The Wise Remember Death
Psalm 90
The Wise Remember Death
Psalm 90
Main Idea: The Lord graciously teaches us to number our days, so that we gain a heart of wisdom.
I. The Problem of Permanence (90:1–2)
Psalm 90:1–2: Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
God teaches us to number our days over many days. Wisdom is not downloaded; it is formed. God uses repetition, failure, discipline, joy, sorrow, waiting, and loss to instruct us.
Wisdom begins when we stop pretending we can master time and start submitting ourselves to the God who stands outside it.
II. The Passing of Time (90:3–11)
Psalm 90:3-11: You return man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man!”
For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.
You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
For we are brought to an end by your anger;
by your wrath we are dismayed.
You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?
God allows us to feel the weight of time so we will not waste our lives pretending it does not exist.
III. The Prayer of Wisdom (90:12–17)
Psalm 90:12: So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
“Children can count to seventy. Saints must learn what seventy means.”
~ Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 139:16: Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 90:14-17: Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!
Ash Wednesday 2023 | He Knows Our Frame
Psalm 103:6-19
He Knows Our Frame
Psalm 103:6-19
Genesis 3:19:
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.
Ash Wednesday invites us to remember 3 realities:
I. The Certainty of Death
II. The Cause of our Pain
“Lent is not a general sadness about the inevitability of death but an explicitly Christian diagnosis of the cause of death. We sin and die because humanity rebelled against God. There is nothing natural at all about death. It is an alien intrusion into the good world God created… Through the imposition of the ashes, Ash Wednesday reminds us that death and sin cannot be completely separated. This does not mean a particular form of death is punishment for specific sins, but sin and death are partners.”
~ Esau McCaulley
III. The Cross of Christ
“Instead of becoming a source of despair, our sin becomes the arena of God’s glory. He doesn’t have barely enough grace to forgive us. He is rich in this stuff; it overflows from his very nature. Ash Wednesday invites an introspection that leads to an acknowledgement of our sin that collides with an explosion of God’s grace. No step in this process can be skipped.”
~ Esau McCaulley
The Resurrection of Christ | Easter
John 20: 1-18
The Resurrection of Christ
John 20:1-18
Main Idea: The resurrection of Christ means the curse is reversed and we have hope.
I. The Tomb is Empty (20:1-10)
Sunday morning begins with Mary Magdalene going to the tomb early in the morning while it is still dark on the “first day of the week.” John presents the resurrection as being the beginning of a new creation, with the “darkness” being pushed back by a glorious light.
Mary is presumably traveling to the tomb to mourn the death of Christ. Despite Jesus’ predictions that he would be raised, no one is expecting or looking for a resurrection. This did not fit into either the Jewish or the Greco-Roman worldview. Mary assumes a grave robbery has occurred.
As Peter and John show up at the tomb, they realize the burial linen cloths and the face cloth are both neatly folded up. Peter and John begin to “theorize” what has happened, and John himself “believes” as he steps foot in this empty tomb.
Acts 2:24: God raised him [Jesus] up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
Isaiah 25:7–8: And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
Though they do not realize it yet, Christ “must rise from the dead.” Everything hinges upon the resurrection, and the empty tomb is an invitation for us. “The reason the stone was rolled away on Jesus's tomb was not so that Jesus could get out, but so that we could get in.” ~ Tim Keller
“The truest fact of the universe is an empty tomb. The Resurrection is the only evidence that love triumphs over death, weakness prevails over strength, and beauty outlives ashes. If Jesus is risen in actual history, with all the palpability of flesh, fingers, bone, and blood, there is hope that our mourning will be comforted, and that death will not have the final word.”
~ Tish Harrison Warren
II. The Curse is Reversed (20:11-18)
This resurrection encounter shows us that the curse of sin and its impact on the world is being rolled back. We see this in three categories:
The Setting: Jesus is buried in a “garden tomb” (19:41); gardens have great significance in the Scriptures from the Garden of Eden all the way to the “Garden-City” of the New Heavens and the New Earth (Rev. 21-22)
The People
Angels: In the Garden of Eden, angels were placed by the Lord to prevent anyone from entering & accessing (Gen. 3:24); in this garden, the angels are welcoming Mary into the empty tomb
“The Gardener”
“Mary’s intuitive guess, that he must be the gardener, was wrong at one level and right, deeply right, at another. This is the new creation. Jesus is the beginning of it. Here he is: the new Adam, the gardener, charged with bringing the chaos of God’s creation into new order, into flower, into fruitfulness. He has come to uproot the thorns and thistles and replace them with blossoms and harvests.”
~ N.T. Wright
Mary:
Unlike Adam and Eve who hide from the presence of the Lord and his call in Genesis 3, Mary’s eyes are opened and her faith is ignited as the “Good Shepherd” calls her name. John 10:27: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
Eve is deceived in a garden by the serpent, and sin enters the world and spreads to all of creation. Mary, who had felt the full weight of the serpent’s schemes (cf. Lk. 8:2), is the first to encounter the risen Christ in a garden, and is commissioned to announce the gospel that will spread to all of creation.
3. The Message
Jesus did not want Mary to “cling” to him because his presence was going to come to be with them in the Holy Spirit. Christ’s followers would have an even greater intimacy and relationship with him through the indwelling Spirit, our great “Helper” (Jn. 16:7).
The alienation of the Garden of Eden between humans and God and humans with one another has now been solved because of the finished work of Christ: “go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
All of humanity is living in one of two story lines: we either walk out of a garden into a tomb, or we walk out of a tomb into a garden. By God’s grace and in the power of Christ’s resurrection, we are being invited to new life and into a “living hope” (1 Pet. 1:3).
The Cross of Christ | Good Friday
John 19:16b-37
The Cross of Christ
John 19:16b-37
Luke 9:23-24: And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”
I. A Forsaken King (19:16b-22)
It was customary for the charge against the crucified one to be displayed above them. For Christ: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” The haunting, divine irony of the situation is that they are indeed crucifying the true King of all kings. Pilate’s stubbornness communicates this truth in three different languages, symbolic for the universal, world-wide reign of Christ.
“The Crucified One is the true king, the kingliest king of all; because it is He who is stretched on the cross, He turns an obscene instrument of torture into a throne of glory and reigns from the tree.” ~ F.F. Bruce
II. A Forceful Shame (19:23-24)
Though the physical pain of crucifixion would have been unthinkable, the emphasis in the gospel accounts is on the shame, disgrace, and forsakenness of the cross. Jesus’ death was a “curse-bearing” death:
His nakedness echos the nakedness of the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:7)
He is mockingly given a crown of thorns (Gen. 3:18)
Jewish Law stated that everyone who was “hanged on a tree” was cursed by God (Deut. 21:22-23)
John indicates that there is more going on than we might realize in this scene; he sees the fulfillment of Psalm 22, which Jesus directly quotes in other gospel accounts. The Holy Spirit spoke through David in this Psalm to transcend his own experience and point us to the cross of Christ.
III. A Family Crisis (19:25-27)
Mary’s presence at the cross is a fulfillment of Simeon’s words in Luke 2:34-35 and a reminder of the faithfulness of God from Psalm 22:9-11.
“Even as Jesus’ disciples fled from him in shame, he could cite Psalm 22 while looking out from the cross at his mother. In the moment of his greatest desolation, Jesus could see the invisible outline of God’s mercy and presence there in the one whom, in his human nature, he learned to trust a fathering, nurturing God. He learned that from his mother. And there she stood.” ~ Russell Moore
John (the beloved disciple) is also there with Mary, even though he does not yet believe or understand. Jesus gives them to one another in this moment and this “adoption” is the beginning of the church, a new family joined together by the blood of the cross.
IV. A Finished Work (19:28-30)
John does not present Jesus as a helpless victim who is powerless on the cross; Jesus knows that a greater story is being written. His physical “thirst” (Ps. 22:15; Ps. 69:21) is part of the larger story of God’s plan for redemption that has led to this climactic moment.
Jesus’ cry of “it is finished” is not a cry of defeat or a comment on his impending death. It is a phrase meaning “mission accomplished” and the completion of a task. His death was the fulfillment of his introduction as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, 1 Cor. 5:7)
“Jesus is not on the cross by mistake… The crucifixion was not just an unfortunate thing that happened to Jesus on his way to the resurrection. It is not a momentary blip on the arc of his ascent to the Father. It is precisely on the cross that the work of Jesus is carried through to its completion.” ~ Fleming Rutledge
V. A Fulfilled Promise (19:31-37)
The ‘blood and the water’ from Jesus’ side was to show that he really was dead. But even in the aftermath of this horrific scene, John reminds us of the faithfulness of God. His faithfulness and his promises were still true even at the place of the skull.
“The lack of broken bones there at the cross was a sign to Jesus that whatever happened could not go any further than God’s purposes, and that God’s purposes were good… God might seem absent at the cross, but he was not. He was there providentially ruling, even through the most wicked actions imaginable… Jesus could count all his bones because of the mystery of God’s providence, which works behind, and through, even the most awful things that happen to us. Jesus’ intact skeleton was a sign that no matter how much it seemed that he had been abandoned, the steadfast love of God would not depart. God was still there.”~ Russell Moore
Lent Prayer & Worship Gathering | Ash Wednesday
Matthew 4:1-11
The Temptation of Christ
Matthew 4:1-11
Main Idea: Jesus overcomes the temptations common to us all by trusting his Father & listening to his voice.
I. The Challenge of Identity: Provide For Yourself (4:1-4)
The first temptation from Satan is less about bread and more about trust. He frames the temptation by attacking Jesus’ identity: “If you are the Son of God…” Satan’s temptation to doubt the goodness of God is as old as the Garden of Eden with Eve. He is tempting Jesus to view his circumstances as a definitive statement of who he is before his Father.
Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3; the Israelites failed in their wilderness test by storing up more manna than the Lord commanded, believing that their effort was more sure than God’s promises. Jesus refuses the route of self-provision and trusts his Father’s word is for the best despite his circumstances.
II. The Craving of Validation: Prove Yourself (4:5-7)
Satan now throws Scripture back at Jesus by quoting Psalm 91:11-12, tempting Jesus to prove himself in spectacular fashion for all to see. He is tempting Jesus to prove all who doubt him wrong and to show himself to be the Son of God using the most significant place in Judaism, the temple.
We all deep down have a craving to be proven right and to validate ourselves before others. But we often result in devilish tactics rather than seeking validation from our Heavenly Father, the only opinion that ultimately matters.
Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16, knowing that following Satan’s offer would be a manipulation of God for a self-directed vindication. He was already validated by his Father and he was carrying out his mission, even if most people assumed he was wrong. His validation would come at the resurrection three days after his crucifixion.
III. The Contest of Futures: Promote Yourself (4:8-11)
Satan now shows Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” and offers them to him in exchange for his worship. Satan is tempting Jesus to take hold of his inheritance immediately in this moment by offering him the crown without the cross. The temptation is to get the right thing the wrong way, by promoting and exalting himself rather than submitting to his Father’s plan.
Everytime we grasp for power and control to ensure that everything is going to work out in the end, we are following the pattern of the Enemy who pridefully desired the place of God & fell from heaven like lighting (Isa. 14:13-14, Lk. 10:18).
“Satan showed here explicitly what he’d been trying to do all along. Satan was not just trying to tempt Jesus; he was attempting to adopt Jesus. Satan, in all three temptations, is assuming the role of a father – first in provision, then in protection, and now in the granting of an inheritance. Satan didn’t just want to be Jesus’ lord; he wanted to be his father.” ~ Russell Moore
What is the hope for a tempted people like us? This passage forces us to consider whose voice we are listening to. We only have two options:
The voice from hell who (often subtly) tells us to provide for ourselves, prove ourselves, and promote ourselves.
The voice from heaven that ensures us we are beloved sons and daughters, that we have a Father whose grip on us is tight, and who has promised us a future inheritance in Christ. The way out of temptation is the way of Christ & tuning our ears to hear the voice of our Father.