01.20.2025
Explore God’s boundless love and transformative light, guiding us from darkness to eternal life. ✨
Transcript
Jesus patiently redirects the zealousness of his followers back to the kingdom of love and grace and peace. And if you know the story of Jesus, one of the reasons why the religious leaders of his day turned on him was because they determined that he wasn't going to restore Israel as they saw fit. If Jesus would've led the charge into the Roman headquarters with a sword, they would have been right behind him. But that's not what the power of God is. Well, let's go back a few verses from what we just read in verse three. We'll pick up the story in order to answer that question. So after Jesus's suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and he spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion while he was eating with them, he gave them this command.
Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift that my father promised, which you have heard me speak about for John baptized with water. But in a few days you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit. So when they met together, they asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel? He said to them, it is not for you to know the time and the dates that the Father has set by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria into the ends of the earth. After he said this, he was taken up before their eyes and the cloud hit him from their sight. This amazing story of Jesus's last moments with his disciples and with his mother, and he tells them to wait, and that upon their waiting, they will receive power. And of course, the question then is power for what. Now remember last week I mentioned that if I was the director of Jesus's story, I would've proposed an edit upon the resurrection and Jesus was appearing to the disciples instead of doing the things of the kingdom of God, like comforting those who mourn. I would've proposed that Jesus showed up in the Sanhedrin or make a mockery of Pilate. Let's make a spectacle out of all of these people who rejected you. That's what I would suggest.
Now, there's a bit of evidence that suggests that that's what his followers expected too. And we know that because they asked the question in Acts one, six, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? Now, if you know the history of Israel, you know that they lived in a land and were overtaken by some outside forces. They endured that time and then they were granted back the land. They lived in that land and they were taken over by outside forces, and they lived in outside forces until they were given back their land. And this happened over and over and over again. And in the time of Jesus, it was the Romans that occupied the nation of Israel, and it had been prophesied since the beginning that there would be one who would come and he would restore them to the land.
Jesus was that one. Jesus was the Messiah, and the way in which he restored them into the land did not meet their expectations. And more than likely, it doesn't even meet our expectations. This question that they asked, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel? It shows how difficult it is for people, even those who are committed to the kingdom of heaven, to trust the realities of the kingdom of God over the ways of brokenness. Now, if you think back over the other stories of freedom and liberation, that we celebrate the stories that we make movies after, whether it be Davey Crockett or Napoleon or whomever, whatever historical figure, those stories that we celebrate, most of them, they have a main character who defies the odds and their move is to lead people into battle. And the mantra always is that freedom is worth dying for. So when Mel Gibson is atop his horse on the hilltop with his face painted blue, and he yells out, they'll never take our freedom, who is not ready to charge into battle over and over again, we see this mentality pop up in Jesus's followers. Think about Peter and the garden. As Jesus is praying, what is his first move when they come to arrest him? He pulls out his sword and he starts swinging it.
And time after time, as this happens, Jesus patiently redirects the zealousness of his followers back to the kingdom of love and grace and peace. And if you know the story of Jesus, one of the reasons why the religious leaders of his day turned on him, it was because they determined that he wasn't going to restore Israel as they saw fit. If Jesus would've led the charge into the Roman headquarters with a sword, they would have been right behind him. But that's not what the power of God is.
The power of God, the power of the Holy Spirit isn't to wage war. It is a much bigger, much more significant strength. It's the power to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute. It's the power to be patiently steadfast and not lose hope. It's the power to live simply in a complex world, to be faithful in our commitments, to trust in God and not our own abilities. It is the power to be content in whatever circumstances we face, to fight off worry with trust in God, and to grow and to be formed into the image of God. It is the power to love our neighbor and to live our lives. And the way of Jesus producing a fruit that nourishes and living in response to the Holy Spirit. It is the power to live as witnesses to the mystery of faith that Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again.
We've shared this quote before. I thought it was very fitting for this moment, and T Wright wrote this, modern Christians use the word witness to tell someone about your faith. But the way the scripture seemed to be using it is to tell someone else that Jesus is the world's true Lord. And if Jesus is Lord, then Caesar is not. If Jesus is Lord, then the kingdom of heaven will prevail. If Jesus is king, then his ways are the ways of the kingdom. No longer an eye for an eye that never worked anyway. Instead, it's love and grace and peace and treating your neighbor as yourself. And that is what the power of the Holy Spirit moves in our lives that we are able to do. Not with a sword nor a drone, but fueled by the love of the Holy Spirit and poured out one neighbor at a time, a love that models that of a kind and a patient mother, consistent, pure, honest, gentle, humbly loving one another in order to proclaim Jesus is Lord. And so today, God, we pray, come Holy Spirit, teach us to live according to your ways.
On the night before Jesus was betrayed, he gathered his disciples to share a meal together. It was the last meal that Jesus would eat with them. They didn't necessarily know that at the time, but in the middle of the eating and the talking and the celebration of the Passover meal, Jesus paused, picked up a piece of bread, gave thanks for it. He broke it and he said, this bread represents my body. Whenever you eat this, do it in remembrance of me. And in the same way, he picked up a cup of wine, he gave thanks for it. He passed it around to his disciples saying, this cup represents my blood, which is spilled for you whenever you drink this together. Do so in remembrance of me.
That happened before Jesus was arrested and sentenced to death and crucified in an effort to remain faithful to what Jesus commanded his disciples. They did this meal together. They celebrated this meal together. They wrote about it in the scriptures. They passed it along from generation to generation until it comes to us here in this moment today, that we reflect and remember that we are not just an isolated generation trying to do the best that we can to live according to the ways of Jesus, but we are living in a long lineage of faithful and devoted followers of Jesus who have given us an example in order that we too may live our lives that someday might serve as an example for those who come after us, as to how to live in the kingdom of God.
New to Journey Community Church? Click the button to plan a visit!
Find More Sermons
Want to watch more messages? Find some more below!
Explore God’s boundless love and transformative light, guiding us from darkness to eternal life. ✨
Explores Christmas’s magic through faith, hope, and love, with personal reflections and movie insights.
God chose Mary, Joseph chose Mary, Jesus chose the disciples, and Jesus chose the world. Choices matter.
Jonathan explores Advent's true meaning amidst life's chaos, urging faith in God's deliverance over worldly solutions.
Embrace Advent as a time for spiritual growth and God's kingdom values over consumerism.