WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.559 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. 00:00:16.839 --> 00:00:21.820 It is wonderful that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, 00:00:21.940 --> 00:00:25.660 either by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, 00:00:25.660 --> 00:00:32.159 would you pray for us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:38.259 like yourself? The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, 00:00:38.780 --> 00:00:43.539 we really, I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the 00:00:43.539 --> 00:00:49.900 Bible, they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We 00:00:49.899 --> 00:00:55.719 will do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're 00:00:55.719 --> 00:01:00.640 a non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:05.980 hesitate to send us questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the 00:01:05.980 --> 00:01:09.060 types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless. 00:01:09.060 --> 00:01:18.820 Let's just bow our heads in prayer for a moment. Father, I ask that you would gently but powerfully 00:01:18.820 --> 00:01:25.560 pour out the Holy Spirit upon us. Father, we are in your presence, and we are in your presence 00:01:25.560 --> 00:01:32.760 as you bestow grace to your children. And we ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit would help us to be in 00:01:32.760 --> 00:01:38.760 your presence, to receive grace from you, and to respond in a worthy manner. Whether that be 00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:44.859 repentance or gratitude or greater hope or greater confidence in the gospel. Father, you know the 00:01:44.859 --> 00:01:50.700 deep needs of our hearts. But we ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit would gently but wonderfully bring 00:01:50.700 --> 00:01:57.320 us into your presence, make us receptive to receive grace from your hand, and to respond in a way which 00:01:57.319 --> 00:02:04.299 is worthy. And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. Please be seated. 00:02:07.659 --> 00:02:15.500 So just the other day, I had the great privilege of being invited to speak on Parliament Hill, 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:21.500 to the Parliament Hill Christian Fellowship. And so I think I got invited on Tuesday or Wednesday or 00:02:21.500 --> 00:02:28.800 something like that, and I went at Friday at lunchtime. And so the deal is, when I speak there, 00:02:29.080 --> 00:02:37.080 that I don't sort of do a special talk just for them. I give them my early thoughts about the 00:02:37.080 --> 00:02:43.500 text I'm going to preach on on Sunday. And so I sat down with them. I said a couple of things. But one 00:02:43.500 --> 00:02:48.620 of the things I said is, unfortunately for you folks today, the scripture text has nothing to do with 00:02:48.620 --> 00:02:54.219 your life and with your experience, because it has to do with ambition. And we all know, of course, 00:02:54.300 --> 00:02:59.180 that in Parliament Hill, there's no ambition whatsoever. None of the staff workers, none of 00:02:59.180 --> 00:03:04.659 the MPs have any ambition at all. So I said, it's going to be impossible for you to relate to the text. 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:10.080 Now, you know, I've qualified it, of course, is anybody who knows anything knows that ambition's a 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:15.920 problem. It can be a problem in families or an issue in families, definitely in the church. 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:23.359 Everybody and their dog wants to be called a canon, just about in Anglicanism. I'm sure in Roman 00:03:23.359 --> 00:03:30.899 Catholicism, it's Monseigneur or Bishop or something or other. So it's an issue. And so Jesus has a lot 00:03:30.899 --> 00:03:38.039 to say about this, actually, some very, very wise and perceptive things. Unfortunately, his words have 00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:45.779 often been misinterpreted in a way that is profoundly demoralizing for people who are low 00:03:45.780 --> 00:03:52.640 down in the social economic scale or low in the educational hierarchy. And so unfortunately, 00:03:52.640 --> 00:03:59.879 it's often been heard in a demoralizing way and in a way, in a sense, which validates or allows the 00:03:59.879 --> 00:04:05.120 powerful to just... Anyway, you get the idea. So let's look and see what he has to say. And in your 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:10.780 Bibles, if you're using these, it's on page 64. And it's Mark. We're going to begin just a bit before 00:04:10.780 --> 00:04:18.600 the part that I read in the service. It's Mark chapter 10, verse 32. Mark 10, 32. It's on page 64. 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:25.379 And in terms of the flow of the gospel, the story, what's happened is at the end of chapter 8, 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:31.480 Jesus, for the first time, very clearly predicted he was going to die. He was going to be betrayed. 00:04:31.639 --> 00:04:35.420 He was going to die. He was going to rise from the dead. And if you're familiar with the story, 00:04:35.420 --> 00:04:41.120 Peter rebuked him. So that's never going to happen to you, Jesus. And Jesus rebukes Peter and says, 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:46.420 you don't understand the things of God. And so if you're reading the story, everything from the end 00:04:46.420 --> 00:04:54.420 of Mark 8 on is Jesus on his way to Jerusalem to die. He doesn't take the direct route. He takes a 00:04:54.420 --> 00:05:01.860 bit of a circuitous route, like a bit of a sideways type of route. But everything in the gospel text is 00:05:01.860 --> 00:05:06.960 preparing us for this, that he's going to go to Jerusalem to die. And he has several other times 00:05:06.960 --> 00:05:13.060 he predicts his crucifixion. And this, what we're going to read just now, is one of them. Here's how 00:05:13.060 --> 00:05:19.740 it goes. And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:27.379 And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell 00:05:27.379 --> 00:05:32.459 them what was to happen to him. Now just pause there for a second. When it says they were on the 00:05:32.459 --> 00:05:38.079 road going up to Jerusalem, it's probably a fairly big crowd. It's not just the twelve. That's why out 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:44.060 of the big crowd, he takes twelve of them aside at a particular moment. And so there's this big crowd, 00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:49.800 and Jesus is now taking the lead. They're walking to Jerusalem, and there's this big crowd walking 00:05:49.800 --> 00:05:54.639 behind. And it says that some of them, what does it say again? It says, and somewhere, 00:05:54.639 --> 00:06:01.180 they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And probably the best way, especially when 00:06:01.180 --> 00:06:06.259 you think of what Peter had to say, when you look at the same prediction in chapter nine, when you see 00:06:06.259 --> 00:06:11.039 what James and John are going to say in a moment, probably what is going to happen. So I've never 00:06:11.039 --> 00:06:16.659 served in the armed forces, and so I've never been to war. I know that there are some here who've 00:06:16.659 --> 00:06:21.560 served in the armed forces. I don't know if you saw any action, but many of us probably know people who 00:06:21.560 --> 00:06:28.259 have. You can imagine it's a little bit like, so these guys think, these guys think they're going 00:06:28.259 --> 00:06:35.780 to Jerusalem for the war. The Messiah is going to finally be revealed. He's going to deal with all 00:06:35.780 --> 00:06:42.100 the corruption that exists around the temple. He's going to defeat the Romans. He's going to restore 00:06:42.100 --> 00:06:47.579 the kingdom of David, and it's going to expand to the entire world. So they, in a sense, you can just 00:06:47.579 --> 00:06:51.639 well imagine that they're walking along, they're thinking they're going to war. And, you know, if 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:56.959 you think about it a little bit, it's as if, I'm just imagining, but I hope it's sort of correct. 00:06:58.199 --> 00:07:04.019 You know, troops, a couple of days before D-Day, or whenever they heard D-Day was going to happen, 00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:07.959 and they're there, they're amazed. They're getting on the ships. The day's come. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:15.560 It's amazing. It's come. The war's about to happen. But at the same time, they're also a bit afraid, 00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:21.500 maybe a lot afraid. Will they act with courage? Will they die? Will they be terribly wounded? 00:07:21.639 --> 00:07:27.560 What's going to happen? So there's this amazing, this mixture of amazement that it's coming. It's 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:33.500 about to happen. And fear. So following Jesus, thinking there's going to be a very big battle, 00:07:34.279 --> 00:07:41.540 and that, and Jesus is going to win. But as you see at the end of verse 32, he says, he says to the 12, 00:07:41.540 --> 00:07:49.520 he says just to them, something's about to happen to him. And as you see, it's not at all what the 12 00:07:49.520 --> 00:07:53.060 and everybody else expects. Look at what he says to them, verse 33. 00:07:54.660 --> 00:08:03.820 See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and 00:08:03.820 --> 00:08:10.660 the scribes. And they, that's the chief priests and the scribes, they will condemn him, Son of Man, 00:08:10.660 --> 00:08:17.880 that's me, to death, and deliver him over to the pagans. And they will mock him, spit on him, 00:08:18.540 --> 00:08:22.700 flog him, kill him. And after three days, he will rise. 00:08:25.300 --> 00:08:32.940 Now, just a couple of things about this text, which is very, very significant. In the original language, 00:08:33.820 --> 00:08:38.379 if you look again at verse 33, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered 00:08:38.379 --> 00:08:44.200 over to the chief priests. Well, who's going to deliver Jesus to the chief priests? God the Father. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:53.899 God the Father is delivering God the Son, Jesus, into the hands of the chief priests and the scribes. 00:08:54.840 --> 00:09:01.460 And the chief priests and the scribes will use all of their freedom to condemn him to death and deliver 00:09:01.460 --> 00:09:07.600 him over to the pagans. And the pagans will use all of their free will to mock him and spit him on him 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:14.420 and flog him and kill him. Now, just a couple of things about this. It's actually, just a pause, it's actually 00:09:14.420 --> 00:09:23.519 really a significant thing to meditate upon. One of the things which Jesus is saying here is that, 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:31.460 you know how little kids sneak? Not just little kids, teenagers, all sorts of people sneak. 00:09:32.279 --> 00:09:37.500 You know, they might know what their parents want them to do, but they sneak to try to do something else. 00:09:37.620 --> 00:09:40.779 So what Jesus is making clear here is that the Father and the Son, 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:45.259 and then if you think about the gospel as a whole, if you think about how in Mark, 00:09:45.259 --> 00:09:52.980 I think it's Mark chapter 1, you know, the Jesus is revealed and God, the Holy Spirit descends on 00:09:52.980 --> 00:09:59.240 Jesus as a dove and the Father says, this is my Son. What you're seeing here is it's not as if God the 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:07.200 Father really wants to send you folks to hell, but Jesus is going to sneak and do something against 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:13.240 the Father's will to save you. It's not that at all. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:20.019 completely and utterly united in their desire to provide a way for human beings to be made right 00:10:20.019 --> 00:10:26.860 with the triune God. They're both in complete and utter harmony with this, and that's one of the 00:10:26.860 --> 00:10:32.899 things which is being communicated here by Jesus. And the second thing, of course, is this is going to 00:10:32.899 --> 00:10:40.419 be very important. As you're going to see in a moment, it's that the disciples don't get it. Like 00:10:40.419 --> 00:10:46.199 time after time after time after time, they don't get it. But these predictions of Jesus, 00:10:46.659 --> 00:10:52.959 that he is going to go to Jerusalem, he's going to be betrayed like this, he's going to be handed over, 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:59.099 he's going to be given then from the Jewish leaders to the Romans, and they're going to have him killed. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:08.419 And Jesus predicts these facts, and that's part of what vindicates him when they all happen. 00:11:08.419 --> 00:11:15.419 The fact is, the fact that these things actually take place, he actually dies in this manner, 00:11:15.799 --> 00:11:20.659 and he actually rises from the dead, is part of what vindicates who Jesus is, 00:11:21.159 --> 00:11:27.659 what he says, and what he does. And it vindicates his interpretation of what's about to happen. 00:11:28.939 --> 00:11:33.120 You see, you think about it for a second. Like there's a whole pile of scholars, 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:38.899 a whole pile of scholars, like probably just about everybody at the faculty of religion at 00:11:38.899 --> 00:11:42.399 University of Ottawa or Carleton would all just say, well, of course we know Jesus didn't predict 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:47.000 this, because predictions are impossible. We all know that this was written way, way after the fact, 00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:53.860 they just sort of created these predictions, you know, after all the things that happened to make 00:11:53.860 --> 00:12:00.019 it look like he predicted. Well, I mean, they say that. They don't have any evidence for it, by the way. 00:12:02.659 --> 00:12:04.200 Like they have zero evidence. 00:12:05.860 --> 00:12:09.560 In fact, the actual evidence is all against them. 00:12:10.899 --> 00:12:13.220 I didn't mention this a couple of weeks ago, but 00:12:13.220 --> 00:12:21.240 one of the very earliest New Testament, not New Testament, one of the earliest letters that was written, 00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:26.000 there's a letter written, I think it was by, I'm going to get the, this was a couple of weeks ago, 00:12:26.060 --> 00:12:29.160 it was in my earlier sermon, I didn't write it here, I can't remember the name, 00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:34.000 but there's a letter from the 90s, that's the zero 90s, quoting Mark, 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:36.420 quoting the Gospel of Mark, 00:12:37.220 --> 00:12:39.800 which they have, a letter by one Christian to others, 00:12:39.799 --> 00:12:44.559 quoting Mark. But, but here, you know, here's the, here's the big thing. 00:12:45.620 --> 00:12:48.240 You know, all the, all these things about how it was just a, you know, 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:52.459 it was just, because we know that, but basically because we know that predictions don't happen. 00:12:52.899 --> 00:12:57.579 And so therefore, you know, these things were just added, all written later. 00:12:57.579 --> 00:13:01.719 But there's all sorts of problems with that, and, and, and, and one of them is 00:13:01.719 --> 00:13:08.559 that if they were doing that, they wouldn't have made 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:13.959 all of the witnesses to Jesus' resurrection look so foolish and so bad. 00:13:15.979 --> 00:13:20.419 They would have added their own little thing, of course, that we believed Jesus when he said these things, 00:13:20.519 --> 00:13:22.079 and that's why we proclaim it now. 00:13:23.319 --> 00:13:27.039 And, and, and the, and because this was written while eyewitnesses were still alive, 00:13:27.139 --> 00:13:29.319 the eyewitnesses would have been able to call them on it. 00:13:29.339 --> 00:13:34.179 They would have been able to say, no, no, no, no, Peter, James, John, you guys, 00:13:34.179 --> 00:13:36.899 you guys kept getting it wrong. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:38.979 You can't go ahead and write all this stuff. 00:13:39.579 --> 00:13:42.859 And in fact, that's just in, in general, the whole thing is. 00:13:42.959 --> 00:13:46.779 I mean, there's people, nobody could say that these things didn't happen. 00:13:46.899 --> 00:13:49.919 Nobody, nobody, none of the eyewitnesses could say that these things happened. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:56.500 And, and, and nothing other than the truth of these things explains the profound growth 00:13:56.500 --> 00:14:02.740 of the Christian faith and the very heart of the Christian faith was this proclamation 00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:04.240 of a fact and a truth. 00:14:05.340 --> 00:14:08.779 Like the part that I just read a bit earlier, and we're going to read again in a moment. 00:14:08.860 --> 00:14:12.360 It's one of the things which is really interesting when James and John ask, you know, that they, 00:14:12.360 --> 00:14:13.860 they make their question. 00:14:14.700 --> 00:14:22.360 And, you know, historically, the very first of the 12 to die, well, of course, Judas dies 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:29.240 first as a, as a betrayer, but the very first one to die as a martyr because he claimed that 00:14:29.240 --> 00:14:33.960 Jesus actually lived and died and rose again was James. 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:41.659 And the last of the 11 to die, all the while proclaiming this fact, was John. 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:43.100 Sort of interesting. 00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:48.539 It's as if, it's as if Mark was just, you know, right in his story, the true story of 00:14:48.539 --> 00:14:52.340 Jesus, he thought, and he would have, he wouldn't have known, by the way, that John would 00:14:52.340 --> 00:14:54.080 be the last, that just the Holy Spirit. 00:14:56.560 --> 00:15:01.639 But he would have maybe known already that James was dead when he wrote that. 00:15:03.139 --> 00:15:04.820 Anyway, what happens? 00:15:05.100 --> 00:15:06.759 Jesus is very, very clear. 00:15:06.759 --> 00:15:08.300 It's simple to understand. 00:15:08.500 --> 00:15:10.660 Do the, do the disciples get it? 00:15:10.980 --> 00:15:12.639 Do they understand it? 00:15:13.379 --> 00:15:13.980 Well, let's look. 00:15:14.100 --> 00:15:14.780 Verse 35. 00:15:15.639 --> 00:15:21.840 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus and said to him, teacher, we 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:24.420 want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. 00:15:25.280 --> 00:15:28.480 And Jesus said to them, what do you want me to do for you? 00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:35.759 And they said to him, grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:36.259 your glory. 00:15:37.320 --> 00:15:41.800 And Jesus said to them, verse 38, you do not know what you are asking. 00:15:41.799 --> 00:15:45.559 And I just sort of pause there for a second. 00:15:47.079 --> 00:15:52.219 If you wanted to do a talk on prayer, this would be a very good text to talk about. 00:15:54.500 --> 00:15:59.479 Jesus looks right at them and says, and he doesn't despise them or hate them. 00:15:59.479 --> 00:16:01.459 He just says, you don't know what you're asking. 00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:06.940 Like, you just wait a week, week and a half. 00:16:07.139 --> 00:16:11.300 You're going to be so glad I said no to your request. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:17.639 Like, what they're really asking is, yeah, yeah, we don't want Jesus to die between two 00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:18.200 thieves. 00:16:18.460 --> 00:16:21.900 We want to be on either side of Jesus on the cross when he's dying. 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:22.740 We want to be crucified. 00:16:22.940 --> 00:16:27.280 That's what they, that's what they're going to get if Jesus said, sure, come along. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:33.220 And they, you see, one of the things, I was joking at Parliament Hill Christian Fellowship, 00:16:33.259 --> 00:16:35.779 one of the things that will probably happen in heaven, I mean, I don't know. 00:16:35.879 --> 00:16:37.480 This is just, like, make believe. 00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:42.339 But one of the things that will probably happen in heaven is there's going to be, Jesus says 00:16:42.339 --> 00:16:47.220 no movie nights that are comedies in heaven. 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:53.759 And so one night it will be the George, the prayers of George that Jesus said no to. 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:58.639 And they'll just have a big screen, and all of heaven will be around, and the angels and 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:01.539 the archangels, and they'll just flash up on the screen. 00:17:01.620 --> 00:17:02.559 Here's George praying. 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:05.000 Here's what would have happened. 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:07.799 Here's how disappointed he didn't get a yes. 00:17:09.019 --> 00:17:10.940 And everybody will laugh, right? 00:17:11.019 --> 00:17:11.879 Everybody will laugh. 00:17:12.660 --> 00:17:18.119 You know, my wife's here today, but, you know, I had a, in grade 12, I had a girlfriend 00:17:18.119 --> 00:17:21.240 for 10 months, the first and only girlfriend I had in high school. 00:17:21.240 --> 00:17:23.339 And she dumped me after 10 months. 00:17:23.980 --> 00:17:25.720 And I didn't take it well. 00:17:26.599 --> 00:17:31.720 And for two years at least, I prayed almost every day that God would change her heart. 00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:37.099 And I am so glad Jesus said no to every single one of those prayer requests. 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:39.960 Because it's so much better that I'm married to Louise. 00:17:40.380 --> 00:17:41.620 But that's just a small one. 00:17:41.740 --> 00:17:45.160 You know, all of us can probably even now in our experience think of some of the really 00:17:45.160 --> 00:17:48.400 stupid things we prayed for and are now glad that Jesus said no. 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:51.960 And just so, you know, the next night it'll be Harold's night, you know, the dumb things 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:52.759 he prayed for. 00:17:52.840 --> 00:17:56.759 And then the next night it'll be Victor's and then Louise's and Emma's and on and on. 00:17:57.120 --> 00:18:01.380 Anyway, there's a whole sermon you could be doing there where Jesus says, you don't know 00:18:01.380 --> 00:18:02.700 what you're asking for. 00:18:03.400 --> 00:18:03.759 Really? 00:18:04.019 --> 00:18:04.680 You don't. 00:18:05.060 --> 00:18:07.820 Anyway, so let's see how they respond and what he says more. 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:09.400 Look back at verse 38. 00:18:09.500 --> 00:18:11.300 Jesus said to them, you don't know what you're asking. 00:18:11.299 --> 00:18:17.259 And then he says, are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the 00:18:17.259 --> 00:18:19.359 baptism with which I am baptized? 00:18:20.299 --> 00:18:22.200 Now just sort of pause here for a second. 00:18:22.339 --> 00:18:24.599 This is one of these momentous statements. 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:31.019 And it's really easy to see how things like this would stick in the disciples' minds and 00:18:31.019 --> 00:18:32.079 they'd want to write it down. 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:40.199 What Jesus is doing here is he's giving a bit of a hint about the nature of his death. 00:18:41.259 --> 00:18:45.799 And he's also, in a sense, even in a bit of a way, playing with two things that are going 00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:50.039 to become very, very important for centuries later in the Christian church. 00:18:50.939 --> 00:18:56.259 The image of the cup, that's going to come again in Mark chapter 14. 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:02.039 In fact, if you are going to follow up with this as a text on prayer, in Mark 14, in the 00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:08.399 Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked the Father if the cup could be taken from him. 00:19:09.659 --> 00:19:11.339 And God the Father says no. 00:19:13.480 --> 00:19:18.200 Like for all of us who get all upset when we ask for something in prayer and God says no, 00:19:18.279 --> 00:19:19.420 like get over yourselves. 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:21.759 George, get over myself. 00:19:22.779 --> 00:19:25.039 Jesus asked for something and the Father said no. 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:33.539 But the cup is this, you know, fantasy movies have helped us to get a bit of an image. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:40.099 If you've watched Witcher or any of those things on Netflix, they've given us a bit of a way 00:19:40.099 --> 00:19:41.819 to understand this type of image. 00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:42.740 I've shared it before. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:43.460 I'll share it again. 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:50.099 But if you were to just imagine that all of a sudden, you know, some creature or some, you 00:19:50.099 --> 00:19:54.399 know, elf or some, you know, whatever, warlock was able to come into the room and all of a 00:19:54.399 --> 00:19:59.219 sudden I'd be frozen and all of the evil that's part of George, all of the evil that I've ever 00:19:59.219 --> 00:19:59.679 done. 00:19:59.919 --> 00:20:04.719 And it's sort of taken out of me and I get all twisted and my joints get all out of whack. 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:10.359 And it turns into this foul black thing and then it sort of coalesces and comes into a cup. 00:20:10.740 --> 00:20:15.319 But then it does it for, it does it for Scott and Harold and on and on and on. 00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:18.359 And Jonathan, it's all just going on and all of this one cup. 00:20:18.939 --> 00:20:21.799 And of course, you know, we sort of crumple and all of that. 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:25.679 And then the evil being drinks it. 00:20:25.799 --> 00:20:29.059 And of course, in fantasy movies like that, they drink it to become more evil. 00:20:30.299 --> 00:20:32.960 But there's something similar to that which is happening. 00:20:33.399 --> 00:20:38.119 Only there's a very important twist if you read all of the Old Testament texts which underlie 00:20:38.119 --> 00:20:46.419 this image is that, of course, in things like The Witcher, it's an evil person trying to become 00:20:46.419 --> 00:20:47.599 stronger with evil. 00:20:50.119 --> 00:20:58.219 But in the real world, in the real world, there's a God, the triune God that does exist. 00:20:58.220 --> 00:21:03.900 And that evil that comes out also comes out, it's going to be judged. 00:21:06.420 --> 00:21:12.640 And so in a sense, the images of all the human beings who've ever lived, all of the evil from 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:13.980 them goes into a cup. 00:21:14.380 --> 00:21:20.059 And in that cup is not just the evil, but also the judgment of God on your evil and mine. 00:21:20.059 --> 00:21:29.259 And when you see Jesus dying on the cross, what you see is him drinking that cup that 00:21:29.259 --> 00:21:37.059 has the evil from within you and the judgment which is proper to it being consumed by Jesus. 00:21:37.940 --> 00:21:40.619 And that is why he says two things. 00:21:41.740 --> 00:21:45.500 First, he says, I mean, he says more than two things, but that is why he says, my God, 00:21:45.579 --> 00:21:47.299 my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:21:47.299 --> 00:21:52.359 And it's also why he says, it is finished. 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:56.720 As he dies, it is finished. 00:21:56.839 --> 00:21:57.539 It is accomplished. 00:21:58.079 --> 00:21:59.079 The cup has been drunk. 00:22:00.919 --> 00:22:03.139 And baptism is an image of solidarity. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:11.440 It's an image of entering into death and coming out of the waters of death and immersed in death. 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:17.000 And Jesus uses these images with these fellows as all part of the way which is going to be 00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:17.400 developed. 00:22:17.539 --> 00:22:22.319 There's not only capturing all of this Old Testament imagery, things that he's already 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:26.359 said in the Gospels and what's going to continue to be in the apostolic teaching and the epistles, 00:22:26.700 --> 00:22:31.920 they're all sort of encapsulated there in this very, very simple but profound image. 00:22:32.039 --> 00:22:33.380 Look at it again in verse 38. 00:22:33.500 --> 00:22:36.920 Jesus said to them, you do not know what you are asking. 00:22:36.920 --> 00:22:42.860 Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? 00:22:44.660 --> 00:22:46.759 And they said to him, we're able. 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:49.779 They don't get the imagery, right? 00:22:50.560 --> 00:22:52.700 They're still just thinking we're going to Jerusalem. 00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:54.279 I mean, the good grief. 00:22:54.800 --> 00:22:57.259 You know, Jesus could calm a storm. 00:22:57.259 --> 00:23:02.980 Jesus could feed 5,000 men and all the women and children with just a couple of loaves and fishes. 00:23:03.619 --> 00:23:05.539 Jesus could heal paralyzed people. 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:10.019 And they also know of the other miracles not recorded by Mark but recorded by other people. 00:23:10.099 --> 00:23:13.059 Jesus could make a guy born blind to see. 00:23:13.819 --> 00:23:16.220 Like, Jesus raised the dead to life. 00:23:16.220 --> 00:23:20.460 Like, how on earth could he possibly lose? 00:23:22.019 --> 00:23:24.100 Like, how could he possibly lose in a battle? 00:23:24.339 --> 00:23:25.360 Like, he can't lose. 00:23:25.460 --> 00:23:29.380 This is like, you know, a couple of us might get wounded and maybe we won't be as courageous. 00:23:29.600 --> 00:23:30.680 Yeah, but he can't lose. 00:23:31.420 --> 00:23:32.200 So they still think. 00:23:32.259 --> 00:23:34.000 So they think, yeah, yeah, we can do all this stuff. 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:35.680 You know, yeah, whatever that means, Jesus. 00:23:35.799 --> 00:23:36.319 Yeah, whatever. 00:23:36.839 --> 00:23:37.779 We are able. 00:23:38.259 --> 00:23:38.819 Verse 39. 00:23:38.819 --> 00:23:42.980 And Jesus said to them, the cup that I drink you will drink. 00:23:42.980 --> 00:23:48.220 And with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized. 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:52.220 But to sit at my right hand or at my left hand is not mine to grant. 00:23:52.700 --> 00:23:55.339 But it is for those for whom it has been prepared. 00:23:56.559 --> 00:23:58.279 Now just sort of pause here for a second. 00:23:59.140 --> 00:24:02.819 Obviously, the two of them don't die on the cross beside Jesus. 00:24:03.079 --> 00:24:07.860 And obviously, they're not drinking the exact same cup that Jesus has to drink. 00:24:07.859 --> 00:24:14.659 But you see, here's part of the wonder of the gospel. 00:24:18.479 --> 00:24:28.479 It's because Jesus drank the cup of the sins of all humanity is that if part of the image of my death, 00:24:28.479 --> 00:24:35.299 because, you know, if you go back to the book of Genesis, death is a judgment by God on sin. 00:24:35.299 --> 00:24:44.259 Sin came first, and death is both a judgment of God and a mercy of God. 00:24:44.339 --> 00:24:45.440 But that's a whole other sermon. 00:24:46.460 --> 00:24:50.839 But when I drink the cup of my death, it will be a very different cup, 00:24:50.940 --> 00:24:53.259 because Christ has drunk the cup first. 00:24:56.059 --> 00:24:58.879 And when I, in a sense, am immersed in the waters of death, 00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:01.700 it will be a very different immersion in the waters of death, 00:25:01.700 --> 00:25:05.940 because I have a good shepherd, and so do you, 00:25:07.340 --> 00:25:11.340 a good shepherd who is with me in the valley of the shadow of death. 00:25:11.740 --> 00:25:14.059 And I will fear no evil, for he is with me. 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:17.080 His rod and his staff, they comfort me. 00:25:18.860 --> 00:25:22.360 And I will go and experience all there is to experience of death, 00:25:22.359 --> 00:25:28.299 but not with death's terrors, and not with the evil and the judgment that I deserve, 00:25:28.599 --> 00:25:34.059 because that, I go with him, who has died my death first. 00:25:35.019 --> 00:25:37.939 And I am carried by him, 00:25:39.719 --> 00:25:42.559 as have been James and John. 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:47.539 But verse 41, 00:25:49.679 --> 00:25:51.000 and when the ten heard it, 00:25:52.099 --> 00:25:52.899 what had happened, 00:25:53.819 --> 00:25:56.299 and even what, I mean, James and John said, 00:25:56.359 --> 00:25:58.000 I have no idea what he's talking about. 00:25:58.059 --> 00:26:00.059 He said this stuff about baptisms and cups, 00:26:00.159 --> 00:26:01.079 and I don't know what it means, 00:26:01.539 --> 00:26:02.619 but it sort of came out. 00:26:03.319 --> 00:26:05.220 And when the ten heard it, in verse 41, 00:26:05.419 --> 00:26:08.339 they began to be indignant at James and John. 00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:11.319 And if you wanted to sort of really capture the original language, 00:26:11.319 --> 00:26:13.319 indignant should be bolded and italicized, 00:26:14.159 --> 00:26:18.339 like they were mad at James and John. 00:26:18.859 --> 00:26:20.819 I mean, basically, probably what was happening 00:26:20.819 --> 00:26:23.539 is they wanted to weasel their way to those two seats, 00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:25.619 and James and John got ahead of them. 00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:28.039 They also wanted to climb the greasy pole, 00:26:28.099 --> 00:26:29.960 even if it meant stepping on the other ten, 00:26:30.379 --> 00:26:33.139 and they didn't appreciate James and John 00:26:33.139 --> 00:26:35.079 trying to be higher on that greasy pole, 00:26:35.240 --> 00:26:36.019 stepping on them, 00:26:36.159 --> 00:26:37.799 because they wanted that position. 00:26:38.899 --> 00:26:39.919 And verse 42, 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:42.840 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:48.880 you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles 00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:50.220 lord it over them, 00:26:50.500 --> 00:26:53.480 and their great ones exercise authority over them. 00:26:53.560 --> 00:26:55.360 And just sort of back up for a second, 00:26:56.100 --> 00:26:58.440 it sounds a little bit in English 00:26:58.440 --> 00:27:03.100 as if Jesus is dismissing them. 00:27:03.779 --> 00:27:04.860 You know, it just looks like they're, 00:27:04.960 --> 00:27:06.800 you know, Trudeau just looks like he's in power, 00:27:06.799 --> 00:27:09.079 but really it's all the World Economic Forum, 00:27:09.399 --> 00:27:10.659 and, you know, or, you know, 00:27:10.680 --> 00:27:12.379 some international conspiracy. 00:27:12.619 --> 00:27:14.460 Yeah, it looks like Pierre Polivare is the head, 00:27:14.539 --> 00:27:16.180 but, you know, he's just a puppet, 00:27:16.399 --> 00:27:17.240 and it's, you know, whatever. 00:27:17.419 --> 00:27:19.339 You pick your conspiracy theory. 00:27:20.039 --> 00:27:21.680 Pick your conspiracy theory. 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:25.960 And it, but it, it, it sounds like that a little bit in English, 00:27:25.960 --> 00:27:28.340 but it, it doesn't, we're getting the wrong sense. 00:27:28.440 --> 00:27:33.039 It's partially our culture poisoning, in a sense, 00:27:33.100 --> 00:27:34.039 the way we listen. 00:27:35.460 --> 00:27:36.900 He actually is just saying, 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:38.779 in the original language, 00:27:38.860 --> 00:27:40.100 it's just saying, you know, 00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:44.120 there are people who are rulers amongst the pagans. 00:27:44.620 --> 00:27:45.960 I mean, that actually happens. 00:27:46.779 --> 00:27:49.360 I mean, that, that's really the, the, the sense of it. 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:50.399 You know, it actually happens. 00:27:50.519 --> 00:27:53.079 There are people who are rulers amongst the pagans. 00:27:53.659 --> 00:27:55.199 And, and, you know, and you know what they're like. 00:27:55.519 --> 00:27:56.740 They lord it over others, 00:27:56.740 --> 00:27:59.459 and, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 00:27:59.459 --> 00:28:01.799 Like they, you know, they put people down there. 00:28:02.039 --> 00:28:03.319 They build themselves up. 00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:06.240 Verse 43, but it shall not be so among you. 00:28:07.319 --> 00:28:09.079 That but is a big but. 00:28:10.059 --> 00:28:12.399 But it shall not be so among you. 00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:16.079 But whoever would be great among you 00:28:16.079 --> 00:28:17.259 must be your servant. 00:28:17.259 --> 00:28:19.779 And whoever would be first among you 00:28:19.779 --> 00:28:21.759 must be slave of all. 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:24.000 Now, just sort of pause here. 00:28:24.099 --> 00:28:25.640 I haven't talked about this in a while, 00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:26.940 but it's just really good to remember 00:28:26.940 --> 00:28:28.400 that the word for slave there 00:28:28.400 --> 00:28:29.759 in the original language is doulos. 00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:33.680 And there's no real equivalent for doulos in English. 00:28:35.259 --> 00:28:37.740 If you think, when you hear doulos, 00:28:37.879 --> 00:28:39.500 if you think of the terrible things 00:28:39.500 --> 00:28:41.019 that happened in the American South 00:28:41.019 --> 00:28:44.500 before the slaves were liberated, 00:28:44.500 --> 00:28:46.740 that's not what's meant 00:28:46.740 --> 00:28:49.119 in the Roman world. 00:28:50.460 --> 00:28:52.000 If you think of servant, 00:28:52.140 --> 00:28:53.180 because some English Bibles 00:28:53.180 --> 00:28:54.559 will translate the word as servant, 00:28:54.700 --> 00:28:55.980 then as I've shared before, 00:28:56.140 --> 00:28:57.400 that's not what's meant as well. 00:28:57.539 --> 00:29:00.180 Most movies, for instance, 00:29:00.299 --> 00:29:01.880 when they have servants in them, 00:29:01.940 --> 00:29:03.200 not all of them, but many of them, 00:29:03.240 --> 00:29:05.240 the servants are the smart and sane ones. 00:29:05.400 --> 00:29:06.900 And usually the lords and ladies 00:29:06.900 --> 00:29:08.319 and their children are all nuts 00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:09.640 and incompetent. 00:29:09.640 --> 00:29:11.580 And the servants are always saving the day. 00:29:12.140 --> 00:29:14.020 But it gives you the wrong impression 00:29:14.020 --> 00:29:15.200 and a servant can quit. 00:29:15.640 --> 00:29:18.840 It is the lowest ladder in Roman society. 00:29:18.960 --> 00:29:20.920 You can't go any lower than being a doulos. 00:29:21.160 --> 00:29:22.120 Like, that's the bottom. 00:29:23.620 --> 00:29:25.780 And so there is, to people here, 00:29:25.779 --> 00:29:30.740 an impossibility. 00:29:31.339 --> 00:29:33.139 It's a little bit like what he just said 00:29:33.139 --> 00:29:34.000 just before this, 00:29:34.119 --> 00:29:38.319 where it's just as easy 00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:40.119 for the rich and successful 00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:41.819 and powerful ones that we admire 00:29:41.819 --> 00:29:43.799 on their own human ability 00:29:43.799 --> 00:29:46.059 to go into heaven 00:29:46.059 --> 00:29:47.259 as it is to get a camel 00:29:47.259 --> 00:29:48.379 going through the eye of a needle. 00:29:48.500 --> 00:29:49.539 Like, it's an impossibility. 00:29:49.740 --> 00:29:51.720 It's a bit of an impossibility here, 00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:53.099 this idea that somehow or another 00:29:53.099 --> 00:29:54.720 the Lord should be the slave, 00:29:54.720 --> 00:29:55.759 the doulos. 00:29:56.799 --> 00:29:58.940 It doesn't really make any sense. 00:30:00.500 --> 00:30:01.640 And it's here, by the way, 00:30:01.720 --> 00:30:04.759 that things start to go a little bit odd 00:30:04.759 --> 00:30:06.400 for us. 00:30:09.400 --> 00:30:11.880 Is Jesus actually teaching here 00:30:11.880 --> 00:30:13.519 a type of primitive communism 00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:16.900 where there's no bosses, 00:30:17.740 --> 00:30:19.579 you know, there's no hierarchy, 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:20.759 there's just all of us 00:30:20.759 --> 00:30:22.460 are completely and utterly equal. 00:30:22.460 --> 00:30:25.120 Is he saying here 00:30:25.120 --> 00:30:26.940 that there should be no hierarchy? 00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:28.660 Is he saying here 00:30:28.660 --> 00:30:30.100 that if I be, you know, 00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:30.799 if a Christian, 00:30:30.940 --> 00:30:32.000 like if Pierre Polivare, 00:30:32.519 --> 00:30:32.799 I don't know, 00:30:33.160 --> 00:30:35.539 if a Christian becomes 00:30:35.539 --> 00:30:37.019 the prime minister, 00:30:37.220 --> 00:30:38.059 they shouldn't exercise 00:30:38.059 --> 00:30:38.920 their power. 00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:41.380 Is he saying here 00:30:41.380 --> 00:30:44.160 that people shouldn't seek promotion? 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:46.759 And this is where I was saying 00:30:46.759 --> 00:30:47.799 that often this text 00:30:47.799 --> 00:30:49.340 is interpreted in such a way 00:30:49.339 --> 00:30:51.220 that it's very, very demoralizing. 00:30:52.279 --> 00:30:53.359 See, it'd be very easy 00:30:53.359 --> 00:30:54.299 for me to get up here 00:30:54.299 --> 00:30:54.939 and try to say, 00:30:55.019 --> 00:30:55.939 you know, you shouldn't be seeking, 00:30:56.079 --> 00:30:56.959 you shouldn't have ambition, 00:30:57.139 --> 00:30:58.439 you shouldn't be seeking promotion. 00:30:58.619 --> 00:30:59.279 Jesus is saying 00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:00.539 you should seek the lowest place, 00:31:00.599 --> 00:31:01.459 you should be a servant. 00:31:02.259 --> 00:31:03.079 And I might be able 00:31:03.079 --> 00:31:04.799 to give you very convincing arguments 00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:05.379 to show you 00:31:05.379 --> 00:31:06.699 that that's what the Bible's saying 00:31:06.699 --> 00:31:07.879 and have it stick in your head. 00:31:08.259 --> 00:31:09.459 But you know the thing is, 00:31:09.720 --> 00:31:10.879 I'm an old guy. 00:31:10.880 --> 00:31:16.820 I'm never going to be bishop. 00:31:19.780 --> 00:31:21.220 That's very, very, very 00:31:21.220 --> 00:31:22.940 profoundly demoralizing 00:31:22.940 --> 00:31:24.140 for those of you here 00:31:24.140 --> 00:31:25.200 who are in your 20s 00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:26.280 who'd love to have a promotion 00:31:26.280 --> 00:31:27.280 or your 30s. 00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:29.300 You'd love to have a promotion. 00:31:30.180 --> 00:31:31.460 You'd like to do your PhD 00:31:31.460 --> 00:31:33.360 and you'd like to eventually 00:31:33.360 --> 00:31:34.120 be a professor. 00:31:35.500 --> 00:31:36.960 And is the text being interpreted 00:31:36.960 --> 00:31:37.700 in such a way 00:31:37.700 --> 00:31:38.760 that you shouldn't have those, 00:31:38.820 --> 00:31:39.680 you shouldn't even dream 00:31:39.680 --> 00:31:40.700 for those types of things. 00:31:40.700 --> 00:31:42.019 You shouldn't do any work for them. 00:31:43.740 --> 00:31:44.920 And it might be 00:31:44.920 --> 00:31:46.240 that we all be very pious 00:31:46.240 --> 00:31:46.940 and not at it, 00:31:46.980 --> 00:31:48.840 but it's profoundly demoralizing 00:31:48.840 --> 00:31:50.160 for people who want 00:31:50.160 --> 00:31:51.519 to better their lives. 00:31:52.920 --> 00:31:54.319 So is Jesus trying 00:31:54.319 --> 00:31:56.779 to demoralize us 00:31:56.779 --> 00:31:59.299 from wanting to better our lives? 00:32:01.519 --> 00:32:02.559 Well, he isn't. 00:32:03.259 --> 00:32:04.740 But let's look at the next verse 00:32:04.740 --> 00:32:06.440 and then we'll swing back to it. 00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:10.680 Verse 45 goes like this. 00:32:11.640 --> 00:32:13.279 For, and this word for 00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:14.559 is very important. 00:32:14.980 --> 00:32:16.440 This is a purpose statement. 00:32:16.819 --> 00:32:19.380 It's an explanatory statement. 00:32:19.620 --> 00:32:20.500 It's the root. 00:32:21.620 --> 00:32:22.980 And it's providing us 00:32:22.980 --> 00:32:24.819 a way to understand 00:32:24.819 --> 00:32:26.059 this previous image. 00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:27.059 And it's in fact, 00:32:27.160 --> 00:32:28.360 actually, you know, 00:32:28.420 --> 00:32:29.000 one of the things, 00:32:29.240 --> 00:32:31.240 one of the things 00:32:31.240 --> 00:32:32.299 that a lot of modern 00:32:32.299 --> 00:32:34.140 New Testament scholars do 00:32:34.140 --> 00:32:35.800 is they try to use something. 00:32:35.880 --> 00:32:36.840 Some of you might be familiar 00:32:36.840 --> 00:32:38.480 with this left word 00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:39.420 that comes from the left. 00:32:39.580 --> 00:32:41.040 I don't know if I'm pronouncing it correctly. 00:32:41.460 --> 00:32:42.360 Problematize things. 00:32:43.300 --> 00:32:45.320 And it's a very common technique 00:32:45.320 --> 00:32:46.660 in New Testament scholarship 00:32:46.660 --> 00:32:47.900 and Old Testament scholarship 00:32:47.900 --> 00:32:49.280 is they borrow this tool 00:32:49.280 --> 00:32:49.880 from the left. 00:32:50.300 --> 00:32:51.620 And problematize things 00:32:51.619 --> 00:32:53.699 means that there's no subtlety. 00:32:54.119 --> 00:32:55.399 There's no nuance. 00:32:56.000 --> 00:32:57.139 There's no development. 00:32:57.339 --> 00:32:57.759 What you do 00:32:57.759 --> 00:32:58.759 is you take everything 00:32:58.759 --> 00:32:59.919 and you try to make it go 00:32:59.919 --> 00:33:01.559 in crazy trajectories 00:33:01.559 --> 00:33:03.219 so that there's nothing left 00:33:03.219 --> 00:33:03.919 in the text. 00:33:04.359 --> 00:33:05.119 And then when they've done 00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:06.839 all these crazy trajectories, 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:08.879 they bring in their BS. 00:33:10.059 --> 00:33:11.559 Sorry for my political comment. 00:33:12.559 --> 00:33:14.839 And they don't actually read the text 00:33:14.839 --> 00:33:16.819 because they problematized everything. 00:33:17.819 --> 00:33:17.919 Right? 00:33:18.460 --> 00:33:19.799 And so what that does is, 00:33:20.019 --> 00:33:20.200 you see, 00:33:20.339 --> 00:33:21.939 but for people who don't do that, 00:33:22.879 --> 00:33:24.299 there's like two very, very, 00:33:24.379 --> 00:33:25.679 very big purpose texts. 00:33:25.759 --> 00:33:26.480 If you're just trying 00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:27.779 to read the text as a text 00:33:27.779 --> 00:33:28.859 and you're accepting the fact 00:33:28.859 --> 00:33:29.919 that there's going to be wisdom, 00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:30.980 there's going to be nuance, 00:33:31.740 --> 00:33:32.919 there's going to be development, 00:33:33.139 --> 00:33:34.159 but here you have, 00:33:34.240 --> 00:33:36.480 there's two very important purpose texts 00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:37.399 in the Gospel of Mark. 00:33:37.399 --> 00:33:40.439 And older scholars recognize this. 00:33:40.740 --> 00:33:42.039 The first one is at the very beginning 00:33:42.039 --> 00:33:42.919 of Mark's Gospel 00:33:42.919 --> 00:33:44.119 where Jesus says 00:33:44.119 --> 00:33:45.720 what the whole Gospel's about. 00:33:46.819 --> 00:33:48.200 The time is fulfilled. 00:33:49.079 --> 00:33:49.519 In other words, 00:33:49.659 --> 00:33:51.099 everything in the Old Testament 00:33:51.099 --> 00:33:52.399 that's been talking about me 00:33:52.399 --> 00:33:53.319 is about to come to, 00:33:53.700 --> 00:33:55.439 is been coming to a conclusion. 00:33:55.960 --> 00:33:57.000 God is keeping His Word. 00:33:57.059 --> 00:33:58.039 The time is fulfilled. 00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:00.019 The kingdom of God has come. 00:34:00.619 --> 00:34:01.759 And what that means is 00:34:01.759 --> 00:34:02.899 there's going to be a king, 00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:03.579 that's Jesus, 00:34:03.759 --> 00:34:05.299 and He's going to create the kingdom. 00:34:06.079 --> 00:34:07.779 It's not like Charles getting, 00:34:08.480 --> 00:34:08.659 you know, 00:34:08.759 --> 00:34:10.519 being made a king of a kingdom 00:34:10.519 --> 00:34:11.380 that already exists. 00:34:11.460 --> 00:34:12.340 There is no kingdom. 00:34:12.900 --> 00:34:14.480 Jesus is going to be the kingdom. 00:34:14.599 --> 00:34:16.000 The kingdom of God is at hand. 00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:16.719 And repent, 00:34:17.380 --> 00:34:20.000 which means turn from your direction 00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:21.500 and turn towards the king. 00:34:21.960 --> 00:34:22.639 And believe, 00:34:23.239 --> 00:34:24.960 which means to open yourself up 00:34:24.960 --> 00:34:25.780 and enter in 00:34:25.780 --> 00:34:27.860 and to trust the Gospel, 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:28.820 the good news. 00:34:28.920 --> 00:34:29.679 The good news. 00:34:30.139 --> 00:34:31.219 Well, what is the good news? 00:34:31.380 --> 00:34:33.119 That's the second purpose statement, 00:34:33.239 --> 00:34:34.219 which is right here. 00:34:34.599 --> 00:34:35.380 From Jesus. 00:34:36.380 --> 00:34:38.800 For even the Son of Man. 00:34:39.659 --> 00:34:40.820 Why did Jesus come? 00:34:40.820 --> 00:34:43.620 He came not to be served, 00:34:44.220 --> 00:34:45.059 but to serve, 00:34:45.700 --> 00:34:46.820 and to give His life 00:34:46.820 --> 00:34:48.400 as a ransom for many. 00:34:49.260 --> 00:34:50.700 If you're looking for a tattoo, 00:34:50.900 --> 00:34:51.860 that's a good tattoo. 00:34:54.980 --> 00:34:56.460 I'm not encouraging tattoos, 00:34:56.580 --> 00:34:56.940 by the way, 00:34:57.019 --> 00:34:58.660 but I'm not opposed to them either. 00:34:58.880 --> 00:34:59.500 It's up to you. 00:34:59.539 --> 00:35:00.280 You want to have a tattoo, 00:35:00.460 --> 00:35:00.620 you know, 00:35:00.660 --> 00:35:01.240 good for you. 00:35:01.600 --> 00:35:02.780 But if you don't want to have one, 00:35:02.820 --> 00:35:03.360 that's good too. 00:35:04.039 --> 00:35:04.600 But listen to that. 00:35:04.660 --> 00:35:05.740 For even the Son of Man 00:35:05.740 --> 00:35:06.800 came not to be served, 00:35:06.860 --> 00:35:07.500 but to serve, 00:35:07.500 --> 00:35:08.619 and to give His life 00:35:08.619 --> 00:35:10.179 as a ransom for many. 00:35:11.179 --> 00:35:12.340 A couple of things here. 00:35:14.280 --> 00:35:15.400 The fact is, 00:35:16.599 --> 00:35:18.519 there's this profound mystery 00:35:18.519 --> 00:35:19.760 of what it is 00:35:19.760 --> 00:35:20.579 that is accomplished 00:35:20.579 --> 00:35:21.360 on the cross. 00:35:23.340 --> 00:35:25.400 And sometimes preachers 00:35:25.400 --> 00:35:26.280 and academics 00:35:26.280 --> 00:35:27.320 and theologians 00:35:27.320 --> 00:35:28.320 will make it look like 00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:28.960 they can get 00:35:28.960 --> 00:35:30.179 every little word 00:35:30.179 --> 00:35:31.139 right down there 00:35:31.139 --> 00:35:32.599 perfectly expressed. 00:35:34.119 --> 00:35:36.139 And that's a mistake. 00:35:36.139 --> 00:35:36.219 I think, 00:35:37.179 --> 00:35:39.139 at the end of the day, 00:35:39.839 --> 00:35:41.319 the death of Jesus 00:35:41.319 --> 00:35:42.299 upon the cross 00:35:42.299 --> 00:35:44.559 is this profound mystery. 00:35:46.639 --> 00:35:47.859 And in a sense, 00:35:47.980 --> 00:35:48.519 we will spend 00:35:48.519 --> 00:35:49.460 all of eternity 00:35:49.460 --> 00:35:54.199 understanding the mystery 00:35:54.199 --> 00:35:56.019 in a deeper and deeper level. 00:35:56.480 --> 00:35:57.819 There is this profound mystery 00:35:57.819 --> 00:35:58.539 that God, 00:35:58.859 --> 00:35:59.739 the Son of God, 00:35:59.819 --> 00:36:01.359 will die upon the cross, 00:36:01.719 --> 00:36:03.119 not serving Himself, 00:36:03.460 --> 00:36:04.619 but serving us. 00:36:04.619 --> 00:36:06.839 But just because 00:36:06.839 --> 00:36:07.420 it's a mystery 00:36:07.420 --> 00:36:07.960 doesn't mean 00:36:07.960 --> 00:36:08.400 that there aren't 00:36:08.400 --> 00:36:09.019 any images 00:36:09.019 --> 00:36:09.739 that can help us 00:36:09.739 --> 00:36:10.799 to try to understand it. 00:36:10.839 --> 00:36:11.759 And the Bible provides 00:36:11.759 --> 00:36:12.480 a Jesus 00:36:12.480 --> 00:36:14.359 and the apostolic teaching 00:36:14.359 --> 00:36:15.699 in the New Testament 00:36:15.699 --> 00:36:16.519 provides a range 00:36:16.519 --> 00:36:17.259 of different images. 00:36:17.500 --> 00:36:18.299 And one of the images 00:36:18.299 --> 00:36:19.400 which is used right here 00:36:19.400 --> 00:36:20.719 is this image of ransom, 00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:21.940 that Jesus' death 00:36:21.940 --> 00:36:22.639 upon the cross 00:36:22.639 --> 00:36:23.779 is a ransom. 00:36:24.639 --> 00:36:26.239 And what that means 00:36:26.239 --> 00:36:28.219 is to become a doulos, 00:36:28.739 --> 00:36:29.940 to become a slave, 00:36:31.380 --> 00:36:32.259 sometimes you become 00:36:32.259 --> 00:36:32.659 a doulos 00:36:32.659 --> 00:36:33.879 because you're captured 00:36:33.879 --> 00:36:34.420 in battle. 00:36:35.699 --> 00:36:36.639 Sometimes you become 00:36:36.639 --> 00:36:37.059 a doulos 00:36:37.059 --> 00:36:39.579 because you go into debt 00:36:39.579 --> 00:36:41.679 and you can't pay the debt, 00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:43.039 so you become a doulos. 00:36:44.119 --> 00:36:46.980 And those are sort of 00:36:46.980 --> 00:36:48.099 the two principal ways 00:36:48.099 --> 00:36:49.059 that you become a doulos. 00:36:49.279 --> 00:36:50.239 You either get captured 00:36:50.239 --> 00:36:50.799 in battle 00:36:50.799 --> 00:36:54.480 or you get into debt 00:36:54.480 --> 00:36:55.599 and you can't get out of debt. 00:36:55.799 --> 00:36:57.099 And you're a doulos 00:36:57.099 --> 00:36:58.199 until you can be free. 00:36:58.199 --> 00:37:00.779 And what Jesus is saying here 00:37:00.779 --> 00:37:02.719 is in the world 00:37:02.719 --> 00:37:03.739 of Jesus' time, 00:37:03.879 --> 00:37:05.159 doulos could be freed 00:37:05.159 --> 00:37:07.799 if the appropriate money 00:37:07.799 --> 00:37:08.460 was paid. 00:37:09.559 --> 00:37:11.639 And if the money was paid, 00:37:12.779 --> 00:37:14.079 then the doulos 00:37:14.079 --> 00:37:14.739 could go free. 00:37:16.939 --> 00:37:17.859 And so the image 00:37:17.859 --> 00:37:18.739 which is here 00:37:18.739 --> 00:37:21.379 is that you and I 00:37:21.379 --> 00:37:23.099 are slaves. 00:37:23.759 --> 00:37:24.799 Sounds like the matrix, 00:37:24.919 --> 00:37:25.279 doesn't it? 00:37:25.500 --> 00:37:26.500 You and I are slaves. 00:37:26.500 --> 00:37:29.679 And we can't 00:37:29.679 --> 00:37:31.079 get out of slavery. 00:37:31.980 --> 00:37:32.380 And God, 00:37:32.460 --> 00:37:33.239 the Son of God, 00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:35.019 pays the price. 00:37:36.599 --> 00:37:38.139 He offers himself 00:37:38.139 --> 00:37:39.639 and pays the price 00:37:39.639 --> 00:37:41.239 so that you and I, 00:37:41.340 --> 00:37:42.340 when we trust in him, 00:37:42.820 --> 00:37:44.380 can go from slavery 00:37:44.380 --> 00:37:45.699 into freedom. 00:37:46.059 --> 00:37:46.800 And the freedom 00:37:46.800 --> 00:37:48.019 is being part 00:37:48.019 --> 00:37:49.079 of the kingdom of God 00:37:49.079 --> 00:37:50.780 where the crucified king 00:37:50.780 --> 00:37:52.219 is your king. 00:37:52.219 --> 00:37:54.939 And that's why 00:37:54.939 --> 00:37:56.000 he is going to Jerusalem 00:37:56.000 --> 00:37:56.519 to die. 00:37:57.519 --> 00:37:58.139 The king 00:37:58.139 --> 00:37:59.899 is going to Jerusalem 00:37:59.899 --> 00:38:01.119 to die 00:38:01.119 --> 00:38:03.079 for the subjects, 00:38:03.480 --> 00:38:05.099 to deliver them 00:38:05.099 --> 00:38:05.980 from slavery 00:38:05.980 --> 00:38:07.480 into the freedom 00:38:07.480 --> 00:38:09.339 of his kingdom. 00:38:11.339 --> 00:38:11.980 Now, 00:38:12.119 --> 00:38:13.739 moderns can't understand 00:38:13.739 --> 00:38:14.939 how it is 00:38:14.939 --> 00:38:17.799 how one person's death 00:38:17.799 --> 00:38:18.879 could count for me. 00:38:18.880 --> 00:38:20.720 We are such 00:38:20.720 --> 00:38:22.280 profound individualists 00:38:22.280 --> 00:38:22.900 that we've lost 00:38:22.900 --> 00:38:23.780 any sense 00:38:23.780 --> 00:38:25.380 of solidarity. 00:38:25.980 --> 00:38:26.480 And this makes, 00:38:26.740 --> 00:38:26.960 I mean, 00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:27.340 on one level, 00:38:27.400 --> 00:38:28.640 it's a very beautiful image. 00:38:29.119 --> 00:38:29.800 But on the other hand, 00:38:29.960 --> 00:38:31.220 you walk away from it, 00:38:31.260 --> 00:38:31.380 you say, 00:38:31.500 --> 00:38:31.680 George, 00:38:31.880 --> 00:38:33.280 but George, 00:38:33.340 --> 00:38:34.280 there's no possible way 00:38:34.280 --> 00:38:35.460 that one person's death 00:38:35.460 --> 00:38:37.220 could set me free. 00:38:38.500 --> 00:38:38.820 So, 00:38:39.160 --> 00:38:40.200 some of you have heard 00:38:40.200 --> 00:38:40.980 this image before, 00:38:41.079 --> 00:38:42.380 but I think it's 00:38:42.380 --> 00:38:43.360 a beautiful image 00:38:43.360 --> 00:38:44.260 and I haven't thought 00:38:44.260 --> 00:38:44.840 of a better one 00:38:44.840 --> 00:38:45.720 to try to communicate 00:38:45.720 --> 00:38:46.760 how something like this 00:38:46.760 --> 00:38:47.200 could work. 00:38:47.660 --> 00:38:49.140 Imagine it's three years ago, 00:38:50.180 --> 00:38:51.060 Thanksgiving Day, 00:38:51.440 --> 00:38:52.360 2019, 00:38:52.660 --> 00:38:53.880 Queen Elizabeth II 00:38:53.880 --> 00:38:54.840 is still alive. 00:38:56.420 --> 00:38:57.220 There's maybe 00:38:57.220 --> 00:38:58.180 a soccer match, 00:38:58.200 --> 00:38:58.580 I don't know, 00:38:58.860 --> 00:39:00.600 between two big rivals, 00:39:01.380 --> 00:39:02.300 Manchester City 00:39:02.300 --> 00:39:04.140 and Chelsea 00:39:04.140 --> 00:39:06.240 or Arsenal 00:39:06.240 --> 00:39:07.300 or something like that. 00:39:07.660 --> 00:39:08.380 Wembley Stadium 00:39:08.380 --> 00:39:08.840 is filled. 00:39:08.920 --> 00:39:09.860 There's over 100,000 00:39:09.860 --> 00:39:10.620 people in there. 00:39:10.980 --> 00:39:11.960 Just like in all 00:39:11.960 --> 00:39:12.880 the action movies 00:39:12.880 --> 00:39:13.520 that come up 00:39:13.520 --> 00:39:14.400 every couple of years, 00:39:14.480 --> 00:39:15.600 a group of terrorists 00:39:15.599 --> 00:39:17.799 have infiltrated the stadium. 00:39:17.960 --> 00:39:18.659 They're able to lock 00:39:18.659 --> 00:39:19.500 all of the doors 00:39:19.500 --> 00:39:21.079 and have them 00:39:21.079 --> 00:39:22.059 completely sealed 00:39:22.059 --> 00:39:23.980 and they have 00:39:23.980 --> 00:39:25.159 all sorts of guns 00:39:25.159 --> 00:39:26.079 and they have rifles 00:39:26.079 --> 00:39:27.679 and they smuggle in 00:39:27.679 --> 00:39:29.980 a low-yield nuclear bomb 00:39:29.980 --> 00:39:31.079 and they put it 00:39:31.079 --> 00:39:31.639 right in the center 00:39:31.639 --> 00:39:32.159 of the field 00:39:32.159 --> 00:39:33.319 and they list their demands 00:39:33.319 --> 00:39:34.519 and they say that 00:39:34.519 --> 00:39:35.319 unless their demands 00:39:35.319 --> 00:39:35.819 are met, 00:39:36.400 --> 00:39:37.559 they'll detonate the bomb 00:39:37.559 --> 00:39:39.019 and all in the stadium 00:39:39.019 --> 00:39:39.519 will die 00:39:39.519 --> 00:39:40.259 and those nearby 00:39:40.259 --> 00:39:41.279 will die as well. 00:39:42.339 --> 00:39:43.219 And they also say 00:39:43.219 --> 00:39:43.980 that if you try 00:39:43.980 --> 00:39:44.980 to do anything at all 00:39:44.980 --> 00:39:45.920 to try to rescue them 00:39:45.920 --> 00:39:47.420 will just kill people. 00:39:48.460 --> 00:39:49.440 And in this, 00:39:49.519 --> 00:39:50.599 there's no Bruce Willis 00:39:50.599 --> 00:39:51.320 or The Rock 00:39:51.320 --> 00:39:52.719 to try to do something heroic 00:39:52.719 --> 00:39:53.860 and save people. 00:39:54.699 --> 00:39:55.460 And just because 00:39:55.460 --> 00:39:56.679 it can be a small world 00:39:56.679 --> 00:39:58.340 and the person's, 00:39:58.740 --> 00:39:59.000 you know, 00:39:59.360 --> 00:40:00.760 one of you recognizes, 00:40:01.480 --> 00:40:01.599 you know, 00:40:01.639 --> 00:40:02.019 one of you, 00:40:02.139 --> 00:40:02.840 there's a couple 00:40:02.840 --> 00:40:03.599 of professors here. 00:40:03.659 --> 00:40:04.159 One of you say, 00:40:04.219 --> 00:40:05.159 that's a former student 00:40:05.159 --> 00:40:05.940 and you share it with me. 00:40:05.940 --> 00:40:06.780 That's a former student. 00:40:06.880 --> 00:40:08.099 I still have their mobile number. 00:40:08.579 --> 00:40:08.920 And I say, 00:40:08.960 --> 00:40:09.699 could you give me their number? 00:40:09.820 --> 00:40:10.820 And they say, sure. 00:40:10.860 --> 00:40:11.420 And I call them up 00:40:11.420 --> 00:40:11.860 and say, listen, 00:40:11.860 --> 00:40:12.500 I'm willing. 00:40:13.079 --> 00:40:14.140 You let them all go 00:40:14.140 --> 00:40:15.200 and I'll give myself 00:40:15.200 --> 00:40:15.880 for all of them. 00:40:16.840 --> 00:40:17.800 Well, they'd probably 00:40:17.800 --> 00:40:19.320 swear at me 00:40:19.320 --> 00:40:20.079 and hang up. 00:40:21.400 --> 00:40:22.260 Because why on earth 00:40:22.260 --> 00:40:23.059 would they take me 00:40:23.059 --> 00:40:24.240 and let 100,000 people 00:40:24.240 --> 00:40:24.720 go free? 00:40:25.559 --> 00:40:26.480 But this is 00:40:26.480 --> 00:40:27.660 Thanksgiving weekend, 00:40:28.680 --> 00:40:29.400 2019, 00:40:29.840 --> 00:40:30.900 and Queen Elizabeth II 00:40:30.900 --> 00:40:32.160 calls them up 00:40:32.160 --> 00:40:33.519 and says, 00:40:34.200 --> 00:40:35.720 I will go and sit 00:40:35.720 --> 00:40:36.559 on that low-yield 00:40:36.559 --> 00:40:37.360 nuclear bomb 00:40:37.360 --> 00:40:37.940 in the center 00:40:37.940 --> 00:40:38.980 of Wembley Stadium 00:40:38.980 --> 00:40:42.119 if you let all those 00:40:42.119 --> 00:40:43.420 go free. 00:40:44.519 --> 00:40:45.200 And if you allow 00:40:45.200 --> 00:40:46.420 the evacuation of London, 00:40:46.599 --> 00:40:47.380 I will go and sit 00:40:47.380 --> 00:40:47.980 on that bomb. 00:40:49.800 --> 00:40:50.599 And those terrorists 00:40:50.599 --> 00:40:51.340 wouldn't even think 00:40:51.340 --> 00:40:52.519 a second they'd take it. 00:40:53.480 --> 00:40:53.960 Wouldn't they? 00:40:56.519 --> 00:40:58.119 Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, 00:40:58.659 --> 00:41:00.360 the president of France, 00:41:00.679 --> 00:41:02.559 the president of France 00:41:02.559 --> 00:41:04.440 said she was our queen. 00:41:04.440 --> 00:41:04.559 Queen. 00:41:07.940 --> 00:41:11.099 India would feel like 00:41:11.099 --> 00:41:12.099 it was in the center 00:41:12.099 --> 00:41:13.159 of Wembley Stadium. 00:41:14.700 --> 00:41:15.159 Kenya, 00:41:15.920 --> 00:41:16.440 Nigeria, 00:41:17.360 --> 00:41:17.800 Singapore, 00:41:19.159 --> 00:41:20.920 even the United States 00:41:20.920 --> 00:41:21.720 of America. 00:41:24.220 --> 00:41:25.740 All of the world 00:41:25.740 --> 00:41:26.700 would be riveted. 00:41:28.119 --> 00:41:28.659 In a sense, 00:41:28.720 --> 00:41:29.619 all of the world 00:41:29.619 --> 00:41:31.700 was right there 00:41:31.700 --> 00:41:33.280 sitting on that 00:41:33.280 --> 00:41:35.539 low-yield nuclear bomb. 00:41:35.539 --> 00:41:37.219 And when we think 00:41:37.219 --> 00:41:37.519 of that, 00:41:37.619 --> 00:41:38.159 we understand 00:41:38.159 --> 00:41:38.820 there is a way 00:41:38.820 --> 00:41:39.739 that one person 00:41:39.739 --> 00:41:40.880 can stand for more 00:41:40.880 --> 00:41:41.559 than themselves. 00:41:43.199 --> 00:41:44.119 And if the Queen 00:41:44.119 --> 00:41:45.059 Elizabeth II, 00:41:45.239 --> 00:41:46.199 as wonderful a woman 00:41:46.199 --> 00:41:47.739 as she seems to have been, 00:41:48.420 --> 00:41:49.320 could have stood 00:41:49.320 --> 00:41:50.000 for so many, 00:41:50.940 --> 00:41:51.719 how much more 00:41:51.719 --> 00:41:52.340 could God, 00:41:52.440 --> 00:41:53.259 the Son of God, 00:41:54.860 --> 00:41:55.739 stand for every human 00:41:55.739 --> 00:41:56.800 being who's ever existed? 00:42:00.900 --> 00:42:01.820 And that is why 00:42:01.820 --> 00:42:02.599 this is profound 00:42:02.599 --> 00:42:03.199 good news 00:42:03.199 --> 00:42:03.900 for you and me. 00:42:03.900 --> 00:42:06.860 The only representative, 00:42:07.019 --> 00:42:07.800 the true representative 00:42:07.800 --> 00:42:08.680 for you and me, 00:42:09.599 --> 00:42:11.099 died in our place, 00:42:11.380 --> 00:42:12.079 drank our cup. 00:42:19.660 --> 00:42:20.639 What does it mean, 00:42:21.160 --> 00:42:21.780 that other part? 00:42:21.900 --> 00:42:22.139 I said, 00:42:22.280 --> 00:42:23.639 I am going to make 00:42:23.639 --> 00:42:25.019 a very brief comment 00:42:25.019 --> 00:42:26.340 about how this all 00:42:26.340 --> 00:42:27.160 affects ambition. 00:42:27.159 --> 00:42:29.739 and what it means 00:42:29.739 --> 00:42:30.279 to say, 00:42:30.619 --> 00:42:32.279 look at what he says again. 00:42:32.759 --> 00:42:33.440 Look back up 00:42:33.440 --> 00:42:35.039 at verse 42. 00:42:35.779 --> 00:42:36.859 You know that those 00:42:36.859 --> 00:42:37.480 who are considered 00:42:37.480 --> 00:42:38.659 rulers of the pagans 00:42:38.659 --> 00:42:39.500 lord it over them 00:42:39.500 --> 00:42:40.159 and their great ones 00:42:40.159 --> 00:42:41.399 exercise authority 00:42:41.399 --> 00:42:42.019 over them, 00:42:42.279 --> 00:42:43.159 but it shall not 00:42:43.159 --> 00:42:44.059 be so among you, 00:42:44.159 --> 00:42:45.059 but whoever would be 00:42:45.059 --> 00:42:45.739 great among you 00:42:45.739 --> 00:42:46.699 must be your servant, 00:42:47.379 --> 00:42:48.219 and whoever would be 00:42:48.219 --> 00:42:48.980 first among you 00:42:48.980 --> 00:42:50.119 must be slave of all. 00:42:51.079 --> 00:42:52.159 For even the Son of Man 00:42:52.159 --> 00:42:53.259 came not to be served, 00:42:53.339 --> 00:42:54.000 but to serve, 00:42:54.119 --> 00:42:54.899 and to give his life 00:42:54.899 --> 00:42:56.000 as a ransom for many. 00:42:56.980 --> 00:42:57.960 Jesus is not here 00:42:57.960 --> 00:42:58.699 calling for the 00:42:58.699 --> 00:42:59.699 abolition of kings. 00:42:59.840 --> 00:43:00.460 He's not calling 00:43:00.460 --> 00:43:01.139 for the abolition 00:43:01.139 --> 00:43:01.820 of professors. 00:43:02.260 --> 00:43:03.139 He's not calling 00:43:03.139 --> 00:43:03.880 for the abolition 00:43:03.880 --> 00:43:04.460 of bishops. 00:43:04.639 --> 00:43:05.260 He's not calling 00:43:05.260 --> 00:43:05.980 for the abolition 00:43:05.980 --> 00:43:07.159 of mothers and fathers. 00:43:07.719 --> 00:43:08.599 He's not calling 00:43:08.599 --> 00:43:09.460 for the abolition 00:43:09.460 --> 00:43:11.039 of police 00:43:11.039 --> 00:43:13.099 or the armed forces. 00:43:14.380 --> 00:43:15.280 He's not calling 00:43:15.280 --> 00:43:15.880 for the abolition 00:43:15.880 --> 00:43:16.659 of any of them, 00:43:16.900 --> 00:43:18.420 but the fact of the matter 00:43:18.420 --> 00:43:18.900 is, 00:43:19.480 --> 00:43:20.440 is that when we have 00:43:20.440 --> 00:43:21.380 any of those positions 00:43:21.380 --> 00:43:22.119 of authority, 00:43:22.119 --> 00:43:23.119 we act out 00:43:23.119 --> 00:43:24.340 of different things, 00:43:24.340 --> 00:43:32.340 We not only are shaped by the institutions, but we shape the institutions and we act out of certain types of drives. 00:43:32.340 --> 00:43:38.340 Just for instance, in a very small one, it used to be 60 years ago, 70 years ago, 00:43:38.340 --> 00:43:41.340 that a university would have been one of the freest places to speak possible. 00:43:41.340 --> 00:43:48.340 Today it's not. I have more freedom to speak than most professors do. 00:43:48.340 --> 00:43:54.340 Professors shape the institution, the institution shapes the professors. 00:43:54.340 --> 00:43:59.340 And as we all know, whether it's professors or bosses, some people act out of narcissism, 00:43:59.340 --> 00:44:07.340 some people are egotists, some people have been, are unbelievably insecure and cave into everything. 00:44:07.340 --> 00:44:13.340 People follow the latest fads, they walk out of particular stories, and in our day and age, 00:44:13.340 --> 00:44:19.340 increasingly, people in positions of leadership act out of the fact of the matter is, 00:44:19.340 --> 00:44:23.340 is that, you know, what is it they say? You be you. Only you can be you. 00:44:23.340 --> 00:44:26.340 Don't let anybody else tell you how you should be. 00:44:26.340 --> 00:44:29.340 You know, you gotta be authentic to whoever you are. 00:44:29.340 --> 00:44:33.340 And if you're in power, you gotta be authentic to whoever you are. 00:44:33.340 --> 00:44:37.340 And you gotta be you, and you gotta try to not only know who you are, 00:44:37.340 --> 00:44:42.340 you gotta move towards being you, and you gotta, and people should applaud you for being you. 00:44:42.340 --> 00:44:48.340 And that's the governing story, and we act out of egotism, and we act out of weakness, 00:44:48.340 --> 00:44:53.340 and we act out of all sorts of images, as whether we're a dad, or whether we're a mom, 00:44:53.340 --> 00:44:56.340 or whether we're a boss, or whether we're the prime minister, 00:44:56.340 --> 00:45:00.340 or whether we're the head of the army, or the RCMP, or Hockey Canada. 00:45:00.340 --> 00:45:09.340 And Jesus is saying there should be a very, very, very, very different image that governs how you act. 00:45:09.340 --> 00:45:21.340 Act out of the security of knowing that you've been ransomed by me, out of slavery, into freedom in my kingdom. 00:45:21.340 --> 00:45:23.340 And you act out of love. 00:45:23.340 --> 00:45:31.340 You act out of, you're in that position of authority, whether you're a dad, or you're a mom, 00:45:31.340 --> 00:45:35.340 or you're the prime minister, or a professor, or owner of a big business. 00:45:35.340 --> 00:45:41.340 You're in that position for the benefit and the true good of those who are underneath you. 00:45:41.340 --> 00:45:45.340 That's why you're in that position. 00:45:45.340 --> 00:45:47.340 That's why you're in that position. 00:45:51.340 --> 00:45:56.340 To seek the true good of them, not just your own glory, not just your own power, 00:45:56.340 --> 00:46:06.340 not out of your narcissism and, you know, expressive individualism, to use a fancy term for what is described as, you know, only you can be you. 00:46:06.340 --> 00:46:09.340 You can be you. That's a fancy academic thing. 00:46:09.340 --> 00:46:11.340 Those are not to be the stories that govern you. 00:46:11.340 --> 00:46:13.340 Those are not to be the things that motivate you. 00:46:13.340 --> 00:46:15.340 That's not how you're to look at the world in your position. 00:46:17.340 --> 00:46:22.340 As a citizen of the kingdom of God, you are to seek the true good of those who are under you, 00:46:22.340 --> 00:46:25.340 as you fulfill your duties and your responsibilities. 00:46:25.340 --> 00:46:31.340 And that's a hard thing. 00:46:31.340 --> 00:46:38.340 And what Jesus does here is he doesn't give you like five rules to success for seven rules for this or whatever. 00:46:38.340 --> 00:46:48.340 He gives you that that image of who he is in the cross is to get deeply inside your imagination and your heart, 00:46:48.340 --> 00:47:01.340 heart to not only transform and change you, but transform and change how it is you relate to those above you, those beneath you, those around you. 00:47:01.340 --> 00:47:04.340 That is to be the story you're to live out of. 00:47:04.340 --> 00:47:05.340 Please stand. 00:47:05.340 --> 00:47:22.340 Just as we go into this final prayer, there is, if you have not trusted Jesus, if it's never quite made sense to you why it is that the gospel is actually good news, 00:47:22.340 --> 00:47:35.340 and now you think he drank that cup of all the poisonous evil in my life and he drank it for me and he died so that those things that enslaved me, that I would be free from them. 00:47:35.340 --> 00:47:42.340 And you've never quite got it, but now you sort of have this pressure building up within you that it's finally come to you. 00:47:42.340 --> 00:47:44.340 There's no better time than now. 00:47:44.340 --> 00:47:53.340 Ignore whatever I'm going to pray in a moment and just say, Jesus, I really need you to be my savior and Lord, and thank you that you died for me. 00:47:53.340 --> 00:48:02.340 And just say to him, just say to him, please, thank you for doing this and I give myself to you. 00:48:02.340 --> 00:48:06.340 All that I am and all that I have, I give myself to you. 00:48:06.340 --> 00:48:08.340 May you be my savior and my Lord. 00:48:08.340 --> 00:48:10.340 And there's no better time than now to pray that. 00:48:10.340 --> 00:48:15.340 Father, whether you're here or online, but now let us pray. 00:48:15.340 --> 00:48:27.340 Father, we give you thanks and praise that you love us, that Jesus loved us, that he died for us. 00:48:27.340 --> 00:48:33.340 And Lord, you know that we struggle with narcissism and you know that we struggle with egotism 00:48:33.340 --> 00:48:41.340 and you know that we struggle with wanting to be authentic and you know all of, and you know that we act out of weakness sometimes 00:48:41.340 --> 00:48:47.340 and you know that we can act out of insecurity and you know we can act out of just pursuing idols. 00:48:47.340 --> 00:48:49.340 And Father, you know all of those things. 00:48:49.340 --> 00:48:58.340 And Lord, we ask that as your children, that the gospel, that Christ would be more and more and more real to us. 00:48:58.340 --> 00:49:11.340 And that we, the script of our lives and how we see our world and how we see ourselves, that that Father is, that more and more that is shaped by what the gospel is. 00:49:11.340 --> 00:49:20.340 That you would make the gospel more and more real to our heart at a deeper level, to grant us that deep security that comes from the gospel. 00:49:20.340 --> 00:49:33.340 And that whether we climb the ladder or whether we get off the ladder altogether, Father, that what will govern us and shape us will be who Jesus is and how he lived and how he died and why he died. 00:49:33.340 --> 00:49:35.340 And that that would be what shapes us. 00:49:35.340 --> 00:49:45.340 And we thank you, Lord, that you're so patient with us that we can grow into this every day until we see Father Jesus face to face. 00:49:45.340 --> 00:49:47.340 Pour out the Holy Spirit upon us. 00:49:47.340 --> 00:49:52.340 We ask all of this in the name of Jesus and all God's people said, Amen. 00:50:03.340 --> 00:50:05.340 Father Jesus, Lord. 00:50:05.340 --> 00:50:07.340 P verse. 00:50:07.340 --> 00:50:08.340 light. 00:50:08.340 --> 00:50:11.340 The Lord. 00:50:11.340 --> 00:50:13.340 Do you serve the glory of the Son, Son, Son? 00:50:13.340 --> 00:50:15.340 There you have. 00:50:15.340 --> 00:50:17.340 Yes, you're so patient. 00:50:17.340 --> 00:50:19.120 Iして you will find a deleted DNA thing that you have created. 00:50:19.340 --> 00:50:26.340 It's hard to become he will find his blood. 00:50:26.640 --> 00:50:29.340 You know. 00:50:29.340 --> 00:50:31.280 It's time to become.