260607 The Lamb You Didn't Expect

See, the Christ you thought you knew is even better than you imagined. He's not really a teacher, a moral leader, a life coach, a little safety pass, backup plan. He's a savior. He's your sacrifice. He's your substitute. He's the crucified risen lamb. And because he lives, your sins are forgiven. Your future is secure and your hope is certain. So behold the lamb. [00:52:58] (40 seconds)  #BeholdTheLamb

Many wanted a different messiah, powerful and impressive, victorious according to the culture standards. But God sent something greater. He sent the lamb. The lamb who didn't they didn't expect is a lamb you desperately need. Because the deepest problem is never politics, it's never your circumstances, it's never self improvement. Your deepest problem is sin. And John's words still ring true today. Behold, look, the lamb has come to take the sin of the world, yours away. So today, behold him. [00:51:49] (58 seconds)  #LambTakesOurSin

John doesn't say the lamb who comes to just look over your sin and ignore it. He says, no. This is the lamb who's come to take sins, the sins of the world, yours and mine. The guilt that you've carried, he comes to take it away. The shame that you keep pushing back down, try not to listen to her effect, he come to take it away. The regrets that you hide, he's come to take it away. The failures that just replay in your mind, He's come to take it away. The sin that nobody else knows but you know. He's come to take it away. The lamb takes it all away. [00:42:51] (84 seconds)  #HeTakesItAllAway

See, sometimes we don't just reject Jesus. We don't fully reject Jesus because we believe we're Christians, but what we do is we edit Jesus. We we trim away the parts we don't like, that don't fit into our categories, into our likes, and our desires, uncomfortable. call to obedience to do something I don't like, that doesn't feel good, might be unpopular. The reality of our sin? Necessity of grace? We cut. And what we end up doing is creating a customized Jesus, a designer Jesus, a designer Messiah, a savior who always agrees with us. [00:35:52] (63 seconds)  #StopEditingJesus

Ordinary person looks like a weak messiah. No. He's not weak. He's just a willing servant. Not, he looks like he's already defeated. How can he win? He's not defeated. He's a sacrifice. He's kinda perilous. He didn't come to be a power for the world. He came to redeem it. See, this is where Christianity stands apart from everything else. Every religion says, bring your sacrifice to God that it may be acceptable and pleasing. And John said, no. God brought you his sacrifice. [00:41:15] (52 seconds)  #SacrificialServant

That title carries incredible significance in the Old Testament because John is pointing to Jesus and saying, you remember the covenant? You remember God made a covenant with us? He delivered us and he saved us? He took a lamb, this lamb whose blood was shed, the Passover lamb that saved us and delivered us. This is the Passover lamb. This is the lamb that has come to be sacrificed. This is the lamb, what Isaiah says, is a suffering servant. John is pulling together all salvation history and focusing it right onto Jesus. [00:39:40] (45 seconds)  #JesusIsPassoverLamb

I mean, we want a savior to come and save us without repentance. We want a kingdom without sacrifice, glory without a cross, help without sacrifice. I mean, is why we pray. We pray, God, bless my plans. Jesus, improve my life. Jesus, remove my problems. Jesus, make my life easier. But we really pray, Jesus, change me. Jesus, forgive me. Jesus, lead me. Jesus, have mercy on me. [00:34:55] (57 seconds)  #PrayForChange

And that should be deeply comforting to us because salvation does not depend on your intellect. It doesn't depend on your family. Salvation doesn't depend on your insight, your your spiritual performance, your sincerity in what you do, your your own ability to figure everything out and to live it out. Depends on the spirit. The spirit that opens blind eyes. The spirit that opens a hard heart. The spirit brings revelation to a dull mind, the spirit who comes to us while we are dead in our trespasses, dead in our sin, we are condemned, and it comes to death and brings life. [00:45:58] (57 seconds)  #SalvationBySpirit

We don't want people here just because, oh, I like the personality of the pastor or somebody else. I like the people. I hope you like the people, but there's more. It's more than, oh, I just like the program. It's more than I just like the preaching. It's about creating followers of Christ. John loses disciples that day. He doesn't get mad, he doesn't say, oh man, you guys were never really faithful anyway. He doesn't criticize them. What does he do? He rejoices. He rejoices Because his entire ministry and purpose is to point to Jesus, not himself. [00:50:47] (52 seconds)  #PointToJesus

That's why we have great confidence because it's not confidence in us, it's confidence in the God who saves us, a God who rescues us. John said, look, he came and baptized with water, but John says, who's this Jesus is? He baptizes with the Holy Spirit, verse 33. Jesus comes to give us the gift of faith, to give us the ability to even profess, to move our hearts, to change our hearts. And so baptism is not simply a symbolic act, a religious decoration, but it's more. It's God acting, God giving, God revealing himself, God creating faith through the promise of his word, through the simple means of word and water. [00:46:55] (60 seconds)  #BaptismIsGodAtWork

Like God revealed Christ, the spirit descends on Jesus, the father testified, and what we're reminded again in John is faith is a gift. A gift from God. It's not your achievement. It's not your decision. Jesus says it plainly in John six sixty five. This is why I told you that no one comes to me unless it is granted by the Father. Paul writes in one Corinthians, no one can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit. [00:45:17] (41 seconds)  #FaithIsAGift

And yet, when the Messiah arrives, they don't recognize him. It's not because he's absent or he didn't show up because he the reason is because he didn't show up the way they expected. Israel wanted power. Israel, they expected a great political deliverer, another great king, a conquering king, bring us the times of David again. They wanted a national hero. Instead, God sent a lamb. And that tension of what we want and who God is is real today. [00:22:44] (69 seconds)  #UnexpectedMessiah

Jesus, who's the Messiah, stood among them and they still did not know him. They didn't know him. It's not because Jesus didn't appear or God forgot his promises, The prophecies didn't fail. It's because they were looking for someone else. Again, they wanted a different kind of Messiah. They wanted a strong Messiah, a king Messiah, a political Messiah, a revolutionary Messiah. A messiah made in their own image. And yet, before we're too hard on them, which is easy to do, let's let the word look at us. [00:34:03] (49 seconds)  #MissingTheMessiah

Every religion says, you gotta pay the debt. And Jesus says, I paid it for you. The lamb is not asking you to die for your sins. He came to die for you. And that is grace, and that is mercy, and that is the gospel. Notice what John does not say. John does not say, the lamb who tries to help with sin. John does not say, the lamb that comes to try to manage your sin and the consequences and try to keep you safe. [00:42:06] (45 seconds)  #HePaidOurDebt

We love labels, don't we? We label everything. We label politics, label generations, label personalities, sports, label churches, put labels on coffee. We need things to fit in a category. And the religious leaders needed a label, a category. Messiah, Prophet, no. Elijah, So who are you? And John, no, he answers, but not with a title, but with scripture from Isaiah. Recorded in John 23, it says, I am the voice, the one crying out in the wilderness. [00:30:22] (55 seconds)  #VoiceInTheWilderness

Because we want a Jesus who fixes our problems. our desires. We want a Jesus who protects our comfort, our little bubble. We want a Jesus who supports agenda. But John reveals something startling. See the Christ you thought you knew may not be the Christ that actually stands by you. So if you've taken notes, number one, religious people can be so fixed on their expectations that they miss God's actual work. [00:23:53] (54 seconds)  #ExpectationsCanBlind

Sometimes the things we are looking for are right in front of us, and we still don't see it. And that's exactly what's happening here in our text. The religious leaders are searching for the Messiah. And I mean they are on a search for the Messiah. Since they've been raised, they've been waiting for the Messiah. Their whole theology they've been brought up with is saying there's a Messiah who's coming. The family has talked about the Messiah. They've been praying for the Messiah, and they've been studying the scriptures from when they were young seeking, waiting for the Messiah to come. [00:22:03] (41 seconds)  #LongingForTheMessiah

He didn't say, look, what about my ministry? I still got stuff to do. I got speakers that carry to the beach, I need you. I'm just kidding. But, you know, he didn't say, look, look about my movement. He said, no. Look, behold him. So this is what ministry's about. This is why we have this lighthouse and so you behold him and you point. Because the church is not about creating fans and filling seats and building buildings, it's about building people pointing to Jesus. [00:50:01] (45 seconds)  #PointNotPlatform

And see, sometimes, when we're not careful, we do the same thing. We assume God must work through strength, that he's gonna always be more powerful and do more powerful things. We assume that when God is at work, it's success cause that's how we say it. We say, man, God must be at work. I got success. I got all these results. I I am just blessed because God's at work. has done something I wanted. God works through our plans. He helps those who help himself, we say. He works in our ways and timing. [00:27:53] (47 seconds)  #DontConfuseSuccessWithGod

I mean, Jesus, he looks in ordinary. He's not impressive. He doesn't stand out. He doesn't have great features. He's not the Hollywood Jesus we see. He's not balked. He's not had this great g two g whatever, look. I can't get GQ. There it is. Right? No worldly glory. And what Isaiah continues, just like a lamb that is led to the slaughter. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. [00:40:35] (39 seconds)  #HumbleSufferingServant