If Jesus Is King, What Changes Today

A list of names can feel like the slow lane—until you realize it’s a coronation. We open Matthew 1 and discover the genealogy is a bold claim that Jesus is the promised King in the line of Abraham and David, the serpent-crushing Messiah God pledged from the very beginning. That changes everything about how we see Advent, how we hold our traditions, and how we treat His words.

We walk through Abraham’s blessing to all nations, David’s forever throne, and Isaiah’s Spirit-filled ruler to show how God threads hope through centuries of detours, exile, and disappointment. Along the way, we tackle a common objection—Joseph isn’t the biological father—by exploring legal sonship, justification, and adoption. What secures our place in God’s family is not bloodline or effort but His declaration and grace. If we trust that, we can trust Matthew’s claim: Jesus rightfully wears the crown.

Then we turn the corner from theology to allegiance. Do we treat Jesus like a life coach with inspirational tips, or like a King whose commands shape our days? Love your enemies, feed the hungry, make disciples—these are not seasonal aspirations. They are the way of a good King who suffered for His enemies and now calls us to live a different story. Advent becomes more than candles and carols; it becomes a reset from autopilot to attention, from comfort to costly love, from “maybe later” to “yes, Lord.”

If you’re ready to trade suggestions for obedience and tradition for encounter, press play and sit with the claim Matthew makes. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a nudge out of autopilot, and leave a review with the one command you’ll act on this week. What changes first?

Chapters

• 0:00 Advent, Reading, And Why Genealogies Matter
• 6:20 Matthew’s Aim: Presenting Jesus As King
• 12:30 Comfort, Traditions, And Spiritual Autopilot
• 20:10 Abraham’s Promise And The First Gospel
• 27:00 Adoption, Justification, And Joseph’s Line
• 33:30 David’s Throne And A Better Kingdom
• 40:00 The Spirit On Jesus And Fulfilled Prophecy
• 46:00 Not A Life Coach: Commands Of A King

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

Alright, well, happy Advent. And just like a couple of weeks ago, I just I didn't put it in the announcement, so I wanted to make sure I made an announcement. We're gonna be in Matthew chapter one. Alright, if you wanted to follow along, the words will be up on screen, but it is a pre-recorded one because again, for the next three weeks, we're gonna be covering about 17 verses, and it's the same 17 verses, but people name their kids very hard to pronounce words back then. So I'm just gonna let the Bible app um read it again because I can't pronounce a lot of them very well, and um we're gonna go from there. Alright, JT, you're good.

SPEAKER_00: 0:43

Matthew 1, 1 through 17. The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Pirah and Zerah by Tamar, and Pirah the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminedev, and Aminad the father of Nashan, and Nashan the father of Salomon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rehab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Azap, and Azaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jehemiah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation of Babylon, Jehemiah was the father's shield. And the Romans, the father's wife. And Jacob, the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

SPEAKER_01: 3:19

Alright. Well, happy Advent. It is the most wonderful time of the year. I'm gonna pray, and then we will jump straight into that. Father, we thank you so much for your son. We thank you so much for your word. And Father, as we study your word today, I just ask and I pray that it be your word. That Father, through the power of your word, we are cut to the heart. Father, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, so this year's Advent, we're looking at family dinner, and it just seemed appropriate to me that Advent one kicks off on our last Sunday, which is our family dinner. Two, it's something that most of us will be doing multiple times throughout, you know, from Thanksgiving to Christmas, right? Where we have these big gatherings where we get to talk to people that, hey, let's be honest, we probably should talk to more throughout the year. And and we just come together like that. Now, this is all Jesus that we started a new book that is the genealogy of Jesus Christ on Advent. All right? Now, what we just heard was another long list of names, like we looked at a couple of weeks ago. But what we need to keep in mind is all scripture is God breathed and is therefore useful. And we need to understand that this wasn't just filler. There's a very specific reason we have genealogies. In fact, it's the entire intention of Matthew in his gospel. Matthew, if if you're not familiar with him, he's one of Jesus' disciples. He's a tax collector who meets Jesus, and once he starts following Jesus, he quits his job to follow Jesus. Now, there may probably be a sermon in there for some of us. Like maybe we do need to understand that Jesus is better than our job. However, that wasn't Matthew's purpose here. Matthew, right out of the gate, is understanding his audience, who is primarily a Jewish audience. Matthew is writing more so to the Jews than anyone else. Now, all four Gospels tell pretty much the same narrative, right? They all talk about Jesus. In fact, what you've heard from me over the years is this Genesis to Malachi point to a coming Messiah. Acts to Revelation is pointing back to that Messiah, but the Gosels are the linchpin of the scriptures. They are what all of the scriptures are here to talk about. They are the reason why we can be, and you're gonna hear this word a couple of times today, justified in Christ, which just means to be made right. The Gospels are extremely important because they are about Jesus. Now, that being said, Matthew, again, he's talking to a Jewish audience, and the biggest thing Matthew wants us to understand is this Jesus is the king. If you look at all of four Gospels, they all have this like draw and main arc that runs through them. Matthew looks at Jesus being the king. Mark looks at Jesus being a servant, uh, Luke looks at Jesus being all man, and then John looks at Jesus being all God. And that's why we get a different genealogy in different books. Mark doesn't give us one, but Luke's genealogy traces Jesus' lineage all the way back to, does anybody know? Adam. All the way back to Adam, because again, Luke wants to prove that Jesus is all man. And then John, does anybody know John's genealogy? Close. In the beginning was the, and the word was with God, and the word was God. Because John just wants to sit here and go, hey, Jesus is all God. But Matthew, on the other hand, like, this is something I think we desperately need in our lives right now. Because here's what tends to happen with us. We are, every single one of us, creatures of comfort. We don't like change. No one in here likes like fast-moving change. Even us who struggle with ADHD and things are always popping off different in your brain. You like comfort and you like routine and you like knowing things. In fact, a common joke I've had with Joe this week, because for whatever reason, Joe thinks everything you do needs to start before the sun comes up. I am not a morning person and have never been a morning person. I absolutely hate the morning. That's why, if you guys are here, like before service starts, there's a slideshow that comes off, and it's one of the funniest slides I've ever seen, which is why it made it into our slideshow, and it shows work and it has all these different alarms listed out for it. And I will tell you, it takes Debbie a lot of prayer and rebuking to get me out of bed to get to work on time. But on a day where it's time to go fishing, a lot of times I can wake up before my alarm, right? And a lot of times, like it's like, okay, I'm out the door, like let's go, like, let's let's have fun. I'm chipper, not really, but for the moment, I'm more chipper than on a regular day. But the whole point of all of that is that's how I've been my entire life. We resist change. That's who we are. And as we're celebrating Christmas, as we're celebrating Advent, which if you're not familiar with the word, it just means the coming of someone special, as we celebrate that, most of us have traditions that we will do. Like I will tell you right now, Friday night, or Friday, yeah, Friday night, every year is the year our family will put up and decorate our Christmas tree. And then we will have donuts and hot chocolate, and we will watch a Christmas movie to kick off that whole season. On years like this year, where it was feeling a little nice outside, yep, we'll leave the doors and the windows open, and we'll just sit there and kind of turn the fireplace on and kind of just be like, oh, it is that time of the year. Now, this is something I have been doing since I was three. Like, that is just one of those things that I brought with me when Debbie and I got married from my upbringing. Every Christmas morning, we're gonna wake up and we're gonna pray and then we're gonna sing one song. Can anyone guess what song, Mom? You're not allowed to. But can anybody guess what song?

unknown: 10:32

Holy night.

SPEAKER_01: 10:34

Close?

unknown: 10:35

Happy birthday.

SPEAKER_01: 10:36

Happy birthday. Why? Because before we get to the presence, before we get to, hey, let's rip open and see all of the gifts we got, we want to acknowledge one thing and one thing first, right? That today marks the birth of Jesus. Now, is it actually Jesus' birthday? No, it's not. All right. Is it a pagan holiday that we stole from the Romans and Greeks? Yeah, it is. Okay. However, does the church historically use Christmas Day to mark the birth of Jesus? Yes. And that's what we want it to always be focused on. See, but it's very easy for a lot of us, because we have these traditions, to just kind of go on autopilot and just like meander through it, right? Like some of you, you have traditions like that where you're like, hey, we're gonna do this, we're gonna do this, we're gonna go tree shop, we're gonna go put up decorations, then we're gonna have this. Some of you may even have like the same meal every Christmas Eve. Like, since I can remember, we've had meatballs and Italian sausage, which is very funny to me because we're not Italian. But I guess that just worked. I remember going over to grandma's house every single Christmas Eve, and my grandfather is from Sicily, um, but we would go over every Christmas Eve, and that was what we would do. And then once grandma and grandpa passed, mom took on that torch, and and I can guarantee when that sad day comes, our family will do the same thing. And it's very easy to just go on autopilot. Most of us, though, that's how we deal with Jesus, too. Especially if you've been like born and raised in the church. You're just on autopilot. You've heard all of these stories before, and I'm gonna tell you. The Christmas story isn't changing this year. It's still Jesus born in a manger, Mary and Joseph are there, three wise men, some cattle, like none of that changes. And so we kind of get to this point where it's just like heard this before. But today I want us to look at especially perspective. Number one, I want to warn us let's not be on autopilot. Let's not just get sucked into trad uh. This is why I recorded the reading. Let's not get sucked into traditions and just kind of like cruise control on through Advent, but let's really understand what we're looking at. So Matthew was a tax collector, meets Jesus, decides, hey, I want to be a disciple. He's writing to a primarily Jewish audience, and he wants them to understand one thing that Jesus is a king. That it is king Jesus. Now, he also wants his audience to understand that Jesus is a Jewish king on top of that. And it's very important that we see these two things. Number one, when Matthew started his genealogy, who did he start with? Abraham, good job. Now, it's very important that he started with Abraham because Abraham is the father of who? Not God, but that's a good guess. Of Israel, right? So we saw Abraham is the father of Isaac, Isaac is the father of Jacob. Now you notice they left Esau out of there because Matthew was sitting here going, that side of the family didn't matter, right? We're only worried about this one. The Edomites are a different thing, and we'll study them later, but Jacob. And Jacob wrestles with God, God changes his name from deceiver to Israel, and now we have the nation of Israel that starts. Now, he then continues to go on and show this unbroken link from Abraham. Why is that important? Alright, because Genesis 12, 3 says this I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of earth shall be blessed. That is God speaking to Abram, not Abraham just yet. Does anybody know who Abram was? Like before this? A what? He is wealthy. Does anybody know where he's from? Er? That's right. Does anybody Yes sir?

unknown: 15:33

He's Er.

SPEAKER_01: 15:34

Er, good job. Earth? Yeah, he is from Earth. Good job. He's from the city of Ur. Er was worshipped, and and some of you grandparents in here, this always makes me laugh. Does anybody know who Abraham or Abram at the time worshipped?

unknown: 15:51

The moon.

SPEAKER_01: 15:53

Ooh, good job. It is the moon. Do you know what they called it though? Because this is the part that makes me laugh. Nana. So, so yes, Abraham was this moon-worshipping guy who dwelled in the city of Ur, and God shows up to him in Genesis 12, and he goes, Hey, take your family and go to a place that I will show you. Now that's faith, right? Because if God were to like show up to you and go, hey, I need you to go to, I don't know, Zimbabwe, you would be like, cool, I'm gonna get a ticket, I'm gonna fly out there, we're gonna go mission work with Zimbabwe. But that's not what how it happened with Abram. God went, go to a place that I will show you. In other words, just start walking, I'll tell you when you get there. Now, how many of us have faith like that? And out of that, like Abraham's walking, he's in his like late 70s, early 80s, God makes him another promise. Does anybody know?

unknown: 16:51

A son.

SPEAKER_01: 16:52

A son. Now, I don't know about you, but even being in my early 40s, if God were to go, hey, I'm gonna promise you a kid, I'd be like, nope, I'm good. I already got some. Can you make do with the ones you already gave me? I could not imagine being that old and God going, no, I'm gonna give you a promised son. Abram doesn't, like, after a while, doesn't believe that God's gonna make good on his promise, so he takes things into his own hands. He has a child with his wife's servant, and there's a whole nother thing that happens with Ishmael there. However, God being faithful winds up giving him Isaac, and then we continue on. Matthew needs us to understand this because this is a promise that God gave all the way back in Genesis chapter 3. It's called the Proto-Eugellion, if you really want to sound smart to your friends, but it really just means this the first gospel. The first gospel is given to us, the very same chapter that we sent in. And when we get to verse 315, you hear this, and I will put enmity between you and her offspring, and you will bruise his heel, but he will crush your head. That is God cursing the devil. And what Matthew is trying to show us is that promise keeps going through Abraham all the way down to Jesus. Matthew knew that this Messiah, this serpent crusher, this one that is going to defeat death and hell is gonna come through the lineage of Abram, and then we see that it happens. Now, I will just because I like to look at all sides of an argument, here's the argument I have heard from a lot of people. Okay, but Joseph is a direct descendant of Abraham, but Joseph isn't Jesus' biological dad. And I go, okay, I can give you credence on that. And this is where that word justification comes back in. Justification in the Hebrew is this word hitztik. And it literally translates into this: to declare judicially that one state is in harmony with the demands of the law. See, if you are in here and you go, I am saved, what you are really trying to say is, I am justified. Now, as someone whose biological father passed away when I was only three and then was raised by my dad, which has anyone in here ever heard me go, oh, my stepdad? No, because he's my dad. He is who raised me. In fact, the only reason he didn't adopt me is because I am my biological father's only son, and he went, I want to make sure that his name can be carried on. Which I sit here and go, I couldn't even imagine that. I go, no, like if they're mine, they're mine. See, I get where Joseph is coming from, but what I want us to understand is in the eyes of the law, Jesus is from Joseph. And there would have been no way to separate that. If we could separate that, it would be the same thing as someone being able to go, hey, then you can be separated from Christ, because we were adopted into the family of Christ. In fact, in John 1, starting in verse 12, the Bible says this, but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of the blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. In other words, it was nothing we did, it was nothing we brought to the table, it was God going, Hey, I'm going to save you, I'm going to bring you into my family, and what can separate us if we go back into Romans 8 from the love of God? Nothing. Neither height, nor depth, nor angels, nor demons, nor anything on earth, nor anything under the earth, nor anything above the earth. So if we look at all of that in context, we can see that yes, Jesus cannot be separated from Joseph and therefore is from the family and lineage of Abraham. Now there's one other promise that Matthew really wants to stress here. And we can find it in 2 Samuel 7. It says this, starting in verse 16. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever in accordance with all these words and in accordance with this vision, Nathan spoke to David. Samuel is sitting here and he's trying to tell us a conversation that happened between Nathan, who was a prophet to the King David, and he's sitting here going, Your throne will last forever. Now, I don't know about you, but did David's throne last forever? Okay, you can't just change your answer because someone else gave a different one. Pick an answer to stand strong in it. Not his what? Not his physical one. In fact, very shortly after this promise, we have David. David has Solomon, Solomon has. It does. Rehabam?

unknown: 22:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 22:38

Okay, and then what we have is a split in the nation of Israel. So at that point, the kingdoms from the north, which we would call Israel, splits from Judah and Benjamin in the south. Because they sit here and go, Solomon was a mean person, he put way too much taxes on us. They have a civil war. So think about this. David's throne, David's kingdom, lasted all of two generations physically. But that wasn't what Nathan was trying to say to David. He wasn't sitting here going, hey, your earthly throne. And too many times, that is our preoccupation. We don't think about our heavenly dwelling, we think about our earthly circumstances. We sit here and we go, oh, that's just too much. And I get it, sometimes life can be overbearing. I get it. My mom, for example, lost her husband, her mom, and her dad all within a year and a half of one another. Like, could you imagine losing the three most closest people in your world within a year and a half of each other? That's a lot. I get it. Sometimes life can seem like we can't overclimb it. But that's why God gave us the church. Too many times, I'm gonna tell you, I tell Debbie this all the time. Too many times we're afraid to reach out to someone else. Or we're too actually too prideful to reach out to someone else. Here's the thing, I'm gonna give everyone in here this for free. Everyone needs help from time to time. No one in here is strong enough to walk through life alone. I don't care how strong you think you are. The problem is when we're afraid to go, hey, I need help. I need someone to talk to. I need someone to just kind of be there for me. I need someone to just listen. And like sometimes we need to start the conversation like that, right? Hey, look, I'm not looking for your advice. Especially, I'll tell you if you're talking to me. Like, come to me and just go, hey, I just need a vent, I just need to get this off my chest. Because I'm a natural fixer. So when you're like, hey, this is wrong, I'm like, hey, here's how you fix it. But I go, see, we all need that. Because this life sometimes can be crushing. And that's why we gotta stop looking at the here and now. That is the same thing Israel does. They go, no, David was the promised king forever. They totally missed the point that no, the Messiah is the promised king forever. Then we get into Isaiah 11 and we see the same thing. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his root shall bear fruit. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. So when we get to Matthew 3, you're gonna hear this again. Because what was impressive or massive, I should say, in the baptism of Jesus is the Spirit of God descends like a dove and remains on him. Before this, do we see the Spirit of God throughout the Old Testament? Anyway, we do. The Spirit would come upon a person, empower them to do whatever they needed to do in that moment, and then the Spirit would leave them. So, like, take Samson, for instance, right? The strongest person who has ever lived. There's 3,000 Philistines, a jawbone of a donkey, the Spirit of the Lord rushes upon him, he kills 3,000 people with the jawbone of a donkey, but Samson wasn't walking around jack diesel all the time. Like it wasn't like he was always ready to kill 3,000 people. It was when the Spirit of the Lord came upon them. But when we get to Jesus, we see something different. The Spirit of the Lord not only falls on him, but remains on him. That is a fulfillment of what we just read in Isaiah, that the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. And that's because, and again, and we'll get to this eventually, there are some people, there are quote unquote Christians who would sit here and go, Jesus wasn't God until his baptism. And when the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, that is when Jesus became God. Now, there's all sorts of theological problems with that, but I'm telling you right now, some of you I know listen to pastors, quote unquote, that believe that. And I'm telling you, there's a lot of danger that runs into that. But that's a different sermon that I really don't have time. This is how ADHD works, by the way. Because I'm like, man, we really need to talk about this. But it's not in my notes, so I gotta stay focused. See what Matthew is trying to show us through all of this is not only is Jesus a Jew from the lineage of Abram, but he's also a king in the lineage of David. See, we can trace Jesus' lineage straight back to David. And all of the prophecies we see throughout the Old Testament are telling us the same thing: that the Messiah will be a king in line of David. This is why, this is one of the reasons why the Israelites at the time rejected Jesus as the Messiah. Because they went, you're not the Messiah we are looking for. Some of us in this room, we may be doing the same things, going, You're not the Messiah I'm looking for. Because I'm looking for certain things. And what Jesus is gonna show us throughout his ministry is the same thing. No, you may not be looking for me, but I promise you I am what you are looking for. And see, and what we see are these prophecies that this coming Messiah is gonna be a king. Israel went, No, you're gonna be a king that's gonna throw off the power of Rome so that we can be the leaders of the world. And Jesus is sitting here going, No, what you don't understand is I'm gonna throw off the power of sin and death so that you could live forevermore. And see, and we miss that a lot of times. Because again, our focus is too limited. Our focus is on the short period that we are here. And I get it. Like, no one in this room, I hope, God bless you, is sitting here going, hey, I want to go ahead and pass on. But let's be honest, all of us have an expiration date. All of us are sour cream sitting in the fridge. Your date was stamped on you already. Best bye. Okay? Freeze by. That actually goes together. Anyway, and what Jesus is sitting here saying is stop focusing on this little short period. Like when you think of eternity, what is 700 years? That's why the Bible would say that, like, to God, one day is a thousand years and a thousand years is one day. Because what is time to someone who is eternal? We sit here and go, I'm getting older, I'm getting older, I got a couple of grays. My mom went gray in her 20s. Like, who cares? You get one shot at this. What are you gonna do with it? We're gonna sit here and pout because it didn't turn out the way we wanted it to? Or are you gonna put your nose to the ground and do the work so that it can be what you wanted to do? Because I'm gonna tell you this right now, and this is the most powerful thing I will tell you throughout all of Advent. Ready? How you see Jesus sculpts everything else in your life. Everything is done through how you see Jesus. If you are an atheist in here, if you were someone who's sitting here going, I don't believe in any of this, that sculpts everything else about your life. Even your sitting and denying of who Jesus is sculpts your life. And think about this everyone in the world has to contend with who Jesus is. All eight billion of us. All you have to do is put the date on something. Because when you put 2025, what are you saying? It's been 2,025 years since Jesus. And we all do that, whether you believe or not. And what Matthew is sitting here trying to get us to understand is this how do you see Jesus? Because if he's just a good man and a great teacher, here's what that means. What he says are suggestions for you. And I go, I see it all day, every day. Like I can stand up here, and there's a big whiteboard that usually goes right about here, and I'll go, hey, you want to solve how to find the formula for a circle? Here are the steps you use to do that. Now, to me, I go, if you just do step one, two, three, four, five, six, this is not hard. It is not rocket science, and we will eventually move past it. And I'll get done with my lesson. I'll go, does anybody have any questions? And every single student in here will go, nope, got it. Cool, get started on your work. They open up their work, and as soon as they open up their work, Mr. Ludley, I have a question. And I'm literally in my mind going, I just asked if anyone had any questions. But this one looks different than the one you gave me on the board. Yep, it has different numbers, but it works exactly the same. But see, this is the same thing we do with Jesus. Jesus is like, hey, look, I already told you. It's not a suggestion. Again, like I look at and tell kids all the time, if you were just to go step one, step two, step three, step four, if you can add, subtract, multiply, and divide, which you've been doing since you were in like second grade, this is the same stuff. You just gotta remember these things. But it's a suggestion because I'm just a teacher. If we look at Jesus and go, he was just a good man, he was just like what the epitome of what I should strive to be, well then when I fail short, why do I need to like strive to be that? He's just a good man. There's no power in that. And see, and what Matthew is sitting here going is Jesus isn't just a good person, he is a king. And if he is a king, then what he says aren't suggestions, they're commands. Think through Alice in Wonderland. What did the queen always say? Oof with her head. Some of you got it. And it could be for anything, right? You beat her in that little flamingo croquet thing. Oof with her head. Why? Because she's a queen and she can do that. She literally has the power to control that. And some of us are looking at Jesus like he's just this great life coach. And we're forgetting he isn't a life coach. He is the king of creation. And if he is a king, then I need to take what he says seriously, because if not, there are consequences to it. Think about it, and we're and we're a long way away from Matthew 28, but we'll get there eventually. The Great Commission says this: go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you to the end of the age. Understand this. This isn't just if you get time, can you do this? Jesus is sitting like, he doesn't go, hey, if you guys finish up early, can you go and do this for me? He starts with this. Go, go and do this. Quit being lazy, quit worrying about your entertainment, quit worrying about your relaxation, quit sitting here going, I don't have time, go and do this. Like when I look at JT and I go, go take the trash out, and then I come back in the kitchen 30 seconds later, and that trash is still piled up on the wall. Do you think I went, hey JT, I didn't know, like, could you work this in your schedule? Or do you think JT is immediately getting called out to the kitchen and going, I told you to take the trash out, take it out now? Jesus does the same thing to us. Why? Because Jesus is king. He isn't asking, he is telling. So therefore, when I hear something in scripture that sounds, I don't know, something like this, if your enemy is hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them a drink. He's not sitting here going, hey, if you can find it in your heart to talk to your enemy. Jesus is sitting here going, you idiot. You were my enemy and I came to you. What makes you better than me that you can't go to your enemy? When he sits here and says, hey, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, it isn't give them your extras. Like I know Florida has this like law that if you are a charitable donation, whatever, food thing, you can accept expired food and you can give it out. We will not do that here. Why? Because I don't want to eat expired food. Kayla will dump milk out if it's within like a week of the expiration date. Yes. Whole gallon of milk just dumped on the only had four days, and I didn't think we were gonna drink it in time. Now she was a little younger when she did it, but and I appreciate that because I don't like chunky milk. Regardless of what my dad taught me growing up, it doesn't just turn to sour cream. Like, it's nasty. But see, Jesus isn't going, hey, if you have extra, can you do this? Jesus isn't sitting here going, hey, if you're able. Jesus is sitting here going, feed the hungry, clothe the naked. Jesus is sitting here going, go to your enemies. Like when Jesus says this in Matthew 22, love God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. And the second is like it, love others the way you love yourself. Understand this. Some of you in here really, really love yourself. Your love should look the same way going to other people. Think about that for a second. See, that's not a suggestion. Jesus isn't sitting here going, hey, when it's convenient for you, love others. Jesus is sitting here going, on those days where it's really hard, love others. On those days where you don't feel like loving others, love others. Why? Because when I was in the garden the night, I am betrayed and I am literally pouring sweat or bleeding sweat. When I looked at my father and went, hey, if there's any way, I don't want to do this. But not my will, but your will be done, and then I still went to the cross for you. I expect you to do the same thing. How many of us in here will make up an excuse for why we can't do the same thing because I'm too busy, I'm too tired, I'm too this, I'm too that, I'm too this. I'm gonna censor it, but here's what I was always taught growing up. Excuses are like buttholes. Everyone has one and they all stink. And yet, this is how we live our lives. Well, you don't understand. What don't I understand? I understand this that the king that you're claiming to follow was literally sweating blood, and you ain't never been that stressed in your life. None of us in here have ever been so stressed that our blood is literally seeping out of our skin. Jesus ain't asking you to do something that he hasn't done himself. Jesus isn't telling you to do something that he hasn't done. And here's what he says: that if you love God with everything you are and you love others the way that you love you, you will keep all of the commandments. You want to be perfect? You want to live a perfect life? Just do these two things. And if we just do these two things, see if Jesus is a king, then my life needs to look the way the Bible says it does, if Jesus is a king. That is why Matthew starts his gospel this way. That is why we are looking at our family dinner this way. There's a lot we're gonna get into in these 17 verses, but there's a reason why we start here. Because everything from here forward is built off of this one thing that Jesus is the promised king and that he came to his people. The question is, is that how you view Jesus? See, because I get it. We got what 25 days? You realize 25 days from now, like it's gonna be Christmas Eve? And little baby Jesus, little eight-pound crying in a manger, baby Jesus. See, some of us we need to understand Ricky Bobby's dad was right. Well, father-in-law was right. He was a full-grown man, he had a beard for crying out loud. See, some of us we look at Jesus like he's still that baby in that manger, and we forget that this is the king of creation. Yes, he chose to humble himself and he chose to take the form of a servant, but he did not stop ever being the king of the universe. And some of us, we gotta stop looking at Jesus like that. Some of us gotta stop looking at him and just going, well, I mean, he gives really good life suggestions. The reason your life looks the way it does is because of how you view Jesus. The reason you struggle with what you struggle with is because of how you view Jesus. The reason everything seems like it's falling apart is because of how you view Jesus. Because I promise you, and it took me many, many years to realize this. My parents never like tried to screw me over when they told me things that went against what my heart wanted. Like when I was 16 and I was like, Mom, I have successfully been driving for three months now. I don't understand why I have to be home at 10. It wasn't because she was like, because I don't want you to have any joy in life. Or when I was like nine and got like a brand new bike for Christmas and went, why can't I ride it over to the store? I got money for Christmas and they have candy at the store, so if we put these two things together, I can be really happy. And she's sitting here going, Do you not remember your sister almost died crossing that road? Like was in the hospital for years because the or not for years, but was in the hospital for days because the car coming over the road couldn't see her and didn't even have time to hit the brakes. I don't want the same for you. Not that I think she wanted it for my sister because I kind of heard how that came out, but I didn't want it for her. But see, Jesus is doing the same thing. He's sitting here going, I don't want your life to be like that. I don't want your life to be hard. I don't want you to have to go through all of this. The question is, is that what you believe? Or is Jesus, if you're honest with your heart, just a great teacher and a good man? Because if you're sitting here going, he's the king, uh oh. What's that mean for our life? What's that mean for your afternoon today? What's that mean for tonight for you? Are you meditating on these things? Are you studying these things? Are you sitting here going, I gotta dive deeper in these things? Is he challenging the idols in your heart? Are you sitting here going, hey, I have to conform to this and stop looking like this? Because if we're not, then listen very carefully. You don't believe he's your king. Because both of those things cannot be true. You cannot sit here and go, I am in control and get to make all my decisions. Yes, Jesus is king of creation. Because they don't go together. So as we close today, it's very easy. Do you believe that Jesus is the promised king to rule everlasting from the throne of David? Do you believe that Jesus is the promised serpent crusher we saw back in Genesis 3 and promised again to Abraham in Genesis 12? If you believe both of these things, if your answer to both of these things are yes, then starting right now, his words have to stop being suggestions in your life and start being commands. Starting right now, you need to challenge those idols you have in your heart to sit here and go, how do I stack up with this? Because if you're not, you are purposely ignoring the king. So, as we close this morning, do you have heart work to do? I can keep going. I have no shortages of words. Is it this morning that you're sitting here going, hey, you know what? Yeah. You're right. Jesus is King. And I need to recognize that. I need to submit to that. Are you sitting here this morning going, hey, you know what? I've gotten lazy with that. Maybe this was just a good reminder to your heart to sit here and go, hey, you know what? Hey man. Grab a hold of this. Maybe you're sitting here going, hey, you know what? Starting this Advent season, I want that fervor and I want that spirit. And it's simple and it's easy. Jesus doesn't sit here and go, hey, like, here's 18 things you have to do to please me. He just sits here and goes, hey, come to me. All who are heavy laden and burdened, and I will give you rest. So Jesus, I ask and I pray that if there is anyone in here right now, today, sir, er, sir, Father, that is sitting here going, I need to submit to this. That Father, you allow them the opportunity to. That God, you allow their heart posture to just bend before you. To sit here and go, hey, you know what? I'm gonna stop taking this as a suggestion, and I'm gonna know that this is a command. That Father, everything I do, I need to do out of love for you and love for others. Because you are the king that Matthew is telling us. Father, I ask and I pray that if there is anyone in here like that, that that Father, today be the day, that you just grant them freedom, that they reach out, that they pray, that they talk, that they whatever it is they have to do. But God, that you comfort them, give them peace. And that God, you show them, yes, you are a king, but you are not just sitting there wrathful, waiting to throw lightning bolts at them. That you were sitting here as a good, good father going, It's okay, come to me. Father, I ask and I pray all of this and in Jesus' name. Amen.