A Grand Entrance (2)

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ” The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Some years ago, I read a book “Imaginary Jesus” by Matt Mikalatos. It was written in the format of a humorous short story. In the story, a man learns that Jesus is not the Jesus he expected him to be. The man in the story has been under the influence of an imposter, an imposter of his own making. In the course of the story, we are introduced to a number of “Imaginary Jesus’”. There is the painting Jesus, who always carries around a lamb, wearing a white robe and blue sash.

There is Angry Jesus, who goes around tipping over tables and whipping people. There is political Jesus, peacenik Jesus, magic 8 ball Jesus, who answers all your questions with an ambiguous answer, hippie Jesus, and so on. What happens as you read the story is you begin to realize that each of us at times hold some artificial view of Jesus, something that indicates that we make an imaginary Jesus to reflect our own preferences.

And when we look at the Jewish culture during the advent of Jesus, we see that though they had not been given His name in advance, they had received many prophecies about him. They had been told many pieces of information that would help them to understand and know who the Messiah was when he came. And yet, just as we often do today when we assign characteristics to Jesus not based upon scripture, but based on our own preferences, the Jewish people also had an impression of who Jesus would be. And as we look at how the Jewish people rejected Christ because they had their own idea of how and when the events surrounding their salvation must happen, we need to also look into our own hearts and see what parts of Jesus we reject because it doesn't fit our preferences, and what parts of Jesus we exaggerate to make him fit into our mold.

Someone reported that some years ago, they saw a car on the highway with a bumper sticker that said “Jesus was a liberal”. And it made this person mad! How dare someone take their political position and try to sanctify it by making an audacious statement, implying that Jesus would somehow endorse the worst of liberal ideas, such as abortion. This person stewed over it all day. He was so mad about that bumper sticker, until on his way home he saw another one: “Jesus is a Republican”.

And he just had to laugh. You see, both sides may find areas they could say Jesus would support them on. We see this over and over. People love to invoke the name of Christ to defend their position on something, but conveniently ignore many of His teachings. For example, they will point to Jesus showing grace and mercy to the woman that he told “neither do I condemn you” But they conveniently leave off the very next sentence “Go and sin no more” They want grace with no strings attached. They want to own salvation without paying the cost of ownership.

One side of the political aisle will say Jesus is on our side, because He cared for the poor and needy, so He would have supported Universal Health Care! And the other side may say, Jesus came to set men free. People should be free to choose whether they purchase health care! You see how it easily becomes ridiculous.

When we look at Jesus, and what he taught, and how we ought to live, our goal should be to know all we can about what He taught and believed, all about the prophecies about Him, all about the history of God’s redemption found from Genesis on through to Revelation. The only way we will ever have the right view of who Jesus is, what He says about how we should live, what kind of leaders he would have us choose and respect, what things He puts importance on and what things He does not, the only way to know all of these things is to be people of the book.

We need to constantly study it, go back to it for reference, discuss it, ask each other to hold us accountable to live it. We must be unafraid to learn what it says about any given issue. I guarantee you, the Bible has something to say about any question of morality or direction you need. No, it doesn't specifically lay out a case for every unique detail, but it provides us guidance enough that we can prayerfully seek God’s will about every situation.

What kind of people does God prefer? The humble and willing to learn. The ones who have a strong conviction for what is right and who will face opposition with a godly confidence not in themselves, but in God who dictates how things ought to be.

So, as you have heard, Jesus had a triumphal entry into Jerusalem, but it was short lived. When he came, they waved the palm branches, put their coats on the road, which is a sign of respect and submission. They shouted out Hosanna! It seems that on that day, many people believed that Jesus was there to liberate the Jewish people from Roman rule. They were not thinking of eternity, they were thinking of the here and now. People who are short sighted put their faith in someone they think is going to shake things up, rescue the common people from all of their problems.

They expected that Jesus would be a conquerer. Certainly, when Jesus comes again, he will be. He will form a government with himself at the head. The first perfect government humanity has ever seen. But on the Sunday before passover, as we call it today, “Palm Sunday”, the people were looking for an earthly king, not a heavenly one. Jesus was himself. He was exactly the way scripture had described him, but over centuries of studying the scriptures, an imaginary Messiah had formed in the people’s minds. What had happened? The people that day were no different than you and I. We take a moment every now and then to contemplate eternity, but most of the time we are looking out for number one now. For most people, planning for retirement is about the most thought put into the future. “Will I have enough income to live comfortably, do I have the right long-term care policy,”

There is nothing wrong with planning like this, that isn't my point. But if that is the extent of your forward thinking, the life you live in the day to day will be petty and meaningless compared to if you lived each day for eternity. You see, many people missed out on the Messiah because they had formed an imaginary view of who they thought He ought to be. Today, many people miss out on the Messiah because they see him as many in Jerusalem did. They look to see what he can do to give them their best life now, how He can make them comfortable in life today, with little understanding of the example Jesus set for us as His followers.

As He was persecuted, so will we be, If we take a stand for Him.

John 15:18–21 ESV

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

As He suffered from hunger, sore feet, and the temptations of the world,

Isaiah 53:3 ESV

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Hebrews 4:14–15 ESV

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Galatians 2:20 ESV

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 5:24 ESV

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Galatians 6:14 ESV

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

How easy it is for us to look at those people who worshiped Jesus as messiah on Palm Sunday and many of them who rejected Jesus outright shortly after. How easy for us to say, “Well, they just didn’t get it. They had all the signs and missed it” Really, Are we so arrogant as to say such things? Heaven forbid! Many of us do the exact same thing, when we look to Jesus to fill our immediate need and despise the great gift He offers us.

So we ought to be like Christ. We ought to be crucified with Him. Not literally, but we need to shed all that we have that keeps us with one foot in this world, because as long as we keep one foot in this world, we will not enter the heavenly kingdom. Isn't it interesting? To save us, Jesus temporarily rejected his home, heaven, to come to us. To be saved, we must permanently reject our home, so that we can have all that he offers us.

So what does your imagination tell you about Jesus? When you think smugly about what He would say or do in some current context, are you really sure? How can you be sure? Are you studying scripture daily, asking the Holy Spirit to speak to you through the word? If not, how can you be sure if your personal impressions of who Jesus is is correct? Jesus is indeed coming again. Those who were looking for the conquering King will certainly see the day come. Will you recognize Him then? Do you recognize Him now? How do you know what Jesus would say today about homosexuality, or the sanctity of marriage, or the death penalty, or legalization of pot? How could we possibly know? We could get an idea by studying scripture ourselves. On these issues and many more, there are large church organizations who say the Bible must be adapted to our world today. That when Jesus condemned homosexuality and divorce and other things that it was only for that culture at that time, it doesn't apply today.

As though our generation was the first one clever enough to make sin mainstream! Remember soddom & gomorrah? Remember the prophet Nathan rebuking King David for His sin? Remember Jezebel, with such hate towards the godly man Elijah? Folks, we are by no means the first society to celebrate sin. The examples I gave were all hundreds of years before Jesus came. In fact, in the very time when Jesus came, many sexual sins were mainstream in the Roman empire.

Don’t pretend that what Jesus condemned, He condemned because it was popular in society at that time to condemn it. It was extremely unpopular! Why did he have so many enemies? He was preaching a hard gospel. In fact, His own disciples said his teaching on divorce was “tough”.

So who is Jesus? Are you going to trust some large institutional church to tell you what He would allow and what He would not? Or do you want to learn for yourself? Or perhaps you are foolish enough to think I will never make a mistake in presenting the Word of God from the pulpit. If you are that lazy that you won’t check out for yourself if what I say from this podium is true, than you could easily be manipulated and led astray!

Heaven forbid you just take my word for it. I hope you trust me, but I hope you verify as well. Ronald Reagan famously said this about the Russians: Trust, but verify. I say to you about me and about anyone who would prevent themselves to you as a biblical authority, trust but verify. Get in the Word for yourself. You will be blessed! You will learn so much! I remember some good advice I heard in college: If you know the chapter the professor is going to talk about, read it ahead of time, and read it again after the lecture, and you will retain better, understand better, and succeed in school.

The same can be said here: Most weeks, you know what passage I will be preaching from. Do you read it and study ahead of time? Do you go home, with your spouse and families, and discuss it? Or is the hour here enough for you to get through the week? I pray that you would be people of the Word. Don’t lose opportunities to get to know the Scriptures better. Don’t make anything in your life a higher priority than your spiritual growth. This means that people have tough choices. If you are in a club, or a sport, or have too many responsibilities and find no time to spend in spiritual growth, maybe you need to drop something.

If your family is on the run constantly, and the only time you spend at home is a meal wolfed down and going to bed, you may have a tough choice to make. Something needs to give. There are idols in your life keeping you from the abundant life God offered through His son, Jesus. What are you missing out on? Will medals, or responsibilities, or even time with friends ever compare to just a moment with your Lord? The Psalmist said, “Better is one day in your courts, Oh Lord, than a thousand elsewhere?

If a day with the Lord is better than a thousand elsewhere, what are we wasting our time on? I am speaking candidly this morning on an issues that has been bubbling up in me for quite some time. I see what is happening to some of you. You are burning the candle at both ends. You are running, running, running. There are pressures to help the team, or be a good citizen by being in every activity possible, and you are running, running, headed for disaster.

Studies have shown that most moral failures happen in times of extreme business or stress. And for many, the busyness and stress is self-imposed. You are headed for disaster, unless.

Unless you begin to put God first. Unless you learn to say no. Unless you swallow your pride and realize the world will go on even if you aren't involved in every stinking thing. Unless you be still and know that He is God. God created us to enjoy Him!

You see, Christ will return again. On Palm Sunday, many thought he would make their lives better in the here and now. Many were looking for a quick fix. But Jesus was coming so that people would realign their entire existence to come back in alignment with God’s plan. Jesus came and demanded that we give up something to follow him. Give up our own desires, give up our own plans, and in some cases, give up relationships that keep us from Him.

One year on Easter, I preached a message called “The Cost of Ownership” Your salvation is freely given through the cross of Jesus. But there is a cost of ownership for you to keep it. What will it be like when He comes again? He came into Jerusalem that day humble, on a donkey, which was a sign of one coming in peace. When he comes again, it will be very different. He will be the same Christ, but the time of his submitting to the cross will be over and He will then prove once and for all to everyone, those who believe now, and those who do not, everyone will see the proof, that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords”

Revelation 19:11–16 ESV

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

This will happen at any time, folks. Whether or not it happens before any of us reach natural death, I cannot tell you. But I can tell you that there will be a moment when you will realize that you could have done so much more for Him. You will realize that you made some good choices, and some bad ones.

What will you think about the time you spent? In light of eternity, will being in every sport have been worth it? Will being in every academic competition be worth it? Will being the top salesman, or excelling in your career, or achieving success in this world be worth it? Not if you have neglected your Lord. Not if any of those things have become idols that keep you from worshipping God.

Jesus enters not as the king we want, but the Messiah we need.

He is as He is, not always as we imagine Him

He is as He was, not as we romanticism Him

He is who He will be, are we ready?

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