August 29, 2010 – John Blacklock
“Jesus Teaches the Ways of the Kingdom! Are We Willing?”
Luke 13:1-35
In many ways the teachings of Jesus are more about what it means to live in the Kingdom ways of Jesus, than about being a successful human being. For Jesus there is a difference between being His disciple and simply an ordinary human being. Jesus’ point is that life in the kingdom of God is so much more rewarding than simply living in the world. Luke 13 helps us see this contrast. Look with me at the differences between living in the way of Jesus and living in the ways of the world.
I. Luke 13:1-5 (READ)
Jesus’ first point is that there is a difference between the way people in the world and disciples of the kingdom look at life.
So often, the common way of dealing with hardship is to blame someone else. For example, if something bad happens to us, God is somehow punishing us. This was the common belief among the people during the times of Jesus. Jesus, however, helped his disciples see life from the perspective of the Kingdom. From Jesus’ perspective we live in a world that is fallen. Crazy things happen in this world! Just as it rains on the just and unjust, so there are droughts and hurricanes on all kinds of people. As people of faith, we are not to respond to circumstances that occur around us in ways that pigeonhole people and put them into categories. Here are two examples: “God’s blessing you because you’re keeping the Ten Commandments!” or “You better watch out, something’s going to happen to you because you’re not living right.”
Rather than judge people because of the things that happen to them, Jesus calls his disciples to lifestyles of repentance! We are all called to turn away from ourselves, and the things of the world. We are asked to turn to God. To live in Jesus’ Kingdom is to put your trust in God, not in the things of the world. This is what repentance is all about.
II. Jesus next tells the disciples a parable of the Kingdom.
Luke 13:6-9 (READ)
Jesus’ point is that the ways of the Kingdom are about giving people a chance to bear fruit for God. Life is more about having mercy, than judging what others do. Bearing the fruit of repentance is important for Jesus, but so is the willingness to forgive. This is why Jesus reaches out to those on the outside of religion. Jesus’ love urges those far from God to walk in a different direction. The way of the world is to point a finger in judgment. The way of Jesus’ Kingdom is to offer the kingdom to everyone, even to those who have not earned or deserved it. This is what grace is all about. Rather than offer judgment and condemnation, Jesus offers the opportunity for hope and new life.
III. Jesus now lives out what he has been talking about. There is a woman in the crowd who is a cripple. Jesus heals her during one of His Sabbath teachings. All Jesus got from the religious leaders was criticism. Luke 13:10-17 (READ)
Jesus’ point is that religious legalism closes the doors of the church to the very people that need God’s love and redemption. True religion takes people seriously, and opens us to turning our cheeks and walking extra miles. The story of Jesus and the crippled woman is an example. “Don’t do your work on the Sabbath,” the leaders of the temple tell Jesus. “Do your work of healing on the other six days of the week.” Jesus responds to the temple leaders, “You hypocrites! Don’t you understand that being set free from human bondage is a major part of what the Kingdom of God is all about?” The crowd senses the truth that Jesus shows them. They begin to rejoice at the wonderful things Jesus is doing.
IV. Jesus once again turns to parables to stimulate the crowd’s thought process about the Kingdom of God. He shares with them the Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Parable of the Yeast and the Flour. Luke 13:18-20 (READ)
The point of both parables is that though things begin small, they can expand and become bigger than we imagine. As disciples of Jesus Christ we are never to limit God! God is working among us in ways that we cannot humanly see. We need to leave room for God. Rather than be discouraged by what we see with our human eyes, Jesus wants us to believe that God is able to do more than we could ever ask or think!
V. Over and over again, Jesus reaches out to the people with this message of the Kingdom. Some understand, others remain in the dark. The crowd pokes question after question at Jesus. Someone asks Him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?”
Luke 13:22-30 (READ)
Jesus’ vision is for His kingdom to be filled with people from all cultures and nations. Jesus never limits the Kingdom to a few, well-healed people. Jesus’ dream is to open the doors of the Kingdom to everyone who comes in faith: “People will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south,” Jesus tells the people. “Some who are the last will be first, some of the first will be last.”
Jesus reminds the people to strive to enter through the narrow gate. Rather than coming to God through the expected human ways, Jesus talks to them about coming to God in the way that God has provided.
To be honest, this “narrow gate” is Jesus.
Jesus is the way that God has provided for our salvation.
“I am the door,” Jesus tells his disciples in John 10.
“Anyone who enters the sheepfold by another way is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all of his own, he goes ahead of them and the sheep follow him because they know his voice…. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
VI. The final story in Luke 13 involves some Pharisees who come to Jesus to warn Him that Herod is out to kill Him.
Luke 13:31-35 (READ)
As Jesus responds to the Pharisees, His vision of the Kingdom becomes clearer. Rather than being filled with fear because of Herod’s threat, Jesus responds with hope. “God is in charge,” Jesus tells the Pharisees. Rather than be afraid of the future, Jesus embraces the future. As Paul reminds us in Romans 8:28 “God works all things for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to God’s purpose.
Jesus’ point is that they are not to worry about Him. Herod may think he is going to get rid of Jesus, but God has a plan that will put everything into proper perspective. God’s vision has always been to gather His children together, even when they have been unwilling to come: “How often have I desired to gather You together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and yet you were not willing?”
Despite human unwillingness to live in God’s ways, God is not about to give up on humanity. Jesus tells his disciples that there will come a time when they will not see him, but that they are not to give up hope. Instead they are to wait for the day when with joy they are able to say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” Only in the afterglow of the resurrection does this greeting make sense! God does what we as human beings could never do. God uses the very instrument the world designed to get rid of Jesus, as an open door to the Kingdom of all the heavens. Rather than a defeat, the cross becomes God’s final victory over death. This is the victory that we find in Jesus Christ, our Lord. It is the victory of the cross and the empty tomb.
Through faith in Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of God is open to the entire world.
Thanks be to God!
May God give us the courage to choose the way of Jesus.
Jesus is the way of the Kingdom!