Jesus - The 'Suffering Servant' King

Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning in wonder and worship.

We've come to praise your name and to center our hearts on you,

to recalibrate our lives with that which is true,

and to acknowledge, God, that you are the one true God, the one true King.

God, you are great and you are glorious, and so help us to do that, God.

Help us to center our hearts and to center our lives with what is true,

according to your will and your way.

Heavenly Father, we acknowledge that the truth is we're blinded by our pride.

We often think we know best or that our ways are better than yours.

We're blinded by our own opinions.

Father, this morning we confess this and we ask you to forgive us and to help us.

You, O Lord, are all our good in times of peace.

You, O God, are our only support in days of trouble.

You are our one sufficiency when this life ends.

God, help us to see how good your will is in all situations.

Even when your will crosses over our own, teach us to be pleased with your will and to trust you,

even when we don't understand it.

God, for some of us right now, we're facing things we don't understand.

Help us to trust you, we pray.

Lord Jesus, this morning we thank you for your tenderness and your grace.

How greatly and gently and tenderly you treat us.

How you handle our sin.

God, thank you for your warmth and your compassion.

Jesus, thank you that when we do come to you in sincerity and truth,

there is no fear of your disapproval or your harsh treatment.

O sovereign God, this morning we pray for the churches in Hong Kong and the churches in China.

We ask for your strengthening grace to rest upon us.

We ask you, O God, to baptize us in your Holy Spirit.

Flood us in your power, O God.

We want to meet the living God.

Come and do that, we pray, God.

Father, we pray for ministers who are discouraged or facing a difficult time.

Those that are under-resourced or encountering opposition.

Strengthen them by your grace, God.

God, we pray for every church family in Hong Kong this morning.

Unify us, sanctify us, strengthen us, empower us to live lives of mission and witness,

taking the wonderful news of Jesus to our city.

God, we long to see many, many people come to know you

and have their lives changed by your gospel.

Empower us, we pray, God.

Father, this morning we bring before you the many, many areas of conflict and fighting in our world.

God, we confess at times we wonder if it's even worth praying.

Our world always seems to be at conflict.

And yet we come before you, sovereign God, the ruler of all the world,

and we ask for peace in our time.

We ask, God, that world leaders will swallow their pride and pursue peace.

We pray, God, that nations and ethnicities and tribes and people groups

will no longer despise and hate one another,

but will find ways to work together, to live peacefully, to honor one another.

God, we pray that every man, woman, and child

will be afforded the dignity that is fitting one made in your image,

irrespective of their language, their culture, or their race.

Jesus, we long for your return.

When you wipe away every tear, put right all that is wrong with the world.

When you vanquish your enemies and you rid the world of evil,

and you restore justice and righteousness to the earth.

Jesus, come soon.

Come, Lord Jesus, come.

Come take away the pain of our world, God.

We long to be restored to you.

We pray these things in your majestic, sovereign, and yet tender name.

Amen.

Let's listen to God's word this morning.

The scripture reading comes from Matthew 3.

Please follow along in your bulletins or on the screen.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him.

John would have prevented him, saying,

I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?

But Jesus answered him,

Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.

Then he consented.

And when Jesus was baptized,

immediately he went up from the water,

and behold, the heavens were opened to him.

And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove

and coming to rest on him.

And behold, a voice from heaven said,

This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

This is the word of God.

Thank you, Betty.

Okay.

Now, if you weren't here last week,

just to let you know where we're going as a church,

we are working our way through Matthew's Gospel

for the next couple of months.

And Matthew's Gospel is all about Jesus and his kingdom.

And yet, as we're going to see again and again,

Jesus' kingdom is so very different from the kingdoms of this world

and the kingdoms of our lives that we often try and build.

He often does things counterintuitively.

And yet, as we're going to see,

that Jesus' kingdom,

though often different to the way we would do things,

is the way that leads to life.

And so, over the next few weeks and months,

we're going to be looking at this.

And we'll see this predominantly in two weeks' time

as we start looking at the Sermon on the Mount.

But today, we look at this passage,

which is about Jesus' baptism.

Now, what's going on here?

Remember last week's passage?

John, the baptizer, is baptizing people in the wilderness,

and crowds are going out to him.

And John starts off his message like this.

He says, repent.

Turn from your sin.

Turn from your ways.

And why does he say that?

Because the king and the kingdom are coming.

The kingdom of heaven is at hand

because the Messiah, King Jesus, is on his way.

And many people heeded John's message,

and they turn from their sin,

and they get baptized.

But the question is,

John's message and Jesus' message,

which is still true and valid for us today,

turn from your sin, repent, confess your sin,

and turn to him.

The question is,

is it safe to do so?

Is Jesus trustworthy?

In other words,

when we confess our sin,

when we look into the depths of our hearts,

that's a very vulnerable thing to do.

Sometimes you may feel like

that the safest option

is to just stay silent,

like anything you say can

and will be held against you

in the courts of heaven, right?

It's like God comes and puts his finger

and just plead innocence

until you've got a solicitor at your side.

But Jesus comes and he says,

I want you to be vulnerable.

I want you to look into the deepest,

most vulnerable parts of your life,

and I want you to open them up to me.

And is Jesus safe?

Can we trust him

with our most vulnerable parts of our lives?

In today's passage,

we see who is this Jesus

that calls us to repentance?

And what's he going to do with our sin

when we bring it to him?

So let's see what's happening.

So in verse 13,

it says this,

Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan

to John to be baptized by him.

John would have prevented him saying,

I need to be baptized by you.

Why do you come to me?

So Jesus comes from Galilee,

the home, the town

where he's kind of grown up,

that area.

And he comes to John

for a very specific reason.

Now remember,

Jesus is not like the religious leaders

from last week

who are coming to John

to check things out.

Last week we saw the leaders come

and they're not so sure

about this guy, John.

They're not so sure about his message.

But all the crowds are going

and they don't want to be left out

or look like fools.

And so they come to John

to see what's happening.

But Jesus doesn't come

for that reason.

He comes for a specific purpose.

What does it say?

He came to the Jordan

in order to be baptized by John.

Jesus is not just coming

to see whether he should join the crowds.

He comes in order to be baptized.

But to John,

this doesn't make sense

because John is Jesus' second cousin.

He knows Jesus somewhat.

They might not have been very close,

but he would have had

some connection with him.

And John says,

if there's anybody here

that needs to be baptized

by the other,

I need to be baptized by you.

Remember,

John's baptism

is one of repentance,

of turning from your sin,

of changing your ways.

Remember,

he said to the religious leaders

in the passage

we saw last week,

he says,

don't think that I can baptize you

unless there's some kind of change

that takes place in your life,

unless you've repented

and confessed your sin.

And here is Jesus coming to John

and John says,

this shouldn't be like this.

Ah,

if anyone needs to be baptizing someone else,

you should be baptizing me.

Except Jesus insists.

He says,

John,

this must be the way it is.

Why?

Why does Jesus insist on this?

Why does Jesus need to be baptized?

Well,

look at verse 15.

Jesus knows something

and he knows what he's doing.

And so he says to John,

John,

let it be so,

for this is fitting

for us to fulfill

all righteousness.

Now,

I don't know about you,

but I didn't have a clue

what that sentence meant.

That's like

one of those things

where you're like,

sorry,

what?

I read a whole bunch

of commentaries this week

to try and understand it.

It's one of those difficult passages.

What is Jesus saying?

Well,

there's two clues here.

When Matthew uses

the word righteousness,

he's not using it

in the same way

that the Apostle Paul uses it.

Talking about justification

or salvation.

He's not saying

that you must be baptized

or you must be baptized

in order to become a Christian.

When Matthew uses

the word righteousness,

he's talking about

something which is

in conformity

with God's will.

Something which is

in alignment

with how God

wills things

to work out

or to be.

Remember,

in chapter 5,

he's going to say,

Jesus is going to say,

unless your righteousness

exceeds that of the Pharisees,

you cannot even

enter the kingdom

of God.

So,

Jesus is saying,

John,

let me be baptized

for this fulfills

God's will.

This is in conformity

with what God wills.

But then there's another clue

because Matthew uses

this word fulfill

always to talk about

the accomplishment

or the fulfillment

of something

that God spoke about

in times gone past.

Something in the Old Testament,

part of God's will,

his revealed will,

God gives a hint

about in the Old Testament

and now in the New Testament,

he's going to fulfill it.

And so Jesus comes

and he says,

John, baptize me

for this fulfills,

what I've spoken about

long ago,

God's will,

God's righteousness.

This is in conformity

with what God wants

to happen.

So this is what Jesus is saying.

I know this is a little

technical in the beginning,

so just bear with me

for a few minutes.

Jesus is saying this,

John, let me get baptized.

It's right for me to do so

for this will bring about

the fulfillment of God's will.

This is what he has spoken.

This is what he has planned.

This is what he has spoken

about long ago

and in doing so,

we will fulfill God's will

that he has spoken about

in years gone past.

Does that make any sense?

Okay.

Thank you,

one or two of us.

Okay.

So Jesus is saying,

John,

I know this doesn't make sense to you,

but trust me,

this is in line with God's will.

He's spoken about it

and we're going to fulfill God's will.

And now,

just before we look at

what is that will,

look at something on the side here,

just a side note.

Friends,

sometimes God's will

doesn't make complete sense to us.

Sometimes God says something

or he asks us to do something

and at the time,

it isn't perfectly clear

why he's asking us to do that.

It doesn't make perfect sense to us.

Think of John the Baptist,

one of the greatest leaders

in the New Testament.

Here's John who was filled

with the Holy Spirit

in his mother's womb.

Here is John who has received

divine revelation.

Here is John who is far more godly

than you or I

will probably ever be.

And yet,

John doesn't understand.

It doesn't make sense to him.

And friends,

sometimes God's will,

even revealed in his word,

at first glance will be like,

God,

are you sure?

That doesn't make complete sense to me.

But his will is trustworthy.

We can't trust him.

But notice something else here.

Even more than that,

sometimes God's will

may look silly.

It may be humbling.

Remember,

John's baptism

is a call to repentance,

to turn from your sin.

And yet,

Jesus,

the one person

that has never sinned,

the one person

that doesn't need to repent,

he knows that God's will

is for him

to go through

the waters of baptism.

That's going to be

a deeply humbling thing.

Everyone's going to look at him

and say,

oh,

I wonder what he needs to confess.

I wonder what area of life

he's turning from.

Sometimes God's will

will humble us

and ask us

to swallow our pride.

And yet,

Jesus does so

because it's the Father's will.

Now,

Jesus is saying to John,

John,

I know this doesn't make sense

to you right now,

but trust me,

this is God's will.

Baptize me

because this is going to reveal

something

about what's on God's heart.

It's going to make known

that which God has spoken

many years ago.

But what is that thing?

What is on God's heart?

What is Jesus' baptism

going to reveal to us?

What's it going to make us

understand

or know about who God is

that's going to draw us in?

Well,

three things.

Firstly,

Jesus' baptism

is going to show us

how Jesus identifies

or finds solidarity

with the broken

and the marginalized

and with sinners

like you and I.

Secondly,

Jesus' baptism

is going to show us

that Jesus is the chosen king

and thirdly,

it's going to reveal to us

that he's the tender savior.

Okay,

does that make sense?

So,

let's dive in.

Firstly,

Jesus' solidarity

with broken sinners

like us.

Look at what Jesus

is doing here.

He's not getting baptized

because he's sinful

or because he needs forgiveness,

but because he's identifying

with the very people

that do.

He's identifying

with the crowds,

right?

In John's gospel,

now,

just by the way,

Matthew,

Mark,

Luke,

and John,

John wrote the fourth gospel.

That's different

to John the baptizer.

These are two different Johns.

They just have the same name.

Okay,

so in John's gospel,

we see John the Baptist,

other John,

and this is what he says

talking about Jesus.

He says,

I baptize you with water,

but there stands amongst you

one who you do not yet know

whose straps of the sandals

are not worthy to untie.

When he comes,

he'll baptize you

with the Holy Spirit

and with fire,

but the point is this.

He says,

this Messiah that's coming,

where is he?

Is he in the synagogues?

Is he in the seminaries?

No,

he stands amongst you.

He's right amongst you

in the crowds.

There is one amongst you

who is coming,

who is the Savior of the world,

right there with them

in their moment

of greatest vulnerability

and exposure

when all these people

are coming to John

and saying,

John,

this is what I've done.

This is how I've sinned.

As these people are coming

and exposing

some of the darkest,

most vulnerable areas

of their life,

where is Jesus?

He's amongst them.

Jesus is not standing

on the hillside saying,

oh yeah,

I know about that sin.

Oh yes,

I know about that one too.

And if someone ever came to John

and said,

John,

well,

I kind of sinned

this happened

and sort of painted it

in a good light

like we tend to do.

Am I the only one

that does that?

Kind of trying to talk

about my sin

like the best possible way.

Jesus didn't say,

hey,

tell them the real story.

Tell them what really happened,

right?

Where's Jesus

in this moment

of greatest vulnerability?

He's right there with them.

He's amongst them.

But he's not only amongst them

on the banks of the river.

What does he do?

He climbs in with them

and he gets baptized with them.

Jesus is identifying

with the very people

who are broken,

who are marginalized,

who are hurting,

who are sinners.

And Jesus is saying,

the people that I made

and the people that I love,

I've come for them.

I've come to be with them.

I haven't come to point my finger

and accuse them

and tell them

how dirty,

rotten scoundrels they are.

I've come to be with them.

And so,

coming back to our text,

Jesus says,

John,

let me get baptized.

It's right for me to do so.

This fulfills God's will.

What God has spoken

and revealed

in the Old Testament,

that I would come

and be amongst my people,

I would be one of them.

And so,

John agrees.

And so,

John baptizes Jesus.

And as Jesus comes out of the water,

what happens?

Two things happen,

right?

Look at verse 16 and 17

with me.

The first thing that happens

is the Holy Spirit

comes and rests upon Jesus.

Now,

it doesn't say

a dove rests upon him.

It says,

the Holy Spirit

came and rested upon Jesus

like a dove.

In other words,

it's a physical manifestation.

The Holy Spirit

comes upon Jesus

and empowers him

for his ministry.

But the second thing

that happens

is that there's a voice.

A voice from heaven.

Whose voice is it?

It's God's voice,

right?

And what does God say?

Well,

God quotes,

God the Father

quotes two Old Testament passages.

One is Psalm chapter 2

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

and the other one

is Isaiah 42.

And both of these passages

reveal something

about the nature

and the character

of Jesus

and his mission

on earth.

Look at what he says.

Firstly,

he quotes Psalm 2.

He says,

this is my beloved son.

And then he quotes

Isaiah 42,

which is a messianic passage

about the coming Messiah.

And what does he say?

This is my son

with whom I am well pleased

or in whom my soul delights.

So,

let's look at those two things.

Okay?

So,

we've got three points.

The first one,

Jesus' baptism

reveals that he identifies

with people like you and I.

Second thing is this,

Jesus' baptism

reveals that he's

the chosen king.

Let's look at Psalm 2 together.

Psalm 2

is a wonderful psalm.

It's a coronation psalm.

It's a psalm

that's written

around the time of David

and it's written

when the king

is established

on the throne.

And it's a psalm

that's written

about God's chosen king.

And in this psalm,

God says,

I will establish

my king on the throne.

But what's happening

is that the nations

around Israel

don't like the king.

And the reason

they don't like the king

is because Israel

is a small nation.

It's a vulnerable nation.

It's often being attacked.

If you know the history

of the world,

Israel is forever

being attacked

by everyone

from every side.

And so the nations

around Israel

don't like that

God has established

a king on the throne.

And they want to

overthrow the king.

They want to overthrow Israel.

And so the kings

of the nations

surrounding it

conspire together.

They plot

and they scheme

and they take counsel

together

how they can overthrow

this king

that God has established

in Israel.

But what is God's

response

to their efforts?

He laughs at them.

Look at what it says

in verse 4.

He says,

He who sits

in the heavens

he laughs.

The Lord holds

their plans

in derision.

He says,

As for me,

I have set

my king

on the throne.

And then he describes

this king.

Who is this king?

He says,

You are my beloved son.

Today I have begotten you.

Ask of me

and I will then

make the nations

your inheritance.

The ends of the earth

will be your possession.

So God says,

I've established this king.

On one hand

it's David

but actually

that's just a picture

of the true king.

God has established

his king on the throne

and this king

will be the lord

of all the world.

All the nations

will be your inheritance.

One day

all the nations

will come and bow down

before you.

The one true king.

And who is this king?

Well he says,

He is God's anointed one.

God's chosen one.

In other words,

in Hebrew

God's Messiah.

Or in Greek

God's Christos.

The Christ.

He is the chosen king

to end all kingdoms.

He is the king

to whom all kings

will one day

eventually bow.

Why?

Because he's God's son.

You are my chosen son.

And at the end of the psalm

God says that

this king

will become

the majestic ruler

of all creation.

All the world

will one day

bow down before him.

And he will destroy

those who oppose him.

Those who conspired

against him

will find themselves

facing the full wrath

of the fury

of God.

And so he warns him.

He says,

You kings

that are conspiring

against this king,

this chosen king,

be warned.

Kiss the son.

Come and draw near to him

in faith and repentance

lest you perish

in your ways.

But if you take refuge

under him

you will be blessed.

You see,

this king

in Psalm chapter 2

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

on one hand

he's a roaring lion.

He's a majestic king

that overthrows

all those who oppose him.

But at the same time

he's a gracious

and gentle lamb

to those who come to him

and find refuge

under his wings.

This is

this king.

And so Psalm 2

speaks about this king

and this majestic king.

And as Jesus

comes out of the waters

of baptism,

John baptizes him

and as he comes out

there's a voice

that thunders

in the heavens

and this is what it is.

This is my beloved son.

This is the chosen

ruler king.

This is the king

who will one day

inherit the earth.

The one before whom

all nations

will bow down.

This is the king

before whom

every monk

and every

imam

and every priest

and every Hindu guru

and every pastor

and every premier

and every president

and every governor

and every man,

woman and child

will one day

bow down.

And some will bow down

gladly because they've

come to love the king

and they've found

refuge under him.

Some will bow down

because they've been

conquered by him.

But before this king

all the nations

will bow.

He is the chosen ruler,

the anointed king

because he's my beloved son.

And so as Jesus

comes out of the waters

of baptism,

this is what God says.

This is my son,

the ruling king.

Okay,

does that make sense?

But that's not all

God says to Jesus.

He then says something else.

And this is the climax.

He says,

this is my beloved son

with whom I am well pleased

or in whom my soul delights.

Now that's a quote

from Isaiah 42.

Now,

in the book of Isaiah,

there are four passages

of scripture,

four poems

or songs

which are called

the servant songs.

Isaiah 42,

Isaiah 49,

Isaiah 50,

and Isaiah 53.

And all four

of these passages,

these poems,

are passages

about a certain servant

of the Lord.

Okay,

that's why they're called

the servant songs.

And this servant

will rule the nations.

God calls him

to rule over

all the world.

It's kind of like

Psalm chapter 2.

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

But at the same time,

the servant is unique

because he is hated

and despised

by the nations.

The servant

is horribly abused

by the very nations

he's called to lead

in righteousness

and justice,

which is why

he's called

the suffering servant.

He is rejected,

he is ridiculed,

he is beaten,

he is mocked,

he is despised,

and he's hated.

But in the end,

he is rewarded.

In the end,

he rules supreme.

And Isaiah 42

is the first

of these four passages.

And it's a passage

which God quotes

in Matthew chapter 3.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

And look at

what Isaiah 42 says.

He says this,

Behold my servant,

my chosen one,

my anointed one,

the one in whom

my soul delights.

In other words,

what does Jesus say?

My son with whom

I'm well pleased,

the one in whom

my soul delights.

Isn't that what Jesus,

what God said

at Jesus' baptism?

You, Jesus,

are the one

in whom my soul delights.

And then he says,

I have put my spirit

upon him.

Well, isn't that

what happened

when Jesus got baptized?

The Holy Spirit

rests upon him

and empowers him.

But if we just

left it there,

we'd miss the main

point of the passage.

Because Isaiah

then goes on

and he says,

This king,

this servant,

this suffering servant,

he will not cry aloud

or lift up his voice.

In other words,

when the servant

comes to rule the nations,

he will not come

with ceremony

or pomp.

He will not come

full of swagger

and self-promotion.

He will come

quietly on the scene.

He will not be born

in a palace

or in royalty.

He will not hold office

with leaders of society.

Here will be the anointed,

ruling king,

but he'll come humbly.

He'll come quietly.

He might even be born

in a stable.

Rather than having kings

and royalty watching him,

he'll have shepherds

and the lowly.

But this will not diminish

his purpose

or his status.

His purpose

is to bring justice

to the nations.

And then it says this

about the servant king.

A bruised reed

he will not break.

A faintly smoldering wick

he will not snuff out.

Now think of that imagery.

I think we've got a,

oh, we don't have an image.

Sorry.

Has that been gone

for a while?

Sorry,

I thought I had

all the scriptures up there.

Oh, there we go.

Okay.

Isaiah says this,

when the suffering servant comes,

he'll come as the king,

but he'll also come

with gentleness.

A bruised reed

he will not break.

I don't know about you,

but when I go hiking,

if I see a broken branch

or a stem

or a reed,

I just can't leave it.

I've just got to put it

out of its misery, right?

I snap it off

and throw it away.

There's just something about it

that's asking

just to be broken off, right?

Or maybe think of this.

Again,

I don't know about you.

If I go walking somewhere,

I always try and find a stick.

The first few minutes,

I've got to find a walking stick

and there's just something therapeutic

about having a walking stick, right?

But what invariably happens

is I find a stick

and I think,

oh, this is a good size,

good shape.

And as I put it down,

I see that it's broken

halfway along

and there's just bark

holding it together.

Does that ring a bell?

And as you put it down,

it can't carry the weight.

Now,

what do you do

with such a walking stick?

You throw it, right?

You toss it aside.

Say,

what a useless stick.

Somebody find me

a proper walking stick, right?

Or think of the picture

of a candle,

a candle that's outside

in the rain.

It's in the elements

and it's struggling

to stay alive.

It's fighting

to still be burning, right?

In the times of the Bible,

they didn't have wax candles.

They'd have a candle,

a wick

that was in oil

and if the oil

is almost finished

or it's not burning properly,

you'd snuff out the candle

and then go fill up the oil

and relight it again.

But here,

Isaiah talks about

there's the Messiah coming

and he's going to be

the ruler of the whole world

and yet he's going to come

so tenderly,

so gently.

This king,

who is sovereign

over everyone,

who is majestic,

is so gracious

and tender

that when he comes

and he finds us

like a broken stick

or like a candle

that's not doing so well,

he doesn't throw it away

and say,

find me a proper Christian

or snuff it out.

What does he do?

He comes

and he binds us up.

He comes

and he heals

and he restores.

Here is a king

that is so strong

and yet so gentle

that he comes

and he binds up

those that are hurting

and those that are broken.

Friends,

in our world

and in our city,

how do we treat

those that are broken?

How do we treat

those that are struggling

or those that are hurting

or those that are damaged

or fall behind?

Our city is not

very sympathetic

to those that are hurting,

are we?

I think the ethos

of Hong Kong

is the survival

of the fittest.

Our city is one

in which you've got

to be brave,

you've got to be strong,

you've got to be hardworking

in order to survive.

But friends,

here is a king

who comes to the broken,

he comes to the damaged,

he comes to those

who have failed.

He comes to those

who have sinned.

He comes to those

who have messed up.

He comes to those

with a checkered past.

He comes to those

who feel like,

God, could you ever

love me again?

And he says,

I've come for you.

I've come to heal you.

I've come to restore you.

Just think of Peter,

one of Jesus' disciples.

In Mark's gospel,

Jesus says to his disciples,

the Son of Man

is going to be arrested

and put to death.

And then he quotes

the Old Testament

where he says,

they will strike the shepherd

and the sheep will scatter.

In other words,

he's saying,

I will be alone

and when they arrest me,

all my disciples

will leave me.

And what does Peter say?

Peter says,

not me, God.

Maybe the others,

but not me.

I will be with you

to the end.

You can count on me.

And Jesus says,

Peter,

before the crow

or cock crows twice,

you'll deny me three times.

And Peter says,

forget it, Lord.

All the others

will abandon you,

but not me.

You can count on me.

Well, 12 hours later,

Peter is warming his hands

outside the fire

and he's watching

through the gap.

Jesus has been arrested.

And a young girl

comes to him and says,

hey, weren't you

with that Jesus guy?

And he says,

no, not me.

Someone else comes

and says,

I'm sure you were

with Jesus

when we arrested him.

Peter says,

I don't know

what you're talking about.

And then a third person

comes and says,

but you've got

the same accent as him.

You know where he's from.

I'm sure you were

with Jesus, right?

You're one of his disciples.

He says,

I swear I've never met the man.

What does Jesus do

with Peter's denial?

What does he do?

After he dies

and he's crucified

and he's risen again,

he comes

and he finds his disciples

and he says,

Peter,

you love me,

don't you?

And Peter says,

yes, Lord,

I do love you.

He says,

Peter,

I've got a job for you.

I want you to feed my sheep.

It's not the end,

Peter.

I've still got a job

for you to do.

I want you to be my disciple.

Go and feed my sheep.

And he says,

Peter,

you do still love me,

don't you?

He says,

yes, Lord,

I love you.

He says,

Peter,

I've got a job for you.

Feed my lambs.

And then he asks him

a third time,

Peter,

I'm just asking

because I want you

to know that you love me.

Peter,

you do still love me,

don't you?

Yes,

Lord,

I love you.

Peter,

go and fulfill

the mandate I gave you.

Go and be my disciple.

Go and lead my people.

Friends,

how does Jesus deal

with Peter's

most spectacular

fall from grace?

Does he throw him away

and say,

get me a proper Christian?

No,

he doesn't.

He comes and he restores him.

He comes and heals him.

He comes and binds him up.

He comes and recommissions him

and sends him on his task.

Friends,

our city,

there are many gods

and idols

that we love to serve.

But the problem

with these idols

and these gods

is that when we fail them,

they will accuse us

and they will point

the finger in your face

and they'll tell you

all the times

that you failed them.

Friends,

if your children's success

is your highest goal in life,

when your children get sick

or they don't succeed

or they don't fulfill

your plans or ambitions for them,

you will feel like

your whole life is on edge.

Friends,

if your promotion

or your career advancement

is the goal,

the thing that makes you whole,

when you pass over for promotion

or you don't succeed

in your career,

you'll feel useless.

You'll feel like a failure

and that the whole world

is against you.

Friends,

when the prospect

of being loved

or being with someone

is the most important thing

in your life,

when you go on a date

and they don't call you back

or you're not,

a relationship doesn't work out

the way that you hope it will,

you'll feel unloved.

You'll feel ugly.

You'll be filled with self-hate.

Tim Keller

was saying

a few years ago

in New York,

he spoke about

these young New Yorkers

that gave everything

to make their career

a success

and he says this,

these men and women

had sacrificed

everything to the God

of success

but it wasn't enough.

In ancient times,

the deities

were bloodthirsty

and hard to appease.

Even still,

today,

they are.

Friends,

the gods

and the idols

and the things

we try and serve

are bloodthirsty.

They'll demand

your blood.

They'll demand

everything from you

and if you fail them,

they'll spit you out

and move on.

But friends,

here in the gospel,

we have a king.

Here we have a king

who at once claimed

nothing less

than being the promised Messiah,

the chosen king

above all kings,

who is king

who will one day

rule the nations

and before whom

every knee will bow

and yet here is a king

who is so gracious,

so tender

with those who fail him,

who is so gentle

with the broken

and those who fall

and those who sin,

that those who come to him

and feel like damaged goods,

he gently restores you

and he recommissions you.

Friends,

some of us feel broken

this morning.

Some of us feel

like damaged goods.

Some of us

because it's of our own sin.

There are things

that we've done

and we feel like,

I cannot believe I did that.

You may feel so ashamed.

Some of us,

maybe it's because

you've been sinned against.

Maybe somebody

did something to you.

You feel used.

You feel abused.

Maybe for some of us

it's just the harshness

of life in a fallen world.

Friends,

here is a king

who comes with such

gentleness and tenderness.

He restores and heals

the brokenhearted.

I want to read a quote

by Sam Albury.

It's quite a long quote

so you're going to need

to pay attention

but listen to how

Pastor Sam Albury

writes about this.

He says,

The wonder of Jesus

is that he's able

to combine

what we so easily separate.

In our experience,

those who are gentlest

tend to lack strength

and force

when it's called for

while those who are strongest

tend to lack the capacity

for gentleness

and restraint.

But Jesus exemplifies

perfect gentleness

and awesome strength.

This combination

is why he's such

a good savior.

He is strong

and he's mighty to save

and yet he is

unspeakably delicate

and careful with us.

There is no wound,

no vulnerability

he does not understand

or handle

with the utmost care.

He is someone

who we can trust

with our most tender

bruises and fragility.

He will not be clumsy

with us.

He can apply

his unimaginable strength

to us

with affection

and sensitivity.

In a fallen world

like this,

all of us

are people

who have both sinned

and been sinned against.

Some of this

will have left us

with deep wounds

that seem unfathomable

even to us.

But Jesus knows us fully.

He understands us entirely.

He loves us more

than we love ourselves.

He has the power

and the capacity

to help us

and the tenderness

and the care

to want to help us.

We can trust him

with our deepest pains

and our bruises.

There is none

more fearsome,

none

more gentle.

Now,

coming into a close,

let's go back

to Matthew chapter 3,

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Jesus' baptism.

What's just happened

before this?

John has called people

to,

he's been proclaiming

the gospel

by calling people

to repent,

to repent in light

of the coming king.

And friends,

what is this king

going to do

with your sin

and my sin

when we come to him

in repentance?

When we come to him

with our most vulnerable spots,

when we come to him

with our bruises

and our brokenness,

when we come to him

with our failings,

when we come to him

with our messes

and our mistakes,

what's he going to do?

Is he going to,

like a walking stick,

toss you on the heap

and say,

go sort yourself out,

come back to me

when you've got your,

you know,

stuff in order?

What's he going to do?

Is he going to rebuke you

for being such a lousy Christian?

Is he going to point

his finger in your face

and say,

oh,

you haven't properly confessed.

What about that area

of your life?

What about that?

No,

friends.

When we come to him

in humility and contrition,

we come to a king.

We don't come to a schoolmaster

or a tiger parent.

We come to Jesus.

We come to the lover

of our souls.

We come to the one

who brings tenderness

and healing in his wings.

We come to the chosen

ruling king,

but we come to the one

who is unspeakably delicate

and careful with us.

We come to the one

who we can trust

with our most tender bruises

and failures.

We come to the one

who will apply

his unimaginable affection

and strength

to our sensitivities.

Charles Spurgeon

said it like this,

when I regarded God

as a tyrant,

I thought sin

was unimportant.

But when I knew him

to be my father,

I mourned that I could

ever have kicked against him.

When I thought God

was hard,

I found it easy to sin.

But when I found God

was so kind,

so good,

so overflowing

with compassion,

I beat my breast

to think that I could

ever have rebelled

against one

who loved me so

and sought my good.

And friends,

this is what

Jesus' baptism

shows us.

This is why

Jesus gets baptized.

Because he comes

to show us

that he identifies

with the failings

and the sin

and the mess of the world.

But he comes

to show us

that he's the chosen king

but he's also

the suffering servant.

Now to be clear,

he won't be the suffering servant

forever.

There's a time coming

when he will come

in all the full might

of his strength

and he will vanquish

his enemies

and he will destroy

those that have opposed him.

That is true.

But for now,

as John calls sinners

to come to him

to humble ourselves

and to repent,

Jesus stands amongst us

so good,

so gentle,

so overflowing

with compassion,

identifying with

the shortcomings

and the failings

of our lives.

And yet,

all this was just

a foretaste

because in three

short years' time,

Jesus is going to be

baptized with another baptism.

He's going to be

plunged deep,

immersed,

drowned in a baptism

of utter turmoil.

He's going to be

nailed to the cross

so that those

who trust him,

those who come to him

in faith and repentance

will have their sins

taken on the cross

by him.

Friends,

because this magnificent,

wonderful,

savior,

sovereign,

gracious,

gentle king

came and died

on the cross,

those who do trust him,

we hear the words

of the Father

speaking over us.

My beloved son,

my beloved daughter,

with you,

I am well pleased.

Because Jesus

took all our failings

and our sin upon the cross,

now the Father speaks

words of affirmation

over us.

My son,

my daughter,

with you,

I am well pleased.

Friends,

if you're a Christian

this morning,

God the Father

does not just

tolerate you,

he doesn't just

put up with you,

he is pleased with you,

he loves you,

he pours out

his love on you,

he is extravagantly

delighted in you

because Jesus

covered your sins,

because he took it

to the cross,

because he makes

all things new,

because he brings you

into his family.

This is Jesus,

the chosen sovereign king,

but this is Jesus,

the suffering servant.

Let's pray together.

Oh, wonderful God,

we do come and worship you,

God.

We worship you

not just with song,

but to worship you

by giving you our lives,

God.

Our greatest act of worship,

God,

is to say we so trust you

that we bring our lives

before you.

Thank you,

Jesus,

that you are both

majestic and gracious.

You are sovereign

and yet tender,

God.

And God,

it is safe

to bring our lives

and to leave them

at the foot of the cross.

It is safe

to bring our lives

and hand them over to you.

Jesus,

thank you for being

such a wonderful

and glorious king.

And Father,

this morning,

we do ask for more

of your will in our lives.

We do say,

God,

come and have your way.

We say,

Jesus,

come and be king

in our lives.

Don't just be a friend.

Don't just be

a gentle savior.

Come and be king.

Come and have your way,

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.