WEBVTT 00:00:00.650 --> 00:00:03.169 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:03.270 --> 00:00:06.209 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:06.870 --> 00:00:08.750 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.750 --> 00:00:11.169 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:11.310 --> 00:00:14.150 Son and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming and 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:16.469 joining with us each Sunday morning at 10am in 00:00:16.469 --> 00:00:18.809 the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:18.809 --> 00:00:22.329 us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:22.629 --> 00:00:25.030 Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:25.030 --> 00:00:30.510 sermon. God Bless. I want to read to you these 00:00:30.510 --> 00:00:33.390 words of John Newton from the meditation page 00:00:33.390 --> 00:00:36.409 inside cover of your bulletin. What thank you 00:00:36.409 --> 00:00:42.689 of Christ is the test to try both your state 00:00:42.689 --> 00:00:47.009 and your scheme? You cannot be right in the rest 00:00:47.009 --> 00:00:51.630 unless you think rightly of him. As Jesus appears 00:00:51.630 --> 00:00:57.609 in your view, as he is beloved or not, So God 00:00:57.609 --> 00:01:02.810 is disposed to you and mercy or wrath is your 00:01:02.810 --> 00:01:07.049 lot. Let me pray for us. Lord, we're thankful 00:01:07.049 --> 00:01:09.170 again for the gospel of Mark. Lord, I thank you 00:01:09.170 --> 00:01:15.069 for how quick it is, how well it is crafted and 00:01:15.069 --> 00:01:17.390 the beauty of it. Most of all, Lord, we're thankful 00:01:17.390 --> 00:01:20.890 that it points us and tells us and calls us to 00:01:20.890 --> 00:01:25.769 our Lord. I pray this morning. that we would 00:01:25.769 --> 00:01:30.969 heed that call, that you would touch us, uncover 00:01:30.969 --> 00:01:36.469 our blindness, Lord. We would see you and love 00:01:36.469 --> 00:01:44.730 you, follow you. Amen. This week I listened to 00:01:44.730 --> 00:01:47.590 a podcast, Rethinking Ted, has anyone listened 00:01:47.590 --> 00:01:51.290 to that? Adam Grant, the organizational psychologist 00:01:51.290 --> 00:01:54.810 who teaches over at Wharton at Penn. He interviews 00:01:54.810 --> 00:01:56.390 particularly people that have already like given 00:01:56.390 --> 00:01:58.230 Ted talks He finds really interesting and he 00:01:58.230 --> 00:02:01.090 like, you know gets deeper in with them And the 00:02:01.090 --> 00:02:04.250 episode that I listened to was with Jacob Collier 00:02:04.250 --> 00:02:07.569 Does anybody know Jacob Collier the music? I 00:02:07.569 --> 00:02:10.669 almost said magician Musician he's actually kind 00:02:10.669 --> 00:02:13.710 of like a magician, right? He's kind of amazing 00:02:13.710 --> 00:02:15.870 Matt Monticchio our former music director put 00:02:15.870 --> 00:02:18.430 me on him like a decade ago And he really is 00:02:18.430 --> 00:02:21.259 kind of I did not mean say magician I don't know, 00:02:21.379 --> 00:02:23.240 but he is kind of like a magician. He's just 00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:26.780 this incredible artist of a musician, you know, 00:02:26.919 --> 00:02:32.599 plays just about every instrument. Sort of goes, 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:38.699 brings different genres together, directs orchestras 00:02:38.699 --> 00:02:42.560 while he's directing the audience, right? He's 00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:44.879 won some Grammys, all this kind of stuff. He's 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:48.199 pretty remarkable. What he was saying in this 00:02:48.199 --> 00:02:50.819 podcast, though, in part is that all humans are 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:53.340 are musicians. I don't know what you think of 00:02:53.340 --> 00:02:54.740 that, but that's part of his contention that 00:02:54.740 --> 00:02:59.219 we kind of have this innate what he calls wiggleness 00:02:59.219 --> 00:03:03.719 that music brings out, this liveliness. We're 00:03:03.719 --> 00:03:06.780 all sort of musicians if we're given sort of 00:03:06.780 --> 00:03:10.039 the freedom. And one of the things that I think 00:03:10.039 --> 00:03:13.219 is really interesting in this podcast that he 00:03:13.219 --> 00:03:17.520 talks about is he talks about how music spans 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:19.759 all of these different emotions of being human. 00:03:19.979 --> 00:03:21.939 So music actually is not only something that 00:03:21.939 --> 00:03:24.020 each human has, but it's something that calls 00:03:24.020 --> 00:03:25.879 each of us to a deeper kind of experience in 00:03:25.879 --> 00:03:30.500 life. So he plays this augmented chord. And he 00:03:30.500 --> 00:03:33.680 says, doesn't that sound like a fairy? It evokes 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:38.539 this idea of otherworldliness for us. So he plays 00:03:38.539 --> 00:03:40.620 this augmented triad. And I promise you, I tried 00:03:40.620 --> 00:03:42.719 to hum it. to the point that I could remember 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:44.360 it. And I was like, if I try that, I'm going 00:03:44.360 --> 00:03:45.699 to mess it up, and you're not going to really 00:03:45.699 --> 00:03:48.360 get it. But it's sort of this lifting up, right? 00:03:48.360 --> 00:03:51.340 What is to augment, but to add to, right? To 00:03:51.340 --> 00:03:54.280 bring you beyond, right? And this chord actually 00:03:54.280 --> 00:03:56.479 makes you kind of think, well, there maybe is 00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:59.360 a world beyond us. Maybe that's why it's so connected 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:04.400 to fairies, he says. And then he plays a diminished 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:07.539 chord. Diminishment, of course, is to take away 00:04:07.539 --> 00:04:11.479 from, right? diminished chords are a little less 00:04:11.479 --> 00:04:15.539 friendly. They're a little less hopeful. That's 00:04:15.539 --> 00:04:19.220 kind of what it evokes in us. They're more sad. 00:04:22.379 --> 00:04:26.379 I have hesitated to call myself a musician. This 00:04:26.379 --> 00:04:28.459 is probably because I'm not a capital M musician, 00:04:28.500 --> 00:04:31.180 but I've loved music my whole life. I've played 00:04:31.180 --> 00:04:34.120 music and I've sang and all this. And I've had 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:36.959 a sense of what an augmented chord is and a diminished 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:39.139 chord and all this and how they sound. But in 00:04:39.139 --> 00:04:40.860 some ways, I never put these things together, 00:04:40.899 --> 00:04:42.720 that actually the words themselves are calling 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:45.879 us out from ourselves or actually calling us 00:04:45.879 --> 00:04:48.660 and actually naming for us the sad realities 00:04:48.660 --> 00:04:51.759 of the world. And even in the names of how we 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:55.100 sort of describe those kinds of chords has that 00:04:55.100 --> 00:04:58.959 experience sort of built into it. Which is to 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:01.509 say, in some ways, I've... I've seen and I've 00:05:01.509 --> 00:05:03.850 heard and I've even engaged with music and just 00:05:03.850 --> 00:05:06.170 in this little kind of thing where he gets into 00:05:06.170 --> 00:05:08.930 in this podcast, I felt like I could see things 00:05:08.930 --> 00:05:12.310 a little bit more clearly. I was putting together 00:05:12.310 --> 00:05:15.170 musical ideas that I and I just never put together 00:05:15.170 --> 00:05:19.629 just in that moment. Sometimes our ears and our 00:05:19.629 --> 00:05:23.370 eyes get opened a little bit more. Sometimes 00:05:23.370 --> 00:05:27.290 we see things what they are a little bit more 00:05:27.290 --> 00:05:32.000 clearly. Of course, what this also means is that 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:37.879 sometimes we don't. Often we don't, right? Most 00:05:37.879 --> 00:05:40.899 often we are walking around partially blind and 00:05:40.899 --> 00:05:43.939 partially deaf. We know this as we engage with 00:05:43.939 --> 00:05:49.100 other people. Listening well is far beyond just 00:05:49.100 --> 00:05:54.480 hearing what words are said. I would even say 00:05:54.480 --> 00:06:00.029 that we rarely really listen properly. hear the 00:06:00.029 --> 00:06:02.569 heart behind, the intent behind what is said, 00:06:02.629 --> 00:06:05.889 the experiences behind what's said, the hopes 00:06:05.889 --> 00:06:09.209 behind what's said. Our passage this morning, 00:06:10.709 --> 00:06:12.850 there's a lot of different stuff going on, isn't 00:06:12.850 --> 00:06:15.269 there? Jesus engages with this blind man. He 00:06:15.269 --> 00:06:17.529 asks, who am I? And then he says, hey, you gotta 00:06:17.529 --> 00:06:21.170 follow me, even to the place of suffering. But 00:06:21.170 --> 00:06:24.269 it begins with the story of this blind man who 00:06:24.269 --> 00:06:27.230 was brought to Jesus by others, probably his 00:06:27.230 --> 00:06:31.959 friends. who begged Jesus to touch him, who was 00:06:31.959 --> 00:06:35.319 then brought outside of the town, who was then 00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:39.720 touched by Jesus twice, who also spat on him. 00:06:42.660 --> 00:06:44.879 Doesn't that sound familiar? Does that sound 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:46.699 familiar? Some of you, that sounds familiar, 00:06:46.699 --> 00:06:50.300 right? I mean, last week, last week we had a 00:06:50.300 --> 00:06:52.500 deja vu moment, didn't we, with the Feeding of 00:06:52.500 --> 00:06:54.699 the 4 ,000. We were reading it and we're like, 00:06:54.740 --> 00:06:58.500 wait, that was on this page. Just the one before, 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:00.319 with the feeding of the 5 ,000, so much was so 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:02.040 similar. There were some differences, but it 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:04.740 was so similar, a little deja vu. And if you 00:07:04.740 --> 00:07:07.720 remember actually two weeks ago, we had a story 00:07:07.720 --> 00:07:10.480 that Mark told us about a deaf and a mute man 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:13.699 who was brought to Jesus by some of his friends 00:07:13.699 --> 00:07:17.550 who begged him, same word. Touch him who was 00:07:17.550 --> 00:07:20.149 brought away from those who may have maybe had 00:07:20.149 --> 00:07:22.509 mocked him for his speech impediments and all 00:07:22.509 --> 00:07:24.930 this Outside of the community and Jesus touched 00:07:24.930 --> 00:07:27.050 him and one other thing he did is he spat in 00:07:27.050 --> 00:07:28.850 that thing? And of course initially we're like 00:07:28.850 --> 00:07:32.389 what's going on here, but what is unquestionably 00:07:32.389 --> 00:07:40.350 happening is Deja vu again Mark doing Why why 00:07:40.350 --> 00:07:46.209 is mark doing this y 'all repetition is the Only 00:07:46.209 --> 00:07:48.350 a few of you listened last week. Let me say it 00:07:48.350 --> 00:07:51.029 again. Repetition is the key of learning. Repetition 00:07:51.029 --> 00:07:54.730 is the key of learning. Okay, we'll get it. Mark 00:07:54.730 --> 00:07:57.850 wants you to get it. Mark and Jesus want us to 00:07:57.850 --> 00:08:01.709 learn. They want us to hear. They want us to 00:08:01.709 --> 00:08:06.480 see Jesus. And part of the thing that we learn 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:09.060 is actually the difference that's taking place 00:08:09.060 --> 00:08:10.540 in these stories, just like the part of what 00:08:10.540 --> 00:08:12.420 we learned in the feeding of the 5 ,000, the 00:08:12.420 --> 00:08:14.560 feeding of the 4 ,000 is actually in the differences 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:16.819 of the two texts. So what's the difference here? 00:08:20.839 --> 00:08:24.800 There's a process here that's a little bit different, 00:08:24.939 --> 00:08:28.819 but that was sort of similar. One of the big 00:08:28.819 --> 00:08:30.620 differences is that in the first passage, it 00:08:30.620 --> 00:08:32.200 was the ears and the mouth, and now it's the 00:08:32.200 --> 00:08:36.750 eyes, right? And it's an interesting process 00:08:36.750 --> 00:08:39.330 because first Jesus touches him and he sees a 00:08:39.330 --> 00:08:41.929 little bit. He says, I see people, but they're 00:08:41.929 --> 00:08:44.230 like trees that are walking around. They're ants. 00:08:46.429 --> 00:08:49.830 And then Jesus lays his hand on the man's eyes 00:08:49.830 --> 00:08:56.610 again, and his eyes are opened. And he sees everything 00:08:56.610 --> 00:09:02.970 clearly. Sees everything clearly. His sight is 00:09:02.970 --> 00:09:07.350 restored. And he saw everything clearly. Now, 00:09:07.370 --> 00:09:09.789 keep in mind, he was taken out from the town. 00:09:11.330 --> 00:09:12.990 He's seeing people maybe walking in the distance, 00:09:13.070 --> 00:09:16.090 but who's right there? He's seeing Jesus clearly. 00:09:17.750 --> 00:09:21.129 And Jesus wants him to see him clearly. He wants 00:09:21.129 --> 00:09:26.309 us to see him clearly. He wants us to move to 00:09:26.309 --> 00:09:28.929 a deeper understanding of him. He wants us to 00:09:28.929 --> 00:09:32.549 hear him well. Jesus wants us to see him clearly. 00:09:35.419 --> 00:09:38.759 I think he's doing this in some ways because 00:09:38.759 --> 00:09:41.039 we are actually a lot like the disciples in the 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:42.759 boat. What was the last thing Jesus said to the 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:44.440 disciples in the boat? After they spent so much 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:45.860 time with them, after they seem to do so many 00:09:45.860 --> 00:09:49.059 wonderful miracles, after he saw the 12 baskets 00:09:49.059 --> 00:09:51.440 gathered from the 5 ,000, the seven baskets from 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:54.659 the 4 ,000, he ends with, do you not yet understand? 00:09:56.860 --> 00:09:58.879 And I wanna suggest to you that this morning 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:02.389 Jesus is saying is, do you not see? you do not 00:10:02.389 --> 00:10:05.009 see. And when we have this passage, we have some 00:10:05.009 --> 00:10:07.389 reasons why we don't see. And then I think also 00:10:07.389 --> 00:10:10.070 we have the reason why Jesus actually wants us 00:10:10.070 --> 00:10:13.210 to see him clearly, okay? So first a few reasons 00:10:13.210 --> 00:10:17.289 why we don't see him clearly. So check it out 00:10:17.289 --> 00:10:22.370 in verse 27, the next passage after this engagement 00:10:22.370 --> 00:10:26.570 with this blind man. Jesus went with his disciples 00:10:26.570 --> 00:10:29.090 to the village of Caesarea in Philippi, and on 00:10:29.090 --> 00:10:32.360 the way he asked his disciples, Who do people 00:10:32.360 --> 00:10:37.279 say that I am? Who do people say that I am? And 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:42.399 the response, they told him John the Baptist, 00:10:43.019 --> 00:10:46.659 others say Elijah, and others, one of the prophets. 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:54.460 Which, again, is kind of a, make us scratch our 00:10:54.460 --> 00:10:59.159 heads, right? Why, when did John the Baptist 00:10:59.159 --> 00:11:07.080 die? Again, one more page behind, right? Chapter 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:13.500 six, John the Baptist has his head cut off. We 00:11:13.500 --> 00:11:17.399 know that Elijah slipping 900 years earlier. 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:23.559 But what we can kind of quickly at least put 00:11:23.559 --> 00:11:26.139 together is unquestionably, if people are saying 00:11:26.139 --> 00:11:28.419 somebody like John, at least somebody in the 00:11:28.419 --> 00:11:31.799 vein of Elijah, Let's say just one of the prophets. 00:11:32.279 --> 00:11:35.879 Jesus is one of the prophets. What we can quickly 00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:39.159 say, if we kind of just look at that little list, 00:11:39.340 --> 00:11:42.960 is that most people are at least saying, Jesus, 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:47.419 you're one of the great teachers. One of the 00:11:47.419 --> 00:11:49.179 great teachers. A lot of people went out to John 00:11:49.179 --> 00:11:50.799 the Baptist here. A lot of people here are the 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:56.159 prophets of all. You're like those guys. And 00:11:56.159 --> 00:12:00.299 doesn't kind of everybody say that? Pretty much 00:12:00.299 --> 00:12:04.419 everybody says Jesus is a good teacher. Almost 00:12:04.419 --> 00:12:09.399 nobody denies that. Aristotle is known as the 00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:12.000 first teacher. Maybe some of you think of the 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:15.019 great teachers like Confucius or Socrates or 00:12:15.019 --> 00:12:18.399 Solomon in the Bible. But it is an undeniable 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:21.500 fact that Jesus is the great teacher. Most people 00:12:21.500 --> 00:12:23.559 think of Jesus, at least, at the very least, 00:12:23.620 --> 00:12:27.240 as a great teacher. The Bible itself! Supposedly 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:30.460 there's like five, I googled it. Five billion 00:12:30.460 --> 00:12:34.120 copies of the Bible in the world. Far more than 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:37.220 any other text. Far, far more than the Quran 00:12:37.220 --> 00:12:39.340 or the Little Red Book or Don Quixote, A Tale 00:12:39.340 --> 00:12:43.200 of Two Cities, all of the greats. I'll engage 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:48.539 with Jesus as at least a teacher. The Bible's 00:12:48.539 --> 00:12:52.580 in a different category. I mean, everyone here 00:12:52.580 --> 00:12:54.740 today and everyone who will listen to the sermon 00:12:54.740 --> 00:12:58.240 I am betting will say Jesus is a great teacher. 00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:03.799 His words to say that I maybe should listen to 00:13:03.799 --> 00:13:10.480 that might guide some areas of my life So many 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:14.539 have had their eyes at least rubbed open to that 00:13:14.539 --> 00:13:19.000 right They come to Jesus for advice for morals 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:22.559 for stories that help them understand themselves 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:28.889 and the world better But of course, the disciples 00:13:28.889 --> 00:13:30.610 were saying a little bit more than this, too, 00:13:30.610 --> 00:13:33.230 right? They were saying a little bit more than 00:13:33.230 --> 00:13:35.509 this, which I think gets to sort of another reason 00:13:35.509 --> 00:13:39.929 why we don't quite see Jesus clearly. The people 00:13:39.929 --> 00:13:43.490 were saying that he is a prophet. John the Baptist. 00:13:43.570 --> 00:13:45.149 You know, they're not just listing random good 00:13:45.149 --> 00:13:46.809 teachers. It's John the Baptist. It's Elijah. 00:13:46.870 --> 00:13:52.070 He's a prophet. Jesus, they are saying, is one 00:13:52.070 --> 00:13:54.610 of those which is to say that he's sent by God. 00:13:54.809 --> 00:13:57.009 He sent by God with the words of God. He sent 00:13:57.009 --> 00:13:59.350 by God with the words of God to call people to 00:13:59.350 --> 00:14:05.970 God, show them the way. So maybe you don't just 00:14:05.970 --> 00:14:10.649 take Jesus as a good moral teacher, somebody 00:14:10.649 --> 00:14:12.649 whose words are worth sort of considering as 00:14:12.649 --> 00:14:16.110 you wonder how to live your life. Maybe you think 00:14:16.110 --> 00:14:20.750 he's one of the divine ones, the gifts from God 00:14:20.750 --> 00:14:25.110 to instruct us specifically. Muslims believe 00:14:25.110 --> 00:14:30.610 this, right? Some say he's one of the prophets 00:14:30.610 --> 00:14:36.570 sent by God. One of the prophets like Noah, the 00:14:36.570 --> 00:14:38.950 great prophets, or Moses, one of the great prophets, 00:14:39.210 --> 00:14:46.610 Esau, Jesus, great prophet. Their eyes are murky. 00:14:47.169 --> 00:14:49.149 They still can't see. They can't make out. They 00:14:49.149 --> 00:14:56.039 can't see Jesus. I think part of why we don't 00:14:56.039 --> 00:15:00.820 see Jesus clearly is that we in some ways don't 00:15:00.820 --> 00:15:03.899 see him enough, right? It's not that some people 00:15:03.899 --> 00:15:08.360 can't see him somewhat, you know? Give me your 00:15:08.360 --> 00:15:11.100 words. I'll go along with the idea that you may 00:15:11.100 --> 00:15:16.000 be somehow from God. We get caught up with the 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:20.399 idea of having a good teacher, maybe a prophet. 00:15:23.639 --> 00:15:26.419 My guess is that some of you maybe this morning 00:15:26.419 --> 00:15:30.019 have at least that much of Jesus. You might not 00:15:30.019 --> 00:15:32.000 want to go all the way, but you're like, good 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:35.600 teacher, I'll take it. Maybe one of the greats, 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:43.480 I'm there. But a partial understanding, a partial 00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:46.940 seeing of Jesus is not what Jesus longs for. 00:15:47.860 --> 00:15:54.620 He desires. It's not what he's about. So Jesus 00:15:54.620 --> 00:15:56.820 goes on to ask his disciples, right? What does 00:15:56.820 --> 00:16:02.019 he ask them? Who do you say that I am? Who do 00:16:02.019 --> 00:16:04.919 you say that Jesus is? Who do you say that I 00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:10.720 am? And I think he's doing this in sort of the 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:13.360 same line of that last question from last week. 00:16:15.139 --> 00:16:17.120 You do not yet understand. Why do you not yet 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:23.039 understand? In some ways he's saying you... yourselves 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:29.379 don't quite see. How are you viewing me? Do you 00:16:29.379 --> 00:16:33.279 not yet see? Do you not yet understand? And Peter 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:38.679 gives a fairly good answer. You are the Christ. 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:43.059 Why do we know this is a at least fairly good 00:16:43.059 --> 00:16:48.320 answer? You know, Jesus, he doesn't rebuke him. 00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:51.169 He doesn't correct him. He just says, hey, Let's 00:16:51.169 --> 00:16:55.210 not talk about that. Let's not talk about that. 00:16:57.690 --> 00:17:01.129 And I think, in fact, even part of Jesus' response 00:17:01.129 --> 00:17:02.850 is a way of saying, you're sort of seeing right, 00:17:02.870 --> 00:17:09.670 but you're still blurry. Some say that when Peter 00:17:09.670 --> 00:17:12.670 said, you are the Christ, He's pulling together 00:17:12.670 --> 00:17:15.109 all of these other Old Testament passages that 00:17:15.109 --> 00:17:17.529 talked about messiahs and used that word, which 00:17:17.529 --> 00:17:20.309 is the Hebrew word for Christ. Christ is the 00:17:20.309 --> 00:17:24.309 Greek word meaning messiah. And the word is used 00:17:24.309 --> 00:17:25.950 quite a bit in the Old Testament, and it's used 00:17:25.950 --> 00:17:28.789 in a lot of different kinds of ways. Messiah 00:17:28.789 --> 00:17:32.809 means anointed one. And so messiah, that word 00:17:32.809 --> 00:17:35.609 is used when the priests were anointed in the 00:17:35.609 --> 00:17:40.109 Old Testament. It's used when kings are anointed. 00:17:42.910 --> 00:17:46.309 It's used sort of in a reference to the anointed 00:17:46.309 --> 00:17:48.849 patriarchs of Israel. It's also used, actually, 00:17:48.990 --> 00:17:52.430 like we heard in our Psalm reading, of Israel 00:17:52.430 --> 00:17:55.609 itself. Psalm 130 mentions that Israel is the 00:17:55.609 --> 00:18:01.950 anointed one. Whole body. What does anointed 00:18:01.950 --> 00:18:08.329 mean? But consecrated by God. Consecrated by 00:18:08.329 --> 00:18:11.960 God. set apart by God. And there were a good 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:14.700 deal of others who claimed to be the Messiah 00:18:14.700 --> 00:18:19.880 around Jesus' time. So this audience, Peter's 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:21.339 understanding of Messiah would have had all these 00:18:21.339 --> 00:18:23.720 Old Testament connotations set apart for God, 00:18:23.980 --> 00:18:27.099 but it would also have had contemporaneous sort 00:18:27.099 --> 00:18:32.180 of context. There was Judas the Galilean. Y 'all 00:18:32.180 --> 00:18:34.039 remember him? He was mentioned in Acts chapter 00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:39.240 five. You probably know the story of Judas. Don't 00:18:39.240 --> 00:18:44.079 feel bad if you don't. I looked him up. He led 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:49.480 a revolt in the year 6. So when Jesus was alive, 00:18:49.740 --> 00:18:54.200 toddling around, Judas the Galilean in the area 00:18:54.200 --> 00:18:58.019 of Galilee in Judah led a revolt against the 00:18:58.019 --> 00:19:03.160 Romans in the exact area where most of Jesus' 00:19:03.619 --> 00:19:08.240 teaching took place. He died for it. But people 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:11.500 called him a messiah, an anointed one by God 00:19:11.500 --> 00:19:16.099 who sought to establish political strength. There 00:19:16.099 --> 00:19:19.380 was Simon of Perea. Simon of Perea was an ex 00:19:19.380 --> 00:19:24.160 -slave. He lived in the year 4 BC. He led a band 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:30.559 of rebels against the Romans again, crowned himself 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:34.119 king and then was killed. There was Theodos. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:37.700 He's also mentioned in Acts chapter five. He 00:19:37.700 --> 00:19:43.200 also led a revolt against the homens and was 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:48.240 killed. Yeah. See, to be a messiah at the time 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:52.640 was to be consecrated by God, appointed by God, 00:19:53.299 --> 00:19:55.920 but appointed by God for the sake of dealing 00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:00.200 with the political enemies. I want you to think 00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:06.279 about this too. Think of how often and how much 00:20:06.279 --> 00:20:13.079 we come to Jesus for our political gain. I mean, 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:18.259 my word. Yes, people come to Jesus as a good 00:20:18.259 --> 00:20:26.240 teacher. Yes, people come to Jesus thinking you 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:32.470 transcend just teaching. But man, don't we often 00:20:32.470 --> 00:20:38.809 like to come to Jesus for political gain? We 00:20:38.809 --> 00:20:42.089 come to him maybe on one side, pricing his teaching 00:20:42.089 --> 00:20:46.950 of personal responsibility, maybe traditional 00:20:46.950 --> 00:20:53.789 values, and his deep care for the poor, his demand 00:20:53.789 --> 00:20:58.809 that we give of ourselves, blessing of others. 00:20:59.939 --> 00:21:02.039 I mean, truly, don't we see folk on the right 00:21:02.039 --> 00:21:05.019 and the left claiming Jesus as their Messiah? 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:09.180 Theirs? The one who justifies their political 00:21:09.180 --> 00:21:13.559 thought and their actions? Do we? Come on, we're 00:21:13.559 --> 00:21:15.240 a call and response church a little bit. I mean, 00:21:15.259 --> 00:21:17.579 not normally in this kind of way, but if we had 00:21:17.579 --> 00:21:19.400 it written in the liturgy, you would then say 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:25.849 we do, right? Don't we? We do, yes. And we find 00:21:25.849 --> 00:21:27.569 this impulse among ourselves, the impulse to 00:21:27.569 --> 00:21:30.769 have Jesus baptize our own political sort of 00:21:30.769 --> 00:21:34.289 thoughts, right? We do, don't we? We do. Good 00:21:34.289 --> 00:21:37.390 job, you are fast learners. Don't we often see 00:21:37.390 --> 00:21:41.609 Jesus as one who is there, really, to baptize 00:21:41.609 --> 00:21:44.710 our view of the world, our own personal, our 00:21:44.710 --> 00:21:49.210 social ambitions, don't we? We do, we do. Which 00:21:49.210 --> 00:21:52.049 is to say, at least in a way, we see Him, but 00:21:52.049 --> 00:21:56.339 we see Him... Fuzzy. And Jesus wants us to see 00:21:56.339 --> 00:22:02.440 him clearly. He wants to receive him for who 00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:08.960 he really is. Look down starting in verse 31. 00:22:12.779 --> 00:22:16.119 I think in these verses we have one of the greatest 00:22:16.119 --> 00:22:21.069 reasons why Well, let me say this side note. 00:22:21.390 --> 00:22:23.430 I think in these verses, we see one of the great 00:22:23.430 --> 00:22:26.190 reasons to take the Bible seriously. You've got 00:22:26.190 --> 00:22:29.569 to at least consider that it's far more beyond 00:22:29.569 --> 00:22:32.609 just some human text, because no one puts their 00:22:32.609 --> 00:22:34.690 leader, which is Peter in the early church. I 00:22:34.690 --> 00:22:36.910 mean, you have Paul and James and John too, but 00:22:36.910 --> 00:22:40.369 Peter saying in one moment, you're the Christ, 00:22:40.450 --> 00:22:43.869 then being told that he's Satan. People don't 00:22:43.869 --> 00:22:45.509 do that when they're like in charge of writing 00:22:45.509 --> 00:22:50.099 their books, right? Unless it's true. Anyway, 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:53.259 if you look down these verses, what you see is 00:22:53.259 --> 00:22:56.779 that Jesus teaches them that he must suffer many 00:22:56.779 --> 00:23:00.779 things, that he must be rejected by the elders 00:23:00.779 --> 00:23:03.359 and chief priests, scribes, and he must be killed. 00:23:05.140 --> 00:23:12.019 Then on the third day, he would rise again. And 00:23:12.019 --> 00:23:17.160 Peter knew these stories of Messiah. And yet, 00:23:17.619 --> 00:23:22.740 Peter does this remarkable thing. Peter, putting 00:23:22.740 --> 00:23:26.599 his arm around Jesus. Jesus, I need to rebuke 00:23:26.599 --> 00:23:33.420 you. Right? Peter took a Messiah, verse 32, and 00:23:33.420 --> 00:23:40.880 began to rebuke him. No, Jesus. You're not supposed 00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:44.279 to be the Messiah that dies. You're supposed 00:23:44.279 --> 00:23:50.119 to be the Messiah that lives. Peter can't see 00:23:50.119 --> 00:23:54.279 Jesus clearly. He will go along like everyone 00:23:54.279 --> 00:23:57.299 else with Jesus as a good teacher. He will go 00:23:57.299 --> 00:23:59.940 along like most people with Jesus not just being 00:23:59.940 --> 00:24:02.799 a good teacher, but being somehow divinely given. 00:24:04.619 --> 00:24:09.619 He will go along with the knowledge that he is 00:24:09.619 --> 00:24:12.640 the anointed one, the consecrated one by God, 00:24:13.720 --> 00:24:18.140 all of its political overtones at the time. By 00:24:18.140 --> 00:24:20.500 the way, Jesus actually never calls himself a 00:24:20.500 --> 00:24:26.900 messiah, interestingly. But if it means suffering, 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:33.359 if it means dying, if it means all that stuff 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:37.859 that we heard from Isaiah that his visage was 00:24:37.859 --> 00:24:39.619 one so marred that we would not want to look 00:24:39.619 --> 00:24:46.480 upon him, then he needs to be rebuked. And I 00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:48.140 want to suggest to you again, this is another 00:24:48.140 --> 00:24:51.460 reason why we just can't see Jesus clearly. We 00:24:51.460 --> 00:24:53.940 don't want a Jesus who suffers and dies, even 00:24:53.940 --> 00:25:00.240 if he does rise again, because we don't want 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:03.980 to believe and confess and live into the reality 00:25:03.980 --> 00:25:10.579 that our sins are that bad. Jesus, guide us in 00:25:10.579 --> 00:25:14.460 a way to live. Jesus, give us a divine anointing. 00:25:15.799 --> 00:25:18.660 Jesus baptized our view of the world, but don't 00:25:18.660 --> 00:25:21.779 tell me that you actually have to die for me. 00:25:23.240 --> 00:25:25.740 Even if you're gonna rise from the dead, my sin 00:25:25.740 --> 00:25:29.579 can't be that bad that it demands your life. 00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:35.640 One of the great reasons why we don't see Jesus 00:25:35.640 --> 00:25:37.960 clearly, why we don't come face to face with 00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:40.200 him is because we can't come face to face with 00:25:40.200 --> 00:25:44.279 what our sin demands. The death of the Anointed 00:25:44.279 --> 00:25:50.980 One. We don't wanna see Jesus clearly because 00:25:50.980 --> 00:25:53.680 we don't really wanna see ourselves clearly. 00:25:55.660 --> 00:25:57.599 I think these are some of the big reasons why 00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:02.180 we actually don't see Jesus clearly. Partly because 00:26:02.180 --> 00:26:04.240 we actually are interested in his teaching, but 00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:09.079 we only wanna go that far. Partly because we 00:26:09.079 --> 00:26:12.700 want Jesus just to go along with us, right? Just 00:26:12.700 --> 00:26:17.259 be like me, have my views, Jesus. largely because 00:26:17.259 --> 00:26:18.920 we just don't want to come face to face with 00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:26.539 the reality of our own sin. But I did begin with 00:26:26.539 --> 00:26:28.119 saying that this passage isn't just about seeing 00:26:28.119 --> 00:26:31.119 Jesus clearly and the reasons why we don't, but 00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:34.579 also the reason why he wants us to. So Jesus 00:26:34.579 --> 00:26:37.359 calls this crowd to him, right? He calls the 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:41.940 crowd to him and his disciples and he says, if 00:26:41.940 --> 00:26:46.420 anyone would come after me, Let him deny himself 00:26:46.420 --> 00:26:50.220 and take up his cross and follow me or whoever 00:26:50.220 --> 00:26:57.000 would save his life Will lose it But whoever 00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:01.660 loses his life for my sake the Gospels will save 00:27:01.660 --> 00:27:08.480 it Think about this we see Jesus as a good teacher 00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:10.700 because we want to know how to live well true 00:27:11.150 --> 00:27:14.049 We see Jesus as a teacher sent by God because 00:27:14.049 --> 00:27:18.250 we want God's blessing. Yes We see Jesus even 00:27:18.250 --> 00:27:22.190 as a Messiah because we want our political power 00:27:22.190 --> 00:27:29.049 But we rebuke him to reject him for his suffering 00:27:29.049 --> 00:27:32.390 Because we want to see ourselves as good and 00:27:32.390 --> 00:27:38.190 we want the good life We want self -preservation 00:27:38.190 --> 00:27:43.569 right Self -preservation Jesus says that is the 00:27:43.569 --> 00:27:48.410 way of death When you seek to save your life 00:27:48.410 --> 00:27:51.750 you lose it when you lose your life you save 00:27:51.750 --> 00:27:58.569 it Jesus says despite what we think the way of 00:27:58.569 --> 00:28:04.690 self -preservation is the way of death The only 00:28:04.690 --> 00:28:08.069 way to life is through death The only way to 00:28:08.069 --> 00:28:10.190 resurrection is through the cross the only way 00:28:10.190 --> 00:28:14.289 to rising again is through suffering Which is 00:28:14.289 --> 00:28:16.789 to say if you want to see Jesus clearly you have 00:28:16.789 --> 00:28:25.150 to be willing to die And we like more the idea 00:28:25.150 --> 00:28:31.329 of a guru who teaches us how to live Politicians 00:28:31.329 --> 00:28:37.559 that promote the good life Messiah's who conquer 00:28:37.559 --> 00:28:43.839 the Romans, not die on a Roman cross. But this 00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:46.900 is the way to see, this is the way of life. All 00:28:46.900 --> 00:28:48.480 right, think about this with me. I heard this 00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:53.200 from a friend I used to RUF with. Imagine I just 00:28:53.200 --> 00:28:58.019 hit your car and totaled it. Ignore the whole 00:28:58.019 --> 00:29:01.119 insurance thing that hopefully you have, or I 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:03.759 have. But there are only two options, right? 00:29:04.650 --> 00:29:08.269 Two options to repair are the wrong. I can buy 00:29:08.269 --> 00:29:14.170 you a car. Cost me a lot. Or you can forgive 00:29:14.170 --> 00:29:20.150 me. Why can't God just forgive? Why can't God 00:29:20.150 --> 00:29:25.910 just teach and give people a good life? Just 00:29:25.910 --> 00:29:31.630 forgive me for totaling your car. But you know... 00:29:32.009 --> 00:29:36.029 that you can't actually just do that. If you 00:29:36.029 --> 00:29:39.589 did that, it would cost you. I mean, literally, 00:29:39.589 --> 00:29:43.410 it would cost you buying a new one yourself, 00:29:44.829 --> 00:29:48.970 cost you your time and your energy. It would 00:29:48.970 --> 00:29:51.789 probably actually mean costing the anger that 00:29:51.789 --> 00:29:54.069 you felt that you had to eat yourself kind of 00:29:54.069 --> 00:29:57.470 at me, that I'm gonna forgive you. I'm gonna 00:29:57.470 --> 00:30:00.150 take a lot of deep breaths and not want to punch 00:30:00.150 --> 00:30:06.599 you in the face. Or think about it like this 00:30:06.599 --> 00:30:08.279 because this works in all of our relationships, 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:11.900 too All of our human relationships and our divine 00:30:11.900 --> 00:30:18.039 relationship Someone hurts me their words their 00:30:18.039 --> 00:30:22.740 actions With their omissions and comissions with 00:30:22.740 --> 00:30:24.299 things they do and don't do that they should 00:30:24.299 --> 00:30:31.500 do for me. I Can hurt them back, right? I can 00:30:31.500 --> 00:30:37.920 pull out their hair Gouge out their eyes. I can 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:41.039 say mean things behind them, behind their back. 00:30:41.240 --> 00:30:43.380 I can mean, say mean things to them in front 00:30:43.380 --> 00:30:48.839 of their back, right? I can hurt them. They hurt 00:30:48.839 --> 00:30:56.220 me. Or I can forgive them. But don't think that 00:30:56.220 --> 00:31:00.319 forgiveness doesn't mean dying. Forgiveness always 00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:06.369 means dying. In order to forgive, I must absorb 00:31:06.369 --> 00:31:11.069 the pain that they caused. Which is why true 00:31:11.069 --> 00:31:13.309 forgiveness and true repentance has to deal with 00:31:13.309 --> 00:31:15.549 the actual pain. Somebody's got to deal with 00:31:15.549 --> 00:31:19.309 it. I mean, in order to forgive, I would have 00:31:19.309 --> 00:31:24.390 to turn away from my desire for revenge. I have 00:31:24.390 --> 00:31:30.990 to let that die. Put to death bitterness, anger, 00:31:31.450 --> 00:31:37.619 malice. My right to be right and my right for 00:31:37.619 --> 00:31:41.920 you to teach or treat me like that All of that 00:31:41.920 --> 00:31:46.319 would have to die if I were to truly offer forgiveness 00:31:46.319 --> 00:31:49.880 There's an absurdity forgiveness some of you 00:31:49.880 --> 00:31:52.240 know Walter Wangren's book as for me in my house 00:31:52.240 --> 00:31:54.299 Some of you know that because in premarital counseling, 00:31:54.299 --> 00:32:00.160 I've given it to you He says only the one who 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:07.519 is wronged can make things right In order to 00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:10.900 make things right, in order to forgive, death 00:32:10.900 --> 00:32:17.319 has to happen. The way of the world. You know 00:32:17.319 --> 00:32:19.180 that in order to forgive somebody who's really 00:32:19.180 --> 00:32:22.680 hurt you, truly hurt you, it is a suffering that 00:32:22.680 --> 00:32:26.940 you have to bear. And the forgiving one is the 00:32:26.940 --> 00:32:29.420 one that has to bear it. It is always a death. 00:32:30.640 --> 00:32:34.630 Always a death. And what Jesus is saying is that 00:32:34.630 --> 00:32:38.930 you don't see this, that in order to gain your 00:32:38.930 --> 00:32:42.829 life, you must lose it. In order for resurrection 00:32:42.829 --> 00:32:46.650 to happen, there must be a cross. In order for 00:32:46.650 --> 00:32:48.170 forgiveness to take place in your own relationships 00:32:48.170 --> 00:32:50.789 and in my relationship with you, somebody must 00:32:50.789 --> 00:32:55.329 die. He says, in order to see me clearly, you 00:32:55.329 --> 00:32:58.309 have to see that I'm going there and you can 00:32:58.309 --> 00:33:05.940 follow. See we're interested in Jesus as a teacher 00:33:05.940 --> 00:33:09.500 and Jesus the political baptizer Jesus and all 00:33:09.500 --> 00:33:14.579 the rest we want from life Because we want life 00:33:14.579 --> 00:33:19.500 he says if you want life follow me to death Find 00:33:19.500 --> 00:33:22.380 there your own forgiveness And find there the 00:33:22.380 --> 00:33:25.420 only power for life to coming to you because 00:33:25.420 --> 00:33:27.420 you're gonna have to die in your own life for 00:33:27.420 --> 00:33:30.480 it to actually flourish bear fruit in the world 00:33:33.359 --> 00:33:36.160 Let me try to get back to music and then I'll 00:33:36.160 --> 00:33:40.700 close, okay? What's so powerful about music? 00:33:43.640 --> 00:33:47.380 It gives us a voice for what we're going through 00:33:47.380 --> 00:33:53.960 so often, right? I think one of the things that's 00:33:53.960 --> 00:33:55.380 most powerful, and this is what Jake and Collier 00:33:55.380 --> 00:33:57.460 says, is that in some ways music doesn't come 00:33:57.460 --> 00:34:00.980 to life in just the major chords, the augmented 00:34:00.980 --> 00:34:06.019 chords that make you go, ah. The wonder of music 00:34:06.019 --> 00:34:08.539 is that it makes you go, ah, and also makes you 00:34:08.539 --> 00:34:14.320 go, ah. It's dealing with all of life, right? 00:34:14.760 --> 00:34:17.440 And this is what Jesus is inviting you to, to 00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:20.699 see him. He is the great teacher. He has tons 00:34:20.699 --> 00:34:24.019 to say about our social life together. Tons. 00:34:25.360 --> 00:34:28.360 He is the divinely given prophet. That's true. 00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:32.440 He is the ultimate messiah who has loads to say 00:34:32.440 --> 00:34:37.559 about his kingdom in the world. But if all you 00:34:37.559 --> 00:34:42.119 do is keep Him up here in the augmented fifths, 00:34:42.219 --> 00:34:48.280 right? Do not see His beauty. To see Jesus, to 00:34:48.280 --> 00:34:53.119 hear Him well, see Him clearly, you have to go 00:34:53.119 --> 00:34:57.099 to the minor, have to go to the cross. And it 00:34:57.099 --> 00:35:01.860 is there that we see what we sing about, love 00:35:01.860 --> 00:35:07.639 poured out to the life of the world. Amen. Lord, 00:35:08.219 --> 00:35:11.659 thank you for this text. Thank you for your great 00:35:11.659 --> 00:35:17.920 grace to us. Thank you that you are slow to anger, 00:35:19.699 --> 00:35:22.260 that you are willing to go with the process, 00:35:22.340 --> 00:35:24.980 that you know that we often treat you in one 00:35:24.980 --> 00:35:26.860 of these different kind of categories, that you're 00:35:26.860 --> 00:35:30.380 slowly rubbing our eyes, that we can see you. 00:35:31.760 --> 00:35:38.800 Lord, do that more and more in us, please. Give 00:35:38.800 --> 00:35:43.119 us open ears like you did the other man. Give 00:35:43.119 --> 00:35:46.039 us open eyes like you did here in this passage. 00:35:47.960 --> 00:35:51.000 The soft hearts and then give us eager feet that 00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:53.980 we would walk the way that leads to life, the 00:35:53.980 --> 00:35:58.340 way of the cross, and follow you. Amen. Thank 00:35:58.340 --> 00:36:00.780 you for listening to Second City Sermons podcast. 00:36:01.280 --> 00:36:03.300 We hope this sermon has encouraged you to worship 00:36:03.300 --> 00:36:06.260 God and to celebrate the gospel of Jesus. Please 00:36:06.260 --> 00:36:08.619 consider subscribing to this podcast and joining 00:36:08.619 --> 00:36:11.800 us in person each Sunday at 10 a .m. You can 00:36:11.800 --> 00:36:15.099 find us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on 00:36:15.099 --> 00:36:17.699 Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Thanks again 00:36:17.699 --> 00:36:19.199 for listening. God bless.