Risen Lord!
Notes
Transcript
Open your Luke 11:27-36
Easter Sunday is an exciting day. In the calendar year, it’s the day on which most churches proclaim the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Many choirs will sing beautiful anthems. Many new outfits make their debut. Many pictures are made. All great. It’s a day in which we remember and celebrate the good news of Christ's victory over sin, death, hell, and the grave. It’s a declaration that the Friday that he bowed His head in death, was in fact, A GOOD FRIDAY, when JESUS ROSE FROM THE GRAVE on SUNDAY.
And to be fair. It’s a day, with the best of intentions, that we, as we should….admire Jesus. We remember His compassion and mercy. His teaching. His sacrifice. His victory.
But the reality of the resurrection forces a deeper dilemma for us all. It’s not big of a deal. It’s much bigger than choir anthems, a polished sermon, polished shoes, or a new dress. See, the reality of the resurrection declares not only the reality of Jesus. But of the Lordship of Jesus. And because He is Lord. That reality changes everything. Jesus is not merely seeking admiration. He’s not concerned so much with pomp and circumstance, as much as He is concerned with allegiance to Him as Lord.
See, the question is not whether you admire Jesus. But do you submit to Him?
Sermon Summary: Because Jesus is the risen Lord, He demands a transformed life.
27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” 29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
This is God’s word, let’s pray.
-------------------------------------------------
I. Because Jesus is Lord, He Demands Obedience, Not Mere Adoration (vv. 27–28)
I. Because Jesus is Lord, He Demands Obedience, Not Mere Adoration (vv. 27–28)
I mentioned last week the difficulty in breaking this text. It’s jumbled together because it happens in context and happens together. Jesus is defending his ministry of bringing the Kingdom of God. He’s confronting the false accusation that he is exorcising demons in the power of Satan. He’s given a great warning to those seeking a sign, and he’s also drawn a clear line in the sand. If you aren’t with me, you are against me. And most immediately, to not remove evil and fill it with Christ leaves room for Satan to return to the house with 7-fold more evil.
27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Here is a woman, within the crowd. She’s watching, she’s listening. She’s discerning what is taking place. She hears Jesus say, " If you aren’t with me, then you are against me.” She’s taking it all in, and perhaps she is convicted. She’s persuaded from skepticism to moving towards devotion. So she speaks up in adoration. “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” In which she is praising Jesus. She is blessing Him. She’s blessing his mother, Mary, as well. Mary is blessed because of the fame of her son.
And Jesus very quickly responds. She’s not wrong, per se, just incomplete! So Jesus completes her statement with a BLESSED RATHER….statement.
See buried within this woman’s statement is a one of admiration, but still hesitation. There is a disposition of nearness, but not complete surrender. She praises proximity to Jesus, but not submission to Jesus. And Jesus catches it and says, essentially…Move a bit closer, draw near in obedience.
28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Mary is blessed, but not to be venerated. Catholics wrongly elevate Mary to a place of worship. Certainly, it was a great blessing to give birth to the Messiah. Luke 1:48 “for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
But the ultimately blessing of Mary wasn’t in her status or position, but her submission. In fact, Mary was always one who carried a disposition to follow the Lord. When God spoke, she listened! She believed. She was a woman of faith. She was a woman of action. She was a woman of obedience. She was a woman who heard the word of God and obeyed it. She kept it. So, Jesus reminds this woman of that here. And Jesus does that by coming alongside her, not contradicting her, but correcting her, and helping her connect the dots to see what she is missing.
The truth of Luke 8:19-21
19 Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20 And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” 21 But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
And with these words, Jesus helps us realize. He isn’t looking to merely be admired. He is to be worshiped. He is to be obeyed!
It’s easy for us to fall into the same trap. Drawing near to Jesus, but never surrendering our lives to Him. We all take Jesus, so long as we can have Him at a distance. We're dressing Him up, if you will. We put Him on, only in the form of tradition, nosoligia, and sentiment. But we never in function, and walking by the Spirit of God. We put on the garb of religion, but not the garb who is Christ as Lord. We will take Admiration, but never true discipleship—admiration, but not obedience.
And here is the one who has come to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom. He is bringing the Kingdom of God through his preaching, through His life, and His actions. Good news is preached to the poor. The lame, walk. The blind see. The broken are restored. SATAN is cast out….ALL of it, not by the power of SATAN, but from the finger of God…..THE HEAVENS are declaring. God is speaking. THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, LISTEN TO HIM!!
And on this side of the cross and the empty tomb. His Lordship is on clear display!! And if he is Lord, adoration will not cut it. He must be obeyed as LORD. He is the MESSIAH! HE commands allegiance to His word! Because He is Lord!
It was proof here, when this crowd is seeking a sign! And Jesus' appeal to them is: open your eyes and look at what is taking place!! And part of the point here in this text is to see Jesus rightly! He is the CHRIST, HE is the MESSIAH!
And today, we celebrate the EMPTY tomb, declaring without any doubt. JESUS IS VICTORIOUS. HE IS LORD….AND IF JESUS is LORD, and He is. AND IF THE TOMB is EMPTY, and it is….AND if God raised Him from the dead, and HE DID. AND if He is the MESSIAH, and He is. And If He is the CHRIST, and He is. Then he is LORD, and HE IS!
Then that reality comes with massive implications for us to LISTEN TO HIS WORD. TO OBEY HIM….Not just admire him when convenient. We must bow our knees in worship. Submit to Him. And align our lives to Him!
--------------------------Because Jesus is Lord, He Demands Obedience, Not Mere Adoration
II. Because Jesus is Lord, He Demands Repentance (vv. 29–32)
II. Because Jesus is Lord, He Demands Repentance (vv. 29–32)
Jesus has been speaking to the crowd. Some are accusers, some are skeptics. From which this woman raises her voice and admires Jesus, and Jesus says it won’t do… now the focus is back on the crowd, which is growing in number.
29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
In this section, Jesus is tying this whole section together. He’s confronting the crowds and the accusers. And He’s also putting the skeptics into the buckets of those who are against Him. And he’s even pointing out the hidden evil behind their skepticism. And it’s this – they had more than ample evidence to believe and refused to see the obvious working of God right in front of them. And in asking for a sign, they too were declaring to Jesus, " We recognize the great work you are doing, but we don’t believe yet, because you have proven yourself to our liking.” In other words, we don’t believe, and it’s your own fault. Give us more proof, and we will believe. And Jesus calls this EVIL. He calls this being against Him. And he calls them sick, because their eyes are unable to see the obvious truth staring them in the face.
But here, Jesus says, you are an evil generation. You are seeking a sign, but a sign has already been given. You’ve seen it clearly through the preaching and miracle-working of Jesus ministry. But you want more? No sign will be given except the SIGN of JONAH….and here Jesus alludes to two OLD TESTAMENT witnesses against them. The first is the SIGN of JONAH and the 2nd is the wisdom of Solomon.
In which you remember the story of Jonah. The prophet that God sent to preach a message of repentance to the Ninevites. He rebelled, getting a one-way ticket to Tarshish, in the opposite direction. In which God sent a storm that threw Jonah overboard, and appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah…and after three days in the belly of the fish, Jonah repented, the fish vomited Jonah back up, and Jonah then went to Nineveh, warning the people of coming judgment, and the people repented.
We read about it in our order of worship this morning from Jonah 3.
But Jesus says, when you consider the story of Jonah. It is to be a sign unto you. Jonah was a sign to the people of Ninevah, and will the Son of Man be to this generation. Jesus means this is to point us somewhere—the sign of Jonah.
Now there is debate about what the sign means here in Luke. And I believe that Luke’s is intentionally open, to include a few different things. What do I mean by that? Well, in Matthew’s gospel, the sign is explicitly stated. Matthew 12:39-40
39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
So while Luke does not explicitly speak of the resurrection, Matthew makes it crystal clear that the sign of Jonah is the miraculous working of God that will be on display…Namely, the power of God to raise CHRIST from the dead!! It is the miracle of miracles. And the sign of Christ is GREATER than that of Jonah. Because he wasn’t in the belly of a fish, and he wasn’t camping out to reemerge later. Nor did he have a sin he needed to repent for. No, Jesus was put to death for the sins of the world, and he really died. He wasn’t asleep. He was put to death. Buried in a borrowed tomb, and was raised to LIFE by the power of God!! HE IS LORD!! It’s what we celebrate today! The TOMB is empty JESUS is Alive…Jesus is LORD!
But there is more that Luke intends here….
So he brings forth the Queen of the South…This is the Queen of Sheba. Referenced in 1 Kings 10:1-13 and 2 Chronicles 9:1-12. Who traveled to hear the wisdom of King Solomon? She was an African queen who heard of Solomon’s great wisdom and wanted to come and hear for herself. Her journey would have taken weeks by caravan. More than a thousand miles. And when she arrived, she was absolutely blown away.
6 And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, 7 but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard. 8 Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 9 Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness.”
She was an African queen….She’s a gentle woman who desperately wanted to know the truth about God. And so nothing was too much for her. Nothing was an inconvenience for her. She desired to understand. She desired to know truth and wisdom. She came from, LUKE says, from the ends of the EARTH to hear the wisdom of Solomon.
And oh, how much more is there something greater than SOLOMON here! Who is CHRIST? Who is the manifold wisdom of God? Who is the wisdom of God personified? Who is the KING OF KINGS!
And the queen of SHEBA delights to come under this wisdom!
So both Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba are referred to as Gentile nations. Both Jonah and Solomon are pointed to as signs. One of great wisdom, and one of great miraculous power. AND BOTH, JESUS says, will rise up and BE A WITNESS OF CONDEMNATION against this generation.
To which Luke is clearly indicating. The message of Christ, just like the message of Jonah and the Message of Solomon, landed on the Gentile nation. So too, is the message of Christ, because of the hardness of heart of Israel, will go to the GENTILES. And Luke is pointing us in that direction.
Beloved, through Christ, every person here can come and know the wisdom and power of God, through Jesus Christ. There isn’t a person within the sound of my voice who cannot come, from a far and distant land, of sin and rebellion. And come fall at the feet of Jesus and be saved. And the RESURRECTION is PROOF that He is LORD! It’s proof that HE will save you!! Because Jesus is raised from the dead, we don’t have to die in sin and be condemned. WE CAN BE SAVED!!
But we can only be saved by trusting in JESUS CHRIST for salvation!!
12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
ARE YALL STILL LISTENING, would you say amen….
Beloved, the sign of the SON of MAN, and the empty TOMB is intended that you might not only believe, but that you would REPENT!! And that’s the third meaning of the sign of JONAH. Its aim is towards repentance, and Luke angles His message in this direction.
32 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
Jesus said that when the people of Nineveh heard the preaching of the judgment. They dropped to their knees and cried out in repentance. They put on sackcloth and ashes. The king himself was broken, and everyone bowed and turned away from their wickedness….and therefore God relented of His judgment against them!! They considered the preaching of Jonah, who was in the belly of the fish for three days, and then the Lord corrects his path… when that preacher comes preaching, they BOW DOWN and repent!!
And Jesus says, ok, you are seeking a sign!! You're telling me, we don’t have enough evidence to believe, and acting as if I’m at fault…That’s not true, and that’s evil….But ok, you want a sign…ok, no sign will be given except what has already been given!! CONSIDER JONAH!! Consider his swallowing up, and his being raised…..CONSIDER SOLOMON, the king of Israel, and the Queen of Sheba, who traveled thousands of miles to get insight and understanding. So that she might see clearly!! AND you have the LORD JESUS CHRIST, looking you right in the eyes, and you can’t see it!! Ok, you want a sign, the people of NIVEVAH repented at JONAH’s preaching.
You wouldn’t listen to Jonah. You wouldn’t listen to Solomon. You wouldn’t listen to the Queen of Sheba. You wouldn’t listen to the people of Ninevah. AND SOMETHING GREAT than SOLOMON is here, and something greater than JONAH is here……and you won't believe me either…..
And it’s mounting as evidence against you. You are a wicked and evil generation.
And when the Lord Jesus is raised from the DEAD. HE will be a sign to you. CYSTSAL clear evidence of HIS LORDSHIP. JESUS HAS BEEN RAISED…..HE IS LORD!!
And this people will see, and they still won’t BELIEVE …..someone stole his body, I don’t think he was really dead….well, how do we know Jesus even existed. He was just a good profit. EXCUSE AFTER EXCUSE AFTER EXCUSE!!!! THAT’S WICKED!!
To have all the evidence you need, and to deny it all!!! And I’ll tell you what else it is…..It’s actually only more evidence against you.
But I’ll take it one step further, and this is what Luke intends here, angling us towards repentance. To consider the ultimate sign of CHRIST being raised from the dead. And only give lip service, and not repent. It’s equally condemning!!
JONAH was a sign. Solomon was a sign. They are but mere pictures of the true substance who is CHRIST. Beloved, Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s wisdom. Of God’s power, and of Jesus Lordship….and if Ninevah repented at Jonah’s repentance, then how much should we repent, when Jesus is RAISED from the DEAD. He’s ALIVE….HE’s LORD!! And to recognize that, acknowledge but refuse to bow our knee to HIM……It. IS. WICKED!!!
Beloved, EASTER is not just a celebration. It is a confrontation!! Who will be the LORD OF YOUR LIFE!! And so many people look at the cross of Christ and the empty tomb. And think, well, praise God, I get to live however I want to now!! And walk away with this twisted understanding, that because Jesus is raised from the dead, that you are somehow LORD OVER YOUR OWN LIFE!!
Beloved, EASTER is a declaration that JESUS IS LORD!! And SINCE HE IS LORD!! The resurrection DEMANDS that we repent!! That we examine ourselves. That we consider our ways to say, " Am I walking and living in CHRIST!!” Not giving a head nod, followed by the cold shoulder. To go live in the muck and mire of cultural Christianity. VOID of the CROSS, VOID of REPENTANCE, and VOID of CHRIST as LORD!! …..
Lean it in….That’s not just foolish…and it is foolish. That’s not just prideful, and it is prideful. It’s not skepticism or sign-seeking. Jesus said, I’ll tell you what it is. It’s EVIL!! And you continue living your life that way, and the evidence is only going to mount against you, and eventually condemn you!!
GOD, HELP US!! EXAMINE, CONSIDER, REPENT!! CONTINUE in REPENTANCE!!
-----------------------
-----------------------
III. Because Jesus is Lord, He Demands Allegiance (vv. 33–36)
III. Because Jesus is Lord, He Demands Allegiance (vv. 33–36)
Now we turn to the final section here. And Jesus continues in his explanation of this wicked generation. On a surface reading, it sounds like the direction pivots, but it's really right in line with what Jesus has been saying all along. They say the problem is with Jesus, and Jesus says, in reality, the problem is with your heart and your own inability to see rightly.
33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
Jesus gives a medical analogy here that would have been of particular interest to Luke, who was a medical doctor. And typically, when we read of light, it is used as an illustration of our witness for Jesus. But here, we are not called light; Jesus is. Think about what Jesus is saying. The purpose of light is to shine. You put it on a stand, you don’t hide it, you display it.
And in the same way, the light of Christ is not hidden. God’s purposes through Christ have been plainly demonstrated through the life and ministry of Jesus. His power has been revealed. His message has been preached clearly. The message of God to the world has been clearly revealed through Christ. His saving work was done on the open stage of human history. And it’s done, as Luke records, “so that those who enter may see the light.”
So those in the crowd who want to say, " We don’t have enough evidence,” it’s just an excuse. If we fail to see Jesus it isn’t because Jesus doesn’t wish to be seen. It’s because our eyes are not healthy enough to see the truth. If we had healthy spiritual vision, we could see clearly and we could see plainly the truth of Jesus. But because of the hardness of heart, because of the darkness, we are unable to see Christ for who He truly is. Your eye is not producing light—it’s the window that determines whether light gets in.
So the problem is not a lack of light shining. The problem is a lack of clarity to see the light. The problem is that we are still living in darkness.
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Consider the teaching of Jesus in a passage like John 3:16
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
And so that is why Jesus associates their darkness and inability to see with EVIL. He says this is what an evil generation does. That’s what evil does. It sees the light, but cannot receive it because of darkness. And their whole body is full of darkness—and evil deeds. The problem is not a lack of revelation. It is their own internal resistance to Jesus.
And so Jesus follows up here with a warning. The warning Jesus gives is not rhetorical. But deeply personal.
35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
This is a warning to people who are filled with religion but not Jesus. They are filled with morality but not the Spirit of God. They know something about Jesus, but they will not submit to Him. Oh yes, they say, I’ve seen the light, but their life doesn’t reflect it. Religious knowledge without repentance. Moral behavior without regeneration. Familiarity with Jesus without submission to Jesus
So that’s why, Jesus says, then have no part in the darkness. Instead, live wholly bright! This is the transforming work of the light of Jesus. That is, we change! We are transformed. There is evidence and fruit that demonstrates repentance that we are being transformed from one degree of glory to the next! Through the work of His Spirit. Through the work of sanctification. God making us new creatures in Christ.
This is what John says in 1 John 1:5-7
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Beloved, Jesus is not hidden—His gospel is on full display. His resurrection is more than ample evidence to trust in HIM. The real question is whether we are willing to step into His light. Or will we continue in darkness?
This is the danger for this crowd—and it is the danger for us.
You can sit under the teaching of Jesus.
You can hear the gospel clearly.
You can even agree with it intellectually—
and still refuse to bow your life to Him as Lord.
But it’s not like the truth of Jesus is hidden.
Jesus is not hidden.
His life was public.
His works were undeniable.
His cross was visible.
And His resurrection stands as the clearest declaration that He is Lord.
So the question that remains is not about evidence - it is about allegiance.
Will you come into the light?
Or will you turn away because it exposes too much?
Will you submit to Christ as Lord?
Or will you settle for a version of religion that leaves your heart unchanged?
Because Jesus is the risen Lord, He does not simply invite admiration—He demands allegiance
Because Jesus is Lord, He Demands Repentance (vv. 29–32)
Because Jesus is Lord, He Demands Obedience, Not Mere Adoration (vv. 27–28)
Sermon Summary: Because Jesus is the risen Lord, He demands a transformed life.
