Speaker 1: 0:00

And welcome to our Madison Church online audience. I'm Stephen Feith, lead pastor, and we've been in this series and today, sadly, we are concluding it. It's been 12 weeks and we all want a life that matters. We, all of us in the room. The thing that you have in common with the person sitting around you is that we all want a life filled with meaning, with purpose. We want to make a real impact. If we can get meaning and purpose, we'd also like to make an impact, and that desire is what led us to start this year in this series, asking the question like what kind of life does Jesus actually invite us into?

Speaker 1: 0:37

So we've been going through the gospel of Luke and we're watching how Jesus taught, how he served, how he loved, how he challenged people to follow him. And, as this season of Lent has been, the last few weeks have unfolded. Our focus has shifted from what do we need to add to our lives versus what do we need to give away, what do we need to surrender, because discipleship isn't just about doing more. We kind of think that right Discipleship, I need to add more and more to my plate, but sometimes discipleship isn't just about doing more. I know we kind of think that right Discipleship I need to add more and more to my plate, but sometimes discipleship is honestly about letting something go and letting go of something that's holding you back. And so, as I mentioned today, we're at the end of this series and at the end of this journey and at the end of Jesus's path to Jerusalem. Today, he's going to enter into Jerusalem.

Speaker 1: 1:24

But this isn't just the conclusion of a story. This is a defining moment because, even as Jesus draws near to the cross, the spotlight remains on him. Let us not enter into today's text thinking that Jesus is passive or that he's a victim of his circumstances. Jesus is still king. He's moving with clarity. Says Jesus is still king. He's moving with clarity, with conviction and with authority toward the mission he came to fulfill.

Speaker 1: 1:51

And, just like the disciples, the crowd, maybe the people in Jerusalem who didn't know who Jesus was yet we are part of that story today in Madison 2025, and we're faced with the same questions that they were facing, and today I want you to focus on that one. Will I truly follow Jesus, even when it costs me something? It's been the question the last five weeks. Am I willing to surrender? Am I willing to give something up in order to follow Jesus, because a life that matters, a life of true significance, those things that we've been talking about, they begin with us laying everything down at Jesus's feet to follow the King who gave everything up for us.

Speaker 1: 2:33

And so we're going to Luke 18, verse 31. If you want to follow along, we'll have the words on the screen, but you can use a house Bible around you. Feel free to use your phone Bible as well and what we're going to see is that the tension is building. The cross is just ahead. For some of you who are very in tune to the Christian calendar, you know that Easter is just a few weeks away from today. That's what we are leaning into, and for the third time in Luke's gospel, jesus is going to clearly spell out what is coming, and the people closest to him still don't get it. And that's where our passage begins with the moment that shows how easy it is to follow Jesus. How easy it is to follow Jesus and still miss what he's about. So let's take a look.

Speaker 1: 3:18

Taking the 12 disciples aside, jesus said listen, we're going up to Jerusalem where all the predictions of the prophets concerning the son of man will come true. He'll be handed over to the Romans and he'll be mocked, treated shamefully and spit upon. They will flog him with a whip and kill him, but on the third day he will rise again. Now it's one thing to predict your death I bet all of you in the room could do that in the sense of someday I'm going to die and we would say, yes, we know that. That's true, that that happens. That's a part of being a person, it's part of being human. We all die. But instead of just doing that, he's framing it as a fulfillment of the scriptures, texts that were written hundreds, if not thousands, of years before Jesus's birth. He's saying I'm fulfilling that stuff, things that nobody could have known on their own.

Speaker 1: 4:13

As such, daniel 7, who talks about the son of man. And so when Jesus uses the son of man, he's using a very specific title that those who are Jewish and well-versed in Daniel's writing would know about. He's going to be both the exalted ruler who receives all authority, but, as Daniel points out, he's also the suffering servant who will lay down his life. This is the mission and this is the moment he came for. But for his disciples, raised under Roman rule and hoping for a military deliverer, this kind of Messiah, didn't fit their expectations. We talk about that so much, and even Jesus, quoting from Daniel 7, he says no, you know the whole context of Daniel 7, both the ruler and the servant. They're like oh, we'll take the ruler and we forget the servant.

Speaker 1: 5:05

Going up to Jerusalem sounded like a step toward victory. This was a military crusade, this was an attack. Jesus was redefining power, though, and he was redefining purpose, and he was also redefining the very nature of God's kingdom. To people who just didn't understand it. He was saying that the path to glory runs through surrender and through the cross. That's how we were going to get it, and they didn't understand it, and we are not so different. We're not so different than those living under Roman Empire rule. We also want a Savior who affirms our assumptions, and not one that challenges them.

Speaker 1: 5:47

I'm not alone when I say I really like it when I come across Bible verses or teachings of Jesus about things that I'm good at or things that I passionately agree with, and I can't tell you how quickly I read over the parts I don't the parts of Jesus's teachings where it challenges me or it hits a little too close to home, or maybe it doesn't apply to me the same way it seems that it applied to them but following Jesus means letting go of our plans and our preferences and trusting that his way, even when it doesn't make sense or even when it makes us uncomfortable or puts us in an awkward position, that this is the way to true life. Now, the disciples couldn't see what Jesus was really saying. I mean, they had a front row seat for years and years and, if anything, their experience even though Jesus kept saying this was what was going to happen, their experience of all of the things that Jesus did. They said, no, that can't be right. I got to be misunderstanding what he's saying, based on what I see him doing. But the next story is going to flip that dynamic completely.

Speaker 1: 6:51

As Jesus approaches Jericho, he encounters a blind man sitting on the side of the road begging. In the first century world, as we've talked about, people with disabilities were often pushed to the margins of society. They didn't have hardly any options for work and many of them relied on public charity. The Roman Empire did not have a government program to help out or assist. They relied on the public, their neighbors, those who lived around them, for support. They weren't just seen as burdens though, as you can imagine, you might get to the mentality, if you're walking by the blind beggar every day, that he is a burden to you because every day you just want to go on your way and he's asking for spare change. But they were also seen as cursed. Remember that we talked about that a couple weeks ago or last week, where we talked about the rich ruler was seen as somebody who was blessed because of his status, his power, his authority. So therefore, if you didn't have any status, this man hears that Jesus is passing by.

Speaker 1: 7:52

He hears that Jesus is passing by.

Speaker 1: 7:54

Why?

Speaker 1: 7:54

Because he cannot see. He is blind, he physically cannot see that Jesus is coming. But he hears that Jesus is coming and he starts shouting, but this time not for money. This time he shouts for mercy, and not just to a healer, but to the son of David. He calls out a royal, messianic title Again, going back hundreds, if not thousands of years before Jesus' time. He says son of David, have mercy.

Speaker 1: 8:24

Now the crowd tries to silence him, just like they tried to silence those kids. He says Jesus is too big, too important, he's got things to do, we're on mission, we're about to overthrow the Roman Empire. He doesn't have time for you. But this blind beggar won't be quiet. His cry grows more desperate, his cry grows more persistent. His cry is full of faith because he knows that Jesus has something to offer him that his neighbors do not, and he's not afraid to say it.

Speaker 1: 8:56

And Jesus showing his disciples and all of those around him that nobody is too unimportant for Jesus. He says what do you want me to do for you? The blind man says well, lord, I want to see. And Jesus said all right, receive your sight, for it is your faith that has healed you. And Jesus heals him. And again it comes back to that word. That's not just a physical healing but a spiritual one. He is physically delivered from an ailment, but he is also spiritually liberated. His faith leads to clarity. It wasn't his eyes that helped him see who Jesus was, it was his faith. I mean, it's hard to miss the picture that Luke paints. Those with sight were missing Jesus. Those who could see what Jesus was doing missed him. But the blind man, the one full of faith, was the one who actually saw Jesus for who he is.

Speaker 1: 9:57

And here's the invitation for us today To follow Jesus. We must first acknowledge our need, our own brokenness, our own emptiness. Surrender begins with the humility to say I can't see clearly without you. As I prayed this morning. Sometimes we're called to a place. We don't know what the next step is or the destination. We're called to do something that seems impossible or intimidating. So other times you're called to just stay put, and that can also be challenging, but it requires us. That's what discipleship requires a surrender to say you know what I'll stay put, you know what I'll take this step. You know what I'll stay put. You know what I'll take this step. You know what I'll reach out.

Speaker 1: 10:38

Now, as Jesus continues through Jericho, he encounters someone very different than the blind beggar we're going to go from. If there was a spectrum, we're going to go from one side to the other. Okay, this man isn't physically blind, he's not socially powerless. As a matter of fact, he's very wealthy, he's very influential and he's deeply entangled into a system of exploitation. Zacchaeus, as many of you who have grown up in or around the church are probably familiar with the story, but for those of you who are not familiar with the story, is a chief tax collector.

Speaker 1: 11:10

Let me break that down for you. You're like, chief tax collector Sounds important. What is it? He is at the top of a corrupt system that profited off the backs of his own people. He wasn't just the one doing the exploiting, he was helping others do the exploiting. He helped make a system of exploitation so that he could become wealthy. Now here's the thing he would have already been wealthy being a tax collector. He didn't need to cheat, he didn't need to exploit. He would have been wealthy already. But you know what he said. He said what I have isn't enough, I'm not rich enough, I'm not powerful enough, let's get a little bit more. So he could have been rich, but he says, nope, I want a little bit more. And so when the crowd in the passage they call him a sinner, they're not wrong, they're absolutely not wrong.

Speaker 1: 11:59

Conjure up images today of those who might be in politics, might be very wealthy and using systems to benefit themselves at the cost of other people. That should be the image that comes to your head in this passage. And let's see how Jesus responds to someone like that. First off, jesus doesn't see a lost cause. What he does see is a lost son. He calls Zacchaeus, not by sinner but by name, and he invites himself into his home and into his life. The moment of grace changes everything and, as Zacchaeus, he doesn't just express belief, he responds with a bold, tangible repentance. He gives away half his wealth which, mind you, all of his wealth came from exploiting his fellow citizens. But he gives away half of it and he commits to repay what he's stolen four times over. Well, that's surrender, that's transformation, and here's how we see Jesus respond. Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham, for the Son of man came to seek and save those who are lost. That is Jesus's mission. That is why I'm here and doing all of the things I am doing Now. Zacchaeus came to see Jesus. He responded to Jesus. Zacchaeus had to let go of greed, of status and control. That's what Zacchaeus surrendered. He gave it all away to follow Jesus. And Zacchaeus shows us that surrender changes everything. It changes how we use our resources, it changes where we find our identity and it changes our role in God's story. But, as you know, not everybody responds that way.

Speaker 1: 13:54

As Jesus moves closer to Jerusalem, the crowds are buzzing with anticipation. They're expecting a king, a Jewish king, who will establish his rule right now. But Jesus knew that they and us, you and me, today, we need a different perspective on what it means to follow when we're waiting. So he tells the story about a nobleman, some servants, a test of trust and responsibility, and once again, surrender is at the heart of it. In the story, the nobleman he leaves on a journey to be crowned king. He's entrusting his servants with all of his resources while he is gone.

Speaker 1: 14:34

Now, some of these people, some of the servants, don't like that. He has become king, they're a little angsty about that, they don't love it and they reject his rule entirely, just as some will reject Jesus and others, whether they like him or not, do what's at hand, the job that he asked them to do. Well, he asked us to do something good with his resources, so let's do it. A couple of those servants they take risks, they act in faith and they do. They see a return. But one is paralyzed by fear and he hides what he has been given and he does nothing. And this is where Jesus' part of the story jumps in. He says yes. The king replied, referring to all of his servants here, looking at them all. He says to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even with what little they have will be taken away.

Speaker 1: 15:29

Now Jesus isn't just talking about financial gain here. He's painting a picture of discipleship in between, between his first coming and his return. You see, the king leaves and he trusts his servants with all of this stuff and he says I will be coming back to see what you did with what I gave you. The message is clear. Even though now you and I, we live between the cross and Christ's return, we have been trusted and whether you've been trusted with a little or you've been trusted with a lot, the king will return. He will see with what we have done, with what he has been given to us. Will we be fearful or faithful? Will we do what we've been given or will we do something with what we have been given, or will we bury it, hide it, have a scarcity mindset? I got to bury this because what if I lose it? Won't he be mad at me? What he's given you, he didn't give you out of fear, but he gave you out of trust.

Speaker 1: 16:27

So act in faith. Surrender means action. It means investing what God has given us, whether that's your time, your gifts, your influence for his purpose, not the accumulation of comfort. The question at this point in the story becomes are we playing it safe with our faith or are we surrendering control and stepping out in obedience, even when the outcome isn't guaranteed? And let me be explicitly clear, the outcome is not guaranteed. The question becomes even more urgent as Jesus, he, finally arrives in Jerusalem.

Speaker 1: 17:03

The city is electric with anticipation. The crowds are ready to crown a king. Those who have heard about Jesus, they hear he's coming back. Those who have faith in Jesus are ready for him. But, as I've said already multiple times today, they don't understand what kind of king he truly is. Their expectations are loud, rooted in hope of a political liberation. But Jesus' mission is quiet, it's humble. It'll be radically different than what they expect. They yell out blessings on the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven. And some of the Pharisees among the crowd said teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that. And he replied if they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst in the cheers. He's saying this is a happy time. I could tell them to shut up. But all of creation right now is cheering for me. All of creation knows what's about to happen. They spread their cloaks on the ground. They shout words from Psalm 118 welcoming him as the long-awaited king.

Speaker 1: 18:06

This is Palm Sunday and you might realize we're a few weeks early, but a lot happens between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday that we're going to get into starting next week. His entrance is full of prophetic and political symbolism. By riding a donkey, he echoes the words written in Zechariah 9.9. Riding the donkey was a sign of peace, not war. Again, the symbols are right in front of them and yet they still do not see it. The Pharisees, who are always going to be anxious about political unrest, tell Jesus to quiet that crowd because the King has truly come.

Speaker 1: 18:42

Whether people understand him or not, true surrender means following the real Jesus and not just the version of him we want. That's the tension of Palm Sunday. It's joyful praise wrapped in profound misunderstanding. And I think of us today. And I was talking at our membership luncheon last week. I said I'm convinced we're doing a lot of things right. I'm also convinced we'll get to the end of our road here and Jesus will say these are all the things you didn't get right. And that doesn't worry me, because I recognize myself in this story. I recognize you in this story, enthusiastically praising the coming King, knowing we don't understand it all, knowing I don't see it all the way that it should be seen, knowing that, yes, the signs might be all around me just like they were to them, I'm still going to get something wrong. And yet, at the end of the day, jesus doesn't reject them. He accepts their praise.

Speaker 1: 19:41

The crowd is shouting with joy and then Jesus becomes overcome with sorrow. You see the Pharisees. They see a parade. Jesus sees a missed opportunity, the Pharisees, the religious elite of the day. They want victory. But Jesus knows the cross is coming and he looks out over the city, his city, his people, god's people, and Jesus weeps. And it isn't just an emotional moment. Jesus weeps. And it isn't just an emotional moment, it's a prophetic one. It reveals the heart of a Savior who not just longs to bring peace, but whose heart breaks over those who won't choose him, whose heart breaks and has mercy for even those who will be the ones who end up killing him.

Speaker 1: 20:33

Let's read how Jesus responds as he draws near Luke 19, verse 41. As he came closer to Jerusalem and he saw the city ahead, he began to weep. I wish today that of all people, you of all people, would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late and peace is hidden from your eyes. So as Jesus crests the top of the Mount of Olives here and Jerusalem comes into view, the tone shifts.

Speaker 1: 21:01

Moments after being praised as king, he breaks down. Public grief, not for himself, not because he's going to die an awful way, but for the people who have missed their moment, the people who for thousands of years, god had been interacting with and moving through the wilderness and into the promised land. And he gave them all of these prophecies, from Zechariah to Daniel. And he came and he's doing all of these great things. And he says if anyone should have noticed, it should have been you guys. But it's not. Jesus' words are filled with the longing that I hope you can kind of feel this morning, as you think, maybe, of people in your own life, those who you're like. You should know it's right in front of you. How do you not? Jesus isn't filled with anger toward them. He's not ready to just throw them or kick them to the curb. His heart breaks. You can tell he's upset. This isn't just what Jerusalem missed. Let's bring it to today. It's what we might be missing too.

Speaker 1: 22:17

The people around Jesus saw what happened in real time, and yet they didn't grasp what was unfolding in front of them. The disciples, along with the Pharisees and many others, expected glory without suffering, and you don't get glory without suffering. The crowds wanted the king who would overthrow the oppressive Roman Empire, expected glory without suffering, and you don't get glory without suffering. The crowds wanted the king who would overthrow the oppressive Roman Empire, and the religious leaders were there, freaking out that they were going to lose any power and influence they had. And we live on the other side of the cross almost 2,000 years later. We know how the story ends, and yet I think at times we still miss it. We bring our expectations to Jesus and we want him to make those things happen. We want peace without surrender. We want transformation without discomfort. We want glory without any cost. Their misunderstanding was rooted in deferred hope. Our misunderstanding is rooted in comfortable control. But despite all of the cultural differences, the core human struggle remains the same, and what we've been talking about the last several weeks, it's all about surrender. The disciples, the crowds, the leaders, you and me, we all wrestle to let go of our version of the story in order to embrace God's story.

Speaker 1: 23:35

The theological principle in this text, this last chapter and a half, is clear. True discipleship requires surrendering our assumptions, our agendas and our illusions of control in order to receive the peace, purpose and transformation that Jesus offers. Like Bartimaeus that's what Mark tells us, that's the blind man's name, bartimaeus we need spiritual sight. Like Zacchaeus, we must release what we've clung to. Like the fearful servant, we hesitate to risk what God has entrusted to us. And, like Jerusalem, we can miss God's movement when it doesn't match our expectations. And still Jesus doesn't cross his arms and look down at us. But I think once again, again and again, if anything, he's waiting and his heart breaks. Let's go, come with me into a life of surrender, a life that is surrender, a life that isn't weakness.

Speaker 1: 24:34

I think we think surrender is weakness. It's not Surrender. It takes a lot of strength. It's the path to peace. It's where true life begins. And so how do we live this out every day? It begins with honest reflection. Like Bartimaeus, we come to Jesus and we say I want to see. We ask him to reveal what he's been blind to what we have been blind to and perhaps that's areas of pride, areas of fear, areas of self-reliance that keep us from following him.

Speaker 1: 25:10

It comes to a humble confession, like Zacchaeus. We have to name the things we've clung to. Zacchaeus had to get real uncomfortable with how much he had, how he got it and how he would make it right. He had to think of the faces and the families of everyone he exploited and knew it was going to take a great deal of humility to go back and to make it right to them. Humble confession and then faithful stewardship, like the servants in the parable consider what God has entrusted to you, whether it's a little or it's a lot, whether it's time, relationships, finances or influence or something not named yet. It's time relationships, finances or influence or something not named yet.

Speaker 1: 25:54

Surrender means trusting God enough to invest in what he has given you into his kingdom. And then we embrace persistent trust, and this is maybe the hardest part of all. That I mean I'm not saying honest reflection is easy, I'm not saying honest confession is easy or humble confession, but persistent trust. I think this is where a lot of us find ourselves today. The crowds misunderstood Jesus because he didn't meet them, meet them in their expectations, where they were exactly at, with what they exactly wanted. But Jesus invites them and us to follow him anyway, misunderstandings or not.

Speaker 1: 26:31

Now the big thing here is, as we close this series out, surrender isn't a one-time decision. It's not something you decided four weeks ago. It's not something you're deciding today. Surrender is an ongoing, everyday decision, when I wake up and when I go to bed and the millions of decisions between them. It's a daily rhythm. It's a practice of laying down our preferences, picking up our cross and walking in step with the Spirit, and it's how I know my faith will never get boring, because who I was 18 years ago, when I first decided to follow Jesus, is different than the person I am today. In my heart, I find things. With the help of you guys, with the help of community, I find areas of my life where I haven't surrendered to Christ, but things I wasn't even aware of 18 years ago.

Speaker 1: 27:17

This is a call to surrender, this series, and it's woven into the entire biblical story, from Abraham leaving his homeland to Moses laying down his insecurities to Mary saying let me be as you have said. God has always required letting go from his followers. Jesus said whoever wants to be my disciple must deny himself and take up the cross daily and follow me. And Paul later wrote I've been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ in me, and the biblical map is clear longer live but Christ in me and the biblical map is clear Surrender is not loss, it's the doorway to life. Surrender is not loss, it's the doorway. It's not the end of your story, it's the better one.

Speaker 1: 28:01

Or I love how AW Tozer puts it. He says the reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress For those of you who feel stuck today, perhaps this is why he says it is because they haven't yet come to the end of themselves. We're still trying to give orders and what does that do? Interferes with God's work within us. That convicted me this week as we come to the end of a series.

Speaker 1: 28:35

What would it look like if all of us did that, if you and me? I know you can only control you right, control yourself. But what if every single person in here watching or listening online? We all said we're going to take a step of surrender and we became a community church, not marked by always striving to accomplish some sort of spiritual accolade or fear that if I don't do something right I'm going to be judged or struck down by God or self-preservation. I just need to fake it until I make it but a deep trust in Jesus.

Speaker 1: 29:07

What if you and I lay down our preferences and picked up God's purpose? What if we truly follow Jesus, not just with our words but with our lives, from the time we left here until the time we come back? Imagine the peace we would carry, not just to the city of Madison but to our neighbors and those who live closest to us. The freedom you could walk in, the light I could bring to the world. The kind of church we would be. And that's the kind of church Jesus is forming. That is the kind of church Jesus has called us here to be. And if you're a leader at this church, you have a position at this church, you're a person of influence at the church. That is who God is calling us to be. That is the vision, that is what we are stepping into. So let's be that kind of church One with eyes open, with hands released, hearts completely and fully surrendered, because that is where Life that Matters begins.