Trenton Tuggle - October 4, 2026
/Family Bible Hour featuring Trenton Tuggle on “Do Not Be Afraid”. A teaching from the youth group’s Life of Christ study on the kingdom offered and rejected, God’s sovereign plan, and Jesus as Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2), applied to an anxious age.
Transcript
Sorry about that. Well, as I was doing some research leading up to this, I stumbled upon a number of poll results, which had interesting numbers in my mind. I found this one from the American Psychiatric Association, and this is from May of this year, so a number of months ago. And in May of this year, the APA polled a number of people, and the respondents that answered that Americans are either very or somewhat anxious about, 53% of them said that they were anxious about the impact of emerging technology in everyday life.
I thought that was really interesting. 53% either very anxious or somewhat anxious about the impact of emerging technology. This was way back in May. 60% said that they were either somewhat anxious or very anxious.
60% about keeping myself or my family safe. I thought that was really interesting. 60%. And even larger, 62% said that they were very or somewhat anxious about current events happening around the world.
Now, this was published in May, and probably the respondents, the poll was probably taking place right about when we kicked off this thing in Iran. So perhaps that was part of it. 82%, though. That seems like a high number to me.
So, I also have a bit of a cough. Please excuse me. I'm going to have a drink of water handy. So just last week, published in the New York Times, there was an article titled, The Problem with Apocalyptic Thinking.
And it's subtitled, From Climate to COVID to AI, we face a terrifying feeling of exponential growth spinning out of our control. Are we right? In other words, is this feeling right? In other words, translated, is the feeling grounded and based in reality?
Are we indeed spinning exponentially out of control? So you might recognize some of the faces on the right over here. But it talked about climate alarm, COVID, and artificial intelligence. And on the right-hand side, you'll see at the bottom is, of course, the COVID shopping in masks.
Second up, we've got Greta Thunberg, the face of climate alarmism. And at the very top, you might not recognize him. That's Dario Amode, who is the CEO of Anthropic, one of the top two AI companies. OpenAI with ChatGPT and Anthropic.
with their product called Claude or Claude Code. You might have heard of it. It's changed lives, to say the least. I know, right?
The article went on. So I thought this was a fascinating article, but it talked about a number of other forms of existential dread. I wish my remote was working here. I'm sorry.
I'm going to have to stand here blocking you all. But it talked about the fertility crisis, a bunch of different things, the woke mind virus, 5G, the great replacement, and most important, perhaps, they talked about the fall of American democracy. Now, I found this really, really fascinating because in the very same paper, when I clicked back to the homepage of the New York Times, they had this article about Mamdani's surprisingly persuasive solution to a world on fire. I found this interesting because Mamdani is an admitted socialist and, of course, famously, both Marx and Vladimir Lenin.
He explained that socialism is the required number one step on the path towards communism. So I thought that was interesting that their concern was the fall of American democracy. Here's a quote from it, and the feeling that all these visions share is the drop in your stomach sensation of contemplating sudden and overwhelming loss of control. That was really interesting.
So I found a more recent poll. This is from Quinnipiac University, taken only last month, and it found that Americans are very or somewhat concerned that future AI systems could potentially threaten human survival. 73% of respondents were either very or somewhat concerned that future AI systems could potentially threaten human survival as a species. I thought this was really eye-opening.
This was very, very interesting that so many people are living in such fear. So I thought I would share what we're studying in the life of Christ with the youth group. If you don't know, every Fridays we've got a youth teaching, a class. It starts at 6.30.
I teach the class currently. And we actually start eating pizza at 6 o'clock. And the class starts at 6.30. And we usually have kids plus maybe one two or three adults sitting on a class.
And the kids are anywhere from ages 9. It's basically, if your kid has the patience to sit through an extremely boring one-hour Bible lecture, they're welcome to it. And so we have kids anywhere from age 9 to 10 on up through. We have a number of college kids.
I think we now have at least some sophomores in college. So you're welcome to join us there. But what we're studying is the life of Christ. So let's go ahead and open in prayer.
And then I want to jump into some teaching from this class for this morning. Our great God, our Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you that you sent him, that he became flesh and dwelt among us. Thank you that he was made in every way as we are, tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.
Thank you that you made him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf, that we might have your righteousness. All those that believe in his name. And so thank you. We pray that you'd be with us this morning as we look into your word.
We pray that you'd just guide and direct our hearts, our thoughts, our minds, and that we would just learn about you and glorify you in all that we think. In Jesus' name, amen. Introduction to my class. There are a couple people here, I think, who haven't probably seen the last time I introduced this.
It's been some time. Usually what I do when I'm volunteered for a Sunday morning is I try to put together what we've been doing in youth group, particularly if it's relevant. I happen to think it's relevant. And what this class is, is it's a chronological, geographical, and theological study in the life of Christ.
And so the premise, just by means of introduction, is that most of us can place these events in chronological order. If you had to place those in order, how would you do it? You know, most of us could do that. You know, let's say probably the birth, then maybe, yeah, probably baptism.
Let's see, resurrection? No, death first, then resurrection. Pretty straightforward. But what about all those other events?
What about the feeding of the 5,000? What about the feeding of the 4,000? What about the cleansing of the temple? Did it come before that or after that?
The answer is yes. There were two cleansings. But a lot of us have a hard time putting all that together. So I'm trying, this is an attempt, to put together the chronological study of the order of events in Christ's life.
Now, it's based on a harmony originally by A. T. Robertson that was refined by Albert Cassell-Weeand, and that's the book that I'm using. And it arranges it like this.
We have a time of preparation. Then we have the Galilean ministry. We're also incorporating the geography. You can see the geography up there.
And those of you who have heard me introduce this before, you can just glaze over and say, I'm going to nap with my eyes open for three minutes. Three minutes. Go. Galilee, the breadbasket of Israel.
Fish, bread, grain. All came from Galilee. That was the breadbasket. Judea, the urban city.
The center of Israel. The capital city, Jerusalem. Perea. Over to the right there, on the right-hand side there, the Sea of Jordan.
When traveling between Galilee and Judea, the Jews would invariably cross across the Jordan and down through Perea on the east side and then back across around the location of, boy, it's hard to see in this. This is a, I might need to focus this. Focus. That's as good as it gets.
There you go. You can see Jericho right there. So they would cross over and travel from Jericho on up to Jerusalem for all the feasts. And so with that, we have the Galilean ministry.
Then Jesus takes the twelve over to Decapolis and some other areas. And we have what we call the specialized ministry. Then we have resumed the ministry in Judea. We have a very urban ministry in Judea.
And then over to Perea for a few months. He retires to Ephraim and then goes on to Jerusalem for the concluding week. So the time of preparation is things like his baptism, his infancy, the cleansing of the temple. And it leads right up to his rejection at Nazareth.
Then the Galilean ministry. He settles in Capernaum. Capernaum, if you see on the north side of the Sea of Galilee there, Capernaum is his home base. He chooses the twelve.
He gives the great sermon on the mount. The feeding of the five thousand is during the Galilean ministry. Unfortunately, by the end of the Galilean ministry, John the Baptist is beheaded. He's deserted by everyone who started to follow him except for twelve men and a handful of women.
John the Baptist is beheaded. And that's what leads Jesus to what we call the specialized ministry. Things are very hot in Israel. So he takes the boys, the twelve plus the few women, out of Israel to the land of Decapolis, Caesarea Philippi, Tyre, Sidon, those areas.
And he has some special time with them where the Pharisees can't hound his every step. And he has a little bit of freedom. It's during this time that Jesus first starts letting the hints drop that I'm going to suffer many things at the hands of the Jewish leaders and I'm going to die and resurrect. And they just don't understand.
They just don't get it. Which is fine because he also talks about church truths. He says, Peter famously says, you're the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus says, and you are Peter.
On this rock, I will build my church. A little play on words. You are Petros. And on this Petra, I will build my church.
The transfiguration takes place. Then they resume the Judean ministry and the Perean ministry. Sends out the 70. He's got 70 followers throughout all of Judea.
Every little town and village in Galilee was evangelized. Every little town and village in Judea was evangelized. Every little town and village in Perea was evangelized. Eventually, they all rejected him.
They all rejected him. And so he retires to Ephraim. And then we have the triumphal entry, which is really arguably part of the concluding week. So he comes in.
Hosanna, the son of David, on Sunday. On Monday, we have the cleansing of the temple. On Tuesday, I have it down here, parables, woes to Pharisees. Tuesday was a day of complete confrontation.
The Pharisees, the Sadducees, everyone was out to get Jesus. And he thwarted them easily. Wednesday was a quiet day, except for Judas made a little bargain on that day. Then we have the upper room discourse, his trials, his crucifixion, his burial, and his resurrection.
on Sunday again. Here's the timeline. The Gospel of John records these four Passovers by which we can make an attempt to try to fit all of this together into a timeline. So, basically three and a half years.
So, what was the message that Jesus was preaching? What was the message Jesus was preaching? If you recall, in those days, Matthew 3, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. And this was his message.
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. We read in Matthew 4, when Jesus himself began his ministry. From that time on, Jesus began to preach, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.
When Jesus sent out the twelve, he said, as you go, preach this message. The kingdom of heaven is near. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. The kingdom of God is at hand.
In Mark chapter 1, we read the same. The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the Gospel. What kingdom is this?
I've presented this before. I'm going to jump through this quickly because I know you've seen this. But when talking about the covenants, we've got the Noahic Covenant, which provides for nations, specifically with the national right of execution of criminals from those who take a life. The government is given the right to take their life of a murderer.
But the Abrahamic Covenant narrows it down to one specific nation. The Mosaic Covenant provides laws for that nation, and then the Davidic Covenant provides a house, a throne, and a king and kingdom for that nation, kings for that nation. During the New Covenant, that one nation will again become prominent. And now we see here at the end of history, after 2,000 years of the Jewish people being scattered among the world, just exactly as the Lord had predicted, just exactly as he had foretold.
They have now been gathered into their own land again. We are ready for God's next plan. Much more can be said. In the Davidic Covenant, we read in 1 Chronicles 17, just a little bit of it, but I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever, and his throne will be established.
How long? Forever. Huh. So we currently don't see a throne in Jerusalem.
Bibi Netanyahu has, I'm told, a pretty good office. I don't think he sits on a throne, right? And so this has yet to be fulfilled. But this is what Jesus was offering to them.
If they had accepted it, it would have been fulfilled. Now, we know that he wasn't caught by surprise. Was God up in heaven thwarted? Dad, nabbit, my people aren't accepting my offer.
What am I going to do? No, right? That wasn't God's attitude, right? God was not caught by surprise.
He knew this was going to happen. The stone that the builders rejected, he prophesied beforehand that the Lord Jesus Christ would be rejected. But that's what he offered. He offered a literal earthly political kingdom with a spiritual qualification of repentance.
And so, that was the offer that Jesus said. We see a huge shift in the ministry of Jesus. Just to continue briefly before we jump into more of this. At the beginning, when Jesus sent out the 12, and then later on he sends out the 70, at the end of his ministry, he asks them this question.
He says, Have you never read in the Scriptures, the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone? This is from the Lord, and it's marvelous in our eyes. So their message was, Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. At the end of Jesus' ministry, he says, Therefore, I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
And so, this is the message that Jesus gave on Tuesday of Passion Week. In the top right, you see when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that Jesus was speaking about them. Although they wanted to arrest him, they were afraid of the crowds because the people regarded him as a prophet. And so that's towards the end of Matthew.
In the book of Acts, when we open up the book of Acts, the apostles, the disciples, are still confused. And so when they came together, we see this quote right here from Acts 1-6. When they came together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And of course, Jesus' response, it's not for you to know.
Times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. When Jesus talked to the disciples, he said, When I sent you out without purse or bag or sandals, did you lack anything? Nothing, they answered. Now, however, he told them, the one with a purse should buy, and likewise a bag.
The one without a sword should sell his cloak and buy one. For I tell you, the Scripture must be fulfilled in me. And he was numbered with the transgressors. For what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.
So they said, Look, here are two swords. That's enough, he answered. The point wasn't that they should be armed to the teeth and fight their way through with the gospel. The point was that the entire relationship between the disciples and the world was going to change.
The king himself was going to be crucified on a cross. And what happens to the king, the persecution of the king, is going to happen to the king's followers. Just like what happened to the forerunner, John the Baptist. What happened to the forerunner will happen to the king.
They kill John the Baptist, they're going to kill the king himself, Jesus Christ. So there's a symmetry here. Acts 4:27 sums this up. And this is something that I have really tried to hammer home with the kids and youth group through this entire time.
This has been a verse that we've used in several of our classes because you see it so clearly. In Acts 4:27 it starts, In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They carried out what your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen. You see this?
Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, the people of Israel, Herod. These four all conspired against. But think of what this is saying. They carried out what your hand and your will had decided beforehand would happen.
So when the people turned on Jesus, and they shouted, Crucify! Crucify Him! God was not surprised. This was not a huge, you know, God was not up in heaven scratching His head thinking, Man, what am I going to do?
How am I going to get through these people? They're thwarting my plans. No. On the contrary, they were fitting in exactly to God's plans.
Exactly to God's plans. Can we trust God to execute His plans? Of course we can. He's the only one you can trust to execute any kind of plan.
So, I showed this last time. A Christian view of history. You can view it as His story. An encouraging verse there.
Matthew 10, 29 on the left. There are not two sparrows sold for a penny, yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. God attends the funeral of sparrows. Think about that for a minute.
God attends the funeral of sparrows. There are not two sparrows sold for a penny, yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. The very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid. Is this applicable to today's situation? So AI. Is AI going to destroy humanity?
Have we to fear AI more than anything else? I don't think so. Do not be afraid. You're worth more than many sparrows.
Okay, we're going to jump through these. Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. Jesus said, if you're willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. Later, this is in Matthew 11.
Later on, in Matthew 17, after he's been beheaded, the disciples asked him, why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? Jesus replied, Elijah does indeed come, and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come. And they did not recognize him, but have done to him whatever they wished.
In the same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands. And so, that's my brief overview. Now, I want to bring you to the Galilean ministry. Let's transport ourselves to the Galilean ministry of Jesus.
He had moved. We read in a certain passage that he moved from Nazareth. He and his mother and brothers and sisters all moved from Nazareth to Capernaum. Capernaum is the hometown.
And we read in Mark 2, just a little hint of this. A few days later, he went back to Capernaum, and the people heard that he was home. You see how this Capernaum is now home to Jesus. He no longer lives in Nazareth.
So, here's Capernaum on the map. You can see it at the top, the north of the Sea of Galilee right there. That was Jesus. Okay.
So, I got a little bit excited by this, and I did cut and paste some slides in from another one of my presentations on archaeology. This is modern-day Capernaum. You can go there and see what it looks like today. They've excavated it.
As you can see, they've excavated all in this area, even outside of the walls. You can see on the bottom left there additional buildings that have been excavated. Now, of course, they've kind of protected the ones inside this little walled-in area. The white building in the center there, that is the synagogue.
Now, you could get really excited, but that's not the synagogue that Jesus was in. That's a Byzantine-era synagogue built in the 300s A. D. after the time of Jesus.
But you can go there and see it. This is literally just a few hundred years from the time of Christ. You can go there today, walk through that synagogue. I've got some photos of it.
I think this is really fascinating. Perhaps when violence dies down, we should have some sort of a Lake Howell trip over to the Middle East and travel this area. It would be so fascinating. This is not the synagogue that Jesus set foot in, but you can see parts of the remains of the synagogue that Jesus himself set foot in.
This synagogue was built on top of the first century synagogue that Jesus himself would have set foot in. The dark basaltic rock that's on the bottom, you can see in a little area on the left-hand side where they've excavated down that low. That dark basaltic rock, that's the paving, the cobblestones of the synagogue that Jesus himself would have set foot in. And you can see this for your own eyes in Capernaum today.
You can see what they did on the right-hand side there. They built the third century synagogue on top of the first century synagogue. So you can see that today. And when you go outside of that synagogue and you pass the first structure going south toward the Sea of Galilee, the second structure, they found something remarkable when they excavated it.
Here's a photo of what it looked like back when they first excavated it. I think this was in the 70s or 80s was when the original excavations were taking place before they built that additional structure there. And when they excavated this particular structure, they found the first, the next door neighbor to the synagogue was just an ordinary, large but ordinary house. The next structure down, they were fascinated because they found a Byzantine era, like a vault.
It was an octagonal structure, and this is a type of structure that during the 300s and on up to the 400s, 500s, and some into the 600s, what they would do is they would build these octagonal structures, not as a church, but to kind of venerate or commemorate a particularly like a holy place. So what was this holy place? They found when they dug down, when they excavated, that this octagonal structure built probably in the 300s, maybe in the 400s, this was built on top of a church, a church with a large central room. They found that was really interesting.
They found in the Byzantine era structure, it wasn't used as a church, but prior to the 300s, it was a large church with a big central room, and they found large vessels for serving large crowds. As they continued digging, they found that that church was in turn built out of a house church. It used to be a house church in the 200s. And they found, what indeed did this house church come from?
Eventually, at the lowest level, they excavated, and they found that it used to be an ordinary house. It was just an ordinary house, and indeed, it had been transformed from an ordinary house with lots of small vessels for serving various household responsibilities. And they had transformed from a house into a house church into an actual church. And then later, when it was destroyed, they built a Byzantine-era octagonal structure to venerate the place.
Today, you can go and see this. They've kind of built a Catholic octagonal thing on top of these remains. You can look underneath them. They've not disturbed the remains.
And inside the building, there's a glass floor there. And you can go look down on the very room, which was in the middle of that octagonal structure, which was in the middle of the church structure, which wasn't a very large church. It didn't hold that many people. But the verse there in Mark 1 29, as soon as Jesus and his companions had left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew.
So most archaeologists believe that this is the home of Simon Peter. This is the home of Simon Peter. And indeed, that this might have been the home that Jesus lived in during his time there at Capernaum. So you can go and see that for yourself today.
I just love this. I'm sorry. I have to cut and paste these slides. They're not even the same format.
You can see I apologize for that. But I have to interject this because it's so fascinating to me. So let's go back to time when Jesus was through. And this is going to be an example of the kinds of things we do in youth group.
And we read that one Sabbath, Jesus was passing through the grain fields. And his disciples began to pick the heads of grain as they walked along. This is in Mark 2, 23. And so they began to pick these heads of grain while Jesus was in Galilee.
In fact, through Jesus' entire ministry, while he was within the territory of Israel, he was hounded by Pharisees. He was hounded by religious investigators trying to determine, you know, what's the nature of this guy's... Because there were messianic figures that would pop up from time to time, and it was their job to basically go and thwart them, to ferret out what's the truth? Are these real messianic figures?
Now, they knew that the real Messiah would indeed be a Pharisee. They knew, the Jewish leaders did, that not only would the Messiah be a Pharisee, come out of the Pharisaic order, but the real Messiah would, as his primary job, was going to march on Rome and personally kill the Roman Emperor. So they were waiting to see, is this the man? So they were following him, hounding him, and here they are passing through the grain fields, and here are the Pharisees, also passing through the grain fields, watching their every move.
So when the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, look, your disciples are doing what's unlawful on the Sabbath. So as you know, not only had the law of Moses been venerated, but they had added to it. The Jews at the time, they looked at the law of Moses as something of, like somewhat of a leaky wall. It's a wall to try to keep us from sin, but it's got all these holes in it.
You might accidentally sin. There might be any number of ways through which sin might accidentally enter in, and so they came up with, you'll see it referred to in the Gospels as the traditions of the elders. Later, it got more formal names like Mishnah and things like that, but the traditions of the elders, this is what governed them all. And so the Pharisees saw this.
They said, look, your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath. It's unlawful to harvest grain. So here's a big grain field. Pick some grain, rub it, and eat the little seeds inside, a nice nutritious snack, granola, we call it now.
Unlawful. And so Jesus has an interesting series, an interesting family of responses to this. I want to walk you through this. Jesus replied, have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for them to eat, but only for the priests. What's he talking about here? You remember the story when David was hungry, and he entered, and indeed marched right in and grabbed the showbread. It's not lawful for them to eat.
Yet none of the Jewish leaders would condemn David, King David. We see that the law indeed was not given as, you know, Jesus is going to, he's going to push them on the purpose of the law. Is the law here to make you holy? Is the law to prevent you from sinning?
Is the law going to single-handedly by obeying the law, is it going to cleanse your heart of sin? And Jesus is going to push back on this. Indeed, there are exceptions, even to the law of Moses, because people are more important. And so David has been, they were hungry, they ate the consecrated bread.
I wonder how that response was received. I don't know, because Jesus continues. He says, or haven't you read in the law that on the Sabbath, the priests in the temple break the Sabbath, and yet are innocent? What's this talking about?
The priests in the temple break the Sabbath? What were the priests' job? What was the job of the priests? They were doing sacrifices.
They did all kinds of work for the sacrifices. Now, were there more sacrifices and offerings, or fewer sacrifices and offerings on the Sabbath? Oh, no. There were more?
Wait, these guys worked on the Sabbath? May it never be. Do you see Jesus' reasoning here? They literally work harder on the Sabbath.
What? How can this be? There are clearly exceptions to the law. Jesus is trying to get them to understand.
What's the purpose of the law? We read in the New Testament that it was meant to be a guardian. The word, oh, I forget the Greek word, but the Greek word that's used there for guardian or sometimes translated tutor, it really means it's a kind of Greek term that talked about someone who would escort a young boy to and from school. On the way to and from school, that escort would protect the boy from his own self.
He would protect the boy from perhaps engaging in altercations with others. He would protect the boy from altercations others might foist upon him, right? So he would bring the boy safely to school. The law was intended to bring the Jews to the school of God, to learn of the nature and attributes of God.
Or haven't you read in the law, on the Sabbath, the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are innocent. So here's Jesus continuing point after point after point. Let me get another one. If only you had known the meaning of I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.
What's that all about? I desire mercy and not sacrifice. Well, they would have known what that's about. That's from Hosea 6:6.
This is a remarkable passage where God says through Hosea, what shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes. Think of what God's saying here.
Therefore, I have hewn them by the prophets. I have slain them by the words of my mouth and my judgments go forth like lightning. For I desire, this is the verse here in verse 6, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. You see what God is saying here to the Jews, and you see what Jesus is saying?
If you'd only known, if you'd only known what this means, if you knew what this means, you would not have condemned the innocent. Jesus gives the penultimate point here. Then Jesus declared, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. This is a really important one.
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath was given to mankind, all of mankind, not just the Jews, as a day of rest. Throughout history, if we examine the French, I think, tried a 10-day work week, all throughout history, people have tried to invent better ways, more efficient ways to extract labor from humanity. And every time they've failed, man needs a rest every seven days.
Who would know better than man's creator? Every time any other system is tried, it's always failed. The Sabbath was made for man. Man was not made as a robot to fulfill the Sabbath.
Here's my rules. Good luck, people. That's not God's attitude. God made the Sabbath.
That's a blessing for us. I know I'm grateful for this Sabbath. You see his point? Ultimately, Jesus concluded, therefore, the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.
Oh, so much is wrapped up. Oh, boy. You could have a whole sermon on this one verse. I guarantee you.
This would be an enjoyable sermon, too. It'd be very enjoyable. The Son of Man, therefore, is Lord, even of the Sabbath. He's the one who made it.
He's the one who invented it. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. I invented the Sabbath. I made the Sabbath.
It is mine. I can do whatever I please. I'm the boss. I made it.
I invented it. The Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath. So much more can be said, right? There they are, going their way, eating their grain.
The Son of Man is a title of humanity, a title of humility, a title of deity, and the fulfillment of prophecy. Again, you could have a whole sermon just on that one little verse, and it would be an absolutely enjoyable sermon to put together, I think. But the title Son of Man, at its face value, simply refers to someone who is the son of a human being, a homo sapien. The son of a homo sapien is another homo sapien, right?
To use, you know, scientific terms. The son of a person is another person, right? God calls Ezekiel the son of man, I don't know how many times. The son of man, though, is Jesus' favorite title for himself, because he's not just any son of man.
He is the, the son of man, the fulfillment of prophecy in Daniel chapter 7. Oh, man, we got, we are low on time. Bear with me. Daniel chapter 7.
Daniel has this vision, all kinds of crazy stuff. We don't need to get into it, because he continued to watch, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. Who do you think this is? Thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels. Wait, what? I don't know.
Its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire. A river? Not a stream.
A river of fire was flowing, coming out from his presence. Thousands upon thousands attended him in myriads, upon myriads, stood, not seated, stood before him. The court was convened, and the books were opened. Who do you think this Ancient of Days is?
God the Father, the Ancient of Days. Continuing a couple verses down, Daniel says, in my vision of the night, I continued to watch. And I saw one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. When Jesus was at his trial and he finally opened his mouth, he was silent as a lamb before.
Anyway, when Jesus was at his last trial and he finally opened his mouth, he said, I tell you, you're going to see the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. And they knew exactly who he was claiming to be. Listen to this. One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven, he approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.
And he was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion. It will not pass away. His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
And so they knew exactly who Jesus was claiming to be. So claiming to be the Son of Man. As Jesus comes down, he's the Son of Man. They truly didn't understand that Jesus later on in the Galilean ministry.
Actually, after the Galilean ministry ends, he comes in. From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that he must be killed and on the third day raised to life. Good old Peter. Don't you love Peter?
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Can you imagine? You can be yourself with the Lord. Can you imagine taking the Lord aside and shaking him?
Hey, man, get that. You're not going to go die? Far be it from you, Lord. This shall never happen to you.
You remember Jesus' response, right? Get thee behind me, Satan. Right? They were afraid.
So bring it back to today. I've got to close. Which of you, by worrying, can add a single cubit to his lifespan, Jesus asked. Which of you, by worrying, can add a single cubit to his lifespan?
627. In verse 34, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Jesus said, do not let your hearts be troubled.
You believe in God, believe in me as well. And so in this day and age, this is a huge key thing. Do not let your hearts be troubled. This is super important.
The world around us seems to love fear. What's one of the most popular movie genres? You know, horror films. Can you, it truly blows me away.
I just don't understand it at all. Horror films are one of the most, what was Michael Jackson's biggest hit? Thriller. Why?
People seem to like and enjoy living on the edge, right? Not so with Christians. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Much more can be said.
I want us to all get out of here and good time for lunch. Thank you for having me here. I think I forgot to open in prayer. Let's close in prayer.
Our gracious God, our Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your love, your love for us. Thank you for your love that sent your only Son. Thank you for your love that saw fit to send Him for us, Lord. We did not deserve this.
But you, in your loving kindness, will never leave us nor forsake us, Lord. Thank you so much again for all these things. We pray that you would just keep us safe until next week again. We pray that you would help our hearts to be stayed on thee as we live in this world that seems to be more and more saturated with fear.
We pray that you give us discernment and patience and excitement as we share your gospel of peace with a troubled world around us. In Jesus' name, amen.
