Sermon Notes 2-27-2022

Matthew 98

(Chapter 21)

Matthew 21:23–27 (NIV)

²³Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?” 

²⁴Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 

²⁵John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 

²⁶But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” 

²⁷So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

 

 

Times change, people don’t 

·      Jesus is hungry 

·      He is tired

·      And His time is getting short

·      Humanity is still evil and depraved

·      And instead of running from trouble 

·      He runs to it

·      So, let’s Jump in and talk about it!

The players

²³Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him.

·      We have Jesus the son of man, the creator of the universe, and the founder of all things 

o   The King of kings

o   Emanual (God with us)

·      The priest 

o   The judges of all things religious 

o   The rule on religious law, and are you not glad we don’t have LAWS anymore??

·      The Elders

o   They are the Judges of all things civil

o   They look after the civil law and preside over it 

 

They are tag-teaming on Jesus 

·      They want to catch Him

·      And they bring both sides to have a better chance at catching Him

·      Let's be perfectly clear this isn't about the truth, this is about maintaining power

 

Side note: scared or not we must go where called, needed!

·      The last time Jesus was there it was not so good

·      He flipped some table 

·      He ran some folks off and the folks confronting him are in charge of the temple!

·      But He went back because that's where the people that needed Him most were

·      we must go where we are called, we can't let our fear or anxiety keep us from doing Kingdom work

·      Jesus sets the example for us to follow!

 

 

This is how you know their intentions were not good!

and, while He was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him.

·      It might as well say they interrupted Him

o   The barged in on Him

o   As He is teaching the word of GOD

o   They were not there with a pure intent at all!

·      This is the work of Satan

·      Anything or anyone that gets in your way from sharing the Gospel is guided by the ruler of hell itself

o   I don’t care who it is

o   If anyone tries to impede on your teaching or sharing of the gospel 

o   Outside of a real emergency, they are there to hinder the kingdom 

 

They ask the question!

“By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?” 

·      I have a couple of observations about this question

 

One:

·      Had He not shown who He was by His actions?

·      I mean how many public miracles had He performed up to this point?

o   I am sure they had a running list

o   Just in the previous couple of weeks He had stacked up a pretty good resume

·      This was about Him usurping their authority

o   He had humiliated them the last time He was there

o   He flipped over some tables, He ran out some merchants

o   that they themselves had taken money from to be there

o   He made them look bad, He questioned their authority, and they had had enough

 

 

Two: What they didn’t question, says more than what they did

·      They never once questioned what He was teaching

·      the only question was who gave Him the authority to teach it

·      which speaks volumes to their motive

·      they weren't worried about Him teaching against God's word

·      they were only worried about the power, their position, their money!

 

The sheer arrogance of it all

·      the world is no different today

·      Politics is about power

·      Religion is about power

o   I see church running over other churches to shift believers from one church to the other

o   I see churches in competition not collaboration

o   And the body and the kingdom suffer for it

 

I don’t care what kind of building they have

·      What kind of music they play

·      What their dress code is 

·      If they are advancing Jesus I, we, stand with them as brothers and sisters in Christ

 

Lesson: Arrogance, Pride, and Greed are the mother that births most sin!

Defend your faith but be smart about it!

²⁴Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 

²⁵John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

·      Those that are sheep in the midst of wolves, have need to be wise as serpents: 

o   the heart of the wise studies to answer.^[1]

·      People will test you

·      And try and draw you into a no-win situation

·      Where there is no right answer

o   That no matter how you answer

o   You’re in hot water

 

Never shy away from your faith in Jesus, just be wise about it

1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)

¹⁵But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 

·      Show respect

·      Be kind 

·      But stand firm

·      That’s what Jesus did here 

·      He turned this into them being put in a hard spot

 

The truth will set you free, but this was never about the truth!

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 

²⁶But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” 

·      They knew the truth but couldn’t own it 

·      It did not fit their narrative!!!!

· They did not consider the proof, they could care less about the merits of it all

· They just wanted to trap Jesus!

 

After Jesus threw the curveball question all they were worried about was 

·      First and foremost, their reputation

o   If they acknowledge what they know to be true that John and Jesus were from God

o   Then it brings into question, why they don’t believe them and why they continue to harass them

o   And they lose all creditability

o   And with that, they lose their positions and power and money

 

·      Second their safety 

·      They feared that if they say it was a man thing, that John was of man

·      Then they lose all the influence with the people who saw John as a man of God

·      And again, lose their positions, their power, and their income

 

And this was never about the truth anyway!

·      This was about their arrogance

·      This was about their pride

·      This was about their position

·      This was about their power and influence

·      This was about their greed for money

 

But in the end, the truth set Jesus free!

²⁷So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

·   They set a trap and it failed because the truth won

·      Jesus was wise in His discernment 

·      But never walked away from His faith, He defended it

 

And the moral of the story is 

·      Your arrogance, pride, love of power will entrap you

·      But Jesus and the work of the kingdom will always set you free! 

 

---

^[1] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 1722). Peabody: Hendrickson.

Sermon Notes 2-20-2022

Matthew 97

(Chapter 21)

How is your faith?? And where is your fruit??

 

Matthew 21:18–22 (ESV)

¹⁸In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. 

¹⁹And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. 

²⁰When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 

²¹And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.

²²And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

 

 

Here we have some of that verse that we kind of skim over 

·      It’s a parable, it’s kind of a riddle

·      And it takes some time, some prayer, and some research to figure out what Jesus is saying

o   And that is kind of the point of it all

·      As we unpack this, we will see that Jesus wants more than just your salvation

·      And that most of us have very little faith!

 

He was hungry

¹⁸In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. 

·      We could get into the theological debate about Him being fully man and fully God 

·      And talk about His need for substance, that He was poor and was willing to eat a green fig for His nourishment

·      But this goes way deeper

·      Deep in Jesus' soul He desires the first and ripest fruits from you

·      He hungers for it

·      Jesus didn’t just come to save you 

o   He came to change you, to see you produce good fruit 

o   And He expects it from you, so today we will talk about your faith

o   And your fruit, and why it is vitally important for you to be changing to be more like Jesus! 

 

 

It looked good from a distance!

¹⁹And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves.

·      So, a fig tree when it bears leaves 

o   It also is bearing fruit

o   So Jesus assumes it has fruit

·      You ever have that happen to you??

·      Have someone in your life that 

o   Looks the part

o   Says all the right things

o   But doesn’t produce

·      How about a company

o   Has the right Mojo

o   Place looks great

o   Tells you everything you want to hear 

o   But falls short when it comes time to deliver

·      How about religious folks 

o   Go to the right church

o   They wear the right clothes

o   They carry the right bible 

o   They are in the right crowd

o   They speak perfect Christianess

o   But they have nothing to show for it

§  No change, no conviction, no repentance

§  NO FRUIT!

·      Jesus is looking for fruit from you

o   He wants to see it in your relationship with Him

o   He wants to see it in your relationship with others

o   He wants to see you show the world who you are by your fruit

§  Not by what you say

§  By what you do!

 

He is not just our savior, He is our Judge

And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. 

·      We could see the miracle in this 

o   He did just speak death to this tree!!

·      Or we could see the practical

o   Most of us have done this 

o   We have thrown something away that looks functional but doesn’t work

o   Or got something that on the outside looks like it works, but doesn’t 

o   And we do what with it??? We get rid of it! 

·      Or we can see it, as I think it was intended, that Jesus is the great Judge!

Philippians 2:9–11 (ESV) 

⁹Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 

¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

·      Jesus doesn’t expect non-believers to bear fruit

o   To act like Him

o   To follow Him

o   To change or transform

·      But for believers He has expectations 

o   Just like when He saw leaves, He expected Figs

o   From those who confess and profess to be believers He expects fruit of the spirit

o   He expects us to be in the body, producing, working to be more like Him

o   Sharing Him with the world around them

·      And when you are not fruitful Jesus judges us rightly 

MH: A false and hypocritical profession commonly withers in this world, and it is the effect of Christ’s curse; the fig tree that had no fruit, soon lost its leaves. Hypocrites may look plausible for a time, but, having no principle, no root in themselves, their profession will soon come to nothing; the gifts wither, common graces decay, the credit of the profession declines and sinks, and the falseness and folly of the pretender are manifested to all men.[1]

·      Ever knee will bow, every tongue will confess PERIOD!

 

The boys are back!

²⁰When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 

·      And how could we go any further without acknowledging the boys

·      And understand we are just like them

·      They doubt

·      They don’t get it sometimes

·       And their faith is weak at times just like us!

 

Your Faith can move a mountain 

²¹And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.

·      Moving a mountain was a common metaphor in Jewish literature for doing what was seemingly impossible^[2]

·      And this is not the first time Jesus explains that it’s our lack of faith that stops us from doing great things

o   From moving mountains

·      But to be strong in the faith, your relationship has to be strong with Jesus, with the Spirit

·      And therein lies the problem, or lack of want for that relationship

o   That is the hypocrisy that Jesus is talking about 

o   We wear the right clothes

o   We say the right things (you might even clean up your potty mouth)

o   We pray the right prayers

o   But inside where it really matters, we are hollow, it’s just a shell, a façade

o   We are playing church, not taking up our cross and following 

 

 

When your faith and your will align with Jesus, things happen!

²²And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

·      And Jesus ends with this 

·      Why you ask

·      Because your faith is directly tied to the fruit you produce

·      As your faith in Jesus grows, your relations with Jesus flourishes and your fruit begins to multiply  

·      Here is your formula

·      Faith + relationship = Fruit!

·      And this week ask yourself how is your fruit???

---

^[1] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 1721). Peabody: Hendrickson.

^[2] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1857). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.