I Am

Luke 23:35-71

We have been going through Luke line by line all year, and we are rapidly coming to the end of the book and the end of our journey in this series. Last week we talked about the Last Supper, where in the midst of a traditional Passover service, Jesus forever changed the meaning of it all by saying that we should take the cup and the bread in the future not especially in remembrance of the delivery of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, but in remembrance of Jesus. The former things were but foreshadows of the much greater things which were about to happen before the disciples’ very eyes. Jesus said of the bread, “this is My body, broken for you,” and of the cup, “this is My blood, poured out for you.”

Now Jesus had been trying to tell them that He would soon die, for quite some time. But in the past, Luke says the disciples didn’t understand any of it. Once, in response, Peter said, “surely not, Lord!” and Jesus responded, “get behind Me, Satan.” The disciples, I think, didn’t understand any of it because they didn’t want to understand any of it. They have been following Jesus for more than three years, now, and have come to love Him because of who He Is. He showed strength, majesty, holiness, righteousness, purity, love, kindness, compassion, mercy. He showed all the attributes of God because He was God. And yet, He was man. He hungered, He thirsted, He became tired – in short, He was 100% human, God in the flesh, subject to all the weaknesses and limits of the human body. He could feel pain, He could bleed, and He could die.

Last Words

Luke 22:1-28

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. – Luke 22:1-2

Over the past several weeks we have seen more and more signs that our year-long journey into the book of Luke is rapidly coming to an end. Jesus entered Jerusalem on the foal, or colt, of a donkey amid shouts of “Hosanna” and “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” and He knew that He was entering Jerusalem for the last time, in this life. As He looked down upon Jerusalem, He wept, because He knew it would not be long until it and its people were utterly destroyed. Last week, John taught from Luke 21, where Jesus gave more details about what He correctly foresaw would happen to Jerusalem. Jesus taught about signs of this as well as signs of His eventual return.

Signs of the End

Luke 21:5-38

As a recap, we are now in the final week before Jesus’ crucifixion. Carl taught three weeks ago on the triumphal entry of Christ. Jesus is now in Jerusalem. It is the Passover week. Pilgrims are coming from all over the world to celebrate in the Holy City. Jesus has been totally rejected by the leaders who are now actively seeking some way to kill him. We’ve also seen him cleanse the temple, drive out the money changers, and take authority in His Father's house. And He is teaching daily in the temple. The answers he gives are so filled with truth and authority that no one dares to ask him any more questions.

I want to take the scenic route to get into this passage today. I spent a considerable amount of time reading about the Temple. (In case you wanted to know what considerable means that means I spent too much time reading about the Temple.) But, I think it is helpful to understand some of the later verses regarding the destruction of Jerusalem.

Lord of the Living

Luke 20:27 - 21:4

As you can tell, our format is a little different today. In our remaining time, I want to briefly share some thoughts from our passage today in Luke, and then we will open up into a sharing time. I would like the first part of our sharing time to be a discussion of this passage, so as I share, don’t just take notes, but also write down any questions that occur to you or any thoughts you have that relate to this passage.

I want to start by giving a brief recap of where we have been in the past several weeks in Luke. The second half of Luke 19 commences with Jesus’ final entrance into Jerusalem, an entrance marked with contrasts – proclaimed with shouts of Hosannas to be a conquering King, and yet riding on a humble colt of a donkey. From here on, He is not going to leave the Jerusalem area – He has come here to fulfill His purpose; He has come here to die. Recall that He wept over Jerusalem because its people were blind to the truth of the things of God, and He wept because He foresaw the total destruction of Jerusalem.

Whose Authority?

Luke 20:1-26

Authority is an interesting thing. A few weeks ago I read about a police chief who decided not to prosecute evictions due to foreclosures on houses. My first thought was, “He can’t do that!” He doesn’t have the authority! Does he have the authority? It is an interesting question, one I am not going to try to answer today.

But I will point out that the chief is himself under authority. He was hired, and he can be fired. If he breaks laws, he can be arrested, tried, found guilty, and jailed just like any other person. To some degree, everyone is under authority. This is true for municipalities, for states, and for our federal government, at least it is supposed to be true for our federal government. Our founding fathers went to great lengths setting checks and balances on every facet of government, between the three branches of government, precisely so that everyone is under authority and no one can become a tyrant. In terms of the structure of our government, the founding fathers had no greater purpose than this. They did this because they believed with deepest conviction that people have rights that come straight from God, and no one should have the authority to infringe on those rights or take them away.

Coming in the Name

Luke 19:28-48

The opening part of our passage this week takes place at the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is a mountain to the east of Jerusalem. It rises to about 2500 feet above sea level. Bethany and Bethphage lie near the foot of the mountain, and the garden of Gethsemane is on its western slope. In the Old Testament, The Mount of Olives is mentioned directly or clearly alluded to in II Samuel 15, in Ezekiel 11, Zechariah 14, I Kings 11, II Kings 23, and Nehemiah 8. In the New Testament, it is mentioned here (and in the parallel passages in the other gospels) and in Acts 1 – the latter because the Mount of Olives is the location in which Jesus, after His resurrection, ascended to heaven. In 70 AD, Roman soldiers from the 10th legion camped on the Mount during the Siege of Jerusalem, which ultimately led to the destruction of the city.

Because it is near Jerusalem, and because of prophecies concerning it, Jews have always sought to be buried on the mountain. From Biblical times to today, the mountain has been used by Jews as a cemetery. There are estimated to be 150,000 graves on the Mount, and tradition holds that Zechariah himself is buried there.

What Do You Want?

Luke 18: 31-43
Today is the final Sunday of the month, and so we will be partaking in the bread and the cup together, remembering the Lord Jesus and His sacrifice for us. We have been going through Luke line by line, and the passage we come to day is quite appropriate, as we shall see.

Before we look at today’s passage, however, I want to go back a bit to two previous situations described in Luke. Because we have already seen them in Luke, and because Mark’s gospel gives a bit more detail in each case, we will look at these passages in Mark. Here is the first passage:

What Must I Do?

Luke 18:1-30
“Hello, I’m calling about a research proposal that was approved 11 months ago, but no contract has yet been issued. Yes, I’ve called before.” My father owns a small business in California that primarily does chemistry research for the US government. Last October, at the start of the new fiscal year, he was approved on a fairly sizable research project by a project manager for a research office within the US government. These projects are highly competitive, as funds have become scarce, and being approved on such a project is a significant achievement. It means that a highly polished detailed research proposal has been prepared, and that it has gone out for review – both reviewed by people within the government and by peer reviews – and that it has risen to the top or near the top of the stack. After receiving notification of approval from the office of the project manager, it goes to a financial affairs/proposal procurement/federal compliance branch or agency, and one would expect that after a few weeks of going back and forth over contract details, the project is awarded and the funds become available. Well, maybe you would expect that – but after years of talking with my father, I would not expect that. It is always slower and more complicated than it should be.

The Coming Kingdom

Luke 17:20-37

On several occasions, I have been asked if I would do a series of teaching on the Book of Revelations. My answer has been that Revelations is probably the last book I would consider teaching on, because it is so confusing. It is powerful – the imagery is awesome, and it is every much as much a part of the infallible, inspired Word of God as is every other book of the Bible. In addition, we know that all of God’s Word is profitable to study, but I just feel overwhelmed when I imagine trying to teach a series on Revelations.

To be honest, there are three books of the Bible I tend to read differently from the others. For these three books, what I like to do is read the whole book at a single sitting. After I finish, I like to just sit back and reflect in general terms on what I have read. For these books I am much more comfortable just trying to get the big picture than I am about mining the book for meaning, line by line. If you are curious what these three books are, they are Job, the Song of Solomon, and Revelations. Now there is nothing wrong with reading books of the Bible in this fashion – in fact, I would say we should read the Bible in as many different ways as we can – use different translations, read large passages sometimes, sometimes read just a single verse, and so on. When we read the Bible, our goal should be to allow God to use it to transform our lives, and because of this, the last thing we want to do is fall into a rut.

Faith and Thanks

Luke 17:1-19

Well, a little more than a month ago, I promised not to “hold back” in my teachings. Our passage today from Luke 17 can really be broken into four hard-hitting sections. I am going to go through these one at a time, and I guess all I can say is that you should remember Hebrews 4:12:

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12

In other words, prepare to be carved. Jesus’ teachings here are strong medicine. Are you ready? I would charge you with another verse, I Cor. 16:3b, which I really love in the King James version: Quit you like men, be strong! It is fascinating to me how over the centuries we have somehow turned the meaning of “quit” almost into the opposite of what it used to mean! The NIV says, “Be men of courage, be strong!” It is the opposite of quitting – it means to stand firm and take it. So get ready, don’t flinch, and let’s start with Verse 1: