The Parable of the Two Builders

Hello, and welcome to the Westside churches special Monday Morning Coffee podcast on this podcast, our preacher Mark Roberts will help you get your week started. Right? We look back at yesterday's sermon so that we can think through it further and better work the applications into our daily lives. Mark will then look forward into this week's Bible reading so that we can know what to expect and watch for. And he may have some extra bonus thoughts from time to time. So grab a cup of coffee as we start the week together on Monday Morning Coffee with Mark.

Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to the Monday morning coffee podcast for December the 20th. I'm mark, and you really need to buckle up for the Monday morning coffee podcast today. I know it's a week of Christmas and there's a million things going on, but I have a ton of stuff for you. Gonna give you a big dose of energy as we load into this week and get ready to do an awful lot of different stuff, but always with an eye on the Lord and pleasing him and bringing honor and glory to him. I've got a big cup of coffee and have a delicious should slice of banana bread that Olivia Padilla made for me. And I just appreciate that. So very much that's making my day start in a great way. I hope your day is getting underway in a solid and good way, and I hope this podcast is gonna help you let's get to it yesterday. I completed the preaching theme for the year by preaching the last several verses in Matthew chapter seven on the sermon on the mouth. This is the parable of the two builders and I preach for Matthew chapter seven beginning in verse 24 through the end of the chapter. And I should say right here, how much I appreciate the elders letting me work from last year's preaching theme, which was to be attitudes right on end to the rest of this sermon on the mouth. It has been a tremendous challenge to prepare that material, but it has been tremendously rewarding. There is just nothing like the teaching of Jesus. And so in some ways for me to give you additional notes about Jesus's sermon seems, yeah, that doesn't seem like a really very good idea at all. Uh, how can you improve upon Jesus or add to what Jesus has said instead, let me just give you a textual note that I think will help you as you're looking at. And as you're continuing to work with the sermon on the mouth, that note comes from Matthew's commentary on Jesus's sermon verse 28, when Jesus finished these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching. The term astonished or some translations have amazed here in Matthew is not a description of faith. It indicates an emotional response, but there is no follow through here. These people do not go on to become disciples. It is the term that is used in Matthew 1358 of an unbelieving reaction to Jesus. It is a term that's used of the disciples. When the rich young ruler is turned away and Jesus says it's very hard for the roots to be saved Matthew 1925. And it's a term that's used of the crowd's astonishment about Jesus teaching on marriage and the resurrection in Matthew chapter 20 into in verse 33. It is not a commitment of faith. And so what I want to say about that, and maybe this will serve as the final note from the sermon on Sunday, we talked about there's a danger in Bible study and thinking that knowing, just hearing, excuse me, hearing Jesus's words somehow makes us more spiritual. And then we talked about how everybody, your life on something, the house stands for your life. What are you building on culture shifts like sand, are you building on the rock, talked about how it's really hard to put a foundation under a house that's already built. And then of course you can tell the whys and the foolish, when it rains crisis reveals character crisis reveals what it is that we have built our lives up. Ha so it's hard to really add more to that, but I would say this if somehow the sermon on the Mount causes in your life amazement or astonishment, but it's not moving you to action. You need to know that is not why Jesus preach a sermon and not what Jesus is looking for. So many people come out the back and they say, oh, that's just a great sermon. And I'd love to hear you preach. And I always appreciate encouragement and compliments abso absolutely, but moving people to some kind of emotional moment is not the purpose of preaching. Not Jesus is preaching and not my preaching about Jesus is preaching. So many people will say, I just love that song. It thrills me to sing it. I just just feel it in my heart. Again, an emotional action is not the same as a faith that leads us to obedience. The crowds were astonished. That's insufficient. Don't be astonished at the sermon on the Mount, build your life on it by being in obedience to what Jesus teaches and says in the sermon on the out, that is what Jesus is going for. That's what the sermon on the mount's all about. That's what you and I need to be doing. Let's turn our attention in to daily Bible reading. We're completing Matthew chapter 26 on Monday, and then we'll be in Matthew chapter 27 for the rest of the week. And I'm gonna try to keep this really short. I know there's a zillion things going on. Like I said, cuz Christmas is Saturday and we'll run around doing last minute chopping and trying to get this figured out and we've got to go here and we've got to go there and we've got to do this. So you don't need three hours of notes about your daily lab reading. This is gonna be a week when it's just going to be a challenge to get daily lab reading done. So lemme give you a couple of quick notes that will help you as you're doing that reading for Monday's reading the key verses verse 64, you have said, so the sense then is it it's um, that's your way of putting it? Cuz Jesus is not the Messiah that they think that he is. And then Jesus says, I tell you from now on, you'll see the son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven, right hand of power is Psalm one 10 coming on the clouds of heaven is Daniels. And that is absolutely a messianic prophecy. Those are two messianic verses and of course, verse 65. The high priest tears is closing says we hear it, they get it. So he represents himself as the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy as the one who comes with the clouds of heaven. He is the one who is invited by God to sit at his right hand, saw in 110. This is as clear a claim to being the Messiah as Jesus can make. And these guys know their Bible and they get it. And that is why they then are going to move Jesus to a Roman court so that they can get the death sentence delivered by the Romans Jews. Didn't have the power of capital punishment at this time in new Testament times they need a Roman authority to sign off on this so that they can kill Jesus. Tuesday's reading then is Matthew chapter 27 versus one to 10. What dominates this of course is Judas committing suicide. I wish I could tell you. We wish we knew why Judas ends up where he does. How and why did he decide to betray? There's endless speculation about that and what happens here, where he decides to kill himself, which is just awful and terrible in every possible way. I think Matthew includes this and by the way, this is unique to Matthew's account because he is setting Judas failure alongside of Peter's failure. We read that yesterday in Matthew, 26, 69, 75 we're Peter is denying Jesus. Now Judas is failing just as much as Peter is failing, but Judas handles that very, very differently. And that's gonna challenge you and me as readers to think about how do I handle failure? And when I let the Lord down, what am I gonna do about that? Is that gonna be the end? Failure is fatal in a very literal way for Judas or am I going us myself off repent seek the grace and mercy of the Lord like Peter does and continue to serve the Lord. Peter goes on to become a powerful figure in the new Testament church we're studying in acts on Wednesday nights. And it's incredible what Peter is doing and can do. Judas goes nowhere, of course, because he ends his life here. Tragically don't miss versus nine in 10 quote Jason out of Jeremiah chapter 18. This is probably outta Jeremiah chapter 19. And then there is part of this that comes from Zacharia. There's your old Testament connection there. And the quotation here ties what Judas is doing to the overall plan of God. Nothing catches God by surprise. In any sense of the word Wednesday's reading then is Matthew chapter 27 versus 11 to 26. And this is Jesus before pilot. If you want to know the most about the pilot trials, that's John's gospel, but Matthew does give us a couple of pieces here that are unique to him. Verse 19, the business about pilot's wife and then verse 24 and 25. Both of those verses, uh, all three of those verses are unique to Matthews gospel. And what we see here is that there's really no point in trying to explain what the Messiah is about and who the Messiah is to someone like pilot that would just have been a complete waste of time. Jesus is verse 12, silent in front of him, which is a fulfillment of Isaiah 53 and verse seven. He was silent as a sheet before his sheer. So Jesus is fulfilling that and is being what Isaiah 53 promised as he is being tried for his very life. Just stop and notice Jesus could easily defend himself. That's not what I'm about. Explain, tell pilot, I'm not that kind of king Jesus could talk his way out of this situation. Jesus is a master teacher. Jesus could do that. Could say the things necessary to get out of this circumstance. Even if pilot can't understand the massage, Jesus still could have his way through this. I am sure, but Jesus does not do that because Jesus is determined and committed to die for the sins of the world to die for your sins. And for mine, we need to appreciate that more. As we watch Jesus here with these kangaroo courts and sham trials, Thursday's reading is just very, very difficult. Matthew chapter 27 versus 27 to 44. This is the account of the crucifixion of Jesus. In some ways, maybe it's a little bit ironic that here we are at a time when a lot of people are focusing on the birth of Jesus and in our Bible reading, we're here thinking about the death of Jesus, which of course Jesus birth is very, very important. We are certainly very glad that Jesus was born, but Jesus puts the emphasis on his death barrel and resurrection. And that's where we are. All of the gospels cover the crucifixion in extensive detail, not the physical details of what it was like to be crucified. Everybody in the new Testament world was well familiar with that. Didn't need to know about that, but each gospel writer does put his own emphasis on certain aspects of this. And for Matthew, this is about the kingship of Jesus. There's lots about him being the king. There's lots of royalty emphasis here. Even the mocking simulates him being a king in Matthew chapter 27, verse 28. They put the robe on him and the crown of thorns verse 29. And I think in all of this, we really struggle with how, how awful this death was. As I said, new Testament readers would certainly know all that they wanted to know about crucifixion, but in Roman law, it was reserved only for the very worst criminals. And in fact, no, Roman citizen could be crucified without a direct edict from the Caesar and even worse for the Jews that meant the curse of God was upon you. That's why they don't just drag Jesus out and stone him like they do Stephen in acts chapter seven. They want to hang this man up and say, he is a bad man. He is a faker. He's a hoax. Don't listen to him. The curse of God is upon him. And as we read down through this today, just over and over again, we see so much that fulfills the old Testament, Psalm 22, Isaiah 53. And the irony of them saying, if you are the son of God, you would save yourself. Well, the irony of course is he is saving us by not saving himself because he is the son of God, the savior, the Messiah who has come to die for our sins. He has come to save us finally for the week on Friday, we will read the end of Matthew chapter 27. And of course this includes the death of Jesus and his burial. We'll read Matthew chapter 27 beginning. Well here, of course I've sat down my Bible reading schedule, verse 45 to 56. Let me grab a cup, little swig of hot coffee here. All right. So let's work through this. And probably the most important thing for us to grab is this quotation that Jesus uses from Psalm 22. When he as, excuse me, verse 46, my God, my God. Why have you forsaken me? There's been a great deal of conversation about that and what that quote means. And there's lots of people who are just very certain that Jesus is not forsaken by God on the cross. And, and there can be a case made for that. And I've read that material and, and heard that case. But I am not compelled by that. I think Jesus knows what he says. And I think he means what he says. And I think as he bears the sins of the world and bears the punishment for the sins of the world and God's wrath falls upon him, there is a sense in which God has turned his back upon Jesus because he cannot be in fellowship with sin. And I think Jesus is giving us a glimpse of that by this quotation from Psalm 22, where David feels like God has turned his back upon him. But the important thing to know is that there are numerous Psalms that Jesus could have quoted, which are Psalms of lament, where David says, Lord, I feel like you've gone asleep and don't even know the trouble I'm in, or God you have forsaken me. I feel like I'm just crying to the heavens and nobody's listening. There's lots of those. So those are called Psalms of lament where the Psalms cries out in need. There are boatloads of those in the book of Psalms. The one that Jesus chooses Psalm 22 is not just a lament. That's the key thing in verse 21 of Psalm 22, it says you have rescued me from the horns of the wild auction. So I will tell of your name to my brothers. It goes on Psalm 22 has a pivot, a hinge, and it goes on from there to praise God for delivering David. So when Jesus quotes a Psalm here on the cross, as he dies, he can hardly breathe. He can't preach a whole sermon that he can't say much. Jesus quotes, a Psalm that says, I feel forsaken of God. But the one that he quotes is a Psalm of trust that midway through the Psalm says, God, you saved me. And I will praise you because you have not verse 24 despised or AB hoard. The affliction of the afflicted. You have not hidden his face from him for he has heard when he cried to him. So this Psalm is a Psalm of trust and Jesus uses that to show his trust in the father, even as he is dying. I think that's a insight into what Jesus is saying here, and that matters so much, cuz it gives all kinds of light into the very mind of Jesus as he is suffering and dying on the cross. Thank you for listening to the Monday morning coffee podcast. And we would certainly appreciate it. If you would follow some scribe rate and give a review on iTunes or whatever app you are listening on that will help other people find the podcast. If you'd recommend it to a friend, we would appreciate it very, very much. We climbed over a hundred downloads this week and I just appreciate the people who do all the work behind the scenes to make the podcast load up and sound right. All the things that go with all of that. We have a great team works, all of that together for me and for you. And I appreciate them very much. I appreciate you listening and I appreciate you being about your daily Bible reading. Even as I said, during a busy holiday week, I wish you the very happiest of holidays. Hope it's a warm time for you, with friends and with family. And so until next time, may your coffee be delightful. May your Monday be short and the Lord be with you today all day. I will see you next week.

Thanks for listening to the Westside church of Christ podcast. Monday Morning Coffee with Mark, for more information about Westside. You can connect with us through our website, justchristians.com and our Facebook page. Our music is from uppbeat.io. That's upbeat with two P's UPPBEAT where creators can get free music. Please share our podcast with others and we look forward to seeing you again with a cup of coffee, of course, on next Monday.