Sermon Archive

Stories shape us. They mold us. They move us. They guide us. They make us. We have spent nearly two years exploring Luke’s story about this man Jesus. That story from beginning to end and everything in between is the most significant story this world has ever known. Every story is somehow connected to that one- even our own. As we try to summarize Luke’s account of this man Jesus, we consider what it means for our own lives and for eternity.

Not all classrooms and not all teachers are created equally. In the wake of Jesus’s death, his disciples were left trying to figure out what life held for them. They had to come to terms with what they had seen from this man they thought was the Messiah, but now was gone. There were rumors that he had come back from the dead, but that seemed far-fetched- or was it? As they walked back to their lives, two disciples were treated to the greatest lecture the world has ever heard and it changed everything for them- and it should change everything for you too.

Jesus’s story is unexpected from the very beginning. His birth, his life, and his death are full of surprising teachings and events that leave the crowds in awe and the religious leaders in anger right up to his final breath. But the heartbeat of our faith is that his story doesn’t end there. And because of that everyone, from the Roman Soldier to the terrified disciples to us today, has a hope that is unshakeable and eternal.

As Jesus makes his way to the cross, each step reveals the stark difference between Him and us. After being poured out as a drink offering, betrayed, and then denied- it would be easy, even justified, for Jesus to wonder what all this suffering is for. After all, what does He get out of it? But that question is one that we would ask, not Jesus. His motivation is entirely different than ours and in that motivation we find our only hope.

All things were made by him. He holds all things together. He is the image of the invisible God. He is the firstborn of all creation. Every knee will bow to him. Yet he stands mocked, beaten, handcuffed, and betrayed. How does the Son of God walk among us and this is the story we have to tell about him? It doesn’t make any sense… unless that’s the story He’s been writing since the very beginning.

Sometimes sin is outright rebellion and disobedience. Sometimes it’s simply forgetting your place in the story and thinking you’re the main character. When everything needs to revolve around you, you make decisions about your glory, comfort, and priorities. We can only worship God rightly when we have him at the center of the story. The disciples got this wrong all the time. Jesus never did.

Why did Judas betray Jesus? We may never know the full answer to that question. “How” could Judas do it? Well, that question is one we don’t even need to ask Judas because we know how it can happen all too well. The truth is that betrayal happens when someone’s own agenda is more important than the other person. Judas’s focus was all about him. In contrast, as Jesus brought his disciples together and told them how his own body and blood would be poured out for them. Jesus’s faithfulness to us never waivered and held firm as he loved us to the end.

It’s important to remember what is secondary and what is primary. Getting those two reversed can lead to missing the whole point. When Jesus talks about things that will happen “at the end,” the temptation is to focus on the details. Unfortunately, that can often make us miss out on the bigger picture. The details are important, the bigger picture is what all those details are designed to do- to make us live our lives differently. When you keep the end in view, it should teach you to live a life that reflects that truth.

Holding the flashlight for your dad can be a dangerous task. You wouldn’t think it would cause so many problems, but almost universally it does. Why? Because it would be easier for your dad to do it by himself than involve you. This is true of our Heavenly Father too. Yet he chooses to use us for his work- to our joy. The problem comes when we start to think that because we held the flashlight that we are actually the ones that did the work. When the Pharisees held their heads high as their money dropped into the temple treasury, they had made a critical mistake….they thought God needed them.

Sometimes, we can get so caught up in the things that we want that we completely miss the most important things that we should’ve seen. After Jesus’s opponents set multiple traps for him, he turned the questions back on them. When Jesus does it, he doesn’t try to trap his opponents but to teach them. He wants to show them just who this Messiah was supposed to be and why they’ve missed the obvious truth right in front of them.

You can’t just get rid of religion in a country. When you take away Christianity, as American has done at an alarming rate over the last several decades, something has to fill the void. For so many, what has taken the place of church and Jesus is political parties and candidates. When Jesus’s opponents tried to set Him up, he was ready to teach them about the nature of our faith, the temporary nature of our world, and the eternal nature of God.