"ENTITLEMENT"

INTRODUCTION

I heard a story this week about a Human Resources director who was interviewing a young man fresh out of College.   The young man had good references, made good grades and had some real world experience in the field so he looked promising.  About 20 minutes in, to what was slated to be a 40 minute interview, the HR director stopped and said, “Thank you for coming in, but I don’t think that you are what we are looking for right now”.

The young man got this look of incredible surprise on his face and started in on how they only gone for 20 minutes and it really wasn’t fair for her to make her decision only 20 minutes in.  Didn’t she see his good grades?  Didn’t she see his exemplary references?  Then what is the problem, why couldn’t she just hire him. 

The HR director asked, “Do you really want to know?”  Indignantly the young man said, “Yes, I deserve to know”.    She said, “Well, it is because for the past 20 minutes you have not stopped texting on your phone”.   The young stared at her in disbelief for a moment and then left the office. 

I would like to tell you that this is just a made up story.  A hyperbole.  An exageration to make a point.  But it is a true story…and it even gets better.  For 2 hours later the HR director gets a phone call from guess who…not the young man, but his parents.  They were emphatic that she had really missed out in not hiring their son because he was truly something special and if she was smart, she would reconsider.  

I heard this story from author and psychologist Dr. John Townsend.  A couple of years ago he came out with a book called Curing Entitlement finding success doing hard things the right way.  

He describes Entitlement as an “attidudinal disease” that needs to be cured in our society because it is reaking havoc on relationships, families and industry.  In his research on the subject, he uncovered to core attitudes that every “Entitled” person seems to display:  

1.  The attitude that I am exempt from responsibility

2. The attitude that I am owed special treatment

These two attitudes work together to form this “attitudinal disease” of Entitlement.  

We might say, Well I am not Entitled, I don’t think that I am owed any special treatment - but I also don’t think that you don’t expect any special trea

TENSION

The truth is “entitlement” is really a hot button topic in our world today. We hear it in the media as psychologist and sociologist try and make sense of so many of the struggles that exist in our world.   While we often hear that label aimed at young people, it is really not just an issue for the younger generations.  It has permeated our society in such a way that it seems to be indifferent to age, race, creed or gender and it has become something that all of us need to beware of.  

John Townsend describes two types of Entitlement,

1.Global Entitlement

2. Pocket Entitlement

Global Entitlement

When I think of Global Entitlement, I think of someone who might say,  “That’s enough about me, lets talk about what you think about me.” As much as we might awkwardly laugh, roll our eyes or just ignore an attitude like this, we really shoudl be concerned because they really are in a very sad situation. When a person is that self-focused, they will find themselves isolated from relationships of any depth because people just cannot stand to be around someone who is so self-focused.  It is “Global” in that if effects every area of their life. it is so obvious, for anyone looking in from outside, but they just don’t seem to see it.

Eventually, it will create this downward spiral where the person’s attitude pushes most people away,

then their loneliness leads them to feelings of valuelessness,  

so they talk themselves up even more and push more poeple away,

which brings more feelings of loneliness and it just spirals down and down….  

And if you know someone like this then you know how hard it is to even see their pain because they are displaying such arrogance that all we want to do is either steer clear of them of get up in their face with a solid dose of reality…as we see it.   Sometimes we can easily forget that what we see on the outside is not all there is to a person.  

This is the extreme example, and probably the first one that comes to mind when we hear the word “Entitled”. It is easy to point to finger at someone who is Entitled in such a blatant way like this and if this is all Entitlement is then we don’t have to worry about it happening to us. But there is a second type of Entitlement something that John Townsend calls

Pocket Entitlement

1.Global Entitlement

2. Pocket Entitlement

2. Pocket Entitlement

This is where our entitlement just shows up in small pockets and it is not something that we radiate in every aspect of our life.  There might be a particular people group, situation or experience where our “Entitlemet” flares up in, but it is not something that is easily seen through out most of our life. This type is much more common, and in some ways it is just as dangerous. The danger of this kind of “Entitlement” is that is gives way quickly to something called “hypocrisy”. We can rail against others when their Entitlement flares up in one area, but we have a hard time seeing it in our own little pocket. Just like any disease, if we miss the symptoms and the disease is left untreated, it can fester and grow into something that will become horribly damaging in our life.  

The biggest danger of the attitude of “Entitlement”,whether it is Global or Pocket, is that you will start making decisions according to things that are just not true about you.

Anytime we make decisions based on faulty information it is a recipe for disaster. This is true for everything in this life, and even more true for those things that echo into eternity. 

Anytime we make decisions based on faulty information it is a recipe for disaster. This is true for everything in this life, and even more true for those things that echo into eternity. 

God cares about the destructive power that the attitude of “Entitlement” has in our lives. In fact, we find Jesus confronting this attitude throughout the Gospels.  As we continue in our series on the book of Luke, we see Jesus coming face to face with the religious leaders of his day.  They have attitudes that are dripping with “Entitlement”.  Jesus repeated calls them, “hypocrites” that close cousin to “Entitlement”.  Both of them are rooted in pretending to be something that you are not.  

We can recognize the attitude of Entitlement in the responses of the religious leaders of Jesus Day:

They certainly felt that they were owed special treatment.  

They certainly felt also demonstrated that they felt exempt from the responsibility of their actions, even as Jesus calls them out in their hypocrisy of it all. 

And even after Jesus calls them on their hypocrisy, the feel exempt from the responsibility of their actions, as they plot to get rid of Jesus.

It is textbook Entitlement. As Jesus continues his journey toward his destiny in Jerusalem, he teaches the people about the essence of true Kingdom of God, Who it is that is truly Entitled to enter into it and He Expresses his pain over those who will not.

As Jesus continues his journey toward his destiny in Jerusalem, he continues to teach about the true Kingdome of God, both the essence of it and who it is that is actually “Entitled” to it. 

TRANSITIONAL STATEMENT

Because at some point in our lives we will all have to face an attitude of “Entitlement”, but when it comes to our eternity, that is a pocket that we cannot afford to be wrong about.  

Please open up your Bibles with me to Luke Chapter 13 starting in verse 18 (p 873), Ill pray and then we will learn from the words of the Lord Jesus together.

Essence of the Kingdom of God (Luke 13:18-20)

English Standard Version Chapter 13

18 He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

20 And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

What is it in our lives that is small, but we know has a big impact?

Whenever we are studying the Bible we want to remember to take note when we find the word “Therefore”. We shoul

Since we have started here with a “therefore” we have to ask ourselves the classic question, “What is the therefore, there for?” What has just happened that has caused Jesus to start describing the Kingdom of God in this way. Well if we back up just one verse we read:

English Standard Version Chapter 13

17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

So Jesus has the crowds singing his praises. Not as we did this morning, because we praise Jesus for being the Christ, they were praising him because he was putting those “Entitled” religious leaders in their place. Remember how we talked about that common response to the attitude of “Entitlement”. We like it when they they get put in their place - well Jesus had done this, he had “put them to shame” and the people were celebrating over it. So against the backdrop of their praises over these miraculous works, Jesus starts describing the effect of the Kingdom of God with these two comparisons.

Matthew gives us a little more detail on the reputation of the mustard seed, that it was known to be the smallest of all seeds but after it has grown to it’s full potential it is larger than anything else in the garden. And the leaven was hidden in 3 measures which would have been about 60lbs of flour. The commonality between these examples is that the effect of the Kingdom of God is so much larger than than what seems to be invested.

Have you ever considered how incredible it is that any tree would begin as just a small seed. If you planted a small rock the same size as a seed all that rock would do is get dirty, but contained inside each little seed is the potential for plant many times it’s size to grow. All of the essence of that plant is contained here in this little seed. It’s incredible to think about. Or the difference that just a little bit of yeast can make even when hidden in huge amount of flour. The power that is contained in that little bit of yeast is enough to completely transform that flour into dough.

Jesus continues to teach on the Kingdom of God by comparing it to something that the average Hebrew of the day would have recognized. This time he uses the image of a mustard seed and leven, or yeast.

This is the image that Jesus wants the people to understand. Basically, that they have not seen anything yet! That the Kingdom of God that they are getting just a small taste of right now in his presence will grow exponentially in size and will transform intimately everything that it touches. That is what Jesus is getting at, that the Essence of the Kingdom of God is that it does and will grow. That it does and will Transform. That what you are seeing right now is great but you haven’t seen anything yet.

ffff

English Standard Version Chapter 13

31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

33 He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

English Standard Version Chapter 13

Prophecy and Parables

34 All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:

“I will open my mouth in parables;

I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”

And then Jesus moves on...

Ent

Entitlement blurs your vision

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Entering the Kingdom of God (Luke 13:22-30)

(Luke 13:22-30)

English Standard Version Chapter 13

22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.

This is another time stamp for us by the detail oriented Dr. Luke. Luke wants to remind us that these conversations did not just happen at sometime in Jesus’ life and ministry, but specifically on his way to Jerusalem. On his way to the cross. Luke wants to make sure we don’t loose sight of the significance of this. The message of the Kingdom of God at this time in Jesus’ ministry was an urgent one, so Jesus wasn’t messing around. He was shooting straight with everyone he wanted them to know the truth, and there is a huge “pocket” of entitlement that will affect peoples eternity and Jesus points to it in order to eradicate it. It has to do with Entering the Kingdom of God

English Standard Version Chapter 13

The Narrow Door

22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

English Standard Version Chapter 13

22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.

English Standard Version Chapter 13

22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.

English Standard Version Chapter 13

23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them,

English Standard Version Chapter 13

22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.

Through other ancient historical sources we know that this was question of much debate among the rabbis of Jesus’ day. Who would be saved? Would it be all of Israel? or just a few, a remnant of the people of Israel? Especially, because over the centuries the Israelites had intermarried with many other nationalities. So the so called “pure blood” Hebrews were few and far between. What did that mean for the rest of us? Is it only the pure-bloods, the elites that would make it? Was there some sort of scale? Just how Jewish did you have to be to be Jewish enough to be saved?

But no matter which side of that theological argument you found yourself on, everyone knew that those who would be saved would at least be from Israel. Jesus answers this person, but he doesn’t really answer their question.

And he said to them...

English Standard Version Chapter 13

24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’

Whoever this person is, they seem to be concerned with how many and Jesus’ response is that the better question to be asking at this moment is “Who?” Who will be saved, and will it be you? Seek the narrow door and strive to enter through it. Because there is coming a time, we touched on this last week, when the door will be closed. Last week it was a time when the nurtured fig tree that bore not fruit would be cut down. In his urgency, Jesus is saying - Stop bothering with questions that don’t matter, and ask yourself instead if you have entered that narrow door while it is still open to you!

One of the commentators that I read this past week pointed out that we really should not read a pause of any significant length between the end of verse 24 and the beginning of verse 25. They are not separated ideas. It is not that some people will seek to enter and they just won’t be able, but that some will seek to enter after the “Lord” has closed the door. It is a timing issue, not an ability one. The opportunity is now, don’t turn your back on it.

, when the time comes will you be saved?

It is unfor

This passage has a similar counterpart in that I have referenced often. The basic idea here is that there will be many people who believe that for one reason or another they are “Entitled” to enter into the Kingdom of God, but when the time comes, the door will be shut and they will find themselves surprised to be on the outside. Two reasons that Jesus says these many people will be refused:

The Lord (kurios) did not know where they came from

They were workers of evil

What are the two things that the religous leaders were repeating defending as their confidence that they will enter the Kingdom of God?

Their Jewish heritage - which is their family line or “where they came from”

Their moral behavior - at least the part that they showed in public.

In Jesus’ parable here the master of the house, who ate, lived and taught among the Jewish people, does not recognize their claim of birthright or moral purity. There is more to being Entitled to the Kingdom of God then just having Jewish blood in your veins and behaving well on the outside.

So who would be able to enter into the Kingdom of God. Jesus mentions two groups who will be there.

In Jesus’ parable here the master of the house does not recognize either of these claims. There must be more to the Kingdom of God then just being Jewish, and being good at being their version of “Jewish”.

So who would be able to enter into the Kingdom of God. Jesus talks about two groups who will be there.

English Standard Version Chapter 13

28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.

This is getting very personal isn’t it. Who is the first group that will be in the Kingdom of God? Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets. Their forefathers will be there, but they will be cast out. This is going to be an ugly day in the history of man. Did you see that phrase: Weeping and gnashing of teeth. Do you know what that means? It is the two different ways that people will respond to finding themselves outside of the Kingdom of God.

This is two different ways of responding to the very bad news that you are cast out of the Kingdom of God. One way is to be sad: Weeping, The other is to be mad: Gnashing of Teeth. This is the only reference to this by Luke, but Matthew uses it often. Whether you are the personality to just weep over your lost condition or get horribly angry hardly matters in the end. You are still outside the kingdom of God, and outside the presence of God and of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the many prophets.

One way is to be sad: Weeping, The other is to be mad: Gnashing of Teeth. This is the only reference to this by Luke, but Matthew quotes Jesus using it often. Whether you are the personality to just weep over your lost condition or get horribly angry hardly matters in the end. You are still outside the kingdom of God, and outside the presence of God and of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the many prophets.

That is the first group, and then Jesus mentions a second group:

English Standard Version Chapter 13

29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

The second group is people from the four corners of the Earth. The implication here is that there will be Jews who find themselves cast out of the Kingdom of God and there will be Gentiles (non-Jews) who find themselves welcomed at the table in the kingdom of God. This would have been shocking and infuriating to the mostly Jewish audience here. It’s one thing to argue that only a few devout Jews would get to heaven, there are probably some bad Jews that don’t deserve it out there somewhere, but it is an entirely different thing to suggest that their might be non-Jews that would. On the scale of having Jewish roots these people would come up empty. They are not even a little bit Jewish.

Some are last who will be first. In other words there are people who will be the very last to hear about a relationship with Jehovah God and they will be dinning in the Kingdom of heaven, but there are others who were among the first people to ever hear of Jehovah God, (The Jewish Nation) and they will be cast out. No other Jews were arguing for this or would even had considered such a possibility, except for Jesus. He knows the rest of the story. He knows how he will make a way for all people to come to a saving relationship with Jehovah God. He knows that His upcoming appointment with Jerusalem and the cross will make it possible for any people, Jews or Non-Jews to enter into the Kingdom of God, but his heart becomes heavy over the reality that are many Jews who will not receive the salvation He offers. There are some people who will be Entirely Missing the Kingdom of God

Entirely missing the Kingdom of God ()

English Standard Version Chapter 13

31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32 And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. 33 Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ 34

We are not certain of the motivation for their outburst but Luke tells us that right after this happened some Pharisees come on the scene with a warning for Jesus.

English Standard Version Chapter 13

Lament over Jerusalem

31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32 And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. 33 Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ 34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35 Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”

English Standard Version Chapter 13

31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32 And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. 33 Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’

Jesus is not given to calling people names, but this is the one exception in all of Scripture. Historically we know that Herod the tetrarch was a conniving and manipulative narcissist. The name of “fox” was very appropriate. In fact the gender of the Greek noun is feminine so if wanted to be completely accurate He was calling him a vixen. Truth is that if we were looking to land the label of Global Entitlement on someone from our text today then Herod would fit the bill. Herod was all about Herod, and most of the time Jesus just steered clear of him. Even during the series of mock trials right before his death Herod was excited to welcome Jesus into his throne room because he was hoping Jesus would provide a good show. Maybe do a miracle. Baffle everyone with his stellar arguents. What a performance Jesus could provide - but instead of giving in to Herod’s agenda he just stood there not saying a word.

John Townsend describes two types of Entitlement,

This is basically what Jesus is telling these Pharisees here, I am not going to be moved by the actions of someone like Herod. My appointments, my schedule has been divinely set. I will perform my miracles here and now, I will do it again tomorrow and then on the Third day, in a prophetic statement pointing to the resurection he says “I will finish my course”. These were all in the present tense, I am doing these things right now and it doesn’t matter to me what Herod thinks of them. I am not on his agenda, however, I must go on my way …to Jerusalem.

1.  Global Entitlement – where a person just in general thinks that the world revolves around them.  In conversation, you might hear them say something along the lines of,  “That’s enough about me, lets talk about what you think about me.”  We might laugh at this, roll our eyes, but this is a really sad state for a person to be in.  Unfortunately, this person will find themselves isolated from relationships of any depth because people just cannot stand to be around someone who is so self-focused.  It is a “Global” attitude for them, in other words it touches on everything in their life, and creates this viscous downward spiral where the person’s arrogance pushes people away, then their loneliness leads them to feelings of valuelessness,  so they talk themselves up even more and push more poeple away, which brings more feelings of loneliness and it just spirals down and down….  And if you know someone like this then you know how hard it is to see their pain, because they are displaying such arrogance that all we want to do is either steer clear of them of get up in their face with a solid dose of reality…as we see it.   Sometimes we can easily forget that what we see on the outside is not all there is to a person.  

And then it seems in just saying the name it changes Jesus tone. He begins to speak with such heart felt compassion. Rememeber, Jerusalem was originally set up as God’s Holy City. A city on a hill established by God. Make no mistake, God loves the Jewish people. They were the firsts. They were loved by God and given the opportunity to live in a blessed relationship with God - but they did not choose it. It makes it a bit easier to understand the Entitlement issue in Israel when you read passages from the Old Testament like where God is pledging his love to the Hebrew people.

This is the extreme example, and probably the first one that comes to mind when we hear the word “Entitled”.  If that is the only way to be “Entitled” then we can probably just file this topic under “Doesn’t apply to me”.   But there is a second type of Entitlement something that John Townsend calls: 

English Standard Version Chapter 7

6 “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

2. Pocket Entitlement – where our entitlement just shows up in small pockets and it is not something that we radiate in every aspect of our life.  This type is much more common, and it is probably more dangerous.  It is more dangerous because we can have it without anyone knowing it.  When the symptoms are hard to identify then the disease is left untreated, and can fester and grow into something that will increase it’s damage to our life. 

Well that could give anyone a big head, couldn’t it. God has chosen me and my people. loved me and my people, rescued me and my people … it would be easy to look back and an isolated passage like this and grow a feeling of deservedness and entitlement…as long as you don’t keep reading. Because if you keep reading you find out that their is more to this story than God just giving things out and the Hebrews just taking them in.

English Standard Version Chapter 7

9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10 and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. 11 You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.

The biggest problem with the attitude of “Entitlement”, whether it is Global or Pocket,  is that you begin making your life decisions according to things are just not true about you.  This is always a dangerous situation to be in, to be making any decision without faulty information is a recipe for disaster. This is true for everything in this life, and even more true for those things that echo into eternity. 

The book of Deuteronomy is the retelling of God’s law to the people of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob right before they took possession of the land that God had promised their ancestors 40 years previously. They had just spent 40 years watching all their parents die out in the wilderness, and so God commanded Moses to read out the story of the love and law of God for them. How He promises to take care of them if they obeyed Him. They even had the example of their parents disobedience to learn from. And at the end of the big speech they responded, “Yes we will obey”. And they took over the land of Israel and made Jerusalem the centerpiece of their nation, culture and worship.

God cares about the destructive power of the attitude of “Entitlement”.   In fact, we find Jesus confronting this attitude throughout the Gospels.  Right now in our series on the book of Luke, we see Jesus coming face to face with the religous leaders of his day.  They have attitudes that are dripping with “Entitlement”.  Jesus repeated calls them, “hypocrites” which is a close cousin to “Entitlement”.  Both of them are pretending to be something that you aren’t.  We have heard in their responses how they feel that they are owed special treatment.  That they are somehow exempt from the responsibility of their actions, even as Jesus calls them out in their hypocrisy of it all. 

This morning, as Jesus travels toward his fate in Jerusalem, we will hear him again describe the essence of “Kingdom of God”, what it looks like and who it is that is actually “Entitled” to it. 

But Jerusalem and the people that it represents were NOT careful to obey God. So God, in his love sent them prophets to warn them - be careful! If you do not turn away from your rebelliong against God, He will remove his protection from you, in order to call you back to a right relationship with Him. They still did not obey. When the people got tired of hearing the prophets message over and over, they killed them.

So God removed his protection and the Hebrews were invaded by the Assyrians, then the Babylonians, then the Medes and Persians and finally the Roman Empire where they found themselves in our text today, somehow still feeling Entitled to a right relationship with God because they were from the Hebrew line. And standing before them was not only a Prophet, but the very Son of God! And what was the plan of the religous leaders? To Kill him.

But the reality was they were not “Entitled” to the Kingdom of God, and this grieved the heart of God deeply. For he does love his people. He is not a God that changes, but he is God who is grieved when those that He loves so deeply reject him. And this is what Jesus expressed here:

And Jesus laments over all of this

And Jesus laments over all of this

English Standard Version Chapter 13

34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35 Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”

Notice that Jesus calls it “Your House”. Jerusalem is best known as the home of the Temple, “The House of God” but Jesus doesn’t refer to it this way does He? He says “Your House”, implying that the presence of God either has already or will soon have left the building. And Jesus says that they will not experience the presence of the Lord again until the second coming. When Jesus returns is the day the narrow door closes. It is the day when the tree will be cut down. It is the day when their will be weeping and gnashing of teeth on one side, and on the other will be the welcoming into the Kingdom of God of those who are truly “Entitled”.

APPLICATION

We can ask Jesus any question that we want, but at the end of the day the most important questions is not about how many people will be saved but who will it be. Will it be you? As Jesus is heading into Jerusalem the urgency of his message is so high. The narrow door will be closed, seek it out! The Kingdom of God is not found in your bloodline, it isn’t some huge thing that you can just get swept up into, it starts out small and then displays incredible power as it grows and transforms a person from the inside out!

Do you see how dangerous the delusion of Entitlement can be, especially in light of eternity!

1.  The attitude that I am exempt from responsibility

To have the the attitude that I am exempt from responsibility or I am owed special treatment, misses something that is so important to Jesus. In Jesus said,

2. The attitude that I am owed special treatment

If you love me, you will keep my commandments ()

English Standard Version Chapter 14

21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22

Do you hear the comparison here with what we read from Deuteronomy? How God promised his love to the Hebrew people, but they did not obey. Now here in the New Testament God is promising the same thing, with one very important difference. One of his disciples asked Jesus about this...

English Standard Version Chapter 14

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?”

English Standard Version Chapter 14

21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

I don’t understand how this is going to work Jesus, If you appear to us then you are going to appear to everyone else to so what is the big difference? Isn’ that the same thing as we have already seen?

English Standard Version Chapter 14

23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

Do you hear the striking difference? The Old Covenant offered the law but man could not and did not obey it, so God had to make another way. Through the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has made a way for him to dwell with in us. We are the new Temple. The new house of God. It is no longer in Jerusalem, it is in us. He wants to make His home in us, to grow us and transform us from the inside out.

English Standard Version Chapter 14

21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

English Standard Version Chapter 14

23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

But if our attitude of Entitlement remains we will miss it. But we must accept responsibility for our sins. We must remember that the only thing that we are “owed” is the wrath of God, but because He still loves His people he provided a way for Jews and Gentiles alike to be with Him forever.

John 1:12

John 1:12

English Standard Version Chapter 1

11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

There is no physical bloodline that matters anymore, only the Spiritual bloodline of recieving the free gift of salvation through Jesus and believing in his name. Then we have the right, we are truly “Entitled” to become the Children of God. God will make his home in us and the Kingdom of God will grow and transform us from the inside out. The evidence of this transformation is in our obedience to him.

Have you done this? Have you believed in the name of Jesus Christ and recieved him as your Lord and Savior? If not, today is a great day. The Kingdom of God will grow inside of you and make you the best version of you. The You that God always intended for you to be. It won’t be easy, but it will be good!

If you have believed in Jesus and recieved the free gift of his salvation, then are we living humbly in this? Is there a pocket of Entitlement in our life where we have not taken resposibility for our actions, assuming that we are owed something. What would happen if you took another look at Jesus, and what he did for us on the cross. I would think that should be a sufficient attidote for the attitudinal disease of Entitlement.