Entry, Yes! Triumph?

Teaching - Introduction

CON-FIDENCE I know we have been a bit in and out of our series, but I hope you all are aware of the fact that we are in a series on Thessalonians, we are calling Confidence. We called it Confidence because of the latin roots of the word Confidence - Con (With) Fidea (Faith). With Faith! We want you to live your Christian life with faith.  

With Faith that Jesus is who He says He is. With Faith that His Word is faithful and true. With Faith that He will bring to completion every good work He has begun.  

But it can be hard at times to believe that faith is all it takes, especially in the face of life’s most difficult circumstances, in the face of death whether literal of metaphoric.“It is by faith that we are saved and this is not of ourselves so that anyone would boast (Eph 2:8).”  

One of the key themes of the book of 1 Thessalonians is The return of Jesus - His Second Coming. (And we are going to be spending a fair amount of time on that topic in the coming weeks. I hope you will join us for that.) But the Thessalonians are Part of the reason for that is that believers there were dying, metaphorically and literally. And they were under the impression that if they believed in Jesus they would potentially escape that.concerned they may have missed it! 

It is understandable that because he had such a limited time in teaching them before persecution had moved him on from there. So their confusion about death and Christ’s return is valid given their situation and ignorance. We heard that Paul was praying he could come back and and to them in person, and help them to . But for now, Paul has to write. And Paul’s letter to them seem to be urging them to be ready for Christ’s return. As a matter of fact, every chapter of 1 Thessalonians ends with some reference of the second coming Christ’s Look at the end of chapter 1,Paul would need to write to themlast weekbe with themimpart the Wordin community establish a life worthy of the Gospel(reference to - Gary Hamrick - 1 Thess 4). 

“9 For they ( the Macedonians and Achaian believers) report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

“19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.”

“12…may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

“17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

“9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

Paul is very concerned about the Thessalonians being ready for Christ’s return. Well, for His coming? How would we be best prepared for Him to return and to know exactly what is happening? There is much more Thessalonians is going to teach us, but Palm Sunday actually has a bit to teach us as well.how would we be ready 

I find this message and call for being ready very rising tension and war in the middle east, economic hardship and downturn, the rise spread of Islam makes me think…likely many of you, I need to be ready to meet Jesus or welcome Him back. Are you ready for that? If Christ came back today? Would we recognize His return? Would we be ready?…timely, because

I would like to look at the coming of Jesus to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, because I think it will help us understand some of what His second coming will be like. And seeing some of the mistakes those people made when He came, can help us be sure we don’t make similar mistakes today. So let’s look back and ask some questions. 

Look Back to Palm Sunday - Power, Prophesy, Predecessor, 

To do that I want to look at Mark’s record of that day. Turn to Mark 11, we heard a portion of this already this morning, but look at verse 1, “As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives…

Jake was asking me on Thursday morning, is there any significance to where He came in? Yes. Jesus is making His way into the city for Passover, the songs are ringing out, the masses are flooding in, and He is passing through Bethany and Bethphage. Now that is a significant because that area would have been ripe with buzz about Jesus. Just a week earlier in the town of Bethany, Jesus had performed His greatest miracle to date - He raised Lazarus, His good friend from the dead.

“Well yes Adam, but He also raised a little girl from the dead, as well as the widows son during the funeral procession.” THAT’S TRUE! However, neither of those people had been in the grave for 4 days and their bodies beginning to decompose. Lazarus was so dead that his body was decaying and it stunk! 

Listen, Jesus is on His Way to Jerusalem and the people are going there to celebrate the Passover - the day when death passed over Egypt. Death is the most powerful force on earth. No body wins against death. So, lets say some of them know about this, perhaps saw it! Just a week earlier. And now you see Jesus on the way into Jerusalem and you are singing… Psalm 118:25-26 says, That’s what we read in Mark. Look at what Luke 19:38 says, the people are saying, “Hosanna! —> Oh Lord Save us,     O Lord, we pray, give us success! —> Give us Victory! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!

So this song that can be applied to anyone that is coming to God’s city in His name, meaning it could be applied to them - they are blessed to come to His temple because of His saving, is now being applied to Jesus. They are seeing Him as a King! Why? Well, it is not just because of what He did in Bethany for Lazarus, it is because He is coming to Jerusalem in a different way than everyone else.this song that can be applied to anyone that is comingThey are seeing Him as a King!  

Riding a Donkey

He is riding a steed! Now hang with me for a second here. I know that is a little off, but we will come back to that. It is not wrong of me to think of Jesus mode of transportation as significant to what is happening here. Let me tell you why. 

Whenever I think about this, I think about sleeping beauty. Prince Phillip on his enormous White horse is going to rescue his bride, but he has to slay the dragon and deal with Maleficent. There is so much overlap between those stories, but I tell you that because this story comes to mind for me because of my childhood. There are at least four stories that would have come to mind for the people who are welcoming Jesus when He rides in to Jerusalem on the donkey. 

JEHU - Turn back in your bible to 2 King chapter 9. During this period of Israel’s history, two of the most evil people who ever lived were ruling - Ahab and Jezebel. At that point in time, claiming you were a believer in YHWH could get you killed because the whole nation had turned away to other gods. So a prophet named Elisha grabbed one of his friends - who was also a prophet - and gave him a covert assignment. He was to go to a man named Jehu, who was a captain in the Israeli Army and secretly anoint him king and then GET OUTTA DODGE! So he does this and as soon as Jehu comes out of this meeting with the prophet, his friends are like, “So what’s up? What was that about…”? Look at verse 11, “11 When Jehu went out to his fellow officers, one of them asked him, “Is everything all right? Why did this maniac come to you?” “You know the man and the sort of things he says,” Jehu replied. 12 “That’s not true!” they said. “Tell us.” Jehu said, “Here is what he told me: ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.’” 13 They quickly took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, “Jehu is king!”

took their cloaks and spread them under him. Do you remember what Mark told us the disciples and the people did with their cloaks? They put them under Jesus. This was a sign of their submission. They are recognizing who he is. Your cloak or coat was a sign of your identity. It was … - think of - think of to David - think of the king of Nineveh responding to Jonah by removing his robe or cloak. These people are placing who they are beneath Jehu, who is the anointed King, here to deal with the evil in Israel. It is a statement, “All I am is at your service. I lay down myself to you.”Jehu is anointed king and everyone representative of who you areJoseph and his coatJonathan giving his royal robe 

Second Judas Maccabees - About 200 years prior to Jesus coming to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, there was another man who had dealt with the evil of his day. Before Rome took occupation of Israel, there was another kingdom that ruled called the Seleucid Empire. There was a priest, an anointed man of God, during that time named Judas Maccabeus. For any Catholics in the room, the books of 1st and 2nd Maccabees covers this story. The word Maccabees in Hebrew means hammer. Look at what happened with The Hammer after a particular victory. This is from 1 Maccabees 13:51,(brother of Judas) “51 On the twenty-third day of the second month, in the year 171, there was a great celebration in the city because this terrible threat to the security of Israel had come to an end. Simon and his men entered the fort singing hymns of praise and thanksgiving, while carrying palm branches and playing harps, cymbals, and lyres.”

Guess when that parade from that victory took place? Passover. Guess what songs they were singing? The same ones they are singing for Jesus. And they were waiving palm branches.There was actually a coin that was in there pocket, still in circulation that marked that victory.  

Third, it was Passover. It the remembrance of of the angel of death passing over Egypt to free them from their enslavement. When the angel passed over that area, the only houses that were safe were those marked by the blood of the lamb that was sacrificed according to the instructions that were given to them. 

Zechariah - So these three stories, Jehu, Judas Maccabees, and Passover are all fresh on their minds. All of them tell about God dealing with evil. And they come into the city to the songs of deliverance. These stories had to be on their minds. And here comes Jesus, not riding a horse or a riding in a chariot, but riding a donkey. Expectations had to be at a fever pitch - He is coming to deal with evil. He is coming to deliver and save. The Lord is coming to judge! Lay down your identity to Him. Remove your cloak. Help creation sing His praise and lay down it’s identity to Him. He passed over Lazarus and brought him back! (Zechariah 9:9-10) “9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!     Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you,     righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey,     on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim     and the warhorses from Jerusalem,     and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations.     His rule [Kingship] will extend from sea to sea     and from the River to the ends of the earth.

HERE WE GO! Zion, the city of God, has it’s anointed King come to it. He’s come to His temple. He is here to proclaim peace to the nations. This is Jehu, this is the hammer, this is someone with power over death. Zechariah’s prophesy come to pass… Mark 11:9-11, “ 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” 10 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” 11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.”

Balloon

Braveheart dressed for nothing

John 6 - King by Force and Mark 10- Sons of Thunder

The Let Down

What are we doin here Lord?!?! We thought this was it! We thought it was time. We thought this was fulfillment. We see you are a king! We see God raises up men to deal with evil. We are hear to celebrate our deliverance from Egypt because the angel of death is God’s angel. And we see that this man has the power to raise the dead! “BUT…since it was already late…”

What about Rome? What about the kingdom? Were we wrong about You? Yes, kind of. Jesus has more in mind than Romans and political power. Jesus has a kingdom that is not of this world, though it is in this world. Jesus is here to break chains and deliver, but not the way you think. He has been trying to tell us that He wants to conquer our real foe, Satan Sin and Death. Rome is a symptom, they are not the root problem. They are not seeing the bigger picture. WE OFTEN do Not see the bigger picture. AND SO SO OFTEN, this is when Jesus seemingly lets us down. The Gospel of Luke tells us that before Jesus turned around and left for Bethany, He said (24:42), “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.”

The people there had so much correct. Jesus is the anointed King. Jesus did come to deal with evil. Jesus is the King worthy of us laying down our identity. Jesus should be welcomed like a victor. Jesus is the one who creation recognizes! But His coming is not understood because He has to first forgive sin before He simply vanquishes all sin. If Jesus simply does away with all sin, no one will live. 

The people then and now do not understand the Lord’s timing or ways. His coming is like the past but not exactly the past. His coming gives us hints, but not the whole. His coming is sure but the details are…missed. That’s why so many are often let down by Jesus. 

Conclusion

Their scope is too small. And because of that, they are fickle. They are thinking about this temporary life, not the eternal life to come. If Jesus has power over death, go die and stop being so scared. "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose" - Jim Elliot. 

But maybe like the people in our story, you don’t really see or comprehend the fullness of what was going on. You see a couple things you like - power, a good king who can deal with evil and you are anxious for Him to wield that power in ways you think would be good. But when He doesn’t, you feel let down. And so you are as fickle and ignorant as the crowd. With Jesus today, denying Him tomorrow. 

Can’t you, all these years later see, that in this time, He has asked you to follow Him to the cross? Not Just His, but yours? 

If Jesus has His eyes on bigger things, trust His vision is better than your. If He is going to “proclaim peace to the nations,” and there is an offer of peace on the table because He is not yet on His war horse, but on a donkey, PLEASE realize the terms for peace are still here. Take advantage of them and then wait on Him, even if your waiting has to be in death. For those in the faith, His passing by is not something that will be missed.