The Humble King
The Book of Matthew • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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How many of you have ever heard of the show “undercover boss”?
Well, its a interesting TV show that has CEO’s and company owners working in their own companies undercover. This gives them a chance to see what it is like working at their own companies to see what it is like in different roles while also seeing how the people operate.
There was one episode that stood out to me particularly.
There was a CEO of a fitness company who went to work at one of his locations under cover. He posed as a regular worker who was learning the job and who was new to the company.
When he was working he found that his manager was not following the procedures that were established for making food, cleaning and for the operations in general.
He also found that the manager tended to be rude and abusive towards the other workers.
In fact the manager even insulted the undercover CEO calling him incompetent and she made fun of him in front of the customers.
Eventually the CEO revealed who he was, and when this happened she was in Shock and she was fired.
Today we are going to talk about the ultimate chief executive officer who is Jesus the Christ. Who came from heaven down to this earth to dwell with us and to suffer so that we could have eternal life.
Big Idea- Jesus is the sovereign Lord over all who willingly humbled Himself, even unto death so that we may have eternal life.
Big Idea- Jesus is the sovereign Lord over all who willingly humbled Himself, even unto death so that we may have eternal life.
Take Aways
Take Aways
Jesus is the Sovereign Lord.
The Lord Humbled Himself for our sake.
We are to prioritize Evangelism over privilege.
Now we will go to our text, Matthew 17:22-23
Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men,
and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful.
In verse 22 there is a significant phrase that Jesus uses to describe Himself. This phrase is the Son of Man.
To understand its importance we must first understand exactly who the Son of Man is and what it means.
In the Old Testament we see the prophet Ezekiel called the son of man, this was his title as an end times prophet of God and as a type, meaning he was a foreshadow of the greater reality that is Christ.
Jesus is the Son of Man in the fullness because He is the ultimate prophet with the last say, including the destruction of Jerusalem and the restoration of the Kingdom of God to Israel.
Like Ezekiel Jesus is an end time prophet but is the ultimate prophet.
The son of Man also refers to Jesus as the Eternal King. Daniel 7:13-14
“I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him.
Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.
Jesus, the Son of Man is the Eternal King.
The Son of Man will also return to gather His people and judge the rest.
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
This is who Jesus is, the one who rules and reigns, the Judge and the King.
The Son of Man is Jesus, and He is fully God and Fully man, He gave up His heavenly home to suffer and die in order to restore humanity to God.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Here we see that the Son of Man, Jesus, is Lord of all and all will bow down to Him now or in the future.
The Son of Man was also here in the beginning , when all things were created, they were created through Him and for Him.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Jesus is preeminent over everything. Not only were all things made for and through Him, but He was also there in the beginning and He will be for eternity.
We see this in Revelation 1:8 .
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
This is who Jesus is, He is the Almighty Eternal King, the Son of Man.
It is important that we realize who He is, He is God, we are not, He is Holy and perfect and we are not, He is sovereign over all things and we are not.
If we understand this then we will submit ourselves to Him, placing Him as Lord of our lives. We would reverence God and the things of God and live to serve Him fully and to do His will.
When I say “if we understand this” I am not speaking of a intellectual understanding only. Even the demons believe and tremble.
I can know my wife’s birthday, our anniversary date, her favorite things to do and what is important to her. But If I do not care about my wife and how she feels then I will not do anything with that knowledge. But if I truly care for my wife then I will do my best to acknowledge our anniversary and my appreciation for her, I would honor what is important to her, I would celebrate her birthday. These actions would follow my desire.
When I say “if we understand who God is compare to us”, I am talking about a realization of who God is in comparison to who we are that can only be shown by the Power of the Holy Spirit, the realization that causes us to be truly transformed placing Jesus as Lord of our lives.
So here in the main text Matthew 17:22 When Jesus says “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men” it is not a light thing. This is the Eternal King, creator of Heaven and Earth Ruler and Judge over all, and He was being betrayed by His own creation.
Not only was He betrayed by His own creation but He gave himself up willingly so that mankind could be reconciled to the Father.
In the next verse of the main text we see that Jesus would not simply be betrayed but also killed.
and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful.
The disciples were deeply disturbed at the thought of the messiah being Killed and they mourned this thing that was to come.
However although the disciples were exceedingly sorrowful, this event is one that brings Joy to those who have placed their faith in Him, it also brings Joy to the earth and to our Heavenly Father.
And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.
In other translations it says that it pleased the Lord to Crush Him.
Here we see that Jesus’s death was done on our behalf so that we can be Justified.
See in the beginning God created everything and he made it good. Mankind had an intimate relationship with God knowing Him and having community with Him in the Garden. But then Mankind Sinned.
When Adam and Eve sinned this impacted all of creation and caused division between mankind and God.
The wages of sin is death which means that every person that was born after Adam was born in sin and has sinned, meaning we all deserve death and Gods divine punishment.
However God had a solution from the beginning and that was Christ.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
How many of you have ever seen a parent sacrifice for their children? When I was a child we lived in the Chicago area and the cost of living was very high, I watched my parents both work multiple jobs to make sure that we had what we needed. Because of their sacrifice of time, pleasure and comfort my brothers and I were able to be cared for.
This is a display of love in that my parents sacrificed for us because they loved us.
The reason why Jesus was willing to come and die in our place is because He loves us. Even when we were actively sinning against Him He loved us.
He loves us perfectly and in His love for us He shows us how we are to love each other.
If we are followers of Christ and are being changed by His spirit then this love should be reflected in our lives toward God and Towards others.
This means we should be able to sacrifice for others, being selfless for their benefit.
The Almighty Creator of the Universe came on earth in the flesh and walked among us suffering and being persecuted and He died in our place and rose again so that we could have a relationship with Him and have Eternal life.
Back to our main text.
When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?”
He said, “Yes.” And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?”
Peter said to Him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.
My brother and I have a martial arts academy called Blade Family Martial Arts Academy. There we teach Taekwondo and Karate. In order to join the school and learn Martial arts from us there is a cost. There is a monthly cost to becoming a member of the Academy and to partake in the benefits of what is provided.
However my children train and learn from us at the Academy and so do my brothers Children. How much do you think they get charged?
Right nothing, since they are our Children there is no charge for them because their fathers own the academy.
This is what Jesus was letting Peter know. Since Jesus is the Son of God who is God in the flesh He is not subject to any temple taxes and in fact He is entitled to all of the taxes Given. Jesus is the Eternal King, the Lord of Heaven and Earth there is no kingdom or temple or principality where He can be subjected to pay taxes.
See when Peter answered the person who receives the temple tax he answered wrongly, he lost sight of who he was answering for and about.
He forgot that Jesus was divine royalty of whom the temple was built to worship.
Just as Peter lost perspective in answering that question, how often do we loose perspective on who Jesus is.
How often do we forget who Jesus is when we are going through financial hardships or other hardships of life and we start to depend on ourselves following our own way’s instead of His way because we do not trust Him with the situation?
How often do we loose perspective of who Jesus is when things are going so well in life that we think that not only did we pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, but we can sustain ourselves apart from Christ.
How often do we loose sight on who Christ is when we are faced with peer pressure and we want to give in to fit in?
How often do we forget who Jesus is when our flesh is pulling at us to satisfy its sinful desires?
It is important that we as believers remember in all of these situations, whether it is going well or not that Jesus is Lord, He is sovereign over all and His Power and Lordship have no bounds. And if we are believers He is sovereign and Lord over us and we are to remember that we are His purchased possession.
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
We are not our own, but we are subjects of the Eternal King.
Back to the text.
Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”
Even though Jesus is Lord of all He lowered Himself, paying the tax for the sake of others.
Here Jesus is keenly aware of the potential response of those who were new to the faith or who were yet to come to the faith.
Although Jesus is Lord of All, if He denied paying the tax it could have potentially stumbled new converts or those who were yet to come to faith.
Jesus did not have to pay the tax because of who He was, but it was still custom for Jews at the time to pay the tax, therefore to be the ultimate example and to not offend or stumble others, He choose to pay the tax.
How many of us find ourselves in positions where we could potentially hurt our witness to others?
This could be when someone gives you the wrong food order at a restaurant, or when someone cuts you off in traffic, or when someone acts rudely towards you, or when someone is careless with something of yours.
These are instances where your pride may rise up and you feel completely justified to let them have it or to give them a piece of your mind.
As believers we are called to be Salt and Light. To reflect Christ and to show His Glory.
In these cases we can give them what we think they deserve and hurt our witness to others around.
Or we can respond appropriately, but with love and grace being sensitive to the person and the impact that we will have on others around us from our response.
In Matthew 18:6 Jesus says
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
Here in paying the taxes, Jesus is modeling how not to cause the little ones to sin.
In 1 Corinthians 9:22-23 Paul also says.
to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.
This is the heart and mind of Christ in paying the taxes even though He had the divine right not to.
This is the heart and mind of Christ when He willingly gave himself up for sinners so that we could have a relationship with Him.
Just as Christ lowered himself for us, we are also to Prioritize evangelism over our rights and privileges. We are to put others ahead of ourselves for the sake of the Gospel.
But we can only have this mindset and operate in this way if we have truly been converted to followers of Christ being transformed by the Power of the Holy Spirit.
Without placing our faith in Christ we are spiritually dead and unable to be used to effectively reflect the Kingdom of Heaven.
However this is why Jesus came, He lowered Himself from His heavenly place, paradise to live among us.
He lived a perfect sinless life, suffered and died so that we could be redeemed, so we could have relationship with Him and we could dwell with Him for eternity.
If you have not given your life to Christ then do not resist the draw of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 10:9 says,
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
When we confess that He is Lord we don’t just say the words, but we also show it in our actions.
Take Aways
Take Aways
Jesus is the Sovereign Lord.
The Lord Humbled Himself for our sake.
We are to prioritize Evangelism over privilege.
