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By the time someone is standing before a judge, they need to have a good reason for how they got there.
There’s been some pretty big doozies that have been told to try to get out of trouble.
Shop lifting to prepare for an acting role
In 2002, there was a pretty infamous shoplifting scandal involving a Hollywood actress.
What most didn’t know is the reason she gave
According to the Daily Mail, she actually claimed that she stole the items in preparation for an acting role.
2) We thought everything was free
A Minnesota couple stole items from a woman's home
The owner happened to see them running out her back door.
The couple was arrested by police for first-degree burglary.
According to CBS News, the couple had a unique excuse
Instead of owning up to their crime, they claimed that a Craigslist ad directed them to the woman's house
They said the ad said it was a "free house" full of free stuff.
These examples of excuses are of people who are caught but insincere in their surrender.
These people used excuses that their motivation wasn’t all bad.
They hoped they could seem like good people who were being misunderstood.
In reality, they were just caught but they hadn’t truly surrendered.
I want to encourage you this morning to -
Title: Be Sincere in Your Surrender.
We’ll see this morning that we should be sincere in our surrender for two reasons.
Jesus’ authority as God calls for us to surrender to Him as our ultimate authority..
The testimony of rebellious sinners turned into repentant saints should challenge us to surrender.
Matt 21:23-32
23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”
24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?”
And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.”
Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.”
The first response that I’d like to encourage you toward this morning is this -
1. Surrender to Jesus’ Authority as God.
23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”
Jesus has created quite the stir in Jerusalem.
He entered triumphantly as the Messiah would.
And the people recognized the significance of it all.
He drove out the workers in the marketplace in the Court of the Gentiles.
And by the next day (Tuesday), He’s back in the Court of the Gentiles and teaching with authority.
One of the gospel accounts describe that Jesus would not allow people to cross the temple mount…
Representatives from the Jewish ruling council approach Jesus - this is a formal delegation.
What they question is the source of Jesus’ authority - who gave Him the authority to clear the temple…
Pivot -
Let me give you some evidence in our passage for why we should Surrender to Jesus’ Authority as God.
First off, we see that -
1a. Jesus has the right to upset “our” world.
The term authority means “the ability/right to do something.”
But this use is different than the strength to do something.
The authority being asked about the “right to command others” - “what gives you the right?”
But as they put it, they’re asking, “Who gave you this right to do what you’re doing?”
In that day, the authority would carry the rights of the person that sent them - kind of “by the power vested in me…”
John 1 makes it clear why Jesus has the right to do what He does - He’s God
* John 1:1–4 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Jesus has the right to upset OUR world because it was never OUR world in the first place.
For evidence of why we should Surrender to Jesus’ Authority as God, we also see that -
1b. Jesus has the right to test people’s sincerity.
24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?”
Jesus makes a normal strategic move in debate technique.
He promises that He will answer their question.
But they need to answer a very simple one first.
He asks them their opinion on who’s authority John spoke from (who sent John).
More specifically, He asked them about John’s baptism.
John’s baptism was very controversial to the religious leaders because he was baptizing Jewish people.
These leaders didn’t see anything wrong with Jews -
They’d say, “Why would Jews need to to repent?”
But John was calling for the Jewish people to repent in preparing their hearts for the Messiah.
And it was very clear to all that Jesus was that Messiah that John was pointing toward.
Jesus and John’s messages were synonymous. -
* Matthew 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The parables that follow in Matthew deal with what ticked off the religious leaders about John.
Jesus will dig into how some children of Israel that get it while other are just too self-righteous.
What we’ll see in the religious leaders’ response is that they weren’t confused.
They really didn’t care about what authority John carried.
we see this in their deliberations of v. 25-27
And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
So the religious leaders were in a catch-22.
Jesus had only given them two options -
John’s baptism was from God/God wanted Israel to repent (God had given John authority)
This would mean that Jesus’s authority is from God because He’s the ONE who John was proclaiming.
John’s baptism was from man - it carried no authority over them.
This would mean that the people were being told they were wrong for following him.
Really, what these guys wanted was a valid 3rd option - who knows?
“Who cares? Cause we got what we wanted.”
Many of their Jewish brothers and sisters saw John as a prophet.
The religious leaders saw him as a nuisance.
John had been arrested, imprisoned and executed by King Herod.
And the religious leaders had allowed it to happen.
By refusing to answer, the religious leaders show that they are not interested in an honest debate.
And Jesus steps out of the discussion to continue teaching.
Last of our evidence of why we should Surrender to Jesus’ Authority as God, we see that -
1c. No one has the right to get an answer from God.
I’m not saying that God doesn’t answer people’s questions.
I’m not going to give you some formula for how to get God to answer your questions.
I’m saying that God doesn’t owe us answers.
Jesus’ response to these men is a good example of this.
Over all I hope that I’m convincing you to -
Surrender to Jesus’ Authority as God.
Illus - [Indiana Highway Patrol/ MoCo Sherrif’s Deputy/ Crawfordsville PD]
It’s pretty apparent how authority works.
We understand that someone with authority is always given the authority to do what should be done.
When a little sister comes into the backyard and say, “You boys better clean up for supper
It’s very different if she says, “Mom told me to tell you that you better clean up for supper.”
Similarly, If I pull up behind you, flash my lights, and convince you to pull over,
You’re not going to be very pleased if I tell you I had you pull over because you were driving to fast.
You’re going to tell me that I don’t have the right/authority to do that.
But if a person with decals on their car and sirens does the same thing, you’ll listen to them.
That’s because the authority of the state has sent them to do a job - enforcing the speed limit.
If that person claimed to have unlimited authority/rights over you, you might start dialing your attorney.
No one can say this because all authority comes from somewhere else - from God
Jesus does have UNLIMITED authority/rights over you because He IS GOD.
God is the source of any legitimate authority.
Jesus has the final say in how we should live our lives.
What areas of your life have you allowed Jesus to have His say in how you should conduct yourself?
What areas have you thought that Jesus doesn’t have the authority to rule in?
We all have these.
But growing in Christ means allowing Him to reign in more and more of our lives.
What situations do you think that you don’t need to let Christ reign in?
Is it when you get hurt, angry, scared, under strong temptation?
What growth in Christ can look like for us is lifting up the area or the situation of our lives and we say, “Lord, You are the Lord over all my life.”
“I want You to have Your full reign over this.”
“I surrender it to You.”
The second response that I want to encourage you toward this morning is this -
2. See a Changed Life as Evidence of Surrender.
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.”
My task as a preacher is to understand what was originally communicated and express it in a way that would have the same impact.
This parable is obviously challenging to communicate in our present culture because the scenario described basically happens on the regular.
Sadly, it happens that children say refuse to obey their parents or say they will but don’t obey in the end.
Illus - [son spits in his father’s face… son says, “I won’t spit in your face.”…]
Jesus tells a parable of a situation that would be unthinkable in a God-fearing Jewish culture.
If I son outwardly refused to do what his father told him to do, it would’ve made him eligible for drastic punishment.
But it was thought to be worse for a son to not obey his father told him to do after saying that he would. This is disobedience in addition to not keeping his word to his father.
Evidence that I see in our verses for why a Changed Life is Evidence of Surrender is -
2a. Repentant obedience is better than self-righteous disobedience.
Jesus’ question makes His point super plain - “Which son did his father’s will?”
The issue of this parable is this - obedience is far more valuable than lip-service.
Don’t get mistaken here with the common excuse of,
“Well, I was just about to obey!” or “I was going to obey, but…”
This isn’t meant to justify “delayed obedience” any more than this excuse should work for your kids.
Quote - TNTC - “The story is clear and simple, and its point is obvious, that what counts is not promise but performance.”
This is basically what John the Baptist also told the religious leaders -
* Matthew 3:7–9 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
Quote - ESV - “The fruit of one’s life ultimately proves whether or not one is obedient to God’s message. A person’s actions ultimately prove whether or not he is obedient to God.”
a Changed Life is also Evidence of Surrender because Jesus is also telling us in this parable that
2b. Repentant sinners are better-off than self-righteous sinners.
Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.
Truly - Jesus is saying, “Now, listen to the point that I’m about to make.”
He makes his point in the starkest terms using the lowest sociological category that the religious leaders could conceive.
It’d be like us listing off “drug dealers and child molesters” as better off standing before the Lord.
But what’s key here is that they are repentant.
Those sinners who repented under Jesus’ or John’s ministry were far more righteous before God than the religious leaders who were only giving God lip service.
Of course this is because their righteousness before God wasn’t theirs.
32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him.
believe - πιστεύω - to consider something to be true and therefore worthy of one’s trust -
It was the righteousness of Christ as their Messiah in whom they trusted.
We’ll talk more about this when we turn to communion this morning and reflect on His saving sacrifice.
For = v.32 is Jesus’ explanation of His statement -wretched sinners surpassing self-righteous sinners.
The way of righteousness that John came in was a life of repentance - recognition of one’s need for a righteousness outside of our own - the opposite of self-righteousness.
This leads to an aspect of how a Changed Life is also Evidence of Surrender in the idea that
2c. The evidence of a changed life may convince or condemn.
32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
The it that the religious leaders saw was the way of righteousness that began to mark the lives of those who had been considered wretched sinners.
So, the self-righteous that were standing in front of Jesus without any excuse were guilty of two sins.
Sin #1 = They didn’t believe John as God’s messenger - wouldn’t believe what they heard.
Sin #2 = They didn’t believe that God was truly moving - didn’t believe what they saw.
Having disregarded John, they were disregarding Jesus (who was providing evidence through changed lives)
So, we should -
2. See a Changed Life as Evidence of Surrender.
We should look for this rather than claims of never having sinned or a person saying they’ve surrendered.
A story was written by Nathaniel Hawthorn.
It was intended to highlight how those that are outwardly repentant are usually treated more harshly by people.
But those who’s sin is kept secret for fear of scandal are tortured severely in their spirit.
The most prominent symbol of the story is the red letter “A” that a woman is forced to wear due to her adultery.
But the man involved ends up painting the same on his chest in his torment.
We don’t hand out Scarlet letters around here.
We don’t believe that Jesus does either.
So, why would we.
If you’ve repented of your sins and trusted Christ, don’t dwell on what you’ve done in the past.
The fact is that it’s not our walk with Christ shouldn’t’ be about what you’ve done in the past.
They should be about His righteousness that we’re walking in.
Pivot -
If you haven’t surrendered your life to Christ, He expects the changed lives of others to hit you in the feels.
I referenced John 1 when talking about Jesus having the authority to upset our lives.
John 1 also describes how these religious leaders missed their Messiah
* John 1:9–11 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
What should’ve haunted the self-righteous leaders was Jesus’ summary idea
“Even when you saw [the repentance of those that you consider beyond God’s help], you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.”
John goes on to tell us how it is that repentant sinners are actually able to have a relationship with God.
* John 1:12–13 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
By disregarding John/Jesus, they were disregarding the one that sent them - God Himself.
* John 1:14–16 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth… For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
The fullness of the authoritative God becomes personal as we turn to communion this morning
Jesus’ fullness is His being 100% God & 100% man.
The way that He turned His fullness into grace upon grace for us is by the work He did on the cr
