Instruction and Conflict

That is exactly what we're trying to do on Wednesday evenings is follow the footsteps of Jesus. We're following his steps through his ministry and with the goal and purpose that we will not just understand the individual steps of Jesus the chronological sequence of the events in his life that kind of thing but we will also be drawn to follow his steps in our lives as we see the pattern of his life his His example his ministry the way responded to situations that we also will will have the desire and Enablement by the spirit to live in that way and follow his steps in that way as well We begin tonight in Luke chapter 9 so invite your attention to Luke chapter 9, please Luke 9 Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. He is making his last trip in a sense the last big trip from Galilee he will This were about six months before his death and he will spend about the first three months in the Jerusalem Judea area and then the next three months are close to it in Peria which is kind of east of Jerusalem and Judea and he'll kind of pull away because the opposition is getting so intense But we saw that that Luke 9 tells us that he he Resolutely set out or he set his face to go to Jerusalem knowing what lay ahead of him and knowing that the opposition would be tremendously intense he knew he was going right into the teeth of the hatred of the Pharisees, but he went anyway And we saw that as Jesus travels Let's take a look at the map again Barian take a look at what Jesus is doing here as he leaves from the Capornum area Galilee area starts down into this green area is Samaria and as he starts down into Samaria We found last week that he went to a village To stay overnight and the people did not want him to stay you remember the background the historical cultural background all the animosity of the people there the Samaritans towards Jews So this is at least the possible site. We don't know for sure where it was, but this would be probably the first Stopping point on the way for someone who would be going from Galilee through Samaria For whatever reason or whatever wherever it was Jesus was turned away from that town you remember James and John The sons of thunder wanted to call down fire from heaven on that village and just incinerate it just you know And we saw that that was there were some good things about that. They're zeal for Christ They're their loyalty to him and so forth They're faith that that God would do that like he did for Elijah But Jesus reminded them that's not why he came he did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them and So he just says will this move on we'll just go somewhere else and that spirit in itself is a great lesson for his disciples So he's teaching them instructing him about a gracious spirit so from this point Sorry From this point we he goes back probably into Jewish territory out of Samaria and then picks up the route that most Jews would go along this highway dotted line here dotted lines of the major highways that would go through the land Roadways for travel caravans and that kind of thing so he probably came down this side of The Jordan River and across like most people would to to Jerusalem But he's teaching them about a gracious spirit now as he as he picks up the journey One of the reasons why it is thought that he did actually go over back into Jewish territories because He's not traveling just with the 12 anymore. There are some others that are approaching him along the way Remember Jews traveled from Galilee and great groups of people family groups neighbors from villages and so forth and The fact that three people come up to Jesus and interact with him in these next few verses seems to indicate that he was again Along a crowded more crowded highway So what we find now in verses 57 through 62 as we finish up Luke chapter 9 Is that that Jesus has three prospective followers that approach him Two of them ask him or make a statement to him Jesus makes a statement to one of them and they give some Some indication of an intention to follow Jesus but Jesus responses are At first glance very unusual almost harsh cruel and so we need to take a little closer look to see what was going on here And why Jesus responded is it is remember a couple things here Jesus is moving toward his death He's moving into the teeth of intense opposition and so that plays a part in in the responses he gives plus he is Training he's still training the 12 he's still teaching him he's still instructing them about things they need to learn So let's pick up with the first guy who approaches Jesus in verse 57 Jesus is going to teach a lesson to his disciples about serious purpose Verse 57 as they were walking along the road a man said to him. I will follow you wherever you go Jesus replied foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head And that's not like an unusual response. I'll follow you wherever you go. Well, I don't have any I just want you to know don't have anywhere to lay down at night. I don't have any place to call home What do you think Jesus was doing there? What do you think he was getting across? Why that response It's not going to be easy. Yeah, not going to be easy. Certainly he's getting that across That Let's let's think for a little bit about this man's statement man that comes up to Jesus. I will follow you wherever you go What does that sound like? What what do you think's involved in that statement? Hero worship okay. Yeah quite possibly Anything else strike you about that statement May not have counted the cost he may not have really understood what he was committing himself to Interestingly enough Matthew Matthew's gospel tells us this man was a scribe Which means he's probably a Pharisee he is probably one of the religious leaders Which for the most part have been opposed to Jesus Um, it's quite possible this man Think that if Jesus is going to Jerusalem to present himself as king which is what a lot of people think at this time that um Maybe he'll he'll kind of get in on the Kingdom thing and with his position and knowledge and skill he might He might kind of bargain for a high position I'm supposing obviously But his very bold statement. I will follow you wherever you go almost seems to be Trying to gain the favor of Jesus trying to make an impression maybe maybe boastful maybe a little too certain of himself and and I think um I think it is probably true that this man has not understood what he's saying He does he doesn't know what kind of commitment he's he's um Indicating he will make he doesn't know what he's getting into because Jesus from this point on now Jesus has had a place to lay his head there are some people who use this verse to indicate the whole ministry of Christ was like this and it wasn't Jesus has had a place he could call home he didn't own a home But he stayed in a home in cappernum in Peter's home He had a place where he could go at night and have a place to lay down and so forth But not from now on these last six months Jesus is going to be on the move Kind of staying ahead of the opposition of the Pharisees and there will come times where they are so intent on killing him that he'll he'll move out of Jerusalem out to Judea then he'll come back and then he'll go back out to pariah and he's going to be on the move constantly huge pressure on him from crowds um A lot going on in his ministry now so from this point on it's going to be extremely Troublesome and hectic for for the Lord in his ministry and so he's he's letting the man know You say you want to follow me wherever I go? Okay, I just want you to know You're probably not going to have any place to lay your head at night Do you realize what you're getting into? So really what Jesus is teaching his disciples is in order to follow me you got to have serious purpose This is not just something you sign up for and say man. I'm in it for you know. This is going to be great Let's go. I'm ready Let's have a big time And Jesus is making sure you understand the serious purpose behind following him. It's not going to be easy Not going to be easy Okay any other comments questions about that first interaction By the way, I don't I don't think Jesus said that with a sour attitude. I don't think Jesus said that in a complaining spirit I just want you to know I'm not going to have anywhere to lay down Pity me. I don't think there was anything of that. I think if anything Jesus said it with a liberating spirit. There is nothing to tie me down I'm going to be completely free to do whatever the father wants me to do. There's no place. I have to have roots anymore I'm going to be on the move. I think there was in a sense a liberating freeing thing and in our Lord's Spirit about this about this whole thing Sometimes that's what it costs to follow Jesus To be liberated from entanglements not to be tied down And sometimes that kind of serious purpose is is required when you say I'm going to follow you wherever you go All right, there's another man that comes to him look at this next one and Jesus is going to teach a lesson here about spiritual priorities This this really sounds like the hardest one of all Verse 59 he said to another man follow me Jesus instigates this one follow me But the man replied Lord first let me go and bury my father Oh, that sounds like a reasonable request doesn't it? Or let me go bury my father Take care of my aged parents basically. That sounds like a legitimate request listen to Jesus response though in verse 60 Jesus said to him let the dead bury their own dead but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God Well You talk about a tough standard Okay, let's let's unwrap it a little bit Let's get let's talk first of all with the man's request or what the man's statement let me first go bury my father What do you think that means? I'm not trying to get too mystical here or anything but um Do you think his father had just died do you think it was already dead Does anybody you know anything about burial customs in the ancient world especially in ancient Near East hot climate No involving procedures except in Egypt. They didn't have him here They buried quickly they buried within 24 hours So If the man's father had already died and he hadn't buried him yet he wouldn't be there You see he wouldn't be so it's not a situation where the man's father has died, but they haven't had the funeral yet No, if his father had died he would he would not be with Jesus. He would not be out there in the highway He would be back making taking care of the burial arrangements that day So that's not the situation I think what Audrey said is the situation I think probably his father is elderly And he wants to go back and and care for his father until his father dies for an indeterminate period of time It may be a brief period of time maybe a long period of time Now what do you think about Jesus response? What do you think Jesus means when he says left the dead buried the dead? That almost sounds cruel, doesn't it? What do you think he's talking about there? Spiritually let let the let flesh that out a little bit Let the spiritually dead bury the the spiritually dead or even bury the dead the man You think that's what he's saying Okay, I think put those two together and I think you're on the right track here. I think What Jesus is saying really makes sense when you understand what he's saying He's saying I understand your your concern for your father But we only got six months Okay, now he didn't say it that way, but there's a sense of urgency in his response Jesus knows he's only got six months before the cross and So this is an urgent thing. I need you now if you're going to follow me we need you now This and I think he does mean the spiritually dead can bury the dead and that's not a cruel statement basically it's saying Those who are not at all interested in the kingdom who have no spiritual life are well equipped to take care of that But they're not equipped to take care of the kingdom business and the kingdom business is urgent because who else? I really got six months. I need you now. So I think in I think in those terms it softens the answer a little bit. Okay Jesus is not being cruel. He's being realistic about what the kingdom requires right now Yeah, it's interesting to wonder what the man did did he Did he come on and follow Jesus? There's no indication that any of these Into that following Jesus There's no statement either way, but you would almost think if they did follow in some recognition of that would have been made But there's no no statement about that So I think Jesus really is impressing on his disciples the seriousness of what they are in and and what it means to follow Jesus if you're going to follow Jesus He's he's telling him you've got to have spiritual priorities And there may be some other things that others will have to care for And you have a priority on the kingdom now. Please don't misunderstand that The Bible teaches that we should care for our parents Okay, the Bible never says we shouldn't neglect our parents So I don't think Jesus is going against that But I think in this particular instance and there are some instances like this like this Where kingdom business is priority and it's urgent and it's got to be done now or we miss the window of opportunity And so in that case spiritual priorities take precedent Even over family priorities Now that's a very tricky thing I had a seminary professor that that really kind of cleared this up for me He said you know a lot of people talk about priorities and they talk about it. It was Dr. Ashman and you remember him Talked about priorities being pieces of the pie and you know how people talk about cut pieces of the pie And here's the first piece or the biggest piece and then the second piece and third piece And he was saying some people say that the biggest piece of the pie out to always be your family or it ought to always be God You know and depending on how you look at it he said That's not the way you determine priorities He said you cut the piece you cut the pie differently every day That Made a lot of sense to me There are some days Where kingdom business takes priority over family It's just has to be that way because the task is urgent And there are other days where kingdom business can be set aside for family for a bit You cut the pie different ways on different days depending on the the urgency of what needs to be done I Since that time have never seen priorities quite the same way. I don't think they're always clear cut one two three And they always stay that way. I think they they shift depending on how God has providentially arranged our day You know, so That I think that's what Jesus is getting at here. He's not saying you should always put kingdom business before your parents Or before the needs of your family But he is saying when the need is urgent when the work has to be done kingdom priorities come first That's what he is saying Okay, any any comment or question about that Okay, there's third guy comes up to Jesus for 61 still another said I will follow you Lord But first let me go back and say goodbye to my family Jesus replied No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God Now this is a tough standard Is a tough standard That let's go let's go back to the man's request. What what is the man saying? Where do you think he's coming from what is it what does he want to do You Okay I mean, that's that's what it sounds like doesn't it and I've always thought you know That sounds pretty reasonable. I mean my mom always taught me it before you take off somewhere. Let me know where you are So it's pretty reasonable request Let me at least go say goodbye to my family But Jesus response Seems to indicate there's something a little deeper going on here It's not just the request of I am wholeheartedly committed to following you I just want to let people know where I am Jesus response seems to indicate that that's not the issue the issue goes deeper than that Evidently this is a man who does not have a wholehearted commitment And he's trying to find any excuse possible for delaying What Christ is asking him to do And if it's not say goodbye to my family it'll be something else because There evidently is not a wholehearted commitment To service in the kingdom of God and that's why Jesus says what he does and I don't want you to miss this this is a very high standard and It needs emphasis Jesus is basically saying when you put your hand to the plow don't look back You have got to have a wholehearted commitment or you will not plow a straight furrow I've got a picture of a plow in ancient in the ancient world It's a little hard to see maybe from where you are hopefully you can see that but a plow in the United is hard against that that background Uh, here's a man. Here's the donkey. You can probably tell that distinction right Hope so There you go. Thank you Okay, if you can see here's the plow right here and here's the handle Ancient plows were basically a handle with a metal tip on the end of it That you walk to behind Okay, you can imagine starting out with that even if you got a pretty decent mule leading the way You can imagine starting out with that and looking around looking back Well You know pretty soon your way off over here somewhere your way up over there You cannot plow a straight furrow if you're always looking back And so that's what Jesus is talking about Jesus is saying and one makes this very clear Jesus is saying if you put your hand to the plow If you're serious about following me you must get full attention to the task at hand You can't be looking back to this or that of that you've got to put your constant you'll never be able to plow To do what God wants you to do if you're all the time looking back at something else You it takes full attention to the task whole-hearted commitment to the task Not half-hearted Not complacent not lukewarm when you put your hand to the plow you better be committed to it is what he's saying And And that's what Jesus requires Otherwise you'll be easily distracted from the work you will not be fit for service in the kingdom of God High standard, didn't it? But I'm not going to water it down any Um So You know Jesus is saying If you're going to do kingdom work it requires full attention You can't be doing ten other things and do kingdom work or you're not fit for the kingdom You're not fit for service in the kingdom You've got to have a whole-hearted Concentration Okay, comments or questions You That I think that warning needs proper emphasis in our day and time and and it needs it needs understanding that Yeah You Yeah Is a high standard and I don't think Jesus is asking something unreasonable of him I don't think he's saying you can't say goodbye to your family I think he's saying Jesus knows his heart. I think he sees in this man's heart kind of a reluctance To be wholehearted in these commitments. I've got other things pulling at me And Jesus is saying if you're going to do kingdom work you better get your hand to the plow. Don't look back And and focus on what you're supposed to be doing. I think that's what he's saying And Yeah Yeah Exactly God minute when he said that And Okay, pretty high standard Yes The market says you knew what the man Yeah Even if we don't I mean you know Either he's got a Everything we don't know our head and fall Either Sorry I mean there is a lesson But it's not the lesson. I mean we would think if I mean you felt called Right right Yeah, and I agree wholeheartedly. I think I don't think the Lord is being unreasonable here and saying you can't say goodbye to your family or explain to your family what you're doing I really do believe what you said is correct. I think he saw something deeper but we have reluctance In this man's heart to wholeheartedly commit himself to the task And that's what's required of kingdom work wholehearted commitment to the task Yes Yes Yeah Yeah That is true. Yes Okay Serious stuff, but I think again the Lord is impressing on his disciples who already are following him You know, it's not just for the sake of these people It's for the sake of the ones who already are following him saying do you understand? Are you really committed to this come on you need to I've heard someone to say one time I find that I have to recommit every day to the things I've already committed myself to And that's true and then I think that there's a sense in which Jesus is calling his disciples to recommit to what they've already committed to Want to impress upon you guys. This is not going to be easy This is going to be hard Okay, let's let's move on then to the next incident in our Lord's life Which now moves us to John chapter seven John chapter seven And with this incident We enter a new phase of our Lord's ministry who been talking about it now. I think it's the third week Where Jesus trip to Jerusalem closes out This period that's often known as the training of the 12 even though there still be a lot of that going on There's a new a new phase in our Lord's ministry and this This phase which lasts for three months is often titled by New Testament commentators and scholars often entitled conflict and instruction because there's a balance between intense conflict with the religious leaders in Jerusalem and Instruction to his disciples But Jesus is back in the public arena after being kind of out of the public eye for six months He's back in the public arena and he has gone right into the teeth of the opposition right in Jerusalem And so it's going to get very intense and it starts right away In John chapter seven Jesus remember we saw last week What was he headed to Jerusalem for? To die eventually yes to die But what was the immediate reason for him going it was a feast remember the feast of Tabernacles feast of Tabernacles and So so Jesus is going for this this feast to the temple in Jerusalem and this is this is going to kick off The the time of intense opposition and conflict and also Instruction the stories that are that are That deal with these three months are concentrated in two passages in the New Testament John chapters seven through ten and Luke chapters 10 through 13 It's those two passages which tell us what happened in those three months And Jesus is there to attend the feast of the Tabernacles. I want to show you a picture of Jerusalem If we can launch that now Great thank you and let's hold it there for just a moment Um This is again of a wide range view everything looks kind of small, but if you're familiar with Jerusalem if you've seen pictures of Jerusalem This is probably what you've seen more than anything. That's the dome of the rock On the area this whole walled area right here Used to be the temple mount Where the temple was in Jerusalem Um This up here's the Mount of Olives Up here down across the kidrun valley up to the the temple mount area This is the modern city of Jerusalem this or this is actually part of the old city here's still some of the city wall here The old city of Jerusalem and here's the modern city outside and they don't show all of that there's That extends quite a ways. This is a fascinating fascinating city really a amazing area When I had the privilege to study in Jerusalem in Israel for four weeks back in 1984 We lived right here on Mount Zion Which was the the institute of Holy Land studies. It's now called Jerusalem Christian University And I'll never forget we had gotten there a late on a Sunday night and early on the next Monday morning A number of us got up walked along the wall right here of the old city Into the gate right here and to the the wailing wall which is right here the western wall and I will never As long as I live forget the sights the smells the sounds of of That area in the the old temple mount and it was just an amazing amazing place, but Here's how it would have looked in the first century Okay, watch this closely Here's how it would have looked in Jesus time Okay, this is the temple mount in Jesus time with a kind of an aqueduct type Entrance way to it You can see the city was much smaller in Jesus time. It was the large city for for that day but You know when you look at that first picture Everything here and way beyond that is occupied This is the extent of the city in Jesus day Do you see how? How strategic the temple was and how much of the city had occupied? I mean that was the focal point of the city Jerusalem This is the outer courts where people would gather. This is the temple proper right here But this is where people would gather and remember there would be two million people in and around Jerusalem During this feast of the tabernacles and great throngs would congregate in the temple Keep that in mind as we go through chapter 7. There are some amazing things that happen here in this feast with Jesus Great. Let's look at verse 11 where we left off when we were in chapter 7 last week verse 11 says Now at the feast the Jews were watching for him and asking where is that man Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him some said he is a good man Others replied no he deceives the people But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews. Isn't that interesting? There's just kind of this buzz about Jesus Kind of undercurrent everybody's talking about him. I mean they expect he's gonna be there because Jewish males are required to be at three feasts a year and this is one of them and so uh They expect he's gonna be there and they're wondering where is he where is he they didn't seem the first couple days of the feast It wasn't till mid-feast That he actually shows up and starts teaching verse 14 will tell us But they're they're asking where is he where is this and then you start talking about him some believes a good man some believes he's he's not But there's this real undercurrent of anticipation about Jesus being there now that really sets the scene for what we're gonna find Next in verse 14 Not until halfway through the feast. This was a seven-day feast not until day three or four Did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach Now what's gonna happen here is that Jesus is going to Um arouse a great deal of controversy with his teaching. We don't know we don't know what he taught We don't know what he said But it is going to uh Arouse a lot of Feedback And that's a gentle term for what's gonna happen with with Jesus here But there's gonna be a lot of controversy and conflict over what Jesus teaches first of all verses 14 19 on your outline over the teaching of Christ there is um A conflict over the teaching of Christ Jesus teaches verse 14 verse 15 the Jews were amazed and asked how did this man get such learning without having studied What do you think they meant by that Without having studied I mean did they follow him around to see if he studied the old test on or what do you think they meant by that? Okay, didn't go to schools For the other Pharisees had gone or religious leaders What none to the tulips of a rabbi okay Yeah, I think that's what they're getting at I think they're saying um, you know, we know he didn't go to our schools He's not trained in our by our rabbis he didn't study under any of our Rabbis and go to our schools So in a sense they they're saying he's unlearned in that way They didn't understand who they were dealing with that he knew everything about the scriptures But remember they would say the same thing about the apostles in the book of Acts remember that in Acts chapter four They were amazed they were what they called ignorant men they were unlearned men And by that they meant they had not studied in the official schools to train for rabbinical ministry to train to be a teacher of the law Well, Jesus hadn't either and so that's what they're they're evidently saying How did he get such learning without having studied and notice what Jesus says in his response Jesus answered verse 16 My teaching Is not my own it comes from him who sent me By the way there what Jesus is going to say here really gives us three characteristics of Genuine Bible knowledge Okay, it doesn't matter where you've been to school Schoolings great thing, but only if it helps to reinforce these three things Number one that you know what God says Not what everybody else says But you know what God says you know what the Bible says Okay, Jesus says my teaching is not known it comes from him who sent me this comes from God It didn't come from the rabbis and see the way of teaching in that day was for rabbis To give their interpretations of scripture and so you chose which rabbi you wanted to follow and and Jesus is saying No I wonder what God said not what rabbi So and so said I wonder what God said So true Bible knowledge is an understanding of what God has said in his word now obviously others can help us Learn that but it always needs to be checked by are they being faithful to scripture? Are they being faithful to the word of God? The second Characteristic of true Bible knowledge is a submissive attitude a teachable attitude notice what Jesus says here in verse 17 If anyone chooses to do God's will otherwise you choose to submit yourself to God's will He will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own Um No one who approaches the scriptures with a proud spirit will really Grasp what the scriptures are saying Whatever they do learn will be used to glorify themselves and what Jesus is saying is the way you come to really understand truth is to submit yourself to the one who wrote this book Okay, submit yourself to his will then you will know then you will understand That my teaching comes from God or whether or not I speak on my third characteristic of true Bible knowledge Is a desire for God's glory not your own Notice verse 18 he who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself But he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth There is nothing false about him Of Jesus obviously speaking about himself. He's been asked where did he get this teaching? Where did he get this learning And Jesus is saying first of all got it straight from God you hear what God says secondly I'm submitting to the father's will and that's why I know and if you submit to the father's will you know whether or not my teaching is from him And thirdly, I'm not doing this to glorify myself, but the glorify the one who sent me And that really is a mark of of genuine Bible knowledge Not just the facts, but a real understanding of the scriptures and then Jesus highlights the danger of their superficial knowledge of the scriptures verse 19 Has not Moses given you the law yet not one of you keeps the law He's really waiting into it here now isn't he he's really getting into it deep And not one of you keeps the law and he gives an example the end of the verse. Why are you trying to kill me? Now they've been trying ever since back in chapter 5 Jesus had healed the man at the pool of Bethesda, but it was on the Sabbath day And so they've been trying to kill him John 516 said they've been or 18 said they've been trying to kill him ever since then Because he was making himself equal with God. So they've been trying to kill him since that time And he says didn't Moses give you the law, but you don't do it do you because you're trying to violate commandment number six You're trying to kill me So you have really no concern for the law He's really putting spotlight on their their superficial knowledge of the scriptures Oh, they can give learned discourses on certain things in the Bible, but they don't have any desire to keep the word of God Because they're they're wanting to violate the six commandment by taking his life So they're not living what they claim Why are you trying to kill me so so he's He aroused us conflict over his teaching the his teaching secondly he aroused us aroused us conflict over his work over the work of Christ Let's let's at least get these few verses in here verse 20 you are demon possessed the crowd answered who is trying to kill you Okay, you can see the heat starting to rise right And I'm sure this was not said kindly and courteously. I'm sure it was shouted at him. You're demon possessed. Who's trying to kill you Jesus said to them I did one miracle and you were all astonished the one miracle he's referring to is back in chapter five That's the last time he was in Jerusalem and The miracle he did was to heal the man at the pool of Bethesda it was on the Sabbath day And so they wanted to kill him because of that and he said I'm only doing the work that my father does and they knew that was acclaimed to deity and so they wanted to kill him even more so that's what he's referring to here I did one miracle obviously he's done a lot of miracles in his ministry But he's referring to the one in Jerusalem that they would have been remembering that they were trying to kill him for Okay, did one miracle you're all astonished yet because Moses gave you circumcision Though actually it did not come from Moses but from the patriarchs what he's saying the circumcision was in the law of Moses But it goes all the way back to Abraham it didn't start with Moses um He says um You circumcise a child on the Sabbath now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken Why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? whoa That's an unantorable argument See the the law of Moses commanded that a Jewish may be circumcised on the eighth day if that eighth day happened to fall on the Sabbath Then they went ahead and did it on the Sabbath and he's saying you follow the law by doing that on the Sabbath Why do you criticize me for healing someone on the Sabbath? For making someone whole on the Sabbath Well, they they can't really answer that he goes on to make the point in verse 24 stop judging by mere appearances and make a right judgment Wow This is quite a confrontation here between people in the temple crowd the religious leaders and Jesus so he arouses conflict over the work of Christ over that work of Healing that man on the Sabbath. There's conflict over his teaching. There's conflict over his work And we'll get to other conflict next time conflict over a couple of other things that happen in this chapter and then um Please don't don't miss next week because we're going to be downstairs. Don't think oh it's going to be hard to meet downstairs hopefully just for the one week but If you miss next week, I mean you can read this for yourself, but You will miss I think one of the most gripping scenes in all of the New Testament something Jesus does that if you had been there On that ceremony in the temple and you had just witnessed what had been done and had heard Jesus say what he said the hair Would have stood up on the back of your neck? I mean when I read it now. It's just chilling. It is it is gripping I wish we had time, but anyway, we'll we'll get to it next week. Okay, let's pray Thank you Father for the opportunity to study your word to learn about our Savior To listen to his Instruction about what it means to follow him help us lord to keep that In our hearts and minds as we put our hand to the plow Pray Father that you would keep us mindful of your standard for us Father also help us to understand That Jesus is not afraid of conflict When it means to stand for the truth and I pray Father that you will help us to be willing to stand for the truth and to know what it means to have true Bible knowledge And to use it in the right way Send us lord from this place more committed to following the footsteps of Jesus to Really following him counting the costs understanding what it means Following him in Jesus name we pray amen