Pastor Marshall Ochs | March 31, 2024
In this message, Pastor Marshall teaches from Luke 13. This message was recorded on Easter Sunday and follows the many ways humans are prone to focus on the wrong issue. Disciples, Pharisees, and members of the crowds would regularly ask Jesus questions about the daily news, the sins of others, and even the law of Moses. With every question, Jesus would guide them to a better question that involved self reflection on what God was doing in their life. This practice helps us shift our focus from the distracting issues of the day and back to Jesus.
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Read Luke 13:1-9. Jesus is headed to Jerusalem where ultimately, He will be crucified. He uses the news of the Galileans deaths to make an important point. Some speculated that they died because they were sinful or rebellious. Jesus uses this opportunity to draw attention to their own spiritual lives. We shouldn’t be focused on others sin – or our opinion of what we believe others sin condition is, but rather we should be focused on the sin in our own lives and what Jesus is saying to us about our relationship with Him.
Do you find yourself focusing on the condition of other peoples lives around you – your kids, spouse, neighbors, friends, coworkers, etc., rather than on your own? We do this to avoid hearing what the Lord is saying to us about our lives. Is there an area (or areas) in your life that you know God is speaking to you about? Are you distracting yourself by focusing on other people or worldly issues in order to avoid dealing with it?
There is coming a day when we will be held accountable and have to answer for what we did with God’s son, Jesus. God will inspect our lives just as this man inspected his fig tree. Will God find your fruit tree barren or bearing much fruit? What are you doing to develop a relationship with Jesus and live for Him?
There is appointed unto every person a time to be born and a time to die. Are you ready? We live life thinking that we have more time. However, we never know when we will leave this earth. We are accountable for the stewardship of time on this earth that God has given us. No matter when or how death in this life happens to us, we must realize that it is not the end. There is life after this world. Are you confident where you will spend it?
Read Luke 13:10-21. Here is another example of having the wrong focus. The leaders were upset with Jesus healing this woman on the sabbath. Yet, they missed the point! We are much like the crippled woman. Our sin condition has us bound up, bent over and crooked. Religious rules and practices don’t heal us or save us! Only Jesus can!
In what or whom have you put your confidence in? Religious traditions or Jesus? Jesus is the only right thing to focus on! Are you willing to change your focus off of your circumstances, the world and its problems and place your trust and confidence in Christ alone? If you haven’t done this, let today be the day of true salvation and a life change that will last for eternity!
Read Luke 13:22-30. Many people are not willing to put forth the effort it takes to truly follow Jesus. Going to church, hearing His teachings, giving money to the church is not salvation! There is only one way to enter into Heaven and that is through faith in Christ – repenting of sin and accepting His shed blood as our covering for sin. There are not many paths to Heaven – ONLY JESUS!
Have you truly repented of your sin, accepted the free gift of salvation through Christ? The invitation is clear. Will you accept it before it’s too late? You don’t want to be like those who are knocking on the outside of the door, and you hear, “I never knew you.”
Focusing on the wrong things – sins of others, things of this world, being a church member (or a club member) does not make you a follower of Christ. Examine your life – your heart. Have you ever focused on Jesus in any meaningful way?
Read Luke 13:31-35. Once again, the Pharisees are trying to take Jesus’s focus off of what he was doing and try to instill fear in Him. Jesus didn’t care about those threats. Jesus was focused on Calvary! The enemy will try to distract you from living a life that is dedicated and living for Jesus with fear, worry, anxiety, judgmental attitudes, unforgiveness, shame, etc. You can’t carry that baggage with you and live a life that is meaningful for the Lord. Living for Jesus isn’t easy, but it’s completely worth it!
What are you fearful about? Surrender it today!
What has your focus? Surrender it today!
What baggage are you carrying? Surrender it today! Don’t waste your life looking at the wrong things! Focus on Christ, His work on the cross and the EMPTY TOMB!