A number of years ago The Smalltown Poets—who remain one of my favorite CCM bands—covered the song, “A Beautiful, Scandalous Night.” It is a powerful meditation on the horrific and glorious reality of Christ’s death. Here is a video to the song, done by the original artist, The Choir.
As you approach Easter, may the truths of this song flood your heart with joy and thanksgiving. The tree which brought Jesus death has brought us life.
Go on up to the mountain of mercy To the crimson perpetual tide Kneel down on the shore Be thirsty no more Go under and be purified
Follow Christ to the holy mountain Sinner, sorry and wrecked by the fall Cleanse your heart and your soul In the fountain that flows For you and for me and for all
At the wonderful tragic mysterious tree On that beautiful scandalous night you and me Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white On that beautiful scandalous night
On the hillside you will be delivered At the foot of the cross justified And your spirit restored By the river that pours From our blessed Saviors side
At the wonderful tragic mysterious tree
Go on up to the mountain of mercy To the crimson perpetual tide Kneel down on the shore be thirsty no more Go under and be purified
At the wonderful tragic mysterious tree On that beautiful scandalous night you and me Were atoned by his blood and forever washed white On that beautiful scandalous night
Describing the role of the interpreter or biblical reader, Lawrence quotes Jerome saying,
The office of a commentator is to set forth not what he himself would prefer, but what his author says (41, Jerome’s letter “to Pammachius, 17).
Then discussing the task of exegesis, Lawrence cites John Owen,
There is no other sense in it than what is contained in the words whereof materially it doth consist . . . In the interpretation of the mind of anyone, it is necessary that the words he speaks or writes be rightly understood, and this we cannot do immediately unless we understand the language wherein he speaks . . . the [idiom] of that language, with the common use of and intention of its expressions (41, John Owen, Works, IV: 215, quoted in J. I. Packer, Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life, 101)
Finally, Lawrence supplies his own helpful axioms that the parts of Scripture (words and phrases) must be related to the whole.
So the basic unit of meaning is not the word, but the sentence. And the unit that determines what sentences mean, and therefore the words in them, is the paragraph (42).
Interpretation actually begins with the whole, not the part. Then, in the context of the whole, we work backwards through the parts, back to sentences, back all the way down to individual words. What we learn and discover there then takes us back to the whole with a more accurate and perhaps nuanced understanding of meaning (42).
Today, ponder these thoughts and put them into practice. Much interpretive error stems from microscopic reading of Scripture and trying to interpret the Bible in light of our personal opinions and experiences. Rightly, Lawrence’s observations, if taken to heart and applied, will help correct much improper Bible reading.
[This article was originally featured in our hometown newspaper, The Seymour Tribune].
What makes Good Friday good?
What is good about illegal arrests, puppet trials, executing the innocent, and setting free the guilty? Nothing. And everything. For centuries, Christians have deemed the Friday of Jesus’ death “Good Friday.” But why? How? When the day centers on death and defeat, what makes it good?
How we answer that question says so much about what we believe about God, the gospel, and our own lives. In a word, the event that makes Good Friday “good” is what happened on three days later.
When the sun went down on that fateful Friday, the disciples hid themselves from the world. On the Sabbath (Saturday), they did not move. But on the first day of the week, they awoke before dawn, walked to the place where Jesus was. And what happened next changed everything! The tomb was empty. The Lord was risen. His promises were true, and what the disciples would discover is that the worst day in history has now become the best day in history.
This historical reality has and will changed the world, and has the power to change every person who believes in it. Consider: Paul says that in comparison to the eternal weight of glory, today’s sufferings are light and momentary. While the pangs of death do not feel light and momentary, the power of the resurrection reinterprets our current pain, loss, and heartache, even as it reinterpreted Christ’s cruciform execution.
Even better, the resurrection is not just a palliative for temporary relief. It is not a best-selling strategy to make you feel better about yourself. No, the resurrection goes deeper. It tells us that life exists on the other side of death. Our best life is not now. It is later.
This is the gospel message: Jesus died on a rugged cross so that from the grave, he could raise the dead. Jesus does not help us find a way in the wilderness of life. Resurrection is not just a spiritual experience; it is a reviving flesh and blood. The broken bodies of believers buried in the ground will be raised to new life on the last day, and the goodness of Good Friday will be experienced for eternity. This is what makes Good Friday good.
This week as you prepare for Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, remember that the resurrection of Christ has the power to overturn the horrors and heartbreaks of life. Even more, the cross and resurrection of Christ secure the promise of abundant life. For all who call on the Lord will find the goodness of Good Friday to overwhelm the badness of any other day. Resurrection life is what Christ offers, and that is what is makes Good Friday good.
[This article was originally featured in our hometown newspaper, The Seymour Tribune].
When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they hid. And we, their children, have followed suit. Without even knowing it, men and women hide themselves behind alcohol, drugs, clothes, makeup, cars, accomplishments, hobbies, sarcasm, aggression and on it goes.
Instead of using God’s created world to glorify God, we have become masters at taking his creation and using it to serve our own purposes. With money we attempt secure our future; with success we try to hide our flaws; and with entertainment we cover up our loneliness and disappointment.
And yet, spiritually separated from God, we can never mine from the world what we lost in the Garden. Like Adam and Eve, we attempt to look good with fig-leaf fashion. But this only increases our vulnerability.
How many things do you do in order to avoid failure, increase status, or preserve your reputation? Left to ourselves, we are enslaved to our hiding places.
But there is a way out. In 1 John 1:9, the beloved disciple writes, “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Amazingly, the root cause of our fears —sin — is the very thing that God tells us to bring before him.
Amazingly, even as objects of his wrath, God is not looking for us to do good works to regain his favor. The Bible does not say that God is a friend of good saints. It says he is a friend of sinners.
For those who come to him confessing sin, he promises pardon and cleansing. And notice what he says. Forgiveness in this verse is not based on his grace but justice.
This is the beauty of Christianity. At the cross, Jesus made it possible for those who live a life of hiding to be legally pardoned from their sin and lovingly adopted by God their Father. In Christ, there is no penalty left to pay, and thus there is no reason left to hide.
In short, when a sinner receives forgiveness, it unshackles them from the prison of their own making. Instead of micromanaging their world to set up a persona that protects them, they can be who God created them to be, and more. They can reach out to others with the same love they have received.
Friend, sin hidden will destroy you, but sin confessed to God will free you. Will you put down your fig leaf? God has a robe of righteousness to securely clothe you.
Last year, when the storms ripped through Joplin, I felt helpless to do anything, so I prayed and wrote. This year, when the storms came a little closer, our church was able to help and will continue to help our neighbors. Today, in the face of destruction, it was a great sight to see many local churches, Southern Seminary students, and others pitching in to help.
Keep Henryville, Indiana in prayer. Pray for Toby Jenkins and his church (First Baptist Henryville), for their ministry to the community, for the gospel to go forward, and for many whose lives have been broken to be put back together by the only power that gives life–the resurrecting message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In light of the storms that passed through Henryville, Indiana yesterday — a town located just thirty miles south of Seymour — I thought a re-post of my article reflecting on the tornadoes in Joplin last year would be appropriate: “The Words of Christ and Midwest Storms.”
The Words of Christ and Midwest Storms
When the winds raged and the waves threatened, the disciples awoke Jesus with fear in their hearts. Jesus arose, stood on the storm-tossed boat and spoke three simple words, “Peace! Be still!” The winds ceased and the storm ended faster than it came (Mark 4:39).
In that moment, the terrified fishermen were more frightened by the man in their presence with the power to subdue nature than they were of drowning under the heavy waves. God’s Son in human form had just displayed his divine power, and that with a word. On that lakeside journey, Jesus stopped the storm with a sentence. On May 22, 2011 in Joplin, Missouri and again on March 2, 2012 in Henryville, Indiana, he didn’t.
For the disciples, Jesus stopped the storm and it led to a question of his identity: “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (4:41). For the survivors in Joplin, the question is different. For them and for anyone staggering from a recent world-halting tragedy, the question is closer to that of the Psalmist, “How long oh Lord? How long will you hide your face from me?” (Ps 13:1). Because Jesus word did not stop the storm before it hit last week, there is now the need for Jesus word to come speak “Peace. Be Still.”
With such a need in mind, let me suggest four words from God’s Word that I pray may bring a biblical perspective to those bruised and broken by the storm, and to those ministering to them.
An Unspoken, Tear-Filled Word
In the face of raw tragedy, we have at least one example where words were not spoken. When Jesus came to Mary and Martha at the death of Lazarus, he came to some of his closest friends. Jesus loved Lazarus, and yet the Bible actually suggests that when Jesus learned of his illness, he intentionally waited so that Lazarus might die (John 11:5-6). When Jesus arrived, Martha came to meet him, saying, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (11:21)—surely a similar sentiment arises from Joplin.
Yet, Jesus response to Martha and Mary did not express detached stoicism or impatience with broken people. To the contrary, he grieved with these sisters, with perfect understanding. When Jesus encountered the death of Lazarus, he wept (John 11:35). While he knew that his own death and resurrection would one day restore this man to eternal life, tears were the most appropriate response. For those left speechless by the horrorific damage—personal and material—Jesus sees. Jesus knows. Jesus understands.
A Word of Resurrection Life
Jesus weeping is not hopeless, but hopeful. In the face of death, Jesus does not chain himself to the grave. He, instead, points people to the resurrection. John 11:23-26 records the dialogue that Jesus had with Martha, where he spoke of Lazarus’ impending resurrection: “Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
Staring into the eyes of someone whose heart was overwhelmed with unspeakable loss, Jesus spoke the only words that can defeat the sting of death. He promised life from the grave. In fact, Jesus intention of permitting Lazarus death was to show the world that he had the power to raise the dead. While calming the storm with a word demonstrated great power; reconstituting life and raising the dead revealed more.
So it will be at the end of the age. All those who have died in Christ will be raised in Christ (Rom 6:3-4). Jesus’ own resurrection confirms that he is the first-fruit of those who will be raised to life. While this does not immediately remove the pain and anguish of death, it does not allow death to have the last word. Instead, Jesus can say: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor 15:54-55).
A Word of Sadness and Sober Judgment
Of course, there were other victims of the storm who did not know the Lord. For them and for those who knew them, Jesus words to Martha will not comfort. Instead for them, and this word is perhaps the most bitter of all, the Lord’s judgment is swift. While trusting in themselves and in their future plans, their life was immediately extinguished (Luke 12:20). Jonathan Edwards’s captured this dreadful reality in his sermon ‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” when he expounded Deuteronomy 32:35, “Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’
For some in the storm who had rejected the gospel, this was their appointed day of judgment. While this does not necessarily bring sentimental comfort, it brings repose in the fact that the “stormy winds fulfill[ed] his word” (Ps 148:8). Thus, in the particular providence of God, the same wind that brought some into eternal rest brought others into eternal torment. Indeed, all things work according to his sovereign will.
At the same time, it must not be forgotten that the death of the unconverted simultaneously grieves God, just as it does man. Ezekiel 18 records that the Lord “[has] no pleasure in the death of anyone” even the wicked (v. 23, 31). In this complex but complementary way, the God who delights in the judgment of evil-doers is yet grieved by their deaths.
A Word of Repentance to the Rest
This leads to the most pressing word that Jesus has for us who read this today. In Luke 13, when some of Jesus followers bring up the subject of human tragedy, Jesus response is surprisingly harsh. Responding to the slaughter of some from Galilee, Jesus brings up the death of eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them. He says, “Do you think that [these dead] were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (v. 4-5).
Jesus rebukes anyone who says that the tragedy in Jerusalem or Joplin happened because they deserved it more than me. Jesus tells us who live to see these deaths as a divine lesson: Death is the judgment of God that is coming upon all men. It is appointed for all men to die because all men have sinned against God. While some die “peacefully” in their sleep, others die under twisted rubble. The typological lesson from Joplin and every other cataclysmic tragedy is that there is coming a day when all men will be caught up in the whirlwind, and unless they have turned from sin and to Christ, they will face a greater danger than an F-5 tornado.
Knowing When to Speak and When Not To
Today, Jesus of Nazareth cannot be found walking the shores of Galilee. He is enthroned in heaven, where he governs his church and intercedes for his saints. Consequently, it is not Jesus who speaks an audible word today; it is his church. You and I who comprise the body of Christ are his hands, his feet, and his mouthpieces. Thus, it is not enough to speculate what Jesus would say. By the leading of his Spirit, we must speak.
In our immediate context, one week removed from the tragedy in Joplin, Jesus’ words in Luke 13, do not yet seem appropriate. In cases of tragedy, timing matters. Jesus knew this. When he arrived at Lazarus’ grave, he wept and then offered gospel hope. Yet, when he was confronted with a wrongful understanding of theodicy, he proffered a more robust theological answer. In the first case he knew to stress mercy; in the second to teach about God’s judgment.
Pastors and parishioners need to understand both of these responses and when to employ them. As Ecclesiastes teaches, there is a time for everything—a time to cry and a time to catechize; a time to speak and a time to refrain from speaking.
Indeed, for those facing this tragedy firsthand, sorrow and prayers of silence are appropriate. Words get in the way of feelings that are best expressed with groans and cries. Yet, there will come a day when words need to fill the gap, and when they do, the only comforting Word will come from the one who said, “Peace. Be still.”
Until that Resurrection Day, we all groan and wait with anguish. Tragedies like the one in Joplin serve to remind us that the world still quakes under the curse of God. It awakens us from our comfortable slumber. And it calls each of us to repent of our sluggishness and sin and to prepare to meet our God, because none of us know when the master will return or when the whirlwind will strike.
May God be pleased to comfort the people of Joplin in the wake of this tragedy, and may those who know the Lord know how and when to speak words of comfort and hope into the lives of those suffering in the storm.
Thus far we have asked four questions about discipleship: (1) What Did Jesus Do? (2) What is a disciple? (3) Who makes disciples? And (4) How do you make disciples?
Today we finish by simply asking the question, Why? Why should you make disciples? Let me give five answers that will serve as great motivation for stepping out in faith to make disciples.
First, It is disobedient to ignore this command (Matt 28:19). The Great Commission is for every born-again believer in Jesus Christ. To ignore this command is to ignore the heart of Jesus. Making disciples is not an optional aspect of the Christian life for a select group of Christians. It is part and parcel of every Christian’s calling. Some may be more gifted at it than others, but all are called to be participants.
Second, the presence of God is found in it (Matthew 28:20). The promise of God’s nearness is not found in your daily devotion or in a cabin retreat. It is found in the ministry of making disciples. While such personal times of reflection are sweet, God’s word promises more emphatically his presence when we are laboring with him in finding, winning, and growing the sheep that Christ has purchased with his own blood.
Third, the promise of success is given in this task. (Matthew 16:18). Disciple-making is guaranteed to work. Sure, there will be many who you meet and minister to whom may fall away. However, there will be others who will have their place marked out in heaven because of your willingness to serve. You cannot save anyone, but God has chosen to use means (you and me) to build up his church. And like the Father’s promise to the Son that his death would effect the salvation of his children, so we are given the promise that our labors will not be in vain (1 Cor 15:58). The word of God never returns void, God has guaranteed that his church will be built, and he has shown us that this building comes through disciple-making.
Fourth, your greatest Christian joy will be had in disciple-making (1 Thess 2:19-20). Just ask Paul. His glory and joy were found in the men and women that he won to Christ and established in the faith. His greatest anxiety was seeing disciples he had invested in turn from Christ. Truly, if you are a Christian, this will be the source of your greatest joy, too. The treasure you are to lay up in heaven is people–those whom you lead to the Lord and help along the way will be your greatest joy.
Fifth, churches grow as we make disciples.The truth is, only disciple-making guarantees church growth. The one “product” that the church should be producing is disciples. Just read John 15:1-8. When the church abides in the Word of God (i. e. the gospel) and the gospel permeates that church, disciples will be born unto the glory of God.
All other activities must be subservient to this main purpose. Therefore, block parties, special events, Power Team performances, and movies may draw a crowd, but they do not make disciples. Children’s programming, bus ministries, friend days will get people in our building, but they will not make disciples. A cool website, newspaper ads, and yard signs will announce a church’s presence, but none of these things guarantee disciple-making. All of these events must be linked up with slower, more intentional process of life-on-life discipleship.
What This Means
If you commit to making disciples, you are committing to doing church in a more simple fashion. While many programs and activities may be going on at your church, only one thing is necessary–Jesus Christ and the preaching of his gospel in the context of loving relationships that are growing disciples.
Similarly, if you commit to making disciples, you are committing yourself to slow growth. If you want an instant helper in the home, buy a robot. Don’t have a baby. Children take time to rear, but in the end there is great reward in seeing a baby become a boy become a man, one who receives and lives out all the priorities you instill in him. So it is with making disciple-making. While it takes time and comes with seasons of pain, slow growth in pouring your life (with the gospel) into the life of another will be impact disciples in ways programs cannot.
Finally, if you commit to making disciples, people may wonder what you are doing to grow the church.After all, the point of church growth is larger numbers, right? It is true that numbers do provide a means of measuring the ministry, but perhaps we should find a quotient that divides the number of believers by the time that they stay and grow. Of course, this sort of metric is impossible, but in our discussions about numbers, we should add to the conversation not only how many converts are won to Christ, but how many of those converts are grown up to be soul-winners themselves. Or to use more biblical terminology, how many of the disciples made in your ministry are reproducing themselves?
May we continue to let the Great Commission ring in our ears and reverberated in our hearts, so that disciple-making becomes a central feature of our personal lives and church ministries.
Yesterday we considered what a disciple is, today we answer the question: Who Makes Disciples? And I would suggest that there are two ways to answer that question. First, churches make disciples; second, mature believers make disciples. Let’s consider.
Churches Make Disciples
At the institutional level, God has created the church to be a disciple-making community. This is not to say that parachurches, camps, publishing houses, or Christian radio cannot be involved in the process, but in his wisdom, the church is the ordained means of defending the gospel, proclaiming salvation, and making disciples (Eph 3).
Accordingly, churches would be served by asking: If Jesus came today and evaluated our church, on what would he evaluate? What are his expectations? I think the answer and expectation is simple. Jesus would inquire “What are you doing to make disciples?” I don’t think he is very impressed with all sorts of activities, fellowships, and programs that make us busy but fail to make disciples. He has not called us to be active, but to be active in making disciples. Since Christ is in the business of making disciples, that is what he expects of us.
God’s word on this is clear. As the body of Christ, we are to be the hands, feet, mouthpieces of our Lord. Accordingly, if God is going to make disciples in this age, it is through the church, by his Spirit. If his greatest passion is to see the lost converted into disciples, then he expects that his body would be about the same work. The Great Commission is the explicit statement of this truth. “Go into all the world and make disciples.” Churches that excel in ministry but do not excel in making gospel-centered, word-saturated disciples who are able to reproduce themselves are not excelling as much as their numbers might indicate.
Big or small, churches are called to make disciples. That is the first level.
Mature Believers
At the individual level, it is mature believers that make disciples. As in life, mature adults have babies, so adult Christians “give birth” (or rather, serve as attending nurses to the birth from above) to new Christians. While young Christians, infants in the Lord, can and do witness with great zeal and effectiveness, it is mature believers who are in a position to “disciple” newborn Christians.
The Great Commission includes a call to teach all that the Lord has instructed. New believers rarely know all there is in Scripture, or how to apply it. This is why Scripture repeatedly demonstrates older believers mentoring or discipling younger believers (think of Paul with Timothy, Titus, and Silas, or Barnabas with Paul or John Mark). Titus 2 gives clear instruction that older women are to teach younger women, and older men are to be models for younger men.
Thus, all disciples should strive for maturity such that they can disciple others. This is not an optional calling, this is part and parcel of being a growing disciple. Sadly, as Hebrews 5 laments, many who should be teachers are in need of learning the elementary truths again.
As a way of evaluation, we can say that mature believers are those who exhibit Christlike character and who are able and actually discipling younger believers. Discipling others shows Christian love, an understanding of God’s purposes in the world, and a self-sacrificing, others-centeredness that behooves a mature believer. By contrast, maturity should not be measured by the number of years a person has gone to church or even by how many studies they have led, how many committees they have chaired, or even by the number of Bible certificates or degrees they hold. Maturity is measured by ones personal Christlikeness and their reproduction.
May God continue to raise up disciple-makers in this generation, that more and more disciples would be born, raised, and sent out.
Answering the question “What is a disciple?” is not as easy as it might first appear.
First, there is a shift in the meaning of the term disciple from the gospels to the book of Acts. For instance, in John 6, many of Jesus’ “disciples” leave him. These are the ones who follow him to hear his teaching and to eat his bread, but when he calls them to eat his flesh and drink his blood, they can go no further. In this situation, disciples are simply those who followed and learned from him, but were not saved by him. Likewise, you could say of Judas, that he was a disciple in one sense (he followed and learned from Jesus), but not a disciple in another sense (he failed to follow Christ until the end and he betrayed his master). Thus, in the Scriptures themselves, there is some ambiguity in the term.
Why does this matter? Well, the other day, I heard a radio preacher stating that the disciples in the Bible are just like us. Yes and no. There is much similarity between the followers of Jesus in his day, and in genuine believers today. However, there is dissimilarity too. Few are called to leave their fishing nets behind to become Christ’s disciples and none are called to to follow a wandering Nazarene through the hills of Israel. Likewise, at a more doctrinal level, many of the followers of Jesus did not abide in him, and thus were not saved (cf John 6:66). But this reality should not form the basis of our doctrine of discipleship. True disciples today are those who are born again, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and will not fall away because through the Spirit and the Word, God will preserve them even as they persevere in faith.
(1) Disciples are COMMITTED believers. Salvation is one thing, discipleship is another. There are Christians and then there are disciples. This posits a two-tiered system in the Christian life–with the saved and the sanctified. The problem with this is that it rips apart the unified work of salvation, and it does not fit with biblical language. In Acts 4:32, the church is described as a band of believers; but Acts 6:2 describes the church as “the full number of disciples.” Disciples are believers; believers are disciple. No tiers!
(2) Disciples are ministers. Like the twelve, disciples are called to a special ministry of service. This results in a view where churches have clergy and laity, disciples and congregants. This separation is often found in special dress for the clergy, or unhealthy veneration of church leaders. By contrast, the Great Commission calls all people to discipleship and to disciple others. Church work is for everyone. Disciples are ministers, but if I am reading Ephesians 4 correctly, we are all called to various roles of ministry in the church. Christianity is not a spectator sport. Jesus calls us to join him in the work.
(3) Disciples are Christians. Christians are disciples. While we are at different phases in our journey with Christ, Christianity is not two-tiered, any more than your families are two-tiered. While wisdom cautions against young disciples leading, there is no two-stage approach. Rather, as in any family, there are babes, children, young adults, and mature adults. The same is true in the church, and every age are called disciples.
A Definition of Discipleship
In light of these previous observations, here is an attempt at a definition: A disciple is a man or woman who is a new creation in Christ that no longer lives for self, but who has (a) believed on Christ for the forgiveness of sins, (b) possesses eternal life, and (c) lives to learn, follow, and imitate Christ in all areas of life.
To say it another way, if we take our cues from the Great Commission: (a) Disciples identify themselves with Jesus Christ in baptism; (b) Disciples learn AND practice all the words of God has given us; and (c) Disciples serve our Lord, going into the world to herald the message of Christ and to reproduce disciples. This is the Great Commission. This is what the twelve did, this is what Paul did (Acts 14:21), and this is what Paul called his followers to do (2 Tim 2:2).
Another place to get our bearings for defining a disciple is Mark 3:13-19. There we find that discipleship goes all the way back to Jesus, and that three things stand out. Those whom he calls to be disciples (and apostles– a calling that makes the twelves position different than our own), he gives three requirements: First, the twelve are to be with him so that they might learn from Jesus, copying him, imitating him; Second, the twelve are sent to preach. So they are not passive learners but active servants. Third, the twelve were given authority to cast out demons as is witnessed in the Gospels and Acts.
Now, on this last point, we may think that this is only for them, after all we do not cast out demons. But I would suggest, that the calling we have to win souls and to nurture them in the grace and truth of the gospel is even greater than the commission given in Mark 3. Just listen to John 20:23: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” In the gospel, we have been given authority to declare forgiveness and eternal life. We are not simply casting out demons, we are calling men to eternal life, and by God’s design, the effectual call that converts a man is conveyed through the general call of God’s human witnesses.
Thus, according to Mark 3–if we can use this text in any sort of prescriptive way–Scripture shows that disciples are those who are with Jesus, who serve at Jesus commission, and who are involved in Christ’s ministry of making other disciples. Certainly, more can and should be said, but this is a start.
Tomorrow, we will consider in more detail who is able to make disciples.
A number of years ago, I followed the Christian crowd and wore the trendy WWJD bracelet. For those who have forgotten (or never heard), the letters stood for “What would Jesus do?” Developed from the book In His Steps, by Charles Sheldon, a book that favored a social gospel and promoted a man-centered kind of Christian imitation, the bracelet asked an important question: How should we live our lives in a manner that would please our Lord? The question was meant to stimulate obedience and lifestyles that reflected the kind of things true believers should do. While missing the beautiful, objective work of Christ for us, it did helpfully ask how we ought to live for Christ.
That is what we are after this week too: How do we adhere to the Great Commission imperative to “make disciples”? What is a disciple? How should we go about making disciples? And why should we do it? Those are the questions we will consider this week, but instead of asking “What would Jesus do?” which orients the Christian life around subjective obedience of Christ’s followers, our inquiry begins with the better question: “What did Jesus do?”
Putting Christ at the center, instead of our Christian obedience, we will be able to see how central disciple-making is to our Lord and then from their to see how we might follow him in the work. Therefore, today as we consider what Jesus did (past tense), we will look at a number of purposes statements spoken by Jesus that explain why Jesus became a man (Cur Deus Homo?), and how each of these purpose statements relate to disciple-making.
Here are five reasons why Christ came to earth.
First, Jesus came to preach the gospel
The first thing to note is that Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Mark 1:38 records Jesus’ words, “And he said to them, “Let us go to the next town, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came.” When we are introduced to Christ, in the Synoptic gospels, the first act of his ministry is to go out into the regions surrounding Galilee preaching the gospel and calling sinners to repent and believe (Mark 1:14-15). What was his purpose? The answer is surely pluriform, but it at least involved the calling and creation of disciples.
Second, Jesus came to fulfill the law
Not only did Jesus come to preach the gospel, he came to fulfill the law—to keep covenant with God, so that he could establish a new covenant, not based on works of the flesh, but faith in the Spirit. So he says in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law of the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” In fulfilling all righteousness, Jesus made it possible for his disciples to one day be clothed with his righteousness (Isa 61:10). Likewise, he provided a perfect example of love and service to God that disciples are called to imitate (cf. John 13).
Third, Jesus came to provide salvation
In Luke 19, Jesus seeks out Zacchaeus, a hated tax collector, for the singular purpose of making this unlikely sinner a son of Abraham. Verse 10 gives a larger explanation of Jesus’ ministry: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Clearly, Jesus the lost, so to make them his disciples. The same thing can be gleaned from Matthew 9:13, which states, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Here, Jesus explains that his target audience is not religious professionals, or even good people, but those who weary and heavy-laden with sin. Jesus life, death, and resurrection served the purpose of making disciples.
Which leads to a question: How can a righteous God who cannot stand the sight of sin or sinners (Ps 5:5; 11:5; Hab 1:13), extend blessings to sinners? Again, the life of ministry and his biographical purpose statements explain. In Mark 10:45, Jesus says, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The many harkens back to Isaiah 53:11-12, but it also bespeaks of the many disciples that Jesus is purchasing with his blood.
Fourth, Jesus came to judge the world
Jesus came not only to save a people for his own possession; he also came to judge the world, to cleanse the world from those who stand opposed to God. In John 9:39, Jesus debates with the Pharisees concerning the healing of a blind man, and he says, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
Likewise, with greater graphic illustration, Jesus states in Luke 12:49, “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!” The fire is that of judgment. While John can say that Jesus did not come to bring judgment; in another sense he did. He is preparing the way for his return when he will call all men to account.
Even the demons recognize this, though they did not know how it was going to work out. In Mark 1:24, Jesus heals a man suffering from a demon, and they reply “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?
Jesus is not directly making disciples with these judgments, but in another way he is. By judging the world, Jesus is creating a place for his people to abide with him. Today, we do not yet see all things in subjection to Christ. The new creation is not yet here in its geographic form. However, Christ is saving me and women. These are his new creations, disciples who are learning how to live in his kingdom–the kingdom that they will inherit at the end of the age (Matt 25:34). Thus, Jesus purpose statements about judgment promise that all those who have become his disciples will escape his coming judgment, and will instead be protected by his sword. This leads to a final point.
Fifth, Jesus came to create a new community of disciples
The final answer to the question of what Jesus came to do is this: Jesus came to call a new community of disciples. Now indeed all the previous purposes are related to this. (1) He preached the gospel to call people to faith; (2) he fulfilled the law and died on the cross so that he could remove the sin of his followers and clothe them with righteousness; (3) He announced his kingdom authority and his right to judge in order to assert the kingdom he was going to establish—a world free from sin, evil, Satan, and death. Jesus came to create a new humanity. He came to make disciples.
Significantly, this is what we find then in Matthew 10:34-35. In a context where Jesus has sent his disciples out to proclaim the message of the kingdom, Jesus explains his purposes after there return: “Do not think I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
Everything Jesus did, he did for the purpose of making disciples. His life, ministry, death, and resurrection, and heavenly session are all aimed at bringing in the sheep of his fold. While acquiring many names in he gospels (sheep, children, given ones, friends), Jesus did everything for the purpose of making disciples. So should we.
In the days, ahead we will answer four more questions on discipleship, as we consider this central feature of our Lord’s work.
This morning we considered the lives of Martha and Mary. While silent, Mary gives the world a beautiful example of how we ought to respond to Christ. Simultaneously, Martha supplies us a counter-example of what happens when busy Christians get distracted by many good things instead of seeking the one thing that is needful.
On this subject, J. C. Ryle’s words are especially appropriate.
The fault of Martha should be a perpetual warning to all Christians. If we desire to grow in grace, and to enjoy soul-prosperity, we must beware of the cares of this world. Except we watch and pray, they will insensibly eat up our spirituality, and bring leanness to our souls. It is not open sin, or flagrant breaches of God’s commandments alone, which lead men to eternal ruin. It is far more frequently an excessive attention to things in themselves lawful, and the being ‘cumbered about much serving.’ It seems so right to provide for our own! It seems so proper to attend to the duties of our station! It is just here that our danger lies. Our families, our businesses, our daily callings, our household affairs, our intercourse with society, all, all may become snares to our hearts and may draw us away from God. We may go down to the pit of hell from the very midst of lawful things (J. C. Ryle,Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke, vol. 1, 386)
May we who feel the effects of distraction and busyness, repent and return to Christ, the only one who is really necessary.
Via Emmaus 