Security guards scan the crowd and run alongside the limo. Whether leaders by birth or election, these important people are afforded honor and respect.

The Jewish people waited for a leader who’d been promised centuries ago by their prophets. They believed that this leader – the Messiah (“anointed one”) – would rescue them from their Roman oppressors and establish a new kingdom. As their king, he would rule the world with justice. However, many prophecies were overlooked. They spoke of a suffering servant who would be rejected and killed. It’s no wonder then that few recognized Jesus as Messiah.

Matthew, one of the 12 disciples, once was a despised tax collector, a Jew who’d collaborated with the Romans as a lucrative way of living. But his life was changed by this man from Galilee. Matthew wrote this Gospel to his fellow Jews to prove that Jesus is the Messiah and to explain God’s kingdom.

Matthew tells of Jesus’ birth and baptism; his public ministry and Sermon on the Mount; his miracles, healings, and even raising the dead. Despite opposition from the religious establishment, Jesus continued to proclaim the kingdom of God. He spoke with his disciples about his imminent death and resurrection and revealed his identity to Peter, James, and John. Jesus entered Jerusalem in a triumphant procession only to be arrested, tried, and put to death.

But the story did not end there, for this Messiah rose from the dead – conquering death and telling his followers to continue his work by making disciples of all nations, of all people. Matthew’s message is clear. Jesus is the Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords. We celebrate his victory over evil and death and accept him as Lord of our lives.

As you can see, our 2008 Vacation Bible School is ready to roll this week. “Jerusalem Marketplace” is the third in a series on the life of Jesus. We did “Bethlehem Village” celebrating Christmas in July in 2006. Last summer “Galilee by the Sea” explored the ministry of Jesus. This year we walk through Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Day. The themes each day are: Jesus is King (Palm Sunday); Jesus showed God’s love (in the Passover); Jesus loves us (as he prays in the Garden); Jesus died for us (on Good Friday); and Jesus lives (rising from the dead on Easter).
 

Living in Jerusalem in 30 A.D. each child will be a member of the one of the tribes of Judah, go to synagogue school with Rabbi Mikhael, enjoy the village playground with Pastor James, and work at the marketplace making pottery, jewelry, baked goods, musical instruments, and other 1st century items.

Expectations are running high as we enjoy each morning together singing songs, playing games, and growing in our faith in Christ. What a week it will be.

But expectations have a way of setting us up for disappointment. Sometimes the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. Palm Sunday was a clash of expectations. Jesus arrived in Jerusalem just before the Passover. One of the most important holy days in the Jewish calendar, thousands of people crammed into the city to observe the feast.

Shortly before Jesus entered Jerusalem, he had raised Lazarus from death back to life in Bethany, a village just outside the city. When people heard about it (the news traveled fast), anticipation built for what he would do next. Many expected Jesus to liberate them from Rome and its heavy-handed rule. He was greeted by a crowd of admiring hopefuls.

“Hosanna to the Son of David… Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord… Hosanna in the highest.”
    

But those expectations didn’t match Jesus’ mission or purpose. Rather than coming to conquer Rome, Jesus came to conquer sin and death. His aims were spiritual, not political. Some sort of letdown was inevitable. When it became clear that Jesus would not use his amazing power for nationalistic ends, popularity swung to the religious leaders who opposed Jesus. Festive Palm Sunday was ironically the beginning of the end for Jesus (at least from a human point of view).

On Monday, Jesus walks into the Temple courts as he had near the beginning of his ministry at Passover a few years earlier. For a second time he drove out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers. “How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” (John 2:16). Quoting the prophets he said, “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers” (Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11; Matthew 21:13).

The trouble with righteous anger is that it’s much easier to be angry than righteous. But it is possible to be both. Jesus illustrates righteous anger in the clearing of the temple. Needless to say, the chief priests and teachers of the law were indignant. The wheels started turning again to find a way to get rid of Jesus.

Throughout Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, confrontations between Jesus and the religious leaders intensified. In telling parables, Jesus indicts these leaders as disobedient sons, wicked tenants, those who blow off the wedding invitation, the wicked, lazy servant, and the goats of final judgment. Just read Matthew chapters 21-25. Not only did Jesus convince many that the Temple and its rituals were not necessary but he also discredited the abusive, controlling leaders who “load people down with burdens they can hardly carry” and “will not lift one finger to help them” (Luke 11:46). As their livelihood, position, and power were threatened by Jesus, the need to silence him became critical.

Someone said that a crisis reveals what kind of people we are. Some people crumble and give up in the face of a crisis. Some deny that the crisis exists. Some blame others for it. A few rise up to meet it. The crisis comes to a head on Thursday and Friday. The hostility that began early in Jesus’ ministry approaches a violent end. Yet as he awaits his arrest and crucifixion, Jesus is magnificently in control. “The reason the Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own accord” (John 10:17-18). Jesus plans the last meal, the Passover with himself at the center of its fulfillment. He knows the one who will betray him. He offers himself as the sacrifice for the sins of his people. Matthew tells us in chapter 1, his name is “Jesus – because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

As our children enjoy Vacation Bible School this week, pray that God’s Spirit will be at work in their hearts letting them know that Jesus did all this for them. As you pray and read the Word this week, also pray that God’s Spirit will be at work in your heart to let you know that Jesus did all this for you as well. The dark night of the world’s rejection of God’s Messiah, the Holy One, the Christ can be overwhelming. Yet we anticipate and expect the light and the dawn of the resurrection (we will celebrate it next Sunday – Easter in July).

It’s like visiting a jewelry store and asking to see a diamond. The jeweler lays a piece of black velvet over the counter and places the sparkling diamond against that jet-black background. The black surroundings make the diamond sparkle with more brightness than ever.

Some 2,000 years ago, against a background of darkness and rejection, God revealed to us a gem of divine love and forgiveness. Today, Jesus Christ still shines out against the backdrop of darkness that can surround us. What a contrast his message makes against our often selfish and loveless ways, against our unforgiving spirits. Yet Jesus overcame the darkness. “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world… The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness have not overcome it” (John 1). As we trust in Jesus Christ, our Savior, Lord and King, he overcomes the darkness of sin and death for us and sets us on the course to life eternal.         
Let us pray together.