February 13: Jesus’ ministry continues

Steve Smartt is pastor of Moultrie Baptist Church in St. Augustine.

Mel Gibson’s much acclaimed movie, The Passion of The Christ, brought the crucifixion of our Lord to the forefront of everyday conversation for many homes, both for believers and unbelievers. A less popular, but nonetheless widely read, book similarly titled The Passion of Jesus Christ, by John Piper, followed the release of the movie. Beyond the dramatic presentation of the gore involved in Jesus’ death, the book leads the reader to a more broad perspective on the Christ’s passion, which reveals the further implications of His suffering.

In answering the question why Christ suffered, the driving theme of the book seeks to answer the underlying issue: “What did God achieve for sinners like us in sending His Son to die?” In other words, what was the meaning behind the historical event that took place nearly 2,000, an event that most will acknowledge as true and factual, but may fail to find personal identification with?

That is the point of this study as we look at this series of verses from Luke 22. As followers of Christ who have placed our confidence and hope in Him, we do so not only in His life and death, but also in His resurrection and ascension. Because Jesus Christ is alive today, seated in glory and worthy of honor, His ministry continues in heaven as an extension of His accomplishment here on earth. With this understood, we can recognize the significance of His continuing ministry today.

Jesus left us a great way to keep the memory of His love fresh in our minds and to remind us of His continuing presence among us. In celebration of the Passover meal with His disciples, He took the cup and, having broken the bread, He instructed that we should continue to do so together as a memorial to His death on the cross which He lovingly and willingly embraced on our behalf. The Lord’s Supper is a reminder for us of how great our appreciation should be and an opportunity to express that gratitude.

The ministry of Christ, God the Son, is in accordance with His obedience to the will of God the Father (22:21-22, 41-44). As Piper’s book indicates, Jesus suffered and died to please the Father. Even knowing of His forthcoming betrayal by Judas, Jesus committed to do God’s will by releasing Him to pursue his sinful intentions (21-22). Later that evening, though praying in anguish, His desire was to fulfill the Father’s plan for our salvation by giving His life as our ransom. We live today and hope for eternity because of His ministry in accomplishing God’s will then and continuing to so today.

Even as He stood before His accusers, Jesus’ ministry continues as He affirmed Himself as the Messiah and accepted the title “Son of God” without hesitation (22:66-71). Now, having been seated in His glory at the right hand of the Father, His continuing ministry is that which He accepts as Judge for unbelievers and Intercessor for believers. Just as there was no vacillation under the quizzing of the Sanhedrin, He is established and sure in His justice and mercy as He remains the ascended Christ!

While the world’s attention may, for a season, be drawn to the crucifixion, the children of God have much more to recognize in our Lord. We see not only His willingness to embrace the cross on our behalf, but also the implications of His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. Our gratitude for His obedience must never cease, nor become benign. The passion of Christ has brought us peace and hope. May we be forever grateful that His accomplished ministry did not end, but continues in glory.