WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church. 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:11.580 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:15.280 use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church. 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:22.620 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org. 00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:27.379 Good morning. 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:28.800 My name is Denise Yon. 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:32.880 I'm part of the San Francisco Community Group and Women Reading Women. 00:00:33.880 --> 00:00:40.579 Today's scripture reading is from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 11, verses 37 to 54, as printed 00:00:40.579 --> 00:00:41.740 in your liturgy. 00:00:43.260 --> 00:00:48.359 When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him, so he went in 00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:49.620 and reclined at the table. 00:00:50.500 --> 00:00:55.040 But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal. 00:00:55.039 --> 00:00:57.439 Then the Lord said to him, 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:03.859 Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full 00:01:03.859 --> 00:01:05.379 of greed and wickedness. 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:07.239 You foolish people. 00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:11.359 Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:17.640 But now, as for what is inside you, be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for 00:01:17.640 --> 00:01:17.939 you. 00:01:17.939 --> 00:01:23.759 Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue, and all other kinds 00:01:23.759 --> 00:01:27.500 of garden and herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:32.280 You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone. 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:37.759 Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful 00:01:37.759 --> 00:01:39.120 greetings in the marketplaces. 00:01:40.120 --> 00:01:45.120 Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:48.460 One of the experts in the law answered him, 00:01:48.620 --> 00:01:51.700 Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also. 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:53.359 Jesus replied, 00:01:53.980 --> 00:01:59.100 And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with the burdens they can 00:01:59.100 --> 00:02:03.860 hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them. 00:02:05.060 --> 00:02:09.560 Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:09.860 them. 00:02:10.340 --> 00:02:13.240 So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did. 00:02:13.240 --> 00:02:15.939 They killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:21.920 Because of this, God in his wisdom said, I will send them prophets and apostles, some 00:02:21.920 --> 00:02:25.000 of whom they will kill, and others they will persecute. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:30.120 Therefore, this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been 00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:35.240 shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:37.939 who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. 00:02:37.939 --> 00:02:42.900 Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all. 00:02:44.079 --> 00:02:47.620 Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. 00:02:48.199 --> 00:02:51.900 You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering. 00:02:53.079 --> 00:02:57.639 When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of law began to oppose him fiercely, 00:02:58.079 --> 00:03:02.960 and to besiege him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he might say. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:05.920 This is the gospel of the Lord. 00:03:06.480 --> 00:03:07.879 Praise to you, O Christ. 00:03:10.180 --> 00:03:11.200 Thank you, Denise. 00:03:12.819 --> 00:03:15.180 Let's go to the Lord in prayer as we open up his word. 00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:23.939 Father, I do not presume to have anything to say in and of myself to your people, 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:28.300 but you are God who speaks, and you speak truth, and you speak grace, 00:03:28.300 --> 00:03:34.280 and I pray that you would give us ears to hear and to receive your truth and your grace today, 00:03:34.580 --> 00:03:37.820 that we might behold your Son, the Savior, 00:03:38.640 --> 00:03:43.180 that we might earnestly desire pure hearts in your eyes, 00:03:43.920 --> 00:03:48.840 and that we might behold the wonderful news of how you've made provision 00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:51.700 for our cleansing and our purity in Christ. 00:03:52.880 --> 00:03:55.520 Give us a heart for Jesus, we pray, in the name of Jesus. 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:56.360 Amen. 00:03:56.360 --> 00:03:56.440 Amen. 00:03:57.920 --> 00:04:01.900 So you may have noticed over the past couple weeks as we've been getting deeper and deeper into Luke's gospel 00:04:01.900 --> 00:04:05.860 that Jesus has been having more and more, like, really tense interactions 00:04:05.860 --> 00:04:10.100 with this particular group of religious folks called the Pharisees. 00:04:10.760 --> 00:04:14.740 And in this text that we just heard read, this is definitely the most direct, 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:18.020 it's the harshest, the most confrontational, and offensive 00:04:18.020 --> 00:04:22.439 that we've seen Jesus speak to anyone so far in the gospel of Luke. 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:28.480 Now, maybe some of you are desensitized to this, how lambastic Jesus is being here, 00:04:28.519 --> 00:04:30.079 because, hey, these are the Pharisees, right? 00:04:30.379 --> 00:04:33.100 Even if you're not a Christian, you know that you don't want to be a Pharisee. 00:04:33.420 --> 00:04:34.480 You don't want to be a Pharisee. 00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:40.139 These are the bad guys, the hypocrites, the self-righteous, legalistic, judgmental, hard-hearted, 00:04:40.600 --> 00:04:45.899 lacking in compassion, arch-nemeses of Jesus throughout all the gospel accounts. 00:04:45.899 --> 00:04:48.479 So in our minds, like, yeah, get him, Jesus, right? 00:04:48.699 --> 00:04:52.839 Pile it on, amen, amen, woe to you, Pharisees. 00:04:53.679 --> 00:04:58.659 But, you know, that we view the Pharisees as bad guys is actually more a testament 00:04:58.659 --> 00:05:02.539 to the pervasive influence of Christianity in the modern Western world 00:05:02.539 --> 00:05:07.359 than an actually helpful way to approach this episode in Jesus' life. 00:05:07.939 --> 00:05:12.620 Because, listen, the Pharisees may be the bad guys to those of us living in a Western civilization 00:05:12.620 --> 00:05:16.660 that's been undeniably shaped by the life and teachings of Jesus, 00:05:16.780 --> 00:05:22.740 but I guarantee you that in this moment, around this super-awkward dining table in Luke chapter 11, 00:05:23.780 --> 00:05:28.720 and across the whole Jewish community at this time, the Pharisees and the experts in the law, 00:05:29.319 --> 00:05:30.740 they had a very different reputation. 00:05:31.800 --> 00:05:37.699 See, the predominant thesis of the Jewish people in Jesus' day was that the reason 00:05:37.699 --> 00:05:44.339 that Israel was under occupation by the Romans was that their forefathers had disregarded the prophets, 00:05:44.759 --> 00:05:49.379 rebelled against God, and chosen to live in uncleanness and unrighteousness. 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:53.959 And the people who most believed this thesis and who devoted their whole lives 00:05:53.959 --> 00:05:58.360 to bringing the nation back to a kingdom of purity and cleanliness before the Lord, 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:03.199 the people who led the way and who were looked to for direction about how to live a clean life, 00:06:03.919 --> 00:06:04.860 it was the Pharisees. 00:06:04.860 --> 00:06:09.020 According to New Testament scholar Lynn Kohik, the majority of the evidence indicates 00:06:09.020 --> 00:06:15.280 that the Pharisees were seen as on the people's side while preserving the highest goals 00:06:15.280 --> 00:06:16.740 and the highest standards of purity. 00:06:17.400 --> 00:06:19.819 So the Pharisees really were the champions of Israel. 00:06:20.520 --> 00:06:22.860 These were the national heroes, believed to be the most righteous, 00:06:23.180 --> 00:06:27.220 the purest people in the community, the very preservers of Jewish life, 00:06:27.379 --> 00:06:29.300 Jewish religion, Jewish culture. 00:06:29.300 --> 00:06:35.620 And they bravely lived strict and disciplined Jewish lives, 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:41.040 even while Roman soldiers marched through their streets and pressured them to just assimilate, 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:43.379 right, to Greco-Roman culture. 00:06:44.340 --> 00:06:50.340 So it should actually stun us to observe how aggressively Jesus goes at his dinner host 00:06:50.340 --> 00:06:51.780 and his fellow guests here. 00:06:52.420 --> 00:06:55.600 I just want you to imagine yourself sitting around that table, right? 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:59.800 Verse 37 says that the Pharisee invited Jesus into his own home. 00:06:59.879 --> 00:07:04.320 So it's not like this was one of the more antagonistic or jealous Pharisees from the start. 00:07:04.760 --> 00:07:06.879 Not every Pharisee was a Jesus hater. 00:07:07.580 --> 00:07:12.400 This Pharisee, this host probably was even sympathetic and curious about Jesus. 00:07:12.620 --> 00:07:15.040 Jesus was probably his guest of honor, right? 00:07:15.720 --> 00:07:18.860 Then verse 38 simply says the Pharisee was just surprised 00:07:18.860 --> 00:07:22.480 when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal. 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:24.240 Who knows if he even said anything? 00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:25.379 Maybe he raised an eyebrow. 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:28.080 Maybe he said something like, hmm, oh, that's interesting. 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:29.660 He didn't wash his hands. 00:07:29.740 --> 00:07:30.920 We don't know exactly. 00:07:31.960 --> 00:07:35.060 But what we do know is that that was all it took 00:07:35.060 --> 00:07:38.759 for Jesus to become the kind of dinner guest 00:07:38.759 --> 00:07:42.060 that we all dread to have in our homes, right? 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:46.259 The kind of dinner guest that we pray our children will never become, 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:49.800 insulting the host, insulting the fellow guests, 00:07:49.800 --> 00:07:51.960 calling people fools at the table, 00:07:52.520 --> 00:07:55.460 and pronouncing woes around the table, right? 00:07:55.960 --> 00:07:59.980 This is the kind of story that makes me question the bright rainbow WWJD, 00:08:00.100 --> 00:08:02.960 what would Jesus do, bracelet used to wear in my youth, right? 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:03.660 It's like, really? 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:04.720 Would Jesus do that? 00:08:04.780 --> 00:08:05.780 Should I do that too? 00:08:05.860 --> 00:08:06.980 I don't know, right? 00:08:07.780 --> 00:08:09.400 But of course, if he's Jesus, 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:13.220 and our core confession as Christians is that Jesus Christ is Lord, 00:08:14.040 --> 00:08:15.720 we've got to recognize he's not wrong here. 00:08:16.620 --> 00:08:18.880 So the question we need to ask is, 00:08:19.700 --> 00:08:22.120 what was it that got Jesus so fired up? 00:08:22.740 --> 00:08:26.420 What is it that brings out the fire and ire of Jesus 00:08:26.420 --> 00:08:28.800 and leads him to cut the cordial 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:33.019 and break all social conventions of politeness and niceness? 00:08:34.019 --> 00:08:35.779 So again, here Jesus is, 00:08:35.860 --> 00:08:37.240 not having washed up before eating, 00:08:37.340 --> 00:08:40.279 but FYI, there is actually no commandment in the law of Moses 00:08:40.279 --> 00:08:43.279 saying that people need to wash their hands before they eat a meal. 00:08:43.379 --> 00:08:47.240 Only the priests carrying out their ceremonial duties in the tabernacle 00:08:47.240 --> 00:08:49.360 were commanded to wash their hands before eating. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:53.439 Or people who'd become unclean by coming into contact with a dead body 00:08:53.439 --> 00:08:55.419 or with blood or an unclean animal, 00:08:55.919 --> 00:08:58.480 those were the only times you need to wash before eating. 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:01.559 So it's not like Jesus was breaking any of the laws of Moses. 00:09:01.559 --> 00:09:04.599 So what was likely going on here was that the Pharisees, 00:09:04.739 --> 00:09:07.099 in their dedication to making Israel clean again, 00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:10.239 they applied these ceremonial washing practices 00:09:10.239 --> 00:09:12.359 just to everyone, just to be safe. 00:09:12.779 --> 00:09:13.879 And not just to the priests 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:16.119 or those who'd come into contact with unclean things, 00:09:16.719 --> 00:09:18.379 they applied it to everyone. 00:09:19.079 --> 00:09:20.799 So again, Jesus hasn't broken Moses' law, 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:25.279 he's merely broken an extra law and custom of the Pharisees. 00:09:25.739 --> 00:09:26.679 But at the same time, 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:29.259 it's still a surprise for the Pharisees to see this. 00:09:29.259 --> 00:09:34.539 And I so love how Luke writes here in the next verse, 00:09:34.779 --> 00:09:35.559 then the Lord. 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:37.819 He didn't say then Jesus, but he says then the Lord. 00:09:37.980 --> 00:09:40.819 Like Luke's emphasizing, he may be a lunch guest here, 00:09:41.500 --> 00:09:43.340 but Jesus is never a mere guest. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:46.279 He's always the Lord of every table. 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:49.200 And as the Lord, he has something to say to the Pharisees 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:50.679 about what it means to be clean. 00:09:50.740 --> 00:09:53.100 Now the word for washed here in verse 38 00:09:53.100 --> 00:09:55.039 is the word baptizo. 00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:57.139 All right, where we get the word baptized. 00:09:57.139 --> 00:09:57.960 It's the word baptizo. 00:09:58.019 --> 00:10:00.019 So you have this Pharisee who is surprised 00:10:00.019 --> 00:10:03.539 that Jesus didn't baptize himself before the meal. 00:10:04.299 --> 00:10:05.279 And so Jesus is like, 00:10:05.379 --> 00:10:06.699 oh, you want to talk about baptism? 00:10:07.460 --> 00:10:10.279 You want to talk about what it really means to be clean? 00:10:10.860 --> 00:10:11.379 Verse 39, 00:10:11.879 --> 00:10:13.340 now then you Pharisees, 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:16.319 clean the outside of the cup of the dish and the dish, 00:10:16.600 --> 00:10:18.899 but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 00:10:18.939 --> 00:10:19.980 He's saying, wait, 00:10:20.620 --> 00:10:22.939 you guys with your triple washed hands 00:10:22.939 --> 00:10:24.879 are getting caught up in the fact 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:26.840 that I haven't baptized mine before eating? 00:10:27.439 --> 00:10:29.019 That's really your biggest hangup? 00:10:29.259 --> 00:10:31.000 This external, superficial, 00:10:31.340 --> 00:10:34.419 even maybe superstitious act of cleansing your hands? 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:36.179 Well, I have a question for you. 00:10:36.759 --> 00:10:37.740 What about your hearts? 00:10:38.580 --> 00:10:41.720 Have you cleansed the greed and wickedness from your hearts? 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:43.659 Or are you the kinds of people 00:10:43.659 --> 00:10:45.299 who only clean the outside of the cup, 00:10:45.419 --> 00:10:46.299 but not the inside? 00:10:46.419 --> 00:10:47.620 Anyone have a roommate like that? 00:10:47.659 --> 00:10:48.059 It's gross. 00:10:48.059 --> 00:10:49.559 I've had many roommates like that. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:55.179 Jesus insists that we got to be clean both inside and out. 00:10:55.599 --> 00:10:56.059 Verse 40, 00:10:56.599 --> 00:10:57.639 you foolish people, 00:10:58.379 --> 00:11:01.319 did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:03.819 Both inside and out matter to God 00:11:03.819 --> 00:11:05.539 because he made both. 00:11:06.439 --> 00:11:08.539 And just because something or someone 00:11:08.539 --> 00:11:10.959 looks clean and nice and good on the outside, 00:11:11.099 --> 00:11:13.859 it doesn't mean that they're clean on the inside. 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:15.679 It doesn't mean that at all. 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:18.019 So Jesus says in verse 41, 00:11:18.379 --> 00:11:20.079 but now as for what is inside you, 00:11:20.199 --> 00:11:21.139 be generous to the poor 00:11:21.139 --> 00:11:23.459 and everything will be clean for you. 00:11:23.539 --> 00:11:24.659 And what he means here isn't, 00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:27.439 okay, do this different external religious act 00:11:27.439 --> 00:11:29.279 of giving to the poor instead 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:31.459 and that act is gonna make you clean 00:11:31.459 --> 00:11:33.559 rather than just washing your hands before a meal. 00:11:33.659 --> 00:11:35.000 No, actually, the Pharisees, 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:37.259 actually, they might have given more alms out 00:11:37.259 --> 00:11:39.620 to the community than anyone else in their society. 00:11:40.199 --> 00:11:41.819 The key words in this verse, verse 41, 00:11:41.819 --> 00:11:44.559 are as for what is inside you. 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:47.179 In the Greek, you could also translate this as 00:11:47.179 --> 00:11:49.719 give alms with respect to what is inside you, 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:52.299 meaning don't just do the deed with your hands, 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:54.979 but actually do the deed from your heart, 00:11:55.539 --> 00:11:57.819 like with actual care and compassion 00:11:57.819 --> 00:12:00.359 and love and zeal for God. 00:12:01.119 --> 00:12:03.939 See, Jesus sets a much higher bar for righteousness 00:12:03.939 --> 00:12:07.519 than mere external acts of religiosity or even charity. 00:12:07.619 --> 00:12:09.539 If you truly want to be clean, he says, 00:12:09.539 --> 00:12:12.099 it's gotta start with your heart. 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:15.379 And this bar is high and it's hard and it's heavy 00:12:15.379 --> 00:12:17.199 because it really is so much easier 00:12:17.199 --> 00:12:19.360 to just follow a rule and check a box, right, 00:12:19.699 --> 00:12:23.019 than to cultivate love and compassion in our hearts. 00:12:23.699 --> 00:12:25.480 Like here in verse 42 where Jesus says, 00:12:25.819 --> 00:12:27.439 woe to the Pharisees for giving a tenth 00:12:27.439 --> 00:12:28.919 of even the tiniest herbs 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:29.799 and paying so much attention 00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:31.759 to every single little piece of mint and rube 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:33.819 but neglecting justice and love for God. 00:12:33.820 --> 00:12:35.620 It totally makes sense to me though 00:12:35.620 --> 00:12:40.560 how people, myself included, could get caught up in that. 00:12:40.660 --> 00:12:43.220 For so many of us, especially those of us 00:12:43.220 --> 00:12:45.980 who are like me, grew up in an evangelical upbringing, 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:47.980 churchgoers all my life, 00:12:48.040 --> 00:12:50.080 we've been doing church for a really long time. 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:52.720 Many of us can find ourselves 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:55.340 in a set it and forget it kind of mode, right? 00:12:55.960 --> 00:12:57.480 We show up to church every week, 00:12:57.840 --> 00:12:59.240 but it's out of habit, no problem. 00:12:59.300 --> 00:13:00.900 It's just built into our way of life. 00:13:01.260 --> 00:13:03.040 It's built into our life that once a month 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:05.299 we're going to help prepare the communion table, 00:13:05.439 --> 00:13:06.299 be on the welcome team, 00:13:06.379 --> 00:13:07.500 help with the kids' ministry. 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:09.219 It's just built in. 00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:10.699 We've also, you know, 00:13:10.740 --> 00:13:12.860 just figured out how to habit stack, right? 00:13:12.959 --> 00:13:14.959 We figured out how to have our daily devotions, 00:13:15.079 --> 00:13:16.319 read our Bible and pray every day. 00:13:16.379 --> 00:13:18.379 We just stack it onto our daily coffee. 00:13:18.699 --> 00:13:19.079 It's done. 00:13:19.199 --> 00:13:19.659 It's automatic. 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:22.459 We also electronically automate our giving. 00:13:22.620 --> 00:13:23.860 10%, I don't even see it. 00:13:23.899 --> 00:13:24.879 I don't even feel it anymore. 00:13:25.139 --> 00:13:25.919 It just goes. 00:13:26.819 --> 00:13:30.379 And we don't even, like, think about it 00:13:30.379 --> 00:13:31.439 when we give. 00:13:32.319 --> 00:13:32.980 We're fine. 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:33.419 We're good. 00:13:33.500 --> 00:13:33.860 We're clean. 00:13:33.939 --> 00:13:34.519 We don't curse. 00:13:34.620 --> 00:13:35.240 We don't gamble. 00:13:35.379 --> 00:13:36.259 We don't get high. 00:13:36.319 --> 00:13:37.059 We don't get drunk. 00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:38.500 We're on cruise control. 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:40.839 This is what our parents taught us to do. 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:41.860 This is what we do. 00:13:42.500 --> 00:13:45.279 So can I please get my Stellar Christian sticker now, right? 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:47.959 An A plus on my spiritual report card. 00:13:49.139 --> 00:13:50.319 Well, Jesus would remind us 00:13:50.319 --> 00:13:52.819 that it is possible to do all of this 00:13:52.819 --> 00:13:53.759 and more, 00:13:54.439 --> 00:13:56.419 and yet to neglect justice 00:13:56.419 --> 00:13:57.679 and the love of God. 00:13:58.839 --> 00:14:01.079 Like, you may have checked all the boxes, 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:03.040 but when was the last time you checked your heart? 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:07.240 When was the last time you prayed Psalm 139? 00:14:07.379 --> 00:14:08.259 Search me, O God, 00:14:08.740 --> 00:14:09.740 and know my heart. 00:14:10.460 --> 00:14:12.420 Test me and know my anxious thoughts. 00:14:13.060 --> 00:14:16.100 See if there is any offensive way in me 00:14:16.100 --> 00:14:19.540 and lead me in the way everlasting. 00:14:19.539 --> 00:14:21.639 We need to be a self-examining, 00:14:21.939 --> 00:14:23.439 heart-examining people. 00:14:23.559 --> 00:14:25.459 We need to be regularly asking ourselves 00:14:25.459 --> 00:14:27.360 and each other in community, 00:14:27.539 --> 00:14:29.519 are we growing in our love for others 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:30.939 and our love for God, 00:14:31.019 --> 00:14:33.379 or have we been content to check the boxes 00:14:33.379 --> 00:14:35.819 and just live our lives unexamined 00:14:35.819 --> 00:14:36.980 and on autopilot? 00:14:38.120 --> 00:14:39.139 Now, in case you thought 00:14:39.139 --> 00:14:40.139 I was just going to go after 00:14:40.139 --> 00:14:42.599 the conservative religious evangelicals, 00:14:43.099 --> 00:14:43.959 I also have a word 00:14:43.959 --> 00:14:45.539 for the more theologically liberal 00:14:45.539 --> 00:14:46.699 of those in the room. 00:14:46.819 --> 00:14:47.959 Maybe you have a mainline background. 00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:50.879 Maybe you especially love passages like this 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:52.379 and you're cheering Jesus on at this point 00:14:52.379 --> 00:14:53.940 because you see Jesus in this passage 00:14:53.940 --> 00:14:56.580 like polemicizing against meticulous, 00:14:56.900 --> 00:14:58.019 petty rule following. 00:14:58.420 --> 00:14:59.540 And you love this 00:14:59.540 --> 00:15:00.840 because you yourself 00:15:00.840 --> 00:15:01.740 are not really interested 00:15:01.740 --> 00:15:04.240 in getting into the details 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:04.960 and the specifics 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:07.680 of honoring every part of God's law 00:15:07.680 --> 00:15:09.540 with every part of your life. 00:15:09.879 --> 00:15:12.420 You're just focused on love and compassion, 00:15:12.580 --> 00:15:13.700 just broadly speaking, 00:15:13.780 --> 00:15:15.080 without much definition. 00:15:15.280 --> 00:15:16.360 Well, I want to remind you 00:15:16.360 --> 00:15:17.720 that Jesus also says here 00:15:17.720 --> 00:15:20.080 at the end of verse 42, 00:15:20.779 --> 00:15:22.600 you should have practiced the latter, 00:15:22.980 --> 00:15:24.100 so you should have practiced justice 00:15:24.100 --> 00:15:24.980 and love for God, 00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:28.580 without leaving the former undone. 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:30.919 Jesus is not criticizing 00:15:30.919 --> 00:15:32.139 the Pharisees' attention 00:15:32.139 --> 00:15:33.340 to detail in tithing, 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:34.899 just their neglect 00:15:34.899 --> 00:15:36.580 of the even more important things. 00:15:37.139 --> 00:15:38.180 But make no mistake, 00:15:38.340 --> 00:15:39.480 Jesus wants it all, 00:15:39.899 --> 00:15:41.879 and he's worthy of it all. 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:45.379 So yes, we need the big boulders in place. 00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:46.519 Pursue justice. 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:48.500 Have compassion for people. 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:49.659 Love God from your heart. 00:15:49.980 --> 00:15:50.600 And then though, 00:15:50.700 --> 00:15:52.820 look for all the many infinite ways 00:15:52.820 --> 00:15:54.799 you can express that justice 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:56.379 and love and compassion 00:15:56.379 --> 00:15:58.340 in the details of your life. 00:15:59.320 --> 00:16:00.179 So if this is you, 00:16:00.279 --> 00:16:01.379 my question for you is, 00:16:01.659 --> 00:16:02.500 are you pursuing 00:16:02.500 --> 00:16:04.840 a dynamic relationship with God 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:07.620 in all the details of your life? 00:16:07.620 --> 00:16:09.820 Are you searching the scriptures 00:16:09.820 --> 00:16:11.580 and seeking to apply them, 00:16:11.659 --> 00:16:12.200 or have you settled 00:16:12.200 --> 00:16:13.440 for some just broad, 00:16:14.100 --> 00:16:14.679 generalized, 00:16:15.340 --> 00:16:17.039 culturally acceptable, 00:16:17.399 --> 00:16:18.899 ambiguous notion of love, 00:16:19.460 --> 00:16:21.100 and following this kind of Jesus 00:16:21.100 --> 00:16:22.580 that you just imagined in your head, 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:24.139 but that you haven't investigated 00:16:24.139 --> 00:16:25.299 in his words? 00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:27.720 Jesus wants us to grow 00:16:27.720 --> 00:16:29.179 in the former and the latter, 00:16:29.500 --> 00:16:30.460 justice for the world, 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:31.580 love for God, 00:16:31.820 --> 00:16:33.480 and intense attention 00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:35.120 to all the infinite ways 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:36.799 we could honor and worship him 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:38.479 in the minutest details 00:16:38.479 --> 00:16:39.339 of our lives. 00:16:39.419 --> 00:16:39.779 Because again, 00:16:39.839 --> 00:16:41.179 he's worthy of it all. 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:42.559 So like, 00:16:42.620 --> 00:16:43.719 how are we using our commutes? 00:16:44.319 --> 00:16:46.019 How are we using our leisure? 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:47.099 How are we thinking about 00:16:47.099 --> 00:16:48.479 even our family vacation? 00:16:48.659 --> 00:16:49.959 Sure, God doesn't bind us 00:16:49.959 --> 00:16:51.019 with legalistic rules 00:16:51.019 --> 00:16:52.240 for what to do on BART, 00:16:52.620 --> 00:16:54.399 or what to do with the last half hour 00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:55.859 that we have before we go to sleep, 00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:57.199 or how to use our PTO, 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:00.559 but it all does still belong to him. 00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:03.240 And I wonder how many of us 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:04.339 acknowledge the truth 00:17:04.339 --> 00:17:06.879 that it all belongs to him. 00:17:08.500 --> 00:17:10.000 The next thing Jesus criticizes 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:11.459 the Pharisees for in verse 43 00:17:11.459 --> 00:17:13.500 is their love of status and respect 00:17:13.500 --> 00:17:14.319 in the synagogues 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:15.199 and the marketplace, 00:17:15.399 --> 00:17:16.480 their lust for popularity 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:17.379 and influence. 00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:18.299 According to Jesus, 00:17:18.899 --> 00:17:19.659 they are blind 00:17:19.659 --> 00:17:20.699 and they don't realize 00:17:20.699 --> 00:17:21.879 their actual status 00:17:21.879 --> 00:17:22.539 in the eyes of God. 00:17:22.619 --> 00:17:24.519 He likens them to unmarked graves 00:17:24.519 --> 00:17:25.500 in verse 44. 00:17:25.659 --> 00:17:25.819 Because see, 00:17:25.859 --> 00:17:26.480 in their society, 00:17:27.019 --> 00:17:28.579 it wasn't like they had cemeteries 00:17:28.579 --> 00:17:29.579 where everyone was just buried 00:17:29.579 --> 00:17:30.459 in the same place. 00:17:30.519 --> 00:17:31.279 No, people were buried 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:32.199 all over the place, 00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:33.240 so it was very important 00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:34.480 to mark those graves 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:35.440 or else you would be stepping 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:37.319 on someone's burial site 00:17:37.319 --> 00:17:38.340 and in the Jewish faith, 00:17:38.600 --> 00:17:39.220 you would be considered 00:17:39.220 --> 00:17:40.299 as unclean. 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:42.299 So Jesus was saying, 00:17:42.539 --> 00:17:43.440 not only were the Pharisees 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:44.400 not nearly as clean 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:44.960 as they thought, 00:17:45.059 --> 00:17:45.920 but that they were also 00:17:45.920 --> 00:17:46.740 unknowingly 00:17:46.740 --> 00:17:49.120 making others unclean. 00:17:50.500 --> 00:17:50.720 See, 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:51.740 this is not just about 00:17:51.740 --> 00:17:52.680 us being clean 00:17:52.680 --> 00:17:53.559 in the eyes of God, 00:17:53.620 --> 00:17:54.740 like individualistically. 00:17:55.080 --> 00:17:56.340 We need to check our hearts, 00:17:56.440 --> 00:17:57.080 we need to practice 00:17:57.080 --> 00:17:58.019 self-examination, 00:17:58.140 --> 00:17:58.799 and we need to take 00:17:58.799 --> 00:17:59.559 a good long look 00:17:59.559 --> 00:18:00.240 at ourselves 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:00.680 in the mirror 00:18:00.680 --> 00:18:01.220 of the Scriptures 00:18:01.220 --> 00:18:02.819 because our cleanliness 00:18:02.819 --> 00:18:04.200 or lack thereof 00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:05.599 has major implications 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:06.720 for others, 00:18:07.339 --> 00:18:08.180 for our community, 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:09.299 for the world, 00:18:09.380 --> 00:18:09.839 our coworkers, 00:18:10.039 --> 00:18:10.539 our children, 00:18:11.019 --> 00:18:11.559 our neighbors. 00:18:12.819 --> 00:18:13.460 And the question is, 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:14.160 what if you 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:15.400 are an unmarked grave 00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:16.440 and you don't realize it? 00:18:17.319 --> 00:18:18.180 Don't you want to know? 00:18:18.779 --> 00:18:19.839 And might you be willing 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:21.140 to ask God to show you 00:18:21.140 --> 00:18:22.759 and to change you 00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:23.859 if need be? 00:18:24.839 --> 00:18:25.740 The Pharisees 00:18:25.740 --> 00:18:26.660 and the law experts 00:18:26.660 --> 00:18:27.120 weren't willing 00:18:27.120 --> 00:18:27.640 to acknowledge 00:18:27.640 --> 00:18:28.460 these realities 00:18:28.460 --> 00:18:29.980 or even the possibility 00:18:29.980 --> 00:18:30.740 of these realities 00:18:30.740 --> 00:18:32.140 or to make any changes 00:18:32.140 --> 00:18:32.880 to their lives 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:33.819 and lifestyles 00:18:33.819 --> 00:18:35.100 and how they viewed 00:18:35.100 --> 00:18:35.600 the world. 00:18:36.059 --> 00:18:36.799 Verse 45 says, 00:18:36.900 --> 00:18:37.380 one of the experts 00:18:37.380 --> 00:18:37.819 in the law 00:18:37.819 --> 00:18:38.680 answered him. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:39.000 He didn't say, 00:18:39.100 --> 00:18:40.640 oh, that was really convicting. 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:41.360 Tell me more, Jesus. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:41.680 He says, 00:18:41.740 --> 00:18:42.000 teacher, 00:18:42.460 --> 00:18:43.640 when you say these things, 00:18:44.220 --> 00:18:45.620 you insult us also. 00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:46.840 He was upset. 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:48.620 And Jesus is like, 00:18:49.120 --> 00:18:49.340 yeah, 00:18:49.420 --> 00:18:50.360 I meant to be offensive. 00:18:50.920 --> 00:18:51.440 I know. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:52.720 Verse 46, 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:53.840 and you experts 00:18:53.840 --> 00:18:54.360 in the law, 00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:55.620 woe to you 00:18:55.619 --> 00:18:57.099 because you load people 00:18:57.099 --> 00:18:58.039 down with burdens 00:18:58.039 --> 00:18:59.119 they can hardly carry 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:00.219 and you yourselves 00:19:00.219 --> 00:19:01.659 would not lift one finger 00:19:01.659 --> 00:19:02.639 to help them. 00:19:02.899 --> 00:19:04.019 He continues to go at it. 00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:04.679 As the guy's putting 00:19:04.679 --> 00:19:05.759 a matzo ball in his mouth, 00:19:06.039 --> 00:19:07.159 Jesus keeps going, right? 00:19:08.339 --> 00:19:08.559 See, 00:19:08.619 --> 00:19:09.399 while these experts 00:19:09.399 --> 00:19:09.859 in the law 00:19:09.859 --> 00:19:10.619 believed themselves 00:19:10.619 --> 00:19:11.759 to be so pious 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:12.979 because they had given 00:19:12.979 --> 00:19:14.099 themselves to understanding 00:19:14.099 --> 00:19:15.619 and teaching the law 00:19:15.619 --> 00:19:16.579 of God to the people, 00:19:16.699 --> 00:19:17.939 they'd gotten so fixated 00:19:17.939 --> 00:19:19.359 on being right 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:21.319 rather than being righteous, 00:19:21.799 --> 00:19:22.819 on knowing the truth 00:19:22.819 --> 00:19:23.919 without applying it 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:24.660 in love. 00:19:25.320 --> 00:19:26.300 They missed the point 00:19:26.300 --> 00:19:26.660 of the law. 00:19:26.740 --> 00:19:27.539 We sang about this earlier. 00:19:27.620 --> 00:19:28.600 The law was never meant 00:19:28.600 --> 00:19:29.640 to save anyone. 00:19:30.320 --> 00:19:31.019 And yet the focus 00:19:31.019 --> 00:19:32.080 of the experts of the law 00:19:32.080 --> 00:19:32.759 was telling people 00:19:32.759 --> 00:19:33.560 what the law meant, 00:19:33.820 --> 00:19:34.400 what it said, 00:19:34.539 --> 00:19:35.480 and burdening them 00:19:35.480 --> 00:19:36.400 with all the details 00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:37.620 of how they'd fallen short 00:19:37.620 --> 00:19:38.740 of these laws. 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:40.000 These laws that tell us 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:40.820 that we are unclean 00:19:40.820 --> 00:19:41.519 and impure 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:42.480 and unrighteous sinners 00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:43.420 before a holy God 00:19:43.420 --> 00:19:44.500 who will not abide 00:19:44.500 --> 00:19:45.940 in the midst of our filth. 00:19:46.420 --> 00:19:47.240 These law experts 00:19:47.240 --> 00:19:47.820 were content 00:19:47.820 --> 00:19:49.100 to only have bad news 00:19:49.100 --> 00:19:49.720 for the people. 00:19:50.320 --> 00:19:50.900 And they thought 00:19:50.900 --> 00:19:51.500 that that was 00:19:51.500 --> 00:19:52.140 their righteousness, 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:53.160 their knowledge 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:54.460 about the law. 00:19:55.040 --> 00:19:55.820 Zero compassion, 00:19:56.320 --> 00:19:57.019 zero grace, 00:19:57.360 --> 00:19:58.540 zero personal relationship 00:19:58.540 --> 00:19:58.920 with God, 00:19:58.980 --> 00:19:59.620 only truth 00:19:59.620 --> 00:20:00.940 about other people's 00:20:00.940 --> 00:20:01.720 uncleanness 00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:03.800 and about the reality 00:20:03.800 --> 00:20:05.540 and about their teachings 00:20:05.540 --> 00:20:10.580 that even these law experts 00:20:10.580 --> 00:20:12.460 were the cleanest 00:20:12.460 --> 00:20:13.180 in the community. 00:20:14.360 --> 00:20:15.140 And the worst part 00:20:15.140 --> 00:20:15.640 is this. 00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:17.040 The Pharisees 00:20:17.040 --> 00:20:17.680 and these experts 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:18.140 in the law, 00:20:18.279 --> 00:20:19.600 they actually have no idea 00:20:19.600 --> 00:20:21.000 how far they are 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:21.620 missing the mark. 00:20:21.619 --> 00:20:22.399 They have no idea 00:20:22.399 --> 00:20:23.619 of how unclean 00:20:23.619 --> 00:20:24.259 and complicit 00:20:24.259 --> 00:20:25.099 with even evil 00:20:25.099 --> 00:20:26.559 and murder they are. 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:27.459 You know, 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:28.659 in this ancient 00:20:28.659 --> 00:20:29.399 Jewish tradition 00:20:29.399 --> 00:20:30.119 that the Pharisees 00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:30.579 and the experts 00:20:30.579 --> 00:20:31.039 of the law 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:32.099 were a part of, 00:20:32.359 --> 00:20:33.299 they actually prided 00:20:33.299 --> 00:20:33.939 themselves 00:20:33.939 --> 00:20:35.139 on venerating 00:20:35.139 --> 00:20:35.739 and honoring 00:20:35.739 --> 00:20:36.639 the prophets 00:20:36.639 --> 00:20:37.959 who they recognized 00:20:37.959 --> 00:20:39.159 that their forefathers 00:20:39.159 --> 00:20:40.059 had rejected 00:20:40.059 --> 00:20:41.159 and not listened to 00:20:41.159 --> 00:20:41.779 and got them 00:20:41.779 --> 00:20:42.619 into the mess, right? 00:20:42.659 --> 00:20:43.399 So this generation 00:20:43.399 --> 00:20:44.399 of Jewish religious leaders 00:20:44.399 --> 00:20:45.500 were known to build 00:20:45.500 --> 00:20:46.019 and decorate 00:20:46.019 --> 00:20:47.339 these beautiful tombs 00:20:47.339 --> 00:20:48.839 to honor the prophets 00:20:48.839 --> 00:20:50.419 who they recognized 00:20:50.419 --> 00:20:51.259 as they were right 00:20:51.259 --> 00:20:51.839 all along. 00:20:52.879 --> 00:20:53.859 But the question was, 00:20:53.959 --> 00:20:55.059 were they going to recognize 00:20:55.059 --> 00:20:56.019 the next prophets 00:20:56.019 --> 00:20:57.379 that God sent to them? 00:20:57.980 --> 00:20:58.980 Like John the Baptist? 00:20:59.819 --> 00:21:01.000 Like Jesus of Nazareth? 00:21:02.059 --> 00:21:03.059 See, Jesus is saying, 00:21:03.740 --> 00:21:05.059 your opposition to me 00:21:05.059 --> 00:21:06.139 and the offense 00:21:06.139 --> 00:21:07.000 that you're taking at me 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:08.079 is the same thing 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:09.259 your fathers felt. 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:11.019 And every rebellious, 00:21:11.159 --> 00:21:12.459 hard-hearted generation 00:21:12.459 --> 00:21:13.639 since the beginning of time, 00:21:13.699 --> 00:21:15.679 it's what they all felt 00:21:15.679 --> 00:21:16.359 when confronted 00:21:16.359 --> 00:21:17.199 by truths 00:21:17.199 --> 00:21:18.179 they didn't want to hear, 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:19.219 truths that didn't fit 00:21:19.219 --> 00:21:20.759 their preconceived notions 00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:21.539 about the world. 00:21:22.500 --> 00:21:23.539 So you Pharisees 00:21:23.539 --> 00:21:24.199 and law experts 00:21:24.199 --> 00:21:25.179 may indeed build 00:21:25.179 --> 00:21:25.619 and decorate 00:21:25.619 --> 00:21:27.079 beautiful tombs, 00:21:28.019 --> 00:21:28.699 but really, 00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:29.639 you're just accomplices 00:21:29.639 --> 00:21:30.939 with every other 00:21:30.939 --> 00:21:32.159 prophet-murderer, 00:21:32.500 --> 00:21:34.219 every other murderous generation 00:21:34.219 --> 00:21:35.019 that hated truth, 00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:35.740 even while thinking 00:21:35.740 --> 00:21:36.719 they belonged to the truth. 00:21:36.819 --> 00:21:37.419 Jesus says, 00:21:37.939 --> 00:21:38.779 you are more like 00:21:38.779 --> 00:21:39.479 self-serving, 00:21:39.619 --> 00:21:40.539 self-interested, 00:21:40.919 --> 00:21:42.359 envious and murderous Cain 00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:43.639 than righteous, 00:21:43.979 --> 00:21:44.479 worshipful, 00:21:44.579 --> 00:21:45.579 and sacrificial Abel. 00:21:45.579 --> 00:21:47.439 And just as your kings 00:21:47.439 --> 00:21:47.879 of old, 00:21:48.019 --> 00:21:48.899 stoned prophets 00:21:48.899 --> 00:21:49.879 like Zechariah 00:21:49.879 --> 00:21:51.000 who rebuked them 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:52.139 for worshiping idols, 00:21:52.500 --> 00:21:53.220 all their blood 00:21:53.220 --> 00:21:54.059 is just as much 00:21:54.059 --> 00:21:54.819 on your hands 00:21:54.819 --> 00:21:55.960 even though you think 00:21:55.960 --> 00:21:56.939 your hands are clean. 00:21:57.720 --> 00:21:58.799 And Jesus recognizes 00:21:58.799 --> 00:21:59.559 what a tragedy 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:01.259 and travesty this is 00:22:01.259 --> 00:22:02.139 because experts 00:22:02.139 --> 00:22:03.119 in the law, 00:22:05.179 --> 00:22:06.619 sorry, 00:22:07.139 --> 00:22:07.759 and Jesus recognizes 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:08.319 what a tragedy 00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:10.119 and travesty this is, 00:22:10.579 --> 00:22:12.799 says in verse 52 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:14.339 that they're the ones, 00:22:14.599 --> 00:22:15.519 these experts in the law, 00:22:16.139 --> 00:22:16.960 are the ones 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:17.319 who are supposed 00:22:17.319 --> 00:22:17.779 to have the key 00:22:17.779 --> 00:22:18.319 to knowledge, 00:22:18.859 --> 00:22:19.579 but they don't know 00:22:19.579 --> 00:22:20.559 the truth themselves. 00:22:21.419 --> 00:22:22.079 They don't know 00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:22.899 God themselves. 00:22:23.819 --> 00:22:24.619 And they're not only 00:22:24.619 --> 00:22:25.639 blind to the truth, 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:26.519 but they're hindering 00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:28.339 others from entering 00:22:28.339 --> 00:22:29.279 into the joy 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:30.659 of knowing the truth 00:22:30.659 --> 00:22:30.980 themselves, 00:22:31.079 --> 00:22:31.759 of knowing God 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:32.519 themselves. 00:22:33.639 --> 00:22:34.720 Now maybe you're 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:35.279 thinking to yourself, 00:22:35.399 --> 00:22:35.639 cool, 00:22:36.179 --> 00:22:36.519 thanks, 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:37.599 I know where this is going, 00:22:37.699 --> 00:22:38.319 the lesson here, 00:22:38.419 --> 00:22:39.439 the application is, 00:22:39.899 --> 00:22:41.039 don't be like the Pharisees, 00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:41.480 right? 00:22:41.980 --> 00:22:42.819 And you wouldn't be wrong. 00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:44.299 Don't be like the Pharisees, 00:22:44.360 --> 00:22:45.279 focus on being clean 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:45.799 on the inside 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:46.279 and the outside, 00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:46.799 got it. 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:47.900 Get rid of greed 00:22:47.900 --> 00:22:48.460 and wickedness 00:22:48.460 --> 00:22:48.960 in your heart 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:49.799 even while you go out 00:22:49.799 --> 00:22:50.519 and feed the poor. 00:22:50.839 --> 00:22:51.640 Make sure you tie it 00:22:51.640 --> 00:22:52.019 to God 00:22:52.019 --> 00:22:52.900 while not neglecting 00:22:52.900 --> 00:22:54.039 justice and love for God. 00:22:54.039 --> 00:22:55.039 Make sure it's genuinely 00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:55.740 from your heart 00:22:55.740 --> 00:22:56.700 and out of compassion, 00:22:57.180 --> 00:22:57.360 right? 00:22:57.859 --> 00:22:58.699 Don't use your religion 00:22:58.699 --> 00:22:59.559 to pursue status 00:22:59.559 --> 00:23:00.219 and popularity. 00:23:00.679 --> 00:23:01.259 Check yourself 00:23:01.259 --> 00:23:02.399 before you wreck yourself 00:23:02.399 --> 00:23:03.740 like an unmarked grave, 00:23:04.039 --> 00:23:04.240 right? 00:23:04.279 --> 00:23:05.519 Don't just burden people 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:06.219 but help people 00:23:06.219 --> 00:23:07.219 bear their burdens. 00:23:07.319 --> 00:23:08.379 Don't be so sure 00:23:08.379 --> 00:23:09.019 you're much better 00:23:09.019 --> 00:23:10.339 than those prophet-rejecting, 00:23:10.659 --> 00:23:12.179 prophet-killing ancestors 00:23:12.179 --> 00:23:13.439 and also quit hindering 00:23:13.439 --> 00:23:14.500 others from knowing God 00:23:14.500 --> 00:23:15.359 by your failure 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:17.019 to know God yourself. 00:23:17.479 --> 00:23:17.979 Got it, 00:23:18.199 --> 00:23:18.379 right? 00:23:18.539 --> 00:23:19.639 Don't be like the Pharisees. 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:21.199 Let's wrap up. 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:21.740 Let's pray. 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:22.559 Go in the name of Jesus 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:23.619 to love and serve this world 00:23:23.619 --> 00:23:25.559 and try not to be a Pharisee, 00:23:25.619 --> 00:23:25.799 right? 00:23:26.059 --> 00:23:26.979 Is that the benediction today? 00:23:28.179 --> 00:23:28.819 Well, that's definitely 00:23:28.819 --> 00:23:29.839 a huge part of this. 00:23:30.519 --> 00:23:31.579 These are the things 00:23:31.579 --> 00:23:32.619 that Jesus hated. 00:23:33.139 --> 00:23:33.719 These are the things 00:23:33.719 --> 00:23:34.819 that fired Jesus up 00:23:34.819 --> 00:23:36.379 and made him the dining guest 00:23:36.379 --> 00:23:37.539 that none of us 00:23:37.539 --> 00:23:38.119 would want to have. 00:23:39.199 --> 00:23:40.679 But if that's the only thing 00:23:40.679 --> 00:23:42.240 we get from this passage, 00:23:42.379 --> 00:23:43.099 then I think we've also 00:23:43.099 --> 00:23:43.759 missed the point. 00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:45.000 You know, 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:45.639 one principle 00:23:45.639 --> 00:23:47.099 of biblical interpretation 00:23:47.099 --> 00:23:48.500 that I learned in college 00:23:48.500 --> 00:23:49.779 and that I want to pass on to you, 00:23:49.819 --> 00:23:50.679 one question that I think 00:23:50.679 --> 00:23:52.059 will help you understand 00:23:52.059 --> 00:23:53.199 the Bible a lot better 00:23:53.199 --> 00:23:54.319 is this question, 00:23:54.659 --> 00:23:55.059 well, first, 00:23:55.259 --> 00:23:55.379 you know, 00:23:55.419 --> 00:23:56.119 most of us, 00:23:56.119 --> 00:23:57.679 when we pick up the Bible 00:23:57.679 --> 00:23:59.000 and we read this or that story, 00:23:59.039 --> 00:23:59.339 we think, 00:23:59.500 --> 00:23:59.719 okay, 00:24:00.199 --> 00:24:01.059 what is the moral 00:24:01.059 --> 00:24:02.439 and or who is the hero 00:24:02.439 --> 00:24:03.759 so I can copy that, 00:24:03.899 --> 00:24:04.119 right? 00:24:04.739 --> 00:24:06.099 And who are the bad guys 00:24:06.099 --> 00:24:07.079 or what are the bad behaviors 00:24:07.079 --> 00:24:08.519 that I'm not supposed 00:24:08.519 --> 00:24:09.519 to emulate? 00:24:10.199 --> 00:24:10.539 And also, 00:24:10.619 --> 00:24:11.539 you could do a lot worse 00:24:11.539 --> 00:24:12.719 in reading the Bible, 00:24:13.439 --> 00:24:14.639 but what if our approach, 00:24:14.719 --> 00:24:15.239 and this is the question, 00:24:15.299 --> 00:24:15.819 what if our approach 00:24:15.819 --> 00:24:17.319 began with asking ourselves 00:24:17.319 --> 00:24:18.239 the better question, 00:24:19.299 --> 00:24:20.399 how am I worse 00:24:20.399 --> 00:24:21.439 than the worst characters 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:22.259 of the story? 00:24:23.120 --> 00:24:24.600 How am I in more need 00:24:24.600 --> 00:24:25.360 of confession 00:24:25.360 --> 00:24:26.180 and repentance 00:24:26.180 --> 00:24:27.200 and redemption 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:29.080 than the bad guys here? 00:24:30.100 --> 00:24:31.500 And how is Jesus 00:24:31.500 --> 00:24:33.400 the only real good guy? 00:24:34.340 --> 00:24:35.360 And what good news 00:24:35.360 --> 00:24:35.980 does he offer 00:24:35.980 --> 00:24:37.960 bad guys like me? 00:24:39.220 --> 00:24:39.960 Have you ever read 00:24:39.960 --> 00:24:40.720 the Bible that way? 00:24:41.460 --> 00:24:41.720 Like, 00:24:41.799 --> 00:24:42.600 what if we're not supposed 00:24:42.600 --> 00:24:43.440 to simply identify 00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:44.160 with the good guys 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:45.140 and the heroes of faith 00:24:45.140 --> 00:24:45.980 in these stories? 00:24:46.080 --> 00:24:47.740 What if we are the bad guys 00:24:47.740 --> 00:24:48.600 in the story? 00:24:48.740 --> 00:24:49.339 We're worse. 00:24:49.859 --> 00:24:50.599 Needing to repent, 00:24:50.740 --> 00:24:51.599 needing to be transformed. 00:24:51.779 --> 00:24:52.659 What if we're the ones 00:24:52.659 --> 00:24:53.559 desperately in need 00:24:53.559 --> 00:24:55.500 of redemption? 00:24:56.939 --> 00:24:57.259 So sure, 00:24:57.319 --> 00:24:57.899 we should definitely 00:24:57.899 --> 00:24:59.599 watch out for every single thing 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:01.179 that Jesus mentioned 00:25:01.179 --> 00:25:02.000 around this awkward 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:02.719 dining table, 00:25:03.079 --> 00:25:04.019 directed at his host 00:25:04.019 --> 00:25:04.799 and his fellow guests. 00:25:04.939 --> 00:25:05.079 But man, 00:25:05.119 --> 00:25:06.000 if the Pharisees, 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:07.500 with all their devotion 00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:08.859 and dedication 00:25:08.859 --> 00:25:10.000 and good intentions 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:10.679 and discipline 00:25:10.679 --> 00:25:11.119 and knowledge 00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:11.579 of the Scriptures, 00:25:11.719 --> 00:25:12.819 if they could be blind 00:25:12.819 --> 00:25:14.099 to what Jesus 00:25:14.099 --> 00:25:15.299 wanted them to see, 00:25:16.179 --> 00:25:17.219 how much more susceptible 00:25:17.219 --> 00:25:18.259 might we be 00:25:18.259 --> 00:25:19.519 when we spend 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:20.119 our free time 00:25:20.119 --> 00:25:21.180 not memorizing Scripture, 00:25:21.339 --> 00:25:22.099 not giving alms 00:25:22.099 --> 00:25:22.579 to the poor 00:25:22.579 --> 00:25:23.599 or trying to bring revival 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:24.220 to our nation, 00:25:24.359 --> 00:25:25.859 but scrolling our phones 00:25:25.859 --> 00:25:28.200 and busying ourselves 00:25:28.200 --> 00:25:28.839 with pleasure 00:25:28.839 --> 00:25:30.519 and consumption. 00:25:31.819 --> 00:25:33.039 If the Pharisees 00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:34.240 could not see reality 00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:35.259 as God saw it, 00:25:35.619 --> 00:25:36.359 when they're trying 00:25:36.359 --> 00:25:37.220 so hard 00:25:37.220 --> 00:25:38.640 not to miss it, 00:25:39.240 --> 00:25:40.200 how much more 00:25:40.200 --> 00:25:41.400 might we be missing it 00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:42.519 as some of us 00:25:42.519 --> 00:25:42.960 are complaining 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:43.879 about grayscale 00:25:43.879 --> 00:25:45.119 and this digital detox 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:46.220 during Lent, right? 00:25:46.220 --> 00:25:47.779 You know, 00:25:47.819 --> 00:25:48.960 it is so sobering 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:49.900 and so striking to me 00:25:49.900 --> 00:25:50.860 how this passage ends. 00:25:51.640 --> 00:25:52.740 Jesus has just been 00:25:52.740 --> 00:25:55.000 a very unconventional guest. 00:25:55.160 --> 00:25:56.860 He's very directly rebuked 00:25:56.860 --> 00:25:57.860 everyone around the table. 00:25:58.460 --> 00:25:59.000 He's called them 00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:00.039 a whole bunch of things. 00:26:00.180 --> 00:26:01.019 He's called them out 00:26:01.019 --> 00:26:01.900 on a whole bunch of things 00:26:01.900 --> 00:26:02.559 in their lives. 00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:03.860 And you know, 00:26:03.900 --> 00:26:04.480 this presented them 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:05.920 with a choice, right? 00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:07.220 They could repent, 00:26:07.940 --> 00:26:08.180 confess, 00:26:08.420 --> 00:26:09.140 and try to change 00:26:09.140 --> 00:26:10.100 or they could even 00:26:10.100 --> 00:26:11.420 just at least be curious 00:26:11.420 --> 00:26:12.019 to learn more. 00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:12.279 Like, 00:26:12.360 --> 00:26:13.019 oh my goodness, 00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:14.339 we might have been wrong. 00:26:14.339 --> 00:26:15.759 Please tell us more. 00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:17.519 But they chose 00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:18.740 the nuclear option. 00:26:19.619 --> 00:26:20.179 Verse 53, 00:26:20.299 --> 00:26:21.379 when Jesus went outside, 00:26:21.919 --> 00:26:22.619 the Pharisees 00:26:22.619 --> 00:26:23.179 and the teachers 00:26:23.179 --> 00:26:23.579 of the law 00:26:23.579 --> 00:26:24.919 began to oppose him 00:26:24.919 --> 00:26:25.659 fiercely 00:26:25.659 --> 00:26:26.879 and to besiege him 00:26:26.879 --> 00:26:27.579 with questions 00:26:27.579 --> 00:26:28.919 waiting to catch him 00:26:28.919 --> 00:26:30.439 in something he might say. 00:26:31.480 --> 00:26:32.359 Their choice 00:26:32.359 --> 00:26:34.259 was to be offended 00:26:34.259 --> 00:26:35.359 at Jesus, 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:36.899 to start viewing him 00:26:36.899 --> 00:26:37.519 as a threat 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:38.599 and as an enemy 00:26:38.599 --> 00:26:39.240 and as someone 00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:39.919 to take down 00:26:39.919 --> 00:26:40.839 rather than even 00:26:40.839 --> 00:26:42.059 considering the remotest 00:26:42.059 --> 00:26:42.699 possibility 00:26:42.699 --> 00:26:43.559 that there was something 00:26:43.559 --> 00:26:44.240 in their lives 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:45.200 that needed to change. 00:26:45.259 --> 00:26:46.299 Even the smallest speck 00:26:46.299 --> 00:26:47.160 of dust in their eyes, 00:26:47.420 --> 00:26:47.539 no, 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:48.140 they couldn't even 00:26:48.140 --> 00:26:49.799 entertain that possibility. 00:26:50.279 --> 00:26:50.480 Instead, 00:26:50.599 --> 00:26:51.420 they fought back 00:26:51.420 --> 00:26:52.940 and looked for an opportunity 00:26:52.940 --> 00:26:53.640 to catch him 00:26:53.640 --> 00:26:54.559 in something he said, 00:26:54.720 --> 00:26:55.279 which by the way 00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:56.700 shows that he hadn't 00:26:56.700 --> 00:26:57.559 said anything yet 00:26:57.559 --> 00:26:58.220 that they could pin him 00:26:58.220 --> 00:26:58.779 down on. 00:26:59.120 --> 00:26:59.759 Everything he said 00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:00.240 was true. 00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:01.380 They just knew 00:27:01.380 --> 00:27:02.079 that they didn't like 00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:02.839 what he was saying 00:27:02.839 --> 00:27:04.039 to them as a prophet. 00:27:04.779 --> 00:27:05.339 They didn't like 00:27:05.339 --> 00:27:05.839 what he said to them 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:06.359 about the changes 00:27:06.359 --> 00:27:07.039 they need to make 00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:07.559 in their lives 00:27:07.559 --> 00:27:08.460 at the deepest level 00:27:08.460 --> 00:27:09.039 of their hearts 00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:09.799 in order to truly 00:27:09.799 --> 00:27:10.359 be clean 00:27:10.359 --> 00:27:11.980 in the eyes of God. 00:27:11.980 --> 00:27:13.880 They couldn't see 00:27:13.880 --> 00:27:14.480 who was truly 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:15.579 the master and lord 00:27:15.579 --> 00:27:16.519 at the table. 00:27:17.660 --> 00:27:17.900 And so, 00:27:18.039 --> 00:27:18.380 of course, 00:27:18.460 --> 00:27:19.019 he was offensive 00:27:19.019 --> 00:27:19.460 to them. 00:27:20.599 --> 00:27:21.740 So my question is, 00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:22.740 are you willing 00:27:22.740 --> 00:27:24.180 to let Jesus 00:27:24.180 --> 00:27:25.180 be the lord 00:27:25.180 --> 00:27:26.240 of your table? 00:27:27.240 --> 00:27:28.000 Are we willing 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:28.480 to admit 00:27:28.480 --> 00:27:29.079 that there might 00:27:29.079 --> 00:27:29.860 be far more 00:27:29.860 --> 00:27:30.740 uncleanness 00:27:30.740 --> 00:27:31.940 in our lives 00:27:31.940 --> 00:27:33.019 and in our hearts 00:27:33.019 --> 00:27:34.039 than we realize? 00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:34.700 Are we open 00:27:34.700 --> 00:27:35.180 to hearing 00:27:35.180 --> 00:27:36.420 that hard word 00:27:36.420 --> 00:27:37.039 from God? 00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:37.079 God. 00:27:38.039 --> 00:27:38.700 The Pharisees 00:27:38.700 --> 00:27:39.119 and the experts 00:27:39.119 --> 00:27:39.519 in the law, 00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:40.279 they couldn't bear 00:27:40.279 --> 00:27:40.960 to hear such 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:41.539 a hard word. 00:27:41.619 --> 00:27:42.139 They couldn't bear 00:27:42.139 --> 00:27:42.659 to entertain 00:27:42.659 --> 00:27:43.799 the slightest possibility 00:27:43.799 --> 00:27:44.279 that Jesus 00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:45.099 was telling the truth 00:27:45.099 --> 00:27:45.519 about them. 00:27:45.579 --> 00:27:45.859 Why? 00:27:46.659 --> 00:27:48.379 Because in their minds, 00:27:48.579 --> 00:27:49.440 if they really were 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:50.220 as unclean 00:27:50.220 --> 00:27:51.079 as Jesus was saying, 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:52.759 how could they 00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:53.779 ever wash themselves 00:27:53.779 --> 00:27:54.359 clean enough 00:27:54.359 --> 00:27:54.799 to stand 00:27:54.799 --> 00:27:55.319 in the presence 00:27:55.319 --> 00:27:55.839 of God? 00:27:57.359 --> 00:27:58.460 If Jesus was right, 00:27:58.579 --> 00:27:59.319 then triple washing 00:27:59.319 --> 00:27:59.960 their hands, 00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:00.980 baptizing themselves 00:28:00.980 --> 00:28:02.059 a million times 00:28:02.059 --> 00:28:03.159 a day would never 00:28:03.159 --> 00:28:03.859 sufficiently 00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:05.019 purify them, 00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:05.879 especially not 00:28:05.880 --> 00:28:07.520 all the way inside, 00:28:07.640 --> 00:28:07.860 right? 00:28:09.300 --> 00:28:09.800 But you see, 00:28:09.880 --> 00:28:10.540 that was precisely 00:28:10.540 --> 00:28:11.120 the problem 00:28:11.120 --> 00:28:12.120 with their thinking 00:28:12.120 --> 00:28:13.480 and precisely 00:28:13.480 --> 00:28:14.780 the religious ideology 00:28:14.780 --> 00:28:16.240 that most fired 00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:17.120 Jesus up 00:28:17.120 --> 00:28:17.760 with wrath 00:28:17.760 --> 00:28:18.660 and with anger. 00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:20.300 He wasn't so much 00:28:20.300 --> 00:28:21.240 mad at the Pharisees, 00:28:21.280 --> 00:28:21.820 he was mad 00:28:21.820 --> 00:28:22.540 at their way 00:28:22.540 --> 00:28:24.140 of inhabiting the world, 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:24.780 at their thinking, 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:25.660 at their ideology. 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:27.260 The Pharisee host 00:28:27.260 --> 00:28:28.020 raised an eyebrow 00:28:28.020 --> 00:28:28.820 when Jesus didn't 00:28:28.820 --> 00:28:30.060 baptize before the meal 00:28:30.060 --> 00:28:31.320 and this was because 00:28:31.320 --> 00:28:32.280 he had no clue 00:28:32.280 --> 00:28:33.160 the point 00:28:33.160 --> 00:28:33.900 and the picture 00:28:33.900 --> 00:28:34.640 of baptism. 00:28:34.940 --> 00:28:35.780 He had no idea 00:28:35.779 --> 00:28:36.259 that the way 00:28:36.259 --> 00:28:37.139 to a true relationship 00:28:37.139 --> 00:28:37.559 with God 00:28:37.559 --> 00:28:38.359 is not to keep 00:28:38.359 --> 00:28:39.399 yourself clean, 00:28:40.740 --> 00:28:41.299 but to admit 00:28:41.299 --> 00:28:42.099 that you can't 00:28:42.099 --> 00:28:43.879 and to be cleansed 00:28:43.879 --> 00:28:44.700 by another. 00:28:45.819 --> 00:28:46.599 To get baptized 00:28:46.599 --> 00:28:47.960 is not an active thing 00:28:47.960 --> 00:28:48.980 you do to yourself. 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:50.539 No, we get baptized. 00:28:51.259 --> 00:28:52.859 It's a passive activity 00:28:52.859 --> 00:28:53.839 that we undergo 00:28:53.839 --> 00:28:54.779 and the baptism 00:28:54.779 --> 00:28:55.819 that we must undergo 00:28:55.819 --> 00:28:56.680 is the washing 00:28:56.680 --> 00:28:57.899 that Jesus offers us 00:28:57.899 --> 00:28:58.980 through his own baptism 00:28:58.980 --> 00:29:00.399 into a bloody death 00:29:00.399 --> 00:29:01.240 and resurrection. 00:29:01.599 --> 00:29:02.579 That is the only way 00:29:02.579 --> 00:29:03.740 we can truly be clean 00:29:03.740 --> 00:29:04.620 in the eyes of God 00:29:04.620 --> 00:29:05.460 by faith 00:29:05.460 --> 00:29:06.240 in union 00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:07.500 with Jesus Christ. 00:29:08.539 --> 00:29:09.359 This Pharisee 00:29:09.359 --> 00:29:09.880 and his guests 00:29:09.880 --> 00:29:10.700 couldn't see it 00:29:10.700 --> 00:29:11.960 so they pushed Jesus 00:29:11.960 --> 00:29:13.039 further away 00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:14.059 rather than pursuing 00:29:14.059 --> 00:29:15.279 closer intimacy 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:16.380 and union with him. 00:29:17.460 --> 00:29:18.319 But what we're going to see 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:18.900 as we continue 00:29:18.900 --> 00:29:19.680 journey through Lent, 00:29:20.099 --> 00:29:21.200 as we continue 00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:22.220 journeying through Lent, 00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:23.359 what we're soon 00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:25.120 going to be reminded of 00:29:25.120 --> 00:29:26.299 is another table, 00:29:26.380 --> 00:29:26.579 right? 00:29:27.160 --> 00:29:27.960 Where the host 00:29:27.960 --> 00:29:28.839 of that table 00:29:28.839 --> 00:29:29.559 doesn't scoff 00:29:29.559 --> 00:29:30.500 at the uncleanness 00:29:30.500 --> 00:29:31.200 of his guests 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:32.259 or demand 00:29:32.259 --> 00:29:33.140 that they clean 00:29:33.140 --> 00:29:33.619 themselves 00:29:33.619 --> 00:29:34.339 before they eat 00:29:34.339 --> 00:29:34.779 with him. 00:29:35.319 --> 00:29:36.259 But this perfectly 00:29:36.259 --> 00:29:37.039 pure host, 00:29:37.140 --> 00:29:37.660 he gets down 00:29:37.660 --> 00:29:38.480 on his knees 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:40.460 to wash their feet. 00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:43.079 I have to wash you. 00:29:43.819 --> 00:29:44.940 I have to wash your feet, 00:29:44.980 --> 00:29:45.359 he tells them. 00:29:45.380 --> 00:29:46.920 It has to be me. 00:29:47.900 --> 00:29:49.359 And it is my greatest joy 00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:50.680 to do so, 00:29:51.019 --> 00:29:52.460 even if it requires 00:29:52.460 --> 00:29:53.259 a cross. 00:29:54.180 --> 00:29:54.920 And this, 00:29:55.880 --> 00:29:56.980 this is the gospel. 00:29:56.980 --> 00:29:59.539 Jesus demands 00:29:59.539 --> 00:30:01.059 the utmost purity 00:30:01.059 --> 00:30:02.460 and cleanliness 00:30:02.460 --> 00:30:03.220 from us 00:30:03.220 --> 00:30:04.120 and the fact of the matter 00:30:04.120 --> 00:30:05.440 is that we are filthy 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:06.420 from head to toe, 00:30:06.579 --> 00:30:07.819 inside and out. 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:08.900 None of us could stand 00:30:08.900 --> 00:30:09.960 the rebuke he leveled 00:30:09.960 --> 00:30:10.779 at the Pharisees 00:30:10.779 --> 00:30:12.700 and experts in the law here, 00:30:12.980 --> 00:30:13.779 let alone live up 00:30:13.779 --> 00:30:14.819 to the rest of the commandments 00:30:14.819 --> 00:30:15.519 that we find 00:30:15.519 --> 00:30:16.380 in his word. 00:30:16.700 --> 00:30:17.799 We have chosen death 00:30:17.799 --> 00:30:19.120 and uncleanness instead, 00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:20.319 but the good news 00:30:20.319 --> 00:30:22.120 is that so did he. 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:23.940 He chose death 00:30:23.940 --> 00:30:25.120 in our place. 00:30:25.119 --> 00:30:27.339 He chose uncleanness 00:30:27.339 --> 00:30:28.419 upon his body 00:30:28.419 --> 00:30:29.339 on a cross 00:30:29.339 --> 00:30:30.259 to put it to death 00:30:30.259 --> 00:30:31.739 so that by his resurrection 00:30:31.739 --> 00:30:32.899 we might live 00:30:32.899 --> 00:30:33.819 in his light 00:30:33.819 --> 00:30:34.859 and purity. 00:30:35.719 --> 00:30:36.839 This is the gospel. 00:30:37.819 --> 00:30:38.579 And it's only when 00:30:38.579 --> 00:30:39.659 we've internalized 00:30:39.659 --> 00:30:40.839 this news 00:30:40.839 --> 00:30:42.739 that we will ever 00:30:42.739 --> 00:30:43.959 begin 00:30:43.959 --> 00:30:45.439 to have cleansing 00:30:45.439 --> 00:30:46.059 within. 00:30:47.559 --> 00:30:48.639 It's only when 00:30:48.639 --> 00:30:49.439 we've internalized 00:30:49.439 --> 00:30:50.199 the gospel. 00:30:51.539 --> 00:30:52.559 This news that Jesus 00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:53.239 offers us 00:30:53.240 --> 00:30:54.299 a better cleansing 00:30:54.299 --> 00:30:55.740 by his blood. 00:30:56.839 --> 00:30:57.519 That he's willing 00:30:57.519 --> 00:30:58.319 to cleanse us 00:30:58.319 --> 00:30:59.359 when we can't do that 00:30:59.359 --> 00:30:59.900 on our own. 00:31:01.240 --> 00:31:01.960 It's only when 00:31:01.960 --> 00:31:02.880 we accept this good news 00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:03.799 and let it bury itself 00:31:03.799 --> 00:31:04.940 deep into our hearts 00:31:04.940 --> 00:31:05.700 and souls 00:31:05.700 --> 00:31:06.299 that we will ever 00:31:06.299 --> 00:31:06.980 live the kinds of 00:31:06.980 --> 00:31:07.680 inside out 00:31:07.680 --> 00:31:08.539 clean lives 00:31:08.539 --> 00:31:09.319 that we all know 00:31:09.319 --> 00:31:11.160 we want to live up to 00:31:11.160 --> 00:31:12.480 for our neighbors, 00:31:13.240 --> 00:31:13.980 for our children, 00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:15.299 for the world, 00:31:15.980 --> 00:31:16.880 for the Lord. 00:31:16.880 --> 00:31:16.940 Lord, 00:31:17.560 --> 00:31:18.880 we have to 00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:19.800 internalize 00:31:19.800 --> 00:31:20.580 the gospel 00:31:20.580 --> 00:31:22.040 of Jesus Christ. 00:31:22.740 --> 00:31:23.360 Let's pray. 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:29.800 Lord, 00:31:29.880 --> 00:31:30.540 we thank you 00:31:30.540 --> 00:31:34.020 for the devastating news 00:31:34.020 --> 00:31:34.600 that we cannot 00:31:34.600 --> 00:31:35.420 clean ourselves 00:31:35.420 --> 00:31:38.100 and the even better news 00:31:38.100 --> 00:31:39.640 that you 00:31:39.640 --> 00:31:40.480 and your son 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:41.540 were up to the task 00:31:41.540 --> 00:31:44.400 and at great cost 00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:46.120 and a great expense 00:31:46.120 --> 00:31:46.740 to yourself. 00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:50.040 So let us respond 00:31:50.040 --> 00:31:50.540 in worship, 00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:51.100 oh God, 00:31:51.820 --> 00:31:52.680 to the one 00:31:52.680 --> 00:31:53.420 who's cleansed us 00:31:53.420 --> 00:31:54.080 by his blood. 00:31:55.120 --> 00:31:56.000 In his name we pray. 00:31:56.519 --> 00:31:56.800 Amen.