Words of Jesus Podcast - Never Jesus

Episode Date: September 27, 2024

Contrary to the tag-lines, God cannot do anything He wants; God does not know everything in advance; and He does not get His will. Adam was given free-will for this gift we judge God. Jesus said it best, "I did not come to condemn the world, the world was condemned already." When we reject the salvation of Jesus we seal our fate. We expect a "hanging judge" forgetting that a judge also has the power to acquit and reward those who strive with God. "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?"  God is trying to save us. We must work with Him in faith and obedience, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."***91: Jesus’ Triumphal Entry Into JerusalemMatthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:29-44; John 12:12-19As Jesus led his followers toward Jerusalem and drew near to Bethpage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he called two of his disciples to him and said to them:            “Go your way into the village over against you; and as soon as ye entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him. And if any man say unto you, ‘Why do ye this?’ say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.”            This was done, that the words of the prophet might be fulfilled:            “Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, thy king cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt .”            At first his disciples did not understand these things but, when Jesus was glorified, they remembered that they had done those things that had been written by the prophet.            The two disciples went as directed by Jesus, and found the colt just as Jesus had told them. They began to untie the colt. The owners of it said to the disciples:            “Why loose ye the colt?”            The disciples replied as Jesus had instructed them, saying:            “The Lord hath need of him.”            Thereupon the owners permitted the disciples to take the ass. When the colt had been brought to Jesus, garments were thrown over and Jesus sat upon it.             Then, as Jesus descended the Mount of Olives, the great multitude spread their garments on the ground over which he would pass. Others cut branches from the trees and strewed the road with them to celebrate his entrance into Jerusalem.The multitude joyously shouted:            “Hosanna; blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord. Peace in Heaven and glory in the highest. Hosanna in the highest.”            Some of the Pharisees spoke to Jesus, complaining about the shouting. They said:            “Master, rebuke thy disciples.”            Jesus answered them, saying:            “I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.”            Then the Pharisees said among themselves:            “Perceive ye how ye...

Think Red Ink Ministries presents The Words of Jesus Series with Don C. Harris Hello my friends, welcome to the Words of Jesus series. I'm Don Harris, your host, and we're carrying you through the red ink in the Bible of things that Jesus said to us. And as I mentioned last show, unfortunately, we're in the worst part of the Gospels. And this is where we're going to have to witness the polarization of people on the earth, the ones who are for him, the ones who are against him. And we are going to sit helplessly

and watch the ones who are against him murder him. And I'm not looking forward to it. We talked about Jesus instructing his disciples to go and get that colt that, I'm saying that I'm not sure, perhaps it was prearranged, but perhaps this was all supernatural. We don't know these things. We don't know that he didn't prearrange it. We don't know these things. We don't know that he didn't prearrange it.

We don't know that the Lord didn't tell him. I mean, the Lord got his father. I don't know that he didn't tell him, I have a man in that city, and here's the way you're going to find him. He's got a little coat tied out in front of his place there, and if you go there and tell him that I need that coat, he'll give it to you. I've already talked with him about it. Perhaps his father prearranged it. I don't know. And we don't know. But nevertheless, he got this colt and the

disciples replied to the man, just as the Lord instructed them to do and they told him the Lord has need of him. Thereupon the owners isn't it odd that he said owners? It might have been a livery stable. It might not have been a private situation. Don't know. Perhaps he hired it. We don't know. But he hired it. You know, we don't know. But nevertheless, whereupon the owners permitted the disciples to take the ass. When the colt had been brought to Jesus, garments were thrown over it

and Jesus sat upon it. He didn't have a saddle. I don't know that they make a coat saddle but you know for a jackass but nevertheless they threw coats over it so that the Lord would sit upon it and be comfortable thereupon the owners permitted the disciples to take the ass then as jesus descended the mount of olives so this city was upon the mount of olives the great multitude spread their garments on the ground over which he would pass there's a lot of symbolism to this but nothing of any reputable

nothing that that appealed to me as being reputable enough or sure enough for me to tell you about it. So they did put the garments on the ground, and I know that this has been kind of a tradition since Sir Walter Raleigh, right? He takes his coat off and lays it in the puddle for the woman to walk over, right? So there is something about the protection and the elevation and wanting this to be a beautiful and first-class service to Christ. So they put the garments on the ground. Others cut branches

from trees and strode them in the road to celebrate his entrance into Jerusalem. Now this was a decoration. And as you well know, you're not going to get a horse or an ass to step inside branches. They're not going to walk down a road filled with branches. They just, they're just more concerned about sure footing than that. So evidently what these people the road with decorations of branches. And so they cut branches from trees and strode the road with them to celebrate his entrance into Jerusalem.

There's really not a lot said about this. Where did all these people come from? How did they know that this was going to happen on this day? What in the world is going on? How many times did Jesus come out of Bethany and come down the Mount of Olives and come into Jerusalem? And just because this time he's sitting on this colt, you know, why is this day special you know uh frankly uh we don't know this

but it is pretty obvious that everybody was aware of it it was in the papers it was it was advertised somehow because a lot of people turned out for it and they wanted to celebrate his entrance into jerusalem wow how many times did he go in jerusalem and not be celebrated so um the multitude joyously shouted hosanna blessed is he that cometh in the name of the lord blessed be the kingdom of our father david that cometh in the name of the lord peace in heaven and glory in the highest Well, this was causing quite a problem among the religious folks. They did not consider Jesus Christ as being the seed of David that would come in the name of the Lord.

They did not consider that he was worthy of praise of Hosanna and even calling him the Messiah by way of the name David. They didn't appreciate this at all. Some of the Pharisees spoke to Jesus. They must have run to him as he was coming down that road. And so he had to, you know, had to halt his little pony, or his little colt there,

and stop and talk to these guys, and say, so what's the problem and they said master rebuke thy disciples now interesting interesting why would they ask jesus to rebuke his disciples? Why didn't they rebuke them? They're the religious leadership, supposedly. They're the ones in charge, supposedly. People do what they say, supposedly. I'm telling you, they had already lost control of these people.

And they knew it and they came to jesus and said tell these people not to do this this is wrong well jesus wasn't the least bit concerned um he says rebuke thy disciples jesus answered them saying i tell you that if they should hold their peace the stones would immediately cry out this is a big day a really big day and um so uh jesus really didn't care what they had to say well they were huffy and they decided to walk off when the pharisees then the pharisees said among themselves perceive you how you prevail nothing behold the whole world has gone after him what were they concerned about what were they concerned about man these guys are out of a job okay perhaps there were some people that you know

had some concerns about israel being thrown back into captivity being overtaken by the romans losing their temple or whatever else but i got a feeling that a whole lot of this was just the selfishness and you know the power mad uh seekers of superiority and i i just don't think that there was a good motive among them when jesus came near and beheld the city of jerusalem he wept over it now he was evidently so far up this road when this happened that the jerusalem wasn't even in sight or it was around the corner or it was it obviously the city of jerusalem started to appear to him and when jesus looked down there you know a lot of people, when you talk about the city of Jerusalem, or you talk about how beautiful the city of Jerusalem is, people get a picture in their mind. And I don't know how it has happened, but over the years, when you think of Jerusalem, think of it now, go ahead,

go ahead. You think of seeing the city of Jerusalem. You see that big gold thing right in the middle? What is that? It's not the temple of God. Isn't that a mosque? Why is that the symbol of Jerusalem? You know, to me, there's questions to be asked there. If I were in charge of Jerusalem,

the tourism board, or the man in charge of publicity or whatever else, I would see to it that that never, ever be portrayed as Jerusalem. Take it from another angle, boys. boys come on let's do something here but that does not represent the the idea the history the religion the faith of jerusalem at all i don't know why it's there now Now, I happen to have a picture of Jerusalem hanging in the other studio. And so I found a depiction of the temple and scaled it to size and cut it out and stuck it where it belongs.

Everybody who sees it says, what is that? I said, that's Jerusalem. And, you know, they don't even recognize it. That's Jerusalem. This is what Jesus saw when he looked there. He didn't see a big gold ball laying there. He saw Jerusalem. Now, you have to understand that there's an affinity for Jerusalem that the Lord has ever since the days of Jebus that occupied that land so many hundreds and hundreds of years ago. As a matter of fact his descendants were called Jebusites. And there was a particular

Jebusite named Arona. And he was a God-fearing man. And he lived in the days of David. When David was given his choice of punishments, the punishment fell upon Jerusalem to the point that people were dying. And David says, we're going to have to stop this. And if we can, we need to plead to the Lord that the destruction stop. And you see the symbolism already in what we're talking about here? I think a lot of people add to God some characteristic

of being a judge, which means he's going to condemn us. Isn't that strange? I mean, really, a judge is sitting in a place of not condemning and not exonerating, not saying innocent or guilty, not yet. But when we consider God as our judge, we always link it with condemnation, which is really kind of sad and unfair. As a matter of fact, anybody who ever looks at you and says, you can't judge me, it's because they feel condemned. If you say, you know what, you can't judge me, it's because they feel condemned.

If you say, you know what, you're a good man. I really appreciate you. You're a man of high moral character, and I've very seldom seen anybody just like you. What's the chances of that guy turning around and saying, hey, you can't judge me. Zero. It's not going to happen. But both of those are judgments.

Both of them are. And I think that what we should do with the Lord is I love the scripture in the Bible that says, shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Now, if you want to ascribe something to the Lord, to our Lord God, to our judge in our future, or even God the Father's judge now, if you want to ascribe some characteristic to him,

it shouldn't be condemnation. That's what he's been trying to avoid that's what he's been trying to circumnavigate that's what he's been trying to save you from all of these years and to to make him a judge of condemnation or a condemning judge, or what do we say, a hanging judge, instead of making him into that, if you want to attribute some kind of characteristic to our judge, can we say he's a righteous judge? You see, shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Absolutely he will. He will do right.

And if the right thing is to bring you into the kingdom of God and ascribe to you all your wonderful works that you've done on the earth, your faith in Christ and says well done now good and faithful servant you know who's saying that? Your judge! Now Jerusalem was in the heart of God ever since the day that David went to Arona the Jebusite and said, we have to stop this. Now, I've plotted where this death angel is moving.

And as best I can figure, he's coming right through here. He's way off now, but he's coming right through here. And I've got a feeling he's going to pass right over this threshing floor we're standing on now. And what I'd really like to do is make an animal sacrifice here, and perhaps we can stop this judgment in its tracks. Arona said, absolutely. Arona might be thinking, you know, my house is just up the way. We don't need him there.

Maybe we can stop him. David says, well, I'd like to make a a sacrifice you know what arona said to him he didn't say well there's all the wood out there in the woods you go out there and cut what you need he didn't say you know there's plenty of space out there in the field you know what he said here's the threshing floor. It's already laid out. It's already smoothed out. We already laid concrete. And you see over there, those are all threshing instruments. Now these are pieces of wood that were not just raw pieces of wood,

but they were shaped and made into tools. And he says, don't bother going out there and cutting your own wood don't do that just grab those tools over there and make a fire with them let's get this going let's get it going now arona says i am sparing no expense here build a fire build do a sacrifice right, right here in my threshing floor. David says, that's good of you. What do you want for all this stuff? And Aaron says, no, no, no, no, take it. It's a gift. David said, how can I offer the Lord that which costs me nothing? I don't know, David.

Maybe you need to be a modern day Christian. We make sure that whatever we offer God costs us nothing. It doesn't cost anything to sing a few songs, wave your hands in the air, and say, oh, Jesus, jesus thank you lord that's pretty much all we offer we don't offer our lives we don't offer our money surely we don't offer our money um we offer to the lord that which cost us nothing all the time david what. What's your problem? You see, the difference in David and most of us,

David was really thankful. No, I mean really. No, I mean really thankful. There is no expense that's too much. And if there is expense, I want it to be mine. Do men like this even exist anymore? I wonder sometimes. I'm not going to offer to the Lord that which cost me nothing. I just sit amazed when i read something like that well that particular sacrifice that cost david mostly his relationship to god and now i think it was

20 000 people and david's attitude is you know i'm the one that sinned here what has these sheep done this has to stop david realizing his responsibility and realizing his part in all this it was him the king not servants of the king, but the king himself, comes to that place and tries to save Israel. This is why David, the man after God's own heart, this is why David's house was to be the house from which Messiah came. It's the house of David. You see, everything's got a purpose.

And as those purposes come to fruition, and as these things are realized, as the prophecies are completed, as the prophecies are laid out and understood, and it all compiles and it all comes together. God looks at a whole situation. He looks at a whole town. He looks at a whole nation.

Yeah. There's my people. And there was an affinity and a love for Jerusalem. And you know what he says? I'm going to put my name there. I love that. I'm going to put my name there. And this became, I know, used to be the city of David.

But not now. Not now. It's Israel. It's those who strive with God. Those who communicate with him. Those who commune with him. Those who win. That's what this nation is.

And it's very... It's a touching thing. And it was for Jesus as well well because he came around the corner on that little trail wiggling back and forth on that donkey and the throngs of people coming beside him and he stopped and he looked and he wept and i can just imagine that as people noticed that he was weeping that the praises died down and silence ensued and perhaps you'd hear some shuffling of feet

and maybe horses hooves on the ground but that's about all. Jesus seized Jerusalem the city he came, the nation he came to save, and realizes that I'm going to go down there and they're going to kill me. Me? Why me? I came to save them. They considered him to be, as we do many times, that God of condemnation,

that judge who condemns, the hanging judge. He doesn't put up with any guff. We're going to get fried under his administration. We need to get rid of him. They started a whole never Jesus movement. And so they had concerns. Political concerns and selfish concerns. But Jesus knew that this was enough to destroy him and his plan to save them.

Jesus looked at Jerusalem, probably couldn't see it at this point, with tears in his eyes and said, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least, in this thy day, this was his day of visitation, this day was for you, the things which belong unto thy peace. You know, I see here

a personal message to every one of us who consider God to be our enemy, consider God to be our enemy, consider God to be our judge. They consider him to have even a smile on his face as he destroys us. We figure he's following us around, making sure that he's going to get us

for everything that we've done. And all the time he's saying, I didn't come into the world to condemn the world he didn't come to jerusalem to condemn jerusalem he came to save them he didn't come to condemn you you're condemned already my friend he's the one who's going to save us and had you known i happen to believe that every person with the light of God in them will likely have a day of visitation. I happen to believe that there's a time, I don't know, might be five seconds, five minutes,

five hours, five days, I don't know. But at some time in your life, the Lord visits you like he did Mary that day and says, you're highly favored in the eyes of God. I have a plan for you. And he visits us. And I hear in Jesus' prayer there a prayer that can not only be applied to Jerusalem or the nation of Israel,

but applied to us personally. Had you only known in this thy day and understood the things that belong to your peace, the things I have set aside so that you can have peace with God. If you had known that,

all these horrible destructions that await you, that are a part of your life today and will constantly exacerbate and become worse and worse and culminate in some horrible, tragic death of yours and a lost eternity? If you'd known that, I just can't believe this would have happened.

But now, they're hid from your eyes. For the days will come upon thee that thine enemies shall trench about thee and compass thee around and keep thee in on every side and shall lay thee even to the ground and thy children within thee they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another, because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. This lamentation over Israel belongs to every one of us with the light of God within us, that we have attempted to follow that light, attempted to make peace with God,

and heard his voice and said, we need to make these things right. Had you only known. Had you only known. Your end without me, your end with me, the things that I have brought to you that belong to you and your peace.

All these things wouldn't have to happen. But now, they will have to happen. Why? Because when I got here, you were condemned. I didn't come to condemn you. I came to save you.

However, you're not going to have me to reign over you. You're not going to do what I say. You're going to make up your own religion make up your own faith make up your own God make up your own Jesus friend, it's time to take this seriously until next time

Think Red Ink my friend bye bye C. Harris of Think Red Ink Ministries. Email don at thinkredink.com. That's thinkredink.com. Join us again for the next episode in the Words of Jesus series. you