"Who Is This?" | Sunday Rewind
Have you ever been guilty of not seeing someone for who they truly are?I know for me that has happened more that I want to admit. We misjudge people. We make assumptions. We miss the reality of who they are.
The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. “Who is this?” they asked. And the crowds replied, “It’s Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”Matthew 21:10-11
Jesus had entered the city of Jerusalem during the Passover. The crowds were all around Him. People were calling out to him and making declarations about Him as He proceeded into the city of Jerusalem that day on the back of a donkeys colt.Scripture tells us that the people asked, "WHO IS THIS?"Many people that day simply saw Jesus as a prophet. They missed it. They missed who He is and what He was declaring about Himself as He rode into town that day.
HOW WE SEE JESUS SHAPES WHAT WE EXPECT FROM HIM.
Many are asking the same question about Jesus today: Who is this?Some see Him as simply a good teacher, a prophet, or a miracle worker. The problem is if that is the extent of how we see Him, that is all we can expect from Him. If He is simply a good teacher, than all He can offer me is some good moral advice to help improve my life. If He is just a prophet, than He can simply predict future events. If He is just a miracle worker, than I can only trust Him with the temporary physical needs in my life.But as Jesus rode into town that day, He revealed that He was much more than these things.Jesus revealed Himself as:OUR KINGFour hundred years before Jesus would ride in to Jerusalem, Zechariah prophesied about the coming Messiah coming like a King to deliver and bring victory to God's people. Matthew 21:5 quotes Zechariah 9:9 and declares that this King will be riding on a donkeys colt. Jesus revealed to us that He is King. OUR SAVIORIn Matthew 21:9 the people were crying out to Jesus using the word Hosanna which means 'Save Now'. It is a plea from oppressed people for deliverance. They were looking for a political salvation, while Jesus was focused on bringing a spiritual salvation. OUR SUBSTITUTEThis whole sequence of events takes place during the Passover. Since the Exodus, the people of God had taken time to remember and celebrate God's provision of salvation and deliverance through the Passover Lamb. Jesus enters the city to accomplish for us what we could not accomplish for ourselves. He is our Passover Lamb (see 1 Corinthians 5:7). Jesus entered Jerusalem with purpose - to die in our place.
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.Isaiah 53:4-6
As we head toward Easter Sunday and celebrate the New Life and hope that we have in Jesus, it is vital that we see Him for who He truly is!"WHO IS THIS?"How we answer that question is vital, and something that each of us must do. [divider]SUNDAYREWIND will be an ongoing series of blogs, giving a snapshot of what we are teaching at Life Center Baker.