By Rev Bill Woods
It would’ve been so exciting to have been in Jerusalem the day Jesus rode in on that donkey.
– Hang on! Our day’s coming — I plan to be in the New Jerusalem when King Jesus comes to take His Throne!
A little boy was sick on Palm Sunday and stayed home from church with his mother. His father returned from church holding a palm branch. The boy asked, “Why do you have that palm branch, dad?”
“You see, when Jesus came into town, everyone waved Palm Branches to honor him, so we got Palm Branches today.”
The little boy said, “Aw Shucks! The one Sunday I miss is the Sunday that Jesus shows up!”
Sunday is Palm Sunday — The day when a whole city threw a parade for Jesus.
As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the people threw Palm branches in anticipation of His coming.
Thus, we get our word Palm Sunday.
This day marked a time of celebration when Jesus was worshipped and praised.
This day is Bittersweet for us because as we read of the celebration, we know Friday is coming — the Cross is coming!
Many in this same crowd will in a few days change their words of praise to words of death.
Shouting “Hosanna!, Hosanna!” and then later shouting “Crucify Him!, Crucify Him!”
Today, I want to consider 2 services both focused on Jesus, but with 2 different results.
Luke 19:28-38 — After telling this story, Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of his disciples.
29 As they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead.
30 “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
31 If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
32 So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said.
33 And sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners asked them, “Why are you untying that colt?”
34 And the disciples simply replied, “The Lord needs it.”
35 So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on.
36 As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him.
37 When they reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.
38 “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the LORD! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!”
Matthew 27:15-26 — Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the crowd—anyone they wanted.
16 This year there was a notorious prisoner, a man named Barabbas.
17 As the crowds gathered before Pilate’s house that morning, he asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you—Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
18 (He knew very well that the religious leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.)
19 Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered through a terrible nightmare about him last night.”
20 Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death.
21 So the governor asked again, “Which of these two do you want me to release to you?” The crowd shouted back, “Barabbas!”
22 Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” They shouted back, “Crucify him!”
23 “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?” But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”
24 Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”
25 And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!”
26 So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.
Billy Graham said, “the greatest mission field in our country today is in our local church — the people already in our churches.”
I’m not sure if this is true or not, but one thing I know is many people know what to say, How to say it, even how to act in it, but when the rubber meets that road, there’s no personal relationship with Jesus Christ. No salvation- just empty words.
We see a perfect example of this in our passages.
On Sunday Jesus rode into the city with the people shouting and praising God for the wonderful miracles they’d seen.
By Friday they’re shouting, “give us Barabas, We want him, Crucify Jesus Crucify Him.”
Why the change?
There are many reasons, but one simple reason is their words didn’t match their heart. They had a casual knowledge, not a committed faith.
They had religion, but they missed the person Jesus…
How can we have a committed faith? How can we be real and sincere?
By being consistent in all we do.
Here are some keys to just such a faith.
First Key — a committed faith — not self-centered but Christ-Centered.
This seems obvious, but we often miss it.
Americans tend to say, “Hey God, here’s my calendar and my agenda… I can squeeze You in here or here.”
Pulling God out or turning to God only when it’s convenient or useful.
Luke 19:36 – As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him.
The people praised Jesus as He passed by, but many of them praised him for 2 reasons.
First, because of His miracles.
He’d healed the sick, raised the dead…They praised Him because he was serving them.
Second, they saw in Jesus a way to be politically delivered from the Romans.
They wanted Jesus to set them free from Rome as Israel was set free from Egypt by Moses.
Their praise was tempered with the attitude of “What can Jesus do for me?”
A few days later at the Trial they saw a beaten and disfigured Jesus.
A man who no longer looked like a deliverer or a conqueror.
As words were said about Him, they bought into the lies and quickly changed their position.
For them it was all about “Me, Me, Me.”
There’s a legend about an ancient village in Spain. The villagers learned the king was coming to visit!
In a thousand years, a king had never come to their village.
Excitement grew! “We must throw a big celebration,”
The villagers all agreed. But, it was a poor village, and there weren’t many resources.
Someone came up with a classic idea. Since many of the villagers made their own wine everyone could bring a large cup of their choice wine to the town square,
“We’ll pour it into a large vat and offer it to the king for his pleasure! When the king draws wine to drink, it’ll be the very best he’s ever tasted!”
The day before the king’s arrival, hundreds of people lined up bringing their offering to the honored guest.
They climbed a small stairway and poured their wine through a small opening at the top.
Finally, the vat was full!
Next day the King arrived and was escorted to the square, given a silver cup and told to draw some wine, which represented the best the villagers had.
He placed the cup under the spigot, turned the handle, and drank the wine — it was nothing more than water!
Every villager reasoned, “I’ll keep my best wine and substitute water, with so many cups of wine in the vat, the king won’t know the difference!”
The problem — everyone thought the same thing, — the king was greatly dishonored.
Today, Palm Sunday 2023, choose to honor our great King, Jesus Christ by giving Him your very best. Withholding nothing… Giving Him your all.
2nd key — a committed faith and is relationship driven.
Many who threw their coats and palm branches onto the street and shouted praises did it because it was the popular thing to do that day. At that one brief moment it became trendy.
Probably some had sincere motives, but others did it because their peers were doing it.
Later at the trial, shouting “crucify Him” was the thing to do…
In fact, for a brief moment, it was the trendy thing to do — making a mass murderer and criminal their hero when they shouted “we want Barabbas.”
For us a committed faith comes only through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
A relationship where He personally directs our steps.
To have a committed faith we must develop a personal relationship with Jesus.
3rd Key — that committed faith isn’t swayed or blocked by our personal trials and crises.
At the parade it was trendy to join the praise — Everyone was doing it..
At the trial to speak out for Jesus was risky…Possibly even life threatening. That is why Peter denied Jesus three times.
Many of us come to Jesus expecting everything to go well… Maybe some slight bad but not too much of it.
So, when the bottom drops out… we ask God Why? Thinking it’s not supposed to happen this way.
If our faith’s based on our situations or circumstances, it’ll never be committed… It’ll always be casual.
I’ve gone to exciting Christian events. People packed large stadiums… Where praises for God rock the entire arena… Where everyone’s praising…
Going home everyone’s still glowing from the worship, it’s easy to do that here, but tomorrow you face the hard task, can you praise God in a world that isn’t all praising — a world that’s mocking laughing and is often angry.
A committed faith takes the bad with the good.
Knowing all we’re promised is that in the midst of both our good and bad; Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us. He’ll stand with us.
A little girl walking in a garden noticed a particularly beautiful flower. She enjoyed its beauty and fragrance. “It’s so pretty!” she exclaimed.
As she gazed on it, her eyes followed the stem down to the soil in which it grew.
“This flower’s too pretty to be planted in dirt!” she cried.
She pulled it up by its roots and ran to the water faucet to wash away the soil.
Soon the flower wilted and died.
When the gardener saw what she’d done, he exclaimed, “You’ve destroyed my finest plant!”
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t like it in that dirt,” she said.
The gardener said, “I chose that spot and mixed the soil because I knew that only there could it grow to be a beautiful flower.”
God has placed you exactly where you are. Trust Him!
By trusting Him you’ll eventually see He’s using your pressures, trials, and difficulties to bring you to new heights of spiritual beauty.
True Contentment comes when you accept what God is doing in your life and thank Him for it.
Today is your faith casual or committed as we approach Holy Week remembering how our Savior suffered incredibly for us?
A week when we remember our sins were nailed to His Cross offering His forgiveness and Eternal Life to us.
Doesn’t Jesus deserve a 2nd look? Doesn’t He deserve total control of your life?
Don’t you think He deserve a personal relationship with you?
Today choose to accept His Love and give your all to Him.
I know that I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS!
‘I Have Decided to Follow Jesus’ is a Christian hymn originating from India. The lyrics are based on the last words of a man in Garo, Assam.
About 150 years ago, there was a great revival in Wales. As a result of this, many missionaries came to northeast India to spread the Gospel. The region known as Assam was comprised of hundreds of tribes who were primitive and aggressive head-hunters.
Into these hostile and aggressive communities, came a group of missionaries from the American Baptist Missions spreading the message of love, peace and hope in Jesus Christ.
Naturally, they were not welcomed. One missionary succeeded in converting a man, his wife, and two children. This man’s faith proved contagious, and many villagers began to accept Christianity.
Angry, the village chief summoned all the villagers. He then called the family who had first converted to renounce their faith in public or face execution. Moved by the Holy Spirit, the man said: “I have decided to follow Jesus.”
Enraged at the refusal of the man, the chief ordered his archers to shoot the two children. As both boys lay twitching on the floor, the chief asked, “Will you deny your faith? You have lost both your children. You will lose your wife too.” But the man replied: “Though no one joins me, still I will follow.”
The chief was beside himself with fury and ordered his wife to be shot. In a moment she joined her two children in death.
Now he asked for the last time, “I will give you one more opportunity to deny your faith and live.” In the face of death the man said the final memorable lines: “The cross before me, the world behind me. No turning back.”
He was shot dead like the rest of his family. But with their deaths, a miracle took place.
The chief who had ordered the killings was moved by the faith of the man. He wondered, “Why should this man, his wife and two children die for a Man who lived in a far-away land on another continent some 2,000 years ago? There must be some remarkable power behind the family’s faith, and I too want to taste that faith.”
In a spontaneous confession of faith, he declared, “I too belong to Jesus Christ!”
When the crowd heard this from their chief, the whole village accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior.
The song is based on the last words of Nokseng, a man from Garo tribe of Assam (now Meghalaya and some in Assam), India. It is today the song of the Garo people.
Source: Dr. P.P. Job in ‘Why God Why’
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