Summary: The Pharisses called those lining the streets on Palm Sunday Jesus’s followers, but were they?

It was a party, everyone was there, it was a celebration, the video clip you just watched was from Jesus Christ Super Star 2001 and I love the Palm Sunday scene, it captures the excitement and joy of that day. There was a sense of anticipation and expectancy in the air, people knew that something was happening and they wanted to be a part of it. As Jesus rode into town the crowd went wild cheering him on and laying a carpet of their coats before him. He was the one that the prophets had spoken of and now he was riding into their town. Karen read the story earlier in the service, how the people welcomed Jesus into their town, how they proclaimed his greatness and their loyalty. And yet it was all short lived. A week later instead of crying “Hosanna”, the crowd was yelling “Crucify him”. Seven days after they yelled “Bless the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” they hollered “We have no king but Caesar.”

So who were these people who were so fickle? Let’s go back to the scripture Luke 19:39 But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!” The Pharisees were Jewish religious leaders and they saw Jesus as a threat to their own authority and they identified those who lined the streets that day as “Followers of Jesus.” But were they? Were they really Christ Followers? Christ Follower is a term that I try to use instead of Christian because Christian today means very little, it means that you’re not a Hindu, or a Buddhist, or a Muslim but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you follow Christ, It simply means you don’t follow anyone else. But were those who were cheering that day, were they followers of Christ? This morning I want to look at what it means to be a “Christ Follower”

The first thing you have to understand is that Being a Christ follower means you realize who Christ is. And I guess in the same breath we would have to say that you realize who Christ isn’t.

I’m sure that day there were those in the crowd who were simply caught in what was happening, perhaps if you had of been eavesdropping you might have heard someone yelling hosanna, hosanna and then turning to the person next to them and asking, “What’s going on?” and the other person would have said “We’re welcoming Jesus to town.” And the first person would “Cool, who’s Jesus?”

Or perhaps they only knew of Jesus through the press releases, you know. “Carpenter heals leper” Or “Man from Galilee feeds 5000.” They knew the surface things about this Jesus but they really didn’t know him.

There are people out there today who know of Jesus but they don’t necessarily know Jesus. You understand the difference right? You can know of someone without really knowing them. I was in a home in Bedford last year that had a portrait of the Queen in the hallway and I noticed other royal paraphernalia scattered around the home, collector plates and books, you know what I mean. It was fairly obvious that at least one member of that household did not share my view of the Monarchy. They were probably quite familiar with Liz and Phil, knew all there was to know about Chuck, Anne, Andy and Ed. But I wonder if they actually knew them or if they only knew of them?

It’s easy to know about people today, all you have to do is Google their name, there’s a verb I bet you didn’t use ten years ago. If you were to Google Denn Guptill you could find our where and when I graduated, who my wife is, what the name of my children are and how many pets we have. You would discover which magazines I write for and what churches I have pastored over the last twenty five years, you would be able to read some of my sermons. In short you would be able to know a lot about me but you wouldn’t really know who I am.

If you are going to be a Christ Follower then first you will need to know who it is you are following. Let’s listen in to a conversation that Jesus had with his apostles 2000 years ago. Matthew 16:13-14 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” If I was to ask you “Who do people say Jesus is?” And you were able to tell me then you would know about him, you might not know the truth but you would know what people were saying. Some might say he was a great teacher, or a prophet, a good man, one local minister said that Jesus was not the Son of God but he was Spiritual Genius, whatever that means. But the litmus test came in the next verse when we read Matthew 16:15Then he asked them, “Who do you say I am?” and then Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” You see what happened, Simon Peter had gone from a head knowledge, this is what people are saying to a heart knowledge, this is who you are to me. He no longer simply knew about Jesus but he knew him.

If you are going to follow Jesus you have to know who it is you are actually following.

The next thing is Being A Christ Follower Means You Follow Christ, I just keep getting deeper and deeper don’t I? There is a really nasty name for someone who says one thing and does something else, anyone know what that word is? That’s right it is Hypocrite. And that word comes from a Greek word which is hupokrites which literally meant an actor or a mask wearer because you will recall that in Greek theatre all the actors wore a mask.

When someone says they are a Christ follower but their life doesn’t reflect that then people around them call them a hypocrite. I can’t count the number of times I have heard someone say they would come to church if it wasn’t for the hypocrites. I guess that makes sense although the only thing smaller then a hypocrite would have to be someone who could hide behind a hyprocite.

Time and time again Jesus told people “Follow Me.” And when he said that he inevitably got one of two responses. Matthew 4:19-22 Jesus called out to them, “Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and went with him. A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their nets. And he called them to come, too. They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind. They just did it. Rob Bell of Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids Michigan says “This is strange, isn’t it? Why do they just drop their nets? Why would they quite their jobs for some rabbi they had never met? And those Christian movies don’t help. Jesus is usually wearing a white bathrobe with a light blue beauty pageant sash, and his hair is blwo-dried and his eyes glazed over. . . and he’s Swedish.”

To us it seems strange but 2000 years ago in Israel people literally followed rabbis, the rabbis didn’t preach standing in front of a crowd they taught as they walked and people followed them and listened to their teaching. Those people were followers because they followed someone. One Jewish teacher who lived a few hundred years before Christ counselled followers to “Cover yourself with the dust of your rabbi’s feet.” You understand the illusion here, the rabbi is walking along the dirt roads of Palestine and as he walks his sandaled feet are kicking up dust and those following him would be covered in his dust, that is if they were walking close enough.

Are you covered in the dust of Jesus? Are you walking so close to his teaching that his dust has enveloped you? Now we don’t have the privilege of physically walking with him and listening to him but we do have his words, we have his story. Take the time to read the Gospels and get to know Jesus. I would challenge you to read at least one of the four gospel accounts this week as we go into the Easter Weekend. I trust that he has asked you to follow and you have responded by following.

You see there is another response recorded in the bible, one of several incidents is recorded in Luke 9:59-60 He said to another person, “Come, be my disciple.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” Jesus replied, “Let those who are spiritually dead care for their own dead. Your duty is to go and preach the coming of the Kingdom of God.”

So are you willing to drop your nets and follow him or are you willing to follow him, but? And as you follow Him He lights the path so you can see where to go and what to do, he won’t leave you in the dark. John 8:12 Jesus said to the people, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” It’s like following someone through the woods who is carrying a flashlight, as long as you are close enough you are fine, but once you start to lag behind you begin to trip and stumble.

Some of those who were there on Palm Sunday were just there because, some because it was the right thing to do, some because they were enjoying the festivities and were caught up in the celebration but they weren’t his followers. What brings you out on this Palm Sunday?

The next thing we discover is that Being A Christ Follower Means You’re Honest In other words don’t say it if you don’t mean it. To call yourself a Christian, which literally means of Christ, like a Canadian means of Canada, when you’re not is blasphemy. You are attaching the name of Christ to something or someone who does not belong to Him.

There were some there that day who in some nebulous way thought they were following Jesus because he was there and they were there. But a week later they were following someone else. He was simply the latest fad, the newest and most popular prophet.

One week they couldn’t get close enough to Christ, a week later they couldn’t get far enough away. Being a Christ follower shouldn’t be defined by what you’re not. You know, you’re not a Mohammed follower, or a Buddhist follower or a Confucius follower so you must be a Christ follower. Instead it needs to be defined by what it is, you’re not a Denn follower or a Jay follower you are a Christ follower.

And then we find that Being A Christ Follower Will Cost You Something Time and time again Jesus told his disciples that following him would cost them something. He told them to expect persecution and scorn. This wasn’t a switch and bait tactic. It wasn’t like Jesus promised that if you become a follower that you will suddenly become healthy, wealthy and wise and then said, “Opps, I forgot to mention the persecution thing.” Instead he said things like Luke 14:27-28 And you cannot be my disciple if you do not carry your own cross and follow me. But don’t begin until you count the cost.” Probably there were those in the crowd that if you mentioned cost to them would say “Of course it cost something and look I have put my good coat down for him to ride over.” But Jesus didn’t come to Jerusalem to collect coats. He came to collect people.

As Christians in Canada in 2006 we think when things go wrong that there must be sin in our life or that we’ve done something wrong and God has deserted us. But Jesus said in John 15:20-21 Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. . . The people of the world will hate you because you belong to me, for they don’t know God who sent me.

What price would you be willing to pay as a believer? Would you be willing to lose your job, your family, your life? You understand that in many places in the world those are the things that being a follower of Jesus would cost you. Remember a couple of weeks ago the news services all picked up on the story of Abdul Rahman the Afgan who had converted to Christianity from Islam in 1990. He had been sentenced to death because of his conversion. Have you seen this clip? “Being hanged to death! I accept it, yes I do, but I am not an infidel as branded and I am not an apostate. I am a Jesus follower!” If you have followed the story then you know the Afghan government intervened and had him released and he is now in Italy, Abdul made the news, there are thousands of men and women around the world that lose their jobs, their families and their lives because they follow Jesus. What would you be willing to pay?

And lastly we realize that Being A Christ Follower Means You Stick With It To The End. It’s easy to stick with it during the good times, when we are riding a spiritual high and all is right with the world. It’s easy to be a follower when we are surrounded by followers to yell “Hosanna” when everyone else is yelling “Hosanna”. But what about when those around you are yelling “Crucify Him.”? That my friends is where the rubber meets the road. And it’s not enough to follow him on Palm Sunday or any other Sunday for that matter, because life is what happens between Sundays.

The Bible, the word of God says in Galatians 6:9 So don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. And in the Revelation we read Revelation 14:12 Let this encourage God’s holy people to endure persecution patiently and remain firm to the end, obeying his commands and trusting in Jesus.”

Billy Sunday was a pro Baseball player in the early 1900’s who became one of the most famous preachers of his day and laid the ground work for Billy Graham in Crusade Evangelism and Billy Sunday said “Stopping at third adds no more to the score than striking out.” It doesn’t matter how well you start if you fail to finish.

So where you at today? It’s Palm Sunday, we are here to praise Jesus and lift up his name. But what about when the service is over? Will you be following him when you leave the building today?

Hope you enjoyed the message, Powerpoint may be available email me at denn@powerpoint4preaching.com

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