows that his Father loves him. And even if he has to suffer, that won't change. God will still love him.
So Jesus is very different from us: when we're tempted, we often give in. We think that food and drink and shopping and sport and leisure will make us happier than worshipping God. We serve and worship the gods of education & employment looking for the authority and glory that they will bring.
As soon as we suffer, we turn our backs on God, and question his love for us. We are ungrateful sons and daughters of our Father God.
But Jesus is the true Son of God. He keeps on trusting and worshipping his Father God.
And when the devil had finished all this tempting he left Jesus alone – until an opportune time – until the time was right for him to have another go.
We'll find out when that was in a minute. First, sing about Jesus' perfect innocence and obedience to God. [Sing: Meekness & Majesty]
Turn to Luke 23:35
Jesus has been hung on the cross. He's in agony. He's dying. This looks like a good time for the devil to tempt Jesus again – only this time he does it through people.
So, as I read vv 35-43, see if you can spot the 3 temptations that Jesus faces.
1st – v35 - "the people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."
2nd – v36f "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."
3rd – v39 "One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
Jesus is tempted to use his power to save himself. But even as he suffers the agony of crucifixion, Jesus does not give in to temptation.
And as Jesus resists the temptation to save himself, one of the criminals hurls insults at him and treats him like his slave, 'Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!'
But the other criminal admits his guilt and treats Jesus as his king, 'Don't you fear God? We're punished justly – we're getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom'.
This criminal knows he's guilty. He's given in to the temptations of the devil – he'd lived for this life only; he'd looked out for himself, and claimed that God didn't care. But now, as he sees Jesus dying, he knows he was wrong, he knows he's a sinner, and deserves to die. And he realises that Jesus is different. Jesus has done nothing wrong.
And he turns to Jesus as his king, and says, 'Please, remember me when you're crowned as the one true king of creation.'
And Jesus replies, 'I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise. Today, you will be with me in my kingdom of heaven.'
Surely we have to acknowledge that we too have given in to temptation. We've lived for ourselves, we've worshipped possessions and wealth, we've questioned God's love for us.
So we need to come to Jesus in humility, admit our guilt and ask him to welcome us into his kingdom.
Let's do that now...
Monday 24 May 2010
Monday 17 May 2010
Financial Responsibility
Notes from Gordon's sermon on Sunday (these are my notes, not Gordon's, and I've added a few comments of my own):
There are many great collections of letters - Churchill, Darwin, Kipling - but the greatest letters of all time are in the New Testament.
At the end of many of his letters, Paul makes personal comments about particular people or events. We're tempted to ignore these, but they do contain important & relevant things for us today. For example, in vv1-4, Paul gives instructions for the Corinthians to give money for the Jerusalem church because they have a personal and financial responsibility for that church. The principles Paul outlines will help us have a proper attitude to money.
1 Tim 6:10 tells us, 'the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.' And Prov 30:8f says, 'give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say,`Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonour the name of my God.'
Money isn't in itself evil, but we must give great care & thought to its management, and this is where 1 Cor 16 helps us.
3 headings:
1. Acquisition of money: we need to be honest and careful about how we acquire our wealth & possessions.
2. Attitude to money: some people in the Bible are very wealthy, and are not condemned for this. Wealth in itself isn't wrong, but when we find our security in money then it has become our god. Ecclesiastes 5:10f reminds us, 'Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with
his income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?'
3. Administration of money: With money comes responsibility. Jesus illustrated this in the parable of the 'talents' in Matt 25. Talents are to be used wisely, to build and serve the kingdom of God, and not selfishly to build and serve our own little kingdoms, as the parable of the rich man in Luke 12:13ff reminds us.
And in v48, Jesus reminds us that, 'From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.'
It's not just active misuse that's condemned by Jesus, but also our passive, lazy, selfish neglect. We will be judged on how we acquire money, on our attitudes to it and our administration of it.
Paul expemplifies this in his own ministry: he devotes his whole life to the Lord Jesus and the proclamation of his gospel. He was eager to use all he had for God. As he made his plans, he worked out how he could serve others.
Paul exemplified Jesus' teaching about money. How about us?
There are many great collections of letters - Churchill, Darwin, Kipling - but the greatest letters of all time are in the New Testament.
At the end of many of his letters, Paul makes personal comments about particular people or events. We're tempted to ignore these, but they do contain important & relevant things for us today. For example, in vv1-4, Paul gives instructions for the Corinthians to give money for the Jerusalem church because they have a personal and financial responsibility for that church. The principles Paul outlines will help us have a proper attitude to money.
1 Tim 6:10 tells us, 'the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.' And Prov 30:8f says, 'give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say,`Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonour the name of my God.'
Money isn't in itself evil, but we must give great care & thought to its management, and this is where 1 Cor 16 helps us.
3 headings:
1. Acquisition of money: we need to be honest and careful about how we acquire our wealth & possessions.
2. Attitude to money: some people in the Bible are very wealthy, and are not condemned for this. Wealth in itself isn't wrong, but when we find our security in money then it has become our god. Ecclesiastes 5:10f reminds us, 'Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with
his income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?'
3. Administration of money: With money comes responsibility. Jesus illustrated this in the parable of the 'talents' in Matt 25. Talents are to be used wisely, to build and serve the kingdom of God, and not selfishly to build and serve our own little kingdoms, as the parable of the rich man in Luke 12:13ff reminds us.
And in v48, Jesus reminds us that, 'From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.'
It's not just active misuse that's condemned by Jesus, but also our passive, lazy, selfish neglect. We will be judged on how we acquire money, on our attitudes to it and our administration of it.
Paul expemplifies this in his own ministry: he devotes his whole life to the Lord Jesus and the proclamation of his gospel. He was eager to use all he had for God. As he made his plans, he worked out how he could serve others.
Paul exemplified Jesus' teaching about money. How about us?
Tuesday 4 May 2010
Victory over death
It was a delight to welcome Peter Head to St Peter's on Sunday.
When I was an undergraduate, he really helped me to get to grips with Matthew's gospel, Hebrews and 2 Peter. Though he's just a few months older than me, he's also been a great role model, combining sound Bible interpretation with godliness and practical application.
Peter also introduced me to papyrus. He took a group of us from Oak Hill College to Kew Gardens to meet Nigel Hepper (right), then an Assistant Keeper of the Herbarium at Kew and an expert in Bible plants. In one of the huge glasshouses, we chopped down papyrus plants, cut them into strips and bashed them into sheets of papyrus (left). I've still got mine, and it's still in good condition 18 years later - though I doubt it'll last 2000+ years like the NT manuscripts!
Since then, I've gone on to study a couple of manuscripts in some detail, and Pete wrote one of those studies up and it was published as, 'Re-inking the Pen: Evidence from P.Oxy657 (P13) Concerning Unintentional Scribal Errors', in New Testament Studies (43.3 1997). I'm hoping that my latest study on punctuation in P66 will be published sometime soon (with some help from one of Peter's colleagues). Now I know all this sounds really geeky, but I've had some great convesations with both Christians and non-Christians about the reliability of the NT and the resurrection as a result. It's also increased my own confidence in the trustworthiness of the NT, and so helped my preaching.
Anyway, back to 1 Corinthians 15 & Peter's sermon on Sunday morning. He reminded us that we will be transformed when Jesus returns and gives us resurrection bodies. These weak and perishable bodies will become glorious and imperishable.
On that day, when Jesus returns, death will be finally defeated, in fulfilment of Isaiah 25:8, 'Death has been swallowed up in victory'. Then there will be, 'no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the old order [will have] passed away' (Rev 21:4). Everything will be always new (Rev 21:5).
In a sense that victory is future - for the time-being, we do still die - but we do enjoy freedom from the fear of death now because we know that the victory over death as the punishment for our sin is assured by the resurrection of Jesus. So Paul says, 'Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ'.
But this great hope must, if it's real, result in present transformation. If we're standing firm in the hope of the resurrection, then we're bound to give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord. And yet... and yet it's true that so many who profess to believe in the resurrection really don't give themselves fully to His work. Why not? Surely it's because they don't believe the final part of v58 - they don't know that our labour in the Lord is not in vain. They think that giving time, effort & money to gospel ministry is time, effort & money wasted. They think that they'd be better off spending their resources on the perishable things of this world.
Please God, give us all a real understanding of what it means to labour fully for you, the confidence to release our resources for the gospel, and to know that this labour is not in vain.
When I was an undergraduate, he really helped me to get to grips with Matthew's gospel, Hebrews and 2 Peter. Though he's just a few months older than me, he's also been a great role model, combining sound Bible interpretation with godliness and practical application.
Peter also introduced me to papyrus. He took a group of us from Oak Hill College to Kew Gardens to meet Nigel Hepper (right), then an Assistant Keeper of the Herbarium at Kew and an expert in Bible plants. In one of the huge glasshouses, we chopped down papyrus plants, cut them into strips and bashed them into sheets of papyrus (left). I've still got mine, and it's still in good condition 18 years later - though I doubt it'll last 2000+ years like the NT manuscripts!Since then, I've gone on to study a couple of manuscripts in some detail, and Pete wrote one of those studies up and it was published as, 'Re-inking the Pen: Evidence from P.Oxy657 (P13) Concerning Unintentional Scribal Errors', in New Testament Studies (43.3 1997). I'm hoping that my latest study on punctuation in P66 will be published sometime soon (with some help from one of Peter's colleagues). Now I know all this sounds really geeky, but I've had some great convesations with both Christians and non-Christians about the reliability of the NT and the resurrection as a result. It's also increased my own confidence in the trustworthiness of the NT, and so helped my preaching.
Anyway, back to 1 Corinthians 15 & Peter's sermon on Sunday morning. He reminded us that we will be transformed when Jesus returns and gives us resurrection bodies. These weak and perishable bodies will become glorious and imperishable.
On that day, when Jesus returns, death will be finally defeated, in fulfilment of Isaiah 25:8, 'Death has been swallowed up in victory'. Then there will be, 'no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the old order [will have] passed away' (Rev 21:4). Everything will be always new (Rev 21:5).
In a sense that victory is future - for the time-being, we do still die - but we do enjoy freedom from the fear of death now because we know that the victory over death as the punishment for our sin is assured by the resurrection of Jesus. So Paul says, 'Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ'.
But this great hope must, if it's real, result in present transformation. If we're standing firm in the hope of the resurrection, then we're bound to give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord. And yet... and yet it's true that so many who profess to believe in the resurrection really don't give themselves fully to His work. Why not? Surely it's because they don't believe the final part of v58 - they don't know that our labour in the Lord is not in vain. They think that giving time, effort & money to gospel ministry is time, effort & money wasted. They think that they'd be better off spending their resources on the perishable things of this world.
Please God, give us all a real understanding of what it means to labour fully for you, the confidence to release our resources for the gospel, and to know that this labour is not in vain.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)