1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:07,200 Right and wrong expectations. You woke up this morning and you 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:10,920 had some expectations. When you flick that switch, 3 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:13,040 you're expecting the light to go on, and it did. 4 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:16,200 Most likely. You went to the bathroom, turn 5 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:18,720 on the fog, the tap or whatever for the shower, whatever that 6 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:21,240 was, and you wanted water to run and it did. 7 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:25,800 You turn on the coffee maker, get some hot coffee, and it got 8 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:31,000 hot. Expectations are everywhere. 9 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:33,600 You came to church this morning expecting a service here, and 10 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:35,400 there is one right now. We're in it. 11 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:40,520 Maybe last week you were expecting a paycheck or over the 12 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:46,120 last few weeks and you got one. Most of life is built on this. 13 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:53,800 But what if they're not met? What do we do when we realized 14 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,840 to our disappointment, what we had expected is not going to 15 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,880 happen and it doesn't? What do we do? 16 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,800 What do we do when our expectations are such that we 17 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:10,880 wait, we hope, maybe pray, and nothing happens? 18 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:20,480 Many years ago in Mexico, 1987 and I got married and we made 19 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:25,200 our way to Canada that same week and started work here. 20 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:30,200 We had all kinds of expectations and many of them were met that 21 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,160 first summer. We worked for a cash crop farmer 22 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:37,520 doing field work, picking cucumbers, tomatoes, that kind 23 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:39,880 of stuff. Peppers I think it was, I don't 24 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:41,880 know if we did Peppers, but anyway, it was just cash crop 25 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,520 farming. And it was hot near Saint 26 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:46,600 Thomas. And there's this one small 27 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:49,240 field, maybe a few acres, kind of tucked in a large row of 28 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:51,160 trees, kind of around semicircle. 29 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:55,080 And the trees stopped the breeze from blowing. 30 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,520 And it was so sultry, hot. It was just hot. 31 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:01,040 There was this mother with her daughter. 32 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:03,560 We knew the family. The rest of the family was 33 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:06,320 elsewhere but working elsewhere. But the mother and her teenage 34 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:08,919 daughter were working there too. And this young teenage girl was 35 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:11,880 helping her mom pick cucumbers. I'll never forget. 36 00:02:12,920 --> 00:02:19,000 She didn't like it, not one bit. She was dragging the hamper and 37 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,040 picking the cucumbers, bending over and picking cucumbers, 38 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,440 complaining the whole time I was listening. 39 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:26,600 Anna and I were a young married couple. 40 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:29,200 We had to make a go of things and we just tried to earn a 41 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:31,160 paycheck, pay the rent, pay the bills and get ahead. 42 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:35,240 I was listening to this young girl and I asked her at one 43 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,680 point and said when you came to Canada, what were you expecting? 44 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:42,320 I'll never forget this young girl's response. 45 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:46,200 And she responded the way maybe a young teenage girl only could. 46 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:49,000 And she said, I thought it would be like heaven or something. 47 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:53,600 I heard that comment. And that's no 38 years later, 48 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:58,200 more still remembers if she said it yesterday, her expectations 49 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:00,480 had not been met, not even close. 50 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:03,200 What you'd hoped for had not happened. 51 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:06,240 And it was so far from what she wanted. 52 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,200 I'm going to ask us this question this morning. 53 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:12,080 What are you expecting? What did you expect? 54 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:17,440 Is your life where you expected it to be at this age where 55 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:23,240 you're at now, happily married, happily retired, healthy, fit, 56 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:29,920 wealthy friends? If it is good for you. 57 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,400 I don't think there's anybody here would say, Yep, 100% of my 58 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,080 expectations have all been met. That doesn't happen that way. 59 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,640 Most of us, we've had a lot of missed expectations. 60 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:42,640 So how are you handling it? How are you doing? 61 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:47,120 How are you handling it? And I imagine this for many of 62 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,440 us growing up as a child, just can't wait till we're 16 and get 63 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:53,960 that beginner's permit and start driving and only to be met with 64 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:55,960 a mountain of obstacles and challenges. 65 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:57,960 We got to do this and that. And then there's insurance to 66 00:03:57,960 --> 00:03:59,720 pay and this job and all that stuff. 67 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:02,880 And maybe you dropped out of school and you're going to get a 68 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:05,600 good job, you're going to make lots of money and you're going 69 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,160 to feel satisfied. And then that job was not what 70 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:10,240 you expected. Now you're past the point of 71 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:13,560 going to school maybe, and you got stuck with debt and who 72 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:17,880 knows what, and you're working at a job you don't like and on 73 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:19,519 and on it goes. You're not getting out of it 74 00:04:19,519 --> 00:04:21,600 what you wanted. And maybe you're in a 75 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:24,760 relationship that's not working. It hasn't worked out and years 76 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:27,880 have gone by and just life is just one big disappointment. 77 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:31,320 You had this dream, what it's going to be like and it just 78 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:33,840 felt flat and flat lined. It died. 79 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:37,720 Maybe it's even church. Some preacher let you down and 80 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:41,440 started say preaching things that said things to you that 81 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,360 sold you a bag of goods and you're going to follow Jesus and 82 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:46,680 things will be better and never talk to you about the cross. 83 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:50,680 And you have struggles now. And yeah, on it goes. 84 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:58,040 Everybody at some point meets up with missed expectations. 85 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:04,080 It's an unavoidable reality. But what is in our power is 86 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,800 this. We can choose to adjust, and 87 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:09,760 according to the teaching of Jesus in Scripture, there's 88 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:12,720 hope. Even then, yes, expectations 89 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:16,880 will be missed, maybe wrongly, but we will be equipped, 90 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:24,280 prepared to adjust and adapt. How we respond to missed 91 00:05:24,280 --> 00:05:27,240 expectations determines our path forward. 92 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:32,440 In Scripture, we find many stories of wrong and missed 93 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:34,720 expectations. We'll go into Mark Chapter 11 in 94 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:37,960 a minute, But beginning in Genesis, did Adam and Eve really 95 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:40,760 think that they were going to get kicked out of the garden if 96 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:44,160 they ate a forbidden fruit? No, the expectation was if we 97 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:46,640 eat, we'll be like God. That was the expectation. 98 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:51,440 The reality was they died spiritually or the children of 99 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:53,960 Israel. God promised the salvation, 100 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:56,280 rescue out of Egypt into the promised land. 101 00:05:57,000 --> 00:05:58,880 Did they expect the hardships of the desert? 102 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,280 No, but that was the path through which they had to 103 00:06:02,280 --> 00:06:05,840 experience life and they didn't do so well. 104 00:06:06,280 --> 00:06:11,520 We know the complaints they had and resulted in a lot of 105 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:13,400 consequences. And finally, 40 years of 106 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:17,960 wandering in the desert. People are still like that 107 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:21,320 today. We must align ourselves with 108 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:25,440 Christ, even in our unmet expectations and walk together 109 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:27,040 with him. This morning we want to go 110 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:30,480 through Mark Chapter 11, the gospel of Mark and we want to 111 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:34,240 see what happened there. Mark chapter 1 to chapter 10 was 112 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:36,120 about a three-year time frame. I think I mentioned this last 113 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:38,400 Sunday. Then from Chapter 11 to the end 114 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:40,640 of the, the gospel, that's only a that's only a week. 115 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:44,960 We will notice as we go through this passage that the 116 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:48,760 expectations were high. Jesus on his way to Jerusalem, 117 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:52,080 the crowds expecting big things, big doings. 118 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:57,240 What the crowds expected Jesus would do was not what Jesus came 119 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,560 to do. Very opposite expectations. 120 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:05,000 And it would be the crowds missed expectations. 121 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:08,840 That would be the leverage the religious leaders would use to 122 00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:11,000 arrest Jesus, torture him and have him killed. 123 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:15,400 When we have expectations and they're not met, we need to be 124 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,720 ever so careful how we respond. And we'll see in our sermon this 125 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:22,240 morning that the crowd was disappointed with Jesus. 126 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:26,880 We'll also see Jesus was disappointed with a crowd as 127 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:28,880 well. It worked both ways. 128 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,360 Let's read Mark 11 beginning verse one, and your Bibles are 129 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:35,440 in your devices. Turn to Mark Chapter 11, verse 130 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:38,240 one. Now when they drew near to 131 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:41,360 Jerusalem, to Beth Phage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, 132 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:45,040 he sent two of his disciples and said to them, Go into the 133 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:48,480 village opposite you, and as soon as you've entered it you'll 134 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:51,800 find a colt tied on which no one has SAT. 135 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:55,560 Loose it and bring it. And if anyone says to you, why 136 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:58,800 are you doing this, say the Lord has need of it, and immediately 137 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:03,720 he will, He will send it here. So they went their way and found 138 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:07,000 the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they 139 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:10,880 loosed it, But some of those who stood there said to them, What 140 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,600 are you doing? Loosen the colt and they spoke 141 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,840 to them, just as Jesus had commanded, So they let them go. 142 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:20,760 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on 143 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,560 it, and he sat on it. And many spread their clothes 144 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:26,280 and clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches 145 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:28,040 from the trees and spread them on the road. 146 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:31,000 Then those who went before and those who followed cried or 147 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,320 think Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the 148 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:35,960 name of the Lord. Blessed is the Kingdom of her 149 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:38,120 father David that comes in the name of the Lord. 150 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:42,679 Hosanna in the highest. And Jesus went into Jerusalem 151 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,800 and into the temple. So when he looked around at all 152 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:49,760 things, as the hour was already late, he went out to Bethany 153 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:53,200 with the 12. We can just imagine the 154 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:58,240 excitement and the energy, the anticipation of the crowd. 155 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:01,320 Many of them, we can safely assume had heard of him for 156 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:05,560 sure, maybe even had heard him personally speak, not just heard 157 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:08,080 of him. Maybe I'd even experienced some 158 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:09,320 connection with him. We don't know. 159 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:13,640 But there was. He was very widely known, but 160 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:16,000 this time was different. He's riding into town, into 161 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:17,400 Jerusalem. He's being worshipped. 162 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:20,680 He's recognized as the Messiah. Something really big is going to 163 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:23,240 happen. The long-awaited prophecy is 164 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:26,200 finally be going to become reality. 165 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:29,520 What they didn't know in less than a week he was going to be 166 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:31,040 dead. Jesus knew this, but they 167 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:34,280 didn't. The danger of wrong 168 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,880 expectations. They expected a Messiah, A 169 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:40,040 deliverer. They expected Jesus, Jesus to 170 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:41,520 come and save them from the Romans. 171 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:46,720 It was true the Jews did need saving, but the saving they 172 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:49,400 believed they needed and hope would get and the saving Jesus 173 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:55,400 came to do was different. But Jesus came to offer could 174 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:57,040 not have been more different than they expected. 175 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:00,680 The Jews believed they needed saving from the Romans. 176 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:03,040 They control the country. They control the nation. 177 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:05,240 They were waiting for the day and that would happen. 178 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,120 They would once again be free and independent and make their 179 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:11,240 own rules and live by their own laws and no subjection to Rome 180 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:13,680 anymore. Jesus knew that. 181 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:18,160 Jesus knew that the Jews needed saving, but in a much deeper way 182 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:19,360 than just being their own nation. 183 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:25,160 The real power that the Jews were under was not the power of 184 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:27,840 Rome. It was the power of sin that 185 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:31,360 they had no idea of. No, we're God's children, and 186 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:33,360 Jesus had come to break that power, and he would on the 187 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:36,280 cross. The Jews believed the Romans are 188 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:38,960 our biggest problem. No, Jesus knew sin is your 189 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:42,000 biggest problem. So they wanted a king, a ruler. 190 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:46,400 In addition to wanting to be free from the Romans, they 191 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:48,880 wanted a king who they could follow, who would lead them, 192 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:51,640 show them the way like King David of old. 193 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:53,480 The Messiah was going to do that. 194 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:56,240 They looked at Jesus as the ruler and they praised him on 195 00:10:56,240 --> 00:11:00,560 the way into town. But again, the kind of king they 196 00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:03,840 were expecting and the ruler that Jesus was going to be was 197 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:06,800 vastly different. You see, people always seek 198 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:09,080 someone to follow or something to follow, and we all follow 199 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:10,440 something. There's no such thing as 200 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:13,080 following nothing. The trends, culture, whatever, 201 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:17,680 we follow something. Even Jesus as a man followed his 202 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:20,520 father. It says in the Gospels. 203 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:22,920 He came not to do his own will, but the will of the Father. 204 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:27,800 Not only that, the crowd also wanted, they wanted a savior, A 205 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:29,200 Messiah. They wanted a king, but they 206 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:31,480 wanted a conqueror. They were under Roman rule, 207 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:33,840 government of the Romans for so long, having been subjected to 208 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:35,640 Rome for so long. They would somebody who's going 209 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:41,120 to pay them back, maybe settle a score or two in all these 210 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:42,200 things. This is what they were 211 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:44,240 envisioning this Jesus Messiah to be. 212 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:46,120 When he walked into town, he wrote into town. 213 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:51,080 They got him wrong. Jesus did not come to fix an 214 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:55,720 earthly political system. That was not why he came an 215 00:11:55,720 --> 00:12:00,720 earthly ruler to run the country economically, never mind going 216 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:05,000 to war with his enemies. Instead, he presented himself as 217 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:10,200 a gift, as the Lamb of God, as a shepherd to serve and in the end 218 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:12,520 sacrifice his life for the sins of the world. 219 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:17,720 How about us? What expectations are we missing 220 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:19,440 in life? The problem is not the 221 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:21,480 circumstances. The problem is not God or 222 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:24,360 anything else. The problem is here, what 223 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:27,280 expectations are we missing? It is painful. 224 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:29,840 We expected fully this would happen. 225 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:33,640 Maybe you served someone, gave yourselves to someone only to be 226 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:35,400 rejected, and then you didn't expect it. 227 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:39,480 And but if our meaning and purpose and value is tied into 228 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:41,560 that, we will be terribly disappointed. 229 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:47,240 What are you and I expecting of Jesus to make our life better? 230 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:51,120 There's many people who've made a mess of their lives when they 231 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:52,480 heard that. If you follow Jesus, it will be 232 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:56,880 better. The problem is the word better. 233 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:01,000 What's better mean? It means closer to Him, living a 234 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:04,160 holy life, walking with Him. The word better is often not 235 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:08,920 explained. It's true that with Jesus things 236 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:12,520 go better spiritually for the soul, for the heart, for a 237 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:16,720 relation with Him, The sinful flesh, the sinful cravings, the 238 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:18,760 addictions and lust. They don't like it. 239 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:22,840 If better means in our world all we'll be satisfied with that. 240 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:24,560 No, then we have a misunderstanding. 241 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:29,960 Wrong expectation. It's not better than providing 242 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:35,120 more room and space for self. The Jews had this idea Jesus 243 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:38,400 going to come and make life better so we get what we want. 244 00:13:40,560 --> 00:13:42,440 Well, Jesus had expectations too. 245 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:45,560 God has expectations. He gives us His commands, 246 00:13:45,560 --> 00:13:49,160 expecting us to live by them. It's not like God is saying, 247 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:51,200 well I know I'm expecting it, but it's no big deal. 248 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:53,160 It's OK if you don't meet it. I got you covered. 249 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:56,760 No, He does expect us to walk with him, to follow him. 250 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,200 So these had expectations too. Well, let's read on Mark 11 251 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:04,640 verse 12 to 19. Now the next day when they had 252 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:06,360 come from Bethany, he was hungry. 253 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:09,400 So they go out of town to sleep, and he's hungry. 254 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:13,680 And seeing from afar fig tree having leaves, he went went to 255 00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:15,760 see if perhaps he would find something on it. 256 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:18,080 When he came to, he found nothing but leaves, for it was 257 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:22,080 not the season for figs. In response, Jesus said to it, 258 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:25,320 the fig tree let no one eat fruit from you ever again. 259 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:29,040 And his disciples heard it. So they came to Jerusalem. 260 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:32,840 Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who 261 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,680 bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the 262 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:38,000 money changers in the seats of those who sold doves. 263 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:41,360 And he would not, not allow anyone to carry wares through 264 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:43,600 the temple. Then he taught them, saying to 265 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:46,400 them, Is it not written? My house shall be called the 266 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:48,960 House of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of 267 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:51,640 thieves. And the scribes and chief 268 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:54,480 priests heard it and sought how they might destroy him, for they 269 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:57,160 feared him, because all the people were astonished at his 270 00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:59,480 teaching. And when evening had come, he 271 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:02,560 went out of the city full day in the temple. 272 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:07,160 It's not surprising that Jesus was upset at what he found in 273 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:11,240 the temple. Now we know that he knew what he 274 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:12,400 would find. He'd been there the night 275 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,960 before, and him being God knows all things. 276 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:18,880 But that does not make it any less disappointing. 277 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:22,600 It has been said disappointment is the definition of unmet 278 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:25,200 expectations, and that's true. Think for a moment. 279 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:29,400 You may be working with people who you are in charge over. 280 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:33,360 Maybe a teacher over students, maybe an employer over 281 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,760 employees, maybe a parent or children. 282 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:39,880 You kind of already know they're not going to clean the room, 283 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:41,880 they're not going to do the job, they're not going to finish the 284 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:44,280 assignment. You already know that, but it's 285 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:46,200 still a disappointment nevertheless. 286 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:52,280 The point is that in time you get to know who your people are, 287 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:54,200 and at times you also know what they will do or won't do. 288 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:55,600 It's still disappointing when they do that. 289 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:59,160 So Jesus has right expectations. Let's look at what his 290 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:02,040 expectations were. He sees his fake tree and goes 291 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:04,360 to it and sees if there's going to be any fruit perhaps on that 292 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:08,280 tree. Well, he doesn't find any fruit, 293 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:12,840 he just finds leaves. It says here there was not the 294 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:15,160 season for figs. We may ask then why would he 295 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:17,360 look for something that wasn't time for? 296 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:21,800 One commentator explained this by saying that it was true it 297 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:23,920 was not the season for figs, for ripe figs. 298 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:25,960 But it's not to say there shouldn't have been small green 299 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:28,320 ones on there. And I'm not going to make too 300 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:30,960 much out of that. But the point of the story here 301 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:33,600 is that Jesus wanted to see what this tree was like. 302 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:36,960 The tree had a lot of leaves. Look great, beautiful tree, lots 303 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:39,880 of leaves. But the absence of fruit was was 304 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:43,400 noted. And So what commentators also 305 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:46,440 point out is that this was an object lesson and he cursed the 306 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,280 tree. He doesn't give the tree a 307 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:50,800 chance. He doesn't say, OK, hopefully 308 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:53,480 next year you're better. He says, may no one ever eat 309 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,480 fruit from you again. He ended it for that tree. 310 00:16:56,520 --> 00:17:00,360 That's a bold claim. It was just a tree, looked good, 311 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,080 but it's all it had, just good looks. 312 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:05,800 Does that somehow ring a bell in our minds? 313 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:07,400 Well, we'll get to this passage a bit later on. 314 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:09,400 Well, it's going to be. We're going to get back to the 315 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:11,760 story. But Jesus cursed the tree, so he 316 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:14,359 keeps going. His next stop is the temple. 317 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:18,400 What Jesus wanted to see in the temple, what met his eyes when 318 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:20,560 he walked into the temple was vastly different. 319 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:22,599 He'd been there the night before. 320 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:25,240 He had seen what was going on there. 321 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:27,359 I wonder how he slept that night as a man. 322 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:30,200 Was it going through his mind to come and clean that place out in 323 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:31,840 the morning? I don't know if he thought that 324 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:35,600 and then cursed the fig tree on the way in. 325 00:17:36,360 --> 00:17:40,000 Did he have an attitude? Well, you know, he was upset. 326 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,240 He was, he drove out. He was not a nice guy. 327 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:45,440 When he drove out the people from the temple, There was some 328 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:49,040 serious stuff that happened when when Jesus walks into the 329 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:53,320 temple, he sees a huge, successful, thriving business 330 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:55,480 going on. What had happened? 331 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:59,600 The Mosaic Law was that when people were commanded to go to 332 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:01,880 the temple to worship, they were also to bring sacrifices. 333 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:04,960 They were supposed to bring offerings to the temple, and 334 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:07,960 they did. Well, some people have just so 335 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:10,760 happened to come from far away. They don't have animals with 336 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:11,960 them. You can't bring an animal, let's 337 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:14,960 say from Rome or from any other country, from Egypt maybe, or 338 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:16,880 from any far off country. When they go to the temple for 339 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:19,280 Passover, you can't just bring animals from who knows where. 340 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:22,640 So you bring money. Other people close by, the 341 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:23,920 farmers, they bring their animals. 342 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,120 So you trade. I mean, you, you buy animals, 343 00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:30,840 you exchange and then the money that you bring into the offering 344 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:32,880 of the temple, you couldn't put Roman money into the temple 345 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:34,560 offering. You had to exchange it for 346 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,480 Jewish money. And then you change do the 347 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:41,120 exchange thing and then you have the Jewish money to put in the 348 00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:42,800 offering of the temple. You couldn't have Roman money 349 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:45,600 for that. So there's a lot of stuff going 350 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,080 on here. And the animals that were 351 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:49,280 brought also had to be inspected. 352 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:51,320 It couldn't be animals that were sick or diseased or anything 353 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:53,240 like that. So the animals had to be good 354 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:55,520 animals. A lot of stuff going on in the 355 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:56,600 animal. You can just imagine the 356 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,400 bleeding of the sheep and the moon blowing of the cattle, or 357 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,720 the doves were there and the cages and Jesus goes in there. 358 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:04,120 He sees this whole thing going on. 359 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,440 Everything is going on except one thing. 360 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:14,760 Prayer wasn't going on. The very thing the temple stood 361 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:17,520 for was missing. I'm not saying they didn't pray 362 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:19,560 pray in the Holy of Holies or there was no prayer going on, 363 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:22,680 but that was so miniscule or minor it wasn't noticed. 364 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:25,360 The very thing the temple was stood for was neglected. 365 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:29,320 The primary activity of the temple, what it was intended for 366 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:32,080 wasn't happening. So Jesus sees all the Wheeling 367 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:33,240 and dealing and going on the hustle. 368 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:35,800 The bustle had nothing to do with worshipping God. 369 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:37,880 It was all market and profit driven. 370 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:40,920 There was nothing in that temple court that pleased him. 371 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:43,480 He could see right through the whole thing. 372 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,720 His expectations clearly were not met. 373 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:49,640 So what'd Jesus do? OK guys, we'll come back 374 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:50,960 tomorrow. Hopefully you got this fixed. 375 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:53,400 I'll give you another chance. He ended it. 376 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:57,880 Now we know it wasn't ended for long. 377 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:00,040 No doubt the next day or a few days later, the probably did it 378 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,280 again or the next week or the following weeks. 379 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:05,680 But the temple ministry didn't last very long after that, only 380 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:08,360 some 30 years or so. But Jesus took action. 381 00:20:08,360 --> 00:20:10,880 He goes in there, he drives out the people, drives out the 382 00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:12,920 cattle, overturns the money changers. 383 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:15,680 I, I get stuck at the money changers. 384 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:22,360 I can just imagine. The stacks of coins and shackles 385 00:20:22,360 --> 00:20:26,320 and whatever else they had, He just takes and lifts that table 386 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,240 and everything goes splattering and clinkering all over the 387 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:31,120 floor. I would be mad too. 388 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:37,400 You did that to my money. He wasn't making friends, 389 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:39,320 people. He wasn't making friends. 390 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:44,240 How are they going to fix that? It's not like, OK, the 391 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:46,240 computer's admits we're going to fix the house, fix the software. 392 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:48,400 OK, now we're back on track. No, no, you got to pick up those 393 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:51,000 coins and count them, and someone picks up the rest. 394 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:53,200 Everybody else's coins too. And who knows what happened? 395 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:57,960 And the Pharisees are mad. Are you surprised? 396 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:03,560 Just in Mark 11 was 17. Then he taught them. 397 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:05,600 After all this saying, is it not written? 398 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:07,760 My house will be called a House of prayer for all nations, but 399 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:13,760 you've made it a den of thieves. He pokes and then twists. 400 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:19,960 Now he calls them thieves. Who are they stealing from? 401 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:24,280 From God and each other. The focus was not God. 402 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:30,440 The focus was everything else. Market driven worship. 403 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:36,960 Market driven worship. He calls them identity thieves. 404 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:40,400 If the honor goes to somebody else, something else than God, 405 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:44,640 it's stealing from God. I couldn't help but as I went 406 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,520 through this already last week and this last week, especially 407 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:51,960 previous week and this last week, what would Jesus say today 408 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:54,360 to the majority of North American churches? 409 00:21:54,360 --> 00:21:57,040 The way we worship. I don't want us to go away with 410 00:21:57,040 --> 00:21:59,480 guilt and saying, oh, our worship is bad, we need to stop 411 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:01,600 it. No, I believe God wants us to 412 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,720 sing well and to praise well and to preach good sermons and to 413 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,240 teach good lessons and all that's that's good. 414 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:14,400 But is that the focus? Jesus says in John 424 those who 415 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,360 worship the Father must worship the Father in spirit and truth. 416 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:20,400 He never says worship in performance and excellence, 417 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:27,480 never says that when worship becomes external, focused, more 418 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:33,040 on show than content, more on perfection and substance, more 419 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:35,840 on appearance than what's in the heart, it is robbing God. 420 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:40,800 And it's not just worship in church, it's how we get up in 421 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,560 the morning, how we live our lives from day-to-day. 422 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,400 We're supposed to be vessels and temples of the Holy Spirit all 423 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,600 day long, every day, seven days a week in our sleep at when we 424 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,360 get up and we all fall short. Yes, we all mess up, but there's 425 00:22:52,360 --> 00:22:54,800 grace and we can repent. But what's our focus? 426 00:22:58,120 --> 00:23:01,200 Too often we find that we're drawn to I want it better 427 00:23:02,120 --> 00:23:06,240 performance driven, some dream we may have and then 428 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,280 expectations. They are all part of it. 429 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:12,800 When the outward is elevated at God's expense, it's become about 430 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:15,360 show. That only draws us further and 431 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:19,040 further away from God. We crank it up, make it bigger 432 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:21,480 to make it better. It's not working. 433 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:27,320 How do we solve the problem of the distance between US and God? 434 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:32,080 Well, Jesus keeps going. Jesus spoke to the disciples and 435 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:33,240 we can learn from what He said to them. 436 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:37,040 Let's keep going in Mark Chapter 11, verse 20, now in the 437 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:38,760 morning. Now Jesus again has left 438 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:41,200 Jerusalem. He's been to Bethany, this 439 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:43,360 little town where he's sleeping over the nights. 440 00:23:43,360 --> 00:23:46,040 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fake tree dried 441 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:47,280 up from the roots. We're back to the fig tree 442 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,720 again. And Peter, remember he said to 443 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:52,320 him, Rabbi, look, the fake tree which you cursed as withered 444 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:54,640 away. Wow, Lord, look what happened. 445 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:59,080 And Jesus said sort of hidden said to him, have faith in God. 446 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,440 For surely I say to you, whoever says to this mountain be removed 447 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:05,600 and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but 448 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:07,600 believes that those things he says will be done. 449 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:11,880 He will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever 450 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:14,560 things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them 451 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,640 and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, 452 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:20,520 if you have anything against anyone, forgive him that your 453 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:24,200 Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 454 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:26,880 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in 455 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:31,080 heaven forgive their trespasses. So Jesus back to going back to 456 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:32,920 Jerusalem. The fig tree is dead. 457 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,080 That's a that's a fast death and it's withered. 458 00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:37,920 Peter sees it. Look, look, Lord, it happened 459 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:45,280 and Jesus has a little object lesson there in this passage. 460 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:47,600 The fig tree is dried up and Timothy Geddert in his 461 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:50,000 commentary writes the following. I'll put it here. 462 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:55,320 His Mark has deliberately used the fig tree cursing in order to 463 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:57,880 present the reader with a graphic illustration of the 464 00:24:57,880 --> 00:24:59,920 fruitlessness of Israel's leadership. 465 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:04,080 The disappointment of Jesus in finding all their religiosity to 466 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:07,600 be nothing but leaves and the inevitability of their utter 467 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:10,160 rejection and punishment and consequence of their failure to 468 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:13,360 produce the framework around the cleansing there for slants. 469 00:25:13,360 --> 00:25:16,360 The meaning of that event in the direction of disqualification 470 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:20,920 and that primarily of the religious leadership of Israel. 471 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:25,640 This illustration, this example of the fruitless fake trees a 472 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:28,200 judgement statement against the religious structure and 473 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:30,400 establishment of Israel's worship system. 474 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:35,600 It serves as a timely warning for us to Jesus said to the 475 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:38,880 tree, may no one ever eat fruit from you again and judgement and 476 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,720 in less than about 30 years time or so, Jerusalem, the temple, 477 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:46,720 everything was destroyed. The Jewish religious leadership 478 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:50,840 ministry was an empty, fruitless show, an empty performance and 479 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:52,960 did not pass the expectation test. 480 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:57,200 Jesus expected more. In Revelation, the first 3 481 00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:00,200 chapters, we find how Jesus appears to the Apostle John and 482 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:03,880 he has the seven churches that he has to write letters to and 483 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:06,560 he expresses his disappointment how they're not living up to 484 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:09,080 what he expected. It goes on today. 485 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:13,040 Here we know Jesus shows us how to have right expectations. 486 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:17,360 We go by faith. Only when our faith lines up 487 00:26:17,360 --> 00:26:19,520 with Jesus will our expectations be right. 488 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:23,960 The disciples were surprised that the fake tree dried up so 489 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:27,440 fast makes one thing well what had they expected a year from 490 00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:30,440 now? They had seen so many miracles 491 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:33,720 from Jesus by this point. Why was this surprise? 492 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:37,680 Jesus told them and said if they had faith they would say to this 493 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,040 mountain be removed and cast into the sea. 494 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:41,400 What mountain was he talking about? 495 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,000 Timothy, gathered again in his comments, states that as they're 496 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:48,600 walking up to Jerusalem, maybe Jesus pointing at that mountain 497 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:50,680 there, this hill where Jerusalem's on. 498 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:52,800 If you say to the mountain be cast and see it'll happen 499 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,680 physically, literally, physically, as in OK, that's 500 00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:58,160 going to pick up and dump into the sea. 501 00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:01,680 That's not what he meant. It'll be of no more consequence, 502 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:06,160 no more value, no more meaning, no more purpose. 503 00:27:07,360 --> 00:27:10,280 Maybe I'm exaggerating that, but that would not be the the the 504 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:13,400 focal point anymore which everything would twirl and twist 505 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:18,080 and turn. We must keep in mind when we 506 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:20,520 pray for God to move some mountain in our life. 507 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:23,640 God is not an ATM machine. You pop in a prayer and outcomes 508 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,320 this answer that we so desperately crave. 509 00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:30,920 What this does mean is we get in line with God in relationship 510 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:34,200 with Him, and then our prayers will be such that what God 511 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:37,120 wants, we will want. We're work in unity with Him on 512 00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:41,360 His projects. Our prayers will align with 513 00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:45,920 God's desires, what He expects, not some cheap shortcut to 514 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:53,360 heaven God may well have designed for us to suffer, and 515 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:55,720 offering a prayers to avoid certain things may not happen. 516 00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:01,680 The question we must ask do we really truly have faith in God 517 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:07,080 and want what honors him alone? Or do we want what we want and 518 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:09,280 do we prayers? God won't always answer. 519 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,080 Maybe there's a mountain in your life that needs moving and God 520 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:16,360 wants it moved. There's a there's a blockage 521 00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:18,800 there. He talks about that here. 522 00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:20,760 That blockage can be forgiveness. 523 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:24,320 Maybe a relationship is not working the way it should. 524 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:27,440 Maybe something's not happening and there's bitterness. 525 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:30,000 There's unforgiveness in that. And this goes to all of us. 526 00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:32,240 I'm including myself here. We have to work on this. 527 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:34,000 OK? Lord, what's blocking this? 528 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:36,800 Why can't I not move for Why is this mountain not moving? 529 00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:41,200 Have I truly surrendered? Do I want what he wants? 530 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:43,880 And am I OK if he'd make takes a different path? 531 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:47,680 Forgiveness is what blocks our closeness with God. 532 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:53,520 It contaminates it. It's easy. 533 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:56,840 Lord, forgive me, but then to extend that forgiveness to 534 00:28:56,840 --> 00:29:00,800 someone else, that's different. Often times we would like God to 535 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:03,920 extend forgiveness to us, grace to us, but are we as quick and 536 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:09,040 ready to extend it to others? Forgiveness in the life of a 537 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:12,760 believer is not optional. It's the path the believer must 538 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:14,480 walk to be in a relationship with God. 539 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:16,720 God Forgives those who repent and seek Him. 540 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:20,480 And when God's people have been wronged and bad things have been 541 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:22,480 done, and they must forgive those who do the wrong. 542 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:26,160 This is a much bigger topic to unpack here. 543 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:27,720 And if you have questions, you can talk to me later. 544 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:29,880 But unforgiveness is not optional. 545 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:34,320 Forgiveness also does not mean not holding accountable. 546 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:37,000 That's another topic again. But then Mark goes further. 547 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:41,960 He talks about prayer. Prayer is the breath of the 548 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:44,960 heart and soul. We don't just breathe in and out 549 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,040 once a week. Do we come to church Sunday 550 00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:48,640 morning, hear a sermon? That's the breath for the week. 551 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:52,840 No, When we forgive, the prayer is the channel. 552 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:55,480 It opens the channel for the prayers to go. 553 00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:58,640 When we have faith, when we forgive, when we pray, we align 554 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:00,800 ourselves with God. That puts us in a good place 555 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:03,160 with God and that gives us orientation towards God. 556 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:06,280 When we find ourselves in that position, our lives are lived in 557 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:09,280 faith and grace and the prayer life, and then things start to 558 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:13,760 change. And then when expectations are 559 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:17,080 not met, when things do turn out different than they should, 560 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:20,160 we're still just as firmly grounded and rooted. 561 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:23,560 And these things do not shift us, do not faze us. 562 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:27,320 All of what we've covered so far, all of it does not exempt 563 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:29,320 us now from being disappointed or struggle with missed 564 00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:31,080 expectations. That can still happen. 565 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:33,080 Jesus expected. He got a lot of it. 566 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:38,040 Let's continue reading Mark chapter 1127. 567 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:42,720 Then they came again to Jerusalem. 568 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:44,760 Remember, they're still walking past this fig tree, and they're 569 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:47,280 still walking to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the 570 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:49,600 temple, the chief priest, the scribes, and the elders came to 571 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:50,920 him. And they said to him, By what 572 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:53,320 authority you do these things? Are you doing these things? 573 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:55,680 And who gave you this authority to do these things? 574 00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:00,040 But Jesus answered and said to them, I also will ask you one 575 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:01,760 question, then you answer, Then answer me. 576 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,160 And I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 577 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:07,120 The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men? 578 00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:10,280 Answer me, they reason among themselves, saying, If we say 579 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:12,160 from heaven, he'll say, then why did you not believe him? 580 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:15,040 If we say for men to fear the people, for all count of John to 581 00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:17,080 have been a prophet. Indeed, the answer to Jesus 582 00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:20,920 said, We don't know. Jesus answered and says to them, 583 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:23,600 Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. 584 00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:27,320 In other words, expect opposition. 585 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:34,000 When we do have the right expectations, we must anticipate 586 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:38,680 opposition. Expect to not be liked, Expect 587 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:41,320 to be misunderstood, expect to be persecuted. 588 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:45,880 Once we have those expectations, that turns out the the other 589 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:47,720 way. How? 590 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:52,800 How can it be not expected when it's expected? 591 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:55,400 Walking with God will draw out the opposition. 592 00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:58,400 We should be more concerned about not being persecuted than 593 00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:03,280 we are about being persecuted. Jesus did say to his disciples, 594 00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:05,560 if they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. 595 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:09,840 That's a promise. As God's children we should not 596 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:13,160 expect to be left alone. Oh yes, it's easy and more 597 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:15,400 comfortable when no one challenges us, no one confronts 598 00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:16,840 us. But that's not normal. 599 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:21,080 When the Kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of God meet, there 600 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:24,280 is tension. The authorities in Jesus day had 601 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:26,920 been watching and we're very angry at Jesus for what he had 602 00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:28,520 been doing and was doing. So they asked, but what 603 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:29,600 authority are you doing these things? 604 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:32,840 The question but what authority? That was a trap. 605 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:35,280 They were hypocrites. They wanted the loyalty and 606 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:38,560 support of the people, so they had to be careful how they sold 607 00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:40,320 themselves. Jesus knew that. 608 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:42,280 Jesus knew how they worked and he used it. 609 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:45,760 So Jesus talks about John's baptism and asks them, so this 610 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:49,920 baptism of John was from heaven or from men and oh boy, what do 611 00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:51,080 we do now? They were cornered and they 612 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:52,880 wanted to be in the people's good side so bad. 613 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:54,680 They just wouldn't answer from that side. 614 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:56,920 But they hated John so they couldn't tell him that. 615 00:32:56,960 --> 00:32:58,760 So they just, well, we don't know. 616 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:02,120 This was a lose, lose response for them. 617 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:07,440 So they just said we don't know. Well, they're not responding was 618 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:10,360 a response. You see, we cannot not respond. 619 00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:11,880 We do respond one way or another. 620 00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:13,600 There's no such thing as not responding. 621 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:15,880 Silence is a response and sometimes a very good one too. 622 00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:20,600 I don't want to go too far from the topic here, but when Jesus 623 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:23,760 stood before Pilate, only days later, one of the gospels talks 624 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:27,280 about he wouldn't answer Pilate when Pilate questioned Jesus and 625 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:33,760 that was a response. We all have expectations, all of 626 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:36,160 us. How we manage, how we hold our 627 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:38,880 expectations reveals a lot about our relationship with God and 628 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:42,600 with each other. Jews had expectations, they got 629 00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:45,680 him wrong. The Pharisees got Jesus wrong. 630 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,800 Jesus had a Great Expectations. They weren't met from the crowd. 631 00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:53,040 The question I want to ask us this morning before we close 632 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:57,280 this what is Jesus expecting from you and me and is he 633 00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:00,680 getting it? Is Jesus getting what he is 634 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:03,680 expecting from us? We can be wrong about a lot of 635 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:06,880 things in life and in the end it won't matter much What Car we 636 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:08,760 drive in the house. We all those things. 637 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:11,800 But there's something in life we cannot afford to be wrong about. 638 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,159 That's about our relationship with Jesus. 639 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:16,280 If we miss Jesus, we miss it all. 640 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:20,199 Mine and your expectations are not the measuring stick by which 641 00:34:20,199 --> 00:34:23,840 God runs the world. Mine and your expectations in 642 00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:26,199 life are not the benchmark of the point of reference from 643 00:34:26,199 --> 00:34:28,320 which the world around us orients itself. 644 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:33,719 Our Calling is to get in line with God's expectations and make 645 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:37,000 Him our focus, make Him our point of reference. 646 00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:40,080 Everyone is called to walk in relationship with Jesus. 647 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:47,480 How would it be if we, like Jesus, did not base our lives on 648 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:51,159 earthly temporal expectations and instead we live our lives in 649 00:34:51,159 --> 00:34:54,800 complete surrender to Him as a Father, Expect Him to guide us 650 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:56,280 and lead us. And when all the disappointments 651 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:58,160 come, OK, you know what? This is part of life. 652 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:01,360 I would say this morning, if there's somebody listening who's 653 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:05,080 never given their life to Jesus, never made Jesus their Lord and 654 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:07,320 Savior, never accepted him, why not do it? 655 00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:11,640 There'll be missed expectations. The world will not understand. 656 00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:14,480 That's true, but your life will have a purpose in the course in 657 00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:17,120 the direction. I want to encourage us this 658 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:20,640 morning to look to Jesus. Allow Jesus to lead us and trust 659 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:22,760 Him. Then when life does not and will 660 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:27,120 not work as expected, it won't alarm us, won't derail us, won't 661 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:29,680 topple us. It will strengthen us, it'll 662 00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:32,680 grow us and we'll walk in harmony with Jesus. 663 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:38,640 Let's pray, Lord, may our expectations in life never be 664 00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:41,560 such that they draw us away from You and point to ourselves. 665 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:44,760 Your people, the Israelites, often demonstrated with their 666 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:46,720 lives their misguided expectations. 667 00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:49,560 But we thank you for saving us from our sins, for giving us 668 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:52,280 eternal life. We pray, Lord, that as we look 669 00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:56,200 into the story of salvation repeatedly, guide us, Lord, help 670 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:57,720 us to understand. Help us to see how much you 671 00:35:57,720 --> 00:35:59,680 loved us. Help us to surrender to You in 672 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:02,680 all things and whatever it may be that you see fit for us to 673 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:04,280 experience. Help us, Lord, to be thankful in 674 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:06,840 it, accepting what you bring into our lives. 675 00:36:07,240 --> 00:36:10,520 Protect us Lord from being entitled, making life all about 676 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:12,640 ourselves. Help us Lord, to surrender our 677 00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:15,440 lives to You and live in a relationship with You, expecting 678 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:18,200 You to give us peace in Jesus name, Amen.