Matthew 20:17-28
IT MAKES SENSE!
LIFE OF CHRIST #43
Here are some humorous sayings that make sense:
· Never forget a friend, especially those that owe you--Chinese Proverb
· Better to understand a little than to misunderstand a lot.
· Suburbs are areas where they cut down trees and then name the streets after them.
· You can't have everything, where would you put it?
· A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
· If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished!
· I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow doesn't look too good either.
· Keep smiling - it makes everyone wonder what you're up to.
· Buy one for the price of two and get the second one free!
· Did you know that dolphins are so intelligent that within only a few weeks of captivity, they can train Americans to stand at the very edge of the pool and throw them fish?
· How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on.
· If you blow in a dog's face-he'll get mad at you, but take him for a ride in the car - the first thing he does is stick his head out of the window!
· Man is a peculiar creature. He spends a fortune making his home insect-proof and air-conditioned, and then eats in the yard. http://www.freewebs.com/funnysayings/quesfunnysayings.htm
People say lots of things, humorous and serious that make a lot of sense.
We especially like it when people say sensible things when others are saying and doing things which are not sensible.
Nobody made more sense than the Lord Jesus Christ and that is because He is God.
This morning we are continuing our study of the Life of Christ. Jesus just completed his last tour of Galilee. Last week we saw His interview with the “Rich Young Ruler”.
This week Jesus is slowly headed towards Jerusalem for His last fateful visit. On his way He will pas through Jericho and this event probably took place on the way to or in Jericho.
It is during this last trip to Jerusalem that Jesus once again tells the disciples that He is facing death, burial and resurrection. He is making sense out of things that don’t and won’t make sense to the disciples.
Shortly after that the mother of James and John, probably Salome, sister of Mary, Jesus Aunt, came to Jesus with James and John and asked that the two boys sit in the highest places of honor is Jesus’ coming kingdom. Jesus made sense of that request showing that their priorities were wrong.
And speaking of wrong priorities, the disciples got upset with James and John for seeking such a position over them. Jesus again made sense out of their selfish attitude.
Let’s watch Jesus make sense this morning. Let’s see:
SUBSTITUTION IS THE SENSE OVER SIN – Vss. 17-19
SACRIFICE IS THE SENSE OVER SELF-SEEKING – Vss. 20-23
SERVICE IS THE SENSE OVER SELFISHNESS – Vss. 24-28
SUBSTITUTION IS THE SENSE OVER SIN – Vss. 17-19
Vs. 17 – This is at least the third time that Jesus had warned the disciples. He took them apart, because telling the multitude would do no good and stir up all sorts of trouble.
The disciples were still expecting Jesus to establish His Messianic Kingdom then and now. They were looking for His reign to begin.
There will be a reign and the Apostles will have a key part in that reign. Jesus had just recently assured them of that after the interview with the Rich Young Ruler.
Matthew 19:28 - And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
What Jesus wanted the disciples to understand was that before there was a crown there was a cross.
Vss. 18-19 – Jesus very explicitly spelled out for the disciples what was going to happen in Jerusalem.
· He would be betrayed – This was done by Judas
· The betrayer, Judas, would deliver Jesus over to the scribes, the translators and interpreters of the law, and the chief priests. He would actually be delivered to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court.
· The Sanhedrin would convict Jesus of blasphemy because He claimed to the Son of God.
· They would condemn Jesus to death and deliver Him over to the Gentiles, the Roman government. The Jews did not have the authority to kill Jesus, so they turned Him over to the Roman authorities.
· The Roman soldiers would mock and scourge Jesus and then crucify Him.
Matthew 27:26-31 - Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. [27] Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. [28] And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. [29] And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! [30] And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. [31] And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.
· The good news is that on the third day Jesus would rise from the dead.
At first thought the cross makes no sense at all. Here was a sinless righteous man, God in the flesh who would be falsely accused, persecuted and murdered.
But it does make sense when you consider why Jesus went to the cross. He went as a substitute.
He went to the cross to die to pay for the judgment a righteous God must place on sin. Jesus took the place of every sinner on the cross. He went to the cross to die for you.
Ezekiel 18:4 - …the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Romans 6:23a - For the wages of sin is death…
Matthew 20:28 - Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Isaiah 53:3-6 - He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. [4] Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. [5] But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. [6] All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
The only way the cross makes sense is that Jesus as our substitute for our sins.
So what is our responsibility in light of what Christ did on the cross? Accept His payment for sin. Rely on Him for forgiveness.
John 3:16-18 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. [17] For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. [18] He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
SUBSTITUTION IS THE SENSE OVER SIN
SACRIFICE IS THE SENSE OVER SELF-SEEKING – Vss. 20-23
We rightfully hold James and John in great regard. James was the first Apostle to be martyred. John was the Apostle of love, suffered for his faith on the Isle of Patmos and gave us five books of the New Testament: The Gospel of John, the Epistles of First, Second, and Third John, and the Book of Revelation
But neither James, nor John, nor their mother Salome, were perfect.
Vs. 20 - Shortly after Jesus told His disciples for the third time that he was going to die, these people come to Jesus looking for a favor.
Instead of being concerned about the predicted death of their Lord and Master, and the suffering that would mean for Him, they were jockeying for position in the coming Kingdom.
Vs. 21 – Their mother was the spokesperson, but these fellows wanted and desired what she was asking for. In fact in the Gospel of Mark it says it was James and John that desired this privilege. They wanted to be above everyone, even the other Apostles. They wanted their thrones above everybody else’s throne but Jesus!
We might say, “How self-seeking is that! That’s terrible!”
But wait a minute. How much self-seeking do you do?
Are you concerned about your own position, your own comfort, your own future and your own family more than anything else? Are you looking out for “old number one”?
So often even we as Christians are looking out for ourselves.
Vs. 22 – Jesus tells them that they do not know what they are asking.
How did Jesus earn His position of uppermost importance the Kingdom? He did it through sacrifice and not self-seeking. If Jesus was self-seeking, He would have never left Heaven, let alone gone to the cross.
Philippians 2:5-11 - Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: [6] Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: [7] But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: [8] And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. [9] Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: [10] That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; [11] And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus was asking them if they were willing to be baptized with the same baptism and drink the same cup of humiliation, suffering and death as he was. Those who will be rewarded by the King must suffer for the king.
The Christian life is not one of self-seeking, but sacrifice!
Luke 14:26-27 - If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. [27] And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
Romans 12:1 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 Timothy 3:12 - Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Why should I be willing to live such a sacrificial life? Because of the sacrifice that Jesus made for me!
Galatians 2:20 - I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Vs. 23 - Jesus looks ahead and realizes that although these two disciples will sacrifice for Him, as every true believer in Christ will. But He tells them that rank in the Kingdom, at least as far as the highest positions has already been ordained by God.
These disciples were not be concerned with position, but with sacrifice for their Lord and Master.
SUBSTITUTION IS THE SENSE OVER SIN
SACRIFICE IS THE SENSE OVER SELF-SEEKING
SERVICE IS THE SENSE OVER SELFISHNESS – Vss. 24-28
Vs. 24 – The disciples were jealous. They probably thought that James and John were taking advantage over their family relationship. They wanted that sort of position for themselves.
On the job, at school, among our friends and in our home lives much strife is caused because we all want our own way! We are selfish!
Even in the church we want our own way. We want our music, our style of preaching, our pews in the sanctuary, ourselves and our friends and family in positions of authority.
Vs. 25 – In the governments of Jesus’ day there were many dictatorships. And many “great men” would “lord it over” those below them. They could be very tyrannical.
And we all know people who like to lord it over others today. They like to use their authority to take advantage of others.
Vs. 26 – But Jesus said, that it is not to be that away among His followers. Those who are in the greatest positions of authority are to be ministers, or servants of all. This word is the word we get the word “deacon”.
The pastor is to lead but he is also to serve.
The elders, deacons and trustees are to lead, but they are also to serve.
The Sunday School Teachers and officers are to lead and teach, but they are also to serve.
In fact, each one of us when we are in church or involved with church people is to serve.
Galatians 5:13 - For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
Vs. 27 – Jesus makes His command it even more intense.
The word servant here means slave.
If we are going to be leaders and if we are going to receive Christ’s greatest rewards, we are to be slaves.
Normally government and leadership within organizations are like a pyramid. The most prominent leader is on top and then it filters down in order of rank. Those on the bottom are to support the one who is on top.
John MacArthur and others have pointed out that Christianity is an inverted pyramid. The one who is the most prominent in leadership is to be serving, carrying, and supporting the others. John MacArthur The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Matthew16-23, (Chicago, Moody Press, 1988) p. 240
Philippians 2:3-4 - Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. [4] Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
Vs. 28 – Jesus did what He was telling His disciples to do.
Not only did He come to serve as a slave. But He paid the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
Should we as His followers do anything less?
What Jesus said here makes sense.
Instead of living a self-seeking selfish life, let us seek to live a sacrificial life of service.
· SUBSTITUTION IS THE SENSE OVER SIN
· SACRIFICE IS THE SENSE OVER SELF-SEEKING
· SERVICE IS THE SENSE OVER SELFISHNESS