1 00:00:06,290 --> 00:00:10,380 Be ready for your belly. Lord God, it is a privilege now 2 00:00:10,390 --> 00:00:14,640 to hear from Your Word. We know that all scripture is 3 00:00:14,650 --> 00:00:17,440 breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for 4 00:00:17,450 --> 00:00:21,010 reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. 5 00:00:21,020 --> 00:00:24,260 And we do pray that Your Word would have its effect on our 6 00:00:24,270 --> 00:00:28,540 lives and on our hearts. I thank you for Billy and just 7 00:00:28,550 --> 00:00:31,720 for his giftedness, Lord, to be able to communicate Your Word 8 00:00:31,730 --> 00:00:33,640 with clarity and with conviction. 9 00:00:33,830 --> 00:00:36,820 Thank you for the preparation that is put in this week and our 10 00:00:36,830 --> 00:00:38,500 prayers. He preaches that You would give 11 00:00:38,510 --> 00:00:42,510 him the grace to preach with boldness and courage and just 12 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:45,510 bring to mind, Lord, all that has prepared this week. 13 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,780 We pray that you would bless this time, that you would grow 14 00:00:48,790 --> 00:00:52,340 us as your church and for your glory in Jesus name, Amen. 15 00:00:52,910 --> 00:00:54,550 Amen. Very cool. 16 00:00:55,310 --> 00:00:58,100 Good morning Church. Would you open with me to Luke 17 00:00:58,110 --> 00:01:00,700 Chapter 4? Luke chapter 4. 18 00:01:01,190 --> 00:01:05,540 I was able to be last week at the Orchard Church over in 19 00:01:05,610 --> 00:01:07,180 Topeka. It was a real joy to just be 20 00:01:07,190 --> 00:01:10,700 there and worship with them. And see, I mean, we had Mike 21 00:01:10,710 --> 00:01:13,760 here, Mike Johnston here earlier this year and we had a deal that 22 00:01:13,770 --> 00:01:16,420 we do a preacher swap and I put it off for so long. 23 00:01:16,470 --> 00:01:19,280 My debt is paid. But it was a real joy to just go 24 00:01:19,290 --> 00:01:21,480 and, and worship with them and and preach with them. 25 00:01:21,610 --> 00:01:24,010 A couple from the orchard have come along talking over this 26 00:01:24,020 --> 00:01:26,410 week, which was not my intention, but it's good to have 27 00:01:26,420 --> 00:01:30,600 you guys as well. Hey, we are going to be in Luke 28 00:01:30,610 --> 00:01:36,870 Chapter 4 this morning looking at versus 14 through 30. 29 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:44,760 So I'm just going to read those Luke chapter 4 starting in verse 30 00:01:44,770 --> 00:01:47,560 14. And Jesus returned in the power 31 00:01:47,570 --> 00:01:51,810 of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out 32 00:01:51,820 --> 00:01:54,450 through all the surrounding country, and he taught in this 33 00:01:54,460 --> 00:01:56,750 synagogues being glorified by all. 34 00:01:57,600 --> 00:01:59,870 And he came up to Nazareth where he had been brought up. 35 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:02,650 And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath 36 00:02:02,660 --> 00:02:07,700 day, and he stood up to RE and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah 37 00:02:07,710 --> 00:02:11,430 was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found 38 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:15,260 the place where it was written. The Spirit of the Lord is upon 39 00:02:15,270 --> 00:02:20,050 me because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. 40 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:25,080 He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, and 41 00:02:25,090 --> 00:02:28,390 recovering of sight to the blind, to sit at liberty those 42 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:31,780 who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour. 43 00:02:33,050 --> 00:02:36,080 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, 44 00:02:36,090 --> 00:02:39,020 and sat down. And the eyes of all in the 45 00:02:39,030 --> 00:02:43,820 synagogue were fixed on him, and he began to say to them, Today 46 00:02:43,870 --> 00:02:46,880 this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. 47 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:50,670 And all spoke well of him, and marvelled at the gracious words 48 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:53,210 that were coming from his mouth. And they said, It is not this 49 00:02:53,220 --> 00:02:56,650 Joseph's son. And he said to them, doubtless 50 00:02:56,660 --> 00:03:01,210 you'll quote to me this proverb. Physician, heal yourself what 51 00:03:01,220 --> 00:03:04,510 we, what we have heard you did and capernium do here in your 52 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,010 hometown as well. And he said, truly, I say to 53 00:03:08,020 --> 00:03:10,410 you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 54 00:03:11,300 --> 00:03:14,100 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in 55 00:03:14,110 --> 00:03:18,290 the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up for three 56 00:03:18,300 --> 00:03:21,100 years and six months, and a great famine came over all the 57 00:03:21,110 --> 00:03:23,440 land. And Elijah was sent to none of 58 00:03:23,450 --> 00:03:26,950 them, but only two, Zarephath and the land of sight, on to a 59 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:30,840 woman who was a widow. And there were many lippers in 60 00:03:30,850 --> 00:03:34,210 Israel and the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them 61 00:03:34,270 --> 00:03:37,070 was cleansed, but only naming the Syrian. 62 00:03:38,050 --> 00:03:41,300 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled 63 00:03:41,310 --> 00:03:46,040 with wrath, and they rose up and drove him out of the town, and 64 00:03:46,050 --> 00:03:48,740 brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was 65 00:03:48,750 --> 00:03:52,030 built, so they could throw him down the Cliff. 66 00:03:52,750 --> 00:03:56,430 But passing through the amidst, he went away. 67 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:02,630 Amen. Well, I'm sure all of us at some 68 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:07,590 point have wondered the question if I could design my perfect 69 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:12,070 house, if I won the lottery and could design my perfect house, 70 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:15,680 how would I design it? How many bedrooms would I have? 71 00:04:15,690 --> 00:04:18,230 What I want it to be? You know, maybe like far enough 72 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,730 out of town that you've got the country feel, but close enough 73 00:04:21,740 --> 00:04:24,530 to town that you can just pop into countdown, but you've got a 74 00:04:24,540 --> 00:04:26,750 big backyard, a couple of ensuites. 75 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:28,980 We're kind of pictured. Maybe this is the perfect house 76 00:04:28,990 --> 00:04:31,750 that I want to have. I've seen it. 77 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:34,490 If you're a sports fan, I I follow the BAA little bit. 78 00:04:34,500 --> 00:04:37,720 A big question that that people get asked is if you could build 79 00:04:37,730 --> 00:04:40,800 your perfect basketball player, how would you build build this 80 00:04:40,810 --> 00:04:42,180 player? So maybe he's got the shooting 81 00:04:42,190 --> 00:04:45,580 ability of Stiff Curry. He's got the dunking ability of 82 00:04:45,590 --> 00:04:47,810 Michael Jordan. Trying to build, If I could 83 00:04:47,820 --> 00:04:51,240 build this ultimate player, I I've thought about it in terms 84 00:04:51,250 --> 00:04:53,560 of preachers. How would you build the ultimate 85 00:04:53,570 --> 00:04:58,660 preacher, the passion of John Piper, maybe the softness of Tim 86 00:04:58,670 --> 00:05:02,280 Keller combining to create this perfect preacher? 87 00:05:02,350 --> 00:05:05,240 The reason I kind of start with thinking about that is because 88 00:05:05,250 --> 00:05:09,940 I, I think for most of us, or for many of us, we have built up 89 00:05:09,950 --> 00:05:15,080 in our minds a ideal picture of who Jesus Christ is, or at least 90 00:05:15,090 --> 00:05:17,290 who we think Jesus Christ should be. 91 00:05:18,490 --> 00:05:22,680 And, and what we have in these verses this morning is Jesus is 92 00:05:22,690 --> 00:05:25,900 gonna come forward and he's gonna present his mission. 93 00:05:27,210 --> 00:05:30,420 He's gonna presence. This is who I am, and this is 94 00:05:30,430 --> 00:05:33,400 what I've come to do. And he's bringing it to the 95 00:05:33,410 --> 00:05:37,680 people of Israel. And what's gonna become very 96 00:05:37,690 --> 00:05:40,500 clear very quickly is that the mission that Jesus presents, it 97 00:05:40,510 --> 00:05:44,850 doesn't line up with this ideal picture of the Messiah that 98 00:05:44,860 --> 00:05:49,620 Israel had. Jesus is going to present to us 99 00:05:49,630 --> 00:05:56,160 the mission of Jesus according to Jesus because well, and you 100 00:05:56,170 --> 00:05:58,610 might have noticed that I guess as we came to this passage, as 101 00:05:58,620 --> 00:06:02,940 we have in verse 22, after Jesus had spoken to them, they're 102 00:06:02,950 --> 00:06:06,330 amazed, They're amazed at the words they're, they're speaking 103 00:06:06,340 --> 00:06:08,650 well of him. And then you go like moments 104 00:06:08,660 --> 00:06:11,570 later down to verse 29. They're trying to throw him off 105 00:06:11,580 --> 00:06:15,480 a Cliff. Now, I'm sure many or Dan have 106 00:06:15,490 --> 00:06:17,840 said some things up here that maybe you didn't agree with or 107 00:06:17,850 --> 00:06:20,300 didn't like the way we sit it, but no one's tried to throw me 108 00:06:20,310 --> 00:06:25,570 off a Cliff yet that I know of. So something had to go down. 109 00:06:25,580 --> 00:06:29,380 What went down and those moments that made them want to throw 110 00:06:29,390 --> 00:06:32,580 Jesus off a Cliff. And very simply, it's because 111 00:06:32,590 --> 00:06:37,200 they had this picture of what they felt the Messiah should 112 00:06:37,210 --> 00:06:39,800 look like and what Jesus says he's here to do. 113 00:06:39,810 --> 00:06:43,370 It didn't line up. They were two different things 114 00:06:45,020 --> 00:06:48,630 and and as we come and I guess unpack that this morning, I I 115 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:50,690 want to think about how that might be similar with us. 116 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:53,340 What is the picture we have of Christ? 117 00:06:53,350 --> 00:06:56,750 What is this ideal picture of? We say Jesus is supposed to come 118 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:00,310 and bring me this. OK, let's look at what Jesus 119 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:03,170 said he came to bring and see. Does it line up? 120 00:07:03,870 --> 00:07:08,530 Do we have actually the right picture of who Jesus is? 121 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:13,530 So let's look together at the mission of Jesus according to 122 00:07:13,540 --> 00:07:17,370 Jesus. As we look at these verses, very 123 00:07:17,380 --> 00:07:20,670 simply, the first part is this. The mission of Jesus is Jesus 124 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:24,700 has come to save us. Jesus has come to save us. 125 00:07:24,710 --> 00:07:29,460 It's pretty simple right at this point in his ministry when 126 00:07:29,470 --> 00:07:32,280 you're going to see that in versus 14 and 15 Christ had 127 00:07:32,290 --> 00:07:35,010 Jesus Christ had built quite the reputation. 128 00:07:36,300 --> 00:07:39,110 He this is actually what we're reading here, the first of his 129 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:44,170 public ministry. So we've seen he has the birth 130 00:07:44,180 --> 00:07:48,160 narratives of him as a child. We've seen him grow up and be 131 00:07:48,170 --> 00:07:51,050 baptised and be tempted. Dan spoke on that last week. 132 00:07:51,060 --> 00:07:54,710 So this is the first instance of Jesus actually interacting and 133 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:57,680 teaching the people of Israel. And it's going to say in verse 134 00:07:57,690 --> 00:08:01,750 14 and 15 that a report had gone out about him through all the 135 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:05,350 country and he taught in their synagogues being glorified by 136 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:07,060 all. So people started to hear 137 00:08:07,070 --> 00:08:10,610 stories and whispers about this Jesus guy and that the miracles 138 00:08:10,620 --> 00:08:14,190 he was doing, the things he was doing, he was building quite the 139 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:17,260 reputation. And so the scene we have here 140 00:08:17,270 --> 00:08:20,680 is, is coming to Nazareth. Now you might recognise 141 00:08:20,690 --> 00:08:22,440 Nazareth, Nazareth as his hometown. 142 00:08:22,670 --> 00:08:25,310 This is where he was born. This is where he was raised, 143 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:28,940 this is his people. And so he's coming to people who 144 00:08:29,070 --> 00:08:34,020 know him, who probably knew him as a child, saw him grow up. 145 00:08:34,030 --> 00:08:35,900 They saw him learn to be a Carpenter. 146 00:08:36,110 --> 00:08:39,340 They, they didn't, probably didn't know him as Jesus the 147 00:08:39,350 --> 00:08:41,159 Messiah. They just knew him as Jesus. 148 00:08:42,590 --> 00:08:45,900 And so he's coming now into his hometown that the suspense is 149 00:08:46,090 --> 00:08:49,000 built because now he's coming to the synagogue on the Sabbath 150 00:08:49,010 --> 00:08:51,020 day. And to give you a picture maybe 151 00:08:51,030 --> 00:08:53,700 of what the synagogue would look like, I think maybe our closest 152 00:08:53,710 --> 00:08:56,100 representation is what we're doing right now. 153 00:08:56,430 --> 00:08:59,340 So in in Israel at the time, you had the temples where you did 154 00:08:59,350 --> 00:09:03,060 the sacrifices and all that, but the synagogues were mainly a, a 155 00:09:03,070 --> 00:09:06,510 space for the reading of the word and the proclamation of the 156 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:08,340 word. And so people are the Jews would 157 00:09:08,350 --> 00:09:11,720 come together to the synagogue and there would be readings from 158 00:09:11,730 --> 00:09:14,890 the Torah, They'd be readings from the writings, they'd be 159 00:09:14,900 --> 00:09:18,740 reading from the profits. And then someone would come and 160 00:09:18,830 --> 00:09:21,570 speak. And what it would usually look 161 00:09:21,580 --> 00:09:27,600 like is the person would stand and they would read, and then 162 00:09:27,670 --> 00:09:30,230 they would sit and then they would teach. 163 00:09:30,830 --> 00:09:33,660 And that's why I've chosen to sit this morning because I 164 00:09:33,670 --> 00:09:35,860 wanted to maybe give you a picture of what that might have 165 00:09:35,910 --> 00:09:37,540 looked like. I thought I might follow Jesus, 166 00:09:37,550 --> 00:09:39,980 sleep. And So what happens here is the 167 00:09:39,990 --> 00:09:43,400 scroll you're going to see in verse 17, the scroll of the 168 00:09:43,410 --> 00:09:46,800 prophet Isaiah is handed to Jesus. 169 00:09:48,090 --> 00:09:50,540 And the people, like you said, they know him, they've heard 170 00:09:50,550 --> 00:09:52,260 these rumours. Now he's about to get up and 171 00:09:52,270 --> 00:09:55,700 speak and it says he's gonna unroll the scroll to the section 172 00:09:55,710 --> 00:09:59,280 from Isaiah, and it's Isaiah chapter 61. 173 00:09:59,290 --> 00:10:05,540 And this is where he's going to read from these words in Isaiah 174 00:10:05,550 --> 00:10:07,600 61. The Spirit of the Lord is upon 175 00:10:07,610 --> 00:10:11,190 me because He's anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. 176 00:10:11,830 --> 00:10:15,440 He sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering 177 00:10:15,450 --> 00:10:19,000 of sight to the blind, to sit at liberty those who were 178 00:10:19,010 --> 00:10:21,920 oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour. 179 00:10:23,770 --> 00:10:27,260 And so before I look at what Jesus seared, I, I want you to 180 00:10:27,270 --> 00:10:30,510 understand and maybe put yourself in the synagogue 181 00:10:30,590 --> 00:10:33,400 alongside the Jews and understand the significance of 182 00:10:33,410 --> 00:10:36,030 Isaiah 61. If you were a Jew. 183 00:10:37,420 --> 00:10:44,090 In this section of Isaiah 61 is this promise that one day God 184 00:10:44,100 --> 00:10:48,790 would rescue them. There is this promise of a 185 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:50,760 Messiah. And when I use the word Messiah, 186 00:10:50,770 --> 00:10:54,410 I'm, I'm essentially Speaking of a, an anointed 1A promised one 187 00:10:54,420 --> 00:10:57,420 who would save Israel in the future. 188 00:10:57,660 --> 00:11:00,550 And so the Israelites, they, they would know this, they would 189 00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:02,500 be familiar with this. And they're thinking, yes, 190 00:11:02,510 --> 00:11:04,710 someone is going to come and save us. 191 00:11:06,620 --> 00:11:10,550 But if we understand what the salvation had looked like so far 192 00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:13,690 for the Israelites in the Old Testament, there had been the 193 00:11:13,700 --> 00:11:18,690 Exodus where they were slaves in Egypt and and God sent Moses and 194 00:11:18,700 --> 00:11:21,190 saved them from the land of Egypt and then eventually 195 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:23,350 brought them into the Promised land. 196 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:27,550 And then through their sin, God exiled them from their land into 197 00:11:27,560 --> 00:11:29,930 Babylonian captivity. But he promised to bring them 198 00:11:29,940 --> 00:11:34,010 back into their land. So the salvation that they were 199 00:11:34,020 --> 00:11:38,550 likely thinking of was a physical salvation, a right 200 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:41,090 here, right now, physical salvation. 201 00:11:41,100 --> 00:11:43,010 Someone's gonna come and they're gonna save us. 202 00:11:43,020 --> 00:11:46,170 Because at the time Jesus comes, they're under captivity from 203 00:11:46,180 --> 00:11:48,900 Rome. The Romans had taken over the 204 00:11:48,910 --> 00:11:51,770 land of Israel. They were oppressed under their 205 00:11:51,780 --> 00:11:53,290 captivity. They were paying taxes. 206 00:11:53,300 --> 00:11:59,700 It was not a nice time to be an Israelite person and and God had 207 00:11:59,710 --> 00:12:02,720 had saved them in the past by bringing them into the land, by 208 00:12:02,730 --> 00:12:04,970 giving them freedom from oppression. 209 00:12:06,220 --> 00:12:08,790 And I guess the reason I want to give you that context is I want 210 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:13,460 you to understand as Jesus reads this, a juice sitting in the 211 00:12:13,470 --> 00:12:16,190 synagogue is not thinking the same thing we're thinking right 212 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:19,390 now. They're thinking, yes, Jesus is 213 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:21,620 gonna save us from oppression, from Rome. 214 00:12:23,270 --> 00:12:26,380 Not Jesus, but the the Messiah. The Messiah is gonna save us 215 00:12:26,390 --> 00:12:31,400 from this physical right here, right now oppression that we are 216 00:12:31,410 --> 00:12:34,830 under. And so Jesus, he grabs the 217 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:38,830 scroll and he stands up and he reads it, and he sees the Spirit 218 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:43,170 of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim 219 00:12:43,180 --> 00:12:46,820 good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim 220 00:12:46,830 --> 00:12:49,920 liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the 221 00:12:49,930 --> 00:12:55,240 blind, to sit at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim 222 00:12:55,310 --> 00:13:02,580 the year of the Lord's favour. Today the Scripture has been 223 00:13:02,590 --> 00:13:10,030 fulfilled and you're here. You imagine being in the 224 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:16,740 synagogue at this point. Imagine if someone even came up 225 00:13:16,750 --> 00:13:18,480 here and there. Maybe read a passage from 226 00:13:19,220 --> 00:13:23,040 Revelation that we kind of knew as a promise in the future. 227 00:13:23,110 --> 00:13:25,620 And then they sat down and they said today this has been 228 00:13:25,630 --> 00:13:27,730 fulfilled. I think that's going to give you 229 00:13:27,740 --> 00:13:32,450 a picture of the shock that people have What really today, 230 00:13:33,180 --> 00:13:37,960 but it also comes with so much expectation of what that is 231 00:13:37,970 --> 00:13:43,250 going to look like. But Jesus is about to smash 232 00:13:43,260 --> 00:13:48,590 those expectations. I remember as a kid when I was 233 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:53,920 maybe 10 or 11, Christmas Eve, the presents go out under the 234 00:13:53,930 --> 00:13:56,420 tree and you start to like, look, We had the rule look, but 235 00:13:56,430 --> 00:13:58,380 don't touch but the Christmas presents. 236 00:13:58,390 --> 00:14:02,160 But you get like as close as you can and you try to like look and 237 00:14:02,170 --> 00:14:04,370 see if you can see like a name tag or not to work out if it's 238 00:14:04,380 --> 00:14:06,220 yours. One year there was this prison 239 00:14:06,230 --> 00:14:07,780 at the very back corner of the tree. 240 00:14:07,790 --> 00:14:11,680 It was about this big. It was a huge one. 241 00:14:11,690 --> 00:14:13,730 I couldn't see the name tag, but I was convinced. 242 00:14:13,740 --> 00:14:16,010 I mean, I'm the youngest of 6. I don't know why I thought this, 243 00:14:16,020 --> 00:14:18,740 but I was convinced that it was for me and I was convinced it 244 00:14:18,750 --> 00:14:21,270 was a Nintendo Wii. I'm like, Mum and dad have 245 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:23,980 finally caved. They've decided it's a good idea 246 00:14:24,770 --> 00:14:28,160 and and I had built up this expectation that Mum and Dad had 247 00:14:28,170 --> 00:14:31,720 bought me a Nintendo Wii for Christmas and it was the last 248 00:14:31,730 --> 00:14:34,150 present there on Christmas morning as we're handing out the 249 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:36,460 presents and I'm sitting, I'm like alright, ohh, here we go, 250 00:14:36,530 --> 00:14:37,940 you know, I'm looking forward to it. 251 00:14:38,030 --> 00:14:40,580 And then they unwrap it and the rest of my siblings had all 252 00:14:40,590 --> 00:14:42,320 chipped in to buy Mama's sewing machine. 253 00:14:43,590 --> 00:14:45,940 Ohh, my, I didn't even know about this, but it's from the 254 00:14:45,950 --> 00:14:50,470 children. This is kind of what's gonna 255 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:52,610 happen for the Israelites, because they have this 256 00:14:52,620 --> 00:14:56,720 expectation of what's gonna happen when they hear this, and 257 00:14:56,730 --> 00:15:00,760 those expectations are about to be smashed. 258 00:15:00,930 --> 00:15:03,900 And I do think that many of us, we do have a prepackaged 259 00:15:03,910 --> 00:15:07,680 understanding of what Jesus Christ promises to give us. 260 00:15:08,910 --> 00:15:12,400 We have this understanding he is going to give me. 261 00:15:12,470 --> 00:15:16,060 Maybe it's not freedom from Rome, but Jesus Christ has 262 00:15:16,070 --> 00:15:20,040 promised to give me an easy life with a comfortable job, free 263 00:15:20,050 --> 00:15:23,350 from suffering as long as I maybe come to church most weeks. 264 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:25,040 And I'm a relatively good person. 265 00:15:25,050 --> 00:15:29,190 Jesus owes it to me. What kind of expectations do we 266 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:34,290 have of Christ? And is that what Christ promises 267 00:15:34,300 --> 00:15:37,650 to save us from? Because yes, Jesus has come to 268 00:15:37,660 --> 00:15:41,580 save, but not in the way we might think or want. 269 00:15:43,340 --> 00:15:46,210 Not in the way we might think or want. 270 00:15:48,420 --> 00:15:50,890 And firstly, what's gonna happen is we're gonna see very clearly 271 00:15:50,900 --> 00:15:54,190 that this is not the Messiah that they expected. 272 00:15:55,620 --> 00:15:57,100 This is not the Messiah they expected. 273 00:15:57,110 --> 00:15:59,550 And I think firstly, on a foundational level, it's because 274 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:04,080 Jesus is in his hometown. They knew him from childhood. 275 00:16:04,090 --> 00:16:07,140 They knew this is Jesus. Imagine here of our Andy sum 276 00:16:07,150 --> 00:16:08,970 came up. And so this is pretty much the 277 00:16:08,980 --> 00:16:12,360 only church you've come to. Andy kind of raised through 278 00:16:12,410 --> 00:16:14,060 Hookway. If he comes up on stage right 279 00:16:14,070 --> 00:16:16,020 now. And a lot of people, especially 280 00:16:16,030 --> 00:16:18,540 if you've been here and seeing Andy grow up, he comes up and 281 00:16:18,550 --> 00:16:20,700 says, hey, just letting you know, I'm going to start a new 282 00:16:20,710 --> 00:16:22,660 career. I'm going to be a professional 283 00:16:22,670 --> 00:16:27,350 rapper. I think for most people who know 284 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:31,570 Andy quite well, they go Andy. Like, look, Andy's being a 285 00:16:31,580 --> 00:16:34,140 rapper. I I think that there is this 286 00:16:34,150 --> 00:16:37,720 level of comfort that would go that doesn't really make sense. 287 00:16:37,790 --> 00:16:40,020 And I think that's what it's coming across when they asked 288 00:16:40,030 --> 00:16:43,240 this question. Is not this Joseph's son? 289 00:16:44,290 --> 00:16:49,710 Is this not Peter's son? Peter son's son, as Jesus says 290 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:53,470 he's making this claim and he's making very clear I am the one 291 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:55,850 who was going to bring this, essentially saying I am the 292 00:16:55,860 --> 00:16:58,280 promised one. I am the Messiah, the saviour 293 00:16:58,290 --> 00:17:00,670 thing from God. And these people, they saw Jesus 294 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:02,210 as a teenager. They saw him growing up. 295 00:17:02,220 --> 00:17:04,060 And they go, is not this Joseph's son? 296 00:17:05,329 --> 00:17:07,660 This is not the Messiah they expected. 297 00:17:07,670 --> 00:17:11,260 Because I think very simply they were expecting a military 298 00:17:11,270 --> 00:17:15,010 leader, someone who is going to come and, and start a 299 00:17:15,020 --> 00:17:18,910 revolution, maybe even a violent revolution against Rome and 300 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:22,050 rescue them and, and, and give them the freedom, the political 301 00:17:22,060 --> 00:17:23,510 freedom that they wanted as a nation. 302 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:25,380 But what do they get? They get Joseph's son. 303 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:29,730 It doesn't make sense to them. This is not the Messiah that 304 00:17:29,740 --> 00:17:34,760 they expected and that's why essentially Jesus speaks on 305 00:17:34,770 --> 00:17:37,800 their behalf. He says doubtless in verse 23, 306 00:17:37,810 --> 00:17:40,040 doubtless you will quote to me this proverb. 307 00:17:40,090 --> 00:17:44,740 Physician heal yourself what you've done and what we've heard 308 00:17:44,750 --> 00:17:48,340 you did and capernium do here in your hometown as well. 309 00:17:48,750 --> 00:17:51,770 Physician, heal yourself as essentially saying prove it 310 00:17:52,780 --> 00:17:54,390 right. If I tell you that I'm a doctor 311 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,210 and I can, you know, do all of these things, you you wanna see 312 00:17:57,220 --> 00:18:00,310 some proof that I can do there, they're saying prove it. 313 00:18:00,660 --> 00:18:03,810 We've heard you've done these miracles, do them here. 314 00:18:04,060 --> 00:18:06,530 And and Jesus is because of their unbelief. 315 00:18:06,740 --> 00:18:09,730 No, I'm not I'm not going to do that for you. 316 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:13,670 And then he kind of gives us, I think, a truism by saying no 317 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:16,050 profit is acceptable in his hometown. 318 00:18:17,130 --> 00:18:20,760 When there is familiarity with who Jesus is, there is contempt 319 00:18:20,830 --> 00:18:24,400 because he's not fitting into this role that they expected him 320 00:18:24,410 --> 00:18:28,930 to fit into. So already these expectations of 321 00:18:28,940 --> 00:18:31,570 who Jesus might be are starting to crash. 322 00:18:31,940 --> 00:18:34,040 This is not the Messiah they expected. 323 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:37,120 But secondly, this is not the Messiah they wanted. 324 00:18:38,510 --> 00:18:39,980 You gonna find that out pretty quickly. 325 00:18:40,710 --> 00:18:43,640 He's about to smash their expectations and he's gonna show 326 00:18:43,650 --> 00:18:46,400 them that they have a wrong picture of what the Messiah 327 00:18:46,410 --> 00:18:48,910 should be. They want a Messiah who's going 328 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:53,340 to come and make Israel great again, but Jesus is not coming 329 00:18:53,350 --> 00:18:55,600 for that purpose. Make Israel great again. 330 00:18:56,780 --> 00:18:59,190 He's going to give them two examples to show them that this 331 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,170 is not the case. And we're gonna look at these 332 00:19:03,460 --> 00:19:05,950 and he's going to give them some examples from the Old Testament 333 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:10,950 to show them as illustrations what he has come to do. 334 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:17,560 And the first example is of this widow in Sidon, which is this. 335 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:21,990 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in 336 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,640 the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years 337 00:19:25,650 --> 00:19:28,850 and six months and a great famine came all over the land. 338 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:33,720 And Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath and 339 00:19:33,730 --> 00:19:37,160 the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 340 00:19:39,090 --> 00:19:42,740 Now this is a familiar story for I'm sure all of the Jews and the 341 00:19:42,750 --> 00:19:44,550 synagogue here. He's using this as an 342 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:47,910 illustration, pointing back to a time in Israel's history when 343 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:50,340 there were many widows and there was a famine that came over 344 00:19:50,350 --> 00:19:53,540 Israel because of God's judgement, because of Israel's 345 00:19:53,550 --> 00:19:55,180 sin. And he's saying the prophet 346 00:19:55,190 --> 00:19:57,130 Elijah came, and who did he go to? 347 00:19:57,630 --> 00:20:00,520 He was not sent to any of the Israelite widows, but he was 348 00:20:00,530 --> 00:20:04,490 sent to an outsider. He was sent to a gentile. 349 00:20:04,540 --> 00:20:09,060 He was sent to a woman. He was sent to a widow and if 350 00:20:09,070 --> 00:20:12,800 you want to read more of that you go to 1st Kings chapter 17. 351 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:17,590 But but that's a, I guess a shocking illustration for him to 352 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:20,990 give. Who did the prophet come for? 353 00:20:21,930 --> 00:20:24,760 Not the Israelites. The profit came from the 354 00:20:24,770 --> 00:20:27,670 outsider. Then he's gonna give another 355 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:30,740 example, and then I'll just paraphrase it for you of an 356 00:20:30,750 --> 00:20:34,960 example with naming the Syrian who was a lipper in the time of 357 00:20:34,970 --> 00:20:38,430 the Prophet Alisha. And there were many livers in 358 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:40,560 the land of Israel. But who did Elijah go to? 359 00:20:40,570 --> 00:20:43,830 Who was he sent to? He went to this Syrian king 360 00:20:43,910 --> 00:20:46,970 called Neiman who had leprosy, and he healed Neiman. 361 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:51,250 What are these two examples have in common? 362 00:20:53,090 --> 00:20:58,860 The Prophet came and passed over Israel and yet offered salvation 363 00:20:59,090 --> 00:21:03,440 to an outsider, not only to an outsider, an outsider who 364 00:21:03,450 --> 00:21:10,090 recognised the need to be saved across the saying here that the 365 00:21:10,100 --> 00:21:13,030 mission he's saying here to the Israelites, the mission of the 366 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:16,190 Messiah. My mission is not for your 367 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:19,340 physical right here, right now game. 368 00:21:22,230 --> 00:21:25,620 They wanted him to come and and fill the need that they felt 369 00:21:25,630 --> 00:21:29,080 like they had at the moment. We need freedom as a nation. 370 00:21:29,150 --> 00:21:33,800 We need to be free from Rome. We need social freedom, whatever 371 00:21:33,810 --> 00:21:36,400 it was. And Jesus is making very clear 372 00:21:36,590 --> 00:21:40,200 I'm not coming to help you right here, right now. 373 00:21:42,810 --> 00:21:45,590 The purpose of Jesus Christ coming is to save sinners. 374 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:50,630 That is why He has come. He has come to save sinners. 375 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:54,110 He has not come to give us a good job. 376 00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:56,790 He has not come to give us a comfortable life. 377 00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:59,100 He has come to save us from our sin. 378 00:22:02,780 --> 00:22:05,190 And it's very easy, I guess, if you look back over those verses 379 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:08,950 that you read, to read those as physical promises and the sense 380 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:12,250 to say we can read that right now and we go have Jesus. 381 00:22:12,260 --> 00:22:15,220 Job is to give this to me right here, right now. 382 00:22:15,230 --> 00:22:18,030 And the way that Israel do you have to give this to me right 383 00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:22,040 now. But actually the way Jesus 384 00:22:22,050 --> 00:22:23,920 speaks of it, and I actually think the way the rest of the 385 00:22:23,930 --> 00:22:27,760 Gospels are going to speak of it is as a spiritual promise that 386 00:22:27,770 --> 00:22:29,980 he's giving to them. Think about this. 387 00:22:30,030 --> 00:22:33,870 The word good news to the poor, the way the word poor is used 388 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,140 throughout the Gospels, especially look Matthew chapter 389 00:22:37,190 --> 00:22:41,060 5 and the Beatitudes. He says Blizzard are the poor 390 00:22:41,070 --> 00:22:45,730 and spirit. So Jesus has come not to restore 391 00:22:45,740 --> 00:22:49,170 Israel's fortunes right here, right now. 392 00:22:49,300 --> 00:22:53,270 He has come to save those who are poor, not in money but poor 393 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:57,420 in spirit, to save those who realise that they are 394 00:22:57,430 --> 00:23:01,380 spiritually bankrupt, that our sin is a problem and we need to 395 00:23:01,390 --> 00:23:04,970 save you. And God has come to meet the 396 00:23:04,980 --> 00:23:08,460 spiritually poor who recognised their need, spiritually rich. 397 00:23:12,340 --> 00:23:16,540 And I think it's very easy for us to have these assumptions. 398 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:24,680 Cross job as to meet my needs. Crust job as to improve my life. 399 00:23:24,820 --> 00:23:26,850 Christ job is to lighten my yoke. 400 00:23:28,300 --> 00:23:29,700 Shouldn't that give me an easier life? 401 00:23:29,710 --> 00:23:31,690 Shouldn't that make things a little bit more comfortable for 402 00:23:31,700 --> 00:23:34,480 me? Why is life still so hard? 403 00:23:36,300 --> 00:23:39,130 I was at youth Group A couple of weeks ago and they had a Q&A. 404 00:23:39,140 --> 00:23:41,080 They had some questions that they put in and there was a 405 00:23:41,090 --> 00:23:43,630 really powerful question that was asked, which was essentially 406 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:48,780 saying if Jesus promises come to me and I will take your yoke 407 00:23:48,790 --> 00:23:54,690 upon me, why is life so hard? If Jesus promises us rest, why 408 00:23:54,700 --> 00:23:58,470 is my life so hard? I think that's a very real 409 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,770 question that a lot of us ask in our day-to-day life. 410 00:24:01,980 --> 00:24:07,370 I've trusted in Jesus, but my life is still hard and I want to 411 00:24:07,380 --> 00:24:10,160 speak to the comfort that comes from Christ in a moment. 412 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:14,020 But I also just want to recognise that we do need to 413 00:24:14,030 --> 00:24:15,580 step back and we go what has promised? 414 00:24:15,660 --> 00:24:17,220 What has Christ promised to give us? 415 00:24:18,690 --> 00:24:21,660 Because if we're looking to Jesus Christ and assuming that 416 00:24:21,670 --> 00:24:24,200 it's his responsibility to give us an easy life, we're only 417 00:24:24,210 --> 00:24:26,780 going to be angry. We're only going to be 418 00:24:26,850 --> 00:24:29,080 disappointed because we're looking at things that he hasn't 419 00:24:29,090 --> 00:24:34,700 actually promised to give us. Jesus Christ has come to save 420 00:24:34,710 --> 00:24:37,280 us, but not in the way we might want. 421 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:42,690 He isn't promised us health. He hasn't promised us He's he 422 00:24:42,700 --> 00:24:44,570 promised, hasn't promised us wealth. 423 00:24:44,580 --> 00:24:47,090 And a lot of these things are good things in their their gifts 424 00:24:47,100 --> 00:24:52,120 that God often chooses to give. But they're not the promise that 425 00:24:52,130 --> 00:24:56,970 cross gives us. It's not the mission of Christ 426 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:01,950 and I could see him saving. As we talk about this, there can 427 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:06,160 be a lot of feeling of being like, what does this mean? 428 00:25:06,170 --> 00:25:08,810 Does this mean that we just need to taper our expectations? 429 00:25:08,820 --> 00:25:12,230 OK, I thought that it was going to be this good following Jesus, 430 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:14,210 but actually it's just this good. 431 00:25:15,350 --> 00:25:17,680 Is that what I'm saying to you? That's not at all what I'm 432 00:25:17,690 --> 00:25:18,720 saying to you. What? 433 00:25:18,730 --> 00:25:21,660 What I wanna leave you with this morning as we reflect on this is 434 00:25:21,670 --> 00:25:25,420 we reflect on the mission of Christ as actually being able to 435 00:25:25,490 --> 00:25:28,850 see this as good news to walk out and go. 436 00:25:28,860 --> 00:25:32,250 I thought I wanted this, but actually what I've got is far 437 00:25:32,260 --> 00:25:34,600 deeper. It is far richer, it is far 438 00:25:34,610 --> 00:25:36,080 better what Christ has come to bring. 439 00:25:36,090 --> 00:25:39,810 That may not be what we think we want, but it is truly deeper. 440 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:46,230 So I wanna ask the question why is this good news? 441 00:25:47,750 --> 00:25:50,700 Why is this good news? Cause so far it might just sound 442 00:25:50,790 --> 00:25:53,210 disappointing. Why is this good news? 443 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:58,310 Firstly, this This is good news because although Jesus hasn't 444 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,370 come to give us necessarily what we want or what we think that we 445 00:26:01,380 --> 00:26:07,440 need, Jesus Christ and God knows our true needs. 446 00:26:08,490 --> 00:26:12,990 He knows our true needs, and he wants to reorient our 447 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,340 perspectives around what we truly need. 448 00:26:17,350 --> 00:26:20,460 There's a lot of things in life. We use that word very freely. 449 00:26:20,470 --> 00:26:21,990 Neat. There's a lot of things in life 450 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:24,110 that we tell ourselves that we need. 451 00:26:26,250 --> 00:26:34,820 Acceptance, fiction, self esteem, purpose, money, job, 452 00:26:34,830 --> 00:26:37,020 house, whatever it might be. There are a lot of things that 453 00:26:37,030 --> 00:26:40,480 we say, I need this. And when we're saying everything 454 00:26:40,490 --> 00:26:44,490 is a need, we, we, we put those on Jesus Christ and we say it is 455 00:26:44,500 --> 00:26:47,680 your responsibility to provide me those needs. 456 00:26:47,790 --> 00:26:50,640 But the good news of the mission of Christ is that firstly, we 457 00:26:50,690 --> 00:26:55,300 Jesus knows our true needs. He knows them better than we 458 00:26:55,310 --> 00:26:58,160 know them. In the same way, if you've seen 459 00:26:58,170 --> 00:27:01,580 a child who is convinced that they need this, and as a parent 460 00:27:01,590 --> 00:27:04,340 or as an adult, you can often look at it quite objectively and 461 00:27:04,350 --> 00:27:06,520 go like, you don't need this right now. 462 00:27:06,570 --> 00:27:09,700 In fact, if I gave it to you everyday, it would not be 463 00:27:09,710 --> 00:27:13,110 healthy for you. We need to trust that Jesus 464 00:27:13,120 --> 00:27:18,720 knows our true needs and also we need to trust this that Jesus 465 00:27:18,730 --> 00:27:22,570 Christ has a provided for them in abundance. 466 00:27:24,830 --> 00:27:28,140 If we're actually understanding the reality of what we truly 467 00:27:28,150 --> 00:27:32,060 need and we look at the mission of Christ, he is saying I've 468 00:27:32,070 --> 00:27:34,780 provided for it. Because let me tell you, as 469 00:27:34,790 --> 00:27:39,960 human beings, our deepest true need is to know God. 470 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:47,250 It is to know the God who made us and created us and loved us. 471 00:27:47,260 --> 00:27:50,250 And the problem is that because of our sin, that relationship 472 00:27:50,260 --> 00:27:55,690 with God has been broken our way to God, our way to be made right 473 00:27:55,700 --> 00:27:58,250 with God, and our hope of spending eternity with God 474 00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:01,050 because of our sin, that has been broken. 475 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,190 That is our deepest need. It is an eternal need. 476 00:28:06,530 --> 00:28:10,080 God knows that, and through Jesus Christ He has provided for 477 00:28:10,090 --> 00:28:14,060 that in abundance because of what Jesus did as Dan was 478 00:28:14,070 --> 00:28:17,440 talking about before, because he said it is finished on the 479 00:28:17,450 --> 00:28:22,090 cross. We have that hope because you 480 00:28:22,100 --> 00:28:25,370 know you're gonna see at the end of the passage, these men tried 481 00:28:25,380 --> 00:28:29,340 to throw Jesus off a Cliff. Jesus passed through their 482 00:28:29,350 --> 00:28:32,230 mouths. I think that gives the idea it 483 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:35,320 might have been a miraculous, like he walked through them, It 484 00:28:35,330 --> 00:28:37,750 might have just been that he managed to escape. 485 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:40,070 But it happens a couple of times in the Gospels where people try 486 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:43,790 to kill him and it becomes very clear that Jesus sees it's not 487 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:48,740 the time. But we have this hope because 488 00:28:48,750 --> 00:28:52,420 there was a time in the Garden of Gethsemane when when the 489 00:28:52,430 --> 00:28:55,870 Romans came to arrest and when he was betrayed by Judas. 490 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:59,360 And Peter has has his brash apostle pulls out his sword and 491 00:28:59,370 --> 00:29:01,880 cuts off one of the servants ears who was trying to arrest 492 00:29:01,890 --> 00:29:03,800 him. Jesus heals the servant and 493 00:29:03,810 --> 00:29:05,470 tells Peter, Put away your sword. 494 00:29:06,900 --> 00:29:09,280 Shall I not drink of the cup my Father has given me? 495 00:29:11,500 --> 00:29:14,790 This wasn't the time for Jesus to die, but when the time came, 496 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:16,850 Jesus didn't run from it, although he could have. 497 00:29:18,290 --> 00:29:21,540 He faced it head on. He he mixed the wrath and the 498 00:29:21,550 --> 00:29:26,860 anger of God so that he may provide for our needs a restored 499 00:29:26,870 --> 00:29:33,700 relationship with God. And I will say this because it 500 00:29:33,710 --> 00:29:37,000 might be, it is challenging. I mean, as Christians, we live 501 00:29:37,010 --> 00:29:40,400 in a sinful world, we face sufferings, we face hardships. 502 00:29:40,410 --> 00:29:43,260 And in a sense that's probably natural to look to God and go 503 00:29:43,270 --> 00:29:45,670 God, it's your responsibility to take these away from me. 504 00:29:46,470 --> 00:29:48,120 And I don't want to minimise those sufferings. 505 00:29:48,130 --> 00:29:51,710 I don't want to minimise what people are going through, but 506 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:55,030 what I will say as well is that the way, although God doesn't 507 00:29:55,040 --> 00:30:00,360 promise to remove all suffering from us in this life, He's 508 00:30:00,370 --> 00:30:03,550 provided for our needs. That and, and, and Jesus Christ 509 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,790 We have access to God who have pulses in Second Corinthians 510 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:09,570 chapter 1 as the God of all comfort. 511 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:14,070 His Holy Spirit is with us to comfort us in the midst of our 512 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:16,780 afflictions. We have access to the God who 513 00:30:16,790 --> 00:30:19,790 has the power to strengthen us in the midst of our weaknesses. 514 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,010 His grace is sufficient. Second Corinthians chapter 12. 515 00:30:23,020 --> 00:30:29,350 Go have a read of that. Because we are in Christ, we 516 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:32,200 have hope. We have hope and the 517 00:30:32,210 --> 00:30:35,460 resurrection that one day we will be perfectly united with 518 00:30:35,730 --> 00:30:38,190 God. We have purpose in the midst of 519 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:41,070 our trials. There is purpose. 520 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:43,620 There is reason, there is sharpening that happens in the 521 00:30:43,630 --> 00:30:46,100 midst of our trials. And actually we have the hope 522 00:30:46,110 --> 00:30:49,060 that in the new heavens and the new earth for those of us who 523 00:30:49,070 --> 00:30:52,330 are in Jesus Christ, for those of us who know Jesus Christ and 524 00:30:52,340 --> 00:30:55,230 trust in Jesus Christ, these realities that are spoken about 525 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:59,310 here and Isaiah chapter 61, they will be fulfilled. 526 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:03,250 They will come to fruition not spiritually, but physically, 527 00:31:03,700 --> 00:31:07,960 meaning this. We will not be in want. 528 00:31:09,530 --> 00:31:15,540 We will not be looking for more. We will not have to suffer. 529 00:31:16,070 --> 00:31:17,900 We will be perfectly united with God. 530 00:31:17,910 --> 00:31:21,080 We will be perfectly united with one another. 531 00:31:21,150 --> 00:31:24,160 This aching, this groaning in our hearts will be fulfilled. 532 00:31:25,090 --> 00:31:28,500 And so right now, right here, we, we, we, we are on earth. 533 00:31:28,570 --> 00:31:35,360 Sin surrounds us and we suffer. But we have the hope that one 534 00:31:35,370 --> 00:31:37,550 day we will be perfectly united with Jesus Christ. 535 00:31:39,690 --> 00:31:45,750 This is good news because Jesus knows our true needs, the 536 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:48,360 mission of Jesus. Jesus has not come to meet our 537 00:31:48,370 --> 00:31:54,290 wants, but he's come to fill our needs, and that is good news. 538 00:31:55,430 --> 00:31:59,160 If he had just come to free Israel from Roman captivity, 539 00:31:59,170 --> 00:32:01,220 they might have had a slightly easier life, but they still 540 00:32:01,230 --> 00:32:09,440 would have been in this scene. They would have been lost if 541 00:32:09,450 --> 00:32:11,000 Jesus came to make our lives easier. 542 00:32:11,010 --> 00:32:13,200 Yeah, sure, they might be easier, but our greatest problem 543 00:32:13,210 --> 00:32:17,110 is our sin problem and and Jesus Christ has come to deal with 544 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:18,530 that. And we're gonna see that more as 545 00:32:18,540 --> 00:32:20,190 we journey through the book of Luke. 546 00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:22,640 That is good news for us to sit with them. 547 00:32:22,750 --> 00:32:27,080 And really as we go from here, we we've got 2 responses as we 548 00:32:27,090 --> 00:32:29,550 think about who Christ is, The mission of Christ. 549 00:32:31,490 --> 00:32:36,780 Firstly, we could either mould our understanding of who we want 550 00:32:36,790 --> 00:32:40,350 Christ to be to the actual picture of how Christ has shown 551 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:43,850 himself. Meaning this we we don't 552 00:32:43,860 --> 00:32:47,920 continue to look to Jesus to provide us a easy life when he 553 00:32:47,930 --> 00:32:50,630 hasn't promised that, but we actually look to him as to how 554 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:54,210 he's shown himself to us. That's our first option. 555 00:32:54,220 --> 00:32:55,790 We could. We could look at him in the way 556 00:32:55,800 --> 00:33:00,030 he's shown himself to us, or we could reject Him and we could 557 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:03,480 look to build our own Saviour, look to find someone or 558 00:33:03,490 --> 00:33:05,500 something else that is going to provide us with the things that 559 00:33:05,510 --> 00:33:10,480 we think that we need. Those are our options this 560 00:33:10,490 --> 00:33:12,510 morning. And my prayer is, as you look at 561 00:33:13,290 --> 00:33:16,440 the mission of Jesus Christ, you would see truly has given us all 562 00:33:16,450 --> 00:33:18,560 we need through what He has done on the cross. 563 00:33:18,990 --> 00:33:21,530 What a great hope we have. Let's pray. 564 00:33:24,270 --> 00:33:26,060 Lord God, we thank you for your goodness. 565 00:33:26,070 --> 00:33:31,110 We thank you for your grace, and we thank you for the mission of 566 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:32,380 Christ and what He has come to do. 567 00:33:34,300 --> 00:33:38,660 I pray for all of us, Lord, that we may look to You as who You 568 00:33:38,670 --> 00:33:41,320 truly are. You are good. 569 00:33:41,330 --> 00:33:43,820 You are. You're the one who has meet all 570 00:33:43,830 --> 00:33:47,790 of our needs. God pray, Lord, you make comfort 571 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:52,140 those of us who are struggling and those who do not know you 572 00:33:52,150 --> 00:33:53,820 would. They just see the good news that 573 00:33:53,830 --> 00:33:55,920 is found and what Jesus Christ has done. 574 00:33:57,370 --> 00:34:00,120 Thank you for the thought. In Jesus name I mean.