Responding to the King
Notes
Transcript
Planning
Planning
Narrative structure
Narrative structure
Day 1 - Before Jerusalem
The Lord has need of the colt.
Triumphal entry
Day 1 - In Jerusalem
Looking around and leaving (taking it in)
Day 2 - Before Jerusalem
Cursing the fig tree (Israel)
Day 2 - In Jerusalem
Jesus cleanses the temple
Day 3 - Before Jerusalem
Lessons from the fig tree: have faith in God and forgive those who have sinned against you
Day 3 - In Jerusalem
Jesus stumps the chief priests, scribes, and the elders
Sermon structure
Sermon structure
Intro - Right responses
Intro - Right responses
Choosing the right response
Child invited into a stranger’s van
Marriage vows
Martin, will you give yourself to Olivea, to be her husband,
To live with her according to God’s Word?
Will you care for her, and love her as Christ loved the church
And gave Himself for her, and forsaking all others,
Will you remain faithful to Olivea, so long as you both shall live?
Emergencies: tightening of airways
How should we respond to Jesus? Not only is he the central figure of history, but this is life changing (both now and forever)
Context
Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. Approaching the climax of Mark’s gospel, where Jesus will die and rise again.
Three days where he visits Jerusalem, while he stays with his friends in a place called Bethany.
Before he enters Jerusalem and when he enters Jerusalem.
1. Response 1: Praise (vv. 1-10)
1. Response 1: Praise (vv. 1-10)
1a - Jesus is Lord
Evidence
His own prophecy
Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Self-described “Lord”
Triumphal entry
RESPONSE: PRAISE
Knowing Jesus is Lord leads to praising him.
Application: Praise him
At church, to others
Might not come naturally since it’s anti-Australian culture of complaining
Right response since he is the Lord
Segue: What does it mean that Jesus is Lord? It includes him being judge. He judges everyone. And that judgement is something to be feared.
2. Response 2: Fear (vv. 11-19)
2. Response 2: Fear (vv. 11-19)
Judgement starts at the temple in Jerusalem. Fulfilment of Malachi 3:1–2 ““I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.”
1b - Jesus the Lord comes to the temple.
Inspecting before judging
He sees how this place of worship has been transformed into a place of irreverence (vv. 15-17)
Judgement to come in day 2
2a - Cursing the fig tree
Not just a side story about a bush
Represents Israel’s unfaithfulness
Jeremiah 8:13 ““ ‘I will take away their harvest, declares the Lord. There will be no grapes on the vine. There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither. What I have given them will be taken from them.’ ””
Hosea 9:10 ““When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved.”
Hosea 9:16 “Ephraim is blighted, their root is withered, they yield no fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay their cherished offspring.””
Joel 1:7 “It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white.”
Hint of what will happen in the temple
2b - Jesus drives out the irreverent buying and selling.
Buying and selling isn’t wrong.
It’s converting this place of worship into a marketplace.
Quoting Isaiah and Jeremiah, Mark 11:17 “And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’””
RESPONSE: FEAR (BEING SCARED)
Being scared ( is about reverence)
Recognition that someone with power and authority is condemning their actions.
Application: Know that if you haven’t accepted Jesus as Lord, you should be scared. Jesus is returning.
Some people don’t love Jesus and they’re not scared of him. Could be like the chief priests and the teachers of the law before they met Jesus. Jesus will return.
Last week: Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””
This week: Forgiveness
3. Response 3: Faith (vv. 20-25)
3. Response 3: Faith (vv. 20-25)
3a - Salvation on the day of judgement comes through faith.
The withered fig tree shows the Lord’s condemnation of Israel.
Tricky passage to interpret.
Not about faith leading to doing any miracles.
Jesus and Paul prayed but what they prayed didn’t always happen.
Doesn’t fit in with the passage.
Only one way to escape condemnation: Faith in the Lord.
Consistently in the OT, warnings of condemnation are followed by invitations to repent. Joel 2:11–12 “The Lord thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty is the army that obeys his command. The day of the Lord is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it? “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.””
Telling the mountain to throw itself in the sea is an allusion to Zechariah 14:10 “The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up high from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses, and will remain in its place.”
Day of the LORD
Flattening of the area
Exaltation of Jerusalem
v. 24 is asking God for salvation.
v. 25 is asking God for forgiveness. True faith leads to forgiving others as well.
RESPONSE: FAITH
Different kind of fear
Application: Recognise judgement is coming and have faith in God.
4. Response 4: Challenging Jesus (vv. 27-33)
4. Response 4: Challenging Jesus (vv. 27-33)
3b - The chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders question his authority.
Readers of Mark’s Gospel will know his authority comes from God because he is the Son of God.
Jesus replies with a question to expose their hypocrisy and fear.
RESPONSE: QUESTIONING JESUS
E.g., sexuality, sacrifice, living for him and not yourself
E.g. Dawkins (https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2012/09/08/dawkins-on-creationism-and-evolution-a-cnn-interview/): . If there were a God that met you after death, what would you say? If I met God, in the unlikely event, after I died? The first thing I would say is, well, which one are you? Are you Zeus? Are you Thor? Are you Baal? Are you Mithras? Are you Yahweh? Which God are you, and why did you take such great pains to conceal yourself and to hide away from us?
Result of questioning: will be exposed like the religious leaders, and condemned
Dawkins won’t be able to ask these questions.
E.g. Christians questioning parts of Jesus’ teaching: marriage, loving God and not money
Good to ask questions with an attitude of humility. Bad to ask questions without seeking a genuine answer but challenging.
In our sin, we all reject Jesus’ teaching to different degrees. None of us lives perfect lives. But we need to be careful that we don’t slide into regularly questioning Jesus’ teachings. That leads to doubt and eventually unbelief.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Which response?
Praise
Fear
Faith
Questioning
Saying “I will” to Olivea was a good response but praising Jesus and revering him is the best response we can have.
Feedback with Tim
Feedback with Tim
2.13-2.39 = 26 minutes
Intro:
Use “how we respond to things matters” as the punchline once they have been persuaded rather than just telling people.
Show what happens when we don’t respond well.
Could explore some responses that don’t matter, some responses that do matter, including responses that are life and death.
vv. 23-25
Ask questions of the alternate view: “does that mean that God will give you a car if you have enough faith?”
Don’t need to use the word “interpretation”
Maybe explain that this faith is about trusting in God, not getting what you want.
Transition between responses can highlight the difference between the good and the bad responses and build tension.
Initial commentary about fear is a bit convoluted.
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Sermon
Sermon
Intro - Right responses
Intro - Right responses
I’ve been getting some scam text messages recently.
They claim that I’ve haven’t paid for some sort of bill.
Have anyone else gotten those messages?
Well how am I supposed to respond to them?
I could ignore all the typos and click on the link.
I could put my credit card details into the dodgy website.
That would be a foolish response.
Or I could ignore it.
That’s the wise thing to do.
How we respond to things matters.
Olivea and I have been married for three years.
And three years ago, it was our wedding day.
The minister asked me some questions.
He said,
Martin, will you give yourself to Olivea, to be her husband,
To live with her according to God’s Word?
Will you care for her, and love her as Christ loved the church
And gave Himself for her, and forsaking all others,
Will you remain faithful to Olivea, so long as you both shall live?
What’s the right response?
Of course I said, “I will”.
But I have heard of people who haven’t responded like that on their own wedding day.
Someone people have responded by not even showing up on their wedding day.
You can imagine how devastated someone might be when that happens.
Hopes and dreams dashed.
Utter shame as friends and family look on.
And thousands of dollars gone to waste.
How we respond to things matters.
I’m sure you can think of other times when your response matters.
When you get a job offer.
Or when there’s an emergency.
What about Jesus?
How should we respond to him?
If he is who he claims to be, then responding to him rightly is possibly the most important thing we can do.
How we respond to things matter, and how we respond to Jesus matters most.
As we come to Mark chapter 11, we’re going to see four responses to Jesus.
Four responses.
Two of them are good and two are bad.
You might remember that Jesus and his disciples are on their way to Jerusalem.
We’re approaching the climax of Mark’s Gospel.
Jerusalem is where Jesus will die and rise again.
Mark chapter 11 happens across three days where Jesus visits Jerusalem.
Each day starts with something happening before they visit.
And the visit itself.
Three days, each with before the visit and during the visit.
We’ll look at the four responses to Jesus across those three days.
And while we do that, I want you to be thinking about how you respond to Jesus.
How do you respond to Jesus?
Well let’s get into the passage.
We’ll start with response 1.
Response 1: Praise (vv. 1-8)
Response 1: Praise (vv. 1-8)
Praise.
Response 1 is praise.
It’s day 1 of the visit to Jerusalem.
And even before he visits Jerusalem, Jesus proves that he is Lord.
How do we know that?
Well there are a few clues in the passage.
Part of it is that Jesus knows things that regular people don’t.
As they approach Jerusalem, he knows that there will be a colt for him to ride.
(A colt is a young male horse for those who don’t know.)
He knows that there will be people around this colt who will wonder why these disciples are taking it away.
He knows that if his disciples tell them that the Lord needs it, that they will let them take the colt.
And that’s exactly what happens.
Everything happens just as Jesus had told the disciples.
Let’s look together at verses 4 to 6.
4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.
Jesus’ special knowledge shows us that he is Lord.
But that’s not all.
Jesus’ enters Jerusalem on a colt.
And that’s a fulfilment of a prophecy.
A prophecy written 500 years before the events in Mark chapter 11.
9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
And that’s exactly what the people do!
They rejoice.
They praise Jesus as he comes in, riding on a colt.
They do their version of the red carpet.
They lay out their cloaks and branches out in front of Jesus.
And they shout out in praise.
9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” 10 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
These people recognise that Jesus is Lord.
So they praise him!
They shout out “Hosanna”.
That word was a common exclamation of praise that meant “Save!”.
They know that Jesus comes in the name of the Lord.
They know he is the Son of David who will bring in this great kingdom of David that God promises in the Old Testament.
They know Jesus is Lord, so they praise him.
This is the first response to Jesus.
They praise him.
Is that your response too?
Jesus is Lord.
And that should lead us to praising him too!
This is part of why we sing at church.
We sing to praise Jesus.
We sing about the great things he has done.
We sing about how he is our loving Lord.
But church isn’t the only place where Jesus is Lord.
Jesus is Lord over the rest of our lives too.
At home, at school, at work, in the cafe...
Do we praise him there as well?
One of the unfortunate things about Australian culture is that Australians love to complain.
Australians love complaining.
About the government, about the light rail, about how expensive living costs are...
Complaining is the opposite of praise.
And it’s easy for that complaining culture to infiltrate the church as well.
It’s easy to have our lives marked by complaining rather than praise.
By ingratitude rather than gratitude.
Is that true for you?
How much time do you spend praising Jesus outside of church?
If that is you, well this passage reminds us that Jesus is Lord.
He is worthy of our praise.
This is something we can do, not just on Sunday, but every day of the week.
I haven’t been here very long, but this is something I do see people doing.
I see brothers and sisters here praising Jesus for so many things.
Things like their salvation.
Or how he has sustained them through tough times.
How he has healed them.
How he has given them loving brothers and sisters in Christ.
How he has provided for them materially.
Jesus is Lord.
Let’s respond to that by praising him.
Praise is the first response.
And if you know Jesus is on your side, of course you’ll praise him.
But many people have made themselves enemies of Jesus.
And when they are his enemies and they recognise his authority and power, they respond in fear.
That’s the second response.
Response 2: Fear (vv. 11-19)
Response 2: Fear (vv. 11-19)
Response 2 is fear.
This isn’t not the good kind of fear in the Bible, the one about reverence.
It’s the bad kind of fear.
Being scared of Jesus.
Let’s see what’s happening in our passage.
Jesus’ judgement starts with the temple of Jerusalem.
It’s actually a fulfilment of another Old Testament prophecy.
The Lord will come to his temple.
And he will bring judgement.
Let’s look at Malachi 3:1-2.
1 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.
Malachi foretells of the Lord coming to his temple.
And that’s what happens in day 1 of Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem.
Jesus comes into Jerusalem.
He goes up to the temple.
It’s like he’s inspecting it before he judges the people there.
But it’s getting late in the day.
Now’s not the time for Jesus’ judgement.
He goes back with his disciples to the place they’re staying.
Somewhere in a town called Bethany.
That’s the end of day 1.
There’s expectation of judgement coming up in day 2.
Day 2.
Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem.
And there, he sees a fig tree.
And he’s hungry.
But it has no figs.
A fig tree without fruit.
So he curses it.
It’s in verse 14.
14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.
And of course the curse comes into effect.
It’s later in verse 21 when they come back to the tree.
21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
Now this part of the narrative isn’t just some interesting story about a bush.
It’s actually a warning about Israel’s unfaithfulness.
God’s people, Israel, were supposed to trust and obey God.
But time and time again, they had rejected him.
In the Old Testament, God’s blessing was sometimes described as people living under their own vine and fig tree.
And God’s punishment was him taking away the grapes and figs.
Like in Jeremiah 8:13.
13 “ ‘I will take away their harvest, declares the Lord. There will be no grapes on the vine. There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither. What I have given them will be taken from them.’ ”
So yet again, Jesus is fulfilling Old Testament expectations.
He is the Lord who is judging Israel.
The fig tree literally bearing no fruit is a warning that Jesus has come to judge Israel.
Judgement is coming.
And some of that judgement happens straight away when Jesus reaches the temple.
He sees that they’ve converted this place of worship into a marketplace.
So he flips the tables and benches of this marketplace.
He stops people buying and selling.
This is the Lord bringing some judgement to his temple.
And in verse 17, quoting the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, Jesus explains what has happened.
17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
Now, the chief priests and the teachers of the law are in charge of the temple.
They are the ones who should have ensured that the temple was a place of worship.
But they are the ones who transformed into a place to make money.
Jesus is judging them.
So they respond in fear.
They’re scared of him.
Verse 18.
18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
This is the second response to Jesus.
Fear.
It’s not a good response.
The chief priests and the teachers of the law should have repented.
But they continued being enemies of Jesus.
So they continued being afraid.
I don’t remember talking to anyone who has said they’re afraid of Jesus.
Most of the Christians I talk to speak positively about Jesus.
They know they have nothing to fear if they trust in Jesus.
If you are a Christian, you’re right; you don’t have anything to fear.
Jesus is your creator and sustainer.
He is your rock and refuge.
He loves you, even to the point of dying on the cross for you.
People who don’t follow Jesus think he doesn’t exist or that he was just a good teacher.
Nothing to fear.
But if you don’t call yourself a Christian, may I suggest that you might be like the chief priests and teachers of the law before they met Jesus.
Before they met Jesus, they were busy with their own lives, making money in the temple.
It was only when they met Jesus that they were afraid.
They saw his power and authority.
They saw how he condemned them.
And they were afraid.
Is it possible that you might be like them?
Your life should be about worshipping Jesus, but maybe you’re too busy making money in the marketplace.
The Bible is clear.
Jesus will return.
On that day, everyone will see his power and authority.
That might be the time to fear, but it’ll be too late.
On that day, Jesus will judge the whole world.
Those who have turned away from God will be sent to eternal punishment.
And those who have trusted in Jesus and are declared righteous will have eternal life.
Well, if fear isn’t a good response, what can we do about it?
After all, we’ve all sinned and deserve condemnation.
Is there anyway to escape that condemnation?
Well, let’s look at the third response.
Response 3: Faith (vv. 20-25)
Response 3: Faith (vv. 20-25)
The third response is faith.
We’ve reached the third day in Jesus’ visits to Jerusalem.
And on his way to Jerusalem, the disciples see the fig tree that Jesus had cursed.
Peter points it out to Jesus.
Verse 21.
21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
Jesus uses this withered fig tree as a teaching moment.
Now some people have unfortunately misused this passage.
Some people say that it’s Jesus promising that you can have whatever you want as long as you have enough faith.
And it seems like that’s what Jesus is saying on first glance.
Verses 22 and 23.
22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.
But does this mean that if you’re in a busy carpark, you should just pray for a spot and God is guaranteed to give it to you?
If you have enough faith?
But that’s not what Jesus is talking about here.
Even Jesus himself asked for something and didn’t get it.
36 “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Jesus asked God to take the cup of judgement away.
Jesus didn’t want to die.
And just because Jesus prayed for it didn’t mean that it happened.
He submitted to the Father’s will.
So we should be careful of misusing this passage.
Some people, sadly, have been told that they just need to pray hard enough and their loved one will be healed.
And when their loved one hasn’t been healed, it causes them to doubt.
And it brings them a lot of pain.
Jesus isn’t promising that God will be a magic genie.
No, the context will help us understand what he’s saying.
What happens just before Jesus speaks?
Peter points out the withered fig tree.
The withered fig tree is a warning about God’s condemnation on Israel.
We saw hints of this condemnation already when Jesus cleared out the temple.
But the fullest expression of condemnation happens on Judgement Day.
When Jesus returns.
Peter points out the withered fig tree and that tree is related to judgement.
What’s the only way to escape that judgement?
It’s faith.
Verse 22.
22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.
It’s a faith that can move mountains.
That’s not because the faith itself is powerful.
No, it’s who the faith is in.
The faith is in God, who can move mountains.
The faith is in God, who can forgive sins.
It’s only through faith that someone can escape the coming judgement.
I think that’s what verse 24 is about.
Verse 24.
24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Jesus isn’t promising that God will grant every wish.
In light of the coming judgement, in light of the massive weight of sin...
Jesus is promising that whoever asks for forgiveness of sins from God will be forgiven.
If they ask for forgiveness, then they will be forgiven.
And that matches verse 25 as well.
Pay attention to the emphasis on sins being forgiven.
25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
So the withered fig tree is a warning.
A warning that judgement is coming.
That means they need to respond in faith.
They need a faith that asks God for forgiveness of sins.
That’s the only way to be saved on Judgement Day.
To have your sins forgiven.
Faith is the third response to Jesus.
Faith.
It’s a good response.
It’s only through faith that someone can be saved on Judgement Day.
Do you think you’ll be saved on Judgement Day?
When Jesus returns and judges the whole world, will he judge you as unrighteous?
Everyone has sinned.
Everyone has turned away from God.
We each have a mountain of sins that disqualify us from eternal glory.
It’s only through Jesus that we are forgiven.
Jesus died on the cross to take on the punishment for our sins.
And we receive that forgiveness through faith.
By asking God for forgiveness because of Jesus.
Most of our church has already asked God for forgiveness in Jesus.
Most of us will be saved on that final day.
Let’s keep trusting in Jesus.
Let’s keep responding to him in faith.
But if you haven’t asked God for forgiveness, what’s stopping you?
It’s not too late to ask God.
Jesus promises forgiveness of sins.
That’s why he died on the cross.
At the end of this sermon, I’ll lead us in prayer.
We’ll ask God for forgiveness.
I encourage all of us to pray this prayer.
And even if you’ve never prayed this prayer before, you can be confident that God will answer it.
What happens if you don’t want to ask God for forgiveness?
Maybe you might want to take a more confrontation stance.
There are lots of people who oppose Jesus.
We’re at the fourth and final response.
Response 4: Challenging Jesus (vv. 27-33)
Response 4: Challenging Jesus (vv. 27-33)
It’s day 3 and Jesus arrives at Jerusalem.
The Jewish leaders are there.
They don’t have faith.
They want to challenge Jesus instead.
See, they are the ones in charge of the temple.
They are the ones in authority.
So they challenge Jesus about what authority he has.
They ask questions, not to learn, but to trip him up.
If you’ve been with us in Mark’s Gospel, you’ll know the answer to their question.
Jesus’ authority comes from God.
He is the Son of God.
He is Lord.
But Jesus doesn’t answer them plainly.
He replies with a question to expose their hypocrisy and ignorance.
29 Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
The Jewish leaders are stumped.
They can’t acknowledge that John the Baptist had authority from God, since John the Baptist is on Jesus’ side.
They can’t say that John just had human authority since everyone else knew that John was really a prophet.
So they just say, “We don’t know.”
And that answer reveals their hypocrisy.
It reveals their lack of understanding and their fear.
They were supposed to be teachers of the law, but they were proved fools instead.
This is the fourth response.
People respond to Jesus by challenging him.
Sadly, it’s very common for people nowadays to challenge Jesus.
It might be about sexuality.
It might be about loving your enemies.
It might be about the need for forgiveness.
I read in one atheist blog post about this exact thing.
Just like the Jewish leaders, this man asked questions.
But they’re not genuine questions.
They’re questions loaded with accusation and rejection.
“Why would an intelligent person regard that story [the Christian gospel] as true? Why would anybody see the virtue in that story [the Christian gospel]? I do not need to be forgiven for my sin because I have no sins.”
https://philonew.wordpress.com/2013/01/14/apologist-william-lane-craig-answers-my-question/
When Jesus was questions by the Jewish leaders, he revealed their ignorance and hypocrisy.
And Jesus will one day return.
Everyone who challenges Jesus will have their ignorance and hypocrisy revealed.
Challenging Jesus isn’t the right way to go.
He is Lord.
Let’s respond to him in faith instead.
This isn’t just a temptation for unbelievers.
It’s a danger for Christians as well.
See, sometimes there are some things that don’t immediately make sense to us.
It’s good to ask questions.
You might have questions like,
“How can we trust the Bible?”
“Why is there suffering?”
“Why is the Bible’s teaching on men and women so different to what our society believes?”
It’s good to ask those questions.
Ask me, or Tim, or your home group leader, or your friend.
There are good answers to those questions.
But sometimes, those questions can become challenges.
“I believe that Jesus forgives me but does his teaching on marriage really make sense?”
“I like most of the Bible, but why should I be generous with my money?”
“Do I really need to stop watching porn?”
“Jesus asks us to forgive others, but why should I forgive that person who really hurt me?”
Everyone has these challenges.
There are times when I struggle to forgive someone who has hurt me or my family.
But left unchecked, these challenges can make us like the Jewish leaders.
They can cause us to backslide.
They steer us away from our faith.
Let’s be careful not to challenge Jesus.
He is our Lord.
He loves us.
He knows what’s best.
He went all the way to die on a cross for us.
If there’s something he has said that doesn’t make sense, let’s come to it with humility.
Jesus knows much more than we do.
We can ask questions to learn, acknowledging that Jesus is Lord and we aren’t.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Well we’ve looked at four responses to Jesus.
Two good responses and two bad ones.
Some people respond in praise.
Some people respond in fear.
Some people respond in faith.
Some people respond by challenging him.
How do you respond to Jesus?
Let’s ask God to help us respond rightly to him.
To have faith and to praise him as Lord.
