He Showed Us How It’s Done - Memorial Message for Blair Murray

“He Showed Us How It’s Done”
Celebration of Life Service for Blair Murray
Mark 10:42-45

Doesn’t Blair’s song say it all?

Lord, I love to say your name,

To lift my voice in praise to you.

Your love for me will never change,

I love you, and I love to say your name.

Glory Lord, Honor Lord –

All belong to you.

Hail, my King-

You’re my everything,

My life is in your hands.

So make me what I ought to be-

Work out Your perfect will in me.

You’re love for me will never change-

I love you, and I love to say your name.

- Blair L. Murray

That’s Blair. That’s who he was.

I don’t have to preach this sermon to you this afternoon.

Because you’ve already heard this sermon.

Blair Murray lived this sermon before you.

He showed us how it’s done!

He showed us how to be a great man.

I struggled all week to try to figure out what to preach at Blair’s memorial service.

He was an impossible man to summarize. With his love of his family, his music, his church, his airplanes, his work-ethic, his humor, food, people, ministry, Bible, doctrine, relationships, prayer, missions.

He did everything with zest, and it was impossible to summarize it all.

But I did come up with one word.

And that was GREAT.

Blair Murray was a truly great man.

Now, in the world’s thinking, you are great if you have success, and status, and stuff.

And Blair wasn’t at the top of our society, a great man in that meaning. But Blair was truly great by the standard of greatness set by the Lord Jesus Christ. If you would turn in your Bibles with me to the Gospel of Mark chapter 10, I want to take you to passage that shows that Blair was a truly great man. Mark chapter 10, verses 42 through 45.

In this chapter Jesus’ disciples were arguing with one another about who was the greatest among them. I’m sure that was a very profitable conversation!

“I’m the greatest! No, I’m the greatest!”

So our Lord Jesus gathered them together to give them a lesson in true greatness.

Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'

Notice that it is not a bad thing to want to be great.

Verse 43 says that it is a noble thing to want to be great.

So, when I say that Blair Murray was a truly great man, that is an honorable thing and an honorable thing for everyone here to aspire to.

To want that people would say that at your memorial service.

Do you want them to say that at your service?

Because your memorial service is coming, too. Perhaps soon. We don’t know when, do we?

I never guessed that we’d be doing Blair’s today.

But here we are.

What do you want them to say about you at your service?

It’s a good thing to want them to say, you were a truly great person.

But it has to be with the Lord’s definition of great.

It can’t be the world’s definition.

Jesus says that the world defines it by authority. V.42

“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you.”

And it wasn’t with Blair. Blair didn’t need authority or to lord it over people that he was in charge.

He wasn’t the top dog.

He was a servant.

And that made him truly great. V.43

“Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.”

That’s what made Blair great. He was a servant through and through.

Everybody here can testify to that.

Everybody here has been served by Blair.

How did he do it all?  How did he do all of that serving when he was given just the same amount of time as the rest of us?

Think of all of the things he did. And how much of that was serving others.

How quick he was to drop everything do what you needed.

In the last month, I’ve called him for rides, I’ve called him to borrow tools, I’ve called him to bring out a hedgetrimmer to the church on short notice, I’ve called him to borrow a vehicle.

And he was there every time, no complaining, just a joy in serving.

How many places did he serve at church? He was no longer an elder, but he had done it for three decades. He was to lead worship on Sunday. He was to lead the prayer meeting on Wednesday. He was serve on the nominating committee this Fall.

I clicked up the heat this morning. And his handwriting is on the thermostat there saying when the battery was last replaced.

And those are just slice.

Everybody here has a story of how he served them.

He was a joy servant of all, and that made him, in Jesus’ eyes, truly great.

That Lord whom he loved to say His name, has greeted him in glory and said to him something like this, "Well done, good and faithful servant! Come and share your master's happiness!'" (Matthew 25:21).

Blair showed us how it’s done.

And it’s our job, we who are left, to follow his example.

Blair was unreplaceable.

Who wants to take his place and do the things he did?

Who wants to fill those shoes?  They are too big to fill for any one person.

So, we all need to step up and do it. We all need to become servants like he was.

And be truly great.

Do you need some comfort this afternoon?

Blair believed in the sovereignty of God. That God was in control of all of the details of life.

Including the trials and tribulations of life.

Yesterday, I went through my folder of letters and notes from Blair over the years.

He was always writing me little encouraging notes about things that he was learning, especially if it related to a sermon that I had recently preached.

This one here, wrote on the back of a place-mat from the Bell, the restaurant up there in Kylertown.

At the end he says:

My prayer for you is that you continue to find yourself alive in Christ all through the day and night. Enjoying him in everything we do makes life simply great. For me – just knowing I will never be blind-sided by something that escaped God’s attention gives great confidence. ‘God is good’ seems like such an understatement, but He sure has been good to this child. Love you in Him, Blair.

For those of you who need comfort this morning. You’re struggling with how God could allow such a tragedy as we all experienced last Monday.

Blair says to have faith in God’s sovereignty.

“For me – just knowing I will never be blind-sided by something that escaped God's attention gives great confidence.”

Yes, we will be blind-sided. I know that Blair was blindsided last week. And we were all blindside last week. But never by something that escaped our Father’s attention!

Blair’s God is sovereign and that give us all of the comfort we need.

Blair was a truly great man by Jesus’ definition.

And we need to follow his example of serving others.

But Blair would be upset with me if I made this sermon about Blair.

Because Blair was not the name he loved to say.

There was an even more truly great man that Blair would want me to talk about this morning. And that’s the Son of Man from verse 45.

He was the perfect example of servanthood. V.45

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus didn’t come the first time to be served.

He deserved it!  If anyone deserved service, it was Jesus.

But He came to be a servant.

Do you remember when he showed that by washing his disciples feet?

I once washed Blair Murray’s feet at a Family Bible Week one Summer. We acted out that parable. Blair told me later that nobody can touch his feet without him going through the roof in ticklelishness.

But that day, God gave him the blessing of being able to have his feet washed.

And we were acting out what Jesus. Jesus, our Lord, wrapped a towel around himself and acted like a servant as a visual illustration of what he came to do.

He came to serve.

And here’s how he did it–in the extreme.

Jesus gave His life as a ransom.

He died in our place on the cross.

He took our place. He served us by taking our place on the Cross.

And paying our ransom. Paying the debt we had racked up for our sins.

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’”

That’s the gospel.

And it’s the message that Blair most loved to share.

Blair was a gospel-man. An evangelist.

Blair wanted everyone he knew and everyone he met to know Jesus and trust in His ransom for our sins.

Everybody here has heard Blair talk about the gospel.

Not everyone here has believed that gospel yet.

He was just telling me about people for whom he’s praying to know, trust, and love Jesus.

And to not walk away from Jesus.

He’s been praying for some of you for some time.

Blair wants to see you again and spend eternity with him praising the Savior all the day long.
We know where Blair is.

Do you know that you will be where he is some day?

Jesus “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’”

Are you part of that “many” who have put their faith and trust in Jesus?

Blair’s death has shaken me deeply.

I am grieving hard because I miss my friend.

But his death can bear much fruit in my life if I consider his truly great example of servanthood and aspire to be like him.

And if I point people to the Savior whose name Blair loved to say.

I invite you to trust in Jesus as your Savior and your Lord.

To put your faith in Him and what Jesus did for you on the Cross. Your ransom paid.

So that your sins are forgiven and you are promised eternal life.

The life that Blair is right now experiencing in full.

Blair invited you and I invite to receive Jesus so that you can sing with Him, “Lord, I love to say your name.”

Blair's runway.

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Mark's Introduction to Jesus

Seventeen "Matt's Messages" on the Gospel of Mark.

1. 1:1-15 Introducing Jesus

2. 1:14-45 With Authority

3. 2:1-12 Who Can Forgive Sins?

4. 2:13-3:6 More, More About Jesus

5. 3:7-35 True Disciples

6. 4:1-34 Seeds, Soils, and Secrets

7. 4:35-6:6 Desperate

8. 6:8-56 Don’t Be Afraid

9. 7:1-30 Inside Out

10. 7:31-9:13 Opening Eyes

11. 9:14-10:31 Christ-Followers

12. 10:32-52 Servants

13. 11:1-12:12 King Jesus

14. 12:13-44 Coins, Questions, and Christ

15. 13:1-37 Watch!

16. 14:1-15:47 Abandonded

17. 16:1-8 This Changes Everything!

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Matt Messages - This Changes Everything

“This Changes Everything”

Resurrection Sunday
April 16, 2006
Mark 16:1-8

Since before Christmas, we have been studying together the short, action-packed biography of the world’s most important Person written by Mark the Evangelist. And today on Resurrection Sunday 2006, we have reached the end of the Gospel of Mark.

It is a short ending, just eight brief verses, but what a message those eight verses contain!

The Gospel of Mark ends abruptly at verse 8. It seems that what is printed in many of our New Testaments as verses 9-20 is a later addition by another faithful Christian to fill out the story that Mark leaves off so abruptly. The earliest and best Greek manuscripts do not have verses 9-20, and I don’t think it sounds like the rest of Mark when you read it, so I don’t believe that 9-20 is Scripture though I’m certain that it is full of good Christian history and the basic facts in it are true, regardless. It doesn’t affect basic Christian teaching one bit. If anyone has a question about that, I’d be glad to go into that more with you another time.

But today, I just want to focus on verses 1-8. They tell what Paul Harvey would call, “the rest of the story,” and the truth they contain is life-altering, life-changing, life-transforming.

Would you pray with me?

[prayer]

Have you ever had one of those experiences where something comes into your life and you have say, “Well, this changes everything!”

I’m sure you have.

Maybe you’ve been given a piece of information that you didn’t have before.

Maybe you made a big decision–or you were going to make a big decision–based upon a certain amount of information, and then one new piece of information comes in, and you have to say, “This changes everything.”

Or maybe it’s a relationship.

You’re going down one path in your life and then someone comes into your life and so influences you, so impacts you, so affects you, that that relationship makes you say, “This changes everything.”

Or maybe it’s a loss.

When Heather and I lost our first child to stillbirth 7 years ago today, I remember thinking that, overnight, my entire course of life had changed. “This changes everything.”

That’s what the truth of Mark 16 does to the story of Jesus Christ.

It changes everything.

Last week we read chapters 14 and 15 which told the story of the abandoning of Jesus.

He was betrayed by one of His twelve closest followers.
He was deserted by all the rest.
He was denied by His closest follower three times in one night.
He was arrested, tried in a mockery of justice, tortured, and killed in one of the most gruesome ways ever imagined. And He was all alone.
His corpse was not properly anointed for burial and was quickly wrapped and placed in a tomb sealed by a large stone.

And if that was the end of the story, we would be foolish to be here this morning.

But that’s not the end of the story. Mark chapter 16, verse 1.

“When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body.” Stop there.

These are some of the same ladies who saw where Jesus had been buried in chapter 15, verse 47. They were eyewitnesses of His burial.

When Jesus died, there wasn’t enough time to properly anoint Him. The Sabbath was coming on. But on Saturday night, when the Sabbath had passed, these ladies went into the marketplace and bought some spices that they hoped to use to anoint Jesus’ corpse.

And they set Sunday morning as the time to try to do it. V.2

“Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, ‘Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?’”

They had spices, but they had no crowbars, and they had no men. They were worried. They were leaving it up to luck to see if they could get into the tomb to anoint His body.

Notice what they weren’t expecting–they weren’t expecting to find an empty tomb!

But that’s exactly what they did find! V.4

“But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.”

Something’s going on here! This is a God-thing! They had to go in and see. V.5

“As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. [Luke tells us that this was an angel. No wonder they were alarmed!]

‘Don't be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.”

This is the greatest news ever! And it changes everything!

“‘Don't be alarmed...You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified [Yes, He was crucified! But]. He has risen! [Literally, He has been raised!] He is not here. See the place where they laid him [with your own eyes].” V.7

“But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'’ Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.”

This changes everything!

Everything seemed one way on Friday and Saturday.

But then everything was different on Sunday!

This changes everything...for everyone.

I want to talk to three different groups of people who are probably among us this morning. And I want to apply these verses to each of us.

Because this changes everything for everyone.

This changes everything FOR THE SKEPTIC.

You need to figure this one out!

Is Mark chapter 16 true? You need to do your research and figure that out!

Because if Jesus Christ was Who He said He was in Mark chapters 1 through 15 and then did what Mark chapter 16 says He did, then that makes a big difference in how we should live our lives!

Perhaps you are skeptical of the truth of Christianity.

There is a lot of skepticism in the world today about Christianity. Silly things like the DaVinci Code and the recently released so-called “Gospel of Judas” feed a lust for conspiracy theories that people love to believe.

Maybe you have a hard time believing in the claims of Christ.

Mark 16 calls you to do your homework and figure out what you really believe.

Because there is a lot on the line here.

Notice the attention to eyewitness accounts. People are named in Mark 16, they saw with their own eyes the place where Jesus had laid–and He wasn’t there any longer.
And He still isn’t! The tomb is still empty!

One amazing feature of this eyewitness account is that it is women who give it! If you were a Jew in the first century making up a resurrection story, you wouldn’t have a bunch of women as your chief witnesses! We know that women make great witnesses, but the Jews didn’t believe that. And so, for the story to be that His tomb was first seen as empty by women (and the other gospels tell us that the first eye-witnesses of His actual resurrection body were women, too)–just adds to the credibility of this story. Nobody in the first century would ever make that up!

And the New Testament documents, more historically substantiated than any other comparable documents in human history, indicate that Jesus’ tomb was empty on Sunday morning, and that, over 50 days, the resurrected Jesus appeared to over 500 of His followers. There is more historically substantiated documentary proof of that than that Julius Caesar ever lived!

So, skeptic, I’m glad you are here today. I’ve been praying for you this week.

You need to get this figured out. Now.

You need to do your own research and decide whether or not you believe what Mark 16 says happened.

I have a stack of books in my office that I’d be glad to recommend to you with the facts in them that you need to consider.

I’ll tell you about two of them.

One is called, Who Moved the Stone? by Frank Morison. Morison was a skeptic himself. And He set out to prove that Jesus never rose from the dead.

Who Moved the Stone? is the story of what He found out to be true.

The second book is The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. Strobel was a skeptic, too, and an investigative journalist for the Chicago Tribune. In the Case for Christ, Strobel documents his own journey to faith through the evidence, as well as, hard-hitting interviews he conducted with leading scholars in a host of disciplines who lay out the Case for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And there are many others. But you need to figure out what you believe about this.

Because this changes everything.

I was a skeptic once myself. But doing my own research and forming my own conclusions strengthened my belief that Jesus is Who He said He was and did what He said He was going to do. I believe He is risen from the dead or I wouldn’t be up here before you today.

This changes everything.

If you come to believe that Jesus is alive and you put your trust in Him and on what He did on the Cross that Friday–paying for your sins–then you will be saved from your sins and enter into an eternal love relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

That’s what’s on the line. Eternity with God.

This changes everything...FOR THE FENCE-SITTER.

Maybe you are sitting out there and you believe with your head that Jesus is alive today. Maybe you even enjoy coming to church and singing songs about it.

But you are not a committed Christ-follower.

You are a fence-sitter, someone watching from the sidelines, but not in the game.

Your life outside of church doesn’t look any different from the people around you.

You talk a good talk while you are here, but you aren’t walking the walk out there.

Some peolpe are only “committed to Christ” on a couple of holidays–Christmas and Easter and maybe Mothers’ Day.

Mark 16 changes everything for you, too.

Do you believe that He has risen from the dead?

If you do, then He is making demands on you today. He’s calling you to follow Him.

In Mark chapter 8, when Jesus predicted His crucifixion and His resurrection, He gave a condition for those who would call themselves Christians. He said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.”

Mark 16 says that the Jesus who said that has risen from the dead!

And He is saying that to you today.

You need to make a commitment.

You need to take up your cross and follow Him.

Mark 16 forces a decision.

If Jesus was still dead, then it wouldn’t matter much. You could follow His principles or not–the way that people follow Mohammed or Buddha or whoever. Those guys are dead even if their ideas live on.

But Mark 16 forces you to decide. He’s alive. Are you going to follow Him with your life or not?

Fence-sitter, you need to make a commitment. Because, ultimately, there are no fence-sitters–it’s either this side or that side, either all or nothing.

The Risen Jesus is calling you to take up your cross and follow Him.

I was a fence-sitter once myself. Most of us here were at some point or another.

But the Risen Jesus wouldn’t let me stay quiet on the pew. He has moved me into commitment, prayer, Christian fellowship, spiritual growth, church involvement, and ministry.

It won’t look the same for all of us, but we are all called to get off the fence and start following Christ.

Do you believe that Jesus is alive today? If so, it changes everything.

What changes need to be made in your life?

Some of you need to start a daily Bible reading and prayer time.
Some of you need to get into a Link Group or another Bible study.
Some of you need to start going to Sunday School.
Some of you need to start up family devotions.
Some of you need to get involved ministry.
Some of you need to come out from hiding and speak up about Christ with your friends and family.
Some of you need to join the membership at church for your own spiritual growth and the good of the Body.
Some of you need to figure out what your spiritual gifts are and start using them.

What changes need to be made in your life so that you are no longer sitting on the fence?

Are you going to live for Him? I hope so. I’m here, we’re all here, to help you to follow Him.

Because this changes everything...FOR THE CHRIST-FOLLOWER, too.

The resurrection changes everything for those of us who follow Christ by faith.

The resurrection brings us GRACE.

Look again at verse 6. This struck me for, I think, the first time ever this week in my study. V.6

“‘Don't be alarmed,’ [the angel] said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.”

Now stop for a second and think about what might be in the minds of the disciples when they hear this.

I don’t think I ever thought about it this way before. But they might have been afraid. After all, they had just abandoned Him three days ago.

A risen Jesus might have gotten back up angry and ready to take it out on those who had deserted Him!

But look at v.7: “But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'’”

The original plan is still on. The relationship is still there. Jesus is not angry. He is gracious. Jesus has not risen to take vengeance on those who left Him. He has risen to love them and continue to fellowship with them forever!

Christ-Followers, the resurrection guarantees grace for us!

Notice that Peter is singled out! “Tell His disciples AND Peter.” Make sure Peter gets this. There is grace.

Christ-Follower, do you need grace? I know you do. I do.

You haven’t blown it past His grace. He has grace for you beyond your imagining.

The Cross releases a downpour grace on His followers.

Hell cancelled and Heaven guaranteed.
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.
Blessings all mine and ten thousand beside!

The resurrection guarantees us grace.

And it brings us TRUTH.

Notice that it is happening (v.7), “just as he told you.”

The resurrection validates everything that Jesus has said already in the Gospel of Mark.

He said that He would rise from the dead. If He did, then everything else He said will happen.

Flip through the pages of Mark this week and write down all of the promises.

They are all true.

Every last one. Since Jesus rose from the dead, we can count on every last one.

Everything He said about Himself. About paying a ransom. About coming back for us, about forgiveness through His blood–all of that is true. And we can bank on it.

Christ-Follower, do you need a dose of truth? I know you do. I do.

Jesus’ resurrection guarantees everything that Jesus has ever promised us.

Doesn’t that change everything?

It sure does. And it brings us POWER.

What kind of power does it take to raise a dead person to life?

The women were worried about the big stone. But rolling that away was nothing compared to defeating the power of death and raising Jesus to new life!

The Bible says that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in those who believe in Him.

You may not feel like it, Christ-Follower.

You may feel like the Red Moshannon.

But you actually have a Niagra Falls at work within you.

That changes everything.

And it gives us a MISSION.

The “young man” told the women (v.7), “Go, tell...”

This is good news. It is gospel. It needs to be shared.

The women didn’t at first. The gospel of Mark ends (strangely enough) with them being afraid and silent. V.8

“Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.”

Well, that wasn’t the right response.

But we know that it wasn’t their final response. I have a feeling that Mark intended to write more (and perhaps he did and it was lost early on and that’s why somebody felt the need to attach the longer ending).

But we know from the other gospels (and even the extended ending of Mark) that these ladies eventually shared the message about Jesus’ resurrection and that He began to appear to them and to the other disciples and then He gave them the Great Commission–to go into all the world and share the Gospel.

This changes everything.

The resurrection gives us a mission to accomplish.

We can’t keep quiet about it!

We can’t just go home to our nice Easter dinners all happy about the songs and the worship service and not share the news this week that Jesus Christ is alive!!!!

I think one of the reasons why God the Holy Spirit allowed the Gospel of Mark to end like it does in verse 8 is to kick it back to us to finish.

We need to carry the message on.

Christ-Followers, we need to persevere in following Jesus by faith.

We need to stick to it.

All of the grace, all of truth, and all of the power we need to fulfill His mission is given to us in the resurrection.

We need to stick to it.

One of my favorite verses on the resurrection is the “So What” verse at the end of the great resurrection chapter–1 Corinthians 15.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul goes all over the place showing how important the resurrection is to our faith now and how it guarantees our resurrection some day.

And at the very end, he says, (v.50) “I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed–in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality [Resurrection!]. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. [Through His Resurrection! And here it is, verse 58:] Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

The resurrection changes everything.

Stand firm. Let nothing move you, Christ-follower. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

This changes everything.

It changes the way we live, the way we think, the way we act, the way we interact, the way we relate to each other–everything.

Christ-Follower, stick to it. All the grace, all of the truth, and all of the power you need to accomplish His mission for you is available to you in the resurrection.

Fence-Sitter, take up your cross and follow Jesus. You can’t stay un-committed.

Skeptic, you need to decide.

Because this changes everything.

This week, my son Isaac, was sick and he had us up literally all night on Thursday night. And I was scheduled to get this sermon done on Friday, and it didn’t look possible. I had strung together about 2 hours of sleep.

But I drew strength from the fact that Jesus was alive. And that He had called me to be a herald of the good news of His resurrection to you this morning.

And Jesus met me in my study with grace (cause I needed it after the week I had had) and truth (His promises were very real to me), and power–the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

And I got this message done by the end of the day on Friday.

His resurrection made all the difference.

It changed everything.

And it will for you, too.

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Matt Messages - Abandoned

“Abandoned”
April 9, 2006
Mark 14:1-15:47

We are there: The Passion–the Suffering and Death–of Jesus Christ. Mark’s introduction to the most amazing person in all of human history is nearing its completion. The entire gospel has been relentlessly driving to this point. Numerous times, Jesus has predicted His betrayal, suffering, and crucifixion in Jerusalem. And now it is here–in Jerusalem, in that last week. Jesus is going to be killed.

This morning, I’m not so much going to preach these two chapters as read them carefully and meditate on them with you. I want us to feel the power of these two chapters as Mark tells the story of the last few days and hours of Jesus’ life.

I’ll bring in some application as we go along, but mainly, I want us to simply feel the force of the story press itself onto our souls. You can take notes if you want to, but I won’t be offering “points” like I usually do. You may want to just glue your eyes on the text.

And the one chief thing I want us to see as we go is that Jesus is abandoned. Jesus is abandoned by everyone. He is utterly deserted. Betrayed, mocked, tortured, crucified, forsaken...alone. The title of my message today is: “Abandoned”

I think Mark emphasizes this abandonment theme as he tell the story.

Jesus’ abandonment is what it took for us to not be abandoned. Jesus’ abandonment is what it took for us to have a loving relationship with the living God.

So let’s look to God in prayer and then to God’s Word in wonder at the abandonment of Jesus Christ.

[prayer]

Mark chapter 14, verse 1.

“Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. [They hated Him. They were threatened by Him. He had put them to shame and showed their evil ways. And they wanted to kill Him. V.2] ‘But not during the Feast,’ they said, ‘or the people may riot.’”

Jerusalem swelled with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims during the big Holy Feasts. The Jewish rulers are worried that if they killed Jesus, the crowds would create a riot. So, at this point, they aren’t planning to do anything about Jesus except watch for an opportunity.

While they are planning to kill Jesus, a woman is planning to honor Him. V.3

“While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper [who must be, we need to note, a former leper [!] or they wouldn’t have been able to eat with him!], a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on [Jesus’] head.”

This is an act of extravagant worship! This woman (who we know from the Gospel of John to be Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus) broke the jar (made it unusable) and poured the whole thing out on Jesus–anointing Him. Extravagant worship. But not all were impressed. V.4

“Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, ‘Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor.’ And they rebuked her harshly.

‘Leave her alone,’ said Jesus. ‘Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.’”

What they saw as wasteful worship, Jesus saw as beautiful worship. “She has done a beautiful thing to me...She has poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.”

You don’t normally anoint a person for burial before He has died!

Jesus expects to die a criminal’s death and to not get a proper burial. And he loves this expression of this woman’s love for Him.

He says that it will be talked about throughout the whole world as His gospel progresses. And here we are talking about it 2000 years later in Lanse, Pennsylvania.

Jesus loves this expression of worship. He says, “She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.”

In essence, Jesus was saying, “I am worth this sacrifice!” He’s not saying don’t give to the poor–Jesus loves the poor! He’s saying right now, you have me, and I am worthy of all of this worship.

Jesus is worthy of extravagant worship.

Jesus is worth pouring out all that we have.

Remember the widow with her two coins, two weeks ago? That was just a few days from this story.

That widow gave all she had, and it wasn’t much. But it was extravagant worship.

This woman gives all the perfume she has, and it was worth much.

And Jesus is worth it all. Jesus is worthy of extravagant worship.

Do you agree?

Now, keep that in mind as we read about this extravagantly worthy Jesus who is abandoned. Not only abandoned...but betrayed. V.10

“Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.”

The woman gave over her priceless heirloom for Jesus. Judas gives over Jesus for a handful of coins. What a contrast!
In the next section of the story, Jesus is shown to be in charge even on this fateful day. V.12

“On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread [which is Thursday by my reckoning], when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ [Jesus has a plan.] So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, ‘Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. [Notice the undercover-nature of this mission. Jesus wants to get things set up in a secret way so they can have privacy.] Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.’ The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.”

They got the unleavened bread, the wine, the bitter herbs, the sauce, and the lamb.

Notice how Jesus is in full control of His destiny. He knows what is swirling around Him. He knows what’s going to happen next. This is all according to plan. No matter how terrible the plan will be for Him.

He knows that it will mean His betrayal. V.17

“When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, ‘I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me–one who is eating with me.’ They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, ‘Surely not I?’ [Surely, not I! Don’t judge them! See yourself in them.] ‘It is one of the Twelve,’ he replied, ‘one who dips bread into the bowl with me.

The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.’”

Notice the interplay of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Both are completely true. V.22

“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take it; this is my body.’ [What they must have thought when He said that!] Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,’ he said to them. ‘I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.’ When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”

We still have the taste from the bread and cup on our tongues.

Jesus won’t taste it again until that glorious return that we talked about last Sunday.

They went back to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus predicted His abandonment. V.27

“‘You will all fall away,’ Jesus told them, ‘for it is written: ‘'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.' [Zechariah 13:7. Who is the I? God will strike the shepherd–Jesus. And the sheep–the disciples will be scattered.] But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.’

Peter declared, ‘Even if all fall away, I will not.’ [I won’t abandon you!] ‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘today–yes, tonight–before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.’

But Peter insisted emphatically, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’ And all the others said the same.”

Don’t judge them. Put yourself in their shoes. They are a mirror of our faithlessness. V.32

“They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray.’ He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.”

Peter, James, and John all think that they are hot-stuff. They’ll never desert Him and they should have the places on the left and the right of Him in glory. But instead, they abandon Him to sleep while He prays in agony. V.34

“‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,’ he said to them. ‘Stay here and keep watch.’ [Just like He said in chapter 13.] Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him.

‘Abba, Father,’ he said, ‘everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’

That’s an amazing prayer! Such intimacy and yet such agony at the same time. Such torment over the prospect of the cup of the wrath of God and yet such abandonment to the will of His Father!

And He has to do it alone. V. 37

“Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Simon,’ he said to Peter, ‘are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.’

Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. [Sorry?]

Returning the third time, he said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!’”

The “hour” has come. It’s time. It’s time to die.

“Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve [!], appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders. [There’s been a warrant put out for His arrest.]

Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: ‘The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.’ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, ‘Rabbi!’ and kissed him.

The men seized Jesus and arrested him. Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. ‘Am I leading a rebellion,’ said Jesus, ‘that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.’ [Abandonment to the will of God. V.50]

Then everyone deserted him and fled.”

Every single one. Peter (John tells us) was the one who cut off the servant’s ear. But He ran away, too.

Everyone ran away.

Jesus was deserted.
Jesus was forsaken.
Jesus was abandoned. V51.

“A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.”

Many scholars think that this young man might have been John Mark, the gospel-writer himself. I don’t know.

All I know is that everyone left Him. Everyone abandoned Jesus.

Even justice abandoned Jesus. The next section describes in just a few details what His two major trials were like.

The first trial was the Jewish trial before the High Priest and the Sanhedrin. V.53

“They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together. [71 of them in total.] Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire. [Maybe he hasn’t abandoned Jesus!] The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. [He was pure.] Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree. Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: ‘We heard him say, 'I will destroy this man-made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man.'’ Yet even then their testimony did not agree.”

You need to understand that this whole trial is massively illegal. They were not to have a trial at night. They were not to have a trial during a Festival. The witnesses must agree, two or three for a charge to stick. This whole thing is travesty of justice. But they don’t care. All they care about is getting rid of the troublemaker. V.60

“Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, ‘Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?’ [Silence.] But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?’

What’s the answer? Peter had said that He was back in chapter 8. We called the highpoint of the gospel at that point. ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?’

If He is, then they should praise God for sending Him and worship Him!

“‘I am,’ said Jesus. ‘And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ [The Son of Man from Daniel 7 is equated with the Messiah of Psalm 110. And He’s suffering like the Servant of Isaiah 53.]

The high priest tore his clothes. ‘Why do we need any more witnesses?’ he asked. ‘You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?’ They all condemned him as worthy of death. Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, ‘Prophesy!’ And the guards took him and beat him.”

This is what He went through for you.

He didn’t deserve it.

“Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, ‘Prophesy!’ And the guards took him and beat him.”

Will Peter come to His defense? V.66

“While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. ‘You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,’ she said. But he denied it. ‘I don't know or understand what you're talking about,’ he said, and went out into the entryway.

When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, ‘This fellow is one of them.’ Again he denied it.

After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, ‘Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.’ He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, ‘I don't know this man you're talking about.’

Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: ‘Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.’ And he broke down and wept.”

Do you see yourself in Peter?

We have all been like Peter.

And Jesus was alone. Abandoned by justice. The next section is about His Roman trial. Chapter 15, verse 1.

“Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.”

They couldn’t legally kill Him. And they probably afraid of the crowd. If they could get the Romans to kill Him, they would keep the people from rioting. So they handed Him over to the Roman governor V.2

“‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ asked Pilate. ‘Yes, it is as you say,’ Jesus replied. [He is the King of the Jews!] The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him, ‘Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.’ [Silence.] But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” [Isaiah 53:7].

Now, Pilate thought he was a crafty old devil and wanted to use the crowd to his advantage. V.6

“Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.

‘Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?’ asked Pilate, knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. [Pilate probably thinks that the crowd will overturn the chief priests, Jesus will go free and Pilate will be popular. Jesus seem pretty harmless to him right now. V.11]

But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. ‘What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?’ Pilate asked them.

‘Crucify him!’ they shouted.

‘Why? What crime has he committed?’ asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, ‘Crucify him!’

Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.”

That was the justice that Jesus got.

That flogging He got often killed its recipients. They had a leather whip with pieces of bones and metal shards embedded in it. And it would have ripped open our Savior’s back. V.16

“The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. [Mocking our Lord!] And they began to call out to him, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.”

He had to carry His own crossbeam. But with the beating He had endured, He could hardly walk. V.21

“A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. [No anesthesia.]

And they crucified him.”

I don’t think we really know what that means...

“Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. [He’s naked, hanging there, fighting to breath. Dying.] It was the third hour [9am] when they crucified him. The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

“They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!’

In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can't save himself! Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.’ Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

He was alone. He was abandoned.

“At the sixth hour [noon] darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour [3pm]. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’– which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’”

Jesus was abandoned, even by His Father.

He was abandoned to the wrath of His Father.

Jesus was experiencing the agony of Psalm 22. Read it this week in your devotions. Think about how Jesus felt when the wrath of God was poured out on Him and the intimacy of the Trinity was broken for 3 hours that Friday.

“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”

Someone thought that he was saying “Elijah, not Eloi.” V.35

“When some of those standing near heard this, they said, ‘Listen, he's calling Elijah.’ One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. ‘Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down,’ he said.

With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’”

This is what the abandonment of Jesus accomplished.

It ripped apart the barrier between God and man. It opened the way into the Holy of Holies.

And it opened the eyes of a Roman soldier to believe in the deity of Christ.

We don’t know anything else about this centurion except that He saw more clearly than anyone else in this entire gospel Who Jesus was.

And He saw it in His death.

The Cross, which is ugly and difficult to think about, is the clearest revelation of Who Jesus is.

“Surely this man was the Son of God!”

Can you see it?

Can you see the way into relationship with God through the abandonment of God?

This is what to took for you and me to not be abandoned like we should be.

Jesus was abandoned so that we who should have been abandoned can come into loving relationship with the living God.

“[H]e was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” [Isaiah 53:5-6].

“Surely this man was the Son of God!”

V.40

“Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there. It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God [a believer], went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead [some crucified men could hang on for days]. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body [the corpse of Jesus], wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.”

There was no mistake. Jesus was dead.

Seemingly, this is the end of the story.

And we will pick up right here next Sunday.

Right now, I just want us to think about the abandonment of Jesus.

Abandoned, betrayed by Judas.
Abandoned in prayer, the spirit was willing but the body was weak.
Abandoned by His followers–no matter how brave they said they would be.
Abandoned by justice, both Jewish and Roman.

Abandoned to torture, mockery, ridicule, scorn, flogging, spitting, beating.

Abandoned to God’s will.

Abandoned by God the Father.

Abandoned to Death.

For you and for me.

How do you respond to the abandonment of Jesus?

Have you taken advantage of the access to God that the abandonment of Jesus affords for you?

The curtain in the temple was torn.

Have you come into a loving relationship with God through the Cross of Christ?

Are you thankful for the Cross of Jesus Christ?

Are you living for Savior?

Are you following the Savior?

He was forsaken so that you will not be.
He was deserted so that you will never be.
He was abandoned so that you and I can relate to God in love forever.

“Surely this man was the Son of God!”

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Matt's Messages - Watch!

“Watch!”
April 3, 2006
Mark 13:1-37

In Mark 13, Jesus teaches about the events that surround His second coming.

Mark 13 is about what we often call the “End Times” or “eschatology.”

And there are few parts of Christian doctrine that are so hotly disputed as the End Times. I think, because eschatology is all about the future and things that haven’t happened yet, there is more unclear than in other areas of Christian teaching, and therefore more areas for disagreement. I know that we in this room are probably not all on the same page with some of the finer points of eschatological doctrine. And that’s okay. We are still brothers and sisters.

There are two major ditches that we can fall into when talking about the End Times. One is what I call “End Times Fever.” That’s the folks who have their prophecy charts out every morning at breakfast when they read the newspaper and are trying figure out what everything in the paper means in light of Daniel and Revelation. “End Times Fever.” We can be more concerned about the time-table than about the Lord’s return. And if someone doesn’t agree with us on each part of our time-table then we are up in arms.

The opposite error of that is also a ditch that we need to avoid. I call it “End Times Indifference.” People who couldn’t care less about prophecy. “End Times Indifference.” All too often, we can make the mistake of thinking that it doesn’t matter and not concentrating on what Jesus has said will happen in the last days in such a way that it changes our lives.

In Mark 13, Jesus confronts both the errors of End Times Fever and End Times Indifference. And the key, according to Jesus, to staying on the road and not falling into either ditch is application. The key to thinking about the End Times is living in light of them.

And Jesus sums up how we are to live in light of His Second Coming with one word: “Watch!”

Jesus is not so much concerned to give us answers about events in the future as to give us perspective on how to live in the present.

And He says, how to live in the present is to “Watch!”

Let’s pray together and then look together at our Lord’s teaching in Mark chapter 13.

[prayer]

Remember where Jesus is and what week it is.

Jesus is in Jerusalem on what will be His last week before His crucifixion.

Last week, He put the Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees, and the Teachers of the Law in their place. No one could answer Him. And they are rip-roaring mad and out to get Him.

They will kill Him.

He’s predicted judgment on Israel. He’s cleaned out the temple and called it a “den of robbers.” And now, physically and symbolically Jesus is leaving the temple for the last time. V.1

“As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!’ ‘Do you see all these great buildings?’ replied Jesus. ‘Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’”

Herod’s Temple was magnificent. It took up one sixth of the land mass of old Jerusalem. It was a wonder of the ancient world. The stones according to Jewish historian Josephus were 37 feet long by 12 feet high by 18 feet wide and gilded with gold! The outer dimensions would cover twelve football fields.

But Jesus says that this amazing, massive building will be torn down.

“Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

Well, that sounded to the disciples like the End Times. If that was going to happen, that would signify the End. V.3

“As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple [He’s now outside the temple looking back at it], Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, ‘Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?’”

Peter, James, John, and Andrew were the first four disciples to be called in Mark chapter 1. And now, they are getting a private tutoring in eschatology that we are invited to listen in on.

They want to know when the temple will be destroyed and what signs will accompany it and in their minds that signifies the End Times.

But Jesus is more concerned with how they act in the present time than in giving them a bunch of signs about the future.

Application #1. WATCH OUT FOR DECEIVERS, DISTRESSES, AND DATE-SETTERS. V.5

“Jesus said to them: ‘Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many.”

Watch out for deceivers. There were be many and they will deceive many.

They will claim to be the Messiah and lead people astray.

This happened in the first century, and it has happened in every century since then.

They have names like Sun Yung Moon and David Koresh and Jim Jones. And they are sneaky and don’t always look like bad people.

Watch out for deceivers.

And watch out for distresses. V.7

“When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.”

Notice closely what Jesus says to His disciples. He says that there will be various distresses: wars, rumors of wars, international rivalry, earthquakes, and famines.

Does He say that that means the End Times are here? Actually not.

He says (v.7) “the end is still to come.” He says (v.8), “These are the beginning of the birth pains.”

All of these things are signs but they are not signs. They are signs of the age between the two comings of Christ but they are not signs of the End.

All of these things happened in the first century. And they have happened in every century since then.

They are the birth pains.

Birth pains are awful suffering that a mother must go through to get to the great joy of a baby.

The birth pains of the world are the awful sufferings that come between Jesus’ first coming and His second coming that the world must go through to get to the great joy of His return.

And whenever we see wars, rumors of wars, international rivalry, earthquakes, and famines, we are reminded that the Lord is coming. But we aren’t to take any of these distresses as a definitive sign that He is here.

And we aren’t to be surprised that life will be tough until He returns. We feel the birth pains, too. Especially the persecution. V.9

“‘You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

All of that happened in the first century, and it has happened in every century since then. And it will happen again and again until Jesus returns.

We can expect persecution. We can expect families to turn on one another. Jesus said He brought a sword that would divide families. We are to watch out for distresses because they are coming.

And in the face of these distresses, we are to preach the gospel boldly.

The Good News of Jesus Christ is to be spread to all the nations while we wait for the Lord’s return.

Because God is gathering for Himself a people from “every tribe, people, tongue, and nation” (Rev. 13:7).

And when we are called upon to testify, we don’t have to worry. God the Holy Spirit will give us words!

Don’t be surprised that hard times will come. Just be faithful in them. “He who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

Those who bail on Christ when it gets difficult may not have belonged to Christ in the first place.

Watch out for deceivers and distresses. Jesus said they are coming.

Now, has Jesus answered their question?

Not really. He hasn’t really given them any signs that they can hang onto or told them when the temple will be destroyed.

I think in this next part (verses 14-23), Jesus answers their question.

He teaches about the fall of the temple which actually happened forty years after this teaching in AD 70.

But many good Bible believing scholars disagree and think that this next passage is all about the Great Tribulation that is coming at the End of this Age. And some take it to be about both AD 70 and the Great Tribulation. So, there’s room for disagreement here. And I’ve gone back and forth over the years (and over this last week!).

Regardless of exactly when this happens, it describes a time of unparalleled distress. And it is an actual event that will occur before the Lord’s return. V.14

“‘When you see 'the abomination that causes desolation' standing where it does not belong–let the reader understand [Mark says, and I wish I did!]–then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that this will not take place in winter, because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now–and never to be equaled again. If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect–if that were possible [and it’s not]. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.”

You can see what I think that this is a description of the Jewish war in AD70 and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple that happened then. Josephus describes the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in much the same way.

And it answers the disciples’ question.

But you can also see how this sounds like a description of something that will happen in the future at the Great Tribulation, especially with the words “those days will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now–and never to be equaled again” (v.19).

Perhaps it’s both. Either way, Jesus said that it would happen, and He wants us to “watch out” because of it. V.23

“So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.”

And then, the next item on God’s prophetic time-table is the return of Jesus Christ! V.24

“But in those days, following that distress, 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.' At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.”

Behold, He Comes
Riding on the Clouds
Shining Like the Sun
At the Trumpet Call

Lift Your Voice
It’s Year of Jubilee
And Out of Zion’s Hill Salvation Comes! (Days of Elijah, 1997, Robin Mark)

Jesus is coming back soon!

Jesus’ words come out of Daniel chapter 7, verses 13 and 14.

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

Jesus will return for His people.
Jesus is the King.
And His Kingdom will never be destroyed!

Hallelujah! Come, Lord Jesus, Come! Maranatha!

That is our Blessed Hope! The return of Christ!

But Jesus says, beware. Watch out for date-setters. V.28

“‘Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. [Or “He is near, right at the door.”] I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

Now this can get confusing. Follow along with me if you can.

I think that Jesus is saying that like a fig tree that blooms in late Spring, you can tell by seeing the things in verses 5 through 23 that the return of Christ is near. But you don’t know exactly when it will happen. Summer is close if there are figs, but you don’t know when Summer will actually be here.

So you have to be ready, but you are waiting.

And “this generation” alive when Jesus is saying these things will not die until all of the things in verse 5 through 23 have happened (at least begun to happen, the birth pains have begun), so that in the next 40 years Christ’s return will be imminent.

All of these things will be seen in the first century even if they continue for 21 more centuries or 101 more centuries and they all remind us that Christ’ return is near.

And therefore to be watched for and ready for.

But not certain when.

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

Watch out for deceivers (false Christ’s and false prophets, signs and miracles), watch out for distresses (wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, persecutions, tribulations), and watch out for date-setters.

No one knows about that day or hour. Not the angels in heaven, not even the Son of God! But only the Father.

Beware of people who tell you when Christ is going to return.

People did it during the first century, and they’ve done it every century since.

Don’t get caught up in End Times Fever and let someone set a date for the return of Christ that makes you change your behavior.

But also don’t get lost in End Times Indifference and forget that Christ is coming back soon! You don’t know when. So you better be ready. V.33

“Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back– whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'”

Application #2. KEEP WATCH FOR THE RETURN OF CHRIST!

Watch out for deceivers, distresses, and date-setters.

But keep watch for the return of Christ.

Do you see how Jesus is not so much concerned to give us answers about events in the future as to give us perspective on how to live in the present.

Keep watch for the return of Christ!

Some delay is expected. But you don’t know when He will return, so you need to keep watch.

What’s that mean? Keep watch?

First, Be Awake.

There is a mini-parable here. Jesus says “It's like a man going away [Whose the man? Jesus]: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back– whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.” That would be a bad thing.

I think that a least one of the things that “being awake” means is being saved. Being a Christian.

In the New Testament, “sleeping” is often a metaphor for being a nonChristian. But the Christian is spiritually awake.

That’s why Ephesians 5 says, “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (v.14).

Be awake.

When Jesus comes a second time, He’s only coming for those who are “awake to Him.” Those who long for Him and love Him and are trusting Him with their lives.

If that doesn’t describe you, you are asleep and you are in danger.

I invite you to place yourself in Jesus’ hands today. He died on the Cross as the sacrifice for sins and He is the only way for you to get to the Father.

“Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

“Do not let Him find you sleeping.”

Next, Be Busy!

“Keeping watch” is not just “not sleeping,” it’s being busy doing the assignments that He has given you.

In verse 34, the owner of the house gives each servant an assigned task.

What does He want done while he’s gone?

Does He want all of the servants looking out the windows wondering when He’ll get back? No.

He wants them busy doing their assignments.

Preaching the Gospel. When was the last time you shared your faith in view of the return of Christ?

Using Their Gifts. What has God given you to build up the body? Use your gift in light of Christ’s near return.

Doing Your Assignment. What has God given for you to do while are on this Earth? We have many assignments are we are to keep them in light of Christ’s soon return.

You don’t know when He’s coming back, be found busy.

This one goes with last one, Be Investing.

In Matthew’s version of this “Olivet Discourse,” Jesus tells the parable of the talents. A man goes away in that story and leaves his servants in charge of some money.

What are they supposed to do with it? Bury it? No. Invest it. Put it to work. Like our money, our givft, and our time. (Time, Talents, and Treasures.)

The owner comes back and wants a return on the investment. And to the extent to which they’ve been putting their time, talents, and treasures to work, they are rewarded.

Keeping Watch means investing in the future.

It means living with an investment mentality.

Jesus calls it “storing up treasures in heaven.”

Here’s how you know if you believe that Jesus is coming back.

You are investing in the world to come more than you are investing in the world that is now.

We are stewards who will have to given an account.

Be investing.

And then, Be Patient.

It’s not what you expect from a message on the End Times, but that’s a lot of what Jesus is teaching here. He’s often not what we expect.

He says that there is going to be some delay (and it’s been 2000 years now). The owner of the house went away and isn’t back yet.

“[W]ars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen the but end is still to come.” (V.7)

Keeping watch means waiting. It means being patient for Christ’s return. He is not slow in keeping His promises. He’s just hanging back until the full number of His chosen come in.

So, while we strive and long for the return of the King, we wait patiently for His good timing.

And also, Be Pure.

In Luke’s account of this same teaching, Jesus says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.”

Be pure.

John says, “We know that when [Christ] appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”

Paul says to Titus: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope–the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (2:11-13).

Be pure.

Are you living your life the way you would want the Savior to see it when He comes back?

Be pure.

And last, Be Ready.

“Keeping Watch” basically means living in a state of readiness.

Not too feverishly and definitely not indifferently.

Jesus wants us to be ready for His return.

V.33 “Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.”

V.37 “What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

As you know the EFCA has begun a process of revising our statement of faith and one of the things they have done in the proposed revision is emphasize with new wording how we are supposed to live in light of the second coming.

The proposed new article #9 says this:

“God's gospel will be brought to fulfillment by the Lord Himself at the end of this age–We believe in the personal and glorious coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with His holy angels, when He will establish His kingdom fully and exercise His role as Judge of all. This coming of Christ at a time known only to God requires constant expectancy and should motivate the believer to godly living, sacrificial service, and energetic mission. This is our blessed hope.” [See the full thing in a .pdf form here.]

Amen and Amen.

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Matt Messages - Coins, Questions, and Christ

“Coins, Questions, and Christ”
March 26, 2006
Mark 12:13-44

Jesus is in Jerusalem on the week in which He is going to be crucified, Passion Week.

Jesus has predicted that the Jewish Religious Leaders will arrest Him, condemn Him, hand Him over to the Romans, who will mock Him, spit on Him, flog Him, and kill Him [Mark 10:32-34]. And that is just days away.

On this day, Jesus enters into a feisty debate with the Jewish Religious Leaders. What I’m going to call: “Coins, Questions, and Christ.”

There were three main parts to the Sanhedrin (the Jewish Religious Council)–the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Scribes (or Teachers of the Law). In Mark 12, each of those parties (the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Teachers of the Law) approach Jesus and engage Jesus with a tricky question. And He takes on “all comers.”

Today, we’re going to listen to Jesus’ answers to their questions as well as the question and teaching that He has for them. And we’re going to draw five applications for our lives today.

Let’s begin with prayer.

[prayer]

Mark chapter 12, verse 13.

“Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, ‘Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. [Are you buttered up yet?] Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn't we?’” Stop there for a second.

First, you need to know that the Pharisees and the Herodians were not natural allies. The Pharisees were very concerned about holiness, and you know what kind of a guy Herod was. But they were united in their common fear of Jesus.

So, they are sent together to try to trap Jesus in His own words.

They try to butter Him up by saying that they know that He can’t be buttered up and then they try to impale Him on the horns of a dilemma.

No one likes paying taxes. And the Jews under the oppressive hand of the Romans especially hated paying taxes. Here they were in their own homeland, given to them by God, and they were having to pay taxes to these foreign devils.

So if Jesus says to pay Roman poll-taxes, He might fall out of favor with the crowds who love Him so much. But if He says to not pay the Roman poll-tax, He’ll get in trouble with the Roman authorities. Either way, the Pharisees and the Herodians win.

But Jesus doesn’t fall for it. V.15

“But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. ‘Why are you trying to trap me?’ he asked. ‘Bring me a denarius [a days wage and the normal currency to pay the poll-tax] and let me look at it.’ They brought the coin, and he asked them, ‘Whose portrait is this [literally, who’s image]? And whose inscription?’ ‘Caesar's,’ they replied. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's.’ And they were amazed at him.”

#1. GIVE TO CAESAR WHAT IS CAESAR’S, BUT TO GOD WHAT IS GOD’S.

Now, Jesus isn’t saying that Caesar (or the government) owns all the money and God doesn’t. We know that.

Jesus is saying that it is possible to submit to the government without compromising your submission to God. In fact, Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 say that it is part of our submission to God to submit to the ruling authorities.

And Jesus is forging His own third way between the horns of the dilemma.

Yes, the Romans are in power, so give them what they ask for.

But give God what He asks for!

Did you ever think about that last phrase in Jesus saying? I think it’s important.

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

What is God’s?

Whose image is stamped on the coin? Caesars.

Whose image is stamped on you? God’s.

What does God want? He wants you.

April 15th is coming, and it’s time to get your taxes prepared. Often this passage is seen as a biblical call to be honest and prompt in paying your taxes. And it is.

But it is also, deeper, a call to give yourself to God.

And I think that’s what amazed the crowd when Jesus answered like this.

Not only did He give a straight, unpopular answer to the question, but He took the answer in a direction that forced people to consider whether or not they were giving themselves to God as He deserved.

Do you think of yourself as devoted to God? Belonging to God? God’s rightful possession?

I think that one of the major mistakes in our thinking is that we often think of ourselves as own possession.

“It’s my body.”
“It’s my bank account.”
“It’s my bonus.”
“It’s my car.”
“It’s my relationship.”
“It’s my life.”
“It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to.”

But that’s not true. All humans (even nonChristians) are stamped with the image of God. “Give to God what is God’s.”

And Christians are double-stamped!

We belong to God through redemption. We’ve been bought back with a heavy price.

“Give to God what is God’s.”

Question. What have you been holding back? ....

So the Pharisees and the Herodians have lost round #1.

The Sadducees step up for round #2. V.18

“Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother.” Stop there for a sec.

The Sadducees were a powerful, wealthy religious party during the days of Jesus’ ministry. They only believed in the first 5 books of the Bible. And they didn’t think that the Book of Moses, the Torah, taught that there would be a resurrection from the dead. [That’s why they were “Sad, you see.” Ha, ha.]

Well, the Sadducees are going to try to trip up Jesus on this doctrine–the doctrine of the resurrection. They are going to do it by offering a case study that takes the Mosaic law of levirate marriages to its extreme.

A levirate marriage was a social institution created in the Mosaic law-code to keep inheritances in the family lines and keep the Jews from intermarrying with Gentiles. “If a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother.”

It sounds strange to us, but it worked. The firstborn from that marriage was considered the firstborn of the deceased first husband.

But the Sadducees are going to try to make fun of resurrection using it. V.20

“Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. [Levirate marriage enters in.] The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. [Levirate marriage.] It was the same with the third. [Levirate marriage.] In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. At the resurrection [ha, ha] whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?’” In other words, “Resurrection is ludicrous!”

They think they’ve got Him. What a dumb thing to believe that God is going to raise the dead! Ha, ha. Do you know anyone who thinks the same way? V.24

“Jesus replied, ‘Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? [You don’t know squat!] When the dead rise [there’s going to be a new state of things], they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.”

You don’t know what you’re talking about! You think that resurrection means simply life going on as it is. But the resurrection that is on the way is going to change a whole lot of things. V.26

“Now about the dead rising–have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!’”

You don’t know squat!

Notice how Jesus uses their own books against them! He appeals to Exodus 3 and the burning bush. God says that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And that means to Jesus that they are alive or at least will be alive again so that God can keep His promises to them.

The “power of God” is going to raise Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob one day so that they can enjoy the fulfillment of all of God’s I AM promises to them. Guaranteed. Because God always keeps His promises!

Jesus is saying that resurrection is real.

Application #2. GET READY TO LIVE FOREVER.

Resurrection is real.

The Sadducees may not understand it.
The Sadducees may make fun of it.
The Sadducees may not believe in it.

But Sadducees don’t know what they’re talking about.

Resurrection is real. Get ready to live forever.

Forever.

Remember our FOREVER series of messages this last Fall?

Forever is coming. And it won’t be in a disembodied, floating spirit state.

Forever means new resurrection bodies.

Are you ready?

Resurrection Sunday is just 3 weeks away.

We will celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. And Jesus is the firstfruits of the resurrection to come.

If you don’t believe that, you don’t know squat.

Strike One, Pharisees.
Strike Two, Sadducees.

The Teachers of the Law are up to bat. This time, the questioner isn’t so antagonistic. V.28

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’ [Which is the greatest? Which one is the Head of the Commandments that all of the other 612 flow from? V.29] ‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these.’”

Application #3. From the mouth of Jesus: LOVE GOD WITH YOUR ALL AND LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.

After the word “love,” the key word in v.30 is ALL. A-L-L. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

He’s saying God wants all of you.

He is worthy of your all.
He deserves you all.
He is desirous of your all.

Love God with your all.

And right along with that (can’t be divorced from it, in many ways it’s how we do it!) is love your neighbor like you love yourself.

None of us have kept these Great Commandments.

So, right here we are forced to see and are helpfully reminded of our need of a Savior.

Only One has ever loved God with His All. And He died on the Cross to pay for all of the times we have not.

Only One has ever loved His neighbor perfectly. And He died on the Cross to pay for all of the times we have not.

The first thing that this commandment does for us is drive us to recognize our need of a Savior.

Have you trusted the Savior?
Are you thankful for the Savior’s perfect love of God and others?
Are you trusting in the Savior’s redeeming sacrifice for your unloving heart?

Your Blood Has Washed Away My Sin
Jesus, Thank You!
The Father’s Wrath [For Not Loving Him With My All] Completely Satisfied
Jesus, Thank You!
Once Your Enemy [Not Loving You At All], Now Seated At Your Table
Jesus, Thank You! (Jesus, Thank You, Pat Sczebel, 2003)

The first thing that this commandment does is drive us to recognize our need of a Savior.
The second thing this commandment does for us is to inform our behavior.

This is how we are to live.

Love God with Your All and Love Your Neighbor as Yourself.

Everything flows out of that.

When I have a hard choice to make, I like to ask myself this question, “What does love do in this situation?” “What does love look like in this situation?”

And when I get my best answer to that, I know what I need to do.

Love God, Love People, and [most of the time] you know what to do in any given situation.

Everything flows from that. Not that it’s easy, but it’s simple.

Love God with Your All and Love Your Neighbor as Yourself.

This begs the question again. What are you holding back?

This particular teacher of the law turned out to not be an enemy. V.32

“‘Well said, teacher,’ the man replied. ‘You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.”

Notice that these people come to Jesus to question Him, but in the end, He stands in judgment over them!

This man brought the toughest question the scribes have ever asked, and not only did Jesus answer it, but from a lordly position told this man that he was close to the kingdom.

And “from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.”

In other words, Jesus the won hands down. 1, 2, 3.

And then, He asks His own question. V.35

“While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, ‘How is it that the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: ‘'The Lord said to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’' David himself calls him 'Lord.' How then can he be his son?’ The large crowd listened to him with delight.”

In case anyone disputes Jesus’ authority and mastery over the Scriptures, Jesus asks a question of His own to put the Teachers of the Law to shame.

Apparently, they were teaching that the Messiah (the Christ) was the Son of David. And of course, He is.

But they must have seemed to have the implication by that, that the Christ was merely the Son of David. But Jesus shows from Psalm 110 that the Christ is much more than that.

David, writing Psalm 110 says, “The Lord [YHWH, God] said to my Lord [David’s Lord]: ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’' David himself calls [the Christ] 'Lord.' How then can he be his son?’”

He must not only be Great David’s Son, but Great David’s Greater Son–God’s own Son!

The Christ is God’s Son!

Application #4. HUMBLE YOURSELF BEFORE GOD’S SON.

The Teachers of the Law thought they had the Christ neatly in a box.

But the Christ doesn’t fit in their box.

He is Lord.

Humble Yourself Before God’s Son.

If you have never humbled yourself, take note of what God is going to do in v.36. He is going to put all of Christ’s enemies under His feet.

Humble yourself now and you won’t have to face that destruction.

If you are a Christian, you are called to humble yourself before Christ, as well.

He is the master. And we are His servants.

He is God’s Son.

The Teachers of the Law were not humble. And Jesus condemned them for it. V.38

“As he taught, Jesus said, ‘Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.’”

Jesus hates pride in all of its forms. But religious pride is especially distasteful to Him.

Remember two weeks ago? True greatness comes not from being served, but by humbling yourself and serving others.

These Teachers of the Law had no Love of God and love of others.

All they had was love of themselves.

And Jesus says that they “will be punished most severely.”

Humble Yourself Before God’s Son.

And #5. TRUST GOD WITH YOUR ALL.

There was a widow who did just that. V.41

“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. [And the crowd loved it! God must love those rich people!] But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. [1/64 of a denarius, 1/64 of a day’s wage, the smallest coins in circulation. But Jesus noticed. V.43] Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything–all she had to live on.’”

She trusted God with her all.

At this point, she loved God with all her heart, all her soul, all her mind, all her strength, and all her money.

She trusted God to take care of her needs.

My friend Russell writes, “She could have put just one [coin] in the receptacle and saved the other for herself and still she would have given more than the rich people in front of her. She would have given 50% while many of them were giving only 10 or 20%.

But she didn't do that. She put them both in. Jesus says in verse 44, ‘She, out of her poverty, put in everything–all she had to live on.’ More than the money, I would say, she was giving her very life. In a statement of faith and trust in God's ability to provide, she put all her money in the collection box, saying–in essence–‘Here is all that I am Father, I place it in your hands’” [Russell Muilenberg, “Sold Out Devotion” An Unpublished Sermon].

Now, I don’t think that this is teaching that we are all to immediately empty our bank accounts and give them to some ministry (though I don’t want to under-emphasize the example and call to give generously and sacrificially that is present here).

But I think the key thing to get here is that she trusted God with her all.

It was a trust thing. Not an amount thing.

Again, anyone can be great in God’s eyes, it’s not the amount. It’s the faith.

God wants us all.

He wants us to trust Him with our all.

I’m going to ask the question a third time this morning: What are you holding back?

God’s stamp is on you. Give to God what is God’s.
You’re going to live forever. Get ready.
Love God with your ALL. And love your neighbor as yourself.
Humble yourself before God’s Son.
And trust God with your all.

What are you holding back?

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