WEBVTT 00:00:01.370 --> 00:00:03.950 Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton, 00:00:04.129 --> 00:00:07.269 the official podcast of Cross Christian Fellowship, 00:00:07.290 --> 00:00:10.750 Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico, 00:00:10.990 --> 00:00:14.150 where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:18.210 here. Father, we thank you for this day, this 00:00:18.210 --> 00:00:20.510 time together, this time in your word. We ask 00:00:20.510 --> 00:00:22.670 that you open the eyes and the ears of our hearts 00:00:22.670 --> 00:00:24.289 and minds to everything that you have to speak 00:00:24.289 --> 00:00:26.949 to us and teach to us today in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:00:27.750 --> 00:00:31.370 It's good to be back here in the sanctuary. While 00:00:31.370 --> 00:00:34.189 I was gone, can we give Brian a round of applause 00:00:34.189 --> 00:00:38.490 for filling in? He's coming a long way. It was 00:00:38.490 --> 00:00:40.689 also great to hear Pastor Mike's voice up here. 00:00:40.810 --> 00:00:42.869 Although with the announcements, all we saw were 00:00:42.869 --> 00:00:44.189 the announcements. We didn't get to see his pretty 00:00:44.189 --> 00:00:45.630 face, but we got to hear his beautiful voice, 00:00:45.670 --> 00:00:48.210 and that was exciting too. Tess and I were like, 00:00:48.310 --> 00:00:49.869 oh, it's Pastor Mike. We're getting all excited 00:00:49.869 --> 00:00:52.009 at home as we're hacking and all that good stuff. 00:00:52.170 --> 00:00:55.149 So thank you guys for taking care of everything. 00:00:55.750 --> 00:00:57.909 That's the beauty of the church is we have lots 00:00:57.909 --> 00:00:59.929 and lots of people that help to support things, 00:00:59.990 --> 00:01:04.890 right? So thank you, gentlemen. Well done. On 00:01:04.890 --> 00:01:09.370 that note, we're on the road to Easter. It's 00:01:09.370 --> 00:01:11.890 exciting, right? It's coming up in just a few 00:01:11.890 --> 00:01:15.569 weeks. And we're starting a series, working our 00:01:15.569 --> 00:01:17.909 way to Easter. So, you know, you go someplace 00:01:17.909 --> 00:01:20.530 and they have like an Easter service. It's one 00:01:20.530 --> 00:01:22.189 and done. And now we're going to try it out because, 00:01:22.189 --> 00:01:23.609 you know, we like to praise our Lord and talk 00:01:23.609 --> 00:01:26.689 about our Lord, all that good stuff. And for 00:01:26.689 --> 00:01:28.310 the next few weeks, what we're going to be doing. 00:01:28.920 --> 00:01:31.819 is we're going to be taking a look at how, while 00:01:31.819 --> 00:01:34.840 the world longed for a king, it was also in dire 00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:37.739 need of the suffering servant. We're going to 00:01:37.739 --> 00:01:41.659 be looking at the kingship of Lord Jesus, as 00:01:41.659 --> 00:01:44.219 well as the victory that came through his life, 00:01:44.280 --> 00:01:48.920 his death, his resurrection. It's a little bit 00:01:48.920 --> 00:01:52.560 to look forward to as we go through here these 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:58.780 next few weeks. We see that... Not only through 00:01:58.780 --> 00:02:02.540 the throne, his crown, though, is what we see, 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:07.040 the true kingship of Jesus. And this week, what 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:08.460 we're going to be starting with is the fact that 00:02:08.460 --> 00:02:12.560 Jesus is the promised king born of. Now, before 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:15.879 we jump into this passage, I'd like to remind 00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:19.639 everybody that we should be coming to Jesus as 00:02:19.639 --> 00:02:22.319 little children. That's what the word tells us, 00:02:22.340 --> 00:02:25.039 right? We should be coming to him as little children. 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:28.819 And it's actually spoken of in Mark 10, Matthew 00:02:28.819 --> 00:02:32.159 18, and in Luke 18. Matter of fact, for our first 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:34.319 verse of the day, to kind of get us in the right 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:37.460 mindset, let's open up our Bibles or apps to 00:02:37.460 --> 00:02:44.460 Luke 18, verses 16 through 17. Luke 18, verses 00:02:44.460 --> 00:02:50.219 16 through 17. A little low? Okay, can we turn 00:02:50.219 --> 00:02:55.509 me up over there? All right, so Luke 18. verses 00:02:55.509 --> 00:03:00.050 16 through 17, the word says, But Jesus called 00:03:00.050 --> 00:03:03.409 them to him and said, Let the little children 00:03:03.409 --> 00:03:08.870 come to me, and do not forbid them. For of such 00:03:08.870 --> 00:03:12.430 is the kingdom of God assuredly, I say to you, 00:03:12.789 --> 00:03:15.909 whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as 00:03:15.909 --> 00:03:21.490 a little child will by no means enter it. Jesus 00:03:21.490 --> 00:03:25.080 said this to emphasize the fact That the faith 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:27.620 of a small child is so much different than those 00:03:27.620 --> 00:03:32.259 of us as adults. Right? It's a lot different. 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:36.620 Children, they trust a whole lot easier than 00:03:36.620 --> 00:03:39.159 we do. We've already had things happen in our 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:41.759 lives where we become jaded. Right? We put up 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:44.419 those walls. We put up those barriers. We're 00:03:44.419 --> 00:03:48.699 very much, show me. Move it to me. Right? Whereas 00:03:48.699 --> 00:03:52.099 children, they have a very blind faith. And that 00:03:52.099 --> 00:03:54.259 faith is often led by love, which is a beautiful 00:03:54.259 --> 00:04:00.139 thing, right? So he's encouraging us to step 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:03.879 out and to believe wholeheartedly, just like 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:05.680 a child trusts their parents and their parental 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:07.849 figures. You think about it, when you were a 00:04:07.849 --> 00:04:10.469 child, you had your parents or your parental, 00:04:10.509 --> 00:04:12.069 I like to say parental figures because I don't 00:04:12.069 --> 00:04:13.530 like to leave out the fact that there are those 00:04:13.530 --> 00:04:15.150 people out there, you know, foster children or 00:04:15.150 --> 00:04:17.089 those adopted children or those people who just 00:04:17.089 --> 00:04:18.810 lost them, but they had that parental figure 00:04:18.810 --> 00:04:21.529 that they're able to go to, you know, or maybe 00:04:21.529 --> 00:04:23.730 they had that parent that's hooked on drugs or 00:04:23.730 --> 00:04:25.170 alcohol or whatever, so they're just not there, 00:04:25.269 --> 00:04:27.410 they're absent. But we still have those parental 00:04:27.410 --> 00:04:29.290 figures, right? So it's important that we recognize 00:04:29.290 --> 00:04:31.689 that because the Lord put them into our lives 00:04:31.689 --> 00:04:35.560 for a good reason. You know, I think of my mom 00:04:35.560 --> 00:04:37.139 and my dad when I was younger. They went and 00:04:37.139 --> 00:04:39.019 they took classes and they were foster parents 00:04:39.019 --> 00:04:41.459 themselves. So I had foster brothers in the house, 00:04:41.500 --> 00:04:45.139 right? So it's important that we think about 00:04:45.139 --> 00:04:50.980 these things. You know, and so we need to think 00:04:50.980 --> 00:04:53.579 of what it is when we were children and how trusting 00:04:53.579 --> 00:04:58.319 we were. openly we went, right? That blind faith, 00:04:58.379 --> 00:05:01.540 as we like to say, that blind trust, our hearts 00:05:01.540 --> 00:05:03.339 wide open. Like, hey, they're going to do the 00:05:03.339 --> 00:05:07.180 right thing by me. I know they are. Right? So 00:05:07.180 --> 00:05:09.519 you hear little kids, they start playing and 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:11.300 then something happens. They start kind of arguing. 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:14.139 My dad will beat up your dad, right? They had 00:05:14.139 --> 00:05:16.720 that faith. They see them as larger than life. 00:05:17.959 --> 00:05:21.600 They really do, right? So yeah, my uncle's in 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:23.500 the military. He could beat up both your dad 00:05:23.500 --> 00:05:26.399 and your mom, right? Kids are funny like that. 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:31.259 Right? Matter of fact, most of us probably said 00:05:31.259 --> 00:05:33.439 those very things when we were little. Yeah, 00:05:33.540 --> 00:05:35.180 I see a hand over here. I see a couple of heads 00:05:35.180 --> 00:05:39.310 bobbing. Yeah, it happens. It happens. But we 00:05:39.310 --> 00:05:41.170 need to approach Jesus the same way. We need 00:05:41.170 --> 00:05:43.670 to have that blind faith. We need to let down 00:05:43.670 --> 00:05:45.810 those barriers. And as we get started, I kind 00:05:45.810 --> 00:05:47.850 of want to paint the picture a little bit more 00:05:47.850 --> 00:05:50.269 here for you to set the tone for the next couple 00:05:50.269 --> 00:05:53.290 weeks. You see, in awaiting the birth of Christ, 00:05:53.329 --> 00:05:55.189 the Jewish people, they were waiting for a king. 00:05:56.670 --> 00:05:59.110 They were waiting for a king. And this is that 00:05:59.110 --> 00:06:01.750 place in the movies and the stories where they 00:06:01.750 --> 00:06:04.730 start kind of panning in, they're zooming, like 00:06:04.730 --> 00:06:08.529 the marketplaces and all that, right? And they're 00:06:08.529 --> 00:06:10.170 showing how the people are just downtrodden. 00:06:10.189 --> 00:06:12.230 Things are hard. They're being abused. They're 00:06:12.230 --> 00:06:16.290 being oppressed, right? They're out there and 00:06:16.290 --> 00:06:20.170 they're fighting just for something to eat. This 00:06:20.170 --> 00:06:23.269 is very much what we're looking at. Those people 00:06:23.269 --> 00:06:26.610 in power sitting up high, taking what they can. 00:06:28.970 --> 00:06:33.449 People are struggling to make ends meet. And 00:06:33.449 --> 00:06:35.769 they're waiting for that one person. That one 00:06:35.769 --> 00:06:36.990 person is going to come in and they're going 00:06:36.990 --> 00:06:39.970 to set the wrongs right. They're going to take 00:06:39.970 --> 00:06:42.430 out those people who are currently in power and 00:06:42.430 --> 00:06:45.449 doing wrong, right? Looking for the hero of the 00:06:45.449 --> 00:06:49.170 story. In our life, we look for heroes. We do 00:06:49.170 --> 00:06:55.170 look for heroes. In fact, I'm going to kind of 00:06:55.170 --> 00:06:58.649 rabbit trail this for a second. Back in the 80s, 00:06:58.649 --> 00:07:00.709 yeah, I heard it, yeah. It's like, oh, pastor's 00:07:00.709 --> 00:07:02.970 doing it again, knock it off. Back in the 80s, 00:07:02.970 --> 00:07:05.910 there's a movie, Willow. Who remembers Willow? 00:07:06.350 --> 00:07:08.910 I see a few hands, cool. Who remembers how it 00:07:08.910 --> 00:07:13.449 began? Well, there's a sorceress. She's the evil 00:07:13.449 --> 00:07:15.149 person in charge. She's the villain of the story, 00:07:15.230 --> 00:07:22.329 right? And she, that's right. And there's a prophecy. 00:07:23.170 --> 00:07:25.149 So there's just gonna be a baby who's born with 00:07:25.149 --> 00:07:27.920 a birthmark. And this baby, when they're born, 00:07:27.980 --> 00:07:29.339 is going to set off a chain of events that are 00:07:29.339 --> 00:07:31.040 going to change everything that's going to take 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:33.759 her out of power. So what does she do? She sends 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:36.180 out a decree. All the pregnant women are to be 00:07:36.180 --> 00:07:38.939 brought in and basically imprisoned. And then 00:07:38.939 --> 00:07:40.519 when they give birth, those babies are taken 00:07:40.519 --> 00:07:44.319 and they're sacrificed. Well, of course, here 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:47.180 comes the mom of the chosen child. She gives 00:07:47.180 --> 00:07:50.920 birth and the midwife is convinced, hey, this 00:07:50.920 --> 00:07:53.639 baby cannot die. So she... flees and escapes 00:07:53.639 --> 00:07:56.740 with the baby. The baby gets out into the world 00:07:56.740 --> 00:07:59.319 and starts setting, you know, everything starts 00:07:59.319 --> 00:08:01.459 setting in motion for the rest of the story, 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:04.120 right? Sounds a little familiar, doesn't it? 00:08:06.139 --> 00:08:08.680 Sounds a little familiar. We look at the birth 00:08:08.680 --> 00:08:11.060 of Jesus. In fact, we look at the birth of Moses. 00:08:11.720 --> 00:08:15.579 Very similar. Midwives rescued the baby. Midwives 00:08:15.579 --> 00:08:17.100 put him in a little battle, sent him down the 00:08:17.100 --> 00:08:20.459 water, right? Sent him down the river. Beastmaster, 00:08:20.699 --> 00:08:23.050 there you go. I'm not alone here, all right? 00:08:23.329 --> 00:08:26.949 How about Robin Hood? We've all read or watched 00:08:26.949 --> 00:08:30.310 Robin Hood in one shape or form or another. There's 00:08:30.310 --> 00:08:34.169 dozens and dozens of them, right? There's various 00:08:34.169 --> 00:08:36.049 iterations. There's a take after take on it. 00:08:36.350 --> 00:08:38.649 Who doesn't love Robin Hood? It's a good, wholesome 00:08:38.649 --> 00:08:42.289 English folklore, isn't it? It's a little piece, 00:08:42.450 --> 00:08:46.210 but it follows the same line. Robin is a hero 00:08:46.210 --> 00:08:50.980 outlaw, right? He's going along with his merry 00:08:50.980 --> 00:08:55.139 men and they're raiding and harassing all these 00:08:55.139 --> 00:08:57.240 people in power with money and they're robbing 00:08:57.240 --> 00:08:58.779 from them and they're taking care of the common 00:08:58.779 --> 00:09:03.820 man. And he's just stepping in though. He's like, 00:09:03.860 --> 00:09:08.259 hey, I'm not here for the glory. I'm just trying 00:09:08.259 --> 00:09:09.720 to take care of the middleman. I'm trying to 00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:12.879 take care of my people until the one true king 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:15.039 comes back because when the one true king comes 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:18.549 back, he's no longer going to be an outlaw. All 00:09:18.549 --> 00:09:24.850 the wrongs are going to be set right. That's 00:09:24.850 --> 00:09:27.429 what we're talking about here when we look at 00:09:27.429 --> 00:09:28.830 Jesus. We're looking at a hero. We're looking 00:09:28.830 --> 00:09:31.269 at the hero, the ultimate hero, right? The best 00:09:31.269 --> 00:09:34.190 hero. I love the Bible. There's lots of action 00:09:34.190 --> 00:09:37.309 and stuff in there, right? A lot of good stuff 00:09:37.309 --> 00:09:45.529 in there. Looking after the common man. And that's 00:09:45.529 --> 00:09:47.710 what we're looking at. We're waiting on the return 00:09:47.710 --> 00:09:51.509 of our king. The return. Our king has already 00:09:51.509 --> 00:09:53.750 come once. And he's promised he's going to come 00:09:53.750 --> 00:09:55.149 again. We know he's going to come again because 00:09:55.149 --> 00:09:57.750 he's true to his word. The Bible's been proven 00:09:57.750 --> 00:10:01.110 infallible time and time again. And being his 00:10:01.110 --> 00:10:04.649 followers, you know what that makes all of us? 00:10:06.649 --> 00:10:11.629 Dangerous. You are very, very dangerous. Kind 00:10:11.629 --> 00:10:13.830 of like Robin Hood's Merry Men. You are dangerous. 00:10:14.230 --> 00:10:18.429 Why? Because you know the light. You know the 00:10:18.429 --> 00:10:21.309 king. You know the truth. And you take that out 00:10:21.309 --> 00:10:23.370 into all the world and all the dark places and 00:10:23.370 --> 00:10:25.009 all the places where the enemy is trying to keep 00:10:25.009 --> 00:10:28.110 it away. Trying to press it and push it down. 00:10:28.909 --> 00:10:30.789 The enemy is going to keep attacking you time 00:10:30.789 --> 00:10:34.889 and time again. Right? Coming after you and your 00:10:34.889 --> 00:10:39.000 family, your character. Over and over again. 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:43.279 That's the beauty of those. We're all outlaws 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:49.360 in the world. Spiritual outlaws. Speaking out 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:51.720 against Satan and his ministers as fallen angels. 00:10:52.840 --> 00:10:56.580 Bringing light into the cold darkness. Planting 00:10:56.580 --> 00:10:58.940 seeds and introducing people to Jesus and letting 00:10:58.940 --> 00:11:02.139 the Holy Spirit do its work. Right? Shouldn't 00:11:02.139 --> 00:11:06.049 even say do its work, do his work. We have that 00:11:06.049 --> 00:11:08.269 pronoun in the Bible. We know who he is and he 00:11:08.269 --> 00:11:14.149 lives in us, right? We get to go out into the 00:11:14.149 --> 00:11:17.950 world and work in all the ministries that we're 00:11:17.950 --> 00:11:22.789 all called to. Several of us work in more than 00:11:22.789 --> 00:11:28.970 one, matter of fact, right? We got Rose over 00:11:28.970 --> 00:11:30.850 here. My goodness, she's got so many hats on. 00:11:30.889 --> 00:11:33.009 She's not even in here to defend herself. And 00:11:33.009 --> 00:11:36.909 one, she's pregnant. All right. Along with dad 00:11:36.909 --> 00:11:39.649 over here, right? James right here. So there's 00:11:39.649 --> 00:11:42.090 one job. And then she works for APS. So there's 00:11:42.090 --> 00:11:44.289 another job. And then she has her side gig on 00:11:44.289 --> 00:11:47.529 top of that when she's able to. She goes out 00:11:47.529 --> 00:11:49.870 and she's making mugs and all that kind of stuff. 00:11:50.070 --> 00:11:53.289 She wears a lot of hats. She's a busy, busy lady. 00:11:53.429 --> 00:11:55.149 She's been a busy lady as long as I've known 00:11:55.149 --> 00:11:58.210 her. Right? She's not alone. There's other people 00:11:58.210 --> 00:12:01.809 in this room. Same thing. Lots of hats. And that's 00:12:01.809 --> 00:12:04.190 okay. Because it's what we've been called to 00:12:04.190 --> 00:12:07.250 do. It's what we have been empowered to do. See, 00:12:07.309 --> 00:12:08.950 people look to other people for empowerment. 00:12:09.049 --> 00:12:11.370 No, no, no. You don't need empowerment from anybody 00:12:11.370 --> 00:12:13.529 on this earth. The only empowerment you need 00:12:13.529 --> 00:12:16.149 comes from the Holy Spirit. It comes from Jesus. 00:12:18.730 --> 00:12:20.690 You want to feel pretty? You want to feel wanted? 00:12:20.769 --> 00:12:23.250 You want to feel needed? Go to Jesus. Jesus will 00:12:23.250 --> 00:12:25.389 not fail you. He will not let you down. And you 00:12:25.389 --> 00:12:27.309 will feel love like you've never felt it before. 00:12:28.490 --> 00:12:32.059 Which is going to bring us to today's... the 00:12:32.059 --> 00:12:34.519 heart of what we're looking at. It's a little 00:12:34.519 --> 00:12:35.899 bit of a long read, but I want you to keep all 00:12:35.899 --> 00:12:38.820 these things in mind as we go through here. We're 00:12:38.820 --> 00:12:42.720 going to flip back to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:45.799 2. We're going to be going specifically through 00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:51.700 verses 1 through 20. So Luke 2, 1 through 20. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:53.460 While you're turning there, because it is so 00:12:53.460 --> 00:12:54.779 far, I'm just going to go ahead and start reading, 00:12:54.860 --> 00:12:57.500 so catch up to me as you can. And it came to 00:12:57.500 --> 00:13:00.789 pass. In those days that a decree went out from 00:13:00.789 --> 00:13:02.789 Caesar to Augustus that all the world should 00:13:02.789 --> 00:13:06.409 be registered. This census first took place while 00:13:06.409 --> 00:13:12.470 Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to 00:13:12.470 --> 00:13:15.809 be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph 00:13:15.809 --> 00:13:18.789 also went out from Galilee out to the city of 00:13:18.789 --> 00:13:22.070 Nazareth into Judea to the city of David, which 00:13:22.070 --> 00:13:26.460 is called Bethlehem. Because he was of the house 00:13:26.460 --> 00:13:30.940 and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:35.019 his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it 00:13:35.019 --> 00:13:38.440 was that while they were there, the days were 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:41.779 completed for her to be delivered. And she brought 00:13:41.779 --> 00:13:45.220 forth her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling 00:13:45.220 --> 00:13:47.759 clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:59.220 was no room for them in the inn. Now, there were 00:13:59.220 --> 00:14:01.960 in the same city, excuse me, in the same country, 00:14:02.059 --> 00:14:04.159 shepherds living out in the fields, watching 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:06.779 over their flock by night. And behold, an angel 00:14:06.779 --> 00:14:08.779 of the Lord stood before them, and the glory 00:14:08.779 --> 00:14:11.200 of the Lord shone around them, and they were 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:13.419 greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, 00:14:13.539 --> 00:14:16.960 Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:21.519 tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:27.570 For they're the Lord. and his will be the sign 00:14:27.570 --> 00:14:31.210 to you, you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling 00:14:31.210 --> 00:14:35.190 clothes lying in a manger. And suddenly there 00:14:35.190 --> 00:14:39.169 was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly 00:14:39.169 --> 00:14:42.210 host praising God and saying glory to God in 00:14:42.210 --> 00:14:46.330 the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward 00:14:46.330 --> 00:14:52.330 men. So it was when the angels had gone away. 00:14:52.919 --> 00:15:09.159 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph 00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:12.700 and the babe lying in a manger. Now, when they 00:15:12.700 --> 00:15:16.840 had seen him, they made widely known the saying 00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:20.230 which was told. them concerning this child and 00:15:20.230 --> 00:15:23.669 all those who heard it marveled at those things 00:15:23.669 --> 00:15:27.529 which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary 00:15:27.529 --> 00:15:31.529 kept all these things and pondered them in her 00:15:31.529 --> 00:15:34.990 heart. Then the shepherds returned glorifying 00:15:34.990 --> 00:15:38.389 and praising God for all the things that they 00:15:38.389 --> 00:15:42.669 had heard and seen as it was told them. I love 00:15:42.669 --> 00:15:45.850 the book of Luke. I love it, right? It's very 00:15:45.850 --> 00:15:50.570 poetic here, isn't it? There's a reason why a 00:15:50.570 --> 00:15:52.929 lot of pastors turn to this passage at Christmastime. 00:15:52.950 --> 00:15:59.529 It's very poetic. However, we need to see it 00:15:59.529 --> 00:16:03.429 for what it really is. For as poetic as it is 00:16:03.429 --> 00:16:08.990 and as beautiful as it is, this is not a storybook. 00:16:10.250 --> 00:16:13.450 This is not some grand, happy opening to a fairy 00:16:13.450 --> 00:16:16.669 tale, right? It's not like Shrek where it's opening 00:16:16.669 --> 00:16:19.250 and he's happy in his swamp. You know, sitting 00:16:19.250 --> 00:16:21.049 there in his mud and all that kind of stuff, 00:16:21.110 --> 00:16:22.889 making a mess and scaring people with a big old 00:16:22.889 --> 00:16:26.549 smile on his face. No, this really happened. 00:16:29.090 --> 00:16:32.769 It's not this fairytale opening. We need to see 00:16:32.769 --> 00:16:36.870 it for what it really is. This is a land that's 00:16:36.870 --> 00:16:41.370 not filled with joy. This is a dark, cold time. 00:16:42.169 --> 00:16:45.769 People are suffering. People are hurting. People 00:16:45.769 --> 00:16:49.529 are being dominated. by ruthless leaders. They're 00:16:49.529 --> 00:16:54.049 being oppressed. They're being abused. They're 00:16:54.049 --> 00:16:59.649 being taxed to death. That's what's happening. 00:17:02.029 --> 00:17:04.369 Right? And because of prophecy, they have to 00:17:04.369 --> 00:17:10.930 go and register. They have ruling classes. Classes, 00:17:10.930 --> 00:17:14.819 plural, right? There's multiple classes. And 00:17:14.819 --> 00:17:16.819 these leaders, they don't care about the people. 00:17:18.539 --> 00:17:21.039 They care about their dinero. They care about 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:24.259 their status and how to elevate even higher. 00:17:25.480 --> 00:17:29.500 Right? That's all that they care about. Anyone 00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:34.339 that's beneath them, anyone, even if they're 00:17:34.339 --> 00:17:36.680 a leader themselves, but they're leading in a 00:17:36.680 --> 00:17:39.279 higher position, if they're below them, they're 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:44.599 looked at as less than. They're not even rated 00:17:44.599 --> 00:17:51.119 as human most of the time. And it's sad because 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:52.980 in that respect around the world, a lot of things 00:17:52.980 --> 00:17:55.859 haven't changed, have they? We see a lot of that. 00:17:56.599 --> 00:17:58.539 Even here in the US with the freedoms that we 00:17:58.539 --> 00:18:02.359 have, we see a lot of that, don't we? Now today, 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:04.480 I bring that up because we have considerable 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:08.559 freedoms. We have considerable freedoms. We have 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:10.880 freedoms that they wouldn't have even pondered 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:12.720 back then. They couldn't have even imagined. 00:18:14.220 --> 00:18:20.700 But we take them for granted. Look even just 00:18:20.700 --> 00:18:24.539 at the simple things. Our daily living. Man, 00:18:24.539 --> 00:18:26.619 you talk about blessings. Look at the buildings 00:18:26.619 --> 00:18:34.619 we live in. Our means of transportation. Right? 00:18:34.980 --> 00:18:39.829 The food we eat. Because even for... All the 00:18:39.829 --> 00:18:41.410 stuff that's out there and all the chemicals 00:18:41.410 --> 00:18:43.309 and the processing and all that kind of stuff. 00:18:43.430 --> 00:18:47.410 Even the food we eat is a lot healthier in a 00:18:47.410 --> 00:18:49.609 lot of respects than what it used to be. We know 00:18:49.609 --> 00:18:51.869 where it's coming from. We know it's been dewormed. 00:18:52.589 --> 00:18:56.829 Right? And free of disease. Hopefully. Right? 00:18:57.329 --> 00:18:59.190 Sometimes there's recalls. Nobody wants salmonella. 00:18:59.750 --> 00:19:04.029 Right? But we take it for granted. Our water. 00:19:04.430 --> 00:19:07.769 Our drinking water. Right? I mean, it's easy 00:19:07.769 --> 00:19:09.670 for us to go and be like, yeah, I got a bottle 00:19:09.670 --> 00:19:11.769 of water. I'm good to go. You go someplace like 00:19:11.769 --> 00:19:13.890 Flint, Michigan, I hope you have bottled water. 00:19:17.950 --> 00:19:19.710 Even the water coming out of our taps, though, 00:19:19.769 --> 00:19:23.250 it's been filtered. It's been cleaned. It's been 00:19:23.250 --> 00:19:28.009 purified. Right? How about plumbing? Here's a 00:19:28.009 --> 00:19:31.369 big one. Plumbing. Has anybody had to go out 00:19:31.369 --> 00:19:33.049 to the edge of their neighborhood to take care 00:19:33.049 --> 00:19:41.019 of their business and bury it in a hole? No? 00:19:41.019 --> 00:19:43.940 That's a big one. How about a chamber pot? Anybody 00:19:43.940 --> 00:19:46.960 in here had to use a chamber pot lately? No. 00:19:48.140 --> 00:19:50.059 I'm not saying it to be gross. It's just those 00:19:50.059 --> 00:19:52.339 things that we take for granted. You know, with 00:19:52.339 --> 00:19:55.779 our indoor plumbing. We are blessed in so many 00:19:55.779 --> 00:20:03.200 ways. Boiler paper, yeah. What's that? Yeah. 00:20:04.340 --> 00:20:06.180 We don't even have outhouses around here anymore. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:08.400 Maybe a porta potty once in a while, but you 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:12.599 know. Even those are a heck of a lot cleaner 00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:14.779 than what people used to have to do and what 00:20:14.779 --> 00:20:19.259 they used to have to put up with. How many of 00:20:19.259 --> 00:20:21.180 us have enjoyed at least one shower this week? 00:20:23.460 --> 00:20:25.839 Yeah, several. There it is. That's the truth 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:31.410 right there. Several. I knew I smelled something 00:20:31.410 --> 00:20:38.170 when you walked in. I love you, brother. So just 00:20:38.170 --> 00:20:40.410 thinking about these little things, though, it 00:20:40.410 --> 00:20:43.750 makes it a little bit harder for us to imagine 00:20:43.750 --> 00:20:47.750 what it was like for the Jews who were waiting 00:20:47.750 --> 00:20:52.130 for freedom and liberation from Rome. Let's revisit 00:20:52.130 --> 00:20:56.690 taxes for a minute. Who in here enjoys paying 00:20:56.690 --> 00:21:00.849 taxes? I don't see a single hand going up. I 00:21:00.849 --> 00:21:04.569 believe that too. Nobody really wants to pay 00:21:04.569 --> 00:21:08.710 taxes, right? Nobody looks forward to it. But 00:21:08.710 --> 00:21:10.529 how about this? Have you thought about the fact 00:21:10.529 --> 00:21:12.710 that we do get a little bit of say when we go 00:21:12.710 --> 00:21:15.690 to vote and how some of our taxes are used? Not 00:21:15.690 --> 00:21:17.509 all. We know some of our taxes aren't going to 00:21:17.509 --> 00:21:19.650 be used in ways that we agree with or want at 00:21:19.650 --> 00:21:23.470 all, right? But we do have a little bit of say 00:21:23.470 --> 00:21:25.630 in where some of our roads, our schools, our 00:21:25.630 --> 00:21:29.220 libraries, right? Taking care of our service 00:21:29.220 --> 00:21:33.480 members and our public servants? Most of the 00:21:33.480 --> 00:21:35.079 time we agree with that kind of stuff. We want 00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:40.819 that to happen, right? We get to complain about 00:21:40.819 --> 00:21:46.900 paying our taxes. Anybody in here never complain 00:21:46.900 --> 00:21:51.980 about paying taxes? I didn't think so. We go 00:21:51.980 --> 00:21:53.579 to the grocery store, we're buying one thing, 00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:55.619 we're like, what? The tax on that is what now? 00:21:55.700 --> 00:22:03.460 Oh my goodness. That's outrageous. But in general, 00:22:03.559 --> 00:22:05.500 like I said, we know a lot of it's used for good. 00:22:07.660 --> 00:22:12.380 So I want you to kind of imagine this now. Let's 00:22:12.380 --> 00:22:15.180 open up our imaginations a little bit. Imagine 00:22:15.180 --> 00:22:17.019 you're paying an exorbitant amount of taxes. 00:22:18.839 --> 00:22:20.519 And we think the taxes that we have now, but 00:22:20.519 --> 00:22:25.880 it's exorbitant, right? And you have no say whatsoever 00:22:25.880 --> 00:22:28.140 where those taxes are going to be used, where 00:22:28.140 --> 00:22:33.640 they're going to go to. None. Matter of fact, 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:36.119 and if you don't pay them, you're facing a very 00:22:36.119 --> 00:22:44.000 harsh punishment. Imprisonment, beatings, possibly 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:48.380 even death. You may have to give up property. 00:22:48.460 --> 00:22:51.980 You may have to give up your home. It means transportation. 00:22:54.700 --> 00:22:57.619 Your farmer, your livestock, or whatever it is 00:22:57.619 --> 00:23:00.819 that you grow, right? You might have to give 00:23:00.819 --> 00:23:02.779 all that up just to pay those taxes, lose your 00:23:02.779 --> 00:23:08.740 livelihood or where you live. Oh, but it gets 00:23:08.740 --> 00:23:14.240 worse. Not only are you having to do this, but 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:19.779 that money is going to a ruler who has conquered 00:23:19.779 --> 00:23:23.299 you and your land. Right. It's like we have these 00:23:23.299 --> 00:23:25.180 fictional stories out there like that. Was it 00:23:25.180 --> 00:23:26.559 the man in the high tower or whatever, like where 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:30.359 Germany won the big war? Right. Imagine that 00:23:30.359 --> 00:23:32.420 for a second. You have to pay these exorbitant 00:23:32.420 --> 00:23:35.079 amounts of taxes or you face, you know, harsh 00:23:35.079 --> 00:23:38.059 punishments up to and including death and say 00:23:38.059 --> 00:23:41.500 it's going like to like a Nazi regime. How exciting 00:23:41.500 --> 00:23:44.359 does that sound? You know, or the old empire 00:23:44.359 --> 00:23:50.039 of Japan. Let's fast forward a little bit to 00:23:50.039 --> 00:23:52.519 today and the wars that we're seeing now. Who 00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:58.180 wants to pay taxes to Iran? Live under Sharia 00:23:58.180 --> 00:24:02.079 law? No. And the sad thing is, is a lot of our 00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:05.500 taxes with past presidents have gone straight 00:24:05.500 --> 00:24:09.500 over there. Millions and millions of dollars 00:24:09.500 --> 00:24:13.799 that have funded them and their genocides. And 00:24:13.799 --> 00:24:17.250 I will say genocide. Because they want to wipe 00:24:17.250 --> 00:24:18.950 out other people. They want to wipe out the Jewish 00:24:18.950 --> 00:24:24.950 people. They will wipe out their own people for 00:24:24.950 --> 00:24:30.589 not falling in line or questioning them. China 00:24:30.589 --> 00:24:35.549 too? Absolutely. China is a dangerous place to 00:24:35.549 --> 00:24:38.450 be a Christian. We're talking about Robert Smith 00:24:38.450 --> 00:24:40.509 and his family over in the Philippines. Well, 00:24:40.549 --> 00:24:41.829 you know what? In some parts of the Philippines, 00:24:42.670 --> 00:24:46.799 it's great. Good place to be a Christian. A lot 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:48.460 of Christianity over there. Until you go down 00:24:48.460 --> 00:24:51.640 south. Places like where I was in Zamboanga. 00:24:54.059 --> 00:24:56.359 A lot of Muslim territory there. They find out 00:24:56.359 --> 00:24:59.359 you're a Christian. That's a death sentence. 00:25:01.420 --> 00:25:05.319 Yeah. It's a death sentence. And that's what 00:25:05.319 --> 00:25:09.180 you would be paying for. I don't think anybody 00:25:09.180 --> 00:25:12.359 really wants to imagine that, do they? It's not 00:25:12.359 --> 00:25:18.450 a good thing to think about. Nobody wants to 00:25:18.450 --> 00:25:23.650 have to pay to be enslaved and abused. Now, with 00:25:23.650 --> 00:25:25.869 all that in mind, realize we're just starting 00:25:25.869 --> 00:25:28.630 to scratch the surface of what the Jewish people 00:25:28.630 --> 00:25:31.109 were looking at at the time, what they were feeling 00:25:31.109 --> 00:25:35.130 and what they were suffering with. Craig S. Keener 00:25:35.130 --> 00:25:37.369 once wrote, because the king was the anointed 00:25:37.369 --> 00:25:40.289 one, Jewish people often labeled this ultimate 00:25:40.289 --> 00:25:42.869 king the anointed one or the Messiah, which in 00:25:42.869 --> 00:25:46.089 the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, regularly 00:25:46.089 --> 00:25:49.890 renders the Christ. Later, Christians and Jews 00:25:49.890 --> 00:25:52.549 outside of Palestine were far less interested 00:25:52.549 --> 00:25:56.089 in a Messiah than the Gospels were, which indicates 00:25:56.089 --> 00:25:58.750 how unlikely it would have been for the Gospel 00:25:58.750 --> 00:26:01.650 writers to have simply invented the tradition 00:26:01.650 --> 00:26:06.609 of Jesus' Messiahship. That's some pretty good 00:26:06.609 --> 00:26:10.190 proof to the validity of the Bible there, because 00:26:10.190 --> 00:26:13.450 it's true. Even today, we see the same thing. 00:26:14.119 --> 00:26:17.319 People are less interested in the Messiah than 00:26:17.319 --> 00:26:23.579 what they should be. And even in the earliest 00:26:23.579 --> 00:26:26.799 days of Jesus' ministry, when he was out with 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:30.640 the disciples, he taught that they would have 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:35.359 a place, a role, a role in the Messianic kingdom. 00:26:36.500 --> 00:26:42.430 He taught these things. He spoke out. He told 00:26:42.430 --> 00:26:46.609 the hard truths. Not just truths, but those hard 00:26:46.609 --> 00:26:49.190 truths. So we have to remember, he was fully 00:26:49.190 --> 00:26:51.329 man as well. He's fully God, but he's fully man. 00:26:52.069 --> 00:26:53.730 And you know what? Sometimes telling someone 00:26:53.730 --> 00:26:58.990 the truth is hard. Depending on what's going 00:26:58.990 --> 00:27:05.109 on for a number of reasons. And just the fact 00:27:05.109 --> 00:27:07.009 that he did that, that he told them, you are 00:27:07.009 --> 00:27:08.609 going to have a place. You are going to have 00:27:08.609 --> 00:27:11.769 a role. You're going to have a place. With me. 00:27:13.890 --> 00:27:16.369 That in itself tells us, since we know Jesus 00:27:16.369 --> 00:27:20.609 is already in a place of authority over us, that 00:27:20.609 --> 00:27:24.410 he would be on the throne over us as well. So 00:27:24.410 --> 00:27:28.930 he was already laying out the fact that he would 00:27:28.930 --> 00:27:32.250 be the king. The implication that he was going 00:27:32.250 --> 00:27:34.990 to be the king of Israel was very strong. Not 00:27:34.990 --> 00:27:37.470 just the king of Israel though, right? The king 00:27:37.470 --> 00:27:42.250 of the world, the king of all. The implication 00:27:42.250 --> 00:27:44.529 was there. They took it to just mean Israel. 00:27:46.170 --> 00:27:54.769 And what he was saying is the world. So with 00:27:54.769 --> 00:27:58.509 that mind, it understands why a group of marginalized 00:27:58.509 --> 00:28:03.970 and desperate people are not only so desperate 00:28:03.970 --> 00:28:10.640 for a king, but a conquering king. That's what 00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:12.500 they expected. That's why they turned on him 00:28:12.500 --> 00:28:17.180 so easily. They wanted a conquering king. They 00:28:17.180 --> 00:28:21.599 stopped paying attention to the word and what 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:24.559 it would be to have a messianic king. They stopped 00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:27.519 looking at God's character and bought a hook, 00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:29.559 line, and sinker into the world and the world's 00:28:29.559 --> 00:28:31.920 ways, which is why they wanted a conquering king. 00:28:32.220 --> 00:28:34.339 They had enough. They said enough is enough and 00:28:34.339 --> 00:28:38.039 it's time for change. Right? That's where they 00:28:38.039 --> 00:28:40.119 were in their lives. They needed a change. They 00:28:40.119 --> 00:28:42.940 didn't just want it. They needed it all the way 00:28:42.940 --> 00:28:48.039 in their hearts. They needed change. And because 00:28:48.039 --> 00:28:49.500 the way they'd been living, the way they'd been 00:28:49.500 --> 00:28:53.240 oppressed for so long at this point, they were 00:28:53.240 --> 00:28:58.400 losing hope. They were losing their trust. They'd 00:28:58.400 --> 00:29:00.339 been taken from their land. They'd been enslaved. 00:29:02.119 --> 00:29:04.160 They were seeing the ugliest of the ugly, the 00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:07.200 worst that the world had out there. The absolute 00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:15.460 worst. So I heard Jesus in his birth. Prophecy 00:29:15.460 --> 00:29:21.359 in that alone fulfilled. He was a spiritual rebel. 00:29:22.299 --> 00:29:27.559 He was a spiritual outlaw. Bringing the truth 00:29:27.559 --> 00:29:31.180 of God. Not just scripture that could be twisted 00:29:31.180 --> 00:29:34.200 and taken out of context. He was bringing the 00:29:34.200 --> 00:29:40.059 truth of God. to the people. He was going into 00:29:40.059 --> 00:29:43.000 those dark, cold, desperate places to those people 00:29:43.000 --> 00:29:46.259 that were in pain and hurt and suffering and 00:29:46.259 --> 00:29:48.680 giving them a hand up. Not a handout, a hand 00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:55.759 up. We forget about that. People talk about giving 00:29:55.759 --> 00:30:00.660 a hand out. What we need to be doing is giving 00:30:00.660 --> 00:30:04.660 people a hand up. Because that's what restores 00:30:04.660 --> 00:30:09.069 hope. That's what restores their faith. And if 00:30:09.069 --> 00:30:10.769 they don't know God, that's what brings them 00:30:10.769 --> 00:30:17.349 to him. He's bringing the word of God to the 00:30:17.349 --> 00:30:20.069 people. He was taking control back from the rulers 00:30:20.069 --> 00:30:25.130 in a gentle way. And not just those in a castle. 00:30:26.210 --> 00:30:30.230 Not just those ruling over an empire. But those 00:30:30.230 --> 00:30:32.930 spiritual leaders that people look to as well, 00:30:33.009 --> 00:30:35.730 those people who bought and paid their ways in 00:30:35.730 --> 00:30:39.450 to being a spiritual leader, because that's what 00:30:39.450 --> 00:30:42.630 most of them were at the time. They were bought 00:30:42.630 --> 00:30:47.930 and paid for. So money was a big thing to them. 00:30:51.329 --> 00:30:53.190 So he spoke out against all of them. He spoke 00:30:53.190 --> 00:30:56.250 out against false leaders. He spoke out against 00:30:56.250 --> 00:30:59.190 how we should be responding to leadership. How 00:30:59.190 --> 00:31:02.990 we should put, yes, given to Caesar what is Caesar's, 00:31:02.990 --> 00:31:06.650 but you know what? Only up to the point when 00:31:06.650 --> 00:31:08.890 he starts saying to do something that is not 00:31:08.890 --> 00:31:10.849 in God's will or goes against what God has directed 00:31:10.849 --> 00:31:12.430 us, that's where we get to draw that hard line 00:31:12.430 --> 00:31:17.250 and be like, nope, my God said no, I'm not. You 00:31:17.250 --> 00:31:18.930 see, we don't have to agree with our leaders. 00:31:21.970 --> 00:31:24.509 There's a lot of people in here that were very 00:31:24.509 --> 00:31:27.329 upset when we had a Democrat for a president, 00:31:27.490 --> 00:31:30.779 right? I'm not going to put anyone joining on 00:31:30.779 --> 00:31:32.400 the spot. I'm sure there's people in here that 00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:34.440 are also very unhappy that we have a Republican 00:31:34.440 --> 00:31:39.200 president. It goes both ways. But you know what? 00:31:39.299 --> 00:31:41.000 The Bible didn't say anything about us having 00:31:41.000 --> 00:31:43.559 to like them. He said, the Bible tells us we 00:31:43.559 --> 00:31:45.539 need to pray for our leaders and we still need 00:31:45.539 --> 00:31:49.119 to follow them. We still need to follow them. 00:31:50.380 --> 00:31:52.900 Pray for them and do everything that they say 00:31:52.900 --> 00:31:54.660 because they've been put into a position of authority 00:31:54.660 --> 00:31:57.500 for a reason all the way up until they start 00:31:57.500 --> 00:31:59.359 saying something that goes against the will of 00:31:59.359 --> 00:32:02.319 God, that goes against the word of God, that 00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:04.839 goes against the character of God. And then you 00:32:04.839 --> 00:32:06.059 know what? That's when we get to put our foot 00:32:06.059 --> 00:32:09.339 down and go, uh -uh, nope, not doing that. Because 00:32:09.339 --> 00:32:12.539 my God is better. My God is higher. My God is 00:32:12.539 --> 00:32:15.099 the ultimate power, the ultimate authority over 00:32:15.099 --> 00:32:18.099 all. And I'm not going to go down that little 00:32:18.099 --> 00:32:20.259 path that's going to take me down to hell no 00:32:20.259 --> 00:32:24.700 matter how well -intentioned it may be. Plain 00:32:24.700 --> 00:32:28.480 and simple. He spoke against false teachers. 00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:31.599 He spoke up against those who would have you 00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:33.779 place the will of man before the will of God. 00:32:34.359 --> 00:32:37.519 He was a man of the people. He was a man in the 00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:40.779 people. He was working class. He was not a silver 00:32:40.779 --> 00:32:48.220 spoon preacher. Not even close. He was not putting 00:32:48.220 --> 00:32:53.859 anyone on their knees. Submits. Off with their 00:32:53.859 --> 00:32:58.019 head. None of that, right? He acted in love and 00:32:58.019 --> 00:33:00.420 kindness and mercy and grace. Even when he was 00:33:00.420 --> 00:33:03.319 chasing people out with a whip and flipping tables, 00:33:03.480 --> 00:33:05.400 he was still doing it in love. Because was he 00:33:05.400 --> 00:33:06.859 looking to hurt anybody? No, he was looking to 00:33:06.859 --> 00:33:09.299 make a point. Kind of like when your dad would 00:33:09.299 --> 00:33:11.200 walk in when you were younger and he's cracking 00:33:11.200 --> 00:33:15.579 that belt. Keep it up, you're going to get your 00:33:15.579 --> 00:33:18.789 lick. It says my dad and you got your lick anyway 00:33:18.789 --> 00:33:23.890 because you had to get in the belt. That happened, 00:33:24.009 --> 00:33:27.170 right? That's his attention getter. In fact, 00:33:27.190 --> 00:33:32.650 if we turn, so we need to keep in mind that the 00:33:32.650 --> 00:33:37.410 birth of Christ was a means of making no mistake 00:33:37.410 --> 00:33:40.309 that he understood all that it was to be man. 00:33:41.210 --> 00:33:45.569 Let's turn to Isaiah 53 verse 2. Isaiah 53 verse 00:33:45.569 --> 00:33:50.049 2. We're getting close to the end here, I promise 00:33:50.049 --> 00:33:56.089 you all. Isaiah 53, verse 2, the word says, For 00:33:56.089 --> 00:33:58.329 he shall grow up before him as a tender plant 00:33:58.329 --> 00:34:03.690 and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form 00:34:03.690 --> 00:34:06.950 or comeliness, and when we see him, there is 00:34:06.950 --> 00:34:11.570 no beauty that we should desire him. Jesus was 00:34:11.570 --> 00:34:15.250 a very... Plain man. He was very common. He wasn't 00:34:15.250 --> 00:34:17.849 some good -looking dude, you know? Nobody was 00:34:17.849 --> 00:34:19.170 going to take a look at him like, look at that 00:34:19.170 --> 00:34:27.269 stud. Wow. Right? He came into the world very 00:34:27.269 --> 00:34:30.989 plain for a reason, though. Right? He wasn't 00:34:30.989 --> 00:34:34.110 striking. He was common. He wasn't charismatic. 00:34:37.130 --> 00:34:39.409 Nothing was going to come easy to him. Nothing 00:34:39.409 --> 00:34:44.329 was going to come that hard either, though. He 00:34:44.329 --> 00:34:46.170 came into the world this way so that he could 00:34:46.170 --> 00:34:50.670 come and go as he needed to. Right? Now, of course, 00:34:50.710 --> 00:34:52.969 as he rose in popularity and people began to 00:34:52.969 --> 00:34:54.909 recognize who he is, yeah, then he started to 00:34:54.909 --> 00:34:56.190 have the crowds. But you know what? Up until 00:34:56.190 --> 00:34:58.369 that point, he could walk into a room and nobody 00:34:58.369 --> 00:35:00.170 would be the wiser. He could walk right out and 00:35:00.170 --> 00:35:03.489 nobody would be the wiser. Why? Because that's 00:35:03.489 --> 00:35:04.869 what he needed to do. He needed to be able to 00:35:04.869 --> 00:35:11.300 come and go. Not only that, but we see... It 00:35:11.300 --> 00:35:13.019 was no different back then. The same thing we 00:35:13.019 --> 00:35:15.760 see today. Somebody is really good looking. People 00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:17.360 are going to be that more likely to go, hey, 00:35:17.360 --> 00:35:21.360 you know what? Here, take this. Have this, right? 00:35:22.559 --> 00:35:26.800 Here's a fun one because guys are stupid. Man, 00:35:26.860 --> 00:35:29.920 we're stupid. We walk into a bar or someplace 00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:32.840 and we see that really pretty girl. We don't 00:35:32.840 --> 00:35:34.440 even think, hey, maybe she's got a boyfriend. 00:35:34.559 --> 00:35:36.320 We don't look at her finger to see if she's married 00:35:36.320 --> 00:35:38.659 or anything when we're young because when we're 00:35:38.659 --> 00:35:40.900 younger, we're even dumber. Right. Is this right 00:35:40.900 --> 00:35:43.820 away? Hey, how you doing? What's your sign? Right. 00:35:44.679 --> 00:35:47.980 I get you something to drink. What are you drinking? 00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:51.500 What would you like? You know, right. We get 00:35:51.500 --> 00:36:01.500 stupid. We really do. Hmm. And as much as I pick 00:36:01.500 --> 00:36:03.800 on the guys, you know what I can say? There's 00:36:03.800 --> 00:36:05.500 a lot of ladies out there. They see some really 00:36:05.500 --> 00:36:08.929 good looking guy. They get just as silly. I'm 00:36:08.929 --> 00:36:10.269 not going to say stupid. Guys, we're stupid. 00:36:10.429 --> 00:36:15.489 Girls, they just get silly. Tell me I'm wrong. 00:36:18.650 --> 00:36:21.210 So Jesus had to come into our world as a common 00:36:21.210 --> 00:36:26.170 person. He was not meant to have everything handed 00:36:26.170 --> 00:36:28.070 to him. He didn't need anything handed to him. 00:36:28.170 --> 00:36:35.269 He's God. Right? He's part of the Godhead. He 00:36:35.269 --> 00:36:38.780 doesn't need any of it. But he has to work. Why 00:36:38.780 --> 00:36:39.840 does he have to work? Because he has to earn 00:36:39.840 --> 00:36:44.719 people's trust. Once he has their trust, people 00:36:44.719 --> 00:36:46.539 will listen to him. They will listen to him. 00:36:46.579 --> 00:36:49.800 They will ask him questions. Right? Teacher, 00:36:49.860 --> 00:36:52.280 what about this? Teacher, what about that? And 00:36:52.280 --> 00:36:54.340 that's what they did. He'd go to all these places 00:36:54.340 --> 00:36:56.699 and he would preach. They would hear it. They'd 00:36:56.699 --> 00:36:58.260 be convicted and be like, hey, what about this? 00:36:58.280 --> 00:37:05.059 What about that? And everything he did was out 00:37:05.059 --> 00:37:08.679 of love, grace, and mercy. It wasn't one of those 00:37:08.679 --> 00:37:10.380 where somebody sticks their hand up and say, 00:37:10.420 --> 00:37:12.539 oh, I don't want to hear the stupid question 00:37:12.539 --> 00:37:16.260 today. No, stop. Right? Or he says to someone, 00:37:16.420 --> 00:37:18.880 did I stutter? Where were you five minutes ago 00:37:18.880 --> 00:37:20.639 when I was talking about this? No, none of that. 00:37:21.059 --> 00:37:28.119 Right? It's the plain Jane, regular Joe, working 00:37:28.119 --> 00:37:31.539 class man. All of his power, the power of his 00:37:31.539 --> 00:37:35.139 voice came from the father. From the father. 00:37:38.409 --> 00:37:41.570 Which is why the Pharisees deemed him dangerous. 00:37:43.909 --> 00:37:48.789 Dangerous. They couldn't control him. They couldn't 00:37:48.789 --> 00:37:52.849 disprove him, and they tried. Man, did they try. 00:37:56.090 --> 00:37:58.429 And because of that, as a follower of Christ, 00:37:58.590 --> 00:38:02.769 the world deems you dangerous as well. Right? 00:38:02.809 --> 00:38:04.469 We just spoke about that a little bit. To be 00:38:04.469 --> 00:38:07.679 a Christian is to be dangerous. To be a dangerous 00:38:07.679 --> 00:38:12.659 person is to be a Christian. Why? Because the 00:38:12.659 --> 00:38:16.179 truth of God breaks chains and shakes the world. 00:38:16.960 --> 00:38:21.800 It shakes the world. People look at you and you're 00:38:21.800 --> 00:38:23.840 truly walking with the Lord. People know there's 00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:25.739 something different about you. You're a different 00:38:25.739 --> 00:38:27.380 kind of guy. You're a different class. You're 00:38:27.380 --> 00:38:30.840 a different breed. What is it that makes this 00:38:30.840 --> 00:38:32.659 person so different? I want to get to know that. 00:38:32.699 --> 00:38:34.239 I need to have a conversation with this guy. 00:38:36.230 --> 00:38:38.610 What is it that makes them different? What makes 00:38:38.610 --> 00:38:40.829 them unafraid? What makes them okay to go and 00:38:40.829 --> 00:38:47.949 stand up to the boss like that? Right? We've 00:38:47.949 --> 00:38:49.550 all worked with those people. We've all worked 00:38:49.550 --> 00:38:53.289 in those places. Right? Boss says something and 00:38:53.289 --> 00:38:56.570 you're like, uh -uh, no, that's wrong. And you 00:38:56.570 --> 00:38:58.909 got everybody, you can't talk to them like that. 00:38:59.050 --> 00:39:04.650 Are you kidding? I've worked in some fun places. 00:39:07.469 --> 00:39:09.909 He laughs because he knows. She laughs because 00:39:09.909 --> 00:39:11.429 she knows because we've worked in some of the 00:39:11.429 --> 00:39:15.809 same places. We've had some of those bosses. 00:39:17.030 --> 00:39:19.110 Matter of fact, we worked out at Intel out near 00:39:19.110 --> 00:39:21.849 Rancho. We had guys way up in the Intel hierarchy 00:39:21.849 --> 00:39:24.469 and all that. People were walking on eggshells 00:39:24.469 --> 00:39:26.250 around him. I come to find out he's a fellow 00:39:26.250 --> 00:39:28.170 vet, so I struck up a conversation after that. 00:39:28.210 --> 00:39:32.789 We were pals, right? We would rib on each other. 00:39:32.949 --> 00:39:35.349 I mean, we would rib on each other. We had some... 00:39:37.449 --> 00:39:40.230 We had some fun things to say. And we'd be laughing 00:39:40.230 --> 00:39:42.530 at each other the whole way, right? Sibling rivalry. 00:39:42.869 --> 00:39:47.070 Different branch. It happens. He laughs because 00:39:47.070 --> 00:39:51.429 it happens to him quite a lot. Right? Right? 00:39:51.489 --> 00:39:56.329 Exactly. He fires back. Absolutely. But you get 00:39:56.329 --> 00:39:59.750 all these people, you can't do that. Why not? 00:40:00.610 --> 00:40:04.929 That's another human being. I'm going to treat 00:40:04.929 --> 00:40:08.079 him as another human being. They're not God. 00:40:08.219 --> 00:40:11.559 I'm not going to fear them. I have God on my 00:40:11.559 --> 00:40:14.940 side. Why should I fear them? God's going to 00:40:14.940 --> 00:40:18.480 take care of me. As long as I'm not doing something 00:40:18.480 --> 00:40:20.320 stupid, I'm not doing something out of line, 00:40:20.380 --> 00:40:21.960 I'm not doing something ignorant, guess what? 00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:25.880 I'm safe. And you know what? The fact that I 00:40:25.880 --> 00:40:27.760 had the gall to go up and treat them as another 00:40:27.760 --> 00:40:30.340 human being and just sit there and jawjack with 00:40:30.340 --> 00:40:32.219 them, guess what? They're going to respect me 00:40:32.219 --> 00:40:37.530 for it. Now, if they're so high up on their high 00:40:37.530 --> 00:40:42.329 horse, if they have a problem with it, they're 00:40:42.329 --> 00:40:43.789 going to say something really quick. Like, you 00:40:43.789 --> 00:40:45.769 know what? Cool. I know where your boundary is. 00:40:47.309 --> 00:40:54.550 And the respect is still there. When you have 00:40:54.550 --> 00:40:56.849 God on your side, you are dangerous. You can 00:40:56.849 --> 00:40:58.849 walk up to people. You can talk to them about 00:40:58.849 --> 00:41:00.650 whatever it is you need to talk to them about. 00:41:02.289 --> 00:41:04.889 No matter how hard it is. You get that little 00:41:04.889 --> 00:41:07.170 piece in there, that little piece of fear, that's 00:41:07.170 --> 00:41:08.769 the enemy trying to reel you back and pull you 00:41:08.769 --> 00:41:10.530 away. All the more reason to step forward in 00:41:10.530 --> 00:41:11.989 faith, be like, Lord, guide me through this. 00:41:12.010 --> 00:41:13.269 Give me the words, give me the knowledge, give 00:41:13.269 --> 00:41:14.809 me the wisdom. Because all three of those are 00:41:14.809 --> 00:41:17.889 three different things. And he will guide you 00:41:17.889 --> 00:41:23.070 through it. He wasn't just a, you know, when 00:41:23.070 --> 00:41:30.170 we look at Jesus, he wasn't just dangerous, he 00:41:30.170 --> 00:41:31.750 was a threat. That's why they wanted him to be 00:41:31.750 --> 00:41:35.690 quiet. They tried to silence him. And he wasn't 00:41:35.690 --> 00:41:38.650 just a threat to the king or the emperor who 00:41:38.650 --> 00:41:42.750 was ruling over people, but to those false teachers 00:41:42.750 --> 00:41:48.030 that people looked at as spiritual leaders. He 00:41:48.030 --> 00:41:52.469 spoke truth that was convicting. And they didn't 00:41:52.469 --> 00:41:54.070 like hearing what he had to say because it put 00:41:54.070 --> 00:41:55.530 them in a limelight that they didn't want to 00:41:55.530 --> 00:41:58.510 be in because it didn't look pretty at that point. 00:41:59.150 --> 00:42:01.869 All the money, all the status, all the robes. 00:42:02.989 --> 00:42:05.469 None of it meant a thing when people were suddenly 00:42:05.469 --> 00:42:11.510 seeing them for the wolf that they were. He took 00:42:11.510 --> 00:42:15.610 scripture and he put it in its proper context. 00:42:17.369 --> 00:42:20.070 And the most important part of it was he wasn't 00:42:20.070 --> 00:42:23.769 just putting it in context. He was speaking it 00:42:23.769 --> 00:42:26.869 in a way that everybody could understand, the 00:42:26.869 --> 00:42:29.289 most common man could understand, that a child 00:42:29.289 --> 00:42:33.570 could understand. So that everybody could come 00:42:33.570 --> 00:42:36.949 to know him. Everybody could come to know the 00:42:36.949 --> 00:42:39.650 Father. That everybody would have that chance 00:42:39.650 --> 00:42:43.010 to make that choice to accept that gift of salvation. 00:42:46.150 --> 00:42:48.289 Little did people know at this time, though, 00:42:48.289 --> 00:42:53.530 that it's because of all these things we see 00:42:53.530 --> 00:43:00.469 the confirmation that Jesus is King. Prophecy. 00:43:02.730 --> 00:43:04.849 Prophecy fulfilled in his birth. Prophecy fulfilled 00:43:04.849 --> 00:43:07.289 in his life. Prophecy fulfilled in the way he 00:43:07.289 --> 00:43:13.130 died and came again. 1 Samuel 8. We're not going 00:43:13.130 --> 00:43:16.250 to get into it for time's sake. You're welcome. 00:43:18.610 --> 00:43:21.550 But 1 Samuel 8, if you go to it, I recommend 00:43:21.550 --> 00:43:24.389 it. Read through it. The people of Israel, they 00:43:24.389 --> 00:43:26.889 were begging God freaking. They were begging 00:43:26.889 --> 00:43:30.559 him. They were pleading with him. Lord, we need 00:43:30.559 --> 00:43:33.320 a king. What they didn't realize was that they 00:43:33.320 --> 00:43:36.039 were longing for the wrong kind of king. Like 00:43:36.039 --> 00:43:38.019 I said earlier, they wanted a conquering king. 00:43:39.739 --> 00:43:43.639 That was not the king that was being sent. God 00:43:43.639 --> 00:43:47.780 was sending his only begotten son to be king. 00:43:48.159 --> 00:43:50.860 They wanted a worldly king. God was sending him. 00:43:51.139 --> 00:43:58.590 God was sending a piece of himself, right? They 00:43:58.590 --> 00:44:02.150 expected somebody who would name and claim his 00:44:02.150 --> 00:44:09.829 stake. That would reach out and take what was 00:44:09.829 --> 00:44:14.610 his. And therefore, by proxy, what belonged to 00:44:14.610 --> 00:44:16.269 the Jewish people back for the Jewish people. 00:44:18.670 --> 00:44:22.210 Which is why they welcomed him so gladly. It 00:44:22.210 --> 00:44:25.909 was such pomp and circumstance when he entered 00:44:25.909 --> 00:44:29.989 Jerusalem. Walking, I'm sorry, not walking, riding 00:44:29.989 --> 00:44:36.750 on a donkey, right? Really a cult, right? Young 00:44:36.750 --> 00:44:43.510 donkey at that. Untrained, unbroken. Zechariah 00:44:43.510 --> 00:44:48.690 9, verse 9, where it says, Rejoice greatly, O 00:44:48.690 --> 00:44:51.710 daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. 00:44:52.230 --> 00:44:56.670 Behold, your king is coming to you. He is just... 00:44:56.940 --> 00:45:00.300 and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, 00:45:00.440 --> 00:45:08.099 a colt, the fowl of a donkey. Fulfilling prophecy 00:45:08.099 --> 00:45:12.619 made more than 500 years before it happened, 00:45:12.780 --> 00:45:23.000 before the birth of Christ himself. That prophecy 00:45:23.000 --> 00:45:26.360 is fulfilled right before their eyes. Yeah, it 00:45:26.360 --> 00:45:28.179 was a joyous moment. The king has arrived. The 00:45:28.179 --> 00:45:31.960 king has come. The one true king is here. It's 00:45:31.960 --> 00:45:37.579 exciting. Triumphant entry of the one true king 00:45:37.579 --> 00:45:40.159 who they believed was the chosen one that would 00:45:40.159 --> 00:45:43.800 lift them from their current lowly status and 00:45:43.800 --> 00:45:46.500 elevate them to the highest place in the land. 00:45:50.519 --> 00:45:52.119 That's what they were expecting. That's what 00:45:52.119 --> 00:45:53.900 they wanted. They didn't understand what was 00:45:53.900 --> 00:45:57.320 actually happening before them though. But they 00:45:57.320 --> 00:46:01.920 didn't realize that before them was a king who 00:46:01.920 --> 00:46:06.199 would soon hang on a tree, not cursed, but taking 00:46:06.199 --> 00:46:08.460 on the curse that belonged to them, that belongs 00:46:08.460 --> 00:46:12.420 to you, that belongs to me, that belongs to all 00:46:12.420 --> 00:46:16.260 men. He took that curse upon himself for all 00:46:16.260 --> 00:46:20.699 of us. to be free, to have the opportunity to 00:46:20.699 --> 00:46:22.719 come to know him and to come and be reunited 00:46:22.719 --> 00:46:25.119 with the father, adopted back into the family 00:46:25.119 --> 00:46:31.559 as one of God's children. To open the people's 00:46:31.559 --> 00:46:37.780 eyes, which had been blinded for so long by the 00:46:37.780 --> 00:46:41.539 false hope and deception of the world. Jesus 00:46:41.539 --> 00:46:45.760 wasn't just coming to rule over Israel. For a 00:46:45.760 --> 00:46:48.179 short period of time, he's coming to rule over 00:46:48.179 --> 00:46:52.679 all for eternity. King of the world, the king 00:46:52.679 --> 00:46:59.960 of our hearts for eternity. Ruling over those 00:46:59.960 --> 00:47:02.920 who would accept him and his gift as our Lord 00:47:02.920 --> 00:47:07.159 and Savior. Not just here on earth, but in the 00:47:07.159 --> 00:47:12.739 kingdom to come. On that note, let us pray. Father, 00:47:12.800 --> 00:47:15.159 we thank you for sending us the one true King, 00:47:15.219 --> 00:47:19.119 Jesus Christ, your Son. We thank you for him 00:47:19.119 --> 00:47:21.320 taking the curse that was meant for us, breaking 00:47:21.320 --> 00:47:24.659 its chains and setting us free and reuniting 00:47:24.659 --> 00:47:27.920 us with you as your children. In this season, 00:47:28.039 --> 00:47:34.019 we're reminded what Jesus has done for us and 00:47:34.019 --> 00:47:37.079 ask that not only that you open our hearts, our 00:47:37.079 --> 00:47:41.130 eyes, and our minds, Show us how we should also 00:47:41.130 --> 00:47:46.230 respond to this as well. We ask that you show 00:47:46.230 --> 00:47:50.289 us how to live those godly lives and not turn 00:47:50.289 --> 00:47:52.150 from the truth when it convicts us, but embrace 00:47:52.150 --> 00:47:55.650 it and accept it. We ask that you guide us in 00:47:55.650 --> 00:47:58.389 being your anointed outlaws, taking your truth, 00:47:58.429 --> 00:48:01.949 your word, your love, your light into this cold 00:48:01.949 --> 00:48:05.769 and dark world so that others can come to know 00:48:05.769 --> 00:48:09.690 you and your love. We thank you for being our 00:48:09.690 --> 00:48:11.909 King, our Lord, and our Savior. And we recognize 00:48:11.909 --> 00:48:15.510 that your kingship isn't about what you want, 00:48:15.570 --> 00:48:21.130 but about your will and what we need. We thank 00:48:21.130 --> 00:48:24.550 you for seeing to all of our needs. We thank 00:48:24.550 --> 00:48:28.130 you. We love you. People said, amen and amen. 00:48:28.230 --> 00:48:30.070 Remember, as you leave here, you are loved and 00:48:30.070 --> 00:48:39.119 you are blessed. So go and be the church. Thank 00:48:39.119 --> 00:48:41.900 you for joining us at Healing Scars with Pastor 00:48:41.900 --> 00:48:45.019 Burton. If this message spoke to you or if you 00:48:45.019 --> 00:48:47.500 would like to help us reach more people, please 00:48:47.500 --> 00:48:51.320 like, review and share our podcast. You can learn 00:48:51.320 --> 00:48:54.039 more about our ministry or how you can support 00:48:54.039 --> 00:49:01.179 us at www .thecross66 .org. Until next time, 00:49:01.179 --> 00:49:03.119 take care and God bless.