February 10, 2016 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Matthew 26:1-5 PORTRAITS OF OUR SAVIOR FROM MATTHEW: A REJECTED TEACHER!

ASH WEDNESDAY

February 10, 2016

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Matthew 26:1-5

PORTRAITS OF OUR SAVIOR FROM MATTHEW:

A REJECTED TEACHER!

1.     Watch out so you don’t reject Him.

2.     Rejoice that He was rejected!

Matthew 26:1-5 (NIV 1984) “When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 5 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”

          So when is the last time you looked at a family photo album? It’s interesting now that we have digital pictures you can take so many more. I wonder if they get looked at as much without being put in an album. It’s kind of fun though to look back and see what people used to look like or to be reminded that I was on crutches when I was confirmed and had to kneel with a full leg cast sticking out the back of my robe! For our Lenten series this year we are going to go through Jesus’ photo album, looking at the pictures taken by Matthew in His Gospel. No, kids they didn’t have cameras back then so Matthew takes his pictures with words, God’s Words. As we begin to page through the first picture of Jesus we see is that of a Rejected Teacher.

          As we look at this picture we can see it’s during Holy Week. Jesus had been to the Temple and kicked out the money changers and animal sellers that were making it hard for God’s people to worship. He had spent quite a bit of time teaching in parables, those earthly stories with spiritual meanings. If you look at the content in your Bibles in Matthew 23-25 you will notice that in His teaching Jesus gives several strong warnings against rejecting Him. He teaches about signs to watch for about the end of the world that really help all believers to always stay ready. He teaches and encourages faithful use of gifts that God gives. Clearly this teacher cares for those He teaches.

          And the result of His careful loving teaching? “When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 5 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.” The result? Jesus the perfectly loving teacher got rejected. Rejected by the ones who had the opportunity to know best. Did you notice who did the rejecting? The chief priests, the elders, the High Priest! They were the ones who should have known God’s Word best. How did this happen? Simply put Jesus wasn’t the kind of  Son of God/Savior they were looking for. They didn’t care about being forgiven and released from the Hell they deserved. They wanted someone who would stroke their egos, tell them how great they were and pleasing to God and help them continue to live the easiest life this world could offer. So they rejected the Teacher who really loved them.

          You know if we fast forwarded this picture to our times who would be the rejecters of Jesus today? Well at St. Jacobi it would be all the pastors and teachers, those who by all rights should know God’s word the best. Now we don’t reject Jesus but we would be foolish as we look at this rejected teacher if we don’t take warning against rejecting Him as well. What kind of a Jesus do you want? Is your first desire a Savior from sin? Or are their “more important” problems on your mind? I’ve regularly told people who’ve come through our Bible Information Class and joined our congregation that the closer you grow to Jesus the more sinful you will become. Not that you sin more but you become more aware of your sins and especially those sins of the heart. The opposite is true too. The further away you are from Jesus the less sinful you think you are. You aren’t bothered as much. You find that you get more upset about what others do than your own weakness. A little later in this service you will have the  opportunity to speak these words: “Almighty God, merciful Father, I, a troubled and repentant sinner, confess that I have sinned against you in my thoughts, my words, and my actions.  I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved others as I should.  I am distressed by the sins that trouble me and am deeply sorry for them.” Search your hearts. Are you troubled by your sins? Do they distress you? What kind of a Savior are you looking for? These are important questions to answer right so we don’t become rejecters of Jesus.

          And so we rejoice to see Jesus rejected. What? Rejoice that Jesus was rejected? Yes! Here’s why. “When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” While Jesus was a great teacher that was not His only mission on earth nor His main one. He points to the main one when He says the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified. The Son of man. That’s a title for the Messiah, the God sent, God chosen Savior. Crucified. That’s how Jesus would take care of the problem of sin. He would be obedient to death, even death on the cross. On that cross Jesus was fully punished for every sin. Those sins that distress you, already punished. No punishment for you. Those sins that stick to you despite all your efforts to get rid of them and never repeat them. Done away with! Paid for in full! Those sins you can’t forget, that you hope special people in your life never find out? God already knows and has removed them from you. You may not forget but God already has. Because Jesus got rejected which led to His crucifixion.

          Wow! That’s a lot of info just looking at one little picture. You notice that when you look through those family photo albums. When is the last time you looked through yours? Some here will urge you too. They’ll do that because they went through old photo albums when they got ready for a loved one’s funeral. They’ll tell that they look through them more often now. Looking at pictures of our loved ones, what they did, what they used to look like can bring many fond memories. But you know what’s better than memories of our loved ones? Seeing them in person. Because Jesus was rejected and has paid for sins in full the day will come when we will not look at Him with pictures in words but see Him face to face. We won’t look at pictures of our loved ones who have died in the Lord, we will see them face to face too. Thank you Jesus! Amen.