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Sermon
Summary Please press the play button below to hear the sermon (mp3 file).
SERMON TRANSCRIPT: Looking at the last 24 hours in Jesus life his earthly ministry and what happened from Thursday afternoon through Friday afternoon. So that is what we focus on during Lent as we draw closer to Easter. With spring, eventually comes the change of seasons and we are looking at these events in Jesus' life. Today we are looking at what culminated on Thursday afternoon. These are usually things we overlook in that holy week season, there are five chapters in there and we tend to skip over them or take them out of context. We are going to take a whole view of these five chapters and see what is happening from Palm Sunday until when Jesus comes into Jerusalem and everyone is shouting Hosanna to the son of David where on Friday the same people begin to shout crucify him. There is something that happens in a systematic way. By the time Thursday afternoon comes Jesus has offended or alienated every group that was in Jerusalem against him. Let’s take a look at this, what was going on. Jesus was teaching at this time. What happens is that Jesus was teaching on the southern side of the temple mount there were several rows of these big columns. The temple mount, the temple of Jerusalem is about 40 acres, it is larger than the field that we purchased for our new church, that site is about 33 acres and this is 40 acres and the temple itself took up a couple acres itself on the western side of it. All along the southern parts there were these columns and what would happen along these columns is that these different teachers would come in and teach. That was kind of like talk radio, you get a sponsor, you get a microphone, and you talk and see if anybody listens. You see if anyone calls in and you can make a splash. There would be a lot of different teachers out by these columns teaching. I kind of picture them up on a little pedestal, I don’t know if they were or not. They did get up on top of columns; the columns were 30 to 40 feet high, just massive. Teachers would be out there, different teachers, might draw down the attention of the authorities, priests and other people there, especially if they were creating a following or if they heard he said something weird, they would come and check him out. This is what was happening, its five chapters in the book of Mathew that contains a series of offensive teachings and Jesus is doing it on the southern end of the temple mount. You go there and you see the Mount of Olives, if you look over here you see Jerusalem and the upper city where the wealthy lived and the lower city where the shops were, you look over the steps to the south and you see kind of a trailer park type of thing where the not quite so wealthy homes were and if you look on beyond that is the desert. He taught. What are these groups of people that were offended on this day by Jesus teachings? The first group was called Herodians-actually two groups here, pro herodians and antiherodians. If you read the bible it states the herodians. They are for Herod. Herod was the king of Palestine and Israel that was propped up by the Romans. He was not a descendant of David he was nobody for whom they voted, rulers weren’t voted for back in those days, he was nobody they wanted as their king, he was propped up by Rome and he was Rome’s instrument to draw taxes out of them. To keep the peace and hold down revolts. He taxed the people big time in order to do that. He was not a particularly moral person. There was one group among the Jews who were pro Herod and they believed that their interest would best be served by going along with Rome. There was another group that was anti Herod and they thought it was unclean, immoral to go along with Herod. So the teachings that Jesus did offended them both. The anti-Herod teaching that Jesus did is he is standing out on the temple mound and somebody comes up and is going to trap him. They say “is it lawful to pay taxes to Rome of not” Jesus said “bring me a coin”. Whose face is on the coin? Caesars. Now a person who follows the Law of Moses isn’t supposed to have graven images and it was against the Jewish teachings to have a coin that had a pagan’s face on it and the pagan was Caesar, yet alone up on the temple mound. So Jesus in a very scandalous act held up the coin and said whose picture is on it. Jesus said, “Then render to God the things that are Gods and pay to Caesar the things that are Caesars.” The anti herodians were scandalized with that. I can’t imagine quite a parallel to that in our own time. Let’s see, imagine yourself in revolutionary time, in our colonies and if someone would have stood up at the city square at the height of the revolutionary war and held up a coin and said pay it to King George. What would have happened? Run out of town. Maybe it would be like someone standing at the White House and saying if you put your trust in this you are trusting the wrong thing. Would they get elected? Please the people? No. Jesus turned the anti herodians against him. Then he, Jesus did another thing to offend them. It’s easy to miss this one. You have to understand geography to get this one. Remember when I said there is the Mount of Olives over there and here is Jerusalem and over here are poor people and out into the wilderness. Way down in the south, from the temple mound on a clear day you can see it and if not, they know it is there. The mountain. This mountain is not natural. It was built basket by basket. Some engineers got the idea that they could build a mountain so Herod said I need a palace near by that is a refuge, a safe place. So Herod built palaces all over the place. Remember those palaces that Sadam Hussein built all over Iraq? Some covered acres of ground. He had nothing on Herod. Herod put them on mountaintops, by the sea, inside a mountain and not only that he built the mountain around it. So, out to the south, about seven miles, out on the horizon were three little hills, they built, basket by basket a mountain hollow in the middle and at the top a regiment of soldiers could stand at the ridge at the top and protect it. There was one narrow door to get in, it would weave itself in. Herod was close to Jerusalem and he would be safe. It’s like those bunkers Saddam Hussein built under those palaces which is ironic that he wasn’t in one of those huge bunkers when they found him, but in a little dirt hole. A spider hole. Because there is no place really you can hide. Jesus says this, if you have faith in the true God you can say to this mountain, be washed into the sea and it will happen. Be cast into the sea. That is really like someone leaning against the white house and saying this is just dust like so much dirt. So both those for and against Herod were offended. I was going to take these columns we have up here on the altar display and I was going to kick them over at this point in the sermon, I thought it would make a big noise and everything but I got to looking at these last night and there is a really nice florist who loaned these to us and they are in pieces and I noticed the top would fall apart and so we would have to pay for them and I didn’t want to do that, plus I thought I am not Jesus and Jesus is the one who knocked them over and what Jesus knocks over we tend to put them back up. So the pillars keep standing. It’s like Jesus is saying, if you put your trust on government or you oppose it, either way, its so much dust. Government makes an awful Lord. I can picture Jesus going to the moral majority at the height of their power and saying you are on the wrong path. Who else did he offend in this time? The Sadducees-who were they? Another pillar. If you read through those five chapters the Sadducees came to him and tried to engage him in a back and forth debate. They were part of the power struggle for the temple. The priests and the sanhedrin were largely made up of Sadducees so the ritual and the worship that happened in the temple were largely ruled over by Sadducees. The very first thing Jesus did after he came riding into Jerusalem he went to the temple and overturned money changers tables. That was a system that was set up to profit the Sadducees. During holy times people were supposed to bring an offering to the temple. Grain, oil or during the big season, it was animal. They had to bring a perfect animal. A perfect offering was the only type you could make to God. So people if they could they would bring their own animal from home and before they could sacrifice it the Sadducees had to inspect it and guess what they found? They found there was something wrong with it. If there was a blemish they couldn’t use it. You have to go over there and buy a perfect sacrifice and by the way you can’t use that money with Caesars picture on it so you have to go over to that table and exchange it, your Roman currency to temple money and by the way they made money on that. Then they also charged a premium for a perfect sacrifice. Then back to be inspected and you know what happened sometimes? That animal was flawed and you can’t get your money back, you have to go buy another one. This was recorded that these things happen. They would take that animal and put it back in the pen and sell it again. Then the priests would keep half the sacrifices. So Jesus turned over the money tables and said my father’s house is to be a house of prayer. All through the week he kept poking at the sadducees, they didn’t believe in the resurrection and he taught about it. They were also biblical literalists and they only believed in the first five books of the Old Testament, the laws of Moses. That was all they recognized as scripture and when Jesus was teaching he kept quoting Isaiah. From the prophets and poets. So, he offended them with this. So I would knock over another pillar if I were using that demonstration. The next group is Pharisees. There were several different groups by this name. There was a group that was very ruled oriented until there were thousands you had to follow. They would come up to Jesus and say what is the greatest commandment and he would say “love” all you need is love. These same folks almost threw him off a ledge in Nazareth, there is another group called Hellelians, they believed in love. Jesus had more in common with them. They kept themselves separate for purity. Purity was a very big deal with them. Remember the setting? Jesus is among the columns. In plain sight is the Mount of Olives, along the side is a lot of tombs because good, respectable people got to be buried there. In this setting he said “on the outside your purity looks pretty good, but on the inside you are just like a tomb full of rot, you are not clean, you think you are but you are not, your like these tombs”. Then he insulted them all by saying “you know what?” “Prostitutes and tax collectors are closer to the Kingdom than you religious leaders, you political leaders, than you good respectable religious folks”. Then we knock over another pedestal. This would be like Jesus coming up to Jerry Falwell and saying, you know what? Ted Haggard is closer to the Kingdom than you. Now he is offending us good religious folks who are trying to do what is right and respectable. He is saying if that is your pedestal… See what he is attacking here is idolatry. Anything we put our trust in, anything we place on a pedestal. That’s why the first of the commandments of Moses dealt with idols. We do it over and over. How far would Jesus get to walk down the corridors of Washington and say this is ashes? Would he come in here and say folks, if you think this saves you, I will take you down the road to a strip bar or to Hooters and I will show you someone who needs a Savior. The fourth group he offends is his very own disciples. The amazing way he did this is with a woman who came to Jesus and she anointed him with oil. She touched him. The Pharisees never allow a woman to touch you in public unless it’s your wife and even then she shouldn’t do that. I picture it like this…a woman who knew she needed a Savior. A woman who knew she needed Jesus. A woman that the Pharisees would be saying if Jesus knew who she is and what she has done he wouldn’t let her touch him. I picture that. What she did was bring this very expensive ointment and she touched him. The disciples said “wait a minute, this is extravagant”. We should not use money to anoint Jesus, we could have taken that money and done something good with it, build a building or give it to the poor, that is a good thing. Jesus looked at them and said; long after they have forgotten your name they are going to sing about what she has done. The poor you have with you always, me you will not have with you always and she has anointed me for burial. He uses the words of burial. At that moment, Judas and others were scandalized. Then Jesus went on and talked to them on Thursday and said I am going to be crucified and they said No, no. He said this is what will happen. One of you will betray me and the rest of you will deny me and scatter and Peter, your leader, will deny me three times. Why did he do this? Over and over he challenged people. He pushed them. On Sunday they said Hosanna to the Son of David, by Thursday afternoon he had offended them all so that on Friday they were saying crucify him. It’s because any of these pedestals, any of the stuff we trust in, is all so much dust and ashes. Jesus would come in here, why would he change? He would turn it all upside down again. What would he say to us? No one belongs on the throne but him. We wouldn’t be like those folks would we? Well, one week ago I found myself tripping over one of these. One week ago I found out, along with your Staff-Parish Team, who the Bishop and Superintendants had nominated to replace me here. My first reaction was how dare they, this isn’t his church. Shortly after that the rest of my brain caught up with my gut and said, this isn’t my church either. I didn’t die for it. You guys paid me to be here. What a great deal that is. I am being called to something else and I have been getting calls from people asking should I find a new church? It isn’t about that. It’s about Jesus and his crucified only. I think Jesus would say this to the American church today and would come in here and say I did not suffer and die to meet your needs. There are no privileges that come with membership. There were about twenty people here a few weeks ago ready to join the church and I told all of them, there are no privileges that come with membership. If you want to get married here there is no price break for members. If you are sick and want to be visited in the hospital we will do that anyway. If you say, I want Pastor Dave to marry us, I do about 8 or ten a year based on my schedule but I would do that anyway. What comes with belonging here is you die to yourself to become more like Christ. That is what a church is. There are churches that teach health and prosperity and I can understand the impulse especially for people who have little. But what Jesus tells us is to take up a cross and follow. It is not about us. It is about him. Why does Jesus do this? He tears down every column, every pedestal, and every solid thing that we trust on so that one thing can be lifted up. It’s like he is preparing us all for Friday. When the shadow comes over everything and what is lifted up is the cross. The veil in the temple gets split and the columns get knocked down. Years later they are no more. He reminds us that this is his place. There is another scripture that speaks to this whole thing. I have seen this verse misinterpreted; I have even done that so often. Jesus says, enter by the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, there are many that go by the wide way but I want you to follow that narrow gate, it is difficult and that is the way that leads to life. There are few who find it. I have heard this used in so many different ways, I have even heard it quoted for why there should be no drums in worship. Why because worldly music has drums and we are not to go with the wide way of the world. We are supposed to go on the narrow way and use the piano and biblical instruments. I have used it in such ways. But what Jesus is referring to is a strict code of ethical conduct. We are not to follow in the ways of the world but to stay on the straight and narrow. This boils down to how wide of a path do you need to follow one man? About two feet. About this wide. To follow Jesus how wide of a path do you need? What we do is we make a lot of paths and put a lot of the pedestal. We can follow a lot of good things but he says, there is only one thing. I am not sure where I have offended you so far, but I hope I have stretched
you and that you are aware today of things you put on a pedestal. Success,
obedience, respectability, honor, giving to the poor, working for just
laws, right kinds of worship. There is about that much (holds hands two
feet apart) we need to follow Jesus.
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