WEBVTT 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:22.079 Before we turn to our scripture passage this morning, I did want to uh not let this morning go by without uh recognizing uh that this Tuesday is the fortieth anniversary of Roe v. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:28.719 Wade, uh, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion on demand. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:40.320 Since that time, over fifty million babies have not been allowed to breathe a breath. 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:42.960 It's a staggering number. 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:50.240 It's hard to even comprehend that this is the reality in the country that we live in. 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:56.479 And I want to encourage us to continue to be in prayer. 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:07.519 To be in prayer, to continue to stand for life, all of life, from the moment of conception until it's that time when God takes a person home. 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:26.640 God is the author of life, uh, he is the creator of life, he is Lord over life, and we have no right to end a life needlessly and senselessly, as happens so often in this country. 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:40.959 The other reality that I think about when I consider this issue is that in a church our size, undoubtedly, there are some who have made this decision at some point in their lives. 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:48.640 And they carry the weight of the guilt and the burden and the shame of that decision. 00:01:49.439 --> 00:02:04.959 And I want to remind each one of us that in Christ there is full forgiveness and restoration for any and every sin that a person commits. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:13.360 And so that if that is you or somebody that you know, there is no sin that is unforgivable. 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:21.759 There is no sin that is unredeemable, and that all who come to Christ in faith are forgiven. 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:26.800 And so we need to remember that as well, even as we think about this. 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:38.960 If now you would turn with me to the scripture reading found in the Gospel of Luke chapter 13, I will be reading verses 31 through 35. 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:41.599 Luke chapter 13. 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:47.439 And if you're here this morning, you don't happen to have a Bible with you, there should be one located in the pew in front of you. 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:51.520 You can find the passage on page 873. 00:02:52.240 --> 00:03:00.240 And if you're here this morning and you don't own a copy of the Bible for yourself, please take that uh pew Bible home with you as our gift to you. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:04.719 Luke chapter 13, beginning in verse 31. 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:12.879 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you. 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:25.039 And he said to them, Go and tell that fox, behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and to morrow, and the third day I finish my course. 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:34.159 Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem. 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:42.560 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:51.439 How often would I have gathered you to your children together as a hen gathers her brood under his her wings, and you would not. 00:03:52.560 --> 00:04:03.919 Behold, your house is forsaken, and I tell you, you will not see me until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:11.759 Twenty years ago, when I was living in Florida, I had a friend of mine come and visit me for the week. 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:20.079 He was a high school friend, and uh he uh doesn't know Christ, has made no profession of faith. 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:25.680 And uh when he came to visit, I hoped that I would have an opportunity to share the gospel with him. 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:34.160 And when he arrived there, and this is something that he's he's said to me often, he says, Well, whatever we talk about, we're not gonna talk about religion. 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:42.319 And he proceeded the entire week to ask me questions about why I believed what I believed. 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:45.680 And the whole week he would ask me all of these different questions. 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:47.040 Well, what about creation? 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:48.480 What about morality? 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:49.439 What about sex? 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:50.879 What about the dinosaurs? 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:52.319 What about homosexuality? 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:53.920 What about Noah's Ark? 00:04:54.079 --> 00:05:01.439 What about the exclusivity of the gospel, of the nature of God, about objective truth, arguments for the existence of God? 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:03.759 You name it, we talked about it. 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:08.319 The entire week, that's all we talked about. 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:17.759 And it got to the end of the week, and he was, it was one of the last days he was there, and and he had stopped asking questions. 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:22.959 And so I asked him, I said, Well, do you have any more questions? 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:24.399 He said, No. 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:29.199 I said, Well, did I did I answer your questions satisfactorily? 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:30.319 Did they make sense? 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:31.839 And he said, Yes. 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:34.160 And I got excited. 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:37.920 And so I began to ask him about the gospel. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:44.560 He we talked about the gospel throughout the week, and I and so I said, I said, so would you like to accept Christ? 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:46.240 And he said, No. 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:48.720 And I was shocked, and I said, why not? 00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:51.519 Is there something that that doesn't make sense? 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:54.000 And he said, No, everything makes sense. 00:05:54.319 --> 00:05:57.279 And I said, Well, why don't you want to accept Christ? 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:01.600 And he said, I just don't want to. 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:05.439 And that was the end of the conversation. 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:15.759 And it's 20 years since then, and he has yet to bow his head in his heart before the cross. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:20.560 It reminds me of that as we look at this passage in Luke 13. 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:29.759 It's an interesting passage in a number of ways, but even how it opens up, it's in some ways very surprising. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:35.680 It opens up with the Pharisees coming to warn Jesus. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:49.439 And we see here in these first verses of this passage of Jesus' courage to stay the course, it says at that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, Go away from here, for Herod wants to kill you. 00:06:50.800 --> 00:07:01.600 Now, commentators, as I read through different uh scholars who were looking at this passage, they said, This is a very puzzling thing that's that's happening here. 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:03.920 What's the motive of the Pharisees? 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:06.160 And and they really debated among themselves. 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:09.199 They said, Well, some thought that maybe they were sincere. 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:26.399 Maybe this was a group of Pharisees that that secretly uh believed in Christ and maybe they were sincerely concerned about Jesus' life, and so they were warning him uh to get away so that uh that Jesus wouldn't be killed by Herod. 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:42.720 Others thought, well, maybe they were manipulative and self-serving, that they just wanted Jesus out of their area because uh he was a nuisance to them, and so that uh they were saying this as a way to get uh Jesus out of the area. 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:49.360 Other commentators thought maybe wittingly or unwittingly they were pawns of Herod. 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:53.759 That uh if you remember, Herod had had John the Baptist put to death. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:08:06.639 John the Baptist, who was a very popular prophet, uh, and uh and Herod, because of his rash vow, was uh cornered into uh beheading John the Baptist. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:13.600 And that caused him a lot of grief, and they think, well, maybe Herod wanted Jesus out of the region. 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:28.959 He didn't want to deal with Jesus, and so he leveled this threat, and that the Pharisees were being used by Herod, either knowingly or unknowingly, uh, to get Jesus out of the region so that Herod wouldn't have to deal with him. 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:34.799 But honestly, we don't know the motives of the Pharisees here. 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:45.120 But one thing we do know is that by doing this, they were trying to, either knowingly or unknowingly, detour Jesus from his mission. 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:56.480 They were unwittingly, unknowingly perhaps, or maybe knowingly, trying to distract Jesus from the ministry, from the mission that God had called him to. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:02.960 And Jesus here rejects their warning and expresses contempt for Herod. 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:06.159 Notice what he says in verse 32. 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:14.879 He says to them, Go and tell that fox, behold, I cast out demons and perform curses today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:21.120 Jesus calls Herod a fox, and uh what does that mean? 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:33.440 And it perhaps could mean that he was sly, and it may mean, like we use it today, that somebody is sly as a fox, but but more likely, uh in one author, Leon Morris, he says this. 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:41.840 He says, fox can signify a sly or crafty person, but more often it's used for an insignificant and worthless person. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:50.399 Morris continues, to call Herod that fox is as much as to say that he is neither a great man nor a straight man. 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:54.159 He has neither majesty or honor. 00:09:57.120 --> 00:10:01.200 And then Morris gives this observation about Herod. 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:10.240 He observes later we read that Herod wanted to see Jesus perform a miracle, and that when Jesus stood before him, the master said nothing at all. 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:19.519 And then Morris makes this comment when Jesus has nothing to say to a man, that man's position is hopeless. 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:26.480 And so here is Herod threatening to kill Jesus. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:30.320 Notice Jesus' response here. 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:42.720 In the face of a of a of a threat to be killed, and he says to him, Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow. 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:58.240 Regardless of the motives here, Jesus recognized that that this threat was an attempt to detract or derail him from the mission from God's will for his life. 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:23.600 And we need to understand here that even beyond what we see here in the motives of the Pharisees, and beyond what we see here in the motive of Herod in saying this, we need to understand that we have an active enemy, and Jesus had an active enemy that was pulling out all the stops to try to detour Jesus from the cross. 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:43.759 The Pharisees and the religious leaders of Jesus' day and the political leaders of Jesus' day, whether they recognized it or not, were part of a larger drama of Satan's attempt to detour Jesus from his goal of the cross. 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:49.360 We saw that even earlier in Luke's gospel in Luke chapter 4, verses 1 through 13. 00:11:49.519 --> 00:12:01.840 Satan unleashed an onslaught against Jesus in a vain attempt to cause him to bypass the cross and to derail the plan of salvation that God had ordained from before the foundation of the world. 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:07.279 And these Pharisees and these religious leaders wanted to sabotage Jesus' ministry. 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:13.519 Herod was threatened by Jesus' ministry and wanted to redirect him away from his territory. 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:24.559 But behind all of this, we recognize that there is an enemy, that Satan himself was using every means available to stop God's plan and upend Jesus' ministry. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:35.279 Jesus responds with courage, being undaunted from his ministry. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:38.399 He was going to be unhindered and undeterred. 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:44.320 He says that he's going to continue to do exactly what God had called him to do. 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:50.480 That he was going to continue in his ministry without being sidetracked, without being redirected. 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:56.240 And he says, I will cast out demons, I will perform cures today and tomorrow. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:13:04.399 That he was going to continue to do exactly what he had been doing, even though there was a threat on his life. 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:09.759 In essence, he was saying that nothing would stop him. 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:20.080 Jesus' ministry involved both the declaration of the good news and the demonstration of the good news through his performing miracles. 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:30.240 And all of the miracles testify to the reality that he was the Messiah that had come to seek and to save the lost and to secure salvation for all who believe in him. 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:36.879 And so Jesus sees this threat and he's unmoved. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:41.039 And notice what he says here at the end of this. 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:44.960 He says, Today and tomorrow and the third day I finish my course. 00:13:45.120 --> 00:13:51.600 Now, Jesus is not saying that the entire course of his ministry is going to end in 24 hours, in just over 48 hours. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:54.320 That isn't what he's saying here. 00:13:54.559 --> 00:14:07.200 He was saying an expression that meant in a short amount of time that there is a definite period of time, and that time is short for me to finish my course. 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:13.200 Jesus understood what God's will was for his life. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:21.360 And as one author said, God, not Herod, would determine when Jesus was going to die. 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:34.799 So Herod could lay his threats and he could rally against Jesus, but Jesus continued to move forward because he knew that his life and his days and his ministry was in God's hands. 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:40.799 Jesus wouldn't cut and run in the face of danger and the threat of death. 00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:46.320 Why could Jesus do this? 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:49.919 And what does this tell us? 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:53.519 How could Jesus stay the Course in the face of danger? 00:14:53.759 --> 00:15:01.519 Ultimately, what we see here is Jesus' confidence in the person of the Father, his confidence in God. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:12.720 Jesus here, as he expresses this, he is expressing his complete trust in and dependence upon God the Father in his life. 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:27.039 He knows that God is sovereign and that God has a plan for his life and that his plan is not to die in the hands of Herod outside of the city of Jerusalem while he is on his way during the course of his ministry. 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:35.919 Jesus knew that he had a mission to accomplish and that God would not allow for that mission to be thwarted. 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:52.480 And in some ways, this is a reminder to us as well, because even though, unlike Jesus, that has a knowledge of God's will and God's plan that we don't share, we don't know God's will for our lives in the future. 00:15:52.639 --> 00:16:07.519 We don't know what it is in detail that God wants us to do, but we do know from the pages of God's word what his will is for our lives, of how we ought to live, of our character, of telling people of the good news of Jesus Christ. 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:16.799 And so often fear hinders us from doing what we know God calls us to do. 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:35.039 And this is something when we look at Jesus here, it would have been very easy for many in this circumstance to have said, Well, I know the threat that's here, and so I'm going to move on, I'm going to be diverted from what it is. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:40.399 But but fear of man can hinder us from doing the will of God. 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:53.360 That we can become so concerned about what other people think, about how we might be treated, about how people might respond, that we're sidetracked and derailed from doing what God has called us to do. 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:58.960 And it can be in home, it can be at school, it can be at work, it can be in the neighborhood. 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:07.039 And so often we tell ourselves and we rationalize away our fear in so many different ways. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:12.319 The Bible tells us that we need to declare the good news of Jesus Christ. 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:19.920 We need to tell people the only message that will provide hope and salvation through Christ. 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:28.400 And so often we tell ourselves, well, I'm going to witness through my life, and if I witness through my life, I don't have to speak. 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:39.680 But what we fail to recognize when we do that is, first of all, that until we put words to our actions, people will not understand why it is we do what we do. 00:17:39.920 --> 00:18:03.200 And especially in the culture that we live in, where there are by uh just our culture here of people being uh North Dakota and Minnesota nice, that people can confuse uh the true motivation of our heart for the gospel and say, well, he's just a nice guy or she's just uh a nice lady, and that's why he or she is doing uh what they're doing. 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:15.920 And until we speak and put on flesh and explain what motivates us, people will not understand what it is that is behind our actions. 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:23.200 And so often we hold back from speaking out of fear. 00:18:23.839 --> 00:18:34.319 Fear of others and fear of what that might do to the relationship or how they might perceive us or how uh we might be treated if they reject what we have to say. 00:18:36.079 --> 00:19:09.119 And fear can motivate us in so many different ways to uh to compromise our convictions, whether it's a student among his friends and his friends are asking him to go someplace or do something or watch something that he knows he shouldn't, and and he knows what God's word has said, but as he's in the heat of that moment, he realizes that to take that stand is going to be difficult, and he might be ostracized, he might be ridiculed, and so he caves and he gives in and he tells himself it's not that big of a deal, and and he can make up for it some other time. 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:14.480 But all of these realities point to an underlying fear of man. 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:26.720 And we see here in Jesus' response that in the face of the threat of death, he continues to move forward unhindered and undaunted. 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:36.319 Now, notice this stinging indictment of the people here and of particularly the religious leaders. 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:47.920 He says in verse 33, he says, Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem. 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:58.319 Jesus here says it that, nevertheless, I must go on. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:14.640 And the word here translates a word that means it is necessary, that this is it's a it's a it's a word with a strong sense of a divine imperative, that it's necessary, that he resolutely has set his face towards Jerusalem. 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:19.759 But there's also a note of irony here. 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:34.160 If you notice what he says about Jerusalem, he says, uh, O Jerusalem, the city that that stones that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:39.519 That he says that a prophet should not perish away from Jerusalem. 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:44.319 Jerusalem was the city of peace. 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:47.200 Jerusalem was the site of the temple. 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:50.480 It was the place of worship in all of Israel. 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:55.200 Jerusalem was the city of David, and the Messiah was to sit on the throne of David. 00:20:55.359 --> 00:21:00.000 Jerusalem was to represent the special place of God's abode among his people. 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:11.839 And it's here in this city that ought to represent peace and worship and honor of God. 00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:35.200 It's this city that is known for killing the prophets, of putting to death those who have been sent by God, that so many, what Jesus says saying here, that so many of God's prophets have been rejected, so many have been put to death here, ultimately, where he himself was to die. 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:53.359 This city that was to represent God to the entire world, that was to be a lighthouse that all people were to come to to worship, that they were to be a testimony not just to the Jews, but to all of the Gentiles as well. 00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:59.119 And this city that was supposed to represent light was dark. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:11.519 Now, when we get to this point, if we were to stop here and imagine, if we didn't read the rest of this passage and think, what would come next? 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:26.960 What would we expect to find next in talking about this city that was the place that was to honor God most centrally was the place that put to death the prophets. 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:35.279 They rejected the prophets, and in rejecting the prophets, they reject God's message, and ultimately they rejected God Himself. 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:45.279 Now, if we didn't read on and we didn't know what the context of this passage was, we would assume that next would come judgment. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:58.880 We would assume that what we would find next would be the undiluted wrath of God being expressed here upon the rebellious people that had spurned God and rejected his message. 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:17.359 And what's shocking here is even as we see how Jesus responds next, we find judgment, but we find it by first hearing the heart of God towards his covenant people. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:21.680 We see the sorrow of going off course. 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:24.799 Look at what Jesus says here in verse 34. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:33.279 He says, Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:43.200 How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not. 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:50.319 Jesus expresses a lament over the rebellion of the people. 00:23:53.839 --> 00:24:01.519 One commentator, Daryl Bach, says this it's its life story, Jerusalem's life story has been to kill and stone the prophets. 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:05.519 It has made a pastime of rejecting God's will. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:14.240 And what's amazing here is that God doesn't reject Jerusalem out of hand. 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:21.759 What's amazing here is the heart of God in the midst of the rebellion of God's people. 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:25.440 They rejected God's messengers. 00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:27.200 Ultimately, they rejected God. 00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:35.839 And we see here Jesus' compassion, as one author points out, his great compassion towards sinners. 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:42.240 God tells us that he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. 00:24:42.319 --> 00:24:56.480 In Ezekiel chapter 33, verse 11, it says this Say to them, as I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way in life. 00:24:56.960 --> 00:25:00.000 Turn back, turn back from your evil ways. 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:03.599 For why will you die, O house of Israel? 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:08.160 We see here God's will of desire. 00:25:08.319 --> 00:25:10.240 Notice what Jesus says here. 00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:16.960 How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood? 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:21.279 The word here expresses a will or a desire. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:26.319 It's the same word that's later used of their rejection that you would not. 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:36.640 And so we see here God's will of desire, his desire to have gathered them together as a hen gathers her brood under her wing. 00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:42.400 Now, it's in Luke's gospel we have this as an earlier account. 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:50.480 In uh the other, in Matthew and Mark, uh this is placed in chronological order during the Passion Week. 00:25:50.559 --> 00:26:02.480 Uh but we see here that we're reminded that Jesus visited Jerusalem many times, more times that are recorded in the Gospels themselves, that he had traveled to the city. 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:09.039 And he expresses this longing of his heart that he would wish to have gathered them together. 00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:16.559 And it's an imagery of a tender, motherly expression in Jesus' words. 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:25.279 And it's used many places elsewhere in the Bible, in particular in the Psalms, and let me share a few of the verses with you. 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:32.319 In Psalm 17, 8 it says, Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings. 00:26:32.559 --> 00:26:40.880 In Psalm 36, 7 it says, How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:47.920 Psalm 57, 1 says, Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge. 00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:53.039 In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge till the storms of destruction pass by. 00:26:53.680 --> 00:27:00.960 In Psalm 61, 4 it says, Let me dwell in your tent forever, let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings. 00:27:01.519 --> 00:27:08.640 In Psalm 63, 7 it says, For you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. 00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:14.559 It says, He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge. 00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:17.680 His faithfulness is a shield and a buckler. 00:27:19.599 --> 00:27:29.119 There is a desire to provide protection and provision and refuge that is that are in these words that Jesus says. 00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:40.640 And perhaps as we as we see here, the the uh the saddest words in the Bible. 00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:45.519 And you would not. 00:27:49.599 --> 00:28:06.480 There's a profound mystery expressed here in this phrase, for salvation is all of God from beginning to end, and God is sovereignly and effectively calling people to Himself, and yet all those who do not come to Christ bear the full responsibility for their rejection and unbelief. 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:11.039 And this is a mystery of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. 00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:14.799 If we are saved, we are saved by God's grace alone. 00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:22.960 It's not because we're better or smarter or more worthy, but it is God by his mercy and grace that we receive forgiveness. 00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:32.799 But the Bible equally reminds us that if we are lost, it is because of our willful rejection of a genuine offer of salvation. 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:42.319 The gospel call goes out to all in the preaching of the cross, and the choice of rejecting the good news lies solely and completely with us. 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:51.839 We cannot absolve ourselves of responsibility for our decision to willfully reject the gospel, and all punishment is fully and rightly deserved. 00:28:52.720 --> 00:29:09.920 Acts 17, 30 and 31 state, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. 00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:13.440 They would not. 00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:27.119 They had resolutely set their heart against Christ and against his ministry and his message, even though they had seen him in their midst day in and day out. 00:29:28.720 --> 00:29:36.559 But their heart was darkened, and they hardened their own hearts in rebellion and rejection of Jesus and his ministry. 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:39.759 And we find here the consequences of it in verse 35. 00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:48.640 It says, Behold, your house is forsaken, and I tell you, you will not see me until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 00:29:50.400 --> 00:29:59.119 The consequences of the rejection of these people is expressed here, and he says, Your house is forsaken. 00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:12.880 And we find this historically in 70 AD, that ethnic Israel experienced the judgment of God, and Jerusalem itself was ransacked and ultimately overrun. 00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:20.000 And there was this judgment that occurred in their rejection. 00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:29.920 He says that their house is forsaken, that God's glory, in a sense, is removed from them. 00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:34.880 But even in this judgment, there is hope. 00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:40.960 There is hope and a future for ethnic Israel. 00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:49.599 Now keep in mind, I mentioned that this passage in the in the other gospels is placed in its chronological order during the Passion Week. 00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:56.720 Somebody reading this might say, well, he says that you will not see me again until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 00:30:56.880 --> 00:31:04.559 And if you remember during the triumphal entry as Jesus enters Jerusalem, that the pilgrims there say that to Jesus. 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:10.160 But I don't believe that this is what is in view in what Jesus is saying here. 00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:17.039 Because in the chronological order, Jesus says this after that event takes place. 00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:24.319 And so Jesus is looking to a yet future reality that has not yet occurred. 00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:32.400 And so even with this pronouncement of judgment, there is hope for Israel and a future. 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:41.359 In Romans 11, Paul tells us that Israel was cut off in part, that this was done so that salvation can come to the Gentiles. 00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:56.079 In Romans 11, 17, Paul says, But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, the Gentiles, those you were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree. 00:31:56.400 --> 00:31:58.480 And then he goes on to explain this. 00:31:58.640 --> 00:32:10.160 He says, and even they, verse 23, if they do not continue in their unbelief, talking about ethnic Israel, they will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:26.240 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree? 00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:34.640 And then Paul concludes this section and says, Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers. 00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:45.359 A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. 00:32:47.119 --> 00:32:57.839 That when Jesus pronounces here that judgment has come and that their house is forsaken, even in that he gives a hope and a future. 00:32:58.160 --> 00:33:02.720 That one day they will see Jesus, the one whom they have pierced. 00:33:04.240 --> 00:33:06.880 They will see him when he returns. 00:33:07.359 --> 00:33:09.440 And then they will believe. 00:33:42.079 --> 00:33:46.559 Would you join me now as I lead us in prayer and we sing a concluding song? 00:33:46.880 --> 00:34:21.199 Father, as we wrestle with a difficult passage of Scripture and yet to find that point of connection with each one of us, both in wrestling with the depth of truth here, but also the call for us to live our lives unafraid of others, because of our reverence and respect for you, and knowing that you will judge those who don't know you. 00:34:21.679 --> 00:34:25.840 And the call to proclaim the gospel far and wide. 00:34:26.800 --> 00:34:34.480 And for each one who's here, the call to hear the gospel and to turn and respond in faith. 00:34:36.400 --> 00:34:58.960 And so, Lord, we pray for each one of us that your word would land in the spot in that place where we most need to hear it, and that you will do your work through your Holy Spirit in each one of our lives, and that we will come to you and live for you fearlessly and courageously. 00:34:59.039 --> 00:35:00.320 We pray in Christ's name. 00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:01.199 Amen.