The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical wording.
I find it useful to read them together to get a clearer picture of a teaching, a command or something Jesus did. As an example, today I read Matthew 10 about the sending out of the disciples. In Matthew it simply says what happened…
Matthew 10:1 NLT [1] Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness.
In Mark we see that he called them Apostles, He went up the mountain, He told them to preach and He gave them authority to caste out demons…
Mark 3:13-15 NLT [13] Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain and called out the ones he wanted to go with him. And they came to him. [14] Then he appointed twelve of them and called them his apostles. They were to accompany him, and he would send them out to preach, [15] giving them authority to cast out demons.
In Luke we see that he emphasised Jesus going up the mountain to pray all night before choosing the Apostles…
Luke 6:12-13 NLT [12] One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. [13] At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles.
This is all the same story, but the different writers record a different perspective. Bible scholars tell us that Matthew was writing mainly for Jews, Mark for Romans and Luke for Greeks.
Each of these groups of people have a different focus or things they admire. Matthew wanted to show the Jews Jesus was the Messiah they were waiting for. Mark knew Romans were people of achievement so he included the things Jesus did. Luke knew the Greeks appreciated things like prayer so he included that.
For us today the synoptic gospels give us a clearer picture by including the same stories from a different perspective. The same thing happened each time, but having three examples from different writers helps us to understand it more clearly.
I find it interesting that in ancient times having two witnesses was sufficient to prove something was true. In the Bible, God chose to have three witnesses record many of the happenings.
The tile of my message today is, “Having the attitude of Christ”. It contains a number of ideas that can encourage us to live right in God’s eyes and have the right attitude that pleases Him. As Christians, this should be our goal.
1. Be unified in Christ
Paul urges the believers to be unified in Christ. He asks them to make him happy by “agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose” (v2).
Being unified is about loving and caring for each other, putting differences aside and working together in our joint Kingdom purpose. Our goal should be to love God, to love one another and to share God’s love with others. This is God’s Great Commandment from Mark 12:30-31 and Great Commission from Matthew 28:18-20.
In John 17 we see that Jesus prayed for His followers. He prayed that we might be one as He and the Father are one. He prayed for both His followers at the time and also His followers that would believe in the future. He prayed for us! Of all the things that Jesus could have prayed for just days before His crucifixion, He prayed for the unity of His followers. That is how important unity is to Him.
2. Be interested in others like Christ
Verses 3 says, “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others too”.
Life is not just about you and me as individuals. It is about all of us. I think this is a key thing that separates us from the world. I know when I fall into selfish patterns I don’t look out for others. I can become concerned about my interests only. For me this is a red flag. It shows me my attitude is slipping and I need to repent.
Jesus lived in a constant mission of the Father. His goal was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). We see throughout the Gospels He spent time with His Father in prayer and then did what His Father wanted. He went from place to place helping people. Preaching, teaching and healing (Matthew 4:23).
One of my favourite memory verses is Matthew 9:36. It tells us that, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus is our perfect example to strive for. His life and His interest in others needs to be our inspiration.
3. Be humble like Christ
Verses 6-8 says, “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross”.
Christ left the glories of heaven to live in this world. He took a lowly place of a servant and even died a “criminals death” for our sin. His humility paved the way for our salvation. Mark 10:45 says, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
If Christ showed that humility, I need to show this humility too. I need to know my place before Him and serve Him with the right attitude. The truth is we all need to know our place before Him. As verse 3 of our text says, “Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.” This is the attitude of Christ.
4. Be assured in Christ
Verses 9-11 tell us, “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honour and gave him the name above all other names, [10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Because of Christ’s humility and obedience, God has elevated Him to the highest place in the universe. There is no higher place than being seated at the right hand of the Father. Our readings tell us that everyone who has ever lived will bow before Jesus and declare Him as Lord. Some willingly, sadly some will realise after it is too late. No-one will be absent. No-one will miss out. Be assured God will bring all His plans to pass.
Jesus is the one true Lord and Saviour. He is the King of kings and the Lord of all lords. As our reading from Isaiah said, “Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other.” Jesus is the one we all need to look to. He is the way, the truth and the life (John14:6). There is no other name under heaven where we can find salvation (Acts 4:12). Be assured that if you trust Jesus for your salvation, He will save you.
Closing summary
Today we looked at at great passage from Philippians 2. We got a glimpse of what it is to have the attitude of Christ. We saw four things we need to strive for…
When I came to Jesus back in 1989 I was conscious that I was not just asking Jesus to save me from my sin, but I was asking Him to be my Lord as well.
The Bible says in Romans 10:9-10 that, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.”
In these verses it talks about believing in our hearts that Jesus died and rose again for us. He paid the price for our sin in dying for us on the cross.
A key part of the salvation message is also the Lordship of Jesus. He needs to be Lord of our lives. We are under new ownership and submitted to His authority.
For me this means Jesus is my King. He is my ruler. I bow my heart to Him and I bow my knee before Him. He controls my life and He is the one who gives the orders. My job is to yield and obey.
In a world were we are told we are number one and the most important person in the world, we need to reassess this thought and bow our lives afresh. Jesus is number one. He always has been and He will be always be.
Yes Jesus is my Saviour for which I am eternally grateful, but He is also my Lord, my Master and my King. As a result, every part of my life needs to be completely submitted to Him.
Bible Readings: Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 5:7-9, John 12:20-33
The title of my message today is, “God has always wanted to be our God”. This phrase is something that has really touched my heart this week as I have reflected on our readings for today. It is something that I have carried with me all week. I have three reflections I want to share.
1. God wants to be our God
Right from the beginning of time when Adam and Eve walked in the garden, we see God wanting to be with us. He walked with them in the cool of the evening the Bible tells us. After the fall when Adam and Eve sinned, God provided a way for them to be right with Him again. They would sacrifice an animal and shed its blood to be a temporary covering for sin. As time went on we see there were sacrifices in the Temple. This was part of the Old Covenant God had with His people.
In the midst of this temporary covering, God was looking forward to a time of the New Covenant. The time when Jesus, His one and only Son, came into the world. The Prophets of the Old Testament spoke about this regularly to the people. And the people looked forward to it with great hope. Jeremiah 31:33 says, “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
God was looking forward to this time now. When we have His law written on our hearts, and He would be our God and we would be His people. This phrase is recorded 11 times in the Bible. It is first found In Genesis 17 and found lastly in Revelation 21. It is a recurring theme that not only shows His great love for us, but His greatest desire.
2. Jesus is our Perfect High Priest
We see in Old Testament times that once a year, the High Priest would be able to enter the Holy of Holies. No one else could do because it was where the presence of God came to rest on the Ark of the Covenant. Before he could enter though, he had to atone for his own sins. He had to undertake very elaborate rituals and dress perfectly to be just right. He even tied a rope with a bell around himself, so that if he did not properly atone and dropped dead from being unclean in the presence of God, his lifeless body could be dragged out by the other Priests. The High Priest would atone for all the sins of the people, and intercede on their behalf, and God would forgive them. This had to be repeated each year.
In our second reading we see that Jesus was called our Perfect High Priest. Why was He our Perfect High Priest? The reading says, “While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. [8] Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. [9] In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him.”
Jesus was our Perfect High Priest because He lived a sinless life and He lived in complete and total obedience to the Father. He ran His race perfectly in a way that none of us can. We needed Jesus as our Perfect High Priest, so we could become the people of God- His children. Jesus made a way for this to happen.
3. Jesus had to die, so we can live for eternity
In our last reading we see Jesus uses the image of the wheat and the seed. He says, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. [24] I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels-a plentiful harvest of new lives.”
Jesus is at the time in His earthy ministry when He starts to talk about His coming death. I am sure His disciples did not fully understand what He meant by a kernel of wheat dying and being planted in the soil. But for us, we have the benefit of being on the other side of the cross, we know He was talking about His crucifixion. His death for our sins.
When I was a boy growing up in the 1970s I knew about Easter – Jesus died on Good Friday and He rose to life on Easter Sunday. We got to eat lots of Easter eggs and we got a long weekend off school. But I did not understand why Jesus died and what it had to do with me?! Thankfully, in my early twenties I learned that Jesus died on the cross for our sin. He died to pay the price or took the punishment we all deserved. I then realised that I was a sinner and I needed God’s forgiveness. The truth is we all need God’s forgiveness. We all need to accept what Jesus has done for us. We all need Him as our Lord and Saviour. This is why Jesus came. He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).
Closing Reflection
Just before I pray I want to take you back to the title of this message and what God has caused me to reflect on this week, “God has always wanted to be our God”. Right throughout the Bible, God has told us that He wants to be our God, and He wants us to be His people. It was His heart way back in the Garden, it has been His heart through the words of the prophets, it has been His heart in the New Testament books.
It is my hope and prayer this week, as we approach Easter, that we will all put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. That we will believe that He is the Son of God, that He died on the cross for our sins, and we will all accept Him as our Lord and Saviour this Easter. If you have already done this, it is my hope that you will be closer to Jesus than ever before. May this Easter season be a time of renewal that draws you further in to God’s plans, deeper in to His love and closer to One who died just for you.
In the Bible we see that God the Father speaks audibly three times. On each occasion He spoke about Jesus in a loud voice from heaven.
1) “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased”(Mark 1:11). This was at Jesus baptism when the Holy Spirit descended like a dove.
2) “This is my Son listen to Him” (Matthew 17:5). This was on the mountain where Jesus was transfigured and Moses and Elijah appeared.
3) “I have glorified your Name and will do it again” (John 12:28). This is when Jesus prayed bring glory to Your name Father.
I cannot imagine what it would be like to hear a loud voice from heaven. It would be amazing and terrifying all at once.
On each of these occasions the Father spoke about His beloved Son Jesus. This is the ultimate approval of who Jesus is and His mission to save the world.
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