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The Gospel Truth
Moving in the gospels from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday is much like moving from London to Paris in Dickens' classic novel. In one place order and allegiance are exemplified. In another place rebellion and revenge rules. Among one people there are words of love and life. Among another people there are cries of hate and death. Dickens' story is, of course, A Tale of Two Cities. The Easter story, however, is a tale of two crowds. Read Matthew 21:1-11 and Matthew 27:15-26. Few things are more fickle than a crowd. On opening day in Yankee Stadium, the crowd booed Alex Rodriguez in the first inning; then, they cheered him in the ninth inning. Most often it is the other way around. Celebrities are hailed one day and hauled out the next. Politicians inevitably watch their poll numbers drop. Even Jesus Christ went from a high attendance of 20,000 (at the miraculous feeding of fish and bread) to no crowd at all (when even his intimate disciples abandoned him in the garden). A crowd is a volatile thing indeed, turning on a whim. But, the crowd we see in the Easter story is actually two. The first crowd was composed of pilgrims from Galilee. They were very familiar with Jesus of Nazareth, since most of his ministry had been performed in front of them. They came to Jerusalem for the Passover. After the Seder on Thursday, they arose early the next morning to return to their homes. Ordinarily, Jesus and his disciples would have done the same. But this time, Jesus was detained by betrayal, arrest and a trial in front of another crowd. The second crowd consisted of Judean Jews. They were steeped in the self-righteous religion of the Pharisees. They had not warmed to the radical teachings of the carpenter's son from Galilee, the rural region that was above them geographically but beneath them socially. They were repulsed by the first crowd's assertion that Jesus was the prophet, the messiah, the lord of lords and king of kings. So they delighted in his arrest, participated in his mock trial and cast their lot to cast him from the face of the earth. The Crowd at Jesus' Triumph (Matthew 21:1- 11) After the first Easter, Jesus' followers numbered only about 120. We do not know all of their names, of course, but I would wager that almost all of them came from this crowd of Galilean disciples. I want you to notice some simple but essential things about them. Remember these things, for later they will hold the key to the door that allows you to walk in the kingdom of God. This was a crowd of followers. Most had followed Jesus for the duration of his threeyear public ministry. They had witnessed the miracles, listened to the parables and anticipated greatly the coming of the kingdom of God. Some wrongly assumed Jesus was going into the city to kill some Romans, rather than the other way around. Some, like the Apostle Thomas, were on record for saying "Let us [follow] so that we might die with him" (John 11:16). Sure, their motives were mixed, just like ours today. But they were dedicated to following the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter what the cost. This was a crowd of worshipers. "Hosanna" literally means, "Save us, we pray." "The son of David" and "the prophet" were direct Jewish references to the messiah. There is only one person worth worshiping in this world. It is the lord and the savior. This crowd had found him. This crowd was following him. This crowd was worshiping him, without shame or shyness. This was a giving crowd. Yes, they put their money where their mouth was. In that day, all most people really owned was the clothes on their backs. What did this crowd do with their clothes, at least their outer coats? They gave them to Jesus to be used as saddle and shock absorbers. This crowd understood that if Jesus' works were worthy of following, if Jesus' person was worthy of worship, then the cause of Christ was worthy of giving yourself, all of yourself, and even all you own for the gospel. Please, remember these things. Then look at the enormous contrast between the crowd at Jesus' triumphal entry on Palm Sunday and the crowd at Jesus' trial before Easter Sunday. The Crowd at Jesus' Trial (Matthew 27:15-26) As I pointed out earlier, this was a different crowd. It had different members, a different makeup and vastly different motives. They gathered to finish the trial which was begun by the Roman governor, Pilate. This politician's only compass was public opinion, and his plan was to use it to release Jesus. But the crowd called for a murderer, Barabbas, to be released according to Pilate's custom, leaving Jesus to be murdered. In this crowd you find no followers of Jesus, only fools. I know it is not nice to call someone a fool, for God says so (Matthew 5:22). But God also said that it is a fool who denies God (Psalm 14:1; 53:1). To deny the deity of Jesus Christ and the exclusivity of his gospel marks you and makes you a fool in the eyes of God.You don't want to belong to a crowd of fools, do you? In this crowd you find no worshipers of Jesus, only doubters and scoffers who were wasting their lives. Personally I enjoy sarcastic humor. But there is nothing funny about turning your back on Jesus Christ and refusing to worship him. The worship of almighty God is what we humans were made for, and to forsake worship (private and public) is to waste your life (I highly recommend renewing your worship by reading the Bible, and perhaps John Piper's short book, Don't Waste Your Life). You don't want to be in a crowd of people wasting their lives, do you? In this crowd you find no one giving anything to Jesus, except false accusations, flagrant injustice and a final death sentence. Governor Pilate tried to wash his hands of the affair. But place him in this crowd too, for there is no middle ground when it comes to Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:30). They greedily took from Jesus his honor, his good name, his life. You don't want to be in a crowd who will have blood on their hands for all eternity, do you? Do you see the dramatic difference between these two crowds? Did you know that these two crowds still exist today? Did you know that to God they are separate and distinct and will remain that way for eternity? Did you know that you belong to one of them? A Tale of Two Crowds I sincerely enjoy the big crowd that gathers in a church building on Easter Sunday. I also know that the crowd next Sunday won't be as large. Furthermore, when the call goes out to gather for serious Bible study, a prayer meeting or service to others, the crowd will shrink ever smaller. I know that, and I am not offering this sermon today to make you feel any guilt or pressure about that. What I am trying to tell you is that every one of you belongs to one of two crowds. I want you to make sure you are in the right crowd. It is always going to be decidedly smaller than the other crowd (Matthew 7:13-14). It is actually quite hard for affluent Americans like us to get into (Matthew 19:24). But the crowd you belong to now will determine the crowd in which you spend eternity. Believe me, eternity itself is a great tale of two crowds! Now I know that some of you don't want to be in a church crowd (except of course for Easter Sunday) and I know why. You are sick to death of church people. This may surprise you, but so am I! I'm sick of altar calls and pressured decisions that don't change lives. I'm sick of the creed "Don't drink, don't chew, and don't run with the crowd that do" (Jesus drank, feasted, and ran with tax collectors and prostitutes). So forget about church and church people for a moment. Pick up a book and read it. No, not the Bible, not yet. Pick up a copy of Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. Go ahead and read the well known ending, where Sydney Carton willingly lays down his life for Charles Darnay, so that Darnay can enjoy an abundant life with his wife, Lucie, and their daughter. Read those last lines and let them mesmerize you. Carton quotes the gospel of John (John 11:25), then says as he is about to die, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." Then, you will realize the story is not merely about London and Paris. It is about heaven and hell. It is not merely about Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay. It is about the lord Jesus Christ and it is about you. You will know that it is not merely a tale of two cities but a tale of two crowds, and you will want to belong in the right crowd, the crowd for whom Jesus died.
You will know the truth, the truth of the gospel of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the truth will set you free. You will hear Christ say, "follow me" as he so often did (19 times in the gospels), and you will follow. You will want to worship him regularly in private and, yes, even in public with the sinners and saints. You will want to give to him your all, your possessions, your very life. It will be a far better thing than you have ever done, and you will go to a far better rest than you have ever known.
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