Jesus On Family Series

ONE QUICK POINT BEFORE WE GET TO THE ACTUAL SERMON: The definition of a Christian is someone hearing God’s word and putting it into practice.

- Luke 8:21.

- Matthew 7:21, 24, 26; Matthew 12:50; John 7:17; John 14:23; John 15:10; 1 John 2:17.

- Jesus says something here that is crucially important but isn’t the main point that I want to talk about this evening, so I’m going to handle it as a brief prologue before getting into the main message.

- Jesus here, as He does elsewhere, defines what a Christian is as someone who hears God’s word and puts that teaching into practice.

- This is not something that is only found here. It’s a consistent teaching of the New Testament:

a. Matthew 7:21, 24, 26.

b. John 7:17.

d. John 14:23.

e. John 15:10.

- This is important to understand, as I’ve taught many times before, because there is a misunderstanding in much of the American church that being a Christian simply means voicing a “belief in Jesus” that requires no further obedience to the actual teaching of Jesus. This is false.

- As clearly stated in our passage for this evening and in other New Testament passages, the definition of a Christian is someone who follows the teaching of Christ. This is not to say that we are saved by our works, but it is to say that works flow from genuine belief.

- This is essential for us to understand if we are going to see the church be what God intends for it to be.

- Empty belief - one that claims allegiance to Christ without making any effort whatsoever to actually embrace what Jesus told us to do - is a sham. It leaves people with a false security that they have salvation when they really don’t.

JESUS ON FAMILY: Jesus here redefines family.

- Luke 8:19-21.

- Romans 8:17; Ephesians 2:19; Ephesians 3:15; Hebrews 2:11.

- When you first read this, it initially comes across almost as though Jesus is being rude. When His family shows up, you kind of expect Him to say, “Guys, excuse Me for a minute. I’ve got to go talk to someone important.” But He doesn’t. Is He in fact being rude?

- I don’t think so. I think what He says here instead points in a different direction: the radicalness of the Kingdom that He is inaugurating.

- There is a temptation to treat the Kingdom of God that He is bringing forward as something along the lines of “be nice to each other and go to church on Sundays.” At least that is the popular conception of it with a lot of people. It’s so much bigger than that.

- The Kingdom of God is a radical reimagining of what it means to follow God.

- We start with the incredible and unexpected entrance into the world of no one less than the Son of God. People were hoping for a Messiah, but no one thought it would be the only Son of God.

- As Jesus begins His ministry, one of the reasons that He frustrates basically everyone (Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, Romans, etc) is that He doesn’t fit in anyone’s preconceived categories. His preaching entrances the crowds, but in the end most of them walk away as well. He is constantly defying expectations and frustrating people.

- Why is that? It’s in part because Jesus’ Kingdom is different than anything that existed before that.

- For instance, it turned out His goal wasn’t overthrowing Rome, as most of the Jews wanted their Messiah to do. No, He came to overthrow sin.

- His teaching was with authority. He was able to easily handle the pointed questions of the different parties of His day. But they usually didn’t leave impressed. Instead, they left frustrated that He didn’t agree with them.

- He took the Old Testament Mosaic Law and pushed it much farther. “You have heard it said, but I say to you,” He proclaimed. This was no lowering of standards.

- He spoke in parables, sharing truth in a way that no one had thought of before.

- He claimed to be one with God, raising great objections from the religious leaders of His day.

- In sum, He came with a radical agenda. It upended everything. It pushed people to make commitments or walk away. It made challenging demands on people’s loyalties. We shouldn’t downplay that.

- One way that radicalness shows up is in a redefinition of the family.

- I think it’s easy to miss how wild what Jesus says here is unless we sit with it for a moment. Think about it: Jesus is redefining the family.

- Now, this doesn’t mean that people aren’t going to get married anymore and have kids. We have plenty of Scripture in the rest of the New Testament to know that was still supposed to happen. So Jesus is not saying that we aren't going to have flesh-and-blood families anymore. Indeed, He Himself took care of His earthly mother while He was on the cross.