Exploding Expectations

In 1884, Edwin Abbott published a book called Flatland, a romance of many dimensions.

In this story, the protagonist, a square, lived in a two-dimensional world, but then dreams

of visiting a one-dimensional world, and then is visited by a three-dimensional sphere

who comes to help him see the possibility of a world with three dimensions.

In his dialogue with the sphere, as he begins to grasp this, he asks a series of questions.

If you're not looking, I'm going to hold up a piece of paper to try to show you what he's

asking when he asks us.

In one dimension, does not a moving point produce a line with two terminal points?

Here's your line.

In two dimensions, does not a moving line, so this line is moving towards me, create,

produce a square, or a rectangle in this case, with four terminal points?

One, two, three, four.

Now we're in two dimensions.

Okay?

Now when you take this and you move it through space like this, in three dimensions does not

a moving square produce a blessed being, a cube with eight terminal points.

Can't fold this into a cube, but imagine six sides just like a dice, right?

So it's got eight points all the way around, four in the bottom, four in the top.

And then he asks the question.

And that cube in four dimensions shall not a moving cube that result in a still more divine

organization with 16 terminal points.

Okay, are you lost yet?

Yeah.

Because we just transcended our three-dimensional world with that last question, didn't we?

It's hard to imagine a four-dimensional world, and yet the whole purpose of his book.

Well, his book had multiple purposes.

One was a critique of Victorian society, and particularly the roles of gender in Victorian

society.

Secondly, it had a great profound mathematical basis.

It's still being used today that that picture of all you have to do is keep increasing the

space, and you get more dimensions.

But he also was making a theological point.

Could it be that the world is more than it seems?

Could it be that the world that we live in is more than nearly subject to the laws of nature?

Could it be that if a transcendent and supernatural God interacts with our three-dimensional natural

world, could it be that we would find surprising things that challenge and stretch our minds beyond

what we would expect or imagine?

C.S. Lewis was a big fan of Flatland.

He actually quotes it multiple times in his writings in Miracles and in Mere Christianity.

When he talks about in Mere Christianity, the Trinity, he asks a similar set of questions.

That if the Christian God is depicted, we usually think of one person being one being.

And then God in the Bible is depicted as one God in three persons.

And we think, how could this be?

He says, well, imagine that fourth dimension, the Flatland.

Maybe we, because we are so stuck in our thinking of the world as we see it, maybe we can't imagine

what it would be like.

If a God who is transcendent and supernatural does exist, how does this redefine what our world

is like, how does this redefine how our understanding of him could change?

Well, friends, as we continue in our series in the book of Luke this morning, this idea will

inform how we understand what happens in the next part of Luke.

We're looking in Luke chapter 20.

Luke 20 · chapter mention

If you want to turn there in your Bible, it's page 827 in the Pew Bibles.

We're continuing through this series in the book of Luke.

And just in case you're visiting or wondering, remember, in this part of Luke, Jesus, having

done his ministry in Galilee and having moved towards Jerusalem, has now arrived in Jerusalem

heading to the cross and to the resurrection.

In this context, there's severe conflict that's increasing with the religious leaders and authority

of the day, while the crowds continue to admire Jesus and his teaching.

And through these conflicts and through these interactions, Jesus is constantly clarifying

the nature of the kingdom of God and the nature of whom he is and pointing to himself

as the center of the establishment of that kingdom on this earth.

And this brings us to Luke chapter 20, starting in verse 27.

Luke 20 · chapter mention

We're going to read 27 through 44.

Let's read this together.

There came to him some Sadducees, those that deny that there is a resurrection.

And they asked him a question, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother

dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring

for his brother.

Now there were seven brothers.

The first took a wife and died without children, and the second and the third took her.

And likewise, all seven left no children and died.

Afterwards, the woman also died.

In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be?

For the seven have her as a wife.

And Jesus said to them, The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.

But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the

dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.

For they cannot die anymore because they are equal to angels and are sons of God being sons

of the resurrection.

But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed in the passage about the bush, where he calls

the Lord, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.

And some of the scribes answered, Teacher, you have spoken well, for they no longer dared to

ask him any questions.

But he said to them, How can they say that the Christ is David's son?

For David himself says in the book of Psalms, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies your footstool.

And David thus calls him Lord.

So how is he his son?

Let's pray.

Lord, we are thankful this morning to you for your word.

And we are thankful for the fact that we are not left to grasp after you or to imagine

you on our own.

But God, you have revealed yourself.

You've revealed yourself in the person of Jesus.

And you have revealed yourself through this book, the Bible, so that we might know who you are.

And God, I pray this morning you help give us clarity and greater understanding of who you are this morning.

And Lord, that as we understand you more, that our hearts will be turned towards you.

Lord, in faith, in devotion, in love, in loyalty, in service.

Lord, we pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So how does Jesus in these two interactions stretch our understanding of his kingdom and of himself?

Well, in the first section he answers a question from his opponents, and then that's in verses 27 through 40,

and then in 41 through 44, he asks a question of his own.

We're going to look at exactly what he's doing.

We'll look at the first interaction first, and then the second one.

So in the first one, in verses 27 through 40, we see that Jesus is redefining our understanding

about relationships in eternity.

Who are the Sadducees?

This is the one time in the book of Luke that the Sadducees show up,

and it's important, and I want to give you just a brief picture of the political layout,

the political spiritual layout of Jerusalem in the first century.

The Jewish people were ruled by a group called the Sanhedrin,

which is about 70 people who were his elders who oversaw, politically and religiously,

the people of Israel in that day.

They included, they were made up of chief priests and scribes and teachers of the law,

and there was an extended community about them that you see referred to over and over again in the book of Luke.

Now, among this structure then, there were two parties, kind of like we have today.

On one hand, there were the Pharisees.

The Pharisees were more theologically progressive.

That is, they had a continually growing tradition of truths in their understanding of the Old Testament,

but they were politically conservative and resistant to Roman rule and to compromise.

The other party were the Sadducees, and the Sadducees actually were probably the greater party in terms of numbers.

They had probably more people on the Sanhedrin, but they were more theologically conservative.

They held up only the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, as the authoritative word of God,

so they didn't believe in things like angels, or demons, or the afterlife, or judgment.

And most importantly, as is seen here and in other places like Acts 23,

they did not believe in resurrection.

They did not believe that people would be resurrected from the dead at all.

They thought that this is the life you lived, and then you died.

And it actually made them politically pragmatists,

so they were more collaborators with the Roman rulers than opponents.

But it's in this context, then, that they come to Jesus after a series of other questions,

probably from more on the Pharisee side.

Now the Sadducees weigh in with their question,

and it looks like they're trying to co-opt him.

Sort of say, hey, don't you agree with us?

And the question they ask is based on...

It feels pretty obscure, doesn't it?

It's based on a law in Deuteronomy 25, where it says, in verses 5 and 6,

It says,

The family lineage, because that was connected with wealth and land and all sorts of important things in the society.

This is the kind of thing you see in Genesis 38,

where Tamar was wedded to one of Judah's sons,

and then two others, and they died,

and their failure to fulfill this...

It's also behind the story of Ruth,

and how Boaz interacts with Ruth in chapter 4,

how he has to properly navigate the laws of love and marriage.

But the point of their question is,

if this is what God instructs us about how marriage works,

isn't it ridiculous to think that there could be a resurrection?

Because if there were a resurrection,

and we were just raised back to life,

you've got one woman,

and seven brothers,

and they're all married?

That's the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard.

That's what they would have thought of.

That's what they would have imagined.

And that's the challenge.

And so they're using the law as an example of,

if this law is real,

then there's no way the resurrection can be true.

And Jesus' response

challenges and expands their understanding

of human relationships in life to come,

and what eternity could look like.

So first, he affirms,

like, yeah, that would be weird.

If people were given in marriage,

like, one marriage is still affirmed,

one man, one woman.

We don't do those things.

So yes, that would be weird.

If in this age, that was all we had,

and if the age become just like this one,

that's exactly what it would look like.

But then he goes on.

You see this in verse 35.

But to those who are considered worthy

of attaining to the age to come,

that is, those who are God's people

who are going to be with Him forever,

it does not work that way.

They are not given in marriage,

nor do they take wives for themselves,

because there's no more marriage.

in eternity.

Not the way it is here.

For a number of reasons.

One is because when you enter into eternity,

you're going to live forever.

One of the great purposes of marriage

is procreation,

and the continuation of the human race.

That will no longer be necessary

when nobody ever dies.

So there will be no more need

for that aspect of marriage.

But even more importantly,

your relationships will change.

Often,

in this age,

our marital relationships,

our family relationships,

become the most important thing about us.

And what Jesus says here is,

the most important thing,

is that you are going to be called

the Son of God,

and the Son of Resurrection.

And here,

just in case you're wondering

why he uses Son language,

Son is a role,

not a gendered word.

Here,

it's a matter of,

you are fully receiving

the inheritance

of the one

who is bestowing it upon you.

Right?

So,

so what he's saying is,

what you think right now

is so important

in this marital relationship

is going to become

inconsequential,

because you are now

going to be in a new family.

You are going to be

in the family of God.

And you will be accepted

as a son or as a daughter

with full standing,

with full inheritance,

with full rights,

and with an eternal relationship

with God himself.

And in fact,

in other parts of Scripture,

that is pictured

of the marriage

between God and his people.

This beautiful,

eternal relationship

of mutual love.

God's love for us,

his people,

and our responding love

to him

as our Lord,

as our King,

as our Savior.

This is the picture

that Jesus brings back

to them.

And he says,

you don't understand.

You're thinking

that the next stage

is going to be

just like this one.

You're thinking

three-dimensionally.

Let me expand your brains.

And just in case

you think I'm making this up,

he continues on

in verse 37

and following.

Do you see

what he says here?

He says,

look,

this even comes

from the very place

where your authority

comes from,

the Torah,

the first five books

of the Bible.

Do you remember

God when he appeared

to Moses

at the burning bush?

Do you know that story?

What did he say?

I am the God

of Abraham,

Isaac,

and Jacob.

They are not

dead people.

It doesn't say

I was the God

of Abraham,

and Isaac,

and Jacob

when they were alive

and now they're dead

and that doesn't matter

anymore.

I am the God

of Abraham,

and Isaac,

and Jacob

today.

God is the God

of the living,

not the dead.

Therefore,

Abraham,

Isaac,

and Jacob

are in some way

alive today.

And that's why

we believe

in the resurrection.

And that's why

they too

are part

of this grand family

that I am

portraying to you

as going to be

the reality

of our existence

in the age

to come

for all who

are in

God's family.

For all who

are connected

to God forever,

they will live

with Him

forever.

And what a

great joy

it is.

Now,

these may not

be the questions

that are burning

in your mind.

Does the resurrection

really be proved

by those things?

Leveret marriage

probably hasn't

crossed your mind

this week.

I would imagine.

But these were

the questions

that the Sadducee

brought to Him

saying,

hey,

we want you

to be on our side

and we're going

to try it.

We're going to

throw you our

best curveball

to see if you

can play ball

with us

or if you'll

agree with us

because you've

either denied

the resurrection

and you agree

with us

or you've

got to

solve this

problem.

And Jesus

explodes their

world view

and stretches

their mind

and their

imagination

to think of

the kingdom

of God

as bigger

than they'd

imagined

and to think

of being a part

of the people

of God

as greater

than they could

ever hope.

And that's

how the people

respond.

Do you see

at the end

of that section

verse 39

some of the

scribes,

interestingly

not the

Sadducees,

it's hard to

say where the

scribes fit in,

but some say

good answer Jesus,

alright,

we're convinced.

Just like we've

seen before.

People come to

Him,

they ask Him

hard questions.

And when He

gives them an

answer based

in the truth

of the

scriptures,

in the truth

of reality,

they shut

their mouths

before Him.

The next

stage is

going to be

greater and

more different

than you

imagine.

So what does

this mean for

us?

Well,

I can preach

lots of great

sermons now

on how to do

this.

I'm going to

try to do

this quickly.

First of all,

marriage is

placed in

its proper

context.

Because marriage

is a created

order, it is

meant to be

a part of

this age, it

is a good

and a blessing

that God

has given

us, but it

is not

ultimate.

The joy of

sex that was

given to us

to have in

marriage is

not the

ultimate joy

for human

existence.

existence.

And so

this challenges

perhaps our

idolatry of

marriage in

some circles.

It challenges

us to not

love marriage

more than

God does or

to value it

in a way that

God does not

value it.

It does help

us understand

that the

purpose of

marriage is to

point towards

this greater

reality of

God and His

people for

eternity.

And the

joy for us

means that

the joy of

that means

that that's

for all who

have placed

their faith,

for all who

are in

God's people.

They get to

enjoy that for

eternity.

And this

affirms those

who are single,

that they are

not second

class, that

they have not

missed out.

No, instead

they are being

prepared in a

different way for

the glory that

we will all

share in, in

eternity.

as God's

people together.

And so we

can be single,

and we can be

celibate, and

we can be fully

human now, and

full of hope for

eternity.

And we can live

together as a

community of

married and

single people

together, pursuing

after God,

without feeling

threatened, or

insecure, or

cast, because of

being one or

the other.

So first, it

places marriage in

its greater

context.

And of course,

this is based in

a deeper thing

that this passage

is pointing to,

and that is our

human identity is

most importantly

grounded in how

we are related

to God.

people.

What Jesus says

here is being a

son of God, a

son of the

resurrection, one

of God's people, is

the most important

thing about us.

And we will all

carry identities,

identities of our

gender, of our

family, of our

race, of our

nationality.

We will all carry

identities that are

related to roles.

We're a volunteer,

we're in our

workplaces, in our

family.

We will all have

roles.

But all of these

secondary identities

are meant to find

their fulfillment and

their glory and

their goodness under

the most important

question, which is,

how are you related

to God?

God.

And this, then, makes

us consider not only

how we think about

ourselves, but how

we think about one

another as well,

isn't it?

You're probably

familiar with this

quote from The Way

of Glory, C.S.

Lewis, but it's

worth reading again

in its fullness to

listen, to think

about how this

picture of humanity

will change how we

live.

C.S.

Lewis writes this,

It is a serious

thing to live in a

society of possible

gods and goddesses,

to remember that the

dullest and most

uninteresting person

you can talk to may

one day be a creature

which, if you saw it

now, you would be

strongly tempted to

worship, or else a

horror and corruption

such as the now me,

if at all, only in a

nightmare.

All day long we are,

in some degree,

helping each other

to one or other

of these destinations.

It is in light of

these overwhelming

possibilities, it is

with the awe and

the circumspection

proper to them,

that we should conduct

all our dealings with

one another, all

friendships, all

loves, all play, all

politics.

There are no ordinary

people.

You have never talked

to a mere mortal.

Nations, cultures, arts,

civilizations, these are

mortal, and their life is

to ours as the life of a

gnat.

But it is to immortals.

But it is immortals whom

we joke with, work with,

marry, snub, and exploit.

Immortal horrors are

everlasting splendors.

So as Jesus expands the

sacrifice's view, and our

view, of what it means to

be human in this world,

C.S. Lewis says it ought to

affect how we interact

every day with each person.

Are we helping them to know

God and to be one of God's

children?

Or are we pushing them

away?

Or denying God, being

silent about Him in a way

that will help them continue

to live apart from Him?

Friends, this is the mission

in the church, that we would

display the glory of God so

that people would come to

know the greatness of His

love, the depth of His

mercy and grace to us in

Christ, the fearsomeness of

the judgment upon our sin,

and the greatness of the

salvation that we have in

Christ.

At the very center of it all

is the question of the

resurrection of the dead.

Because here's the thing,

if Jesus did not rise from

the dead, then we would

probably make it all up.

And we're just imagining

another world.

But if Jesus did rise from

the dead, and friends,

there is good reason to

believe that.

There's good reason from

history, there's good reason

in the Bible, if this is a

question that you are

wrestling with, you need to

go downstairs after the

service to the bookstall and

find someone who can help you

look through those books and

find something that's going to

be helpful particularly for you

to the questions that you

have.

Recognize that if Jesus

rose from the dead, then

this is one of the most

important questions that we

could be asking our friends.

Do you know the one who was

raised from the dead?

What do you think about that

crying?

So Jesus answers the

Sadducees.

He in fact silences them as

he expands their worldview and

blows up some of their primary

theological commitments.

And it seems like at this point

the conversations are over.

Nobody has any more questions

for them, for him.

But Jesus turns the table and

he has a question for them.

And this is what we see in

verses 41 through 44.

And he said to them, and it's

not sure who the them is, it

might be the scribes, it might

be the Sadducees, it probably

is just the crowd that includes

a little bit of both.

And he asked them a question.

How can your understanding of

King David and of the Messiah

be true?

Because David in the Psalms,

in Psalm 110,

says the Lord, that is the God

who reigns on high, Yahweh,

Jehovah, the Lord said to my

Lord, the Messiah,

Adonai, sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies

your footstool.

Why is this a challenging

question?

Well, because in the culture

of the day, there was an

understanding that you would

never be greater than the

Father.

The Jewish people were waiting

for a Messiah.

They were waiting for someone

to come and restore the throne

of David, to restore the

kingdom of Israel under David's

rule, to fulfill the promises

of the 2nd Samuel 7, 12.

I said, when your days are

fulfilled and you lie down to

the Father, I will raise up

for you an offspring after

you, who shall come from your

own body, and I will establish

his kingdom, and he shall

build my house for my name,

and I will establish the

throne of his kingdom forever.

And they're looking for the

ones who are going to do

that.

But the cultural assumption

is that that son of David

would never be greater than

David.

He would simply be laying down

the greatness of David.

That the restoration of the

kingdom of David wouldn't be

greater than what David had.

It would simply be returning

to what had been now

and the lost.

And it's important to

understand that, because

otherwise the question

doesn't make sense, does it?

Because what Jesus is saying

is David didn't just see

this son as someone who

would fulfill what he is

for.

But he called him my Lord.

And how can a son be revered

by a father as the Lord?

This does not make sense

to them.

But I think when you

jump to Facebook, it's

David.

And Jesus doesn't spell it

out.

We only get three verses.

And the last verse that Jesus

leads us with is, how is he

his son also?

How can it be possible that

the Messiah can be both

the Lord and the Son of the

great King David?

You're expecting a Messiah

who's going to be like

David, who's going to be

another human king who's

going to come and establish

a human kingdom.

And everyone knew that Jesus

was the son of David already.

You go back to the beginning

of Luke.

You're reading through the

story of Luke.

You go back to the very

beginning, right?

And in Luke 1.27, we

understand that Joseph is in

the house of David.

And when the angel appears

to Mary and says that this

one, your child, will sit on

the throne of David.

So from the very beginning

of this story, this is the

direction that it's going.

The expectation of the

Messiah is that it will be

another one like David.

And he comes, and he teaches

with authority, and he heals.

And people think, yes, this is

it.

Jesus himself, in the parable

of the tenants two weeks ago,

said, I'm the son of the

landowner.

But in that parable, the landowner

wasn't just the king, was he?

He was God, the owner of all

things.

And when Jesus poses this

question to the people, what he's

really saying is, who do you

think I really am?

Because the Messiah is greater and

more different and more glorious

than you could imagine.

And this is what Luke has been

writing his whole gospel to tell

us.

Is that this Jesus is, yes, the son

of David.

Yes, the one who will sit on the

throne.

Yes, he is a human who walks the

earth to identify with us and to be

our brother as a human being.

But he is more than that.

He is also the divine, incarnate

son of God.

The second person of the Trinity

who took on human flesh.

And the Messiah is not simply

another great human ruler.

But it is the invasion of God

into this world in a unique one

time.

So that he might be the savior

that we really need.

Because he's heading not for

simply the restoration of a

kingdom and a throne.

But he's heading for the cross

and the resurrection.

And as he heads for the cross,

in his humanity he's able to

identify with us as human beings.

And in his divinity he's able to

identify with us in his sinlessness.

So that he might be the perfect

savior who could die in our place.

And yet he didn't stay dead,

but he rose from the dead.

Showing his power over sin and

death.

And establishing himself as a

savior who will live forever.

Who is the God of the living.

And will bring all who are in him

along with him.

Into this glorious future hope.

And the sacroses and the Pharisees

and the chief priests and the

scribes.

All of whom were in different ways

clinging to their earthly power

and their earthly position.

And their hopes for this life.

Jesus comes and he explodes their

hopes and their visions and their

dreams.

Says there's something greater.

Something greater that I have come

forward.

Something greater that I am.

So that I might do more than you can

ever ask or imagine.

In the resurrection we see all of it

coming together.

Pointing us to a great God who

examines us to re-examine our lives.

And to respond to this God man died

and resurrected for us.

So we see that when Paul goes into

the Areopagus in Athens and preaches

a sermon about an unknown God.

As he comes to the end of it.

He says.

Being then God's offspring.

We ought not to think that the divine

being is like gold or silver or stone.

Or merely human.

An image formed by the art and

imagination of man.

The times of ignorance God

overlooked.

But now he commands all people

everywhere to repent.

Because he has fixed the day

on which he will judge the world

in righteousness by a man

whom he has appointed.

And of this he has given assurance

to all by raising him from the dead.

This is the incredible thing.

Jesus looks at these people and says

who do you say I am?

And the whole rest of the Gospel of Luke

and the whole Christian message

is saying Jesus is the Savior

who because he has been raised from the dead

calls all people

to respond to him.

The question of

are you in Christ or not

is the most important question

that you can ever ask for yourself.

And it is the most important question

for you to ask

as you are loving your neighbor

and loving this world.

How then do we respond to this?

Well there are two things.

One is that

we must admit to ourselves

that like in flat land

we are like A square

who lives in a two-dimensional world

trying to understand

a three-dimensional God.

We must confess our need

to learn from God

about who he is

and what his kingdom is like

and not assume

that it is like the world

that we live in.

Friends, there is only one way

that we know how to do this

and it's here.

If you're here this morning

and you're wondering

why in the world

are we talking about resurrection?

It's the most ridiculous thing

in the world.

The challenge is

to read these accounts.

Read what the gospels say.

Start here

to understand who God is

and who Jesus is.

For those of you

who have been walking with Jesus

and knowing him

for years and years and years.

Keep reading this

because we so often forget

and we so easily

fall back into

our two-dimensional thinking

about who God is

and what he's up to

in this world.

So I know it's really simple

but read your Bible

because it's how we understand

God.

God.

It's how he has made himself

known

to us.

But more than that

it's to not only understand him

but it is to know him.

It is to respond

to Jesus

in worship

and adoration.

It is to make him

the most important thing

in our lives.

not a slice

of what we do

not an activity

that we fit

into our schedule

but he is

the center

the gravitational

center

of our lives

because he is

this great God

and great Savior.

and I became

Christian

back in high school

it was largely

because I had

a couple of friends

and you know

they were

a worldly Christian

and I was

not very impressed

I thought it was

kind of silly

and I mocked them

for their faith

but you know

I wanted

the God

in the center

of their lives

and I didn't know

I saw

that they had

a security

and a courage

a love

and a commitment

to truth

in ways

that I could not

understand

and as I got

to know them

more I saw

that all of that

came from the

God who they

trusted

the God who

they committed

themselves to

the God

whose love

they had

experienced

and were

now showing

the evil

friends I pray

that we might

be

those kinds

of real

Christians

where the

reality of

this

supernatural

transcendent

God

come to

earth

to be our

Savior

is so real

for us

that as we

as C.S.

was said

work and

play

snub and

marry

exploit

and interact

rough shoulders

with

that we

might be

those people

that we

might know

God in this

way

that we

might help

others to know

them as well

let's pray

Lord as we

talk about

these things

we feel

like we

are just

touching

on

eternity

Lord to

think of

these things

in the same

way that

Jesus pointed

us to

a greater

reality

about

your kingdom

and about

who you

are

God I

pray

I pray

that you

would continue

by your

spirit to

help us

to understand

and to

taste and

see and to

know more

of this

reality of

your kingdom

Lord that

we might

live lives

that have

increased

reality in

them

the reality

of you

and who

you are

the reality

of your work

in the world

the reality

of eternity

and the way

that changes

how we

live

Lord we

pray these

things in

Jesus name

Amen

Amen

Well it's fun to

preach this

passage because

we're having

baptism this

morning