(#49) He Turned It Over to Us

If Jesus Rose from the Dead, then (#49) He Turned It Over to Us [audio]

In the midst of Jesus telling His disciples that He was going to be killed and then raised from the dead, He also talked to them about His leaving. The Resurrection surprised them; the Ascension did not… nor did Pentecost.

I suppose it was in the 40 days of teaching after the resurrection that they finally began to understand what was going on. Can you imagine having over a month with Jesus? Listening, asking all your questions? That must have really been something. They didn’t have the Holy Spirit yet, but the resurrection got their attention… it really changed everything.

This is what Jesus said to them in the Upper Room before He was taken to be crucified:

 "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father" (John 14:12, ESV).

So, here we have another link that Jesus is making between His death, resurrection and ascension, and what it would be like after He left. He talked a lot about that, and we have dealt with much of it already: He would not leave us as orphans; the Holy Spirit would come; He and the Father would make their abode in us; He would prepare opportunities for us; etc.

In this passage, Jesus is telling them that the Body of Christ (whoever believes in Me) would, after He left, do “greater works." This could be puzzling to some, for one might think that “greater” means more spectacular or more miraculous. But the Greek word here is probably better understood in terms of a numerical greater or wider scope. In other words, Jesus was going to leave, and the works that He had done in a single physical body in a small geographical place were now going to be done in the “body” of Christ that would reach to the ends of the earth; brothers and sisters in Christ who would be engaging neighbors from every tribe and tongue and nation, from east to west and north to south. 

This should be a watershed picture for us. The plan of God was that Jesus would leave, the Holy Spirit, God Himself, would come and live within us, and we would then do greater works. 

This is quite a vision. Have we captured it? Yesterday we looked at the amazing declaration that those of us who are in Christ are priests, whether a farmer or a teacher, a seamstress or a janitor. Coupled with the Royal Law, we are priests who have been providentially placed in our neighborhood next door to a neighbor who has also been providentially placed there. This is our Jerusalem and ground zero in the work of the Kingdom. 

Just like the priests were scattered among the twelve tribes, to be distributed among them, so, too, are we scattered and distributed among the cultures in which we find ourselves. All those who are in Christ Jesus are part of this royal priesthood, prepared and appointed to fulfill our priestly duties within our neighborhoods.

This is how it should be.

There is a great question from the symbolic imagery in Ezekiel 37:

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live” (Ezekiel 37:1-3, ESV)?

“Can these bones live?” It is a great question for the western church today. Of course, in God’s interaction with Ezekiel, the Spirit of God came upon those dry bones and they eventually “lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.” Can the western church live again? Can it become an exceedingly great army again? Symbolically, of course, but an army that again turns the world upside down through the indwelling Spirit and loving their neighbors.

You know, it is easy to make Christianity complicated. But it isn’t very complicated at all. Jesus told us we were a priest and we were to love our neighbors. That’s how the early church worked for 250 years. It reminds me of that incredible promise of Jesus:

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29).

I am increasingly aware of how my Christianity doesn’t foster much “rest for my soul” but rather it is filled today with all kinds of products and programs that make me more restless than restful. There is a simplicity to the Royal Law and my role as a priest within my neighborhood that eliminates the deceiver’s call to “save the world” or “do more” or other forms of chasing significance that isn’t, in the end, very significant. I’m finding that the enjoinment to “find out what pleases the Lord” is really quite simple and it brings “rest” to one’s soul. Isn’t it interesting to think of how complicated the OT rules and regulations were and to then look at the New Covenant where everything has been summed up in one simple thing: love your neighbor.  And the power to do that has been given to us because He dwells within us, giving us all the fruit we need to fulfill what He has asked us to do. 

The Scripture certainly gives us enough of a picture of who we are:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God (1 Corinthians 6:19)?

Paul, the “Hebrew of Hebrews” and “as to the law, a Pharisee” was now speaking such radical things to new believers including this, that they were a new temple in which the Holy Spirit dwelt. Temples on feet. Temples with hands and voices… and smiles. I long for us to see ourselves in such a powerful way. 

Let’s go back and pick up on a very important word in the John 14 passage:

 "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father" (John 14:12, ESV).

 “Whoever believes in me” will do greater works. The vision is for every believer. Not just for the cleric or those in professional ministry. Whoever believes. One of the key things we talk about in the Engagement Project is this:

God has entrusted the primary work of the Kingdom to the common, every-day Christian family.

Brother or sister, whether you are a farmer or hotel maid, a taxi driver or a nurse, a janitor or on a pick-line in a factory… you have been entrusted with the primary work of the Kingdom. You have the Word of God and the fullness of God dwelling within you. 

What more do we need? What more do you need?

Jesus was raised from the dead, crushing the head of Satan, defeating death, paying for our sins, making us sons of God and coming to live within us. He has done all of that, and now it’s over to us. He is making opportunities for us and will be together with us in those opportunities. He has left us with His Word and He dwells within us. We have been given everything necessary for us to continue the legacy that was started 2000 years ago: turning the world upside down.

May we see the Body of Christ, the army of God, once again at her station!

Soli Deo Gloria!
 

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[The image is from Tour 9 in the Engagement Project]