Before we started our Christmas season where we looked at the birth of the Lord Jesus, we were in Luke chapter 6 in our
series “A REAL Human Life.” We are looking at the life of the Lord Jesus – a real human life, a life the way God intended
humans to live. Today we are returning to where we left off.
Over the past month or so many of us have spent time with family, spent time away from regular work, spent time out of
school. But there comes a time when we need to get back to life. With the recent snow and cold, we have had an
extended period of time away from regular life stuff – some of us. But the time has come to get down to the business of
life. Time to get back to work, get back to school, go get the groceries and take out the trash. That is similar to what
happened with Jesus and His disciples in Luke 6.
When we were last in Luke 6, Jesus had just called and identified the 12 – men who would spend concentrated time with
Him and even continue to spread the Good News after Jesus was gone. Today we pick up the story just after the calling of
the 12. Before we get into the business of life with Jesus, let’s ask our Teacher for His help understanding what we need to
understand and apply. PRAY
Turn to Luke 6:17-19. READ. Jesus had spent a significant time in prayer and communication with the Father about who
were to be His closest followers while He was on earth. He had now identified them and came down with them and with
other followers to a level place and while He was there, a great crowd of people from all over the area gathered to hear
Him and to be healed by Him and to be released from or healed from unclean spirits. Verse 18 says that they were healed.
Verse 19 says that all these people tried to touch Jesus because everyone who touched Him was healed by the power of
God coming out from Him. Imagine what it might have been like – people had heard about this Jesus who had the ability to
heal. So they came to Him. I wonder who the first person was to touch Him. Did Jesus DO anything when that
happened? No, it sounds like the person who was sick or had an unclean spirit reached out – IN FAITH – and touched
Him and power went out from Him.
After the first person touched Him and was healed, someone else may have thought – “If I touch Jesus, I might be healed.”
So person number 2 tries it. And then word starts to spread among the crowd – “If you touch Him, you get healed!”
There are 2 sources of power described here. One is the power of God which heals people. It definitely came through the
Lord Jesus. But notice, the Lord Jesus didn’t go out and start applying it to people. The second source of power is what
put it into action and that came from the people themselves – they believed and took action and it happened.
Jesus often says after someone is healed, “Your faith has made you well.” Would it require use of His God abilities to do
this? Is this a description of a real human being or a God-man who pulls out His God-powers to do something amazing?
Could this same demonstration of power – of healing – happen through you or me? “Your faith has made you well.” If it
requires God-powers, then how did it happen with Peter and John and Paul (see your study notes for passages to look
at)? We KNOW Peter and John and Paul and other disciples were not God in the flesh. How does it happen?
I say it happened with Jesus in exactly the same way it happened with Peter and John and Paul and in exactly the same way
God wants it to happen with you and me. Jesus came to earth and lived a completely human life like we have to. He says
in John 14:12,13 that “he who believes in Me (in Jesus) will do the same works I do and GREATER works – greater than
JESUS – because I go to the Father. God working through real human beings is how it happened.
When Jesus went to the Father, He sent another Helper to those who believe – the Spirit of God came to live inside
believers. Jesus on earth could only be in one place at a time. The Spirit of God can be in every place at all times. And
God working through normal, regular people as the Spirit of God does His God-sized stuff is what God wants and expects
to happen. Jesus showed us. Peter showed us. John showed us. Paul showed us.
Why don’t we see things like this happening, then? There are 3 obvious possibilities:
1. Jesus was lying – we wouldn’t really do the works He did or greater works.
2. Things like that just don’t happen anymore and Jesus must have meant something else when He said that.
3. We don’t BELIEVE in Him – we don’t trust in and rely on Him to do what He promises. In John 14:12, Jesus said, “he
who BELIEVES in Me will do the same works and greater works than I do.”
What if we took Jesus at His Word? What if we believed and acted in faith on that belief? We may not understand faith –
maybe we need to study our Bibles individually and together and look at what “faith” and “belief” is. What is it that
prohibits what He said would happen from happening? The only variable in the equation is our/my BELIEF.
There are some passages to look at on your notes. Take some time and look at what God says about where faith comes
from and how we appropriate it. Don’t look immediately at what your study notes say – ask the Spirit of God to teach
you. Your study notes are some person’s opinion of what God’s Word says. Spend time waiting on God Himself – look
at the words and the sentences and the paragraphs and then ask the Spirit of God to show you what He wants you to see.
In the following verses, Jesus gets down to business – especially with His disciples. Luke 6:20-23. READ. These verses
are usually called “the Beatitudes.” That term refers to the truths that lead to perfect happiness which Jesus shares with His
disciples – those who follow Him. These things are for believers, those who follow Jesus – not unbelievers. In fact, much
of this makes no sense to unbelievers. As followers of Jesus, these things are significant and important for us to remember
and apply to our lives.
Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God. In Matthew 5 Matthew records Jesus’ words as, “poor in spirit.”
Obviously Matthew was there, Luke was not, Luke heard this from someone who was there – the same things are being
relayed to us in both Matthew and Luke. The focus is not whether a person is poor financially or poor in spirit (although
poor in spirit is truthfully what Jesus meant). The focus is on the Kingdom of God. Throughout this whole discourse from
Jesus, He is laying out the difference between people living for temporary, earthly things and those who live for what lasts.
All of us are poor and poor in spirit compared to God, but as believers in and followers of Jesus, we become, by GOD’S
grace and power, partakers of and owners of the Kingdom of God. Yours is the Kingdom of God – the Greek sense is
that the Kingdom of God is possessed by you, it is allotted to you and it proceeds from you. Is that how you feel? Is that
what you experience? If not, something is not right, if you’re a follower of Jesus, because He says that is true.
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Matthew records “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” In both
physical hunger and spiritual hunger, physical poverty and spiritual poverty, if one is a follower of Jesus, the promise is
better. The thing promised lasts.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Matthew 5 says “blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be
comforted.” In the midst of mourning and weeping there seems no possibility of comfort or laughter. But when our trust
and reliance are in Jesus Christ, He has promised that comfort and laughter – joy – will be ours. He doesn’t put a time
table on it. It may be in this life, it may not be. But it WILL BE.
Luke 6:22,23 correspond to Matthew 5:11,12. Blessed are you when men – when people – hate you, exclude you, revile
you and call you evil because you believe in the Son of Man. One thing that is kind of depressing to do is to watch a You
Tube video that has a Christian message and read the comments under it. There are people out there who HATE
Christians and everything we stand for.
This is a good time to finally define the word “blessed.” It means “happy,” “extremely blessed,” “fortunate,” “well-off.”
Jesus says you should be really happy and well-off and fortunate-feeling when people HATE you and when they keep you
out of their circles and when they chew you out in public and when they say that you are evil because you follow Jesus.
That sounds like a really fun way to live, doesn’t it. Who wants to sign up?
Did anyone ever talk to you about counting the cost of following Jesus as you were becoming a believer? If not, shame on
them. Many of us came into the “faith” thinking that we were asking Jesus “into our hearts” and He was going to live there
in our hearts and make us nice and make people like us and cause the world to be a better place. I doubt if anyone who
led you to Christ ever shared these verses with you – people are going to hate you, they will exclude you, they will revile
you, they will call you evil!
My friends, it is true – what Jesus said – “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” compared to living without Him. But
Jesus says this here about how others may respond. Paul says in 2 Timothy that everyone who desires to live godly in
Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Jesus tells us that we need to count the cost of following Him – are we willing to live
with the results? A little later, we will look at some things Peter says about following Jesus. But the truth is, we have got to
get over the idea that everything will be shiny and happy if we “ask Jesus into our hearts.” We have got to get over living
for our own desires and what does not ultimately matter. I have included some passages on your study notes to look at
why we are here.
One passage not included is one that we look at a lot. 1 John 2:15-17. READ. If we seek to hold on to the world’s
things and the world’s approval, we are removing ourselves from the things of God and from God’s approval. James 4:4
says that if we want to be friends with the world – the world’s system and the world’s way of doing things – we are making
ourselves enemies of God. We are certainly to befriend the world’s PEOPLE – but we should not participate with them in
the world’s ways (Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:1-14).
As followers of Jesus – if that is who we are and we want it to have an impact – we have to get tuned in with Jesus and see
things how He sees them. We do that through the Bible – reading, studying, memorizing – individually and together. The
life of Jesus was complete and perfect and fulfilling and powerful (notice, you single people, that Jesus was single – not
married). Hebrews 12:2 says that “for the joy set before Him He endured the cross, despising the shame.” He knew what
was promised and what He would certainly receive as He obediently followed His Father.
Verse 23 of Luke 6 gives us further insight to this attitude. Rejoice – leap for joy as you go through these things – people
hating you, excluding you, reviling you and discrediting you – because your reward in heaven is great. We in the 21st
century, especially in the United States, are too instant, we are too now, we are too quick on the draw. We want
everything quick and we’re not willing to wait for the best stuff if we can have what we think is good stuff now. We
experience quick and fleeting pleasure at the expense of true, lasting joy. We have got to denounce that kind of living.
Your reward in heaven is great if you live for what lasts. If you endure the cross you have to bear (remember Jesus, “deny
yourself, take up your cross daily and follow Me?) and if you despise the shame that the world will try to level at you, the
results are eternal and lasting. That’s how God’s people have been treated since the beginning. Each of us has to come to
the point of deciding whether we believe God or trust ourselves. That was the point Adam and Eve came to – and they
chose themselves, which now makes it so much harder for the rest of us. But Jesus had the same decision – will I believe
God or trust Myself? Jesus believed God as a REAL human being should.
Turn to 1 Peter 3:8-17. READ. Suffering will be part of life on earth – because of what happened with Adam and Eve.
For those of us who follow Jesus – as much as is possible – make every circumstance of life count for eternity. Make sure
you’re suffering for the right things. Look at 1 Peter 4:1-4. READ. What are you living for – the lusts of men or the will of
God? Wait a minute, Peter, you’re sounding a lot like Paul – that’s a hard question.
Are we living for what lasts? Jesus lived a totally human life for what lasts – He was still God, but He never got out His
God powers to make it through human life. And yet, He still did it perfectly. But Mike, you may protest, He suffered – He
made people mad – He didn’t have the internet – He didn’t have TV, movies or strip clubs – He didn’t have Ben Nelson to
deal with. Didn’t He?
Let’s start with Ben. PIC of Ben Nelson. Remember guys named Herod and Pontius Pilate, Caesar and all those people.
What were they? Politicians. Jesus had to deal with them. Whether face to face or just in society, Jesus went through the
things that society and people go through as a result of politicians in power.
What about strip clubs and movies and TV and internet? He didn’t have to deal with those things. Women and girls – I
don’t know if you’ve noticed, but women could walk around in burlap sacks and men could still be aroused. I don’t know
if there were any strip clubs back in Jesus’ day, but I do know there were RELIGIOUS groups whose worship centers
included temple prostitutes who would stand outside their temples and lure men and women in. Jesus did not go in there,
but He would have seen them.
He didn’t need the internet or TV or movies or strip clubs to be tempted. Hebrews 4:15 says that He WAS tempted in
EVERY way as we are and yet did not sin. He lived for what lasts – not what is passing away. And, by the way, even
with the literal TV and internet, Jesus, being God knew that those things would be coming someday. He was still God. But
even knowing that, He did not let His mind go there and dwell on those images.
There is a billboard up past Capehart Road for GNC – General Nutrition Center. It has a picture of a woman in a bikini
on it. It is tempting to look at for guys. It is difficult, but guys, I urge you to resist looking at it. I have several reasons that
I am denying myself and taking up my cross and following Jesus and not looking at that woman.
First, I am not looking at it for Jesus. I want to be like Him. I want the things He promises to be true in my life. Second, I
am not looking at it for my wife. That woman on that billboard is a fake woman (even if she is a real person, that picture of
her is not really her). I do not want my wife to feel like she has to compete with or compare to that fake woman. Third, I
am not looking at it for my son. By God’s power, we CAN reject sin and be godly men. I want my son to know that it is
possible.
Fourth, I am not looking at it for my daughters. I want them to know that I am totally devoted to their mother – a real
woman – and that they should look for a man who lives like that. They should not give a second thought to a guy who
would respond to them as objects (like that billboard woman is) instead of as real people. Fifth, I am not looking at it for
our church family. It is by God’s power that we reject sin and follow Jesus. Men, you too can ignore that fake woman and
any other temptation Satan tries to tangle you up in. Women – by God’s power, I will not view you just as I will not look
at that woman, as an object.
I want to live for what lasts – I hope as followers of Jesus, you do, too. That fake billboard woman will be gone soon –
she’s probably pretty cold up there anyway. But if I allow my eyes to roam and give her a place to live in my memory, I
am removing blessing from God and defeating the promises of God for living for what lasts. I am opening up my life to the
enemy of my soul and living for worthless things. And, by the way, I really doubt that that woman goes to GNC anyway.
The world’s stuff seems good and easy and acceptable, but it is worthless and passing away. The things of God are real
and lasting and forever. What are you going to live for? Where are you going to find happiness and blessing? Jesus says
that compared to what we really get from the world, His stuff is easy and His burden is light. Do you believe Him?