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The clock starts ticking… (Messiah has come.)
3/6/2016
Last week we talked about logistics,
and how God bound himself with a complex set
of promises or conditions to be met,
to show us that He keeps his promises,
so that- based on what God has already done,
we can have confidence in the promises
that are yet to come.
All those logistical pieces to put into place…
But like the opening to
the very old Mission Impossible TV series,
Heavenly “watches” get synchronized,
and suddenly the impossible becomes possible.
So when does the clock start ticking for Jesus?
When does preparation merge into ministry
and proclamation?
1. We have his baptism by John the Baptist
in the River Jordan.
2. We have the temptation in the wilderness
for 40 days and nights.
3. We have “Behold the lamb of God,
who takes away the sins of the world.”
4. We even have the “water into wine”
at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee,
but even at that point he tells his mother,
“My time has not yet come.” (John 2:1-4)
He has two different launchings, actually,
corresponding to two different places
and two different times in his ministry-
The first is in Jerusalem- John 2:13-16, :23
13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.
15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”
23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.
Pretty dramatic, don’t you think?
Passover week, the busiest time of the year-
1. the most pilgrims,
the city absolutely flooded with pilgrims,
2. the most people needing the services
of the moneychangers
and animal merchants in the Temple,
3. the biggest opportunity for money to be made.
4. The biggest challenge to the status quo…
Bammm.
Big splash, lots of attention, and miracles to boot.
Quite the coming-out event.
The launch in Galilee was on a slightly smaller scale,
but still public-
Luke 4:14-21
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him,
21 and he began by saying to them,
“Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
How do you see Jesus-
meek and mild, gentle, quiet…almost mystical?
Neither launch, the Judean/Jerusalem launch,
nor the one on Nazareth in Galilee- qualifies.
The hourglass,
with the sand falling through, it’s been turned.
The assault on Satan’s realm has been launched,
in no uncertain terms.
Nicodemus will say,
(and this is our text for next week’s sermon,
if you want to be reading ahead)
“Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God.
For no one could perform
the miraculous signs you are doing
if God were not with him.” (John 3:2)
Something different is going on here,
according to Nicodemus.
Something really weird, but a GOOD weird.
But Jesus is going to take Nicodemus’ statement
a whole lot further-
Matt. 12:22-28
Then they brought him a demon-possessed man
who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him,
so that he could both talk and see.
23 All the people were astonished and said,
“Could this be the Son of David?”
24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said,
“It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons,
that this fellow drives out demons.”
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them,
“Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined,
And every city or household
divided against itself will not stand.
26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself.
How then can his kingdom stand?
27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub,
by whom do your people drive them out?
So then, they will be your judges.
28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God,
then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
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28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God,
then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Messiah has come. God’s Kingdom… HAS come,
not in its fullness, but enough to threaten
to undermine Satan’s grasp on planet earth.
The clock is ticking,
the sand is running through the hourglass,
God’s plan for the redemption of humanity
has begun in earnest.
No more “just planning, endless planning.
Let’s put some boots on the ground.”
What needs to be done to continue the offensive
against the evil Prince of this world,
as Satan is called in John 12:31, 14:30 and 16:11?
Jesus knows HIS mission is the mission
John the Baptist identifies him with,
to be the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.
Jesus is fighting for the redemption of humanity.
The stakes are high; he dare not fail.
Where are the victories?
1. Demons are being cast out.
2. Healing is occurring.
3. A widow’s son is healed- public event.
4. A young girl is healed- private event.
5. Lazarus, who is 4 days dead- is raised back to life.
What are Satan’s weapons?
1. Demon possession.
2. Our fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14-15)
Since the children have flesh and blood,
he too shared in their humanity so that
by his death he might destroy him
who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—
15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery
by their fear of death.
3. He uses deception,
4. he uses fear,
5. He uses pride,
6. He uses greed.
…and he tries to make us believe
that WE need to use those things, too.
And Jesus, who casts out demons in the name of God,
needs none of those things… and he is winning.
Jesus does what he does
to directly challenge the reign of the Tempter,
to discredit Satan in every category
where Satan’s hold seems strongest.
Over the next few weeks,
as we approach Palm Sunday and Easter,
these are themes we will be thinking about,
studying from the Scriptures.
Things amp up,
the closer we get to this last Jewish Passover.
But what we need to appreciate,
is that Jesus takes the fight,
the fight He is waging on our behalf,
He takes the fight directly to Satan.
1. He does it in the power of the Spirit,
2. He does it according to the truth of God’s Word,
3. He leans into the conflict, rather than trying to avoid it…
4. It’s almost like He has been
looking forward to it for a long, long time-
the Prince of Righteousness going head to head
against the Prince of Darkness…
proving all of Satan’s claims to be lies.
And we need to appreciate that he did all of that… for us.
The cross is coming, yes,
and was the cross necessary? YES.
But Satan needed to be discredited at every step first,
Satan‘s lies needed to be
totally and irrevocably exposed first…
Before the finale of the empty tomb.
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28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God,
then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
The Kingdom of God HAS come upon or among you,
brothers and sisters… Amen?
But why then, if we believe that statement to be true,
do we still live according to the lies?
1. Why do we still think that greed is good, and
money buys security or happiness?
2. Why do we try to prop up our egos,
rely on power or fame to define who we are?
3. If the widow’s son, and Jairus’ daughter,
and Lazarus can be raised, why do we still fear death?
If the Kingdom of God has come upon us,
why don’t we live that way?
How are we any different from those who don’t know God,
who, Paul tells us in I Thess. 4:13, have no hope?
Has the Kingdom of God come all around you,
but because of fear,
are you still being held hostage,
as a prisoner, of the lies of the Evil One?
How sad, to have been set free,
but to buy the ongoing propaganda of a failed regime.
When we look around us, it can appear daunting,
but when we engage the gospels,
the battle rages there too, but the winner is obvious.
Could it be that our time in the Word is too limited?
Do we trust the bad news “in the news”
more than the “good news” in the gospel?
1. Lives of holiness reflect that we believe the good news.
2. Lives of hope reflect that we believe the good news.
3. Lives of joyous celebration,
4. Lives of sacrificial service,
5. Lives of encouragement and contentment
reflect that we live in the light of the truth
of the good news.
Jesus begins his ministry,
both in Judea and in Galilee, with bold action-
1. The Temple has been cleansed,
and miracles are being performed.
2. “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing…”
Brothers and sisters,
The Kingdom of God has come among us.
Today, right now, tonight, tomorrow,
and for the rest of our lives,
let’s live lives that reflect
the glory of what that means… amen?