Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2004 : April 4, 2004
Who Is Jesus to You?
Palm Sunday
An oxymoron is a commonly used phrase made of two words that contradicts itself. For example, the common phrase, "deafening silence," is an oxymoron. If it's silence, how can it be deafening? A more well-known one is: "civil war;" it's a war; people hate each other; they kill each other; so how can a war be civil? And here's kind of a funny one that those of you who may have served in the military might understand and get a kick out of better than the rest of us: "military intelligence."
As we enter Holy Week, the last few days before Jesus died, we can remember one more oxymoron -- the triumphant cross. You see crosses all over town today on the top or on the sides of churches -- it's a symbol of victory. But you never would have seen one at Jesus' time before Jesus died on one. Why not? Because crosses once signified horror and death and torture and agony -- the opposite of triumph or victory. In fact, being crucified was about as low of a death as could be imagined. But Jesus changed all that. A cross is where he saved us and the world.
As we look at the book of Luke this morning, we will find that Jesus himself was a walking oxymoron. Was he God or man? Was he Master or Servant? We can say he was both at the same time, wasn't he? If you were among the crowd that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem 2000 years ago, who would Jesus have been to you? A King or the lowest of slaves? Or both? Today we ask the question: "Who Is Jesus to You?" We find the answer in Luke 19.
The first thing we see about Jesus on Palm Sunday is that he was no ordinary human being. That is evident from how Jesus prepared for his entry into Jerusalem. Jesus sent two disciples into Jerusalem with these instructions: "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.' " The owner asked why they were taking his donkey, and also its mother as Matthew tells us. They answered that the Lord needed it, and they went on their way. It was just as Jesus had said. Why did this show that Jesus was no ordinary person?
Knowing it was there
Knowing what the owners would say
Knowing that the owners would be satisfied with the explanation or using his power to have the owners follow his will
Even riding an unridden donkey colt (which wasn't used to having anyone on its back)
All of this showed that Jesus used his power as God to bring these events about and knew how everything was going to happen. Now some critics would argue with this. They would say that Jesus easily could have snuck into Jerusalem beforehand without his disciples knowing it and talked to the owners of the colt and even paid them to use it. And we would have to say that it possibly could have happened that way, although that is obviously not the way the disciples saw it. The way they recorded this, we can tell they thought it was a miracle. But no skeptic can deny all of Jesus' other miracles: the raising of Lazarus a few days earlier, calming the storm, feeding the 5000 and the 4000, etc.
But we see also how important this whole episode was by what Jesus showed himself to be in riding that donkey into Jerusalem -- he was fulfilling Scripture from Zechariah 9:9 -- "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." So not only was Jesus the King of kings and Lord of lords, God himself, but he was also the King of the Jews, and therefore, the Messiah, the promised Savior, so long foretold.
Jesus fulfilled every Old Testament prophecy. He was born in Bethlehem, born of a virgin, healed the sick, betrayed by someone close to him, crucified, soldiers cast lots for his clothing, etc., etc.
And the people recognized Jesus as the Messiah. "When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 'Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!' 'Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!' "
Would we have seen Jesus as the conquering King of all that day? Perhaps. But the more important question is: do we see him as that today? What happens when we are bullied at school, or our retirement savings goes up in smoke in the stock market, or we lose our job, or we're admitted to a nursing home? Is Jesus our conquering King then? Or do we go elsewhere for comfort. I think we often don't see Jesus as our conquering King. Instead we are often ashamed of Jesus -- we might not pray in a public restaurant for fear that someone might think we're followers of Jesus. We might not speak the name of Jesus at home because it seems unnatural. Maybe the only time we speak Jesus' name is when we hit our thumb with a hammer.
But Jesus in our conquering King and the King of all. That comes out even more clearly when he showed us what he would do as the suffering Servant of all.
Jesus was killed because he was not just a king but because he was the King. The Jews accused him as such as they brought false charges against him in order to crucify him. Pilate thought he had masterfully painted Jesus into a corner with his questioning, after which he said in triumph, "You are a king then!" That was the only accusation that stuck to Jesus, because he certainly was a king, but not a king of this world. The soldiers mocked him as a king. They gave him a crown of thorns and a purple robe, bowed to him mockingly, gave him a scepter, and later hit him with it. Although they were doing it to mock him, God was telling the world that this miserable-looking man was the King of all. And finally, the placard on the cross read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Jesus was certainly a King; we see that in his triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, even though he came in humility.
But most of the Jews rejected that kind of king. They wanted a political savior, one who would make their earthly lives better. They couldn't comprehend how Jesus could also be a suffering Servant. But that was Jesus' whole reason for coming -- to go to the cross. At the cross, love and justice meet. God showed how he hates sin, yet loves the sinner by condemning his own Son in our place. As Isaiah 53:5-6 says, "He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
Jesus was a walking oxymoron. Jesus was King, but in order to reveal himself as such and in order to conquer our enemies, he had to suffer and die an inglorious death. Instead of riding into Jerusalem on a white stallion, he rode in on a donkey -- no glory, but humility and submission. Most people wanted the wanted the conquering King like Isaiah 63:1-6:
Who is this coming from Edom,
from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson?
Who is this, robed in splendor,
striding forward in the greatness of his strength?
"It is I, speaking in righteousness,
mighty to save."
Why are your garments red,
like those of one treading the winepress?
"I have trodden the winepress alone;
from the nations no one was with me.
I trampled them in my anger
and trod them down in my wrath;
their blood spattered my garments,
and I stained all my clothing.
For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and the year of my redemption has come.
I looked, but there was no one to help,
I was appalled that no one gave support;
so my own arm worked salvation for me,
and my own wrath sustained me.
I trampled the nations in my anger;
in my wrath I made them drunk
and poured their blood on the ground."
That's the kind of king the Jews expected -- one who would be walking away from a bloody battle in victory, with the blood of his enemies on his garments. They got a King who conquered his enemies by becoming bloody himself, but dying on a cross of shame and ridicule. But in order to conquer our enemies, Jesus had to shed his own blood as the suffering Servant. And the result if glorious for all who see what Jesus came to do. Paul tells us in Romans 5:9, "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!"
But Jesus is no longer the suffering servant. He rose from the dead, he ascended into heaven where he sits in power and glory, and he awaits the Day when everything will be put under his feet for all to see.
Would you have joined the crowd 2000 years ago in shouting praise to the Lord, or would you have been of the other crowd on Good Friday shouting, "Crucify him!"? Every time we fail to pick up our cross and follow Jesus, we are shouting, "Crucify him!" Every time we are embarrassed to be seen going to church by our work buddies who are going fishing on a Sunday morning. Every time we don't sing out to the Lord with all our heart and voice even if we can't sing well. Every time we are embarrassed for being a Christian in a very unchristian world.
But Jesus shed his blood to take each and every one of those sins away. You are white in the blood of the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. You have heaven as a gift from God's grace, and the only thing that made it possible was this man who is also God himself, who gave himself into death, so that you could live forever with him in heaven. Jesus made it possible because he paid the price for every one of your sins.
Who is Jesus to you? Is he your conquering King? Yes. Is he your suffering Servant? Yes, but our Servant who is no longer suffering, but is victorious. Is he your Savior? Yes. Because he laid down his life for you. As Jesus himself said, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) So Jesus is also your friend. On this friendship Sunday, remember who Jesus is to you -- your King, your Servant, and your Friend. What a Friend we do have in Jesus. Amen.
