Remember the Reason
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Celebrate!
Celebrate!
We celebrated yesterday, it was my birthday.
Every year on April 8.
I have it on good authority it’s my birthday b/c I was there when I was born.
I don’t remember much of that, but my mom assured me that it all happened on that day.
Did you see last week Doris Day celebrated her birthday?
She thought, like everyone else she is 93. Someone found her birth announcement and discovered she’s 95.
How do you not know how old you are?
I guess after you’ve celebrated a few of these the big deal wanes a bit.
Sara is out of town.
She did good of preparations before she left. The kids did a good job of recognizing the occasion.
After 57 of these, the importance wanes, other priorities take over and the celebration gets put aside as the occasion lessens in importance. We kind of forget why it’s a big deal.
Today we’re celebrating Palm Sunday. We’ve been celebrating this occasion for almost 2000 years.
You come to church expecting maybe palm fronds, lilies, music about a King, maybe a donkey. But, more and more it’s becoming just another Sunday.
Is it still a big deal?
Did it really happen when they say it happened? Who was there to be sure? No one around here, today.
It is still a big deal. It happened just like it was predicted. While other priorities try to push this off of our radar screen and out of our minds we have to get back to the fundamentals and the reason why we celebrate Palm Sunday.
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem the week before Passover he accomplished several things. We’re going to look at 3 of them:
He Fulfilled Prophecy
He Fulfilled Prophecy
“Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”
Jesus has fulfilled over 1300 prophecies in the O.T.
This one has to do w/ when He arrived in Jerusalem
Daniel wrote this in 530 b.c.
1 “seven” = 7 years
3 periods of time are mentioned:
7 sevens = 49 years
62 sevens = 434 years
1 seven = 7 years
Totaling 70, 7-year periods.
7 sevens begin w/ the decree to rebuild Jerusalem
In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before,
After the Babylonian exile, Ezra and Zerubabbel had returned w/ the people and rebuilt the temple but the city w/ its walls was still in ruin.
Nehemiah went to the king of Persia, Artexerxes, in the month of Nisan during the 20th year of his reign and asked not only for permission to return to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, but also for the materials to do so.
It was more than just the wall to be rebuilt, but the city buildings, homes, and business, as well.
The Persians kept great records of their kings edicts and decisions.
Our calendar hadn’t been invented, yet. But once it had been, it was easy enough to work backward to determine what date, according to our calendar, Artexerxes gave the edict to rebuild Jerusalem. It was March 5, 444 b.c. That’s 86 years after Daniel wrote about it.
So, March 5, 444 b.c. marks the beginning of the time prophecied about, the first 7 sevens, 49 years.
It took 49 years for Israel to rebuild the city and return to their unfaithful, disobedient ways that got them exiled. (Nehemiah and Malachi).
The 2nd period, the 62 sevens begin immediately as the 7 sevens end.
After Malachi wrote, there were approx. 400 years of silence from God b/c Israel had repeatedly been so disobedient.
The period of 62- sevens ends when the Anointed One is put to death.
62 sevens = 434 years. 401 years of silence + the life span of Jesus.
March 5, 444 b.c. + 69 sevens (483 years of the Hebrew calendar) = March 30, 33 a.d.
March 30, 33 a.d. was the Sunday before Passover that year.
That is the day Jesus rode the colt into Jerusalem.
There is a break of an unspecified amount of time before the 70th week. The Tribulation, involving the Anti-Christ and the Abomination of Desolation (Mark 13:14)
If the 1st 69 weeks are this accurate, there will be a 70th week.
533 years before it happened, Daniel predicted The Anointed One, Jesus, would arrive in Jerusalem to be killed.
533 years is a long time to wait. You’d have to believe that at some point they wondered if it was really going to happen.
Others things were happening that had been predicted. But this was a big one.
God’s been known to wait before. He waited 430 years to bring Israel out of Egypt. He waited over 400 years between Malachi, the last prophet, and John the Baptist.
If they wondered if God was going to provide the Anointed One, even to be killed, how many of us wonder if Jesus really is going to return someday?
It happened. The past proves the future. There has been no more accurately predicted event than the death and resurrection of Jesus.
We can’t explain everything w/ facts. If we could we wouldn’t need faith.
But there are enough proven facts to buoy our faith so that we can be certain that it will happen the way the Bible says it will.
Stay faithful. This has been planned for a long time. It’s going to work out.
The 2nd thing he fulfilled by riding into Jerusalem that day:
He Fulfilled His Purpose
He Fulfilled His Purpose
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
There was no other reason for Him to leave heaven.
He willingly left the perfect place to come to earth.
Suffering in itself.
He was born, confined to a human body, He was humiliated, died a horrible death, just so we could be saved.
And, we need to be saved
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Death simply means separated from God.
Our sin separates us from God, and God is the source of life.
Apart from God, there is no life.
Sin requires death. Not only does it cause a rift w/ God, the only possible outcome of a sinner is death, separation from God.
A death is required by God in order to make things right w/ Him.
In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
This is why, in the OT, the tabernacle was set up. We had to understand that blood had to be shed in order to be forgiven.
The blood of animals does nothing, other than represent what God was going to do for us at some point in the future.
Faith had to accompany the temple sacrifice. Apart from faith that the gracious God was going to sacrifice His own Lamb for us, the priest’s sacrifices meant nothing.
Jesus had to die.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
When Jesus halted the donkey on the hillside before He rode it into Jerusalem, He wept.
He wept b/c He knew they were going to reject Him.
He was about to endure more pain than any human could possibly w/stand only to be completely rejected by so many people He loves.
The only reason He came to earth was to save people. And these lost people, sinners, that He is going to die for are about to turn their backs on Him.
Still, He followed through
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
He followed through with His crucifixion so that anyone who believes that it happened, receives His death in place of their own, accepts His gracious gift, and believes in Who He is; we are children of the living God.
That is, we are in the immediate presence of God.
And, if you’re in the presence of God, the life that He offers is so great that we are made alive, too.
So, long before any of us believed in Him, accepted Him, wanted what He offered, He died for us.
He endured excruciating pain so that people who turn their backs on Him don’t have to.
And yet, this wasn’t the worst for Him. This is why He came. He knew it and was ready for it.
Then, in the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed, “If there is any other way can we do it that way. But, not my will, by your will be done.”
What hurt the worst, that He endured for you and me?
About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
He suffered the most, not b/c we turn our backs on Him, but b/c His Father turned His back on Him.
God cannot even look at sin, or a sinful person. In that moment, Jesus took all sin on Himself and as a result, the only One who could comfort Him could not.
He did that for you and me.
Knowing what was coming, He willingly rode that donkey into Jerusalem to endure everything he had to endure.
This is the only reason He came to earth.
As He fulfilled His purpose, He gave us a new identity and with the ID came a new purpose for us
He Gave Us a New Identity
He Gave Us a New Identity
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
When a person believes in Jesus, accepts His death for our own, receives the gift of eternal life; that person is now a brand new creature.
Made brand new from the inside out.
Given a new lease on life. A new purpose for living.
It begins when the HS baptizes the new believer
For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.
Baptize means immersed to produce a complete change.
We are immersed by the HS and in the HS.
We look different.
Baptize was a common c1 word. When thread was made from wool it started out off-white, like the sheep.
It would baptized, immersed in dye, and would come out completely different.
Just like coloring Easter Eggs.
We immerse the white egg in red, yellow, or blue dye. And it comes out looking completely different.
When the HS baptizes us at the moment of faith, we look different to God on the inside. And, b/c we look different on the inside, we begin to act and look different on the outside.
The HS doesn’t just come and change us, He comes and lives in us.
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
John 14:
When Jesus sent the HS to be with us, it was forever.
He makes His home w/in us.
Not the case w/ OT believers. The HS would come for a purpose and then go. It may have been a long-term purpose, like rule as a king, or a short-term purpose, like serve someone specifically.
It’s different for us. The HS lives in us. We are indwelled by the HS.
And, when the HS comes in to live, he provides powerful abilities for us to use.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Yes, spiritual gifts. But, more than that.
He gives us the power to be able to love our spouses sacrificially. To raise our children. To serve in our churches.
He gives us the power to be faithful employees, friends, and members of this body.
The HS is a reminder-er, counselor, and teacher.
He gives us a sense of purpose.
We don’t live like we’re dead any more b/c we’re not.
We don’t live in dead marriages or families.
We don’t worship in dead churches.
We don’t play in dead communities.
B/C, wherever people are who are made alive by God, they bring that life to those around them.
We are able to be all that Jesus saved us to be just b/c He didn’t turn away that day.
He rode into Jerusalem on March 30, 33 a.d. and has made it possible for us to be alive today and forever.
Applications
Applications
Stay faithful
Stay faithful
Some of the thing God is doing are taking longer than we will live. We can stay faithful and finish strong.
Weaker people would give up.
Weaker people would give up.
But we have the strength that the HS provides us so we can stay strong and faithful for our entire lives.
It’s all true. We have enough facts that buoy our faith and can keep us strong as long as we live.
Stay faithful.
Do the right thing
Do the right thing
Do the right thing even if it’s the hard thing.
Just like Jesus at Gethsemane, fulfilling His purpose was hard.
Sometimes fulfilling our purpose is hard. But, we can do hard things just like Jesus did.
And, just like Jesus, others are counting on us to do what’s right.
New life
New life
Live the new life Jesus has provided you.
We have choices all the time in how we want to live.
Jesus brought life to us. We can pass that along and bring life to those around us when we live the new life Jesus gave us.
