So if you have your Bibles, would you open with me to John chapter 1, verse 9?
In John chapter 1, verse 9, it says this: the true light, this means Jesus. Jesus is the true light who gives light to everyone who was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. I want you to really pay attention to this part. But to all who received him, to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Would you bow your heads? You do not have to stand, just bow your heads with me and pray that God will give me clarity and that God will speak through me.
Lord Jesus, I thank you for your presence here today. I thank you, God, that you are someone who cares about us, who loves us, who has given everything for us. And Lord, I want to take a moment to honor you. Father, even though this Palm Sunday is mixed with so many different emotions and intentions of the people, Lord God, I pray that our hearts would be examined, that our intentions and motives would be examined this morning. Lord, help us to look at you as who you say you are, to receive you as who you intended for us to receive you. And Lord, let the meditations of my heart and the words of my mouth be pleasing to you, Lord, my God and my Redeemer.
Well, I heard a story of a young man who had a problem. The problem was that he would drink and drive. He left a party, and as he left, he rolled his car into a ditch. Another driver right behind him got out of his car and, just in time, pulled him out. He survived, and everything was fine. But about a year later, he started drinking and driving again. This time, nothing terrible happened, except that he got pulled over and received a DUI. As part of this, he had to go before a judge. As he walked into the courtroom, he recognized that the judge was actually the same man who had saved him before. So he walked in and said, “I know you, friend.” And the judge said, “Young man, the last time I saw you, I was your savior. Today, I am your judge.”
Now Jesus says that he came to his people, and his people did not receive him. But to those who received him, he gave the right to be called children of God. All of us can receive Jesus in different ways. Some people think that Jesus existed, that he was just a good teacher. We can all receive Jesus in different ways, but how should we receive him? When we say things like, “Jesus existed,” that is not a profound statement. Every historian agrees that Jesus existed. And if you say that Jesus is the Son of God, that he is God himself, even the demons believe that. They know very well that Jesus is the Son of God. And if you say that Jesus is a good teacher, that is a difficult claim, because I teach high school and like to think I am a good teacher. But if I walked around claiming to be God, you would think something was wrong with me. Good teachers do not go around claiming to be God. Jesus did not leave that option open to us.
So you have to make a decision. Do you accept Jesus as just someone who existed in history? Do you accept him as God? Or do you accept him as a teacher? I love this quote by C. S. Lewis. He says, “I am trying to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him: I am ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I do not accept his claim to be God. This is one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level of a man who says he is a poached egg, or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up as a fool, you can spit on him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with this patronizing nonsense about him being just a good human teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to.”
You cannot simply claim that Jesus existed or that he was just a teacher. You must accept the fullness of who he is, that he is God, that he is the Messiah. So the question is, who is Jesus?
On Palm Sunday, something remarkable happens. Many prophecies come together. Throughout the Old Testament, we see that God has a problem, he cannot dwell with sinful humanity. Yet he sets Israel apart as a nation to be the light of the world. But Israel itself is sinful. So God calls them out of Egypt and gives them Moses. Moses establishes the tabernacle, a tent where God would dwell. When it was completed, God’s presence descended upon it. The people oriented their lives around it. By day, God’s presence appeared as a pillar of cloud, and by night, as a pillar of fire. This visible presence is what we call the Shekinah glory.
Later, David plans for a temple, though he cannot build it. Solomon builds it, and within it is the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant is kept. God’s presence dwells there. But over time, the people become prideful and turn to idols. God calls them to repentance again and again, but they do not turn. In Ezekiel 10, God warns that he will leave, and then his glory departs from the temple.
When God’s presence leaves, destruction follows. When the source of life departs, only death remains. When the source of good departs, evil fills the void.
Yet there is hope. In Ezekiel 43, there is a vision of God’s glory returning to the temple. The people longed for that day.
On Palm Sunday, Jesus comes from the east, from the Mount of Olives. Scripture tells us that Jesus is the fullness of God’s glory. The return of God’s presence is not just to a building, it is in a person. His name is Jesus.
Zechariah prophesied, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud. Behold, your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey.” Jesus fulfills this. The people lay down their cloaks, like a red carpet, and wave palm branches in celebration. They recognize him as king.
But they misunderstand him. They want a king who meets their expectations. Some want political freedom. Some want power. But they are not ready for a suffering servant.
It is easy to follow Jesus when he is celebrated. It is much harder when the road leads to suffering. Yet that is the road he walked.
Within days, the same crowd that shouted in praise would cry out for his crucifixion.
We know that most of his disciples, I believe, except John, deserted Jesus.
That is what happens when you do not give the crowd what they want. So the question for you this morning is this, what have you accepted Jesus as?
Is he just someone you know from history? A good thought that he existed, a good teacher?
Jesus himself would say, if you accept a prophet, you receive a prophet’s reward. If you accept Jesus as a good teacher, you might receive some good teaching from him. But if you accept him as Savior, guess what the reward is? Salvation. Amen. If you accept him as King, guess what? You have a King who will never leave you nor forsake you, who says, “I am with you until the end of the age.”
This is the amazing thing about God’s glory. In the first case I showed you, he departed the temple. But when Jesus comes back, for those who are in Christ Jesus, the same Holy Spirit who saved you is able to keep you. The same King who started a work in you is able to finish and complete that work within you. The same King who created the universe can rule, and you can be safe with him. He is the ultimate.
Now, something else that people do not often talk about is that Jesus enters Jerusalem four days before Good Friday and the crucifixion. During Passover, the lamb was chosen four days before the sacrifice. So Jesus is the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is the ultimate prophet. He is the Word of God.
In theology, we often say this, Jesus is the greatest prophet, priest, and King. Jesus is the prophet because in him the fullness of God’s Word dwells. And Jesus is King. He stands before Pilate and says, “My kingdom is not of this world.” He did not come to be a political king like the Romans expected. His kingdom is far greater. He did not come to conquer Rome, he came to conquer hearts.
That is the true King we serve. A prophet brings the Word of God to the people. A king rules over the people. And a priest brings the needs of the people before God. In Hebrews, we are told that Jesus is the high priest. We have a high priest who sympathizes with us, who knows our pain and suffering.
This is not just a Messiah King. This is a suffering King who understands pain, who understands temptation, who knows what you are going through. That is the King we serve. That is the high priest who understands us, a King we can trust.
But if you reject him, if you choose not to accept him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, if you refuse to receive him as prophet, priest, and King, then the next time he comes will be different.
The first time he came as a humble servant on a donkey. The next time, Revelation 19:11 says this, “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”
That is the King who comes the second time. The first time, like the story I told you, he comes as Savior. The second time, he comes as Judge. The second time, he comes as the ruling King who fights against the nations. He no longer comes on a donkey, he comes on a horse.
No one can ignore Jesus forever. The question remains, how have you received him?
Have you made him King and Lord? Is he your Messiah? Is he your Savior? Because your life should be transformed.
Jesus is not something you add to your life. He is either Lord of all or not Lord at all. He is the Messiah, the King, the suffering servant, and the reigning King who will rule the nations.
You may ignore someone riding into Jerusalem on a donkey two thousand years ago. But it is much harder to ignore the returning King described in Revelation.
You cannot ignore Jesus forever. So as we move toward Good Friday, think carefully, who have you made Jesus to be? Have you accepted his sacrifice without his lordship? Have you treated him like a means to get blessings, rather than as Lord?
God will establish a new temple, and that temple is in our hearts.
Jesus said to his disciples, it is better that I go, because if I do not go, the Helper will not come. What is better than having Jesus beside us physically? It is having Jesus living inside us through the Holy Spirit.
So how do you know you belong to him? It is not simply by attending church or serving. The question is, do you have the Holy Spirit?
Scripture says the Holy Spirit is the seal of our redemption. Just as a king would seal a letter, the Holy Spirit marks those who belong to Christ. When Jesus returns, those who have the Holy Spirit are his.
The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force. He is a person. He can be grieved. He can be quenched. He convicts, comforts, and cleanses. God himself dwells within us.
That is the beauty of being a Christian. God makes his dwelling in our hearts. We become the temple of the living God.
The Holy Spirit will convict you of sin, comfort you in suffering, and lead you in repentance daily. He will complete the work he began in you.
So have you welcomed the Holy Spirit? Is he reigning in your heart?
The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in you. And the hope we have is that this same Spirit will one day raise us to life and sustain us through every trial in this life.