Jesus Christ

9A large crowd therefore of the Jews learned that he was there, and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. 10But the chief priests conspired to put Lazarus to death also, 11because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus. 12On the next day a great multitude had come to the feast. When they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13they took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet him, and cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!” 14Jesus, having found a young donkey, sat on it. As it is written, 15“Don’t be afraid, daughter of Zion. Behold, your King comes, sitting on a donkey’s colt.” 16His disciples didn’t understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about him, and that they had done these things to him.

Because Jesus offered himself as the atoning sacrifice, you and I can worship God today.

The way we look at our parents as children differs from the way we see them once we are grown. In the same way, the more our faith matures, the more differently we will see the love of Jesus as he enters Jerusalem to bear the cross. Riding into Jerusalem on a young donkey, Jesus took up the cross of his own accord for the sake of a kingdom in which all can live only if he dies. He knew that once he entered Jerusalem he would become the Passover lamb and there would be no turning back; to walk willingly toward death with that knowledge is by no means an easy choice. To accomplish the will of God, Jesus chose the way of laying down his life and atoning for sin. Just as the almighty Jesus gave himself up, we must be able to give up our own righteousness in order to be saved.

Have you ever gone down to the lowly place of sacrificing yourself in order to live according to God’s will? Think of the apostle Paul’s confession that he died daily, and you can see how hard he labored to overcome sin. As people watched Paul preach the gospel, they saw how much he loved God, and they recognized his humble faith. Although he had been taken up to heaven and returned, and had been given power to bring the dead to life, he wanted every day to be brought low for the sake of a faith without pretense. Paul’s faith is the picture of humble saints who take up their own cross and follow Jesus to Jerusalem.

If the Lord asked you to enter Jerusalem with him, what would you decide? If he told you to take off the worldly cloak you treasure most, spread it on the donkey, and go with him to Jerusalem to bear the cross, would you hesitate, afraid to take off that cloak? He tells us that one who has put his hand to the plow must not look back, and he calls us to come forward to the cross. Are we backing away instead? Such faith is unbelief. It hesitates even to put the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts. The Lord says that once he enters Jerusalem he will no longer be able to work miracles for you. At those words, are you running away like the disciples? I hope you will look honestly at your own faith, because once the Passover is past, there is no more blood of the lamb to put on the doorposts.

John 12:13

13they took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet him, and cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!”

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, many people waved palm branches and welcomed him as the King of the Jews. At that time the people of Israel, suffering under Rome, were expecting a Messiah of great power who would set them free. They expected this because the Jews believed they were a chosen people, specially selected by God, and that salvation had already been given to them through the law. The prophets of the Old Testament had spoken so often of the Messiah who would come to atone for sin, yet they were waiting only for an earthly king.

They welcomed Jesus with shouts of Hosanna because they took him, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt, to be a king with mighty power like David. It was human desire that made them cry out that Jesus was King of the Jews. When they joined their hearts to shout Hosanna, it was only an earnest plea to be saved from their sufferings in the world; they were not praising Jesus, who would set them free from sin.

With what heart are you worshiping today? Suppose God told you, here and now, that he would give you none of the world’s power, and asked whether you would still trust him to the end. What would you do? Could you still confess that you will serve Jesus Christ alone, and worship in truth and in the Spirit?

The disciples spread their cloaks on the donkey Jesus rode. The crowds who welcomed him also took off their own cloaks and spread them on the road, resolving to serve Jesus alone. To take off one’s cloak is to confess that one will give everything. Yet the disciples and the crowd were shouting Hosanna and waving palm branches without even knowing what their actions meant. At the time the disciples did not understand why all these people were cheering Jesus, or why their own hearts were so stirred and glad.

Later, thinking of the people who would cry out to kill Jesus, the Passover lamb, they would have realized how great a sin they had committed against Jesus, who had gone up to Jerusalem to atone for sin. After he rose from the dead, they understood that these people had welcomed him so fervently out of the hope of gaining great advantage if Jesus became King of the Jews.

But the disciples were no different from these people. For three years they had heard the word from Jesus, but because they did not see the world through the truth, they too ended up betraying him. So it is: as situations and circumstances shift, people are deceived by their own feelings. The crowds had seen Jesus raise the dead, heal the blind and the paralyzed, and, through the miracle of the five loaves and two fish, free them from worry about food; so they were carried away with joy at the thought that if Jesus became king, they too could have power. Since they looked to Jesus for authority and a comfortable life, simply being in that crowd made them proud, excited, and deeply moved. The Hosanna praise of the vast multitude gave the disciples and the people a confidence and certainty that sent shivers through them.

They had resolved to die for Jesus, but that resolve did not last, because they had been deceived by feelings born of their own desires. Welcoming Jesus meant defying Rome, so it could well have been frightening. So the more people there were, the bolder they grew and the more their fear faded. That is how people without wisdom think. People think that in a large organization they have power even if they do nothing themselves. But if numbers really meant strength, Jesus would never have gone about teaching with only twelve disciples, because the Kingdom of God does not judge faith, wisdom, and power by how many people one has or how much one owns.

The Kingdom of God is measured by who lays down more of their greed and human righteousness, and in it salvation and reward are given according to who has done the will of God by faith. However much worldly power and wealth someone has, it has nothing to do with salvation; nothing we own on earth can bring us the inheritance of God. Even Solomon, wealthy as he was, had his very life refused by God while he was drunk on the pleasures of the world.

If Jesus had given the people now welcoming him so fervently what they wished for, wealth and power and health, they would have kept him from bearing the cross in order to hold on to that power. If Jesus carried the cross and died, he could no longer work for them. To keep both Jesus and themselves alive, then, they would have blocked God’s plan. This is how wicked people judge and decide, and the fools who would do so are you and I today.

However wise and discerning a person may be, God does not use in his work of salvation those who will not lay down human righteousness. Since God is almighty, he will entrust you with a calling if you have a faith that is patient, sincere, and humble, even if you lack wisdom. Give people a little honor, and they try to rise above God. But what God needs is people who obey his word, not people full of worldly cunning. If you simply obey as he has spoken, then even without wishing for it, even if you never beg for it, God the Creator will fill you with his grace.

Today the church has forsaken God and fallen into corruption; its wrongdoing is all over the news, and the world’s judges sit in judgment on the church’s affairs. The church that should judge, discern, and rule the world is instead judged and mocked by the world and ruled by it. The church is a place governed not by the law of the world but by the law of God. Yet in coveting wealth and power like the world and falling into sexual immorality, that church has cast away its own light and gone down on its knees before the darkness. God told us that the dark world can never overcome the light, and still the saints who carry the light have put it out themselves. Pastors and congregations are at odds because they have not stood rightly in the spirit, and they lean on the world’s strength and power to resolve their problems. And since the church does not teach its people the word, they do not realize that they are sinners, and they have made themselves a laughingstock. We must not spread our cloaks for the sake of worldly possessions; we must take up our calling with a heart that shares in Christ’s sufferings. Then what such saints bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and what they loose on earth God will loose in heaven.

Jesus is laying down his life of his own accord. If, on top of that death, we spread our cloaks for the sake of the world, shout Hosanna, and wave palm branches, God, who sees it all, cannot but be angry.

What did you hope to gain by the praise you offered today? You know all about the suffering of the cross and the resurrection of Christ; what are your prayers for? May the praise and prayer you offer be the faith of an honest heart.

The disciples forgot everything Jesus had told them, joined the crowd in shouting Hosanna, and puffed themselves up as if they were about to sit at the king’s side. Jesus had taught them about sin and repentance and explained heaven and hell in detail, but they did not believe that the word gives eternal life. However much of the word we learn, if it does not become one with our lives, the word stays the word and we go on living like the people of the world. The word the disciples had learned came alive when they had passed through suffering; once they realized that the word is living and active and like a sharp sword, its power began to show.

When they entered Jerusalem and events unfolded quite differently from what they had imagined, the disciples and the crowd grew afraid. They had been certain that with Jesus among them miracles would happen and the Romans who oppressed them would be driven out, but Jesus, far from working miracles, was preparing to die. Their fear became reality: Judas Iscariot and a crowd came with swords and clubs to seize Jesus as though he were a criminal. Seeing the crowds that had cheered Jesus now shouting for the death of a Jesus who was of no use to them in the world, the disciples, too, had to decide what they would do. As long as the crowds were cheering Jesus, they had been the disciples’ strength. But now, shouting for his death, the same crowds had become something to fear, so the disciples chose to abandon the Lord to save their own lives. That is how the world works: it turns wholly around the self.

In Luke 22:61, only when Jesus turned and looked at him did Peter remember being told that he would deny Jesus three times before the rooster crowed that day. Peter, who had been anxiously trying to save his own life, met the eyes of Jesus, and at last he remembered what Jesus had said. When the rooster crowed loudly, Peter’s heart sank, because when Jesus had warned him of this, Peter had declared that he would die rather than ever deny him.

As Peter denied him and cursed, saying he did not know this man Jesus, his eyes met the eyes of Jesus, who wore a crown of thorns and was bleeding. What went through Peter’s mind in that moment, as their eyes met? And what did Jesus think as he watched the disciple he had loved so much curse and swear that he truly did not know him, just to save his own life? If you were the Messiah, would you want to die for someone like that?

We make false promises, telling God that if he will only solve this one problem, from now on we will live for Jesus; yet God lets himself be deceived every time and answers us. We run off gleefully into the world, thinking we have fooled God. But if your eyes met the eyes of Jesus, wearing a crown of thorns for you, you would realize that God knew everything and let himself be fooled anyway. Peter wept bitterly, hating himself for having had to run from the gaze of Jesus. We too know how deep a love God’s grace is, and because we know it, we would hate ourselves for not letting go of the world.

Only after Jesus rose did Peter realize that Jesus had come to Jerusalem on a donkey to atone for their sins. While worldly desire clouded his sight, the word had seemed so impossible to believe; but when he betrayed the Lord, when he was persecuted, when he was alone without the Lord, and as he watched the Lord ascend, it came home to him, and he understood it deeply. No matter how much of the word we learn, it is worthless unless we live it out.

Suppose Jesus asked you what choice you would make, having seen the disciples and the crowds who had welcomed him so warmly betray him in an instant. How would you answer? Suppose he told you that he was going to Jerusalem to bear the cross even though he knew you would betray him, and that you must not use him for the sake of the world. What would you say to him?

If he asked me, I would want to answer like this, because I too, like Peter, might betray him out of fear of death. Even if Jesus rebuked me as Satan, I would want to stop him from going to Jerusalem. No matter how many in the crowd were shouting Hosanna and singing his praise, I would want to kneel in front of the donkey and block his way into Jerusalem. Why? Because even if Jesus took cruel blows for me, shed his blood, wore the crown of thorns, and gave his life, a person like me does not easily change. I am too worthless for the holy Lord to die in my place.

If he told me that he loves me and that if I only follow the way he is going I too can live in the glory of God, I would nod, pleased to hear about receiving glory; but if he asked me to carry the cross with him, I would certainly run away, because the world, with all its power, seems more likely to save me than a bleeding Jesus, and the world looks easier than spiritual suffering. I am the kind of person who could abandon at any moment the Jesus who bows his head on the cross, saying that it is finished. How could it make any sense to ask him to die for someone like me? I may seem to be praising Jesus with my Hosannas, but take away my property and I would betray him; let my health fail and I would turn away. So I would try to talk him out of dying for a worthless human being who is forever deceiving him.

But Jesus is the one who says that even if we block his way, even if we forsake him, he must go to die, because he loves us. And he would tell us that he must bear the cross to fulfill God’s plan. Even as we betray him, he tells us that it is dark out there and evil lies in wait, that we should not stray too far but come back and stay in the light. That is Jesus Christ, who died for you and me.

When the apostle Paul met Jesus and his human righteousness and pride were broken, he came to see how small and insignificant he was. That is why he confessed that he was the least of all the saints and the chief of sinners. By the world’s standards the apostle lacked nothing, yet once he had thrown all of it away as refuse, he found that all that remained to him was sin.

You too can repent with a contrite heart and ask to be forgiven only when you know that you are a filthy and wretched sinner. Only those who see their own sin can be forgiven, and only those who are forgiven can live as saints born again. When sin covers the heart, we will not see how wicked a sin it is to shout Hosanna now, nor how false is the voice that cries out to Jesus that he is king.

Anyone who acknowledged the Jesus who bore the cross could lose the only life they had, so not a single person came forward to the cross. Where now are all those who spread their cloaks before Jesus? Those who waved palm branches and cheered, where are they all hiding now, as Jesus dies on the cross? And where are you and I? You and I, who praised and worshiped asking for the world’s riches, for answers to our problems, for power and honor, why are we nowhere to be seen beside the cross? Even as Jesus pours out all his water and blood, he looks at us and tells us not to worry, that only by his dying can we live; so why do we avoid his eyes and look elsewhere?

If you do not cast off worldly desire, you will do no more than welcome the Lord as he rides into Jerusalem, and if you do not cast off human righteousness, you will end up betraying Jesus like Peter, even while looking into his eyes. The disciples too, while they were with Jesus, cast out demons, cared for the poor, and healed the sick. But once they were gripped by the fear of death, they denied Jesus.

If we have truly met God, we must move from the seat of the world to the seat of faith, from the place of disobedience to the place of obedience, from the place of grumbling and discontent to the place of thanksgiving.

However much you may want to be a martyr, it is not something you can do at will. When the crowd came to the garden of Gethsemane to seize Jesus, he pleaded with them to let all the others go, since they had him. The ones who abandoned that love were the disciples themselves. Even knowing that not one of them would stand as his witness, Jesus loved those who betrayed him to the end and kept them safe. Jesus loved souls, and loved them to the end; you must be born again, so that he will not look at you and grieve. You must make yourselves pure and become saints who are not ashamed before Jesus.

When Mary pours out her perfume, may you too pour out the perfume of your faith; and when you meet Simon of Cyrene, who was forced to carry the cross, may you carry the cross with him, even against your will. If you follow without question what those who have gone before you in faith do by faith, you too will become mature saints standing on the path of faith.

May you give your life, your heart, and your mind wholly to God. The love of Christ, who gave his life, is a deep love that will never change. If you long to receive that love, I hope you will believe that the word is a power living and at work, and try living by that word.

To you who bear the name of saint, I want to put a question: what will you do for Jesus, and what are you now giving your attention and your labor to? In this rotting, stinking world, let us each wrestle with what choices we must make, and what life we must live, for the Kingdom of God.

Faith that lives only on the lips is false. Faith that compromises and hides when the world persecutes it is false. The time for decision has now drawn close beside you. May you turn aside neither to the right nor to the left, and offer God a faith that is true.

Only Jesus, who bore the cross, is your life. I hope you will follow the example of that love, which willingly bore the cross for sinners who deserved to die, and become true saints who are always faithful to God.