Christlike Affections for 2025

Cultivating Christlike Affections in 2025 Jesus’s Single-Minded Pursuit • “I must be about my Father’s business” (Luke 2:49) • “My food is to do the will of him who sent me” (John 4:34) • “I can do thing on my own … I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me” (John 5:30) • Manifestations: 1. Hatred of Religious Interference 2. Robust Prayer Life 3. Constant Fellowship 4. Pursuit of the Cross 5. High Standards for Followers Hatred of Religious Interference • • • • Jesus Cleanses the Temple – John 2:15-17 Better a Millstone – Matthew 18:6-7 Let the children come to me – Matthew 19:13-14 Woe to those who shut people out of the kingdom of heaven – Matthew 23:13 Robust Prayer Life • Jesus spent the entire night in prayer (Luke 6:12) • Jesus often prayed alone for extended periods of time (Matthew 14:23) • Jesus’s prayer often preceded manifestations of God: baptism (Luke 3:21); transfiguration (Luke 9:28-29); confirmation (John 12:28) • Prayer under the greatest possible stress (Luke 22:44) Constant Fellowship • Jesus often feasted: Passover (Luke 22:15); dinner celebrating Lazarus’s resurrection (John 12:2ff); healing for Peter’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:31) • Jesus frequently used meals for evangelistic purposes: Simon the Pharisee (Mark 14); Zacchaeus (Luke 19); Levi’s unsaved friends (Luke 5:29) • Jesus was almost always in a crowd (Matthew 15:30; Mark 10:1; Luke 5:15) Pursuit of the Cross • Repeated predictions – Matthew 16:21, 20:19; Luke 9:22, 18:31-33 John 2:19 (at least 5 distinct occasions) • Marked determination to go to Jerusalem – Mark 10:32 • Constant selflessness in pursuing God’s will – John 10:15; Matthew 26:39 High Standards for Followers • “Follow me and leave the dead to bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22) • “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). • “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37) • “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27) Conclusions • Both worship and imitation are worthy applications, but can be impersonal and distant. • Jesus, the single-minded Zealot, has come personally to you with a gracious offer of salvation and service. 1. Jesus would lead you personally – he wants to bring you in on his confidence and draw you into the sphere of His influence. 2. Jesus makes personal demands – for some it’s obvious and biblical, for others it’s subtle but no less urgent 3. Jesus promises His constant presence, protection, guidance, and fellowship. 4. Jesus wants to transform our affections by the power of His presence. He intends to turn us into single-minded zealots.