Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning in wonder and worship.
We've come to praise your name and to center our hearts on you,
to recalibrate our lives with that which is true,
and to acknowledge, God, that you are the one true God, the one true King.
God, you are great and you are glorious, and so help us to do that, God.
Help us to center our hearts and to center our lives with what is true,
according to your will and your way.
Heavenly Father, we acknowledge that the truth is we're blinded by our pride.
We often think we know best or that our ways are better than yours.
We're blinded by our own opinions.
Father, this morning we confess this and we ask you to forgive us and to help us.
You, O Lord, are all our good in times of peace.
You, O God, are our only support in days of trouble.
You are our one sufficiency when this life ends.
God, help us to see how good your will is in all situations.
Even when your will crosses over our own, teach us to be pleased with your will and to trust you,
even when we don't understand it.
God, for some of us right now, we're facing things we don't understand.
Help us to trust you, we pray.
Lord Jesus, this morning we thank you for your tenderness and your grace.
How greatly and gently and tenderly you treat us.
How you handle our sin.
God, thank you for your warmth and your compassion.
Jesus, thank you that when we do come to you in sincerity and truth,
there is no fear of your disapproval or your harsh treatment.
O sovereign God, this morning we pray for the churches in Hong Kong and the churches in China.
We ask for your strengthening grace to rest upon us.
We ask you, O God, to baptize us in your Holy Spirit.
Flood us in your power, O God.
We want to meet the living God.
Come and do that, we pray, God.
Father, we pray for ministers who are discouraged or facing a difficult time.
Those that are under-resourced or encountering opposition.
Strengthen them by your grace, God.
God, we pray for every church family in Hong Kong this morning.
Unify us, sanctify us, strengthen us, empower us to live lives of mission and witness,
taking the wonderful news of Jesus to our city.
God, we long to see many, many people come to know you
and have their lives changed by your gospel.
Empower us, we pray, God.
Father, this morning we bring before you the many, many areas of conflict and fighting in our world.
God, we confess at times we wonder if it's even worth praying.
Our world always seems to be at conflict.
And yet we come before you, sovereign God, the ruler of all the world,
and we ask for peace in our time.
We ask, God, that world leaders will swallow their pride and pursue peace.
We pray, God, that nations and ethnicities and tribes and people groups
will no longer despise and hate one another,
but will find ways to work together, to live peacefully, to honor one another.
God, we pray that every man, woman, and child
will be afforded the dignity that is fitting one made in your image,
irrespective of their language, their culture, or their race.
Jesus, we long for your return.
When you wipe away every tear, put right all that is wrong with the world.
When you vanquish your enemies and you rid the world of evil,
and you restore justice and righteousness to the earth.
Jesus, come soon.
Come, Lord Jesus, come.
Come take away the pain of our world, God.
We long to be restored to you.
We pray these things in your majestic, sovereign, and yet tender name.
Amen.
Let's listen to God's word this morning.
The scripture reading comes from Matthew 3.
Please follow along in your bulletins or on the screen.
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him.
John would have prevented him, saying,
I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?
But Jesus answered him,
Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.
Then he consented.
And when Jesus was baptized,
immediately he went up from the water,
and behold, the heavens were opened to him.
And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and coming to rest on him.
And behold, a voice from heaven said,
This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
This is the word of God.
Thank you, Betty.
Okay.
Now, if you weren't here last week,
just to let you know where we're going as a church,
we are working our way through Matthew's Gospel
for the next couple of months.
And Matthew's Gospel is all about Jesus and his kingdom.
And yet, as we're going to see again and again,
Jesus' kingdom is so very different from the kingdoms of this world
and the kingdoms of our lives that we often try and build.
He often does things counterintuitively.
And yet, as we're going to see,
that Jesus' kingdom,
though often different to the way we would do things,
is the way that leads to life.
And so, over the next few weeks and months,
we're going to be looking at this.
And we'll see this predominantly in two weeks' time
as we start looking at the Sermon on the Mount.
But today, we look at this passage,
which is about Jesus' baptism.
Now, what's going on here?
Remember last week's passage?
John, the baptizer, is baptizing people in the wilderness,
and crowds are going out to him.
And John starts off his message like this.
He says, repent.
Turn from your sin.
Turn from your ways.
And why does he say that?
Because the king and the kingdom are coming.
The kingdom of heaven is at hand
because the Messiah, King Jesus, is on his way.
And many people heeded John's message,
and they turn from their sin,
and they get baptized.
But the question is,
John's message and Jesus' message,
which is still true and valid for us today,
turn from your sin, repent, confess your sin,
and turn to him.
The question is,
is it safe to do so?
Is Jesus trustworthy?
In other words,
when we confess our sin,
when we look into the depths of our hearts,
that's a very vulnerable thing to do.
Sometimes you may feel like
that the safest option
is to just stay silent,
like anything you say can
and will be held against you
in the courts of heaven, right?
It's like God comes and puts his finger
and just plead innocence
until you've got a solicitor at your side.
But Jesus comes and he says,
I want you to be vulnerable.
I want you to look into the deepest,
most vulnerable parts of your life,
and I want you to open them up to me.
And is Jesus safe?
Can we trust him
with our most vulnerable parts of our lives?
In today's passage,
we see who is this Jesus
that calls us to repentance?
And what's he going to do with our sin
when we bring it to him?
So let's see what's happening.
So in verse 13,
it says this,
Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan
to John to be baptized by him.
John would have prevented him saying,
I need to be baptized by you.
Why do you come to me?
So Jesus comes from Galilee,
the home, the town
where he's kind of grown up,
that area.
And he comes to John
for a very specific reason.
Now remember,
Jesus is not like the religious leaders
from last week
who are coming to John
to check things out.
Last week we saw the leaders come
and they're not so sure
about this guy, John.
They're not so sure about his message.
But all the crowds are going
and they don't want to be left out
or look like fools.
And so they come to John
to see what's happening.
But Jesus doesn't come
for that reason.
He comes for a specific purpose.
What does it say?
He came to the Jordan
in order to be baptized by John.
Jesus is not just coming
to see whether he should join the crowds.
He comes in order to be baptized.
But to John,
this doesn't make sense
because John is Jesus' second cousin.
He knows Jesus somewhat.
They might not have been very close,
but he would have had
some connection with him.
And John says,
if there's anybody here
that needs to be baptized
by the other,
I need to be baptized by you.
Remember,
John's baptism
is one of repentance,
of turning from your sin,
of changing your ways.
Remember,
he said to the religious leaders
in the passage
we saw last week,
he says,
don't think that I can baptize you
unless there's some kind of change
that takes place in your life,
unless you've repented
and confessed your sin.
And here is Jesus coming to John
and John says,
this shouldn't be like this.
Ah,
if anyone needs to be baptizing someone else,
you should be baptizing me.
Except Jesus insists.
He says,
John,
this must be the way it is.
Why?
Why does Jesus insist on this?
Why does Jesus need to be baptized?
Well,
look at verse 15.
Jesus knows something
and he knows what he's doing.
And so he says to John,
John,
let it be so,
for this is fitting
for us to fulfill
all righteousness.
Now,
I don't know about you,
but I didn't have a clue
what that sentence meant.
That's like
one of those things
where you're like,
sorry,
what?
I read a whole bunch
of commentaries this week
to try and understand it.
It's one of those difficult passages.
What is Jesus saying?
Well,
there's two clues here.
When Matthew uses
the word righteousness,
he's not using it
in the same way
that the Apostle Paul uses it.
Talking about justification
or salvation.
He's not saying
that you must be baptized
or you must be baptized
in order to become a Christian.
When Matthew uses
the word righteousness,
he's talking about
something which is
in conformity
with God's will.
Something which is
in alignment
with how God
wills things
to work out
or to be.
Remember,
in chapter 5,
he's going to say,
Jesus is going to say,
unless your righteousness
exceeds that of the Pharisees,
you cannot even
enter the kingdom
of God.
So,
Jesus is saying,
John,
let me be baptized
for this fulfills
God's will.
This is in conformity
with what God wills.
But then there's another clue
because Matthew uses
this word fulfill
always to talk about
the accomplishment
or the fulfillment
of something
that God spoke about
in times gone past.
Something in the Old Testament,
part of God's will,
his revealed will,
God gives a hint
about in the Old Testament
and now in the New Testament,
he's going to fulfill it.
And so Jesus comes
and he says,
John, baptize me
for this fulfills,
what I've spoken about
long ago,
God's will,
God's righteousness.
This is in conformity
with what God wants
to happen.
So this is what Jesus is saying.
I know this is a little
technical in the beginning,
so just bear with me
for a few minutes.
Jesus is saying this,
John, let me get baptized.
It's right for me to do so
for this will bring about
the fulfillment of God's will.
This is what he has spoken.
This is what he has planned.
This is what he has spoken
about long ago
and in doing so,
we will fulfill God's will
that he has spoken about
in years gone past.
Does that make any sense?
Okay.
Thank you,
one or two of us.
Okay.
So Jesus is saying,
John,
I know this doesn't make sense to you,
but trust me,
this is in line with God's will.
He's spoken about it
and we're going to fulfill God's will.
And now,
just before we look at
what is that will,
look at something on the side here,
just a side note.
Friends,
sometimes God's will
doesn't make complete sense to us.
Sometimes God says something
or he asks us to do something
and at the time,
it isn't perfectly clear
why he's asking us to do that.
It doesn't make perfect sense to us.
Think of John the Baptist,
one of the greatest leaders
in the New Testament.
Here's John who was filled
with the Holy Spirit
in his mother's womb.
Here is John who has received
divine revelation.
Here is John who is far more godly
than you or I
will probably ever be.
And yet,
John doesn't understand.
It doesn't make sense to him.
And friends,
sometimes God's will,
even revealed in his word,
at first glance will be like,
God,
are you sure?
That doesn't make complete sense to me.
But his will is trustworthy.
We can't trust him.
But notice something else here.
Even more than that,
sometimes God's will
may look silly.
It may be humbling.
Remember,
John's baptism
is a call to repentance,
to turn from your sin.
And yet,
Jesus,
the one person
that has never sinned,
the one person
that doesn't need to repent,
he knows that God's will
is for him
to go through
the waters of baptism.
That's going to be
a deeply humbling thing.
Everyone's going to look at him
and say,
oh,
I wonder what he needs to confess.
I wonder what area of life
he's turning from.
Sometimes God's will
will humble us
and ask us
to swallow our pride.
And yet,
Jesus does so
because it's the Father's will.
Now,
Jesus is saying to John,
John,
I know this doesn't make sense
to you right now,
but trust me,
this is God's will.
Baptize me
because this is going to reveal
something
about what's on God's heart.
It's going to make known
that which God has spoken
many years ago.
But what is that thing?
What is on God's heart?
What is Jesus' baptism
going to reveal to us?
What's it going to make us
understand
or know about who God is
that's going to draw us in?
Well,
three things.
Firstly,
Jesus' baptism
is going to show us
how Jesus identifies
or finds solidarity
with the broken
and the marginalized
and with sinners
like you and I.
Secondly,
Jesus' baptism
is going to show us
that Jesus is the chosen king
and thirdly,
it's going to reveal to us
that he's the tender savior.
Okay,
does that make sense?
So,
let's dive in.
Firstly,
Jesus' solidarity
with broken sinners
like us.
Look at what Jesus
is doing here.
He's not getting baptized
because he's sinful
or because he needs forgiveness,
but because he's identifying
with the very people
that do.
He's identifying
with the crowds,
right?
In John's gospel,
now,
just by the way,
Matthew,
Mark,
Luke,
and John,
John wrote the fourth gospel.
That's different
to John the baptizer.
These are two different Johns.
They just have the same name.
Okay,
so in John's gospel,
we see John the Baptist,
other John,
and this is what he says
talking about Jesus.
He says,
I baptize you with water,
but there stands amongst you
one who you do not yet know
whose straps of the sandals
are not worthy to untie.
When he comes,
he'll baptize you
with the Holy Spirit
and with fire,
but the point is this.
He says,
this Messiah that's coming,
where is he?
Is he in the synagogues?
Is he in the seminaries?
No,
he stands amongst you.
He's right amongst you
in the crowds.
There is one amongst you
who is coming,
who is the Savior of the world,
right there with them
in their moment
of greatest vulnerability
and exposure
when all these people
are coming to John
and saying,
John,
this is what I've done.
This is how I've sinned.
As these people are coming
and exposing
some of the darkest,
most vulnerable areas
of their life,
where is Jesus?
He's amongst them.
Jesus is not standing
on the hillside saying,
oh yeah,
I know about that sin.
Oh yes,
I know about that one too.
And if someone ever came to John
and said,
John,
well,
I kind of sinned
this happened
and sort of painted it
in a good light
like we tend to do.
Am I the only one
that does that?
Kind of trying to talk
about my sin
like the best possible way.
Jesus didn't say,
hey,
tell them the real story.
Tell them what really happened,
right?
Where's Jesus
in this moment
of greatest vulnerability?
He's right there with them.
He's amongst them.
But he's not only amongst them
on the banks of the river.
What does he do?
He climbs in with them
and he gets baptized with them.
Jesus is identifying
with the very people
who are broken,
who are marginalized,
who are hurting,
who are sinners.
And Jesus is saying,
the people that I made
and the people that I love,
I've come for them.
I've come to be with them.
I haven't come to point my finger
and accuse them
and tell them
how dirty,
rotten scoundrels they are.
I've come to be with them.
And so,
coming back to our text,
Jesus says,
John,
let me get baptized.
It's right for me to do so.
This fulfills God's will.
What God has spoken
and revealed
in the Old Testament,
that I would come
and be amongst my people,
I would be one of them.
And so,
John agrees.
And so,
John baptizes Jesus.
And as Jesus comes out of the water,
what happens?
Two things happen,
right?
Look at verse 16 and 17
with me.
The first thing that happens
is the Holy Spirit
comes and rests upon Jesus.
Now,
it doesn't say
a dove rests upon him.
It says,
the Holy Spirit
came and rested upon Jesus
like a dove.
In other words,
it's a physical manifestation.
The Holy Spirit
comes upon Jesus
and empowers him
for his ministry.
But the second thing
that happens
is that there's a voice.
A voice from heaven.
Whose voice is it?
It's God's voice,
right?
And what does God say?
Well,
God quotes,
God the Father
quotes two Old Testament passages.
One is Psalm chapter 2
and the other one
is Isaiah 42.
And both of these passages
reveal something
about the nature
and the character
of Jesus
and his mission
on earth.
Look at what he says.
Firstly,
he quotes Psalm 2.
He says,
this is my beloved son.
And then he quotes
Isaiah 42,
which is a messianic passage
about the coming Messiah.
And what does he say?
This is my son
with whom I am well pleased
or in whom my soul delights.
So,
let's look at those two things.
Okay?
So,
we've got three points.
The first one,
Jesus' baptism
reveals that he identifies
with people like you and I.
Second thing is this,
Jesus' baptism
reveals that he's
the chosen king.
Let's look at Psalm 2 together.
Psalm 2
is a wonderful psalm.
It's a coronation psalm.
It's a psalm
that's written
around the time of David
and it's written
when the king
is established
on the throne.
And it's a psalm
that's written
about God's chosen king.
And in this psalm,
God says,
I will establish
my king on the throne.
But what's happening
is that the nations
around Israel
don't like the king.
And the reason
they don't like the king
is because Israel
is a small nation.
It's a vulnerable nation.
It's often being attacked.
If you know the history
of the world,
Israel is forever
being attacked
by everyone
from every side.
And so the nations
around Israel
don't like that
God has established
a king on the throne.
And they want to
overthrow the king.
They want to overthrow Israel.
And so the kings
of the nations
surrounding it
conspire together.
They plot
and they scheme
and they take counsel
together
how they can overthrow
this king
that God has established
in Israel.
But what is God's
response
to their efforts?
He laughs at them.
Look at what it says
in verse 4.
He says,
He who sits
in the heavens
he laughs.
The Lord holds
their plans
in derision.
He says,
As for me,
I have set
my king
on the throne.
And then he describes
this king.
Who is this king?
He says,
You are my beloved son.
Today I have begotten you.
Ask of me
and I will then
make the nations
your inheritance.
The ends of the earth
will be your possession.
So God says,
I've established this king.
On one hand
it's David
but actually
that's just a picture
of the true king.
God has established
his king on the throne
and this king
will be the lord
of all the world.
All the nations
will be your inheritance.
One day
all the nations
will come and bow down
before you.
The one true king.
And who is this king?
Well he says,
He is God's anointed one.
God's chosen one.
In other words,
in Hebrew
God's Messiah.
Or in Greek
God's Christos.
The Christ.
He is the chosen king
to end all kingdoms.
He is the king
to whom all kings
will one day
eventually bow.
Why?
Because he's God's son.
You are my chosen son.
And at the end of the psalm
God says that
this king
will become
the majestic ruler
of all creation.
All the world
will one day
bow down before him.
And he will destroy
those who oppose him.
Those who conspired
against him
will find themselves
facing the full wrath
of the fury
of God.
And so he warns him.
He says,
You kings
that are conspiring
against this king,
this chosen king,
be warned.
Kiss the son.
Come and draw near to him
in faith and repentance
lest you perish
in your ways.
But if you take refuge
under him
you will be blessed.
You see,
this king
in Psalm chapter 2
on one hand
he's a roaring lion.
He's a majestic king
that overthrows
all those who oppose him.
But at the same time
he's a gracious
and gentle lamb
to those who come to him
and find refuge
under his wings.
This is
this king.
And so Psalm 2
speaks about this king
and this majestic king.
And as Jesus
comes out of the waters
of baptism,
John baptizes him
and as he comes out
there's a voice
that thunders
in the heavens
and this is what it is.
This is my beloved son.
This is the chosen
ruler king.
This is the king
who will one day
inherit the earth.
The one before whom
all nations
will bow down.
This is the king
before whom
every monk
and every
imam
and every priest
and every Hindu guru
and every pastor
and every premier
and every president
and every governor
and every man,
woman and child
will one day
bow down.
And some will bow down
gladly because they've
come to love the king
and they've found
refuge under him.
Some will bow down
because they've been
conquered by him.
But before this king
all the nations
will bow.
He is the chosen ruler,
the anointed king
because he's my beloved son.
And so as Jesus
comes out of the waters
of baptism,
this is what God says.
This is my son,
the ruling king.
Okay,
does that make sense?
But that's not all
God says to Jesus.
He then says something else.
And this is the climax.
He says,
this is my beloved son
with whom I am well pleased
or in whom my soul delights.
Now that's a quote
from Isaiah 42.
Now,
in the book of Isaiah,
there are four passages
of scripture,
four poems
or songs
which are called
the servant songs.
Isaiah 42,
Isaiah 49,
Isaiah 50,
and Isaiah 53.
And all four
of these passages,
these poems,
are passages
about a certain servant
of the Lord.
Okay,
that's why they're called
the servant songs.
And this servant
will rule the nations.
God calls him
to rule over
all the world.
It's kind of like
Psalm chapter 2.
But at the same time,
the servant is unique
because he is hated
and despised
by the nations.
The servant
is horribly abused
by the very nations
he's called to lead
in righteousness
and justice,
which is why
he's called
the suffering servant.
He is rejected,
he is ridiculed,
he is beaten,
he is mocked,
he is despised,
and he's hated.
But in the end,
he is rewarded.
In the end,
he rules supreme.
And Isaiah 42
is the first
of these four passages.
And it's a passage
which God quotes
in Matthew chapter 3.
And look at
what Isaiah 42 says.
He says this,
Behold my servant,
my chosen one,
my anointed one,
the one in whom
my soul delights.
In other words,
what does Jesus say?
My son with whom
I'm well pleased,
the one in whom
my soul delights.
Isn't that what Jesus,
what God said
at Jesus' baptism?
You, Jesus,
are the one
in whom my soul delights.
And then he says,
I have put my spirit
upon him.
Well, isn't that
what happened
when Jesus got baptized?
The Holy Spirit
rests upon him
and empowers him.
But if we just
left it there,
we'd miss the main
point of the passage.
Because Isaiah
then goes on
and he says,
This king,
this servant,
this suffering servant,
he will not cry aloud
or lift up his voice.
In other words,
when the servant
comes to rule the nations,
he will not come
with ceremony
or pomp.
He will not come
full of swagger
and self-promotion.
He will come
quietly on the scene.
He will not be born
in a palace
or in royalty.
He will not hold office
with leaders of society.
Here will be the anointed,
ruling king,
but he'll come humbly.
He'll come quietly.
He might even be born
in a stable.
Rather than having kings
and royalty watching him,
he'll have shepherds
and the lowly.
But this will not diminish
his purpose
or his status.
His purpose
is to bring justice
to the nations.
And then it says this
about the servant king.
A bruised reed
he will not break.
A faintly smoldering wick
he will not snuff out.
Now think of that imagery.
I think we've got a,
oh, we don't have an image.
Sorry.
Has that been gone
for a while?
Sorry,
I thought I had
all the scriptures up there.
Oh, there we go.
Okay.
Isaiah says this,
when the suffering servant comes,
he'll come as the king,
but he'll also come
with gentleness.
A bruised reed
he will not break.
I don't know about you,
but when I go hiking,
if I see a broken branch
or a stem
or a reed,
I just can't leave it.
I've just got to put it
out of its misery, right?
I snap it off
and throw it away.
There's just something about it
that's asking
just to be broken off, right?
Or maybe think of this.
Again,
I don't know about you.
If I go walking somewhere,
I always try and find a stick.
The first few minutes,
I've got to find a walking stick
and there's just something therapeutic
about having a walking stick, right?
But what invariably happens
is I find a stick
and I think,
oh, this is a good size,
good shape.
And as I put it down,
I see that it's broken
halfway along
and there's just bark
holding it together.
Does that ring a bell?
And as you put it down,
it can't carry the weight.
Now,
what do you do
with such a walking stick?
You throw it, right?
You toss it aside.
Say,
what a useless stick.
Somebody find me
a proper walking stick, right?
Or think of the picture
of a candle,
a candle that's outside
in the rain.
It's in the elements
and it's struggling
to stay alive.
It's fighting
to still be burning, right?
In the times of the Bible,
they didn't have wax candles.
They'd have a candle,
a wick
that was in oil
and if the oil
is almost finished
or it's not burning properly,
you'd snuff out the candle
and then go fill up the oil
and relight it again.
But here,
Isaiah talks about
there's the Messiah coming
and he's going to be
the ruler of the whole world
and yet he's going to come
so tenderly,
so gently.
This king,
who is sovereign
over everyone,
who is majestic,
is so gracious
and tender
that when he comes
and he finds us
like a broken stick
or like a candle
that's not doing so well,
he doesn't throw it away
and say,
find me a proper Christian
or snuff it out.
What does he do?
He comes
and he binds us up.
He comes
and he heals
and he restores.
Here is a king
that is so strong
and yet so gentle
that he comes
and he binds up
those that are hurting
and those that are broken.
Friends,
in our world
and in our city,
how do we treat
those that are broken?
How do we treat
those that are struggling
or those that are hurting
or those that are damaged
or fall behind?
Our city is not
very sympathetic
to those that are hurting,
are we?
I think the ethos
of Hong Kong
is the survival
of the fittest.
Our city is one
in which you've got
to be brave,
you've got to be strong,
you've got to be hardworking
in order to survive.
But friends,
here is a king
who comes to the broken,
he comes to the damaged,
he comes to those
who have failed.
He comes to those
who have sinned.
He comes to those
who have messed up.
He comes to those
with a checkered past.
He comes to those
who feel like,
God, could you ever
love me again?
And he says,
I've come for you.
I've come to heal you.
I've come to restore you.
Just think of Peter,
one of Jesus' disciples.
In Mark's gospel,
Jesus says to his disciples,
the Son of Man
is going to be arrested
and put to death.
And then he quotes
the Old Testament
where he says,
they will strike the shepherd
and the sheep will scatter.
In other words,
he's saying,
I will be alone
and when they arrest me,
all my disciples
will leave me.
And what does Peter say?
Peter says,
not me, God.
Maybe the others,
but not me.
I will be with you
to the end.
You can count on me.
And Jesus says,
Peter,
before the crow
or cock crows twice,
you'll deny me three times.
And Peter says,
forget it, Lord.
All the others
will abandon you,
but not me.
You can count on me.
Well, 12 hours later,
Peter is warming his hands
outside the fire
and he's watching
through the gap.
Jesus has been arrested.
And a young girl
comes to him and says,
hey, weren't you
with that Jesus guy?
And he says,
no, not me.
Someone else comes
and says,
I'm sure you were
with Jesus
when we arrested him.
Peter says,
I don't know
what you're talking about.
And then a third person
comes and says,
but you've got
the same accent as him.
You know where he's from.
I'm sure you were
with Jesus, right?
You're one of his disciples.
He says,
I swear I've never met the man.
What does Jesus do
with Peter's denial?
What does he do?
After he dies
and he's crucified
and he's risen again,
he comes
and he finds his disciples
and he says,
Peter,
you love me,
don't you?
And Peter says,
yes, Lord,
I do love you.
He says,
Peter,
I've got a job for you.
I want you to feed my sheep.
It's not the end,
Peter.
I've still got a job
for you to do.
I want you to be my disciple.
Go and feed my sheep.
And he says,
Peter,
you do still love me,
don't you?
He says,
yes, Lord,
I love you.
He says,
Peter,
I've got a job for you.
Feed my lambs.
And then he asks him
a third time,
Peter,
I'm just asking
because I want you
to know that you love me.
Peter,
you do still love me,
don't you?
Yes,
Lord,
I love you.
Peter,
go and fulfill
the mandate I gave you.
Go and be my disciple.
Go and lead my people.
Friends,
how does Jesus deal
with Peter's
most spectacular
fall from grace?
Does he throw him away
and say,
get me a proper Christian?
No,
he doesn't.
He comes and he restores him.
He comes and heals him.
He comes and binds him up.
He comes and recommissions him
and sends him on his task.
Friends,
our city,
there are many gods
and idols
that we love to serve.
But the problem
with these idols
and these gods
is that when we fail them,
they will accuse us
and they will point
the finger in your face
and they'll tell you
all the times
that you failed them.
Friends,
if your children's success
is your highest goal in life,
when your children get sick
or they don't succeed
or they don't fulfill
your plans or ambitions for them,
you will feel like
your whole life is on edge.
Friends,
if your promotion
or your career advancement
is the goal,
the thing that makes you whole,
when you pass over for promotion
or you don't succeed
in your career,
you'll feel useless.
You'll feel like a failure
and that the whole world
is against you.
Friends,
when the prospect
of being loved
or being with someone
is the most important thing
in your life,
when you go on a date
and they don't call you back
or you're not,
a relationship doesn't work out
the way that you hope it will,
you'll feel unloved.
You'll feel ugly.
You'll be filled with self-hate.
Tim Keller
was saying
a few years ago
in New York,
he spoke about
these young New Yorkers
that gave everything
to make their career
a success
and he says this,
these men and women
had sacrificed
everything to the God
of success
but it wasn't enough.
In ancient times,
the deities
were bloodthirsty
and hard to appease.
Even still,
today,
they are.
Friends,
the gods
and the idols
and the things
we try and serve
are bloodthirsty.
They'll demand
your blood.
They'll demand
everything from you
and if you fail them,
they'll spit you out
and move on.
But friends,
here in the gospel,
we have a king.
Here we have a king
who at once claimed
nothing less
than being the promised Messiah,
the chosen king
above all kings,
who is king
who will one day
rule the nations
and before whom
every knee will bow
and yet here is a king
who is so gracious,
so tender
with those who fail him,
who is so gentle
with the broken
and those who fall
and those who sin,
that those who come to him
and feel like damaged goods,
he gently restores you
and he recommissions you.
Friends,
some of us feel broken
this morning.
Some of us feel
like damaged goods.
Some of us
because it's of our own sin.
There are things
that we've done
and we feel like,
I cannot believe I did that.
You may feel so ashamed.
Some of us,
maybe it's because
you've been sinned against.
Maybe somebody
did something to you.
You feel used.
You feel abused.
Maybe for some of us
it's just the harshness
of life in a fallen world.
Friends,
here is a king
who comes with such
gentleness and tenderness.
He restores and heals
the brokenhearted.
I want to read a quote
by Sam Albury.
It's quite a long quote
so you're going to need
to pay attention
but listen to how
Pastor Sam Albury
writes about this.
He says,
The wonder of Jesus
is that he's able
to combine
what we so easily separate.
In our experience,
those who are gentlest
tend to lack strength
and force
when it's called for
while those who are strongest
tend to lack the capacity
for gentleness
and restraint.
But Jesus exemplifies
perfect gentleness
and awesome strength.
This combination
is why he's such
a good savior.
He is strong
and he's mighty to save
and yet he is
unspeakably delicate
and careful with us.
There is no wound,
no vulnerability
he does not understand
or handle
with the utmost care.
He is someone
who we can trust
with our most tender
bruises and fragility.
He will not be clumsy
with us.
He can apply
his unimaginable strength
to us
with affection
and sensitivity.
In a fallen world
like this,
all of us
are people
who have both sinned
and been sinned against.
Some of this
will have left us
with deep wounds
that seem unfathomable
even to us.
But Jesus knows us fully.
He understands us entirely.
He loves us more
than we love ourselves.
He has the power
and the capacity
to help us
and the tenderness
and the care
to want to help us.
We can trust him
with our deepest pains
and our bruises.
There is none
more fearsome,
none
more gentle.
Now,
coming into a close,
let's go back
to Matthew chapter 3,
Jesus' baptism.
What's just happened
before this?
John has called people
to,
he's been proclaiming
the gospel
by calling people
to repent,
to repent in light
of the coming king.
And friends,
what is this king
going to do
with your sin
and my sin
when we come to him
in repentance?
When we come to him
with our most vulnerable spots,
when we come to him
with our bruises
and our brokenness,
when we come to him
with our failings,
when we come to him
with our messes
and our mistakes,
what's he going to do?
Is he going to,
like a walking stick,
toss you on the heap
and say,
go sort yourself out,
come back to me
when you've got your,
you know,
stuff in order?
What's he going to do?
Is he going to rebuke you
for being such a lousy Christian?
Is he going to point
his finger in your face
and say,
oh,
you haven't properly confessed.
What about that area
of your life?
What about that?
No,
friends.
When we come to him
in humility and contrition,
we come to a king.
We don't come to a schoolmaster
or a tiger parent.
We come to Jesus.
We come to the lover
of our souls.
We come to the one
who brings tenderness
and healing in his wings.
We come to the chosen
ruling king,
but we come to the one
who is unspeakably delicate
and careful with us.
We come to the one
who we can trust
with our most tender bruises
and failures.
We come to the one
who will apply
his unimaginable affection
and strength
to our sensitivities.
Charles Spurgeon
said it like this,
when I regarded God
as a tyrant,
I thought sin
was unimportant.
But when I knew him
to be my father,
I mourned that I could
ever have kicked against him.
When I thought God
was hard,
I found it easy to sin.
But when I found God
was so kind,
so good,
so overflowing
with compassion,
I beat my breast
to think that I could
ever have rebelled
against one
who loved me so
and sought my good.
And friends,
this is what
Jesus' baptism
shows us.
This is why
Jesus gets baptized.
Because he comes
to show us
that he identifies
with the failings
and the sin
and the mess of the world.
But he comes
to show us
that he's the chosen king
but he's also
the suffering servant.
Now to be clear,
he won't be the suffering servant
forever.
There's a time coming
when he will come
in all the full might
of his strength
and he will vanquish
his enemies
and he will destroy
those that have opposed him.
That is true.
But for now,
as John calls sinners
to come to him
to humble ourselves
and to repent,
Jesus stands amongst us
so good,
so gentle,
so overflowing
with compassion,
identifying with
the shortcomings
and the failings
of our lives.
And yet,
all this was just
a foretaste
because in three
short years' time,
Jesus is going to be
baptized with another baptism.
He's going to be
plunged deep,
immersed,
drowned in a baptism
of utter turmoil.
He's going to be
nailed to the cross
so that those
who trust him,
those who come to him
in faith and repentance
will have their sins
taken on the cross
by him.
Friends,
because this magnificent,
wonderful,
savior,
sovereign,
gracious,
gentle king
came and died
on the cross,
those who do trust him,
we hear the words
of the Father
speaking over us.
My beloved son,
my beloved daughter,
with you,
I am well pleased.
Because Jesus
took all our failings
and our sin upon the cross,
now the Father speaks
words of affirmation
over us.
My son,
my daughter,
with you,
I am well pleased.
Friends,
if you're a Christian
this morning,
God the Father
does not just
tolerate you,
he doesn't just
put up with you,
he is pleased with you,
he loves you,
he pours out
his love on you,
he is extravagantly
delighted in you
because Jesus
covered your sins,
because he took it
to the cross,
because he makes
all things new,
because he brings you
into his family.
This is Jesus,
the chosen sovereign king,
but this is Jesus,
the suffering servant.
Let's pray together.
Oh, wonderful God,
we do come and worship you,
God.
We worship you
not just with song,
but to worship you
by giving you our lives,
God.
Our greatest act of worship,
God,
is to say we so trust you
that we bring our lives
before you.
Thank you,
Jesus,
that you are both
majestic and gracious.
You are sovereign
and yet tender,
God.
And God,
it is safe
to bring our lives
and to leave them
at the foot of the cross.
It is safe
to bring our lives
and hand them over to you.
Jesus,
thank you for being
such a wonderful
and glorious king.
And Father,
this morning,
we do ask for more
of your will in our lives.
We do say,
God,
come and have your way.
We say,
Jesus,
come and be king
in our lives.
Don't just be a friend.
Don't just be
a gentle savior.
Come and be king.
Come and have your way,
we pray.
Amen.