Category: life

We begun in Study one answering the question WHO IS JESUS? Who is he? He’s the one who comes to seek and save the lost in fulfilment of Isaiah 61.

In this final passage from Luke we see that Jesus again fulfils an Old Testament Bible passage. Which one? All of them!! The “Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” is just another way of saying the whole of the Old Testament.

2 Corinthians 1:20 says that “no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ.”

All of God’s promises and purposes are summed up in Jesus.

Life is all about Jesus.

And in Luke 24:36-49 Jesus (who is physically risen and eating) helps the disciples to understand that everything that happened to him was done according to the scriptures. He suffered, he died, he rose again, and now repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name.

Life is all about Jesus.

We were made by Jesus and for Jesus.

We were saved by Jesus and for Jesus.

Being a Christian is all about Jesus. It’s not about religion. It’s not about doing stuff. It’s about Jesus. Trusting Jesus. Believing Jesus. Loving Jesus. Suffering for Jesus. Delighting in Jesus. Proclaiming Jesus. Praying to Jesus. Worshipping Jesus. Living for Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.

When the lost are found by Jesus. Life is no longer about living in darkness. Life is about living in the light of Jesus. Living differently because of what Jesus has done.

What will it mean to now live as one who as been found?
What will it mean to be part of the fellowship of the found?

The rest of the New Testament is about what it means to gather as part of the fellowship of Jesus. In Luke’s second volume, The ACTS of the Apostles, he gives some insights on what it meant for the early church to live the new life.

Have a read of Acts 2:42-47 & Acts 4:32-37 and see something of the radical changes in the lives of the first followers of Jesus: The Fellowship of the Found.

Are you found?
What’s stopping you from coming to Jesus to be found?
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Part 10 of Lost and Found. I’m writing a series of talks and studies on Lost and Found. These aren’t talks or studies… just some thinking. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

John Lennon said of The Beatles: “We’re more popular than Jesus.” Noel Gallagher said of Oasis: “We’re going to be bigger than the Beatles.”

Noel Gallagher in effect is saying that Oasis will be bigger than Jesus!

Lots of people in pop culture have an opinion on who Jesus is… more often than not many quotes about Jesus may seem positive or simply be neutral. Different religions are happy to say that Jesus was a great teacher. But often when Jesus is mentioned in popular culture it is done in a mocking tone. Jesus is ridiculed.

Why do people ridicule Jesus? Why do people reject Jesus?

In Luke 23:32-43 of the many responses to Jesus, they can be summarised into 2 categories.

Those that reject Jesus.
Those that accept Jesus.

The people. Reject Jesus.
The rulers. Reject Jesus.
The soldiers. Reject Jesus.
The sign writer. Rejects Jesus.
The criminal #1. Rejects Jesus.

The criminal #2. Accepts Jesus.

Of all the responses that Luke records for us (in this passage) there is only one where Jesus is not rejected.

Criminal #2 has a good set of glasses on. He can see clearly.

1) He sees himself clearly
“We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.” This guy isn’t deluded. He’s probably spent the last day or two reflecting on his life that is about to end. He’s done the crime. Now he’s about to pay. He is being honest – he knows he is lost. He’s under no illusion.

2) He sees Jesus clearly
“But this man has done nothing wrong… Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” While others throw insults at Jesus this guy is bowing his knee to the Lord of the Universe. He recognises that Jesus is without sin – and he recognises that Jesus is the King of an eternal kingdom.

Criminal #2 knows that he is lost. Criminal #2 knows that Jesus can find him.

What about everyone else? Not just those at the scene but for the last 2000 years of history? Everyone who rejects Jesus has failed to 1) see themselves clearly and 2) see Jesus clearly.

Have you recognised that you are lost?
Have you recognised that it’s only in Jesus death that you can be found?
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Part 9 of Lost and Found. I’m writing a series of talks and studies on Lost and Found. These aren’t talks or studies… just some thinking. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

On every single occasion that I have lodged a tax return over the past 10+ years I have received money back from the government. Except one time.

I was a uni student. That year I had to pay the government extra tax at the end of the year because I hadn’t paid enough throughout the prior financial year.

I forgot to pay it.

So.

At the end of the calendar year the tax collector came to visit.

In the old days they would knock on your door, but now they only knock on your door if you owe millions. I didn’t owe millions. So they sent me a letter instead.

The letter was very encouraging (like the letter I was sent from a theological college when I failed a correspondence course exam… but that’s another story!). Basically they wanted to help me. The letter gave me a whole bunch of options on how they could help me to pay off the loan. Did I need financial assistance? Financial advice? A longer period to pay off the total? They gave me a number of hotlines to ring depending on my scenario. I was really impressed with the letter! How much did I owe? $5.27… that’s all! I didn’t need any advice… I just needed a kick up the pants to remind me to pay it! $5.27. I didn’t really need all the options that they offered – but I thought that the tax collector was being nice nonetheless.

Nice.

Nice isn’t a word you’d use to describe Tax Collectors in the time of Luke 19:1-10. In first century Israel the tax collectors were Jewish rip-off merchants who were working for the occupying Roman forces. They were hated by their fellow countrymen. For good reason. The tax collectors didn’t send ‘nice’ letters like I received. They sent guys with big muscles to beat you up. And rather than just collecting your $5.27 they’d squeeze $527 out of you!

So when the religious nuts have a go at Jesus by saying “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner’”… they were right! Zacchaeus was a bad man. He ripped people off.

Things changed when Zac met Jesus.

Repentance is ‘be sorry and change your mind’ and ‘turn back’. Zac repented. He turned his life around upon following Jesus. He gave half of his possessions away and promised to pay back fourfold to those he’d ripped off.

This is the type of guy that Jesus came to seek and save. He was lost. He may have been wealthy. But he was lost. I wonder if the parable in Luke 18:9-14, where a tax collector cries out to God for mercy, is a preview to the events here in chapter 19?

Jesus doesn’t save the lost so that they can continue being lost. When the lost are found they are to live differently.

If you are a Christian, you are no longer lost. But you need to be different. You aren’t saved because you are different. You are different because you have been saved.
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Part 8 of Lost and Found. I’m writing a series of talks and studies on Lost and Found. These aren’t talks or studies… just some thinking. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.