Kamikaze
Luke 18:31-19:10
Romans 5:7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
• Who would you die for?
Would you die for your family?
When Charlene Sanders drove home from a routine day of work April 28, the last thing she expected was that she would be telling family of her husband’s death later that night.
At about 9 p.m. on April 28, Jim Sanders invited a young man and women into his home to view a ring he had posted for sale online.
Within 30 minutes, Jim Sanders was shot dead before his family’s eyes.
The events of April 28 changed the local family forever, as it shook the quiet town of Edgewood and the “Craigslist Murder” drew the attention of media nationwide.
Jim was the head of his hard-working Christian family that included his wife of close to eight years, Charlene, and their two boys – Jimmy Jr., 14, and Chandler, 10.
As a trusting, loving human being, Jim never suspected the evening visit would take the direction it did. If he had, he would have stopped it at the doorstep. He was an unfailing protector of his family.
Jim was always cautious, and fully prepared to protect his family against intruders, said Charlene. But on April 28, he was blindsided.
“He was duped,” said his younger brother, Derek Sanders. “He trusted someone and he let them into his home.”
Once things took a turn for the worse, Jim did what he had to do. After seeing his 14-year-old son pistol whipped by one of the intruders, he freed himself from the zip-ties around his wrists and defended what was most important to him: his family.
“Jim stood courageously and he died for his family,” Derek said. “The way he was taken has made his story what it is – he stood up for his family, he fought, and he died. If he died in a car crash, it would have been tragic, but it would have been just another obituary.”
Jim’ family has spent the time since his tragic and untimely death clinging to their faith, trusting in God’s plan, and searching for meaning in such a senseless slaying.
What they have found is that their family’s story, which has spanned international news, has inspired people to make positive changes in their own lives.
Here’s the story in their own words…
VIDEO: Bill SANDERS (youtube)
Romans 5:7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
• Who would you die for?
Would you die for your country?
The Kamikaze (common translation: "divine wind") were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible.
The tradition of suicide instead of defeat, capture, and perceived shame was deeply entrenched in the Japanese military culture. It was one of the main traditions in the samurai life and the Bushido code: loyalty and honor until death.
This is an excerpt from a kamikaze pilots' manual…
When you eliminate all thoughts about life and death, you will be able to totally disregard your earthly life. This will also enable you to concentrate your attention on eradicating the enemy with unwavering determination, meanwhile reinforcing your excellence in flight skills.
There’s something honorable about dying while fighting for a cause. That’s what I want to see in a good hero story. The hero comes and fights evil or dies trying. That doesn’t seem to be a new idea.
We pick up our journey through Luke in…
Luke18:31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
Their thinking, great now is the time for Jesus to roll some Roman heads.
They were thinking
Micah 5:2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
or
Isaiah 11:12 He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. 13 Ephraim's jealousy will vanish, and Judah's enemies will be cut off
They definitely remembered
Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation,
But then there’s this twist at the end of that prophecy.
gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
That’s not right. Jesus is supposed to man up with a sword and roll in with the Roman equivalent of a Hummer. He’s supposed to roll in with a strong, tall white horse. Instead, he’s strolling in with a vespa, a baby donkey.
Where’s his sword? The only blood Jesus was looking to shed was his own.
Zechariah 9 continues…
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim (yes!)
and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. (That’s right!)
He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. (That’s what I’m talking about! And all the Jews said… AMEN)
11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
What? Blood of my covenant? No, Jesus, this isn’t about your blood. It’s about theirs!
Like Joseph being sold into slavery to the Egyptians out of a waterless cistern, Jesus aims to become a slave to the Gentiles. Like Joseph, who rose up by humbling himself to eventually free his people from death due to famine, Jesus will humble himself to free his people from eternal death due to sin.
Jesus isn’t walking into a trap, he’s walking into a mission. There’s purpose and planning behind it.
32He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. 33On the third day he will rise again."
The Jews new what it was like to be handed over to the Gentiles by God for their sin. They had been beaten up by the Babylonians, the Philistines, the Romans and the list continues. What good would it be for one more Jew to get beaten up by a Gentile? They’d all been there and done that.
So…
34The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.
This is the third time Jesus tells them directly about his suffering and death. He tells them twice before clear back in chapter 9. Now it’s closer than ever and they still don’t get it. They won’t get it in fact until “it is finished.” Literally.
Before Jesus actually enters Jerusalem, he has two more items left on his “to do” list. There are two more appointments Jesus needs to keep, that no one knows about… yet.
There’s a lot about the events we will study today that remind me of a movie about an IRS agent named Ben Thomas who wants to set things right in a way that no one saw coming.
VIDEO: 7 Pounds Trailer
Jesus is about to do two acts that lead to one truth.
35As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.
This is a good spot to beg, because this is where Jews would often pass by on their way to “church” We all tend to be a little more generous on our way to worship cause that when God is watching. After all, it’s the Lord’s Day. As if all the other days of the week belong to someone else.
36When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." 38He called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
Did you get the irony? Here is a man who cannot see. Yet he recognizes the Messiah before the Jewish religious leaders, who’s job was to look for the messiah, ever did.
He doesn’t ask for a spot in Jesus’ throne room, like John or James. He doesn’t ask how he can kick Roman butt for Jesus like Peter did. These three, by the way, are Jesus’ three closest disciples. This blind man on the side of the road, who isn’t even named by Luke, asks for the one thing that everyone else missed.
He just wanted mercy. That’s what he needed most. That’s what everyone needed most.
39Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"
40Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 41"What do you want me to do for you?" "Lord, I want to see," he replied.
I’m not much of a risk taker. If I were ever sitting in Cash Cab and I was offered that double or nothing question at the end of the ride. I think I would take my money and run every time.
This guy takes a risk.
He was there to beg for money. He could have stuck to that game plan and would have easily gotten money from all those people around Jesus trying to impress him. Instead, his faith led him to ask for the impossible.
42Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has healed you." 43Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
Did you catch that? Two miracles just happened in that man’s life. The sight was just icing. You probably missed it because the NIV goes weak on the Greek behind “your faith has healed you”
That verb behind “has healed you” literally means “has saved you”.
This man came to Jesus with pure faith and was given more than he asked for. Everyone else in that crowd was coming to Jesus with agendas, asking for this and that, what they needed was faith.
Jesus has one more appointment before heading into Jerusalem…
Luke 19:1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.
Luke is hinting that these two encounters, the first with the blind man and the one we are about to see happen back to back. There’s something about them that connects.
At this point, Jericho has all the grandiosity of Washington DC. Herod has built this place up with palaces and pools and monuments to the power of his kingdom. The way Herod got all this power and prestige was by selling out to the Romans. This is an important backdrop for the kind of guy that Jesus is about to run into.
2A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.
Zach. Wasn’t just a tax collector. He was the chief. He wasn’t just he chief tax collector in some po-dunk Washington, NC. He was the chief tax collector for Washington DC!
The difference was his government didn’t provide freedom of religion, it slaughtered enough Jews to make Hitler cry. Zaccheus was a Jew who collected taxes from his fellow Jews to pay for the holocaust. He’s living in a nice house probably within view of Dachau paid for by his treachery.
Get the picture.
3He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
If you are a short person, please don’t take this the wrong way, but what makes this situation worse for me is the fact that this guy is doing all this damage to his own people… and he’s just a WEE LITTLE MAN!
I have issues with that. I want bad guys to be like the Russian dude in Rocky, not Minnie me. This guy’s the wizard behind curtain who Dorothy could have taken out if she wanted to.
5When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately.
I am picturing a tense pause here. Maybe a couple of people in the crowd are going, “oooooh, he’s gonna get it.”
I must stay at your house today." 6So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' "
Make no mistake, this guy’s eating with Hitler. Except Zacchaeus did not take the easy way out like Hitler did.
8But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."
This isn’t this guy’s paycheck. This is half of everything he owns.
9Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.
Jesus is looking at Zaccheaus but saying this to everyone. Here is a man who on his best day deserved to be burned alive and escorted to the basement of Hell. Yet, Jesus wants to sit at his table and bring him salvation.
Why?
10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
Let’s wrap this up, spank it and send it to bed…
Jesus just explained his kamikaze mission in 4 verses…
31Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. 33On the third day he will rise again."
…
10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
Everything Jesus did in between those words preached the same message in action.
While everyone is thinking Jesus is about to go to Jerusalem to fight for good people. Jesus is showing and telling them that he will go to Jerusalem to die to save lost people.
What’s the point?
Usually we do the WWJD with sermons. Jesus was nice to Helen Keller and Hitler, we should be the same. That’s a nice thought, but the problem with it is the assumption that you are someone other than Helen Keller or even Hitler.
Like Zaccheaus in a tree, you should come down immediately.
Who are you to think you deserve God’s favor yourself, much less be the dispenser of it? Once you recognize the real value of Jesus eating at your table, you will understand what it means to give. Until then, all this religious duty you perform is nothing more than arrogant mockery of God’s grace.
The blind man has something to teach all of us about true sight. Jesus finds you. You don’t find him. The first chance you get, you should call on his name. Who cares what your family is telling you? Who cares what the crowd is doing? You know you need mercy and this is your shot. Call on his name.
Paul gives a good conclusion to what we’ve read today in
Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
How do I do it?
Paul learned how to call on the name of the Lord from a man named Ananias who told him in…
Acts 22:15 You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.
• What’s ironic is that Paul had been blind for three days when Ananias said this. Notice a trend?
16And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'
