IBCD Sermon Weekly

Today we celebrate Palm Sunday. This is a celebration of Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem (sometimes called "The Triumphant Entry") the week before he was crucified. One would hope that by this time his followers would understand the importance of the upcoming week and the trials Jesus would face, but they did not. Instead they were more focused on themselves. Sound familiar?

The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!"

- Matthew 21:9

In chapter twelve of Matthew, Jesus’ authority is being challenged in three ways – his attitude toward the Sabbath, the authority by which he is casting out demons, and by signs. Today we will be looking at how he responds to the demand for a sign.

Matthew 12:41-42 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.

The passage starts with the Pharisees responding to the success Jesus was having among the people by healing them, preaching to them, and casting out demons. Interestingly, it was not the fact Jesus was doing these things which cause people to question anything, they were used to this kind of thing, Jesus even seems to point this out when he says 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.  So, the question the people had was not “how did Jesus do this?” or “is this real?” but rather, “By whose authority is Jesus doing this?”

But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.– Matthew 12:28

Chapter 12 of Matthew’s Gospel is dealing with the question of Jesus’ authority. That authority is questioned in three ways – Jesus’ attitude toward the Sabbath, by whose authority Jesus commands demons, and finally the “sign” of authority that the religious leaders wanted Jesus to perform. So authority was being questioned on the area of Sabbath, Exorcism, and Signs. Today we are looking at Jesus’ attitude toward the Sabbath.

Matthew 12:7-8 7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.  8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” 

People desperately want to be able to explain God, and God stubbornly refuses to be put into a box of our own human understanding! However, he is gracious and condescended to have his very Word become flesh and dwell among us so that we could learn more about the character and nature of God, and so all humanity, be they Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female, could participate in the bigger, eternal, plans of God.

So today we answer some of the “mysteries” as presented in these passages and later in the scripture. 

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.– Matthew 11:27

Here is the truth about the Christian and money. Money is a tool, but it is a seductive tool. It justifies its existence; it whispers comfort and security into our lives. It promises to fix our problems and tells us that we could do so much good if we just had a little bit more. As a result, the Christian has to put money in its place, because if it is out of place, then we are asking for trouble. This is why the “love of money” is spoken against. Not money in general, but the love of money.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”– Hebrews 13:5

Too many in the church think the work of repentance is completed when they become believers. As a result, they think they are a fully finished work and they stop being involved in the process of being sanctified. Now it is true that we are, because God is gracious, given the “credit” of having Christ’s righteousness, his holiness, but under that mantle of grace, we have work that needs done. 

Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. – Matthew 11:20

“Reward” is not based on title or role. Those who support the prophet are given the prophet’s reward. Those who support the righteous man are given the righteous man’s reward. In other words, those who are supporting the one out in front are worthy of the same reward. They are a team, and they succeed or fail as a team.

The Apostle Paul seemed to understand this, and so he understood the church as a body, each part important and supporting the whole. Some parts are more prominent than others, but none is more important than the other.

Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward.

-Mathew 10:41