Who is Jesus to You? Pt 1
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Palm Sunday
Niels: Thank you everyone, you may be seated.
Has anyone seen Pastor Josh? I think he’s supposed to do this portion of the service… right?
Josh?
Josh (John): Hello? Hello? Am I in the right place?
Niels: Hello? Who are you?
Josh: My name is John bar Zebedee. If you don’t know what that means, it means John, son of Zebedee. Who are you?
Niels: Niels. How did you get in here?
Josh: Well I was invited by your pastor.
Wait, where is your pastor?? Anyone? Sheesh that guy, probably eating munchies in his office again.
Well, I guess it’s a good thing he invited me to speak to you then! Look, he even gave me this fancy thing for my notes (Open laptop).
You might not know me, but you probably know my story. I was a disciple of Jesus. One of the first in fact to be called by Him. I travelled with Him for three years. Learning, growing, stretching. Together with my brother James, Jesus nicknamed us “Sons of Thunder” because of our zeal and at times rash way of doing things. But he loved us, and we loved Him!
Today is Palm Sunday as you know it. I was asked to come here and be with you this week to share with you a story from 2000+ years ago. It happened right around the Jewish feast of passover. The time when we Jews remember how God delivered our people from Egypt so long ago. But the story I will share with you over the course of today and this coming week centers around something greater than Passover. And yet this story is about the same thing: God’s plan to deliver. But today’s part of the story starts with a confused crowd, some angry priests, and a bunch of clueless followers. IT’s about people who all thought they knew what God was up to, but weren’t really listening to what God was doing. And it centers around the One person who brings salvation to all who ask. His name, is Jesus.
But I have this question for you to consider as I share:
Who is Jesus to you?
Who is Jesus to you? The answer to that question has changed over time for me. I know Him now as my Lord and my Savior. He is the Lord of my life and the reason for my life. This faith grew within me as I came to know Him and understand who He was. Not just a good teacher, not some conquering Messiah-king ready to overthrow Rome. But Christ, the Son of God. Savior, and Lord.
I invite you along in this journey together. As you do, I hope you will consider that question. For today, I want to start by saying this:
Jesus came for something greater than our wants.
Backstory (SHORT)
I grew up in the town of Galilee, about 3-4 days walk from Jerusalem. As a young man, I learned to fish like my father together with my brother James. When we got old enough, we took on the trade ourselves, working alongside our father.
All this changed one day when we met this man. His name was Jesus. Together with our friends Simon and Andrew, we had been out on the sea all night fishing, but we had caught nothing. In the morning we docked at shore, got out and began to clean our nets. Then Jesus showed up. He was teaching a crowd of people, and got into Simon Peter’s to give Himself a little more room. He asked Simon to put out a little ways from shore. He continued teaching, but when He finished He looked at Simon and said:
“Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”
Peter thought he was crazy - we all did! But we obeyed! Peter put out the net again, and this time there was so many fish that between our two boats we could barely hold them all. That’s what got Peter, and my brother and I as well. It was amazing! Jesus called us and we followed Him!
The next three years were spend seeing many wonderful, exciting things. There were also hard moments, moments of fighting or hardship, that really challenged us. But I would not have traded it! There were twelve of us in all, plus others who followed and a number of women too. For three years we accompanied Jesus; learning, teaching, growing.
Perhaps at this point I should stop and be clear with you about something:
We are Israelites. Descendants of Abraham. We knew we were God’s chosen people. We had the law of Moses and the prophets. Our ancestors had forsaken God and all of us had paid dearly. We had lost our kingdom, our temple, and our sovereignty. Hundreds of years later, with the Temple rebuilt - and yet a shadow of its former self - we now lived, worked, and raised our families under the oppression of Rome. We were considered dogs to them. But the law and prophets spoke about this one who would come - Messiah - who would save us! We thought he would overthrow the oppression of his people under Rome and restore the throne of our great king David. When he came, everything would be put back to right. And now more than ever, it seemed like we needed this military hero to come.
So when Jesus showed up, healing the sick, making so many fish show up that our boats almost sank, and teaching many wonderful, radical, and exciting things, I think many of us thought that he was the one. He challenged the religious leaders, He challenged Rome, and He began to teach something new, different, and wonderful. We thought he was the great hero - if you will - who would save us all from Rome! He would restore David’s house. And we began to figure that if He had called us and we were a part of his kingdom, we would most likely get places of honor - maybe rule alongside Him even! He had to be the one!
Oh how right, and yet how wrong we were.
Palm Sunday
I could keep going and tell you many things, but for the sake of time let me skip forward to one week before passover. One week before all hell broke loose, and yet part of the greatest thing to ever happen in history took place.
It was the first day after the Sabbath, right before passover - the biggest holiday of the Jewish calendar! We were getting close to Jerusalem. We had again just watched Jesus do an amazing miracle, healing two blind men as we came out of Jericho. Jesus had also recently raised a man from the dead! The excitement was high. When the crowds heard that Jesus was coming, they started coming out to meet him, waving Palm branches and shouting praise. The folks who had seen the ressurection of the dead man enthusiastically began to proclaim what Jesus had done. It was like they were welcoming in a conquering hero.
As we came closer to Bethphage on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Jesus turned and looked at Andrew and myself, and said:
“Go into the village over there,”
“As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me.
If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them.”
This might sound a bit strange. Why would Jesus tell us to go steal a donkey and a colt? I thought Jesus wasn’t like that. Kind of a bold move, isn’t it? And perhaps a bit random?
Well for one thing, it wasn’t stealing, it was borrowing! And secondly, as the Lord of everything, does Jesus not have the right to demand use of it whenever? I think that’s why he told us to tell them “the Lord needs them.”
By now we were somewhat used to “strange” so off we went into the town. Just as he said, there they were! A donkey with its colt. We began untying them until someone stopped us saying “why are you untying them?”
We responded as Jesus had told us, and to our astonishment the owners quickly sent us on our way with the animals. Good thing Jesus had thought to bring both. Without the mother, I doubt that colt would have come along. Donkeys can be stubborn creatures! But we had no trouble and brought them back to Jesus.
The whole company of those travelling with Jesus - not just us twelve - was with us as we travelled up to Jerusalem. People were singing:
“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
and
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
and
“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
To praise Him in this way was amazing, and befitting! Hosanna means “save us.” Within the crowds’ praise was this cry - “Save us!”
Please, Lord, please save us. Please, Lord, please give us success.
Indeed, Jesus had come to save - even if we didn’t understand totally what His mission was then.
What a parade it was! We spread our cloaks on the colt’s back, and Jesus sat on them and began to ride towards Jerusalem with the crowd going before and behind, continuing to shout praise.
It was amazing! We had waited so long for Jesus to do His thing - to come in as the conquering hero. To be fair, most military men and heroes would ride a large war horse or something. A donkey… well that was a bit humbling. But I’ll get to that in a bit. It felt like the beginning of the process of properly restoring Israel to its former glory. This had to be the moment - the inauguration of this new reality had come! Jesus was about to take over, and we would rule with Him. The people were behind us (literally and figuratively), and there was excitement in the air!
And… then those priests showed up. The greater Jesus’ ministry grew, the angrier the pharisees and teachers of the law got. They couldn’t stand Him. It didn’t help that He had called them out before on things, or that He had done many things that seemed counter to the prized system of the religious leaders. He had rebuked them and even seemed to push back against the Jewish religious system. Now, as we neared Jerusalem, it’s no wonder they showed up to push back against what was happening.
They were shocked and appalled at what the people were saying. They demanded:
“Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!”
To which Jesus replied:
“If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”
Stunned, the teachers didn’t have anything more really to say. Later I heard that they looked at one another and said:
“There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after him!”
While it wasn’t as if the whole world had gone after Him, many had. The teachers didn’t get what He had come to do, and they were upset. He had upset the balance of power and influence. He had upset the system. And this worried them.
We of course didn’t care about this right then - we were too excited! We began whooping and joining in the praise:
“Praise God for the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!”
As we went along, the crowd began putting their cloaks on the road ahead of Jesus. It was amazing. We all felt on top of the world. Finally, the Messiah had come. The Romans would be overthrown, and we would be a free people again. We couldn’t wait!
Transition
You know, I think there are times in our lives when we feel so sure of something, so positive that we’ve got it figured out. But it turns out, we don’t. This was one of those times. In the coming days that followed, we would go from the inner-most circle of a seeming conquering military hero to a rabble group of followers too scared to even leave the house.
In my gospel, I wrote the following:
And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
“Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
This was taken from the prophet Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
As I said before, it was seemingly strange at the time that Jesus would choose to ride into the city of David - the very center of the Jewish nation, carried by a donkey. A donkey was a sign of peace, of humility even! Why not come in on a war horse? He had come to conquer, hadn’t he?
Hadn’t He said as much when he read from Isaiah in the synagogue:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Truly Jesus had come to do all of these things, but not the way we thought. Soon after, I would be standing - the only one out of His twelve - watching Him die on a cross. Nailed to two beams of wood, like a common criminal. I would hold his weeping mother Mary, having been charged with her care by my Lord. What had happened? Had Jesus done something wrong? Was He not powerful enough? Was it all just a lie?
In truth, the crowd’s cry - “hosanna to the son of David” - was an accurate statement, but spoken for the wrong reason. Jesus really is the son of David the king. He is the fulfillment of the promise God made to David hundreds of years before - that there would be a descendant to sit on his throne forever. Yet the crowds spoke it thinking it was all about them - all about their plight at that moment with the Romans. All about restoring Israel as a sovereign nation. They had mis-interpreted the signs in favor of what they wanted. We all had.
I’d like to share with you an excerpt from a sermon I looked at. By the way, this internet thing you all have in your time is quite helpful, and slightly scary! This quote, from Pastor Craig Cooper, has much insight for us:
…We can surmise that at least four groups are probably present at this moment. The first group is the crowd.
The excitement of many of the crowds that surrounded Jesus in His earthly ministry was not there to celebrate the true Messiah, Lord Jesus. When Jesus taught what being part of His kingdom meant, they often thought it too difficult and walked away.
They sought the miracle worker and food provider. They invited friends to experience the miracles and free lunch with them. It’s very possible they were not celebrating the real Jesus.
Then, we have the second, the Pharisees. They wanted a Jesus that would not in any way disrupt their religiosity, their external legalistic religion. They certainly did not want Jesus to cause them any trouble that could take away their power or societal position by causing problems with their Roman overlords. In fact, they were hanging around Jesus to trip Him up and get rid of Him.
The third group is the zealots. They wanted a Jesus who would overthrow Rome once and for all. They wanted Jesus to establish an earthly kingdom free of Rome and restore Israel to a position of power and prestige.
The fourth and final group is the disciples. They wanted a Jesus who would advance their desire to rule alongside Him. They wanted power and prominence. They, at this point, seem of little interest in the true mission of Jesus, at least, as much as they understood it.
When Jesus would speak of His suffering and the true nature of the kingdom of God, the disciples would change the subject and ask about themselves and their role in the kingdom. This would obviously change later, after Christ’s resurrection.
But, at this moment, on this Palm Sunday, the disciples reveled in the Jesus whom they were associated with and more than likely thought this was the beginning of a more prestigious life for them.
How true. None of us - or at least very few, really got it. That’s why I wrote this after the quote from Zechariah in my gospel:
His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him.
He is the coming King - the Savior! But the crowds were just looking for a miracle worker. The zealots wanted a hero, the pharisees saw a trouble maker, and us disciples were looking for power. And so we missed Jesus’ real purpose. I will share about this on Friday.
But what we didn’t get that day was that He rode in yes triumphant, Because He is the King. But not the one to overthrow Rome, or just hand out free food. Jesus even chosen a donkey to make that clear. A donkey symbolizes kingliness, but not conqueror. He is King because He is God. And that moment anticipated everything that was to come: Full payment for sin, real hope for eternal life. The breaking of sin’s power once and for all. He rode in not as the pride-filled conqueror, but as the humble King, Lord of all, who would later wash our feet. He was the true King, and acting as such. But His purpose was far from the plight against Rome. Indeed, His purpose was to deal with the plight against sin. So many of us couldn’t see it then. The religious teachers didn’t like Him upsetting the power balance. The crowds were excited because they thought He was going to do more miracles. Us disciples were excited for the power that we thought was coming. But Jesus had come for something greater than our wants. In a very real sense, His entry into Jerusalem that day was both triumphant and tragic, because nobody got it.
So now, to turn to you:
Who is Jesus to you?
We’re going to ask this question a lot in the next week. Today remember:
Remember: Jesus came for something greater than our wants.
I’m sure today these same groups presents themselves in one way or another.
There are many who are just following Jesus for what they can get out of it. How much comfier can He make my life? Do another party trick for us Jesus! Turn some water into wine, give me this thing, or that thing. But when life gets tough, when the pressure gets real and following Jesus is hard they say: “Why should there be suffering? Why should it be hard? That’s not what I signed up for.”
Then there’s those who want him to be a political leader. They attach Him to their political party or group and shout “Jesus would be for us!” Still others shout the same thing, just about a different party or group. Don’t get me wrong, I believe Jesus cares deeply about the injustices of this world, and the things that need to be righted. Yet for some, Jesus becomes more of a political power card than as Lord who reigns above all of the political and social skirmishes in our lives.
There’s those who don’t want Jesus, because He’ll for sure upset the applecart. Maybe of their lives, their system, their power or influence. If following Jesus means a better more convenient life for them, great! But if following Jesus requires sacrifice; if it requires unpopular conviction; if it requires them to face sin and change, then it’s too hard. They’re out!
Did you notice how the crowds responded when they were asked “Who is this?”
“It’s Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
One of the greatest excuses for not truly being convicted of sin, of having Christ be true Lord over your life, comes when we say “oh, He was a great teacher.” Because what we really mean to say is “Oh, He was just a great teacher.” So, that doesn’t mean we now have to obey Him! We can cherry pick it, like someone would with any other interesting, wise, or great teacher. There is a struggle in people’s hearts: If they accept Christ as Lord, that compells them to change the way they live their lives. And that stings. That is hard. So many won’t accept Him like that.
There is this struggle, in my time and yours, to accept Jesus for who He really is. In my gospel I quoted Jesus saying:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
I am reminded of the time not long before this moment at Jerusalem, where Jesus was talking to Martha - sister of Lazarus. Lazarus had just died. It was a horrible time for them. In the midst of that Jesus came, and Martha met Him on the road. Weeping, she told Him that if He had been here, her brother would not have died. Yet Jesus’ response to her was:
“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.
Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
Martha’s response is an example of genuine faith for all of us:
“Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”
Who does Jesus say He is? The way, truth and life. Moreover, He is the King, but His Kingdom is not from this world. As He would later tell Pilate while on trial:
“My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”
Pilate said, “So you are a king?” Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”
Who is Jesus to you? We have traps all around us that seek to derail who Christ really is in our lives. Traps of making Him be whatever we want Him to be. We often, in our human nature, want Him to follow our will, instead of us following His. Political leader, the bring-er of comfortable lives and cushy things, a great teacher with some wise words. This is who we make Him out to be instead of the truth: He is Savior, and Lord.
Next week, we will ask more questions about this. Will you follow Him to the cross? Will you accept Him as Lord and Savior, not just teacher and friend? Do you know Him as Lord and Savior? But today, the question is simple.
Jesus came for more than just your wants. In fact, He is a lot greater than our small “will.” So who is Jesus to you? As you go this week consider this question. Have you made Him into something He not. Have you not really accepted Him for who He is? We must all answer the questions, and when the end comes, only one answer of faith will do. So, who is Jesus to you?
Pray.
References:
Cornerstone Commentaries: Matthew & Mark, Luke & Acts
New American Commentary: Matthew & John
https://crosswinds.church/2023/04/03/who-do-you-want-him-to-be/ (Craig Cooper quote)
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-non-partisan-politics-of-jesus/
https://www.billygraham.ca/answer/why-did-the-crowds-cheer-jesus-when-he-rode-into-jerusalem-shortly-before-his-crucifixion-but-then-turn-against-him/
