Understand Christianity

In the 1970’s a popular Christian song was sung with great enthusiasm by many called “The King Is Coming.”  A popular children’s song has as its first line “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”  Those are simple words to sing and easy to believe when all is going well.  But Christianity is not easy believe-ism.  Those words are perhaps not quite as true in my experience when all is going bad.  When all is not going well, am I really sure that Jesus loves me just because the Bible tells me so?  Sure can’t prove it by what is going on around me.

 Yet I would say that those simple words are still true.  Jesus does love me because the Bible tells me so.  I have discovered over the years that what God says is more certain than my present emotion or experience. I could not have greater assurance than that.  God’s word is so certain that at times He calls some things that are not yet as though they were!  (Romans 4:17) 

 From the human side this thought must have crossed the minds of the disciples when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey as a sign of victory. What an understatement! He was a king declaring victory, but He rode on a donkey declaring peace.  It seems that Jesus was always doing the unexpected.  When Jesus was expected to send children away, He invited them to come to Him.  When it was questionable socially for Him to speak with a woman of poor reputation, or eat with drunkards, he did that very thing.  And when He was coming for His coronation, He rode on a donkey. Why He hadn’t even fought the battle yet. And here He is proclaiming victory and peace. 

 This event in Jesus ministry must be very important because it is recorded for us in all four gospels. This was the Sunday before Jesus’ death. He had come as the promised Messiah.  For three years He proclaimed Himself to the nations by His miracles and through His teaching.  Only He knew that His death was imminent.  Amidst hallelujahs and hosannas of the crowds, He came to demonstrate a fact that was not yet an experiential reality. 

 

In many ways God does the same thing in your life.  He declares certain things to be so in spite of opposite circumstances.  Rom 6:11 is a classic example of this truth.  The verse says you (a true Christian) should consider yourself dead to sin.  But 99 out of a 100 Christians I speak with declare it is not true.  They say it is not true because they continue to struggle with the old nature and continue to sin.  In fact, verse 7 says that you have been “freed” or delivered from the controlling power of sin in your life.  So why do you continue to sin?  You continue to sin because you choose to do so.  The Bible never teaches that the sin nature is ever eradicated in this life, but its controlling power has been rendered inoperative.  In other words, “its OK not to sin.”  By this I mean that the born again believer in Jesus Christ does not have to sin.  Romans 6:12-14 teaches that you do not have to let sin control your life.  Rather, offer yourself to God because sin will not be your master.  This  promise is absolutely true whether or not you experience the promised liberating power.  So why do we continue to sin?  We continue to sin because we choose to do so AND because we are so practiced in sinning that we have convinced ourselves that we cannot do otherwise.  I believe that victory or defeat in this area in large measure depends on how well we apply Romans 12:1-2.  We are admonished to allow ourselves to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  In other words, what we think about and meditate on significantly influences the outcome.  We may not be able to control every thought that comes into our minds, be we can certainly choose what we meditate on.  (Try it for the next week or month and see what happens.)  Now back to the triumphal entry.  

At the triumphal entry the crowds thought deliverance was at hand. They were expecting the Messiah to come as king and deliver them from Roman bondage. (And He would deliver them more than they thought.)  But this time He was going to come as a servant to offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins.  

There are several interesting observations to be made in this incident.

1. About one quarter of a million people were present at the time of Jesus’ triumphal entry.  We know this because of Jewish reporting in this period on the number of lambs slaughtered at this time.  One lamb would be slaughtered for each ten people present; and because all male Jews within twenty miles of Jerusalem must attend the Passover.  

2. Jesus could not have chosen a more dramatic moment to declare His kingship.  Here were people with religious expectations.  They had long expected the coming of the Messiah and here comes a person declaring Himself to be such a person.  

3.  He made plans and carried them out, not as a spur of the moment happening (vv. 3-4), but as one who had given careful thought even to the details of the event.  

4. Note the donkey used for this occasion was unused and was fitting for the sacrifice He would offer.  He did not come on a white stallion as a military conqueror, but on a donkey in a mission of peace.

5. Note also, that Jesus follows the tradition of several Old Testament prophets.  When an OT prophet didn’t seem to get his message across with words, he chose a different method.  (c/p Ez. 4:1-3; 5:1-4) Jesus uses a similar dramatic form.

Jesus’ actions on this occasion as well as the OT prophets provide a point of application.  I should always be willing to change my method in order to communicate more clearly, but not my message.  Remember the prophet shaving his head and scattering the hair in the wind was a sign of what God would do to His people. (Ezekiel 5)  And remember the same prophet who slept so many days on each side to demonstrate what would happen?  (Ezekiel 4)  Since God’s people would not listen to Ezekiel’s words, he chose several vivid pictures to communicate his message.  

Two biblical pictures lie behind the Triumphal Entry.

1. Picture of Zechariah 9:9  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Here was a deliberate messianic claim.  V. 10 “all the city was stirred”  seismic -  His coming was likened to an “earthquake.”  

2. Cleansing God’s house: like Judas Maccabeus – 200 years before offered a dramatic symbol.

 Isa. 56:7 – house of prayer

 Jer. 7:11 – den of thieves

Note Jesus’ cleansing of the temple in verses 12-13.  The same accusation could be made of some churches today.  They have brought in the table of the money changers and neglected the house of prayer.  

If you don’t believe me, take a look at the gimmicks and appeals you see on TV and the solicitations you receive in the mail.

It is interesting that the blind and lame were not with the money changers.  Jesus healed them but the rich were indignant.  He would upset their financial picture.

In concluding this meditation on the triumphal entry please note three things about Jesus:

1. What He did He did openly and in public.  You and I might have come in a disguise to avoid opposition.  Usually Jesus avoided crowds, but when the time was right, He did what had to be done.  

2. If He had claimed to be merely a prophet, He would have met no difficulty.  But the declaration of His Deity offended them.  We too must acknowledge Him as King or not receive Him at all.

3. He is claiming the kingship of our hearts.  He offers sort of a last invitation for people to open their arms and receive Him.  What about you?   Won’t you receive Him?  He is King.  You will either bow before Him willingly here, or by force later.  But, be assured, you will acknowledge His lordship.  Receive Him today!

 This event is the culmination of Daniel 9.  “This is that day.”  If the people keep quiet, then the rocks would cry out.  Many who speak of Jesus this Easter season will emphasize His humanity, great example, but no deity.  Rather, receive Him as your divine Lord.