Who Is This Jesus of Nazareth? | Matthew 21:10-11

[00:00:00] Hi everybody, welcome back to Daily Truths. Who is Jesus to the masses? If you were to

[00:00:13] ask people in your neighborhood, bound the city block at school at your workplace, who

[00:00:18] is Jesus of Nazareth? You'd get a lot of different kind of answers, but very few of them would

[00:00:23] say who he really is. Well, was it like that on Palm Sunday when Jesus came riding triumphantly

[00:00:31] into Jerusalem on a colt the full of a donkey? And the masses were there lining the city streets

[00:00:37] saying, Hail, O Zanah, Son of David, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Did most

[00:00:43] the people in the city of Jerusalem acknowledge that's who Jesus was? Listen to what it says

[00:00:48] in verse 10. And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up saying, Who is this?

[00:00:55] And the crowd said, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee. Did you hear that?

[00:01:04] Most people in Jerusalem did not say he was the son of David, the promised Messiah.

[00:01:08] Most people said he's simply a prophet, nothing more and nothing less. Now,

[00:01:16] when you think about people here in the United States, that's the common answer people give

[00:01:21] about Jesus of Nazareth. He was just a great teacher, a marvelous order, a wonderful speaker.

[00:01:27] He was a prophet, but that's all you can say he surely isn't God incarnate. But who do you say

[00:01:34] that Jesus is? Here's the incredible thing that's happened in every person's life who acknowledges

[00:01:39] Jesus as a Christ. The Holy Spirit has removed the blinders, caused them to see Jesus for who he is,

[00:01:47] helped them understand that he died and rose again so that through repentance and faith in what

[00:01:51] he's done they have forgiveness and the promised eternal life. Martin Luther said it this way when

[00:01:57] he said this in the explanation of the third article, the Apostles' Creed. He said this,

[00:02:02] I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in the Lord Jesus Christ or come to him,

[00:02:07] but the Holy Ghost has called me by the gospel and light me with his gifts, sanctified and kept

[00:02:12] me in the one true faith even as he calls, gathers and enlightens the whole Christian church on earth

[00:02:17] and keeps it in the one true faith. Jesus asked his disciples, who does the world say that I am?

[00:02:25] He asked this at a place called Caesarea Philippi. And the disciples said some say that you're

[00:02:29] John the Baptist, others say that you're Elijah, others say that you're one of the

[00:02:33] prophets who's been raised from the dead. And then Jesus wanted a more specific answer

[00:02:38] regarding who he is. And he said this, who do you say I am? And what did Peter say?

[00:02:45] You're the Christ, the Son of the living God. My friends, that's what we say about Jesus as well.

[00:02:51] The people that lined the city streets that really understood who Jesus was,

[00:02:56] what did they say? Hey, Lozana, son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the

[00:03:00] Lord. They acknowledged that Jesus was a Christ. And my friends, you acknowledge him as a Christ

[00:03:07] today. The one who came to seek and to save those who are lost, who came not to be served,

[00:03:13] as we talked about a couple of weeks ago, came not to be served but to serve and to give his life

[00:03:17] as a ransom for many. He is the way, the truth, the life, wonderful counselor, mighty God,

[00:03:22] the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the one who brings peace and reconciliation with

[00:03:29] God through faith in what he's done. My prayer for you is that you continue to hang on to your faith,

[00:03:36] no matter what. We don't know what's ahead for people here in the United States.

[00:03:40] There could be great persecution. Our freedoms could be taken away, freedom to worship,

[00:03:46] freedom to profess the name of Jesus, freedom to lift up his name, freedom to fellowship

[00:03:52] together. Is that going to happen in my lifetime? It could, but I think it's probably going

[00:03:56] to happen in my kids or my grandkids' lifetime. No matter what kind of persecution we face in the

[00:04:02] future, cling to the truths of Scripture, cling to Jesus as Savior. As Jesus asked his disciples,

[00:04:10] who am I? They said you're the Christ and we say the very same thing today. So cling to him no

[00:04:17] matter what. I think of that beautiful passage in Revelation chapter 2 verse 10, be faithful

[00:04:24] unto death. In other words, continue to cling to Christ and his merits until the time you die

[00:04:29] and you'll receive the crown of everlasting life. You see, Christianity is not a sprint.

[00:04:36] It's a marathon. And the people who lined the city streets who said, hey, Lozanna,

[00:04:40] son of David, they realized he's the Christ and hopefully by God's grace and the Spirit's power

[00:04:47] even after he was crucified but then raised they still believed in him. No matter what happens

[00:04:53] to us in life. May we still believe in him no matter what. And that is today's Daily Truth.

[00:05:04] Have a great day in Jesus Christ. Thank you for tuning in to Daily Truths with Dave Alman.

[00:05:10] Pastor Dave Alman is the pastor of Mount Hope Church in Boulder, Colorado. If this ministry

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[00:05:25] Come back tomorrow for your next Daily Truth.