They Worshipped Him Praising God
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They Worshipped Him Praising God
They Worshipped Him Praising God
Today, we are going to wrap up on study through the Gospel of Luke.
This will be the 54th message in this series and we will have covered 24 chapters.
May 2nd, 2021 is when we started this.
I am a bit surprised we got through this in 14 months!
Let’s get into this so we can see how this ends, well, how it begins!
Then he said to them, ‘This is what I was talking to you about when I was still with you. Everything written about me in the law of Moses, and in the prophets and the Psalms, had to be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Bible.
Now, there are a couple of things here.
Remember, he is with the eleven and others, maybe the women are there with him too.
And after all they have see, and now seen the risen Lord, who has broken bread with them (NOTICE NO DRINKING, he would not drink with them until he returns)
They still don’t get it.
It is a strong accusation from the Gospel writer against us.
That we just won’t understand, we are always trying to GAIN POWER.
OPENED THEIR MIND: Explain, made them understand, not MYSTICAL.
‘This is what is written,’ he said. ‘The Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and in his name repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, must be announced to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are the witnesses for all this.
Okay, I would like to say that this was a clear message found in the Tanak, the Hebrew Bible.
But it is not.
In fact, we are going to spend a few Sunday’s unpacking this verse by taking a quick journey through the Hebrew Bible.
Now, look: I’m sending upon you what my father has promised. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.’
We are not going to know the full impact of this until you read Acts and the rest of the NT.
Which you should do!
This PROMISE IS A BIG DEAL!
Then he took them out as far as Bethany, and lifted up his hands and blessed them. As he was blessing them, he was separated from them and carried into heaven.
You can get more detail on this in the first chapter of Acts.
But there is something here that is important.
Is it taking them to Bethany? NO
Is it lifting his hands to bless them? Yes, but NO
Is it the manner in which he departs
Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, make music to the Lord, (Rise) To the one who rides on the highest heavens of old —there, he gives out his voice, a vigorous voice.
Let all that I am praise the Lord. O Lord my God, how great you are! You are robed with honor and majesty. You are dressed in a robe of light. You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens; you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds. You make the clouds your chariot; you ride upon the wings of the wind.
This message came to me concerning Egypt: Look! The Lord is advancing against Egypt, riding on a swift cloud. The idols of Egypt tremble. The hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear.
Yeshurun, there’s none like God, riding the heavens as your help, the skies in his majesty.
(BTW…that word help, ezer, same word that is used of the woman in Genesis 2)
NOW…if a number of those who have spent time with Jesus when he OPENED THE SCRIPTURES TO THEM witness what is about to happen, they are going to draw a conclusion.
For this, we need to go to Acts, another book that was written by Luke. Luke-Acts could be considered a single book.
So when the apostles came together, they put this question to Jesus. ‘Master,’ they said, ‘is this the time when you are going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ ‘It’s not your business to know about times and dates,’ he replied. ‘The father has placed all that under his own direct authority. What will happen, though, is that you will receive power when the holy spirit comes upon you. Then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judaea and Samaria, and to the very ends of the earth.’
Notice their question…They are still concerned with restoring the Kingdom to Israel.
Notice HIS RESPONSE…It is none of your business to know the dates and times.
(Concern with end times things is a bit of a waste of time)
(Concern with the signs, paying attention, is important)
BUT IT DOES NOT EVER SUPERSEDE OUR RESPONSIBILITY...
And where does this witnessing start? Jerusalem (Keep that in mind)
As Jesus said this, he was lifted up while they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
Now, given what we just read in the Hebrew Scriptures, what conclusion are they going to draw from this?
If Jesus rides the clouds, and we just read that the LORD rides the clouds, then Jesus was God walking the earth with them.
Which then causes them to respond...
They worshipped him, and went back to Jerusalem in great joy. They spent all their time in the Temple, praising God.
This is a great example of a chiasm in scripture that conveys the outcome of something they just learned.
Jesus has just completed walking them through the scriptures to explain the Messiah.
And he has just departed from their presence.
When they put together all that HE:
Did
Said
Explained
Plus his departure to heaven
Has convinced them that HE is WORTHY of WORSHIP.
And that is where Luke leaves us.
The question, from a literature point of view is this:
Will they go to Jerusalem (Yes)
Will they go to Judea and Samaria (Yes)
Will they go to the very ends of the earth (Yes and No)
That last part is left to you and me.
When I started this study through Luke, my hope was that you would see that you are playing a ROLE in the GREATEST COSMIC STORY OF REDEMPTION ever told.
That it WAS MORE than just a get out of HELL free card.
It was about you being the hands and feet of Jesus, bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth wherever you may go.
And the Kingdom is not a “place” on earth.
The Kingdom goes with you.