Sermon Tone Analysis

Read the Text

Pray

There are four major sections in this passage:

vs. 11-17 - The widow’s Son is Raised from the Dead

vs. 18-24 John sends messengers to inquire about Jesus as messiah

vs. 25-30 Jesus commends John

vs. 31-35 Jesus addresses the current generation

vs. 11-17 - The Widow’s Son Raised

The setting gives teeth to the idea of hopelessness.

She is a widow

Her son has died

For an Old Testament parallel you can see

1 Kings 17:

Let me suggest this.

This women is forced into close proximity to a looming human truth: the hopelessness of this life.

Death is the great equalizer.

Death is at war with hope.

And death wins.

there is inevitable death makes all of life meaningless unless you do one of two things.

One is you just don’t think about it.

Now there are a lot of ways to not think about it.

You can do it through tremendous irony and cynicism, or you can do it through altruistic naïvety.

There are all sorts of ways of doing it.

One is you just don’t think about it.

You don’t think out the implications.

You deny, you repress the implications, or you get a living hope.

You get something that gives you not just confidence, but joy in the face of death.

The message of Easter is that Jesus Christ is that living hope.

The message of Easter is Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life.

He has resurrection power.

He has power over death.

Jesus takes the initiative to raise the boy from the dead.

Jesus takes the initiative to raise the boy from the dead

Do you have a relationship with that living hope?

Continue to tell the story from verse 17-23… John inquires with Jesus about whether he is the Messiah and Jesus responds.

John is struggling with his faith.

Note the contrast between the crowds in verse 16 who are saying “God has come to help his people.”

and John questioning “Are you the one who is to come?”

Point #1 - Does the failure of a leader void the positive impact they’ve had in our life?

(vs.

24-28)

We have faced this very question recently.

As various movie stars have been revealed to be sexual predators and their current contracts have been canceled the question becomes: Can we still enjoy their past art?

Where will they find redemption?

Matt Lauer

Charlie Rose

Richard Dreyfuss

Dustin Hoffman

Kevin Spacey

The early church wrestled with the very same issue.

As the government persecuted the church there were some who denied the faith under pressure.

They betrayed the church.

Leaders turned from the faith.

And some church members were left wondering “Is my baptism valid even though the leader who baptised me has turned from the faith?” “Is my marriage valid even though the leader who married my spouse and I has turned from the faith?”

When stuff goes bad it leaves a question mark in people’s mind.

In some cases these leaders wanted to repent and be brought back into the church in good standing.

This was the origin of penance in the Catholic church.

Penance was originally a series of steps that a person could take to show that they were truly sorry for their betrayal.

And this is the case with John the Baptist in two ways:

He is in prison and his circumstances don’t necessarily reflect a person who is right.

He is wavering in his belief that Jesus is the messiah.

A question mark is hanging over John’s head for these two reasons.

Jesus addresses the elephant in the room and he starts by asking six questions that lead to a statement - vs. 26 “Yes [a prophet], I tell you, and more than a prophet.”

Six questions that lead to a statement - “Yes [a prophet], I tell you, and more than a prophet.”

Note: Six questions by Jesus that lead to a statement - “Yes [a prophet], I tell you, and more than a prophet.”

Jesus uses an analogy to describe his generation (vs.

31-32)

Why was it significant for Jesus to validate John the baptist as a prophet?

John has just questioned the validity of Jesus as messiah

Jesus explains the analogy based on John’s ministry and his own (vs.

33-35)

John is now alone in prison while the work of God unfolds

Many in Jesus audience had received the message of John and been baptized

Some in the crowd were secretly finding solace and comfort in John’s imprisonment because they had rejected his baptism

When stuff goes bad it leaves a question mark in our mind.

Was the past ministry I received from that individual or the things God taught me in that season really from God?

John is not alone in his imprisonment experience.

Paul spent time being imprisoned.

The early church faced persecution.

Many biblical heroes have failures, frailty and finitude.

We want heroes who have perfect tract records.

We cherish the idea of a fighter who is undefeated.

Example: Jesus on the cross, the despondency and disappointment of the disciples.

Illustrations of feeling let down by public figures:

Paula Dean (Food Network) - Fired for making racist statements

Bill Cosby accused of giving date rape drugs to dozens of women

Lance Armstrong guilty of doping

Application:

Remember fragile vessels carry out the work of God

The true work of God in our life cannot be shaken.

Point #2 - Receiving God’s methods leads to an agreement with God, but a rejection of God’s methods leads to a disagreement with God - vs. 29 - 30

In order to understand this point we have to go back a few chapters and look at John’s ministry in

Those who had received John the Baptist as the fulfillment of found themselves in agreement with God.

But those who rejected the baptism of John rejected the purposes of God for their life.

The ministry of John interlocks with the ministry of Jesus.

We have been give the freedom to reject God’s methods in our life.

We have the freedom to push away his people, his circumstances, his Word.

But if we do reject his methods we will find ourselves on a path of disagreeing with him at every turn.

It is a tenuous thing to take up our liberty to oppose his plan.

talks about a people who reject the knowledge of God and God turns them over to their own ways.

Domino effect

Ripple effect

Illustration: I have a friend who now struggles with Christianity because 10 years ago they disagreed with how God worked in their life.