Theme: Jesus is not sent to the Jews only
Text: Jer. 1:4-5, 17-19; 1 Cor. 12:31-13:13; Lk. 4:22-30
The eagle is a majestic bird that represents the perfect picture of glory and splendour. Many nations use it as a symbol of strength and glory and the symbol of our nation are two eagles, Freedom and Justice. Eagles, however, can be prevented from flying. They can be caged or chained and the evidence of history has them caged and chained by greed, corruption, selfishness and the love of self. Instead of soaring upwards to achieve their full potential, they have remained caged and chained on the ground. This is not only a picture of many nations but also the picture of the lives of many people including believers. Instead of soaring upwards in flight they remain caged and chained to the cares of this world and to the desires of the flesh. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God Came into this sinful world to deal with this situation – to release the captives – to open the cages and remove the chains. He did this by teaching and preaching the good news about the kingdom of God. He demonstrated what the kingdom of God was like by showing real love and compassion for those in need. He healed the leper, opened the eyes of the blind, caused the lame to walk and raised the dead. Jesus not only had compassion for the Jews, He also had compassion for the gentiles. He healed the servant of a Roman centurion. He healed the daughter of a Canaanite woman. He preached the gospel to a Samaritan woman and won many other Samaritans to the kingdom of God. Jesus was concerned about the whole world and His messages were to everyone. He taught the people “that the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world”. He told them “that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Jesus is not sent to the Jews only but to the whole world.
Jesus Christ is God’s salvation to the world. Through Him God’s promise of hope, God’s promise of deliverance, and God’s promise of freedom has come to all people. Christ has brought freedom to those held in bondage to sin. He has brought deliverance from our internal enemy, the flesh, from our external enemy, the world, and from our infernal enemy, the Devil. He has brought deliverance from sexual sins, alcoholism, gambling, drug addiction, and every other sin. Jesus Christ has overcome the darkness around us with the light of His presence and reconciled us to God. He has brought restoration and made it possible for us to fulfil God’s original divine purpose and plan for our lives. He has restored the authority and dominion God gave to mankind.
No one has the ability to fight and deal with the darkness in and around him or her. Just imagine yourself in a place of total darkness. Do you deal with the darkness by fighting it or do you deal with it by letting the light in? Many believers today believe that they can deal with the darkness of the flesh by fighting the desires of the flesh. You can only fight the darkness by letting the light in and we let the light in and the Psalmist declares “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”. Jesus came with the good news that we can let the light in and overcome the darkness. Christ, the perfect teacher, used the Jews to teach the lesson of God’s love and salvation. A teacher can use one pupil in a class to illustrate a point but the lesson is to the whole class. We are told that one remembers only a little of what they hear after a few days, that one would remember more when they write down what they hear and that one would remember a lot more when they act out what they hear and write down. The child used to illustrate a point in class may have an added advantage by acting out the lesson but the lesson is to the whole class. God chose Israel to demonstrate His love but His love is to everyone. Sometimes we think that His love is only to us and we become so accustomed to it that we begin to take it for granted or think that we deserve it. Like the Jews we even become jealous when we see God loving others. According to William Barclay the Jews were so sure that they alone were God’s people that they looked down on everyone else. Jesus, however, preached that God also loved the Gentiles. He used Elijah and Elisha to remind the Jews of God’s love for the Gentiles. The prophet Elijah was not sent to any of the Jewish widows who were starving during the long drought during his time but to a Gentile widow in Sidon, who was willing to share what little she had with him. Miraculously, he provided her with flour and oil until the end of the drought, and raised her son from the dead as well. His successor Elisha healed a Gentile leper named Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army and not one of the many Jewish lepers living at the time. Jesus referred to these events to show the Jews that God’s plan of redemption and mercy is to all people. We, the Church, should avoid making the same mistake the Jews made and not look down on unbelievers. As believers we have not been sent to other believers but to the whole world. Neither have we been sent only to the rich and influential, nor only to those we can benefit from; we have been sent to the poor, the naked, the hungry, the sick, the prisoner, the despised and rejected in the society. The message of Christ is to everyone.
The whole world needs to hear the good news that there is forgiveness for sin. Every person is under God’s condemnation because we have all sinned and a righteous God cannot but judge us. As long as we are under God’s condemnation, there can be no hope for us – unless we are pardoned. The greatest news to a condemned prisoner is the special pardon granted by the King. Because Jesus paid the price for our sins through His death, God pardons every sinner who believes in Jesus Christ as his Saviour and Lord. With God’s forgiveness comes His gift of eternal life. Throughout the ages man has been concerned about living longer. A lot of money and time is being spent in research to prolong life. It is good to live a long life but better still is eternal life, which can only be found in Christ for “everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life.”
Salvation is only possible by accepting Christ as Saviour and Lord. This is the reason why God has called out His people to share His message of salvation with the world. Suppose a person who loves us and whom we love were to give us something precious to give to the poor, what would we do? Would we obey that person or would we keep the treasure for ourselves? If we kept the treasure for ourselves would we be dealing faithfully with the person? Suppose the person found out what we had done, took the treasure back, and gave it to the poor himself. We would, without doubt, be angry with the person and might also resent the poor. But our anger would not be justified. Our anger would simply be the evidence that we do not really love the person who gave us the treasure neither do we love the poor who were to receive it. Love for God and for one another is what marks out the believer from all other people. Love is far more important than all the spiritual gifts exercised in the Church. Faith, acts of dedication or sacrifice and miracle working power produce very little without love. It is love that makes our actions pleasing to God, and this love is available to everyone who believes in Christ. Very often we confuse love and lust. Unlike lust God’s kind of love is directed outward towards others, not inward towards ourselves. This love is not selfish and can only be practiced when God helps us set aside our own inclinations and desires. The more we become like Christ the more love we will show to others. Love shows itself in a thousand different ways. It shows in the way we receive and treat others even in the way we greet each other. It shows in our readiness to forgive, in the way we encourage and seek reconciliation, and above all in the way we share the gospel.
God has given us a great treasure, the gospel, with the clear instruction to share it with others around us. As God’s covenant people we should begin where we are - where we worship and continue wherever we live and work. Like He did with Jeremiah the Lord has set us apart and vested His authority in us, the Church, His believing people on earth. When we obey His commandments and speak His words they are just as effective as if God had spoken them Himself. This is confirmed by the power that accompanies His Word to meet the physical and spiritual needs of people. God wants everyone to enjoy His blessings, His heavenly peace, abundant joy and divine love. He wants us all to exercise the power and authority that He has restored to us to help those in need and He has promised that He will never leave or forsake us.
We can only share the gospel effectively when we acknowledge and appreciate what Christ has done for us. If we really value our salvation and our relationship with Christ we would want to share what we have with others. There is a story of a wealthy man and his only son who loved to collect rare works of art and they would often sit together to admire their collection. When war broke out the son joined the army and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. Some time later, the soldier whose life he had saved presented the father with a portrait he had painted of his son. The father thanked the soldier and offered to pay for the picture which he refused saying that it was a gift and that he could never repay what his son had done for him. The father treasured this portrait and every visitor to his home was shown the portrait of his son before he was shown any of the other great works of art in his collection. When the man died there was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential and rich people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their own collection. On the platform was the painting of the son, painted by someone they did not know. No one was interested in this painting and no bids were made. They had all come for the famous paintings. Finally, the long-time gardener of the man and his son bid what he could afford, which was not much, for the painting. The crowd became excited for now the real auction could begin only to be told that the auction was over. According to the will only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including all the paintings. The man who took the son took every thing. God gave his son 2,000 years ago to die on a cruel cross and whoever takes the Son, by accepting Him as Lord and Saviour, gets everything. God’s blessings are only available to us through His Son. Christ wants us to put Him first and live His life by being concerned about His desires and not only about ourselves. Our actions should always glorify Jesus Christ if He is our Saviour and Lord.
As believers we serve as examples of what the gospel can do to people. What distinguishes us from everyone else is love, love for God and love for His Word. We cannot say we love God and not love His Word. In fact the measure of our love for God can be determined by our love of His Word. We cannot love God more than we love His Word and this attribute of God is the greatest of all human qualities. It is love that makes our lives selfless rather than selfish, always ready to lend a helping hand to our neighbours and friends, both Christian and non-Christian. It is love that speaks a word of comfort or encouragement to those who need it. When we accept Christ as our Saviour and Lord we become identified with Him and His love. As we identify with Christ, we must also show love for those with whom Jesus associated, namely those in need. When we identify with Christ, His concerns become our concern – concern for the needy, the poor, the oppressed, and the captives. The more we love Christ the greater will be our love for others. The more time we spend with Him the more we will sense the glory of His Presence and live for Him. Jesus was sent with the good news to bring light and overcome the darkness in the world. We are living in the age of grace when God will receive everyone who repents and comes back to Him. The age of grace has lasted two thousand years already and billions of people have been accepted into God’s kingdom. According to Bible prophecy, this age of grace will soon come to an end. But as long as there is today, we still have the chance to be accepted into God’s kingdom. It is not enough to only hear the good news, we must respond to it. The good news can only benefit us when we accept Christ as our Saviour and Lord. Is Jesus Christ your Saviour and Lord? Jesus is not sent to the Jews only but to the whole world, to each one of us. Amen!
