If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. — Matt. 18:15-17
And [ Jesus] said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” — Luke 22:15-20
Excerpts from the book:
Page 344 -In addition to providing his church with the Spirit and the word ......Jesus also provided guidelines for how to handle sin in the flock. In one sense, all of his teachings do this. They are the charter for how his followers are to live in the church and in the world. But he gave more specific guidelines for what has come to be called church discipline in Matthew 18:15-17.
Page 344 - The word “church” signals the fact that Jesus is preparing his followers for the ongoing fellowship of his band of followers in his absence. The implication of the teaching is that persistent, unrepented sin—a refusal to take sin seriously and make war against it in our own lives—will mean we are not really followers of Jesus. In other words, even though Jesus knew that the church would always have false believers in it (Matt. 13:30, 48), nevertheless he made provision for a kind of careful, loving, patient discipline that would not tolerate blatant unwillingness to repent. Treating an unrepentant “brother” like a “Gentile and tax collector” did not mean treating him with hostility. Jesus had said plainly that such people are to be loved: ..... (Matt. 5:47). ..................This would include not sharing, for example, in the Lord’s Supper together.
Page 345 - In other words, part of becoming a disciple or a follower of Jesus is being baptized. This is the outward mark of the inward change that has happened to bring one under the lordship of Jesus as a forgiven sinner...................... Therefore, already in John’s baptism we see how it functioned to distinguish true believers from mere descendants of believers. Now Jesus chooses this sign as the mark of his own followers in his absence.......... My simple point here is that this act, practiced by almost all Christian churches today, was not invented by the churches. Jesus put this in place before he left...
Page 346 - ....This is part of becoming his disciple and becoming a part of his church. The other ordinance that Jesus provided for his church is the Lord’s Supper. I am calling baptism and the Lord’s Supper ordinances to signify that Jesus ordained them. That is, he established the pattern of their observance....... Jesus did not give this ordinance a name....... Since everything about Jesus’ last evening and the following trial and crucifixion was planned by God and followed
obediently by Jesus, it would be folly to think his last supper was only coincidentally a Passover meal....... Therefore, it is not surprising that the earliest Christian document that refers to this ordinance not only calls it “the Lord’s Supper” (kuriako;n dei`pnon; 1 Cor. 11:20), but also refers to Jesus as “our Passover lamb” (to; pavsca hJmw`n; 1 Cor. 5:7).
Page 348 - Therefore, it seems wise to understand the words “this is my body” and “this is my blood” to mean: “The cup and bread represent my physical body and blood offered up for you in death as a sacrifice for your sins.”
Page 349 - What we have seen in this chapter is that the church is not an afterthought created by the followers of Jesus because his message of the coming kingdom did not materialize. No, the church did not replace the kingdom. The church is created and sustained by the kingdom. The church was planned by Jesus, and he provided for her in every way. “I will build my church” is the banner that flies over the gatherings of Jesus’ followers today. He is building his people. He is gathering his flock. He is fulfilling his promise to be with her to the end of the age. He is teaching her by his Spirit and through his word. And he is marking her off from the world through the sign of baptism and by making himself remembered and known and enjoyed in the
Lord’s Supper. “Do this” is a demand of the Lord that calls us today to be not just individual followers but a flock, a gathering, a community, and a church.
No comments:
Post a Comment