Chapter # 4 Paragraph # 5 Study # 6
January 14, 2007
Lincolnton, N.C.
(Download Audio)

• I. Luke's Record of Jesus' Commitment to Fulfill His Calling as a Summons to Us to Fulfill Ours.
  • A. Luke recorded Jesus deliberately turning from the appeal of the appeal of the multitudes (that is a deliberate double-statement).
    • 1. The "appeal" of the multitudes was "stay here with us".
    • 2. The "appeal" of the "appeal" was to be the center of the attention of a large host of folks.
    • 3. Everywhere in the Scriptures we are put on notice that we cannot succumb to the appeal of the appeal and remain the servants of God.
  • B. Luke recorded Jesus deliberately retaining His "calling".
    • 1. He knew both what His "calling was" and what it would take to fulfill it.
      • a. He announced in Nazareth what His calling was.
      • b. He told the selfish multitudes that He had to "proclaim the Kingdom of God in the other cities."
    • 2. He pursued the task "unto the synagogues of Judea".
      • a. There is a textual variation at the end of 4:44.
        • 1) Some manuscripts read "the synagogues of Galilee".
        • 2) Some manuscripts read "the synagogues of the Jews".
        • 3) Some manuscripts read "the synagogues of Judea".
      • b. The most reasonable reading is the one which gives rise to the others.
        • 1) The reading "synagogues of Galilee" could not possibly give rise to the other readings.
          • a) It "fits" the setting like a glove fits a hand.
          • b) It has absolutely no similarity of spelling that could account for a change.
        • 2) The reading "synagogues of Judea" explains both other readings.
          • a) It is so "apparently" not suitable to the setting that someone simply changed it.
          • b) It also explains why some would go with "synagogues of the Jews".
      • c. Luke's point is one: Jesus pressed His "calling" as far as the synagogues of Judea so that He could fulfill it to the maximum.
        • 1) This is, after all, his "point" -- that Jesus was absolutely committed to His Father's appointment.
        • 2) It was the synagogues of Judea where Jesus was in the most "danger".
  • C. Luke told Theophilus of Jesus' commitment so it could "bleed into" Theophilus' heart.
    • 1. It is fundamental to "Christian" theology that God has ordained that every snake who has his nature altered into that of a "Christian" is to be "conformed to the image of Jesus".
      • a. Hebrews 10:5-10 tells us that the purpose of Jesus in the incarnation was to do the will of God.
      • b. Romans 8:29 is a plain as it possibly can be that we are to be "conformed" to the image of this "obedient" Son.
      • c. Romans 12:2 demands as strongly as it possibly can that we are not to be "conformed" to this world.
    • 2. It is fundamental to the "seal of God" that everyone who names the Name is under serious obligation to "depart from unrighteousness" (2 Timothy 2:19).
    • 3. It is fundamental to "Jesus' demand" that those who would be His disciples seek the Kingdom of God and God's righteousness as an exclusionary practice.
    • 4. It is fundamental to "Theophilus' name" that Luke intended that he develop in the very same direction as Jesus.
• II. Jesus' Example as a Pattern for Our Development.
  • A. "Development" is the key word: we start from the position of vipers in the wilderness -- way behind the eight ball.
    • 1. We are deeply addicted to using our fangs to function in our wilderness.
    • 2. We are summoned to a double task.
      • a. The absolute cessation of the use of fangs.
      • b. The complete commitment to permitting God to rearrange our inner wilderness.
        • 1) The greatest single delusion is our basic rejection of our inner reality.
        • 2) The greatest single methodological blunder is our fixation upon being instruments of the rearrangement of the wilderness reality of others .
  • B. "Development" means that we stop assuming our "freedom" to act makes our actions legitimate.
    • 1. Acts 5:3-4 clearly gives us the "freedom" to make our decisions about our lives.
    • 2. But, 2 Corinthians 5:10 just as clearly tells us that we will explain our decisions to Jesus and hear and see and live forever with the consequences of what He thinks of them.
    • 3. Obviously, any true Theophile must, then, understand some basic principles.
      • a. First, there is no fulfilling of a non-or-ambiguous calling.
        • 1) According to 1 Peter 4:10 every believer has a non-ambiguous calling.
        • 2) According to 1 Corinthians 4:2 it is this calling to which we will be called to account.
      • b. Second, the actual fulfilling of every specific calling is going to boil down to two basic principles.
        • 1) First is the Kingdom of God.
        • 2) Second is the pursuit of that Kingdom in righteous ways.
    • 4. And, just as obviously, our early decisions will be more problematical than our "mature" ones will be.