Luke 5:29-32 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?” 31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
 
THERE are times in ministry (I am sure this is true of all ministers.) when I have been among people of the church or others I don’t necessarily know at a potluck dinner or other type of meal. As I ate and conversed with them, there was a great longing in my heart that everyone present would personally experience a close, loving relationship with Jesus. I wanted to wrap my arms around all to say, “Jesus loves you very much. I pray you know and enjoy his love.”
    The gospels record Jesus sitting with his people at meals as described here. I believe what we ministers experience in these occasions was a small slice of what Jesus felt as he sat with his people.
    Perhaps we can more deeply understand Jesus’ emotions during his ministry with these words from Luke 13:34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” Jesus knows how deep is their sin. Their sin is the reason he calls them to himself. With a profound love, our Lord “longed to gather” his people to him. Coming to him, they would come out of their sin and gather into his salvation.
    His passion is emphasized with the repetition of “Jerusalem, Jerusalem”. In the Hebrew language, this repetition indicates a deep desire for the city and his people. “The Son of Man, who came to seek and to save the lost,” (Luke 19:10) expresses his longing for the lost to be his own as he created them to be.
    That day in Levi’s home, Jesus sat with men who had committed great sin against his people. Yet, he sat down with them. He conversed with them. He fellowshipped with them. He loved on them. Surely the righteous Lord could have spoken of and condemned their sin. But he was intent to seek and save them.
    Sometimes we need to go into those kinds of places to sit with people who live apart of God. They are lost because they do not know the way. Our work is to not separate them from Jesus, but by our love we are to show them the way to Jesus.
 
Prayer: Grant me a love as yours, Lord. Teach me to teach the lost of the way to Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Luke 5:27-28 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
 
A few lessons back, we read of the Lord’s calling of Peter, James and John. Out of their fishing boats these men responded to Jesus’, “Follow me.” Now Levi, whom we also know as the gospel writer Matthew, rises up from his tax collector’s booth to also join with the Lord.
    Just as with the healed cripple, these callings, too, are a demonstration of the Lord’s gift of forgiveness and saving grace over those he chooses. Levi and the other disicples had done nothing to earn the Lord’s command to, “Follow me”. In fact, Levi’s occupation was one of the most despised in Israel. Jews who were tax collectors were viewed as men who had betrayed their nation to support Rome and to defraud their own people. Tax collectors were their own power unto themselves, rewarded for filling Rome’s coffers. Rome’s depletion of Israel’s resources was one of the most severe effects this mighty power had over the tiny nation.
    Still, Jesus had a purpose for Levi. He would graciously make a disciple of Levi, so Levi would one day write of Jesus to convince the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus redeemed Levi from his lawless ways to bring him into God’s righteous truth. God had a plan for the man. Jesus-called and Spirit-powered, Levi fulfilled the plan. Much of what we know about Jesus comes from his gospel.
    But still those who saw Jesus forgive and heal the crippled man and then say to Levi, “Follow me.” continued to wonder about Jesus. You’ll see how they challenged and criticized Jesus for being around such “sinners” as a tax collector. They couldn’t comprehend God’s grace to save.
    In our lives and in our church, we must comprehend and remember God’s grace to save. It is easy to criticize and speak of others’ sins and shortcomings. I pray we can be eager, instead, to truly follow Jesus into his healing, salvation, love and forgiveness.
 
Prayer: Lord God, may I rise up from my sin to walk closely with you. In Jesus’ name, amen.
 

Luke 5:21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
 
THE Pharisees asked two good questions. Questions are good for understanding the truth. We must ask with a heart to listen, understand and adjust our lives as appropriate to the answers.
    First, these “law protectors” wanted to know Jesus’ true identity. And second, they wondered about the source of his authority to declare the crippled man forgiven. This was a momentous change in how the Pharisees had learned to know of God’s forgiveness. His laws they fervently upheld specifically instructed the Jews to go through a ceremonial process of sacrifice and repentance to be forgiven. The Pharisees were correct to know that any reference to forgiveness came directly from “God alone” as in Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” As we have learned the Pharisees primary purpose was to protect God’s law from those who abused and threatened to destroy it. They asked a very good, law-protecting, God-affirming question. I’m sure the Lord was even hoping they would do so as faithful stewards of God’s law.
    To help the Pharisees know he is surely the God who forgives, Jesus responded to their questions with his own question: Luke 5:22 “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?”  To help the Pharisees answer his question, Jesus demonstrated God had come to earth. He proclaimed the Lord’s power and favor over the man as he said in Luke 5:24 “But that you may know that the Son of Man (a direct reference to God) has authority on earth to forgive sins.” He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 
    The man’s restored physical body affirmed Jesus’ power to heal the man’s soul. Physical healing, miraculous and wonderful, is but a small picture of God’s healing forgiveness. We can more easily believe, “Your sins are forgiven.” when we see the results of “Take up your mat and go home.” Jesus was clear that he was “the Son of Man” – God incarnate – to heal and to forgive the sins of those who faithfully came to him.
    Luke closes this manifestation of God’s kingdom come to earth with the crowd’s response. Luke 5:25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
    What do you say when the Lord manifests his healing of soul and body? Do you keep asking, “Who is this?” wondering of his authority to do such things? Or do you praise him to proclaim, “I have seen remarkable things today. Let me tell you of the Lord’s forgiveness and healing into my life.”
 
Prayer: Open my heart, eyes, mind and soul, Spirit to always seek the Son of Man to rejoice in God’s saving, healing authority in my life. In Jesus’ name I rejoice, amen.

Luke 5:18-20 Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
 
THE man couldn’t walk, but the Lord could see his faith. So sure was he of Jesus’ healing power, he must have insisted the men who carried him dig through the roof and lower him to the floor. The man’s helpers worked hard and even broke property and etiquette rules as they broke open a roof to be at the head of the line at Jesus’ feet.
    Scripture tells of others breaking rules to go faithfully – perhaps desperately – to Jesus. On is the leper we read of a few days ago in Luke 5:12-14. He broke God’s law on the behavior of those so infected: Leviticus 13:45-46 “The person with such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out. ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp. Consider, also, the woman who bled for 12 years (Luke 8), touching the Master’s cloak seeking his healing. Jesus felt his power go out from him, even as he did not intentionally point to her and say, “Be healed.” In these cases, did God reward bad manners or deep faith?
    The Bible tells us that faith is the key to unlocking sin’s crippling effects on these three. Read Luke’s account above, “When Jesus saw their faith.” he forgave the man’s sins. Then see Jesus’ response to the woman in Luke 8:48 Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace." Furthermore, as we saw in the leper’s prayer a few days ago, he believed in Jesus’ power to heal as God’s will. Faith is fundamental to healing. It must be present in our hearts for Jesus to act.
    These physical healings were done to demonstrate the way God heals us from sin’s condemnation into eternal life. We cannot be born again into the Kingdom of God unless we have faith that Jesus is Savior, Son of God. We must believe the Holy God has the power to forgive sins and to restore our sin-dead souls to everlasting glory.
    How did the three healed, forgiven people and all saved in Jesus come to have such faith? Is this something that we can bring into our own lives on our abilities? The wondrous answer is: Faith is God’s gift to you. If you believe in God the Father, Son and Spirit, the Bible declares in many places that your faith is not self-generated, but it is God’s gracious gift to you. For example, Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.  
    The physical healings and declarations of forgiveness that Jesus ministered in his human form were demonstrations of his eternal salvation to heal us from sin’s death. God put faith in the cripple and his helpers, the bleeding woman and the leper – and many others. There was nothing they had done to earn such healings. Instead, God graciously gave to them a life-transforming gift. With their faith gift in their heart, they went to the Lord of life. They trusted he could make them well.
    How about you? Has God given to you a faith to seek his healing and forgiveness? Do you readily show your faith with such words as “Jesus is my Lord and Savior; my sins are forgiven in him.” Do you volunteer, “Here, let me help you.” Or are you eager to faithfully intercede for people, “How can I pray for you?” Are you prone to faithfully share the gospel message, “May I tell you why I believe in Jesus?”
    Not all receive the faith gift. If you have, be sure to live it out. The Holy God has called you into a holy relationship with him. Sometimes we even have to break some cultural rules to say, “Jesus is Lord. He’s my Lord. My heart’s desire is to faithfully follow him.”  
 
Prayer: Father in Heaven, I believe in your power to heal my diseases and to forgive my sins. In your will I submit my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Luke 5:17 One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.
 
DOES the word “Pharisee” cause a negative response in you? It seems an appropriate response as we read in the gospels of the ways these Jewish leaders repeatedly tried to inhibit and even cancel Jesus’ ministry. Jesus warned his disciples against the Pharisees’ self-righteous and judgmental teachings. And the Pharisees conspired with the Sadducees against Jesus’ life. Yes, these religious leaders definitely deserve our negative feelings.
    But let’s stop for a minute and consider their position. Perhaps you and I have more in common with a Pharisee than we might think. In Jewish history, Pharisees were a class of leaders formed during the 400 years between the Old Testament and Jesus’ ministry. Judea (Israel) was continually under foreign rule. Some of those rulers were very evil men who desecrated God’s temple in Jerusalem. They enslaved the Jews both physical and morally with their evil political and religious practices.  The persecutions we see today in the Mideast are comparable to the reign of terror over Israel in those days.
    In response, the Jews sought ways to keep God’s law and his knowledge alive, separated from the evil. “Pharisee” means to separate oneself from anything that is not of God’s law. Thus, Pharisees wrapped themselves in God’s commands to protect themselves and the Jews from evil rulers.
    The Pharisees had godly intentions. They strived for holiness in God’s sight, desiring to preserve Judea as God’s nation. Their learning and lifestyle were founded on strict obedience to God’s law.
    But then as sinful man is prone to do, the Pharisees added their own laws to God’s laws. Religious restrictions grew to diminish God’s grace and love from the true law. Remember Jesus declared he had come “to proclaim freedom for the captive” (Luke 4:18) One way he did so was to preach restoration of the law’s true purpose to point to a holy, loving and gracious God. Recall, also, the greatest command is to “Love the Lord your God.” (Matthew 22:37) With love, God gave the law as a means of protecting, not imprisoning his people.
    Jesus condemned the Pharisees for the legalisms they had built around God’s grace. In turn, they condemned Jesus because they saw him as a law-breaker. The righteous battled the unrighteous. And for a time, it seemed the unrighteous Pharisees won. But we know Jesus unlocked the Jews’ religious chains through the power of his sacrificial love. Eventually, some Pharisees, most notably Nicodemus (see John 3), came to faith in Christ. They, too, became free of man’s laws through God’s grace. The Holy Spirit opened their eyes to the reality that Jesus, indeed, was the fulfillment of God’s law.
    As we look back and judge the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, we must consider two questions: First, ask yourself, “Do I separate myself from evil?” The Pharisees were formed with the same just cause that Scripture teaches us today in 1 Peter 1:14-15 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.
    Second, we must ask ourselves, “Is there any way I put religious restrictions above God’s grace and love?” The answer to both questions requires a loving study of God’s gracious words to know his true answers.
 
Prayer: Teach me, Lord, of your great love. Help me to know the difference between man-made rules and your remarkable grace. In the Spirit’s power I pray. Amen.

Luke 5:15-16 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
 
DO you like to be alone with God? Surely Jesus did as Luke records, “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Even though Jesus could have filled his time with adoring crowds around him, he deliberately moved away from people to spend considerable time one-on-one, alone with the Father.
    It is difficult for us to be lonely with God, isn’t it? If you’re as I am, we find many reasons to avoid that alone time. To you find it easier to engage in your daily tasks and respond to others’ demands on your time? Perhaps these requests and opportunities to help others makes us feel more needed or essential to others’ lives. Maybe we find purpose in filling our schedule. Often before I go into my morning alone time with God, I will ask myself, “Is there something else I need to do, first?” That question often leads me to ask a second question: “Why am I like avoiding this alone time with God?”
    Perhaps it is feeling unworthy to sit with our holy, loving God because I am too often unholy and unloving. Maybe I am not quite sure what I will say, and I am even tired of praying the same words without seeing results I desire. It could also be that my heart is afraid of being alone, away from others. After all, God has given to us all a great longing for true fellowship with other people.
    But he also has given us a need to be with him. Made in his image, we are to reflect the God who is love with a foremost love for our Lord. One way, then, to cultivate that love is to sit down alone with him. As Jesus prayed in those lonely places, so must we. Alone time with God helps us move past our inadequacies, doubt and discouragements as we draw surely closer to the One who says, “Come to me all you who are weary and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) Alone time is the only time to truly hear the Father’s great love for us.
    Go eagerly as Jesus did to be alone with God. Tell him of your needs with an open, honest heart. Share your joy and your love for others with a grateful soul. Praise him for his Savior and Spirit to open your way to be born again. Submit your heart to gratefully receive his endless love and friendship.
    As fully man, Jesus, the Son, spent alone time with the Father to be filled with the Father’s love, wisdom and power. Our lives have the same need.  We must know the assurance of that same love, wisdom and power. Alone time with God enables you to enter your busy life with in Jesus’ rest, assured the loving God is with you.
 
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for inviting me to me alone with you. This is a most precious time of my day. I rejoice that you call me into such a personal relationship with you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Luke 5:12-14 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 Then Jesus ordered him, “Don't tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
 
JESUS taught us to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) More than words, this teaching is a prayer principle. We are to pray, Jesus teaches, with faith in the Lord’s power to answer our prayer, and submission to the Lord’s answer as his will, not ours.
    This is how the leper approached Jesus. Notice the man is identified by his disease. The disease is so hideous it becomes the main reference of his personhood. He has no hope but to hope in the Lord. The greatest longing of his life is to be healed. Yet, he does not demand the Lord’s mercy with such self-centered words as, “Lord, heal me or I won’t believe in you. Heal me, and I’ll live for you.” Instead, faithfully and submissively he goes to Jesus with, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Submissively and faithfully, he trusts the Lord will heal him if it is the Lord’s will to do so.
    Then Jesus’ acts into God’s will for the man. In the full creative power of the One who spoke the universe into existence, the Living Word decrees, “Be clean!” Reverently the man has submitted to the Lord’s will. Mercifully the Lord speaks his healing will into the man. God’s will is done on earth as it is in Heaven.
    Then Jesus speaks of his will in another way. He commands the man, “Don't tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”  God’s will for the healing is for the man to be a testimony of God’s mercy. When the man goes before the priest, the priest will know God has healed. The laws of purification and cleansing for healed skin (Leviticus 14:1-32) are to be followed. And one obeying those laws, the man and the community of believers will offer praise and worship to God. God is glorified.
    In this healing, Jesus fulfilled one purpose of his coming. It is recorded in Matthew 5:17 Don't suppose that I came to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I did not come to do away with them, but to give them their full meaning. Healing the leper and then directing him to the priest, Jesus is demonstrating the purpose and fulfillment of God’s will on earth. The healing is much more than healing of leprosy; it is a demonstration of God’s mercy, will and power to heal his people of sin’s deadly sickness.
    The man’s request to Jesus is a righteous prayer model for us all. Have faith. Believe in God’s power. Trust his merciful will for your life. Submit to his answer. Live as the Lord commands.
 
Prayer: If it is your will, Lord, heal me of my sickness and my sin. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
 
 

Luke 4:7-11 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”  11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
 
 HAVE you ever wondered how these fishermen could so quickly leave “everything” and follow Jesus? We all know the struggles of following our Lord. After all discipleship often requires we give up things we desire. Perhaps we even have to leave a good job, take less pay and do things that make us uncomfortable. Is it not a miracle that Peter, James and John would leave “everything”, including their business and possessions to follow a wandering rabbi? What would prompt them to such a dramatic change in their lives?
    The answer comes when we look at three things that had happened moments before Jesus’ invitation. First, the Lord had formed the miracle of an abundant catch of fish. The professional fishermen quickly realized a power beyond them had caused the catch. Second, Peter had responded as all men do when faced with God’s holy presence. He “fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’” Standing before the Holy God, Peter was afraid his sin would condemn him. This is common for us, isn’t it? When we see our sin against his holiness, we often ask him to leave. Or we are fearful to go before him. Consequently, we are prone to avoid prayer. We delay confession and put God’s Word aside. Avoiding God’s perfection, we feel more at ease with our own shortcomings. In essence, we say to our Lord, “Don’t come too close.”
    The third reason the men followed Jesus is in Jesus’ words, “Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”  The Lord of Life does not judge, but he comforts and assures all men there that he has come to care for them. The miracle provided income and food. Now Jesus offers the miracle of his loving assurance and his companionship. He has come not to judge them. He has come, surely, to be their friend. The Living Word calls them to his side to walk with him and to join him in his work. Oh, what a friend we have in Jesus!
    One day Peter, James and John would understand what Jesus meant to “fish for men”. Trusting the Lord, they would cast the gospel into the hearts of mankind to teach others of the Savior’s comfort, assurance and friendship. 
    Please know that these same miracles are for you. Consider, for example, how the Lord has provided you a job for your income and food. Jesus’ holy presence has come into your life through the Holy Bible, inspired by the Holy Spirit. Our Lord offers his loving assurance of salvation to escape his judgment. He invites you to follow him, so you can know him and be his friend forever. Be humble to receive Jesus. Be eager to follow him.
 
Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for coming to me in your holy majesty. On my knees I seek your forgiveness. On my feet I eagerly walk with you. Amen.

Luke 5:1-6 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2 he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.
 
I suppose one could write a very large book about Jesus’ and Peter’s relationship. We often view Peter as “the disciple who betrayed Jesus.” With our hearts prone to judgement instead of grace, we tend to forget about Peter as the disciple who most often did as Jesus commanded “because you say so”.
    Yes, Peter surely failed as we do. But most often this passionate man passed the testings the Lord Jesus gave to him. Yes, Peter had some doubts about Jesus instructing him to put the nets into deep water. Why wouldn’t he? After all, he, his brother and his cousins had been fishing all night with no results. What is the point of one more net drop?
    The point is that the Lord said so, and Peter certainly in the Holy Spirit’s power that day on the boat, believed past his doubt and into Jesus’ commands. He believed Jesus and then did the command. This teaches us how to be Jesus’ disciple: Believe Jesus’ commands, even past your doubts. Act into Jesus’ commands. Live into Jesus’ truth.
    Ultimately, Peter’s belief in Jesus would be deeper than the sea he fished. In addition to Peter’s obedience above, let’s recall this exchange between Jesus and his disciples: Matthew 16:15-17 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”  See how the Spirit gave to Peter a great faith in the Christ.
Spirit-empowered, Jesus-loving, truth-telling, Peter would follow Jesus’ commands to become a disciple-maker. Faithfully, he would preach the Christ in Jerusalem before the very same people who crucified his Lord. Obediently, he would be the first to minister to the Gentiles. To encourage the new church past their doubts, he would write two epistles and help Mark write his gospel. Sacrificially, Peter would suffer and die as his Lord. Peter’s Spirit-powered belief enabled the church to know the Christ just as he did. The early church would grow to believe in Jesus and raise up new disciples.
    So let’s put aside the summary of Peter’s life with the words, “He betrayed Christ.” And let’s, instead, remember Peter’s life-submitting faith to do what Jesus said, “Because you say so.” When someone asks you, “What do you say of Peter?” I hope you will respond with, “He struggled with Jesus’ commands at times. But he loved his Lord so much he put his doubts aside and lived into Jesus’ commands. Peter was even willing to die for Jesus. Then he did.”
   
Prayer: Empower me, Holy Spirit, to believe past my doubts and into true faith in Jesus, the Christ, the Living Son of God. In his name I pray, amen.

Luke 4:43 But he said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”  44 And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
 
AS we close Luke 4, the gospel writer restates the foundation of Jesus’ earthly work up to the cross. Jesus healed. Jesus comforted. Jesus taught theology to his disciples. Jesus modeled Kingdom living. Jesus preached. Of this list, which is Jesus’ reason for coming to earth? Our Lord tells us the most important reason, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”  Jesus tells us the Father had sent him to preach – speak – of the kingdom’s good news. We know from Jesus’ preaching that the good news consisted of speaking to us of our sins and then telling us the way to salvation. All who heard would know their sins disqualified them from kingdom living. John 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” But then Jesus would preach to them of the remarkable way into the kingdom: John 3:18 Whoever believes in the Son is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” 
    Three lessons for our Christian life come from Jesus here. First, we all as Jesus’ church today must remember a pastor, or minister, etc. is to “preach of the good news of the kingdom of God”. If we are one who is specifically called to that role, we are to be firm to pursue the true knowledge of the kingdom. We must, then, be faithful to preach truth.
    Second, if follows then that we in the church must allow our pastors to preach. Oftentimes a pastor’s job description begins with such words as “Offer weekly inspirational sermons.” This is well and good, but then there is a list of a dozen or so other major responsibilities a church believes its pastor must do. No pastor is capable of all that is asked of him. Be sure your pastor has the time to carefully preach the Word.
    Third, know that the preaching of “the good news of the kingdom of God” can make you very uncomfortable. You will not like some preaching because it points you to your sin. When that happens, don’t point back to the pastor to say, “He’s judgmental.” Point, instead, to your own heart to confess, “I have sinned. Forgive me, Lord.”
    News must be spoken, right? The only way “the good news of the kingdom of God” would become good news was for Jesus to specifically preach it – to talk of it – to explain it orally – in order to urge the Jews to repentance for the forgiveness of sins. This must be the primary work of the church today. Remember, the church is composed of the preachers and the listeners. Preach the Word. Hear the Word.
    Be careful you or your church isn’t too busy to preach and to hear.
 
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for speaking your Word through the Savior. Open our ears to hear and our hearts to rejoice in the “good news of the Kingdom of God.” Amen.