Good morning to our church family who are joining us online. Allow me to welcome some friends and faces who are watching us our services online. We are glad to have you join us. Just a reminder that you can call and speak to a pastor this morning at the numbers listed on your screen.
The coronavirus is here and it’s changing our lives in dramatic ways. We feel remarkably fragile.
For the new few minutes, I want to call your attention the words of Jesus. Please find Matthew 21 with me.
We are just four Sundays away from Easter. Easter marks a time when are reminded of the remarkable hope that is in Jesus Christ. It’s a time when believers all over the globe celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Now, for centuries believers have prepared themselves spiritually for Easter the weeks before its arrival. To focus our minds on the importance of Jesus and the resurrection, I am launching a series today entitled “What Makes Jesus Say Amen.”
Almost all churches have an “amen’er” somewhere in the pews. For the novice church goer’s, you flip your head around to see where that amen is coming. Today, when you hear the word “amen,” it usually means, “I like that.” Let’s practice saying amen for a moment at your homes. Would you all give a hearty amen? Everybody has one good amen in them!
The Meaning of Amen
Now, amen is what we say when we end our prayers as the Bible teaches us to do (Ephesians 3:21). The word amen isn’t a “Christian” way of saying, “My prayers are over now. I’m signing off.” Instead, the word “amen” means “ truth,” “trustworthy” or “truly.” Here is something really good to hear on this day: God is the God of all truth. God is the God of complete, 100% truth.
Jesus and Amen
Jesus said the word amen 100 times throughout the gospels And He will preface an important truths with the words, “Amen.” Let me offer some examples… “Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me’” (Mark 13:18b). “Jesus said to him, ‘Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times’” (Mark 14:30). “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (John 5:25).
But our focus right now are these words: “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you’” (Matthew 21:31).
When Jesus uses Amen, He’s calling on you to come to a full stop (pause for effect). The next words out of His mouth are crucial words for you to digest. Over the next five weeks, we will examine some of the most life-changing words Jesus uttered. Again, God is the God of all truth. Listen to Jesus’ word spoken 72 hours before His death on Good Friday and just 5 days before His resurrection.
Today’s Scripture
“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first” Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you’ 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.”
33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons” (Matthew 21:28-41).
Some of you may be familiar with the MTV reality show, Catfish. A catfish isn’t catfish (who knew!?). Instead, a catfish is when someone creates a fake personal profile on social sites where they use someone else’s picture and someone else biography. Essentially, you trick some unsuspecting person into falling in love with you. Angel’s boyfriend pretended to be her “soul-mate,” as the two built a relationship online together. Planning to marry after five months of online chatting, this twenty-six year old California girl finally learned the truth. Angel’s boyfriend wasn’t really her boyfriend; instead, it was really Angel’s friend, CeCe. Angel was “catfished” Angel, getting a measure of revenge against Angel for stealing her boyfriend.
I have good news for you today: the Bible says God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). In a world full of spin and where people doctor the truth, the God of the Bible is total 100% truth. God is so much truth, the Bible even substitutes “amen” for God’s name. The book of Isaiah refers to our Heavenly Father as the “God of the Amen” (Isaiah 65:16). The book of Revelation calls Jesus by the name of Amen as well (Revelation 3:14) . Turn your focus back to Matthew 21 with me where Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you” (Matthew 21:31b).
March Madness (recently cancelled) is a once a year sporting event where college basketball hosts a tournament where the best 68 teams are invited to play. This very week, sports radio and talking heads would normally be debating which college teams are in the tournament and which are “on the bubble.” To be “on the bubble” means you are not sure your team is going to receive an invite to the tournament. “Tax collectors and prostitutes” were not “on the bubble” in Jesus’ day. If you had taken a poll of the kinds of people that will NOT make it to heaven, everyone would have said, “tax collectors and prostitutes.” Their chance of arriving in Heaven had the same likelihood of a snowball sitting comfortably overnight in hell. There was NO way “tax collectors and prostitutes” were getting into Heaven – they weren’t “on the bubble”! This is a really an offensive statement when Jesus tells you that prostitutes will go into Heaven before they will. Just who is Jesus offending here? You don’t see it immediately, but earlier in the chapter and again, but earlier in the chapter Jesus tells us who He is speaking to (see verse 23). He’s addressing the chief priests, the elders, and the teachers of the Law and the Bible. Jesus is speaking to some of most moral, religious people you’ve ever encounter. Now, their problem is also your problem.
Look at the two parables both before and after Jesus’ offensive words.
1. I’m a Renter Acting Like an Owner
1.1 Two Parables Linked
The Parable of the Two Sons and the parable of the Tenant Farmers need to remain tethered together. These two parables help make sense of each other. Take the Parable of the Tenant Farmers (the second parable starting in verse 28) first.
1.2 The Parable Explained
The master plants a vineyard and develops the property. He finds people to lease his property and then he leaves the country. The owner expects to receive from his renters. Only as time passes, he’s not seeing any return on his investment. It would have normally take four years for the vines to mature and to produce grapes capable of harvesting. It was usually the fifth year when profits began to roll in.
Some of you own investment property while most of us in the room have rented property at one time or another. We know what’s like to pay rent and many of us know what it is like to be late paying rent. When you cannot pay your rent, we know we will be evicted sooner or later. A century ago, some of your ancestors were sharecroppers, people who leased property to make a living. The tenant farmers were sharecroppers but they act like they owned the property.
The people in our story, act like the farm is theirs. Three times the master sends representatives to obtain fruit from the land and all 3 times, they are thwarted.
1.3 Our Tendency to Forget The Lord
We all know that Jesus isn’t simply telling us a story about some wicket tenants. Every one of us knows we are in this story somewhere. Be careful with Jesus’ parables; they have this tremendous pull to bring you in the story. But somewhere in the story you’ll find yourself stepping on a hidden beartrap and before you know it, He’s got you. Have you found yourself in the story as of yet? Can you locate where you are? You are the tenant; you’re the one renting. You see, you and me have a remarkable ability to forget our God.
In the early parts of the your Bible when Moses was leading Israel, God told the people these words: “And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Deuteronomy 6:10-12).
We have a remarkable ability to forget God owns our lives; He runs our lives. We act like we own the land when in reality, we are sharecroppers. We have a remarkable tendency to forget we are really renters. We think you have earned this life. Friend, you’re the tenant acting like you’re the owner of your life. We all are tenants, and we want to believe we’re owners. Never forget, you’re renting in this life; you don’t own your life.
1. I’m a Renter Acting Like an Owner
2. Which Son Are You?
Jesus tells the second story, which is really the first story in Matthew’s gospel (I’m flipping back & forth). Let’s hear it again: “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father” (Matthew 21:28-31a)?
The first son says, “No,” but goes while the second son says, “Yes,” but stays. In a traditional culture like this on, the father would have approached the older brother first. The older son says, “I will not” where the younger second son says, “I will.” Jesus asks the crowd of people about the two sons, “What do you think? Which of the two did the will of his father” (Matthew 21:28a, 31a)? I ask you, “What do you think? Which of the two did the will of his father” (Matthew 21:28a, 31a)? The first son or the second son? They crowd answers the second son did the will of the father. Again, be careful because before you know it, you’ll find yourself stepping on a beartrap.
2.1 The Prodigal Son
You know what story this little parable about the two sons reminds you of? It reminds of you of the Story of the Prodigal Son. It has two sons and one does what his father wants him to do while the other wild child runs off to party. Does that sound familiar?
2.1.1 The Second Son
Who’s the second son in the story, the one who said “Yes” to his father but does nothing? He’s the chief priests, the elders, and the teachers of the Law and the Bible. Go back to the story of Prodigal Son with me again. The story isn’t so much about the Wild Child as it is the respectful, older, rule-keeping brother pacing back and forth in the front yard. You see, Jesus placed the Pharisees in the story as the second brother.
2.1.2 The First Son
And who’s he first son, the one who said “No” to his father’s request? It’s the tax collector and the prostitute, they’re represent the first child who said no. It’s the tax collectors and the prostitutes, who respond to Jesus: “Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, ‘Teacher, what shall we do?’ 13 And he said to them, ‘Collect no more than you are authorized to do’” (Luke 3:12-13).
The honest sinners responded to Jesus but the moral leadership rejected Him. Isn’t it fascinating the brash and immoral son is also the more honest son and he is the one who in the end is saved? Jesus says, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick… For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mathew 9:12b, 13b).
You must understand this: the gates of Heaven are open wide for the ungodly honest man or women if they repent of their sins. The gates of Heaven are not even open a crack for the orthodox who do not repent of his/her sins. Jesus doesn’t come for the “healthy.” Instead, He came to cure the sick. Are you sick today? Or, do you need to be made well? Which Son Are You?
1. I’m a Renter Acting Like an Owner
2. Which Son Are You?
3. Be Honest Now
Now, let’s press this in a minute and feel the burn of Jesus’ stories, can we? There’s two pressing issues that divide the people who experience grace and those who don’t The real issue is honesty. It’s fessing up. We have saying in Texas, “A Come to Jesus moment.” Be honest with yourself for a moment. If the tax collectors and the prostitutes were on one side and if the religious and the moral were on the other side, you don’t what divides the two? It’s honest repentance. Mark the difference clearly now.
3.1 A Fire in the Attic
Do you one of the most dangerous fires you can experience? It’s a fire in the attic. Fires in the attic are especially dangerous because no one is up there, there’s no smoke alarms up in the attic either. And so when a fire occurs in the attic, it goes largely unnoticed. Because they take longer to detect, they fire become much larger and has the potential for much more damage.
It’s only when the fire escapes the roof that the fire is noticed. Do you know the real danger of acting like a Pharisee when you’re really a prostitute? It’s the deception of it all. You spend much of your life keeping up appearances. The religious people say, “We aren’t greedy like the tax collectors. We are traitors to our country. We don’t take bribes and we don’t see our bodies. You’re saying we need to repent!?” Jesus says to the religious teachers “tax collectors and prostitutes” had a better chance of being in Heaven than they did. You’re a walking fire in the attic and you’re in grave danger, my friend.
3.2 Receive Christ
The second issue is how you react to God’s Only Son. The religious crowd does this in verse 38 : “when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him” (Matthew 21:38-39).
One group received Jesus into their lives. One person’s heart here today is moved greatly by the love of God. You are thinking, “Why would He send His Son for me? Why would He give me a second chance?” It’s when you heart is moved by God’s tremendous grace while the others think they are self-made people.
3.3 In a Class By Himself
Did you realize that no other person, not even another apostle of the early church followed Jesus’ example by saying, “Amen, I say to you.” You don’t find other people running around the countryside saying, “Amen, amen, I say unto you. No one else felt the liberty to copy Jesus’ practice of doing this. It’s because everyone after Him recognized that no one had His authority, His weight. Jesus is in a class by Himself.
Let’s pray together.
