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As a church family. As we get ready to dive into this morning’s message, there’s a few things I wanted to just show you that we saw accomplished towards the end of this year around the Christmas holidays, through some of the generosity of Alpine Bible Church. And so the this first picture up here on the screen was the represents the trip that we took to Colorado City. We asked for about a month if you guys wanted to participate by donating to help families in need for the Christmas holidays. And we took a family gift to every family in the Colorado City area that was in need. They received a a Christmas meal and and a gift basket for the families. And so this is just a little bit of a picture to show you guys what was accomplished there. You see on the the bottom left that jump house, there’s only four kids in line. I should have taken another picture and showed you the 40 kids that were in line, while the 40 kids were in the jump house at one point. But once you get that big, you can’t stop to take pictures. So that was my job. I was in charge of the bounce house of kids, lost fingers, whatever. It’s on me, right? So, so. But you see, in the top left, that’s wrapping the gifts that went down to Colorado City on the right, a couple of families receiving gifts, and then we provided a large dinner for them.
There was a speaker. Every family that left, um, received a gospel centered book that focused on Christ and his salvation. Had a special speaker there. We sang some carols, gave them, uh, a meal. And most of these families, if not all of these families, were celebrating their very first Christmas that they’ve ever celebrated. And that’s because of your generosity as a church family and your willingness to get behind. And not only that, this was a wonderful opportunity as an outreach opportunity, really, for missionaries Brody and Liz Olsen, who are down there working to plant a church and and by providing for the community, we were able to bring the community to them and connect them into the community with families in need that they could just be there to continue to minister to them. So appreciate all of your support in that. And in addition to it, we are also involved in in ministry in India. We help in the leper colony and in the slum schools, and we help a man named Joseph Tom Thomas who is in the top left. He is the one wearing the blue jacket. He’s got a handful of Bibles in his hands. And so over this Christmas holiday season, one of the things he was able to do was he was able to go to various schools, including some of the some schools that he helps lead and then other schools he helps teach at some of the Hindi schools, he was able to hand out a Bible and a Christmas book.
He used the Christmas message to share about Jesus with the kids, and he handed them a book on Christmas and a Bible to go through that book in their own language so they could have a copy of the Bible. And so he’s able to hand out thousands of those to children in need. And in addition to that, on the far right, you see a couple of ladies that are in the leper colony, and they receive a little bit of money every month for support. If you want to know what it takes for these ladies to live for the month in their hands as an envelope, and in that envelope is $8. And so that’s for the month, what they receive to live on. And as a church family, we help supply some of the resources for them to be able to provide for the people in need. And so, um, because of your love and support, we provide opportunity for Joseph Thomas to go to these areas and reach people for Christ and minister to their basic needs in life. And so that’s a thank you to you for for what you do and your love for the Lord and contributing to him. And when I look at that, I’m really I’m always thankful for what we do as a church.
And then I see real people with real faces getting $8 and I’m like, and we can do more, we can do more. But I’m thankful, um, I’m thankful for what God’s leading in our hearts to do as a church family and how we’re able to meet those needs and supplying for for people in Christ and loving them in the Lord. And so just wanted to take that time to share with you. As we get into the morning message, I’m going to play a little a little bit of a game, okay? I want to flash a word on the screen and you can say it out loud if you want, but the first thing that comes to mind, I’m going to I’m going to give you the name of a of a brand or a company. And the first thing that comes to mind when I mention this, you could just whisper it, say it out loud. It doesn’t matter. I’m just going to associate the this type of company with what they produce or what they’re about. Because the first word that comes to mind, are you ready? Okay. Vehicles, right? Oh. Watch this. Right. Expensive watches. That’s right. There we go. They paid my way through college. All right. Now, this next one. I don’t want you to give an answer out loud for. I just want you to think about it, okay? And you may not even have an answer for it.
But my goal at the end of this time that we spend together in God’s Word is that by the end, you know what this answer is? Because I really think it’s a one word answer. Are you ready? People describe what the church is about. There are lots of things that entail what the church is designed for. I mean, some people might say worship or or music or prayer or scripture and all of those things are significant. But I would tell you that that what God desires for the church, it’s really one thing, and all the other things are what help us achieve this singular goal. But we’ll get to that in just a moment. But I’m going to build in and shelf this this thought of where we’re going with what the church represents. And start here. I’m going to I’m going to begin with where we left off last week from from Matthew chapter four. We’re going to end up in Matthew chapter 17. But we’re going to use chapter four for a springboard for where we’re going this morning. And if if you remember in verse 19, this is when Jesus begins his public ministry and he’s traveling throughout the region, and he he ends up throughout Israel, and he and he ends up near the disciples of the sea, and he asks them to follow him. It says in Matthew chapter four and verse 19 and he said to them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Right. And the Bible tells us that immediately the the disciples dropped what they were doing, which they were fishing, and they began to follow after Jesus. When Jesus gives this command, one of the unique things that we see, maybe that astounds us by the first few disciples that Jesus meets Andrew and Peter and James and John is just how readily they are at being prepared to drop their nets and just pursue Christ. They just leave everything right there and begin to pursue Christ. But what Jesus is saying to these disciples isn’t, isn’t unique in a command that that would be out of the ordinary from the way the nation of Israel is used to functioning. And what I mean is, during the time of Christ, when when a young man was beginning to to come of age, they would be taught by rabbis if they were demonstrating a uniqueness and an ability to learn the scriptures and to recite the scriptures. And so what would happen in society where Jesus is walking during this day? According to the Mishnah, at the age of five, children would begin to study the scriptures. At the age of ten, they would begin to study the Mishnah. At the age of 13. They would then dive into the Torah at the age of 15. Some of the students their schooling would end, but others then would would make themselves available to a rabbi.
They would go before this rabbi, and they would tell the rabbi that they wanted to study underneath of them. For instance, the Apostle Paul, the Bible tells us, studied under Gamaliel, one of the one of the most prominent rabbis in Israel, if not the most prominent rabbi in Israel. And the rabbi would then ask the student questions. He would prod into the student’s life, and the rabbi then would pick from the cream of the crop. He would decide which students were able to follow him, and which would have to return back to their their homes and continue on in some other form or line of work. But the ones that would follow him would pursue after the Rabbi and then themselves become teachers of the law. And so the rabbi would very carefully select the ones that he desired for to follow after him until the age of about 30. And at the age of 30 they would begin their ministry. That’s why most people anticipate when Jesus or, uh, evaluate Jesus’s ministry, when it becomes, in Matthew chapter four, that Jesus is likely somewhere around the age of 30. The rabbinical age, when a teacher would begin to teach his followers. And so when Jesus comes to the disciples in Matthew chapter four, the story would go something like this that they studied the scriptures, as the Mishnah would say, at the age of 15, when they became of age to study under a rabbi, they weren’t picked.
And what makes Jesus unique from the rest of the rabbis is that these individuals didn’t go to Christ and say, Jesus, teach me. But what makes their story unique is that the Rabbi came for them. Follow me. These were students. That. Society would have qualified as having been rejected. By the rabbis. For whatever reason. And Jesus chooses them. And their willingness to follow after Christ is nothing out of the ordinary, because during this time young men were used to to following after rabbis as their teachers. This word for rabbi literally means master or or teacher. In fact, when Jesus was buried and resurrected and he ascended into heaven, it tells us in acts that the disciples began to preach this message. And when they came before the leaders of Israel because of their message, they were sharing. This is what the remark was in acts chapter four and verse 13. Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. These disciples had learned under Jesus. This command wasn’t necessarily unique in the sense that they were used to following after a rabbi, but it was unique in the sense that the rabbi had chosen them rather than them choosing the rabbi. The thought of the.
The fullness of this command is important to recognize, too, that when Jesus says, follow me, there’s something unique in this culture that’s that’s somewhat different than the way that we think in our westernized world. So we have the tendency within our society to compartmentalize things. We have we have this area of our life and we have our exercise. Part of us we have the we have the educational part of us. We got the home life part of us. And and we categorize the way that we live our lives, certain chunks of time in different areas that we spend our, our lives. But when you came to follow a rabbi. The expectation from the learner under the rabbi was holistically. Every part of their life was to learn and duplicate, as the Rabbi demonstrated to them the way that he has lived his life in light of God’s Word. One of the best illustrations I think of when when I think of learning under a rabbi for me in the 80s, it’s a karate kid. I mean, under Mr. Miyagi of all things. Right? He learns the bonsai tree and. And what’s the karate Kid’s name? We’ll just call him Karate Kid. I can’t remember his name, but the Karate Kid learns under under the the bonsai tree. And there was even this one part I remember as a young kid watching Mr. Miyagi sit at the table, and he would catch flies with chopsticks and watching the this young Karate Kid try to figure out how to do that.
But maybe the best lesson he learned as he learned everything from from his master was wax on, wax off. Right? I mean, every part of his life. I read a story of a young lady who who was, um, dealing with pottery, and she wanted to learn under the best teacher she could. And so she, she received an internship to go to Japan to learn under this world renowned potter that how to sculpt this beautiful image. But she decided I can’t put in four years, I can only do six months. And she goes to Japan and she meets this individual in which she’s going to study under her, her master or her teacher. And the story goes that she she says she wasn’t accustomed to Japanese culture. And she goes and she’s expecting to sit in a classroom and, and this individual just teach her how to sculpt. And she says she’s there for six months. And in her six months internship, she never sculpted one time. Because for six months. Her masters started to teach her how he lived his life. What helped his thinking develop in the way that formulated his ability to be creative in the way he designed. And she said, for six months I learned everything that he did about his way of life. He even took me out to where he gets his clay and showed me how to prepare the clay.
But I never sculpted because I didn’t realize in their culture it was about becoming everything that he was. When? Jesus. Says follow me. It’s not a compartmentalization of of what Jesus just wants to do in your life. When these disciples hear this command, they understand that their pursuit, everything that they are holistically, is to learn under what this rabbi is about. And in fact, in the book of Mark, Peter even recognizes, Peter began to say to Jesus, behold, we have left everything and followed you. Jesus. The story goes on says this truly I say to you. There is no one who has left house, or brother or sister or mother or father or children or farms, for my sake and for the gospel’s sake. But that he will receive 100 times as much now in the present age houses and brothers and sisters, and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions and the age to come. Eternal life. Jesus is reminding Peter that yes, indeed, Peter, you have have left it. But but the journey is well worth it. And so this, this uniqueness of the master picking his disciples. And this is an invitation not only not only for the disciples, but a reflection for all of us, that that Jesus is available as Rabbi to all of us. But to understand that there is a magnitude to the invitation that we are to set under this master in every area of our lives, to allow him to saturate us with the identity of who he is.
The question that. Ways on such a choice. This. Is he worth it? Right? Is this rabbi worth devoting? So much of your life toward. The Apostle Paul. Let me read it to you. I don’t I don’t have it on the screen. The Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 22. And talking about his own rabbinical training, he says this I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia. But brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, just as you are today. See in acts chapter 222, when Paul shared this with with the crowd, he sang. Listen, when it comes to being Jewish, I am the Jewish of all Jews, I. I have studied under the height of what it is. I mean, when you think of the Ivy League schools, this individual was who Paul studied under, there is no one higher in authority in Israel in which you could be educated under. That’s how important Paul’s training would have been considered to the Jewish people. And he’s beginning to teach them how important the Christ becomes for us. Even though Paul Paul has studied under the best in the Jewish minds, he is saying, now there is one who is Jewish, who is far greater, which is Jesus, and which Paul is devoted to now the authority of the Rabbi.
The magnitude of this command, as is seen in the credibility of who he is. Is he worth it? Jewish culture. Taught in a very unique way. Jesus taught in a very unique way in Scripture that I think when when you see it. The way that Christ just masterfully. Represents himself on this earth. For, for us who may question the authority of Christ or the significance of Jesus. The way Jesus taught in Scripture just magnified the beauty of who he was. Let me let me give you an example in. In the New Testament, Messianic Jews will refer to something called kasher’s. Catchers in English language literally just means connectors. And what they mean by by cashers is that when Jesus taught, he would correlate his stories to the Old Testament to show the grand scheme of God’s plan being worked out throughout all of Scripture in Christ. And when the Jewish mind, when when they would teach, they would teach for, for more than, than just the intellectual mind. They would also drive towards the heart, towards the emotion. For example, in our Western culture, academically minded, when we compartmentalize that, we would say things like God is eternal, God is all powerful. But in the Hebrew mind, they would, they would, they would give illustrations of what God’s like, but they would do it with the imagination. God is like an eagle.
God is like a mother hen. God. God is like a lion. They would want to draw these illustrations to the power of who God was, so that not only would it just connect to the mind, but as you thought about what that illustration meant, it would drive to the heart and these cashiers in the Old Testament would would do the same thing. Let me give you an example in the life of Christ Jesus, when it came to Old Testament feast, the Israel would celebrate seven feasts. Jesus came and fulfilled something in all of them. Jesus was, was, was crucified on the Passover. He was buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread. He was raised on the first fruits. On the day of Pentecost. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit comes on the day of Pentecost empowering God’s people. And Peter goes out and preaches, and it tells us in that story, 3000 souls are saved that day. Here’s the uniqueness of that story. When you go back into the Old Testament, when Moses goes to Mount Sinai, he comes down from the mountain. When he comes down from the mountain and the people are worshiping the golden calf. The story tells us on the day of Pentecost in the Old Testament, when Moses comes down from the mountain, 3000 souls are lost that day. Fast forwarding to the New Testament and seeing the same story. When Peter preaches.
I don’t think it’s any mistake that the Bible clearly says. And 3000 souls. Came to know Christ that day. So I think the illustration under Moses is clear and comes to full picture at the the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Under the Old Testament. The law brings death. Under the New Testament, Christ brings life. Under the Old Testament. 3000 people die. Under the New Testament, 3000 people find life in Jesus. The cashiers, when you see them in Scripture, are are just beautiful. They’re they’re they’re glorious. And how it represents God’s fullness and his plan and how Jesus is fulfilling that, validating himself as as Rabbi. So if you ask the question, is he worthy of me following with all of my life? When you see this picture painted there, there is no one greater to pursue. In fact in John eight. Verse 5058. Jesus tells the people. Christ. Who are you? Jesus says, I am. Before Abraham was. In fact, he says. I am. The Bible tells us in John 858. As the story goes on, that the Jews immediately wanted to stone Jesus. Why? Because Jesus has just taken the name from Exodus chapter three, when Moses asked God, what is your name? And God said, I am. And now Jesus and the New Testament is saying. I am. I am God. One of the most beautiful stories, I think, as it relates to cashiers or one of the biggest images in Scripture as far as New Testament goes, happens in Matthew chapter 17.
This was an important moment in the life of the disciples. This is sort of the bridge where they began to have the aha moments and the significance of who Christ is. And the reason this this is so important is because up until this point, when you read, when you read the New Testament, the only people that really got who Jesus was. Was the demons. So the demons had no problem when Christ would come around. And recognizing confessing identity of who Christ was. In fact, in Mark chapter five and verse six and seven, when when Jesus goes before this demon possessed man, it tells us that the demons run before Christ and fall down within this man and begin to confess to him his authority. And up unto this point in scripture. Still, the people weren’t completely understanding exactly what Jesus was. In Matthew chapter 16, you almost get the idea that Peter gets it right because Jesus says to the disciples, who do you say that I am? And Peter says, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And he says upon your confession, Peter, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And then Jesus says, and now, guys, I got to go die. And Peter says, no, you’re not going to die, Jesus. And then Jesus looks back at Peter and says, get behind me, Satan.
It’s like, Peter, you almost had it. And now look. How important is he? I would say, in the life of the disciples, with what they’re about to go through in losing Jesus, or at least thinking they lost Jesus. His authority was highly significant. Matthew’s chapter 17, Jesus takes just a few of his disciples up on the Mount of Transfiguration. And says, Jesus took him, Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up into a mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them. And his face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. Peter said to Jesus, Lord, is it good for us to be here? If you wish. I will make three tabernacles here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. So when Jesus starts to, the story begins to unfold the significant significance of Christ. Several cashiers take place here. Do you see this transfiguration of Christ, one shining like the sun? This this is a picture of of the way Moses shined like like glory on the mountain. This story happens on the mountain. It so happens that in the life of Moses and Elijah, who are present here, that when God interacted with them, much happened on a mountaintop in their lives that Moses represents to to the Jewish people, the law and Elijah represents to the Jewish people the prophets.
And now both have come together in talking with with Jesus. And the story goes on and the father begins to speak. And there’s something significant that happens in the and what the father shares. It says in verse five, and while he was speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them. This cloud would have been highly important to the Jewish people, because it told us in the in the Old Testament, when Israel was wandering through the wilderness for 40 years, that a cloud went with them, that the Shekinah glory, the glory of God shown above them. And and when it rested, that was where they were supposed to put the the tabernacle and worship the Lord. And so this cloud represented the presence of God. And behold, a voice out of the cloud said this. This is my beloved son. With whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. When the disciples heard this. They fell face down to the ground and were terrified. And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, get up, and do not be afraid. When the father speaks. He says something similar to what he said at the baptism of Jesus. At the baptism of Jesus, the father said, you are my son. In you I am well pleased. But rather than saying you this time speaking directly to Jesus, saying you, Jesus, are my son, in you I am well pleased.
This time the father says, this is my beloved son. With whom I am well pleased. He addresses this statement to the disciples. The disciples may or may not have been present at the baptism of Jesus, but the story tells us that Jesus doesn’t call them until after his baptism, so they may not even heard this pronunciation at the at the at the baptism of Christ, but now they clearly hear it directed to them. This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. Now in our culture today, we in fact have cashiers ourselves, right? And we have certain connections that when we hear them in our mind, it immediately attributes it to something else. It connects where we are to something in this world. Right. And if I, if I said to you, if, if I, if I just gave the phrase just do it. What do you think Nike. Right. If I were to say not even words. If I were to go by. Da da da da da. What is that? Mcdonald’s, right? You don’t even need words when, when when something is stated to you, some slogan, some brand, immediately you start thinking, I’ve probably done you a disfavor. If your belly is growling, you want a burger, right? Or maybe I said something about Nike and you think you’re thinking about your New Year’s resolution. You already wanted to exercise.
You’re thinking about your running shoes that you haven’t used in three days since this new year has begun. I’m sorry for the guilt, but whatever it is, something connects in your mind and it triggers something significant. And when the father is speaking about Jesus, that is exactly what he’s doing in a Jewish mind. The father gives three phrases in his statement about Jesus to connect in their minds, to remind them of the significance of who he is. Because when Jesus calls you, he calls you holistically in your life in pursuit of him. And so he says this first phrase, this is my beloved son. This phrase comes from Psalm chapter two and verse seven. This Psalm chapter two is considered a messianic Psalm, one that pointed to the future Messiah. When Israel would elect a king, they would sing this song in the celebration of a king who was appointed to lead Israel. The second phrase with with whom I am well pleased, comes from the book of Isaiah. This is Isaiah chapter 42 and verse one. Isaiah chapter 40 to chapter 55 is considering the suffering servant psalm or suffering servant part of Isaiah. They were expecting one to come and suffer on behalf of Israel. This is a priestly statement when where one would give up his life for someone else. This is sacrificial as the priest would function in their lives. But then he says this listen to him. This statement wasn’t found in Jesus’s original or the father’s original statement at Jesus’s baptism, but it is here now.
This phrase. Listen to him. It comes from Deuteronomy chapter 18 and verse 15, when when God foretells that a prophet would come to lead the people. And in Jesus right now, the father is saying he is prophet, he is priest, and he is king. How significant would this be in Israel? This is so significant that Israel, they compartmentalize these positions. There are kings that led Israel. There were priests that led Israel, and there were prophets. But now in Jesus, all of this is found in this nation of Israel has been longing for the suffering servant who had come. They had been longing for a king who would set them free. One to direct them in God’s truth. Jesus is prophet. And priest. And King. To this point. Only the demons recognize the significance of who Christ was. He tells us in this passage now that the disciples. Terrified. Bo. And Jesus reminds them, there is no reason to be afraid. Here’s the beauty of who Christ is. We need someone with the power to set us free. He is the king. We need someone to sacrifice for us. And our brokenness. He is the priest. We need someone. To give us the truth. To know what life is about. He is the prophet. When the disciples were called, it wasn’t on their merit. In fact, they were rejected.
But Jesus is the one that comes to them. It’s holistically lead their life as the rabbi of rabbis, master of Masters and Lord of Lords. When Jesus made the call. Follow me. The disciples understood a rabbi is calling us not just to compartmentalize my life and give him a Sunday. But to give them everything. Why? Matthew 17 tells us, there’s no one more worthy. Prophet, priest and king. So the beauty of his position as priest is that he understands what we all need in our lives. Isn’t isn’t just the truth, but we also need this, this heart change that affects us through the truth. God needs to to set us free. We we are broken in our sin and so we need this sacrifice on his behalf. And and not only that, we get elevated to the position of being in a kingdom because he is he is a king. We get lifted up in him and in that we learn under him he he is teaching us. Following after Rabbi. Had an end goal in mind. Following after a rabbi. There was one specific point the student was after. Second Corinthians 318 I think shares it when we think about Jesus. But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in the mirror of the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, justice from the Lord, the spirit. So what Paul is saying about this, I think, is what the purpose of the church is about.
He’s saying this, that as you look at Jesus, as Jesus is your rabbi, as he is your master, as you have given your life to him, as as you pursue him in your life, moment by moment, glory by glory. God is after one thing in you, and that is shaping the image of Christ in your life. That’s what Jesus said in John chapter 14. Greater works than these, you will do. Not that we would do something more powerfully than Jesus. Jesus, what he accomplished is the most significant thing that could be accomplished in all of history. But the magnitude of his church when the church understands what it is about. Pursuing rabbi. Church. One word. We’re to say this morning, what is the purpose of the church? It’s this. Disciples. The church exists to make and to be. Followers of Jesus. We gather this morning because he is the master of masters, and he’s given us the invitation in all of our lives just to stop where we are and say, Jesus, everything, everything belongs to you. God, I have given up everything to follow after you because you’re your desire for me is to reflect your image in this world. This is how encourage you. Real disciples. Real followers of the rabbi. They’re not born. They’re made. Rule. Followers of the rabbi are ones who give up their lives every day holistically in pursuit of Christ.
You don’t just have it. You become as you are conformed into his image. Now Jesus gives it to everyone who embraces Him as Savior. We embrace Him as Savior and we’re welcome into His Kingdom, and we continue to lay our lives down as Lord because of this statement. Follow me. Encouragement for us this year. Of all the things you could think about for this new year in your life, the most important call. That you have. This following Mr. Miyagi. Just kidding. Following Jesus, right? To stop in your heart this year and say. Rabbi. Master. I’ve forgotten that. God, there are places in my life that I have made myself Lord. But there are places in my life I need to make you Lord. When it comes to following a rabbi, can I tell you the one thing that just doesn’t work? Its mediocrity. To Rabbi. It’s a waste of time. What Jesus wants. That’s you. Spending time with you, allowing him to conform his image on you and the places of your life that you have conformed in the image of yourself. Giving back to him. Jesus says this in John eight. Jesus was saying to those who believed in him, if you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.