Pins and Needles

We love binge watching tv. We can Win NBC. We tell 'em, we got an idea for a show about nut. Exactly. Wow. Plot, twists, cliffhangers, and surprises. Keep us on the edge of our seats. What is it? A storyline revealed. One scene at a time creates tension. The Tension is killing me When resolution is just an episode away. The audience is on pins and needles, but this is not Netflix. The time has come And we are not an audience, and God's plan offers an ending. Nobody saw coming. Welcome. In this series, we are trying to discover who the real Jesus is. Not just the Jesus of our imagination or maybe our expectations, but I think about the disciples, those that were around Jesus, even those that were closest to him. As we build up really to those, those final days, the final week, they were trying to understand and connect the dots. Who is this? Is he more than just a, a rabbi or a a prophet? He's not just a teacher or a philosopher. Some even thought that he was a revolutionary. I think it's easy to sort of get a concept and maybe project in, in our minds, you know who Jesus is and really miss the real Jesus. I have a friend that some years ago, he, I'll just tell you, God did a lot in his life, really got his attention, really took him out of some problems that were just overwhelming. And he seemed to respond with so much gratitude. I mean, he was a leader just sort of naturally wired, I guess, born that way and really had a rough past, say the least. But he really started putting himself, you know, forward in following Jesus. So I thought, but as time went on, even though, you know, he was, seemed to be very intense and committed to this, um, life still was hard. There were certain expectations he had. He thought that, you know, if he just followed Jesus, you know, I guess believed enough, then life would be easy. That finances wouldn't be a challenge, that opportunities would come his way. And as much as I, I talked with him and just tried to help him understand really the Jesus of the Bible, um, he ended up walking away. I'm not sure that he ever really made a commitment to Christ because he thought that God would do certain things for him. And when God didn't, then he said, I'm done. And he basically went back to an old way of life and sort of procuring those things that he wanted, that he thought the world offered that would give him maybe the satisfaction that he was looking for. Now, that's a tragedy. It's a tragedy. And I look at that situation and I'm grieved by it. He's my friend and I love him. But what I realize is he had just false expectations about Jesus, who he is, what he came to do. And there were many again in that crowd. When Jesus came to the holy city to celebrate a religious feast, Jesus knew that this would be the last time that he would be going there. And that would lead inevitably to his arrest and then his crucifixion on the cross to pay for the sins of humanity. We're going to look at a passage that we find in Matthew Chapter 21. And here's what you need to know. This is a passage that really concerns what we, we call Palm Sunday. But there was such a, a, you know, fervor in the crowd about, about Jesus. Jesus had been doing miracles. There was a lot of talk about him. You had different places where Jesus earlier performed miracles. And he taught, he did these incredible things. And he said, look, just don't say anything. My time has not yet come. Well, the time had come for his ministry that was sort of semi-public to really be public. And there were those in the crowd. There were different groups. There were, there were religious who felt threatened by him. There were looking to condemn him. There were those who were, I'm sure the true followers that, I mean, they got it to the best of their ability. But then there's this whole group in between that had these expectations, that Jesus was going to somehow deliver them from Roman oppression. They were dominated and controlled by Rome, and they were looking for a Messiah, the Son of David, to come some savior. And Jesus would be this revolutionary and overthrow Rome. But here's, here's the expectation. The crowd thought Jesus. And this is in your, listen God, the crowd thought Jesus was coming to overthrow Rome and restore Israel's power. But here's the reality. The reality, Jesus was bringing a kingdom, not a political power, but a peace sacrifice and salvation. They had a misconception of who he was, what he was really about. I mean, they granted him the title and all, but they just, they were missing it. Let's read in Matthew chapter two, or I'm sorry, Matthew chapter 21, beginning in verse, uh, one, as they approached Jerusalem and they came to Beth Edge on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two disciples, Satan to them, go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there with her cult buyer, untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say then that the Lord needs them and he will send them right away. This took place to fulfill what the, was spoken through the prophet verse five, say to daughter Zion, see your kings come to you gentle and writing on a donkey and on a cult, the full of a donkey. That was a prophecy from Zechariah nine, nine in the Old Testament about this coming Messiah, this coming king. And so this plays in again to the fulfillment of prophecy. Verse six, the disciples went and they did, as Jesus had instructed them, and they brought the donkey and the cult, and they placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on a very large crowd, spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road, the crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed, shouted, hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes, comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna and the highest heaven. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, who is this? The crowd's answer, this is Jesus the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee, in this extraordinary passage. There's some things here that are going on that I wanna point out to you. This is, of course, Jesus is referred to as his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. And so here you had what would seem to be the, the picture of a king that would be riding, but not a donkey or, you know, the offspring of a donkey. One that had not ever been ridden, but instead a horse, because that would be sort of the anticipated sort of kingly way. And it was definitely a triumphal entry, but it was really one of, of humility over pride. So this was something that of course, you know, would take them back a little bit. They probably didn't connect all those dots, but you know, they saw Jesus and they believed because he was going to do something for them, deliver them from poverty and oppression, that they ended up taking their, their, their cloaks, their clothing and so forth. And they're casting that on the road in front. And that was them saying, Jesus, as our revolutionary leader, we are committed to you. You have our support and you have our loyalty. Because they were all in the whole thing about the branches was commonly referred to 'em, the palm branches that were thrown in front of Jesus. That was basically a, a sign of of success, victory. So they're saying, look, Jesus, we're with you because we give our support, our loyalty and commitment because we believe that you're going to give us victory and ultimately success over Rome, and you're gonna write our earthly problems, our situation. But that's not what Jesus came to do. It was a triumphal entry of not just humility over pride, but also of, of poverty over affluence. You know, people think that Jesus is just gonna make them earthly wealthy in some way if they just believe or have enough. But that's not what Jesus was about. He was not about the temporary, the immediate, the physical, not in the moment, not that those things are are, are bad in and of themselves, but again, it was so much more. And he was really a triumphant in making this about gentleness and meekness instead of, you know, rage and anger. The big idea here is that Jesus doesn't always meet our expectations. I would say he exceeds them in ways that we don't always understand. He doesn't always meet them because our expectations are often wrong, but he will exceed them. It may not feel like it in the moment. 'cause in your mind, based on your expectation, you're think, okay, if God loves me, if Jesus is real, then this should be happening. But what you've gotta do is evaluate your expectations. Again, I I think that people, they don't know Jesus for who the Bible really claims him to be. Uh, we take, you know what people have said, we take certain traditions and honestly some myth maybe legends about Jesus. We, we read into it. We have this self style spirituality, and we often create sort of an individualized, if you will, almost like an idol that we, you know, we've affixed the name Jesus to Jesus is going to give you ultimately what you need. He wants a relationship with you. He knows you better than you know yourself, even though you think, okay, this is what I need, God, this is what I need. Jesus, do this for me. Fix that. Fix this. Jesus wants to give you what you need. You don't always know, we, we are shortsighted. We think, for example, that we need a, a relationship. God make this relationship work with this person. And, and really what we're doing is we're making it all about the person. And Jesus becomes a means to an end. And Jesus wants to be the end. I think about it like this, if you've seen most of you, you've seen one of these, it's called a multitool, you know, a bolt tool. Great handy. What do you use it for? You use it to fix things. Uh, now look, you, you don't, some people just may really love tools and that's great, but the tool is a means to an end, right? You just use it to fix what you value. Now, I don't know what you, I value food. You know, if I can fix a refrigerator, I'm gonna use it because I want the refrigerator working. My, my really desire, my affection is for the food within the refrigerator. The tool is just a means to keep things going. If you value tv, you know your time alone. You, you know this, you're, you're not worshiping this, you're not really, you're just valuing it as something to fix what you really want, what you really desire. A lot of times we see Jesus like this. You know, this is just a tool. Jesus, you know, I, I'm going to use you when it's convenient for you to fix what may be broken in my life. My finances, the challenging, they're broken. So Jesus, I'm gonna use you as a tool, but you're not you. You're, you're not really who I'm worshiping. You're just a means to an end. Again, use it in the relationship. Example, whatever it is, use it to fix people around you. We employ Jesus for what we want, but again, he's not a lot of times the object of our worship. And I'm just telling you that's problematic. Because if we don't understand the basic message of the gospel, which is the good news, that God loves you, that what you really need is not just stuff fixed in your life temporarily. What, what Jesus wants to do is he wants to fix what really matters. He wants to fix your heart. He wants to fix your character. He wants to change you, to make you all that he created you to be and has called you to be. And he wants to fix your eternity. Or what's your problem? Our problem is that we all, no matter how good we are, or righteous, we think we are, we have sin. And even the smallest sin condemns us and estranges us from a perfect and holy God. But the beauty of it is, is God said, look, I am your answer. I'm providing the solution. Jesus, who is God in the flesh, more than a prophet, more than a, a rabbi or a teacher. He came and here he was, he was announcing this. He's arrived. The Messiah calls him, son of David. Um, they say, daughter of Zion, see, your king comes to you. And then when they shouted, Hosanna, hosanna to the son of David, Hosanna basically just means save. They were saying the son of David. And again, this was to fulfill prophecy two for the Messiah or the promised Savior that would come and deliver them, would be from the bloodline or the lineage of King David. Now David, they expected this Messiah to, uh, be more like him. And David was, he was called a man after God's own heart. But David was a warrior king. Jesus came in contrast to bring peace, to bring salvation, to bring, uh, forgiveness, to bring reconciliation, to be the extension of God's grace to humanity. This hosanna, they're saying, save us. What we really need is salvation for our souls, forgiveness for sin that we cannot pay for. We can't make it right no matter what we do. Jesus said, we're to be perfect as his Father in heaven is perfect. The solution could only come from God. So here's what I want you to hear me say. I believe Jesus when you take his words, his principles. I believe when you take the teaching of scripture and you do apply it to those areas of life, like your relationships, like your finances, I think it can make them better. Alright? But all that is temporary. And I, I believe it, use it. It's practical, it's good, but it doesn't guarantee you an easy life. And if things get hard, are you still gonna follow Jesus? Are you still going to believe? Secondly, you have to, you trust his plan over your own. You gotta trust his plan. You've, again, you gotta accept Jesus for who he is. And it's not sort of partway, he's not just, you know, a multi-tool or something that you use to get what you want. He should be the object of your affection and your worship. And I, and I get it, you know, it's easy for us to wanna be in control and we think that we know, I'm telling you, his way is not always our way, but his way is better. Um, if you've ever remodeled, you know, part of a house, man isn't that tough? I mean, you're trying to figure out what's gonna look good, what doesn't. And you know, it's chaotic in the midst of it. You know, you're trying to get things done, dust everywhere. Things are not coming together. Schedules don't go the way you think that they should. I'll just tell you, um, we're, we're, we're trying to do some things in our kitchen right now, and my wife and I are just not great at, you know, color looks good to me. Does that go with that? I guess, but I don't know. Listen, if I hodgepodge it together, I guarantee you what's gonna happen. I'm gonna spend a bunch of money, stand back and look at it and think, gosh, what was I thinking? You know, that probably didn't 'cause my way is probably not best, but a friend of ours is a professional designer, very, very high end. And I'm telling you, it's so nice to be able to say, Hey, can you, can you just tell me, tell me what's gonna look good here with this, this is what we're doing and so forth. And, and I'm telling you, I take really good joy. I have a lot more security and confidence that in the end it's all gonna go together. Why? Because she's a professional, knows what she's doing. She knows how colors are warm and cold and all. I don't even get that. Alright, whatever. I didn't know you could temperature, check colors, whatever. But I don't have to, I don't have to get it. I don't have to understand. I just believe that she has the knowledge, the ability, the talent to put it together and make it all work. And you know what? The timeline may not go as I want. It may be messy and chaotic, but here's what you should do. Look in your life, trust his plan for your past. If you're a follower of Jesus, look, the Bible says that your past will no longer condemn you. Your sins will never stand against you. That God has drowned them in the deepest of seas. He's cast them as far as the yeast is to the West. I mean, they go out from him continually. He remembers them no more. Why? Because what Jesus did is Jesus who was innocent, he paid for our sins on the cross through the shedding of his blood, it covers over and it removes that sin from us. And God sees the righteousness of Jesus, which has been imposed upon you. You become his child. And you know, you know God has done for you things in the past. You know that he's shown up in different ways. You know, he's revealed himself to you. You gotta remember, look, don't let the enemy lie you your past, the wrongs that you've done, they're gone. They're forgiven. But also remember where God has shown you and revealed himself and, and done things for you that he didn't have to, because in the present, how do you trust him? Even when things are chaotic? Well, God's remember, he's concerned about your heart. He wants to change your life. So he is teaching you something. There's some lesson in all of that. And even when you don't understand it, things don't come together. I think about the disciples mean, they, they couldn't connect all the dots. All that was enfolding in front of them and what Jesus was doing, and, and they're responding and, and you know, they don't have it figured out, but the answers are coming. The Bible tells us that we should rejoice in trials and tribulations. We should expect them. Why? Because that's an opportunity. You gotta ask the question, okay? God, I'm trusting you. It's hard, and I think you can pour out, all right, your emotion. Uh, God's big enough. See, I don't understand what's going on here, but I just, I am committing. I look at the example of King David in the Old Testament, in the Psalms, and what he does, these are his prayers. And he starts out lament, God, I don't know what's going on. My enemy's around me, God, have you forsaken me? But then he turns and he says, but I, I believe your sovereign, you're true. You're there. And I give you my praise. I worship you and I trust you. It's basically, you see that unfolding, and that's the value of prayer. Trust him. Trust him for your future. Trust him for your eternity. Know that he's, doesn't matter what happens in this life for how bad one day, again, he cares about your eternity. He wants you with him forever. God will make it okay, but you gotta trust him. Well, this is where a lot of people miss it. When it comes to what is a saving faith? Well, you have to surrender to his kingship. Third thing, surrender to his kingship. It's more than just mental ascent. Um, it's counterintuitive, um, because surrender, you know, feel like that's giving up. But surrender equals victory in your life. Why? Because it's, it's not about you. You just gotta give in. You just gotta follow. You just have to trust. I, um, I, I enjoy traveling and I'm really grateful that I've had, you know, some good opportunities. One of the best trips, uh, I went on in my life was with Don and Julie Kosh. Alright? Don and Julie are from Hawaii. They're, uh, uh, Japanese descent. Uh, Don had been to Japan multiple times, and so we went with them to Japan. I'll just tell you, I, I look forward to going on a trip where I don't have to make decisions. I look forward to just being able to show up, smile and trust, and know, you know what? I, I know whoever I'm with, they're going and they know where, where to go, what to do, and what's really important to me. They know where to eat. Alright, well, good. I'm just gonna smile and enjoy. I don't have to control it. I can just sit back because I'm trusting the person that I'm with. We had a great time. I don't even, I can't even tell you where we were, but I had a great time because I didn't worry about it. There's freedom in that. There is joy in that. And, and people think, you know, accepting Jesus when it's about religion, it's just about, you know, making Jesus part of your toolkit. No, think of it like this. When I share personally with people, I often use this to help them understand really what saving faith is. If you could imagine, um, you know, you've worked hard in your life and maybe you've actually attained, achieved your dream car. If you're a car person, think about what that would be. I mean, any car, that's your car, man, you finally, you have it and you're driving and you know Jesus, you know of him, you see him. I mean, you've heard all about him. And you see Jesus who gets your attention and you pull over and Jesus leans over and he saw, Hey, I want to get in. You're like, yeah, Jesus, come on. Get in. And he pauses and says, yeah, the only way I'm gonna get in is if you give me the driver's seat. I'm not gonna get in and take the back seat. I'm not gonna get in and, and take the passenger seat. See, what I'm saying is that car represents your life. You've been controlling, you've been steering, you've been gas pedal, brake pedal, you've been driving. But what Jesus is saying is, the only way that I'm going to get in, I, I'm not going to be a passenger. You gotta give me control. That's the only way it works. And so I, I want to ask you, have you really chosen to follow the real Jesus? Have you not just believed with your mind, not given just mental ascent, but said, Jesus, I surrender to your kingship. You are Lord, I give you control of my life, as sincerely as you know how to the best of your ability. Have you done that? Choose the real Jesus. Today, in these moments, I, I wanna pray and I'm gonna pray for you. And I'm gonna give you an opportunity to just, just with your lips, verbalize a prayer back. And I wanna encourage you, the words are not necessarily, it's not, um, some incantation. This is just an expression of the desire of your heart. It is believing that Jesus is who he claims to be. That he was God of the flesh without sin, yet he went to the cross to die, to pay for the sins that you deserve. You deserve to pay for you deserve the punishment. But Jesus, he paid for them and he rose from the dead to offer you forgiveness and eternal life. And you're just going to receive that with the desire out of gratitude to follow him earnestly. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, thank you that you love us. Thank you that you have revealed yourself. And God, I know that your word says that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So Lord, we call on you. Now, Jesus, I believe that you are the son of God, that you lived your life without sin, yet you took my sin and you paid for it there on the cross. Jesus, I'm a sinner. I've sinned many times, many ways, but I not only ask for your forgiveness, but I believe that you have the power to forgive me and Jesus. I believe that you rose from the dead. And so Jesus, I receive the gift of eternal life. And I ask you to help me to be all that you want me to be. Help me to live in a different way, new way, a better way. God, thank you for loving me and saving me in Jesus' name. Amen.