Bitter Sweet - 1 - Mixed Bag: The life of Jesus

Before we start thinking about the highs and lows in Jesus’ life lets first get into the mood for it with a little game of ‘Play your cards right’… where it is your aim to predict the highs and lows.

During the time that Jesus was on Earth the reception that he received from the people he visited varied greatly. In some places and times he was welcomed by huge adoring crowds, and on other occasions the situation was very different.

Can you think of any examples of high or low points (or tough times) in Jesus’s life?

Jesus experienced life as a human, he understands that life encompasses good times, tricky times and times of confusion. As we go through life we can take comfort knowing that Jesus understands what we are going though.

Let’s look into some of these examples in a bit more detail. The biggest transformation between sweet to sour is the crowd in Jerusalem. In Mark 11 : 1 – 11 we see the crowd going wild.

They are excitedly shouting praises such as ‘Hosanna’ and ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’ towards him. They were throwing their clothes into the road out of respect for him. There was excitement and expectation in the air and this would have been a very sweet moment for Jesus and his disciples who were with him.

Then fast forward just four chapters, to Mark 15 : 1 - 15 here we see the very same crowd shouting ‘crucify him!’ and wanting him dead. This crowd wilfully chose to let a murderer walk free just so that Jesus would be crucified.

What’s more by this point his friends, the disciples had disowned him, in fact one of his disciples, Peter disowned him on three separate occasions on the same evening!

Even though Jesus knew that this was going to happen just think about how lonely and rejected he must have felt. As we will see in more detail next week, his death was not a dignified one. It was one of the most painful, public and humiliating forms of execution known to the Roman world.

We see him at his lowest point when he is on the cross and God himself distances himself from Jesus moments from his death, as he cries out ‘my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’

Can you think of any times where you felt like you were in one of these situations, either a ‘high’ where you were really proud of what was going on, and everything seemed to be going great, or a ‘low’ where everything seemed to be falling apart around you?

God is with us in all of our circumstances, both the good and the bad. We are reminded of this in Philippians 4 : 4 - 7 where we are told that we should tell God about our needs in every situation.

Thanking God when things are going well, and turning to him for help when we find things difficult.

We should take encouragement that as we go through life, and face times when things are going great, and when things are tough that Jesus has also experienced this variety and understands what it feels like.

The events that took place in Jesus’ life did not happen by chance, they were all part of God’s master plan. We see evidence of this though the writings of the prophets made hundreds of years before Jesus that predict how he was going to live and die.

There are at least 44 of these predictions, or ‘prophecies’ that were made in the Old Testament that we can see Jesus completing in the New Testament.

Can you match the prophecy with the scripture that shows Jesus completing it.

God used these prophecies so that people would understand the significance of Jesus and that he was part of God’s plan. Many of the prophecies that Jesus completed would not have been possible without it being God’s intention.

What you might be wondering is what happened to make the people turn on Jesus so quickly, had he done something disastrous to upset them?

No! The problem was down to the expectations of the people. (Hold up sword) The people were expecting a powerful warrior king who would help them free the oppression of their Roman occupiers. They were banking on him to lead a rebellion against the government.

However as we saw in the passage that we read earlier Jesus didn’t arrive on a warhorse with sword raised ready for battle. He instead flipped it upside down (Turn sword over and turn round to cross side) he came to spark a revolution, but a revolution of love and service, arriving on a humble donkey as the prince of peace.

This upside down thinking was always going to lead to the cross, but this was part of the plan. Jesus had come to start a revolution, which would have an impact on humanity for all time. However he knew that the only bloodshed that was required to start this revolution was his own, not Israel’s enemies.

This shows us the importance being receptive to God, and being aware that he can work in ways that are very different from what we might be expecting or hoping for.

Because the people had their hopes resting on a warrior they were unable to see the value of Jesus and how God had planned to use him to change the course of history.

Let’s spend a few minutes thinking about the expectations that we have for God in our lives, and then we will pray together asking God to help us be receptive to what his plans, and what he wants to happen in our lives.

Lord God,

We thank you that you love us and are always with us.

We thank you that you are there to help us when we are struggling, and are there to share in our joy when things are going great.

We thank you that you sent your son to Earth, to live as a human, and feel all of the experiences that we feel.

We thank you that he came to complete your plan, to save us all so that we can live in relationship with you forever.

Help us to turn to you in every situation.

Keep us safe until we meet again.

Amen