Crowds Can Be Fickle

Jesus was very popular in his day. Remember how his humble entrance into Jerusalem was met with an enthusiastic crowd? “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!’” (Matthew 21:8-9). These folks were so enthusiastic they actually took their cloaks off and put them on the ground for Jesus to walk on. They even acknowledged Jesus as the one “who comes in the name of the Lord (verse 8), and “the prophet from Nazareth” (verse 11).

A “crowd” is simply “a large number of people gathered together, typically in a disorganized way.” It is “a throng pressed closely together, united by a common characteristic.” All that can be said for sure is that a crowd is a large gathering of people at one time and place. A crowd is not a community, but it is impressively large.

Because a crowd involved a large number of human beings, Jesus often took advantage of such a gathering to teach about God’s Kingdom. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). Because the crowd had no clear sense of direction, because they only gathered as a result of having been scattered, Jesus had compassion for them. He realized their need for a true shepherd if they were to find their way. “A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill” (Matthew 12:15; see also 14:14). Jesus saw the fundamental dysfunction of the crowd and he reached out to heal them. “Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them” (Matthew 15:30; see also 19:2). Jesus saw the brokenness in the crowd and he took the time to touch their lives.

There were other times when Jesus purposely avoided the crowd. “When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake” (Matthew 8:18). That seems like an odd strategy. Why walk away from the crowd? There were times when Jesus insisted on ministering to someone in need “away from the crowd” (Mark 7:33). At other times Jesus seemed to be intentionally driving a crowd away (or at least greatly reducing its size) by giving a difficult if not offensive teaching (Mark 8:34-35; Luke 11:29; John 6:24, 66). At times Jesus simply instructed his disciples to “send the crowd away” (Luke 9:12).

We love the sight of a crowd. It gives us a feeling of success when we see a crowd responding to our call to gather. Even though Jesus spoke about him being with “two or three” who gathered in his name, we feel like a failure when it is only a small number gathering. But the fact is, there may be a fairly high level of covenant relationship in the smaller group. It takes no commitment at all to be a part of a crowd. Jesus refused to be impressed by the crowd or to entrust his mission to the crowd. Instead, Jesus focused his primary ministry and teaching on the twelve. Jesus seemed to be more impressed by the level of personal connection with key individuals than he was with his ability to attract a large number of people at a certain time and place.

A tragic part of the Easter story is the fact that the very crowd that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday was the same one calling for his crucifixion on Good Friday. “But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed” (Matthew 27:20). I’m sure they had been expecting Jesus to continue his conquest of Jerusalem that began on Palm Sunday. After all, he had demonstrated his Messianic mission the next day by cleansing the temple, announcing a new administration in the temple and the city. So why had he allowed himself to be arrested by the temple police? Why was he now standing on trial before the Roman governor? So when Pilate asked the crowd what to do with Jesus, they responded, “Crucify him” (Matthew 27:22). When Pilate asked for their reasons, “they shouted all the louder, ‘Crucify him!’” (verse 23). After Pilate insisted on some form of justice, the crowd replied, “His blood is on us and on our children” (verse 25). Crowds can be fickle!

It’s not uncommon for crowds to gather on Easter Sunday morning. It seems like the proper religious thing to do. But only one thing matters; what is the actual state of your soul? To what extent are you really serious about following Jesus at every point in your life? How committed are you to the Lordship of Jesus? Beyond that, how committed are you to a specific family of brothers and sisters? Or do you find comfort and anonymity by hiding in the crowd? Our prayer for you on this great Easter morning is that you find a real, permanent place on God’s family. Jesus died for you! Jesus has risen from the dead! And Jesus is coming again!

Resurrection: Who Needs It?

There are some very important differences and distinctives to our Christian faith when compared to other faith traditions. Grace is certainly a key truth: to quote my friend Pastor Lamar, “God is not fair, but God is very good.” Ours is also the only faith that loves and serves a risen savior. Moses came down from the mountain with ten commandments written on stone, but Moses did not rise from the dead. Buddha defined a way of life for people in Asia, but Buddha did not rise from the dead. Mohammed called for religious unity among the Arabian tribes, but Mohammed did not rise from the dead. Our Easter claim goes beyond a commitment to the life and teachings of Jesus; it supersedes the importance of the death of Jesus on the cross.  We literally claim that our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, rose from the dead on the third day; that he is alive today, seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, having all authority in heaven and on earth. We claim that Jesus is ruling today, and one day, at the end of the age, will return to set up his headquarters on planet earth.

But why do we believe these things to be true? What difference does it make, really? There are over 100 references to the resurrection in the New Testament. When the disciples decided to replace Judas as a member of their company, a key qualification was that he must be “a witness with us of his resurrection” (Acts 1:22). When Peter preached his first sermon on the Day of Pentecost the fact of the resurrection was a key theme. “This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (Acts 2:23-24), and “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it” (Acts 2:32). When Paul began preaching the Gospel he followed the apostolic practice of clearly declaring the reality of the resurrection. “When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead.  God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay” (Acts 13:29-30, 34), and “For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).

It’s apparent that the Old Testament had already provided several interesting pictures of the resurrection of Jesus. The offering of Isaac by his father Abraham foreshadowed the death and resurrection of the Son (see Hebrews 11:17, 19). For Jesus, the three days Jonah spent in the big fish showed his experience of death and resurrection (see Matthew 12:40). In fact, there are several passages that seem to refer specifically to the resurrection of Jesus. “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay” (Psalm 16:9-10), and “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:10-11).

In fact, Jesus himself clearly prophesied his own resurrection. “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (Matthew 16:21), and “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:19; see also Matthew 16:21 &  27:63).

So why was the resurrection of Jesus necessary? What did it accomplish?

1.      It fulfilled God’s plan of redemption. The work of Christ in redeeming and restoring humanity to God’s original purpose would not have been possible without the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1, 4).

2.      The resurrection served as a sign and a seal on everything Jesus claimed to be and do. Without the resurrection, Jesus might have been viewed as a righteous martyr and good teacher, but not necessarily God’s Son (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17-22).

3.      The resurrection replaced death with a whole new quality of life; divine, abundant life, a life that is now available to all who have accepted Jesus and become a member of his family (John 11:25-26; Romans 8:11).

The beautiful thing is that the resurrection of Jesus is a verifiable historical fact. As Luke recorded, Jesus offered a large group of personal eyewitnesses “many infallible proofs” of his resurrection (Acts 1:3), a topic for another time. As followers of Jesus you and I can be absolutely certain of what we believe to be true; we can stake our lives on, as countless others have already done.

Most importantly, every human person has the opportunity to embrace the new life Jesus has provided for us. We are invited to accept and believe; we are offered abundant life – today! And for this we will be eternally grateful. 

A Public Spectacle

I sometimes wonder whether or not we fully understand and appreciate all Jesus has done for us. Even before the “only begotten God” was poured into humanity on that first Christmas morning, he had been actively involved in creation, in redemption, and in the calling out of a covenant community. But to reverse the curse, more was needed. And so Jesus came, “born of a woman, born under the law.” In his life and ministry Jesus announced the coming of the Kingdom and modeled a life lived in union with the Father. Some loved him and followed him; others hated him and plotted his demise.

Then came that week, those eight days we refer to as “Holy Week.” Every day was significant (more about this next week), but the culmination came on Friday. Do we really see all that Jesus accomplished during those Friday hours?

Theologians love to debate “theories of the atonement.” No matter what you favorite definition I think we can agree that Jesus accomplished a great work:

1.   Jesus died to paint a picture of the love of God. The extent to which God was willing to go to restore humanity to full fellowship was graphically shown on the cross.

2.   Jesus died to paint a picture of God’s hatred of sin. While God loves every human person with a perfect love, God hates sin with a perfect hatred. It is sin that is killing the human race; it is sin that has warped the very fiber of God’s good creation. Because God is holy, God can perfectly hate sin while perfectly loving sinners.

3.   Jesus died to deal a death blow to the kingdom of Satan. With the fall of the human race the authority of Adam and Eve was assumed by Satan; with the death of Jesus that authority was snatched away by Jesus, who even now rules as King of kings and Lord of lords.

4.   Jesus died to pay the price for the human rebellion against God, to provide enough grace to cancel out all human sin. Because Jesus was fully human and fully divine, his death was sufficient to take the place of every human being, to win salvation for everyone.

The apostle Paul put it so well: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by  Christ,  having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:9-12). Jesus was not just a simple carpenter from Nazareth; the fullness of Deity existed in his physical body – a mystery. The fullness of humanity also existed in Christ, making it possible for fallen human beings to begin their journey back to completion. Jesus came as the King of God’s kingdom, having all the authority of heaven behind him. This is the Jesus we have identified ourselves with.

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14). Every human being is born separated from God; death is the only possible outcome for human existence apart from God. It was Jesus who took our death penalty on himself; it was Jesus who took all the evidence proving our guilt and nailed it to the cross. But more than that, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:15). Like a triumphant Roman general, Jesus won the decisive victory against all the powers of hell. Jesus stripped Satan and his army, taking away their authority, and led them naked through the streets for all to see. Some believers see Jesus accomplishing this grand victory at his second coming. Others see it happening on Easter Sunday morning. Paul declared that this public spectacle happened on the cross! When Jesus said, “It is finished,” he was referring to all the work of salvation and restoration, to the establishment of his authority, not only in heaven but now also on the earth.

When Jesus freely, willingly poured his life out to restore humanity, to restore creation, he was showing the world his love for the Father, his love for human persons, his commitment to defeat the enemy of sin, and his authority over Satan. Remember Job. Satan accused God of a failed attempt to create beings who would willingly love and serve God. Satan claimed that people serve God only when he blesses them; that if the blessings were taken away, they would not serve God. Satan claimed that human beings would never freely love God just because he was God. Job proved Satan wrong. Even more profoundly, Jesus proved Satan wrong on the cross. And now we have the opportunity to prove Satan wrong, by deciding to turn to God and receive the salvation Jesus accomplished for us. Now we can decide to love God – just because he is God. That is eternal life!

"Innocent!"

Imagine that you are being brought to trial for a crime you have committed. You’ve been able to get the best attorney in town to represent you. You have compiled as much evidence as possible, trying to prove your innocence, and if not prove your innocence, trying to reduce the consequences of your crime as much as possible. Unfortunately, the simple fact is this: You are guilty! And you are guilty of a crime that is so heinous you must pay for it with your life.

Now imagine that the person you have committed the crime against is the Creator and King of the universe. The Creator designed and made a race of creatures so unique and special, he determined to make them his personal friends and partners in creation. But instead they decided to declare their independence and go their own way. As a result, they brought evil and death into what had been a perfect creation. It is an infinite crime committed against an infinite God. The very nature of the crime has resulted in separation from God – death – and the ultimate penalty of the crime, eternal separation from God.

But that’s not the end of the story. You see, the King, who is also the Judge, has appointed his only-begotten Son to be the defense attorney. When the evidence proved to be overwhelming and the Judge was about to pronounce the verdict, the defense attorney came forward and offered to pay the penalty for the crime. Because the defense attorney is also God, his life has infinite value, and the giving of his life can therefore provide a sufficient penalty to cover the crimes of every human criminal. And when the Son gives his life the Judge pronounces the verdict – Innocent!

This is the miracle we are celebrating during the Easter season – the miracle of forgiveness. But forgiveness is also a scandal. Forgiveness is a breach of justice. When someone is proven to be guilty and justice calls for an appropriate penalty, forgiveness gives up the right to exact that penalty and lets the offender go free. Though guilty, we are forgiven and released from the penalty of our crimes.

In Christian theology we call this “justification.” When I taught a freshman level doctrine course in the past we described “justification” under four headings:

1. Justification is the removal of guilt. We are declared to be innocent even though we have been proven to be guilty.  We are no longer condemned but stand in right relationship with God.  Christ is our Advocate--He paid our penalty and gave us His righteousness.  As a result our guilt has been removed from us.  We are no longer sinners but saints (set apart ones). 

2.   Justification is the pardon of penalty. Through the cross our sin is paid for and a way is made for us to be reunited to God.  The penalty of death and all the consequences of sin are also removed.  In justification, sin on our account is put on Christ's account and the righteousness of God on Christ's account is transferred to our account.  To be righteous in the sight of God we must receive Christ's atonement.  Sin was removed from Christ's account at the point of His death on the cross.

3.   Justification is the imputation of righteousness. When Christ puts His righteousness on our account we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

4. Justification is a change of position. We now stand in right relationship with God. Justification frees us to grow in our personal relationship with God.

The scandal of forgiveness is a scandal of injustice. If someone is guilty, they must be punished. (“You do the crime, you do the time.”) As the Righteous Judge of the Universe God certainly has every right to exact judgment upon the human race. Instead, God found a way to erase the penalty and create the possibility of forgiveness – and that way is Jesus. The birth, life, ministry, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus paid the price. And now, we can be forgiven and set free.

However, God will not force forgiveness and freedom on us. We have to want it; we have to ask for it. And that begins by simply realizing our need for forgiveness. No amount of good works will be sufficient to pay the penalty for our crimes against God. Our only hope is to confess our sins and our need for forgiveness, to turn our hearts to God, to acknowledge that Jesus is the Savior and Lord, and to receive God’s grace and mercy. Then we are forgiven, we are free. It may be a scandal, but where would we be if God gave us what we deserved?

Forgiveness then becomes a lifestyle for the forgiven. You can’t live for very long without someone sinning against you, and justice calls for a penalty. But the infinitely forgiven followers of Jesus are in a position to pay it forward. It’s a miracle. And it’s a scandal. But it is a beautiful kind of scandal. 

"Grace to You"

There must be something we can do to contribute to our salvation! Right? If God is ruling over a moral universe, holding the scales of justice in his hand, then it is up to us to contribute more to the moral side than the evil side of those scales. In a recent survey George Barna discovered that 72% of American Christians believe that it is possible to earn your way into heaven through good works. It’s all about accumulating enough “brownie points” to convince God to not send you to hell. In this balanced, moralistic world, some good works are worth more brownie points than others, and some sins are worth more demerits than others. Living this kind of religious life requires a clear understanding of how this whole system works, and hoping you don’t die before getting a chance to balance the scales.

The story is told of how C. S. Lewis once walked into a theological discussion at his favorite pub. The “Inglings” were discussing the question, “What is the one thing most unique about Christian faith?” They suggested a belief in a Messiah, belief in a savior, belief in resurrection, etc. Finally, Lewis said, “That’s easy. The most distinctive Christian belief is the doctrine of “grace.” “Grace” is one of those words we often use – it is part of our “Christianese” – but we rarely take the time to define it. Simply put, “grace” is divine ability (as opposed to human ability). Grace is “unmerited favor”; it is a free gift from God with no strings attached. “Grace” is God rescuing us because we are completely powerless to rescue ourselves.

When Jesus came as the perfect picture of God, he came “full of grace” (John 1:14). We are rescued from sin and the consequences of sin by grace (Ephesians 2:8). As Christ-followers, everything we are and everything we are able to do (that matters for eternity) is due purely to God’s grace (1 Corinthians 15:10).

If we can’t do anything to earn or deserve grace, how do we receive it? What makes us a candidate for grace? Consider the scripture in James 4:6: “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." It is God who freely gives us his grace, and who gives us as much as we need. However, we must be positioned in a way that will enable us to receive the grace God is pouring out on us. According to James, the one essential factor to receiving grace (and more grace) is “humility.” God gives grace to the humble. Not only that, God resists the proud. A proud person says, “I don’t need help. I can do it by myself.” The humble person understands the depth of his/her need. They have come to realize that apart from grace, no lasting progress is possible. A humble person is not above saying, “I need you. I need help.”

Jesus wrote a letter to the church in ancient Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22). This church was “lukewarm” because their attitude was, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing” (v. 17), or literally, “I have no need.” As human beings rescued by the grace of God you would think they would have known better. Their pride (spiritual pride is the worse kind) led them to conclude that they had no need. Jesus had to adjust their attitude by saying, “You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (v. 17). In fact, apart from God every human being is only wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. It’s only God’s grace that has the power to lift us above our fallenness and pride. Jesus is the only one who has the ability to give us what we truly need.

After Jesus healed the blind man in John 9, he stated, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind” (v. 39). We don’t read any examples in the Gospels of Jesus making someone blind, so what was he saying? The fact is, every human being, apart from God’s grace, is blind. It’s just that not everyone knows they are blind. And Jesus cannot heal their blindness until they know they are blind and position themselves to receive healing. That meaning is clear in the response of the Pharisees: “What? Are we blind too?” (v. 40), to which Jesus answered, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains” (v. 41). In other words, because the Pharisees did not recognize their own blindness, Jesus was not able to heal them so they could really see. They were not candidates for God’s grace.

The first step of Alcoholics Anonymous is, “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.” Real transformation flows out of a deep understanding of one’s powerlessness, of one’s fundamental neediness. Only then can step two be confessed: “We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” Receiving a greater Power is only fully realized when we are fully convinced of our absolute dependence on that Power – on God’s grace. Grace – more grace, greater grace – is available to us. To be a candidate for grace, we must be fully convinced of our need for grace. And we have a desperate need for grace every moment of every day. The Good News is this: There are no brownie points in heaven; all sin has an equally destructive effect on our souls; all good works are dead apart from the energizing of God’s Spirit; Jesus came full of grace, ready to exchange his life for ours. All we have to do is humble ourselves, open our hearts and lives, and freely receive his grace. Are you ready?!