Miracles of Christ in the Spirit of Jubilee

I use that because when I was back in Indianapolis, I was able to speak actually my favorite story out of the Bible, which is the story from John 9 about the blind man that Jesus encountered and the beautiful and the wonderful story that occurred. You've heard that one, unless you wonder if I'm about to give it again and I'm having a senior moment. No, I'm not. But I want to share another story with you because we're going to read a scripture.

And scripture is wonderful and scripture is great. But what magnifies the scripture is the stories that come from it. Because so often, rather than just simply a sentence or a scripture, it is the story that allows the depth, the color, the breadth of what Christ is asking you and me to do on his behalf today and for others. With that thought, then, would you please join me in Luke 4? Luke 4 and verse 18. We'll go to scripture and then we'll go to story. We're basically going to stay in one chapter after that, which I frankly always find the most effective way of teaching is just to go verse by verse and come to point. And not only see the characters of old in those verses, but be able to see ourselves. In Luke 4.18, it's the story of, or the event, let me put it that way, of Jesus' first sermon in his hometown church of Nazareth. Let's read it together.

He gave a message on this. It must have been around Pentecost time to remind us that basically what Jesus the Christ was saying here is, he is the personification of the Jubilee. The Jubilee was that event back in the Old Testament every 50 years when people were given the opportunity to be removed from indenturehood, to be able to return to their family home, and to be able to repossess the land.

In other words, restoration into the community. Jesus Christ is here saying that he comes to proclaim that acceptable year of the Lord. It's very important to recognize why this is placed in Luke because so much of Luke is built upon that sermon. Actually, that sermon is the specific purpose message that Luke then builds the story upon. To go back, but for a moment, even Mary's prayer in the opening, once she has that revelation from Gabriel, is also a statement of Jubilee that this sermon builds upon.

But I didn't really want to go back there. With that stated then, understanding that Jesus Christ came to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, which is a wonderful thought. It's a beautiful vision, but it also requires our part in it. Our Father above and Jesus Christ gives us a role in the message of Jubilee. With that thought then now established in your mind, would you please join me in Luke 7?

In Luke 7, which is basically going to be our text, we're going to go through it. Hopefully we'll understand it. But I would more than ever want you to understand that this is not just a story of the past. This is a story that is occurring day by day in the body of Christ. It's also our story, and we have a part in it. And if we have not yet done our part in it, God is waiting upon us. Because God can't do anything until we offer Him something. But even if we offer Him just our little, He can take our little and make it something to His glory.

Join me then in Luke 7, because you will see, I think in a very short order, how this chapter deals with the Jubilee. Luke 7 and verse 1. Now, when He had concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum. It's very interesting for those of you that are just beginning to be Bible students, being alert to how the Scriptures are constructed. It's always important, I think, especially when you go through the Gospels, to notice the word now.

Now is often used. It is used as a transition point from story to story. The one thing that you want to do to enable you to understand, though, the Gospels, is to recognize that when the term now is used, it is not by accident, but it is by design. Jesus Christ was not like you and I on a trip, where sometimes we're in an area. We think we know where we're going. We get there, and we don't.

So we start going down this road, and we go down that road and say, boy, I didn't know if this would have ever existed before. I'm glad we went down this road. Wow! Christ did not come by accident. He came by design. And when that term now is used, it is normally a word used to describe the unfolding direction of a God the Father wanted Jesus Christ to accomplish in life.

Now when He had concluded all His things in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum. And a certain centurion, servant, who was dear to him, was sick, and he was ready to die. Here we have a man of the conquering people of the Roman Empire, a centurion. A centurion was like a, we might describe it today as a sergeant major in the armed forces.

A centurion was a man over a hundred individuals. A centurion was basically the linchpin, or you might say the backbone of what made an army move. And it says that a centurion's servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die. The term there, servant, doulos, bondservant, often also is used as slave. This begins to tell us the story in this message. Let's appreciate when we say a servant, or even when we think of slavery, we are so far removed from it, and maybe even further removed from how Romans regarded their slaves.

Back in the Roman Empire, a slave was basically, if you want to jot this down if you're taking notes, was basically regarded as a living tool. He was a living tool. Interesting. All of us have tools at home, a screwdriver, hammer, pliers, a pick, a shovel.

They're a tool. They're an instrument to serve us and to serve what we want to be done. Basically, at that time, a slave was just considered a living tool.

Was on two legs, had lungs, breathed. That was it. Oftentimes in the Roman Empire, slaves did not even have names, because if they had names, then you became attached to them.

Much like sometimes when you're from a farm community, you don't like to give the pets names. Do you know why? Because sooner or later, you're going to have to slaughter them. It's easier to slaughter a pet that doesn't have a name or a piece of livestock. I hope none of you are slaughtering the pets at home. No. It's easier to, in that sense, slaughter a lamb or a cow or whatever if you haven't named her Betsy. It's not nice when dad says, I've got to go out today, and it's Betsy's last day because you become attached. Thus, in the world of antiquity, they didn't often name their slaves because there would have been attachment. So, the certain centurion servant who was dear to him was sick and ready to die.

What you see is something marvelous unfolding here. Here's a man that has stepped out of the norm.

A man that is not tied to convention, but has a relationship with one that was not supposed to have a relationship, that was not to be offered dignity in this lifetime. Here's a man that God can use. It makes us begin to think about ourselves, doesn't it? As to the dignity and the warmth and the vitality that we put towards those that others have maybe marginalized and said that they're not worth our time. They're not worthy of our devotion. You see, God just doesn't use somebody.

He uses a person, though, that is listening. So, when he had heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him pleading with him to come and to heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they begged him earnestly, saying that the one for whom you should do this is deserving, for he loves our nation. You know what, Rabbi? He's even built us a synagogue.

Let's begin to understand that good works can engender good works. There's a chain that's going to develop here that maybe you've never seen before in this story. First of all, we see a Roman centurion that has moved out of the bounds of normal propriety and loves his servant or loves his slave, steps out for him. Now, notice as the chain develops person to person. We notice here that this man sends elders of the Jews to him pleading with him to come and to heal his servant. And they did go. This discussion did not just fall on dead ears. Now, let's understand.

We are dealing with a man who is a conqueror having dialogue and discussion and offering a petition to those individuals that are conquered. Many of us have studied over the years the story of Peter and Cornelius, the Jew and the Gentile, and the bonds that had to be broken there. They were deep. Rome had already been responsible or had conquered Palestine for basically almost 80 to 90 years by now. We know in a sense that any time a nation is occupied, they do not like the occupiers for one reason or the other. And you say, well, why? Because, well, they're simply here. We know that discussion has been going on in this decade with countries that are in the Middle East. Here is the occupier asking the occupied to petition on his behalf and notice again, they are willing to do so and to step out of the bounds. Here's a man that they go and say loves our nation and he's built us a synagogue. I want to share a thought with you because if we go further in the story, I want you to stay with me, okay? The centurion is an advocate for his slave.

The occupied people are now going to break the bounds of convention and be advocates, intercessors, for the occupier as they go the distance for this man. But let's understand that this did not happen in a vacuum and life does not happen in a vacuum and God cannot operate in a vacuum. Notice what happens here. He loves our nation and has built a synagogue. This gentleman perhaps was a proselyte, what the book of Acts calls it, an out-person or a God-farer, but nonetheless he had a reputation.

He had done something for people and because he had done something for people, they remembered and they were willing to do the next step for him. Let's follow along in the story as we go to the next time. I'm just going to turn my page here. Then Jesus went with them and when he was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him saying to him, Lord, do not trouble yourself for I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof. Now we recognize that there were very, very strict rules of thumb in those days for a gentile and a Jew to come together in fellowship or to be in one another's houses. Don't trouble yourself. I'm not worthy that you should enter under my roof. Therefore, I did not even think myself worthy to come to you, but just simply say the word and my servant will be healed. For I also am placed under authority and I have soldiers under me, 100 to be exact. And I say to one, go and he goes into another, come and he comes and to my servant, do this and he does it. Now let's understand what's happening as we move through the flow of Scripture. An approach and an attitude come forth from this man of the conquering people.

He's non-demanding and yet he is expectant. Isn't that a wonderful... when you think about those two terms coming together, he is non-demanding of the rabbi, speaking of the Christ.

He is non-demanding and yet he is also expectant. And at the same time, though, he is also accepting of God's will, whatever it might be.

He also recognizes something interesting that maybe you've never thought about. I know different pastors, different ministers approach this in a different vein and that's why it's good to have different thoughts. It's also very interesting that he recognizes something here that's going to be proved out in the next story that we're going to go to in a moment. He recognizes that Jesus is not just a good man. He recognizes beyond that that the Christ is not just simply a local deity in this spot or in that spot. And thus, to have an answer, it must be seen. It must be touched. It's very interesting when you take it a little bit deeper that this man was developing a great sense that Jesus Christ was more than man, more than a prophet, more than something localized, but something that could reach the distance and heal his servant. Now, it's interesting what it said here, then. When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him and turned around and said to the crowd that followed him, I say to you, I have not found such great faith not even in Israel. Now, this is interesting, and I don't have the time to go back into this message, but I'd like to give you some homework. Please go back to Luke 4, following the story or the proclamation, may I say, of Christ, of proclaiming the acceptable year. He goes into the story of Naaman, the Syrian who was healed. He goes into the story of women whose dead were raised in the Old Testament. What is interesting is this, as we begin to read in this, is that back in Luke 4, when he was talking to his hometown crowd, they really got riled when he brought up the Gentile community. Those that they thought had no worth, no standing before God.

Of course, that's when they wanted to run him out of town. But those things, which is very interesting, this part of the story that I want to share with you, what God is doing, what God wants to perform, is a continuum that moves through people and hearts that are going to be open to him. Jesus talked about the stories of the Old Testament at Nazareth. Now, once again, he marvels at what is happening at the present time. As we see this word marveled, you might want to circle it if you're daring that enough with the Bible or just jot it down and come back later, is that I think that God continues to marvel at people that have the attitude of the centurion.

And are open, and are receptive, and are accepting, and want God to be involved in their life.

And he turned around to the crown sin. I haven't seen anything like this, even in Israel.

Now, what is very interesting about this story, and I'm not going to have the time to go into it. I'm going to give you some homework. You can jot down 2 Kings 5 because it is the story of Naaman. And actually, this centurion, if you want to look at it this way, because there are types and anti-types in the Bible. There are Formers and there are Ladders. What you might want to call this centurion is, he is the New Testament Naaman. Naaman was a general in Syria who had leprosy.

And he appealed ultimately to Elijah as H.A. that he might be healed. And ultimately, that is the famous story of where he tells, Elisha tells Naaman, tell you what, here's what you're going to do. You go down and you take a bath in the Jordan River. You dip yourself a little bit down there. And remember how Naaman came back in that story, and if you don't go to 2 Kings 5, and Naaman says, you got to be kidding me. I mean, you should see the rivers up in Syria. They flow from the big mountains. We got big ones up there. We got Russian rivers, mighty rivers, and you want me to go down into that pigsty that's not flowing, and I'm going to dip myself. You might say there was an attitude that had to be worked with there a little bit. But basically, he did get through it.

But what we notice here is something very interesting as we compare this gentleman with the other one. Number one, both of these were well-respected gentile officers. Number two, both had intercession made on their behalf. This centurion had intercession made for him on behalf of the Jewish elders. In the Old Testament, Naaman, the Syrian general who had leprosy, had intercession start with an Israelite girl. Number three, it's interesting that the centurion never does meet Christ in person. And at first, when Naaman had leprosy, he didn't meet Elisha in person. Number four, both took place then at a distance. Number five, what is most amazing is the reaction of both men. I mentioned this in Indianapolis last week. I'll mention it to you again. I often find, not always, but it's interesting, that most good attitudes that are registered in the Bible normally come in about one to two verses. Have you ever noticed how long it takes to get through bad attitudes or hesitant attitudes in the Bible? And yet, also, God is patient there. Then notice verse 10, very important.

And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick.

Now, there's two thoughts I want to share about this verse with you. Did you notice that what started out in verse three or four about the Jewish elders and the advocates, the intercessors, they still remain in the game up to verse 10? They are still advocating. They are still purveyors of the cause. What I want to share with you today in this thought, rather than just reading Scripture, is are we intercessors and are we advocates for others that can't go at the distance on their own for one reason or another? And to recognize it's not how you start, but it's how you finish. Just like today as a congregation, we offered intercessory prayer for our dear friend Ruben, who may be going under some form of operation or therapy this morning. Now we need to stay in the game. We need to call him. We need to pray for him. We need to encourage him. So often we always start out with the best of intentions, but time and distance and those little things in life get in the way for us going to the end. Those who were sent to him. You know, so often I've heard this message for 40-45 years. And so much of the emphasis often goes either on the centurion and or that a miracle occurred. But can you begin to see the other players that are in the game that are not mentioned by name, but God knows who they are? And God measures their heart and how important what we might call are the little people with the big hearts in the Bible that stay in the game. And it says, they found the servant well who had been sick. Very interesting. We're going to be going through two stories, both dealing with sickness and or death. And it's very interesting that the term there, is it well in your translation or no? I'm asking a question. It says that they went back and found him well. Is that how it is in your translation? Well, let's remember who's writing the book. His name is Luke. And what is Luke? By profession?

He's giving a checkup here. Luke is famous for that in his commentaries. And he's saying, the patient is well. Now, you just see the term well. What it really means out of the Greek is that he was completely cured. It's like he was whole in body and in limb and in wind. You don't really get that just out of well. Let's understand something as we go through this first story.

And let's learn the lessons. Number one, God the Father and Jesus Christ are not done with the work of Jubilee, of liberty and release and restoration and healing. It cannot be fossilized in the Old Testament. It is as new as tomorrow that God still wants to work with people that are workable and open and receptive and willing to break the bounds of just tradition for tradition's sake, worrying about what everybody else is thinking rather than what God wants us to perform to His glory. Now, are you ready for the second story? Because again, it's the story that is linked with this by Jubilee. I was going to say now, but you took to the next word. What's it say? Now. But you recognize that the word now now is not a word by accident. It's a word by design. Now, it happened. But again, always remember in reading the Gospels, the way that they're put together, God doesn't have accidents. And that's one thing I want to share with you today. The good news that I want to share with you today. You are not an accident. And the things that happen in your life are not by accident. I worship a God that is a God of design. A God that desires to intervene in our lives. Is that the God that you worship? I hope so. Now it happened the day after that he went into a city called Nan. And many of his disciples went with him, and there was a large crowd.

Now, what is interesting to understand, and let me be a tour guide here with you for just a moment, the city of Nan may not mean anything to you. But the widow back in the Old Testament, whose son was resurrected in that sense by the works of Elijah, not Elijah, came from that region.

So what we're seeing is, in a sense, a return to the same spot.

The city of Nan is basically in that same area where God had worked before. But now he's going to do a greater work, which maybe you've never seen before. And when he, speaking of Jesus, came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out. The only son of his mother, and she was a widow and a large crowd from the city, was with her.

And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said to her, Do not weep. And then he came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still.

And he said, Young man, I say to you, arise. And so he who was dead sat up and began to speak, and he presented him to his mother. And then fear came upon them all, and they glorified God's saying, God's saying, A great prophet has risen among us. We've all heard that story before. If you haven't, you just heard it. But there is so much to understand about this. This, again, is an incredible story that reflects and transmits the light of Jubilee, of restoration, and being placed back into the community of God. Let's take it apart for a moment.

And it says, He came near the gate of the city, and behold, a dead man was being carried out. This is one of the most poignant, colorful, graphic stories in all of Scripture. You can begin to imagine it, begin to picture that as Jesus and his disciples and followers are moving towards this community, and out of the gate of the city comes the dead man.

Many of us have seen how people are buried in the Middle East. They're buried very rapidly. They're usually bound by just a little bit. It's not like the traditions that we have in the West.

And I think many of us also realize, any of us that have ever seen, whether it be the Israeli community, or whether it be the Jewish community, or whether it be the Arab community in the Middle East, there is no quiet funeral. By culture, they wail, they cry. They're very emotional. I'm not saying that to be negative. I'm just saying that's just the culture. That's how they are. Great grief. And it is the story of great grief, great separation. This is the story of a widow, a woman. And a woman was down in the societal cast of the Middle East. And a woman now, who was a widow, and her only means of viable support is the son, who is now dead, her only son.

So what we sense in this story is the complete cut off of an individual from society that now has no worth, no hope, no future. It's a powerful story.

And a large crowd from the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, notice, he had compassion on her and said, do not weep.

This is a revelation of the good news of what God is like and Emmanuel, God, with us.

This is so opposite the stoic Greek view of God as being apathetic to the plight of humanity. And the first thing is, he says, do not weep. And then he came and he touched the open coffin. Now back then, again, let's remember it was not a coffin like we're used to, like a pine box or made of gold or laden with silver or this or that. It might have been a wicker basket. They might have just been carrying him out on a blanket sheet. And what he does, then he came and touched the open coffin, which if you will remember anything about Jewish ritual, that was touching the dead thing. That was foreboden, as we say in German. That was not to be done. But Christ, to bring his message, broke the tradition of man. And those who carried him stood still. And he said, young man, I say to you, arise. And so he who was dead sat up and began to speak. What is going on here? Let's understand the procession. What Jesus is doing as a sign of what his entire ministry and messiahship would be. Many people thought that the messiah was coming just simply to fight the Romans. What Jesus is doing in this story is reminding us that upon his coming and upon his perfect sacrifice, that would be, he cut the parade of death. He stopped it.

Death and continual death was not to be the future of humanity. He stopped that parade. He said, no more. He stopped that. And he said to the young man, I say to you, arise.

Very interesting. He said to the woman, he said, do not weep.

Luke 6, 21. I'll just go there. Join me for a moment. Very interesting because he's fulfilling basically what he said would happen. This is the one verse I'll take you out of chapter. Luke 6, 21. Luke 6, 21. This is what is sometimes called the Sermon on the Plain, which is very similar to the Sermon on the Mount. Because again, I would suggest that Jesus didn't give that information on the Sermon on the Mount just once. That was something that he shared with everybody, the good news. But notice verse 21. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled.

Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

Can you imagine as this story flows forward, the smile and just the involuntary laughter that probably came over this woman when she saw her son come back to life? Interesting.

What is very interesting that maybe you've never seen before, he tells the woman not to weep.

But he just doesn't say something nice. See, he's able to back it up. He stops that parade of death. He breaks the traditions of men. And then something that's very interesting here that's going to be important. Notice, and those who carried him sit still, and he said, young man, I say to you, arise.

Very important. The story now changes from the Old Testament of where the good man, the prophet of God, Elijah, spoke to God that he might perform his miracle and allow that young man to rise in the Old Testament. But notice the careful difference in this. Jesus, at this time, unlike later where he addresses the father and says, father, in that story about Lazarus, but in this particular incident, he chooses to address the corpse alone without speaking to the father. And he says, young man, arise. Why is this important? What was Jesus trying to show to the crowd there, and to all of us that read this story today? Number one, that Jesus was not just simply a good man.

Number two, that he was not just simply one more prophet and a line of prophets.

What he is showing by this little verse that maybe you've never seen before is that he is the resurrection, and he is the life. And he was God in the flesh. And there were times, even while he was the son of man, that at times he would address the father, and that it might be to the father's glory, and that the father might raise somebody up as Lazarus.

It is in this story that he talks directly to the corpse for a purpose and for a reason.

Now, all of this is going to another story. One last story. Stories lead to stories. But if I don't tell you the story, then we don't understand the completeness of what starts out with the word now, with the centurion, or the word now, with the story of man.

What we find here are people that have faith. And I know we have people of faith in this room.

We also have people that are courageous, and we have people that by God's Spirit are courageous in this room. We also have people that offer themselves to be advocates and intercessors for those that, for one reason or another, can't go the distance themselves.

And we have people like that today. The San Diego congregation is like that, but we can grow in that, and we can be inspired by these stories. And their stories are to inspire our story.

What I'm trying to show you is that God is not done working with his people.

He was not done as, you know, when Jesus started that message in Luke 4, speaking of the Old Testament. Little did those people know that what he would do with those that followed him in that day. And as we read those stories today, those stories are only to illuminate the path and the way for us to be tools for God this day, this week, this month, and in our life. But let me show you the power of the story, and we'll finish with this thought. And this report about him went throughout all of jail and all the surrounding region. And then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all of these things. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, Are you the coming one? Or do we look for another?

Now, John's getting these reports coming to him in prison. And as much as we think that John knew, I'm sure that there were some surprises along the way as he was trying to figure it out.

John sounds a little bit like the ghost in my mind sometimes, or maybe in your mind. As much as we think we know what God is about, or as much as we figured out the story, then something kind of comes from another direction. And we have to understand that God has something yet to reveal to us, to share with us, to understand what he's doing. John had said, Here comes the one. Here comes the Messiah. And in that day, the Messiah was supposed to be the one that would lead an army of thousands ahead of them on Caesarea and kick the Romans away from them. But rather than marching in front of an army, here is one man marching in the midst of dead people and others healing, taking care of others. We might say that John in jail was beginning to wonder, beginning to be what they call perplexed.

Is this why I'm here? Is this what God's called? After all, I'm in jail. What's going on here?

And when the men had come to him, they said, John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, Are you the coming one, or are we looking for another? And that very hour he cured many of the infirmities, the afflictions, and the evil spirits, and to many blind he gave sight.

And Jesus answered and said to them, Go and tell John the things that you have seen and heard.

The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, like the song of Chris Ledison today. I had to think about that when about, you know, just beautiful words that we sang today about the healings. And the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them, which is the very message of Jubilee, that those that are without, those that have not, those that are discounted, those that are left off the plate of humanity, are welcomed into the community of God.

What is interesting is Jesus, in returning this message to his cousin, does not chide him, does not discredit him, does not belittle him or correct him for his perplexions or his doubt. But he says, you go back, and you tell them the story.

Don't go back and correct him. You go back, and you tell him what you have seen and what you have experienced, and let the rest be. What is verse 23? Maybe you've never seen this before. You may call this the missing beatitude, the lone little beatitude, all by itself here.

And blessed is he who has not offended because of me. John could have been offended. He could have said, what is my life worth and what has it been about? Why am I here in jail? This isn't what I signed up for. Jesus said, you go back, and you tell them the story. Tell them the story of people that have broken tradition because they have come into contact with me. You tell them that I have stopped the parade of death. You tell them about, I have healed people. I have raised people from the dead. I am the Jubilee in person. You tell that story. Why do I share that with you? I've shared this story with you before, and I'll continue to share the story with you. I think the most important thing that we can be doing in the body of Christ today is not sharing our doubts, but sharing our stories. Each and every one of us have either got a story that God has made special to us and done in us. A story of Jubilee, of where we were off the radar of humanity, but God had mercy to us. He stopped our parade in the tracks, and He did something wonderful. He opened our mind more than that. He opened our heart. Just like that man that was going out of the gate, He gave us a new life. He made us well. He healed us, not just of a body, but of our spirit.

We need to recognize that these great stories that are in the Bible, whether they're in the Old Testament, whether they're in the New Testament, it is one continuum. But we have to give ourselves to God. We have to be willing. We have to be able. We have to be able to see that we are apart.

Maybe somewhere down the line when the Bibles continue to be written, if it is written, that's up to God. Maybe you and I will only be included in them or they, and they went with them.

We may not be a big part of the future in some script, but please think about it. Don't discount yourself from being them or they or he or she or her who went and went the distance for somebody, and not only went the distance, but came back. And that's what our Savior Jesus Christ did for us.

He went the distance from heaven to earth, did what was asked, and He's back now at the right hand of God. That's the best news that I can give you. I cannot give you any better news.

You're in the story. That's what He did for us. And if Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the Father looking down upon us, along with His Father smiling on us on this day with these stories, it's a good time to wind up this story and sit down.