Church of the Nazarene East Rock

Questions Jesus Asked – Do You Want to Get Well?
When you’re ready, He is.

Today we continue in our 4-part teaching series “Questions Jesus Asked”

Often, we are quite content to ask questions of Jesus. Who are you? Where are you? Do you hear me? How could you let that happen? What do you want me to do?

We often ask questions of Jesus, but do we pause to hear the questions he asks of us?

Today we hear Jesus ask “Do You Want to Get Well?”

‭‭John‬ ‭5:1-8‬‬
Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

Why did Jesus ask this question?
In asking this question, Jesus is really asking a much deeper question:
-Jesus is asking if he is ready to give up his own methods and depend only on Jesus?
-Is he ready to be free or has his illness become part of his identity?
-Is he willing to reach out his hand for help from the only one who can help him?

“Some, perhaps, may not have yet reached the place this man had reached. They are not helpless enough yet. They are not ready to give up on human efforts to solve their problems. They are not ready to admit they cannot make it on their own. They are still determined to get into the water when it is troubled. Jesus can do nothing for them.”
Ray Stedman

Week 1 Question: “Who do you say that I am?”
Do you know Him?
Week 2 Question: “Why do you call me Lord, Lord and not do what I say?”
Do you obey Him?
Week 3 Question: “Do you want to get well?”
Do you need Him?

Bottom Line
When you’re ready, He is.

http://bible.com/events/48889034
Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg

Questions Jesus Asked: Why Do You Call Me ‘Lord Lord’ and Not Do What I Say?

Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

Some context for Luke 6:
-Jesus is teaching about the ways of the kingdom of God, and some powerful truths about who God is and how we are to live in response.
-“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:27-28
-“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6:36
-“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37

‭‭Luke‬ ‭6:46-49‬‬
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

Jesus gives the very specific visual here of two different kinds of people:
-The first is deliberate. This person plans and prepares for the future. Thought and care is given to ‘the foundation’.
-The second person is not bad, but careless. This person doesn’t want to spend the time digging a foundation.

First, Jesus is speaking to believers.
-“Why do you call me Lord?” Lord means master. Lord means ‘you are in control, and I am not’.
-Jesus is not just providing a generic example, but a specific one to those who would claim Him as Lord.
Second, Jesus is speaking about obedience.
-Jesus speaks powerfully: when times get tough, when circumstances get challenging, it is not faith in and of itself that matters most, but rather faith in action.

The question for last week was really this:
Do you know Him?

And the question for this week is really this:
Do you obey Him?

Verses for further study/reflection:
Matthew 7:21-27
John 14:15
Luke 11:28
Acts 5:29
John 3:36

Church of the Nazarene East Rock

Questions Jesus Asked
Why do you call me Lord, Lord and not do what i say?

Today we continue in our 4-part teaching series “Questions Jesus Asked”

Often, we are quite content to ask questions of Jesus. Who are you? Where are you? Do you hear me? How could you let that happen? What do you want me to do?

We often ask questions of Jesus, but do we pause to hear the questions he asks of us?

Today we hear Jesus ask “Why Do You Call Me ‘Lord Lord’ and Not Do What I Say?”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭6:46-49‬‬
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

The Christian life is essentially composed of two fundamental responses – proclaiming and acting.
Part 1 is about our declaration – proclaiming Jesus rightly.
Part 2 is about our resulting action – obedience.

Both are required in a life of faith.

Imagine Jesus sitting down beside you this morning and asking you a question like this:

Why do you call me Lord, then lash out in anger at those who have crossed you or those who voted differently than you?

Why do you call me Lord here in this place, but you don’t ever call me Lord out there- at work or at school? Why?

Why do you call me Lord, but yet you continue to choose sin? Why?

Why do you call me Lord of our life, but you yet we always do what you want, and never what I say, or what I desire?

Why do you call me Lord, but don’t do what I say? Am I really Lord of your life?

How would you answer him?

Would that encounter make you nervous today? Does a knot come in your stomach at the thought of it?

Perhaps today Jesus is calling you to live differently, to live obediently to his word.

Within this story we can see two key perspectives on the necessity of obedience.

Jesus shows within this parable that obedience to his teaching is the only sure foundation that we can build our lives on.

He also shows that it is obedience to His word that will withstand God’s final judgement.

How will you respond to Jesus’ question today?

Independence- a decision to continue to do things our way
OR
Dependance on Grace- a decision to obey and follow Christ.

http://bible.com/events/48885553

Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg

Questions Jesus Asked: Who Do You Say That I Am?
Knowing Jesus is at the heart of true faith. And true life.

Today we begin our new 4 part teaching series “Questions Jesus Asked”

We just came through the most important season in the church, focusing on the death and resurrection of Jesus – what He DID.
For this series we will focus on what He SAID.

Together we will explore Jesus’ tendency to ask questions at pivotal times – one question from each of the four Gospels – and seek to understand what He meant by asking them and how the answers can help us live lives of faith today.

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16:13-20‬‬
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Who do you say that I am?

Jesus asks this question because this is THE central question
Your life hinges on how you answer this question.
It doesn’t just impact what you believe, but your present and future.

Jesus was real

Jesus was fully God and fully man

Jesus’ mission was to die for the sin of all humanity

Jesus made a way for us to be in relationship with God

Jesus is alive

Bottom Line:
Knowing Jesus is at the heart of true faith. And true life.

Verses for further study/reflection:
John 8:58
John 14:6
Romans 9:5
Romans 10:9
1 Corinthians 15

Questions Jesus Asked: Part 1
Who do you say I am?

Today we begin our new 4 part teaching series “Questions Jesus Asked”

Often, we are quite content to ask questions of Jesus. Who are you? Where are you? Do you hear me? How could you let that happen? What do you want me to do?

We often ask questions of Jesus, but do we pause to hear the questions he asks of us?

Throughout this series we will explore Jesus’ tendency to ask questions at pivotal times – one question from each of the four Gospels – and seek to understand what He meant by asking them and how the answers can help us live lives of faith today.

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16:13-20‬‬
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

C.S. Lewis once said
“You must make your choice: either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

We begin our series here with this simple question of Jesus identity.

A true understanding of who Jesus is lies at the very heart of our relationship with Him and our eternal destiny.

What do people in your circles say about Jesus? At school or at work?
Maybe Jesus is just a swear word, a name brought into the damning or swearing of everyday conversation.

Perhaps a nice person, or good teacher, a moral example even. Maybe they would say Jesus is a hoax, a ancient manipulation tool for the weak at heart. (A growing number of people hold this view today). Jesus is dangerous, a tool of oppression of free thinking and expression.

What about you today- Imagine Jesus looking right into your eyes and asking you-“Who do you say I am?”

The apostle John said things like
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 mankind. 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.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 1
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

But, who do you say that I am?

What would it look like for you today, no matter how you answered that question, what would it look like for you to know him more? To know him intimately, with a sure conviction like Peter?

If the question of who Jesus is not only affects our life now, but our eternal life forever, we MUST know him more.