The List from Ezra 2
Today, I preached at Hesston MB from Ezra 2 and my title was "The List". Below are notes from the message:
Introduction: What
lists have you been on during your lifetime?
There are good lists. School-Honor Roll/Music or Drama Program/Team Roster Work-Most Successful/Membership in
organizations (professional or civic) Personal-Most Popular/ Best Looking/Most
intelligent/ Republican/Democrat/Independent/Other? Family-Good Parent, Spouse, Child Church- Good
Christian
There are also bad lists that we don’t want to be on. Hypocrite? Unpaid taxes? Felon? Addict?
Gossip? Judgmental? Ashley Madison?
Today’s passage from Ezra 2 is about being on a list. I told Brad that it was convenient to be gone
this week since this is a difficult passage to preach. Isn’t it just a bunch of names? Why does it matter? We will see people included and excluded from
the list. If every Scripture points to Jesus, what about Ezra 2?
Read Ezra 2:1-2; 59,62
·
Made
it! (vs. 1-2)
o
Ezra first recorded the 11 civil and
religious leaders who were prominent (v. 2)[1] Then
Ezra listed people by their 18 families and clans. Next came a listing of
inhabitants from 21 towns and villages[2]
Then the priests & temple servants[3]
o
Why important?
§ Though
such a list of names and locations seems unnecessary to us, it would have been
of great encouragement to the original readers.[4] It
focuses on the individual and the entire group or remnant who survived the
exile.
§ This
list is a reminder of God’s faithfulness to a faithless people. God
never abandoned his people. It shows God’s grace (we often think grace shows up
in the NT with Jesus) as this remnant returns from captivity for their sins.
§ It
was important to show that this community, though small and weak, continued God’s
plan for Israel.[5]Through
this community and their descendants we have the Scriptures, and through this
community Jesus Christ came into the world.[6]
o
Even horses, mules, camels and donkeys
made the list (vs. 66-67)
·
Missed
it! (vs. 59,62)
o
Some were excluded because they could
not trace their roots.
o
The 652
returnees who could not clearly
trace their ancestry (vv. 59–63) were listed last. The priests who could not delineate their genealogies were not
allowed by the governor[7]
o
The purity & holiness (set apartness)
of the people was to keep God as hero of the story. From this remnant, God
would send Jesus who would be completely pure and holy which He would impute
(give) to us as believers.
o
For me, it’s like playing the Mennonite
Game. If you go and look at my family’s
roots, I would not be included on the Mennonite list.
o
Finding one’s name on a list is
frequently satisfying and encouraging; that one is expected, valued, and
privileged[8]
but the opposite is true as well.
·
Redeemed
o
In
my introduction, we talked about lists. Most of the lists we
are on or not on are based on what we DO
o
Bad List: I am a sinner.
§
All have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God (Romans 3:23)
§
There is no one righteous, not even one
(Romans 3:10)
§
As Christians, it does no good to
compare our sins to others. Well, at
least I didn’t or haven’t __________ Jesus makes sure we understand all sin is
equal in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:21-22; 27-28)
§
The world needs us to stop hiding &
minimizing our sins. As we honestly admit that we fail, we struggle, we sin,
the world will realize we are more similar than they think. But we don’t just wallow in our sin. Being a sinner is bad news but this points us
to the good news-we need a Savior.
·
Better List: Christ died for sinners like you
and me
o
it is based not on what you DO but on
what Jesus has DONE
§
15 Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. (1
Timothy 1:15)
§
You are forgiven. Jesus paid the price
for our past, present, and future sins. (Ephesians 1:7)
§
You are reconciled. (2 Corinthians
5:18-19)
§
You are fully accepted. Jesus took your
sin at the cross & in exchange gave you his righteousness. Therefore, we do
not have to worry about what God thinks about us because of Jesus. (Romans
5:9-10)
§
You are loved unconditionally. (1 John
4:10-11) Propitiation- The satisfaction of the righteous demands of God in
relation to human sin and its punishment through the sacrificial death of Jesus
Christ upon the cross, by which the penalty of sin is cancelled and the anger
(wrath) of God averted.[9]
God calls you beloved not based on whether you are lovable or how you will love
him or others, but instead because He is loving.
Closing: (4:40) As I close, I am going to play a song by
Matthew West called “The List”. As you
listen, I want you think about the lists in your life. But more important I want to hear clearly
what Jesus does with your lists.
Love (Jesus) Keeps No Record of Wrongs.
Love (Jesus) tears the list in a million little pieces.
[1]
Martin, J. A. (1985). Ezra. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An
Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 656). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2]
Martin, J. A. (1985). Ezra. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An
Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 656). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[3]
Martin, J. A. (1985). Ezra. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An
Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 656). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4]
Martin, J. A. (1985). Ezra. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An
Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 656). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5]
Breneman, M. (1993). Ezra, Nehemiah,
Esther (electronic ed., Vol. 10, pp. 73–74). Nashville: Broadman &
Holman Publishers.
[6]
Breneman, M. (1993). Ezra, Nehemiah,
Esther (electronic ed., Vol. 10, p. 79). Nashville: Broadman & Holman
Publishers.
[7]
Martin, J. A. (1985). Ezra. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition
of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 656). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[8]
Breneman, M. (1993). Ezra, Nehemiah,
Esther (electronic ed., Vol. 10, p. 77). Nashville: Broadman & Holman
Publishers.
[9]
Manser, M. H. (2009). Dictionary of Bible
Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies. London:
Martin Manser.
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