So I think we all like the idea of rest and when we think of rest, we probably have different things that come to mind.  [pics of rest]    So I don’t think Jesus is talking about rest like this in our passage today.  Jonathan preached a great sermon on Sabbath last year recommend to go back and listen to it.

Think to yourself if you are tired in any of these ways.

tired of just making ends meet,

tired of chasing after happiness, but never being satisfied,

tired of being angry

tired of giving and not receiving

Tired of trying to find real purpose and understand what’s really important in life,

tired of being scared because you don’t know what tomorrow brings.

If you’re tired in ways like this, then the message today is for you.  If you enjoy this rest that Jesus talks of, then I urge you to share this message and hope for rest with a world around you that needs it.  but before we get to talk about rest there are a couple of statements from Jesus that seem kind of difficult that we should address but that provide some context for his message.

25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

So what is Jesus saying here?  What “things” is Jesus referring to?  Why is He hiding them?  The previous verses give us insight – Jesus has just condemned those who had rejected His invitation.  He had lovingly reached out to people in the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum – they had seen Him do miracles and heard His messages, but failed to recognize Him and turn to Him.  They were “wise” in that in spite of what they saw and heard, they presumed to know better.  They were prideful and their pride kept this good news, these things, hidden, because God is looking for the humble in heart – the little children.  God has a tendency of flipping the norms of the world – we usually think it’s the wise and learned who have the upper hand, who have success, who have the best path in life.  It’s not to say that having an education or great experience is a limiting factor in coming to Christ, but we have to be humble in heart to receive Him and His rule in our lives. Jesus is praising the Father here because His invitation doesn’t require a particular spiritual IQ, attaining some special knowledge or some well checked to do list, but rather the humble and trusting spirit of a child.  Any barrier to God through Jesus, the hiddenness Jesus referred to is, not imposed by God, but rather by our own internal deliberation of one question – will we yield to Him?  Having a relationship with the Almighty God wasn’t (and isn’t) about the what one knows as much as the Who one knows. 

27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

In this verse Jesus highlights His authority as the Son of God.  This was a hugely blasphemous and threatening concept to the religious leaders.  But this claim highlights that Jesus has all the authority He needs behind His words.  And authority not over a house, a church, a state, a country – everything!  Everyone!  And given to Him by God – a real challenge to the existing order.  Pharisees, Rome, temple.  We can know the Father through the revelation of Jesus to us.  Not just know facts about Him, but to know Him and have a relationship with Him.  No one knows the Father except the son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him – Exclusive statement…  But remember – He has just shared broadly in Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum – but the lack of revelation is more about the lack of humility on the hearer’s part than keeping something hidden.  The Great Commission Matthew 28 Jesus instructs the disciples to go to all nations or in Acts 1:8 to the ends of the earth.  But John 14:6 – no one comes

Sermon Colossians 1:21-23 | Living Life after Jesus’ Death: Who Are You?

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Homiletical Idea: The death of Jesus changes who we are.

You can watch the sermon on YouTube.

Introduction

This week I am going to preach a little differently; a little more interactive; a little less formal; I’ll try to keep the attention of the kids too who are upstairs with us now through the summer. It’s a holiday weekend, there aren’t too many of us here, so we may as well push the envelope. And, although it is certainly not the point of a sermon, I am going to try and have my personality come through a little and let you learn about me since my wife tells me I never do that when I preach. Not sure I never do, but I do think preaching is serious business, and I like to have fun with everything I am doing in life, so maybe I don’t look like I am having fun when I preach. I will try to work on that! Also, I probably tend to teach more than preach. This one will be a lot more preaching and a lot less teaching. I also tend to follow a strict outline and formula for preparing a sermon, but not this time. As an aside, today is my wife’s birthday and our wedding anniversary, be sure to congratulate her on being alive and for putting up with me for well over half her life.

I am generally outgoing, fairly gregarious… okay, sometimes I talk a lot. I don’t generally have trouble making friends or keeping the conversation going. I will attend get togethers where I don’t know many of the people. However, l really don’t like it when someone says, “tell me about yourself”. How many of you can relate to this? I was in this position recently when Stephanie and I visited Moody Bible Institute. We were in a small room with the door closed with a student guide from the college. He turns to me and says, “tell me about yourself”. I wasn’t expecting that. I never have as much trouble talking as I do when someone hands the floor over to me preceded by that question.  Do I even know who I am if I can’t answer that question?

A little information for those of you who do not know, one thing about me is that I really like the show Seinfeld. The characters in that show are great, and not just the four main characters, but all the characters. One great character is Sid. He has brief appearances in only two shows, and he apparently parks cars for a living, but he immediately came to mind when I was writing this sermon. He is sort of philosophical in his speech. Sid first appears in the episode “The Alternate Side”, a tremendous season three episode I remember for Jerry’s rant at the rental car agency and most people know for the famous line, “these pretzels are making me thirsty”. In this episode, George fills in for Sid moving cars from one side of the street to the other while Sid is on vacation. Of course, George screws it up. Sid is expressing his displeasure with George and he says, “moving cars from one side of the street to the other doesn’t take any more sense than putting on a pair of pants. If you can put on a pair of pants, you could move those cars. So my question to you is, who puts on your pants?” Sid appears in one more episode, “The Parking Space”. In this episode George and Kramer’s friend Mike Moffit are arguing about a parallel parking space. George was backing in while Mike was coming in forward. Well, Sid is not happy that they are messing up the parking situation on his street, and Sid comes over to clear up this mess. Mike had never met Sid before, and this exchange is th

Now you might have noticed when you walked in today the camera crew taking some footage. That’s because earlier Doreen and I filmed our interviews with Chris Lake from the Vere Institute. You know Chris from when he preached on frontline ministry here at Cornerstone last November. The session we are helping Chris film is about sustaining a whole-life vision in a church over the long haul. In other words, how can we encourage and equip each other to honor and serve God in every part of our lives, especially our frontlines, year after year? 

Now each session is centered on a Scripture passage, and since Chris asked me to think about the passage for the video, I thought it made sense to also preach on it and share some of the things I learned. So today we’re looking at two verses that connect how the church can help us on our frontlines.

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (NIV®) 

Chris chose this passage because it does a nice job showing how our gathered church ministry impacts our scattered church ministry. If you’ve never heard the phrases gathered and scattered before the gathered church is anytime Christians get together to do ministry. So gathered ministry can be any part of a church service (the singing, the sermon, communion), it could be a potluck dinner, Cornerstone Kids, community groups, an Outreach event, a Bible study, youth group, anything and anywhere we as Christians get together. That’s gathered church. 

Scattered church is you when you’re not with a bunch of Christians. It’s your frontline. It’s our normal everyday places like our jobs, our families, and our neighborhoods. It’s wherever and whenever we’re not surrounded by fellow Christians but are still doing ministry. So it could be you at Market Basket, or Dunkin Donuts, or Choice Fitness, or over the Holidays or on the weekends when you’re spending time with your family or in-laws, or anywhere else that you have relationships with those who don’t believe in Jesus yet. 

So often we can unintentionally silo these two. When I’m at church I’m at church and when I’m at work I’m at work and the two have nothing to do with the other. But if we believe that as followers of Christ, as disciples, that we are to give every part of our life to Jesus, then we shouldn’t silo our life. And that’s where the church comes in. The church gathered helps the church scattered follow Christ. 

Now before we dive into today’s text I actually want to back up and understand the context of today’s passage. We don’t want to pull a verse out of context but want to understand the passage it’s coming from. So I’m going to give you an overview of the passage leading up to these verses.

v1-18 Christ’s sacrifice is enough to forgive sins.

Chapter 10 of Hebrews begins by declaring Jesus was enough. When he died on the cross for our sins we don’t have to offer any more bulls or sheep or goats or pigeons. The Old Testament sacrificial system is satisfied because the perfect sacrifice has been offered, Jesus Christ. It’s kind of like when you go to school you may take out a loan for thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Once you graduate you have to start paying and it can take decades to repay the debt, payment after payment, month after month, year after year. That’s a heavy burden. But what if one day you opened your student-loan account and found your entire bill paid for? Because of sin we all owe God a debt, but it’s too big to ever repay. The good news is Christ has paid our debt in full and his payment pays it all. Imagine never having to make another student loan payment. It might not sink in right away but it would when you get to keep that money every month. Your debt is paid. Christ’s sacrifice is enough to forgive our sins.

v19-21 We can enter God’s presence through Chr

Today I’m continuing to reflect on what I’m learning at the Gordon-Conwell Ockenga Fellows retreats. Last time I talked about death and dying, but today I want to talk about aging, about growing old. Now obviously I have more years than some of you and less than others. So I’ll do the best I can to teach what the Bible has to say about aging. I’m also going to share some of what others who know better than I have to say about it as well as a few personal experiences.

What counts as old or elderly? We don’t like being called “old” because it’s seen as a negative. NPR reports the preferred phrase is “elderly” or “older adults” or just call people by their names. I define older adults or the elderly as anyone over the age of 70. Now if you’re over 70 and you don’t like that, I’m sorry! My parents who usually listen to my sermons might have something to say about my definition when they listen to it. The Psalms do say we typically get 70 years or 80 if we’re strong (Psalm 90:10) so I think it’s fair. 

But today I’m not really talking to the older or elderly. I actually want to primarily address anyone in their youth, so teenagers, those in their 20s or 30s or anyone who considers themselves to be youthful. I’ll even include those who call themselves “young at heart.” I’m including myself here too. Today’s message is for us because today’s passage is for those in their youth. Here’s how the first verse goes.

Ecclesiastes 12:1

Remember your Creator

in the days of your youth,

before the days of trouble come

and the years approach when you will say,

“I find no pleasure in them”—

The book of Ecclesiastes addresses us in our youthful years. The author, King Solomon, wrote Ecclesiastes to be a book of wisdom from a more cynical perspective. In this book he challenges young people to remember their Creator before they grow old (aka. “…before the days of trouble come”). Now if you’re a teenager or in your 20s or 30s, growing old is probably the last thing on your mind. If you’re 15, you have another 55 more years before you turn 70. That’s a long time! But what better time is there than now to start preparing for old age? You’ll be so ready (Lord willing) when old age arrives.

Today I want to talk about three things 1) what it’s like to grow old (biologically, mentally, emotionally); 2) how we should treat the elderly (should we respect them or brush them aside?); and 3) how we should live today knowing one day (Lord willing) we’ll grow old. So first… 

1) What’s it like to grow old?

Now starting in verse 2 Solomon uses metaphors (that is figures of speech, non-literal word pictures) to describe what the body experiences as it ages. 

Ecclesiastes 12:2-8

2 before the sun and the light

and the moon and the stars grow dark,

and the clouds return after the rain;

What’s he describing here? He’s describing a loss of sight. Many of us have either heard of or personally experienced cataracts, which is a clouding of vision. According to the National Eye Institute (NEI), “Most cataracts are related to aging. Cataracts are very common in older people. By age 80, more than half of all Americans either have a cataract or have had cataract surgery.”

3 when the keepers of the house tremble,

and the strong men stoop,

when the grinders cease because they are few,

and those looking through the windows grow dim;

As you get older your hands begin to tremble (tremors), and your back begins to hunch over. What are your grinders? Your teeth. Your gums recede, your teeth look longer, and your teeth even fall out. Did you know “By the age of sixty, people in an industrialized country like the United States have lost, on average, a third of their teeth. After eighty-five, almost 40 percent have no teeth at all.” Being Mortal (pp. 29-30).

4 when the doors to the street are closed

and the sound of grinding fades;

when people rise up at the sound of birds,

but all their songs grow faint;

This is talking about a loss of hearing (sound fades) and trouble sleeping (rise a

In 2009 the retired minister of the First Unitarian Church of Portland Oregon, Marilyn Sewell, interviewed one of the most famous atheists of her day, Christopher Hitchens. Unitarians do not believe in the Trinity or that anyone goes to hell but that God is love and all go to heaven. They are considered theologically liberal while a church like Cornerstone is much more theologically conservative. We believe in the Trinity and that you must trust in Christ Jesus in order to be saved. 

But Christopher Hitchens didn’t believe in any of these things. He was an atheist. He didn’t believe in God or an afterlife. When you’re gone you’re gone. Hitchens died of cancer in December 2011 but at the time of the interview he was riding a wave of popularity from his best selling book God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. So this interview is especially interesting because it’s between a very popular atheist and a liberal minister, not your typical reporter. In this interview she asked this question. 

The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make any distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

In other words, she doesn’t believe in things like the resurrection, so would he a skeptic of all religions treat her and her belief system any differently. Hitchens answered:

I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.

Christopher Hitchens understood the importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ to Christianity. His is one type of response to the resurrection—disbelief. Marilyn’s is the same. But how do you respond? Do you think it’s true? Do you think Jesus really rose from the grave? And if so, should we have more of a response than just that? Today I want to explain the four responses we can have to Jesus’ resurrection. 

The eleven disciples have received the news that Jesus is alive. Peter even claimed to have seen him earlier that day (Luke 24:34); and the two men on the road to Emmaus saw him as well (Luke 24:13-35). But the other ten remaining disciples haven’t seen him yet, but they are about too, and how they respond teaches us about how we can respond. In our passage today we find four responses to the resurrection of Jesus: 

1) Peace not fear (v36-39)

When we hear the resurrection of Jesus, we can respond in peace not fear. What’s the first thing Jesus says when he appears to his followers ? “Peace be with you.” Jesus is offering peace to a group of men who are really scared. John’s gospel tells us they were hiding behind locked doors because they were so frightened (Luke 20:19). We lock our homes at night to feel safe, but their fear is even more real. They’re afraid of suffering a similar fate as Jesus.

Luke says, “37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?” (NIV®) They feel fear, anxiety, and doubt—all normal responses to hearing that someone has risen from the dead. These feelings are especially relatable if you’re seeing that person you saw die standing right in front of you.

In the face of all of this Jesus offers his disciples and us today true and lasting peace. The Bible’s understanding of peace is based on the Old Testament word “Shalom” which isn’ just the absence of conflict, but the presence of blessing. It is wholeness, virtue, and flourishing throughout all of life. As one author writes, “Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.” It’s the way things ought to be with God and those around us. Shalom is the opposite of hiding behind a locked door.

What door are you hiding be

Have you ever had that experience when you can’t see something and it’s right in front of you? This week I needed to give Elijah his milk and I knew Monica had put some in the fridge but I couldn’t find it. When I opened the fridge it wasn’t there and when I moved some of the food and other items it wasn’t there either. So I called Monica and I asked her if she had put the milk in the fridge and she said she had and I told her I couldn’t find it. I looked again but nothing. When she came home she found it in less than 5 seconds.

I think what happened is that when I looked in one part of the fridge, the bottle ran to a different part of the fridge. It’s frustrating when you can’t see something but you’re told it’s there. Now a baby’s milk bottle matters for our family, but in the overall scheme of things it’s not a big deal. Does this ever happen to us with the big things in life? Where we’re looking for something important but just can’t see it? 

How about when you look for God but can’t sense his presence? We look for him, and we’re told by our pastors and more spiritually attuned friends that “he’s right there!” but we just can’t see him for ourselves. Instead of sensing God you feel like he’s gone or like he’ll talk to anyone but you. When you can’t see God or sense Christ’s presence what should you do? That’s a dark place to be at but it’s similar to where some of Jesus’ followers found themselves Sunday after his crucifixion. 

The last time they saw Jesus he was dead. He was gone. They thought he was never coming back. They’d made it through the last couple days, but are sad and depressed. But now they’ve heard word from several women who followed Jesus that his body wasn’t in the tomb and that angels had appeared to them telling them Jesus is alive. They don’t believe and just feel more confusion and darkness. They’d come to Jerusalem for the Passover feast and now it’s time for them to go home.

Luke 24:13-16 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him. (NIV®)

So these two friends are walking home from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus. It’s about 7 miles from Jerusalem, or 10 kilometers. When we were in France our European GPS pronounced it “kilo-meters.” And as they’re talking about the crucifixion and empty tomb Jesus himself comes up to them and begins to walk alongside them. This is actually the first time in Luke 24 where we see Jesus alive. The angels announced it in the first 12 verses, but this is the first time Luke shows the living-breathing Jesus to his readers, and he does it in the most unassuming way. Jesus just starts walking alongside them. 

The Greek literally says “their eyes were kept from recognizing him”. It’s like when you’re walking your dog and she sees a squirrel and lunges for it. You have to restrain her and hold her back. Their eyes wanted to see Jesus but God restrains recognition. He holds them back. Why would God do that? Because God wants them, and us, to see Jesus, but not yet with our eyes. He wants us to first see Jesus a different way.

Luke 24:17-18 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” (NIV®)

Luke gives us the name Cleopas because he’s citing his source. He’s showing us this account is reliable.

Luke 24:19-21 “What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was t

“I want to tell you about the night I killed Ted Morris.” Tommy Pigage opened his court-mandated appearance at the Trigg County High School MADD meeting with those trembling words. Standing in the back of the gym was Elizabeth Morris, Ted’s grieving mother. In time she would find it in herself not simply to forgive but to unofficially adopt the young man who had collided with her son while driving drunk. Her husband, Frank, a part-time preacher and a driver for UPS, would baptize Tommy with his own hands. Years later, Tommy still called his new parents every day between 4 and 5 p.m. Though Tommy had no right to expect anything from them, Ted’s parents opened the door of their life to Tommy. In the process, everything changed.

We have had a great opportunity this year leading up to Easter to look more closely at passages of Scripture that often get rushed through. Often times the week before Easter will focus on the Triumphal Entry and then the arrest, trial, crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus are condensed into an Easter sermon focusing on the resurrection. This year we had a sermon on the night in the Garden of Gethsemane, a sermon on Jesus’ trial, a sermon last week by Terry on the crucifixion, and now a sermon on the death of Jesus. If you can make the sunrise service tomorrow, Terry will be speaking on the resurrection.

The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:10-11 “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” Paul wants to know Christ, but he doesn’t stop at his resurrection. Paul wants to participate in his suffering. Think of his betrayal, trial, beating, and crucifixion. He wants to become like him in his death. I think often times we want to stop with Philippians 3:10a “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection.” I think it is good to study how Jesus suffered and how he died so we too can learn from it and agree with Paul on all of Philippians 3:10-11.

Context/Background: I probably do not need to do much in the way of refreshing your memories or setting the stage for Jesus’ death. We remember that Jesus went to pray the night of his arrest and he asked the disciples that were with him to pray too. Jesus prayed so hard drops of blood mixed with his sweat; his disciples fell asleep. Then one of his disciples, Judas, betrayed him, and Jesus was arrested. After his arrest, Jesus is denied by another disciple, Peter. Often, we forget to count these things among Jesus’ suffering, but think how devastating it would be if this is how your friends supported you in a tough time. Jesus then endures mocking, multiple trials, beatings, humiliation, nakedness, and ultimately crucifixion. Now, as his death is imminent, Jesus must face separation from the Father for the first time in all eternity.

As we look at the death of Jesus, I want to answer 4 questions that I think, to varying degrees, many Christians do not think deeply enough to answer well. After looking at these questions, I hope to encourage all of us that the truth about the death of Jesus ought to change the way we live. As I studied these questions, it became apparent that whole sermons, or multiple sermons, could be preached on them. And, entire books have been written on them. So, forgive me for being brief on each topic, and perhaps long overall, but please talk to me after, or anytime, if you want to discuss anything more.

Why did Jesus have to die?

Perhaps the simplest of the four questions, but not without controversy. I am sure we have all heard someone argue that God can’t be loving if he would murder his own son. Or perhaps you have heard someone say that there must have been a better way. Scripture tells us God’s ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9) and he is perfect and just (Dt. 34:2). We cannot judge his plan for redemption using human understanding. Before Adam and

Church Service

You can watch the full service on Facebook or only the sermon on YouTube.

Sermon Manuscript

Introduction: Jesus active at his death

We have come tonight to meditate on the crucifixion of Jesus, which I am calling history’s darkest day. We are so familiar with the symbol of

the cross. See the cross on wall, jewelry, etc. This familiarity often keeps us from seeing the cross for what it is.

A. The horrors of crucifixion

i. Physical aspect: flogging, carrying cross beam, tied or nailed to cross beam, cross beam fastened to an upright stake, hang for days until death suffocation.

ii. Public aspect: took place on roadsides, deterrents.

iii. Social aspect: a slave or violent criminal’s death, Roman citizens not crucified.

iv. Spiritual aspect: In early Judaism, a person who died by crucifixion was considered cursed by God, based on Deut 21:23 (“cursed is anyone who is hanged on a tree”).

v. Crucifixion is nothing short of the cruelest, basest form of torture/execution that existed in the ancient world.

vi. This is the darkest day in history. However, this is not because of the practice of crucifixion but because of the person who is being crucified.

B. The privileged position of the reader

i. Thought experiment: Memory erasure + time travel to the day of Jesus’s crucifixion. What you could tell and what you couldn’t.

ii. You could see the crucifixion but its meaning/significance for you would not be self-evident.

        iii. As readers of the Bible, we have a more privileged position than that of passersby in Jerusalem on that dark day.

iv. We see the event and also get its meaning.

C. Surprise!

i. Jesus, an innocent man, being crucified brings two things to my mind: (a) passive, (b) victim.

ii. These things are true, but this is not where Luke places the accent.

iii. We see Jesus as active and in control…in surprising ways.

D. Framing question: Whom do we see at the epicenter of history’s darkest day?

Forecast structure: (1) walk through the text, (2) meditate on the presentation of Jesus in this passage.

1. Text Walkthrough

Background: Jesus has been falsely accused and sentenced to death. The people have chosen to have a notorious murderer freed and Jesus, an innocent man, condemned to execution by crucifixion.

A. Act 1: On the way to the cross: vv. 26–31.

i. 26: Jesus is too weakened to carry his own crossbeam.

ii. 27: Women are beating their chests and wailing.

iii. 28–31:

a. Jesus’s compassion (recall that earlier in Luke’s gospel, Jesus himself wept over the city of Jerusalem and the disaster coming).

b. What is that fate?

Luke 19:41–44

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” This refers to the brutal destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans in 70 AD.

c. v. 29: Childlessness better than children.

Typical: What do you say to someone who has just had a new baby born?

What do you say to someone you find out is struggling with infertility? or has had a miscarriage?

The disaster Jesus is describing is so horrifying, that the situation is flipped on its head.

d. Death better than life.

Quote from Hosea 10:8.

The coming judgment will be so terrifying that it would be better for a mountain to fall and kill you than to endure it.

-Even in the face of tremendous suffering, we have a general agreement that death is preferable to life. Not so here.

e. The fire will burn hotter than that of Jesus’s own crucifixion.

B. Act 2: Setting the scene at the cross: vv. 32–34.

i. OT imagery

a. Luke is taking pains to make sure that you know that Jesus is literally surro

We live in a culture based on exchange and trade. We all do it from a young age till we’re elderly. You learn this system when you’re just starting out. 

As an infant your parents reward good behavior with a smile or maybe a treat or your favorite toy.

A few years in you learn that you can trade your toys for other kids toys. Like I’ll give you this cool-shaped rock if you’ll give me your Nintendo. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

When you get into school you begin to trade time and effort for grades but hopefully for learning and growth as well. You learn things like a rock for a Nintendo is not a good deal.

When you get your first job you trade hours stocking the shelf or bagging items for an hourly wage.

In college you trade class-time, homework, and money for a degree that enables you to live a better life.

If you get married you give up some of the freedoms of single life for the blessings and responsibilities of married life.

As you work you trade hours commuting and going to your job to earn a paycheck, progress in your profession, and support your family and others. 

All throughout our life we are taught the importance of trade, of exchanging one thing for another. Sometimes when we trade we come out ahead. I chose a great degree and have a really great job. Other times we don’t come out ahead. I got this cool rock and he got my Nintendo.

But what if I could tell you about the greatest trade every offered to mankind. It’s called the great exchange. The author Paul writes in the New Testament about the great exchange in his letter to the Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (NIV®)

At first glance this verse can seem kind of confusing, but it’s talking about a trade. God the Father directed Jesus, who didn’t have any sin—sin is wrongdoing before God—to take on our sin so that we can take on his righteousness—right standing before God. In other words Jesus will trade you his innocence for our guilt.

Some illustrate this great exchange with book covers. It’s like Jesus’ book cover is placed on your book, your life. Then your cover is placed on his life. He pays for your sin and you get his goodness. When God opens up your book cover he finds the life of Christ. Others have illustrated this using a movie. Imagine that your life, every moment of every day, is played on a big projector for the whole world to see. You would have parts you’d like and be proud of but many parts that you would feel great shame over. But Jesus always did the right thing. He always obeyed God. Imagine if instead of playing your life for all to see you could play Jesus’ life for all to see. That would feel really good and it’s possible through the great exchange. But this comes at a high cost. Jesus has to die so that you can live. He has to pay the ultimate price to make this trade.

Maybe you’re thinking, “I don’t want any of that. That sounds like an unfair trade.” Well you’re right. It’s incredibly unfair, but it’s also our only hope. It’s our only way to redemption. It’s our only way out of this mess we’ve gotten ourselves into. You and I are so broken and so sinful in our hearts that we stand guilty and condemned before God unless Jesus trades himself for us. 

In today’s passage we see Jesus play this story out. He stands before soldiers and rulers and crowds condemned, but completely innocent, and then trades his life for one who is actually guilty. Jesus is a willing victim of violence as he chooses to lay down his life for those he loves. 

Jesus willingly chooses to lay down his life for us. (Luke 22:66-71)

Jesus just spent the evening praying in the Garden of Gethsemane for his Father’s will to be done. Judas comes with a band of soldiers and takes him away to be tried by those in power in Jerusalem.

66 At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus

Jesus can turn the worst of deniers into the best of disciples. Let’s think about denial for a moment. Denial means “to declare that something is untrue.” We tend to think of denial as a bad thing. I recently watched the Netflix Documentary Behind The Curve. There is a growing movement of people who believe the earth is flat. They believe the earth is not a round globe but a flat disk surrounded by a barrier of ice. Some believe a dome covers the earth. If you’ve ever seen the Truman Show a dome covers his town. Others believe there is no dome but we stare up into infinite space. It’s hotly debated. 

Now how big of a denial is it to deny that the earth is round? It’s huge. You have to ignore much of modern science as well as believe there’s some sort of conspiracy that makes it worth it for someone to cover up that the earth is flat. You and I—I hope—would never deny the earth is round. But what if I were to tell you that this is not the worst denial we can commit? In fact, there’s a much worse denial we often commit.

Each one of us struggles with denying Jesus. We struggle to be faithful disciples. We do this when we don’t give every part of our life to him or we don’t tell others about him because we’re embarrassed. That’s denying Jesus. It’s actually much worse than denying the earth is round because what you believe and do about Jesus has eternal weight. If we’re denying Jesus, the Lord of the universe, the Lord who created a beautiful round earth and all that lives and breathes on it, we need to change. In our text today we encounter two forms of denying Jesus:

Judas – Rejection of the heart (Luke 22:47-53)

We find the first denial in Judas who rejects Jesus in his heart. This is the week of Jesus’ crucifixion and death. At the beginning of this week Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to happy crowds who believed he had come to overthrow the Romans. We call this the Triumphant Entry. Only the religious leaders are rejecting Jesus. Throughout that week leading up to Passover they try to find a way to catch Jesus, but they can’t so they hire Judas to betray him. Luke 22:3 says “Satan entered Judas” and then he betrays Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

Luke 22:47-48 While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” (NIV®)

We find our first case of denial in Judas. He is one of Jesus’ twelve disciples and agrees to betray Jesus for “thirty pieces of silver” (Zech 11:12-13; Matt 26:15; c.f., Luke 22:1-6). Although the Bible doesn’t tell us exactly why Judas did it it seems like he loved money more than Jesus (Matt 6:21). His heart didn’t belong to Christ, but to other things he wanted more than Christ. He lived and traveled with Jesus for three years. He listened to his teachings, helped out, volunteered, but his heart was far from him and it was disastrous.

Matthew 26:24b “…But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” (NIV®)

When Jesus prayed for his disciples earlier that night after Passover he said this about his disciples.

John 17:12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. (NIV®)

The Bible goes on to tell us that Judas hanged himself (Matt 27:5; Acts 1:18-19). He didn’t believe in Jesus or forgiveness. Rejecting Jesus in your heart is the worst mistake a person can make. You can go through all the right motions, looking and acting like a Christian or a good person, volunteering at church and helping out with outreach or the worship team or serving as a greeter, but if your heart isn’t with Jesus you’ve rejected him. Judas kissed Jesus, a warm sign of greeting, but he didn’t love him. We can lift our hands in worship and song and say the most amazing p