What to Do With Jesus

Yesterday was Palm Sunday and the beginning of the Passion Week, which culminates with Easter Sunday, the celebration of Jesus' resurrection from the grave. The week is appropriately given the name "Passion" because it's a time to celebrate God's passion for us! God is passionate about us, but we must decide if our passion also lies with Him.

If you read the various accounts of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19, John 12) on what we now celebrate as Palm Sunday, you see how the villagers who greeted him honored him as the King of Kings. They waved palm branches in exaltation and placed their cloaks over his shoulders and upon his donkey as if they were royal robes. Many laid their cloaks across the road, as a royal carpet, honoring their King as he returned to them. They praised him shouting, "Hosanna!" - a greeting reserved for kings returning from war. Jesus was not and never claimed to be an earthly king, yet he is the King of all Kings and Lord of all Creation. The crowds who greeted him on Palm Sunday in Jerusalem worshiped him, and gave him the glory and honor he deserves.

Only a few days had passed before he encountered two entirely different crowds. First, he was brought before the Jewish high priests and the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Council. (Jesus was a Jew, so he lived under their governing authority and was brought to them to be charged with blasphemy, as they had already conspired against him.) When Jesus refused to deny his claim to be the Son of God, they charged him with blasphemy and declared him worthy of execution. They spit upon him, slapped him and mocked him saying, "Prophesy, and tell us who slapped you that time, Messiah!" He then was presented to Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate addressed the large crowds outside, asking them what he should do with Jesus. Pilate was willing to let Jesus go free because he felt he had committed no crime. However, the crowd yelled, "Crucify him!", and Pilate (being the wimp that he was) handed him over to be crucified, even though he believed Jesus was an innocent man.

So Jesus, in a matter of days, received glory and praise from one crowd of people and rejection from another, yet no matter how he is ever received, he's still the King of Kings. That fact will never change. Everyone who has lived ever since has had to make the same decision as Pilate and the crowds: we all have to decide what to do with Jesus. Either we give Jesus the glory and honor he deserves in our lives, or we can can shake our fist at him and reject him. There's really no in-between. Many people try to find what they feel is the "moderate" approach to Jesus and say they believe he was a great teacher and a good man. But let's face it: a good man and great teacher doesn't claim to be the Son of God if he really isn't, and a liar certainly doesn't submit to death by Roman crucifixion and refuse to deny his false claim. There's really no way he could have been just a good teacher or a good man. Jesus was either a nut, a bold-faced liar or he really was telling the truth. There's just no room for the "good teacher and good man" perspective in there.

Here is a short video, The Jesus Rant, that puts Jesus into historical perspective. It's very brief and well worth the time. Unfortunately, I'm not able to embed it here in my blog, but it can still be viewed by clicking on this link.

Additionally, a great book on the deity of Jesus, is More Than A Carpenter by Josh McDowell. It's a best-seller and was written by a former skeptic.