“When Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said to His disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” [Matthew 26:1,2]
What the Lord Jesus has laid on
my heart to expound concerns the spiritual direction of life. In this
context, let us survey the Messiah’s own life and teaching, and ask ourselves, “What
is the whole direction of our life?”
Such
a question presumes our lives have some direction. Do we have such a direction,
or are we rather like a ship tossed in the storm without a compass? Which
way are we heading? As I pondered this matter before the Lord Jesus, I felt
burdened that among many Christians, they do not seem to have a clear
sense of direction. They don’t seem to know where they are going.
Of
course, if you don’t move at all, there is no question of direction. However,
if you are moving, you must have a sense of where your whole life is headed for.
Many people bungle their way through life, groping in darkness, somehow
expecting that by some miracle of chance or by some piece of good fortune, they
might end up in the right direction. That is, at best, a very risky way to go.
Imagine a ship setting out without a clue as to where it is going. Yet when you
speak to many Christians, who seem to have submitted their life to the Messiah Jesus, it
becomes very distressing to see that they too are without direction.
When the question is asked, we often hear the very spiritual reply, “I’m just waiting on the Lord Jesus.” That we need to wait on the Messiah Jesus for details is indeed true, but what is the general direction of our lives? What are we waiting on the Messiah for? If our ultimate goal is not clear, we should not be surprised to find that often a Christian has the same objectives as a non-Christian and are caught up in the same affairs of daily life; not realizing that the pleasures of this world cannot satisfy. No wonder the world is not impressed with the Gospel when all it sees are Christians selfishly pursuing money, status; in a word, materialism.
“When Jesus had finished all these sayings”; this is a standard formula in which Matthew closes a main section of the Lord’s teaching.
In Matthew, there is a special structure and order. In writing his gospel,
Matthew knew exactly the direction he was going to take. What we have, if we
have the spiritual eyes to see, is not a random composition but a specific structure
consisting of five main sections, each section ending with the aboe phrase. Our
present context is the fifth usage of this construction. Prior occurrences are
in Matthew 7:28; 11:1; 13:53; and 19:1.
Many
scholars have observed Matthew’s intentional design and compared its pattern
with the five books of Moses, that is, Genesis to Deuteronomy. As these five
books (hence the term “Pentateuch”) reveal the law of the old covenant, so too
Matthew desires to show that these five sections of his gospel reveal the law
of the Messiah, the
foundation of the new covenant. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
Matthew already had a plan and a design given to him from the Lord.
The Messiah’s
Direction of Life
The
Lord Jesus says, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of
man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
How
did the disciples know this? The Lord Jesus had already told them He was going to be
crucified in Matthew 17:22 and 20:18,19. So this is
the third time; only two days before the crucial
events. All the time, the Messiah had this
clear goal and direction before him; the stake - cross set before him. His whole life
moved steadily towards that stake – cross; where he became a sin-offering sacrifice reconcilling all
mankind to God – Yehovah. To have salvation all men/women have to do is to believe
and obey the one whom God has sent; Jesus, and to be totally committed to
doing God’s will; as ouitlined in the words He gave His son to give to the world.
That
the stake - cross was before him was not just an afterthought, for we note that
from the very beginning, the Messiah
Jesus had this sense of purpose. At the age of twelve, we read in Luke 2:49. “Did you not know I must be about my Father’s business?” Even at the age of eleven
or twelve, you are not too young to fix your vision and let your mind to dwell on the eternal things that Yehovah has revealed in His word.
In
his last recorded statement before His
death, we see the persistency of the Messiah’s thinking.
In John 19:30, the Lord Jesus utters his famous last words, “It is finished”. The “it” is His
mission - what his Father had commission him to do, the task which he had steadfastly pursued all his life. In our
present passage, we find the Lord Jesus speaking these words with decision and
determination. There is no sudden panic, that two days hence He will be
crucified; a terrible death reserved for
criminals. There is no melodrama. In the person of Jesus, we see a dignified
calm: a person who knows where He is going.
Paul’s
Direction
As
we examine the life of the apostle Paul, we are immediately struck with this
same impression. Paul “presses toward the mark” (Philippians 3:14). How strange it is that this expression has
gained a certain respectability in some Christian circles, yet when I question
closer, what is “the mark”? I wonder which of them could answer. How can we
move forward if we do not know what the mark is?
Are
we following the example of the Messiah? By
definition, a disciple goes where his master goes. Our Master knew where he was
going. The question is, “Do we know where we are going?” Before we can echo
with the Lord Jesus; “It is finished”, we must first begin. Before we can begin, we
must have some general sense of our aim in life.
The
apostle Paul could say at the end of his life, “I have fought the good fight, I
have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). Paul could only finish his course because he knew what the
task God entrusted to him was. Paul does not say “I have finished my life” but
“I have finished my course”. To the end Paul carried out the works the Lord Jesus called him to do. To finish your
course and to finish your life are not the same? How tragic that for many it is
only on their deathbed that there comes the realization: I have finished my
life but what was my course?
The
Christian Life - To Glorify God - Yehovah
Everywhere
in Jesus' life, we see this quality of persistence. In John 17:4, the Lord Jesus prays his high priestly
prayer, “I glorified you on earth,
having accomplished the work which you gave me to
do.” How did the Messiah glorify the
Father? By finishing the work entrusted to him. By this time, the Lord Jesus had finished the task of laying
the foundation for his called-out Assembly. He had spiritually equipped his disciples. Will we be able to say
this prayer at the end of our lives? As his disciples lived, our lives
are to give glory to God - Yehovah (Matthew
5:16).
Continually we read that the Messiah was well pleasing in the sight of the Father. Live to be
pleasing before Almighty God: to be holy and blameless in His sight.
Jesus’ goal was constantly before him. This aim permeates the entire life of the Messiah. In John 8:14, Jesus answered, “... for I know whence I have come, and wither
I am going ...” This same mission emerges in John 12:27. In John 12:23, “The hour
has come”. In John’s gospel, sacrificial death is called “glorification”. The Messiah was glorified in the sin-offering sacrifice which he gave on the stake – cross. In v.32, “lifted up” has a beautiful
way of revealing that the way the Messiah’s
glorification was to be accomplished is by shedding his blood as a sin-offering sacrifice on the
stake - cross. To hang on to our life is to lose it. If we are to enter into
life, we must share his suffering
and take up our cross daily [die to self-daily] (cf. Also Philippians 1:29; 2 Timothy 2:11,12). In doing so, our God and Father Yehovah is glorified. So, as this element of the disciples life emerges; his/her direction is to bring glory to God - Yehovah through a committed faith obedience by the enabling power of the
Spirit in his life. In all that we would do it
behoves us to ask ourselves, “How is God glorified by what I am doing?”
The
Christian Life - Complete Selfless Giving
Now
this passage in John 12 is
very precious. From verse 23 onwards, we can trace the progression in Jesus’ utterance. V. 24 is a transition verse. It connects to the Lord Jesus in
v. 23. It connects with our life in v. 25. What is true for the the Messiah is true for us. He is the seed. To
thrive and bear fruit, the seed must take full possession of the soil. The word of God must take full possession of our
hearts in order to transform our lives. The faith which saves involves totality, openness,
and suffering. “... unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it
remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (v24)
Think
carefully on this. The Lord Jesus was that one lonely seed that fell into the
ground. What came forth was a small community
of
regenerate disciples. One new ear of wheat may have thirty or forty other
grains. So, the next generation of disciples shows the geometric progression.
From a patch of wheat, we now have a whole field. But always the principle is
this: complete selfless-giving.
So
as the Lord ponders the way of the
stake - cross we read in v. 27, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall
I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ No, for this purpose I have come to
this hour.” The thought of being crucified troubled the Lord Jesus, but he would not
turn away from his goal. Truly he was the
“Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
The
Christian Life - Walking in Light
Coming
to v. 35 of this same chapter, the Messiah speaks not
only of the sense of direction but also the clarity of direction. Is our vision
clear? “Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks
in darkness does not know where he goes.”
The
one who walks in darkness has no sense of direction. Are we in light or
darkness? If there is no sense of direction, it may be that we are yet in
darkness and have not been freed from the bondage of sin. Can it be that there
is no sense of purpose because we have not yet entered the newness of life? In
case we had missed this point. The emphasis on the Christian walk or conduct of
life was also developed clearly in John
8:12 - “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the
light of life.”
The
Christian Life - Building a Tower
The
pattern of the Lord’s life manifests his sense of
value. Let us look now at the Lord’s teaching on the Christian life. Let us
search out how the Lord and Saviour describes this life.
“For which of you, wanting to build a tower, does not first sit
down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it. Otherwise, when
he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to
mock him saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish.” Luke 14:28-30
In
building a structure such as a tower you need to count the cost. To count the
cost, you must have a clear sense of the building you wish to erect. This
project involves a complex process of planning.
Throwing
stones together does not make a tower. In our life, is there a tower emerging?
Or will we, in the end, just have a heap of stones?
The
Christian Life - Warfare
Secondly the Lord likens our life to a warfare in Luke 14:31. “Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand”. With these odds (2 to 1), you must plan your campaign carefully. The Lord Jesus deliberately tells us the spiritual fact of life: In this warfare, we are outnumbered by the fact of the enemy within and the enemy without. Within ourselves, we must reckon with the weakness of the flesh, exploited by temptations from the world. Outside, there are the daily pressures of life, family, and friends. In this light, the campaign plan must be executed with the precision of a general carrying out his military plans.
What so terrifies me is the fact that so many Christians fumble
around in life and yet hope to emerge victorious in this warfare. Is it any
wonder we have a generation of defeated believers? We have no plan or campaign
or discipline in our lives. Mark this well. The Christian life is continual
warfare.
The
Christian Life - Discipline
Have
you seen an army that can win a battle without discipline? Yet I see many Christians
live without self control and [are] undisciplined. When Paul writes to his
fellow-soldier Timothy, he says, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity
but a spirit of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7) Paul puts himself under discipline (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)) because like a soldier, you cannot win any
battle with an unruly mob. Today churches complain that exercise of discipline
is too harsh. How can the church of God win any battles if we are all foolish
and sentimental?
The
Spiritual Direction of the Church
So let us carry this point further. If the individual has no sense of direction, how is the Church going to have any direction? Today let us honestly confess, the Church is largely a bunch of individuals who come together for a social gathering rather than a mighty army under the Messiah’s supreme command. Many Christians are a disoriented mob who have come out to shout some slogans. Today we see all around us, churches in which there is a great flurry of activity - organizing events, building buildings, etc. Let us ask amid all this activity:
“What is
the goal of the church spiritually in this world?”
The answer which comes to most people’s lips is “To evangelize.” What is the nature and outcome of this evangelism? Trace the life of those who come to the Lord. They make a profession they believe in Jesus. They receive baptism. And then? Let me press this question. Then what? This fellow who is baptized, does he know what he is supposed to do? After baptism, most have no sense of where to go, and consequently they go downhill. All too often we see this happen. Lest we embrace such a view of evangelism, let us take heed to the words of the Lord as He concludes this passage:
“Go therefore, whoever of you does not renounce
all that he has cannot be My disciple”
(Luke 14:33) Recall v. 26 and v. 27 “Whoever does not bear his own cross [daily deny self), and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (v27) To a disciple demands nothing less than total
commitment to walking in faith obedience before
God.
The
Christian Life - Total Commitment
Why
does the Lord Messiah Jesus demand this total commitment, this faithfulness and endurance to
the very end? We see the context is spiritual warfare. What soldier would be a
good soldier if he were entangled in civilian pursuits and not prepared to die
for his cause? (cf. “Timothy
3:3,4). Likewise, in the case of the tower, you cannot finish unless
you are prepared to commit all your resources to accomplishing the task. The
Lord Jesus says, “You have to renounce all”. Today’s peddlers of the gospel
say, “You don’t have, to renounce anything! Just accept the free gift.” That
salvation is the free gift of God, provided we meet His conditions for
receiving it. It is assuredly true. But to teach salvation in this way is not
to teach as the Lord Jesus taught. The Lord Jesus has underscored the fact that the
direction for every disciple who receives God’s gift is to take up our cross [deny self-daily] and follow Him (Luke 14:27).
The
Christian Life - A Corporate Salvation
Jesus’
goal was to live and to die for the redemption of mankind. Without this goal,
we cannot be his disciples. To be Messiah-like means
we share the sense of values he had on this earth and still has seated at the right hand of his God and Father Yehovah.
You
and I are called not only to be saved for ourselves but that we henceforth live for the salvation of others. This goal is not optional. Our
whole life is living for others, to truly love out neighbors as ourselves. If we find such words unpalatable, then forget
about living the Messiah like life. Is this not what Jesus said, “Whoever does not
bear his own cross [deny self-daily], and come
after me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27)
Throughout
the Bible, Christians and disciples are one and the same thing. The disciples
were called Christians (Acts 11:26). These are
not two stages. If we have not fulfilled his requirement as a disciple, let us plead that Yehovah by His enabling Spirit help us to change the direction of our life; to be
conformed to the image of His son Jesus. What is our direction? The mark which Paul
presses towards is to lay down one’s life for the others. What else does “share his [Jesus'] sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10) mean? (cf. (1 John 3:16) If we call ourselves ‘Christians’,
let us realize that we may only do so on condition that we live out in our lives the life of the Lord jesus in us. Paul, in writing to Timothy, shares with us that “I
suffer everything for the sake of the elect” (2 Timothy 2:10). Paul lives for the elect. He dies
for the elect. Following in the steps of Jesus, Paul is willing to be poured
out as a sacrifice for the others. So the apostle exhorts us, “Be imitators of
me, just as I also am of the Messiah” (1 Corinthians 11:1)
Every
true Christian disciple has this one goal in mind; to build up the called-out Assembly of God. If we are to live and die for
others, we must begin where God begins; with His
called-out Assembly who are the body of His son Jesus. Is our life only for Him?
Written by
Eric Chang and edited by Bruce Lyon
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