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Session 3

1. Devotional

   “For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles.” (Luke 2:30-32)

   How many people do you know who don’t look like you or speak your language or have your same religious or political beliefs? In Jesus’ day, he surprised and angered a lot of the Jews because, throughout his ministry, he made it clear that he hadn’t come just for the Jewish people. He had come for everyone. Not long after Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph took him to the temple in Jerusalem to present him to God according to the Jewish law. A “righteous and devout” (Luke 2:25) man named Simeon, who had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen “the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:26) held the baby Jesus in his arms and made a statement that might have shocked some Jews at the time. Simeon called Jesus, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” (Luke 2:32). This doesn’t sound so bad to us, especially since most of us are Gentiles (people who are not Jewish by heritage). But by the time Jesus was born, most Jews wanted nothing to do with Gentiles. In fact, many of the most religious Jews wouldn’t even look at a Gentile, much less eat with one or share their special salvation with them. Gentiles were considered idolaters with low moral, social and ethical standards. So, for the Jews, associating with Gentiles, except for certain acts of charity, was off-limits. Even Peter, who had spent three years with Jesus, was swayed by some of the more influential Jews not to associate with Gentiles. But the apostle Paul was having none of that. Paul wrote:

   When [Peter] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. (Galatians 2:11-13)

   Giving in to peer pressure, Peter and Barnabas had rejected the truth that Jesus had come for all the people. But they should have known better. The idea that God’s salvation was available for everyone wasn’t new. Almost 2000 years before this, God had told Abraham, “In your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 22:18). “All the nations” included the Gentiles. And when the angel announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds in Luke chapter 2, he said the “good news of great joy” would be “for all the people.” It wasn’t just for the ones who looked like them, or spoke their language, or wore the same clothes. It wasn’t just for the rich or powerful or just for the “good” people. And why was this? Because, as Jesus himself said:

   I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Luke 5:32)

   We are all sinners. I am. You are. As Paul wrote:

   None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. (Romans 3:10-12)

   Paul went on to say that “the venom of asps is under their lips” and other noteworthy descriptions of our depravity, but his point was that we are all a mess, and we can’t save ourselves. There is nothing inherent in any of us that gives us an edge over anyone else. In fact, it's precisely the belief that something in us makes us more worthy than someone else that Paul opposed as antithetical to the gospel. In other words, the more we think we deserve God’s salvation, the further we get from being saved. Jesus came for people who recognize their sin, who know they need him. And his great desire is to save us all.

   God our Savior … desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 2:3-5)

   Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners (Luke 5:29-32). He forgave immoral women (Luke 7:47-48; John 8:3-11). He welcomed little children (Matthew 19:14). He spoke with Samaritans—a people who were hated by the Jews (John 4:7-29). He healed the broken and the weak, the imperfect and the needy. And he welcomed anyone who came to him in humility. At the consummation of God’s kingdom, the book of Revelation tells us that there will be “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9). God doesn’t discriminate against anyone who comes to him. As the angel said 2000 years ago, the good news of Jesus Christ is for all the people.

2. Watch

3. Personal Application

   • Think about a time that you felt like an outcast. How does knowing that God came for all people give you comfort and confidence?
   • Read Galatians 2 where Paul reprimands Peter for his hypocrisy. In verse 6, Paul says, “God shows no partiality” (ESV). Consider ways you have been tempted to show partiality to those who seem to be “influential” or more “acceptable.” In light of this chapter, how might you avoid this behavior?
   • Write down the names of at least three people you know who may not look like you, talk like you, dress like you, or worship like you. Pray for each of them. Pray that the next time you see them, God would remind you that he came for them as well.