Not My Messiah
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Style Sheet
Sermon Style Sheet
Write that down in your formation Journal
Illustration
Sermon Text
Sermon Text: Scripture
Sermon Text: Scripture
Call to Worship
Call to Worship
1 Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
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Passage:
Passage:
Formation Journal Page Number: 4:29 12:21-1:08 3:39
1 After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Aramaic, which has five colonnades. 3 Within these lay a large number of the disabled—blind, lame, and paralyzed.
5 One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 “Sir,” the disabled man answered, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”
8 “Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk.” 9 Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.
Now that day was the Sabbath, 10 and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath. The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.”
11 He replied, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’
12 “Who is this man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” they asked. 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
14 After this, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.” 15 The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 Therefore, the Jews began persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.
17 Jesus responded to them, “My Father is still working, and I am working also.” 18 This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill him: Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.
Opening Illustration:
Opening Illustration:
Cargo Cults - people understand some parts of God and they build a god of their immigination.
we take some understanding of God we mix in our desires and then we get these religions or Christianity of our own imagination our faith is filled with bamboo airplanes and then we get frustrated and angry when God doesn’t do what we want
Don’t miss the real Christ for your imagination.
time
Getting into the Sermon
Getting into the Sermon
time
Jesus - he turned water into wine, was baptized, jerusalm nicodemus then he was baptizing, then went up to cana again this through samaria - woman at the well, last we saw Jesus healing the royal offical son from miles
1 After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Aramaic, which has five colonnades. 3 Within these lay a large number of the disabled—blind, lame, and paralyzed.
5 One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years.
Jesus left Cana and went to Jersualem
inerrant - without error
infallible - everything it teaches is true
in the original signature - figures of speech, there are estimates.
Sheep Gate- Jerusalem was a walled city and there were different entrances
Two things about this passage that have historically caused some problems:
First, did the Bethesda pool exist? Archeology found it
Second what about verse 4?
Explanation of where Bibles come from and why we can trust the Bible even without verse 4
chapters -1200 verses 1500s
Intermittent spring - cause bubbling maybe had some medicinal properties.
But here’s part of the key issues: Only the least sick and the best off could get access - the ones he needed it the most - the lonely and the lame didn’t have access.
He had been disabled for a long time and he is sitting there, so Jesus engages him in conversation
6 When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to get well?”
Seems like a silly question but he isn’t just asking him generally, if he wants to get well. He is engaging him and it’s almost like - why are you here? Are you here because you want to get well.
This guy was a human. All humans are worthy dignity. So he’s treating him with respect.
7 “Sir,” the disabled man answered, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”
I want you to see what’s going on in this:
The guys is disabled. He has been significantly disabled for a long time - 38 years.
He doesn’t have anyone. He is alone. Imagine if there was a way to get a healing but you just needed someone to help you out. Who could you count on? This guy had no one. Maybe that’s because they were working but he has no one to help him.
He is putting his hope in the water. He really has no hope of getting in there. He has no chance, but it has become his only hope.
THis guy knows something about God - that God can heal and then with his imagination he puts his hope into the waters, becasue he doesn’t stand a chance of getting into the waters in time. But thats his hope. Thats what he has in his imagination. That’s al he is focused on.
The religion of his imagination is that the most important thing is physical healing.
8 “Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk.” 9 Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.
Now that day was the Sabbath,
Jesus is generous and loving and he cares for the man. He has compassion.
He’s compassionate because the man’s hope was based on a lie.
His heart is broken by this man’s false hope. The man’s been duped, but now he get’s to experience the truth and he is healed.
But there is a hiccup. there is a problem. It’s the sabbath.
9 Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.
Now that day was the Sabbath,
10 and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath. The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.”
11 He replied, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’
12 “Who is this man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” they asked. 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
They were upset about it. Now, it’s important to note that the Bible doesn’t say you can’t pick up you mat. That was something they added. They had their own standard that they were putting their hope in.
14 After this, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.”
The grammar here seems to indicate that the man was in some current sin. He was healed by Christ but he was grateful, he wasn’t repentant. Jesus is inviting him to a better life but the man was busy sinning.
So how did he respond? Did he repent? Did he change? No, he went and ratted Jesus out!
15 The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
He didn’t want the real Christ, he wanted a healing
The messiah he wanted would heal him and leave him alone!
He has hope but its false hope.
We put our hope in the good things of the world and we start to focus on them.
In his mind, in his imagination, the pinnacle of the Bible is his personal healing. that was the big thing.
If only I had ________________ everything would be ok.
People put their hope in a lot of things
Money - playing the lotto, stock market, rich vs poor
relationships - they can’t be happy without someone
jobs, status, looks, politics - if only this guy or this lady wins
We have things that we put our hope in.
Seminary professor story about a girl who walked away from Christ
That’s what this is pointing to.
He got what he wanted from God.
He wasn’t looking for a messiah, he was looking for a healing. He knew enough about God, to create a false God in his imagination that would heal him but not ask him to change morally.
So the Jewish leaders now know that Jesus was the one who healed him. That’s an amazing thing! How did they respond?
16 Therefore, the Jews began persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.
17 Jesus responded to them, “My Father is still working, and I am working also.” 18 This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill him: Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.
Why did they hate Jesus? Why would the religious leaders hate him so much?
they created a religion of their imagination and they wanted messiah of their imagination.
They wanted a messiah who was one of them, but with superpowers.
They just wanted their dreams to come true.
They had an imagination of who the messiah was going to be.
He had to affirm their additional morality. He had to affirm their political aspirations. Anything less, and he couldn’t be the messiah.
Both the man healed and the jewish leaders didn’t want the real Christ- they wanted God to give them this world.
2 I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 Since they are ignorant of the righteousness of God and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.
They created a religion of their imagination and they wanted messiah of their imagination.
They weren’t rejecting Jesus because they didn’t want a Savior—they were rejecting Him because He wasn’t the Savior they wanted.
This is not rare - so many people turn from God because he doesn’t look like them morally. They don’t want to repent.
Doesn’t God want me to be happy? The answer Yes, he does but he wants you to be truly happy and he knows best how to do that.
They wanted to kill Christ - that might seem extreme and you might think I would never be like
They can’t physically kill him - so they just cut him out of their life.
They want to be happy - pursuing happiness apart from God is foolishness. It doesn’t work. Not ultimately.
But they pursue their happiness in the world - they make the good stuff into their idols and are tempted to try to use god to get it.
If I do this god will bless me and I will get what I want
But when what we want is the world, our desires are soooo small. We become fixated on such a little prize when God wants to give us so much more.
jesus is preparing us mansions in heaven but our hearts are set on cardboard shacks that will blow down and burn down.
It’s like this
Romanian woman
Jesus is a gemstone not a doorstop.
We have this great gift, but we use it in the most basic form possible. You have the largest amber stone in the world - you use it as a doorstop!
If you use God to make you happy with the stuff of this life - you are using God as a doorstop not a gemstone.
The disabled man - he got what he wanted, he got healing but he could have so much more - a relationship with God, he could have eternity running and jumpig in the glories of heaven but he wanted a doorstop.
The jewish leaders, they wanted a the rules and the power and the freedom from Rome, that’s a doorstop, this world is passing away and destined to be destroyed, they could have a gemstone, instead they had doorstop.
So how are you going to respond?
ABC’s of the gospel
But it’s deeper than that. How are you going to respond if you are a christian?
The world is so shiny, its so deceptive, that it is always calling us to overlook the gemstone for the costume jewelry in our lives.
THe joy that lasts is the joy in Christ he’s the prize.
Here’s the danger, that we face as Christian, we can become satisfied on a little bit of Christ, think we know it all, create expectations from our imaginations and spend our lives making bamboo airplanes disapointed that God doesn’t come through.
We need to know the real Christ. The joy of the christian life is knowing the real Christ.
it’s easy to forget, we get sucked into the shiny world. We can be like the jewel thieves who overlooked the million dollar stone for the shiny gold.
so if you feel like the joy of your salvation is fading, oftentimes, it’s because we’ve started to dream more and more about the world. That’s become what captures our heart
How do we fight that - we get into the word, we get into prayer, we get into community.
You need Christian friends, get in a community group, a discipleship group, Get involved. Why because you need it, other people you need, At Mercy Hill Church we want to grow deep together.
Lord’s Supper:
Lord’s Supper:
On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Benediction:
Benediction:
The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD makes his face shine upon you and be gracious to you:
The LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
