The Day God Showed Up--In Person! Series

This morning, we are experiencing a divine coincidence. It just so happens, as you all know by know, that this morning we are celebrating and remembering Palm Sunday—the day when the pilgrims to the Feast of the Passover cut off palm branches to hail and welcome the King of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth, as He officially presented Himself as the nation’s, and the world’s Messiah. And it just so happens, and I trust not by accident, that the passage we have come to in our year-and-a-half journey through the Gospel of John is, of all things, John the apostle’s account of what happened on Palm Sunday!

So, God is up to something this morning, and it’s a good thing! The Holy Spirit is at work, if we’re only open to what He is all about this morning—glorifying and calling us to receive Jesus Christ as our Messiah, our King, and our God!

Now this is an incredibly significant event in the annals of history and of Scripture. This was the day of all the days in the 3 ½ year ministry of Jesus Christ when He finally, officially presented Himself to His people, the Nation of Israel, as their Messiah, their King and their God. His entire life, and especially His entire ministry had been designed to climax at this point. He had repeatedly been demonstrating that He was indeed Israel’s Messiah and the God-man throughout his ministry—his credentials were his incredible miracles of every kind—He never failed to heal anyone who came to Him seeking a healing, whatever the problem, His incredible wisdom and His impeccable character. For the last six months, beginning in John 5, He had repeatedly done incredible miracles in Jerusalem, that resulted in sizzling debates between him and the wicked spiritual and political leaders of Israel, repeatedly revealing that He was indeed God in the flesh, repeatedly exposing them as hypocrites who only cares about their own power, position and wealth. He has demonstrated He has every credential that anyone who would ever claim to be the Messiah could ever hope for. And finally the day has come when He would offer Himself to His people as their Messiah-Savior-King. And this is the day.

It is the day that God showed up in person, as a human being, and offered Himself as Israel’s and ultimately the World’s King and deliverer. Yes, there were other days that God had showed up for individuals, and even for the nation of Israel—He had shown up for Abraham on a number of occasions, He had certainly shown up for Moses and Israel at Mt. Sinai. But this was different. On this day, God showed up in person, as a man, as the God-man, Jesus of Nazareth, and offered Himself as the solution to the nation’s and the world’s problems. It was a day which Old Testament prophecies specifically spoke about on two different occasions, giving the exact time, manner and location of the day God would show up. So, it’s an event we ought to give much thought to and consideration.

And a question we ought to ask before we go any further is since this is a day of such incredible historical significance for mankind—the day God showed up personally—exactly how would God present Himself? What would God want to say about Himself in relationship to mankind? What would He want us to know about Himself as He offers Himself to be our King and our Deliverer? Because the answer to these questions are answers that each of us here can take very personally and individually. These things are the things that God would want each of us here to know as He comes to us and presents Himself to us today, not in human form exactly, but in Spirit. How does God present Himself to you, what does He want you to know about Himself and how He will treat you if you agree to make Him king of your life, your deliverer and your savior.

Now I recently had a very brief but surprisingly helpful experience—helpful in the sense that it provided me with some understanding of the dilemma that God Himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, faced as he officially presented Himself to His people and offered Himself as their King. It came two weeks ago late on a Sunday afternoon just before the Newcomers Class. I was hurriedly spreading weed-preventer on the hill behind our house in preparation for the coming of spring. And as I did so, at the top of the hill, at the fence between our yard and the yard of a home at the top of the hill, I encountered a dog, a Border Collie, on the other side of the fence. Now if you don’t know it, Border Collies are regarded as the single most intelligent breed of dog there is. But this Border Collie, as kind-looking as he was, was skittish, fearful. He had come close to the fence for a moment because he was interested in me, but the moment I turned to see him, he ran away from me, carefully maintaining a distance of perhaps eight to ten feet from me, even though he was, as it seemed to me, safely on the other side of the fence. And I found myself wondering how I could, as a different creature, somehow assure this creature that I meant no harm, that I wanted to be his friend, and that he could come close and I would be kind to him, maybe even pet him. And so it occurred to me that what I needed to do was to make non-threatening gestures toward him, to speak to Him not with a loud and threatening voice, but to speak sweetly to Him, with re-assuring words, and rather than making myself look bigger than I already was, I needed to get down low, and make myself small, and bring myself to his level, and reach out to Him with gentle and humble sorts of movements. I made a brief attempt at this, with every good intention, but had very little time, and the dog remained skeptical, and ultimately I failed to befriend Him.