HIS FINAL WALK (PVL)

(Matthew 20 – 28)
A Multimedia Easter Message by Rev Dr Vincent Leoh 23rd April 2000

There are twelve separate appearance of Christ recorded in scripture after His resurrection. In the four Gospels, 28 of the 89 chapters are given to consider the last week of Jesus’  life, death and resurrection. During this last week of the Savior’s earthly ministry I have noticed what I consider Christ’s Final Walk – amazing events that happened not accidentally but according to the precise timing and perfect plan of God. I want to share with you today, “His Final Walk”.

So let’s take a walk. His walk. His final walk. We shall follow his steps and stand in his shadow.

We watch him walk – Purposefully to Jerusalem… Angrily into the Temple… Wearily into Gethsemane… Painfully up the Via Dolorosa… Powerfully out of the vacated tomb… and Triumphantly into Heaven.

I. HIS FINAL WALK FROM JERICHO TO JERUSALEM – FRIDAY
“They will give the Son of Man to the non-Jewish people to laugh at him and beat him with whips and crucify him. But on the third day, he will be raised to life again.” (Matthew 20:19)

It was this walk that promised you freedom.

Forget any suggestions that Jesus was trapped. Erase any theory that Jesus made a miscalculation. Ignore any speculation that the cross was a last-ditch attempt to salvage a dying mission. For is these words tell us anything, they tell us that Jesus died…on purpose. No suprise. No hesitation. No faltering.

II. HIS FINAL WALK THROUGH THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM – MONDAY
“My Temple will be called a house of prayer. But you are changing it into a hideout for robbers.” (Matthew 21:13)

For it was on this walk that he denounced hollow religion.

It’s a sad but true fact of the faith: Religion is used for profit and for prestige. When it is there are two results: People are exploited and God is infuriated. There’s no better example of this than what happened at the temple. It’s not difficult to see what angered Jesus. Pilgrims journeyed days during this Passover week to see God, or to witness the holy, to worship His majesty. But before they were taken into the presence of God, they were taken to the moneychangers. This was not an impulsive show. This was not a temper tantrum. It was a deliberate act with an intentional message. God will never hold guiltless those who exploit the privilege of worship.

III. HIS FINAL WALK TO GETHSEMANE – THURSDAY
“Sit here while I go over there and pray…My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matthew 26:26,38) “I pray for these followers, but I am also praying for all those who will believe in me because of their teaching” (John 17:20)

He remembered you during this walk.

History records it as a battle of the Jews against Jesus. It wasn’t. It was a battle of God against Satan. And Jesus knew it. He knew that before the war was over, he would be taken captive. He knew that before victory would come defeat. He knew that before the light of Sunday would come the blackness of Friday. His last moments with his disciples are in prayer. You need to know that his final prayer was for you. His final pain was for you. His final passion was you. You may have thought it was won on Golgotha. It wasn’t. You may have thought the sign of victory is the empty tomb. It isn’t. The final battle was won in Gethsemane. And the sign of conquest is Jesus at peace in the olives trees.

IV. HIS FINAL WALK TO PILATE’S COURT – FRIDAY
“What should I do with Jesus, the One called the Christ?” (Matthew 27:22)

Pilate thought he could avoid making a choice. He washed his hands of Jesus. He climbed on the fence and sat down. But in not making a choice, Pilate made a choice. Rather than ask for God’s grace, he asked for a bowl. Rather than invite Jesus to stay, he sent him away. Rather than hear Christ’s voice, he heard the voice of the people…Legend has it that Pilate’s wife became believer. And legend has it that Pilate’s eternal home is a mountain lake where he daily surfaces, still plunging his hands into the water seeking forgiveness. Forever trying to wash away his guilt…not for the evil he did, but for the kindness he didn’t do.

Pilate’s questions is yours, “What will I do with this man, Jesus?” You have two choices. You can reject him. That is an option. You can, as many have, decided that the idea of God becoming a carpenter is too bizarre – and walk away. Or you can accept him. You can journey with him. You can listen for his voice amidst the hundreds of voices and follow him.

V. HIS FINAL WALK, VIA DOLOROSA, TO CALVARY – FRIDAY
“…and (they) led him away to be crucified” (Matthew 27:31; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

This is the heart of the gospel, as Paul states it in
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures. That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day and in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”

Just a piece of wood. Yet history has idolized the cross and despised it, gold-plated it and burned it; worn and trashed it. History has done everything to it but ignore it. That’s the one option that the cross does not offer. You can’t ignore a piece of lumber that suspends the greatest claim in history. A crucified carpenter claiming that he is God on earth. What can deliver from sin, and death and the devil? Look to the cross.

VI. HIS FINAL WALK: RESURRECTION APPEARANCES
A) HIS FINAL WALK WITH THE DISCIPLES
“He is not here; for He is risen. As He said…Go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead” (Matt. 28:6,7) “Go…and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.” (Matt.28:20)

It was this walk that assured us God has not forsaken us; instead, He chose us.

The Resurrection of Jesus teaches us that God will not forget us! The Resurrection is a victory over sin, death, and the devil, and a victory over the dark forces that enslave us, despise us, and wish to destroy us. Thus we cry, hundreds of times between Easter and Pentecost: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tomb bestowing life!”

Dr. Seamands tells of a Muslim who became a Christian in Africa. Some of his friends asked him, ‘Why have you become a Christian?’ He answered, ‘Well, its like this. Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two directions, and you didn’t know which way to go, and there at the fork in the road were two men, one dead and one alive – which one would you ask which way to go?”

B) HIS FINAL WALK AT OLIVET : THE ASCENSION, AND HIS PROMISED RETURN
“Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)

Easter refers not only to Christ rising from the dead, but also to His ascension to heaven and to our future rising with him at his Second Coming for final judgment. For it was there He promised to return and take you home.

But the walk isn’t over. The journey isn’t complete. There is one more walk that must be made. “I will come back,” he promised. He will come back for His followers.

The Resurrection is an “end-time event.” It shows us the outcome of history. The New Testament Gospels tell us why it is an end-time event. Jesus not only appeared to his disciples, which might have made him a vindicated martyr, he also disappeared. Jesus did not go outside of this world. He disappeared ahead of this world, into the final future of the world. He is not gone.

He comes to us and is with us as the one who has the power of the future. His return is certain. His return is final.

Note: The above message was preached with video-clip presentations from the film “JESUS”.