WEBVTT 00:00:00.110 --> 00:00:04.469 As you all know, I'm a comic book fan, back in 00:00:04.469 --> 00:00:07.570 the day, but one of the ones that I used to collect 00:00:07.570 --> 00:00:12.849 four years at a time was Superman. Now, in 1992, 00:00:13.050 --> 00:00:15.810 what we discovered is that apparently DC Comics 00:00:15.810 --> 00:00:20.510 wanted to do something major, so Superman died. 00:00:21.289 --> 00:00:26.370 Superman died in 1992. I mean he was in his late 00:00:26.370 --> 00:00:29.550 50s by that point so way too early. But one of 00:00:29.550 --> 00:00:32.409 the things that we see though is that with all 00:00:32.409 --> 00:00:36.289 this happening is that in 92 he ended up dying 00:00:36.289 --> 00:00:39.770 in battle but in 93 they started hinting that 00:00:39.770 --> 00:00:42.170 there might be something happening soon that 00:00:42.170 --> 00:00:46.469 we should be aware of. Well with Superman gone 00:00:46.469 --> 00:00:49.850 there was this strange question of who was left 00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:53.759 to go and protect all the people. And there was 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:56.159 this thing called the Reign of the Superman and 00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:59.359 they had these four characters. And these four 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:03.380 characters were kind of like Superman substitutes 00:01:03.380 --> 00:01:06.579 in a sense. But each one was a little bit different. 00:01:06.939 --> 00:01:09.519 They had a different way of living out the legacy 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:13.819 of Superman. And so there was one that clearly 00:01:13.819 --> 00:01:16.780 was a little bit different. He wore a metal suit 00:01:16.780 --> 00:01:20.859 and he definitely was human. But he seemed to 00:01:20.859 --> 00:01:23.120 really care about people and was willing to put 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:25.939 himself out there and lay himself on the line 00:01:25.939 --> 00:01:29.099 to protect the people of Metropolis. Then there 00:01:29.099 --> 00:01:32.120 was one that was a lot younger and he seemed 00:01:32.120 --> 00:01:34.659 a little different, kind of cocky and just sort 00:01:34.659 --> 00:01:37.519 of brash. He did a lot of good things but it 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:40.599 always seemed like he was self -serving. And 00:01:40.599 --> 00:01:43.980 then there was one who seemed to look like him 00:01:43.980 --> 00:01:46.939 and in many ways seemed to have the same kind 00:01:46.939 --> 00:01:50.590 of power but at the same time not just the fact 00:01:50.590 --> 00:01:54.290 that he wore sunglasses, he also seemed to be 00:01:54.290 --> 00:01:58.989 brutal, hurtful, merciless instead of merciful. 00:02:00.189 --> 00:02:03.569 Then there was a fourth one, and this one acted 00:02:03.569 --> 00:02:07.930 a lot like the original Superman. He looked different, 00:02:08.270 --> 00:02:10.550 he seemed to be part machine in a lot of ways, 00:02:11.389 --> 00:02:16.250 but the question was, could this truly have been... 00:02:16.330 --> 00:02:19.770 Superman come back to life. He seemed to be kind. 00:02:19.789 --> 00:02:22.770 He seemed to be patient. But there also seemed 00:02:22.770 --> 00:02:25.129 to be something not quite right. That on the 00:02:25.129 --> 00:02:30.050 inside, there wasn't something truly kind and 00:02:30.050 --> 00:02:33.610 good about him. But with all these things, I 00:02:33.610 --> 00:02:36.569 was asking this question, which of these four 00:02:36.569 --> 00:02:39.569 would actually be the one that Superman would 00:02:39.569 --> 00:02:43.210 want to take his place? But they also left us 00:02:43.210 --> 00:02:47.520 with this question. Could any of them truly be 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:51.039 the real Superman? Because nobody could actually 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:55.979 find Superman's body in the tomb anymore. Yes, 00:02:56.259 --> 00:02:58.740 comic books do have a lot of Christology within 00:02:58.740 --> 00:03:03.139 them. But one of the things about this is that 00:03:03.139 --> 00:03:06.659 it stood out to me of this question of what happens 00:03:06.659 --> 00:03:09.819 when someone is leaving behind a legacy for others 00:03:09.819 --> 00:03:14.219 to fulfill. And do they always fulfill what they've 00:03:14.219 --> 00:03:18.099 been left? to do. And that's this idea that we 00:03:18.099 --> 00:03:20.960 end up seeing when we understand the parable 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:26.300 of the wicked tenants. You see, the master of 00:03:26.300 --> 00:03:29.539 this land, of this property, had left this land 00:03:29.539 --> 00:03:32.780 to these farmers. See, the thing with this is 00:03:32.780 --> 00:03:35.520 that the land needs to keep being used. Even 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:38.099 if the farmer, even if the original owner is 00:03:38.099 --> 00:03:41.680 not there, someone needs to take on the work 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:45.069 that is to be done. And so the farmers not having 00:03:45.069 --> 00:03:48.849 their own property can come in and can work this 00:03:48.849 --> 00:03:51.930 soil, be able to not only make food for their 00:03:51.930 --> 00:03:55.330 families, but also to make income from it. But 00:03:55.330 --> 00:03:58.870 of course, a part of what they would earn would 00:03:58.870 --> 00:04:02.289 also end up going to the master, some of the 00:04:02.289 --> 00:04:06.009 food, some of the fruit. But in looking at this, 00:04:06.129 --> 00:04:09.629 we end up discovering that the tenants, they 00:04:09.629 --> 00:04:14.620 don't have any fruit. of repenting. See, that's 00:04:14.620 --> 00:04:17.920 the thing with this is that this vineyard, this 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:22.220 land, this would have reminded the people listening 00:04:22.220 --> 00:04:27.339 to Jesus of Isaiah. Isaiah spoke in the fifth 00:04:27.339 --> 00:04:30.939 chapter about this land that had these grapes 00:04:30.939 --> 00:04:34.459 where the Master had come and taken care of everything 00:04:34.459 --> 00:04:38.879 that was needed, but yet some of the grapes did 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:42.769 not end up becoming very good. So in hearing 00:04:42.769 --> 00:04:46.029 about this land, people would have had this idea, 00:04:46.370 --> 00:04:49.889 this original story in their mind as they see 00:04:49.889 --> 00:04:53.629 those who are good and those who are evil. But 00:04:53.629 --> 00:04:56.509 what we end up seeing here is that the tenants 00:04:56.509 --> 00:04:59.629 who are there in the midst of this sequel that 00:04:59.629 --> 00:05:04.850 we have, they want nothing to do with the Master. 00:05:06.410 --> 00:05:09.550 Even though the fruit that was there was intended 00:05:09.550 --> 00:05:13.660 for the Master. They wanted to hold it for themselves. 00:05:14.199 --> 00:05:15.959 And that's something that we want to make sure 00:05:15.959 --> 00:05:20.019 to point out is that the people knew who Jesus 00:05:20.019 --> 00:05:23.480 was actually talking about. You see, the fruit 00:05:23.480 --> 00:05:26.720 was supposed to be the fruit of repentance. The 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:30.060 fruit where people are realizing their need to 00:05:30.060 --> 00:05:33.600 come back to God. Their need to end up going 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:37.000 to God and revealing that they had failed, that 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:40.139 they had sinned, that they were in need of change. 00:05:40.799 --> 00:05:43.100 But notice that the tenants don't want to give 00:05:43.100 --> 00:05:47.579 the fruit over to God. The tenants don't want 00:05:47.579 --> 00:05:51.500 to actually repent. They don't actually want 00:05:51.500 --> 00:05:54.500 to realize that who they are, that the lives 00:05:54.500 --> 00:05:59.660 that they live, are meant to belong to God. Instead, 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:05.040 it's only for themselves. Now, in seeing this, 00:06:05.420 --> 00:06:07.759 you should be able to hear and see some hints 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:11.120 in there. about how the religious leaders are 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:15.379 uncomfortable. Why? You know how there are times 00:06:15.379 --> 00:06:17.839 whenever you're saying something and you're not 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:20.879 outright saying it but everybody knows you or 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:23.540 knows exactly what you're trying to get at? But 00:06:23.540 --> 00:06:25.779 you're trying to be subtle and you're just trying 00:06:25.779 --> 00:06:29.819 to allow it to say what you need to say and let 00:06:29.819 --> 00:06:32.800 it sit and rest with people? And that's the thing 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:36.139 here is that everyone around knows that Jesus 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:39.040 is speaking of the religious leaders. He's been 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:42.759 preaching for quite some time. There's no mystery 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:48.019 here. But what is interesting is to see how it 00:06:48.019 --> 00:06:52.199 is that they have reacted. Because every time 00:06:52.199 --> 00:06:54.759 the master of the land sends someone to come 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:59.480 along and to say, I am here for the fruits of 00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:02.420 what I have given to you. I am here for what 00:07:02.420 --> 00:07:06.329 it is that your work was meant to create. and 00:07:06.329 --> 00:07:10.389 they keep beating up and harming the ones who 00:07:10.389 --> 00:07:13.870 have come, because they do not want what they 00:07:13.870 --> 00:07:17.610 have held for themselves to go back to God. Now, 00:07:17.610 --> 00:07:22.689 it is not that difficult to know who these workers, 00:07:22.870 --> 00:07:26.569 these servants from the Master really were. The 00:07:26.569 --> 00:07:28.389 servants who had come from the Master were the 00:07:28.389 --> 00:07:32.310 prophets. Time and time again, whenever they 00:07:32.310 --> 00:07:34.449 had come along and they were speaking and they 00:07:34.449 --> 00:07:37.810 were saying, You need to change to come back 00:07:37.810 --> 00:07:40.870 to God and to listen to what it is that God has 00:07:40.870 --> 00:07:43.910 to say to you. Stop getting distracted with everything 00:07:43.910 --> 00:07:46.850 else. Stop following your own paths. And what 00:07:46.850 --> 00:07:50.170 would the people of Israel do? They would either 00:07:50.170 --> 00:07:54.389 reject them, cast them out, harm them. Maybe 00:07:54.389 --> 00:07:58.110 even from time to time take their life. And that's 00:07:58.110 --> 00:08:01.329 the thing with this is to realize that maybe, 00:08:01.889 --> 00:08:04.829 maybe these tenants just didn't quite realize 00:08:05.180 --> 00:08:08.899 the nature of these servants. Maybe there was, 00:08:09.060 --> 00:08:11.639 in a sense, they weren't listening because they 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:15.439 didn't understand that they truly were from the 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:17.860 Master. And maybe the same thing could be an 00:08:17.860 --> 00:08:21.620 excuse, that maybe the people of Israel did not 00:08:21.620 --> 00:08:24.000 know that these prophets were actually speaking 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:27.560 from God. Maybe there was a mistake there. But 00:08:27.560 --> 00:08:30.720 notice what the parable says, I will send my 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:35.379 son, they will listen to him. But here's the 00:08:35.379 --> 00:08:40.220 question, would the people actually listen to 00:08:40.220 --> 00:08:46.460 the one with authority? Would they listen to 00:08:46.460 --> 00:08:49.019 one with authority? Because if you'll notice 00:08:49.019 --> 00:08:55.840 in the parable, they clearly did not. See, when 00:08:55.840 --> 00:09:00.159 the religious leaders are seeing Jesus coming 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:03.110 along, They're not actually asking the question, 00:09:03.309 --> 00:09:06.269 is this actually the Messiah, the Son of God? 00:09:06.669 --> 00:09:10.549 All they're saying is He's threatening our place 00:09:10.549 --> 00:09:16.090 among the people. He is undermining our worship. 00:09:18.149 --> 00:09:19.929 And that's one of the things with this is that 00:09:19.929 --> 00:09:24.870 they had the Son with them. But just like the 00:09:24.870 --> 00:09:27.049 tenants, it wasn't a question of whether or not 00:09:27.049 --> 00:09:30.529 He actually had the authority to speak. but rather 00:09:30.529 --> 00:09:36.450 whether or not Jesus was actually bothering them 00:09:36.450 --> 00:09:40.610 and the fruits of what they wanted for themselves. 00:09:42.629 --> 00:09:46.090 And isn't that true though? About what we end 00:09:46.090 --> 00:09:49.389 up seeing. How often it is that we're not genuinely 00:09:49.389 --> 00:09:53.529 looking for truth. We're not genuinely looking 00:09:53.529 --> 00:09:57.669 for what God says is good. We're not genuinely 00:09:57.669 --> 00:10:01.529 looking to see what it is that God wants to actually 00:10:01.529 --> 00:10:05.149 do among us, to change us, to lead us and guide 00:10:05.149 --> 00:10:10.029 us, but rather what is it that offends us because 00:10:10.029 --> 00:10:14.710 it bothers what we value. It bothers what it 00:10:14.710 --> 00:10:18.570 is that we wanted in our life and in our world. 00:10:19.809 --> 00:10:22.669 And that's the difficulty here is that what they 00:10:22.669 --> 00:10:26.370 saw was a threat to what they wanted, their desire 00:10:26.370 --> 00:10:30.870 for their own fruits. So instead of the son of 00:10:30.870 --> 00:10:36.710 the master truly convicting them, they end up 00:10:36.710 --> 00:10:39.710 killing him. And that's the thing, is that it 00:10:39.710 --> 00:10:42.610 points out here that instead of justice, there 00:10:42.610 --> 00:10:45.230 was bloodshed. Instead of righteousness, there 00:10:45.230 --> 00:10:49.190 is an outcry because this reminds us of Isaiah 00:10:49.190 --> 00:10:54.169 5. And here's the thing to know about the original 00:10:54.169 --> 00:10:58.909 Hebrew from Isaiah 5. See, it turns out that 00:10:58.909 --> 00:11:03.129 the word for justice in Hebrew is mishpat. But 00:11:03.129 --> 00:11:07.429 the word for bloodshed is mishpach. So instead 00:11:07.429 --> 00:11:11.289 of mishpat, there's mishpach. You should notice, 00:11:11.330 --> 00:11:14.070 I know, try to say that three times fast. It's 00:11:14.070 --> 00:11:17.990 a bit much. I'll try not to spit on you. But 00:11:17.990 --> 00:11:21.570 in realizing that the words are meant to sound 00:11:21.570 --> 00:11:24.549 similar because it's meant to get your attention. 00:11:25.740 --> 00:11:28.159 is that instead of the one, there's the other. 00:11:28.379 --> 00:11:31.960 Instead of justice, there's bloodshed. Or righteousness, 00:11:33.080 --> 00:11:36.740 which is tzedakah, instead there's an outcry. 00:11:37.899 --> 00:11:43.399 Tzedakah. Tzedakah. Tzedakah. Because here's 00:11:43.399 --> 00:11:46.700 the thing about this, is that it's a subtle difference, 00:11:47.779 --> 00:11:51.580 but it ends up revealing what's happening in 00:11:51.580 --> 00:11:54.620 their hearts. See, that's the funny part about 00:11:54.620 --> 00:12:00.080 Jesus. is that Jesus being the Son of God, Jesus 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:04.100 being the one who has come to say, have you come 00:12:04.100 --> 00:12:07.419 to repent with the Father? Are you ready for 00:12:07.419 --> 00:12:09.600 the new life that you are truly being given? 00:12:10.039 --> 00:12:13.740 Is it time to have the fruits of all of this 00:12:13.740 --> 00:12:17.600 work being done among the people? And instead, 00:12:18.600 --> 00:12:22.399 not only are we not giving it to you, we're going 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:26.970 to kill you. because we don't want what you represent. 00:12:28.929 --> 00:12:33.889 Because what should be mishpah ends up becoming 00:12:33.889 --> 00:12:38.169 mishpah. Because they would rather have bloodshed 00:12:38.169 --> 00:12:41.590 than have to do what is right that may take away 00:12:41.590 --> 00:12:45.950 their power, their strength. They would rather 00:12:45.950 --> 00:12:49.950 have sa 'akah. They would rather create an outcry 00:12:49.950 --> 00:12:54.370 in the world, in the country. among the people 00:12:54.370 --> 00:12:59.009 than to do what is right in God's eyes. But the 00:12:59.009 --> 00:13:02.570 good part, though, is to realize that the main 00:13:02.570 --> 00:13:09.649 character may die, but he's not actually replaced. 00:13:10.970 --> 00:13:13.490 One of the things is, you know, I was like... 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:16.399 13, you know, catching up all the comics and 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:19.820 everything. I was going through hospital treatments. 00:13:20.179 --> 00:13:24.399 This was back during the cancer days. And every 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:27.179 day that I would get a chance to go check if 00:13:27.179 --> 00:13:30.379 there was another comic there. And I remember 00:13:30.379 --> 00:13:34.279 when I saw that this was the time when Jesus 00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:36.600 was, sorry, this is the time when Superman was 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:41.379 coming back, at a moment. The thing with it is 00:13:41.379 --> 00:13:43.940 that even though there were four individuals 00:13:43.940 --> 00:13:49.259 that were attempting to take on his name is that 00:13:49.259 --> 00:13:54.360 Superman was always still Superman and When he 00:13:54.360 --> 00:13:57.980 did come back though it ended up revealing Who 00:13:57.980 --> 00:14:01.820 the other four truly were? The man in the armor 00:14:01.820 --> 00:14:05.179 truly was a good man, but also human there was 00:14:05.179 --> 00:14:09.740 only so much he could do the young guy was showing 00:14:09.740 --> 00:14:11.919 that he was never truly able to do it on his 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:15.700 own. He always was going to need to turn to the 00:14:15.700 --> 00:14:18.419 grown -up in the room. And the guy with the glasses, 00:14:18.500 --> 00:14:21.159 well, he really was brutal, but turned out he 00:14:21.159 --> 00:14:23.639 was actually some version of artificial intelligence 00:14:23.639 --> 00:14:27.360 back then, and he was always supposed to point 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:32.919 back to Superman. Because it turns out that the 00:14:32.919 --> 00:14:36.139 guy who was part machine actually was trying 00:14:36.139 --> 00:14:41.070 to destroy those around him. But it ends up that 00:14:41.070 --> 00:14:44.049 what he was trying to do to destroy Superman, 00:14:45.210 --> 00:14:47.710 the guy with the glasses ends up turning it around 00:14:47.710 --> 00:14:50.990 and using it to empower him and to bring him 00:14:50.990 --> 00:14:54.490 back to full strength. Isn't it funny how the 00:14:54.490 --> 00:14:56.750 comics always seem to have those religious undertones? 00:14:58.110 --> 00:15:01.049 But the thing with it is that when Jesus returns, 00:15:02.269 --> 00:15:05.509 it ends up speaking that he destroys the tenants. 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:09.480 And that's the thing about this is that it ends 00:15:09.480 --> 00:15:16.919 up creating fear. But why? See, what we know 00:15:16.919 --> 00:15:20.299 is that when the sun comes, that could be the 00:15:20.299 --> 00:15:24.539 time when people truly realize, are we giving 00:15:24.539 --> 00:15:28.299 of what we had to the Master? But the people 00:15:28.299 --> 00:15:31.799 are afraid. And why is that? They say, surely 00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:35.379 not. And there are three things that... should 00:15:35.379 --> 00:15:39.100 stand out. Number one, how could the tenants 00:15:39.100 --> 00:15:43.179 kill the son? That's one of the things that's 00:15:43.179 --> 00:15:46.919 hard to believe is that how could the people 00:15:46.919 --> 00:15:50.379 at that time, they weren't willing to accept, 00:15:50.539 --> 00:15:53.559 they weren't willing to realize what it was that 00:15:53.559 --> 00:15:56.559 their leaders were truly going to do? They would 00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:01.019 never do that. How could they truly do that? 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:05.340 Notice how the religious leaders They didn't 00:16:05.340 --> 00:16:07.120 want to face the people because they knew the 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:10.460 people would never stand for that. Except when 00:16:10.460 --> 00:16:15.460 they did. Or more than that, to go and to kill 00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:18.480 the tenants because they knew exactly who the 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:23.000 tenants were. Could you really be overthrowing 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:26.639 our religious leaders? That's a hard part though. 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:31.799 Is that when the people of God are no longer 00:16:31.799 --> 00:16:36.899 living for God, then they do not have a right 00:16:36.899 --> 00:16:43.399 to the kingdom. Hard to hear, but it's true. 00:16:44.899 --> 00:16:47.639 And even more than that is that they were going 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:51.960 to lose the vineyard. And see, what we end up 00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:54.179 seeing historically is that the people of Israel, 00:16:54.179 --> 00:16:56.879 they do end up being kicked out of the land. 00:16:57.120 --> 00:16:59.120 They do end up having their temple destroyed. 00:16:59.299 --> 00:17:02.159 They do end up losing everything, but it's not 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:07.220 just them. What about the things that we end 00:17:07.220 --> 00:17:11.740 up seeing? Where we get so caught up in making 00:17:11.740 --> 00:17:15.079 sure that our faith, our beliefs, our values 00:17:15.079 --> 00:17:18.420 are serving our purposes instead of stopping 00:17:18.420 --> 00:17:22.339 to say, are they producing the fruits that the 00:17:22.339 --> 00:17:26.900 Son of God came to receive? Is what we're doing 00:17:26.900 --> 00:17:34.640 in our lives creating love, joy, peace, patience? 00:17:36.039 --> 00:17:42.559 kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:47.200 self -control. Do we actually see a lot of gentleness 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:51.579 and self -control in the world today? But when 00:17:51.579 --> 00:17:54.000 we discover that the fruits of what we're creating 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:58.500 as the people of God do not end up proclaiming 00:17:58.500 --> 00:18:03.720 God, then why would God want us to be His representatives? 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:07.480 And that's a hard piece of what we end up seeing 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:10.539 in today's world. See, we like to spend a lot 00:18:10.539 --> 00:18:13.859 of time getting offended as the church about 00:18:13.859 --> 00:18:16.420 all the things that we've been deprived and told 00:18:16.420 --> 00:18:21.259 that we cannot do, we cannot have. But how often 00:18:21.259 --> 00:18:24.920 is it that we're not being rejected as the church 00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:28.160 because Satan is somehow getting a hold of the 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:31.519 world around us? How often is it that we're being 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:35.880 rejected because the things that we protest are 00:18:35.880 --> 00:18:40.119 not actually the things of God. How often is 00:18:40.119 --> 00:18:43.140 that we end up substituting the fruits that are 00:18:43.140 --> 00:18:46.259 meant to be for God's kingdom with the fruits 00:18:46.259 --> 00:18:49.420 of what make us feel comfortable in our kingdom? 00:18:50.420 --> 00:18:53.119 Because in reality, as much as the death of the 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:55.220 Son might have been difficult in this parable, 00:18:55.539 --> 00:18:58.720 is that what was really bothersome was the killing 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:00.640 of the tenants and the loss of the vineyard. 00:19:03.099 --> 00:19:09.079 That's the truth about Jesus. That as the cornerstone, 00:19:10.599 --> 00:19:14.059 He ends up being the one upon which we stumble, 00:19:15.059 --> 00:19:20.640 and the one who comes down and crushes. See, 00:19:21.500 --> 00:19:26.240 that is actually not the same thing. The stumbling 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:28.869 and the crushing. Because oftentimes when we 00:19:28.869 --> 00:19:32.250 hear about this, the cornerstone is firm, solid, 00:19:32.569 --> 00:19:35.809 and the rest of the church is built around it. 00:19:35.990 --> 00:19:38.230 Just like a cornerstone determines where you 00:19:38.230 --> 00:19:41.029 start and that everything is based around it. 00:19:41.910 --> 00:19:43.690 But here's the problem with the cornerstone. 00:19:43.730 --> 00:19:50.809 It doesn't move. It's not supposed to. See, the 00:19:50.809 --> 00:19:54.309 difficulty is that the cornerstone that is a 00:19:54.309 --> 00:19:58.119 stumbling block is actually supposed to be for 00:19:58.119 --> 00:20:04.059 us as the Christians. We are supposed to stumble 00:20:04.059 --> 00:20:07.240 because we're not supposed to keep going down 00:20:07.240 --> 00:20:10.559 the paths that we did without them. It's supposed 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:14.359 to get in our way. The cornerstone is supposed 00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:18.400 to get in our way. It's supposed to make us stop. 00:20:18.440 --> 00:20:21.920 It's supposed to make us fall on our face. It's 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:25.950 supposed to say, hey, That is not what the point 00:20:25.950 --> 00:20:30.890 was. Jesus is supposed to get in the way and 00:20:30.890 --> 00:20:35.250 say you're going the wrong way. Because even 00:20:35.250 --> 00:20:39.470 if we are saying we are His people, we still 00:20:39.470 --> 00:20:43.769 keep getting distracted. But here's the reality 00:20:43.769 --> 00:20:49.690 about it. Is that if it is not in place, If it 00:20:49.690 --> 00:20:52.930 is not the corner upon which we have built everything, 00:20:53.269 --> 00:20:57.529 what else does it do? That cornerstone, if it 00:20:57.529 --> 00:21:01.390 falls, crushes all of those who do not build 00:21:01.390 --> 00:21:05.569 themselves up with Him. And that's the reality 00:21:05.569 --> 00:21:08.990 of what we see is that every work that we, every 00:21:08.990 --> 00:21:13.390 fruit that we work to keep, instead of to offer 00:21:13.390 --> 00:21:18.960 back to God, is something that condemns us. because 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:22.319 as much as Jesus came to seek and to save, not 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:26.759 to bring judgment, we keep ending up putting 00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:31.259 ourselves under that cornerstone instead of being 00:21:31.259 --> 00:21:35.839 built in our lives around it. See, that's the 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:38.220 difficulty is that when Jesus is the standard 00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:41.059 around which the rest of the church is built, 00:21:42.180 --> 00:21:45.579 when you build in a different spot, you don't 00:21:45.579 --> 00:21:50.849 have Him holding you up. If you go in a direction 00:21:50.849 --> 00:21:54.690 that doesn't let Him guide you, you will fall 00:21:54.690 --> 00:21:59.910 on your face and you are supposed to. Because 00:21:59.910 --> 00:22:02.849 that's the reality of what we see in a world 00:22:02.849 --> 00:22:06.589 where we keep calling for bloodshed instead of 00:22:06.589 --> 00:22:10.349 just seeking what is good and just. If we want 00:22:10.349 --> 00:22:13.950 to make people cry out instead of doing what 00:22:13.950 --> 00:22:18.839 is right and good. then the Master will send 00:22:18.839 --> 00:22:22.700 His Son and will end up showing us who we truly 00:22:22.700 --> 00:22:28.779 are. Are you willing to see the Son? Are you 00:22:28.779 --> 00:22:32.240 willing to let Him have the authority? Are you 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:34.339 willing to give Him the fruit instead of keeping 00:22:34.339 --> 00:22:38.960 it for yourself? Because my hope and my prayer 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:43.099 is that each of us are willing to let Him stumble 00:22:43.099 --> 00:22:48.900 us so that we can truly see where we went wrong. 00:22:50.299 --> 00:22:53.440 Because the only hope comes whenever He is our 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:58.019 cornerstone. And as much as we may want to replace 00:22:58.019 --> 00:23:02.839 Him with our own ideas of what we want to see, 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:05.660 it's only when He is the one who leads us and 00:23:05.660 --> 00:23:09.299 guides us that we actually create what is good 00:23:09.299 --> 00:23:13.299 and beautiful in this world. So my hope and prayer 00:23:14.190 --> 00:23:16.710 is that we see the fruits that we're creating, 00:23:17.710 --> 00:23:19.750 and if those fruits are not the fruits of His 00:23:19.750 --> 00:23:24.490 Spirit, that we'd be willing to change everything 00:23:24.490 --> 00:23:28.609 we say and do, so that when the Son comes and 00:23:28.609 --> 00:23:33.730 sees us, He says, well done, my good and faithful 00:23:33.730 --> 00:23:40.190 servant. Come into my kingdom. Thanks be to God.