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Go
And Tell The People Matthew 21:5
The
Sunday before Easter is a celebration and remembrance of when Jesus
entered into Jerusalem. In that day the crowd stood along the road laying down palm branches. Palm Sunday was a welcome to a king. The
crowd cried out “hosanna”!. I always thought this meant Praise,
or Bless the Lord, but it means: “save us now. Deliver us. Help
us!” How did it happen that this crowd knew that Jesus would be
entering Jerusalem as a King? Jesus told the disciples to get a
donkey so he could ride it into town, this was fulfilling a prophecy
that the Jewish public knew of. They expected their king to come into
town like he did. There was another part of the prophecy to be
fulfilled from Zechariah 9:9 It is quoted in Matthew 21:5 "Tell
the people of Jerusalem, 'Look, your King is coming to you. He is
humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey's colt.'" NLT
I
noticed in my reading this week the words, “ Go tell the people”
Yeah Greg, go tell some folks about Jesus!
Our
church has been able print up some invitations for the congregation
to use for inviting others to our Easter Sunday service. In Mexico
we gave out hundreds of new testaments and bibles. These pieces of
paper are merely tools that lead to the “rhema” which is a spoken
personal word that God gives us. It becomes “spirit and life” for
us. An announcement was made to the people of their king coming
into town. We are also called to give notice of Jesus death, his
rising from the dead, and his second coming again.
The
crowd knew they needed a deliverer. Our relatives, friends,
neighbors, and even strangers and enemies are in need of this news of
a deliverer. They are spiritually kidnapped people. Some are caught
in slavery while others want to be rescued from a desperate
situation. Jesus, who was God in the flesh, paid the price for our
ransom. Jesus took the punishment for what we deserve, that is one of
the things that happened at the cross.
We
share Jesus as someone who can help us with our daily problems. There
are temporal earthly benefits that are also given to us. This happened
when Marianne and I prayed for a neighbor who had severe pain in his
arm. Instantly he was healed. Jesus healed a woman who had a spirit
of infirmity for 18 years. He said that Satan had bound her up, even
though she was a rightful descendant of the promises given to
Abraham. There are believers who are sons and daughters of God
living around us that need to be loosed from the destroyers grip.
Satan has plans to steal life from them, destroy them and kill them.
We can give the words of life to them in Jesus name. John 6:63
Another
aspect of the gospel is a hope of Eternal life, an assurance of our
life after death. How much thought have I given to what it will be
like in the next life? This is one of the best questions we can ask
ourselves and others. Do you know where you will go when you die?
There are so many opinions on that one! What does the scripture
say? How will we or others we know be living in eternity?
Forgiveness
of rebellion and disobedience to God is in the message also. We are
announcing that Jesus let himself be tortured and killed, on the
cross, as a sacrifice for our sins. We know this, and we know that
we need to share this whether a person receives it or not.
May
we have a passion for sharing the news of the lamb that was slain.
May he receive the reward of his sufferings. May we be able to
announce Jesus 2nd coming as king, and warn those we love
and care about. There is a wrath of God, a real hell, and an outer
darkness that awaits those who refuse to believe and submit to Jesus
now.
Jesus
is Lord. He is our Salvation. May we lift him up, that many will be drawn unto him. G.W.
