Have you ever thought that Christians are supposed to be nice?  That's the way that a lot of people think Christians should act, NICE.  Here's the big question, when people think about you do you want them to say, "Oh, they are NICE..."

I have read through the Bible quite a bit and I realized something, there's a lot of stuff in there that doesn't seem very nice.  You know the stuff; some of it keeps people from wanting to worship God because He doesn't seem very "nice."  I mean God wipes out whole towns, has people killed, the Old Testament God just doesn't seem "nice." 

And you know what; I did a search of the Old Testament and discovered that in the NIV the word "nice" is not found there.  It's found in the New Living Translation and the Message, but only in the sense of a nice animal, nice eyes, and nice stuff like that, God is never talked about as "nice."

But the New Testament has to be different doesn't it.  Well guess how many times the word "nice" is found in the New Testament?  Well the NIV has exactly zero references to the word nice.  The New Living Translation uses it twice, and here's one of the comforting verses where it is found, James 5:5 "You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every whim. Now your hearts are nice and fat, ready for the slaughter." Is everyone feeling good here now?

But come on, Jesus, a nice guy right?  Ok, so he insulted a few self righteous people, turned over some tables, and ended up ticking people off so much that they killed Him, but come on, Jesus was a nice guy wasn't He?

No!  Jesus was good and true! I just don't see him as a nice guy.

·         Nice guys tell you what you want to hear.

·         Good guys tell you what you need to hear.

·         Nice guys tell you your shirt looks great when you forgot to put your pants on.

·         Good guys tell you in love that you are half naked.

·         Nice guys often tone down the bad news and tell little white lies to make people feel better.

·         Good guys speak truth. First in love, but if necessary bluntly.

And so here we stand, on the eve of Palm Sunday, a day we celebrate the nice arrival of Jesus into town. But we see some other things as well... We see the goodness and truth of Jesus. Not a "nice" Jesus, but one that offers goodness and truth. No religious games, simply a determination to do what was good and true.  So on this Palm Sunday Eve, I’d like you to consider what it really looks like when Jesus makes a truly triumphal entry into your life! 

Jesus doesn’t offer you a “nice” life; he offers you one that is Good and True! Real life in the Kingdom of God!

The Triumphal Entry

I have to admit that I see some irony in that title.  The reality that surrounded this entry was one of confusion and anger.  Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey and the people cheered because Jesus was a hero and they thought he was coming to set them free from their current problems, the occupation of the Romans.

They were probably looking back at Judas Maccabees, who was called “the Hammer” who had rallied an army of Jewish men to fight against the Syrians who occupied Jerusalem. In 163 B.C. he entered Jerusalem riding on a massive stallion, and the people shouted and waved palm branches and cheered, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Read 19:35-44

Do you see the confusion in the scene? Jesus is at the center of controversy! Surrounded by:

Do you fit any of those categories?

Jesus wept over the city because they didn’t see what He was offering, what He was coming for.  And he didn’t offer them a nice answer about the direction that their chosen path was leading them. Destruction!

Jesus came to offer another Way, the real Way. A way of Truth and Goodness.  The way of Real Love and Perfect Sacrifice. The way to New Life, Good and True and Eternal, but we often don’t see it because we are caught up in the moments of life. Jesus doesn’t offer you a “nice” life; he offers you life that is Good and True! Real life in the Kingdom of God!

Jesus at the Temple

19:45 Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. 19:46 "It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be a house of prayer'; but you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"19:47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 19:48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.

So Jesus moves on to the center of religion and finds that it has become a place just like every other in the world, a place for making deals. This is what is so confusing about religion, I’m a pastor and I have to admit that religion confuses me. 

There are so many people telling me what to do, what not to do, selling their spiritual stuff, the stuff that will make our lives nicer and prettier, and trying to be the middle man between us and God.

Jesus says, "'My house will be a house of prayer'; but you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" Jesus wants to clear the way for a real connection between you and God, not just a “religious experience.” Jesus doesn’t offer you a “nice” religion; he offers you life that is Good and True! Real life in the Kingdom of God!

But this doesn’t settle well with us because the focus is shifted from us providing or coming up with our own solutions to Jesus as the one in charge of making Real Life happen.  It means that our world is to revolve around God and not us! That goes against what we like to think or hear.

So in Chapter 20 we see…

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

Read 20:1-8

Human beings have made an art form out of questioning God, questioning God’s authority in our lives.

But He confronts them with Real, Rock Hard Truth.  Truth that will one day trip the dancers up and crush them.  Jesus doesn’t offer us a “nice” life; he offers you life that is Good and True! Real life in the Kingdom of God!

The Parable of the Tenants

Read 20:9-19

We have some real problems with this story that Jesus tells us.

The Jewish Leaders didn’t like those truths, but we don’t either.  We have bought into the lie that we are in charge here… what a foolish lie! One look at our lives is all it takes to realize that we have very little control over what grows and doesn’t grow in our lives. God is in charge and we have rebelled.

The predicaments of our lives are ours, and Jesus came to offer a solution, a good and true solution. A solution that we often don’t want to listen to because it will wreck the sandcastles of our lives.  Jesus’, God’s solution was and is not nice, it was brutal and good and true and He offers it to you right now.  Jesus doesn’t offer you a “nice” life; he offers you life that is Good and True! Real life in the Kingdom of God!

As you live in this week that approaches days we celebrate the great gift of Christ