Why is Jesus So Special?

Rev. Todd R. Lattig

QUESTIONS TO GOD • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

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The world gives us a certain idea of what it means to be strong and powerful. Those same traits can so easily be - and often are - used to do evil. Jesus turns them upside down and shows how real strength and power lie in loving and serving each other.

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Scripture Passage

Mark 11:1–11 (NLT)

1 As Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. 2 “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks, ‘What are you doing?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it and will return it soon.’ ” 4 The two disciples left and found the colt standing in the street, tied outside the front door. 5 As they were untying it, some bystanders demanded, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 They said what Jesus had told them to say, and they were permitted to take it. 7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it, and he sat on it. 8 Many in the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessings on the coming Kingdom of our ancestor David! Praise God in highest heaven!” 11 So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the Temple. After looking around carefully at everything, he left because it was late in the afternoon. Then he returned to Bethany with the twelve disciples.

Focus Statement

The world gives us a certain idea of what it means to be strong and powerful.

Those same traits can so easily be - and often are - used to do evil.

Jesus turns them upside down

and shows how real strength and power lie in loving and serving each other.

Point of Relation

When I think of a great parody, I think of anything Mel Brooks.

Seriously,

The Producers,

Blazing Saddles,

Things to Consider

There is something exciting and important about belonging to a group.

It is a necessary part of human life for our survival.

The groups we belong to are all shaped by stories about

who the members are,

what unites them,

and what differentiates them from others.

What kind of stories draw us in and make us want to be a part of a group?

What stories do we tell and believe about the groups we belong to?

Part of what makes Jesus special is the story he tells

and the story of which he is a part.

This story shapes a group

that is meant to be different from so many other groups that the world would have us join.

What Scripture Says

In their book, The Last Week, Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan talk about the two parades that were occurring in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday:

the peasant parade where Jesus came riding in on a donkey,

and the imperial parade where Pontius Pilate entered the city with a full military procession.

It was standard for Roman governors of Judea (like Pilate) to process to Jerusalem

for high Jewish holidays in case any trouble broke out and needed to be quashed.

The two parades had some things in common –

they both had certain beliefs/theologies around them.

The Roman emperor was thought to be the “Son of God,” “Lord,” and “Savior” within Roman imperial religion.

These divine claims were reinforced by a show of power (weaponry, soldiers, displays of wealth).

Jesus’s followers and sympathizers had religious beliefs about who he was too

(from teacher,

to prophet,

to Messiah).

Borg and Crossan suggest that Jesus deliberately planned a “counter-procession,”

as shown by him arranging for his disciples to go ahead of him to bring him a colt on which to ride into Jerusalem.

It is essentially a parody of the Roman imperial parade that Jesus uses to proclaim who his is…and to drive that point home.

For the full chapter, see Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’s Final Days in Jerusalem, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2006, pp. 1-30.

The Roman parade put their full power on display with the strength and might of military force.

Jesus rode in on a humble colt who had never been ridden before.

Friends, we as Christians are called to model Jesus’ humble way

JESUS’ HUMBLE WAY...

in the face of how the world still operates according to strength and might.

Jesus’s choice of an unridden colt is an allusion to the kind of king Zechariah predicted would save Zion/Jerusalem in Zech. 9:9-10

In that passage, the prophet proclaims:

Zechariah 9:9–10 NLT

9 Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt. 10 I will remove the battle chariots from Israel and the warhorses from Jerusalem. I will destroy all the weapons used in battle, and your king will bring peace to the nations. His realm will stretch from sea to sea and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.

In fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy

Jesus does not achieve peace through war, like the Romans did,

but points to a different way of

humility,

non-violence,

giving of oneself,

and trusting in God’s direction.

How can we follow Jesus in this way?

Christianity understands Jesus to be special

because he is the only person to be both fully divine and fully human,

truly God’s Son in a different sense than the rest of us are God’s children.

While those who ascribed to Roman imperial religion at the time also believed Roman emperors were divine,

what does Jesus’ way versus Pilate’s way tell us about our God versus the gods whom they claimed to be serving? (

A quick note here: Pilate was a governor, not the emperor,

but he still represented the Roman empire and it religion.

So, let’s pause here briefly and look ahead to what Holy Week will bring.

The Roman empire used force to brutally end Jesus’ life.

In the end, God was victorious…noot through a show of force,

but by raising Jesus from the dead, bringing life from death.

When we follow Jesus, we are saying we trust the God who has power over life and death.

This frees us to live life differently than how the world would have us live

fighting, harming, and competing for power.

What This Means for You

Let me ask you this basic question:

which parade do you want to be a part of?

In what ways do you currently live like Pilate and his followers

for example:

upholding systems of law and social order that keep people oppressed

or using violence to make a point

or needing to prove yourself to be better than others.

In what ways do you currently live like Jesus and his followers

for example:

being on the side of those who have the least,

being committed to making peace, serving, and loving others

living your life with humility.

Today, we can begin to ask ourselves WHAT DID JESUS DO as a part of discerning God’’s direction for us...

We can base our lives on what JESUS DID…and start living our lives as he did...

in terms of how we treat others,

how we share with each other,

how we serve the least of these in our community

and how we walk in Christ’s way…not the way of the world.

But in order to know what Jesus did, we have to discipline ourselves to read the Bible...

to not only know his teachings, but to gain understanding of them.

What This Means for Us

Unfortunately, sometimes the church claims to follow Jesus

but acts more like Pilate.

We push for political stances that end up doing more harm than good...

We force our way of thinking on others through laws and legislation that we lobby for.

We’ve made our house of worship member centered...

Rather than mission centered...

Where we hire people to serve ourselves but don’t expect to have to ACTUALLY have to serve.

We’ve celebrate how long we’ve been members or how many members we have...

When Jesus has called us to fish for LIVES and SOULS...making them disciples…not members.

The Church today struggles…not just our church, but all churches in the West…because we have made our golden calves of our sanctuaries...

we’ve made our leadership positions about power rather than purpose...

And we’ve modeled ourselves off of secular governments rather than Biblical principles.

These are stark words, but they are true and the Bible points us to recognize that truth.

But this is not how we HAVE to be the Church...

We have the ability to see HOW SPECIAL JESUS IS...

And to follow the One…the ONLY ONE…who can lead us to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Together, let us grow IN DISCIPLESHIP…so that we can BE the Church and bring the least and the lost into a relationship with Jesus...