The "Second" Advent

Well today is the second Sunday of Advent. We don't say a lot about that around here, but a lot of churches do, and maybe you come from a background that celebrates the actual Advent calendar. So you are aware of this, although some of us may not be aware of. The word Advent literally comes from the Latin word, meaning coming or arrival. And so the Advent, and we use the word that way, we talk about the Advent of television or the Advent of the Internet, indicating the arrival or the time when that began. So the word literally means the coming or arrival of someone or something. But it has come to mean something a little different in the religious calendar, begun by the Catholic church and adopted by many Protestant churches. Advent has come to mean the four Sundays leading up to December 25th. And so last Sunday would have been the first Sunday of Advent, today the second Sunday of Advent. And what people mean by that when they celebrate Advent is it's supposed to be a time of celebration, of anticipation, of preparation for Christ's coming arrival, His Advent. And it's a time of celebration of His first Advent, but also a time of looking forward to His second Advent, to His second coming. But I would like to have a focus this morning on a third Advent, which falls between the first and second Advent, and so in reality becomes the second Advent. Are you confused? I am too. Let me see if I can clear that up my own thinking. There is a coming and arrival of Jesus between His first Advent in Bethlehem in the manger and His second Advent as He comes and lands on the Mount of Olives at His second coming and sets up His kingdom. There is another arrival of Jesus described in His ministry. And that was His coming to Jerusalem, His arrival in Jerusalem. It is just as amazing as the first and second Advent that we normally refer to. This second Advent is a literal appearing, a coming and arrival of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem to begin His last week on earth. We typically celebrate this on Palm Sunday. So having introduced the Advent calendar, I'm really messing with you now by pulling Palm Sunday into the Christmas season. But we're going to talk about the coming of Jesus into Jerusalem, and His arrival in Jerusalem on the week of His death. It is a cataclysmic event. It's described for us in John's Gospel, chapter 12. As He arrives in Jerusalem to present Himself as King on Palm Sunday, five days before He will die. As we journey through the Gospel of John, we come to this setting and this story today in John chapter 12 verses 9 through 19. Jesus has already arrived on the outskirts of Jerusalem. He has made His way to Bethany, the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. He has been feeded at a banquet on Saturday evening, given in His honor where Mary pours out the ointment on His head and His feet. Expectations are at a fever pitch in Jerusalem. It's just been a couple of weeks ago that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. And that created an intense stir in Jerusalem. Nobody had ever seen anything or heard of anything like that at all. On His way to Jerusalem just a few days ago, Jesus has stopped over in Jericho and performed another tremendous miracle, healing a blind man named Bartomeus. So word has spread about that and the crowds are swelling with this intense expectation of Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem. So much so that John tells us in verse 9, meanwhile, a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came not only because of Him, but also to see Lazarus whom He had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well. For on account of Him, many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in Him. See, they already have plans to kill Jesus. They want to kill Him, but now they're going to include Lazarus in the plan as well so that they can hopefully in their minds get rid of the evidence of Jesus' power. So not only is there intense excitement and expectation, there is widespread tension in Jerusalem also at this time. No one had ever seen anything like this in Jerusalem. No one alive had ever witnessed the kind of expectation, excitement, and intense feeling that is welling up in everyone in Jerusalem at this time. Everyone is talking about it. I'm sure it was the dinner table conversation in every home. People in the markets in town were talking about it. In the temple, it was the topic of conversation. Everyone was talking about it everywhere. Will Jesus make His move at the Passover? Look at the crowds. Look at what He's done. Surely He's building up to something. Will He make His move and assume His kingdom at this Passover? And if He does, what will the religious authorities do? How will they respond? We know they want to kill Him. What are they going to do? And so there's this intense excitement and stress and tension building up in Jerusalem as Jesus comes. Well, Christ does do something outstanding. He does take definite, premeditated, calculated action to present Himself as King and demonstrate His authority. Jesus demonstrates His authority on Palm Sunday. In an amazing way, He shows His proper authority. And what I want us to see this morning is how He demonstrates that authority. At least in a couple of different ways. And then what our response should be to Jesus demonstrating His authority in this way. First of all, Jesus demonstrates His authority in life's events. In the small details and the outworking of every event of life, Jesus demonstrates that. Now in John's record of this event, of this triumphant entry, He refers to it briefly in verse 14. It's not the first verse in our passage, but chronologically, it's the first thing that happens. So let's look at Jesus' authority in life's events in verse 14 where it says, Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it as it is written and then he quotes from an Old Testament prophet. We'll look at that later. But Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. Now that may not seem very important and it may not seem like how does that show His authority in life's events. But when you compare all the gospel accounts, you fill in some of the gaps from John's gospel here. John doesn't deal with all the details of this finding of the donkey and the riding of the donkey, but the other gospels do. So for a few moments in order for us to see how critical it is to understand Jesus' control over this event and how He's engineering all of this event for His purposes, I want us to hold our place here and we'll look over at Mark's Gospel. Look at Mark chapter 11. Mark's account of the triumphant entry actually begins with the finding of the donkey. And it is in those details that we find Jesus' authority being demonstrated in life's events, in the small details of everyday life. Mark 11, verse 1. As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethvege and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of His disciples saying to them, go to the village ahead of you and just as you enter it, you will find a cult tied there which no one has ever ridden, untie it and bring it to me. Bring it here. If anyone asks you, why are you doing this, say the Lord needs it and we will send it back here shortly. Now, what we find here is Jesus' control over life's events. And what we see first is that He knows life's events. He knows exactly what is transpiring and what is about to transpire, what is going to transpire. He sends His disciples on a mission to go find this donkey that He will ride into Jerusalem. And in so doing, He demonstrates that He knows everything that is going to take place. He tells them exactly where they will find it, just inside the village. He tells them that it is a cult. The other gospels tell us, John included, that it is the full of a donkey, a young donkey. He tells them where it is. He tells them that it has never been ridden by anyone that will become an important detail later. But He tells them that. And He tells them that it will be tied up. He knows that. And He knows there will be a question about why they're taking this donkey. He knows all of that before it's ever happened. And the reason why He knows life's events is because He has already planned them. There's a verse in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 11, that says, God is working all things after the counsel of His own will, His own plan. God is unfolding human history, both in the great events and in the small details of everyday life, like we're seeing here, according to His plan. It's not just that He knows everything ahead of time and watches it helplessly happen, although He knows about it. He has planned it. He has set it into motion. And so He knows all of these events the very day, the very hour of Jesus' death, has been selected with countdown perfection and with perfection, Jesus moves every event toward that end, including the little details of a young donkey that has never been ridden, that is tied up in a certain place where you will find Him. He knows all of those details in life. He has it all together and that reminds me that the same is true of my life and the same is true of your life. He knows everything that is going to happen because it is a part of the unfolding of His perfect plan and life is moving perfectly according to the precise outworking of His plan. He knows all that will happen with you. He knows what will happen today that you have no idea will happen. He knows what will happen tomorrow and next week and next month and next year. He knows every detail of your life and of mine. He knows all of that. That is a tremendous comfort to know that He knows all of life's events. But notice also, He has a purpose for all of life's events. Verse 3 again, if anyone asks you why are you doing this, say, the Lord needs it. The Lord needs this donkey and will send it back here shortly. The Lord needs this donkey. You see, the Lord is working out His plan, step by step, detail by detail. And this donkey has a part in that plan. And so the Lord needs this piece of the puzzle for His plan to all work out. The Lord needs this. It is a part of His purpose, it is a part of His plan which again reminds me that whatever God knows about my life, He also has a purpose for in my life and yours as well. Now I will be the first to admit, I do not always see God's purpose in what He's doing. I don't always understand why things happen the way they do. The timing of events, the nature of tragic events, I can't explain those. I don't know the mind of God, I don't know God's purpose in those for my own life. And I find myself struggling as a pastor to help people understand and grasp and submit to that. It's difficult. I do know this much, although I may not know everything that God is doing, certainly none of us do. I have the confidence that because the Bible says He is working out all things according to the purpose of His own will, His own plan, that He does have a purpose, He does have a plan, and even those things which are tragic, even those things which are so hard to bear in life, God will work together for good in our lives. You see, a lot of what happens to us would not have been a part of God's original purpose and plan, if it hadn't been for the fall of man. And when man sinned and brought God's judgment on this world, we now live in a cursed world. We now live in a world that does not function as it was intended to function. And we don't function as we were intended to function by God. And so all of the messed up things that happen come from that. But God still can redeem all of that. He can work all of that together for good to those who love Him, to those who are the called. Remember, according to His purpose, God has a purpose that He can work out even incorporating all of those bad things, those dark things that happen in our lives. He has a purpose for life's events, but then I am so glad to see this also. Not only does He know all of life's events, not only does He have a purpose for life's events, but He directs life's events in verses 4 through 6. They went and found a cult outside in the street tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people were standing there, asked, what are you doing? Untying that cult. They answered as Jesus had told them to and the people let them go. It's of great comfort to me this morning, my friend, that God not only knows what's going to happen, not only is it according to His plan and purpose, but He directs life's events as the plan unfolded, as the day unfolded, as they went about their assigned task. They found it happening just as Jesus had said it would. He was controlling and directing the events of life, which means we can trust Him. We can trust Him with whatever's happening in our lives. I know sometimes it doesn't seem like it's working out like you think it should. God tested me on this very thing this morning. Usually on Sunday mornings, I've come out here early enough to have a good time of quiet alone time and prayer. And then the last half hour before I come out for the first service, I just review my notes so that it's like a fire in my bones before I get out here and it's fresh in my heart and mind. And that's my plan every Sunday morning. It just works like clockwork. Usually the Lord allows that to happen, not this morning. I got out here this morning and I was just right in the middle of my prayer time and I get a phone call from Jeannie. And she says, honey, I'm at Kroger. I just got gas. The car won't move. It's dead. And she said, I'm going to go over to Kroger and try to find someone. I said, no, no, I don't want you doing that. I'll be there in just a minute. So I threw my coat on, rushed to my car, got up to Kroger and sure enough the car was dead. Nobody's around. So I said, you know, put it in neutral. And I want you to know I pushed an SUV all by myself. I'm about to collapse. If I don't finish the message, you'll know why. But I got it off. She was right out from where she'd gotten gas out, you know, by KFC. And it just died. And so I pushed it over to a parking place. Oh, actually, a couple guys did show up to help me. But I want you to know I really had it going good before they got there. It's not at all like I would plan my Sunday morning to go. And we rushed to get back out here to get ready for the service. And it's not at all how I would have planned it. And I just sense the Lord saying to me, John, you remember what you're preaching this morning? Yes, Lord. John, do you believe what you're preaching this morning? Yes, Lord. John, do you believe I could have a purpose even in what's happened to mess up your tidy little schedule? Yes, Lord. I got tested on this very thing this morning. So I still don't know what the purpose of that is. Maybe I'll go back and there's a new car there. I don't know. I don't know. Kind of doubt that. But I don't know what the purpose. I don't understand why that would happen. But it did. And I trust that God had a purpose in it. Even if it was just to give me a sermon illustration. God is in control. Jesus is the authority in life's events. I believe that with all of my heart. Not only does he know them. He has a purpose in him and he directs them. And we can trust him because of that. But not only is he the Lord, not only does he have the authority in life's events. He also has the authority in God's kingdom. And that's really what the triumphal inference is all about. What we've seen so far is just kind of the lead up to it. But the triumphal entry itself as he makes himself available to the nation of Israel as he rides into the city. That's all about showing that he really is the king. He really is the true king. But there's a lot going on here behind the scenes. There's a lot happening that ties intricately back to the Old Testament. And that's what I want us to see this morning because the Lordship of Christ in God's kingdom is primarily a prophetic fulfillment. It is a fulfillment of some prophecies in the Old Testament. Back to John's Gospel. Chapter 12, look at verse 14 again, Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it as it is written. And then he quotes from the Old Testament, do not be afraid, daughters, Ion, see your king is coming seated on a donkey's cult. He was quoting or the John was quoting from Zachariah chapter 9. Look at this verse, it's on the screen. Look how closely it is tied to what we're seeing in John's Gospel. Rejoice greatly, daughters, Ion, shout, daughter Jerusalem, see your king, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey on a cult, the full of a donkey. An amazing prophecy written some 500 years before Jesus was born. Specifically, prophesying exactly how Jesus would present Himself as king to the nation of Israel. He fulfills that prophecy to the letter, but the symbolic meaning of this is absolutely powerful. Why would a king be presented on a young donkey that has never been written before? Why would a king come that way? The symbolism is powerful. For one thing, this prophecy must be fulfilled in this way. You remember the little detail that Jesus said it will be a cult on whom no one has ever written? That's significant because in Old Testament times, a pony or a young donkey like this that was going to be reserved and set apart for religious purposes, for sacred purposes, maybe to help move articles of the tabernacle or something like that, would be kept from being written by anyone. It is as though this animal is not going to be put to common use. This animal is set aside for a special holy task. And so even the little detail that has never been written before is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. And Jewish people would understand this, they would grasp this, this is a sacred task. It requires a donkey that has been set apart for a special task. But it's also a prophetic fulfillment in this way. Jesus is riding a donkey into town because he's identifying with the royal line of David. It is King David's throne that he will reign upon. That's clearly prophesied in the Old Testament. That David would have a descendant who would rule forever on his throne when the angel announced to Mary that Jesus was going to be born. He announced in Luke 1 that this would be the son of David who would rule on David's throne forever, up until the time of David. The royal animal that was used for kings and israls, Saul and David, was a donkey. He might say that's kind of different. Well there was a purpose in that. The royal king and israls was to be seen as a shepherd figure, a humble figure, a servant of the people. And riding in on a donkey was to reinforce that and communicate that concept. That the king is not to be one that lords it over his people, that abuses them, and they become a downtrodden populace. The king is to be one who serves them, who humbly, gently, meekly is their servant. And the donkey was intended to communicate that. Up until and after the time of David. It was when Solomon began to accumulate great stables of horses that israls kingdom became like every other kingdom around them. I don't know if you remember God's warnings in first Samuel to Samuel about the king. And he warned isral and warned them also in Deuteronomy that if you get a king, don't build up horses because horses were seen as the royal animal of strength and power. And you become a military kingdom that way. That's what Solomon did. But up until the time of David, it was the donkey that was the animal the king used to demonstrate his authority as a humble servant of God's people. And that's what Jesus is doing. It's a beautiful fulfillment of the symbolism there. But it is also a prophetic fulfillment in this way. Jesus is proclaiming the character of his reign. The character of his reign will be a humble, gentle king who is bringing peace to his people. He is not a war like military figure. He is bringing peace to his people. In contrast to the kings of the earth, Jesus is introducing a different kind of kingdom. I'm sure that the Roman soldiers had a few snickers over this triumphant entry. I'm sure that as the Roman soldiers watched it unfold, they probably looked at each other and kind of winked and nodded their heads like, this is how the Jews do it. They ought to come to Rome and see how it's really done. We know how to do triumphant processions. When our emperor comes back from conquering a nation, he rides into the city on the biggest, most muscular, most beautiful horse we can find in the kingdom. And he has all of his generals behind him. And then he has his warriors behind him in this great parade. And then some of the loot they've taken in battle to U and Ah, the crowd. And then some of the captives that he's taken trail on at the end. And then they're taken to the Coliseum and they entertain us with a fight with the lions. That's how you do a triumphant entry. And I'm sure the Roman soldiers snicker look at this, a donkey. Come on, are you serious? A donkey? And what Jesus was purposely showing is my kingdom is not like the kingdom of the Gentiles. He had already told his disciples that they didn't get it, but already told them that. They're arguing about who's going to be Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense and his kingdom, who's going to be on the right hand, who's going to be on the left hand. And Jesus says, my kingdom is not like that. The princes of the Gentiles, they lord it over people. They keep their people in subjection so that people look up to them with great awe and fear. My kingdom is not like that. He says the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. And Jesus is demonstrating with this very beautiful, detailed fulfillment of prophecy exactly what kind of kingdom he would have. He is showing that he is the true king, the king who will bring love, grace, mercy and peace to his kingdom. He is king. He is Lord in God's kingdom. And it is a prophetic fulfillment. But not only is it a prophetic fulfillment, there's something else significant in the way that Jesus comes into the town. It is a very public fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. And that is most unusual in Jesus' ministry. This ride into Jerusalem is the most public event of his entire ministry. Half of the population of Israel would be in Jerusalem at this time for these beasts. The Jewish historian Josephus tells us there would be 2.7 million people. Some say he was maybe exaggerating a bit that the population of all of Israel could have been that much in the first century. I don't know. But we do know that probably half the population of all Israel was in Jerusalem at this time. Every available inch of space along the road Jesus would go to enter the city would be covered with tents of people who were there for the week of Passover celebration. This is a very public event. Jesus chooses the most public time to do this when there are daily observances in the temple and lamb after lamb after lamb being offered as sacrifices for the nation of Israel. And so Jesus comes very publicly at the time when he would be most noticed by the most people in the most obvious way and that makes us scratch our heads. Why? Up until this time he has avoided this kind of mass appeal. He has sometimes preached the crowds away when they wanted to proclaim him king. Up until this time he has withdrawn from the crowds when this kind of ground swell of support starts coming up. Up until this time he's healed people and told them don't tell anybody because he didn't want to premature uprising of popular opinion about him. Why is it so different now? Why does he initiate this public throng of people claiming him as king? Why on this day does he invite it? Why is he courting danger like this when he knows that they want to kill him the religious leaders do? I submit to you that he is doing it with calculated purpose that he knows exactly what he's doing in this very public presentation of himself. Mark's gospel tells us that the Jews although they want him dead and they're trying to find a way to arrest him they have already decided this is not the right time. Not at the Passover feast because of all the crowds in Jerusalem and all of the public opinion that he has behind him will never get away with it. And so they've already decided not to arrest him at the Passover feast. But in God's timetable the Lamb of God must be offered at the Passover. That is the time when he will die in the plan of God. And so you've got the religious authorities saying not now and God's timetable says yes now. And so Christ forces their hand. Christ will put them in a position with this very public entry into Jerusalem. Christ will put them into a position where they can't do anything but arrest him. They have to. They must. They've got to do something. This really is a showdown at the okay courthouse. This really is a showdown at the gates of Jerusalem. A showdown between secular and religious authority and Christ's authority and Christ's authority wins. He is the one in control. He is in authority in God's kingdom with this very prophetic fulfillment of Scripture but also done in a way that is very public with calculated reason calculated purpose behind that he knows exactly what he's doing. But it is not only a prophetic fulfillment and a public fulfillment of prophecy. It is a praiseworthy fulfillment of prophecy as well. If you'll look with me again at verse 13. Verse 12 says the crowd heard Jesus was coming on his way to Jerusalem. Verse 13 they took palm branches and went out to meet him shouting, Hosanna blessed as he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel. This is a this is a praise gathering. This is a time of great adoration and praising of the one who is the king. And they they indicated in several ways mark Matthew and Luke all three of the other gospels tell us that they spread their cloaks on the path that he was riding the road that he was riding into Jerusalem in front of him. And that wasn't to keep the donkey's feet from getting dirty. In that day it was clearly understood and the reason why people did that when they were welcoming a king they would take their outer garments off and spread it down in front of him as he made his way to his royal procession to indicate everything we have as yours. We are submitting everything we are and have to you. And that's what they were saying by putting their cloaks down. This was a very public dedication of themselves. Now I recognize on the part of many they were caught up in the crowd and it was not sincere because with many of them they will be among the crowd that will say crucify him by the end of the week. Swade by the powerful arm of the Pharisees the chief priests. But right now they are saying by this action we submit everything we have an R to you and then they take palm branches mark mint or John mentions that they took palm branches and went out the meeting and the Bible says they were waving those palm branches. The palm branch was a national symbol of the nation of Israel. It was kind of like our eagle or Liberty Bell. Kind of that deal where they were saying this is our national symbol. And we presented to you we wave it before you as a symbol that we are giving you the authority in our nation. You are our king. That's what they're saying with the palm branches. You know I think sometimes we we get the palm Sunday when Sunday school class and we think what was really hot and they're trying to fan him. Is that what it was? That's not what it was going on. These are very meaningful symbols of the authority of a king in Israel. And then notice the shouts while they're waving his branches putting their garments down in front of front of them they shout. Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel. Hosanna literally means Lord save us. Lord save us. And they were singing the last part of a great hymn recorded in the Old Testament that they would always sing on their way to Jerusalem for the feasts. Six chapters. Psalm 113 to 118. These great Psalms of Ascent they're called because you sing them as you go up to Jerusalem. And it ends with these words in Psalm 118. They're on the screen for you. Lord save us. And the New Testament it would come out as Hosanna. Lord save us. Lord grant us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord from the house of the Lord. We bless you as you enter into the city. And in in in the Old Testament as they went up to the city and entered into the temple to worship. They were claiming God to be their king. They were praising him as their king. Now they're singing these verses of Jesus. They are proclaiming him to be their king. Luke's Gospel tells us that the Pharisees tried to quiet them down and told Jesus. Jesus quiet your disciples down and Jesus said if they if they do not cry out my praises if they're silent then even the rocks would cry out. Why? Because this is a praise worthy fulfillment of the Old Testament. This deserves all the praise and adoration and submission to his authority possible. Jesus is king and he's worthy of that. But the real question is how will people respond to him? What is really the response of people? What are they thinking in their hearts as they watch this triumphal procession taking place unfolding before their eyes? The responses of people in verses 16 through 19 indicate to us that Jesus not only is authoritative. He is Lord in life's events and he's Lord in God's kingdom. But he also should be Lord in our lives. Because there are four groups, four categories of people in verses 16 to 19. All four of them respond in different ways. And I believe they may all four be represented here this morning. And so let's kind of see where we fit in all of this. When Jesus proclaims himself to be king he is the Lord. He is the one who deserves the ultimate praise and worship and submission and yieldedness. How do we respond? The first group of people are mentioned in verse 16. They're the disciples and they respond with confusion. Quite literally they're just confused. Verse 16, at first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified. In other words his resurrection and his glorified body when he began to teach them and put together the Old Testament with their experience. 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. In other words what was written about him in the Old Testament was what was being done to him. What was being carried out in the fulfillment in the New Testament. So they didn't put all that together yet. They were confused about what was happening. Now here's my point. I think there may be some of us here this morning who may still be confused about who Jesus is and what rightful place he deserves in our lives. For these men what it took was more understanding of scripture. For Jesus to explain to them the Old Testament prophecies and how it all fit. It took the ministry of the Holy Spirit as he came in the day of Pentecost to fill in the gaps of their understanding, giving them an understanding and enlightenment as to what the Bible was teaching. It took that. It took some time to grow. And for some of us we've not yet grasped the place that Jesus deserves in our lives. We need to immerse ourselves in his word and let the Holy Spirit enlighten us and open our eyes and help us to understand and grasp who Jesus really is. He's not just your fire escape from hell. He's not just one who forgives you of just sin wipes the record clean and says now you're on your own go live like you want. Now he is also our Lord. He is the authority of God in our lives. He should be at the very center of our lives. The focus of our lives. Don't be confused about that. He should be Lord as well as Savior. So some people responded with confusion. Then there was a group of people that responded with conviction. We find them in verse 17. They are called the crowd. Verse 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. These are the same people that are mentioned back in chapter 11 verse 45. We saw them earlier. Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did when he raised Lazarus from the dead believed in him. These are new converts. These are new believers. These are people that have just come to understand who Jesus is and believed in him. But they are flaming witnesses. They're still spreading the report. They're still spreading the news. They're still telling other people about Jesus. What do God that we would never lose that? That is quite customary for new converts because they grasp what God's done for them. They want everybody to know about it. It's like being given $10 million. You want someone to know about that. Well maybe you don't want people to know about that. It's like something really special that happens to you. You've got to tell somebody. You've got to let people know what has changed your life so much. That's the sign of a new convert that is convinced that Jesus is Lord. They want everybody to know about them and they speak from a heart conviction. We ought never to lose that. But we do. I wish all of us in our church could have heard the funeral service yesterday for Pastor Jim's father. Some of you were there and you did hear this. The testimony of a man who among many other godly qualities never lost his passion to tell other people about Jesus. If a repairman came to work on their house, he had him out on the patio of the back porch drinking lemonade telling them about Jesus before they left. No matter where he went, where he was, even in the last days of his life, he and his dear wife were telling others about Jesus. They're in the assisted living facility. He never lost that. He carried with him to his grave the passion of letting other people know about Jesus. What a godly heritage you have Jim. What a godly man that man was. I said they're convicted in my own spirit about how easy it is to grow callous and used the things and not aware of people around me, not aware of who may need to hear about Jesus. Not taking the time to introduce others to the savior. I was rebuked in my own spirit. May we be people of conviction who never lose that passion to spread news about Jesus to tell others about Christ. People of conviction. That's the way some people responded. But then there was a third response. It was a response of curiosity. Verse 18. This is another group of people. They're called many people. Many people because they had heard that he had performed this sign went out to meet him. They just want to meet him. They want to see who he is. I want to get introduced to the these are visitors to the Passover festival and all of this happening from the far reaches of Jerusalem or Israel or maybe even the world, the Roman world. And they've heard about Jesus and they're curious to see him. But he's almost like a carnival attraction to them. They want to see him. They want to get some feel for what's going on around here. I've been hearing about this. I want to see him. How tall is he? How big is he? What does he look like? What color hair does he have? It's that kind of curiosity. I just want to meet him. I want to see him. There may be some folks like that here this morning. It may be the reason why you're at church. You're just kind of exploring and curious about what all this is about. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. But I want to challenge you to go further than that. I want you to go further than just the initial curiosity that may interest you in meeting Jesus and finding out more about him and knowing. You go beyond that because if that's where you stay, you'll always stay out on the fringes looking in. Just kind of trying to figure out what this thing is all about. What does it mean to be a Christian? What does it mean to be a Christ follower? Who is this Jesus anyway? What is? I want to challenge you to move beyond that to an embracing of Christ as your Savior, to a submission to Him as your Lord, to embracing Him into your heart and life, not just a curiosity seeker looking from the outside, but moving on to receive Him as your Savior, dropping your guard, letting go of your pride, letting go of your own attempts to get to heaven, and humbly recognizing Jesus for who He is, that He is your Savior who died for you on the cross. I urge you to move from being a curiosity seeker to being one who really understands that Jesus is your Savior. Some people responded with curiosity. And then there was a fourth group. They're called the Pharisees in verse 19. And they responded with consternation. They are very concerned about what they see happening. Verse 19 expresses it well. So the Pharisees said to one another, see this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after Him. Our approach to trying to handle this problem is not working. The whole world has gone after Him. And in exasperation they exclaim they're losing. They're losing. And that frustrates them. It angers them. You know why? Because it is their authority. They feel like they're losing. They're hold on the Jewish people. They are the religious authority. They will maintain their hold over the nation. And they don't like anyone challenging that. They don't like anyone swaying the crowds behind them because they're losing their grip on the people. And there may be some of us like that here this morning. You're holding on to your life with a firm grip. You don't want anyone else telling you what to do yourself made. Man, you've done all right on your own. You don't want someone being the Lord of your life. You can manage your own life. You can do it yourself. You've made your own way this far. And so you hang on to your life. You grip your own authority over your own life. And you're unwilling to give it up to Jesus Christ. And Jesus is appealing to you today. You're going to run it in the ditch. You're going to go the wrong way. There is a way that seems right to a man proverb says but the end there are the ways of death. And you may feel like you've got to handle on it now but you will ruin your life and spend an eternity in hell unless you give it to Jesus Christ. Unless you give him the authority of your life and say I lose my life. I give it to you, Lord. Don't respond like the Pharisees did. So it comes back to us, doesn't it? Oh, we can look at these people, the disciples, the crowd, the many people, the Pharisees. And we can point our fingers at them and talk about them. But it really all comes back to us. And what is our response? I want to ask you this morning, what is your response to Christ's authority? Are you like the disciples? Kind of confused about the whole thing because you've never really gotten into the word and let the Holy Spirit form your thinking and heart to come to a realization of Christ's Lordship in your life? Move beyond that. Give him your life. Are you one of those who was just curious? You're on the outside looking in trying to figure out what it's all about. Jesus appeals to you to let him be the Lord of your life, to let him be your Savior. Are you one of those that is hanging on as hard as you can to your own life, running it your own way, not wanting to give it up to Christ? I appeal to you this morning to become one of the convicted, one of those who responds with conviction with the sure knowledge that Jesus is Savior and I believe in Him. And now I'm so convinced I'm going to live with that conviction and I'm going to share the gospel with other people. That's where we need to move to. I ask you again, what is your response to Christ's authority? Would you join me in prayer, please? I ask myself that question this morning and I pray that we will all ask ourselves that question seriously, honestly. Lord, I pray that we would not be like those who remain confused, never really get into your word, let the Spirit of God renew our minds and hearts to be more like Jesus. We pray that we will not be like those who are just curious, trying to figure out what it's all about, wondering, interested, but not committed. Lord, I certainly pray that we will not be like those Pharisees who want to hang on to the authority over their own little kingdom and not give it up to Jesus. May we become like those who saw you for who you were, become convicted in our hearts that you are Savior and our Lord, give our lives to you. I pray this morning there might be some that would move from one of those other categories to the category of the convicted, to those who trust Christ and live out that conviction. Oh God, would you work in that way this morning in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.