Mission of Jesus: explore it Small group questions Leaders: choose some, but not all of the following questions. Email me with any questions. Mark. Read Luke 23:32-47 1. Was there anything new for you from Sunday s message? Any questions? 2. Have you ever found yourself unexpectedly in the presence of greatness with someone really famous or important? How did you react? This text calls us to Acknowledge Jesus greatness 3. What does the word Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek) mean? 4. Why did the religious leaders, the soldiers and even one of the criminals use the title of Jesus, but actually mock him in their use of it? (Which first century historians also used referred to this title of Jesus?) 5. Why are people happy to say Jesus was a great teacher or prophet but are not willing to admit his greatness as God s messiah? Admit our sinfulness 6. Read vv40-41 what is the criminal acknowledging here in the presence of Jesus? 7. Why doesn t he try and recall and mention some of the good things he has done in his life? Ask for forgiveness v43 8. What is this kingdom the criminal mentions, into which he acknowledges Jesus is coming? 9. What does Jesus reply in v43 teach us about the nature of our forgiveness? 10. How does this compare to Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam? 11. What was said in the sermon about an amnesty? What great news!! When will it end? Promote his worthiness 12. Why should we promote Jesus worthiness or greatness and his very kind and gracious offer to forgive us and remember our sins no more? 13. What are the ways mentioned toward the end of the message by which we might promote Jesus greatness? (There were three are there other ways?) 14. What cost might be there be for us as individuals for promoting Jesus greatness? Take some time to thank God for Jesus our Messiah. Thank God that through Jesus death and resurrection we are marvellously forgiven. Pray that more and more people across Noosa might acknowledge Jesus greatness, admit their sinfulness, ask for forgiveness and then join us in promoting his worthiness.
Date: 25 October 2015 Services: all services Series: Rediscover Jesus Passage: Luke 23:32-47 Title: Mission of Jesus: explore it Outline: This text calls us to: 1. Acknowledge Jesus greatness 2. Admit our sinfulness 3. Ask for forgiveness, and 4. Promote his worthiness Much of this material was first presented by John Dickson and we are very grateful to him for his permission to use it! You know the Wallabies and me we ve been really close over the years! Yes one time Susan and I were driving through Coogee and the boys were staying there to train and happened to cross the road in front of us look said Susan look who s crossing the road there s. and she listed off these names a couple of whom I d slightly heard of but it really meant nothing to me didn t recognise any of them they were just big men in yellow crossing the road I know that must sound sacrilege especially right now!!! / There was another time when we caught a plane with a couple of them but again the moment was completely lost on me. // Have you ever found yourself -somewhat surprisingly - in the presence of someone great? In the year 2000 Susan and I ran into the Queen in London that was pretty cool turned up to Westminster Abbey just as we were coming out I don t think she d come to see me!!! // What happens when you re in the presence of greatness and you DO realise it?? You go a little shy don t you? You feel unworthy? You become lost for words or at least a little tongue-tied And for that moment you re caught up in awe while all the time you re feeling pretty small and insignificant! The reason I m sharing all this with you is because - times that by about a thousand and you get a sense of the story just read to us where someone found himself in the presence of supreme greatness Jesus greatness and he feels and admits his unworthiness // there were religious leaders and Roman soldiers and criminals gathered around Jesus hanging in agony on the cross of pain and shame and they were in the presence of greatness but for all but ONE man the reality of the situation simply passed them by!! So we re looking at this passage from Luke 23 and firstly, this text calls us to do is 1. ACKNOWLEDGE JESUS GREATNESS On that profoundly significant day as Jesus was killed everyone rejected Jesus greatness as Messiah or Christ Those two words are the same by the way Messiah is the Hebrew word 2
Christ is the Greek word it means anointed one. The religious rulers? v35 they mock this title He saved others; let him save himself if is the Christ (Messiah) of God the Chosen one The soldiers mock Jesus these are the guys with the hammers and nails they say to Jesus v37 if you are the king of Jews (that s the Messiah) save yourself in other words prove it! And one of the criminals (v39) one of the criminals even hurled insults at him Jesus is right in the middle of two criminals they re on giant crosses and one of them hanging there one of them looks across at Jesus and yells at him aren t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us while you re at it!!! Everyone rejects Jesus title as Messiah or Christ but notice they all use it it s fascinating!! The title they take on their lips actually points us to Jesus greatness but they miss the significance he s the one anointed with all God s power to speak and act.so that when you hear Jesus teaching it s God s voice When you see him in action it is God This is so important to get your head around because so many people have their own versions of Jesus Oh I like to think of Jesus as a good teacher Or a revolutionary Or a religious guru Or whatever! But the historical text that which came about because of Luke s careful research his investigations with the actual eye-witnesses the text focuses on Jesus as the Christ the Messiah. Even some of the non-christian historians of the time record Jesus was called Christ Tacitus one of the greatest of Rome s writers: - Christians derive their name from a man called Christ who during the reign of Emperor Tiberius had been executed by sentence of the Procurator Pontius Pilate Or what about the Jewish historian Josephus wiring in the first century about this time there lived Jesus a wise man and doer of baffling deeds, who was called Christ. Jesus the CHRIST with God s authority to speak and act for him Do you see who this Jesus is??? ///// Have YOU acknowledged his greatness?? //// One of those crucified with Jesus did. The one on the other side of Jesus. He has heard all that has been going on. All the mocking and taunting. And in v42 have a look with me he turns to Jesus and says Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom We don t know how this criminal knew Jesus ruled God s kingdom.the whole notion of God s Kingdom that s straight from the Old Testament it s the understanding that God would send a descendant of King David who would rule God s kingdom forever and ever and this criminal looks at Jesus and acknowledges that this one hanging here next 3
to him, is that King! Will you remember me when you come into your kingdom? // Jesus didn t look very kingly. Naked, bleeding, dying. But this criminal had worked out he s in the presence of greatness and he acknowledges Jesus greatness as Messiah or Christ the one who can open the door and let someone into God s kingdom And when you re in the presence of greatness, you typically admit your unworthiness and the greater the greatness the greater the sense of unworthiness and that s what happens in the next scene, as this text urges us to: 2. ADMIT OUR SINFULNESS This criminal had heard the rulers mocking him he d heard the soldiers mocking him even the other criminal condemning Jesus mocking him but have a look at what says vv40-41 he rebukes the other criminal yelling past Jesus to Jesus other side don t you fear God, since you are under the same sentence? We are justly punished, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. Notice, he s not listing out all the good things he s done in his life?? It s not a time for that It s a time for fearing God This guy is at the end of his life and he s realised just who it is he s hanging with and so he admits before Jesus, before the other criminal, before the religious leaders, before the soldiers that he DESERVES to be there that he is completely unworthy.! He is great I am unworthy In the presence of Christ s purity he feels his impurity In the presence of Christ s love he feels his hate and he admits it for everyone to hear! /// My question to you is have you admitted your sinfulness? Your sinfulness not compared to your neighbour or me or anyone else but compared to Christ? Have you done that? // WILL you do that?? /////// Third this text urges us to 3. ASK FOR FORGIVENESS v42 Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Imagine the scene here if you can He s realised who this is beside him He s admitted he doesn t deserve anything from Jesus But he plucks up the courage to look at Jesus and say will you remember me will you remember me is there a place for me? 4
Notice there s no formal religious language here! This is not a formula or a ritual! He just says remember me remember me. Look at this face Jesus... when you come back and everyone sees you for who you really are and knows you re king will you remember me? He s asking for forgiveness Think for a moment at what Jesus himself is facing at this point He is naked, bleeding, dying He had been scourged to within an inch of his life You might think he would just want to focus on the coming moments of his death But look at Jesus reply v43 I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise Complete, instant, undeserved forgiveness and acceptance If you wanted any more proof that God s mercy is free isn t this story the proof? There s nothing this guy could have done to earn it, to deserve it but every other religion on the planet tells you that is it your moral or ritual effort that wins the reward. // This is true of Hinduism which says you have to perform the particular deeds of your particular caste in order to guarantee a better reincarnation, in order to climb the tree to eventually merge with the ultimate reality. It s true of Buddhism which teaches you must obey the eightfold path the Buddha taught right effort, right concentration, right thought, right employment, right speech, right action you ve got to do these things in order to attain nirvana And our Muslim friends teach the same thing When you put in the effort for the five pillars, the right confession of faith, the appropriate amount of money given to the Mosque, your five daily prayers, one month a year fasting and once in your life to visit Mecca only then can you have any confidence that Allah will forgive you and even then you can t be sure But I want to point out from this chapter that Christianity teaches the opposite that it is not by you MAKING UP for your sins, but Jesus DYING for your sins You don t atone. Christ atones. // look with me at v44 because this is the moment 44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. When he had said this, he breathed his last. In the darkness, this criminal over here has just watched Jesus become more agitated call out and then take his last gasp of breath And perhaps he thought to himself that was for me, that was for me He just said I get paradise that means it was hell for him He just forgave me that means it was condemnation for him He experienced my judgement no wonder there s darkness everywhere /// YOU don t atone for your sins, CHRIST by his death, takes your punishment on himself, so that you can be free forgiven. /// 5
Way back in 1996, after that terrible mass murder in Port Arthur in Tasmania, the Federal Government of the day, under the leadership of Prime Minister John Howard, introduced gun laws into Australia, so that such a terrible occurrence might never be seen again in our nation. And for 6 months there was a gun amnesty whereby if you happened to possess any of the types of firearms that were now illegal, you could simply take your weapon, walk into your local police station, hand it over, no questions asked, and walk back out with no ramifications of you having broken the law! You could hand it over and go free certainly free from the fear that you were ever going to be arrested. This reminds me of what Christ has done for us in announcing an amnesty. No matter what you ve done, no matter how far you ve fallen Christ s death frees you, brings forgiveness and from God forgetfulness. There s a beautiful verse in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah where God says I will remember your sins no more. God will have amnesia if you trust Christ. // Have you asked for forgiveness? The amnesty then is yours, through Jesus Christ! //// Once we know this forgiveness, it is our privilege, our mission to announce it everywhere because if Jesus is truly the Messiah the anointed one from God who died for us then it is our great privilege to 4. PROMOTE HIS WORTHINESS And this is the last thing he told his disciples actually Luke 24:45 the last thing Jesus tells his disciples Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations. Jesus greatness as the Messiah our forgiveness of sins this is the mission HIS mission OUR mission that we are to promote to all the world! You see the amnesty (like the gun amnesty back in 1996) the amnesty is only for a limited time. There will come a time when this offer of repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be over when it will be too late for you if you haven t yet embraced Christ or for your friends if they haven t come to know Christ. The amnesty of God is urgent news urgent so why wouldn t we do all we can within our circumstances and personality all we can to promote his worthiness!.through our lives of kindness and love, by our prayers through praying for our friends but also through our lips as we speak of him whenever it is appropriate to do so Jesus himself pursued this message with his dying breath with his dying breath he promoted this forgiveness... And if this is real and true if Jesus is God s anointed one if forgiveness is on the table then we ought to be promoting it.!! /// In February of this year, 21 Egyptian Christians were (and it s just awful to contemplate it) but were beheaded by Isis extremists on a beach in Libya. And the whole thing was filmed and it went viral and people all around the Middle East saw it 6
It was a tragedy, but what you might not know is that the brother of two of these young men who were killed was interviewed on an Egyptian T.V. channel. His name was Beshir and his brothers Samuel and Bishoy had been executed and this Beshir, the brother, got on Egyptian television, and said I want to thank ISIS, the interviewer said why would you thank ISIS? He said, Because they left the audio on in that video that went viral that everyone in the Middle East saw and my brothers and their friends can all be heard declaring Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, as they died. I thank ISIS, Bashir said for leaving on the audio so that with their dying breath my brothers and their friends could declare Lord Jesus Christ. He said this only makes us stronger in our faith because Jesus said to love our enemies and this just makes us want to do it more.! // I doubt very few of us will ever have to promote Christ with our dying breaths but we should pray for Christians around the world who are facing this on a daily basis And you know if we have to face a little ridicule from time to time for speaking up for Jesus the Messiah so be it! be prepared to bear a little bit of suffering for the sake of Christ step up friends life that life of love and kindness Jesus was famous for and pray your heart out that your friends and people all across Noosa would become Christians!! - and speak up when opportunity allows for Jesus the Messiah!! // Will you today? 1. Acknowledge his greatness? 2. Admit your sinfulness? 3. Ask for his forgiveness, and then with all you ve got, 4. Promote his worthiness?? 7