Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What's the Main Lesson? | Learning to Follow Jesus | Luke 24.44-53

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. And I'm Keith Simon. Right now, we're learning what it looks like to follow Jesus by working our way through the Gospel of Luke. The other day, I heard a guy talking, and he's like super into video games, and he tells me about this thing called the video game canon. Now, as an ex-English major, I am familiar with the concept of a canon. The Western canon, for example, is all of the great literary classics that you need to read to be informed on Western culture. So think of the Odyssey, the Iliad, the Bible, Plato's Republic, Canterbury Tales, and so on.

Starting point is 00:00:46 Apparently, this exact same thing exists in the world of video games. So I asked him for an example. Tell me about a canonical video game. And he told me about one game. I honestly cannot remember the name, but this game became a classic for having an amazing sixth sense caliber twist at the end. Apparently it's old, so I don't think I'm going to ruin it. Plus, I don't know the name, so there you go. Here's what happens. At the end of the game, the main character inside of the game realizes that he's not actually in control of his own thoughts,

Starting point is 00:01:16 choices, or actions. He learns that all along he's been mind-controlled by someone else. And here's the twist. It's kind of meta-level, okay? You, the video game player. You are the one mind-controlling him. You have become a character inside of the game. You, the player, have been the one who's really acting in the story and unfolding it all inside of the video game console. Okay, it kind of sounded cool to me. It's kind of a meta-level thing. I guess if you're the player of the game that kind of makes you into the bad guy who's mind-controlling, I don't know. I'm out of my league here. But here's the point. Many masterworks of literature, film, music, they're considered for precisely the exact same reason, their ability to draw an audience into a story,

Starting point is 00:02:05 to help them become a part of that story, and to even let their audience leave somehow change. Maybe their audience even becomes an actor in that story as it continues to go forward. This is one reason that all of the Gospels, whether or not you believe of them, are towering literary achievements. Each of them draws the audience into a story, only to transform them and then send them back out into the world as characters, in that same story as it unfolds in their real lives. We can say this without equivocation, that it's a literary masterpiece that it's done these things

Starting point is 00:02:38 because it's exactly what happened and has happened for centuries, for millennia now. Readers of the Gospels suddenly realize that they are in the role of the first disciples, the first apostles, and that they're being called by Jesus to carry that story forward as his witnesses in the world. This is our last podcast,

Starting point is 00:02:59 in our series on the Gospel of Luke, which we've called Learning to Follow Jesus. It's crazy. We started back in January, and it's taken us 57 episodes to get through the entire gospel. Now, personally, I've loved it because I've been challenged to give King Jesus my allegiance, to trust in his provision instead of my own personal wealth and my own ability to know things and have the know-how to make it through life. I've learned to lay down my life for the sake of other people, to take the path of humility, not self-glorification, to value Jesus above everything, above politics, affluence, and appearances. Man, the list could go on if I think about everything that I've learned from the gospel of Luke. Man, the list could go on, but if Luke were here right now, I suspect that he would want us to have one big takeaway.

Starting point is 00:03:47 No matter how much you have or how little you have, Luke wants you to know that Jesus is more. So give Jesus everything. Trust Jesus with everything. Give him your whole life's allegiance and then carry that story forward. Jesus has given you his spirit to go forward as an ambassador and a witness to everything that he's accomplished, the entire story that the gospel of Luke is telling. He's given you his spirit so that you can go out and share that by dying in your place, the king has announced forgiveness to all people. and that by rising from the dead, he has established God's kingdom on earth as in heaven. He's told this whole story Luke has so that we can go and be witnesses to it to people from every tribe, nation, and tongue. That's why I want to close out this entire series with the last 10 verses of Luke. Perfectly great way to end the gospel of Luke. But in those last 10 verses,

Starting point is 00:04:42 Jesus calls us to become characters inside of his story. He calls us to be his witnesses and to join in this great narrative that he began. And at the end, he tells us that he's going to empower us to do it all the way into our day and beyond. So let's pick up in Luke 24, verse 44. Then he, that's Jesus, said to them, that's the disciples, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses. So that's the first five books of the Bible, the Torah. It tells the story of creation, Abraham, the Exodus, Mount Sinai, and Israel eventually coming right onto the precipice of entering the promised land. He says, I've told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the

Starting point is 00:05:29 prophets, that's the rest of the Old Testament story, and the Psalms, it's kind of everything else. He says, all of those things were about me and they must be fulfilled. So let's pause. Jesus actually saw himself as a character in a grand story, the grand story that the Old Testament was telling. In fact, he saw himself as the character who carried that story to its denouement, to its climax, to its ultimate goal. And he wanted his disciples to see themselves, just like him, as a part of that story. Verse 45, then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, to see how this is the story that Jesus is the grand climax of, and to see how that story carries forward. Verse 46, and he said to them, thus it has written, that the Messiah should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,

Starting point is 00:06:20 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sin should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things, and behold, I am sending the promise of my father upon you. If you remember in the Gospel of Luke, this is the promise of the empowering Holy Spirit. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. verse 50 and he led them out as far as Bethany. Bethany was just outside of Jerusalem on the top of the Mount of Olives. So he leads them up to this high place and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. And while he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. So they're watching as Jesus

Starting point is 00:07:02 ascends into heaven and he is enthroned in heaven as king of the universe before their eyes. But here's what I find that's so cool. Luke doesn't write the end, as though the story is over and we can just move on to the next thing. That's not what he does at all. Instead, he shows that the story keeps going on. The story of Jesus has really just begun. Verse 52, and they, the disciples, worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem. The story's going on with great joy, and we're continually in the temple, blessing God. That's the end of the Gospel of Luke. Jesus says here that his followers are going to be clothed with the power of his spirit. And this ends up happening in Acts 1 at the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit comes down on his disciples. But why does the Spirit come? Jesus is clear.

Starting point is 00:07:48 It's so that they can be witnesses to the truth that they have heard about him so that they can be witnesses to the events that they have seen, that he is in fact the king who died to forgive sins, and he is the risen king who now reigns over the entire universe. They are called to be witnesses to everything that Jesus said and did. They're called to be witnesses to people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. So let's just end this whole series with a call, a call to tell people about Jesus. I was talking to a great guy the other day, and he told me that he wouldn't personally know Jesus if someone hadn't invited him to church when he was going through a divorce. And this is what he said. He said, look, I think most people are here.

Starting point is 00:08:30 He's talking about at our church, but we could say, I think most people know Jesus because someone invited them to meet him. Someone invited them to come at the right time when they knew that they needed Jesus. And then he got this funny look on his face and he said, man, I just realized that no one is here because I invited them. I want to change that. Think about your life, whether it was your parents or friends or a co-worker or anybody else out there. Someone was Jesus's witness to you in your life. And Luke's gospel ends calling all of us to not just be people who have been witness to, but to become witnesses out into the world. We should all be saying, man, if there's a no one out there who doesn't know Jesus because I invited them to meet him. I want to change that.

Starting point is 00:09:17 Maybe you've shared about Jesus before. Maybe you've never done it before. That's fine. It doesn't need to be weird. It just looks like looking out for small chances. When someone asks you why you love your spouse the way you do or your kids the way you do or your roommate or your coworkers, be a witness, say, well, it's not because I'm a good person. It's because Jesus loved me and taught me how to love other people. Or when people are trying to get to know you, don't let the conversation end without mentioning how trusting Jesus as your king shapes your day in and day out decisions, your self-evaluation, how you see other people. Or maybe if you're talking to someone who's in a tough spot, be a friend. Ask them questions. Don't just give them answers. Because here's what's going to happen.

Starting point is 00:10:01 Eventually they will ask you for your advice. And when they do, tell them the truth. I can't get through the hard things in my life without knowing that Jesus loves me and that Jesus will ultimately provide for me no matter what happens in the immediate term. If I had to do all this on my own or trust myself to fix all of these things, it would crush me. But Jesus allowed himself to be crushed and broken in my place. And Jesus rose from the dead so that I could be absolutely sure that new life is not only possible, but totally secure in him. Ask God to put someone in your mind right now, someone that he wants you to be a witness to. And once you get that person in your mind, I want you to ask God to give you an opportunity to share Jesus with that person. Pray for God,

Starting point is 00:10:48 to create an opportunity to do that with that friend, that family member, that coworker. Don't expect one conversation to change everything. Don't expect some big bombastic thing. Don't make it into that. But also don't minimize the power of small seeds that can grow into great things. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps other people find this podcast more easily. Also, ask yourself, who could you share this podcast with? Texting an episode to a friend or a family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually. If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What's the Main Lesson? | Learning to Follow Jesus | Luke 24.44-53

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