Rev. David Holwick ZE The Quest for the Real Jesus, #4
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
September 28, 2008
Matthew 23:1-10
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I. Jesus probably loved his cantor.
A. Today we are honoring our music director for 25 years of service.
1) Ancient Jews did not sing in a modern sense.
a) The congregation would have chanted the psalms.
b) They also had specialists who read the Bible in a
sing-song way.
1> Today they are called cantors.
2> Sort of like Marilyn leading us in our Scripture
memorization songs.
2) Jesus attended synagogue on a regular basis.
a) It is my hunch he liked the cantor.
b) But his probably wasn't as good-looking as ours.
B. Religious people have come up with many traditions.
1) Some of our routines have not changed in thousands of years.
a) It ain't broke, so we don't fix it.
b) Stained glass and organs and pews and pulpits have
been around a long time.
c) Even our new gym will have those pointy Gothic windows!
2) The routines can actually BECOME our religion.
C. Jesus had a complex understanding of religion.
1) He was religious in the traditional sense.
2) He also spoke his harshest words against religious people.
a) What would he say to us?
b) What would he think of how Ledgewood Baptist operates?
II. How religious was Jesus?
A. He was an observant Jew.
1) He knew the Bible.
a) He quoted it during his temptation with the Devil.
b) He quoted it in arguments with his opponents.
c) He considered it to be the Word of God and the
ultimate authority on religious questions.
2) He prayed, in groups and by himself.
a) He said "table grace" before meals.
b) When he raised Lazarus, he even prayed out loud so
the others could hear him. John 11:42
c) At times, he would spend all night in prayer.
1> Prayer wasn't something he limited to the synagogue,
or even to a crisis.
2> Jesus prayed regularly.
3> God's will was highest goal, not "answered prayer."
3) He habitually attended synagogue services.
a) Often, he was given the pulpit.
4) He attended annual Jewish holidays like Passover.
a) This began when he was a child.
B. He honored Judaism above other faiths.
1) He said salvation was of the Jews.
2) He aimed his ministry at Jews exclusively.
a) However, he allowed Gentiles to have some "scraps."
C. He took issue with some Jewish practices.
1) He did not practice handwashing rituals because he said
they only had a superficial impact and did nothing to
change our hearts.
2) Jesus did not follow all the Sabbath restrictions.
a) He regularly healed on the Sabbath, saying there was
never a wrong time to make people whole.
b) He allowed his disciples to harvest handfuls of
grain on the Sabbath.
3) Generally, Jesus practiced Old Testament requirements
but not man-made traditions which were added.
a) His own teachings usually did not contradict Old
Testament laws, but maximized them.
III. Jesus had big problems with religious people.
A. He severely criticized them and even whipped some of them.
1) Religious people tried to throw him over a cliff.
2) They ended up crucifying him.
B. The main things Jesus had against the religious:
1) Hypocrisy.
a) Honor with lips but their hearts are far from God.
b) They don't practice what they preach. Matt 23:3
c) They say a prayer, then evict a widow. Mark 12:40
2) Judgmentalism.
a) I preached a whole sermon on this last Sunday.
b) Religious people were quick to judge Jesus, and
usually in a negative way.
c) Christians also have this tendency.
Leonard Sweetm, professor of Evangelism at Drew Seminary,
says he had a "deconversion" when he was nineteen.
"What ignited my deconversion was the church's funereal
spirit....
Christians' stay-at-home-and-pickle-in-their-own-juices
personalities, their vinegary countenances, drained
me emotionally, incapacitated me intellectually,
and shut me down spiritually.
The best I could say was this: by and large, Christians
were kind people in a bad mood."
#17390
3) Commercialism.
a) This is where he whipped people, for commercializing
the Temple area.
b) What would Jesus do today?
1> We have plenty of fundraisers these days.
A> Would Jesus whip us for this?
B> I hope not - but it is easy to limit our focus
to a building and take our eyes off our
Lord.
2> But I think it goes beyond this.
A> Buying into society's emphasis on stuff.
1: The new pastor at St. Dunstans church
worries that her people are more Santa
Claus Christians than Jesus Christians.
4) Ritualism and superstition.
a) Washing hands but not hearts.
b) Babbling endless prayers to get better results. Matt 6:7
c) Honoring the Sabbath but dishonoring people.
5) Phony religiosity.
a) Must bury my dad instead of following Jesus. Matt 8:21
b) Worse - I can't help my folks because this money is
committed to religious stuff. Mark 7:11
c) Focusing on buildings (temple) rather than comprehending
God's plan for the world.
d) Being religious because it gets us attention. Matt 23:5-7
IV. What religion can be.
A. Positive.
1) Jesus saw potential in the worst sinners.
2) He told us not to worry about tomorrow and to put God first
today.
B. Realistic.
1) Jesus knew what was inside humans, good and bad.
2) He showed his disciples how to have hope in horrible
situations.
3) We may be sinners, but we are redeemed sinners.
C. Compassionate and loving.
1) Helping people, especially your family. 1 Tim 5:4, Jam 1:27
2) The real test is in loving the unlovable.
D. Self-controlled and holy in lifestyle.
1) Especially in consistent talk. Jam 1:26
E. Humble - drawing attention to God and not to us.
1) Praying in a "closet" rather than for show.
V. Our religion is a relationship.
A. I would rather push Jesus than church membership.
1) Our faith is a daily walk with Christ, which is far more
than a weekly meeting.
2) What you do outside these walls is more important than
what you do within in them.
B. Accept what the Father has done through his Son.
1) Ask him for salvation.
2) Live in a way that will honor him.
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SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:
#17390 "Kind People In a Bad Mood," by Scott H. Bowerman, Rev. Brett
Blair's Illustrations by Email, www.sermonillustrations.com,
July 7, 2002. Taken from Bowerman's book "Dancing With God."
This and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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