WEBVTT

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Well, here we are. It's another week and another

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step forward in our journey in looking at the

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gospel according to Matthew. This week, we're

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going to be examining as Jesus continues to preach

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and teach following the death of his relative

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John the Baptist. Jesus is continuing to show

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the people that are listening to him and watching

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his miracles that the upside down kingdom has

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come and that this kingdom is going to look like

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no other that you have ever seen on earth. I

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hope that you'll enjoy this episode and I'll

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see you back here on the other side. This one

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goes a little fast. I hope that you'll enjoy.

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There's a lot to cover here tonight. So we begin

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tonight looking at chapter 11, and I would actually

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like to look at the first part of the chapter

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here. This is a story about Jesus and John the

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Baptist, and I believe that this part of the

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story actually came up in one of our other sessions.

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I kind of had went into this story about the

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confusion that John the Baptist had when he was

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in prison. about Jesus and if Jesus really was

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the Messiah. And so some of this might be plod

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ground already, but I just want to revisit this

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and touch base because one of the things that

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the gospel writer, the gospel according to Matthew,

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is doing here in chapter 11, as we begin, is

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he's going to be situating Jesus firmly as a

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prophet in the tradition of biblical prophets.

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Chapter 11 is one of the chapters that we see

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Jesus really indicating to his audiences his

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role in prophets as they relate to Hebrew Scripture.

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If you recall, one of the things that the gospel

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writer is doing here in Matthew is he's situating

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his gospel as a linchpin to the Hebrew Scripture,

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to the Old Testament. He is trying to show the

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Jewish people how the story of Jesus links Hebrew

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Scripture to what eventually, he didn't realize

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at the time of the writing of his gospel, eventually

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to the final story that we find in Christian

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Scripture, the New Testament. Chapter 11 is one

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in which we see a lot of Old Testament or Hebrew

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Scripture prophecy come to bear. And it has,

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by way of explaining, Jesus to his crowds who

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he is and the role of John the Baptist which

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will come up here in a little bit as well so

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I'm that's an introduction I'm just going to

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go ahead and jump right in here again you may

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have heard some of these themes before but I

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just want to reiterate as we go through uh the

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gospel here so Beginning with verse 1, after

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Jesus had finished instructing his 12 disciples,

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he went on from there to teach and preach in

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the town of Galilee. And of course we have our

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map up here on the screen that shows the rim

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there, the north rim there of the Sea of Galilee.

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That's where Jesus is going to be teaching at

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this time. Okay, and John the Baptist is in prison.

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Now Matthew skips ahead. He tells the story and

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then he later talks about why John the Baptist

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is in prison. He assumes you already know the

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ending to the story. So we're going to touch

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on why John the Baptist was in prison here in

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a little bit. But John the Baptist who's in prison

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had heard about the deeds of the Messiah and

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he sent his disciples to ask him, that's Jesus,

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are you the one who is to come or should we expect

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someone else? Now That might seem like a legitimate

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question for us, considering that John the Baptist

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is in prison. That might be a legitimate question

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for John the Baptist to ask, given that he is

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sitting in prison. But real quickly, I just want

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to refresh everybody's memory as to the relationship

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between Jesus and John the Baptist. Now, we know

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that they're related. We believe biblical tradition

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illustrates to us that they were cousins. And

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so we do know that they were related. And we

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also know that there is a very important role

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that John the Baptist plays in Jesus' public

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ministry, and that is at his baptism, Jesus'

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baptism by John the Baptist. Jesus' public ministry

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begins. And this, we go back to this story from

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Matthew chapter 3. It's a story we looked at

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in our second session. In those days, John the

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Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea

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and saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven

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has come near. This is he who was spoken of through

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the prophet Isaiah. There's our Old Testament

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prophet, a voice of one calling in the wilderness,

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prepare the way for the Lord, make straight the

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paths for him. That's the first three verses.

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of the third chapter of Matthew. I forgot to

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mention at the outset that I want you to go ahead

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and stick in the chapter that we're in there

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in Matthew. There'll only be one time that I'll

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ask you to go back. in Hebrew scripture, Old

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Testament with me. And that's when we look at

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a story of 1 Samuel chapter 12. So if you want

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to go ahead and look 1 Samuel chapter 12 up,

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put your finger there and go back to Matthew,

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then that's the only time I'll ask you to flip

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-flop back and forth in an effort for us to kind

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of move quickly here because we didn't quite

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get to where we needed to be last time for us

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for this to all work out the way I want it to

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work out. So we're going to kind of do one and

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a half here tonight. So that's why I'm speaking

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at 1 .5 speed. OK, so back Matthew chapter three,

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also 16 and 17 says it talks about Jesus being

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baptized. It says as soon as Jesus was baptized,

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he went up out of the water. At that moment,

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heaven was opened up and he saw the spirit of

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God descending like a dove and alighting on him.

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And a voice from heaven said, This is my son

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whom I love. With him I am well pleased. So John

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the Baptist does not hear about Jesus' baptism

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and didn't hear about heaven opening up and didn't

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hear about the spirit descending and he didn't

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hear about God's voice audibly being heard by

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those present. He was standing wet in the Jordan

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River next to Jesus when it happened. John the

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Baptist has been aware of who Jesus is all of

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his life. And after hearing about what Jesus

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is doing in his public ministry, it's only then

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that John the Baptist begins to doubt. Why is

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it that he is doubting? Right? Because we have

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to remember that John the Baptist is expecting

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the hammer of God's justice to fall on the Roman

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oppressors. John the Baptist is expecting an

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earthly king, a military king, a freedom from

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earthly, natural chains. And that's simply not

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what Jesus is doing. He's going around and he's

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messing around with poor people. He's hanging

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out with lepers. I've even heard he's got a tax

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collector that's running around with him these

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days. That's not who the son of David is supposed

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to be. Naturally, we grew up, we understood what

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the Messiah was going to be. And even if we get

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a little bit of it wrong, whatever Jesus is doing,

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that ain't it. Guys, you need to go find out

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what is going on. Because I'm still in jail,

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and I'm supposed to be his right -hand man dude.

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Right? Why hasn't he busted me out of jail? Why

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are we still under Roman oppression? And that's

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what his disciples come to ask Jesus. Are you

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really who everybody thinks that you're supposed

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to be? Or at least who John thinks you're supposed

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to be. And Jesus says to them in verse 4, go

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back and report to John what you hear and see.

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That the blind receive sight, the lame walk,

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and those who have leprosy are cleansed. The

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deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good

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news is proclaimed to the poor. And blessed is

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anyone who does not stumble on account of me.

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And what he's done is he's taken a bunch of Hebrew

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scripture and he's thrown it into a blender and

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he's went... And in like one sentence, he's laid

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out a whole bunch of who the prophets in the

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Old Testament say that the Messiah is supposed

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to be. And he expects you to know your Bible.

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He knows John the Baptist knows his Bible. And

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so he knows that if he goes, if these disciples

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go back and they tell John what I just said,

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he's going to understand the code. Well, what

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are those Old Testament verses that get thrown

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in the blender? I'm just going to read through

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here real quickly and you're going to recognize.

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You're going to hear the words that Jesus just

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said. In Isaiah, the 35th chapter of Isaiah's

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prophecy, verses 4 to 6 says this. Say to those

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with fearful hearts, be strong. Do not fear,

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your God will come and he will come with a vengeance.

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With divine retribution, he will come to you.

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Then the eyes of the blind will be opened. The

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years of the death will be unstopped. The lame

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will leap like a deer and the mute tongue shout

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for joy. The 61st chapter of his prophecy, Isaiah,

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says the spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me

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because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim

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good news, not to the rich and powerful, but

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to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

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to proclaim freedom for the captives and release

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from darkness the prisoner. And in the 26th chapter,

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the 19th verse, Isaiah says, but your dead will

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live. Their bodies will rise, but those who dwell

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in the dust wake up and shout for joy. Now, why

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is Jesus using this mismatch of prophecy of Isaiah

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here to communicate with John the Baptist? Well,

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I think that there is one reason. That stands

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out to me more than any other. And I think it's

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the same reason that as we dive a little bit

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deeper into what scripture says, like this, we

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read that and we've heard those words and they're

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familiar to us. And on its surface, those words

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just kind of sound good, right? They give us

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hope, right? I mean, if there's good news for

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the poor, well, I'm kind of like that. If blind

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can be... can be given their sight or the lame

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could walk, then that sounds like Jesus isn't

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coming for the rich and powerful, which I'm not.

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So all of that sounds like pretty good stuff

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to me, right? So as we read that right on its

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surface, we think, well, those are pretty good

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words to hear. I'll subscribe to that guy's newsletter.

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I'm all for that, right? But if we actually look

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at what Jesus says and go back to Hebrew scripture

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and realize why he said it, we actually see something

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that's more important, I think. Because in the

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end, what we're doing, when Jesus comes and shows

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what he's doing by giving sight to the blind,

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he's binding up the brokenhearted. He's lame

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or walking, right? But he's doing that. And Isaiah,

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400 years before him, said that the Messiah would

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do that. What that proves to us is God's faithfulness.

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400 years before Jesus came along and was able

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to do these signs, a guy by the name of Yahshua

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ben Amoz, that's Isaiah's real name, wrote it

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down and said that the Messiah would do it. And

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now Jesus has come and is telling John the Baptist

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all that he's doing. And when we look at that,

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we can have hope because it shows us that when

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God makes promises to us, they are already. Verse

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7 of chapter 11. John's disciples were leaving.

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And Jesus begins to speak to the crowd about

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John. And so the disciples are walking off. And

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he has his crowd of disciples. And he's kind

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of talking. And he's talking to these guys. But

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he's talking to these guys. But he's talking

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to these guys too as they're leaving. Kind of

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like, I want to tell you guys one more thing

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before you leave to John. But I want to tell

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you guys too. And that's kind of what he's doing

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here. Jesus begins to speak to the crowd about

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John. What did you go? He's talking to the crowd.

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What did you go out to the wilderness? When John

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was out there eating the bugs and wearing the

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hair shirt and eating the wild honey, what did

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you go out there expecting to find? What did

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you think he was going to be? A reed swayed by

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the wind? Just somebody who was affected? by

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the conditions of the world, a guy who probably

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could renounce his ministry and get out of prison

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right now because he's powerful enough, that

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if Herod was to go to John the Baptist and say

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he's sorry and renounce all of the condemnation

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he had put on the king, there's a good chance

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he could have gone. But John hasn't done that.

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And Jesus is saying, that's right, he hasn't

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done that because that's not who John is. Did

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you expect that he was going to be someone in

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fine clothes? No, those dudes hang out in the

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king's palaces. Did you expect to go out and

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see a prophet? Yeah, you did. And you know what?

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John the Baptist is even more than a prophet.

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He's the prophet the prophets wrote about. I

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will send my messenger ahead of you who will

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prepare your way before you. Footnote, anyone?

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Malachi 3 verse 1, which says, I will send my

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messenger who will prepare the way before me.

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Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come

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to his temple. The messenger of the covenant

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whom you desire will come, says the Lord Almighty.

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Now Jesus goes back to speaking here in verse

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11. Truly I tell you, among those born of women

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that is not risen, There has not risen anyone

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greater than John the Baptist. Yet whoever is

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least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than

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he. From the days of John the Baptist until now.

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The kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence.

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And violent people have been raiding it. And

00:14:59.950 --> 00:15:03.169
he's talking about this new kingdom of heaven.

00:15:03.710 --> 00:15:07.509
Where the least shall be first. Where the weak

00:15:07.509 --> 00:15:10.659
shall be strong. When he's talking about the

00:15:10.659 --> 00:15:13.840
kingdom of heaven, he's talking about a new way

00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:17.500
of doing things, not a different way of doing

00:15:17.500 --> 00:15:21.389
the old things. And that's going to come up as

00:15:21.389 --> 00:15:23.950
super, super important as we go throughout the

00:15:23.950 --> 00:15:26.649
remainder of these chapters here tonight. When

00:15:26.649 --> 00:15:30.210
Jesus is describing his upside -down kingdom,

00:15:30.450 --> 00:15:33.330
right? First will be last. Last will be first.

00:15:33.669 --> 00:15:35.950
Meat shall inherit the earth. All of that stuff.

00:15:36.090 --> 00:15:39.330
When he is talking about the new kingdom of God,

00:15:39.529 --> 00:15:43.289
he is not talking about a different way to do

00:15:43.289 --> 00:15:47.529
the old thing. He's talking about a new way to

00:15:47.529 --> 00:15:52.220
do a new thing. And if you try to just do the

00:15:52.220 --> 00:15:56.100
same old thing in a different way, then you are

00:15:56.100 --> 00:16:01.340
not going to make it. You have to be a new, different

00:16:01.340 --> 00:16:04.919
something. And from here through the remainder

00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:07.659
of our chapters tonight, we are going to see

00:16:07.659 --> 00:16:12.740
Jesus time and again remind people that salvation

00:16:12.740 --> 00:16:18.419
requires of us to be a new, different something.

00:16:19.689 --> 00:16:23.690
Not a just kind of different way of doing the

00:16:23.690 --> 00:16:27.429
old thing. If you think that following Jesus

00:16:27.429 --> 00:16:30.509
means that you can just kind of clean yourself

00:16:30.509 --> 00:16:34.970
up a little bit, that's not good enough. You

00:16:34.970 --> 00:16:39.570
have to become a new person. And he's going to

00:16:39.570 --> 00:16:41.889
illustrate that in his teachings here in a little

00:16:41.889 --> 00:16:46.950
bit. Just because there's opposition to the kingdom

00:16:46.950 --> 00:16:49.830
of heaven though, Jesus is saying, look, is there

00:16:49.830 --> 00:16:52.590
opposition? We've already learned a couple of

00:16:52.590 --> 00:16:55.210
times that there are people obviously that don't

00:16:55.210 --> 00:16:57.610
believe he's the Messiah. There are some people

00:16:57.610 --> 00:16:59.750
that believe that, or they're not quite sure

00:16:59.750 --> 00:17:02.889
that, but maybe he's the Messiah. And then we

00:17:02.889 --> 00:17:05.150
also know by this point that there are Pharisees

00:17:05.150 --> 00:17:07.650
and Sadducees that have already began to talk

00:17:07.650 --> 00:17:10.829
about killing him, right? John the Baptist is

00:17:10.829 --> 00:17:14.789
in jail and is about to die. There is opposition.

00:17:15.450 --> 00:17:19.549
There is violent opposition currently to the

00:17:19.549 --> 00:17:24.049
kingdom of heaven as Jesus is speaking. For all

00:17:24.049 --> 00:17:27.990
the prophets of the law prophesied unto John,

00:17:28.130 --> 00:17:32.849
verse 13 says. And then he says this. And if

00:17:32.849 --> 00:17:36.730
you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah

00:17:36.730 --> 00:17:43.130
to come. Was to come. Now that's going to come

00:17:43.130 --> 00:17:46.359
up a little bit later. But again, Jesus is going

00:17:46.359 --> 00:17:49.339
back to our old friend, the prophet Malachi,

00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:52.019
in his fourth chapter, talking about the coming

00:17:52.019 --> 00:17:55.140
Messiah, who says, see that I will send the prophet

00:17:55.140 --> 00:18:00.779
Elijah before you, that's the Messiah, to you

00:18:00.779 --> 00:18:02.740
before the great and dreadful day of the Lord

00:18:02.740 --> 00:18:06.759
comes. Right? And then Jesus says, whoever has

00:18:06.759 --> 00:18:11.900
ears, let them hear. Do you have ears? Can you

00:18:11.900 --> 00:18:16.650
hear? And then he says, to what can I compare

00:18:16.650 --> 00:18:19.809
this great or this current generation, right?

00:18:19.990 --> 00:18:22.029
They're like children sitting in the marketplace

00:18:22.029 --> 00:18:25.809
and calling out to others. We play the pipe for

00:18:25.809 --> 00:18:29.509
you and you don't dance, right? We sang a dirge

00:18:29.509 --> 00:18:32.109
and you didn't mourn. And what he's saying here

00:18:32.109 --> 00:18:34.529
is, look, he's talking about the marketplace

00:18:34.529 --> 00:18:37.240
after the Sabbath. After everything had closed

00:18:37.240 --> 00:18:39.359
up and then they opened back up again, there

00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:41.539
would be kids that would be playing music in

00:18:41.539 --> 00:18:43.660
the marketplace and you would throw a coin or

00:18:43.660 --> 00:18:47.380
you'd dance, right? And he said, you're like

00:18:47.380 --> 00:18:50.119
those kids that go, I'm playing the song like

00:18:50.119 --> 00:18:53.339
I've always played. Or they would pay these children

00:18:53.339 --> 00:18:56.940
sometimes to play music before a funeral procession,

00:18:56.940 --> 00:19:00.400
right? We're playing this music, we're playing

00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:03.210
this der's, funeral song. But you're not mourning.

00:19:03.390 --> 00:19:06.549
We're doing what we've always done. And you're

00:19:06.549 --> 00:19:09.750
not doing what you've always done. Right? And

00:19:09.750 --> 00:19:13.150
that's what you're like. Because you're trying

00:19:13.150 --> 00:19:21.109
to depend upon the old way of doing things. So

00:19:21.109 --> 00:19:26.430
he concludes this by saying something about John

00:19:26.430 --> 00:19:29.710
and really kind of about himself too. And he's

00:19:29.710 --> 00:19:33.009
basically saying we can't. get it right one way

00:19:33.009 --> 00:19:36.089
or the other with you guys. For John came neither

00:19:36.089 --> 00:19:38.630
eating or drinking, right? Because he's out in

00:19:38.630 --> 00:19:41.529
the wilderness as an ascetic. And you guys said

00:19:41.529 --> 00:19:45.849
he was a demon. And I come and I, like a man,

00:19:46.009 --> 00:19:49.589
I eat and I drink, right? But I'm called a glutton

00:19:49.589 --> 00:19:52.390
and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and

00:19:52.390 --> 00:19:55.730
sinners, right? And then he says, but wisdom

00:19:55.730 --> 00:19:58.289
is proved out by our deeds. When this all plays

00:19:58.289 --> 00:20:02.440
out, you'll see who's right. And then we see

00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:06.559
kind of not playing nice with people, Jesus.

00:20:07.500 --> 00:20:10.599
I don't know how else to say that. This is called

00:20:10.599 --> 00:20:12.700
the woe on unrepentant towns. And we're going

00:20:12.700 --> 00:20:14.960
to look up here again to our screen. Then Jesus

00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:17.839
began to denounce the towns in which most of

00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:20.799
his miracles had been performed because they

00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:23.920
did not repent. Woe to you, Chorazin. See it

00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:27.119
up there? Woe to you, Bethsaida. See it there?

00:20:28.129 --> 00:20:30.349
For if the miracles that were performed in you

00:20:30.349 --> 00:20:33.049
had been performed in Tyre and Sidon. Now that's

00:20:33.049 --> 00:20:36.509
in Lebanon. And if the map extended, I want it

00:20:36.509 --> 00:20:39.109
to be as big as possible so you can read these

00:20:39.109 --> 00:20:43.410
town names. But if Tyre and Sidon were on this

00:20:43.410 --> 00:20:46.710
map, you see these kind of tall with dark in

00:20:46.710 --> 00:20:48.730
the middle here? Be kind of somewhere up here

00:20:48.730 --> 00:20:51.329
in this first one on the end here. Tyre and Sidon's

00:20:51.329 --> 00:20:54.170
in Lebanon. So it's a ways away, but it's not

00:20:54.170 --> 00:20:57.839
even in Israel. Now, the folks at Tyre and Sidon,

00:20:57.880 --> 00:21:00.799
are they good guys or bad guys? What do you guys

00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:04.299
think? It's a little tricky. A little tricky.

00:21:04.599 --> 00:21:08.079
Tyre and Sidon would have been big time seaports.

00:21:08.279 --> 00:21:12.720
The spices and the silk that come from the Orient

00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:16.740
and they come across Eurasia, or Asia rather,

00:21:16.940 --> 00:21:19.920
right? The Roman Empire, they'd get them to Tyre

00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:21.680
and Sidon. They're in Lebanon. They put it on

00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:24.279
boats and that's how they'd get to Rome. Very,

00:21:24.299 --> 00:21:28.480
very... Very anti -Jewish towns. The opposite.

00:21:29.019 --> 00:21:33.380
This would be Gentile to the max, right? Gentile

00:21:33.380 --> 00:21:37.660
city, Tyre and Sidon. And he's saying, for miracles

00:21:37.660 --> 00:21:39.660
have been performed in Tyre and Sidon, and they

00:21:39.660 --> 00:21:41.859
would have repented. And they would have worn

00:21:41.859 --> 00:21:45.700
sackcloth and ashes. And repenting with wearing

00:21:45.700 --> 00:21:48.839
sackcloth and ashes, it's going to come up again

00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:51.720
here in just a little bit. But I tell you, it'll

00:21:51.720 --> 00:21:54.720
be better for them. On the day of judgment, then

00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:58.519
for you and you, Capernaum, will you be lifted

00:21:58.519 --> 00:22:01.579
to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades,

00:22:01.640 --> 00:22:04.380
the place of the grave. You will be dead. Life

00:22:04.380 --> 00:22:07.400
will not be available to you. For if the miracles

00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:09.160
that were performed in you have been performed

00:22:09.160 --> 00:22:13.160
in Sodom, it would remain to this day. But I

00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:15.500
tell you, it would be more bearable for Sodom

00:22:15.500 --> 00:22:18.940
on the day of judgment than it would be for you.

00:22:20.089 --> 00:22:22.589
We read that and we go, I have no idea what he's

00:22:22.589 --> 00:22:26.009
talking about. What's wrong with Bethsaida and

00:22:26.009 --> 00:22:30.369
Chorazin and Capernaum? Right? I mean, what about

00:22:30.369 --> 00:22:33.549
these other towns where Jesus did stuff and they

00:22:33.549 --> 00:22:35.289
didn't like him? He didn't call those guys out.

00:22:37.150 --> 00:22:39.349
So what I'm going to do very quickly is I want

00:22:39.349 --> 00:22:42.089
to put you in the sandals of somebody in the

00:22:42.089 --> 00:22:44.130
first century that would have heard Jesus saying

00:22:44.130 --> 00:22:46.549
these words. And perhaps you would have seen

00:22:46.549 --> 00:22:52.750
what. Why he's saying that. Remember, Jesus is

00:22:52.750 --> 00:22:56.230
situating himself in the line of the Old Testament

00:22:56.230 --> 00:22:59.650
prophets. And when we go back to the Old Testament

00:22:59.650 --> 00:23:02.750
prophets and we look at Isaiah and we look at

00:23:02.750 --> 00:23:04.890
Jeremiah and we begin to look at the minor prophets,

00:23:05.190 --> 00:23:09.069
Hosea and Malachi, right? Guys like that. Each

00:23:09.069 --> 00:23:13.210
time they cry out for the people and they say

00:23:13.210 --> 00:23:17.359
the way that you are living right now. is not

00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:21.420
pleasing to God, and in the end, it will cost

00:23:21.420 --> 00:23:28.180
you your life. I know how this story ends. You

00:23:28.180 --> 00:23:32.829
have to choose. A new way of living. Because

00:23:32.829 --> 00:23:36.569
the old way of living won't do it anymore. The

00:23:36.569 --> 00:23:39.710
reason why Isaiah and Jeremiah and the minor

00:23:39.710 --> 00:23:43.430
prophets lament for the people of Israel is because

00:23:43.430 --> 00:23:46.930
God has shown them that if you're trying to do

00:23:46.930 --> 00:23:50.529
it the old way, it's not going to work. And what

00:23:50.529 --> 00:23:54.369
happens? Well, first of all... Not on our screen

00:23:54.369 --> 00:23:56.869
there, but up here to the north, we have the

00:23:56.869 --> 00:23:59.990
Assyrian Empire come in and sweep and take a

00:23:59.990 --> 00:24:02.690
whole bunch of Israelites back to Assyria and

00:24:02.690 --> 00:24:06.289
put them in captivity. About 150 years later,

00:24:06.450 --> 00:24:08.869
finally, a little bit lower here, south down

00:24:08.869 --> 00:24:11.369
here by the baptismal font, would be where Jerusalem

00:24:11.369 --> 00:24:13.890
is. Finally, the Babylonian Empire, about another

00:24:13.890 --> 00:24:16.910
150 years go by, and the city of Jerusalem falls,

00:24:17.049 --> 00:24:20.329
and the remains of the Israelite people get swept.

00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:25.599
away to what we now call Iraq. And they, for

00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:30.220
about 130 years, live in the Babylonian captivity.

00:24:31.420 --> 00:24:35.119
And even when they begin to return, right, we

00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:38.099
know from Ezra, the book of Ezra and the book

00:24:38.099 --> 00:24:40.779
of Nehemiah, we know that even when they return

00:24:40.779 --> 00:24:45.400
and begin to rebuild the city of Israel, they're

00:24:45.400 --> 00:24:47.799
still under the thumb of the Babylonian Empire,

00:24:48.019 --> 00:24:51.400
aren't they? And even in Jesus' day here today,

00:24:51.640 --> 00:24:54.640
whenever he's speaking here in the Gospel of

00:24:54.640 --> 00:24:56.940
Matthew, they're not under their own control.

00:24:57.619 --> 00:25:01.299
The Jews have a king, but Herod's a puppet. They're

00:25:01.299 --> 00:25:04.380
under the control of the Roman Empire. When Israel,

00:25:04.680 --> 00:25:08.940
I'm sorry, when Isaiah began his prophecy and

00:25:08.940 --> 00:25:11.880
told people you're going to have to live a new

00:25:11.880 --> 00:25:17.710
way or you will end up in Hades. You will end

00:25:17.710 --> 00:25:21.009
up in the grave. Sure enough, from that point

00:25:21.009 --> 00:25:25.130
forward, the people of Israel are going to be

00:25:25.130 --> 00:25:30.430
subjected to some other dominating force. And

00:25:30.430 --> 00:25:33.670
every prophet from the Old Testament to Christian

00:25:33.670 --> 00:25:37.309
scripture understands that if you don't accept

00:25:37.309 --> 00:25:41.009
the new way of living, it is a one -way road

00:25:41.009 --> 00:25:51.599
to the grave. Yes? Right. Yes, sir. And just

00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:53.960
going through the motions of your sacrifices.

00:25:54.359 --> 00:25:57.119
Right. And not and not caring about what's in

00:25:57.119 --> 00:26:00.200
your heart. Right. Because as long as I go and

00:26:00.200 --> 00:26:03.119
I and I say I'm sorry at the temple, I can continue

00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:05.779
to cheat my neighbor. Right. Absolutely. The

00:26:05.779 --> 00:26:08.200
old way when I'm saying the old way, that's exactly

00:26:08.200 --> 00:26:11.019
right. Trying to live up to the old Mosaic law,

00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:17.299
the temple system. And so the reason why. Well,

00:26:17.319 --> 00:26:19.400
let's stop and think about the guys, what life

00:26:19.400 --> 00:26:22.740
would have been like. So you're under Roman rule.

00:26:22.980 --> 00:26:26.359
Well, let's think about the guys in Nehemiah's

00:26:26.359 --> 00:26:30.079
day, under the Babylonian rule. Those guys ended

00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:33.079
up kind of working their way up into the royal

00:26:33.079 --> 00:26:37.900
courts. Nehemiah, who ends up coming back to

00:26:37.900 --> 00:26:40.400
rebuild wall in Jerusalem, right? He was the

00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:43.819
cupbearer to the king, Artaxerxes, right? He

00:26:43.819 --> 00:26:47.980
kind of, he figured out a way. to make his way

00:26:47.980 --> 00:26:53.240
under foreign control, right? And he did a pretty

00:26:53.240 --> 00:26:56.039
good job of it. In Jesus' day, maybe instead

00:26:56.039 --> 00:27:00.099
of being the cupbearer to the king, maybe you

00:27:00.099 --> 00:27:03.299
figure out a way to not care so much about your

00:27:03.299 --> 00:27:05.579
countrymen, and maybe you figure out a way to

00:27:05.579 --> 00:27:08.099
start collecting taxes for the Roman Empire.

00:27:08.599 --> 00:27:12.319
Make sure you get your own, right? And we have

00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:16.420
a guy like that, Matthew. And he's also talking

00:27:16.420 --> 00:27:19.339
to another group of people. And what you can't

00:27:19.339 --> 00:27:23.119
see here, but just to the north of Capernaum

00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:25.900
and Chorazon there, you can see where the green,

00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:29.180
which is alluvial plain, right? That means the

00:27:29.180 --> 00:27:31.519
ground is going down to the bottom. That's why

00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:34.019
the rivers go down. And we know by looking at

00:27:34.019 --> 00:27:36.460
maps, whenever they start to get yellow, that

00:27:36.460 --> 00:27:40.160
means that the elevation is rising, right? What

00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:42.900
you can't see here, but if you wrap just around

00:27:42.900 --> 00:27:46.220
the edge of the screen, That turns into a mountain

00:27:46.220 --> 00:27:50.599
that ends up being called Mount Arabel. That

00:27:50.599 --> 00:27:54.319
is called the Chorazin Plateau. And you couldn't

00:27:54.319 --> 00:27:57.440
have gone to the, now it's a big skate park or

00:27:57.440 --> 00:27:59.660
a mountain climbing thing, sorry. It's a big

00:27:59.660 --> 00:28:01.359
mountain climbing area. But in Jesus' day, you

00:28:01.359 --> 00:28:03.920
wouldn't have been able to go to the top of Mount

00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:07.460
Arabel or on the Chorazin Plateau because at

00:28:07.460 --> 00:28:10.059
the time, that was where the holdout for all

00:28:10.059 --> 00:28:13.609
of the rebels who were Jewish. Folks that were

00:28:13.609 --> 00:28:18.450
trying to fight the Roman authorities. They had

00:28:18.450 --> 00:28:21.789
their hideouts here on the Chorazin Plateau.

00:28:22.890 --> 00:28:26.170
And whenever he's talking to Bethsaida and Chorazin

00:28:26.170 --> 00:28:29.329
and Capernaum, he's talking to the guys here

00:28:29.329 --> 00:28:31.950
too who are trying to live life the old way by

00:28:31.950 --> 00:28:35.789
picking up a sword. But Jesus knows that if you

00:28:35.789 --> 00:28:38.690
live by the sword, you die by the sword too,

00:28:38.769 --> 00:28:41.450
don't you? And they were called the Zealots.

00:28:42.349 --> 00:28:44.630
Now you guys remember, there's one of those dudes

00:28:44.630 --> 00:28:47.990
in his crowd too, Simon the Zealot, right? The

00:28:47.990 --> 00:28:50.690
reason why he's pronouncing woe upon these towns

00:28:50.690 --> 00:28:55.970
is because they stand in opposition to the new

00:28:55.970 --> 00:28:59.009
kingdom of God where the weak have to be the

00:28:59.009 --> 00:29:03.930
strong. This is one of the last holdouts of Jewish

00:29:03.930 --> 00:29:07.789
rebellion. And he's telling them, I know how

00:29:07.789 --> 00:29:12.109
this ends for you guys. You are going to end

00:29:12.109 --> 00:29:16.190
up in the grave if you continue to try to do

00:29:16.190 --> 00:29:21.069
life this way. And so that's kind of, I think,

00:29:21.069 --> 00:29:23.829
unless you understand what was going on there

00:29:23.829 --> 00:29:26.690
at the Corazine Plateau, that part might seem

00:29:26.690 --> 00:29:28.970
a little bit harsh to those towns. And that's

00:29:28.970 --> 00:29:32.950
why. Violence is not going to get it done. Right?

00:29:33.430 --> 00:29:36.490
Plowshares, not swords. It's the new kingdom.

00:29:37.509 --> 00:29:42.170
So, moving on to chapter 12. Actually, this isn't

00:29:42.170 --> 00:29:44.269
probably one of those stories where I'm going

00:29:44.269 --> 00:29:46.569
to show you new kingdom, old kingdom. It's just

00:29:46.569 --> 00:29:47.829
the kind of story I want to tell because it's

00:29:47.829 --> 00:29:50.009
fun. And then we'll get into the parable of the

00:29:50.009 --> 00:29:51.710
weeds. So chapter 12, if you've got your finger

00:29:51.710 --> 00:29:55.329
on 1 Samuel 12, don't, don't, don't. Did I tell

00:29:55.329 --> 00:29:59.230
you guys 12? Sorry, it's 21. So I'm going to

00:29:59.230 --> 00:30:00.589
take a drink and you're going to flip the first

00:30:00.589 --> 00:30:03.029
second. No, keep your finger in Matthew 12, but

00:30:03.029 --> 00:30:10.460
it's not 1 Samuel 12, it's 1 Samuel 21. And it's

00:30:10.460 --> 00:30:12.119
okay because I'm going to begin reading in 12

00:30:12.119 --> 00:30:14.380
because I have to keep talking or this will never

00:30:14.380 --> 00:30:18.700
get done. So in chapter 12, Jesus, we're talking

00:30:18.700 --> 00:30:22.940
again about the father, about God being revealed

00:30:22.940 --> 00:30:27.660
through the son in Jesus. Okay. And a new way

00:30:27.660 --> 00:30:29.500
of doing things in the old temple doesn't work.

00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:33.299
And Jesus isn't just a prophet, but Jesus is

00:30:33.299 --> 00:30:36.150
the son of God. And this is what's ultimately

00:30:36.150 --> 00:30:38.609
as we head, we're in the country now, but as

00:30:38.609 --> 00:30:41.049
we begin to head our way back to Jerusalem, this

00:30:41.049 --> 00:30:42.829
is what ultimately is going to find Jesus on

00:30:42.829 --> 00:30:46.150
a cross because he keeps talking like this. Beginning

00:30:46.150 --> 00:30:48.049
with verse 1, at the time Jesus went through

00:30:48.049 --> 00:30:50.730
the grain fields on the Sabbath, his disciples

00:30:50.730 --> 00:30:52.650
were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain

00:30:52.650 --> 00:30:55.029
and eat them. I'm sure you guys have all kind

00:30:55.029 --> 00:30:57.049
of done that with a head of wheat, right? And

00:30:57.049 --> 00:31:02.759
the grains come out. When the Pharisees, saw

00:31:02.759 --> 00:31:04.660
this they said to him look your disciple look

00:31:04.660 --> 00:31:07.660
your disciples are doing what is unlawful on

00:31:07.660 --> 00:31:10.140
the Sabbath you're not the harvest right obviously

00:31:10.140 --> 00:31:14.720
that's work on the Sabbath and Jesus says haven't

00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:18.500
you read what David did when he and his companions

00:31:18.500 --> 00:31:22.980
were hungry he entered the house of God and he

00:31:22.980 --> 00:31:26.039
is in his companions ate the consecrated bread

00:31:26.039 --> 00:31:29.599
which was not lawful for them to do but only

00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:31.779
for the priests. Now, stick your finger there

00:31:31.779 --> 00:31:34.779
in Matthew, go to 1 Samuel 21, and let's read

00:31:34.779 --> 00:31:37.680
this story. I just like this story, and I hope

00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:41.779
that maybe you'll go, ah, I remember. So, I believe

00:31:41.779 --> 00:31:44.579
I'm beginning, and I don't have my verse numbers

00:31:44.579 --> 00:31:48.420
here, but I believe, does Samuel 21, 1 Samuel

00:31:48.420 --> 00:31:51.980
21 start, then David went to Nob? Okay, so beginning

00:31:51.980 --> 00:31:55.880
at first verse of 1 Samuel 21, then David, this

00:31:55.880 --> 00:31:58.660
is what Jesus was talking about. Then David went

00:31:58.660 --> 00:32:02.559
to Himalek, the priest, and Himalek came trembling

00:32:02.559 --> 00:32:05.519
in fear to meet David and said to him, why are

00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:08.779
you alone? And no one is with you. If you are

00:32:08.779 --> 00:32:10.779
this important person, you are the second most

00:32:10.779 --> 00:32:13.660
important person to the king, King Saul. That's

00:32:13.660 --> 00:32:16.119
what's going on here. You're not riding around

00:32:16.119 --> 00:32:19.460
with no army beside you. What is going on? Now,

00:32:19.480 --> 00:32:22.460
we know that David, Saul has decided to kill

00:32:22.460 --> 00:32:25.779
David. David's actually on the run. From Saul

00:32:25.779 --> 00:32:27.660
here. That's why he's alone. But he does kind

00:32:27.660 --> 00:32:30.420
of have his little bandit friends waiting with

00:32:30.420 --> 00:32:33.119
him. David says to Ahimelech, the priest, the

00:32:33.119 --> 00:32:35.339
king has commissioned me with a matter and has

00:32:35.339 --> 00:32:39.180
told me, let no one know anything about the matter

00:32:39.180 --> 00:32:41.480
for which I am sending you, which I have commissioned

00:32:41.480 --> 00:32:43.599
you. I have directed the young men to a certain

00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:47.319
place. Now, to the priest, Ahimelech, now what

00:32:47.319 --> 00:32:50.039
food do you have on hand? Give me five loaves

00:32:50.039 --> 00:32:52.430
of bread or whatever can be found. Ahimelech

00:32:52.430 --> 00:32:55.750
says to David, there's no ordinary bread here

00:32:55.750 --> 00:32:59.509
or unconsecrated bread, but there is consecrated

00:32:59.509 --> 00:33:02.289
bread and you can have it. If only the young

00:33:02.289 --> 00:33:05.450
men had, I mean, are they consecrated, right?

00:33:05.509 --> 00:33:08.930
Have they kept themselves from women? And David

00:33:08.930 --> 00:33:12.089
said, be assured, yes, the women have been kept.

00:33:22.759 --> 00:33:25.660
So how much more will their vessels be holy today?

00:33:26.019 --> 00:33:29.079
So the priest gave that bread to him, the consecrated

00:33:29.079 --> 00:33:31.160
bread, for there was no bread there except for

00:33:31.160 --> 00:33:33.640
the bread of the presence, which was removed

00:33:33.640 --> 00:33:36.119
from before the Lord in order to put hot bread

00:33:36.119 --> 00:33:38.640
in its place when it was taken away. Now, one

00:33:38.640 --> 00:33:42.500
of Saul's servants was there that day. detained

00:33:42.500 --> 00:33:45.720
before the Lord, and his name was Dog, the Edomite,

00:33:45.859 --> 00:33:49.140
the chief of Saul's shepherds. David said to

00:33:49.140 --> 00:33:52.019
Ahimelech, Do you not have a sword or spear here

00:33:52.019 --> 00:33:55.000
on hand? For I brought neither my sword nor my

00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:57.220
other weapons with me, because the king's business

00:33:57.220 --> 00:34:00.299
was urgent. Then the priest said, The sword of

00:34:00.299 --> 00:34:03.160
Goliath, the Philistine, whom you killed in the

00:34:03.160 --> 00:34:06.000
valley of Elah, is here, wrapped in a cloth behind

00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:08.199
the ephod. If you would take it for yourself,

00:34:08.340 --> 00:34:11.420
do so, for there is no other here except for

00:34:11.420 --> 00:34:14.059
it. And David said, there is none like that.

00:34:14.139 --> 00:34:16.639
Give it to me. I just want to remember, you guys

00:34:16.639 --> 00:34:18.300
remember that story when we had that, told that

00:34:18.300 --> 00:34:21.019
story? This is where, that's how it's tied into

00:34:21.019 --> 00:34:24.039
the New Testament. When Jesus says, what about

00:34:24.039 --> 00:34:26.019
David in the time that the priest gave him that

00:34:26.019 --> 00:34:28.719
bread? Why wasn't that breaking the Sabbath,

00:34:28.900 --> 00:34:31.280
right? That's where that story that we all kind

00:34:31.280 --> 00:34:32.639
of went, oh, I didn't even know that story was

00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:34.719
in the Bible. That's where it comes from. Back

00:34:34.719 --> 00:34:38.380
to Matthew 12. Jesus says, or haven't you read

00:34:38.380 --> 00:34:42.739
in the law, this is verse 5, or haven't you read

00:34:42.739 --> 00:34:45.099
in the law that the priests on the Sabbath duty

00:34:45.099 --> 00:34:47.139
in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are

00:34:47.139 --> 00:34:49.460
innocent? I tell you something greater than the

00:34:49.460 --> 00:34:52.840
temple is here. If you had known what these words

00:34:52.840 --> 00:34:56.440
mean, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would

00:34:56.440 --> 00:34:58.139
not have condemned the innocent. You guys remember

00:34:58.139 --> 00:35:01.539
that from last time, right? Whenever, when Jesus

00:35:01.539 --> 00:35:04.909
is saying, look, it's not. about doing the things

00:35:04.909 --> 00:35:07.150
over and over again. It's about a new heart.

00:35:08.070 --> 00:35:10.690
Going on from that place, he went to the synagogue

00:35:10.690 --> 00:35:13.130
and a man with a shriveled hand was there looking

00:35:13.130 --> 00:35:15.349
for a reason to bring charges against Jesus.

00:35:15.429 --> 00:35:18.289
They, the Pharisees, asked him, is it lawful

00:35:18.289 --> 00:35:21.909
to heal on the Sabbath? He said to him, if any

00:35:21.909 --> 00:35:23.849
of you had sheep and it falls into a pit on the

00:35:23.849 --> 00:35:25.809
Sabbath, would you not take hold of it and lift

00:35:25.809 --> 00:35:28.150
it out? How much more valuable is a person than

00:35:28.150 --> 00:35:30.789
a sheep? Therefore, it's lawful to do good on

00:35:30.789 --> 00:35:33.050
the Sabbath. And then he said to the man, stretch

00:35:33.050 --> 00:35:35.349
out your hand. So he stretched it out and was

00:35:35.349 --> 00:35:37.429
completely restored, just as sound as the other.

00:35:37.570 --> 00:35:40.349
But the Pharisees went out and they plotted how

00:35:40.349 --> 00:35:43.170
they might kill Jesus. And now the word kill

00:35:43.170 --> 00:35:45.949
is in there. And as we go on, this is going to

00:35:45.949 --> 00:35:48.150
become more and more serious. Now let's jump

00:35:48.150 --> 00:35:52.909
to chapter 13. And I want to look at one of the

00:35:52.909 --> 00:35:56.650
parables called the parable of the weeds. Another

00:35:56.650 --> 00:35:59.250
interesting something I learned in study about

00:35:59.250 --> 00:36:01.349
this that I think will help you make more sense

00:36:01.349 --> 00:36:04.329
of this parable as well. And so he's telling

00:36:04.329 --> 00:36:07.289
a group of parables. Here Jesus tells them the

00:36:07.289 --> 00:36:10.309
parable of the weeds. Beginning with verse 24.

00:36:10.889 --> 00:36:13.969
The kingdom of heaven. Okay, I'm going to slow

00:36:13.969 --> 00:36:17.170
down here so we can listen. The kingdom of heaven

00:36:17.170 --> 00:36:20.530
is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

00:36:21.329 --> 00:36:25.639
But while everyone was sleeping. His enemy came

00:36:25.639 --> 00:36:29.639
and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.

00:36:30.519 --> 00:36:34.280
When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, the

00:36:34.280 --> 00:36:38.139
weeds also appeared. The owner's servants came

00:36:38.139 --> 00:36:41.699
to him and said, Sir, didn't you sow good seed

00:36:41.699 --> 00:36:45.940
in your field? Where did these weeds come from?

00:36:47.039 --> 00:36:51.539
And the man said, An enemy has done this. The

00:36:51.539 --> 00:36:53.780
servants asked him, Do you want us to go then?

00:36:54.380 --> 00:36:59.760
And pull those weeds up? No. Because while you're

00:36:59.760 --> 00:37:02.280
pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with

00:37:02.280 --> 00:37:07.139
them. Let both grow until the harvest. And at

00:37:07.139 --> 00:37:09.599
that time, I will tell the harvesters, first

00:37:09.599 --> 00:37:12.059
collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to

00:37:12.059 --> 00:37:14.480
be burned. Then gather the wheat and bring it

00:37:14.480 --> 00:37:18.840
into my barn. Now, that sounds pretty simple,

00:37:19.019 --> 00:37:24.280
right? And the good thing is, is here in just

00:37:24.280 --> 00:37:26.300
a second, he's going to explain all that, probably

00:37:26.300 --> 00:37:28.440
to confirm the way you heard this. You probably

00:37:28.440 --> 00:37:31.199
have a pretty good idea of who's what in that

00:37:31.199 --> 00:37:33.719
story. But what I think is interesting is the

00:37:33.719 --> 00:37:38.099
word that's translated as wheat there in Greek

00:37:38.099 --> 00:37:43.039
is a word called Zizania, Z -I -Z -N -I -A, Zizania.

00:37:43.820 --> 00:37:47.760
And the plural of that is Zizanion. And that

00:37:47.760 --> 00:37:51.269
word is thought to mean Darnell. which is a type

00:37:51.269 --> 00:37:59.769
of ryegrass. It is lollium timulatum. And it's

00:37:59.769 --> 00:38:03.809
a ryegrass which looks almost exactly like wheat

00:38:03.809 --> 00:38:09.070
in its early stages. So much so that Roman law

00:38:09.070 --> 00:38:13.869
actually prohibited sowing Darnell among the

00:38:13.869 --> 00:38:18.329
wheat of an enemy. Right? suggesting that this

00:38:18.329 --> 00:38:21.289
scenario was something that would have been common.

00:38:22.369 --> 00:38:25.409
There was a ryegrass that looked so much like

00:38:25.409 --> 00:38:27.969
wheat when it was growing that you couldn't even

00:38:27.969 --> 00:38:31.590
tell it for a long time, right? And so if you

00:38:31.590 --> 00:38:34.030
had a farmer friend that wasn't your friend and

00:38:34.030 --> 00:38:36.269
you really wanted to get him good, you'd sow

00:38:36.269 --> 00:38:40.289
this ryegrass in with his wheat to destroy his

00:38:40.289 --> 00:38:42.969
field, right? I think it's kind of an interesting

00:38:42.969 --> 00:38:48.840
story. It looks so much. Like each other. The

00:38:48.840 --> 00:38:54.119
weeds. Well, let's read real quickly, continuing

00:38:54.119 --> 00:38:58.860
the chapter. Verse 37. Let's go ahead and just

00:38:58.860 --> 00:39:02.679
look at the answer key here. He answered Jesus.

00:39:03.420 --> 00:39:06.920
The one who sowed the good seed is the son of

00:39:06.920 --> 00:39:12.719
man. Jesus is. The field is the world. The good

00:39:12.719 --> 00:39:16.119
wheat seed. Right. Those are the people of God's

00:39:16.119 --> 00:39:19.980
kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil

00:39:19.980 --> 00:39:24.019
one. The enemy, the devil, is the guy who threw

00:39:24.019 --> 00:39:27.179
the ryegrass in with the wheat. The harvest is

00:39:27.179 --> 00:39:29.880
at the end of the age and the harvesters are

00:39:29.880 --> 00:39:33.119
God's angels. Right. We had a pretty good handle

00:39:33.119 --> 00:39:35.360
on all that. Now, one of the things that's kind

00:39:35.360 --> 00:39:39.119
of interesting in the gospel account is not infrequently

00:39:39.119 --> 00:39:44.550
you will see a story. And then a story. And then

00:39:44.550 --> 00:39:47.590
the first story is continued or ended. And there's

00:39:47.590 --> 00:39:49.989
like a sandwich story in between. And you have

00:39:49.989 --> 00:39:51.989
to look at all three of them to kind of get what

00:39:51.989 --> 00:39:54.389
the bigger message is. And this is one of those

00:39:54.389 --> 00:39:57.949
times. So the weed in the wheat, top piece of

00:39:57.949 --> 00:40:01.409
bread. The explanation of the weeds in the wheat,

00:40:01.449 --> 00:40:03.489
the bottom piece of bread. And then there's this

00:40:03.489 --> 00:40:06.949
story stuck right there in the middle. And it's

00:40:06.949 --> 00:40:10.880
the parable of the mustard seed. So he told them

00:40:10.880 --> 00:40:14.840
another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like

00:40:14.840 --> 00:40:17.900
a mustard seed which a man took and planted in

00:40:17.900 --> 00:40:21.820
his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds.

00:40:21.900 --> 00:40:24.360
Have we all seen a mustard seed before? It's

00:40:24.360 --> 00:40:27.980
just a fleck, just a tiny, I don't even know

00:40:27.980 --> 00:40:31.679
how to, it's a dot, right? It's very, very, very,

00:40:31.679 --> 00:40:35.119
very, very small. And yet when it grows, it is

00:40:35.119 --> 00:40:40.289
the largest of garden plants. It's a plant. Right?

00:40:40.409 --> 00:40:47.210
Is mustard a plant? That's right. But whenever

00:40:47.210 --> 00:40:49.829
it starts off, it's going to look like a bush,

00:40:49.949 --> 00:40:54.809
right? But what does it grow into? A tree. Right?

00:40:55.210 --> 00:40:58.809
It was kind of something, but then it turned

00:40:58.809 --> 00:41:01.869
into something completely different. It kind

00:41:01.869 --> 00:41:05.909
of looked like a bush, but when it matures, it

00:41:05.909 --> 00:41:10.480
is something new. It's a tree. And that's what

00:41:10.480 --> 00:41:14.400
Jesus is trying to tell us here about what it

00:41:14.400 --> 00:41:19.659
means to be the wheat or the ryegrass. Right?

00:41:19.679 --> 00:41:23.000
Because man, if you don't work within the kingdom

00:41:23.000 --> 00:41:26.019
of God and the way the new kingdom works, there's

00:41:26.019 --> 00:41:27.960
not much difference in the way you guys look.

00:41:28.559 --> 00:41:32.400
And it might not even be until the harvest that

00:41:32.400 --> 00:41:35.559
we're able to tell whether you are wheat or weeds.

00:41:36.559 --> 00:41:39.460
And right in the middle, He says, if you didn't

00:41:39.460 --> 00:41:43.340
catch that the first time around, mustard seed

00:41:43.340 --> 00:41:48.079
goes from a plant to a tree. The kingdom of God

00:41:48.079 --> 00:41:51.900
means you have to be something new and different,

00:41:52.019 --> 00:41:55.980
just not a different version of the old thing.

00:41:56.800 --> 00:41:59.619
And so sometimes we're going to see in these

00:41:59.619 --> 00:42:01.820
stories where there'll be this story, and then

00:42:01.820 --> 00:42:03.300
there'll be this story that kind of continues,

00:42:03.420 --> 00:42:05.780
and in the middle there's another story. There's

00:42:05.780 --> 00:42:12.760
a reason why. Okay, so let us now go to verse

00:42:12.760 --> 00:42:18.840
21. Leaving that place. Is everybody leaving

00:42:18.840 --> 00:42:23.940
that place? I believe a 13, right? Leaving that

00:42:23.940 --> 00:42:26.500
place. Everybody there? Is that how it starts,

00:42:26.539 --> 00:42:34.380
verse 13? 13, 13. Sorry, 13, 21. I keep saying

00:42:34.380 --> 00:42:40.389
13, 21. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. So we're

00:42:40.389 --> 00:42:44.190
in, I'm trying to go fast. So we're in Galilee,

00:42:44.329 --> 00:42:47.530
right? And he's going to leave Galilee, leaving

00:42:47.530 --> 00:42:56.070
that place. Yes? Yes? Am I right, guys? Uh -huh.

00:43:00.469 --> 00:43:07.380
Okay, 14. Skip over to 14. I knew I had my pages

00:43:07.380 --> 00:43:20.019
mixed up here. Yep. 15, sorry. Leaving that place.

00:43:20.619 --> 00:43:24.039
We got it. Sorry, 15. Hey, that's good. We're

00:43:24.039 --> 00:43:25.920
in good shape, man. We're on the downhill slide

00:43:25.920 --> 00:43:28.400
now. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I got this totally.

00:43:28.539 --> 00:43:32.099
I got 20 minutes. I can slow down. This is good

00:43:32.099 --> 00:43:34.480
stuff. All right. No, no. This is good, too,

00:43:34.519 --> 00:43:36.199
because this is where it kind of gets more important.

00:43:37.199 --> 00:43:41.059
So, okay. So we're in Galilee, right? We're up

00:43:41.059 --> 00:43:45.360
here. He's kind of worked his way counterclockwise,

00:43:45.780 --> 00:43:49.300
Magdala, kind of in that region there. And now

00:43:49.300 --> 00:43:52.539
they're actually going to get out. They're going

00:43:52.539 --> 00:43:54.480
to get out of the Galilean region, and they're

00:43:54.480 --> 00:43:56.539
going to go up to where he was just talking about,

00:43:56.699 --> 00:43:59.440
to Tyre and Sidon, which is up in modern -day

00:43:59.440 --> 00:44:04.159
Lebanon today. Now we'll look at his story. I

00:44:04.159 --> 00:44:05.480
think it's an important story here. A lot of

00:44:05.480 --> 00:44:08.539
stuff going on. So leaving that place, Jesus

00:44:08.539 --> 00:44:11.780
withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon up there

00:44:11.780 --> 00:44:15.519
on the Mediterranean coast. Now again, the people

00:44:15.519 --> 00:44:18.559
of Tyre and Sidon, it's kind of a complicated

00:44:18.559 --> 00:44:21.320
relationship with the Jewish people. More times

00:44:21.320 --> 00:44:24.880
than not, there has been conflict. There have

00:44:24.880 --> 00:44:27.800
also been times whenever the kingdoms worked

00:44:27.800 --> 00:44:31.400
together. Does anybody recall one time? King

00:44:31.400 --> 00:44:36.280
of Tyre did anything for King Solomon? All of

00:44:36.280 --> 00:44:39.039
the wood that is used to build Solomon's temple,

00:44:39.179 --> 00:44:42.420
right, comes from the cedars of Lebanon, from

00:44:42.420 --> 00:44:44.940
the king of Tyre. So there have been times when

00:44:44.940 --> 00:44:47.539
the people of Tyre and Sidon and the people of

00:44:47.539 --> 00:44:51.019
Israel worked together, but there's more conflict

00:44:51.019 --> 00:44:54.079
than there has been friendship. So ultimately,

00:44:54.099 --> 00:44:56.239
again, I want to point out, I'm pointing that

00:44:56.239 --> 00:44:59.119
out to say, Jesus has now retired to a place

00:44:59.119 --> 00:45:04.260
that is not, Jewish, right? Now, I love this.

00:45:04.820 --> 00:45:08.059
So Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon,

00:45:08.059 --> 00:45:12.179
and then verse 22 says, a Canaanite woman from

00:45:12.179 --> 00:45:16.019
the vicinity came to him crying out, Lord, son

00:45:16.019 --> 00:45:22.780
of David. Now, Canaanite people, are they allies,

00:45:22.980 --> 00:45:29.380
enemies? Huge, the archest of enemies. OK, Canaan

00:45:29.380 --> 00:45:33.059
is the place that the promised land under the

00:45:33.059 --> 00:45:36.079
leadership of Joshua crossed the Jordan River

00:45:36.079 --> 00:45:40.400
and took over. Right. Canaan, those people. OK,

00:45:40.519 --> 00:45:43.880
and this is kind of crazy. So there is a woman

00:45:43.880 --> 00:45:47.639
here that is would have been of the people group

00:45:47.639 --> 00:45:50.760
that would have been the arch enemy of the Jews.

00:45:51.300 --> 00:45:56.469
And she says she says to Jesus. She calls him

00:45:56.469 --> 00:45:59.429
what? Lord. That means master. But then she uses

00:45:59.429 --> 00:46:01.690
another title. Remember the son of David bit?

00:46:02.289 --> 00:46:06.630
That's a national title for saying Messiah. And

00:46:06.630 --> 00:46:09.369
this is significant because we have a Canaanite

00:46:09.369 --> 00:46:14.510
woman calling this man, this Jewish man, the

00:46:14.510 --> 00:46:18.710
son of David. Recognizing his kingship by calling

00:46:18.710 --> 00:46:22.550
him master. Let me give you an example of what

00:46:22.550 --> 00:46:26.159
that might be like. Let's say that you were having

00:46:26.159 --> 00:46:30.539
dinner over at Eskimo Joe's. And sure enough,

00:46:30.699 --> 00:46:34.820
Mike Gundy comes in and sits down right next

00:46:34.820 --> 00:46:37.800
to you. The table right next to you, and you

00:46:37.800 --> 00:46:40.639
can hear their conversation. But the story gets

00:46:40.639 --> 00:46:43.119
better. Because you're sitting there eating your

00:46:43.119 --> 00:46:46.239
cheese fries, right? And then who else is to

00:46:46.239 --> 00:46:50.500
show up but Barry Switzer? And Barry Switzer

00:46:50.500 --> 00:46:53.719
walks up to Mike Gundy's table and says, I just

00:46:53.719 --> 00:46:56.420
want you to know that you are the best football

00:46:56.420 --> 00:47:00.659
coach this state has ever had. That's what we're

00:47:00.659 --> 00:47:04.920
talking about here. A Canaanite woman referring

00:47:04.920 --> 00:47:09.960
to Jesus, this Messiah figure, as her Lord, it

00:47:09.960 --> 00:47:12.579
would be like Barry Switzer calling Mike Gundy

00:47:12.579 --> 00:47:15.619
a good football coach. That would blow people's

00:47:15.619 --> 00:47:20.260
minds. Right. And she calls out to him as the

00:47:20.260 --> 00:47:24.780
son of David have mercy on me. My daughter is

00:47:24.780 --> 00:47:27.599
demon possessed and suffering terribly. Now,

00:47:27.659 --> 00:47:32.519
Jesus response to her is nothing. He doesn't

00:47:32.519 --> 00:47:35.980
even say anything at all. Even his disciples

00:47:35.980 --> 00:47:40.199
come up to him and they're like, dude, you've

00:47:40.199 --> 00:47:42.900
got to do something about her. She's crying out

00:47:42.900 --> 00:47:47.150
after us. Now remember, we're at a place here

00:47:47.150 --> 00:47:52.909
where Jesus, whenever there's heat on, whenever

00:47:52.909 --> 00:47:55.769
the Jewish leaders are threatening to kill Jesus,

00:47:56.070 --> 00:47:59.730
and we know because the Bible tells us that there's

00:47:59.730 --> 00:48:02.030
talk about it. I'm sorry, the computer went to

00:48:02.030 --> 00:48:05.449
sleep. That he leaves the vicinity and he'll

00:48:05.449 --> 00:48:09.710
retire away, often to pray, but also just to

00:48:09.710 --> 00:48:13.889
get out of the kitchen, truthfully. Right. Because

00:48:13.889 --> 00:48:16.769
he's he's not on man's time, but he's on God's

00:48:16.769 --> 00:48:19.949
time. Right. And so there are times when the

00:48:19.949 --> 00:48:23.110
heat gets a little bit too much. Jesus moves

00:48:23.110 --> 00:48:25.949
to another location and that's what's going on

00:48:25.949 --> 00:48:28.889
here. And I'm not so sure that maybe there isn't

00:48:28.889 --> 00:48:32.369
a little bit of trying not to attract attention

00:48:32.369 --> 00:48:36.909
to us with this crazy woman. Right. But finally,

00:48:36.969 --> 00:48:40.230
he has a conversation with her and he says, look,

00:48:40.309 --> 00:48:45.539
lady. I was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel.

00:48:46.179 --> 00:48:50.940
I'm only here for the people of Israel whom have

00:48:50.940 --> 00:48:55.539
lost their way. I'm not here for everybody else

00:48:55.539 --> 00:48:58.320
right now. And as a matter of fact, we didn't

00:48:58.320 --> 00:49:01.599
really go into it much, but in our last section

00:49:01.599 --> 00:49:04.460
of the Gospel according to Matthew was a section

00:49:04.460 --> 00:49:06.900
where Jesus actually commissioned his 12 disciples

00:49:06.900 --> 00:49:10.519
to go out and preach. And he actually told them

00:49:10.519 --> 00:49:14.199
the same thing. He says, don't go to Gentile

00:49:14.199 --> 00:49:18.360
lands. Don't go to Samaria. Focus on the Israelite

00:49:18.360 --> 00:49:22.179
people first. And that actually has a theme back

00:49:22.179 --> 00:49:25.079
to the Old Testament prophets that say that justice

00:49:25.079 --> 00:49:31.599
comes to the house of Israel first. And that's

00:49:31.599 --> 00:49:33.900
what Jesus is saying here. Not that he's not

00:49:33.900 --> 00:49:39.079
here to save the whole world. In this moment,

00:49:39.139 --> 00:49:42.860
Jesus is saying, first is to go to the people

00:49:42.860 --> 00:49:46.619
of Israel, then to the people of the world. Okay?

00:49:46.880 --> 00:49:51.059
And so she continues in saying, Lord, help me.

00:49:51.519 --> 00:49:54.480
And then he says, it's not right to take the

00:49:54.480 --> 00:49:58.699
children's bread and toss it to the dogs. Now,

00:49:58.820 --> 00:50:03.719
in that sentence, who's the children? The Israelite

00:50:03.719 --> 00:50:07.079
people, right? So what is he calling this Canaanite

00:50:07.079 --> 00:50:12.739
woman? A dog, right? And this is a really great

00:50:12.739 --> 00:50:16.380
moment because there's maybe the humanity of

00:50:16.380 --> 00:50:19.099
Jesus going on here, but this is kind of, it

00:50:19.099 --> 00:50:22.460
almost feels like the woman does some convincing

00:50:22.460 --> 00:50:27.719
to Jesus. And I think the human side of Jesus

00:50:27.719 --> 00:50:30.920
could be convinced to where his mind could change.

00:50:32.039 --> 00:50:35.679
Or this is all a part of God's purpose, right?

00:50:36.139 --> 00:50:39.679
And she says, that is true. But even the dog

00:50:39.679 --> 00:50:42.300
eats the crumbs that fall from the master's table.

00:50:42.800 --> 00:50:45.860
No, I'm not saying that you have to give the

00:50:45.860 --> 00:50:48.960
children's bread to me, but hey, look, everybody

00:50:48.960 --> 00:50:53.239
loves the family dog. Even the family dog gets

00:50:53.239 --> 00:50:56.639
the scraps left over after the meal. And he recognizes

00:50:56.639 --> 00:51:01.260
that was very profound. And that was a statement

00:51:01.260 --> 00:51:06.159
that took a lot of faith to say. And the daughter

00:51:06.159 --> 00:51:13.679
was healed in that moment. Chapter 16. We're

00:51:13.679 --> 00:51:15.980
going to see something that's going to tie again

00:51:15.980 --> 00:51:18.099
also into something a little bit later in the

00:51:18.099 --> 00:51:22.219
chapter here. And we're starting to see Pharisees

00:51:22.219 --> 00:51:25.559
and Sadducees coming forward. And Matthew chapter

00:51:25.559 --> 00:51:30.199
16 here. And we're starting to see more of an

00:51:30.199 --> 00:51:33.559
interaction. with the Pharisees and Sadducees

00:51:33.559 --> 00:51:36.960
and Jesus, not from a curiosity standpoint, but

00:51:36.960 --> 00:51:40.420
maybe from an accusatory standpoint. We're going

00:51:40.420 --> 00:51:44.960
to see the tone change in the discussion that

00:51:44.960 --> 00:51:48.840
Jesus has with the Pharisees and Sadducees going

00:51:48.840 --> 00:51:52.340
forward. Things are becoming more nefarious and

00:51:52.340 --> 00:51:55.639
things are escalating rapidly here in our story.

00:51:56.019 --> 00:51:58.940
And so the Pharisees and the Sadducees, they

00:51:58.940 --> 00:52:02.090
come to Jesus. He's made his way back down to

00:52:02.090 --> 00:52:06.150
Galilee again. And they tested him. So it's not

00:52:06.150 --> 00:52:08.989
like, hey, we're curious, but they're trying

00:52:08.989 --> 00:52:13.269
to catch him in a trap here. And they ask him,

00:52:13.329 --> 00:52:17.070
show us a sign from heaven. Now, do we think

00:52:17.070 --> 00:52:20.389
that that's probably a sincere request? Probably

00:52:20.389 --> 00:52:22.949
not. Again, they're testing him. They're trying

00:52:22.949 --> 00:52:26.949
to trap Jesus in blasphemy so that they can arrest

00:52:26.949 --> 00:52:30.340
him and put an end to this. This rabble rouser.

00:52:31.360 --> 00:52:34.739
And Jesus says, when evening comes, you say it

00:52:34.739 --> 00:52:38.360
will be fair weather for the sky is red. And

00:52:38.360 --> 00:52:40.780
in the morning today, it will be stormy for the

00:52:40.780 --> 00:52:44.260
sky is red and overcast. Now, you know how to

00:52:44.260 --> 00:52:46.679
interpret the appearance of the sky, but you

00:52:46.679 --> 00:52:49.139
can't even interpret the signs of the times.

00:52:51.699 --> 00:52:55.219
How could you not? It's as plain as my face in

00:52:55.219 --> 00:52:56.960
front of you. How can you not see what's going

00:52:56.960 --> 00:53:00.099
on here? It says, a wicked and an adulterous

00:53:00.099 --> 00:53:03.739
generation look for a sign. You're always looking

00:53:03.739 --> 00:53:07.880
for something I can do or give you. Because that's

00:53:07.880 --> 00:53:11.219
the way power has been conveyed over time. The

00:53:11.219 --> 00:53:16.679
old way of being a human had everything to do

00:53:16.679 --> 00:53:19.599
with relationships that depend upon what I can

00:53:19.599 --> 00:53:24.360
give or show you. I have to have some sort of

00:53:24.360 --> 00:53:27.619
transactional currency. for our relationship

00:53:27.619 --> 00:53:32.179
to matter. He says we're looking for a different

00:53:32.179 --> 00:53:34.960
way of being a human. So I'm not even going to

00:53:34.960 --> 00:53:36.639
mess around with it because I don't even believe

00:53:36.639 --> 00:53:39.880
that you sincerely want to see the work of God.

00:53:40.659 --> 00:53:42.880
First of all, you would have even asked in a

00:53:42.880 --> 00:53:45.139
different way. You didn't say anything about

00:53:45.139 --> 00:53:47.900
let's bring glory to God. You just want me to

00:53:47.900 --> 00:53:51.239
do something for you. So I'm not going to show

00:53:51.239 --> 00:53:56.809
you a sign except for the sign of Jonah. Jesus

00:53:56.809 --> 00:54:02.190
left them and went away. The sign of Jonah? What

00:54:02.190 --> 00:54:07.110
does that mean? Turn back in your Bible. We thought

00:54:07.110 --> 00:54:08.409
we were doing really good and we're actually

00:54:08.409 --> 00:54:10.329
going to go three steps forward, two steps back

00:54:10.329 --> 00:54:13.170
here. Turn back in your Bibles to chapter 12.

00:54:15.309 --> 00:54:22.070
And let's explore this sign of Jonah bit. And

00:54:22.070 --> 00:54:24.389
see what it has to say about our theme tonight.

00:54:24.880 --> 00:54:28.719
Of old versus new. So beginning with chapter

00:54:28.719 --> 00:54:34.780
12 verse 18. And here's our old friends again.

00:54:36.159 --> 00:54:38.880
Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the

00:54:38.880 --> 00:54:43.400
law said to Jesus. Teacher we want to see a sign

00:54:43.400 --> 00:54:46.699
from you. And Jesus' comment the first time is

00:54:46.699 --> 00:54:49.280
no different than what we just heard. He says

00:54:49.280 --> 00:54:52.119
none will be given except the sign of the prophet

00:54:52.119 --> 00:54:55.530
Jonah. For Jonah was three days and three nights

00:54:55.530 --> 00:54:58.230
in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man

00:54:58.230 --> 00:55:00.309
will be three days and three nights in the heart

00:55:00.309 --> 00:55:04.730
of the earth. Right? And that's signifying the

00:55:04.730 --> 00:55:09.750
death of Jonah because he goes into the fish

00:55:09.750 --> 00:55:15.050
as one who is running away from God and is one

00:55:15.050 --> 00:55:18.769
that comes out three days later as one obedient

00:55:18.769 --> 00:55:22.880
to God. Jonah still has his problems, even after

00:55:22.880 --> 00:55:25.480
the whole Nineveh thing, right? Jonah is still

00:55:25.480 --> 00:55:29.340
kind of a jerk, right? Because even after God

00:55:29.340 --> 00:55:32.099
has kind of changed his mind, Jonah's not happy

00:55:32.099 --> 00:55:35.460
about it. Jonah thought that when he went to

00:55:35.460 --> 00:55:37.639
Nineveh to tell them that they were going to

00:55:37.639 --> 00:55:40.400
face the wrath of the judgment of God, he didn't

00:55:40.400 --> 00:55:42.340
think it was going to end well for them, right?

00:55:42.639 --> 00:55:44.820
He thought it was going to be Sodom and Gomorrah

00:55:44.820 --> 00:55:47.900
all over again. And then whenever God sees the

00:55:47.900 --> 00:55:51.519
Ninevites repent, He saves them. And Jonah's

00:55:51.519 --> 00:55:53.980
like, that's not what, I didn't buy into this.

00:55:54.440 --> 00:55:58.539
But the signification of Jonah going to the bottom

00:55:58.539 --> 00:56:01.860
of the sea, being swallowed by the big fish,

00:56:02.000 --> 00:56:05.519
and then coming out a different person is the

00:56:05.519 --> 00:56:10.119
same thing we're seeing here with Jesus. And

00:56:10.119 --> 00:56:12.900
he talks a little bit about that. He says, that's

00:56:12.900 --> 00:56:15.579
the sign you're going to get from me. The men

00:56:15.579 --> 00:56:19.780
of Nineveh, will stand up at the judgment with

00:56:19.780 --> 00:56:23.599
this generation, you guys, when it's all said

00:56:23.599 --> 00:56:27.420
and done, and the Ninevites are going to condemn

00:56:27.420 --> 00:56:33.400
you. Why? Well, they repented. They heard the

00:56:33.400 --> 00:56:36.599
preaching of Jonah, and they changed their mind.

00:56:37.320 --> 00:56:40.579
And now, there's something even better than that

00:56:40.579 --> 00:56:45.530
here. And you guys are wanting to kill me. The

00:56:45.530 --> 00:56:47.469
queen of the south, does anybody know who that

00:56:47.469 --> 00:56:53.469
is? Sheba, Queen Sheba, right? From Ethiopia,

00:56:53.869 --> 00:56:57.889
Queen Sheba. She will rise at the judgment with

00:56:57.889 --> 00:57:01.880
this generation and condemn it. For she came

00:57:01.880 --> 00:57:04.659
from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's

00:57:04.659 --> 00:57:07.380
wisdom. And now something greater than Solomon

00:57:07.380 --> 00:57:11.800
is here. Two groups of people that are somehow

00:57:11.800 --> 00:57:14.559
better than the current generation. The Ninevites

00:57:14.559 --> 00:57:17.480
and the Queen of Sheba. What makes them different?

00:57:17.699 --> 00:57:20.800
The thing is, the Ninevites believed that the

00:57:20.800 --> 00:57:23.179
way that they were living their life was the

00:57:23.179 --> 00:57:26.400
right way to do it. And Jonah comes along and

00:57:26.400 --> 00:57:31.489
says, new way of doing. New way of being. And

00:57:31.489 --> 00:57:34.090
they changed who they were. They thought they

00:57:34.090 --> 00:57:36.469
had it figured out. And then they realized they

00:57:36.469 --> 00:57:39.469
were wrong and became something new. The queen

00:57:39.469 --> 00:57:42.449
of Sheba, what this part of the story is talking

00:57:42.449 --> 00:57:47.090
about, is she had heard about how wise Solomon

00:57:47.090 --> 00:57:49.550
was. And the queen of Sheba thought that she

00:57:49.550 --> 00:57:52.429
was the wisest in the land. And so she actually

00:57:52.429 --> 00:57:57.940
comes to... to Jerusalem and encounters Solomon.

00:57:58.199 --> 00:58:01.280
And Solomon proves to be as wise as everybody

00:58:01.280 --> 00:58:04.840
thinks. And she changes her mind. She thought

00:58:04.840 --> 00:58:07.840
she had it figured out, realized she didn't,

00:58:07.840 --> 00:58:12.340
and became a new person. Right? And so these

00:58:12.340 --> 00:58:15.059
are people that even though they've got really

00:58:15.059 --> 00:58:18.679
bad pasts, and even the Ninevites, the story

00:58:18.679 --> 00:58:21.280
is great there for them whenever they repent,

00:58:21.420 --> 00:58:23.519
but their ultimate story doesn't end up super

00:58:23.519 --> 00:58:27.679
great. Right. And so things don't end up well

00:58:27.679 --> 00:58:30.760
for them. But even if we're in that moment, they're

00:58:30.760 --> 00:58:33.719
not willing to recognize that you've got to be

00:58:33.719 --> 00:58:38.199
a new something. Right. But the Ninevites got

00:58:38.199 --> 00:58:40.360
it even for a little bit. The Queen of Sheba

00:58:40.360 --> 00:58:43.619
got it even for a little bit. And they're going

00:58:43.619 --> 00:58:46.920
to be able to condemn you at judgment. While

00:58:46.920 --> 00:58:51.039
Jesus was still talking to the crowd, verse 46.

00:58:52.079 --> 00:58:54.400
His mothers and brothers stood outside wanting

00:58:54.400 --> 00:58:57.159
to speak to him. Someone told him, your mothers

00:58:57.159 --> 00:58:59.219
and brothers are standing outside wanting to

00:58:59.219 --> 00:59:02.559
speak to you. He replied to them, who is my mother

00:59:02.559 --> 00:59:05.420
and who are my brothers? Pointing to his disciples,

00:59:05.539 --> 00:59:07.079
he said, here are my mother and my brothers.

00:59:07.280 --> 00:59:09.579
For whoever does the will of my father in heaven

00:59:09.579 --> 00:59:12.699
is my brother and sister. Now, it's interesting

00:59:12.699 --> 00:59:15.519
real quickly as we stop there with chapter 12

00:59:15.519 --> 00:59:18.400
and then we'll go back to verse 17. I'm sorry,

00:59:18.480 --> 00:59:21.699
verse 16 is that there's no evidence. that any

00:59:21.699 --> 00:59:24.280
of Jesus' family actually followed him during

00:59:24.280 --> 00:59:26.599
his public ministry. And there's actually more

00:59:26.599 --> 00:59:28.340
evidence that his family thought he was crazy

00:59:28.340 --> 00:59:33.940
at that time. But even in this instance, natural

00:59:33.940 --> 00:59:40.940
old family, new family. Same deal here. So looking

00:59:40.940 --> 00:59:48.300
at, let's see, we went back to 16, right? Okay,

00:59:48.300 --> 00:59:52.440
so we're getting ready to go into chapter 17.

00:59:52.440 --> 00:59:54.719
We're getting real close to that point where

00:59:54.719 --> 00:59:56.400
we're just three chapters away where they're

00:59:56.400 --> 00:59:59.500
going to be headed to Jerusalem. And that's going

00:59:59.500 --> 01:00:04.079
to be Jesus' triumphant return to the city. So

01:00:04.079 --> 01:00:09.639
verse 21, chapter 16. From that time, Jesus began

01:00:09.639 --> 01:00:12.539
to explain to his disciples that he must go to

01:00:12.539 --> 01:00:15.090
Jerusalem. suffer many things at the hands of

01:00:15.090 --> 01:00:17.550
the elders, the chief priests, the teachers of

01:00:17.550 --> 01:00:19.849
the law, and that he must be killed on the third

01:00:19.849 --> 01:00:23.050
day and be raised to life. And Peter begins to

01:00:23.050 --> 01:00:26.190
rebuke him. Why? Because Peter still and the

01:00:26.190 --> 01:00:29.530
other disciples still do not get it. They still

01:00:29.530 --> 01:00:32.070
think that when Jesus is saying he's the Messiah,

01:00:32.369 --> 01:00:34.869
we're going to raise an army and we're going

01:00:34.869 --> 01:00:37.940
to defeat the Roman Empire. And Jesus is going

01:00:37.940 --> 01:00:40.420
to be king and it's going to be dilly dilly for

01:00:40.420 --> 01:00:42.480
me, right? Because I'm going to be in the king's

01:00:42.480 --> 01:00:45.619
court with him, right? That's what I signed on

01:00:45.619 --> 01:00:48.880
here, Jesus, right? Now I do all this stuff you

01:00:48.880 --> 01:00:51.960
tell me. I go and I give money to the poor and

01:00:51.960 --> 01:00:54.860
we go around those lepers. And I don't even really

01:00:54.860 --> 01:00:57.940
like Matthew because he's a tax collector, right?

01:00:58.119 --> 01:01:00.760
But I'm doing this because I believe in the end,

01:01:00.780 --> 01:01:02.920
this is still going to be a battle that we're

01:01:02.920 --> 01:01:06.050
going to win. And Jesus is saying, hey, by the

01:01:06.050 --> 01:01:07.750
way, that's not the way it's going to go down.

01:01:08.170 --> 01:01:09.570
I'm going to go to Jerusalem and they're going

01:01:09.570 --> 01:01:11.030
to kill me and we're all going to be in trouble.

01:01:11.130 --> 01:01:15.670
And Peter's like, no, we're not. Right. And this

01:01:15.670 --> 01:01:19.630
is where we see Jesus rebuking Peter. Right.

01:01:19.929 --> 01:01:24.590
Saying, get behind me, Satan. Don't stand as

01:01:24.590 --> 01:01:28.670
a stumbling block to me. Right. I love you, Peter.

01:01:30.170 --> 01:01:33.090
Understand that this has nothing. What we're

01:01:33.090 --> 01:01:35.829
doing and how we're doing it is not under your

01:01:35.829 --> 01:01:39.269
control or my control. This is under God's control.

01:01:40.550 --> 01:01:44.110
He says, but I know this is hard for you guys

01:01:44.110 --> 01:01:46.250
to understand. And I know that it's going to

01:01:46.250 --> 01:01:50.750
be scary for you. Verse 28. He says, as a matter

01:01:50.750 --> 01:01:52.130
of fact, there's going to be some of you guys.

01:01:53.179 --> 01:01:55.320
Where you're going to get to see something that's

01:01:55.320 --> 01:01:57.280
going to help you along the way. Because he says

01:01:57.280 --> 01:01:59.239
there are going to be some that will not taste

01:01:59.239 --> 01:02:02.119
death before they see the Son of Man coming into

01:02:02.119 --> 01:02:05.480
his kingdom. Now, there are a lot of people that

01:02:05.480 --> 01:02:08.539
have really misinterpreted that scripture and

01:02:08.539 --> 01:02:11.059
thought, does that mean that the disciples don't

01:02:11.059 --> 01:02:13.059
die until the end of the age and then they see,

01:02:13.139 --> 01:02:15.340
then we have the rapture and that kind of stuff?

01:02:16.059 --> 01:02:18.780
Has anybody heard that interpretation before?

01:02:19.139 --> 01:02:22.320
Yeah? Has anybody heard anything kind of like

01:02:22.320 --> 01:02:24.820
that about this being some sort of interpretation

01:02:24.820 --> 01:02:28.380
about their lives and the time before it's called

01:02:28.380 --> 01:02:31.539
eschatology, the end of the world? Okay, well,

01:02:31.599 --> 01:02:35.719
it's out there. That's what you would assume,

01:02:35.840 --> 01:02:38.280
right? But what's interesting is Matthew doesn't

01:02:38.280 --> 01:02:41.300
hide that from us. It's in plain sight. It tells

01:02:41.300 --> 01:02:43.699
us when all of that happens. Chapter 17 begins,

01:02:43.940 --> 01:02:49.309
verse 1. How long? After six days. Jesus took

01:02:49.309 --> 01:02:53.550
him, remember Peter, James, and John, and they

01:02:53.550 --> 01:02:56.090
went up on a high mountain for themselves. And

01:02:56.090 --> 01:02:58.829
there Jesus was transfigured before them. His

01:02:58.829 --> 01:03:01.550
face shone like the sun, and his clothes became

01:03:01.550 --> 01:03:03.889
as white as the light. Just then they appeared

01:03:03.889 --> 01:03:07.289
before them, Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

01:03:07.449 --> 01:03:09.949
Peter said to the Lord, it is good for us to

01:03:09.949 --> 01:03:13.090
be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters,

01:03:13.309 --> 01:03:16.150
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

01:03:17.519 --> 01:03:19.960
While he was speaking, a bright cloud covered

01:03:19.960 --> 01:03:22.760
them. And a voice from the cloud said, This is

01:03:22.760 --> 01:03:26.300
my son whom I love. With him I am well pleased.

01:03:27.440 --> 01:03:30.599
Listen to him. When the disciples heard this,

01:03:30.619 --> 01:03:32.199
they fell face down on the ground terrified.

01:03:32.659 --> 01:03:34.960
But Jesus came and touched them. Get up, don't

01:03:34.960 --> 01:03:37.639
be afraid. And when they looked up, they saw

01:03:37.639 --> 01:03:42.380
no one but Jesus. That's seeing the Son of Man

01:03:42.380 --> 01:03:44.960
coming into the kingdom. That's what Jesus was

01:03:44.960 --> 01:03:50.659
talking about. So six days later, right? Okay,

01:03:50.760 --> 01:03:53.860
so we're moving on. I didn't realize how late

01:03:53.860 --> 01:03:58.579
this had become. Chapter 18. We've only been

01:03:58.579 --> 01:04:00.039
going an hour and three minutes, by the way.

01:04:00.699 --> 01:04:03.320
Just saying. I can tell because I started my

01:04:03.320 --> 01:04:05.340
recording. I know how long I've been talking.

01:04:05.519 --> 01:04:07.460
So dinner might have run a little bit late, but

01:04:07.460 --> 01:04:09.179
this has only been one hour, and I'm about to

01:04:09.179 --> 01:04:12.519
wrap this up. So we're getting to this point

01:04:12.519 --> 01:04:16.710
where Jesus and his disciples, okay. Maybe it's

01:04:16.710 --> 01:04:20.809
about being in heaven. So, hey, who is the greatest

01:04:20.809 --> 01:04:24.070
in heaven? Okay, so if this is about being in

01:04:24.070 --> 01:04:27.710
heaven, Jesus, who's the greatest there? And

01:04:27.710 --> 01:04:30.969
he called a little child to him. And he placed

01:04:30.969 --> 01:04:33.670
Jesus. And he placed the child among them. And

01:04:33.670 --> 01:04:39.789
he said, truly, unless you change, unless you

01:04:39.789 --> 01:04:43.760
stop being the grown person you are, And start

01:04:43.760 --> 01:04:48.280
being the new child in God that you can be. You

01:04:48.280 --> 01:04:51.199
will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Unless

01:04:51.199 --> 01:04:58.539
you change. How do we change? Verse 6. Those

01:04:58.539 --> 01:05:01.699
who believe in me. Right? You want to be like

01:05:01.699 --> 01:05:06.099
one of the little ones? Believe in me. Right?

01:05:06.139 --> 01:05:09.969
And if you cause these new ones to stumble. it

01:05:09.969 --> 01:05:12.530
would be better for them to have a large millstone

01:05:12.530 --> 01:05:15.130
hung around their neck and to be drowned at the

01:05:15.130 --> 01:05:20.030
depths of the sea. See, verse 10, see that you

01:05:20.030 --> 01:05:23.110
do not despise one of these little ones. For

01:05:23.110 --> 01:05:26.849
I tell you that their angels in heaven always

01:05:26.849 --> 01:05:31.630
see the face of my Father in heaven. You have

01:05:31.630 --> 01:05:39.219
to change. You have to be different. Now I want

01:05:39.219 --> 01:05:42.719
to skip to chapter 18, verse 23, and I want to

01:05:42.719 --> 01:05:45.280
focus on a story here as we move into chapter

01:05:45.280 --> 01:05:48.820
19. And I would like to talk about the story

01:05:48.820 --> 01:05:51.380
about the way that Jesus demonstrates to his

01:05:51.380 --> 01:05:56.539
disciples the idea of justice. And he's talking

01:05:56.539 --> 01:06:00.659
about forgiveness here. And he says, therefore,

01:06:00.699 --> 01:06:04.139
the kingdom of heaven, verse 23, is like a king

01:06:04.139 --> 01:06:06.000
who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.

01:06:06.670 --> 01:06:08.730
As he began the settlement, a man who owed him

01:06:08.730 --> 01:06:11.309
10 ,000 bags of gold was brought to him. That's

01:06:11.309 --> 01:06:15.489
a lot, by the way, right? 10 ,000 bags of gold.

01:06:15.730 --> 01:06:18.329
Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered

01:06:18.329 --> 01:06:20.429
that he and his wife and children and all that

01:06:20.429 --> 01:06:23.190
he had had be sold to repay the debt. I can't

01:06:23.190 --> 01:06:25.510
believe that the guy would be worth 10 ,000 bags

01:06:25.510 --> 01:06:27.329
of gold. And I don't think that's the point,

01:06:27.349 --> 01:06:30.150
but that's kind of strange. The servant falls

01:06:30.150 --> 01:06:33.429
on his knees. He says, be patient with me. He

01:06:33.429 --> 01:06:36.880
doesn't ask him to forgive it. Right? The servant

01:06:36.880 --> 01:06:40.280
just says, look, give me time and I'll pay back

01:06:40.280 --> 01:06:43.579
everything I owe you. And the servant's master

01:06:43.579 --> 01:06:45.880
takes pity on him and he actually offers him

01:06:45.880 --> 01:06:48.059
something different than he asked for, didn't

01:06:48.059 --> 01:06:50.980
he? Because he didn't give him more time to pay

01:06:50.980 --> 01:06:53.980
the debt. He actually canceled the debt and let

01:06:53.980 --> 01:06:58.300
the man go. Right? Now, when that servant gets

01:06:58.300 --> 01:07:01.099
free of the master, he goes to somebody who owes

01:07:01.099 --> 01:07:05.369
him money and he grabs him by the throat. And

01:07:05.369 --> 01:07:09.309
pay me now. And now pay me. And his fellow servant

01:07:09.309 --> 01:07:11.750
does the same thing that this man had just done.

01:07:12.570 --> 01:07:15.469
Same thing. Be patient with me. I'll pay it back.

01:07:16.150 --> 01:07:19.369
Only this time the guy refuses. And he had him

01:07:19.369 --> 01:07:21.170
thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.

01:07:21.909 --> 01:07:28.150
Now the master finds out. And says, shouldn't

01:07:28.150 --> 01:07:30.489
you have mercy on your fellow servant just as

01:07:30.489 --> 01:07:34.679
I had on you? This is verse 35. This is how my

01:07:34.679 --> 01:07:37.159
Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless

01:07:37.159 --> 01:07:39.199
you forgive your brother or sister from your

01:07:39.199 --> 01:07:44.099
heart. If you've experienced the power of grace

01:07:44.099 --> 01:07:49.579
in your life, you are compelled to share that

01:07:49.579 --> 01:07:54.059
grace with others. Under no circumstance. There

01:07:54.059 --> 01:07:57.639
is no, the guy owed me the money. Well, I understand

01:07:57.639 --> 01:08:00.639
he owed you the money. Right. I'd be justified

01:08:00.639 --> 01:08:03.280
if I asked this other servant for the money I'm

01:08:03.280 --> 01:08:07.260
owed. Right. I wouldn't be wrong. And God say,

01:08:07.400 --> 01:08:09.739
no, no, no, no, no, no. It's not about figuring

01:08:09.739 --> 01:08:11.920
justice the way that you do justice on earth.

01:08:13.300 --> 01:08:16.460
It's about the way that I I dispense unconditional

01:08:16.460 --> 01:08:20.579
love and mercy. Right. And I give it freely.

01:08:20.699 --> 01:08:26.260
And so should you. So, I think I might have messed

01:08:26.260 --> 01:08:33.640
up again. Chapter 19, verse 16. Just then, a

01:08:33.640 --> 01:08:37.420
man came up to Jesus and asked, yes? Yeah, yeah,

01:08:37.439 --> 01:08:40.039
okay, good. Just then, now we know this story

01:08:40.039 --> 01:08:43.220
too, because this is the guy who shows up, and

01:08:43.220 --> 01:08:47.020
he wants to know, how do I get eternal life?

01:08:48.000 --> 01:08:50.560
So if I'm going to be this new person, you need

01:08:50.560 --> 01:08:53.949
to tell me what to do. And Jesus says, look,

01:08:54.069 --> 01:08:57.829
focus on God first and foremost, because there's

01:08:57.829 --> 01:09:00.670
only one who's good. And if you want to enter

01:09:00.670 --> 01:09:03.149
life, keep the commandments. So he says, all

01:09:03.149 --> 01:09:07.369
right, which one? So he labels them off. He says,

01:09:07.430 --> 01:09:10.350
dude, I've done all that stuff. What do I still

01:09:10.350 --> 01:09:13.210
lack? He says, if you want to be perfect, go

01:09:13.210 --> 01:09:15.890
sell your possessions, give them to the poor,

01:09:16.010 --> 01:09:17.569
and you will have a treasure in heaven. Then

01:09:17.569 --> 01:09:20.689
come follow me. When the young man heard this,

01:09:20.729 --> 01:09:22.789
he went away sad because he had great wealth.

01:09:22.850 --> 01:09:25.869
We know that story, right? Well, what's this

01:09:25.869 --> 01:09:29.430
got to do with our theme tonight? Is this a man

01:09:29.430 --> 01:09:32.510
who valued his money as a part of his identity?

01:09:33.869 --> 01:09:36.649
Absolutely. It even identifies him as a young

01:09:36.649 --> 01:09:39.649
wealthy man, right? If you're not willing to

01:09:39.649 --> 01:09:43.229
change how you identify yourself, then what you

01:09:43.229 --> 01:09:46.550
do won't matter. And that's basically what that

01:09:46.550 --> 01:09:54.770
story is about, right? Chapter 20, Jesus is still

01:09:54.770 --> 01:09:56.949
talking about what the kingdom of heaven is like,

01:09:57.149 --> 01:10:01.630
what mercy looks like to Jesus, and what fairness

01:10:01.630 --> 01:10:05.109
looks like to Jesus. And Jesus explains, beginning

01:10:05.109 --> 01:10:08.539
in chapter 20, verse 1, For the kingdom of heaven

01:10:08.539 --> 01:10:12.060
is like a landowner who went out early in the

01:10:12.060 --> 01:10:14.960
morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He

01:10:14.960 --> 01:10:18.220
agreed to pay them a denarius. That's a coin,

01:10:18.359 --> 01:10:20.880
a gold coin, that would basically equate to one

01:10:20.880 --> 01:10:27.039
laborer's wage for one day. And Levitical law

01:10:27.039 --> 01:10:32.100
actually compelled landowners or employers to

01:10:32.100 --> 01:10:36.380
pay their workers every day at the end of the

01:10:36.380 --> 01:10:39.149
day. Because you needed that money on your way

01:10:39.149 --> 01:10:42.890
home to buy food, whatever you needed, collect

01:10:42.890 --> 01:10:46.029
fuel for living, you know, those kind of things.

01:10:46.310 --> 01:10:48.909
So everybody gets paid at the end of the day,

01:10:48.989 --> 01:10:54.890
your daily wage, fair rate. One denarius. And

01:10:54.890 --> 01:10:57.750
they go into the vineyard. 6 a .m., they get

01:10:57.750 --> 01:11:01.609
started. Okay? Start of the day. At 9 in the

01:11:01.609 --> 01:11:05.939
morning, he, the landowner, Went out and saw

01:11:05.939 --> 01:11:08.220
others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.

01:11:08.760 --> 01:11:12.340
Now, he said, you guys go in my vineyard and

01:11:12.340 --> 01:11:14.960
I'll pay you whatever's right. And they went.

01:11:16.100 --> 01:11:19.140
And he went out again at noon. And he went out

01:11:19.140 --> 01:11:22.699
again at three. And then he went out about five

01:11:22.699 --> 01:11:26.420
in the afternoon. And still found others and

01:11:26.420 --> 01:11:28.720
says, why have you guys been doing nothing? And

01:11:28.720 --> 01:11:30.600
they said, well, we haven't been hired. He says,

01:11:30.619 --> 01:11:33.149
you guys go. Though some that started at noon,

01:11:33.289 --> 01:11:36.289
some that started at three, and some with just

01:11:36.289 --> 01:11:41.470
one hour to go started at five. When evening

01:11:41.470 --> 01:11:45.930
came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,

01:11:46.069 --> 01:11:50.609
call the workers and pay them their wages. Beginning

01:11:50.609 --> 01:11:52.710
with the last ones hired and going to the first.

01:11:53.090 --> 01:11:55.149
The workers who were hired about five in the

01:11:55.149 --> 01:11:57.289
afternoon came and each received the denarius.

01:11:57.789 --> 01:12:00.880
So when those came who were hired first. They

01:12:00.880 --> 01:12:04.579
expected to receive more, but they only got a

01:12:04.579 --> 01:12:07.659
denarius. When they received it, they began to

01:12:07.659 --> 01:12:10.720
grumble against the landowner. These who were

01:12:10.720 --> 01:12:14.880
hired last worked only one hour. And you've made

01:12:14.880 --> 01:12:19.060
them equal to us? Those that have borne the work

01:12:19.060 --> 01:12:22.399
and the heat of the day? And the landowner says,

01:12:22.659 --> 01:12:26.220
I haven't been unfair to you. We made a deal.

01:12:27.119 --> 01:12:29.699
At 6 o 'clock this morning, I said I'd pay you

01:12:29.699 --> 01:12:33.039
a denarius for work. Here we are at 6 in the

01:12:33.039 --> 01:12:35.739
evening, and you worked, and here's your denarius.

01:12:36.800 --> 01:12:41.859
What's your problem? Right? What I do with my

01:12:41.859 --> 01:12:46.659
own money is my business. Why would you be envious

01:12:46.659 --> 01:12:50.760
of me? Just because I'm a generous person. Right?

01:12:51.380 --> 01:12:54.680
So the last will be first, and the first will

01:12:54.680 --> 01:12:59.880
be last. Verse 17 closes. Now Jesus was going

01:12:59.880 --> 01:13:03.500
up to Jerusalem. And that is where we'll stop

01:13:03.500 --> 01:13:07.520
for tonight. Anybody have any questions on any

01:13:07.520 --> 01:13:22.340
of that? Well, did you get all that? I'm not

01:13:22.340 --> 01:13:25.920
kidding. That was a lot of ground to cover, but

01:13:25.920 --> 01:13:29.529
it leaves us an opportunity as Jesus. returns

01:13:29.529 --> 01:13:32.970
to Jerusalem eventually to be crucified on that

01:13:32.970 --> 01:13:35.850
Roman cross and then resurrected. It will give

01:13:35.850 --> 01:13:37.710
us an opportunity in the next two sessions to

01:13:37.710 --> 01:13:40.850
kind of slow down and look at those events in

01:13:40.850 --> 01:13:43.770
greater detail. I hope that you've enjoyed this

01:13:43.770 --> 01:13:46.270
episode of the Semi -Seminary. And if you have,

01:13:46.449 --> 01:13:49.170
if you would please take the time to rate and

01:13:49.170 --> 01:13:51.649
review the podcast, we'd greatly appreciate it.

01:13:51.689 --> 01:13:55.319
It helps get the word out that we're here. Well,

01:13:55.399 --> 01:13:57.859
I want you to take care of yourself, and we will

01:13:57.859 --> 01:14:02.119
see you next week right here at the Semi -Seminarian.