This week we continue in our series on the hard sayings of Jesus in Luke 12. In this passage, Jesus has some shocking words about bringing division. Even division within families. The reality is that the gospel is, at times, both offensive and divisive. In following Jesus, we declare that we love nothing in this world more than Him. That type of allegiance and commitment can be costly. It can cost us relationships with family members and friends. And yet, even though following Jesus comes with a cost, He is infinitely worth it!

READ: Luke 12:49-53

Eat My Flesh, Drink My Blood by New Life of Asheville

READ: Matthew 7:1-6

INTRODUCTION:

We’re now in week 2 of our new series called The Hard Sayings of Jesus. Even His own disciples struggled with some of His most radical and challenging teachings. This week, we’ll be talking about one of the most famous hard teachings of Jesus. In fact, even if you’re not a Christian, you probably know it well: Judge not, lest you be judged. This is the most popular teaching of Jesus—hands down--in our culture today. It gets used to support the popular idea in our culture that there is no absolute truth, and thus, we should never challenge or correct one another. But is that what Jesus really meant? And if not, what did this teaching really mean? Imbedded in this teaching from Christ are some absolutely stunning truths. Things like how seriously God takes it when we condemn or write-off another person created in His image and how seriously we should take the sin in our own lives.

Matthew 5:43-48

When Jesus stepped onto the scene in the 1st century, He began to teach in such an amazing and authoritative way that people were astonished. Huge crowds gathered, but instead of appeasing the masses, Jesus taught many radical and difficult things. Even His disciples questioned how difficult some of His teachings were. As modern day disciples, often times it’s easy to gloss over the hard sayings of Jesus. In doing that, we miss out on much of the deepest, richest teachings of Christ. We begin this series by examining one of the most radical teachings of Jesus. Love your enemies. Love those who hate you, abuse you, injure you, stab you in the back and betray you. It’s so hard it seems humanly impossible and yet that’s exactly how Jesus commands His followers to treat their enemies.

Roughly 2,000 years ago, hundreds of people claimed to be eyewitnesses to the most shocking event in world history. A man named Jesus, who claimed to be God, predicted He would prove it by raising from the dead 3 days later. If this event is true, and the overwhelming historical evidence suggests that it is, nothing can ever be the same. In Matthew’s Gospel, we see two sets of people that witness the resurrection or the resurrected Jesus; the Roman Guards and Jesus’ disciples. Both groups saw, they both believed, and yet their responses were completely different. What we do with the resurrection of Jesus will both define our lives in this world, as well as our eternal destiny. Who do you say Jesus is? Do you merely believe? Or do you follow Him?

Matthew 12:38-41

We’re wrapping up the Jonah series by looking at what Jesus had to say about Jonah. We learn that Jonah was a sign pointing to a greater truth. Signs aren’t the point, signs point us to the main point. In Matthew 12 as Jesus engaged the religious Pharisees who were trying to kill Him, He explains that Jonah isn’t simply a story about a fish...Jonah was a sign-post pointing to the Messiah who would come. From this teaching, we learn critically important truths about the importance of making our lives count in God’s Kingdom and the fact that rejecting Jesus, like the Pharisees did, will ultimately cost a person everything. As Jonah was buried in the belly of that great fish for 3 days so that the Ninevites would be saved, so Jesus—the better and truer Jonah—was buried in death for 3 days so that you could have new life in Him!

After running from God, surviving a storm and 3 days in the belly of a great fish, Jonah finally arrives in Nineveh and preached God’s message to these depraved and wicked people. Shockingly, the entire city believes God and repents of their evil! In chapter 4 we see Jonah’s reaction to one of the greatest revivals in history. We learn alot about the dangers of self-righteousness in our own lives and how that idol can poison us in so many ways. We see how we can fake obedience, but God knows and sees our hearts. The book ends with a question. God is on a mission, will you join Him?

We pick up the historical narrative of Jonah this week as he’s sitting on a beach having just been vomited ashore by a great fish. God tells Jonah, for the second time now, to go to the wicked Ninevites. This time, Jonah obeys…he arrives in Nineveh and preaches God’s coming judgment. To the surprise of everyone, not only do the people of Nineveh not kill Jonah immediately, they believe God and repent of their evil ways. From this incredible story we learn some life-transforming truths about who God is. Things like; He’s the God of second chances, His Word is powerful beyond imagination and He loves and pursues people that most hate. He is truly the God worthy of our lives and affection. And He wants to use you in His Kingdom just like He used Jonah!

Last week we left off with Jonah running from God and getting tossed into a violent storm on the Mediterranean Sea. This week, we pick it up with Jonah getting swallowed by a great fish, where he spends the next 3 days and nights doing some serious soul-searching. In the pit of the belly of that great fish, Jonah acknowledges his sin, repents/turns from his idolatry, and rejoices over God’s salvation in his life. Like Jonah, how we handle our times in the storm and in the belly of the fish will determine the trajectory and effectiveness of our lives in God’s Kingdom.

Jonah is one of the most fascinating books in the entire Bible! From what we know of Jonah, he was a godly man who walked with and heard from God regularly. In fact, he was one of the primary prophets of Israel in his day. He was a big deal. And yet, when God calls him to go to the fiercely brutal and evil Ninevites, he packs up his bags and runs as far as he can in the opposite direction. Jonah was revealing that he hid an idol in his heart, underneath all the godly trappings of being a prophet. What happens on his journey away from God is stunning stuff, and we can learn much from Jonah’s run from God and His mission to reach all peoples.