The Prophet From Nazareth of Galilee - The God Man (Part 6)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Turn to Matthew chapter 21. This will be the third and final message on the life and ministry of Christ.

The Triumphal Entry and the Rejection of Israel's Leaders

Last time we had ended in Matthew 21, where Jesus was rejected by Israel's leaders. He then, after this rejection and after they commit what is called the unforgivable or the unpardonable sin, Jesus begins to speak to the people in parables.

And oftentimes his parables were against Israel and her rulers. So, Matthew chapter 21, this is where Jesus makes his triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem on what most people today call Palm Sunday.

And what's he doing? He rides into town on a donkey, which is a fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy. This is a declaration, I am the Christ. I am the King of Israel. Look at Matthew 21, starting in verse nine.

Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed upon seeing his triumphal entry, they cried out saying, Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

And when he had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved saying, who is this? And that's the ultimate question about Jesus, isn't it? Who is this man? So the multitude said, this is Jesus, the prophet, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.

Of course, he was much more than that. And notice who's saying this. Jesus rides into the city and they cry out that he is the son of David, which is a messianic title. Who's saying this? Well, it's the common people.

It's not Israel's leaders. It's not the chief priests. It's not the scribes and the Pharisees. It's the common people, not the ones in power. And isn't this kind of the way it goes? It's the common man who places his or her faith in Jesus.

Much more so than the people in power. And that's been the case throughout history. Obviously, there are many exceptions to that, but that's generally the way it goes. And that's what happened here in the first century in Jerusalem.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple and Judges Corrupt Worship

Okay, the next thing we see, Jesus, upon proclaiming that he is the son of David, the Christ. What's the next thing that he does? He goes into the temple, into the temple of God, and he begins to flip over.

I want you to imagine this in your mind. Imagine Jesus walking into the temple. This is a holy site. Can you imagine someone coming into a church and just taking a pulpit and just flipping it over? That would make some people mad, wouldn't it?

So Jesus walks into the temple, and he's flipping over the tables of the money changers. And if that wasn't enough, he had made a whip before he had gone in. And he had to sit there and fashion this whip.

So this isn't Jesus just losing his temper or something spur of the moment. This was carefully thought out. He made a whip, flipped over the tables, and he drove the people out with a whip. This is Jesus meek and mild that you hear some people talking about.

He was meek and mild and kind and compassionate. There is that side of Jesus, but there's another side as well. So why did he do this? Because the religious establishment, and they were also not just the religious establishment.

They were also the political establishment. The two were together. They had become so corrupt. Israel's leaders had become so corrupt. Jesus is now acting as a prophet. He goes into the center of religious power, and he makes a clear statement.

Flips over the tables, drives them out with a whip. He says, my father's house is to be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. So as you can imagine, this caused quite a stir. Word of this got all throughout the city.

There's no question about that. And on top of that, to make matters worse, at least for the religious leaders, when the people see this, they began crying out even louder. Hosanna to the son of David.

Jesus had a lot of popular support because everyone knew that Israel's leaders were corrupt. And not just that, even the little children start crying out, Hosanna, Hosanna to the son of David. What were they doing?

They were praising Jesus as the Christ. Do we have that same passion ourselves to praise and proclaim Jesus as the Christ? And it's clear by now that Jesus viewed Israel's leaders as false shepherds. False shepherds who had made themselves the enemies of God.

Then in verses 18 and 19, Jesus then curses the fig tree. Do you know what the fig tree is symbolic for? In the scripture, what is that? Israel. The fig tree is a symbol for Israel. Jesus curses the fig tree, symbolic for the nation.

Then starting in verse 33, you get the idea Jesus is kind of ratcheting things up a little bit. He knows what He's doing. Starting in verse 33, He speaks a parable against Israel's rulers because He knows they intend to kill Him.

And He makes this statement how the kingdom will be taken from them. In verse 45, He says, or it says, Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.

You better believe He was speaking of them. So things are really escalating quickly. Now flip over to Matthew chapter 24. So this is controversial. Jesus has a lot of support, but He has a lot of enemies.

And you know that's always true when somebody speaks with boldness or they speak the truth and they're not afraid to... A lot of people have the truth. We kind of want to water it down and make it more palatable.

Jesus just kind of said, this is the way it is. And many people despised Him for it. So you're in Matthew chapter 24. Before we read that though in chapter 22, He speaks another parable against them. And if you want homework during the week, you do, right?

You want homework? You want something to do later? Read Matthew chapter 23 and write down your impression of it. Matthew chapter 23 is a scathing rebuke against the scribes and Pharisees. What does Jesus call them?

Snakes, hypocrites, whitewashed tombs. He even calls them sons of hell. You imagine someone going to the center of religious authority and say, you are the sons of hell. This is why they called them a prophet.

Prophets did this kind of a thing. So He calls them sons of hell. Now, again, I would be quick to add that when it came to the lowly sinner, when it came to the average person who was willing to humble themselves, and they were seeking God's forgiveness, Jesus was as gentle and as compassionate as He could be.

There was no bottom to the well of Christ's mercy and grace. But when it came to the rich ruling elites, those who took advantage of others, those who would bind heavy burdens on others, and they themselves would not follow them.

Isn't this a common thing for leaders? They make all these rules. You need to do this and you can't do that. And they go do whatever they want. Hypocrites, Jesus says. So they would bind heavy burdens on people.

When it came to folks like that, the pretentious religious hypocrites who misled people about the scriptures and what the scriptures taught, Jesus had zero tolerance to the average lowly sinner seeking forgiveness.

He was kind, gentle, and compassionate. And we need to be that way to the lost. We do. But to the people that they're just dug in and they're hardened and they're enemies of the word of God, Jesus had zero tolerance.

The Destruction of the Temple and the Call to Trust Christ

And now he's about to make the most shocking statement of all. Look at Matthew 24 verses one and two. Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple and his disciples came to him or came up to show him the buildings of the temple.

And Jesus said to them, so imagine they're looking at the temple complex, this massive structure. And what does Jesus say? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down.

What's Jesus saying? The city of Jerusalem and this temple, the temple of God would be utterly destroyed, which it was about 40 years later in 70 A .D. It was destroyed by the Roman military. So, do we understand why Jesus was so despised?

Why was Jesus so despised? Because the Jews were looking for a Messiah who would be a political leader, who would drive out the Romans. Instead they got a preacher who preached the truth and actually prophesied the Roman destruction of their holy city.

Things were about to come to a head, a crisis moment. So, the rulers of Israel are now, what are they doing? They're plotting Jesus' murder. You can say plotting his death, but really it's murder. He's an innocent man.

And you know how Jesus responds to this? His disciples see, they see what's happening. They hear the rumors. They can kind of see where this is headed. And they're a little concerned, aren't they? You know, Christians today are concerned for all sorts of different reasons.

And everyone's dealing with something. We understand that. Can you imagine though being one of Jesus' disciples right there at that moment? You might be a little afraid, right? What did Jesus say to them?

Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God? Believe also in me. And maybe you, upon your decision to follow Christ, maybe things have not happened. They have not gone as you expected. Maybe there are some listening right now that for whatever reason you find yourself troubled.

The disciples were unsettled at times. That's true. But what did they learn to do? They learned to trust. They learned to trust in Jesus. And that's what we all need to do. And it's easier said than done.

But we need to learn to trust him by faith. This is the whole basis of Christianity. To learn to trust and obey Jesus in all things. Right? Most of us, we say yes, amen, I agree with that. And then in practice, we learn to trust him and obey him in some things.

Yeah, I know I should do this, but whatever the reasoning is, we need to learn to trust him and obey him in all things. In all things. The disciples, did they do that 100 of the time? No, of course not.

And nobody does. Neither do we. But the disciples, they grew. They grew and they went from being these cowardly men who when Jesus is arrested, they all run and flee and they're in hiding. Peter stood up for Jesus initially.

And John was there at the cross. We have to give these men credit for what they did. But really, the disciples, they all ran and hid. But later on, years later, once they were filled with the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, and then years later, they turned into giants of faith.

We can do that too. We can do that too. And you say, well, I know myself, I can't do it. Well, you can't, but God can through you if you allow him. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Moores Corner Church.

If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, moorescornerchurch .com. And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.