Changing The World Series

19. Who is Jesus?

December 26th, 2010

Changing the World

Today we continue our study through Luke’s gospel asking the question: who is Jesus. We are in Luke 10:1 where Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples to the towns and villages of Judea. This sending is very similar to the sending out of the twelve that we saw in chapter nine. Which sort of makes you wonder why this is here? When Jesus life has so many incredible stories that it would be impossible to tell them all why does Luke take the time to tell us two stories that are so similar?

This is around the time of the Feast of Tabernacles; one of the three great Jewish feasts of the year. For the six months prior to this text Jesus had been very secretive. He avoided crowds and even traveled to Caesarea Philippi which was well into Gentile territory for awhile. In his absence from the spotlight His popularity had diminished. They have those shows: where are they now specials for celebrities who disappear from the spotlight for a while. This is the where is He now: Messiah episode where the former star Jesus begins regaining His popularity.

Lk 10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. Lk 10:2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

Sometimes how we do church is very selfish. Community is one of the core needs of man. We are incomplete without it. If we are not in regular relationships with other Godly people then we cannot grow or mature the way we should. Often times church becomes the place where we go to get our needs met. We are looking for a place that has classes, programs, music, and sermons that are what we want. We look at churches for what they offer us. But if that is all we do, if we just go to church then we are selfish.

We like the community but we don’t always want to serve or give to help it grow. We let what we want supersede what Jesus wants. One of the major reasons the church exists is to bring people into a relationship with Jesus. Part of our job is to bring people who don’t know Jesus to a relationship with Him. If that is not happening then we are failing in our role as a church. Just going to church is selfish, going out and being the church to others molds us to look morel like Jesus.

Church is not about us. It is about Jesus. It’s not about what we want. It is about what He wants. His desire is for us to reach out and to love people who do not know Him. Jesus is radically inclusive. He wants everyone to be a part of what He is doing. As His church our role is to help make that happen. We bring people to Jesus so more people can experience His love and salvation in their lives. We teach Jesus so people can grow in their relationship with Him and become more productive in the work they do for His kingdom.

The purpose of the church is to love Jesus, and to share His love with the world. It is not enough for us to just gather together with other people who love Jesus and talk about how great He is. We need that, but that is only half the battle. We need to reach out to others and tell them about how great Jesus is as well. We meet inside the four walls of the church to prepare ourselves to take Jesus love outside of those walls.

The church is not meant to be inward focused but outwardly focused. We receive the love of Jesus so we can share it with as many people as possible. The heart of the community of the church should beat for those who are outside its walls and who do not know Jesus. Jesus will model this attitude for us; where He sends out seventy-two disciples.

Jesus is an ambassador sent from God. He brings with Him the love and the life of God. He spends time with people loving them and teaching them how to love. Then He sends those people out to share the love of God with the world as well. Jesus calls them in, equips them, and sends them out. Our faith is not complete until we are sent out to the world to share the love of God.

Here Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples to go prepare the way for His arrival in the different towns and villages of Judea. These guys are sent out to serve, heal, preach, and share the love of God.