The third day (Notes from Luke 24:13-35)

13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.

• It’s the same day as the Resurrection.
• Here are two people leaving the scene of the crime, they have been there, done that. But now they are headed home.
• Later on in verse 21, Cleopas says, “It is now the third day since this happened,” meaning that’s it. Jesus is really dead. (Compare John 11:6, 39 - Jesus waiting till after the third day before visiting Lazarus) The show is over. They tried staying back for the post-credits extras but nothing happened.
• Emmaus was 7 miles from Jerusalem, meaning it was still within the province of Judea, close enough for Cleopas and his friend to be familiar with all that Jesus said and did these past few years. Their expectations were built up over some time and this particular visit to Jerusalem over the Passover weekend was full of anticipation. Instead, it ended up a huge disappointment.

14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.

• They were gossipping. The same way the Internet was abuzz when Bowie and Rickman died this week. “Did you hear? After all he did? What a shame!”
• Talking is a way of thinking. Of processing. They weren’t discovering new information. They were trying to make sense of what they had already seen and heard.
• So much had happened. The miracles. The crowds. The triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The arrest by the Romans. The trial. The torture and crucifixion. They talked about “Everything that had happened.”
• In fact, verse 15 describes how they “discussed” these things. A better word would be “debated”. They had strong opinions. They had questions they wanted answers to.

15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them.

• This was not Paul’s encounter on the road to Damascus where Jesus knocks him off his horse. (Acts 9)
• Instead, Jesus joined them in their journey. He “walked along with them.”
• He didn’t stop them mid-conversation. Jesus wanted to be a part of their conversation.

16 But they were kept from recognising him.

• ESV: “Their eyes were kept from recognising him.”
• This anticipates later when “their eyes were opened” (verse 31).
• For now though, Jesus doesn’t want them to see. Instead, Jesus wants to know what they think. He wants to know their honest opinions.
• Good teachers do that. Good parents know this. They don’t rush to give their kids the answers. They give them enough to start them thinking. They ask questions.

17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast.

• “What are you talking about?” This simple question stops them in their tracks. ESV: “And they stood still, looking sad.”
• You have to wonder why. After all, they were happily discussing with one another. The events were public knowledge. People who love gossipping, love attention. They love it when someone new asks them about the elections, immigration or Donald Trump.
• But this issue was personal. They weren’t talking about the latest fad. Their expectations were real. And their emotions were raw.
• To them, Jesus was a stranger prying into their personal lives. Maybe they didn’t realise how deeply it affected them until just then.

18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you only visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

• It’s meant to be an insulting comeback. “Are you a tourist? Are you blind?” Meaning: “Everyone knows this!” The Malay expression for this is “katak bawah tempurung” (a frog under a coconut shell): to be oblivious to the world around you.
• The reaction of sadness followed by anger reveal how personally involved Cleopas and his companion were in the events of the cross.
• But Jesus persists: “What things?” (verse 19) Literally, a single word: “What?” (Poia) One word was all it took for Cleopas and his friend to open up.

19 “What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.”

• The floodgates open. From verses 19 to 24, the two travellers give a summary of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
• “He was a prophet,” they said, thinking of Old Testament heroes like Moses and Elijah. “Powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.” We find this phrase on the lips of Stephen in Acts 7:22 referring to Moses, who was “powerful in speech and action.” Like Moses, therefore, there was an expectation bound up with what Jesus had come to do, specifically to “redeem Israel” (verse 21). This was the consensus opinion among “all the people”.
• What they really want to say is, “Jesus is the Christ,” but they can’t bring themselves to do so. The most that Jesus could have been was a prophet, albeit a powerful one from God. So close but no cigar.

20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him.

• This is insightful. They do not mention the Romans or Pilate. Rather, the ones responsible for Jesus’ death, according to the two travellers are the chief priests and our rulers. They “handed him over” to be crucified. They gave him up, as it were.
• Earlier, in verse 7, the two men at the tomb say, “Remember how he told you… ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” The exact same expression is used - the Son of Man must be “handed over” (paradothenai) to sinful men to be crucified.
• It’s passing the buck. Letting someone else do the dirty work.
• Yet Jesus himself anticipates this betrayal and reminded his disciples to anticipate his betrayal. This must happen.

21 But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.

• The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.
• They wanted Jesus to redeem Israel, to free them from occupying armies and kick out the Romans, to establish God’s kingdom on earth and to make theirs a proud nation once again.
• “What is more, it is the third day since all this took place.” Three days since Jesus was tortured, crucified and buried.
• Yet, there might be more to this being the “third day”. The promise of verse 7 says, “On the third day be raised again.” Maybe that’s why they stayed behind in Jerusalem.
• They were thinking, “Maybe… just maybe.”

22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning.

• Aha! So they did know about the empty tomb (verses 1 to 12). They were one of the “others” in verse 9 whom Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James told. “They came and told us.” (verse 23)
• Their reaction? Verse 11: “But they did not believe the women because their words seemed to them like nonsense.”

23 But they didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.

• All they had to go on were these women’s words. A missing body? Angels? It was lot to take in.
• Things would be different if Jesus appeared. Why leave an empty space where the body used to be? Why send angels? Why choose women as your eye-witnesses (whose testimonies in ancient culture weren’t admissible)?

24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.

• Back in verse 12, we read that Peter “got up and went to the tomb.”
• But here, we find out he wasn’t alone. Others thought, “I need to see this for myself.” They found the tomb “just as the women had said.”
• “But him they did not see.” They wanted to see Jesus. That would have made all the difference.
• Ironically, Cleopas and friend see Jesus but their eyes are kept from seeing him. Meaning, this was intentional. There is something that Jesus wants us to see more than what we think we need to see in order to believe him. He wants them to see him in his promises. In his Word.
  
• Up to this point, Cleopas and his friend were doing all the talking. And they had all the facts.
• Evangelism is more than accurately conveying the facts about Christianity. Cleopas was accurate with the data, even the bits he wasn’t convicted by like the women seeing the tomb. He didn’t hold anything back.
• Evangelism is more than being sincere about Christianity. Their hopes were sincere. Their disappointment was real.
• Evangelism is speaking the gospel. For all their accuracy and sincerity, Cleopas and his friend did not know the gospel. The gospel says Jesus had to die. The gospel tells us why Jesus had to die.
• To the gospel, you first have to know the gospel.

25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!”

• We expect Jesus to say, “How foolish you for not recognising your Saviour?” or “Why didn’t you believe the women?” or “Why not check the tomb out yourselves?”
• Instead, Jesus rebukes them for not trusting their bibles.
• He doesn’t dispute the facts that Cleopas and his friend brought up - the crucifixion, the empty tomb - because the facts were absolutely right. Cleopas was accurate in conveying the data.
• Instead, for the rest of the journey, Jesus does bible study with them.

26 “Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”

• The Christ, or Messiah, is God’s chosen King.
• According to Jesus, it is necessary - a job requirement - for God’s chosen king to suffer. Think of King David hunted by Saul for years before ascending to the throne. Think of Joseph sold by his brothers into slavery. Remember Moses’ forty years in exile from Egypt.
• In part, suffering teaches God’s leaders humility and dependence upon God.
• But Jesus’ connection between suffering and glory paints a bigger picture - that God’s chosen king must suffer on behalf of the sins of his people.
• Sin is the rejection of God as our king. Therefore, God’s chosen King must bear the same rejection that God experiences from his people.

27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

• “Moses and all the Prophets” sums up the entire Old Testament canon. All of Scripture points to Jesus.
• It means you can turn to any bit of the Old Testament and see Christ.
• More importantly, it means you haven’t understood the Old Testament until you see how all of it points to Christ.
  
• Jesus does bible study with his two friends. Notice, they didn’t have a bible app on their phones, they didn’t have Gideon bibles in their knapsacks. They knew their Old Testaments by heart. They had all the data.
• But Jesus opened their eyes to the gospel. He showed how all the Scriptures pointed to him.

28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going further.

• They reach their destination. The story should end here.
• Jesus doesn’t press for a decision. He does the bible study, points to himself from the Scriptures, and for him, that’s job done. In a sense, he leaves the conclusions with them.

29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening, the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

• What a change! Cleopas and his friend urge Jesus strongly to remain - literally, to abide (see John 15:4-7, “Remain in me, as I also remain in you”, also John 1:39) - with them. Jesus is no longer a stranger. There is real concern for him.
• Jesus responds to their invitation by remaining with them, just a while longer.
  
• Everything we know about God, we know in relationship with God.
• Even though their eyes have been kept from recognising Jesus, their eyes were opened to seeing him in the Scriptures.

30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.

• The sequence of actions of Jesus taking the bread, breaking it, giving thanks for it and distributing it is reminiscent of the feeding of the five thousand (Luke 9:10-17) and the last supper (“And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them.” Luke 22:19)
• It is symbolic of Jesus’ giving of himself on the cross as the bread of life.
• This was more than a meal. This was an invitation to friendship with God, to be a part of his family.
• When Jesus did this, something triggered in the hearts and minds of his friends.

31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognised him, and he disappeared from their sight.

• Some say they recognised the nail wounds from his hands when he gave thanks for the bread. That’s possible.
• More likely, in the same way that their eyes were kept from recognising Jesus spiritually back in verse 16, so Jesus chose this moment to open them, that is after he had opened the Scriptures to them.

32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

• He does the exact same thing with apostles later: “Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” (Verse 45)
• This is how we truly know we have encountered Jesus in his glory - when he speaks to us from his Word and opens our eyes to the gospel.
• Before, their minds were foolish and their hearts were slow (verse 25). But now their eyes are opened and their hearts are burning.
• This is the experience of every believer in Christ. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)

33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them assembled together.

• Seven miles back to Jerusalem, back to the apostles and in a sense, back to the church, to “those assembled together”.
• The gospel that saves us is the same gospel message that builds us up as the church. Evangelism doesn’t simply happen outside the church to outsiders. Evangelism results in the church gathered around God’s word. As the gospel message goes out, God’s people are gathered in.

34 And saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.”

• When they say, “It is true!” they are obviously referring to the resurrection evidence. (If you are wondering about the appearance to Peter, it isn’t documented in any of the gospel accounts, but only in 1 Corinthians 15:5 - “And he appeared to Cephas”)
• But how did they know it was true? Often times, we hear evangelists say, “Investigate for yourselves the evidence of the resurrection.”
• But Jesus presents the truth of the resurrection in the gospel. Specifically, in the Old Testament. You see, Cleopas and his friend had the data of the resurrection in their heads, but they refused to believe it because a suffering Messiah did not make sense.
• So when they say, “It is true!” They aren’t simply saying, “It’s accurate!” They are saying, “It makes perfect sense. God’s promises have come true!”

35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognised by them when he broke the bread.

• Remember how earlier they say, “Him they did not see.” (verse 24) Here were two witnesses saying, “We saw him. We walked seven miles with him and talked with him. And we recognised it was really him when he broke the bread.”

Christians (Acts 11:19-30)

The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

Acts 11:26

One of the earliest images of Jesus is an inscription found on a wall in Rome, etched some 1700 years ago. It is known as the “Alexamenos graffito”, or the Alex Graffiti. The image depicts Jesus as a human figure hung on a cross but having the head of a donkey. Next to him is Alex, a man worshipping the crucified Jesus, with these words written below, “Alex worships his God.” The image is meant to insult Jesus, of course, hence the donkey’s head. But it was probably meant to insult Alex who believed in Jesus; to make fun of this Christian who worships a God who got hung on a cross.

In today’s passage we meet the very first Christians. That is, this is the first time in the bible that they are called Christians. It wasn’t a name they chose for themselves. Most likely, it was a name given to them as an insult because they believed in Jesus Christ.

Someone I know was recently very angry with God. She started cursing God and cursing Christianity and then cursing the church. Pretty soon she began cursing Christians. “Damn those people who call themselves Christians!”

The bible tells us that “Christian” is an appropriate name for a follower of Jesus which is why it stuck ever since. From Acts 11, we see three reasons why this label of “Christian” was given to the first-century believers in Antioch; three reasons why we should be ashamed to be called Christians today.

1. They were the real thing

The first reason is: These believers were the real thing. When we look at the story of how they first became Christians, there was no mistake that only God could have done this.

Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, man from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.

Acts 11:19-20

Imagine you wanted to buy Char Siu Pao. What would you do? You could go to Charlie Chan. You could get the frozen packs from Cho Mei and microwave them as a tasty snack  in the comfort of your home.

Now imagine you grew up in a part of the country with no Char Siu Pao’s. Not a single Chinese restaurant in town. No Chinese people living in your village. And one day, you see a few Chinese tourists walking down the high street eating some strange white fluffy bun and you smell the delicious roasted pork filling in the bun: You have just seen your first Char Siu Pao! It is love at first sight! So you approach these tourists and ask them, “Could I have some?” only to have them say to you, “Lei Chee Sin, Ge?” (“You’re crazy!”)

Antioch was a city far away from Jerusalem. No one there had ever heard about Jesus before. Then something unexpected happened! The church in Jerusalem was attacked and all the Christian believers were forced to leave the city. Verse 19 tells us they were “scattered”. Meaning, one day they were all in one place but the next, they were all over the place - scattered all across the country - “as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch”, that is, many even left the country because of the persecution and threat to their lives.

Even so, once they reached their destinations, verse 19 tells us they told the message “only to Jews”. It’s like the Chinese people sharing their Char Siu Pao’s only with their Chinese friends. No way were they going to give the secret recipe to Gweilos! Thankfully, not everyone thought that way, because in verse 20, some of them “went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also” - non-Jews - “telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.”

The reason why I say that only God could have done this is because of verse 21.

The Lord’s hand was with them and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
Acts 11:21

In order for these non-Jews to hear the gospel, God caused a persecution in Jerusalem. God’s hand was with these Christians who decided to share the gospel with their non-Christian friends. And God caused their friends to believe in Jesus when they heard the gospel.

God overcame prejudices. God overcame cultural barriers. And God granted repentance and faith to the new believers in Antioch.

This was a big deal. The church back in Jerusalem did not expect something like this to happen, which is why the moment they heard the news in Antioch, they sent one of their leaders named Barnabas to check things out. As we shall see, Barnabas was the right man for the job because in verse 23 it says:

When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

Acts 11:23-24

Barnabas, or Barney as I call him, is known as the “Son of Encouragement” (Acts 4:36). He is the kind of guy you want as your basketball team coach. He sees the best in people and brings the best out of people. When he arrived in Antioch, he saw evidence of the grace of God. “Only God could have done this,” was Barnabas’ official verdict of the situation in Antioch. “You guys are the real thing,” he said to the Christians there, “and all I have to say to you guys is: Keep on trusting in Jesus!”

No criticisms. Barnabas looked at the church in Antioch and just went, “Thank God. Hallelujah!” And as a result, verse 24 tells us, even more people became Christians! The church in Antioch continued to grow even further!

Now I want you to get how amazing this reaction is. Barnabas was a representative from Jerusalem and was, himself, a Jew. Acts Chapter 4 tells us he was a “Levite from Cyprus,” meaning that on the one hand, Barnabas descended from Old Testament priests who served at the temple. He was a Levite. On the other, it also says that he grew up overseas, “in Cyprus,” (And you might notice that some of the people who started evangelising in Antioch were from Cyprus - verse 20. This might be one of the reasons the apostle sent Barnabas to investigate the situation.)

The safe thing that Barnabas could have done was to said, “Slow things down.” Barnabas as a leader from Jerusalem could have said, “You guys need to get permission from the apostles back in Jerusalem. I’m not saying you did a bad thing, but maybe it would be wise not to offend anyone back home. Who knows whether these outsiders are real Christians?”

Barnabas did none of that. Why? Because Barnabas looked at what was happening in Antioch and saw the grace of God. “God did this, not because someone had a brilliant idea about evangelising the Gentiles, not because someone messed up and planted a church without permission. No, God did this out of his mercy and grace. Only God can give forgiveness. Only God can cause non-believing Gentiles to repent of their sin and turn to Jesus for forgiveness and rescue from judgement.”

2. They lived distinctive lives

The second thing that we see about these Christians is their distinctiveness. Or, if you like, their unique identity as people who live for Jesus alone.

Barnabas looked at the Christians in Antioch and he saw the real thing. But he didn’t leave them as they were. Barnabas saw potential in this church and what he wanted to do next was to strengthen the church in Antioch. To do this, he needed help. So, in verse 25:

Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

Acts 11:25-26

I think there is something tremendously humbling about Barnabas. You see, when we hear a name like “Son of Encouragement,” we tend to think of someone who is young; of someone who is optimistic and sees the silver lining in every situation.

But actually, there is no reason to think of Barnabas as a young guy. If anything he might be a pretty senior member of the Jerusalem church, which explains why he has quite a bit of property to give away in Acts 4, having built it up over the years. Also, in Acts 14, Barnabas is mistaken for the Greek God Zeus. I think that says something significant about his personality. Barnabas had a huge presence - he was mistaken for a Greek God!

More likely, Barnabas was a senior, respected older man who was experienced and wise as a church leader. And I think it says a lot of about Barnabas then to recognise the need to seek out a young guy like Saul to help him lead the church at Antioch. Don’t get me wrong; Saul was a brilliant guy - a scholar and a gifted preacher. But Saul had made big mistakes in his life, not least in causing the persecution that happened in Jerusalem in the first place. But Barnabas looked at Saul and saw the same thing he saw in Antioch: he saw the grace of God. And maybe he knew what Jesus had said back in Acts Chapter 9, that Saul would be his instrument to carry his name before the Gentiles (Acts 9:15). At each and every point of this story, Barnabas was humble enough to lower himself in order to lift others up. Isn’t that amazing? In fact, isn’t that truly encouraging? Those of us who want to learn from Barnabas: It’s not about personality. It is humility that is the key to being a “son of encouragement.”

For a whole year, Barnabas and Saul stayed in Antioch and they taught “the church and great numbers of people” the bible. It was at this point that verse 26 tells us, “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” Why is that?

There are two parts to that answer. The first thing to notice is that they are Antioch. Remember that these are mainly non-Jewish believers in Jesus Christ, which was a strange thing. They weren’t converting to Judaism. They didn’t start going to temple. They didn’t start learning Hebrew and following food laws and Sabbath laws. You see, that’s the amazing thing. The world looked at these believers and went, “I don’t get them! They’re not Jews. But they are no longer Gentiles either! What are they?”

That is, the world looked at this gathering of believers - this church - and saw that they were so oddly different in the way they lived their lives, they were so distinctive from everyone else - that they had to come up with a new name. They called them Christians. Why? Because the only clear distinctive about them was Christ. They seemed to the outside world like little “Christs”. Or perhaps it was because they kept talking non-stop about Jesus Christ.

It is worth asking ourselves here in the Chinese Church: Is that the way our friends see us? Is it clear from the way we live our lives; from the things that we talk about and live for - that it is all for Jesus?

The second part of the answer lies in the fact that they are called “disciples” in verse 26 and this connects back to the teaching that Saul and Barnabas did in the church. “Disciple” means student. “Disciple” means someone who learns. And what it is saying is: the way you grow as a Christian is by growing in the knowledge of God’s word. The way you grow as a Christian is by growing in obedience to God’s word.

Do you see why Barnabas was so keen to build up the church by teaching them the bible. Why he thought it was so important to get a the best teacher - Saul - to come to this church? It wasn’t so that he could start a bible college. It was so that these young Christians would build their lives on Jesus by spending time in his word. The bible is God’s means of transforming his people to be more and more like Jesus. As they grew in discipleship, in obedience, in knowledge and love of the bible, the church grew in Christ-likeness.

If you want to live a life that is truly significant; if you want to know what God’s plan is for your life and be able to keep in step with that plan - you need to spend time studying his word. Barnabas and Saul did that with the new young believers in Antioch for a year. The result was a community so noticeable, so significant, so distinctive for Jesus - that their friends looked at them and went, “That guy is just like his Christ. That girl is just like her Christ.” They called them Christians. Whether it was a compliment or even if it was an insult, it was name that marked them out not by their culture or race or love for movies or food but by the God whom they worshipped.

3. The loved one another

Finally, what we see of these new Christians is is their love. In a very practical and generous way, this church was marked by their love for one another.

During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

Acts 11:27-30

I was on the train last week and got to talking to elderly gentleman sitting next to me. He wasn’t a Christian - in his own word, he wasn’t “religious” - but he told me that he’d once heard Billy Graham preach. At the end of Billy’s sermon, he was challenged to go forward to put his trust in Jesus, but he resisted, he said, because he was worried that he would then be asked to give his money away.

It’s a tricky thing talking about money, isn’t it? And to read in this passage how the church in Antioch gave money to the church in Jerusalem; that’s embarrassing. “There! Don’t you see? The church wants your money after all!”

Notice, that the disciples decided to give of their own free will. This wasn’t an offering at the temple: There was no temple. No, this was a generous response to the prophecy of Agabus the prophet that there was going to be a famine throughout the entire Roman world. Agabus stood up at their Sunday meeting and said, “God is calling us to be prepared for a time of difficulty.” If he had said that in our church, what would be our instinctive reaction? I might be tempted to say, “I’d better save up then for my own needs.” God says, “Tough times are coming,” and I naturally start to think of my own needs first.

Not these Christians. They said, “OK, we’re going to need to help the churches which are worse off than us.” Each according to his ability - there was no coercion - gave generously from what they had.

That’s love. It’s not flowers with chocolates wrapped in a shiny bow with a card that says, “Dear Jerusalem, Thinking of you. Yours truly, Antioch.” Love is not infatuation. Love according to the bible means putting another’s needs before your own. When husbands love their wives by putting their needs first, sacrificing their own. When Christ loved the church by dying on the cross. These brand-new Christians understood that loving their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem meant looking out for them practically, generously and financially at the expense of their own comfort.

I think the church in Jerusalem was surprised. In a good way, I mean. Often times, we are surprised by another person’s selfishness and sinfulness. We shouldn’t be. The bible tells us that we struggle with a sinful nature; that this is a world broken by sin. What we should be surprised by is grace.

I was at New Word Alive recently at a seminar about loving the church. We were talking in small groups about what that meant - to love the church. It was very tempting to gripe: “Oh, loving the church is hard, isn’t it?” In my small group, I said, “I look forward to being surprised by acts of love in the church. I mean, I look forward to it. But I say to God, ‘Please surprise me! Please show me how you can display your grace even through your people!.’” And God does. I talked about a stranger emailing me with a distressing need which I forwarded to a brother I know and trust well. By the end of the day, he had his wife and two other sisters visiting her and her family and he was on the phone arranging regular follow-up over the coming weeks. I wrote back to this brother: “I am proud to call you my brother in Christ.”

Now this doesn’t happen every day but what it is isn’t random. It is a response borne out of care and concern for one another in the family of God. Brothers look out for one another. Sisters talk to one another. Fathers provide for their children. Of course, it involves financial help at times but if you think that’s the main thing, my friend, you have a warped sense about what it means to be in a family. God’s family reflects God’s love which is other-person-centred. Which is gracious, not expecting payment. Which is generous to the point of being sacrificial.

Jesus says, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35) That was the church in Antioch. I dare say, that is the church today.

Conclusion: Belonging to Christ

Three reasons why the believers were called Christians: (1) They were the real thing, (2) They lived distinctive lives and (3) They loved one another.

But I’d like to end by adding a fourth. They belonged to Christ.

The early Christians weren’t called Jesuits. “Jesus” or “Joshua” was not the name they were most closely associated with. No, the fact that they were called “Christians” means they were being identified with who Jesus was as the King. As the Christ. It meant that Jesus was their King. It meant that Jesus was Lord.

The name “Christian” means “belonging to Christ”. So the next time you tell someone, “I’m a Christian,” what you are saying is not, “I go to church,” or, “I believe in God,” or even, “I believe in Jesus” - as true as all these statements are. No, what you are saying is, “Jesus paid for me with his blood on the cross. I am not my own. I belong to him. The life I live now I live by faith in the Son of God who loved and gave himself for me.” What you are saying is, “I belong to Christ,” and that is a thought that is both marvellous as it is true.

For I am his and he is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

(“In Christ Alone”, Stuart Townend & Keith Getty)