SERMON: EVERYBODY LOVES A WINNER

Preached by Gregory W. Lee
11 November 2007

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 21

1. As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,
2. saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.
3. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."
4. This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5. "Say to the Daughter of Zion, `See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"
6. The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.
7. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.
8. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
9. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!"
10. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?"
11. The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

-- it's a proven fact that everybody loves a winner -- just two weeks ago, my mighty Georgia Bulldogs went down to Jacksonville and whipped up on the Florida Gators football team -- winning by the score of 42-30
-- it was a great afternoon for fans of the Georgia Bulldogs and it's been a long time coming -- since 1990, the Florida Gators have owned this series -- winning 15 out of the last 18 games played
-- but now, all seems right with the world -- and the Bulldog Nation is celebrating -- gone are the critiques of Mark Richt and Mike Bobo for their coaching ability -- gone are the complaints that Matthew Stafford is just not shaping up as a quarterback for a major college football team -- gone are the concerns that the Georgia defense had gone soft
-- Georgia won and won in a decisive fashion -- and after the game, it seemed like the whole world had gone Georgia crazy -- everywhere I went the week after the game, it was like a sea of red and black -- everybody was wearing Georgia t-shirts -- I saw Georgia bumperstickers -- Georgia flags -- Georgia license plates -- even Georgia ties -- everybody wanted in on the action and everybody wanted to celebrate -- because....well, everybody loves a winner
-- but, you know, just a few weeks ago, no one was high on the Georgia Bulldogs -- Georgia had gone into Knoxville and gotten shellacked by the Tennessee Volunteers -- we lost that game 35 to 14 -- and you couldn't find anyone who supported Georgia -- there weren't any t-shirts -- no bumper stickers -- no license plates -- and certainly, no one was going around wearing a Georgia tie
-- everybody loves a winner, but no one likes a loser -- and if Georgia was to lose the rest of the games this season, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone supporting them around town

-- people are funny, aren't they? -- we all like to be on top -- we all love a winner and we rally around them when they're doing good -- think about the passage from Matthew that we opened with -- this passage about Palm Sunday has always fascinated me -- in these verses, we see Jesus making a very public and triumphant entrance into Jerusalem for the Passover Feast
-- as you probably remember, the Bible tells us that previously, when Jesus attended the Passover Feast in Jerusalem, He had entered in quietly and without fanfare -- He slipped in and mingled with the crowds and didn't draw attention to Himself -- in fact, the crowds were wondering to themselves if Jesus was even going to show up
-- but this time, Jesus enters town in a big way -- He sends His disciples to go get a donkey and her foal and to bring them to Him -- and He enters into Jerusalem riding on this donkey, fulfilling the words of the prophet that we see in verse 5, "Say to the Daughter of Zion, `See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"
-- and, boy, did the people come running -- the road coming in to Jerusalem filled with excited people -- they were dancing and singing and shouting for joy -- Matthew tells us in verse 9 that some of them went in front of Jesus and some followed Him, shouting "Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna -- blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord -- Hosanna in the highest -- Hosanna to the Son of David"
-- and that's not all they did -- look back at verse 8

8. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

-- here is Jesus riding in on a donkey -- an excited crowd is filling the street -- singing and shouting -- and pressing in on Him -- and they are waving palm branches and laying the branches and their cloaks in the road in front of Him for Him to ride on
-- now, why did they do that? -- why did they lay palm branches and cloaks in Jesus' path? -- well, it's because they recognized the fulfillment of the prophecy
-- they knew this wasn't just another prophet coming to town -- they knew that this wasn't just a good teacher or a holy man entering their gates -- no, Jesus was coming into Jerusalem as King -- as the Son of David -- and they were laying out the red carpet for Him -- like I said, everybody loves a winner and everybody wanted to hook their wagon up to Jesus on that day
-- but the story doesn't end there, does it?

-- flip over to Matthew 27 -- as you're doing that, let me remind you of the context of this passage we're turning to -- Jesus has been arrested by the high priest and the Sanhedrin and put on trial -- and now He has been carried to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, for sentencing
-- Pilate has done everything he can to get out of having to condemn Jesus -- at first he refused to see Him, and tried to send Him back to the Jews -- but, that didn't work, so he sent Jesus to Herod and tried to pass off the judgement onto him -- but Herod refused to do anything and promptly returned Him to Pilate
-- so Pilate had Jesus flogged, and hoped that would be enough for the priests, but it wasn't -- now, he's brought Jesus before the crowd and he's trying his last effort to let Jesus go -- he's going to allow the crowd to decide whether they want him to release Jesus or to release the criminal Barabbas to them
-- look down at verse 15

15. Now it was the governor's custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd.
16. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas.
17. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"
18. For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.
19. While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him."
20. But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
21. "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered.
22. "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify him!"
23. "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
24. When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!"
25. All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"

-- this is what amazes me so much about the crowd and about our fickleness as humans -- think back to the passage we opened with about Palm Sunday -- just four days prior to this scene in Herod's courtyard, this same crowd had surrounded Jesus and sang and danced and shouted for joy -- just four days earlier, this same crowd had laid their cloaks at His feet and waved palm branches to signify His victory and their coming salvation -- just four days ago, they celebrated at the sight of Jesus coming in to Jerusalem and proclaimed Him King
-- but now, they have turned on Him -- He's no longer a winner -- He's no longer on top of the world -- it no longer looks like He's going to take over Jerusalem and run the Romans out and set up a new Jewish Kingdom, so the crowd turns their back on Him
-- just like the fans of a sports team -- who can be ardent supporters one minute and their biggest critics the next -- and just like us

-- there's a reason that I felt led to preach on this passage this morning -- you know, it's a strange passage to study right before Thanksgiving and Christmas -- but, if you understand human nature -- if you can look past the excitement of the holidays to the truth of our lives, you can easily understand it's relevance
-- we're gearing up for the Holiday Season -- if you've been in the stores around town lately, you've probably noticed that their aisles are filled with Christmas decorations and they're already advertising their holiday specials -- I actually saw a Christmas tree lot being put up earlier this week
-- Christmas is right around the corner and everyone is starting to get excited at celebrating the birth of Christ -- because, you see, everybody loves a winner -- and everybody loves the baby Jesus
-- I remember in the movie "Talladega Nights" with Will Ferrell -- at one point in the movie, Will Ferrell's wife asks him to pray for their meal -- and he starts off his prayer by saying, "Dear little baby Jesus, laying in your manger," -- his wife interrupts him and tells him that Jesus grew up and he needed to be praying to the adult Jesus -- Will Ferrell responds, "I prefer the baby Jesus"
-- and I think that sums up most people's feelings -- we're fine with the baby Jesus -- with the Jesus born in the manger -- with the Jesus that the three wise men come and bring gifts to -- with the Jesus that the little drummer boy plays his drum for
-- everybody likes the baby Jesus -- because everybody likes a winner and because this Jesus doesn't demand anything of us
-- we can tell people about the Christmas star -- and the angels announcing the birth of Jesus to the shepherds in the fields at night -- we can tell people about the wise men and about the excitement because a Savior had been born -- we can put up nativity sets in our homes and in our stores and in our offices, and very few people get upset
-- but, when we start to tell them about the Jesus who said to the adulterous woman, "Go and sin no more" and who told the crowd on the side of a mountain in Judea, "if you even look at a woman with lust in your eyes, you have committed adultery" -- when we tell them about the Jesus who offended the upstanding church people of His day by calling them hypocrites to their faces, then they start to get upset
-- point someone to the passage in Matthew 7:21 where Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of Heaven" and they'll start a fight with you
-- people like the baby Jesus -- they even don't mind the Jesus that came out of the tomb at Easter -- they just don't like the Jesus that says, "What you are doing is wrong -- repent of your sins -- pick up your cross -- and follow Me!"
-- and so they turn on Him and deny Him with their words and with their actions and with their lives just as surely as the crowd on Palm Sunday turned on Him and denied Him just four days later as they stood before Pilate
-- but, before we judge the crowd in our day too harshly, perhaps we ought to look at ourselves and see how we, as people who claim the name of Christ -- as people who gather to worship Him on a regular basis -- perhaps we should see how we, too, turn from Jesus and deny Him ourselves

-- there are many ways to deny Christ -- the most obvious would be to deny Him with our mouths -- to cry out, like Peter in the courtyard of the high priest, "I don't know the Man" -- of course, I am sure that none of us in here would ever do that
-- but we do deny Him and turn from Him in other ways
-- for instance, we deny Jesus when we refuse to pray in His name in public -- when we refuse to stand up against the blasphemies of Christ in our movies and music and other media -- when we refuse to speak up for Him when critics say that He was just a good man -- a good teacher -- but not God
-- we deny Jesus when we refuse to side with the oppressed and the down-trodden and those whom society looks down on -- when we refuse to speak out against abortion and pornography and gay marriage and all of the other social ills of our culture that God calls an abomination
-- we deny Jesus when we stand there mutely and don't say a word as our friends tell us that there are many paths to heaven and that all religions worship the same God
-- we deny Jesus with our lives -- by professing to be a Christian but not living in obedience to Jesus and His word -- by being functioning hypocrites -- proclaiming one thing but living something entirely different -- by putting our trust and our hope in earthly things -- like money and a good job and material things -- rather than in trusting Jesus to provide
-- we deny Jesus by recreating Him in our own image -- by having a favorite Jesus, like Will Ferrell in "Talladega Nights" -- instead of accepting Him as He is, we pick and choose what Jesus we want -- which of His teachings and commandments we want -- just like we're going down some great big spiritual buffet line
-- "let's see -- I'll take some of the baby Jesus in the manger -- and the Jesus who healed the blind man -- but I don't want the Jesus who says that what I am doing is a sin -- I don't want the Jesus who says that I should love my enemies as much as I love my friends -- I don't want the Jesus who tells me to feed the poor and the widows and the orphans and the strangers at my door -- I don't want the Jesus who tells me that the homeless man down the street is just as valuable in His eyes as I am -- I think I'll just leave that part alone"
-- we like our Jesus to look like us and to talk like us and to have the same politics and same culture that we have, even if it doesn't line up with God's word
-- and, we deny Jesus by rejecting His authority and power in our lives -- we like Jesus the Savior -- we just don't like Jesus as Lord and King who tells us what we can and can't do

-- over two thousand years ago, a crowd of Jews applauded as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday -- and just four days later, they denied they ever knew Him as they shouted to Pilate, "Crucify, crucify"
-- and every Christmas, we do the same thing -- we applaud the Christmas season -- we celebrate the baby Jesus -- and the day after Christmas, we rush back into the culture of the world -- putting our focus and energy more on getting a good deal in the after-Christmas sales than on proclaiming the work of a Savior -- putting our focus and energy and time more on making a living than on living for the One who came to die for our sins
-- perhaps its time we considered how this feels to Jesus, and whether He hears the crowd cry "Crucify" everytime we deny Him in this way
-- I want to close by sharing with you a little story that someone once sent me

-- He had been looking forward to this moment all week long -- after six long days of labor, it had finally arrived -- visiting day!
-- the man with the keys had arrived to open the large, heavy doors -- the cold gray hall sprang to life in the warm glow of light -- He could hardly control His emotions
-- outside, He can hear cars carrying the families of visitors begin to arrive -- He peers from the corner of the room, longing for the first glimpse of His loved ones -- He lives for the weekends -- He lives for these visits
-- finally, the doors open, and His loved ones come in -- those special people for whom He would do anything -- they embrace, eat a light lunch, and reminisce about how things used to be -- and about what He has done for them
-- at one point, they break into singing, with interruptions of laughter and applause -- but all too soon it is over -- and a tear comes to His eyes as they gather up their things and begin to depart
-- as they leave, the man with the keys closes the heavy doors -- He hears the key turn in the lock, marking the end of a special day -- and there He stands, alone again
-- He knows most of His visitors will not contact Him again till next week -- and, as the last car pulls away from the parking lot, Jesus retreats into loneliness as He waits for next Sunday to roll around

-- as I close this morning, I want you to think about this little story -- Christ deserves more from us than a little attention on Christmas or Easter or Sunday morning -- He deserves all of our praise and worship and attention -- He should be our reason for living and the source of our life
-- this year, when the tinsel is put back in the boxes, the Christmas trees put out at the curb, and the Christmas season fades into memory, may we keep His presence in our hearts and minds -- and not deny Him or turn from Him any longer
-- let us pray