Jesus Our Survivor and Savior

Pastor Phillips' Sermon

Maundy Thursday, April 13, 2006

Heavenly Father, thank you again for giving us an occasion, as brothers and sisters in Christ, to come before you, to gather in your name, to worship you and thank you for all you've done and to hear your word proclaimed. Bless us now with your Holy Spirit as we think about survival, how we survive, how you survive, how your promises survive, how your love survives. Lord, bless us with your Holy Spirit to learn what it is you have for us to learn tonight. In Jesus' name, Amen.

The basis for our meditation was the gospel reading Pastor Burcham read a little bit earlier. And again, the theme we've been following throughout this season of Lent was the Survivor series but we were basing it on the book of Jonah. First we talked about how does God's love survive in the midst of a sinful world? Then we talked about how do the sailors survive and then how does Jonah survive and how do the Ninevites survive? And on and on. We developed different themes based on the book of Jonah about survival.

Well, if you think about that television series, I'm not sure it's such a wonderful series but it attracts us and it fascinates us when we see this group of individuals placed in the middle of nowhere and they just have their wits to survive. It's an amazing thing to watch, what they do to defeat each other, how they overcome the others' plots and schemes. It seems to bring out all kinds of deceit and trickery and manipulation.

It seems like the number one goal is to look out for number one, meaning yourself. And surely the good guy always finishes last. As Christians watching such a show, what do you think about that behavior? What does the holy spirit in you say when you see the lying and the deceit and the trickery? Imagine if Jesus was a contestant on that show. How would He win? Or would He win? Well, tonight we are focusing on Jesus, the ultimate survivor and our Savior.

Tonight in our text we find Jesus being confronted by the Pharisees and the teachers of the law and our text is a real point, a crisis point in the ministry of Jesus but it's set up by what happened earlier in the day. The crowds were following Jesus and they were listening to what He was doing and they were amazed by His teaching. They were spellbound. Verse 22 says, “Then they brought Him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, ‘Could this be the Son of David, the Messiah?' But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, ‘It is only by Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons, that this fellow drives out demons.' Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.'” With those powerful words of truth, Jesus defeated the Pharisees and their accusation, their false charge that He was driving out demons by the Prince of Demons. He made their statement look ridiculous, which it was.

So then, in their anger, they continued to plot and think of ways they could get even with Jesus and that's where the words of our text come from. It says, “Then some of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law said to Him, ‘Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.'” How does Jesus survive these Pharisees, who are the religious leaders of the people? They're the common people who have devoted their lives to following God, and they've been following according to the Jewish traditions, which are all kinds of rules and regulations. But the people listened to them. These aren't the rich, wealthy Sadducees who are the political leaders. These are the ones who speak directly to the hearts of the people. How does Jesus survive them? He survives their dishonesty and their wickedness and their manipulation and their demand for a sign by speaking the truth. Psalm 119:9 says, “How can a young man keep his way pure by living according to your word?” And Verse 105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. The truth always defeats the lies.” So when the Pharisees and the teachers of the law attack Jesus with the lies, He defends Himself with God's word, the word of truth.

The second challenge that Jesus has to survive He mentions also in our text. He says, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign but none will be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah, for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” How does He survive that wicked and adulterous generation? Well, in our context, in our culture today, when we hear the word “adultery,” we think of marriage vows broken and sexual sin. But, in the Jewish religion and culture of that time, that's not what it was about. There was a marriage, but it wasn't between man and wife. It was between God and His people. And what He's talking about in terms of adultery refers directly to the 1 st Commandment, which says, “You shall have no other gods.” When people wandered from God, whether in the way they lived or the actual objects they worshiped, when they wandered away from God, put other things in the place where God belonged, to God, that was adultery. How does Jesus survive when God's people wander and go astray? Jesus survives their unfaithfulness by being perfectly faithful. 2 Timothy 2:11-13 says, “Here is a trustworthy saying. If we died with Him, we will also live with Him. If we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us. If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.” God's love never fails. His promises are always true. In fact, 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are all yes in Christ.” God always keeps His promises.

Think about some of those promises. His promise, “Surely I will be with you until the very end of the age.” “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common demand and with the temptation, God will provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.” “If you confess your sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.” God always is faithful to His promises. We might be unfaithful to the things we commit to, to the things we say we will do, to the vows we take, but God is always faithful. Jesus survived the unfaithfulness of the wicked and adulterous generation by being perfectly faithful.

The third challenge Jesus faced in His survival as our Savior was death, the power of death. And if you think about it, that is an incredible power. Every person from the time of Adam to now will die except Jesus who, although He died, rose from the dead again. Jesus broke the power of death, and death is the result of sin coming into the world. God told Adam and Eve, “On the day you eat of the fruit from that tree, you shall surely die.” Ezekiel 18:4 says, “The soul who sins is the one who will die.” Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death.” And Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Death reigned from the time of Adam until now but, in Jesus' name, death has been defeated. Jesus has survived death by His resurrection. 2 Timothy 1:10 says, “This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has been now revealed through His appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” Jesus, in His death, died the death we all deserve because of our sin. But, in His resurrection, He destroyed death, that awesome, awful power, Jesus destroyed it.

These Pharisees who approached Jesus, these teachers of the law, these experts in the law, religious experts were wicked, deceitful, and manipulative. They demanded a sign, which was a huge insult in itself. Here was the Son of God, and they're saying, “Prove it.” Jesus points out their ridiculous attitude. He says, “The men of Nineveh will stand up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah and now one greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom.” And now one greater than Solomon is here, one greater than Jonah, one greater than Solomon. One greater than anyone who has ever lived, Jesus. Jesus. He's standing there teaching the multitudes, and the Pharisees and the teachers of the law won't listen. It doesn't make any sense.

Jesus survived the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. He survived the wicked and adulterous generation. He survived that awesome and awful power of death, but will we survive? I read a few stories of survival as I prepared for this message. I thought, “Boy, if I can tell a really good story, that'll really drive home the point.” But then I thought, “These just don't fit. The details are too much of a distraction from the point I'm trying to make.” How does one survive spiritually in this world? I read a bunch of stories, though, that were about pilots who had been downed behind enemy lines and how they had survived and lived to tell about it. It was fascinating. But I think you could summarize they survived by two main factors: 1) They followed their survival training manual to the last detail; and 2) Eventually, they were rescued by special teams that were sent to search and find them.

I know some of you here tonight are facing some very difficult things in your life. Sometimes, you don't know if you're going to survive. I want to encourage you. Do not give up. You will survive because you have God's word, the ultimate training manual. The bible says, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” So, as you read your bible, as you study it in the small groups, as you come and hear it proclaimed, God will equip you for all the things you must survive. And second, you will survive because that ultimate, wonderful survivor and Savior, Jesus, will come and rescue you.

Listen to the word of God found in 1 Peter 1:3-9, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. In His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade kept in heaven for you who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice. Though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief and all kinds of trials. These have come so your faith of greater worth than gold which perishes even though refined by fire may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an unexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Just as Jesus survived the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, just as Jesus survived the wicked and the adulterous generation, and just as Jesus survived death, you too will survive by faith in Him. Amen? Amen.