Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday

“This is Victory???”

Readings before sermon

Isaiah 53:2-12 – O.T. prophesy about Jesus

Tells us:

· How Jesus came

· Why He came

· The people’s reaction

· And the results of Him coming

Isaiah 53:2-5

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,

and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,

a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces

he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

4 Surely he took up our pain

and bore our suffering,

yet we considered him punished by God,

stricken by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

and by his wounds we are healed.

Song

Isaiah 53:6-10

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to our own way;

and the Lordhas laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,

yet he did not open his mouth;

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter

For he was cut off from the land of the living;

for the transgression of my people he was punished.

10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,

and though the Lordmakes his life an offering for sin,

he will see his offspring and prolong his days,

and the will of the Lordwill prosper in his hand.

Song

Isaiah 53:7-10

11 After he has suffered,

he will see the light of life and be satisfied;

by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,

and he will bear their iniquities.

12 He poured out his life unto death,

and was numbered with the transgressors.

For he bore the sin of many,

and made intercession for the transgressors.

Introduction

Palm Sundaycelebrates Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem as King and Savior during the Jewish Passover

Passover = Celebrates when Moses came to the Israelite’s as God delivered them from being slaves to Egypt

· Many Jews came yearly

· The Passover is a picture of the true deliverance from the slavery of sin and death when Jesus came to the cross

Human triumphal entry VS Christ’s triumphal entry

· Pomp and circumstance - Show picture of sports team and roman procession

· Full of pride – because of victory by their own strength

· Christ’s triumphal entry - Do you see a difference

· Here Jesus was coming to the cross, not for fanfare

· Jesus came in humility

· Ironically, it was the greatest victory ever

Main Text

John 12:12-19

12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”

14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;

see, your king is coming,

seated on a donkey’s colt.”

16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

Body of Sermon

· The people knew the prophecy of a coming Messiah, a coming King

· Why all the people were rejoicing and praising Jesus

· But they had the wrong view of Jesus as King

o They thought He was the conquering King to deliver them from slavery to Rome

· Jesus came to Jerusalem with a different mindset

o He was a conquering King but not what they expected. He came to conquer sin and death

Listen to what Jesus said about His Kingship:

John 18:33-37

Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

· In 1 weeks’ time, they went from rejoicing and shouting praise to shouting for Jesus to be crucified

Why do we celebrate Palm Sunday? Why is this important to us?

· Jesus was obedient to the Father by coming to the cross

Philippians 2:6-8

Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

· Because of this, He was victorious over sin and death

· That means that we who have come into a saving faith in Jesus are also victorious over sin and death

· We have received redemption and salvation

Application

Pick up your cross

Luke 9:22-25

22 Jesus said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

· Jesus equated picking up our cross with crucifixion – shows how drastic it is

· What does pick up our cross look like?

o To become a disciple of Jesus through faith in Jesus

o We make Jesus the King of our life

o We deny ourselves as Jesus did

o We lose our life to save it as Jesus did – Means put to death the old person and put on the new self in Christ

o We let go the importance and priority of earthly things

o We embrace God’s will rather than our will

o We humbly follow Jesus in obedience

o We are no longer self-dependent and self-reliant but depend and rely on God alone

As we celebrate Palm Sunday today and Easter next week, answer these questions for yourself

· Like the Jews back then, We are confronted with Jesus, we must answer the question, “Who is He?”, “Do I believe in Him or not?” and “Do I truly believe the Good news of the Gospel – that Jesus died for my sin and I am now forgiven and have received eternal salvation?”

o No answer is an answer

· Jesus longs for everyone to come to Him in faith – Have you?

Matthew 23:37

37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.

Will Jesus say this about you?

37 “Jeff, Jeff, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.

· If you haven’t come to faith – Why not?

· Will you come to Jesus humbly– Realizing your sin and the need of a Savior?

· Have you prepared a path for Jesus in your life?

· Will you go to the foot of the cross as Jesus did – to come to faith that leads to redemption and salvation?