JOHN-THE INTRODUCTION TO JESUS

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In Luke 1:5-25 is recorded the miraculous birth of John. His dad was a priest (Zechariah) and his mom (Elizabeth) was unable to conceive. Both were righteous before the Lord. Then, they were chosen to have a baby with a special mission of introducing the Messiah. An angel appeared to Zechariah while performing a sacrifice:

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years." The angel said to him, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time."

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. "The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people."

John came in the spirit of Elijah. What does this mean? Well, John came wearing a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist. So did Elijah. He was a hairy man with a leather girdle.

Maybe John the Baptist is a continuation of the stance of Moses. John confronted a king, stays in the area of Jordan and the wilderness. But listen to this. Elijah also confronted an evil king, spent a lot of time outside of Israel proper, called down plagues on the land as did Moses, called down fire and was supernaturally fed by angels in the wilderness. So, Moses and Elijah played similar roles representing God. Both their lives were ended near Jericho across the Jordan. Moses was buried there and Elijah was taken up into heaven in a firey chariot. Note that John the Baptist spent his time at the same location baptizing people in the Jordan River.

One more connection between Moses, Elijah and John occurs with their successors. Elijah was followed by Elisha and was granted a double portion of Elijah's spirit. At this point Elisha walked through the Jordan on dry ground. Centuries earlier Joshua walked through the Jordan on dry ground, leading the Israelites into the promised land to conquer Jericho (Josh 3:14-17; 6). Just as Elisha was Elijah's successor, Joshua was Moses' successor. Here in Luke's portrait we see Jesus as the highest successor of all, preceded by John.

This background gives a great meaning to John's baptism. Just as Joshua and the Israelites originally entered the promised land by baptism in the Jordan, now John is baptizing people in the same place. It wasn't a convenient place to go for the people, but they went. It was like people who came to be baptized by John in the Jordan were re-entering Israel. This time, they were entering the land, acknowledging their prior failure to keep the covenant and now looking for a second chance.

I like to think that we all come in the spirit of Elijah and John with the privilege of introducing Jesus to the world around us. We don't have to preach or prophesy nor do we have to be articulate witnesses. The thought of that is most intimidating to most of us.

You can operate in the spirit of Elijah and John by simply introducing Jesus to those who are interested. Your best approach? Check out what Jesus did and said and go do it! Just by your loving touch on the people around you, Jesus will show up. Don't forget the most powerful question of all, "What can I do to help?"

THE BOOK OF LUKE

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Over the next few weeks I want to walk through the Gospel of Luke. Remember, Luke is the Gospel that presents Jesus as the Son of Man. For those of you who are really doing your best to follow the person of Jesus in a new and fresh way will enjoy this picture of Son of Man.

The key verse seems to be in chapter 19 and verse 10: For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost. As an educated physician and inspired historian Luke carries the message that Jesus is the Savior of the world.

Luke was probably a Greek and therefore was the only non-Jewish New Testament writer. Luke is the only gospel with a sequel--the book of Acts. The book of Luke is the longest gospel account and is more that 25% of the entire New Testament.

I think one of the most interesting things about this gospel is that there are 18 parables that are unique and not in the other gospels. We'll discover some amazing principles together within these parables.

Let's look at the first four verses of Luke's gospel: Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

We don't know who this Theophilus is--probably a Roman official. By the way, his name means lover of God. Luke serves the fellowship of Jesus well with his detailed account of the facts of what Jesus said and did. Although we know and love Jesus personally and each a different experience with Him, it is great to have these facts to nail down our faith.

I am reminded of the statement: "The heart can only enjoy what the mind can accept." The key to knowing Jesus is to realize that everything about Jesus happened in real, space-time history. He really lived, really loved, really suffered and died, really resurrected from the dead and will some day really return. In the meantime, we live in the spirit of Acts 29--a continuation of Jesus really working among us today.

JESUS IS THE POINT OF THE BIBLE

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I've been thinking lately about how easy it is to become side-tracked with the vastness of the Scriptures and miss the point of it all. That point which the Scriptures present is simply Jesus. Luke, the author of two of the five Gospels, notes how central Jesus is to the Scriptures.

Luke references Jesus, Himself, using the Scriptures to explain His central role. After the resurrection, Jesus joins a couple of disciples walking along the road and He begins with Moses and all the Prophets to explain what the Scriptures have to say about Him.

When Paul was in the synagogue in Thessalonica, note what he said. As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah," he said.

In the next chapter of Acts (18) we find Apollos was in the practice of proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah. Also when Philip met up with the Ethiopian eunuch, he began with the prophet Isaiah and explained to him the good news about Jesus.

The primary role of the Gospels was to take a teaching strand out of the ancient teachings of the prophets about the Messiah and pull that thread through to a fuller explanation. For instance, Matthew picked up on the teaching that the Messiah will take on the role of the King. Mark pulled through the thread that the Messiah would be the Servant. Luke picked up the teaching as the Son of Man and John presented Jesus as Messiah, the Son of God.

The Scriptures were not written to build a great religious or a theological system. The Scriptures were written to teach us and lead us to Jesus. And, this is the most frequent mistake made. Too many actually worship the Bible. This is what the Jewish leadership was doing in the 1st century and Jesus called them on it. Listen to this: You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

Salvation and eternal life is not a religious thing nor even a theological understanding; it's a personal thing. The person? His name is Jesus.

THE PURPOSE OF BEARING FRUIT

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Jesus finishes up His teaching on fruitfulness in verses 8-11 where He sets forth a few results:
 8 "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples." Two things of note here: First-God, the Father is uniquely reflected as we abide in Jesus and bear much fruit. I'm sure you have noted the progression in this chapter. We've gone from no fruit, fruit, more fruit and now much fruit. This progression of growth takes time, so enjoy the time.

Second-By doing this abiding in Jesus and bearing much fruit, we uniquely prove to be His disciples. Again, note that He is not saying that you are My disciples by knowing anything or following a list of do's and don'ts, but by abiding-hanging out with, connecting with, staying with-in Jesus as a branch abides and stays connected to a vine. Here is the formula, if you like, for being a disciple! There's no course or class! It's simply abiding in Jesus so that you are receiving your very life flow from Him. You in Him and He in you!
 
9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. 11 "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full." 
 
Jesus delineates two more benefits to those who abide in Him and He in them: First-You will be loved by Jesus in the same way His Father loved Him, so that you can abide in His love. Second-You will be given the joy of Jesus-His joy may be in you-so that your joy may be made full! How incredible is that! Someone says joy is the inner quality of life that enables you to enjoy the scenery on a detour.

So, what is being fruitful all about? What's the ultimate purpose bearing fruit? In a small gathering a few weeks ago we were discussing the parables of the Kingdom and focusing in on the sower and the soils. When I pointed out that the only action in the invisible form of the Kingdom is the sowing of the seed. One of the women in the group had a terrific insight. She said, "You know you have to be fruitful in order to have seeds to sow. Fruitfulness produces more seeds of the Good News of the Kingdom and then you sow these seeds from your life." Whoa! This blew me away! She's right!

This is why it is so important for us to be fruitful-bearing the fruit that Jesus, the Vine, produces in and through us. If we aren't fruitful, then we end up planting things other than the message of the Kingdom. We tend to plant seeds of traditions, denominationalism, doctrinal distinctives and man-made rules and add-ons. And, these seeds are unfruitful and useless with respect to Jesus and the Kingdom. What we want are the seeds produced in the fruit Jesus is producing.

Being fruitful is why we must seek to reach ourselves first. We get so bent on reaching the world that we frequently miss our own hearts. If I am abiding as a branch in Jesus, the Vine, then what I am experiencing can be given away or planted in the hearts of men and women around me. By the way, this is why Jesus was not concerned about "how many", but that the few really "get it"!

So, we are to be in the flow of planting seeds-the Good News message of the Kingdom seeds. And those seeds will naturally come out of our fruitfulness in relationship with Jesus. Note, in the Kingdom there is nothing said about "planting churches", only "seeds". This planting of seeds is most biblical as you read through the Acts of Jesus. The Good News message of Jesus and the Kingdom is planted in a new city or region. Sometimes those who were in the flow of planting these seeds remained there for a period of time and many times they kept moving on, after the message was received. Paul, Silas and Timothy spent 3 ½ weeks in Thessalonica and a major explosion echoed forth out of there.

Several years ago my wife's cousin committed suicide. I had met her and the family about a year before this tragic event. They were a prominent Catholic family in Lodi, California. Since they had a visiting priest from Asia who was difficult to understand, they asked if I would speak at the service on behalf of the family. We counted it a great privilege to participate.

The Catholic Church in Lodi is a large facility and with standing room only there were well over 1000 in attendance. My responsibility was easy and I was the only one anyone was going to understand, too. I spoke on behalf of the family and offered comfort only in the person of Jesus plus nothing. After the service, I met several people who were pleased with what I had said. One lady in particular still stands out to me. She came up to me outside and asked, "How long can you stay here in Lodi?" I quickly responded with, "Our flight is this afternoon, so only a few hours." She made it even clearer when she reiterated her question by saying, "I mean how long can you stay to continue teaching what you shared today in our homes here in Lodi?" Again, I put her off with our afternoon flight time.

On the way home it hit me like a ton of bricks! This woman was expressing to me a very large, open door to stay in Lodi for a day or two and continue the ministry with the people who were in such shock over this untimely death. I really blew it! I continually grieve over how I handled that encounter. That door was so open that anyone could have driven a Mac Truck right through it, but I had to catch a flight.

A NEW STRATEGY FOR THE TIMMONS-We are moving into a phase of our walk with Jesus and with others that is taking a little different twist. We call it THE LODI STRATEGY. We have friends in many cities around this country and beyond. We are seeking to visit these friends for coffee, breakfast, lunch or dinner, taking friends with us from our local fellowship, to share and interact with our friends about this message of Jesus and the Kingdom or JESUS PLUS NOTHING. We are looking for initial small gatherings in these cities and then see what doors Jesus opens up. We may stay one day or we may hang out in that particular city for a few days.

In other words, we are looking for Jesus to open up the doors for us to continue in the flow of planting the Good News seed of the Kingdom. We're not looking to launch anything or set up any groups or organizations in these cities. We only want to introduce "Jesus plus nothing" to those who are interested. We believe the Jesus movement will explode in the hearts of men and women as we follow through with these old and new friends.

Pray for God to raise up interested people for us to visit! Pray about what this might look like in your city! Pray about helping to make this happen!

This is ACTS 29 in action! The purpose of bearing fruit is to continue the planting of seeds in the hearts of men and women everywhere.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF ABIDING OR NOT

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As we continue following the image of being fruitful as you make like a branch hang on to Jesus, the vine, we come to John 15:6-11. Jesus explains what happens to those who think they can do something without Him--those who believe they can live their lives successfully without hanging out with Jesus. 6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.

Jesus moves from speaking about people to plants. He warns that if anyone does not abide in Him, there are severe consequences. In the case of plants when the branches don't remain connected to the vine, they will end up in the fire. NOTE 3 things here: FIRST, branches that don't abide in the vine dry out, because there is no life-giving nutrition allowed to flow through the vine into the branch. Disciples who don't abide in Jesus, the Vine, also dry out, because they are not receiving the life of Jesus.

SECOND, branches that don't abide in the vine become completely useless, because there is no fruit being produced. Fruit is the purpose of the life of a plant. Disciples who don't abide in Jesus, the Vine, are also completely useless and unfruitful.

THIRD, branches that don't abide in the vine are thrown away, gathered up, and are cast into the fire to be burned in the trash. Disciples who don't abide in Jesus, the Vine, are thrown aside and trashed, instead of fulfilling the purpose and mission for them. I don't see this as referring to a disciple's salvation, but usefulness and purpose. Dallas Willard adds to this potentiality of not abiding in Jesus: "For the one who makes sure to walk as close to Jesus as possible there comes the reliable exercise of a power that is beyond them in dealing with the problems and evils that afflict earthly existence. Jesus is actually looking for people he can trust with his power. He knows that otherwise we remain largely helpless (and useless) and unable to promote his will for good in this world with adequate power."

So, here you have it, IF YOU DON'T ACT LIKE A BRANCH AND ABIDE IN JESUS, THE VINE, you not only can do nothing significant, but you are attempting to live a life that is absolutely useless and unfruitful. All you are left with is "What might have been."

In verse 7 Jesus returns to those who abide in Him when He says: 7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is such a powerful statement to hear! Again He says "If you abide in Me" and now He adds and My words abide in you". What I'm learning is that this abide in Jesus as a branch abides in the vine must be purposeful. It means arranging your life, arranging your prayer-asking and listening, and arranging your silences in such a way that there is never a day when we give ourselves a chance to forget Him.

Now, if you are abiding in Jesus in this way, the more you become like the vine itself-you walk, talk, think and love just like Him. Your thoughts are so permeated with His thoughts that your inner character is being transformed. Then, it is easy to understand that your wishes are the same as His wishes, so you are walking in sync with Him and whatever wish you ask will be done for you. Now that's mind-boggling! But not out of the realm of possibility and reality. Otherwise, Jesus would not instruct us to be like this.

An amazing simplicity will take over our lives-a simplicity that is really just transparency." Abide in Me and I in you. Jesus wants to inhabit your life and all He is looking for is your willingness to cooperate!