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Luke Ministry in a Graceless Culture.pdf · Reformed Thinking

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Imagine stepping into a 1st century synagogue.
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You know, unrolling an ancient scroll and then just stopping
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mid sentence. Right?
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Like you deliberately cut out the part about God's vengeance.
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Oh yeah. And then you tell a crowd of
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oppressed people that their enemies are getting the grace
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they thought belong to them. Yeah, that is a fantastic way to
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get yourself thrown off a Cliff. It really is.
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Yeah. And, well, that is precisely
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what Jesus did. He absolutely did.
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So welcome to Reform Thinking. I am thrilled you are joining us
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for this deep dive. Glad to be here.
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Today we are taking an extensive, rigorous look at the
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Gospel of Luke. We are looking through the lens
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of Derek Tidball's writing, specifically on ministry in a
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graceless culture. It is such a vital topic for
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today. It really is.
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And as we start this deep dive, I want to address you, the
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listener directly. You know first hand that in our
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current cultural climate, grace is treated as a completely
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foreign concept. Oh, 100%.
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Like you do not get grace in the boardroom when you miss a
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quarterly target. No, you definitely do not.
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You do not get grace on social media.
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If you say the wrong thing, you rarely get it in the public
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square. Yeah, the Internet.
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Never forget. Exactly.
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I mean, totally. So this deep dive is designed as
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a resource for anyone wanting to align their modern faith with
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Orthodox Reformed principles. Right, because we need that
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grounding. Yeah.
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Our objective today is to look into how Luke's Gospel presents
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a radical reversal of our human merit systems.
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It establishes Christ's mission directly to the margins of
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society. The scenario you just painted
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regarding that synagogue scene is spot on.
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It perfectly sets the table for what we are doing today, right?
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Because if we view the world through the lens of the
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Westminster Confession, we recognize a doctrine that
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offends modern sensibilities more than almost anything else.
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And what is that? It is the total inability of
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humanity to earn salvation. I mean, our spiritual Ledger is
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not just a few dollars short. No, not at all.
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It is completely bankrupt. We bring absolutely nothing to
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the negotiating table with God. Wow.
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Yeah, nothing at all. So when we look at the Gospel of
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Luke, we see this brilliant illustration of the absolute
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necessity of God's sovereign grace.
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Jesus does not show up to balance our checkbooks.
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Right, he is not an accountant. No, he does not give us a small
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loan to get us back on our feet. He arise in a world obsessed
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with merit, and he introduces A paradigm where the most unworthy
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receive the greatest riches. That is such a reversal.
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It is. He bypasses the self-righteous
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individuals who believe their ledgers are perfectly balanced,
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and he goes straight to the people who know they're utterly
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destitute. OK, so let's unpack this reality
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of what Philip Yancey calls ungrace.
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Yeah, that is a great term. Yancey has this striking
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definition of our culture that Tidball highlights in the text
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he writes. From nursery school onward, we
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are taught how to succeed in the world of UN grace.
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He goes on to say. The early bird catches the worm.
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No pain, no gain. There's no such thing as a free
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lunch. Demand your rights.
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Get what you pay for. We hear those phrases every
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single day. We really do.
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Think about the last time you messed up at work.
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Did you expect your boss to show you unconditional favor?
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Probably not. No, you probably immediately
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started calculating how to cover your tracks.
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A merit based spreadsheet governs almost every human
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interaction today. It really does.
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Think about climbing the corporate ladder.
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You often have to step on others to reach the top rung.
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Yeah, it is brutal out there. And think about the algorithms
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governing what you see online. They reward outrage and
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engagement. They punish anything that does
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not generate A transactional clique.
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Everything is a transaction now. Right.
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Even our casual friendships often devolve into a silent
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tally of who texted who last you know, or who paid for dinner
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last. Oh absolutely, the mental
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scoreboard. Yeah, the scoreboard.
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We're constantly keeping score, terrified of falling high in the
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accounting. We are entirely conditioned to
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keep score from the moment we were born.
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I mean, we get gold stars for good behavior in kindergarten.
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Yeah, the gold stars. And then great for academic
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performance in high school and then credit scores to determine
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our financial worth as adults. It never stops.
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But Luke counters this spreadsheet mentality right in
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his opening chapters. He offers a definitive antidote
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to it. How so?
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Well before Jesus even begins his public ministry, Luke sets
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the stage with the songs of Mary and Zechariah.
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Right, the opening narratives. Yeah, and in these opening
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passages, the note of God's mercy is sounded 5 distinct.
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Five times. Wow.
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Yes, Mary sings about how God has looked with favor on her
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humble state. She sings about how He scatters
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those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
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Which is a direct hit at the religious elite.
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Precisely, she says. He brings down rulers from their
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Thrones, but lifts up the humble.
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And then Zechariah prophecies about the tender mercy of our
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God. Right by which the rising sun
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will come to us from heaven. Yes, exactly that.
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These are not songs celebrating human achievement.
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They are declarations of A sovereign intervention.
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It is totally one sided. The theological weight here is
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massive. God is acting independently of
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human worthiness. He is not looking for the person
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with the best resume. Obviously not.
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No, he chooses A peasant girl and an elderly priest to
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inaugurate his Kingdom. Here's where it gets really
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interesting to me. When we try to define who God is
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based on our cultural assumptions, we often project
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our own strict meritocracy onto Him.
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We do that all the time. Like we think of a cosmic boss
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who is just waiting to fire us for a minor infraction, we think
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of a deity who demands we hit our quotas before he will even
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look at us. Right, the ultimate micromanager
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in the sky. Yeah, but the closest thing to a
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direct definition of God in this gospel comes during the sermon
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on the plane, specifically in Luke 6.3536.
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Thought that is a fantastic passage.
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Jesus tells his listeners to love their enemies, and he gives
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there's a staggering reason for doing so.
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He says that if you do this, you will be children of the Most
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High. And then he gives a reason why.
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Right, he says, because he is kind to the ungrateful and the
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wicked. He says be merciful just as your
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Father is merciful. That phrase is just mind
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blowing. It is kind to the ungrateful and
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the wicked that completely shatters the cosmic boss
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analogy. It ruins the spreadsheet.
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It shatters it entirely, and it connects directly to the bedrock
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of Reformed theology. How so?
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Well, God's grace is never a response to human goodness.
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If God were only kind to the grateful and the righteous, then
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grace would cease to be grace. It would just be a paycheck.
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Right. It would simply be a wage paid
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for services rendered. But because God is kind to the
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ungrateful and the wicked, we see that His mercy is an
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independent, sovereign act. He does it because of who he is,
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not who we are. Yes, He chooses to show favor to
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those who are fundamentally undeserving.
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When Jesus commands his followers to be merciful just as
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their Father is merciful, He is telling them to abandon the
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merit based spreadsheet completely.
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Just throw the whole thing out. Totally throw it out.
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They are to operate out of the overflow of the unmerited favor
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they have received, and they have to dispense it to people
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who have done absolutely nothing to earn it.
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That is so hard to do. It is, but the entire ethical
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system of the Christian life is built on this radical,
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unilateral kindness, a kindness that originates solely in God's
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character, not our behavior. So what does this all mean for
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the people Jesus chooses to carry out this mission?
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This brings us to the specific vocabulary Luke uses for the
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disciples. The terminology is so specific
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in Luke. It really is.
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It is fascinating to look at the numbers.
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While other gospels use the term apostle incredibly sparingly,
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Luke uses it all the time. Yeah, Matthew, Mark and John
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each only use it one single time in their entire accounts.
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Right, but Luke uses it six times in the Gospel and many
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more times throughout the book of Acts.
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He is clearly highlighting a specific identity.
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He definitely. Is he calls them prophets?
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Yes. But his preferred term is
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apostles. They are sent ones, they're
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deployed into this world of ungrace and they're given a very
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specific mandate. The background of that word
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apostolose, carries a massive amount of historical and
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cultural weight. Unpack that a bit for us.
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Well, in the ancient world, an Apostolose was a fully
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authorized representative. Think of an Imperial messenger
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or an ambassador. Someone carrying the King's
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seal. Right.
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They carry the full backing and authority of the Roman Emperor
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or whoever sent them. When they spoke, it was as if
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the sender himself was speaking. So it wasn't about their own
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personal clout. Not at all.
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They possessed no inherent authority of their own.
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Their entire validity came from the one who commissioned them.
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That's just the perspective quite a bit.
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It does so when Luke focuses heavily on this term.
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He is showing that these individuals do not act on their
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own merit. They are not spiritual
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entrepreneurs building their own brands.
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They aren't trying to get followers on social media.
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Right. Exactly.
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They are authorized agents, acting strictly on the directive
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of Christ, distributing His grace and His message.
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Their job is to just deliver the mail.
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Pretty much their job is not to invent a new philosophy, but to
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accurately deliver the terms of the King's mercy.
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I understand the gravity of that term for the 12, but Luke throws
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us a curveball. We always think of the 12
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Apostles as this exclusive elite squad.
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The inner circle. Yeah, but later on in Luke
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chapter 10, we read about the commissioning of the 72.
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Jesus sends them out two by two ahead of him to every town and
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place he was about to go. It is a massive deployment.
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It is so I have to push back on the exclusivity of this whole
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operation. If the 12 had a special
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authoritative role, why Commission 72 others with
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identical mission parameters? It is a fair question.
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I mean, they are told to heal the sick and declare that the
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Kingdom of God has come near. They are doing the very same
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things that 12 we're doing. Doesn't sending out a small army
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of random followers sort of dilute the special authority of
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the apostles? It does not dilute it at all,
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rather it demonstrates the expansive nature of the Kingdom.
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How does that work? Well, this is a beautiful
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synthesis of how grace operates in Luke's account.
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The call to Minister Grace in a graceless world is not limited
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to an elite few. It is not AVIP club.
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No, it is not restricted to an inner circle of spiritual
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giants. While the 12 certainly had a
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specific, irreplaceable role in witnessing to the resurrection,
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establishing the early church, and acting as the foundation of
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the new Israel. They had a unique historical
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function. Yes, but the function of mission
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is broadly distributed. Both groups, the 12 and the 72,
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are tasked with bringing peace, forgiveness, deliverance and
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healing. They are all carrying the same
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message. They are meant to channel the
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good news that the Kingdom of God has drawn near.
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They act as vessels of unconditional grace.
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So it's an all hands on deck simulation.
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Exactly this widespread deployment shows that the
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mission of God requires a multitude of everyday believers
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to carry this radical mercy. They carry it into every town,
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every home and every interaction.
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The grace is just too big for 12 guys to carry.
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The grace of God is way too large to be contained by just 12
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men. That makes perfect sense, and we
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get the absolute clearest picture of what that widespread
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mission entails when we look at what is often called the
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Nazareth Manifesto. Luke chapter 4.
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Yes, we are. In Luke chapter 4, Jesus returns
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to his hometown, goes into the synagogue on the Sabbath, and
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stands U to read. He is handed the scroll of the
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prophet Isaiah. This is such a dramatic scene.
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It really is, and he finds the place where it is written.
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The spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to
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proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim
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freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,
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to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's
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favor. A beautiful passage from Isaiah
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61. Right, he is reading from the
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Septuagint version of Isaiah 61, but he makes a fascinating
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editorial choice here. He really edits it on the fly.
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He does. He includes release and freedom,
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but he intentionally omits the phrase the day of vengeance of
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our God, which is right there in the original Isaiah text.
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He just skips it. He.
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Literally stops reading mid sentence, rolls up the scroll,
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hands it back to the attendant, sits down and says today this
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scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.
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We really need to pause and unpack the theological weight of
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that omission, because it is staggering.
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It's a huge deal. The people in that synagogue
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were living under brutal Roman occupation.
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They were desperate for the day of vengeance.
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They wanted heads to roll. They wanted a militant Messiah
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to arrive. Judge the Gentiles, crush their
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oppressors and restore Israel's geopolitical dominance.
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So they were waiting for that specific law.
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Yes, and by stopping the reading right before the mention of
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vengeance, Jesus completely redefines their messianic
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expectations. He popped their balloon.
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He really does. His primary earthly mission was
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liberation and wholeness, not immediate condemnation.
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He is declaring a season of unprecedented grace.
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But the judgement still comes later, right?
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Oh, absolutely. The judgement will eventually
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come. Reformed theology holds firmly
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to the future final judgement. But his first advent is marked
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by seeking out the broken, the captive and the poor.
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So he is hitting the pause button, the vengeance part.
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Yes, he is delaying the vengeance to expand the window
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of Mercy. That brings up a massive point
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of clarification. When Jesus says he has come to
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proclaim good news to the poor, who is he talking?
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About that is a critical question.
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Because today we almost exclusively use that word as an
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economic term. We think of someone living below
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the poverty line struggling to pay rent.
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Right, a financial status. But in the 1st century context,
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and specifically in Luke's Gospel, it seems to mean
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something much broader than just a bank account balance.
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It feels like a much larger category of marginalized people.
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It is a much wider category. Indeed, Luke provides 7 specific
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lists throughout his gospel that essentially define who these
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poor people are. What are the lists?
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Well, his lists include the blind, the oppressed, the
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hungry, the lame, the lepers, the deaf and the disabled.
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Wow. So it is a lot of physical
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ailments. It is.
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This is the cast of the Great Unwanted.
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In that culture, physical ailments like blindness or
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leprosy were often viewed as divine curses.
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Like God was punishing them. Yes, exactly right.
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If you were lame, the assumption was that you or your parents had
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sinned, therefore you were shunned by society and excluded
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from the religious community. So they were poor in social
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capital, not just money. Precisely.
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Yeah. On top of that, Luke frequently
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mentions sinners. This included tax collectors,
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people in despised trades and the socially outcast.
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The people nobody wanted to be seen with.
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Right. The religious elite considered
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these individuals to be totally out of fellowship with God.
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Now, in a reformed context, we have to look at this physical
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and social bankruptcy as a mirror for our own spiritual
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bankruptcy before God. Oh, I see where you're going
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with us. Just as a paralyzed man cannot
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walk himself into the temple, we cannot walk ourselves into a
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right standing with a holy God. We are totally stuck.
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We are. We are the poor, We are the
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blind. We are the captive.
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And Jesus drives that point home in a way that absolutely
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infuriates the people in his hometown synagogue.
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He really pokes the bear. He does right after he reads the
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scroll, he starts giving historical examples of God's
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grace from the Old Testament, but he does not pick examples of
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faithful Israelites. You know he picks the outsiders.
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Right, he brings up the widow of Zarephath, whom Elijah was sent
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to during a severe famine, even though there were many starving
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widows in Israel. A Gentile widow.
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Yeah, and he brings up Naman the Syrian, the commander of an
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enemy army, who was healed of leprosy by Elisha, even though
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there were many lepers in Israel.
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The commander of the enemy army. It is crazy.
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By citing Gentiles receiving grace over Israelites, Jesus
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signals A radical boundary breaking mercy.
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He is telling them that their biological heritage and their
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religious rule following do not entitle them to God's favor.
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And they did not like that one bit.
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No, that inclusivity marker incited immediate hostility.
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The crowd literally drove him out of town and tried to throw
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him off a Cliff it. Escalated so quickly.
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It is like going to a fierce political rally and taking the
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microphone to praise the opposing party.
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They wanted his blood. It is a violent reaction because
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grace is highly offensive to people who think they have
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earned their status. Oh totally.
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When you tell someone who has spent their entire life trying
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to balance their moral Ledger that God is freely giving his
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favor to their enemies, the natural human reaction is pure
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outrage. They feel cheated.
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They do, which transitions perfectly into how Jesus views
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his own role regarding human brokenness.
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In Luke chapter 5, we find Jesus at a great banquet hosted by
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Levi. Levi the tax collector.
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Yes, and the Pharisees and the teachers of the law are
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disgusted. They complain to his disciples,
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asking why Jesus eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners.
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And Jesus hears them. He does, and he answers them
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with a brilliant analogy. He says it is not the healthy
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who need a doctor, but the sick. I have come not to call the
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righteous, but sinners to repentance.
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I want to stop and look at that doctor analogy because it cuts
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right through the religious posturing.
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It is a fantastic image. If you are a physician, you do
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not spend your time hanging out in the waiting room with the
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people who just came in for a routine checkup and are
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perfectly fine. No, you would be wasting your
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time. You go to the emergency room,
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you go to the trauma ward, you go where the blood is.
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Right where the need is critical.
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A doctor in the ER is not offended by the sight of
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sickness. It is the entire reason they are
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there. But the Pharisees treated
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religion like a pristine Country Club where only the healthy and
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wealthy were allowed inside. They wanted to keep the carpets
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clean. Yeah, they acted like bouncers,
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keeping the riff raff out. Jesus treats his ministry like a
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triage center. To fully grasp the weight of
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this triage mentality, we have to look at the Old Testament
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background, specifically Ezekiel 34.
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OK, what happens in Ezekiel 34? In that passage, God delivers a
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scathing indictment against the leaders of Israel.
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He calls them false shepherds who have fed themselves rather
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than taking care of the flock. They were just looking out for
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#1. Yes, they have not strengthened
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the weak, healed the sick, or bound up the injured.
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In fact, they were predatory. Wow, predatory shepherds.
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So God promises to overthrow these false shepherds and
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personally step in to bind up the injured and seek the lost.
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Oh, I see the connection now. When Jesus uses this doctor
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analogy, the Pharisees know their scriptures well enough to
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hear the distinct echo of Ezekiel 34.
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So he is calling them out directly, yes.
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Jesus is effectively indicting them as the failed predatory
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shepherds of Israel, while simultaneously claiming the
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divine authority to step in and fix the problem himself.
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That is a massive claim. He is looking right at them and
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saying you are the ones Ezekiel warned about.
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You slaughter the weak to feed your own egos.
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So I am taking over the flock. That is intense.
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Let's investigate how this healing actually functions.
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In Luke's framework, we see Jesus healing people physically,
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clearing up skin diseases, making paralyzed people walk,
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restoring sight, the physical miracles.
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Are undeniable, but how does that.
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Physical healing relate to the spiritual forgiveness of sins
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because Jesus often links the two together, he does very.
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Frequently, he will tell a paralyzed.
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Man that his sins are forgiven and then tell him to pick up his
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mat and walk. It can be a bit confusing for
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modern readers to understand the mechanism connecting a physical
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cure to a spiritual pardon in the world of Loop's.
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Gospel, You have to understand the nature of barriers, OK?
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Explain that well, forgiveness. Is what removes the barrier of
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sin that actively excludes a person from God's community.
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Sickness, on the other hand, created a physical or social
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barrier like the ritual. Uncleanness we talked about
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earlier. Exactly.
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The ritual uncleanness associated with leprosy or a
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hemorrhage kept a person isolated from their community
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and banned from temple worship, so they were cut off.
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Socially and religiously, yes. When Jesus heals someone, he is
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not just fixing their cellular biology.
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He is removing the barrier that kept them isolated from human
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fellowship. He is bringing them back.
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Into the fold and when he forgives.
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Someone, he removes the barrier between them and a holy God.
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The word release in Luke's Gospel signifies total
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wholeness. It covers everything.
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It is a comprehensive. Restoration of the person
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physically, socially, and spiritually.
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God cares about the entire person, not just the disembodied
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soul. That total?
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Restoration is captured perfectly in Luke 19.10 where
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Jesus states his mission incredibly clearly.
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He says for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
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A classic verse. I was reading that verse.
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And I made a striking observation about the word lost.
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Jesus attaches absolutely no blame to being lost in the
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specific statement. Yeah, that's an interesting
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point. When we think of being.
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Lost today We often think of someone who stubbornly refused
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to ask for directions. You know, we're someone who
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arrogantly ignored the map. We blame the person who.
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Is lost, right? We assign.
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Fault. But just as a traveler might be
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misdirected by bad information, or a thick fog rolls in and
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completely obscures the path, many people in this world are
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helplessly lost. They are victims of.
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Their environment, yeah, they are trapped in.
21:34
Systems of ungraced, blinded by their circumstances, and
21:38
entirely unable to find their way home.
21:40
That is a highly. Accurate way to view the healing
21:43
condition and it brings us to a crucial theological point.
21:46
What is that? This initiative of God to seek
21:49
out the lost perfectly illustrates the Reformed
21:51
doctrine of unconditional election.
21:53
OK, lay that. Out for us?
21:55
Think about a sheep. That has wandered off into a
21:57
ravine. The sheep does not find the
21:59
shepherd right? It just bleeds.
22:00
And waits exactly. The shepherd actively searches
22:04
for, finds, and rescues the sheep.
22:07
God acts first to save those who are entirely unable to save
22:10
themselves. The sheep doesn't bring.
22:13
Anything to the rescue the lost person.
22:15
Contributes nothing to their own rescue other than the fact that
22:18
they are lost. If election were conditional,
22:20
God would look down the corridors of time, see who is
22:23
going to make a smart choice, and then pick them, which would
22:26
just be rewarding. Human intelligence, right?
22:28
It just puts the. Spreadsheet right back in our
22:30
hands. It makes grace a reward for
22:33
making a smart choice, and that goes against the.
22:35
Whole concept of ungrace exactly.
22:37
Unconditional election means God's choice is entirely
22:41
independent of anything in you. No foreseen faith, no good
22:45
works, no potential. He rescues the sheep simply
22:48
because it is His sovereign. Every nature to rescue.
22:50
Let's see what that. Sovereign intervention looks
22:53
like in real time by looking at a few specific scenes, we are
22:56
going to examine some miracles of compassion and action.
22:59
And I want to spend a good amount of time here because the
23:02
details are staggering. There is so much.
23:04
Detail on these accounts the first one.
23:06
Is the widow of name. In Luke Chapter 7, Jesus
23:10
approaches the town gate just as a dead person is being carried
23:13
out. It is the only son of his mother
23:16
and she is a widow. A heartbreaking.
23:18
Scene now obviously conquering. Death is a massive display of
23:22
divine authority, but Luke's focus seems to be just as much
23:26
on the grieving mother. Oh, without a.
23:28
Doubt her son's death. Was not just an emotional
23:31
tragedy, it was an economic catastrophe.
23:34
In that society, a woman without a husband or a son had zero
23:38
safety net. She had, absolutely.
23:40
Nothing to fall back on, right? Losing her.
23:42
Only son meant she was losing her sole means of financial and
23:46
social support. She was facing absolute
23:48
destitution, likely begging on the streets.
23:50
She was at the end of the. Line and the text says.
23:53
Jesus saw her and his heart went out to her.
23:55
He touches the beer, tells the young man to get up and gives
23:58
him back to his mother. That phrase.
24:00
His heart went out to her is crucial, it shows.
24:03
Emotion, it shows, was that his miracles.
24:05
Were not just cold, calculated demonstrations of supernatural
24:08
might designed to prove a theological point.
24:10
He wasn't just showing. Off No they.
24:13
Were deeply moved, visceral responses to human suffering.
24:17
He saw a woman standing on the precipice of total ruin, a woman
24:22
who represented the absolute bottom of the social hierarchy,
24:25
and he intervened. He saved her whole.
24:27
Life, not just the boy's life, he restored.
24:30
Not just the boy's life, but the mother's future, her security,
24:34
and her place in the community. It is a tangible demonstration
24:38
of God's kindness to the destitute.
24:39
And he didn't even ask. For a statement of faith, first,
24:42
he did not. He simply acted out of profound
24:45
sorry, out of massive, overwhelming mercy.
24:48
Another intense. Scene happens in Luke chapter
24:50
14. Jesus is at the House of a
24:53
prominent Pharisee on the Sabbath for a meal.
24:55
The Sabbath meals. Were always tense, yeah, and
24:57
right there in front of. Him is a man suffering from
24:59
dropsy a terrible condition. From a medical standpoint.
25:02
Dropsy or severe edema is a terrifying condition.
25:06
The body becomes bloated with fluids, swelling up painfully
25:09
while the person suffers from perpetual insatiable thirst.
25:12
I have read that. Ancient writers used to say it
25:14
was like having a fire inside you that you could never quench.
25:17
That sounds horrific. Furthermore, in that culture,
25:21
dropsy was often viewed as a specific punishment from God for
25:25
greed or immorality, so he carried a.
25:28
Massive social stigma as well. The man was considered.
25:31
Cursed and physically unclean. So you have to ask a theoretical
25:36
scenario. How did this ritually unclean,
25:39
physically repulsive man end up at an exclusive dinner party
25:43
hosted by a strict Pharisee? That is the million.
25:46
Dollar question Was this a trap? Set by the Pharisee to see if
25:49
Jesus would break the Sabbath rules to heal him, it is highly.
25:52
Probable that it was a trap. They used him as bait.
25:55
The Pharisees. Meticulously curated their guest
25:57
lists to maximize their social and religious standing.
26:01
Having a man with dropsy in the dining room would have ruined
26:03
the Pharisees religious reputation.
26:05
He's the absolute. Antithesis of their purity
26:07
culture? Exactly.
26:08
They likely brought this suffering man in as bait.
26:11
If it was a setup, Jesus walks right into it without a second
26:14
thought. It doesn't even hesitate.
26:15
He takes hold of. The man heals him and sends him
26:18
on his way. He completely bypasses the
26:21
religious trap because he prioritized human wholeness over
26:25
the legalistic optics of the elite.
26:27
He cared about the man. More than the rules, he proves
26:29
that the. Sabbath is a day for bringing
26:31
life and restoration. It is not a day for withholding
26:35
grace to maintain a pristine religious image that must have
26:38
made the. Pharisees furious.
26:39
Oh, he exposes. The cruelty of a religious
26:42
system that would use a dying man as a pawn in a theological
26:46
debate. We see that.
26:47
Same prioritization of the marginalized in the story.
26:50
Glory of the 10 lepers in Luke chapter 17.
26:52
Another great. Example Jesus is traveling.
26:54
Along the border between Samaria and Galilee, this location is
26:58
significant. These lepers are living in the
27:00
Borderlands, completely cast out from society.
27:03
They literally lived on. The fringes they cry out to.
27:06
Jesus from a distance, asking for pity.
27:09
Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the priests, and
27:11
as they go they are cleansed, all 10 of them.
27:14
But only one of them. Turns back praising God in a
27:16
loud voice and throws himself at Jesus feet.
27:19
And Luke make sure to note he was a Samaritan.
27:21
That detail. About him being a Samaritan
27:23
highlights the contrast between physical relief and full saving
27:28
faith. Unpack that difference.
27:29
For us, well all. 10 men received the physical healing.
27:33
They all had their skin restored.
27:34
They were all able to return to their families and their normal
27:37
lives. They got what they wanted.
27:38
But the 9:00? Jewish lepers just took the
27:41
physical blessing and kept walking.
27:43
Only the Samaritan, the absolute outsider, the person considered
27:46
a racial and religious enemy by the Jewish people, returned the
27:49
source of the grace, the one guy who's doubly.
27:52
Cursed basically, right? Jesus says to him.
27:54
Rise and go, your faith has made you well.
27:57
Now. The original language indicates
27:59
a much deeper salvation than just physical healing the Greek
28:02
word implies. More Yes, the Greek word used.
28:05
There implies holistic salvation.
28:07
The outsider receives the full grace of God, proving once again
28:11
that mercy is not bound by national or religious borders.
28:14
The 9 insiders just bolted. The insiders took the.
28:17
Gift and ran. The outsider fell at the feet of
28:20
the giver. That brings us to.
28:22
What many consider the climax of Jesus galilean ministry the
28:26
story of zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19 zacchaeus such.
28:31
A familiar story, but so deep. Zacchaeus is a chief tax.
28:34
Collector in Jericho Jericho was a wealthy toll city booming with
28:38
the Balsam trade. Lots of money flowing through
28:40
there. Zacchaeus is incredibly.
28:42
Wealthy, but he is socially repulsive.
28:45
He works to the Romans, extorting his own people, lining
28:48
his own pockets. He is a traitor to his.
28:50
Nation, He's not just a bureaucrat.
28:52
He's an extortionist backed by Roman swords.
28:55
The crowd despises him. They absolutely hate him.
28:58
He's too short to see over the. Crowd.
29:00
So he climbs a Sycamore fig tree just to get a glimpse of Jesus.
29:03
Think about the indignity of a wealthy, powerful man climbing a
29:06
tree in a Middle Eastern honor. Shane Culture, A grown man in a
29:10
robe. Climbing a tree.
29:11
It is absurd. He's making a fool of himself
29:13
and. Jesus stops, looks up and says,
29:15
Zacchaeus, come down immediately.
29:16
I'm going to stay at your house today.
29:18
The audacity of. Jesus to say that, the crowd
29:21
mutters in. Disgust saying Jesus has gone to
29:24
be the guest of a Sinner because in that culture, eating with
29:29
someone is a public endorsement of their life.
29:31
The reaction of Zacchaeus. Is what we need to focus on here
29:34
because it demonstrates the tangible fruit of true
29:37
evangelical repentance. It is not just words.
29:41
No, Zacchaeus does not. Just say a quick prayer and go
29:44
back to his corrupt business. He stands up and declares that
29:47
he will give half of his possessions to the poor and if
29:49
he has cheated anybody out of anything, he will pay back four
29:53
times the amount. Four times the amount that is.
29:55
Huge. It vastly exceeds the.
29:57
Requirement of the Levitical law.
29:58
What did the law actually? Require the law stated in.
30:01
Numbers chapter 5 that if you extorted someone and voluntarily
30:05
confessed, you only had to return the stolen item plus 1/5
30:08
of its value, so 120%. Right, but Zacchaeus?
30:12
Restores it fourfold, 400%. Why fourfold that?
30:15
Matches the severe. Penalty and Exodus for stealing
30:18
a sheep and slaughtering it. Zacchaeus is treating his white
30:21
collar crime with the severity of violent livestock wrestling.
30:24
He is basically admitting. He was a predator.
30:27
Yes, this. Massive financial restitution is
30:30
the visible fruit of an invisible grace.
30:33
It shows a complete shift in his value system.
30:36
His Ledger has been completely. Rewritten, and Jesus pronounces
30:39
him. A son of Abraham, proving that
30:41
true inclusion in God's family is based on grace and faith.
30:45
It is not based on biological heritage or past moral
30:48
performance. It is amazing how much of.
30:51
This radical teaching happens around a table.
30:54
Fred Craddick has this brilliant observation where he says
30:57
nothing can be for Luke more serious than a dining table.
31:00
The table as a classroom. It really is, we see.
31:03
This explicitly in Luke chapter 14 when Jesus starts issuing
31:07
commands at the Pharisees dinner.
31:09
Another awkward dinner party. Extremely awkward.
31:12
He watches the guests jockeying for the places of honor, trying
31:15
to boost their own status. He tells them to abandon status
31:18
seeking. Just drop the whole game, he
31:19
says. That when they host a.
31:21
Banquet they should not invite their rich neighbors or their
31:24
influential friends who can repay the favor, which is the
31:26
whole point of a. Banquet in that culture, right
31:29
instead. They must invite the poor, the
31:32
crippled, the lame, and the blind.
31:34
That command would have sounded. Completely insane to his
31:37
audience, just totally backwards.
31:39
To understand the shock. Value.
31:40
We can draw a sharp contrast with the Dead Sea Scrolls,
31:43
specifically the rules governing the Qumran community.
31:47
Who were they this? Was a strict.
31:49
Monastic sect of Judaism living out in the desert.
31:53
They were obsessed with ritual purity.
31:55
Like extreme separatists. Yes.
31:58
Their. Manual of Discipline explicitly
32:00
banned the paralyzed, the blind, the deaf, and the aged from
32:04
entering the Assembly of God. They banned the elderly.
32:07
Yes, anyone they viewed. As defective they built literal
32:10
walls out in the desert to keep the broken out, convinced they
32:13
were spiritually contaminated. Wow, that is intense.
32:16
Jesus takes the exact. List of people the religious
32:19
purists legally banished and he actively invites them to the
32:23
head table. He flips the whole script on
32:24
them. He is demonstrating that God.
32:26
'S Kingdom does not not operate by isolating the pure from the
32:29
impure. It operates by God's holy grace,
32:32
invading and curing the impure. I want to look at how that.
32:36
Grace addresses different types of brokenness.
32:39
The Theo James John Stott makes a fascinating comparison between
32:43
two of Jesus's most famous parables, the Good Samaritan and
32:48
the Prodigal Son. 2 Masterful parables.
32:50
I get the Good Samaritan. It is easy to feel sorry for a
32:53
guy bleeding in a ditch. He's an innocent victim, sure
32:57
anyone would pity him. But the Rodigal son.
33:00
That kid is an entitled brat. He basically told his dad to
33:03
drop dead so he could get his cash and he ruined his own life.
33:07
He brought it all on himself. It is a lot harder to swallow.
33:09
Grace for an instigator. How did these two parables work
33:12
together to show the full scope of God's compassion Start's
33:16
comparison is. Incredibly helpful for
33:18
understanding the dual nature of our condition and it answers
33:21
your hesitation perfectly. OK, lay it out in the.
33:24
Parable of the Good. Samaritan, You have a man who is
33:26
beaten by robbers and left half dead in a ditch.
33:29
He is a helpless victim of social sin.
33:31
He has been assaulted and. The resistance to grace comes
33:34
from the religious insiders, the priest and the Levite, who walk
33:37
right past him to maintain their own ritual purity.
33:40
They don't want to get dirty. The.
33:42
Samaritan the outsider. Is the one who dispenses grace
33:45
and binds up the battered victim so that handles.
33:48
The victim's side of things. Now switch to the Prodigal.
33:51
Son, here you do not have a helpless victim.
33:54
You have a rebellious instigator.
33:56
He caused the mess. The.
33:57
Younger son demands. His inheritance early and
34:00
squanders it on wild living. He's a victim of his own
34:04
personal sin. Yet when he repents and returns,
34:08
the father runs to meet him with overwhelming grace.
34:11
The Father doesn't even make him finish his.
34:13
Apology speech right in the story.
34:15
The resistance to grace comes from the self-righteous older
34:18
brother who is furious that his pristine Ledger is being ignored
34:22
in favor of mercy for a rebel the older brother wants.
34:26
Justice, not grace, exactly. Between these two parables, we
34:30
see that God's grace covers both the battered victim in the ditch
34:33
and the rebellious Sinner in the pigpen.
34:35
It covers the whole spectrum because.
34:36
The reality of Reformed. Theology is that we are all the
34:39
instigator. We have all demanded our
34:41
inheritance and run from the Father.
34:43
Grace must cover the rebel or none of us have hope if Jesus's
34:46
model was. Bringing the untouchables to the
34:48
head of the table and running to embrace rebels.
34:51
Why does stepping into a modern church often feel like stepping
34:55
into a Country Club? That is the painful.
34:57
Reality check when you lay Luke's.
35:00
Model Next to the contemporary church, there is a glaring
35:03
disconnect. It seems like modern ministry
35:05
often completely misses the mark.
35:07
We have drifted a long. Way instead of being a triage.
35:10
Center for the Broken Ministry today frequently focuses
35:14
entirely on the insiders. Pastors end up functioning as
35:18
chaplains to religious clubs, spending all their time managing
35:21
the preferences of the people who are already in the building.
35:23
It is a devastating. Critique, but it is highly
35:25
accurate. We have created a consumer
35:27
church model. What does that mean exactly?
35:30
I mean precisely William Willimon writes about this.
35:32
Extensively, he states, our culture tends to be a vast
35:35
supermarket of desire. I believe this is one reason
35:38
many pastors are so fatigued attempting to service the needs
35:42
of essentially selfish, self-centered consumers.
35:45
A supermarket of. Desire.
35:46
That is a stinging phrase when the church models itself.
35:50
After a corporation, the people in the pews become customers and
35:54
the customer is always right. So the pastor just becomes a.
35:57
Customer service Rep The pastor's job.
36:00
Becomes keeping the customers happy, providing entertaining
36:03
programs, and ensuring the music style meets everyone's
36:06
preferences. It is an exhausting, unbiblical
36:10
treadmill that produces spiritual apathy.
36:12
It reminds me of the biting. Mockery from the author Flannery
36:15
O'Connor. She had a way with words.
36:17
She described A clergyman she. Knew as one part minister and
36:21
three parts masseuse. Ouch.
36:24
That stings. That stings, but it.
36:26
Forces a hard look in the mirror.
36:28
You have to ask yourself if your local church functions as a
36:30
spiritual spa for the comfortable, A place where you
36:33
go to get your ego massaged and your bias is confirmed rather
36:36
than a rescue mission. Right, rather than a rescue
36:38
mission for the. Desperate.
36:40
Are we rubbing the shoulders of the elite while the bleeding
36:42
traveler is ignored in the ditch right outside the doors?
36:44
That is the exact. Tension we must face, and it
36:48
brings up the balance between social action and the gospel.
36:51
How do we balance that? When we see the social.
36:53
Implications of Luke's gospel like Mary's song essentially
36:58
sowing the theological seeds that would help end Roman
37:01
slavery there is a temptation to swing the pendulum entirely to
37:05
the other side, like just focusing on.
37:07
Activism. Yes, there is a real danger.
37:09
Of focusing solely on social structures, we can easily
37:13
substitute political rhetoric and activism for actual boots on
37:17
the ground gospel ministry. We can spend all our time
37:21
lobbying for policy changes while completely ignoring the
37:24
spiritual bankruptcy of our neighbors.
37:26
Right, because you can fix a person.
37:28
'S economic situation without ever addressing their soul You
37:31
can give them money, but. They are still lost.
37:33
You can put a roof over their head.
37:35
And food in their stomach, which are absolutely vital things to
37:38
do. Let's be clear about that.
37:39
But if that is where the mission stops, we have missed the core
37:42
issue entirely. We really have.
37:44
We're just. Making people more.
37:46
Comfortable on their way to eternal separation from God,
37:48
precisely the. Core issue is always sin.
37:52
We must not spiritualize away physical problems.
37:55
Pretending that hungry people only need a Bible tract can eat
37:58
a tract, no. You cannot but.
38:00
Simultaneously, we cannot reduce Christian ministry to mere
38:03
social work or psychological therapy.
38:06
We aren't just social workers. Tim Yates addresses this.
38:08
Brilliantly, he explains that unless we cooperate with God in
38:12
bringing people to evangelical repentance, our actions fall
38:16
short of authentic Christianity. That is a tough pill for.
38:19
Some to swallow a change of circumstances.
38:21
Is not a change of heart the ultimate Well, at the end of the
38:25
day, the solution requires addressing humanity's
38:28
fundamental alienation from God root issue.
38:31
We are not just. Physically.
38:32
Sick or socially marginalized, we are spiritually dead in our
38:36
crespasses. True ministry must connect
38:38
people to their Maker and Redeemer because only God can
38:42
offer the forgiveness that brings eternal wholeness.
38:45
I will be honest. Sustaining this kind of grace
38:47
filled ministry, balancing the physical triage with the
38:51
spiritual rescue, dealing with the constant pushback from the
38:55
religious elite, it sounds completely exhausting.
38:57
It is a heavy burden. Constantly giving yourself.
38:59
Away to people who cannot repay you.
39:03
It sounds impossible to do on our own strength.
39:05
If I try to do this tomorrow, I'm going to fail before lunch.
39:08
It is absolutely impossible. On our own strength, I knew it.
39:11
If you try to execute the ministry of Luke's gospel using
39:14
your own willpower, you will burn out in a matter of months.
39:17
So how do we do it, Luke? Anticipates this.
39:20
And he highlights three key provisions required for a
39:23
graceless world. The 1st is faith or
39:27
faithfulness. OK, where do we see that?
39:29
In Luke 17. Jesus gives his disciples some
39:31
incredibly difficult teaching about forgiveness.
39:34
He tells them to forgive someone even if they sin against them.
39:37
Seven times in a single day. Seven times in one day, I.
39:40
Struggle with once a week exactly.
39:43
The apostles immediately recognize their own inability to
39:46
do this and they say increase our faith.
39:48
They knew they didn't have it in them.
39:50
They realize they must. Fix their eyes entirely on the
39:53
Master. They cannot manufacture that
39:56
level of grace internally. It has to be given to them.
39:59
The second requirement, Luke. Focuses on is prayer.
40:02
He records more Jesus's prayers than any other gospel writer.
40:06
Prayer is a massive. Theme in Luke he gives us these
40:09
wild. Parables about prayer, like the
40:11
friend at midnight who keeps pounding on the door asking for
40:14
bread, and the unjust judge who finally gives a widow justice
40:18
just to get her to stop bothering him.
40:20
Those are great parables. These stories assure.
40:22
Disciples that God is wildly generous compared to human
40:26
beings. If a grumpy neighbor or a
40:28
corrupt judge will eventually answer a persistent request, how
40:32
much more will a loving father answer us?
40:34
The contrast is the whole point. And then we have Jesus's
40:36
commanding. Gethsemane, get up and pray so
40:39
that you will not fall into temptation.
40:42
That is a constant directive for the Church today.
40:44
We have to be on our knees and that leads directly to the. 3rd
40:47
and most crucial requirement, the Holy Spirit.
40:50
The Spirit is everywhere in. Luke Lou traces the absolute.
40:53
Necessity of the Spirit From the very beginning of the narrative
40:55
to the very end, the Spirit descends on Jesus at his
40:59
baptism. He is led by the Spirit.
41:01
Into the wilderness trial, Yes, the returning. 72 Rejoice in the
41:06
Holy Spirit Jesus promises that the Father will give the Holy
41:09
Spirit to those who ask him He constantly relies on.
41:12
The Spirit and in the final chapter.
41:14
Jesus commands his followers to wait in the city until they have
41:17
been clothed with strength from on high.
41:19
They couldn't do anything until they had.
41:21
The Spirit without the Holy Spirit.
41:22
Regenerating the heart and sustaining the believer,
41:25
ministering grace to a hostile world is utterly unsustainable.
41:30
The spirit is the engine of the entire enterprise.
41:32
So synthesizing all these. Threads Luke presents a vision
41:36
of the church that is radically different from a Country Club.
41:39
It is day and night it. Is a therapeutic?
41:42
Community of grace. It is grounded entirely in the
41:45
total forgiveness of sins, it is driven relentlessly by the Holy
41:48
Spirit, and it is aimed directly at those the world deems
41:52
worthless, broken and bankrupt. It turns the whole system.
41:55
Upside down, it takes the spreadsheet of human.
41:57
Merit sets it on fire and replaces it with the unmerited,
42:01
overflowing kindness of God. And that brings us to a.
42:03
Final necessary confirmation from a reformed perspective.
42:07
What is the final take away? The only way to.
42:09
Genuinely receive and distribute the free grace offered in the
42:13
Gospel is to 1st recognize our own spiritual poverty.
42:17
We have to admit we are. Broke, we must admit our.
42:20
Total inability to bring anything of value to the
42:23
negotiating table with God. As long as we think we are
42:26
earning our keep, we will look down on those we deem less
42:29
disciplined or less righteous. We will become the Pharisees.
42:33
Yes, we will. But when we realize that our own
42:36
salvation is an act of pure, unilateral mercy toward a
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desperate Sinner, we become conduits of that same mercy to
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others. That leaves us with a massive
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challenge. To carry into the rest of the
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week, I want you, the listener, to turn this final lingering
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question over in your mind. It is a good one to chew on.
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If your own standing. Before, God relies entirely on a
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radically unfair, unearned grace.
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A grace that wiped out a debt you could never possibly repay.
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How does that drastically alter the way you will react to the
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very next person who offends you today?
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That changes everything it. Really.
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Does we want to? Thank you for joining this deep
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dive, and we encourage you to keep evaluating your life
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through the clear lens of Scripture.