The Complete Servant

Matthew 3:13-17

Rev. Earl E. Dunbar

January 9, 2005

The snow this week has so taught me yet another lesson. Being a Southern California boy, I love just sitting with a cup of hot cocoa and watching snowfall. But the other day we were leaving our driveway. It kinda goes uphill. I was pulling out first and my wife was going to pull out behind me. So I begin to pull out. And I'm at the edge of the driveway and looking behind and the van is not moving. I am thinking, what's going on? What is the problem? I wait and I wait and she was down there and I could see the engine was on and I am thinking there is some kind of a problem so it finally dawned on me, this Southern California boy, she wants me to move so she can get a running start up the hill. I thought I'm gonna try this, if she is really in trouble, I'm not being a good husband. I am going to try to do it this way. So I pull out of the driveway. I pull out and look behind me. She is flooring it and going up the driveway. I realized I was right. See, my wife understand something that I don't. And that is, a good start is all-important. I want you to finish this sentence with me. You never get second chance at a first impression. is right is the

January is our time the beginnings know from many of us were thinking about personal or professional goals. January is the beginning for Church because at least in our church calendar for right now we have our annual meeting in January. So, at the end of January we are looking back over the year. Our year ends at the end of this month. So, we are looking forward to the next phase of our plan, which is going to be starting in February. You see, this is the time in which there are beginnings all around us. Jesus faced a new beginning. He was going to begin his ministry. Let me ask you a question. You can answer it in your own mind. Let's say that you thought you were God and you are going to start a ministry. How would you start? How would you announce yourself? Now you might say, "no problem. I would have about 30 winged angels come. I would suddenly look different than the way I look now." Or I would look 20 feet tall and make sure everybody got the idea. How indeed did Jesus begin a ministry? With a very subtle but powerful message. A message of challenge, a message of hope, a message of rejoicing. A message that is best symbolized in what we are going to do in a few minutes which is come to this table. You see for all of us facing a new beginning there is good news. And it is this, Jesus is our only servant King. Jesus is our only servant King. And today, I want to share with you some titles that God gives to announce the arrival of this Jesus. These titles are very subtle and sometimes very big. But they are titles that we can take with us today. They are titles we can come to the table with. They are titles that can intersect and interact in our lives because as we are seeking Christ. This is what he claims to be and we need to decide if we believe that. That's why this is important. If we do believe in Christ, then these are the titles that we represent, by our words, by our actions, by our whole selves.

Let's take a look at the text, Matthew Chapter 3. We are taking a look between now and Easter. most the time not all , between now and Easter, it's called "Only Jesus." And the reason I do this is simply asking this question. Why do we do what we do? You see, for most of us we do what we do because intrinsically, we think there's a worth to it. Sometimes that worth is, we don't want to lose our jobs. Sometimes network is because we don't want a beginning at runoff and net worth is more positive because it's exciting. Because he gives us pleasure would have been. So, if we're going deeper which is our theme coming up this year that you own it on on a very little deeper in cry east and I what's it worth to us? To you who might be seeking Christ and are not sure whether this Christ is all he said he was going to be. You instinctively know what sometimes we as Christians forget and that is as we come to Christ, there are going to be a couple changes. It's just inevitable. Any relationships demands change Why? Why should we change? The answer to that is I hope, can be seen in the fact that we can fall in love with Christ again. That's the idea.

So, in Matthew, as we begin if he comes into this text he is talking. There is Joseph and Mary and Jesus. They are in Egypt. There is Herod the king at that time dies. They come back to it and they live in Nazareth. John the Baptist the beginning of Chapter 3, enters the scene and proclaims, "get ready because the lord is coming." And now by the time we get for text this morning the Lord has come. Here is the title, Humble Ruler Verse 13, 14 humble ruler .Let's enter the story together. 8027 give or take a year or two. Jesus is about 30, give or take a year or two. Jesus has been off the scene as far as the whole gospel record is concerned we have not seen since he was a teenager. So, he's been off the stage so to speak for 15 or more years. In Matthew, we have a skip of may be even 15 to 20 or more years. We don't know exactly. but a large chunk of time has gone by between verse 12 in chapter 2 and where we are in chapter 3 . John, this man is so powerful I have not even worthy of a menial task of putting on his sandals of either holding his sandals. This man is the windowing fork of judgment in a separate the wheat from the shaft. This man is all-powerful and you better be ready he is so powerful that you're going to need to repent and change. Jesus now starting is managed ministry and the overture is beginning in my minds eye I see a group of people lined up for baptism. Baptism means many things. As John was proclaiming it. It meant I want a new start out as start. I want a do over. He was saying that high if I'm going to be baptized high want to read acts. It means that I'm ready to accept the kingdom of God and has been described and I'm ready for the Messiah to come. I want you to remember all of those thing because now also want to see that his Jesus comes, Jesus has no people. He has no entourage. He has no pomp and circumstance, no handlers. He is alone and he comes into the scene on his own because that's all he needs and he looks at John and John recognizes him. John must've heard all the stories from his mother Elizabeth and His Aunt Mary. He had new that it was something about this Jesus that was different. We don't know at this moment whether he knew instinctively that he was the Messiah. My guess is that he was thinking about he really is the really the Messiah. He knew that was nothing wrong with him that he couldn't understand anything new in South John the Baptist was full of sin. And so he looks at this jaw is this Jesus this man was looking back at them in such a way that is that it did burning in him I would imagine and you can she her what Jesus said, "John baptize me." I don't know, if you believe Jesus to be God or not. Even if you don't. If you're John the Baptist and you're looking into the eyes of somebody who you knew have done nothing wrong that you're aware of. He wants to be baptized, what are you going to say? "Are you kidding me?" No way, absolutely not! I need to be to baptized by you." You see Jesus didn't have to do this and here it is the cost of the matter out what you think about all and that was done for you. Or a humble act has been done on the world stage. I want you to think about that for a minute. On the world stage I think of that at that young man who stood in the face of the tank in Tiananmen Square. I think also of the relief that the people who are bringing boxes of food to ravaged areas in Asia. An act of humility is one of the most powerful acts on the face of the earth. Jesus came not because he needed this baptism but because he was there to identify with the guilty. To identify with all of us who need repentance. That means me. That means you. He was there out of his love and out of his mercy and out of his humility the man who could've come with legions of Angels came to in humility by himself to stand next to the people who needed baptism and he was baptized also so that he would identify with them and identified with the pain and suffering and the degradation of sin. Though He himself knew no sin. No wonder that God is proclaiming these first two versus the Jesus is the humble ruler. Now if you look at other writings especially those days when Matthew was writing when I came to the earth they came for the king to satisfy their own desires might Jesus, it's for us for you for all humanity when he asked those who know Christ. Is humble ruler a good description of you? Do you represent that humble ruler? Would people be able to look at your life and say wait a minute there is somebody behind that, there is somebody leading you. See, Jesus is the humble ruler and we can come to the table today and celebrate that in we can focus on that in our week to come. And we can live out that the truth that title for price

And secondly obedient representative verse 15. Obedient Representative. Jesus says to John," you know you have a point, but right now it's proper right it's okay we need to do it now. Now it is the time for this baptism. It is proper because in this way we will fulfill all righteousness where that one off the right that when Matthew talked about righteousness he said fulfilling God's will. That somehow this baptism was fulfilling God's will. How? I believe the Jesus understood that the number one quality of being a Messiah, was to be perfectly obedient. His suffering comes out of the obedience. Not the other way around. Being a Messiah is not suffering. Being Messiah is being perfectly obedient. Jesus is here on this day to make a declaration that he is willing to take on the full mantle of the ministry. To take on the full mantle, being perfectly obedient representing all of humanity so that he will take the sin for us and take that sin to the cross. He is meeting all of the righteous requirements that God has set for the Messiah. He understands something that I don't always and that is this obedience is not following necessarily following a set of rules. Obedience is not just do it and forget it. Obedience is not just do no harm. Obedience is not just good intentions. Obedience is involved with how we deal with others and obedient is doing whatever it takes to follow. Obedience is putting others' needs before ours. Obedience stands by those who are suffering. To be obedient is standing by the guilty. Obedience is doing it for the other. And if I look at myself in the mirror, I don't measure up to the stand and I would guess that you don't either. Because, we are all human beings. You see, Jesus is making this profound statement, " I am here for you." And my friend, this baptism is the first step to the cross. It is no less an obedient act in the act of going to the cross for us. Because, he knew that the reason I say that is, that this event is listed in all four Gospels to what a few events outside the death and resurrection. And is listed on all four Gospels. This is a very meaningful moment. He's in loving obedience. As we start this new year, can you turn to the one who calls us to that kind of obedience? Can we represent the one who is the obedient representative?

Third. Suffering Servant. Verse 16. Suffering servant. The heavens open and when the heavens open something unexplainable is going to happen. Did the crowds see it? We don't know. I believe this is primarily for John. The crowd could've also have seen it as well. And as they see it they see a dove descending. Matthew understands this and John is understanding that at the Holy Spirit in the form of dove comes and lights upon Jesus this is the Holy Spirit coming at the beginning of Jesus is ministry in the same way that the Holy Spirit similar way the Holy Spirit comes on the scene at the beginning of Pentecost. There is a crucial difference between the two and I will come back to that in just a second.

I want to make sure we understand his Holy Spirit coming down on Jesus is the symbol. Isaiah 42. It is looked upon in Isaiah 42 that the Messiah would be a suffering servant and would the Holy Spirit come upon him as a dove. And that he would go out injustice. In Matthews audience who would have a great back run in the Old Testament would understand that. We do not. His audience well is audience would immediately picked up the fact that this is in fact a suffering servant that they have been waiting for. So, therefore this baptism is not only an act of humility, is not only an act of obedience and it is an act of grace. It is a profound act of grace where the suffering servant with his Jesus is saying, that it did not is proclaiming that this man is the one who is going to be the suffering servant, the one who is going to suffer for the many. The one who will show the ultimate description of grace for all of us who needed a need somewhere to turn. This is where we turn. Now this Holy Spirit unlike Pentecost was not giving something to Jesus that he didn't have. The Holy Spirit was proclaiming that what Jesus is going to do is true. That this is who we said that Jesus is who he said he was going to be. The one who will suffer, die and rise again for you. And, you might say, "who cares?" Let me ask you question, when was the last time life was fair? All you have to do is turn on the TV and see that life is not always fair and it sometimes we demand that of life. There some of us today you have loved ones that are suffering we can't do a darn thing about. There are those who are seeing change in their life and it seems like we can't do anything about it and yet because Jesus is the suffering servant, we have one who has suffered everything we have suffered and more and yet lies with out sin. That means, when I come to him in my suffering, he understands. He knows. He's been there. He's done that or he's not done that depending on how we respond. But, he knows and he forgives. Can you turn to the suffering servant this morning humble ruler or obedient representative suffering servant?

And finally, the most important for 17 son of God. Now is the rubber meets the road. The second occurrence is a voice from heaven. The voice from heaven says, "This is my son." It was not the only time they would've heard that the disciples would have heard that on a mountaintop and Jesus was with Moses and Elijah. It's called a transfiguration. This is my son's is the son of God the one for whom everyone has been waiting. God leaves no doubt. In s time of beginning as it is time to see that this Jesus was the one. This is not a figment of Matthew's imagination. It is indeed the voice of God speaking after hundreds and hundreds of years. This is the son of God. Sound familiar? God says it here as insuring and says that when he looks at Jesus and across to how the gospel records it is very clear that this Jesus is indeed who he said he was. And the question is, when we are looking at vocational to spiritual kinds of change that Jesus Christ's is the son of God begs the question, so what? How will then I live? How do I respond? How do I behave? How do I love him?

We come today to this table to celebrate the son of God. We close with this when you think of strength and power we think of? Some of us think of power of people like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Or people can think of the fury of weather. Or others can think of the controlling power of a dictatorial leader or the athleticism of a great sports figure or scored the opulence of somebody with lots of money and lots of possessions. And we are swayed by that. But, in this chapter there are three indications of strength and power John's witness, on the other end of the text is a confrontation as Jesus looks Satan in the eye three times and says, "No, I will not do that." That's power. And now this thing in the middle, the baptism. And I don't suggest to you is equally as powerful as John's witness tests his confrontations with Satan and act of supreme power in which we see Jesus is humble ruler will be a representative suffering servant and son of God. As we leave here today, let me make a couple of suggestions. If you're not yet sure about this, a lot encourage you to ask active, open, seeking questions. Don't come out as many people do and say, "you know, I'm asking questions but we're way back here, I'm not engaged, I'm not involved, but I am going to ask questions. Do actively seek. And if you are in Christ, as you come to the table today, I wanted a con focusing on one of these titles the one that has struck a chord with you today at title to live with you this week. For me, it's going to be obedient representative. For you it can be anything. Focus on that one end and think about it and pray over it and see what changes in your life takes place because you all are serving the one who is this title. And therefore, as we look at these titles I think what Matthew wants us to do would be to bend the knee and to be in awe this one and all. For it isn't that the message of the state we come in awe in honor of this one's done everything for us?

As we prepare for this table again we give you some silence and you know maybe something that's been said today is triggered something in and maybe just like in the Times of John the Baptist, you're ready to confess something. And please this is a safe place. Because the person sitting next to it is equally to center her equally a wrongdoer fill in the blank whatever were you when you score all mean the same and so it's a safe place once sang and so go ahead and truly confess. Others of you can focus on a hunt title. And others may simply have not prayed a long time and just they wanted to stick a minute and an honor the one doing your God. But I'm here and give you moment to respond. I'll pray then we will come to the table. Lord Jesus, it is only you define what a servant means and for all of us who serve when it's convenient and all of us who serve when it doesn't cost a whole lot, we look to you who paid at all. Who shed all the trappings of being God, even to the extent of having people misunderstand and not believe you because you didn't come with trappings. You came. Because of your love for us. Thank you for the truth if we were the only person on the face of the earth and that ever walked the year he would still come as you want us in heaven with you and that's a great message of this table help us to come now with joy help us to come with awe and with love. And we pray this and you were victorious and precious name. Amen.