WHAT THE LORD NEEDS
INTRODUCTION: An amazing thing happened in Jerusalem just before the Passover! God rode a donkey into town! All powerful/all knowing God.... Creator of the Universe....The one who painted the rings around Saturn... The one who formed the Sun and hung the planets in the sky. The one who made grass green and sky blue... The one who formed a baby’s foot and breathed life into mankind. On that very special day almost 2000 years ago... In that dusty little town of Jerusalem... In the back of a lowly donkey... God came to town! As we look at this passage, we can see that people reacted differently when God came to town. Some folks rushed to praise Him...and their lives were forever changed. Some folks reacted in anger...and their fates were forever sealed. TRANSITIONAL-STATEMENT: On the day when God came to town, people were forced to take sides. You can’t just sit on the fence when God comes to town. When God rides into town....we’re all faced with a choice. We’re forced to either Crown Him as our King OR Reject Him as our Ruler. This Easter - Today we are again called to do so! 1.OBEDIENCE=ACCEPTANCE. `The Lord needs it.’"-LUKE 19:31b That’s what happened in Jerusalem... On that day in Jerusalem, there were a lot of different responses to God. 2000 years have passed, and nothing has changed! When the Holy Spirit comes into Fox Creek... When God comes to town, there are a lot of different responses to Him. We’re just like Jerusalem! Some folks are glad that He came, others are mad that He showed up at all! Friends, God is here this morning! AMEN?! Our God is Omnipresent...that means He is everywhere at once. We can’t escape Him... We can’t avoid Him... We can’t ignore Him...Let’s look at the responses to the people of Jerusalem when God came to town. Let’s look at our own response when God shows up here!! We’re going to look this morning at 2 responses folks have when Jesus comes to town... This began early Sunday morning as Jesus was walking toward Jerusalem. Jesus stops for a moment and sends 2 of his disciples ahead of Him into a nearby village to carry out a special errand.Here is how Luke records it: ”As He approached Bethphage & Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, saying to them,‘Go to the village ahead of you, & as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it & bring it here. If anyone asks you, `Why are you untying it?’ tell him, `The Lord needs it.’" LUKE19:28b-31] A. The 2 disciples must have wondered about what Jesus told them to do, because none of the Gospel accounts about the ministry of Christ ever mention Him riding any animal to get from one place to another. He must have walked hundreds of miles up & down the land we now call the "Holy Land," but there is no mention of Him ever riding, except in a boat across the Sea of Galilee. But now, He gives this unusual command to go into the village to get a colt that had never been ridden, & to bring it to Him. It must have seemed a strange command, indeed. He even tells them the exact words they are to use should anyone question them. They are to say, "The Lord needs it." Was this prearranged? Did the owners know what Jesus was going to do? We don’t know. Jesus said to two of his disciples "go to the village ahead of you" and they went. No questions asked. No committees formed to investigate the possibilities. They might of asked "why" but they didnât. They might of queried the choice of an animal but they didnât. They had learned the lesson from spending three years following Jesus that when he says "go", you go. Their obedience is highlighted still further for Jesus foretells that there is likely to be a question asked when they find the donkey & colt by the owner. So Jesus prepares an answer. And in Lukes account of the disciples obeying Jesus you find them responding to the animals owner with Jesus exact words. They added nothing, emphasised nothing, justified nothing they just stated the response they were told to bring. If only we were a Church that was obedient. Who asked questions later but obeyed first! If? Jesus were king of the church his disciples would obedient. If Jesus were king of the church his disciples would be marked first and foremost by obedience ö and that is never the easy route. Jesus didnât command many things whilst he was on earth. He taught a lot but didn’t command a lot. John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. John 15:12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. John 15:14 You are my friends if you do what I command. John 15:17 This is my command: Love each other. I think the greatest necessity for the Church of Jesus Church is that it falls in love with itâs founder. Someone once stated that understanding can wait but obedience can not. Obedience is the first rule of discipleship. Obedience in the Christian life is the evidence of a right relationship with God. If anyone asks you, `Why are you untying it?’ tell him, `The Lord needs it.’" Do you understand, that when it comes to our obedience, God needs it? To advance His kingdom, to a greater victory, Your obedince is needed by God! 2.DISOBEDIENCE = REJECTION. Luke 19:41"As He approached Jerusalem & saw the city, He wept over it...” They were all there in Jerusalem - loving faces - sinister faces - anxious apostles. Crowds trampling almost one upon another - when suddenly - the whole procession stopped. ILL. Do you suppose it could have been a little like rush hour traffic on the big city expressway? One car stops, then all the other cars stop, like a chain reaction. I can just hear the people way back in the crowd that day saying, "What’s the holdup? What is going on? Why don’t you guys move on?" But the people who were closest to Jesus could see - & they realized that it was He who had stopped the parade. Then they saw His body begin to shake. Maybe at first they thought He was laughing. Laughter would seem to be natural - for everybody else was laughing, & joy prevailed. But then they saw His face, & they saw no evidence of laughter. Rather, they saw sorrow & tears. He was not laughing. He was crying. The Scripture tells us that Jesus reacted emotionally many times from different scenes that He saw. When He saw the poor. When He saw the hungry. When He saw people sinning. When He saw the ill. The Scriptures say repeatedly that "...He had compassion on them." But it only tells us of two times that Jesus cried. One time He cried at the grave of Lazarus. You remember, Mary & Martha were both weeping, & it says that Jesus wept with them. He wept for them. He entered into their grief with compassion & He identified with their sorrow & despair. This was the 2nd occasion. He looked at the city of Jerusalem. He saw the mixture of faces & the masses of humanity crowding there - & He realized the emptiness of their lives. They had not heard the message of peace. They did not understand the purpose of His comingThey missed the point! Do you ever? Luke 19:41-44. "As He approached Jerusalem &saw the city, He wept over it & said, `If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace - but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you & encircle you & hem you in on every side. They will dash you to ground, you & the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.’" They had eyes, but they didn’t see. They had ears, but they didn’t hear. They missed the whole point of the message that God had given to them. The fact they waved palm branches showed that they didn’t understand, because that is exactly what they did when the Maccabees overthrew the Syrian oppressors & reestablished worship in the temple. By waving palm branches they were showing that they expected Jesus to be another warlord - another general of the armies - one who would lead them to overthrow the Romans. They were saying that they were ready to pick up their swords & shields & go to war if He would lead them! Jesus said, "Love your enemies & pray for those who persecute you. If someone smites you on the cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone wants your coat, give him your shirt as well. If they command you to carry their pack a mile, go two." Those people who listened to Him must have thought, "Well, those are beautiful words, but surely He doesn’t mean Rome? He doesn’t expect us to love Rome? Only a lunatic would command you to love Rome. We can’t love Rome!" But don’t you see - that was exactly what He was saying? "Love even Rome - because Rome with her mighty army has seen the power of the sword. But Rome has not seen the power of love. Show them love!" These were God’s people - God’s chosen people. God had loved them & led them across the wilderness & into the Promised Land. But they did not understand the Messiah when He walked in their midst. Because of that, Jesus wept. What a contrast! As He sits upon the beast of burden, He sees the towering Temple of God silhouetted against the sky. But beyond that - in the years immediately ahead - He sees the armies of Titus surrounding the Holy City. He sees Temple stones being taken down & the whole city leveled. He sees bodies in the streets & blood running in the gutters & hundreds of thousands of people crying because they are starving to death while Titus waits for Jerusalem to surrender. All of that as a symbol of the spiritual destruction of those who miss God’s point, because fron disobedincethey didn’t recognize the Messiah when He came! How different their lives could have been. How different the history of Israel could have been if they had only recognized the one who came into their midst, riding on a colt. Our Parallel is with the world and how He wants to continually move us closer to Him.“`...The Lord needs it.’" Luke 19:31b Or The Lord has need of them.’" Them that will obey. Is that you? More than the donkey/coly, who did obey, but people who will do His will, even when it involves going to a cross!!! CONCLUSION It is Matthew who adds that as Jesus looked at the city He said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem. How often would I have gathered you together as a hen gathers her chicks beneath her wings. But you would not come." Will you come? Will you humble yourself and obey? Where are you missing the point? You probably won’t know! He does, humble yourself! Today, just like the city of Jerusalem, we find ourselves in the presence of Jesus. I wonder what He finds when He looks into our faces? Does He see people concerned about so many things - worried about income taxes - worried about job security - worried about their health, or lack of it? Does He see people who are so busy doing things here & there - so busy that they never bother to consider those things that are eternally important? Does he see people who recognize Him for who He is? The Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God? When He turns & looks into our lives, I wonder, will He weep once again because of what He sees? Or will we have the joy that passes all understanding as we respond to His outstretched arms & hear Him say, "Well done, good & faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord"? When Jesus came to Jerusalem, he turned it upside down! Everyone made a choice that day...they either accepted or rejected the Messiah! Even Christians, everytime need to decide the same! Obey or disobey. Every disobedience is a rejection of who God is! Every choice to look at yourself instead of others first is an act of denial od Christ. Easter is a time of recommitting or walking farther away, you do not have a third option! * Some folks were celebratory. * Some folks were callous.* Some folks were cured.* Some folks were condemned. Jesus is here this morning. He’s in our midst. “`...The Lord needs it.’" Luke 19:31b We have the same choices they had on a dusty road outside Jerusalem 2000 years ago. We can celebrate His coming in obedience, and receive the healing we all so desperately need. Or we can be callous to His coming through disobedience, and receive condemnation. The choice is yours...How will you this Easter? Reject God’s next work in you or accept Him - Obey the next call to the croos or disobey. When it comes to greater victory in obedience...“`...The Lord needs it.’" Luke 19:31b. Do you need Him? His Cross?
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