The First Disciples

It was 4 o’clock in the afternoon and the Baptist was with two of his disciples- one was definitely Andrew and the other was, probably John the author of the Gospel. The Baptist had made quite a splash in the area, not just because of his open air baptisms in the River Jordon but also because of his teaching and unabashed challenge at the power that be. he was standing up to the bully Herod- that puppet of Rome- calling him an adulterer due to his near incestuous relationship with his sister-in-law and calling the religious leaders of his day “brood of vipers” he was preaching hell fire and damnation calling for repentance calling on men and women to share their possessions and challenging- the army, and the tax collectors to act ethically and be content with what they had and he was baptising those who responded in the river and what is more when he baptised Jesus , the son of the carpenter, the sky was torn open and a voice declared him to be “My Son, in whom I am well pleased”. WOW now that was a real impact. But now there is an element of confusion- it “looked like” John was the Prophet Elijah or Moses, at least and maybe even Messiah Himself but he nailed that by declaring for all to hear that he was NOT any of them, just a voice, making the way prepared for Messiah. No, I am definitely NOT Messiah or even Elijah or Moses but He is- pointing to Jesus the son of the carpenter- he is the “Passover lamb of God”. He is the one who “takes away the sin of the world”. Here is the confusion- no one had expected this- no one had expected that Messiah would come in this way and no one, but no one had expected that he would take away the sin of the world. The sin of Israel- YES The sin of the world- NO- for goodness sake that includes the Gentiles- what sort of a god would forgive the Gentiles? This one, says John What’s more he now says to those who had left all to become his disciples- I want you to go to Jesus, the “lamb of God”. I want you to become his disciples- my task is finished. To recognise that your job is finished is very difficult- to recognise that the work you have done is to be handed over to another person is very difficult. Some ministers find it very difficult to hand over their work to another but that is exactly what John does. That is the implication of his acknowledgement that Jesus has surpassed him even though he was before him. God had opened his eyes to see that this Jesus was much more than another Rabbi, much more than his cousin- he was the one. Just as Goid opened the eyes of the Apostle Paul many years in the future so he opens the eyes of the Baptist- it took the 12 disciples a lot longer to recognise this but God has revealed it to him and that is what we are called to do in our churches- to reveal Jesus- HOW? By reading the word of God By praising Him By preaching I all these ways we are pointing to Jesus.. BUT the supreme way is to let people see Jesus in our lives. We are His witnesses- perhaps the only witnesses that some people will ever see.. Some will never read the Bible Some will never come near a church But they will see you. John pointed away from himself and to Jesus and that is our task also.- the application for you and me is that we reveal Jesus to all those who enter our lives If John says “GO TO JESUS” Jesus says COME AND SEE Jesus takes the initiative- the usual way for a young boy was to search out a Rabbi he thought would teach him but Jesus turns that on its head when he makes the first move and he chooses the 12 of his band. For him he wanted a band of men who would spend the next three years with- he was to become their mentor. For the next three years he ASSOCIATED with these men: They ate with Jesus The wept with him Slept with him Laughed with him In short they became family. John sends them to Jesus and so they sidle up to him discreetly and Jesus asks them, as he sees them coming- What do you want? I think they probably wanted to spend some time with Him, to ask him some penetrating questions and to see how he would react to certain circumstances and decide if He really was the one John said he was. So Jesus says- “COME AND SEE” They asked- “where are you staying?” The truth was that he had many places where he stayed but he said that he had nowhere to lay his head- he had nowhere he could call home- his home was really with His heavenly father, who was in heaven. So they went with him and became his band of disciples- they went for afternoon tea and stayed til He died. Our lesson is that we need to take the time to spend it with Jesus.- we need to take time to pray to him to read His word to have fellowship with him and I turn this means we need to give time to His people. Jesus tells us to make other disciples and to teach them everything he has taught us. As we see Jesus do so we are to “Go and Do” they are to go into all the world- starting with Jerusalem and Judea and crossing the boundaries of culture, tradition and politics. Acts 1:8 Now we have Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter who came and saw Jesus, spend an afternoon with him and decided this was for him and he hoped that his brother would feel the same and so he goes off to tell him all about this man Jesus. A perfectly natural response and one, which we should want to repeat for ourselves.- v42 HOW ARE WE TO TAKE JESUS TO OUR FAMILY? Pray for them and teach them when they are young- it is important to pray with them before they go to sleep and especially important, if possible, for fathers to read to them- or some other father figure in the family or church.- especially for boys. Whenever possible both parents should play a part in the spiritual life of the children- too many fathers are absentee fathers. We all need to learn about being good parents and that means, among other things- - praising your child when you catch them doing something right - laughing with them - setting boundaries for them which will protect them - refusing to duck the difficult issues - forgiving them when they are wrong - saying sorry whenever you are wrong Give them a good example- demonstration is crucial- James 4 Be available for them- to talk to, to answer the questions they have. Jesus gave Himself to the disciples and that is what we are to do also- for our own family but also for the family of God- to love even if we are not loved in return. Jesus invested His time in the lives of His disciples and he told us to do the same. It was this small group of believers who took the Gospel message and turned the world upside down. Now it our turn to turn this community of distrust, misery and mutual animosity into a place where God reigns. WOW that would be something!!

The Lamb of God

After the inquisition with the Priests and Levites John identifies Jesus as LAMB of God, ”who takes away the sin of the world” and as ” the Son of God”. John is not the one they have been waiting for but Jesus is- now this is revealed to John by God himself- the whole point of John’s baptism was that Jesus might be revealed to all those watching and with the descending of the Holy Spirit in the shape of the dove it made quite an impact. We too are called to point to Jesus Christ in the way we live- that is our street level calling. John brings GOOD NEWS - he is not the good news himself but he is like the delivery man he brings it to your door. The good news is that Jesus Christ “TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD” Let’s take this a little further- let’s click on this computer icon to see more. The meaning of this life is that he came to do everything necessary for the whole world to be forgiven- in the first creation God made the world and said it was very good and here in the new creation he is saying that God sent Jesus to restore the whole world- that is the men and women, the animals, the eco-system to the way it was before the fall. John wants us to know that this forgiveness is not restricted to the few but for all- as Peter would say later- “God is not willing that ANY SHOULD PERISH BUT THAT all SHOULD COME TO ETERNAL LIFE” It is very important that Christians recognise this UNIVERSAL HOPE which lies in the very heart of God- when Presbyterians baptise a child they do so with this is view- we are saying that this child, because of the faith of their parents is part of the family of God- just as Abraham was, just as Isaac and Jacob was- that does not mean that they cannot walk away from that relationship for they can and often do but God has done all that is necessary for us to be part of this new creation. Through the work of Jesus Christ our sins have been thrown into the recycling bin and then destroyed completely- on the computer it is as easy as pressing a button. Now the way Jesus has done that is by using the sacrificial system which stands at very heart of the Jewish faith was the sacrificial system whereby men and women, through the agency of a priest in the temple, brought various types of animals to die in their place. The New Bible Dictionary tells us that in each home there were <>

After the inquisition with the Priests and Levites John identifies Jesus as LAMB of God, ”who takes away the sin of the world” and as ” the Son of God”. John is not the one they have been waiting for but Jesus is- now this is revealed to John by God himself- the whole point of John’s baptism was that Jesus might be revealed to all those watching and with the descending of the Holy Spirit in the shape of the dove it made quite an impact. We too are called to point to Jesus Christ in the way we live- that is our street level calling. John brings GOOD NEWS - he is not the good news himself but he is like the delivery man he brings it to your door. The good news is that Jesus Christ “TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD” Let’s take this a little further- let’s click on this computer icon to see more. The meaning of this life is that he came to do everything necessary for the whole world to be forgiven- in the first creation God made the world and said it was very good and here in the new creation he is saying that God sent Jesus to restore the whole world- that is the men and women, the animals, the eco-system to the way it was before the fall. John wants us to know that this forgiveness is not restricted to the few but for all- as Peter would say later- “God is not willing that ANY SHOULD PERISH BUT THAT all SHOULD COME TO ETERNAL LIFE” It is very important that Christians recognise this UNIVERSAL HOPE which lies in the very heart of God- when Presbyterians baptise a child they do so with this is view- we are saying that this child, because of the faith of their parents is part of the family of God- just as Abraham was, just as Isaac and Jacob was- that does not mean that they cannot walk away from that relationship for they can and often do but God has done all that is necessary for us to be part of this new creation. Through the work of Jesus Christ our sins have been thrown into the recycling bin and then destroyed completely- on the computer it is as easy as pressing a button. Now the way Jesus has done that is by using the sacrificial system which stands at very heart of the Jewish faith was the sacrificial system whereby men and women, through the agency of a priest in the temple, brought various types of animals to die in their place. The New Bible Dictionary tells us that in each home there were < 49 lambs every day < 105 for special festivals < added to that there were 91 bullocks < 25 rams < and 15 goats All sacrificed every year in the Temple at Jerusalem and that is for just one family!!. When John the Baptist identified Jesus as the “lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” was he thinking of · the sin offering brought twice a day- morning and evening · or the lamb which was led to the slaughter · or the lamb which took the place of Isaac · or was ht even thinking of the 7 horned lamb which was a symbol of strength and might · or something else altogether? I’m pretty sure that all of these pictures came to the minds of those who were listening to him. This helps to explain to us why the Jews and the Muslims both make exclusive claims to the site where the present mosque sits in present day Jerusalem- the dome of the rock. For the Jew sacrifice was a constant need- while there was sin there was a need for sacrifice- it was needed for · both intentional and unintentional sins · for the sins of the community · the individual · for the priest and the laity · for the leaders · and for the common people Inspite of this importance there came a time when God said he wanted it no longer Isaiah 1:11 “The multitude of your sacrifices- what are they to me?” Says the Lord, “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals;” I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats……satop bringing me meaningless offerings!” Here many years later we have John who is saying that in this new system, this new creation, Jesus Christ is the way to the heart of God- he is the lamb who takes away the sin of the world and not their sacrifices or any other human work. This is the mistake which people often make- they think that since they have sinned, they are able to make it right with God but they cannot. John says that Jesus came to remove our sins- he just lifts them away. Eugene Petersen calls him God’s Passover Lamb. The blood of the Passover Lamb was smeared on the doors of the Jews to identify their faith in God and it was this sign- by the blood of the lamb that they were liberated and set out on the exodus and here John tells us that there is a new exodus but this tim,e the forgiveness is complete and final because this lamb is perfect and is brought also by a PERFECT HIGH PRIEST HE IS THE PERFECT SACRIFICE Along with this GOOD NEWS there is A CHALLENGE AND A WARNING The challenge is that we become part of the SOLUTION instead of being part of the PROBLEM. In practical terms we have a choice because God does not want robots he wants relationships- it’s not just about who will go to heaven and be saved from destruction- it’s about becoming the people that God wants us to be. It’s about becoming better people. How to become part of the problem 1. Opt out of God’s forgiveness- tell him that you have no sins to forgive- you are no worse than anyone else- John says that you are “blind” and need to receive sight. 2. Ignore God’s claim on your life Concentrate upon “being saved”. Accept God’s way but live as you want and forget about him-don’t bother thinking about how you are to live : · don’t bother loving one another · put yourself first all the time, always · don’t bother about justice or mercy in the world · don’t waste your time listening to the voice of God · just follow what the community is doing That should do the trick. Live like that and heaven won’t even feel like heaven when you get there! The Challenge is to live your life as Christ would have you live and the WARNING is that even the Christian can become part of the problem- being a Christian will not protect you against becoming the problem- indeed it will just place you in the firing line all the more! This happens whenever we fail to BIN OUR SIN and we let sin do its festering work within us- human nature, this side of eternity, has a habit of allowing sin to surface in our lives- instead of deleting it we just stick it into the recycling bin- we must bin it. RIP UP THE PAPER with our sins listed?? If we testify that we are Christians but then live as if we were atheists then the witness is null and void. The last thing we want to do is to do the devil’s work for him- we should want to be part of the solution and not the problem. We need to look like, behave like Christians- we should not BE AFRAID TO BE GOOD_ THAT IS WHAT BEING AND LIVING RIGHTEOUSLY MEANS Hy 105 There is a Green Hill says “He died that we might be forgiven he died to make us good”` The heart of the Christian should want to work for justice in community and in the world- so we should be part of the fight to get justice for the poor and we should be glad when a miscarriage of justice has been made right Being made righteous by the lamb of god we should recognise and welcome righteous living We should be in the vanguard of the fight against racism and sectarianism- what do we think when we raise huge amounts of money to help Muslims, Hindus and Sheiks but will not talk to our neighbour on the other side of Dunns? As Christians we are to be different- we are not VICTIMS but we are VICTORS- the world and his wife are not against us- most of the world could not care less but GOD is on our side. He has not left us as orphans but he has left us His Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ who told the disciples that they would do even greater things when He left earth and that was because he sent power from on high- so where are the greater things in Belfast? If Christ has already taken away the sin of the world and that included every race and creed and colour under the sun and it includes our neighbours then all I have to do is to FOLLOW CHRIST. All I have to do is to stay with Jesus and let Him change me and lead me. All I have to do is to claim His forgiveness and ask him to do his work in my life. The call of Christ is to be a BAND OF BROTHERS, with the Lamb as our leader. What about you are you ready to stay with Jesus?