The Good News According to Luke
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Focus: The challenge of our days will be to submit to the authority of the invisible God who breaks us in our sin only to rebuild us through repentance in his glorious image - that of Jesus Christ.
The Architect
The Builder
The Restorer
The Architect
Christ is the great architect of our lives who lays good plans by the authority of his word.
Luke 20:1-8 ESV
“One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?” And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” So they answered that they did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.””
You can not have it both ways - either Christ is God and you are not, or you are self-autonomous and Jesus is merely a good sage.
The end of this passage makes it clear that in the judgment, we will see that there was only one true king to whom we must give an account.
You will always wrestle with the extent of Christ’s authority in your life when, at heart, you want to be your own God.
We say that we submit to the authority of Christ, but do not do what he says.
We do not do what he says because we do not read what he says to do.
Lordship means there is no picking and choosing what you will and won’t obey.
To do this and think that you have the pleasure of God is deception
(I Corinthians 10).
It is the great delusion of our day.
God is wise and his word is eternal - his character does not need to evolve with the times or become more enlightened (Psalm 19).
“In the words of human rights scholar Max Stackhouse, “Intellectual honesty demands recognition of the fact that what passes as ‘secular,’ ‘Western’ principles of basic human rights developed nowhere else than out of key strands of the biblically-rooted religion.””
― Paul Copan, Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God
When we follow sociological, physiological and psychological trends to their utmost conclusion, we find that God’s ways were always right, for all time.
Learning the Scripture and understanding all that the OT foreshadowed that would ultimately be fulfilled in Christ gives us both God’s ways and his wisdom personified.
It shows us how to live in every area of life.
The Builder
Jesus is the builder of truly blessed lives.
Luke 20:9-18 ESV
“And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.””
*We all have some measure of poor foundations in our lives that need to be torn down so that we might be rebuilt for God’s glory.
God’s redemptive work in our lives will break us or his judgment in response to our unmitigated rebellion will crush us.
When God breaks us, he rebuilds us through repentance and faith.
“Pride, we know, is an inflated view of ourselves—a false advertising campaign promoting ourselves because we suspect that others won’t accept who we really are. Pride is actually a lie about our own identity or achievements. To be proud is to live in a world propped up with falsehoods about ourselves, taking credit where credit isn’t due.”
― Paul Copan, Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God
What areas of your life do you need to humbly allow God to tear down that he might rebuild it in the power, freedom and joy of Christ?
Examples of practical obedience:
Luke 20:19-26 ESV
“The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.”
The pathway to true blessing is faith in and obedience to God’s word.
The Restorer
Through his death at the cross, burial and resurrection from the dead Jesus works to restore broken lives.
Jesus deals with the real issues in society by dealing with the real problem - sin in the heart of every man, woman and child.
“You've probably heard the complaint, “Jesus never said anything about the wrongness of slavery." Not so! Jesus explicitly opposed every form of oppression. Citing Isaiah 61:1, Jesus clearly described his mission: "to proclaim release to the captives, ... to set free those who are oppressed" (Luke 4:18). This, then, would mean Rome's oppression and its institutionalizing slavery. Now, Jesus didn't create an economic reform plan for Israel, but he addressed Life in the Ancient Near East and in Israel heart attitudes of greed, envy, contentment, and generosity to undermine oppressive economic social structures. Likewise, New Testament writers often addressed the underlying attitudes regarding slavery. How? By commanding Christian masters to call their slaves “brother" or "sister" and to show them compassion, justice, and patience. No longer did being a master mean privilege and status but rather responsibility and service. By doing so, the worm was already in the wood for altering the social structures.”
― Paul Copan, Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God
It is only through the cross of Jesus Christ that we find forgiveness for our sins and power through the resurrection life of God to live in the pure image of our Creator.
Luke 20:27-40 ESV
“There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. And the second and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. Afterward the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.” And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.” Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” For they no longer dared to ask him any question.”
It is that for which modern humanity inwardly longs and strives, yet misses, because they do not go to the source.
Luke 20:41-44 ESV
“But he said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is David’s son? For David himself says in the Book of Psalms, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”’ David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?””
Understanding Jesus’ true identity matters because it determines how you relate to him today.
Let’s return to God and trust him in all of his ways for his pleasure, glory and the good of all who would obey him.
Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher