Everyone knows what it is like to ride on a roller coaster; the ups and the downs and the turns and the loops.
A roller coaster can be fun and exciting and it can be terrifying and cause anxiety.
When I was younger I would love to go on a roller coaster. The faster it was the better it was.
I remember the feeling as we would go up that first hill. Even though I was afraid of heights, I remember the adrenaline rush that came as we got to the top and then made that 60 mph descent to the valley and then back up again.
The last roller coaster I was on was at 6 Flags 4 years ago and it was called Batman. It was one that went upside down a few times but it had no floor boards. You sat on a seat with nothing under your feet.
It was freaky and it was my last roller coaster ride.
What about an emotional roller coaster? Have you ever been on an emotional roller coaster?
I have been on those before and I don’t like them.
The account of Jesus’ last days on earth could be considered an emotional roller coaster for the disciples and those who knew Jesus.
We are going to look at some of this today and next week.
Pray
Father,
Open my eyes so I can see Your truth.
Open my ears so I can hear Your voice.
Open my mind so I can understand Your Word.
And open my heart so I may receive all that You want me to receive.
AMEN
The Easter story is one of the most emotional accounts that is contained in the Word of God and it is probably the most important story for mankind.
As Christians, we base all that we believe on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is an event that was set into motion the day He was born and it picked up momentum when Lazarus was raised from the grave, which was another emotional event.
That was an awesome miracle that was performed just a few days before Jesus hung on the cross.
Lazarus and his family were very close to Jesus. It was an event that even caused Jesus to weep.
Lazarus had been dead for 4 days when Jesus said, “Lazarus, come out.” It was a huge miracle that excited the people and many put their faith in Him.
About a week after Lazarus was raised from the grave Jesus made His way into Jerusalem. This was done to fulfill an Old Testament prophecy.
In Zechariah 9:9 we read, “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 cold, the foal of a donkey.”
In all there are well over 300 Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Messiah and Jesus had fulfilled all but those that reference His second coming.
Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament and that was what He was doing at this time. It was time for Jesus to fulfill His purpose and so He instructs His disciples what to do.
Let’s look at it together in Luke 19:28-44.
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “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. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
Now if that was today and Jesus told His disciples to go and they would find a car on the corner and they should get in it and start it and bring it back, someone would call 911!
It wouldn’t matter if you said the Lord needed it!
The disciples obeyed Jesus and they found everything the way He said it would be so that Jesus could be announced as the King of Israel, just as it was written.
35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
37 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:
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” 40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” Luke 19:28-44 NIV
A lot of people where following Jesus. News about Him spread fast, even without cell phones, Facebook, e-mails, Instant Messaging, and Tweets.
He had been doing miracles, His disciples had been preaching the Good News and the word was being spread all over.
These events were generating some different emotions and some different results.
Jesus generated excitement.
There was a lot of excitement on the road into Jerusalem that day. There were thousands of people coming into Jerusalem for the Passover Celebration. Add to that the excitement of a man who was coming to set up God’s kingdom and we have the ingredients for a party.
They were on an emotional high.
And so they cried out, “Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
They were praising God and they were carrying on because God was going to reestablish a king in Israel. They were expecting Jesus to be a national, political leader who would restore the nation to the glory of Kind David.
But they had missed the message of Jesus. They had missed the message of John the Baptist.
Jesus came to set up a kingdom but not a kingdom of this world. He came to restore the relationship between God and mankind. If only they could have celebrated that.
The noise of their celebration was so loud that the Pharisees told Jesus to quiet them. But Jesus was not willing to tell them to be quiet.
Jesus generated compassion.
Jesus was a very compassionate man.
Compassion is defined as a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune that is accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.
We saw Jesus’ compassion when He raised Lazarus from the dead and we see it again as He comes into Jerusalem and begins to weep for the people of Israel.
Why did He weep? Jesus cried because He knew that the people were not going to accept Him as Savior. He knew they were going to have Him crucified.
He wept for them because without accepting Him as Savior they had no hope for salvation.
I believe Jesus still weeps today for the same reasons.
He weeps because there are people in this world who refuse to accept Him as Savior.
He weeps because the church struggles with petty issues.
Jesus weeps because we don’t look to Him first for our needs to be met.
He weeps because He knows what the future holds for those who do not turn to Him.
He is compassionate and caring and not only does He have a strong desire to alleviate our suffering He has the power to alleviate it and all we have to do is turn to Him.
Jesus generated action.
45 When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. 46 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” Luke 19:45-46 NIV
Jesus became angry at what He was seeing in the temple. He was angry at the money changers and the merchants who had set up their booths in the Temple.
Those people did big business during the Passover. They made money off the people who came from different countries and needed to have their money converted to Temple currency. They made money off the people who needed to purchase animals to sacrifice.
In order to make a better profit, they would drastically inflate the rates and the process.
Jesus was angry because they were extorting money from those who came to pray and worship God. So He chases them out.
If we look through the Bible we see many references to anger.
When Jesus got angry it was because they were exploiting religion instead of using it to bring people closer to God. Jesus taught the truth but they refused to listen.
We can also get angry at injustice, such as killing the unborn, human trafficking, selling illegal drugs, molesting children, maltreating workers, polluting our environment and the list goes on and on.
Rather than stewing about the problems, we can band together with others and take action to fight, by peaceful, lawful means.
We can volunteer and donate to organizations that oppose abuse. We can write our elected officials. We can form a neighborhood watch. We can educate others, and we can pray.
Evil is a strong force in our world, but we cannot stand by and do nothing. God wants us to use our anger constructively, to combat wrongdoing.
Jesus generated controversy.
47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.
Luke 19:47-48 NIV
They had been potting the death of Jesus for a while, but the Lazarus event and then the entrance into Jerusalem was enough.
They had to put a plan into action.
Jesus was making the religious leaders look bad and they didn’t like it at all. They were egotistical, power seeking, lie telling men who did not like the truth that Jesus was preaching, even though the people were accepting it.
So they came up with a plan to kill Jesus. The plan was to get one of His own disciples to betray Him. And they had one already picked to do the job.
Judas Iscariot, a man who travelled with Jesus, worked with Jesus, ate with Jesus and handled the finances for the group.
He was the perfect pick because 30 silver coins was a good price to entice him to betray Jesus.
The controversy grew during the arrest and the trials. There were people on both sides of the fence. Some wanted Jesus dead and others wanted Him alive.
But the Pharisees had a louder voice then the others and at last, Jesus was crucified.
A roller coaster of emotions that generated many different feelings and results.
It was all for a reason.
Because Jesus generated a choice.
This was God’s plan from the very beginning when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden and broke the relationship between God and mankind.
It has been and always will be God’s desire to fix that broken relationship.
That is why Jesus was born and that is why Jesus was crucified and that is why Jesus rose from the grave!
He did it so we could have a choice.
The people who were present during Jesus’ last days had a choice but they choice wrong.
They did not accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Thankfully we still have a choice today.
God created mankind with a free will so we can choose what paths of life we are going to walk down.
Sadly, many people choose to not accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.
The Word of God is very clear that Jesus is the only way to get to God and the rewards of accepting Him are greater than any other rewards that could ever be offered.
The reward is being able to spend your eternity in heaven in peace.
The result of not choosing Christ is a punishment that worse than any other. That punishment is an everlasting punishment of damnation and pain and torment.
Choose Jesus and have eternal life with Him in heaven.
Reject Jesus and spend your eternity in hell.
His life generated a choice for us and if we choose to follow then we will be able to experience the other things Jesus generated. Excitement, compassion, and action will be a part of our lives while we are on this planet. Even controversy will be ours because not everyone will agree with the Good News that we bring.
Today as we contemplate Jesus’ Triumphal entry and as we look at all His life and His death and resurrection and all that they generated may we come to a point in our lives that we can make the right choice.
The choice to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and to follow Him.
I want a life of excitement and compassion and action and I don’t even mind the controversy when someone disagrees with me about my God and my Savior. I don’t mind it because I know the truth and the truth has set me free.
My prayer today is that each of you would make the same choice.
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