Tawa Baptist

The End

Scripture: 1st Corinthians 15:20-28

Video Link: https://youtu.be/WsylwUo8wpo

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jesus’ resurrection means the end of death
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

When I was a kid my grandfather took me fishing every holidays. One of the things he taught me was how to avoid making a bird’s nest of your line. If you let your reel go too quickly, it tends to tangle the line. The key is control. Take your time and let your line out slowly.

Today we continue our series in 1st Corinthians 15, where Paul writes about resurrection. There were some in the church at Corinth who were saying there is no resurrection of the dead and this was creating a bird’s nest in people’s faith and thinking. Paul was writing (among other things) to untangle the bird’s nest. From 1st Corinthians 15, verses 20-28, we read…     

20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.  23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us. 

Now, after hearing that, you may be feeling a bit confused. I certainly felt confused the first 10 or 20 times I read it. Paul is untangling a bird’s nest here, so it is little wonder we might be somewhat bamboozled. But really, Paul’s main idea is not that complicated.

Jesus’ resurrection means the end of death.

We could summarise Paul’s thinking like this: Jesus’ resurrection means the end of death.As we work our way through the detail, I want you to keep that bigger picture in mind: Jesus’ resurrection means the end of death.

If I am following a recipe, I always like to have a picture of what the cake is supposed to look like when it is finished. Written instructions are necessary but without a picture of the end product I can’t see the goal I aiming for.

In 1st Corinthians 15, Paul is showing us what the recipe of resurrection turns out like.

When you are planting trees on your section, you need to keep the end in mind. The tree might be quite small when you put it in the ground, so you have to think ahead and imagine what the tree will look like in 10 or 20 years’ time. Is it in the right place? Will there be enough room for it?

In 1st Corinthians 15, Paul is showing us what the tree of resurrection looks like when it is fully grown.

If you think back to your time at high school, you might remember your maths text book. The body of the text book contained problems for you to solve and at the back you could find the answers. Being able to look up the correct answer enabled you to learn from your mistakes. It gave you a clue as to how to approach the problem.

In 1st Corinthians 15, Paul is giving us the answer to the problem of death so we can work backwards from there and learn from our mistakes.

In verse 20, Paul describes Jesus’ resurrection as the ‘firstfruits’ of those who have fallen asleep. The Law of Moses prescribed that the first sheaf of barley harvested from a common field was to be offered to God in the temple. In fact, on the first Easter Sunday, when Jesus rose from the dead, the Jewish priests would have been offering the firstfruits of the barley harvest.  

Offering the firstfruits was an acknowledgement that the whole harvest belonged to God, for the Lord had provided it. The offering of the first sheaf of grain blessed and guaranteed the rest of the harvest.

Jesus’ resurrection was like an offering of the firstfruits. Jesus’ resurrection is a foretaste or a deposit, guaranteeing the resurrection of all those who belong to Christ.    

In verses 21 & 22, Paul draws a comparison between Adam and Christ. Just as those who are descended from Adam die, because Adam sinned, so too those descended from Christ (through faith) will live, because Jesus the Christ was obedient to God.

Christ is both the beginning and the end. Jesus is the first of a new breed of human beings, a new creation, a new race which obeys God in faith. At the same time, Jesus is also the end result or the goal for humanity. If we want to know what God intends human beings to be like, then we look to Jesus. The risen Christ is God’s vision for humanity.

Basically, Jesus does for us what we are not able to do for ourselves. Jesus lives the perfect life on our behalf. He fulfils God’s requirements for us. Our part is to stand in solidarity with him. That is, to trust Jesus.  

The Wellington train lines had some difficulties over the past week. We could think of Paul’s comparison between Adam and Christ as two separate train lines. The train line which began with Adam leads to death. It is going to end in tragedy. But there is a second train line which begins with Christ and leads to life. The destination of Christ’s line is resurrection.

Adam’s line and Christ’s line overlap for a certain period of time in history. God wants to give everyone the opportunity to get off Adam’s death train and get onto Jesus’ life line. Getting off Adam’s train and boarding Jesus’ train requires an act of faith.  

In verse 23 Paul goes on to point out the resurrection happens in two stages. First, Jesus was raised from the dead and then later, when Jesus returns in glory, those who belong to Christ will be raised to life as well.

This means physical death is not a permanent state for those who belong to Jesus. Physical death is a temporary state, sort of like sleep.

Some of you may be wondering, what about those who do not belong to Jesus? What happens to them? Well, Paul doesn’t deal with that subject in these verses and so neither will I.

It is not for us to say how God will deal with people who don’t know Jesus or who do know him but reject him. What we can say with confidence is that God is good; he understands all things and he sees the heart. The Lord is just and merciful, slow to anger and rich in love. Therefore, we can rely on God to do what is right by each individual person.

From verse 24 Paul continues…

24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

The word end can have two meanings. It can mean the termination or destruction of something and it can also mean the purpose or goal of something. Both meanings are relevant here.  

Paul is saying that when Jesus returns in glory, the dead who belong to Christ will be resurrected. This resurrection of Jesus’ followers will mean the end (as in the destruction) of death. At the same time, the destruction of death is God’s end (as in God’s goal or purpose) as far as his creation is concerned.

In short, God’s purpose is to destroy death. Jesus’ resurrection sets in motion a process which will ultimately result in the end of death. So while death was not destroyed 2,000 years ago, when Jesus was raised to eternal life, death will be destroyed when Jesus returns to raise those who belong to him. 

Verses 24 & 25 indicate that the risen and ascended Christ is reigning. Jesus is King. However, despite Jesus’ reign, the enemies of God are still at work. And so we currently live in (what is sometimes called) ‘the now but not yet’. That is, the Kingdom of God is here now, in the person of Jesus, but it is not yet fully realised on earth.

We live in between the resurrection of Jesus and the destruction of death.

Yes, Jesus has conquered sin and death, but sin and death are still doing damage here on earth.

Perhaps we could think of it like a war. Once the heat of battle is over and the war is won, the effects of the war still remain for a certain period of time. Those who have survived the war may be maimed, both physically and psychologically. What’s more the enemy, though defeated, has left land mines in the ground which need to be cleared. 

To complicate matters, those loyal to the defeated enemy remain in the country to stir up trouble. Eventually though, all the land mines and booby traps will be cleared. All the trauma of war will be healed and God will wipe away every tear. What’s more, the enemies of Christ (including death) will be put under Jesus’ feet.

Jesus told a number of parables to illustrate this interim time of the now but not yet, including the parable of the wheat and the weeds, in Matthew 13.

You know the one. A man (aka: Jesus, the Son of Man) sowed good seed in his field. But, while everyone was asleep, the man’s enemies came and sowed weeds in the same field.

The man let the weeds grow alongside the wheat because he knew that if he pulled up the weeds, the wheat would be uprooted too. The man waited until harvest time (that is, the end of the age) and instructed the harvesters to separate the weeds from the wheat. The weeds are destroyed while the wheat (or those who belong to Christ) are brought into the barn (into God’s kingdom in other words).      

Returning to 1st Corinthians 15. Verse 27, where it says: For he “has put everything under his feet”, appears to be a twin reference to Psalm 8 and Psalm 110.

In the context of Psalm 8, putting everything under his feet, means God’s purpose is for humanity to rule over creation (the fish, the birds and animals) in a compassionate and fair way, maintaining the balance and harmony of the natural world.

But in the context of Psalm 110, putting everything under his feet, is a poetic way of saying, the Lord’s enemies (also the enemies of humanity) will be dead and buried, with no possible way of making a comeback.  

It seems Paul is saying two things at once here. Firstly, that the resurrection of Jesus restores God’s order to creation and secondly, that the resurrection of Jesus destroys death.

This makes sense because, destroying death is part and parcel of restoring God’s order to creation.  As long as people die, God’s sovereign purposes are not yet fully realised. Hence the need for resurrection.

Now, in talking about death, it is important to understand that we don’t just mean physical death. Death, in a Biblical understanding, isn’t just when someone’s heart stops beating and their brain function ceases.

Death comes by degrees. It disguises itself in many different ways. Sickness is a form of death. Divorce and the breakdown of relationships are a form of death. Violent acts of crime reek of death as does economic injustice. Addiction and slavery also spell death. And then there is spiritual death, which is essentially alienation from God.   

We live in the now but not yet, between Jesus’ resurrection and his second coming. Jesus has won the war and defeated death (on the cross) but God hasn’t yet destroyed death.

Knowing that, one day, God will destroy death in all its many and varied forms gives us something good to look forward to; it gives us hope. This means, when death touches our lives in some way, we do not need to be afraid. God does not want bad things for us, he wants good for us.

And this is why Jesus taught us to pray for God’s kingdom to come and his will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven. By praying for God’s kingdom to come, we are calling for an end to death, we are asking for eternal (resurrection) life.

In verses 27 & 28, Paul clarifies the obvious; that God the Father will not be put under Christ the Son. Rather, as Paul has already stated in verse 24, when death is destroyed, Christ (the new and perfect representative of humanity) will hand over the kingdom to God the Father, so that God may all in all.

By subjecting himself to God, Jesus is doing for humanity what we failed to do. Jesus is restoring the right order of things: with God in charge, human beings living in faithful, loving obedience to God and the rest of creation subject to (and cared for by) human beings. 

That phrase (in verse 28) where it says, so God may be all in all, sounds a bit cryptic but really it’s not that difficult. It is simply Paul’s unique way of saying, so God’s will may be done everywhere by everyone. That is what God’s kingdom is: A world where God’s will is done perfectly. A world without evil or fear. Relationships characterised by love and joy and peace.    

Conclusion:

To summarise then: Jesus’ resurrection means the end of death is inevitable. We live in the now but not yet, in between Jesus’ resurrection and our own resurrection. While Jesus currently reigns supreme, the enemies of sin and death still have an influence in this world, but it won’t always be like that.

God’s end goal, his ultimate purpose, is to destroy death in all its forms. Which means the best is yet to come.

As we read in the Revelation to John…

3 I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 

May our God of love refresh our hope and strengthen our faith, through Jesus’ resurrection. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • Is the meaning of 1st Corinthians 15:20-28 clear to you or a bit confusing at first? 
  • Why does Paul show his readers God’s end goal in verses 20-28?
  • What difference does it make to you (personally) knowing that God’s end goal is to destroy death?
  • Discuss / reflect on the meaning of verse 27a (for he has put everything under his feet) in the context of Psalms 8 & 110.
  • What does Paul mean when he writes: ‘so God may be all in all’?
  • Take some time to pray the Lord’s Prayer slowly (phrase by phrase) reflecting on the meaning of the words in light of what Paul’s says about God’s end goal in 1st Corinthians 15:20-28. 

Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For yours in the kingdom, the power and the glory.

Forever and ever. Amen.

Tawa Baptist

The Consequence of Resurrection

Scripture: 1st Corinthians 15:12-20 & 29-34

Video Link: https://youtu.be/axBZHOQ-Bd0

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Logical consequences of resurrection
  • Moral (& practical) consequences of resurrection
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Imagine, if you can, a world without gravity. It would make life very difficult. Even if you managed to get to sleep on the floor, you would wake up on the ceiling. You wouldn’t be able to take a shower very well. Trying to keep your food down would be tricky and going to the toilet would be a nightmare.

But really, you wouldn’t be able to do any of those things because, without gravity, life as we know it would not exist. The earth would disintegrate. 

Today we continue our sermon series in 1st Corinthians 15. There were some in the church in Corinth who were saying there is no resurrection of the dead. In chapter 15 Paul corrects this mistaken thinking.

To say there is no resurrection of the dead is like saying there is no gravity. Without the resurrection of the dead the Christian faith disintegrates.

Last week we heard how the death and resurrection of Jesus is the heart of the gospel. In today’s passage, Paul invites us to imagine the consequences of denying the resurrection. From 1st Corinthians 15, verse 12, we read…  

12 Now, since our message is that Christ has been raised from death, how can some of you say that the dead will not be raised to life? 13 If that is true, it means that Christ was not raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised from death, then we have nothing to preach and you have nothing to believe. 15 More than that, we are shown to be lying about God, because we said that he raised Christ from death—but if it is true that the dead are not raised to life, then he did not raise Christ. 16 For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins. 18 It would also mean that the believers in Christ who have died are lost. 19 If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more,then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world. 20 But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised.

29 Now, what about those people who are baptized for the dead? What do they hope to accomplish? If it is true, as some claim, that the dead are not raised to life, why are those people being baptized for the dead?  30 And as for us—why would we run the risk of danger every hour? 31 My friends, I face death every day! The pride I have in you, in our life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord, makes me declare this. 32 If I have, as it were, fought “wild beasts” here in Ephesus simply from human motives, what have I gained? But if the dead are not raised to life, then, as the saying goes, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.” 33 Do not be fooled. “Bad companions ruin good character.” 34 Come back to your right senses and stop your sinful ways. I declare to your shame that some of you do not know God.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

The more observant among you may have noticed that part way through this reading we skipped from verse 20 to verse 29. We missed out eight verses. We will look at those eight verses next week. Our focus today is on the consequence of saying there is no resurrection of the dead.

Broadly speaking, verses 12-19 deal with the logical consequences of no resurrection and verses 29-34 deal with the moral & practical consequences. Let’s start with the logical consequences.

Logical consequences:

ACC have a series of TV advertisements which are aimed at preventing accidents. In one scenario a young man has the idea that he will jump from the top of a waterfall. Before he does though, he has a hmmm. He considers the consequences of jumping from a great height.

As he thinks it through he realises there is a serious risk that he will injure himself. Recovering from the injury would be a significant inconvenience to himself and his friends. With both his arms broken, who would wipe his bottom when he had to go to the toilet?

In verses 12-19 of 1st Corinthians 15, Paul gets his readers to have a hmmm; to think through the consequences of going along with the idea that there is no resurrection of the dead.

We could summarise the logic like this…

If you say there is no resurrection of the dead, then it logically follows that Jesus was not raised from the dead. And if Jesus was not raised from the dead, then the gospel message is false, our faith is based on a lie and our sins are not forgiven. Without the resurrection, Jesus died for nothing.

The main point here is that the integrity of the Christian faith rests on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Without a good foundation, the building collapses. Without the resurrection of the dead, the Christian faith collapses. If you remove a beating heart, the person dies. If you remove the resurrection of the dead, the Christian faith dies. Without gravity, the earth would disintegrate. Without resurrection, Christian faith disintegrates. 

Some of you may be wondering, how exactly does our forgiveness depend on Jesus’ death and resurrection?

Well, by raising Jesus from the dead God was vindicating Jesus. God was saying: I verify that Jesus was right and that he died for the sins of the world.

The resurrection of Jesus proves that Jesus did not die for nothing, that Jesus was true in what he taught about God. Logically, the resurrection of Jesus signals the triumph of love over hate, truth over falsehood, goodness over evil and life over death.  

Last Sunday we heard how the objective historical evidence for Jesus’ death and resurrection is very strong. I don’t need to rehearse that again today. Suffice to say, Paul can declare with confidence, in verse 20, But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised.

Okay, so when we have a hmmm and think through the consequences of saying there is no resurrection of the dead, we can see logically that the Christian faith comes undone.

Hand in hand with denying the logical consequences of the resurrection, there are also some very real moral and practical consequences. The moral and practical consequences relate both to this life and the next.

Moral consequences:

Viktor Frankl was an Austrian-Jewish psychiatrist who survived the concentration camps of the second world war. Viktor Frankl believed that life is the quest for meaning. Indeed, we are motivated by a hunger for meaning.

Viktor Frankl said: ‘When a person cannot find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure.’

It is my observation that people search for meaning in all sorts of ways and are often disappointed. One of the things that gives a deeper (more satisfying) meaning to this life is the conviction that there is another life waiting for us beyond death. Because if this life is all there is, then death has the last word and if death has the last word then what’s the point?  All you are left with is hedonism, the maximisation of pleasure and the minimisation of pain.  

In verse 19 Paul makes the comment: If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more,then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world.

If we took this verse in isolation, we might misunderstand Paul to mean that the Christian faith is only good for the next life and is of no benefit for this life. But that’s not where Paul is going with this.

When it comes to being a follower of Jesus, there are costs and benefits in this life. One of the costs of being a Christian is that you can’t put your own pleasure ahead of everything else. For example, you can’t get drunk and you can’t sleep around. Nor can you lie, cheat and steal to get ahead in life. To make things even more difficult we are honour bound to forgive people when they wrong us.    

As it happens, following Jesus also comes with benefits. For example, because you don’t get drunk, you don’t suffer a hangover. Likewise, because you don’t sleep around, you avoid the shame and emotional trauma of cheap sex. Also, people are more inclined to trust you because you don’t lie, cheat and steal. What’s more, it is in forgiving others that we ourselves are forgiven and set free.

So, in many ways, living a Christian lifestyle is actually a morally and practically smart thing to do in this life. But again, that’s not where Paul is going with this.

Later, from verse 31, Paul goes on to say: My friends, I face death every day!… 32 If I have, as it were, fought “wild beasts” here in Ephesus simply from human motives, what have I gained?”

Paul is referring to the very real cost of being an apostle of Christ. When Paul says, I face death every day, he means he risks his life to preach the gospel every day. The “wild beasts” Paul fought in Ephesus are most likely the crowd that wanted to lynch him because his preaching of the gospel threatened the Ephesians’ false view of God and was bad for business.   

Paul suffered a great deal of hardship in the process of proclaiming the death and resurrection of Jesus. Why would he put himself through all of that suffering if he wasn’t convinced the resurrection is true? Paul found deep meaning through an encounter with the risen Jesus Christ. The meaning of Jesus’ resurrection sustained Paul as he suffered injustice for the sake of Christ.  

We are unlikely to suffer to the same degree that Paul did but we might sometimes face social rejection and misunderstanding for our beliefs. It would be fair to say that identifying as a Christian is not cool. The temptation to surrender our faith in the resurrection is strong in the materialistic society in which we live. But if we do that, we empty this life of its deeper meaning.

Paul continues in verse 32 saying: But if the dead are not raised to life, then, as the saying goes, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.”

If there is no resurrection, then that means this life is all there is. And if this life is all there is, then you may as well party hard. It’s like Viktor Frankl said: ‘When a person cannot find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure.’

Paul goes on to say in verse 33: Do not be fooled. “Bad companions ruin good character.”

Paul is quoting the ancient Greek playwright Menander. This is Paul’s equivalent of using a movie clip to illustrate the point. The point being, if you spend too much time in the company of people who say there is no resurrection you will end up living a dissolute, immoral lifestyle.

If you let go of your belief in the resurrection, you discard the deeper meaning of your life. And if you discard the deeper meaning of your life you become a danger to yourself and to others.

God wants us to be close with him in right relationship. Jesus’ death and resurrection enables intimacy with God in this life and the next. Intimacy with God is the deepest (most satisfying) meaning there is.

That last sentence, in verse 34, I declare to your shame that some of you do not know God, is interesting. Paul is drawing a connection between God’s character and the resurrection. The fact of the resurrection testifies to God’s goodness and power. If you say that God did not raise Jesus from the dead, then you are really saying sin and death are stronger than God’s love, which is an ignorant thing to say. The power of God’s love has no rivals.

Some of you might be thinking, what about verse 29? Well, I’m saving that for last. Verse 29 reads: Now, what about those people who are baptized for the dead? What do they hope to accomplish? If it is true, as some claim, that the dead are not raised to life, why are those people being baptized for the dead?  

Baptism itself is a visual symbol of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Going under the waters of baptism represents the death of Jesus and the death of our old way of life. In the same vein, rising up out of the waters remembers Jesus’ resurrection and, at the same time, points forward to our own resurrection.

On the face of it, verse 29 seems to suggest there were people in the ancient church who were baptised on behalf of the dead. Maybe they had a friend or a family member who died before being baptised and so they went through the waters of baptism for them, to ensure their loved one’s eternal salvation.

Paul is not condoning this sort of thing. Far from it. Paul is simply pointing out the inconsistency in the Corinthians’ logic. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t say there is no resurrection and then be baptised on behalf of the dead.

Having said that, experts over the centuries have come up with about 40 different ways of interpreting verse 29. I’m not going to take you through all 40 interpretations, but I will mention one alternative which seems sensible to me.

Being baptised for the dead might refer to those who are baptised and become Christians as a result of a Christian believer dying. Like when a non-Christian is baptised in the hope of being reunited with a loved one who has died. For example, a heathen husband gets baptised ‘for the sake of his believing wife’, so that he might be reunited with her in the resurrection. Or a dying mother wins her daughter with the appeal, ‘meet me in heaven’. [1]

When I was about 10, my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer. By the time they picked it up the cancer had spread to her liver. Nan lived with us for the last three months of her life.

During that time, we invited a faith healer to come and pray for my Nan. It was the early 80’s when NZ was in the midst of the charismatic renewal movement. The prayer did not result in my Nan’s physical healing. She still died of cancer but her death became the catalyst for our family to become Christians.    

We were not baptised for my Nan’s eternal salvation. Nan is saved through her own faith in Jesus. We were baptised as a sign of our conversion and in the hope that we would see my Nan again in the resurrection.

Who would you like to see again in the resurrection?

Conclusion:

Returning to the main point of our message today. What you believe about the resurrection has very real consequences. The resurrection is essential to the Christian faith. It is as essential as gravity is to the physical world. Christianity doesn’t have a lot of non-negotiables but the resurrection is one of them.    

As Paul says in Romans 10:9, If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Confessing with our mouths that ‘Jesus is Lord’ is not hard for most of us. Believing in our heart (in the core of our being) that God raised Jesus from the dead can be more difficult.

Intellectually, we may have no trouble accepting the historical evidence for Jesus’ resurrection. Likewise, we can see logically how Jesus’ resurrection makes sense of the Christian faith. The resurrection of Jesus gives substance and meaning and integrity to our faith.

But intellectual agreement is not the same thing as heart commitment. Sometimes the seed of our belief in the resurrection sits just below the surface of the soil, it doesn’t go that deep. So there is a gap between what we say we believe and how we respond when our faith is tested.

Jesus told his disciples about his death and resurrection at least three times before it happened. But the reality of what Jesus was saying didn’t really penetrate the soil of their hearts at first. The disciples’ heart commitment to Jesus’ resurrection came after the fact; after they had been through the crucible of the cross. They saw Jesus’ resurrection in the rear vision mirror.  

It is the same for us. Normally we have to go through the crucible of unjust suffering, or face the death of someone we love dearly, before the reality of resurrection takes root in our heart.

In the book of Job, possibly one of the oldest books in the Bible, Job says this while he is suffering great injustice: 25 I know that my redeemerlives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yetin my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within!

Job found meaning in his life, in the face of unjust suffering, by believing in a bodily resurrection. Job believed that even after death he would see God who would redeem his suffering and make sense of it all.

That yearning in your heart that no words can describe. That deep sense of dissatisfaction you feel with the way the world is, that no amount of entertainment or pleasure can numb. That is the desire for resurrection, for eternity, for intimacy with God. It is a desire only God can satisfy.  

Over the years I have sat at the beside of a number of Godly people as they passed from this world to the next. There is a calmness, a peace, an acceptance, an absence of fear, even a curiosity, in the spirit of these men and women of faith that shows me the resurrection is real.    

The journey to deep, heart-felt belief in the resurrection of Jesus can take a life time. Don’t worry. God’s grace is sufficient for you. He will get you there in the end if you hold to Christ.     

May God’s Spirit grant you the grace and strength you need for the journey. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • Why is the resurrection essential to the Christian faith? What are the logical consequences of saying there is no resurrection of the dead? 
  • Why did God raise Jesus from the dead? What does the resurrection of Jesus prove?
  • Discuss / reflect on Viktor Frankl’s thought: ‘When a person cannot find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure.’ What does he mean? Do you agree or disagree? How do you find meaning for your own life in this world?
  • What are some of the costs and benefits (for you personally) of living a Christian lifestyle? Why are you a Christian? (Or, if you do not have faith in Jesus, why are you not a Christian?)
  • Has your belief in the resurrection been tested? If so, how? And what did you learn?
  • Who do you look forward to seeing in the resurrection?          

[1] Kenneth Bailey, ‘Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes’, page 450.

Tawa Baptist

The Gospel

Scripture: 1st Corinthians 15:1-11

Video Link: https://youtu.be/USnGS04z94s

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • The heart of the gospel
  • The truth of the gospel
  • The grace of the gospel
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Some years ago our washing machine stopped working mid cycle, full of water and clothes. I got the repair person to come and take a look.

Turns out there was a hair clip trapped in the water pump. (Not my hair clip, by the way.) I watched to see how he unblocked it and then, the next time a hair clip went through the wash, I was able to fix it myself. (Even when you check pockets, things still find their way into places they shouldn’t.)

Although it was frustrating at the time, if the water pump hadn’t become blocked, I would never have learned how the washing machine worked much less how to remedy a blockage. Problems and mistakes usually provide a learning opportunity.

This morning we begin a new sermon series based on 1st Corinthians 15. Not the whole of Corinthians, just chapter 15. First Corinthians is a letter written by the apostle Paul to the church in ancient Corinth, which is in Greece.

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul addresses a number of problems in the church. For example, some people were saying there was no resurrection of the dead, which is sort of the equivalent of a blocked water pump in your washing machine. It basically stalls faith, stops the flow of hope and kills joy. 

In chapter 15, Paul shows us the inner workings of his theology of resurrection. He pulls apart the Corinthians’ thinking, clears the blockage and puts things back together again.

As frustrating as it must have been for Paul to have to correct this breakdown, being able to read how Paul addressed the issue provides a learning opportunity for us. It shows us how to fix the same problem.   

First Corinthians 15 is over 50 verses long, so the plan is to look at this chapter in smaller pieces during the weeks leading up to Pentecost. This morning we cover the first 11 verses, in which Paul writes about the gospel. From 1st Corinthians 15, verse 1 we read… 

Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter,and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

As I mentioned before, the main theme of these verses is the gospel. Gospel is a word which simply means ‘good news’. The gospel of Jesus is the good news about Jesus Christ. In today’s message we consider the heart of the gospel, the truth of the gospel and the grace of the gospel.

The heart of the gospel:

When we talk about the heart of something we are normally referring to the core of the matter, the most important part, that aspect upon which life depends.

Paul gives us the heart of the gospel in verses 3-5. Essentially, Christ died for our sins and was raised on the third day. The death and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, is the heart of the gospel.

So what does Paul mean when he says, ‘Christ died for our sins’?

Well, there is a mystery to what Jesus accomplished in dying on the cross. So we need to approach these words with a good measure of humility.

Some people think solely in terms of punishment. For them the phrase, ‘Christ died for our sins’, means that God punished Jesus for our sins. The problem with this kind of thinking is that it makes God out to be a monster.

If you have two children and one of them does something bad and the other does something good, you don’t punish the one who did good as a substitute for the one who did bad. That would be child abuse.

In fact, as a loving parent, you are probably not thinking about punishment at all. You are more likely thinking about how best to teach your child the right way. In other words, how can I redeem this situation?

The main emphasis with this idea that ‘Christ died for our sins’ is redemption. Jesus died on the cross for our salvation. The cross is really God’s way of showing his love for us, so we can be close to him.

Kenneth Bailey uses Jesus’ parable of the good shepherd and the lost sheep to explain. When a sheep goes astray the good shepherd acts out of love for the sheep. He goes looking for the sheep and when he finds it, he brings it home so the life of the sheep is redeemed.

The shepherd does not say to himself, ‘The lost sheep has wandered five miles off the beaten track, so I must hike five miles through the bush to pay for the sheep’s mistakes’. No, what would be the point of that? The sheep would still be lost and the shepherd would be tired. When it comes to ‘Christ dying for our sins’, the focus is on the rescue, not the penalty. [1]

Or to put it another way, if we think of sin as a grenade. When we pull the pin of the grenade (when we sin), Jesus is the one who smoothers the grenade with his own body to shield us from the shrapnel. By going to the cross to die for our sins, Jesus was falling on the grenade to save us. Jesus was taking our sin upon himself so that when he died our sin died with him.

With the cross of Christ, the emphasis is on redemption, not punishment. If we put the emphasis on punishment, we end up with a warped idea of God; a God who is graceless and unfair and just waiting for us to slip up. Belief in a God like that is not sustainable.     

There’s an old Star Trek movie (called The Wrath of Khan) in which the Star-ship Enterprise is having engine problems. The core reactor is melting down and needs to be fixed before the whole ship explodes. Spock enters the reactor and fixes the problem but, in doing so, he is exposed to a lethal dose of radiation and dies. Spock gives his life to save the ship and its crew.

Jesus dying for our sins is a bit like that. Our sin is causing the whole of creation to melt down. Jesus’ going to the cross is like Spock going into the reactor to fix the problem. In the process of saving us and redeeming creation, Jesus dies.  

The writers of the Star Trek movies must have been reading the gospels because in the very next movie, Spock is resurrected. 

After Jesus had died on the cross for our sins and been buried, God raised Jesus to eternal life on the third day. That is the heart of the gospel. What about the truth of the gospel?

The truth of the gospel:

There are two kinds of truth: objective truth and subjective truth. Objective truth describes reality as it actually is, without bias from an individual. While subjective truth is reality as it is perceived or experienced by the individual.

For example, ‘the sun rises in the East’, is objective truth. That is true, irrespective of what you personally think or feel about sunrises. Whereas, ‘the sunrise is beautiful’, is subjective truth. Some people find a sunrise beautiful and others could take it or leave it; they would rather sleep in.

The good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection is objectively true and, for Christians at least, also subjectively true.

In verses 5-8 Paul gives evidence for the objective truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The risen Jesus appeared to Peter, to all the apostles (including James), to 500 others at one time and then later to Paul himself.

Paul was probably writing to the Corinthians about 20 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. So most of the original eye witnesses were still alive and therefore could provide objective testimony to confirm Jesus’ resurrection.

We know these witnesses were telling the truth because they were prepared to give their lives in testifying to the fact that Jesus had been raised from the dead. Their encounter with the risen Jesus was stronger than death itself. Indeed, the apostles were not afraid of death because they had seen first-hand how Jesus had conquered death.

Paul talks about those eyewitnesses who have died as having ‘fallen asleep’. That’s the difference the resurrection of Jesus makes. For the Christian believer, physical death is not ‘good bye forever’. Rather, physical death is simply, ‘goodnight my love, I will see you in the morning’.

Given the diverse number of witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection, plus their level of commitment to what they had witnessed and the closeness of the written record to the actual events, the objective historical evidence for Jesus’ death and resurrection is very strong. 

In verses 3 & 4 Paul offers the witness of the Old Testament as further evidence to support the facts of the gospel. These things did not happen at random. They happened according to God’s plan.    

But is the witness of Scripture objective truth or subjective truth? It’s both and.

Personal experience is the lens through which we interpret the Scriptures. The early Christians who had actually witnessed Jesus’ death and met the risen Jesus, could see how the Old Testament foretold these things because their personal experience gave them the insight to recognise it.

In talking about objective and subjective truth, it’s not that one is more valid or more important than the other. When it comes to the gospel, both are needed. If we don’t receive and believe in the truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection subjectively, for ourselves, then it won’t become a source of hope or joy or comfort for us personally.

Imagine you are out on the open sea. The boat you are in is sinking fast. Then along comes another boat. The captain of the other boat can see you are in trouble and asks if you want to come on board his boat. The rescue boat doesn’t look that flash but at least it is not leaking.

Both boats and the ocean are objectively real. Whereas, how you personally feel about the situation is subjectively real. Two people on the same sinking ship might be experiencing quite different emotions. One might be in a state of happy denial and the other might be frightened for their life.

Subjective truth matters a great deal because how you personally feel about the situation influences your decision. The objective truth is that if you don’t climb aboard the rescue boat you will drown.

In verses 1 & 2, Paul reminds the Corinthians that they did in fact receive the gospel he had preached to them and that they have taken their stand on the truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection and furthermore that they are being saved by the gospel.

The gospel is like the rescue boat and Jesus is the captain. The gospel may not appear that flash at first but it is objectively true, it does not leak. What’s more, the Corinthians have accepted the gospel as subjectively true for them. They have taken their stand in the boat of the gospel and it is saving them. To change their mind and jump out of the boat would only result in their death.

The grace of the gospel:

Okay, so the heart of the gospel is Jesus’ death and resurrection. The gospel is objectively true but it also needs to be subjectively true for us personally, if we are to be saved.

Jesus embodies the truth; he is the truth. Jesus also embodies the grace of God. With Jesus, truth and grace go together. Let’s consider then the grace of the gospel.

Grace means gift. Grace is not an entitlement, like wages or the repayment of a loan. It is not earned or owed. Grace is undeserved goodness. Or, to borrow a phrase from years gone by, grace is unmerited favour.  

In verses 5-8, Paul mentions three people by name whom the risen Jesus appeared to: Peter, James and Paul. The curious thing here is that Paul does not mention Mary Magdalene or any of the female disciples by name.

The gospels of Matthew, Mark & John all tell us that Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene on Easter morning. So why does Paul leave Mary out?

Well, we can’t know for sure. Perhaps Paul was only naming individuals that the Corinthians knew and they didn’t happen to know Mary, whereas they did know Peter, James and Paul.

What we can say is that Peter, James and Paul were shown special grace by the risen Jesus. Peter denied knowing Jesus and yet the risen Christ restored Peter asking him to ‘feed my lambs’.

Likewise, if the ‘James’ Paul is referring to here is the biological half-brother of Jesus, then Jesus was reaching out in grace to James. Jesus’ brothers did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah; they all thought he was mad. Seeing the objective truth of the risen Jesus changed James’ mind.

And then there is Paul, who says of himself in verses 8 & 9…

8 and last of all he [Jesus] appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

The risen Christ appeared to Paul, on the road to Damascus, even as Paul was on a mission to kill the followers of Jesus. In his grace, the Lord gave Paul the gift of a new perspective and a whole new mission. Paul’s response to Jesus’ grace was to obey the Lord in faith.

The phrase in verse 8, abnormally born, translates more literally as ‘miscarriage’ or ‘abortion’. It’s a term of verbal abuse. Perhaps Paul was ridiculed by his critics as an ‘abortion’ of a man?

Paul graciously endures the insult and turns it into something positive, for God’s glory. Paul says in verse 10…  

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.            

One way to understand Paul’s thought here is like this: Yes, my work before I met the risen Jesus was a lifeless abortion. My attempts to please God by persecuting Christians were a miscarriage. But, by God’s grace, my work since encountering the risen Christ has been fruitful and life-giving. [2]     

We are talking about the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The grace of Jesus is greater than Peter’s denial, more real than James’ disbelief and more powerful than Paul’s persecution. The objective historical truth is that the grace of the risen Jesus is greater than human sin. 

One other thing we observe about grace. Notice how Paul says (at the end of verse 10), I worked harder than all of them – yet not I but the grace of God that was with me. Paul thought of God’s grace as a co-worker, someone working with him, alongside him. What a beautiful idea.

Have you ever felt like you’ve let God down? That might be your subjective truth (your internal reality) but it is not the objective truth. The objective truth is that you cannot let God down. You are not actually supporting God. God is supporting you, by his grace.   

When we serve the Lord we are not alone. God’s grace is working with us. Yes, we want to give our best but more often than not even our best will fall short. That’s okay. We don’t need to beat ourselves up. God’s grace is sufficient for us. God will see to it that his purpose prevails.

As you start the week, try to imagine God’s grace as a co-worker, supporting you, working with you as you serve God in your home, in your place of work and in the community.   

Conclusion: 

The heart of the gospel is Jesus’ death and resurrection. The gospel is objectively true but it also needs to be subjectively true, if we are to be saved. It is the grace of the risen Jesus which makes the truth of the gospel real for us.

May God’s Spirit of grace and truth make the resurrection of Jesus real for you and me, personally. Amen. 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • Can you think of a time when a problem or mistake created a valuable learning opportunity for you? What happened? What did you learn?
  • What is the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ?
  • How do we know the gospel about Jesus (his death & resurrection) is objectively true?
  • Discuss / reflect on the phrase, “Christ died for our sins”. What does this mean? Why is it important to emphasise redemption (rather than punishment) when thinking about what Jesus accomplished on the cross?
  • What difference does the death and resurrection of Jesus make for you personally?
  • What practical things can you do to remind yourself that God’s grace is a co-worker, supporting you and working with you as you serve God’s purpose in your home, in your place of work and in the community. 

[1][1] Kenneth Bailey, ‘Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes’, page 432.

[2] Refer James Moffatt’s commentary on 1st Corinthians, page 239.

Tawa Baptist

Doubt – by Sam Barris

Scripture: John 20:24-31

Sermon Notes:

I grew up in a Christian home. I was very blessed to have known and heard about God my whole life. Early on as a kid, I wasn’t sure if God was real. I hadn’t heard anything, seen anything, or really felt anything. I tried praying to God, asking for Him to show me he was real. I would read all these Bible stories about God intervening in a physical way, miracles taking place, angels appearing to people, staffs turning into snakes, bushes lighting on fire and wondered why none of this happened to me. I would ask God to show himself to me in a physical way – maybe it was a sunny day and I’d pray “God, turn this weather into a thunderstorm” and then I’d count God down from 5.  5, 4, 3, 2, 1, still sunny, shock. One time I remember standing outside and praying “God, let a Bible fall from the sky to show me you’re real”. What a fool. Please pick up your pew Bibles and throw them up and let them land on your head. That’s what I was praying for. Thankfully, God is infinitely wiser than me and did not let a Bible hurtle from the sky at a child’s head. 

While these are quite silly examples, I was experiencing a very normal thing. Doubt. Doubt is defined as a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction. I think doubt can be something we’re afraid of or keep to ourselves. We might feel that we’re less faithful or not a good Christian if we’re doubting God or doubting what we hear at church. Today, I want us to understand that doubt is normal, it happens, we see it happening in the Bible but also: how do we deal with it and use that doubt to strengthen our faith? I thought this would be a good topic this week coming off Easter last weekend. At Easter, we hear how Jesus became human, sacrificed his life for all of us, to pay for our sins, and then 3 days later, was resurrected from the dead. It’s exciting stuff but believing it and understanding the true impacts it has takes faith. 

I went away to Easter Camp with our youth group and it’s an incredible weekend where teenagers have these opportunities to hear the Easter story, hear how God loves them and has a plan for their lives – but then so often, we head home and there are a lot of questions to answer still. If God loves me, why does my life still suck? I’ve heard God has a plan for my life, surely it’s not this life? We come away from this weekend of high emotion and praising God and then normal life hits again and doubts about what was experienced this weekend come flooding in. I think that can apply to everyone else as well, right? We might experience this incredible moment that feels like God’s hand is involved or we hear Will speak about God’s everlasting love and compassion and then go to work on Monday and wonder how this all works in the day-to-day. Where is God when work is stressing me out, when my family is sick, when I’m not where I want to be in my life? 

Let’s look at how doubt is addressed in the Bible. I want to start with the story of when Jesus appears to Thomas. Please turn with me to John chapter 20 verses 24-31, I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation version so feel free to read along with the words on the screen. 

One of the twelve disciples Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him “We have seen the Lord!”. But he replied “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” 

Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” 

“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him you will have life by the power of His name. 

Let’s look at this in 3 parts. Firstly, I want to touch on how Thomas deals with his doubts, secondly how Jesus intervenes, and finally how does Thomas respond to that? 

I feel a bit bad for Thomas, he’s remembered almost solely in the Bible for his doubts, ‘doubting Thomas’ he can sometimes be known as. I think he makes a fair point here in this cartoon – why don’t we call Peter ‘Denying Peter’ or Mark ‘Ran away naked Mark’? Despite being stuck with the name Doubting Thomas, we should respect Thomas for his faith and how he dealt with his doubts. It can be easy to read the Bible from the perspective of the all knowing audience thinking “Come on Thomas, why don’t you just trust that Jesus is alive again?” but let’s be real here. I know for a fact I would massively struggle to believe if it was me in Thomas’s sandals. I’d absolutely have the same reaction “OK, where is he then? Show me an alive Jesus, I’m not just going to take your word for it”. 

It’s better to doubt out loud than to disbelieve in silence. Thomas shows us a great example of how to deal with our doubts. He seeks to believe – he doesn’t just disregard what the disciples have told him, called them crazy, and stopped hanging out with them. He’s been honest and said “I’m going to struggle to believe it until I see it”. If we hold on to our doubts and don’t open up about them, confess them to God, and search for the answers to the questions raised by these doubts, that’s when we can be at risk of turning away from God or falling into temptation. Times of doubt and questioning can help us sharpen our faith but staying in that space can also be dangerous. When we are doubting, those are the times to lean further into God, read his Word, sing praises, and seek to understand like Thomas did. The worst thing we can do is go off and try to find the answers ourselves without God. This is obviously much easier said than done, it is not an easy thing to put into practice when you are in the midst of your doubts, but it is the way forward out of doubt and into true understanding. 

So Thomas has expressed his doubts, said “I’ll believe it when I see it” and then 8 days later, Jesus is there standing amongst Thomas and the other disciples. Let’s look at how Jesus intervenes on Thomas’ doubts. 

Then he said to Thomas “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe.”

Jesus gives Thomas what he needs to believe. In this case, what Thomas needs and wants seem to match up. This is not always the case for us, sometimes what we need from Jesus isn’t a sudden thunderstorm to appear out of nowhere or a Bible to hurtle from the sky towards your face but He knows what we need. We might also find that our answers don’t arrive in the timeframe we expect – maybe we catch ourselves counting God down from 5 like I did, giving Him a time frame that we want an answer. It takes 8 days from when Thomas expresses his doubts until he sees Jesus. Maybe sometimes things go unanswered for us for longer than 8 days, maybe it’s weeks, months or even years. 

I want to quickly turn to Luke chapter 7 and look at another scenario where John the Baptist is doubting Jesus and how Jesus deals with that. 

From Luke chapter 7 v 18-23: 

The disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing. So John called for two of his disciples and he sent them to the Lord to ask him “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting or should we keep looking for someone else?”. John’s two disciples found Jesus and said to him “John the Baptist sent us to ask ‘Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting or should we keep looking for someone else?’. At that very time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and restored sight to many who were blind. 

Then he told John’s disciples, “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard – the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor. And tell him, God blesses those who do not turn away because of me. 

In the same way as Thomas, Jesus gives John what he needs to believe. All he does is point them to what he has done. To John, he says “The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good New is being preached to the poor” – a pretty compelling list. To Thomas he says “Feel my wounds, look at what I’ve done for you” – you can’t really argue with that. 

Just like Thomas, John’s doubts were natural and Jesus didn’t rebuke him for having them. He responded in a way that led to understanding. “Look at what I’ve accomplished”. God can handle our doubts and he welcomes our questions. 

These are great examples of how Jesus intervenes and quashes doubts but how can he do that for us? Jesus isn’t walking the streets of Tawa, performing miracles on the Main Road, or turning up here to physically show us his wounds. I sometimes used to think that if I was around when Jesus was on earth and saw him performing miracles, I would obviously just fully trust in Him, follow Him and how could anyone who saw these miracles in person do anything differently? Jesus counters that with “Blessed are those who believe without seeing me”. If we’re looking for answers, we have all the proof we need in the words of the Bible. “But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him you will have life by the power of his name” – just as Jesus gave the evidence to John the Baptist and Thomas, he gives it to us. 

But not just through reading the Bible. Engage in this church community, talk about your faith and your doubts with each other, listen to the testimonies of those around you, pray that God reveals these answers to you. Jesus isn’t anymore real or present to the people we read about in the Bible than he is to us. 

So we’ve looked at how we should raise our doubts using the example of Thomas, and we’ve seen how Jesus helps us with our doubts, how do we respond to that? How does Thomas respond when Jesus appears to him? 

He could have chosen to respond by saying “8 Days? You made me wait 8 days? You appeared to the others ages ago but made me wait! Why? Where have you been?”, questioning Jesus’ plan and timing. 

He could have said “I don’t know. How’d you pull this off? What kind of trick is this?” and carried on doubting, turning away from Jesus. 

All he says is “My Lord and my God”. 

He had his doubts, sought to believe, Jesus revealed himself to him and he believes. He doesn’t question the way this has happened or whether Jesus is tricking him, all he does is believe. 

How often do we hold onto doubt when all we’ve been asked to do is believe? We might get an answer from God and get stuck asking “Why did you make me go through this for 5 years before you gave me the answer I wanted?” or we get so caught up in trying to fix our problems ourselves that we miss the answer from God right in front of us. Or maybe we find ourselves in a tough spot and forget about how God has already helped us previously and the doubts come back. All we have to do is believe. 

There’s a story in Mark chapter 8 where Jesus and the disciples are on a boat, crossing a lake but they’ve forgotten to bring food – they had one loaf of bread with them. Jesus is trying to warn them about “the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod”, yeast symbolising evil in this passage. The disciples are just not paying attention, they’re arguing about how they all forgot to bring food and what are they going to eat? If only they knew a man who could do something about it. They’re arguing about their own problems amongst each other, wondering how they’re going to eat when literally just before they had seen Jesus feed 4 thousand people with 7 loaves of bread. 

Jesus says to them from the end of verse 18 

“Don’t you remember anything at all? When I fed the 5000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward? 

Twelve, they said. 

And when I fed the 4000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up? 

Seven, they said. 

Don’t you understand yet? He asked them. 

They were trying to solve their problem by ignoring Jesus and arguing amongst themselves as to who should have brought the bread. All they needed to do is believe and they didn’t understand that yet. When going through doubts or just a tough time in general, it can be easy to question God – why is this happening to me? In that space, take time to reflect. What has God already done for me? Do I actually need to worry and doubt or has God dealt with this before and will do it again? 

It wasn’t God’s plan for me to control the weather or let Bibles fall from the sky. God knew that wasn’t what I needed to believe. I believe through what I read in the Bible, the incredible life-giving changes God has brought to those around me, and through a great community. Sometimes it is hard to believe that God loves me, other times it’s as easy as “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so”. His love doesn’t waver like we do, whether I’m having a hard time believing it or not, it doesn’t matter what we think – He loves us. 

I wanted to end by sharing this article from 2020. A Christian group called Voice of Martyrs launched balloons containing bibles towards North Korea. When the balloons reach an altitude of between 20,000 to 30,000 feet, the atmospheric pressure forces them to pop. The bibles within them will then fall to the ground, landing, hopefully, in North Korean territory. God will make bibles rain from the sky if that is his plan. It wasn’t his plan for me but it was for those who truly needed it. 

Let’s pray:

Dear Heavenly Father, we are grateful that we can come to You at any time, about anything. We come to you with any lingering doubts on our minds and hearts and we ask for Your help. Have mercy on us in our doubts and give us vision and hope for what You will do. Deepen our trust in You. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Tawa Baptist

The intimacy of opposites

Scripture: John 20:11-18

Video Link: https://youtu.be/EJA2Fnz9wX8

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Mary Magdalene
  • Blinded by grief
  • Seen by Jesus
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone and happy Easter.

We have a tradition, in our house, of making pancakes every Saturday morning. It says the weekend is here. For reasons I can’t really explain, it just doesn’t feel the same eating pancakes any other day.

Pancakes by themselves are a bit bland, they need some kind of topping. Being a creature of habit, I usually add lemon and sugar. There’s something about a sweet and sour combination that tastes so good. An intimacy of opposites.

Lemon and sugar on pancakes is a kind of parable for life. Much of day to day life is pretty bland, pretty flat. It’s the interaction of opposites that gives life it’s flavour. A squeeze of sourness here and a sprinkling of sweetness there. We need both, in the right measure.  

This morning’s message is based on John chapter 20, verses 11-18. The first thing that strikes me about this passage is the intimacy of opposites. In John 20, sweet meets sour. From verse 11 we read…

11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

Mary Magdalene:

Put up your hand if there is someone in your family named Oliver, Jack or Noah. Now put up your hand if there is someone in your family named Charlotte, Isla or Olivia. Apparently, these are among the most common baby names in New Zealand in recent years. (You can put your hands down now.)

The name Mary doesn’t appear in that list but if we went back a few years I expect it would. Mary seems to have been a very popular name among Jewish women in the first century.

Today’s reading features Mary Magdalene. So who is she?

Well, this is not Mary the mother of Jesus. Nor is it Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus. Magdalene is not Mary’s surname. It is most likely the place she comes from, on the shores of Lake Galilee. ‘Magdalene’ means watch tower.

In Luke 8 we learn that Mary Magdalene (among others) provided financial support for Jesus and his disciples after Jesus had delivered her from seven demons. This would suggest Mary was relatively wealthy, very capable and probably a leader in her own right. Mary Magdalene is a tower of strength.

In popular culture there is this idea that Mary Magdalene was a bit promiscuous, maybe even a prostitute. But there is no historical evidence for this thought. Mary Magdalene was not the woman of ill repute who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. That’s a different lady.

And, contrary to what the fiction writer, Dan Brown (of Da Vinci code fame), would have us believe, Mary Magdalene was not Jesus’ girlfriend or wife.    

Mary Magdalene was devoted to Jesus though. Not only did she support Jesus’ work in practical ways, she was also present at the cross when Jesus died just days before. The past 72 hours have been sour for her indeed but they are about to get sweeter.

Blinded by grief:

When I was a kid, my grandfather made my cousins and I an onion salad for lunch. When I say ‘salad’, it was basically a bowl of raw chopped onions with a few slices of tomato on top. No lettuce. No dressing.

He wasn’t being mean. He was a kind and generous granddad. But, for some reason, he believed that raw onions purified the blood. In his mind, onions prevented cancer. I’m not sure if there is any science behind that but I can tell you for a fact, it cured me of eating raw onions.  

Many years later I discovered caramelised onions. When you cook brown onions in a pan on a low heat, add some balsamic vinegar and a little brown sugar, the raw onion is transformed from bitterness to sweetness. A beautiful flavour. Who would have thought; vinegar & sugar. The intimacy of opposites.   

In verse 11 we catch Mary at a vulnerable moment, weeping at Jesus’ tomb. The sweetness of love, coupled with the bitterness of death, an intimacy of opposites. The more we love someone, the greater our grief when they die.

Mary isn’t just upset that Jesus has died. She is distraught that Jesus’ body is missing. Her mind is dragging her down a path she doesn’t want to go. She thinks ‘they’ (maybe the religious leaders) have stolen Jesus’ body.

When she looks inside the tomb she sees two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been. They ask her why she is crying. They are not asking because they don’t know. They are asking because tears are out of place at this moment.  

You would think the sight of two angels would startle Mary out of her grief but she doesn’t miss a beat. Her devotion to Jesus is so powerful, not even the presence of angels can distract her. Mary wants just one thing, to be close to Jesus.

In Matthew 5, Jesus gives the beatitudes. The beatitudes hold together the sweet and sour of being a follower of Jesus. These beautiful sayings of Jesus describe the intimacy of opposites. To live inside the beatitudes is to be close to Jesus.   

Mary is living inside three beatitudes in particular…

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.   

And blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Mary is poor in spirit, at the end of her rope. Heaven has come to earth for her. Mary is mourning, crying her eyes out. She is comforted by angels. Mary is pure in heart, willing one thing, to be close to Jesus. She is about to see God’s Son.

When Mary turns around, Jesus is standing there. But she doesn’t recognise him at first. She thinks Jesus is the gardener. Perception is a funny thing. So often we see what we expect to see, not what is actually there.  

When I write a sermon, I check the grammar and spelling. I think it’s all good to go and then I read it again the next day, with fresh eyes, and notice the odd word missing. With the first edit I saw what I expected to see, not what was actually there. It pays to take a second and third look.

Mary was not expecting Jesus to be alive and so she didn’t see him at first. She assumed him to be the gardener, perhaps because they were in a garden and who else would you expect to see that early in the morning.

But when we reflect on this scene, in the context of the Old Testament, we see there is perhaps a deeper connection here. The garden Mary and Jesus found themselves in would be fragrant with the myrrh and spices of Jesus’ grave clothes lying neatly in the tomb. This setting reminds us of the Song of Songs, that sacred love poem, which takes place in a garden filled with fragrance & spice.

In the Song of Songs the woman says…
16 Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread everywhere…
And the man replies…
1 I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.

The Song of Songs celebrates a love so powerful it conquers death. The power of God’s love (in Christ) has conquered death. 

To be clear, Mary and Jesus were not lovers in a physical sense, but they did care deeply for each other. Mary’s devotion is tempered with restraint. You know that bitter sweet feeling (when you are young) and you like someone but you hold your feelings back? Lemon and sugar. The intimacy of opposites.

Seen by Jesus:

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
And in that moment Mary’s eyes are opened, her perception is changed and she recognises Jesus. He is risen. He is alive.

The interesting thing in verse 16 is that Jesus addresses Mary using the Hebrew version of her name, Miriam. Jesus speaks Mary’s heart language.

Tell me, who is Miriam in the Old Testament? [Wait] That’s right, Miriam is the older sister of Moses.  Miriam was devoted to Moses, taking care of him as a new born child, watching over him as his basket floated down the Nile to where an Egyptian princess was bathing.

Intimacy is when someone sees into you. They see you as you really are and still accept you. To be intimate with someone is to let down your guard, take off your mask and stop pretending. If you are comfortable to be yourself with someone and they are comfortable being themselves with you, that’s an intimate relationship.

Jesus had seen Mary at her worst, when her life was a mess and she was under the influence of seven demons. But Jesus saw past the mess and the demons. Jesus saw who Mary truly was, on the inside. Who God had made her to be.

Jesus is the new Moses. The new leader of God’s people. The one who fulfils the law. By calling Mary, ‘Miriam’, Jesus is honouring her as his big sister; a tower of strength who has taken care of him in life and in death.  Jesus is saying to Mary, ‘I see you’.

It’s only after Mary realises that the Lord sees her, that she is able to see the risen Jesus herself. It’s in being seen for who we are that our eyes are opened. It is through intimacy that we are set free to be our true selves.  

Intimacy requires trust. Trust is at the heart of faith. Putting your faith in Jesus doesn’t just mean believing he exists. Putting your faith in Jesus means trusting him enough to be yourself with him.  

Of course, when it comes to intimacy, we need to exercise wisdom. We cannot trust everyone. We cannot be intimate with everyone. We must be discerning about who we reveal ourselves to. Don’t put the pearls of your trust before swine. Your trust is precious. Value it.

Mary replies by addressing Jesus as ‘Rabboni’ (which means teacher). This indicates that Mary sees herself as one of Jesus’ disciples. She is his student, his apprentice. Sometimes men overlook the fact that Jesus had female disciples as well as male disciples.

In verse 17, Jesus says to Mary, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father…”

The first thing this verse tells us is that Mary is holding onto Jesus. Maybe clasping his feet or giving him a hug. It’s little wonder Mary responds by reaching out to hold Jesus. She loves him and is overjoyed to see him again.

The fact that Mary is able to touch Jesus shows us the risen Jesus has a physical body. He is real. Mary is not hallucinating. Jesus is alive, he is not a ghost.

We might be a little puzzled as to why Jesus tells Mary to stop holding on to him. It’s not that Jesus is afraid of being contaminated by Mary in some way.

Rather, Jesus wants Mary to know: I’m not leaving right now, but I will be ascending to God my Father soon, so our relationship is going to change. It won’t be like it was before when we all hung out together. Once I’ve ascended, we will have a different kind of intimacy, a deeper intimacy. You won’t see me or be able to touch me, but I will be with you and among you by my Spirit.     

Although Jesus doesn’t explicitly mention the Holy Spirit in his conversation with Mary, later in verse 22 when the Lord meets with the other disciples, we read how Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”.

The other reason Jesus tells Mary to let go, is because Jesus has something he wants Mary to do. Jesus says, “Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

It’s interesting that Jesus chooses Mary to give this most important message. In the first century women were not legally allowed to be witnesses in court proceedings. They were considered inferior or not reliable enough.

That idea is offensive to us today and Jesus didn’t like it much either. Peter and John were at the tomb only moments before. Jesus could have appeared to them first but he waited until they had left and then appeared to Mary instead.

Jesus did not think women were inferior or unreliable. Jesus sees Mary and he commissions her to be an apostle to the apostles. By trusting Mary with the good news of his resurrection, Jesus was letting the disciples know that women have equal status, equal value with men.      

Notice though the intimacy in Jesus’ statement: “Go to my brothers… My Father and your Father. My God and your God.”

With Jesus’ death and resurrection, the disciples’ relationship, to Jesus has changed. Now they are family. Which means they have a closer connection, a deeper bond, with God through Jesus.

In obedience to Jesus, Mary went to the other disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord”. Intimacy with Jesus produces faithfulness to Jesus.

Conclusion:

Don’t you find it curious that when Jesus rose from the dead he didn’t appear in the temple and say, “I’m back”. Jesus did not reveal himself to the masses. He didn’t issue a press release and stage a massive rally. No.

Jesus revealed his resurrection personally, intimately, to individuals and small groups of people whom he had formed deep relationships with. Why did he do it this way? Because eternal life is not a stadium rock concert. Eternal life is intimacy with God through Jesus.

The resurrection of Jesus is the basis of our hope of resurrection. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we have real hope of being raised to eternal life through faith in him.

But eternal life is not just something in the distant future when we die. Eternal life is intimacy with Jesus. And intimacy with Jesus can be experienced now, in this world, when life is making us suck lemons.

I would like to offer you a recipe or a formula for creating intimacy with Jesus, but it doesn’t work like that.

Maybe you have enjoyed an intimate experience with the Lord while working in your garden, or singing praise in church or reading your Bible in private or walking in the hills. But it’s not like that every time is it. Sometimes reading the Bible feels dry. Sometimes being in the garden is a chore. If Mary had gone back to the garden the next day, she would not have found Jesus there.

Intimacy isn’t something we can switch on like a light. Intimacy cannot be manufactured. Intimacy comes to us as a gift at the intersection of opposites, in the crucible of personal suffering, when we are least expecting it.   

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

The intimacy of opposites. When we find ourselves inside the beatitudes, we are close to Jesus. May the Lord bless you with intimacy.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • How do you like to eat your pancakes? (What topping do you prefer?) What culinary opposites tend to work well together?
  • What do we know about Mary Magdalene from the Bible?
  • What is intimacy? Why do we need intimacy?
  • Discuss / reflect on the beatitudes of Jesus as examples of the intimacy of opposites. What does it mean to live inside the beatitudes? Which of the beatitudes are you living inside at the moment?
  • Why does Mary fail to recognise Jesus at first? How does Jesus enable Mary to see?
  • Why does Jesus tell Mary not to hold onto him? Why does Jesus choose Mary to be an apostle to the apostles?  

Outtakes

To mistake Jesus for the gardener reminds us of another garden and another gardener. I’m thinking of the garden of Eden, before the fall. We read in the opening chapters of Genesis how God took the first man (Adam) and put in him the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Now Jesus, the second Adam, the new paradigm or model of what it means to be human, is thought of (in Mary’s mind) as a gardener. We also read of the intimacy (the close companionship) Adam and Eve enjoyed with God, as the Lord walked in the garden of Eden in the cool of the day. Now Jesus, the Son of God, is walking in the garden of resurrection with Mary.

Tawa Baptist

It is finished

Scripture: John 19:30

Audio Link: https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/sermon-7-apr-2023-it-is-finished

Good morning everyone.

Our reading for Good Friday comes from the gospel of John, chapter 19. In this passage of Scripture, we hear how Jesus died on the cross. From John 19, verses 28-30 we read…

28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

Good Friday reflection – It is finished:

Finishing is hard to do. There are not many things, in this life, we can say are truly finished. You can never finish mowing the lawns or washing the dishes or painting the house because jobs like these will always need to be done again.

The search for meaning in life is another thing that never seems to finish. When we are young, being good at cricket or netball or chess or skate boarding might be how we find meaning. But, as we get a bit older, finding a boyfriend or a girlfriend matters more. Then building a home and a career. By the time we get to the end of our life, meaning is found in leaving some kind of legacy. 

What seems meaningful keeps evolving as we grow through the different stages of our life, so that we never quite find what we are looking for. We never totally feel like we have finished ticking the box of our life’s purpose.

The command to love God and love our neighbour as we love ourselves is another thing that never finishes. There is no end to caring for your family, your friends, your enemies and complete strangers.

Then there are the things we wish would finish but just seem to drag on. Small talk. A tedious sermon. A chronic illness. The burden of grief. Nagging guilt. The prejudice others dress us in. The torment of living with an abuser. Not to mention famines, wars, climate change and the fallout from these.

Like being stuck in a car, on a never ending road trip, the child inside us wants to cry out, ‘Are we there yet?’. But the grown up won’t let the child talk.

Finishing is hard to do.

It is significant that, in John’s gospel, Jesus’ last words from the cross (before he died) were, “It is finished”.  The other gospel accounts say that Jesus gave a loud cry and then he died. Putting that together, it appears Jesus didn’t say, “It is finished” in a quiet whisper. He shouted it out for all to hear.

Jesus is celebrating the fact that he has completed the work God gave him to do. He has accomplished God’s purpose for his life. “It is finished”, from the lips of Jesus on the cross, is the cry of victory.

Jesus’ life and death accomplished many things. Let me briefly mention three…

Firstly, Jesus reveals God’s love and truth. Jesus has shown the world God’s heart. God’s intentions toward us are good.

Secondly, Jesus shows us what it looks like to be truly human. The good we are unable to do Jesus has done for us. Jesus has lived the perfect life on our behalf.

Thirdly, Jesus makes it possible for us to be friends with God. Some people think God was punishing Jesus (on the cross) for our sins. But that wouldn’t really be fair or honest. I believe Jesus took our sin upon himself so that when Jesus died, our sin died with him.

This means the cross isn’t about punishment. It’s about forgiveness and reconciliation. Through faith in Christ, we can have a fresh start with God.

“It is finished” means Jesus’ work is complete, it is accomplished, there is nothing more we can add. Trying to improve on the work of Jesus, through our own efforts, would be like trying to touch up Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Mona Lisa. It would be vandalism.

When a mother has given birth, the doctors don’t try to put the baby back. The labour has finished. Now the new work of caring for the child begins.

Finishing is hard. We can’t do it on our own. We need help. Do you have unfinished business with God? What is it you need to leave at the foot of the cross for Jesus to finish?

Let us pray…

Lord Jesus, we thank you for revealing the heart of God and for showing us what it means to be truly human. We thank you too for taking our sin upon yourself, that we may have friendship with God. Grant us grace to finish this life’s journey with faithfulness and courage. Amen.                 

Tawa Baptist

Irony

Scripture: John 19:1-16

Video Link: https://youtu.be/aSyEdB_BGD0

 Good morning everyone.

A fire station burns down, a police station gets robbed, a pilot who is afraid of heights. What word would we use to describe these three situations? [Wait] That’s right, irony.

Situational irony is when an event or situation is the opposite of what is expected. No one expects a fire station to burn down.

In the same vein, verbal irony is the use of words to mean the opposite of what is said. The name of one of Robin Hood’s merry men, Little John, is ironic because he is actually big in stature and big in heart.

This morning we continue our series for Lent looking at Jesus’ last week before his crucifixion and death. Today’s reading, which focuses on Jesus’ trial before the Roman governor Pilate, is full of irony. We don’t have time to read the whole account of Jesus’ trial, so let’s pick up the story from John 19, verse 1…

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.

4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

Let me give you a window on this passage. Imagine four panes of glass…

On the bottom left we have Pilate, the Roman governor, who (ironically) is acting out of fear and ignorance. That’s ironic because Pilate has the authority and power of the Roman empire behind him, yet he doesn’t know who Jesus is, nor does he have the courage to see that justice is done in this situation.

On the bottom right we have the Jewish priests who, like Pilate, are ignorant but, unlike Pilate, they are fearless. Again, it is ironic that Israel’s theologians are ignorant of who their own Messiah is.

On the top left we have the disciples who are informed as to who Jesus is but are fearful for their lives. We don’t read about the disciples in today’s passage because they are in hiding.

And then, on the top right we have Jesus who is both informed and fearless. Jesus knows who he is and he knows God’s purpose. Jesus is not afraid. He faces his trial with courage and calmness. Nevertheless, Jesus is not immune from the irony of the situation.

As we work our way through these verses, keep this window in mind.

Dramatic irony is when the audience can see the irony of the situation but the characters inside the story can’t. So dramatic irony is like a secret only the audience know. We are the audience and that puts us in a good position to see the irony of Jesus’ situation.

In John 18, Jesus stands trial before the Jewish high priests, Caiaphas and Annas. They struggle to find two witnesses to agree that Jesus has done anything wrong. Eventually, they trump up some charges of blasphemy which, under Jewish law, is a capital offense worthy of the death penalty by stoning.

But Israel is subject to Roman law, which means the chief priests can’t kill Jesus without getting permission from the Roman governor and so they hand Jesus over to Pilate asking him to execute Jesus.

Pilate interviews Jesus and finds no basis for a charge against him. It is clear to Pilate that Jesus is innocent. But when Pilate tries to release Jesus, the chief priests won’t let him. We see the dramatic irony of the tail wagging the dog.    

In the opening verses of John 19 we read that Pilate had Jesus flogged. The soldiers heard that Jesus was accused of being the King of the Jews, and so they used sarcastic irony to mock Jesus.

They made a crown of thorns and put it on his head. Then they clothed him in a purple robe (purple being the colour of royalty) and said ‘Hail, king of the Jews’, striking him in the face. By mocking Israel’s king, the soldiers are mocking the nation of Israel as a whole.

Ironically, the Roman soldiers are like the Jewish priests, in that they are ignorant of who they are really dealing with. The dramatic irony, that we the audience can see, is that Jesus actually is a King, the King of heaven and earth. 

You may be wondering, if Pilate thinks Jesus is innocent, then why did he have Jesus flogged?

Verses 4-5 indicate that Pilate had Jesus whipped as a strategy to get him released. Bringing Jesus out before the people, beaten, bruised, covered in blood and wearing a crown of thorns, demonstrates clearly to everyone that Jesus poses no real threat to the Roman empire. He can hardly be accused of treason.

Pilate presents Jesus saying, ‘Here is the man’. There is a deeper meaning to Pilate’s words here that the governor is not aware of. The Hebrew word for ‘man’ is Adam. Jesus is the new Adam. The new paradigm or model of what it means to be human.

The first Adam (back in Genesis) was created by God to be a king over the earth and all the creatures in it. Sadly, the first Adam sinned and failed to fulfill God’s original intention for him. [1]

But, in Christ, God’s intention for humanity is fulfilled. Jesus, the Son of Man, shows us what the image of God looks like. Jesus shows us how human beings are to rule over creation; by caring for it with love and wisdom.

Jesus is representative of humankind in another sense here too. The first Adam (and his descendants) committed treason against God Almighty. Now Jesus, the second Adam, (who is faithful and innocent) faces the accusation of treason. Jesus stands before the judgement seat in our place, to face the charges we are guilty of. [2]

You would think people would feel sorry for Jesus, seeing him in such a pitiful state. Ironically, the chief priests have no pity and shout ‘Crucify! Crucify!’ A priest with no pity is like a pub with no beer or a bakery with no bread.

Pilate repeats what he has been saying all along, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

Clearly, Pilate can see Jesus is innocent but, at the same time, he doesn’t want to deal with this. A governing official who won’t make a decision is like a car with no steering wheel or a boat with no rudder.

When (in verse 7) the chief priests say that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, Pilate becomes even more afraid. Pilate has been hamstrung by his fear all along but now his fear goes into overdrive. It is extremely difficult to make good decisions when you are afraid.

Ignorance only fuels fear. Knowledge of the facts helps to calm our fear. So Pilate asks Jesus where he comes from. ‘Son of God’ was a title the Emperors used for themselves. Maybe Pilate was afraid Jesus was somehow related to the Emperor.

Then again, as a pagan, Pilate may have simply been superstitious. People at that time believed the gods sometimes walked among them. If Jesus was supernatural, then Pilate may well have feared a reprisal from the gods. 

In contrast to Pilate, who is panicking right at that minute, Jesus is completely calm and says nothing. This is not what Pilate might have expected. Normally the accused would be trembling in the dock and chaffing at the bit to defend themselves, but not Jesus.

Jesus’ courage comes from being informed. Jesus knows he is innocent and he knows God’s purpose is being worked out through these proceedings. Jesus, the King, submits to God’s will for him.

In frustration, Pilate says to Jesus…

10 “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

There’s some dramatic irony right there. Pilate is kidding himself if he thinks he can free Jesus. Clearly he wants to, but he hasn’t been able to.  

Jesus’ answer is full of grace and truth, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” 

Power is given and taken away by God. Pilate only has power because God has given it to him. There’s a humbling thought. Power comes in many forms. Knowledge, money, social influence, official positions of authority at work or in government. Whatever power we might hold is a gift from God. It is not ours as of right. It is only ours by the grace of God and for a limited time. How are we using the power entrusted to us?

Jesus goes on to explain that Caiaphas, the high priest, is responsible for handing him over and so Caiaphas is guilty of a greater sin. This doesn’t mean Pilate is off the hook altogether. He is still guilty of a lesser sin. But the grace and truth of Jesus’ words touch something in Pilate.

In a way that Pilate isn’t really expecting, Jesus, who has just been flogged and abused by Pilate’s soldiers, shows understanding of the difficult situation the governor finds himself in. Jesus turns the other cheek and loves his enemy. Pilate seems to appreciate the understanding Jesus has extended to him.  

Despite Pilate’s efforts to set Jesus free, the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar…”   

To be a friend of Caesar was like a formal title bestowed by the Emperor. Roman historical sources tell us that Pilate had become ‘a friend of Caesar’ through the good graces of an imperial official called Sejanus.

The emperor Tiberias was notoriously suspicious and killed his officials from to time to time. Sejanus had recently been killed in one such purge of the palace. This meant Pilate no longer had friends in high places to protect him. [3]

A word in the right ear in Rome and Pilate was a dead man. The Jewish leaders were essentially threatening Pilate with a bad report, one that could get him killed.

Pilate didn’t have a great track record as it was, so he found himself in the unenviable position of having to choose between political expediency and justice. Between saving his own skin and doing right by Jesus. Pilate chose to save his own skin.

It is significant that Pilate does not declare Jesus guilty. He simply says to the Jews, “Here is your king” and when the cry rings out, “Crucify him”, Pilate responds not with a  judgement but with a question, “Shall I crucify your king?”

Pilate reflects the priests’ words back to them and avoids condemning Jesus, for he knows Jesus is innocent. It’s like Pilate is saying to the Jews, ‘these are your words, not mine’.    

The condemnation of Jesus comes from the chief priests who answer by saying, “We have no king but Caesar”. This is incredibly ironic, especially when we consider it is not the crowd who are saying this. It is the chief priests themselves.

When Israel entered into a sacred covenant with God at Sinai, and the Lord gave them the ten commandments, the Israelites were basically saying, ‘Yahweh, from now on you are our King, we have no other’. So when the chief priests of Israel said, “We have no king but Caesar”, they were breaking Israel’s covenant with God. They were breaking faith with Yahweh.

The priests were supposed to encourage the people to remain faithful to the covenant. Caiaphas an co. did the opposite. They renounced God.

Some, through the past twenty centuries, have misused John 19 (and parallel passages from the other gospels) to stir up hate and aggression toward the Jewish race. This is utterly wrong, not to mention ironic.

Whether we agree with Israel’s politics or not, we should respect Jewish people because they are our brothers & sisters and because Jesus was Jewish. It is not fair or reasonable to condemn a whole race of people based on the bad behaviour of a few individuals 2000 years ago.

The high priests, in John 19, were religious fanatics. A religious fanatic is both fearless and ignorant (a dangerous combination). We need to steer well clear of fanaticism of any kind.

That means avoiding extremes. It means not becoming entrenched in an either / or, them verses us, mindset. It means cultivating the curiosity to find a new way of thinking about things. Getting some balance in your life. Spending time with Christians and non-Christians. Becoming comfortable with not having all the answers. Slowing down and listening. Getting your information from reliable sources.

Jesus is the man. Jesus is our King. He is our model, our pattern. We take our lead from him. Jesus did not seek to get even or take revenge on Caiaphas. Jesus was fearless in the face of condemnation and death, knowing God’s purpose would prevail. Jesus did not act out of ignorance but rather out of informed integrity.

We might not have the same clarity or courage or integrity as Jesus did. We are more often like the disciples who ran and hid. That’s okay. God’s grace is sufficient for us.

We are not likely to be crucified. But we are called to be living sacrifices, serving Christ day by day. That is our spiritual worship. 

Let me finish with a poem titled ‘Irony’ by Eileen Duggan…

Not hawk, not leopard is ironic.

Believe me it needs mind

To see the moral wit of

Using kind on kind.

Some poor fellow for a pittance

Made the cross-bar sure

To hold another carpenter

On it for the poor.

Grace and peace to you this holy week.

The musicians will lead us in sung worship now as we prepare for communion.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • What is irony? Can you think of a situation of irony in your own life (either past or present)? What irony do we observe in John 19:1-16?
  • Why does Pilate think Jesus is innocent? Why does Pilate have Jesus flogged? Why is Pilate so fearful?
  • What feelings (or memories) are you in touch with as you read of Jesus’ abuse at the hands of the soldiers and the miscarriage of justice at the hands of Pilate?
  • Discuss / reflect on the deeper meaning of Pilate’s words, “Here is the man”, in verse 5.
  • What power has God given you? How are you using that power? Does anything need to change?
  • How might we avoid religious fanaticism? How might we cultivate informed integrity in our own lives?  

[1] Richardson quoted in Leon Morris’ NICNT ‘John’, page 702

[2] Bruce Milne, BST ‘John’, page 276

[3] Bruce Milne, BST ‘John’, page 272

Tawa Baptist

More layers than a trifle

Scripture: Matthew 26:14-30

Video Link: https://youtu.be/JLDzoRvzf3w

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Passover
  • Betrayal
  • Covenant
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone. A question for you…

What would you do if you knew you were going to die tomorrow?

In this scenario you have your health, you have your friends and family close by. You are simply running out of time. You have maybe 20 hours left. How would you spend that time?

Today we continue our series for Lent looking at some of the things Jesus did and said in the week leading up to his crucifixion and death. This morning’s message focuses on Matthew 26, verses 17-30.

In this passage Jesus knows he will die the next day. With this in mind, Jesus chose to have a special meal with his friends. Through this meal, Jesus communicates the meaning of his life and death. From Matthew 26, verse 17 we read…

17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

18 He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’”

19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. 20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21 And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” 22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”

23 Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”

Jesus answered, “You have said so.”

26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” 27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 

29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

If I said to you, ‘this reading has more layers than Rachel’s trifle’, what TV series (from the 90’s) would I be referring to? [Wait] That’s right, Friends.

There are many memorable moments from the Friends TV series but one that sticks in my mind is the scene featuring Rachel’s trifle.

Rachel describes the layers of her trifle saying, first there are some ladyfingers, then jam, custard, raspberries, more ladyfingers, beef sautéed with peas and onions, then a layer of custard and bananas topped with whipped cream.

Rachel has never made a trifle before and unfortunately the pages of the recipe book are stuck together, so her trifle is half dessert and half shepherds’ pie. Two recipes, that for most people (except Joey), don’t really go together. 

Matthew 26, verses 17-30, has more layers than Rachel’s trifle. In this last supper, before his crucifixion, Jesus draws on centuries of tradition to explain the meaning of his death. But, mixed in with the dessert of the Passover and the new covenant, we find the shepherd’s pie of Judas’ betrayal.

Let’s start with the bottom layer of this trifle, the lady fingers, jam and custard of the Jewish Passover.

Passover:   

In verse 17, the disciples ask Jesus about preparations for the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This festival, also known as the Passover festival, was celebrated over the course of a week and began with a memorial meal.

The Passover festival recalls God’s deliverance of Israel, from slavery in Egypt.  On the night before the Israelites left Egypt each family was to sacrifice a lamb and paint the blood of the lamb on the door posts of their home. When the angel of death saw the blood on the door posts, he passed over that house without killing the first born male. The blood protected them.

In verse 18, it becomes clear that Jesus has organised a room in advance to eat the Passover meal with his disciples. Jesus knows he is about to die and is using the Passover meal to communicate the meaning of his death.

Jesus is the ultimate Passover lamb. The blood of Jesus, spilled on the cross, protects us from sin and spiritual death.

Let’s pause for a moment to reflect. Jesus has less than a day left. His time is precious. He doesn’t use that time to get even with people who have wronged him. Nor does he use the time to try and avoid his death. Jesus doesn’t go public or stage a massive rally to fire up his supporters to defend him. No.

Jesus enjoys a quiet meal with his closest friends. Jesus chooses food, companionship and intimacy to nourish the bodies and souls of those he loves.

Unlike Jesus, we don’t know when we will die. We can’t live every day as if it were our last, that’s not sustainable. But God, in his wisdom, gives us one day in seven, a Sabbath, set apart for rest, companionship and intimacy, to nourish and restore body and soul. That sacred time is ours to enjoy.    

If the context of the Passover forms the foundation of the trifle, then Judas’ betrayal seems out of place, like beef sautéed with peas and onions in the middle of a dessert.

Betrayal:

No one has the heart to tell Rachel the truth. They all pretend to like her trifle. But when she is out of the room Ross says what he really thinks, ‘It tastes like feet’.

Rachel’s friends are lying to protect her feelings but in doing this they are only postponing the inevitable. It is kinder in the long run for Rachel to know the truth. But how to communicate a difficult truth to someone we care about?

In verse 21, Jesus speaks openly to his disciples saying one of them will betray him. They are naturally sad and all ask, ‘Surely you don’t mean me, Lord’.

Notice how each one makes it about himself. There is a certain selfishness to the disciples’ question. They don’t seem to be concerned for Jesus here. They are more concerned about justifying themselves and making sure they feel better. Jesus is sharing a painful truth and they can’t handle that truth.

Jesus will be dead in less than 24 hours and one of his closest mates will be complicit in his death. How awful would that be. And yet no one says, Lord, I’m listening if you want to talk. Or, what do you need? Instead the disciples behave like little children thinking it’s all about me.

But are we any different? The first thing they teach you in pastoral care 101 is, shut up and listen. It’s not about you. Stay present with the person in front of you. What do they need right now?

In the cultural context of the time, to share a meal with someone was a way of saying, ‘We are friends. I will not hurt you.’ So it is shocking to hear Jesus say, the one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.

Notice though the way Jesus does not expose or shame Judas. Jesus doesn’t say, ‘Judas is going to betray me’. No. Jesus responds in such a way that lets Judas know that he knows the truth, without outing Judas to the others.

Jesus never separates grace from truth. Jesus says the difficult truth in a gracious way; in a way that leaves the door open for Judas to repent. We know, from verses 14-16, that Judas has already made a deal with the religious leaders to hand Jesus over for 30 pieces of silver. But it’s not too late for Judas at this point. He could still choose not to betray Jesus.       

Jesus goes on to say in verse 24: “The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

This is a hard truth, full of grace. I don’t think Jesus is saying this as a threat but rather as a kindness to encourage Judas to turn around, for the path he is on leads to a very bad place. Again, Jesus says this in a discreet way.

Some people argue that God needed Judas to betray Jesus in order for the atonement to happen, but I don’t buy that. Jesus would still have gone to the cross (as it is written about him) regardless of whether Judas betrayed Jesus or not. It’s not like Jesus was hiding. He did not resist arrest.

In verse 25, Judas joins the chorus of voices saying, ‘surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?’ Jesus answers by reflecting Judas’ words back to him, perhaps in the hope that Judas will hear himself and be shocked at his own duplicity.   

Sadly, Judas did not take the hint. He did not walk through the door of redemption that Jesus was holding open for him.  He handed Jesus over. Why? We don’t know for certain. Was it love of money? Was it disillusionment? Was Judas manipulating the situation to force Jesus’ hand and cause an uprising? We simply don’t know. 

Betrayal is essentially the abuse of trust. Betrayal can take many forms. Accepting a bribe. Breaking a confidence. Cheating on your partner. Stealing time or money from your employer. Making promises you have no intention of keeping. These are all examples of betraying others.

Sometimes though we might also betray ourselves. We might laugh at a joke that is repugnant to us. Or hide our Christian faith. Or give in to social pressure and do something we are not really comfortable with. Or go against the grain of our values in some other way.      

In considering how Judas’ betrayal might apply to us, some people will be inclined to remember how other people have betrayed them.

If that is you, then how might you hold grace and truth together? Truth without grace is brutal, like surgery without anaesthetic. Grace without truth is septic, like treating an infection with painkillers only and no antibiotics. We need to hold grace and truth together.  

When our trust has been abused, it’s important for us be honest about what’s happened and not fudge over the facts, nor exaggerate them. At the same time, we need to find the grace to let go of our hurt, so it doesn’t destroy us. Letting go of the hurt means not revisiting the betrayal in your mind, not stewing on it and not seeking revenge.

By the same token, you are under no obligation to trust someone who has betrayed you. Your trust is precious, like pearls. Don’t put your pearls before swine. Don’t give your trust to someone who will trample on it.

In thinking about those who have betrayed us, we need to be careful not to look in the mirror of our hurt for too long. Sometimes we like to take the role of the victim because that gives us the illusion of holding the moral high ground. It insulates us from our own guilt.

The truth is, everyone has a bit of Judas in them. We don’t usually become aware of our capacity for betrayal until we find ourselves in a situation of intense pressure that releases our inner Judas. The instinct for self-preservation can be over powering at times.

Perhaps reading this passage puts you in touch with those you have betrayed in the past. It is a function of mid-life, to think about the mistakes of your youth and wish you could go back and do things differently. Regret. It eats away at your soul, like salt water on naked steel.

If that’s you, then the question has got to be: how do you hold truth and grace together? How do you face the awful truth about yourself and find release from your guilt and regret? God will forgive you in a heartbeat, if you forgive others. But can you forgive yourself? Can you show the same kindness to yourself that you show to others? That’s the hard part I find.

Tragically, Judas was not able to hold grace and truth together. The truth took hold of him after the fact and it shook him hard. But he wasn’t able to find the grace he needed. The weight of his guilt and shame crushed him in the end.

God is generally more gracious than we imagine. I believe Jesus would have forgiven Judas. After all, none of the disciples proved that loyal when Jesus was arrested.

Covenant:

And so we come to verses 26-30, some of the most sacred words in all of Scripture. Words we hear when we share communion. These words of Jesus are like stones polished smooth through centuries of use.

Traditionally, the words spoken during a Passover meal are, ‘This is the bread of affliction, which our fathers ate in the wilderness’. But during his last supper, Jesus changes the script. After taking the bread and giving thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying: “Take and eat; this is my body.”           

Jesus is not speaking literally here. Jesus is comparing the bread of affliction to his body. In just a few hours Jesus’ body would be afflicted.

Going a little deeper, bread represents life. Bread provides nourishment, strength for the journey and comfort. What’s more, bread is something you share. Jesus is saying, I’m sharing my life with you. My death gives you life.

Another layer of meaning: Faith isn’t just what you think. Faith finds expression in what you do. Eating is an act of faith. Simply looking at the bread won’t sustain you. In order for bread to become life to you, you must eat it, take it into yourself. Likewise, in order for Jesus’ death to be life giving, you must believe in it, trust it. You must take it into yourself by faith. 

From verse 27 we read…

27 Then Jesus took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 

Centuries earlier, the prophet Jeremiah had spoken of a new covenant that God would make with his people. In Jeremiah 31 we read…

33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel…” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34  …they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Jesus is saying that his death on the cross seals the new covenant God had spoken of through the prophet Jeremiah. This covenant is a sacred relationship in which our sins are forgiven, we know the Lord personally and God’s law of love is written on our heart and mind, so we keep the law from the inside out.  

Jesus’ words in Matthew 26 also connect with Isaiah 53, where the prophet says: 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great… because he poured out his life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Life is in the blood. To pour out one’s blood is to pour out one’s life unto death. Jesus is going to the cross to bear the sin of many; that is, for the forgiveness of our sin.

Jesus uses his last supper to show his disciples the meaning of his death on the cross. Jesus died so that all who believe in him may have life. Not mere existence but abundant life, life free from sin and free from the fear of death. Life defined by righteousness and friendship with God.

Conclusion:

Jesus concludes on a note of hope, saying: “I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”   

‘Fruit of the vine’ is a poetic way of talking about wine. Jesus is looking forward here, beyond his death, to that time when he and his friends will sit down in the Kingdom of Heaven and enjoy the Messianic banquet together. We read about this banquet in Isaiah 25…

6 On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines. 7 On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever.

The last supper is not actually Jesus’ last supper. Jesus’ death swallows up death forever. Jesus’ death and resurrection is our hope of eternal life. Our hope of sharing in the Messianic banquet in heaven. This is the cream on top of the trifle. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say, eternal life is the whole trifle, as it should be, without the shepherds’ pie of betrayal.

Let us pray…

Lord Jesus, our life is hidden in you. You are our hope, our righteousness, our loyalty. You open the door of redemption. You seal the covenant of friendship with God. Help us to remember you, holding together grace and truth, especially when the trifle of this world tastes like feet. Amen.  

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • What would you do if you knew you were going to die tomorrow?  How would you spend your time? Why would you spend your last hours like this?
  • What does the Jewish Passover communicate about the meaning of Jesus’ death? 
  • Why is Jesus discreet about Judas’ plan to betray him? 
  • How do we hold grace and truth together when someone betrays us? How do we hold grace and truth together when we realise we have betrayed someone else?
  • Discuss / reflect on Jesus’ words in verses 26-30. What are these words saying about the meaning of Jesus’ death? What do these words mean in the context of Jeremiah 31 and Isaiah 25 & 53? What do these words mean for you personally?
  • You may like to share communion with those in your small group. 

Outtakes

As part of the same (Passover) meal the people were to bake unleavened bread. Unleavened bread is bread without yeast in it. It’s sort of like flat bread. Baking bread with yeast takes quite a bit of time. The people were told to make unleavened bread because they had to leave Egypt in a hurry and unleavened bread is relatively quick to make. One of the rituals of preparation for the Jewish Passover was going through the house and getting rid of any yeast. Yeast, in that context, was symbolic of sin.  

Notice though how Judas addresses Jesus as Rabbi, when all the other disciples have addressed Jesus as ‘Lord’. In the gospel of Matthew, the disciples normally address Jesus as ‘Lord’ and those outside the group of Jesus’ followers tend to address him as ‘Rabbi’, which means teacher. Matthew is making the point that Judas is addressing Jesus here as an outsider, not as a true disciple.  

Tawa Baptist

Back to the Future

Scripture: Matthew 24:1-36

Video Link: https://youtu.be/Zjd842v-qhk

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Several years ago Robyn and I attended an end of year Christmas function which included a Christmas themed quiz. Most of the questions were from pop culture but there were some related to the original Christmas story.

One question in particular stuck in my memory. The quiz master asked, what were the names of the three wise men? I sighed inwardly. Yet another example of how the Scriptures have been hijacked by manmade traditions.

We have no way of knowing whether there were, in fact, three wise men, let alone what their names may have been. The Scriptures don’t say. We know there were three gifts and from that an assumption was made. For all we know there might have been five wise men bearing three gifts.

Sometimes we read things into the Bible that are not there. It’s misleading. Certain traditions of interpretation build up over the years, like barnacles on the bottom of a boat that need to be scrapped off.  

Today we continue our sermon series for Lent, looking at some of the things Jesus did and said in the week leading up to his crucifixion and death. Last Sunday we heard about Jesus’ clearing of the temple. Our reading this morning focuses on Matthew 24, in which Jesus talks about the future.

This is one of the most difficult passages of Scripture in the New Testament. There is a great deal of misunderstanding and false assumption surrounding Matthew 24 due, in part, to a poor tradition of interpretation.

So, I’m asking you put aside everything you thought you knew about this text and listen to what the Scripture is actually saying in its original context. It may surprise you.

Our reading this morning covers the first 36 verses of Matthew 24, which is quite a lot to take in all at once. To make it easier, I’ll break the passage into smaller bite size bits.

Two Questions (1-3)

Let’s start at the beginning. From verse 1 we read…

Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 But he said in reply, “Do you see all these things?” Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; it will all be demolished.”

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him and asked him privately. “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

The Greek word for coming, used in verse 3, is Parousia. In ancient Greek, Parousia is a special word reserved for the coming of a king. It’s not the same as asking when your husband or wife will be coming home for dinner.

Matthew only uses the word Parousia to refer to Jesus’ second coming to earth. For the sake of clarity, he uses a different Greek word for coming (erchomenos) when he’s not talking about Jesus’ return. [1] Unfortunately, the differentiation is lost in translation, which only adds to the confusion for English readers.

Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of the temple building caused his disciples to ask him two questions: When will these things happen (that is: when will the temple be destroyed) and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?

The disciples want to know what sign they should be looking out for that indicates Jesus’ Parousia (his coming as King in glory) is near. In their minds, the destruction of the temple and the Parousia of Jesus were connected in some way. But Jesus makes it clear they are two separate events.

The experts are divided, as usual, but basically Jesus answers the question about the temple first and the question about his Parousia second.

Sadly, people down the centuries have tended to confuse Jesus’ two answers. They have read what Jesus said about the destruction of the temple as if he were talking about his second coming in glory. When we do that, we get ourselves into all sorts of bother.

So let’s listen to what Jesus has to say from verse 4…

Routine history (4-14)

4 Jesus answered: “Be careful that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

It’s been a pretty rough few years for New Zealand. Our country has been through a global pandemic, an ongoing housing crisis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, a mass shooting, severe flooding and growing economic inequity.

Every night on the news we are bombarded by images of war and disaster around the wider world. Most recently it is the war in Ukraine. Before that it was Afghanistan and before that the focus was on Syria.

Some dooms day prophets might say these things are surely a sign that Jesus is coming soon, but they are not. The wars, famines, natural disasters and persecutions Jesus describes in verses 4-13 have been happening for the past 2000 years and so they cannot be a sign that the end is near. They are routine history. We should not be alarmed.

We might paraphrase Jesus’ advice as ‘Keep calm and carry on in the faith’. Don’t go down the rabbit hole of the latest conspiracy theory.

The end of the temple (15-22)

Having talked about things that are not signs of the end, Jesus addresses the question of when the temple will be destroyed, from verse 15… 

15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand — 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equalled again. 22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 

For many years I misread these verses, thinking they were talking about Jesus’ second coming and the end of the world. If we read it that way, we will be terrified. However, when we understand that Jesus is not talking about his Parousia here, he’s actually talking about the destruction of the temple, we can park our fear.    

Jesus spoke this prophecy around AD 30. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, Jewish nationalism festered and in AD 66 the Jews revolted against the Roman empire. Long story short, the Roman General Titus, laid siege to Jerusalem for five months and the city (along with the temple) were both destroyed in AD 70, forty years after Jesus predicted it.

The sign Jesus gave, that people should flee Jerusalem, is a rather cryptic phrase from the prophet Daniel, ‘the abomination that causes desolation’.

We can’t be sure what this abomination was exactly but the gospel writer Luke understood it to be the Roman army. When you see the Roman army on the move, get out as soon as you can.  

Some Jewish believers did heed Jesus’ warning and fled to Pella. Tragically, many more Jews ignored Jesus and gathered inside the walls of Jerusalem thinking they would be safe. But that only made things worse.      

The Jewish historian, Josephus, lived through the siege and described the horror experienced by the people. Over 1,100,000 people died, most from starvation. Some mothers ate their children to stay alive, that’s how bad it was. The suffering was catastrophic.

We see God’s mercy, entwined with his judgement, in at least two ways. Firstly, God gave people 40 years’ warning to avoid disaster. And secondly, God cut the siege short. 

False hope (23-28)

The distress caused by the siege of Jerusalem would inevitably create a hope in people’s hearts that the Messiah would appear to save the day. Jesus does not want to give anyone false hope and so he says, from verse 23…

23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time. 26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

Up until verse 26 Jesus had been talking about the destruction of the temple. But in verses 27-28 he briefly touches on his Parousia, comparing his second coming to lightning.

We know that Jesus is talking about his second coming, in verse 27, because Matthew uses the Greek word Parousia to describe the coming of the Son of Man. (‘Son of Man’ is Jesus’ favourite way of referring to himself.)

Jesus’ Parousia will be like lightning. Lightning is powerful, it illuminates the darkness. Lightning is unmistakable, it can be seen everywhere by everyone. And lightning is unpredictable, no one knows when it might strike. 

The point here is that Jesus’ second coming in glory will not be ambiguous. Jesus’ Parousia will be clear to everyone. There will be no doubt.

The meaning of verse 28 is not clear.  We are probably best to think of false Messiahs like a rotting carcass and those who gather around them as vultures.

Once again, the point of application for us is: Don’t follow the crowd. Don’t be sucked in by conspiracy theories. Learn to think for yourself.

Jesus’ enthronement (29-31)

From verse 29, Jesus returns to the subject of the temple, describing (in poetic terms) what will happen in the wake of the temple’s destruction…

29 “Immediately after the distress of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

Most people make the false assumption that Jesus is talking about his second coming in this verse. They also make the mistake of reading the words literally.

We know that Jesus is definitely not talking about his Parousia, in verse 29, because he says, ‘Immediately after the distress of those days’. Jesus did not return to earth immediately after the destruction of the temple, so verse 29 cannot be talking about his Parousia.

We know Jesus is using poetic language, in verse 29, because the physical stars did not fall from the sky. We can still see literal stars and planets in the night sky today. 

Scripture interprets Scripture. Jesus is quoting from the prophet Isaiah.[2] In the context of Isaiah, the sun being darkened and the stars falling from the sky is a metaphor to describe the end of the Babylonian empire. (The Babylonians being the great world power back in the day.) It’s a poetic way of describing political chaos.

Jesus is borrowing Isaiah’s metaphor, which his disciples were familiar with, and using it to describe the end of the temple system. The temple was the heart of the Jewish nation and religion. Everything revolved around the temple. To lose the temple was like losing the sun, moon and stars.

Jesus’ point seems to be that just as God passed judgement on Babylon, so too he will pass judgement on the Jerusalem temple. This is a shocking reversal. [3]

Incidentally, about the same time the temple was destroyed, four Roman emperors came and went (one after the other) in the space of a year. So, the metaphor of stars falling, might also refer to chaos in the Roman empire as well as chaos in the nation of Israel.    

Of course, when a power structure with as much gravity as the Jerusalem temple is destroyed, something else needs to take its place. In verse 30, Jesus explains that he (the Son of Man) will replace the Jerusalem temple.     

30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the tribes of the land will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

Jesus is still on the subject of the temple in these verses. He’s talking about himself as the replacement for the temple system. Jesus becomes the new centre of worship, the new heart of Israel, the new means of drawing near to God.

We know Jesus is not talking about his second coming to earth, in verse 30, because the word used to describe the coming of the Son of Man is erchomenos, not Parousia. [4]   

We also know Jesus is not talking about his second coming to earth here because, in verse 30, the Son of Man comes on the clouds of heaven (not the clouds of earth). Jesus is saying those in the heavenly realm will see him come in glory, soon after the temple is destroyed. People on earth wouldn’t see this because we human beings can’t see what’s happening in heaven. You with me.

The other thing that is lost in translation for most of us is that Jesus is referencing the prophet Daniel, in verse 30. Scripture interprets Scripture. The term Son of Man, in the book of Daniel, is a metaphor for the faithful people of Israel (the saints of the Most High).[5] Jesus uses the term Son of Man to refer to himself. Jesus is the true leader (or ruler) of God’s faithful people.

Jesus is making the audacious claim that, once the temple is destroyed, he will be enthroned as Son of Man in heaven. This means the people of God will no longer be defined exclusively as ethnic Israel. With Jesus’ enthronement in heaven, the people of God are now defined as those who are in Christ, regardless of their ethnicity. This claim got Jesus killed.

For a long time, I thought angels gathering God’s chosen people from the four winds (in verse 31) was talking about the rapture, when Jesus returns. This might be how the rapture happens, we don’t know. What we do know is that verse 31 is not talking about the rapture. It’s most probably talking about the spread of the gospel throughout heaven and earth.

The word translated as angels literally means messengers. An angel is a messenger. The angels in view here don’t all have wings. They may also be human messengers (apostles, missionaries) delivering the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the four corners of the earth.

This interpretation fits the historical context. With the fall of Jerusalem, the Jewish Christians were scattered to the four winds and communicated the gospel wherever they went.

If you are still not convinced that these verses are about the destruction of the temple and not about Jesus’ second coming, then verse 34 should clear it up. Jesus says: 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

‘This generation’ means the people of Jesus’ day. Jesus did not return to earth during the first century. We are still waiting for Jesus’ Parousia 2000 years later. Therefore, all these things, must refer to the destruction of the temple and Jesus’ enthronement in heaven.

Jesus doesn’t start to answer the disciples’ second question about the sign of his Parousia and the end of the age until verse 36, where he says…

Jesus’ return (36 forward)

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,but only the Father.

In other words, with Jesus’ second coming there will be no warning sign. It will come like a thief in the night, at a time we are not expecting. Jesus cannot give us a sign because he doesn’t know the timing.

For the rest of chapter 24 and all of Matthew 25, Jesus talks about his Parousia and the end of history, mostly using parables. In summary, because the time of Jesus’ return to earth is unknowable, we must always be ready, making the most of the opportunity to do good while we can.    

Conclusion

We have covered a lot this morning, some of which may be challenging. Having our preconceived ideas and false assumptions exposed can be unsettling. I make no apology. Blind faith won’t sustain you. Truth gives faith eyes to see.

If you are struggling with some aspect of today’s message, you can revisit the sermon notes on the church website. And if you still don’t get it, then let it go and think about something else for a while. Perhaps it’s not meant for you at this time.

As I said at the beginning, Matthew 24 is a difficult chapter to interpret. Attempting to understand Jesus’ teaching about the future is like trying to climb K2. You shouldn’t do it alone or without the right preparation and equipment. It requires humility.

For those of you who prefer a simple message, here’s three quick takeaways…

Firstly, avoid conspiracy theories. Learn to think for yourself. When terrible things happen in the world, don’t panic. Keep calm and carry on in the faith. It will be worth it in the end.

Secondly, Matthew 24, verses 4-35, is mostly about the destruction of the temple in AD 70. It’s not about Jesus’ second coming, so don’t try to read the end of the world into it. That will only make you more afraid.

And thirdly, the timing of Jesus’ second coming is unknown. There is no warning sign, so be ready. Make the most of the time by doing good. Jesus could return at any moment.

May the Lord bless you with clarity and peace. Amen.   

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • Why is it important to question our assumptions (or traditions of interpretation) when reading the Bible?  How might we test / challenge our assumptions, without throwing the baby out with the bath water?
  • Why does Matthew use the Greek word ‘Parousia’ to describe Jesus’ second coming to earth?
  • What should we do when we hear of wars and rumours of wars, earthquakes and famines? How might we discern conspiracy theory from truth? 
  • Scripture interprets Scripture. In what way(s) does Isaiah 13:10 & 34:4 help us to understand Matthew 24:29? In what way(s) does Daniel 7:13 & 18 help us to understand Matthew 24:30? 
  • In what way(s) is Jesus’ second coming like lightning? Why is Jesus unable to give a sign of his second coming?
  • What should we do as we wait for Jesus’ second coming? How can we be ready for Jesus’ return?

Outtakes

In verse 14, Jesus says…

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

The traditional way to interpret this verse is that Jesus cannot return to earth until every nation and culture has heard the gospel. And so there was a push at the beginning of the 20th Century to evangelise the whole world in order to speed the return of Christ.

While the vision to reach all nations with the gospel is good, using this verse as the basis for global evangelism is a bit shaky. For evangelism to be authentic, it needs to be born out of our own experience of God’s love and a desire to share His love with others. Otherwise it comes across as a bit self-serving, a bit fake.

Jesus is most likely talking about the end of the temple in verse 14, rather than the end of history. What’s more, the whole world, in verse 14, probably means the whole known world at that time; the Mediterranean world. Jesus’ disciples would not have known about the Americas or Australia. 

By the time the temple was destroyed in AD 70 the known world of the Mediterranean had been largely evangelised.

[1] Refer RT France, NICNT Matthew, page 924.

[2] Refer Isaiah 13:10 & 34:4 in relation to Matthew 24:29

[3] RT France, NICNT Matthew, page 922.

[4] Ibid, page 924.

[5] Daniel 7:13 & 18

Tawa Baptist

The Heart of Worship

Scripture: Mark 11:12-25

Video Link: https://youtu.be/RLIx1XnnbJA

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Parables
  • Prophecy
  • Prayer
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

When I was training to become a pastor, I spent three months one summer working as a chaplain in Greenlane Hospital. At that time, Greenlane Hospital specialised in cardio thoracic medicine (hearts and lungs).

One day I sat with a patient who had just had a heart transplant. He was so incredibly grateful for the opportunity of a second chance at life.  He went into all sorts of detail about how sick he was before the surgery and how he was going to live his life differently now. I think he had spent his youth recklessly. 

He seemed sincere. I got the feeling he didn’t just get a new heart, he got a whole new attitude, a new spirit, a new vitality.

His was the only heart transplant I remember from that summer. More often than not the surgeon chooses to repair the heart in the least intrusive way possible. But, if the heart is beyond repair (and they can find a donor), the doctors will make a judgement to replace the old heart with a new one.

Today we continue our series for Lent, looking at some of the events in the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion. Today’s reading focuses on Jesus’ assessment of the Jerusalem temple and its leadership. The Jerusalem temple was the heart of Jewish life and faith. Sadly, it had become sick beyond repair and needed to be replaced. From Mark 11, verses 12-25 we read…

12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.

15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” 18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

19 When evening came, Jesus and his discipleswent out of the city. 20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “TrulyI tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

Parables:

Most people, waiting for an organ donation, have mixed feelings about it. Yes, they want to have the surgery and move on with their life. But, at the same time, they are acutely aware that receiving a new heart or a new set of lungs means someone else has to die. And that’s not a great feeling.     

As I mentioned before, the Jerusalem temple of the first century, was the heart of the Jewish nation. Sadly, the temple system had become too sick to repair and so God, the surgeon, was planning a transplant using his own son. Jesus had to die so others could live.

The man I sat with, in Greenlane Hospital, was well aware of his need for a new heart and welcomed the surgery. But the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were not so keen. They were too blind to see their own need, let alone recognise that Jesus was from God. Jesus had to find a way to communicate the seriousness of the situation.

On his way to the temple, Jesus feels hungry, sees a leafy fig tree and goes over to look for fruit. It’s about mid-April and fig trees don’t normally bear fruit until June, in the Middle East.

When Jesus found nothing but leaves he said to the tree, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again’.  This is not the kind of behaviour we have come to expect from Jesus. Was he a bit hangry? Did he lose his temper? No. This is an acted out parable, it is deliberate.    

Jesus is well aware it’s the wrong time of year for figs. He is not expecting to have a feed. The fruitless leafy tree simply provides a vehicle for Jesus to communicate the reality of Israel’s heart disease.

By putting the parable of the fruitless fig tree alongside the account of Jesus clearing the temple, Mark (the gospel writer) is saying, ‘the fig tree represents the Jerusalem temple and its leadership’. It looks good. It looks inviting. But on closer inspection it is fruitless. The temple system has become empty religion.

Perhaps the mention that Jesus was hungry points to the reality experienced by many of those who came to worship at the Jerusalem temple. Their faith was not nourished by ritual sacrifice. They went away dissatisfied, hungry.

When Jesus entered the temple that same day, he began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.

This is another acted out parable. Jesus is demonstrating (in a dramatic way) how he feels about the business being carried out in the temple courts. Mark doesn’t say that Jesus is angry but, clearly, he is not happy with the status quo.  

Whatever Jesus was feeling his actions are measured, surgically precise, fair. He doesn’t fly off the handle in a fit of rage. Jesus’ actions are considered, intentional and appropriately weighted to the situation. 

Jesus, like God the Father, is motivated by love. It is because Jesus cares deeply that he draws attention to the corrupt temple system. It is because God loves the world that he chooses to donate his Son’s heart to save us.  

So why is Jesus not pleased with the business being transacted in the temple? Well, as the parable of the fig tree demonstrates, the religious leadership were practising empty religion. They were taking the Lord’s name in vain.

To the casual observer the temple system looked good but it lacked substance. The fruit that God wanted (of justice, mercy and humility) was not there. The money changers and those selling doves were dishonest. They were scamming pilgrims, ripping people off. 

Prophecy:

Jesus explains his acted out parable by quoting from the prophets. When the Lord says: “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? he is quoting from the prophet Isaiah.

God’s purpose was for Israel to be a light to the other nations of the world. God wanted the nation of Israel to be a picture of what his kingdom is like. The other nations of the world were to learn about God from Israel.

With this in view, the temple was designed with an area for Gentiles (non-Jews) to come and seek the God of Israel. In ancient times, Gentiles could not go past their designated area. It was a case of, you may come this far and no further.

The merchants and money changers were plying their trade in the court of the Gentiles, which essentially made it impossible for people of other nations to draw near to God, in prayer, at the temple.

By clearing the merchants out of the court of Gentiles, Jesus was welcoming people of all nations. He was making room for prayer and reminding Israel of God’s original purpose.

Now, as most of you are aware, we had a church garage sale yesterday. The auditorium and hall were packed with stuff. Given the timing of this message, some of you may be thinking, is our pastor criticising the garage sale? Is he saying we shouldn’t hold it anymore?

No. I’m not saying that. Let me be very clear. The timing of the garage sale and my preaching on Mark 11 is unrelated. Holding a garage sale in the church hall once a year is not the same thing as money changers camped in the Court of the Gentiles on the Temple Mount.  

For one thing we are not ripping people off. If anything we are providing a community service. People in the community are getting a good deal from us.

What’s more, we are not excluding anyone from approaching God in prayer. A garage sale opens the door of the church to the wider community. Besides, you don’t need a church building to pray.

Later, in the gospel of Mark, when Jesus died on the cross, we read how the curtain hanging in the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. This is a sign of what Jesus’ death accomplished. We now have direct access to God through Jesus. We meet God in Christ. Jesus replaces the Jerusalem temple.  You can pray to Jesus anywhere.

So, how does Jesus’ clearing of the temple apply in our world today? Let me offer you three ways to understand this…

Firstly, who are the money changers in our society? Who are the ones who make an enormous profit at the expense of everyday people? Well, we’ve seen in the news recently the obscene profits generated by overseas banks. Then there are the finance companies who appear friendly enough but, in reality, take advantage of desperate people by charging over the top interest.

There is something not right about the way we finance things in this country.

If you work in a bank, then I don’t think the answer is to quit your job. We need men and women of integrity to be salt and light in our financial institutions. We need people who will use their influence for good; to help shift our thinking away from scarcity towards abundance. Away from greed towards generosity. Away from personal gain towards social responsibility.

So that’s one application of Jesus’ parable of clearing the temple. I think also Jesus is taking a crack at nationalism here.

‘Nationalism is identification with one’s own nation and support for its interests to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations.’    

It is not a bad thing to identify with your own nation. In fact, it is a good thing to support the interests of your own country by paying your taxes and making a positive contribution to society.

But, when support for your nation is taken to an extreme, so that other nations suffer, then that becomes nationalism. Jesus is not okay with nationalism. Nationalism does great harm to the world God loves. 

By allowing merchants to set up shop in the court of the Gentiles, the religious leaders were promoting Jewish nationalism. They were effectively excluding other nations from drawing near to God.

When Jesus said, ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself’, he wasn’t just talking about our inter-personal relationships. He was also talking about a nation’s global relationships.

Russia’s illegal invasion of the Ukraine is a product of nationalism. Likewise, when large countries pursue their own economic interests in a way that destroys the environment and contributes to climate change so that smaller, poorer nations start disappearing into the sea, that also is a product of nationalism. 

We are talking about how Jesus’ clearing of the temple applies to us today. Here’s a more personal application. Given that Jesus is the one through whom we meet with God, then clearing room means making time and space in our busy lives to pray and study the Bible.

The goal is to be fruitful for God’s glory and we can only be fruitful when we abide in Christ. How do you carve out time to be with Jesus?

Returning to Mark 11, Jesus also quotes from the prophet Jeremiah, to explain the meaning of his actions.

The phrase, but you have made it a den of robbers, is a reference to Jeremiah’s prophecy that God was going to destroy the Jerusalem temple because the people were practising false religion. They carried out the prescribed rituals without the fruit of righteousness, without obeying the 10 commandments.     

Jesus is indicating that the religious leaders of his day are just like the religious leaders of Jeremiah’s day. God is not obligated to protect the Jerusalem temple if the priests and people misuse it. God allowed Israel’s enemies to destroy the temple once before and he will do so again.

The next day, as they were walking past the fig tree, Peter noticed it had withered. The dead tree has now become a prophetic parable for what was going to happen to the Jerusalem temple.

In AD 70, some decades after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Jewish nationalism provoked the Romans to lay siege to Jerusalem and eventually destroy the temple building and many lives with it. Jesus’ prediction came true.

It’s important to understand that in giving this prophecy, Jesus held no malice in his heart. Grief, yes, but not hatred. In Luke 13, a parallel passage, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem as Jeremiah did before him.  

Prayer:

The disciples appear to be a bit surprised by how quickly the fig tree withered after Jesus spoke against it. So Jesus uses the opportunity to talk about prayer. We might wonder how Jesus’ teaching on prayer relates to the temple incident. Well, let me explain…

To the ancient mind a temple was sacred ground. It was the place where divine presence resided in a special way. Most people felt closer to God in the temple and imagined prayer to be more effective when offered in God’s house.  

In verses 22-24 Jesus makes it clear that faith in God (rather than geographical location) is what makes our prayers effective. Faith is what really connects us to God, not temples or church architecture.

In verse 23 Jesus says: “TrulyI tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.”

Faith that moves mountains. This is a challenging verse, especially for anyone who has prayed earnestly and with full conviction that their prayer would be answered positively, only to be disappointed when things did not turn out the way they had hoped. 

The assumption in verses 22-24 is that we are praying for things that are in line with God’s will and purpose.  If you pray to win Lotto Powerball, fully believing you have right the numbers, God is under no obligation to answer with a ‘yes’. Prayers offered in faith are not magic. God is unlikely to give you something as harmful as 10 million dollars. He loves you too much for that.

But what about those less selfish prayers, the ones when we are ask God to heal a loved one and yet they still die despite our water tight belief? In a case like that the problem is not with your faith, nor with God’s power.

Prayer is not a mathematical formula. Prayer is cloaked in mystery. Sometimes God’s answer is incomprehensible this side of heaven. From our vantage point, in this world, we cannot see the whole picture of what our prayers accomplish. For what it’s worth, I believe that when someone goes to be with Jesus, they are healed completely and totally.

In the context of Mark 11, ‘this mountain’, that Jesus says can be moved by prayer and faith, is most likely the mountain on which the temple was built. Jesus seems to be saying here that the old temple system, with its ritual sacrifice, is being removed by God and a new system (based on faith in Christ) is being established.

God is removing the old heart and giving Israel (and indeed the world) a new heart to worship him. Jesus is that heart.

Thinking more broadly, ‘this mountain’ might be a metaphor for any seemingly immovable obstacle. For example, ‘this mountain’ could be a powerful but corrupt institution that is beyond reform and needs to be thrown into the sea so it can be replaced with God’s kingdom way of doing things.

The main thought, in verses 22-24, is that God can do what we think is impossible. No one in the first century would have thought it possible to transplant a human heart nor replace the temple with something better. And yet, by God’s grace, these things have actually happened.     

Jesus concludes his lesson on prayer by talking about forgiveness. Jesus says: “…if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

This relates to the temple as well. The temple was a place where people went to be reconciled with God, to be forgiven. In the time of Jesus, the Jews performed ceremonies of reconciliation involving animal sacrifice. Jesus has just been saying the old temple system is on the way out. So how are people to be reconciled to God without a temple. How are we to be forgiven without ritual sacrifice?

We are reconciled to God through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, when we forgive those who have sinned against us. If the old (hard) heart of worship was based on ritual sacrifice, then the new (tender) heart of worship is based on faith with forgiveness.

The inconvenient truth of the gospel is that God’s forgiveness of us is conditional on our forgiveness of others. We cannot expect God to answer our prayers if we are holding onto resentment against someone else. Is there anyone you are struggling to forgive at the moment? Pray for the grace to forgive while you can.

Conclusion:

With that in mind, let us pray now…

Gracious God, we thank you for donating your heart, your Son, that we might live. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And Lord, when we find it hard to forgive, help us to be honest about our hurt and give us the grace we need to let it go. Through faith in Jesus we pray. Amen. 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • Why did Jesus speak against the fig tree? In what way was the fig tree like the religious leadership of Jesus’ day?
  • Why did Jesus overturn the tables of the money changers in the temple? What was Jesus saying through this acted out parable?
  • Discuss / reflect on how Jesus’ clearing of the temple applies in our world today?
  • Have you ever prayed for something with total belief that it would happen, only to have your hopes for that prayer disappointed? What was the situation? How did you feel? What is the basic assumption underlying verses 22-24?
  • What do we find at the heart of true worship (according to verses 22-25)? Are these things at the heart of your worship of God? If not, what needs to change. How might we strengthen how heart for worship? 
  • Is there anyone you need to forgive? What do you need to let go of your hurt?