The Kingdom is Here

Eric Tomeo

Kingdom of Heaven • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

Matthew 26–28

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Notes

Transcript

Handout

Countdown

Something fun (eg. Game, video, etc.). It is not necessary for this to have a tie in to the lesson, but it can.

Introductions

This is culture

Basic Opening Statement: We are glad that you are here with us at bcsm and we want you to know, more than anything, that you have a community of people here that love and care about you. This is a safe space to process your faith and ideas, to ask questions. You have a purpose or a place within this community which means we are better off with you than without you and you have a mission outside of this community. All of that rests on this one foundational truth that we want you to hear and want you to share: God wants to have a relationship with you.

You have community. You have purpose. You have a mission. You have truth.

I am _______________ and before we start, let me pray.”

*Pray for God to use what you have to say to move someone further along in their journey towards Jesus.*

Story Time

Tell a quick story that introduces the message

One day my dad came up to my room. It was the moment I had been dreading. He was home from work just like my mom warned me he would be. “Just wait until your dad comes home.” I was laying on my bed and he walked into my room. Grabbed a chair and sat down. He said, “Someone is in trouble.” And I replied, “Is it me?”

There was no one else in the room. So he said, “What do you think?”

Have you guys ever asked someone a question that you already knew the answer to?

Why do we do that?

Catch Up

Where we have been in the series. Where we are going.

Today is the last day in our Kingdom of Heaven series where we will are exploring the very first book of the New Testament, Matthew, a couple chapters at a time. Matthew is one of four biographies of Jesus that we have in the Bible, we call them the gospels, or good news.

Now we can not cover everything that is covered here, But if you want to dig a little deeper, you can go to thebcsm.com for our daily devotions that follow along with what we talk about on Sunday Mornings.

Now to catch you up, so far we have covered most of Matthew. And we are to the big part. The Part that everyone talks about. The Jesus dying and coming back to life part. I’ve heard this story a thousand times and many of you have too. But there is something new I just noticed this last time through. It is one thing that Jesus says three times in this passage that I had never noticed before. And maybe you haven’t either.

So let’s jump in.

Scripture

Read or summarize main Scripture with a little surrounding context. Ask a couple of questions to about the text.

English Standard Version Chapter 26

And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?”

English Standard Version Chapter 26

25 Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”

English Standard Version Chapter 26

And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Matthew 27:11 (ESV)

Jesus Before Pilate

11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.”

What is the thing Jesus says three times?

What do you think Jesus might mean by this phrase?

Tension/ Main Point

What is the rub? Create some questions and feeling in the minds of your students around the main point of the lesson.

So far in the book of Matthew we have seen this huge trend taking place. Jesus being Jesus. And at the same time we see this waterfall of rejection and this like fountain of acceptance. So there are the religious leaders rejecting Jesus and getting mad at him. While the poor and the outcasts are flocking to him, wanting him to become the king.

SO in this story of Jesus we see the topsy turvy nature of the Kingdom of Heaven. Everything is upside down.

And here we see Jesus confronting Judas with his rejection. So we are shocked to see someone in Jesus’ inner circle flipping to the dark side, right. But Judas knows that he has already betrayed Jesus.

So it is like Jesus is saying, you know what you are saying is true. But you formed it as a question to give yourself peace about the terrible thing you are about to do. Then Judas does it.

The trend of people who we think would be on Jesus’ side continues.

Then it gets worse because as soon as Jesus is arrested Matthew tells us that all the disciples left him and fled.

But Jesus gets brought to the Jewish leaders and they are interigating them and the chief priest asks Jesus if he thinks he is the son of God and Jesus says the same thing. You know what you are saying is true, but you asked it as a question maybe to give yourself peace about what you are about to do. Then the high priest does it. Condemns Jesus to death.

And then it happens again, with Pilate.

Notice that Jesus says this very same line to the big three responsible for Jesus’ death. It is like they all know what they are doing is wrong, but they still do it.

Do you ever experience that feeling? Where you know something is really wrong, but you do it anyway?

That is the power of evil. That is the power of hardening your heart to the truth. That is what happens when you can not let go of your pride.

Response

We respond every week with an invitation to baptism and communion.

So Jesus is put to death. The most innocent man ever is given a criminal’s execution. Now we know he comes back to life and defeats death. He inaugurates the upside down Kingdom of Heaven with this incredible act. Where the first will be last and the last will be first. Where death becomes life.

But these three men who put Jesus to death, they were not the evilest of all men. They were people just like the rest of us who were able to harden their hearts so much that they could go against what they knew inside to be the right thing to do.

We do that too, don’t we?

We ask questions that we already know the answers to.

The good news is we can always allow the Holy Spirit to soften our hearts. To make us humble and able to turn towards Jesus for forgiveness.

Right now, we are going to take communion together. This is something we do every week to remember this very event. We eat the bread that reminds us of his broken body. We drink the juice to remember the blood poured out for our sakes. I am going to play a song and I would just ask you to feel free to move to grab communion, or if you want to talk with one of the adults, if you want to make a different decision today or you want someone to be praying for you, that is what we are here for. Just let us know. If you don’t want to move and just want to listen to the lyrics of the song, or pray, or read the Bible you can do that as well.

But as we listen to this song maybe think about where you need the Holy Spirit to soften your heart.

Song

Pick a song that centers around the main theme of the lesson.

Dear God- Cory Asbury and Anna Asbury

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk5mlyYMOBs

Discussion

Start with Prayer

Why would devout religious leaders plot to murder someone like Jesus?

How can we avoid justifying evil acts with the belief that we are serving God?

When might a Christian be tempted to take matters into his or her own hands instead of trusting God?

How is it possible for an innocent person to be accused and convicted of a crime?

In what situation this week do you need to tell the truth, even if it may cost you?