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Goshen Baptist Church
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Goshen Baptist Church is all about building Christ's Kingdom through evangelism, discipleship, and devotion. We pray these sermons serve as an extension of this mission. Find out more at goshenbaptist.church (334) 937-0155 goshenbaptist1895@gmail.com
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Lord Of All Matt. 22:34-46
Apr 2200:38:54Tap to summarizeIntroduction Jesus assumes the authority that rightly belongs to him over the recognized leaders in Jerusalem. I Do you remember watching the Wizard of Oz movie? Think about the end of the movie when Dorothy and her companions finally meet the wizard. I hope I don’t spoil the movie for you. You know how it was, a giant head, booming voice, smoke going everywhere. It was very frightening. And then what happened? Dorothy’s little dog Toto pulled back the curtain to reveal a simple older man operating everything. And what did he say then, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” This great wizard who was known all around to be able to do any and everything was revealed to be something not so special. In Matt. 22, we have seen the leaders in Jerusalem attempt to expose Jesus as a fraud. They want to humiliate him, get him arrested, anything they can to get the crowds to stop following him. And yet the more they try to expose him, the more he is revealed as the true Messiah, the true leader of Jerusalem. And the more they are exposed as simply the “man behind the curtain” we might say. In other words, the more the religious leaders tried to expose Jesus as some sort of fraud, the more they revealed their own ignorance and lack of faith and devotion for God. N We were born into sin, our sin nature is pervasive, it effects every part of us, our will, our emotions, our thinking, our beliefs, our flesh. Because of sin, we are naturals at doing the same thing as the Wizard of Oz, though perhaps not as dramatic as him. We put up curtains to cover up our real selves and put on elaborate displays to make people think that we are something other than we are. The more Jesus is unveiled it becomes more and more clear that he is the Lord of all. The more the leaders of Jerusalem are unveiled it becomes more and more clear that they are far from what they present themselves to be When our hearts are exposed, will it be revealed that Jesus is truly the Lord of our hearts? T In Matt. 22:34-46, Jesus reveals that he is the Lord over the law and the Lord over all. R Matt. 22:34-46 O Lord over Law vv. 34-40, Lord over All vv. 41-46 Lord over the Law Matthew 22:34–40 ESV 34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Revelation “Legal authority” Jesus expresses his authority on legal matters. What is Matthew doing? Showing that Jesus is the rightful leader in regard to the Law. Jesus has been in a showdown between him and the leaders of Jerusalem. The leaders of Jerusalem have been trying to trap him and get rid of him. At the very least, they want to stop him from exercising authority over the crowds and gathering this following that he has. They want to show the emperor has no clothes. So far the questioners have become more and more learned. First, it was the disciples of the Pharisees, then the Sadduccees, and now we have an expert of the law from the Pharisees. They are now sending out their foremost legal scholar in order to test Jesus. You can see this lawyer’s motivation at the end of v. 35. To be clear, though the translation calls him a “lawyer” this does not mean that he spends his time in a court of law advocating for clients in front of a judge. Rather, this means he is an expert in Old Testament law, the Torah. When dealing with laws, especially these Old Testament laws, it can be sometimes difficult to know which to follow. For example, the law commanded that a son should be circumcised 8 days after he is born. The Sabbath law commands no work. What if the 8th day after the son is born lands on Sabbath? Which should a faithful Jew follow? Should he circumcise according to the law or should he keep the Sabbath? A good lawyer—that is, a good expert in the OT Law, would tell you that the circumcision should be kept even if it landed on the Sabbath. In other words, they would argue that the law for circumcision is greater than the law for Sabbath. The legal scholars in Jesus’s day would argue about which law is the “greatest” or the “great” law. In other words, which law should be held above all others. And you could see how this could easily result in endless legal debate if the wrong law was considered to be the greatest. Jesus does not answer with a ritual, a ceremony, a civil law, or even merely another moral rule. He goes straight to the center of our lives—our devotion to God. When He says, “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” He is not dividing us into compartments, as though we could give God one part of ourselves and keep the rest. He means the whole of who we are. Every affection of the heart, every desire of the soul, every thought of the mind—every bit of our entire being is to be turned toward God in love. I am reminded of a science teacher who stood before his class with a large glass cylinder. He filled it to the top with softballs and asked, “Is it full?” The students answered, “Yes.” Then he poured in a container of marbles, and the marbles rolled into the spaces between the softballs. Again he asked, “Is it full?” This time the students answered more confidently, “Yes.” But then he poured in sand, and even the sand found its way into the spaces the marbles had left. That is what this commandment feels like. God is not asking for the large, obvious parts of our lives only. He does not merely ask for Sunday mornings, a few good works, or our outward obedience. He asks for the marbles too—the hidden motives, the quiet thoughts, the private desires. He asks for the sand—the smallest corners of our hearts that we would rather keep for ourselves. And the more honestly we look at this command, the more we realize that we have never obeyed it fully. There is always another space not yet surrendered, another affection that competes with God, another thought, desire, or ambition that falls short of loving Him with our entire being. The commandment is so great that it exposes us. We may think we have loved God enough, until His Word pours in the marbles. We may think we have finally given Him everything, until His Word pours in the sand. Jesus says the second is like unto it. “Love your neighbor” is the command. Love is a whole-being act, it involves our will, our beliefs, our emotions. Love involves believing truth about others, yearning for others wellbeing, and doing things for their wellbeing. We live in a culture that had perverted love, so we always have to define it, sadly. Our culture says similar things: Love involves believing truth about others, yearning for others wellbeing, and doing things for their wellbeing. But our culture says that an individual’s feelings determines what is true, an individual’s decides what’s best for their own wellbeing. But what is most loving is believing, yearning for and doing for the benefit of others what corresponds to reality—what corresponds to God’s reality. Because believe it or not, other people can yearn and have feelings for wrong things. That does not mean it is loving to give them things they yearn for. The determining factor for what is loving is God’s law: do not lie, do not hate, do not defraud, do not oppress, do not take revenge, etc . . . Matthew 22:40 “40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”” The “law and Prophets: was a way for Jesus to say what we would call the Old Testament. And it’s on these two commands that all the Scripture hangs. One commentator notes: The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8: Matthew, Mark, Luke7) The Greatest Commandments (22:34–40) These two commandments are the greatest because all Scripture “hangs” on them; i.e., nothing in Scripture can cohere or be truly obeyed unless these two are observed. The entire biblical revelation demands heart religion marked by total allegiance to God, loving him ...
Transcribe →A Royal Invitation Matt. 22:1-14
Apr 1500:32:32Tap to summarizeIntroduction I Imagine you get a formal letter in the mail. You look at it and there’s a big stamp on the envelope that says, “jury summons.” You open up the letter to see and it says where you have to be and when. You also see some major consequences including a fine and some jail time if you don’t show up. Imagine you make all the right plans to show up. You make sure to get that day off of work and notify them why. But when the day finally comes around, you just don’t go. It’s not about being busy. It’s not about forgetting. It’s about refusing authority. N And if we’re honest, were not as foreign to that tendency as we would like to think. We often treat rightful authority as optional when it becomes inconvenient. T Jesus tells a parable about people who respond in exactly the same way. R Matt. 21:1-14 O Refusal, Reception , Removal Refusal Matthew 22:1–7 ESV 1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.” ’ 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Revelation Jesus is again speaking to the chief priests and elders of the people in the temple in Jerusalem. He was originally teaching a crowd, but was interrupted by these leaders who wanted to challenge him, as we will see they will continue to do. He speaks in parables to drive the meaning deeper into the hearts of those who hear. In v. 2, we see two main characters, the king representing God, and the son representing the Messiah, Jesus himself. In v. 3 this king sends servants to call those, notice what they text says, “who were invited to the wedding feast.” So let’s clarify this picture, guests in the story were previously invited to this feast, and now the servants are coming and announcing, “The feast is happening now! Come on!” And this is emphasized in v. 4, “I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready.” The king is being generous, he is prepared, he has the food ready. Hardly anyone would refuse a king’s request; even more unlikely would someone refuse a king’s request that included a free and generous banquet. And this is what makes v. 5 so startling. The first few words, “But they paid no attention. . .” These special guests that the king has selected turn this celebration into sorrow. Because their apathy towards the invitation reveals the apathy they have toward the king. And more than just apathy, but outright rebellion. And what is the king’s response? He sends his soldiers to burn the city, likely a prophetic reference to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70AD. Relevance Imagine you are going to get married. You send out all the invites. You get 200 RSVPs. Then the wedding day comes and no one shows up. You think there must of been a printing error and so you call and text around. But every one who picks up says they just didn’t want to come. What would be your next natural question: “Then why did you even bother to RSVP?” And I think that’s the question this text leaves us with. All of these guests were invited and accepted the invite, but when the call came that the feast has arrived, they couldn’t be bothered to come. And it seems as though the arrival of the banquet is the catalyst for all this apathy and rebellion coming to the surface. Everything seems to be going fine. Clearly, they have already accepted the invitation to come to this wedding feast, but when the feast finally arrives it’s as though all the rebellion comes out. Why is that? Well, we have to say that the guests who were invited were willing to say yes because it benefitted them. They maintained their status with the king which game them certain benefits. But when it actually came to do something about it, they would rather attend to their own affairs or fight than honor the king and his son. Their response to the invitation revealed what was in their heart. These guests always had themselves on the throne of their life. They were willing to use the king and what he offered as long as it benefited them in some way. But as soon as it was inconvenient, rebellion was ready to pounce. And I think this is the most cutting thing for us in the text. It’s easy for us to go along with the song and the dance. The evangelist tells a moving story and its easy to be overcome with emotion and say yes to the first invitation. A problem arises in your life that seems to big for you to handle and so you pray, you go to church more, it’s easy to say yes to the first invitation. Think about how many kids have walked the aisle, prayed the prayer and been baptized. Where are they now? It’s easy to say yes to the first invitation. But when it actually costs you something. When God finally demands something from you. When God brings you to a place that you have to recognize he is God and we are not. That’s when the apathy comes out. That’s when the rebellion comes out. And the most frightening thing about it is that God does not let such a people off the hook. God does not throw himself a pity party when his guests fail to arrive and rebel against him. He brings judgement. Not vindictive, not out of spite, but just judgement because God is the king of the universe. Bridge But God does not just throw away his feast, he makes sure that there’s someone who will enjoy it. Reception Matthew 22:8–10 ESV 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. Revelation The king in this parable says that those who were invited are unworthy. Their unwillingness to come revealed their rebellion and showed how unworthy they were. No king wants rebellious subjects to come to a feast to honor his son. That’s not just a feeling a king would have, but anyone. Because of the original invited guests unworthiness in this matter, he gathers an indiscriminate crowd. “The main roads” and “as many as you can find” in v. 9 were a part of the king’s instruction. The king is going to gather anyone and everyone for this feast. And notice in v. 10 the servants “gathered all whom they found.” Then it says, “Both bad and good.” What does that mean? Within the context of Matthew and the context of this parable, this does not mean that repentance is not required to be saved. This does not mean wicked, unrepentant sinners will find themselves in heaven. But look at what Jesus said earlier about those who responded to John the Baptist in 21:32, “The tax collectors and the prostitutes believed.” So when the servants are gathering the “good and the bad” this is based on reputation, those who appear to be good in front of others, and those who are notorious sinners such as tax collectors and prostitutes. We know theologically, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). All are invited to the feast, but even among these new guests, there may be some who are unworthy as we will see in the next portion. But what is the point of this section? Look at the end of v. 10, “So the wedding hall was filled with guests.” At the end of the matter, the king gets what he wants. He has guests who honor his son, guests who want to be there to enjoy the feast. The problem with the old covenant ...
Transcribe →Unexpected Fruit Matt. 21:28-46
Apr 800:41:36Tap to summarizeI Imagine you and your spouse want to go on a date so you hire a babysitter to watch your kids. You have a lovely evening and come home to find your babysitter watching TV and your kids are no where to be found. When you ask about your children, the babysitter shrugs and asks, “Can I get paid now?” Imagine your parent is in the final stages of life. So, you hire medical professionals for end-of-life care. You discover one day that a nurse has ensured her name appears on the will instead of yours. Furthermore, this nurse is speeding up the death process for your parent. This is no longer just a neglect of duty, this is betrayal. N Most of us recognize that injustice immediately. When someone is entrusted with responsibility and uses that position for themselves instead of the one who entrusted them, something has gone terribly wrong. But here’s the uncomfortable question: What if we sometimes treat God the same way? What if we take the life God has given us, the gifts he has entrusted to us, the opportunities he places before us, and instead of using them for him, we quietly start using them for ourselves? T That is exactly what Jesus confronts in Matthew 21. The religious leaders believed they were the caretakers of God’s kingdom. They believed they were faithfully serving God. But Jesus exposes something shocking. They weren’t just failing in small ways. They were saying the right things while refusing to obey. They were treating God’s kingdom like it belonged to them. And when the Son of God finally came, they would reject him altogether. R Matt. 21:28-46 O Jesus exposes the people of the Old Covenant through Unexpected Citizens (28-32), an unexpected plan (33-41) and an unexpected stone (42-46) Unexpected Citizens Matthew 21:28–32 ESV 28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him. Revelation Jesus begins to address the Jewish leaders, earlier identified as the chief priests and elders of the people. They came to him in front of the crowd he was teaching to challenge him. But now, Jesus is going to challenge them. Consider the essence of the parable. The man has two sons and says to both of them “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” He gets two very different responses. One is the response you may want to hear, the other the response you don’t want to hear. But one was honest, and the other one wasn’t. The first son responded in v. 29, “I will not,” and really he’s saying, “I don’t want to.” We don’t get a rebuttal from the father. But we do see this son is at least being honest. He’s being honest and acting from his heart. The end of v. 29 though says, “afterward he changed his mind and went.” That right there is the picture of repentance. Even when he goes and does as his father requested, he is still being honest and acting from the heart because he had this change of mind. Then we have the other son in v. 30. He says to the same request, “I will, sir.” It was almost as if he knew about his brother’s refusal, and saw himself as superior. “He won’t obey, but trust me Father, I will do it.” Notice this son says, “Sir” conveying his respect of his Father. And yet, he does not do it. And notice what’s missing? He didn’t change his mind, he just never did it! As one commentator noted: MatthewExegesis The absence of any reference to him changing his mind implies that he never had any intention of obeying his father And this is the scathing remark that Jesus has against the religious leaders. These religious leaders have all the respect for God, they have all the pomp and circumstance, they have all the formalities, all the rituals, all the legal code, all the heritage of being in the nation of Israel, and yet they have no intention of actually doing what God said. And hear what Jesus says at the end of v. 31 “ the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you The essence of this expression: MatthewExegesis the worst of sinners would enter the kingdom before the chief priests and elders ever did, and this implied that most of these leaders would never enter it at all Jesus stacks up the evidence: You saw John the Baptist proclaiming the way of righteousness and did not repent, you saw the worst of sinners change their lives for God and did not repent. Jesus is saying that they honor God with their lips, but their hearts are far from him. The people of Israel always had one job: to bring about the kingdom of God through the Mosaic covenant. And this representatives of the people refused to do so. Why? Because they would rather use that covenant to build their own kingdom rather than God’s. Relevance We can all fall into the danger of using what God has given us to build our own kingdom rather than his. Rituals, heritage, and status have a way to numb the conscious before God. They have a way to cause the lost soul to ignore the reality and power of sin. They ignore it to their detriment because one day God will judge the living and the dead according to their works; according to their fruit. Rituals, heritage, and status also have a way to make us apathetic towards our dependance upon God. “I’m a church member, I shouldn’t face spiritual attack.” “I sit in this pew every Sunday, I shouldn’t be depressed.” “I always read my Bible and pray, I won’t face temptation.” Morning and EveningMorning, March 14 It is a curious fact, that there is such a thing as being proud of grace. A man says, “I have great faith, I shall not fall; poor little faith may, but I never shall.” “I have fervent love,” says another, “I can stand, there is no danger of my going astray.” He who boasts of grace has little grace to boast of Morning and EveningMorning, March 14 Some who do this imagine that their graces can keep them, knowing not that the stream must flow constantly from the fountain head, or else the brook will soon be dry. If a continuous stream of oil comes not to the lamp, though it burn brightly to-day, it will smoke to-morrow, and noxious will be its scent. In all our spiritual disciplines, our prayers, our church attendance, our faith it’s easy to become the second son who comes to God and pledges, “Wherever you lead, I’ll go!” And then live lives of “No.” But what is the answer to that dilemma in this short passage? Repentance. Repentance is so good and refreshing. You see it twice in the text written as a “change of mind.” When we find ourselves leaning on our own heritage, status, rituals, or performance, we can simply repent. And we can pray, “God, I trust in you, not in me.” Bridge But these religious leaders did not just fail to bring the kingdom of God into the world through the covenant, they rebelled against the king. And Jesus exposes that rebellion. Unexpected Plan Matthew 21:33–41 ESV 33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and...
Transcribe →Deserve or Serve
Mar 2500:48:05Tap to summarizeIntroduction I I’ve coached in two very different contexts. One time I coached for Upward, which was a church-sponsored sports program. My goal coaching here was to allow everyone to learn the game and for everyone to have equal play time. I also coached for the private highschool where I taught. Our goal was to build honor—to do so best by winning games. I coached 5th-8th grade boys. I had some 5th grade boys who were really good and started for me. And I had one 8th grade boy who was clumsy and sat the bench for a lot of games. And every coach knows this tension. Do you reward the ones who deserve to play— the skilled, the strong, the ones who help you win? Or do you make room for the ones who can’t offer much in return? Because deep down, we all understand how the world usually works: You earn your place. You prove your value. You deserve your spot. And if you don’t… you sit on the bench. N We want to be in the game. In our hearts, we want the honor, we want the glory. And quite frankly, we often get to the point were we think we deserve to be in the game and not sit on the bench. Whatever that “game” may be: Maybe that game is our vocation where we think we deserve to be respected for our accomplishments Or home where we think we deserve to relax and have our way Or church where we think we deserve to be uplifted Or our relationships where we think we deserve to be valued. Or with God where we think we deserve to be blessed. Sin twists our hearts so much that we think the only bench we should be warming is a throne—a throne from which we command everyone and everything else to do our bidding. T The disciples think they deserve a throne too. But Jesus addresses that deserving attitude and reveals the kingdom attitude that should take its place. A kingdom attitude that he exemplified by giving his life. R Matt. 20:17-34 O THRUST: In the kingdom of God, willingness to suffer and sacrifice to serve others is valuable; whereas ambition to gain honor and authority is to be rejected. Access Foretold Matthew 20:17–19 ESV 17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” Revelation In v. 17 you see Jesus going up to Jerusalem. This “going up” has to do with elevation because Jerusalem is at a higher elevation. He takes his disciples aside. Aside from what? Well, they are in great crowds who are all making a pilgrimage from Galilee to Jerusalem for Passover. Jesus begins his aside to his disciples, it must seem serious being taken away from the crowds. And he beings, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem.” This statement should be one that’s full of hope. They are making a spiritual pilgrimage. They are going to the temple, the very place where God dwells. They are going to celebrate one of the most sacred times: Passover—with God’s people. While normally such a phrase “we are going up to Jerusalem” would be a cause for jubilee, Jesus is preparing his disciples for a darker hour. This is the third time that Jesus tells them about his death. And this time, he gets more specific. He opens up with the Son of Man being delivered over to the chief priests and scribes. This was probably shocking to the disciples. The previous passage, Jesus connects this Son of Man figure with being on a throne. The Son of Man figure in Dan. 7 is only known being presented to the Ancient of Days and being a ruler. But now, Jesus is saying this figure who is supposed to be presented before God himself to be exalted is instead going to be handed over to the chief priests and scribes to be killed. But the Son of Man who is exalted in Dan. 7 is also the Anointed One who “will be cut off and have nothing” in Dan. 9:26. Though the chief priests and scribes condemn Jesus to death, they do not have the authority to carry out that sentence; and so, he must be, “delivered over to the Gentiles”—that is, the governing Roman authorities. There Jesus spells out precisely what will happen: mocked, flogged, and crucified. Each stage is important. First, Jesus would be mocked. It’s easy for us to think of mockery as if it were nothing. We don’t care of the opinions of others. MatthewExegesis But Jesus lived in an “honor and shame” culture, in which many would rather die than lose their honor, and the shame of public humiliation was a fate far worse than death Flogging was the brutal whipping that would take place before the crucifixion. Some victims did not even survive the whipping. Jesus specifies that crucifixion is the specific form of death. No one could survive crucifixion, and Jesus does not intend on surviving it. He plainly says that he will die and tells exactly how he will die. But he also tells when he will specifically rise from the dead it is predicted “on the third day.” Matthew6. Jesus Predicts His Crucifixion and Resurrection (20:17–19) Τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ is dat. of point in time: “on the third day.” Since the ancients calculated time inclusively, this referred to any part of a first day, an entire day, and any part of a 3rd day A figure known only so far for exaltation will be humiliated * key Relevance Will the Son of Man be exalted? Yes. He will rise from the dead. However, is he exalting himself? No. He is willingly laying his life down and entrusting himself to God. One of the most striking details in what Jesus says to his disciples is that the very figure known for his exaltation, his throne, here’s Daniel 7:14 “14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” This exalted figure—Jesus himself—is willingly laying his very life down. What’s valued in the kingdom? We might here Jesus trying to get across to his disciples. What’s valuable in the kingdom is not self-exaltation, but self-sacrifice. We instinctively admire self-sacrifice. When someone lays down comfort, reputation, even life itself for the good of others, something in us says, That is right. That is beautiful. That is noble. Yet if this world is only matter, survival, and personal preference—if there is no God, no real good beyond what we choose—then self-sacrifice is not noble at all. It is irrational. Why give your life away if survival is the highest value? Why suffer for others if pleasure is the only good? As C. S. Lewis argued in The Abolition of Man, once you remove objective moral reality, you remove the very foundation that makes courage, honor, and sacrifice meaningful. But we do not live in a meaningless world. We live in God’s world. And because this is God’s world, self-giving love is not foolish—it is the deepest truth in the universe. Which means when Jesus walks toward suffering instead of away from it, He is not losing. He is revealing what is truly valuable in the kingdom of God. Bridge Luke’s account tells us the disciples had no clue what Jesus was talking about. Matthew narrates that fact with a story and gets to the heart of the matter. Because while Jesus would like to have this attitude of self-sacrifice in his followers; his followers have a major hurtle to overcome: the attitude of deserving the throne. Access Denied Matthew 20:20–28 ESV 20 Then the mother of the son...
Transcribe →No Haggling for Heaven Matt. 19:13-26
Mar 400:40:28Tap to summarizeIntroduction I Imagine standing at the gates of heaven and being asked one question: “Why should you be let in?” Most people already have an answer rehearsed. “I tried to live a good life.” “I went to church.” “I wasn’t perfect, but I wasn’t as bad as most.” In other words—we come holding something. We don’t come empty-handed. We come calculating. We come assuming there must be something—some obedience, sacrifice, sincerity, decision, or devotion—that tips the scale. N And that instinct doesn’t disappear when someone becomes religious. In fact, religion often sharpens it The human heart is a master negotiator. We are always looking for leverage. T In Matthew 19, Jesus dismantles that instinct—piece by piece. He shows us four people: children, a rich young man, stunned disciples, and a faithful apostle. And through them all, Jesus teaches one lesson: There is no haggling for heaven—and no bargaining for reward. R Matt. 19:13-30 O Nothing to Bring Matthew 19:13–15 ESV 13 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, 14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his hands on them and went away. Revelation The text does not specify, but presumably parents brought their children to Jesus for a particular reason: so he would lay his hands on them and pray. Most likely these are younger children, again like a toddler age, or younger. These parents wanted the wise, well known, man of God to bless their children and say a prayer over them like Israel conveyed a blessing to his grandchildren. The disciples rebuked “them” (v. 13, end), that is, most likely, those who brought the children. But Jesus rebukes the rebukers. He tells the disciples to “Stop!” essentially. He wants the children to come to him for a specific reason: “for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Notice that he specifies that this is a figure of speech by saying “to such” which means “to those who become like children.” So what is the characteristic of children that Jesus is getting to? We’ve mentioned before the idea of God-dependance and humility being characteristics which connect the saints to children. But this text is going to give another characteristic, a characteristic defined by the rest of the passage. Relevance Jesus is welcoming those who have nothing to leverage. No status, no authority, no wealth, no performance. And this passage is going to force us to answer this question: What are we holding in our hand when we come to Christ? In other words, we all have a tendency to think there is something that makes us great or more important in the eyes of others. What is the thing we hold onto that we believe will convince Jesus to accept us? Maybe we hold our moral performance, our decision to follow Christ, how many years we have been a Christian, our faithful church attendance, our great possessions, our earthly status, our authority over others. The list can go on and on. Bridge The children brought nothing in their hand. But in the next story, one who has everything in hand approaches Jesus. Something to Prove Matthew 19:16–22 ESV 16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Revelation The young man comes to Jesus addressing him as “teacher,” which is the gospel of Matthew is a sign of respect but not a full recognition of who he is. Most who have positively addressed Jesus has done so as “Lord” not simply “teacher” He is searching for eternal life. He believes he can attain that by performing some “good.” The word “deed” is supplied to make sense, but he asks, “Teacher, what good should I do in order that I should have eternal life?” But notice something big that is missing from his question: God. He says nothing about God, and the way he addresses Jesus fails to recognize that he is conversing with God incarnate. It’s almost as he views God as a distant cosmic banker. “If I deposit X, I must get a return Y” Or perhaps a distant karmic judge who only needs balanced scales to allow one into heaven. Jesus’s immediate response challenges his assumption that anyone can be sufficiently good. Job 25:4–6 “4 How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? 5 Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes; 6 how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!”” Jesus asks “why do you ask me concerning the good?” If the man assumes Jesus is a mere man—as it seems by his addressing him as teacher—there would be no sufficient reason for he or any other man to define good. And so Jesus points him to the source of goodness saying “one is good.” This is a reflection of the Shema Deuteronomy 6:4 “4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Essentially, Jesus is saying, “If you’re so concerned with goodness, go to the One who is the source of goodness.” Jesus is not denying that he is God, but he is pointing out to this young man the options that are already available for him to know goodness. If this young man is so concerned with goodness, he does not need a mere teacher—as he assumes Jesus to be—he needs God himself. And God has already established what goodness is via the law. And this is what Jesus brings up—some of the ten commandments. Which the young man was aware of these commandments. But notice that the commands Jesus listed are also missing the commandments regarding God, such as “You shall have no other gods before me” In fact, this is what the “One God” commands right after the Shemah Deuteronomy 6:5 “5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Complete devotion to God. And this is what the young man lacks. The young man quickly acknowledges that he has kept all these commandments in v. 20 then asks what he still lacks. The question concerning what he lacks is filled with strong irony because of course what he lacks is any yearning for God. Psalm 73 defines that yearning as a major part of goodness. Psalm 73:1 identifies God as the source of goodness. Psalm 73:1 “1 Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.” Notice, “to those who are pure in heart” that is, without mixed motives. And yet, the Psalmist struggles with the fact that the wicked seem to prosper. He comes to the conclusion that no matter how things appear in this life, it’s really the end that matters. And the end for the wicked is not good. But then he reflects on his own end. Psalm 73:23–28 “23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. 28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.” What does this rich young man lack? Look at that question: Psalm 73:25 “25 Whom have I i...
Transcribe →One Flesh, Two Claims Matt. 19:1-12
Feb 2500:49:40Tap to summarizeRead on Logos Watch on YouTube Introduction I Whose on the throne in your relationships with others? There’s an infinite possibilities but it usually boils down to two major possibilities: either you are own your own throne, or you recognize that Christ is truly on that throne. Either you have a puny attempt to usurp Christ’s rule and live in misery or you recognize the one who is really on the throne and submit to him. This was pretty much a decade ago. Emily and I were recently married. I was working at my first Chick-fil-A in north GA. I know I had already been struggling with anger at work. We had been at Chick-fil-A together for whatever reason and I was pulling out of the parking lot. Emily was getting on to me for how I was driving then she got on to me for the direction I was going. I was fed up. I stopped the car, abruptly, slammed my fists on the stirring wheel and yelled, “I just want to do what I want to do!” My reign had been threatened. My kingdom was crumbling. And I was ready to sacrifice anything to maintain my rule. And I did, I sacrificed our oneness. I sacrificed our mutual concern for one another. I hurt my wife to maintain my rule. This is what happens when we place ourself on the throne of our relationships. Instead of bringing unity, we bring division. Instead of seeking the wellbeing of others, we only look our for ourselves. Marriage is a life-long, no-matter-what covenant. “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.” And yet when we place ourselves on the throne it no longer becomes a no-matter-what covenant but a as-long-as-it’s-convenient relationship. When I’m on the throne it no longer what I can give, but what I can get. The world believes that there is nothing sacred about marriage, and the world wants you to believe there is nothing sacred about marriage, and sadly, its working. 2025 Barna data: https://www.barna.com/trends/marriage-divorce-trends-2025/ The majority of American adults are not married. Younger Americans are postponing marriage longer than ever. Unmarried Cohabitation is an accepted practice with 42% of practicing Christians now saying it’s “wise” to live with someone before marriage. Marriage has become a way to prop up self on the throne of relationships, but that is not the way it has always been. N We like to be in control. We like to be satisfied. We like to get what we selfishly want. We like to rule our relationships. But when we do, it only leads to ruin and broken relationships. The only way to live whole is to have Christ on the throne. T Jesus addresses kingdom implications for how we relate to one another. R Matt. 19:1-12 O Oneness (1-6), Selfless (7-9), and singleness (10-12) Oneness Matthew 19:1–6 ESV 1 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. 3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” Revelation Verse 1 signals a transition for us. All of chapter 18 has been inwardly focused—how Jesus’s disciples should treat one another. We might call it the community guidelines for the people of God. In chapter 19, it transitions into striking and controversial teachings of Jesus. So we move from community guidelines to kingdom obligations. This section will challenge how we view everything and demand that we view it by the kingdom’s standard. It will challenge our view of marriage, material possessions, eternal rewards, and honor. Today we want to ask: “Is my view of marriage more shaped by culture or by Jesus’s words?” This is the topic that the Pharisees try to challenge Jesus on. They could be trying to simply get him to contradict the law of Moses. But they are also not too far in time and location from John’s beheading. John was killed for challenging Herod’s divorce. Perhaps the Pharisees are trying to get Jesus killed that way as well. Regardless of their motivation, Pharisees believe that divorce is legal no matter what. At least as long as it was the man divorcing his wife. Notice the question they ask Jesus, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” Notice two things: first the one enacting the divorce is the husband; second, the reasoning is any cause. The Pharisees get this from Deuteronomy 24:1 “1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house,” The key phrase that was debated during the time of Jesus was “he has found some indecency.” for the Pharisees, “some indecency” meant literally anything. As one commentator notes: MatthewExegesis The Mishnah permitted divorce if the wife had certain physical defects that made her unattractive (poor posture, thinning hair, missing teeth, or knobby knees were among the grounds explicitly mentioned). Women who failed to perform a lengthy list of chores daily or did not offer sexual relations frequently enough (daily for the wife of a man who was home every evening) were also subject to divorce Notice the glaring ramifications of this. If divorce is allowed for any reason, then marriage is just a matter of convenience—at least, just for the man in the first century. In this view, marriage is just a means for male gratification. The Pharisees have taken a legal code, what we would call “case law” in order to twist an entire institution. The law in Dt. is intended to prevent remarriage, not to redefine marriage. ** EXAMPLE? Instead of addressing the Dt. text as the Pharisees hope, Jesus jumps to what the Scripture teaching about the nature of marriage. The nature of marriage for the Pharisees by implication of their view of divorce is simply a matter of convenience for the service of the husband. But Jesus goes to Genesis to argue that the nature of marriage is very different. look at his words and vv. 4-6.Matthew 19:4–6 ESV 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” One theological aside. Our culture is in chaos in regards to marriage. Our culture is trying with all its might to make marriage a matter of convenience based on sexual gratification and identity fulfillment. So, our culture tries to argue that Jesus never condemned homosexuality, transgenderism, polyamory, or other non-traditional understandings of marriage. If anyone ever tries to argue that, bring them right here to this verse. Here, Jesus defines what marriage is. So, by default, Jesus excludes every other possible definition of marriage. Jesus gets at the heart of the nature of marriage. Notice marriage involves one male one female. They are made for one another. This is seen in v. 4, and in the end of v. 5 “the two shall become one flesh” Jesus, quoting Genesis, contrasts the marriage relationship to the relationship between parent and child. A child is closely connected to his parents: he depends on them, lives to please them, and so on. But marriage in some way call him to leave that parent relationship. This does not mean for a man to forsake his...
Transcribe →Restoring A Brother Matt. 18:15-20
Feb 1800:47:56Tap to summarizeRead on Logos Watch on YouTube Introduction I So far in Jesus’s teaching in the family discourse, Jesus has been reorienting his disciples’ perspective on how they treat one another. This was originally triggered by the disciple’s original question: who is the greatest? Implicit to the question was “how can I become the greatest?” This, of course, was a mindset that Jesus did not want his disciples to have, so he placed a little child and told them to convert into children who instead of being concerned with greatness are completely dependent. Jesus turned their eyes away from making themselves great and toward the person who is often overlooked to ensure they can walk. In fact, Jesus encouraged pursuing those little ones who tend to wander. But what if that wandering gets too personal? In other words, what if that wandering is specifically a sin against me? People concerned with being great will immediately consider how to retaliate: “An eye for and eye.” “An eye for and eye” is biblical. . .but the passage is not for people taking retaliation into their own hands. In fact, it is designed in order to prevent judges and kings from enacting to harsh punishments for crimes. It does not mean “I have the authority to take the law into my own hands and give you what I believe you deserve.” So if someone focused on greatness is wronged their immediate response is retaliation. For the person focused on getting ahead of everyone else, being sinned against is a setback. Have you ever seen the show Cutthroat Kitchen? It aired on Food Network and was hosted by chef Alton Brown. Contestants compete cooking against one another. The twist is, each contestant is given a certain amount of money that they can use in order to buy things to try and trip up other contestants. These sabotages are very creative. For example, if they are cooking a potato dish, all of their potatoes are substituted with potato chips. Or they have the chef will have to wear oven mitts the whole time. Or, all cooking has to be done in a microwave. The person focused on getting ahead purchase sabotages. Often times, the contestant who was sabotaged returns the sabotage in the next round. It’s easy to make one’s whole life “cutthroat” when the focus becomes getting ahead. This is when the people around me become stepping stones to propel me forward. My only care for them is only if I get out ahead. If you cross me, I’ll do double to you. Maybe you share something in confidence, but it quickly becomes the talk of the town. You go from feeling you have someone you can trust to being betrayed and find yourself saying, “I’ll remember who I can and can’t trust.” Maybe you’ve cooked, cleaned, served for years. Then a decision is made without you. You feel as though after all these years that you don’t matter anymore. Aiming to get ahead you may think, “I won’t say anything, but I won’t support either.” Maybe a disagreement between one person quietly becomes a divide between families. Something said years ago still shapes how you treat someone today. So maybe you respond passively, “I’ll keep my distance.” or aggressively, “I’ll make sure my people know how I was treated. . .” Maybe a vote in a business meeting doesn’t go your way, and suddenly relationships change. A disagreement in the business meeting seems to linger after the meetings ends. Maybe your response is, “I’ll never vote again.” Or “Next time, I’ll bring back up.” The tactics of the person pursuing greatness are spreading gossip, growing cold and passive, carrying grudges, and winning victories. The person pursuing personal greatness loves this passage on church discipline because his first thought is, “How can I get that so-and-so that I don’t like out of church?” But this runs counter to what Jesus teaches. N Sacrifice our pride to gain our brother. T R O Restoration Involves Confrontation Matthew 18:15–17 ESV 15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Revelation Notice that Jesus immediately frames the discussion by calling the offender “brother.” That is, not someone who shares a parent with you, but a spiritual brother- someone who shares the same Lord and savior. Jesus, however, flips the expectation. After being sinned against, we generally care only about getting even, but Jesus wants us to care about the offender’s well-being. If you were to examine your life and take a test, considering the moments when believers sinned against you, which would you say your major concern was? Getting even? Or their well-being? Being concerned about their well-being does not mean to ignore the sin or pretend it never happened. The proper thing to do is, “Go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.” Here lies the issue though. One commentator says, “ The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8: Matthew, Mark, Luke5. Treatment of a Sinning Brother (18:15–20) if it is hard to accept a rebuke, even a private one, it is harder still to administer one in loving humility Notice, the goal is not public humiliation or retaliation. In fact, the goal is not even getting even. The goal is winning a brother. This is what Jesus says at the end of verse 15, “Then you have gained your brother.” Commentator R.T. France notes: The Gospel of Matthew5. Dealing with a Brother’s Sin (18:15–17) “Win” suggests that the person was in danger of being lost, and has now been regained; it reflects the preceding image of the shepherd’s delight in getting his sheep back v. 16 discusses the what would happen if the brother does not repent. Still, the desire is there to not make the matter a spectacle. Two or three witness are brought in to establish the matter. This is citing Deut. 19:15. And again, consider why. Why bring in more witnesses? Why establish the matter? All of this is designed to win the brother. Look at v. 17. Now the matter is brought before the entire church. Why? To shame the person? No. To win him. The entire assembly of believers is the final earthly authority on the matter of this particular case. Such an interesting thing that it’s not a pastor or pope or elder board or deacons. It’s almost as though the Baptists have it right. The gathered assembly, the church proper, this is the authority to call the brother back. And notice that they act in one accord in order to win this brother. The entire church does not want a sin, any sin to ensnare one of their own. And so they call the brother to repentance. If there is still no repentance, the offender is no longer to be treated as a brother. The term Gentile is as though he is an unbeliever. The term “Tax collector” refers to his immoral state. Commentator Charles Quarles notes: MatthewExegesis Tax collectors were also generally avoided since even to be seen by them might invite their abuse. The rabbis compared encountering a tax collector to meeting up with an angry bear. Such an encounter never ended well Practically, how this would flesh it self out: such a person is no longer a member of a church, but would be treated as though he is an unbeliever. The matter of the particular sin would be dropped. Unbelievers are sinners by their fallen nature, they will sin. Instead, such a person could continue to sit in the pew, as a visitor might do so. The person would be encouraged to trust in Christ. 2 Theological issues quickly. This do...
Transcribe →Don’t Fall Matt. 18:5-9
Feb 1100:41:08Tap to summarizeI Dream falling. . . Friend dangling off Yonah – driven by greatness can lead to disaster N Our drive to be seen as great quietly reshapes how we treat sin and how we treat one another—often endangering fragile faith, including our own. T True greatness in Jesus’ family is revealed by how we protect fragile faith—by receiving the humble and ruthlessly removing stumbling blocks. R Matt. 18:5-9 O Move 1 Matthew 18:5–6 ESV 5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 but whoever (causes) σκανδαλίσῃ one of these little ones who believe in me (to sin), it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Revelation Jesus has been using an image of a toddler to represent his follower. In this passage the image of the toddler is fully transferred. That is why Jesus says, “one such child” because he is no longer referring to the literal toddler he has in their midst, but to the idea the child represents: the humble Christ follower who recognizes he his fully dependent upon God. There are two contrasting attitudes in this passage, reception of the humble, God-dependent Christ follower and trying to get such a person to fall away, reject Christ, become independent. The phrase “cause to sin” in the ESV is the one word in Greek σκανδαλίσῃ. This is a word that refers to more than just sinning, but a complete rejection of Jesus. The literal renedering would be, “Whoever trips” or “traps” one of these little one. . . The idea is not so much “cause to sin” as it is “cause to reject.” This is where the falling image comes into play. Falling is not just sin in this passage but a rejection. To be clear, the theology of the Bible is “once saved, always saved.” Or better said than that, “Those who truly believe will persevere to the end.” But the focus of what Jesus is saying is not that it’s possible for true believers to reject Christ. Rather, Jesus is focusing on the attitude of “reception” or “tripping.” Notice that there’s no middle ground. Reception is the attitude and action of the believer (“he also received me” Jesus says). You would think the natural opposite of that would be rejection, but Jesus takes it one step further in the contrast. The world, here, is not just passively rejecting followers of Christ, but actively trying to cause them to fall. Jesus does not give the actual punishment here in this verse of the person who actively tries to cause one of his little ones to fall. But he does give something “better” than the actual punishment. And again, sometimes we like to approach Scripture as if the choir is singing, and everything is reverent and black and white. But the image Jesus gives is purposefully ridiculous. The image is a giant millstone, not a little one. Then notice Jesus says, “fastened around the neck.” He’s picturing this millstone like a necklace. Maybe it opened on a hinge and closed back. Maybe it was knotted around the neck. Either way the image is supposed to stick out. Then the person attempts to cause the fall is drowned in the depth of the sea. This entire event, remember, is not what actually happens has the punishment for the one who produces stumbling blocks, but is better than the actual punishment for that person. Relevance You remember what it was like when your child was beginning to walk for the first time? The other night we had Kameran (who played piano for us) his wife and child over. His son, Michael, is about 1 and a half, and has just learned to walk. We have a threshold that separates our kitchen from our dining room. Most people don’t even look down at it, but step over it without thinking. But for one-year-old Michael, that threshold was like a mountain. He stopped, but his hands down on the floor. And when he was on all fours, he carefully put one foot over, then brought the other foot over before standing up and walking around again. As a parent, our child’s first steps are an exciting thing. Usually when our toddlers are taking first steps, you can hear parents say encouraging things like, “Good job” “you can do it.” And often parents take their child’s hand and help them walk along. But could you imagine someone going up to a toddler about to take his first steps and pushing him to the ground, then laughing in mockery? Saying something like, “ha, ha ha, you can’t walk.” The horror is not so much that the child fell, but that someone wanted him to fall. Bridge But as horrible as that sounds, that just how the world operates. Move 2 Matthew 18:7 ESV 7 “Woe to the world for σκανδάλων temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! Revelation Jesus gives a double woe here. And again, the woe is not merely for “temptation” it’ the same word that is used in the previous passage. Some call it stumbling stones, or cause for stumbling. The woe, the deep sorrow, the prophetic curse is pronounced on the world because it is actively trying to get Christ’s followers to ultimately reject him. My translation says, “it is necessary that temptation come.” That is probably best understood as, “it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come.” Why is it inevitable? Because the world actively rejects God. It is a stumbling block factory. The world has to convince itself to reject God and so, it will inevitably convince others. Relevance “Woe” is a pronouncement of a curse. That such a person will receive judgement. Why is it so severe? Perhaps the factor image is too passive. The world is not just a factory of stumbling blocks. When we were in our cabin in KY, we were in the “clifty wilderness.” We went on a natural bridge. It was funny there was railing going up to the bridge and afterwords, but on the bridge itself, there was no such railing. One slip, (which was more likely given the snow on the ground) and off one would fall, tumbling down a mountain. At our cabin there was a fence on one side and a sign that said “steep cliff” You see, the world is not just producing stumbling blocks, its setting them up alongside cliffs and luring Christ followers in to push them over. When the world realizes you won’t participate in their vanity fair (Pilgrim’s Progress image), it will do everything it can to push you off a cliff. Or rather, to convince you to jump. This is why Jesus gives this double woe. So be alert. Jesus gives us these warning signs for a reason. Don’t grow lax. Don’t give up the fight. The road to the cliffside is paved with a mixture complacency, convenience, and fear of man. Don’t ignore Christ’s signs to turn back when you find yourself on such a path. Move 3 Matthew 18:8–9 ESV 8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire. Revelation Jesus intensifies the image here recognizing that the pressure to fall is not just from the outside (the world) but also on the inside. Jesus uses a purposefully startling image of self-amputation. But we also know that our body parts don’t have a mind of their own. So we must take the image for what it is. Perhaps we can say that the hand represents what we do, the foot represents the places we go, the eye represents the things we pay attention to. Even still, that brings us closer to the root of the problem, our heart. What we do, where we go, and what catches our attention do not cause sin, but reveals what is already in our heart. The point of the startling and gruesome image is clear: Anything that threatens allegiance to Christ must be treated as an enemy—even if it feels like part of you. But refusing to amputate is evidence that the loyalty to Christ is not genuine. And the danger is eternal fire and the hell of fire. Which prophet preached the most on hell? It ...
Transcribe →Faith Like a Child Matt. 18:1-4
Feb 400:31:33Tap to summarizeIntroduction When I was growing up, one of my favorite bands was Third Day. I listened to their Christmas album very frequently. One of their songs is called Christmas Like a Child I want to feel Christmas, how it used to be With all of its wonder falling on me This season has felt so empty, oh, for quite a while I want to feel Christmas like a child Some remember the excitement, the anticipation they felt as a child. Did you ever count presents though? You know, how many presents did you get compared to your siblings? Maybe some of you still count presents. Or, even worse, have you ever recieved a gift from someone you did not expect to recieve a gift from? And then felt terrible not being able to give anything in return? Have you ever let someone slip your mind when buying Christmas gifts? How quickly the season of generosity and giving can turn into a season of jealousy, figuring out who’s in and who’s out, and who’s going to get out ahead. We’ve seen Jesus in the previous chapter announce that he was going to build his church on Peter. Then we just saw Peter’s temple tax being paid for. Jesus also proclaimed that while the others paying the tax were subjects, he and his disciples were sons. So the disciples want to know: who’s the best son. “I mean, come on Jesus, is it really Peter?” N We like to know the pecking order, and we like to know our place on the pecking order. Furthermore, we like to know how to get ahead, and place “me” first. T Jesus answers the question concerning who is the greatest in the kingdom of God. And the kingdom’s value system does not match the world’s or often our own value system for determining greatness. In these verses, Jesus gives the antidote for selfish ambition. R Matt. 18:1- 4? Maybe O Grasping for greatness, greatness in diapers, and giving up grasping Move 1: Grasping for Greatness Matthew 18:1 ESV 1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Revelation Matthew 18 is known as the family discourse because throughout you will see Jesus refer to his disciples as children, little ones, brothers, and fellow servant. Notice right at the beginning of the chapter it begins with “at that time.” What is “that time?” Remember the previous passage? Jesus paid the temple tax to not offend others and identified himself and his disciples as privileged compared to the people who had to pay the tax. I hope the clear irony is not lost on us. Jesus’s main intention in teaching his disciples was to teach them to be willing to lay aside privilege for the benefit of others. Instead of laying anything aside, it seems as though the disciples want to find out who’s best. The gospel of Luke makes this question even more precise when the disciples ask, “Who among us is the greatest?” Put on your speculative imagination and picture the scene: Jesus tells his disciples regarding tax, “Then the sons are free.” Then the disciples ignore the bit about not giving offense and begin discussing, “we’re sons? well, which of us is the firstborn?” “I bet it’s me” “No, it’s me. . .” and the bickering ensues until they go to Jesus and ask, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Relevance When I graduated from college in 2015, I sent my resume out to a bunch of churches. I was met with a bunch of questionnaires to fill out. The process was tedious. I felt pressure to secure a position to support my family, but I also did not want to lie or anything else to get a position. The questionnaires were long, often 30 questions or more, spanning a wide variety of topics. I don’t think there was anything wrong with a church doing that, they should be thorough; however, having to answer all those questions on my end was a long process. Several years later when I had prayed and considered with my wife sending my resume here, I went back and looked at those emails to find my resume. I also found some of those questionnaires and so I read through them. Immediately, what struck me was how arrogant I sounded. When I reread it, the tone came across as, “I know the Bible, you don’t, so hush up and listen.” I would not have hired me. The disciples have been with Jesus now for a good while. We could estimate that by chapter 18, the disciples have been with Jesus for about two years. But even though Jesus instructed them and led by example, the disciples’ selfish ambition was still driving them. Move 2: Greatness in Diapers Matthew 18:2–4 ESV 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Revelation Jesus answers the question by bringing a little child. The disciples are concerned with placing themselves in the center of it all, and Jesus places a toddler in the center. The disciples are looking for status and Jesus points to smallness. The disciples are grasping for accolades and distinction, and Jesus gives them a kid in diapers. There’s nothing glorious about diapers. I’m not even sure if they had diapers like that back then. But this is not an older child. One commentator notes: MatthewExegesis The diminutive suffix on the Greek noun confirms that Jesus had little children in mind. He was not referring to adolescents resenting authority and demanding independence. He was referring to little toddlers who could only eat if someone else fed them, could only walk if someone else held their hand, could only survive if someone else protected them, and were very aware of how small and weak and needy they were in comparison to the adults who towered over them and cared for them And notice some of the things that Jesus says. He begins emphatically in verse 3 saying “Truly I say to you.” That was Jesus’s way of saying “pay attention.” Then he says “unless you turn and become like children.” Consider that phrase. “Turn and become.” The word “turn” refers to a radical change. The word is used for turning water into blood in Revelation (11:6). What is this radical change into? It is to become like a child. Jesus is telling his disciples to turn into something that this child is an example of. Now we must understand this analogy correctly otherwise we can misinterpret it. We want to use the context to help us understand the image. Sometimes the stock phrase “faith like a child” is used to refer to inexperience, gullibility, or simplicity. But the issue that Jesus is addressing is not unbelief. Jesus is not trying to make his disciples into simpletons who are willing to believe anything Jesus says and ignore common sense or observation. “Turn and become like a child” does not mean become gullible, ignore your doubts, ignore your feelings, or ignore what you can observe and learn. Jesus was addressing the disciples’ arrogance, their selfish ambition. The disciples are trying to put themselves at the center of everything and Jesus puts a toddler there. Selfish ambition says, “I depend on no one but myself to get ahead and take what I want.” Humility says, “I depend on God to be satisfied in my soul.” Jesus’s point was not that toddlers cannot be selfish. Rather any selfish ambition that a toddler may have is thwarted by his inability to feed himself, walk by himself, talk, or even go to the bathroom properly. Selfish ambition says, “Who can I walk on to get ahead.” Humility says, “I can’t even walk unless God takes my hand.” Selfish ambition tries to take everything I’m given and use it to get out ahead. When selfish ambition is given some wood and nails it begins to build a tower to heaven. But Jesus shows that selfish ambition can build no sucessful tower. Notice what Jesus says. The disciples are concerned with greatness in the kingdom of heaven. But, Jesus tells the disciples that if greatness is their concern they will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Look in v. 3, “Unless you turn and become like children, you will never (emphatic) enter the kingdom of heaven.” But there is a way into the kingdom of hea...
Transcribe →Faith To Move Mountains Matt. 17:14-23
Jan 2900:42:33Tap to summarize“Your faith’s just not big enough.” That’s what the man with cerebral palsy was told coming to his fifth faith healing. He was sat far in the back in the wheel chair section. There where several there in wheel chairs, most didn’t make it to the front. His disease had crippled him. He could walk, but barely and only with two crutches. It was easier to be in a wheel chair. He was in the crowd of about 1000 people. Several of whom had already testified to being healed. One person was supposedly blind and could now see. The man with cerebral palsy was wheeled onto the stage in front of the large crowd. The faith healing commanded him with a loud voice, “Stand up! Get out of that chair.” With weak and shaking legs, holding onto the chair he rose up. The crowd began to cheer. But his right leg buckled and a pain shot up his spine. He collapsed forward on his hands and knees, tears rolling down his cheeks. The crowd grew silent. “Weak!” The faith healer called to the crowd. “Weak! Your faith is weak just like you!” With that the faith healer pushed him over on his side. He bent down and spoke to the man directly, “Your faith’s just not big enough.” N I don’t think any of us want to be characterized by a small faith. Most of us want to be men and women of great faith. But what does that entail? T Jesus and three of his disciples descend the mountain where his glory was on full display. But what they are met with is a display faithlessness. Jesus addresses the generation’s lack of faith. R Matthew 17:14-23 O Devastated, he didn’t know what to do. Why doesn’t Jesus just transfigure in front of the whole world? It’s not about the amount of faith, but the object of faith Widening of the object of faith to include Christ – monolatry From Glory to Godless Matthew 17:14–17 ESV 14 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, 15 said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” 17 And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” Revelation Jesus, Peter, James, and John are traveling down from the mount of transfiguration when they come to this crowd. The man approaches with high respect for Jesus. He uses the phrase found often in the Psalms, “Lord have mercy. . .” You may be familiar with the song, kyrie eleison meaning “Lord have mercy”. The plot heightens as we learn the plight of his son in v. 15 having seizures. It would have been common to walk by open wells, cisterns, and fires where they were living so it is no surprise that the demonic seizures cause him to be burned or nearly drown. But v. 16 brings the real thing into focus when he tells him that the disciples were unable to heal. The culprit behind this disease is identified as demonic, there is a spiritual cause to the ailment. And yet the very people who were given authority over unclean spirits (Matt. 10:1) do not seem to have authority here. Then Jesus laments. The lamentation is marked by the interjection at the beginning of the quotation in v. 17. It’s easy to miss if read matter-of-factly. But Jesus is filled with emotion. Matthew 17:17 “17 And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.”” Jesus makes reference to the song of Moses in Dt. 32. Moses dealt with the rebellious wilderness generation. The generation that saw the mighty works of God daily, every morning manna was on the ground for them, and yet they still did not believe God. When Moses came down the mountain with the 10 commandments, there the people were in open rebellion worshiping a golden calf. Now Jesus comes down the mountain where his glory was unveiled and here he is met with a crowd who is craving evidence against him. It is tempting to make the demon-possessed boy the center of the story because it is an intriguing detail in out modern society where demon possession can sell lots of tickets in theaters. It’s entertaining, thrilling. But, Jesus does not marvel and lament over the demon, he laments over the unbelief. The focus of the story is not the miraculous healing, but the unbelief of the “generation.” The term generation was given to bring us back to Moses, but in Jesus’s day it is an inclusive term to refer to the whole crowd including the father and disciples. The problem is not how much evidence everyone gets. The problem is does not lie in evidence or verification. The problem resides in the heart. The wilderness generation saw all of God’s mighty deeds and still went against God’s word. These words show something unique about Christ, he’s more than just a mere man. But they also reveal the lack in the generation. Relevance Jesus laments unbelief. They say the proof is in the pudding. I was faced with this question: why didn’t Jesus reveal his glory to all his disciples, or to all the people everywhere? But then you might consider all the things that Jesus did do, all the miracles that were already performed, all of his teaching, his character, the things surrounding his birth. After all these things and still no one believes. I remember my time as a teacher when I would repeat instructions 2-3 times to ensure that people understood what to do. I remember going over a quiz for a good fifteen minutes. I was going over the questions that would be on the quiz. Finally, I had a student raise his hand and ask me, “Don’t we have a quiz tomorrow?” The entire class was in an uproar at that point, some laughing at the student who wasn’t paying attention, others exasperated, “He’s going over the quiz right now!” Here is this crowd, along with 9 of the disciples who have seen or at least heard of everything Jesus has done. These disciples were given authority over unclean spirits by Jesus himself. No wonder Jesus laments. The problem of faith in Jesus is not the lack of evidence or the need for verification. The problem is our dull, sin-riddled hearts. There’s nothing wrong with evidence or verification. There was a time in my life where a did nothing except read evidential apologetics like Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel. But evidence and verification are neutral. Two people can look at the same pieces of evidence and come to two very different conclusions. The problem lies not in the evidence or its lack but in our hearts. What if Christ appeared in the sky right now to everyone in his full glory? Some may run and hide, some may believe its an outerspace alien, some may think its their god, some may try to shoot him. I was once watching a debate between a Christian and atheist and the atheist was bringing up matters of evidence. The Christian brought up lots of evidence that the atheist dismissed. Finally the Christian asked, “what if God wrote in the sky the gospel message and put your name in it personally, would you believe?” The atheist said, no. “What if God showed up here right now and spoke to you, would you believe” The atheist thought for a moment, then replied, “No.” This atheist was debating matters of evidence, but in reality the atheist had already determined in his heart two things no matter what evidence was presented. These two things were 1. God does not exist. 2. I hate him. But what about for you? What doubts lurk in your mind? What unbelief do you harbor there? Perhaps you faced childhood trauma and you think if God were really real and good then that would not have happened. Perhaps in the face of a temptation you wish you had never faced you find yourself again, “God if you were real, I would not be tempted to. . .” Maybe it was at the loss of a loved one, someone dear to you you think, “God if you were good you would not have taken away. . .” Perhaps your own weakness and frailty in the body make you doubt. . .any number of things can cause doubt to arise. Then what do these doubts do? Doubts become good lawyers. They seek to justify our actions. “Well, because God allowed this for me, I’m going to. ....
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