Lamp and Light

Psalm 2 – The Kingship and Inheritance of Jesus

When the Devil tempts Jesus, he saves his best play for last. In Matthew 4:8-10:

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”

Why did Satan save this temptation for last? Because the nations, the kingdoms of the world, are exactly what Jesus came for. He wanted the nations. He desired them. That’s part of what the definition of a temptation is. You have to want the thing being offered. And here the Devil is offering something Jesus desires. The nations of the world. But with a shortcut. A presumption. Here would be another Adam eating of yet another forbidden fruit. Another Fall.

But no. Jesus would not accept the nations as a gift from Satan. He would lay claim to them on the field of battle. He would only accept them by right of conquest.

The Human Side of Walking on Water

There is a striking detail mentioned during Mark’s account of Jesus walking on water. Mark 6:48-50:

And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” (ESV)

In the very moment of performing an action that gave a glimpse of the divine, Jesus has a very human moment. He intended to pass by the boat unnoticed, and failed in what he intended. The Incarnation was real, down to the flesh and bone. Jesus was human in every way, and as High Priest at the right hand of the Father, human still.

We see something similar at the wedding in Cana, where it seems Jesus is goaded by his mother into his first miracle. Turning water into wine, which John calls a manifestation of his glory (John 2:11), was an unplanned favor for his mom. God in the flesh, divinity mixed with the seemingly mundane.

We also know he could be taken off guard and surprised, as he was at being confronted with the centurion’s faith (Matt. 8:10).

This should give us great assurance. When Scripture tells us that he empathizes with our weaknesses, it is no mere lip service.

The Delicate Art of Swallowing a Camel

Intro to Sermon:

Matthew 22:35-40

Once upon a time, there was a house that had a sewage leak in the basement. The family had no idea where it was coming from, and as the mire got deeper by the minute, they made an emergency call to a plumber. The plumber came by, took a glance down the basement stairs, and turned to the husband and wife with his verdict. “First things first,” he said. “You need a water filter for your kitchen sink.”

The husband and wife, confused, asked how that would help with their basement situation.

The plumber shook his head and said. “It won’t, not directly. But it will make your water cleaner and help it taste better. You’ll be happier and healthier in no time. I guarantee it. I can install one tonight.”

The husband, getting a little angry now, and speaking a little slower, said “What does a filter have to do with sewage leaking into our basement?”

The plumber got a little indignant himself, and said “Nothing. But the quality of the water you drink is very important. Don’t you care about what your children are drinking? Trust me, I’m a professional.”

This plumber sounds absurd, but Christians should be careful about falling into the same trap. “All sins are equal in the eyes of the Lord” goes the mantra.

It sounds holy. And it sounds pious. It has a nice ring to it. But is it true? Is it actually Biblical?

Every sin is against a holy God, and against Him only do we sin (Psalm 51:4). We are all guilty and deserve death (Romans 6:23).

James 2:10-11 says that if you fail to keep the law in one point, you are accountable to the whole law. All of these together can sometimes tempt us to flatten all offenses and treat them all as equal, and to think that God treats them all as equal.

But we’re going to deconstruct this notion. And we’re going to start with everyone’s favorite punching bag: the Pharisees.

Jesus and the Pharisees

One of the warnings given against any kind of hierarchy of sin is that it will tempt us toward pride, to act like the Pharisee who looks over at the sinner, and thanks God that he is not like him (Luke 18:9-14). It would allow us to look down at the murderer when we are sinners ourselves.

But our pride is creative. It usually doesn’t need any help to inflate. While the sin and temptation to act like a Pharisee is perennial, we often are blind to what the sins of the Pharisees actually were, even though Jesus spells it out time and again.

What were some of his actual criticisms of the Pharisees?

Prayer and the Armor of God

Intro:

Even Jesus, who enjoyed such an intimate relationship and oneness with the Father, where it seemed prayer would be superfluous – still prayed continuously. Ever vigilant in prayer.

We need prayer, but its not just a responsibility and a need. Because if it were, it easily becomes the last resort of the desperate, Instead of being looked on as the high privilege of being a child of the king.

It easily becomes the ritual before each meal, and not looked on as of being able to enter the throne room of the creator of heaven and earth.

Unannounced.

Whenever we want.

Discerning the Body

1 Cor. 11:17-29

Paul warns those in the Corinthian church to not eat the bread or drink the cup in an unworthy manner, and then gives immediate advice on how to do it in a worthy manner. Let a person examine himself before partaking.

But what does that mean? Examine himself for what?

In an apparent reversal, Paul then explains further: “For anyone who eats the drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgement on himself.”

To properly examine ourselves, we must discern the body. Certainly, Paul has in mind Christ’s body. He resolved to preach nothing but Christ and him crucified, it was Christ’s body that hung on that cruel tree, and it is Christ’s body that the bread most obviously represents.

But in the rest of the letter, what has been Paul’s emphasis? What seems to be the main problem for the Corinthian church? At the beginning of the letter, he rebukes the church for having divisions among them. Just before talking about the establishment of the Lord’s Supper, he brings the divisions up again. When they come together, it is not for the better, but for the worse.

Because of these divisions, one of which being the division between the rich and the poor, it is not really the Lord’s Supper that they eat, and they eat it to their condemnation.

Paul isn’t done with the topic yet. Immediately after his instructions, he talks about spiritual gifts and then he picks up the subject of unity once again. The body does not consist of one member, but many, each with their own function. There are many parts, but one body.

Chapter 12 and verse 27: “Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it.”

The Lord’s Supper is not a meal that’s just between you and Jesus. You come to the table of the King with your brothers and sisters. You sit at the table with the rest of your family. You do not eat this meal alone.

What does it mean to discern the body of Christ? Look to your left, and then look to your right. Look at who is sitting in front of you. We are called to love one another. In the very next chapter, Chapter 13, Paul shows us what he calls a more excellent way. Faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love. For love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

What does it mean to discern the body of Christ? To love the body. To pray for the body. To find ways to give yourself up for the body, just as the example of Christ that we are about to memorialize right now. It means to not despise the body, and that means to not despise other members of the body. To be aware of each other’s presence, and not wallow in morbid introspection.

But Chapter 11 isn’t the only place Paul talks about the Lord’s Supper in this letter. In chapter 10, starting in verse 16, it says: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?”

Just as with the peace offering of old Israel, we are participants. We eat the bread, and are reminded of the peace that God has declared between us and Him. We are reminded that, before God looks at us with deserving wrath, he first looks at His own Son, on whom he poured out his wrath instead. He first looks at Jesus, and then looks at us in peace and fellowship.

When we look at others, we too must first look at Jesus. And then we must look at his body in peace and fellowship.

The table is not a place for strife. It is not a place for anger. It is not a place for envy. It is a place for peace. If you have something against your brother or sister, or if you think a brother or sister has something against you, it does not belong at this table.

Matthew 5:23

“So if you are offering your gift at the alter and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the alter and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

If we are only pretending to have unity here at the table, only pretending that there is peace among us, we are just eating and drinking judgement on ourselves. This is a table of no condemnation. This meal is a sign that God no longer accuses you. So do not bring your accusations and condemnations of a fellow brother here, even if they are just in your own head.

The paradox of the Lord’s Supper is that, to partake of it in a worthy manner, we must first recognize our unworthiness to partake of it. You should not fret and worry about your unworthiness. That’s part of the whole point. Of course you are unworthy to eat with the King. But that also means you should not fret an worry about the unworthiness of everyone else. Have you been slighted? Hurt? Has someone in the body done you harm? Of course they have. That is a given. They are unworthy. And so are you.

The body of Christ was broken on the cross, so that his body here, gathered at the table might be stitched together. The body of Christ was torn and pierced, so that this body here might be mended and unified. And the body of Christ was made alive again and glorified, so that this body here might have new life.

So as you partake of this meal, discern the body. Not the dead body that was put into the tomb, divided from spirit, but the living body of the resurrected Christ, and the living body into which you have been grafted.