“The Victorious Savior”
April 1st, 2007
It was a glorious Sunday morning. Much like today, the skies were blue. The air was fresh. The birds were singing and the entire universe had an air of expectancy and joy and celebration. I think Jesus’ disciples were feeling pretty good about themselves. They had followed Jesus for about three and a half years and seen Him do many miracles and proved Himself to be the messiah – at least to them. I think they were feeling pretty confident.
Jesus was on His way to an appointment, Sabbath morning. No one realized it but Himself. If they considered it - they probably thought He was on His way to an appointment in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. But He wasn’t in a hurry because this appointment had been arranged many centuries previously. The prophet Zechariah said,
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your king coming unto you; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon a donkey, even upon a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zech 9:9).
Only He knew where He was going and what was going to happen because He WAS the Messiah and He was God. You can tell that by the instructions He gave to a couple of His followers. Listen:
“…Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking along ahead of his disciples. As they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead, with instructions to go to the next village, and as they entered they were to look for a donkey tied beside the road. It would be a colt, not yet broken for riding. "Untie him," Jesus said, "and bring him here. And if anyone asks you what you are doing, just say, ’The Lord needs him.’ "
They found the colt as Jesus said, and sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners demanded an explanation. "What are you doing?" they asked. "Why are you untying our colt?"
And the disciples simply replied, "The Lord needs him!" So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw some of their clothing across its back for Jesus to sit on.” Luke 19:28-35 (Living)
It interests me that Jesus walked along ahead of His disciples. Can you get that picture in your mind? I imagine there was a large crowd following Him with the disciples, His personal entourage, right behind Him. But He needed prayer. He needed strength. He needed a little time with His Father. He knew what was to come. So He walked alone, as we all sometimes must do. And as we need to do, He prayed.
Then He called those two friends of His and told them to go get that donkey colt. And it all happened just as He said it would. And then listen to what happened.
“Then the crowds spread out their robes along the road ahead of him, and as they reached the place where the road started down from the Mount of Olives, the whole procession began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles Jesus had done.
"God has given us a King!" they exulted. "Long live the King! Let all heaven rejoice! Glory to God in the highest heavens!"
But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, "Sir, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!" He replied, "If they keep quiet, the stones along the road will burst into cheers!"
Luke 19:36-40 (Living)
It was a parade! The people recognized Jesus for who He really was. They had seen Him do many wonderful miracles and now they recognized Him as the King of kings. They saw that He was the Messiah come down from heaven. And He did what you do when the king comes to town. You celebrate. You throw a party. You have a parade. You roll out the red carpet. Only they didn’t have a red carpet so they improvised. They took their colorful coats off and made one. They cut palm branches and laid them in the pathway. And all was well with the world for a brief time. Laughter and cheering echoed across the hills. The people felt joyful and happy. Their King had come home to lead them to victory – and they were celebrating.
What kind of man do you see sitting on that donkey? To most people he is rather effeminate acting and looking. To others, He is distant and weak – maybe a lot like their own fathers. Look at most of the pictures of Him. He is gentle and meek and mild acting. He has children around him and is kind of like a male version of Mother Teresa. They leave us with the impression that He is the world’s nicest guy. He is kind of like Mister Rogers in a beard. Telling me that I need to be like Him makes me feel like I need to be passive and nice. Be swell. Be like Mother Teresa. Be like Captain Kangaroo with the kids.
But I don’t want to be like Captain Kangaroo. I don’t want to be like Mr. Rogers. I don’t want to be like Mother Teresa. I would much rather be like William Wallace. Remember him? He was the hero in the film “Braveheart”. He is the warrior, hero, and poet who came as the liberator of Scotland in the early 1300’s. When Wallace comes on the scene, Scotland had been under the iron fist of the English for centuries. The latest king is worst than them all. He is ruthless and oppresses the people. He devastates Scotland and kills her sons and rapes her daughters.
Wallace is the first to defy the English oppressors. And when the showdown is at hand, he rides in with his little band of warriors. Their faces are blue with war paint and they are ready for battle. And He shouts:
“Sons of Scotland, you have come to fight as free men, and free men you are.” He reminds them that a life lived in fear is no life at all, and that every last one of them will die some day. And then says, “And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they will never take our freedom.”
At the end of his stirring speech, the men are cheering. They are ready. Then Wallace’s friend asks. “Fine speech. Now what do we do?” Wallace says, “Just be yourselves.” His friends says, “Where are you going?” Wallace says, “I’m going to pick a fight.”
Now, is Jesus more like Mother Teresa or William Wallace? The answer is – it depends. If you are a leper; if you are an outcast that no one has ever touched, because you are unclean; if all you have longed for is just one kind word – then Christ is tender and merciful. He reaches out and touches you. On the other hand, if you a Pharisee and a religious phony – watch out. On more than one occasion Jesus picks a fight with those notorious hypocrites. Listen:
One Sabbath as he was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a seriously handicapped woman who had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to straighten herself.
Calling her over to him Jesus said, "Woman, you are healed of your sickness!"
He touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised and thanked God! But the local Jewish leader in charge of the synagogue was very angry about it because Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. "There are six days of the week to work," he shouted to the crowd. "Those are the days to come for healing, not on the Sabbath!" Luke 13:10-14 (Living)
Can you believe this guy? A woman hurting so terribly for 18 years is healed. Does he rejoice for her? No. He gets all legalistic. And Jesus says,
"You hypocrite! You work on the Sabbath! Don’t you untie your cattle from their stalls on the Sabbath and lead them out for water? And is it wrong for me, just because it is the Sabbath day, to free this Jewish woman from the bondage in which Satan has held her for eighteen years?"
This shamed his enemies. And all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did.” Luke 13:15-17 (Living)
Jesus draws the enemy out, exposes him for what he is and shames him in front of everyone. Does that seem gentlemanly? Not if you’re in the service of the enemy. God has a battle to fight – and the battle is for our freedom. Nearly every book of the bible, and nearly every page, tells us about God’s warring activities. I wonder if the Egyptians who kept Israel under the whip would describe Yahweh as a really nice Guy? Plagues, pestilence, the death of their first born sons – that doesn’t seem very gentlemanly, does it? Remember Samson? Killed a lion with his bare hands, beat gangs of thugs up and killed a bunch of them with the jawbone of a donkey. Not a guy to mess with. But did you ever notice that those things only happened when “the spirit of the Lord came upon him”?
What am I trying to say? Just that most of us have a very, very mistaken idea of God, especially of Jesus, and therefore of ourselves - since we are His image-bearers. Dorothy Sayers wrote that the church has “very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah – making him a fitting household pet for pale pastors and pious old ladies.”
Is that the God you find in the Bible? I don’t think so. I came across a poem recently, written by a guy by the name of Ezra Pound. It is called “Ballad of the Goodly Fere”. It is written from the perspective of one of the men who followed Jesus. It makes more sense if you know that “fere” is an Old English word that means ‘mate’.
Have we lost the goodliest fere o’ all
For the priest and the gallows tree?
Aye lover he was of brawny men,
O’ ships and the open sea.
When they came wi’ a host to take Our Man
His smile was good to see,
‘First let these go!” quo’ our Goodly Fere,
“Or I’ll see ye damned, says He.
Aye He sent us out through the crossed high spears
And the scorn of His laugh rang free,
“Why took ye not me when I walked about
Alone in the town?” says He.
I ha’ seen Him drive a hundred men
Wi’ a bundle o’ cords swung free,
When they took the high and holy house
For their pawn and treasury…
I ha’ seen Him cow a thousand men
On the hills of Galilee,
They whined as He walked out calm between,
Wi’ his eyes like the grey o’ the sea,
Like the sea the brooks no voyaging
With winds unleashed and free,
Like the sea that he cowed at Genseret
Wi’ two words spoke’ suddenly.
A Master of men was the Goodly Fere,
A mate of the wind and sea,
If they think they ha’ slain our Goodly Fere
They are fools eternally.
Jesus is no pale-faced alter boy with his hair parted in the middle, speaking softly, avoiding confrontation, who get himself killed because He has no way out. He works with wood and commands the loyalty of dockworkers and fisherman. He is the Lord of hosts and Captain of angel armies. And when He will return one day, he will be at the head of a dreadful army, mounted on a white horse, with a double-edged sword, robe dipped in blood. Doesn’t that sound a lot more like William Wallace than it does Mother Teresa? No question about it – there is something fierce in the heart of God.
If you have any doubts as to whether or not God loves wildness – spend a night in the woods – alone. Take a walk in a thunder storm. Get a bull moose or a grizzly bear mad at you. Whose idea was this, anyway? The Great Barrier Reef with it great white sharks, the jungles of India with the tigers, the deserts of Nevada with those rattlesnakes – would you describe them as ‘nice’ places? Most of the earth is not safe – but it is good. After God crated all this – He pronounced that ‘it was good’. It’s His way of letting us know that He prefers adventure, danger, risk, the element of surprise. The whole creation is unapologetically wild. God loves it that way.
And do you know that YOU were created in His image. There is something a little wild about you. And that’s okay. Because it’s okay to be a little wild when you are good. God made you this way. And God loves you – just as you are. He doesn’t want you to stay as you are. He is wants you to become more and more like Jesus. But to do that – you need to know what Jesus is like. He is kind and gentle. He is nice and gentlemanly. He is loving and patient. But don’t be fooled. He is also strong and fierce. And He is triumphant. He is victorious. That’s what this day is about. Celebrate. Laugh. Cheer. We are on the winning side when we are on Jesus’ side. The bible says,
“… overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us enough to die for us. For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are--high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean--nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us.”
Romans 8:37-39 (Living)
I want you to know how much God loves you. There will be times when it seems like we are losing. There will be times we feel like a failure. There will be times we feel beat up and beat down. But hang in there. Your King is coming. He is a conqueror. And that makes you a winner! He is coming back to rescue you. In the meantime – be fierce. Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Let’s get out there this week and attack! We are in the Lord’s Army. Get in the Word – then get out into the world. Next Sunday is Easter – the greatest day in all history. Let’s go tell someone about Jesus and all He has done for us this week.
