Luke: God's Kingdom St Bart's Anglican Church

Reflection

I wonder if you’ve ever had a moment when you’re just stunned? When words
escape you? Well, the disciples here experience exactly that. There were
reports of the resurrection from some of the women, Peter had gone into the
tomb and only found the linen cloths, and two of the disciples had met
Jesus while walking and then eating together. So naturally, the disciples
discuss all of these events but as they are speaking, Jesus stood among
them and said, ‘Peace be with you’. The result? Stunned silence. The
disciples thought that he was a ghost but in reality, it was Jesus. He is
risen! He didn’t stay dead and in fact, Jesus won the victory over death by
death itself!

He insists that he is real and not a ghost by pointing out his hands and
his feet and by eating real food. He is really alive and this was the plan
all along. It was written about him for thousands of years before him. He
reigns victorious over sin and death and so now, sins can be forgiven for
all who repent and believe in Jesus. This good news was to be firstly
peached in Jerusalem and then, as we see in Acts, to the ends of the earth.

This is indeed great news. We can be part of the kingdom, we can have
forgiveness, we can have peace, we can have rest, we can have certainty of
the future, all because our great King Jesus died and rose again. There is
no one else like our God. There is nothing else in this world that can
compare to having this sure and certain hope. So let us once again cast
ourselves on the mercy and grace of God afresh this Easter. MC

Questions

What does the resurrection of Jesus achieve? Why is it so fundamental to
our faith?

If you were to tell someone about the Gospel in under a minute, what would
you say?

What could you do this Easter to intentionally see God’s mercy afresh?

Prayer

Lord God, you are victorious and you have the authority over all things
including death itself. Thank you for the resurrection of Jesus and help us
to be continually renewed and refreshed in your good news day by day. Amen.

Reflection

In the space of a night and morning, Jesus has been betrayed by Judas,
denied by Peter, mocked and beaten by the guards, condemned by the
Sanhedrin, sent away by Pilot, questioned by Herod, sent back to Pilot,
rejected by the crowds in favour of a murderer, handed over by Pilot, and
crucified. What is Jesus’ response? Verse 34 says, “then Jesus said,
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” He
forgives them even while he is nailed to the cross, even while they cast
lots for his clothes.

Now, the sun is darkened from 12 PM until 3 PM as the light of the world is
put to death. The sins of the whole world were put on Jesus on that tree.
My sin was put on him, your sin was put on him. The punishment, the burden,
and the shame was taken by him. So now having been freed from sin, there is
now no barrier between us and God. The curtain that separated the people
from the Holy of Holies in the temple was torn. Access to God is now not
just for the high priest once a year, but now free for all who turn to
Christ! But during the darkness and after the tearing of the curtain, Jesus
cried out to God and Jesus died. We can sometimes let this wash over us but
let’s just look at those words again. Jesus died. The son of God is dead.
Our Lord and Saviour dies on our behalf. How incredible is our God!

After he died, Luke records the reactions of different people. The
centurion who was responsible for other troops actually praised God and
realised that Jesus was innocent. Others who were there went home beating
their breasts as a sign of repentance. Then a man named Joseph who was part
of the Sanhedrin but didn’t agree with Jesus’ killing comes and in an act
of tenderness, kindness, and possibly worship, takes Jesus’ lifeless,
bruised, and battered body off the cross and lays him in his tomb. Our only
plausible response in view of God’s mercy is to lay down our lives as
living sacrifices to him. MC

Questions

Why was Jesus crucified? What does his death achieve?

Prayer

Loving Father, we are so thankful for Jesus’ death on the cross, saving us
from sin, and giving us access to you. Help us to never take this for
granted. Amen.

Reflection

Jesus’ disciples in yesterday’s passage were found sleeping and again Jesus
told them to continue to pray but then he was interrupted by his betrayer.
Judas comes into the scene with a crowd. This was one of the twelve, one of
Jesus’ closest friends, closest followers but here he is betraying Jesus.
He comes to him to kiss him as if greeting him as a friend. The greek word
for ‘kiss’ has the same root as the word ‘to love’. Judas’ kiss was far
from a kiss of love though. But Jesus isn’t surprised in the slightest. He
is completely in control and knows that this was all to happen. He even
questions Judas.

His disciples though don’t know what is happening though. They begin to do
what any human would do to try and defend their leader. They prepare for a
fight. One even cuts off the ear of a servant! So does Jesus go with them
and run free and take advantage of the distraction?! Most certainly not.
Jesus rejects their violent impulses and even heals the servant of the one
who wanted him dead. Even in the midst of his arrest, Jesus has immense
love his enemies. Even in the mess of this evening, God’s plans are
completely and utterly on track.

Jesus then turns to the mob who came to him. He hasn’t done anything wrong,
he had no plans to overthrow the authorities, and yet they still came to
arrest him. Jesus was innocent and this crowd are the ones who are in the
wrong. But Jesus submits and tells them that this is their hour. This is
the time when the world can do the worst to God, when the world can go with
every sinful desire, and do the ultimate act of rejection by putting him to
death. But at the very same time, this is the hour that God had in mind
since before the foundations of the earth were laid. For when humanity puts
Jesus to death, this is when Jesus will take the sin of the world upon
himself, drink the cup of God’s wrath, and secure us for eternity and
snatch us from death’s jaws. MC

Questions

How is this one of the most tragic but one of the greatest moments in
history?

Prayer

Lord God, thank you for the sure and certain promise of forgiveness of sins
through Jesus. We are sorry for the times when we reject you and your rule.
Please keep us from sin and grant us true repentance. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Reflection

Every week in church and maybe more often than that for some, we pray the
Lord’s Prayer and in it we pray, ‘your will be done’. We can rattle this
off without thinking about what it really means. Here, Jesus knows exactly
what it means.

His time has come and he and the disciples go to the Mount of Olives to
pray and this time it will be the last. He tells his disciples to pray that
they won’t fall into temptation and he tells them to do it again in verse
36. I know that if I was there and was about to see Jesus arrested and
killed, I would be tempted to just lose heart, walk away, and give up. But
Jesus’ command is to pray.

After telling them the first time, Jesus goes around the corner, kneels,
and prays. He knows what is ahead of him. He knows that the Father’s plan
for salvation means he will be humiliated, experience terrible suffering,
and experience the wrath of the Father. It’s going to be excruciating and
so he asks the Father to take the cup away, to take away the wrath and all
that is ahead. He’s in agony! But his prayer doesn’t end there. He ends by
saying ‘yet not my will, but yours be done’. Jesus submits himself to the
Father’s will even if it means going ahead with the plan for salvation
through the cross. He prayed again through tears, through weakness, and
through trouble.

This is what it means to pray and live out ‘your will be done’. It means
God’s will above our comfort, God’s will above our money, God’s will above
our careers, God’s will above our best laid out plans, and it could mean
God’s will above our lives. But why should we follow God’s will? Because he
is God and because he knows what it is like. Jesus has wrestled with this
question, experienced everything we could ever experience and more. Our God
is the one who serves us even to death because of his love for us. May his
will be done. MC

Questions

Where in your life may you not be submitting to the will of the Father?

Prayer

Our Father in heaven, how can we thank you enough for Jesus? Thank you that
he submitted to your will even to the point of taking your wrath that we
deserved. Help us to seek your will above all else, to live it out, and
please expose our hearts for where we aren’t submitting to it. In Jesus’
Name, Amen.

After a meal like none other, the disciples start having a dispute like
none other. It is really quite remarkable that even after Jesus has been
with them for so long and told them about his death that this argument
comes up. They begin to argue among themselves about who is going to be the
greatest! However, Jesus puts an end to that conversation quickly and turns
the definition of ‘the greatest’ right on its head.

The pagan lords, rulers, and kings really had an overwhelming pride. They
may have done good things but only to receive honour and be praised by
other people. They loved the names people called them such as ‘Lord’ or
‘Your Grace’. That was the common perception of what it meant to be great!
But Jesus says that followers of him are to have nothing to do with such
things. The way to greatness is to be like the least, the youngest. The one
who rules or is in leadership should be the one who serves.

General knowledge and common sense will inform us that the one who is at
the dinner table is the one who is greater. If you’ve watched any shows
like Downton Abbey you’ll know this almost instinctively! But Jesus doesn’t
just tell his disciples that it isn’t to be like this anymore but Jesus is
going to demonstrate it fully and comprehensively. He is the one who came
down to earth from heaven, in order to live among human beings, and
ultimately to die for us to serve us. He is the one who truly serves. And
so then if we want to be great, then we are called to follow his example.
MC

Questions

Right here in Australia now, what do we consider to be the traits of one
who is great?

What is Jesus’ standard of greatness? How has he demonstrated this?

How could you follow his example?

Prayer

Gracious God, thank you for the way in which you have served us through
Jesus. Please keep us from pride and keep us from seeking human greatness,
but help us to look for ways in which to serve others. In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.

Reflection

In the past two chapters of Luke, Jesus has been questioned by the
religious leaders, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the scribes. The
result of his answers was that not one of them was able to accuse him of
any wrongdoing, and they weren’t going to arrest him because all the crowds
loved him! Arresting him would create a riot! Then, Jesus taught about the
destruction of Jerusalem that was going to come in around 70AD and then he
taught about the return of the Son of Man. However, the leaders were still
determined to arrest and kill Jesus and Judas has agreed to betray Jesus
for some cash. And today, it comes time for the Passover meal.

The Passover meal was the meal where the Jewish nation celebrated and
remembered their rescue from Egypt, and the gracious provision of God to
spare the firstborn Son for those households that sacrificed and ate the
lamb. This had been happening ever since the days of Moses, for thousands
of years! But this Passover was going to be like none other. Jesus takes a
cup and says that he won’t drink again of it until the kingdom of God
comes.

He takes bread, breaks it and says that it is his body. Then he takes a cup
and says that it is the new covenant in his blood. In short, he makes the
meal all about him because he is the ultimate fulfilment of the Passover.
Instead of rescue from the angel of death going over the land, we need
rescue from sin and death. Instead of a lamb dying in our place, Jesus is
going to die in our place. So now whenever we have this meal, we celebrate
and remember God’s gracious provision of Jesus. Innocent, yet broken on our
behalf, and raised securing a new promise of life with him for eternity. MC

Questions

What was the Passover meant to represent or help the Israelites remember?

How does Jesus fulfil the Passover? What can help us remember our great
rescue?

Prayer

Lord God, thank you for the provision of Jesus who died in our place and
rose again. Help us every time we come to the Lord’s Supper to remember
this afresh and be renewed by the hope of the Gospel. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.