God, in Jesus our Savior, and through the Spirit. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Now, we have a lengthy portion of Luke 11 that we're going to think about together,
so we're going to break it up into two sections, and Steve Willis is going to come and read for us
now from verse 14 to verse 28. Thanks, Steve.
Luke 11, verses 14 to 28.
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke,
and the crowd was amazed. But some of them said, by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving
out demons. Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven. Jesus knew their thoughts and said to
them, any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will
fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that
I drive out demons by Beelzebul. Now, if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers
drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God,
then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house,
his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor
in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever
does not gather with me scatters. When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid
places, seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, I will return to the house I left. When it
arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits,
more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person
is worse than the first. As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out,
blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you. He replied, blessed rather are those who hear
the word of God and obey it. This is God's word.
Thank you, Steve. And we'll pick up our reading there in a few moments. But before that,
we're going to sing a portion of Psalm 31. We're going to sing together from verse 19 to verse 24.
And again, we'll stand together so that we can sing this section.
Your goodness, Lord, is very great, prepared for those who fear your name.
To show your goodness openly, to all who your protection claim.
your presence hides and shelters them from those who plot to take their life.
And in your tent you keep them safe from each other.
evil times that stir up strife.
The Lord be praised because he showed the wonder of his love to me.
When in a city I was trapped, surrounded by the enemy.
In my alarm I rashly said that I was hidden from your eyes.
But when I call to you for help in grace, you listened to my cries.
O love the Lord, O you his saints.
The faithful will be kept by God.
But he will give the proud.
There do be strong.
Take heart, hope in the Lord.
So we're going to continue reading in Luke chapter 11 in our church Bibles.
It's page 1043.
In case anyone's looking for a Bible and you were caught out because we used to have them
at the front door.
Now they're in the back corner.
So if you need a copy, you can go and grab one there.
and we're going to read from verse 29 to the end of the chapter. Let's again hear God's word.
When Jesus had finished speaking, sorry verse 29, as the crowds increased, Jesus said,
this is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.
For as Jonah was assigned to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.
The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them.
For she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.
The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it,
for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.
No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden or under a bowl.
Instead, they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.
Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light.
But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness.
See to it then that the light within you is not darkness.
Therefore, if your whole body is full of light and no part of it dark,
it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.
When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him.
So he went in and reclined at the table.
But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.
Then the Lord said to him,
Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish,
but inside you are full of greed and wickedness, you foolish people.
Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?
But now, as for what is inside you, be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
Woe to you, Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue, and all other kinds of garden herbs,
but you neglect justice and the love of God.
You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
Woe to you, Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues
and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.
Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves,
which people walk over without knowing it.
One of the experts in the law answered him,
Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.
Jesus replied, and you experts in the law,
Woe to you,
because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry,
and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets,
and it was your ancestors who killed them.
So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did.
They killed the prophets, and you build their tombs.
Because of this, God in his wisdom said,
I will send them prophets and apostles,
some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.
Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets
that's been shed since the beginning of the world,
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah,
who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary.
Yes, I tell you,
this generation will be held responsible for it all.
Woe to you experts in the law,
because you have taken away the key to knowledge.
You yourselves have not entered,
and you have hindered those who were entering.
When Jesus went outside,
the Pharisees and the teachers of the law
began to oppose him fiercely,
and to besiege him with questions,
waiting to catch him
in something he might say.
This is God's word.
So this evening we come to this point in the journey of Jesus,
where he is facing different types of opposition.
And as we begin,
it's important for us to recognize
that opposition is a reality for Christians.
Even within our own church,
the different countries and the families that we represent,
opposition comes in very different ways.
In certain places,
it's just simply that views are unwelcomed.
For other people,
their experience is that coming to faith
means their family won't accept them.
Some people live in countries
where Christians and churches
come under intense surveillance from the state.
Others live in places
where churches and the Christian community
can be targeted at particular times
to score political points.
For some of us,
to be a Christian will be to be excluded
from certain groups
or certain opportunities.
To follow Jesus
is to share in his experience
is to know opposition.
This journey that Jesus is taking
is a journey to Jerusalem.
It's a journey towards the cross.
Indeed, we could use the language of verse 49
and recognize Jesus stands in that line
of God's messengers
who will be persecuted and killed.
And as Jesus would say to his disciples,
if they hated me,
they will hate you also.
So our purpose this evening
is to consider
what did the opposition look like
in this section of Luke's gospel
on this journey?
To listen in as Jesus responds
and to let this confrontation
examine us as well.
Especially as we recognize
that it is nothing more important
than our own response to Jesus.
So let's look first of all
at verses 14 to 28
where we see the first sign of opposition
as the people misrepresent Jesus.
So to just follow what's going on,
we read in verse 14
that Jesus has driven out a demon.
That he has done something incredibly good
and powerful and merciful.
But the accusation comes,
yeah, Jesus does that
because Jesus is on the devil's side.
How does Jesus respond?
If Satan is divided against himself,
how can his kingdom stand?
He challenges their logic.
Of course he is not a part
of the kingdom of darkness.
We know this.
If a political party begins infighting,
then that group will be weakened
and collapse or a sports team
that begins to turn on one another.
Jesus also says to them,
listen, your followers
are doing the same thing
and you don't call them
part of the kingdom of darkness.
Rather, positively,
what does Jesus say?
Verse 20,
if I drive out demons
by the finger of God,
then the kingdom of God
has come upon you.
That's a wonderful image.
Just the finger of God
is sufficient to drive out this demon.
And it represents, again,
the breaking in of God's kingdom.
Verses 21 and 22,
there is another reality here
as Jesus pits himself
against the devil,
acknowledging, yes,
the devil is a strong man,
but Jesus is the stronger man.
And he is on a rescue mission.
His work on the cross
will be the climax
of that rescue mission.
His resurrection
will be that victory accomplished.
Spiritual hostages set free,
transferred from the kingdom of darkness
to the kingdom of God.
He faces misrepresentation,
but that's how he responds,
by pointing to the reality
of who he is
and the kingdom that he's bringing.
And now Jesus will bring
his own challenge
to his opponents.
In verse 23,
notice what he says,
whoever is not with me
is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me
scatters.
He asks them the question,
whose side are you on?
There is the fighting imagery
in a battle.
You're either for or against.
There's no neutral position here.
When it comes to the work of farming,
you're either helping in the harvest
or you're hindering.
Jesus is saying,
when it comes to me,
there is no neutral position.
And then towards the end of the section,
and especially in verse 28,
we can hear him asking the question,
how is our hearing spiritually?
So he talks about this situation.
Suppose a person is cleansed from a demon.
So the demon is driven out,
but there's no replacement going on.
Not replaced with God and his word,
not replaced with faith.
Jesus will say,
well, the final condition of that person
is actually going to end up being worse.
And then he responds to someone in the crowd
crying out,
blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.
What a blessing to be in Jesus' biological family.
And Jesus says,
here's what's better,
hearing and obeying
as Jesus brings the word of God,
because it's a word that brings life.
It's a word that saves.
So as we think about Jesus being misrepresented,
and as he challenges his listeners,
it's important for us to ask ourselves the question,
how is my hearing?
In 2019,
in Australia,
the Peaks Observatory Radio Telescope,
that big thing up there,
the listeners got really excited.
So they spent all their time
listening to signals from around the galaxy.
They got really excited
because they were pretty sure
they picked up signs
coming from another planet.
They thought extraterrestrial life
was trying to communicate.
And it went public.
Really exciting news.
And then a few days later,
there was the rather embarrassed retraction.
Actually,
it was just the case
that some signals got crossed,
the signal got mixed up.
They heard the message wrong.
Jesus came
as God's promised king,
bringing the good news
of spiritual rescue,
transferring people
from death to life,
calling people into relationship
with God through faith in him.
All of this profoundly good news,
but as we see here,
Jesus and his message
misrepresented.
And it's a truth
throughout Christian history
that the Christian faith
and the Christian message
has often been misrepresented,
that people have got mixed up
for a variety of reasons.
So in the first century,
even as the church
was growing rapidly
through the Roman Empire,
you will discover as well
that there was a real hatred
and hostility
towards the Christian faith,
in part,
because it was mixed up
and misrepresented.
So they heard Christians said,
Jesus is Lord,
not Caesar is Lord.
So they presumed then,
Christians would be
the worst of citizens.
They're bad news.
We need to get rid of them.
They heard about the Lord's Supper,
about the bread and the wine
representing the body
and the blood,
and they got mixed up
and they thought,
Christians are cannibals.
They're bad news.
Stay away from them.
All through church history,
this kind of thing,
21st century,
Christianity still gets misrepresented,
the Christian church,
and its message still gets
treated as bad news,
doesn't it?
Any exclusive truth claim
is bad.
It's intolerant.
Religion is the problem
in society.
Christians are the narrow-minded,
bigoted ones
who are bad news
in our day and age.
We hear it in different ways,
don't we?
So in the reality
of spiritual opposition,
where Jesus and his church
and his message
are likely to be misrepresented
and opposed,
will we first of all,
as Jesus says,
will we hear and obey
the gospel word?
Do we recognize
and do we trust
that Jesus came from God
as God
to save lost and dying people?
And if we do,
will we have the courage then
to follow Jesus as king?
Even when that comes with a cost.
Even if the people around us
choose to misrepresent Jesus
and misrepresent us.
The question always remains,
where do we stand?
Do we take our stand with Jesus
or are we against Jesus?
So we need to be careful
about how our hearing is,
especially in the context
of spiritual opposition,
that we would learn
to be dependent on him
and on his word,
that we might stand our ground.
Let's look now
at the second set of opposition
that we find against Jesus,
verse 29 to 36,
the crowd increases
and Jesus acknowledges
and recognizes
a fresh challenge.
As the crowds increased,
Jesus said,
this is a wicked generation.
It asks for a sign,
but none will be given it
except the sign of Jonah.
Second up opposition,
rejecting evidence for Jesus.
Maybe you've had this experience
of being in a foreign country
and finding yourself
at various points
feeling lost.
Perhaps the signs,
road signs or airport signs,
are only in an international language
and not in English,
and it can be thoroughly confusing.
There are some people in Jesus' day
who never seem satisfied
with the signs that Jesus gave them.
We already heard it in verse 16.
Others tested Jesus
by asking for a sign from heaven,
demanding more signs,
demanding more evidence
that Jesus is
who he says he is.
By now,
in Luke's gospel,
what have we come to discover?
Well, we have just seen him
drive out a demon.
We have seen and heard of him
healing many, many sick people
with various kinds of diseases.
We've seen his power over nature
as he has stopped a storm.
We have seen his power over sickness
and even over death.
We have seen him feed a huge crowd
with one small boy's lunchbox.
The problem is not a lack of evidence.
The problem is spiritual blindness
and hard-heartedness.
They could not and would not read the signs.
And there is that refusal
to trust and believe.
So what does Jesus say to them?
Verse 29,
you're asking for a sign.
None will be given
except the sign of Jonah.
So Jesus is going to take them back
to the Old Testament.
And it's really interesting.
Jesus points them back
to the Old Testament
and says,
look, it points forward to me.
If we want to know
how to read the Old Testament
like Jesus,
that's one important thing
for us to learn.
As we read the Old Testament,
we're looking to see
how it is fulfilled
in Jesus.
But he gives them
what he calls
the sign of Jonah.
Jonah.
What does he mean by that?
Who was Jonah?
Well, Jonah, of course,
was that Old Testament prophet
sent on his mission.
A mission to declare
the judgment of God
on Nineveh.
But to declare that judgment
implicitly was
to open up
a window for mercy.
Jonah was reluctant.
He tried to run from God.
God sent a storm.
Jonah was thrown overboard,
swallowed by a fish.
Okay, but here's the sign
of Jonah, I think,
that just as,
and Jesus would say this
in Matthew's Gospel,
just as Jonah spent
three days and nights
in the belly of the fish,
so Jesus would spend
those three days and nights
in the heart of the earth.
And just as Jonah,
as it were,
came back from death
to life
to preach a message
that demands response,
the response
of repentance
and faith.
So Jesus would die
and rise
and calls us all
to repent
and to believe.
That's the sign
that he's going to give
to them.
In his dying and rising,
he's going to show
he's the greater
than Jonah.
But he doesn't just
stop there
as he gives
Old Testament lessons,
does he?
He also talks
in verse 31
about the Queen
of the South,
perhaps more familiarly
known to us
as the Queen
of Sheba.
And it says
there in verse 31,
she'll rise
at the judgment
with the people
of this generation
and condemn them
for she came
from the ends
of the earth
to listen to
Solomon's wisdom.
And one greater
than Solomon
is here.
So there was
this queen
who traveled
hundreds and
hundreds of miles,
such was the fame
of Solomon,
God's king
with God's wisdom.
And Jesus says,
she was wise,
you're unwise,
you're going to be
condemned because
Jesus is a greater
king than Solomon.
Jesus has greater
wisdom than Solomon.
Paul talks about
Jesus,
the wisdom of God,
our righteousness,
our holiness,
our redemption.
Jesus is all
the wisdom we need,
but his generation
were rejecting him.
So she becomes
a sign that
will lead them
to judgment
and condemnation.
And then even
the men of Nineveh,
verse 32,
will stand up
at the judgment
with this generation
and condemn it
for they repented
at the preaching
of Jonah
and now something
greater than Jonah
is here.
Nineveh was a
really evil city.
But when they heard
that message,
40 days in Nineveh
will be destroyed,
there was repentance
from the greatest
to the least
and God showed
mercy.
Jesus,
a greater preacher,
bringing eternal life,
bringing grace
from God
as God himself
comes to them
and they reject him
and they demand
more evidence.
They say no.
And then Jesus
uses this imagery
in verses 33
and 36
by way of
challenging
the opponents.
Asking the question,
how is
your spiritual
eyesight?
Look at verse 34,
your eye
is the lamp
of your body.
When your eyes
are healthy,
your whole body
also is full of light,
but when they're unhealthy,
your body
also is full
of darkness.
See to it then
that the light
within you
is not darkness.
Jesus has come
providing the light
of God
and it is being
rejected
in favor
of darkness.
And so Jesus
says to them,
how you see
Jesus,
how we see
Jesus,
how we respond
to him
is a sign
of whether we
have God's
light or not.
Do we respond
to the light
or do we remain
in spiritual
darkness
and blindness?
darkness.
Jesus is saying
our view of Jesus
determines
our spiritual
condition.
How is my
eyesight today?
Have you ever
taken an eye
test?
You know the letters
are there on the chart,
they're right in front
of you,
but you can't
make them out.
I guess every glass
is wearer
has had that
experience.
You know,
when it gets fuzzy
it's a sign
that our eyesight
is not great,
that we need
fresh lenses.
If you've ever
tried to live
with fuzzy vision
it can be
uncomfortable
sometimes.
I'm not a huge
fan of wearing
glasses,
so I often walk
past people
in the street
who I know
but I don't
realize that I
know them.
That's uncomfortable.
They can also
be dangerous
if you don't
know where
you are going.
And so it's
important for us
to ask
spiritually,
do I
see
Jesus
clearly?
maybe especially
when we think
about the
people around
us who
maybe bring
challenges
and are
looking to
know,
you know,
I want more
evidence,
I want more
proof,
and they have
challenge after
challenge.
Jesus reminds
us that there's
the reality of
spiritual blindness.
And so one of
the things that we
absolutely need to
be doing
is to be
praying,
and that God
would allow
the light of
the Lord Jesus
to shine in
that person's
heart and
life.
It just as
Jesus invited
his opponents
to read
their Bibles
in order to
see Jesus
clearly,
perhaps one of
the best things
that we can do
with our friends
or our family
members who
have questions
is to take
them to God's
Word,
to invite them
to read a
Gospel,
to discover
who Jesus
really is,
because often
the version of
Christianity or
the Jesus that
people are
rejecting is
not the same
as what's
found in
God's
Word.
It's important
that we
know and
see that
Jesus is
more than,
you know,
Jesus talks
about I am
greater than.
He's not just
a good man,
he's not just
a wise man,
he's not just
a role model,
he is greater
than anyone,
anything,
he is the
king we need,
he's the
prophet we need,
he's the
wisdom we need,
and he's the
king, the
prophet, the
wisdom that
the people
around us
need also.
So especially
as we recognize
as Jesus
speaks to us
that the
judgment we
pass on
Jesus now
affects the
judgment Jesus
passes on us
when he returns,
how important
it is
for us to
pray and
to seek
and to
share
who Jesus
truly is,
what he came
to do
with people
who are
struggling
and wondering
about the
evidence.
The third
opposition
that we see
from verse 37
to the end
of the chapter
is the
opposition of
those who
choose man-made
religion over
Jesus.
there are
particular
opponents in
view here
in verse 37,
it's the
Pharisees,
in verse 45,
it's the
experts in
the law.
These two
groups of
religious leaders
who of all
people should
be hearing
with faith.
They should
be reading
the signs
and recognizing
who Jesus
is, and
they should
in turn
then be
pointing people
to trust
in Jesus
as God's
promised
king and
savior.
But their
problem
is that they're
choosing their
own superficial
man-made
religion
that's based
on works
rather than
God's salvation
that comes
through grace,
that comes
through trusting
in Jesus.
And so as
Jesus confronts
this opposition
we discover
that their
hearts are
unchanged,
their hearts
are unclean,
but they feel
really good about
themselves because
of the externals.
Jesus
is
meal time,
verse 37.
A Pharisee
has invited
Jesus to
eat with
him.
And notice
the Pharisee's
surprise.
Jesus
doesn't wash
according to
the rules
that we've
set.
He doesn't
conform to
our standards
of what it
means to be
clean.
Jesus says
to him,
you don't
conform to
God's
standard of
cleanness.
You Pharisees
clean the
outside of the
cup and dish,
but inside
you're full of
greed and
wickedness.
Jesus wants
to confront
the religious
leaders,
relying on
a man-made
religion.
It's what's
on the
inside that
counts.
How is
your heart?
Rather than
being concerned
simply to
look good
at playing
at religion.
It becomes
clear,
Jesus hates
that,
God hates
that,
he wants
sincerity,
we see it
in the
Old Testament,
and we see
it here as
well.
And as if
that wasn't
enough,
Jesus then
proceeds to
pronounce
these six
woes,
these judgments
are pronounced.
So look at
verse 42,
there is woe
on these
Pharisees for
their hypocrisy.
So they're
brilliant at
tithing their
herbs,
you know,
they've got
their garden
herbs all
tithed neatly,
but they don't
love their
neighbor in
practice justice,
and they're
neglecting the
love of God.
And they think
that they're
doing well.
He confronts
their pride
in verse 43,
their love
to be seen
before other
people,
rather than
being humble
before their
God.
He confronts
their uncleanness
in verse 44,
you're like
unmarked
graves.
They are
unclean,
and people
are stumbling
upon them
in their
teaching,
and because of
their influence,
they're making
others unclean
too,
they're dragging
others into
the same mess
as them with
their bad
teaching.
Verse 45,
one of the
experts in the
law said,
teacher,
when you say
these things,
you insult
us also,
and Jesus
has some
woes for
them also.
Verse 46,
because of
their legalism,
piling on,
heaping on,
a crushing
burden of
man-made
religion,
not helping
by cutting
through all
that,
and showing
Jesus is
Lord and
the one
they need
to trust.
He challenges
them for
their hypocrisy.
Their
ancestors killed
God's messengers,
the prophets.
they build
tombs,
thinking they're
doing this
great religious
thing.
Jesus says,
you're basically
saying that
what your
forefathers did,
you approve
of.
He will say
to them,
you stand
in line
of those
who kill
God's prophets.
And of course,
as the story
goes on,
we know that
they will do
the same
to Jesus.
And then we
get to
verse 52,
that last
woe.
Woe to
you,
because you've
taken away
the key
to knowledge.
You yourselves
have not
entered,
and you have
hindered those
who were
entering.
What a
dreadful
situation.
They've
locked and
barricaded
the door
to know
God
through faith
in Jesus.
They've
thrown away
the key.
They're
turning people
back from
trusting in
Jesus,
the way,
the truth,
and the
life,
because they're
persuaded that
their way
is the way
to God.
And so
Jesus,
it challenges
this man-made
religion by
pointing to
the importance
of the heart.
Remember God's
word that came
to Samuel,
the prophet,
in the Old
Testament.
Man looks at
the outward
appearance,
but God
looks at
the heart.
But we have
this somber
reminder
that Jesus
can be
opposed and
resisted
even by
those claiming
to be
religious,
even by
those who
are in
a position
of religious
leadership.
Jesus
denounces
them because
of how far
short they
come of
God's word
and God's
way of
salvation.
Jesus
says only
heart change
will do.
But a
religion based
on work
will aim
to change
some habits,
serving to
keep Jesus
at arm's
length.
Jesus
would humble
us by
showing us
our sin,
by showing
that we
cannot keep
God's law,
we cannot be
holy by
ourselves,
but man-made
religion,
tick these
boxes,
encourages
pride in
our own
ability.
It ignores
God's
perfect
holiness,
and it
ignores
human
sinfulness.
The question
to ask
ourselves is
how is
my heart?
That image
that Jesus
had in
verse 39,
you Pharisees
clean the
outside of
the cup
and dish,
but inside
you are
full of
greed and
wickedness.
Have you
ever had
this start
to the
day?
You're
getting ready
for school
or you're
getting ready
for work
and you
get the
fresh bowl
out of the
cupboard or
out of the
dishwasher,
you pour
your cereal,
you add
the milk,
you get ready
to tuck in,
you take
your first
spoonful and
you get that
disgusting taste
because you
realize your
milk is
off.
Not just
me.
The glass
or the
plate can
be clean
but inside
it's
disgusting.
And Jesus
wants us to
understand how
foolish it
is to
try and
merely clean
up our
act,
to try
harder to
do better
when our
heart is
still a
dark mess
of sin.
What we
need is
not more
man-made
religion.
What we
need is
to trust
and ascend
from heaven
redeemer.
Jesus
came to
establish the
new covenant,
to establish
us in
relationship
with God
by his
death on
the cross.
And in
that new
covenant,
as it's
spoken of
in the
Old Testament,
there is a
spiritual
heart transplant
that takes
place.
Ezekiel says
that God
will change
our heart
of stone
and give
us a
heart of
flesh.
So we
need God's
grace to
change us
from the
inside out.
And so we
must never
settle for
man-made
religion.
So as we
follow Jesus
on this
journey,
and as we've
seen him
face opposition
of various
kinds,
we're reminded
opposition is
real.
people are
we willing
to face
it for
Jesus'
sake.
Jesus
will
suffer it
for us,
walking this
road to
suffer,
to die,
to save
his people.
His life is
one in which
opposition,
persecution,
suffering,
and ultimately
death were
never far
away.
The result
of his
mission,
the result
of his
sacrifices,
that we
receive the
gift of
new life,
an entry
into God's
kingdom,
and the
guarantee
of final
victory and
glory.
At the
same time,
we identify
with Jesus,
being ready
to suffer.
For some
Christians
today,
they will
pay the
ultimate
price for
following
Jesus,
but we
know that
every follower
will know
some
opposition,
so will
we walk
that road
day by
day?
And how
do we
do?
Or doesn't
it begin
by trusting
in Jesus
and remembering
Jesus,
the one who
walked this
road before
us,
the one who
walked this
road for
us,
and the one
who promises
that he
walks that
road of
opposition,
suffering,
and suffering
with us.
And so we
can trust
him today
and every
day.
Let's pray
together.