Jesus the superstar
- Matthew 21:9 – Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!” (prophesied in Zechariah 9:9)
- Palm Sunday, Jesus received the greeting of a superstar
- Hhosanna (i.e. hoshia-na), an exclamation of adoration:—hosanna.
- 1,000s lined the streets to see the Messiah – but the religious pharisees were furious/indignant
But less than a week later
- A lot of things happened during passion/holy week – great sermons, overturned tables
- Matthew 27:22 – Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”
- This wasn’t the first time this had happened
- John 6:53, 61, 66-67 – So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you… 61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? …66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”
- This was hard saying, something about hard sayings – The idea is of abiding, a spiritual principle – communion = koininia
Down to 120
- New Church with 120 believers – Acts 1:15 – During this time, when about 120 believers were together in 1 place…
- Look at Gideon – Judges 7:20 (NKJV) – The Lord told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others (31,700) home.”
Why does God go with the few?
- Matthew 22:14 – For many are called, but few are chosen.
- This is part of God’s pruning process – John 15:2-4a– He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you.
- The root, the foundation, must be stable – What’s left after the pruning
- Pruning also produce a more pure product
- God wants His Church built on a firm foundation – Matthew 7:24-27
- But God looks for character stuff
- Hard words, hard commands, expose whether or not all in – shows what we will do when it gets tough
God is prepping the “A” team.
- Zechariah 8:6 – “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: All this may seem impossible to you now, a small remnant of God’s people. But is it impossible for me? says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
- God gets the glory when we allow Him to work thru our weakness – 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 – Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
- So don’t despise small beginnings – Zechariah 4:9-10 – “Zerubbabel is the one who laid the foundation of this Temple, and he will complete it. Then you will know that the Lordof Heaven’s Armies has sent me. 10 Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.”
- God is laying the foundation of the temple once again – we are a startup
- We have vision, we have direction, we have timing – don’t look around and get discouraged
- God is up to something
God will always have a remnant.