Jesus, The Messiah

Central to the Christian faith is that we believe Jesus is the Christ. “The Christ” is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah.” The Messiah is the king that God promised would come to save his people and to rule over all the nations. When we say we believe Jesus is none other than this Messiah, we are affirming that we hold him to be the ultimate king, or to say it another way the King of Kings.

Next Sunday is when we remember Jesus riding triumphantly into Jerusalem. Jesus showed himself to be the awaited Messiah by choosing to ride in on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9). The crowds understood the symbolism of this as they shouted, “save us! (Hosanna)” and “blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Both of these are quotations from Psalm 118:25-26. They also shouted, “blessed is the King of Israel!” The crowd understood that in this action, Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, the Christ.

Each of us has to grapple with the question what we believe about Jesus. Who do we think he is? If we confess that Jesus is the King that God promised, we then have to ask if we are willing to give him our allegiance. Will we recognize him as the authority in our life?

Remember that a week from Thursday we’ll be remembering Jesus’ actions on the night of his arrest as we have a Maundy Thursday service at 7pm. We’ll be meeting in the Fellowship Hall for this special service. We’ll be sharing in the Lord’s Supper together during this service.

Let me encourage you again to invite your friends and neighbors to the special services coming up. Palm Sunday we’ll be meeting at 10:10am with fellowship time following. Maundy Thursday service will be at 7pm. Then Easter Sunday morning we’ll be gathering at 9am for a pre-service breakfast with our worship service at 10:10am. We’ll also be having communion on Easter Sunday morning.

Hope you have a great week and hope to see you Sunday!

God bless,  Brian

Scripture readings for next Sunday

John 12:12-19—What was the crowd thinking as Jesus entered Jerusalem?

Psalm 118:21-29—Why did the crowd use these words when Jesus entered Jerusalem?

Zechariah 9:9-17—Describe what this prophecy is about.

John 12:20-36—What does Jesus teach about the result of his death?