Among The Crowd | Viny Costa

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

Yes, I believe God has something for you and for me.

Amen.

My name is Vini.

I am one of the pastors here at Celebration Orlando, and I am so thankful you are here this morning.

And I am also thankful for the opportunity of sharing God's word with you all.

Today is extra special for me because the very first time I preached in English was exactly two years ago.

It was Palm Sunday 2022.

So I feel very excited to share the word of God with you.

Who is excited for Easter?

Okay, nice.

I'll promise you this.

We'll have a great worship time together.

So come to church and bring somebody.

Amen.

Are we ready for this?

Okay, open your Bibles in Luke chapter 19.

Luke 19 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 19.

Luke 19 · chapter mention

This is a very important passage, so important that we find the same account in all four gospels: Matthew, Mark, John.

But today we're gonna read Luke chapter 19, starting on verse 28.

Luke 19 · chapter mention

The Bible says, After Jesus has said this, he went on ahead going up to Jerusalem.

As he approached Beth Page in Bethany, at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples.

He sent two of his disciples, saying to them, Go to the village of ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a donkey tied there, which no one has ever ridden.

Untie it and bring it here.

If anyone asks you, Why are you untying it?

Say, The Lord needs it.

Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as He had told them.

As they were untying the donkey, its owners asked them, Why are you untying the donkey?

And they replied, The Lord needs it.

They brought it to Jesus, threw their coats on the donkey, and put Jesus on it.

As he went along, people spread their coats on the road, and when he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd, the whole crowd began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles he had seen.

Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna, peace in heaven and glory in the highest.

The Bible says, some of the Pharisees, Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, Teacher, rebuke your disciples.

I tell you, he replied, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.

Luke chapter 19.

Luke 19 · chapter mention

If you are taking notes this morning, I have titled this message Among the Crowd.

Among the Crowd.

Let's pray together.

God, we're so thankful for this morning.

We are thankful for your word.

We're thankful for this incredible worship time we had, communion, and now we are so ready to receive what you have for us.

So we open up our hearts and our ears.

So you can plant in our hearts your eternal seeds for your glory.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Can you tell your neighbor God has something for you?

I believe that.

And now the pet is done, and looks like the Holy Spirit is not here anymore, but he's still here.

Jesus was in the third year of his public ministry, and he had already done most of the things for which he is known.

He had already resurrected Lazarus from dead, he had already multiplied loaves and fishes.

He had already walked on water.

He had already healed Peter's mother-in-law, even though Peter was like, Are you sure, Jesus?

And Jesus was like, Yes.

And now the Bible says it's time to go to Jerusalem.

Time to go to Jerusalem, Jerusalem.

So Jesus gathers his disciples one week before his death, and he says, Hey guys, come on, let's go to Jerusalem.

This is a common thing to do because every Jew used to go to Jerusalem at least three times in a year.

Three times in a year, they would stop everything they were doing, they would cease all their activities to journey to Jerusalem to celebrate the traditions of their religion.

Guess what?

Here in Luke chapter 19 is the Passover feast season.

Luke 19 · chapter mention

Passover is very important for a Jew because it's when they celebrate their deliverance from slavery in Egypt.

So every Jew goes to Jerusalem to celebrate.

Now Jerusalem is not like New York, okay?

It's a small city, but two million Jews are expected to be there for Passover.

The city is packed.

It's like Magic Kingdom on New Year's Eve.

Packed.

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem.

Jesus is doing exactly what he was supposed to do, but he's doing for different reasons.

Everybody is going out of habit.

Jesus is going to Jerusalem out of out of love.

Everybody is going because of their religion.

Jesus is going because of his purpose.

Everybody is going to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices.

Jesus is going to be the sacrifice.

Everybody is going to Jerusalem to celebrate their deliverance.

Jesus is going to Jerusalem to be the world's deliverer.

How brave he is.

Despite being just six days away from facing the most challenging day of his life, he takes time to stop and bless his friends.

He's so kind.

So kind.

The Bible says that the crowd gathered there to see both Jesus and Lazarus.

Everybody's curious about him.

Now, Luke chapter 19, the passage we just read, verse 28.

Luke 19 · chapter mention

It is a Sunday, and Jesus, along with his disciples and the crowd, is heading towards Jerusalem.

The scholars estimate that around 30,000 people surrounded Jesus on the journey.

30,000.

30,000 people.

And then on verse 29, Jesus just asks two of his disciples, hey guys, come here.

Would you do me a favor?

Would you please go to that village right there?

Along the way, and could you please bring me a donkey?

And I'm pretty sure the disciples were like, Oh my gosh, what he means.

Do you know that John Travolta mean?

That John Travolta is just like, that's the disciples right here.

What do you mean, Jesus?

You need a donkey, it's not an impressive white horse you need.

You just need a donkey.

Are you sure about this?

Well, Jesus was trying to teach them that he's not only brave enough to face his purpose in Jerusalem, he's not only kind enough to stop at his friend's house to bless them, but he's also humble enough to get into the city riding a donkey that it's not even his.

Palm Sunday.

That's a proper way to welcome a king.

They have great expectations about Jesus.

They are very excited, they start to sing a song.

I don't know how the song sounded like.

I don't know if it was a pop country, Taylor Swift type of song, or if it was more like a metal metal core, metallica type of song.

But we know the lyrics of the song.

They were singing, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in the heaven and glory in the highest.

They had great expectations.

Jesus will heal my father, Jesus will help me in my depression, Jesus will fix my finances, Jesus will fix my marriage, Jesus will become king and will destroy home.

The crowd is excited, everybody singing, but the Pharisees.

They're there too.

Not only the disciples, part of the crowd, the Pharisees.

They are there, they don't like Jesus.

They want to kill him.

They love God and hate Jesus.

God knows what how?

They think he's a false prophet.

They think he doesn't know how to discern and interpret the law.

So they are they are ready to ask him hard questions.

They are ready to rebuke him.

They are ready to catch him.

Among the crowd, we see disciples.

The Bible says on verse twenty-nine, he sent two of his disciples saying to them, Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a donkey tied there, which no one has ever written.

Untie it and bring it to me.

He said that to the disciples.

The very first thing I see here is the disciples are close to their master.

They had a personal relationship with Jesus.

They know Jesus very well, they know who he is.

They even know Jesus is going to die in a couple of days.

Because Jesus told them that.

Jesus never said that to the crowd.

Jesus told that to the disciples and the disciples only.

And this is very interesting because in the midst of a noisy crowd where people are pushing, talking, singing, the disciples heard the master's voice.

Not a social media voice.

Not their favorite celebrity voice.

Not the voice of what was trending in the world.

Not the voice that everybody else was following.

Not the voice of trauma or experience.

The disciples silenced all the other voices to pay attention to what Jesus was saying.

But the disciples, they are not only close to the master, not only hear the master's voice, but the disciples are ready to obey the master.

You two come here.

Because think about this.

This is crazy.

Go there, you go you're gonna find a donkey?

Untie it, bring to me.

If anyone asks, you say the Lord needs it, I'll bring back later.

Can we translate it this for today's world?

Hey, I want you guys to go to Claremont.

You're gonna see a truck with a key.

Bring it to me.

If anyone asks, you say the Lord needs it, I'll bring it back.

Do you think this is something easy to obey?

But they obeyed the Lord regardless of their request.

They said, Yes, I will do that, I will obey for sure.

They didn't say to Jesus, Jesus, I don't feel comfortable.

They didn't make excuses, they didn't postpone it.

What do you need, Lord?

You need a donkey?

All right, I'm going there.

I'm gonna bring you a donkey.

Who said being a disciple of Jesus is easy?

It requires stepping out of your comfort zone because let me tell you something.

Sometimes God will ask you to obey in areas that will challenge you.

Sometimes it means doing things you don't want to do, and sometimes it means refraining from things you want to do.

Peter is tired, he tried fishing the entire night, he's ready to go home, he's specking, and then Jesus is like, Hey Peter, what's up?

Hey Jesus, what's going on?

Hey, I'm just going home.

I had a rough night.

We tried fishing, we caught nothing, and then Jesus go try again.

Do one more time.

And Peter never said, Jesus, can we do that tomorrow?

Jesus, my back?

You have no idea.

He never said that.

He said, Because you are saying, I'll do it.

Because I am a disciple and you are the master, I will obey.

Being a disciple of Jesus is all about imitating Jesus.

Now, let me tell you something very, very important.

Very important.

Are you guys here with me?

Very important.

Being a disciple of Jesus doesn't entail obeying a hundred percent of the time as we are imperfect and will make mistakes.

However, it does involve making an effort to obey every time, to obey every time.

You may not always succeed, but you always try.

You always try.

There are areas in my life, church, where it's difficult for me to obey God.

Being very honest with you.

Areas that I have been struggling for years.

Do you know what I do?

I don't give up.

I try one more time.

I know he's merciful, I know he meets me where I am, but I also know that the part I play is trying again.

I try again, I try to be the disciple, I'm trying to be closer to the master, I'm trying to hear his voice, but above it all, I'm trying to obey my master.

So let me tell you something.

I understand what I'm telling right now is challenging.

But being a Jesus' disciple sometimes means calling to ask for forgiveness.

And sometimes it means forgiving someone.

Sometimes it means gen it means being generous with your time and resources.

Sometimes being Jesus' disciple means treating your spouse correctly.

What about that?

Sometimes it means letting go of sinful practices.

Jesus says to his disciples, only to the disciples.

He says in John chapter 14, if you love me, you keep my commandments.

John 14 · chapter mention

If you love me, you keep my commandments.

So let me ask you, are you a disciple?

What are the areas you are struggling in obeying?

Let me encourage you with this.

Jesus, we will always help you as long as you don't give up.

Are you a disciple?

Among the crowd, we see the crowd, we see the disciples, but we also see people that worship him.

The crowd.

On verse 37, 38, the Bible says, when he came near the place, the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd, the whole crowd began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.

Blessed is the king, Hosanna.

The crowd is singing, and the very first thing I see here is the crowd is not as close as the disciples were.

They worship Jesus.

They are doing something that is common to a disciple to do, huh?

But the disciples, they worship God for what he is.

The crowd is worshiping God for what he can do.

It's very, very different.

They had high expectations of Jesus becoming king and performing one more miracle.

They were not interested in having relationship with Jesus, they simply wanted to benefit from God's blessings and power.

And let me tell you this, church, there is nothing wrong.

Listen, there is nothing wrong with worshiping God for what he can do.

As long as you understand that what he can do is just an overflow of who he is.

So if you worship God solely for what he does, for what he can do, you have treated him like your personal genie.

Do you know what happened here?

Jesus didn't become the king at the moment.

They had great expectations, but he did not destroy Rome right away.

They had great expectations, but there are no accounts of Jesus performing hundreds of miracles in Jerusalem.

Do you know what happened?

Jesus didn't meet the crowd's expectations.

So the same people who were shouting Hosanna in worship on Sunday are the same ones who will cry out, crucify him on Friday.

Because the crowd's worship is circumstantial, it's not out of devotion.

The crowd's worship, it's not a lifestyle.

The crowd's worship, it's not a result of a strong relationship with Jesus.

Let me ask you this.

If things in your life don't happen exactly as you planned, would you exchange your position as a disciple for a position among the crowd?

Myself and Juliana, we we met this a couple couple years ago.

They got saved.

They were in love with Jesus and the church, not this church.

They were serving, they were growing in their faith.

They got pregnant, which was one of their dreams.

And unfortunately, a couple months later, they had a miscarriage.

Do you know what they did?

They abandoned God.

God didn't do what I was expecting.

He's not good enough.

He's not powerful enough.

I was a disciple because everything was going well in my life, but now that I'm living something that it's not easy to handle with, God is not worthy of my praise anymore.

I don't want to know about Jesus.

The things that happen or don't happen to you shouldn't determine your relationship with God.

Actually, my friends, it should be the opposite.

Your relationship with God should dictate how you respond to the things that happen or don't happen in your life.

I love the prophet Habakkuk, the way he wraps up his book.

I think it's so beautiful.

I had a chance to preach about this last year, and he goes on chapter three.

He says, Though the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crops fail, and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, and I will be joyful in God, my Savior, because my worship is not circumstantial.

Are you a disciple or just part of the crowd?

Is your worship out of devotion, or is it just because you are expecting God to do something you want?

What if he doesn't do it?

Will you dip out?

Among the crowd, I only have five minutes and forty seconds.

Jesus.

I tell you, he replied, if they keep quiet, they stones will cry out.

The Pharisees.

Who are they?

They are part of the strictest sect of Judaism.

They have the old testament memorized.

Can you imagine that?

Isaiah chapter 14, verse 11.

Isaiah 14:11

Boom.

They follow and obey six hundred plus laws of the Torah.

But for them, for the Pharisees, religion is more important than relationship.

They have the Old Testament memorized, and then the entire Old Testament points to Jesus.

Now they're face to face with him, and they choose to be spectators.

They can't engage, they can't surrender.

They are more concerned about what people will think about then than having an honest conversation with the Lord.

What a waste.

What a waste.

They could open up their hearts.

They could have asked him, hey, I'm struggling a lot.

I don't know if you are the Messiah.

Can we talk about this?

But they decide not to engage.

What a waste.

They've been waiting for this moment.

They are facing Jesus.

But they don't engage.

They can't surrender.

Not only do they not engage, but they also criticize everything Jesus does.

Now let me ask you this.

Have you ever noticed that when we are in spectator position, we are much closer to criticism than to engagement?

Jesus is ready to be their Lord.

Jesus is ready to teach him how to read the Bible correctly.

Jesus is ready to teach their relationship is way more important than religion, but they don't engage.

What a waste! How many times have I been in this position?

Just being a spectator of worship, spectator of service, spectator of the giving moment.

God wants to transform me into a disciple, but I am making space only for criticism.

Are you a Pharisee?

Who are you?

A disciple?

Are you part of the crowd?

Are you a Pharisee?

We all go through phases, my friends.

Sometimes we're just in the midst of the crowd, and on other times we are like the Pharisees.

But I believe that God wants to transform all of us into disciples this morning.

I wanted to wrap up with this.

Perhaps among this crowd, not the crowd in Luke 19, this one.

Perhaps among this crowd, right here, you are a disciple.

Keep trying.

Keep obeying God, even if it's uncomfortable.

If God is nudging you to do something, go ahead and do it.

The disciples don't always get it right, but they always try.

Perhaps among this crowd right here, you need to learn to worship God not only for what he can do, but primarily for who he is.

Ask him.

It's a simple prayer.

Lord, help me to be a disciple and worship you for who you are.

Maybe, perhaps, among this crowd, you need to learn how to engage to understand that God has something for you, and you just need to make room for Him.

It's okay to have a critical thinking.

It's okay.

As long as it doesn't rob you of experiencing God.

Who are you?

I wish we had time to meditate more about that.

But I think you have something to think about during your week.

Who are you?

What are the areas God wants to you know touch inside of you?

God, thank you so much for this morning.

Thank you so much for your word.

Thank you because you are always ready to transform us into disciples.

Maybe some of us we need to go back to a place where we are brave enough to obey you.

It doesn't matter what you are what you are asking.

We just want to be brave enough to say yes.

Maybe some of us we have treated you like our personal genie.

We have worshiped you only for what you can do.

But this morning, we want you to change our hearts, our hearts to transform us into disciples, so we can worship you also and primarily for what and who you are, Jesus.

We don't want to be like the Pharisees.

We don't want to put religion above relationship.

And we want to be ready to engage, we want to be ready to surrender.

What a waste would be, and what a way, what a waste waste is when you are here touching our hearts, but we don't engage, we don't surrender.

I pray that you reveal to us the areas you need to change and you want to touch.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Do you receive this word this morning?

Would you please give it up for Jesus?

Thanks again for listening.

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