Clarity & Christology
Notes
Transcript
Context
Context
You might recall from last week that after hearing Jesus declare that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God, and also hearing Jesus make clear that it is impossible for man to enter the kingdom of God through his own effort, also in verses 29-30 the commitments Jesus is calling His disciples to make… the level of sacrifice are overcome with the blessings of the kingdom now and in the age to come. Jesus pumps the brakes however, not on the promise of blessing, but to clarify the road ahead. He makes this clarification more than once.
saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
“Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
And Jesus makes reference to His impending suffering and death in Luke 12:49-50; 13:32-33;17:25.
If the disciples and if you and I are to understand our lives what they are all about, we better understand what Jesus is saying here.
Read
Read
And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
Introduction
Introduction
Luke 1:1–4 (ESV)
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
Luke’s aim was to provide Theophilus with clarity. The word certainty in the last phrase of verse 4 means
certainty = to discern something clearly and distinctly
You and I know what it is to desire clarity. To be able to discern clearly and distinctly. To know how it all fits together. For many though, possessing clarity about life has nothing to do with understanding who God is. God, for many, is irrelevant to clarity.
Sometimes, we can loose sight of this connection even in the church. We may have certain assumptions about life, expectations for our lives, priorities that govern what we do… but some of those aspects of our lives may be misinformed.
I do want to point out something that Luke does not tell us but Mark does.
And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him,
Jesus was leading the way, the disciples were amazed at what was unfolding and others who were following Jesus were afraid. The disciples were shocked that Jesus was so determined to go to Jerusalem. They didn’t get what was going on, but both they and the rest of the following crowd knew that there was potential trouble on the horizon. It was Passover season so that someone who some thought could be the Messiah was about to enter the holy city would have enhanced what was already a spiritually and nationally charged atmosphere. Amazement and fear were not unexpected emotions.
Those people were feeling and experiencing many things… clarity was not one of them.
FCF
FCF
Many fail to understand who Jesus is.
Main Point
Main Point
Life’s clarity depends on good christology.
What do I mean by Christology? What is taught about Christ. Where do we go for true teaching on Christ? The Bible. I will not take the time to demonstrate why the Bible is the source we must use to learn good Christology and not the headlines of tabloids we may see in the check-out lines of grocery stores, but right teaching about Jesus is found in His Word.
Main Question
Main Question
What provides us with good Christology.
Certainly, we can say, very broadly, that the Word of God provides us with good Christology. And this is true. But the text of our focus today has much to offer us when it comes to possessing sound Christology.
The determination of the Savior: salvation’s foundation (31-33)
The determination of the Savior: salvation’s foundation (31-33)
What do we learn from the determination of the Savior?
Sinners are not obstacles to, but objects of grace.
Sinners are not obstacles to, but objects of grace.
Notice that Jesus takes His disciples aside to tell them something: we’re going up to Jerusalem
Most of the sermons preached over the past several weeks have noted the Jesus was making His was to Jerusalem - pointing to the fact that the culmination of His mission is fast approaching.
Nothing could stop this from coming to fruition. No effort from His enemies. No laws or edicts. No sin of man.
Sinners never got in the way of Christ’s mission. In fact, we see how important it was to Jesus to make His mission clear to His disciples.He took them aside.
The fact that this was the third time he told them did not result in giving up on them. The fact that they chose to believe their own idea of who Messiah was did not stop Him from declaring the message.
Notice He took the 12 aside. He zeroed in on His disciples and told them the gospel in plain terms. This was a display of God’s grace. Despite their lack of understanding and thick-headedness, the disciples were told the gospel. Though they didn’t get it here, they would later.
The sinners who lied so that Jesus would be executed. The sinners who treated Him with such disdain and disrespect. The sinners who were content to watch the betrayal of justice unfold before their eyes… none of them… no one could prevent Jesus from going to Jerusalem.
As Peter would later declare
this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
So, though Jesus was determined to go to Jerusalem and die, and no one was going to stop Him, He still wanted His disciples to know… to understand… to believe. They were objects of God’s grace. The message of redemption is one that declares God’s love for His people…. for sinners.
Suffering was not devastating but according to the design God.
Suffering was not devastating but according to the design God.
One commentator referred to Jerusalem as the city of destiny and confrontation.
Jerusalem was the culmination point of redemption.
Jerusalem was where everything that has been written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.
Even the grammar of verse 31 makes clear that what was going to happen in Jerusalem was according to God’s design. The verbs are passive… some refer to this as the divine passive. So behind all human activity in the passion is God Himself.
What was going to happen in Jerusalem, needed to happen because it was written by the prophets. The OT declared what would happen in Jerusalem. That the Messiah would go to Jerusalem, ride into the city on a colt, that He would be handed over to wicked men, that he would be beaten, that He would be hanged on a tree, that He would die… all of it needed to happen. It had been written and what was written was ordained by God.
All of this was according to God’s will, and His will is recorded in His word.
There are many places we could go in the OT that made the fact that Messiah would suffer, die and rise again.
Perhaps one of the more known texts regarding the passion of Jesus is Isaiah 53.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
Over 700 years before these events took place - God’s plan of redemption
A remarkable testimony of prophecy about the crucifixion can be found in
But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
“He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
Paul makes it clear that the resurrection of Jesus is testified to in the Scripture, which was the OT for him.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
There is no OT prophecy that is as straight forward about the resurrection of Jesus as there are regarding His passion, but we can trace it through some key OT texts:
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.
Now, what’s going on in the background here is the Messianic promise David received in 2 Sam. 7 where we read that the throne of God will last forever. David is confident that God will not abandon his soul to the realm of the dead (Sheol). His certainty of this is connected to the holy one not seeing corruption. The holy one, in the Old Testament is a messianic reference… it never refers to David. So David will be resurrected because the holy one, that is, the Messiah will be resurrected from the dead.
We’re focusing on the sovereignty of God over the events that took place in Jerusalem. They were fulfillment of prophecy but remember also…
Though the suffering of Jesus had come at the hands of wicked men, and though, again, this would be the display of the greatest injustice ever committed, it was also according to the divine plan of God. (Pastor Steve noted a theological term to describe this: concurrence - God and people act simultaneously to fulfill God’s will. Multiple parties work together in the same even to produce a specific outcome but with different intentions.)
The passive verbs in verse 32: delivered, mocked, insulted, spit upon… depict what the Scriptures (what was prophesied) say.
Jesus was not deterred from His mission by His knowledge of His suffering and death.
Now, remember what was going on here. They were walking towards Jerusalem. Why? It was Passover season. The disciples knew what Passover was all about. But they did not know that Jesus Himself would be the Passover lamb.
It would not have been unusual for this to go another way. Jesus could have been killed in a more private context or maybe stoned to death instead of being crucified. But this was not the plan… God’s plan. From man’s perspective, it may have been more likely but all of this, as we have seen, unfolded according to the divine foreknowledge of God.
Jesus was resolute in His commitment to die for sinners. He knew all through His life that He was going suffer and die. The disciples’ lack of understanding and even rejection of His mission was not a surprise to Him. You and I struggle in similar ways at times. We respond to what God is doing in our lives with resistance at times. Jesus is merciful to sinners.
I found Ryle’s words encouraging: If Christ so loved us before we thought of Him, He will surely not cease to love us after we have believed.
Often our suffering brings doubt and fear. We question ourselves, others and God. When we suffer, we may recoil from living God-honoring lives. Thank God, Jesus did not. Thank God He remained determined to fulfill His mission. Thank God, we have such a Savior.
Good christology also makes clear that His
Supremacy was displayed not through conquering but consummation
Supremacy was displayed not through conquering but consummation
The disciples and most other Jews had a particular idea about who Messiah would be and what He would do. We will get into this more in a few moments, but the supremacy of Jesus is not seen in what many may have expected: a conquering hero who would deliver them from the oppression of their enemies. His supremacy is to be seen through the consummation of His ministry.
Son of Man
Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man 25 times in Luke’s gospel.
In referring to Himself this way, Jesus is emphasizing His divine attributes and divine purposes.
One place in the OT we must go to get get at understanding the title Son of Man is
“I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.
One like a son of man conquers the evil world system (9-12)
He obtains rule over God’s kingdom (13-14)
And then if we were to go further in Dan 7, we would see that the one like a son of man exercises that authority universally and shares that rule with the people of God.
What Dan 7 encompasses is a view to when the enemies of God will be brought to final judgement and the people of God share in His rule.
Now, what happens here is the Son of Man approaches the Ancient of Days with the clouds of heaven to receive universal authority
He is worshiped (v. 14)
All of this serves to indicate that the one like a son of man is the transcendent Messiah.
And when we get to the NT, in particular the gospels, Jesus uses this Messianic title to refer to His humiliation, His rejection, His suffering, His death and His resurrection.
“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
So by referring to Himself as the Son of Man, Jesus is emphasizing His Passion and His resurrection. He is declaring that His supremacy as the Messiah… as the one true God will be seen not conquering His enemies (while we do know that will occur), but in the fact that He will fulfill His mission of redemption that was established in eternity past, as recorded in the Holy Scriptures by divine inspiration and through His atoning death and victorious resurrection from the dead.
This is our superior Savior and one day everyone will see it.
Jesus atoned for our sin through His death and ultimately defeated it through His resurrection. Oh church, we must not loose sight of the fact the Jesus is alive. This is our ultimate hope. This is the eternal truth that transcends all finite truths. Yes, we struggle in many ways for what feels like long periods of time, but we have hope. Why? It has nothing to do with what may or may not occur in those finite truths. But this ultimate truth, that our Messiah, our Savior, the Son of Man is risen from the dead.
This was the hope that He put forth to His disciples. They didn’t get it at this moment. Do we get it?
Perhaps you don’t. Perhaps you’re like the disciples.. you have expectations, hopes, dreams, but deep down you know you do not have any certainty. You hope what you want will come to pass. Perhaps you think you know, but ask yourself on what are your assumptions based? Do you dismiss Jesus from the equation you use to figure out your life? That doesn’t work.
We can also be helped in obtaining good Christology by considering
The dismissal of the disciples: delusion’s manifestation (34)
The dismissal of the disciples: delusion’s manifestation (34)
V. 34 essentially makes the same statement in three ways. Matthew and Mark’s account does not reference the disciples’ lack of understanding of Jesus’ words. What we are reminded of in Luke’s account is that the mission of Jesus, and all that it means and the fuel of it are not discernible through human capacities alone. It can only be comprehended by spiritual illumination. Such insight was granted to the disciples later:
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
Never-the-less, the dismissal of the disciples do offer us some insight regarding our ability to understand God.
Because we remain baffled. Why didn’t the disciples get it. They had been with Jesus, observed Him in a host of different circumstances. He performed miracles. Demonstrated Himself to be superior in intellect, articulate. Loving, compassionate.
The disciples had a particular idea about Messiah. The idea they had about Messiah is reflected in their expectations of Messiah.
I want to suggest two different ways to think about Messiah… and we see both in our text.
Messiah Ideology: this is what the disciples believed. Their definition of Messiah, their hopes and expectations of Messiah was informed by an ideology that was popular among many of the Jews. We’ll get in more to this in a moment.
Messiah theology: This is what Jesus presented His disciples. This is an understanding of Messiah that is informed by Scripture and therefore reflects God’s mission and purpose for Messiah.
But, the disciples’ perception of Messiah at this point in their lives was Messiah ideology. What do I mean by Messiah ideology?
In Messiah ideology
Conclusions about Messiah are the product of marginalizing the Word of God for the sake of our arbitrary expectations
Conclusions about Messiah are the product of marginalizing the Word of God for the sake of our arbitrary expectations
We need to keep in mind here that the disciples were Jews who were trained from a very young age to expect a Messiah who would be revealed in glory and majesty. They therefore, did not have a category for a suffering, humiliated Messiah who would be killed.
As we have already noted, the passion and resurrection of Jesus was fulfillment of prophecy. In other words, the mission of Jesus and its means were all God’s will and His design.
What the disciples believed about Messiah was not informed by the Scriptures. It was informed by the ideas of men.
A reminder that our conclusions about God, ourselves, salvation, family, government.. all of life must be informed by the Scriptures in order for those conclusions to be correct. Certainly some things are not as clear as others, but a yielded posture towards the Word of God is essential to knowing… to true knowledge.
Also, in Messiah ideology
Conclusions about Messiah are the product of disregarding the need for divine illumination for proper understanding.
Conclusions about Messiah are the product of disregarding the need for divine illumination for proper understanding.
Notice the first half of the second sentence in verse 34: This saying was hidden from them. What Jesus had told His disciples about Himself and what was going to take place in Jerusalem was concealed from them.
So, to be clear, their lack of understanding was not due to the message being unintelligible. He was very straight forward with them. Again, their lack of understanding was due to their unjustified expectations. But what we must see here, which we have already referenced, is that in order to comprehend and believe rightly about Messiah, we must be illumined. God must grant us eyes to see… ears to hear.
These are some of the marks of Messiah ideology:
marginalizing the word of God, which results is wrong conclusions about Messiah and
a disregard for the need of divine illumination for a proper understanding of Messiah.
What about us? Are we laboring under Messiah ideology? What are our expectations?
I seriously doubt that anyone here today would say, at least out loud, that Donald Trump or Kamala Harris are the objects of your hope. Certainly who the next president of this country will be is important and we should be engaged in the issues.
But Messiah ideology can corrupt our view of Messiah to such an extent that we begin to desire the wrong things and look to a false Messiah. This is what the disciples were doing. They were looking to a false Messiah. One that would deliver them from oppression. One that would grant the kind of life that was easier. On in which they would be regarded as important and possess more respect.
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Do we want to know the power of Christ’s resurrection…. then we must also welcome sharing in His sufferings.
Again, keep in mind what Jesus promised to His disciples in the previous passage in Luke.
And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
Yes, we have this promise in Christ. The people of God have this to look forward to, but Jesus moves right from making this promise to His disciples to also making very plain that He will suffer, die and rise again.
Let’s strive for a vision of our Messiah that is informed by sound theology. One that is informed by the Scriptures. One that cries out for God to grant us the ability to see and hear the truth. One that believes the truth.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Life’s clarity depends on good Christology
There’s something that Luke does not include in this event that is noted in Matthew and Mark’s account. Matthew tells us that after Jesus tells His disciples about His impending suffering, death and resurrection, the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to Him to inquire about her boys. She wanted to see if she could secure a place of prestige and power for them. She wanted Jesus to assure her that her sons would sit to the right and to the left of Him in His kingdom. In Mark’s account, James and John, who are the sons of Zebedee had this exchange:
Mark 10:35–37 (ESV)
… “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
This was there concern. Themselves. This is the product of Messiah ideology. Self-centered, self-serving oblivion.
We know what it’s like to share something important to us, and the response we get to whoever we told it does not reflect an understanding of what we said. It’s frustrating… it’s hurtful. And to contemporize it some, it’s as if while Jesus said what He said about Himself the disciples were on their cell phones, waiting for Him to stop talking so they could ask about their place in the kingdom.
Jesus provides us with good Christology here. There’s more to it of course, but you and I would do well to meditate on these words. What may seem to be so basic to many of us here today is what our souls need. Jesus, His suffering, His death, His resurrection. The Son of Man come to give His people life.
Remember church, man is given to considering the cross of Christ as folly… foolishness. But good Christology bring clarity into that confusion. So preach Christ to yourselves and preach Christ to the world.