How Would Jesus Be Received Today?

How Would Jesus Be Received Today?

Matthew 21:6-11, Luke 19:39-44

Palm Sunday – March 28, 2010

Me/We:

I’m one of those guys who thinks that Jesus could return at any moment.

I don’t look at everything that goes on in life and go, “Oh no! It’s got to be today! The anti-Christ was just elected!”

By the way, people have thought about that since every president since at least Nixon – so don’t think I’m picking on anybody in particular okay?

I don’t have charts on my wall that tell me all the prophecies and tell me how long it’s been and all that.

I don’t watch the news waiting to fill in another blank in the timeline for Jesus’ return or anything like that.

I just happen to believe that the Father in heaven knows when Jesus is supposed to return, no one on earth does, and it might be today.

For some folks, that idea is pretty scary. For others, it’s a pretty cool thought.

But if it were to happen today, how would you receive Him? Would it be with joy? Would it be with anger or fear?

In your own heart, what happens when you think on the idea of Jesus coming?

Today is Palm Sunday, the day we traditionally remember Jesus’ Triumphal entry into Jerusalem a few days before He was crucified for our sins.

But during that joyful occasion, there were people in the crowd that I think many of us will relate to, and my real hope for today is that you will choose, if you’re not already part of it, to be part of the crowd that loved the idea that Jesus was coming.

God: There are four different types of people who were present at the Triumphal Entry of Jesus as He came to and entered Jerusalem.

These same types of people are still around today, and some of them are in our churches around the world.

We’re going to be in Matthew 21:6-11 and in Luke 19:44 (page numbers), so you’ll want to find both of those places because we’re going to be flipping between them once or twice as we go through the message.

The background is that Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem. And on His way, Jesus tells a couple of His disciples to get a couple animals ready for Him.

We pick up the story in Matthew 21:6-9, where we find the first bunch of people –

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

"Hosanna to the Son of David!"

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

"Hosanna in the highest!"

This first bunch of people are…

1. The joyfully expectant.

Jesus had a purpose for riding a donkey into the city, and it had nothing to do with saving shoe leather.

He chose to ride a donkey because that’s how kings traveled in times of peace. He was declaring Himself to be a King.

And the joyfully expectant recognized that.

They were excited about Jesus coming. Chances are that they didn’t fully understand all that was happening, and that Jesus wasn’t the kind of warrior-king that so many were waiting for to drive out the Romans.

But they knew He was special. They proclaimed Him to be the Messiah by their cheers.

They loved Him and wanted Him to be there.

If it was an election year, there would have been people trying to have Him run for king, running around with political signs and trying to get pictures of Him kissing babies and trying to set up political debates, and all sorts of things.

Today these would be the Christians who love Jesus as King.

These are the Christians, and I hope all of you are in that camp, and if not, I hope that all of you will one day be in that camp – the camp of those who look to future and say, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

They’re not afraid of His coming, which He describes as terrible for those who are outside of Christ and awesome for those who love Jesus.

Those who love Jesus as Savior and King welcome the idea of Jesus returning because He already reigns in their hearts.

To see the second group of people in the story, we go to some details that Luke brings out that happen at this point:

39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"