The resurrection of Jesus

Fix your eyes upon Jesus

Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Introduction

The passage we are looking at today from Hebrews continues the theme of faith that the author takes into a new gear at the beginning of chapter 11 and his introduction to this is:

[2] This is what the ancients were commended for.

He then mentions a host of people as well as events through which greats acts of faith and hope are demonstrated from creation onto a host of important events in the first half of the Old Testament and then he glosses the rest and brings us to a time possible only years before the coming of Jesus. This is a catalogue of heroes of faith, people who had faith in a living God who acts, gives hope and who has more in store! In fact at the other end of chapter 11 he brings an interesting turning point which is pivotal to what follows:

[39] These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, [40] since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

In fact the whole chapter is like a marathon, hold that, which starts with a very steady and measured pace and then accelerates from where we cut into it today.

Another thought on 'faith' and for that, back to the first verse of chapter 11

 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

As part of the introduction to this passage one of my commentaries says this:

In a world where people dismiss faith as ‘wishful thinking’, or simply identify it with the beliefs and practices of a particular religion ( e.g. ‘the Muslim faith’), it is good to have a comprehensive picture of the faith that actually pleases God. Hebrews shows the link between faith, hope, obedience and endurance, illustrating that it is more than intellectual assent to certain beliefs. God-honouring faith takes God at his word and lives expectantly and obediently in the present, waiting for him to fulfill his promises. Such faith brings suffering and persecution in various forms.

Chapter 12 brings in his readers, and us, with complete prominence into the arena and also there is the ultimate hero of all who is also at the centre of the whole letter - Jesus. So, as I say,

Into the arena

Which is just the picture we have. Remember I said before that chapter 11 is like a marathon, well, most of a marathon is run outside the arena, certainly at the Olympics and probably in those days too, well, now we are there with Jesus in what is the final part of the event. And, this is what he writes:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,

Can you see the masterful picture he is painting? All the people of chapter 11 have completed their leg of the marathon, which is also perhaps a relay where faith is the baton passed on, and by what we see in them  we are cheered on our way by the encouragement we see in the way they exercised faith.

In a slightly different way I saw this a few weeks ago at Hixon school sports day and it was a lovely sight. Each group had their great long race round the course, and the younger the group the more their little legs were whirling, but in each year there were always a few who struggled or who couldn't even really run. The truly lovely bit was that those who had finished were there at the finishing line cheering those who were struggling so they completed the race.

Our writer also brings in two other important elements as an illustration for the race of faith in this verse and another

 1.       Ridding ourselves of anything that would hinder - compare that to what Jesus says about the seeds sown in the thorny part of the field in the parable of the sower how they are choked by the cares of this life - consider: what chokes our faith

2.       Ridding ourselves of the sin that entangles - in other words all that dishonours Jesus or is not what he has for us or is against what he wants. The aim is to stay focussed on what we are through the victory of Jesus over sin and death.

All this then makes us lean, mean, running machines and as such there is

The focus of the race

Which is none other than Jesus who he is the starting line, the pace setter and the finishing post - v 2a

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, [2] fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

He is the source of faith, the reason for faith and the goal of faith and this faith is lived out in the realities of life.

This was also true for all those who he mentions in chapter 11 but their faith was much more on that which is unseen than ours  because Jesus has now been revealed. Of course we still have that which is unseen but it is all there in Jesus in whom and through who we live the life of faith.

How He has become the focus of the race

Because as a participant with us this is what he did - v 2b

For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Joy was his focus as he, in faith, saw the outcome that is reality for him now which is to be seated at the right hand of the throne of God where he, seated there in victory, is the focus for our journey of faith. That has a conclusion in the next verse which wasn't in the reading - but we'll have it anyway and it will lead to our:

Conclusion

[3] Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Jesus is the ultimate encouragement for us to stay firm in faith. Not other Christians, the church or whatever but Jesus the victor who brings life and salvation - our hope where faith lies.

And finally an anomaly thought: I meet many people who say they are open minded about faith and God but I wonder if lots of those people actually have an extractor fan fitted to their open minds that takes away anything God sows there! You can compare that once more with the parable of the sower and the seed that falls by the path and which is eaten by the birds.

Fix your eyes upon Jesus!

Steven Abram.  Sunday 18th August 2013

On the road to Emmaus

Of all the accounts made by  the different witness who met Jesus after he resurrected, this passage is my favorite. Both Mark and Luke mention this emotional scene. 

Luke 24:13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.

17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him,and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” 33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

If you are interested to have this passage reenacted for a school assembly or a youth club, you can download an excellent script on Nige's Christian drama. Have a blessed day, your sister in Christ. N.

The Gospel of Luke

Sources Luke May Have Used In The Course Of Writing His Gospel

Luke was not an eyewitness who had seen and heard for himself the things that Jesus had said and done. Luke stated in the prologue of his gospel (Luke 1:1-4) that many before him had undertaken to compile an account of the things regarding Jesus that had been accomplished among them. Luke wrote that having investigated everything most carefully himself from the beginning, he, too, had set out to compile those things of Jesus in consecutive order for Theophilus. Luke relied on eyewitnesses and written sources for the information he included in his gospel. He consulted the documents previously compiled. He interviewed the eyewitnesses who could tell him first hand about Jesus' teachings and activities.
Above all the ultimate, true source behind Luke's gospel was the Holy Spirit--the Spirit of truth who taught his inspired penmen all things and brought to remembrance all that Jesus had said (John 14:16,17,26). The Spirit's inspiration of his penman does not rule out the writer's use of material at his disposal to document under the Spirit's guidance what he was writing. In using those materials the Spirit's guidance would have led the writer to leave out any chaff of error and to preserve only the wheat of what was the truth.
Paul was a source for Luke's gospel. As stated in the section about Luke the writer, Luke was a companion and assistant of the apostle Paul, who had seen Jesus and had been instructed by Jesus. Luke thus learned from Paul the gospel of Jesus Christ that Paul preached in his missionary endeavors.
Mark was another potential source of information for Luke. Luke associated with the gospel writer Mark. Luke first met Mark in the church of Antioch, where Luke was a member and where Barnabas and Paul had brought Mark in A.D. 44 to assist them (cf. Acts 12:25).  Luke was also with Mark, as well as with Paul, in Rome during Paul's first imprisonment there and when Paul wrote his prison epistles, (cf. Colossians 4:10,14; Philemon 24). Luke and Mark were again together with Paul in Rome during Paul's second Roman imprisonment before his martyrdom (cf. 2 Timothy 4:10,11). Mark had heard and learned the gospel that Peter had preached (cf. An Overview Of The Gospel Of Mark). It is thought that since Luke was in Rome with Mark during both of Paul's Roman imprisonments, and since Mark wrote his gospel in Rome in the mid A.D. 60's, Luke is likely to have obtained a copy of Mark's gospel very soon after it was written and followed it in the course of writing his own gospel.
Peter himself, whose preaching was the basis of Mark's gospel, may have been a source of information for Luke in preparing his gospel. Luke's whereabouts between Paul's first and second Roman imprisonments in A.D. 61 to 62 and in A.D. 67 is unknown. If Luke remained in Rome for those five years or so, he is likely to have had contact with Peter. Peter was in Rome and there wrote his first letter around A.D. 62 to 64 and his second letter around A.D. 66 to 67. Assuming Luke remained in Rome during those years, he had the opportunity to hear from Peter the gospel of Jesus that Peter preached.
Luke traveled with Paul to carry the collection of the Gentile churches to the poor Christians in Jerusalem. While there Luke met James the brother of the Lord Jesus and the elders of the church, (cf. Acts 21:18). He would also have had the opportunity to interview the apostles who were in Jerusalem, plus the many other Christians who had witnessed Jesus' teachings, miracles, suffering, death, and resurrection. There were many such Christians, for Paul noted in 1 Corinthians 15:6 that Jesus had appeared after his resurrection to more than five hundred such disciples at one time, many of whom were still living. Luke also spent the two years of Paul's imprisonment in Caesarea near Galilee and Judea. It would have been a simple matter for him to travel those areas where Jesus had conducted his ministry and talk with the eyewitnesses.

I found those facts so interesting (If you click on Luke this will take you to the website) I have not got much more time tonight as I need to get on with some work. Have a blessed evening or day depending which side of the planet you live!
Picture: Luke, 1360–64 Attributed to Master Theodoric, Prague