Sunday September 18 2016

The Sermon today was Discipleship Part 3 

"Discipleship - Jesus and Women"

1. Jesus was born of a woman
2. Jesus was first seen by a woman after his resurrection
3. Jesus first commission to announce the resurrection was given to a woman

Big Surprise for some - Women were a part of it all!

This is the 10 - 40 world window, Between 10th and 40th parallel  North of the Equator


The 10/40 Window concept highlights these three elements: an area of the world with great poverty and low quality of life, combined with lack of access to Christian resources. Roughly two-thirds of the world population live in the 10/40 Window. Many governments in the 10/40 Window are formally or informally opposed to Christian work of any kind.

The 10/40 Window originally encompassed 56 countries or Nations. Some other nearby Nations are now included.

This is the part of the World where women are brutally treated and sometimes worse than animals.

This was what Jesus was teaching about how to treat women. The people he explained that to, had a hard time with it because women were pretty low on their totem pole!

Mathew 20:25-26
"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you"
While "lord it over" implies abusive leadership, his words "exercise authority" have no connotation of abuse of authority. 

So Jesus forbids any hierarchy in Christian relationships.

 Matthew 20:20-28 (NASB)
²⁰  Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him.
²¹  And He said to her, "What do you wish?" She *said to Him, "Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left."
²²  But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They *said to Him, "We are able."
²³  He *said to them, "My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father."
²⁴  And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers.
²⁵  But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.
²⁶  "It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,
²⁷  and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;
²⁸  just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Two times Jesus raised people from the dead: both cases for women. 

1. Widow from Nain her only son Luke 7:11-17

 Luke 7:1-17 (NASB)
¹  When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum.
²  And a centurion's slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die.
³  When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave.
⁴  When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, "He is worthy for You to grant this to him;
⁵  for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue."
⁶  Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof;
⁷  for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
⁸  "For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it."
⁹  Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, "I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith."
¹⁰  When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
¹¹  Soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large crowd.
¹²  Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her.
¹³  When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, "Do not weep."
¹⁴  And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise!"
¹⁵  The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother.
¹⁶  Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and, "God has visited His people!"
¹⁷  This report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district. 

2. Mary and Martha their brother Lazarus. John 11:1-44

 John 11:1-47 (NASB) ¹  Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
²  It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
³  So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."
⁴  But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it."
⁵  Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
⁶  So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.
⁷  Then after this He *said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."
⁸  The disciples *said to Him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?"
⁹  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
¹⁰  "But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."
¹¹  This He said, and after that He *said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep."
¹²  The disciples then said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover."
¹³  Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep.
¹⁴  So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead,
¹⁵  and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him."
¹⁶  Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, so that we may die with Him."
¹⁷  So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.
¹⁸  Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off;
¹⁹  and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother.
²⁰  Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house.
²¹  Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
²²  "Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."
²³  Jesus *said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
²⁴  Martha *said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."
²⁵  Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,
²⁶  and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"
²⁷  She *said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world."
²⁸  When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you."
²⁹  And when she heard it, she *got up quickly and was coming to Him.
³⁰  Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him.
³¹  Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
³²  Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
³³  When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled,
³⁴  and said, "Where have you laid him?" They *said to Him, "Lord, come and see."
³⁵  Jesus wept.
³⁶  So the Jews were saying, "See how He loved him!"
³⁷  But some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?"
³⁸  So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, *came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
³⁹  Jesus *said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, *said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days."
⁴⁰  Jesus *said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
⁴¹  So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
⁴²  "I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me."
⁴³  When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth."
⁴⁴  The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
⁴⁵  Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him.
⁴⁶  But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.
⁴⁷  Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, "What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs.  

  Matthew 12:46-50
"Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"  And stretching out his hand towards his disciples, he said "here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in Heaven is my brother, sister, and mother."

  Matthew 12:46-50 (NASB)
⁴⁶  While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.
⁴⁷  Someone said to Him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You."
⁴⁸  But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"
⁴⁹  And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, "Behold My mother and My brothers!
⁵⁰  "For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother."

Luke 13:20-21 Story of Leaven and bread making

 Luke 13:18-21 (NASB)
¹⁸  So He was saying, "What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it?
¹⁹  "It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and THE BIRDS OF THE AIR NESTED IN ITS BRANCHES."
²⁰  And again He said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?
²¹  "It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened."  

Luke 15:8-10Story of the Lost Coin

 Luke 15:8-10 (NASB)
⁸  "Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?
⁹  "When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!'
¹⁰  "In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

We are invited into the domain of a servant woman in order to better understand the domain of GOD!