Palm Sunday Sardis 3/29/26

The Triumphal Entry

There are two different realities happening in this story.

Jesus’s and everyone else’s.

To understand whats going on here, we need some historical context.

This overwhelming response to Jesus coming to Jerusalem wasn’t some random one off event. It had been building up anticipation for almost 2000 yrs.

This history of the Israelites is a history of covenant. Hence OT and NT.

A covenant is a relationship involving an oath-bound commitment. While it resembles a contract or treaty, God's covenants are fundamentally about relationship, love, and loyalty.

Covenants establish the stipulations, promise blessings, and provide divine assurance that God will realize His purposes by fully establishing His Kingdom.

The people in this scene are responding to the scriptures, particularly the Covenant of David that new King would be established in Israel, in the hope that the covenants would be realized as Jesus was coming into the city.

The funny part is that they are completely right, and completely wrong. Jesus was coming to fulfill all the previous covenants, but not in the way they were thinking.

They thought he would overthrow Rome and establish a new line of Kings for the nation of Israel. In reality He would overthrow our true enemy Death and he the King over the whole of creation forever.

So today, I want to actually dive into an important concept from the Psalm they are quoting in this story.

Psalm 118:25–29 LEB

O Yahweh, please save; (This is Hosanna) O Yahweh, please grant success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh. (He is God) We bless you from the house of Yahweh. (He is from God) Yahweh is God, and he has given us light. (He is the Light) Bind the festal sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. (He is the sacrifice) You are my God, and I will give thanks to you. You are my God; I will exalt you. Give thanks to Yahweh for he is good, for his loyal love is forever.

That last phrase, his loyal love is forever, is essential to understanding this Passion Week we are coming into, and essential to understand our lives as believers today.

Hesed - loyal love, covenantal love.

not lust, not passion, not emotionalism based off circumstance. bonded love.

God doesn’t love us because we are pretty, he has bonded himself to us in love.

The whole of the OT is to prove God is loyal in his love to fulfill his covenants with us, despite us.

From the moment we fell in the garden, God has been clear

There are consequences for our actions, this is just truth, not condemnation.

He would save us when we couldn’t save ourselves. The mechanism of this redemption would be through covenants.

Covenants are essentially promises.

Every promise is only as good as the character and capacity of the promiser. Character is only proven over time. God has proven over 2000+ yrs that He is trustworthy and capable of fulfilling His promises.

Ultimately, He fulfilled all his covenants, or promises in Jesus on the cross.

Matthew 5:17 ““Do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets. I have not come to destroy them but to fulfill them.”

And on the cross,

Colossians 2:14–15 “having destroyed the certificate of indebtedness in ordinances against us, which was hostile to us, and removed it out of the way by nailing it to the cross. When he had disarmed the rulers and the authorities, he made a display of them in public, triumphing over them by it.”

From a post-resurrection perspective, the New Covenant shifts from a promised future hope into a present, living reality. The resurrection is the ultimate vindication that Jesus's sacrifice was accepted and that the New Covenant has been officially ratified.

We now live in a new covenant.

We now live in new promises. Not to salvation, but from salvation.

The question for us today is do we actually trust God to fulfill his promises in my life now. This trust is what we refer to as faith.

The only way to trust him to fulfill his promises to you is to know them! Satan will always lie to you about the trustworthiness of God and the details of His promises to you. When we eat His word, His Testament, His Covenant, His Promises…. then we can know what is promised to us, and by faith bring those promises into manifestation in our present reality.

God has promised me full forgiveness. God has promised me that my sins are washed away, my debt is cancelled, and there is now no condemnation over my life in Christ.

God has promised me victory over sin. God has promised me that no temptation will overtake me without a way of escape. God has promised me that I am no longer a slave to sin, but free in Christ.

God has promised me peace with Him. God has promised me that I am reconciled, brought near by the blood of Jesus, no longer an enemy but His own.

God has promised me a new life. God has promised me that I am born again, made new, the old has passed away, and He has given me a new heart and a new spirit.God has promised me sonship.

God has promised me that I am His child, His heir, and a co-heir with Christ — that I belong in His house and can call Him “Abba, Father.”

God has promised me His Spirit. God has promised me that the Holy Spirit will live in me, lead me, teach me, pray for me, empower me, produce fruit in me, and seal me for the day of redemption. God has promised me that I am His temple and that I am never alone.

God has promised me access. God has promised me that I can come boldly before His throne, that He hears me, that He will answer when I call, and that He will give me wisdom when I ask.

God has promised me transformation. God has promised me that He Himself is working in me, sanctifying me, shaping me into the image of Jesus, and that He will finish the good work He started in me. God has promised me cleansing from dead works so I can serve the living God.

God has promised me His care. God has promised me that He will provide for my needs, that He will never leave me and never forsake me, and that I can live without fear because He is with me.

God has promised me His peace. God has promised me peace that guards my heart and mind, joy that no one can take, rest for my soul, and hope that does not disappoint.

God has promised me comfort and purpose in suffering. God has promised me that He will comfort me in every affliction, that my trials are producing eternal glory, and that nothing can separate me from His love in Christ Jesus.

God has promised me calling and purpose. God has promised me that I am His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works prepared in advance for me, and that my labor in Him is never in vain.

God has promised me security. God has promised me that I am in His hand and no one can snatch me out. God has promised me that He will keep me, sustain me, and present me holy, blameless, and without accusation.

God has promised me eternal life. God has promised me resurrection — that I will be raised up on the last day. God has promised me that I will see Jesus and be made like Him. God has promised me an eternal inheritance in His kingdom, a crown of glory that will not fade, and a future in His presence where He will wipe every tear from my eyes.

These are the promises of God to us in the New Covenant — and He is faithful to fulfill every one. Do we trust Him?

As a citizen of His Kingdom and a royal priest, you are sent out with His delegated authority. Under the New Covenant, you are empowered to overcome the enemy, heal the sick, and carry the Gospel of the Kingdom to all nations. Under the Old Covenant, the posture was "come and see" (the temple); under the New Covenant, it is "go and tell."