WEBVTT 00:00:00.590 --> 00:00:02.910 All right, today we're finishing a short little 00:00:02.910 --> 00:00:08.230 series called Jesus the, Jesus the. We started 00:00:08.230 --> 00:00:12.029 with Jesus the good shepherd, and then Pastor 00:00:12.029 --> 00:00:14.289 Jen last week preached a sermon, Jesus the sharp 00:00:14.289 --> 00:00:17.289 -tongued and soft -hearted. It reminded me of 00:00:17.289 --> 00:00:20.210 something that Dr. King wrote. He said, the greatness 00:00:20.210 --> 00:00:23.949 of our God lies in the fact that he is both tough 00:00:23.949 --> 00:00:28.879 -minded and tender -hearted. God expresses his 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:32.799 tough -mindedness in his justice and his tender 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:37.719 -heartedness in his love and grace. Moments marked 00:00:37.719 --> 00:00:43.219 with difficult words are important, but they 00:00:43.219 --> 00:00:46.899 have lasting effect when they are motivated by 00:00:46.899 --> 00:00:50.200 a tender heart. This week, I was thinking about 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:53.100 how there's a lot of words in Christianity or 00:00:53.100 --> 00:00:55.539 in religion in general that maybe we're not all 00:00:55.539 --> 00:00:59.340 familiar. And so I thought I would just do a 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:02.079 little pop quiz, not really a quiz, but you tell 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:04.219 me if you know what this word means. Feel free 00:01:04.219 --> 00:01:09.040 to shout it out. Eschatology. Yeah, yeah. End 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:12.260 times, it's the study of last things. So the 00:01:12.260 --> 00:01:14.780 creed actually covers, there's a whole clause 00:01:14.780 --> 00:01:16.980 in the creed that we just said that talks about 00:01:16.980 --> 00:01:19.659 the return of Christ and what happens in last 00:01:19.659 --> 00:01:22.700 things. This one's a little harder. What about 00:01:22.700 --> 00:01:27.989 the hypostatic union? The hypostatic union. All 00:01:27.989 --> 00:01:30.250 right, so maybe you've heard of incarnational. 00:01:30.549 --> 00:01:35.129 Jesus was incarnational. That is describing the 00:01:35.129 --> 00:01:38.650 event of God and man coming together, that God 00:01:38.650 --> 00:01:42.269 was born into Jesus. Jesus is incarnationally 00:01:42.269 --> 00:01:45.489 God present with human. Hypostatic union is the 00:01:45.489 --> 00:01:49.170 fancy word for describing the how of the what. 00:01:49.290 --> 00:01:53.170 The what is incarnational. The how is the hypostatic 00:01:53.170 --> 00:01:58.319 union. How about the septuagint? The Septuagint. 00:01:59.620 --> 00:02:02.719 It is the first part of the Bible. The first 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:04.900 part of the Bible is usually called the Torah 00:02:04.900 --> 00:02:09.740 or the Pentateuch. But the Greek translation 00:02:09.740 --> 00:02:15.400 from 70 Jewish scholars 250 years before the 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:19.939 birth of Christ was called the Septuagint. Septuagint 00:02:19.939 --> 00:02:23.219 meaning 70. LXX. So you might hear it called 00:02:23.219 --> 00:02:25.879 the 70. You might hear it called the Septuagint. 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:28.500 And it's named that because of the number of 00:02:28.500 --> 00:02:30.539 scholars that were part of translating the Old 00:02:30.539 --> 00:02:35.520 Testament into a Greek Old Testament. Okay, so 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:37.960 here's a more common one, a little easier one. 00:02:38.139 --> 00:02:41.139 We call Jesus, Jesus Christ, but what does Christ 00:02:41.139 --> 00:02:46.900 mean? According to the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, 00:02:46.939 --> 00:02:50.860 the word Christ entered the English from the 00:02:50.860 --> 00:02:56.530 Latin through the Greek Christos. So it's not 00:02:56.530 --> 00:03:01.270 far off. Greek is Christos, okay? The other day, 00:03:01.289 --> 00:03:04.550 my dad was telling my kids a joke. Where's my 00:03:04.550 --> 00:03:07.930 dad? He's telling my kids a joke. He goes, did 00:03:07.930 --> 00:03:12.930 I ever tell you guys I know every language? He's 00:03:12.930 --> 00:03:14.810 telling Wallace and Adley, I can speak every 00:03:14.810 --> 00:03:17.030 language except for Greek, but I can speak every 00:03:17.030 --> 00:03:20.270 language. Just trust me. And they go, they're 00:03:20.270 --> 00:03:22.509 all French. Ah, that's Greek to me. Give me another 00:03:22.509 --> 00:03:33.900 one. Hey, so if you're ever like, Greg, you need 00:03:33.900 --> 00:03:37.719 better jokes. This is where I get it. It's not 00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:42.659 my fault. It's in my genetic code. Now, outside 00:03:42.659 --> 00:03:46.280 of the Bible and religious writings, Christos, 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:49.599 the Greek word for Christ, is an adjective that 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:53.879 means rubbed on or used as an ancient, as an 00:03:53.879 --> 00:03:56.240 ointment or salve. So we could say Jesus the 00:03:56.240 --> 00:03:58.639 rubbed on. That doesn't sound right. Or it could 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:02.139 be Jesus the salve. That's a bit closer because 00:04:02.139 --> 00:04:05.659 maybe Jesus is a healer. So maybe Jesus the salve. 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:10.520 But this brings me back to the Septuagint. See, 00:04:10.620 --> 00:04:13.360 the Septuagint is the Greek translation of the 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:17.579 Hebrew scriptures. And in the Septuagint, Christos 00:04:17.579 --> 00:04:22.079 is only ever used another way. So outside the 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:24.040 scriptures, it's used one way. Inside the scriptures, 00:04:24.259 --> 00:04:28.569 it's only ever used one way. to describe an anointed 00:04:28.569 --> 00:04:34.689 person. So do you see rubbed on, salve? It's 00:04:34.689 --> 00:04:37.449 just the closest word they had in Greek for what 00:04:37.449 --> 00:04:42.389 was happening in the Hebrew. The original Hebrew 00:04:42.389 --> 00:04:49.769 word meant anointed or anointed one. And that 00:04:49.769 --> 00:04:57.100 Hebrew word was, anybody? Messiah. So today we're 00:04:57.100 --> 00:05:00.600 talking about Jesus, the anointed one, Jesus, 00:05:00.759 --> 00:05:05.740 the Messiah. So let's open up our scriptures, 00:05:05.899 --> 00:05:09.500 okay? Grab a Bible. There's blue Bibles on the 00:05:09.500 --> 00:05:11.379 table. There's Bibles out in the lobby. If you 00:05:11.379 --> 00:05:13.540 don't have one, take one home. It is not stealing. 00:05:13.639 --> 00:05:17.620 We gave you permission. If you don't have a Bible, 00:05:17.660 --> 00:05:19.259 you can download one from any of the digital 00:05:19.259 --> 00:05:22.699 app stores. We're going to be in Luke. Luke chapter 00:05:22.699 --> 00:05:25.420 19. Luke is in what's called the New Testament 00:05:25.420 --> 00:05:27.259 or the Second Testament. It goes Matthew, Mark, 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:30.139 Luke, John, Acts. If you see any of those books, 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:31.939 you're in the right neighborhood. We're going 00:05:31.939 --> 00:05:37.019 to be in Luke chapter 19. We have a tradition 00:05:37.019 --> 00:05:39.600 around here of giving the scriptures our full 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:42.279 attention when they're read in the context of 00:05:42.279 --> 00:05:45.000 a sermon. You can do that in whatever way makes 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:46.959 the most sense for you that you'll give the scriptures 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:49.779 your attention. But if you would also like, if 00:05:49.779 --> 00:05:51.560 you would like to stand with me as you were able, 00:05:51.660 --> 00:05:53.779 you're welcome to do that with me now. I'm going 00:05:53.779 --> 00:06:02.240 to be Luke 19, starting in verse 28. It goes 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:06.459 like this. After Jesus had said this, he went 00:06:06.459 --> 00:06:11.279 on ahead going up to Jerusalem. As he approached 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:14.360 Bethpage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:18.399 of Olives, He sent two of his disciples saying 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:21.639 to them, go to the village ahead of you. And 00:06:21.639 --> 00:06:24.579 as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:28.100 which no one has ever ridden on. Untie it and 00:06:28.100 --> 00:06:30.939 bring it here. If anyone asks you, why are you 00:06:30.939 --> 00:06:33.899 untying it? Say, the Lord needs it. Verse 32, 00:06:34.100 --> 00:06:36.839 those who were sent ahead went out and found 00:06:36.839 --> 00:06:39.620 it just as he had told them. As they were untying 00:06:39.620 --> 00:06:41.600 the colt, the owners asked them, why are you 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:44.519 untying the colt? They replied, the Lord needs 00:06:44.519 --> 00:06:47.360 it. They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:50.560 on the colt, and put Jesus on it. As he went 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:53.680 along, people spread their cloaks on the road. 00:06:54.300 --> 00:06:56.759 When he came near the place where the road goes 00:06:56.759 --> 00:06:59.240 down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:02.959 disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:06.600 voices for all the miracles they had seen, saying, 00:07:06.699 --> 00:07:09.899 Blessed is the King who comes in the name of 00:07:09.899 --> 00:07:14.019 the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. 00:07:14.759 --> 00:07:18.439 Let us pray. God of every tribe, every tongue, 00:07:18.699 --> 00:07:23.560 every color, every nation, every version of human 00:07:23.560 --> 00:07:27.300 being, we thank you for the scriptures that they 00:07:27.300 --> 00:07:29.100 have persisted throughout the millennia, that 00:07:29.100 --> 00:07:31.959 we still have them to consider, to learn from. 00:07:32.699 --> 00:07:36.100 I pray that today as we look at them, that whatever 00:07:36.100 --> 00:07:39.779 you had to teach us would stick, that it would 00:07:39.779 --> 00:07:43.160 make our faith stronger as we become more like 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:46.259 your son, Jesus. Amen. You can all have a seat. 00:07:46.279 --> 00:07:52.360 Thanks, everyone. All right, so this is happening 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:56.040 in the first century in Jerusalem, around the 00:07:56.040 --> 00:08:00.660 year probably 30 to 35. And by this point in 00:08:00.660 --> 00:08:03.660 history, to be the quote -unquote anointed one, 00:08:03.819 --> 00:08:06.740 it did not require a literal touching of oil 00:08:06.740 --> 00:08:10.879 to someone's head, okay? The anointed one, the 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:14.350 Messiah. the Christ. By this point, it was a 00:08:14.350 --> 00:08:17.949 title. It was a position. It was something that 00:08:17.949 --> 00:08:19.990 people were hoping that someone would come along 00:08:19.990 --> 00:08:24.129 and fill in the name of God, sent by God to be 00:08:24.129 --> 00:08:27.089 this person. It wasn't like in the Old Testament 00:08:27.089 --> 00:08:29.750 where the king had to be anointed by the prophet. 00:08:29.930 --> 00:08:34.970 This was a moment in time where the actions that 00:08:34.970 --> 00:08:37.629 you did became the signs to the people around 00:08:37.629 --> 00:08:41.909 you that you might be the Messiah. And so the 00:08:41.909 --> 00:08:43.409 anointing didn't have to be literal, but they 00:08:43.409 --> 00:08:46.730 were actions and events that could signal that 00:08:46.730 --> 00:08:48.769 you were the anointed one. Things that would 00:08:48.769 --> 00:08:51.889 make people think, hey, that guy might be the 00:08:51.889 --> 00:08:55.210 Messiah that we've been waiting for. And entering 00:08:55.210 --> 00:09:01.289 into Jerusalem in this way is one of those things. 00:09:02.269 --> 00:09:09.320 Now, we are in 2026. Almost none of us grew up 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:12.320 in Jewish households. None of us grew up in the 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:15.700 first century. So when we read this, there's 00:09:15.700 --> 00:09:18.679 things that are lost on us without looking deeper 00:09:18.679 --> 00:09:22.980 into it. When we read this, we don't see some 00:09:22.980 --> 00:09:25.120 of the meaning that was meant to be seen by the 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:27.960 people that were reading it the first time. But 00:09:27.960 --> 00:09:33.039 500 years before this thing happened, a prophet 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:38.259 by the name of Zechariah said this. that there 00:09:38.259 --> 00:09:42.059 will be a day when the Lord would appear at the 00:09:42.059 --> 00:09:45.200 Mount of Olives. Later you can look it up in 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:49.320 Zechariah 14 .4. And they had come to believe 00:09:49.320 --> 00:09:51.740 that this was one of the signs that a Messiah 00:09:51.740 --> 00:09:55.840 would have, a sign that salvation was coming 00:09:55.840 --> 00:10:02.100 for them from their oppressors. Jesus knew this. 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:09.200 He knew. That all the healings and miracles and 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:11.639 teaching that he had done, all of these things 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:14.299 had people looking to him as though he might 00:10:14.299 --> 00:10:17.720 be a Messiah. And now what is happening, knowing 00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:21.059 the prophecies that have been told, he is intentionally 00:10:21.059 --> 00:10:27.779 fulfilling these words about their freedom. He's 00:10:27.779 --> 00:10:32.600 doing things to reinforce the idea that he is 00:10:32.600 --> 00:10:37.220 the anointed one. Then he sends his disciples 00:10:37.220 --> 00:10:42.159 to go get a donkey. A colt is the foal of a donkey 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:44.720 that has never been ridden before. And this is 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:46.379 one of my favorite verses in all of scripture. 00:10:46.820 --> 00:10:49.960 This and in the book of Acts where Philip baptizes 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:52.159 the Ethiopian eunuch because it says he's just 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:54.299 teletransported. And I think it's awesome that 00:10:54.299 --> 00:10:57.259 there's teletransportation in the Bible. But 00:10:57.259 --> 00:11:00.240 this is like a close second because Jesus says, 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:02.799 hey, I need you to go steal a donkey for me. 00:11:03.480 --> 00:11:05.679 And okay, I get it. Yes, he says, all right, 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:08.580 if someone finds you taking that donkey, will 00:11:08.580 --> 00:11:10.799 you please say it's for the Lord? But what would 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:12.899 have happened if no one was there to see the 00:11:12.899 --> 00:11:14.600 donkey being taken? Then they come home and their 00:11:14.600 --> 00:11:18.399 donkey's just gone, right? So it's one of my 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:20.600 favorite Bible jokes that Jesus will ride your 00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:24.960 stolen donkey. And for the sticklers, okay, I 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:26.559 did write a more biblically accurate version 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:29.159 of this joke because you are correct. This is 00:11:29.159 --> 00:11:32.919 more of a borrowing a donkey situation. So If 00:11:32.919 --> 00:11:36.159 you borrow a burrow, Jesus will ride that borrowed 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:40.519 burrow. Again, you can blame the guy in the back 00:11:40.519 --> 00:11:47.159 corner. All right, but why a donkey? And why 00:11:47.159 --> 00:11:49.419 was it important that this donkey entered the 00:11:49.419 --> 00:11:52.700 city in this way? Again, let's go back to Zechariah. 00:11:53.580 --> 00:11:57.860 Zechariah 9, verse 9 says this. Rejoice greatly, 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:01.659 daughter of Zion. Shout, daughter Jerusalem. 00:12:02.740 --> 00:12:06.960 See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, 00:12:07.340 --> 00:12:12.080 lowly and riding on a donkey on a colt, the foal 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:16.759 of a donkey. Again, Jesus knows exactly what 00:12:16.759 --> 00:12:19.620 they're expecting. He knows these scriptures. 00:12:19.740 --> 00:12:22.539 He knows them by heart. He knows that they're 00:12:22.539 --> 00:12:25.159 looking at him as though he is a Messiah, and 00:12:25.159 --> 00:12:27.620 he knows the things they will expect a Messiah 00:12:27.620 --> 00:12:33.629 to do. They want. A Messiah figure, an anointed 00:12:33.629 --> 00:12:36.990 one to appear and enter the city of Jerusalem 00:12:36.990 --> 00:12:41.590 from the Mount of Olives riding on a donkey. 00:12:42.769 --> 00:12:47.289 A king that's bringing victory to their people. 00:12:48.889 --> 00:12:51.350 And then it says that they're spreading their 00:12:51.350 --> 00:12:54.370 cloaks on the road, that they're rolling out 00:12:54.370 --> 00:12:56.389 the red carpet is essentially what's happening 00:12:56.389 --> 00:12:59.029 there. Think about it like this. When your favorite 00:12:59.029 --> 00:13:02.559 team wins their championship, When your hockey 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:06.960 team wins the Stanley Cup, when your football 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:10.139 team wins the Super Bowl, when the Cubs and only 00:13:10.139 --> 00:13:13.580 the Cubs win the World Series, what happens? 00:13:14.299 --> 00:13:17.879 What happens that next week? Yeah, there's a 00:13:17.879 --> 00:13:21.659 parade. There's a celebration. Where? In their 00:13:21.659 --> 00:13:26.159 city. And what do people do? They line the streets. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:30.100 They make signs. They wave their flags. If they 00:13:30.100 --> 00:13:32.360 could, they would take their jerseys off and 00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:35.179 say, no, your feet shouldn't even touch the ground. 00:13:35.740 --> 00:13:39.379 The mayor gives them this key to the city. The 00:13:39.379 --> 00:13:43.019 people are celebrating saying our city is your 00:13:43.019 --> 00:13:46.740 city because you have brought great prides to 00:13:46.740 --> 00:13:50.330 us. You have won. This is what they're doing. 00:13:50.470 --> 00:13:52.950 They're saying, you are our king. You are bringing 00:13:52.950 --> 00:13:56.090 victory. Let us roll out the red carpet for you. 00:13:56.149 --> 00:13:58.909 Your feet should not touch the ground. Even the 00:13:58.909 --> 00:14:01.169 feet of your donkey should not touch the ground. 00:14:02.590 --> 00:14:07.370 That is how highly we think of you. It's a hero's 00:14:07.370 --> 00:14:11.330 homecoming. It's what's come to be called the 00:14:11.330 --> 00:14:17.269 triumphal entry. Verse 8, they say, blessed is 00:14:17.269 --> 00:14:20.600 the king. who comes in the name of the Lord, 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:25.720 peace in heaven, glory in the highest. Jesus 00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:28.120 is checking off all the boxes. Mount of Olives, 00:14:28.179 --> 00:14:32.259 check. Riding a donkey, check. Triumphal entry, 00:14:32.500 --> 00:14:35.419 check. Condition after condition for a Messiah, 00:14:35.659 --> 00:14:45.039 the anointed one for a new king. What could possibly 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:50.220 go wrong? Well, Jesus knows exactly what's going 00:14:50.220 --> 00:14:53.960 to go wrong because he knew exactly where this 00:14:53.960 --> 00:14:57.340 was going. He knew that only days later that 00:14:57.340 --> 00:14:59.419 some of these same people would cry for him to 00:14:59.419 --> 00:15:02.820 be crucified, that he would be handed over and 00:15:02.820 --> 00:15:06.720 betrayed, not by a Pharisee, not by a random 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:11.559 follower, but by one of his own 12 disciples. 00:15:11.659 --> 00:15:15.379 And why? Why? The answer to that is because they 00:15:15.379 --> 00:15:17.379 wanted him to be the Messiah that they wanted 00:15:17.379 --> 00:15:24.820 him to be. Let me explain that. Their idea of 00:15:24.820 --> 00:15:27.580 a Messiah was not a peaceful person. Yes, he 00:15:27.580 --> 00:15:29.799 would bring peace, but he would bring that peace 00:15:29.799 --> 00:15:33.360 at the end of a sword. They believed that that 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:36.419 Messiah would overthrow the oppressors that had 00:15:36.419 --> 00:15:42.179 overthrown them. He was betrayed into the hands 00:15:42.179 --> 00:15:47.600 of the empire to force his hand into defeating 00:15:48.350 --> 00:15:50.850 the enemies that they had. See, he is a good 00:15:50.850 --> 00:15:55.289 shepherd, and he has sharp words, but they didn't 00:15:55.289 --> 00:15:59.590 want him to have a tender heart. They wanted 00:15:59.590 --> 00:16:02.830 him to be a good shepherd with sharp words and 00:16:02.830 --> 00:16:07.470 a sharper sword. The biblical scholar William 00:16:07.470 --> 00:16:10.830 Barclay and a number of others say that Judas 00:16:10.830 --> 00:16:15.289 betrayed Jesus to force the Messiah's hand, because 00:16:15.289 --> 00:16:19.059 if he's really a king, if he's really the anointed 00:16:19.059 --> 00:16:23.919 one, then he's supposed to fight, not fall. He's 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:26.879 supposed to be aggressive, not passive. He's 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:29.559 supposed to hold a sword, not turn the other 00:16:29.559 --> 00:16:33.480 cheek. And so Judas betrays Jesus to force him 00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:41.399 to rise up, to fight, to defeat the empire. Because 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:45.440 what? kind of Messiah, when handed over to his 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:51.960 enemies, would allow himself to be killed. Especially 00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:55.620 when so many would fight for him. Crowds laying 00:16:55.620 --> 00:17:01.740 down their coats. In all the other Gospels, Matthew 00:17:01.740 --> 00:17:05.059 and Mark and John, it describes them waving branches, 00:17:05.220 --> 00:17:09.079 and John specifically, palm branches. They're 00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:12.099 celebrating this guy as a new king. Why wouldn't 00:17:12.099 --> 00:17:17.220 they rise up and fight with him? Let's force 00:17:17.220 --> 00:17:24.059 his hand. Why would they not fight for their 00:17:24.059 --> 00:17:29.880 new king? But Jesus had more in mind than saving 00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:34.319 his own life. Jesus could have been an earthly 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:39.529 power. He could have been a kind of king. Colossians 00:17:39.529 --> 00:17:44.410 2 .15 tells us, instead, Jesus disarmed the powers 00:17:44.410 --> 00:17:47.890 and authorities with his death on the cross. 00:17:47.950 --> 00:17:51.490 See, we believe that Jesus defeats empire by 00:17:51.490 --> 00:17:59.250 rejecting earthly war and violence. One of, if 00:17:59.250 --> 00:18:04.130 not our biggest problem, is that that is just 00:18:04.130 --> 00:18:12.049 not what we want. As humans, what we often really 00:18:12.049 --> 00:18:14.710 want is war. We want our enemies to be defeated. 00:18:18.210 --> 00:18:31.369 We're at war in Iran right now. They're in my 00:18:31.369 --> 00:18:34.670 car. I thought about bringing them in. I was 00:18:34.670 --> 00:18:36.950 in junior high school when we went to the Gulf 00:18:36.950 --> 00:18:44.079 War. Desert Storm, anyone remember that? We love 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:49.519 war so much that they created two lines of trading 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:54.839 cards that were all of the machinery of war, 00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:58.859 the tanks and the missiles, the scud, the bunker 00:18:58.859 --> 00:19:03.920 busters, the most valuable, Storm and Norman 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:09.869 Schwarzkopf. They're worthless now because they 00:19:09.869 --> 00:19:13.930 printed so many of them. But I have the whole 00:19:13.930 --> 00:19:16.410 set in my car because I thought, I just want 00:19:16.410 --> 00:19:19.609 to rip these things up. Because this is how much 00:19:19.609 --> 00:19:22.190 we love war and how much we want to teach our 00:19:22.190 --> 00:19:28.410 children to love war. That we create trading 00:19:28.410 --> 00:19:35.490 cards of generals. We trade trading cards of 00:19:35.490 --> 00:19:42.650 tanks and bombs and guns. of marksmen, of ammunition. 00:19:45.589 --> 00:19:48.470 And then we tell kids that it's fun to buy them 00:19:48.470 --> 00:19:54.190 and owe them. We completely dehumanize anyone 00:19:54.190 --> 00:19:58.769 that dies because of them by trivializing it 00:19:58.769 --> 00:20:01.890 into a piece of paper that you trade with a friend. 00:20:03.869 --> 00:20:08.009 When Jesus is trading his life so that we can 00:20:08.009 --> 00:20:11.359 let... go of the violence, that we can let go 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:15.740 of our need and incessant desire to be at war. 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:26.059 Closer to home, we're regularly at war with each 00:20:26.059 --> 00:20:29.980 other. We war with our neighbors. We war with 00:20:29.980 --> 00:20:33.380 our political opponents. There are Christian 00:20:33.380 --> 00:20:35.500 pastors right now, it's been in the news this 00:20:35.500 --> 00:20:39.769 last week and a half, That are literally saying, 00:20:39.890 --> 00:20:42.730 I'm not taking what they've said out of context. 00:20:43.049 --> 00:20:46.130 They are literally saying that it is okay to 00:20:46.130 --> 00:20:49.609 pray for the death of a political opponent that 00:20:49.609 --> 00:20:54.589 you believe is, for the sake of conversation, 00:20:54.849 --> 00:20:58.430 liberal, but believes these evil things. Fill 00:20:58.430 --> 00:21:00.289 in the blank for what those evil things are. 00:21:01.130 --> 00:21:04.809 There are Christians, people... that say they 00:21:04.809 --> 00:21:07.250 follow Jesus, that are hoping in their heart 00:21:07.250 --> 00:21:14.430 of hearts for our president to die. They wake 00:21:14.430 --> 00:21:16.150 up in the morning and they ask their friends, 00:21:16.210 --> 00:21:25.069 is he dead? These things are anti -Christ. They 00:21:25.069 --> 00:21:33.720 are anti -the anointing. These things. are against 00:21:33.720 --> 00:21:39.180 the Messiah. They are the opposite of Jesus. 00:21:40.599 --> 00:21:45.519 Because when Jesus could have risen up and fought 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:55.079 the empire, he let his life be taken. When he 00:21:55.079 --> 00:21:58.519 could have told his friends, grab more swords. 00:22:00.359 --> 00:22:02.720 He says, if you live by the sword, you will die 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:09.579 by the sword. We find ourselves here over and 00:22:09.579 --> 00:22:13.700 over and over again because just like the ones 00:22:13.700 --> 00:22:18.279 that are laying down their cloaks, often we see 00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:24.559 what we're looking for. We see the Jesus that 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:30.819 we want to see. If we want to see a Jesus that 00:22:30.819 --> 00:22:33.900 hits people with their staff, we can find a passage 00:22:33.900 --> 00:22:35.960 that looks like that. If we want to find a Jesus 00:22:35.960 --> 00:22:40.319 that never says anything about negative outcomes, 00:22:40.700 --> 00:22:43.539 we can find a Jesus. We can pick and choose. 00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:47.460 If we want to find a Jesus that condemns you, 00:22:47.619 --> 00:22:54.019 you can find that Jesus. They found the Jesus 00:22:54.019 --> 00:22:55.680 they were looking for. They found the Messiah. 00:22:55.859 --> 00:22:58.440 They saw the things and they said, Okay, he did 00:22:58.440 --> 00:23:01.140 all the things, so he has to be the version of 00:23:01.140 --> 00:23:05.500 this Messiah that we want him to be. But Jesus 00:23:05.500 --> 00:23:08.680 would rather die than be that kind of Messiah. 00:23:14.539 --> 00:23:17.359 If Jesus is to be the Messiah, not only of the 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:19.559 first century Jews, but to the whole world, to 00:23:19.559 --> 00:23:24.099 us today, to everyone that you know. We have 00:23:24.099 --> 00:23:26.799 to ask ourselves, are we only looking for the 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:29.740 Jesus that confirms what we already believe about 00:23:29.740 --> 00:23:35.339 him? Do we try and force his hand to be the kind 00:23:35.339 --> 00:23:38.180 of Messiah that we want him to be? Do we need 00:23:38.180 --> 00:23:42.420 him to ride a donkey? Do we need him to ride 00:23:42.420 --> 00:23:51.019 an elephant? Do we need him to wear red or blue? 00:23:55.319 --> 00:23:57.859 Because if that's what we need, then we are rejecting 00:23:57.859 --> 00:24:06.480 the Jesus that carries a cross. And instead, 00:24:06.619 --> 00:24:08.700 he's calling us to do what he has already done. 00:24:10.680 --> 00:24:17.059 To lay down our palms. To lay all of our weapons 00:24:17.059 --> 00:24:25.940 down. To lay down cloaks. To lay down hate. And 00:24:25.940 --> 00:24:32.859 to take up our cross. Lay down our expectations 00:24:32.859 --> 00:24:37.240 of what kind of Messiah that we think Jesus has 00:24:37.240 --> 00:24:44.440 to be. And let him be the kind of Messiah that 00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:57.559 he actually is. Amen? Let's pray. Jesus, thank 00:24:57.559 --> 00:25:03.160 you for all of your teachings. Help us to continually 00:25:03.160 --> 00:25:17.559 find out who you are. Thank you for this week, 00:25:17.640 --> 00:25:23.140 Holy Week, where we remember that people praised 00:25:23.140 --> 00:25:26.809 you as a king. But then when they turned, that 00:25:26.809 --> 00:25:32.170 you gave your life instead of waging war. Because 00:25:32.170 --> 00:25:35.710 you gave your life, you defeated sin. And you 00:25:35.710 --> 00:25:39.170 rose to new life, giving us life everlasting. 00:25:42.329 --> 00:25:46.569 Show us how to live that. Amen.