A Question in the Crowd: Who Is This?

Who is this who can take people who passed through the dark night of sorrow and suffering and transform them into surgeons, teachers, musicians, scientists, preachers, scholars and statesmen? Who is this who can take the sons and daughters of poverty and limited means and bring them into lives of promise and prosperity and potential? Who is this who can look upon injustice all over the world and infuse the people living under oppression and injustice with the belief that things can be better, then equip those people to go about doing the work that will make their world a better place? Who is this? Only a sovereign God can do something like that.

Who is this? was the question in the crowd on that day, and that question stands here today waiting for each one of us to offer an answer. Who is this? Do you speak the words with scorn and contempt? Or do you hold a better view of Jesus? Do you agree with those throughout Israel who believed Jesus was a prophet? That is what many of His followers said as Jesus rode into Jerusalem that day: "This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth in Galilee." All they could say is that He is like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos or one of the prophets.

That is what all but one of the disciples told Jesus in the 16th chapter when He asked them, "Who do men say that I am?" The best they could say was, "Some say You are Elijah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist or another prophet." That was as far as their minds could reach. What they said was not wrong, but it was insufficient. Thank God for that one disciple who had a different response. Thank God for Peter who declared: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

That's the answer to the question in the crowd on that first Palm Sunday. Let me see if I can put my own personal touch on the answer given by Peter. Who is this?

He is the Son of God,

He is the Architect of the whole of creation,

He is the Victor over sin, hell and the grave,

He is the second Person of the Godhead: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Who is this?

He is the Wonderful Counselor and the Mighty God of Isaiah,

He is the One about whom John the Baptist preached in the wilderness,

He is the One whose birthplace in Bethlehem was foretold by Micah,

He is the One after whom an entire floral shop could be named:

• Rose of Sharon,

• Lily of the valley,

He is the fairest of ten thousand to my soul,

He is the Lamb of God whose blood has washed away my sins,

He is the Pearl without price that placed an even greater value on our lives,

He is the Man they loved on Palm Sunday, condemned, killed and buried on Good Friday, but who got up on Easter with all power in His hands.

Who is this?

• Caesar is dead and forgotten, but Jesus still sits on the throne.

• The high priest Caiaphas who schemed to have him killed is a minor footnote in history, but Jesus remains the central figure in the world today.

• Pontius Pilate washed his hands with water, but Jesus washed my soul clean with His precious blood.

• Judas got 30 pieces of silver and then committed suicide; but Jesus, who was crucified and buried, now sits at the right hand of God in heaven.

Who is this? Let us conclude that Jesus is the One about whom the triumphant

hymn was written:

"All hail the power of Jesus' name,

"Let angels prostrate fall.

"Bring forth the royal diadem and

"Crown Him Lord of all!"

That's who He is; He is the Lord of all. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. He is the Lord of the past, present and future. He is the Lord of the living and the dead. He is the Lord from the guttermost to the uttermost. He is Lord of all! The next time somebody asks you: Who is this?—whether he or she speaks with contempt or amazement—this is what you can tell them:

He is Lord.

He is Lord.

He is risen from the dead, and He is Lord.

Every knee shall bow,

Every tongue confess,

That Jesus Christ is Lord!

That is who Jesus is.