The Gift of His Approachability
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Happy Christmas Eve to each of you...I love Christmas Eve, I love the entire month of December. It’s one of my favorite times of the year. I love the weather, the food, the Christmas lights, the smell of Christmas trees. I love it all. The entire month of December is full of celebrations. December 5th, is National Ninja Day! It’s the day to get your Cobra Kai on!...December 16th, is Chocolate-Covered-Anything Day. And all the chocolate lovers said Amen? I’m not much of a sweet tooth guy, I’d rather have a Brisket day. So I googled it and learned it exists. May 28th is National Brisket Day!...But that’s May and this is December, and December 18th is another big day. It’s National Wear a Plunger on your Head Day...Apparently there’s a lot of people wanting to wear plungers on their heads...I’ve never met anybody excited about wearing a plunger on their head, but if that’s your thing go for it. Just make sure it’s a clean plunger...I love December because it’s a month full of celebrations,
But the greatest thing we’re here to celebrate is the gift of Jesus, it’s the incarnate birth of Jesus. The incarnate birth of Jesus implies something about the heart Jesus has for you, me, the entire world. It implies Jesus is approachable, since he was willing to enter our world of sin and suffering. If you study the life of Jesus you’ll see him repeatedly approaching people in their sin and suffering, and tonight we’ll unwrap this gift. We’ll unwrap the incarnate approachable heart of Jesus, because if it’s true. If Jesus really is an approachable God, it means you can approach him tonight with whatever you’re going through in life. It means you can approach him for help with your sins and sufferings. So let’s turn to Matthew 11 and get into it. If you open your bible to the middle, keep turning right, you’ll find Matthew. We’ll be in Matthew 11:1-6. Title of today’s message is The Gift of His Approachability, and the big idea is Jesus is an approachable Savior... You can go to Jesus with your sins and sufferings, because Jesus is an approachable Savior.
Context:
Here’s your context. Historically we know there was a famous Jewish religious teacher named John the Baptist who was preaching that Israel’s Messiah, their long awaited Savior was coming. He became very popular with the people, and he was a strong supporter of Jesus. He also wasn’t shy about denouncing the local government, especially the corruption of King Herod. Well King Herod throws him in prison, John’s life is now at risk, and this is what happens next.
The Word:
Matthew 11:1-6 states this, “When Jesus had finished giving instructions to his twelve disciples, he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns. 2 Now when John heard in prison what the Christ was doing, he sent a message through his disciples 3 and asked him, ‘Are you the one who is to come...” John asks a real life Matrix and Neo question. He asks if Jesus is the one, if he’s the long-awaited Messianic Savior Israel’s been waiting for. But remember he’s asking this while sitting in prison, while sitting in hardship. John supported Jesus, even told his own disciples to follow Jesus instead of him. But now he’s sitting in prison, sitting in hardship with King Herod threatening to execute him, and he’s confused. He’s confused because the Jews expected great blessings to come when the Messianic Savior arrived, but John’s facing hardship. So he’s like “I don’t get it. If you’re really the One, if you’re really the Savior I’ve been serving and pointing others to, then why’s my life such a wreck?” I love the reality of the bible because life’s full of hardships. Christmas is a joyous time, but it isn’t always joyous for everybody. The bible teaches the reality that life’s full of hardships, even for those faithfully following Jesus like John. It’s full of times where we sit in our own proverbial prisons confused like John saying “I don’t get it. If Jesus is real, if he’s so loving and approachable, then why’s my life such a wreck? Why am I in this situation? Why should I believe and trust in Jesus, when life’s so painfully hard?” The question John asked in hardship is the same question many of us have asked in hardship. It’s the same question some of you might be asking today. It’s the question is Jesus really the one?
Again vs. 3, “John asked him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’” The Greek word for ‘expect’ can also be translated as ‘look.’ John’s asking if he should expect or look for another Savior instead of Jesus? It’s another reality of life, which is that you’ll always be looking for another savior. If Jesus isn’t the one, if he isn’t your Savior, you’ll always be looking for another savior. If Jesus isn’t your Savior, you’ll make something else your savior. Some of you are looking for your career or money to save you, to fix your problems, to give you a comfortable life. Some of you are looking for relationships, for a spouse, for a new spouse, to save you from loneliness. Some of you are looking for the bottle or drugs to save you from the painful joy void in your heart...Everybody’s looking for a savior, and if Jesus isn’t that Savior, you’ll never stop looking. You’ll always be looking for another, like John said.
Now what’s interesting is John doesn’t do what a lot of us do. He doesn’t approach Jesus with a list of demands saying “Jesus I’m in hardship, I’m in prison, but if you get me out of here. If you get me out of this hardship, then I’ll know and trust you as my Savior.” John never says that, he never gives a list of demands. He simply asks if Jesus is the one, or should he look for another. This is important because some of you stopped pursuing Jesus since he isn’t meeting your list of demands. But the issue isn’t with Jesus, it’s with how you’re pursuing Jesus. You’re not looking for Jesus to be your Savior, you’re looking for Jesus to be your slave. You’re giving him a list of demands and if he doesn’t meet those demands, then you’re out. But John never approaches Jesus like that. He never starts with asking Jesus to fix his problems, he starts with asking if Jesus is his Savior. You’ll never experience the transformative power of Jesus in your life, if you’re looking for him to be your slave. You’ll never experience the transformative power of Jesus in your life, until you stop looking for other saviors, and look for him to be your Savior.
Again vs. 3, “John asked him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’ 4 Jesus replied to them, ‘Go and report to John what you hear and see.” He tells them to report what they hear and see, and we can see the approachability of Jesus based on what we hear and see in the text. Jesus isn’t responding to John with anger saying “How dare you question me! How dare you doubt me!” He isn’t angry with John’s questions, which tells us we can approach him with our questions too. We can even ask him to help with whatever hardships we’re facing in life, just don’t threaten to walk away if he doesn’t answer the way you want. But we see the approachable heart of Jesus and his willingness to help others even more in vs 5.
Vs. 5, “The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news, 6 and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me.’” Here we’re seeing Jesus was approachable to all kinds of people, but more importantly he’s answering John’s question. He’s telling John he’s the Messianic Savior and fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophetic claims. Roughly 700 yrs before the incarnate birth of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah said these exact things would happen when the Messianic Savior comes.
ï The blind will receive sight...(Isaiah ch. 9)
ï The lame will walk...(Isaiah ch. 35)
ï The lepers will be cured...(Isaiah ch. 53)
ï The deaf will hear...(Isaiah ch. 29)
ï The dead will be raised...(Isaiah ch. 26)
ï The good news will be preached...(Isaiah ch. 61)
Isaiah said these things would happen 700 yrs before the incarnate birth of Jesus, and so
Jesus is saying tell John it’s happening! Tell John what you’re hearing and seeing. He’s proving he’s the Messianic Savior by fulfilling Isaiah’s prophetic claims, and by telling John to check the eyewitness testimonies of people who’ve been blessed by his presence and miraculous healings. John doesn’t have to look for another savior, because Jesus is that Savior. You and I don’t have to look for another savior, because Jesus is that Savior, and he wants to have friendship with us.
Vs. 19, “He’s a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” Jesus is such an approachable Savior, that he was willing to approach some of the most sinful people in society with a hand of friendship. Jesus is holy which is why he hates sin and the damage it causes people. But he’s also loving and approachable in heart which is why he extends a hand of friendship to people. He’s like a loving parent hating a deadly disease that’s killing their child. The parent hates the disease, but loves the child. Jesus hates sin, but he loves people. Jesus hates sin, but he loves you. He’s so loving and approachable that he chose to enter our world to love us intimately, restore us fully, and die for our sins to save us eternally. This is what we’re here to celebrate on Christmas Eve, it’s the incarnate heart and birth of Christ. What I mean by the incarnate heart of Christ is Jesus put flesh on his love. He was filled with so much love for us, that he chose to put flesh on his love. In fact the word incarnation means God in the flesh. Jesus is God in the flesh. He put flesh on his love and entered our world of sin and suffering, which allows him to empathize with our pain. Are you feeling the pains of somebody you love betraying you? Jesus was betrayed by people he loved too...Are you feeling the pains of somebody you love dying? Jesus wept over the death of Lazarus too...Are you feeling the pains of wrestling with temptation? Jesus wrestled with temptation in the dessert and Garden of Gethsemane too. He never sinned, but he wrestled with temptation too...It’s the incarnate heart of Christ that allows him to empathize with our pain, which is what drives him to love us so deeply. He was often moved by people’s brokenness and approached them in their pains. Vs 5 reveals he approached the blind, the lame, the lepers, the deaf, the poor. Vs 19 reveals he approached the tax collectors and sinners. History reveals Jesus approached all kinds of people. It’s because he’s loving, compassionate, approachable in heart.
In the book Gentle and Lowly author Dane Ortlund states, “Jesus’ earthly ministry was one of giving back to undeserving sinners their humanity...Jesus walked the earth rehumanizing the dehumanized and cleansing the unclean. Why? Because his heart refused to let him sleep in. Sadness confronted him in every town. So wherever he went, whenever he was confronted with pain and longing, he spread his cleansing mercy.” Jesus came to rehumanize the dehumanized, and his miracles mentioned in vs 5 weren’t an interruption of the natural order, they’re a restoration of the natural order. We think of miracles as interruptions of the natural order, but they’re really a restoration from what sin decayed and dehumanized. We’re so used to living in a fallen world that sin, suffering, sadness, disease, death seems natural. But those things aren’t natural, they’re the interruption! Those things didn’t exist until Genesis 3 when the first humans brought sin and death into the world. Jesus came to restore things back to normal again. German theologian Jürgen Moltmann states,“When Jesus expels demons and heals the sick, he’s driving out of creation the powers of destruction...The lordship of God to which the healings witness, restores creation to health. Jesus’ healings aren’t supernatural miracles in a natural world. They’re the only truly natural thing, in a world that’s unnatural, demonized, and wounded.”
Jesus came to restore things back to normal again, and he’s coming back to finish the restorative work he started. So if you’re a skeptic do what Jesus told John to do, which is to hear and see the things he did. Study the life of Jesus in the 4 gospels that are in the Bible. But as you study the life of Jesus, pray and open your heart to Jesus. If you approach him with an open heart, he’ll approach you with an open hand of friendship...If you’re a Christian remember just because we have an incarnate Savior who approached our world of sin and suffering, it doesn’t mean you won’t experience sins and sufferings. You’ll still experience sins and sufferings like John, and when you do. Instead of looking for other saviors...look for Jesus to be your Savior.
The Big Idea:
The big idea of the message is that Jesus is an approachable Savior...You can go to Jesus with your sins and sufferings, because Jesus is an approachable Savior...He’s an approachable Savior who put flesh on his love through his incarnate birth. He chose to enter our world to love us intimately, restore us fully, and save us eternally. Do you want to be forgiven of your sins?... Do you want a fresh start, your life to be restored and put back together again from the damaging effects of sin?...Do you want the joy void in your heart to be filled?...Then stop looking for other saviors, and look for Jesus to be your Savior. Ask Jesus to be your Savior tonight not with a set of demands, but with an open hand and an open heart...As you sit in your own proverbial prison of sins and sufferings like John, the question to ask this Christmas Eve is do you believe Jesus is the one?...Do you believe Jesus is your Savior...or will you keep looking for another?