Recognizing the Authority of Jesus as King of Kings - The God Man (Part 7)

Jesus as the God-Man and the Passover Lamb

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. You know, Jesus didn't come to save perfect people. He came to save those who would believe in him and those who would be willing to serve him.

Matthew 26, verse 14. Flip over to Matthew 26. So the disciples were imperfect. We are all imperfect. The disciples had flaws, but they all trusted Jesus. They all loved Jesus, except one. Matthew 26, verse 14.

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priest and said, What are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you? And they counted out to him 30 pieces of silver. So from that time, he saw opportunity to betray him.

Next, Jesus celebrates the last supper. That's what we typically call it. But to them, there was what? Yeah, to them, they were celebrating the Passover, which really would have been the last Passover because Jesus fulfilled the Passover.

What happened in the Passover? If you've ever read the book of Exodus, you know, you should know. They would kill the Passover lamb and the Jews would do that throughout history. Kill the Passover lamb.

Jesus was what? The lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world. So that night, Jesus was betrayed. He was arrested. He was killed as God's Passover. So that from now on, God's wrath will pass over all those who are under the blood of the new covenant by faith.

The Agony of Christ in Gethsemane

So Jesus and his disciples, after celebrating the Passover, they depart for the Garden of Gethsemane. Where Jesus now, first it was his disciples being distressed. Now Jesus starts becoming distressed in his spirit.

We have to remember, Jesus was saying Jesus is the God man. And we think of Jesus as divine, and he is. But he was still a man. Let's not forget that. In his humanity, certainly, Jesus is distressed. And he prays to the Father in Heaven, knowing what is about to happen.

And it's not just the pain and the grief that he's going to experience. Jesus knows that the complete and the full wrath of Almighty God will be imputed to him. The sin of the whole world, the full measure of it, will be upon him.

As the Father turns his back on Jesus on the cross in utter rejection. He knows that's coming. Look at Matthew 26, verse 39. And he went a little farther and fell on his face and prayed, saying, Oh, my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.

Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. That night, using the information provided to them by Judas, the soldiers came and arrested Jesus, bringing him before the Jewish council. So why did it have to happen that way?

Because Jesus, during the day, he was always walking with a crowd. And, again, there's a lot of popular support among the people. If they tried to arrest Jesus in broad daylight with a big crowd, how would that go?

You know, evil men like to do their wickedness in the dark. They don't like to broadcast, hey, we're about to do something really terrible. No, they tell you something else. And then they do the terrible things outside of prying eyes or away from prying eyes.

And then Jesus never slept in the same place twice. They never knew where he was that night. So they had to get on the inside one of his disciples to betray him. So Jesus is now brought before the Jewish council, which was what?

An illegal court convened in the middle of the night in order. This was all done for one purpose, not to have a trial. This was all for show. The purpose was to condemn Jesus to death. They had already made their decision.

And Jesus knows this, and he's not going to cooperate. I love this. He's not going to cooperate. Look at verse 62. And the high priest arose and said to him, Jesus isn't responding. The high priest says, do you answer nothing?

What is it these men testify against you? What does it say? Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to him, I put you under oath by the living God. Tell us if you are the Christ, the son of God.

And Jesus said to him, it is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter, you will see the son of man sitting on the right hand of the power and coming on the clouds of heaven. And they just lost their minds when they heard this.

What's that statement about? Where is that statement from? Well, Jesus coming on the clouds of heaven. This is from the prophet Daniel in Daniel chapter 7. Daniel sees a vision. Let me just read this.

You can make a note of this. Daniel 7, 13 and 14. The prophet says, I was watching in the night visions. And behold, one like the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. Does that sound familiar?

And he came to the ancient of days, which is God the father. And they brought him near before him. Then to him was given dominion and glory in a kingdom that all people's nations and languages should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away. And his kingdom, the one which shall not be destroyed. A kingdom is going to be given to him. Now, if you look around the world today, you can see that Jesus is not ruling and reigning with a rod of iron here on the earth.

I mean, that's clear. But is Jesus the sovereign king? We've all said and heard it repeated and say amen. Jesus is king of kings and Lord of lords. Can you say amen to that?

Whoa, hold on.

Before you say that. Think about it. Is Jesus king of kings and Lord of lords? Now, if you agree with that, after thinking for a minute, say amen. Is Jesus king of kings? Doesn't that mean he's the king of the United States of America?

Doesn't mean that he's the king of every nation? Do people believe that? Do Christians believe that? So he will have a kingdom that will last forever. And the day is coming where all men will see him returning on the clouds of heaven with great power and glory.

And when Jesus returns in the clouds, will we be ready? Upon hearing this statement, coming on the clouds of heaven, the high priest, what does he do? He tears his clothing, which was a sign of judgment and grief.

It's probably fake because he had decided he knew he was going to do this. He's just going along with the script. It says in verse 66, the high priest says to everyone there, what do you think? And they answered and said, he is deserving of death.

Jesus Before Pilate and the Charge of Sedition

Jesus is then brought to Herod. We don't have time to get into all the details. But then ultimately he is delivered to the Roman governor because it was the Romans who put people to death. The Jews weren't supposed to do that.

They were under Roman occupation. The Romans had to kill him. So Jesus is delivered to Pontius Pilate, who at first did not want to get involved. He didn't care about these religious disputes among the Jews.

But ultimately Pilate condemned Jesus to death basically for one reason. It was politically expedient. The Jews kind of tied his hands. He didn't really have much of a choice. Jesus was claiming to be king.

This is why I said before you say amen, Jesus is king of kings, make sure you know what you are saying. Because you are pledging your allegiance to Him. You say, well something like this could never happen in a nation like ours.

Jesus is delivered to Pontius Pilate who condemns Him to death. The Jews wanted Him dead for blasphemy. He was claiming to be divine. He was claiming to be God. Equal with God. But Pilate condemned Jesus to death for the crime of sedition.

This was treason against their king because to them Caesar is the only king. Look at verse, go over to chapter 27. Matthew 27. And I don't say these things to make anyone afraid. Because if you trust in the Lord, I believe God will protect you.

And you know the worst case scenario. No matter what it is. No matter what it is. Worst case scenario. If you die, you go to heaven. We need to kind of loosen our grip on the things of the world. And stop worrying about so many things here on this earth.

Hey, do what you can do. Be responsible. Do the right thing. But place your life in God's hands. He will be with you. Here is the crime. Matthew 27 verse 37. And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him.

This is Jesus. Here is His crime. The king of the Jews. He claimed to be king. When in their system only Caesar could be king. And by the way, this is why Christians have been hated from the very beginning.

All throughout history. This is why Christians are despised. Because a true Christian recognizes the authority of Christ over and above any human ruler. Why do you think Morris Corner Church has been open for the past year and a half?

Because of this. Because Jesus is the Lord of this church. There are some people, they get very uncomfortable when they perceive that someone is trying to mix together religion and politics. And I think it's absolutely, I don't like it at all.

When people, you know, make the church about political things and trying to get one candidate elected. I think that's terrible. That that kind of thing would happen in a church. But you can't avoid these issues.

Because Christ saying that He is king is a political statement. You understand that? Saying Jesus is king of kings is a political statement. This is why Christians have been despised. Because we recognize the authority of Christ.

Do we seek to be good citizens? Were the disciples good citizens?

Of course they were.

They were wonderful citizens. Christians today are good, law-abiding citizens. But we don't bow to the edicts and the decrees of men. Especially when they directly go against the word of God, which they often do.

This is where cultural Christianity departs from true Christianity. Because cultural Christianity takes the faith and tries to blend it together with the culture. And kind of iron everything out. It doesn't work.

It doesn't work. So, this is a claim of authority that Jesus made that He was the king. And we need to recognize Him as the ultimate authority. And again, this is why Christians have been despised throughout history.

Remember King Nebuchadnezzar?

Bow down to the golden image.

What did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego say? No, we won't do it. During the time of Rome, when Rome was in charge, they would tell Christians to, if you're going to have your religion, just offer a pinch of incense on the altar to Caesar.

What did Christians do? No, we won't do it. Or say, Caesar is Lord. They said, no, Jesus is Lord. Shut down your church because we say so. No, because you don't have that authority. Because Jesus challenged and went against the authority of Israel's rulers, they had Him crucified.

Christ's Kingship and Christian Allegiance

Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Coronet Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscoronetchurch .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.