Sunday Service
All right, start Gathering back in here. This morning will be continuing our series and Luke on Gospel of Luke will be in chapter 20, verse morning, starting to verse 41. Just a little background on where we're at in Luke these past couple weeks Jesus. He's been answering questions from the religious Elite of Israel. The Pharisees and the Sadducees. I keep asking Jesus questions. Trying to catch him off guard, trying to undermine his authority and we ended last week with the scribes part of their religious Elite. Who said teacher? You have spoken well for they they no longer dared to ask him. Any question, has the authority but Jesus says, I'm asking you a question now. So Jesus, he kind of turns the tables around and he challenges them Ecologist are traditional understanding of the scriptures and ultimately he reveals the true condition of their heart. As we go to the text this morning, we also need to be challenged by these words of Jesus. Jesus is challenging us to understand him as our Messiah, understand him as our savior is challenging us to respond to him as our savior. Let's go to the text together. Route. 20 starting to verse 41.
But he said to them, how can I say that the Christ is David son for David himself says, in the Book of Psalms, the Lord said to my Lord sit on my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool, David us, call Sam. Lord. So how is he his son. The Jesus e Aspen a pretty hard question here. He's talking to the scribes whose job it is to know the Old Testament. Scriptures are supposed to understand everything in there, but he asked him a question that he knows, they can't answer. Here's kind of the problem that Jesus set up for them here. They all believed that the Christ, which is this promised savior of the Old Testament. They believe that the crisis is going to come through the line of David Israel's great king. They believe that he's going to be an Earthly to send that. He's come to deliver Israel. And they're right about that, throughout the Old Testament, the songs, and the prophets. And even the Covenant that God makes with David God promises that hey, someone is going to come from your line. That will be as promised savior that I will give to you.
That's not the only description that we see of the Messiah in the Old Testament. It's not just that, he's the son of David. It's also that he's the Lord of David. This is what we see in the song, the song 110. I, Jesus is quoting. It says the Lord said to my Lord. So this is God saying to the Lord of David and so David acknowledges, that 10K, this Messiah is going to come from my line. But David also recognizing this Messiah is Lord over me right now.
This is a problem for the scribes cuz I only have part of the equation. They only understand that the Messiah will be a son of David. They don't necessarily understand that, he's also the Lord of David part of, it is in that culture. A son would never be considered as more honorable than his father or someone that he descended from 4. Then it doesn't make sense that someone who is over David would come down and be the son of David have no framework for that. What they don't understand is that God himself, the Lord of David is taken on the form of a man to come and bring this Deliverance. They don't understand that. He's not just coming to bring an Earthly, Deliverance to the kingdom or the nation of Israel. He actually coming to bring a cosmic Victory to the whole world, not just, he's not just improving, the nation, is not just delivering them from Rome. He's come to defeat send and defeat death on their behalf. It's really their expectations for the Messiah. They're too small, they understand who he is, they they don't understand the need that they have to be safe.
Some of you have heard of trouble that I've had in my house before side squirrels running through my roof in the past of the AC. Go out for months and we're in a new house now, which is better, but it still has its problems. This past week are our oven has been malfunctioning. The stove top doesn't really work and it starts smoking when you pre-heat it. So we're back to square one with the problems but we just assumed, you know what? This is probably a simple fix. We just need to put in a maintenance request. No, don't make this simple fix and and we'll be fine. We put in the maintenance request and turns out that the oven doesn't need just a simple fix that. We need a whole new oven is oven is like completely broke. Will not work again until we need someone to come. Take this oven out and put in a completely new oven for it to work. I said we not understand how bad the problem was and what was required to fix it. This is really the same mistake of the scribes they make here and that the Messiah is not coming just to provide a simple fix. For Israel is coming to replace all of all of Israel and start a new nation as the people of God. They understand that he's come to bring a new heart to people to bring life instead of death. This mission of Jesus. It's so much bigger than they can comprehend. The question we need to ask is, do we ever make the same mistake as the scribes? Do you sometimes understand Jesus as someone who's come to just make a simple fix and our lives. this improve our, our conditions, temporarily The truth is we need more than a simple fix. We need a complete renewal a complete replacement in a new heart because of is he didn't come to just teach us how to be a little bit better. Jesus, he came because our sin is so offensive to God that it requires his eternal Wrath, and the only way that we can be safe from this wrath as if God himself comes down in the form of a man and takes it on himself,
Route to challenge that Jesus gives to us down here saying that the lord of the universe. He stepped off his throne, he's come down taking on the form of a man so that we may be saved.
That's how bad our situation is. That's also how good our God is that as our Lord, he would come down to our level and take our sin on himself.
This is a stark contrast to the following passage here or we see if they can Melody of Jesus coming down in our place. And its next text we're going to see the pride of the scribes. So beginning and verse 45 here, going to 447. And then the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples to Beware of the scribes who like to walk around and long robes and love, greetings in the marketplaces and the best team in the synagogues in the places of honor at peace. It is, our widows houses and for a pretense. Make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation. The Jesus. He's doing a couple things here. Noticed that Luke says he makes these comments in the where everyone can hear. So he's talking to his disciples but everyone around can hear him exposing the scribes here. So the scribes listing off all these public actions that describes do and now he's exposing them publicly for their sin is doing it for a reason. Why does he say to his disciples to Beware of the scribes and they wear long robes to signify their status angry other people of high-profile in public places that take the best seats a synagogue. To all these outward actions of the scribes are doing their communicating that they're better than everyone else. Other scribes, they know God's word. They're fully devoted to it. They're Men of Honor. What is Jesus also include in his description of the scribes? He says that they devour widows houses and for a pretense, make long prayers until the scribes who are actually in charge of taking care of the poor in the Widow's. They're the ones that are abusing them, taking advantage of them. This is why Jesus says they deserve such a great condemnation. Is supposed to be men of the word. This is what exit is 22 says about about this law. God's word says you should not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. Jesus, he sees through this facade, he proclaims that judgment and condemnation are coming to the scribes. And this isn't something new that we see in Luke. We see this theme of the prideful being humbled throughout Luke and Luke 11. Jesus says, woe to you Pharisees, free love the best seat in the synagogues, and greetings in the marketplaces, go to you. But you are like a unmarked Graves and people walk over them without knowing it will then Luke 14. He says, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
This is kind of point, that Jesus is making here that those who trust in their own righteousness, will receive condemnation. so if you're here this morning, you're not sure about what you're standing is before God, this is a warning that Jesus gives to us to loving warning, but it is a warning That we cannot trust in our unrighteousness to be saved that. We trust in our own actions, our own efforts, and we only received condemnation The only way to me made right before God to Humble ourselves, and place our faith in Jesus as our righteousness. Does a warning for those who trust in their own righteousness. It's also a warning for us as believers who still are tempted to do this all the time. We're still attempting to find Our Hope and what we do and how we worship. God, how we serve
The warning for us as well that when we begin to trust and our unrighteousness, we actually end up hurting those were supposed to care for. There's a movie that came out recently called the iron claw. The true story is really sad story. It kind of captures this Dynamic, the movie It Centers on a family called the Von Erich family, until the dad's name is Fritz, Von Erich. He's a professional wrestler, back in his day, and he has a vision that his sons will. Also One Day become professional wrestlers, become Champions his dreams as for his sons to be successful, to be Champions. And he has his perfect plan. He wants to implement to make it happen. So, very harsh. Plan, you put unrelenting pressure on his sons as rigorous training, you never less than show weakness. Get on to them harshly, punish has been partially. As you can imagine this house pretty harsh consequences for his family. His sons, they repress their emotions that are struggling with substance abuse. Eventually two of them. End up committing suicide. does a tragic story and when you wash the movie, you actually see there's a deeper reason that the father of Fritz Von Erich pushes his family so hard You see that he believes his family is cursed? Freddy grew up in the Great Depression, who struggle? All his life, his youngest son died at the age of six it. So Fritz has his belief that his family is cursed and he's the one that needs to break this curse for then. What he's talking about this curse, this is what he says. The only way to beat it, is to be the toughest, the strongest, the most successful, the absolute best to rely on. No one, but ourselves, I will get us there. I will be the NWA World Heavyweight Champion and nothing will hurt us ever again. It's a Fritz, he saw himself as a savior of the family, but he ended up destroying his family. So we all live under a curse, we all have sinned. That reads the truck destruction havoc on our life. If we believe that we can save ourselves from this curse, we're only going to cause more destruction.
Our pride and tells us that we just need to try harder, we just need to do better and we'll be okay. Our pride tells us that others just need to try harder. That they don't need the grace of God. They just need to try harder. Our pride and it's causing us to be hardened towards others, pardon toward ourselves.
Only hope against this curse of sin is ourselves, or our only hope is our own efforts, then we really have no hope. Never meet the standard that's required to be free of sin.
Yeah, there is hope. Cuz the only one who can deliver himself from his son chose to deliver us instead. Jesus is the only one who can break this curse by his own willpower, and he decides to break this curse for us.
Is it came as a lord to Bear our sin but not just a bear are saying about to actually give us his righteousness to give us a clean slate and a perfect slate. So that now we're free to rest in the profession that Jesus has referred to rest in the love that God has for us. A changes us. This changes our Outlook towards others. When we understand that we're forgiving and worse than full, that we're only here because of the grace of God. They will naturally show that Grace to others. We sure that Grace, the others in our friendships and our family and our work life. When we understand that, God loves us so much, that he gave his son for us to save us. We're driven to do the same love for others. I'll bring the question. How do we respond to this? How we respond to the fact that crisis came and given us his righteousness?
Pretty simple that we trust in him is what we see in our next, little passage here, going into Luke 21, starting to verse 1. Jesus looked up and saw the rich, putting their gifts into the offering box beside poor Widow. Put in two small copper coins. He said, truly, I tell you this poor Widow has put in more than all of them for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty, put in all she had to live on. The weather contrast here, that Jesus paints between the rich and the Widow and we kind of need to understand where this money is going now. They're putting in They're in there in somewhere called the court of women, which is like a subsection of the temple itself, where people would come and give their money until he's different offering boxes. And he's offering boxes were supposed to collect the funds that were used for caring for the poor caring for the Widow really, they were used to support the scribes and the other religious Elite, he recalled to lead the people.
But as we've seen in our previous text, those who are in charge, the leaders, they're not using this money to care for the poor, there is in this money to enrich themselves. Imagine if someone in our church came, who is really struggling financially. And when we do our our monthly deacons offering, imagine that she puts in all that she has to has begun offering so that we can help other people. But instead of using this money to help those who are in need, we just pocket this money and give it to the leaders of the church. And after we do this, during our time of prayer will make a long prayer asking that God helps those who are in need. Kind of the picture that Jesus is painting here.
It's pretty messed up. It's corrupt. And the crazy thing is, the Widow probably knows that the temple system is corrupt. She probably knows that the money is not going to help those who are in need, if she's in need right now, she's in poverty. Text says that she has two coins at least two coins on their third known as left or a lepton. And it's today's money that would be about $0.02 each and this is all that she has to live on this really $0.04 in today's money.
Did she gives it to the offering box anyways? That should raise a question. Why? Why does she still give to the system? That she knows. It's probably corrupt and won't use the money to help.
Because even though it was corrupt, the temple is still a place where people come to worship God. Still worried people would comment and give an Express devotion and trust in God.
And that she probably knows that this isn't going to change your situation yet. She still decides to trust that God sees her. I got is pleased with her is so places, her life, literally her life all that she has to live on into God's hands.
This is really how we respond to the fact that Jesus has come to be our righteousness. And to be our hope, Would like all of our trust in him. Replace our life in his hands. This is what it looks like to place our faith in Christ. And this isn't always easy, I'm sure it was hard for the Widow who knew of the corruption I was going on to still trust her life in God's hands. A sweetheart for us time * 2. When we faced hardship in the world, I can be easy for us to question, is God really good still? Is he really here with me? You really care for me? I'm not trust God when it seems like my life is falling apart.
When I'm hurt by those who are supposed to care for me. when tragedy and suffering, strikes in my life,
I never know why these things happen, but we do know why we can trust in God during these times.
The reason is actually found in the song that Jesus quotes here.
He says the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.
Jesus is coming back one day to, to see all the suffering and all of sin on our behalf. He has come as a son of David becomes near to us and our suffering. The empathizes with us, he's taking our sin on himself so that we can be saved. But he's also our King who Reigns over the Earth. And sees the suffering that's going on and will not let it go unpunished.
We respond to this by placing our lives in the hands of God as the Widow does.
We trust in him by giving everything we have to him by loving others, as he loves us by hoping in the fact that one day he will come back and put it in to everything that is wrong. You're the word of song. The words of Psalm 55. As we conclude this morning, Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you, he will never let the righteous be shaken. But you God will bring down the wicked into the pit of Decay, the bloodthirsty and deceitful will not live out half their days. But after me I trust in you, Let's pray together.
Lord, we come in, we praise you that you have taken on the form of a servant, I have taken our sin itself and you have given us your righteousness. I pray that you strengthen us through your spirit to respond and Faith, repent of our sin to trust in you and things are hard and we can't see your goodness. Just give us a faith that rest in Christ and his love for us. Pray all this in your son's name.
