The story of the “Triumphal Entry”is a familiar one. Many of those who celebrated His coming on this day were the same ones who would cry “Crucify Him” a few days later. Why? Jesus the servant King who came to Jerusalem that day was not the conquering warrior King Messiah they had been expecting.
Jesus frequently taught that whoever would be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven must be the servant of all in our lives. Jesus Himself modeled this life of service for us, perfectly fulfilling the prophecy we find in Isaiah 53 of God’s servant who takes upon Himself God’s rightful punishment (death) for the sins of all mankind. Jesus Himself said that He offered Himself as a ransom for many. So, since we have this perfect model of servitude shown to us by our LORD, we must also humble ourselves and become servants of all.
God’s people Israel certainly didn’t expect their long-awaited Messiah to come as such a humble “Servant King,” but Mark’s gospel makes clear that Jesus perfectly fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy about God’s Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53), while John the Baptizer served as the messenger sent by God to prepare the way before Him as foretold by Malachi 3:1.
On the evening He was betrayed, Jesus gave a new commandment to His disciples – that we are to love one another, saying that all people will know that we disciples of Jesus by the love we show toward one another. Later in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed for all of those who would come to believe in His Gospel through the words of His disciples. We who are followers of Jesus have a sacred calling from our LORD to go forth and share the Good News of salvation in Him with the lost and dying world all around us who desperately need to hear. Therefore, Pastor Brian asks simple yet critical question. In response to our call from Jesus, Will you go?
John 3:16 declares the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ in a single verse. It is also a very simple and powerful tool for evangelism. Almost every Christian and many non-believers have this verse memorized. Believers can simply proclaim this single verse to bring the Good News of salvation in Jesus to a lost and dying world desperate to hear it.
Recall from our previous study that the people of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, and that God therefore relented from the destruction of the city that Jonah had foretold in his brief prophetic message. Here in Jonah 4 we see that Jonah was highly displeased with the compassion God showed toward the Ninevites, forgetting the compassion God had shown to Jonah himself by rescuing him out of death through His sovereign provision of the great fish that swallowed and preserved him. God’s mercy upon Nineveh is not at all what Jonah expected, and he didn’t hesitate to tell God exactly how he felt about it.
In our study of Jonah so far, we have seen God’s relentlessness in His pursuit of Jonah when the so-called “Reluctant Prophet” tried to run away from God’s call for him to go to Nineveh. Then we saw God’s faithfulness in rescuing Jonah out of death, and Jonah’s gratitude for God’s mercy. Now in Jonah 3, we see God’s infinite grace and mercy not only upon the prophet he rescued out of death, but also upon the Ninevites to whom God called Jonah to preach a message of repentance. God’s grace is particularly manifest in that He knew the Ninevites’ repentance was only temporary in their fearful response to Jonah’s prophecy of their destruction.
John – who refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” – was the human scribe who wrote five books of the New Testament. John was part of Jesus’ inner circle of chosen apostles who was present at the Mount of Transfiguration along with his brother James, and Simon Peter. From the cross before He died, Jesus entrusted the care of His mother Mary to John. Of the remaining 11 after Judas Iscariot died, only John was not put to death for his Gospel testimony as far as we know from the scripture itself.
All of the events that took place during Jonah’s mission to Nineveh occurred in accordance with God’s will and by God’s power. When Jonah tried to run away from God’s calling, God relentlessly pursued Him, and made it possible for Jonah to be redeemed out of death by His provision of the great fish that swallowed him. Jonah understood all this, and cried out to God for salvation knowing that God would hear his prayer and answer him in accordance with His plan and His will out of His abundant mercy and grace. God had a purpose for Jonah who hadn’t yet fulfilled it.
The story of the prophet Jonah gives us a classic example of God’s relentless pursuit of His children no matter how long or far we try to run away from His calling and no matter how stridently we rebel against His commands. God mostly draws us gently and lovingly to Himself, but sometimes – as in Jonah’s case – He allows us to fall down to rock bottom before He reaches out to redeem us. God desires us to enter into loving fellowship with Him, and He never stops calling out for us to return to Him.
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Mt. Freedom Baptist Church
