In Jesus Holy Name March 26,2023
Text: John 12:1,2,12-14 Palm Sunday Redeemer
“Destination ….Jerusalem”
It started with a donkey. Jesus sent his disciples to the village of Bethphage with instructions to bring back a donkey. When you read Matthew’s account, you realize that the two disciples actually brought back two donkeys–a mother and her young colt that had never been ridden. Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the young colt with the mother walking alongside.
Matthew also tells us that by riding a donkey into Jerusalem Jesus fulfilled an ancient prophecy from Zechariah 9:9. Those words–written 575 years earlier–predicted that when the Messiah came to Israel, he would come riding on a donkey.
“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” (Mt 21:5).
For the moment, the crowd shouts, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” But those aren’t the only shouts Jesus will hear. Angry voices will soon drown out the praise. Yes, The King rides on in majesty, but He is on His way to the cross.
On Sunday, the city was transfixed by the man from Galilee. On Friday,
Jesus was crucified outside the city walls.
Many people enjoy reading novels. They have their preference: mystery, historical, romance, science fiction. Others enjoy certain authors and their style: John Grisham: A Time to Kill; The Pelican Brief; the Last Juror. Others enjoy Tom LaHaye’s “Left Behind”. Then there is Jean Auel and her series: The Clan of the Cave Bear; Mammoth Hunters about men and women caught up in the dynamics of prehistoric Europe. Then there’s Louis L’Amour and his western novels. James Michner: Alaska; Centennial; The Source; Hawaii; Poland. How could we forget the Harry Potter Chronicles by J.K. Rowling. The Chronical of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, The Wardrobe. Many have been made into movies. This is also true of Jesus. The Robe. The Chosen.
All these novels contain the elements of mystery, suspense, fear and alienation, anger and murder, greed and overwhelming love and personal sacrifice. The reader turns each page with anxious anticipation for the rest of the story.
The rest of the story. Sometimes the rest of the story has a happy ending. In other cases like “Cold Mountain” it is a Greek tragedy as two lover’s try to live through the Civil War.
The bible is filled with stories that should have ended but didn’t. God made Adam and Eve and placed them in a location where they were surrounded by all that was beautiful and joyous. There were no weeds in the garden; no pulled muscles when they worked; no family squabbles at the end of the day. They had no fear of wild animals, terminal illness, or global warming. Living as beneficiaries of God's goodness, they were absolutely sure that today's gladness would be followed by tomorrow's laughter.
It was a wonderful time, at least until the day of temptation. The story of Adam and Eve should have ended with them being expelled from the Garden of Eden, doomed to live a life without hope or happiness. But, because of God’s grace and promise of a Redeemer there would be hope. The rest of the story was still to come..
The story of Moses should have ended with him remaining a shepherd in the Sinai. But the rest of the story finds Moses delivering God’s people from slavery and into the promised land 40 years later. The tale of Noah should have ended with the flood; the story of Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego should have concluded with them being toast. The story of Daniel should have ended in the lion’s den. But in each case there is “the rest of the story”. By God’s hand, and often in a miraculous way, God spared His representative.
That is certainly true for the story of Jesus. When I read the Gospels there are so many times Jesus’ story could have ended. He was born in a Bethlehem stable. What are the survival odds for a child when he is born in a barn? What are the chances the baby living when his first bed is an animal’s feeding trough? None of us would have been surprised if, a few days after he was born, he had contracted some infection and died.
Later wise men from the east came looking for a new born king of the Jews. They went to Jerusalem, the palace of the present King Herod. There was no new child in Jerusalem… but they were told to go to Bethlehem. They could not have known the unbalanced mind of Herod, the power man monarch. They did not know that others would follow them to murder the child. These new visitors brought their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. His story could have ended there in Bethlehem, but it did not.
At the age of 30, with his baptism in the Jordan, he began his formal ministry to heal the sick, preach good news about the kingdom of God. What could be better. Jesus was healing people from dreaded diseases. He raised people from the dead. You would think everyone would appreciate His message about God’s love. There was the time Jesus spoke in the synagogue at His boy hood home town of Nazareth. Surrounded by people who had watched him grow, Jesus shared how God’s Old Testament promised where being fulfilled in the things He was doing.
When He was done with His short message the bible says: ‘all in the synagogue were filled with wrath…they rose up and drove Him out of town….in order to throw Him over a cliff.
Then there was the time Jesus was summoned to the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, three of his good friends. Lazarus was ill. Jesus was asked to come as quickly as he could. He came but it was too late. His friend Lazarus had died four days before and was buried. Martha greets Jesus as he arrives. As they walked towards the house a wonderful conversation took place.
Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live and everyone who believes in me shall never die.” It is a strange question to ask at a funeral. But Jesus was true man and true God, that’s why, when Jesus called to the darkness of the tomb… the dead man came back to life.
Many of the Jews who came to visit Mary and Martha and saw the
resurrection of Lazarus, believed. But the rest of the story tells us that the religious leaders, the Pharisees were offended. They were so angry the decided to kill Jesus. How foolish. Here was Jesus, raising the dead, what more could you ask for.
The Jewish High Court, with the help of a traitor managed to capture Jesus and brought him to trial. Understand, I use the term trial in the loosest possible way. The courtroom was filled with false witnesses, for they had already decided to pronounce Jesus guilty, worthy of death.
That night could have been the end, but it wasn’t. Left to them selves the Jewish High Court could have stoned Jesus to death. But at that moment the Roman governor was in town. He would not have been happy if his authority would have been questioned or over ruled by the Jewish Supreme Court.
They took Jesus to Pilate… we have read the details of the trial during Lent. The Roman ruler gave into to the demands of the Jewish Rulers and handed Jesus over to be crucified.
A crowd of people gathered at the cross to watch him die. They saw the nails pounded into his hands and feet. They watched the disinterested soldiers throwing dice for his clothing. They cared little for the men they had nailed to the crosses.
There were others at the foot of the cross watching the death of their dreams. There were others laughing and taunting. They were glad to see the end of Jesus. They knew this would be the end of Jesus’ story. Sometime after Jesus was dead, a Roman soldier reached up his spear and shoved its tip into Jesus’ heart….he was making sure he was dead. Quickly, before sunset… his friends took him down from the cross and buried him in a borrowed grave.
Human experience says there shouldn’t be a rest of the story, but there is. Common sense says there should not be a rest of the story, modern day skeptics and cynics don’t want to hear the rest of the story. On the third day, Jesus was shown to be alive. Even though the grave had been sealed and a guard of soldiers placed at the site to guard it, Jesus came out of the grave alive. He is Risen!
God’s holy and righteous character demands death for the sinner. But a good and gracious God provided a substitute for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. When the Israelites sinned God told them to use the blood of a bull or goat or sheep, just as they did on the night of the Passover in Egypt when the angel of death spared the lives of all who had placed blood on their door posts. Jesus became our substitute. The spikes never held him to the cross. It was the chords of God’s love for us that bound him, tighter than any nails that men could mold.
All the other stories in the bible that are filled with drama, intrigue, alienation, suspense, were just warm ups for the greatest story ever told. “God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners, His overwhelming love for you, for me sent Jesus to the cross as the perfect, acceptable sacrifice, so that God could forgive us and give to all believers eternal life, and our very own resurrected body. As Paul writes: Oh what a glorious hope we have.
