What Shall I Do With Jesus?

Mt. 27:17-26

Introduction

1. Going through Little Rock on I-40 is a trick! You must watch the signs very carefully. You cannot choose one lane and stay with it. To stay on I-40 you must first choose one lane and then choose another. If you stay in the same lane, you will soon find yourself going in a direction that will never get you where you want to go.

2. There are times in life, when men come to a fork in the road and must choose the direction they will go.

3. Which choice they make will determine their destiny. They may arrive at the place they intended to go or they may wind up a great distance away.

4. People go to heaven by choice not by accident. It is a prepared place for a prepared people.

5. The question more important than any other: “What will you do with Jesus?”

I. What Some Did with Jesus:

1. Priests and elders (27:18,20) Cf. John 11:46-53

2. Pilate’s wife (27:19)

3. People cried out for his blood (27:22,23,25

4. Pilate (27:24,26) He did what was politically expedient but failed to do what was right.

5. Pilate’s guard (27:27-31) Ignorant, they had fun at Jesus’ expense.

6. Peter denied him (26:69-75) fell weak to pressure.

7. Judas Iscariot betrayed him (26:47-50; 27:3-5)

8. Disciples scattered (26:31 fulfilled prophecy of Zech. 13:7)

All of these people considered Jesus dead and lost—defeated

The scene of Christ dying a painful, shameful death on the cross looked like a defeat—a bright, young leader cut down in his prime. France was led by Napoleon in a war against England led by Wellington. In 1815 the decisive battle at Waterloo was fought. A messenger reported the result of the battle by giving flag signals across the English Channel to London. The message read, “Wellington defeated.” The fog closed in, and the people could not see the rest of the message. They assumed England had lost. London felt the sting of defeat. But when the fog lifted, they learned the completed message: “Wellington defeated the enemy.”

Many people thought Jesus lost at the tomb, but He was no loser! Since Jesus arose from the dead, He was the victor! He overcame Pilate, the chief priests, the Roman guards, and the people to win for you and me a hope for heaven! What happened that weekend is the most important thing that ever happened!

Now what are you going to do with that information?

II. What Shall I Do with Jesus?

1. You might choose to crucify Jesus, but I do not believe anyone here today would choose violence. I cannot imagine anyone spitting on the Lord, hitting him, scourging or crucifying Him!

2. You might choose another to serve. In reality people choose things or other people over Jesus all the time.

· Some put their money before Jesus

· Some put their jobs before Jesus

· Some put their families before Jesus

· Some put a teacher or a preacher they know before Jesus

· Some listen to popular thinking and culture before Jesus

· Some do what they themselves want before Jesus

3. You might choose indifference toward Him. The opposite of love is not hate but indifference.

· You could wash your hands of Him. Some do this by failing to attend, failing to give, failing to speak a word for Him, failing to avoid temptation. They wish to be popular.

· You could act without heart. Some come to church in body but not in spirit. Some worship with their mouths but not their hearts.

· You could always let someone else. Some are unwilling to do much themselves; they are content to let others do the job.

· You might rely on past accomplishments and coast.

4. You can deny Him or run away. Some people today are ashamed of the name of Jesus and don’t want anyone to know they are Christians.

5. You can embrace Christ

· you must trust Him completely (Mk. 16:14) And afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen.

· you must love Him fully (Mt. 22:37) And He said to him, "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'

· you must submit entirely to Him (Mt. 7:21-23) "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

· you must live wholly for Him (Mt. 16: 24-25) Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.

Conclusion:

1. On top of a hill in a Midwestern state stands a courthouse so situated that raindrops falling on one side of the roof travel by way of the Great Lakes into the Atlantic, while drops landing on the opposite side find their way through the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the Gulf of Mexico. Just a breath of wind one way or the other may determine whether a single drop of rain will end up either in the Gulf or in the Atlantic. Even so, a single decision today is enough to determine a person’s destiny, either to heaven or to hell.

2. Today we are making decisions by the lives we lead and the things we do – decisions that will affect ourselves, our children, our church and our nation.

3. God help us to make the right decisions about our spiritual lives.