The Beginning of the End

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 7

Psalm 7 ESV

A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite. O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver. O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause, let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment. Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high. The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous— you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts. Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends. I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.

Scripture Reading: (Forrest): Zechariah 9:9-10

Zechariah 9:9–10 ESV

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

Sermon:

Good Morning Church!

I was glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord!

Well today, for those of you who do not pay attention to church calendars and things like that, in the scope of the Christian world this is the Sunday we call Palm Sunday. But why palm Sunday? Many of us might know, but to make sure we are all on the same page it is because today mars the day in the calendar of feasts and things like that as the Sunday before passover, but today marks the day where Jesus enters into Jerusalem on a donkey.

And while we don’t have a great idea of when Christmas actually was, Palm Sunday and Good Friday and Easter we are much more sure about. But it is PALM Sunday because as Jesus was riding his colt into Jerusalem the people were waving palm branches, and throwing their cloaks before him shouting blessed be the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!

and What I think is just beautiful is that we have been in this series for now 64 sermons. We have been in this series for over a year and a half. WE took a month off when I was in Tennessee, we took 2 months off for two different Advent series, we have had a couple of guest preachers. And yet, God has perfect timing. If I were to sit down even before we started this series and try and nail down when we would preach each thing there is NO WAY that I would be able to land on preaching the text of the triumphal entry text ON palm Sunday. I mean you all know we just plow on ahead. So when i did plan the series out I was just happy that we would be in this text in the general ballpark of Palm Sunday. We don’t really stop this train for much of anything and yet God, in his perfect wisdom and goodness, as we just methodically work our way through this series saw fit to have us here in his perfect timing. So while I would love to brag, i did not originally intend this but it turns out our going through Matthew calendar and the Church calendar match up in a perfect way!

So today we will be looking at the Triumphal entry specifically through the eyes, and really the lens of Matthew. In an event this big, with an event this important it shouldn’t surprise us that all four gospel writers include it. and so I would like to look a this from a particularity MATTHEW point of view. remembering who he is writing to and WHY he is writing to them. Understating what he is trying to do and what his main themes are.

So with that being said let us read our passage for today. Matthew 21:1-11

Matthew 21:1–11 (ESV)

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives,

I want to pause here and give us real quick context to remember WHY this is so important here. Matthew has been building an building. Matthew has ben predicting and really Jesus has been predicting his suffering his death and even his resurrection. We are going to Jerusalem, this is going to happen. and So Matthew is being very clear here. This all happens AS THEY DRAW NEAR TO JERUSALEM. We ARE Here. they come to bethpage and the scene unfolds.

So continuing:

Matthew 21:1–11 ESV

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ” The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

these are the words of the Lord for us this morning! Let us open with a word of prayer.

Almighty God, sovereign lord of heaven and earth., the one who rules, the one who reigns. we thank you and praise you for today, another day that you have made. We join in this morning, with these crowds and truly with we proclaim the whole host of heaven as we sin Hosanna in the highest! All praise to our savior, your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord! Sent at the fullness of time for us. We thank you for this gift, thank you for our king! We pray that you would open our eyes today. Help us to see clearly what you have done, what you have said and what you would have for us and from us today. We pray that you would speak to our hearts. It is in Jesus name we pray. AMEN

Even as we read this it is difficult because we know the end of this whole stroy. we know the end of the Story, we have read it and heard it we know it. Jesus is going to Be crucified. The same crowd here singing his praises will be shouting “Give us Barabbas!” and then “CRUCIFY HIM”. But we can and should note that even now Jesus too knows the end of the Storyt, for three times so far in Matthew he has predicted what will happen. Matthew 16:21

Matthew 16:21 ESV

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

and Matthew 17:22-23

Matthew 17:22–23 ESV

As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.

And finally Matthew 20:17-19

Matthew 20:17–19 ESV

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

Jesus knows what is coing. and yet, he boldly kept on marching.