Blessed Is He Who Comes in the Name of the Lord

In one paragraph

Pastor Brian opened Matthew 23:37-39 with a group of IDF reservists in the room for the second Sunday in a row, and used Jesus's lament over Jerusalem to work toward a personal question: where have you been treating Jesus as a secondary option rather than the cornerstone of your life? Jesus's words in Matthew 23 come at a specific moment. Chapter 22 was his final address to the general public,...

Read together

1. Matthew 23:37-39 primary passage read aloud and expounded throughout the sermon
2. Matthew 22 identified as Jesus's final address to the general public
3. Matthew 24 identified as Jesus's final message to his disciples
4. Matthew 23 identified as Jesus's final address to the religious leaders
5. Psalm 118:22 the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, linked to Jesus as the rejected cornerstone
6. Psalm 118:24 this is the day the Lord has made, quoted as familiar camp song
7. Psalm 118:25 please Lord please save us, please Lord please give us success
8. Psalm 118:26 blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, identified as the source Jesus was quoting in Matthew 23:39

What was said

• Think about one area of your life where you have been trying to figure things out on your own and have not made Jesus your first option, and bring it to Him in prayer this week.
• Read Psalm 118 in full so you can see the passage Brian was drawing from and sit with what verse 22 says about the cornerstone.
• Read all of Matthew 23 to understand who Jesus was speaking to and why his words there were so pointed.
• If you have been bumping your head against a hard situation, take a moment this week to stop scheming and specifically ask Jesus into that situation by name.
• Come to the closing prayer and worship evening at the TMC when Tribe announces it, and be part of marking what God did there before that chapter closes.

Talk about it

1. Brian described Jesus weeping over Jerusalem and then saying 'your house is abandoned and desolate' to a crowd in a packed, bustling temple. What does it tell you about Jesus that his words came from grief rather than contempt?
2. Brian said Jesus 'loves to afflict the comfortable' and that if you have never been offended by Jesus you probably have not walked with him very long. Has there been a moment when something Jesus said genuinely offended or unsettled you, and what happened when you sat with that?
3. Brian pointed out that Jesus could have filled in the blank many different ways, such as setting a date or demanding outright acknowledgment, but instead he quoted Psalm 118 and the image of the rejected cornerstone. Why do you think Jesus chose that particular condition and that particular image?
4. Brian drew a distinction between flatly rejecting Jesus and simply treating him casually, as a secondary or tertiary option when life gets hard. Which of those two does he suggest is the more common pattern, and which one do you find harder to recognize in yourself?
5. Brian closed with the image of Jesus saying 'get in here' under his wings, with no 'too late' and no 'no room for you.' How does that picture sit alongside the stern, blistering tone of Matthew 23 that Brian described earlier in the sermon?