Well, amen. If you have your Bible, it's Luke chapter number 13. Luke chapter number 13.
! If you're able to stand for the reading of God's Word, I ask that you would. Luke chapter 13.
Follow along on the screen there as well.
It's good to be here in the Lord's house today.
Thank you for coming on a holiday weekend, being here.
Hope you plan on staying.
We have plenty of food.
We're going to have a great time.
Right after the service, we'll just head out over to the pavilion where there's a jousting thing.
Like old school American gladiators, you know, you stand on the pedestal
and you try to hit each other off.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
So we're going to do that.
And then we're going to have a cornhole tournament.
And a winning team gets a $50 gift card per person.
And I'm here to win.
But I'm also telling myself that I have to behave.
I'm the pastor.
I have to have a good attitude if I lose.
And so help me on that.
And so that goes for you too, Brother Garrett.
And on that stuff.
But we're going to have a great time.
Hope you plan on staying.
And enjoying that.
But I'm glad we can open up the Word of God and see what it has to say for us.
We're walking through the Gospel of Luke.
And we're coming to the end of chapter number 13.
Really, chapter 12 and 13, Jesus is kind of reminding us that we must be ready.
That He is coming back.
And even in His earthly ministry here, He's moving towards the cross.
So as time is running out, He is reminding us of some deep truths here.
And that's what we're going to see here in verse 31.
We'll read these few verses down to verse 35.
Have a word of prayer and we'll jump right in.
The Bible says this.
The same day there came certain of the Pharisees saying unto him,
Get thee out and depart hence, for Herod will kill thee.
And he said unto them, Go ye and tell that fox.
I love this.
I mean, Jesus is not playing around.
Everybody's like, oh, Jesus is all love.
And He is love.
But Jesus was on a mission.
And Herod's trying to get him off that mission.
And He said,
Really, the whole idea of the book of Luke is found in chapter 19 where He says this.
The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
And we see miracles and we see Jesus doing things and miraculous feedings and people being healed.
But that's not why Jesus came.
Jesus came and from before creation He was marching towards the cross.
In moments like this and in this interaction here with the Pharisees,
He reminds us, I'm still on mission.
Nothing is going to change why He came.
And it shows us not just the mission, but it shows us the compassion of Jesus.
I'm thankful we serve a compassionate, loving Savior.
He had a backbone.
We see that.
He's not afraid to stand up for the truth.
He is truth.
But He also loved people even when they rejected Him.
So let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Ask Him to help us this morning as we open His Word.
Father, thank You for this time together.
Thank You for the songs that have reminded us of the wonderful grace that You show us every single day.
Lord, we're thankful for how You love us.
Lord, I pray You'd be with us now as we open up the Word.
Lord, I pray that You would just help calm our hearts and our minds.
Lord, as we are excited about just hanging out and fellowshipping together.
But Lord, help us to remember that we're here to hear from You.
And not just to hear, but to respond.
Lord, I pray You'd be with me.
You would empty me of self, cleanse me of sin.
Lord, fill me with Your Spirit.
Give me the words You would have me to say.
And we ask it in Christ's name.
Amen.
Thank you so much for standing.
You may be seated.
Listen, some people love confrontation.
They love conflict.
They thrive off of it.
You know, you ever heard of somebody that would fight at a drop of a hat?
And they bring their own hat?
You know, those kind of people that are just willing to go.
And then conflict kind of gets them going.
That's not me.
I would imagine the majority of us in here are probably the opposite.
Conflict's coming.
Rejection's coming.
We're going to run the other direction.
We don't want anything to do with it.
And I would imagine that's most of us.
We avoid places where we know there might be conflict.
We avoid conversations where there might end up being rejection.
Because if we know conflict is waiting, if we understand that criticism is coming, pain is waiting,
our natural instinct is run the other direction.
And that's kind of where we are.
I mean, we avoid hard conversations.
I mean, sometimes, let's just be honest, when you know a hard conversation is coming,
you're going to talk about anything and everything.
Okay, maybe I'm the only one.
You know, I know my wife wants to talk.
I mean, I'm like, hey, did you hear about this?
Did you hear about that?
She's like, stop avoiding the conversation.
I'm like, I don't know what you're talking about.
Man, am I the only person that does that in this room?
Y'all are so spiritual.
Whatever.
I mean, we avoid difficult people.
You know, when you see them in Walmart and you need to be on that aisle, you're thinking,
actually, the Lord just told me, I don't need to be on this aisle anymore.
I don't even think they have it.
I'm going to go to Tom Thumb and we'll get it from there.
I mean, we just avoid it like the plague.
We avoid places sometimes in our life that are just connected to hurt.
I mean, think about real life scenarios.
If you know somebody in the office is upset with you, suddenly you're taking the long route to the break room.
You're not going to walk by their desk.
You're not going to walk by their office.
I mean, if you get that dreaded text maybe from your boss or from your wife when you get off work,
we need to talk.
Don't you love that?
And then you start praying, Lord, whatever I did in the last seven months, please forgive me.
I mean, it kind of changes our outlook.
It kind of changes our whole day.
And sometimes you feel that tension.
Maybe you get in a family gathering and all of a sudden you become deeply committed to helping in every way possible
just to avoid the situation.
You're cleaning dishes.
You've never cleaned in your life.
You're willing to go to the store to get ice.
You're like, hey, anybody need anything?
I'm going to run an errand for everybody just to avoid it.
I mean, I think naturally we just move away from rejection.
We move away from conflict, from confrontation.
But as we come here into our text in chapter 13, we see that Jesus does the exact opposite.
Really, since Luke chapter 9 and Jesus' ministry, the Bible says that his eyes were set towards Jerusalem.
And what we find here is Jesus is knowingly moving toward this very city and the very people that claim to love him but will reject him.
And not that long, they're going to be crying, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
And just a few days later, they're going to say, crucify him.
And he knows that.
He knows that's coming.
He knows what that's going to entail.
And he continually walked the road.
And as we walk through this passage this morning, we're going to see not just the courage of Jesus, but we're going to see his heart.
Because even while moving towards the cross, he's still loving people.
I mean, think about it.
Think if you knew the worst thing in your life was going to happen, you would not walk towards it.
And yet he knew all things.
He knew exactly how it was going to go down, and yet he still was loving people and still calling people and still pleading with sinners,
still pleading with people that were completely rejecting him and saying, listen, this is not what you're looking for.
I know what you need.
See, that's what makes this passage so powerful is because Jesus is not running from danger.
He's walking straight towards it.
Why?
Here's why.
Because he loves us.
Because he loves sinners.
I love that song, Miss Timothy.
He's like, thank you, Jesus, for the blood.
He knew the sacrifice had to be made.
And he was willing to lay down his life.
And he loved us so much that he was willing to stay faithful to the mission, come what may.
And that's what's taking place here in this text.
And he's kind of reminding his disciples because they're watching this interaction.
The crowd is seeing how he's moving forward.
And really in these verses, what Luke is going to do is he's going to kind of pull back the curtain.
He's going to pull back the curtain so we can see the heart of Jesus.
And many times in our life, if we're honest, rejection and confrontation and conflict, it hardens us.
We say, hey, I'm not going around those people again.
I'm not going to put myself out there.
That's the last time I'm going to do that.
And we kind of get hardened by the situation.
No, but what we notice about Jesus, it didn't do that to him.
In fact, it just revealed his courage.
But it also revealed his compassion.
So if you're taking notes, we're going to answer this question this morning.
What do we learn about the heart of Jesus in the face of rejection?
What do we learn from Jesus?
What do we learn about his heart?
Number one, in the first 31 through 33, we see this, that Jesus was unwavering in his mission.
The Bible says this in verse number 31, the same day.
See, this interaction that's taking place between the Pharisees and Jesus,
it happened on the very same day of the text that we looked at last week.
Jesus was preaching to this crowd, and he's calling them, and he's reminding them that,
hey, salvation is for everyone, but there is one door you must go through.
There's not a lot of doors.
There's not a lot of ways.
There's not a lot of roads to heaven.
No, Jesus is the way, and he's the truth, and he's the life.
Jesus says, I am the door.
It's the door we must go through, and he's preaching that message so people can get a hold of that truth
because here's the truth.
Jesus wants everybody to come through that door.
Jesus is not choosing who comes in and who doesn't.
No, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever.
That's who Jesus is looking for.
But immediately after warning the people about eternity, Luke shows us this growing hostility surrounding Jesus.
Because here's the problem that a lot of people have with Jesus.
He was kind of creeping into their circles, especially with Herod, this king, and the Pharisees.
They didn't like the fact that Jesus was kind of taking some of their notoriety.
He was taking a little bit of their authority away.
So he's there the same day this is all taking place, and the Bible says,
There came certain Pharisees saying unto him,
Get thee out, and depart hence, for Herod will kill thee.
See, the Pharisees come here, and if you think that sounds weird, then you're right.
It does sound weird.
Because if you've been with us in this journey in the Gospel of Luke,
the Pharisees do not like Jesus.
Every time Jesus shows up somewhere, the Pharisees are there.
They're trying to catch him.
They're trying to get him to say something.
They're trying to find some reason to point and say,
Hey, see, we told you, he's a liar.
He's crazy.
He's not the Messiah.
Look at him breaking all the laws.
Look at him doing all of these different things.
But when you read this verse, it seems almost compassionate.
It seems somewhat helpful.
I mean, they seem like they are concerned.
They show up and say, Jesus, listen, you know, we love you.
They don't, but that's what they're saying.
Jesus, you know we really care about you,
and we just want to let you know Herod's trying to kill you.
So we would never want anything bad to happen to you.
So we just suggest get out of town.
You think, what's going on here?
Because the deeper context in our study through the Gospel of Luke
has shown us how repeatedly the Pharisees despised Jesus.
Right before Jesus kind of started this whole sermon in chapter 12 and chapter 13,
they said at the end of chapter 11, they looked for every single opportunity to trap him.
I mean, that's what they lived for.
And Jesus didn't necessarily help his case in chapter number 12, verse number 1,
where he said this.
He reminded them, hey, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
So as the Pharisees were there, he says, hey, guys, disciples, I want you to know the Pharisees are hypocrites.
Don't you love when somebody calls you a hypocrite to your face?
It just makes you feel warm and fuzzy, like, oh, man, I really love these people.
No, I mean, those are fighting words.
And when Jesus said that, the Pharisees said, you can't say that.
And so we have this tension that we've seen between these two groups.
So when the Pharisees suddenly arrive with what sounds like friendly advice,
Jesus is not fooled.
Obviously he knows everything, but the disciples are like, hey, man, you know,
maybe they aren't as bad as we thought they were.
Because the Pharisees, the religious establishment of Israel and Herod, had zero in common.
In fact, they hated each other.
But actually they had one thing in common.
They both hated Jesus.
They said, listen, hey, you know, enemies make strange bedfellows, and that's kind of where they are.
They're kind of in this situation where we don't like each other and we don't like each other,
but at least we can agree on this, we've got to get rid of Jesus.
You think, well, why, if Herod's so powerful and Herod's the king,
then why didn't he just bring the message?
Because Herod loved himself.
If you didn't know anything about any of the Herods in the Bible, they're very conceited.
They don't want to look bad in front of the crowd.
And this particular Herod, he had a little blunder with a man named John the Baptist.
He chopped his head off.
And wasn't real good for the political climate of the day.
And so really what's happening here is he's realizing Jesus is kind of like this John the Baptist.
He's drawing crowds.
He's calling people to himself.
And we need to get rid of him, but the last time I did that, it didn't work out too well for me.
So I'm going to hire these Pharisees.
I'm going to send a message by them.
And so Herod employed them to pass along the threat, hoping Jesus would become frightened and leave.
The Pharisees are like, man, this is right in our wheelhouse.
This is super exciting because here's what they knew.
If we could get Jesus to move a little further south, more into Jerusalem, there was a big group of men called the Sanhedrin.
A very powerful, basically high court of Israel.
These were the men that are ultimately going to be responsible for holding the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
So they thought, hey, this is a win-win for us.
We're just going to push them along down the road.
But Jesus saw right through their malicious intentions.
And I just want to stop right here and just remind us that it's important to understand.
Not everybody who sounds spiritual has pure motives.
It sounds like a good thing.
It sounds like they really do care.
And not every voice that offers guidance in our world today is actually trying to help you follow God.
That's why God gives us discernment.
That we need to understand what is going on.
And Jesus, obviously, is very discerning.
And he realizes what's taking place.
And instead of backing down, he answers with some fearless confidence.
I love this phrase.
Verse 32.
And he said unto them, go ye and tell that fox.
I mean, this is trash talk.
You think, I didn't know there was trash talk in the Bible.
But there is.
And as you can tell, this is not a compliment.
Foxes were viewed as crafty and sneaky.
And they were destructive pests.
And what Jesus is doing here is he's really kind of putting Herod in his place.
Because here's who Herod thought he was.
He thought he was some mighty lion.
He thought he was the king over all the things that nobody told Herod what to do.
Nobody stood up to Herod.
That's why John the Baptist got his head cut off.
Because he did step up to Herod.
He said, hey, you can't do that.
You can't marry your brother's wife.
And he said, I don't like that.
I'm going to chop his head off.
And so that's kind of the man that Herod was.
And he, but what Jesus is doing is he's really exposing him for who he is.
And here's what Jesus is actually doing.
He's not just being mean and throwing kind of this phrase at him.
He's reminding Herod and he's reminding all of us that earthly threats cannot stop a heavenly mission.
There's nothing that's going to deter Jesus.
Jesus knows why he came and he is marching towards that end.
And don't miss this.
Herod is the only individual that Jesus specifically addresses with this kind of contempt in all of the New Testament.
Even the Pharisees that hated him, you know what Jesus did?
He loved them.
He knew they were so close to the truth and they were just missing the door.
But men like Herod, why was he so brash with him?
Here's Herod's problem.
He arrogantly imagined that he could interfere with God's plan.
He thought, you know what?
Nobody tells me what to do, not even God.
And he's trying to change the divine timetable.
And Jesus says, no, no, no, no.
You have no power, Herod.
You think you're in charge, but you have no power.
And we see this.
You're going to see this as we move closer to the cross.
Remember when Jesus is standing in front of Pilate?
The most powerful man.
He's the governor of all Judea.
He says, listen, you wouldn't have any power unless somebody gave it to you.
Jesus has all power, all control, and that's what's taking place here.
So he says, go tell that fox.
Here's what I want you to tell him.
Behold, I cast out devils.
I do cures today and tomorrow and the third day.
I shall be perfected.
Here's what Jesus is saying.
The Pharisees come.
They give him the message.
He said, here, send this message back.
I'm going to do what I'm going to do.
And that's basically what Jesus is saying.
I've come on a mission and I'm not going to stop until the mission is completed.
That is exactly what Jesus is saying.
That no threat could change it.
No politician could alter his course.
No enemy could accelerate his death.
The Bible tells us in John chapter 10, Jesus says this.
No man taketh my life, but I lay it down myself.
Sometimes we look at the cross and you might hear things.
Listen, Jesus was not a martyr.
He didn't get swept up in the political wheels of the day.
No, he came at the right time, at the perfect time.
Galatians 4 reminds us that he was born at the appointed time and he died at the appointed time.
I just want to remind us, and that's important.
It should be super encouraging that nothing in this world happens outside the authority of God.
That's what this text should really encourage you.
Jesus is not, anybody here wing things?
You ever just wing it?
You're like, yeah, life.
I'm just winging it.
Jesus has never winged anything.
No, every step was calculated.
Every response is calculated.
And that should bring us great confidence knowing that, listen, it might look like your world's falling apart.
You might be walking through a difficult time, but God knows.
And we look at our world and we look at our political things and governments rise and fall and culture changes and opposition increases,
but God is still on the throne.
He's not deterred by it.
And God's purposes have never been, they weren't here,
and they never will be threatened by things that we think are outside of his control.
That Jesus was and always and still is in absolute control of all things.
Paul tells us in the book of Colossians, by him all things consist.
It means this, that all things are just held together.
And see the confidence that, and that confidence that came from knowing exactly why he came,
he says, here's why I came.
Look at verse number 34.
I mean 33, excuse me.
Nevertheless, I must walk today and tomorrow and the following,
for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.
Think, what is he saying right there?
Well, here's what you, if you study the Old Testament, you're going to realize this.
Because Israel, and Jerusalem in particular, had a long history of rejecting and killing God's messengers.
These same men, these Pharisees say, oh, we love the prophets.
But you read the Old Testament, every time a prophet shows up, they want to kill him.
They do kill him, or they throw him in jail.
They try everything they can do to get rid of him.
You think of men like Daniel.
You think of men like Elijah and Elisha and Isaiah and Jeremiah.
I mean, you look at the prophets, they didn't have an easy life.
Why?
Because Israel, every time they showed up and said, thus saith the word of the Lord,
they said, we don't actually like that.
Go tell the Lord, we're going to do what we want to do.
Go tell the Lord, we're going to live our life.
And we see that cycle in the Old Testament.
And so now the Son of God himself is walking towards that same fate.
We mentioned it already, but the cross is waiting.
He knew the mocking was coming, the scourging, the nails, the wrath, all of it.
And yet he still went.
Yet he still went there, and he was not trapped by these events.
No, he went because of the joy that was before him.
That's what the Bible tells us in the book of Hebrews.
He said, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.
Jesus is saying, listen, I'm going to make it to Jerusalem because we know Jerusalem loves killing prophets,
and that's what they're going to do.
That's what that verse means.
I mean, that's pretty courageous.
He's walking towards his own death.
He said, listen, I'll be in Jerusalem soon enough.
I'm going to lay down my life there because we wouldn't want Jerusalem to miss an opportunity to kill a prophet.
That's what he's saying.
That's how he knew that was taking place.
You think, well, how does this really apply to us, preacher?
Because we notice this, that Jesus obeyed God.
He obeyed his father no matter what was going to come.
You know, sometimes for us, sometimes for me, I'll just say, it's a lot easier to obey God when it feels safe.
When it's beneficial.
You know, sometimes my kids start doing things, and they're being real kind and clean.
I was like, what do you want?
You know what I mean?
Sometimes that's how we treat God.
We only obey.
We do what we need to as long as it feels safe and we feel like we're going to get something out of it.
Well, we'll obey as long as it's convenient.
It doesn't really interfere with our schedule and our life and the things that we want to do.
Hey, we'll obey if it doesn't cost us that much.
No, Jesus makes clear.
It's going to cost a lot to follow Christ.
But it's worth it.
He was willing to pay the entire cost.
Listen, Jesus didn't go halfway to the cross for us.
He didn't do his mission halfway.
No, Jesus was all in.
And we're the recipients of that.
I'm thankful for that, but it reminds us and it teaches us that if Jesus was faithful,
even when it was difficult and he moved forward when suffering was involved,
sometimes that might be the same in our life.
You think, Lord, I'm following you.
I'm doing all these things.
Why do I have all these problems?
Sometimes, listen, following Jesus doesn't mean your life's going to be problem-free.
But here's what it does mean.
You're not going to walk alone.
You're going to walk with somebody that knows, that's been through the difficulties.
We have a high priest that hasn't been touched.
No, he understands.
Sometimes you can go to your friends and say, man, I'm having a hard time.
They think, what's your problem?
Get over it, you big baby.
Don't you love those kind of friends?
Like, man, I'm really struggling.
Well, get over it.
Listen, I'm so thankful when I go to the Lord, he understands.
He knows what we're walking through.
He knows what you're walking through here this morning.
Why?
Because he obeyed and he went even when suffering was involved.
But see, this passage reveals more than just the courage of Jesus.
It shows us the compassion.
Because these first few verses, I mean, Jesus is not playing around.
He confronts the hypocrisy.
He said, listen, stop trying to manipulate me.
I'm here to do the will of my Father.
But we come to verse number 34 and we realize this, that the same Savior who confronted hypocrisy
was brokenhearted over the sinner.
That he still loves the sinner.
And that's what we see, secondly, that Jesus was broken over the rejection.
We see there in verse 34, it's, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem.
I mean, you can almost hear the grief in his voice.
When it's repeated, that emphasis, it just shows the deep emotion.
As Jesus is there and he's just kind of looking over the crowd and he's looking over the people.
The people that he came for.
The people that he came to save.
They completely and continually just kept rejecting and rejecting and rejecting.
We see this even from the beginning of his ministry.
You go to the book of John, the Gospel of John, chapter number 1.
The Bible says he came unto his own and his own received him not.
Jesus had been dealing with rejection since the beginning of his ministry.
And here's the really hard thing for us to understand.
Despite all this rejection, he still longed to rescue them.
He still was pursuing them.
He still wanted them.
He still loved them.
Listen, that's the heart of our God.
That's the heart of our Savior.
Because we mentioned already, if you get rejected and rejected and rejected, you're going to tell yourself, not doing that again.
I'm not talking to them.
Hey, they had their chance.
We'll say things like that in our life.
Because I'm so thankful that's not how God treats us.
I'm so thankful that even though I heard the Gospel over and over and over, it took me a long time to realize I need it.
But God was willing and lovingly and constantly pursuing me.
And here's what Jesus said.
He said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killeth the prophets and stonest them which are sent to thee.
Here's what Jesus wants to do.
How often would I have gathered thy children together as a hen, doth gather her brood under her wings?
I think we can understand that picture of a mama bird taking care of her babies.
You know, little babies and little hens.
They're so helpless.
And they just scream.
Ah!
And mama's like, get over here.
And she gets them under their wings.
And we see it, you know, in birds.
We see the animal getting.
We see it when mama's at Walmart and you're trying to walk across the park.
And I'm like, just get here.
You know why you want to get them under your wings?
Because that's where protection is.
That's where safety is found.
That's where security is.
There's care there under the wings of the mother.
And here's what Jesus said.
That's what I want to be for you.
I mean, you read the Psalms.
You're going to see this picture over and over and over.
Jesus loves us and he wants to bring us under his wings.
And I'm so thankful that God doesn't just merely tolerate broken people.
He welcomes them.
He wants to gather you.
You say, well, you don't preach.
You don't know how broken I am.
It does not matter.
Jesus says, listen, I'm here for you.
I want you to take care of you.
I want to give you warmth and protection and security and care.
Listen, if that's what you're looking for, you're not going to find it anywhere in this world, but you'll find it in Jesus Christ.
I think we live in a world that pictures Jesus as some cold and distant God.
Some angry God on his throne that is willing just and ready to throw lightning bolts at us.
Always irritated.
Always wanting to condemn.
I don't find that in here anywhere.
There is going to come a day where he will judge.
He came first as the lamb, but he is coming as the lion.
He is going to judge the world.
But before he did that, he came to save the world.
And that picture of an angry, condemning God, it's not found in Scripture.
No, it's a God that says, come to me.
But here's the sad, sad thing.
At the end of verse 34.
And ye would not.
What a tragedy.
Jesus is looking at this crowd.
He's looking at these Pharisees.
These people had followed him for a couple years by this point.
They had seen his love and his compassion.
They had seen how he had healed the lame and caused the dead to live again and the blind to see.
He had fed maybe many of their bellies.
And yet, they enjoyed the benefits.
But they said, no, we're okay.
I mean, thanks for all that you do, but we're going to be okay here.
But notice what Jesus says here.
He didn't say they weren't able to come.
He said they were unwilling to come.
See, God has made a way.
And see, Jerusalem, we're going to see here in just a moment, was responsible.
And really, the nation of Israel was responsible for its own spiritual ruin.
Because it continually rejected God's gracious invitation.
He kept calling.
He kept sending messengers and sending messengers and sending messengers.
And here's what they said.
We don't like the message.
Let's kill him.
Let's kill the messenger.
They did it over and over and over.
Jesus gives a whole parable about this.
And then the owner of the vineyard says, I'm going to send my son.
They'll listen to him.
Now, they're going to do the very same thing.
And I just want to remind us that this tragedy still happens today.
That some people just stay away from Christ for all kinds of reasons.
Maybe it's pride.
Maybe it's they love the sin that they're living in.
And maybe it's because they just keep putting it off.
And they think, hey, I have time and I have time.
These last two chapters, Jesus said, no, no, we don't know how much time we have.
I mean, it's just crazy.
We all assume it.
We all assume I got all the time in the world.
I'll make that decision later.
I don't even follow NASCAR, but I saw this guy, 41 years old, just passed away.
Got a sinus infection, got pneumonia, passed away.
41 years old, super healthy guy.
And I just see things like that all the time.
And we know people all the time that happens to me and think, wow.
But it's just a reminder, we don't know.
We must be ready.
And maybe you've been around Christianity your whole life, but you never just really truly surrendered to Christ.
You know all the Christian words to say.
You know most of the songs that we sing.
You know a lot of verses.
But you've never actually come under his wings.
You have to come to him.
We're helpless.
We're hopeless without him.
And you might be brand new to church.
And maybe you're still searching for some answers.
And that's awesome.
But I want you just to hear this clearly.
Whether you've been around church for 50 years or 5 minutes, the answer is the same.
Jesus came for you.
Jesus loves you.
That's what he's telling this crowd right here.
Listen, I want to gather you.
Stop pushing me away.
You know when your kids are real little, they don't mind holding your hand.
Hold my hand when we go in the store.
Hold my hand in the parking lot.
But as they get older, I mean they're holding with like one finger.
And they're trying to pull away all the time.
I'm like stop.
Stop.
Just hold your dad's hand.
And you're like no, I'm too cool for that.
Is that how you're treating God?
He's trying to gather you and say just let me do my own thing.
Like I'm just right here.
It's not a big deal.
I'll come to you when I need you.
Jesus says don't do that.
The question is just real simple.
Are you under his wings?
How about this?
Do you want to be?
Sometimes we want all the benefits.
But we're unwilling to lay down our pride.
We have to come broken.
We have to come humble.
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
That's bankrupt.
We realize we have nothing to offer Christ.
But he did.
He paid the complete price on the cross of Calvary.
But here's the problem with rejection.
It always carries consequences.
Because they resisted the grace of God so long that eventually it's going to become judgment.
Look at verse number 35.
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
And verily I say unto you, you shall not see me until the time come when you shall say,
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Now we don't have time to really just dig into this verse.
There's all kinds of things going on here.
And there's prophecy that Jesus is talking about.
And really what he's going to prophesy about is judgment on Jerusalem.
And ultimately you study history.
It was fulfilled partially in AD 70.
When the Romans came in and they just destroyed Jerusalem.
And really from that moment on until really 1948 when they became a nation.
They had been in this constant turmoil and all of these things.
Why did Jesus, these are his chosen people.
Why did he pronounce and announce this judgment on him?
Because of their persistent rejection.
That's what it leads to.
If you reject and reject and reject.
At some point here's what God says.
Alright.
Have it your way.
You know one of the most dangerous things God can ever do for you?
Is let you have what you think you want to have.
That's a terrible place to be.
If God is calling you.
Whatever it may be.
Stop putting it off.
Because there may come a day where you don't get that call anymore.
And your time runs out.
And as we're going to see in the coming chapters.
The apex of Israel's rebellion and their rejection.
Was their crucifixion of the Messiah.
The one that came to save.
They cried crucify him.
And Jesus warns them.
Listen.
Consequences are coming.
And this warning that he gave to Jerusalem.
It still speaks to us today.
Because every person must eventually decide what they will do with Jesus.
That's the sobering reality of the gospel.
That the gospel you cannot remain neutral.
It's a decision point.
That Jesus we see the love and we sing about the love.
And everybody's like man I love all those things about God.
But because those things are true.
You have to choose.
If you're going to love him.
If you're going to give your life.
If you're going to trust what he did on the cross of Calvary.
See rejecting God's compassion.
Eventually leads to facing God's condemnation.
Because it will happen.
But I love what Romans 8 tells us.
Because if you know Christ.
There is therefore now no condemnation.
Jesus made a way.
He's not looking to do this.
He's not looking to pronounce judgment.
No.
He came and he said listen I just want to gather you.
I want to love you.
I want to change your life.
But we say I don't know if I want that.
We've seen over the past few chapters.
That's why Jesus is so urgent here.
Because he knows time is running out.
And Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 6 verse 2.
Behold now is the accepted time.
Behold today is the day of salvation.
That's always the call.
That's the call of the gospel.
That God loves us.
That he came for us.
That he died on the cross of Calvary.
That he was buried and he rose again.
Because we had a sin debt that we could not pay.
And he paid it all.
We sing the old song.
All to Jesus I surrender.
Why?
Because he paid it all.
He paid the cost.
So what we see here in this text really this morning is this.
Is that the heart of Jesus is courageous enough to confront sin.
But is compassionate enough to still call sinners home.
That's what he wants to do.
Maybe that's what he's doing here in your life this morning.
See as he walks steadily towards the cross.
Jesus was not intimidated by rejection.
He was not deterred by the suffering.
No but he was filled with courage.
And compassion.
And steadfast love.
Why?
Because that was his mission.
You know what his mission was?
You.
Me.
We are the mission.
I love the old gospel song.
When he was on the cross.
I was on his mind.
I believe God.
I believe Jesus died for the whole world.
But I also believe this.
He died for me.
Because the Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
And Jesus doesn't tell us hard truths.
Listen.
Luke 12 and 13 has been some hard passages.
Has been some deep passages.
But I'm so thankful God tells us that.
Because he loves us.
I hope you sense the urgency that he came with.
But he didn't just come.
To say mean things.
No he came.
And they're said out of love.
And out of compassion.
We said at the very beginning.
He came to seek.
And to save.
That which was lost.
Are you willing?
Maybe he's trying to gather you.
Maybe he's saying.
Come here.
Let me just love you.
Let me change your life.
Why don't you just stop trying.
And just trust in what I've already done for you.
You don't get to heaven by what you've done.
You get to heaven by what he already did.
That's what he's showing.
And we're going to see that over the next few chapters especially.
The mission and compassion of Christ.
Has it changed your life?
It should.
Would you stand with your heads bowed?