Master of Life

We approach the Easter season and reflect on Jesus as our one and only Master. He is the Master of life, death and resurrection. Jesus is the 2nd Adam, the revelation of what human life is and was supposed to be. He lived a full, sinless, perfect life, astounded all with his insight and authority. We order our lives by His Word, and so enter into the abundant life.

Altar Call: if you confess Jesus as Lord, and believe in His Resurrection, you will be saved.

Annual Reviews

Writing reviews… for people I largely admire and respect.

Well… I don't know half of them half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of them half as well as they deserve.

But taking time in an annual review to reflect on their performance, their strengths, and hopefully I know them well enough to provide some helpful insight into growth areas.

But there’s nothing new there. If there’s something brand new, there, I’ve failed in the regular ongoing weekly encounters.

I feel a pressure at times, it’s wrong, but I feel it. A pressure to bring something “new” to the pulpit.

As we approach this Easter season, as we think about Jesus as Master… for most of us there is nothing “new” here.

But there is Jesus, who I love. I hope you love him.

There is Jesus, who I know and am growing to know.

There is Jesus, my Master.

And today, and the next few weeks, the rest of Lent season, leading up to Resurrection Celebration… let us simply reflect on Jesus. Behold our Master.

The timing is perfect in our Sermon on the Mount, in Jesus Masterclass on life… and he has just taught us about treasuring.

Recap

We consider the greatest treasure of heaven: Jesus Christ our Lord. Our Master.

We have exactly one Master. Not two. Not zero.

We consider His Life, His Death, and His Resurrection. This is why He is our Master.

Let’s behold the Master.

From Birth to Teen to Adult

I mean, his birth was announced and people were marveling and amazed from the start, at least the first two years… but that’s Christmas, wrong holiday.

Luke 2:41–42 ESV

41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom.

Twelve years old. So… Sam and Justin. Preteen, 6th graders.

And these aren’t dumb folks. These are the leaders in the temple. That’s the premier posting for the religious elite. This is the Vatican, the Pope and the Cardinals. This is the Theological Seminary.

Luke 2:46–47 ESV

46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

Child prodigy. Absolute savant. Jesus doesn’t seem to have been born knowing everything, he grew in knowledge, he learned like a human… but by 12 he was BLOWING PEOPLE’S MINDS!

And then, years later, in his hometown in the synagogue, announcing the beginning of his ministry.

Luke 4:18–22 ESV

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”

There’s a statement of his ministry right there. “Good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, to the oppressed, sight to the blind.”

“and he rolled up the scroll.” In modern parlance: “he dropped the mic.”

Do you “marvel” at the words of Jesus? At the person of Jesus? Are you listening?

Or, at the end of his Sermon on the Mount, we hear it again:

Matthew 7:28–29 ESV

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Again and again, the words used of Jesus.

Amazed. Astonished. They “marveled.”

Are you astonished at what Jesus has to say?

Who he is?

Who he claims to be?

Are you listening?

People hated it or loved it… but no one was neutral about Jesus. They were threatened by him, awed by him… they either bent the knee, sought his downfall, or fled from his presence.

Neither can you be “neutral” about Jesus. It ultimately isn’t possible.

And Jesus never pretended that being his disciple, his follower, his servant would be easy. At times, he seemed to purposefully make it hard to follow him.

To a huge crowd he said “You have to eat my flesh, I am the bread from heaven… eat me and drink my blood.”

And people FREAKED out!

John 6:60–66 ESV

60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” 66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

Why? Why did Jesus do that? Seems counter productive in every way.

If I got up and preached a sermon, used an illustration so confusing that most people didn’t understand it… and so offensive that they left. I’d get some hard questions… from my wife if no one else.

What is Jesus doing??? Why did he do that??? Why do it that way?

… and he never resolves it, actually. He never goes back and clears it all up and makes it all easy to understand. Jesus lets the tension ride. As if the question, the challenge is doing something formative in us.

And then he challenges his core disciples further:

John 6:67 ESV

67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”

Lord. Master.

The smartest thing Peter ever said, in my book. Smartest thing he did, left his boat and followed Jesus. Listened to his brother.

Smartest thing he ever said:

John 6:68 ESV

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,

Lord, he says.

Master, he says. And rightly he says it.

“You have the words of eternal life...”

Better than he knew then. For not only did Jesus “have” the words of life… He “is” the Word, the Logos, the divine and ongoing revelation of God Himself.

Do you have that kind of desperation to follow Jesus?

Do you have nowhere else to go? Nowhere else to turn? Do you know deep-down that Jesus is the only one who has the words of eternal life?

Do you hunger and thirst to hear and know and understand the words of Jesus?

Do you desperately want to follow in the footsteps of Jesus?

Do you want to “do the right thing” or the “Christian thing” or “your religious duty?”

Or do you know your own desperate need for the “words of life” from the Master?

Where else can we go? Nowhere else. There is nowhere else.

John 1:1–5 ESV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

That word

John 1:9–14 ESV

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Is that Jesus?

Is that your Master?

That’s my Master.

He has the words of life. He is life. He is the Word. He is the Word of Life, full of grace and truth.

And to all who receive him, who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

How does that work?

Is Jesus Your Master?

Jesus is the Master of Life. As in… he perfected it. He did it right. Absolutely right.

Altar Call

Romans 10:9 ESV

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

I don’t care if you have prayed 1000 times to follow Jesus, that’s a prayer we pray every day.

Step by steps the disciples put their feet in the footsteps of Jesus.

They kept falling back and going back to work… Jesus went and fetched ‘em again. Follow me.

As long as He is Lord… we confess Him as Lord. As our Lord. As my Lord. As Master.

And so, I’m going to invite you to pray with me. To confess with your mouth that Jesus is who He is… Master of life… Master of me.

And believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. That’s what happened, that Master, that Jesus, is alive indeed.