Zechariah 11:4-17

⁴ This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.  ⁵ Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished.  Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’  Their own shepherds do not spare them.  ⁶ For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord.  “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king.  They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”

⁷ So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock.  Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock.  ⁸ In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.

The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them ⁹ and said, “I will not be your shepherd.  Let the dying die, and the perishing perish.  Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”

¹⁰ Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations.  ¹¹ It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.

¹² I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.”  So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.

¹³ And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me!  So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.

¹⁴ Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd.  ¹⁶ For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.

¹⁷ “Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock!  May the sword strike his arm and his right eye!  May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded!”

We continue to look at Jesus life between Palm Sunday and Easter.  This week Jesus has been teaching in the temple and challenging the priests.  The priests continue to circle back to Jesus, checking Him out, asking hardened and more pointed questions.

When Jesus goes to Jerusalem, He is teaching about understanding faith.  Jesus is teaching about the spirit of faith verses the letter of the law.

Mark 14:43-52 (NIV)

⁴³ Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared.  With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.

⁴⁴ Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.”  ⁴⁵ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him.  ⁴⁶ The men seized Jesus and arrested him.  ⁴⁷ Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

⁴⁸ “Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me?  ⁴⁹ Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me.  But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”  ⁵⁰ Then everyone deserted him and fled.

⁵¹ A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus.  When they seized him, ⁵² he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

Jesus is reshaping the values of the world, the world doesn’t understand Jesus.  God is changing the covenant of the world through Jesus.

The world is wrong side up.  It needs to be turned upside down in order to be right side up.  ~Billy Sunday

Judas represents the world view of power and control; he is the reflection of the world.  Judas thought Jesus was trying to overthrow the Kingdom of that time.  That is why Judas came armed to abduct Jesus.

Galatians 1:10  “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God?  Or am I trying to please men?  If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

“…The point of Jesus was this – Jesus the Galilean is envisioning a revolution.  He is.  But a different sort of revolution than Judas the Galilean.  Jesus Christ was advocating neither acceptance of the system nor straight-forward political revolt.  Yes, Jesus is saying there will be a revolution happening.  The temple will be cleansed, but not in the way you envisioned.”

What is and was Jesus’ mission?

Luke 6:20-23  Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.  Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.  ‘Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.  For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.’

Jesus is showing the difference between the secular world and God’s Kingdom.

Jesus values His Kingdom?  Weakness, poverty, suffering, weeping, rejection, unpopularity.  This is the upside-down Kingdom of God.

Look at Peter, he seems to understand Jesus the most, he has listened to Jesus, watched Him etcetera.  But when Peter seems all-in, what does Peter do?  Grabs a sword and attacks a servant of the high priest and cuts off his ear.  He reverts to his old self, the world standard.  It is hard to live consistently as a subject in the Kingdom of God.

While Jesus is being taken, He must teach another lesson in the dark, in the Garden, in front of a hostile crowd.

Jesus tells Peter and the crowd that this is not how we do things in the Kingdom of God.  My Kingdom is not of this world.  The Kingdom is opposite to this world.

Jesus says I will change the world by putting myself below others, behind them in priority.  I love my enemies; I will pray for them.  I will sacrifice myself; I will serve people; I will repay evil for good.

Jesus changes the world by giving up His life.  It took 250 years to change the Roman Empire to the Holy Roman Empire.

The heart of Christian ethics is putting other people ahead of ourselves; the Kingdom of God is so counter intuitive.

We value poverty and weakness and suffering, what does that mean?  We try to help people in need, we are to lay down our lives for these folks.

Mother Teresa was willing to endure poverty and the toil of ministry to those in poverty in order to be a blessing.

Being a Christian we are in a kingdom with different values, we are freed from influences of this world.  If we lose our jobs, this becomes a chance to see what God has in store for us.  We are what we actually value in life.  What it really is, is God or something else.  We are free in Christ, because of Christ.

The power to live like this comes from a mindset that realizes that this world is not all there is.  There is another world coming, that we are invited to be part of.  We go out of this world and into the next with only our sin.  But if Jesus has taken care of our sin, then we are heading into glory; something better is coming.

The days of this earthly kingdom will be coming to an end for each person.  We will be looking forward in fear or looking forward to seeing our Friend our Savior Jesus, who has taken care of us and will take care of us in the next world.

Romans 8:18  The pain that you’ve been feeling can’t compare to the joy that’s coming.

God bless.  Think about these verses in Mark and in Zechariah as you explore your heart and mind in preparation for Easter.