What Jesus Demands from the World

Well, I have not written in a while (I'm sure most people who see my messages popping up on their mini-feed on Facebook were happy about that.) ROTC and 18 hours of class have been keeping me busy, and I think I needed a break from keeping up on this blog for a little. But, yesterday, I began reading a new book by Pastor John Piper, entitled "What Jesus Demands from the World" (Crossway Books 2006, DG), and thought I might share what I've been reading.

The book is broken down into 50 chapters, which are in fact 50 commandments or "demands" of Jesus from the four Gospel books (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). By way of introductory, I thought I would take a few excerpts from the book which help explain what the book is about and its method.

Firstly, Piper begins by making a few qualifying statements, which I believe are important to understand when approaching this book, or my comments about the book. For example:

"Since the focus is on the commands of Jesus in this book, much about his life and death is not here" (Piper, pg. 15). This is important because there is much about the life and death of Jesus which will be assumed, since this book is dealing mainly with what it is He commands of the world.

Piper begins his introduction with his purpose in writing this book, namely, Jesus command, "Make disciples of all nations...teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:19-20). He calls this the "Impossible final command." Because Jesus does not say, "teach them all my commandments," but rather, "teach them to observe all my commandments." Here is what Piper says:

"You can teach a parrot all of Jesus' commandments. But you cannot teach a parrot to observe them. Parrots will not repent, and worship Jesus, and lay up treasures in heaven, and love their enemies, and go out like sheep in the midst of wolves to herald the kingdom of God.
Teaching people to parrot all that Jesus commanded is easy. Teaching them to observe all that Jesus commanded is impossible" (Piper, pg. 17).

Piper considers Mark 10:25-27, where Jesus is approached by a rich man who could not let go of his possessions to follow Him, and Jesus says that "with man it is impossible" to enter the kingdom of God, "but all things are possible with God."

"Therefore, the person who sets himself to obey Jesus' final commission...attempts the impossible. But Jesus said it was not impossible. 'All things are possible with God.' So the greatest challenge in writing this book has been to discern God's way of making impossible obedience possible" (Piper, pg. 18).

Further in the introduction after giving a brief overlay of the life and work of Christ, he explains why obedience to Christ's demands is important. He says this:

"On the basis of who He was and what He accomplished, Jesus made his demands. The demands cannot be separated from His person and work. The obedience He demands is the fruit of His redeeming work and the display of His personal glory. That is why He came--to create a people who glorify His gracious reign by bearing fruit of His kingdom (Matt. 21:43)...In other words, the Son of Man came to save people from their suicidal love affair with possessions (and every other kind of idol) and to lead them into a kind of impossible obedience that displays the infinite worth of Jesus" (Pipe, pg, 23).

While Piper makes many more good points in his introductory and the following chapter, I only really want to point out one more big issue. The subheading in the chapter is "Why this Title for the Book?"

"I am aware that the word demands is jarring to many modern ears. It feels harsh, severe, strict, stark, austere, abrasive...My conviction is that if we rightly understand Jesus' demands, and if we are willing to find in Him our supreme joy, His demands will not feel severe but sweet" (Piper, pg. 24).

And then further, in the subtitle "Dare He make Demands of the Whole World,"

"Two objections arise. One is: Did He make demands on the whole world? The other is: Dare He make demands on the whole world?
One may ask, did Jesus give all these demands to the world, or did He give them only to His disciples? The answer is: The demands He gave only to His disciples are also meant for the world because He demands all people everywhere to become His disciples" (Piper, pg. 26)."

He makes many other good points in the intro, but I recommend reading the book yourself.

I will be praying through this book, and hoping to do a commandment every other day (Lord willing), Piper is an exceptional pastor and I know this book will be very encouraging and helpful, so I hope someone else might read these posts.