We Have No King But Jesus

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Today we celebrate Palm Sunday; the time that Jesus entered Jerusalem to great messianic celebration, only to be crucified a week later.  So turn with me to Matthew 21:1-9 as we talk about that day.

First, I titled this message, “We Have No King But Jesus,” because people who live in the United States of America have a heritage of seeing Jesus as their king.  Leading up to the Revolutionary War this statement became a rising theme among the colonies.  It is even stated that the response of the Lexington militia to British Major Pitcairn’s command to lay down arms and disperse in the name of King George was, “We recognize no Sovereign but God and no King but Jesus.”  It is important to understand that, in the minds of our forefathers, this was not a statement of anarchy and rebelliousness.  But rather, it was a stand against a king who ruled with a chaotic tyranny in the name of God.  They knew that Jesus was no tyrant and that any tyrannical ruler who tries to substantiate themselves by pointing to Jesus was both wrong and not a true follower of Jesus.  Thus they set up a system of government that could keep our sinful nature in check and yet also keep the leaders in check.

A Different Kind Of King

Matthew opens up this chapter by giving us the setting of the triumphal entry of Jesus.  He ends by quoting a prophecy from the Old Testament that points Israel to how their king would come to them.  Now in his birth and life, Jesus did not look much like the kings of this world.  Though it is true that Jesus was to be king, he was a very different sort of person.  Thus the prophecy says that he will come lowly and humble.  Most people of great station and position are full of themselves and the power that they have.  Or, they pretend humility for the purposes of manipulating others.  However, in the end they will always prove to be for themselves as they advance and others are left behind, used up.  Yet, Jesus was quite the opposite.  In fact, he spent himself completely and left his disciples behind to be raised up in his place, full of the same Spirit he was, and in order to carry on the work he had started.  Yes, Jesus did great miracles and made amazing statements, but humility was the hallmark of his character.

Part of his lowliness is found in that Jesus was determined to serve Israel and the rest of the world, rather than to rule.  He shows us the real reason for leaders.  They are supposed to serve the people they are over.  Ruling should equal serving.  Yet, in this life that hardly happens.  Even when people start out correctly and with the right purposes, it quickly degenerates into a system of people using their rule in order to serve themselves, not the people.

Truly a Savior King

In this world people often look to leaders to fix the problems and save the nation.  Israel was no different upon this occasion.  Generally this is a mixed bag.  Some are far worse than others, and some are better than others.  Israel had seen a lot of leaders, both political and religious, over the years.  On this day we find the crowds crying out the word, “Hosanna!”  This word is actually a cry for help that could be translated as “Save us!”  They recognized Jesus as the Anointed King (Messiah) promised by God.  So they cry out for Jesus to fix everything.  Now it is easy to cry out for salvation.  But, no one says such things without having expectations of what that might entail.  Jesus was coming to save them, but not to satisfy all their expectations of what that would look like.  In this case the leader truly does know better than the masses what their greatest needs really are.

Thus the question is, “save us from what?”  Their expectations included removing the Romans, oppressive taxes, corrupt leaders on the throne and corrupt leaders within the priests.  Yes, they did need saved, and they were saying the right things.  But they had no clue what Jesus had come to save them from.  In 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 it says, “For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the Living and True God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”  Now Israel understood that the wrath of God was going to be poured out on the nations of the world because of their sin and rejection of him.  However, they did not realize that they too were in danger of that same wrath.  In fact, if Jesus did not come the world would have come to an end in those very same days.  Our sin and our bondage to it had placed us guilty before the God of heaven.  If He truly is righteous then He surely must bring judgment upon us.  Jesus was coming to save them, but he was coming to save them from their sins: the hold they had on them, the path they were dragging them down, and the destruction that waited at the end of it.  God has set a day of Judgment, a judgment upon the whole world.  It will be a time of wrath upon those who have chose wickedness and sin over the top of him and his salvation.

This King Is Coming Again

In Revelation 19:11-16, we see a radically different picture of King Jesus.  In the first century he came from among the people, lowly, and for the purpose of dying on their behalf.  But in the future, he will come from above in great power and for the purpose of removing the wicked leadership of the earth, and taking up the reins of power.

Of course, the wicked leaders will not like that and thus the passage reveals that the kings of the earth will turn their military power upon Christ and his army.  But they will be no match as the wrath of God is poured out upon this earth.

Yet, he does not come to destroy the earth, but to remove the wicked.  Thus Jesus will set up a righteous and true administration.  He will not judge the way that we judge.  On one hand is wants to give mercy and yet on the other he will execute justice.  Can you imagine what it would be like to take our problems, whether as individuals or as nations before one who is omniscient, and most wise?  First of all, he would see through much of the lies that we spread in order to make our case better.  And, second of all his judgments will actually set things right instead of only making them go underground so that they can come back again only worse.

Is Jesus Christ your king today?  He is the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords.  Someday soon that will be revealed to the whole world.  Make sure that you are ready for that day by turning in faith to Jesus and allowing him to save you from the wrath that is to come.

Have You Counted the Cost?

Today we will look at Luke 14:25-35.

At this point in Luke 14, Jesus has left the home of the leading Pharisee with whom he had a Sabbath meal.  Although multitudes are following him, Jesus takes time to make it clear what it really takes to become his disciple.  Just being in the crowd was not enough to make someone a disciple.  Jesus was headed somewhere that their flesh would not want to go.  Only a strong submission to the leadership of Jesus could carry a person through the challenging times ahead.  The same is true today.  Have you sat down and figured out what it may cost you to remain faithful to Jesus and who He truly is?

Our Primary Relationship

Who is the most important person in your life?  It can change depending upon your age and experience.  However, Jesus puts the challenge to those following him.  If you want to be my disciple then I must be the primary relationship of your life.  You see, up to now Jesus has been a bit of a novelty.  People would go out to see him because it was interesting.  Others went out because the hoped to be healed.  But no one understood that to follow him would require them to put their life on the line.  The discipleship of these people would not last past the cross if Jesus doesn’t begin to open their eyes to what it means to follow him.

Thus, Jesus walks through those most important relationships that we tend to have: parents, a spouse, children, siblings, and even our self.  No matter how we prioritize those relationships in our life, Jesus must now move to the top- that is if we think about it in authoritarian terms.  If we think about it in foundational terms then he must become the foundational relationship of our life.  Now, lest we protest to greatly, it is good to notice that following Jesus will enable us to love each of these relationships in truth.  Without Christ we find difficulty in sacrificially loving one another.  But with Christ, our relationship with Him is threatened when we do not lay our life down for each other.  Staying with Christ becomes more important than getting what we want out of our relationships.

Yet, Jesus uses the word “hate.”  How can this be that we should hate our parents?  Elsewhere he tells them to love their enemies.  Now, we can write Jesus off as a teacher of contradictions, or we can lean in and try to understand what he is talking about.  Clearly there is some shock value to this statement.  The crowd is following Jesus without thought to what it will cost to follow Him absolutely.  Thus he shocks them out of their lethargy. 

However, Jesus is not using hate in the sense of anger, detest, and desire to tear down.  There is a cultural usage of this term that we do not have here in the United States of America.  When hate is used in the context of choosing one thing over another, it rarely means the kind of hate that we think of.  Let’s go to an example that is found in Genesis 29:31.  Here Jacob has been tricked into marrying Leah and her sister Rachel.  Jacob only wanted to marry Rachel, but her father manipulated him into marrying Leah too.  The Bible tells us that, “When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb.”  Most modern translations will moderate this word to “unloved.”  Now it is clear that Jacob didn’t hate Leah in any active way.  In fact they would have children.  We would not have used the word “hate” in this context.  But, if someone followed Jesus at the expense of their family, many would be left shaking their head wondering what the person was thinking.  Perhaps to best understand this use is to see it from the view point of the person not being picked.  When you are not chosen, you don’t simply feel unloved.  In a sense, you feel rejected and hated.  Jesus is not calling his disciples to quit loving their friends and families.  But if they had to choose between a relationship with Jesus or with anyone on that list, they must choose Jesus.

Jesus then brings up the image of the cross.  The disciples of Jesus must follow him by carrying a cross.  This image is intended to point out our readiness and determination to die in order to follow Jesus.  The cross represents all the things I am going to have to die to in order to be a disciple of Jesus.  Jesus himself had a choice.  He could follow the plan of the people to make him king and conquer the Romans.  Or, he could follow the plan of his Father.  He had a choice to make.  To many of the Jews, his choice was a rejection of them.  But in reality Jesus loved them and wanted them to all become his disciples.  However, he could not reject his Father.  Thus we will find ourselves in situations where Jesus wants us to do one thing, but our family may want us to do another.  We must be willing to sacrifice everything in order to have Jesus.  This may sound hard, but it is the teaching of Jesus.

Now, we do not all lose the same things in following Jesus.  In fact, many families have been saved and have had long traditions of serving Jesus.  Thus there was never a choice to be made between Jesus and family.  However, some have had to.  When it comes to relationships, the disciple of Jesus is to love everyone, even his enemies.  Yet, sometimes those we are in relationship do not like our relationship with Jesus.  If they ever lay down an ultimatum and require us to choose then we must choose Jesus.  We see this with the apostles in the book of Acts.  They were pulled in before the authorities and told to stop preaching about Jesus.  These guys were not trying to be rebels against the government, but they were trying to follow Jesus.  Thus they say, “You must judge whether in God’s eyes it is right to listen to you and not to God.  We cannot promise to stop proclaiming what we have seen and heard.”  Jesus had commanded them to preach the good news about what he had done and accomplished.  But the legal authorities were commanding them to disobey Jesus.  Thus the response is that they will not make such a promise.  However, later when they are apprehended they submit to the persecution and even loss of their lives because these are the very things Jesus promised them would be.  So it is not that I will have to choose between relationships, but I must have decided already in my heart that Jesus is Lord and Master.  Jesus doesn’t want to rid you of any relationships with people.  But he does want to rid us of our relationship with sin in our life.  Thus the disciple is a person who allows the Lord to prune their life in order to become more fruitful for God.

We Must Count The Cost

Starting in verse 28 Jesus gives two illustrations of counting the cost.  Following Jesus is costly and a wise man will sit down and think it through first.  Can I pay such a price?  The first illustration is building a tower.  To begin such a project and then fall short would cost a person financially and socially.  I would be wiped out financially and people would mock me and lack any trust in my future endeavors.  Now this is a good illustration because God wants to build in us the character and person of Jesus Christ.  He wants to make us be like Jesus.  That kind of work will cost us in a lot of different ways.

Likewise, he uses the illustration of going to war.  It would be foolish to persist in a war that you cannot win.  Rather, you would stop and seek terms of surrender.  This is also a good illustration because we are in a battle.  The devil does not want anyone becoming like Jesus.  He works day and night to trap people in bondages that keep them from seeing Christ and especially becoming like him.  So here Jesus puts his terms on the table.  He will not settle for anything but the primary place in your life.  He will not share your allegiance with the devil.

It is possible that you could lose everything in this world to follow Christ.  Of course the odds go up or down depending on where you live.  At this point in America the odds are not very high that you will lose everything.  But, they are increasing every day.  In fact, this has been the normal in many countries of the world.  Even historically it was the norm in Europe.  That is why our ancestors left Europe seeking the New World.  They were fleeing tyranny in order to be free to serve Jesus.  They had to be willing to let go of their denominations, their relatives, even their nation in order to have Jesus.  Yet, today the New World has become the Old World once again.  To where will we flee?  At some point it is time to stop running and simply stand no matter what comes.  Jesus and I must stand as one regardless of the ultimatums the world may hurl at us.

To Become Like Him

Jesus ends this section with the imagery of salt.  His disciples would be the salt of the world.  Salt affects whatever it touches because of its nature.  If we follow Jesus he intends to change our nature to where we will affect the world around us.  Like salt, our commitment to living out the godly life of Jesus will slow down the moral decay of the world around us.  Also like salt, our faith in Jesus makes us desirable to God.  In and of ourselves we are like bland food that few want to eat.  But with Jesus we become tastier, not just to God, but some people in life are drawn by the “flavor” of a person following Jesus- the sacrificial life.

Jesus lays down the gauntlet with this crowd.  You either move forward and become like Jesus, or you shrink back and fall away as salt that has lost its saltiness.  I doubt you have ever bought salt from the store only to find it useless.  But this was not rare in the days of Jesus.  Such salt is useless and thrown away.  When the Spirit of God takes up residence within us and makes us over to be like Jesus, we become spiritually “salty.”  Many people like the idea of following Jesus, but the reality causes them to shrink back.  At this point some completely fall away.  However, others simply redefine Jesus to fit what they now believe.  Later they may step further back away from the True Jesus and yet redefine him again.  All along they tell themselves that they are disciples of Jesus, yet they have never died to anything in order to follow him.  How about it, have you counted the cost?  Do so today and choose to follow Jesus no matter what.

counted cost audio

Invitation To The Great Supper

The Great Supper audio

Invitation to a Supper

Today we will be looking at Luke 14:1-14.

The setting of our passage today is a Sabbath meal to which Jesus has been invited by a high-ranking Pharisee in Israel.  This is going to give rise to several teachings by Jesus that we will look at over the next several weeks.  This supper will give rise to the wonderful truth that God is inviting us to participate in a marriage supper that He is preparing for His Son.  However, in this case, God allows us to participate in our own invitation.  He in a sense invites everyone who will believe upon His Son, what he taught, what he foretold, and what he accomplished.  Thus only those who properly respond to the open invitation are allowed in to the meal.  In fact, we could say that the presence of Jesus within Israel was technically a wedding feast that went horribly awry.

Legalism Binds Us

As we look at the passage we are at the meal where Jesus sits with a ruling Pharisee and all the others he has invited.  Now the problem with the Pharisees was that they were very legalistic.  They focused upon the letter of the law to the exclusion of the spirit of the Law.  When we are focused upon the letter of the law we really want to know what we can get away with and what we can’t.  It is not about wanting to please God, but rather about wanting to please self without getting in trouble.  However, when we ask ourselves why God gave a certain law, we are drawn into His heart and purposes.  Legalism tends to bind us to things that actually run counter to the purposes and the heart of God.  In fact several are on display at this meal.

First, legalism bound them to looking at each other wrongly.  It says in verse one that they watched him closely.  Now it is not wrong to watch our brother if we are doing it in a humble way that serves him.  We would normally call this “watching out” for our brother.  But legalism binds us to watching our brother for the sole purpose of finding fault.  God wants us to watch each other’s back rather than become nit-pickers.  Most legalists have forgotten that they not only were sinners but are still sinners in need of God’s grace.  Yet, there is one caution here.  It is common today to believe that anyone who points out a problem in our life is being mean-spirited and a legalist.  This is not true.  A true brother will not only watch his brother’s back, but also warn him about pitfalls in front of him.  The legalist does this because they take joy in putting you down a peg or too (i.e. raising themselves).  But the true brother does this because they don’t want to see you killed.  Even then, a true brother realizes that they are not their brother’s Lord.  They will remain humble and stand beside you not over you.

Legalism also binds us to misunderstandings about God’s purposes.  It just happens that a man who has dropsy (a condition where the body is swollen with fluid) is sat across from Jesus on the Sabbath.  Now we know why they were watching him like a hawk.  This meal was a set-up in order to find fault with Jesus.   You see, the Pharisees had developed an interpretation of the Sabbath laws that saw healing as a form of work.  I’ve talked about this in greater depth before.  They saw the Sabbath primarily as a restriction upon us.  Thus it was a bleak and difficult day in which we couldn’t enjoy a lot of good things.  However, God did not give the Sabbath to restrict man.  The word Sabbath means rest.  God wanted his people to quit being driven seven days a week as if they had no hope in God.  The Sabbath was supposed to be a day of rest and “smelling the roses.”  It was a day to gather with friends and family, and give glory to God for His great benefits.  It was about declaring God as our ultimate source rather than our own hand.  Thus God’s purpose was not to prevent us or restrict us from helping each other when one was sick or in need.  But, the Pharisees couldn’t see this.

Legalism also binds us to treating one another as less than human (in fact, less than animal).  After Jesus boldly heals the man of his condition and sends him away, he then challenges them.  If they had a donkey or ox fall into a pit on the Sabbath, every one of them would “work” to pull it out.  But they wouldn’t do a similar thing for this man.  Whenever you see people being treated as animals or especially less than animals, you know that the enemy of mankind has been at work twisting the minds of those involved.  Today we have become a people who will obsess over the death of certain animals and yet not blink an eye at the murder of countless unborn babies.  This dehumanizing of groups is the mode of operation of the devil and those who listen to him.

Humble Yourself Before God And Man

They had been watching him like a hawk.  However, Jesus had been watching them and gives a parable to point out a fault with those who were seated with him at the table: pride and self-exaltation.  He warns those who are invited to a meal not to try and sit in the highest place.  No doubt there had been much jockeying going on before the meal.  Self-promotion and ambition are powerful traits that enable us to succeed in many things.  However, they lead us to promote ourselves beyond what God has given to us.  It knows no bounds and will often come in conflict with God.  Clearly our attempts to curry favor with the rulers and those with power in this life can reap benefits.  But in the end this mentality leads us into gross sin.  One more honorable than us may have been invited and we will be asked to move down to a lesser seat.  Now that would be a humiliating moment that most of them would seek to avoid at all cost.  Jesus is “the one more honorable.”  Even though the host of that meal may have not recognized Jesus, God the Father does.  Ultimately he is the one having a great supper.  Jesus is the groom who has come to the wedding feast of his bride.  Yet, the Pharisees and their followers wanted to sit in the seat that belonged to Him.  Now that was fine and all before he came.  Someone had to lead.  Yet, now that he arrived, they should have been stumbling over themselves to give the seat to him.  Even worse they seek to put him to death so that their seat will never be threatened again.  When you walk in pride you ultimately offend those with greater honor than you.  In the end you will receive the fruit of pride, destruction.

There is a day coming when the host, God, is going to manifest to the world that Jesus is the one more honorable- the One to Whom the seat of power belongs.  God will render a decision.  Sometimes He settles things in this life.  But do not be deceived, He will settle it in the Age to come.  Our proper place will be established and woe to the person who has kicked against his proper place.  Instead, be humble in this life and let God promote you, so that at the judgment you will have nothing to fear.

Bless Those Who Cannot Bless You Back

Jesus then turns to rebuke the ruling Pharisee who was hosting the meal.  The previous fault focused on what we shouldn’t do, but this fault is couched in terms that encourage us to what we should do.  When you have a meal don’t invite those who can pay you back in some way (social prestige, invite you over to their place, business contacts, etc.).  It is spiritually smarter to invite people who cannot help you back in any way.  Bless people with a mean who cannot bless you back.  Instead of worrying about our position and using our good to increase that position, we should use those good to bless others, period.  Which raises a question, who do we tend to bless?  Eating with others is a social act which strengthens our bonds together and so we tend to invite friends and family.  Jesus warns us to beware this tendency.  Now we shouldn’t be legalistic with this statement.  Yes, we should obey Jesus.  But it is not his purpose to rebuke a family from eating together.  Rather, this is a special meal the Pharisee is throwing.  Jesus is not making a law that we can never invite friends over.  Rather, he is giving us wisdom about how we should live in light of the judgment that is coming.  Whom are you seeking to be blessed by?  If you seek to be blessed by people then all you do will be corrupted by it.  However, if you seek to be blessed by God, then you will learn to be a blessing to others especially when you get nothing out of it in this world.

Jesus mentions that he should invite the poor, maimed, lame and blind.  There are two levels to this instruction.  Believers are called to help those who are less fortunate in one way or another.  In Galatians 2:9-10 Paul recognizes that the “Pillars” of the church instructed him to remember the poor, “the very thing which [Paul] also was eager to do.”  In doing so, God becomes our reward.  Yet, this also has a spiritual parallel.  Jesus has come to heal those who are spiritually poor, maimed, lame, and blind.  Too often we are trying to reach the rich and famous of the world to join our church at the expense of those who do not appeal to us.  This comes from the spirit of pride and self-ambition.  But when we are humble before God and our fellow man, we serve regardless of the station of another.

Ask yourself the question, “Am I seeking to be blessed by men or God?”  Men can reward you, but they can also make you pay.  But God has a reward for those who live this life in service to Him.  To serve Him is to serve one another in His name.  The humble person knows that the only sure reward and the only sure position is that which God gives.  All else is simply grasping after the wind, here today and gone tomorrow.  Are you able to say with Job, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord!”? 

Invitation to supper audio