The Lutheran Hour
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"A Shout for the Savior"
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Text: Luke 19:39-40
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Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed. Go to a parade or an athletic event and you will hear people shouting as if their life depended on it. It doesn’t. But lives do depend upon the shout of resurrection victory. Upon the truth of an empty tomb and a living Savior, our life here, and an eternity, is built.
Some years ago, a famous New York jewelry store, with its corporate showroom on New York’s high-end Fifth Avenue, announced they were having a promotional presentation. With great pomp and considerable advertising, they unveiled the display of a flawless 70-carat diamond. For this trivial bauble, the company paid a record $1,050,000. For days, the curious waited in queue, to be paraded through the jewelry salon, so they might get a short glimpse of the diamond. A short bald man peered condescendingly at the gigantic jewel protected in the theft-proof glass case. He leaned over and whispered to his wife, “I can see a flaw in that diamond, but let’s keep it a secret between us. I wouldn’t want to say anything to the company.” A chic and stylish lady concluded, “You know, it really isn’t that beautiful.” “It’s too large,” said one woman in rhinestone-studded glasses. “I think it’s vulgar, but I just had to see it,” commented another. At the end of two weeks, the guard who had been assigned to protect the jewel sadly said, “I’ve heard more trash talk in these last two weeks than in all the rest of my life put together.”
Trash talk. That’s the way of things. You can spend months researching the price of a new car, haggle for weeks with the dealer, and know with confidence you have done very well, indeed, and sign on the dotted line. I can almost guarantee that within five minutes of driving that car off the dealer’s lot, somebody will say, “You paid how much? If I’d only known you were looking, I could have gotten you a far better bargain. Next time, talk to me.” That’s trash talk. We’ve all heard it. Most of us have done it.
Well, trash talk is what the Pharisees did to Jesus the day He rode into Jerusalem. If the Pharisees had been given a choice between first row tickets on the 50-yard-line of the Super bowl and a chance to trash talk the Lord, it would have been no contest. Trash talk would have won hands down. They trash talked Jesus when He associated with the serious sinners (Matthew 9:11). They trash talked Jesus for not obeying their man-made laws (Matthew 9:14). They trash talked Jesus and His disciples for the way they remembered the Sabbath (Matthew 12:2). They trash talked the Lord and His followers for the way they kept traditions and washed their hands (Matthew 15:2). They trash talked Jesus for the stories He told (Matthew 21:45-46). They even trash talked their own employees when they were touched by the words of the Savior (John 7:47-48).
No, trash talking the Lord of life wasn’t a new thing for the Pharisees. That’s why it’s not surprising, as Jesus enters Jerusalem in a triumphant Palm Sunday procession, the trash talkers are there. Let me paint a picture of what was happening.
First, there was a crowd from Galilee that was following Jesus into the city. That crowd, having seen many of His miracles and having heard many of His teachings, were quite understandably shouting the Savior’s praises. Then, there was a second crowd, which was coming out of Jerusalem to welcome the Savior. Some of the Jerusalem crowd were coming to welcome Him who had called dead Lazarus out of His grave (John 12:17-28). It had been a most impressive miracle. They were enthused–pumped up. Although they may only have had one coat to their name, they gladly laid that coat before Jesus’ path. It was as if they wanted to roll out a multi-colored red carpet. Others plucked palm branches and placed them on the road as well. Can you see this enthusiastic, magnificent mass of humanity struggling, straining, stretching to get close to the prophet from Galilee?
Can you hear their Scripture-inspired shouts of acclaim and adoration? Someone called out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” and the words were picked up by the crowd. Soon, there was an impromptu vocal chorus all yelling, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” Did I say all the people were yelling? That’s inaccurate. There was a group of people who didn’t know Jesus. Those folks asked the parading people, “Who is this?” and they were told this important personage is none other than “Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth” (Matthew. 21:10). You see, they didn’t know this was “Jesus, the Savior from Nazareth.”
For some in the crowd, Jesus was a wondrous worker of miracles and signs. For some, He was a great teacher. To others, He was the one who reunited their family or healed old hurts or forgave somebody’s sins. To some, He was a political deliverer, the rightful wearer of David’s crown. Some national activists thought Jesus might be the leader who would throw off the Roman oppression and restore the children of Israel to their rightful place among the nations. No doubt to others, the Christ was a gentle shepherd or the blesser of little children. No, it would be wrong to assume that the crowds understood Jesus to be the Son of God and the Savior of the world. But whatever their opinions, the people were cheering Him. They were worked up. They were enthusiastic.
Then, in the midst of the commotion and clamor, as Jesus with glorious procession is riding into the city of prophecy to suffer and die for sinful humankind, lo and behold, here come the Pharisees with their trash talk. While everybody else is cheering, rejoicing, and praising, some of the Pharisees work their way through the crowd walking side by side with the disciples and shout above the din to Jesus. They say, “Master, rebuke the disciples.” In other words, they’re saying, “Can’t you get your people to tone it down a bit? Can’t you get them to be quiet?”
Strange, isn’t it? These same Pharisees who sewed tassels on their clothes so everybody would know who they were, are now asking Jesus to tone down His entry into the holy city. Trash talk. These same men who liked to stand in the temple’s public places and pray, who did their devotions with a loud voice, who made sure everyone knew exactly how generous they were to the temple, now wanted the crowd to be cowed, now wanted the people to retreat (Luke 18:10-12). It was trash talk. The Pharisees were jealous of the popularity of Jesus. He had come to save the world from sin. He had come to save us from ourselves. He had come to free us from death and damnation. His coming should have been welcomed. But to the trash talkers, the crowds’ “hosannas” were like chalk screeching across a blackboard.
I’m pleased to tell you that, on that Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the trash talkers and not the people of praise were silenced. The people continued to sing their songs to the Savior. The Savior continued to ride into the city of the trash talkers. The trash talkers continued to organize and eventually had Jesus arrested and tried. The trials continued until Jesus was condemned to be crucified. The crucifixion continued until Jesus was dead. And death had its way for three days. And when those three days were done, Jesus came out of the tomb and showed, no matter what any trash talker might say, that He was the Master over mortality and Lord of life.
Yes, that day the trash talkers were silenced. But it was really only for that day. The trash talkers are still around. Read your newspapers. Listen to the news on radio and television. You will soon hear the trash talkers speaking against the Savior. The trash talkers can be found in our courts where prayers are hushed, commandments are concealed, and Christianity is criticized. We can hear the echo as the trash talkers are saying, “Jesus, calm down Your disciples.” They say it in our schools. The trash talkers take the textbooks and rewrite them so the centuries are shown to be without Christ or Christianity. You will have to look far to find a child’s textbook that honestly states that the Civil War was fought for reasons of Christian conscience and because many believers were rightly convinced that Jesus loves all people. You will hear how Columbus sailed the ocean blue to make money from the orient’s silks and spices. But what these books omit is something Columbus freely confessed in his diary. He sailed to share the Savior with the lost of the world.
Television’s trash talkers seldom share that the desire to serve Jesus is what motivates scientists around the world to find medical cures and breakthroughs which will combat disease. Trash talkers minimize every contribution made by Christians in the name of Him who has come in the name of the Lord, and make the most of every mistake made by a minister or church member.
It is my prayer, dear listener, that you will realize that today’s trash talkers have the same motivation and the same agenda, as those people who tried to have the “hallelujahs” and “hosannas” stopped when Jesus came to Jerusalem to save humankind. They would cloud your eyes so you cannot clearly see the Savior and the sacrifice He has made for you. They would have you believe that Jesus is fake, false, and foolish. They would have you think Jesus is insignificant, irrelevant, and immaterial. They would have you think that they have the answers you seek, the salve that will soothe your sinful soul, the solution to your loneliness and lostness.
Can I tell you, they do not. Go to your local library. Peruse the biggest of bookstores. Look for help that can give you the answers that your heart seeks, for which your soul searches. Go to the most acclaimed institutions of higher learning. Take all the classes you can. Sit at the feet of the most learned of lecturers and and you may find band-aids that may partially protect you. You may discover short-term remedies that can provide temporary relief. But only Jesus, only He who comes in the name of the Lord, can give you ultimate happiness, final forgiveness, permanent peace and a perfect paradise. Only the blood of Jesus who rode to His death can give you that. Jesus is the truth, the whole truth, the only truth.
It is my prayer you will see the truth. And what is the truth? The truth is this: Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord. He is the most important person in my life. He came into this world and did something no other person, no government, nobody else could do for you or me. When we broke the law, He fulfilled the law. His body received the whipping you and I deserved. We should have died for our crimes, but He died on the cross in our stead. He has saved us. He has promised to be with us. And He keeps that promise. He is there for us to talk to when we’re down. He is by our side when troubles arise. He has taken burdens from us that would have crushed our spirits into the dust. We don’t deserve it, but He has saved us. The world would be more comfortable if we were to be quiet about the Savior. But the news we have, the Good News of the King who has come, is too good to be silenced by trash talkers.
Do you think that day when He heard those hosannas, He didn’t know what awaited Him at the end of that road? Do you really believe that He, who could look into the hearts and minds of men, could not see the cross that was waiting for Him? He knew of the hate. He knew of the lies. He knew of the trials. He knew of the pain. He knew the nails, the crown of thorns, and the spear. Yet, He rode on so He might take your place; so you might live. He gave up His life so you might be saved. He was willing to suffer so you might be free from the oppressions, the depressions, the doubts and discouragements of life. He came to die, to rise, to be your Savior and Lord.
Look at Jesus. See Him. No, don’t see the Jesus the trash talkers hold up. But really look and see His nail-pierced hands ready to lift up those of you who are crushed. See that face, beaten and bloodied, looking at you. Those eyes want you to find true and everlasting happiness. Look. And if that face and those hands are too much for you to see, look at those around you who have seen Jesus. See how they have been changed.
See the Christian parents, who having had a child die, having said an earthly farewell to that child, donate organs and eyes so that others might live and see. See the older folks, living on a diminished and fixed income, who regularly contribute to their church and this broadcast so you might hear and believe in Jesus’ love. See the grandparents who support Christian schools so other people’s children might be educated. See the Christian widows and widowers who are able to find forgiveness for the murderers of their beloved spouse. See the countless, caring Christians who visit nursing homes and hospitals to speak a word of compassion and concern to someone else’s relative. As I say, these people the world ignores and their stories remain untold. But these people who know Jesus are there. They are waiting. They want to tell you of the Savior. Ask them. Ask us. Lutheran Hour Ministries is ready to tell you more. We want your life to be filled with hosannas to Him who has come in the name of the Lord.
Many of you have seen the movie “Titanic” or possibly the countless TV specials made about that doomed ship. In most of these presentations, no expense is spared to make sure the recreation is accurate and matches the original. Carpets match. Woodworkings are precise. But all too often, the storytellers forget to share the spiritual side of what happened on that ship. If you look closely, you will see the story of the Savior told again and again, in the lives of those who were there. One after another, time after time, Christian men, motivated by the love Jesus had shown them, looked their wives in the eye and said, “I love you” and put them into a lifeboat. They knew they would never see their loved ones again–not in this world. One after another, time after time, fathers, Christian men, motivated by the love of Jesus, patted their children’s heads in blessings and with a prayer, sent their little ones to be rescued, while they prepared to die. Motivated by Jesus on the Titanic, nine women were saved for every man.
And without Jesus? In 1996, a boat carrying thousands of passengers sank off the shores of Indonesia. Like the Titanic, hundreds died. Like the Titanic, there were not enough lifeboats. But without faith in Christ, without this example of care and compassion, women and children were pushed aside so the men could be spared. There is a difference. The world’s trash talkers may put down Christ and His people all they want, but Jesus makes a difference. Am I prejudiced for my Savior? I am. Am I proud of Him? You can count on it.
After the English conquered Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, they planted their flag at the summit. One mountaineer from another country trash talked the event and challenged, “Well isn’t this just one of many typical English glory ventures?” Hearing the trash talk, the British ambassador replied, “I’m not qualified to give an official opinion, but I can say this: If you don’t like the flag flying up there, why not climb up and take it down?”
To the world, the trash talkers who would silence Jesus and the praise His people give, I can only say this: “If you don’t like the flag of Jesus flying at the top of our lives, why don’t you go where He went and give us something better to believe in. Why don’t you live a perfect life for me, carry my sins for me, climb up on the cross for me, and take His place.” Until you can do that, everything you’ve got to say is trash talk. For me, I will continue to give my shout for the Savior. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for April 13, 2003
ANNOUNCER: We’re back once again this week with Dr. Reed Lessing from Concordia Seminary. I’m Mark Eischer. We’ve been talking about repentance. What motivates true Godly repentance?
LESSING: We would say, along with Scripture, the motivating force or power of repentance would be the love of God for us in Jesus Christ. And God actually produces repentance within our own lives. It is His gift to us.
ANNOUNCER: Let me see if I’m correct on this. God loves us with a great love. But repentance I always associate, too, with a sense of guilt or realization that I don’t deserve all of that. How does that come into this as well? This feeling of repentance being prompted, certainly by God’s love, but also by something else?
LESSING: Sure, sure, and here again we differentiate between the Law and the Gospel. Here we have God’s law, which we also understand is a gift, which drives us and impels us to embrace the fruits that have been won by Jesus at Calvary. So, indeed, I am a poor, miserable sinner and I only recognize that finally, before God, by His gift of the Law as we have highlighted perhaps in Psalm 51, the Psalm appointed for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. It frames this season we are in, this season of Lent. I know my transgressions, David says “And my sin is always before me.” Well, the way he knows his transgressions and sins is because a prophet by the name of Nathan came along in 2 Samuel 12 and said to David, “You are the man.” And that is God’s gift. When the prophet, the pastor, the Christian brother or sister in my life, points out my sin on the authority of God’s Word, then I have no other place to go but to the foot of the cross.
ANNOUNCER: So repentance is not the result of my spirituality or good sense?
LESSING: Oh, no. Here we want our listeners to understand that in many quarters of Christian faith, quite often repentance is taught in terms of something you do, that you accomplish–you get sorry, you get contrite, you shed the tears, and then God will forgive and love. That simply is not the teaching of Holy Scripture. Repentance, as we come back to Acts 11, is given by God through the Law so that we may see our desperate need for Jesus.
ANNOUNCER: Repentance really has kind of a negative connotation, doesn’t it?
LESSING: Well, not necessarily. Repentance is God’s gift to us. Repentance is the means by which I embrace the promises of God that are all “Yes” and “Amen” in His Son Jesus Christ. One way of looking at it–repentance is God’s gift to us in terms of giving us the Law–that is, the Ten Commandments–to drive us to our senses, and to a sane, sober estimation of who we are as creatures before the Creator. So, in Romans 7:16, Paul says, “I agree that the Law is good.” The Law is good, not in terms of imparting forgiveness in life and salvation to people. Only the Gospel does that. But the Law is good in terms of showing me who I really am and my need for Jesus on a daily basis.
ANNOUNCER: We’ve been talking with Dr. Reed Lessing from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. Thank you, Dr. Lessing. The next Lutheran Hour message is titled, “Where Do You Put a Risen Lord?”