One of the things about reading the Bible is that most of
it is written in a very matter-of-fact tone. We’re told what people did,
and we’re told what people said. But we’re very rarely told what people
thought or how they felt.
And with Jesus, that’s especially true. The Bible
tells us what Jesus did. It tells us what Jesus said. It tells us
where Jesus went. But it does not ever tell us what Jesus thought or how
Jesus felt. He obviously had thoughts and feelings, but what they were,
we’re not told. All we can do is try to infer it from the context of what
happens.
Our reading for today is one of the traditional Palm Sunday
readings. Jesus riding into Jerusalem in triumph on a donkey.
People spreading cloaks and palm branches on the road in front of Jesus,
rolling out the red carpet in front of him. A reading that many of us
have heard many times before.
But the amazing thing about it is why Jesus did this.
Listen again to verses four and five of our reading: “This took place to
fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: ‘Say to daughter Zion, See,
your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal
of a donkey.’”
The prophet there is Zechariah, one of the Old Testament
prophets. This was part of the Jewish Bible. Everyone would’ve
known about it. So, when Jesus told the disciples to get a donkey for Him
to ride into Jerusalem on, Jesus was making the claim that He was the
king. Jesus knew that, and everyone in the crowd knew it, too.
The reason I say that’s amazing is that most of the time,
in the gospels, Jesus did not make the claim that He was the king or the
Messiah. He never denied it, obviously, because it was true. But He
never went out of His way to make the claim. Jesus just did what He did
and left it for other people to figure out that He was the Savior. In
fact, quite often, when someone said that about Jesus, He would tell them not to
tell anyone else. But now, on that first Palm Sunday, Jesus openly makes
the claim. He is the king. He is the Messiah. He is the
Savior. And He doesn’t care who knows it.
It’s clear that Jesus had decided it was time. He had
told the disciples what was going to happen to Him–that He would be betrayed,
He would be arrested, He would be killed, and He would rise again on the third
day. He had done as much as He could do to get the disciples ready for
what was going to happen. He had healed people. He had given sight
to the blind. He had raised someone from the dead. He had preached
the good news. He had done all the things the prophecies required Him to
do.
And people were choosing sides. The crowds were
flocking to Him. The Pharisees and the other religious leaders were
stepping up their efforts against Him. They were meeting, plotting,
trying to figure out how to stop Him. People were going to have to
decide, one way or another. Either they were going to be with Jesus, or
they were going to be with the Pharisees. There was no longer a middle
ground.
And so, Jesus decides, it’s time. It’s time for Me to
actually show people who I am. So He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey,
openly claiming the titles of King and Messiah and Savior.
But that’s not all Jesus did on that first Palm
Sunday. We tend to drop the story there, but Jesus did more than just
claim the titles. He acted on them. Jesus acted like the King and
Messiah would act. He went into the temple courts, and He threw out all
the moneychangers and all the people who were selling doves to be
sacrificed. Then He sat down in the temple court and healed the blind and
the lame. Children were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” And
when the Pharisees challenged Jesus about that, He quoted a psalm to again make
His claim as Messiah and King. He said, “Have you never read, ‘from the
lips of children and infants, you, Lord, have called forth Your praise.’?”
Jesus knew the time had come. He could no longer
leave any doubt about who He was. It was time to proclaim it
openly. People would believe it or they would not, but Jesus was stating
who He was in no uncertain terms. He was the Messiah. He was the
King. He was the Savior. He was the Lord.
Every year, we celebrate Palm Sunday. We have the
kids parade around. We wave the palm branches. We sing “Hosanna,
Loud Hosanna”. And that’s all fine. There’s nothing at all wrong
with it. I’m not being critical of any of that in any way.
But in that celebration, we need to remember how serious
this really was. This was the event that set in motion, finally and
irretrievably, the events that we’ll commemorate later in the week. The
Last Supper. Jesus’ betrayal by Judas. Jesus’ arrest. Jesus
being beaten and whipped and mocked. Jesus being hung on a cross to
die. And of course, Jesus rising from the tomb on the third day.
When Jesus decided the time had come, He did not just
decide that for Himself. He decided it for all the people. And He
decided it for each one of us, too. When Jesus decided to set these
events in motion, on that first Palm Sunday, He did not just decide that the
time was coming for Jesus to proclaim who He was. He also decided that
the time was coming for you and me to proclaim who Jesus is, too.
Or not. But the time is coming when we cannot hide
what we believe about Jesus Christ. The time is coming when we cannot be
“sort of” Christians. The time is coming when we will have to openly
proclaim that Jesus Christ is the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord, the
King. Or, deny that He is. But the time is coming when we will no
longer be able to sit on the fence. We will have to make a choice.
One way or the other.
Now, you may think I’m talking about the country or the
world with that statement, and it could certainly be interpreted that
way. Look at recent news headlines. People have gotten into legal
trouble by holding worship services that did not meet with the approval of the
authorities. A woman in London was arrested for praying silently in
public. Basic traditional Christian principles are sometimes deemed “hate
speech” and censored on social media. When we look at society, it’s not
hard to see that the time is coming when we will either have to openly proclaim
our belief in Jesus Christ as the Savior or deny that He is. There will
be no middle ground.
But if you don’t have to look at the country or the world to
see that the time is coming. Because if it does not come that way, it
will come for each of us in another way: at our death. Each of us
is going to die, and each of us is going to be judged based on our faith in
Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son
of Man will be ashamed of them when He comes in His glory and in the glory of
the Father and of the holy angels.” So, the question will be, are we
ashamed of Jesus and His words? Are we willing to proclaim openly our belief
in Jesus Christ as the Savior? Or are we going to try to hide our faith,
or maybe deny it entirely, just to stay out of trouble on earth?
Here’s the thing. It’s easy–or at least easier–for us
to openly proclaim our faith in Jesus here. It’s easy to do it in church
on Sunday morning. The question is, do we proclaim it at other times, and
in other places? Do we openly proclaim our faith in Jesus at the
convenience store? Do we openly proclaim our faith in Jesus at the
cafe? Do we openly proclaim our faith in Jesus at the ball game? Do
we openly proclaim our faith in Jesus in the things we do as part of our
everyday lives?
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that we all
have to talk about Jesus twenty-four/seven. I’m not saying our every word
in every place should be proclaiming Jesus Christ as the Savior. I don’t
do that, as you know. I don’t expect you to do it. I don’t think
God expects us to do it, either.
But I do think we need to talk about Jesus more than just
in church on Sunday morning. I do think we need to find ways to proclaim
our faith in Jesus Christ at other times, and in other places. We need to
find ways to let people know we believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior. We
can do it in person, on social media, whatever. But we need to do
it. And we need to do it openly, in a way that shows we are not ashamed
of our faith.
In the early part of His ministry, Jesus did not proclaim
who He was openly. But eventually, the time came when He had to.
The time is coming when we will have to proclaim our faith openly, too.
And there’s no reason we should not get started now. What better time
could there be than right before Easter to proclaim our faith in Jesus Christ
as our Lord and Savior?
We have the divine Son of God as our Savior. Let’s
not be ashamed of that. Let’s find ways to let people know that we
believe that Jesus is Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment