WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.800 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:24.559 Please take your Bibles with me this morning or your devices and turn to Matthew chapter 9. 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:33.039 This morning we find ourselves in walking through Matthew's gospel at the end of this ninth chapter, beginning in verse 35. 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:42.399 If you have your Bible, I will read from verse 35 through verse 38 if you would like to follow along. 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:56.240 It says, And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 00:00:56.719 --> 00:01:04.000 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:09.840 Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:16.879 Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:18.079 Amen. 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:27.680 I have a very difficult task in front of me this morning that in first service I did not succeed at. 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:32.959 And that is trying to get through all of my notes for this passage. 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:37.840 A difficult situation here for a preacher and trying to figure out how do you preach through this? 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:42.879 Because originally I was going to preach all the way through chapter 10, verse 15. 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:43.920 19 verses. 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:44.640 Can you believe it? 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:45.760 In one Sunday morning. 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:48.000 But I decided, no, I can't do that. 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:57.760 Because as I was studying and praying, there's just so much here in these four verses that it would be a travesty to pass over them that quickly. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:02.959 And in reality, what I'd like to do is to preach three different sermons this morning. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:07.040 Now you see why I couldn't accomplish it in the first service. 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:14.560 Three different sermons that really kind of all tie together in a unique way because this is a transition passage. 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:24.879 We are moving from one section in Matthew's gospel to another section, and these four verses then tie together both of those units. 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:32.479 So we sort of have the first verse, verse 35, pointing backwards to what we've just gone through in chapter 9. 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:36.000 Verse 36 is the transition itself. 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:41.680 And verse 37 and 38 look ahead to what's happening in chapter 10. 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:46.800 Now we could look at this section then from three different perspectives. 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:59.599 We could look at it from the perspective of Jesus' disciples, because they're about to get sent out into Israel, out on ministry assignment without Jesus for the first time. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:01.520 We could look at it from their perspective. 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:04.080 We could look at it from the perspective of the crowds. 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:08.159 Jesus is surrounded by crowds. 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:16.800 And in the middle section there, in the transition itself, it's seeing the crowds that impacts Jesus. 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:21.360 Or we could look at it from the perspective of Jesus Himself. 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:28.240 And that's the one that I would like us to focus on this morning is the perspective of Christ Himself. 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:32.719 Because I think it's really most faithful to the text. 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:40.479 Matthew is telling us, first and foremost, about Jesus the Messiah. 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:49.680 So asking what the passage says about Jesus is the most faithful that we can be to Matthew's intention. 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:55.520 And this is a very descriptive text. 00:03:55.919 --> 00:04:00.080 That is, it fits a very particular context. 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:05.439 It fits a particular place and a particular time in history. 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:10.319 And those parameters set the stage for what Jesus says. 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:12.960 But we weren't there. 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:16.000 We weren't in the crowds. 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:18.800 We weren't among the disciples hearing this. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:20.560 Or 2,000 years later. 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:25.279 So that can maybe make the application of this text a little bit trickier. 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:29.519 But I trust that as we go along, it will become clearer to us. 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:32.639 So let's just start at verse 35. 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:40.480 Verse 35 is from Jesus' perspective, a summary of the Lord's ministry. 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:50.160 But the summary is not just telling us what's happened, it's also pointing us in a new direction, saying there's something else coming. 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:53.439 There's a new focus that is ahead of us. 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:59.600 Now you might ask the question: how do we know that this is a transition? 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:03.120 Well, look back with me at chapter 4 of Matthew. 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:16.879 This verse in particular is almost identical to what we find at the beginning of Jesus' ministry in Matthew 4, beginning in verse 23. 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:30.160 It says, And he that is Jesus went throughout all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:33.279 It's almost identical to chapter 9, verse 35. 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:37.120 We have the three major elements: teaching, preaching, and healing. 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:43.519 We have this scope of going everywhere, throughout every village and every city, from place to place to place. 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:46.720 So chapter 4 tells us this is when it started. 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:51.759 Chapter 9 tells us this is when this particular aspect is concluding. 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:59.920 Chapter 4 is immediately after the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:07.199 He's baptized, he's filled with the Spirit, and he heads out and begins his public ministry. 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:11.040 Chapter 4 is immediately before the Sermon on the Mount. 00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:16.639 Before the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus proclaimed this message. 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:20.079 If you're still in chapter 4, verse 17. 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:26.639 Jesus began to preach, saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:31.199 Why was the kingdom of heaven at hand? 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:33.839 Why that particular element? 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:39.519 Well, it was at hand because Jesus is the promised one who would fulfill all prophecy. 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:42.720 It's at hand because Jesus is Emmanuel. 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:44.399 Remember chapter 1, verse 23. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:48.160 You shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:54.079 It was at hand because Jesus is the promised king of the kingdom. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:57.920 The kingdom of heaven is here because the king is present. 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:03.360 How do we know that Jesus is the Messiah, the King? 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:10.879 Well, we know because of this threefold element of his ministry: teaching, proclaiming, and healing. 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:15.040 Those are three aspects of the Messiah's ministry. 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:20.079 In fact, if you're back in Matthew, turn to Luke chapter 4. 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:23.120 Matthew doesn't include this particular element. 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:32.560 We see it in Luke, where Jesus was in that first part of his ministry, and he goes to his hometown of Nazareth. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:36.480 And he arrives at the synagogue on the Sabbath day and was often the pattern. 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:43.920 They would hand the visiting rabbi the scroll for the day, and it was the scroll of Isaiah, and he would read from it and then sit down and teach. 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:50.000 So Jesus unrolls this scroll and he finds this particular passage from Isaiah 61 in your Bible. 00:07:50.800 --> 00:08:00.240 And he reads, The Spirit of the Lord, verse 18, is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:09.360 He sent me to proclaim liberty to captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:17.199 And he rolls up the scroll, he gives it back to the attendant, he sits down and he says, This is now fulfilled in your hearing. 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:28.000 Isaiah 61 is one of the servant songs, where God is prophetically looking forward to a particular individual who will fulfill his purposes. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:32.159 Jesus fulfills that scripture. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:43.039 His teaching, his preaching, his healing fulfills the messianic expectations that were expressed in the prophets and that were expected to be seen among the people. 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:53.759 And as he did so, as he went teaching and preaching and doing all of the amazing miracles that we've seen in chapter 8 and chapter 9 of Matthew, he was providing proof of his identity. 00:08:54.159 --> 00:09:00.399 Because everybody knew from their time in the synagogues, from their time in church, they knew this is what the Messiah is going to do. 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:03.360 He's going to teach, he's going to preach, he's going to heal. 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:05.360 So what does Jesus do? 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:09.519 Teaches, preaches, and he heals. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:18.080 In fact, remember, look over in Matthew chapter 11, when John the Baptist was in prison, he was a little uncertain about how things were going. 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:20.799 You know, when you arrive in prison, things are a little bit different. 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:22.000 So he's uncertain. 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:27.360 And he sends his disciples to Jesus to say, Hey, are you really the one that we should be looking for? 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:29.120 Am I right about this? 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:34.480 And Jesus says in chapter 11 of Matthew, verse 4, go and tell John what you hear and see. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:46.159 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:51.759 Jesus says to John, John, you know what to expect. 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:55.759 Here's what people are seeing and hearing. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:01.120 Those elements, then, provide proof of Christ's identity. 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:05.440 They provide confirmation of his message, they provide authority for his commands. 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:14.559 Imagine being one of those 12 disciples and being sent out to go minister among the villages and the cities of Israel all by yourself without Jesus for the first time. 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:17.360 Would you do it? 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:31.840 But they do it because Jesus gives commands and he has authority behind those commands, all provided because of this threefold ministry, teaching, proclaiming, and healing. 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:39.679 But what really stands out in all of this is Jesus' submission to the Word of God. 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:47.120 Jesus is submitting to the revealed Word of God. 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:48.159 Think about it. 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:53.120 We've already seen how many times Christ fulfilled the scriptures. 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:54.799 Just walk with me through this. 00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:55.759 Chapter one. 00:10:56.399 --> 00:10:58.559 Going to be flipping pages a lot this morning. 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:02.639 I'm going to do less preaching and just reading of Scripture. 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:05.039 I can't promise the less preaching part. 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:06.720 Forgive me, please. 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:10.080 Chapter 1 of Matthew, verse 22. 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:22.799 After Mary is told that she will bear a son, Joseph is told that as well and said, You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:27.679 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:32.480 Isaiah, the virgin, shall conceive and bear a son, and you will call his name Emmanuel. 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:37.200 Look down at chapter 2, verse 5, regarding being born in Bethlehem. 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:40.480 For so it was written by the prophet. 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:43.360 Verse 15 of chapter 2. 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:47.200 This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:51.759 Verse 17, this was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah. 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:57.679 Verse 23, he went and lived in Nazareth so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled. 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:12.320 If you look over at chapter 4, the end, or in verse 14, after the temptations, Jesus leaves Nazareth, moves to Capernaum, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:16.000 Again and again and again, and this continues on through Matthew's gospel. 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:21.200 Christ fulfills what was spoken in the prophets. 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:23.919 That's not all. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:31.360 If you're still in chapter 4, notice his dedication to scripture in temptation. 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:33.679 Three temptations, right? 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:35.440 We've looked at this. 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:39.039 Make stones become bread. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:46.559 Throw yourself over the side of the temple and worship Satan. 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:49.360 What does Jesus do? 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:51.440 Each of those times. 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:54.799 First he quotes from Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 3. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:58.399 Then he quotes from Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 16. 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:00.799 And then Deuteronomy 6 verse 13. 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:05.279 He goes back to the Word of God and he says to Satan, No, I can't do that. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:05.679 Why? 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:08.399 Because I'm submitting to the Word of God. 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:10.000 This is what God's Word says. 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:12.240 This is what I must do. 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:19.039 I've mentioned for several weeks Isaiah 35. 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:24.879 If you have your Bible, you can turn to there just quickly. 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:26.240 I've mentioned it over and over again. 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:29.679 I may as well once point it out and read it. 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:32.000 Isaiah 35. 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:35.279 Behold, your God will come with vengeance. 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:38.399 This is Isaiah 35, verse 4. 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:41.840 Your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:44.559 He will come and save you. 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:49.519 And what happens when God comes and saves? 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:53.519 Verse 5, then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:57.519 The ears of the deaf will be unstopped. 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:04.080 The lame man will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:08.559 That's exactly what we've been seeing in Matthew's gospel. 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:18.960 Jesus is submitting himself to the prophetic texts of Scripture and fulfilling them over and over and over and over again. 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:21.200 But that's not all. 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:24.879 He then goes to the top of a hillside and he preaches. 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:29.120 His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5, chapter 6, and chapter 7. 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:37.440 He begins to submit himself to the scriptures through proper exposition by explaining this is what Scripture says. 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:43.440 And then he takes it a step further and he says, I'm submitting myself to proper application of God's word. 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:50.399 He says over and over again, you have heard that it was said, you have heard that it was said, but I say to you, here's what it really looks like. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:15:06.480 And he doesn't just preach and not do it himself, because we saw in Matthew chapter 9 in verse 13, after Jesus called Matthew, Matthew said, Hey, I'm so excited to have found Jesus, I'm going to throw a party. 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:08.720 He invites all of his friends to his party. 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:10.080 Who are his friends? 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:12.159 Tax collectors. 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:15.440 The worst version of the IRS, right? 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:18.159 Nobody wants to be around them. 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:22.720 And the Pharisees jump all over Jesus for doing that, but what does he say? 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:24.240 Go and learn what this means. 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:26.879 I desire mercy and not sacrifice. 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:29.440 I came not to call the righteous but sinners. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:34.399 He said, Listen, you know Scripture says this, but you're not submitting yourselves to Scripture. 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:35.360 I am. 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:43.360 See every single place that Jesus submits himself to Scripture. 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:44.399 That's important. 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:53.279 Because that's what Matthew is showing us in that little summary in verse 35 of chapter 9. 00:15:53.679 --> 00:16:02.320 When Jesus teaches, when Jesus proclaims, when Jesus heals, he's doing it all because it's what Scripture said the Messiah would do. 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:09.919 As the divine Son of God, Jesus was not free to determine the parameters of his ministry. 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:12.159 Think about that. 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:18.639 Jesus couldn't come to earth, take on flesh, and dwell among us and do whatever he wanted to do. 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:27.600 He was constrained to the parameters of the word of God because it's first of all a matter of his identity. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:29.279 He is the word of God. 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:32.320 Isn't that what John tells us in John chapter 1? 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:36.559 In the beginning the word became flesh, he's the incarnate word. 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:42.799 If the word takes on flesh and dwells among us, he cannot not be the word of God. 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:46.480 And if he is the word of God, it then moves to becoming a matter of character. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:52.320 If he does not do his word, if he does not fulfill his word, then he's not faithful to his word, and he's a liar. 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:54.399 And we ought to all go home. 00:16:57.840 --> 00:16:59.840 It's a matter of his own purpose. 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:06.319 Jesus is going to accomplish the divine plan established before the creation of the world. 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:17.200 Beloved, we must submit to the word of God at all times, no matter the cost. 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:28.400 We must be defined by the word of God, not just as a church, but as individuals within the church. 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:32.640 We must obey the word for his glory and for his ends. 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:34.880 That's what disciples do. 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:38.000 That's who disciples are. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:46.559 You've probably heard the account of Martin Luther when he was. 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:59.200 I was about to say invited, but invited isn't the right word, more like ordered, by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to appear at the Diet of Verms to defend himself. 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:01.359 No, that's not not having a diet of worms. 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:21.599 That's verms is the place, and the diet is the gathering of officials and scholars and pastors, because they had read everything that Martin Luther had written, they had heard of his teaching, and they ordered him to appear before this council to recant all of his views. 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:46.880 Martin Luther responded, James Ekman in his book Exploring Church History writes it this way unless I am convicted of error by the scriptures to which I have appealed, and unless my conscience is taken captive by God's word, I cannot and will not recant of anything, for to act against our conscience is neither safe for us nor open to us. 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:49.279 Here I stand, I can do no other. 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:50.480 May God help me. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:51.440 Amen. 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:58.079 That ought to be every church and every disciple of Christ. 00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:01.440 Here I stand upon the word of God, I can do no other. 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:03.200 God help me do it. 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:06.160 That's what Jesus did. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:13.599 That's what we see in his going from place to place, in his teaching, and his proclaiming and his healing. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:18.880 He said, This is what the word of God says, therefore I submit myself to it. 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:22.319 That's sermon number one. 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:25.200 Sermon number two, verse 36. 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:31.519 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:34.079 Like a sheep without a shepherd. 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:39.200 Here we see Christ as the compassionate shepherd. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:43.039 Christ as the compassionate shepherd. 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:45.519 He looks out and he he sees these crowds. 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:47.759 And the crowds were gone for a while. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:49.839 They appear back in verse 33. 00:19:50.559 --> 00:19:53.279 Then again in verse 36. 00:19:53.519 --> 00:20:00.319 And Jesus sees the crowds, and the crowds elicit a gut reaction. 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:04.160 That's what compassion is all about here. 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:12.000 This word that Matthew chooses here is one that speaks of having your guts torn apart because of what you're seeing. 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:17.680 It's a gut level, an e visceral sort of reaction. 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:19.359 Why? 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:27.119 Because he's looking at people and they're harassed and they're helpless as if they didn't have a shepherd to care for them, to protect them, to guide them. 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:34.079 Two words used are harassed and helpless. 00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:36.960 Harassed. 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:43.680 Both of these words, our English terms don't really give the full effect. 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:47.359 Harassed was a word that originally meant to be flayed. 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:49.680 To be flayed. 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:51.680 You know what that means? 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:57.759 It means to be beaten and whipped to the point of your skin falling. 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:12.720 It came to mean eventually something less intense, to be bothered, to be harassed, to be troubled, but always with a violent connotation. 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:18.559 Not just that somebody's pestering you, but that there's violence involved in it. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:22.799 Helpless is a word that means to be thrown down. 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:25.839 Again, with a connotation of violence. 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:30.079 You see this at play in Acts chapter 22 and verse 23. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:38.720 The apostle Paul has returned to Jerusalem for the last time, and the Jewish crowds are all stirred up because of who he is and what he represents. 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:45.759 And it says, as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, they are angry. 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:54.319 Jesus looks at these crowds and he says, You've been treated violently. 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:58.160 As if no one's there to lead you, to protect you, to guide you. 00:21:58.319 --> 00:21:59.519 There's no evidence of proper care. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.400 No evidence of protection, no leading among the people who are called sheep here. 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:15.440 It doesn't take much to look today at the huge gatherings of protesters or rioters or even large political gatherings and get that same feeling. 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:18.720 Just look sheep without shepherds. 00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:27.519 But in reality, this is a condemnation on the leaders of Israel. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:38.799 Imagine being one of the priests and having Jesus say to you, Your sheep are dying, and you're doing nothing. 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:59.599 The priests are behind this, the scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, all the leaders of Israel are behind this because the spiritual state of Israel was directly linked to the spiritual state of her leaders and their submission to the word of God. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:03.119 It's the same thing for us. 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:09.039 The spiritual state of the church is often linked to the spiritual state of her elders. 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:17.200 Last time we looked at Matthew chapter 23, where Jesus rails against these leaders. 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:20.559 He says, Woe to you, woe to you, woe to you. 00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:21.680 You are condemned. 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:24.799 You're condemned over and over and over again. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:32.799 Not only just condemned, he says, listen, you take people who want to be in God's flock, and you take them with you to hell. 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:39.119 These are sheep without shepherds. 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:42.559 But this is really a continual problem. 00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:44.319 It's not a new one. 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:48.079 It goes all the way back in your Bibles to Numbers chapter 27. 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:51.279 In Numbers 27, Moses is about to die. 00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:53.440 And he knows it, God's told him. 00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:59.200 But he recognizes that if he dies, then Israel is going to be left without a leader. 00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:08.480 And so he asks God to appoint somebody to lead them so that they may not be as sheep that have no shepherd. 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:11.039 You see, this was an agrarian society. 00:24:11.119 --> 00:24:14.480 It was a world in which sheep and shepherding were common knowledge. 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:19.920 Everybody, from the top to the bottom, understood what sheep without shepherds were like. 00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:25.759 They understood that if you take away the leadership of the shepherd, you doom the sheep. 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:28.880 They knew this, they understood this. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:36.240 But it speaks not so much to the absence of leadership. 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:39.359 When Jesus said this, there were leaders galore. 00:24:41.359 --> 00:24:48.400 It doesn't speak so much to the absence of leaders, but to the kind or the quality of leaders. 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:53.200 It's as if there is no leadership present. 00:24:53.440 --> 00:25:00.079 The harassment and the violence poured upon the sheep is the opposite of good leadership. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:03.839 It's an ancient, ancient problem. 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:07.440 Go with me back to Isaiah. 00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:11.519 Isaiah 56. 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:21.200 Isaiah 56, beginning in verse 10, it says, God's watchmen are blind. 00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:24.799 They are all without knowledge. 00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:27.279 They are all silent dogs. 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:30.160 They cannot bark. 00:25:31.039 --> 00:25:33.839 If you have a watchdog, what do you want it to do? 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:37.759 At the very least, you want it to growl and bark, right? 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:44.559 God says, Here, I've set up watchmen, and they're just like silent dogs who can't bark. 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:48.240 Instead, they're dreaming, they're lying down, they're loving to slumber. 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:51.119 They have a mighty appetite, but they never have enough. 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:57.039 Verse 11, but they are shepherds who have no understanding. 00:25:57.680 --> 00:26:04.079 They have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all. 00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:07.519 Jeremiah. 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:09.519 Jeremiah chapter 10. 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:15.200 Jeremiah 10, verse 21. 00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:18.799 For the shepherds are stupid. 00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:23.839 Sorry, moms and dads, for your children that you don't want that said in their hearing. 00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:26.400 That's just what my Bible says. 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:28.720 For the shepherds are stupid. 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:30.079 Why are they stupid? 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:33.680 Because they do not inquire of Yahweh. 00:26:35.680 --> 00:26:41.119 Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered. 00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:45.920 More significant than that is Jeremiah 23. 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:57.119 Jeremiah 23, verse 1 Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, declares Yahweh. 00:26:57.359 --> 00:27:02.079 Therefore, thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people. 00:27:02.799 --> 00:27:07.599 You have scattered my flock, and you have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. 00:27:07.759 --> 00:27:10.000 That's the kind of care that they give. 00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:19.680 Since you have not attended to them, behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:21.599 Jeremiah 50. 00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:30.960 Just the number of these kinds of passages in the book of Jeremiah gives you a hint as to what Jeremiah had to deal with as a prophet. 00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:34.880 Jeremiah chapter 50, verse 6. 00:27:36.880 --> 00:27:40.799 God says, My people have been lost sheep. 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:45.440 Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:51.759 From mountain to hill they have gone, they have forgotten their fold, and all who have found them have devoured them. 00:27:55.440 --> 00:27:56.799 There's nothing new here. 00:27:57.039 --> 00:27:57.680 It goes on. 00:27:57.759 --> 00:28:08.880 You can look at Ezekiel 36 for another extended example of God who says, I have put you in a place of shepherding my people, but you've done nothing. 00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:12.240 And instead, my people are harassed and helpless. 00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:14.319 Violence is done to them. 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:22.960 Jesus looks at the crowds and says, Yeah, that's what I see. 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:25.440 That's what I see. 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:29.039 Now we know, right, John chapter 10? 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:36.079 Jesus says in John chapter 10, I am the good shepherd. 00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:40.079 I am the good shepherd. 00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:42.559 Oh, Israel had shepherds. 00:28:43.039 --> 00:28:46.240 They had shepherds who weren't caring for the sheep. 00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:50.000 And so Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:55.119 And that too is a submission of Christ to the word of God. 00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:58.400 Look back at chapter 23 of Jeremiah. 00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:03.039 We stopped a little short of this because God begins to change his tone. 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:08.400 In verse 3 of Jeremiah 23, he says, I'm going to gather the remnant of my flock. 00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:10.799 I'm going to bring them back to their fold. 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:16.079 Verse 4, I'm going to set shepherds over them who will care for them. 00:29:16.720 --> 00:29:26.480 Then in verse 5, Behold, the days are coming, declares Yahweh, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, capital B. 00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:34.079 And he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 00:29:34.400 --> 00:29:40.880 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely, and he will be called by this name. 00:29:41.119 --> 00:29:43.440 Yahweh is our righteousness. 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:46.160 Look over at Isaiah chapter 40. 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:47.519 Isaiah forty. 00:30:01.680 --> 00:30:04.480 Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense before him. 00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:08.880 He will tend his flock like a shepherd. 00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:14.640 How does a shepherd, a genuine shepherd, care for his flock? 00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:20.480 He gathers the lambs in his arms, he carries them, he gently leads them. 00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:23.680 He doesn't do violence to them. 00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:28.480 Isaiah 49. 00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:32.720 Again, this is all over your Bibles. 00:30:32.880 --> 00:30:35.920 We could go on and on and on about this. 00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:38.559 Isaiah 49, verse 13. 00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:45.519 Break forth, O mountains, into singing. 00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:46.319 Why? 00:30:46.880 --> 00:30:56.319 Because Yahweh has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted. 00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:01.440 What does Matthew 9 36 say? 00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:05.359 And Jesus had compassion. 00:31:08.799 --> 00:31:14.640 And then Jesus' compassion motivates a response. 00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:17.599 In chapter 10, he sends out his disciples. 00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:26.480 And as he sends them, he tells them in verse 6 of Matthew 10, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:29.440 He says, Listen, there's lost sheep everywhere in this country. 00:31:29.680 --> 00:31:33.839 Go be shepherds, because the shepherds that have been shepherds are not shepherds. 00:31:36.400 --> 00:31:38.720 Jesus' compassion doesn't just stay there. 00:31:38.799 --> 00:31:40.400 He says, I'm going to do something about this. 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:43.039 I'm going to give my people shepherds. 00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:56.400 We know from John 10 in that passage about the Good Shepherd that the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, right? 00:31:57.359 --> 00:31:58.480 That's what Jesus did. 00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:00.880 He laid down his life for the sheep. 00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:04.960 But he didn't stop there. 00:32:05.759 --> 00:32:08.559 This again was a specific place and a specific time. 00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:17.119 Jesus is preparing his disciples to go out and to be shepherds to those lost sheep, to bind their wounds, to heal them, to care for them, to shepherd them. 00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:17.920 But what about us? 00:32:18.079 --> 00:32:19.119 We weren't there. 00:32:21.279 --> 00:32:24.240 Some of you are old, but you're not that old. 00:32:25.519 --> 00:32:27.200 You're not in the crowd. 00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:28.960 You're not among those disciples. 00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:29.839 So what about us? 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:32.960 Well, it's an interesting thing that the good shepherd does. 00:32:34.640 --> 00:32:43.920 After he laid down his life for them and he rose again from the dead, he sent his disciples out and he began to build his church, right? 00:32:46.000 --> 00:33:00.640 Ephesians chapter 4, verse 11, and he that is Christ gave the apostles, he gave the prophets, he gave the evangelists, he gave the shepherd teachers. 00:33:02.799 --> 00:33:04.079 See what's happening? 00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:09.200 Jesus establishes his church and he says, I'm gonna give you shepherds. 00:33:10.640 --> 00:33:14.880 He gives specific people to be shepherds to his church. 00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:24.000 That's why the Apostle Paul, as he gathered the elders of the church of Ephesus together for the last time in Acts chapter 20 and verse 28, he gathers them together. 00:33:24.079 --> 00:33:26.160 He says, Listen, this is the last time I'm gonna see you. 00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:28.960 They hug and they cry, do they do all that good stuff? 00:33:29.119 --> 00:33:30.799 And then he warns them. 00:33:31.680 --> 00:33:33.519 It's a fascinating passage of scripture. 00:33:33.599 --> 00:33:36.079 He says, Pay careful attention to yourselves. 00:33:36.400 --> 00:33:49.440 Speaking to the church elders, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God. 00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:58.319 1 Peter chapter 5 continues that where the elders are given a command to shepherd God's church. 00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:04.400 We are given a warning in Jude verse 11 about false shepherds rising up from among ourselves. 00:34:05.039 --> 00:34:17.760 Jesus has prepared the way for his church to be comforted through the compassion of Christ Himself, because shepherds that he has given them shepherd them rightly. 00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:20.400 Let's say it another way. 00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:36.800 When we talk about compassion in Matthew, to extend compassion to somebody, to be compassionate, that generally points to something wrong. 00:34:38.320 --> 00:34:43.519 Something improper, something inappropriate, something's not right. 00:34:43.840 --> 00:34:47.599 And so you are compassionate towards another or towards a situation. 00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:53.599 Jesus is compassionate towards the sheep, but he's condemning towards the false shepherds. 00:34:55.760 --> 00:34:59.119 He will become more specific about that as time goes on. 00:35:00.320 --> 00:35:10.079 And so his primary emphasis as time goes on is to fulfill Moses' request for Israel, but he does it for the church. 00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:12.559 He says, I'm going to give you shepherds. 00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:32.960 When elders and pastors of the local church fulfill their shepherding responsibility, the church experiences Christ's shepherding of his people. 00:35:34.320 --> 00:35:35.280 We say that again. 00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:40.800