Dangerous Jesus Series

OPENING SLIDE

INTRODUCTION

• This is week four of our five-week series.

• This is Week 4's energy.

• Tension is rising.

• Opposition is tightening.

• The cross is closer.

• Have you ever noticed that the most dangerous person in any system is the one who cannot be controlled?

• Not the loudest voice, not the angriest person, but the one who refuses to bow…

• The one who refuses to compromise refuses to play by the unspoken rules.

• That person becomes a threat.

• When we read about Jesus, we sometimes forget that He stepped into a world filled with systems.

• Religious systems.

• Political systems.

• Cultural expectations.

• Power structures.

• Jesus did not minister in a vacuum.

• He didn’t walk into a neutral environment where everyone was open-minded and spiritually curious.

• He walked into tension.

• Rome occupied Israel.

• Religious leaders guarded their authority.

• Theological camps were divided, and everyone believed they were right.

• That’s why this series matters.

• If we want to understand what Jesus accomplished at the cross, we have to understand the world.

• He disrupted before He ever got there.

• Because Jesus didn’t just heal people, He threatened power.

• He didn’t just teach; He exposed hypocrisy.

• He didn’t just preach about the kingdom, He confronted the systems that claimed to represent God.

• By the time we reach Mark 12, the Pharisees, the Herodians, and the Sadducees—groups that normally couldn’t stand each other—are now united.

• Why?

• Because Jesus had become dangerous.

• And here’s the truth that still applies today: Jesus is only dangerous to what stands against the living God.

• So the question isn’t whether Jesus is dangerous; the question is, dangerous to what?

Mark 12:13–14 NET 2nd ed.

13 Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to trap him with his own words.

14 When they came they said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and do not court anyone’s favor because you show no partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

MAIN POINT 1 SLIDE

SERMON

JESUS IS…

I. Dangerous to Religious Pretenders

• In Jerry’s message last week, the chief priests, scribes, and elders realize the Parable of the Tenants was spoken against them.

• They want to arrest Him, but they fear the crowd, so they leave and go recruit two groups whom they usually did not care for, the Pharisees and the Herodians, to see what they could do with Jesus.

• The Pharisees were strict religious leaders devoted to the Law and their traditions, respected by the people but often trapped in legalism.

• The Herodians were political supporters of Herod and Rome, more concerned with maintaining power and stability than preserving spiritual purity, and normally, these two groups wouldn’t even sit at the same table.

• But when Jesus started threatening their systems, they suddenly found common ground.

Mark 12:13 NET 2nd ed.

13 Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to trap him with his own words.

• Do you feel the tension?

• This isn’t curiosity or spiritual hunger; this is strategy.

• They didn’t come to learn.

• They came to trap.

• The Pharisees saw themselves as strict religious guardians of the Law.

• On the other hand, the Herodians, they were political supporters of Rome.

• Normally, they disagree on almost everything.

• But when Jesus threatens their systems, they unite.

Religious flattery is often a setup.

• Listen to what they say: “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and do not court anyone’s favor because you show no partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.”

• Everything they said was accurate, but it wasn’t sincere.

• Flattery can be a mask for manipulation.

• Religious language does not always equal spiritual sincerity.

• These folks sound respectful, but in truth, they are calculating.

The real issue is control.

• Here’s what makes Jesus dangerous: He cannot be controlled.

• The Pharisees controlled the interpretation of the Law, social religious life, and moral expectations.

• Jesus shows up and teaches with authority, interprets Scripture correctly, and exposes their hypocrisy publicly

• That’s dangerous because religious veneer survives on image, and Jesus exposes the heart.

Before we get too hard on them, we need to understand that religious pretense is not a first-century problem; it’s a human problem.

• We can say the right words, use spiritual language, appear faithful, know the vocabulary, and still have motives that are not pure.

• Jesus is dangerous to any version of faith that is performative.