Burtchurch Rooted and Grounded (Colossians 2:7)

We call ourselves Christians 

When we say we are Christians, we are saying that we follow the teachings of a man who was born and walked on the earth some 2000 years ago. We also believe that this man was the Son of God. That is like saying that Jesus is actually part of God. In fact, we claim that this man was GOD. If that is confusing, its okay – we human beings are not meant to fully understand it. But we need to understand this: God cared about us so much that he became one of us, to be with us, to show us how to live and how to be with God.

At the opening retreat we talked about how John 1:14 tells us that “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. John is telling us that Torah, which is the Word from God about the BEST way for human beings to live, and the ONLY way for human beings to be in relationship with God, all those things became ALIVE in Jesus Christ.

When we say we are Christians, we are saying that we “follow” Jesus Christ. That means we claim that Christ’s way is the BEST way, and that is the way we want to live.  We believe other things too — that Jesus forgave our sins, saved us, and offers us eternal life — but we will cover those ideas in a future lesson.  Jesus said he came to give us life “to the full” now (John 10:10), not only in heaven.

Deeper Thinking About the Life of Jesus Christ

In class Thursday night, we began looking at who Jesus was by considering what he did on earth. These stories should not be new to the confirmands – they have heard them all in Sunday school.  As we transition our faith into that of an adult Christian, we took a deeper look at what the life of Christ was supposed to teach us.

Jesus’ Miraculous Birth  (Luke 1:26-38; 2:1-20)

When God chose to enter into the world, he did so humbly. He did not come in as a mighty king but as a tiny baby of peasants during the difficult Roman occupation of Judea.  God could have used His power to make life a lot easier on His son.  But God played by the same rules He had set for humans.

There is almost no point in Jesus’ life where we can point to his circumstances and say, “My own life is harder than that.”  Jesus leads us from a position of disadvantage and humility, not from power and superiority.

Jesus’ Baptism (Luke 3:15-22)

When Jesus visited John and was baptized the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Those around John the Baptist were already looking for the Messiah, the Son of God whom the Old Testament  prophets said would save God’s people from slavery and opression. Since Roman armies ruled over God’s chosen people and their land, most thought the Messiah would come as a mighty warrior with armies ready to overthrow the Romans. Obviously Jesus was not that kind of Messiah at all.

Question: If Jesus had come only to save the Jews from the Romans, would he still mean anything to people today?

Temptations (Luke 4:1-13)

After the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus, it led him into the dessert to be tempted by the devil. Got that – Jesus Christ was tempted, just like we all are. Again, God is playing by the rules. I picture Satan thinking testing God, knowing that God is really a man and therefore weak. Jesus used the Bible, the Word of God to defeat temptation. That is the idea here – following Jesus, becoming like him, does not mean the end of temptation. But it does mean we have the power to overcome temptation.

Jesus Calls the Disciples (Luke 5:1-11; 6:12-16)

Jesus chose 12 faithful Jewish men to be his disciples. Jewish rabbis chose disciples, but typically from the best of the best Hebrew students. They had Torah and much of the rest of the Old Test. memorized. Memorized!!!  They were well on their way to becoming the best and brightest of their religion. But these are not the guys that Jesus chose to change the world.

Jesus chose the outsiders instead of the religious leaders of the time. As if to show us all that our own potential to do God’s work is not limited by our position on earth.

Jesus the Great Teacher (Luke 6:17-49; 18:15-17)

Taught those who had “ears to hear”. Used parables to engage people to think for themselves and make commitments to faith. He had special regard for children. He also had challenging teaching battles with religious leaders of the time.

Also, what he taught was not quite what was expected (see Messiah, above). Instead of hatred for Israel’s oppressors, the Romans, Jesus said, “Love you enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:27-28). “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Luke 6:31)

Jesus taught in ways that called us to him. And he taught that sin and separation from God was the real enemy, not the Romans.

His Miracles (Luke 8:26-39)

Jesus performed miracles that realized the fullness of God’s power. They were usually small and personal, caring for people (feeding the 5000), reconciling them to what God intended them to be (healing the sick).

In the gospels, Jesus performs about three dozen miracles. But the Gospels downplay the miracles frequently – many times only his closest disciples are permitted to watch (transfiguration) or Jesus asks people to say nothing. Satan tempts Jesus to perform miracles, but Jesus refuses. It is as if Jesus knows that the miracles distract from the message, and don’t produce long-term faith anyway.

Take-away: God cares for us and can make changes in all controls – nature, the course of events, etc. Jesus responded to displays of great faith.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve (Luke 9:1-6)

Jesus gave authority to his disciples to heal and to preach the Kingdom of God.

Think about the way we pray.  We often end our prayer saying “in the name of Jesus Christ.”  Christians today claim the authority granted to Christ’s disciples – the authority to speak to God through Jesus.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple (Luke 19:45-46)

In Jerusalem, Jesus saw that sins were being committed in the Temple of Jerusalem, which was supposed to be God’s house. Selling animals for sacrifice, changing money, actions that are not respectful of God. Jesus drove out these dishonest people out of the Temple: “It is written, ‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.”

Question: Is it okay for a Christian to be angry? What does Jesus’ example teach us about how and why a Christian can be angry?

I remember one day in Sunday school a student offered, “Jesus was never angry.”  Not true.  Jesus gets angry many times in the gospels. And we can be assured that he became angry at the things that made God angry. His greatest anger was reserved for those that did should have known God’s ways or pretended to, but lived and acted differently.

The Last Supper, Betrayal, and Trial (Luke 22:7-25)

Jesus shared the Passover meal with his disciples. We will talk more about what that meant in a few weeks. One of the disciples betrayed him into the hands of the Romans, who had him tried and condemned to die. The disciples, afraid for their lives, deserted him. Jesus explained to his disciples that the Old Testament prophets had foretold that this would happen, but the disciples did not yet understand.

Jesus is Alive! (Luke 24:1-49)

Jesus was buried in a cave-like tomb on a Friday. On Sunday morning, the third day, several women came to perform a ritual called “anointing the body”, but the cave was empty. Jesus appears to the women and later to the disciples, gathers them back together, re-interprets the OT scriptures for them to finally understand what has happened, and sets things in motion. The 11 men that ran and hid when Jesus was arrested now had the understanding and the inspiration necessary to change the whole world.

Jesus Ascends Into Heaven and Promises to Return (Acts 1:1-11)

Jesus appeared to his disciples on earth for 40 days, convincing them that he was alive.

He told the disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

When Jesus is lifted into heaven to be with his Father, Two angles promise that Jesus will return one day in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

Peter Confesses the Truth (Matthew 16:13-20)

¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  ¹⁴They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  ¹⁵“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”  ¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

I saved this for last because the question that Jesus asked Peter is the question that he asks all Christians to this day.  Jesus challenges each and every one of us to decide who he is to us.  What about you?  Who do you say he is?