Commands of Christ-33

Wednesday, December 7, 2022 Commands of Christ – 33

A Christian's Mission: Make disciples

Read: Matthew 28:18-20

Matthew 28:18–20 (LSB)

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Purpose: To examine our motives for evangelism in light of Jesus’ teaching (and commands?) regarding the Father’s amazing love and grace.

Open:

How do Christian generally regard unbelievers who have messy lives — with compassion or with a judgmental, critical spirit? Why?

Unless we have really prayed for the Father to give us HIS heart for the lost (and are able to/or will receive it) most often we tend to judgmental and critical.

Panhandlers along the road.

A person who shows signs of alcohol or drugs.

Think of a time you lost something extremely valuable and precious. How did you feel? Was it returned? If so, describe your feelings.

46 years ago I lost an item of tremendous value, my wedding ring.

As a soldier working on electrical equipment I was required to take it off to work. I did so and somehow lost it.

I STILL feel that loss 46 years later.

On another occasion I lost something, but it I felt immense relief when the item was found.

The lesson:

Why does the parable of the prodigal son, told by Jesus to orthodox Jewish believers over two thousand years ago, still pack such a wallop, even today?

Because Jesus taps into the deepest, most primal of human emotions: there’s a child in desperate trouble.

And as a result, relationships in the family have been broken, parents are grieving, anxiety abounds.

Will the lost child find his way home again? Will the parents’ broken hearts be mended? Will the child be restored and become whole?

The parable we are going to study tonight is set in a context of three stories.

First, Jesus tells us that a shepherd has lost one of his one hundred sheep.

He goes to great lengths to find that lost sheep and when he finds it he rejoices greatly.

Jesus then says, “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:7). In other words, God’s desire to find sinners and bring them back into the fold is beyond what we could fathom.

Next, Jesus tells the story of the woman who lost a coin.

She searches thoroughly with the aid of a lamp until it turns up.

The implication is that disciples should diligently engage in the search for sinners on behalf of the Great Shepherd they serve.

In the parable of the prodigal son we continue to see the seeking-of-sinners theme that helps us understand our proper motive for sharing the good news.

We seek the lost, because that is what Jesus did.

Luke 19:2–10 (NASB95) And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. 3 Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. 7 When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

We seek to walk in His footsteps.

1 John 2:3–6 (LSB) And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

1 Peter 2:21–25 (LSB) For to this you have been called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps, 22 WHO DID NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; 23 who being reviled, was not reviling in return; while suffering, He was uttering no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously. 24 Who Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that having died to sin, we might live to righteousness; by His WOUNDS YOU WERE HEALED. 25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

John 13:12–17 (LSB) So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 14 “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. 16 “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17 “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

IF this ONLY applies to footwashing, yet it is still huge.

What is Jesus asking us to do?

What if it DOESN’T just apply to footwashing? We’ve already read other scriptures that seem to imply such.

If we are going to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, we MUST seek the lost.

There is NO way around it.

Dig into the Scripture

Read: Luke 15:1-2, 11-32. (several to read) PLEASE read with expression.

1. Why did Jesus feel the need to tell this story?

Because of the response of the Pharisees and Scribes in Vs.1-2

Question 1. This passage is a remarkable example of how much can be accomplished through the telling of a good story.

We can teach profound theological truths, challenge assumptions, cut through prejudices and touch hearts, all without losing people’s attention.

We should learn to retell some of Jesus’ stories as we share the gospel with those around us.

Thoughts about this commentary?

2. The inheritance was normally given to sons after the death of the father. The younger son’s share would be one-third and the older son’s two-thirds of the father’s wealth (Deuteronomy 21:17).

Deuteronomy 21:15–17 (LSB) “If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him sons, if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved, 16 then it shall be in the day he wills what he has to his sons, he cannot make the son of the loved the firstborn before the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn. 17 “But he shall recognize the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the first of his vigor; the legal judgment for the firstborn belongs to him.

How do you think the Jewish crowd who was listening to the story felt in hearing that the younger son pushed for his share of the inheritance (vv. 11-12)?

It was shocking!

3. In the Jewish culture of Jesus’ day, children were not only raised to obey the law but to stay close as a family unit. How would the Pharisees react on hearing the further antics of this son (v. 13)?

Question 3. The “distant country” (v. 13) was outside Jewish territory. The Old Testament dietary laws would not permit the Jews to eat pork (Lev 11).

4. How would the boy’s job be the worst imaginable occupation for a child who was probably raised in a kosher kitchen (vv. 14-15)?

Question 4. For any Jewish boy to be associated with pigs would be shocking and revolting to Jewish listeners, but especially the ultra religious folks Jesus was speaking to. Jesus is deliberately “pressing their religious buttons” with these kind of details.

5. This boy’s actions would have been utterly repelling to the listeners. What types of people do you find hard to reach out to?

Addicts?

People who break the Bible’s sexual commands?

6. What do you think led this boy into sin and rebellion?

Question 6. The parable shows that sin is often due to willful choice and a desire for indulgence. Jesus is unrelenting in showing us sin’s deception, disillusionment, suffering, slavery and despair.

7. How does Jesus describe the nature of repentance?

Question 7. Jesus says that the son “came to his senses.”

In other words, he finally agreed with God’s view of reality.

Repentance involved two things: First, the boy’s perception of reality was altered from stubbornly insisting on self-rule to bowing to God’s rule.

Second, repentance involved a willed response. He didn’t just think differently, his change of heart manifested itself in definite action.

Although repentance is always a mystery in the end, what factors seemed to influence the son’s repentance?

Two things seemed to help him “come to his senses”: disgust and homesickness.

He was no doubt appalled by how low he had sunk, and he had the memory of a former time of joy and plenty in his father’s home.

8. After hearing a story in which Jesus deliberately pressed all their buttons, what might the Pharisees and teachers of the law expect the father’s response to be?

Question 8. Many of the parables would have shocked their original audience because they were often designed to overthrow existing values and prejudices. In this case, they expected the father of the story to be harsh and expel the boy for such gross sin, whether he was repentant or not.

9. Jesus gives us one of the most beautiful portraits of God the Father seen in Scripture. Name everything that the father does (vv. 20-24).

The father gives the wealth, KNOWING it will be wasted.

The father LOOKED for him to return.

The father felt compassion

The father ran

The father embraced

The father kissed

The father gave the BEST robe

The father gave a ring

The father gave him sandals to wear

The father held a lavish feast

The father expressed joy to the servants concerning the son’s return

Question 9. The description of the son’s return and the father’s welcome “is as vivid as that of his departure. . . . Because his father saw him ‘while he was still a long way off’ (v. 20) has led many to assume that the father was waiting for him, perhaps daily searching the distant road hoping for his appearance. . . . The father’s ‘compassion’ assumes some knowledge of the son’s pitiable condition, perhaps from reports. Some have pointed out that a father in that culture would not normally run as he did, which, along with his warm embrace and kissing, adds to the impact of the story. Clearly Jesus used every literary means to heighten the contrast between the father’s attitude and that of the elder brother (and of the Pharisees, cf. vv. 1-2). . . .

“The robe was a ceremonial one such as a guest of honor would be given, the ring signified authority, and the sandals were those only a free man would wear” (Walter L. Liefeld, Luke, in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1976], 8:984).

10. Jesus’ point is that we are so precious to God and He is so loving by nature that the mere act of repentance brings an absolute reversal of status. The lost son has become a family member again. The father’s acceptance of the penitent son is total. How does this radical view of God’s grace square with your understanding of God’s attitude toward you?

Question 10. Sometimes we are motivated to share the gospel for the wrong reasons: guilt, duty, a sense of superiority and so on. We share the good news because someone very precious and of immense worth to God is lost and God is seeking to find them.

11. What was wrong with the elder son’s understanding and experience of faith that he refused to go the party (vv. 25-30)?

Serving the father is a duty NOT a joy.

Serving the father is about keeping “commands” (the letter of the law)

12. Why is a judgmental, critical spirit so frequently the “disease of the devoted,” as was the case of the Pharisees?

Questions 11-12. The elder son’s words describe the self-righteousness of some Pharisees who criticized Jesus. The father’s words indicate the possibilities which the elder son (or Pharisees) had never appreciated and the privileges he had never enjoyed. The elder son could have always enjoyed the grace and love of God. Instead religion had been an activity of rites and duties done from a sense of burden rather than a joyful heart. Instead of being grateful that God had pardoned his own sin and living in intimate relationship and devotion to his father, he obeyed his father’s command out of a weary joylessness.

Reflect

13. Reflect on the father’s response of complete joy to his son’s return. How can you allow this attitude to shape your attitude toward people you find repelling?

Thank the Lord for the many ways he has delivered you from evil and shown you mercy in spite of your sins. Ask him to enlarge your heart so that his compassion and love will flow through you to those who have not found their way home yet.

Take time to thank God with your whole heart for your salvation. Try to imagine yourself as a “mouse in the corner” in heaven when God threw a celebration party for your conversion. Thank God for each person he used to reach you.

LifeGuide Topical Bible Studies - Evangelism: A Way of Life: 12 Studies for Individuals or Groups.

Study 1. Why Spread the Good News? Luke 15:1-2, 11-32.

LifeGuide Topical Bible Studies - Evangelism: A Way of Life: 12 Studies for Individuals or Groups.