Exploring My Strange Bible - The Hammer that Heals - Gospel of Matthew Part 18

Episode Date: September 3, 2018

We look at Matthew Chapter 11 today. It is kind of a puzzling story, where John the Baptist (who is actually Jesus’ relative and played a very key role in Jesus’ life early on) is in prison. John the Baptist is also expressing serious doubts about who Jesus is and his identity. It is a fascinating story that gives us a window into the kinds of expectations that Jewish people had about the Messiah. What was Jesus NOT doing that made John have these doubts? We explore this story and our own personal expectations of Jesus in this episode.

Tim Mackey, Jr. utterly amazing and worth following with everything that you have. On this podcast, I'm putting together the last 10 years worth of lectures and sermons where I've been exploring the strange and wonderful story of the Bible and how it invites us into the mission of Jesus and the journey of faith. And I hope this can be helpful for you too. I also help start this thing called The Bible Project. We make animated videos and podcasts about all kinds of topics in Bible and theology. You can find those resources at thebibleproject.com. With all that said, let's dive into the episode for this week. All right, well, in this episode, we're going to keep exploring the Gospel according to Matthew. These were a number of teachings that I gave years ago when I was a pastor at Door of Hope Church.

And in this teaching, we're going to explore a story from Matthew chapter 11. It's kind of a puzzling story where John the Baptist, who is Jesus' relative, he played a really key role in Jesus' life earlier on. Now John the Baptist, he's in prison, and he's expressing serious doubts about who Jesus is and his identity. It's a fascinating story that gives us a window into a couple things. One, about the kinds of expectations that Jewish people had about the coming Messiah or Deliverer figure,

and what was Jesus not doing that John thought he was going to do that made him have these doubts. But John's experience of doubt in regard to Jesus also opens up a really personal and pastoral set of issues about what happens and how do we process through circumstances where Jesus doesn't do what we expected him to do in our own stories, in our own lives. How do you process that? How do you push through to the other side? Those are the things that we're going to explore as we look into Matthew chapter 11. So let's do it. Matthew chapter 11. I'm just going to read the first few verses here and we'll dive in.

After Jesus had finished instructing his 12 disciples, he went on from there to teach and to preach in the towns of Galilee. Now when John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, are you the one who is to come, or should we be expecting somebody else? Okay, let's pause. So John, who's John? So John the Baptist, right? It doesn't say that, but that you're just supposed to know from the story. Okay, here's where we are. We've for months been following Jesus's kingdom mission. He's cruising around the northern villages and towns of Israel and Galilee, and he's announcing, he's teaching and announcing the kingdom of God is here,, and he's announcing, he's teaching and announcing the

kingdom of God is here, but then he's also bringing it into reality through his deeds. So we followed weeks of Jesus healing people and his signs and wonders and so on, and everybody's minds are boggled. And then just last week, Josh brought us into chapter 10, where Jesus is going to spread and extend the scope of the Jesus movement. And so, he equips and calls this circle of 12 as a symbol of the restoration of the 12 tribes of Israel, and he teaches them and then sends them out to extend the mission. They're supposed to go be doing what Jesus has been doing. And so that's

where we come back around here. We have Jesus's mission, and then his mission extended through his circle of disciples. And it goes out, and we're told that Jesus didn't stop. It's not like he's like, phew, now they can go do the work. So he's still out there doing what he has been doing, instructing. After instructing his disciples, he's going around teaching and preaching. So, gaining lots of press, right? There's lots of, there's even more public attention to the Jesus movement through his disciples. And so John, John the Baptist hears

about the deeds of the Messiah, what Jesus has been up to. Now, where is John the Baptist right now? He's sitting in prison. Now, this was passing note, back in chapter 4. So remember, John the Baptist, this whole text is about John the Baptist. So John the Baptist was a crucially important figure for Jesus.

Jesus' parents and John's parents, they knew each other, and they grew up in and around each other. We don't have much information about that, but we know at least that their families are connected and their childhoods were connected. And then at some point, John the Baptist, he becomes a crazy man, right? But in the sense of that all of the great Hebrew prophets of Israel were eccentric people with a unique calling. And so John finds himself called to become a voice to all the people of Israel. And so he goes out into the wilderness, and he eats insects and beehives, and he wears uncomfortable clothes, and he lives and sleeps in the desert, right? And he starts calling all of Israel to come out to him, and he begins this renewal movement of Israelites who will confess their sins and wait for the coming of the Messiah and so on. So Jesus

went out to John. You remember, he was baptized by John and so on. And then John gained so much public attention, he gained the wrong kind of attention, that of the puppet king of the Romans there in the land, Herod. Herod didn't like John for a number of reasons, put him in prison. And so John, we don't know how long here, John's been rotting in a Roman prison cell, which was no picnic, by the way. The reason why it's, especially in the early church, you hear visiting prisoners as one of the key ministries is because there was no, like they didn't give you food in prison. They didn't do anything for you. If you don't have friends bringing you stuff in prison, you're going to starve and rot there. And so it's no picnic.

John's sitting there in prison, and what do we, we hear that he, look at this, he's sitting in prison, and then he starts hearing these reports about like, well, Jesus, he's out doing this and this and this. And then he sends his followers, and they're out doing this and this and this. And so, he sends some of his, John sends some of his followers to go ask Jesus a question. Now, just stop right there. Given what John knows about Jesus and what he's experienced with Jesus and the baptism and so on, what would you think the question would be?

What would you think John would want to ask? You know, like, wow, what's happening? Like, this is, this is, how can I pray for you? You know, this is really exciting, you know. But what does he ask? What he asks is, you're the Messiah? You're the Messiah. Are you sure? Or was it you? Or should we be expecting somebody else? Like, who saw that question coming from this guy? You know what I'm saying? This is one of what we would think would be one of the closest people to Jesus. And in this chapter and the next chapter, Matthew's collected a whole bunch of very different types of responses to Jesus. Some from people that we know are opposed to Jesus, like the Pharisees.

But we're going to get stories about some of the people closest to Jesus, like John the Baptist or even his own family members. And what we're going to see is they're like weirded out by Jesus. And they don't know what to make of him. I mean, really, look at this. Are you the one? He hears what Jesus is doing and it doesn't lead him to the conclusion, oh yes, he's totally the Messiah. He starts questioning whether Jesus is the Messiah because of what he hears Jesus doing. Jesus kept that there. Don't read over that. What Jesus is doing somehow doesn't convince him that Jesus is the Messiah. It makes him wonder. Why is that? Okay, so we'll put some of John's words up on the screen here.

Do you remember what John said when he announced that the great day of God's visitation was coming and that the Messiah was coming? Do you remember what John said? Let's just refresh ourselves, right? So lots of people are coming out to John in the desert. Here's what he says to them. He says, hey, hey, y'all. That's my Texan for you, right? So hey, y'all, don't think that you can say to yourselves, yeah, we have Abraham as our father, right? So, hey, y'all, don't think that you can say to yourselves, yeah, we have Abraham as our father, right? We're Israelites, so we're good. We're good.

We're on great terms with God just because of the fact of our birth. No, no, no, no, no. I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham from rocks. The ax is at the root of the trees. Every tree that doesn't produce good fruit is going to be cut down, thrown into the fire. I'm just baptizing you in water for repentance. But after me comes one. There we go. Are you the one?

John asks. He's announcing. He said back there in the desert. He said, after me is coming someone who's more, he said, back there in the desert, he said, after me is coming someone who's more powerful than I, whose sandals I'm not even worthy to carry. He's going to baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand. He's going to clear the threshing floor, gathering weed into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Let's just pause right there. So intense guy, right? With a very intense message.

So, and what John's doing here, John grew up immersed in the Hebrew prophets, and he sensed a calling that he was to come as one in the long chain of Hebrew prophets to announce the day. That there was a day when the God of Israel would act in history to reclaim his world, to bring the kingdom, to send the Messiah who would set up the kingdom of shalom and justice and goodness and so on. And it will be a day that will bring God's rescue, but also God's purifying judgment, right? God's justice. And so what was John saying? Listen, the Messiah is coming right

after me, and it's going to get intense. He's going to bring the hammer, right? I mean, there you go. Why? And then, so he baptizes Jesus, right? And the whole thing, God speaks in the Spirit, and you know, God says, you are my son, I love you, right? There's that whole thing happens right before John's eyes. He witnesses this, and he says to Jesus, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And then Jesus goes and actually starts doing his thing, and it leads John to question, wait, wait, really? You're the one. Do you see

why? See, what has Jesus been doing? He's been healing people and teaching. What did John say Jesus would do? Hammer time. So, I mean, it's really intense. He would bring the hammer of God's justice on God's people. That's what John thought would happen. And then John is rotting in prison now, and he hears about what Jesus is doing, and he's like, wait, this doesn't fit. That's what's going on with John's question here. And look at Jesus' response. Verse 4, Jesus replied, go back and report to John what you hear and what you see. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed. The deaf hear, the dead are raised,

and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is the one who doesn't stumble on account of me. That's Jesus' answer. Clear as always. Crystal clear as always. So how is that an answer? Jesus has just given a summary of what he's been up to. If you go through, he says six things, and almost all of those six things, each one has a story attached that you just read a few chapters ago about people who are crippled or lame and they walk, blind people seeing, the deaf hearing, and good

news being proclaimed to the poor. Think of the blessings that Jesus pronounced at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, that the spiritual zeros and the nobodies and those on the outside from the religious leader's point of view, they are the blessed ones who are part of God's kingdom. And so Jesus just summarizes what he's been up to. And more than that, Jesus is a Bible geek. And so actually every single one of those six lines is drawn from a prophecy from the scroll of Isaiah. It's really fascinating. Jesus is quoting here from four passages in Isaiah.

What a Bible geek. I love this kind of thing. But he's taken phrases out of Isaiah chapter 29, Isaiah chapter 35, and 42 and 61. Put them in a blender, and what you get is this little paragraph right here. And all of these passages are talking about the great day, the great day when the God of Israel would visit his people with salvation and judgment, would purify his people, would send the messianic kingdom, and so on. And so what is Jesus saying to John? He's responding to John, and he's saying, listen,

like the kingdom of God is actually, you're not, you weren't wrong, John. The kingdom of God is here. I am the one who's bringing all of this into reality, but it doesn't look like what you thought it would look like, John. Look at Jesus' last words. He says, blessed is anyone who doesn't stumble on account of me. So, John told everybody that the Messiah would bring the hammer. Jesus comes, and he brings healing, and He brings this open, generous dinner table where tax collectors, right, can turn and follow Jesus and then bring all their friends to, like, be around Jesus and experience His teaching and His wisdom and so on. And so from John's point of view, like, John's like, I'm in prison, right? I thought I was the voice crying out in the wilderness, and you and I were like on the

same team, and so on. And then like, I'm in prison, and what is the Messiah doing about it? He's having dinner with tax collectors, and he's having these dinner parties, and he's healing people, and that's great for them, but like, where's the kingdom, Jesus? Where's the hammer? great for them, but like, where's the kingdom, Jesus? Where's the hammer? And Jesus says, listen, listen, John. It's here, but it looks different than what you expected it would look like. Blessed are those who can see underneath what they thought would happen and who actually see what I'm actually doing. So let's pause right there.

And, you know, Jesus, he's not rebuking John. I don't think he's mad at John, but I do think he sees that John, there's something happening in John's head. There's a disconnect. And let's be sympathetic with John, right? Let's not bag on him. Let's think about,

if you've ever rotted in prison before, which I'm guessing none of us, right? Very few of us have any experience in something like that. So the kind of place that you would be when you're trapped in a prison cell, odds are you're not going to get out of here. And you were once cohorts with Jesus. And in fact, you you set the public stage for him to rise, and you said all of this about what Jesus was going to do, and then Jesus goes around not doing that, and I'm still here in prison. Anybody, right? So it's very clear wherever John's question comes from, it comes from a place where he clearly had a little story in his head about how things were going to go and about what Jesus would do in the world and in his life,

and that story is not coming true. Just not at all. And he's clearly rocked by it enough that he will gather his disciples to go ask Jesus and be like, are you sure? Are you sure about this? Like, am I backing the wrong horse here? You know, is that what's happening?

He's in some sort of crisis moment. And it might be easy, you know, for us to sit back and be like, oh, John, just trust Jesus or whatever, have faith, but let's sympathize with this man. So John's going through an experience that I think all of us have gone through at some point. And it opens up a question, and just think from John's perspective for a minute. Is John's hope in Jesus? Is John's hope and trust in Jesus? What do you think? Well, he wouldn't be asking the question, right,

if he wasn't hoping in Jesus in some way. That's why he's puzzled, right? It's Jesus I was hoping in you, and I thought you were the one, right? That's why I told everybody. You know, I have to go back on my words now? What? He doesn't, right?

So in one sense, clearly he's hoping in Jesus, but yet in another sense, what is he discovering as he sits in prison and the whole little movie that he had in his head is, you know, in pieces on the ground. He's like, well, this is not what I thought was supposed to happen. In one sense, yes, his hope is in Jesus, but in another sense, no. But he didn't know that. What he's discovering is that he was actually placing his hope and his trust in a little movie reel that had been playing in his head about what he expected Jesus to do and to be. And then all of a sudden, Jesus doesn't do that, and he's not those kinds of things, crisis. Anybody? Anybody? He sympathized with John. So what John is experiencing is something, it's just, it's a life lesson

that just humans have to learn in general, right? Is that, like, as you grow, you learn that there are times in life when you know you have high expectations, and then they're not met, and you're like, oh well, you know, I knew, and it's crushing and disappointing. But then there are other times when things happen in your life, and something goes down, and it's just crisis, devastation. There's some kind of strong emotional reaction, and maybe it's some crisis, devastation, there's some kind of strong emotional reaction and maybe it's some small incident or whatever, like just something didn't turn out at work or something or when your friend just says an offhand comment and it just sets you off or whatever and there's all this now negative energy and emotion and you're like,

whoa, what's going on? And it's always good to pay attention, like what's stirring up all this energy inside of me? And odds are, odds are, what you're coming across is the fact that you actually really had a clear, strong set of expectations about what you hoped would happen, and they're not happening, but you didn't know you had those expectations until they weren't met. Anybody? So it's kind of like Star Wars, right? Let me just bring it all the

way back around. Because, sorry, but the new trailer. Anybody? Did you see the new trailer two weeks ago? Could be. Could be. The one, you know? Anyhow, so my experience in the summer of 1999, that fateful summer where I win the first movie of the new trilogy, I was just going, I was just like, yes, you know, I grew up on these movies and played the audio tapes, you know, as I played with my toys growing up about all the scenes and so on. And so I was just excited to go see it. I mean, I just, I was so bummed. I was just so disappointed. I remember walking out of the theater just going, man, I don't want to, if I ever have kids, I don't want to show that to them. Are you kidding me? Right? So what was happening there? I had such a magical encounter

with the universe of Star Wars growing up. I didn't know that I had such high expectations walking into that movie theater. And it wasn't like a life crisis or anything like that, but it was actually really, really disappointing to me. And so here we go, you guys. The end of 2015, right? They're telling us by the end of the year. And I'm just really, I mean, J.J. Abrams, he's really talented, you know, the writer and director. But I'm just trying to tell myself, just expect that it's going to be lame, right? Just expect it. And then if it's not lame, you can only go up from the trilogy from 10 years ago, you know what I mean? And so just think that it'll be like that. Are you with me here? So I have a friend, one of his life sayings is this.

He says, expect gravel. Just expect gravel in your life. Anything else is a happy surprise. And that's kind of a morose mindset to live your life with. But you get the point here. There are all kinds of expectations that we know we have. There are other expectations that we only realize we have until they're not met. And so you have a good friend or family member or spouse,

and something they say or do is such a huge letdown to you. And you're like, why? What's going on here? Or probably really it's the other person who's like, whoa, I just forgot to get the ice cream at the store or something. I just, you know, forgot to bring flowers or whatever. And then, so what's happening there? It's an expectation that's being exposed. And hardship and unexpected suffering in our lives has a way of revealing these hidden expectations. And it's the same in following Jesus, as we don't realize that actually we were banking on Jesus to solve most of our problems. And we are following Jesus because we expect that he is going to make our wildest dreams

come true. And we don't know that that's actually what we think until our wildest dreams don't come true, until our nightmares come true, right? Or the opposite comes true. And then we find ourselves in the space where we're scandalized by Jesus. And what Jesus is actually doing in the world, we're like, yeah, that's cool, but I'm sitting here in prison. And like, what about me? And what about solving my problem, Jesus? Why isn't that higher on your agenda list?

And you realize all of a sudden what you really were expecting Jesus to do all along. That's the space where John is at. And so it raises a question. It's an honest question. It's a question you have to ask. Why should you follow Jesus? You know? Like, clearly where John's at. So he hears about what Jesus is doing. He's like, are you the Jesus? You know, like what? That's clearly where John's at. So like he hears about

what Jesus is doing. It's like, are you the one? Am I going to keep banking on you? Because I'm here in prison and nothing's happening with that Jesus. So why follow him? If you don't have any guarantee that Jesus is going to solve all your problems or make your wildest dreams come true. Like, why follow him? So, let that hang, and let's turn back to what Jesus says about John, and he's going to address this, this whole issue. Let's go back. Verse 7. John's disciples, they leave. Jesus begins to speak to the crowd about John, and he has not one negative thing to say about him. John's doubting Jesus. Jesus never doubts John or speaks poorly of John. He says to the crowd, he says, hey everybody, what did you go out in the wilderness to see? He's referring to John being out in the wilderness. What did you think you were going to when you went to go see John in the wilderness? Were you going to see a reed swayed by the wind? Jesus always teaches

through images and parables and so on. So did you go to see a pushover? Somebody who just kind of like caves to the pressure and expectations of other people. Any person who lives in the desert and eats insects and beehives is not living by anyone else's expectations, you know what I'm saying? So, no, there's no pushover. You didn't go in the desert to see a pushover. Well, if not, what did you go out to see? Did you go to see a man dressed in, like, fine, soft clothing? Did you go out to see somebody raised on creature comforts, you know, and all of a sudden now that he's just in prison, he's a sissy or something? Dude, John is no sissy.

He wasn't raised with a silver spoon in his mouth, so to speak. Nutted, no. Those who are fancy like that, they live in the king's palaces. Look at Jesus' dig on kings here, right, and how they live. Then what did you go out to see then? A prophet? Oh yeah. Yeah, more than a prophet, I tell you. This is the one about whom it is written, and then he quotes, ever the Bible geek, Jesus quoting Malachi 3 here, I send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare the way before you. John was not only a prophet,

he was a prophet that all of the prophets looked forward to, that there would be a great herald who would announce the coming of the Messiah and the Messianic kingdom. And he's saying, John's that guy. Truly I tell you, Jesus says, among those born of women, there has not risen anyone greater

than John the Baptist. Yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. This is kind of a puzzling saying. Anybody? This one ever got you? Yeah, it's a little long. So it's Jesus. He says things differently than we would say them. But of course, he lived 2,000 years ago on the other side of the planet and spoke a different language. Of course he's going to talk in ways that sound funny to us. Here's what he's saying. So John the Baptist, he's one of the most unique and privileged human beings

for all who came before him. Why? Because he got to play this pivot role in history, where he was not only a prophet, but he was the prophet foretold by the prophets. And he was the prophet who announced the great day of visitation where the kingdom would come and the Messiah would come. What a unique, privileged role John had. But here's the reality, privileged role John had. But here's the reality, is that John is going to die in prison, and he's never actually going to see and witness the birth of the things that he announced.

And so Jesus' disciples, who are right there around him, those who are way, like, there's all kinds of disciples of Jesus who are around Jesus that you'll never know their names. Their names are lost to history, right? But they're greater than John, because they are going to be privileged to see Jesus actually bring the kingdom fully into reality. Do you see that there? So he's saying John's awesome, but he's not going to be able to see the birth of the things that he announced. You all are going to see them, he says to be able to see the birth of the things that he announced. You all are going to see them, he says to his disciples. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence. And violent people have been raiding it or plundering it.

Here's what I think Jesus is saying. This is one of the really highly debated phrases, sayings of Jesus, what exactly he's getting at. Here's what I think he means, so I could be wrong, is that ever since John came on the scene and ever since Jesus came on the scene, bringing the kingdom in a way that nobody expected, there's been this growing violent opposition. That opposition is coming from the Bible teachers of Israel, right, the Pharisees. It's going to start coming from those who run the temple in Jerusalem, which is also their form of government. You've got the opposition of King Herod, who is violently placing John in

prison and so on. And of course, Jesus is going to meet violent opposition as well. on. And of course, Jesus is going to meet violent opposition as well. But don't mistake that violent opposition that somehow things are going wrong or the plan has gone off track. He says, for all the prophets and the law, the scriptures prophesied pointed forward to John, if you're willing to accept it, he is elijah who was to come do you have ears are you listening so he's bible geek he's quoting from malachi 4 now first three no four which said that a prophet like elijah would come before the great day and he's like so jesus is saying like make no mistake come before the great day. And he's like, so Jesus is saying, like, make no mistake,

the kingdom is here, but it doesn't look like what even John expected it would look like. And that's his point. Let's close with this last section here. He says, to what can I compare this generation? They're like children sitting in a marketplace calling out to other people saying, they're like children sitting in a marketplace calling out to other people saying, hey, we played the pipe for you. Why aren't you dancing? We sang a dirge for you. Why aren't you mourning? So he's coming back to this expectation thing here. He's saying, here's what's happening, and here's what, as Jesus does what he does, and it's what nobody expected, here's how people are responding to Jesus. They're like little demanding kids who come into the marketplace, you know, the day after the Sabbath, right, and everybody's back, and they're getting their food and stuff for the work week and so on, and so they're like little kids, maybe beggar

children, and they come, and they come and play a little flute, you know, and the thing is, is, hey, cheer up, it's the day after the Sabbath, it's the week's beginning, now, you know, let's celebrate and dance and put some coins in my hat, you know, this kind of thing, and he's saying it's like these kids who are playing their little flutes in the marketplace and nobody's dancing, and they get angry. Like, why is, well, I'm playing the music. Dance, people. You know, it's like a slash mob where nobody dances or something like that. You know, it's like the music is playing and nobody's into it. Or it's like little kids playing a funeral song and nobody responds. So here's what he's saying. He's saying this generation

has a whole set of expectations about what John was supposed to be like, about what Jesus would be like as He brings the Messianic kingdom. Jesus and John are not dancing to their tune, and now they're getting ticked off about it. Because look at what he says. He says, listen, John came. He didn't have dinner parties, eating or drinking. He went out to the desert and ate insects. And you all said, he's a freak.

But then here I am, the Messiah, the Son of Man, and I'm having these dinner parties, celebrating God's grace with Matthew, and you call me a drunk, right? Friend of tax collectors and sinners. Like, which way do you want it, right? So, you get the point? Jesus is great. He could have just said, listen,

I know I'm not meeting your expectations, but instead he says this, which is way more awesome way of saying it. Look at his closing line. He says, wisdom, but wisdom is proved right by her deeds. Leave it to Jesus to end with a little riddle, a little cryptic riddle. And once again, Bible geek, he's pulling from Proverbs chapter 1 and Proverbs chapter 8, this figure of wisdom. That wisdom and discernment is proved not by how much you know, but by how things actually play out in reality. And he's saying, listen, if you think I'm not the one because I'm not doing what you expect me to do, then fine, whatever.

You just watch what happens. And you will see, for those of you who have discernment, that the kingdom of God is actually here. This is actually the God of Israel at work in the world. And for those who have eyes to see it, you'll see what's going to happen. Wisdom is proved right by her deeds. So just stop and ask

yourself, what is going to happen in the story? John's going to have his head chopped off in about three chapters, and Jesus is going to face growing opposition until he gets arrested, put up on false charges, and gets hung on a Roman execution rack where he suffers and dies. Wisdom is proved right by her deeds. John dies, Jesus dies. John dies, Jesus dies. And just like us, many people in Jesus' days will say, clearly that's a sign of failure. Clearly that's a sign. A dead Messiah is a failed Messiah, from their point of view.

How can that be where it was supposed to be going all along? Jesus says, pay attention to how this story is going to go, and you will see the kingdom of God brought into reality. Some people would see what happened with John and Jesus as a failure. Jesus saw it as how it had to go. Why? From the children in the marketplace, if God's kingdom is going to come, it's going to beat out those people, the bad guys, which for them was the Romans and any Jews who

compromise and go with them. Once we just get rid of them, then we'll set up the new kingdom here and everything will be rosy. That is not the story Jesus has in his head. Jesus has a different enemy that he has a target on. It's this mysterious, deeply mysterious enemy of evil and spiritual evil. And the way that spiritual evil has hijacked human history and hijacked the human heart, corporately and individually. And Jesus is here not to solve everybody's problems. Jesus is here to actually be the embodiment of God's love joining itself to the tragic human story and suffering our pain and suffering our shattered expectations and the consequences of our sin. And he's going to conquer his enemy, evil, by letting evil conquer him,

and exhausting its power completely in allowing evil to kill him, in and through human beings. And that's not a failure. It was according to everybody else around him. That was the plan. Because Jesus knows that God's commitment to his broken, suffering, dying world is so great that he will not allow sin and death to get the final word. And so Jesus' resurrection creates and opens up this whole new possibility for hope, for true hope, for hope that God's love and his commitment gets the final word in our world and in our lives. Amen? So the question is why? Why did Jesus do that?

And let's just listen to his words, John chapter 15. This is why he did it. He says, this is my commandment, that y'all love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, than to lay down his life for his friends. Let's just stay right there. Why did Jesus do what he did? And why did Jesus come and live among us and not solve everybody's problems? He healed people, but eventually they died too. And Jesus, instead of solving everyone's problems forever and ever, he actually joins himself to our tragic fate as human beings and he dies along with us.

Why did he do that? Because this is a story about a God who absolutely loves and is committed to his world and his creation and he loves human beings who are compromised by evil. So, what does this tell us about our question? Why should I follow Jesus if I have no guarantee that he's going to solve all? You guys, the man that we follow was crucified and executed by the Romans. Whatever it's going to mean to follow Jesus, it is not the key to success in your life, or the key to all of our problems being answered.

It's just clearly not. There will be moments in following Jesus where we're surprised by moments of surprise and joy and things happening in our lives that are so wonderful that we're just grateful and it's amazing. And those are also matched by moments of following Jesus that are going to be tragic, that are going to be so painful and so difficult because that's just how life is in our broken world. And we have no guarantee that Jesus is going to prevent any of that from happening. He didn't prevent it from happening to him.

He didn't prevent it from happening to John. So why follow this man? Why? What's the point? And it seems to me the point is this. You show me any religion or any religious worldview where at its heart is a God who is so utterly in love with and committed to every different type of person that you could possibly imagine that he would do this for them. Just tell me. And just show me anybody more amazing than Jesus. Show me anyone more beautiful with such wisdom and grace and compassion and mercy for people.

How can we not follow him? Like, did Jesus somehow abandon those 21 Christians who got their heads chopped off on the coast of Libya in February? Did he not love and care about them? Did Jesus not love and care about the 147 Christians, you know, who were murdered at the college in Kenya last month? I mean, if we don't have any guarantee

that none of those things are going to, why follow the man? Show me anybody who loves you and is as committed to you that he would do this for you. Lay down his life. And so I don't know why your wildest dreams aren't coming true. And I don't know why Jesus doesn't solve your problems for you. But I can at least, as one of your pastors say this, we can rule out one option with certainty. Your wildest dreams are not coming true. Bad things are happening to you

for any number of reasons, but one of them is not that Jesus doesn't love you and that he doesn't care about you. Because somebody who doesn't love you and that he doesn't care about you, because somebody who doesn't love you and doesn't care about you wouldn't do this for you. And so whatever Jesus is calling us into, he's calling us to the cross, and he's calling us to see his death as for us, but also his life as for us, and his resurrection as for us. And what it forces us to do is to put our hope in Jesus, not in the story that we think our life will turn into if we follow Jesus, but actually Jesus.

And it forces us to be open to Jesus doing things in our lives that are not in the script and that you wouldn't have imagined. And that's an exciting and a terrifying place to be. But if I know that I'm in the hands of someone like this, someone who loves me and laid down their life for me, it allows me to live in a space of peace and of trust in Jesus' commitment to me no matter what happens in my life. Amen. Thank you for listening to Exploring My Strange Bible podcast. We're going to pick up next time with more explorations, more soundings in the gospel according to Matthew. So onward and upward,

we'll see you next time.