Follow Me

Luke 9:23-26.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on December 26, 2021.

We are finishing the year of our Lord 2021 and headed into 2022.  As we do this, it is good for us to do some self-assessment that recognizes any personal challenges of this year that we need to work on, and then focus our living for Jesus in the new year.

The Twelve disciples were called to follow Jesus.  Of course, for them, it began by actually following Jesus.  However, they too had to learn to spiritually follow Jesus and not just follow him around physically.  The day came when Jesus left and wasn’t coming back at least not during their lifetimes.  This is our challenge today.  We cannot see Jesus and yet, we can still “look” like we are following Jesus.  May the Holy Spirit help us to follow Jesus in word, and in deed this coming year.

Let’s get into our passage.

Following Jesus is not as easy as it sounds

“Follow me,” is an important theme in the Gospels.  Each of the disciples were called to follow Jesus, and this is specifically recorded of some of them.  We see it with Peter and Andrew who were fishing on the Sea of Galilee in Matthew 4.  It says that Jesus also “called” James and John, so it is most likely that he said the same thing.  We see it with Matthew sitting at the tax collection booth in Matthew 9.  We also see it with Philip in John 1.

There are those who balked at this command.  At the end of this chapter in verses 51-62, several excuses are given as to why people did not follow through on following Jesus.  Jesus had no place to lay his head, i.e., place to stay that was his or guaranteed.  To follow Jesus was no luxury for the flesh.  One man wanted to follow Jesus, but asked to bury his father first, and another man wanted to say goodbye to his family and friends.

Probably the most well know is the rich young ruler in Matthew 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18.  The rich young ruler wasn’t confident that he had eternal life.  Jesus pointed him to the 10 commandments and the man said that he had done those since he was a youth.  Why didn’t he trust that this wasn’t enough?  The answer lies in the area of relationship.  If the young man had a living spiritual relationship with God, then he would have never doubted God’s salvation.  Jesus tells him that he lacks one thing. 

It is interesting that Jesus tells him that he is missing something, but then tells him to sell all of his possessions and give the money to the poor.  He was not only missing something, but his material possessions were in the way of him getting it.  This man needed to get rid of his wealth so that he could find a real relationship with God through Jesus.

It is interesting that people will read these passages and focus on how harsh Jesus sounds when people give excuses.  We are told that Jesus loved the rich young ruler and was sad to see him go.  Listen, the emphasis is that there will always be something, it doesn’t matter what it is, that will get in the way of you and I having a relationship with God.  There will always be an excuse, an obstacle.  Following Jesus is not as easy as it sounds.

Our passage is addressed to those who desire to follow Jesus, to respond to his call.  He tells us exactly what a person needs, or must do, in order to follow him.  The first thing is internal, inside of us.  I must deny myself.  Following involves giving up the direction and the way of travel.  I will not always like, or agree with, where Jesus is taking me.  In fact, right before this passage, Jesus had told them that he was going to suffer many things, be rejected, and killed by the religious leaders of Jerusalem.  This is not what they wanted to hear, but it is exactly where Jesus was going.

Jesus is a man of peace, but he is also a man of Truth (he is Truth).  It is precisely this aspect about him, that will get you killed in this world.  Jesus knew that they would hate him, and kill him.  He knew that his disciples would be tempted to stop it, or stop following him.  They would be tempted not to stand with Jesus, and in so doing they would be choosing to stand with themselves, their thoughts, fears, and decisions.  If they wanted to follow him, they would need to fight this temptation to stand away from Jesus, and deny themselves.  In the crunch, Peter denied Jesus instead of denying himself.  Later, he would be restored and learn the lesson.  Your flesh will not, cannot, follow Jesus.  It will always balk when following Jesus becomes painful and difficult.  Jesus or me?  That is our question.  To follow Jesus is to say of yourself, “I swear that I don’t know that man!”

The second thing a person needs in order to follow Jesus is a cross.  Denying yourself represents an internal battle that must be fought and won, but picking up our cross is when that internal victory walks it out in life.  The cross can be literal.  The disciples all faced a world that eventually put most of them to death.  However, it is more than being willing to die for Jesus, to be a martyr.  You can see this by asking this question.  How can a person actually lay their life down for someone else?  The answer is that they have to have conquered the internal battle first, and then they readied themselves to do what they had to, even die.  The cross represents the very thing that my flesh is afraid of and is running from, or seeking to save.  It represents all the different ways that I am going to have to die to myself in order to keep following Jesus.  Regardless of whether I will be an actual martyr or not, I must learn to put myself to death daily, my purposes and desires, and then get up and do what it is Jesus is calling me to do (or not to do as is the case).

Once you have denied yourself, and readied yourself for daily dying, now you are ready to follow Jesus, and not a second sooner.

Many people have started following Jesus over the years.  However, not all have been willing to fight this battle, and take seriously that following entails giving up where you are going and how you will travel.

Only a person who has crucified themselves repeatedly, and is ready to do it again, can follow Jesus, because, in truth, he crucified himself out of love for the purposes of God the Father.  I know it sounds strange to hear it said that way, but that is what he said.  “No one takes it [his life] from me, but I lay it down of myself.”   Jesus simultaneously paid the price for my sins and showed me the path to salvation.  “Follow Me!”  Only Jesus can lead us to the Father and eternal life.  All other paths are dead ends, boxed canyons of self-destruction.

I am my own worst enemy

My worst enemy is not the Russians or the Chinese.  It is not the Democratic Party or the Republican Party.  It is not progressives or conservatives.  It is not even the devil himself, though he is a powerful enemy.  No, the worst enemy is myself.  I am my own worst enemy.

Jesus highlights this in verses 24-26.  The first thing we see is the problem of self-preservation.  “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

This preservation can be physical in that none of us wants to die.  It is also metaphorical.  I worry about preserving a way of life, or particular things that I like such as: an economic station, social standing, positions of influence, fame, and the list goes on.  It is the fear that we have of losing something because we are following Jesus.  Jesus is both warning and encouraging us here.  You will tell yourself that you are saving your life by not following Jesus.  The irony is that our sinful self can’t save itself because the path of true salvation requires the sacrifice of self, the very thing that your flesh doesn’t want to do.  This is about holding onto things versus letting them go, and trusting God.  If you don’t trust God, then you will be lost eternally, but if you simply let it go…, then and only then will you find eternal life.  No one makes me selfish.  It is what I am by nature.  If I choose not to be selfish, it is because I have disciplined my nature and chosen something better.

In verse 25, we see that the fear of losing something is enhanced by our selfish-ambitions.  “What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?”  There are things that I desire for myself: things that I want to see, things that I want to experience, and things that I want to accomplish.  We see this in the disciples before the cross.  They often argued about which of them was the greatest disciple.  Jesus rebuked them for this and showed them the path of serving others.

In a way, this is a type of loss as well.  I am afraid of losing the potential of having the things that I desire.  It is not that we can’t follow Christ and have things.  It is not about the things.  It is about something inside of you, an ill-attachment to those things.  We can have things and do have things.  The problem is precisely when following Christ threatens something that we have, or hope to have.  I’m reminded of Baronelle Stutzman, the florist in the Tri-Cities of Washington State who refused to do the wedding of a homosexual couple.  She did not plan on having the Attorney General of Washington taking her to court and even seeking to take her personal assets.  She could have balked and said, “Fine, I’ll do it!”  Instead, she stuck to Jesus.  What is your ambition in life?  Be careful that it is not more important to you than following Jesus.

Finally, we see in verse 26 the issue of shame, which is a symptom of pride.  “For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory…”  There will always come a time when my pride will be threatened by following Jesus.  Today, it is things like these.  “You follow ancient teachings over modern enlightenment?”  “You don’t believe that this activity I am doing is moral?”  “You associate with the Church that is responsible for so much evil throughout history?”  Leaders and lay people of the Church have made plenty of errors, not to mention some who were flat out apostates.  They were not following Jesus.  However, that is precisely the issue.  Are we following Jesus, or are we following an institution, erudite scholars, and charismatic leaders?

For some odd reason, Jesus was not too proud to be associated with the Church.  Don’t get me wrong.  He will correct, and judge, those in his Church who abuse the station he has given them.  Still, he is working within and through his Church.  He is standing with us, but will we stand with him?  Let’s make the determination to stand with Jesus moving forward, by getting ourselves internally and externally prepared to lose some things because we are dead set on following Jesus.

Follow Me audio

The Savior of Humble Beginnings

Luke 2:10-12; Micah 5:2. December 19, 2021.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner. 

Here are some great quotes on humility.  Sir J.M. Barrie, “Life is a long lesson in humility.”  C.S. Lewis, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.”  It has been also said somewhere that “Pride is about my glory; humility is about God’s glory.”

Today, we are going to take a deeper dive into the idea that God requires humility from us, not in order to keep us down (i.e., that is beneath Him), but rather so that He can lift us up.  In short, God is not proud; He never has been, period.  Therefore, Jesus the Son of God did not begin to be humble at the incarnation.  Don’t get me wrong.  It is an incredibly humble act, and yet, he chose it.  Only a humble person chooses a truly humble action.  Jesus has been eternally humble just as the Father.

This may sound like a small point at first.  However, it is huge.  It is the context of our hearts, minds, and the hearts and minds of the world around us that gets us all mixed up on pride.  It just doesn’t sink to us that the only being in the universe that “deserves” to be proud isn’t.

This world needs a Savior and the good news is that God has already sent us one.  The reality is that the world is still looking around for someone to save us, or some group.  “Yeah, we’ve heard of Jesus, but he just doesn’t cut it for us,” is the attitude that this world has, and many Christians as well.

Let’s look at the birth of Jesus and focus on the humble nature of it all.

O little town of Bethlehem

Everything in the natural about the birth of Jesus smacks of humility.  God did not pick the great Roman Empire, nor even the greatest city in Israel.  This would be the equivalent of God ignoring the united States of America today.  We might even say that He had to use Israel because they had been given the prophecies.  Yes, but that is exactly the point.  God overlooked all the great countries that existed and created a new country out of one man, Abraham.  God spoke to this small people in ways He didn’t with far greater empires.  Why would God do this?  Of course, He has a purpose, but it also goes to the heart of God’s own nature.  He is the kind of Being that is neither drawn towards our great prideful works, nor willing to draw near to those things. 

Jesus is born in Bethlehem.  Bethlehem was a small town that was 6 miles south of Jerusalem.  We don’t have population figures from that time, but scholars believe it to be from 500 to 1,000 at the most.  Even its name is quite humble.  It means “House of Bread.” 

If there is any distinction for Bethlehem, it is that it was the hometown of King David.  Of course, the only town that cares about things like that is the hometown, especially a small one.  People from small towns who go on to do great things, almost always do those great things somewhere else, often in the great cities of the world.

Bethlehem was also a place of humble occupation, which David had learned as well, shepherding.  Just as David come from humble origins, so too would the Savior of Israel, and the Savior of the world.  Being so close to Jerusalem, Bethlehem was a place that supplied sheep for the temple sacrifices.  This is an honorable thing, and yet, I am sure that no one in Jerusalem were thinking that this made Bethlehem something great.  Bethlehem was a humble place with humble people.  However, it had a calling upon it; a calling that was from God. 

Let us always remember that our greatness does not come in the scope of the things that we do.  It comes from the God who calls us to live according to His purposes.  Anything done in response to the calling of God is great because He is great.  We must never forget this.

So, what about Bethlehem’s calling?  The prophet Micah prophesied in Micah 5:2, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.”

It is unclear whether Ephrathah is an older name of this town to distinguish it from another Bethlehem in Israel, or if it is the name of the area that Bethlehem was in.  Regardless, God showed Micah that the Messiah would come out of Bethlehem.  This verse is the main reason that the priests and teachers of the law pointed to Bethlehem when the Magi asked about the birthplace of the King of Israel.  Though Bethlehem was small, a great ruler for Israel would come from it.

The phrase “whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting,” has a double meaning.  First, the prophecies about this anointed king went back even before Israel.  From the very beginning in Genesis 3:15, we see the promise that one from the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head.  However, knowing what we know about Jesus now, these words also point to his pre-existence.  These prophecies did not point ahead to someone who would exist in the future, but looked ahead to the intersection of The One who was with the Father in the beginning and a particular time when God would help Israel, and all the nations.  God loves to call the small and humble to big things!

Enough about the city in which Jesus chose to enter the world.  Let’s look at Jesus the child.

O little child of Bethlehem

The shepherds are told that they would find a baby in swaddling clothes.  This is not an intimidating picture for a Messiah to save Israel.  The Magi coming out of the desert with soldiers and their entourage would have been impressive.  These were not actually kings, but rather king makers.  They came from the Parthian Empire, which Rome was unable to subdue.  Yes, Jesus coming out of the desert as a mature man with angelic armies, that would be intimidating.  Or perhaps, Jesus could have descended on a cloud with the angelic armies during one of Israel’s feasts and touched down in the temple compound.  Yet, God did not choose such for his entry.  If He didn’t, then can we not see that it is because He is humble and not proud?  Those are the kind of things that we gravitate towards and desire.  Our politicians have signs the size of a school bus with their name and the music blasts as they come on the stage.  This was not the way of our Lord.  He is not proud and neither will he play to our pride.

This baby would also be lying in a manger.  This was not normal even for those days.  God knew there would be no room in the inn.  Why didn’t He fix that?  Maybe He did “fix it.”  Perhaps, we wouldn’t know a fix if it slapped us in the face.  In fact, that is part of our problem.  Our need for pride is like a junkie needing a fix.  Our cries for God to fix things are often just the cries of junkies wanting another “fix” from the Lord, wanting something that we think will get us right, but God know is just slavery.  He has a better vision for us than eternal junkies begging Him for another fix.  It was more fitting that Bethlehem would have no room for its most famous child to be born because that is our problem.  We just don’t have room in our proud lives for the humility of God.

There are many things that God doesn’t “fix” because our definitions are selfish.  Maybe God has fixed you life; maybe the things you want rid of are the very things that are necessary to bring you to see the truth.  Can you trust Him?

Something that we often overlook is that the multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men,” happened somewhere else in the fields, not at the manger.  It is not like the angels wouldn’t have done that if commanded to do so, but that was not the command.  This was a journey that Jesus had to take without them.  They reveal the news to shepherd and then send them to attend the baby Jesus.  Yes, shepherds are what every new mother wants right after they have given birth.  Jesus didn’t need the fanfare and sycophantic mob crying out his praises.  He is a humble savior who is looking for some humble repentant people, who will wait for the proper time of exaltation.

Think about it.  God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble.  He puts down the proud and lifts up the humble.  How much clearer must He be?  Let us join the Lord in this time of humility (I mean that in the sense of being humble).  If we suffer with Him than we will doubtless be glorified with Him and be exalted in the proper time.

Humble Beginnings audio

The Waiting King

Psalm 110:1; Ephesians 1:19-22; Hebrews 2:5-10.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on December 12, 2021.

We know that we are told to be patient and trust that God is waiting for the right time in order to bring this present age to an end, and to bring in the promised Kingdom Age.  Of course, this is not a waiting of inactivity.  Instead, we live our life in order to glorify God, regardless what we face, and we testify to others about the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Yet, we rarely think about the fact that God has not asked us to do anything that He is not doing Himself.  Today, we are going to look at the reality that our Lord Jesus is also patiently waiting, and yet not inactive.

Let’s get into our first passage.

The now, but not yet, kingdom

Psalm 110 is a Messianic Psalm that prophesies about the coming Kingdom of Messiah.  It is quoted three unique times in the New Testament.  The first is by Jesus himself during the week leading up to the crucifixion (Matthew 22:44, and in the other synoptic Gospels).

On one hand, Jesus is pointing out this psalm to the religious leaders to silence their badgering of him.  The rabbis generally saw this psalm as messianic, but there were some cryptic aspects to it.  The Messiah is of the line of David, the ultimate Son of David who would come and restore the kingdom of God.  However, verse one has David calling the Messiah, “my Lord.”  If the Messiah is David’s offspring, in what way can he be David’s Lord?  Before we jump in with some suggestions, we should understand that the culture in the Near East was not like ours.  This would hit the religious teachers as a difficult puzzle.  There is something about this Son of David that would be so unique that David recognized him as greater than himself.  David literally says, “Yahweh [Jehovah] says to my Lord…”

The Apostle Peter also points to this verse during his sermon at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:34).  There he points out that this is what has happened with Jesus.  He was victorious over the grave, but the Father has decreed that he is to sit at His right hand.  Of course, Peter also points out that Jesus isn’t just sitting there twiddling his thumbs.  He was directly responsible for the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon God’s remnant people.

The writer of Hebrews also points to this verse in Hebrews 1:13. The emphasis there is that God does not minister to angels, or serve them.  Rather, angels minister on His behalf to us.

All of these passages, point out the concept of a kingdom that was initiated in the first century after Christ’s resurrection, and yet had an aspect that wasn’t yet.  These verses picture God the Father having the Messiah sit at His right hand until his enemies are made his footstool. 

The ascension of Jesus was clearly preached as a fulfillment of this prophecy.  Where is Jesus?  He is at the right hand of the Father.  This implies a picture of participation in the rule of the Father.

One should not miss the use of the word “until” in this verse.  This sitting and waiting of the Messiah will not last forever.  This makes the phrase following “until” very important.

The phrase is until “I make your enemies your footstool.” (NKJV and ESV).  This almost sounds like Jesus does nothing and it is the Father who “makes” the enemies of Jesus his footstool.  However, there is more going on with this verb than can be seen in the translation.  I would point out that Revelation 19 does not picture Jesus setting still and the Father subduing his enemies.  Jesus clearly participates in this.  So, what about this phrase?

First, the verb is a continuous thing that is future to its writing.  It points to a time when God will be making the enemies of Christ to be under his feet.  Second of all, the verb can also mean to make in the sense of appointing or decreeing.  As we are going to see, there are ways that the enemies of Christ are already under his feet, and ways that they are not.  These can fit nicely with the sense that there is both a decreeing that happens and an enforcing of the decree.  Thus, there are ways in which this is “now, but not yet.”

There does develop a confusion over just when this “enforced” aspect of the kingdom would occur within the Church.  The early Church understood that they had spiritually joined the Kingdom of God, but that the enforcement of all things under Jesus, would not occur until he returned.  They saw themselves as warning others of a coming kingdom that they could spiritually join ahead of time by faith in Jesus.  It wasn’t until the A.D. 300’s that this began to change.  First of all, the emperor Constantine issued an edict of toleration in A.D. 313.  This gave to Christians the protection of the empire and shut down much of their persecution.  By the time we get to the 390’s, things have changed.  The emperor Theodosius was a Christian and was making paganism and its rituals a capital crime.  Historians often point to this vast change of the Roman empire as a separate kingdom (Byzantine Kingdom).  However, that is somewhat special pleading.

Over the next century, Bishop Augustine and others fueled a reinterpretation of the kingdom to fit with what they saw happening on the ground.  They still held to the believe that Jesus would come back, but now they understood the kingdom to have been handed over to the Church as Christ’s representative.  Jesus would rule over it spiritually from heaven instead of in person on earth.  The Church would march forth and bring all the enemies of Christ under the feet of Jesus in the name of the Father.  We are now at the end of 1600 years of the Church wrestling with how to make that happen. (Note: not all Christian groups adopted this modified view of the Kingdom, nor hold to it today, but it is widely prevalent). 

The patience of our Lord

Just as Christians have been called to be patient, we must see that Christ is being patient too.  We can be guilty of thinking of patience as something only we humans have to do.  God is not just choosing patience.  His nature is patient, where ours is not.  It is God’s patience with a lost world, with sinners, that we must emulate.  Similarly, the Messiah is put in a now, but not yet, situation that calls for patience.  Surely, after Jesus is resurrected, it would be the time to attack and take over the kingdom.  Yet, the Father says, “Sit at my right hand until…”  This is contra our human nature.

Let’s walk through several New Testament passages in order to get a handle on this and perhaps also unravel some of the confusion.

Ephesians 1:19-22 seems to be clear that everything is already under Christ’s feet in the 1^st Century A.D.  Verse 22 says that God “put all things under His feet…”  The Greek word used for “put” is a verb that often means “put” in the sense of appointing.  All things in heaven and on earth have been given a station that is under the feet of Christ.  Clearly not all things are choosing to submit to that “setting,” or appointing by God.

This all makes sense as early Christians were persecuted to the point of being fed to lions for Rome’s pleasure.  They were rejecting the rule of Christ.  Neither Rome nor the majority of the world came under it even in the sense of being forced into that position.  Yet, it is taught and believed in the first century that Jesus has a position that is above all powers and authority.

Now, let’s look at Hebrews 2:5-10.  This passage is a little long, but verse 5 obviously states that the time of subjection to Christ is in the “world to come.”  The Church Age had begun.  Christians were proclaiming this appointment by God the Father of His Son to the place of a cosmic Emperor.  This gave/gives room to people to choose allegiance or not without being forced.  Yet, the “until” would eventually come to an end.  Jesus would not stay in heaven forever.

In fact, verse 8 even recognizes that what is promised, and what we are seeing in this age, are at odds with each other.  “We do not see all things under his feet.”  This reminds us that part of the patience of our Lord begins with the incarnation, his suffering as a man, and now his patient waiting in heaven.  Our Savior Lord ahs not asked us to do anything that he isn’t doing himself.

So, verse 10 ends making the point that it is fitting for a suffering people to have a suffering savior.  No matter how hard you have it, it has always been hard for our Lord Jesus.  He is not absent, but is our fearless captain leading us through the suffering, the waiting, and into the joyful reward that lies on the others side.

Another passage that is important is 1 Corinthians 15:26. All of these passages have Jesus in the heavens waiting.  However, in 1 Corinthians 15:26, we are told that “the last enemy that will be destroyed is death.”  This is actually pictured in Revelation 20:14, “then death and hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire.”  It is not the Church’s job to put death and hades into the Lake of Fire, but that is the path that some have put themselves on.  Notice that at least the completion of the enemies being both appointed and made to be under the feet of Christ is after his second coming.

This brings us back to today.  If God grants repentance to a large number of our society, then our nation will see great political change.  However, there is a tension here.  We can be tempted to see favorable events as a sign from God to “force” the issue of the dominion of Christ.  God help us to become like Him, patient and yet quick to glorify God in what we do and speak, rather than trying to force the world into subjection to Christ.  That day is coming, but it is not this day.

Waiting King audio

The Reward of Faith

Matthew 8:10-12.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on December 5, 2021.

Today, there is much being made over trusting in science.  The problem is that science is not a being that can “speak for itself.”  It is a process by which men and women posit an answer, test it, and have their tests scrutinized by others.  The hope is that such a process will eventually bring the right answer to the forefront.  Notice that, in this method, scientific tests are done first and much later consensus occurs.  Today, we see the opposite happening.  An official consensus is declared and any contradicting tests, scientists, etc. are shut out.

Those who purport to speak for science often do so with an incredible lack of humility, and a great excess of personal interest tied into the outcome.  Governmental organizations along with medical, media, and business collusion, bully any scientist, or doctor, who doesn’t bow down to their unscientific decrees from on high.

This is an age-old problem.  The Bible warns believers, “Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.”  Psalm 146:3. The psalmist goes on to point out that even someone who have a good plan to help you can die the next day and their plans die with them.  The frailty of humans, whether in body or in morality, is no place to put our trust.  There is only one son of man that we can trust, and that is the Lord Jesus.

Let’s get into our passage.

The feast of the Kingdom of Heaven

Although the word “feast” is not found in these verses, it will be shown in a bit that this is what is in view.  God has promised his people a time of feasting in a kingdom that has been established by heaven.  Amen!  This is in contrast to all of the attempts from this earth to create a perfect time of peace and feasting. 

Of course, Satan recognizes that the Bible prophesies such, and so his ultimate attempt at bringing in a global kingdom will appear to be from heaven in some way.  Whether pretending to be from the stars, or spiritual entities from a higher dimension, the world will be deceived by pretending usurpers who desire to strip Christ’s inheritance away from him.  In short, he will pretend to be bringing in a kingdom from “heaven,” and I am sure that he will put down some truly bad guys while he is at it, thus attempting to cloak his own evil.

The destiny of Satan and his angels is to be cast out of heaven completely.  Theirs is not a kingdom of peace established by heaven, but rather, a dominion of cruelty established by hell.

Our passage is on the heels of a centurion of Rome who comes to Jesus asking him to heal his servant.  Jesus agrees to go to his house and heal the servant, but the man begs him not to do so.  He proclaims that he is not worthy to have Jesus come to his house.  Instead, he asks Jesus just to command it, and he trusts that it will happen. 

The centurion is not telling Jesus how to do his business.  Rather, his faith in what Jesus can do is being expressed.  Jesus doesn’t have to come to his house to heal.  The man of military authority recognizes that just as it is in the natural with him, so it is in the spiritual with Jesus.  Jesus remarks that this centurion has “great faith,” and that he has not seen faith like this in Israel. 

Great faith is faith that doesn’t need any aids or helps.  Going to the house, laying hands upon someone, even praying out loud are not necessary in order for God to heal.  They simple help us to believe when we see them.  They are like training wheels to our faith.  However, the goal of riding a bike for every kid is to quickly get those training wheels off.  In what ways do I overly rely upon things I can see in order to trust God?  What if those things were taken away?  Is God any less trustworthy?  May God strengthen our faith, for we are in a day in which more and more great faith is needed.

This sets up a classic teaching moment that Jesus famously used to teach those who were watching and listening.  The issue at hand is the healing of the servant, but the great faith of this Gentile is worth stopping and highlighting.

Jesus refers to people coming to “sit down with” Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  These are the patriarchs (father-rulers) of Israel.  This phrase “sit down with” literally means to recline.  It can mean to do so in order to rest, but most of the time it is used of laying down in order to eat, which was the custom in Israel at the time.  Their tables were short platforms and people would lie on their side angled away from the table.  No doubt, Jesus is not referring to people coming from all over the world to sleep with the Patriarch.  A feast is in view.

By the way, there is a humorous scene in The Chosen series in which Jesus builds a modern-style table.  His mom is asking him why it is so tall, and Jesus is trying to explain how chairs would be used.  The point being that the way we eat here in the USA would seem foreign to them.

This idea of people gathering to eat with the patriarchs in the kingdom of heaven would have been unmistakable to the hearers.  They would immediately be thinking of the Kingdom that would be set up by God’s Anointed King, Messiah.  This feast was prophesied in the Old Testament.  One such place is in Isaiah 25:6-9.

6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.

7 And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.

8 He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.

9 It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.  This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

The main point I want to draw from this passage is the promise that God gives of a feast that He will throw when he saves his people.  Notice that verse 8 is picked up by John in the Revelation connected to the Millennial Kingdom.

Now all of this is true already in a spiritual sense.  We can spiritually eat at the Table of our Lord and feast with all who have gone on before us.  Jesus is a spiritual food, and a spiritual drink, to those who put their trust in him.

However, there is something more than a spiritual blessing promised in this.  When we think about Revelation 19, we tend to think of the Second Coming, and that is appropriate.  However, the chapter also features two very different feasts.  The first feast is the Wedding Supper of the Lamb (Marriage Feast of the Lamb).  Of course, this is a feast in which you want to participate.  This is a post-resurrection celebration as all who have put their trust in Jesus are joined with him both spiritually and physically (we will have heavenly bodies as he does now).  Thus, those who have spiritually feasted upon Christ in this dark day, will then literally feast with him in the light of that day.

The other feast is the Supper of the Great God in which birds feast on the bodies of slain soldiers.  You do not want to be a part of that feast. 

Our salvation is not just spiritual it is both spiritual and physical.  People often make one of two mistakes about God’s salvation.  They can see it as a purely spiritual thing in which we exist forever as spirits who are beyond or above the physical plane.  In fact, such a concept smacks of the pantheist vision of ascending from this illusory world into a non-physical plane.  This is not the biblical picture.  It is a false religion.  The other mistake is to let our sinful flesh corrupt the physicality of that time.  Thus, for some, heaven is wine, women, and song for eternity.  It has an over emphasis upon the physicality.  Heaven to them is getting every pleasure you didn’t have on this earth without end.  The wisdom of God is to first save us spiritually, so that we can be tested and formed into the likeness of Jesus.  Our salvation is a complete spiritual and physical thing.

This feast with a resurrected Abraham, et. al., will literally take place in the future.  This was part of the hope and expectation of Israel.  Imagine that.  God has fixed a point in time ahead of us in which the righteous of every generation will feast together with God in a perfect kingdom of peace.  Looking at the world today, it does not appear that this is our destiny.  This is where great faith comes into play.  Who, or what are you putting your trust in?

What wasn’t part of Israel’s understanding was what Jesus emphasizes.  Those coming from the East and the West, in the mind of an Israelite, are the scattered tribes of Israel that did not come back from the Assyrian exile, or the Babylonian exile.  They viewed the Messiah as quelling the nations of the earth, bringing home the exiles, and setting a table before them in the presence of their enemies, the Gentiles.  To them, the proper place for Gentiles was to be shut out, watching them eat.  Yet, Jesus is clearly picturing this centurion as part of those who are coming from the East and the West.  In other words, there will be many Gentiles gathering into the kingdom in order to feast with believing Israelites, even the patriarchs (who technically weren’t Israelites, but Hebrews).  This would smack the hearer in the face.  Similar to John 3:16, Jesus declares that everyone of every tribe and language who will simply believe God are invited to this feast.  As shocking as that would be to them, the next verse will make their jaw hit the ground.

The sorrow of those who are shut out

This whole scene hinges on the “but” (NKJV) of verse 12.  In contrast to the feasting of this mixed multitude of believing Gentiles and Hebrews in the Kingdom of Heaven, there are those who have been cast out, or “shut out” as the parable depicts in Matthew 25.

The feasting is synonymous with joy and rest.  The battle is over.  The victory has been won.  However, those who are not invited to this feast will have great sorrow.  The hearer would not be surprised that some are shut out.  However, they would be shocked at just who is being shut out.  Before we get into it, Jesus is simply pointing out that some who you would think should be there won’t be, and many who you thought should not be there will be.  This great switch of apparent destinies is part of the amazing grace of God.  The “sons of the kingdom” is a way of saying those who were born into Israel and had the promises of God.  Like natural Israel coming through the desert out of Egypt, they were promised many wonderful things from the Lord.  Jesus doesn’t use the word “many,” but simply states that the sons of the kingdom will find themselves shut out.  Clearly, he does not mean every single one of them.  Otherwise, none of the disciples could participate.  The contrast is meant to blow their confidence in their DNA, biology, ethnicity, etc. out of the water.  You cannot bank on these things, and neither will these things exclude you.

Finding themselves in a shut-out situation will be a source of great sorrow, which is described as weeping and gnashing of teeth.  The focus here is not so much on where they will be, but rather on what they will miss and how it will affect them.  A typical wedding feast would happen at night under the lights, or in a well-lit house.  Those who are not invited would be outside in the dark.  The outer darkness emphasizes that they are not in the light enjoying its blessings.  They are shut-out.

No matter how haughty and arrogant people are today about the promises of God, they will be filled with sorrow and regret when they find themselves in that situation.  Oh what deep pity we should have for those who seem so hard today. 

So, what makes the difference?  How could a Gentile be invited while a High Priest of Israel may be shut out?  Before I answer that, we must recognize that the same principle applies to the Church of Jesus.  Being born into a Christian family, hearing the Gospel all of your life, even joining a church, cannot in and of itself guarantee you a ticket to that feast.  Many “Christians” who should be there will not.  Why?  They will not be there because they didn’t put their faith in Jesus.  Oh, they may have said the right words, and gave intellectual assent.  Like Israel following the cloud through the desert, they to are headed in the “right” direction with their bodies, but their hearts are far from God.  In the desert, lack of faith revealed itself in an attitude of grumbling and complaining against the Lord.  It showed itself in a lack of obedience the commands of God.  It showed itself in a concern for the desires of the flesh more than a concern for the needs of the soul.  And so, God sent leanness into their souls (Psalm 106:5).  They stumbled along within an institution that could never do anything for them because they did not trust the God who gave them these things.

Oh, Christian, deliver yourself from such an awful fate of being shut-out from the joy of the Lord.  Only faith in Jesus can give us a place at this table.  No denomination, doctrinal formulation, or religious leader can take his place.  We must all live with a faith that is greatly placed upon him and him alone.  Who is your trust in?  Put it in Jesus only today.  I warn you even now that the aids to faith are one by one being kicked out from underneath our leaning frame.  You will either stand by faith in the days ahead or fall in the desert of this world, having fallen short of the Promised Land.

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