Watch What Jesus Does

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on the sixth and final Sunday in Lent, Palm Sunday, the 2nd of April, 2023, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

Family, today is Palm Sunday, the sixth and final Sunday in Lent.  Lent ends this week, either on Thursday evening with Jesus’ arrest, or on Saturday, the Sabbath day, the day of silence, depending on which calendar you observe.

As I’ve said, this is our time for introspection, to look within ourselves to see if we are walking through this life in a way that pleases God.  And while the Lenten season represents the 40 days and nights that Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting, praying, and being tempted by Satan, we’ll be using this time to walk with Jesus all the way to Jerusalem and on to the cross where He gave up His mortal life for us.

In our walk with Jesus, we’ve been following in His steps, observing as He interacted with others, as He prayed, enjoying many blessings along the way.  Today we’ll be watching to see what He does next.

And now we’ve reached Jerusalem.  Jesus was a mere babe in arms when He was first brought to this holy city by His parents, and we know they brought Him again when He was around 12 years old, for the Feast of the Passover.  Over the last three years, Jesus and His followers have been here many times, observing the festivals and feasts as all good Jews did.  But this time would be different, for this time would be the last.

Please listen and follow along to how the Apostle Matthew describes this last visit to Jerusalem in the 21st chapter of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 17, and I’ll be reading from the New American Standard Bible this morning…

1 When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with it. Untie them and bring them to Me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them on immediately.” 4 Now this took place so that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled:

5 “Say to the daughter of Zion,

‘Behold your King is coming to you,

Humble, and mounted on a donkey,

Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their cloaks on them; and He sat on the cloaks. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. 9 Now the crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,

“Hosanna to the Son of David;

Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord;

Hosanna in the highest!”

10 When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

12 And Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers.”

14 And those who were blind and those who limped came to Him in the temple area, and He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant, 16 and they said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?” 17 And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

--Matthew 21:1-17 (NASB)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for making sure that we would have so many things that Jesus did in His short ministry on earth that we can read about and learn from.  He is such a great role model for how we should live if we’d only be more patient and loving in our dealings with others.  Father, please forgive us when we don’t take the time to study what Jesus has shown us.  Forgive us when we fail to learn from the lessons in our Bible.  Please help us be more like Jesus in how we interact with others in our daily walk.

And Father, please protect us from Satan and from those who are so willing to carry out his evil works.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  May we always praise and welcome our King, into our hearts and into our lives.  And may we live by His example.  This we pray in the glorious name of Christ Jesus, our Lord.   Amen.

The very first video posted to YouTube, back in 2005, was titled "Me at the Zoo" and ran only 19 seconds long.  In it, YouTube cofounder Jawed Karim stands in front of a group of elephants and notes that they have very long trunks.  Now while this was not really remarkable information, it was a groundbreaking accomplishment.  That first short, simple video paved the way for millions of videos to follow.  People today turn to YouTube to learn how to do all manner of things.  You can find videos on there that will show you how to tie a neck-tie or solve a Rubik's cube or fix a problem with your car.  Plus thousands of other how-to videos are housed there for our edification.

There are so many of these videos because they are so popular.  Why are they so popular?  Because watching someone do something is one of the easiest ways to learn how to do that task.  Reading written instructions engages our mind.  Hearing step-by-step instructions engages our ears.  But watching a person doing the actual task engages our eyes, ears, and brain in the learning process.

God wants us to know Him and His love.  Rather than just giving us written instructions about His love, God came into the world in the form of Christ Jesus to be love for us.  Rather than tell us about love, He came in Christ Jesus to show His love to us.

Countless people beheld Jesus with their own eyes and watched what He did.  They saw His love in action, and His closest followers wrote down what they saw, witnessing His love for us today.  So let us watch through their eyes, and learn from what our Lord shows us.

We all know the story of Jesus’ last visit to Jerusalem.  We read where He told His disciples to go and find a small donkey and it’s foal, and how all that transpired exactly as He said it would.  We saw them lay their cloaks on the donkey for Jesus to ride on them without soiling His own cloak.  We heard how the people came out and laid their cloaks in the roadway, even cut palm branches and laid them in the road, too, and all so that the animals would not kick up a dust that would settle on Jesus.  And we listened as they shouted, “Hosanna” – “Save us” – “Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord”.

Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were profiting off of the people who had merely come to worship God during the Festival of Passover.  By this He showed us that our church buildings, no matter where they are or what they’re called, they should not be used for anyone’s personal gain.  They are to be used to worship God and carry on our Lord’s work here on earth.  Just as was Jesus, we must be quick to remove anyone seeking personal profit from those who come to worship.

But then Jesus put His compassionate side on display, showing us that we should also help those who are suffering, whether in body or in spirit.  This, too, then is a role of the church: to help the helpless and ease their suffering.

But there’s one more thing Jesus did, one more example He set for us, and I kind of skimmed over it quickly before.  Jesus showed us humility.

The people were looking for God’s promised Messiah to come, - the conquering hero who would free them; in this case, rescue them from Roman tyranny.  Instead of riding into the Holy City on a white charger with sword in hand, Jesus came humbly, riding in on a lowly donkey.  And still the people made a big fuss over Him – not because of how He appeared, but for what He was and in whose name He came.

This is our clue.  We should be humble in all we do, not seeking glory or recognition, but simply doing the work of God in His holy name, giving all the glory to Him.  This may well open the eyes and the hearts of some who are lost, so that they, too, may be found and saved.

I keep saying that Jesus is our very best role model.  All we have to do is look at how He did things, how He interacted with the people around Him.  The Bible itself tells us to look to Jesus as our example.  Hear the words our author of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote to those early believers, saved for us in the 12th chapter of that letter, verses 1 through 3…

1 Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

--Hebrews 12:1-3 (NASB)

It’s all too easy for us to suffer when the world constantly pounds on us, not letting up, just one beat-down after another.  We grow weary of it all, we lose the courage to keep facing our trials, our troubles.  But as that defeatist spirit begins to set in, we need to stop and consider all that Jesus went through.  He stood up under a barrage of insults and torment heaped upon Him by His own people and by the Romans.  He suffered merciless beatings without uttering a sound or a protest.  He quietly endured the agony of the cross.  And He did it all for us, so that we might be saved.

He could withstand all this pain and suffering because He looked ahead to what the future held, when He would be reunited with His Father in heaven.  Because of His sacrifice, we too can look to what God has in store for us, the believers.  Even when life is sitting on our chest and we can’t breathe, all we have to do is look to Jesus and endure it all until we finish our race.

There's an old saying, "do as I say, not as I do".  In other words, “Ignore what you see me doing and just do what I tell you to do.”  Well, in the 1st verse of chapter 11 of his 1st Letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul says…

1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

--1 Corinthians 11:1 (NASB)

Paul says, “Do as I do, as Jesus did.”  He tells us to watch him and learn the ways of Jesus.  When he wrote these words, Jesus was no longer in the world, so the people could not see all that He did first hand.  Neither did Paul, for that matter.  But Paul was given special insight into Jesus by Jesus.  By this he knew what Jesus did, how Jesus reacted, why He did the things He did.

So Paul modeled his own life after what Jesus showed him while he was blind there in Damascus.  And he did this so that the people could see how Jesus would respond to a given situation by how he – Paul – responded.

Now we no longer have Jesus or Paul with us today, we no longer have them to watch to see what they would do, how they would react.  But we do have the testimony of first-hand witnesses to all Jesus did during His ministry.  And we do have Paul’s letters and an account of his missionary work as recorded by the Apostle Luke in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles.  Through all of these writings, through the eyes of their authors, we can watch what Jesus does as we walk alongside Him.

And I bet if we stop long enough and think about it and look around us, we can spot our own “Paul” – someone who is modeling their own life and actions after Jesus.  Don’t we all know of someone who quietly yet resolutely faces anything and everything that life throws in their way, never complaining, never uttering an unkind word, always cheerful and loving?  Miss Jane Hege, while she still walked this earth, quickly comes to mind.  But who else do we know, who else can we watch to see what Jesus would do?

Better yet, how about if we became that someone, that model of Christ-like living?  How about if we were the person that someone else, maybe some lost soul, could watch us to see and experience what Jesus can do, and what He does in our life?  Through our love they could feel His love.  Through our forgiveness they could receive His forgiveness.

As we walk through this life, trying to follow in our Lord’s footsteps, let’s not only watch what Jesus does, let’s also model Him in our living, reflecting His love in our love.  And then we can watch what He does through us.  In the name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for breathing life into our world and into Your word by divinely inspiring the men and women who penned the words in our Bible.  This allows us to walk with Your Son Jesus.  And in our walk, we can see what He did during His time on earth, and what He does now, for us today.  Thank You, Father God, for this great book of instruction, insight, and encouragement.  Thank You for shining Your light on the truth, even if so many are afraid to open their eyes to look.  Forgive us, please Father, when we hesitate to walk closely in Your Son’s steps, when we fear we may suffer like He did, at least in part.  Forgive us when we don’t act as He did, loving sacrificially, giving of Himself for others.  Please, loving Father, help us be more like Jesus.  Help us be better followers of His example.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what we face.

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 obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, throughout Your walk on this earth, You bore the brunt of mankind’s hatred and stubbornness and jealously.  You quietly withstood ridicule, You endured the cruel cross, and You did it just for us.  Lord, please help us more closely mirror Your life in ours.  Remind us of what God has in store for us when our last day on earth is done.  Help us endure what this world throws at us until that time comes.  And Jesus, please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us remain trusting and obedient no matter what we go through.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.