Two Responses to Jesus

This coming Sunday begins what is historically the holiest week of the Christian calendar, Passion Week.  It is a week to reflect on the final days of Christ’s life as He went to the cross on Good Friday and rose again on the 3rd day, Easter Sunday.  More than a third of the gospel account is dedicated to the events that transpired throughout that eventful week.

What we discover in the gospels during that week are two responses to His claim to be the Messiah, King, and the Savior of the world. The first response was one of faith.  On the first day of Passion Week, we see Jesus enter Jerusalem triumphantly with crowds celebrating Him as their Savior.

In Luke 19:38 we see the crowd’s anthem which was traditionally sung at the Passover from Psalm 118.  It is a song of victory celebrating Israel’s king and Messiah, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord… The Lord is God and He has made His light to shine upon us…”  The gospel of Mark includes “Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!”  Which is another way of recognizing Jesus as the One who saves.

Here we see faith in Jesus.  The Bible teaches that when a person’s heart is willing to accept Him as their Savior from sin, they are forgiven, reconciled to God and receive eternal life.  That is what makes the gospel good news.  It is good news that we can have a personal relationship with God and the promise of resurrection and eternal life. 

But the sad reality there is another response and that is rejection.  While Jesus extends his love to every person who would turn to Him, there are many who are too preoccupied with themselves or too attached to their sin or too filled with skepticism to see the enormity and wonder of His salvation. 

We see this reaction when they say to Jesus in the midst of this great celebration, “rebuke your disciples!”   The reason that these leaders were so upset was they understood that this anthem was being sung as a recognition of Jesus as the Messiah.  As that week progressed, this was exactly the crime that Jesus was arrested and crucified for. 

I love Jesus' response in Luke 19:40, “I tell you if these were silent the very stones would cry out.”     When Jesus tells us the very rocks would cry out, He was not only telling us that salvation was upon the world but there was nothing man could do to stop God’s love through Him.  Man would not be able to thwart what God was about to do.

 We see these same two responses of acceptance and rejection of Jesus summed up well in John 1:9-12, “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.  He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

While the sad reality is that the Jewish leaders rejected Jesus as Messiah and many others throughout history, the good news is that when a person does accept Him, God “gives them the right to be a child of God.”  And that is a privileged position that will last for an eternity.