Christians celebrated Palm Sunday yesterday, the day in which people of ancient Jerusalem welcomed Jesus as their King, or so it would seem on the surface of the story. The story of the restoration of Lazarus from the grave after he had been dead and buried for four days circulated, stirring great excitement. "Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it. That was the reason so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign." (John 12:17-18, NLT) The story out-raced Jesus to Jerusalem and quickly morphed into a "Messiah is coming to restore the Kingdom of David" narrative. So when people heard He was on the road into the city they greeted him with palm branches and shouts that welcomed a new king. They thought that He was about to start the revolution and set them free from Rome's tyranny. Even His own disciples got the fever and started debating which one of them would be Prime Minister, causing Jesus to wash their feet at the Last Supper to remind them of the importance of serving one another in love!
Days later when those crowds saw Jesus in Roman custody, bloodied and bound, their disillusionment turned into fury that was fed by the religious leaders. They screamed for His blood - "Crucify Him!" This is the problem with getting only half the story, with failing to know the Christ of the Bible! Jesus mission was one of liberation and restoration, but not to recreate Israel's earthly glory. He came to announce the Kingdom of Heaven, to raise up a new people of God from every nation, something that only started to come into focus weeks later with the birth of the church, and which only became crystal clear several years later when the Spirit was poured out on the household of Cornelius!
Have you followed the Jesus of the Word or a "Jesus" of popular imagination? We have many Jesus stories being told in our time.
There is the "Happy Good Luck Jesus" who is supposed to make all our troubles vanish, keep our cars in good repair, and protect us from the sorrows of life.
There is the "American Patriot Jesus" who supposedly will keep America first, protect our privileged place in the world's power structure, and allow us to continue to consume prodigious quantities of the world's resources to make ourselves more and more rich!
And, then too, there is the "Prosperity Gospel Jesus" who supposedly is a lot like Santa, handing out health and wealth to all His good kids, so they can enjoy their best life now!
Follow one of those "Jesus" stories and you'll find yourself - sooner or later - disillusioned when 'it doesn't work!' Jesus Christ did promise that He would bring "life to the full" (John 10.10) meaning that He would restore our place at the Father's table, forgive us our sins, and assure us of eternal life. And it is true that those who live in His ways and as He teaches us to live, generally enjoy better lives than those who are slaves of sin and Satan. After all, if you follow the Owner's Manual, life tends to find better emotional, spiritual, relational, and physical health! But He is not the Savior of Indulgence, the giver of perpetual ease! Just as fulfilling His godly mission required sacrifice and suffering, so if we desire to live godly lives that serve His purposes we must be prepared to 'die to self.'
At the beginning of this Holy Week, I urge you to prayerfully consider whether you have the Jesus Christ of Scripture as your Lord and King. Here's how the Word describes Him. May the Lord bless the Word to your mind today.
"Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.
Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions." (Colossians 1:15-21, NLT) Hallelujah, What a Savior!
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