Luke: Lord of All

Introduction

What are the rules of our faith?

Are there any?

What must one do to be saved?

What does a “good” Christian look like?

Ever wondered about these questions?

Or felt the tension of not fitting into one of these categories?

Engleman cartoon - Church marquee “No shoes, no shirt, no salvation”

Luke 1. Breaking down Artificial Boundaries

Jesus did not mind hobnobbing with conspicuous sinners, but the Pharisees are portrayed as having no sympathy for them.

So while Luke is demonstrating, in these accounts we’ve been looking at, Jesus’ authority, Jesus has also been demonstrating the heart of his kingdom

Much to the frustration and anger of the religious leaders of that day

In this mornings passage, Jesus corrects the intention and heart of two very important practices and “rules” of Judaism

Fasting and Sabbath

Let’s read

I. Fasting

What was the point of fasting?

It was often spoken of as a sign of repentance and mourning.

Joel 2:12–13 ESV

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.

It was commanded during the day of atonement as a means to deny oneself or to “humble your souls.”

This became a idiom for fasting in Judaism.

John B had called the nation of Israel to repentance and the religious “elite” to show signs of true repentance.

One way was to fast and pray

But in Jesus’ day the religious leaders had turned it from a sign of heart change to outer sign of piety and devotion

These “rules” had become a means to set themselves apart from others rather that set apart for God

Thus Jesus’ words in

Matthew 6:16 ESV

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

This is also why this question arises now - Jesus’ disciples were not showing this reality of repentance or pietism.

They were breaking the “rules”

So some people come and ask...

Jesus answers in two ways....

The picture of a wedding and bridegroom

a wedding was not the place of mourning and sorrow

The bridegroom was there and those who had repented could now only rejoice in his presence

They were restored to and walking with God and it was a great time of celebration

This is something the Pharisees etc will deny until the end

2. Parables of the New

The new can’t just patch up the old or fit into what has already been

New need new

In other words Jesus was doing something different, as we saw last time

Instead of external means of holiness, Jesus came to bring the fullness of it

He wasn’t just a patch to fill in the hole or a teacher to put into the old but he came to fulfill(bring it to the full)

And so it was a time to celebrate but only for awhile

Point: Godly sorrow should lead to repentance which should lead to joy in Jesus

But those who taste the old don’t want the new.

Luke Explanation of the Text

If the Pharisees are fasting, they are out of step with what God is doing. Resseguie goes on to write:

While fasting is appropriate as a plea for God to usher in the messianic age, in this passage fasting represents a stubborn refusal to acknowledge that God has done so. Yet the problem is deeper than whether one should fast. Jesus recognizes that comfortable, familiar forms of spirituality exert a narcotic effect that blurs perception to new revelation. Even though Jesus brings “new wine,” those accustomed to the “old” find the “new” inferior.

II. The Sabbath

The Sabbath was a non-negotiable in Judaism

And rightfully so as it was commanded by God to be kept holy at creation

To remember God’s rest and for God’s people to rest from their work as eventually directed by God

But by Jesus’ day the religious leaders had made it into a highly restricted and cumbersome day.

Perhaps believing that true piety could only come through suffering and struggle

And so they came up with many, many rules of what “no work” meant.

Examples from Shabbat rule sheet

Was this God’s intention?

Jesus is going to say and show no!

Again in two instances:

Picking of heads of grain on Sabbath

The picking of heads of grain was actually allowed(not illegal), but according to the leaders, the problem came once they rubbed their hands together

The was considered harvesting, harvesting was work, which was not allowed

And so Jesus points them to the story of David in I Sam 21 where David enter the tabernacle looking for food with his men, hungry from running away from Saul

In the end the only food there, was the Bread of the Presence (God’s presence and provision) but only the priest was allowed to eat it at the end of the week

In this instance, God allowed David as chosen King to use his authority to care for him and his men

a. vs 5 - how much more does Jesus have authority?

b. Jesus places himself as God, as this command was established at creation

Genesis 2:1–3 ESV

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Jesus had the authority and the knowledge to live out the intention

The intention being as a means of living in the completeness of God

2. Man with withered hand healed on the Sabbath

a. Doing good is not work

b. It’s about setting the captive free not restricting them (life in God)

III. The King and His People

So what’s the point of all this?

Jesus is not about just saving people into heaven or from Rome, but rather establishing and building God’s kingdom in and through people who by faith choose to follow Him

It begins by acknowledging Jesus’ authority, which he had from creation and in the present moments of Luke’s gospel, as God and man

However, His kingdom was not going to look like what one might anticipate.

Certainly not , what the Pharisees and Scribes believed or wanted it to be.

In fact they were far from it (they missed the point of the old.)

It was to be a kingdom that would set people free not burden and control them

It was and is available for all people, not just who we thing should be allowed in

Only Jesus has the authority to decided that

App 1: Also, Isn’t it more comfortable, we believe, to just get someone to conform to our ways rather for them to live out the life of Christ with the Holy Spirit as their guide. (messy)

Me: Prayed prayer at 6 but messy times since

And while we might judge these religious leaders, how much do we see things in a similar way.

App 2: If following Jesus is simply living out what he lived in heart and action, are we doing that?

Do we live in such a way, led by the Spirit and Word, that brings life to those living in death?

vs 12-15

Jesus after praying all night, trusting His Father

He chooses those who would be his direct ambassadors, the apostles

Fishermen

Tax Collectors

and it ends with Judas - who didn’t work out.

“he became a traitor”

App 3: And so the danger is that we 1. become “death bringers” like these religious leaders

or 2 we start out like Peter and the others but end up like Judas.

Conclusion