Palm Sunday: The Final Countdown

Good morning everyone, it is so good to be here this morning with you all. Welcome kids to go to their class and find me after service to tell me what they learned. Welcome those online as part of our extended spiritual family.

Tom Barnard writes, “The crowd was clueless. They never got it right. They shouted praises. He wept. They looked for a warrior-king riding a white stallion. They got a carpenter riding a donkey. They wanted hype. They got a healer. They wanted a prophet. They got One who fulfilled prophecy. They wanted a scepter. They got a Savior. They got nothing they asked for but everything they needed. Only they never got it. They were clueless. Jesus was the only One there who really knew what was happening on that first Palm Sunday.

“It’s so easy to become like those people in Jerusalem. We think we know what’s going on, but we really don’t have a clue. We have a bad week, and we blame God. Our kids act out, and we blame the school. We work two jobs and wonder why things aren’t better at home. Jesus comes to our town, and He wants to help; but we don’t recognize Him for who He is. We think He will be impressed with our boats and our businesses and our stuff. He is not. He wants our hearts. That’s what Palm Sunday is all about.”

This morning we are taking a brief pause on our series in Isaac in order to talk about Easter, what that means and what leads up to that event. This morning I want to encourage you and I pray you will learn a little more about about the countdown leading up to Easter morning. Now, the concept of this sermon came from another pastor, but it so moved me that I felt it was important to share this story in this way this morning. So, as we look into Scripture together, I want to have you go ahead and turn over to John 12, but we are going to kind of be all over Scripture today, so I’ll put some of our passages on the screen this week in order to help us all out. Today we are going to answer the question…

What is Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of what is called Passion weekPassion Week or Holy Week as some would call it is the time from Palm Sunday to Easter or Resurrection Sunday. This is called passion week because of the emotional and physical suffering that Jesus went through on our behalf. It is called passion week because of the passion that Jesus had in order to complete his mission on Earth and demonstrate his immeasurable love for each and every one of us here this morning. Now, I think it’s pretty important to note that the suffering and love Jesus displays for each of us is not something that we just reflect on one week out of the year…No, this is something that we should remember and reflect on throughout our lives. Then the truth of what was accomplished 2000 years ago should be reflected to others by how we live our lives on a daily basis. Because of what took place during this week… We are no longer walking around with a guilty verdict on our heads… doomed for the eternal judgement of God… and our lives should reflect that weight of guilt… being lifted off us.

Let me give you some context for Palm Sunday this morning. Jesus had left a meal with Lazarus, Mary, and Martha where Mary had anointed Jesus with an expensive perfume, the day before. This kind of angered Judas as he saw it as a waste of money. Then Jesus was now walking with his disciples toward Jerusalem. They came to a place called the Mount of Olives which is outside of Jerusalem. At this point Jesus told two of his disciples to go into a certain village and find a donkey with it’s colt, and he told them to bring back the colt to him. They brought the colt to Jesus and they put their cloaks on the colt and they helped Jesus sit on the colt. What happens next is pretty amazing and incredibly special as it points to Jesus as the great king. Let’s take a look at what happens here in

John 12:12–19 (ESV)

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

Just so we are all clear…all of these things being done in this story, are actions and words that are reserved for a king. Palm Sunday is the day that Jesus enters Jerusalem as King. You see, up until this moment…Jesus had not announced himself as a king at all. Jesus was mostly in the backgrounds and attempting to avoid any accolades. Oh he definitely had followers, and people knew who he was, but he was not attempting to grow an army the way a king would normally be known for doing prior to going public. Jesus has used imagery and stories and he has used signs to show who he was…but on this day, on this day, Jesus allowed his disciples to place their robes on the colt for him to sit on, something that is only done for a king. On this day he allowed the crowds to address him as a king would be addressed. On this day he did not deny the accolades, instead he embraced them.

What was it about that first Palm Sunday that He decided… this is the day, I begin to reveal who I am in a more public way. This is the day I begin to show My reason for coming. What was so significant about this day? This day started a countdown to the event all of creation had been waiting for… the moment the curse of sin would be defeated. However, I think in order to do this day justice, and the final countdown justice, we need to take a short journey through Scripture to understand why this moment is needed. So, let’s go

Back to the Beginning

You see, beginning in Genesis we have the creation of man and God says that everything is good. However, it doesn’t stay that way for long does it. Pretty soon Adam and Eve did the one and only thing that God told them not to do. Look at

Genesis 3:6 (ESV)

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Now everything looks hopeless. Man has sinned and caused a separation between him and God his creator. Man has now been placed under the curse of sin and God’s judgement has been declared. Yet in the midst of hopelessness, God gives hope.

Genesis 3:15 (ESV)

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

In this moment God has spoken judgement onto the serpent who has tempted Eve leading to Adam and Eve’s sin. Palm Sunday started the final countdown to that very day that God spoke of.

That’s just the beginning though because next we take a look at Abraham when God called him and made a promise to him. We talked about this last year, but look at this passage to remind you.

Genesis 12:2–3 (ESV)

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

This is a HUGE promise. In this promise we see that every culture, every color, every tribe, and every language on every continent on Earth for all time will be blessed through the linage of Abraham. That blessing that was promised around 4500 years ago was the living Son of God, Jesus Christ. Palm Sunday started the countdown to this blessing.

Let’s keep going and take a look at Abraham’s promised son Isaac. We have been talking about Isaac, but last year we talked about this story. You see, up in a mountain called Mount Moriah, God spoke to Abraham and commanded him to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. Later, after traveling with Isaac they set up the sacrifice and Abraham is a wreck, but Abraham somehow has the faith that God is just and that God will provide in some way. Well, as the knife is lifted up and about to be lowered, the Angel of the Lord stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac and when Abraham looked up he saw the ram that God had directed. This ram was a substitute for Isaac that day. This ram symbolized the day when a sacrifice would be made for all nations on the Earth. This is the way that God’s promise to be a blessing to all people of the Earth would be accomplished. This ram was a symbol for the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Palm Sunday started the final countdown to that very day.

Fast forward and we will see Abraham’s descendants, now called the nation of Israel has been enslaved in the land of Egypt. There is no hope of escaping this unfair and unjust bondage. Until one night…there was a night that God commanded that each family will slay a lamb and sprinkle its blood on the doorpost of their homes. By doing this, their families would be able to be saved from the judgement of God that will be poured out on Egypt. The blood of the lamb that will be sacrificed for each family points to the blood of the Lamb that will be sacrificed for all mankind. This is the blood that will wash away the sins of man and save all who would trust from the wrath of God. That Lamb is Jesus Christ. Palm Sunday started the final countdown to that very day.

Now, in order to make sense of all of these things that we have seen here, we kind of need to have a basic understanding of

The Sacrificial System

You see, this is a system that God put in place in order to be picture of the ultimate sacrifice that would come to end all sacrifices. This is a system that was centered around the blood of animals. We read why in Leviticus.

Leviticus 17:11 (ESV)

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.

The thing is that, in God’s eyes, blood is life. So, when the animal was sacrificed, and the blood was poured on the alter, it was the life of the animal that was being substituted for the life of the sinner. This blood sacrifice declared life to everyone it was shed for. This was a picture of the ultimate blood that would be shed one day. Palm Sunday started the final countdown to that very day.

That’s not all though. We read in

Hebrews 9:22 (ESV)

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

They would sprinkle blood on the utensils used in the tabernacle…They would sprinkle blood on the tent itself…The would sprinkle blood on themselves. Moses even took a branch of hyssop and dipped it in blood and then sprinkled it on the people. Now, listen, I get it…to us today, that seems a bit extreme. However, listen to what author Nancy Guthrie says.

“Lesson number one on God’s holiness and the people’s sinfulness was delivered in the form of instructions for offering sacrifices at the tabernacle. Now, today when we say that something was “a real sacrifice,” rarely do we mean that blood was shed. For us, sacrifice means giving something up or taking something on that costs us a little money or comfort or convenience. Sacrifice in the Bible, however, is the bloody reality of a bellowing animal being butchered on an altar. Imagine the sensory overload of this experience—the violent resistance of the animal, the spurting of blood, the feel of pulling the animal apart, the smell of its burning flesh and bones. Imagine the emotional and spiritual impact of offering this sacrifice, knowing that it was your sin that made this death necessary. And imagine the frustration in knowing that you’ll be back tomorrow or next week because you will sin again.”

To us today this feels like a barbaric custom to not only sacrifice an animal, but to do it in this manner and then sprinkle the blood all over. However, there is a reason this was all done. You see, everything this blood touched was considered holy unto the Lord. In other words. The blood of the sacrifice not only gave life, but when it was sprinkled on you, it made you a living vessel that now belonged to God…You became sanctified, set apart for his purposes. Not only that, but before the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, which is where the Presence of God lived, the blood of a bull had to be shed and sprinkled onto the Mercy Seat. So, quiet literally, the only way into the presence of God was by the shedding of blood.

Now all of that…was only a temporary substitute that had to be done over and over again. We don’t do that anymore. The reason is that the day Jesus was sacrificed, his blood gave eternal life. His blood marked us as the eternal property of God. His blood gave us eternal access into the presence of God. His blood did what an animal’s blood could not do. His blood forever washed your sins away, never to be remembered again..His blood changed everything the day it poured down the alter of an old wooden cross. Palm Sunday started the final countdown to that very day.

What about the Prophets

Let’s take a look at a couple of prophets this morning to see what is said there. To start off we will be in

Isaiah 53:1–12 (ESV)

Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Palm Sunday started the final countdown for the day the Suffering Servant would take our place on the cross

Palm Sunday started the final countdown for the day the Rejected One would pay the price for our acceptance

Palm Sunday started the final countdown for the day the sinless Son of God would carry our sin to the cross

Palm Sunday started the final countdown to the day when the innocent Lamb of God would suffer as a guilty criminal so our guilt could be removed

Now that was all written about 700 years prior to Christ. This next prophet was written about 500 years before Christ. Look at

Zechariah 9:9 (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.

Palm Sunday is significant because God ordained it to be the day that Jesus would be proclaimed the victorious King. But did you catch what the prophet pointed out? He said, I see a righteous King riding into Jerusalem, but He is not riding in as a victorious king would. He is not riding in on a beautiful stallion He’s not riding in with all the pomp and circumstance of Earthly kings. He’s not riding in showing off his power…no, he is riding in on the colt of a donkey. He is riding in humble and meek…but why? He came riding in this way because he came to conquer sin…not man. Jesus came as a servant to offer his blood for our salvation.

Jesus came as the Prince of Peace offering true peace to all who would simply trust him. This peace is not a peace that the world understands, but a peace that will not only keep you in this life, but will carry you to the life everlasting. Jesus came to destroy the work of sin and to give the only life that will outlast the difficulties that you face every single day. Palm Sunday started the final countdown to that very day.

More than that countdown though…Palm Sunday speaks of Jesus Christ as the one who conquered sin, death, hell, and the grave, a battle that you and I have no hope of winning without him.

Which leads us to another countdown taking place right now…One that is directly related to the one we’ve looked at today. It leads us to the countdown when you and I will stand before the Humble King of all kings who rode into town on a donkey and gave him life for all mankind’s redemption. When that moment comes…Jesus will not resemble the meek and mild servant…No…Jesus will be the Judge of all judges. The one who will judge the nations of the Earth, and every single individual person. What is his judgement going to be based on? One simple question…Did you receive Me as the only One who can save you from an eternity separated from God…

Lets pray: pray that God will convict us to keep us holy and that we will seek to please him with our lives and marriages

Communion:

Now, we are going to move into a place of communion where I want to encourage you to remember the countdown that Palm Sunday started. I’m going to read a passage in John and then Im going to ask everyone to stand and walk around the back of the sanctuary where you will take your elements of communion. Then you will head up to the cross and briefly stop to worship at the cross in prayer and surrender. Then you will continue back to your chair. After everyone is sitting then the band will come up and lead us in a closing song.

Luke 22:19–20 ESV

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

This is a moment that Jesus had with his disciples and he tells us to continue doing this as a reminder of who he is and of the sacrifice he made. This morning do this in remembrance of the one who spilled his blood for you.

Let’s pray: pray that God will give us his peace and his joy in the midst of life’s circumstance as we seek to rely on him.