Jesus was crucified between two convicted criminals. At first, both joined everyone else in mocking and scorning Jesus. Then something happened. One of the robbers responded to his fellow thief’s taunts and then to Jesus as a man who has received grace. Jesus the King rules, even while nailed to a cross on a hill outside Jerusalem.

Luke 21:5-19 draws out three major things for us:

1- Unfaithful leaders judged 

2- There will be suffering and persecution 

3- He sees us, has a  plan and a promise

Do you wake up each day thinking about a bloody sacrifice?  How gruesome! The very idea of sacrificing an animal, let alone a human, seems bizarre, primitive, and disturbing.  And yet… sacrifice is the engine that drives Christianity.  Without sacrifice, Christianity goes nowhere.

A deeper look at sacrifice:

Jesus was confronted by the Sadducees as they sought to ridicule him for believing in and teaching the resurrection of the dead. He, in turn, illustrated how they neither knew the Scriptures nor their God.

Jesus’ words are quite timely for us today as many people attempt to reduce Christianity to being a good person. While being a good person is wonderful, it is not the essence of being a disciple of Jesus. Some want to discard Biblical doctrine, replace it with a semi-Christian religious moralism  and call it Christianity. Jesus wants nothing to do with this.

Instead, Jesus speaks about three things that really matter to God and should matter to us as well.

Don’t just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon: Hebrews 8:1-13; John 4:19-26

The parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector is a lesson on what it takes to enter the kingdom of God. The Pharisee thought it was hard-won righteousness through devotion to religious and spiritual duties that would impress God. The Tax Collector wasn’t sure how to approach God on the situation, so he humbled himself and asked for mercy. We learn from the outcome of the parable that the mercy of God is always the way in, not any kind of personal righteousness.