Martyrdom

Father, maybe it's only in times like this when we gather in your presence to worship you on the Lord's Day

that it sort of comes into our head that often we, too often, maybe always,

we flatter ourselves too much to detect or hate our own sin.

And we confess, Father, that we are way, way, way better at seeing little specks in other people's eyes

and we can be completely blind and unfeeling about the log in our own eye.

So we ask, Father, that as we now spend some time reading your word again and thinking about it,

we ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit would move with might and power and deep conviction.

And we give you permission with no qualifications, Father, for your word to come into the very depths of who we are,

for your word to speak and rule within us.

Father, because we know through the gospel that as your word rules within us,

it is for our good, for our healing, for your glory, for the good of the world.

And so, Father, we ask for this wonderful work of grace.

And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

So, I don't expect people to always remember what my sermons were the week before.

In fact, I don't know how much time I always remember them.

But for some of you who listened to the sermon last week,

you would have a very, very valid type of critique of me,

or at least potentially a very valid critique.

You'd say, George, last week you didn't tell the truth.

Last week you gave us completely false expectations.

Last week, George, the text that went just before this, just before this text,

you told us that if we sort of trust God's will and do God's will,

that our needs would be met.

In fact, George, you even used as an example tithing,

that part of what the purpose of tithing is,

is that if you trust, if you obey God and trust him

and give away some of your money, that your needs are going to be met.

And that's what you said the text was about last week.

And now we come to this text, and here you have a guy, John the Baptist.

He obviously did God's will, and his needs weren't met.

In fact, he gets beheaded.

He gets killed.

So I just want you to know, George,

I do not have a need to be spent to go to jail and then be beheaded.

That's not how I would understand having my needs being met.

So, George, what's going on?

In fact, some people might also say,

in fact, George, this is part of the reason I don't like Christianity.

I don't like religion in general, but I don't like Christianity in particular.

Because you seem to say one thing, and you try to cover up other things,

and you're not really honest, and it's just very, very confusing to understand.

And that's a very valid type of pushback.

It really is.

And, I mean, it's something that we need to really look at

to try to sort of figure out what's sort of going on

with these types of, you know, this question and these types of complaints.

So let's walk towards it.

And, in fact, actually, for some people,

if you're maybe here for the first time or you're watching for the first time,

one of the reasons that at this church we preach through books of the Bible

is precisely not to hide things.

It would be we want to go through it.

We don't want to just say,

oh, I'm just going to look at this little happy-clappy bit

and this little happy-clappy bit and this happy-clappy bit

and then this other bit that's really angry at all the people who aren't like us

and then another half.

No, no, we don't do that.

We go right through the book from beginning to end,

and so nothing's hidden.

So let's look.

And it's Mark chapter 6.

Mark 6 · chapter mention

It would be a great help to you and to me if you follow.

I mean, the words will be on the screen,

but it's always a good help for you to look at the Bible yourself

and just see if I'm actually being fair and honest to the text

and to have your own questions.

So here's how it is.

As I've already said, what's just happened before this is that,

first of all, Jesus was rejected by his family and his home village

and his relatives.

Then Jesus sends out his 12 disciples for a ministry of proclamation,

and that's what happens just before this,

and now the story continues like this.

King Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become known.

Some said, John the Baptist or John the Baptizer has been raised from the dead.

That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.

But others said he is Elijah, and others said he is a prophet like one of the prophets of old.

But when Herod, King Herod, heard of it, he said,

John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.

Now, you just sort of have to pause here for a second.

One of the reasons that modern or Canadians have troubles reading the Bible

is that we're very used to lots of emotional descriptions.

And generally speaking, the New Testament doesn't give very many emotional descriptions.

It, in a sense, just records what happens,

and so what we need to do is we need to be able to, in a sense,

put ourselves into the story a little bit

and try to understand emotionally what's going on.

And so here's the thing.

In fact, just for a moment,

imagine that you were responsible for beheading an innocent person,

and then later on you hear that he's come back to life with miraculous powers.

Would you be happy or worried?

That's a stupid question.

That's the fundamental plot of almost every horror movie, isn't it?

Somebody who's been terribly treated,

and then all of a sudden they either come back to life

or they rise out of the whole mess,

and whoa, all of a sudden they can make fire,

they can do all these things,

and everybody runs,

and there's lots of screaming and lots of death

before the movie ends,

either on a happy note or a bad note.

This is like the standard plot of a horror movie.

All right there.

And so what you need to understand is

you have, if you're doing a movie of this scene,

you would have Herod in his mighty fortress,

and you'd have the scenes of his soldiers walking around,

maybe doing their exercises out front,

the servants and all the, you know,

the boot lickers and, you know,

butt kissers and all that sort of all fawning around him,

but he is there in the midst of all his pomp and glory,

deeply worried.

The man that he had beheaded,

the innocent man that he had beheaded,

has miraculous powers and is on the loose.

That's where Herod is in this particular thing.

Just as a bit of an aside,

but it's a very important aside,

much of the,

what we're going to see in this story

is actually validated by one of the most important historians,

non-Christian historians of the ancient world for that region

by the name of Josephus, who talks about John the Baptist,

talks about Herod,

and actually talks about some of the events

that take place in this story.

It's all part of what I say over and over and over again

is that when you're reading the book of Mark,

some of us might have a hard time with Mark

because it records miracles,

but what Mark is,

it's an ancient biography based on eyewitness testimony,

which the more that archaeologists know about the past,

the more they discover,

the more they see that it's historically accurate

to the point that it's not uncommon,

in fact, it's very common,

that Jewish archaeologists go to the Gospels

to get information to help them make archaeological discoveries.

And so what we're reading here is an historical account

of two people that are known in general history.

And so you have this picture of Herod brooding in his castle,

and now if this was a movie,

what you'd have is the flashback that brings him up,

that shows why he's brooding.

And that's what John does.

That's how Mark writes his book.

Look at what happens in verse 17.

It begins with a flashback.

For it was Herod, verse 17,

who had sent and seized John

and bound him in prison

for the sake of Herodias,

his brother Philip's wife,

because he had married her.

For John, that's John the Baptist,

had been saying to Herod,

it is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.

Now just sort of pause here for a second as well.

First of all, in the original language,

it's John the Baptist doesn't just sort of say it once

as a throwaway comment.

He says it over and over and over again.

He wouldn't shut up.

He said it many times.

And it sounds as if he said it before he got thrown in jail

and even after he was in jail,

he would continue to say that it was in fact against the law.

Now for many people,

reading this now,

I mean maybe for churches,

you know we're supposed to agree with it

and we're supposed to not have any questions

and we're supposed to not have any problems,

so it's you know,

blah, blah, blah,

let's just go on.

Of course it's all the right thing.

But let's just be honest for ourselves,

just even as Christians,

if I was to discover that one of you folks

were working on Parliament Hill

and you were making a big fuss

about the marital status of somebody,

some of you might say,

George, would you tell him to shut up

or her to shut up

or would you say,

no, no, no, no, no,

go into the fact that he's divorced

or would you say that that's just,

you know, don't you think, George,

that we Canadians are wiser and smarter

and we've understood

that you don't make a big fuss

about things like that,

sexual things like that.

You just don't make a fuss about it.

George, wouldn't you counsel

the staffer

or the person who works for the think tank,

you don't even bring up that stuff,

like, you know, move on,

get on with life,

don't make a big fuss about it,

don't ruin your career.

Isn't that what you would say, George?

Like, we Canadians are wiser.

But the problem is

when we think things like that,

that we're actually not really being,

in fact, actually,

to think that is to not live

in the real world.

I mean, good grief.

Has there been a greater time

over the last decades

when sex hasn't been a bigger issue?

I mean, good grief.

J.K. Rowling's been cancelled

from the whole Harry Potter thing

because she doesn't have

an acceptable view on sex.

Isn't that true?

I mean, the fact of the matter is,

because we occasionally talk about that,

we have to actually think through

whether lay people can get up

and be on YouTube

because they might get cancelled.

Because our culture

is unbelievably opinionated

and fixated on having the right views.

So this isn't an unrealistic story.

This is a very contemporary story.

And for a Christian or non-Christian

to think that they're making

a mountain out of a molehill

that has nothing to do

with today's world,

it has everything to do

with today's world.

Everything to do

with today's world.

And now,

I have to be careful,

I don't go down a rabbit hole,

but I need you

to give me a little bit

of a moment's mercy.

Maybe more than a moment.

The fact of the matter is,

is that this is talking about divorce,

which isn't a big issue

in our culture,

because in our culture,

our culture maintains a myth,

a whole pile of myths

about divorce,

of the happy divorce,

the divorce without consequences.

And I have to be very careful.

And I'm not,

what I'm going to say

in the next minute or two

isn't meant to make anybody

feel guilty,

although it might.

I mean,

the bottom line is

that the Bible is the,

that the gospel

is about restoration

and about new life.

It's about forgiveness.

And,

and no matter when

the gospels

talk about sin,

it's always in the point,

it's just like,

I often tell men

if their wives

are confronting them,

they confront you

to connect with you,

not to push you away.

They confront to connect.

And that's what the gospel

is doing.

The fact of the matter

is here that

every single one of us

has been affected by divorce.

Some of us have had marriages

that have almost ended in divorce.

Some of us are divorced.

Some of us are probably

divorced more than once.

Many of us,

if not all of us,

have siblings

who are divorced.

many of us

are children

whose parents divorced.

And so in some cases,

people here

know what it's like

to be abandoned,

abused,

or to have had your,

your spouse

commit adultery.

And it's also

probably the case

that some of us

who are here

were the one

who abandoned the spouse

or abused the spouse

or broke up

the marriage by adultery.

And my point here

is not to make anybody

particularly here

to feel guilty,

but I'm trying to,

it's very, very funny.

People will talk about

the Bible

not talking about

the real world,

but what often is happening

is that we don't want

to deal with the real world.

We don't want to deal

with the reality

of our heart

and the reality

of what we've done.

But the fact of the matter is

divorce does cause

deep wounds.

It causes deep wounds.

Maybe not for both,

but at least for one.

And often then

it expands beyond

to children

and to grandchildren

and to

parents

and parents-in-law.

it's not nothing.

And so we might not

particularly agree

on the surface

with John the Baptist

making a fuss about this,

but the fact of the matter

is we can't really

say anything about it

given how obsessed

our culture is

about the right

sexual views.

And actually,

even in this

particular context,

I'm going to tell you

something.

Remember I said

that this whole incident

is covered by

ancient historians.

Here's another thing

about this

in the real world.

This is what actually

happened.

It's not recorded

in the Bible story,

but this is what

we know from historians.

So what happened

is Herod

has a brother

and Herod's brother

is married to Herodias

and they have

the daughter

who's unnamed

in this story

and Herod

is also married.

And so Herod

wants to be married

to Herodias,

whether it's for

a combination

of just,

you know,

he's tired of

Model A

and he'd rather

have Model B

because Model B

is younger,

cooler,

hipper,

more pretty,

you know,

more pleasant,

more flattering,

whatever,

or it's also

going to maybe

help that his

career and her

likewise.

So he divorces

his wife

and she divorces

her husband

and they marry.

And so in the

mythology of our

culture,

of course,

there's no harm

that comes from it,

but actually

there's almost

always harm.

And the story

not recorded here

actually tells you

the harm

because you see

what historians

tell us

is that Herod

was married

to the daughter

of a king.

And the king

was the neighboring

area.

So they're all

under Rome,

but Rome

generally let

like kings

or other high

level people

manage territories

for them.

And so Herod

is married

to the daughter

of a neighboring

king.

And just

as we see

that Herodias

has a big

grudge in a

moment and

she's not

going to

forgive John

the Baptist

for questioning

the marriage,

well, the fact

of the matter

is, is the

king is really

bothered that

Herod just

dismissed his

wife like she's

just like garbage.

And he holds

a grudge.

And a couple

of years after

this incident,

this king

invades

Herod's kingdom.

Herod's kingdom

is ruinously

defeated.

And a couple

of years after

that, because

of the ruinous

defeat and

the discord

that Herod

has caused,

Herod is

deposed.

That's what

actually happened.

That's what

happened in

history.

In fact,

all of a sudden

now you'd say

if John the

Baptist is

saying,

listen, dude,

you divorce

her, you're

going to bring

about a ruinous

war, and

not only is it

going to

lead to you

being deposed,

but the fact

of the matter

is, is that

when there

is a ruinous

war,

generally

speaking,

it's not

the king's

or prime

minister's

kids who

die in the

war, but

working class

and middle

class and

the poor

who die

in the war.

And all of a

sudden we

think, whoa,

maybe John

the Baptist

was on to

something.

We

shouldn't

have

dismissed

it.

But now

we're actually

dealing with

the real

world.

The way

the world

actually works

is how

the Bible

is talking,

and the

Bible is

holding up

a mirror

to us

and giving

us a

window into

what the

world is

really like.

And now,

actually,

the very next

thing,

it's really

interesting,

what immediately

happens after

verse 18,

which we've

just read,

is two

deeply human

moments,

if we're able

to see

ourselves

in it.

Deeply,

deeply

human.

Look what

happens in

verse 19.

So remember

verse 18,

you know,

he's been

saying,

you shouldn't

be married,

you shouldn't

have taken

your brother's

wife.

Verse 19,

and Herodias,

that's the

new wife,

the current

wife of

Herod,

had a grudge

against John

the Baptist

and wanted

to put him

to death,

but she

could not

yet.

for Herod,

verse 20,

feared John,

knowing,

and feared,

probably the

better word

for feared

there,

when some

of your

versions might

say perplexed,

knowing that

he was a

righteous and

holy man

and kept

him safe,

when he

heard him,

he was greatly

perplexed and

yet heard him

gladly.

And this is

very,

very interesting

because the

fact of the

matter,

this is what

the real

world is like,

isn't it?

You do

something and

somebody hates

you for

the rest

of your

life.

Isn't that

just like

real life?

In fact,

maybe some

of us here

right now,

if we're

honest about

it,

somebody's

done a

wrong to

us and

we hate

them still.

One year,

five years,

ten years

later,

we still

hate them.

And in

fact,

actually,

that's often,

there are

many people

who hate

Christians.

I mean,

if you think

about it,

it was only

a year ago

that 50

churches were

burned,

or defaced,

and virtually

nobody in

the chattering

classes were

upset with

it.

Yeah,

the Bible

has nothing

to do with

the modern

world,

nothing at

all.

And the

other thing

about Herod,

I mean,

I'll be

honest,

the year

processed

before me

becoming a

Christian,

in many ways,

I was

Herod.

I was

both really

drawn to

Christianity

and repulsed

by it.

Drawn and

repulsed.

Drawn to it

because there

was something,

gosh,

when I was

with Christians,

there was just

something there.

I felt a

presence.

At the same

time,

I was repulsed

by it.

it would

mean that

I was

never going

to be a

cool kid.

It would

mean that

I,

it would

make me

have to

believe things

that weren't

going to

make me

fit in.

And so,

in many ways,

if you think

about it,

Herod or

his wife

are us.

Now,

one of

the things

about the

divorce,

and I'm

not going

to go

into it,

actually,

down the

road,

we're going

to talk

about divorce

because it's

going to

come up

in Mark's

gospel later

on.

But one

of the

things that

Christians need

to understand

is that the

fact of the

matter is,

is that we

are the

inheritors

through the

Bible of

a 3,500

year sexual

revolution.

A sexual

revolution which

is deeply

wise,

that goes

right back to

the giving

of the Ten

Commandments,

and it's

deeply wise.

And it

constantly is

countercultural

to the

world,

and constantly

the church

has to be

drawn back.

The church

becomes a

thing of

horror when

it forgets

the Bible

and is

shaped by

the world,

and we

constantly

need to be

brought back

to hear the

Bible afresh,

to speak

wisdom into

us about

the sexuality

of things.

And one

of the

things which

you're going

to see here

in the story

is part of

the wisdom

of the

Bible,

part of

the 3,500

year

perpetual

sexual

revolution that

the Bible

launched and

continues to

be.

Look what

happens in

verse 21.

But an

opportunity came

when Herod,

on his

birthday,

gave a

banquet for

his nobles

and military

commanders and

the leading

men of

Galilee.

So three

groups.

He brings

his nobles,

he brings

the military

commanders,

he brings

the leading

men of

Galilee,

all men,

it's an

all-male

gathering.

And what

does a

very,

very rich

tyrant do

when there's

an all-male

gathering and

there's going

to be a

feast?

There's lots

of alcohol.

Okay?

And sorry

to offend

vegans,

lots of

meat.

Okay?

And all

the things

that go

along with

that.

Verse 22,

for when

Herodias'

daughter came

in and

danced,

she pleased

Herod and

his guests,

and the

king said

to the

girl,

ask me

for whatever

you wish,

and I

will give

it to

you.

And he

vowed,

whatever you

ask me,

I will give

you up to

half of

my kingdom.

Now,

pause here,

and I'm

going to

be X-rated.

This is

his niece

and his

stepdaughter.

And the

word for

girl is

the same

word in

chapter 5,

talking about

Jairus'

daughter around

12.

It's the

same word.

She does

a sexually

provocative

and arousing

dance that

pleases all

the men.

It almost

makes you

want to

vomit.

It almost

makes you

want to

vomit.

And him

and the

men,

his niece,

his niece,

his 12

to 14

year old

niece and

his step

daughter,

does this

dance.

And they're

all so

aroused and

clapping,

he makes

this rash

promise.

See,

one of the

things that's

at the

very heart

of the

Christian

sexual

revolution

that's

constantly

having to

deal with

our natural

inclinations,

and we can

really see it

very powerfully

today,

one of the

problems with

today's world

is that

everything is

sensualized,

everything is

sexualized.

And as

everything becomes

sexualized,

it gets harder

and harder for

there to be a

place just for

a kid to be

a kid,

for a dad

just to be a

dad that

doesn't take

any type of

sexual advantage

on others

or his

family or

neighbors.

others.

But, you

know, in

the ancient

world,

everything was

sensualized,

everything was

sexualized,

worship was

sexualized and

sensualized.

In the

coliseum of

the day,

in the

coliseums of

the day,

to the

roaring of

the crowd,

bestiality was

practiced.

That's the

world that

John the

Baptist lived

in and Jesus

lived in.

That's the

world that

the gospel

was first

proclaimed.

And one of

the major

religions of

the world

thinks it's

fine for

underage girls

to get

married.

And there's

a problem

with sex

slaves and

trading of

young daughters

all over the

world.

In the midst

of this,

the constant

sexual revolution

of the

integrity of

the male and

the integrity

of the

female,

and that

sexual knowing

is to be

restricted to

sexual knowing

between a

husband and

a wife in

the covenant

of marriage.

It's a

profound

revolution,

and we are

in the

after stages

of the

Me Too

movement,

reacting and

rejecting to

the centralizing

and sexualizing

of everything,

which always

benefits the

powerful at

the expense

of the

weak.

Always.

Always.

Always.

Always.

Always.

Always.

Always.

Always.

Always.

Always.

Always.

bald.

I

have to

watch the

image.

leasen

carefully because

what we

actually see

next isn't

entirely honest,

not that the

Bible's lied,

but you need

to understand

that the

Bible records

the way

somebody Say

good to

ask and

think if

that's

actually

accurate,

if his

self-perception

is true.

Look what

happens in

verse 24 to 26.

So he's promised up to half her kingdom.

And she went out and said to her mom,

what should I ask for?

And the mom said, the head of John the Baptist.

Friends, if you're here today

and you are nurturing long-term hatred of another person,

this is the day for you to repent

and ask for God's help

to give up your anger and your hatred.

She said the head of John the Baptist.

Verse 25, and she came in immediately with haste,

that's the young girl,

and said to the king, I want you to give me at once

the head of John the Baptist on a platter.

And the king was exceedingly sorry,

but because of his oaths and his guests,

he did not want to break his word to her.

And that is a lie.

Come on.

If she'd said, I'd like half your kingdom.

You have four fortresses.

I'd like two of them.

You can keep the rest of the fortresses in the land.

Even in arousal,

and even with a lot of alcohol under him.

The reptilian eyes would focus on her.

And said, would say, no matter all the oaths,

you better change your request.

Isn't that what he would do?

That's what he would do.

That's what he would do.

But you see, the fact of the matter is,

is that John the Baptist is just a little person,

and little people don't matter to the powerful.

Little people do not matter to the powerful.

Little people can be just inconvenient,

like gum on a hot day stuck to the bottom of your foot,

or that you just scrape off.

So if she'd actually asked for something that mattered to Herod,

he would have said,

I don't care about my oaths.

In fact, there might be a place in my dungeon prepared for you.

But because John the Baptist is a little person,

well, what happens?

Let's look.

Verse 27.

And immediately the king sent an executioner

with orders to bring John's head.

The executioner went and beheaded John in prison,

and brought John's head on a platter,

and gave it to the girl,

and the girl gave it to her mom.

And when his disciples heard of it,

that's John's disciples,

they came and took his body,

minus the head,

and laid it in the tomb.

So the sermon began is,

the sermon began

with a very valid type of,

an understandable, I should say,

maybe not valid,

very understandable pushback about,

last week I talked about how,

you know,

what was going on there was,

when Jesus sends his disciples out,

and he says,

don't bring any, you know,

money,

and don't bring extra clothes,

and, you know,

don't bring swords,

and, you know,

just basically have nothing,

and go and proclaim,

and do works of healing,

and do works of deliverance,

and,

and,

and really the messages,

it's just like that Hudson Taylor's famous line,

God's work done in God's way,

will receive God's supply.

And that's one of the many places in the Bible,

you could have got that saying,

God's work done in God's way,

will receive God's supply.

And I said,

God's needs,

you will,

God's,

he will meet your needs.

And now here we see this story,

where,

a person,

and you'd have to say,

but,

I mean,

doesn't Jesus say later on in chapter nine,

that,

like,

John the Baptist is like Elijah?

Doesn't,

doesn't he say that,

doesn't the,

the Jesus in other places say that,

John is the greatest of all the prophets,

and all that?

So how,

how does that fit,

George,

with this?

And that's a very,

very good question,

and if you could put up the first point,

it would be very,

very helpful.

Here's the first point.

Remember,

the Bible is a mirror,

and often what it shows us,

if we're willing to let it show us something,

is something not very pleasant about myself and yourself.

You cannot walk the way of truth,

or of love,

or of goodness,

without the real risk of suffering.

You cannot.

You cannot walk the way of truth,

or the way of love,

or the way of goodness,

without the real risk of suffering.

You can't.

Eventually,

you will come face to face with a lie,

a lie held by a person who has lots of power.

At some point in time,

you might have to say to your boss,

that's just not true.

At some point in time,

you might have to say to the government,

that's just not true.

And you know that if you say that to your boss,

or you say it to a powerful person,

there might be consequences.

And so what we think of in our own minds,

is on one hand,

we want to do the two things,

and we're just not aware of it.

This is the mirror.

The mirror is,

I'd like to have as my self-image,

that I am a man of the truth,

that I am a man of love,

that I am a man of goodness.

But at the same time,

I want to say to myself,

well,

there's no point making a fuss about that truth.

There's no point making a fuss about love in this case.

There's no point making a fuss about goodness in this case,

because if I do,

I'm screwed.

But I'm a man of the truth.

Well,

in this world,

you cannot love without suffering,

or at least the risk of suffering.

You cannot truly be good

without the risk,

at least,

and probably the actuality of suffering,

small or big.

And boy,

if we were ever a time in our culture

where to actually speak the truth,

and to be a person of the truth,

and to live not by lies,

might have consequences,

we are in that time right now,

brothers and sisters and friends.

And so the fact of the matter is,

is that our complaint

about the apparent contradiction

between these two texts

flows out of the fact

that we aren't honest about ourselves.

We aren't honest about ourselves

and the world that we live in.

Jesus says to go out and bear witness,

and your needs will be met.

But the fact of the matter is,

if you bear witness,

you constantly have the risk of suffering

for the truth,

for goodness,

for justice,

for mercy,

for love.

I mean,

that's the world we live in,

friends.

What about this whole thing

about divorce and sex

and all of that?

Like, George,

shouldn't just religion

just be about spiritual things

and not,

like,

about that type of stuff?

Well,

here's the thing.

If you could put up the next point,

that would be very helpful.

Jesus is the Savior and Lord

of all of who you are.

Jesus is the Savior

and the Lord

of all of who you are.

He's not just the Savior

of the spiritual bit of you.

He's not just the Savior

of the emotional bit of you.

He's the,

you know,

you are a person

and I am a person.

We live in a physical world.

We have responsibilities

for,

you know,

cleaning the house.

And if you've been,

if you've been blessed

with a house

or,

you know,

cleaning your apartment,

washing the dishes,

you know,

some of us have,

you know,

obligations towards family

and friends

and those things

are important

and partly how we get our identity

and we have to make money

and we have to spend our money

and we have to save our money

and we have sexual desires

and we have imagination

and we have creativity

and we have,

we have willpower

and we have minds

and we have all of these things

and all of these things

and we have a history

and we have a future

and all of these

are the things

that make us us

and when Jesus comes

he takes the place

of all of who I am

and all of who you are

with nothing left over

and you don't go to heaven

you without a mind,

you without a will,

you without an imagination,

you without creativity,

you without responsibilities,

you don't go,

you don't go to heaven

without all of those things,

you're not even a human being

if you don't have those things.

He dies for all of who you are

and if he dies for all of who you are,

he is lord of all of who you are.

It means,

it means that it's not in tithing

that you say something like,

well, 10% of your money belongs to God,

90% belongs to you,

no, 100% of it belongs to God.

All of it belongs to him.

How much of my imagination belongs to him?

All of my imagination.

How much of my sexuality?

All of my sexuality belongs to him.

How much of my body?

All of my body.

It all belongs to him.

He's lord of all of it.

He's the same one who's created all things.

He is the same one who dies for all things.

He is the same one who will restore

and remake all things

in the new heaven and the new earth.

And we are wiser and stronger

and taller when we bow to him.

But the text isn't just a mirror

to help me understand who I am.

As I said,

it's also,

we see here a bit of a window

because it's describing,

helping us to understand better

what Jesus does.

And there's an even greater window,

which this and the next point

would be a bit briefer,

but very, very important.

If you put up the next point,

it's this.

John the Baptist's death

is a good example.

Jesus' death

is the good news.

John the Baptist's death

is a great example.

It's a great example.

But Jesus' death

is good news.

You see,

apart from the gospel,

John the Baptist's death

is a good example,

worthy of emulation.

But at the end of the day,

if you think about it,

Herod lives and John dies.

The powerful continue to live

and the weak die.

And it might be that,

in hindsight,

John the Baptist

has a better reputation

than Herod,

but you know what the fact of the matter is,

is a lot of people say

it doesn't help you

when you're dead.

And if Jesus was just an example,

well,

then you still have

the Roman power,

his enemies in power,

him dead.

But the fact of the matter is,

is this is preparing us.

The story of John the Baptist,

on one hand,

is looking back

to help us as disciples

understand,

well, you know what

it's helping us to understand?

If you come to receive communion

on the pieces of bread,

if you get one of the little pieces

of unleavened bread,

there's a cross

indented on both sides.

And in a sense,

what we're being asked

to realize

when we take the bread

to eat it,

to feed on Christ

spiritually,

we're being asked

as if to say,

on one hand,

in me,

all your needs

will be met.

In a sense,

on one side

of the one piece of bread,

on the other side,

the cross is reminding us,

pick up your cross

and follow me

and die.

And it's the one piece

of bread,

mindful of Christ's death

that we partake of

and we think about

and we feed on spiritually.

But it has those two sides,

the cross on both sides.

All of your needs met.

Take up your cross

and follow me.

You see,

Jesus' death is good news

in the most unbelievable sense

because in the case of Jesus,

he also dies

like John the Baptist.

John the Baptist

is foreshadowing

both Jesus' death

and what is vastly greater

about Jesus' death,

that Jesus also dies

at the hand of his enemies,

the innocent,

at the hand of the evil

and the wicked,

the people who do not love truth

and do not love goodness

and do not love justice

and do not love mercy.

And he dies

at their hands.

But he doesn't just die

as himself.

He dies.

As God,

he can die for everyone.

And as man,

he can die for you

and for me.

And so his death

is a death

as my representative.

It is his death

as my substitute.

And in his death,

all of the things

which have kept me

separate from God

and all of the consequences

they have

with my alienation

from others

and with God

and with the universe,

they all are laid on him.

And he

tastes all there is

to taste of death

as my representative

and my substitute.

And on the third day,

he emerges on the far side

having defeated death,

having defeated that

which causes death

and having defeated

all hostile,

spiritual,

social,

worldly powers

in his resurrection.

And because he does

all of this

in my place,

when I put my faith

and trust in him,

I share in his victory

over sin

and evil

and injustice

and hatred,

over death

and all hostile

spiritual powers,

weak me

and weak you.

When we look to him

and ask him

to be our savior and lord,

he rushes across

that infinite distance

and takes you

into his arms.

And his death,

you share in his victory.

Could you put up

the final point?

Doing

to become

ends in either

image management

or despair.

The gospel

teaches you

to grow day by day

in the security

that Christ

has done everything

that is needed

to be done

for you

to be reconciled

to the triune God

and be unfailingly

in him

and him in you.

You see,

that's the power

of the gospel.

You see,

religion says,

if I do,

if I do,

if I do,

I become something

acceptable to God.

And as I do

and I do

and I do

and I do,

if I'm becoming

acceptable to God,

then all these good things

will happen to me

and that's the way

to do it.

And the Bible says,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

If you try to do that,

all you end up doing

is image management

or you get into despair.

The Bible completely

and utterly,

that's why this is good news.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

You see,

Jesus has done everything

for you.

He's the one

who's defeated death.

He's the one

who carried your sin.

He's the one

who clothes you

with his new life.

He's the one

who gives you everything.

He's the one

who gives you

the security

that you are now

the child of God,

that the Father,

the Son,

the Holy Spirit,

they dwell in you.

He dwells in you.

God dwells in you.

They will never leave you.

They will never forsake you.

Jesus is your hope of glory.

And out of who you have become

in Christ,

you begin to take

the baby steps of doing

in the security

that he will never leave you.

He will never forsake you.

He will only love you.

He will only love you.

He will never forsake you.

Never.

Nothing you have done

is so bad

that he didn't die for you.

Nothing that you will do

in the future

is so bad

that he will change

his mind of you.

He died for all of you

from the moment

of your conception

to the moment of your death.

He died for the depth of you.

And when he takes you

as his child,

he will never leave you

or forsake you.

And it is out of that security

of who you've become

in Christ

that you can begin to do

and pick yourself up

when you fall.

Thankful for his grace

and mercy.

Week by week,

pledging once again

that you are his.

That is good news.

And it is good news for you.

It's good news for you.

There's no better time

than today

to give your life to Christ.

Say, Jesus, take me.

I want you to be my Savior

and my Lord.

And I thank you

that you will never let me go.

And I know that I don't deserve it.

Thank you.

Just take me.

There's no better time

than today

to pray it.

And for those of us

who know it,

there's no better time

than today

to once again

say, Jesus,

some of us might say,

this has been a pretty good week.

And others will say,

Jesus, I am so glad

you died for me

knowing how bad

this week would be.

And I recommit to you.

I recommit to you.

Let's stand.

I invite you to stand.

In standing,

let's bow our heads

in prayer.

Father, we give you thanks

and praise for Jesus.

We thank and praise you,

Father,

that he died in our place.

He died for all

that makes each one of us

us.

That he is my hope.

He is the sinner's hope

for glory.

Give you thanks and praise,

Father.

It's not about my righteousness.

I am, Father.

I'm just one beggar

telling another beggar

where to find the bread of life.

And, Father,

thank you for that bread of life

that makes us alive.

Ask, Father,

you know how hard it is

to be a person of truth,

to be a person of goodness,

to be a person of love,

to be a person of justice,

to be a person of mercy.

You know, Father,

how selfish we can be

and flatter ourselves

when we give in to the lie

or we give in to hatred

or indifference

or injustice.

And, Father,

you know how hard it is.

And we thank and praise you

that it's not you

looking at how well we do,

but that you want us

to live out of the freedom

and the fullness

that Christ has won for us

to be shaped by the gospel

so that we can,

day by day,

increase in being

a person of the truth

and a person of love

and a person of goodness

and a person of justice

and a person of mercy,

a person of compassion.

So, Father,

grip us with the gospel

that we might begin

out of the strength

of the gospel

to live for your glory,

for our good

and for the good

of this city and the world.

And we ask this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.