Who is Jesus to you? Take a moment and just
think about who Jesus is to you. It’s an important question because how you
answer it will affect the way you live the Christian life. What you think
of Jesus will determine how you live for Jesus.
You’ll remember that the basis of our study
right now is the event surrounding Jesus’ walking on water and Peter asking
the Lord, “If it is you then command me to come to you on the water.”
Jesus says, “Come,” and he walks on water. He had a proper
understanding of who Jesus is. And stepped out in faith. In comparison the
other disciples are stuck in the boat – they are gripped with fear because
they fail to understand who Jesus is.
During this study I find myself more and more
identifying with the 11 disciples in the boat – and the goal of this study
for myself is to be less like those 11 disciples and more like Jesus who
depended fully on God his father and expressed that dependence every day in
acts of faith. It is my prayer for you too, if that is where you find
yourself.
What you think of Jesus will determine who you
live for Jesus, how you act in faith in Jesus
For instance there was a group in the States
who made the news not to many months ago who thought God was condemning
Canada for it’s lax laws concerning abortion, gay marriage. divorce and
remarriage. Do you remember the headlines? As a result of God’s judgment,
they say, a man was brutally stabbed to death and decapitated while riding
on a Greyhound bus. They were going to come and make their point at the
poor man’s funeral by picketing the funeral.
How they perceive God determined their
actions.
It is true in all areas of our life. If your
next door neighbour sends you a note inviting you to a party and you already
have something planned, you may just shrug it off. But if the Prime
Minister of Canada was to invite you to a party you would, I think, make
every attempt to make it even if you had something planned. Why? Because
of we generally believe that the Prime Minister is a person of
importance.
So it is vital that we are clear about who
Jesus is because what we think of Jesus will determine how we live for
Jesus.
Jesus tells us a story of three servants who
receive a wonderful and large gift from their master. The master is going
on a trip and so he entrusts his fortune, and it is a fortune to each of his
servants. To one he gives five talents – a weight measure that could have
been given in gold, silver or copper. The NIV gives you a little note at
the bottom of the page saying that a talent was worth more than a thousand
dollars. D. A. Carson disagrees with this saying that, that amount is far
too low. One talent would take a slave 20 years to earn. It was a vast
amount.1
To one servant he gives five talents and to
one he gives two talents and to another he gives one talent. The five
talent man and the two talent man immediately put the money to work and
double their master’s investment.
But the one talent man buries his talent in
the ground. Why? Verse 24 - “Master, I knew you are a hard man,
harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not
scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the
ground. See, here is what belongs to you.”
He has this picture of the master and based on
that picture he is motivated to nothing else but hide the talent in the
ground. And then look what happens the talent is taken from him and given
to the one with ten talents and he is thrown away into the darkness and seen
as useless.
Now the lesson of the story is fairly clear,
isn’t it? We’ve all be given gifts, some have been given more and some less
but we have all be given gifts, responsibilities, opportunities to work for
God and we each have a responsibility to use those for the furthering of the
kingdom. Helping others, serving others, hospitality, building one another
up, helping the poor, the hungry and proclaiming the gospel in word and
deed.
Now, this is a second in a series of parables
that Jesus tells about the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven of
course is not a place but refers to the reign and rule of God.
In the first parable, the NIV calls the
parable of the 10 virgins, Jesus stresses the importance of an inward
attitude – that’s important – be vigilant. In this second parable Jesus
stresses the importance of outward demonstration of God’s reign – be
diligent. The one talent man wasn’t diligent because he has a wrong picture
of who his master is.
Who is Jesus to you?
Max Lucado in his book, Six Hours one
Friday speaks of who many people see Jesus usually in one of three ways:
“For some Jesus
is the Rabbit’s Foot Redeemer. A good luck charm. Pocket-sized. Handy.
Easily packaged. Easily understood. Easily diagrammed. You can put his
picture on your wall or you can stick it in your wallet as insurance. You
can frame him. Dangle him from you rear view mirror or glue him to your
dashboard.
“His specialty is getting you out of a
jam. Need a parking place? Rub the redeemer. Need help on a quiz? Pull
out the rabbit’s foot. No need to have a relationship with him. No need to
love him. Just keep him in your pocket next to your four leaf clover.
“For many he’s an Aladdin’s Lamp Redeemer.
New jobs. Pink Cadillacs. New and improved spouses. Your wish is his
command. And what’s more, he conveniently reenters the lamp when you don’t
want him around.
“For others, Jesus is a Monty Hall
Redeemer. All right, Jesus, let’s make a deal. For fifty two Sunday’s a
year, I’ll put on a costume – coat, tie, hat – and I’ll endure any sermon
you throw at me. In exchange, you give me the grace behind pearly gate
number three.”
The Rabbit’s Foot Redeemer, the Aladdin’s Lamp
Redeemer, The Monty Hall Redeemer. Few demands, no challenges. No need for
sacrifice. No need for commitment.2
How you think about Jesus determines how you
will live for Jesus. So lets make sure that what we think about Jesus is
based on Scripture. In this parable and in the context of this passage it is
clear that Jesus is a judge who will come and evaluate us on deeds done in
the body, what we have done with the gifts He has so generously given to
us.
And that certainly is part of who Jesus Christ
is. Scripture is clear that He is the righteous judge who will judge the
living and the dead.
·
“In the presence of God and
of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead …” (2 Timothy
4:1)
·
Jesus said that “the Father
judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son.” (John 5:22)
·
And in the book of Romans we
read that “we all will stand before the judgment seat of God.”
(Romans 14:10)
·
“You then, why do you judge
your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all
stand before God’s judgment seat.” (Romans 14:10)
·
1 Corinthians 5:10 - “For we
must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may
receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good
or bad.”
·
2 Timothy 4:8 “Now there is
in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
Judge, will award to me on that day and not only to me, but also to all who
have longed for his appearing.”
Do you see Jesus that way? Do you understand
that He is a righteous judge and He will judge us for what we have done?
You say, I thought I was saved by grace alone
and that is true, but we will be evaluated for what we have done with the
grace, the new life, the Spirit and how we have used it for His glory.
But let me stress that this should not lead us
to fear. The one talent man’s image of his master lead him to fear and
inactivity instead of action. Our understanding of Jesus as the righteous
Judge is not one that should cause us to fear. It is rather an understanding
that should lead us to awe and wonder and thanksgiving. Here is the judge
who will come and set everything right. Here is the judge who will finally
seen for what He is – every person of every tongue and nation and colour
will finally see that the Lord is the Lord.
Now here we have to be careful. Because if
we have a picture of Jesus as the righteous judge who will evaluate deeds
done in the body – and if that is the only picture we have of Jesus – then
we are in trouble. Because sometimes that can lead to fear and immobilize
us and we end up burying our one talent in the ground.
Let me explain. You understand now that what
the servant thought about his master determined how he lived for his master.
In fact it is clear that one talent man had a wrong picture of his master
and ends up offending him. and the master in a stroke of logic says, even if
I did harvest where I did not sow you should have at least invested my money
in a bank so I could receive interest.
It is crucial that we understand correctly who
Jesus is. And so with you and me. Jesus is the one who will judge us and
indeed we need to be in awe of Him and we need to revere Him but if that’s
all we know of Jesus then our Christian life will be filled with wagging
fingers and “shoulds” and “have tos”. And that’s not the Christian life.
The Christian life is a wonderful romance – a
love story between the one who first loved us and laid his life down for us
and ourselves. It’s this thrilling relationship that is not filled with
“have tos” and “shoulds.” Imagine a relationship between a boy and a girl
where the boy is always saying, “I have to go out with my girl friend
tonight.” What kind of relationship is that?
Or “I have to take my girl friend out to a
fancy restaurant.” And you say, “What do you mean you have to?” And he
says, “O, you don’t know my girl friend. If I don’t take her out she’ll
give me what for I’ll be cast out into the darkness and made to live in the
dog house I have to take your to a fancy restaurant.”
That’s the way many see our relationship with
Jesus Christ. “I have to go to worship. I have to forgive my enemies. I
have to love my neighbour. I really should go to that prayer meeting. I
have to use my talents for the good of the kingdom because if I don’t I’ll
be cast into the outer darkness.” My friends, if that is the way you are
living the Christian life day in and day out then you do not fully
understand who Jesus is.
No - the boyfriend says, “Mom, dad can I have
the keys I’m going to see my girlfriend – thanks, bye, don’t wait up.” And
so our understanding of who Jesus must be a great lover of our souls and our
relationship with Jesus is an awesome love relationship.
There is a danger in pressing the parallels of
the parables too far. And in this parable of the talents the master does
not completely equal Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus is like the master in that He
gives to His servants generously. Isn’t Jesus Christ generous to you? That
truth is present in the event we studied last week of the feeding of the
five thousand. There were 12 baskets full left over. Our God is generous.
Yes, Jesus is like the master in that He
expects us to do something for the kingdom with the opportunities and
abilities and gifts He has given us. There is a note of responsibility
clearly struck in this parable.
Yes Jesus is like the master in that He has
the authority and the power to judge our actions as we have seen.
But Jesus is not like the master in this
regard – the master leaves his servants alone. Jesus has not left us
alone. Jesus Christ indwells each of us. We are His body here on earth.
We are His tongue, His head, His feet, His hands. Juan Carlos Ortiz says,
“that it is
wrong to speak of the time when Christ was on earth – Christ is on earth.
He walks on earth in us. Our arms are his arms. He wants to hug people
through us. He wants to think through us. He wants to love through us. He
is in us. With a purpose to continue the work on earth.
When he walked on earth he was only
one but now he is many. He used to have one set of legs now he has millions
of legs. We are the body of Christ. Christ dwells in the world through you
and through me.”3
Do you see? Jesus Christ has not left us
alone – He is in us and He is the great lover of our souls.
So now instead of saying, “We should
go to worship” we now say, “I get to go to worship” Instead of
saying, “I have to use my gifts,” we say, “I am able to use my
gifts.”
Do you see? How you think of Jesus determines
how you act. And if you think of Jesus as the one who indwells you – Christ
in you – no longer is Christianity this duty that you must perform for fear
of being judged. Christianity becomes this glorious lifestyle in which every
call of God becomes a real opportunity, for He who is in us is greater than
he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). Every time we are called by God to get
out of our boats of comfort and safety and selfishness we can do so knowing
that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Philippians
4:13)
I recently read a testimony by Bill Welte,
President and CEO of America's KESWICK. He wrote of how he had
“one of those
difficult meetings where I had to ask a very dear friend to do something
that was completely out of his comfort zone. I could sense his agony over
what I had asked him to do, and I was in a very difficult spot as his boss
because I knew he needed to take responsibility in this area.
At one point in the conversation he made
the statement, ‘I can't do this.’ The Holy Spirit prompted me to remind him
that his statement was absolutely true! There are so many things WE can't
do, but through CHRIST He enables us to do impossible things, often
stretching us out of our comfort zones.
I shared with him that I was a living,
breathing testimony of being put in situations where I KNEW I couldn't do
something, but how wonderful my God was in supplying ALL that I needed to
accomplish the difficult thing before me. One of the promises I hold onto
during times like this is from 1 Thessalonians 5:24: ‘The One who calls you
is faithful and he will do it!’ I am SLOWLY learning that I can't but HE
CAN!
I shared with my dear friend several recent
situations where I experienced this truth and our conversation ended well.
Then God took me at my word!
That night Bill was asked to play the piano
– he is a talented piano player – though self-taught – for a memorial
service. He was playing along and then he looked out in the audience and he
saw this man whom he recognized at once as being the most amazingly gifted
concert pianist who is on the faculty of Philadelphia Biblical University
school of music, and with him was the new chairman of the music department
at Philadelphia.
And all of a sudden panic set in and
I found myself saying ‘I can't do this tonight with these guys here. There
has to be a way out.’ And then it was like the Holy Spirit tapped me on the
shoulder and said, ‘Hmmmmmmm . didn't something change since you met with so
and so today? Hello?’ In other words, I got whacked with my own words.”4
He was looking to bury his talent because he
forgot who Jesus was. He is the one who indwells us and enables us to do
what He calls us to do.
And then there is this about Jesus do you know
in John 15:15 Jesus says, “I no longer call you servants, because a
servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you
friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to
you.”
Jesus says I no longer call you servants but
friends.
When we were in Austria we toured a couple of
castles built and owned by King Ludwig. One of these castles is called
Linderhof. It is a relatively small castle but ornate and beautiful just
the same. What struck me as we toured its ornate rooms was the many
passageways for the servants. They were always present but never seen.
They could move from room to room because the walls were so thick that they
allowed for passage ways. There was never any interaction between king and
the servants – even the dining table was designed so that it could be
lowered through a whole in the floor, it could be set, food set out and then
raised to the waiting king.
I could only think how different our
relationship is with our King. He calls us not servants but friends. A
servant obeys his master out of duty. A servant does things because he
might be fired. A servant takes his one talent and buries it in the ground
for fear of retribution. But a friend acts out of love. And when you
think of it there is more obligation when you are friend.
A servant says I can work for God from 9 to
11:30 on Sunday morning but that’s all. And some servants pare it down to
just Christmas and Easter – “after all I belong to the union.”
But not a friend. He or she works more and
even does it with joy, because the friend wants to bring joy to his or her
friend. A friend takes that one talent and seeks to make it something more
for the sake of the friendship. A friend realizes that they may be called
to help in difficult times. There may be times of hardship and suffering but
even that doesn’t matter because we are doing it for a friend who is near
and dear to us and we would do anything for that friend who has done
everything for us.
This is why Jesus changes it from servant to
friend, not so that we can take advantage of Him, but that we can help Him
joyfully and willingly.
The teaching of this parable is plain – we
have all be given resources to use for the kingdom. They do not belong to
us. They have been given to us by our Lord and Master. We are called to
use them – we are called to use our homes for the kingdom. We are called to
use our cars for the kingdom. We are called to use our talents for the
kingdom. We are called to use our resources for the kingdom. Not because
we must – not out of fear – but out of the joyful realization that Christ
has not left us alone and calls us His friends for whom He died and rose
again.
We are reminded of this truth every time we
come around the communion table. We remember His death, His resurrection
and His coming again. We proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
We are reminded that He is indeed the one who
will come again, but he is also the one who has not left us alone. He is
present with us and loves us so much that we cannot measure its height,
width, length or depth.
Copyright MBC and Rev. Dr. Tom Cullen -
October
2008
-
D.A. Carson, Expositor’s
Bible Commentary, Matthew chapters 13-28, (Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Zondervan, 1995) 516.
