Who is this?
Sunday, March 16th, 2008
Palm Sunday
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
Matthew 21:1-11
Theme: “Christ as Redeemer, Savior, Counselor, Friend”

1When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” 4This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, 5“Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” 6The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; 7they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” 10When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” 11The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

I have a confession to make. For the introductory remarks this morning, I was tempted to draw some kind of illustration from a couple of wildly popular movies from a few years ago, where ‘the bad guys’ wind up confronting a lone but more-than-capable ‘good guy’, who is either haunted by his past or is struggling with his crumbling present circumstances, and in what ends up being a hail of bullets and spectacular explosions, or a systematic picking off of the bad guys one at a time, the good guy winds up winning – of COURSE – who would expect anything different from Hollywood? And SOMEWHERE along the way, there’s at least one scene where the bad guys look at each other as they realize they are going down and ask themselves ‘Who IS this guy??’

But thankfully I overcame the impulse. Because if I had gone into more detail than I just did, on some subconscious level I’m afraid we’d begin to think of Jesus as some kind of action figure, a superhero who is going to tie a bandana around his head and go at all the evil in the world with guns blazing and grenades flying, and that is simply NOT who he is. So, if you recognized any part of the references I just made to those blockbuster movies, file that away as ‘belonging to Ceasar’, and give God what is God’s.
Why do films like that make so much money? It’s not the acting, I can tell you THAT much. Nor is it the sensitive and in-depth treatment of the socioeconomic factors that brought the various characters into conflict with each other. If I were to ask a member of the target demographic – 15 to 25 year old males, I think I’d get a pretty simple answer. It’s the action, the excitement, the adrenalin-pumping thrill of seeing good ALMOST be overcome by evil, but then good triumphs.

You see, we are JUST as prone to look for the action figure hero as were the folks who lived under the yoke of Roman occupation in first-century Palestine, the priests and leaders of the temple, everyone who looked right past the messiah in front of their faces while searching for the messiah from their imaginations.

Even now, after two thousand years of church history, of KNOWING the Messiah Jesus WAS, the language we use to describe him is as likely to be expressed in military and political terms as it is in spiritual or relational terms. When we call Jesus our “King”, we are saying something that not only belongs in the spiritual realm, but it is rooted in the political realm. When we say he has “conquered” sin and death, the phrase creates an image in our minds that is much more in tune with our earthly history than with a concept that is an expression of a spiritual reality. What image do we create – and how does that translate into our living out of our relationship with that image – when we speak of Jesus as Friend and Comforter, Redeemer and Savior, or as King and Lord, Conqueror and Defender?

I’m not saying we SHOULDN’T use those titles. They ALL apply, on some level, to who Christ is. But at some point, we must come to terms with what the use of those titles has birthed in us as a group of Christ followers.

In our living out our relationship with a King and conqueror, do we approach those who are strange to us as enemies to be defeated, or as neighbors to be befriended? In our living out our relationship with a Savior and Lord, do we approach strangers with the unspoken understanding that WE are in possession of what THEY most need, and relate to them in such a way that would expect that person to become subject to our ideas, our understanding of the world?

In one of his letters to the church at Corinth, Paul says we hold these treasures in jars of clay, in speaking of what we’ve been entrusted with – the task of bringing the gospel to the entire world – and the clay jars he’s talking about are us. WE are earthen vessels, imperfect and flawed, with cracks maybe, some imperfections in the finish, some clumps in the clay that formed us, and yet, we hold inside us the treasure that is the most precious news the world has ever – or WILL ever – hear – that God was in Christ reconciling the world to God’s self. That God has made a way for humanity to be re-engaged in relationship with God.

In our text, we read that the whole city of Jerusalem was in turmoil at the arrival of Jesus. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were asking themselves ‘Who is this?’ And where did they hear their FIRST answer? From the crowds who were welcoming Jesus, the same who laid down palm branches and cloaks in the road, the people who shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David!”, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” and “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” – THEY told the people of Jerusalem that he was “The prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

The question still stands today – it is still being asked – and it is being asked of US – those who gather on Palm Sunday, and decorate the sanctuary with palm branches, who sing Hosannah, and Aleluyia, who call Jesus the Son of God, who comes to set us free.

[Communion]

How are we answering the question? We are charged with the task of answering it with our lives – with how we LIVE our lives, how we allow our relationship with Jesus to influence, to color, to INHABIT the rest of our lives. We are called to GIVE UP our lives to the one who gave his life for us – to the one who, on the night he was betrayed, took a loaf of bread and after he gave thanks, broke it and said, this is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

(Prayer)

And after supper he took the cup, and he said “this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.”

(prayer)

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Communion is prayer, reflection, remembrance and proclamation, all wrapped up in one event.

Do we proclaim a Christ who is King and Conqueror of our hearts, a warrior leader who gives us courage to speak truth to power, give voice to those who have none, and call our world to a better place? Do we proclaim a Christ who is comforter and counselor, the truest friend we will ever have, who gives us the guidance to in turn BE true friends, to BE genuine examples of the love of God? Do we proclaim a Christ who is able to change us and make us more like him, who is full of wonder and awe, power and glory yes, but tenderness and a gentleness of spirit that will capture us the moment WE open ourselves to HIM?

Or do we proclaim a Christ who is relegated to subject matter on Sunday mornings, and doesn’t really have any influence on the rest of the week?

My prayer for us this morning is that he would be all of the first and none of the last.

Let’s pray.