Jesus the Deliverer: Breaking the Cycle of Sin

• The Unity of Scripture 00:03:15 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that the Bible is one big story and that the Old Testament is essential for understanding the New Testament, correcting the misconception that one can be a 'New Testament Christian' without the Old.
• Jesus' Use of the Old Testament 00:06:02 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that Jesus frequently referred to the Old Testament, particularly Deuteronomy, and sometimes went deeper than the text to interpret it for his followers.
• The Road to Emmaus 00:06:59 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the biblical account of Jesus walking with two disciples after his resurrection, interpreting the Scriptures to them to show how they point to him.
• [Judges 3](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+3&version=KJV) and the Pattern of Sin and Deliverance 00:13:04 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor reads Judges 3 to illustrate the cycle of Israel's idolatry, oppression, crying out to God, and deliverance, connecting it to the broader biblical narrative pointing to Jesus.
• The Cycle of Sin and Deliverance in Judges 00:17:44 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains the repetitive pattern in the book of Judges where Israel disobeys, faces punishment, cries out, and is rescued by a deliverer, noting this cycle continues until the deliverer dies.
• Christological Typology of Joshua and Jesus 00:19:08 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor connects the Hebrew word for deliverer (yashah) to the names Joshua and Jesus, establishing Jesus as the ultimate Deliverer who defeats death.
• The Resurrection and Defeat of Death 00:20:44 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts the temporary peace of the Judges era with the permanent victory of Jesus' resurrection, which breaks the cycle of sin.
• World Communion Sunday 00:22:30 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor connects the local congregation to the global body of Christians, emphasizing unity in God's big story of redemption.

• Sermon Illustration 00:01:11 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote from his time as a youth pastor in seminary, where a student named Matt claimed to be a 'New Testament Christian' and rejected the Old Testament, prompting the pastor to explain the necessity of the Old Testament for understanding the New.
• Sermon Illustration 00:04:23 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes his own high school Bible, which was held together by duct tape and had notes from his 16-year-old self, contrasting his heavy use of the New Testament with his lack of engagement with the Old Testament at that time.
• Sermon Illustration 00:06:59 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the biblical story of Jesus walking with two disciples on the road to Emmaus after the resurrection, explaining how Jesus interpreted the Scriptures to them, though the specific content of that interpretation is unknown.
• Sermon Illustration 00:13:04 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor reads from Judges 3, detailing the story of the Israelites' idolatry, their oppression by King Cushon Rishathayim, their cry to the Lord, and their deliverance through Othniel, using it as an example of the biblical pattern of sin and redemption.
• Sermon Illustration 00:15:08 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references the biblical story of Othniel from Judges 3, noting that while Jesus likely did not explicitly read this specific passage to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, the themes of disobedience, idolatry, and deliverance are central to the Old Testament narrative that points to Him.
• Sermon Illustration 00:19:22 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the linguistic connection between the Hebrew verb 'yashah' (to be saved), the noun 'Yeshua' (Joshua), and the Greek/Latin/English 'Jesus' to illustrate that Jesus is literally the 'Deliverer' who rescues people from the wilderness of sin into the promised land of freedom.

• Pastoral Charge 00:13:04 ▶️ 📄
  > Locate and read Judges chapter 3 in their Bibles.
• Pastoral Charge 00:12:40 ▶️ 📄
  > Obtain a bookmark if they did not receive one and share it with a neighbor.

[00:00:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:07] Good morning, church. Let's pray together. Gracious and holy God, we thank you for this day and for the gift of your word and for all the ways you inspire us, teach us, convict us, and challenge us by your spirit at work through Scripture.
[00:00:37] And God, we pray that you would bless us as we hear about your word from the Gospel of Luke, to say to us this morning may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts
[00:00:56] be acceptable in your sight oh lord our rock and our redeemer amen okay so at some point the sermon i'm going to have you look up just one more scripture i just want to prepare you in advance
[00:01:11] when that comes um and uh explain we'll get there in just a moment but um let's start with a tell a story. Way back when I was in seminary, I was working part-time as a youth pastor at a church
[00:01:29] in northeast Atlanta. And I was, I believe, summer after my second year of seminary, I was teaching a youth Bible study. And an older brother of one of my high schoolers was home from college. His name
[00:01:46] was Matt. And Matt decided to join us that afternoon for the study. And I was talking about, if I remember correctly, we were doing that summer, a Q&A, stump the pastor kind of thing. And one of the youth had asked about what does Jesus mean by I am the way, the
[00:02:07] truth, and the life. And so we were, I was starting to unpack that. And I started talking about Isaiah, the book of Isaiah, which we just read from. And I was, if I remember correctly,
[00:02:20] I was talking about the suffering servant passages in Isaiah 52, 53. And Matt kind of interrupted me and said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. And he said, don't talk to me about the Old Testament. I'm a New Testament Christian. I'm under the new covenant. And because I follow
[00:02:45] Jesus, I'm supposed to be kind. And I was, so I stopped, collected myself, and then tried to explain that, you know, without the Old Testament, there's no way we understand the New.
[00:03:04] And I think what I said to him, what I'll say to you today, you really can't read more than two or three sentences in the New Testament and understand them without some understanding of the Old Testament.
[00:03:15] and the way I would explain it now if I were talking to that young man is it's it's all one big story it's all one big story and I have 66 different books it's kind
[00:03:29] of a library of different books different genres different perspectives all that kind of stuff but it's telling one big story now that wasn't the first time that day nor the last time that I've heard something similar from Christians, well-intentioned I'm sure, but saying we don't
[00:03:49] really need the Old Testament. I'm a New Testament Christian. That's not a thing, by the way.
[00:03:57] You're a Christian. You're not a New Testament Christian. Anyway, so we asked you to bring your Bibles today, and if you didn't, didn't get word of that, that's okay. Like Carrie said we have a few Bibles, but I bought my old Bible from high school. And you can't see it.
[00:04:23] It has multiple layers of duct tape on it because, you know, there was a lot of throwing it in the backseat of the car. I treated it. It's well read. But as I was very carefully flipping through the
[00:04:38] pages of this Bible this week, I noticed that I did not really have anything underlined in the Old Testament. And the New Testament looks a lot like that. That's from Ephesians. A lot of highlights, a lot of underlines, a lot of notes. I even wrote a note to myself. My 16-year-old self
[00:05:01] underlined a passage and to the side it said, that is important. And the verse says, don't give the devil a chance. Yeah, that's important. 16-year-old Wes was on to something, I think. But not much highlighted in the Old Testament. Like I said, I'd heard Matt's argument
[00:05:24] before about the Old Testament and New Testament because there was a time when I would have agreed with him. But thank God, I grew in my faith and I learned more about Scripture and the beauty of
[00:05:40] the whole big story. You can't understand anything in the New Testament unless you have an understanding of the Old Testament. That's part of why we're preaching this series, to help us grow as disciples by growing in knowledge and love of Scripture. And specifically, we're talking
[00:06:02] about how Jesus referred to or used the Old Testament in his teaching. And Jesus referred to the Old Testament repeatedly in the Gospels. His favorite really was Deuteronomy, but there were a number of times where Jesus referred to the Old Testament sometimes with a direct quote,
[00:06:22] sometimes with imagery, sometimes going deeper than what we read in the Old Testament, what we read in the Old Testament. You'll see that in a couple of weeks where Jesus says, you have heard it said such and such, but I tell you. So Jesus sometimes takes us beyond or deeper than the Old
[00:06:38] Testament. Now there's one instance where Jesus apparently spends a lot of time talking about the old testament uh really teaching a bible study though we don't actually know what he said that's part of what we read um in the gospel of luke um this morning that's part of a larger story
[00:06:59] on the day of resurrection jesus after the resurrection jesus um meets these two men one of his names cleopas and the other guy is not named jesus meets two men and they're walking to Emmaus and they're pretty upset, sad, and maybe a little bit angry about what's happened.
[00:07:17] And Jesus appears to them. They don't recognize Jesus. And Jesus says, you know, what's wrong guys? Why are you so upset? And they said, you haven't heard? And Jesus is like, no, I don't know what you're talking about. And he said, they're like, you might be the only person in
[00:07:29] all Jerusalem that has not heard what's happened. This past Friday, our mentor, teacher, rabbi, he was killed and you kind of tell jesus what happened and jesus is like huh how about that um and then uh and they said we we thought we were sure he was the one that was going to fulfill our
[00:07:52] hopes and restore israel and jesus and and become you know the messiah and conquer uh the evil oppressors and all that and jesus like well that's that's fascinating um and then uh jesus says you
[00:08:05] guys are pretty dense, aren't you? You're not picking it up. You're not understanding. And then it says, then beginning with Moses and all the prophets. And he does say how slow of heart you are to understand. Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things
[00:08:22] about himself and all the scriptures. And Luke could have, they should have taken notes. They should have written down what Jesus said because Jesus then does a Bible study. And that verse is extremely tantalizing, even frustrating. So what did Jesus talk about? What was this
[00:08:47] interpretation he gave them? What was this Bible study? There are some definite possibilities, and I'm going to move through these pretty quickly, so I didn't put them on the screen.
[00:09:00] And I'm trying to move slowly enough where you can write them down if you choose to.
[00:09:06] Deuteronomy 18.15. Jesus could have referred to Deuteronomy 18.15, where Moses is talking about God raising up another prophet like Moses. Maybe that's pointing ahead to Jesus. Or maybe Job 19.25 when Job says, for I know my vindicator lives and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
[00:09:31] Maybe it was Job 19.20. Or maybe Ezekiel 37, which is the vision of God giving life to dry bones, raising up to new life that which has died so maybe ezekiel 37 or maybe jesus referred to the
[00:09:49] story of jonah which he had already referred to in his teaching earlier in the gospel talk about being in the darkness for three days maybe jesus talked about jonah something from isaiah is one of the most likely possibilities maybe jesus talked about isaiah 60 here's the first few
[00:10:12] verses of Isaiah 60. Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples, but the Lord will arise upon
[00:10:25] you and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look around. They all gather together. They come to you. Your son shall come from far away and your daughter shall be carried in their nurse's arms.
[00:10:41] then you shall see and be radiant. Your heart shall thrill and rejoice. Maybe that's what Jesus talked about. Whatever scripture he interpreted, it was definitely an amazing Bible study. And thinking about how Jesus taught, the way he taught, it's probably a safe bet that
[00:11:03] he didn't spend too much time giving chapter and verse. Could be that what he did that day is what he often did in his earthly ministry, told the two men on the road to Emmaus a story.
[00:11:20] Told them a story. Maybe he told them the story, the big story of the Bible and how it culminates in him. And it's culminated in his crucifixion and resurrection. It all points to him. And that's
[00:11:36] what all those passages I just mentioned, that's what they point to anyway. They point us to Jesus.
[00:11:41] Maybe he told the story of human sin and God saving grace.
[00:11:45] Maybe he told the story of the fall and restoration.
[00:11:50] Maybe he told the story of slavery and liberation, of disobedience and redemption, exile and homecoming.
[00:11:59] Maybe he told the story of darkness and light, of death and life.
[00:12:08] It's all there in the Old Testament, and it all points to Jesus, through whom we have grace, restoration, liberation, redemption, a way home, back to God, light, life, and love beyond measure. And it's all right there. Oddly enough,
[00:12:28] in a passage like Judges chapter 3, go ahead and find Judges. And if you were handed, most of you should have been handed these little marks, bookmarks for your Bible.
[00:12:40] they really do come in handy. So if you didn't get one, get one on the way out and share with your neighbor. Go to Judges chapter three. That's in the Old Testament. That's near to the front.
[00:13:04] And we're going to read Judges three, seven through 11. Now the beautiful sound of pages wrestling judges chapter three so you got the first five books genesis exodus leviticus number deuteronomy and then you got a sentence joshua judges ruth which joshua didn't actually judge
[00:13:34] ruth but that's just the way the books are ordered joshua judges but that's where um we are judges three and i'm going to read this and you're going to you're probably going to be a little bit stumped
[00:13:45] but I'll unpack it for us. So all of that I mentioned that points to Jesus right there in this little passage in Judges 3, 7 through 11. So here we go. The Israelites did what was evil
[00:13:58] in the sight of the Lord, forgetting the Lord their God and serving the Baals and the Asherahs.
[00:14:03] These were ancient idols. Therefore, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and he sold them into the hand of King, this is fun, King Cushon Rishathayim. I practiced that, by the way.
[00:14:22] Of Aram Nahariahim. And the Israelites served Cushon Rishathayim eight years. But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the Israelites who delivered them. Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. You know Caleb's younger brother.
[00:14:39] The spirit of the Lord came upon him and he judged Israel.
[00:14:43] He went out to war and the Lord gave King Cushon Rishathayim of Aram into his hand and his hand prevailed over Cushon Rishathayim.
[00:14:52] So the land had rest 40 years.
[00:14:54] Then Othniel, son of Kenaz, died.
[00:14:59] Did you catch it?
[00:15:01] Did you see the big story?
[00:15:03] Now, did Jesus read Judges 3, 7 through 11, the story of Othniel?
[00:15:08] Did he read that to those two men on the way to Emmaus?
[00:15:11] Probably not.
[00:15:13] probably not mentioned, but he could have. The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, forgetting the Lord their God and serving the Baal. This points to disobedience, sin.
[00:15:33] Some version of this statement shows up again and again in the Old Testament. This story from Judges 3, it's not the first instance of Israel's idolatry, and it's certainly not the last, and it's not the first time they forgot the Lord and chased after idols. This is a repeated theme
[00:15:54] throughout the Old Testament. And before we get up on our moral high horse and talk about the Jews and how they were disobedient, all that stuff, this is our story. How often do we chase
[00:16:07] after idols? How often do we put our trust in things that are not God? This is our story as well. And then it says the anger of the Lord was kindled and the Israelites served King Cushon of
[00:16:22] Aram. Anger of the Lord was kindled. And by served, the writer of Judges means were enslaved by.
[00:16:35] Verse 8, which I read, says that the Lord sold them, sold the Israelites, basically meaning that God gave Israel up to King Cushon. And again, this happens throughout the Old Testament.
[00:16:53] The Israelites cried out to the Lord. And if you are familiar with this, this is a very much an echo of what happened in Egypt. Slavery, crying out to God. The Israelites cried out to the Lord.
[00:17:07] they repented they wanted to come back the Lord raised up a deliverer rescue liberation salvation and in that little story that rescue that liberation that deliverer is named Othniel but all the way through Judges we see these deliverers being raised up that continues on
[00:17:33] to the Old Testament in different forms and so this obscure little passage in Judges is an example of something we see all over the old testament it's a cycle there are a few variations here and
[00:17:44] there but here's the basic cycle disobedience and sin god's people they are disobedient they follow idols they oppress the poor and then there is punishment or judgment this is what the prophets warn about prophets say if you keep doing that god will judge you and punish you the people are
[00:18:01] like yeah go away we don't want to hear from you and then it happens punishment judgment then the people cry out to God. And then what happens? God hears and God rescues his people through a
[00:18:18] deliverer. God's people are rescued. They get comfortable. They disobey. They sin. The cycle begins anew. So what you see in Judges 3 is that the people had peace. There was peace. These people were rescued and delivered until Othniel dies. And when the deliverer dies, the Israelites go back.
[00:18:46] to their idolatry, to their disobedience. Okay, hold on, hold on. So what did that fourth point say again? And judges, go to the next slide. The Lord raised up a deliverer. So here's where a
[00:19:08] little digging into the text pays off in a big way. The Hebrew word for deliverer, next slide, The Hebrew word for deliverer is yashah.
[00:19:22] That's a verb.
[00:19:23] It means to be freed or to be saved.
[00:19:26] To be freed or to be saved.
[00:19:29] The noun form of yashah is Yeshua.
[00:19:34] Yeshua.
[00:19:35] And Hebrew names have meanings.
[00:19:38] So the Hebrew name Yeshua in English is Joshua.
[00:19:42] and the story of Joshua is Joshua delivering the people out of the wilderness into the promised land. Joshua is literally the deliverer. So noun form of Yasha is Yeshua. Next. Greek form of that is Jesus. The Latin form of that is Jesus. English is Jesus. So not only does Jesus and Joshua really
[00:20:10] share a name. Jesus is what? The deliverer. Jesus is the deliverer. Jesus is the rescuer.
[00:20:26] Jesus is the one who saves. I said the people had peace and restoration, and they were liberated and rescued until Othniel dies. That's a cycle we see throughout Judges, until the rescuer dies.
[00:20:44] What does the resurrection tell us about Jesus?
[00:20:48] He has defeated death.
[00:20:50] God has defeated death.
[00:20:52] Our rescuer does not die.
[00:20:54] Our deliverer is risen from the grave.
[00:20:57] Jesus is the rescuer, the one who saves.
[00:21:00] Through his death and resurrection, Jesus once and for all breaks the cycle of sin and disobedience, rescuing us, making a way out of slavery to sin into freedom, out of darkness into light out of exile and back home welcomed into the loving arms of God
[00:21:20] Jesus delivers us from death into new life that's the story that's the big story maybe Jesus told these two men something like that on the way to a man all these things that you see in the
[00:21:36] Old Testament we need to know them because they point us to Jesus we need to know them because It's the story of how God has interacted with people in history.
[00:21:49] And we find ourselves in these stories, do we not?
[00:21:54] Stumbling, disobeying, in need of redemption, crying out to God.
[00:22:00] And then to be reminded that God answers our cries in the Deliverer, in Jesus Christ.
[00:22:10] So we come to this table this morning to receive God's grace.
[00:22:14] To remember with gratitude that Jesus died for us.
[00:22:20] Jesus died for our rescue, to reconcile all of creation to God.
[00:22:30] We come on this World Communion Sunday with millions of other Christians around the world, knowing that through God's grace, we too are part of God's big story, stretching all the way back to creation.
[00:22:45] We remember that in the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has made a way for us to come home, come out of exile come out of sin out of darkness and death and into God's marvelous light
[00:23:00] in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit