Now That You Know

Good Morning! My name is Matt Martinez and I am the pastor here at Renovation Church Shoreview. Welcome to the Grand Opening of our second location of Renovation Church!

Introduction

Some people say time is relative- I’m not sure if that is true, but I have never felt it more than when my wife and I had our first born. 4am and 4pm were just times on a clock- it didn’t matter when it was, we were just exhausted and out of it.

Late one night, I was coming into our room after my wife Ally had fallen asleep. I was trying to be really quiet so I wouldn’t disturb her because every minute of sleep counts when you have a baby. But as I got near the foot of the bed, Ally popped up from her pillow, looked me straight in the eye, and said, “Who are you?”

Taken aback, I answered, “ahhh, it’s me??”

Ally, immediately fired back with a stronger, more forceful tone, “Who are you?”

And I answered, “it’s me, Matt. Your husband.”

She got visibly upset, and demanded a third time, “who are you?”

And then I realized—she’s sleep-talking.

But I was annoyed at this moment because I was exhausted too, and so I said, “Al, you’re asleep. Wake up!”

She stirs awake, looks at me, and says,

“Uh, why did you wake me up?”

…and then laid back down and went back to sleep.

Often, we don’t just see people as they are- we see them through everything we are going through- or have been through.

And many people do the same thing with Jesus.

Our experiences with church, the Bible, the news, other Christians shape how we see and define Jesus in so many different ways.

As we go through the message today, I want to ask you to think about this question:

When you hear the name Jesus, what do you think about? Who is he to you?

Let’s explore that.

BIBLE

We are what's called a Bible Teaching church, so we teach through a passage each week verse by verse so you can better understand the Bible. We are going to read a passage in the Bible now, and we’d love for everyone to read along. There’s a Bible under every chair if you need one. If you are using the Renovation Church Bible under your chair, you can turn page 735 of that Bible. Our passage today is John 12:12-19.

Whether you are a follower of Jesus, skeptical of Him, or seeking to learn, most historians and people agree—Jesus was real,

And that He changed history.

So the question becomes:

What do we do with Jesus if He really is who He claimed to be… ?

As we read through our passage, we will see four different viewpoints of Jesus. The list here is not comprehensive. The three that I will highlight in our passage are popular, common, but false views of Jesus. The final view of Jesus we will talk about is the one I want to ask you to consider today.

Let’s read now from our passage on page 735. We will start reading where you see the small number 12. We will read verse 12 and 13 to start.

John 12:12-13

12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”

So, we jump right into the middle of a story: There is a big party in Jerusalem, and people hear that Jesus is coming to town. And before he even arrives, his reputation precedes him. Here we get to see the first of

THREE POPULAR (but false) VIEWS OF JESUS

1. The view of Jesus as a worldly savior.

Before this moment, Jesus had been doing some incredible ministry all around the countryside. He was healing people with only his words, he is feeding thousands of hungry people with food that seems to just appear, and he’s an inspiring leader and teacher.

Verse 13 of our passage in John is a direct quote and reference to another book in the Bible: Psalm 118.

The reason the people are shouting this ancient poem or song from Psalm 118 is because they were interpreting the moment of Jesus entering Jerusalem with another moment in their history.

Years before our passage, Israel was ruled by an oppressive guy named Antiochus. He referred to himself as God, and he persecuted and murdered so many people. It got so bad, a man named Judas Maccabes led a revolt to overthrow this terrible ruler and freed the Jewish people.

The ‘great crowd’ here in our passage believed Jesus would save them from their political and national oppressors- the Romans. He was supposed to be their worldly savior by fixing their political and social situations.

Years ago, I went to school with this guy who loved a particular clothing store. He thought the clothes there communicated a certain status or aura, and so he bought and wore all this store’s clothes and he even applied to work there. They turned him down because he was super lazy, but that did not stop him from going there on the weekends and just hanging out pretending to work there. He would talk to customers, offer advice, and give the store free labor. Maybe he wasn’t that lazy.

He was so desperate to be associated with this brand that he manipulated the situation to work for him even though it was fake.

I do not think most of the people in our passage were intentionally trying to manipulate Jesus. I think they truly wanted to get out of a bad situation, and they connected the dots from their history. But they did not fully listen, understand, or obey what Jesus was saying, they heard what they wanted to hear and ran with it.

The danger here with making Jesus a worldly savior is that we are redefining Him to fit into our personal agenda.

That is the first view. Now, let’s take a look at the second popular, but false, view of Jesus. We will jump ahead in our passage to verse 17 for now. We will come back to verses 14-16 in a moment.

17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him.

THREE POPULAR (but false) VIEWS OF JESUS

2. The view of Jesus as a cosmic genie

This may be hard to believe, but I am not a “fix-it, handyman” type of guy. I have all my appliances on a repair and replace plan. A light bulb will go out on a lamp, and I will call up my people. “Do you guys do any light bulb work because we got an issue over here.”

We can all see Jesus this way. Call him up in prayer, ask him to fix something, and because we called, we believe he should come.

I see this view so often when people are late for work or stuck in traffic, or need a parking spot by the front. Whether you call yourself Christian or not, I hear people pray for open parking spots to appear, or all the traffic lights to be green the whole way to work. Some of you prayed that prayer in the parking lot here this morning. You pray to Jesus hoping he grants your wish.

I have also seen this view in the desperate prayers for people who are sick and dying. It is very normal to pray this kind of prayer when faced with something so sad.

In verses 17 and 18, we read about a reference to an earlier miracle of Jesus: raising a man named Lazarus from the dead. Lazaus had died, been buried for four days and people were mourning. Jesus walks in, calls to Lazarus in the tomb, and Lazarus walks out. It was an incredible moment.

To people, Jesus was a miracle worker who could heal what was sick, mend what was broken, raise up what was dead. And that view was true.

But the challenge with this view, even in our times of greatest need, is that we want what Jesus can do for us, but do not want Him for any of the other reasons he came.

The Israelites wanted blessings… but not a Savior who they needed to follow.

While Jesus desires to take care of us, and bless us- this is just a portion of a relationship with Him- much like any relationship is based on more than just gifts and kind words.

The final popular, but false, view we find in this passage is in verse 19:

19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

THREE POPULAR (but false) VIEWS OF JESUS

3. The view that Jesus is an inconvenient threat to our lives.

I was reading an article in the news about popular tourist destinations. People like to visit these places and take pictures. But at some of these places, the spots where people want to take pictures are dangerous: it’s close to an edge, it’s really high up. And so these places put up guardrails to keep people safe.

The article was interviewing an annoyed tourist who was trying to take pictures at one of these spots. The person essentially said she was irritated because the guardrails were an inconvenience and a threat to the picture she was trying to get. The interviewer said, “I understand that this is an inconvenience for you, but falling off the cliff is a threat to your life…”

Perhaps for some here, Jesus and the Bible- with all its ‘rules’ are an inconvenience to the way you want to live. The beliefs of Christians about Jesus and the Bible are viewed by some as a threat to the way some see the world. And the priests in our passage were no different.

We read throughout the book of John, the priests thought Jesus was a blasphemer and trouble maker. We can read about how Jesus would follow a bunch of rules in the Jewish Law and then would redefine other rules. He would call Himself God, or connect himself to God every chance he got. They saw Jesus as a threat: To their power. Their influence. Their control. To what they believed to be true.

I have no doubt there are people here today that see Jesus and Christianity as a threat. For some, it is because it is incredibly specific in its beliefs.

For others, Christianity is a threat because you have experienced abuses done by people claiming to do God’s will.

If that is you, I first want to say how grateful I am that you came today. Second, I believe that Jesus is a person of grace, truth, compassion, and healing. And every week here at Renovation Church Shoreview, we study the Bible to better align ourselves with Jesus, not to align Jesus to us.

Let me be clear—

I am not asking you to ignore your questions and concerns—I am asking you not to ignore Jesus.

Look at Him.

Consider Him.

Decide what you will do with Him.

I want to ask you to consider one more viewpoint found in our passage today. We skipped over verses 14-16 earlier, let’s come back to it now.

14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;

see, your king is coming,

seated on a donkey’s colt.”

16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

We have walked through three viewpoints of Jesus which are popular, perhaps even natural to have. But I believe them not to be true. I want us now to consider

THE TRUE VIEW OF JESUS

Jesus is the humble King who saves us and will bring peace to our world.

In the middle of all these competing views of Jesus, we find Jesus. You can see in verse 14 of our passage the phrase ‘as it is written. This is another reference to a different part of the Bible. This reference is to a prophecy given by a prophet named Zechariah who wrote this down 500 years before Jesus.

Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!

Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

One of the customs of the ancient Mid-east, was that, whenever a city was conquered, the victorious king would ride into the city at the head of his troops. The type of animal he chose to ride was extremely important. If he was seated on a horse, it was a sign that the city would be put to the sword. It was a sign- given by the king- of judgment against the conquered people. However, if the king chose to ride a donkey, the city could breathe a sigh of relief, it meant that the king was coming in peace.

The people in our passage wanted a king to fix their situation…

Jesus came to fix their soul.

Jesus does give us good gifts, can heal us, and provide for us. But Jesus also calls us to follow him even when it is hard.

Jesus challenges our view on power and influence. He came not to be served but to serve; calling us to follow his example.

Jesus calls us to turn from our sinful ways and believe in Him.

Verse 16 is encouraging to me because the disciples didn’t get it right away. Some here may not understand Jesus right now.

This gives me hope that Jesus is always working in my life; Jesus wants to work in yours too. But he is patient, he does not expect you to just turn on a switch and understand and accept everything. But, I believe that in order to understand, we must have a good and accurate view of who Jesus actually is.

This Jesus has been written about and talked about for centuries by Christians throughout the world. Many who have lived lives of faithfulness, others who have sacrificed much so that this word and these truths can be presented to us today.

Jesus came to save us from the sin and brokenness in this world. Jesus provides a firm foundation within the turbulent waves of our current moment. In wars, cultural upheaval and chaos, Christians for centuries have found peace, grace, and truth in Jesus.

Now that you know… more about who Jesus is…

What will you do with Him?

Gospel Invitation

There is a story about a master and a servant who went on a journey to a city. Before the two men could reach the destination they were caught in a blinding blizzard. They lost their direction and were unable to reach the city before nightfall. The next morning concerned friends went searching for the two men. They finally found the master, frozen to death, face down in the snow. When they lifted him they found the servant -- cold but alive. He survived and told how the master had voluntarily placed himself on top of the servant so the servant could live.”

Like the master in the story, Christ knew that He must die in order for others to live.

Jesus didn’t just talk about sacrifice—He became it.

Jesus came on a donkey, offering peace to us and taking the judgement on himself. He died for you; so that you would have eternal life.

In John 3:16, it says.

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The sin in our lives separates us from God, and that sin can seal our fate, like the blizzard in the story.

And so, Jesus was willing to lay down his life for us, if we would turn from our sin and give our life to Jesus. Now that you know, I would like to give everyone a moment to do this now.

I would like to ask if everyone would just close their eyes, bow their heads. No one looking around.

If you want to give your life to Jesus, to experience forgiveness, and have Jesus be the Savior of your life, in a minute I am going to invite you to stand.

I want to give you the opportunity to allow Jesus to take your place and pay for your sins, so you can receive eternal life with God in heaven.

This is your chance. If you would like to throw off all the sin that has tied you up for so long and accept that Jesus can save you. Stand. If you would like to put away your false views of Jesus, and take up the view that Jesus came to save you and is the Savior of your life. Stand. If you want to embrace the sacrifice Jesus made with his life for you, stand.

Everyone can keep their eyes closed. For those of you standing, I want to pray with you because the Bible says that if we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord we will be saved.

Whether you are standing or not, whether you have prayed this prayer before or not, I invite everyone to pray this with me (repeat after me):

Dear God,

I confess to you.

That I have sinned against you.

But God I believe,

that you sent your Son Jesus

To take my place

And God, I thank you

For forgiving my sins

And now I commit to following you

With my life.

Alright you can take a seat. Just a few more instructions. For those that stood, you just made the most important decision of your life and we want to help you know what to do next. The worship team is going to sing one final song. After they finish, I am going to come back to give those who stood some more instruction.

(After the worship team finishes the song)

If you stood today (or even if you didn’t stand and wish you did), we are so excited for you! There are some great steps that you can take now that you have stepped into a relationship with Jesus, and we would like to walk with you and help you know what to do.

So, as people get up to leave, just come forward to the front of the stage. I will be right here to provide you with a couple of next steps. It may be tough to get through, but just make your way up here where I will be waiting for you.

For those of you who need any prayer for anything else. Our prayer team will be on this side of the stage.

Next week, our Easter services will be at 9:30am and 11am, and if you are new here, and you really felt God here, bring someone with you to one of those services! We will see you then!