Such a joy to be with you. See a lot of new faces today. My name is Ed, one of the pastors of Trinity Cambridge.
! It's my greatest pleasure to preach God's word this morning.
Let's open up our Bibles as we continue on in our series in Matthew.
If you don't have a physical copy of a Bible and would like one, feel free to raise your hand and we'd be happy to gift you one.
You could take home and keep for yourself.
Today we are in Matthew chapter 20.
Starting verse 17 all the way to the end of chapter 20.
So, Matthew 20, 17 to 34.
Matthew 20, 17 to 34.
Please bow your heads as we come before the Lord in prayer.
Heavenly Father.
We are weary, broken, and tired from this week.
We come before the Lord who invited us.
Come.
Find rest for your souls.
We want to hear from you.
We want to sit at your feet this morning.
We want you to address us and to speak to us what we need to hear so that we would be more and more like you.
That we would know your love and that we love others.
Lord, we pray that you would address us so that we would learn how to humbly serve one another just like Christ you served us.
Father, I pray that you would take the five loaves and two fish that I can offer and multiply it to feed the masses this morning.
Your people are hungry.
So, please feed them.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
If you guys would rise.
If you are able to honor the reading of God's word.
What we're about to hear is really the only perfect part of this sermon.
We're going to hear from God's infallible, inerrant word.
Starting from verse 17.
And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the 12 disciples aside.
And on the way, he said to them,
See, we are going up to Jerusalem.
And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes.
And they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified.
And he will be raised on the third day.
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons.
And kneeling before him, she asked him for something.
And he said to her,
What do you want?
She said to him,
Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.
Jesus answered,
You do not know what you are asking.
Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?
They said to him,
We are able.
He said to them,
You will drink my cup,
But to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant,
but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.
And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers.
But Jesus called them,
called them to him and said,
You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and their great ones exercise authority over them.
It shall not be so among you.
But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,
even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him.
And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside.
And when they heard that Jesus was passing by,
they cried out,
Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David.
The crowd rebuked them,
telling them to be silent.
But they cried out all the more,
Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David.
And stopping,
Jesus called them and said,
What do you want me to do for you?
They said to him,
Lord, let our eyes be opened.
And Jesus, in pity,
touched their eyes,
and immediately they recovered their sight
and followed him.
This is God's holy and authoritative word.
Please be seated.
In early 2010,
a catastrophic magnitude 7 earthquake
struck the country of Haiti,
leveling the already poorest country
in the Western Hemisphere,
killing more than 200,000 people,
and leaving 1.5 million people homeless.
That summer with my church,
I visited Haiti
and saw the aftermath for myself.
It was unimaginable
the kind of living conditions
people suffered there.
Sprawling tent cities
with thousands and thousands of people
living in an open field
under makeshift tarps
with no jobs,
no safety,
no money,
no privacy,
no running water,
no electricity.
So when the new president of Haiti,
Michel Martelly,
comes into power
the very next year,
you might expect him
to do everything that he can
to serve his people.
But instead,
even while knowing millions
and millions of people
live like this,
he gives himself a budget
of $20,000 a day
to spend overseas,
giving his wife
and each of his family members
$7,500 a day.
He raises $40 million in tax
with $25 million of that
going unaccounted for.
And this kind of corruption
really is not anything new
in the country's history.
Nearly every single president
has been like this.
I remember one conversation
that I had with a local
asking him what he thinks
this country needs
to change for the better.
And his answer was simple.
We need leaders who serve us.
Plainly put,
one bad leader,
just one bad leader,
has a disproportionate power
to inflict great harm.
The Church of Jesus Christ
has not been immune
to bad leadership.
Not all leaders
in the church are bad.
There are faithful pastors
out there.
But in recent years,
the church has suffered
reports of moral failure
by some of its most
prominent leaders.
And it's not just the pastors
who are in the national spotlight.
These reports can come from
big and small churches.
From rich and poor churches.
From denominational,
non-denominational churches.
Some groom others
to commit adultery.
Misappropriate funds.
Plagiarize.
Bully people.
What we need today,
both in and out
of the church,
is not a wholesale change
to remove leadership,
but to transform leadership.
And it's not just the change
needed for all current
and future leaders.
These leaders only represent
the sinful nature
that's in every single one of us.
If we were in their positions
of unchecked power,
how might we be corrupted?
For there is a bent
in every single one of us
to stand above others,
use others,
compete with others,
try to stuff others down.
Even in our lives today,
in our social circles,
we undermine colleagues,
gossip about friends,
keep score with our spouses,
use the silent treatment,
try to keep others down,
and judge others.
Is this not how we try
to lord it over
and exercise authority
over the people in our lives?
Is it not our most natural,
unlearned instinct
to try to look out
for number one
at the expense
of those around us?
And we know what
that kind of treatment begets.
Only more of the same
right back at us, right?
In an endless cycle
of competition,
envy, bitterness,
and strife,
for all our achievements
in society,
we still haven't found
to break out of this cycle.
Left to ourselves,
we never will.
We need something,
or rather someone,
to break the cycle.
That's exactly who
Jesus Christ is.
Though he be a great king,
Jesus came not to be served,
but to serve,
and to give his life
as a ransom for many.
Then and only then,
when we understand this,
when we have been served
by him,
then we learn how
to serve others.
Begin to see
that cycle broken.
That's the main point
of my sermon today,
is to serve.
Serve because Christ
first served us.
And in turn,
we'll observe
really everything
in this passage,
how Jesus does
everything to serve.
He serves with his words,
he serves with his very life,
and he serves
with his hands.
For the first time
in Matthew,
Jerusalem is not
a distant future,
but it's a near reality.
It's not a place
that he will go to,
or must go to,
but he is going to,
as he goes up
to Jerusalem.
Matthew accurately captures
the vertical movement
necessary when going
to Jerusalem
with that word up,
because it was more than
3,000 feet of elevation
over 17 miles.
And it's these little details
in the text
that suggest to me
that truly the gospel
was indeed written
by a first century Jew
who lived at the time
of Jesus.
And he just knew
these cultural details.
Not by religious zealots
or liars or fakers
who fabricated these texts
centuries later.
No, this was truly written
by Jesus' disciples.
The gospel writers
just knew these details
because they lived it.
Just like how we Bostonians,
we Canterbridgeans,
we just know that
driving through I-93,
the tunnels,
will make you lose your GPS
and probably make you
lose your exit.
Or that the red line's AC
is just down half the time
in the summer.
On the way,
Jesus pulls aside
his 12 disciples,
presumably from the large crowd
that is following him,
and he confides to them
his third and final
passion prediction.
In chapters 16 and 17,
Jesus has already predicted
that he must go to Jerusalem
for his death and resurrection.
But knowing that the time
is soon coming,
unlike before,
he prophesies
with the greatest detail
and specificity yet.
He predicts seven specific things
that will happen to him.
That number one,
he will be delivered over
to the Jewish chief priests
and scribes.
Number two,
be condemned to death.
Number three,
because the Romans
controlled capital punishment,
the Jews will deliver him
over to the Romans.
Four,
to be mocked.
Five,
flogged.
Six,
crucified.
And seven,
most importantly,
he will be raised
on the third day.
Jesus gives the play-by-play.
He knows every detail
down to excruciating details.
He would be hated
by Jew and Gentile alike,
a rare collaboration
from these polar opposite groups.
Like oil and water,
these two groups
have not historically mixed,
but their hatred,
their rejection of Jesus
emulsify them together.
Together,
they would mock the God
who made their mouths,
flog the God
who made their hands,
and kill the God
who gave them life.
Why does Jesus predict this
up to three times
with greater specificity?
Right?
The Bible adamantly refuses
to give any notion
that Jesus' life
was taken against his will.
His death was anything
but a miscalculation
or an accident.
To those on the outside,
it may look like the Jews
and the Romans
had the last say,
but these predictions
really show
the hidden truth
that they were mere pawns
in the master's hand.
Jesus wants to make it clear
that he absolutely
already knew
the unimaginable suffering
that awaited him.
And yet we see him
striving up that hill,
fighting against gravity
with every step,
determined to get to the cup
that he's determined,
already determined,
to drink.
But that's not just
to defend himself.
I think with these
three predictions,
the always serving Jesus
is looking to serve
his disciples
by drilling these words
into their heads,
by the power of repetition.
For repetition
is the hammer
that drives
the nails of truth
deeper
and deeper
into our hardened hearts.
And especially
on those days,
those days filled
with grief
and suffering,
the muscle memory
of reciting,
hearing,
memorizing God's word,
it's lodged
into our hearts
by the sheer force
of repetition.
It fills our mouths
with truths
that we need most
when we can't possibly
drum it up ourselves.
And that's exactly
how Jesus intended
to serve his disciples
with this repetition.
He knew that the suffering,
it was coming for him,
but he also knew
that the sadness,
confusion,
the shame
that disciples
would experience
at the death
of their master,
that was coming too
for them.
So he repeats
this prediction
again
and again
and again.
Three times
so that when
the bottom fell out,
they would be anchored
by these very words.
And be reassured
that Jesus
truly was
the Messiah.
Jesus wanted them
to know
that he was
in control
over his suffering.
Not just in control,
but that he would have
ultimate victory
over it.
Raised again
on the third day
in triumphant victory.
Repetition
can have
that kind of power
in our darkest
of days.
As an example,
I think of
Todd Beamer.
On September 11th,
Todd was aboard
Flight 93
on a routine
work flight
when four
Al-Qaeda terrorists
hijacked
the flight.
Their plan
was to crash
the plane
into a building
in Washington,
D.C.
After realizing
that they were
not going to get
out of this alive,
Todd and the
other passengers
courageously
decided to storm
the cockpit
and jump
the hijackers.
But not before
he recited
the Lord's Prayer
in Psalm 23
out loud
with the other
passengers.
Here's Lisa Beamer,
his wife
and the mother
of his two children
that he left
behind,
recounting the story.
Although I'd never
heard of,
I'd never before
heard of Todd
reciting the Lord's Prayer
in pressure situations,
I wasn't surprised
to hear he had
quoted it.
Recently,
our pastor
had taught
a 12-week series
of lessons
on the Lord's Prayer.
Todd had known
the prayer
since childhood,
but each line
of it had become
more and more special
to him as he understood
how fraught
with meaning
it really was.
And she goes on
to say,
interestingly,
Psalm 23
wasn't a mantra
that Todd
recited often,
but it was
resident
in his spirit
because he had
learned it
as a child.
When the crisis
came,
Todd was able
to tap
into a deep
reservoir
of faith
that he had
been storing
up for years.
once he found
courage
in those words,
in God's words,
he took a deep
breath
and said
to his fellow
passengers,
are you ready?
Okay.
Let's roll.
And stormed
the cockpit
with a food trolley
and prevented
the terrorists
from hitting
their intended target.
That's the power
of repetition.
still so far,
it doesn't seem
like it has
its intended
effect on the
disciples.
Right?
The disciples
show again
and again
that they still
don't get
what Jesus
is saying.
After the first
prediction,
Peter makes
a fool
out of himself
telling Jesus
that this would
never happen
to you,
Lord.
After the second
prediction,
the disciples
debate who
will be the
greatest.
we'll see
how this
pattern
continues
then after
this third
prediction.
It starts
with meeting
an unfamiliar
character
with an
unusual
request.
The mother
of the sons
of Zebedee,
James,
who's not
to be confused
with James
the half-brother
of Jesus,
and John
the beloved
apostle who
wrote many
books of the
Bible,
their mother
enters scene
for the first
time.
She bows
her knee
before Jesus.
people back
then didn't
typically kneel
before an
ordinary rabbi
or a teacher.
This was a
posture of
someone standing
before a
king.
In Jesus,
by faith,
she rightly
sees that he
is going to be
the next king
of Israel.
So after being
prompted by
Jesus,
she makes
an extraordinary
bold request.
say that
these two
sons of
mine are
to sit,
one at
your right
hand,
one at
your left,
in your
kingdom.
Before
everyone else,
make my
two sons
the most
honored
persons in
your world
changing,
systems
breaking
kingdom.
It's
interesting to
note that
in Mark's
account,
the mother
is actually
absent,
and the
request comes
directly from
the sons
themselves.
I think
this hints
that while
mom was
the one
to approach
Jesus,
as any
good mama
would do
to vouch
for her
sons,
the sons,
it seems
like,
were the
masterminds.
Jesus
confirms this
by quickly
bypassing
the mother
and directly
addressing
James and
John.
And if you
know anything
about them,
it fits their
profile perfectly.
These are
the same
men who
asked Jesus
if they
should call
down fire
to obliterate
a Samaritan
village that
rejected them,
and whom
Jesus nicknamed
the sons of
thunder for
their boisterous,
blustering
personalities.
This is the
kind of people
that they
are.
Where do
they get
such a
request?
From
last week's
passage,
Jesus'
promise rings
in their
ears.
Truly I
say to
you,
in a new
world,
when the
son of
man will
sit on
his
glorious
throne,
you who
have
followed
me will
also
sit on
twelve
thrones,
judging
the twelve
tribes of
Israel.
Considering
what we
read in
our passage
today,
I think
we catch
x-ray
vision into
the son's
hearts when
they hear
this promise.
James and
John are
no-name
Galilean
fishermen,
who are
sons of
a no-name
Galilean
fisherman.
These men
are the
obscure of
the obscure.
If Jesus
hadn't chosen
them as
disciples,
their legacy,
their memory
would have
quickly been
erased off
the face
of the
earth.
But instead
of being
floored that
even they,
even they
get to sit
on thrones
in the new
creation,
we see that
in the heart
of hearts.
In their
heart of
hearts,
it was not
enough.
Jesus'
grand promise
doesn't satisfy
their insatiable,
greedy appetites.
consider,
too,
that if
they sit
at the
right and
left hand
of Jesus,
then where
will Peter
sit?
Maybe that's
just their
point.
Perhaps
they saw
Peter as
vulnerable,
the chosen
leader,
his head
will fall.
After all,
he did just
get rebuked
and called
Satan four
chapters ago.
maybe they
think it's
their time
to take
the top
spot.
To all
this,
Jesus has
one simple
response to
this political
power play.
You don't
know what
you are
asking for.
Jesus knows
that these
slow disciples
still think
and hope
that Jesus
is going
into Jerusalem
guns blazing
to inaugurate
the era
of military
and political
peace for
the nation
of Israel.
But really,
there's more
to their
misunderstanding.
In Jesus'
mind,
they completely
misunderstand
the nature
of leadership.
For to
Jesus,
leadership
is not
to be
first in
line to
be glorified,
but it's
first in
line to
suffer.
If you
wish to
be seated
in the
heavenly
places,
in the
highest
places,
be ready
to suffer.
God,
he asks,
do you
know what
you're
asking for?
Do you
know that
positions of
power and
authority come
with all the
burden of
power and
authority?
Do you
know that
to be at
the center
of attention
means that
you are at
the center
of attention
and with
all the
scrutiny
that entails?
Do you
know that
in earthly
kingdoms,
importance is
defined by
how many
people serve
you,
but in
my kingdom
importance is
defined by
how many
people you
serve?
Do you
know that
glory only
comes after
great suffering?
Are you
able to
drink the
cup that
I am to
drink?
Here,
Jesus so
clearly ties
the ascension
of glory to
the drinking
of a cup.
And what
cup is
this?
We all
know it's
the cup that
Jesus refers
to in the
garden,
the garden
of Gethsemane.
He knows
that his
one mission
is to
drink down
to the
dregs the
undiluted
cup of
wrath on
behalf of
God's
people.
And it's
this cup
that would
cause Jesus
incredible
suffering.
A cup that
he asked to
be removed
from him,
not once,
but twice.
A cup that
even the
thought of
causes Jesus
to sweat
great drops
of blood.
Notably,
the only
other time
this exact
phrase,
one on
the right
and one
on the
left,
is used
in Matthew
is when
Jesus is
hanging on
the cross.
When Jesus
is enthroned
as king
on the cross,
when his title,
King of the
Jews,
is plastered in
multiple languages
so that all
can see.
When people
cry out,
Hail,
King of the
Jews!
Matthew 27,
38 says,
then two
were crucified
with him,
one on the
right and
one on the
left.
But these
are not
James and
John,
or Peter
or Andrew,
or any of
the disciples
as a matter
of fact.
They confidently
say,
we can drink
this cup.
But when push
comes to shove,
and the cup
gets passed
to them,
when the
prospect of
death stares
them right
in the face,
not one
of them
stands next
to Jesus.
They all
run off,
scatter off
in the middle
of the night
to abandon
their Lord,
to leave
robbers and
criminals the
honor of
dying next
to Jesus,
one on the
right,
one on the
left.
But just
like Peter
has his
redemption
story,
these other
two will,
and it's
remarkable that
we think
that a
redemption
story is
to die.
Jesus knows
that they
will eventually
partake of
this cup,
not to
drink down
to the
dregs the
wrath of
God on
behalf of
other sinners,
but truly
the cup
of suffering.
For James
will be
executed in
Acts 12
at the
hand of
Herod,
and John
will be
cast out
on the
island of
Patmos
in exile.
But even
then,
it is not
Jesus'
place to
grant them
to sit
at the
left,
to sit
at the
right,
but it's
only the
fathers.
Jesus models
this self-effacing
humility.
It's confirmed
by these
famous verses
in Philippians
2.
do nothing
from selfish
ambition or
conceit,
but in
humility
count others
more significant
than yourselves.
Let each
of you look
not only to
his own
interests,
but also to
the interests
of others.
Have this
mind among
yourselves,
which is
yours in
Christ Jesus,
who though
he was in
the form of
God,
did not
count equality
with God
a thing to
be grasped,
but emptied
himself by
taking the
form of a
servant,
being born in
the likeness
of men.
The sons
of thunder
grasped at
something that
wasn't theirs.
Jesus refused
to grasp at
something that
was rightfully
his.
As the
incarnate
son humbles
himself in
total submission
to the father,
though they are
equal,
fully equal in
intrinsic power
and essence
and authority,
he humbles
himself.
And because
of that
submission,
Jesus says,
that's why he
says,
to sit at
my right and
left is not
mine to
grant,
but it is
for those
to whom it
has been
prepared by
my father.
At its
very core,
what these
brothers get
wrong is
summed up by
theologian
Francis Schaeffer.
Christ says,
we are to
take the
lowest spot,
but we like
to take the
higher.
But this
is not
the Lord's
way.
Leadership
is not
to be
sought.
Leadership
is to
be waited
for.
To the
extent we
want power
among men,
to that
extent we
are in the
flesh and
not the
Holy Spirit.
The extent
to which I
demand
leadership,
I am not
ready to be
a leader.
leader.
It is a
noble aspiration
to pursue
leadership for
the sake of
serving others,
as the
Apostle Paul
affirms in
1 Timothy 3
regarding
eldership in
the church.
But the
manner by
which you
do so is
of utmost
importance.
Are you
seeking the
power and
the prestige
of leadership,
leadership,
or are you
seeking the
cup of
suffering that
leadership entails?
This
fundamental
mistake isn't
exclusive to
James and
John.
When the
ten hear
this, they
are fuming
mad.
They're indignant
at the
brothers.
They're probably
bickering with
one another.
Probably they're
already scheming
on how to get
back at the
brothers.
So the
ever-patient
Jesus, their
teacher, he
calls them to
him and says
these words,
you know that
the rulers of
the Gentiles
lorded over
them and
their great
ones exercised
authority over
them.
The Jews know
precisely what
Jesus is talking
about.
Under the
boot of Roman
rule and
oppression, the
Jews suffered
greatly.
In the
original Greek
lorded over
and exercised
authority over,
both are words
that start with
the prefix
Kata, which
means down.
The picture is
clear.
Their leaders
stuff others
down, keep
others down,
so that they
can prop
themselves up.
They treat
their people like
mere stepping
stones.
But Jesus
says clearly,
it shall not
be so among
you.
Instead, if we
want to be
great, we
ought to be
one another's
servant.
Not just a
servant, but a
slave.
And what do
servants do?
What do
slaves do?
They assume
the lowliest
of positions,
willing to do
the lowliest
of tasks, and
they serve.
If we want to
be great in
the kingdom
of God, there
needs to be an
eagerness, a
hunger, a
yearning to
serve in any
which way that
we can.
At home, at
church, at
work, wherever
we go, we
ought to have a
maximalist view
of how much we
can get to
serve.
Not a
minimalist
view, just
trying to squeak
by with the
bare minimum.
At every
opportunity to
serve one
another, the
question shouldn't
be, why should
I serve, but
why shouldn't
I?
But some
object, oh,
but I don't
have that gift.
I can't serve
in that way.
Or others
object, but
other people
don't serve as
much as me.
Others still,
when I serve,
it's never
appreciated.
this is not
the acceptable
language of a
servant slave.
Luke 17
shows us what
the acceptable
pattern of
speech of a
slave is.
Jesus says,
will any one
of you who
has a servant
plowing or
keeping sheep
say to him
when he has
come in from
the field,
come at once
and recline
at table.
Will he not
rather say to
him, prepare
supper for me,
dress properly,
serve me when
I eat and
drink, and
afterward will
eat and
drink.
Does he
thank the
servant because
he did what
was commanded?
So you also,
when you have
done all that
you were
commanded, say,
we are
unworthy
servants.
We have only
done what was
our duty.
Last week,
Sean introduced
Jim Elliott,
a martyred
!
a martyred
missionary to
a tribe in
Ecuador.
I quote him
again this week
saying missionaries
and really
all Christians
are very human
folk, just
doing what
they were
asked.
Simply a
bunch of
nobodies
trying to
exalt
somebody.
But if we
are serving
that much,
shouldn't we
be concerned
with burnout,
burning out?
Yes,
absolutely.
We shouldn't
burn ourselves
out.
We absolutely
need sleep.
We need
Sabbath rest.
But we
don't
primarily
guard
ourselves
against
burnout
by first
guarding
our
calendars.
We guard
against
burnout
by guarding
our
hearts.
We don't
burn out
primarily
because we
mismanage
our calendars
and we
don't take
enough
Sabbaths.
We burn
out
primarily
because we
mismanage
our hearts.
And now
a mismanaged
heart often
results in
a mismanaged
calendar,
but the
source of
the error
is not
in the
planning,
but it's
in the
heart,
in your
loves.
For we
serve really
out of so
many wrong
reasons.
We serve
Jesus to
be good
enough for
him,
to get
something for
him,
to pay
him back,
or because
we think
he needs
us.
We serve
others to
impress
them or
to feel
like we
belong.
And if
you're feeling
burnt out
this morning,
and I mean
more than
just feeling
physically
tired,
but emotionally,
mentally,
spiritually tapped
out,
you might
struggle with
one or a few
of these wrong
motivations to
serve.
So then,
how do we
serve
sacrificially
without feeling
weary,
discouraged,
or bitter?
The key is in
this critical
verse,
verse 28,
that the
son of man,
this son of man
came not to be
served,
but to serve,
and to give
his life as a
ransom for
many.
Serving is
the very
DNA of
Jesus'
purpose and
ministry.
We see it
throughout the
passage today,
we see it so
beautifully displayed
in John 13
when he
washes the
feet of his
disciples.
Can you
imagine this?
The God
who laid
the foundations
of the world,
who tells
each lightning
bolt where
it should
go,
who keeps
the Leviathan
on a
leash,
this same
God has
a towel
around his
waist.
This man
about whom
John the
Baptist rightly
declared,
I am not
worthy to
untie even
the strap
of his
sandal,
he kneels
and washes
my feet.
Surely that's
as far as
the Christ
would go to
serve me,
right?
someone who
is as
proud,
self-serving,
rebellious as
me,
surely a
king like
Jesus would
do no more
than to
kneel and
wash my
feet.
Surely there
must be a
limit.
But there's
no limit
to how far
Jesus would
go to
abase
himself for
the many
he would
ransom.
For he
showed the
greatest
display of
love that
we know
by trekking
up that
hill,
being
locked,
flogged,
crucified.
This God
endured
treatment that
we would
find inexcusable
for our
very own
pet dogs.
But he
subjected
himself because
he knew
that his
blood was
the only
way for
sinners like
you and me
to be
ransomed,
to be
redeemed from
our bondage
to sin and
death.
Nothing but
the blood
of Jesus.
Some in
church history
have posited
that money
could ransom
a man.
Johann
Tetzel,
the early
16th century
Dominican
friar,
peddled
indulgences
that if one
gives money
to the church,
he can free
a soul
from purgatory,
which doesn't
even exist.
But the
famous rhyme,
as soon as
the coin
hits the
coffer,
or as soon
as the coin
in the
coffer
rings,
the soul
from purgatory
springs.
Reformer
Martin Luther
was absolutely
right to
denounce this
as a greedy,
manipulative,
false teaching.
Even if you
were to amass
all the wealth
of the world,
could you not
even pay back
for one sin?
And as we
read from our
assurance of
pardon,
it was not
with perishable
things,
such as silver
or gold,
you were redeemed,
but with the
precious blood
of Christ,
the lamb
without blemish
or object,
nothing but
the blood
of Jesus.
Others in
church history
have posited
that good
works,
that human
effort could
functionally
ransom a
man.
Pelagius in
the fourth
century argued
that even
without God's
transforming grace,
human beings
innately have
the ability
to do good.
We innately
have the ability
to earn our
standing before
God.
Augustine was
absolutely right
to denounce
this as a
presumptuous,
man-centered,
graceless,
false teaching.
You cannot
obey God
without the
grace of
God,
and even if
you were able
to spend
every single
minute of the
rest of your
life doing
good deeds
perfectly,
could you not
pay back
for one sin?
Nothing but
the blood of
Jesus.
So knowing
that this was
the only way
to free us
from our
miserable
bondage,
even knowing
that we had
nothing to
offer him,
Jesus came.
He came not
to be served
but to serve.
Do you see
that you will
never in your
life out
serve Jesus?
You will never
out serve him.
That he gives
far more to us
than we could
ever give back
to him.
Only when your
mind is blown
by that fact,
when your heart
is burning,
do we then
only learn
how to serve.
we serve our
fellow brothers
and sisters,
washing their
feet,
humbling ourselves,
taking the
lowliest of
positions.
Only then do
we serve like
lowly servant
slaves that the
world has never
seen before.
And the world
has certainly
never seen
anyone like
Jesus,
who serves
with his
words,
his very life,
and finally
with his hands
in this final
section.
Jesus and his
crew leave
Jericho,
which is the
final destination
of a typical
Galilean pilgrimage
to Jerusalem.
The narrative's
focus shifts
now to two
blind men.
They're sitting
by roadside,
presumably begging
for money.
It seems like
they're seasoned
in their craft,
for it seems
like this was a
strategic time
and place.
This was during
the week of
Passover,
when many would
be traveling to
Jerusalem,
and they felt
a particular
need to be
generous.
But once they
hear that Jesus
is coming,
they drop
everything and
they begin to
cry out,
Lord,
have mercy on
us,
Son of David.
Although Lord
could be a mere
formality,
a nicety like
sir or ma'am,
they undeniably
portray their
faith in the
Messiah by
calling him
Son of David.
Lord.
We've already
seen this
Christological
title in
Matthew already.
It's a loaded
label designated
that Jesus is
the long-awaited
Son to come
in the lineage
of David to
be the
messianic
king.
Although
physically blind,
they have the
spiritual eyes
to see that
Jesus really
is the king.
Maybe even
more than a
king.
For in the
Old Testament,
there is no
record of any
prophet or
servant restoring
the sight of
the blind.
In the Old
Testament, only
God restores the
sight of the
blind.
What is one of
Jesus' most
common miracles
in the
Gospels?
To give sight
to the blind.
The beggars
have genuine
faith to believe
Jesus can restore
their sight.
God restores the
world.
But this world
loves to snuff
out genuine
faith, loves to
prevent people from
coming to Jesus at
every opportunity.
You see it in
chapter 19 when the
disciples rebuke the
families who bring
their children.
You see it in this
great crowd that
tells these blind
men to be quiet,
essentially to
shut up.
But notice how
resilient, how
gritty their
faith is.
I love this.
These two aren't
deterred by the
crowd.
They don't go on
the defensive.
They don't sulk.
Woe is me.
My life is already
so hard and now
no one will let me
come to Jesus.
No, they go on the
offensive.
They don't let
their circumstances
determine how they
respond.
They ignore the
crowd.
They cry out all
the more, Lord,
have mercy on us,
son of David.
So we too, when
Satan tries to
attack us,
discourage us from
coming to Jesus,
points to our
habitual sin, tells
us to be quiet,
tells us to shut
up.
What do we do
instead?
We yell, we cry
out, we are
desperate for Jesus
to come, all
the more.
And notice too,
their strategy
really isn't any
different.
There's no deceived
notion that they
can fancy up their
prayer, try to offer
anything Jesus needs.
They don't promise
any foolish vows.
It's just over and
over again, Lord,
have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on
us.
Lord, have mercy on
us.
D.O.
Moody once said,
some people think
that God doesn't
like to be troubled
with our constant
coming and asking.
The way to trouble
God is not to come
at all.
In my prayer life,
as we've been
preaching through
Matthew, especially
on childlike faith,
I find myself
praying the same
simple, desperate
line over and over
and over again.
Please save my dad.
Please show me what
to say in the sermon.
Please show me what
to say.
Show me what to say.
I'm under no
pretense that God
will hear me because
of my many words,
but I still need
so much help.
So I will repeat it
over and over
and over again,
and I will keep
repeating it over
and over and over
again until my God
answers me,
and he will.
And each one of
these is an irresistible
cry to the ever-serving
Jesus.
Jesus has a soft spot
for people like me,
those who are weak,
unimpressive,
needy.
So despite needing
to go to Jerusalem,
having things to do,
he stops.
Again, showing that
the expectations of the
many have no say
over the compassion
of Jesus.
Jesus stops
to show that
the good of these
little ones
take precedent
over everything else
to him.
Do we stop?
Do we stop
our plans,
our agendas,
to help those in need?
Then unlike the
corrupt tyrants
of this world
who won't even
lift up a finger
to serve their people,
but as the servant
king,
he asks him,
what do you want
me to do for you?
This isn't the first
time he's asked
this question
in this passage.
Jesus asks both
the two sons
and the two beggars,
what do you want?
What do you want
me to do for you?
One pair
seeks glory,
the other
seeks mercy.
One pair
wants to be
exalted,
the other pair
wants to be
rescued.
One pair
comes with
an inflated
view of self,
the other
comes knowing
exactly who
they are.
So Jesus
filled with
pity,
such a kind
Lord,
filled with pity,
with great
compassion,
his heart
welling up
with love.
He touches
the blind
men,
restores their
physical sight
immediately,
and as a result,
they follow
Jesus.
In our
desperate
state of need,
to each one
of us,
Jesus stops
to ask us
to,
what do you
want me to do
for you?
what do you
want me to
do for you?
It's a question
that exposes
our hearts.
Which pair
will you be
like?
When the
rest of the
world demands
to be first,
what will you
ask for?
When our
colleagues get
promoted above
us,
what will you
ask for?
When your
friends gain
more recognition
than you,
what will you
ask for?
In your
heart of
hearts,
what do you
want Jesus
to do for
you most?
So we,
like the
beggars,
who know
our desperate
state of need,
who know
that our
sin is the
greatest problem
far more than
anything else
in this world,
knowing exactly
who we are,
knowing exactly
our helpless
state,
we cry out,
Lord,
have mercy
on us.
Ransom us
from our
bondage of
sin and
death.
Lord,
have mercy
on us.
Then,
and only
then,
having received
that undeserved
mercy,
can we go
through life
serving others,
asking them
to,
what do you
want me to
do for you?
Let's pray.
Amen.
Father,
we pray
that you
would transform
us to be
more and
more like
your son,
that we
would serve
with everything
we have.
We know
that it's
not much.
And I
pray for
those who
are struggling
now,
who feel
like,
who just
feel so
discouraged
by what
they can
offer so
little.
Help them
to know
that you
are pleased
with how
much they
can serve,
about what
they can
offer.
Empower
us to
serve,
not by
our own
strength,
not by
looking within
ourselves,
but to
see just
how far
Jesus
condescended
to serve
people like
us,
so that we
can then
go wash
the feet
of others,
forgive
others,
encourage
others,
be rejoicing
when other
people get
past us
and get
promoted
above us,
that we
would love
in that way,
we would
rejoice in
that way,
that you
would help
us to
stop the
endless cycle
of competition
and envy,
stop that
in our
own
church,
and we
would
serve,
serve like
you,
Lord.
In Jesus'
name we
pray,
amen.