Sermon Series: What Jesus Did in His Last Week

Sermon Series: What Jesus Did in His Last Week

What Jesus Did in His Last Week

Dr. Larry Thorson
March 4, 2007

Matthew 21:1-5

1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, say the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."

4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

    5 "Say to Daughter Zion,
       'See, your king comes to you,
       gentle and riding on a donkey,
       and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' "

Today we’re launching a new sermon series: “What Jesus Did During His Last Week.” It’s going to be a verse by verse study of Jesus’ last week as recorded in Matthew 21. My intention is for us to spend a little time with Jesus. Regardless of who Jesus is to you, I hope that you’ll enjoy the series and that Jesus will at least seem more personal to you than when we began.

How many of you have been on an overnight mission trip? Over the years I’ve had the blessing of being able to go on a few trips; hurricane relief in Honduras twice, Tijuana twelve times, Nuevo Laredo, Orlando, tornado relief in Oklahoma City, delinquent youth camp in Michigan as well as earthquake relief work in Santa Cruz, house building in Plano, Texas and numerous other one day trips. I go on mission trips partially to help people in need and share my Savior with them but mainly because I meet Jesus on these trips in a way that is better than a spiritual retreat. If you’re still physically capable to travel I hope that one day you too will be able to go on a mission trip. If you can’t go maybe you can financially help others who can go and be part of the mission team in that way.

I saw and experienced so many new things on this last mission trip to Louisiana. I met at least fourth generation French speaking Americans who make a living in the bayou. It was like a whole new world opened to me. Louisiana seems as different to our California as the U.S. seems to France. As different as that is, imagine being with Jesus on his last mission trip. Think what you would learn. Think how much of your world would be opened up. Perhaps a blind man will gain his eyesight or a man in a wheelchair will stand up and walk. Anything is possible.

Unfortunately by the time of his last mission trip Jesus was on something of a "most wanted list" and notice was given that if anyone knew his whereabouts they should report such to the authorities. The chief priests and the Pharisees, the Democrats and Republicans of their day actually found something they could agree on and teamed up to conspire together to put him to death (John 11:53).

So what did he do that got him on the most wanted list? It wasn’t his healings or teachings. Lots of faith healers healed people in those days. Healings are actually a common factor in most religions. The event that actually got him into trouble was raising a man from the dead. Nobody was doing resurrections.

The interesting thing is that he didn’t need to do the resurrection. The man he raised was one of his best friends and the man’s sisters Mary and Martha sent word to him in plenty of time that Lazarus was dying. But Jesus didn’t drop everything and go running to heal his friend like he could have. Instead he did other things and waited so that by the time Jesus got to him Lazarus had been dead for four days.

Why did he wait? That’s the big question. If he had simply healed Lazarus when he first heard about his sickness it would have been just another one of his many healings and I don’t think the religious leaders would have bothered him.

Then as if to make the matter even worse Jesus waited so long that there couldn’t be doubt in anyone’s mind that Lazarus was dead. It was all too much for the religious leaders. It would be too far out of my own experience for me. That was the final straw that broke the religious leaders’ patience. From that point on Jesus couldn’t be in the cities anymore and had to hang out near the desert in a remote community called Ephraim (John 11:54).

So why did Jesus allow Lazarus to die and then resurrect him? The reason is crucial to our understanding of Jesus. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead when he did in obedience to a directive he got from his father. I believe that event was meant to set things in motion that would lead the religious authorities to have him put to death so that he could conquer death and save us.

But Jesus had other options that following his father’s directives. He could have stayed hidden away in the desert, safe from those who wanted to kill him. But that wasn’t his purpose in life and he knew it. His purpose was to be our sacrifice for our sins. That’s what prompted his last mission trip. The trip began by going back to the town where the resurrection had taken place, the home of his friends Mary and Martha and their brother. It may have been just a two mile trip from Bethany to Jerusalem but it would affect history forever.

In Matthew 20:17-19 we first read about the trip

“Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem,and the Son of Manwill be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and floggedand crucified. On the third dayhe will be raised to life!”

I personally would have voted against going to Jerusalem. I would have voted against going to see Mary and Martha because that’s where all the trouble started. There are lots of needy places we could go. But Jesus didn’t make decisions based on need or opportunity, the two main criteria for Presbyterian decision making. Jesus made decisions based on direction he received from his Father God. That’s how I’d like to see our church make decisions as we move forward.

That’s also what we call a prophecy. It’s a prediction of the future that could have only come from God to prepare Jesus and his closest disciples for what was coming. Specific direction from God is available for our mission work today if we can get past listening to need or opportunity and listen to those with the gift of prophecy. That’s why God gives some the gift of prophecy and words of knowledge for specific guidance. That specific guidance is not always rational. Coming to Hemet for me was not rational for what I was doing at the time but fortunately thus far it hasn’t had the same result as Jesus’ trip. Going to Jerusalem for Jesus at this time wasn’t definitely wasn’t rational.

So Jerusalem it was. For Jesus it was kind of like a trip to the hospital where you know they’re going to amputate your leg only worse. It couldn’t have been a very pleasant time for him and I don’t see a lot of support for him in our passage from his team. I also don’t see him backing down. He was obedient to his father’s direction.

Just before you get to Jerusalem there will be a little village called Bethphage which means house of figs. It sits on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives. It wasn’t much of a town, mostly a place where ordinary folk earned an income growing figs. But soon it would have a claim to fame and never be forgotten.

"Go to the village ahead of you and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away." (Matthew 21:2)

Personally, I would have preferred he ask me to drywall a room over going up to some strangers and take their animals from them, especially when it didn’t make any sense to me. Who’s going to give away their donkey and colt? Would you give away your car to some strangers from who knows where walking by? I don’t think so.

Maybe Jesus knew the owner from a previous trip through Bethphage and had made arrangements. But I would have still found the request strange because Jesus always walked everywhere and they were so close to Jerusalem as it was. Why does he need a donkey?

You will find out. It was very important to fulfilling his purpose in life. In our next lesson we will look at why a donkey was so important in God’s plan even though having it made no human sense. For this week I want you to place yourself in the shoes of the two disciples whom Jesus asked to get the donkey for him. Try to imagine how you would have responded to his request.

If you are quiet and listen for God this week you may hear something that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to you. Jesus had a lot of times with his Father just like that. You may not understand something that’s going on in your life right now. You’ve been doing what you think are the right things in your life, living right and yet so much is going haywire.

There was a family that some of our Hemet guys worked with in Louisiana last week. First it was the waters of Katrina and then in came the waters of Rita. Their house and belongings were destroyed by the second hurricane. FEMA provided them a trailer but after complaining that the heater wasn’t working right it caught fire and burned up. After a rough year of recovery with lots of help they were almost back in their house when they were involved in a head on collision and the husband almost died. He survived and came home only to have his wife fall and break her arm. Perhaps you don’t understand what’s going on right now but keep doing what you know God is calling you to do.

That’s what Jesus did. I don’t think he fully understood why God had him delay going to heal Lazarus but God knew. I’m not certain he knew what a huge furor raising Lazarus would cause but it was the straw that broke the camels back and set things in motion for our salvation. Just like what the people of south Louisiana told us that as bad as Katrina and Rita were it set in motion plans on a national scale for a permanent solution for the area.

Your trial will one day make sense. So listen carefully to what God is calling you to do today and don’t worry about it making sense. Learn to listen to the leader of your mission trip. Amen.