And so John came, baptizing in the
desert region and preaching a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
The whole Judean countryside and all the
people of Jerusalem went out to him.
Confessing their sins, they were
baptized by him in the Jordan River.
John wore clothing made of camel's hair,
with a leather belt around his waist,
and he ate locusts and wild honey.
And this was his message: "After me
will come one more powerful than I, the
thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy
to stoop down and untie. I baptize
you with water, but he will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit."
At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in
Galilee and was baptized by John in the
Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out
of the water, he saw heaven being torn
open and the Spirit descending on him
like a dove. And a voice came from
heaven: "You are my Son, whom I
love; with you I am well pleased."
It
can be downright depressing at times
when you compare yourself to others.
Some people just seem to have it all:
musical ability, academic excellence,
athletically talents, common sense, a
good work ethic, and so kind. We’re
happy for them but at the same time
we’re kind of jealous. We find
ourselves sitting back and letting them
do everything. And then we feel guilty
for letting them do it all. It’s a
vicious circle. But it can be broken
when we understand the truth by looking
at John the Baptism and at Jesus.
What’s
your reaction to John the Baptist?
Listen as Mark tells us about his
ministry, “John came, baptizing in the
desert region and preaching a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
John wore clothing made of camel’s
hair, with a leather belt around his
waist, and he ate locusts and wild
honey. And this was his message:
“After me will come one more powerful
than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am
not worthy to stoop down to untie. I
baptize you with water, but He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Just
think about the ministry of John the
Baptist. Would you give it much of a
chance of being successful? Think first
of all where he carried out his
ministry. He isn’t in some large city
or small town. He isn’t standing in
the temple courts where the people are
or sitting in a synagogue where the
people gathered. He conducted his
ministry in the wilderness. There’s no
building, elaborate or simple; no tent
to shade the people or to protect them
from the wind or blowing sand. He
isn’t dressed to kill. His clothing is
simple.
His
message? It wasn’t the type of message
that made you feel good about yourself.
He didn’t offer self-help hints. He
simply told the people to repent. You
know what that means. It means to change
your mind about your sinful lifestyle.
It means that you hate those sins and
want to put those sins completely out of
your life. John was calling the people
out, accusing them of sin. Luke tells us
he called them a brood of vipers. He
spoke about the judgment of hell fire
for those who didn’t repent. Is that
an attractive message.
And
finally what was the rest of John’s
message, I’m not that important.
There’s another fella coming after me
who’s so much greater. In fact He’s
so great that I don’t feel worthy
enough to do the work of a slave, untie
his sandals. How different than the
philosophers of that day wanted to be
the center of attention, wanted people
to hang on and accept every word they
said. John’s message was the one
coming after me must increase while I
must decrease. Who’s going to want to
hear what John has to say.
Mark
tells us who wanted to hear, “The
whole Judean countryside and all the
people of Jerusalem went out to him.
Confessing their sins, they were
baptized by him in the Jordan River.”
People were willing to walk 20 miles in
a wilderness so that they could listen
to John. And his message had a wonderful
effect. People saw the danger of their
sins. They admitted their spiritual
failures and were baptized. Through that
baptism their sins were washed away.
Faith in Jesus as their Savior was
either created or strengthened.
Amazing.
A humble man, in a humble setting,
sharing a humble message producing
stunning results. And what do we learn.
Don’t underestimate yourself.
Appreciate the possibilities in your
life. God has called all of us to be
John the Baptists. He says, “Go and
make disciples”; “Declare the
praises of Him who called us out of
darkness into His wonderful light”;
“Preach the good news to all
creation.” We don’t have to be
trained at the Seminary, a smooth
talker, or an impressive person. All we
have to do is do what John did.
Simply,
but sternly, call people to repent.
Speak God’s law so that people can see
their sins and realize its damning
power. And when the Lord leads them to
confess and repent of their sins then we
have the opportunity to tell them the
Gospel, the good news, the great news of
God’s love and of their complete
forgiveness through the suffering and
death of Jesus. We can take them to
Jesus’ manger and cross and tell them
how He lived to die for them so that
when they die they can live with Him
forever in heaven.
After
telling them that wonderful message of
God’s forgiving and saving love, we
can be at peace. We don’t have to be
jealous of other’s eloquence or
knowledge. We know what God said about
His Gospel. It’s the power of God for
salvation. We know God’s promise
regarding His Word. His Word will not
return to Him empty. His will, will be
done. You’ve done what He called you
to do. Just don’t give up. Don’t
underestimate yourself. Realize and
appreciate the eternal possibilities.
Simply speak as John spoke.
But
we don’t. We’re too embarrassed to
comfort people with God’s Word when
they’re hurting; too afraid to call
sin a sin to lead people to repent. We
don’t want to be labeled extremist so
we don’t talk about Jesus. We fail to
do the most faceless thing we could do
for people who need to know Jesus –
pray for them. We fail to do what God
tells us to do. As a result we put
another brick of sin on the wall of sin
that separates us from God. We mare
ourselves with another sin and
disqualify ourselves from His family and
the eternal glory of heaven. It’s easy
to despair.
But
let’s not underestimate Jesus. Mark
tells us what happened to Jesus,
“Jesus was baptized by John in the
Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of
the water, He saw heaven being torn open
and the Spirit descending on Him like a
dove. And a voice came from heaven:
“You are my Son, whom I love; with you
I am well pleased.” After Jesus was
baptized the Spirit came down on Him.
We’d say that was Jesus’
inauguration. He was publically
appointed as the one who would save the
world from the curse of its sin.
Jesus
didn’t shrink from that mission. He
knew what it meant for Him. He was going
to have to offer His life as a ransom
for the world. He prayed fervently and
feverishly that He could avoid the
suffering that His Father placed before
Him, if that was His Fathers’ will.
But when His Father said there’s no
other way, Jesus didn’t turn back. He
went to meet those who came to arrest
Him. We’re told that He considered it
a joy to endure the cross to save us
from the curse of our sins. He
wouldn’t fail in this mission.
He
didn’t fail. God the Father said that
He loved Him. He was well pleased with
Him. Let’s understand why God the
Father was pleased with Jesus. First,
Jesus had already obeyed a very
difficult command. He became a human. He
came to this earth. He experienced
hunger and thirst. People became angry
with Him and hatred Him. He was rejected
and felt pain. He had already perfectly
obeyed His Father doing something that
we’d consider so difficult; He humbled
Himself and opened Himself up to pain.
His
Father was pleased. Jesus had obeyed
Him. He was obeying Him. He’d continue
to obey Him. He’d just been baptized.
Jesus tells us why, “To fulfill all
righteousness”. Jesus didn’t need to
be baptized. He had no sin to be washed
away. He didn’t need to have faith
created in His heart. He was God. Jesus
was baptized because that’s what His
Father wanted. He perfectly obeyed every
command of God. And He’d continue obey
God’s commands throughout His life.
God the Father loved that and was
pleased with that.
The
ultimate obedience – going to the
cross. Jesus knew how His life would
end. He wouldn’t die in His sleep or
of a heart attack. He wouldn’t die of
old age or slip into a coma. He faced
the cross to which nails would hold Him,
where His joints would be dislocated,
thirst would torment Him, where He’d
suffer the full brunt of God’s anger
for our sins; the agony of hell.
That’s the death God commanded for
Jesus. He didn’t bat an eye. He went
to that cross to offer His life as a
ransom for us, to earn forgiveness for
all our sins.
Realize
what Jesus accomplished can be yours.
The Bible says, “Abraham believed God
and it was credited to Him as
righteousness.” When the Spirit leads
us to believe that Jesus perfectly
obeyed His Father, God will give us His
perfection. His perfection covers us.
Forgiveness is offered. The Bible says,
“A man is justified by faith.” When
the Spirit leads us to believe in Jesus,
God credits Jesus’ effort to you. What
He earned on the cross, forgiveness, is
yours. As a result we can live with Him
forever in heaven.
That
means God’s forgiven us for the times
we’ve underestimated ourselves and
failed to be like John, telling people
about Jesus. And when that sin
re-appears in our life, threatening our
place in God’s family and our eternal
joy in heaven, repent. Be genuinely
sorry. Desire to stop committing that
sin and God will forgive you again and
again and again. That’s why while
we’re sorry for our sins, we don’t
despair. We don’t underestimate Jesus.
He loves us. He did everything necessary
to clean us up from all our sins.
It’s
easy to feel lousy as you compare
yourself to others and as you think of
your sins. But appreciate the truth.
Look at how God used John and blessed
His ministry. He can use us just as
well. And appreciate the truth about
Jesus. He’s earned your forgiveness;
purchased a place for you in heaven.
He’ll use you to lead others to enjoy
what you enjoy through Jesus Christ our
Lord.
43
The
next day Jesus decided to leave for
Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him,
“Follow me.” 44 Philip,
like Andrew and Peter, was from the town
of Bethsaida. 45 Philip
found Nathanael and told him, “We have
found the one Moses wrote about in the
Law, and about whom the prophets also
wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of
Joseph.” 46 “Nazareth!
Can anything good come from there?”
Nathanael asked. “Come and see,”
said Philip. 47 When
Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said
of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in
whom there is nothing false.” 48
“How do you know me?”
Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I
saw you while you were still under the
fig tree before Philip called you.” 49
Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi,
you are the Son of God; you are the King
of Israel.” 50 Jesus
said, “You believe
because I told you I saw you under the
fig tree. You shall see greater things
than that.”
We receive many calls to action every
day. Employees get called into
work. Employers get called to
figure out the problem at work.
Children call to parents for help.
Parents call on the children to do their
chores. Friends call on you for
advice. Teachers call on students.
Students call on teachers. We
receive many calls to action. But
every day, you hear a call that is far
more important than all the others.
It comes from your Savior. Just
like Jesus called the first disciples,
he calls us saying, “Follow me.”
Are you going to answer his call?
If you are, how are you going to answer?
We’ll find out as we hear Christ’s
call, “Follow me.” It’s a
call to speak. It’s a call to
faithfulness. It’s a call to see
great things.
Jesus didn’t waste any time in calling
his first disciples. Last week we
heard about his baptism. The
Spirit anointed him to carry out his
ministry as the Savior of the world.
The next day Jesus decided to leave
for Galilee. When he got to
Bethsaida by the sea of Galilee, he
found Philip. He said to him,
“Follow me.” The call was
simple. It didn’t need a lot of
explanation. Jesus wanted Philip
to accompany him as his disciple.
That’s how the call of Jesus comes to
his children. First he calls them
to faith through baptism and his Word.
Then on a regular basis, he calls his
children in his word to follow his ways.
Philip showed right away how to answer
God’s call. Philip found
Nathanael and told him, “We have
found…Jesus of Nazareth, the son of
Joseph.” For Philip, this
was hot-off-the-press kind of news.
Jesus, the promised Savior, was here.
Not only that, but he had called Philip
to follow him! It was like the
rock star asking the die hard fan to go
on tour with him.
Yet
Nathanael was a little skeptical. “Nazareth!
Can anything good come from there?”
It probably wasn’t that Nazareth
had a bad reputation. Nathanael
probably knew the Savior was to come
from Bethlehem. Faced with that
objection, what was Philip to do?
Get angry: “Why don’t you believe
me?” Give up: “Forget you.
I’m outta here.” Philip
didn’t get angry or give up. He
did what true disciples do. He
answered the call to speak for Jesus.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
Nathanael listened.
That’s
how simple the answer can be to
Christ’s call, “Follow me.”
Just speak a few words: “Come and see.
I believe in Jesus. Jesus died for
your sins. Believe and you will be
saved.” But sometimes we see the
gospel as so important and so precise
and so full of divine teachings that we
don’t want to mess it up. When
someone calls into question what we
believe, we don’t want to say
something wrong or speak foolishly.
So you know what happens? We
don’t say anything. We know
enough to be saved, but we’re too
scared and ashamed to tell others they
have been saved too. That’s
failing to answer God’s call to follow
him. Too often we’ve let the
Nathanaels of our lives just pass by.
We’ve missed the opportunity.
That left them without the opportunity
to see Jesus.
Let’s learn from Philip. I think
Jesus chose common men like him to teach
us that any believer can answer the call
to speak for him. When the skeptic
says, “I know all about churches.
I’ve even tried a few out. But I
don’t need buildings and books.
I don’t care for those who spout
prayers and spew hymns. They
aren’t any different than me.”
When that happens, don’t get angry or
give up. Just say, “Come and
see.” Sometimes you might have
to say, “I don’t have all the
answers. I’ll check it out for
you.” But you still say, “Come
and see.” You know what that
does? It gives Jesus a chance to
talk to them. It gives them a
chance to hear the Word. It lets
the Holy Spirit do what he does –
convince them of the truth. Answer
the call to speak for Jesus.
Just look at how it worked for Nathanael.
Nathanael became faithful to God.
God’s call is also a call to
faithfulness. Nathanael is a good
example of faithfulness. As he
walked up to Jesus, Jesus said, “Here
is a true Israelite in whom there is
nothing false.” A true
Israelite is a true believer. Paul
told the Romans, “Not all who are
descended from Israel are Israel.”
Not all who are physical descendants
really believe. Nathanael had true
faith. Nothing about him was
false. He didn’t cover up his
faith like an actor who puts on a mask.
He was not hypocritical, phony, or
two-faced.
Jesus saw Nathanael’s true heart.
He said, “I saw you while you were
still under the fig tree before Philip
called you.” What an
impression that made! Jesus had
called him to faithfulness. Now
surely he would believe and be faithful.
He proclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the
Son of God; you are the King of
Israel.” He professed his
allegiance to Jesus.
Just as Jesus searched Nathanael’s
heart for faithfulness, he searches ours
as well. He doesn’t want to see
hypocrisy, not living what you believe.
He doesn’t want to see a phony heart,
trying to cover up wickedness by looking
good on the outside. You might
have heard the fable about a goat who
wanted more than anything else in the
world to be a lion. He told himself that
if he could learn to walk like a lion,
talk like a lion, and go where lions go,
he would be a lion. So he practiced.
He even tried to turn his bleating into
the deep roar of the King of beasts.
Finally, he convinced himself that he
really looked and sounded like a lion.
Now all he had to do to be a lion was to
go where lions go. And so he
marched into lion territory one day at
lunch time. You know the rest of that
story!
Friends, sometimes people think that if
they just talk and act like a Christian,
they are really Christ’s disciples.
Maybe they can fool other people, but
the Lord knows those who are his.
As Jesus evaluates our hearts, and years
for faithful followers, can he say,
“Here are true Israelites in whom
there is nothing false” or does he see
people who sometimes think they don’t
need him as much as others. Does
he see people who trust wholly in his
work to remove our sin and make us his
children or does he see people who are
itching to work their way to heaven by
bartering their good works. Does
he see people who make weekly trips to
the house of the Lord and then run daily
into the devil’s playground? Too
often he sees the latter. Too
often we are unfaithful and undeserving
of his call to follow him. He
should say, “Don’t follow me.
Depart from me, you who are cursed into
the eternal fire.”
So a faithful follower of Jesus bows
down before God recognizing his or her
sin as an offense before our precious
Lord. We despair of anything we
can do to change our path of wickedness
which leads to hell. We cry out,
“God have mercy on me.” We
realize that confessing our sins is an
act of faithfulness and an answer to his
call. Following Jesus means
trusting in the forgiveness he won by
his suffering and death and then turning
from sinful ways to his ways. He
calls us to stay for away from sin and
close to him.
Never underestimate the power of God’s
call. It was powerful enough to
create faith in those who didn’t want
to be faithful. It is powerful
enough to help us live faithful lives as
his true disciples. And as we do,
he assures us that we will see great
things. That’s what Jesus
assured Nathanael. Take another
look at Nathanael’s confession: “Rabbi,
you are the Son of God; you are the King
of Israel.” Jesus is
Rabbi – the greatest teacher. He
is the true Son of God, born to live a
perfect life in the sinners place and
set the sinner free. He is the
true King of Israel. He won the
victory for his people by his death.
He still lives and rules today.
Has
he not earned the thanks and obedience
of his servants? He deserves
faithful followers who make the true
confession of who he is. God wants
us to live that confession. Live
the Apostle’s Creed. Live John
3:16. Live your favorite Bible
passages or hymn verse.
Confess Christ and you will see great
things from the Savior you follow.
Jesus told Nathanael, “You believe
because I saw you under the fig tree.
You shall see greater things than
that.” This great Savior says to
Nathanael: "You were impressed
because of my ability to see the details
of your life. You haven't seen
anything yet! There are those
great miracles of healing and helping
still to come. There’s my
crucifixion when you will see the Lord
of life submitting to death so that all
sin may be forgiven. There’s my
resurrection which assures every
disciple that whoever lives and believes
in me shall never die! And
eventually you will see my glory in
heaven!”
When each believer comes to faith in
this great Savior, we, too, see all
those great things Jesus has done.
When you follow him, there are still
greater things to see. Every day
Jesus promises great things. Every
day he seeks you out, finds you, and
forgives you. Every day you see
his personal care for your personal
problems and his special power for your
special needs. Every day you see
him work all evil things for your
eternal good. Through it all, we
hear the echo of his words, “You will
see greater things than that. I
have so much in store for you.”
For those who confess him as Savior, one
day, we will see him surrounded by his
angels when he calls the dead out of
every grave and tells us: "Follow
me!"
Many
calls ask for and receive our attention
every day. But the call of our
Savior rises above all the others.
We learn from Philip and Nathanael how
to answer God’s precious call.
Speak for him. Be faithful to him.
As we answer, we see the great things he
has done. Listen to the call of
Jesus, “Follow me.” He will
lift you up, encourage you, and
strengthen you to answer. So we
answer with this prayer, “Faithful
Lord, abide with me. Savior, lead
I follow thee!” Amen.
After
John was put in prison, Jesus went into
Galilee, proclaiming the good news of
God. “The time has come,” he
said. “The kingdom of God is
near. Repent and believe the good
news!”
As
Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew
casting a net into the lake, for they
were fishermen. “Come, follow
me,” Jesus said, “and I will make
you fishers of men.” At once
they left their nets and followed him.
When
he had gone a little farther, he saw
James son of Zebedee and his brother
John in a boat, preparing their nets.
Without delay he called them, and they
left their father Zebedee in the boat
with the hired men and followed him.
There’s
usually something that so catches our
attention that it makes us instantly
stop what we’re doing. It could be the
frantic scream of a child, our
spouse’s shriek for help or a
friend’s cheer as they watch the game
while we’re getting the snacks.
Usually it takes something pretty major
to get us to immediately stop what
we’re doing. For the four men in our
reading it was the call of Jesus,
“Follow me.” That call led them to
drop everything because they knew where
Jesus was leading and what He was asking
them to do.
This
wasn’t the first time these four men
had met Jesus. Andrew was there when
John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and
said, “Look the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world.” Andrew
spent that day with Jesus. He also got
his brother Peter to come see Jesus.
After meeting Jesus these two men
returned home. They didn’t follow
Jesus. We don’t know when John and
James met Jesus the first time, but
it’s apparent from their reaction to
His call that they knew Jesus and had
heard Him teaching before.
This
time when Jesus came to them He invited
them to follow Him, “As Jesus walked
beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon
and his brother Andrew casting a net
into the lake, for they were fisherman.
“Come, follow me,’ He gave the same
invitation to James and John, “Without
delay He called them.” They knew
Jesus’ message. They heard it before.
Mark tells us what it is, “Jesus went
into Galilee proclaiming the good news,
‘The kingdom of heaven is near’.”
Jesus wanted to lead them into the
kingdom of heaven.
They
knew that the kingdom of heaven referred
to God’s family. It’s Jesus’ rule
in our heart and life. Jesus was
inviting them to be a part of and remain
in His family. But what He really wanted
was to lead them to heaven’s glory.
Jesus’ invitation to follow Him was
one of those frantic screams that grabs
your attention and gets you to drop what
you’re doing. That’s what happened.
Andrew and Simon “left their nets and
followed Him.” James and John, “Left
their father in the boat with the hired
men and followed Him.”
Simon
and Andrew had been casting their
fishing nets into the lake. James and
John were ready to do the same. They
were fisherman. That was their
occupation, how they supported their
family. But when Jesus called them to
follow Him they left it all to follow
Him, They knew He’d lead them to
blessings in this life. They knew He’d
lead them to the ultimate glory of life
in heaven. They couldn’t pass that up.
They dropped everything that instant; no
hesitation, no looking back, no regrets
and followed Jesus.
Jesus
has given us that same call. When we
were baptized or came to believe in Him
as we heard His Word, He said, follow
me. We know where Jesus leads. He leads
us into God’s family, finally to
haven. But can we be a part of that
family. Look at us. We’re sinners. We
listen to friends rather than follow
God’s will. We let hobbies and work
derail us from following God. We run
after sinful habits – drug use, sexual
sin, drunkenness - rather than follow
God. We know sin separates us from God.
It keeps us out of heaven. We can’t
follow Jesus into the God’s kingdom.
Sin distracts us and eliminates us from
His family.
But
what did Jesus preach – repent. Jesus
says have Godly sorrow for your sins. Be
sorry that you did what was wrong, that
you hurt God and let Him down. Show that
you’re sorry. Jesus tells us how to
show that we’re sorry, “Go out and
sin not more”. No, we can’t be
perfect. Jesus is simply telling us to
try with His help try to stop sinning.
Try with God’s help to do what He
wants us to do. And should we succumb to
temptation and commit that sin again;
repent again. And guess what God will
do. He will forgive again!
He
will forgive because that’s what Jesus
came to this earth to earn for us. He
came to offer His life as a ransom for
us. He came to suffer God’s anger for
us – and He did, once and for
all when he suffered the torture of the
cross. He came to suffer the curse for
our sins, which He did once and for all
when He endured hell on the cross. He
came to erase our sins once and for all
which He did with His blood shed on the
cross. Because of what Jesus did God is
able and happy to say to all who repent
– I forgive you.
Now
when Jesus says, follow me, the path
into God’s family is clear. In that
family we enjoy incredible blessings.
The psalmist reminds us that God is a
shield around those who fear Him and
that from the Lord comes deliverance and
that God will open His hands and satisfy
all our desires. He promises to turn bad
into good, curses into blessings. And
the greatest blessing – He’ll lead
us through death’s valley to
heaven’s eternal glory. Follow me
Jesus says and all of these blessings,
and more, will be yours.
But
like the four fishermen that means we
have to give stuff up. What might
distract us from following Jesus: a job
that keeps us from the house of the
Lord, certain family members or friends
who try to talk us out of following
Jesus, a sinful habit that separates us
from God, sports or a hobby that make
God and His Word of love and forgiveness
take a back seat in our life. How often
don’t we feel the tug of these
distractions and quit following Jesus
just so we can follow things that can
only give temporary joy.
Think
of what we could be losing if we don’t
drop all to follow Jesus, our place in
His eternal family. When we find
ourselves drifting, Jesus comes to us
and says, repent. Believe in what I
earned for you on the cross. And then
He’ll call us again. He’ll give us
another chance to follow Him as He leads
us into God’s family, and keeps us in
that family where we can be sure of
blessings in this life and in the one to
come.
Jesus’
call to these men wasn’t just, follow
me and enjoy eternal blessings. He
expected them to serve. “Come, follow
me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make
you fishers of men.’” These men were
experienced fishermen. That was their
comfort zone, what they knew. Now Jesus
was asking them to step outside that
comfort zone and do something they
didn’t know – tell others about Him.
And notice. They didn’t ask for time
to think about it or to consult their
families. They dropped everything. They
were willing to serve.
That’s
what God expects of us. Yes, He wants us
to follow Him so that we can be a part
of His family and enjoy incredible
blessings throughout our life and all
eternity. But He also wants us to serve.
He wants us to be fishers of men. His
command to all His followers, “Go and
make disciples of all nations.” Simply
put – tell people how they can become
a part of my family and live with me
forever in heaven. We hear that our
stomach churns. That’s outside our
comfort zone. We’ve never done that.
We don’t feel comfortable.
But
we probably didn’t feel real
comfortable when we started that new
job, skied for the first time, or
learned to ride a bike. But we did it
and are now we’re comfortable doing
it. Just like practice made perfect
that’s what happens when we follow
this call to be fishers of men. And
Jesus equips us with the bait that will
make us effective fishers of men. He
gives us the law that makes people aware
of their sins, and that opens their eyes
to where they’re headed due to those
sins, death and the eternal pain of
hell.
But
then He also gives us the Gospel. The
Gospel tells sinners that in spite of
their sins, God really loves them. The
Gospel tells people how much God loves
them – that He sent His Son on a
suicide mission that resulted in His
torturous death on a cross so erase
their sins and spare them the hell they
earned with their sins. The Gospel leads
people to believe in Jesus, to love
Jesus. And the Gospel makes that
incredible promise – believe in Jesus
and you’ll be saved. God equips us
with His Word for our service.
And
then He makes a promise, “My Word will
not return to me empty.” He says the
Gospel is the power of God for
salvation. He says, faith comes from
hearing the message. He promises us
success. Just do the work, Jesus says,
and I’ll bless your efforts. Think of
how effective Jesus was with the law and
Gospel. The promiscuous prostitute, the
cheating tax collector, the condemned
thief, these fisherman came to faith.
And 3,000 people came to faith when
Peter preached law and Gospel on
Pentecost Sunday.
How
powerful and effective is that message
of God’s saving love. How faithful is
Jesus in keeping His promise that His
Word will lead sinners to repent and
embrace Jesus as their Savior? It worked
on us right? We were dead in our sins.
We were on the fast track that was going
to lead us to hell. But someone came to
us with this message and the change is
awesome and eternal. We’ve been led to
confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
And now we’re ready give up all
distractions so that we can follow Him
to heaven.
Jesus
says, “Follow me.” When we realize
where He wants to lead us and what
He’s asking us to do, that’s a call
that leads us to drop everything so that
we can follow Him to eternal glory and
serve Him until we’re there with Him
in heaven.
21
They
went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath
came, Jesus went into the synagogue and
began to teach. 22 The
people were amazed at his teaching,
because he taught them as one who had
authority, not as the teachers of the
law. 23 Just
then a man in their synagogue who was
possessed by an evil spirit cried out, 24
“What do you want with us, Jesus
of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy
us? I know who you are—the Holy One of
God!”
25
“Be
quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come
out of him!” 26 The
evil spirit shook the man violently and
came out of him with a shriek.
27
The
people were all so amazed that they
asked each other, “What is this? A new
teaching—and with authority! He even
gives orders to evil spirits and they
obey him.”
Who are the
authority figures in your life? We
have authority figures all around us.
Police. Government. Parents.
Teachers. Bosses. These are
the people we ought to obey and respect.
So how do you view the authority figures
in your life? A growing portion of
society lives by the mindset,
“Question authority.” Just
because someone is in a leadership
position doesn’t mean you should trust
them or listen to them. Don’t
believe everything you’re told.
We probably question authority because
so many authority figures have abused
their authority. So is there
anyone we can completely trust and look
up to who will never let us down?
His name is Jesus. Jesus is the
highest authority. We see from
Scripture that his words have authority
and his works prove his authority.
We begin reading in Mark…Jesus and
his disciples went to Capernaum, and
when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into
the synagogue and began to teach. Jesus
didn’t just take over. This was
pretty ordinary. Most synagogues
had no permanent ministers. When
traveling teachers came, the people
often asked them to speak.
The
people were amazed at his teaching
because he taught them as one who had
authority, not as the teachers of the
law. The teaching of Jesus was
different. Many teachers of that
day just quoted other teachers instead
of the Bible. But Jesus spoke the
truth. Many of the preachers would
major on the minors. They would
expand on God’s laws and regulations,
society and culture. A sermon on
this lesson today might have a long
discussion on Capernaum and its culture
and then a description of demon
possession. They didn’t really
get to the heart and core of Scripture
and what it really meant.
But Jesus was different. He
impressed them. He spoke of the
important things – grace, salvation,
and eternity through his life and death.
His teaching was perfect. The
disciples and worshipers were face to
face with the final authority. The
buck stopped at Jesus. President
Harry Truman had a plaque on his desk
with those words, “The Buck Stops
Here.” It meant that he had
authority. His word was the final
word. He would not pass the buck
on his responsibility to someone else.
That’s Jesus. The buck stops at
Jesus. He is the highest
authority.
It’s important for us to understand
that, because many in this world
question authority. They challenge
God’s Word. It’s been like
that from the beginning. Almost
every book of the New Testament was
written to defend the Word of God
because people challenged it. In
the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said a
number of times, “You’ve heard it
said, but I tell you...” Human
words vs. the Word of God. Who
comes out on top? Humans sure try.
We see the clash of authority between
evolution (man’s idea that this world
evolved over millions of years) and
creation (God’s truth that he made
this world in six 24 hour days by his
Word). See the clash between life
and death. The abortionist fights
for the murder of unborn babies.
But God says, “I give life and you
must respect it and preserve it.”
See the clash between relative truth and
God’s truth. Human beings say
you get to your heaven your way and
I’ll get to heaven mine. God
says, “Jesus is the only way, truth,
and life, no one comes to the Father
except through him.” See the
clash of those who condone sexually
immoral lifestyles saying they were born
that way or it feels so right and God
who says it’s a sin that condemns.
That clash with authority is engrained
in us by our sinful nature. We
want our words to hold more weight than
God’s. We follow the words of
mere mortals and forsake the righteous
words of an immortal God. We clash
with him when we question his Word of
truth. Foolishly we think we can
pit our authority against God’s like a
hundred pound eighth grader wrestling an
Olympic heavyweight gold medalist and we
think we’ll come out all right on the
other side. But that’s foolish.
The heavyweight of God’s justice says,
“All authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to me. My Word is
truth.” Then the heavyweight of
God’s justice pins down our pride and
insubordination humbling us and sending
us to where our sins deserve – eternal
destruction.
Jesus is the ultimate authority.
What he says will stand no matter what
philosophizing or theorizing human
beings do on this earth. Sadly
many will not realize that until they
are forced to kneel before him in the
end when eternal destruction comes upon
them. God’s Word will always
stand whether it goes against human
reason or not.
I
pray that everyone here would say,
“When it comes to spiritual matters,
we don’t need or want the opinions of
our sinful flesh, other people, or even
our pastors. We want the truth.”
Only when we hear and believe the truth
can we come to grips with our sin.
The truth is we are proud and
insubordinate sinners. But the
truth is also that Jesus paid for our
sins. The truth is God wants all
to be saved and to come to a knowledge
of the truth. That’s why Jesus
said to the paralytic, “Your sins are
forgiven.” He said to his
disciples, “Peace be with you.”
He said, “I have authority to lay down
my life and authority to take it up
again.” That’s what he did.
He says, “Trust in me and live.
Believe in me and receive forgiveness
and eternal life.”
Believe
that Word of God. It’s amazing
how powerful the Word of Jesus is.
Only Jesus can speak a word of life to
free his children of sin and death, a
word of grace to free his children of
guilt and fear, a word of light to free
those in darkness, a word of salvation
instead of condemnation. He’s
always got the final Word. And if
we’re not amazed enough at his Words,
Jesus amazes us with his works. He
is the ultimate authority. His
works prove it.
Satan doesn’t want us to believe
Jesus’ words, so he’ll try to
discredit Jesus’ works. That’s
what he tried to do in the synagogue of
Capernaum. “Just then a man
in their synagogue who was possessed by
an evil spirit cried out, “What do you
want with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us? I
know who you are – the Holy One of
God!” Jesus was the Holy One
of God. But he didn’t want Satan
to witness to the truth. If people
believed what the devil said, that meant
Jesus was in league with the devil.
So right away Jesus said, “Be
quiet!” And he cast the
demon out. The people were all
so amazed that they asked each other,
“What is this? A new teaching
– and with authority! He even
gives orders to evil spirits and they
obey him.” Jesus had turned
the authority of his Word into action.
He made the demons obey him. He
proved his ultimate authority with
miracles. He cast out demons.
He calmed storms. He healed the
sick. He raised the dead.
Isn’t that the kind of authority
figure we need today – a miracle
worker? We need someone who is
going to follow through on his words and
promises. We need Jesus in our
lives as much as that demon possessed
man needed him that day. You know
why? There’s an evil spirit in
each of us. I’m not talking
about demon possession. We each
have a sinful nature that gives us
spiritual delusions. Have you been
deluded into thinking that a behavior
you’re involved in is not sinful and
deserving of God’s punishment?
Have you been deluded into thinking that
such an evil behavior is not having any
harmful consequences in your life?
Have you been deluded into an attitude
of tolerance for the sinful behavior of
a friend or family member? Or is
your demon the delusion that your sin is
so horrible that it can’t possibly be
forgiven? Does your sinful nature
throw you into confusion about your
Savior’s love because you’re
struggling through such difficult times
and feel like your drowning? These
are all demons in our lives. We
need Jesus to take them away.
The question is…does Jesus have the
authority to get rid of all your earthly
demons? Many in this world think
that Jesus was nothing but a wise
teacher whom we can pattern our lives
after. But that’s not who Jesus
is. Jesus is God. Jesus is a
miracle worker. Jesus has a
miracle for you. In the Christmas
miracle he took on flesh and blood for
us and submitted himself to God’s law.
In the miracle of his life, he perfectly
satisfied God’s demands for us.
In the miracle of the cross, we see the
transfer of our guilt and shame to him.
In the miracle of the empty tomb, we
witness the defeat of death and see the
doors of heaven open. Because of
it all, we experience the miracle of
forgiveness. Your sinful delusions
are gone. Don’t let your sin
demons haunt you. Jesus has
removed them and replaced them with
peace.
Now
he enables you to live in that peace.
Each time Jesus speaks, he begins or
continues the miracle of saving faith.
Each time the sacrament of baptism is
employed, Jesus is sending his Holy
Spirit to work the miracle of faith.
Each time you receive the Lord’s
Supper, it’s a miracle of forgiveness
and spiritual life. Isn’t it a
miracle also when you come to God’s
house full of fear and you leave
fearless – when you come all riled up
about life and you leave at peace with
God – when you come confused and
misguided and you leave with purpose and
direction for a life of service – when
we come a little stubborn and God
softens our hearts so that we’re
motivated to change with God’s help.
These are miracles that come straight
from the words and works of the ultimate
authority – Jesus.
We have a lot of authority figures in
our lives. Let’s remember though
that Jesus is the highest authority.
The world may want us to question
authority. But take a look at
Jesus’ words and works. They
prove his authority and more
importantly, his love in our lives.
It’s a pure joy to have Jesus in our
lives because what he says and does will
always be for our best interest and it
will last forever. Amen.
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