The Evangelism Of The Master 09

August 28, 2013

In all things, I should look at Jesus. So lately, I've been wondering: how does Jesus evangelize? Jesus' evangelism did not always yield fruit, but there is no better Person to model myself after than the Master Himself.

1. JESUS EVANGELIZED BY PRESENTING HIMSELF AS THE WAY INTO HEAVEN. In the familiar passage John 3, Jesus and the Pharisee Nicodemus are talking late at night. In very clear words, Jesus proclaims that no one will enter heaven unless they believe on Him (John 3:16). And He gives to Nicodemus both halves of the age-old debate of "man's responsibility or God's will." First, you cannot tell the Spirit who to regenerate (John 3:8), but you must believe (John 3:18)! Nicodemus seems to care for the Lord Jesus following His crucifixion (John 19:39), which I attribute to a converted heart. Nicodemus passed from darkness to light (John 3:19).

2. JESUS EVANGELIZED BY PRESENTING HIMSELF AS THE ULTIMATE SATISFACTION. One chapter later in John 4, Jesus meets with the Samaritan woman. As omniscient God, He knows her entire past, just as He had known His disciple Nathaniel's past and His disciple Peter's future. And furthermore, He knows where her heart lies. In verses 16 to 18, she admits that she has gone through five husbands and is currently living with a sixth man. This is in explanation to His previous statement: "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give Him will never be thirsty again" (John 4:13, 14). Jesus tells her that He is the only lasting option to her soul's desires. When the Samaritan woman leaves, she leaves behind her bucket - representing her abandonment of all other pleasures and pursuits - and tells Samaria about Jesus Christ.

3. JESUS EVANGELIZED BY PRESENTING HIMSELF AS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW. In Romans 7, Paul says that if he had not known the Law, he would not have known sin (Romans 7:7). This is well expressed in Mark 10 when Jesus evangelizes to the rich young man. When the young man asks how he can inherit eternal life, Jesus responds by quoting the Law. The young man claims to have completed all of them, and Jesus says, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me" (Mark 10:21). This is the test of love: do I love money (or anything else) or do I love Jesus? And when the rich man turns away, it is apparent he loved money. Loving Jesus and following Jesus (at the end) fulfills the Law from cover to cover.

4. JESUS EVANGELIZED BY PRESENTING HIMSELF AS A REWARDER. Jesus is a rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:4). And who sought Him and followed Him more fervently than His own disciples? Matthew records for us His calling of Simon Peter and Andrew: "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19). I can only imagine that after such a radical experience in Luke 5 when Jesus nearly causes Peter's boat to tip from a bountiful catch of fish that Peter knew that much more would come. If I ever come to think that the world has enough to offer, I should look to Jesus. Hear Him say: "You think this is a great catch? Go forth, and be catching men" (Luke 5:10). Men are far more valuable than fish, and treasures in heaven are far more valuable than treasures on earth. I pray that would not be like the rich man who denied heavenly treasures, but I pray to be like Peter who left all to follow Him.

5. JESUS EVANGELIZED BY PRESENTING HIMSELF AS A HEALER. Jesus did not raise the dead very often while He was on earth, but it seems appropriate that He would call forth one of His best friends: Lazarus. All of Lazarus' suffering, Jesus makes clear, came for the glory of God (John 11:4). And when He comes to save Lazarus from death, He makes it crystal clear that in one life or another, Jesus will heal every wound we ever receive and more. He truly does love the suffering (John 11:36), so He will turn all our loss into immense gain. So He cures the most repressive of all physical ailments: death itself. And from this healing and from countless others, people believed in Him (John 11:45).

6. JESUS EVANGELIZED BY PRESENTING HIMSELF AS A SACRIFICE. Nothing is closer to the heart of the Gospel than the cross of Christ. And even while He was nailed to a tree, Jesus still saves one more wandering lamb: the thief. The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day! Perhaps it wasn't until he saw Jesus' sufferings and he heard Jesus' pleas for our forgiveness and he witnessed Jesus' persistent Godward focus that he truly believed that Jesus is the Son of God. But he believed nonetheless, because he knew that in that moment, Jesus was bearing sin - even his own. "This man has done nothing wrong, (Luke 23:41), and yet He hangs here for me." By dying on the cross, Jesus brought this thief into paradise and countless others until He returns.

~The Fragile Grey Heart

John 8:12: "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'"