JESUS ON SIGHT & INSIGHT

Father, we think we know ourselves, but we really don't know ourselves.

We don't know ourselves very well at all.

We often, Father, don't recognize why we do the things we do,

why we feel the things we feel.

We don't often understand what drives us,

what pushes us and what pulls us and what draws us.

We thank you, Father, that you have a perfect knowledge of us,

and we thank you, Father, that having a perfect knowledge of us,

still you loved us and sent your Son to die upon the cross to be our Savior.

We ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would deeply fall upon us,

fall upon our minds and hearts and wills, our souls,

fall upon us right to the very center of who we are.

And, Father, in the face of Christ and what he did upon the cross for us,

help us to see ourselves and know ourselves

so that we might turn to you and love you

and receive what only you can give and give you glory.

In all this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.

Amen.

Please be seated.

So, some people might be wondering what Jesus would say about the Supreme Court,

unanimous Supreme Court ruling on Friday morning,

which has changed the whole legal landscape of our country.

You know, I'm unbelievably well organized and have lots of foresight,

so I actually picked this Sunday with the scripture reading long,

months and months and months and months ago in advance,

just so I could say that.

Actually, that's not the case at all.

You know, we're just preaching through the Gospel of Luke.

That's what we do here at Church of the Messiah,

is preach through books of the Bible.

And I was just picking the text months and months in advance,

having no idea that, although it's not at all the center part of the text,

that, in fact, Jesus does make a comment upon the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling.

And it's also curious that the same text that makes a side comment on this,

it's actually a very bristly text,

because it also has a text in it that makes some people

who believe that Jesus is the champion of spiritual, not religious,

this text for many people shows how Jesus echoes Buddhist teaching.

Muslims, on the other hand, there's a part in this text that Muslims like,

because they think it shows how Islam is superior here to the Christian faith.

And monks like parts of this text,

health and wealth gospel people like parts of this text.

It's quite a text.

So if you have your Bibles, please open them to Luke chapter 18,

Luke 18 · chapter mention

and we'll look and see what is it that Jesus says in this text

that comments on the Supreme Court of Canada ruling the Anonymous one on Friday morning.

If you don't have your Bibles with you,

there's always some free Bibles here at the front of the stage.

Just feel free to come up and take your seat.

I mean, take a Bible, keep it if you want, or give it back after it's over.

And so what does Jesus have to say?

Is Jesus a Buddhist?

Are Muslims right?

Sort of contradictory type of thing.

What does Jesus say about the Supreme Court ruling?

Well, Luke chapter 18, beginning at verse 18,

Luke 18 · chapter mention

we'll look at the text, see what it has to say.

And the text begins like,

oh, just actually before we start,

in terms of the flow of the book of Luke,

remember that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to die.

And in fact, we have this Sunday and the next Sunday,

and then after that, I believe,

we have the Sunday where Jesus enters Jerusalem.

But Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to die.

So everything in the, from a literary point of view,

everything in the gospel has to be understood

within this sort of looming prophecy of Jesus'.

And just before the story of the rich young ruler,

you might not remember, but this is what Jesus said

just before the text that we're going to actually look at today.

Verse 16.

But Jesus called the children to him, saying,

let the children come to me and do not hinder them,

for to such belong the kingdom of God.

Truly I say to you,

whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child

shall not enter it.

And then we have our text for the day.

And ruler asked Jesus,

good teacher,

what must I do to inherit eternal life?

And just sort of pause there for a second.

And this story is recorded

in three of the early historical documents

about the life and death of Jesus.

And in all three of those historical documents,

Luke being one of them,

they record this story.

And so if you look at all three of the stories together,

you discover three things.

First of all, that it's a young man.

Second, that he's a ruler.

And third, that he's rich.

Two of them you get from this text.

The other one about him being a young man,

you'd have to get from one of the other texts.

So Jesus is talking to a very accomplished,

probably in those days as well,

he would have had to have had the wisdom

to have chosen the right ancestors

so that he could be born with some money.

But he's polished, has money,

is probably well-educated in that type of a context.

And he's rich.

And so that's who's speaking to Jesus.

And the other thing about it is

that he asks a very un-Canadian question.

You know, it's just really important for us

to understand that as followers of Jesus,

we follow Jesus in Canada.

And there's going to be many times in the Gospels

where we can see that there's so many insights

as Canadians that just come out of this whole

biblical tradition and the teaching of Jesus.

But there's things in our culture as well

which are very, very different

from Jesus and the time that he taught.

And if you think about it for a second,

very few Canadians would say to Jesus,

what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Because most Canadians think that as soon as they die,

they go to a better place.

So they'd never ask Jesus this question.

They might ask Jesus,

Jesus, what is the better place like?

That's what they might ask.

They might ask, you know,

when is the world going to get better?

And when I die, what is the better place going to be like?

But most Canadians would not ask this question.

Probably 60 years ago,

many Canadians would have asked this question.

Our culture's changed.

In many places of the world,

for instance, Muslims don't believe

that all Muslims will go to heaven.

Muslims believe that many Muslims themselves

will go to hell.

So it's actually the type of question

that a Muslim might ask Jesus.

You know, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

They might be very curious.

Jesus, according to Muslims,

is the second greatest prophet.

They'd be very interested to see what his answer is.

But it's not a Canadian question, is it, really?

What must I do to inherit eternal life?

And in fact,

the way that Jesus is going to respond to the question,

so it's an un-Canadian question,

and Jesus is going to give

a profoundly un-Canadian answer.

In fact, he's going to give an answer

that for people who see Jesus as a spiritual figure,

not religious,

it's going to make them doubt,

this first part is going to make them really doubt

whether in fact he's spiritual, not religious,

because he's going to sound judgmental.

Like, how does he answer the question?

It's in verse 19.

Follow along.

And Jesus said to him,

Why do you call me good?

No one is good except God alone.

No one is good except God alone.

Just sort of pause there for a second.

See, the Canadians would say,

first of all,

they wouldn't be bothered by the fact

that the person's being called a good teacher,

because one of the most important things for Canadians

is that no matter what we do,

that we're a good person.

I'm watching,

I've watched a series on Netflix called Rectify,

which is set in Georgia.

And in the course of that thing,

people do all sorts of really bad things.

But even though they do very, very bad things,

and it's sort of interspersed

with sort of curious, odd conversations about God.

But in between all of that,

they keep saying,

Am I a good person?

Are you a good person?

And so Canadians wouldn't be bothered

with the idea of calling Jesus a good teacher,

because for us,

it's actually profoundly important

that no matter what we do,

that we understand ourselves to be a good person.

But what makes us very un-Canadian

is that Jesus says,

Well, why do you call me good?

You see, for Canadians,

most Canadians,

many Canadians,

we would say,

Well, it can be good for you

and not good for me.

It's your good,

not my good.

Our goods are both different.

But Jesus completely and utterly

challenges that entire notion.

He says,

No one is good but God alone.

And by saying this,

he's implying that God is the source

and understanding,

in a sense,

a fixed,

unchanging standard

by which the good is to be understood.

In fact,

from the biblical point of view,

it's to be understood

that the same God who is good

is also the creator,

so that,

in a sense,

the good is natural to us.

It's woven into the entire created order,

the fabric of our bodies,

and the fabric of our minds,

that at a fundamental level,

God is the one,

I mean,

it's fallen,

it's bent,

it's distorted,

we don't understand it,

we twist it.

The Bible's not denying that,

but that God is the standard

of all of these things.

It's a very,

very un-Canadian response.

Our Muslim friends and neighbors

like this text,

by the way,

because they say,

Aha,

you see,

it shows that Jesus isn't God.

Did you notice that,

they say?

They'll say to you,

look at this,

your Bible,

you think your Bible teaches

that Jesus is God?

Look how he answers this question.

Verse 19,

why do you call me good?

No one is good except God alone.

And the Muslim will say,

that shows that Jesus

didn't think he was God.

Well,

that's actually mistaken.

It's very interesting

that if Jesus had responded

and said,

why do you call me good?

No one is good except the Father alone.

Then he would be denying

that he's God.

But when he says

that no one is good

except God alone,

he leaves open the possibility

that he is God.

In fact,

in the flow of the text,

he's trying to figure out,

because there's different times

in the gospel text

where people start to get

this glimpse

that Jesus is more than

just a human being,

that he's God.

If you go back

and read earlier on in the text,

remember this,

this famous story

of the disciples

fishing all night

and not being able

to catch any fish.

And Jesus comes

and tells them

to cast their net

on the other side.

And in the original language,

it's as if all of a sudden

there's so many fish,

it's almost as if

they're jumping into the net.

It's almost as if

they're jumping into the boat,

as if the net's

going to pull them down

and the boat's

going to pull them down.

And Peter has this recognition

that Jesus is just

not a normal guy

and falls down

before him in worship.

I mean, you know,

he's Peter.

Later on, he forgets about it.

He gets all confused about it.

You know, he's confused

about who Jesus is.

All the way through the gospels,

all the apostles

are all confused.

But there's the...

So Jesus is asking

the young man,

one moment,

you've seen

the different miracles

I've done.

You've seen my teaching.

You've spent...

Are you actually making

a great claim about me?

Do you actually have

some profound

spiritual insight

that's coming out?

Is that what's going on?

And then...

And so...

And then...

And so Jesus sort of

starts to begin to probe.

He has a conversation

with the young man.

The young man's come to Jesus

to have a conversation.

And Jesus goes deeper

into the conversation.

So in verse 20,

he says,

You know the commandments.

Do not commit adultery.

Do not murder.

Do not steal.

Do not bear false witness.

Honor your father

and your mother.

And just pause.

By the way,

if you're worried about time

and says,

Good grief,

George is spending

five minutes of verse.

This is going to be

a really long sermon.

We go through

some of the other verses

a bit quicker.

But these are sort of

very important.

We don't grasp

the full weight

of the story,

the challenge of the story

if we don't pause

over some of these things.

In this little aside

in the text,

which is sort of important

in the flow of the text,

but it's not the point

of the text,

Jesus' comments

on the Supreme Court ruling

when he says,

Do not murder.

And what that says

is Jesus is upholding

what we know of

as the Ten Commandments.

And that text

in the original language,

in both languages,

is that you do not,

you are not to take,

you are not to kill

innocent human life.

And so what Jesus would say

is that the Supreme Court

of Canada

has made a terrible decision

because it has ruled

that people have the right

to ask medical professionals

to kill innocent human life.

The ruling goes vastly beyond

concerns about

do not resuscitate.

We already have

do not resuscitate.

All of us know

that there is

a profound problem

with human beings

wanting to play God,

whether those are

human beings

who are the doctors

who want to play God

with medical technology

and extend life

way beyond

what should be extended,

or whether it's

family members

who want to play God

and force doctors' hands

to extend human life

long before it should

and do not allow

or do not resuscitate

or just the normal

course of nature.

And those,

that's a,

there's already

do not resuscitate

in the context of both,

whether it's a medical professional,

it's not always

a medical professional.

I've counseled

and been involved

with many families

where it's not the doctor

who wants to extend life,

it's the families

who want to play God.

And now we want

to play God even more

by giving doctors

and families

the right

and the power

and the authority

to ask for the putting

to death

of an innocent person

who's suffering.

And this,

by the way,

is the beginning

of a profound challenge

to those of us

who are Christians.

And it's,

I'm just taking

a time out of it.

If it hadn't been

for the Supreme Court ruling,

I probably wouldn't have

mentioned this at all.

But the time

has now come upon us

that Christian congregations

have to be

communities of life.

We have to become

communities of life.

People in a culture

of death

need to know

that whether it's doctors

who are connected

to our congregation,

that you can come

to a doctor

connected to our congregation

and you do not have

to worry

whether the doctor

is assessing

to kill you

or to cure you.

We have to figure out

how we can help

the weak and vulnerable.

We have to figure out

how we help those.

I mean,

this just throws open

the whole thing,

whether it's abortion

as well,

which is also the taking

of the innocent human life,

how we respond to this.

It's just deepened

the fact,

whether it's dealing

with the demonic,

it's at a very,

very profound level.

We are always supposed

to be a community

of life.

And this means

that now

in our culture

we will have to figure

out concrete ways

that affect our budget

and affect our time

and affect our comfort

that we can be seen

as communities

of life.

Pray for us

that in the days

and months ahead

that we will figure out

and that churches

will figure out

how to be centers

of life.

Now,

somebody say,

George,

let's get back to the text.

You've made your point.

Let's get back.

So Jesus says

to this young man,

he says,

you know,

why do you call me good?

Verse 19,

no one is good

except God alone.

You know the commandments.

Do not commit adultery.

Do not murder.

Do not steal.

Do not bear false witness.

Honor your father and mother.

And the young man says,

the young guy's a good guy.

He's the type of guy

you'd probably want to have

as your neighbor.

You know?

He's probably the guy

you'd want to have

as your boss.

And he says,

all these I have kept

from my youth.

And verse 22,

when Jesus heard this,

he said to him,

remember one of the differences

between Jesus

and natural human religion

and natural human spirituality

is that Jesus always goes

to the heart

in the context

of the living God.

And the Bible

primarily understands

the heart

as the center

of who we are.

The very basis

and depth

of who we are.

And Jesus is always

going to the center

of who we are

in the context

of the living God.

And so Jesus says

he goes right to the heart.

He's only mentioned

five of the Ten Commandments.

He hasn't mentioned

the first or the second

or the tenth.

And he goes right

to the heart of the matter

and he says to the young man,

verse 22,

when he said this,

when he heard this,

Jesus said to him,

one thing you still lack,

sell all that you have

and distribute to the poor

and you will have treasure

in heaven

and come,

follow me.

So is Jesus telling us

that every single follower

of Jesus

has to be poor?

No, he's not.

He's,

in fact,

we're going to see

that he's,

in fact,

very precisely

not telling us that

by the end of the story

and as the story

moves on to the two things

which follow.

That what Jesus

is going at

is, in fact,

Andrew,

if you could put it up,

the first point,

the young man

chose his money

and his power

over eternal life.

Jesus is asking

you and me

a question.

What do I believe

that I need

more than eternal life

with the living God?

What do I believe

that I need

more than eternal life

with the living God?

That's what he's asking.

He's asking us

to make ourselves

aware of the fact

that there's things

in our lives

that are at the center

of our lives

that the Bible describes

as an idol

that we do not believe

that we can live without,

that we subtly serve.

We dread losing it

and we only want it

to increase it.

We worship it.

And for this young man

it was money

and his power,

his ability to perform.

That's what he feared losing.

In fact,

as we're going to see

in a moment,

when Jesus says

that he has to give up money,

he's going to walk away sad.

But for some of us

it might not be money.

In fact,

it would be very,

very interesting.

It would be very interesting

if we had just

a confidential poll,

no names put it,

and we put down

how much money we make.

And then beside it

we put down

the smallest amount

of money

that we could possibly get

and still be happy.

And if we put that up

on the screen,

there'd be all sorts

of laughter

because some of us

would put up a number

and maybe two-thirds

of us would say,

that's hilarious.

I live on

a quarter of that

and I'm happy.

You know,

one quarter of us

think we can't live

with less than $60,000

and the other,

you know,

and maybe a quarter

of us are saying,

I live on less than $15,000.

I'm perfectly happy.

What's that first person

thinking about?

You know,

I've been married

to my wife

for 33 years

and my wife Louise

is definitely

God's gracious

provision for me.

When I was in grade 12,

I broke off,

no,

I didn't break off,

she broke off with me,

my first girlfriend

broke off with me

and I had a hard time

imagining how I would

ever be able

to live without her.

And I didn't even

think about this

until I was thinking

about a sermon illustration

and I've been married

to Louise for 33 years

and she's definitely,

she was God's provision,

is God's provision

for me.

But how many of us,

if we were to go back

and if God was all

of a sudden

to show us

at different times

in our lives

in the past,

what did we think

we could not possibly

live without

and somehow or another

that passes

and another thing

takes its place.

And we are in fact

often even blind

about what is right now

in our hearts

that we think

we cannot live without.

And maybe it's a job,

maybe it's prestige,

maybe it's physical looks,

maybe it's a wound,

maybe it's anger,

maybe it's resentment,

maybe it's hatred,

maybe it's the nation,

maybe it's our wife,

maybe it's our kids,

maybe it's a good thing,

like a wife or a husband,

maybe it's a bad thing,

like being able

to get stoned

or have drugs

or be able to have

the power to kill yourself

when you're unhappy.

I mean,

whatever it is,

what is in that

Jesus is saying

that you human beings,

that there are things

in your life

that you believe

that you need

more than eternal life

with the living God

and you don't even know it.

I want you to know it.

I want you to know it.

See, that's why this text

and the majority

of Christian commentators

have never taken this text

to mean that we should

all become like monks.

Jesus is asking

a general question

in a particular way.

what do I believe

that I need

more than eternal life

with the living God?

Now, some of you might say,

huh, George,

Jesus is being so hard

on this guy.

You know,

here I thought

he was spiritual,

not religious,

and gosh,

he took this

un-Canadian question

and he answered it

in an un-Canadian way

and he talks

in an un-Canadian way

about what's right and wrong

and now he's giving this guy

a really hard time.

Maybe Jesus is religious

because religious people

give people hard times.

Shut people up.

Isn't that what

you religious people do?

You just want to

shut people up?

I think the desire

to shut people up

is a human problem.

It's a human problem.

In five years' time,

we'll be told

that we can't have

a conversation

about euthanasia

because one side wins

and then they want

to shut us up.

It's a human problem,

not a religious problem.

Religious people

and spiritual people

have the problem

because it's a human problem,

not because it's religious.

But Jesus isn't trying

to shut the young man up.

Like,

let's look and follow

and see what happens.

In fact,

what we see happening

is that,

and this is a regular thing

in the Gospels,

we often see things like this

and we miss what goes on

in the text.

Jesus isn't trying

to shut the young man up.

That Jesus is trying

to have the young man

understand something

about who he is.

He's actually trying

to give himself knowledge

and he's trying

to begin and continue

the conversation

with the young man,

not shut him up.

And it's a conversation,

not a negotiation.

You can't negotiate

with God.

I mean,

you can try.

But you can always

talk to him.

And the text shows us

that the young man

walks away,

he walks away,

but Jesus continues

the conversation.

We'll see in the text

that Jesus understands

and the disciples understand

that the young man

could have come back

and said something

to Jesus.

An honest question

to continue the conversation,

but he walks away.

That's the challenge

to you and me.

Does the word of God

speak to us?

Does Jesus speak to us

in such a way

and we experience it

as a threat,

an attempt to shut us up,

when all Jesus is asking

is that we'll come back

to him with an honest question.

Continue reading

at verse 24.

So verse 20,

sorry,

but verse 23,

but when the young man,

the ruler,

heard these things,

he became very sad

for he was extremely rich.

And in the text,

he disappears,

he walks away.

Verse 24,

Jesus,

seeing that he had become sad,

said,

how difficult it is

for those who have wealth

to enter the kingdom of God.

for it is easier

for a camel

to go through the eye

of a needle

than for a rich person

to enter the kingdom of God.

Those who heard it said,

then who can be saved?

But Jesus said,

what is impossible with men

and women

is possible with God.

You see,

the disciples,

they don't walk away.

They ask the second question.

They ask what the young man,

the ruler,

the rich guy,

could have said to Jesus.

Jesus,

I don't think I can do that.

Who on earth could ever do that?

How could that ever possibly work?

And you can ask,

that's,

Jesus wanted to have a conversation.

And the young man walks away.

The idol of his heart

leads him to walk away.

Rather than just respond

with an honest question,

who on earth can do that?

Who on earth can possibly be saved?

It's a very,

very profound moment

in the text.

How on earth

can this possibly work?

And Jesus begins

to give the answer.

He gives it first,

and it's going to get unpacked

in the next verses.

If you could put it up,

Andrew.

Jesus teaches me

that a camel

will pass

through the eye

of a needle

before I enter

the kingdom of God

by my own accomplishments.

Jesus teaches me

that a camel

will pass

through the eye

of a needle

before I enter

the kingdom of God

by my own accomplishments.

You see,

it's a very,

very graphic thing.

It's, in fact,

saying the very same thing

that Paul says

time and time and time again

in the epistles.

Some of you

might have memorized

a very, very classic text

in Romans chapter 3,

Romans 3:23

verse 23.

For all have sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God.

For all have sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God.

And for many of us,

we like that type of image.

Our minds are,

I was talking the other night

to a person

and she said

how she likes abstractions

and sin,

all sin,

short of the glory of God.

That fits,

but some of us

can't think

in abstractions

very well.

And Jesus isn't just

for those of us

who think in abstractions.

Some of us think

with images

and some of us think

with very,

very concrete pictures.

And so for those of us,

he says,

okay,

you want to try

to use your accomplishments

to get into heaven?

The day a camel

goes through the eye

of the needle

is the day

that's going to work

for you.

And for those of you

who've been told

that this text

is saying

that there is a gate

in Jerusalem

where the camel

had to get down

on its knees

and all of the stuff

had to be taken

off the camel,

that gate was made

in the Middle Ages,

not in Jesus' time.

Jesus took

and made like

into a proverbial saying,

he gave them

the biggest animal

they knew

and the smallest

opening they knew.

And the disciples

understood it.

They said,

one moment,

a camel will never go

through the eye

of a needle

for all have sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God.

There is none righteous,

no doubt one.

Abstract,

concrete.

So, you see,

that's why

Jesus begins

to open up

the answer

that he gives

to the young man.

He says,

the first thing

is this challenge.

What is it

that you believe

that you need,

that you can't give up

and live without,

that's more important

than eternal life

with the living God?

And it's not just

for the rich guy.

And in fact,

Jesus is going to say,

you know,

those of you who think

that your accomplishments,

your keeping of the commandments,

you're keeping of the word of God,

you're keeping of whatever,

you're being a good person,

being successful,

being blessed with God,

and you add all that up

and it's somehow

going to get you

into the kingdom of God.

No,

a camel will go

through the eye

of a needle.

Before that,

any of your accomplishments

will add up to that.

That's what Jesus teaches.

You see,

some of you might say,

okay, George,

how does this all,

it works.

So he's just going to

sort of leave us here.

Like,

I thought that up until now,

in fact,

even when I heard that,

I sort of thought

that the camel

and the eye of the needle,

it was a little bit like,

in fact,

a lot of what Jesus

has been saying up to now

sounds very Buddhist.

That Jesus is teaching

non-attachment.

That the problem

that we have

is desire.

And the problem we have

is attachment to things.

And the camel

through the eye

of the needle,

that's just a little bit like,

it's just something

to try to give us enlightenment.

It's like trying to think

about the sound

of one hand clapping.

You're not supposed

to take it literally,

what is the sound

of one hand clapping.

If you think about

things like these sayings,

it gives you

a type of enlightenment

and it's all connected

to just non-attachment

to things.

But Jesus

is going to actually

go in a very,

very, very radically

different direction.

He's not talking

about non-attachment

and he's not talking

about enlightenment.

He's talking about

God doing something

which human beings

find impossible

and God will do

and make possible

what human beings

find impossible.

And he's going

to do it

to real human beings

like ourselves

who the problem

isn't attachment.

The problem is

that I have

a disordered heart

with disordered love.

I'm going to show you that.

Can you put up

the point, Andrew?

I'm going to show you,

but we're going to read

the text,

but I want you to see this

before we go to the text.

Note that it's that

Jesus warns me

that my,

I'll just say it,

Jesus warns me

that my disordered heart

has disordered love.

Remember,

Jesus is still giving us

a type of insight

about ourselves.

Jesus isn't saying,

once again,

that we just have to

get rid of all

of our possessions

and follow him

and then that's going

to work.

Jesus goes even deeper

and says,

no, no,

camels will go through

eyes of needle

before that's going

to work as well.

It's not a matter,

George,

of your accomplishments.

God's going to have

to do something

and yet you have

to understand

that at the very center

of who you are,

you are disordered.

And part of what it means

to be disordered

is that you're going

to love

in a disordered way.

Jesus warns me

that my disordered heart

has disordered loves.

Let's read

what Jesus says

in verse 28 to 30.

And Peter said,

we have left our homes

and followed you.

And Jesus said to them,

truly I say to you,

there is no one

who has left house

or wife or brothers

or parents or children

for the sake

of the kingdom of God

who will not receive

many times more

in this time

and in the age to come

eternal life.

You see,

it's very,

very funny

that Christians

in the monastic movement

often go to the first part

of this story

to justify

why we should all be monks

and health and wealth

gospel people

go to the end

of the story

to say whether,

why,

if you just put more money

in the plate,

God's going to bless you.

Put a thousand dollars

in the plate today,

folks,

God will give you

ten thousand bucks.

That's what it says

right here.

Give to God,

meaning us,

God will give to you

many times more.

Sort of an odd

type of text.

But it's odd

because we don't understand

that once again

Jesus is trying

to teach us something

about who we are.

That every one of us here,

I'm not exempting myself,

he's teaching me

that my heart

is disordered

and I have

disordered loves.

Andrew,

if you could put up

the image.

Yeah,

there we go.

There's a throne

with a question mark

and a crown over it.

See,

what the Bible

is teaching us,

what Jesus understands

is that God

created us

as human beings.

God created us

and God

is the beautiful,

he's the good,

he's the true,

he's the just,

he's the holy,

he's the pure,

he's the righteous.

In a sense,

it's saying that

beauty,

truth,

goodness,

love

created all things.

and God

created us

as human beings

to dwell

in a good,

just,

true,

ordered,

beautiful,

created order

in complete

and utter harmony

with God

who is the good,

the true,

and the beautiful.

And the way

that God created us

to do that

is he created

in the very center

of every human being

in a sense of throne.

and on that throne

sits God,

the good,

the true,

the beautiful.

It's actually

a profoundly beautiful picture

of what it was originally meant

for us to be as human beings.

That the God,

in a sense,

who is outside,

who is the good,

the true,

and the beautiful,

made a created order

which was,

reflected the good,

the true,

and the beautiful.

And that very same God

inhabits the throne

of every human being.

So the good,

and the true,

and the beautiful

sits on the throne

of my life

in a good,

and true,

and beautiful creation

made by a good,

and true,

and beautiful creator.

And there's a harmony.

The Bible teaches

in Adam and Eve

the decision was made

to cast the good,

and the true,

and the beautiful

off of the throne

of our lives.

And we were going

to put ourselves

on the throne

of our lives.

And it's very,

very interesting

that the very,

very first thing,

if you go back

and read Genesis 3,

and it's told

in picture language,

the very,

very first thing

that starts to happen

is that not only

does Adam,

in a sense,

want to become

on the center

of the throne

of his life,

and Eve wants

to become

on the center

of the throne

of her lives,

but instantly

there is disharmony

between Adam and Eve.

And instantly,

Eve wants

to also be

in the throne

of Adam's life,

and Adam wants

to be in the throne

of Eve's life.

And there's going

to be conflict.

And so every human

being has this

unfixable disorder

in the very center

of who we are.

And the throne

of our lives

doesn't just sort

of disappear

and go away,

but the throne

of our lives

now becomes

a battleground,

which is part

of the reason

why we get

so confused.

And it's because

on one hand,

I'm on the throne

of my life,

and on the other hand,

I think that I cannot

live without,

you know,

whatever it is.

It's my money,

my church building,

my prestige,

my health,

my body,

my power.

And on the throne

of my life,

there's me,

and there's all

of these things,

and they're all

wrestling from control,

and I go from one

thing to another,

which is why

sometimes I want

to be,

think of myself

as a kind

and compassionate

person,

and another time

I want to be

a type A individual,

and another time

I want to be

an athlete,

and another time

I want to be

a scholar,

and another time

I want to be

simple,

and another time

I just want to be

a guy who drinks

beer and watch football,

and on,

and on,

and on,

and on,

all these idols

on the throne

of our heart.

And so what Jesus

is saying here

isn't,

if Jesus was saying

that attachment

was the problem,

then he would say

that you would come

to a time

when you don't need

your house,

you don't need

your father,

you don't need

your mother,

you don't need

your brothers,

you don't have

to be attached

to any of those

things.

But when he says

all of this,

what he's pointing

to is that

the center of

who I am

are idols

that drive me,

that day by day

I do not believe

that I can live

without.

And there has

to be a way

by which God

does the impossible

and redeems

and heals

that primal,

primordial,

fundamental wound

in the center

of who I am

and the consequences

of that

and at the same

time whereby

Jesus,

the Savior,

the one who redeems

comes and sits

on the throne

of my life

and starts

to kick off

the idols.

It's his

rightful throne.

He's not an intruder.

He's not a usurper.

He's not a terrorist.

He's not a tyrant.

The throne

was built for him.

And salvation

is accepting

the pardon

and the forgiveness

that is accomplished

by Jesus.

That's how we're

made right with God.

And it's why,

if you go back

and read in John

John 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14,

it's very,

very puzzling.

And Jesus talks

about how the Holy Spirit

inside of us

is better than Jesus

outside of us.

And it talks about

the Father and the Son

and the Holy Spirit

coming and dwelling within.

And it's this profound

teaching

that Jesus

first reconciles

us to God

and that's how

we become right with him.

It's become how we

become his adopted child.

And then growing

in grace

and growing in life

and growing in discipleship

is all about

the Jesus

who now sits

on the throne

of our lives

as he begins

to reveal

the idols

of our lives

and kick them off

so that we don't

have disordered love

but ordered love.

See, the problem

isn't that I have a wife.

The problem isn't

that I have a house

and a home.

The problem isn't

that I have money.

The problem comes

when that's all

disordered.

And so the profound

mystery is

is that when Jesus

comes and sits

on the throne

of our hearts

and begins to deal

with the idols

of our hearts

that part of what

he does is

heal our hearts

and heal the center

of who we are

so that we can begin

to love

and have room

in our heart

in an ordered way.

Andrew, if you could

put up

the fourth point.

Jesus knew

who he was dying for.

He died for people

with disordered hearts,

with disordered love.

He died to save me

and make me well.

That's the gospel.

That's how we become

right with God

and it's how

we follow Jesus.

Jesus knew

who he was dying for.

He died for people

with disordered hearts,

with disordered love.

He died to save me

and make me well.

Now some of you

might say,

George,

is this just

your own opinion?

Look and see

very briefly

how the story concludes

and then we'll end

with a prayer.

Look how the story flows.

Remember,

so he's,

he,

you know,

the young man

who walks away sad,

what he could have

just said to Jesus is,

Jesus,

that's impossible.

I can't possibly do it.

And Jesus might have said,

I'm so glad you said that.

I'm glad you realized

it's impossible

because you know what?

You need God

to do the impossible

for you.

And then,

and then he could say,

you know what?

I'm so frightened

that if God does

the possible for me,

the impossible for me,

that it will mean that,

well,

I don't know,

does it mean I'm going to have

to be like a beggar

on the side of the street?

Does it mean I,

that people are just going

to be able to kick me around?

Does it mean that I,

I can never have a wife

or family or children?

And,

and Jesus is saying

the problem that you have

is that you have money

in a place in your life,

ruling your life

in such a way

that making you,

it creates you,

within you fears.

It creates within you

false longings

and yearnings.

It's going to poison

how you relate

to money itself

and how it's going to relate

to your wife

and to your children

and to your home

and your neighborhood

and your communion

and your God.

It's going to ruin

all those things.

You have to understand

that you have

a disordered heart

with disordered loves

and I am going

to do something

to fix all of these things.

I'm going to deal

with the,

with the fundamental

brokenness that you have

and if you invite me

into your heart

and in your life,

you invite me,

you recognize who I am

and you call out upon me

for mercy

that I can save you

and make you well.

Look at what happens

in verse 31.

And taking the 12,

he said to them,

see,

we are going up

to Jerusalem

and everything

that is written

about the Son of Man

by the prophets

will be accomplished.

Just pause

before we read any further.

What that's saying

is that the Bible,

all of God's word,

that God,

from the very beginning

of Adam and Eve

and their fall,

that God began to promise

that he was going

to deal with them,

that they now

were in an impossible situation

and God was going

to do the impossible

for them.

And they didn't understand,

although there's hints,

even in Genesis chapter 3,

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

there's hints

that that's going

to mean the death

of God

upon something

like the cross.

But Jesus now says

that everything

that you read

in the Old Testament,

everything in all

of God's promises

is going to be accomplished,

it's going to be fulfilled.

He's saying

that I came

for one purpose

and my purpose,

the word that's

in the original language

for accomplished

is a telos word,

a telos word,

an end word.

In other words,

it's my purpose,

it's what I came

to accomplish

and fulfill,

that I'm going

to Jerusalem

to die upon the cross

and this is not

a tragedy,

this is not an accident,

it's been promised

by God,

I am the promise

of God,

I came

to die.

I came

to die

for you.

I came

to save you.

If you go back

and look,

the kingdom of God,

eternal life

and salvation

are all used

interchangeably

as the same image

of the same thing

that Jesus

will accomplish

in Jerusalem

by his rejection

and his death

upon the cross

for them.

Look how it continues,

verse 32,

for he will be delivered,

that's himself,

over to the Gentiles,

the pagans,

and will be mocked

and shamefully treated

and spit upon

and after flogging him

they will kill him

and on the third day

he will rise.

But they understood

none of these things.

This saying was hidden

from them

that they did not grasp

what was said.

We have to call out to God.

We think we see

but we don't see.

The young man thought

that he saw

but he didn't see.

We need to call out

for mercy

that we will see

that Jesus is

the power of God

for salvation

that God has provided

that this death

upon the cross

on our behalf

is a power

from God

for our salvation.

It has always been

an offense

to human pride

and the human desire

to be on the throne

of our own hearts

that God is to provide

the power

for salvation

that we cannot

provide ourselves.

It has always been

a great terror

to the idols

on our hearts

that the true person

who belongs

on the throne

of our hearts

will come

and begin to rule

and cast the idols

far from our heart

so that we might be well

and we might be free.

And the text shows us this.

It continues on.

Verse 35

right after

that it says

that the disciples

did not understand.

They didn't grasp it.

They didn't see it.

And as Jesus

verse 35

as he drew near to Jericho

a blind man

was sitting by the roadside

begging

he was living

without all of the things

that the rich man had.

He doesn't have sight

he doesn't have financial resources

and he doesn't have accomplishments.

But he still has

a profound need.

The text doesn't analyze

what is the treasure

at the center of his heart

that does not want to give up.

But what it shows

is that there is a person

despite

what other people say

about Jesus

that there is this moment

of illumination

that comes from the Holy Spirit

whereby he is going to call out

for Jesus