Revision as of 20:26, 9 March 2023

Theological Proposition/Focus:

Homiletical Proposition/Application:

Introduction:

Image: The phrase "it's my cross to bear."

Have you ever heard anyone use the phrase "It's my cross to bear?" There are times when I hear that phrase and I think, "really, do you even understand what you are saying?" Back in college I worked with some pretty rough guys int he shop I managed and there were many times where I was shocked at the decisions they made. People talk about their family "when I get home I am going to have to start dinner because my wife will be busy getting the kids from daycare, but I guess it is my cross to bear..." or someone else says "I just cannot sleep at night, I toss and turn and so I usually end up turning on the TV and just watching reruns all night "I guess it is my cross to bear." How about the person who complains about their poorly trained dog that tears up shoes every time they leave the house, "it is my cross to bear!."

No!!! let me say it again, No!!! this is not what it means to talk about bearing the cross! Today, as we celebrate Palm Sunday I want you to take some time to think about what it means to bear the cross. What exactly did Jesus do on the cross? What did it mean for Jesus to bear the cross?

Need: As Christians we need to realize the incredible burden that Christ carried for our sake.

Preview: Today as we look at Luke 9:21-27 we are going to see God's self-sacrificial love, his modeling of what it means to follow Him, and our responsibility in light of what Christ did for us.

Setting the Stage:

Pericopes come in a context.

Many of us here know a bunch of pericopes from the Bible. A periscope is an extract of Biblical text that fits together to paint a narrative. We would typically cal it a story. However, stories also carry the idea of being less than factual so I prefer the word pericope. the pericope that I am going to discuss today is one you probably know but before I go into the text itself I want to start by setting the stage. I think this particular pericope is important in context. In other words, we can better understand the pericope if we understand what has happened directly preceding and following the text.

Luke 8 includes some amazing parables and miracles.

The parable of the sower and the lamp on a stand highlight the importance of the message of Christ.

The calming of the storm, casting out of demons, healing, and raising of the dead show the incredible power of Jesus.

Luke 9 begins by showing that Christ's followers have a role to play in His ministry.

When Peter says that Jesus is God's Messiah, he is on a Spiritual Mountain, what he has seen is nothing short of extraordinary.

What Jesus does in the rest of Luke chapter 9 is a reality check.

Life as a follower of Christ is extraordinary: extraordinarily rewarding and extraordinarily challenging, but all the time worth it.

Body (Begin by reading Luke 9:21-27)

The first point I want us to recognize is that

God incarnate modeled complete self-sacrificial love (21-22).

First, notice how Jesus refers t himself. Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man. To understand this reference we need to understand that

The Son of Man is none less than God Himself (Dan. 7:13-14).

The title Son of Man stems from Daniel 7:13-14.

The phrase "Son of Man" was a phrase Jesus commonly used to talk about himself. The phrase likely comes out of Daniel 7:13-14. The context of Daniel 7 is a vision Daniel received and in verses 9-10 a picture of God is painted. In verses 13-14 we are introduced to one who is described as "like a son of man" and to this individual are granted privileges normally only reserved for God. These privileges include authority, glory, sovereign power, worship, and eternal dominion. The only reasonable conclusion is that this Son of Man must be God. The entire picture of Daniel 7 is a picture of suffering and victory. The beasts of Daniel 7 dominate their subjects but their power is finite compared with the power of God. Victory is assured in God. It is entirely possible that Jesus chose the title Son of Man to avoid the politics and preconceptions of terms like Messiah and Son of David. Remember, Peter just identified Jesus as the Messiah, now Jesus purposefully uses the title Son of Man. The truth that Jesus expressed in the title Son of Man was that he was God himself and that there would be great suffering but also great victory.

As God there are two characteristics of the Son of Man that we should talk about here.

The first characteristic we see is that

God is perfect (Dan. 7:9).

The picture we see in Daniel 7:9 is a picture of God dressed in white with white hair. The white is a picture of holiness, perfection, spotlessness. The description of the throne and wheels is a reminder of Eek. 1:4-28. God is perfect and unapproachable. As we reflect on Christ we need to remember that Christ is the image of the invisible God. Christ came as fully God, lived a perfect life as fully God.

God is omnipotent (Dan. 7:10).

The picture painted by the title Son of Man is also a picture of God's omnipotence. his power. Verse 10 paints the picture of one who is surrounded by thousands upon thousands of servants. But more than just commanding a massive army, this God of the universe has authority to judge. We are reminded that Jesus is God and has full power and authority.

However, Jesus reminds His followers that while he possesses all power and authority, He also has a very important task that He will complete.

The Son of Man was born to die.

Notice that Jesus claims "The Son of Man Must" (δεῖ). Here is what is really cool. The title Son of Man conveys power but now we see that the one who possesses that power must do something, it is necessary for him to do something. The reality of our sin is that God in his love chose to provide salvation no matter the cost. Jesus was born that he might die to pay the price for our sin!

Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

Romans 6:23b, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

But he didn't just die. He also rose.

The Son of Man defeated death.

1 Cor. 15:20 "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."

Romans 8:38-39: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

2 Timothy 1:10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

In order to know Jesus we must know his life, his death, and his resurrection. As we move into Easter we sometimes lost track of everything. Let's take time to remember well.

Image: An event hours in the making!

Have you ever worked hard to prepare an amazing meal? Maybe it is smoking a particular piece of meat. You spend a few hours planning on your rub, then in the middle of the night you get up, fire up the smoker, set your temperature and bring out the meat. As you climb back into bed and tell your wife how good it is going to turn out she simply groans, rolls over, and says, go back to sleep. An hour later your alarm goes off telling you to go check your temperatures. By the time morning comes around you have slept just a little but you are excited. You continue to monitor the meat for a few hours in the morning and then it is back to work as your wrap the meat in foil for the next step of cooking. As afternoon progresses you begin working on the sides and setting the table. Finally, it is time to eat. You sit down, cut off a piece of meat, and savor the rich smoked flavor. The taste is amazing, the meat is moist but smokey, as you chew you can taste individual flavors. Everything is perfect, your work has paid off, then you proceeded to gobble down the rest of the meal and the joy of that first bite fades into oblivion. Hours of preparation were worth it but you really don't remember or appreciate it, you just know it was worth it!

I am afraid that sometimes this is how we see the Gospel. But instead of hours, the Gospel was millennia of preparation. Let's not let that work fade. Rather we need to savor the Gospel.

MTR: Double check: have you accepted God's self-sacrificial love?

God incarnate showed His followers what it means to bear the cross (23-26).

Cross bearing is not normal for us and so it must be renewed regularly.

Cross bearing presents the ultimate paradox.

Cross bearing requires you to look further than you may be used to looking.

Image: When landing an airplane make sure to look at the end of the runway.

When you are learning to land an airplane one of the mistakes that young pilots make is focussing on the ground directly in front of them. it is nearly impossible to tell how high you are off the ground when you do this and inevitably this causes problem on landing. Instead, a trained pilot ill look all the way down at the end of the runway. It seems counter-intuitive but it is reality. If you want to land an airplane you need to look at the end of the runway.

Similarly, in life we need to look to the end, eternity.

MTR: Check your eyes, where are you looking?

The followers of God must look to the "not-yet" while embracing the "already" (27).

The exegetical question: to what was Jesus referring?

The joy of the "already."

The expectation of the "not-yet."

MTR: Take a moment to thank God for the "already" while you dream of the "not-yet."