The Adventures of Jesus Christ
Episodes from the Life of Jesus for Young Readers
by Vincent Cheung
[ Contents ]
Chapter 25. Jesus Entered Jerusalem
IF THEY KEEP QUIET, THE STONES WILL CRY OUT
As the time drew near for the Passover, Jesus and his disciples traveled to the city of Jerusalem. This was a special time when many people would come to celebrate and remember how God had rescued his people from Egypt.
Before they reached Jerusalem, Jesus turned to two of his disciples and said, “Go to the village ahead of you. There, you will find a donkey tied up, and it has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it to me.”
The disciples did as Jesus said. When they found the donkey, they untied it as he had instructed. Some people who were nearby asked, “Why are you untying that donkey?” The disciples replied, “The Lord needs it.”
The two disciples brought the donkey to Jesus and placed their cloaks on its back. Then Jesus sat on the donkey as he entered Jerusalem. A prophet had predicted this long ago, saying, “Look, your king comes to you, riding on a donkey.”
Jesus was the king, the chosen hero, and the Son of God himself. But he did not storm into the city on a war horse. Instead, he rode peacefully on a donkey. By this, he signaled that he would begin his kingdom not with human soldiers and weapons, but by divine powers and qualities, by faith and love, and by miracles. It was how his disciples would spread his influence throughout the world.
Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, as if rolling out a red carpet for him. And others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
As Jesus was coming closer to Jerusalem, the whole crowd of disciples began to shout and sing, and to praise God for the miracles that they had seen.
They shouted, “Hosanna! The Savior is here! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in the highest heaven!” The people were in a joyful frenzy.
Some of the religious leaders in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher! Rebuke your disciples!” They thought the people were out of control and speaking outrageous things.
But Jesus answered, “Let me tell you, if these people were silent, the stones themselves would cry out!”
Followers of Jesus Christ must learn to praise and worship God. On that day, the people worshiped God from their hearts and showed us how to do it. True worship does not have to be serious like a funeral. In fact, it should often be the opposite.
It is good to praise God for miracles, healing, blessings, and all the things he does for us. Some people think it is wrong to bring attention to these things, but Jesus approved this reason for worship.
The people were not looking for miracles instead of seeking Jesus. And they were not waiting to see miracles before they would believe him. They already believed him, and they had already seen miracles, and they were praising God for what he had done.
They knew that God’s power is part of who he is, just like his love and wisdom. If it is wrong to bring attention to God’s miracles and blessings, then it is also wrong to bring attention to his wisdom and love. It is wrong to criticize those who keep praising God for his miracles and blessings.
It is good to praise God with simple words. If the simple things you say are true, then they are good things. Simple worship is not bad. It is bad if we never learn more about God and grow deeper in our worship, but no matter how much we learn, it is always good to shout, “God, I love You!” over and over again if you mean it each time you say it.
People look down on simple worship because of their pride. When they worship, they want to show how serious and deep they are, so they can feel very smart and spiritual, and so everybody else will admire them. To God, these people stink!
The truth is that most people who think that they have deep worship really do not. Many things they say in worship are just faithless and whiny words.
Listen to their favorite songs. Many of them focus on human weakness instead of God’s strength and kindness. Faithless worship is depressing because it talks so much about sin and suffering instead of God’s power to heal and to bless, and to work miracles. It is as if the people are worshiping themselves rather than God!
Imagine if Jesus walked into one of those churches and listened to the worship. Would he not say, “How come you are singing about all these problems? I came to save you from all of this!” The people would probably tell him to be quiet so they could continue their funeral-like service. God is not dead. Do not hold a funeral for him. Hold a celebration with singing, shouting, and dancing.
It is good to be emotional when we worship God. People have different personalities. Some of them tend to be excited, and some of them tend to be calm. It is not wrong to be silent and serious sometimes. But people often act serious because they are too proud to be sincere and joyful before God.
There is nothing wrong with showing emotion in worship. If everyone else is praising God with joy, and you just sit there looking miserable, you are the one who is wrong. Even if you are not feeling happy, you should at least stand up and support the others. Worship by faith, not by your feelings, and then God will move your heart too.
There is no need to shout and dance every time we worship, but it is not wrong. We can shout and dance by faith, just because we think God deserves this kind of excitement and energy from us, even if we do not feel like it at first. Faith is what makes worship true, whether it is loud or quiet.
Many people who think their worship is deep are just following traditions. They argue about things like whether to use instruments, whether to stand or sit, but none of that matters without faith. Worship God with faith. Praise Him in all situations.
Some disciples praised God when they were in prison, and God sent an earthquake that set them free. Today, there are times when followers of Jesus worship together in sincere faith, and healing miracles happen all over the meeting place. That is true worship.
True worship might seem not smart and not serious to those who follow their own opinions and traditions, but God wants powerful praise that is full of faith and joy, not a dead ceremony. He wants everyone to take part, to sing, to praise, and to see his power at work.
What is truly shameful is when faithless people stop others from worshiping God because of their pride. They are like the faithless people who told Jesus to stop his disciples from giving him the welcome that he deserved. They are like those who opposed Jesus and wanted to kill him to protect their own opinions and traditions.
Look at your church. Does it worship like the people in the Bible did, or does it look down on people like that? You might be surprised to realize that you have been standing with people who reject true worship, just like the faithless people who were against Jesus. It is time to change.
Jesus loved the people, but he knew that many of them did not accept who he was. He wanted to help them and show them the way to God. He wanted to be the answer to all their problems. But he also knew that many of them would turn away from him, reject him, and destroy themselves. So as Jesus came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city before him, he started to weep.