Reformed & Expository Preaching

This is the last reading for our Good Friday and Easter series. We are going to be looking at John 20. This is the record of Christ being raised from the dead where the heavenly courts confirm Pilate’s words, “Behold Your King!” If Christ remains in the grave then we have no Easter message. If Christ is never raised it means that God as not overcome death. One could argue that Easter is far more important than Good Friday. Yes, we need the lamb of God and Son of Man to take away our sins. However, if he is never raised from the dead it means we are still in our sins because Christ was not the perfect sacrifice.

This is our reading for Good Friday as we enter into the Lord’s presence. It is the assurance that the Lord is the man, the one who has redeemed us securing us in our savior.

As we prepare for Good Friday I read Isaiah 53. The background music is an old recording of my wife and daughter playing “Where You There?” My wife is on the piano and my daughter is on the cello.

We have a Good Friday Service at our church at 6:30. We look forward to seeing you!

Christ’s strong statements about the law and prophets are a response to the Pharisees’ letter of the law application of Moses.  They are asking the question: what is my legal right?  It is true that God sets boundaries in his law.  However, the deeper question we are invited to ask is, “What pleases my Lord?”  This radically changes one’s orientation in this age.  One moves from a position of self-righteousness to a position of humility where one desires to be taught by the Spirit.

Christ does not undermine the authority of God’s law.  He emphasizes the enduring nature of the law and prophets, highlighting their role in proclaiming his confirmation of their word. Christ gives examples where the Pharisees have a fixation on technicalities using the example of loving mammon, not a demon, but mammon meaning their own significance in this age (wealth, prestige, social class, etc.).  They also give the technical legality of divorce misunderstanding the intention for marriage and man’s hard-heartedness.  Ultimately, Christ is pointing out that the sinners push and strive to enter the kingdom while the Pharisees sit on the sidelines mocking it as a mere preference at best.

Christ then teaches a parable that seems to contradict his concerns regarding the Pharisees.  Why this strange story about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus?  Well, Christ is teaching the importance of understanding God’s standard and the intention of his standard rather than just the letter of the law. Despite the rich man’s outward prosperity, his self-righteous self-indulgence demonstrated by his lack of care for Lazarus, led him to eternal suffering, while Lazarus’s long-suffering and waiting on the Lord ended with him in eternal comfort exalted at Abraham’s side at the heavenly banquet.  The rich man remains clueless demanding that Lazarus does something about his pain.  Like the unjust manager, he fails to see how his actions, and false comfort in himself lead to his predicament.

The parable shows that the rich man should have seen the deeper implications or intentions of God’s law.  He should have manifested compassion like the Lord shows compassion for his people.  Instead, he flaunted his wealth and thought he was righteous rather than showing mercy to the man named “Assisted by God” or Lazarus.  The challenge of this age is valuing things with the eyes of faith.  It is the challenge of having the humility to see that we need Christ not only for our heavenly inheritance but even for the wisdom to live it out as we live as living sacrifices to the Lord out of gratitude.  May the Lord grant us the values of heaven and may we be in the class of people who push our way into the Kingdom of God.

A rich man confronts his manager for squandering wealth.  This manager is like the youngest son in the previous parable.  He squanders the wealth.  It appears that there is no plan.  The rich man fires him from his position, but not immediately. The manager, realizing his limited options, knows that he is not able to do manual labor, and he is too proud to beg.  He is not like the youngest son in the previous parable.  So, he devises a shrewd plan to secure future employment by reducing the tenant’s debts owed to the rich man. This will place the tenants in an obligation to take in the shrewd, but dishonest manager into their homes.  He is not looking for a lasting situation, but this will buy him some time until he figures out what to do next.  This tells us that the manager is not incompetent, but very self-serving.

The rich man does confront the manager, but he does not rebuke the man or put him immediately outside where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.  We would expect that reaction, but rather Jesus commends the dishonest, but shrewd manager.  The reason: he knew how the world worked.  He figured out how to exploit the social norms to secure his survival.  He understood life under the sun.

Jesus is not saying that our call is to exploit people.  Jesus is saying that sons of light need to be wise and prioritize the kingdom of God.  As the sons of his age know how to survive this sin cursed world so the sons of light should see how to survive in this age as citizens of heaven.

Christ is simply teaching us that prioritizing the kingdom of God, discerning what is pleasing to the Lord, and making friends with those who align with the kingdom is our priority.  This is the consistent message of the parable of the banquet in chapter 14 where one does not participate in banquets to advance self but to celebrate life in the Lord.

Christ is driving home a twofold slavery.  One can either be a slave to the prestige of this age or one can be a slave of the Lord.  One has to consciously pursue one master for their enslavement.  This is where we see that when the Lord owns everything we use our resources wisely seeking to advance his cause rather than our own.  This is a challenge, isn't it?  On the one hand, Ecclesiastes encourages us to enjoy the fruits of our labor (2:24,25; 3:12-13; 5:18, 19).  Then we are called to make friends with the poor and the fatherless.  Clearly, living out the gospel takes deliberate thought that is only given to us through Spiritual wisdom.

This is why our living out the gospel has to start in faith.  It is by faith that we live in the kingdom because the Spirit has given us this faith.  We live seeking to please our God and ultimately know that it is Christ who is our master, but also our redeemer.  Let us seek to please our savior not because we are terrified, but because of the reverent love and honor.  He is the God who not only made friends with the sinful and the unclean, but he redeemed the unworthy making them worthy.  Let us seek to live in His wisdom wisely discerning the kingdom.

Normally we think of the parable of the prodigal son highlighting the contrast between a repentant sinner and a self-righteous individual. The younger son squanders his inheritance, leading to a life of hardship and desperation. Ultimately, he realizes his mistake, repents, and returns home, seeking forgiveness and a place as a servant.

A prodigal son squanders his inheritance and returns home, seeking forgiveness, and never changes his desire to work as a slave. His father, overjoyed, welcomes him back with a grand celebration, symbolizing redemption and forgiveness because his father does not allow his younger son to receive the village’s ridicule.

The older son returns from the field.  He sees the celebration and is resentful of the celebration.  He has slaved for his father all these years.  Rather than going into the banquet, he chooses to plead his case.  He tells his dad how hard he slaved for his father.

The contrast of this parable is profound.  The younger son repents and potentially thinks that he needs to prove his worthiness to come back into his father’s house.  We do not know his full realization.  In fact, he might even be manipulating his father by working as a slave.  You see he can work hard to be a slave, then his father has to embrace him as a son, and he gets another inheritance.  However,  when his father invites him to the banquet we see that he is not working to manipulate his father, but understands that he is to enjoy his father.

The older brother should go into the banquet and celebrate that his brother has come to his senses.  Rather, the older brother focuses on how he slaves to prove his worthiness for his father’s affection.  He failed to see that his father did not demand for him to slave or be a slave, but to enjoy his relationship with his father.  He has always had his father.

One thing that the parable is teaching us is that the Christian life is not about proving our worthiness of God’s grace, but enjoying our Lord as we are in communion with him, the saints throughout the ages, and should even see ourselves aligned with the angelic assembly.   Let us be a people who enjoy the fellowship we have with our God seeking him out of gratitude rather than slaving for his approval.

Baptism is the sacrament that initiates us into the covenant of grace.  We picture the water as  representing the reality of being handed over to death, made alive, and triumphing in Christ. It reminds us of the pouring out of Christ’s blood for redemption and the establishment of a community to live for Him. We think of the water as the washing away, the picture of the Spirit’s work in our deliverance.

Our catechism speaks of the baptism as a reminder of Christ’s death on the cross. Question 70 asks, “What is it to be washed with the blood and Spirit of Christ?”  The catechism is challenging us not to limit the sacramental imagery.  The sacraments are visible signs of the gospel that are administered with the Word.  Christ endures hell on the cross, and emerges triumphant in his resurrection.  However, baptism still symbolizes this one time event.

We consider 1 Peter 1:2 where Peter mentions the sprinkling in Christ’s blood.  The text explores the concept of “blood baptism” with the language of being “sprinkled in his blood.”  It is strange for us to think of the cross as a baptism because Peter literally mentions a baptism in 1 Peter 3:21, examining its connection to baptism and the Noah’s flood. So, Peter draws a connection between water and baptism later in his letter.

So, what do we make of a blood baptism? Peter is using Christ’s sacrifice as the picture of being baptized in his blood.  The sprinkling of Christ’s blood should make us think back to Israel standing before Moses, the sacrificial system, and the different ways that things were cleansed to be made worthy to enter into the Lord’s presence.  Peter is emphasizing that in order for us to come into the Lord’s presence we need this once for all sprinkling in Christ’s blood.

Peter uses the sacramental language of blood to assure that we have been washed in Christ’s blood.  We are made worthy in that one time work.  We draw near to our God in confidence.   We should look to Christ, our definitive redeemer, and not look to the sign or the Gospel as our savior.  They are means of grace that point us to our savior.

Christ’s association with tax collectors and sinners, considered unclean by the Pharisees, posed a problem as it contradicted their understanding of holiness. They show their hand by being grumblers.  This recalls for us tragic times in Israel’s history when Israel lost sight of God’s purpose.

Christ does not directly interact with their complaint, but Christ speaks in two parables.  The first parable is about a shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep to find the one lost, highlighting his passion and love for his one sheep. This parable, though challenging to the Pharisees due to their negative perception of shepherds, underscores Christ’s role as the good shepherd seeking out the lost.  Christ is the good shepherd promised in Ezekiel 34.

Christ’s second parable that he uses to address the pharisee’s concern is a parable about a lost coin. A woman loses her coin.  This is most likely a dowry that is set apart to give the widow some financial security in the event of widowhood or divorce.  She finds the coin, invites the villagers to celebrate, and that rejoicing is parallel to the shepherd who returns home to his village after finding the lost sheep.

These parables contrasts the Pharisees’ self-righteousness and lack of understanding of the need for repentance. The text emphasizes the importance of finding righteousness and redemption in Christ, rather than relying on one’s own standards, and encourages a mindset of celebrating the lost coming to faith.

The most shocking part is that the angels in heaven celebrate the lost being found and coming to place of repentance.  The angels in heaven are so holy they have every right to be self-righteous.  However, they celebrate a sinful coming turning one’s ways to align with the purpose of Christ and his kingdom.

Let us celebrate repentance, recognizing our continual need for God’s grace and call to conform to Christ out of gratitude. Let us desire to align with the heavenly choir, celebrating the kingdom’s priorities.

The means of grace, the preaching of the Gospel, and the sacraments are means that God uses to nourish Christians.  They are not the source of life, but the means to being nourished by life. Sacraments communicate the visible gospel.  While the sacraments are important, they should not be elevated above Christ or the preaching of the Gospel.  They are given to us because we are weak in our faith.  They nourish us in the same grace that the Gospel communicates.  Ultimately, we are nourished and living in Christ.

Paul emphasizes the centrality of the gospel message in salvation, highlighting the preaching of the Gospel as a means of the Lord’s power to unite believers with Christ and receive Christ’s blessings. Paul appeals to Abraham to show that the sacrament is not a sign of Abraham’s faith, but a seal of the promise declared in the Gospel. Abraham receives the sign because he doubts the Lord’s gospel promise.  The Lord gives him the sign and seal of circumcision because Abraham doubts that the Lord really can bring life from death.  Abraham doubts that the Lord will continue his victorious line through a barren couple.   

Sacraments are given to us because we fail to heed the Lord’s word or see His power.  The Lord continues to work in us through His means, even if we don’t understand how.  The preaching of the gospel is the priority because it is the preaching of the gospel that proclaims the Lord’s gospel promise.  The sacraments merely communicate the same message, but visibly before our eyes.  Let us never doubt the life-give power that is ours in the Spirit who preserved God’s people throughout the ages, and raised Christ from the dead.

Normally we think of God being a God of love.  John, the beloved apostle repeats that God is love two times in his first letter. Christ does not communicate that God is love, but that we are called to hate our family and our own lives.  This seems to contradict Moses's calling us to honor our parents.  There are certainly other places we can appeal to Moses to see an apparent contradiction.

We might think that there is a contradiction, but we need to be active listeners of Christ.  Christ’s call to hate family and self challenges the notion of a loving, comfortable kingdom that we so often associate with Christ.  He emphasizes the cross-bearing disciple, who finds identity in Christ and prioritizes heavenly values over worldly ambitions.  Ultimately, Christ’s message is for all, regardless of social status, to evaluate their ambitions in light of the cross and seek God’s will.

The temptation is for people to think that this is a kingdom of earthly glory.  Christ warns against a superficial understanding of discipleship, emphasizing the need to count the cost and understand the potential sacrifices involved.  True discipleship requires a conscious commitment to follow Christ, even if it means losing family, social status, or even our life.  This commitment involves actively seeking to live out the gospel, not for personal gain, but to glorify Christ and find identity in Him alone.  In this sense, we lose our own life because we reprioritize our values in light of the cross while seeking to live as living sacrifices before God.

Christians should conform to Christ’s image, not the other way around. This requires listening to Christ’s words with the wisdom of the Spirit, discerning His ways, and living out His priorities with grace and the Spirit.  Hearing Christ’s words is not just evaluating whether they are Christ’s words, but evaluating one’s life in light of Christ’s wisdom as we walk in the Spirit by faith.