Who Is Jesus Christ, Really?
Sermon No. 1
(Day 1 of Passion Week: A Day of Celebration &
Rejection)
Texts: Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 1:1-11;
Luke 19:29-44; John 12:12-19
Focal passage: Luke 19:29-44
"And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.
And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called "The Mount of Olives,", he sent two of his disciples,
Saying, Go ye into the village over against you,; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, wherein yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither.
And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him.
And they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto them.
And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt?
And they said, The Lord hath need of him.
And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they sat Jesus thereon.
And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way.
And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;
Saying, Blessed be the king that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediatedly cry out.
And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it.
Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the tidings which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
For the days shall come upon thee that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round and keep thee in on every dise.
And shall lay thee even with the gound, and thy children within thee, and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knowest not the time of thy visitation."
Introduction-
For the next 7 weeks I am going to concentrate my messages on the last week of the life of Jesus on earth. We will be looking at the events of each day of Passion Week, as can best be ascertained, and concentrate on telling it truthfully as it is revealed in the pages of the inspired Word of God. We are on holy ground, as we do this, and Satan is not going to like it. He does not want the cross of Christ, and the resurrection preached, for in these words the power of God is manifested. Go with me now, in your heart, and in your mind, emotions, and will, to that most sacred time of all human history, and, it is my prayer that you will see Jesus, and that you will turn from your sins, and commit your life, and all to Him, as Saviour, and Lord.
Day 1-A Day of Celebration & Rejection
As I have just read from the Holy Scriptures, our Lord had gone to Bethany, and had sent two disciples on a mission. They were to find a donkey for Him to ride into the city of Jerusalem, where He would be lauded as Messiah. None of this took Jesus by surprise. It had all been foretold, and prophesided and planned before the foundation of the world. Up to this time, Jesus was reluctant to admit to being the Messiah openly and publically, saying so with his actions and words, but now, it is His hour. His time to be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world had come, and all Scripture had to be fulfilled, that all men might know that He was Messiah, Saviour, and Lord.
In each of these messages, I am going to answer some very important question. Questions like, Who is responsible for the death of Jesus?, Who is Jesus Christ, really? Why was His death necessary?, and What does it all mean to me?
In todays message we see that Jesus answers the question-"Who is Jesus of Nazareth, really?" He deliberately and publically asserts that He is the one to fulfill the Scriptures. He is the Messiah of the Jews. He is the Saviour of the world! As He
was entering Jerusalem, the crowds shouted-"Who is
this?" Unfortunately, their opinion was that He was
only a prophet, yet, they had Messianic hopes built
up in Him, and they longed for Him to be the Messiah
they wanted, not to save them from sin, but to free
them from Roman oppression, and bless them materially
and economically, and politically.
Remember, now, that the Pharisees had already put
out the word that if anybody knew where Jesus was, they were to reveal it, so that they could arrest him.
They had already determined to put Him to death. Yet,
Jesus boldly goes into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey
in fulfillment of OT Scripture, and says, in effect,
"Bring it on!" "I’m ready to sacrifice my life for the
sins of the world." Little children had cried, Hosanna in the temple on Sunday, and they wanted Him
to rebuke them, but Jesus said-"Have you not read,
that out of the mouth of babes God has perfect praise?" He had also healed some blind and lame people. The next day, Monday, of Passion Week, He
would return to the temple and drive out the money-
changers for the 2nd time in His ministry. Again, He
is boldly asserting His Messiahship, and condemning
the hypocrisy and unbelief of the Jewish nation. He
wasn’t trying to avoid arrest now. His time had come,
according to God’s determinate counsel and foreknowledge.
The prophet Zechariah had prophesied long ago,
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold thy King cometh unto thee, he is just, and having salvation, lovly, and riding upon an ass, and unpon a colt the foal of an ass."
Zachariah 9:9
This day would be a day of triumph for Him, but it would also be a day of weeping. He would feel very deeply the pain of rejection by His own nation, His own people. He came unto His own, and they received Him not.
Were the Jews guilty of the crucificiton of Christ? Yes, they surely were. As Peter proclaimed on the day of Pentecost, in Acts, chapter 2, verse 36, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know that God had made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."
The Jews are guilty, but they are not alone in their guilt, we all all guilty. We all crucified Jesus, because it was for our sins that He suffered, bled, died, and rose again.
This is not anti-semitism. It is recorded fact. Christians do not condemn Jews. We are all guilty sinners, in need of God’s forgiveness, but we all must turn from our sins to Jesus, and believe on Him, in order to be saved eternally.
Christ’s cross is God’s way of meeting man’s need
of forgiveness and salvation. It may seem foolish to
unbelievers, but the Good News of Jesus changes lives
eternally for those who put their trust in Him.
The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all
sin. (1st John 1:7) By His cross Jesus redeems us
from all iniquity(Titus 2:14), and delivers us from
this present evil world.(Galatians 1:14)
In the cross of Christ, we see vividly portrayed,
the love of God, not only for Jews, but Gentiles, as
well. God loves all people. He longs to see them respond to the message of Christ, and Him crucified by turning from their sins and unbelief, to salvation, that is in Christ alone. There is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we can be saved. There is no other way to God the Father, except through God the Son.
As the prophet Isaiah so beautifully put it, in the 53rd chapter, verses 3-6,
"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
In Matthew 16:13-18 Jesus was about to start re-
vealing to His disciples that He was going to die. He
wanted greatly to know whether they had understood Him, or not. He wanted to know if they believed.
So, it says in that passage-
"When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesasrea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Peter’s great confession showed that he under-
stood who Jesus really was. He knew that He was the promised Messiah, the Son of the living God. God the
Father had revealed this to Peter, as He reveals it to us today through His Spirit, and His Word.
The real question that you and I must face is
"Who is Jesus to us?" Is He just a great figure from
the past, a well-know religious leader, or prophet,
Is He King of Kings, and Lord of Lords? By faith, we
will give the same response that Peter gave.
You must decide what you are going to do with Jesus, just as surely as Pilate had to do. I once had a college professor who said that people make one of three responses to Jesus:
1. Some deny Him and reject Him.
2. Some admire Him and reject Him.
3. Some accept Him and surrender to His
Lordship.
What will you do with Jesus? Who is He to you?
Be careful how you answer, for your eternal destiny
hinges on what you believe about Christ, and what you
do with Him in your life.
Would you, dear reader of this message, now place your trust in Him who died for you, so that you can know the God who loves you and sent His Son to die for you? The Pharisees were very angry at the popularity of Christ. It seemed that the whole world was going to believe in Him, if they did not do something. I pray that it will be so, that the whole world will turn to Jesus, and believe in Him.
Comments?
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dannymoss777@yahoo.com
