Is Gallipoli/ANZAC Day a christian celebration?

Gallipoli or Calvary from The Work Of The People on Vimeo.

Will the true Jesus please stand up?

Intro

“The great servant of God”. I’ve heard that said so many times, I don’t even remember which was the first.

There are some ‘servants’ that travel first class, eat in the finest restaurants, sleep in the best hotels, and gathered around the finest people. Why? Because they think that being servants of God, they deserve the best at all times, at all places, at all costs.

In this passage, we see Jesus doing exactly the opposite. He didn’t ride a horse as conquerors did, and still do (if you remember Napoleon’s painting), rather, he comes in a colt, whic is a sign of peace, cf. Zach. 9:9. Jesus “triumphal” entry to Jerusalem, follows from the recent parable, in which the people were waiting for the kingdom of God to appear at once, cf. Lk. 19:11. But the way the people were expecting the unfolding of the kingdom, just as in the parable, was not God’s way of working in the world.

We face a similar dilemma today. As the “great servants” of God, we may create our own image of Jesus to suit our needs and desires. In this passage Jesus is correcting the Jewish expectation of what a messiah should be. Jesus also in this passage, is correcting the attitude we, as his disciples, should have towards him. Even more, there are many assumptions as to who God is, what the Christian life is supposed to be, and who Jesus is. Jesus breaks all the assumptions that the Jews had, that the world has, and that we may have.

Jesus is ruler of all creation. 28-34.

Bethphage and Bethany. They are Two miles east of Jerusalem. It is interesting that Jesus is coming from The Mount of Olives, where the messiah is said to make his appearance, Cf. Zach. 14:4, and from where Jesus ascended and promised to come back, cf. Acts 1:11. Jesus, through this act, is claiming to be who the Scriptures say about him, he is the Messiah.

The colt refers back to Zac. 9:9, but may also refer to I Kings 1:32-40, where Salomon is placed on a mule and is proclaimed king. There’s a play of words in the Greek in vs. 33 and 34. The words ‘owner’ is kurioi, plural for lords, but the disciples answer that the LORD needs. Jesus is the Lord of all creation!!!

Jesus does not come, therefore, as a conquering messiah, to destroy the Romans. This is what the Jews expected. Jesus came to show us that their, and our real slavery is to sin, John 8:31-37. Still, they claimed to be free, and did not listen to Jesus.

We find ourselves in a similar situation. We expect Jesus to be the one who supplies us with every desire that our heart comes up with. James tells us that we ask with wrong motives and for our own pleasures, James 4:1-3. We think we are so good, that we deserve all good things that come up in the culture, society, among our friends, etc. We must renew our minds by the power of the Spirit, cf. Rom. 12:1-2, if we are to confirm God’s will for our life. Suffering is not usually because we lack faith, rather, because it’s a trial sent by God to purify our faith, James 1:12.

But the world has the same type of assumptions. They ask, “How can a good God let bad things happen to good people?” My answer to them is that no one is good but Jesus, everybody else, is as Michael Jackson sings, “Bad”. Rom. 2:9-20. Have you noticed how we never blame ourselves for bad things, but always God?? People usually think so highly of themselves, but they think that they can do a better job than God. This reminds me of another being who thought the same thing, Satan, cf. Eze. 28:6-19.

If we have trusted in Jesus that he is our Lord and Saviour, we must accept him as the Lord of all, of every aspect of our lives. No matter what may happen to us, we will never be forsaken by Jesus, and this is not an assumption, it’s a fact, cf. Rom. 8:37-39.

People’s praise is not always what it seems. 35-40.

The disciples threw their cloaks on the colt, while the people threw theirs on the road. This was done in ancient Israel, cf. II Kings 9:13. Psalm 118:26 was used in the Passover to commemorate the liberation of Israel from their oppressors. The Jews were being oppressed by the Romans, so they saw Jesus as their liberators.

The “stones will cry out”, may be referring to Isaiah 55:12, where the inanimate creation will praise God.

The Jews based their own hope of how a Messiah would be on Scripture. They had a proper reason to praise Jesus, for he was the real Messiah, but they had the wrong motives. Their motives were for self gratification, not for real love towards Jesus, since 7 days after, they were asking for him to be crucify, cf. Jn. 19:14-15. Their assumptions about Jesus apparently proved wrong, so it was easy for them to dispose of him.

We are also reminded how we can be at church, praising God, singing to Jesus, yet, our hearts may be far away from meaning it, Isa. 29:13. It is very easy to praise God when all things go our way, but we when things go wrong, we are so fast in blaming him. We don’t see that in Job, cf. 2:10, or Jesus at the garden of Gethsemane, where he knew what was awaiting for him, yet, he prayed, “not my will, but yours be done”, cf. Lk. 22:42.

The way the world gives praise to Jesus is by saying that he was a great man, a wise man, but no more. A relationship with him is not necessary, or anything to do with him in any case. People like to imagine Jesus, yet, when confronted with the biblical Jesus, they despise him, because he doesn’t meet his expectations. I was talking to a family member recently, who claims to be a Christian, and her definition to the human condition was that we are tempted by the devil, and therefore, he is to blame, for our sin, and Jesus came to die to deliver us from the devil’s grip. It is some true to what she said, cf. Colossians 1:13, the real source of our problem is within our selves, cf. Matt. 15:19; Mark 7:21. She couldn’t accept that Jesus had said such a thing, and dismissed it as my own interpretation, even though I was only reading the text!!! Some people, after knowing what the real Jesus said, stop praising him, and even come to despise him, thinking that their version of Jesus is a better and improved one from the one found in Scripture.

Reversal. Jesus weeps for Jerusalem. 41-44.

Jesus knew better, his coming would not bring the liberation the people wanted, rather, calamity for their lack of understanding. Jesus is not the first prophet to weep for Jerusalem, cf. Jer. 13:17; Lam. 1:1-4; Mic. 1:8; Isa. 22:4.

The whole assumption that the Messiah would bring them victory was dashed by Jesus. No wonder one of the accusations brought against them was that he was going to destroy the temple, Matt. 26:61. The Jews did not recognised God’s coming to them; therefore, they missed Jesus’ real intent all together. They thought their view of Scripture was a lot better than God’s.

Both some Christians and unbelievers think that because they are related to a church, or have some spiritual knowledge, they are right with God. Unbelievers have a problem, because they see themselves as spiritual, yet, the Bible say to us that without Jesus, we are dead in our sins and trespasses, cf. Ephe. 2:1; Col. 2:13. Some who believe, have the problem that they may claim to know and love Jesus, yet, they say they despise his bride, the church!!!! Cf. Heb. 10:25. Only by being confronted by Scripture, and the real Jesus, they, and we, can fully know who God is, and what he wants from us.

Conclusion.

Is your view of Jesus shaped by the aspirations of the world of by what he says about himself??