What might happen if I faithfully follow Jesus?
Notes
Transcript
Private vs Public faithfulness…
We are speaking primarily of public faithfulness…
I’m going to be real right now… NO CAP? Jesus taught things that made people walk away from Him. Jesus never hid what following Him would cost people. He was honest.
What I’m going to tell you is the truth.
What Jesus offers us is Himself. Receiving Him is done through believing Him.
And if your motive for doing “christiany” things like going to church, reading the bible, praying, attending youth group, doing a bible study, not cussing, not smoking pot or vaping, or anything that looks “christian”… If who Jesus is and what Jesus has done isn’t the motivator and never is the motivator, then you are on very very loose ground. You may not be a “christian” by the time your 25.
So, honestly, in a way, I may be trying to talk you out of christiany things right now… not because I don’t want you here or don’t want you to be a “good” or “moral” person. But because I know, that you can be those things and do everything right and still not actually have life.
People who have life are those who know what life costs and want Jesus anyway.
If you follow Jesus faithfully, you might be…
Rejected
Rejected
6:1-6
1 He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.
2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?
They are astonished:
Wowed. But in a way that causes panic.
What astonished them:
Jesus’ authority, His wisdom, and His power.
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
These people watched Jesus grow up. They saw him develop. So, now they are unable to fully process and receive His amazing presence, amazing words, and amazing actions.
Identifying His family occupation isn’t a degrading thing. Carpenters were highly respected then.
Mark Explanation of the Text
The people are not saying, “He’s nothing but a common laborer,” but rather, “He’s no better than anyone of us.”
4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”
Jesus doesn’t shy away from the reality of the situation. He’s bold and declares the truth of scripture as an act of love in hope they will reconsider Him.
5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.
Their lack of faith and openness to His ministry caused them to be unable to receive the full benefits of His presence. They got some… Notice what it says.
6 And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.
Why would Jesus marvel?
Because they received some benefits of His presence. But they were still closing their hearts to Him.
This is foreshadowing Jesus being rejected in Jerusalem.
If Jesus was rejected because of people’s unbelief, shouldn’t we expect the same response?
If they hated Jesus, they will hate you too.
If you follow Jesus faithfully, you might be REJECTED
If you follow Jesus faithfully, you might be…
Sent
Sent
6:7-13
7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
Thats cool. Sounds awesome! AUTHORITY.
8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—
wait… What…
9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.
10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there.
11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”
This is what Jews would do when they left a gentile territory. They did this as an act of cleansing.
Here Jesus is now using their own custom as a way to show that their rejection of Jesus’ message and the soul cleansing it offers is on their own hands. They are responsible before God for their rejection. Not the disciples.
12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.
13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
The reality is that the disciples are being sent with power, which they know Jesus has had, they have seen how Jesus has been treated, and now He is inviting them to participate and experience in His ministry.
This is scary. This is serious. Its exciting. But it is serious.
Many people want to do BIG things for God because of BIG benefits like:
Spirit power
Amazing destinations
Status
Titles
But, most of the time, they do this without realizing the BIG cost:
Hunger
Poverty
Ridicule
Spiritual Warfare
Etc.
This lifestyle of being sent by Jesus was super costly for these disciples. That cost intensified as time went on.
MISSIONS: People love traveling. And some people go into missions because they want to see the world. But…
For us, being sent by Jesus shouldn’t be about the possibility of our physical destination.
It should always be about the definite eternal destination of others that depends on Jesus sending us to them.
Thats why the possibility of hunger, pain, discomfort, stomach flu, etc. won’t stop us from being sent if we are faithfully following Jesus.
If you follow Jesus faithfully, you might be SENT
If you follow Jesus faithfully, you might be…
Murdered
Murdered
6:14-29
14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.”
15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”
Notice they are unwilling to say, “Jesus is the rightful king of Israel”.
16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her.
18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not,
20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
Herod had conviction about killing John. He liked him. He had some type of worry that if he killed Him God would be angry.
I’ve had people like me. You will too if you follow Jesus faithfully. People’s religious nature might even make them respect you as a christian. But, without them truly knowing Jesus and receiving Jesus, that like for you will only protect you for so long…
21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.
22 For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.”
23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.”
24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.”
25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her.
27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison
28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.
29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
John was essentially the first follower of Jesus during Jesus’ time on earth. His following Jesus looked like him preparing the way and doing everything he could to point people to Him and call them to repentance of sin.
John was an uncomfortable prophet.
While Jesus said things that sound good at times, Jesus also had some hard sayings.
John basically was tasked by God with sharing all the hard things. It was primarily about the Law and implications of the Law…
That was His role and assignment.
Now… Don’t think this gives you an excuse to be like John 100% of the time…
I’m a John the baptist guy. I’m just going to say all the hard things people need to hear.
We aren’t disciples of John the Baptist. We are disciples of Jesus of Nazareth.
John used the reality of the Law to prepare people for the Grace found in Jesus.
But both John and Jesus were murdered.
If you follow Jesus faithfully, you might be MURDERED
What might happen if I faithfully follow Jesus?
I might be rejected
I might be sent
I might be murdered
MIGHT = Possibility
THESE ARE HARD SAYINGS
Here’s what I want you guys to take away from this…
Main Takeaway
Don’t let your faithfulness be determined by possibility
Let your faithfulness be determined by what is definite
If you faithfully follow Jesus, you will definitely get…
Jesus
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.