FOUR GOSPEL NECESSITIES
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on May 11, 2022 under AM Bible Study |
AM Bible Study Group: May 11, 2022 from Luke 24:44-49
Theme: The proofs of Jesus’ resurrection compelled the apostles to fulfill His commission.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
We are coming very near to the end of our study of the Gospel of Luke. And this morning, we now come to what were our Lord’s last recorded words in this Gospel account.
We’re told that, after He had presented Himself to the disciples as alive from the dead—and after He had proven to them unmistakably that He truly had been bodily raised—we’re told these words in Luke 24:44-49;
Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:44-49).
This would not be the only time that He would have spoken such words. We’re told that He gave what we call ‘The Great Commission’ in Matthew 28:18-20 to His disciples. We’re told in 1 Corinthians 15:6 that “He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once”; and since these were “brethren” (that is, believers), it may be that He spoke similar words to them. Luke tells us, in Acts 1:3, that He was seen by the apostles over a period of forty days, “speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God”. But in these words, Luke gives us the substance of what He said. They contain the marching orders of the true disciple of Jesus Christ—and the important things that are needed to be known in order to fulfill those orders.
And in these words, do you notice that there is a repeated use of words or phrases that speak of ‘necessity’?—“that all things must be fulfilled which were written …”; “thus it is written, and thus it was necessary …”; “but tarry … until you are endued with power from on high …” In the great task of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ in this world, there are certain things that are ‘necessary’—certain things that must happen.
As our Lord’s final words of instruction to us in this Gospel show us, there are four things that are ‘necessary’ for the gospel of Jesus to impact the world. And they are four things that have now been provided for and made available to us.
Consider first that, in order for the gospel to have the impact it should …
1. ALL PROMISES IN THE SCRIPTURES ABOUT JESUS MUST BE FULFILLED (v. 44).
We read in verse 44, “Then He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you …’” And the “these” of the phrase “these are the words” clearly draw our attention back to what the disciples had just gotten through witnessing. They saw that Jesus had been betrayed, arrested, tied, convicted, beaten, mocked, crucified, buried, and finally raised bodily from the dead. Jesus had told the disciples all about these things well in advance.
Look back to Luke 18:31-33, for example. As they made their approach to Jerusalem, we read;
Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again” (Luke 18:31-33).
It’s interesting that Jesus referred to those times as “while I was still with you”; as if the state of being in which He was now present with them is fundamentally different in nature than his state of being back then. He had been raised; and He was about to depart from them until the day of His second coming. But back then—back when He was “still with” them—the disciples had heard Him speak of these things repeatedly along the way. And even though the fulfillment of these things seems to have caught them by surprise, there was nevertheless an absolute necessity to them. In our passage—in verse 44—Jesus went on to say that, with reference to “these” things, “that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”
Look carefully at how He designated the different parts of the Scriptures. The books in the Old Testament of the Protestant Bible are the same as those of the Jewish Scriptures; but they are organized and arranged in different ways. In the Christian tradition, there are four main categorizations of the books of the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, History, Poetry, and Prophets. But in the Jewish tradition, there are three categorizations: Torah (i.e. ‘Teaching’), Nevi’im (i.e. ‘Prophets’), and Ketuvim (i.e. ‘Writings’). Together, they are called TaNaK (which is an acronym formed by the names of the three sections together). It was this three-fold division that Jesus was speaking of.
Jesus was telling His disciples that He is the central figure of the whole of the Old Testament Scriptures. They are all about Him. And everything that they foretold about Him—His virgin birth (Isaiah 7), His righteous life (Isaiah 52), His suffering for sinners (Genesis 3; Isaiah 53), His crucifixion (Psalm 22), and His resurrection (Isaiah 53, Jonah 2-3)—all absolutely must be fulfilled.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news of what Jesus has done. And unless He did everything that the Old Testament promised of Him, then the gospel is not ‘good news’. As the apostle Paul put it, the message of the gospel is:
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures … (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
Now; the fact that the promises of Scripture were all fulfilled by Jesus is an absolute necessity. But it is not enough alone. As our Lord’s words go on to show us …
2. THE UNDERSTANDING ABOUT JESUS MUST BE OPENED (v. 45).
After the Lord Jesus had affirmed to the disciples that the promises of the Scriptures about Him had been fulfilled by Him, we’re told in verse 45, “And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.” Before that time, the significance of these things seemed to have been closed to their understanding. When He spoke to them about these things before, we’re told;
But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken (Luke 18:34).
It was only after these things had been completed—and only after He then graciously opened their understanding to them—that they were able to truly grasp it all. Without this gracious gift of understanding, they would not have been able to proclaim Him as He commanded them to.
It would be a mistake to think that the precious truths of Jesus are things that we can grasp in our own power and by our own understanding—as if we could be in charge of them as we studied them. In order to be understood, there needs to be a deep, personal, dependent relationship with Jesus Himself; and He must open our understanding to these things. Do you remember how Jesus would teach the crowds in parables? The people who heard them couldn’t always understand them; and the disciples would often come to Him and ask Him to explain them. Mark 4:33-34 says;
And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples (Mark 4:33-34).
And that’s the key that opens the Scriptures for you and me too—to get alone with Him. We cannot proclaim what we don’t understand. And we cannot understand the truths of the gospel to this world, unless our understanding is opened. And these things are opened up to us by the Lord—through a deep and abiding relationship with Him. As Paul put it in 2 Corinthians 2:9-10;
But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).
Another thing that is necessary for the gospel to impact the world is that …
3. THE WORK OF JESUS CHRIST MUST BE PROCLAIMED (vv. 46-47).
After having testified to the apostles that the things the Scriptures promised about Him had been fulfilled—and after He then opened their understanding to these things—we’re told, “Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem’” (vv. 46-47). Do you notice that, in addition to Jesus actually accomplishing the things that the Scriptures promised about Him, another necessity is that those things now be proclaimed by human preachers? And in addition to them being proclaimed by redeemed people, it’s necessary that a response of repentance be called for.
We cannot expect the gospel of what Jesus has done to simply sit in the midst of the world and—somehow—accidentally be ‘stumbled upon’ and have an impact. The proclamation of it is absolutely necessary in order for it to have the impact that our Father intends. The message must be heard, and the response of repentance must be called for. When John the Baptist began to preach, he said in Matthew 3:3, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” And after John the Baptist was put into prison, the Lord Jesus Himself took up the same message; saying, in Mark 1:15; “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” And then, after Jesus ascended to the Father and the Holy Spirit was sent, Peter took up the same message; saying in Acts 2:38, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins …” The message must be proclaimed. The gospel must be preached. A response of repentance—a fundamental changing of the mind and heart—must be called for. As Paul put it in Romans 10:14-16;
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:14-16).
And finally, we find from our Lord’s words, that one more thing is absolutely necessary …
4. THE WITNESSES OF JESUS MUST BE DIVINELY EMPOWERED (vv. 48-49).
The gospel of Jesus Christ—the good news of what Jesus has done for us—cannot be proclaimed by human power alone. The divine message must be proclaimed; and those who proclaim it must be divinely empowered to do so. After saying all these things to the disciples, the Lord Jesus went on to tell them in verses 48-49, “And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high” (vv. 48-49). The promise He spoke of was the promise of the Holy Spirit. And they were not to run right out into the world and proclaim Him in the power of their own abilities. They needed to wait until the Holy Spirit was given … and until the Spirit empowered them to preach.
In Acts 2, we’re told the story of how the Holy Spirit had been given at Pentecost. And once that happened, the proclamation of the gospel was powerful and effective. On the first day of its preaching, 3,000 people believed on Jesus and were saved. But before that happened, Acts 1 tells us about this word of instruction from the Lord to the disciples;
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The apostles were not to proclaim on their own. As Jesus said to them in John 15:26-27—before He went to the cross for them;
“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27).
* * * * * * * * * *
Now; the Great Commission is the greatest task ever given—by the highest of all authority—in order to accomplish the greatest good that the world has ever seen. In order to do so, certain things are absolutely necessary. As our Lord teaches us, all that the Scriptures promised about Him must be fulfilled, the heart must be opened to understand what Jesus did, the work must be proclaimed, and the preachers must be divinely empowered.
Humanly speaking, the task seems overwhelming. But just think of how encouraging and motivating it is to know that the provisions of these necessities have all been given. He has kept all the promises of the Scriptures concerning our redemption. A full understanding is now available by His grace through a relationship with Him. We have been raised up by Him and have been given the call to proclaim. And the Holy Spirit has come and now indwells us to empower our work and to give the message success.
With all this in mind, we have every reason to be encouraged and to be busy doing the great work of proclaiming the gospel!
AE
