The Exceedingly Abundantly is Jesus | Disruptive Presence 66

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[00:00:00] David: So, John, we're still in Paul's sermon in Acts chapter 13. There is much for us to continually think about. But two things that we left hanging out there in the last episode, we sort of look at Paul's retelling of the history up to Jesus. And then you said it. Brilliantly we, Paul, then he does two things.

[00:00:27] He, he dives into certain key scriptural texts which is a pattern that we see from Paul quite regularly that he likes to do in sermons and letters. And then he also leans into, towards the responsibility then of those of us who are the listeners, to see our place in this story. And we sort of alluded to them as we landed the last episode.

[00:00:48] But by no means that I think we explore all of those ideas. So I'm going to pitch the ball to you to see, where do you want to go first? Do you want to talk about patterns? Do you want to talk about this response?

[00:00:59] John: Yeah, I mean, I, I love Paul's language. We see it sort of, in verse 27, he says the, the people of Jerusalem and the rulers did not recognize Jesus yet in condemning him. They fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read. every sabbath and by implication have been read today on this sabbath. I love that idea, read every sabbath.

[00:01:19] Oh, by the way, that's and I loved your little allusion in our last podcast. We thought, maybe Paul is like sitting on on the third row, like literally shaking with excitement because of the passage of the prophets has been read and he goes, I know, I know, I know, I know what that means. And, and so, maybe that's why he's called.

[00:01:35] So I love that. And in verse 29, you get a little repeat of that when they carried out. all that was written about him.

[00:01:43] David: Hmm.

[00:01:44] John: And, and then we see him like really powerfully and unashamedly then using the text. He, he dives, he dives into beautiful quotations from the Psalms. He, he references Isaiah. He touches on on I think it's Habakkuk within the text as well.

[00:02:05] So, so you're getting some, some gorgeous sort of allusions to this whole idea in order to affirm Jesus within this. And I, I like this from the point of view, well, A number of reasons, I think. Number one, I think he's following a Jesus pattern. I think we've talked about this before, beginning with Moses and the prophets.

[00:02:24] Jesus explained to them everything that was written about him in the scriptures. So I think that's a Jesus pattern. I said, I think secondly he's not relying on his own testimonial experience. Oh, I've met Jesus, therefore it's true. Which of course is still a powerful idea. I met him on the Damascus road.

[00:02:43] It's interesting that in this sermon he doesn't even allude to his own experience of meeting Jesus on the road, which is a pretty amazing story. And for many of us we would be tempted to make that the appeal. Well, that's what we start on, my story. But actually he keeps going back to the text as the appeal to this audience.

[00:03:04] And then I think thirdly that there is this idea that he's trying to help, especially a Jewish worldview, and eventually a Gentile. world that will have to get to grips with Jewish scriptures in order to understand Jesus. He's helping them and literally showing them how to read the text in the light of Jesus.

[00:03:24] So I, I, I love the fact that he's linking Jesus all the time to the text and not simply relying on his experience, his story, his testimony, as dynamically powerful and beautiful as all those things are. Does that make sense as a,

[00:03:42] David: Yes, yes, no, absolutely. I love that. And that pattern, I mean, that's a great pattern. I love, there are various traditions within the church and denominations within the church that sort of push this. But this idea of Christ in all the scriptures, I think is, is a really stunning one to go. To go looking for, to ask, what is Christ doing in this text?

[00:04:07] Where is Christ present in this text? And I think we as Christians are part of a heritage that we, we do that because we see people like Paul and Peter doing it in the earliest Christian space. We're like, where is Jesus in this? And he is, he is the. The lens that turns the picture full color for us as Christians and and if it, and I think there's sometimes a little tendency towards disregarding what we would call Old Testament.

[00:04:40] And I always want to say to myself, when I tend to perhaps towards that and to others that, when we don't take the Old Testament seriously, we are parting company with the founders of the way of Christianity, that Jesus and the first apostles, they took this test text seriously. They did not write the New Testament to replace it.

[00:05:06] It was, these are the scriptures and, these are the scriptures that we are to learn to meditate upon and pray on. So I actually even think, I find this, perhaps when I talk about Jesus, it should look more like this. It should have more of the prophets and more of the law in it.

[00:05:24] And so I, so I really, really resonate with what you're saying there, John.

[00:05:27] John: Yeah, and I love, I love what he does. There's a lovely little section within the sermon. So from verse 32 down to around about verse 37, where he really centers it on David. And I really like this. He says, verse 32, we tell you the good news. What God promised our ancestors has been fulfilled to us.

[00:05:47] their their children by raising up Jesus as it is written and he leans into the Psalms or you're my son today, I've become your father, God raised him from the dead so that they will never be subjected to can we get this lovely play on decay then here as, as God said, and any quotes, Isaiah, I will give you the holy day.

[00:06:07] and sure blessings promised to David. So there's this lovely lineage idea that he's, he's connecting and then he goes back to the Psalms. So it is also stated elsewhere, you will not let your holy one see decay. And then he brings the David link back, verse 36. Now, when David had served the purpose of God, his own generation, he fell asleep.

[00:06:27] And was buried with our ancestors and decayed, but the one whom God raised from the dead did not decay. So I love what he's doing there. He's, he's linking the lineage of David to Jesus. He's using scriptures maybe associated with David. The Psalms, the writings, whoever wrote the individual Psalms. But there's certainly an association with David in the Psalms.

[00:06:49] And then he interjects Isaiah in, into the middle of that, which has a reference to the lineage of David. I love that. And then, he connects, David served the purpose of God, but, but he's decayed, but the Holy One promised through David, or the One that comes from the line of David, has not seen decay, and, and I love that, and I love the way he uses Isaiah here.

[00:07:13] In the context of this, David. So, he 55, when he talks about, I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David, in Isaiah 55. And I love the language around it. He says, in Isaiah, it says, listen, listen to me and eat what is good, give ear and come to me, listen that you may live.

[00:07:35] And then he talks about this covenant, and then it says this, and I think this is where Paul is going, he says, See how I have made a witness to him, a witness to the peoples, a ruler and a commander of the peoples. Surely you will summon nations who you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel.

[00:07:55] He has endowed you with splendor and then the sort of the Isaiah says seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon Him while he is near so so so not only is is Paul Connecting Jesus to David through a beautiful psalm Isaiah psalm sandwich But then he takes the whole Davidic idea of to its, right to its end.

[00:08:20] That Jesus is the fulfillment of this Isaiah promise and that also, though David has seen decay because he's died and we know where his tomb is, actually, Jesus, the Holy One, has not seen decay. God has raised him up. So I love the way he just dovetails different parts of the scriptures that don't seem to be connected, puts them together, two passages in Psalms.

[00:08:43] Isaiah and makes them work to establish the Jesus connection, which is just pretty masterful really.

[00:08:50] David: And this actually, as you're saying that, it, it's a, it's a. a big concern for Paul, and I don't want to use the word concern too strongly, but you see this theme, and perhaps listeners are interested, like this is a theme with which to make sense of quite big sections of probably Romans 1 through 8.

[00:09:13] So those famous bits of Romans, Paul is sort of, amongst other things, acting as a bit of an Apologist for God, and I don't mean apologist in terms of modern apologetics, i. e. proving that God exists. But the question that seems to be in the back of Paul's mind often in his books is, is God faithful to the promises, right?

[00:09:38] And of course, Paul's like, the answer is yes, definitely. But at first glance, it appears like that. The answer might be no, right? God gives these promises. They don't seem to come through. And what you're seeing in a very succinct way here is Paul showing you how he understands God to be faithful to the promises.

[00:09:54] Has God, been unfaithful to David who he promised no decay to? Well, yes, if you just look at David, but no, if you look at what God did through David. in

[00:10:04] John: Very good.

[00:10:05] David: And, and so you see this, has God returned us to the salvation that he promised us? Well, we'll know if we want rid of Romans and to, to live in, in the full expanse of the nation of Israel.

[00:10:19] But yes, if we see that in Christ, God has brought about his reconciliation and, and I don't think you can accuse Paul of, of just. Doing a bit of double column accounting to try and get God off the hook. What Paul seems to be trying to say, and this is what I mean when I say Jesus is the answer to the question we weren't asking, is that Paul's trying to show why he has come to the wrong conclusions in the past is because he was looking for the answers in the wrong places.

[00:10:49] And instead, in Christ, now these things start to make sense. Substantial sense to him. And so what you're, what you're revealing to us there, John, I think is something that as a model would help our listeners, even when it comes to reading Paul's letters, because, because just think what Paul's doing here.

[00:11:11] Is so often what Paul's doing in his

[00:11:15] John: Yeah Yeah, and and you think that leans into the idea of when he when he writes about the promises are fulfilled in Christ. They are yes and amen in Christ. I think so often we, we individualize that text a little bit that every promise God has made to me as an individual is yes and amen. I can claim all the promises of scripture because they're yes and amen in Christ.

[00:11:40] But of course, I, Paul is constantly trying to connect Jesus to the big picture of the biblical story. So, the promises have been fulfilled. He's not just talking about individual promises to me and you, but he's talking also to a worldview that would say, well, where is the promise fulfilled? And he's saying, well, in Christ, all of these promises have been and are being fulfilled.

[00:12:04] And therefore, we learn to read the story differently. Because he is the fulfillment. He is the promise. Keeper the promise for filler in in the story and in the context that and I think it's a it's a beautiful way to read. If you look at the decaying body of David, then, ooh, maybe the promise hasn't been fulfilled.

[00:12:25] But if you look at the fact that the Holy One has not seen decay, then the promise has been fulfilled. So, so I think it's a, it's a really helpful way to see how Paul isn't, is using and interpreting the Scriptures in order to show Jesus as the fulfillment of them in this context. So I think it's, it's very helpful.

[00:12:47] David: Well, I mean, not to move us fully off track, John, but let's then move us fully off track, but to answer this, this question, so like. If, if listeners were to turn to Ephesians chapter three, for example, with all of this conversation in mind and Paul's sermon in mind let me just read some sections of Ephesians chapter three to make your point.

[00:13:10] Right? So Paul says, surely this is verse two. Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you. I mean, what a gorgeous, given to me for you. So the administration of God's grace, that is the mystery made known to me by revelation. So like something came to me.

[00:13:26] Well, I think this is his encounter with Jesus and the various revelations he has afterwards. So there was something which was mysterious, which was hidden but now has been made clear. Right. To me for you. Right. So don't think this is like, well, I'm special because you were always the aim. Right. As I've written briefly.

[00:13:43] I love that. As I've written already briefly. And everybody thinks what, what, what bit did you do briefly Paul? But verse four, then in reading this, then you will be able to understand my insight. into the mystery of Christ. Right? And so when he's saying this, think about what I was saying about Christ as the interpretation crisis, the answer to the question we weren't asking, right?

[00:14:03] The mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations, as it has now been revealed by the spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel, the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel members together of one body and shares together in the promised in Christ Jesus.

[00:14:21] I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given to me through the working of his power. Although I'm less than the least of all the Lord's people, this grace was given to me to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery.

[00:14:38] And again, notice this language coming back in, which for ages past was kept hidden in God who created all things. So what he's saying, I think, in this is exactly what we're talking about here. The scripture's been telling this story, but we didn't understand it. We didn't see it because there was a mystery to it.

[00:14:54] God had actually kept the key to the story hidden. That was Christ. And once you get the key, all of a sudden, Oh, my goodness. Like the big reveal in your favorite thing. It's like, Oh, it was obvious now, but, but of course it's obvious because now you have the key. Not as Kinty, that silly thing that we all say, I couldn't find my car keys.

[00:15:10] They were the last place I looked. Well, of course

[00:15:11] John: Yeah.

[00:15:12] David: place you looked. Nobody keeps looking once they find them, right? That's almost what Paul's saying. We're trying to make sense of this. We're interpreting. We're listening to these scriptures. The daily read when we come together, then when we got the key, boom, Oh wow.

[00:15:25] So So then he says, but notice this now. This is where the power pieces start to come together. His intent was that now through the church the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[00:15:44] In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. Right? So then he offers this stunning prayer, right? Which we should all read on a regular basis. And then he offers something, which I guarantee you, listener, you have heard said, but I'm almost willing to gamble that you've heard read out of context now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever.

[00:16:20] Amen. Now, we, why I bring us to that text is we tend towards using that text to say, you cannot imagine what God is going to do. But I don't think that's what Paul's saying here. What Paul's saying here is you would never have imagined what God has

[00:16:39] John: Yes.

[00:16:39] David: Because we had the text, bear in mind, he's reading, writing to not, people in the prosperity of the 21st century.

[00:16:46] It's like we had the text, but we didn't have the key. And when we got the key, we realized this story is way bigger than we ever could have imagined. In fact, we would never have dreamed it up because with the text that we had, and I'd be, I want to be cautious in my excitement of not saying what I don't mean to say, but what Paul, Paul, Let's just think purely in terms of biography.

[00:17:08] With the text that I had, Paul says, I interpreted it to go and kill people that seemed to think differently from me. And yet, when I got the key that was Christ, I realized that, would you believe it, the very people I was trying to kill Are the people the text was trying to reach. And I, I can't imagine that I could never have got there myself.

[00:17:32] And that not only that God's glory was going to be revealed in the bringing of those people I was trying to kill into full fellowship. I think then Paul says, no, that's immeasurably more. than we could ever ask or imagine.

[00:17:47] John: Yes. Stunning.

[00:17:49] David: So it's not just him rubber stamping your desire for, a better house than you could ever ask and imagine.

[00:17:57] Paul's actually calling us to look at what God has done and confess in worship that this is more than we could ever imagine. And for some people that might sound a little deflating because I liked going around to just printing that verse and putting it on all of my desires and my wishes. But for Paul, Your desire for a slightly better something than you imagined is dwarfed by what God has done in Christ Jesus to the story that we are part of.

[00:18:24] I mean, goodness, I got super carried away with that, John, but I mean, does that track?

[00:18:28] John: David, come on, man. I just, yeah, come on. If we weren't doing a podcast, I'd be calling an appeal right now. Come on now, people. That's amazing. Listen, that was just a super summary of Ephesians three. And I hope our listeners were tracking that with as much excitement and passion as I am because that was absolutely gorgeous.

[00:18:52] And, and, and yes, I mean, I, I love that God can do immeasurably more. You can ask or imagine thinking about our own lives. But of course, in the context of the flow of that passage, that is exactly the sort of climactic, like, finish he's bringing, actually, the climax. Absolutely. This whole idea of Jesus is beyond our imagination and we need that key to see it And I think that links back to the sermon in Acts So

[00:19:16] David: Yes.

[00:19:17] John: so I was looking again where he just he's bringing it to a wee bit of a conclusion And he says verse 38.

[00:19:22] Therefore my friends. I want you to know that through Jesus The forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. So this is really the first time I think if I'm not mistaken, this is the first time in the sermon he explicitly mentions Jesus. So he now drops this in as the, as this, the sort of the sealing deal in terms of using the name of Jesus.

[00:19:44] So therefore my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus, the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed. And then he says it's through him. Everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you.

[00:20:02] And then he quotes from Habakkuk, Luke's scoffers, wandering parish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe. Even if someone told you now there's there's him doing exactly what you said he was doing in Ephesians He is taking Habakkuk and Habakkuk when he first hears that word God is saying see i'm doing a new thing and of course Habakkuk is hoping That the new thing is to do with like getting israel out of the spot of bother therein and the argument that he is Having with god that there's this new thing.

[00:20:39] But actually here's paul saying no. No the new thing The new thing is Jesus. The new thing is this whole idea that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the prophets have talked about. So, so now in this little synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, he drops this idea that everything you ever dreamed of is the new thing that God promised Habakkuk is now in front of you.

[00:21:04] This new thing is Jesus. And of course, he makes an allusion when he, when he goes back to, to sort of the, the, the people where, where he says, we didn't recognize him. he, he's now presenting him in a little allusion to John there. He came to his own and his own didn't recognize him. We didn't recognize him because we weren't looking for this picture.

[00:21:25] We weren't looking for this idea. But now that this key has been revealed, that this mystery has been revealed, the new thing that Jesus, the new thing that's happening before our eyes is Jesus himself. And I absolutely love that idea in terms of the concluding part of the sermon.

[00:21:45] David: And even there's that beautiful sense that you see in Romans, isn't there? Through him, everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. Take care that the prophets have said does not happen to you. And even then, when we're expecting, when we're expecting a judgment line,

[00:22:06] John: Yeah. Yep. Yep.

[00:22:08] David: Well, that's really what's coming. What we get is you're going to be surprised. And it's almost as if Paul, because of his belief in the overwhelming love of Christ, he just wants to categorize us not into the in and out, not into the judged and the forgiven. He wants to categorize this into the knowing and the surprised.

[00:22:28] John: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:22:29] David: And he seems to think, and I wonder if we should reflect on this more as Christians, that Paul's bigger concern is not. Are you judged? Are you not judged? Are you forgiven? Are you unforgiven? His question seems to be, do you know Christ?

[00:22:44] John: Yeah.

[00:22:45] David: Like that, I think I'm thinking about Philippians where he's like, all these things I press on for to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.

[00:22:52] Like what does he seem, he seems to be most concerned. That you might be surprised by Jesus. That seems to be, because, because I mean, no goodness, we could probably talk endlessly about that, but you hear it in this text here, that, that where you expect in your classic sermon that we would have perhaps be more familiar with, take care that what doesn't happen to you, the actual.

[00:23:14] Quote unquote threat is you're not going to believe this,

[00:23:18] John: Yes. Yes.

[00:23:20] David: doesn't feel enough. If you've been raised in kind of, hellfire sermons or a thing you feel like, no, there should be a bigger threat here, but perhaps we should take seriously the fact that the. Biggest threat that Paul seems to be able to imagine is that you don't get Jesus.

[00:23:35] John: Mm.

[00:23:36] David: Is that you, you miss that. Like, and I think he speaks from that pain of, I know what it's like to miss that. And I don't want that for you. That's a, that doesn't affect Jesus. He's still graceful and forgiving and bringing all things under his power. But my goodness, you don't want to be the person.

[00:23:53] That doesn't see that coming. And

[00:23:56] John: Yes.

[00:23:57] David: am I pushing

[00:23:57] John: Ah, no, no, no, I, I, and I think that tracks well even with Habakkuk. I think, I think that's Habakkuk's problem. He, he can't quite see what the new thing is because he doesn't recognize this new thing. He doesn't necessarily even like this new thing that God is, is, is presenting before him. But at the end of Habakkuk, of course, he comes to a place of, of managing the tension.

[00:24:20] This, this isn't quite what I want, but I'm going to trust you in it. And, and, and I do think there's this, this lovely idea that Paul ultimately wants Jesus to be at the center of this story. And he wants them to be aware. of the new thing that Jesus is doing, that that he is God's new thing, that that he is the fulfillment of David, that he is the fulfillment of Isaiah, that he is the fulfillment of the promises that the Holy One wouldn't see decay, that he is the fulfillment of everything that we as a people, speaking to that synagogue, have hope for.

[00:24:56] He's just come in a form that we might not have maybe looked for or Recognize, but he's here and the new thing is before you. So, so, so, don't miss this. Don't let the new thing that I am doing be missed, but embrace the surprise and embrace, embrace Jesus. And, and I love the way he ties all of that together in a, in both.

[00:25:21] I think it's a, it's a deep challenge in his words, but it's, it's not a challenge of, of coercion, but rather a challenge of call and invitation. That, that this is the new thing that God is doing. So, so why don't you move closer to it and, and respond to it? And I think, I think, I think David, you see it in the, so if you look at verse 42, As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, so, because there's no real, it just stops, the sermon just stops, Luke doesn't tell us like how it ended in terms of any reaction within the synagogue, you just get this quote from Habakkuk and then we stop and then it says this, so clearly something else has happened in the synagogue service, this is as Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath.

[00:26:08] This And then it says this, When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts of Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God. So, coming back to your tone of surprise, I think, The tone there is so dynamic at the end of Paul's sermon that people are going, Hey, can we talk some more about this?

[00:26:32] Can you, can you unpack this a little bit more? So, so clearly he's brought some serious challenge, but he's brought it in such a way that people are going, Hey come back next Sabbath, we'll carry on part two. But in the meantime, can we grab a coffee and have a chat and, and, and explain a bit more? So, so I do like the idea that there is this invitational tone.

[00:26:54] There's no appeal like we would think of an appeal in a Christian service. But there is definitely an invitation to the table, an invitation to discuss, an invitation to reflect. And I think people with a sensitive heart are grabbing that invitation and moving towards it.

[00:27:13] David: John, I, I, I couldn't agree more. I think it's, I think it's wonderful. I think it's wonderful. As we land this, I want to make a very out of context humorous point just to, to give us a laugh before we go into the week before the next episode, but we should also notice here. Paul is impromptu asked to preach this sermon.

[00:27:33] We've made something of this in the previous few episodes. Do you have something to share? I have something to share. And here at this point here, we realize that Paul's impromptu sermon was actually an impromptu series

[00:27:46] John: Yeah. Indeed.

[00:27:48] David: what he pulled out of his pocket was a two parter

[00:27:52] John: Yes. Yes. Absolutely. And, and, and I, I love, I love the idea of inviting people to a conversation.

[00:28:04] David: it's so good.

[00:28:05] John: And, and I think just as a little, little aside, I think if we stop seeing our sermons as graced with the privilege of Preaching and teaching. If we stop seeing our sermons as having to be a complete all singing, all dancing package that gives every answer to every question and actually designed our, our, our, our, our sermons with more conversational invite.

[00:28:29] You to the conversation. Yes, the Holy Spirit can do something instantly. Of course he can. The Holy Spirit can give revelation instantly. But here's a moment where, where a bunch of people are gone. I'm hearing something. I'm not sure what it is. So can we carry on the conversation? And, and I think that there are moments where Paul pushes for a response and there are moments where Paul is creating a conversation.

[00:28:51] And if we just had a bit more confidence in the story. The story, his story, the big story and sort of thought, by dropping some stuff out, the hungry hearts listening to me are going to say, Hey, could you come back next Sabbath or Hey, could I have a coffee or Hey, could I connect with that in one way or another?

[00:29:12] The hungry heart is going to go, Hey, I heard something and I need to follow that up. And I think Jesus does that. I think Paul does that. And I think Paul does that brilliantly, especially within a Jewish worldview. And my appeal is, Just, just don't, don't feel like you have to tell the whole story every time, but actually have the courage to understand that the story you're telling is part of a big invitation for people to come to the table and learn a bit more about the Jesus story.