LOOKING AT JESUS

CONTENTS

1. THE UNIQUENESS OF JESUS Based on John 7:25-46

2. OUR EXCELLING EXAMPLE Based on John 13:1-17

3. HIS STEADFAST FACE Based on John 19:1-16

4. THE GENTLE ENCOURAGER Based on Matt. 12:9,15-21

5. THE ANGRY KING Based on Matt. 21:1-17

6. THE MASK OF THE MASTER MARK 1:21-28

7. THE GREAT PHYSICIAN MARK 2:1-12

8. THE HANDS OF THE HEAD Based on Mark 6:1-6

9. THE MIND OF THE MASTER Based on Luke 2:40-52

10. FOCUS ON FEET Based on Luke 7:36-50

11. JESUS HAD A SENSE OF HUMOR Text for starting Luke 10:21

12. OUR DETERMINED SAVIOR based on Luke 9:51-62

13. OUR KING'S GLAD FACE Based on Luke 19:28-44

14. THE KING IN TEARS Based on Luke 19:29-48

15. HIS HIDDEN FACE Based on Luke 24:13-35

16. THE TRIUMPHANT KING Based on John 12:12-19

17. THE FACE OF CHRIST Based on II Cor. 4:1-6

18. JESUS IS EVERYTHING Based on Rev. 1:5

19. WHO IN THE WORLD IS KING? Based on Rev. 1:5

20. WORTHY IS THE LAMB Based on Rev. 5:1-14

1. THE UNIQUENESS OF JESUS Based on John

7:25-46

An advertisement that was originally printed in the

Miner's Magazine as a serious add was later published by

the Reader's Digest as humor. The ad read, "Wanted:

Man to work on nuclear fissionable isotope molecular

reactive counter and three-phase cyclotronic uranium

photosynthesizers. No experience necessary." Of course, it

was a joke. No one is that unique. On the other hand, how

can you find anyone with experience in a field that never

existed before?

The New Testament has a similar problem in the spiritual

realm. The complex task of saving sinners, and yet

remaining just an absolutely loyal to his nature of holiness

was God's problem. Of course, it is only a problem from our

point of view. In His eternal wisdom it was solved before the

world began. The job called for an extremely unique person.

He had to be fully man, for only a man could live a perfect

human life. If he was not truly man, the life he lived would

not be truly human. Yet, only God could insure that such a

life could be lived. The paradox is that only God could do

what was necessary, but it could only be done as a man. The

solution could only be Jesus Christ-the God-Man. All the

paradoxes and problems of the relationship of God and man

are resolved in Christ who was both.

Robert C. Moyer wrote, "In Jesus divine omnipotence

moved in a human arm. In Jesus divine wisdom was cradled

in a human brain. In Jesus divine love throbbed in a human

heart. In Jesus divine compassion glistened in a human eye.

In Jesus divine grace poured forth from human lips." Jesus

was the most unique of all men, but not just because He was

God, but rather, because He was really man. That is, He

was the only complete example of ideal manhood ever seen

on this planet. Adam was the only other man who was ever

perfect in his manhood, and he fell. Jesus alone lived a

perfect human life. Jesus was unique, not just because He

was more than a man, but because He was fully a man. He

was the man par-excellence.

We need, therefore, to stress His humanity as He did of

Himself. His favorite name for Himself was the Son of Man.

In the bureau of standards in Washington there is a gold bar

exactly one yard long which is the standard by which every

measuring instrument in the United States is judged. There

has to be one, and only one, final absolute standard. Jesus is

that standard in the realm of human life, morality, and

character. As deity He was no standard for human life.

Only as man did He become our standard and ideal. In the

incarnation the human ideal became real.

Herman Horne points out that realism and idealism are

combined in Jesus Christ. He writes, "Human nature at its

possible best gives us the ideals for man. If we want to know

what the ideals of man's complete living are, we must know

what human nature is at its best; what it's elements are;

what it is possible for each element to attain in its

development. Thus the real is the basis of the ideal; the real

at its best is the ideal; the real is the actual; the ideal is what

is possible for the real to become. Such idealism as this has

its feet on the ground; is practical. Idealism without

reference to what the real can become is visionary."

Christian idealism is based on the real of Christ. Jesus is the

example of what the real man can become. He is the ideal

which we shall attain, for we shall be like Him when we see

Him as He is, according to John.

Meanwhile, it is our task to learn of Him, and strive

toward His ideal manhood. Paul said in Eph. 4:12-13 that

the gifts of Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and

teachers was, "For the equipment of the saints, for the work

of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all

attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the

Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the

stature of the fullness of Christ." He is our standard, and we

are to measure up to Him as the goal of all our study,

listening, worship, and service as Christians.

O Man of the far away ages,

O Man of the far away land,

More art Thou than all of the sages,

More art Thou than creed or command.

To crown Thee we need but to know Thee;

We need but to live Thee to prove,

For time nor decay can o'er throw Thee-

Humanity's ultimate Love.

Author unknown

Jesus has no competitors in the field of perfect manhood.

Hunter Blakely writes, "Men can conceive nothing higher

than to be Christ like. It is significant that non-Christians

all around the world have been revising the character of

their deities with one purpose--to bring them into

conformity with Christ. Mohammed is not compared with

Buddha, nor Confucius with Krishna, but one in all are

brought before the moral masterpiece, and the question has

to be answered, is it Christ like?"

Jesus is universal because of the perfect balance of his

manhood. He combines in his life and character every type

of human goodness. He fits into every age and culture.

Whatever goodness is being emphasized in a particular age it

will be found exhibited at its best in Jesus. This uniqueness

of Jesus in combining every value of manhood in perfect

balance can be abused. All men have to do is take one aspect

of Jesus and exaggerate it as the whole, and ignore the facts

that bring balance, and thereby have a Christ for their

cause. W. A. Vissert Hooft, former president of the World

Council of Churches, an author of numerous books, gives

concrete examples of this abuse.

He writes, "...There is an 18th century Jesus who looks

strangely like a dignified free-mason, and a 19th century

Jesus, who resembles in all essentials an enlightened

democrat of the liberal variety. There is the revolutionary

Jesus of the Communist Barbusse, the pacifist of Tolstoy; the

militant Jesus of the Kiser. There is the Aryan Christ of

H.S. Chamberlain and the "German Christians;" the Jewish

Christ of the liberal Jews, the Russian Christ of Dostoievsky.

The Indian Christ of Radakrishman. Some of these portraits

are better than others. Some are naive or cynical attempts

to exploit Jesus for some cause which has no imaginable

relation to his message and mission. Others are attempts to

honor him by bringing him into the closest possible relation

to the concrete realities of our time. All, however, reveal a

tendency to use this man for some extraneous purpose which

originates, not from him, but from some other source."

It is good for us to be aware of this as we study Jesus.

Wherever there is power there is exploitation and abuse, and

in Jesus Christ there is great power, for even as a great man,

apart from his deity, his influence is great. If you can

persuade others that Jesus backs your program and ideas,

you have the best possible support. Let us keep in mind,

therefore, that Jesus Christ is the perfect man with perfect

balance. No cause has exclusive claim on Christ, nor does

the advocate of any particular virtue. Perfect balance must

characterize any true study of the character and teaching of

Jesus.

Take the question of whether Jesus was manly or

womanly in character. Some authors will dwell exclusively

on his strength and courage. Others will magnify his

compassion, gentleness, and loving care of children. Both

are right, but both are wrong if they imply their picture is

the whole of Christ. Jesus combines in his personality the

ideals of both sexes. Perfect manhood must combine the

virtues of male and female. How could Jesus be the example

and standard for all if he had none of the feminine ideals in

his character. Westcott wrote, "Whatever there is in men of

strength, justice, and wisdom; whatever there is in women of

sensibility, purity, and insight, is in Christ without the

conditions which hinder among us the development of

contrasted virtues in one person." Failure to keep this

balance led to the feminine virtues of Jesus being forgotten

in the Middle Ages. Jesus was presented as just and severe.

Men longed for tenderness and compassion also, and the

result was that Mary was exalted to provide these qualities.

Mariolatry could have been avoided had a full picture of

Christ been presented to men.

In reaction to the Christ of severity a pietistic Christ was

developed. Sentimentalism characterize the Christian, and

Christ was made effeminate. Men left the church to the

women and children, for they sensed Christ had nothing to

offer to fulfill the masculine aspirations of life. We are still

suffering from this defective portrait today. A balance view

of Christ would reveal he is the perfect ideal of both the

masculine and feminine. He redeems the best in both.

Christ has done more to lift womanhood to a level of dignity

and respect than all the religions of the world combined. We

should rejoice that Christianity is a woman's religion, for

our mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters are women, and in

Christ they can be the best of women. Women feel that no

man really understands their feelings, and they are probably

right, but Jesus, the unique and perfect man, understands

completely.

There is no male and female in Christ, for he combines

both in one complete whole. This is why we see women

following Jesus, and being loyal to him all the way even

through his crucifixion. It is good and wonderful that this is

so, but men must also see the masculine Christ. The Christ

in our text could make such an impression on the officers

sent to arrest him that they were afraid to lay hands on him.

When they reported back to the Pharisees without him, their

reason was, "No man ever spoke like this man." This is the

testimony of his enemies. They said he was the most unique

of men. He spoke with such authority, power, and certainty.

He was a leader of men and captured the allegiance of strong

men like Peter, and zealous men like Simon the Zealot. He

offered men a challenge that called for the best that a man

can be. Jesus calls all men to heroism. He calls him to take

up the cross and follow him.

The history of heroic men is the history of those who have

followed Jesus Christ. Our first conviction about the

manhood of Christ must be that he was unique. Not only did

no man ever speak like him, no man ever lived like him.

Grace N. Crowell wrote,

“One man alone to change the ways of men!

One humble man to draw the world to him!

Never before, nor will there be again His like-

The stars made fade, and the sun's light dim,

And still no one will walk as once he walked,

Among the lowly, healing every ill,

And still no man will talk as once he talked,

To teach mankind to heed God's holy will.

Never a man like this-no one at all

Moves as he moves within a circling light.

Head-high above all others, straight and tall

He stands, imbued with power and with might.

He is the one, o men, who sacrificed

His life for ours--the loving, living Christ.”

It is when we see Jesus as one of a kind in his humanity

that we most see the reality of his deity. He was the most

unique of men.

2. OUR EXCELLING EXAMPLE Based on John

13:1-17

You cannot imitate what you do not know. Any parrot

who learns to swear does not reveal its own character, but

rather that of its owner and example. To copy or imitate by

definition implies an original to go by. It is the original that

determines the nature of the copy. This concept is not

limited to paper, metal and material objects. It applies to

human lives as well. Practically all of life is an imitation of

one philosophy or another, one principle or another, one

person or another.

We are not living totally unique and original lives, for

we are all following patterns that existed before, and they

were lived by millions before we were born. The better we

are acquainted with the pattern the more we conform to it as

a copy. This, of course, explains why Christians can often be

so unlike Christ, and so much like the world. They are so

much more acquainted with the world. The example of the

world is constantly before them, and they begin to imitate

that pattern. The example of Christ is one to which they are

so seldom exposed that there is little chance for imitation.

The painter who would imitate Rembrandt, or the

musician who would like to be a copy of Beethoven must

immerse themselves in the works of these men. They will

succeed only to the degree that they know the original they

seek to imitate. It is obvious that this holds true for the

Christian life as well. How can we be Christ like if we do not

know what He was like, and how He lived, and what He

taught?

Every experience that life brings is an opportunity to

imitate Christ, but how can we do so if we do not know how

He would respond? He had a home, He played, He worked,

He went to school, He had joys and blessings, He faced

embarrassment and trials, and He had social pressures. He

had to take a stand on social and political issues. He lived a

genuine involved and complicated human life filled with

decisions, and it is worth all of the effort needed to become

acquainted with His life.

Before we launch out into this sea of living water we

need to chart our way so as to stir clear of the island of

liberalism that attracts so many as a landing spot, and from

which they do not depart again. What I am referring to is

century has made much of Christ as an example. They

cannot be surpassed in their stress on Jesus being the

supreme example of humanity. It was a very attractive

religion, but unfortunately, even though it was Christ

centered, it was not Christianity. It was because the Christ

it exalted was divorced from His deity. His example and

teaching was isolated from His atonement, and this left Him

as an example period, and not the Savior and Lord.

Understandably, the Evangelicals opposed this diluted

theology, and stressed the atonement. When ever the life of

Christ was mentioned they would say, “Yes, but His death

was more important.” The result of this emphasis was a

neglect of the lessons we are to learn from our Lord’s life.

James Stalker, the evangelical author of Christ Our

Example, said, “It is time to object to these divisions. Both

halves of the truth are ours, and we claim the whole of it.”

Why should we be robbed of any of God’s precious truth in

Christ just because it can be perverted and abused? To let

error have the monopoly on any truth is an evil, and a

departure from God’s will.

We cannot rightly ignore any part of inspired

revelation. It leads to the philosophy that says, “Ignorance

is the mother of devotion.” Certain truths are confusing to

the people, and so the way to keep peace in the church is to

keep people ignorant. Such was the thinking of many in the

past, and it worked. There was only one casualty and that

was the truth. The result was a loss of true Christianity. No

amount of peace is worth that price. As evangelicals we dare

not yield to the temptation of ignoring and hiding any part

of God’s Word just because it can be perverted. Even the

deity of Christ was once so exalted for the purpose of

denying the reality of Christ’s humanity. In fact, this was

the first heresy in the early church. No one could be so

foolish as to ignore the deity of Christ just because it can be

abused. We are to hold forth all of God’s truth.

This long introduction is to clarify what we are doing.

We want it clear that what we will be studying is vital and

important, and it is given by God for our instruction, but in

itself it is an inadequate Christianity because Christ as our

example will not save us. We must know Christ as Lord,

and we must yield our lives to Him as our Redeemer, for it is

only from within the family of God that He is our example.

Once we become a child of God by accepting Christ as

Savior there is no higher goal in life than to be like Him.

This is the witness of the whole New Testament. “Learn

of me,” “Follow me,” said Jesus. “Let this mind be in you

which was also in Christ.” “Walk in love, as Christ also has

loved us.” Jesus said, “This is my commandment that you

love one another as I have loved you.” All we do is to be a

pattern of what Christ did. Rom. 15:2 says, “Let everyone

please his neighbor for his good to edification, for even

Christ pleased not himself.” Col. 3:13 says, “Forbearing one

another, and forgiving one another, even as Christ forgave

you, so also do ye.” When we can appeal to the example of

Christ for any attitude or conduct we stand on solid rock, for

what is Christ like is eternal.

And now to our text and to a specific case in which Jesus

is our example. This passage is a logical place to begin since

no one can miss it. Jesus states plainly in verse 15 that the

purpose of His action was to give His disciples an example to

follow. We have here one of the most basic passages in the

Word of God, for Jesus goes to special lengths to become an

example of humility. It doesn’t sound like such a big issue,

but John tells us if all was written that might be about

Christ, the world could not contain the books. If half a

chapter of his 21 can be devoted to this lesson on humility,

that means it is certainly a major issue from God’s point of

view.

Humility seems like such a dull virtue because of our

misconceptions. Like the Greeks and Romans, we don’t

have much time for self-depreciation. Like them we equate

humility with weakness, cowardice and inferiority, and none

of these are attractive. All of these false concepts are shed

quickly, however, when we look to Christ our example.

Humility is not stepping on yourself, or degrading yourself.

Jesus never did either of these things. It is a surrendering of

yourself to be most useful. Humility means availability. The

humble man is not so wrapped up in himself that he is never

available for the needs of others. Proud people are too busy

with their own agenda, but humble people will take time out

of their own pursuits to meet the needs of others. They are

the volunteers who do not have to do it, but they do because

it needs to be done.

Did humility in Christ mean a low self-estimate? Was

Jesus like the Carthusian monk who was describing his little

known order to a stranger saying, “As for learning, we are

not to be compared to the Jesuits, when it comes to good

works, we don’t match the Franciscans, as to preaching we

are not in a class with the Dominicans, but when it comes to

humility we are tops.” Such a concept of humility is

naturally laughable, for it means to specialize in inferiority.

If this was true humility, it would be an easy virtue to attain,

for the only requirement would be to do nothing. He who

can most magnify his inability becomes the most humble.

This foolishness has no part in the humility of Christ. No

one has ever had such a high estimate of himself. Jesus said,

“A greater than Solomon is here.” He said, “I am the light

of the world.” He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life,

no one comes to the Father but by Me.”

Look at our text where Jesus is emphasizing His

humility. Does He lower His self-estimate? Not at all. In

verse 13 He says that my calling me Lord and Master you

are right. That is just what made His act the highest

example of humility. It was His superiority which made His

act of washing their feet a great example of humility. It is

not humility for a servant to do so, but it is for a master to

do so. He did not hold on to His superiority and fear to

stoop lest He lose it. True humility is to use all of your

ability to serve. It is false humility to say you cannot serve

when you really are able. True humility is to say I will stoop

to do the job.

Humility is being strong and using that strength to lift

the weak. It is to wise and intelligent and using your gifts to

teach the less fortunate that they might share the values of

your advantage. True humility does not say I am nothing,

but it says I am something by the grace of God, and I can be

used of God to help others be something as well. Humility

puts the best of men into the service of the rest of us that we

all might be lifted to higher ground. The disciples needed

this virtue because they had the typical attitude that to be

special and superior should put you in a privileged position

of being served. They wanted to reign and not serve, but

Jesus made it clear that privilege and special ability is only

of value when it is used to serve.

Jesus is the greatest possible example of true humility.

He did not grasp at equality with God, but as Phil. 2:7-8

says, “But made of himself of no reputation and took upon

Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of

men....He humbles himself and became obedient unto death,

even the death of the cross.” The greatest act of service in

history was by the King of Kings when He died for the sins

of the world. Albert Schweitzer said, “Example is not the

main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.” Jesus

laid down His life as an example of just how much He loves

us, and there is no greater example of love than this in the

universe. He is our excelling example.

Someone has said that a good way to gain humility is to

read the help wanted ads. You will be surprised how many

positions there are which you are too ignorant, too

unattractive, or to old to fill. This is the false and negative

kind of humility. We look to Christ as our example, and He

teaches us a positive type of humility that says I have ability

and blessings which I will use, not for self-glorification, but

for the edification of others. Christ like humility is a virtue

of power and strength and not the popular concept of

anemic withdrawal.

A Christ like definition of humility is, the willingness to

give one’s self and any superiority he may have to the service

of others. The highest profession on earth, from God’s point

of view, is to be a servant. We haven’t begun to expound the

text, but have just seen the over all purpose of it. We want

to look at one detail lest we have a misconception. There are

Christians who take this message literally in terms of the

example Jesus used to teach His lesson. They continue to

wash one another’s feet in obedience to His words in verse

14. It is certainly not wrong to do so, but it severely limits

the application when the context makes it clear that the act

was filled with a non-literal spiritual significance.

In verse 7 Jesus shows that His act is symbolic of a

higher spiritual significance beyond the literal act of

washing. The question of verse 12 asks if they know what

He has done. Certainly they knew what He had done, but

the meaning was what was important. The washing of feet

was just a method of demonstrating the principle of

humility, and of the superior serving the lesser. They could

continue to use feel washing as a method of service because it

was a real necessity and a part of their daily lives. To

continue it in our culture is not really a service, for we don’t

need our feet washed when we are invited to eat with

someone. We do not wear sandals, nor do we set low on

couches with our feet near our food and another. It becomes

a mere ceremony as an end in itself, and it can lead to the

false view that one has fulfilled his obligation to be humble

by doing so. Jesus certainty did not take up such a large

portion of revelation to teach us to wash one another’s feet.

He is teaching us to follow His example as a total way of life

by giving ourselves to the service of others. This is Christ

like humility, and He is our excelling example.

3. HIS STEADFAST FACE Based on John 19:1-16

You never know when something embarrassing will happen

to you. We are constantly on guard, for we do not like to be

humiliated. Mrs. Howard Field was walking to a near by

funeral home for the funeral of an old acquaintance when

she saw an Easter bonnet that caught her eye. She went in

and purchased it. She felt it was improper to carry it into

the chapel, so she asked an usher to take care of it for her.

You can imagine her dismay when she saw it being placed

on the coffin with the flowers. At the grave site she hoped to

recover it, but she was too embarrassed to do anything, and

so she watched her new Spring hat lowered into the ground.

She hardly knew the woman being buried, but she was

weeping as sincerely as the immediate family.

Her embarrassment was real but hidden. In other

situations we cannot hide, and we are embarrassed by what

is beyond our control. The poet gives an example:

I sat next to the Bishop at tea;

It was just as I feared it would be.

His rumblings abdominal

Were simply phenomenal,

And everyone thought it was me.

Then there are the deliberate efforts to get a laugh at the

expense of others. It can be funny to embarrass others. This

is the motive behind roasts and many other types of humor.

We do this frequently as men. It is part of our sense of

humor. Sometimes it borders on the cruel, however. For

example, Bernard Shaw was browsing in a secondhand book

shop when he found a copy of one of his own books peeping

out at him from a dusty shelf. He looked at the inside cover

and found it was an autographed copy he had given to a

friend. He bought his own book just so he could return it to

the friend with these words on the flyleaf- "With renewed

compliments of Bernard Shaw." You can imagine the

embarrassment of the friend.

The desire to humble another can be just good fun, and

when people are friends it can be good for a laugh, even for

the one embarrassed. But there is also sadistic side of this

that we see dominating the whole scene of the trial of Jesus.

John chapter 19 is just one embarrassing scene after another

as the church and state try to manipulate each other by

means of humiliation. Pilate represents the state. He is the

power of Rome, the secular Gentile state. In the other

corner of the ring are the chief priests and officials of Israel.

They are the church, or the religious establishment in the

legal conflict over the issue if Jesus is worthy of being

sentenced to death.

It is one of the greatest paradoxes of history that the state

tried hard to release Jesus, but the religious leaders would

not let the state do what was just, but used the power of

humiliation to compel Pilate to send Jesus to the cross. Let

me share with you the clear facts of this great paradox of

that pagan secular state trying to do the right thing, but the

clever religious people thwarted justice, and manipulated the

state to join them in the evil plot to officially murder the only

perfectly innocent man who ever lived.

Pilate was a pagan, but he knew when a man was

innocent, and he knew Jesus was just such a man. In fact,

the Gospels tell us Pilate acknowledged seven times that

Jesus was innocent. We see three of them in our text. In

verse 4 Pilate said to the Jews, "Look, I am bringing Him

out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge

against Him." In verse 6 he says it again, "As for me, I find

no basis for a charge against Him." In verse 12 we read,

"Pilate tried to set Jesus free." The Gospels confirm that

Pilate found no fault in Jesus, and that he did seek to release

Him. Even his own wife had a dream about Jesus and

warned Pilate not to sentence Him. He tried every trick in

the book to set Jesus free. He even gave the people a choice

to let Barabbas or Jesus go free. He thought for sure they

would choose Jesus rather than a known violent killer, but

they did not.

The record is clear, Jesus was killed by religious people

and not secular people. The religious leaders forced Pilate to

give the order to Crucify Jesus. They embarrassed him into

it. Here were the people who had the promise of God to

have a Messiah sent to them, and they demanded that the

state put this Messiah to death. There is no guarantee that

in a conflict between the religious and secular that the

religious will always be right and the secular wrong. Pilate

was a pagan but he was right. Jesus was innocent of any

crime. So why did he give in and sentence Jesus to death?

It was because of the clever minds of the Jewish leaders.

They knew that Pilate dreaded the thought of being

embarrassed before the Emperor Tiberius Caesar. It would

be humiliating to have Caesar get a report that he had let a

rival king live when the Jews were clamoring for His death

in order to be loyal to Caesar. Caesar was touchy about

rivals as most tyrants are, and Pilate would feel more

comfortable standing before him naked than with the charge

against Him that He was a traitor in supporting a rival ruler.

The Jews knew this and they shout in verse 12, "If you let

this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims

to be a king opposes Caesar.

These hypocrites hated Caesar and would gladly see an

opponent take his throne, but they knew this threat would

be more than Pilate could defy. They were right, and Pilate

was humiliated into handing Jesus over to be crucified. He

played by their dirty rules to the end, however. Even

knowing Jesus was innocent, he had Him flogged and

mocked, and presented to the Jews as a pathetic king. He

hoped to embarrass them by mocking their fear of Jesus.

In verse 5 Pilate brings Jesus out to the Jews looking so

pathetic with His crown of thorns and purple robe, and he

says, "Here is the man!" He was saying that here is the man

you so fear. He is really dangerous looking isn't He? No

wonder you want Him dead so bad. He is so fierce and

threatening. But his plan did not work. They were too cold

hearted to slink away in embarrassment. Pilate could not

embarrass them to back off their plot. They were

harder-hearted than himself, and he gave in instead. But he

got in the last punch in this battle to embarrass. Verse 19

says Pilate had a notice fastened to the cross that read,

"Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." The Jewish

leaders protested, but Pilate would not give in on this, and

he said, "What I have written I have written." They were

embarrassed by the message that they were killing their own

king, but they went ahead in spite of it.

Here is another paradox. The Jews were as determined

to get Jesus to the cross as He was determined to get there.

Jesus had set His face steadfastly to get to the cross, and not

all the power of Satan and evil men combined could make

Him swerve from this path. But those who despised and

rejected Him had the same goal, and they were equally

determined. They would not let their law or Roman law

stand in their way. Compassion and justice meant nothing

to them. They were hard as steel, and nothing could stop

them from getting Jesus to the cross.

The paradox is, you have the forces of evil and the forces

of good aiming for the same goal, which was the cross. Can

evil and good have the same goal? Of course they can. We

see it all the time. In every election we see good people and

evil people fighting for the same candidate. Even the Mafia

wants a certain candidate to win, for they feel he is more

likely to benefit them. The drug dealers and pimps vote for

someone too, for they feel that someone will be to their

advantage. Good and godly people can want the same

candidate to win also, but for very different reasons, but

both have the same goal and can be out supporting the same

man. The fight for freedom can mean freedom of religion,

freedom of the press, but also freedom to use drugs, or

practice anti-social behavior, and so forces for freedom to do

good or evil have the same goal.

So we see Jesus and His opponents aiming for the same

target-the cross. Their motives are radically different, of

course. Jesus is going to the cross because that is the only

way He can atone for man's sin and reconcile man to God.

The Jews want Jesus on the cross to get Him out of their hair

so they can go on with their legalistic religion that enables

them to manipulate people. A goal is not a bad one to aim

for just because evil men aim for it as well. The motive is

what matters. Jesus did not reason that these wicked leaders

want me crucified, and so if that is the goal of evil men I

must resist it and find another way. On the contrary, Jesus

sided with the evil Jews and did not give Pilate the support

he needed to stand against them.

Pilate is desperately searching for some way to get Jesus

released. He even violated Roman law in his efforts. He had

Jesus flogged and mocked as a an innocent man in hope of

placating the Jews, but it didn't work. Then he took Jesus

back inside to talk privately, and Jesus refused to answer

him. Jesus was uncooperative with Pilate, not because He

had anything against a man doing his best to be just and

fair, but because He did not want Pilate to succeed in

helping Him escape the hands of these wicked leaders.

Jesus is our advocate, which means He is our lawyer

before the court of God, and He pleads our case and seeks

acquittal for us as guilty sinners. But here He is being

condemned as an innocent man, and He does not speak in

His own defense. Poor Pilatehis

perfect prisoner is siding with his perverted prosecutors

to assure His condemnation. Pilate did not have a chance.

He was embarrassing alone, for he was the only man who

cared that Jesus was innocent. All His disciples had

forsaken Him, and there was not a single witness in His

defense. Jesus would not even defend Himself, and so Pilate

gives in to what seems inevitable and condemns an innocent

man to the cross.

Jesus embarrassed Pilate too by His refusal to cooperate,

but Jesus also comforted Pilate and let him know that He

understood his dilemma. Jesus knew Pilate had no real

choice, for Jesus would not let him save Him from the very

goal He was determined to reach. Even if Pilate could

change the minds of the Jews he could never change the

mind of Jesus. He was going to the cross one way or

another. But notice the comfort Jesus gives him in verse 11.

Here is another paradox, for we see the prisoner comforting

the judge who is about to sentence Him to death. Don't feel

too bad judge, its and awful thing you are forced to do, but

the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of the greater

sin. The choice you are making to condemn Me is wrong, but

the real crime is in the hearts of those who are forcing you to

do it.

Jesus is saying that not all are equally guilty in this

wicked plot. Some are victims like Pilate. Others are the

master minds, and they will be held accountable for the

greater evil. By so saying, Jesus is in essence telling Pilate I

know you are the only good guy in this whole legal maze.

You can count on it, I will not hold it against you. The

prisoner is letting the judge off the hook. Pilate knew this

and fought like crazy to get Jesus released, but he could not

do it. The best he could do was to embarrass the wicked

schemers who forced him to be a partner in their evil plot.

The New Testament makes it clear, the primary guilt for

sending Jesus to the cross falls on the Jewish leaders. The

evidence is overwhelming. Yet the tragedy of this truth is

that Christians have used it to promote anti-Semitism. Jews

have been called Christ-killers, and have suffered repeatedly

at the hands of bigoted Christians who have the reasoning

power of a cutting board. To hate all Jews because of what

the Jews did to Jesus is as foolish as holding all white men

responsible for killing the Indians buffalo. Crimes of folly

and prejudice of the past are not pasted on through the

genes making future generations guilty of those crimes.

Besides this, Jesus forgave from the cross even that

generation who were fully guilty. Anyone who holds any

Jew responsible for the death of Jesus today is as blind as

those Jews who really were guilty of history's greatest legal

injustice.

Some of history's greatest Christians were filled with

prejudice against the Jews because they refused to let the

spirit of Christ be their guide. Luther, for example, was

terribly anti-Semitic. It is easy to find plenty of New

Testament evidence to support being anti-Semitic toward

that generation of Jews who crucified Jesus. But to carry

that attitude beyond that generation should embarrass the

Christian. If is does not, that Christian is exhibiting the very

blindness that made the Jews who crucified Jesus so

despicable.

What we need to see is that this hatred of Jesus by the

Jewish leaders was His final hurdle to overcome to get to the

cross. This is where other men would fail. I don't know

about you, but I would have a hard time choosing to suffer

one minute from a paper cut on the finger, let alone

crucifixion, for people who so despised me. This was the

final test of the love of Christ. Could He go through with the

plan to die for men when they could be so cruel? He could,

and He did. Here is the proof that love is the strongest

power in the universe. Hate met love in a head on collision,

and love just kept on going pushing hate off the road. They

could not stop Jesus from loving them. They were as cruel,

brutal, and hard-hearted as man is capable of being, yet

Jesus did not call ten thousand angels to wipe them from the

face of the earth. He said, "Father forgive them for they

know not what they do." Then He died for them that they

might be forgiven and restored to fellowship with God.

Their hate was as black as coal, but His love made them

able to be made as white as snow. Nothing, absolutely

nothing, could stop Jesus from loving even the most

unlovable of men. We do not even know what love is until

we study the love of Jesus and see the love of God reflected

in His face. In the Old Testament the highest source of glory

was the awesomeness of God's glory in creation. "The

heavens declare the glory of God...." But now in Jesus we

have a far greater glory. The sun, moon, and stars are still

wonders to behold, but the cannot give us the light we can

get from the face of Jesus. Paul says it in II Cor. 4:6, "For

God, who said, let light shine out of darkness, made His light

shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of

the glory of God in the face of Christ."

If you want to know how to think and act in any

situation, look to the face of Jesus, and ask, what would

Jesus do? This is not always easy, but there is no better way

for guidance for in the face of Jesus is all the light we need.

It will lead us to choices and attitudes where love will

conquer all the evil and prejudice we struggle with. The face

of Jesus was marred by unbelievable cruelty. Verse 3 tells us

the mocking soldiers used His face as a punching bag. He

was bruised and blackened, and the crown of thorns would

send blood running down His forehead. Jesus knows what

it is to be an abused person, and to be violently hurt by

brute force for no good reason. Yet we do not see His face

bitter with resentment. He was surrounded by faces of

horrible hatred who with sadistic determination would not

be satisfied until Jesus was crucified. Yet the face of Jesus

was calm with a love even more determined than their

hatred.

Fritzgerald asked Tennyson, as they looked at the marble

busts of two famous men, "What is there in the face of Dante

which is absent from the face of Goethe." The poet

responded, "The Divine." The presence of God makes all

the difference in the world, and that was what we see in the

face of Jesus.

God of sun and stars and space,

We can your glory trace.

But your best we can embrace

In your Son's loving face.

Jesus met every hate filled face with a look of determined

grace. If you want to know how to face life with all of its

burdens and problems, turn your eyes upon Jesus and look

into His face and you will receive the light you need to go the

way that pleases God. The face of Jesus becomes the sun of

our spiritual solar system. On the Mt. of Transfiguration

the face that Jesus had for all eternity past, and which He

will have for all eternity future, broke through His limited

earthly face, and we read this in Matt. 17:2, "His face shown

like the sun."

Jesus had to endure every indignity men could devise to

embarrass Him and humiliate Him, and create on Him a

face of bitterness. They did make His face ugly and

repulsive, but they could not, by their vile and violent

behavior, wipe the light of love from His face. Christina

Rossetti, the great poetess, wrote,

Is this the face that thrills with awe

Seraphs who veil their face above?

Is this the face without a flaw,

The face that is the face of love?

Yes, this defaced, lifeless clod

Hath all creation's love sufficed,

Hath satisfied the love of God,

This face the face of Jesus Christ.

There is an old legend that when Adam was driven from

the Garden of Eden he asked the angel who stood guard

with flaming sword, what shall I bring back to God when I

return? The angel replied, "Bring him back the face in gave

you in the garden, and I will let you in." Sin had changed

the face of man. The inner corruption distorted his external

features. We see it full blown in the trial of Jesus. The ugly

hatred of man is seen at its worse. In their rebellion against

God they marred the face of His Son. But Jesus refused to

let the externals change His inner face. He remained calm,

loving, and endured it all that He might have a face worthy

of entrance again for man into the paradise of God.

Do you realize that the vision of the face of Jesus is one of

the key blessings of heaven? In John 17:24 Jesus prayed,

"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me

where I am, and to see My glory...." The ultimate answer to

this prayer is revealed in

Rev. 22:3-4, "No longer will there be any curse. The throne

of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants

will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be

on their foreheads."

The most beautiful face in the universe forever will be the

face of Jesus, for this is the face that made it possible for

man to return to paradise and to fellowship with God. Man

did his very worst to embarrass and shame the face of Jesus,

but He came through with a face aglow with love. Jesus

passed the final test and refused to forsake the goal of the

cross because of shame and embarrassment. May our Lord's

example motivate us to set goals in our service for God, and

then pursue them like our Savior did with His steadfast face.

4. THE GENTLE ENCOURAGER Based on Matt.

12:9,15-21

Harry Reichenback in the book World's Most Spectacular

Hoaxes tells of his grand deception in promoting Francis

Bushman. Bushman was a small time actor in Chicago, but

Reichenback was able to get his salary raised to a

commanding figure. He took Bushman to New York and

carried 2000 pennies in his pockets. As they walked along

42nd street toward the Metro office he dropped handfuls of

pennies. At first only children came running to pick up the

coins, but so conspicuous was the commotion that soon

everybody was following them. By the time they reached

Metro the streets were milling with crowds. When the

officers of Metro looked out of the window they judged

Bushman's popularity by the vast throngs that had followed

him, and he received a 1000 dollar a week raise without an

argument. Reichenback confesses, "The fact was, not a

living soul in the mob knew Bushman."

Jesus was tempted to get mixed up in a clever scheme

something like this in which he would exploit the crowds of

his day. The only difference is that he did not have to fake

popularity He could have the real thing. Satan said to him,

"Jump off the pinnacle of the temple and you will be

preserved from injury." Such a sensational stunt would

have had the crowds clamoring after Jesus to be their king.

Satan had some great ideas for promoting the popularity of

Jesus, but Jesus refused to give heed to any of his schemes.

One of the strangest paradoxes of Scripture is that Satan

sought constantly to promote the popularity of Jesus. Satan

wanted it shouted from the housetops that Jesus was the Son

of God. He wanted Jesus to be ruler over the kingdoms of

men, and longed for a revolutionary movement in which the

people would put Jesus on the throne as their king. All

through his ministry Jesus had to fight the efforts of Satan to

promote his popularity, and derail him from his purpose.

Jesus did not hesitate to perform spectacular miracles for

great crowds such as feeding the 5000. His healing ministry

was not behind closed doors, but in public places. Yet, there

is the mysterious effort of Jesus to suppress an all out

proclamation that he was the Messiah. Jesus wanted this

message saved until after his death and resurrection.

People were coming to all kinds of conclusions about

him. Some said he was John the Baptist revived; others that

he was Elijah or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. All

agreed he had to be a great person, but only a few knew he

was the Son of God. After Peter said, "Thou art the Christ

the Son of the living God," we read in Matt. 16:20, "Then he

strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the

Christ." Jesus deliberately suppressed the fact that he was

God in human flesh. Jesus was over 30, and so 30

Christmas' have already gone by, and no one had ever

celebrated one of the greatest event in human history. It was

because Jesus did not permit this good news of the

incarnation to be proclaimed.

Jesus even had to use his supernatural authority over

demons to keep them from blabbing the greatest news on

earth. In Mark 3:11 the unclean spirits cry out, "You are

the Son of God." In verse 12 we read, "And he strictly

ordered them not to make him known." Jesus was the first

person to try and silence the preaching of his deity. Friend

and foe; disciples and demons, were anxious to make it

known, but Jesus was always telling them to be quiet

concerning his true identity. We haven't looked at all the

occasions on which Jesus urged people to hold down on the

publicity concerning him. It is frequent enough to be

conspicuous.

What is behind this mysterious behavior which we see

again in our text? It seems so strange and even senseless, for

verse 14 tells us that the Pharisees were taking council to kill

him. Verse 15 says that great multitudes followed and he

healed them all. Then verse 16 hits us with a strange charge

that they not make him known. Who in the world was left to

tell? This is like trying to hide the sun. The whole nation

was either out to kill him, or receive life from him. Great

multitudes were following him, so it is obvious that the cat is

out of the bag. Somebody has already let it slip that Jesus is

where the action is. He was the most popular person in

Israel, yet he never stopped trying to prevent further

promotion. Even when the fire of his fame was raging

uncontrollably across the Judean landscape, he still tried to

throw a wet blanket on the desire to make him known.

Did Jesus ever do anything more mysterious and unusual

than this? I know of nothing to match it, and if it was not

for Matthew we might never have guessed why Jesus did it.

In verse 17 Matthew tells us that the motive behind this

behavior of Jesus was to fulfill prophecy. This is the largest

Old Testament quotation in Matthew, and it reveals to us

the quality of character the Messiah was to exhibit to be

pleasing to God. It matches the manner of his birth. Such a

humble way for any child to be born, but how much more so

for the Son of God? Such a humble beginning implies that

his purpose in life was not to be showmanship. No

spectacular calling of attention to himself, but rather,

obscurity was to characterize most of the life of Jesus. When

he did begin his public ministry it was with no ambition to

be a mighty leader with masses bowing before him. He had

all the potential of being the great rabble rouser who could

have stirred his people to follow him in conquest. Jesus did

not exploit that potential, for that was not his purpose.

Jesus intended to conquer, but not like any other

conqueror who had ever lived. His method was sheer folly to

the world and still is today, but Jesus goes on reigning while

the mighty mock him and then disappear into the dust of

oblivion. No strategy, they say, could be more stupid than

that of recruiting the weak and the poor, the sick and the

oppressed. Jesus let his enemies capture him and crucify him

while he wasted his time with the misfits of society. Hitler

knew better that this, and so does every tyrant who ever

lived. They know you get rid of the weak and the deformed,

for they are hindrances to victory. People only count when

they are powerful and can help the cause. The rest can be

eliminated. This is a practice commonly practiced by

tyrants.

Nature is pointed to as a justification for this strategy.

Nature eliminates the weak. The survival of the fittest is a

law of nature, and men who have no higher revelation than

what they see in nature are led to act on the level of the

brutes. The Christian does not look to nature, but to the

author of nature, who made man in his image, and of infinite

value above the world of nature. Persons are not just

animals, but are the creatures with the potential for

partaking of the divine nature, and, therefore, they are to be

treated with dignity and respect however weak they may be.

Armed with this view of man, the Son of God entered

human history with a totally unique strategy for conquering

the world. He would not use force and destructive weapons

to crush the weak and helpless, but would stress gentleness

and encouragement of the weak. Military men have always

mocked, and will continue to mock this strategy of the prince

of peace right up until the victory, and the meek inherit the

earth. All other conquers come with great noise and

commotion, but Jesus seeks to conquer quietly.

Verse 19 says he will not strive nor cry, nor will any man

hear his voice in the streets. Jesus was not a rabble rouser,

and one who went looking for an encounter with those

opposed to him. He did not stand in the streets and

denounce his opponents. In verse 15 we see that when he

knew his opponents were out to get him he withdrew

himself. He had no desire for a noisy showdown. He was a

man of peace who would retreat to avoid trouble if

necessary. The Hebrew word in this quote from Isaiah

means that he will not scream under excitement. So many

when they are unjustly attacked become loud and

boisterous, and begin to denounce their attackers, but Jesus

calmly slipped away. On the positive side it was the same.

Many who draw crowds and do a great work want to crow

about it to the world. Jesus was not interested, but would

slip away in silence, and ask his praising fans to join him in

this virtue, and not make him known.

It was just a part of the character of Christ. He was not

interested in the power of noise. He was interested in the

superior power of silence and gentleness. Men have gone far

by arrogant boasting, and shouting in the streets, but they

were not going the same direction as Jesus. Deep and lasting

power cannot be based on noise. Truth works quietly like

the silent power of the sun. An unknown poet wrote-

How silently the great stars shine,

How silently the dawn comes in,

How silently in forest depths

The oak to massiveness doth win.

The noblest powers are quiet all,

And He who comes the soul to greet,

He shall not strive, He shall not cry,

Nor shall His voice sound in the street.

The Speaker's Bible says here, "The mission of Jesus was

to save rather than destroy, to build up rather than to pull

down. His method was not that of the axe and hammer, but

of the slow working leaven and the seed growing silently.

And his strength lay not in heroic courage or desperate

activity, but in the gentleness of an exhaustless love and in

the patience of a divine pity." This gentleness and pity is so

vividly portrayed in verse 20. Who in all history has ever

been so gentle and soft hearted that he would not break a

bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick? Jesus was an

extremist in gentleness, even when we recognize that literal

reeds and wicks are not meant, but rather, weak, broken,

wounded and despairing people.

When Jesus encountered a person who was badly

bruised, such as the shameful woman who wiped his feet

with her hair, his word of condemnation could have broken

her, but instead, he treated her with gentleness, and she was

healed. Martin Luther wrote, "He does not cast away, nor

crush, nor condemn the wounded in conscience, those who

are terrified in view of their sins; the weak in faith and

practice; but watches over them and cherishes them, makes

them whole and affectionately embraces them." A bruised

reed is a symbol of what is weak and worthless, and of no use

to anyone. What everyone else would break, Jesus seeks to

save and restore to usefulness.

Jesus was not one who needs to see great fire, or he gives

up. Even if there is only smoke, he will take interest and

seek to rekindle the flame. Most people have a tendency to

want to give up and dump people when they cease to burn

brightly, but Jesus will shelter that smoldering wick, and by

gentle encouragement seek to fan a spark of fire into a

renewed flame. Jesus specializes in those that others give up

on and forsake. The Spartans killed the sickly and

deformed, and Plato was all for exterminating the weak. But

for Jesus no human being is to be broken, no matter how

maimed in body or spirit. Not even a sparrow falls without

God's notice, and of how much more value is even the

weakest of men?

Jesus came into history with a special ministry to the

weak, needy, and oppressed. In Matt. 11:28-29 we read his

own commentary on his character of gentle encouragement.

Jesus said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn

from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will

find rest for your souls." This sounds like slushy sentiment

to the self-sufficient worldly person, but to the wise such

gentleness is the greatest power on earth. Someone said,

"Gentleness! More powerful than Hercules." Henry

Martyn, the great missionary, said, "The power of gentleness

is irresistible." Jesus knew this and still does, and that is

why he refused to be a noisy rabble rousing leader. His

power was in gentleness.

That is why the Lamb of God is such an appropriate

symbol of Christ. That is why the dove is such an

appropriate symbol of the Holy Spirit. The world, and often

even Christians, feel that the only way to conquer in any

battle is with noise and force. The Prince of Peace entered

history to demonstrate the folly of this strategy, and set in

motion a ministry of gentle encouragement that would

conquer the world. Men who count for time and eternity are

men who exhibit the character of Christ in this respect.

Abraham Lincoln as a young lawyer rode the circuit with

a party of friends who were also lawyers. One day as they

rode past a grove of trees they noticed a baby bird which

had fallen from its nest and lay fluttering by the roadside.

After they had gone a short distance Lincoln said, "Wait for

me, I will be right back." He turned around, rode back to

the helpless bird, and tenderly took it up and put it on the

limb near the nest. When he rejoined the group one of them

laughingly asked, "Why did you bother yourself and delay

us with such a trifle as that?" Lincoln respond, "My friend,

I can only say this-that I feel better for it. I could not have

slept tonight if I had left that helpless creature to parish on

the ground." It is no wonder that God used Lincoln to

perform a multitude of compassionate deeds that made him

the most kind and gentle president of our nation.

Gentleness is equivalent to greatness according to God's

judgment. Jesus in whom all power in heaven and on earth

resided was the most gentle of men born of woman. Yet his

birthday and the seasons surrounding it is often

characterized by roughness, pushing, and shouting. We live

in constant tension, and everyone bears a burden, but few

are kind and gentle. Observe people in stores and you will

see why the world is in turmoil. A grandmother looking at a

toy horse asked two clerks coming back from their break if

there was a box for the toy. "O no" one said indifferently.

The frustrated grandmother cursed and threw the horse into

the toys breaking the wheel off the bottom. A frustrated

husband following his wife sees her slip down an isle to look

at something which he feels is irrelevant to their purpose. In

anger he forgets he is in public and shouts at her, "You get

sidetracked so often you don't know which end is up," and

he heads for a different destination in a huff. These are

normal daily events in the life of the average American.

What nobody needs is more of the same.

What everybody needs is the gentle and kind concern

and encouragement of Christlike character. It is very little

honor to Christ to celebrate his birthday and not exhibit his

character. May God help us to be among those who put

Christ in Christmas by being Christlike toward others. This

will be a powerful witness that will encourage people to

consider Christ seriously as their Lord and Savior. Gentle

encouragement will win trust as it did for Christ.

A Christlike character is the greatest gift you can give to

the world. Christians sometimes doubt the power of

gentleness, but history clearly supports it. Henry

Morehouse, a young preacher began his ministry among

miners in North England. Ike Miller, a rough and wicked

man who threatened to break up the service came to hear

him. He preached on the love of Christ. When the meeting

was over some of the old men gathered around him and

expressed their regret that he didn't preach right. You

should have warned him of his dreadful danger, and

frightened him for his wickedness. That soft sort of

preaching on love won't do him any good.

Meanwhile, the big miner had entered his home and

called his wife and children whom he had often abused in his

drunkenness. He knelt down and prayed the only prayer he

had ever heard in distant days from his mother. "Gentle

Jesus, meek and mild, look upon a little child; pity my

simplicity, suffer me to come to thee." There was only one

cord left in his hard heart and gentleness touched it, and he

awoke to salvation. Men have been won by other methods,

but none has been more effective than the Christlike method

of being a gentle encourager. The coming year, and every

year will be a better year if we exhibit gentle encouragement

in relation to all whom God will bring across our path.

5. THE ANGRY KING Based on Matt. 21:1-17

Boleslaus II was the king of the Polish Monarchy, but he

didn't like the job. One day while hunting he slipped away

from his companions and disguised himself as a common

laborer in marketplace. He hired the use of his shoulders for

carrying burdens for a few pence a day. A search was made,

of course, and when his majesty was found there was an

indignant cry among the elite that he should debase himself

by so vile an employment. He responded that the weight he

bore in the marketplace was nothing compared to the crown.

He said he slept more in the last four nights than during all

his reign. He told them to choose whom they would to be

king, for he was through with the madness. He was forced,

however, against his will to return to the throne and reign.

In his book Royalty In All Ages, Thiselton-Dyer tells of

many kings in history who have longed to get out from under

the crown and escape from the robes of royalty, and live

among the common people. In contrast to this, Jesus was a

king who all His life lived among the common people, and

only at the end did He ever wear a crown, and then it was a

lowly crown of thorns. Jesus was born king of the Jews, but

all His life He managed to do what so many kings have tried

to do and failed. He managed to disguise Himself and dwell

among the people, and learn of their needs and longings in

life. No son of royalty ever got to know his people better than

did the Royal Son of David. He not only lived among them,

he was one of them.

There were times in His public ministry when the crowds

were so excited about His miracles that they tried to take

Him by force to make Him king, but Jesus avoided this.

Right up to the final week of His life Jesus remained a king in

disguise totally removed from all that had to do with royalty.

Palm Sunday, however, brings us to that one day, at the

beginning of His final week, where He removes the disguise

and proclaims Himself to be the king-the Royal Son of David;

the promise Messiah, and the King of Israel. This act did not

sever his roots from the soil of the common man, however. In

fact, everything about Palm Sunday exalts the common man,

and everything common. Jesus never became a royal snob

who looked down on any man. The very way in which He

rode into Jerusalem revealed Him to be a king of the common

people, and not one who would cater to the elite and

powerful.

Jesus did not ride into the holy city on a noble Arabian

stallion to appeal to the military like any other king would

do. Instead, He rode on a colt. Matthew tells us this was to

fulfill the prophecy of Zech. 9:9 which says, "Tell ye the

daughter of Zion, behold, thy King cometh unto thee meek,

and riding upon a donkey and upon a colt a foal of a

donkey." Jesus did not come as a king of war, but as a king

of peace. He came in the tradition of the Patriarchs,

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They were not men of war like

the kings of Israel. They were men of peace. Only once was

Abraham forced into military action. Jesus too was forced

into violent action on this occasion, but primarily the

Patriarchs and He were men of peace.

The colt was symbolic of the fact that Jesus was a king of

peace, and a king of the common people. Jesus is a king who

exalts the lowly, and the poet describes even the donkey

responding to those who mock his worthless hide.

Fools! For I also had my hour;

One far fierce hour and sweet;

There was a shout about my ears,

And palms about my feet.

The Apostles that Jesus chose were common men, and if

you check the backgrounds of the great men He has used in

history, you will find lowly tinkers like John Bunyan and

William Carey, or shoe salesman like D. L. Moody, or the

great Scottish preacher Alexander Whyte who was born out

of wedlock. He was unwanted by men, but Jesus wanted him

and used him, for he was, and is, the king of the unwanted.

And it was because he did care for the common man that he

was so angry on that first Palm Sunday. Jesus was very

seldom angry, but on this occasion He was so filled with

righteous indignation that He could not be content to give

only a verbal lashing to the offenders as He had done before.

Here we see Jesus engaged in violent action to express His

anger.

Before we examine the cause of this unusual display of

emotion, it is important that we note first of all that nobody

was hurt by Jesus. There was no injury inflicted upon any

man or animal. Jesus upset some of the furniture, and drove

out those who were corrupting the house of worship, but

there is no hint of any suffering He inflicted. It is important

to note this so that we do not link His action with any kind of

revolutionary tactics that destroy, injure, and kill. No such

violence can be justified by pointing to this passage of an

angry king. The only thing Jesus hurt was the pride and

pocketbook of these corrupters. The only blood Jesus ever

shed was His own. Keeping this in mind avoids

misconceptions where this passage can be abused by

justifying violence.

The anger of Jesus was the righteous anger of a king who

saw a system which deprived His people of their right to

worship, and robbed them of what little wealth they

possessed. If there is anything that is clear in Scripture, from

one end to the other, it is the fact that God despises any

system which discriminates and is a respecter of persons.

God will not tolerate injustice to the common man. When

Jesus saw the corruption that had developed in the temple, it

made His royal blood boil, and He struck a blow for the

rights of the people. Jesus started the long history of the

battle for the common man to have equality, and religious

and economic freedom. If you study the history of social

reform and civil rights, you will discover that most of the

great leaders have been men and women who acknowledge

this angry king as their Lord and Master.

We only have this one portrait of Jesus in anger, but it is

all we need to tell us how he looked upon injustice. It gives

us a balanced picture of the perfect man. We see He cannot

truly be perfect by being always kind and gentle. There are

times in life when a just man encountering injustice must in

anger strike a blow to stop it, or be guilty of the sin of

omission. It would be a sin to see evil and not try to stop it if

you had any power to do so. Jesus as the king of Israel now

had the authority to cleanse the temple of its racketeers, and

He does so. This angry act of indignation is a clear evidence

that Jesus is declaring Himself the King of Israel. He was the

highest authority in the land. Doubtless,

it was a shock, not only to the money changers and officials

of the temple, but to His own Apostles. Many would be

frightened by His anger, and they would want to give this

advice.

Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,

Why have you suddenly gone so wild?

If its true the house of prayer

Has been corrupted anywhere,

Why not go through regular channels,

Appoint a committee-discuss it on panels.

If you continue this stepping on toes,

You'll create for yourself a host of foes,

And a future filled with many woes.

Jesus knew that this show of authority would lead Him

straight to the cross, for it was an attack on the

establishment. He made a whole new group of enemies by

this action of anger. Before this cleansing of the temple the

priests had little to do with Jesus. The Pharisees were His

primary enemies, for He violated their legalistic system, and

debated their interpretations. Later the Saducees began to

oppose Him because He became a political nuisance. But

now, after He invaded the realm of priestly authority, He

brought their wrath upon Him also. Luke tells us about after

the cleansing in Luke 19:47. "The chief priests and the

scribes and the principle men of the people sought to destroy

Him." Their only problem was the crowds of common people

who loved Him, and this made the leaders afraid. Jesus was

a hero king among the masses.

For Jesus to deliberately oppose all of the authority of

Israel, and, thereby, to guarantee a departure for Himself out

of the world, He had to have a very good reason for what He

did. Jesus had always lived a balanced life. He was not a

fanatic. A fanatic becomes all excited about things which are

really of no great importance. Jesus is not angry over some

mere triviality here, but issues of basic importance. He could

deal calmly with people who had fallen into personal sin, but

here was organized sin. It was deliberate and planned

injustice, and no righteous man can look upon an evil system

and remain calm.

In the first place, the whole system of selling sacrifices

turned the court of the Gentiles into a stable instead of a

place of worship and prayer. Jesus quoted from Isa. 56:7

where the prophet said, "...For my house shall be called a

house of prayer for all peoples." Jesus said this ideal was not

fulfilled because the court of the Gentiles had been turned

into a den of robbers. The racket of selling and changing

money, and the noise of animals made it impossible for the

Gentiles to have a place of reverence for prayer and worship.

Business had pushed worship right out the door, and God's

purpose in the temple was being destroyed by greed.

This discrimination against the Gentiles, and the

indifference of the Jewish leaders to their rights to a place of

worship, made Jesus angry. He had come into the world to

be the Savior of all men. He came to die for the sins of the

world. He was to be a universal Savior and king, and it

gripped Him to see the temple of His Father being used to

discriminate against the Gentiles. This cleansing of the

temple was just temporary and Jesus knew it. He knew the

corruption would continue and that the temple would have to

be destroyed. But He spoke of a new temple, the temple of

His body. Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it

up said Jesus. As the Son of God and as the King of Israel,

He was going to fulfill God's purpose for the temple in His

own body. He would create a temple which would truly be

for all people. Jesus would fulfill the ideals God had for

Israel, but which they failed to accomplish. They were to be

a channel by which God would reach the whole world with

His plan of salvation. They forgot why the court for the

Gentiles was there in the first place. They let their greed for

profits destroy the purpose of God.

Another thing that made Jesus angry about the whole

setup was the fact that it robbed the common people of their

money. The animals and birds sold for sacrifices had to be

bought with special temple money, and to get it you had to

exchange your regular money for it. The fact that Jesus

called it a den of robbers makes it clear that they were

gypping the people in the exchange. They had a monopoly

and nobody could do anything about it. Many people may

think that Jesus was too other worldly to be concerned about

economic matters, but this is not so. Jesus was very

concerned about money. When people's money was taken

from them unjustly, or with inadequate return, it made Him

angry. God's wrath fell on Israel in the Old Testament

because of unfair business practices. In the second chapter of

Amos we read, "Because they sell the righteous for silver,

and the needy for a pair of shoes-they trample the head of the

poor into the dust of the earth-and in the house of their God

they drink the wine of those who have been fined." Like

Father, like Son- the very things that made God angry in the

Old Testament make His Son angry in the New Testament.

King Jesus was going to establish a temple and a religion

which no longer depended on sacrifice, or any material

objects that had to be purchased. He would end the

sacrificial system by His own sacrifice, which was once for all,

and which would abolish forever the need for sacrifices.

There is no longer any need for special things or special

places to worship God. All that is necessary under the

kingship of Christ is free. Never again would the common

man need to depend upon a human system to worship God

and gain His best. It is true that clever men were still able to

keep the masses in ignorance about this liberty in Christ.

They would set up again many corrupt systems even in the

church. The church became a den of robbers many times,

but the fact remains that the angry king set us free from all

man made systems of corruption. That is why it is so vital

that the Bible be kept available to the common man in all the

world.

Verse 14 shows that Jesus gave His service to the people

without charge. He healed them freely. He could have set up

a booth and made a fortune for His healing, but there is not

one record of Jesus ever accepting a payment for any of His

miracles of healing. He was the king of the common man-a

king who came to set them free from the bondage of sin, and

all of the man made burdens of religion. That is what makes

Palm Sunday a day for rejoicing. John Wesley wrote,

Rejoice, the Lord is king, your Lord and king adore;

Mortals give thanks and sing, and triumph evermore.

Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;

Rejoice, again I say, rejoice.

The leaders of Israel rejected His kingship and plotted to

crucify Him. They did not realize that the cross was the road

by which Jesus planned to ascend to the throne as universal

king. He said, "If I be lifted up I will draw all men to Me."

The cross is where He gained the right to be the king of all

men, for there He did what no other king could do for men.

He died for their sin and set them free. He is the King of

Kings because He is the Lord of Liberation. He, and He

alone, can save kings, for He alone has defeated the kingdom

of darkness and death which has power over kings as well as

all other men.

He alone deserves the allegiance of all men, for He is the

only king who ever lived that made it possible for all men to

enter the realm of royalty. John said, "But to as many as

received Him to them He gave the power to become the sons

of God." What other king ever invited the masses of

common men to join His royal family and become joint heirs

with Him. There is no other king like Jesus, and that is why

God exalted Him to the throne of the universe, and gave Him

a name above every name.

The head that once was crowned with thorns

Is crowned with glory now;

A royal diadem adorns

The mighty Victor's brow.

The highest place that heaven affords

Is His by sovereign right;

King of kings and Lord of lords,

He reigns in perfect light.

Scripture says He must reign until all enemies are put

under His feet. In other words, the glorious king is still an

angry king as he was on that first Palm Sunday. He is still

fighting against those who hinder the progress of His

kingdom. What does the king want? He wants what God has

always wanted. He wants us to do justice, to love mercy, and

to walk humbly with our God. He is a king of relationships,

and not one of pomp and ceremony.

Justinian had a great church built in Constantinople. It

required ten thousand masons to build it. Marble was

ransacked from the whole Roman Empire. Justinian walked

through the completed church on the day of its dedication in

the year 538. He exclaimed, "Solomon, I have surpassed

thee." He had, and it was the supreme expression of

Byzantine art, say many scholars. But is that what the King

of Kings really wanted according to His own actions on Palm

Sunday? What our king wants is for us to make Him Lord in

our lives, and to look upon all people as He did. The

Christian who sees people with compassion, and longs to be a

part of the answer that leads them into a relationship with

God in Christ, has caught the message of Palm Sunday. If

you want to be great in the eyes of your king, you will be a

servant, and minister to the needs of people in all classes. If

you do this you will please your king, and in relationship to

you, He will never be an angry king.