Knowing Christ - What happens next!!
passage - Matthew 21:1-11 (NIV)
1As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."
4This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5"Say to the Daughter of Zion,
'See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' "
6The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The 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!"
10When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?"
11The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."
Everyone loves a parade.
Who can forget the triumphant All Blacks returning with the world cup and tens of thousands turning out.
If you think this was big consider this It was Passover and scholars have found records that 250 thousand lambs were used in the Passover feast – given that one lamb was to be shared among ten people – can we even begin to imagine the huge crowds gathered in and around Jerusalem for Passover.
Then into the midst of all this as [redicted by the Prophet Zechariah in Zechariah 9 verse 9 just 500 years before this. Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
A little group of Jesus and his small team coming into the Holy City at the highlight of the Jewish year. Then suddenly - spontaneously – joyously and led by the Holy spirit this huge mass of gathered humanity heaves under a moment of spiritual revelation. Their eyes are opened and they recognize Jesus as the promised King.
No wordsmith with their great skill – no theologian with their deep thinking can begin to describe what happened here. But steadily and carefully the group steadily move into the city with Jesus riding on the colt. Clip clop clip clop. The soft echoing of hooves on the cobblestones with the accompanying shuffle of the Disciples Clip clop clip clop.
Suddenly the vast crowd expresses what the Apostle Paul later said in Phillipians chapter 3, I want to know Christ – More than that they wanted to celebrate Jesus!!
You can’t begin the Christian walk until you know Christ – and these people wanted to know him they wanted to worship him. So many artists have tried to capture this grand event. But if Jerusalem was as crowded as Scholars say it would exceed all the words and paintings that have been produced on this great moment in Israel's history.
Like a strong wind sweeping through trees were stripped of their branches which were torn and thrown in Jesus path others waved in his honour – Cloaks were laid down in a random tapestery of love as Jesus steadily made his way into the city.
There had never been anything like it before or since. Imagine the eruption of joy and sound as thousands acknowledged Christ and his coming to the Holy city. The religious leaders could only look on in consternation and grumble – The devil was in the detail! for them.
I think almost every Christian understands this moment. There comes a time of welcoming Jesus into their lives. This is a great moment when the life is turned over to Christ. There is a moment where as Paul says – I want to know Christ. Most of Jerusalem on this day wanted to know Christ. It was manic and God guided a special moment in the life of Israel and Jesus and his followers. NOW at last the Saviour had come. But when we want to know Christ we all need to understand what happens next.
The first thing that happens is that Christ is welcomed into the heart of the city. Just as Christ is welcomed into the heart of the city we too need to welcome Jesus into our hearts as Lord and saviour. If this doesn’t happen then nothing of any real importance can happen next.
Charles Spurgeon – speaks of his moment of getting to Know Christ. I was years and years upon the brink of hell—I mean in my own feeling. I was unhappy, I was desponding, I was despairing. I dreamed of hell. My life was full of sorrow and wretchedness, believing that I was lost.”
Charles Spurgeon used these strong words to describe his adolescent years. Despite his Christian upbringing (he was christened as an infant, and raised in the Congregational church), and his own efforts (he read the Bible and prayed daily), Spurgeon woke one January Sunday in 1850 with a deep sense of his need for deliverance.
Because of a snowstorm, the 15-year-old’s path to church was diverted down a side street. For shelter, he ducked into the Primitive Methodist Chapel on Artillery Street. An unknown substitute lay preacher stepped into the pulpit and read his text—Isaiah 45:22—“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else.”
Spurgeon’s Autobiography records his reaction:
“He had not much to say, thank God, for that compelled him to keep on repeating his text, and there was nothing needed—by me, at any rate except his text. Then, stopping, he pointed to where I was sitting under the gallery, and he said, ‘That young man there looks very miserable’ … and he shouted, as I think only a Primitive Methodist can, ‘Look! Look, young man! Look now!’ … Then I had this vision—not a vision to my eyes, but to my heart. I saw what a Savior Christ was.… Now I can never tell you how it was, but I no sooner saw whom I was to believe than I also understood what it was to believe, and I did believe in one moment.
“And as the snow fell on my road home from the little house of prayer I thought every snowflake talked with me and told of the pardon I had found, for I was white as the driven snow.”
Spurgeon like Paul had wanted to know Christ and this was his divine moment of revelation.
What is the first point of knowing Christ – Seeing and accepting him for who he is.
Who could possibly think of the majority of a city coming out enmass and coming to know Christ? It happened in the Welsh revivals and many other revivals. But this is a starting moment only. Last week sitting on a ship discussing this matter with a leader from Campus crusade for Christ I was told that 65 percent of the people who make this kind of response according to a worldwide survey turn away.
In the case of jesus and the people of Jerusalem the percentage appears much higher.
There is something else that is needed Paul says I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection!!!
We can know Christ in that great conversion moment but we need to know his power. After Jesus comes into Jerusalem there is a number of events that clearly define what it means to follow Jesus and he moves in the power of the Spirit. Remember when shortly after this Jesus curses a fig tree that doesn’t produce fruit and it immediately shrivles up? That was the power of God working in Jesus. Even Jesus didn’t presume to start his adult ministry until after his baptism when the spirit descended on him like a dove.
It is the presence of the Spirit within him that gives him the discernment to do some highly provocative things in Jerusalem. The centrepiece surely is the turning over of the tables in the temple. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.
When a Person becomes a Christian and they want to follow Christ then, they need to understand that they need to avail themselves of the power of the Holy Spirit. When you are filled with the Spirit of God amazing things happen. Recently in Sydney I was prayed for by a wonderful group of Anglicans and felt the presence of the Holy spirit surge into my body. I will never forget as a young Christian experiencing the Holy Spirit in my life and being amazed at how God’s power was changing and influencing my life. On one occasion as a young Christian the Holy Spirit saved my life and he has done it more than once. Walking by the Spirit is different to once receiving the Holy Spirit we need to maintain the presence of God in our lives by daily practicing his presence.
I found this quote by Watchman Nee very helpful! The flesh is linked with Adam; the Spirit with Christ. Leaving aside now as settled the question of whether we are in Adam or in Christ, we must ask ourselves: Am I living in the flesh or in the Spirit? To live in the flesh is to do something 'out from'* myself as in Adam. It is to derive strength from the old natural source of life that I inherited from him, so that I enjoy in experience all Adam's very complete provision for sinning which all of us have found so effective. Now the same is true of what is in Christ. To enjoy in experience what is true of me as in Him, I must learn what it is to walk in the Spirit. It is a historic fact that in Christ my old man was crucified, and it is a present fact that I am blessed " with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ " (Eph. 1. 3) ; but if I do not live in the Spirit, then my life may be quite a contradiction of the fact that I am in Christ, for what is true of me in Him is not expressed in me. I may recognize that I am in Christ, but I may also have to face the fact that my old temper is very much in evidence. What is the trouble? It is that I am holding the truth merely objectively, whereas what is true objectively must be made true subjectively; and that is brought about as I live in the Spirit.
Jesus walks in the power of God and for us to be people who know Christ so must we.
We are encouraged by the apostle Paul to “walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16)
It isn’t just what we do it is what we think as well
Rom. 8:5: Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
Our second point in knowing Christ is to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thirdly - and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, I don’t know about you but I always find it a great thing to enjoy fellowship with other people who love Jesus. It is such a joy to be with believers. But it takes a step up when you realise that you can have fellowship in his sufferings. Many people give up on their faith because of suffering. You see it some times when Christians suffer because of their faith and they give up. But Paul says
James 1:2-8 New King James Version (NKJV)
Profiting from Trials
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Obviously Jesus victory in Palm Sunday will turn to Calvary – We can have fellowship with those who worship him but we can also have fellowship in suffering. Sometimes because of our faith we may face some setback some persecution or rejection. Paul says count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Now that is a strange thing. Most of us don’t. But it all changes when you understand that through this particular trial God is changing you closer and closer into the image of Christ.
The son of Protestant peasant farmers, Ivan “Vanya” Moiseyev entered the army at eighteen to perform two years of required military training and service. Because he spoke openly of God, which was forbidden in the atheistic regime, Vanya was persecuted by his military supervisors.
Many times, he was challenged by his barracks to prove that God exists. The test was that God obtain leave for a certain sergeant. Leaves were hard to get. After asking God if he should accept the challenge, Vanya agreed. All night, he sat up with the sergeant explaining the things that he would need to know when he became a Christian. The next day, an authority from another town called and ordered the leave. The sergeant became a Christian and so did other men.
Once, after a discussion about God, Vanya was made to stand in the street throughout the whole night wearing their summer uniform.. The temperature at that time was thirteen degrees below zero. He obeyed the order and stood at the street the whole night, remaining faithful to God. Miraculously, he could see his officers and move his body despite the terrible cold. All throughout the ordeal, Vanya only prayed for his persecutors. For the next twelve nights, Ivan continued to stand in the street outside his barracks. Miraculously, he did not freeze, nor did he beg for mercy. Ivan continued to speak about his faith to his comrades and officers.
Soldiers around him were converted, impressed by his ardent faith. His commanders continued to interrogate him, trying to get him to deny Jesus. They put him in refrigerated cells. They clothed him in a special rubber suit, into which they pumped air until his chest was so compressed he scarcely could breath.
In his interrogation, Vanya testified, “I have one higher allegfiance, and that is to Jesus Christ. He has given me certain orders, and these I cannot disobey.”
Of course few are called to suffer like this. But I think we often avoid the suffering checkpoints in the rally of our Christian lives and miss out in incredible blessing and joy and, of course the Kingdom suffers.
Three points then on knowing Christ
1. What is the first point of knowing Christ? – Seeing and accepting him for who he is.
2.v Our second point in knowing Christ is to walk in the power of the Holy spirit.
3. the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings,
The result of this – for Paul is:- and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
“I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:8-11)
