Have You Heard What Jesus Did?

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Palm Sunday, the 28th of March, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  This was an abbreviated service due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Family, on this day back around 30 AD, the people came out and lined the streets of Jerusalem.  They wanted to see this Jesus they had been hearing of, who could heal any illness and drive out all manner of evil spirits.  A large group walked ahead of Him, singing His praises and telling anyone who’d listen about all the wondrous things He’d done.

Included in this crowd were those who had been there when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and called him out of the tomb.  The onlookers were eager to hear these stories.  And the religious leaders were eager to hush them up.

Please listen and follow along to how the Apostle John described some of the events of Palm Sunday in his Gospel account, from chapter 12 verses 1 through 18, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

1 Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus — the man He had raised from the dead. 2 A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with Him. 3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

4 But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray Him, said, 5 “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” 6 Not that he cared for the poor — he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.

7 Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for My burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have Me.”

9 When all the people heard of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see Him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. 10 Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, 11 for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted their traditions and believed in Jesus.

12 The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors 13 took palm branches and went down the road to meet Him. They shouted,

“Praise God!

Blessings on the One who comes in the name of the Lord!

Hail to the King of Israel!”

14 Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:

15 “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem.

Look, your King is coming,

riding on a donkey’s colt.”

16 His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into His glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about Him.

17 Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it. 18 That was the reason so many went out to meet Him — because they had heard about this miraculous sign.

--John 12:1-18 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for giving Your Son Jesus Your Holy Spirit and the power to perform great miracles while He walked this earth!  And thank You for the people who witnessed these mighty acts, and the men who recorded them for us to hear of.  Please help us understand and learn from all that Jesus did during those days.  Help us to also be witnesses to His wondrous works, and to share what we know with others.  And Father, please keep us safe from Satan and his evil works and from those who do his bidding.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and worship, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Show us how to better serve You and Jesus in our daily walk.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Fritz Kreisler, the world-famous violinist, earned a fortune with his concerts and compositions, but he generously gave most of it away.  So, when he discovered an exquisite violin on one of his trips, he wasn't able to buy it.  Later, having raised enough money to meet the asking price, he returned to the seller, hoping to purchase that beautiful instrument.  But to his great dismay it had been sold to a collector. Kreisler made his way to the new owner's home and offered to buy the violin.  The collector said it had become his prized possession and he would not sell it.  Keenly disappointed, Kreisler was about to leave when he had an idea.  "Could I play the instrument once more before it is consigned to silence?" he asked.  Permission was granted, and the great virtuoso filled the room with such heart-moving music that the collector's emotions were deeply stirred.  "I have no right to keep that to myself," he exclaimed.  "It's yours, Mr. Kreisler.  Take it into the world, and let people hear it."

Collectors are well known for paying huge sums for what they consider prizes, especially very rare prizes.  And they are not likely to give those treasured possessions up for any price.  Such was the case surrounding this exquisite violin that Kreisler let slip through his fingers.

Being a very generous man, the great violinist had given away his own personal fortune and lacked the resources to buy the violin when the opportunity presented itself.  Later, when he had raised enough to make the purchase, its new owner had no interesting in selling.  Perhaps realizing that the collector was not a violinist himself, Kreisler asked if he might play it one last time.  Permission granted, Kreisler played, and the collector’s heart was changed.

This is what can happen when we share something beautiful with someone else.  Their heart can soften and change.  And family, there is nothing more beautiful than the offer of salvation through Christ Jesus our Lord.  We just need to share it with others.

We’re all pretty familiar with the events John relates in our scripture reading.  And he sure doesn’t hold back when describing Judas as a betrayer and thief, caring only about himself.

Then we have the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, with Jesus on the donkey along with His disciples and others that had joined them in Bethany and along the way.  John includes Lazarus in the crowd, the man Jesus had raised from the dead.  When the religious leaders realized that Lazarus was there, they decided to get rid of him too, along with Jesus, because a lot of the people had turned to Jesus after hearing about this miracle.  They didn’t pause to think, though, that killing Lazarus would not stop the spread of the stories concerning him, nor keep people from wanting to know more about Jesus.

There were many in the crowd that day who had personally witnessed what Jesus did, who saw Lazarus walk out of the tomb still wrapped in his burial cloths.  They were telling the other folks who had come out to see Jesus, who had already heard about the miracle.  Even though they themselves did not see what happened, they had heard all about it from witnesses and from others who got it from witnesses.  And this is why they came to Jesus.

One of my favorite stories of Jesus is the one about His encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well.  After she came to believe in Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God, she went back into the village telling everyone about Him.  Because of her and her testimony, nearly everyone in the village came to believe in Jesus and be saved.  John recorded this in chapter 4 of his Gospel account, verses 39 through 45…

39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His own word.

42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

43 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee. 44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.

--John 4:39-45 (NKJV)

That short passage contains two incidents of people coming to Jesus after hearing the personal testimony of another.  The people were intrigued enough by what the Samaritan woman told them that they went out to see for themselves.  They were so impressed with Jesus that they asked Him to stay with them, which He did, for two days.  And in that time they came to know Jesus and to believe in Him, not so much from what the woman had said as from what Jesus had related to them.  But it all began with the woman’s testimony.

And then in the last verse, John tells us that the people in Galilee welcomed Jesus because they had seen and heard about what He had done in Jerusalem.  When people hear about what Jesus has done, they want to know more.

Ok, so all of this so far has been based on what Jesus did while He still walked this earth, and on those folk who told others about what they had seen with their own eyes.  He is no longer with us, here on earth.  How can we actually see or hear of His miraculous works?

Well, by reading our Bible, the word of God.  The Gospel writers saved for us what Jesus did, and what He said, including what I mentioned during the invocation, where He commands us to go into the world preaching the Gospel, the Good News, to every living creature.

Let me ask you this: how can someone get to know Jesus unless they are introduced to Him by someone who does know Him?  The Apostle Paul put it this way, in chapter 10 of his letter to the Romans, verses 13 through 15…

13 [For] “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”

--Romans 10:13-15 (NLT)

How can anyone believe in Jesus if they’ve never heard of Him, and how can they hear of Him unless someone tells them?  Family, we have been sent, by none other than Jesus Himself.  We, each of us, have been sent out to share the Good News of salvation and eternal life for anyone who believes in Jesus and calls on His name.  This is our mission, our job, what we were commissioned to do the moment we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Master.

And it doesn’t have to be all that difficult a job.  I mean, haven’t we all at one time or another told someone else about something that happened to us?  How many of us have discussed our surgeries or heart attacks with anyone who would listen?  And we can talk for hours about our children and grandchildren, can’t we?  So it shouldn’t be so hard to spend a few minutes telling someone about our experiences with Jesus, about what He’s done for us, what He means to us.  I’ll even give you a starting point.  Walk up to someone and ask, “Have you heard what Jesus did?”.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the one true Son of God, our Savior and our Redeemer.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, again we thank You for our Bible and all that it contains.  This beautiful book allows us to share with others all the wondrous things that Jesus said and did.  Thank You, Father, for sending Your Son to offer us salvation.  Father, please help us keep our faith and belief strong and active.  Help us be more obedient to Jesus and do as He commands us, to love others, and to be a witness to them.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…

Lord Jesus, You performed great and miraculous acts while You walked this earth, and countless people witnessed them with their own eyes.  They in turn told others about what You had done, so that those people would come out to see for themselves.  Thank You, Jesus, for giving so many signs of Your power and authority.  Please, Lord, help us in our mission to be Your witnesses to those who do not know You.  Help us share with them all that You said and did.  Encourage us and strengthen us so that we are not afraid of rejection of of what others may think of us as we try to tell them about You and what You have done in our lives.  And Jesus, please help us keep our focus on the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer us.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.