#2-Jesus Came To Give Us Hope Series

Sermon Notes

Series: Why Did Jesus Come? — #2-To Give Us Hope

Scripture: Luke 13:1-9

I. As Sinners We Are All Equally G______________, vv. 1-2, 4

We often think that one of the best ways to "look better" to other people is to point out how B______ someone else is.

As sinners, we are guilty, and deserve eternal punishment. Left to ourselves, and without heavenly intervention, we have no H____________.

II. The Only Hope for Sinners Is to R______________, vv. 3, 5

‘repent’—means ‘to change your M_____,’ with the understanding that you will change what you D_____.

Our brains—E______________ has to be processed through the brain.

What we THINK matters so much that Jesus says, unless we change the way we T___________, THERE IS NO HOPE!

There’s a filter that affects how our brain processes information. —not a real, physical one, but it’s one that based on what we B__________ deep down. (Illustration of a water filter)

‘unless’ or ’except’—‘IF you don’t wish/want to…’

We can say words that S__________ like we want to change, and we can do actions that look like we are changing, but if it doesn’t come from deep down...we have no hope.

III. There Is a T_______Limit on the Hope, vv. 6-9

God works to get us the truth of His W________...

He allows things to happen, causes things to break through that filter to... change what we believe and how we believe, so that we will be receptive to the gospel message.

But when our lives are over, the time limit is up.

Deep down, have you truly changed? Is your whole life directed by the Truth of God’s Word?

Series: Why Did Jesus Come?

Sermon: #2-Jesus Came to Give Us Hope

Scripture: Luke 13:1-9

We are continuing to look at the question: Why Did Jesus Come?

I. As Sinners We Are All Equally Guilty, vv. 1-2, 4

In chapter 12 of Luke, Jesus is teaching a large crowd, and He says a lot about judgment.

He tells the people not to be so concerned about those who may be able to kill the body; instead, to be more concerned about the one who can throw your soul into hell.

He tells the parable of the man who produced a large crop, who said, "I’m going to tear down my barns, build bigger barns, and eat, drink and be merry." But that man would face judgment that very day.

He tells about a person who has been put in charge of a master’s servants and goods. When the master doesn’t return soon, he begins to abuse his authority. But the master will return when he least expects it, and will bring judgment on that steward.

Then we pick it up at verse 1.

1 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

Now, we don’t have a Biblical record of this event. Josephus was a Jewish historian who lived between 37-100 AD. He tells about several occasions where Roman soldiers killed Jews during times like the Passover. At one Passover. 3000 Jews were killed. At another feast, 200 were killed. Another instance mentions Pilate by name as sending soldiers in disguise with daggers to kill Jews during a Passover.

The Jews referred to here are Galileans. They would not have been considered as spiritually righteous by the Jerusalem Jews. So, the people here telling Jesus about this, must have been implying that these Galileans were being judged by God they were worse sinners. And God was using Pilate and his soldiers to bring judgment. When it boils down to it, they were saying, "Those Galileans were worse sinners than me, because God allowed them to be killed.

So, Jesus asks them a question in verse 2 (He asked them,) "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?

In other words, "Do you think they were worse than anybody else?" Jesus makes a statement in verse 3 that we’ll get back to, but as He was letting it sink in, Jesus brought up another incident like that.

4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them--do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?

Again, we don’t have a specific account of this happening. While the pool of Siloam isn’t mentioned by name in the writings of Josephus, he writes about a time when Pilate took some money that was supposed to be reserved for use in the Temple or by religious leaders, and he used the money to lengthen the aqueduct system in Jerusalem. And it could very well be that the work was being done around the pool of Siloam. If this is so, then during the course of this work, a tower apparently fell and killed 18 people.