The Entrance That Stirred The City

The Entrance That Stirred The City Matthew 21.1-11 to shake, agitate, cause to tremble of men, to be thrown into a tremor, to quake for fear To agitate the mind Today we commemorate Jesus riding into Jerusalem during Passover Week. We call this Palm Sunday. Jesus, more than any other person who ever lived, brings deep seated emotions from everyone. His name is used more than any other both by His followers and by those interestingly who deny bHim. Jesus told us this would happen. Say His Name and it will evoke all kinds of reactions from adoration to condemnation to anger and even rage. , Matthew 10.34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household He called men, 12 of them, to leave everything to follow Him. On His way to Jerusalem for Holy Week… Mark 10. 28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow You!” 29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for Me and the Gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” 32 They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again He took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to Him.33 “We are going up to Jerusalem,” He said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock Him and spit on Him, flog Him and kill Him. Three days later He will rise.” I have been heading to the city or in the city when the President of the United States arrives. It is a logistical nightmare. It is inconvenient. From Mount Sinai Hospital all the way down to the Brooklyn Bridge. But this entry by the Son of God produced things never felt or experienced before. So He rides into Jerusalem, fulfilling ancient prophecy * Jesus Shakes Things up. His Presence in Jerusalem causes the City to tremble. If He rode into on a horse we could understand this on the surface but He rides into on an animal of peace! He comes in surprising ways. Be ready for them in your life! We are in a time when God is coming to us in new ways, in different ways. God help us if we think we have Him figured out. Marcos, Pastor Art and I having coffee on Friday. Pastor Art, “Do you have it figured out? Good! Don’t try.” They thought His Presence was going to bring a showdown between Israel and the Roman forces beefed up for the Passover Feast. What better time for a revolt, on the anniversary of them becoming an independent nation? Deuteronomy 4. 32 Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? 33 Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? 34 Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? This was a people who had seen miracles and interventions by God. We are too! The city was going to swell to 2 1/2 million people by week’s end. The thoughts of blood baths and Israel having the Kingdom restored to them ran through the minds of the people. Last time I was there and spoke to some Israelis about the Messiah I was told when He come He will make the people obey the law, even if by force. Contemporary Religious Thought in Israel. The thrill of freedom from oppression to what actually happened in 68-70AD when Jerusalem was destroyed ran through the minds of residents and visitors. Jesus predicted this just a few minutes before, on His way down the Mount of Olives,: He 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.” Luke 19.42-44 The rejection of Jesus, the failure of recognizing God’s coming to you results in destruction of your own soul, and often among the innocent. How often the children suffer because of the sins not their own. Take forgiveness. You know it is right, you have opportunities, yet you resist. You have planted horrible seeds in your hearts. Your sins will not be forgiven. The rejection of Christ brings its own pain. We reap what we sow. I have watched unforgiveness and bitterness passed on to children and the third generation not even know its own family. So sad. * Jesus causes the heart to tremble. I remember years ago we had a thing called “conviction”. People would tremble at the thought of eternity. Our nation is in trouble. Jeremiah 6.15 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them,” says the LORD. Because of the United States becoming a post Christian nation poor young people do not know their right hand from their left. Poison is being consumed and they do not realize it. May the LORD cause hearts to tremble once more. May there be an awakening in our land, in our days. Mays eyes and hearts be opened. * Jesus Causes The Heart To Fear John 16.8 When He comes, He will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin,because people do not believe in Me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see Me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. The conviction is get people to come to Jesus. Karl Menninger 1973 Whatever Became of Sin? In his book the doctor projected the day would come when sin would no longer be an element of the human vernacular. He speculated that the explanation of sin and wrongdoing would be replaced by rationalizations excusing individual accountability. Menninger predicted the term sin would be replaced with words like illness, disorder, dysfunction, syndrome, etc. The human condition would be excused as a product of biochemistry, environment, experience, and trauma. He projected that even crime would go unpunished as criminal activity would be justified and minimized as the result of some medical abnormality for which one could not be held responsible. According to Menninger’s prognostication, the day was approaching when practically everyone would be considered sick and their conduct pardonable. No longer would there be any liability for human error, choice, and willful conduct. Everyone would be innocent, vindicated through biology, psychiatry, and humanistic reasoning. He was a prophet! What did the people say about Jesus? Matthew 21. 10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” Prophet and Priest and King * Jesus Came To Seek and Save That Which Was Lost. Hosanna= save now! Luke 19. 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” You are not listening to this message today because of a coincidence, by accident, or to make someone happy. God is speaking to your heart. He is whispering, “Come and see.” “Come and taste that the LORD is good. I will give you freedom like you have never known. You will see the Kingdom of God come!” Come just as you are. Let Him recreate you! Jesus wants to transform your life. If you are asking yourself, “What is life all about?” He will show you, today! Come and see. Let Jesus stir your heart and rearrange your life. Walk with Him this week, each day.