A Last Visit to Jericho

Okay, we're going to do... One second. We're

going to do a brief activity together as a group.

So this is not rhetorical. I'm going to ask some

questions, but I'm not asking them for my own

sake. We're going to do a brief activity together

as a group. So our... spiritual discipline emphasis

is on meditation and prayer. So we've got about

two more months, a little over two months left

to focus on meditation and prayer, and then we'll

move on to another one or two spiritual disciplines

that we'll focus on. And we're really talking

about, because we're doing two at the same time,

we're really talking about the crossover point

between the two. So meditation, very simply put,

is when you think deeply about anything. So you

can meditate on other stuff. You can meditate

on the formula for water or a painting that you

see in an art museum. You can meditate on anything,

right? But the Bible calls us to meditate on

Scripture, calls us to meditate on things of

the spiritual realm, calls us to meditate on

how, for example, creation glorifies God and

so on. Prayer should really be an ongoing conversation

between you and God. You lift up your concerns.

You adore God in prayer. You tell Him how grateful

you are. You confess your weaknesses. You thank

Him for gifts. You ask Him for other things.

And that sort of follows the model of the Lord's

Prayer that we looked at before that Jesus taught

people. Zayden, I'm talking. Thank you. Appreciate

you. Good job. So, that follows the model of

the Lord's Prayer that we talked about. That

kind of adoration, confession, thanks, supplication.

But we really want to talk about the crossover

between the two. How did these two things really

work? Some people just, they think they're praying,

but really they're just meditating. They're just

thinking a lot about what they're going through

or whatever. Some people think they're meditating

when really they get into prayer. They're really

praying, asking God for things, hoping for things,

that kind of thing. And so we want to talk about

that crossover point for a second. So to that

end, I'm going to read a short passage of Scripture,

and then as a group, We're going to talk about

how we would meditate on that scripture. And

then we're going to talk about how we would move

from meditation into prayer. So I'm reading from

Luke chapter 20. Those of you who have your Bibles

Luke 20 · chapter mention

and would like to go there and read, you can

do that. I didn't pick this for no reason at

all. So it's Luke chapter 20. Thank you. Praise

Luke 20 · chapter mention

the Lord. And I'm going to start reading in verse

1. Alright, I'm just going to go for the first

like seven or eight verses. I'll explain, just

briefly explain just a little bit as we go. But

then we're going to do a meditation together

so that will get us all the explanation that

we need. Okay, so Luke chapter 20 verse 1 says,

Luke 20:1

And it came about on one of the days while he

was teaching the people in the temple and preaching

the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes

with the elders confronted him. Sort of like

three groups, chief priests, scribes, and elders

confronted him. And they spoke, saying to him,

Tell us by what authority you are doing these

things, or who is the one who gave you this authority?

Now we're in verse 3. And he answered, that's

Jesus, and he answered and said to them, in my

Bible it's in red text, I shall also ask you

a question, and you tell me, was the baptism

of John from heaven or from men? And they reasoned

amongst themselves, saying, If we say from heaven,

he will say, why did you not believe him? But

if we say from men, all people will stone us

to death, for they are convinced that John was

a prophet. And they answered that they did not

know where it came from. And Jesus said to them,

neither will I tell you by what authority I do

these things. Okay? Alright, so now the meditation.

So if I was sitting, or if you were sitting,

reading your Bible, What are some things that

you would ask yourself or think about this text?

Give me an example. We'll follow up on whatever

you say. Alright, what do you got? What would

come to mind? Okay, so he knows they know and

they just don't want to say it. So they wouldn't

tell him where the baptism was from, so he won't

respond and say where his teaching's from. Good,

okay. It's kind of like the debate and kind of

the verbal gymnastics that Jesus goes through

with the repeated accusations and this is a great

example that just makes me think how... I guess

I'm trying to think of the best way to word this.

How consistently Jesus has the perfect thing

to say when leaders in the church come to him

and try to corner him. He turns right back around

and corners them and they have to drown him.

He's obviously inspired by God, but also incredibly

intelligent. Yeah, I really think that to some

degree that's the authority they're talking about.

Because everybody else who would come against

their teaching, they could easily corner them.

They could easily bottleneck them, trap them

to something that they wanted to be the case.

But with Jesus, he stuck with what God said.

So that didn't really work. That's very interesting.

Okay, so let's take a poll real quick. How many

people could tell me, based on this, what are

the names of the three groups that are confronting

Jesus in this story? Raise your hand if you can

tell me. And I might call on you, so don't lie.

Alright, so let's look at who the three groups

were. So we read it, but it doesn't just jump

out, does it? So he was teaching the people in

the temple, preaching the gospel, and the chief

priests, the scribes, with the elders confronted

him. Do you know what a chief priest is? This

is part of the process of meditation. So you'd

ask yourself, what is a chief priest? Somebody

tell me. Go ahead, Ariana. Right, so one of the

leaders, one of the leader types, the chief priest.

He leads the other priests, right? So these are

people responsible for the priests who are then

responsible for the people. So these people have

authority within the body of faith, okay? How

about, what is a scribe? That one's not too hard

if you know the definition of the word. Yeah,

so they wrote things down. And literally, they

were probably responsible for writing down the

scripture. They were copying copies of the scripture.

Now, they might do other scribe duties as well,

but they were copying, The Bible. What Bible

were they copying? What translation? None, right?

Okay, so what? Yeah, probably the Torah, right?

Probably the original Hebrew or whatever. Did

the New Testament exist at this time? No, it's

being formed during this time, right? So these

are the stories that have not yet been written

down, essentially. Okay, so these scribes knew

the Old Testament better than anybody. Because

they literally wrote whole copies. Most of us

probably haven't read the whole thing in one

long stretch. They wrote the whole thing over

months maybe, but they wrote the whole thing.

And then they performed hundreds of checks to

make sure it was perfectly accurate. They would

count to the exact middle character. They knew

how many characters were on every line. How many

characters were total from beginning to end.

They performed hundreds of checks to make sure

that it was flawless after they would write it.

So they knew it like anybody. So you've got the

chief priests there, big time teachers, right?

They're supposed to be teaching God's word to

the people and to the other priests. And now

you've got the scribes. And then what was the

last one? The elders. So who are the elders?

In that meeting, who would be the elders? Right.

Yep, so the literal definition, that is... What

an elder is, the literal definition means these

are the older, wiser people that probably started

the current body. They started it. They got it

going. When you start a synagogue, for example,

you have 12 elders, 12 men of the faith, devout.

They put in the money, they put in the labor,

they put in the time to get everything going.

So these are the people that got everything going.

So you think they know God's word? Probably pretty

darn well, right? So these are three of the...

The body of people that should know God's word,

should know, like when you say, well, where does

the baptism go? They should know. They should

know everything that there is to know about God,

pretty much, having lived a life like that, right?

Do you need something? Go ahead, come on. Yeah,

okay. But that's not what we're talking about

right now, but yes. Okay, so that's an example

of meditating as you think on the characters

in the story. And we've got Jesus. What was the

message based on what we read? What was the message

that Jesus was sharing? In the temple. Okay,

so we're meditating on the text. We look at it,

and it came about. One of the days while he was

teaching the people in the temple and preaching

the gospel. So it's two -fold. He's teaching.

What is he teaching? God's word. The Bible, right?

He's teaching the truth about God and God's creation

based on the Old Testament. But also, he's preaching

the gospel. Alright, now I'll put you on the

spot. Somebody tell me, just simply put, what

is the gospel? Remember, Jesus is not crucified

at this time. Right. So, everybody that's ever

been saved, going all the way back to Adam and

Eve, right, was saved by believing in a way that

God would make. As the Old Testament develops,

it's kind of explained what that person's going

to look like. Right? And then you get a... In

Isaiah 53, for example, and a few other places,

you get a pretty clear picture that it's going

to be a suffering servant, not just a king to

come and rule. And so those paint a real good

picture of who Jesus is if you compare the New

Testament to the Old Testament. Hundreds of prophecies

that the odds that they would be fulfilled in

anybody else is impossible. So the point is...

he's teaching them that a way was going to come.

He's teaching them the gospel. He's asking them

to believe, to be saved. In fact, there is a

moment in time that Jesus says that's why he

came. It was to teach the gospel. So now, we'll

stop there. We can go further. But if you'd say

you read it and you don't know what the three

groups are, then that's where you need to think

deeper on the text. When you read the text, you

go, okay, who are these three groups? Don't just

read. like it was a fiction book or something

you picked up off a shelf, but think about what

that means. That's meditating. Think a little

deeper. Then you follow that rabbit trail. It's

a chief priest. I know this about the chief priest.

So what would the chief priest have been like?

Who is possibly there? Some characters, some

other characters that might have been there.

Gamaliel. He was a great teacher and a chief

priest and a member of the Sanhedrin. He might

have been there. prominent men from that day

that might have been in this crowd. So then you

meditate on that. Now, when does it shift over

to prayer? Because that's what we're actually

after. When does it become prayer? So just think

about what we just talked about. Can anybody

think about anything to pray about out of there?

What would you pray about? Go ahead. Praying,

asking God to help you remember these things

and apply them in your life so that you can follow

them. Always valuable, right? Because until we

read that passage of Scripture, we might have

forgotten. How easy would it be to forget that

Jesus crossed godly men, extremely wise men who

knew the Old Testament and were supposed to apply

it. Now we know that in many cases they were

not. They're more like applying it to other people

and then not following it themselves. But the

point is, they were there in Jesus' day. Jesus

did not come into a world that didn't know anything

about God. That's not what happened. Right? And

so how easy would it be for us to forget? So

we beg God, help us don't forget. And God gave

us some very practical steps by which we can

do that. So then you can go into prayer about

that. Give me another example. What else might

you pray about? Yeah. Yeah, so that would be

very... That's conviction you're talking about.

To realize that we could do that. We could know

a lot about God, but not actually know Jesus.

And we want to make sure that's not the case.

In fact, there will be those who cry out, Lord,

Lord, and not enter the kingdom of heaven. So

we definitely don't want to be that. And these

probably could have been that, although most

of them probably never did miracles, healing,

or whatever. But it could be like that. So we

don't want to be like that. So we say, I want

to be a little more like Jesus. And I think you

find Jesus, and pretty much can find Jesus in

every story. If you meditate on it long enough,

you can go, well, what about this guy? Oh, this

is the Jesus -type guy in this story. This is

the thing about Jesus that I need to know in

this story. And then once you find that, then

you can pray about that. So we're going to pray

now. I'm going to ask Aaron, would you lead us

in this prayer? But I want you right where you're

seated. I want you to think of whatever it was

that we meditated up, whatever it was that we

brought up out of this text, whatever it was

you felt like God was, hey, pay attention to

that. You pray. And if you don't think of anything,

then you pray along with Aaron. But if you're

personally praying and you felt like God said

something to you out of that text, then you pray

about that. Okay? All right, here we go. Lead

us. Lord, thank you for your creation and for

putting us here. the opportunity that we have

to experience and see your beautiful world that

you created despite the separation from you that

has sustained it. It's still beautiful and speaks

magnitude to your greatness, Lord. Thank you

for giving us your word and your son to save

us. We pray that you would help us to see Jesus

in everything that he represents to help us to

embody those traits, help us to show him to those

around us in everything we do every day, Lord.

I pray that you're with us as we head back into

worship and into the sermon. The kids go to their

lesson that we can learn everything that you've

prepared through the teachers, through the through

our pastor and the sermon that you've given him,

through the worship order that you've laid out,

that we could learn and receive the message that

you've prepared for us today. And I pray that

your witness is to bring the offering, that you

give us an offering heart, a heart of servitude,

that we can be prepared and focused and play

it all out before you, Lord, and do the same.

we spent a little time on a visit to Bethany

and saw some interesting things there, which

was really, we noticed, brooking the opposition,

really stoking up the opposition toward Jesus

as he would head into Jerusalem. And from there

would be, that's really the origin of what we

call the triumphal entry. where he would walk

with literally thousands of people. But the truth

is that two -mile leg from Bethany to Jerusalem

is small compared to the leg from Bethany back

to Jericho. So today we're going to back up the

line and we're going to look at Jesus' essentially

last visit to Jericho before the triumphal entry

and then his crucifixion. So Jericho is an interesting

city. It has a commanding position there on the

side of the rise, if you will. From Jericho up

to Bethany was a 3 ,300 -foot rise over about

15 miles. And so the path snakes back and forth.

But those of you who have ever done any hiking

or been out there, moving over broken terrain,

that kind of thing. 3 ,300 foot change of elevation

is a lot, and it's a lot over 15 miles. So the

switchbacks don't make it a whole lot better.

Years ago, Sherry and I tried to hike down into

the Grand Canyon one afternoon. We started about

11 o 'clock in the morning, actually. We had

to be back to our train by 5 o 'clock, and it

was like this. It was left and right along the

top of the mountain, so it wasn't so steep that

you'd be falling. But as we were going down,

we covered about seven and a half miles going

down in there. And the elevation change, our

elevation change was about 1 ,000 feet. So it

was not as much, even as steep as what this is.

And I look back at that, I'm like, wow, that

was something. And so this is significant terrain.

Jericho was a lush, tropical oasis. It's a beautiful

place. It had water. It had green. And around

it was a lot of harsh desert, basically. And

so a lot of people would come to Jericho, and

if you'll just kind of like humor me a little

bit, a lot of people came to Jericho thinking

they were going to go to Jerusalem, and they

looked up that hill and went, oh sure, we're

going to do that after all. It was a real challenge.

Also, there were a lot of people who would walk

this road. that we're talking about here, up

through Jericho and then up into Jerusalem. And

they would walk it for the festivals. And so

if you jump on that road and you're walking up

from Jericho, there could be hundreds or thousands

of people as the festival is getting ready to

begin walking around you. And so if there was

some kind of an inciting event that would get

those people thinking about something crazy,

something exciting that was happening, then those

people would be all the way up that... I mean,

it's back and forth, but all the way up that

mountain, those people are on fire for God. They're

excited already going to the temple, to the festival,

and so on. And now, if there was something, it

could really be an incredible time, an incredible

walk. So that's what we're talking about. Now

grab your Bibles, if you would, and turn with

me to Luke chapter 18. So we get excited right

Luke 18 · chapter mention

here. We usually say amen, a little hoot, holler,

hallelujah, something. As we go to the Word,

because this is God's Word. So let's try it again.

Luke chapter 18. That's better, but it isn't

Luke 18 · chapter mention

great. Alright, so get excited as we look at

Luke chapter 18. We're going to see what is one

Luke 18 · chapter mention

of the most miraculous events of God. And it's

right in the face of up to Jesus is walking up

into Jerusalem. So at the end of chapter 18,

beginning in verse 35. 1835, and it says that

it came about that as he was approaching Jericho,

so Jesus is coming into his last visit in Jericho,

a certain blind man was sitting by the road begging.

Now hearing a multitude going by, he began to

inquire what this might be. So he's like, he

couldn't see, can't see Jesus, can't see the

crowd, but he can hear people passing by. Now,

obviously the festival's going on, people have

been passing by, so this is something additional,

something that gets his attention above and beyond

that. And so he starts to ask, who is it? What's

going on? What's so special going on? Verse 37.

And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was

passing by. So just to say the name Jesus of

Nazareth has already begun to mean something.

That's an important name. People have been healed.

People have been able to walk. People have been

able to see. It's important. But this man right

away jumps to something. And he calls out and

he says, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

Now that's not built into the name Jesus of Nazareth.

Nazareth is not Bethlehem. So it's not built

into the name that he would automatically, so

he knows something about Jesus of Nazareth. And

he cries out, son of David, have mercy on me.

Now what's interesting about this is this is

the first time in the scripture, first time in

Jesus' entire public ministry, after all the

amazing things that... that he's getting this

direct connection to David, and that means a

direct connection to being the Messiah, and you

can basically say that this man is essentially

crying out to Jesus as God in the flesh, although

it stops just short of that, but it's close.

And he cries out to this massive crowd, Jesus,

Son of David, have mercy on me. Notice that the

Son of David would be on the throne eternally,

and that's part of why we know that When people

realize that's not just on the throne for a generation

or generations or have an offspring set on the

throne, but would be on the throne of God eternally.

Verse 39, and then it says, and those who led

the way were sternly telling him to be quiet.

So all this huge crowd's going by, and those

who were walking in front of Jesus are saying,

shh, come on now. But he kept crying out all

the more, son of David, have mercy on me. Verse

40, and Jesus stopped. and commanded that he

be brought to him. Mind you, this is a massive

crowd around. People already thought Jesus was

something really special, but also all these

people are going up to the festival. Massive

crowd. He commanded that he be brought to him.

And when he had come near, he questioned him.

What do you want me to do for you? What are you

asking for? He said, have mercy, but what does

that mean exactly? And he said, Lord, I want

to regain my sight. Verse 42, and Jesus said

to him, receive your sight. Your faith has made

you well. And immediately he regained his sight

and he began following him, glorifying God. So

they would tell him, shh, quiet down, quiet down.

Now he's glorifying God. But you can imagine

that lots of people are glorifying God, right?

After seeing that miracle, after hearing him

called son of David, after knowing who they're

actually traveling with. So there's a lot of

glorifying God going on. So now he fits in with

a crowd of people who are glorifying God. And

when all the people saw it, they gave praise

to God. And so the journey continues then up

that 3 ,300 foot walk toward Bethany. Alright,

so here we go. Now chapter 19. The first nine

verses. And he entered and was passing through

Jericho. So this is still in Jericho. And behold,

there was... The first one was on the way into

Jericho, theoretically. Now he's in through and

is passing through, through Jericho. It says,

And behold, there was a man called by the name

of Zacchaeus, and he was a chief tax gatherer,

and he was rich, and he was trying to see who

Jesus was, and he was unable because of the crowd,

for he was small in stature. So he was stuck

at the back of the crowd, and he couldn't see

past the people in front of him to see who Jesus

was. Verse 4. And he ran on ahead and climbed

up into a sycamore tree in order to see him.

For he was about to pass through that way. So

the crowd is moving. The rumors have circulated.

Jesus is coming. He wants to see Jesus personally.

So he crawls up in the tree to see over the crowd.

Verse 5. And when Jesus came to the place, he

looked up, saw Zacchaeus there theoretically,

looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and

come down. For today I must stay at your house.

And he hurried and came down and received him

gladly. And when they saw it, they all began

to grumble, saying, He is gone to be the guest

of a man who is a sinner. I'll stop there for

one second. We'll come back in a second. So tax

collectors were looked down on pretty bad. They

were given the government's authority to collect

taxes. And their salary came from whatever extra

they collected. So there's this amount that's

got to go to the government. If they collect

10 % extra, that's their money. And they were

given the authority to make that extra any amount

that they wanted, and they had Roman soldiers

to enforce the taxes. So they were not thought

of well. And they were, a lot of times, Jewish

men who had become part, essentially, of the

government machine of the Romans. And they all

saw the Romans as like a yoke that needed to

be shaken off. So he's looked down on as a sinner,

as a dirty man, as a villain, as a man who uses

the Roman government for his own profit and already

said he was a rich man, so you know he's taking

a lot of extra taxes above and beyond what Rome

required. He's not a good man based on society.

So they're grumbling and they say, he's gone

to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. And

Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, Behold,

Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the

poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything,

I will give back four times as much. So Zacchaeus

is now speaking about acts of repentance, works

arising out of repentance. Not sure he knows

exactly what repentance is at this point, but

he is talking about doing things in conjunction

with Jesus' willingness to call him out, to make

connection with him. And he starts thinking,

I've got to do something. I've got to make a

difference here. And he says, half of my possessions

I'll give to the poor. And if I have defrauded

anyone of anything, I will give back four times

as much. Verse 9, And Jesus said to him, Today

salvation has come to this house, because he

too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has

come to seek and save that which was lost. So

during this trip to Jericho, Jesus essentially

encounters two men, blind Bartimaeus and short

Zacchaeus. Blind Bartimaeus is probably suffering

pretty bad. He's been a beggar his whole life.

He's not rich. He would really like to see. We

have a pretty good understanding that he lost

his sight somewhere along the way. He probably

knows what seeing is. He doesn't say he needs

to be able to see for the first time, but he

says he wants to receive his sight back. So he's

probably lost his sight. So he probably knows

what seeing is. He's suffering pretty bad. And

he sees the possibility of crying out to Jesus,

and he does. And then Zacchaeus, he doesn't really

have a hope of ever coming into direct contact

with Jesus. Any devout Jew would have distanced

themselves from Zacchaeus. Because they love

God, because they want to be clean, because they

don't want to be looked down on by the priests.

They don't want to be cast out. They were unclean

in their profession, who they were. They would

probably never come into the... presence of a

Jewish teacher. Maybe yearned for it, like a

Jewish man would probably want to be taught by

a teacher like that, but never could. Two men,

Bartimaeus and Zacchaeus, surrounded by a huge

crowd, right? He's walking, surrounded by a huge

crowd, going up to the festival. Some of them

know he's Jesus, some of them don't. There's

three things I want you to think about today

with this text that really the Lord sort of laid

in my heart. The first one is this, and it's

comforting. Jesus sees you. So in this room we

have people from different walks of life. We

have people that are wealthy -ish. Some in finances,

some in relationships. Some in where they live,

some in what they do. Some in the spirit. His

presence fully in you. Some in the knowledge

of the word. We have people that have a lot going

for them like that. And then we have people not

so much. You're scraping by. You're figuring

it out. You're hurting. You've got health concerns,

relationship concerns, doubts maybe, struggles

in your faith. Wherever you're at, Jesus sees

you. Not only that, but Jesus came to seek and

save that which was lost. So Jesus knows your

individual situation. He knows how boxed out

you might be or what barriers might exist between

you and having a good, profitable relationship

with God. Jesus doesn't casually scan humanity

and think, well, here is a mass of people that

need something. Jesus' vision is an intentional,

focused, personal recognition of your specific

circumstances and your heart condition, whatever

that is. Jesus knows when your heart would leap

from your chest and try to do something for God

and your mind would restrain you through doubts

and fears or what it might look like or what

it might cost you. Jesus sees you. In Genesis

16, 13, Hagar was now exiled. And as an exiled

servant of God in the desert suffering, she calls

God El Royi, meaning the God who sees me. No

matter how bad your situation gets, it does not

go unnoticed by the God of the universe. He sees

you. Psalm 33, verses 13 to 15 say, From heaven

Psalms 33:13–15

the Lord looks down and sees. All mankind. He

who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything

they do. See, God sees you. God sees you when

your effort is good and you're putting in really

the work. You're spending a little time in the

Bible here and there. You're meditating. He also

sees you when your attention is divided. When

your heart is lukewarm. God sees you. Just being

seen by God ought to be a motivator then. You're

not hiding behind closed doors. You're not fooling

anybody really. You may come across as something

that you're not, but God sees you. Jesus sees

you. And while you're coming across as something

that you're not to other believers or on your

job site or whatever, you're a professional,

you're successful, you've got yourself all put

together. But while you're telling your children,

you need to listen to me because I know what

I'm talking about. Or while you're telling your

boss, I'll get it done, I'm dependable. Jesus

sees you. He sees right through you. All the

way to your very core. He knows what the real

truth is. Now that's greatly comforting. Because

you can just stop. Stop pretending. Stop acting

like you're good. You can stop because Jesus

sees you. And there really isn't any great advantage

of it. In Luke 12, 7, Jesus explains that even

the very hairs of your head are numbered. That

proves God's granular attention to detail. Like,

I know people will say, well, I had a rough upbringing.

I went through some stuff when I was younger.

That's why I act the way I do. Somebody introduced

me to these things and now they're tempting in

my life and I can't say no. There's a lot of

things that you can blame. But the fact is that

Jesus was there even then. He sees you. He sees

what you went through. He sees what you've become.

God knows that we are but dust. He sees our filth,

our uncleanness. And even in the face of all

of that, while we were yet sinners, he sent his

son Christ to die for us. Imagine the difference

between a searchlight and a lighthouse. A lighthouse

sits on the shore. You can see a lot of them

like in the upper peninsula of Michigan, on a

lot of the rocky coasts of the east coast. There's

still a lot of lighthouses. People are going

to tour lighthouses, right? And a lighthouse

shines its light out across the water. And it's

shining that light as a warning to say, look,

there are rocks here. The light doesn't shine

on the rocks per se. It's a searching beacon

so that wherever you're coming approaching the

rocks, whatever angle you're coming from, your

ship will see that there is a light there, and

that means there's a problem there, right? There's

something there to be aware of. That light is

not bright enough to light up the rocks so that

you can see the rocks and steer around or through

the rocks, right? But it is a warning that there

is something there to pay attention to. So it

is a good thing. A lighthouse is a good thing.

But now imagine a searchlight. The difference

between a lighthouse and a searchlight. A lighthouse

shines that broad beam to warn ships. But God's

attention is like a precision searchlight. It

doesn't just illuminate the life that you live

in. It doesn't just show you up on a screen.

It finds you as a specific person on a small

boat in the middle of a dark world. It highlights

your exact location and your exact need and gives

enlightenment for that need. There's a big difference

between What a lot of people think about Jesus,

thinking, well, he was this guy, and he came,

but it was a long time ago, and now he's not

really a personal God. He's not really in my

situation. He's not really making a difference

in my life. He's not really tending to each person's

cares. None of that's biblical. That's not what

the Bible says. Our God is a God who is engaged,

and he sees you, and he sees your exact need.

And because he sees every detail of your life,

he sees the thing that will strike you when you

go around the corner and you're not expecting

it. And he wants to help you with that. And sometimes

he'll even allow hardship one way so that you

don't face a crushing hardship another way. He

sees you. Like a searchlight. Not like a lighthouse.

The second thing I want you to see in the text

there then is that God connects with people from

all walks of life ever since the beginning. God

has called the rich and the poor and the sick

and the healthy and the man and the woman. and

every skin color and every culture and every

social background. If you could detail out everything

about you and all the inciting events of your

past and put it all on a piece of paper and call

it a character sheet or a dossier or a resume

and it's 5 ,000 pages long and you could then

feed that into AI and AI could make all of its

decisions for you just the way, based on who

you are, right, with about a 95 % probability.

If you could do all of that, you would find that

all told, each individual is unique. I recently

read a story about a train traveling through

California where a guy got on the train and then

a little while later, a half hour later, another

guy got on the train who had the exact same name

and the same basic description as him. And they

found each other on the train. They're like,

that's kind of freaky. You look a lot like me

and you have the same exact name that I do. That's

really freaky. And they went for like another

hour. This is in the 1950s, I think. Went for

like another hour on the train and another guy

got on the train with the same name, first name,

middle name, last name. I think maybe they didn't

have middle names, but anyway, the same first

and last name for sure, and looked basically

the same. So there's three guys on the same train

traveling across California that looked the same

and had the same name, first and last. They traveled

for a little while further, and before they got

to their final destination, a fourth guy got

on the train who had the same name and basically

looked the same as the other three guys, generically

speaking. At which point in time, the first three

guys all got off the train. They said, we're

out of here. They all got off the train before

they got to their destination. Out there in the

world, there's somebody that looks a little bit

like you. They've got basically your same hair,

same shape, same face. There's probably somebody

out there where I happen to know that there are

several other authors and several pastors that

have the same first and last name that I do that

most of them don't have the same middle name.

That's the blessing of middle names. The bottom

line is... You might look like somebody else.

And if somebody diagnosed you saying, oh, okay,

you came up through a rough childhood. You were

malnourished between the ages of 9 and 12. And

your parents were a little psychologically abusive.

And you had this job, this job. You might paint

a picture of yourself that looks a lot like somebody

else's picture. You go to court and you say,

my parents beat me all the time as a child. They

might have lenience on you. Because... Well,

we know that's when people are beaten as a child

that they usually turn out this way. But the

truth is, you're unique. You're you. The variables

are too vast and too far that ever you'll be

the same as somebody else. You can be a lot like

somebody else. You might pick out your similarities

and connect that way, but you're never going

to be somebody else. You can do everything in

your power to mimic somebody else and you still

couldn't be somebody else. You literally could

put your whole life, 50, 60 years together trying

to be another person and then wind up on your

deathbed and go, well, that was a failed effort.

You are who you are. That's what makes us equal.

Not that we're the same, but that we're all unique.

And people look at other people and they start

thinking, well... That person's like me, so they

expect certain things from them. Or that person's

not like me, so they expect certain things from

them. Right? Jesus desires to connect with people

from all walks of life. Unique individuals from

unique situations. So God consistently bypasses

generic social, racial, economic barriers to

reach people. He is proving His grace is not

a members -only club. You could be the dirty,

nasty tax collector. You could be the blind beggar

on the side of the road. You could be alright

in your own skin and feel like, I got my stuff

all together and it doesn't matter. You need

Jesus and He's coming for you. Because He sees

you. Because He desires a one -on -one relationship

with you. And yeah, there's going to be barriers.

Yeah, you might prefer to hang out with... Guys

who play video games all the time rather than

hanging out with a guy who created the universe

and asks things of you and works in you. You

might prefer to hang out with folks on social

media who will show you all the things of their

life and all the good things they have and you

can feel good about that for them and for yourself

because you get to control how fast you look

and so on rather than hanging out with the God

of the universe who did all that he's done. All

that he's doing and all that he's going to do

until the story comes to a conclusion with those

who have trusted him in eternity in heaven. And

God is able. He is able to get past your tendencies

to hang out with the wrong people, to watch the

wrong stuff. He is able. He can set you free

from that and get rid of the parts of your personality,

regenerate them really into something good that

would keep you. from having a relationship with

Him. Being a Christian is not a members -only

club. In fact, if anything, when you become a

member of the Christian club, if you want to

call it that, you realize that you now also have

become a seeker yourself, that you're supposed

to take your knowledge of Jesus to everybody

who will potentially listen, and you might have

something that's a social barrier or a cultural

thing in your life, and because you find a similarity

with somewhere else, that pathway then is used

to connect so you can share the gospel. Let me

tell you about the guy I met. Let me tell you

about the God who loves me. Let me tell you about

the one who's not like a lighthouse, but like

a searchlight. Let me tell you about the one

who's pointing me towards you today. God connects

with people from all walks of life. John 4, 7

through 26, there's a story. Jesus, who's a Jewish

teacher. initiates a deep spiritual conversation

with a Samaritan woman who he's not really even

supposed to be with at all, and he runs into

her at the well. In fact, they really weren't

supposed to be passing through that whole part

of the country. Jewish men would literally go

around through the desert an extra 30 miles or

whatever to avoid Samaritan land. But not Jesus,

and not his disciples. He engages that woman.

Even though she's had multiple men as husband

and the man that she was with right then was

not even her husband. And by no means should

a Jewish teacher be dealing with a woman. And

certainly not a woman like that. And yet Jesus

engages her in a deep spiritual conversation.

She was a social outcast with a complicated past

to say the least. And he breaks across gender

and ethnic taboos. And through her sin, to get

her to realize He is Jesus. And He wants a relationship

with her. In Acts 10, 34 -35, Peter realizes

that God does not show favoritism, but accepts

from every nation the one who fears Him and does

what is right. So wherever you're coming from

today, there's your entry. Are you willing to

have The Lord Jesus as your personal guide, director,

boss. The one who created everything and nothing

was created except that which was created through

him wants a relationship with you and he's seeking

you. It doesn't matter where you're coming from.

It only matters where he's coming from. It doesn't

matter who you are. It only matters who he is

and who he can help you be. Luke 19 then here

with Zacchaeus, a wealthy but hated tax collector.

Jesus shows that even the villains of society

are within Jesus' reach. Think for a moment about

global Wi -Fi. We're going to get to the point

where the Internet is available over the whole

Earth with this whole StarNet thing that they're

doing. With broad -reaching Wi -Fi or eventually

like that, whether you're in a high -rise penthouse

or a rural village, back darkest Africa or whatever,

a signal is available to everyone regardless

of your status. If you just have the necessary

technology, you can get on the internet. The

connection isn't actually then based on the quality

of the device, right? So you don't need a more

powerful phone than the next guy to be able to

connect to Wi -Fi. Just a phone that can connect

to Wi -Fi. The device that sends the Wi -Fi,

that's where the power is at. A better router.

A better satellite. It's available because you're

willing to receive it. The availability of the

network, which is God's grace. The availability

of the router, which you could say is the Holy

Spirit or Jesus. The bottom line is, God wants

to make a connection with you, and it does not

matter what walk of life you come from, He is

willing if you are willing. And we see Jesus

putting His thumbs on the eyes of unclean blind

men. We see Jesus kneeling down in the street

in front of paralyzed beggars. We see Jesus caressing

the skin of lepers. If God will go that far to

have you, how can you say no? And let's assume

then that you've said yes. If God will go that

far to have you and you've said yes, how could

you become one of the barriers? How could your

culture or your social attitude or your mental

state or your health or your finances or your

family or anything that you value in life ever

stand in the way of that seeking Jesus getting

to the people that he needs to get to? The answer

is it should not. Those things are meant to be

conduits for Jesus' love. So if you keep an aspect

of your culture, then it is only there so that

you can use it to spread the gospel. If an aspect

of your personality is regenerated, it is only

there so that you can then use that aspect of

your personality to reach somebody else for Jesus.

And that's why the church is full of so much

diversity, or should be anyway. Because that

diversity makes us able then to reach. Paul said,

I became all things to all men that I might reach

some. And the beauty of it is each one of us

individually doesn't necessarily have to do that

because we have in our midst others who are like

the person. So you're talking to somebody about

Jesus and maybe they're into a certain hobby

or whatever and it's going okay, but you're really

having a hard time connecting them because they

don't think the same way you do. They're thinking

about the things that they like and not the things

that you like. You have a different type. Maybe

you're into sports and they're into comic books,

right? But you know somebody in your church,

somebody in the kingdom that's a devout follower

of the Lord Jesus Christ that's in the comic

books. And you put those two people together.

And now they can speak the same language. They

have the same symbolism. It works. The kingdom

works because we are made up of unique people

coming from all walks of life. And regenerated,

that walk then becomes powerful for God. The

third thing to see and hear then, and it's a

contested thing. I get that. And I'm not going

to... prove it to you today. So if you contest

this, then I would say do your homework because

it is clearly proven in Scripture. And that is

that God was represented here. In fact, Jesus

is God. And to oppose Jesus is to oppose God.

The New Testament is clear that Jesus was not

just a representative of God, but God in human

form. Therefore, your reaction to Jesus is your

reaction to the creator of the universe. Now

again, if you struggle with that concept, I'll

give you a couple. But there are tons, right?

John 10 .30, Jesus states clearly, I and the

Father are one. Colossians 2 .9, For in Christ

all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form.

Colossians 2 .9. And Luke 10 .16, Jesus tells

his followers, Whoever rejects you rejects me.

But whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.

And so whether or not you can jump, and solidly

stand on the truth that Jesus Christ is God the

Son, clearly Jesus taught that if you reject

Him, you are rejecting the God of the universe.

Now that's a pretty big deal. There was a number

of times when I was a young man that I got into

some fights. I did a lot of fighting and then

I spent about 20 years nursing my hands to try

to get so I didn't have pain every single day

after I did all that when I was in high school.

I wasn't a very good fighter either, just a real

stubborn fighter, you know what I'm saying. There

was one particular instance where I went up against

a guy who was about between 350 and 400 pounds,

and he decided he was going to stick my head

in the toilet. And I don't want my head stuck

in the toilet. Plus, I was in my underwear. It

was during gym class. And I really didn't want

him anywhere near me or touching me while I was

in my underwear. That was really creeping me

out. He was in his clothes. I was in my underwear.

At that time, I weighed about 117 pounds. He

weighed three times my weight. And he decided

he was going to pick me up and carry me in the

bathroom and stick my head in the toilet. That

was not a smart decision on his part because,

number one, I was very egocentric. I was not

a Christian. I was very concerned about appearances

and things like that. I'm like, you stick my

head in the toilet, I'm never going to get over

it. I'm like, there's no way that's happening.

So, this was in the Northwood locker room, guy's

locker room. That's where this event took place.

He's got me up on his shoulder. I'm elbowing

him and kicking him and stuff, and it was probably

like a stiff wind hitting him hard because he's

a giant guy. And then I realized there's certain

places you can hit a person who hurts a lot more,

but I couldn't reach to kick him in the privates

or anything like that. And so I grabbed the door

of a locker, and I grabbed his head, which even

a big guy, if you turn their head, it's hard

for them to stop that because a lot of muscles

in your neck, but my bicep versus his neck muscles.

And I turned his head, and I took the door of

the locker, and I went like this. Bang, bang.

And I kept going until he fell over. And then

I got my clothes on. It was like a rush to get

dressed. He went to the hospital and got 13 stitches.

So then at that point, you figure, I thought

from then on, anybody 350 pounds or more, I could

take them, right? No. If I see somebody that

weighed twice my weight, I'm giving them a wide

berth if I possibly can. I would never get in

the ring against somebody like Mike Tyson or

a major league boxer. I don't want to fight a

construction worker. If I can help, I don't physically

fight anymore at all. They're coming for me,

I'll give them what they got coming, but I don't

want to fight physically at all if I can help

it. And there are some men in this room that

are big men. Some of you guys are big men. And

I'm not. And so, I'm going to not. Right? God

is big. God is strong. God is intelligent. He

knows your tomorrow. God does what intervened

miraculously in creation. He changes the circumstances

of our lives on a regular basis. He says, oh

no, you're not going to go there. You're going

to go there. This is not going to happen to you.

This is going to happen to you instead. I'm not

going to let them do that to you. I'm going to

change that. You say, well, why doesn't God change

everything for the good? Why doesn't God make

everything go perfectly? I submit to you that

whether you can see it or I can see it or not,

God does do that. Suffering has a place in this

world. It's a sucky place. It's not a place that

we want or like or would ever desire, but out

of it comes something. And God turns out in the

long run for your good that which you despise

while you're going through it. That's why God

says through our brother James, consider it pure

joy when you face all manner of trials and tribulations.

Because the stuff that happens to you that you

really don't like is happening to you for a reason.

It's building something. It's creating something.

And if you want to be what it's building, you

want to be what it's creating, then you can go,

yay me, instead of, oh, me. Jesus tells his followers,

whoever rejects you rejects me, but whoever rejects

me rejects him who sent me. Do not reject Jesus.

Because if you do, you're rejecting the God of

the universe. And he has no limit to resources,

power, authority, intelligence, capability. He's

everywhere he wants to be. He has no limit in

power and he knows everything there is to know.

Consider a diplomatic ambassador. Like if we

sent, if the United States sent an ambassador

like Iraq, for example, or something. If a nation

sends an ambassador who carries the full legal

authority of the king or the president. That's

basically the way it is. They still have to check

in, but our ambassadors go to a foreign country.

And if they get attacked or killed or that embassy

gets destroyed, that's an act of war. The embassy

on foreign ground is considered part of your

country. It's the same way Nigeria sends an ambassador

to the United States of America. They build an

embassy in New York. When they're in that embassy,

that's considered part of Nigeria. And so you

mess with the ambassador, you mess with the king.

You mess with the ambassador, you mess with the

nation. You kill the United States ambassadors

and you can expect missiles within 24 hours.

This is the reality. And so people don't mess

with the ambassadors of the United States because

if they do, the United States will put them in

a hole. But people mess with Jesus. And I submit

to you, if you mess with Jesus, someday God's

going to put you in a hole. The kind of hole

you ain't going to come back out of. Do not reject

the Son of God. If you do, you reject God the

Creator. Any action of aggression against Jesus

would be legally viewed as an action of war against

God Himself. And so now, to the Christians in

the room, you say you're a follower of the Lord

Jesus Christ? Walk circumspectly. Walk soberly.

Submit yourself to what you know is right. James

4 .17 says, If you know what is right to do and

do not do it to him, it is sin. You do that.

That's sin. Do not ignore what is right. Do the

right thing whenever you have it in your mind

to do so. Pick your strength, your will, your

wisdom, your finances, your presence. Submit

and walk forward victoriously in the Lord. Because

if you reject Jesus now, after having come to

knowledge in the Lord Jesus Christ, do not think

that you are not rejecting God. No, it's still

the same. You may not lose your salvation, assuming

you have it. I question why, if you have it,

you would even do that. But if you have salvation,

you're not going to lose your salvation by sin.

Grace will cover that. But you cannot claim to

respect the king while striking the person that

he sent to represent his very heart and laws,

who is Jesus. Interesting that we see these lessons

arising out of these two encounters, Jesus' last

trip to Jericho, and from there, having heard

now... Blind Bartimaeus crying out, and I submit

to you over and over again as he glorified God,

that this is the Son of David. This is God in

the flesh. This is the Messiah. This is the One.

And thousands and thousands of people gather

around as they come into Bethany next, and they

spend a little time there before they make that

last two -mile walk into Jerusalem, right? As

that happens, as all of that happens, God is

getting the glory. Jesus, they're talking about

Jesus. And then, And a little over a week at

that point, or yeah, at the point of Jericho,

it's a little over a week. They will cry, crucify

him, crucify him. God sees you. God's calling

you right in your walk of life, right where you

are. And God is saying, do not reject my son.

As we sing a closing song today, I want to ask

you if you're here today, and if you have rejected

Jesus to this point in your life, and you realize

that God is calling you, that God sees you, seeking

after you, sent His own Son to die for you, then

you say, okay, I'm in. Just say it right now,

right where you're sitting. I'm in. I'm good.

Yeah. I'm with you, Jesus. Salvation is a lot

like that. The Bible says that in that moment,

you're born again. You're made new, made fresh.

You start over. Everything that was behind goes

behind and stays there. Your screw -ups, your

sin, it's all gone. All washed away in the moment

of accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

And then yeah, you're pitting yourself to live

no longer rejecting Him. Live for Him. Do your

best. Day in, day out. Your best knowledge. Your

best presence. So if you're here and you've never

accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then

do that today. and the Bible says you believe

in your heart, confess with your mouth that Jesus

Christ is Lord, and that God raised Him from

the dead, you will be saved. And He'll never

let you down. He sees you. Maybe you're here

today and say, I'm already a Christian, but I

realize I've been doing some things that really

kind of almost amount to my rejecting Jesus after

the fact. The Bible says that He would just willingly

continue in sin after coming to Christ, basically

crucifies Him again. That's not good. So maybe

you say, no, I'm going to live for Jesus like

I thought I was going to live for Jesus. You

say, but there's that thing that's in my life

that tempts me. God knows that you are but dust

and he sees you. And you say, well, I might fall

to temptation again. Sure, probably. It's not

about whether you'll ever fall to temptation

again, whether you'll ever sin again. Grace covers

that. It's about your heart. Is your heart desiring

to follow God? You get that heart when you're

born again. So you might be sitting here going

like, if I decide to follow God, it's going to

be too hard. But you're going to get a new heart.

Like the broken down car that gets a new engine

and it can move again. That's going to be you.

And you can change the world around you uniquely

coming from where you come from, empowered by

Christ to deliver the gospel into your situation

wherever you wind up. And never reject Him again.

I'll ask the praise team to lead us in this song.

If you would stand with me, we're going to stand.

And then if you're led to sing, sing along with

the song. But if you're led to make some kind

of a decision, then you make that decision today

and come and make it publicly before the group.

And that would be great. Here we go. We're singing

or we're deciding. Jesus' last visit to Jericho

informs us. Praise God. Thank you.