The Big Picture! Wednesday night

"THE BIG PICTURE!"

Luke 18:31 Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus said, "Listen, we're going up to Jerusalem, where all the predictions of the prophets concerning the Son of Man will come true.

Luke 18:32 He will be handed over to the Romans, and He will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit upon.

Luke 18:33 They will flog Him with a whip and kill Him, but on the third day He will rise again."

Luke 18:34 But they didn't understand any of this. The significance of His words was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what He was talking about.

INTRODUCTION

The one advantage of growing older is the ability for one to understand how wonderful God’s work is in our life, you gain perspective as you age when you look back and see the hand of God and His leading.

Even things in your past that confused you, those times when you seriously wondered where God was and why in the world did God allow this tragic thing to happen.

All of those huge question marks in life begin to reveal God’s overall picture for your life.

I suspect that one of the reasons many older Christians seem so content, so at peace with God is that they have learned to not only see this, but to actually appreciate God’s overall hand operating in their past lives.

It gives a sense of great peace about the present and the future hand of God in their lives.

The ability to stay steadfast in the midst of heavy trials literally hangs on how well you learn to trust God with the big picture of your life.

The Bible teaches us that God has His hand operating in our lives, ALL OF OUR LIVES, not just when we feel blessed or His presence seems so real.

But God is especially at work during those times when we don’t see the big picture.

I. NO SURPRISES!

Luke 18:31 Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus said, "Listen, we're going up to Jerusalem, where all the predictions of the prophets concerning the Son of Man will come true.

The paths we walk through life do not catch the Lord by surprise!

Jesus not only knew what was coming, He was determined to follow the path His Father had set for Him.

It would not always be a pathway of comfort, in fact for Jesus it was about to be the path to a horrible death.

How we handle horrible situations will depend on how well we trust God with the paths He allows us to take!

There will be tough times in life, it is not always because of sin, or because God is angry, sometimes it is just the path of life in a fallen world where terrible things sometimes happen.

The disciples had a fixed theology in their minds of what walking with God would be like, and how the kingdom of God would come!

Unfortunately, it was a bad theology! The consequences of bad theology is that we lose sight of a loving God that will ALWAYS be with us!

This is why is it so critical to know your Bible, and to know your God – so that during times of stress and storms your eyes stay on Jesus and not on the circumstances of life!

Like Peter when he got out of the boat, as long as his eyes were on Jesus he was walking on the water, but once he got distracted and saw the storm he began to sink.

Jesus was about to share with His disciples what was coming – He knew even after He shared that they would not get it, at least for the moment!

Jesus had pulled them aside to let them in on the course they were all about to travel.

Jesus was trying to prepare them to stay steady and not lose heart.

But when the moment came they lost sight of everything Jesus said plainly to them!

Instead of confidence, they scattered when the moment came.

There ‘s a Determined Path!

Luke 18:31 where all the predictions of the prophets concerning the Son of Man will come true.

Jesus tells His disciples that what was coming was a determined path, it was set in the plan of God for the world.

If they would have understood that then, they would not have had to become so fearful and distressed.

Their faith might not have failed them if they had understood the Word of God better.

And they would not have felt so distressed that all was lost had they accepted the Word of God. This is still true today!

The Bible still holds the truths about reality that fit any generation, no matter what man says about the Word of God, man cannot change what God has said is true.

Too many Christians today are going crazy about how much our culture is changing, how sin is abounding - what about the virus.

Matt 16:18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means 'rock'), and upon this rock I will build My church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

II.  NECESSARY SOLUTION to a difficult problem

We have a problem Houston!

Jesus said clearly that He will be delivered over to the Gentiles and flocked and beaten and killed!

Luke 18:32 He will be handed over to the Romans, and He will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit upon.

Luke 18:33 They will flog Him with a whip and kill Him,

Nothing in this sounded good to the disciples.

The disciples simply did not have any place in their theological mind for this kind of event.

Jesus was sharing this NOW so they wouldn’t lose heart later, nor lose perspective!

However, when the moment came they were confused and afraid and they ran from Jesus.

You will do this too if you don’t understand that God has a big picture for your life.

If we fail to grasp the overall picture of God’s love for us through an entire lifetime we will fail to live in faith, in peace, and in joy.

I’ve done this myself! and you have done this!

Look at: Luke 18:33 the rest of that verse:

Luke 18:33 but on the third day He will rise again."

Jesus was giving them here the big picture!

Yes, He will be delivered up, yes he will be flogged, yes he will be crucified and buried - BUT He will rise again on the 3rd day!

God had a purpose in all this, and the Son of God will not be defeated, only the devil would lose!

Jesus was not giving them a horror story, He was sharing with them God’s Word and plan for the whole world, including them.

This is all true with Jesus, it will also be true for us.

John 16:33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world."

There are going to be horrible things happen to good people, but God is more than aware of the situation, He is actually there to carry us through it – it will fit into the bigger picture.

There may be things in our lives that never make sense this side of eternity, but you can trust God that they are not without His knowledge, consent, and purposes which will only fulfill His redemptive plan for your life

If we fail to understand this we may live in a state of misery, or misunderstanding God’s love for us!

It is possible to be a miserable Christian who fails to have genuine “joy” in their life – just fail to trust in the sovereign purposes of God for your life.

The final chapter hasn’t been written.

Sometimes, we will be allowed to see the connections, but many times we may not.

When we can’t, we must still stand in faith!

The same Jesus who had a big picture for them, has one for you too - don’t throw away your great confidence of faith!