From Our Messiah to God’s Messiah

Luke 19:28-48                                                                                                 April 4, 2004

   After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. [29] As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, [30] "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. [31] If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.' "

   [32] Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. [33] As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?"

   [34] They replied, "The Lord needs it."

   [35] They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. [36] As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

   [37] When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

    [38] "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!"

        "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

   [39] Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"

   [40] "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

   [41] As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it [42] and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes. [43] The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. [44] They will dash you to the ground, you and 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."

   [45] Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. [46] "It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be a house of prayer'; but you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"

   [47] Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. [48] Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.

CCI: Jesus understood his Call, even when the people called most loudly.

          Jesus had a very strong following. Having healed the sick and restored the sight of the blind, the people flocked to hear him teach and to see him heal. Part of his message proclaimed freedom for captives and Justice for the impoverished. He lived a simple life and his teaching drew the ire of many of the leaders. He addressed the fears of the people and assured them of God’s present, promised care. When the Passover approached, Jesus, in the image of a victorious king, mounted a colt and rode it up to the city. When the crowd who had gathered for the feast, saw Jesus riding this colt, approaching the city the way a king would return from battle, they began cheering and waving and even covering the street with their clothing. “Hosanna,” they shouted, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Jesus had a following that would go with him anywhere.

          In 1956, an energetic, charismatic preacher started a church in Indianapolis. His message was one of racial and economic equality. The church he founded was interracial, an unheard of reality in Indianapolis in 1956. Jan Groenveld wrote, “What he succeeded in doing was to create a religious group with a zeal prevalent during the times of the primitive Christian era, and incorporating the concerns of today's era: race, class and nuclear holocaust. He would focus his follower's attention not on the future and on Heaven but on the present; he would convince them that the situation they were experiencing would not always be like this but would change.” In 1960, the preacher was appointed to be the director of the Indianapolis Human Rights Commission. His church grew and thrived, people were healed and the congregation worked for justice in Indianapolis. Because of the rising fear of nuclear war, the church headquarters moved from Indianapolis to Northern California, and then to a small city just outside San Francisco. The church grew rapidly until there were as many as 3,000 members. They received a lot of positive press locally and nationally. During the early 1970's the preacher was named to the San Francisco housing Authority. The members of his congregation found in Rev. Jones a leader who cared for them and they were willing to follow him anywhere. If he had entered a city on a colt, the people would have filled the streets to hail him as their leader.

          And one day Rev Jones did ask his followers to go with him to Guyana. He promised them that they would find a promised land, a place where they would be free from laws and free from persecution. And over 900 of his followers went with him. Their messiah promised them paradise, safety and freedom and they joined him at the People’s Temple in Jonestown. And eventually joined him in suicide.

          As Jesus entered Jerusalem, the people were primed for revolution. For generations they had longed and hoped for a Messiah who would come and free them from the rule of the Romans. They believed that God would raise up a man who would lead them in revolt into a new golden age for the nation. And Jesus fit the bill. Here was a man who had the adoration of the people, a man who could do miracles like feed the hungry, heal the sick, and raise the dead. With a word he could have raised an army that would have thrown Rome out of the Holy City. The praise of the people was such that the religious leaders were afraid of what might happen! A revolution was minutes away.

          And then, instead of going into the city, Jesus stopped and wept over the city. This had to throw the people off. They were ready to take up arms and Jesus stopped and started crying. “If only you had known what would bring you peace, but it is now hidden from your eyes.”

          After a short time, the people had calmed down and Jesus resumed his journey, he entered the city, went to the Temple and there, instead of calling the people to arms, he personally attacked the Jewish merchants who had set up inside the temple area. His anger poured out, he turned over the tables, sent the money flying, set free the animals being sold for sacrifice and then, some of the disciples remembered the Psalm that said, “Zeal for Your house will consume me.” Instead of inspiring the crowd, the crowd began to thin. Rather than leading the people to a paradise, the people began to leave.

          You see, in that act, Jesus told the people that the freedom they needed was freedom from religion. Religion is our attempts to get God on our side. Religion is based in the belief that if you do the right thing, and offer the right sacrifice, and pray the right prayer, then God will accept you. Religion says, “God helps those who help themselves.” Religion demands our obedience to rules. And Jesus threw away religion when he threw out the moneychangers.

          And the people did not like it. It seemed they wanted a messiah who was more like Jim Jones than Jesus, the Christ. They wanted to hear the call to take up their arms and Jesus called them to take up their cross. They wanted to be freed from the tyranny of Rome and Jesus offered them freedom from the tyranny of religion. They wanted a hate filled revolt, and Jesus offered them a love inspired relationship. And the desire for their kind of Messiah, led to the crucifixion of God’s Messiah. Luke tells us that after this “the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him.” Jesus let the people down. Instead of a victorious King, he entered Jerusalem as the zealous suffering servant.

          What happened to Jim Jones? How could he have turned into such a tyrant? It happened in part because he began to believe the accolades that were thrown on him. He never understood his call to serve Jesus and when the people began to call loudly, when success began to call to his heart, he chose to follow them.

          Jesus on the other hand, knew his call was a call to follow the Father. Jesus was committed to that call. And so no matter how loudly the crowd called, no matter what the crowd offered, Jesus remained true, even to his death on the cross.

            There are two challenges for each of us today. First, what kind of Messiah are we looking for? Is it a messiah who will satisfy our stomachs and lead us to paradise? Is it a messiah who will tell us what we want to hear? Or is it the messiah who lay his life down for us? Jim Jones offered a life of ease if his people would go with him to Guyanna. Jesus calls us to carry a cross if we would follow him. Which messiah will you receive?

          And then, Whose call are you listening to? Have you answered the call of God to be a disciple? Are you committed to that call no matter what comes your way? Or is the call of the world around you drowning out the call of God? Is the call of popularity, or wealth, or happiness, or success catching your ear? Is the lure of lust, and pride, and self-sufficiency drawing you into its web of deceit? To answer the call of God is not easy, when Jesus answered His Father’s call, it led to the cross. However, the cross was a victory, next week we will celebrate the victory of the cross as we Gather on Easter for resurrection Sunday.

          Which Messiah will you choose? Whose call will you hear?