Over the last few weeks and months, I have lost count of how many people have asked me, “What do you think about all of this?” And I would be more than glad to give you my opinion. (As I'm sure you would be delighted to provide me with your thoughts.) But more than I want you to know what I think about it, I want us all to know what God thinks about it. And one of the things that I have found myself doing over the last few months is diving into the Gospels and evaluating how Jesus approached his preaching ministry. In doing so, I have discovered what he had to say about specific things that were happening in his culture.
Jesus was ministering in a climate where sexism was the order of the day, and no one acknowledged the need for social justice. Politicians were corrupt, and the government was overflowing with fraud. Taxes were unfair, and crooks controlled the treasury departments. Yet, with all of this going on around Jesus, what did Jesus talk about most often? How was He addressing these issues that we consider so important?
Jesus does address some of them specifically. Such as moments when He went to the Samaritan well and made it clear that people should never judge another because of ethnicity. We even hear Him address subjects like taxation with His disciples. And on more than one occasion, He seems to speak directly to the ridiculousness of the day’s government order. But when you really dive into what Jesus had to say, despite all of these things that were going on around Him, what did he talk about the most? It’s an essential question that needs a precise answer.
Over the next couple of weeks, we are going to be in a series called Jesus Said It, exploring the top three things Jesus talked about during his messages and private teachings with his disciples. In Sunday’s message, we started with number three. Brace yourself. You might be shocked by what he chose to discuss in slot number 3. You can check it out here at this link.