The Hem of His Garment - Luke 8:40-48 - March 19, 2023

 Luke 8:40-48 The Hem of His Garment

Good morning! We are back in the Gospel of Luke this morning, chapter eight, verses 40-48, page 866 in the pew Bibles.

I’d like to say thank you to Nate for bringing the Word last Sunday and hopefully enriching your understanding of the works of CS Lewis. I love to look for the gospel symbolized in books and movies, it’s a lot of fun and can deepen our experiences and entertainment.

In Luke’s Gospel account in chapter eight Jesus performs two miracles that kind of overlap but we are going to examine them one at a time, first the healing of the woman with the discharge of blood and next time the raising of Jairus’ daughter.

So let’s look to the text and look to the Lord.

40 Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41 And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus’ feet, he implored him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. 

As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. 43 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. 44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 45 And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” 47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” Let’s pray.

So let’s remember from two weeks ago where Jesus was coming from at the beginning of our text. He was coming back across the Sea of Galilee from the country of the Geresenes where he had freed a man from a whole legion of demons but was rejected by the people there and begged to leave their country. So Jesus left them and returned to Galilee where it appears there was a crowd waiting there on the beach for Him to return.

What a contrast, on one shore an angry mob that drove Jesus away and on the other a happy throng eagerly anticipating His return. No sooner had He stepped foot on shore a man named Jairus came to Him and told Him about his dying daughter.

Now, I don’t want to focus on Jairus and his situation at all but I think it bears mentioning him just to point out the contrast between him and the woman that Jesus is about to heal.

Jairus was the ruler of the local synagogue. This fact shows that he was a well known and well respected person in the community. He was the kind of person that the people in town would want Jesus to help. Nobody would question Jesus for agreeing to help this man and go to his house to see his sick daughter, and, in fact, they all went along with Him as He went.

Verse 42 says, As Jesus went, the people pressed around him.

These were clearly not New Englanders, we like our space. But this crowd was all squeezed together and pressed in to Jesus as they walked from the beach to Jairus’ house and that’s when our story takes a turn.

As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. 43 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. 44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased.

Now this woman could not be more different than Jairus. Jairus being the ruler of the synagogue in town was way up on the religious ladder but this lady was at the bottom, not because of sin but because of blood.

The Levitical laws made any woman with an “issuance of blood” ceremonially unclean. You can read about that in Leviticus 15:19-22. Anything she touched, any chair she sat on, the bed she slept on, and anybody who even touched her would be ceremonially unclean.

This may not sound like a big deal to you but it was to her. 

Twelve years of suffering, not just with a physical ailment and the problems that go with that but twelve years of social separation. This poor lady had spent all she had on doctors and medicines trying to be healed and only got worse. She was sick, and poor, and alone. 

Defiled, destitute, discouraged, and desperate, and then along comes Jesus.

What’s interesting to me is the quality of this woman’s faith.

In Matthew’s account, in Matthew 9:21, he records that woman thought to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.”

This woman’s faith is only half a notch above superstition. Her understanding of Jesus was that He was a powerful healer. He had healed other people in their synagogue already and was on His way to help another and, “If I could just touch the hem of His garment, I’ll be healed.”

And even with her mixed up ideas of faith and superstition she joins the crowd pressing in on Jesus and gets her chance.

44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 45 And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?”

Honestly, if we were there I think we’d probably say the same thing as Peter did in response to Jesus.

45 And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!”

This whole thing seems ridiculous. This whole crowd of people pressed in around Jesus as He’s walking along, all squeezed together and Jesus asks, “who touched me?” The best part is when everybody says, “It wasn’t me!” They all deny touching Him even though everybody was touching Him.

46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.”

And then our defiled, destitute, discouraged, and desperate lady comes forward.

47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

The difference between her touch of the Savior and everybody else’s was her motivation. Everybody else was touching Jesus just because the crowd was all squished together but this lady, in her imperfect mix of faith and superstition, intentionally reached out for the hem of His garment.

And she was healed, she was healed completely. Not because she understood fully, but because she trusted in Jesus.

John Calvin wrote, “God deals kindly and gently with His people, accepts their faith, though imperfect and weak, and does not lay charge to their faults and imperfections with which it is connected.”

So why did Jesus ask, “Who touched me?”

It wasn’t because he didn’t know, it wasn’t because he was ignorant. I think there were two reasons Jesus asked who touched Him.

The first is that Jesus knew who touched Him and what had happened, and the woman knew that she touched Him and what had happened, but nobody else knew what had happened.

Jesus calls this lady out to tell her story. Verse 47 says, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.

Think about that for a second. This lady had suffered for twelve years for this moment. All the pain and heartache and loneliness, for all those years led her right here to Jesus, to this moment, a moment that would not only change her life but would define the rest of her life on earth. Telling the story of how she suffered and how Jesus healed her just by touching the hem of His garment would be the song she would sing into eternity!

The second reason I think that Jesus asked who touched Him was a rebuke to the crowd.

Who was touching Jesus? According to Peter, everybody was! But not everybody experienced the blessing that this lady did.

Warren Wiersbe wrote, “You can be a part of the crowd and never get any blessing from being near Jesus.” I think there’s a warning there for us as well. So don’t just settle for just being near Jesus or going to church or doing Jesus-y things, reach out for Him in faith even if it’s only for the hem of His garment.

And when he changes your life tell people the story, share your testimony, nobody can argue with a changed life.

Amen.

Pigs Aren't the Point - Luke 8:26-39 - March 4, 2023

 Luke 8:26-39 Pigs Aren’t the Point

Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 8. This morning we are going to look at verses 26-39 and that’s on page 865 in the pew Bibles.

Last week we examined in the verses previous to these Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee. And now Jesus and His disciples have arrived on the far side of the Lake in the region of the Gerasenes.

Again, we’ll get a chance to see the principles that we have been examining over the last few weeks put to work. I’m not going to give any more introduction than that, let’s just jump into it.

26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” 29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 32 Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. 

34 When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 36 And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. 37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

Let’s pray.

So this is a very significant event in the Gospel record so far, do you know why? I’ll tell you right off, it has nothing to do with the pigs.

In order for us to fully understand the meaning of any given text of Scripture, we have to explore its meaning to its original audience because the Bible can never mean what it never meant. If we skip over this part we will never understand the true meaning of any part of Scripture.

The first thing we need to understand is where this event takes place. Luke calls it the region of the Gerasenes, a region on the shores of the Sea of Galilee near what is called, “the Decapolis,” which means ten cities. What makes this significant is that it is not a predominantly Jewish area. The people living here were a mix of Jewish, Syrian, and Greeks. There was also a great deal of pig farming. Mark records around two thousand pigs drowned in this account. Also at least one demon possessed man, Matthew records two but Luke only pays attention to one, living among the tombs the place of the dead. 

So what is significant about those details?

First, and most simply, this was Jesus’ contact with the Gentile world. Remember that a Gentile is anyone who is not Jewish, Greeks and Syrians are not Jewish, and those Jews who chose to live among them would be looked down on by the rest of the Jewish world.

For a Jew to associate with a Gentile would make them unclean. To have contact with pigs would make them unclean. To have contact with dead bodies would make them unclean.

So here comes Jesus, pulling up to shore near the tombs, near a huge herd of pigs, in a Gentile country and He is confronted by a man with an unclean spirit. A naked man. And seeing a naked man also made them unclean…

This man who was plagued by demons, who could not be bound, for a long time, it says, he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but lived among the tombs. This guy was about as bad off as you could get.

Do you remember the first gift in the storm from last week? It was the reminder of our powerlessness.

This poor man was utterly powerless. The disciples felt it in the face of the storm on the sea, this man felt it every minute of every day.

28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” 29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.

Even demons believe that Jesus is the Son of God, what they don’t do is repent and ask for forgiveness.

30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss.

Now we don’t know how many demons were present in this account, we do know that a Roman Legion had as many as six thousand soldiers in it, and Mark records this Legion going into around two thousand pigs so I think that it is safe to say that there were a lot.

But even so, thousands of demons were forced to bow down at the feet of Jesus the Almighty. And this reminds us of the second gift the Disciples were given out on the lake, the reminder of Jesus’ almightiness, here we see it in action again.

John Calvin said, “The whole of Satan’s kingdom is subject to the authority of Christ.”

And now… The pigs… This is the part where, Alistair Begg said, the home Bible studies get totally derailed.

The legion of demons begged Jesus not to command them to depart into the abyss. This may be a reference to the bottomless pit described in Revelation 9:11 and 20:3, some scholars confidently claim that they mean Hell which, I think, is based on a poor understanding of what Hell is, but that is a discussion for another time.

32 Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. 

The legion of demons recognizes Jesus’ power over them and their inability to operate without His permission and so they beg Him to let them enter the herd of pigs. This is where the home Bible study goes off the rails.

What does Jesus have against pigs? I had a pet pig and I loved it. I once had a German Shepherd that everybody thought was possessed. Can demons still possess animals? Was Kudjo based on a true story?

Believe it or not, the pigs have very little to do with the point of this account. 

Wise scholars like JJ vanOosterzee say this: “Why the demons desire to go into the swine is a question which we, so far as we are concerned, can answer only with a confession of the entire incompetence of our intelligence on this mysterious ground.”

John Calvin wrote, “While the reason of it is not known by us with certainty, it is proper for us to behold with reverence, and to adore with devout humility, the hidden judgment of God.”

The truth is, the question of the pigs is not even worth considering if it means that we take our eyes of the redemptive power of Jesus Christ. 

34 When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 36 And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed.

Here is where the formerly demon possessed man received the third gift, the gift of worship. He had been cleansed by the Lord Jesus, clothed by the Disciples and sat at His feet in reverence.

But where the newly cleansed man worshipped Jesus and wanted to stay with Him, the people of the surrounding country wanted nothing to do with Jesus and wanted Him out of there. This, sadly, still happens today.

37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

It’s impossible to know why the people rejected Jesus there. They must have known the man, they must have known the state he was in before but it didn’t seem to matter. Were they afraid of losing more pigs? Maybe they were just content with the way things were and they didn’t want anybody stirring up any more trouble.

What’s curious to me is that Jesus granted the request of the legion of demons, He granted the request of the people who rejected Him and left the region, the only person’s request that he didn’t grant was the one who trusted in Him. 

He just asked to go with Him so that he could be with Him, can you blame Him?

Do you hear echoes of this in your own life?

I was talking with a friend this week about wanting the Lord to come back so we wouldn’t have to deal with all of the junk of this fallen world but we were reminded that every day that the Father waits to send Jesus back for His church is a kindness not a curse, it’s another day that millions of people can come to faith in Jesus and be saved.

38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

If Jesus had taken the man back to Galilee with Him there would be no one to declare what had happened to him, no one declaring what God had done through Jesus. He left Him there as a witness the same reason that we are left here, to be His witnesses, to declare how much God has done for us.

“In the person of one man Christ exhibited to us a proof of His grace, which is extended to all mankind. Though we are not tortured by the devil, yet he holds us as his slaves till the Son of God delivers us from his tyranny. Naked, torn, disfigured, we wander about till He restores us to soundness of mind. It remains that, in magnifying His grace we testify our gratitude.” –Calvin Amen.

Storms - Luke 8:22-25 - February 26, 2023

 Luke 8:22-25 Storms

Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 8 and verses 22-25. That’s on page 865 in the pew Bibles.

We have come again to particular passage of Scripture that I admit I do not want to preach on, mostly, because I do not want to have to apply the truth contained in these verses. I have had to do it before, I have friends doing it now, and it hurts my heart to think of any of you here having to do it. I think that thought will make itself clear as we move along.

Let’s read the text together.

22 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

Let’s pray.

This scene is one that appears in both of the other synoptic Gospels, meaning Matthew and Mark. They both deal with it a little differently and both include and exclude different details. You can look them up and study them on your own, they are found in Matthew 8:23 and Mark 4:35. I’m not going to reference those two Gospel accounts as each can stand on its own and can be examined and understood on its own. But you can read them later and compare them if you like.

You all know how much I love one point sermons. Can you remember the one point of the last few sermons? It’s been pretty much the same point: Hear the Word of God and do it.

Well now, In Luke’s account we get to see if the Disciples were paying attention.

On one particular day Jesus got into a boat says to His Disciples, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” In this particular example, this is the Word of God. “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.”

In the original language, Greek in this case, the word for “let us go across,” is all one word. And that one word is in the active aorist tense. The aorist tense is Greek’s past tense. Bear with me here. Jesus didn’t simply suggest that they go out in the boat, He didn’t suggest, “Maybe we should try to go to the other side of the lake in the boat,” Jesus said literally, “we are going across the lake.”

This is extremely to have in mind at the outset because it is the Word of God, “We are going across the lake.” 

So if the Disciples had heard and understood the one point of the sermon about the wise and foolish builders, the one point of the parable of the soils, the one point of lighting the lamp, the one point of who was Jesus’ mother and brothers and sisters, they would have set sail from the shore of the lake to the other side confident that because Jesus said plainly, “We are going across the lake,” no matter what happened in between the would trust that they would reach the other side.

Sounds simple doesn’t it? Simple, yes. Easy, no.

The trip would be about five miles by boat from west to east from Galilee to Genesserett where they arrive in verse 26. So after a long day of teaching and performing miracles Jesus takes a nap in the stern of the boat.

The Sea of Galilee sits about 650 feet below sea level. It is surrounded by rocky hills and gorges which allow sudden and violent storms to develop and hard winds to blow across the lake. And that’s exactly what happens.

In truth, two storms blow in, the one on the outside with its wind and waves, and one on the inside of the hearts of the Disciples. 

22 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger.

Now don’t let’s forget who we are dealing with, the Disciples were sea faring souls. Four of them were professional fishermen on this lake and all the rest of them grew up on its shores. They knew what storms on the Sea of Galilee could be like, they mostly had lost friends and neighbors or had heard stories of people claimed by the Sea. These were men of experience and they were terrified.

Now let’s pause and consider a question. The winds were buffeting, the waves were breaking over the sides and the boat was filling with water miles from shore. 

I don’t like this question, don’t answer it: did they have reason to fear? 

I say don’t answer because we are too far removed from the situation and can easily slip into theological snobbery and simply say, “They had Jesus with them in the boat of course they had no reason to fear.”

Regardless of our opinion they were afraid, they were terrified. You can hear the utter faintness of heart when they cry out, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”

I wish we could hear them. I wish we could hear the sound of their cries to Jesus for help.

Why did they wake Him, for help, or so that He would know they were dying as He died with them?

I want to think that they were honestly crying out for His help but it was probably a bit of both.

If they were calling out to Him for help it was because they knew He had a solution, what they didn’t believe was that He had a plan.

And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?”

JJ vanOsterzee wrote, “Now as ever their faith manifests itself in this, that in their distress they flee to none but Jesus.”

But Jesus asks them this penetrating question: Where is your faith?

This is a tough one because this question could have two meanings. Where is your faith? As if to say you had faith once, where is it now? Or, where is your faith, as in, where are you placing your faith?

It seems to me that it’s mostly likely a bit of both. Jesus had told them that they were going to cross the lake. If they trusted Him completely they would know that no storm could stop them from reaching the other side. 

It also seems that they had a good deal of trust in themselves to navigate until the storm got out of hand. This is where I live most of the time. If you’re honest you’re probably right there with me.

But the Disciples did go to Jesus when things got out of hand, they got that much right, kind of. But it’s well been said that, “Faith is not believing in spite of circumstances; it’s obeying in spite of feelings and consequences.”

When Jesus calms the storm and challenges them in their faith they respond with worship.

And they were afraid [a reverent fear or awe], and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

They asked a question that they already knew the answer to, He is the Son of God, God made flesh, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

The Disciples in a situation that made them fear for their lives, they thought all hope was lost, this was a really hard time for them, let’s not minimize that. If Jesus wasn’t in the boat them may indeed have all perished.

But I’ve read some great scholars and heard some great preachers give the devil credit for the storm, saying that he was attempting to thwart the great plan of God through nature.

And we may scoff at that idea, but how often do we give credit to the devil for making people sick, or causing accidents, or creating the storms that we experience in our lives to terrify or discourage or destroy us?

What if the storms of this life, the difficulties we face are designed by God to deepen our faith? What if cancer was a gift, what if losing a job, or losing our home was the best thing that ever happened to us?

Think about the gifts that were given to the Disciples that night, if they could only see it.

They were given the gift of the knowledge of their complete powerlessness. In the face of nature, in the face of illness, in the face of trauma, we are reminded that we don’t have power over anything.

And therein lies the second gift, the reminder of Jesus’ almightiness. It’s only when we realize that we are powerless that we learn to depend on His almightiness, and this is a great gift. The Disciples fled to none but Jesus and so should we.

And that’s the third gift, they got to pray for His help. A prayer that the Father will always say “yes” to is: Glorify yourself in my difficulty. 1 Peter 5:6-7 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

They were given the gift of praise to His Name, recognizing that even the winds and the waves obey the Lord of all creation.

So here’s the single point of this sermon: Hear the Word of God and do it. 

What if it’s hard or scary? Hear the Word of God and do it.

What if it looks impossible? Hear the Word of God and do it.

What if I don’t feel like it or it doesn’t make me feel good? Hear the Word of God and do it.

What if I’m uncomfortable with the consequences? Hear the Word of God and do it.

There are going to be storms… they are gifts. 

“Faith is not believing in spite of circumstances, it  is obeying in spite of feelings and consequences.”

Amen.

Family First - Luke 8:18-21 - February 19. 2023

 Luke 8:19-21 Family First

Good morning and welcome! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 8 and verses 19-21, that’s on page 865 in the pew Bibles.

There is an expression that we use a lot around here and we use it as a kind of measuring stick for what we do as a church family. Whatever activity fits within the parameters of the expression will be considered and anything that doesn’t fit doesn’t work and we don’t consider it.

The statement is simply, “Making and maturing disciples together as a family.”

It’s not coincidental then that folks that have been around here for a while don’t simply refer to this group as our church, but more specifically as our church family.

In our text this morning we get a glimpse from the mouth of Jesus just how important the church family truly is and how to be part of it. So let’s look at it together.

19 Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20 And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” 21 But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

Let’s pray.

So just to give some background, by this time in Jesus’ life and ministry, Joseph, the husband of Mary was most likely dead already. He isn’t mentioned after the time that Jesus got left behind in Jerusalem when His parents found Him in the Temple talking with the teachers in Luke chapter two.

Jesus was part of a large family. He was the oldest of five brothers and some sisters, meaning that after Jesus was born of Mary, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, Mary and Joseph had a bunch more kids that were Jesus’ half-brothers and half-sisters. Mary did not remain a virgin and neither was she sinless as we’ll see as we move along.

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry his half-siblings did not believe in Him. You can read more about that in John chapter 7, where they actually mocked Jesus and His ministry.

We do know from Acts chapter one, verse fourteen, that at least two of His brothers and possibly His sisters came to believe in Him as well as Mary.

Two of Jesus’ half-brothers went on to write books of the New Testament, James and Jude.

But before that, they thought He was crazy. In Mark 3 after appointing the Twelve Apostles…

20 …he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

Attempting to thwart the plan and purpose of God for and through the Son of God classifies as sin. Jesus’ family, including His mother Mary, was not perfect, they were not without sin.

But even though at the time Jesus said these words His family did not believe in Him, He never disrespected nor disowned them. But He also didn’t venerate them, so that people would hold them up to be worshipped.

John Calvin wrote, “By disparaging the relationship of flesh and blood, our Lord teaches us a very useful doctrine; for He admits all His disciples and all believers to the same honorable rank, as if they were His nearest relatives, or rather He places them in the room of His mother and brothers.”

“My mother and my brothers and sisters are those who hear the Word of God and do it.”

Those who hear the Word of God and do it…

Those who hear the Word of God and do it are like wise builders who build their houses on the rock.

Those who hear the Word of God and do it are like good soil that receives the seed and grows producing fruit.

Those who hear the Word of God and do it are like lamps on a stand giving light to the whole house.

Those who hear the Word of God and do it are my mother and my brothers and sisters.

Are you starting to get the point?

Jesus half-brother James did eventually when he wrote in the first chapter of his letter in verses 22-25.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

When I first read this text this week, I thought that it was about putting Jesus before family, to not make our families an idol. An though those are good ideas and Jesus does have things to say about them, that’s not what He is saying here.

Jesus is telling His disciples that day, and reminding us this morning, about His design for His church, that it’s a family.

By hearing His Word and doing it, that’s what faith is, by hearing His Word and doing it we become family, His family, a family united by faith in Jesus.

Those who hear the Word of God and do it… Time for an object lesson.

I need two volunteers who have never interacted with this chair. You’ve never sat on it, maybe even never seen it.

Volunteer number one, I built this chair. It is sturdy, it is strong, and it will bear your weight if you stand on it. Do you believe me? Yes. Good, thank you.

Volunteer number two, I built this chair. It is sturdy, it is strong, and it will bear your weight if you stand on it. Do you believe me? Yes. Good, prove it. Thank you.

Who had faith, who truly believed that the chair would hold them? Hearing the Word of God and doing it is just like that.

We cannot simply stop at hearing the Word of God, even saying that we believe the Word of God if we refuse to obey the Word of God. Warren Wiesbe said, “…it is easy to think we are ‘spiritual’ because we listen to one preacher after another, take notes, mark our Bibles, but never really practice what we learn. We are only fooling ourselves.”

When we hear the Word of God but refuse to do the Word of God we become auditors of the Word of God.

Listening, hearing, trusting, obeying the Word of God, that’s what faith looks like. And by doing that we become wise builders, fruitful soil, a lamp on a stand shining it’s light, and family with Jesus.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:14-21:

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Amen.