02:56 Jesus' Journey to Jerusalem

04:21 The Humble Messiah

17:20 Jesus Cleanses the Temple

18:58 Jesus' Authority Challenged

21:00 Parables of Rejection

23:52 Feeling Threatened by Jesus

27:22 The Danger of Ignoring Jesus

34:15 Attempts to Discredit Jesus

38:12 The Unrivaled Prophet

43:43 The Final Call to Follow Jesus

So Matthew chapter 21.

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Now how many of you guys.

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Have started driving.

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How many of you guys have started driving?

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Got a lot of, a lot of drivers.

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A lot of people who probably

shouldn't have been driving.

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I started driving.

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Does this scare you, by the way?

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These three boys all raised

their hand in the front row.

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Anyway, the first time, the very

first time I ever drove to school,

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the very first time I drove myself

to school, um, I had my permit.

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My mom was sitting shotgun.

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I ran not one.

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But two red lights consecutively in a row.

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And the reason I did that is because

when I got to a yellow light, I'm

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driving, Kristen probably knows

this street 'cause reco hills.

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Brianna probably knows

this street FR goes.

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I was driving on Santa Margarita Parkway

down the hill towards Marguerite,

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I think right by where you guys go.

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Mes used to live.

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I was coming down the hill and the

light turned yellow and I froze.

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I didn't know what to do.

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I was like, do I go for it?

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Do I break?

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What do I do?

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And so I didn't do anything

and I just kept going.

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And then I ran the red light, and

then one intersection later, same

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thing happens, light turns yellow.

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What do I do?

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I'm too far away for it to be easy

decision, and I just do nothing.

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And I go right on through

the red light once again.

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Now, later on, what I realized

is the best thing to do.

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When you get to yellow light

is something, something.

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Either speed up or slow down.

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Do one of those things because that

way you have a way better chance of

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not breaking the law and stopping

when you're supposed to stop or

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going when you're supposed to go see.

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When you come to a yellow

light, it's really not telling

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you to slow down necessarily.

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It might be telling you to speed up.

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So really what it's telling

you is make a decision.

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A yellow light isn't necessarily.

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Caution.

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It is telling you to decide

you need to do something.

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When you see that light change,

you can't just sit passive and,

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and let your car keep going.

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You gotta do something.

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This passage that we're looking

at tonight is like a yellow light.

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This passage is telling you to do

something and see when it comes

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to what you do with Jesus, you

really only have two options.

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They're not speed up and

slow down your two options.

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When you stand before King Jesus, when he.

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He comes and says to you, here I am.

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I'm the king.

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Here's the message of the gospel.

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Your two options are really repent or die.

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You have two options.

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You have two options from Jesus tonight.

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When you hear his word, when you

hear this sermon, when you go through

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small groups, you're being faced

with the decision with two options.

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Repent or die.

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And that's what Jesus is gonna show us

tonight in Matthews chapter 21 and 22.

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So.

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Last week in Matthew chapter 20, the

last thing that happened was Jesus.

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He's on his way to Jerusalem,

he's going to Jericho and on, and

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that's on the way up to Jerusalem.

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And there's this big crowd, and he

walks by these two blind men and they

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say, son of David have mercy on us.

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They call him the son of David.

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Now, if we've been paying attention

and earlier in Matthew, we had

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two blind men do the same thing.

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They called Jesus son of

David, and he healed them.

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And then what did Jesus tell

'em after he healed them?

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He said, don't tell anyone anything.

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Keep it a secret.

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And then what did they do?

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They went and told everyone, right?

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But this time Jesus heals

them and he doesn't say that.

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And so the crowd gets bigger and bigger.

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He doesn't tell 'em to keep it a secret,

and that's because something's changed

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at this point in the story of Matthew,

at this point in Matthew, Jesus is about

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to make a big statement about who he is.

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I probably should have showed you this.

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This is exactly what I was

talking about, Matthew chapter 20.

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That's how the last chapter ended.

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So now Jesus, he's got this big crowd.

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He's just healed These, these blind men

and the blind men, they know who Jesus is.

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They say, Jesus, you're the son of David.

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You're the king that the

Old Testament talked about.

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You're the king that's gonna fulfill

all these promises that God made.

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You're the king that's gonna make

everything right and fix everything

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that's wrong with the world.

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That's what the blind men are

thinking, and that's what the crowds

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start thinking when they hear this.

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Son of David.

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So look at me at Matthew chapter 21.

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Jesus.

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He, he gets to Jerusalem, he gets to

the Mount of Olives in verse one, and

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then he sends these two disciples and he

says, all right, go to the village and

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you'll see this donkey and this colt.

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So a donkey, and then the colt

is like the, the little donkey.

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It's, it's like the, the kid, right?

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So you've got mama, donkey

and, and little donkey.

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And he says, untie them

and bring them to me.

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And then.

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What we're gonna see in verse four

is Matthew says that this happened.

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Jesus said, 'cause it's like, why?

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Why does Jesus want these two horses?

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Why does he care about this?

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Matthew says that this took place to

fulfill what was spoken by the prophet.

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What prophet will the prophet zacharia?

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And this is what Zacharia says.

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He says, say to the daughter of Zion.

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The Zion, that's Israel.

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So he's saying, say to the people of

Israel, look, your king is coming to you.

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Humble and mounted on a donkey, on a cult.

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The full of a beast of virgin.

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So Jesus is coming as a king, right?

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Your king.

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That's what the prophet said.

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The king is gonna come, but he's not

gonna come as his strong, mighty king

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with a fancy horse, like a battle horse.

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He's gonna ride a donkey.

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A donkey.

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If you've ever seen a donkey

before, they're small.

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They're, they don't look that impressive.

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They're just kind of there.

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Jesus is riding a, a lame

horse into Jerusalem.

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But he's doing this because

he is making a statement.

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He's doing this to show the Jews,

Hey, remember what Zacharia said?

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I'm that guy.

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I'm the king.

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I'm the promised Messiah.

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Who's coming and fulfilling

everything from the Old Testament.

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So the disciples, verse six,

they, they do what Jesus says.

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They bring it, and he comes in

and the crowd, they start putting

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their cloaks down on the road.

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Now, what does, what does that mean?

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Well, that's something that people

did here to show honor and respect.

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They're saying that we don't, we're,

we think you're so worthy of respect,

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Jesus, that we don't want you to

have to touch the ground, right?

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We're gonna put our cloaks down on

the road and make sure it's all nice

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for you to come in and they get.

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It.

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They get really excited and they

shout Hosanna, which means save

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us Hosanna to the son of David.

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Blessed he is he who comes

in the name of the Lord.

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And that's a quotation from the Psalms.

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So there's a lot of Old Testament

stuff happening right now, and

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that's because Matthew is telling

us that Jesus is the king.

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Jesus is the one from the Old Testament

that God has promised to come and see.

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Jesus today is the same king.

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He's the same king, the only king

that can give you what you really.

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Need.

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See, the Jews thought the

Messiah was the, the, the one

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person who could fix everything.

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He could do what they thought

was, was best for the world.

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Who could get rid of maybe the Romans

or, or even in the Old Testament,

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it talks about getting rid of sin.

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That's what the king would do.

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That's what the Messiah would do.

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And Jesus is the same king today, the only

king that you should put your trust in.

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And so our first point tonight is

to submit to the humble Messiah.

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Submit, follow right swear allegiance.

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To Jesus as your king.

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See, I put that word messiah

there, not king on purpose because

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Messiah carries all the weight

of the Old Testament, right?

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Jesus isn't just any king.

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He's God's chosen king.

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He's gonna do exactly what

God said he's gonna do.

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That's why we call him the Messiah.

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That's why we call him Christ.

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That's not Jesus' last name.

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That's the Greek translation of Messiah.

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So Jesus Christ, Jesus,

Messiah, same thing.

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Jesus the king.

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But why humble?

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Right?

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Why did Jesus choose this specific

prophecy, right, about riding

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on a donkey into Jerusalem?

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Why?

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Why did he do that?

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Well, he wanted the Jews to see

that he first came as a humble king.

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Him not what they wanted,

which was a political king.

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They wanted a king who

was gonna get into Rome.

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'cause the Romans were occupying

the Jewish area at this time

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and they didn't like them.

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They were like, we don't want

these foreigners running our

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country, so let's get 'em out.

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We knew want the Messiah to come

and, and do what we want him to do.

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We want a king who would get rid of our

problems that we think are important.

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But Jesus is a humble king.

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He came not to get rid of

the Romans, not to to set up.

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A, a, a political kingdom where he

would do his, his thing from like a

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physical throne and, and start having

different taxes and different laws.

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He didn't do that.

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He came to die.

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That's what we've been learning in

Matthew, that's what we learned last week.

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Jesus came to die as a

sacrificial substitute.

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Right.

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A, a lamb not to kick out the Romans.

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So even though the crowds are all excited

about Jesus and they're shouting and

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they're worshiping him, and they're,

there's all this excitement it, and.

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The passage we just read, it said

that the crowd was, or the city was

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stirred up like it was shaken up.

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Like, you know when you get a

snow globe and you just shake it?

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That's what Jerusalem

was like at this time.

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It's, it's crazy, but they, the

crowds, they're so excited about Jesus.

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But once they realize that he's

not doing what they want him to

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do, instead of shouting Hosanna,

they're gonna shout something else.

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They're gonna start shouting, crucify him.

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The same people who are so excited

about Jesus are gonna start shouting,

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we want you dead because he's not

doing what they want him to do.

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Now, see, maybe that's why you have

such a hard time following Jesus.

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You want Jesus on your terms.

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You want Jesus to do what you think

he should do, and then Jesus comes

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and you read about Jesus and you hear

about Jesus and you're like, wait,

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that's not what I want Jesus to do.

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Jesus asked me to do things

I don't want him to do.

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I don't wanna follow Jesus like that.

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Jesus, you want me to love that person?

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Jesus.

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You want me to stop saying those things?

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Jesus, you care about

what I think about Jesus.

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You care about what?

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What my words are.

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Jesus.

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You want me to be patient?

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Wait.

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I don't want Jesus to do that.

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Jesus, I want follow you the

way I want to follow you.

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And that's why it's important we

that to submit to him because we,

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we say, Jesus, you're the king.

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I follow you.

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It's kind of like, so right now

the NBA playoffs, the basketball

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playoffs are in full swing, right?

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And whenever a team gets knocked outta the

playoffs, it's like the world's ending.

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And they're always like,

oh, what are they gonna do?

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Is their team gonna stay together?

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And all that?

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And usually what happens this time of

year is there's like a superstar player

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who's on a team that gets knocked outta

the playoffs and they're like, oh, he's

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gonna leave, he's gonna leave the team.

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'cause they didn't do what

the, what the team expected.

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Right.

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And.

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Some NBA players.

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They're like so excited

about their new coach.

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And then the year later they

get knocked outta the playoffs

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and they're like, I'm, I'm out.

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I'm leaving.

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They like their coach until he

does something they didn't like.

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They're like, oh, we, we like the coach.

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Oh.

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But then he started telling

me to pass the ball.

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He started telling me to play defense.

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Oh.

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He started bringing in this

other guy to, to take more shots.

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We do that with Jesus.

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Sometimes we start saying, wait, Jesus.

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I thought following you was gonna

be like this, but now you're

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saying it's actually like this.

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I, I don't know if I can do this anymore.

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I don't want that anymore.

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Jesus, I only want to follow you when

my plans line up with your plans.

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That's not how Jesus as

the king works, right?

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So when I ask you student, do

you submit to God only when his

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plans line up with your plan?

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Us when you're like, oh, well I

really want to date that person,

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but I know that, that God says that

person wouldn't be good for me.

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Now you have trouble following Jesus.

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Right?

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Or maybe you're saying, oh, I, I, I

really wanna watch those things and

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my friends do that, or, I really wanna

dress that way, but I, I know that

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that wouldn't be, be good for my soul.

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I would know that wouldn't

be loving to other people.

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See, Jesus is the only king who can

give you what you really, really need.

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Even if he doesn't give you

what you think you want.

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He gives you what you really need.

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And see right now in his first coming

when he came to Earth, he comes

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humbly to serve, to die, to save.

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He's holding back justice, to

give you time to willingly come.

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So I wanna invite you two to

come to Jesus as the king who

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offers what you desperately need.

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See, you think you want things

because you're like, oh, that

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would be so awesome if I had this.

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But the problem is, is sometimes

we want things that really

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aren't good for us, right?

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We've talked about this

a lot in the gospel.

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Matthew, we, we talked about this

with, with Angelo and Levi, right?

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When it was raining outside Levi's like,

oh, I don't wanna wear Levi's like.

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Five years old.

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He's Angela's son and he's like, oh,

I don't wanna wear my jacket, dad.

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I don't wanna wear my jacket.

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Angela's like, you need

to wear your jacket.

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'cause otherwise you're gonna get

a cold and you're gonna get sick

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and you're not gonna want that.

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Right.

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But see, Levi, he, he's

small, he's little.

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He doesn't think like things like that.

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So he's like, oh, I don't wanna do it.

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You're such a mean dad.

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You're making me do

things I don't wanna do.

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But really, it's good for Levi

to wear the jacket, right?

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Levi doesn't wanna get sick.

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Levi doesn't want to have to, you know?

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I bet if Levi got sick, he'd,

you're really like, man, I

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should have worn my jacket.

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That's us with God.

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God's like wear the jacket.

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And we're like, I don't

wanna wear the jacket.

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Right?

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God says, love that person.

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Be patient with that person.

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Forgive that person.

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Or hey, stop doing, stop watching those

things, or stop thinking those thoughts

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or stop gossiping about that person.

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And we're like, oh, I don't wanna do that.

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And then when you think about

it, you're like, really?

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You know, that actually

would be so good for me.

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Or sometimes God lets you sin and

you're like, oh man, God was right.

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I should have done it.

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That left me so empty

that didn't satisfy me.

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That didn't help me.

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See, Jesus gives you what you really need.

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'cause deep down what we really

want, we want hope, right?

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We're always putting our hope,

our confidence in something.

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We're always saying, oh, when I get

here, then my life is gonna be great.

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Right?

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When I, uh, once I move schools,

once I get out of this class,

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once I can drive, once I get

here, then things will be great.

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And then you get there and

you're like, oh, and when I

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get to here, it'll be better.

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Jesus gives us hope.

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We're, we're always looking for

something to put our hope in.

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We're always looking for something to be

like, oh, I, I really want to get there.

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And once I get there, I'll be good.

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Jesus gives us that.

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He says, if you, if you trust me, I will

protect you and, and lead you all the way

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to heaven, and there'll be no more pain

and no more suffering, and no more guilt

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and no more conflict, and no more anger,

and no more bitterness and no more gossip.

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And you can put your hope on

that and, and bank on that.

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We also, we all want peace.

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We want security, right?

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We want someone to make us feel okay.

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That's why we wear the things we do.

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'cause, oh, maybe if I dress this

way, I'll feel good about myself.

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Or that's why we care so much about

how we look or how we talk, or how

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we sound, or who we're friends with.

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'cause we want to feel okay.

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Or once I, once I start

dating, then I'll feel love.

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Or, oh, once this happens to me,

then I'll, I'll feel good enough.

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Or once I make this team or

get these grades, then I'll

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feel good, I'll feel okay.

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And those things always leave you empty.

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But Jesus offers lasting security

because you can say, you know what?

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When I'm in Christ, when I'm connected

to Jesus, God looks at me and I can't

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earn any more favor than I already

have because I'm love for, for Jesus'

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sake, not because of things I do.

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Or I'm fully justified in Jesus.

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I don't have to worry about that

person's opinion of me because

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I know that the creator of the

universe loves me and his opinion

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matters way more than anyone else's.

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These, the same thing

works with joy, right?

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We look for things to make us happy,

but really they leave us wanting more.

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But Jesus satisfies.

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He gives us lasting joy that

for the most amount of time.

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And ultimately we need salvation.

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We have a a problem, which is that we

are guilty before a holy God, and we

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aren't good enough to go to heaven.

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And Jesus offers salvation.

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So submit to the humble Messiah because he

will give you everything you really need.

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And when you have a hard time

following Jesus because the things

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you think you need aren't happening,

remember that Jesus loves you and

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he trusts you, or you can trust him.

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To do what's best for you.

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You can trust him to, to not give you

something because, oh, you know what?

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Jesus knows that that would

be bad for me in the long run.

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So he's not giving me that.

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So submit to the humble Messiah, even

when your plans don't line up with his.

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So we've seen that the crowd is

really excited about Jesus, right?

382

Jerusalem is.

383

Shaken up like a snow globe.

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Everyone's off shouting and there's

crazy things happening and there's a

385

lot of excitement, but things are about

to blow up in the gospel of Matthew.

386

So keep going with me.

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We're gonna look at, um, the

next few paragraphs together.

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Chapter 21.

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We're gonna start in verse 12.

390

So, Jesus, he enters the temple and

you, when the king enters the temple,

391

you think, oh, it's gonna be some

like triumphant thing and all this.

392

And maybe it's gonna be, he's

gonna be like, oh, I'm here.

393

I'm gonna kick out the Romans

and we're gonna do this together.

394

What does he do when

he gets in the temple?

395

He flips over some tables.

396

Why did that was not on my Jesus

entering Jerusalem Bingo card?

397

What happened?

398

How did, how did this happen?

399

And then he's driving out

people, 'cause there's people

400

selling stuff in the temple.

401

He's like, he's like driving them out.

402

John says he made a whip and started

driving them out of the temple.

403

And then he tells them it is written.

404

My house is supposed to

be a house of prayer.

405

But you've made it a den of robbers.

406

You're ripping people off in the tempo.

407

You're making them buy

things that they don't need.

408

You're charging them way too much.

409

There's injustice in the temple, and then

the blind and lame are brought to him in

410

the temple and he starts healing people.

411

And so then when the crowds see the

healings, they're like, oh, this

412

is the guy, this is the Messiah.

413

And I know he's been doing weird

stuff and clearing out the temple,

414

but he's healing the blinded lamb.

415

We know the Messiah does that.

416

Okay, this is the Messiah.

417

So they call him the Son of David

again, and then the Pharisees

418

naturally are like way wait.

419

Do you hear what these people

are saying about you, Jesus?

420

Is that okay?

421

They're calling you the son of David.

422

They're calling, they're saying Hosanna.

423

That's something that they say

to God in the Old Testament.

424

Is that, okay, Jesus, are you

gonna, are you gonna be okay

425

with them calling you God?

426

Jesus doubles down on this and

then he said, he quotes Psalm

427

eight and he quotes something

that the psalmist says about God.

428

Jesus is like, yep, that's about me.

429

And the Pharisees are even more upset.

430

But then Matthew pauses here, and so

then Jesus, he goes, he leaves Jerusalem

431

and then he, he spends the night away

from Jerusalem and he comes back to

432

Jerusalem, and when he comes back

to Jerusalem, he entered the temple.

433

And then the chief

priest, the elders, right?

434

The Jewish leaders we're in verse 23.

435

Now if you're following along, they

came up to him as he's teaching and

436

they said, Hey, who said you had

the authority to do stuff like that?

437

This, you're teaching in the

temple, you're healing people.

438

You're flipping over tables,

you're kicking people out who said

439

you're allowed to do this, Jesus.

440

And here's what Jesus says

in chapter 21, verse 24.

441

Jesus answered them.

442

I'm gonna ask you a question, and if

you answer my question, then I'll tell

443

you by what authority I do these things.

444

So this is Jesus question.

445

He's making a deal with them.

446

Hey, if, if you answer my

question, then I'll answer yours.

447

Here's the question.

448

The baptism of John, right?

449

John the Baptist with baptizing people.

450

Where did it come from?

451

Is it from heaven or from man?

452

So did God send John or did John just

start doing this for fun on his own?

453

And then they think about it.

454

They're like, okay, well if we say that

God sent John, then Jesus will be like,

455

well, you should have listened to him.

456

God sent him.

457

You should have listened.

458

But if we say that John started doing

this on his own, the people, the

459

crowds are gonna get mad at us because.

460

They think he's sent from God,

so they're in a predicament.

461

Because if they say, well, John

is from heaven, he's a real

462

prophet, then they're gonna be

like, well, we should've listened.

463

But if they say, oh, Johns just a

regular guy doing some random stuff,

464

then Jesus is gonna be like, well,

everyone else knows he's a prophet.

465

So they're, they're stuck.

466

So they're like, we don't know.

467

That's their cop out answer.

468

Right?

469

It's like when your parents ask you.

470

Something like, well, did you do

this or did your sibling do this?

471

And like, you don't wanna tell on

your sibling, but you don't want to

472

admit that you did something wrong

and you're like, oh, I don't know.

473

That's what the Pharisees are doing here.

474

So then Jesus says, well, I won't tell

you where I got this authority either.

475

But then Jesus goes on

to tell three parables.

476

So the, the Pharisees, the Jewish leaders,

they're worked up about Jesus' authority.

477

They're like, Jesus, why is it okay

that you're doing all this stuff?

478

And so then it creates this

conflict, this battle between

479

Jesus and the Jewish leaders.

480

And we're about to see that

in three parables right here.

481

So there's three parables to,

to finish out this section.

482

It's Jesus versus the Jewish leader.

483

So he tells them three parables.

484

There's one about two sons, there's

one about a master, and some they

485

call 'em tenants or hired workers.

486

And then there's a parable about

a wedding feast and what these

487

three parables all have in common.

488

Is that the Jews have rejected Jesus.

489

That's his point.

490

The point of all these parables is

that the Jews said, you know what?

491

We heard from God.

492

He sent us prophets.

493

He sent us John the Baptist,

and he sent us Jesus.

494

And we said, no, not my thing.

495

I don't want God.

496

I don't.

497

I want to live my own way.

498

I'm good enough on my own.

499

You can.

500

You can go do your own thing.

501

God, we don't want you.

502

And then in a couple of these

parables, Jesus says, Hey, you

503

guys are actually rejecting God so

severely that you want to kill me.

504

And he's right.

505

They're so upset at Jesus.

506

They're so hard in their hearts

to God's message that they're just

507

like, we're done hearing from God.

508

Let's kill Jesus.

509

They haven't just heard God make

a suggestion like, Hey, Jews.

510

I really think you guys

should start following Jesus.

511

You guys should really start trusting in

his work to save you and not your own.

512

God's not making a suggestion.

513

God has come with the command and

the Pharisees, the Jewish leaders,

514

they've decided to kill the son

of God because they hate him.

515

Now, you might not want to kill Jesus.

516

But all of us are in danger of the

same mistake that the Pharisees

517

are making in these three parables.

518

We're all in danger of telling

God, I'm better off without you.

519

I'm better off without you.

520

I don't need you.

521

So point number two, repent

of rejecting the ruling.

522

Judge

523

turn.

524

That's what repent means.

525

Turn 180 degree turn.

526

Turn from rejecting the ruling judge

who happens to be Jesus, turn from

527

rejecting Jesus to wanting Jesus, right?

528

Instead of saying, God, I don't need you.

529

I'm better off without you.

530

Instead, we want to say, God, I need you.

531

You're everything to me.

532

You're the most important

thing in the world.

533

You're the one I love most.

534

That's what we want to say to Jesus.

535

Instead of saying, ah, I don't need you.

536

I don't want you.

537

Now the main reason that

the Jews are rejecting Jesus

538

is because they feel threatened by Jesus.

539

Now, that might sound weird to

you, but how do they, Jesus isn't

540

coming with like a sword and he's

like, all right guys, here I come.

541

How is Jesus threatening them?

542

Well, let me illustrate this for you.

543

So when I was in, when I was in fifth

grade in elementary school, I was.

544

I was the smart kid.

545

I was, I was in the GATE program,

if you guys know what that is.

546

And I was, I was the smart

kid and everyone knew I was

547

the kid in like math class.

548

When I finished my test, I would

like slam my book and be like, done.

549

I was that kid.

550

I was super annoying.

551

I was obnoxious.

552

I'm so glad that God saved me

'cause I would be a terrible

553

person even more than I am now.

554

So I was that kid.

555

Now in fifth grade there was another high,

there was another elementary school in.

556

The great city of ranch and Margarita.

557

I went to Truco Mesa.

558

There was Cielo Vista Elementary School.

559

Okay.

560

These two kids transferred from,

from Cielo Vista, Toco Mesa.

561

So they came from this other school

to my school because they wanted

562

to be part of the GATE program.

563

'cause that other school, they

didn't have a GATE program, you know?

564

So, um, they wanted to be

part of the GATE program.

565

So they came to my school and one of my

friends knew these kids and he was like,

566

these guys, these guys are really smart.

567

So when they came naturally,

you know what we did?

568

We had a nerd off, we had a competition

in the sandbox about who, who is smarter.

569

We had this competition and there was

a mediator and he asked some questions

570

and we would just rapid fire go.

571

We had 10 questions that we all answered.

572

Now I did win seven one,

but um, I felt threatened.

573

By these two kids.

574

Their names were Diego and Nathan.

575

I was threatened.

576

I still remember 'em to this day.

577

I, I was threatened by these kids

'cause they were coming on my turf.

578

They were coming into my sandbox, into

my school, into my gate class, and

579

they were trying to be the smart kids.

580

And I was like, hang on guys.

581

I'm the smart kid around here.

582

I was threatened by them, so I had

to defend my territory right now.

583

Maybe you've never thought of it

this way, but your selfishness

584

feels threatened by Jesus.

585

That's why you reject him.

586

You're saying, Jesus, you're coming

in here saying, you need to follow me.

587

You need to take up your cross and

and die to yourself and follow me.

588

Jesus is coming in saying, I'm the king.

589

You need to listen to me.

590

I'm in charge.

591

I'm God.

592

You are not.

593

And our selfishness feels threatened.

594

We're like, hang on.

595

I wanna run my life.

596

I want to do the things I want to do.

597

I have a plan for how I

want high school to go.

598

I have a plan for my day.

599

I wanna do my things.

600

I wanna get home and play my games and

do my stuff, and I don't wanna have

601

to worry about what other people do.

602

I don't wanna have to worry about

serving people and loving people.

603

I have my plan and my rules, my

priorities, my preferences, and then

604

Jesus comes and says, you're following me.

605

And our selfishness doesn't like that.

606

And so we feel threatened,

so we push back.

607

Even if you're a Christian,

that can still happen to you.

608

Right?

609

You, we feel this as Christians,

we feel this tension.

610

Oh, I, my flesh wants to be selfish, but

the the new heart in me that God gave me

611

when he saved me, wants to follow him.

612

There's this conflict,

there's this tension,

613

but sometimes rejecting Jesus.

614

It doesn't look like this, right?

615

This is, this is what the Pharisees did.

616

They said, here's the son.

617

Let's kill him.

618

Right?

619

He's a threat to us.

620

But see, in another parable, here's what

the, the, the rejecting Jesus looks like.

621

See in verse six, there's the

people who want to kill the

622

Son, the messengers of God.

623

But look here in verse five, there's

some people who just ignore it.

624

You see that highlighted there.

625

Some people, God's word comes to them,

they hear the command, repent and believe.

626

They hear the word of God and they

just say, oh, well, and they just

627

ignore it because maybe you're

like, well, I'm not rejecting Jesus.

628

I'm not like opposed to Jesus.

629

I don't like mind Jesus.

630

I just don't want to be in charge

of me, like I'm okay with Jesus.

631

I like church.

632

I like going, but.

633

I'd rather just do my own

thing most of the time.

634

But I like being around it.

635

I think Jesus is, is good.

636

I think I, I like the way Christians

live, so maybe you're these people, maybe,

637

maybe you're not trying to, to get rid

of Jesus, but you're just avoiding Jesus.

638

Maybe you're just

suppressing the truth, right?

639

That just phrase from Romans, it's

like when your trash is too full, but

640

you don't take it out, so you put your

foot in it and you suppress the truth.

641

Maybe you're doing that with your sermons.

642

You're like, well, I know that

I'm holding on to this sin

643

and I, I should repent of it.

644

I should confess it.

645

Maybe that's you, maybe

you just distract yourself.

646

You hear the sermon, you feel convicted,

but then you're like, oh, well, I,

647

I, I don't wanna think about that.

648

And so you just go on and do your own

thing and live your life, and you distract

649

yourself and you don't think about it.

650

And, and or whenever you're convicted

about something, you're just like, oh,

651

well, I, I'll go back to scrolling.

652

I'll, I'll just move on.

653

And you don't want to think about it.

654

Or maybe your rejection

of Jesus is postponing.

655

You're like, oh, well, when I'm

older, I'll become a Christian.

656

Uh, when I, once I do these

things, I'll become a Christian.

657

Once I graduate, I'll become a Christian.

658

Once I can do this with this

person, I'll become a Christian.

659

Let's all turn around and, and face me.

660

Okay?

661

I think that'll help you

pay attention better,

662

or maybe you're justifying

your rejection of Jesus.

663

Maybe you're saying, oh,

it's, it's, it's okay.

664

It's really not that bad.

665

It's really not.

666

You know, I, I'm a, I'm a decent person.

667

I, I'm not a Christian,

but I'm not a bad person.

668

So I, I think it'll work out for

me that's still rejecting Jesus.

669

Because ultimately

you're like these people.

670

You're saying, oh, well I

heard about Jesus, but I'm

671

just gonna go do my own thing.

672

Maybe that's you,

673

or maybe you think you

can get away with it.

674

You're like, oh, I'm holding onto sin.

675

I, but I.

676

I can hide it.

677

I can be okay.

678

I can still sin and, and do what, what

I wanna do and, and it won't matter.

679

See if you keep rejecting Jesus, I

realize that the second phrase of

680

this point, he's the ruling judge.

681

If you keep rejecting Jesus, whether

it's distracting yourself or whether

682

it's outright, I don't want this.

683

He will expose you.

684

One day or another, Hebrews four says that

the word of God is like a two-edged sword,

685

and it reveals the thoughts and intentions

of the heart, and it cuts right between

686

what you're thinking, what you're feeling.

687

You can't hide anything from God.

688

You will stand before God

and you will have to answer.

689

Did you repent?

690

Him or not, did you follow Jesus or not?

691

And you can't say, oh, well I

liked Jesus, I liked church,

692

but you, you, you didn't follow him.

693

You will stand before God

and he will expose you.

694

But even if you're a Christian, if you

keep sending, God will discipline you.

695

Maybe you're a Christian, but

you're like, oh, I don't wanna

696

tell anyone about this sin.

697

I'm too embarrassed.

698

I don't wanna confess it.

699

I don't wanna bring it to the light.

700

I don't wanna tell my leader.

701

I don't wanna tell my parents.

702

I'm holding onto this sin.

703

God loves you too much

to let you keep sinning.

704

If you're a Christian, God doesn't

want you to hold onto that sin.

705

It's killing you.

706

You know it is.

707

It's killing your conscience.

708

It's hardening your heart.

709

You know it's so bad for you,

and God loves you too much to

710

let you keep sinning, and so he

will bring that sin to light.

711

The Book of numbers says that

your sin will surely find you out.

712

Proverbs says that the the wicked run when

no one is chasing them, your conscience

713

will track you down until you turn, or

maybe it won't, and you'll stand before

714

God and have to deal with you, with

his, with his gaze on you and your sin.

715

But remember how, if, if that's you,

if you're holding onto a sin, remember

716

how Jesus responds to those who

come in repentance, who come humbly.

717

Remember how Jesus treats those people?

718

When someone comes to Jesus

and says, Jesus, I'm a sinner.

719

I'm guilty.

720

I, I'm a terrible person.

721

I'm so embarrassed to admit this.

722

Does Jesus say, you suck?

723

Go away.

724

No.

725

Right.

726

Jesus wants you to bring your sin to him.

727

He doesn't want you to hide it first.

728

John says that if you confess your sin,

if you agree with Jesus, I'm a sinner.

729

He is faithful.

730

And just to forgive it and get rid of it.

731

So if you're so scared because

you're like, oh, well God.

732

Won't like my sin or God.

733

God will, I'm so embarrassed about my sin.

734

I don't wanna tell someone.

735

Well, God already knows about it.

736

He already sees it.

737

You can't hide it.

738

But also other Christians

sin the same way.

739

And I know you, you don't believe

that, but remember how Jesus treats

740

sinners who admit that they're sinners.

741

He says, I've come for

the sick, not the healthy.

742

So the Pharisees, right?

743

They didn't feel that way about Jesus.

744

They didn't want to come to Jesus.

745

They didn't wanna admit their sin.

746

They realized that Jesus was

calling them out with his parables.

747

And so they tried to get him arrested,

and they tried to get him discredited.

748

They're like, Jesus, we

don't like what you're doing.

749

You're calling us now.

750

You're exposing us.

751

You're, you're saying that

God's gonna judge us, so we

752

wanna get rid of that, right?

753

They, they don't just

wanna plug their ears.

754

They want to get rid of him, right?

755

Like, it's like with

your alarm clock, right?

756

That when you wake up, you don't, you

want it to stop your alarm's going off.

757

You want it to stop.

758

You can either snooze it and just

ignore it, or you can just turn it

759

off and get rid of the alarm, right?

760

The Pharisees are like, we're just gonna

throw the alarm clock out the window.

761

We don't wanna deal with this.

762

So that's what, that's what they're gonna

do here in the rest of Matthew Chapter 22.

763

So Jesus verses the

Jewish leaders part two.

764

So he's gonna ask, they're gonna ask him

three questions about the law, and these

765

questions are designed to get Jesus.

766

In trouble.

767

The first question is, should

we pay taxes to Caesar?

768

Now, the Jews ask him this question

because if Jesus says, don't pay

769

taxes, guess what they can do?

770

They can be like Jesus

said not to pay taxes.

771

The Romans should arrest Jesus.

772

So if he says, don't pay

taxes, Jesus gets in trouble.

773

But if they say, you should pay taxes,

are the Jewish people gonna like that?

774

No.

775

'cause they don't think they should

pay taxes to Caesar because Caesar's

776

like an evil occupying force, right?

777

The Romans are occupying.

778

And they're like, we

shouldn't have to do this.

779

So then the people

aren't gonna like Jesus.

780

So they think that they put Jesus

in this impossible position and

781

Jesus gives the most amazing

answer you could ever think of.

782

He says, you've probably heard it before.

783

Give to Caesar what Caesars and give

to God what's God's perfect answer.

784

Right?

785

No one can get mad at that.

786

Second question, they ask him, how

does marriage work in the resurrection?

787

Because they're like, well, if what

if you ha, what if you were married

788

and then your spouse died and then you

married, you remarried, and then that

789

spouse died and so on, and you ended

up having seven different marriages.

790

Who are you married to in heaven?

791

And Jesus says, well, actually,

well, you don't know, is that it

792

doesn't work like that in heaven.

793

In heaven.

794

There you're not.

795

You're not gonna be married.

796

So then he answers that

question perfectly.

797

And then the last question,

what's the greatest commandment?

798

They're like, gotcha.

799

Now Jesus, there's 600

something commandments.

800

How are you gonna pick the greatest one?

801

And Jesus says, love the Lord

your God with all your heart,

802

soul, mind, and strength.

803

And then he adds a bonus one.

804

The second is like it.

805

It's like two sides of the same coin.

806

Love your neighbor as yourself.

807

So he answers these questions

perfectly, and then Jesus turns the

808

tables and he asks them the question.

809

This is like one of my favorite moments.

810

In the whole Bible, Jesus

turns the tables on them.

811

They tried to trap him with

all their smart people and

812

all of their, their learning.

813

They were like, ah, we

can get Jesus on this one.

814

And Jesus refutes them.

815

And then he goes, I wanna

ask you guys a question.

816

I wanna ask you guys a question.

817

Here's what he says in

chapter 22, verse 41.

818

So the Pharisees are all there.

819

And Jesus asked them a question,

what do you think about the

820

Christ whose son is the Christ?

821

They said to him, the son of David.

822

And he said to them, how is it then that

David in the spirit, right in the Bible,

823

calls the son of David Lord or sir,

saying verse 44, which is a quote from

824

Psalm one 10, the Lord said to my Lord.

825

So Yahweh said to my Lord, sit

at my right hand until I put

826

your enemies under your feet.

827

So David is calling his descendant.

828

Sir.

829

Right.

830

You're, you're the Lord.

831

You're in charge.

832

Normally, that's not

how things work, right?

833

You, your dad doesn't call you sir.

834

Right?

835

That's not how things work.

836

So then Jesus asked him in verse 45, if

David calls him, Lord, how is he his son?

837

How does this work?

838

How, how can you say that the Messiahs,

the son of David, descended from

839

David, but also greater than David?

840

The reason right is because the

Messiah is God, Jesus God in the flesh.

841

That's why this works.

842

The Pharisees have no clue.

843

Verse 46, this is how it ends.

844

No one was able to answer him a word,

nor I love this from that day, did

845

anyone dare ask him any more questions?

846

They're just like, we're not

gonna mess with this guy anymore.

847

This he's, he's one.

848

We're not even gonna try.

849

He's utterly defeated them.

850

See, Jesus has come as, as Matthew

is describing him, Jesus has come as

851

a prophet, he's mastered God's word

and he's here to, to judge Israel.

852

But more than that, Matthew's

also saying, he's the king,

853

he's the Messiah and he's God.

854

And so point number three,

if Jesus is God, we must

855

worship the unrivaled prophet.

856

Jesus isn't just giving

us advice about God.

857

He's not just explaining God's word.

858

He has come as God in the flesh.

859

There's no one like him, not the

smartest person, not the wisest

860

person, not the coolest person.

861

There's no one like Jesus.

862

If you had a conversation with Jesus.

863

I'm confident that you would walk

away floored everyone else did.

864

In the gospels, you

hear they're astonished.

865

Remember they talk to Jesus.

866

They're like, whoa, no

one spoke like this guy.

867

That's 'cause Jesus is God in

the flesh, but he's, he's taking

868

all of God's wisdom, right?

869

God is, God is a genius and he, and

he's bringing it into everyday life.

870

He's the expert on everything.

871

I don't know if you've ever felt this,

you've ever been around someone or in some

872

kind of situation, you're like, man, this

person is completely out of my league.

873

Right?

874

This person is so just much

greater than, than I am.

875

I, I remember this one time I played

soccer with these Mormons and they invited

876

me to, like, we were, we were trying to

share the gospel with them, and they're

877

like, oh, come play soccer with us.

878

So we show up at this

park at like 7:30 AM.

879

And play or 6:30 AM play

soccer with these Mormons.

880

And I was like, okay.

881

Like I'm, I'm pretty good at soccer.

882

I could play, I can

hang with these Mormons.

883

And then I realized this wasn't

just like a Mormon soccer game.

884

This was like before work.

885

Real soccer players are

coming to play soccer.

886

And I knew that as soon as the white

pickup truck with the ladders on top and

887

the paint stains pulled up and I was like,

yeah, these people are outta my league.

888

So, so these, these three guys who

look kinda like Pastor Rod came

889

outta that truck and I was like.

890

I'm done.

891

It's over.

892

I, I am totally.

893

And so we started playing, man,

I have never felt that unathletic

894

or uncoordinated in, in my life.

895

Like I, I was like, this is ridiculous.

896

Like these people have played soccer

their whole life and it was crazy.

897

See, that's how, that's how

you should feel around Jesus.

898

Jesus is, is not just.

899

He's not just giving you something

to take your life from a three

900

outta 10 to an eight outta 10.

901

He's not just like, oh, here's

some helpful stuff for you.

902

He's not just giving you like a cheat

code to be happier than most people

903

or something to help you sleep at

night when you're scared of dying.

904

Jesus is God, and his

words are life or death.

905

They're not just, oh, that was helpful.

906

That was interesting.

907

They're the words of God.

908

When Jesus comes and has something

to say to you, when you read God's

909

word in the morning, when you pray

to him, when you hear a sermon, it's

910

Jesus is, is the king of the universe,

and he's saying something to you.

911

He's not just saying, oh yeah, it'd

be, it'd be nice if you did this.

912

So do you treat Jesus with

worship or with indifference?

913

Are you just like, oh,

okay, take it or leave it.

914

Or do you come to Jesus

when you pray to him?

915

Or when you think about, oh man, Jesus

asked me to, to do this, to live this way.

916

Are you like, oh, oh, maybe

I'll think about that.

917

Or are you saying, man, Jesus

is, is God and I mean him?

918

I would die without Jesus.

919

I'm amazed at Jesus.

920

I'm so excited about Jesus.

921

So how do you think and feel about

Jesus when you think about God,

922

when you sing songs in church,

923

what?

924

What's your heart posture towards Jesus?

925

I got to see Messi play soccer

last, almost about a year ago.

926

I got to see Messi play soccer and one

of the best experiences of my life.

927

Now, when Messi walked out onto the field,

everyone stands up and starts cheering.

928

I've never been in front

of anything like that.

929

And he's so short,

you're like, where is he?

930

But no, um, I'm a Ronaldo guy, so I had

to say that, but, um, no, but that it was

931

unlike anything I've ever experienced.

932

So mess.

933

He's like warming up and he shoots

the ball and everyone cheers.

934

It is like, there's no goalie.

935

It's like from like 10 yards out.

936

Like, what, what's,

everyone's like, oh me.

937

It's crazy, right?

938

They're reading his name in warmups.

939

Like they, they, they call out the, the

teams that they announced the players.

940

This is in Kansas City.

941

So he's the opposing team.

942

Everyone's cheering, everyone's

like number, trying lean on mess.

943

Everyone goes, ah.

944

And they read off some

other guy from his team.

945

Everyone, everyone's silent.

946

And I was like, okay,

well that makes sense.

947

But that idea, right?

948

We, we, you, we call that aura, right?

949

When messy walks out,

everyone's like, what?

950

That's, that's how you

should feel about Jesus.

951

Right.

952

We're, we're feeling this way

about some five foot six guy,

953

'cause he can kick a soccer ball.

954

Right?

955

How, how, how would you feel if

Jesus walked in this room right now?

956

How do you feel when you pray?

957

How do you feel when you sing?

958

How do you feel when you read your Bible?

959

How do you feel when you serve his church?

960

How do you feel about the

Holy Spirit living inside you?

961

If you're a Christian,

962

what's your heart posture toward Jesus?

963

See.

964

King Jesus gives you two

options when you hear his word.

965

The gospel gives you two options.

966

Follow Jesus, right?

967

Turn from your sin, turn from yourself,

and follow Jesus, or stand before God

968

in judgment and suffer the consequences.

969

So what I want to ask you tonight

is what will you do with Jesus?

970

Will you reject him and die?

971

Will you repent and live?

972

Let's pray.

973

God, we want to be serious about you.

974

I know it's so hard to be serious.

975

There's so many fun things that

happen, so many funny things, so

976

many things that make us lighthearted

and not take things seriously.

977

But we want to remember that you

are massive and we are small.

978

Heaven is real and hell is real.

979

And for those of us who

who know you, we are safe.

980

But at the same time, you are holy.

981

You are not like us.

982

And we, we ought to be in awe of you.

983

And for those in this room who don't

know you, as one famous preacher said,

984

they are dangling over the fires of hell.

985

One.

986

Aneurysm or car accident would

end their life and they would see

987

you in all your glory and they

would suffer for all of their sin.

988

They would be naked and exposed

before you, with no place to hide.

989

So I pray tonight, God, that people

who don't know you would, would go

990

from death to life, that they would,

they would realize they need you.

991

They need the joy that

you bring, they need.

992

To follow you.

993

They need to love you, but also that they

need something to be done about their sin.

994

They can't do it on their own.

995

We pray that you help us

to focus in small groups.

996

Help us to take you seriously.

997

Help us to honor you

with what we talk about.

998

We pray all this in Jesus name.

999

Amen.