04-10-20 Kevin Goins - Defeating the Status Quo, Part 2

“Defeating the Status Quo” (Part 2)

In the first century “life as usual” for the people of Israel included poverty, illiteracy, hunger, sickness, and being under the thumb of the Roman empire. “Life as usual” is what we mean by the status quo, and for Israel the status quo was depressing, to say the least. But then Jesus came, and through his teaching and healing and feeding the hungry he overcame many of the most negative elements of the status quo. Then he was put to death on the cross, but what followed his violent and humiliating death brought about the greatest reversal of the status quo the world has ever seen. In what ways did the resurrection of Jesus defeat the status quo?

I When we look at the Passion Story, we see, first, that Jesus said No to the status quo of lying to protect oneself.
II When we look at the Passion Story, we see, second, that Jesus said No to the status quo of h___________ those who h_________ us.
A. Good Friday is the time when we recall the s_____________ of Jesus. The Gospels tell us that there were m___________ aspects to that suffering:
1. We tend to emphasize the p_______________.
2. If we know our New Testament theology, we also recognize the s_______________ aspect of his suffering.
3. But we often forget the r__________________ aspect of his suffering.
a. Jesus didn’t suffer in p_____________.
b. The crowds around the cross did not praise Jesus for who he w_______, they cursed him for what they b__________ him to be in that moment. They saw him as:
1. a would-be p______________ leader
2. a m___________ unstable person
3. a f______________.
c. The crowd could not accept the necessity of the c_____________.

B. But Luke says that from the cross Jesus looked out at these h_______-filled people and said, “Father, f___________ them for they do not k__________ what they are doing.”
1. But that was not only the attitude of Jesus as he hung on the cross, refusing to hate the haters was his p______________ way of dealing with life.
2. And what is even more shocking is that he expects _______ to do the same.