The Mission

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Well, as you have undoubtedly heard or read in the recent weeks, there is currently a debate raging about the place of Christmas in our culture. I first heard about it in reference to Boston's ridiculous holiday tree. What is a holiday tree? But another flashpoint in this debate centered in Jackson County, Georgia. There in Jackson County, Georgia, there's a school district, six thousand students just northeast of Atlanta, and one group reported, (and there's some debate about exactly what the statement was), but one group reported that the district there in Jackson County, Georgia, told teachers that they could not wear angel pens. They could not make any reference to the Christmas Party.

It was sort of the ubiquitous holiday party. They must remove any overt Christmas songs from the concert the students were presenting. And they must prohibit any classroom Bibles and art with angels or nativity scenes, not only for the student; not only for the teachers; but also for the students and of course, the coups de grace was banning even the saying of Merry Christmas.

You know, it's not surprising when you look at our culture. Not only are there those who are overtly antagonistic to Christianity in any form, however secularized that form may be, but there's also a constant fear of lawsuits. I know even here in our own city there's a discussion about making sure that we avoid any sign that could open us up to lawsuits from those who are opposed to what we embrace.

Regardless of the reasons behind it, I think there is one great benefit from this debate. I think it serves to all of us, as God's people, of a constant reminder of how easy it is to lose the reason for the celebration in the midst of all the clutter of Christmas. You see, at Christmas we celebrate the central reality of the Christian faith: that God the Son, the second person of the Divine Trinity, came to the earth from heaven. That He came into the world on a mission from God. Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus constantly referred to the fact that He had been sent here by the Father. You remember in John 6:38, He says, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me, But the question is why? Why did He come?

Now, most Christians, and many unbelievers, have a pat answer to that question. They understand the big picture. But that's like saying that you comprehend the genius that was Rembrandt's because at some point in your life, you saw a four by six photograph of one of his paintings.

I'm afraid that our perspective, even as Christians, is terribly lacking in clarity and in detail when it comes to why our Lord came to earth. But the New Testament provides us with all the clarity and detail we need to sort of fine tune our understanding of exactly why He came. And over the next two weeks we're going to look at Christ's first coming. Today, I want us to ask and answer the question: why did He come?

And next week, Lord willing, we'll look at: why did He have to come as a man? Why did He have to become man? Today, the mission. Next week, the man.

So today, I want us to examine the mission of Christ, but I want us to do so from a unique perspective. I want us to do it by looking at His own words. On several occasions in the Gospels, Christ explains the specific reasons He came into the world.

Some of these you'll find very familiar. There are answers that you would give if I ask you that question. Others you may never have heard at all, or if you've heard them, they may have really escaped your full attention. What exactly are the reasons Christ came? What was His mission?

Well, the first reason that I want us to look at together this morning is this: to reach God's chosen people, Israel, to reach God's chosen people, Israel. Turn to Matthew 15, and here we find an encounter of Christ that opens up our understanding of His mission in a unique way. Verse 21 of Matthew 15. "Jesus went away from there in the regions of Tyre and Sidon." Now these were twin Phoenician coastal cities that were considerably north of Galilee.

Mark also records this account, and Mark tells us that Jesus specifically went there for privacy. Mark 7:24, Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it. Yet He could not escape notice. Jesus, by this time, had become a national figure in Israel, and somebody from Tyre and Sidon, who had gone to Israel, (perhaps to attend one of the feasts, perhaps on business, Tyre and Sidon were major trade cities.) They had encountered this figure named Jesus of Nazareth, and they recognized Him. They spotted Him, and soon word spread that He was there.

So, in verse 22 a Canaanite woman from that region began to cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me Lord, son of David. Now notice what's going on here? Here we have a Canaanite woman. This is a woman who's a part of a race that goes back at least to 3000 B.C., part of a race that the children of Israel were supposed to extinguish, a pagan woman.

She recognizes Jesus. Now, we don't know if she had encountered Him on a trip to Israel, or perhaps she merely had Him pointed out by someone who had encountered Him, but regardless, she understands much of who Jesus truly is. Notice, she not only refers to Him by the polite term, Lord, recognizing His superiority, but she calls Him, Son of David.

Now, Matthew uses this expression eight times to refer to Jesus. It describes Jesus as the descendant of David the great King, but it came to be used as a title for Messiah. Messiah, who would be a mighty warrior and a king that would surpass David. And so, when she refers to Jesus as the Son of David, she has come to believe, as we'll see later. It becomes crystal clear that Jesus of Nazareth is, in fact, Israel's great promised and awaited Messiah.

This remarkable woman then acknowledges that she doesn't deserve anything from Jesus. She shouts out "have mercy on me." It's an expression of utter hopelessness. Apart from the concern of another, she says, "I have no reason to claim anything from You. I'm pleading only for You to act in mercy upon me." But her immediate concern here is not about herself. It's about her daughter, verse 22. My daughter is cruelly demon possessed, but Jesus did not answer her a word.

Now, you know, if you've read the gospels, this is very unusual for Jesus. It becomes clear in just a moment that Jesus intends to help this woman and her daughter, but He waits to answer her because He has a crucial lesson that He wants to teach His disciples.

Verse 23, His disciples came and implored Him, saying send her away because she keeps shouting at us. In effect, the disciples here are saying, Jesus give her what she wants, and send her away. But sadly, their motive here isn't her interest because she keeps shouting for us to do something. Perhaps they were embarrassed. Perhaps they didn't like the publicity. They knew Jesus was there for privacy to be with His disciples. Regardless of their motives, that's their concern here. She keeps shouting at us.

Jesus now speaks, and His response gives us a fascinating glimpse into His perception of His mission. Notice verse 24. But He answered and said I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In response to the disciple's suggestion that Jesus answered this woman's request, Jesus says, I was sent, (Now, let's stop there.) I was sent. Jesus was obviously aware that He was on a mission from God, and in fact, back in John 6 He had said He'd come down from heaven.

Jesus fully grasped who He was, and why He was here. He says, "I was sent by the Father for a very specific purpose," and Jesus' whole life was committed to this purpose. What was it? The spiritual salvation of the physical descendants of Abraham who were lost and in need of a Savior? Leon Morris writes,

During His time on earth, Jesus did not go to Athens or Rome or Alexandria, indeed to any of the places that we might have anticipated. Apart from very occasional trips like this one, which didn't interfere with the discharge of His mission, He spent all His time in Galilee and Judea. There are mysteries [He says] here that we cannot solve. But while Jesus came to make that atonement for sin, which would mean salvation for people in any place throughout this whole wide world, He did not come to engage in a worldwide mission of healing or the like. His earthly mission was to Israelites here described as lost sheep.

Now in verse 25, the woman finally makes her way to Jesus. She came and began to bow down before Him, saying, Lord, help me, and He answered and said, And this is shocking to us. It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. That is definitely not politically correct.

Mark adds, by the way, that Jesus said, "Let the children be satisfied first." Now that sounds harsh to us, but remember that facial expressions and tone can make this sound quite different. Which of us hasn't referred to our dearest of friends as a rascal and a villain. But it's the facial expression in the tone that communicates something entirely different. Jesus is saying here to this woman, it's not right to take the food intended for the children and give it to the household pets.

Verse 27, But she said, "Yes Lord, but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their master's table." She gets exactly what Jesus is saying. It's true, she says, the needs of the children come first, but the household pets eventually get to eat. They eat the scraps.

When I was growing up, we always had dogs at my household. We had two acres there in southern Alabama, and we always had a boxer bulldog. No one in the neighborhood ever bothered me because my boxer was always handy. A simple sicum seemed to solve any problem I encountered.

And that dog ate like a king. I remember a few times, you know, with ten kids, sometimes my mom couldn't fix enough food to feed us all, and so everything would be devoured. And I remember, on a few occasions, my mom standing in the kitchen cooking this dog a meal. But usually, the dog got the scraps. And they were fine scraps. Let me tell you a good southern cooking and that dog ate high. That's what this woman is saying here. Amazingly, she understood Jesus' mission was to Israel. She understood that He had come for the children of Israel, but she says. "I get to eat the scraps."

And Jesus said to her, oh woman, your faith is great. It shall be done for you as you wish, and her daughter was healed at once. It's interesting, Jesus doesn't praise her for her humility, which she obviously had. He praises her for her faith. She had come to believe in Him as Israel's Messiah, and she understood that even though she was not an Israelite, she could benefit from the feast that Christ was offering.

Jesus here, in this statement, gives us a glimpse into His mission. He says that He was sent specifically to the chosen people of God. Turn to Acts 3. Peter makes this same point in his second sermon. This is now the sermon at the healing of the lame beggar at the temple. Verses 25 and 26 of Acts 3. He says to these Jewish people who've gathered there. "It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the Covenant, which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED."

Watch verse 26 "For you first, God raised up His servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways." This is why Jesus came. His focus was on the earthly people of Israel, the children of Israel.

Same thing as in Paul in Romans1, in that passage in Romans 1, that you've all memorized, Romans 1:16 for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, [But then he adds] to the Jew first and also [to everyone else] to the Greek. You see this statement of Christ defines the focus and thrust of His earthly ministry. He was by virtue of becoming man limited to one location at a time, and in the purposes of God, the thrust of His earthly ministry was the children of Israel.

Now, what lessons can you and I learn from this mission of Christ? Well, the first one that came to my mind as I contemplated this passage is that it's not the size and scope of your ministry that matters to God. It's not the size and scope of your ministry that matters to God. God is not impressed with the size and scope of your ministry. Think about it, when God sent His Son to earth, He assigned Him to one small unimportant strip of land with a relatively unimportant people group, not one of the great powerhouses of the world, not Rome, not Alexandria, not Athens, Israel. And Jesus, the Son of God spent most of His time pouring Himself into twelve very ordinary men.

It's no wonder Dr. James Allen Francis wrote these words that you've undoubtedly heard before.

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then, for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled more than two hundred miles from the place where He was born.

He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness, yet all the armies that have ever marched; all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever set; and all the kings that ever reigned put together have not affected the life of man upon the earth as much as has that one solitary life.

The point is this. Focus your life on the people God has sovereignly placed around you, and let God worry about the scope and impact of your life and ministry.

There's a second lesson from this mission of Christ. It shows us that some things that are true about God. It shows us God's grace, His mercy, His faithfulness in a very profound way because God, here in sending Christ to Israel, was keeping His promises even to a stubborn and rebellious people who were filled with idolatry and then with spiritual pride.

Turn to Romans 15, the end of his letter to the Romans. Paul reminds us of this, Romans 15:8. For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision, [speaking obviously of the Jewish people], He's become a servant to the circumcision why, on behalf of the truth of God, to confirm the promises given to the fathers and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy….

Lsten, the fact that God sent Christ to the Jews, a rebellious, stubborn people who refused to follow Him as He intended, shows us the kind of God we serve, a God of grace, a God of mercy, a God who always keeps His promises, and I don't know about you. But that's a great encouragement to me because I find myself all too often playing the role of Israel, unfaithful, not what I ought to be before God, but God remains faithful. The first great part of Jesus' mission was to reach God's chosen people, Israel.

But the gospels record a second great purpose that Christ came to earth to preach the gospel. Turn to Mark's gospel, Mark 1, And you see this again in the ministry of Christ, Mark 1:21. They went into Capernaum. [Jesus has come to Galilee. And on the north side of the lake, on the north side of the Sea of Galilee is the little town of Capernaum. I had the opportunity several times, a couple of times, to go there, to be there. The original foundation to the synagogue still stands, and a later synagogue is now built on its surface.]

Jesus comes to Capernaum, and on the Sabbath [Day] He went into the synagogue, and two remarkable things happen, verse 22. They were amazed at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. [overwhelmed by the teaching of Christ.]

The second thing that happens is in verses 23 to 27, and it's the healing of a demon possessed man at the very same time, in the synagogue.

As a result of these two events, notice verse 28, Immediately, the news about Jesus spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee. And then, in verses 29 to 31, Jesus displays His power again in healing Peter's mother-in-law.

In verses 32 and following, the disciples are absolutely ecstatic about what Christ is doing. They're absolutely ecstatic over the events of the day before, notice verse 35. This is now the next day after that incredible day.

In the next day in the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went away to a secluded place, and [He] was praying there. [Peter] Simon and his companions searched for … [Jesus], and they found Him, [and watch what they say to Him]. "Everyone is looking for You."

I mean they're riding the crest of excitement, look at what's happening. I'm sure, in their minds, they can see Jesus soon taking the land of Israel by storm, routing the Romans, establishing an earthly kingdom. They're so excited, everybody's looking for You. This is exactly what we wanted to happen. Everything is going exactly according to the disciples' plan.

And then Jesus drops this bomb on them. Verse 38,

He said to them, "Let us go somewhere else." [You got to be kidding, somewhere else? Look at what's happening here. A revival is breaking out. Soon the whole country will want to make You king. He says,] "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for. And he went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee preaching and casting out the demons.

In the parallel passage. In Luke's gospel Luke 4:42, Luke tells us that it wasn't just the disciples that wanted Jesus to stay there. The multitudes wanted Him to stay there as well. They were trying to keep Him from leaving, so in Luke 4:43, Jesus says to them, "I must preach the Kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.'

Jesus here identifies another key part of His mission. I was sent to preach. Jesus, of course, performed many miracles throughout His ministry. We see them even in this context, but the miracles, understand this, served only an ancillary purpose. They confirmed His message and showed who He was. But preaching, Jesus says, was the cornerstone of His ministry and what was He preaching? Well, Mark records Jesus' very first message. Look back in Mark 1:14.

Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, [and this is what He said], verse 15. "The time is fulfilled, … the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

That was His message. I've got good news. I've got good news of forgiveness, but the only way you can receive it is by turning from your sins and embracing the good news that I brought, which includes all of who I am, I am the one sent to accomplish this.

By the way, this continued to be Jesus' constant message throughout His ministry. In Luke 5:32, he says, "I have not come to call the righteous, but I have come what to call sinners to repentance." That was Jesus' message. He came to preach the gospel, the gospel that says, there's forgiveness found in Me, but you must turn from your sin, and you must embrace the truth as it's found in Me. You must follow Me.

By the way, there is here a profound message about the ministry of the church in the field of evangelism. God didn't send His Son to spirit dance lost men and women into salvation. He didn't send Him to bring them to Himself through musical concerts. He didn't send them to present a compelling movie that told the story of God's forgiveness. He sent His Son on a mission to preach to proclaim "to herald" is the word to announce, as a herald, on behalf of the King, a message.

It's interesting when you look at Jesus' message, when He returned to His hometown. Turn to Luke 4. In Luke 4 Jesus returns home to Nazareth. And His first message in His hometown synagogue, Luke records for us here Luke 4:16 Jesus came to Nazareth, where He'd been brought up, and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath. He's now a visiting Rabbi, a master teacher,

… and He stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him, and He opened the book and found the place where it was written. "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON Me." This is from Isaiah 61.THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD. … He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all the synagogue were fixed on Him. [What is this hometown boy made good going to say about this great text, this text that promises the coming of Messiah.]

Notice what He says verse 21, He began to say to them. "Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." What you read in Isaiah 61 about the anointed one, the Messiah has just been fulfilled by Me.

Initially, there's some positive response. They were speaking well of Him, wondering at the gracious words, saying, "Is this not Joseph's Son, but things deteriorate and through the morning it goes from. "We're glad to have you back Son. Glad you've made a name for yourself to trying to throw Him off the cliff, why?

Because Jesus told the hometown crowd, the folks He'd grown up with; that they were spiritually bankrupt; that they were prisoners in need of release; that they were spiritually blind who needed to be able to understand the things of God; and that they were oppressed; and that their only hope was in the good news of forgiveness; that He, as Israel's Messiah was bringing to them. This was the message He brought, and it's to be our message as well.

You know, I'm struck with the fact that in the book of Acts, when persecution came upon the church, you remember when a man by the name of Saul, later to become the apostle Paul, is wreaking havoc on the church. They all flee the city of Jerusalem, and in Acts 8:4, it says that those who had been scattered went preaching the word, propagating the word, sewing at as seed everywhere they went. That's our responsibility as well. Jesus came to preach the good news. You and I have that same responsibility.

The third aspect of Jesus' mission on earth is really a surprising one. We expect really to see that He's come to reach the chosen people of Israel. We expect to learn that He preaches the Gospel, but this third one is really a bit surprising. Jesus came, He said, to create conflict, to create conflict. Although this is not part of the core of His mission, it is an intended circumstantial effect. In other words, God intended that this occur as part of the ministry of Christ.

Turn to Matthew's gospel chapter 10, and let me read for you these really shocking words of Christ. By the way, it's also recorded in Luke 12. Matthew 10:34, He begins, do not think [now by beginning that way. He tells us that there's going to be a temptation to believe this, but whatever you do don't believe it.] Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth. There go a lot of wonderful Schmarmy Christmas songs. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Verse 35, for I came to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be the members of his household.

Now certainly, there is a sense in which Jesus at His first coming, came to bring peace. But it was peace with God. It wasn't necessarily peace with everyone else.

In fact, Paul records in Romans 5:1, Therefore, having been justified by faith, [what?] we have peace with God…. He's not talking about some subjective feeling. He's talking about an objective reality that the war is over between us and God. He came to bring that kind of peace between the sinner and God. God is no longer our declared enemy, but He's become our Father in Christ. So, He came to bring peace in that sense. But in one of the world's greatest paradoxes, as Christ brings peace with God, Christ produces conflict with others.

Christ inevitably produces conflict and opposition between those who accept Him on the one hand, and those who reject Him on the other. And that division even occurs within families. Jesus says. Jesus should have known. He did know firsthand. It started, of course, this division, started with Jesus' own family.

Mary. His mother, believed in Him, embraced the reality of who He was, but His brothers, they didn't believe in Him until after the resurrection. In fact, they thought He was out of His mind. At one time in His ministry they show up to take Him home. We got to do something with our brother. Our older brother is out of His head. He's suffering the illusion of a Messiah complex, literally.

That kind of vision was a constant reality throughout Jesus' earthly ministry. There's a glimpse into it. In John 7, John 7, 40 says,

Some of the people therefore, when they heard … [what Jesus was teaching, they] were saying, "This certainly is the Prophet." the one that Moses had talked about the great Prophet. Others were saying, verse 41, "This is the … [Messiah]. Still others were saying, "Surely the Christ isn't going to come out of Galilee, is He?" [It would be like us here in Dallas, saying, surely He's not coming out of Houston.] "Has not the Scripture said that the … [Messiah' comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?" So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him,

And the rest of the chapter details that ongoing fight in division about who Jesus really is. It continued in the early church. Turn over to Acts 14. In Acts 14, the Apostle Paul reaches a city called Iconium, Acts 14:1,

In Iconium they entered the synagogue of the Jews together and spoke in such a matter that a manner that a large number of people believed both of Jews and of Greeks. But the Jews who disbelieved stirred up the minds of the Gentiles and embittered them against the brethren. Therefore, they spent a long time there, speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be done by their hands. [verse 4], But the people of the city were divided; and some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles. [This is a constant reality from the family of Christ on through the history of the church. Christ always brings division.]

Perhaps you have personally experienced, in your own family, the kind of division that Christ describes in Matthew 10. Maybe you have family members who ridicule your faith; who treat you with some measure of contempt, either overtly or perhaps more subtly. Well, if that's okay for you, then good, I'm glad it helps you. What lessons can we learn from this part of the mission of Christ?

First, it's important that you realize that this was part of the purpose God had in sending Christ. Don't think it's strange or abnormal when there is division, even in your own family, because of your embracing of Christ. You know, I think it's easy, especially during family times, like Christmas, to find ourselves wishing those divisions away. You know, I just wish we could all get together, and just enjoy the holiday season enjoy Christmas together without the battles. Listen, pray for the salvation of your family members and friends share the gospel with them, but don't be surprised at the division. It was part of God's plan in sending Christ.

There's a second lesson that grows out of this part of the mission of Christ, and that is to realize that the division, when it comes, provides us all with a profound opportunity to prove our loyalty to Jesus Christ. Jesus follows up His words in Matthew 10. Those words I just read to you about the division with this statement in verse 37.

He says, yes, there's going to be division, verse 37. "He who loves father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me, and he who loves son or daughter more than Me, is not worthy of Me."

You know what Jesus is saying, He's saying division's going to come. And it's a test. It's a test of where your loyalty really lies. He says, "Your ultimate allegiance is not to your earthly family, but to Christ, and following Him, must take precedence even over the natural love of family." Obeying Christ is more important than being attached to an earthly family.

Christ told us that His mission was: Number 1: to reach the chosen people of God, Israel. Number 2: to preach the gospel. Number 3: to bring division. The next aspect of the Divine mission is the most obvious and the most far reaching, and that is to save the lost. Turn with me to Luke's gospel chapter 19. Jesus presents this statement in living color in this famous story.

We find Jesus late in His ministry. In fact, it's just before the triumphal entry. It's just before the events of the Passion week, and Jesus passes through the little town of Jericho. Jericho is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. Archaeologists have found sights at that spot in the tell there, dating back to the very earliest parts of human history. It's also one of the lowest points on earth, and I can tell you from personal experience. It's one of the hottest and the most humid during Israel's summers.

And there, Jesus encounters a man that we all have heard about from the youngest of ages. Zaccheus. In verse 2, we're told that he was a chief tax collector. In other words, Zaccheus owned the tax franchise business given out by the Roman government for the entire region of Jericho. Now that was very important because Jericho was on a trade route.

A major road went through Jericho, and so it's not surprising when we find in verse 2 that Zaccheus was rich. You see tax collectors for Rome would not only charge what the Roman government told them to charge, but they would overcharge, and they would skim the surplus prophets for themselves. They were absolutely hated. They were seen as wicked, wicked men because they collaborated with the Roman government, but more than that they went beyond what the Roman government commanded, and they enriched themselves at the expense of their own people. This man was rich.

Now this story comes on the heels of Jesus' encounter with the rich young ruler back in chapter 18. You'll remember that the rich young ruler refused to follow Christ because he was extremely rich. Christ had told His disciples after that encounter after the rich man walked away and refused to give up his wealth. Jesus told His disciples that for a rich man to become a true disciple to enter the Kingdom of God, it was very hard. In fact, He said, "It's easier for a camel [a literal camel] to go through the [literal] eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to be saved.

In fact, with men, it's impossible but notice chapter 18:27. He said, "The things that are impossible with people are possible with God." And here in chapter 19 is a powerful illustration of that here is a rich man, a wicked, ungodly rich man willingly making profits from the poor and from his own people; an extortionist with Rome's stamp of approval, Now, you're familiar with the story. He was short. He couldn't see Christ, and because of the crowd he runs ahead, verse 4,

He climbs into a sycamore tree, probably a mulberry type tree (sorry to mess up all of your childhood songs), but he did this in order to see Jesus for He was about to pass that way. When Jesus comes to the place, He looks up at Zaccheus and He says Zaccheus, hurry and come down for today. I must stay at your house.

In other words, Zaccheus, we have a divine appointment. I have come through Jericho to see you. He hurried and came down and received Jesus gladly. And when the people around saw it, they all began to grumble, saying He's gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner, as if Jesus didn't know it. Can you believe it? They hated these people. Verse 8, Zaccheus stopped [on the way] and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, [what a contrast to the rich young ruler.] He says, right off the top. I'm going to give away half of everything I own and to help those who are in need, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, [and the clear implication is he had], I will give back four times as much."

This was way beyond what the law of God required. Here is true repentance. Here's a man saying I want to make it right. I want to turn from my sin. I will turn from my sin. Because of this obvious true repentance, verse 9, Jesus said to him, "Today, salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is the son of Abraham."

And then He makes this profound statement anticipating the objections of all the people around who wondered how Jesus could have anything to do with such a wicked man, He says "For the Son of Man …", [Which, of course is that title, not only that speaks of His humanity, b ut that goes back to Daniel 7 and reminds us of the Son of Man approaching the Ancient of Days. It's a picture of majesty and deity and power. He says,] "For the Son of Man has come [for what reason?] to seek, and to save that which was lost."

This was His mission. He came to seek and to spiritually save, to deliver, to rescue those who are lost. Jesus doesn't tell us here how He's going to do that. He just tells us that's His mission. But He does tell us how in Mark 10, turn there with me, Mark 10. Probably the most beautiful of these sayings of Christ, where He tells us why He's come, Mark 10:45. Here He tells us how He's going to accomplish this salvation. He says, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…."

Now obviously, Jesus was served at points by people. He was worshiped; He was adored; people cared for Him, so He's talking about the overall approach of His life. He's saying, My mission, the reason I'm here is to serve. And what exactly is that service? Well, He explains it in the rest of the verse, "… to give … [My] life a ransom for many." That's how I'm going to accomplish the salvation that I promised. You see Jesus came to save those who were lost in sin; who are lost in spiritual blindness; who are enslaved by their wickedness; and who are enslaved by the prospects of both physical death and eternal death, and Jesus accomplished their salvation by giving His life as a ransom.

"Ransom" was originally, in Greek, the price paid for the release of a slave. Jesus says, I'm going to give My life for your release. But how exactly can that be accomplished? How can Jesus give His life, and you and I who deserve to die be released? Well, the rest of the verse explains it in two very profound words, he says, "I came to give My life as a ransom for many. The Greek word that's translated "for" in that verse is a word which means literally "in the place of".

Jesus came to provide salvation by giving His life in the place of others. This is the biblical principle of substitution. This passage reminds us that at this Christmas season, Christ came to be the substitute for all who will receive the message of the gospel He preached, all of those who are willing to repent and to believe.

Perhaps, this week, you've been exposed to the extent of your own depravity. Perhaps you've seen how wicked your heart can become, and you've realized that; however much you have attended church; however much you've been attached to the people of God, that you desperately need both forgiveness and a new heart, a heart that longs to obey God. This is Christ's message to you. He came to seek you and to save you if you will respond; to be your substitute.

But there's another powerful application of this passage. It's the one Jesus makes in verses 42 – 44. The scene here is James and John, through their mother, have just made their approach to the place of prominence in the kingdom. You remember the story. Don't get, don't be too hard on James and John, however. This was a constant source of debate among all of the disciples. James and John just are right now in the lead in the pursuit of this position. Jesus, then in verse 42, calls all of His disciples to Himself, and He says to them,

"You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it's not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your …[slave]; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.

He says, listen, you need to serve one another. Don't be worrying about jockeying for the best position, and it's in that context He says those amazing words: for even the Son of Man, even God's Son did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. We are called to follow Jesus' example to become the servant, the slave of all. We must willingly give up our lives to serve others even as He did.

Jesus came on a mission from God. We too are on a mission. You remember those words of Christ at the very end of His life, after the resurrection in John 20:21, Jesus said to His disciples again … as the Father has sent me, I also send you. We have also been sent to proclaim the gospel to the Jew first, as Paul says, and also to everyone else to the Greek. We're to proclaim the message the good news that there's forgiveness in Jesus Christ. That's what our lives are to be about. We're just as Christ was sent. But understand that that message will create division perhaps even in your own family.

But we're to be loyal to Christ. We're to tell others that He came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom in the place of sinners. If they will repent and believe, they can enjoy the benefits of His death. We're to serve then all those who receive that message. As I have been sent, Jesus said, I send you.

Margaret Clarkson was a teacher. She was a teacher in a gold mining camp in Ontario, Canada. It's a terrible place, a lonely place for a woman to serve, but she stayed there, convinced that that's where God wanted her, teaching the children of those families that were there in that dark and difficult place.

She actually wanted to be a missionary overseas, but her health wouldn't allow. One day, she reread this passage in John 20:21 as the Father has sent Me, so also, I send you. And as a result of thinking about that verse, thinking about and meditating on it, she wrote these words that we occasionally sing.

So send I you - to labor unrewarded,

To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown,

To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing,

So send I you to toil for Me alone.

So, send I you - to loneliness and longing,

With heart a hung'ring for the loved and known,

Forsaking home and kindred, friend and dear one -

So send I you to know My love alone.

So, send I you - to leave your life's ambition,

To die to dear desire, self-will resign,

To labor long, and love where men revile you. -

So send I you to lose your life in Mine,

So send I you - to hearts made hard by hatred,

To eyes made blind because they will not see,

To spend, tho it be blood, to spend and spare not -

So, send I you to taste of calvary.

Jesus was sent on a mission. He sent us on the same kind of mission.

Let's pray together.

Father, thank you, for these words of our Lord that remind us so clearly of why He came. Father, thank you that You have sent us also on the same sort of mission to declare the good news of forgiveness that He accomplished by dying as a substitute for sinners.

Father, I pray for those who may be here this morning who have realized this week just how sinful they are. You have brought that to their minds; you've shown them how deep their sin can go. Lord, I pray that today would be the day regardless of professions they may have made in the past; prayers they may have prayed, r eligion they may have participated in.

Father, I pray that today would be the day when they would embrace the message that Christ preached. They would truly repent and believe the good news of forgiveness that's found in Him, help them to learn today that He came to seek and to save people just like they are.

And Father, I pray for the rest of us who have already come to enjoy that forgiveness. I pray, Lord, that You would help us to be faithful in the same mission that our Lord had, the mission of rescue; the message of deliverance; the joy of proclaiming that You are a God who forgives sinners.

Lord, during this season, make us faithful to that message, regardless of what it costs us. And may Jesus Christ receive all the praise and glory.

We ask it in His name. Amen.