The Intention of Jesus

This is a paper that I submitted for my Gospels class at Covenant Seminary.  It was one of the most helpful papers that has been assigned to me in my first two years of seminary.  The assignment was straight forward: 2 pages, 10 point font, 1.5 line spacing: "What did Jesus intend to accomplish in his first-century earthly ministry?":

When Christ came to earth in the first century He intended to inaugurate the eschatological kingdom of God in his life, death, and resurrection.  His goal was to further God’s mission of reversing the effects of the fall and restoring creation.  He accomplished this in a variety of ways.  He sought to fulfill the will of the Father.  He revealed God’s kingdom in his ministry.  He created disciples to carry on His mission after His ascension into heaven.  Ultimately, He fulfilled his intentions by accomplishing the salvation of His people.

            Jesus’ earthly mission was the mission of His Father.  He came to earth to fulfill the plan of redemption and restoration first hinted at in Genesis 3:15.  That Jesus came to earth to do the Father’s will is undeniable in the pages of John’s Gospel (cf. e.g. 7.17; 8.16; 8.29; 9.4; 14.10, etc.).  This is not evident in John’s Gospel alone.  Indeed, the boy Jesus says as much in Luke 2.49.  As God revealed Himself and His mission to His people in the Old Testament, so Jesus did in His day.  Repeatedly in the Pentateuch we read “the Lord said to Moses” (Exodus 7.1; Numbers 1:1, etc.).  In the Gospels, this declaration is replaced by Jesus authoritative declaration “I say to you” (Matthew 5.26, Mark 8.12, etc.).  Jesus takes up the mission of God in the very language that He uses.  Jesus’ will mirrors the will of the Father for they are one God united in purpose: to bring redemption via the kingdom of God.

            This unity of purpose is seen in how Jesus understood His ministry.  Jesus sought not only to fulfill the will of the Father and accomplish God’s mission on earth, He was Himself the revelation of this mission (see e.g John 1.1-18).  Indeed, he announces His ministry in Mark 1.15 by saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”  Similarly in Matthew, as Jesus begins His ministry, Matthew 4.17 tells us that “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”   He announces that in Him a new epoch has arrived and that it requires a response.  He further understands His ministry as the fulfillment of the Scriptures of the Old Testament.  Most famously, in Matthew 5.17 he declares “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”  In Luke 24.26-27 He shows that His teaching, including His teaching about His death and subsequent resurrection, are proclaimed in the pages of the Old Testament (see also John 18.9, 32; 19.24, 28). 

            The inauguration of the kingdom marks the primary aspect of Jesus’ ministry in the Gospels.  It was His intention to establish this Kingdom in the first century, and Jesus powerfully demonstrates that the kingdom of God has truly come.  This can be seen clearly in His miracles.  In Matthew 12.28, when he casts out a demon, he says “if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”  In Luke 7, when John the Baptist sends messengers to see if Jesus is “the one who is to come” (v.19), Jesus tells them “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.  And blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (v. 22-23).   Here he quotes Isaiah 29 and 35 to show that He is indeed the one for whom John prepared the way.  The miracles he performs show that the kingdom has come in His person.

            Just like His miracles, Jesus’ teaching underscores the present nature of the Kingdom.  Earlier, in Luke 4, Jesus declares that the Jubilee year of Isaiah 61 has come in His person (v.21).    He explains what this means for His followers in His teaching of the “kingdom ethic” in the Sermon on the Mount/Plain.  It is a kingdom that displays the goodness, graciousness, love, kindness, holiness, and righteousness that God intended His creation to have.  Jesus could teach about this kingdom as “one who had authority” (Mark 1.22) for it is His kingdom.

            This manifestation of the kingdom of God in His person led Jesus to make disciples.  In His great teaching in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew He highlights the need for disciples in 5.13-16.  He makes disciples to preserve the earth and show forth the goodness of God’s Kingdom.  At the end of Matthew’s Gospel he commands the apostles to “make disciples” (Matthew 28.19).  Yet, His intention was not just to commission messengers to send into the world, but to sustain them as well.  Much of His prayer in John 17 is focused on these ends (see especially vv. 9-24).  He promises His disciples that he will give them another “Helper” in John 14:16, and he makes good on that promise in John 20.22 (cf. Acts 2.2-4).  From the fearful (Mark 16.8) to the doubting (John 20.24-25), Jesus makes disciples who will carry on His message of the kingdom.

Jesus further inaugurated this Kingdom by ushering in the New Covenant.  In Matthew 10.1 Jesus calls twelve disciples to usher in this New Covenant, just as the twelve sons of Jacob were preeminent in the Old Covenant.  He thus constitutes a New Israel (cf. John 15.1-17).  This is made explicit in the words of institution in the Last Supper.  As Jesus takes the cup he says in Luke 22.20 “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

            This act of inaugurating God’s Kingdom in His blood leads to the culmination of His first century ministry:  His death and resurrection.  As Matthew highlighted the beginning phase of Jesus ministry (“Jesus began to preach…”), so he highlights the end in Matthew 16.21 “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”  Indeed, each Gospel climaxes in the events of His passion and resurrection.  In Mark, after Peter’s confession (8.30), Jesus “began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer…and be killed, and after three days rise again” (8.31).  Mark records two more passion predictions in the coming chapters (9.30-32; 10.32-34).  At the beginning of John’s Gospel, Jesus repeatedly says that his hour has not come (2.4; 7.30; 8.20), but later, in 12.23-26 he says that his hour has come, and that His death will result in “the Son of Man being glorified” (cf. John 13.1; 17.1).  In Luke, Jesus foretells his death in Luke 9.21-22, 43-45.   The destination of the cross is highlighted by Luke beginning the journey narrative in Luke 9.51 by saying, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”  His intention was to go to the cross and drink the cup of divine judgment (Mark 10.38), and to overcome that death in his resurrection.

            All of this results in the salvation of God’s people.  Jesus’ intention to inaugurate the kingdom of God by fulfilling the Father’s will, His teaching, forming disciples, and through his death and resurrection was to provide salvation to a fallen world in need of a Savior.  The Gospels each build to a climax in which Jesus atones for sin in his death and is vindicated as the righteous One of God in His resurrection.  Jesus came to provide salvation, and thus our response to His work, what we believe about His intentions, determines our destiny.  As is made clear in John’s Gospel, “the Son of Man [must] be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (3.15b-16).  What was the intention of Jesus?  Luke boils it down concisely, “to seek and to save the lost” (19.10).  

"Cor meum tibi offero, Domine, prompte et sincere."

The Heart of Evangelism and Learning Evangelism from Jesus by Jerram Barrs

Evangelism may well be the most difficult aspect of the Christian faith.  For many of us, sharing our faith can be intimidating.  Some of that fear generates from our own shyness.  We would be just as intimidated if we were asking for directions.  Some of our fear comes from our participation in failed and insensitive "evangelistic" methodologies.  For others, the offense of the cross is an offense to the would-be evangelist, and so he neglects to share his faith.  Against these challenges, Professor Jerram Barrs lays out a Biblical approach to evangelism over the course of two books; The Heart of Evangelism and Learning Evangelism from Jesus.

In The Heart of Evangelism, Barrs lays out the foundation for this approach.  This book is divided into four major sections dealing with the "Mission to the World", "God's Kindness and Perseverance," "Barriers in the Way of Communicating the Gospel," and finally, "Making the Gospel Known."  The first lays out God's call to mission and the foundations for fulfilling this mission, things like prayer and a faithful life.  The second section deals with God's work in evangelism, and the variety of ways that God prepares people's hearts for hearing the Good News.  The following section contains an important discussion about evangelism in our time and the unique challenges that we face, both within and outside of ourselves.  Finally, the book concludes by giving the reader seven "principles" which should shape our evangelistic efforts.  These are not "steps to evangelism," but rather a philosophy of evangelism that fleshes out the implications of the previous three sections in light of the Bible.

Learning Evangelism from Jesus is a different sort of book.  Instead of developing a theology or philosophy of evangelism, this book seeks to understand evangelism as it is portrayed in the pages of Scripture.  Of the sixteen chapters in this book, fifteen of them are case studies drawn from the pages of the New Testament.  The first chapter summarizes the content of The Heart of Evangelism.  Throughout the remainder of the book, the reader is able to see how these ideas about evangelism play out in the pages of the Bible.  Over the course of this book one sees the way that Jesus shares about God with legalists, seekers, sinners, and others.  It is in this book that the compassionate method of evangelism that Barrs proposed in the previous book is demonstrated in practice.

These books read like companion volumes.  The first book gives us a skeleton, an outline of what evangelism should be.  The second book puts muscles and flesh on the bones.  It shows what the type of evangelism that Barrs proposes looks like on the ground.  These are challenging books.  In their pages one will not find a simple or formulaic approach to evangelism.  Instead, one will see what evangelism through relationship and compassion looks like.  Together, these books challenge the way that the Christian sees the unbeliever.  It challenges us to understand the difference between the Law and the Gospel.  It challenges the reader to take evangelism seriously.  

I have read a lot of good books during my first year of seminary, but none have been as challenging or, at the risk of overstatement, as life-changing as these two. It was an honor and privilege to sit in Professor Barr's class for a full semester.  Fortunately for the reader, his character and graciousness shines through the pages of both of these books. For anyone who finds evangelism difficult, or who is weary of "canned" Gospel presentations, or for those who want to be challenged and have their heart for others shaped by the Gospel, I cannot recommend these books highly enough.    

"Cor meum tibi offero, Domine, prompte et sincere."

Creation Regained by Albert M. Wolters

Creation Regained by Albert M. Wolters is a short, 120 page book about the creation and how the fall affects it.  The edition that I have (pictured below) is updated with a 25 page postscript that updates this work a bit. While this book is short, it does not want for depth.  Contained in its pages are a good bit of theological and philosophical terminology.  That does not mean the book is not worth the effort, but I imagine there are better primers for those new to books on Christian worldview. The book is divided into five chapters.  Chapter one answers the question, "What is a world-view?"  Chapters 2-4 concern creation, fall, and redemption, respectively.  The final chapter is on "Structure and Direction." This last chapter was, for me, the most interesting.  Wolters considers many of the structures that we encounter.  Structures are created institutions, things like family, government, education, society and the like.  These structures, in a post fall world, are not orientated in the way that should be.  The direction of these in a post fall world is not towards God and his glory, but away from God.  In other words, after the fall, all of society, all of creation, suffers under the curse.  But what is important for Wolters is the affirmation that these things, in and of themselves, are not evil.  Their orientation is wrong because fallen humans utilize them.  In redemption, these structures are being renewed.  Ultimately, at the consummation of the Kingdom, all will be renewed and glorify God.   This short, albeit slightly technical, book is a good summary of the Dutch Neo-Calvinist/Kuyperian worldview.  I would not recommend it as an introduction to the topic, but for those interested in the subject it is a worthwhile and interesting read.  He does spend a little bit too much ink in the first few chapters fighting off a Lutheran sacred/secular dichotomy, but by the last chapter the book finds it stride and considers the subject positively instead of polemically.  Perhaps that is why the final chapter is by far the best and most interesting.  All in all, a book worth reading if your interest gravitate toward this subject.

"Cor meum tibi offero, Domine, prompte et sincere." 

A Lecture Worth Hearing

On Thursday at Covenant Seminary, Dr. Sklar lectured on the Exodus community.  We are beginning to study hermeneutics.  Since the Pentateuch was written to the Exodus community, the professors want us to know and understand that community.  In so doing, we can better understand the text and how it related to its original audience.

We began our discussion with God's revelation of His name to Moses at the burning bush.  He is YHWH.  He is the God who is known by His action in the world.  He is the one who made promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  He promised Abraham in Genisis 12.1-3, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”


 As the Israelites in Egypt looked around, they could see that they were indeed a great nation.  If God kept this promise, surely He will keep the rest of the promises of His covenant.  The God of promise, Yahweh, is their king.  He is all-powerful.  He keeps His promises.  He is Israel's covenant-keeping God and Lord.

As they wandered out from Egypt into the desert and faced trials, they knew that they had a Sovereign, all-powerful God who had adopted them as His children.  As His children, they were to be about the Father's business.  As Dr. Williams said, "What God is doing in Abraham redemptively is what God intended to do with Adam creatively."  Israel was God's redeemed people.  They were part of His re-creation through a redeemed, covenant people.

Because God is who He is, each and every Israelite could look back to this event, the Exodus, and know that God keeps His promises.  They are to remember this during the Passover.  They are to confess the Lord's grace to them.  They are to remember His salvation.  They were called out of Egypt to the land, not just for rescue, but to do something.  They were to be a nation of priests, a holy nation.

The Exodus was God's great redemptive act for the nation of Israel in the Old Testament.  As this community received the Pentateuch, they were to look back on God's faithfulness to His covenant with Abraham and have faith that he would uphold His word.  And in that confidence, they were to be what Adam failed to be.

The Pentateuch, then, answers the questions of a people half way to the destination, a people wandering in the wilderness.  "How do we know we will inherit the promises?"  "How do we praise God?"  "What is a faithful member of the community?"  "What is a kingdom of priests?"  And most importantly, "Who is Yahweh?"

Today, there has been yet another great redemptive act of God.  God Himself has come to earth to be what Adam could not, and what Israel could not.  God, through Christ, was reconciling us to Himself.  Jesus fulfilled the promises made to Abraham.  He is the "seed" of the promise.  He has reconciled us to God and has made us, His church, a nation of priests, a holy nation.  And so we, like the Exodus community, are to be about our Father's business.  Out of love for God we are to live lives of service to Him.  We should live as a thankful people.  That thankfulness should cause us to live a life that is pleasing to Him.  As Calvin said in his Institutes, “Here indeed is pure and real religion: faith so joined with an earnest fear of God that this fear also embraces willing reverence, and carries with it such legitimate worship as is prescribed in the law." (1,2,2)

As Paul says in Romans 12.1, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."

"Cor meum tibi offero, Domine, prompte et sincere."

Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges

Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges is a relatively short, easily readable, and very clear introduction to the Doctrines of Grace.  It is written at a popular level, but its reflective character and sincere exhortation make it a valuable read for any Christian.


In Transforming Grace, Bridges starts with some of the frustrations of the Christian life (a chapter called "The Performance Treadmill"), then demonstrates how God's grace is not just for our justification, but for our sanctification and our whole life as well.  He goes on to discuss the doctrines of God's free grace against the tendencies towards legalism and anti-nomianism, and shows in concrete ways how these doctrines apply to daily living.


If someone were to ask me what book I would give a new Christian to help them understand their salvation and God's grace towards them, I would be hard pressed to find a better, simpler, and more practical book than Transforming Grace.  There are certainly more technical works that go into much great depth, but as an overview, this book is very good.  As someone who is not new to the faith, I still found this book an encouraging reminder of the great salvation that we have in Christ.  This book is at its best when it causes you to sit back and marvel at the wonderful grace that God has shown his people.  This quality alone makes this book a worthwhile read.

"Cor meum tibi offero, Domine, prompte et sincere."