CSI Series: Fickleness

Pastor Burcham's Sermon

Sunday, April 9, 2006

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The crime scene we're going to look at today, the last of our CSI series, is a scene that's a little bit hard to actually see. It's not exactly a crime scene that you go and investigate. It's more of a scene you have to experience.

We're traveling back 2,000 years to the streets of Jerusalem at the first day of the week when Passover is going to be celebrated. So, in the streets of Jerusalem at this time, if you can, in your mind's eye, go back to that ancient city and imagine a city that's teaming with people because, at Passover time, from the entire region, literally thousands of Jews would come to Jerusalem because they wanted to celebrate the Passover meal within the walls of that holy city. They wanted to be in the city where the temple was at, where their religious center was located. And so some of them would travel maybe days to arrive at Jerusalem . So imagine the streets of Jerusalem that are just jam packed with people. They're walking shoulder to shoulder next to one another but yet nobody seems to mind. There's an excitement in the air. There's an energy about the city, a buzz, if you will, is going around the city. You see, families would look forward all year long to making this trek to Jerusalem . It was like an annual outing for them. They may not get to Jerusalem any other time during the year but, for Passover, they would travel. So they'd pack up the kids and all of the gear and they'd travel there. And they're all in the streets and there are merchants, hundreds of merchants, on every street corner trying to sell their wares. The city is alive.

Maybe the best way we can imagine that is think about our own city maybe at State Fair time or during the girls' or boys' basketball state tournaments. You know what it's like. You can't really travel downtown. You have folks who've never been in Des Moines except for one time during the year. They're trying to navigate I-235. Good luck with all the closures, right? You experienced it at basketball time, didn't you? People everywhere. Not going the right way, going the wrong way on one-way roads. The streets are filled with people. Sometimes it's shoulder to shoulder. It seems like every merchant has a sale going on during that week and yet, people don't really seem to mind, do they? Alright, maybe you get a little bit irritated on 235 but, for the most part, people don't seem to mind. Why? Because it's a special time, and there's an energy in the air. Think of Jerusalem x 10. That's what it was like because, this year, the year we're going to look at above all the rest, there's a special excitement in the air. There's an anticipation that has everyone wondering. They've all heard rumors about this young rabbi, this new teacher who's been around and so there's talk going on about Him. Sometimes it's in whispers behind closed doors. Other times, people are boldly saying, “I was there when this man who was dead came out of the tomb after being in there for several days.” But there's talk about this young teacher who now has a pretty big following. And the stories about Him, how His teaching is new and fresh but yet it's solidly grounded in the torah, how He takes on the religious officials. It doesn't matter to Him whether it's the teachers of the law, the priest, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, it doesn't matter. And each one of them is left dumbfounded, speechless, once He's done talking. And then the stories about people who were lame walking, people who couldn't hear all of a sudden restored. And this story about some guy named Lazarus and how being in the grave for how many days and now he's alive and word is he's coming to town, too.

So here, on the streets of Jerusalem , where people are crowded in on every side, there's this energy, excitement in the air. This is our crime scene. But what is the crime? Therein lies the rub. The crime doesn't happen on Sunday. It happens on Friday. The crowd that is here on Sunday welcoming Jesus in, calling out “Blessed is He in the name of the Lord. Hosanna to Him,” that same crowd comes from the streets of Jerusalem and gathers at the palace of Pontius Pilate and now, all of a sudden, they're not hailing Him as a king. They're condemning Him as a criminal. Instead of singing His praises, they're crying out that He be crucified. This same crowd from Sunday all of a sudden changes by Friday. But the seeds of that crime, the precursor of that crime, it begins today on the streets of Jerusalem .

Well, as we've been doing, let's take a look at the evidence then. What is the evidence surrounding this situation that occurs on Friday? And, if you will, as we did last week, I ask you to put aside all of your previous knowledge of Palm Sunday and all of the events. It's a story that's been told for thousands of years and throughout your lifetime maybe, so maybe you have your preconceived ideas. Suspend that for awhile and let's let scripture speak to us. Let's let God's word describe this scene for us so we can get an idea of what's happening on the streets of Jerusalem .

The first question we ask is, “Who's there?” Who makes up this crowd of people in Jerusalem ? The gospel writer, John, does a great job for us because he describes for us several different groups of people who have turned out to see Jesus, each one with his own agenda, each one looking for something different. Let's back up a couple verses from what we just read to Chapter 12:9, “Meanwhile, a large crowd of Jews found out Jesus was there and came not only because of Him but also to see Lazarus whom He had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well for, on account of him, many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in Him.” Okay, so the first group of people we have are a crowd of people who heard about what Jesus did with Lazarus. They heard about this phenomenal story that a guy had died, he had been buried, and Jesus shows up, this teacher, and He calls him forth from the grave. So they want to come and see Jesus but not just Jesus. They want to see Lazarus because they say he's with Jesus as well. If you will, it's almost celebrity status for Lazarus. Ever since he's come back to life, one can imagine that he's always surrounded by people, wanting to look at the marvel of this guy who was dead and now he's back alive again. So this crowd here, they're interested in the celebrity status of Jesus and Lazarus.

Now, as a side note, this whole Lazarus thing must have been pretty serious as far as gaining followers for Jesus because then the other group who is on the streets of Jerusalem are the chief priests, and the chief priests are obviously taking the Lazarus incident seriously because did you hear what it said? The chief priests were so concerned about that, they were now looking for a way to kill Lazarus as well as Jesus. Let's ponder that for just a moment, shall we? The chief priests, high ranking officials, religious leaders, spiritual leaders of the people, are plotting a double murder, Jesus and the guy He raised from the dead, Lazarus. Hum.

Who else is on the streets of Jerusalem ? Well, John tells us of another group. John says the next day the great crowd that had come for the feast heard Jesus was on His way. They took palm branches and went out to meet Him. Okay, now the next group we have is just the people who are in Jerusalem . Remember I said people from the surrounding area would come flooding into the city to celebrate the Passover. So now we have just the general crowds. Maybe some of them heard about Lazarus. Maybe some of them didn't. They all at least had heard about this rabbi, this teacher, and some of the things that had been done, so they're showing out in droves to see Jesus come in. A few minutes later, we'll discover what they're interested in seeing. Now it goes without saying but worth mentioning, the disciples were there, too. So we have the 12 closest disciples to Jesus. Interesting note, though, John tells us, like the other gospel writers, the disciples really didn't have a clue what was going on. They didn't understand anything. They didn't understand coming into Jerusalem . They didn't understand the cross. It wasn't until after Jesus rose from the dead did they really get it. I'm not picking on them by any means, but I'm just saying the disciples are befuddled. They're confused. What? John goes on to tell us there is another group there. And he says, “Now the crowd that was with Him when He called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard He had given this miraculous sign, went up to meet Him.” So the Pharisees, another group, said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after Him.” Now we have a different group. Now we have the folks who were actually there when He raised Lazarus from the dead, so they're the eyewitnesses. They were part of the crowds on the hillside there as Jesus called forth for Lazarus. Plus, they're friends and neighbors and coworkers because they've been talking about this, as one can imagine. If you saw that, you'd probably talk about it, too. So they're talking about it to their friends and coworkers, so now we have a different crowd that comes out. Ah. Plus we have the Pharisees, so now we have the political element of the church at that time so the Pharisees show up, too, and the Pharisees throw up their hands and say, “Everybody's following this guy. Is there anyone more in the streets of Jerusalem besides these different factions?” John says one more group if you go into Verse 20. It says, “Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship the feast. They came to Phillip and they said, ‘We would like to see Jesus.'” Now you have some Greeks. Greeks came to worship at the festival. That means these Greeks were believers in the one true God so they would be called something like God fearers, but they had not converted all the way over to Judaism which means they were not going to adhere to all of the customs, all of the laws of the Jewish people but they were worshiping outside the temple. They also have come to see Jesus. Okay.

The one thing we know then is we have a diverse group of people. They've come from many different places. They come for many different reasons, but they all come to see Jesus. Well, what are some of the events then surrounding Jesus coming into the city? Is there anything significant there? John helps us out again. He talks about that crowd that was there, and they sort of stirred everybody up and they all got together. So it says, “They took palm branches and went out to meet Him shouting, ‘Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the King of Israel.'” Well, what's all this about? What's going on here. They take palm branches and they start laying them down on the city streets as Jesus comes walking in on this colt. Well, if we go to 2 Kings 9, it helps us out a little bit, understand what's going on. Now remember, the other gospel writers told us that, besides the palm branches, people also took off their cloaks and they put their cloaks down on the road so Jesus could walk on those. 2 Kings 9:13 says, “They hurried and took their cloaks and spread them under the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, ‘Jehu is king!'” Well, I don't know who this Jehu thinks He is. But the people treat Him as a king. That's how you recognized kings. When a king came for a royal visit, he didn't walk upon the ground, upon the road, no, you made a royal highway for him. So you took your cloaks off and laid them down or you cut palm branches or tree branches and you laid those down. In other words, the people here are welcoming Jesus as a king. They even call Him the King of Israel.

Well, there's one more factor that's happening here. It says, “Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it.” It is written, “Do not be afraid, oh daughter of Zion . See, your king is coming seated on a donkey's colt.” Alright, we just know because we've read from the prophet Zechariah this a fulfillment of prophesy, fulfillment of the prophet Zechariah. So we have fulfillment of prophesy happening. We have the people saying, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” which is a direct quotation from Psalm 118. Psalm 118 is called a Messianic Psalm. What that means is that Psalm foretells the coming Messiah. Now certainly the people on the streets of Jerusalem would know that. When they quoted that Psalm, they knew exactly what they were doing, that they were referring back to the Psalm that told about the coming Messiah. It talked about the new king of Israel God had promised. So when they quoted that Psalm, they were saying, “Jesus is the promised Messiah. Jesus is the new king.” Now did they put the connection together with Zechariah and Him coming in on a colt. Probably the average person on the street, no. But you can be certain the chief priests, the elders in the church, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, they saw what Jesus was doing. They understood the prophecy, and they saw Jesus fulfilling that prophecy. So, in essence, Jesus comes in as a conquering hero to the people, although He comes in as a strange conquering hero. He doesn't come in riding a war horse. He doesn't come in a battle chariot. He comes in on a donkey, usually a sign of peace, meekness, mildness.

Alright, where does this all lead us? We have these diverse groups of people. We have this royal welcome, if you will, this Messianic fulfillment in Jesus coming into Jerusalem . How do we pull that all together? Where does the evidence lead us on this? Well, it tells us this. You have a diverse group of people and each group of people are looking for something different from Jesus. You have the one group of people that heard about Jesus and Lazarus and all the things that are there, and they've come not just to see Jesus but what pushed them over the edge is they want to see Lazarus as well. That means it's celebrity status time. They want to see the celebrity who's coming into town. No different if some star or some great athlete arrived in Des Moines . You know there would be people lined up at the airport and also lined up on the road to try to get a glimpse of this celebrity. You have these folks that have come to see the celebrity, Jesus, and the celebrity, Lazarus. If you will, they want to be awed and mystified by their presence. To see the great teacher, the great healer, and an example of what He has done.

Closely united with them is the group that was actually there when Lazarus was raised from the dead. Now these are the folks that are going to share their 15 minutes of fame with anyone who will listen. So they're in the crowds shoulder to shoulder. Somebody brings up about Lazarus and they say, “Yeah, you know, I was there. No, I'm not kidding. I was there. Oh, yeah, I was standing there. I watched them. They were going to open up the grave. Oh, boy, I hope they don't open up the grave. They did and you're not going to believe this. This guy called out and there he was, burial cloths, the whole nine yards, he walked out. No, I'm telling you, the guy was dead and now he's alive.” He's going to tell everybody he can. They want to see this Jesus again. The last time they saw Him, what a show that was. Couldn't believe what was happening. Now if that was a small crowd, can you imagine what Jesus is going to do in Jerusalem ? Can you imagine the things He's going to do during the Passover time? They have come to see what miraculous sign Jesus is going to do this time. How is He going to top the last one of bringing Lazarus from the dead? So this group, they're looking for a miraculous sign.

Then you have the general crowd that are there. The general crowd that quotes Messianic psalms, those that welcome Him as a king. They call Him the King of Israel. These are the folks who are looking for a leader. They're looking for someone who's going to come in and restore Israel to what it once was, to the glory days of King David. They're looking for someone who will lead a rebellion, lead a rebellion against Rome and make Israel what it once was.

Then you've got the Pharisees, chief priests, all the religious officials, and what are they looking for? They're looking to avoid trouble. That's all they want. They want to avoid trouble. You have the chief priests and the Pharisees that are pretty comfortable under Roman rule. Things are going well. They have religious freedom. They have the people's attention. They're all coming to them. This Jesus shows up on the scene and, all of a sudden, He's drawing people away from them. There are all these rumors about a revolt and uprising, a rebellion against Rome and that's the last thing they want to see. All they want to do is they're looking to avoid trouble and they're willing to commit a double murder to make sure of it.

The last group we have is the Greeks. It's hard to really understand what the Greeks were looking for. Elsewhere in scripture, Paul gives us a little bit of insight into the Greeks, the God fearers, and says they were always looking for a new teaching. They were always looking for more wisdom or a new philosophy and possibly that's what they were looking for from Jesus, a new teaching.

But the fact is this: You have all these different groups, each of them looking for something different from Jesus but not one of them got what they were looking for. That's the crux of the situation. Not one of them received from Jesus what they were looking for from Jesus. Jesus didn't come to put on a show. He came to be their Savior. He wasn't going to lead a rebellion and a revolt. He came to defeat death and the devil himself. He didn't come with a new teaching for them. He came with the same teaching of God's love and compassion. He was not interested in fame. He wasn't interested in drawing attention to Himself. He just had one thing on His mind. It took five days for the people to realize that what they wanted from Jesus, Jesus wasn't going to give them. And when Jesus didn't give them what they wanted, they turned on Him. That's how the crowd got from Sunday to Friday. On Sunday, they had all of these expectations, anticipating what this Jesus would mean, and they received none of it. So, by the time we get to Friday, “If Jesus won't give us what we want, then He'll get what He deserves.” And they cry out for His life.

The question for us is what do we do when Jesus doesn't give us what we want? At different times in our life, haven't we looked to Jesus for various things? Haven't we come seeking something different from Jesus, depending upon our circumstances, asking for one thing, pleading for another, looking for guidance in this direction, what happens and what do we do when Jesus doesn't give us what we want? We've been praying for a promotion for years, but we just keep getting passed by time and time again. The doctor says the disease isn't going into remission but it's getting stronger. It's getting more aggressive. We've been alone for most of our life, and we keep looking for someone to spend the rest of it with but there's no one there. The kids don't listen anymore. The older they get, the more rebellious they get and they're doing things you can't imagine your child would ever do. You've been faithful to God, diligent in prayer, diligent in reading the scriptures, doing your devotions but life hasn't gotten any better for you. If anything, it's gotten worse. What do you do when Jesus doesn't give you what you want? Do we fall into the same temptation of the crowd? Do we commit the same crime of fickleness? If Jesus doesn't give me what I want, then I'll just turn my back on Him, I'll just go my own way.

You see, the real crime that took place on the streets of Jerusalem is the people didn't realize Jesus did not give them what they wanted, but He gave them exactly what they needed. They were all concerned about their perceived immediate needs, but Jesus was concerned with their eternal needs. Jesus came into Jerusalem with one thing in mind. He knew Jerusalem would lead to Calvary , which would lead to the cross, which would lead to the tomb. Jesus was single-minded that week. He was headed to the cross. He was going to take care of eternal matters, not immediate matters. And the crime is the people didn't see it. They didn't realize Jesus was more concerned about their eternal life than the things they were looking for. He didn't give them what they wanted, but He gave them exactly what they needed.

My Friends, Jesus may not always give you what you want but He has already given you what you need. That's what this next week is all about. That's why we call this Holy Week, Passion Week. It's about Jesus seeing to our ultimate need, our eternal need. It's about Jesus going to a cross, allowing mankind to nail Him there. It's Jesus crying out in a loud voice to His Father, as His Father turns His back on Him instead of Him turning His back on you. It's about Jesus taking on all of your sins and regrets, the things you're ashamed of, and when He breathes His last and says, “It's finished,” that means it's done with for you, forever removed. Jesus always gives you what you need, even if it isn't what you want.

I have a challenge for you for the next seven days. For the next seven days, I want you to give those days to God. Give God the next seven days. What I mean by that is, for the next seven days, instead of being preoccupied and concerned with your immediate needs, as real as those are, but instead of focusing in on your immediate needs, focus in on your eternal needs. Go with Jesus to the upper room. Be there as He serves the meal. Partake of the bread and the wine, the body and the blood. Know the forgiveness of God. Go out to the outskirts of town to Calvary . See our Savior hung upon the cross. Hang your head in sadness as He breathes His last and know the love of God. Return here next Sunday. Return here with a heart that is just swelling with joy. Sing your praises. Grow hoarse as your voice rings out to God, as you celebrate the resurrection, as Jesus is alive, that death couldn't hold Him, and the victory He has won, He gives to all of us. And then know the joy of God. Give to God the next seven days. Anything short of that would be a real crime. Amen.