Jesus, the Key to Unlocking the Scriptures: Life's Source.

- This week I'm introducing a brief new series called, Jesus, the key to unlocking the Scriptures.

- In this series, we will be unraveling the mystery of how the ancients understood Scripture as prophecy, especially how Jesus, his apostles, & the early church interpreted the Scriptures.

- So we will come to understand a key approach that Jesus took to interpreting the Scriptures & which is found throughout the rest of the New Testament.

- We have just read all of John chapter 5, but we are especially going to focus in on the last few verses of this chapter.

- At the beginning of this chapter John recounts for his readers the story of Jesus healing the lame man at the pool of Bethesda who had no one to help him into the waters every time the water stirred.

- It was not uncommon in those days for the waters of that pool would be stirred up by an Angel, according to tradition, & sometimes people would receive healing if they were to enter the waters as they were being stirred up, but this lame man had no one to help him to get to the stirring waters of the pool.

- And because it was the Sabbath when Jesus told this man to "rise, take up his mat, & walk," then the Jews, presumably the scribes, Pharisees & teachers of the law, took issue with Jesus & a controversy was stirred up once again over the Sabbath & what was or was not appropriate to do on the Sabbath.

- To which Jesus said, "My Father is always working & so am I."

- Then the Jewish leaders take further issue with Jesus' claim to be equal with God by saying that God is his father, so he launches into a discourse explaining why the Scriptures testify to who Jesus is & why the Jewish leaders refuse to believe.

- And he tells them that the witness of God is available to us in two ways: first, if the works of Christ are properly understood at all, then they must be understood as divine works, the activity of God; second, the witness of God is given through the Scriptures which, if properly understood witness to Jesus Christ.

- But these divine witnesses of works & Scripture fail in the eyes of the Jewish leaders, & they fail because in order to accept their witness one must have the life-giving word living within! 

- The same is true today. If people do not have the word living within them by the person of the Holy Spirit, then they refuse to accept the witness of God's activity in the world & they refuse to accept the witness of the Scriptures to the person of Jesus Christ.

- If when we study the Scriptures, we study for purposes other than to discern the actions & character of God & especially how God has revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ, then we study for a lesser purpose than God's purposes in giving the Scriptures.

- As Jesus said to the Jewish leaders, ³⁹ “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! ⁴⁰ Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.

- John is trying to teach his readers that Jesus is the source of life & that Jesus is the key to understanding the Scriptures.

- The Jews earnestly studied the Scriptures because they thought by them they could gain eternal life.

- But the witness of the divine works of Jesus & the witness of Scripture assure John's readers that Jesus is the source of eternal life.

- There is only one key reason to study the Scriptures.

- Study the Scriptures to meet life's source, Jesus!

- Now, how did Jesus, John, & the rest of the New Testament writers arrive at this understanding of the Scriptures?

- Well, to answer that question we need to make a couple of observations.

- The first observation we need to make is that the way Jesus interpreted the Jewish Scriptures to apply to him became so commonly used to interpret & apply the Scriptures that we do it automatically, without thought or awareness, virtually every time we open the Old Testament.

- Any time we read the Old Testament & apply it to our lives in the way Jesus did, then we are using the method that Jesus, his apostles & the early church used to understand the Old Testament.

- The second observation we need to make is that Jesus was not interpreting the Jewish Scriptures literally by applying them to himself as the fulfillment of prophecy & the law.

- For example, in Isaiah 7:14, we have the prophecy of the Virgin, who conceives & bears a son whose name is Immanuel, meaning God is with us.

- That prophecy literally applied to the historical situation in which it was given.

- King Ahaz was given a sign in Immanuel's birth that before the child knew what food he liked & didn't like, Judah would be saved from Syria & Ephraim.

- That mother would name her child Immanuel, meaning God is with us, because of God's deliverance of Judah from her enemies.

- If we are to "Study the Scriptures to meet life's source, Jesus," then the question remains: what method did Jesus use to understand the Scriptures? How did Jesus interpret the Scriptures to apply to him?

- The short answer is typology & that's a confusing theological word with a very simple explanation.

- Typology understands God's character, words, & actions as timeless; their message applies to every era, age, & time.

- Typology is the way through which the Scripture is interpreted to be typical of both the reader & the author.

- In other words, how we experience God is typical of how the ancient authors of Scripture experienced God.

- The ways in which God acted in the past, are typical of the ways God acts today & will act in the future because his character never changes.

- Since God is always holy, always just, always gracious, always loving, always merciful, then God will always act & speak in ways that are typical of the ways he has acted in the past.

- The application of Scripture is therefore timeless & typical to all of human experience.

- God's words, actions, & character foreshadow, figure, & typify our own experience even as they did Christ's.

- Let's go back to Isaiah 7:14 for a moment. If King Ahaz & the people of Judah understood Isaiah's prophecy to literally apply to them as they were delivered from Syria & Ephraim, then how did Jesus & the New Testament authors apply that Scripture to him?

- They understood that Jesus fulfilled that prophecy in a similar manner, in type, or Immanuel as a pre-figure of Christ.

- Get this, just as the first child, Immanuel, was a sign of Israel's salvation from her enemies, so also the second child, Jesus, is the sign of Israel's salvation from her sins.

- That's typology. God will act in the future in the way he has acted in the past.

- While Israel was the agent of God’s mission of redemptive love to the world, their Scriptures applied to them.

- Because Jesus became the agent of God's mission of redemptive love to the world, all the Jewish Scriptures applied to him.

- And now, because the church is the agent of God's mission of redemptive love to the world, all of the Jewish Scriptures apply to us because we are Christ's body.

- Jesus is our type. He typifies us. Israel typifies Jesus and the church. Here again is typology at work!

- I don't know about you, but I used to read John 5:39 or the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, which we will look at in a couple of weeks, & ask myself: which Scriptures does Jesus mean? Which ones? There are so many of them!

- But that's not the point, that's the wrong question.

- The real question is: why should I study the Scriptures; what purpose does it serve to study the Scriptures?

- Study the Scriptures to meet life's source, Jesus!

- Listen again to how John presents the voice of Jesus at the close of this chapter:

³⁹ “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! ⁴⁰ Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.

⁴¹ “Your approval means nothing to me, ⁴² because I know you don’t have God’s love within you. ⁴³ For I have come to you in my Father’s name, & you have rejected me. Yet if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them. ⁴⁴ No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God.

⁴⁵ “Yet it isn’t I who will accuse you before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in whom you put your hopes. ⁴⁶ If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. ⁴⁷ But since you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

- The real tragedy in this passage is that the ones who painstakingly examined the Scriptures never found the clue that would lead them to eternal life.

- The rabbis later taught that the study of the whole law would lead to eternal life, but the authors of the New Testament insist that this life is found in the one who fulfills the law, Jesus.

- The Scriptures themselves are not the point because they are not the source of eternal life; Jesus is!

- Jesus warns them that their accuser is Moses because they don't believe what Moses had to say about him.

- Very likely, Jesus had in mind Deuteronomy 18:15, "The Lord your God will raise up a Prophet from among you, from your brethren– a prophet like me."

- Jesus is like Moses in that he is in constant communion with God, "face to face" as it were, just like Moses.

- According to John's Gospel, the witness of Moses & Jesus are so closely related that to accept the witness of one is to accept the witness of the other. That's typology at work!

- By rejecting the witness of Jesus, the Jewish leaders rejected the witness of Moses, whose witness concerns Jesus.

- When we understand a key method Jesus used & how he understood the Scriptures to apply to him, then we will understand that he meant whole thing, all the Hebrew Scriptures.

- Because God's character is unchanging, then his words & actions are timeless & their message applies throughout all generations.

- Our experience of life with God is not atypical, but typical of how the people of God have experienced him throughout all of history & in the Scriptures.

- Therefore, God's word always applies to us & we must Study the Scriptures to meet life's source, Jesus!

- As John records, ³⁹ “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!"

- Jesus is the key to unlocking the Scriptures. Study the Scriptures to meet life's source, Jesus!

Getting the Kingdom 10, The Talents: "Kingdom Investment"

- As was the custom of that day, it is very likely that Jesus, over the course of his three-year ministry, told & retold his parables in varying detail.

- No one in the ancient world would've expected Jesus to tell his parables exactly the same way every time he told them, & neither would Jesus have expected his disciples to parrot his parables by telling them only through rote memorization.

- While they most certainly did commit his teachings to memory, Jesus would have expected his disciples to understand his parables, which simple memorization does not convey.

- If his disciples were going to teach his parables, then they had to both know & understand.

- Therefore, Jesus modeled this in his teaching through retelling his parables; this explains many of the differences we find between the Gospels in the parables of Jesus recorded for us; such as we find btw. Matt. 25 & Luke 19.

- As we begin our study of Matthew's account of this parable of Jesus, often called the parable of the talents or the parable of the three servants, let's review the basic outline of the parable.

- First, the master gives financial responsibility to these three servants based on their abilities.

- So he gives responsibility based on what he knows they can do not on what they can't do.

- Second, the master expected that each servant would put the money to work for them in some way so that it would grow while he was away.

- The first servant & the second servant were both able to double the money that they had received from their master.

- But the third servant buried the one talent he received in the ground, doing nothing with it.

- Third, upon his return, the master settles his accounts with his slaves.

- The master generously rewards the first two slaves, but the third slave, who buried his master's money out of fear, is condemned.

- Fourth, the master explains his actions in the giving of more to those who have & the taking away from those who do not have, then passes judgment upon the lazy slave.

- The focal point of this parable is upon the time between the first & second coming of Christ & how the responsibility of every believer is to be doing the work our Lord has left for us to do.

- Matthew taught his readers in Jesus' parable of the talents that Christian loyalty to Jesus is displayed by investing all of our life's resources, & abilities for the kingdom so that it will grow & God is pleased.

- When I invest in the heavenly race, God showers upon me ever more grace.

- We've talked about the talent as a unit of measure before & its value depended on whether it was gold, silver, or copper.

- Because of the range of value, we have a range in application.

- Jesus was not referring to spiritual gifts as such; his point was that the Christian needs to invest all of his or her resources, & abilities in God's kingdom.

- If we are going to be ready for the return of Christ, then we need to be faithful in doing the work he has called us to do.

- Being faithful does not require that we attempt to do more than we are capable of doing.

- Jesus knows each one of us intimately & he does not expect us to do what we cannot do, he simply expects us to do what we can do with the resources he has given & the help he has promised in the person of his Holy Spirit.

- Remember: Jesus expects us to do with his help what we can do, not what we cannot do.

- In this parable, Jesus reveals the reason why his servants fail to do what he has called them to do.

- What is it that keeps us from investing in God's kingdom?

- Fear: fear keeps us from investing in the kingdom, but behind our fear is the refusal to take our Master's instructions seriously.

- If we are afraid of investing in the kingdom, then it shows that we do not care about our Master's plans.

- Our Master, Jesus, has entrusted us with the talents, skills, abilities, spiritual gifts, & other resources which he asks us to use for the building up of his kingdom.

- Jesus has not entrusted us with these things to keep them safe or to keep ourselves safe by hiding them, burying our heads in the sand as it were.

- Jesus has called us to do his work, which involves taking risks, facing danger, & even becoming dangerous ourselves.

- David wrote: The LORD is my light & my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? – Psalm 27:1

- Paul wrote to Timothy:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear & timidity, but of power, love, & self-discipline. – 2 Timothy 1:7

- Or, as Paul wrote to the Romans:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?  As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. – Romans 8:35-37 (Have any of us faced death because of our faith?)

- If we are "more than conquerors through him who loved us," then we have nothing to fear, but we are also without excuse.

- If we do nothing with the talents our master has given to us, then we are no more than lazy slaves & prove we do not care about our master's business...BUT...

- When I invest in the heavenly race, God showers upon me ever more grace.

- When fear paralyzes us & we respond by burying our heads in the sand, & our talents, skills, abilities, & spiritual gifts along with our heads, then we need to respond to this warning from Jesus in one way – genuine repentance.

- Authentic repentance is worked out in real life.

- It starts with recognizing & admitting, to both ourselves & to God, that our fear is a cover-up for our lack of faith, a denial of the fact that we don't care about our master's agenda.

- But genuine repentance doesn't stop there; it must continue with us pulling our heads & our talents out of the sand & putting them to work for the kingdom of God.

- Why? Because we recognize that we are who we are & we have what we have, by the grace of God alone.

- Our talents & our resources come to us from God; they are his & so are we, therefore, we owe him everything.

- & it is out of gratitude to God for his work in our lives that we must go to work for him, for his kingdom, & for the world.

- Notice the grace of the master in this parable who gives all the money, plus the income gained to those two servants who obeyed him – such is the grace of God!

- Each time the master said to each of the first two servants in verses 21 & 23,

‘Well done, my good & faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

- When I invest in the heavenly race, God showers upon me ever more grace.

- When we prove ourselves to our Lord in smaller things, then he calls us to bigger things, and not only that, but God celebrates & rejoices in our growth. 

- We serve a wonderful God! If you agree, then say it, Amen!

- When I invest in the heavenly race, God showers upon me ever more grace.

- The reward for good work is the opportunity to do more good work.

- God has given us his resources, & expects us to us steward his resources well.

- When we work faithfully for the advancement of his kingdom, God is pleased & he will reward us accordingly.

- Continued refusal to do these things proves we are not God servants &, therefore, deserve to be condemned.

- Laziness has no place in the kingdom of God.

- When our master returns, he will settle his accounts with us.

- God has called us to use all the resources he has made available to us to advance his kingdom between the times of Christ's first & second coming.

- All that we have & all that we are is a gift from God, these are resources of his kingdom; and out of gratitude to him we must invest wisely in his kingdom.

- Like the first two servants in the parable, we want to hear the voice of our master, saying: ‘Well done, my good & faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

- When I invest in the heavenly race, God showers upon me ever more grace.

Getting the Kingdom 9, The Ten Bridesmaids: "Expect Delays" Matthew 25:1-13

- If you have ever flown in winter, then you know that there are times when because of storms & cold weather that you have to expect delays.

- If you have ever been delayed, then you know that the airport is not your destination. You are trying to get somewhere, somewhere other than the airport.

* - So you do two things: (1) be wise, making the best of it, the best use of your time, energy, & resources; & (2) be ready, prepared for your flight.

- As we study the parable of the ten bridesmaids this morning, being wise & being ready are what we need to take home with us...

- Jesus is coming, no one knows when;

Be wise & be ready, expecting delays until then.

- In this parable, Jesus is being very realistic, referring to common practices & customs in order to make his point.

- Wedding processions went from the home of the bride to the home of the groom at night with singing & dancing.

*- The late hours would have meant that Herodian oil lamps (from the era of Herod the Great) would not have been used because they did not provide enough light.

- Torches would have provided the necessary light & in poor villages these torches would've been as simple as sticks wrapped in oiled rags.

- As you may well guess, such torches would not burn very long.

- But why the delays? Delays occurred because the bride's family would haggle over the value of the wedding gifts, which pointed to the value of the bride & the wisdom of the groom in choosing her. This discussion could take hours.

- So as the bridesmaids waited, they all became tired & fell asleep.

- Notice that Jesus didn't condemn any of the bridesmaids for falling asleep, sleeping was not the issue.

- In a culture that did not have electricity, dependent on oil lamps & torches for evening light, it was uncommon to stay up into the night.

- The issue was the five foolish bridesmaids who did not bring enough oil to keep their torches burning.

- The five foolish bridesmaids were completely selfish by expecting the wise bridesmaids to share their oil, for if they shared their oil, then the possibility of running out & ruining the procession would be greater.

- "The unwillingness of the wise bridesmaids to share their oil reflects their concern for their friend's wedding" (Keener, Matthew, p. 598), nothing else.

- To run out of oil would be to insult the bride & groom.

- No wonder they ran off to try to go buy more oil, which raises the question: what seller of oil would be open in the middle of the night?

- None, it would be very difficult to buy oil at such a late hour.

- The five foolish bridesmaids would have to convince the merchant to get out of bed & open up his/her store which would take time, time, they did not have.

- Because the five foolish bridesmaids did not plan ahead, they brought trouble on themselves (Evans, Matthew, p. 417).

- It was a great honor to be invited to participate in a wedding procession as part of the wedding party.

- It was a also great insult to fail to do your customary duty to keep the torches lit for the procession, "an offense that they would never be allowed to forget" (Keener, Matthew, p. 598).

- They were excluded from the celebrations not because the door was locked, nor because the host didn't recognize them, but because they offended the bride, the groom, & their entire extended family, after having been thought worthy of such an honor (Keener, Matthew, p. 598-599).

- The only suitable punishment for such an insult would be to be shut out of the feast, a celebration that normally lasted seven days.

- Other guests would have been allowed to come & go, but not them.

- Not only would the five foolish bridesmaids miss out on the joyful celebration, but they would be shamed, knowing that their short-sighted thinking & failure to plan ahead was the cause of the offense.

- In the ancient world, the only time you would tell someone, "I don't know you," is when you wished to treat them like a stranger & keep them from approaching you.

- & therein lays the sting of this parable of Jesus.

- We need to remember that this parable Jesus told was not something that really happened.

- It was a story that he told to warn his followers against knowing they should keep watch, yet not watching.

- Jesus is coming, no one knows when;

Be wise & be ready, expecting delays until then.

- When we as Christians fail to do the duties which our Lord has assigned us until he comes, then we exclude ourselves from our place among God's people at the heavenly banquet.

- Failing to do our duty excludes us because we will have insulted our host, who is none other than our Lord & our God.

- If we fail to live the life our Lord calls us to live now, then how can we live that life in eternity?

*- Remember the old saying: when you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.

- Our lifestyles & our priorities for our church life & our individual lives need to be aligned with Christ centered lifestyles & Christ centered priorities.

- When we commit our lives to Jesus Christ, then the Christian way of life begins.

- A life that is specifically Christian is a life that reflects the values & character of Jesus.

- We cannot expect to be perfect in the sense that modern people understand perfect, sinless perfection.

- But we are called to be prepared. We are called to live lives of progress toward the goal of Christ likeness.

*- Remember: Progress not perfection.

- Striving to do our Christian duty of living out the gospel by word & deed shows our Lord that we are keeping watch.

- Let's just take a moment & go back to the image of the airport.

- The church is like an airport; it's not the destination; it's how we catch our flight to God's country.

- In the face of stormy weather (& we'll always face stormy weather this side of eternity) we need to expect delays & we need to remember two things & follow through on them.

*- (1) Be wise, making the best of it, the best use of our time, energy, & resources for God's kingdom;

*- & (2) Be ready, prepared for our flight.

*- Jesus is coming, no one knows when;

Be wise & be ready, expecting delays until then.