ReFrame Episode 5 - Jesus the King

Explore how Jesus' life reframes faith, culture, and identity, connecting biblical story to everyday life and purpose.

Key Takeaways

Faith is meant to shape all aspects of life, not just Sunday worship.
The biblical story reframes personal identity and cultural engagement.
The gospel is more than personal salvation; it is about God’s restoration of all things.
Jesus fulfills Israel’s story and God’s promises, connecting creation to redemption.
Living out faith involves participation in God’s mission and transformation of the world.

What the video covers

The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ reframes all human culture, bringing hope and meaning.
Many struggle to see how faith shapes everyday life beyond Sunday worship.
The biblical story invites us to understand our identity, purpose, and how to live in the world but not of it.
The episode explores Luke 24 and the Emmaus Road story, highlighting disciples' confusion and hope after Jesus' resurrection.
It critiques the narrow gospel story focused only on personal salvation and emphasizes a fuller biblical narrative.
Jesus is presented as the fulfillment of Israel’s story and God’s promises, connecting creation, Israel, and redemption.
John the Baptist’s role is crucial as a link between Jesus and Israel’s history.
The episode discusses the significance of baptism as a reenactment of Exodus and a call to become God’s true people.
Jesus’ ministry is shown as compassionate and Spirit-led, caring for the weak and preparing for the Spirit’s outpouring.
The sermon on the mount and Jesus’ teaching reveal a deeper understanding of the law and God’s kingdom.

Chapters

How does this episode explain the role of Jesus in everyday life?

The episode emphasizes that Jesus' life, death, and resurrection reframe all aspects of life, encouraging believers to see their faith as shaping daily experiences and purpose beyond just Sunday worship.

What is the significance of John the Baptist in understanding Jesus?

John the Baptist serves as the crucial link connecting Jesus to Israel’s history, preparing the way for Jesus and calling people to repentance, which Jesus then fulfills through his ministry.

Why does the episode critique the common gospel story?

It critiques the narrow focus on personal salvation as incomplete, highlighting that the full gospel story includes Jesus’ role in restoring all creation and calling believers to live out their faith in culture and mission.

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

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The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ reframes everything, bringing hope, life, and meaning to every part of human culture. And yet, many of us can't see how our faith shapes much of everyday life and experience Sunday to Sunday, the in-between days. Where was Jesus? I didn't think about the whole of who I am, what I was passionate about, or how God uniquely made me. What God's purpose is for us? What does it mean to be made in the image of God? How do we live in the world but not of the world? God wants to make us more ourselves. He is holding all things together, and he is reconciling all things to himself. We're exploring how the biblical story reframes our story. We live out of our stories, so be located in the story, the biblical story in which God reveals himself, his character, and his life.

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in-between days where was Jesus I didn't think about the whole of who I am what was I passionate about or how God uniquely made me what a God's purpose is for us what does it mean to be made in

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[Music] We started reframing Luke 24 after the resurrection. Two disciples were walking on the Emmaus Road, where Jesus met them on their journey. The disciples knew the Genesis story and the story of Israel, and they had hoped that Jesus was the Savior Israel was waiting for. But in the end, their hopes were crushed, and they were left feeling alone and confused. Are we any different? You're trained to think that your life is going to be so epic, and really, our lives are so ordinary. You know, analyzing these business problems and presenting them to the client, and still, like, doing all the ordinary things in life of having to clean my house and go grocery shopping. I think there's this mismatch in my head of like what my life is supposed to be like.

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does the biblical story reframe our story we live out of our stories so be located in the story the biblical story in which God reveals himself his character in his life [Music] we started reframing Luke 24 after the

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Kristine Buchholz, who we met in Episode Two, had a successful career in business alongside her family life, but for a long time, she had great difficulty connecting all aspects of her life with her faith in Christ. I spent a lot of time in this kitchen cooking three meals a day for my kids: breakfast, lunch, and dinner, cleaning a lot of dishes, cleaning it. You know, I'm on the floor a lot with a paper towel cleaning up crumbs, and so I think often that this is the bane of my existence. I feel it the most when I'm cleaning the floors, and I feel like, wow, is this what my life is about? It just feels so ordinary and mundane, and it shouldn't. My life be about more than this?

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the end their hopes were crushed and they were left feeling alone and confused are we any different you're trained to think that your life is gonna be so epic and really our lives are so ordinary you know analyzing these

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[Music] Growing up, I learned a lot about the importance of personal salvation and personal morality, but I don't think I grasped any sense of how my faith interacted with the world and how to live out my faith. We believe Jesus loves us and died for us, but why do we struggle to see Jesus connected to all the things we do? The gospel story that many of us grow up with is an incomplete but true story. The basic story that Christians have today is something that goes like this: God loves you, you are a sinner, Jesus died for you. If you accept him into your heart, you can be reconciled to God, and when you die, you get to go to heaven.

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like Kristine Buchholz who we met in Episode two had a successful career in business alongside her family life but for a long time she had great difficulty connecting all aspects of her life with her faith in Christ I spent a lot of

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And so that story is a very narrow, private, personal salvation story. When we frame the basic story that way, it's all over when we accept Jesus. As a result of that, the Christian life is sort of a tack-on. It's what follows from getting saved so that you can spend forever with God. There's no task, there's no calling in culture, there's no calling to a job, there's no calling to an enhancement of this world on behalf of God. If many of us have an incomplete gospel story, what is the full story of who Jesus is and why he came? In this episode, our focus is on encountering Jesus afresh and hearing how all the scriptures, starting in creation and Israel, find their fulfillment in him.

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I think often that this is the bane of my existence I feel it the most when I'm cleaning the floors and I feel like wow is this what my life is about it just feels so ordinary and mundane and it shouldn't my

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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him, all things were made. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

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live out my faith we believe Jesus loves us and died for us but why do we struggle to see Jesus connected to all the things we do the gospel story that many of us grow up with is an incomplete

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Well, I get to talk about the most exciting thing of all: Jesus, the climax of history. Now, in the previous session, Phil alluded to the fact that God would bring Israel back from exile, and we join this story after they've been in the land for 400 years. But there are problems. Most Jews still actually lived outside the land. They were ruled not by a Davidic king but by the pagan Romans. Do you see that Israel's story is on a knife-edge at this moment? And the question is, where was God in all of this? What happened to all those promises of restoration? What does it mean to be Israel now?

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die you get to go to heaven and so that story is a very narrow private personal salvation story when we frame the basic story that way it's all over when we accept Jesus as a result of that the

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It's interesting because in the story of Jesus, the first person we meet is not actually Jesus. Surprising for some of us, but the first person we meet is none other than John the Baptist. And that's striking because I think there are very few Christians who, when they're talking to someone about Jesus, would think of starting with John. And there's a reason we do that, and that's because we don't actually take seriously Jesus' place in Israel's narrative. But all four Gospels agree: you can't understand Jesus apart from John. He's the one; he's the link that connects Jesus to Israel's history. So what's John doing? What's his role in all of this?

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this world on behalf of God if many of us have an incomplete gospel story what is the full story of who Jesus is and why he came in this episode our focus is on encountering Jesus afresh and hearing

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Well, centuries before Jesus, the Jews who had returned from exile knew that things weren't exactly as they ought to be. Jerusalem and its temple, for those who could remember, was only a shadow of its former glory. There was no Davidic king, and the nation, far from being attracted to the glory of Jerusalem shining, hardly even noticed. So they began to complain. They felt that God had not, in fact, kept his part of the bargain. And then along comes Malachi. He's the last of the great writing prophets, and he tackles this head-on. He declares that it wasn't God's fault, actually, but theirs. It was because of their continued disobedience that God had not come. Or they were doing—they were failing to teach truthfully. The priests, the leaders of God's people, were divorcing their wives. They were offering God diseased animals. In fact, it's an act of mercy, really, that God didn't come, because if he did, it wouldn't have been for blessing; it would have been for judgment.

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nothing was made that has been made in him was life and that life was the light of all people the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it the word became flesh and made his

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So Malachi declared that God would one day send a messenger, someone like Elijah, to prepare his people before God Himself arrived, lest the land be cursed. And that's who John is. You might have wondered why the Gospels describe John's garments. They're not interested in a new fashion line of desert wear or something, desert denims by John the Baptist incorporated. That's not what it's about. He looks like Elijah, and what's he doing? He's in the desert, and he's baptizing people. Now, what's baptizing people? That's taking people through water. Think about that. Where have you seen someone in the desert pass through some water? Yeah, exactly, you've got it. He's re-enacting the Exodus.

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of history now in the previous session Phil alluded to the fact that God would bring Israel back from exile and we join this story after they've been in the land for 400 years but there are problems most Jews still actually lived

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Now, what's he doing? What's going on here? And notice this time, people are not leaving Egypt to go into the desert; they're leaving Israel. You see, people have begun to realize that the real problem here is, in fact, God's people. So what they do is they come out from their cities and their towns into the desert, re-enacting their own personal Exodus. And in being baptized and confessing their sins, they're affirming their commitment to become God's true people in preparation for his coming. And notice that Jesus' first act as an adult is to signal his identification with this movement. And not only that, not only does he affirm what John's doing, he actually takes up the fulfillment of John's message in himself. The baptism is key to all of this.

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restoration what does it mean to be Israel now it's interesting because in the story of Jesus the first person we meet is not actually Jesus surprising for some of us but the first person we meet is none other than John the Baptist

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So what happens at the baptism? A couple of things worth noticing in the narrative: the people confess their sins as they go into the water. Not so with Jesus. Jesus says nothing, but God confesses Jesus, and he does it two ways. First of all, through sending his Spirit. Of course, if you know Israel's narrative, you'll know that the Spirit is absolutely critical to all of this. That's what Isaiah looks...

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Jesus place in Israel's narrative but all four Gospels agree you can't understand Jesus apart from John he's the one he's the link that connects Jesus to Israel's history so what's John doing what's his role in all of this

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well centuries before Jesus the Jews who had returned from exile knew that things weren't exactly as they ought to be Jerusalem and it's temple for those who could remember was only a shadow of its former glory there was no Davidic King and the

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nation's far from being attracted to the glory of Jerusalem shining hardly even noticed so they began to complain they felt that God had not in fact kept his part of the bargain and then along comes Malachi he's the

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last of the great writing prophets and he tackles this head-on he declares that it wasn't God's fault actually but their's it was because of their continued disobedience that God had not come or they doing they were failing to

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teach truthfully the priests the leaders of God's people were divorcing their wives they were offering God diseased animals in fact it's an accent an act of mercy really that God didn't come because if he did it wouldn't have been

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for blessing it would have been for judgment so Malachi declared that God would one day send a messenger someone like Elijah to prepare his people before God Himself arrived lest the land be cursed and that's who John is you might have wondered why the

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Gospels describe John's garments they're not interested in a new fashion line of desert wear or something desert denims by John the Baptist incorporated that's not what it's about he looks like Elijah and what's he doing he's in the desert and he's baptizing

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people now what's baptizing people that's taking people through water think about that where have you seen someone in the desert pass through some water yeah exactly you've got it he's re-enacting the Exodus now what's what's he doing what's going on here and notice

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this time people are not leaving Egypt to go into the desert they're leaving Israel you see people have begun to realize that the real problem here is in fact God's people so what they do is they come out from their

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cities in their towns into the desert re-enacting their own personal Exodus and in being baptized and confessing their sins they're affirming their commitment to become God's true people in preparation for his coming and notice that Jesus first act as an adult is to

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signal his identification with this movement and not only that not only does he affirm what John's doing he actually takes up the fulfillment of John's message in himself the baptism is key to all of this so what happens at the baptism

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couple of things worth noticing in the narrative the people confess their sins as they go into the water not so with Jesus Jesus says nothing but God confesses Jesus and he does it two ways first of all through sending his

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spirit of course if you know Israel's narrative you'll know that the Spirit is absolutely critical to all of this that's what Isaiah looks for that's what Ezekiel is longing for Joel speaks about this Israel needs the spirit if they're

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actually going to be God's people they can't do it on their own and when Jesus goes through the water what the sends upon him the long-awaited Spirit of God this is the beginning of the new creation that God promised and

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then there's the voice God speaks and it's his declaration of who Jesus is and therefore what he is to do it picks up on to text Sam - and I say here 42 Sam - talks about the great Davidic Messiah

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reigning in Jerusalem and through his reign God will exorcise his world worldwide rule over the nations Isaiah 42 on the other hand talks about this enigmatic servant of the Lord no one's really sure who yes but they know that

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God will put his spirit upon him and his job would be to restore Israel and himself also to be a light to the nation's but the interesting thing about this servant is he's not going to do it like a conquering warrior he won't raise

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his voice in the streets on the other hand he won't break a bruised Reed and he won't quench a smoking flex those people have almost lost hope this almost declining into total and utter weakness this servant will take care of them

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extraordinary compassion and the combination is critical because what's going on there is we're being told that David's great son has come he's going to exorcise God's rule over the nation's but not in a way that people were expecting now that's not all

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notice that Jesus is also called son now think about this he's passing through the water he's called son and then he goes into the desert for how long for 40 days where have you seen that before Exodus 422 God says to Pharaoh through

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Moses Israel is my firstborn son and then he leads them through the water and into the desert for 40 years what's going on Jesus is taking up Israel's narrative into himself he is actually going to embody the East rather destroy was never

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really able to be and just as Israel was tempted in the desert so to Jesus and the difference is he doesn't fail now Matthew and Luke relate these same three events in a different order but the basic point remains the same will Jesus

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betray his sonship will he use his power in ways that deny God's character and the first test you're hungry dying is not much good here use your power turn the stones into bread you might be tempted to do that you see but with so

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much at stake Jesus makes a really important statement it is not just about eating a life that's not committed to doing what God says is actually not a life at all I will not use my power from my own benefit even if it means my death

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Satan takes into a high mountain shows him all the armies of the world the kingdom of God it's a big job kingdoms neat armies miami's can help just do it my way Jesus says no I will not coerce people this kingdom is about

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trust given willingly finally to the temple full of religious people all waiting for God to come evening sacrifice praying for deliverance Satan's hasn't got all worked out a sequin jumpsuit big J on the front put you on the top of the temple I've got

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you to hide either place still not feeling I'm looking for right in the climax at the moment you can leap off and from ten thousand third so what's going to happen and suddenly a rumor of feathers right and they bear

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him up and man after that you can have them all with you and Jesus says no way I will not manipulate people's deepest religious longings and the Gospels tell us that because of this because he does not betray his sonship he does not

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betray God's character he comes out of the desert in the power of the Spirit announcing the kingdom of God but in keeping with God's character [Music] it's Jesus reliving Israel's experience in the wilderness being tempted as Israel was only this time the good news

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is that Jesus is victorious and obedient unlike Israel in the wilderness therefore he enters into the land as the conquering King and he assigns governorship of the land to 12 apostles as it was assigned to twelve tribal leaders in Israel now we have 12 tribal

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leaders for the new land for the new Israel with a new king and Jesus is beginning to usher a revolution a kingdom revolution all rooted in the story of Israel none of this stuff makes sense without the story of Israel the gospel is very

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clearly revealed Jesus to us as the fulfillment of all of Israel's hope taking it back to the kingship of David to show Jesus as the true king of Israel they also take him back to Abraham as the true Israelite the one who by faith

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believed God and was promised a land and that he would be a blessing to all the nations but they also take him all the way back to Adam as the new Adam the one truly made in the image of God who

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fulfills what Adam was supposed to be for the world and he shows us what it is to be in the image of God and shows us what it is to be truly human not just fallen human but what humans were

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created to be now two things in particular characterize what Jesus does his mighty deeds and his mighty words first of all his mighty deeds now much has been said about Jesus miracles what the New Testament itself calls his mighty deeds

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I'm going to focus on just two elements Ian's earlier spoke of people being made in God's image God said to Moses I am the one who gave people eyes to see ears to hear mouth to speak one of the key

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aspects of Jesus healings is precisely this he's healing of the blind the Deaf the lame the mute is what God's commitment to restoring his image in human beings and alongside that stands Jesus casting out of unclean spirits humans were designed to be indwelt by

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God's Spirit so what Jesus does is he anticipates the time when God's Holy Spirit will be poured into every human being who believes in Him and he preparing for that he casts out these unclean spirits striding through the

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land left him right and they go great stuff a second thing Jesus in the boat with his mates one day with his disciples there's probably a better way of talking about it but mates being Australian of course and a great storm

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arises they're terrified and he's asleep so what do they do will they come we did not presume to come to this you're sleeping Vince thrashing around righteousness oh Lord no they don't do that they say wake up do something and

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he does what he actually says his son sorry shut up it sounds a bit blunt but the staggering thing is it does and the Gospel writers tell us that the site of the disciples are more afraid of Jesus

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than they were of the storm now why because they're Jewish people and they remember in their history there's only one who tells to see what to do so you think you're in the boat with a prophet what do you do when you find yourself in

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the boat with God no one is expecting that and then immediately after he comes across a guy who's infested with Legion a whole military host of demons Jesus cast them out they were innocent Pig so he had militarized porkers right and

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they ran down into the sea and drown and here's the question where have you seen someone command the sea and immediately after a military host is drowned therein do you know who this is can you see who you thought he was just

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the Messiah oh no no no no there's much more going on here and in case you missed it he then goes and feeds people in the wilderness got it wink-wink nudge-nudge say no more sure and then of course here at Jesus mighty words even

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these enemies recognized his astonishing Authority but he wants to deal with two particular questions or at least I want to and they are what is God like and what is the nature of holiness Jesus tells a story about some men who lost

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their land one of them was reduced to living hand-to-mouth if he worked he ate if he didn't he wouldn't now imagine you've got a seven-year-old daughter you didn't work yesterday what did you feed her she's hungry few things

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will destroy a man as quickly as not being able to provide for his family and now you understand this story here this guy desperate to feed his daughter he's in the marketplace first thing in the morning and no job he still waits comes

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lunchtime noonday Sun still waiting no job all through the hot afternoon getting desperate now what's he gonna do still no job and finally at the last hour someone says hey you want a job yes now do you think he's thinking about his

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work not at all he's working out where the patient is and working his way to that corner of the field so that when the bell goes he's the first one in the line and it works he's got it all

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planned he'll be first down to the bakery not enough money for food for himself but at least a little low for his daughter it's worked and then he opens his hand and what does he have the whole day's pay and Jesus says this

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is what God is like a compassion of God who doesn't give us what we deserve he gives us what we need that's what Israel was meant to be it's what we ought to be known for on another occasion Jesus goes up the mountain to

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teach you've seen someone teaching on a mountain before sure you have now at Sinai the giving of the law back then there were warnings there was a fence around the mountain across the fence and you're dead and only a few select people

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managed to go at the top but look at this mountain there's no fence around the bottom anyone who wants to can go up and encounter Jesus and what does he say there are not warnings what does he say

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his first words are these is there anybody here who just knows that they cannot do the god thing anyone here is just poverty stricken in spirit and know that they just don't have what it takes anyone here Jesus says congratulations

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because yours is the kingdom an amazing picture astonishing but it also raises the second question what then is holiness which is really important Israel was called to be holy to reflect God's character to show the world what he was like so what does God look like

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well one day Jesus and his mates again or disciples is you would have it we're walking through the wheat field having a little snack along the way and guess what up jump the Sabbath police now come on what kind of people spend their one

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day off a week lurking in wheat fields looking for Sabbath breakers we have some issues don't we now Jesus could have actually had a nice little discussion and pointed out you know what actually they're not breaking the law

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but he had a bigger point to make he said to them you know your creation story is all wrong you think God made the and then noticing that something was missing thought goodness me oh I should create people to keep the law he said

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that's not the truth at all God made the law to keep people and you know why because only people are made in God's image not the temple not the Sabbath not even the Scriptures only people are made in God's image every last one of them

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holiness then it's not so much about Sabbath keeping but people keeping that's what holiness means and that's why he says in that Sermon on the Mount what sums up the law and the prophets do to others what you would have them do to

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you this is the law and the prophets and notice the order we are not nice to people because they've been nice to us we are nice first why because that's the character of God that's what he is like

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his wonderful gift of creation his kindness to us in giving us life he's generosity and filling the world with amazing things and we know it's broken but even so the bounty is astonishing this is what God is like Jesus says

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learn to live like this [Music] Jesus was fantastic in the way he related to people he questioned anything in his religious environment that threatened the full life of people anything that that put rules and regulations before people I mean is the

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Sabbath is made for people not people for the Sabbath and so the whole his whole expression of God's purposes through his life was one of prioritizing the people especially people at the margins people that were rejected by society especially people that were were

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were not part of the of the nice beautiful Hollywood people of the day I think one of the things I've most come to appreciate about witnessing in Jesus as he enters into this historical context is seen how he both plays on

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that expectation and yet adjust them quite oppositely they expect power but he does acts of Yahweh by calming the storms he does work that only God can do that are signs of God's presence and God's power and they expect probably

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some sort of teacher but then when what we see when Jesus shows up and goes up to the mountain to give the Sermon on the Mount all the other rabbis would say well the law says or so and so says and

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give authority elsewhere and Jesus says but I say and he then gives a new law Matthew 7 it says and the crowds were astonished and I think we often missed that because we're so used to hearing Jesus as a teacher and we just don't

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even think about how shocking it was that he took this Authority and gave a new law he chose these run-of-the-mill nobodies for the establishment they weren't people of power there's a Mary there's a Peter he engages them in his

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work no matter what field of work were loved and no matter where we live I can take your skills your capacities your area expertise and use it for my purposes all you need to do is follow me and follow

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me means live as I did prioritize what I prioritize value others as I value others engage with the father as I engage with the father while all this has some pretty staggering implications what does it mean then for Jesus God in Israel the

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first one is who is this yes we know he's the fully truly human messianic son of David and servant Israel we know that but he's so much more he says to the lame man in front of his opponents stand

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up and walk right but actually your sins are forgiven and they go you can't say that only God can oh yes you can he controls nature he sets his authority over the scriptures you've heard it said to those of all but I say unto you and

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then he receives the food laws nothing going in can defile you only that which comes out implications of this are astonishing they're amazing astounding gobsmacking even however mysterious it might be for us Jesus is none other than the Lord Himself among us and the

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consequences he's remaking Israel around himself that's why he chooses 12 a radical reworking of Israel's long defied identity no longer is it about observing the law it's about following Jesus but one can only do that if one re

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understands thinks again about the nature of holiness you can only do to others what you'd like them to do to you if we first take up our crosses that's why he summons us to cross bearing discipleship I have to let go my agenda

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if I'm going to put yours first well it's no surprise this arouses some serious and deadly opposition something has to give Israel's authorities the pharisees the sadducees not going to be there so they hand over Jesus to the Roman authorities

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but amazingly even this even this betrayal he uses he will take humanity's murdering him and use it to redeem us remember the baptism in the temptation David's promise for all of the nations through our sufferings remember the temptation I will not use

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my power for my own benefit even if it kills me so anticipating his coming death Jesus initiates a new Passover where instead of the meat of the lamb it's now the bread and wine speaking to us of his

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body given to any who believed in him it's no longer an exodus from Egypt but a much greater cosmic Exodus this time from the worst exile of all death his death will become the basis of a new covenant of life for all people

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different ways to understand this when it's boiled down it means whenever we abuse other people we're actually abusing God's image which in effect says we want to we don't want God to rule over us now the problem is God is the lord of life and if you

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don't want his rule he can arrange that it's called death and because each of us have treated people badly there's all this death hurtling around the place and there's nothing we can do about it because none of us have life within

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ourselves look at me I'm dying we all are we're in desperate trouble the only one who can rescue us from this is someone who can take death into himself and overcome it and that's exactly what God does in Jesus he

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absorbs this takes our death into himself well that results then finally in a renewed vision of who God is and what it means to be human in the Gospel of John the cross becomes the place where God's true glory appears in all its splendor

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and this is really what Jesus Transfiguration pointed to it comes just after Jesus announced that he's going to Jerusalem to die why is that so important because if you want to know what God is like you look at Jesus on

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the cross because here's a God whose first concern is not about his safety or his power here's a God who will take even the punishment of rebels who hate him upon himself that they might have life here is his glory full of grace and

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truth this is where the light of the world shines most brightly Jesus self-giving for his enemies so a new vision of God and a new vision of humanity to be fully human is to reflect God's character but as the disciples on

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the road to Emmaus understood all this would mean little if it ended with the crucifixion but it doesn't because it didn't as we will learn when we get together next time [Music] the great thing about the incarnation about Jesus it's so improbable it's so

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improbable is so out of the imagination there was very little to impress in Jesus to impress anybody didn't come from a privileged home his birth was unexceptional I mean to the world and yet this becomes the place where we

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realized that everything about God is livable by people like us the Incarnation the life of Christ the crucifixion and the resurrection are astounding first and foremost because God the transcendent God was infinitely different from us and infinitely beyond

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our stories and beyond our history identifies himself with those stories identifies himself himself with his history comes to us in Jesus Christ takes on your my flesh and says I'm going to identify with you in order that you might come to me and might identify

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with my life now that is an astonishing claim in other words is the Incarnation God taking on human flesh that fills this story that fills this history of ours with incredible significance what does it mean to understand God if the

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revelation of God in its most complete form is Jesus it is really a profound question that God in his inner being is a God who self sacrifices in a cruciform way so that the cross is not the far end of the kingdom where God acted

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most unlike God but instead this is the very core of the Divine Being that cruciform 'ti is the very being of God a self-sacrificing love for the other when this takes when this happens we get a new view of God we get a new view of

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Jesus and all of a sudden Christianity is revolutionized anybody connected to Jesus is connected to salvation because he's the Savior but he's more than a savior he's the Messiah and he is creating a world a kingdom a society a

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city a new world order in which he is the ruler that's the message of the story of the Bible that God will dwell with us through Jesus and will rule us redeem us so that we can become the

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people of God in this world what is our end what is a purpose well our end our purpose is to be like Christ we are made in the image and likeness of Christ God wants to make us more ourselves to keep

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in mind that the end goal is to be Christ to be in Christ to share in his anointing to be a prophet as his prophet to be King as he is king when we become christ-like we share in his way of being

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truly human then we become really ourselves [Music] so there there are a lot of things that I've been thinking about as a mom and how like this understanding of who Jesus is as Jesus who cares about all of who

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we are not just our personal morality but how we engage with other people when I think about what my sense of calling is it is to help others thrive and so and it affects me in the work that I

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might do and how I engage with the world around me my job as a partner to my husband is to help him thrive and with my kids this help them thrive and to know that they are loved by God that

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they are given unique skills and talents and passions and my job is to help cultivate that in my community with my neighbors and the school community that we're a part of I feel like my role there is to help others to thrive my

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kitchen represents a lot for me I mean there are times where I'm washing dishes again and again especially in the summer when the kids are home from school just feel so ordinary and mundane and yet I'm reminded that the son of man did not

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come to be served but to serve and in this space and life I think it is about being obedient to what God has called us to and being faithful in these little things [Music] literally billions of people have had

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their lives transformed by Jesus they've discovered something astounding and incredibly exciting about him he's not just the saver but the Lord and the king the fulfillment of all of Israel's hopes and he invites us to follow him in

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restoring the whole of creation loving God and loving our neighbors and the same way God has loved us in the next episode we'll ask if God has given us a new start what kind of world is he building and

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how does the end of the story impact us today [Music] you [Music]

Topics:Jesus Christfaith and culturebiblical storyLuke 24Emmaus RoadJohn the Baptistpersonal salvationbaptismSpirit of GodSermon on the Mount

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