Latest / HBCWestminster / 9.20.20 Luke 9:43-45 Pastor Danny Gardner

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9.20.20 Luke 9:43-45 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Luke chapter 9, verses 43 to 45, and I'm going to begin by reading our text. If you're able to stand in honor of God's word, I would ask you to do that now. Allow me to read beginning in verse 43. And all were astonished at the majesty of God. But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, let these words sink into your ears. The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men. But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them so that they might not perceive it.
• 0:32
  And they were afraid to ask him about this saying. Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, we ask again that you bear with our failures. May your overpowering compassion make up for our lack of care and concern. May your kingdom come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And we ask this morning, Lord, that you enlighten our minds to understand the truth that you have for us in your word. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
• 1:03
  Amen. Well, thank you, church. You can be seated. Certainly, there have been times in your lives where you have been hearing but not listening. I asked our sound engineer, Adam, recently, just a couple of months ago, actually, on a Sunday, how many of the sermons he had listened to. And this was when we were still doing four services per Sunday, two in the morning and two in the evening. And I asked him, how many did you listen to? And he said, you know, Danny, I'll confess, I heard four.
• 1:31
  I listened to one. He said, I heard all four, but I only listened to one. And this past Thursday, like I said, I officiated a wedding for Jameson and Stephanie. And we're so proud of them and excited to watch them as they grow their new family here at Highland.
• 1:48
  You know, it's funny though. Most weddings that I do, the bride and groom will actually ask me to preach the gospel at the wedding. They ask me to. They'll tell me that their unsaved friends and family, many of whom they've been praying for for years, they say, Pastor Danny, they're all going to be here all at the same time. And so please preach. In fact, in Jameson's words, he actually said, preach it up, Pastor. That's what he said. Preach it up. And so I did this last Thursday. I gave maybe a seven-ish minute explanation of the hope that we have in Christ.
• 2:18
  Because of the promise from Hebrews chapter 6, that Jesus is an anchor for our souls, that Jesus went behind the veil, that he made a sacrifice, and that he sat down at the right hand of God, and that because his sacrifice was acceptable to the Father, mankind can have genuine hope in an otherwise hopeless world. And when I looked down at the happy couple's faces, because I was standing kind of up on...
• 2:48
  stage and I was looking down kind of they were down there and when I looked down At their faces. I noticed they weren't even paying attention to me
• 2:57
  They were just staring at each other, all googly eyed. And you know, church, I don't blame them. I mean, can anybody remember, honestly, can you remember the sermon that was preached at your wedding? I'll bet you can't, right? You didn't care in that moment. You didn't care what that guy was saying, what he's yammering on about. I mean, Jameson, even right before, right before the wedding, as he and I are going to go out there, Jameson even said, man, you know, like pastor, let's just make this short. You know, let's get to it. We're just, we want to get about our honeymoon. We want to go.
• 3:27
  They're just staring into each other's eyes. And you know, church, I'm sure that they could hear me, but they were definitely not listening. We sing a song here in the church, come thou fount, come thou fount of every blessing. And then the second line, I like this line. It says, tune my heart to sing thy praise. And I wonder how many times I as an individual within the church, I as an individual am just out of tune.
• 3:57
  With the praise that is being offered to God. I'm out of tune. Like God is singing a song and I'm just out of tune. I need to retune my heart to sing thy praise. And we continue this morning studying the failures of Christ's apostles in Luke chapter 9. We see this morning, like we often do, the apostles had the ability to hear.
• 4:23
  without listening and jesus is actually even going to stop them and say let these words sink into your ears i think you're hearing me but you're not listening we said last sunday that if you feel like you take one step forward only to take two steps back we said last sunday if you feel like you're a spiritual failure to take heart you're among friends we discussed the difference between religion and faith
• 4:46
  We looked at ancient Israel, arguably the most religious society on the planet at the time, but who were nevertheless rebuked for their utter faithlessness. We saw the desperation of a father, the compassion of the Savior. I gave an encouragement last week to parents, especially those parents who feel like they're just in the weeds. Bring your kids before the Lord, we said. Set an example of godliness, lay truth at their feet,
• 5:18
  I am so thankful for texts like these describing the failures of Christ's followers because they remind us that the men and women of Scripture are just like us. I get asked frequently the reasons I believe the Bible to be true. And honestly, church, there are a lot of reasons. But sometimes I get asked if there are any internal evidences as to its truthfulness, its veracity. Can you use...
• 5:48
  the Bible to prove that it is from God and not from man. And the answer, I believe, is a resounding yes. Foremost, I think, among them are that the failures of the Bible's main characters have got to be one of the strongest evidences that its contents are true. If the skeptics are to be believed, if the critics of God's word are true,
• 6:14
  that they would say that their claims are true, that their claim would be that it's not God made, but man made, man made this whole thing up, then certainly these human heroes, the spiritual heroes of our faith, the followers of Christ, certainly they would be cast in a lighter, in a little bit better light, right? I mean, they wouldn't be cast as such doubting losers all the time.
• 6:43
  And yet that's exactly, the Bible is just honest about its main characters because it's from God and not from man. And we studied last Sunday what happens when faith falters. We observed that Christ is unwilling to allow his kingdom's advance to be slow due to a lack of his faith, due to lack of faith in his followers. What we see in this last half of chapter nine is the grace of God overcoming our failures. Eugene Peterson has said accounts of misunderstanding and betrayal and failure, whether perceived or actual.
• 7:12
  are threaded through the fabric of kingdom living, which makes the counsel of other witnesses life-giving. He says fail is not the last word. Grace is everywhere is the last word of the Christian life. And so as we study these failures, last week a failure in faith, and this week a failure in understanding, let us not forget, church, that fail is not the key word, but rather...
• 7:42
  Grace extended to failures. And so let's look. Their failure to understand. Beginning in verse 43, it says, And all were astonished. And you'll recall that the context was that Jesus has just cast a very powerful demon out of a young boy. A young boy who had been tormented his whole life. His father brought this young boy.
• 8:09
  Burned beyond recognition, right? Because every time there's a fire, the demon throws him onto the fire. Every time there's open water, the demon throws him into the water. The demon is trying to destroy this man's beloved, only begotten son. And so this father has been preserving his life and now presents him before the Lord. And the Lord not only casts the demon out, but heals him and then restores him to his father. And it says in verse 43 that all were astonished. Now the wording here literally could be translated.
• 8:39
  that the crowds were here's a literal translation driven out of their senses by amazement they were blown away at the healing power of christ now we know that jesus had performed many miracles before many even similar to the one in the circumstances here he had received a wide variety of responses to those miracles many we know scoffed
• 9:05
  Many mocked him, many disbelieved. His own hometown of Nazareth flat out rejected him. But not this crowd. This crowd was in awe. They were astonished. Other times the crowds diminished, but not this time. You can imagine news about Christ spreading and now the crowd is growing. And what were they astonished at? It says they were astonished.
• 9:32
  at the majesty of God, the majesty of God. Some other translations will use the word the greatness of God, but I believe majesty is a better word. It is the same Greek word used in 2 Peter 1 and verse 16, and you'll see it on our screen. 2 Peter 1 and verse 16, Peter says, for we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 9:59
  We weren't just making this stuff up. He says, we're not following a fairy tale, is what he's saying. But we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Same word, okay? So they were marveling, astonished at the majesty of God.
• 10:15
  And it's the same word that Peter uses in 2 Peter 1. And you say, well, what was he making reference to in 2 Peter 1? We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 2 Peter continues, for when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was born to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased, we ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven. For we were with him on the holy mountain.
• 10:41
  What you see is that Peter uses the word majesty to describe the event that we just studied a couple of weeks ago, the transfiguration. When God, when Jesus took his favorite few apostles, Peter, James, and John, up onto the mountain, was transfigured before them, they saw the full weight of the glory of God, the exalted Christ. And he calls that the majesty.
• 11:08
  of god and now church now he uses that same word luke uses the exact same word when he says that the people witnessed this miracle what was it that they saw it wasn't just a miracle they saw the majesty of god why is that such a big deal we'll come to that next week next week
• 11:38
  Just imagine this for a moment and I'll just give you a little snapshot of next week's sermon. Peter, James, and John go up on top of the Mount of Transfiguration. They see the full majesty of God. Then they come down from the mountain and they see the full majesty of God again put on display in the miracle working power of Christ. And then if you fast forward just a few verses, look at verse 46, an argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. That's crazy.
• 12:03
  That is crazy. Because now, not only have they seen the majesty of God, but then almost just moments later, they're arguing about which one of them is the best. We're going to talk about that next week. But you'll see here, the people are astonished at the majesty of God. Verse 43 continues. But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, at everything he was doing. So not only did Jesus do that one miracle, this actually implies that he was performing many miracles in their midst.
• 12:33
  And it's while these crowds are marveling at the glory and power of Christ that he reminds his apostles of his imminent death. While they were all marveling, verse 43 says, Jesus said to his disciples, let these words sink in. Now, at this point in Luke's narrative, we're a mere six months from Christ's crucifixion. And so if Christ is crucified in the spring,
• 13:04
  right around Passover, he's crucified on Passover, sometime in the spring, then we're probably talking about we're in the fall, the fall, just six months before his crucifixion. In fact, chapter 9 of Luke's Gospel records the final events of Christ's great Galilean ministry. You'll notice down in verse 51.
• 13:25
  Verse 51, when the days drew near for him to be taken up, it says, Jesus, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And so this is the last ministry that he will ever have in Galilee. This is the last time he will ever be in his own home region. He's going to set his face to go to Jerusalem. And for the remainder of the gospel of Luke, that is what we're going to study. It's on his way to Jerusalem. And then in Jerusalem, his final weeks of ministry on earth before his crucifixion.
• 13:54
  Now, Christ had used his ministry in Galilee as a training ground, like a ministry school, if you will, for his apostles. He had taught them, empowered them, authorized them. He sent them out to perform miracles, to cast out demons, to preach in his name. He was using his apostles not only to spread the good news of his kingdom, but was also preparing them for his impending departure. He knew that he would soon, just in the next six months,
• 14:22
  be handing over the keys of his brand new church to this group of poorly educated, impulsive, and honestly unimpressive group of men. And he wanted to make sure that they were ready. And so he takes a moment here to preach one more little sermonette, just a few little phrases before they leave Galilee. And notice how he uses the introduction of his sermon. The introduction, he says, let...
• 14:51
  These words sink into your ears. Christ had said it so many times before. The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men. He had said it so many times before, and yet they still could not or would not understand it, believe it. The Greek wording he uses is something like this. Allow me to lay this into your ears.
• 15:18
  And don't move until it computes. Allow this to sink in. I mean, really it is. It's this idea of just allow me to lay this, lay on your side and allow me just to set this in your ear and just let it sink into your brain. It reminds me of giving my sons eardrops when they had ear infections, when they were just little tiny boys.
• 15:43
  Ear drops are some of the worst things you have to give to your kids. There is nothing so counterintuitive as allowing something to go into your ear. It is the grossest thing. It's the weirdest feeling. It tickles. It's just so uncomfortable. And little kids, it's hard to explain. You've just got to hold, you know, kind of hold them and pin them and just say, don't move. Allow this.
• 16:03
  to sink into your ears. They just want to get it out. And so they'll shake their heads and squirm around and rub their ears and try to get that gross feeling out. And that is exactly how the apostles had responded to Jesus's warnings about the crucifixion to this point. They were like little kids shaking their heads, rubbing their ears, rubbing out the news of his crucifixion. They didn't want anything to do with it. Now, messianic expectation, anticipation would have been at a fever pitch at this point in Christ's ministry.
• 16:35
  Church, when you and I think of Christ, we will often think of the crucified Lord, a sacrifice for sin. And we think that way because many of us, and especially those of us who were raised in the church, have been taught to think that way from our youth. But that is not what the Jews of the first century of Israel were taught. One pastor has said this, having been taught all their lives, that Messiah would be a political and military deliverer. They found it difficult.
• 17:04
  to let go of those deeply embedded hopes. But as he repeatedly made clear to them in his first coming, Jesus did not come as conqueror and ruler, but as Savior and sacrifice for sin. We think of the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and sacrifice because that's how we've been taught from the time that we were young. But these people, his own apostles, had been taught from their youth that the Messiah would be a king, a conqueror.
• 17:31
  a deliverer. And so for him to say, I'm going to be crucified was so off the wall, it was impossible for them to compute. The disciples were responding here to the popularity of Jesus, right? How can you say that, Lord? The crowds are growing. People want to be with you. What are you talking about? All the while neglecting Jesus's own words.
• 17:55
  from his Sermon on the Mount, when he said, blessed are you when you're persecuted. Woe to you when all speak well of you. And Jesus offers this mild rebuke to his disciples, meant to serve as a reminder that the praise of the crowds would be fickle and easily turned. And so he says, let this sink into your ears. And then he says, the Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men. I am going to be handed over.
• 18:25
  And who was it that would ultimately deliver Jesus over to be crucified? None other than Judas himself, who was among them. Jesus described him as the son of perdition. Judas was prophesied about in the Psalms that he would raise his heel against his own friend. Judas was he of whom Christ said it would be better for him never to have been born. Jesus said that. It would have been better for him if he were never born.
• 18:55
  And yet, it was not only Judas who delivered Jesus over, but also the Jewish leaders of the day. They were the ones who held a phony court. They convicted Jesus of wrongdoing, which he never committed. They handed him over to the governor. And yet, it was not only Judas and the Jews, but also the Romans who were to blame. Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, violated a long-standing and proud tradition of Roman punishment.
• 19:25
  by cowering to an unruly mob who demanded not justice, but rather vengeance upon Jesus for refusing to genuflect. He would not abide by their man-made laws and practices. And so the Jews rioted, basically threatened absolute insurrection and riotous mob, if not for his crucifixion. And Pontius Pilate cowered to it. And yet it was not only Judas and the Jews and the Romans.
• 19:56
  But ultimately, who was responsible for delivering Jesus over to be crucified? But God himself. God himself, we find, delivered his own son over to be crucified. Listen to Isaiah 53 and verse 10. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. It was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief.
• 20:21
  Romans 8, 32, he who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also along with him graciously give us all things? He didn't spare his own son. He could have, but he didn't. He gave him up for us. Acts chapter two and verse 23. This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed. So Peter is saying you crucified him and killed him, but it was God's plan all along.
• 20:52
  John 10 verses 17 and 18. Jesus himself, I lay my life down that I may take it back up again. No one takes my life from me. I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down. I have authority to take it up again. Again, one pastor has said before the kingdom came the cross, before the kingdom came the cross, Jesus had to die.
• 21:16
  The plan of God could not be set aside. And so when he says in verse 44, let these words sink into your ears. There is no way around my crucifixion. It is going to happen. The son of man is about to be delivered into the hands of men. And there is a popular notion, not among, I don't think Bible teaching churches, but among some other types of churches. There is a popular notion that Christ came to heal.
• 21:46
  that he came to feed, that he came to preach, that he came to usher in his kingdom with himself as king, and that his plan went awry. He crossed the wrong people. He crossed the government and therefore ended up on the cross. But that is simply untrue. Christ's plan from the beginning was to redeem mankind by dying for them. That was the plan all along. The cross was not a plan B. The cross was plan A. The Son of Man would be delivered in order to become the deliverer of all.
• 22:17
  And church, this is great news during a pandemic. I mean, what does that mean except that we can have hope despite the darkness of the hour? Even when his son hung on a cross, when all seemed lost, the Lord's will was nevertheless completely intact. And church, that is true for us as well.
• 22:48
  That was true for us as well. Even when all seems lost, even when all seems hopeless, even when if it's bad news after bad news after bad news after bad news, and now with just six weeks left until an election, right? Where everything seems like it's just up in the air. There is nothing up in the air when it comes to the Lord's will. The Lord's will will absolutely be accomplished. Before the kingdom came the cross.
• 23:18
  Jesus would not set aside his father's will, and he still won't. Notice here is their response, though, verse 45, but they did not understand this saying. And it was concealed from them so that they might not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about it. Now, the message of the cross was so contradictory to what they'd been taught, to what they had previously understood, to what they even desired, that they could not receive it. They couldn't. It just couldn't sink in.
• 23:47
  The Apostle Paul actually addresses this same idea in 1 Corinthians, when he said that the message of a crucified Messiah was a stumbling block to the Jews. That's what it says in 1 Corinthians 1. Stumbling block to the Jews. The cross was absolute nonsense to them then, and honestly, church, it still is to Jews today.
• 24:10
  We as a church read Isaiah 53 with clarity and understanding about whom the text is speaking. We know Isaiah 53 is talking about Jesus Christ. And when you read it with those glasses on, it makes perfect sense that we all like sheep have gone astray, but that he has borne the iniquities of us all. That makes perfect sense. But to modern Jews, the idea of the Messiah becoming the sacrifice for our sin is blasphemous.
• 24:38
  Anyone who's hung on a tree is cursed by God. We just discussed that a couple weeks ago. God wouldn't curse his own anointed one. Why would God curse God? That makes no sense. But listen to it again from Paul's writings in 2 Corinthians 5.21. When you understand it this way, it makes perfect sense. Listen to 2 Corinthians 5.21. For our sake, he, God, made him...
• 25:06
  Jesus, who knew no sin, to become sin for us in order that we might become the righteousness of God. God made Jesus sin, a curse, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. That's why he did it. He had to curse his own son in order to accomplish two things. Number one, in order to retain his own justice. Jesus had to become sin.
• 25:36
  He had to. Or else it would be unjust of the father to pour out his wrath on an innocent man. It would be unjust. And so Jesus had to become a curse. He had to become a curse by hanging on the tree. He had to be crucified in order to retain his own justice. But he also had to curse his own son in order to set us free. Now allow me to push pause here.
• 26:03
  And study briefly another time when Jesus foretold his own death. And it's in this same chapter. If you just go back just a few verses in Luke chapter 9 and verse 22. In verse 22, he said almost the same thing. He said, the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. So it's not like this was the first time the apostles had ever heard it. This was at least the second time.
• 26:31
  which is why he probably begins with let this sink in. But it's interesting to note in verse 22 that there's an additional word in verse 22 that is not included in verse 44. And you'll see it there, the son of man. And here's the word, must, must suffer many things. And if you're to remember back to your high school English classes and sentence diagramming.
• 26:59
  That modifier, must, that one word must, would actually apply to every phrase following in that whole sentence beginning with the word and. So it could be read, the Son of Man must suffer many things and must be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and must be killed and must be raised on...
• 27:26
  The third day. And you say, well, why? Why must? Jesus just says, I have to do these things. Why did he have to do it? The answer is because the scriptures had foretold it. The scriptures had foretold it. Take just a moment and turn with me to the right just a few pages to Luke chapter 24. Same book, Luke chapter 24. Notice in verse 27.
• 27:55
  The context here, and I don't want to give away, we're going to look at this in about 18 months or so, I think we'll be in Luke 24. But in Luke 24 and verse 27, the context is that Jesus has already been crucified. He's already been raised from the dead. He is now on the road to Emmaus. He comes across two disciples. They don't recognize him for who he is. But he says in verse 25, if you notice verse 25, he said to them, oh foolish ones.
• 28:23
  and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. He says, haven't you read your Old Testament? Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them, and here's the key, in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. In all the scriptures.
• 28:48
  The Old Testament, we know, is replete with references, symbols, types, and allusions to Jesus, and not just in direct Messianic prophecy, but in typology as well. The Old Testament teaches clearly not only that the Messiah would come, but who the Messiah would be. In fact, the Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, refer to the Old Testament so often, Matthew 129 times,
• 29:19
  Mark 63 times. Luke 100 times. It's as if those authors were saying, do you want to know who Christ is? Read your Old Testament. Alfred Edersheim in his book Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah quotes no less than 456 Old Testament passages which have direct correlation to Christ. J. Barton Payne in his book Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy puts the number at 574. 574 times the Old Testament talks about...
• 29:49
  Jesus. Robert Culver takes it even one step further by saying every word of the Old Testament, every word, is messianic either by way of prophecy or preparation. In other words, the entirety of the Old Testament is about Jesus. The book of Acts, the apostle Peter is preaching the first New Testament sermon.
• 30:13
  Acts chapter 2, the first New Testament sermon. The Holy Spirit has just been poured out on the church. They are speaking in tongues and all of that stuff. The Holy Spirit has just been poured out and Peter begins to preach. And at least three times he references in that sermon, in that sermon, all of the prophets make reference to Christ. Also in the book of Acts, the apostle Paul.
• 30:37
  It felt like any day a Jew attended a synagogue service, he would hear prophecies of Messiah being read. The Apostle Paul says in Acts chapter 24 and verse 14, but this I confess to you, that according to the way which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down, listen, by the law and written in the prophets, having a hope in God. I one time heard a pastor say, not every verse is about Christ.
• 31:04
  But you should be able to get to Christ from every verse. Did you catch that? Not every verse is about Christ, but you should be able to get to Christ from every verse. And this is why Jesus says in Luke chapter 9 and verse 22, the Son of Man must suffer and must be rejected and must be killed and must be raised on the third day. He's saying the whole Old Testament talked about this, prepared us for this.
• 31:28
  This is why he says in Luke 9, verse 44, let these words sink into your ear. The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. It's as if Jesus is looking at his apostles and saying, listen, I've been saying this the whole time. It's time to begin tuning your hearts. Tuning your hearts so that what you're playing is the same thing as what Jesus is playing. May I just issue a small challenge here?
• 31:55
  Not everything in our lives has to be about Jesus, but we should be able to get to Jesus from everything we do. Not every conversation we have with people has to have Jesus' name in it, but we should be able to get to Jesus' name from every conversation we have. There is nothing else. Jesus just takes his apostles aside and says, don't forget. Don't forget. You're failing to understand what this is all really about.
• 32:26
  And church, let us not be like untuned instruments. Let us not be like the man from the book of James who saw his face in the mirror and then left and immediately forgot what he looked like. It is possible to hear without listening. And perhaps the greatest fear of every pastor, perhaps the greatest fear of every parent is that their people, congregants, or kids can come and sing and listen without hearing.
• 32:54
  But let us make our prayer, tune our hearts, Lord, to sing thy praise. And let me pray. God, thank you for your word and for just a few brief but profound statements that you made. Lord, I pray that that truth would sink in, that your will, no matter what, will be accomplished. And so we can have hope. Even when your son was hung on a cross, Lord, your will was done. And even during...
• 33:23
  a time which feels dark during a pandemic and during riots and during even election years, God. We know that your will will be accomplished. Absolutely. And so may we tune our hearts to yours. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.