The Hiddenness of Jesus

Katie Greer Jesus said that the reason he also often spoke in parables, so that quote seeing they may not see in hearing they may not understand this question is what Christian theologians for 2000 years of cold problem of the goodness of God.

Jesus explained in this chapter why he does this, how does it. The point is religion.

Katie Greer. I'm your host Molly that message is titled the hipness of Jesus.

We've got to ask God really wanted the whole world to know him. Why did Jesus go to such great lengths to hide his accomplishments as part of our kingdom come series you missed any part of this series, you can catch up online@jdgreer.com and while you're online.

Subscribe to our email list will send you a study guide to go along with pastor JD's new, but we've been offering on the program ready to jump into God's word but to talk with you about a question that a lot of will have.

I think I came up on this question. Just the other day with a college student. We were talking and this question came up that is basically this people ask if there really is a God really is a God, why hasn't he made the evidence about himself clear Iressa question. For example, take evolution. A lot of people smart people not twisted weird people would just regular people, smart people think that evolution pretty much puts God out of a job and even if you disagree with what they say. You might say well why didn't God make the evidence about himself and creation so clear that whenever somebody gets up and suggest a theory about the origin of life that doesn't involve him if this was ridiculous for example, you look at the microscope out of the cell and you see a little tag in the cell that says desired by Jehovah right me about when there's no more discussion.

Why did God do that God talking to everyone why did he make himself more obvious or another from why is it that New Testament critics are able to present arguments about why the Bible has been corrupted even forged it. Even if you disagree with your like you, but they asked some really good questions and some other questions are hard to answer, and some of things I say my classes makes lots of sense and so I don't believe what they're saying. But why didn't God do this in such a way that they really would no doubt about your thought about it, why hasn't God made the evidence for himself clear. More obvious, for me it's kind of a question behind all the questions, the famous American I was cutting John Updike set up this way to love this quote he said all this heaven storming you people want to do if God wanted his tracks discovered what he have made them plainer.

Why would God tuck them in the odd bits of astronomy and nuclear physics from why would he bury it into a story that was written 2000 years ago in a document we we have the originals of why be so coy if you're the deity of God to do whatever he wants. Why wasn't God a little more obvious to the point that nobody can really question why didn't God speak about what what is a God daily speak from the sky.

Jon Stewart get his daily show what it God have his business here so I feel about what's going on there.

How come you will have every time you open the Bible, a little angel just hovers over and says this is true this is true what you have doubts right. How come when equipment with a New Testament skeptic or some skeptic at UNC Chapel Hill Renzi Stater Duke is up there in front of class talk about why Jesus did what it is but if not hundreds. What Jesus does appear to be like this guys will be a lot less unbelievers and why is it that so many seemingly smart people come up with different conclusions than we do about the Bible I once had a friend who was falling away from the faith. He asked me said if this stuff is really true. Why does it seem like all my smart professors rejected.

Some of you best this question from a different angle like Eliza God will present Weiser got more obvious when I needed no less than CS Lewis, CS Lewis, one of the greatest in my opinion, Christians and writers and philosophers in the last hundred years, he said in a really honest confession. In his book, a grief observed. Listen, is a quote but go to God when your need is desperate when all other help us in vain. What you find. A door slammed in your face and the sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that silence, you might as well turn away. The longer you wait the more emphatic the silence will come. There are no lights in the windows. It might be an empty house, was it ever since. I once why is God so present a commander in our time of prosperity is a very abstinent time and help.

I think for many of you this is been a question in your mind and hear something I will hear this, it is questionable dealt with much the church but it is a question that runs it something that runs all through the gospel of Luke.

One of things here to see happen repeatedly in the book of Luke as you can see Jesus, have some golden opportunity to reveal himself. So something he could do to get all the questions and shot everybody up, but for example, you might notice this is you been reading to the gospel of Luke. He repeated what he tells people who get a glimpse of his power not to say anything and you see that Luke chapter 4.

For example, he cast the demon and it says don't tell anybody.

Luke chapter 8, he raises a little girl from the dead was just keep this between us sometimes when Jesus is pushed to do a miracle to print himself. Like for example Luke chapter 23 when when when when Herod says if you'll do a miracle and I believe in you. Jesus does nothing. Sometimes when he's asked point blank to defend who we is he silence about this one Luke chapter 8 Jesus says that the reason he also often spoke in parables, was so that quote seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. In other words he spoke in a way that would deliberately keep some people confused. Have you seen this coming. I thought Jesus wanted everybody to know about his power and if so why did he do that kind of stuff.

Have you ever asked that question if not maybe you want to start reading your Bible with your brain on right strong reaction against Christians you mindlessly believe what they're told, why they believe what they believe it is believe it because it's the most comfortable thing that is deeply offensive to God and asked why is he doing that this question is what Christian theologians for 2000 years of called the problem of the hipness of God. When our reading of Luke were about to chapter 10 and Jesus explains in this chapter why he does this, how he does it but the point is that it and want to try to do with this for you personally. Again, I've never heard a sermon on this because I think a lot of us are afraid to embrace the hard questions about Christianity because as the more walk with Jesus, the less afraid I become hard questions.

There's a lot of things about Christianity there's one thing this book that blew my mind that offend me that shatter my thinking. But the more I read this, the more convinced I become that there is a God, there is a true God behind this mysterious, mind-boggling revelation. I would say this the hardest questions about God or never asked in my opinion by the skeptics hardest questions about God are always asked by the Gospels themselves, but for you and see your Luke can use it very hard question that Jesus brings up what you read this with your brain on asked why, why is it that he will try to use why is it that so many what are you doing differently would check to make you the context of the story. Jesus is just about as apostles to announce the arrival of his kingdom and the surrounding cities. He arms them with the power miracles were able to cast out demons are able to heal the sick make the blind see what is apostles get a mixed reaction.

There were some people a fairly large number of people that enthusiastically believe what Jesus or the message of the apostles preached about it but a lot of people in the cities reject the message and a lot of the people here think a lot of the people who rejected were the right people.

If you want to me the people of influence the political leaders. The religious leaders right Jesus reaction to this, you see it with chapter 10 verse 13… Not the funnel of the first one all of a sudden why you chorus and what you best say it. Those are two of the Jewish cities in Israel. The apostles had gone to theirs were to the city's overfill of the right kind of people that's where a lot of your religious leaders live.

That's where a lot of your your capitals were of of of of power in the capital of education on the capitals of religion. For if the mighty works he says done in you had instead been done in Tyre and Sidon.

Those are two notoriously wicked enemy. Gentile cities Tyre and Sidon. If the work to be done and you chorus in the best say they have been done in the Gentile cities they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes and you, Capernaum. Capernaum was another famous Jewish city that was build the right kind of people you were so full of religious leaders you study so hard to become wise. Will you be exalted to heaven, with all your impressive learning about God know you will be brought down to hell to Hades.

Jesus says is apostles. One hears you see, here's me, the one who rejects you rejects me, the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me. Verse 21. In that same hour he rejoiced in the holy spirit. In other words, the rejection of these right people by him didn't bother him that much because he knew he was in a God approved of him answer the rejection of other people, even the right people didn't really bother him that much because it wasn't that significant because he knew who he was and he knew we had God's approval rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and he said I thank you father, Lord of heaven and earth that you have word underlining circlet writing down prick your finger debit blood. Whatever it takes that your keyword these things you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and you have revealed them to little children. Mystic Mystic wise and understanding who got it little children now. Is there anything wrong with wisdom and understanding, of course not. The Bible tells you to seek wisdom and understanding read the book of Proverbs is what the whole thing is about God wants you to be wise in his word. God wants you to be wise in his world, the lust for you to increasing your knowledge and your wisdom lust for you to master the earth is one of the commands that he gave yet the Jewish people who were the biblically wisest people of the day they missed in the worldly wise people. The Greeks and the Romans.

Once you have mastered politics and mastered power in the scientific community of the day they missed him to.

This pack should this passage actually says God hid himself from them.

He continues yes father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my father and nobody knows who the son is except the father or who the father is except the son and anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him while to see that the only people who know God are those to whom Jesus chooses to reveal himself. Verse 23, been turning to his disciples, he said blessed are the eyes and see what you see, I get to question someone try to ask of this text okay really two different sermons. But I was on the verge been the one but your hope to do but but I will try. Here's a question from one why do wise and understanding why is it that they missed God, why did the wise and understanding miss God. The second question I want to ask of this text is how do we find certainty and want to believe about God.

Why do wise in the understanding why is it that they missed God and then how do we find certainty about what to believe about God. Question number one what are the wise and understanding miss God who recovered you before logical parentheses as to what the Bible's answer is to that question number one because our hearts are naturally blind. Our hearts are naturally blind, and that is not something that wisdom or understanding is able to overcome the gospel repeatedly presents men and women in a natural state of blindness. We saw this when Jesus first launched his ministry. Look for and describe what was good to be like one of his primary task was to be to open the eyes of the blind and yes he was talking about the physically blind, but he was talking about something even more significant than that and that was the spiritually blind those people who were unable to see the glory of God was all around him. The blindness of our hearts with a kind of willful blindness that grew out of our sinful attitudes are simple disposition. The apostle Paul would later explain this blindness a lot more clearly in Romans chapter 1, I don't have time to walk you through it in detail, but let me come to summarize it for you. Paul says that the posture of the human heart. Since the fall has been a posture of rebellion. Our hearts have rejected the authority and the glory of God so that Paul says are foolish parts have been darkened and because they have been darkened.

He says they are blind to God's goodness and his holiness and his power that is really all around us. What Paul means by rejected the authority of God is that we all got to be in charge. We don't want God to rule. We want to be a rule unto ourselves. That is as natural to us as eating and breathing by my kids first work after dad okay the first four data site award is no and for whatever reason, that's like the first sentence daddy no but your subject and verb. I don't know is we bourbon you usually never got away.

Daddy no because they are born with a sense of what anybody tell me what to do.

I am a rule unto myself. That's what Paul says our hearts are the posture of one God really reject his authority when rule ourselves. What I mean by rejecting the glory of God is that we don't see God's glory above all things, we seek our own glory. We seek our own pleasure until just before but the word for glory in Hebrew is the work I bowed about literally means weight so you give glory to something, you are giving it weight to give something glory in the place of God is to give something in your life the way that you should be giving God a long time before there's unbelief and disobedience. There is the false giving of glory, giving things the priority and the weight in our lives. We are giving to God. That's how most of us live it that we give weight to things we care more about obtaining things we care more about the opinions of others than we do about God that is giving worship away so as a result of that pastor Paul says our hearts were darkened and that means that our natural state. We can't even recognize the truth about God when it's presented to us.

It's not that the evidence is not there is not of the evidence is not open to us that we are not open to the evidence we can't see God because at our core. We don't want to see God in order to really see God. Jesus says we have to give new hearts. We have to be given new eyes that are not blind hearts that can see God's glory hearts.

They can feel his Majesty eyes that can see him where he is around us. The example I used it before but I think it bears repeating this. Imagine you got a guy met was on top of a 50 story building is clinically insane. He is certified cuckoo.

He thinks he's a bird guy stating that they are on the ledge of this building and you give him a free choice your came in or you can even jump up as building, but you cannot fly if you jump up is building you one straight to the ground of the road pizza. This is not going well for you or you can fall back down here with me to safety. Now he certified insane. He thinks he's a bird every single time. 100 out of 100 Apple together job might say that you have the power go you have some medicine like you and I was like a little legal you the power to restore sanity. So right before you answer the question you stuck this thing his back.

You put the medicine in him and his right mind comes back to him and then you have to be exact in question at him and your free choice. You jump up as building, but you have a bird or you can what I got here with me to safety every single time together.

You walk down with you to safety. Why same choice.

It's that his mindset has been changed. Now he sees things differently. What the Bible teaches you is that God the Holy Spirit restores your mind, so that all the sudden your eyes are open, you start to see evidence all around you, and I have seen this before but it takes a change of the heart to be able to see that kind of evidence you see what I'm getting at is not of the evidence was not there. Not open to us is that our hearts are in a posture of rebellion so that colors how we see the evidence and that's why we can't see it. Here's the point. Listen God giving us that kind of site is grace knowing to us does it know because we have rejected him so he doesn't, all was even a revelation of himself. Imagine you had a friend, for example, who stole from you lied about you, betrayed you and left town right when your kid gets married and you don't invite them to the wedding they have any reason at all for the sake that's unfair. You should have invited me to your wedding is what no you rejected them, or they rejected you, they don't owe anything to them because we have rejected God.

God does not owe us anything, including a revelation of himself. The idea that if there really is a got out there just anybody should be able to find him at any point whenever they want is just not true.

God's revelation of himself to what his grace is a gift that we don't even deserve anymore. One of things often disturbs me in our conversations about the evidence for God is that people act like they're doing got a favor if they believe in him. God is with me please please ask your creature has way more Twitter followers that either. I suppose I need to believe. Please believe me please please note okay from God's perspective. This is God's world. Whether you believe in him or not doesn't really affect his self-esteem.

One where the other need you to believe in him at all.

If you don't believe in him that's your loss.

Not his numbers are.

God will not be found through human achievement. Because if he could be. That would contribute to human pride was the first reason allies understand miss God. The first reason is that their hearts are naturally blind and that's not something wisdom and understanding can be overcome. The specimen was another thinking number two God will not be found to human achievement because of the giddy could be found. That way, that would contribute human pride if the way to find God. For example, with the mastering science.

The really smart scientists would say we found God because we were smarter than everybody else we know God and truth.

Best because were the smartest and we went to the best schools they would boast that you will soon talk now.

This pretty much will they talk like it you just tone it. It's like I know the truth. I can see things clearly because I went to the best school I went to an Ivy League school and I'm smarter than you. Anyway I got a higher IQ and I work harder than you that's why I'm posting my strength is what enabled me to find truth. If the way to find I was through religious piety.

The really religious people would say we found God because we were morally superior to everybody else and they would boast that their personal goodness was what enabled them to find God. Listen to religious people talk now. Pretty much all it's all good. We have the truth about God because were better than you and because were more moral than you and that's why we have the truth about God and you don't. God says you will not find me through anything that would allow you to post it back in this passage, Jesus says things from the wise and the understanding and you have revealed them of your own choice to little children.

Yes father for such with your gracious will. Grace means within deserve it was your gracious will.

Nobody knows who the father is verse 22 except the son anybody, to whom such works. In other words, Jesus says, God people who find you find you only because you reveal yourself to them. If I didn't really even find you, you found them brilliant intellect somehow discovers thankfully gracious in mind you're listening to today's message is titled the hidden Jesus and it's part of our study from the Gospel of Luke titled kingdom come. You can find all of the messages online@jdgreer.com and while you're online.

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