Category: Sermons

Last week, I wrote a post about Christian decision-making and why Christians should submit everything to the Word of God. In this post, I am going to explore what submitting everything to the Word of God looks like in the life of a church, specifically regarding church membership.

 

Church membership is one of those touchy subjects surrounding us in a culture seemingly composed of entirely of touchy subjects. It’s a watershed subject too: those who touch upon it seem to inevitably slip straight to the bottom of whichever side they lean to. In other words, church membership is either seen as essential or as utterly irrelevant.

But can we defend either perspective from Scripture?

I don’t think so.

Instead, we find that church membership is not the sine qua non it’s made out to be by some nor is it the non-issue claimed by others. The New Testament can guide our thinking on the subject, helping us walk the knife’s edge between the two ditches.

Not Exclusivity But Accountability

It is helpful to first acknowledge that church membership is not like membership in a country club: it’s not about exclusivity but accountability. We are inclined to think of membership in primarily privileged terms. For lack of a better way of putting it, privilege is the last thing on Jesus’ mind when he instructs his disciples to “daily deny yourselves, take up your cross, and follow me.” Our understanding of church membership needs to be governed by that self-sacrificing mindset.

It also needs to be governed by Jesus’ words regarding the nature of Christian power relationships: “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” Church membership is not an opportunity for me to be served as one greater than those plebes who haven’t joined; it is my attempt to follow in the steps of Jesus and to serve others.

Local & Universal Church

Another important consideration is the New Testament’s teaching on the relationship between the local and the universal church. While some would deny one or the other, they both seem to be in the text. This can perhaps be most clearly seen in the book of Revelation.

In Revelation 5:9-10, for example, we get a glimpse of the reality of the universal church in the praise of heaven given to the one who redeemed the church:

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

The universal church is the kingdom of God composed of all true followers of Jesus from all times and all places.

But the universal church is not exclusive of the local church. Revelation 1:4 shows John, the same one who had the vision of the heavenly worship party in Revelation 5, declaring that he is writing to “the seven churches in Asia.” Church here can be defined as a group of Jesus-followers committed to one another together in one time and one place.

Understanding the reality of the universal church is essential to avoid overdoing an emphasis on local church membership. Conversely, understanding the reality of the local church is essential to avoid neglecting the beauty of the universal church.

The reason such understanding is essential is because it grounds our approach to membership. The local church is meant to be a microcosm of the universal church but the universal church is not able to adjudicate all the matters that come before the local church. Both are necessary and when there is not some kind of local commitment, obeying the commands of Jesus is nearly impossible. Membership in the local church does not mean automatic entrance to the universal church. Nor does membership in the universal church obviate the need for accountability to the local church. The truth, as is often the case, is somewhere in between. To get at it, we will take a look at church membership in the individual Christian life and church membership in the congregational life of the local church.

 

Local Church Membership in the Individual Christian Life:

Is Local Church Membership Required for Salvation?

For whatever reason, this is the primary question for Western Christians in almost all matters. The community reality of salvation, the kingdom message, all is boiled down for our simple, mechanical minds to: “What does this do for me?” Appropriate or not, it is a pressing issues for many, so let’s answer it:

No.

Formal, local church membership is not required for salvation. Romans 10:9 clears that up for us:

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

No mention of church membership.

Is Local Church Membership Required for Eternal Life?

No philosophizing this time:

Nope.

Revelation 21:6-7 locates the gift of eternal life in the grace of God:

And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. ⁷ The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

Is Local Church Membership Required for Sanctification?

Now we come to the sticky bit. Church membership doesn’t save you from hell or get you into the new heavens and the new earth, but what does it do in the time you’re breathing? Is it required for your growth in grace and holiness?

Now, nowhere in the Bible do we see a command: “Thou must join a local church by filling out form 3B in triplicate, providing your name, address, phone number, blood type, make and model of car, and other information as required. Such membership will require 10% of your gross income annually, attendance at any and all and sundry interminably protracted business meetings, and, of course, serving in the nursery every other week.”

It’s not there.

But that doesn’t mean the discussion is closed.

While we lack a clear command from the New Testament on the subject, I would say that while local church membership is not required it is extremely beneficial.

Why is it beneficial? Because while there’s no clear command for it, there is a clear assumption of the commitment that local believers will show to one another in their local context. And there are clear commands on how individual believers are to relate to one another in the local church. These commands are difficult to obey in the spirit they are given if there is not an underlying accountability between believers to one another. So, local church membership is beneficial for discipleship.

But the reason I cannot say it is required is because discipleship is not just an inter-believer process. There are clear commands that relate to how a believer is to live in relation to the world as well. Obedience in service in the world is as much a means of discipleship as accountability in the local church context. Many churches that practice required local membership restrict the service required for discipleship to members.

Houston, we have a problem.

If service is a means of discipleship, it should not be restricted to members only but be open to all believers that all may grow in grace and holiness. But since accountability is key within the body of Christ, certain forms of church service, leadership, and decision making have to be restricted to those who have made a mutual commitment to one another. We need to think about how discipleship and membership interact biblically.

While there is never going to be a definitive answer to the particular interplay of the two, I land on saying that the local church should encourage local believers to commit to a formal covenant of membership and should require that certain forms of service (pastor, deacon, teacher, etc.) be restricted to members. Meanwhile, other forms of service (physical needs, community events, etc.) should be open to all professing believers under the oversight of the pastors of the church. This approach benefits both the individual disciple and the local church.

Just because I don’t think committed, accountable, local church membership should be required for all service doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s important. In fact, I’d recommend it to all believers and all churches.

Why?

Local Church Membership Helps You Test Your Salvation:

According to Jesus, you can know someone is a disciple by whether or not they obey Jesus’ commands. Two of those commands in particular need looking at:

“Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” Mark 9:50

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” John 13:34

It is easy to be at peace with a brother in China who I have never met. It’s easy to love a sister in Brazil who I have never met. 

It’s hard to be at peace with the brother whose personality rubs me the wrong way Sunday after Sunday. It’s hard to love the old lady who grumbles at me in the hall.

But obeying Christ’s commands isn’t meant to be something I can do on my own: it’s meant to cause me to rely on the Holy Spirit who will empower me to grow in sanctification by being at peace with people who I have promised to support and encourage. By demonstrating love for people who will hold me accountable and show me the way of Christ when I fall, I am testifying to the truth of my discipleship. By joining a church, committing myself to them and they committing themselves to me, I am helping to test my salvation, assuring myself of it every time I trust God to create peace between me and a brother, to preserve unity between me and a sister. It doesn’t mean that someone who doesn’t join the church isn’t saved, or can’t have assurance of it. But it does mean that those who intentionally commit themselves to a local body are able to have the fuller assurance that comes from testing their obedience.

Local Church Membership Proves Committed Love for One Another

Correspondingly, if obeying Christ’s commands is a test of discipleship, so to it is a proclamation of the gospel. John 13:35 carries on the thought expressed in verse 34 above, (novel, right!?):

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

If you are talking to a girl who has decided to move in with her boyfriend and you ask, “Why?” chances are you’ll hear some variation on the theme, “He loves me. We’re going to get married soon.” How does this story usually end up? Ten years later, they’re still going to get married someday.

There’s a difference between professed love and committed love.

In boy/girl relationships, commitment is formalized (and proven) by a ring and covenant vows. In church relationships, it is formalized (and proven) by membership and covenant vows. Not required to love one another, but much more believable in proving that you do.

Local Church Membership Enables Decision Making Together

The church is not a static thing in the New Testament. There are constantly shifts, controversies, and opportunities that need to be addressed. Church membership aids in these required decisions.

In Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus says that one decision, a particularly difficult one, that requires the church’s input is that of church discipline.

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

Obviously, this situation is a difficult one when it occurs. But hidden in the difficulty is an obvious question: if there’s no local, committed membership, who is the “church” we are to go to? All the believers in a community, whether they know each other or not? The worldwide church? Should Christians take advantage of modern technology and create “JudgmentBook?” It’d be like Facebook, but for putting the sins of local believers before the universal church for their judgment?

Obviously, I’m speaking with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek. No! No one (at least no one that I know) would be in favor of such a reading of this text. The most logical and most beneficial reading would indicate that the “church” Jesus is referencing is a local body of believers who know one another and are committed to mutual accountability together.

But church decisions are not always disciplinarian: sometimes, they are simply for the health and ministry of the body. In Acts 6, we see one such event:

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.”

A problem arises and in order to correct it and further the ministry of the body, the Jerusalem church is told to “pick out from among you” men who will meet the need. Note that the apostles called together “the full number of disciples.” If that is meant to indicate that when a church has a need, they must contact the “full number” of the universal church? I don’t think so. Instead, I think the principle here is that the church addresses needs within the body, from within the body. If that’s true, then there must be a way of differentiating those within the body from those without the body. Again, membership answers the call, not as a means of exclusivity but as an assurance of accountability.

Local Church Membership Defines the Task of Local Church Leaders

The final benefit of church membership I want to look at may seem a bit self-serving, but it’s not meant to be. I’m a pastor and Scripture is clear that I will give an account before God of how I lead the church I am called. But what is the “church” to which I am called? Is it the universal church? If so, I want out: the task is impossible.  But I don’t think that’s the case. Instead, I believe that I am called to a local church and that the borders of my responsibility are those of local believers who are committed to the fellowship of that church. Peter’s words in 1 Peter 5:1-5 guide my thinking here:

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Peter uses the term “elders” (a term that is synonymous with “pastors”) and he tells them to “shepherd the flock of God that is among them.” Not to shepherd believers everywhere, but those “among them.” Not to shepherd the believers gathered among other pastor/elders, but among them. There needs to be a circle of responsibility for the pastor to do their job well, and that circle is best defined as those believers committed to one another in their local congregations.

Submitted to the Word on Church Membership

So we’ve walked through a lot of text and a lot of my halting explanation on what it looks like to be submitted to the Word on the subject of church membership. My hope is that you will take the time to search the Scriptures to see whether these things are so. I’d love to talk more about your findings if you want to: email me at pastor@rhsbc.org. Also, look for my next blog post examining what being submitted to the Word of God looks like in church leadership. God bless!

Despite the title of this post, I really do try to avoid taking spiritual lessons from Disney movies but I’ll make an exception for this one.

In Disney’s The Lion King, the climactic moment comes as Simba is confronted by a choice: continue to run from his responsibility as the rightful king or return to the Pridelands to lead his people to overthrow his tyrant uncle, Scar. He wallows in indecision and self-focused muttering until an old baboon, Rafiki, shows up. Rafiki, in addition to being crazy as a loon, speaks some pretty profound truth into Simba’s life: if you want to know what to do, you start by knowing who you are.

On the surface, that just sounds like standard, milquetoast, Disney-fied philosophy. But it’s remarkably consistent with biblical teaching on Christian decision-making. Only instead of looking to ourselves, our family, or our desires, we are called to look to our Creator for the self-knowledge that clarifies our decisions.

And we constantly have to decide what we will do. But before we rush off half-cocked in one direction or another, our time is well-spent by first asking,  “Who are we? Who are you? Who am I?”

Those questions will, oftentimes, produce subjective answers. Frankly, if you asked ten different people, you’d probably get eleven different answers. Why? Because everyone is different. We all have different backgrounds, different teachers we’ve learned under, and we all have different hopes and dreams. So a bit of confusion is natural.

But a good deal of that confusion is clarified for those who follow Christ. Because who we are is clarified by Scripture’s witness of who we are: we who claim the name of Christ are those who seek obey what he has said.

At least that’s Jesus’ definition of a disciple: someone who does what he says to do. Look at the passage we commonly call the Great Commission:

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

If we’re going to make disciples, we need to know what one looks like. Jesus tells us right there. And he had already simplified the list of commands he expected disciples to be defined by:

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:36-40

 

 

Who you are governs what you do. And if you are a follower of Jesus, the starting point for your decision-making is in your identity as a disciples, as someone who has committed to obeying Jesus.

It’s simple.

I’m right there with you, though. While it sounds easy to make decisions based on who we are as disciples who seek to obey Jesus, our decisions tend to get confused because we so easily forget that fundamental element of who we are. Feelings, logic, profit, comfort, all of these are considerations we begin to take into account before we even consider our status as disciples when we’re faced with a choice.

But the last thing we need to do is to try to make decisions based on how we feel, what we prefer, what we’ve always done, or what we want to do: we need to submit everything we feel, prefer, used to do, and want to do to the Word of God.

Why? I’ll give you two reasons: 1) I’ve tried living life without doing obeying Jesus teaching in God’s Word and it doesn’t work and, 2) Nothing other than the Word of God is sufficient to guide those of us who follow the Son of God.

In other words, disciples of Jesus base their decision making on who they are in Jesus because only the Word that reveals Jesus is efficient and sufficient.

In other, other words, only God’s Word works and only God’s Word is enough to ground our lives in.

Peter points this out for Jesus’ followers through the centuries:

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire…For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:3-21

Did you catch what Peter is saying? He is saying that everything we need for “life and godliness” as Christians is found in the eyewitness testimony of the apostles and in the “prophetic word”. Where do we find the eyewitness testimony of the apostles? In the New Testament. Where do we find the “prophetic word”? In the Old Testament. So where do we find everything we need for “life and godliness”? In the Bible.

We should submit everything in our lives to the Word of God!

Why should we submit everything to the Word of God?

Because it’s all we need to live God-honoring lives.

But that doesn’t mean we always understand how to do it.

What does it mean to submit everything to the Word of God?

It means that our first task when determining who we are or what we ought to do is not to ask what is most efficient, most useful, most traditional, or most comfortable but what is most biblical.

If you are an employee, you do not have to ask yourself if you “feel” like working hard at your job: Scripture says “whatever you do, do as unto the Lord.”

If you are a business owner, you do not have to ask yourself if it is more “profitable” to cheat your workers and customers: Scripture is clear in its condemnation of owners who put their own gain ahead of the well-being of those around them.

If you are a parent, you do not have to raise your kids exactly the same or exactly the opposite of how your parents raised you: you are to “bring your children up in the fear and admonition of the Lord.”

To submit everything to the Word of God means that it is the first place we go to make a decision, the only source we trust implicitly, and the only standard we measure ourselves against.

When presented with a decision we who bear the name of Christ should study the Word of God, all the while asking the Spirit of God to guide us to wisdom and truth.

What we do as disciples of Jesus is governed by who we are according to the Gospel revealed in Scripture.

“Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.” Acts 17:1-13

What a difference it makes when the “people of God” go to the Word of God for direction! The text presents these two groups of people and their respective responses to Paul’s message in an intentional contrast:

The Thessalonian Jews heard Paul’s interpretation of scripture (Jesus is the Messiah foretold in the law and the prophets). Some of them were convinced and believed the gospel, but most of them were outraged. Why? Because Paul’s message from the Word didn’t square with their traditions. They were so outraged that Paul would dare question them, that they followed him to the next town and tried to cause problems there too. They filtered the decision Paul’s message called them to through their personal thoughts, traditions, and feelings.

Contrast that response with that of the Berean Jews. They heard Paul’s interpretation of scripture just like the Thessalonians, but Luke (the author of Acts) uses an interesting phrase to describe them in contrast to the Jews of Thessalonica: “more noble”. Why were they more noble? Because when they heard Paul’s message they checked it against the Scripture. They were more noble than those in Thessalonica who just took Paul’s word for it and believed: they checked what he said against the Word. They were more noble than those who rejected Paul’s word because it didn’t square with their tradition: they submitted their tradition to the testimony of Scripture.

When you are called to or faced with a decision, go to the Word! Don’t go to your thoughts, feelings, traditions, wishes, etc. Don’t just believe something because some preacher tells you. Don’t just reject something because it doesn’t square with your tradition. Go to the Word! It reveals Jesus, it reveals who you are in him, and it’s the only sure ground for your “life and godliness.”

When deciding what to do, start with who you are according to the Word of God and go from there.

I love reading through the Gospels because every time I do, I am reminded that Jesus changes everything. He changes our expectations of who God can use by having a family tree that would make most mobsters blush. He changes how we look at power and ethics and responsibility. He heals, he cleanses, he teaches. The people who should love him, the religious people, hate him. The people who should hate him, the sinners, love him. He’s a King who serves, and a servant who rules. He challenges everything and changes everything and promises the restoration of everything. And we killed him for it. Seriously sin-sick, demon-ridden, weak-hearted, foolish humanity killed him. And if that was the end of the story, I wouldn’t enjoy reading it, because there would be nothing ultimately worth reading about. But it’s not the end. Consider Matthew’s gospel: Matthew doesn’t stop writing at chapter 27. He carries on to chapter 28. Jesus’ death is merely a prelude to the greatest miracle of all time: The Resurrection. And the resurrection changes everything!

Jesus’ Resurrection Changes Everything

I cannot overstate the importance of the Resurrection. As theologian Jaroslav Pelikan said:

“If the resurrection of Jesus is not true, then nothing in life really matters.  However, if the resurrection of Jesus is true, then nothing else in life really matters.”

It should be no surprise then that establishing the truth of the resurrection is vital for those who follow Christ. It should also be no surprise that those who wish to deny Christ have focused a significant amount of attention on debunking the resurrection. In fact, in Matthew 28, we see both testimony to the truth of the resurrection and the first attempt by opponents to deny it. But Matthew 28 also reveals to us how we ought to respond to the Resurrection.

The Truth of the Resurrection – Matthew 28:1-10

The Truth of the Resurrection is established not just by Matthew, but by Mark, Luke, and John as well. One of the most amazing evidences for the truth of the account to me is that women are recorded as being the first to see Jesus alive. Women weren’t even allowed to testify in court because they were assumed to be unreliable witnesses. Surely, if the story were being made up, the writers could have had more culturally-acceptable witnesses be the first to see Jesus alive! Nonetheless, here it is. The women see him first and carry the good news to the disciples. And all the disciples believed Jesus rose from the dead for the rest of their lives, all of them were transformed by that belief, and everything changed because of the resurrection.

Well, not everything: there were still those who rejected Jesus and thus had to come up with something to explain the evidence that didn’t involve him rising from the dead. Because if Jesus rose from the dead, everything he said and did was vindicated and they couldn’t stand the thought. So they invented a tale, a story to tell everyone:

The Tale of the Opposition – Matthew 28:11-15

They said that the disciples stole the body. Ok. Let’s go with this for a second: the disciples did it. The same disciples who were so afraid on the night of his betrayal that they all abandoned Jesus in front of an amateur Jewish mob, admittedly intimidating, but no Roman soldiers, the most advanced military force the world had ever known. The one disciple who had enough nerve to fight back on the night of betrayal later couldn’t find the courage to admit to a servant girl that he was Jesus’ disciple. But yeah, it’s totally probable that this sniveling bunch of cowards would have been daring enough to risk taking on the first century equivalent of Seal Team Six because it’s totally probable that trained soldiers serving under a strict honor code and penalty of even death would have forgotten to set a guard and instead all fallen asleep at the same time. And then, these same soldiers would have totally probably slept through the disciples moving a multi-ton rock away from the entrance of the tomb because the disciples were totally probably ninjas with crazy, silent, rock-moving skills. And then, when they were threatened with death if they didn’t admit that Jesus wasn’t God’s Resurrected Son, the Savior Messiah, every single one of them stuck with the lie. Ok. Consider this from Chuck Colson:

“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.”

Chuck Colson gets it and so should we: saying the disciples stole the body doesn’t explain the evidence in the least.

Other opponents of the gospel have realized this throughout history. So, many other theories have been proposed to explain it away. For example:

Jesus wasn’t really dead: Ok. A guy is so apparently dead that the soldiers attending his crucifixion, who had probably done this many times before and had also probably fought in battle many times and seen dead people there, they are convinced he is dead. Convinced enough to report “Mission Accomplished” to their commander. Then, Jesus stays unconscious long enough for himself to be wrapped in grave clothes and barricaded in the tomb. Somehow, the cool air of the tomb revives Jesus, who’d just been brutally beaten, nailed to a cross, suffered intense pain, lost a ton of blood, half-drowned by the effects of crucifixion, and been stabbed in the side for good measure, and he just shimmies out of his grave clothes, rolls the giant boulder away from his tomb from the inside, which makes the earth shake, strolls outside, terrifies the guards who fall down unconscious, and is recognized by these women who throw themselves at his feet and grab them, and Jesus manages to not cry out in pain and tells them to go quickly and tell the disciples he would meet them in Galilee. OK.

The disciples were just hallucinating: In this theory, the disciples didn’t really see Jesus alive. They just wanted him to be back with them so bad they all hallucinated that he was and, being convinced, they proceeded to die for this wish-fulfillment vision that they’d had. Trouble is hallucination is an individual thing. And yet we are introduced to large numbers of eyewitnesses who all saw Jesus in various places, settings, and times. And their reports are all in significant agreement regarding what they say. That’s not how hallucinations work. Then there’s the problem of the empty tomb. The hallucination theory can’t account for the fact that everyone living at the time agreed that the tomb was empty. The Jews, the Romans, and the disciples all said, “The tomb’s empty.” Hallucination is one thing, teleportation is entirely different.

Someone just impersonated Jesus: Because don’t we all rush to impersonate the last guy who was crucified for criminal rebellion? But assume the premise for a moment and we see that this theory falls flat as well. Again, we have the problem of the empty tomb: if someone was just claiming to be the resurrected Jesus, all the Jewish leaders had to do was produce the body of the real Jesus and all the trouble goes away. But beyond that, consider that whoever was acting the part would have had to have matching wounds, wounds realistic enough to fool disciples who were invited to touch them. The guy would have had to have been almost killed to approximate Jesus’ condition. See the problems with the “Jesus didn’t really die” theory above. Then there’s the issue of the locked room appearance. The disciples, still terrified of being identified with Jesus, are hiding in a locked room when, all of a sudden, there’s Jesus! Unless the imposter knew which room to hide in before the disciples got there, he couldn’t just pop through the wall with no trace. But a resurrected Jesus, whose body was no longer bound by the same laws as ours, could have. Finally, the disciples knew Jesus. Yes, they were occasionally prevented from recognizing him after his resurrection, but every time that prevention was lifted, there was no doubt in their minds that this was the guy that they had spent three years with.

The Wrong Tomb: “Where’s the tomb?”

“Which tomb?”

“Jesus’ tomb.”

“Oh, that’s the one with the rock sealed to the outside and a Roman guard standing in front of it, right? See, that’s going to be a problem: there are hundreds of those. Not sure I can point you in the right direction”

No. For the following reasons:

1. It’s Joseph of Arimathea’s personal tomb, he’s not going to lose it.
2. The Romans knew where it was, they set a guard up in front of it.
3. The Jewish leaders knew where it was: Joseph of Arimathea was one of them, and you can bet that since they were concerned about the disciples stealing the body, they were keeping a close eye on the tomb in addition to asking for the Roman guard.
4. The disciples knew where it was. This was their Messiah, their friend, their teacher. They may have been scared, but they still loved Jesus. They knew where he was buried. Note that the women going to the tomb on Easter morning didn’t need to stop and ask for directions.

Evidence Isn’t Enough.

But all the refutation of the theories against the resurrection, all the evidence, everything I just covered above, isn’t ultimately enough because evidence isn’t enough. Because we can argue until we are blue in the face about did or didn’t. And the evidence points, quite clearly, to the empty tomb being explained by resurrection. As Sir Arthur Conan Doyle put it:

“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

All the proposed explanations are impossible to square with the evidence, except for resurrection. But the evidence isn’t ultimate: what matters most is how we respond to it.

If we refuse to believe the evidence for the resurrection, we aren’t just rejecting a set of bare facts: we are rejecting Christ. What he taught, what he did, who he was. And in that rejection we will miss out on the greatest privilege of all time: eternal life alongside the author of life. We will gain autonomy in this life. We will get to call your own shots, chart our own course, be accountable to no one. But we will be called to account when this life ends. Are we willing to stake eternity on a shaky denial of the resurrection in the face of evidence? Are you?

But many people do claim to believe in the resurrection. Maybe you do. But that belief hasn’t changed one thing about your life. Let’s just call that what it is: crazy. The resurrection literally means that, for those who believe and follow Jesus, death is no longer anything but a minor annoyance on the path to immortality. It means that every word Jesus spoke and every deed he did, and every statement in this Bible are true and, more than true, are important for your life today. If you say you believe in the resurrection and you really do believe it, you will be transformed by that belief. You will live to let others know Jesus is alive, you will submit your decisions and desires to him, and you will seek to obey him. Because possibly the greatest evidence for the resurrection is the transformation of those who truly believe it.

The Transformation of Jesus’ Followers – Matthew 28:16-20

This is key. Jesus rises from the dead and he says, “Because I’m alive, here’s how you’re going to live: you’re going to go everywhere you go and tell people about me. Those who believe your message, you’re going to baptize them and teach them to obey everything I commanded just like you are doing. And those who do this, those who don’t just give lip service to my resurrection, my kingdom, my gospel, I’m going to be with those people until my plan for the world is completely finished.”

It’s not enough to acknowledge the intellectual evidence for the resurrection if it doesn’t change anything about how we live. Because Jesus’ resurrection changes everything. Jesus changes everything. Jesus can change us. Jesus can change you. Paul, someone who persecuted those who believed in Jesus until he himself met the resurrected Lord and was transformed by the encounter, he told us how the resurrection can change us in his letter to the Roman Christians:

“If you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

And if you are saved, you will be changed. Because the resurrection of Jesus changes everything!

Jesus spent a lot of his time on earth highlighting the differences between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdoms of the earth. In Matthew 17 & 18, Jesus gives us a foretaste, a glimpse of what the kingdom of heaven will look like after he ascends and the Holy Spirit comes. In other words, Jesus tells us what life in the church will look like.

From Jesus, we know that the kingdom of heaven looks nothing like the kingdoms of the earth, we know that ethics in the kingdom are simultaneously simpler and harder than any other code of ethics in the world. We know that it’s not a geographic kingdom, we know that it not just waiting for you to die, we know that it’s not about harps and clouds, but about loving God and loving others.

And, frankly, none of that even raises an eyebrow in Christian circles. Why? Because we are used to assuming that the kingdom of heaven is primarily about us, how we respond to the gospel, how we live out the good news, where we go when we die. Our understanding of the kingdom centers around ourselves.

So did the disciples’.

Jesus has to show them, and us, that’s not how it works…

In earthly kingdoms, having connections means freedom from responsibility. In the kingdom of heaven, having connections means humble submission.

17:24 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” [25] He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” [26] And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. [27] However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”

This statement isn’t saying the same thing as the “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” passage, although there is a similar premise. In order to understand what Jesus is saying, we need to ask exactly what the two-drachma tax was.

It wasn’t a Roman tax, but a Jewish one. This fact is important. These tax collectors were fellow Jews, like Matthew. They were tax-collectors, like Matthew. But unlike Matthew, they were collecting for the temple, not the enemy Romans. The tax here was for temple maintenance, supplies, etc. Those asking whether or not Jesus paid it are likely testing, not Jesus’ submission to Roman rule, but his support for Jewish religious observance.

Jesus’ answer is instructive. In political kingdoms, the king’s family and close friends could be exempted from taxation. In religious kingdoms, priests and temple servant could be exempted from taxation. So when Jesus says, “the sons are free”, he is implying that true Jews, true sons of Abraham, would be exempt from paying the temple tax. And he is further implying that he and Peter, by that logic, should be exempt from paying.

But this is a Jewish tax! Wouldn’t Jesus’ argument here mean that none of the Jews should be taxed? Not at all! He’s saying that those outside the family should bear the burden of temple support. On one hand, Jesus could be arguing that Gentiles are the only ones who should have to pay this tax. But Jesus knows that this tax is only leveraged against Jews. So he’s saying that even among the Jews, some are true sons of Abraham and some are not.

I believe that Jesus is pointing us towards the same truth that the Old Testament prophets hinted at, that the division of the nation into two kingdoms (Judah and Israel) foreshadowed, that Paul would later address in his letter to the Romans:

Romans 9:6-8

 [6] But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, [7] and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” [8] This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

What Jesus is saying is good news for us! You don’t have to have impressive ancestry, know the right people, or be a toady to get into the kingdom of heaven. You just have to follow Jesus. Jesus, and what you do with him, provides the identity for those who are truly sons. Faith in him marks the boundaries of the kingdom of heaven. There’s no entrance fee, no special rites, just faith. It’s not like the kingdoms of this earth where privileges are for those who can pay! Everyone is invited into the kingdom. You just have to understand that once you are in, you aren’t freed from responsibility, but freed for selfless service. You are free to submit to Christ by serving others.

And the church should be where that truth is seen and lived out. The church is meant to be a picture of the kingdom, a foretaste of the goodness of God in the New Heavens and the New Earth. Do we live life together, do we function as a church for selfish reasons or do we gather together to lay aside our ambitions and our pride to serve one another and our community? What kind of kingdom are we bearing witness to?

The disciples got some of what Jesus was saying to Peter, something clicked: ah, Jesus is saying that this community of disciples is the kingdom of heaven, this gathering is where the kingdom is seen.

But they don’t understand everything. They still don’t get that…

In earthly kingdoms, greatness is measured by self-serving power. In the kingdom of heaven, greatness is measured by self-denying obedience.

            [1] At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” [2] And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them [3] and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. [4] Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. [5] “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, [6] but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

The disciples, on their best days, were following Jesus because they thought he would make the world better. On their worst days, they were following Jesus because they thought that he would make their lot in life better.

One of the recurring debates amongst the disciples was who was the greatest in the kingdom. They were already looking ahead to the time when Jesus was on the throne and they were his trusted assistants, not equal with Jesus, but certainly his right-hand men. They were jockeying for position in every comment and question and action. A couple weeks ago, we looked at them being unable to cast out a demon. They weren’t concerned for the boy but wanted to know what they had missed. They wanted to impress Jesus with their abilities and instead he showed them up.

Why did they want to impress Jesus? For the same reason that employees kiss up to bosses, soldiers flatter CO’s, and students bring presents to their teachers – to gain personal freedom or advancement.

So Jesus interrupts their prideful ambitions. “Who is the greatest in the kingdom?” Jesus beckons a child to come over. He doesn’t explain anything, he doesn’t give the kid ten reasons why he should come over, he doesn’t have to: the child just obeys. And that’s what Jesus needed his disciples, needs us to see: the kingdom of heaven doesn’t measure greatness in your ability to command respect, or your powerful presence, or your ability to get what you want. No, the kingdom of heaven measures greatness by how willing you are to obey the king.

The disciples aren’t told to become like little children because children are innocent, perfect little angels: if you think that, I’ll let you hang out with mine for a day. They’re great, I love my kids, but let’s just say I didn’t have to teach them how to sin. They figured it out all on their own.

The disciples aren’t told to become like little children because children are weak. Children can be the exceedingly strong-willed.

No, the disciples are told to be like little children because, like the child Jesus called, obedience to the king is the passport of a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.

Remember, Jesus is teaching us about ourselves, but he’s also teaching us about the church. So, how are we doing in this regard? Do we view church as a place to exercise self-serving power or do we view it as a place to practice self-denying service?

Are we willing to obey the king, without question, without demanding a reason, but simply to obey? To say, “Yes, Lord” no matter what Jesus says to do?

That is hard. It requires something of us. It requires us to ignore our natural desires for power and place and submit those desires to an ultimate desire to please our king, Jesus…

In earthly kingdoms, you are expected to satisfy your desires. In the kingdom of heaven, you are expected to submit your desires to Christ’s authority.

            [7] “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! [8] And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. [9] And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

This has to be one of the most-ignored passages in the New Testament. And for good reason – sin, temptation, self-mutilation: this isn’t the kind of stuff that fills buildings and sells books! But this is important.

It’s also important to recognize that Jesus isn’t literally advocating cutting off limbs or gouging out eyes. One of the church fathers, I believe it was Origen, took this literally. His struggle with lust led him to castrate himself in response to these verses.

That’s not what I am advocating this morning!

But let’s not run from what Jesus’ hyperbole is pointing to, though. Too often, we take sin lightly in the American church. Remember, this section of Scripture is Jesus telling us what life in community, what life in the kingdom, what life in the church looks like. If we didn’t know before, we know now that God takes sin seriously.

And we should too.

In our personal life, what desires are we allowing to rule over us and cause us to sin? Jesus says we should submit those desires so fully to him, obeying his commands to purity and wholeness, that we’d be willing to lose a limb rather than offend the Lord who has offered us salvation.

In our corporate life, we need to recognize the imagery of Scripture here. The body is a frequent metaphor for the church. Different gifts, different people, different parts, and yet, unified. Jesus is saying that if a part of the body, the church, is causing the rest of the body to suffer, we should be willing to see that part cut off rather than the whole church go down in flames. The mission of the church is too great for us to allow it to be compromised by a single, selfish, sinning, member.

Personally and corporately, we have to take sin seriously. We have to fight it, we have to hate it, and we have to work together to make sure it has no place among us. Why? So that we can be free to obey the Lord’s commands.

That requires a mindset shift…

In earthly kingdoms, you protect what you have. In the kingdom of heaven, you focus on seeking and saving what is lost.

            [10] “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. [12] What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? [13] And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. [14] So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

I’m not a shepherd, but this seems like terrible advice. If it read, “leaves the 99 in the sheepfold” it’d make sense. “Walls, protection, now I’ll go looking for the lost one.”

But Jesus doesn’t say that. He says the 99 are still on the mountain. The mountain where lions and tigers and bears (oh my) could come and destroy them. The mountain where more could wander off and get lost. The mountain where nights are cold and winds are strong.

Again, I’ve never been a shepherd, but I don’t think Jesus is giving shepherding advice.

He’s giving church advice.

There is a natural tendency for the church, for the Christian for that matter, to turn inward over time. To shift from bolding charging the gates of hell to passively sitting still for another Bible study. To shift from offense to defense. To let the pressures of this world drive us from the public square and into our whitewashed fortresses. To protect and preserve our traditions and expectations of what church should be instead of mobilizing everything that we have and everything that we are to engage a lost and dying world with the gospel.

Jesus says “Quit it.” Stop focusing on protecting what you have and start seeking and saving what is lost. The church doesn’t exist so that we can get together and sing Kumbaya around the warm glow of our smug, self-satisfied, self-serving, Sunday morning traditions. The church exists to glorify God by loving him, loving others, and making disciples.

We do those things inside these walls, undoubtedly, but we dare not stop there. It is too easy for our focus to turn inward. It is too easy for us to focus on what we already have. We need to go in our making of disciples.

Shame on us, church, shame on us, if we are more focused on keeping one another happy than on rescuing others who have wandered. Jesus says our task is to leave the 99, who aren’t wandering, to go seek the one who is wandering, who is lost. That’s our marching orders. It’s terrible advice for shepherding, but radically important advice for the church.

To focus on those who have wandered. To extend forgiveness to those who need it…

In earthly kingdoms, your brother should come to you for forgiveness. In the kingdom of heaven, you go to him offering it.

            [15] “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. [16] But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. [17] If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. [18] Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. [19] Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. [20] For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

This passage has been interpreted for years as a statement on “church discipline.” And while that’s there, we need to back up a little bit and understand that saying this is a passage on church discipline is like saying Moby Dick is a book about a boat: it’s there, but that’s certainly not the focus.

Consider what Jesus is saying. Remember, he just talked about the 99 and 1 sheep. He says seek and save what is lost. He says if your brother sins against you, go to him and tell him his fault.

And that’s where we get it twisted. Because Jesus isn’t just saying “go tell him what a horrible person he is.” No, in context, there’s something else. “Go, tell him his fault” and offer your forgiveness. When you make him aware of his sin, do so with a desire to forgive him for it. Give him the opportunity to repent and then you can forgive.

This would be better called church reconciliation than church discipline. It’s not a witch hunt, it’s an invitation to restored fellowship.

And it mirrors what God did for us. “We all like sheep have gone astray. We have turned, each one, to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” We went astray, we turned, but God saved us by laying our sin on his Son. God sought us, not to punish us, but to offer us forgiveness.

Jesus says, be like God, be like me. Don’t wait for your brother to come to you. He probably doesn’t even know he sinned. Go to him, share with him, offer forgiveness if he will repent. That’s what God does for us.

So let’s walk this out:

Imagine two Christians: Fred and Frank

Frank comes over to Fred’s house to visit. As he’s leaving, he backs over Fred’s prize tulip bed. Fred sees it and yells at Frank that he’s a good-for-nothing so-and-so. When Frank jumps out, apologizes, and offers to do whatever it takes to clean up the mess, Fred tells him just to leave. Frank leaves. But the comments keep burrowing into his brain. So Frank goes to Fred and says, “Fred, I’m so sorry that I backed over your prize tulips and I beg you to forgive me. But, I also need to tell you that the language you used was very hurtful and not in keeping with our shared faith. I want to forgive you as well if you’ll let me.”

If Fred listens to Frank, he’ll say, “Frank, I accept your apology and forgive you for running over my prize tulip bed. And I feel terrible about what I said and for losing my temper like that. Will you forgive me?”

Done. Frank and Fred are reconciled, the gospel is demonstrated in their relationship.

But, Jesus knows this isn’t a perfect world. What if Fred had responded to Frank’s offer of forgiveness by refusing to apologize and cursing him out again?

Then Jesus says you pursue forgiveness again. “take one or two others with you.” This is for accountability to the gospel. Fred can cuss out Frank if he’s still hot enough, but two or three brothers in Christ? He’ll think twice. Hopefully.

Let’s say Frank goes back to Fred, this time with Fabio along too. Frank again says to Fred, “Fred, I’m so sorry that I backed over your prize tulips and I beg you to forgive me. But, I also need to tell you that the language you used was very hurtful and not in keeping with our shared faith. I want to forgive you as well if you’ll let me and I brought Fabio along to remind both of us of how important this is that we be reconciled.”

And Fabio says, “Fred, Frank told me what happened and told me that he has asked for and offered forgiveness to you. As a Christian, you should forgive Frank and the two of you be reconciled.”

If Fred listens, he’ll say, “Frank and Fabio, I am so sorry it’s taken me this long to see my sinful words and temper, but now I repent and ask you to forgive me.”

Done. Reconciliation has been accomplished.

But what if Fred won’t listen and won’t repent?

Jesus says, “take it to the church.” Tell the whole body what happened, the process that had been followed, and ask the church to beg Fred to repent and be reconciled.

And if he does, done deal. Reconciliation has happened!

But if he doesn’t, and this is the hard part, he can’t be a part of the church anymore. Why? Because the church is meant to be a picture of the kingdom of heaven. And citizens in the kingdom of heaven, are those who have repented and asked God for forgiveness. If they won’t repent and ask one another for forgiveness, they never really asked or understood God’s forgiveness. So to let such a person continue representing the church would be to tell a lie about the kingdom, to tell a lie about God.

That’s what the whole binding and loosing conversation is about. The church has authority to say, “This person exhibits the characteristics and is bearing testimony to the truth of the gospel. We accept their profession of faith as genuine.” But they also have the authority to say, “This person claims to know Christ, but by their lack of repentance for clear sin, they are not bearing testimony to the gospel. We reject their profession of faith as counterfeit.”

As harsh as that may sound, Jesus says he’s with us on it. “Wherever two or three are gathered” isn’t about worship, it’s about these hard decisions. It is more important for the body of Christ to bear witness to the truth of the gospel than for individual members to be comfortable. Remember the discussion of cutting off limbs and gouging out eyes? Jesus takes sin in his church seriously. But even if church reconciliation fails and church discipline ensues, there’s always the hope of repentance and reconciliation.

But Jesus isn’t just concerned with your brother’s repentance; he’s concerned with your forgiveness.

In earthly kingdoms, forgiveness has an expiration date. In the kingdom of heaven, forgiveness is always available.

            [21] Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” [22] Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Jesus is saying, “forgive others as many times as I forgive you – a whole bunch.” It’s not a tally card here. Jesus isn’t saying “77 times. But feel free to hold a grudge and not forgive the 78^th time.”

If your brother sins and repents, even 78 times, forgive him.

People get the idea of forgiveness all wrong. Remember, God’s forgiveness is the model of forgiveness for us. God doesn’t unilaterally forgive all sin, does he? If he did, then everyone goes to heaven, Pol Pot, Mao, Hitler, and Stalin. No, God only forgives sin for those who repent and confess Jesus as Lord. Repentance is essential. I hear people all the time talk about needing to forgive someone who hasn’t repented and I think “how?” Forgiveness is a transactional term. Forgiveness requires repentance. This isn’t to say that you can carry a grudge against someone, you should always be ready to forgive, which means having a merciful heart. But forgiveness requires repentance.

If repentance is made, forgiveness is required.

            [23] “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. [24] When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. [25] And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. [26] So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ [27] And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. [28] But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ [29] So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ [30] He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. [31] When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. [32] Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. [33] And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ [34] And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. [35] So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Whatever sins your brother has committed against you pale in comparison to what you’ve committed against God. If God can forgive you, after you repent, you must forgive your brother after he repents. If you cannot, Scripture is quite clear.

Forgiveness is not optional in the church: it is essential and the consequences of withholding it are eternal. Why? Because the church bears witness, both to the holiness and the mercy of God. To refuse to repent is to lie about God’s holiness. To refuse to forgive is to lie about God’s mercy. Neither are options for the believer or for the church.

Be quick to repent and quick to forgive.

Matthew 16:28: “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

This verse has confused many a Christian, myself included, throughout the years. Jesus is speaking to his disciples immediately after Peter confesses him to be the Christ, Jesus calls Peter “Satan” for telling him he didn’t need to go to the cross, and then Jesus basically says, if you want to follow me, you’ve got to die.

But he ends with the encouragement of verse 28: “there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

That sounds good. Sounds great even, if you’re one of the ones he’s referring to who won’t be dead when the kingdom comes.

The difficulty in interpretation comes when we look around and say, “Wait a minute! The disciples are all dead and we don’t see the kingdom anywhere! Jesus lied to us!”

May I submit that the problem isn’t with Jesus, but with our reading. Because Jesus is simply setting up what’s coming next. In Chapter 17.

The chapter and verse division throw us off, but we need to remember those weren’t part of the original text. They were added later to make it easier to navigate the massive tome that is the Bible, but they can get in the way if we are not careful.

Because in Matthew 17, Jesus’ prophecy is fulfilled, at least in part, only six days later. Not all of the disciples see it, but three do and they’re not dead. Starting in verse 1 of chapter 17…

[1] And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. [2] And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. [3] And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. [4] And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” [5] He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” [6] When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. [7] But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” [8] And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

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Throughout the gospel of Matthew, we have seen references to the Kingdom of Heaven. The Sermon on the Mount described what life looked like in the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus demonstrated the power of the Kingdom of Heaven, and now these three disciples see the Kingdom of Heaven come.

But it comes in a surprising way. Because the Kingdom of Heaven is revealed not as an earthly kingdom with geographic boundaries, flags, and fortresses: it’s Jesus, finally fulfilling all God’s plans and prophecies. Jesus only!

The Kingdom of Heaven is Fulfilled in Jesus (1-8)

If we don’t see Jesus as Lord, we won’t understand him as the fulfillment of the kingdom of heaven.

Our text points us to the need to see Jesus as the fulfillment of the Kingdom of Heaven:

Matthew 17:5b “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

Listen to him. Why should we listen to Jesus? Why should we acknowledge him as Lord? Why is He the fulfillment of the kingdom?

Three reasons:

1. Jesus is the ultimate revelation from God

We are told in scripture that in the former times, God spoke in various ways and through various people, but in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son.

Peter missed this. And I think that we do as well.

Peter wanted to build three tabernacles for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. He was essentially equating the three. He was honoring them, elevating them above him and James and John. But he was wrong. Jesus was not the equal of Moses and Elijah but was their Lord. He was not another prophet leader sent from God: he was the ultimate revelation from God.

[17] “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Matthew 5:17

Peter assumes that Moses and Elijah are equal to Jesus: Moses and Elijah, representing the Law and the Prophets, point to Jesus. We are to point to Jesus as the fulfillment of the Kingdom of Heaven.

“This is my beloved son, listen to him.”

We don’t believe that we should stone disobedient children, but that’s what the Law said. We don’t believe that anyone who dashes a Babylonian baby’s head against a rock is blessed, but that’s what the Psalms say. We don’t believe that we have to keep the Sabbath day, but that’s what the Prophets say.

We’ve got to be careful as Christians to not be so in love with our moral code, picked and chosen from passages of Scripture that we like and ignoring the ones we don’t, that we miss the truth of the kingdom: Jesus. We can’t love our system of morality more than we love the master of our souls.

Jesus is sent from God as the ultimate revelation of what God is like and how we ought to live and everything we think we know needs to be filtered through him.

But, that’s not the only reason we ought to see Jesus as Lord…

2. Jesus is the ultimate authority as God

When Jesus was transfigured, his face shone like the sun

This scene is, I believe, intentionally reminiscent of a scene on another mountain many years before. Mt. Sinai. As the children of Israel waited to receive the commandments of their God. Moses went up on the mountain and asked to see God and then his face shone for days afterward.

What is different about the scene in Matthew is that Jesus wasn’t reflecting an external light, but was revealed to be the source of the light. He was transfigured before them. He was and is and will be God.

“But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.’” Hebrews 1:8

The Son of God is God. Jesus is God. That’s remarkable. Peter thought that Jesus was like Moses and Elijah, but Jesus made Moses and Elijah.

And Jesus made you.

Believe it or not, Jesus has the authority to be Lord of your life, not because he was a good teacher, not because he was a righteous man, but because he created you. He molded you and formed you and knit you together in your mother’s womb. He does not have the right of ownership over you as if his authority was purchased: he has the right of creation of you.

Do you see what a shameful thing Peter did in talking of three equal shelters, albeit in ignorance? It’d be like you inviting me to thanksgiving dinner and then me thanking the turkey for the fine hospitality!

Jesus has the ultimate authority not just because he reveals God to us, but because he is God over us.

3. Jesus is the ultimate standard for His people

Every year, around Easter, I hear people who say, “I just can’t believe Christianity because how could a dead man raise to life?”

And Christians get bent out of shape when people question the resurrection.

I don’t. Because that’s not even the crazy part! What’s more amazing than the resurrection to me is the incarnation. That God, the creator of the universe, the sovereign Lord, took on flesh. That the second member of the trinity came to earth as a baby. He was a man. Because he was God he could pay the price for our sins. Because he was a man, Hebrews tells us, he could identify with us in our weaknesses. In those two facts, we have redemption.

And we also have a life plan. We have the example that we needed showing us, as frail humans, how to live before God.

“Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” 1 John 2:6

So many of us evaluate our spiritual growth by comparing ourselves to those around us: I’ll never be as good as her, at least I’m better than him. The trouble with comparative Christianity is it always misleads us because people are always changing. I can always find somebody that I’m better than if I want to feel good about myself. If I want to beat myself up, I can always find someone better than me. But what Jesus shows us is that we need to quit focusing on ourselves or comparing ourselves to those around us.

Only when we fix our eyes on Jesus will we have a sure guide for how we ought to live and a vision of what we ought to be.

Jesus is Lord. That means he tells and shows us how to live. Proclaiming Him Lord is not merely an intellectual exercise: it affects every single area of our lives: mind, soul, and body.

It’s not easy.

The scene on the mountain showed the three disciples the Kingdom, fulfilled in Jesus Christ. But that wasn’t all they needed to see or hear or do to understand the kingdom…

The Kingdom of Heaven is Revealed in Suffering (9-13)

[9] And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” [10] And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” [11] He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. [12] But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” [13] Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

It is no accident that Jesus turns the conversation to suffering after the disciples had just glimpsed heaven

Elijah suffered.

John the Baptist suffered.

Jesus will suffer.

The implication is obvious: the Kingdom of Heaven is revealed in suffering.

All of Scripture recognizes this:

“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.” 1 Peter 2:21

The hard truth of the kingdom is that people who are satisfied with the things of this world cannot appreciate the promise of heaven. People who are drunk on the wine of this world cannot appreciate the promise of new wine at the banquet of the lamb. People who’ve cultivated a self-centered vision of a personal heaven will find that they have no desire for a Christ-centered vision of a corporate heaven.

Suffering forces us to relinquish our reliance on this world, on self-fulfillment, on a privatized religion of mental appeasement.

Suffering wakes us up to the reality of the gospel. Suffering is the tool that God uses to wean us off this world in order to use us in inaugurating the kingdom of heaven.

“Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” CS Lewis The Problem of Pain

We shouldn’t seek suffering in this life, but when it comes, don’t lose heart. It’s not that God is picking on you; he’s preparing you for two things:

1. Living in the kingdom of heaven.

2. Demonstrating the good news of that kingdom to others.

A comfortable person speaking of a suffering savior will not be heard, but a suffering person speaking of a conquering savior will.

The Kingdom of Heaven is expressed by serving others in faith (14-20)

[14] And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, [15] said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. [16] And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” [17] And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” [18] And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. [19] Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” [20] He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Matthew knew what he was doing by presenting the trio returning with Jesus and immediately coming face to face with suffering that they could do something about after having had a foretaste of heaven.

This passage has been used and abused for people to think that if they have enough faith they can get whatever they want for themselves. That is not at all what is in mind here.

The disciples were condemned for their lack of faith in God, “why couldn’t WE cast it out” – they thought they could attain the desired result apart from the power of God.

The faith that Jesus has in mind is never centered in what we get, what we do, or what we are recognized for. The faith he is speaking of here is the faith that God will work in spite of us, not because of us. That God will use our feeble efforts to accomplish healing and restoration in this broken world

When we serve in our own strength, we fail. When we serve for our own advancement, we fail. When we serve for our own gain, we fail. We fail to bring about the Kingdom of Heaven through efforts in our own strength.

But, when we serve through faith in God’s power, we succeed: the kingdom of heaven is made real. This theme resonates throughout the gospels: don’t seek power for yourself, but exercise the power of God for his glory and the good of others.

“But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26-28

The reason faithful, selfless service is so important is because of what the Kingdom of Heaven costs, both Christ and us…

The Kingdom of Heaven is grounded in the agony of the cross and the victory of the resurrection (22-23)

[22] As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, [23] and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.

The disciples hear of the coming cross and they are distressed. They freak out.

They couldn’t understand it then, but we understand it now: What the disciples heard as the worst news possible is actually the best news ever! Why? Because “he will be raised on the third day!”

We need to live as if the cross were actually good news. Not just good news for us because of Jesus but good news because the cross in our lives is good news.

To die to self is the goal of Christianity. To have no thought of personal gain or personal power, but to joyously own Jesus as Lord, to willingly suffer for his kingdom, to faithfully serve others, and to boldly die to self all because the Kingdom is seen in resurrection – and in the eternal life that flows from that resurrection.

The Apostle Paul got it: 

[8] Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—[10] that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:8-11 ESV)

He’s talking about the kingdom of heaven. And Jesus as the Lord of that Kingdom.

Jesus showed us, told us, reminded us, that the kingdom of heaven starts now. That means owning Jesus as Lord to the point that we are willing to suffer for him, to serve for him, to die for him.

And yet, in America, we’ve made our faith about managing the discomforts in the world as best we can so that one day, we can get to “heaven.” I’m not saying that’s not good, but it’s certainly not all we are supposed to be about.

I’m afraid that as I’ve walked through Matthew the past few months, I may have done a poor job of explaining what the kingdom of heaven is. When you hear heaven, don’t think about clouds, and harps, and wings. Put that out of your mind. Instead, when you hear heaven, think about Jesus, glorified on the mountain, think about his followers gladly suffering for him, think about serving tirelessly and thanklessly, think about death and resurrection. Take your hope of heaven off the shelf, put it on your feet, and go live it out now. Go befriend the person at work that everyone else makes fun of. Turn off the TV, make cookies with your kids, and take them to the widow next door. Quit bashing your neighbor’s theology and start demonstrating the love of Christ to them. Make gathering with fellow believers a priority, not something governed by your desires or whims. Don’t say how excited you are for heaven and then spend every dollar you make on yourself trying to create a little personal heaven on earth

When do we, church, when do we, Christian, begin to stand and fight, here and now, because of the glory that awaits? When do we cease to pretend that the gospel is good news because it eases my conscience and begin to see that the gospel is good news because it lays claim to my every breath, my every decision, my very life?

When do we stop seeing heaven as the reward for our useless spirituality and start seeing it for what it is: the joy of our Master into which we are called but into which we dare not come empty handed?

We don’t get whisked away to heaven immediately upon getting saved because God is purging us of selfishness! He is guiding us towards Christlikeness, not for our glory but for His, not for our benefit alone, but for those around us. The Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus Christ, changes everything.

 

Everything about Jesus inspired curiosity. Everyone had questions:

“Where did he come from?”

“How can he teach like that?”

“How can he heal like that?”

“How can he talk to the Pharisees like that.”

The question that everyone wanted an answer for was, “Who is this guy?”

Jesus puts the question to his disciples in Matthew 16:13:

[13] Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” [14] And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

The disciples have answers, lots of them. People had no clue what to make of Jesus so they started comparing him to prophets, miracle workers, even his cousin, John the Baptist.

This question resonated with people and everyone had an opinion. But Jesus wasn’t stopping there. Asking “who do other people say that I am?” wasn’t his goal – he was setting up his next question:

[15] He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

This is a more pressing question. Jesus moves from general information to personal application. The difference between “Who do they say that I am?” and “Who do you say that I am?” is the difference between information and salvation. And Jesus knows it.

The trouble is that people want to answer the question of “Who do you say that I am?” however they want. Consider the following examples from Adam Ford:

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The trouble is that none of those caricatures of Jesus work. There’s always an embarrassing passage to contradict an individual version of Jesus. Cool Dad Jesus really struggles with Christ Jesus saying to cut off your hand if it causes you to sin. John Lennon Jesus is offended by Jesus saying that he didn’t come to bring peace, but a sword. Richard Simmons Jesus would pass out at what Christ Jesus says about the cost of discipleship.

All of these answers, all of the answers the people of Jesus’ day fell short. But Simon Peter gets it right:

[16] Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus isn’t who we want him to be: Jesus is who he is. We don’t get to pick and choose which version of Jesus we like best, expecting him to conform to our wishes. He picks and chooses us and then has the audacity to expect that we would conform to his wishes. That’s what all his talk about the kingdom of heaven is meant to help us understand. That’s why we have an Old Testament and a New Testament: because we need to be brought to the point that we see this life isn’t about us – it’s about Jesus being the Christ, the Son of the living God. Nothing else matters outside of that. Nations rise, nations fall, people are born, people die, but that – that confession, that Jesus is the Christ, is a rock we can cling to!

And we don’t get that answer on our own – God has to reveal it to us:

[17] And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

Christianity is not based on human logic. Note that I don’t mean it doesn’t make logical sense: it does. God is not a God of chaos but of order and we see that order in everything true. What I mean is that Christianity does not arise merely from human logic. In other words, if you sat down to create a logical religion, using human intellect, Christianity is not what would come out. People accuse Christians of making it up, of using religious logic to control people. They say that Jesus’ disciples invented this religion after Jesus was crucified in order to gain power over people.

Not so! But assume for just a second that it is true…

…If the disciples had made it up to gain power, let’s just conclude that they weren’t very good at it. What kind of power comes from asserting that when someone strikes you on one cheek, you turn to them the other as well? What kind of power comes from saying that the greatest among you must be the servant of all? This isn’t a religion of power, it’s a religion of weakness! And if that makes you cringe or repulses you, good! Because our human nature loves power and runs from weakness. The only way any of us would know the truth of the gospel, of Christianity, a religion of weakness, is if it was revealed to us not from our flesh and blood, but from God.

Some people take this reality of divine inspiration as a carte blanche that whatever they “feel” spiritually must be correct. Not so! The work of God’s Holy Spirit is not generic revelation but specific: he reveals the truth of salvation through the truth of the Father’s revealed Word and Son, Jesus Christ.

Several things happen when we recognize and make this confession that Jesus is the Christ:

1. Identity redefined and defined.

[18] And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock

This passage has been interpreted and misinterpreted throughout church history. Catholics claim that Jesus was saying that Peter was the rock and would be the first pope and that the succession of popes is the mark of the true church. Others say that Peter wasn’t the first pope, but that this instituted the bishopric and that without the bishopric, you don’t have a true church.

But there is a crucial distinction in the original Greek that is not so apparent in translation. Many know that Peter means rock and conclude that since Jesus says “on this rock” he is refering to the same person. But there are two different, though related words used here. Jesus says “And I tell you, you are Petros, and on this petra.” Petros was used to denote a chunk of rock hewn from a larger mass and petra was used to describe a mass of “living” rock, i.e. a mass of rock rising from inside the earth. In other words:

Petros: “You are Peter,” you are a piece of the living rock”

Petra: “on this rock,” on the confession of Christ that makes the scattered peoples of the earth into a mass of living rock, the confession that changes individuals from self-centered, self-seeking, self-deceived egos to God-loving, others-loving, disciple-making world-changers, no longer separate, but united.

The confession of Christ simultaneously redefines individual identity and defines the church.

And just like the confession is revealed not by flesh and blood, so this mass of living rock, the church, is being build not by flesh and blood, but by Christ…

2. It’s Jesus’ work, not ours.

I will build my church,

It’s Jesus’ church. It’s not my church, it’s not your church, it’s Jesus’ church. That means that our congregations aren’t something that we get to control, they’re something that Jesus is sovereignly in control of.

I recently presented a vision plan to the church that I pastor and it was affirmed by a nearly unanimous vote. But that “nearly” gave me pause. I shared with those gathered that, while I understood that the proposal passed by our constitutional rules, I recommended that while the Vision had been affirmed, we would wait to implement it until we had given more time to share and discuss it as a church. Many were shocked and saddened that we weren’t going to implement it straight away.

But I saw the hand of God in this vote because I had failed to communicate the vision adequately. I made the mistake of assuming that just because I had talked about it a lot that others would have heard it a lot. But the more I think about it, I realize that most of my conversations were with small groups within the church, not with the entire congregation. I didn’t give enough time for people to ask questions or seek clarity on it.

So taking some time before implementing the vision gives me and gives the church time to remember this: it’s Jesus’ church. He doesn’t need a cool logo, catchy name, or a vision plan. Those things are great as tools, but rotten as essentials. If the goal is simply to pass a vision, I shared with the church, we aren’t on the right track. Instead, the vision has to be subservient to the goal: Jesus using us to glorify God by expanding his kingdom through our loving efforts. I do think the vision is helpful and right, but I’d rather scrap it than move forward without the guidance of Christ.

A vision is simply a tool, a way to help a church get to the point where it is not run by a pastor, or by special interest groups, or by power players, or by anything or anyone other than Christ. How does Christ build his church? He does so through his teachings, by his example, by his death and resurrection. He tells us to Love God, Love Others, and Make Disciples. It’s that simple.

Jesus will build his church. It has a common confession, he promises to build it, and he assures its success.

3. Assurance of mission success

Let’s be honest, I’m not perfect, you’re not perfect. That means that our churches will never be perfect. The only way it would be is if none of us were a part of them, which kind of defeats the purpose, right? But the amazing thing is that when Jesus builds the church, (not the building, not the programs, but the people) even when we’re imperfect, we are assured that we will succeed in our mission. What is the mission? Make disciples everywhere we go in defiance of Hell.

and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The strange thing about this statement is that Jesus uses active language to speak about a passive defense. If you talk about something prevailing, it is usually an active thing: i.e. one army prevailed against another. But here the term “gates” is by nature a passive defense, not an active offense. So for this passive object to prevail, all that would be required is that the active object, the church on mission, cease to attack. Jesus says that won’t happen. Yet we see it happening everywhere in our own country. We see churches get so wrapped up in pettiness, so concerned with making sure that certain individuals are mollified, so concerned with making sure that no one disturbs the status quo, so concerned with comfort and ease and making sure that church “feels right” that they will ignore the clear teaching of Scripture and let the gates of Hell stand unassailed.

A church that fails to engage in the mission of Christ doesn’t make Christ a liar, but it does make itself not a church. In other words, failure to engage in the mission we’ve been given doesn’t mean that Jesus was wrong: it means that we are.

After all, he gives us the mission and then gives us the authority to carry it out:

4. Authority to engage on behalf of Christ

[19] I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

People get hung up on this statement, but I think there is a simple way to understand it: Jesus gave us commands, he gave us a mission, he assures us that it will succeed, and he gives us the authority we need as a church to make sure that it gets done. If there is something in the church that is bound that would help the church, Jesus says we have the authority, his authority, to loose that, to set it free to do the work that he has given. And if there is something that would hinder us from fulfilling the mission, Jesus says that we have the authority to bind it, to keep it from getting in the way of the mission.

It’s a simple statement of mission authority: Do whatever it takes, within the mission parameters, to complete the mission.

Think of what Jesus has entrusted his church with: finishing the work that he started. Fulfilling the Great Commission. And he’s not holding us back: he’s saying, “You have all the authority that you need to make this happen.”

Which makes this next verse potentially confusing:

[20] Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Why? He just praised Simon Peter for the right confession, he just told them they couldn’t fail in assailing the gates of hell, and then he says, “Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone.”

Why? Because the Jews were expecting a christ. First century Palestine was rife with supposed messiahs, men who would make extraordinary claims about themselves, gather a group of followers with promises of restoring the glory of Israel, crushing the Roman occupiers, blah, blah, blah. And followers would come, deceived by the promise of worldly power and glory alongside this latest messiah. And then the leader would say the wrong thing to the wrong person, or make an attack on a Roman outpost, and the next thing you knew, he and all his followers were beaten and hung on crosses.

Jesus tells his disciples not to say anything about his being the Christ, because Jesus wasn’t a charlatan like those others. He didn’t want to attract people with vision of grandeur, he wanted them to see the whole picture. And they couldn’t get the whole picture yet. Because as important as Jesus’ teachings and healings were, Jesus’ mission as Christ wouldn’t be complete until after his crucifixion and resurrection.

So he tells the disciples why they can’t share the good news about him being the Messiah yet.

[21] From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

This doesn’t sound good to the disciples. Peter especially doesn’t think so.

[22] And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” [23] But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Peter, who just made the confession of Jesus as Christ, who just had Jesus exclaiming with excitement, who has been given this new identity and this new assurance, that same Peter, says, “Um, Lord, you need to cool it with the whole dying thing. We ignored it the first couple times you mentioned it, but it’s getting embarrassing. Stop it.”

And Jesus calls him Satan.

And we want to as well: “How dare you, Peter?”

But before we come down to hard on poor Peter, let’s think about why he said it. For one thing, it didn’t fit his expectation of what the Messiah would do and who he would be. Peter was a Jew. He expected the conquering hero just like everyone else in his country. And Peter wanted to be a part of it. That’s the second, and related, concern. Peter wanted to be the faithful disciple who serves in the revolution and is richly rewarded in the kingdom that comes. He wanted the position, the power, the comfort, the ease that comes with being on the winning side.

But he didn’t understand that those things don’t come immediately. They come, the kingdom comes, but not on our timetable.

Peter didn’t understand that the rewards of Jesus’ Kingdom are only available to those who have paid the price of discipleship.

If we’re honest, we don’t want Jesus to suffer and die either. Because we know that if Jesus suffers, we will suffer. We are like those Jews running after false messiahs. We want the blessings of the Kingdom without the pain of crucifixion. We don’t want a crucified messiah because we don’t want to be crucified disciples.

But the joy of resurection is only available to those who have been crucified.

[24] Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. [25] For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. [26] For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? [27] For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

We don’t want to go through the painful process. We don’t want our service in God’s mission to involve change or pain or discomfort. False messiahs promise the kingdom but end up leading their followers to the cross.

Jesus promises the cross and ends up giving us the kingdom.

Persecution, sacrifice, even death are going to come. Following Christ costs you everything or you’re not following him. But the flip side of the coin is the blessed truth that in giving up everything for Christ, you are really gaining everything.

If your confession of Christ hasn’t cost you anything, you haven’t confessed Christ. And if you haven’t confessed Christ, you won’t see the kingdom. But if you have, even though that confession costs you everything, the kingdom is yours and you will see it.

Oh for the day when that’s all we see!

Apparently, tracing family history is a big thing in my new home state of Utah. But it’s not a new phenomenon to me: my great-aunt was into lineage study and her work is legendary in our family, though not necessarily in the way she would have wanted. See, she traced our family line back to Squire Boone, Daniel Boone’s brother. Interestingly enough, Squire Boone was the first Baptist preacher in Kentucky and Indiana, where I worked and studied for about 10 years. It seems somewhat prophetic given my calling. But our line of the Boone’s didn’t stay real committed to the faith beyond Squire. In fact, when I moved back to Kentucky for school, my grandpa suggested I look up some of our ancestors. I asked where he suggested starting and his reply was “with the prison records.” Anyways, my aunt did all this research, traced us back to Squire Boone and then back across the pond to England. Apparently, the family had been a pretty inconsequential bunch, but some ancestor had done the king of England a favor at one point and was granted a land holding and title, leading to our last name. Fascinating stuff.

But it’s all hearsay at this point. I don’t have any details on any of it, and a lot of what I think I know could be made up or exaggerated. Why? Because my aunt saved all her research in cardboard boxes. Apparently, she had a ton of material, stuff she’d mailed out to people for, traveled to get, years of research. And this is pre-computer days, so it’s all paper files, which take up a lot more room than a flash drive. She needed a place to store the files, so she took them to my grandpa’s place in Tumalo, OR. My grandpa and grandma have a ranch there with lots of space and they even have a well-maintained cabin/bunkhouse on the property that they store stuff in and visitors stay in too. Well, my aunt put her file boxes in there. Quite a while later, grandpa decides to clean out the cabin. He doesn’t look in the boxes, just tosses them all in the burn pile and lights them up. My grandpa’s still alive, but it was touch and go for a while! My grandma was able to find some stuff that grandpa didn’t and she put together a binder for all of us to have a copy of what was left.

Why? Why did my aunt give so much time to putting that all together? Why was it such a big deal that grandpa burned it? Why did grandma take the time to put as much as she could together for us all?

Because in our disconnected, highly-mobile, and increasingly confusing world, having a family identity is important. Understanding who you are requires understanding who you came from.

In Matthew 12, we find Jesus providing some family research for his followers. He’s walked them through a lot, and they’re getting ready to head into a lot more, and he takes the time to establish who they are, what Jesus’ family looks like, what’s their identity, how’d they come to be a family when they didn’t share a mom and dad?

What we find is that Jesus’ family is marked out by a series of encounters and teachings from Jesus. He paints a picture of his family, not in bloodline and heritage, but in faith and work.

1. Jesus’ family is made up of those who recognize God’s work in the world through his Son, not those who see it and try to explain it away.

[22] Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. [23] And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?”

The crowds are amazed! For heaven’s sake, we just read it and we should be amazed: Jesus healed a man who couldn’t see, couldn’t speak and had a demon. If you’ve been paying attention to what we’ve seen in Matthew to this point, those three miracles are like the trifecta. This is amazing! It’s like Jesus is working up to a finale: “you’ve seen me heal a blind man, you’ve seen me heal a mute man, you’ve seen me drive out demons, now watch as I do not one, not two, but all three of those miracles at once, in one man!” Those who saw this miracle would have no choice but to acknowledge both Jesus’ power and the truth of who he was.

The crowds get it: this miracle should cause everyone who sees it to at least consider that maybe Jesus was the Messiah, the King of the Kingdom of Heaven, come to earth, Immanuel, the Promised One. The crowd could get it, we can get it, anyone who hears it should get it.

Except the Pharisees didn’t.

[24] But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” [25] Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. [26] And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? [27] And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. [28] But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. [29] Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. [30] Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. [31] Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. [32] And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

It’s worth mentioning at this point that many get sidetracked and confused by this idea of the unpardonable sin and many, myself included, have wrestled with the question: “have I committed the unpardonable sin?”

Let me say this: If you are worried about possibly having committed this sin, you haven’t committed it.

The unpardonable sin comes to us in a context that clarifies its meaning. Jesus is not talking to his disciples, he’s not even talking to the crowds following him; he’s quite clearly referencing the Pharisees who just saw him do this amazing miracle. And the Pharisees turn away, like “meh. He’s only doing this because Satan’s doing it through him.”

That’s the unpardonable sin: to see the clear demonstration of the unfathomable power of God, and to turn away from it in stubborn, hard-hearted rebellion.

If you’re a Christian, in other words, if you’ve repented of your sins, committed to following Jesus, and are seeking to submit every area of your life to his Lordship, you can’t, by definition, commit the unpardonable sin. You’ve already recognized God’s work in the world and you rejoice in it. You can’t commit the unpardonable sin if you’ve acknowledged your sin and Jesus’ solution: you’ve submitted to the work of the Holy Spirit. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is refusing to submit to the clear work of God in the world.

2. Jesus’ family is made up of those who speak the truth of the gospel, not those who speak with the cynicism of the world.

[33] “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. [34] You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. [35] The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. [36] I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, [37] for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Those who rejoice in the work of God are those who speak of the work of God. Have you ever met a triathlete? How do you know someone is a triathlete? Talk to them for five minutes. Even if you just met them, they’ll tell you. Why? Because anyone who can swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles is awesome! They’re doing something amazing and they want to tell others. Is it motivated by pride most of the time? You better believe it! And dare I say, that pride is, if not permissible, at least understandable? If I had a triathlete family member, I’d be proud and I’d tell everyone before they could.

And yet what is a triathlon compared to what God is doing in the gospel? What is a race compared to a universe-redeeming, comprehensive, unimaginably glorious, plan of God for the ages? Those who get it, those who see it and submit to it, can’t help but tell others about it. If you’re one who constantly is complaining, cynical about the work of God, running down the ministry of the church with words and actions, stop and ask yourself: “Do I really believe the gospel? Have I really grasped the truth, the goodness, the completeness of it?” Because if you have, if you’re part of Jesus’ family, the good treasure of the gospel inside you can’t help but bubble up in your conversations! It’s going to happen!

3. Jesus’ family is made up of those who submit to his superiority, not those who demand his performance for their satisfaction

[38] Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” [39] But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. [40] For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. [41] The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. [42] The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

Do you get the irony here? Just a brief moment earlier Jesus had hit the trifecta healing and the same Pharisees and scribes who heard that one dare ask him for a sign!? “Like, Jesus, the dude walking around seeing, speaking, and not slobbering at the mouth anymore, that’s cool and all, but could you really show us a sign, I mean, like a for real sign?”

Do you hear Jesus’ indignation? “An evil and adulterous generation” – “Evil” because they weren’t asking because they were submitted to him and longing to see him work again, but asking because they had no intention of every submitting and were hoping that maybe he couldn’t do it again.” “Adulterous” because these were the Bible scholars who were supposed to be giving their lives to understanding scripture so that when the Messiah came, they would recognize him, yet when the Messiah came, they were so busy loving their position and authority that they couldn’t see what was obvious: He’s here.

Jesus says, “No. There’s nothing more I could do than what I’ve done. If you don’t believe yet, you won’t. I’ll give you the sign of Jonah, I’ll die and be raised to life three days later, but most of you won’t buy that either.”

When they ask for a sign, how different are they from us when we do the same? I wish I didn’t do this but have you ever had the conversation with God: “God if you’ll prove yourself by doing what I want you to right now, I’ll really believe, I’ll really commit my life to you, etc”? It’s no different than an atheist insisting that if God were real, he’d prove it by healing all the sick people in a hospital. The atheist isn’t really concerned for the sick people, he’s demanding personal satisfaction. God hates self-centeredness, he bows to no one and nothing, and he owes you nothing.

Get this one statement and you’re close to getting the central message of Scripture:

There is a God, you’re not Him, and He owes you nothing. But He loves you anyway.

Those who are part of Jesus’ family don’t demand that God becomes some sort of trained monkey there to entertain and serve them. That’s Pharisee stuff. Christians hope that God would be willing to use them as his monkey. There is nothing that the Christian wants more than to be useful to God, to be submitted to God as his slave, to serve, to love, to die if that’s what is required. To forgive, to pass overlook an offense, to crucify self-interest on the cross of Christ’s love.  Something greater has come, something greater than Jonah, greater than Solomon, great than you, greater than me – it’s Jesus. It’s the kingdom of heaven. It’s worth sacrificing everything for and nothing is worth losing it over.

4. Jesus’ family is made up of those whose allegiance is given to him alone, not to those who leave space in their hearts for idols.

[43] “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. [44] Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. [45] Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

Jesus, perhaps reminding his audience and the man he just healed, but still addressing the scribes and Pharisees, makes it clear that it’s not enough to recognize the work of God if you don’t embrace the one who did the work: God himself. God can do amazing things for a person, but unless they are filled with the Holy Spirit, they will end up filling themselves back up with idols.

I’m reminded of a comedy bit I heard once in which a comedian said he got off cigarettes with a nicotine patch, got off the patch with marijuana, and got off marijuana with cocaine so he was pretty well tobacco free.

Unfortunately, that’s what happens in a lot of people’s lives. Maybe not falling into drug addiction out of tobacco addiction, but simply replacing certain idols with other idols. This can happen in the church. In Colossians, we are told to put off sin and put on Christ. Too many of us take off our blatant external sin and trade it for an internal, insidious, and just as deadly a sin. We quit getting drunk, but we judge the girl whose insecurity causes her to dress inappropriately. We quit cheating on our taxes, but refuse to listen to counsel from other believers.

If we’ve given our allegiance to Christ, there is not part of our life we get to mark as off limits. We don’t submit to Jesus as king by marking off sanctuaries for our favorite idols. We don’t get to decide which parts of God’s Word we’re going to obey and which ones we’re going to ignore.

5. Jesus’ family is made up of those who do what he commands, not those who can quote him.

[46] While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. [48] But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” [49] And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! [50] For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Are you a part of Jesus’ family? I don’t know. Scripture’s pretty clear that only an individual can make that decision, “to confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and to believe in their heart that God raised him from the dead.”

So I can’t know if you’ve done that. But I can ask you this: “Are you doing what he commands?”

We wrestle with this all the time: Are we saved by faith or by works?

I think Ephesians 2:8-10 is particularly apt here:

[8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

We are saved by grace through faith. It’s not something we did or that we do, it’s the gift of God. We can’t boast that we’ve saved ourselves or contributed to it in any way. But that’s not the end of the passage:

[10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Those who have been saved by grace through faith aren’t saved to sit on a shelf; we are saved, created in Christ Jesus, for good works that God decided in advance we should do.

In other words, the only thing you have to do to be saved is to believe that Jesus is Savior and submit to him as Lord. And then everyone who does that will get to work at obeying their new Lord. And we know what he’s commanded, right? “Love God, Love Others, Make Disciples.” Put it another way: Do everything you can to demonstrate the amazing worth of God, do everything you can to demonstrate the love of God to others, and teach others how they can love and serve God and others too.