Why Did The Cheering Stop?

You see crowds are comprised of people and people are by nature self-absorbed beings who wonder what others can do for them rather than looking outward to others to help meet their needs.

Jesus knew this. He knew the cheers He heard that Sunday would turn to jeers on Friday. He knew those who called for His coronation on the first day of the week would call for His crucifixion on the sixth. He knew that the crowd’s acceptance of Him would turn into rejection in less than 120 hours.

The crowd wants a crown without a cross. The crowd wants a God who would be at their beckon call and finds the idea of living to serve Him and His causes repugnant. The crowd accepts a genie-god who will grant as many wishes as it has breaths but rejects the one true God who calls us to a life of self-denial and service.

Often we who are inside the church encourage those outside of it to come in and join us. The real disappointment to those who venture into our fellowships is that they find that we are not so much different from they—that we are as guilty of trying to manipulate God as people outside the church are in trying to manipulate others for their own ends. What is frustrating to these seekers is that they are tired of being manipulated and manipulators and they look to us to see if we really act different than they do and when they find out that the vast majority of us don’t then they rightly judge us as being irrelevant and hypocritical.

As I speak to you this morning I have mainly talked about the reception that Jesus got that first Palm Sunday but I would be amiss if I didn’t challenge you to take a look at how you relate to Jesus. Are you guilty of believing that God simply exists to make your way easy and to bless you simply because you ask Him to? If so, you need a change of view. We are His creation and are here to serve Him. Everything created revolves around Him and His purpose. Are you listening to Him as He speaks to you as to how you fit into His plan or are you busy letting Him know what you want Him to do?

Maybe you’re frustrated with God because He didn’t give you what you last asked Him for or that you didn’t see God establish your plans. Perhaps you are angry with Him because things just haven’t gone your way lately. If so, it is time to step out of your self-centeredness and let Him take up His rightful place on the throne of your life.

Jesus wept over the city because He was aware of the crowd’s ulterior motives, that their devotion was as thin as a piece of gold foil-that one little poke would show how flimsy and substantial their faith was. When He looks at your faith and mine, does He see ulterior motives on our part? Is our faith resilient and strong when tested and tried or is it paper-thin? Does He see that we are devoted to Him at any cost and that He surely is more precious than the diamonds, gold, and silver that the chorus we sing claims He is?

Do we come to God only when we need something or when it is convenient for us to do so? If we do, then we make Jesus cry just as the first Palm Sunday crowd did 1972 years ago. If our faith is based on selfishness as theirs was, then we will quit cheering for Him too.