Jesus, The Revolutionary (2)

I. Introduction There is a new movie that came out a few weeks ago called Judas and the Black Messiah. It’s the story of Fred Hampton and how he was set up to be killed by the FBI through an informant within the Black Panther Party. Most of us know Freds story of how he was one of the 60s most effective revolutionarys for the cause of liberating black people from long standing Jim Crow laws in this country. Fred Hampton was what you would call a revolutionary. A revolutionary would be anyone who'd come along speaking truth to the powers that be in order to change the status quo in a society. The goal of a revolutionary was to change thoughts minds attitudes, even policies by whatever means necessary.

Propositional Sentence:  The appearance of Christ/ meant that change was in order.

In other words, Christ coming was Gods way of saying the things that were accepted as the norm would no longer be in the Kingdom. And whether you know it or not, time is constantly ticking towards the establishment of His Kingdom on earth. "Thy Kingdom come, thou willl be done on earth as it is in heaven." Amen. In due time, God will place all things under the feet of Christ. And all means all. Therefore those of us who are comfortable where we are in this present time, it's time to get uncomfortable. There are so many things taking place in this world today that is totally unacceptable to God. The very fact that Jesus had to come in the flesh means that God is not satisfied with the status quo. Jesus is the ultimate revelutionary. We see the evidence of this when Jesus first came on the seen. He began his ministry in Galilee preaching in all the synagogues and the people at this time adored him.  But in the book of Luke 4:16, it gives us Jesus official inaugeration speech for the beganing of His ministry. And he chose his home town of Nazareth to give it (read Luke 4:16)

Luke 4:16 ESV

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.

Luke 4:16 ESV

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.

Luke 4:16 (ESV) 16  And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17  And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:20-21 (ESV) 20  And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21  And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” In other words there's going to be some changes around here. Imagine what this meant to a first century Jew at that time. "You mean to tell me that the Spirit of God no longer resides in the Temple in Jerusalem behind the curtains in the Holy of Holies?" Jesus reply would be you got that right. The Spirit of the Lord is the Power of the Lord, the Authority of the Lord, and the Glory of the Lord and they all reside in Him bodily. From now own the Temple is no longer the center of society, I AM.  Brothers and sisters you can't get more revolutionary than that. A change is a coming.

Transitional Sentence

Now that that's been established, the Gospels, that would be the first four books of the New Testament, gives us three major changes that was to take place due to His coming in the flesh.

II. Main Body

  a. Love   i. Luke 4:16-19     .

ii. The first major change would be the way society loves people.     iii. Explanation Like most ancient societies, Israel at that time treated people according to whatever social class they would fall under. People who were well off received special favors.  Evidence of this type of special treatment for the well off is found in the book of James 2 where he warns us that making distinctions among ourselves to the point where we treat those who have more with respect while overlooking poor people is evil. Jesus here comes along and anounces this as the year of the Lords favor. Unlike most societies, Jesus anounces favor to the poor, the enslaved, the sick, and the oppressed. Jesus came to love all people brothers and sisters, not just the rich, not just those belonging to any particular political party. Not just any who belong to a particular social class. Though Israel was a society that played favors to the haves, the love of Jesus equally included the lifting up of those who had not, the poor, the enslaved, the sick, and the oppressed.     iv. Illustration Llike today. If you and I were to go to any restaurant we are sure to have to pay for our meals. But if a millionaire star football player ventured those same restaurants the may get a discount based on who they are, even though they have a better chance of being able to afford it than us. And some places rather throw away whatever good food they couldn't serve rather than finding a charity to give it freely to the poor.     v. Personal Application The bottom line is we need to do a better job ministering to people, especially to these who need it the most. Loving people is not just lip service. We have to meet people where their needs are at. And that's what Jesus was expressing even in first century Israel. That society as well as this one needed to change the way they loved people.     vi. Transitional Sentence But not only did society need to change the way they loved people, but the second major change that needed to take place involved that society's understanding of the law.  

 b.  The Law     i. Matt. 5:21-48     

ii. There were those who considered themselves closer and more worthy of the favors of God because they followed the law.     

iii. Explanation Well in Matt. 5 starting in verse 21 Jesus says otherwise. Here in chapter 5 you have Jesus showing his authority over the law, making himself greater than Moses. How? By expaining to the people that there understanding of the law fell short of Gods expectations. For example, Matthew 5:21-22 (ESV) 21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment..... 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart..... In other words brothers and sisters Jesus was telling them that you don't follow the law. You don't follow the law because you can't follow the law. That's what Paul meant when he said all have sinned and falling short of Gods glory. Jesus was basically telling the people God didn't give you the law thinking that you could ace it perfectly. God gave you the law to show you how far short you've fallen from righteousness and in order to get right with God, you need a savior.  HERE I AM.     

iv. Transitional Sentence Jesus gave the people a lesson in love and in law and that they fell short on both occasions. Changes had to be made. The people needed to refocus in order to get right with God. Jesus said in verse 48 that they must be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect. This ain't talking about being mature. There is only one way to be perfect in the eyes of God. So the lastly what needed to change was society’s understanding of the very essence of living.

C. Living i. Matthew 19:24-29

So the lastly what needed to change was society’s understanding of the very essence of living.

Matthew 19:24-29 (NASB77) 24 "And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 25  And when the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, "Then who can be saved?" 26  And looking upon them Jesus said to them, " With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." 27  Then Peter answered and said to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?" 28  And Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake, shall receive many times as much, and shall inherit eternal life.