The Gospel Project: The Celebrated Prophet
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 11 viewsNotes
Transcript
Intro Option 2: Fickle Fans
Ask: How can you tell when someone is a huge fan of something or someone?
Ask: Have you ever seen fans turn on their teams when they lose?
Ask: Describe a time when you were “all in,” but later your excitement faded.
Crowds of pilgrims at passover
Excited to see Jesus
Welcomed Him like royalty
But days later opinion changed bc failed expectations
But doesn’t change who He is
Main Point: Jesus is the Messiah, the true King who is worthy of praise
3 things about Jesus
Jesus is the Messiah who fulfills prophecy
1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 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. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 “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.’ ”
Clarity in hindsight
Many struggled accepting Jesus bc expectations
Strong earthly ruler
Conquer Roman government
Not on a white horse against Rome
Instead humbly on a donkey
“But an unarmed, plainly clad civilian riding a donkey contrasts sharply with an armed soldier astride a war horse. This Messiah comes in humility, gentleness, and peace. The crowds recognize the messianic implications but seem not to grasp the full significance of the Donkey”
Brought peace
Fulfilled prophecy
9 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.
Big Question: Why is it important that Jesus fulfills prophecy?
All of Scripture is one big story, and the entire Old Testament pointed to our need for a Savior. God made it plain throughout the Old Testament that He would send a Messiah-a Promised One to deliver His people. There are hundreds of prophecies concerning Jesus’s birth, and death and resurrection. If those prophecies weren’t fulfilled or met in Jesus, then the Bible itself would not be trustworthy. We serve a God who always had a plan. God fulfills His promises to us, and the greatest evidence of this is His sending His Son for our salvation. We can trust all of God’s Word to be true because He has been faithful.
Ask: What happens when we have unrealistic expectations?
All have been disappointed
Hoped people would do something… let down when didn’t
Unrealistic expectation > confusion & misunderstanding
Expectation: Conquering King
Reality: Salvation
“Of course, Jesus did triumph in Jerusalem, through the strange way of the cross, but any likeness to the world’s pattern of ‘triumph’ is avoided.
Ask: What did the Jews expect the Messiah to be like? How did this possibly hinder them from seeing Jesus as the true Messiah?
Leader within government
Wanted freedom from Rome
Wrongly interpreted the prophets
Not wordly freedom; spiritual freedom
Expectations made it hard to see Him as Messiah
Transition Statement: Jesus wasn’t just a Messiah who fulfills prophecy.
Main Point: Jesus is the Messiah, the true King who is worthy of praise
3 things about Jesus
Jesus is the Messiah who fulfills prophecy
Jesus is the King who deserves adoration
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
Travelers went wild
Grown popularity
Kind of like a parade
Gladly welcomed
But many later called for his death
Ask: How do your emotions in worship sometimes keep you from seeing Jesus?
This day = ready to celebrate
Royal treatment
Laying down clothes and palm branches.
“The strewing of garments and branches further demonstrates how the crowds have the wrong messianic concept. There will be no victory party when they arrive in Jerusalem.”
Some maybe understood, but others didn’t
Got caught up in the “parade”
Us; camps retreats, etc.
God created emotions, but must first accurately see Jesus
Ask: How can you praise and adore Jesus daily, even away from the crowds?
Jesus’s love deserves our praise
Corporate worship is great
But not meant to just worship when others are around
Are meant to worship alone, too
Pray, sing, meditate on Scripture
When alone
In car
Walking to class
Transition Statement: Jesus isn’t just the Messiah who brings prophecy and the King who deserves adoration.
Main Point: Jesus is the Messiah, the true King who is worthy of praise
3 things about Jesus
Jesus is the Messiah who fulfills prophecy
Jesus is the King who deserves adoration
Jesus is the Son of David who brings salvation
Matthew 21:9–11 (ESV)
9 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!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
“Hosanna” = “God save us.”
“A praise for God’s salvation
Promised royal son of David
Through line of David, Messiah offers salvation and peace
Many thought salvation was wordly
Came to defeat enemy greater than Rome
Satan
Our own sin
The claim of death
Ultimate peace
Ask: When have you desired triumph or victory more than peace?
Nice to gain victory, especially when losing for a while
But many didn’t see death as victory (looked like defeat)
But apparent defeat was actually biggest triumph ever
Essential Doctrine: Christ’s Exaltation
The death of Christ was the ultimate example of His humiliation, but the resurrection of Christ from the dead is the first and glorious example of Christ’s exaltation. Christ was exalted (lifted up) when God raised Him from the dead, and Christ was exalted when He ascended to the Father’s right hand. He will be exalted by all creation when He returns to gather God’s people. All of these aspects work together to magnify the glory and worth of Christ, resulting in the praise from sinners rescued by grace.
Ask: The people called Jesus a prophet. How would you explain who Jesus is?
More than prophet & good teacher: Son of God
God in the flesh
Came to offer Himself for restoration
Christ Connection:
When Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, He fulfilled Old Testament prophecies about the coming Messiah and proclaimed He was the one who fulfilled them. The people praised Jesus, but they praised Him for the wrong reasons, thinking He had come to free them from Rome. Jesus did not come to free people from the tyranny of a wordly power but from the power of sin and death.
Head: How does knowing Jesus fulfills prophecy increase your trust in God?
Keeps His promises
Jesus = the evidence of a Savior
We can trust God
With us
Strengthen us
Guide us
Comfort us
God’s plan for salvation = His greatest act of faithfulness to us
Trusting him in every area bc every area is in His control
Heart: Like the crowd, how do we sometimes verbally acknowledge Jesus without understanding the meaning of our words?
Church words
But don’t realize the weight
Singing that Jesus is Lord = lives not reflecting that
Way we live matches words = Pleases Father + powerful testimony
Hands: In what ways can you show people around you that Jesus is the true king and Messiah?
Believe this = affect every of lives
Way we act
Talk
Spend our time
Who spend time with
Kings command respect and praise
Jesus, the ultimate King, deserves adoration and devotion
Bow down = living our his commands & seeking to be like Him.
Final Takeaway: Spend time treating Jesus like your King this week.