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Burdens & Blessings | Week 1 | Sermon · Rewind

Rock Point Church

Pastor Hunter Jones · Nov 19, 2024

Pastor Hunter Jones · Nov 19, 2024 · 44 min watch · 2 min read

Burdens & Blessings | Week 1 | Sermon

Devotional days

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7

Scripture in this message

Matthew 26:17
Matthew 26:20
Matthew 26:23
Matthew 26:25
Matthew 26:26
Matthew 26:27

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

Quoting the message: Follow Jesus, not the Jesus you want, end quote..

Jesus offers us Himself as the Savior who serves and sacrifices, even for His enemies. When we quietly reshape Him into a Savior who exists to give us success or destroy our enemies instead, we set ourselves up to walk away from Him, just as Judas did.

Key points

1
1Judas didn't start out evil — he wanted a Messiah who would bring success
Pastor Hunter sets the scene at the Passover meal in Matthew 26, explaining how the disciples grew up under brutal Roman oppression and were longing for God to send another deliverer like He did in Exodus. Many Jewish people, including Judas, expected the Messiah to establish a literal, physical kingdom that would overthrow Rome and make God's people prosper, and Judas believed Jesus was that king.
2
2Jesus responds to betrayal with a broken heart, not rage
When Jesus announces that one of the Twelve will betray Him, each disciple, trusting Judas as much as each other, asks, Am I the one, Lord? Pastor Hunter points out that even though Jesus knew Judas's tragic end, He didn't meet betrayal with anger but with sorrow, and shares his own story of being betrayed by a mentor who did his premarital counseling to show how differently Jesus responds.
3
3Judas wanted success, but Jesus brings service
Judas expected that closeness to a triumphant Messiah would be good for him personally, but Jesus said He came not to be served but to serve and lay down His life. Pastor Hunter warns against the bless this mess mindset, telling a story about a woman named Carol at his old church, and says God cares more about His mission than our mansions.
4
4Judas wanted a savior to slay his enemies, but Jesus brings sacrifice for them
Jesus is not a savior who slays His enemies but one who was slain for His enemies, including the Romans Judas hated. Pastor Hunter uses a story about getting cut off in traffic and wishing judgment on the driver, plus an example of Christians on both sides of an election insisting Jesus is on their side, to show how easily we remake Jesus into an ally against the people we dislike rather than a Savior who died for them too.
5
5Jesus gives one final clear picture of who He is at the table
Right before Judas leaves to betray Him, Jesus takes the bread and the cup and tells the disciples plainly that His body and blood are being given and poured out for the forgiveness of many. Pastor Hunter frames this as Jesus's last clear self-portrait as the God who serves and sacrifices, offered even to the one about to betray Him.

Application

Pastor Hunter's charge is to stop asking Jesus to fit our expectations and instead let Him ask us, Am I the one who will betray You with my life?

Check what your prayers are really asking for
Listen to whether your prayers ask more for personal success than for God to use you in purposeful service, and more for your enemies' failure than for God to make your life a sacrifice.
Jump into serving
Rock Point asks people to serve, even in small ways like children's ministry, because the mission of pointing people to Jesus matters more than personal comfort or blessing.
Give toward the mission
Consider giving to the church, since every dollar is meant to fund reaching the lost rather than simply asking God for personal financial blessing.
Forgive and love your enemies
Choose to release hatred and resentment toward those who have hurt you, not by returning to unsafe relationships, but by forgiving people Christ died for just as much as He died for you.
Have an honest conversation with Jesus
Admit where you've been angry or frustrated that Jesus didn't meet your expectations, apologize as Pastor Hunter did with his wife, and tell Jesus you want Him, not the version of Him you wanted.

Take it into your week

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Sign in to ask Rewind about this sermon

Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“we are going to jump in. Matthew chapter 26 verse 17. Let me set the scene a little bit. It is Thursday afternoon, and Jesus is gonna be hung on the cross Friday morning”
Read the whole chapter →
From the transcript
“So we are going to jump in. Matthew chapter 26 verse 17. Let me set the scene a little bit. It is Thursday afternoon, and Jesus is gonna be hung on the cross Friday morning”
From the transcript
“Verse 20, when it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table with the 12. While they were eating, he said, I tell you the truth. One of you will betray me”
From the transcript
“Verse 23, He replied, 'One of you who has just eaten from this bowl with me will betray me, for the Son of Man must die, as the scriptures declared long ago”
From the transcript
“So verse 25, Judas, the one who would betray him, also asked, Rabbi, am I the one? And Jesus told him, you have said it”
From the transcript
“Verse 26, it says, As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and he blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples saying, take this and eat it for this is my body”
From the transcript
“Verse 27, And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, 'Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood which confirms the covenant between God and his people”

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Sign in to track your progress through this devotional.

Day 1

There is something quietly sobering about the fact that when Jesus said one of His closest friends would betray Him, every single one of them asked, 'Am I the one, Lord?' Not one of them said, 'Well, it's obviously not me.' They knew their own hearts well enough to wonder. Pastor Hunter made the point that Judas didn't begin as a villain. He started where many of us do — drawn to Jesus, hopeful about what following Him might mean, genuinely in the room. The problem wasn't that Judas showed up at the table. The problem was the version of Jesus he carried in his head. It's easy to read this story and place ourselves safely among the faithful eleven. But the honest question — the one Pastor Hunter turned back on the room — is the same one the disciples asked: 'Am I the one?' Not 'could I ever betray Jesus?' but 'in what ways might I already be doing it?' That question isn't meant to paralyze you with guilt. It's an invitation to look honestly at whether the Jesus you are following day to day is the real one, or a version you've quietly shaped around your own hopes and expectations. That kind of honest self-examination is actually a mark of a person who takes Jesus seriously.

For reflection

When you picture Jesus responding to your life right now — your prayers, your frustrations, your expectations — what does that picture of Him look like, and where did it come from?

Pray

Pray for the courage to ask 'Am I the one, Lord?' honestly, and for an open heart to hear whatever Jesus surfaces in that question.

Day 2

Jesus knew. He knew exactly who would betray Him, and He still dipped bread with Judas at the table. What Pastor Hunter noticed in these verses isn't fury — it's a broken heart. Jesus says, 'It would have been better for that man if he had never been born,' and that line is often read as a curse. But read in the voice of someone whose heart is breaking rather than whose fist is raised, it sounds more like grief. Jesus loved Judas. He saw clearly what Judas was about to do and still sat with him, still shared the meal, still gave him every chance to turn. That is not the behavior of a king preparing to destroy His enemies. That is the behavior of a savior who refuses to stop loving even the person in the act of walking away. This matters for us because most of us have, at some point, been the person walking away — frustrated, disappointed, quietly resentful toward Jesus because He didn't deliver what we expected. And the picture Scripture gives us is not Jesus turning His back. It's Jesus at the table, heart broken, still reaching. If you have drifted, or grown cold, or are carrying something heavy between you and Jesus, the image here is not a closed door. It's a broken-hearted savior who hasn't moved.

For reflection

Is there a moment when you pulled back from Jesus because He didn't respond the way you expected — and what would it mean to bring that honestly to Him today?

Pray

Pray for honesty about any distance you feel from Jesus, and for the willingness to return to the table rather than stay outside it.

Day 3

Related passage

Pastor Hunter drew a sharp contrast at the heart of Judas's disappointment: Judas wanted a Jesus who would bring him success and personal prosperity. What he got was a Jesus who knelt down and washed feet. These verses in Mark capture that same contrast — the disciples are arguing about who will be greatest in the kingdom, and Jesus reframes the entire conversation. Greatness in His kingdom looks like a servant. The one who leads is the one who gives himself away. That is not a minor adjustment to how we normally think about success. It's a complete inversion. The pull toward a Jesus who endorses our ambitions, validates our goals, and helps us come out on top is real and understandable. We live in a world that measures worth by achievement, and it is very easy to quietly recruit Jesus into that framework — to treat prayer like a success strategy and faithfulness like a down payment on a better life. But the Jesus of the Gospels keeps stepping out of that framework. He came not to be served, but to serve. That means following Him will sometimes look like stepping toward the mess rather than away from it — toward the person who needs something from you, toward the thankless work, toward the sacrifice that costs you something real. That is what it looks like to follow the real Jesus.

For reflection

Where in your life are you most tempted to measure your relationship with Jesus by what He is producing for you rather than by who you are becoming through following Him?

Pray

Pray for a genuine desire to follow Jesus into service — even the kind that is inconvenient or unnoticed.

Day 4

Related passage

One of the most challenging things Pastor Hunter said was this: Judas wanted a savior who would destroy his enemies, but Jesus is the Lamb who was slain for His enemies. And then he made it personal — we are among those enemies. Romans 5 says it plainly: while we were still sinners, still enemies, Christ died for us. That is the definition of the real Jesus. Not a champion who fights for those who deserve it, but a sacrifice poured out for those who don't. This cuts against something deep in human nature. We want Jesus on our side — against the people who have wronged us, against the ideologies we oppose, against the enemies we are certain He should share. And when He doesn't show up that way, when He keeps insisting that those people are also people He died for, it can feel like a betrayal. But the betrayal is running in the other direction. The real Jesus loved His enemies to the point of dying for them, and He calls us to something similarly costly — releasing resentment toward people who have genuinely hurt us, not because they deserve it, but because we have been forgiven by the same grace we are being asked to extend. That is not easy. But it is the shape of the real Jesus.

For reflection

Is there someone in your life you have been hoping Jesus would stand against rather than for — and what would it look like to release that to Him?

Pray

Pray for the grace to release resentment toward someone Jesus died for, and for a heart that reflects His love rather than your own grievances.

Day 5

This is the moment Pastor Hunter called a final, crystal-clear picture. In the middle of a meal — surrounded by confusion, betrayal already in motion — Jesus takes bread and breaks it. He takes a cup and pours it out. And He says: this is My body, this is My blood, given and poured out for the forgiveness of many. He doesn't describe victory. He describes sacrifice. The broken bread and the poured-out cup are the most accurate portrait of who Jesus is that the New Testament gives us. He is not a savior who takes from His enemies — He is a savior who gives Himself for them. Every time the church gathers around the Lord's table, this is what is being said again: the real Jesus is the one whose body was broken and whose blood was shed. For you. For the person next to you. For the people in your life you find difficult to love. If you have constructed a version of Jesus who mostly affirms your preferences and shares your frustrations, this table is a corrective. It asks you to set down that version and receive the actual one — the servant-savior who gave everything so that forgiveness would be available to anyone who comes to Him.

For reflection

When you think about the Lord's Supper — the broken bread and the cup — what does it stir in you, and does that picture of Jesus match the one you are actually following day to day?

Pray

Pray for a fresh, clear-eyed vision of who Jesus actually is — the one whose body and blood were given for forgiveness — and for gratitude to shape how you live this week.

Day 6

Related passage

Pastor Hunter closed with a direct and honest challenge: look at your prayers. Are they mostly requests for personal success and victory over enemies, or are they surrendered offers of service and sacrifice? James asks a version of the same question — he says we ask and do not receive because we ask with wrong motives, wanting to spend what we receive on our own pleasures. That is not a condemnation of prayer or of having needs. Jesus invites us to bring everything to Him. But James is pointing at the same fault line Pastor Hunter named: there is a version of prayer that is less about knowing Jesus and more about using Him. It treats God like a resource rather than a relationship. The invitation today is simply to pay attention to the shape of your prayers this week. What are you asking for most often? Who is at the center of those requests? That's not a guilt exercise — it's a diagnostic. The direction of your prayers reveals a lot about which Jesus you are following. If they're mostly about your outcomes, your comfort, and your vindication, that's worth noticing. Not so you can feel ashamed, but so you can reorient. Real prayer is a conversation with a real person, and the real Jesus is a servant-savior — which means time with Him will tend to move you toward service and sacrifice, not just toward better circumstances.

For reflection

If someone read through your recent prayers without knowing who you were, what picture of Jesus would they find — and is that the real one?

Pray

Pray for a reorientation of your prayer life — that your conversations with Jesus would be more about knowing Him and offering yourself than about recruiting Him to your agenda.

Day 7

Coming back to the whole passage after a week of sitting in its details, a few things stand out. Judas was at the table. He heard every word. He watched Jesus break the bread and pour the cup. And still he walked away — not because Jesus was hidden from him, but because the real Jesus wasn't the one he wanted. The danger Pastor Hunter named isn't rare or dramatic. It's quiet and gradual. It's the slow drift that happens when we keep accepting Jesus's gifts while withholding our service, our sacrifice, and our willingness to forgive. It's the resentment that builds when He doesn't play the role we assigned Him. The good news this week is the same as it was last Sunday: you can come back. Pastor Hunter's own story — apologizing to his wife for holding her to a false image — is the model. The way back isn't complicated. It's honest. You stop defending the version of Jesus you constructed, you apologize for the ways you've walked away, and you come back to the real one — the servant-savior at the table, heart broken, still reaching. That Jesus is worth following. He is worth your time, your relationships, your resources, and your honest conversations with the people around you who need to meet Him too.

For reflection

After this week, what is one specific way you want to follow the real Jesus more closely — in how you serve, how you give, how you forgive, or how you talk about Him with others?

Pray

Pray for the courage to follow the real Jesus — not the one you constructed — and for one concrete next step to take this week in service, sacrifice, or honest conversation.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Think about a time you expected something from a relationship and the other person turned out to be completely different from what you imagined — not worse, just different. That gap between expectation and reality is at the heart of what Pastor Hunter explored in this message about Judas and the Last Supper.

Discussion questions

1
In Matthew 26:20-25, Judas is sitting at the table with Jesus, eating with Him, and Jesus says the betrayer is 'one who has just eaten from this bowl with me.' What does it tell us about Judas — and about human nature — that someone could be that close to Jesus and still be following a version of Jesus he had constructed in his own mind?
2
Pastor Hunter pointed out that when Jesus identifies His betrayer, His response isn't rage — it's a broken heart. What does that response, right there at the table, reveal about who Jesus actually is?
3
This message draws a contrast between the Jesus Judas wanted — one who would deliver success and defeat enemies — and the Jesus who actually shows up: a servant who is broken and poured out for the very people who oppose Him. Where do you see that contrast showing up most sharply in Matthew 26:26-28?
4
Pastor Hunter described two kinds of prayers: ones that are mostly requests for personal success and victory, and ones that are surrendered offers of service and sacrifice. Without putting anyone on the spot, what do you think shapes which direction a person's prayers tend to go?
5
Pastor Hunter challenged us to release resentment toward someone Jesus died for. What makes that so hard — and what connection does this message draw between that kind of forgiveness and following the real Jesus rather than a constructed one?
6
If someone in our group wanted to take a next step this week — whether in serving, in having honest conversations about Jesus with people around them, or in something else this message stirred — what feels like a natural place to start?

Pray together

Asking God to show us where our picture of Jesus has been shaped by our own expectations, and to give us the courage to follow the real one — the servant-savior who gave His body and blood for us

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Topics

Betrayal and Discipleship False Expectations of Jesus Loving Our Enemies Sacrifice and Service Servant Leadership

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