Sermon Tone Analysis

Dear Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Once spoke with someone from a different faith background, talking of the Scriptures and that person said somehting that really spoke to me.

This perosn talked of the Scritprue that were HER STORY.

Made me stop in my tracks and ask - Are we a people of a story?

That is especially how Jews and Chrsitian’s speak - we are people of the book!

And not just any book, unique in that this is not just a bunch of spiritual lessons revealed in dream or some teachings and parables of the psiritual world - mythology - The living God’s real work in real history.

The Bible is one continuing story of God and His people!

There is plot - there is a story - God’s story that’s whose story his-tory really is! put

History is a story written by the finger of God! C.S. Lewis

Do you know your story?

Amazing how much ink is spilled on creation vs. evolution - but how many pages does God gives us.

Hold in your hand .

= not the focus - more on Adam in teh garden and the relationship, the calling duty, the forgiveness and protection, -promise relationship and covenant.

SO much of Israel’s story - little iminature kingdom mirror the kingdom Messiah would set up for whole world!

The centre could be said to the Exodus story - and when didn’t result in kngdom of rightesouess being set up - God says after exile - NEW EXODUS!

And that is really teh heart of the Old and New Testament put together the neew exodus - Put you fingers around 4 gospels - four cmera angels on life of Jesus.

really just covers 3 years.

And almost half of the gospel is about the last wek before the Cross and ressurection.

Obviously the big deal of our story!

Ought ot come to tit again and again - one retired pastor - ought tosee the heart o these characters exposed and open wide here, but even more the heart of God!

You know it was wonderful to travel to Bible Lands, like got to walk into the stories Ire ad every day!

Well you and I get to do somehting even better - walk into the heart of God’s action in this world, wlakin to the heart of how he makes sinners into saints, and those in despair and doome to death - poeeol of hope - part of the everlsasting kingdom!

So it is my invitation to you to come to the heart heart of our story - journey to the Cross and the empty tomb.

Primarily through Luke!

He has set his face like flint to get here, the expectation on Palm Sunday feverish pitch - Messiah coming to town, people are with him, and the leaders as v.1 alludes to they are not waiting for his plan - they met probablly Tuesday of the week, and ater Jesus teaching in the Tmple courts, his cotrdiction of what they stand for - determined to kill him!

And now Chapter 22 really makes up the hear tof th epassion narrative.

Want you to get he hbearings of your story!

Key Truth: Our story is about Christ accopmlishing a grace that brings deliverance, and establsihes a new kingdom!

A. Discover the TIME for Your Deliverance: PASSOVER

When does the heart of yor story and mine happen?

And here we are at a disadvantage not being from Jewish descent.

Luke has to explain for Gentile readers

Does anyone know when Passover and the 7 day feast which followed it happens?

1500 years before, on which month = Nissan = first month of the year.

Many times that authorities sought to put Jesus to death - but sometimes walked right between, sometimes Jesus stayed hidden from them - not his time.

But now Luke records the timing is going to be critical.

The people won’t le tthe authorities get him, - could be huge riot, and so they are waiting for when he is away from the crowds.

But God has orchestarted that this will only happen on this most iportant of Jewish feasts.

Jesus has alluded that this is thye exodus through death he must accomplish.

We saw last week in repsonding to Jams and John this is the baptism, like Red Sea baptism of the poeole of ISrael - where there is slavery oprression, and old life of slave peole in Egypt, really spiritual and physical death on e one side - and new life of deliverance, new kingdom established, proiseland beyond that on the other side.

Why the Passover month - reallythe beginning of a whole new kingdom a whole new world - as Jesus goes to the Cross, God orchestrated it t so - New Passover, New Exodus - beginnign of not just another New Year, but whole new Era of our world’s hisotyr, a whole enw kingdom!

This is what it actually meant for the Jews in Jesus day to celebrate Passover.

At the end of the 14th between 2:30-5:30 they would slaughter a sacrficial lamb withint he tempole and take it to home or rented room - and that evening would celebrate the commeration of their dleiverance.

That sacrfice hugely important to their right standing with God deliverance from death.

But by Jesus time after the exile, the celebration also took on nother tone, and this is why the crowds were so excited.

As Beale explains the Jews also connected Passover with all their hopes for the Messiah to come as the propeths told in teh last days.

And they would fuse this hope with the delierance from oppression with the which were sung ihn the middl e of their feast:

Now some of you choose to celbrate Chrsitams with your traditionas on Xmas Eve, others of you in Morning.

Well Whole celebration of week known as Pasover Week, Feast of Unleavened Bread.

And actually on that Tuesday before the lamb was selected - Jesus in meal abou thte Passover - says that his body - perfect spotless righteousness like first born lamb - is what will be offred, up; his cup is the new covenant just like the OT pOassvoer was the old, his blood - atonement by whcih curseand death and wrath of God - absoberbed into hismelf, and the blessings of God would flow.

Passover is the time at the cetnre of your story and mine - and like the Jews of Jesus day we ought to be asking -

What is the conection between this sacrficial death and the new kingdom?

And so Luke records:

At the very time the sacrfical lamb is being selected, they have selected the Real Lamb of God who would be slain for the sins of the World.

Do not miss this connection regarding the WHEN of your story.

The Passover deliverance is at the heart of your salvation and of God’s plan.

Jesus dind’t die by happenstance, he was not a victim, this is not a sad tragedy - they would later see all happened by the forekowledge, the active ordination of God himself.

Listen to how Revelation puts it:

Jesus was the Lamb Slain from the foundation of the world.

DO you know what that means?

It means God knew this world would fal linto sin, he knew you would be a sinner, broken, despiate all our rebellion and show of self-sufficeincy - ultiamtely weak - bound to death and destined for hell in our selves.

He didn’t cause that but he knew it - and at the cetnre of the world he created with the freedom and the bability ot sin, His great plan was to reveal to this world the Pasvoer Lamb, and what he accomplished would not only be the forgiveness of sins, but the Exodsus, the erneewal of people from within that would start as hwoe New Creation!

SO as we travel to the Cross and the empty tomb.

you need to be sure what time it is.

On God’s time table with the world, nations, but with you personally - what time isi it - at the centre of oour story - Time for Forgivenes,s Time for delivarnce from powers of sin and death and hell in your life and world, It is time for grace greater than all your sin!

DOn’t lose sight of this soe real darkness in the Cross, inoiu world, - why Christ hasd to come -but the Cross is ulitately a victory and brightness and light and life!

Take courage this morning - your sin is abounding, this world hruts and is hurting - take courage go to the Cross, come to this time of Passover - why? Look at

… but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,

It is not enough to have a bit of religion, a bit of maorlity a bit of law - actually just increases our guilt.

YOu know how sin increases in this world iand in our lives - what we need is to come to this place, the only place in the world - wehere - its not more sin, more pain, more hurt that increases - ie. but that where grace increase more.

Come into the is time of the New Passover.

And you willbe suprised what happens to you there!

But make no mistake about it, we need this light of the Cross and the Empty tomb , because there is a darkness and an evil that the light is set in.

B. THE ENEMY: Satan & His Kingdom of Darkness

NOw here is a part of the story

Acknowledge the Backdrop of SATAN’s Kingdom of Darkness

Now here is s a par tof our story essential for oreitnation, yet one we deliberately ignore.

The passover time is more our ignorance, but our plaing down of Satan’s role in our story - in our lives and at the Cross - that is something we’d rather just re-write.

It would be a safer story if the characters wre just our loving God and some human being that may or may not turn to this God for help.

But the way the gospels give it to us, the Cross brings us face to face with evil, not only human crualty and condemnation, but face to face with demonic, Satanic evil.

MOst of us would just skip over to Judas, the scribe and the Pharisees - to the disciples and them women.

But the gospels say no, not so fast, don’t concern yourself with your own human reaction to the Corss of Jesus yet, udnertand Satan’s involvemnt in the Crss, and in our own lives!

We will have to look at Judas, but why the Cross.

It is not Judas’ greed that was his main sin, nor that Luke highlights.

Satan uses that one mani weakness , as the opprontunity to gain a foot hld to work his evil will, so too in our lives it can be too.

But the main sin is something different.

HIs main sin is unbelief!

His main sin is to say no to the grace of Jesus, to dney he needs that grace that Jesus Himself is extending.

Jesus gets so close - he will wash Judas feet, he will serve the Passover meal as a host - arranged not sitting as usuall meal but in u-shape with Judas in place of honour to the left, and JOhn to the right.

And he will take the morsel, dip it in the comon dish - touch Judas lips.

And do you remember what Judas says - all the other’s say - surel not I lord, Judas in his hypocrisy will says: Surely not I Rabbi.

Do ou understand that this isn’t what the Bible calls demon possession.

Loose faculties and even personality speaking through.

We read teh words Satan entered into Judas.

Not without Judas consent.

Gospel are quick to record Satan activities in Jesus life -In the wiledreness at beginning, get the kingdomos of this world, without the Corss and Suffering show yourself now in power - get the fame glory, but leave huanity - rot in their sin, unchanged in their hearts, unforgiven in their guilt.

No matter how good peope try to be that’s how it would end, if there was no Cross.

But Jesus resisted - and Satan left him to a more opprotune time.

Temptation from without that even Christ felt, more opporutne time in the garden each night - tempt to get to split God teh Son and God teh Father in saving will for us.

Do you ever feel Satan works to split you from God’s good and saving and rightouesn and revealed will?