Luke 15:11-32. Lost and Found

The American psychologist George Armitage Miller gave us this Corollary

“Objects are lost because people look where they are not, instead of where they are.”

This obvious statement has much psychological and even spiritual depth. It points to a misalignment of attention and reality, we often search for things (objects, answers, people, even meaning) in the wrong places because of assumptions, habits, or distractions.  It could be rewritten,

“People are lost because they don’t look for answers where they can be found.”

This short story that Jesus told of two sons is only 388 words in the Greek original, yet it is his longest parable. As we will see, there are multiple layers in its meaning.

It starts with 5 words in the Greek:

“There was a man who had two sons . . .”

In the past this story has often been called ‘the Prodigal Son’ but to say that is to miss the point,  Jesus is comparing two sons.  The younger son has 62 per cent of the story and the older son 38 per cent.  In the original manuscripts this story is just one paragraph.  The youngest son is clearly in trouble but so is the older son.  The dire situation of the younger son is described twice, once in relation to his father and then later in relation to his brother:

“For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Luke 15:24

“This brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Luke 15:32

The younger son became dead to his father but life returned, he was spiritually lost but was found  and clearly his Father always loved him deeply.  But why was this phrase repeated to the older brother?  Was it an eye-opener suggesting that the older brother really didn’t care about his sibling?  There are clues in the story that imply that this was true. The Father expects the older son to think like him, to have his spirit.

Three stories in Luke 15

They are all to do with being ‘lost’.

1. There were 100 lost sheep but only one was lost by going away but was found by the shepherd.

2. There were 10 lost coins but only one was lost and was found by the woman

3. There were two sons, both were lost but only one was found

Note that there is celebration in all three stories.  It is as if the first two are a warm up for the third.

The first two stories are shorter.  In the first story the sheep ‘goes away’.  In the second the coin is lost ‘at home’.  In the third story the younger son also ‘goes away’.  The implication concerning the older son is that he is lost ‘at home’.

The sheep and the coin have a financial value but the twosomes are of much more worth, they are people.

The audience

It is significant who Jesus was talking to when telling these parables.

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Luke 15:1-2

‘Tax collectors and sinners’ were collaborators with the Roman authorities and so flouted Jewish law.  The Pharisees (the separated ones) and scribes were another pair who were grumbling, this time about who Jesus met with.

“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Doesn’t this warm you to Jesus? What a great means of evangelism, of sharing the good news that God cares for all people and longs that they all come home and enter his eternal kingdom.

These Pharisees and teachers of the law knew the Scriptures well but they thought that trying to keep the rules was the way to get into God’s good book.  How wrong they are.  The door to eternal life is through a personal relationship with the King of Kings, the Son of God himself.  Wanting to life to please him is much deeper than keeping rules.

In the previous chapter we learn that Jesus was drawing large crowds to hear him speak.

“Large crowds were traveling with Jesus . . .” Luke 14:21

Jesus had shared with them some tough ideas.  To be a follower of Jesus requires tough choices:

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” Luke 9:23

“And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:27

There are churches that suggest that if a person agrees with most of Christian theology and perhaps occasionally goes to church that should satisfy God.  Not so, Jesus wants a total commitment to him, a deep personal relationship.  This is why the Christian life is often compared to a marriage - total commitment is the only way it works.  It is striking that Jesus speaks in this way to those who are not yet committed to him.  He asks us all to do what we would call a cost/benefit analysis.  What do you gain, eternal life and a purpose for living.  What do you lose, your independence to live as you want.  However just as being married to a wonderful person is well worth while so is entering a life long relationship with the Lord Jesus. So Jesus is not afraid to say:

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?” Luke 14:28

Jesus keeps making this same point.  A king does go to war unless he is fairly certain that he will win it.  So Jesus summarises what he is saying to those who would like to have eternal life and be members of his kingdom,

“In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” Luke 15:33

Hear

God gave his people a summary of what life with God entails.  This ‘Shema’ is recited every day and is written on paper in the ‘mezuza’ on the doorpost of Jewish homes and is in the prayer boxes orthodox Jews wear when praying:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deuteronomy 6:4-7

To be one of God’s people begins with ‘Hear’.  If we are not willing to listen to god we cannot be his people.  God has spoken to us in the bible but our instincts assure us that what God says here is true.

The final word to everyone at the end of chapter 14 is ‘hear’.  Jesus wants us all to hear what he has to say, they are the words of eternal life.  A literal translation of this verse is,

“Let the one who has ears to hear, hear.” Luke 14:35

Can you imagine the scene of the crowds around Jesus.  The non-devout are drawing near to Jesus and listening to his every word.  In contrast those who think they are pious, the Scribes and Pharisees are much further away from God and his kingdom.

When the children of Israel had escaped from Egypt and spent 40 years wandering in the desert before they could enter the promised land, grumbling was a repeated feature.  (Exodus 15:24, 16:2, 17:3, Numbers 14:2, 16:11 and 41). To grumble about Jesus and what he says is fatal.

Hearing and grumbling are opposite reactions.  Hearing shows the piety of the impious and the impiety of the pious!  The Pharisees here grumble about the company Jesus keeps (Luke 15:2).  They were scrupulous not to eat and drink with those who were religiously impure.  It was in response to this charge that Jesus tells these three stories about the lost.

The Two sons

Jesus liked to use this way of teaching by comparing two sons.

Jesus told two stories about two sons and in both he asks people to wrestle with the meaning:  This is the other story

““What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

“Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. Matthew 21:28-32

Jesus wants everyone to think about what really matters.  This story also goes on to show that tax collectors and those known to be sinners were closer to God than the apparently religious.  Look at the last verse, verse 32, of this story.

“. . . this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”

In our story the father divided his living between his two sons.  He was a fair father, he did not just give a share to the younger son.  It was common in judaism for the older son to receive twice the inheritance of the other children (Deuteronomy 21:17).  In all likelihood the older son would have received more.

The family must have been wealthy, they had hired servants, fine clothes and land. Yet the younger son opted to live for the here and now and wasted or squandered what he had inherited,  Jesus is clearly emphasising that anyone can squander the inheritance God has given them and here he is particularly addressing this who have inherited God’s word and yet fail to live  sit teaches.

The third story about two sons would be well known to the Scribes and Pharisees and we will look at this later.  It is the story of Isaac and his sons, Jacob and Esau.

The cause of the younger son’s problems

Those who are hard workers probably hate wastefulness.  Pharisees tended to work hard at their businesses and were known to be generous in supporting good causes.  Jesus never criticises their conscientious work ethic but he does criticise their attitude to others.  They think that work leads to reward but that sin and waste lead to disastrous consequences.

As this story gets going you can almost hear the Pharisees agreeing with Jesus on how stupid this younger son was, he surely deserved what he got.  Often the conscientious person concludes that he or she is reaping the rewards of their own goodness, common sense and hard work.  It is therefore all too easy for those of us who work hard to become self-righteous.  Hard workers can look down on and feel indignant about those without these aptitudes.  In the same way religious people think they are closer to God because of the way they live.

Those of us that live in countries where natural disasters such as famine are rare tend only to think of problems as being the people’s fault but often other factors are often involved too.

But then Jesus turns the story round.  He says that those who have made foolish decisions and wasted all that God has given them are still loved by God and he will welcome them home.

This story of the two sons is so relevant to us today.  It teaches us that those who have failed will be welcomed back by God if they sincerely turn back to him and they can then be much closer to god than the self-satisfied religious people.

Earlier in this book Jesus has made the same point to Simon the Pharisee when a sinful woman poured an expensive jar of ointment over Jesus’ feet.

“When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” Luke 7:39

Jesus then explains to the Pharisee,

“Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Luke 7:47

The younger son left home, went off to a far country and there lived dissolutely.  We are not told the details but his lifestyle would probably have included alcohol, drugs, parties, women, anything that gave a short term satisfaction to his lower nature.  He was a real waster.

The next story, at the beginning of  chapter 16, is about a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his passions, so we have two successive stories about wasters.  The word used for squander in Greek (diakorpizo) is an unusual word but it is used again in both stories, the parable of the Two Sons and the parable of the Shrewd Manager who was was accused of wasting or squandering what his master owned. This story is clearly of Palestinian origin, it talks of specific measures of wheat and oil and uses phrases such as ‘unrighteous mammon’ and ‘sons of light’ that only come from Palestine.

Wasters can be people of all classes and ranks.  Can people in good jobs not also live in ways that their heavenly Father does not approve of?

He starts to think

God often brings disasters to bring people to their senses and cause them to return to him.  In this story, after he had wasted his money a severe famine set in.  These would often last several years.

In the distant land the young man was in dire trouble.  So he turns to a ‘citizen’ of this land.  This reminds us that he was not a citizen and therefore had no rights.

Pigs, a complete anathema to a religious Jew was all he could attach himself to. Shepherding was no prestigious but pig herding was even worse.  It doesn’t even say ‘hired’. Pigs were ritually unclean. The benefit was that he could share some of the pigs food.

His problems were because of both bad decisions and bad luck but now everything seems outside his control.  Notice that the older son only attributes his brother’s problems to his decisions.

“But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!” Luke 15:30

He sounds a bit like those Pharisees.  They would have been pleased at how everything had worked out for the younger son.  It was his ‘karma’, the sinner got what he deserved.  Pigs eat pods that are scarcely digestible for humans.  He became hungry, lonely, ashamed and very unclean in every meaning of the word.  He had reached rock bottom.

It was only at this stage that he returns to sanity and starts to think.  He acknowledges what he has done wrong and is prepared to be accepted back home as a servant, at least he will be clothed and fed.  That decision is humbling but it was the way to life.

“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’  So he got up and went to his father.” Luke 15:17-20

He had recognised that behind everything he had a deeper problem, he had turned his back on God.

“I have sinned against heaven”

That last verse is one we all need to understand.  It is the route to peace with God:

“So he got up and went to his father.” Luke 15:20

He had to make a decision and genuinely act upon it.

The father’s response

Doesn’t this thrill you.  It is the opposite of what the Pharisees would have done.  They were saying,

“He has made his own bed, let him lie on it.”

The son had renounced his family, publicly shamed his father, squandered much of the estate but still his father loved him

1. The father sees him afar off - this strongly suggests that he was looking out for him and longing for him to come home.

2. The father runs to greet him.  His love overcame decorum and dignity.

3. He has compassion not anger

4. The son was welcomed home publicly and unconditionally.  There was no recrimination.

The son’s speech.

He only gets half-way through his prepared speech.  He gets interrupted by his father before he can ask to be a hired servant.  Compared what he says with verses 18-19,

“ “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  “But the father said to his servants . . .” Luke 15:21-22

Although he has shown his obvious love to the son, what he says is only said to the servants.

““But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.” Luke 15:22-23

Why does he start with the word ‘Quick’? Surely there was no time to lose, he wanted all those years to be forgotten.  The ‘robe’ and ‘ring’ meant he was restored to his former status.  The best robe would be the highest ranking robe.  I wonder what the older son thought of that!  Instead of bread he was given the ‘fatted calf’, a treat reserved for visiting dignitaries.  Only one calf at a time would be fattened, even in upper households.

The best robe, the family ring and fatted calf would have legally belonged to the older brother since the inheritance had been divided., but the father’s position still gave him authority to use his money as he wanted.  Doubtless the older brother found his father’s generosity uncomfortable.

Why all this celebration?

“For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.” Luke 15:24

Note that this is the theme of all the parables in this chapter:  The shepherd, the woman  and the father all celebrate

1. “Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.” Luke 15:6

2. “She calls her friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.”                                                                               Luke 15:9

3. “But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”                                           Luke 15:32

Older son. Luke 15:25-27

The older son is an integral part of this single parable.  The key to understanding this is the use of the words, ‘While he was still a long way off,’ which contrasts with the older son who was close by, ‘in the field’.  As he ‘drew near’ he heard ‘music and dancing’ but did not really understand what was being celebrated.  The Greek word for ‘drew near’ has the same root as the word used at the beginning of the chapter.  Surely religious people are meant to notice this:

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus.” Luke 15:1

In one case, sinners are drawing near to Jesus to hear what he has to say to them about forgiveness and in the other case, the older son only draws near to criticise.

Doubtless the older son had had many privileges in contrast to the crowds but the crowds had recognised something the older son had missed, a relationship with God is essential, just as a relationship with the father, is all important.

It is interesting that the younger son went off to a ‘distant country (Luke 15:13).  The Greek word ‘makran’ is used again when it describes the father seeing the returning younger son ‘far of’.  Could this be a reminder that God sees all that is going on when we like to think some things are private.

The older son does have questions but notice he does not talk to his father, he only talks to one of the father’s servants:

“So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.” Luke 15: 26

When people have questions why don’t they first ask God directly.  He loves us all and longs to be involved.  Was this just one indication of a barrier between the older son and his father?  The reply of the servant is simple and factual:

“Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.” Luke 15:27

This parable is surely meant to tell us that there is real joy in God’s house when anyone returns into a close relationship with their heavenly father.  Unfortunately there are some in our churches who do not seem to understand this.  The older son’s reaction is highly emotional:

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in.” Luke 15:28

Somehow the father heard of this reaction and lovingly acts to resolve the tension:

“So his father went out and pleaded with him.” Luke 15:28

He urges him to change the way he is thinking but the attitude of the older son is intransigent.  He even blames his father!

“Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!.” Luke 15:29-30

As we have seen, ‘celebrate’ is one of the key words in this chapter.  He wants to celebrate with his friends, not his family.  This says something. He wants to celebrate away from his father.   He also wants to be separate from his father.  In this succinct way Jesus is telling his story.  Both wanted to be separate from their father.

The use of the word ‘slaving’ (Greek doleuo) is interesting for two reasons.  It was now his property that he shared with his father.  Hard work on a farm he owns is to his benefit.  He speaks as a slave but he is really a son.  Later the apostles describe all Christians as willing slaves of the Lord Jesus in gratefulness to all he has done in saving us.

He still refuses to go in to welcome his younger brother.  Notice how his reply to his father starts, ‘Look!’.  He doesn’t say ‘Father’. The absence of a word tells its own story.  This is another sign that this relationship was distant.  Notice too how self-centred the older son is, ‘I’, ‘I’, is key to his thinking.  Doesn’t he understand how his father thinks about his younger son?  He has the easy life yet doesn’t appreciate all that his Father has done for him and given to him.

Contrast this with the way the younger son starts his address, ‘Father’.

In spite of this rudeness, the father still responds with grace.  There is no compulsion, just loving reason:

“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.  But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” Luke 15:31-32

Don’t you wish there was another paragraph saying how everything was resolved?  Did the older son return to a close relationship with his father and brother?  Did Luke deliberately leave this question open for us to ponder?

Reflections on Luke 15 in light of the Old Testament

When Jesus told the parable of the two sons (Luke 15:11–32), he was not just creating a memorable story. He was crafting a narrative that echoed deeply with earlier Scriptures—stories the scribes and Pharisees knew well. There two stories tell of two sons, Jacob and Esau and Cain and Abel.

All three stories have repeated themes:

Rebellion

Rejection

Remorse

Repentance

Reconciliation

There are also repeated motifs such as hunger, death, fields, far countries, robes, goats, and the Father’s blessing.

The brilliance of Jesus’ parable is this: it makes perfect sense to those who know nothing of the Old Testament—but makes far more sense to those who do.

Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25–33)

Isaac had two very different sons—Jacob and Esau. There is rivalry over who receives the father’s blessing and inheritance. In this story, the older brother is cheated out of his inheritance and becomes furious (Genesis 27:41). The younger brother, Jacob, fled to a far country to save his life (Genesis 28:5). He leaves with nothing but later returns, now rich and repentant.

Esau is described as a man of the fields (Genesis 25:27). At one point, hungry and exhausted, he says,

“I am about to die” Genesis 25:32

In Jesus’ parable, it is the younger son who says,

“Here I am, dying of hunger” Luke 15:17

Esau sells his birthright because of his hunger. Jesus flips the story—his younger son, instead of selling what he has, comes to his senses and returns home.

When Jacob finally comes back from the far country, something astonishing happens. Instead of revenge, Esau runs to him, embraces him, and kisses him (Genesis 33:4). This is almost identical language to Luke 15:20:

“While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”

That phrase “and he kissed him” appears only a handful of times in the Torah. The scribes and Pharisees would know this well. Jesus is deliberately echoing this powerful moment of reconciliation. If Esau, who was cheated out of everything, could forgive his brother—how much more should the Pharisees rejoice when tax collectors and sinners are welcomed by God?

There are further echoes:

Goat skins (Genesis 27:16) used by Jacob to deceive his blind father.  In Luke the fatted calf was probably a young goat that was sacrificed to celebrate the reconciliation.

In Luke, the father says, “Bring the best robe” (Luke 15:22). Whose robe? Likely the older brother’s.

Isaac was blind and could not “see afar off”  whereas the father in Luke sees from a distance.

The word “drew near” appears multiple times in the Jacob narrative (Genesis 27), echoing the son’s return in Luke 15.

Esau “stayed at home”, in anger, waiting for Isaac to die.  The older son in Luke also refuses to enter and shows hostility toward his father.

Jesus seems to be saying: If even Esau, the wronged one, could forgive and be reconciled, what excuse do you Pharisees have, for resenting grace shown to repentant sinners?

Cain and Abel (Genesis 4)

This is the first story of two sons in the Bible, and again, it shares deep connections with Jesus’ parable.

Both Cain and Abel bring offerings (Genesis 4:3–4). God accepts Abel’s offering, but rejects Cain’s, just as the father in Luke shows favour to the repentant younger son, not the resentful elder. Cain, like the older brother in Jesus’ story, becomes very angry (Genesis 4:5). His face falls. His jealousy festers.

God speaks gently to Cain:

“If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” Genesis 4:7

But Cain refuses, and instead kills his brother (v. 8). In Luke, the older brother doesn’t kill physically but he does so socvially, he emotionally disowns his sibling, saying, “this son of yours” (Luke 15:30).

Cain walks away from the presence of the Lord (Genesis 4:16). The elder brother in Jesus’ parable refuses to enter his father’s house and share in the joy. In both cases, it is the one who stays near who ends up far from the Father.

God says to Cain,

“Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground” Genesis 4:10

But Hebrews 12:24 says that Jesus’ blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel—not a cry for justice, but for mercy.

Jesus retells the Cain and Abel story—but reverses the ending. In Genesis, the older son kills the younger. In Jesus’ parable, the younger returns to life—and the Father pleads with the elder to join the celebration.

“This brother of yours was dead and is alive again.” Luke 15:32

Jesus is asking the Pharisees:

Will you choose the way of Cain—anger, distance, and rejection? Or will you come in, come back to me and rejoice with me that your brother is home?

So Jesus story works at various levels.  It has careful word choice, and it is morally challenging asking all of us which sort of son are we? The sequence of the ‘lost parables is surely significant. The sheep was lost away, the coin was lost at home, the prodigal was lost away until Gos spoke to him and the older son was lost at home. Esau was lost at home and his descendants became the Edomites, archenemies of God’s people, Jacob was lost away until god spoke to him.

BVP.

“Preach the Word” - Lessons from Colossians

John Wycliffe, who has been described as the Morning Star of the Reformation once said,

“The highest service that men may attain on earth is to preach the Word of God. For this cause Jesus Christ left other works and occupied himself mostly in preaching and thus did his apostles; for this God loved them.”

When Peter delivered his first sermon at Pentecost his text was taken from the Old Testament prophet Joel.

“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people, your sons and daughters will prophesy . . . Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those last days, and they will prophesy.” Acts 2:17-18

Prophecy is proclaiming the Word of God to others. This is one of the consequences of being given the Holy Spirit. It is not just the professional church leaders but all Christians who are to be engaged in this activity. Gospel proclamation is the task of us all Christians. Yet today many Christians are reticent about getting involved in this task. They may think, “This is not my gift.” The truth is that this is a major reason why all Christians have been given the Holy Spirit. We do not become Christians and then decide if we feel called to share the faith, no, we have been called to be Christians in order that we should share the faith!

C.S.Lewis, in a remarkable sermon called ‘The Weight of Glory’ said,

“If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels, it would seem our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who goes on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday by the sea. We are too easily pleased.”

We all seek happiness but we are much too easily pleased. The highest pleasure we will enjoy is to live in close harmony with our Lord and Saviour, longing to fulfil his every will.

A headmaster, at his school Speech Day, said to his pupils,

“The purpose of life is to discover the purpose of life and then to make that the purpose of your life.”

The Purpose of Life

The apostle Paul discovered the secret of life and then devoted his life to this. He wrote to the Colossian church whose servant he was, to explain what the purpose in life is. He knew this was a mystery for many.

25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—

26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people.

27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.

29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

2 1 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.

2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,

3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 1:25-2:3

This is a remarkable passage. In a world that was divided by ethnic, religious and social groupings, Paul had discovered that the answer to the greatest problems in the world is the person Jesus, the Christ. Notice how Christ is the focus of this section. Christ had reconciled Paul with God as well as with the Jews’ deep seated enemies, the Gentiles. As a result Paul recognised that both Jews and Gentiles needed to recognise the significance of Jesus. It is only in submission to Christ that all people can be united. Sharing this message and persuading people about its truth was costly to Paul but he felt sharing the news to be so worthwhile.

Dr Helen Roseveare spent twenty years as a medical missionary in Zaire. In 1964 a civil war began and she suffered badly from rebel attacks for over the next five years. She was raped and on one occasion was about to be executed. On one occasion a seventeen year old lad, who stood up for her, was almost kicked to death. Yet she persevered. God gave her with an experience of His presence, saying to her,

“Twenty years ago you asked me for the privilege of being a missionary, the privilege of being identified with me. These are not your sufferings, they are my sufferings.”

For Helen being identified with Christ made the suffering easier. In a similar way Paul rejoiced in being identified with Christ and his mission.

Note from verse 25 that for Paul to share Christ meant to teach people the Word of God. This means to teach people about the Word of God, the Lord Jesus, by teaching them the Word of God the Bible. Churches that fail to see the priority of Bible teaching inevitably result in that church drifting away from Christ. Teaching the Bible will involve teaching about the priority of sharing the gospel with others.

To do this will be hard work. Verse 29 emphasises this unpopular idea. We will have to put ourselves out to fulfil the task.

“To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” Colossians 1:29

The Greek work used here is agonizmai, from which we derive our word ‘agonise’ Being a Christian is not a ‘walk in the park’ Paul wrote similarly in another letter.

“Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.” 1 Thessalonians 2:9

The great American preacher D.L.Moody simply prayed at bed-time as he flopped into bed,

“Lord, I’m tired.”

The Bible teacher G. Campbell-Morgan kept a newspaper clipping for over 20 years that was titled,

“Sheer hard work.”

He wrote,

“What is true of the minister is true of every man who bears the name of Christ. We have not begun to touch the great business of salvation when we have sung, ‘Rescue the perishing, care for the dying’. We have not entered into the business of evangelizing the city or the world until we have put our own lives into the business, our own immediate physical endeavour, inspired by spiritual devotion”’

Who has this Priority?

Is this business of sharing the gospel the priority of the few, the evangelists, the preachers and the enthusiasts? Later sections in the letter to the Colossians make it clear that living for the reputation of Christ is the priority of all of us Christians. Who is the ‘you’ in the following passage?

1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4

Surely it is to the ‘saints’ or all God’s faithful people in Colossae. These are the people to whom the letter was first sent,

“To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.” Colossians 1:2

This commission to be wholeheartedly Christ centred is for all Christians, all of us who have been raised with Christ. We are to start thinking with our Lord’s priorities. He is to be our life. This is not just for ‘super-saints’ but for all of us Christians.

What are the secrets of success?

When most of us come to realise that we have been given this responsibility we quickly see our own inadequacies for the task. We don’t seem able to make opportunities as others can, we fail to take up opportunities that are obvious and then we feel unprepared to answer questions and point people winsomely to how they can move forwards. Paul had these very same feelings and recognised that these problems face all Christians. Consequently he wrote towards the end of this letter the following,

2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.

4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

5 Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4:1-6

Thus section is is two halves, the first (verses 2-4) is about how we should speak with God and the second (verses 5-6) is about how we should speak with non-Christians. Paul, like us, felt inadequate for the task, but he reminds his readers that this is essentially our Lord’s task and that to be successful in it we need to involve him. Too many Christians hold the faith, but forget that he has called us to be fruitful for him. A reference for a preacher that he is ‘faithful’ can be a veiled way of saying that although they hold to Christian doctrine they are not very effective in helping others.

Prayer is not a casual activity – it requires devotion. It is hard work. How many minutes a day do we spend in prayer? Am I devoted to talking with my Lord about how to fulfil his commission effectively?

Verse 2 is significant. Paul assumes that the Christians in Colossae are praying to be effective in their own ministry, here he asks that they also pray that his ministry will be effective.

Verse 5 emphasises that the way Christians relate to the non-Christians we meet will affect the effectiveness of our ministry. We must all be wise in the way we talk so that what we say is appreciated by our hearers. Even here there is an inference that the need to share the gospel is a high priority,

“ . . ; make the most of every opportunity.” Colossians 1:5

Too often we think after the opportunity has flown by,

“I wish I had said this. I wish I had invited them to that.”

One way to avoid missing opportunities is to be devoted to prayer so that we have the mind of Christ, we think like him.

An African woman became a Christian. She was so thrilled and full of gratitude that she determined to do something for her new Lord. The problem she faced were considerable in that she was blind, uneducated and was over 70 years old. She went to a missionary with a French Bible she owned and asked the missionary to underline John 3:16 in red. The missionary was unsure why she wanted this done but obliged her. She later saw the blind lady go and sit outside the local boy’s school. As two boys passed her she asked them if they could read French. Proudly they assured her that they could.

“Please could you read the verse underlined in red to me.”

The she asked them,

“Do you understand this?”

“Not really,” came the reply.

The blind lady then explained, as best she could, the Christian good news. This continued year after year.

Many years later the missionary said that she knew of 24 young men who had become pastors as a result of the blind ladies work.

She had the understanding, the determination and the perseverance to ensure that her Lord was glorified by her life.

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The Bible’s Claim to Authority

When discussing the relationship between the Bible and modern science, the question arises about why we should bother with the Bible at all. Since the beginning of history God says he has revealed himself to people through his written word. Approximately 40 men, of various backgrounds, wrote the Bible over 1500 years. Although the variety of authors present different perspectives there is a remarkable unity about their message. This message, which is summarised at the beginning of Genesis, is that the God who created us sees all that is going on. He cannot tolerate rejection or rebellion, which separates us from him. Yet he loves us all and, longing for a reconciliation, came himself to pay the price for our sin on that cross.

The Old and New Testaments of the Bible repeatedly claim to be the ‘Word of God’ and it is helpful to summarise the claims made by this united group of authors.

Moses

Moses great concern was that God’s people should learn to love God’s word and obey it.

“Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight.” Deuteronomy 6:17

Moses passed on to God’s people what God had taught him on Mount Horeb. There God had said,

“Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.” Deuteronomy 4:10

He foresaw the day when they have a king to rule over them. God’s concern was that this king should always be a man devoted to both God and his word.

“When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that they may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left.” Deuteronomy 17:18-20

Joshua

When Joshua succeeded Moses, God said to him,

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.” Joshua 1:7-8

He was clearly meant to have God’s word as the guide for his own life but also he was meant to teach it to others.

David

David clearly recognised that without the word from God mankind has no foundation to live by. Early in his life he wrote,

“When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust.” Psalm 56:3-4

Here he makes no distinction between trusting God and trusting his word.

At the end of his life he wrote,

“The Spirit of God spoke through me; his word was on my tongue.” 2 Samuel 23:2

Psalm 119 contains 179 verses. It is the longest chapter in the Bible. All but 4 of the verses refer to the word of God and its centrality in the thinking of God’s people. Here are two examples,

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart: Do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:9-11

​“Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” Psalm 119:97

Proverbs

The wise man is he who lives by God’s revealed truth.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Proverbs 1:7

“Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed mis he who keeps the law.” Proverbs 29:18

“Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.” Proverbs 30:5-6

Isaiah

The prophet Isaiah begins his book by saying to God’s rebellious people,

“Hear the word of the Lord.” Isaiah 1:10

He claims that his message is God’s word to the people and it has God’s authority. He refers to this word that God has given him over 34 times. The way to test false teachers is to compare what they say with Scripture.

“To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” Isaiah 8:20

Jeremiah

Jeremiah also began his book with the memory of being called by God to declare God’s message.

“The word of the Lord came to me saying . . ” Jeremiah 1:4

“Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘Now I have put my words into your mouth.’” Jeremiah 1:9

The rest of his book keeps repeating this theme,

“Hear the word of the Lord . . ”

That God’s word is the basis for all that Jeremiah says is repeated over 140 times in that one book. He says that people are culpable before God if they do not listen to and obey God’s word.

“ ‘For they have not listened to my words,’ declares the Lord, ‘words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either.’ ” Jeremiah 29:19

Ezekiel

If you scan through the book of Ezekiel you will find most chapters and sections begin with,

“The word of the Lord came to me . . .”

Job

He recognised the importance of the word of God.

“I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.” Job 23:12

Jesus

Jesus confirmed that the Old Testament was all about himself.

“Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” John 7:42

He used the Bible as authoritative answers to the religious Pharisees,

“For the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. Matthew 15:6

“You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. . . . But about the resurrection of the dead – have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” Matthew 22:29-32

“. . the Word of God . . .and the Scripture cannot be broken.” John 10:35

When Jesus was tempted in the desert by Satan he replied by quoting from the Old Testament, thuis confirming that he regarded the Scriptures as God’s Word for everyone. He was tempted three times and on each occasion he gave the reply,

“It is written . . .”

The life of Jesus and his family was based on the Word of God which clearly meant the Scriptures. He said:

“My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” Luke 8:21

Jesus longed that his disciples would continue his work and teach God’s Word to all people. After he rose from the dead, he joined Clopas and his companion on the 7 mile walk to Emmaus. They discussed the crucifixion of Jesus without recognising who they were talking to. Jesus said,

“How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Luke 24:25-27

When Jesus met with his disciples later, although he knew that he himself was sufficient authority, he still based what he wanted to say on Scripture, as this was to be the authority for the church.

“ ‘Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms’. Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations . .” Luke 24:44-47

In Jesus’ prayer for his disciples, shortly before his arrest and execution, he defines God’s truth as being his word.

“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:17

Stephen

In Stephen’s final speech before he was stoned, he reminded his listeners of Moses prime responsibility,

“ . . he received living words to pass on to us.” Acts 7:38

John

The apostle John, recognising the absolute authority of God’s word as revealed in the Jewish Scriptures, introduces Jesus as having the same divine authority. Jesus was also God’s Word, with the same authority as the Old Testament Scriptures. What Jesus said, God said. He had God’s authority. So he begins his record of the gospel,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1

John was also clear that his role as an apostle was to pass the message God had given them through Jesus.

“This is the message we have heard from him (Jesus) and declare to you . . .” 1 John 1:5

Peter

In the book of Acts, the first statement that Peter makes is about the divine origin and authority of Scripture,

“Brothers, this Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David . . . “ Acts 1:16

In his first sermon to the Jerusalem crowds at Pentecost Peter repeatedly quotes the Old Testament as being God’s Word. In his second sermon, given to onlookers after a lame beggar had been healed, he included the statement,

“But this is how God fulfilled what he has prophesied through the prophets saying that the Christ would suffer . . .” Acts 3:18

Later he reaffirmed that God was the primary authority behind the book of Psalms in the Old Testament,

“You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David.” Acts 4:25

To the end of his life Peter never lost this conviction about the authority of the Bible. In his first epistle he wrote about the Old Testament prophets,

“. . . they spoke of the things that have now been told you.” 1 Peter 1:12

In his second epistle Peter again repeatedly quotes the Old Testament as his authority,

“For in Scripture it says . . .” 2 Peter 2:6

In his second epistle he emphasises even more strongly that the authority controlling the church is the word of God,

“Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises.” 2 Peter 1:4

Peter reminds his readers that the true knowledge of God is rooted in the Scriptures and the apostles’ teaching,

“So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory . . .” 2 Peter 1:12

The apostles were all eyewitnesses of Jesus and consequently their teaching bore God’s authority just as the Old Testament did,

“And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place.” 2 Peter 1:19

Peter continues,

“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came along by the prophets own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:20-21

Later he specifically links the apostles writing with those of the Old Testament prophets and recognises that both have the same authority – God’s authority.

“Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Saviour through your apostles.” 2 Peter 3:1-2

At the end of this epistle Peter again reminds us that the epistles written by Paul have God’s authority behind them - Scriptural authority.

“Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” 2 Peter 3:15-16

Paul

Paul, as all the other early church leaders, had no doubt that the Scriptures were God’s word to man. Referring to the Jews Old Testament Scriptures he said,

“They have been entrusted with the very words of God.” Romans 3:2

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4

Paul, like the other apostles, often quotes from the Old Testament as having the authority of God himself. For example,

“As he (God) says in Hosea . . . “ Romans 9:25

The prime responsibility of church leaders has always been to teach the Scriptures, both the Old Testament and the teaching of Jesus that the apostles passed on to us in the New Testament. When discussing the role of church leaders he said,

“He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” Titus 1:9

Paul says that this is just what he has done,

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures . . .” 1 Corinthians 15:3

This is all the more important because he recognised that there would be a drift away from the authority of Scripture, the word of God.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:

‘Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction.’

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2 Timothy 3:16-4:4

Paul was certain that the way to convince people about their need of salvation was to teach them the Bible’s message. The effect of this is to convict people of their need for Jesus Christ, God’s message will cut to the heart,

“. . . and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17

Paul, like the other apostles, is clear that people become Christians and grow as Christians when they become subject to the word of God.

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.” Ephesians 1:13

“And we thank God continually because, when you heard the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13

When Paul wrote to the troubled Corinthian church, he keeps drawing them back to apostolic teaching,

“. . . so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.”. 1 Corinthians 4:6

The writer of the book of Hebrews

Although there is uncertainty about who wrote this book, it certainly has the marks of having an apostolic stamp on it, possibly Paul’s. It begins,

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son . . .” Hebrews 1:1

The opening chapter of this letter then explains some Old Testament Scriptures and shows how these have been fulfilled in Jesus. The major concept that God communicates with us through his powerful written word is emphasised later.

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit . . . it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

Weaknesses in the church were attributed to a lack of understanding of the Bible,

“In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again.” Hebrews 5:12

James

The apostle who wrote the epistle of James was probably the brother of Jesus who became the leader of the Council of Jerusalem. He had no doubt that God spoke to us through the Scriptures, the word of God. It is through hearing and responding to God’s message that we enter the Kingdom of God.

“He chose to give us birth through the word of Truth.” James 1:18

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves, do what it says.” James 1:22

Denominational Doctrines

In 1643, the English Parliament called upon "learned, godly and judicious Divines", to meet in Westminster Abbey to advise on issues of worship, doctrine, government and discipline of the Church of England. After five years of discussion ‘The Westminster Confession’ was produced and accepted. It was subsequently adopted by the Church of Scotland and Presbyterian churches and later, with minor alterations, by English Congregationalists and Baptists. It has thirty three chapters and attempts to define Biblical teaching. In the opening chapter the place of Scripture is defined. Two paragraphs are quoted here.

​Of the Holy Scripture.

1. Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men unexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of His will, which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal Himself, and to declare that His will unto His Church; and afterwards for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which makes the Holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people being now ceased.

IV. The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, depends not upon the testimony of any man, or Church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.

The Church of England has been built on Biblical doctrines. All Anglican ministers have subscribed to the Articles of the Church of England by agreeing to the Canons of the Church of England. Canon A5 states,

“The doctrine of the Church of England is grounded in the Holy Scriptures, and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said Scriptures. In particular such doctrine is found in the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Ordinal.”

In the Book of Common Prayer (1662) the following was included in the service for the ‘Ordering of Priests’.

“And seeing that you cannot by any other means compass the doing of so weighty a work pertaining to the salvation of man, but with the doctrine and exhortation taken out of the holy Scriptures, and with a life agreeable to the same, consider how studious you ought to be in reading and learning the Scriptures, and in framing the manners both of yourselves, and of them that specially pertain unto you, according to the rule of the same Scriptures, and for this self-same cause, how ye ought to forsake and set aside (as much as you may) all worldly cares and studies.”

It is clear therefore that Christian beliefs must be based on Scripture. How the words of Scripture are to be understood is the only leeway that can be acceptable.

The Church in the west is weak because we suffer from ‘Biblical Malnutrition’. Although the Scriptures claim to be ‘the very words of God’ (Romans 3 v. 2) we are often uncertain of its contents. Its doctrines are too often not our priorities. We need to be helped and trained to know our Bible’s better. The teaching in all our Churches and home groups should be the regular exposition of God’s word to us - both the Old and New Testaments. The way we teach the Scriptures should show that ‘the word of God is living and active’ (Heb 4 v. 12) and very relevant to all people today. Hearing God’s word will lead some to repentance and salvation. It will also equip Christians for the spiritual battles ahead, as we are armed with ‘the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God’ (Ephesians 6 v. 17).

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God’s Word to the Churches 2 Timothy 3:1-7

Paul is imprisoned in Rome, possibly in the Mammertime prison, a subterranean cistern that can still be seen in Rome today. He knew that he would shortly be executed, writing this letter at the height of Nero’s persecution of the church.

He writes two final letters that are addressed to Timothy but clearly written to be read widely by churches. Paul is desperately concerned about the young churches in and around Ephesus that were losing their focus. Wrong leaders were getting into influential positions and were drawing people away from the apostolic gospel that centred on Jesus. The second letter to Timothy is possibly his final letter and he writes with such passion. He wants the churches to realise where these problems ultimately stem from.

Satan opposes the teaching of God’s Word

In the New Testament the phrase ‘the last days’ refers to the era we live in now, the time between the ascension of the Lord Jesus to heaven and his final return as King and Judge.

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves . . .” 2 Timothy 3:1

It is because such times are coming that Paul emphasises the importance of good Christian leaders who teach sound doctrine, those who persistently teach God’s truths as revealed in Scripture. Paul has just made an extraordinary distinction; he contrasts the work of Satan’s servants, who were leading the churches astray, with the work of the Lord’s servant who teaches God’s word.

“And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” 2 Timothy 2:24-26

Ultimately God’s people are in a spiritual battle against Satan and his representatives. Jesus had emphasised this when he was talking with some Jews who opposed him. He told them that they were not children of Abraham, but of Satan.

“‘If you were Abraham’s children,’ said Jesus, ‘then you would do the things Abraham did. As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the things your own Father does.’ . . . ‘ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your fathers desire.’” John 8:39-41, 44

Please note that Jesus recognised his role to be the faithful passing on of His Fathers message, a commission he has now seconded to his followers.

Today Satan is still out to destroy God’s church in any way he can. From the first temptation in the Garden of Eden and ever since, Satan has used attractive lies to try and seduce people away from God’s way. The twentieth century gave the world many movements that promised much but were in fact lies. Marxism and various communist ideologies do not work simply because they are based on false premises. They overlook the inherent selfishness of man. National Socialism (Naziism) makes the same mistake. Both systems also have to rely on lies to progress in societies but it is these same lies that eventually lead to their downfall. Freud’s message that understanding man’s psyche will remove problems has also proved a false hope. Hedonism, the search for happiness is so often selfish and harms others. Materialism has also proved to be unsatisfying. When Rockefeller, then one of the richest men in the world, was asked how much money is necessary to make a person happy replied, ‘Just a little bit more.’

It is into such a world with different hopes, politics and philosophies that the Lord has put his people with his message. How should we fulfil our responsibility?

“Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance, leading them to a knowledge of the truth.” 2 Timothy 2:25-26

We are to be tolerant, gentle and respectful of other people but intolerant of wrong teaching. Truth can only be defined as concepts compatible with God. God’s people must be certain we have understood what God is saying but then stand up for it doggedly but gently. The answer to Satan’s lies is to share god’s truth.

At the beginning of the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit comes upon everyone in the church, just as he has come into the lives of all who truly turn to Christ. We receive the Spirit when we believe in Christ. Elsewhere Paul wrote to another troubled church to remind them that the Christian life begins with the gift of the Holy Spirit,

“Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” Galatians 3:2-3

Historically the immediate effect of the coming of the Holy Spirit was to inspire people to share the gospel, first in a supernatural way using their listeners’ own languages and then, through Peter’s first sermon. Peter explained the gospel about the Lord Jesus; in other words he explained the Word of God. The result of the teaching of God’s word was that three thousand Jews put their faith in Jesus as God’s Son and their Saviour, a remarkable miracle by any standards.

Throughout the book of Acts there are short summaries describing the expansion of the church but Luke puts this is a significant way:

“But the word of God continued to increase and spread.” Acts 12:24

“When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honoured the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.” Acts 13:48-49

When Paul preached the gospel in Ephesus he did not flinch from explaining the difference between the word of God and other spiritualist books. They had a choice to make and many decided for the Lord Jesus. They then publicly burnt their books on sorcery which were very valuable. Clearly they now valued the word of God more highly.

“In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” Acts 19:20

The teaching of, and the resulting obedience to God’s word, is the way to godliness.

Unfortunately there is a widespread longing for short cuts to becoming spiritual people. Thus for a while the Toronto Blessing or ‘being slain in the Spirit’ was marketed as an effective short cut. It has now been shown that this is an imitation of the Hindu ‘Kundalini’ rite where those Hindus wanting power had hands laid upon them. They fall backwards and then often wriggled on the floor having feelings of well-being and other strange experiences. These benefits can last a short time time but people then need to return to their guru for a further experience of power. They attribute this experience to the freeing of a spiritual snake lying dormant at the base of the spine! Jesus did not bless people in such a way; instead he came to bless them by the teaching of God’s word. This has always involves hard work both by the teacher and the listener.

Some years ago there was an exhibition in the Natural History Museum in London that had at the entrance a model of a man made of transparent plastic. It showed everything. There were blood vessels filled with red ink pulsating along. This is a marvellous picture of how the church grew in those early years in Asia Minor. God’s truth was travelling in little red lines communicating one centre with the next. As the truth came to a town or city, so Satan’s lies fell back. God’s truth always brings life, this is why we must not flinch from continuing this apostolic ministry of passing on God’s word.

The final impassioned plea of Paul at the end of this short letter is remarkable and should be headed by all of us in Christian ministry.

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word . . .” 2 Timothy 4:1-2

The prime ministry of the church is the teaching of God’s truth. This alone will dominate the lies of Satan. Scripture is the church’s main weapon, to be discarded at our peril.

“The sword of the Spirit is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17

It is clear therefore that, in preparing for this spiritual battle in our countries, we should make the training of Bible teachers an urgent priority. This is why God has given us his Scriptures.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Christian leaders, ‘men of God’ must know and be able to handle the Scriptures well. In the Old Testament the phrase ‘man of God’ was used of God’s prophets who also proclaimed the word of God.

Timothy has already been urged by Paul to get to know the Bible thoroughly, it is indeed a repeated them of the Bible.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

Satan’s teachers result in an evil society

The effect of Satan’s influence is devastating.

“People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God –“ 2 Timothy 3:1-4

An evil society, that follows Satan’s lies, is very self- centred. It is no coincidence that in such societies divorce, promiscuity, crime and depression increase and spread like gangrene. Self love cannot satisfy.

This sick picture of a society going wrong keeps being repeated in history whenever there are times of stress, whether economic or political. Christian ministry can become hard or even dangerous. How many Christian leaders have been killed by the godless regimes of Stalin, Mao Tse Tung and Pol Pot. The problem is that religious leaders can become compromised under such pressure and become influenced in these devastating ways. They become Christian leaders who are primarily in it for themselves and not for Christ.

This little book of 2 Timothy has three other sections dealing with false teachers:

1. 2:16-24. This important section is a warning that some ministers lose their focus of living for the Lord Jesus. Such people have wandered from the truth of God’s word. Hymenaeus and Philetus were two such church leaders.

2. 3:12-13. Paul asserts that all godly Christians, wanting to live for Christ in such societies, will be persecuted but there will be ‘evil men and imposters who will go from bad to worse’.

3. 4:3. In this section Paul reemphasises the vital need for teaching of God’s word as people will ‘gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They (the false teachers) will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.’

In contrast the Christ-centred minister is to keep on course, gently teaching the word of God to all who will listen.

“But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:5

This command to stay clear of such false Christian leaders cannot mean ‘go into isolation’, or become a little ‘huddle of the holy’. In that case God’s gospel would never get out to those in the godless society. Surely he is saying, ‘Be aware that such people are around and don’t get involved with them. Don’t appoint them to leadership roles, however gifted they may appear to be.’ Jesus similarly gave strong warnings about false leaders who may appear attractive but are really ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ (Matthew 7:15-27). Jesus finishes the Sermon on the Mount by saying that the wise man builds his house on the rock and that rock is the word of Jesus.

God’s church and its leaders are in this world to be the salt of the earth, but as such there is always the risk of the world squeezing us into its own mould.

There has been an unfortunate change in the meaning of the word ‘believe’. Prior to the nineteenth century it meant to be ‘committed to a person’. It comes from the medieval word ‘leiben’ – ‘to love’. It came to mean the acceptance of an idea. When Jesus says that people are saved by faith or belief in him, this does not mean intellectual approval but a deep seated commitment to the Lord Jesus and what he teaches. A person is not a Christian, even if they are moral and go to church, until they ‘believe’ and become committed to him as their Lord and Saviour.

Satan’s effect on religion

Godless societies are not always irreligious. They may keep their priests, religious buildings, services and rituals but there is no power in them for good. People do not naturally want a religion that interferes with their private life. People do not want the Lord Jesus, in spite of all his faultless credentials, because he calls on us to repent and live under his leadership. This is the real reason that Jesus is unpopular.

If our young men growing into leadership roles in our churches are soaked in a worldly spirit, what type of Christianity will they inevitably advocate and live? Already we have seen new churches arise with new emphases.

1. Lovers of themselves

Being lovers of themselves, their churches emphasise man centred preaching and programmes. Worship becomes man-centred music, sometimes indistinguishable from pop festivals. Human problems become central. The talks become therapeutic and not focussed on God’s glory in his world. The Bible becomes a book of reference that is cursorily used to support the preacher’s views and is no longer the Word of God that needs to be urgently expounded. They often aim to restore self esteem through counselling but even here they do not do so by applying God’s word to the issues. They will have sermon series on ‘Love yourself’ based on the second commandment, the first ‘Love the lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul’ is less emphasised. “You are worthy” is a constant refrain but is addressed primarily to man. In such churches the minister can quickly become unpopular if he doesn’t satisfy the congregation’s demands. So, because he wants to be popular, he gives in to the peoples’ wishes. As our societies become more self-centred, it is inevitable that our churches will be marked by similar characteristics.

2. Lovers of money

Unfortunately it is inevitable that success orientated, career men will apply to become pastors. Unfortunately becoming ‘lovers of success’ to becoming ‘lovers of money’ is a very short step. It is therefore not surprising to see the rise of churches advocating a ‘Prosperity gospel’. These see success in worldly terms and in such churches pastors will wear expensive suits, drive flashy cars, and live in luxury houses. In contrast Jesus, his apostles and his faithful followers suffer in order to proclaim the Word of God to the world - theirs is a very different faith. This was happening in Paul’s day when some church leaders had drifted from God’s truth and became worldly, seeing religion as a means to worldly gain.

“If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing . . . robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” 1 Timothy 6:3-5

In contrast the Christians satisfaction is in the relationship he has with his Lord.

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it.” 1 Timothy 6:6

The apostle Peter also talked about this problem in his final letter to the churches.

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them – bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.” 2 Peter 2:1-3

How insidious are the lies of Satan!

3. Lovers of pleasure

Churches will become places of entertainment, emphasising song, music and dancing instead of places where the word of God is taught and where people are encouraged in their walk with Christ. Instead pleasure and self satisfaction will govern everything. Such churches will not just be soft at the edges, they will also be soft at the heart. How can such churches ever produce pioneer evangelists and missionaries?

Theological colleges are even changing what they teach in order to attract students. My son went to college to read theology. A major module was analysing the meaning of modern films. They spent far less time thinking about God’s message to mankind.

Paul warns us that the wrong sort of people will put themselves forwards to become church leaders. They want to make a name for themselves and even want to become rich. Paul is saying, ‘Don’t touch them – stay well clear.’ He gives remarkable details about the lives of these dangerous pastors.

“They are the kind who worm their way into homes to gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.” 1 Timothy 3:6-7

They may appear to be academic, always learning, but not yet under the truth of God; indeed they will oppose God’s truth. How common it is today to hear clergyman make public statements that deny the truth of God’s word. Such men may appear to be spiritual and even impressive but have no power to lead people to live like the Lord Jesus. They are indeed ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’.

Such ministers’ ministry can be summarised as three counterfeit ‘M’s’.

1. Counterfeit Mission.

They want to gain control over people. They want to be at the centre, the focus of attention. They want to draw people to their way of thinking and away from the teaching of Jesus and his apostles. They have no real answer to the problem of sin and its effects. They have no answer to guilt because they are resistant to God’s true and only solution, the message of God’s word. Theirs is religious propaganda.

2. Counterfeit Methods.

“Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth: men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected” 2 Timothy 3:8

Jewish tradition said that Jannes and Jambres that Paul uses as examples of false ministers were the names of the Egyptian Court magicians who opposed Moses. Ultimately Moses’ snake devoured the others, implying that God’s power is greater than any other. The Lord will win in the end so it is foolish to follow the lies of Satan and use worldly methods to make an impact for myself.

To use worldly means is very tempting. Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness to do just this (Luke 4:1-13). Jesus was offered world domination without the cross, attractive but not in accord with the Word of God. Jesus had to be the ultimate sacrifice to pay the price for our sin, without which there can be no eternal salvation. Paul found that there was widespread Satanic opposition to God’s message working through secularism. He wrote,

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. We do not preach ourselves.” 2 Corinthians 4:4

He clearly felt tempted to use dubious methods to obtain popularity, yet he wrote,

“We don’t lose heart. We have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyman’s conscience in the sight of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:2

After an evangelistic talk, an evangelist asked people to close their eyes and pray. Then he asked those who wanted to turn to Christ to put up their hands. “Bless you, thank you, God be with you, thank you,” he kept saying. The truth was that no-one had put up their hands. He was milking the crowd to increase his results! Such psychological techniques are surely deceptive.

Instead the Godly minister will proclaim the word of God without distortion. He will set forth ‘the truth plainly’.

3. Counterfeit Message

At the end of 2 Timothy 3:8 the Greek contains two definite articles – the word ‘the’ comes before the words ‘truth’ and ‘faith’ so it reads ‘the truth’ and ‘the faith’. There is only one truth, God’s truth which has been revealed to us in Scripture. There is only one faith that saves people for eternity, a personal commitment to the Lord Jesus.

The message of these false teachers was not God’s message. It may draw crowds but won’t lead people to a personal commitment to Christ and will not produce Word-based Christians. John Stott, the renowned bible teacher, in his commentary talks of,

“ . . . sly and slippery methods of backdoor religious traders.”

What is worse is that these false approaches will eventually fail. They have no eternal message. The shallowness of their message will eventually become apparent.

“But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.” 2 Timothy 3:9

God has promised that his church will survive to eternity, but he only preserves those churches that remain true to his Word and are therefore Christ centred.

Summary

This is a very disturbing paragraph. Verses 1 to 5 tell us that in times of stress men will become lovers of self and money focussed. Pseudo-religious leaders will have a field day. However God’s true church will avoid the temptations to be worldly and will train people to pass on the message of God’s word faithfully. What is our message? Paul has already summarised that in his first letter to Timothy.

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst.” 1 Timothy 1:15

It is this message that the world needs to hear,

“God our Saviour . . . wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.” 1 Timothy 2:3-6

This is why we have an urgent task to pass this message on to the next generation of church leaders, but we must ensure that they are faithful men whose ambition is to please their Saviour and Lord and not themselves. Paul emphasises this need.

“The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will be qualified to teach others. Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 2:2-3

The prayer of Jesus about Christian ministry is important.

“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore to send out workers into his harvest field. ’” Matthew 9:37-38

We should pray for workers, not just for leaders. Jesus didn’t ask us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to raise up leaders! All of us in church leadership must work hard to ensure that the teaching of God’s word to our self-centred societies remains the churches absolute priority.

BVP

The Genealogies of Jesus

My twelve year old grandson was given a question to answer for his homework. This was,

“Discuss the differences between the genealogies in Matthew and Luke and the introduction to John’s gospel?”

The short biographies of Jesus given in Matthew and Luke have similar perspectives which is why the first three gospels are called ‘Synoptic’ or having the same view. They were written to convince the readers that Jesus really is the Messiah (Hebrew word) or Christ (Greek word) for ‘God’s chosen king’ that the Old Testament repeatedly said was going to come to earth. There are over three hundred and thirty prophecies about the Messiah in the Old Testament. Amongst the details given is his birthplace,

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.” Micah 5:2

He would die to take the sins of many people but would then come back to life,

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all like sheep have go be astray and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. . . He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death . . . After the suffering of his soul he will see the light of life and be satisfied. . . by knowledge of him my righteous servant will justify many.” Isaiah 53:4-12

Pedigree of the Messiah

This is a major aspect of these Old Testament prophecies cocerning God’s Messiah. He will be a descendent of Adam. God gave this first prophecy to the serpent who had deceived Adam and Eve,

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heal.” Genesis 3:1

Abraham was also told that the Messiah for all people would be one of his direct descendants.

“ . . . all people of the earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:1

“Look up at the heavens and count the stars – if indeed you can count them. Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be’” Genesis 15:5

A major problem was that Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was sterile. Abraham had a son, ‘Ishmael’ with Hagar, Sarah’s servant but God made it clear that he was not to be the means by which a Saviour would come. Then Sarah bore a son Isaac who was to become the ancestor of both King David and eventually of God’s chosen King, Jesus. This is why Jesus is called Jesus Christ, Jesus ‘God’s chosen King’.

The Bible then continues to trace the line through which the Messiah would come as a baby, Isaac had two sons Jacob and Esau but it was Jacob who God blessed even though he was a cheat! Jacob was renamed Israel and he had twelve sons. One of these was picked out to be the ancestor of Jesus, Judah. When Jacob blessed Judah, he said that from his descendants God’s ruler would come.

“Thee sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations shall be his.” Genesis 49:1

There are four strange stories in the Old Testament that should make people wonder why they are given such prominence. The first is the sordid story of Tamar, told in Genesis 38. She pretended to be a prostitute and Judah, her father in law who had mistreated her, got her pregnant. She had twins, Perez and Zerah. Why is this story about Tamar given a whole chapter in the book of Genesis? Another is the story of Rahab, a prostitute in the city of Jericho when it was attacked by Joshua’s troops (told in Joshua 2). She had protected two of Joshua’s spies and so was given immunity. She subsequently married one of the commanders of Joshua’s army, Salmon, and they had a son called Boaz. Why is this so important? Another strange story is that of Ruth who, although she was a Midianite woman, has a whole book about her in the Old Testament! Her significance is that she became faithful to the Lord and subsequently married a farmer named Boaz. They had a son called Obed and he had a son called Jesse whose son was King David and his descendant would be Jesus, the Messiah.

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him . . . Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash round his waist.” Isaiah 11:1-5

Jesse was the father of King David. King David lived around 1000 BC. It was from David’s line that the Messiah would come. Isaiah, writing around 750 BC makes this clear,

“In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it – one from the house of David – one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.” Isaiah 16:5

Another prophet, Jeremiah, who lived around 600 BC also spoke about the future Messiah’s pedigree,

“‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD our righteousness’” Jeremiah 23:5-6

This is astounding to Jewish ears – how can a man also be the LORD God?

The fourth remarkable story is the account of how King David seduced Bathsheba, and then arranged for the murder of her husband of Uriah the Hittite. Their first son died but their second, Solomon became king after David.

Matthew’s Gospel

Matthew wrote his gospel primarily for Jewish readers so it was essential for him to show that Jesus did fulfil all these Old Testament prophecies so he begins his book with the known genealogy of Jesus. It is in two sections with King David being emphasised in the centre. He starts with Abraham, the Father of the Jews, mentions Judah and interestingly stresses the four women already discussed:

“. . . Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, . .” Matthew 1:2-3

“Salmon, the father of Boas, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and David the father of King David.” Matthew 1:5-6

After this comes the royal line of Kings including Solomon, Hezekiah and Josiah. The genealogy reads,

“David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife.” Matthew 1:6

So scandalous was that story that Bathsheba’s name is not even mentioned. There was no glory in these notorious Old Testament stories so they must be included for another reason. Why are no other mothers mentioned until Mary is described as the mother of Jesus?

This is extraordinary as the question must be asked how these Old Testament authors, writing centuries before Jesus, knew that God would precisely fulfil his promises about giving a Messiah with this pedigree. How did these authors know that these four women whose stories are highlighted in the Old Testament would all be ancestors of the Messiah. The end of the genealogy reads,

“. . . and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” Matthew 1:16

Matthew does not say that Joseph was the Father of Jesus but only that he was Mary’s husband. This is important as the gospel writers were adamant that Jesus had a virgin birth.

Matthew is therefore emphasising the royal pedigree that Jesus was born into, that legally he was in line to be Israel’s king and yet his ancestry included these four highlighted women.

Luke’s gospel

Luke, a Gentile, wrote his gospel for non-Jews. He gives the genealogy in reverse order and goes back to Adam, so showing Jesus’ relationship to the whole human race. This was Luke’s emphasis, Jesus came for people from every nation. Thus when Simeon praised God for the baby Jesus he included,

“For my eyes have seen you salvation which you have prepared for all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Luke 2:30-32

From Abraham to David the genealogies of Matthew and Luke are virtually the same but they differ from David onwards. It is likely that Luke is tracing back the genealogy of Mary. Although this was unusual, so was a virgin birth! Luke makes it clear that Joseph was not Jesus’ father by writing at the beginning of the genealogy,

“He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph.” Luke 3:23

Luke had previously emphasised the supernatural virgin birth of Jesus in chapter one. Luke’s gospel goes on to show that Jesus was the Messiah by emphasising the miracles he did alongside his teaching. He stresses also that people must believe and follow Jesus if they are to be acceptable to God. After Jesus’ resurrection Luke, the Gentile, also emphasised the importance of the Jewish Scriptures, our Old Testament, by quoting Jesus as saying,

“Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Luke 24:47

John’s Gospel

John probably wrote his gospel after the other three, so he supplements what the others have said. He also stresses that Jesus is divine, equal to God the Father and that it is only by accepting him as our Lord and Saviour that we can be saved. He doesn’t include a genealogy but emphasises that Jesus has come directly from God. He calls Jesus, ‘The Word’, God’s communication with mankind, and so starts his gospel or ‘good news’ with this introduction:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the life of men.” John 1:1-4

This ‘life’ is a great theme in John’s gospel, being mentioned thirty six times. His message is that eternal life is only given to those who believe in Jesus and receive him as their Lord. He writes,

“He came to that which was his own (the Jews), but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God.” John 1:11-12

John finishes this prologue to his book with this fundamental message about who Jesus is, God come in the flesh:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

Conclusion

All four gospel writers are clear about the nature of Jesus, he is the divine embodiment of God. Yet as they were writing primarily for different audiences their emphases do differ, even thought their essential message is the same - Jesus is the Christ, he is the incarnation of Jahweh, he is Lord of all.

BVP

February 2023