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Andy Stanley - Ninety Part 7 Leading Great · Andy Stanley Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Today we are introduced to what I think is perhaps
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  Speaker 1: the most powerful, the most transformational, certainly the most inspirational
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  Speaker 1: leadership principle on the planet. Every single leader that you know,
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  Speaker 1: that you have respect for, every single leader that you respect,
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  Speaker 1: actually practices this principle, and every leader that you don't
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  Speaker 1: respect doesn't. And you can leave without it, but you
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  Speaker 1: will not be a leader worth following without this principle.
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  Speaker 1: And this extraordinary concept actually explains in part or at
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  Speaker 1: least partially explains why a first century Jewish cult, a
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  Speaker 1: first century Jewish cult following a crucified leader with no territory,
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  Speaker 1: no military, and no authority, not only survived but thrived
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  Speaker 1: in the first and second and third century. And we're
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  Speaker 1: eventually embraced by the very empire, the very empire that.
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  Speaker 2: To eradicate it, to exterminate it.
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  Speaker 1: We said throughout this series that Jesus came into the
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  Speaker 1: world to introduce something brand new, something brand new to
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  Speaker 1: the world, and something brand new for the world. That
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  Speaker 1: what Jesus came to introduce was a radical, radical, radical
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  Speaker 1: departure of everything that was in place. It was a
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  Speaker 1: radical departure of the ways of the kingdoms of this world,
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  Speaker 1: including the way that the world exercised authority and leadership,
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  Speaker 1: and on the religious front. And on the religious front,
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  Speaker 1: it meant that Jesus had to replace everything that was
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  Speaker 1: in place, because the religious systems of the first and
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  Speaker 1: second century, in fact, the religious systems of every century,
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  Speaker 1: the religious systems even of this century, are oftentimes predicated
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  Speaker 1: upon are built upon the very structures of the kingdoms
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  Speaker 1: of this world. In other words, they're all top down.
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  Speaker 1: But the value system and the movement that Jesus came
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  Speaker 1: to begin and launched, the brand new thing, the brand
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  Speaker 1: new movement he started, would actually be up side down.
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  Speaker 1: Now back to our story. The most disruptive and the
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  Speaker 1: I guess the miracle that caused the most controversy and
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  Speaker 1: caused the most I guess disruption is the right word.
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  Speaker 1: The miracle that caused the most disruption during jesus ministry
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  Speaker 1: was when he raised a man named Lazarus from the dead.
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  Speaker 1: This is a very famous story. If you grew up
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  Speaker 1: in church or Sunday school, you've at least heard of
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  Speaker 1: it before. The reason it was so disruptive and the
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  Speaker 1: reason it caused such controversy is that Lazarus was a
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  Speaker 1: well known man within the city or the village of Bethany.
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  Speaker 1: But not only that Lazarus was known outside the village
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  Speaker 1: of Bethany.
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  Speaker 2: But the thing that made the reason.
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  Speaker 1: This miracle caused quite a stir, or such a stir
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  Speaker 1: wasn't that Lazarus was dead. He was like dead dead,
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  Speaker 1: like he was already embalmed and entombed dead. They had
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  Speaker 1: already had the funeral dead. This wasn't a oh, I'm
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  Speaker 1: not sure she was dead, and he raised her back
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  Speaker 1: to life when they'd already sung the song, hired the mourners,
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  Speaker 1: they were finishing up the funeral when Jesus finally showed up.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, it's one of the most astounding narratives in
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  Speaker 1: the whole New Testament.
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  Speaker 2: You should read it for yourself.
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  Speaker 1: Because Jesus finds out Lazarus is dead and are as sick,
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  Speaker 1: and his guys get up and going, hey, let's go
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  Speaker 1: to Bethany, because surely you're going to heal your friend Lazarus,
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  Speaker 1: and Jesus says, sit.
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  Speaker 2: Down, we're not going.
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  Speaker 1: They're like, what's so disturbing. Jesus shows up at the
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  Speaker 1: end of the funeral and raises a man from the
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  Speaker 1: dead who's already been entombed. In fact, this was such
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  Speaker 1: a big deal that Bethany actually became a tourist attraction.
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  Speaker 1: We're going to see in just a few minutes people
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  Speaker 1: went to Bethany to try to do a Lazarus sighting
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  Speaker 1: because this story spread all over the place. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: the scripture says that the word about Lazarus being raised
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  Speaker 1: from the dead spread rapidly, and some of those who
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  Speaker 1: spread the word went to the Pharisees and told them
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  Speaker 1: what Jesus had done. So this word read this went
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  Speaker 1: all the way to this to Jerusalem. The temple leaders
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  Speaker 1: heard about this. Then the chief priest and the Pharisees
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  Speaker 1: called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. Now we were introduced
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  Speaker 1: to the Sanhedrin a few weeks ago. The Sanhedrin is
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  Speaker 1: like the supreme Court in first century Israel. Were they
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  Speaker 1: They spent their time primarily in the temple area.
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  Speaker 2: These were the they.
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  Speaker 1: This was the group that represented the nation to Rome
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  Speaker 1: and represented Rome.
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  Speaker 2: To the nation.
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  Speaker 1: And we met a person a few weeks ago who
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  Speaker 1: is a part of the Sanhedrin name Nicodemus. And Nicodemus
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  Speaker 1: was at this meeting, and here's what they concluded at
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  Speaker 1: their meeting, they said, this, what.
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  Speaker 2: Are we accomplishing?
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  Speaker 1: They asked, here is this man performing many signs? Now,
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  Speaker 1: in our vernacular we talk about Jesus performing miracles, but
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  Speaker 1: these guys were clued in. Jesus was not simply performing
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  Speaker 1: random miracles. Jesus was performing signs, and a sign points
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  Speaker 1: to something, and these guys understood what Jesus was pointing to.
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  Speaker 1: He was pointing to something entirely new. And here's what
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  Speaker 1: they concluded. And how arrogant this statement is. If we
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  Speaker 1: let him go on like this, If we let him
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  Speaker 1: go on like this, everyone everyone will believe in him.
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  Speaker 1: And what will the problem be? What's the consequence of that?
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  Speaker 1: Because they understood something we miss and if everyone follows him,
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  Speaker 1: and if everyone believes in him, eventually the Romans will
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  Speaker 1: come and they will take away our temple and they
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  Speaker 1: will take away our nation because what Jesus is introducing
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  Speaker 1: is radically new. If everybody follows Jesus, nobody will need
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  Speaker 1: us anymore and they won't even need the temple. They
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  Speaker 1: understood what we oftentimes miss, that Jesus came to replace
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  Speaker 1: everything that was in place, and in the end, that's
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  Speaker 1: exactly what he did. And yet even in the twenty
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  Speaker 1: first century, we have a tendency to hang on to
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  Speaker 1: much of what Jesus came to replace. So the text says,
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  Speaker 1: so from that day on they plotted to take his life.
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  Speaker 1: Now Jesus found out about this. How did Jesus find
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  Speaker 1: out about this? We don't know for sure, but here's
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  Speaker 1: my hunch. Nicodemus was there, and Nicodemus got word to
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  Speaker 1: Jesus they are after you, and so the text tells us. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: because they were plotting to take Jesus' life, he no
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  Speaker 1: longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Judea
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  Speaker 1: is the region where the temple is. Judea is the
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  Speaker 1: region where the most of these religious leaders lived in function.
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  Speaker 1: It would have been easy for him to head on
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  Speaker 1: north to Galilee, but he stayed in the region of Judea.
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  Speaker 1: But he was more covert in his actions and his teachings,
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  Speaker 1: in his miracles. And the reason he stayed in Judea
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  Speaker 1: was because Passover was just around the corner, and Jesus
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  Speaker 1: wanted to celebrate Passover in the city of Jerusalem. But
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  Speaker 1: he had to be careful lest he be arrested before
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  Speaker 1: Passover ever got.
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  Speaker 2: There, and John, the gospel writer John.
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  Speaker 1: Says this that the religious leaders put spies all around
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  Speaker 1: the city of Jerusalem, at all the gates, at all
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  Speaker 1: the places where people collected together, and all around the region,
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  Speaker 1: spies looking for Jesus, looking for an opportunity to arrest
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  Speaker 1: him and to get him upway from the crowd. So
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  Speaker 1: a few days before Passover, Jesus is still trying to
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  Speaker 1: quietly make his way around the city, stay just far
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  Speaker 1: enough away from the city is not to cause any problems,
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  Speaker 1: but at the last minute be able to enter the
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  Speaker 1: city for Passover. And during his wanderings, he goes back
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  Speaker 1: to Bethany, where Lazarus was raised from the dead, And
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  Speaker 1: the text says this that a large crowd.
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  Speaker 2: We went from crowd to large crowd.
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  Speaker 1: A large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was
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  Speaker 1: there in Bethany, and they came to Bethany. But check
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  Speaker 1: this out, not only because of Jesus, but also to
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  Speaker 1: see Lazarus. He's a tourist attraction whom he had raised
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  Speaker 1: from the dead. So this is how desperate this group got.
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  Speaker 1: So the chief priest made plans to kill Lazarus as well. Why,
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  Speaker 1: Because he's evidence that something new has happened. He's evidence
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  Speaker 1: that this is a real thing. It's evidence of the
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  Speaker 1: fact that Jesus is about to overwhelm the entire religious
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  Speaker 1: system if they don't do something to stop him. For
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  Speaker 1: on account for on account of him Lazarus, many of
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  Speaker 1: the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him. Now,
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  Speaker 1: this is a very important point. That's not the point
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  Speaker 1: of the message, but I don't want you to miss this.
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  Speaker 1: Because some of you've abandoned Christianity and you grew up
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  Speaker 1: in faith, you walked away, and because the version of
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  Speaker 1: faith were you grew up on was a version where
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  Speaker 1: you just had faith in faith and you just had
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  Speaker 1: to believe, and you checked your mind at the door,
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  Speaker 1: and you checked your intellect at the door, and you
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  Speaker 1: checked your science at the door, and you checked your
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  Speaker 1: justice at.
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  Speaker 2: The door, and you just had to believe and believe
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  Speaker 2: and believe.
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  Speaker 1: And I just want you to know, first century Christianity,
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  Speaker 1: the original version was not about believing in belief.
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  Speaker 2: It was evidence based.
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  Speaker 1: The reason people began to follow Jesus was not faith.
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  Speaker 1: The reason they began to follow Jesus was something they
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  Speaker 1: saw that Christianity from the very beginning has been an
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  Speaker 1: informed faith. You become a Christian by faith, but you
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  Speaker 1: don't become a Christian because of faith. And here again
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  Speaker 1: we see evidence of the fact that seeing led to believing.
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  Speaker 2: Don't ever, ever, ever forget that.
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  Speaker 1: And if you left your faith because you thought faith,
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  Speaker 1: that Christian faith was just about faith and faith, I'm
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  Speaker 1: so sorry you left unnecessarily. That was never the original
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  Speaker 1: intent and it was not the original version.
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  Speaker 2: The text goes on. It's so the next day.
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  Speaker 1: The next day, a great crowd that had come for
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  Speaker 1: the festival that's Passover in Jerusalem heard that Jesus was
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  Speaker 1: on his way to Jerusalem. So the point of all
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  Speaker 1: this is everybody's talking about Jesus. In fact, Jesus at
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  Speaker 1: this point might have been a little more popular than
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  Speaker 1: Passover itself. People in the city are looking for him,
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  Speaker 1: people outside the city are following him. There's so much emotion.
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  Speaker 1: It's beginning to crescendo and build and build and build.
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  Speaker 1: So the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the group that
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  Speaker 1: we're trying to arrest, they said, look, this is getting
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  Speaker 1: us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him.
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  Speaker 1: They had no idea two thousand years later, all around
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  Speaker 1: the world that was much bigger than they could even
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  Speaker 1: have begun to imagine. The whole world has in fact
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  Speaker 1: gone after him.
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  Speaker 2: So the stage is set.
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  Speaker 1: Spies are in Jerusalem, you got expected fans outside the city,
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  Speaker 1: you got expected expectant.
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  Speaker 2: Fans inside the city.
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  Speaker 1: And Jesus in his guys finally begin as Passover gets
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  Speaker 1: closer and closer and closer, they're just a couple of
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  Speaker 1: days out. They finally decide to make their way to
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  Speaker 1: the city of Jerusalem, and the tension is high, drama
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  Speaker 1: is high. The pilot has extra military in the city
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  Speaker 1: and around the city because Passover was always a time
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  Speaker 1: for troublemakers to make trouble for Zeloz to proclaim that
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  Speaker 1: they were the Messiah. There's so much tension, there's so
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  Speaker 1: many people. And the other thing you have to picture
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  Speaker 1: is this, Jerusalem is a large city by ancient standards,
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  Speaker 1: and people are streaming into the city from all around
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  Speaker 1: the city. Thousands and thousands and thousands of pilgrims from
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  Speaker 1: all that region are streaming into the city, and Jesus
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  Speaker 1: and his GUIs joined the crowd.
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  Speaker 2: They're on the road.
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  Speaker 1: They're headed to Jerusalem, and that's where our story takes
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  Speaker 1: place today.
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  Speaker 2: Here's what happened.
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  Speaker 1: The text says they were on their way up to Jerusalem,
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  Speaker 1: with Jesus leading the way and again again, meaning he'd
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  Speaker 1: already had this conversation with him once, he wanted to
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  Speaker 1: have it within one final time.
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  Speaker 2: This wasn't the first time, so.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus, the text says, he took the twelve aside and
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  Speaker 1: told them what was going to happen to him.
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  Speaker 2: So they're on this road.
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  Speaker 1: There's people in front, there's people behind, there's people wanting autographs,
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  Speaker 1: there's people asking Peter questions and John questions. They all
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  Speaker 1: want to get to Jesus. And Jesus takes his guys.
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  Speaker 1: He steps off the road. He goes over in an orchard,
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  Speaker 1: perhaps to sit down under a sycamore tree and making
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  Speaker 1: that po And the people are still all streaming towards
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  Speaker 1: Jerusalem and waving and looking, and they're shewing the crowds away,
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  Speaker 1: and Jesus wants to have one final conversation with the
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  Speaker 1: guys before they get to Jerusalem.
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  Speaker 2: And here's what he said. He says guys, we're.
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  Speaker 1: Going up to Jerusalem, and the son of man talking
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  Speaker 1: about himself will be delivered over to the chief priest
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  Speaker 1: and the teachers of the law. I mean they've been
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  Speaker 1: trying to get to me the whole time. They're about
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  Speaker 1: to get to me, and they will condemn him talking
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  Speaker 1: about himself. They will condemn him to death, and he'll
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  Speaker 1: be handed over to the Gentiles or the Romans, the
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  Speaker 1: Gentiles who will mock him, spit on him, flog him,
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  Speaker 1: and kill him, and three days later he will rise.
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  Speaker 2: You got it.
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  Speaker 1: And this is the and they're sitting there thinking what
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  Speaker 1: is he even talking about? I mean, this is unimaginable.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, we got the momentum. I mean, we got
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  Speaker 1: the crowd, we got one crowd with us, we got
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  Speaker 1: another crowd waiting for us.
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  Speaker 2: Word has reached Jerusalem that you're on your way.
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  Speaker 1: Well, what are you talking about. There's so much momentum.
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  Speaker 1: There's no way in the world something bad is gonna
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  Speaker 1: happen to you. Besides, you know, they're looking at each other.
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  Speaker 1: This guy just raised not just a dead guy, a
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  Speaker 1: dead dead guy, like a dead dead dead guy who've
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  Speaker 1: been embalmed and in toomb i mean, I mean, Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: I don't know what you're talking about, but okay, whatever, okay,
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  Speaker 1: but we're I mean, this is things, something great is
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  Speaker 1: about to happen, so we're not sure exactly what you're
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  Speaker 1: talking about. So Jesus finishes the little talk, they stand up.
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  Speaker 1: They head back over to the road to continue to Jerusalem,
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  Speaker 1: and a couple of guys hang back and they say, Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: we need to talk to you for just a minute,
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  Speaker 1: and the text says then then then, like right then,
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  Speaker 1: like as soon as Jesus finished this speech about all
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  Speaker 1: the bad things that are gonna happen to him, right then,
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  Speaker 1: James and John, the sons of Zebedee, we met them
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  Speaker 1: a few weeks ago, came to him and they said.
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  Speaker 2: Teacher, we want you to for us whatever we ask.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, that's too bad about the spitting and mocking
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  Speaker 1: and flogging and dying. That sounds horrible, but anyway, we
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  Speaker 1: need you to do us a favor, like right then,
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  Speaker 1: And we kind of laugh. But it's a little bit
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  Speaker 1: like our prayers, isn't it to your heavenly Father? I mean,
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  Speaker 1: like you're great and all you made, like the whole
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  Speaker 1: universe and the enzymes and proteins. We're still trying to
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  Speaker 1: figure out that out in the striculatory system. Bok, hey, but
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  Speaker 1: about my job. You know, God, you're great, but let's
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  Speaker 1: get to me. So Jesus has just explained, like this
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  Speaker 1: was such an emotional speech, and that was just sort
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  Speaker 1: of the you know, the short version he lays out
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  Speaker 1: what's about to happen to him.
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  Speaker 2: They're like just it's like.
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  Speaker 1: They don't even care. Would you do us a favor?
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  Speaker 1: We want something from you? So Jesus, gracious Jesus says,
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  Speaker 1: what what do you want me to do for you?
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  Speaker 1: He asked, and they kind of look over their shoulders
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  Speaker 1: they don't want the other guys to hear it. And
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  Speaker 1: they say, well, look, would would you let one of
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  Speaker 1: us sit on your right and the other at your
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  Speaker 1: left and your glory? I mean, after this spitting and
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  Speaker 1: mocking and flogging and dying things over, we'll probably hang
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  Speaker 1: back during all that. But you know, once, you know,
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  Speaker 1: once you pull off your rabbi robe and it's Messiah
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  Speaker 1: and you your kingdoms come and you establish yourself on
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  Speaker 1: a throne. Hey, when you're like sitting on a throne,
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  Speaker 1: we want to be on your left and your right.
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  Speaker 2: We know we can't be number one.
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  Speaker 1: Because you're a number one. You're a number one, Give
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  Speaker 1: me a jay, But could we be like number two?
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  Speaker 1: And could we be number three? In other words, can
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  Speaker 1: we have positions of authority in your coming kingdom organization?
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  Speaker 1: Because after all, we know that's where this is headed,
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  Speaker 1: after this spitting and flogging and you know whatever all
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  Speaker 1: that was about.
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  Speaker 2: And Jesus says to them, he's so patient.
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  Speaker 1: He says, guys, you don't know what you're asking, because
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  Speaker 1: he knew and they would discover that glory would precede
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  Speaker 1: the glory. And they respond on to know, sure, we
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  Speaker 1: can handle it, we can handle it. We can hang
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  Speaker 1: with you. You just tell us what we need to do.
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  Speaker 1: We are with you. We want to be number two
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  Speaker 1: and number three. But they were wrong because in a
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  Speaker 1: few weeks, when we get to this part of the story,
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  Speaker 1: when Jesus is arrested, before he has spilt a single
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  Speaker 1: drop of blood, they run.
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  Speaker 2: When the other.
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  Speaker 1: Guys overheard this conversation. When the ten heard about this,
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  Speaker 1: they became indignant with James and John. Now this doesn't
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  Speaker 1: mean they're offended. How could you say such a thing
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  Speaker 1: to Jesus after what he just told us. No, it's
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  Speaker 1: the opposite, is hey, wait a minute, what about us?
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  Speaker 1: We want to be number two and number three and
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  Speaker 1: get out of my way. And I was here first,
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  Speaker 1: and I'm Peter and I'm the older.
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  Speaker 2: And now you have Jesus disciples.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, they're, you know, probably hours away from entering
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  Speaker 1: the city of Jerusalem. Now they're having an argument over
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  Speaker 1: who's gonna be the greatest in jesus Kingdom, in Jesus movement,
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  Speaker 1: in his ecclecia, and Jesus just rolls his eyes, like,
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  Speaker 1: I think I picked the wrong guys. And the text
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  Speaker 1: says that Jesus called them together again. It's like, okay,
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  Speaker 1: everybody off the road, back over in the orchard under
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  Speaker 1: the sycamore tree. Will be back in just a few minutes, folks.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: And he gives them the following little the little lecture.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: And if you're a Jesus follower, if you're a Christian,
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: this is for you. If you're in ministry like me,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: this is really for me. If you're not a Christian,
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: it's our failure to have embraced what Jesus is about
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: to say that maybe part of the reason you left
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: faith to begin with.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: Here's what he said. He's the guys.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: You know that those who are regarded as rulers of
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: the gentiles, you know, have they lorded over them, and
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: their high officials exercise authority over them. And the Greek
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: text here uses two Greek words that are rarely used
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: anywhere else in the Greek language, which means the author
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: is trying to make a very specific point. And his
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: point is this, He says, guys, you know how authority works.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: The person at the top has all the resources and
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: all the power and all the leverage flowing up to them,
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: and they leverage their power for their own benefit, regardless
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: of what it means for the people under them. You
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: know how that works. You know how gentiles exercise authority.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: And the twelve are sitting there going uh huh. We
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: know exactly how it works. That's why we're asking if
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: we can be at the top of the pole, at
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: the top of the heap, at the top of the pyramid.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: We want to be on top. We know exactly how
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: it works.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: When you're on top, you get more stuff than the
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: people on the bottom.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: When you're on.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: Top, you leverage your authority to get from the people
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: further down, what you want and what you need for you,
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: We know.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: Exactly how it works. And then Jesus looks at them.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: I don't know, he may have shaken a finger at him.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: And Jesus looks at you if you're a Christian. And
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: I know he looks at me because I'm a pastor.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: And these next four English words, these next five Greek words,
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: are so powerful and they are words that we must
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: take to heart. But more than that, these are words
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: we have to take to work that many of us
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: need to take home. And here's what he.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: Says, says, you guys know how it works. Yep, not
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: so with you, not so with you.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: What I'm introducing, guys, is brand new. What I'm introducing
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: is completely different. What I'm introducing is such a departure
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: from the kingdoms of this world that resources and power
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: and authority will be managed differently. And my ecclesia, and
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: if you're going to be a part of my eclaca,
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: if you're going to be a part of my movement, guys,
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: you got to get this right. You got to get
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: this straight. That power and influence is not for the
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: powerful and the influential. We are flipping it up side down.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: In my movement, power and influence will be used for
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: a different purpose and with a different person in mind. Instead,
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: he says, instead, whoever wants to be.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: Great among you? Pause? Whoever wants to be great among you?
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: And I think he could have looked at them and said, okay, guys,
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: do you want to be great? And two of them
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: had already tipped their hat. Do you want to be great? Okay,
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: if you want to be great, raise your.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: Hand, guys great. All of them are like, we want
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: to be great? Good? As he said, it's good you
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: want to be great.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: If you want to be great, if you want to
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: aspire to greatness, if you want to be an official,
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: if you want to be a leader, if you want
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: to be somebody with influence, that's great.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: How many of you want to be great? And finally,
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: all their hands are up.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: While their hands are up, he says, okay, in my kingdom,
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: this is how it works. Whoever wants to be great
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: must be your servant.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: All hands came down.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: They shuddered. They looked around, Wait, servant, see for us?
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: Servants a concept for them? They knew servants their families,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: many of their families had servants. Matthew the tax collector
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: had a lot of servants. And Jesus said, if you're
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: going to be great in my movement, then you must
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: take the position of a servant, that is, you go
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: to the back of the line, to which they thought,
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: that's not fun, to which Jesus could have said.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: I'm not done, and it gets worse.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: And whoever wants to be first must be slave servant
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: at least they get paid, must be slave of all
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: that's the back of the.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: Back of the line. And they're quiet.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: Jesusaid, you want to be my deal, You want to
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: be leaders in my deal. You should have known by now, guys,
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: my world is an upside down world. My kingdom is
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: an upside down kingdom. I've come to replace all that
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: is in place, not only the kingdoms of this world,
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: but even the religious structures of this world. And before
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: they could object, before they could leave, before they could
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: ask any tough questions, Jesus said, look at me, Look
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: at me, for even the son of man talking about himself.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: For even the son of man did not come to
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: be served, but to and to give his life a
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: ransom for many. My opinion, I think every Christian should
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: memorize this statement. I think every Christian leader should memorize
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: this statement. I think if we got this right, something
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: would happen in our communities.
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: I know what would happen in our families.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: But this is Jesus saying, guys, let me take all
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: your excuses away. I am your leader, and even I
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: did not come to be served, but to serve and
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: to give my life a ransom for many.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: And they had no idea what was coming.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: They had no idea that he literally meant he was
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: going to lay down his life, and soon they would
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: be confronted with this overwhelming, powerful, transformational idea that Jesus,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: Jesus was the king who came to reverse the order
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: of things, to reverse the order of everything, that he
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: would be the king who would lay down his life
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: for his subjects. And then he would say to his subjects,
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: I'm not asking you to lay down your life for me.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: I'm asking you to lay down in your life for one.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: Another.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: And the amazing thing about this is that these guys
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: got it. In fact, Matthew Mark Luke John the Four Gospels.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: After John, we get to the Book of Acts that
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: tells us what happened after the Resurrection in the Book
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: of Acts.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: There's a problem in the church, the Early Church. You
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: know what. The first problem in the Early Church was.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: These guys are spending so much time serving food to widows.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: They can't get them to take a break to teach
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: everybody else what Jesus taught them. It's like, Peter, look,
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: could you lead a Bible study? You know, I'm taking
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: care of the widows, Okay, Jesus, Peter, great, Can we
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: get somebody else to do that. No, I don't want
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: my heavenly Father to think that I'm too big from
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: my breeches. I'm trying to find the most lowly thing
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: I can do, and serving widows right here in Jerusalem,
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: that's the most needful thing, and so let me do that.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: They finally literally had to pry their fingers off the
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: serving trays to get them to teach because they were
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: the only ones who knew.
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: What Jesus taught.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: They got this, they were reluctant not to go to
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: the back of the line. But I don't think they
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: got it during the little speech. I think they got
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: it the next day because the next day and we're
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: gonna talk about this for the next couple of weeks.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: The next day, they finally get to Jerusalem. They finally
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: get to what's called an upper room, and they're having
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: this Passover meal together. They've just come through a parade
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: of people shouting Hosannah, Hosanna, Hosannah. I mean, they are
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: close to Jesus and people are essentially proclaiming Jesus Messiah
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: in Jerusalem on Passover. I cannot exaggerate the emotion and
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: the controversy this created in the city of Jerusalem. They
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: are literally, they are famous, they are sought after, and
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: now they're together celebrating Passover, and they can just imagine
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: what the next day may hold for them. Is Jesus
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: surely is about to proclaim himself king. And they're reading
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: the Passover meal, and Jesus is saying some odd things
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: and that Judas went to run an errand nobody really understood,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: you know. And suddenly Jesus stands up and he takes
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: off his outer robe and he wraps a towel.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: Around his face his waist.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: The text says he took off his outer clothing and
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: wrapped a towel around his waist, and when he did,
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: they panicked They panicked because he knew what he was
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: about to do.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: They panicked because none of.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: Them had thought to wash even their own feet, much
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: less one another's feet. None of them had taken it
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: upon themselves to find a servant to wash feet. They
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: were so excited. This was such a heady moment. There
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: was so much going on. As suddenly Jesus stands up
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: and takes off his rabbinic robe and doesn't proclaim himself Messiah.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: He puts a towel around his waist, and they're like, okay,
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: we may have forgotten to do this, but there is
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: no way in Hades, is how they said it. There's
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: no way in Hades we're about to let you wash
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: our feet. In fact, Peter said, no, you shall well
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: never wash my feet, but he did.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: Washing feet takes a while.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: Washing twelve pairs of feet takes a long time. I
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: think no one said a word after Peter finally settled down.
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: All they heard was the dripping of water from that cloth.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: Is Jesus' foot by foot, toe by toe, ankle by
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: ankle washed their feet.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: They were completely humiliated. Think of it.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: They knew what those hands could do. They knew what
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: those hands were capable of. They had seen Jesus do
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: things with his hands that no one would ever believe.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: And there he was washing their feet, and he took
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: this opportunity to illustrate the roadside chad.
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: He finished, he stood up, put.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: Back on his rabbinic rogue, wiped his hands, sat back
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: down to the table. I think no one is saying
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: a word. And here's what he said to them, to me,
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: To you, if you're a Jesus follower, he says, you
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: call me teacher and lord, and rightly so that is
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: what I am.
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: I am your teacher, I am your lord.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: Now that I, your lord and teacher, have washed your feet,
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: you also should wash one another's feet. I Jesus have
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: set you an example that you should do as I
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: have done for you.
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: And then he restates that idea.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: That even the son of a man did not come
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: to be served, but to serve and to give his
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: life a ransom for many.
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: And he says it this way.
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: This time, he says, very truly, I tell you, no
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: servant is greater than his master. And you, all, by
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: the way, he would say, are the servants. And I've
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: just declared myself master, and you acknowledge that I am masters.
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: So I'm the master.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: You're the servant and not better than me, are you, Guys, Peter,
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: are you better than me? No, sir, John, you better
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: than me?
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: No, sir.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: Well, if you're not better than me, then you can
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: never use who you are as an excuse not to
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: serve the people around you, because I just serve them,
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: not simply as the servant, but as a slave. And
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: the messenger is never greater than the one who sent him.
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: Now that you know these.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: Things, he said, because I've taught you, and now I've
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: illustrated it. Now that you know these things, you will
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: be blessed if you do them. In other words, guys,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: when you start thinking you're a big shot, you just
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: go find some more feet to wash.
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: Guys, don't ever forget this night. And they didn't.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: In fact, in the years following the Resurrection of Jesus,
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: in the years following the resurrection of Jesus, the persecuted.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: Church did just that.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: In fact, their other's firstness, the other's firstness of the
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: first century Church was so strong and so out in
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: front that it was actually appalling to the Roman and
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: Greek culture that celebrated strength and victory and conquests. The
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: idea that these people would put other people first, that
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: they would leverage what they had for the sake of
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: other people, That instead of using their power to become
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: more powerful, they would use their power to empower people.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: This was this was appalling. It was completely upside down.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: But over time it actually became appealing, and people flocked
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: to the Jesus movement. Christians refused to abandon sick people.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: Christians refused to abandon the villages when the plague swept
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: through and put just took just about everybody in the
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: village out, and they refused to run because Christians were
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: not afraid of death, and they took in abandoned and
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: exposed children. And that compassion and their generosity and their
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: other's firstness and their willingness to give and distribute or
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: basically recognize the dignity and the equality of other people
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: was staggering, and eventually it became contagious and like an
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: airborne disease, Christianity spread all around the Empire and even
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: to over the borders into barbarian tribes and against all odds,
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: a cult with a crucified leader, with no territory and
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: no military and no authority, was eventually embraced by the
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: empire that set out.
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: To destroy it. But comp here.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: If you're a Christian, that's your story. Those are your people.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: It worked once, it could work again. What if we
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: just do that. It's not intuitive, it's not natural. It's
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: so upside down. It requires me to look for an
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: opportunity to go last. But let's be honest, when you
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: see it, you admire it. When you see it, you
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: seek it. And if you've ever had the opportunity to
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: follow someone who models.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: It, you respect them. And Christians we are called to it.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: And I think when it comes to going to work tomorrow,
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: I think, when it comes to going home this afternoon,
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: I think, when it comes to okay, what does this
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: look like in my world? I think it all boils
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: down to a simple question. It's a simple question that
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: we should ask in every single environment and in every
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: single relationship. It's a question that as a leader, I
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: get asked often, but I don't ask often enough.
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: It's a question that if.
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: You're the leader, you're the boss, you're the manager. You
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: know you run the franchise. You're the person, you're the man,
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: you're the woman, You probably get asked this question a lot.
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: You probably don't ask it enough. But in the upside
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: down world that Jesus introduced to this world, it's a
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: question that those of us with more authority and more
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: power and more influence should ask the most. And it's
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: this question, how can I help? How can I help?
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: How can I leverage me.
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: For you?
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: And as a Jesus follower, we should ask this question most,
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: and we should ask this question often, and we should
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: ask this question of the people who least expect it
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: and perhaps who may feel like they.
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: Least deserve it.
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: And if you do, you will be like your father
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: in heaven, who look down on this self centered, me
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: first world and ask what can I do to help?
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: And then he sent his son not to be served,
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: but to serve, and to give his life a ransom
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: for many. And then he looks at you in the eye,
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: he looks at me in the eye, and he says, now, Andy,
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: you just lost your excuse.
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: Go do for others what I have already done for you. Imagine.
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: Imagine what would happen in your family, Imagine what would
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: happen in our community, Imagine what would happen in our nation.
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: If just the Christians and.
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: Fully embraced this idea, my friends, it rocked the world once,
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: perhaps it could change the world
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: Again.