The Words & Works of Jesus

Different Perspectives

Watching an event occur, we might think we fully understand the greater impact and affect of what we’re watching, or reading about.

That may not be accurate.

We are at the halfway point of this year’s Major League Baseball season. The Diamondbacks are much better than they were last year. They are average this year. They were horrible last year.

They might make the playoffs, but probably not. There’s always next year. Right, Cubs fans?

Do you remember when the D-Backs were a great team? 2001 they won a thrilling World Series against the Yankees.

The Yankees had won 3-straight World Series. AZ won the first 2 games in PHX. NY won the next three at their place. AZ blew out NY in game 6. Game 7 was tied going into the bottom of the 9th.

Mariano Rivera was pitching for the Yanks. He is a Hall of Famer, probably, the best closer in history.

Luis Gonzalez was up to bat with 1 out and the bases were loaded. Jay Bell was the base-runner on 3rd.

A classic match up, every kid dreams of this situation from Little League.

Could you tell what happened next, who won the game, by looking at these two front page newspaper pictures?

One from the AZ Republic, the other from the NY Post.

Both sportswriters watched the same game. Both photographers snapped pictures right after the winning run scored.

Same facts, same events but written by photoged and written by 2 different journalists w/ 2 different perspectives.

One, obviously biased toward the D-Backs and writing to their fans. The other, obviously biased toward the Yankees and writing to their fans.

If you only looked at one pic and read the corresponding article, you’d know what happened, but you wouldn’t get the entire picture of the impact of Luis Gonzalez’s hit, Jay Bell’s run scored, and Mariano Rivera’s loss.

One is enough. If you’re a fan of one of these teams, then you don’t need the other perspective. But, if you a historian, and a fan of baseball, then both stories are necessary to completely appreciate and understand what actually happened and its impact on all those involved.

The Yankees have been in the WS 40 times, and won 27 of them.

The D-Backs have been to the WS once. This was it.

Seeing the different perspectives is important to get the complete picture of who did what, the impact of their actions, and how it changed history.

As Xians, our life’s goal is, should be, to know Jesus better. B/C, the better we know him, the closer we will be to Him, the more we will be like Him.

Knowing Jesus, having a personal relationship w/ Him, means we have given Him our life, all of it. He has given us His. We’re saved.

Churchy term, we’ve been born again.

Just like the first time we were born, we got everything we are ever going to get. Now, it’s up to us to develop it.

Paul wrote it this way:

Ephesians 1:17–20 NIV

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,

Paul prayed that we would know Jesus better, be closer to Him, have a stronger relationship w/ Him.

So that we would fully appreciate the hope that sustains us, the inheritance that awaits us, and the power that indwells us.

It’s all there, we have it. We just don’t always live like it.

How do we do that?

Know Jesus better. You know Him. Let’s get to know Him better.

This morning, I’m starting a new series called the Words and Works of Jesus.

It will be a chronological study of the life of Christ. It will come from all 4 of the first books of your NT, called the gospels.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each of them wrote about the same ppl same events; but they each had their own perspective and they wrote to different audiences.

When studying one work, or one message of Jesus, we’ll look at all the passages it’s written about in these 4 books.

Studying all 4 books at the same time will give us a more complete knowledge of Who Jesus is, What He did, and why He did it that way for us.

A study like this gives us a broader perspective, confidence in the accuracy of their writing, and an appreciation that the words and works of Jesus began long before Xmas.

Knowing Him better will draw us closer to Him, we’ll have a stronger relationship w/ Him, and we will be more like Him.

We will be more certain of the hope that sustains us, more appreciative of the inheritance that awaits us, and more able to access the power that indwells us.

The Sources

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

3 were Jewish, 1 Gentile

2 eyewitnesses, 2 interviewed eyewitnesses

3 wrote late 50s or early 60s. 20 to 30 after Jesus Crux.

1 wrote as late as the 90s.

All four were outcasts of on sort or another.

All four wrote to different audiences for different reasons.

None of the 4 attempted to develop the story of Jesus historically or chronologically.

The middle eastern mind processed differently than we modern westerners. Their format made perfect sense to them even if the events were taken out of order.

They present the life of Jesus thematically and must be viewed as complementary and supplementary to ea other, not contradictory.

First, Matthew. Personally, he was a tax collector. No one liked tax collectors.

Imagine your son or daughter, a recent college grad and CPA exam passer. Excitedly calls to tell you they’ve got their first job. They’ve been hired by a large firm w/ great benefits.

Your question? Which of the big accounting firms demonstrated their brilliance by taking you on?

The IRS! Your reaction? Are you kidding?!

No one likes the tax man.

When the c.1 religious leaders insulted Jesus, they did so by claiming he partied w/ sinners, rightfully so. He’d go to dinner parties in their homes. And the invitees were all tax collectors and prostitutes.

They all would have dressed, acted, and spoken the roles, too.

But, that didn’t matter to Jesus. That’s who he came to save. Outcasts. PPL who knew they needed a Savior.

When Matthew responded to Jesus’s call, he had to process what he knew about Judaism, raised in the synagogue, taught the law from an early age, pressed to keep the rules, knew he couldn’t, hated by, but invited by Jesus who taught and lived grace.

Matthew wrote to a Jewish audience.

He realized who Jesus is. And they killed Him. Jesus is the Messiah, the King they’d waited for so long for. And they killed Him. So, what hope did they have?

An outcast who needed hope. But, humanly speaking, the odds stacked way against them.

He wrote to encourage the Jewish believers. He didn’t necessarily write to convince unbelieving Jews to believe, but to explain to believers why the kingdom had not been installed, yet, and the program progressing as they expected.

Jesus is the Messiah. He had to die. They didn’t miss the Kingdom. It is yet to come and they still have the chance to make it.

Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise God made to David that a descendant would sit on his throne forever and to Abraham that a descendant would bless the entire world.

He wrote in the late 50s, maybe early 60s. Jesus’s crux was in a.d. 33, so approx. 25-30 years later.

The question he asked and answered is, “I’m Jewish, but an outcast. We killed our King. So, what now?”

Second, Mark. Mark was Jewish and Roman, not an eyewitness. Yet, he was probably the first of the 4 to write his gospel, late 50s.

He interviewed eyewitnesses. He spent a lot of time w/ Peter and Luke.He traveled w/ Paul, who saw Jesus on the road to Damascus after his death and resurrection. Then, Jesus appeared to Paul to personally teach him before he set out as a missionary.

Mark’s gospel is pastoral, comforting. He wrote to Gentile Roman Christians. At the time, Rome was becoming very anti-Xian.

Nero was the Roman Emperor. He famously, if traditionally, fiddled while Rome burned. Then, blamed the blaze on the Christians.

He would dowse Christians in oil, mount them on poles, and light them on fire to light his garden at night.

It was stressful t/b a Xian in Rome.

Mark had a unique perspective on persecution, stress, grace and restoration. He traveled w/ Paul and Barnabas on their 1st missionary jny. Mid-trip, he quit. He abandoned them b/c the stress of the persecution was too great. He ran home to his mother.

For their 2nd jny, Barnabas wanted to give him a second chance. Paul wanted nothing to do w/ him. He wasn’t trustworthy. Couldn’t count on him. This conflict split Paul and Barnabas up. Paul took Silas and went one way. Barnabas got Mark and went another.

We know Mark and Paul later reconciled. So, Mark, wrote from the perspective of having messed up, been fired, been re-recruited, reconciled, and restored.

His theme is, Jesus is the Son of God. An OT term for the Messiah. Jesus is the Servant of God. And to be a follower of Jesus is to follow His example as a servant.

The question he asked and answered is, “ I’m Roman and Xian. I believe. But my government killed my Savior and they want to kill me. How am I supposed to live a faithful life like this?

Luke is the only non-Jew to write a gospel. He was physician and a historian. He, like Mark, was not an eyewitness to the events of Jesus. But he interviewed eyewitnesses.

He was an outcast b/c he was Gentile. The Jews would have seen him as a second-class person. Yet, he wrote scripture. He brought a decidedly non-Jewish perspective to the words and works of Jesus.

Maybe, b/c he was doctor, Mary felt comfortable opening up to him about Jesus’s conception and birth. He’s the only one who included these details.

Luke traveled w/ Paul, spent time w/ Peter, and others.

You’ll see in a minute for what purpose he wrote. He was detailed enough to get the facts straight. He will explain that we can have complete confidence in the facts of the words and works he wrote about.

Our faith is safe b/c it’s fact-based. There is enough evidence to be sure even though we don’t know everything.

He wrote that Jesus is the Son of Man. Easy for anyone to relate to.

The question he asked and answered is, “I’m not Jewish. Who is Jesus to me?” He is the Savior for anyone and everyone who believes.

The fourth gospel was written by John. John was an eyewitness. He was Jewish and one of the original 12 disciples w/ Matthew. He was the youngest disciple, a teenager when Jesus called him.

He was one of Jesus’s inside 3, w/ Peter and James. He heard more and saw more w/ these 2 than the other 9.

He was the last to write. He wrote his gospel about a.d. 90. He lived the longest. He saw all of his partners, fellow disciples and apostles die painful, martyrdom, deaths.

He chose his material carefully.

John 21:25 NIV

Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

And he was clear about the purpose of his writing

John 20:30–31 NIV

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

The question John asked and answered is, “After all these years, after all these deaths, after all these rules, what is most important? A personal relationship w/ Jesus.”

John had a special relationship w/ Jesus, he referred to himself in his gospel as the disciple whom Jesus loved.

His 3 letters, later in your NT, have the same priority of our relationship w/ Jesus and ea other.

It’s as if he was saying, I’m tired of all the rules, I just want a relationship w/ Jesus. What must I do to have that?

These are our only sources that we will look at in this series.

Now, let’s take some time and look at the introductions to 2 of the gospels.

First, Luke. If we’re studying the words and works of Jesus, can we trust what he wrote t/b accurate? If we are counting on this to save us and change our lives, can we trust it to be right?

It’s a Sure Thing

Luke 1:1–4 NIV

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

Many have tried, they recorded the oral traditions and interviewed eyewitnesses. We don’t know what happened to those writings. But, the HS only saw fit to preserve Luke’s and the other 3.

As a historian, he carefully recorded these events in an orderly, if not chronological way.

We have no idea who Theophilus was. The Greek term means “Lover of God.” You may recall they changed the names of adults based on personality and characteristics that emerged later in life.

Simon became Peter. Peter is a play on words, meaning, Rock. His faith is rock solid.

Theophilus was a lover of God. There were many named Theophilus. It could have been a group of official church leaders. Whoever it was, they were the primary recipients of the 2nd volume he wrote, Acts.

One thing is clear. As we study what he wrote, we can be know for certain that they are accurate. These events occured exactly as he described them according to the perspective he brought and to the audience he wrote.

He wasn’t writing to inform anyone of anything. Many already knew what happened. Others had heard the rumors. He was writing to convince them it was true.

This was an authoritative account of the words and works of Jesus, his message and miracles, about his person, purpose, and program.

Who He is, what he did, and why He did it for you and me.

We’re not Jewish, well, most of us aren’t, Who is Jesus to us?

In studying Jesus, we can think that his words and work began at Xmas. That’s when He was born.

But, in John’s preface, he reminds us that Jesus’s work began long before Xmas. Long before Mary conceived, delivered in the manger, and even longer before the Magi visited in Bethlehem.

Jesus was there before anything else here.

Old for His Age

John 1:1–18 NIV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

Jesus was there in the beginning, at creation. We just studied Genesis 1-11. It was Jesus who spoke on His Father’s behalf and made everything.

The Father designed it. Jesus, His Son, created it.

Jesus is the Word of God. He is what the words define as God. He is the manifestation of God. He is a living illustration of God.

He is the word and He speaks the word of God.

He was w/ God. So He is also a separate and distinct person from the Father. That word with, means he was in a personal relationship w/ God.

At the same time, Jesus is God. There is 1 God who exists in 3 separate and distinct persons; The Father, The Son, Jesus, and the HS.

We know He was born in year zero. He was crux’d, buried, and rose in year 33. But he was much older than that when it all happened.

He is the oldest baby to ever be born, about 4000 yrs old.

He appeared a few times in the OT. It was Jesus who showed up and told Abraham and Sara they were going to have a in their old age. And Jesus who rained fire down on Sodom and Gomorrah.

Jesus is the source of life. Apart from Him there is no life. So, we have to relate to Jesus to get life. We can’t go around Him, we have to go thru Him.

He has always been that. He created life. And, those who believed during the OT, believed in Jesus, even thought they didn’t know His name. Then knew God was going to have to do something to save them b/c they couldn’t save themselves no matter how many sacrifices they made and rules they kept.

He is light. In the bible, among other things, Light means knowledge of God. If we know Jesus, then we know God.

Darkness is ignorance. There are no degrees of darkness. Darkness has no definition other than the absence of light.

There are degrees of light. Whenever, wherever there is light, there is no darkness.

We sleep w/ dim light on in our bathroom. If it was completely dark we hurt ourselves getting to the bathroom at night. That light shines into our bedroom. B/C, there is the slightest light, it is not dark in our room and night and we are much less likely to get hurt.

Starting next week we’re going to study the Light, we’re going to study the Word. The more you know about Jesus, the better you will know Jesus.

Knowing Jesus is life-changing.

We can be absolutely certain the events that are described on the pages of your bible are accurate and true.

The better we know him, the more we will be like Him, and the easier we will all be to like.

Applications

Outcast

Are you feeling like an outcast? If you do, in any way, then you are exactly the kind of person Jesus would choose and use.

You’re perfect for whatever He chooses for you.

You can do and be what He calls for you. You may have to work at it. But you can do it.

You need to believe that If god has chosen for something, then He’s equipped you and empowered you, too.

Be that husband, wife. Be that friend. Be that ministry leader that only an outcast can accurately perform.

Relationships

Relationships are the priority.

John had the benefit of time to sort thru all the chaff to get to the wheat. He could get thru the sand and find the pearls.

The relationships around you are the most important assets you have. Treat them that way.

Confidence

Hebrews 11:1 NIV

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Wouldn’t it be great if someone who was there to see Jesus, heard him teach, saw him do miracles, was there when he calmed the storm, called Lazarus out of his tomb, walked on water, raised the widow’s son from the dead, and walked out of his own tomb. Wouldn’t it be great if someone who was there wrote down what they saw.

Wouldn’t it be great if someone talked to other eyewitnesses and wrote down what they all saw so we could read it and be sure that Jesus is the Savior.

And if He is the Savior, we can believe in Him, and be saved.

It is great.

Our faith is based on facts. But where our facts have cracks, our faith fills them up.

Live a confident life that Jesus has saved you, filled you, given you hope, promised you an inheritance, and empowered you to be able to use the same power that raised him from the dead to handle your toughest situations.

Studying all 4 books at the same time will give us a more complete knowledge of Who Jesus is, What He did, and why He did it that way for us.

A study like this gives us a broader perspective, confidence in the accuracy of their writing, and an appreciation that the words and works of Jesus began long before Xmas.

Knowing Him better will draw us closer to Him, we’ll have a stronger relationship w/ Him, and we will be more like Him.

We will be more certain of the hope that sustains us, more appreciative of the inheritance that awaits us, and more able to access the power that indwells us.