On The Road With Jesus: Jerusalem Series

On the Road with Jesus: Jerusalem

Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, John 12:12-19

April 14, 2019 Palm Sunday

For the past several weeks we have been on the road with Jesus. It all started when Lazarus became so very ill and Jesus was sent for. We know that Lazarus died and was in a tomb four days before Jesus arrives and raises him from the dead.

Over the next couple of weeks Jesus encounters many people. We have heard from the leper who was healed and came back to Jesus. Jesus healed his body but the man’s faith saved his life.

The rich young ruler was a good man and did all he could to follow the laws of Moses. There was something missing in his life and so he approached Jesus for the answer to eternal life. Confident that he could do whatever task Jesus gave him, he was devastated when Jesus told him to sell all he had and to give to the poor and to follow Jesus. He went away disappointed because of his great wealth. It’s only with God that we can enter the kingdom and not by our own merit.

Zacchaeus was also very wealthy. He however was not a good person. He was hated as a tax collector. He was an embezzler and cheated people out of their money so he could line his own pockets. When he meets Jesus his life is changed. Not only does he give his heart to Jesus but he backs up his actions by giving to the poor and paying back four times to those that he has cheated.

Mary had an intimate relationship with Jesus. It was not a romantic one but she was filled with great love and devotion to Jesus. She listens to Jesus and seems to be a devoted follower. She shows extravagant love for Jesus as she anoints his head and washes his feet with expensive perfume. This would actually be foreshadowing of Jesus impending death of the cross.

As we have been introduced to these people and their reactions to Jesus there have been others that were there as well. The Apostles or the 12 had been called to follow Jesus. They were a diverse group made up of several fishermen, a tax collector and a political zealot or activist. We don’t know what the other half of the men did before they became followers of Jesus. This morning I will give one of the disciples a profession but we really don’t know. You are encouraged to read the full account of Palm Sunday on your own.

They had been there with Jesus and had been witness to all that he did, all that he said and all that was said about him. In addition to listening and learning from Jesus they were also there to attend to the needs of their master as well. Listen this morning as one of the twelve relives some of his experiences as an apostle on the road with Jesus.

I am a follower of Jesus, a disciple, an apostle to be more precise, one of the twelve. Let me tell you that following Jesus is quite an adventure to say the least. I had been with Jesus for….um….around three years.

As a boy you had hopes that a rabbi would ask you to be one of his followers. It was a huge honor to be asked to study under a rabbi. They were some of the most revered people in our community.

Like all Jewish boys I had studied in the synagogue with other boys my age. We would memorize the ancient texts. Only the smartest boys would be asked to continue to follow the rabbi. I was not one of those boys. I stayed with it for a while but in the end I just couldn’t memorize it all and couldn’t keep up. It was disappointing but none of my friends made the cut either. Most didn’t.

Again, just like everyone else I followed in the footstep of my father who was a carpenter. I learned the family business from him. Family units were important. We all worked together to provide for the family. The business had been in our family for generations.

Everything changed for me however the day that Jesus came to town. It was just like any other day as we worked. My father and brothers were helping a neighbor and I was working at home. Jesus came in and admired the table I was working on and we began to talk shop. He told me that his father had been a carpenter.

Then he changed the conversation and asked me if I would like to follow him, he called me by name! A rabbi asking me to follow him. (Ad lib here a little)