"Why Does the Resurrection Matter?" Week 2

Why do we look at the whys of the easter season? Isn’t this the stuff we learn about in VBS and Sunday School? Shouldn’t it be relegated to special services like Christmas and Easter? There is a simple saying that answers this question. The first time I heard it was from the late John Crawford. He was a Navigator who spent a lot of his ministry in OKC. Many of you have been effected by his minsitry, becuase he founded the Keymens conference. Almost every year I went to that conference and heard him speak he would simply review his verses with another guy and share stories or sermonettes based on the verse he quoted. Anyway, one time I was talking with someone who was talking about the beauty of focusing on the basic disciplines of the Christian life and he quoted John saying, “John Crawford always says, “You never out grow the basics.”” This was a powerful statement for me. It reminded me, in context that I never need to let go of the disciplines of the Christian faith.Since then it has also reminded me that I can never loose sight of the work of Christ and how it impacts the core of everything I am and do. Paul put it this way,

Romans 15:14–15 CSB

Romans 15:14–17 CSB

14 My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced about you that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 15 Nevertheless, I have written to remind you more boldly on some points because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the gospel of God. My purpose is that the Gentiles may be an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 Therefore I have reason to boast in Christ Jesus regarding what pertains to God.

Romans 15:16

Notice Paul affirms the Romans, how they are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another, but he still felt it was necessary to write them one of the first theological explanations of the work of Christ. It is healthy for us to consistently and rhythmically look at the work of Christ so that we may be reminded not only of what He did, but also why He did it and how it impacts us every day. So my prayer is that no matter where you at in your relationship with Jesus as we walk through this section of the Story it leads us to a richer and deeper appreciation of the work of Christ. Which results in us loving Him, following Him and living for Him. As we move forward lets do a quick recap of what we have covered so far.

The first week we sought to answer the question of “Why does the cross matter?” Looking into we saw that through His work on the Cross Jesus suffered the punishment we deserved, and in doing so He opened access to the Father which was signified through God tearing the curtain in half. Last week as we started to ask the question, “Why does the resurrection matter?”. We focused on the relational aspect of His work on Easter Sunday. How when He came back He showed Mary, the Emmaus Duo and the Disciples that He is alive, His Father is pleased with Him and that He cares for them. He did not just come back and send them marching orders. Those would come, but only in the context of relationship. He wanted His followers to know that He loves them and had not abandoned them, just like he wants us to know that today. Today we will continue our look at “Why the resurrection matters?” by focusing on His redemption plan.

Luke 24:46–47 CSB

46 He also said to them, “This is what is written: The Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, 47 and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Before we move forward I do not want to miss this point - Redemption is birthed out relationship. This fact ties what we talked about last week with what we will talk about this week. Through the resurrection Jesus shows His disciples that His work, what He has been talking about, why He asked them to follow Him and even His death were all meant to heal the broken relationship that we created by our rebellion. So lets pick up where we left off last week. Turn to .

Luke 24:46–47 CSB

Luke 24:46–48 CSB

Redemption is birthed out relationship.

We are called to join in Jesus’ redemption plan.

The resurrection of Jesus reminds us that He is in control. -

We have already seen that Jesus used the word to re-established His relationship with His disciples. Now Jesus again turns to His word to show them His redemption plan. This time though He does not have to prove who He is or how He fulfilled the truths of Scripture. While these are involved in what He is saying what Jesus is doing is showing them that through all of this God never lost control. Notice how He starts His statement with “This is what is written...” The verb tense used for written shows that it is a completed action that occured in the past but has present realities. One author put it this way, “The emphasis of the perfect is not the past action so much as it is as such but the present “state of affairs” resulting from the past action.” Why do we need to know this? Because it sets the stage for what Jesus is calling them too. He has already asked them to follow Him before His death, now He is going to call them to join Him by briefly and succinctly showing them they are part of His redemption plan. In other words He has accomplished the work so that they can join Him in accomplishing theirs.

The verb tense used by the writer to describe a completed verbal action that occurred in the past but which produced a state of being or a result that exists in the present (in relation to the writer).

This time He is showing them how everything He has gone through, his suffering and resurrection were part of God’s divine plan.

By showing His consistency in the scriptures Jesus is also showing how the Triune God, is in control. Nothing Jesus went through was out of line, out of God’s plan or a surprise to God. Some people do not like this reality, but through out scripture we see God using the sin of others for good. A great example of this is found in . After Jacob dies his 11 sons are scared Joseph is going to finally get his revenge for being sold into slavery. However, Jospeh understood what God was doing so he reassures them by saying.

Genesis 50:19–20 NIV84

19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Gensis 50:19-20

Jesus’ words would have been reassuring to the disciples. He is reinforcing the reality that we have a God who is never out of control. While they may not have grasped the extent of the plan or of the control God had knowing that God was not going to loose control of His created order would have been great comfort.

He is showing that what He went through was always in HIs plan and in HIs control.

There is a lot of theology that has to be covered to understand this just a little bit, but as we look at Scripture we know that God is timeless and that He can and does use the evil that people are responsible for to bring about His plans. The old Metaphor that He is constantly weaving a tapestry and on one side we see threads that look like it has been thrown together and on the other side we see the beautiful work that He has sewn together is true. Jesus is showing them this was all written about long ago. Darrel Bock summed this up well in his theology of Luke and Acts “From the divine perspective nothing happens outside of God’s plan.”

This was written about in the OT.

So what was written? How does God redeem?

Jesus starts with showing why His work was necessary. He focuses in on the Mission that He had while He was on earth. That is he had to suffer. Luke uses this word through out his two major works as a summary statement of the complete work of Christ that culminated in HIs crucifixition. Jesus wanted His followers to get this point, we see almost the same statement made in .

Luke 24:26 CSB

26 Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

Even with these two Jesus emphasized the need for His suffering. It wasn’t an accident or an event of mistaken injustice. It was not just in human terms but as we saw before it was part of plan. We can often take this for granted, but Jesus physically walked with these guys. They saw Him do amazing things, including change them and He knew they needed to have the proverbial curtain peeled back a bit so that they could see His plan and how it fit together.

The next thing He focuses on is His resurrection.

Even before His crucifixition the disciples struggled to see how dying would do anything. The famous episode of Jesus rebuking Peter is a great example of this. Take a look at it on the screen.

Matthew 16:22–23 CSB

22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”

Matthew 16:22-

Matthew 16:21–23 CSB

21 From then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”

Matthew 16:21-

From a psychological understanding we can see why Peter and the others would struggle with the Lord’s crucifixion. Heroes aren’t supposed to die that way. They knew Jesus was a conqueror, but they did not understand what he came to conquer. He is using this time to reinforce this reality, to show them how it works together in this grand plan the Lord put together and pointed to in the Hebrew Scriptures.

The next thing He focuses on is His resurrection.

It was common in first century Jewish thought to look forward to the resurrection on the last day, but this is not what Jesus is focused on. He is focused on His resurrection that is why He said on the third day. This established their hope and helped them see that God was never out of control. His resurrection was proof of this reality. Jesus was the conquerer that they longed for. He conquered death and He did it quickly. He fulfilled .

Psalm 16:10

Psalm 16:10 CSB

10 For you will not abandon me to Sheol; you will not allow your faithful one to see decay.

The one that was hung on the cross, was back. He had a new body free from the wounds of the cross, but carrying the scars of our sin. They saw him eat, they touched Him and their Hope is verified. Sin and death is conquered and and with that understanding they are sent out!

This brings us to the third part of His redemption plan. Remember, that redemption is birthed out of relationship. In the first two parts Jesus has shown them His personal work in the redemption process. With that they see how they have been redeemed and how their relationship is solidified in Him. Now He He pulls that curtain back even more and shows them them their role in His plan.

47 and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

It is important to see that all of our ministry starts and stays with Jesus. The fact that He centers on the events of His death and resurrection brings to light the centrality of the gospel in all that we do. This actually gives us a great freedom in how we do minsitry. To put it another way the frame work that the gospel provides gives us creativity to help meet physical needs, build friendships, live missionally and go on mission when He guides.

Luke 24:47–48 CSB

47 and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

Luke 24:47 CSB

47 and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Luke 24 CSB

1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes. 5 So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground. “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” asked the men. 6 “He is not here, but he has risen! Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’8 And they remembered his words. 9 Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest. 10 Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things. 11 But these words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. When he stooped to look in, he saw only the linen cloths. So he went away, amazed at what had happened. 13 Now that same day two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 Together they were discussing everything that had taken place. 15 And while they were discussing and arguing, Jesus himself came near and began to walk along with them. 16 But they were prevented from recognizing him. 17 Then he asked them, “What is this dispute that you’re having with each other as you are walking?” And they stopped walking and looked discouraged. 18 The one named Cleopas answered him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that happened there in these days?” 19 “What things?” he asked them. So they said to him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet powerful in action and speech before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. 21 But we were hoping that he was the one who was about to redeem Israel. Besides all this, it’s the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women from our group astounded us. They arrived early at the tomb, 23 and when they didn’t find his body, they came and reported that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they didn’t see him.” 25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures. 28 They came near the village where they were going, and he gave the impression that he was going farther. 29 But they urged him, “Stay with us, because it’s almost evening, and now the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 It was as he reclined at the table with them that he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us while he was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?” 33 That very hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and those with them gathered together, 34 who said, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they began to describe what had happened on the road and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. 36 As they were saying these things, he himself stood in their midst. He said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and terrified and thought they were seeing a ghost. 38 “Why are you troubled?” he asked them. “And why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself! Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” 40 Having said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 But while they still were amazed and in disbelief because of their joy, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 So they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate in their presence. 44 He told them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 He also said to them, “This is what is written: The Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, 47 and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And look, I am sending you what my Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.” 50 Then he led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 And while he was blessing them, he left them and was carried up into heaven. 52 After worshiping him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they were continually in the temple praising God.

To this point the disciples have been given opportunities to serve with Jesus and earlier in the gospels we see that He is preparing them to take this kingdom message and go, but they did not grasp the significance of this becuase they had not yet witnessed the crucifixition or resurrection. Now though they are called to proclaim the message the He is sending. That message is a call to repent for the forgiveness of sins. This is a short hand message but it gets to the heart of what John calls receiving Him in .

Sin is what separates us from God,

Isaiah 59:2 NIV84

2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

Psalm 68:18–20 CSB

18 You ascended to the heights, taking away captives; you received gifts from people, even from the rebellious, so that the Lord God might dwell there. 19 Blessed be the Lord! Day after day he bears our burdens; God is our salvation. Selah 20 Our God is a God of salvation, and escape from death belongs to the Lord my Lord.

Exodus 19:4–6 NASB95

4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. 5 ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

To repent from sins means to turn from the things we are doing, thinking, imagining that are not of God or are against His ways, and we turn to Him in order to live with HIm and for Him. When we do that He forgives. That is the message of Jesus, summed up quickly. It is a message of love and it is a message of movement so that all nations may hear this message and know the One who sends this beautiful message. If you have not received this message I encourage you to. Not flippantly or emotionally. This is a free gift but it is not a cheap one. When you receive Jesus it doesn’t make life all the sudden perfect, but it does make it more beautiful then you an imagine and that beauty is wrapped up in the relationship He bring you into.

For God’s redemption to go to the nations it had to be through a verbal engagement. One might call that a relationship! Or to put it more accurately a series of relationships.

Main Point: Through the resurrection Jesus joins us to His redemption plan.

Notices Jesus ends what we know as verse 47 with an interesting phrase. “Beginning at Jerusalem.”

Israel was supposed to be a come and see nation. Nations would see them, and they would proclaim the glory of God.

Notice how Jesus ends what we know as verse 47 with an interesting phrase. “Beginning at Jerusalem.” Jesus had come to Jerusalem to finish His earthly minsitry, but now He is sending the dicisples out from Jerusalem and there call is to go to all nations. That is a huge task that obviously did not stop with them. This invitation is also a call for all of us. When we enter relationships with Him we are all called to join Jesus in HIs Redemption plan. We are called like He says in verse 48 to be witnesses of these things. In fact that is the main point of what we are talking about here:

Jesus had come to Jerusalem to finish His earthly minsitry, but now He is sending the dicisples out from Jerusalem.

Luke 24:26 CSB

26 Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

The word “necessary” is actually the verb that shows that what Jesus did had to take place. In other words it was a divine necessity for HIm to suffer so that those who believe in Him would have eternal life. To put it another way Jesus could have said something like,

Through the resurrection Jesus joins us to His redemption plan.

It shows He willingly engaged His rebellious creation in order to be a substitute for us and receive our punishment

shows us this

But how do we do that? What does this look like day in and day out? I think John gives us a great case study in . As we wrap up our time together think of this case study as a call to action. Most of you have been doing the Christian life for sometime now and many of you seeking to have active ministries with your friends, family and coworkers so think of this as three helpful things to help you keep your minstry going. Some of you have decided that you are more comfortable staying on the side lines. You like take a play or two every once in a while but for the most part you want to watch. If you have entered into relationship with Jesus watching is not an option. Now dont go to the extreme and think I just called you to go Papa New Guinea living in a hut and eating weird stuff forever. I am just saying you need to start engaging in this redemption plan more. You might want to tune me out right now and that is your choice but if I can be so bold as to ask please just pray and ask God what He wants you to do from this case study? The first thing we need to do if we are going to be active in His redemption plan is to know Jesus. Let’s start at verse 9.

Know Jesus

He is referring back the the OT scriptures that revel His eternal plan.

John 21:9–14 CSB

9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. 10 “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus told them. 11 So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish—153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 “Come and have breakfast,” Jesus told them. None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

The definition of our mission 47 and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed(Infinitive) in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

We: Why do we look at the whys of the easter season? Isn’t this stuff we learn about in VBS, Sunday School or relegated to special services like Christmas and Easter? There is a simple saying that answers the why of this question. The first time I heard it was from the late John Crawford. He was a Navigator who spent a lot of his ministry in OKC. Many of you men have been effected by his minsitry, becuase he founded the Keymens conference. Almost every year I went to that conference and he spoke he would simply review his verses with another guy and share stories or sermonettes based on the verse he quoted. Anyway, one time I was talking with another guy and he was talking about the beauty of focusing on the basics disciplines of the Christian life and he quoted John saying, “John Crawford always says, “You never out grow the basics.”” This was a powerful statement for me. It reminded me, in context that I never need to let go of the disciplines of the Christian faith. It also reminded me that I can never loose sight of the work of Christ and how it impacts the core of everything I do. Paul put it this way,

This is really a summary statement for the whole Christian life right, but there are some realties that we need to wrestle with if we are going to continue to get to know Jesus over the coarse of our life time.

Notice in verse 9 where John points out that Jesus had been cooking them breakfast over a charcoal fire. That may not seem out of place until we realize that the only time this word is used in the NT is in where Peter denies Jesus for the first time. Jesus was bringing Peter back to the place where Peter messed up so that he can get right with Him. This little picture shows us an essential to being part of Christ redemption plan. Simply put we need to be in a rhythm of repentance with God and with others. As in as soon as we recognize our sin we need to confess it, clean up any earthly realities and move on. Learning from it but not dwelling on it. This keeps us clear with Him and allows us to grow in HIm. Another part of activily knowing Him is building a daily Time Along With God. You might notice this comes up a lot in our sermons. The reason why is becuase as things add into our schedules it is often one of the first things that goes out of our schedule. When we moan becuase we don’t see God working through us part of this issue is that we are not seeking to be with Him and thus we are not seeing where He wants us to work. How you do this is again one of those realities that He does not give a hard and fast way of doing it, but some essentials are His word and prayer. You might want to add some coffee or tea, or a coke! One thing is for sure though to join Him in HIs redemption process we have to actively relate to Him by knowing Him through pursing time with Him and clearing things up puts us in a place where we can see more readily how to join Him.

John 21:9-

There is a great spiritual application here, to get right with Lord after we have sinned we have to be sure to deal with our sin where it happens. Not physically, but spiritually a person has to admit what he/she has done and when. This brings us to a point of honesty and transparency with the Lord.

The next thing we need to do is to:

Choose Jesus

John 21:15–17 CSB

15 When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.” “Feed my lambs,” he told him. 16 A second time he asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.” “Shepherd my sheep,” he told him. 17 He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” “Feed my sheep,” Jesus said.

explain choose fish verse choosing Jesus

What I mean by Choosing Jesus is that we choose to live for Him in the situations of life. We choose Christ like Character in how we relate to our spouse, our children, our roommates and our neighbors. Choosing Christ is not elevating relationships above Him, and also not devaluing them in a twisted attempt to “put Jesus first”. Let me camp out on that statement for a second. Our choices to enter into marriage, friendships etc come with responsibilities that last for a season. That season might be a couple of months or might be the rest of our lives. We need to understand that when we say yes to someone that Yes is a big deal to Jesus and sometimes saying yes to Jesus is saying no to something that would be deemed more spiritual. On the other hand and this is not a contradiction it is just the other side of the coin, we also need to see that we can say yes to things that might take us out of our comfort zone. One of the things I see a lot with new parents or people in new situations is that there is an understandable turn from a default yes to a default no. I say this is understandable, because new situations come with a lot of unknowns, to us. They are not unknown to Jesus though. He knows our challenges so as we wrestle with our yess and nos we need to make sure that they are submitted to Christ. Let me give you a concrete example, families often struggle to find that balance of choosing Jesus in the midst of family challenges. Let me be clear family is a responsiblity that must be at the top of our priorities, but Jesus makes it clear that we must choose Him above all things. Unfortunately what we often do, especially some of us men is we hide behind our family in order to not wrestle with whether or not we follow Jesus. It can be something as small as going to community group to as large as going overseas. If Jesus has called you to something He is going to guide you in providing for the need you think you will be messing up. Hear me clearly, I’m not calling you to neglect anyone or to spend less time with family, I’m just calling you to wrestles with what Jesus ask you to do. Spouse you can help in this by encouraging each other to take opportunities and not complaining when someone does this. Now with that said, if you are neglecting your family, that is not right so stop doing that too! Whatever we do or whatever responsibilities we have we are called to choose Christ in those responsibilities. How we handle ourselves in our offices and in public interactions and at home is what builds our platform of witness.

And when we know and choose Jesus then we are able to

Follow Jesus.

Take a look at verse 18-19

John 21:8–22 CSB

8 Since they were not far from land (about a hundred yards away), the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. 9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. 10 “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus told them. 11 So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish—153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 “Come and have breakfast,” Jesus told them. None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. 15 When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.” “Feed my lambs,” he told him. 16 A second time he asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.” “Shepherd my sheep,” he told him. 17 He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” “Feed my sheep,” Jesus said. 18 “Truly I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.” 19 He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God. After saying this, he told him, “Follow me.” 20 So Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them, the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is the one that’s going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” 22 “If I want him to remain until I come,” Jesus answered, “what is that to you? As for you, follow me.”

- Follow Jesus

John 21:18–22 CSB

18 “Truly I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.” 19 He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God. After saying this, he told him, “Follow me.” 20 So Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them, the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is the one that’s going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” 22 “If I want him to remain until I come,” Jesus answered, “what is that to you? As for you, follow me.”

John

John 21:18–19 CSB

This passage is about Jesus’ discipleship plan for Peter. Now that Peter has gotten right with Jesus, Jesus takes him on a journey to the end of His life. He simply stated He says, “Peter when you were young you had the freedom to do what you wish, but when you get old, that is a relative statement, you will die like I did.” This is the type of promise you hope you do not get from Jesus. The promise of you will die by painful horrible death. We may not have that promise, but what we do have is the promise that when we follow Jesus we walk with Him, we do what He wants us to do and we see Him work in ways that our minds just cannot comprehend. He promises an abundant life, even as we walk through the valleys of the shadows of death. One of the beautiful things about this abundant life is that it is custom tailored for us. Sure there are similarities, but Jesus meets us where we are at and the command to follow Him through general in scope of the body of Christ is personal in individual paths.

WE see this verse 20-22

John 21:20–22 CSB

20 So Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them, the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is the one that’s going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” 22 “If I want him to remain until I come,” Jesus answered, “what is that to you? As for you, follow me.”

Peter’s first reaction is to compare. “Hey what about that guy?” But notice what Jesus says, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?” Jesus is showing Peter that, while John is his brother in Christ Peter does not get to know John’s plan at this point. Jesus wants him to focus on his plan and probably to digest it, that is why at the end saying that He says “Follow Me”.

Jesus calls us to join Him in the process of knowing Him and making Him known so that others may know Him. It is a beautiful linear process of generational engagement and redemption. It is a huge task but He promises to not leave us alone. Turn back to look .

Jesus calls us to join Him in the process of knowing Him and making Him known so that others may know Him. That is what being part of His redemption plan is about it. It is a beautiful linear process of generational engagement and redemption. It is a huge task but He promises to not leave us alone. Turn back to look .

Luke 24:49 CSB

49 And look, I am sending you what my Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.”

As we join Jesus in big steps and small steps we know something that these disciples did not know at this time. The empowerment of the Holy Spirit. We will talk about this more next week, but for now let me encourage you with this, as you decide to follow Jesus in engaging in His redemption plan He has not left you powerless, or alone. The Father and Son have sent the Holy Spirit to empower you, guide you, remind you and equip you to love God and make Him known!

What is your next step?

You

The only question is while you take that next step to follow? Will we as a church? As the band comes up I want to challenge to ask Jesus what that next step is for you, for your family and ask you to join in with River to ask what that next step is for us as a whole.

Romans 15:14–17 CSB

Notice Paul affirms the Romans, how they are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another, but he still felt it was necessary to write them one of the first theological treatises of the work of Christ. It is healthy for us to consisitently and rhythmically look at the work fo Christ so that we may be reminded not only of what He did, but also why He did it and how it impacts us every day. So my prayer is that no matter where you at in your relationship with Jesus as we walk through this section of the Story it leads us to a richer and deeper appreciation of the work of Christ which results in us loving Him following Him and living for Him. As we move forward lets do a quick recap of what we have covered so far.

The first week we sought to answer the question of “Why does the cross matter?” Looking into we saw that through His work on the Cross Jesus suffered the punishment we deserved, and in doing so He opened access to the Father which was signified through the curtain ripping from top to bottom. Last week as we started our look at the resurrection and we focused on the relational aspect of His work on Easter Sunday. How when He came back He showed Mary, the Emmaus Duo and the Disciples that He is alive, His Father is pleased with Him and that He cares for them. He did not just come back and send them marching orders. Those would come, but only in the context of relationship. He wanted His followers to know that He loves them and had not abandoned them, just like he wants us to know that today. Today we will continue our look at “Why the resurrection matters?” by focusing on His redemption plan.

Through the Cross Jesus suffered the punishemnt we deserved.

Through the Cross Jesus opened access to the Father

Last week we started our look at the resurrection and focused on the fact that the resurrection

emphasizes relationship. ()

Through the Cross Jesus suffered the punishemnt we deserved.

Through the Cross Jesus opened access to the Father

Last week we started our look at the resurrection and focused on the fact that the resurrection

emphasizes relationship. ()

)

Luke 24:46–47 CSB

As we follow Jesus one of the natural

Before we move forward I do not want to miss this point - Redemption is birthed out relationship. This fact is what ties what we talked about last week with what we will talk about this week. Through the resurrection Jesus shows His disciples that His work, what He has been talking about, why He asked them to follow Him and even His death were all meant to heal the broken relationship that we created by our rebellion. Now as we look at His redemption plan we see that every thing He did was not just for a select few Jews, but for the World so lets jump into what He says in Luke 24:46-47.

This fact is what ties what we talked about last week with what

Main Point: Our purpose is defined through Jesus’ resurrection.

Our purpose is defined by the beauty of the relationship Jesus established through the resurrection.

“This is what is written:

There is an important understanding here. When Jesus says, “this is what was written”

1. “This is what is written:

He is showing that what He went through was always in HIs plan and in HIs control.

This was written about in the OT.

How God has chosen to reveal His mission to the disciples and to us - The Messiah would

suffer(Infinitive) and

Verse 26 says

Luke 24:26 CSB

26 Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

to be necessary v. — to be unavoidably determined by prior circumstances; sometimes understood with contingency.

rise(Infinitive) from the dead the third day,

He is showing that what He went through was always in HIs plan and in HIs control.

This was written about in the OT.

It shows He willingly engaged His rebellious creation in order to be a substitute for us and receive our punishment

shows us this

Philippians 2:2–5 CSB

2 make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. 4 Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,

He is referring back the the OT scriptures that revel His eternal plan.

The definition of our mission 47 and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed(Infinitive) in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

47 and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed(Infinitive) in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

The Messiah would suffer(Infinitive) and rise(Infinitive) from the dead the third day, 47 and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed(Infinitive) in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

What does this look like? A case study:

- Know Jesus

a. 49 And look, I am sending you what my Father promised.

- Prioritize Jesus

- Follow Jesus

You

b. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered, from on high.”

Michael S. Heiser and Vincent M. Setterholm, Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology (Lexham Press, 2013; 2013).

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"Why Does the Resurrection Matter?" Week 2

Introduction

Introduction

The resurrection of Jesus reminds us that He is in control. -

Main Point: Through the resurrection Jesus joins us to His redemption plan.

Through the resurrection Jesus joins us to His redemption plan.

​

What is your next step?

Main Point: Our purpose is defined through Jesus’ resurrection.