An Open Letter to Lydia Marie Pitts

Dear Lydia Marie Pitts,

Most of the time, I call you Lydia (though often it is Hannah or Abigail or Rebekah first!), so I have addressed this with your full name with full knowledge it will be one of the last times I have the opportunity to do so. In less than a month, you will be married; before the summer is over, you will be living in Asia, if the Lord brings to fruition the plans you have made. I remember with joy the early years of your life; you were dedicated in worship on a Mother’s Day just two days after you were born on the way home from the hospital. (I don’t guess I will ever live that one down, letting your mom leave the hospital with her mom and dad and you while I was at the church building, preparing for the service.) I remember reading to you and Hannah after lunch while putting you down for your nap. I recall the “Dewey” stories we would often share at night and the times I would awaken to find you standing next to the bed, wanting to crawl in with us for a while.

As the years went by, there was ballet, softball, soccer, and music. More than anything else, I am excited and blessed to remember your decision early in life to follow Jesus. You always sensed a call toward missions, and we have tried to encourage that in whatever way God would make that more clear over time. He has now done so.

God has given us wonderful years together; this last year with your work here as a volunteer intern has been special. I have not only seen first hand more of how well you work with children; I have heard first hand from so many about how others see that as well. (So I know it is more than just father-bias!) The next months will bring so many changes—your upcoming wedding, your move to Asia, your likely absence at Thanksgiving and Christmas, your next birthday being celebrated by Skype. On the upside, there will be a clean room and one less car for insurance. But, as cheap as I am, I would rather have you. Not only as your father but also on behalf of this church you have served so well I say to you, “Thanks for sharing your gifts with us this past year as an intern!”

Go with God, Lydia. We love you.

Dad

Wednesday of Holy Week: The Quiet Before the Storm

Today is the Wednesday of Holy Week--a quieter day. Jesus once again went to the temple to teach where the crowds awaited Him early in the morning, but there were no deceitful questioners. There was no one trying to trick him, no one trying to discredit Him.

Why? Had the chief priests and scribes given up?

The first reason they did not engage him publicly again was that after Tuesday's fiasco, in which Jesus bested them in every test, making them look foolish rather than the other ways around (as they had planned), no one dared ask Him any more questions. They had had enough. They didn't wanted any more efforts to backfire, as all of them had on Tuesday.

But had they given up? Hardly. They simply took another tactic. Many of the leaders had already determined that Jesus should die. How much easier that would have been to maneuver had Jesus suddenly become unpopular. That was not going to happen--at least, not the way they had envisioned it and planned it.

Another, more ominous strategy came to them, though. They didn't have to think it up. It fell right into their laps. On Tuesday at the evening meal, a woman came in and anointed Jesus using a very expensive perfume. Judas, the keeper of the money for the group, rebuked her, saying that the money could be sold and the money given to the poor. Judas was not concerned about the poor in this case, however. He had started the habit of helping himself to some of the money that he looked after for the group.

"Leave her alone!" said Jesus. This Judas--Judas Iscariot--had already fallen to temptation in the matter of the money. Angry at Jesus' rebuke, he allowed Satan to enter him. He knew what it was the chief priests and scribes wanted--a way to arrest Jesus and deal with Him when He wasn't in front of the adoring crowd. So, either Tuesday night late or on Wednesday, Judas went to the chief priests and offered to hand Him over when no crowd was present. They were delighted to hear this and offered him thirty pieces of silver for his betrayal.

And so, Judas began plotting for a way to turn his master over in a more private setting. This was the Wednesday of Holy Week.

Tuesday of Holy Week: Who Told You that You Could Do That?

(A message for Tuesday of Holy Week)

It was late February or early March some years ago while we were living in Dublin, Georgia. I was home with the children; Cindy was out for a while. The day was unseasonably warm, but there was still a nip in the air. A child with her friend came up to me in the late afternoon. “Can we put on swimsuits and turn on the hose and get wet?”

I had forgotten to put on my bracelet that morning—my WWMS bracelet. You know, “What would Mom say?” Still, in the back of my mind, I knew what Mom would say: “NO!” And she would have several dozen good reasons for that answer.

My mind was full of deep theological thoughts, though, and try as I might, I could not marshal a single reason to say no. “I guess,” I said, but wanting to prove I was no pushover, I added, “But not one drop of water in the house, and no mud at all. Stay on the driveway or in the grass.” As they ran happily off, I returned to my easy chair in front of a television showing NCAA basketball that I was, of course, ignoring, being caught up thinking deep theological thoughts. But I remember that inwardly I felt a little uneasy and hoped it would be a while before Mom returned. However, it wasn’t long before I heard the van make its way into the driveway and to the rear of the house.

My wife is an excellent musician. She has a beautiful voice. And in that moment I heard her melodious strains wafting through the backyard and on into the house.

“WHO TOLD YOU THAT YOU COULD GET WET AND MUDDY?” I froze as I waited to hear the reply, which came rather quickly. “Dad said we could.” And I heard them continue to explain it in such I way that it sounded like I gave them not only permission but that it was my idea!

They were off the hook. They had authority. “Dad said we could.” I reluctantly pushed my deep theological thoughts aside and quietly made my way to the front door. I just remembered some errands I needed to run. And since my cell phone battery was not taking a charge very well at the time, I decided I would conserve the power and just leave it off for a while.

“Who told you that you could?” That’s a popular question, isn’t it? Jesus was asked that question on a busy teaching day during Holy Week. He was asked that by the guardians of Judaism who were threatened by his popularity and his power and his very presence.

It was Tuesday of Holy Week. On Sunday the crowd had gone wild with shouts of “Hosanna!” as Jesus entered Jerusalem for the week of Passover. On Monday, Jesus had cleared the temple in anger at the greed of the people. So on Tuesday, the chief priests wanted to know, “Who told you that you could do all these things?” They were the hierarchy; they were the leaders of the faith. Where did he get off telling the people that they themselves—the chief priests, the teachers of the law, the Pharisees—were hypocrites and worse? Who told him he could receive the praise of the people? What made him think he could disrupt the sacrifices that had been practiced for 1000 years?

Since a crowd of people were around, they were a little more polite than they might have been in private: “‘By what authority are you doing these things?’ they asked. ‘And who gave you the authority to do this?’”

He could have answered them, and perhaps he would have answered them had they been honest inquirers of what could have been, in my mind, a legitimate question. But legitimate questions seek for answers. And they had already decided in their minds that since they had not given him authority, there was no authority. They were not looking for an answer to consider; they were looking for an answer to entrap and condemn.

So Jesus offered them a deal. If they would answer a question about the authority of John the Baptist, He would answer the question about his own authority.

In Mark 11.29-30 (NIV), it says:

Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John's baptism—was it from heaven, or from men? Tell me!”

The group of questioners realized that Jesus’ question presented a dilemma for them, so they got into a huddle to discuss it. Jesus had presented them with two reasonable choices in making their answer. Which would they choose?

“If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn't you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men’....” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet) (Mark 11.31-32).

Had they been honest, from their own perspective they would have said that John was not a God-sent prophet, but they knew it would have lowered their standing in the minds of the people even more, for the people did see John as a prophet.

So they emerged from their huddle and very humbly and piously stated, “We don’t know.”

“If you are the experts on religious authority and cannot determine the authority of John’s message…” Jesus seemed to be saying as he uttered the words:

“Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things” (Mark 11.33).

To add insult to injury, Jesus told a parable that cast them in the roles of thieves and murderers. This made them angrier than ever. So they regrouped and tried to come up with a way of putting Jesus in a bad light with the people or making Him look foolish.

It was April, so they asked him if it were okay to pay taxes to Caesar. He said, in essence, “Yes, but it is even more important to give God his due.”

And what is God due? What is God’s? We would like to know that this Holy Week, wouldn’t we? Good news! Jesus answers that question for us after a slight detour.

The Sadducees, a group that didn’t believe in life after death, first throw out a riddle trying to show the absurdity of the resurrection. Jesus uses the Scripture to say firmly, “Yes, there is life after death. This is not all there is.” And if they didn’t believe the Scriptures, all they had to do was hang around town just a few more days, and they could see it for themselves!

But then, in the last question anyone dared ask Him publicly, someone asks that day a question that Matthew implies may have started out as kind of a setup, but ends up with the questioner becoming impressed with Jesus, and that, in turn, impresses Jesus.

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important? (Mark 12.28 NIV).

This last question is the most important. Essentially, in my mind, he is asking, “What is the most important thing in life?” “What is life all about?”

Let’s pay close attention to Jesus’ answer…

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12.29-31 NIV).

It’s as if Jesus, hearing the question as it is put, says, “I can’t limit the answer to this vital question to just one, even though there is indeed one that is the MOST important. But there is another that is so closely related that I need to give you the two most important.”

After He shared the two, He said, “There is no commandment greater than these.” Does that statement sound like this is something we need to underline in our lives? Does it sound to you that Jesus is saying we need to order our lives around these words?

The most important thing in life: Love God. But how? How are we to love God?

Look again at verse 30 and note the words given: with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. What would you judge as the key concept in that section? I once did a word study to try to figure out what each of these four words really means. What I found surprised me. The meaning of each word is not as separate and easy to define as I thought. These words overlap in their meaning. The difference is more in nuance. One commentator stated it this way: “The words are semantically concentric.” That’s a fancy way of saying they mean pretty close to the same thing in their center. As I was searching for the key way of loving God from this passage, I found that the key concept here is not heart. It is not soul. Not mind. No, not strength, either.

The key in how to love God? ALL.

If we were honest, some of us might admit that we love God with half our hearts rather than all our hearts. We love Him, yes, but we are half-hearted in that love for God.

Some of us have divided minds … we are too enamored with the entertainment of this world that focuses on the sensual and the decadent rather than the spiritual and the good.

But Jesus says, “Love with all.”

Here’s our last question of the day: Is Jesus right? The questioner thinks so:

“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12.32-33 NIV).

And Jesus, after being evaluated by this questioner, evaluates him in turn, subtly showing that He is the one who is the final judge of the situation. Look at Jesus’ answer:

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (Mark 12.34 NIV).

Which brings us back to the original question:

“By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you authority to do this?”

In other words, “Who told you that you could make such pronouncements?”

Jesus didn’t give these guys the answer, but He gives it to us:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28.18-20 NIV).

Who told you that you could do that, Jesus?

Jesus says, “Daddy told me I could.” And in the way He explained it, He lets us know that it was his Father’s idea all along: “I do only what the Father tells me to do.”

He proved it by going to the cross.

This Holy Week, attending special services and the like are good things to do. But what is most important is to love God with all that you are, and to love one another as you love yourself.

Love on God this week through prayer, praise, the Word, and by your actions.

Remember, Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

Love your neighbor today, whether that is your spouse, your child, your parents, your acquaintances—whoever. Remember that Jesus would say to love on somebody, to help somebody who can’t do anything for you in return.

Love God with all you are. Love your neighbor as yourself. And we love, because he first loved us.

The Father has told me to tell you that this is what will make this week—and every week—Holy Week.

Monday of Holy Week: Cleansing the Temple

[Shared on Monday, March 29, 2010 at Clairmont Crest Holy Week service.]

I have to be careful about referring to a scripture as one of my favorite Scriptures, because I would soon find out that the number in that collection would be far too many to claim the designation of “favorites”. So instead, I will simply say that the following passage from Psalm 103 never fails to touch and move me when I read it or remember it. Of course, Psalm 103 is the one that begins

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”

Many benefits are listed after these first two verses, but the section beginning in verse 8 always seems to make me pause in wonder. It states:

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.”

Slow to anger. That’s the part that hits me with such grace. Slow to anger. Perhaps that’s because so many are quick to anger. When James counseled us to be slow to anger, he was simply saying, “Be more like God. Be slow to anger.”

Somehow, growing up I got the idea that God was very quick to be angry at all the terrible things that go on here. Some may get the idea that God is always angry. I remember the name of the puritan sermon of the 1700’s: “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

But here it says that God is slow to anger, and that is true. If it were not true, I guess He would have had His fill of you and me by now, wouldn’t He? And of course, the mere fact that the world is still here and Jesus has not yet returned testifies to the truth of Peter’s words that “[God] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.”

Yes, it is certainly true, and I am grateful: “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.”

That’s why I find the Monday of Holy Week so fascinating.

Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, was such a triumph, it would seem. We call Jesus’ coming into Jerusalem “The Triumphant Entry.” Coming into the city riding on a donkey while the people waved palm branches and shouted, “Hosanna,” surely that would have been an impressive sight for all of us. Yet, Jesus was strangely sad.

Luke 19.41-44 (NIV):

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.”

But on the Monday of Holy Week—today in our commemoration of the week—we get to see Jesus, the epitome of the God who is slow to anger—we see the anger of Jesus. We see what it is that finally sets Him off. We often call this week Passion Week, referring of course to His death, but on Monday we really get to see his passion. Jesus is passionate on Monday. He is angry on Monday.

And we must ask:

Why was He angry? And
What does that say to us?

Let's read from the Bible the account of today: the Monday of Holy Week.

MARK 11.12-19
12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it. 15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: "'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" (NIV)

First, we note that the day begins with a peculiar incident with a fig tree. Here is a tree that is really not in season for figs, yet it is in full bloom of its leaves. Jesus was hungry and saw the leaves and wanted to see if there was any fruit. Finding none there, he cursed the tree, and Mark notes that the next day, the tree was completely withered from the roots. (Mark 11.20)

Was this harsh of Jesus? I remember a Greek professor in seminary who found it significant that his first judgment that led to death was not even aimed at a precious human but a tree. I like that thought. In my mind, there is a deeper connection to what follows: this tree was symbolic to Jesus of what He had found among His people Israel in his time on earth: many outward signs of growth, but precious little fruit to back up the claim.

Jesus would see the real thing, not simply the symbol, just a few miles up the street. When Jesus arrived at the temple area that morning, there were outward signs of religious fervor. People packed the area. They were buying and selling sacrificial animals so that they could worship God in the prescribed way. Many, many of the people were on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover. They had left their homes ostensibly so they could worship God.

But when Jesus saw the crowd, the religious activity, the buying and selling in preparation for Passover,he saw the fig tree all over again. Signs of life, signs of growth, but precious little fruit.

We often rail against “moneychangers in the temple,” and Luke gives special attention to those selling in his gospel. What was going on? Many of the pilgrims had decided not to bring sacrificial animals with them from home—too much trouble, for one thing. No guarantee they would pass muster as an acceptable sacrifice, for another. So they elected to bring money and buy the proper sacrifice. After all, these would have the equivalent of our USDA seal of approval. Or, more appropriately, they would have a kosher symbol on them.

But Jesus was outraged by these sellers because they were not interested in the things of God but in padding their pocketbooks by taking an unreasonable profit. How do we know? Jesus said, “You have made [the temple] a den of robbers,” quoting from the O.T. prophet Jeremiah.

These buyers were at the mercy of the sellers. And we are tempted to say, “Yeah, Jesus, get those guys. Give it to them. They are unfair. Their pricing reminds us of the popcorn price at the modern theater. Give it to them, Jesus.”

But before we look too much at “them,” we had better also consider “us.” Note that Mark and Matthew as well point out a fact easy to overlook. Look back to verse 15:

“ . . . Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there.”

It was not just the actions of the sellers that angered the Lord. It was also the attitude of the buyers. He drove out the buyers as well as the sellers. Apparently, their hearts were not where they should have been, either.

The leaves were green, but where was the fruit?

It is so easy for us to come to another Holy Week with good intentions; yet we can end up simply going through the motions. We can treat our relationship with God as just another event on the calendar.

OK . . . it’s Thanksgiving: gather the family, get a turkey and some pumpkin pie, and let’s watch some football together.

OK… it’s Christmas: set up the tree, get out the decorations, buy the presents, go to Candlelight service.

OK . . . it’s Holy Week: a special musical or drama, an egg hunt, new spring fashions, maybe a Holy Week service or two, Sunday worship with the family.

Nothing wrong with any of those things . . . unless they are devoid of real meaning in the heart. Leaves are great … if fruit is likewise on the tree. It’s just not good if it is all for show and the real meaning is missing.

As we consider the anger of Jesus at this scene, we think back to other times He had displayed anger. And you know what it always seems to be? Hypocrisy.

Like you, I normally equate hypocrisy with trying to impress people with something on the outside that is not really there on the inside, in other words, intentional deception, but it seems that Jesus’ definition is far more subtle. To Him, it is not always intentionally being deceptive. Sometimes it is a failure to really seek wisdom. Sometimes it is a failure to really seek understanding.

When he pronounced his “Woes” on the Scribes and Pharisees, He called them hypocrites, but many of them really thought they were following God’s ways. Hypocrisy can come from ignorance of God’s ways, a refusal to seek understanding of God’s ways, as well as intentional deception. Many really though they were serving God when they killed Jesus or His disciples. But they were wrong. They were hypocritical because they failed to really seek God.

“Look at our pretty leaves,” they seem to say, sadly ignorant of the fact that they are supposed to produce fruit and not just go though religious rituals.

Jesus quoted Isaiah about such people:
“Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’”

Man-made religion never measures up to a personal relationship with the God who loves you. Yet, we can get caught up in it as well. I’m thinking of a man I have known all my life. A few years ago I was seeking to talk to him about his relationship with God. His answer, “You know, I don’t drink beer anymore on Sundays out of my respect for God.”

My frustration was great! I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I am glad he did something out of respect for God. But I don’t think not drinking beer on Sundays was the great desire of God for his life.

But we can also get caught up in the outer trappings—our beautiful church buildings, our Easter lilies, our children and grandchildren and their egg hunts, our new clothes, the wonderful musicals and dramas—and yet miss the centrality of Jesus died to pay the debt of my sin, and He rose from the dead that I might have life everlasting which begins here on earth with a relationship with God.

What shall we do to make sure this doesn’t happen to us?
How do we make sure that God, as slow to anger as He is, does not become angry with us from our refusal to step out of the shallowness of life into more depth?

The answer is given by Jesus this Monday morning of holy Week:

“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (v. 17)

For “all nations” is significant. “Red, brown, yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight.” I am grateful for services like these open to all followers of Jesus, laying aside our designations of Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and others and coming together as believers in Jesus.

But more significant is the first part:
“My house shall be called a house of prayer.”

The temple was meant to be a house where people would truly seek God by calling out to Him.

Let us spend a few moments in silent prayer, each of us asking God to touch us deeply on the inside so that we may truly worship this holy season, not just with our lips, but with our hearts as well. Let us pray that not only will there be leaves in bloom on the branches of our lives, but that we will bear much fruit as well.

Let’s pray.

Sunday of Holy Week: Voices in the Crowd

(Palm Sunday message from March 28, 2010)

Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, the final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry. It is a good time to review what we know about Jesus. He entered the city on Palm Sunday in the midst of a huge throng of people. Because of His ministry, Jesus often found Himself in a crowd of people. One way to review some important aspects of His life is to listen to some of the voices in the crowd…

John the Baptist

Before Jesus began His public ministry, and we assume he likely was a hard-working carpenter along with his brothers in Galilee, there was a popular figure who began to attract crowds. It wasn’t because of his good looks or personal habits—he lived in the desert, wore clothes made camel hair, and ate locusts and wild honey. But because of his passion for God and his fiery message, people began to ask the question, “Could this man be the Messiah—the Christ?” He vociferously denied it. No, he said, he was not the Christ but one was preparing the way—the fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah who foretold a voice calling in the wilderness, “Prepare the way for the Lord.”

Yes, as we listen to voices in the crowd this morning to inform us about Jesus, we start with John the Baptist. He had great crowds coming to hear him speak from all around—from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan River.

And what did this voice say to prepare the people for the Lord? Let me share two important messages from this voice in the crowd:

“Repent, for the kingdom of God is near.” This was the primary message in preparation for the Lord. John was saying, in essence, “The time has come for God to do a special work, to reveal His renewed purposes.” Repentance is not the only step, but the first step: turning away from our own selfishness and sinfulness and turning toward God, seeking Him.

Many responded to the message of John. Confessing their sins, they were baptized, a beautiful portrait of the washing away of sins.

The second message of importance from John was what he told the crowd when Jesus came to see his cousin John at the Jordan River:

“Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

How beautiful the symbolism! The Lamb of God… reminding them of the Passover during the liberation from slavery in Egypt—how during the last plague, the plague of death for the firstborn male, mercy would be shown to those houses who had placed the blood of an unblemished lamb on the doorframes of their houses. The Death Angel would “pass over” that house, leaving the firstborn alive. The death of the lamb substituted for the death of the son. Jesus is the Lamb of God.

No wonder John said, “I am not worthy to untie his sandals.” No wonder there was no jealousy from John as Jesus began to draw larger crowds. “He must increase, I must decrease.”

The first voice in the crowd we hear today was a voice of preparation: “Repent, for the Lamb of God has come to take away the sins of the world.”

God the Father

The second voice is even more impressive. When Jesus came to see John, Jesus asked to be baptized. John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by you, and you come to me to be baptized?” But Jesus said, “Permit it to be so at this time so that we may fulfill all righteousness.”

Finally, John consented to baptize Jesus as a symbol of His total submission to the Father. And the Father in heaven, even prouder of His Son than we are of the accomplishments of our children, could not hold back. As Jesus came up out of the water, the very heavens opened, and the Spirit of God Himself descended like a dove and came upon Jesus. And in a mighty roar in the midst of the crowd, the Father Himself testified about Jesus: “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well-pleased.”

The demon-possessed

Not all of those who recognized Him, though, were well-pleased. Many were unhappy about it. They acknowledged Jesus unwillingly and with dismay. Some in the crowd did not welcome the intrusion of Jesus, for they understood something that many in our world today do not: You cannot ignore the presence of the Son of the God.

I guess it should not be surprising to us that some of the first who recognized Him were the demon-possessed. In actuality, it was the demons themselves who saw, who knew, and who trembled.

There was always a good crowd of people who gathered in the synagogues of the town and villages in Galilee on Sabbath to chant psalms and listen to the Law being read and taught. Jesus, raised in Nazareth, adopted Capernaum as his residence once He began His ministry.

Let’s listen to this voice in the crowd…

READ LUKE 4.31-37

Yes, how amazing! We know from the beginning that there is an evil one. Why should it surprise us to find that this evil one leads a contingent of evil spirits. Yet, Jesus not only had authority in His teaching, but He had authority over the unclean spirits.

But let’s not overlook the voice in the crowd: Two things for us to ponder upon this Palm Sunday as we reflect on the person of Jesus:

“What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” This is good question not only for the demon-possessed but for each of us to ponder. “What do you want with us, Jesus?” He does indeed want something with you. What is it that He wants?

That answer comes more clear as we also ponder the testimony of the unholy spirits:

“I know who you are… the Holy One of God.”

The voices from the crowd tell us that Jesus is more than just a man. He is the Lamb. He is the Son. He is the Holy One of God… who comes to invade our lives, whether we bid Him to or not, for He is our Creator, and He has every right to want something from us.

Blind Bartimaeus

Because of this, some believe that God is out to get them. To impose on them. To demand of them. They know a little, but they do not know enough. Their understanding is so small that what little they know turns into misunderstanding. Yes, Jesus wants something with us, but it is not to turn us into slaves or robots. He comes to us with love, demanding from us what we need to give Him so that we might live abundant lives. Like your parents when they wanted you to eat healthy foods and wanted you to study your lessons. You wondered if they were just being mean to you. But, no, they wanted you to eat so that you could grow strong. They wanted you to study so that you could grow intelligent.

God wants something of you… so you can grow holy.

Sometimes the blind see this better than the sighted. We who are sighted often think we see everything. We think that we can be the masters of our own fate. We often think we know better than God and just want Him to leave us alone, just as some of the demons asked.

The blind are not under the illusion of self-sufficiency. At least, not the blind we meet in the New Testament.They know that what Jesus wants from them is not only what they need but what will fill the deepest needs they have.

Jesus was about to leave the city of Jericho. As was so often the case as he traveled, a huge crowd gathered not only to listen to Him but to follow Him. Everyone was nice and well-behaved—well, all except one. One voice was heard above the crowd…

READ MARK 10.46-52

Here is another voice in the crowd we must listen to if we would truly understand Jesus.

“Jesus, have mercy on me!”

The blind man needed mercy, and he heard that Jesus could provide it. He shouted out for it, and the people tried to hush him up.

But another voice was heard in the crowd—the voice of Jesus. “Call him!” And then! “What do you want me to do for you?”

It’s still amazing! He wants to fill the deepest needs in your life.

The Palm Sunday Crowd

To sum up His three year ministry in the understated way of Luke: “Jesus went about doing good.” He healed the sick. He calmed the rowdy sea. He taught with clarity and compassion. He came to free the people from the shackles of their sin as well as the shackles put on them by the religious elite. He showed them what God is really like and how He delights in His people, how God wants to be reconciled to His people and to share a love relationship with them. He does not delight in punishment but delights to forgive and show them the right path.

Because of this, the common people, the salt of the earth kind of people though all Israel and even the Gentiles who lived among them loved Jesus. He freed them from fears. He let them know that God cares. He said he would give them true freedom. He gave them clarity and purpose. It is no wonder that on Palm Sunday the voices in the crowd cried: “Hosanna!” That word means, “Save!” As we sang it today, I hope that it was in recognition that we, too, understand that we need a Savior.

The people also shouted, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Jesus, this prophet from Nazareth, came to give us a message from God and to be a message from God for us!

The Good Friday Crowd

But not everyone was happy about Jesus. Not just the evil spirits who were asking, “What do you want with me?” The religious leaders, those more concerned about national pride and institutional religion, were threatened by the message. On Sunday, they rebuked Jesus for letting the people honor Him in this way. He said, “If they don’t, the very rocks will cry out!” On Monday, he cleansed the temple. Tuesday was likely a day for the leaders plotting against Jesus. For on Wednesday, they set about to trap Him, trying to make Him appear less authoritative and perhaps get him in trouble with either the people or the Romans. But Jesus again turned the tables, not as He had in the temple courts earlier that week, but on these who tried to trap Him by their clever questioning. Jesus made them look foolish, and even a few of their own kind began to see the light of Jesus. This was too much.

The religious leaders still had their own power and their own heavy handed way of dealing with problems. They paid a betrayer, conducted secret and illegal late night, early morning trials, and gathered up an early crowd on Friday to petition the governor, Pontius Pilate, to rule against Jesus.

The cheers of “Hosanna” turned to the jeers of “Crucify Him!” Not content with anything less than eradication, the leaders had determined that Jesus should die. The voices in the crowd that day concurred.

Pilate did not understand a lot, but he understood that there was Jewish religious politics going on. He stated: “I am innocent of this man’s blood.”

To seal their guilt, the crowd shouted, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”

Jesus

As Jesus was stripped, flogged, paraded through the streets, and finally nailed to the cross, a crowd once again gathered around Him. There was a group of courageous women who loved Jesus, gathered together near the foot of the cross. Only the disciple that Jesus loved, John, took his place among them. The rest of them were scattered, afraid that they might be next.

The soldiers were there, too, doing their duty, gambling after the only earthly possession of this Son of God, a seamless garment. One, though, the centurion leading the group, said, “Surely He was the Son of God!”

Other in the crowd mocked Him as did even another who was being crucified. Yet, the voice in this crowd that I want you to hear is the voice of the condemned man Himself, Jesus of Nazareth.

He said several things while hanging on that cross for those hours. Let me remind you of three. One was probably not loud enough to be heard by all. Even on the cross, as He surveyed the crowd, He remembered His mission:

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

As the time drew nearer for His death, Jesus became overwhelmed. Drawing from the despairing words of Psalm 22, Jesus cried out. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Some believe that as Jesus was at the very point of death, He was feeling the loneliness of God the Father turning away from Him while He was accepting Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins, truly becoming the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Whatever the cause of His feeling forsaken, whether the pain and suffering of the cross itself or the anguish of loneliness or both, we know that Jesus kept His faith, for the very last voice in the crowd we note today are the very last words of Jesus, His dying words…

READ LUKE 23.4-46

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

This Holy Week, let us reflect on the person of Jesus: His life, His words, and His sacrificial death. Let us ponder what it is that He has do do with us. Let us clarify our own understanding of who He is. Was He a good man? Of course He was. But He was so much more.

Let us lift our voices so that they become voices in the crowd testifying with so many others the truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, the Holy One of God, the One who shows mercy and fill our needs, the One who saves, the One whose death we will remember on Friday and whose glorious resurrection we will celebrate next Sunday.

Yes, you must lift your voice in the crowd: The Bible says, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Let me be a voice in this crowd this morning. “Jesus is my Lord!” Are there other voices in the crowd to be heard today?

What about you? What do you say about Jesus?

Is He your Lord?