FRIDAY- 22^nd WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME –A

Gospel: Luke 5:33-39 : When the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast.

I Reading: 1Corinthians 4:1-5: The Lord will reveal the intentions of men’s hearts.

Jesus Reveals His Great Mission: The Great Mission of All, Lk 5:27-39

The greatest life ever lived on earth was the life of Jesus Christ. Therefore no mission cam ever compare with the mission which He was sent to do. The greatest mission of Jesus Christ was…

·        A quickening mission: to make people alive to God

·        An eternal mission: to give people life forever

·        A purposeful mission: to cause people to commit their lives to God unconditionally.

Luke’s very purpose in this passage is to reveal the great mission of Christ with the skilful mind of a man who knew the Lord intimately, he weaves several events together to spell out the great mission of Jesus Christ.

1. The mission of calling out-casts (v.27-29)

a. He went forth

b. He saw

c. He called

d. The outcast left all and followed Jesus

e. The outcast reached his friends

2. The mission of calling sinners to repentance (v.30-22)

a. The religionists questioned Jesus’ associations

b. Jesus’ answer

1) He illustrated His mission

2) He started His mission

3. The mission of bringing real joy (v.33-34)

a. The religionists questioned Jesus’ behaviour

b. Jesus’ answer: His presence brings joy and vitality to life

4. The mission of dying (v.35)

5. The mission of launching a new life and spiritual movement (v.36-39): Jesus gave three points to illustrate what he meant:

a. Illustration 1: Not patching the old, but starting a new: A patch of new cloth is used to patch an old garment, for it fails to match the old garment. Jesus was saying that he was not patching up the old life, but starting a new life and new movement (Mt 9:16; 2:21).

b. Illustration 2: Not putting His teaching (wine) in old wineskin: The new wine is not put into old wineskins, for the new wine would burst the old wineskins. Jesus was saying that he was not putting his teaching into the old life and movement, but he was launching a new life and movement for God (Mk 2:22)

c. Illustration 3: The new is difficult to accept-it takes time: The new wine is difficult to accept if one has been drinking of wine. Jesus was saying that his new life and spiritual movement would be difficult to accept; it would take time. Men/women were slow to give up the old, for they were too content with it (their religious ways and self-righteousness). Therefore, men would often refuse to even consider the new life and movement. (2Cor 5:17; Eph 4:22-23; Col 3:10; Titus 3:5; 1Pet 1:23; 1Jn 5:1; Jn 3:3).

Thought: The person who is truly an outcast of society, who is rejected and despised by people, can be saved and delivered from emptiness and loneliness. Jesus Christ will save him/her. In fact, He longs to save and deliver the outcast, the empty and lonely of the earth.

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