Sample of Following Jesus

Following Jesus . . .

Sermons for Midweek Lenten Devotions by Rev. Ken Behnken

3. . . . On the Way of Empowerment

– Luke 4:16, John 11:41-44, Colossians 2:6, 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.

They took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that You have heard me. I knew that You always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent me." When he had said the, Jesus called out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."

Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correction, and training in righteousness, so that God's people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Has it ever struck you that the Son of God, when he was born of woman as one of us, a flesh and blood human, had to learn God's Word?

Picture it in your mind –

Picture Mary, his mother, teaching little Jesus in their home about God's law and about his covenant promises and teaching him to pray, just as Christian mothers today teach their little ones the truths of God by word and deed.

Picture Joseph enrolling him in the synagogue school with the other boys of Nazareth, where they would receive their first instruction in the Holy Scriptures – and, in the process, would memorize long sections of the law and the covenant history and promises. Think how that rabbi felt. Wouldn't it be something for you who are Sunday School teachers to have Jesus as a student in one of your classes? I know that I would be pleased and challenged to have such an eager, dedicated young student in my Confirmation classes.

Picture Jesus standing with his mother behind the screen in the synagogue while Joseph and his sons worshiped and studied the Scriptures with the other men of Nazareth. He wasn't fidgeting and just waiting for it to be over, but eagerly listening and looking forward to the time when he could join his father and brothers in the synagogue congregation..

Picture Jesus standing in the circle of professional teachers of the law in the temple in Jerusalem, amazing them with his understanding and his questions.

Picture Jesus standing with the boys at age thirteen at their Bar Mitzvah, when they became "Sons of Duty", giving their personal testimonies and pledges, and taking on personal responsibility for fulfilling their duties as faithful sons of Abraham.

Picture Jesus during the years he worked as a carpenter in Joseph's shop, and then on his own, establishing his custom of being present Sabbath after Sabbath for worship and study in the synagogue congregation, listening quietly to the reading of Scripture and its interpretation and application – listening quietly to his elders, for men were not allowed to speak in the synagogue until they were thirty years of age.

Throughout these years of obscurity, about which the Gospels tell us very little, Jesus our Brother was walking the Way of Empowerment. He was growing toward the time when he would pursue publicly the purpose for which he had come. He knew full well that empowerment for his mission as the promised Messiah would have to come from his Father in heaven – and he was blessed with that empowerment throughout his years of growth, and especially as he began his ministry by going to John for baptism. He was affirmed by the Voice from heaven and empowered by the Holy Spirit, who came from heaven to rest on him.

In the Spirit's power Jesus became the Teacher sent from God, teaching with authority and not as the scribes and rabbis. "My teaching is not my own," he told the people and their religious leaders, "but my Father's in heaven." In the Spirit's power he displayed the compassionate love of God as he healed the sick, fed the hungry, made the lame walk, the blind see and the deaf hear – and even raised the dead. "On the evidence of the miracles," he told his disciples, "believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me."

All the while, he continued to walk the Way of Empowerment. Sabbath days found him and his disciples in the synagogue. The great festivals found him and his disciples at the temple in Jerusalem. Day after day saw him devoting himself to communion with his Father in prayer. He knew where the Way was leading him, and he firmly declared, "I came not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me." Just as firmly he trusted that the Father and the Holy Spirit would strengthen him for the crucial time when he would be called on to offer himself as the Lamb of God for the sins of the world.

As that fateful hour approached we find Jesus in Bethany, a suburb of Jerusalem. He had received word that his friend Lazarus was sick – but had delayed his arrival in Bethany until Lazarus had already been dead four days. He comforted Martha and Mary with the comfort that really matters in such situations, telling them that he is "the Resurrection and the Life." Then he went with the sisters to the tomb, surprised them by saying, "Take away the stone," and assured them, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

Then, John's record says, "They took away the stone. Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."

Our Brother Jesus did this astounding miracle "looking up", remembering the Source of empowerment that would enable him to bring the dead back to life. He spoke a prayer so that all present might also recognize that Source. And he restored his dead friend to life.

The raising of Lazarus had varied effect. It amazed those who witnessed it, and others who heard about it from them. It led some to believe in him as the Promised One. But it crystallized the determination of the religious leaders, some of whom were present to witness it and observe the reaction of the people, to see to it that this "one man would die so that the people and the whole nation would not perish." For Jesus himself all of this was a type of what was ahead for him. He would indeed die for the people and his body would also lie for a time in a tomb. But as he raised his friend Jesus found added empowerment to go to the cross as the world's Savior. He knew that he, too, would be raised from the dead. He knew very well that the Psalmist's "You will not abandon me to the grave, nor let your Holy One see decay" and Isaiah's "after the suffering of his soul he will see the light of life and be satisfied" pointed prophetically to him, to his experience and his victory as God's Atoning Sacrifice for humanity's sin.

Now it is you and I who look in amazement and wonder on what our Savior Jesus did for us. Think of it: "God made him who knew no sin to become sin for us, so that in him we could be made the righteousness of God." As a result, we find ourselves, by God's grace, following Jesus on the Way of Empowerment. In the power of his Spirit, we have "believed in his name and have been given the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

St. Paul has told us where this Way of Empowerment leads us as children of God: "Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught – and overflowing with thankfulness." The Way of Empowerment leads to growth for us, just as it did for our Brother Jesus. And, as we continue in him and are rooted and built in him and are strengthened in our faith in him, we understand why Paul added "overflowing with thankfulness." What else could possibly be our response to our having been saved from death and hell to live forever with our God?

St. Paul also pointed us to the dynamic that produces this growth in us as children of God. It is the Spirit of God at work in us as we immerse ourselves in the truth of Holy Scripture. Paul said the Holy Scripture is "God-breathed". Peter said it "never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" and assured us that we "have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring Word of God which has been preached to us."

The Way of Empowerment took our Lord Jesus into the synagogue and into the Scriptures – and into the practice of fellowship with his Father in prayer. It leads us along the same path of growth – to our church, to the Holy Gospel, and to a life of devotion and prayer. It empowers us to die – to self – and to be raised to new life in Christ.

God's Word is powerful in its dynamic, but it is very practical in its purpose. Paul said it is "useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness." Its goal is to "equip us thoroughly for every good work."

A humorous quip about exercising says, "I joined an exercise club at the beginning of the year – and I haven't lost a pound. I guess you have to show up."

Are you ready not only to join the club but also to show up for the useful spiritual exercise that will lead to your growth in Christian faith and life as you follow Jesus on the Way of Empowerment?

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