Palm Sunday
Notes
Transcript
INTRO
INTRO
Have you ever missed something that was obvious?
Food in the fridge (mom knows)
Caroline’s phone
Looking for my glasses while wearing them
We all know what if feels like to not be able to see something but then someone points shows us and all of the sudden it’s so obvious
TENSION
TENSION
But what about when looking at Jesus?
What if we are missing the obvious when it comes to who Jesus is and what He has accomplished through the cross and His resurrection?
and by doing so we are following a Jesus who meets our own desires of what we think a savior should be instead of the Jesus that is revealed to us in the Scriptures
And I know what you are thinking when you hear that…
“that couldn’t be me, fisher…”
I hear you
but I think the disciples and jews who’ve said that same thing 2000 years ago as Jesus is making His way into Jerusalem
yet, as we will see this morning..
they were missing the obvious
Blinded by their own desires and expectations they missed who Jesus really was and what had to happen to Him
My prayer for us this morning is that God would use this familiar passage for many to open each of our eyes as needed to see Jesus for who He really is
TRUTH
TRUTH
Luke 19:28-40
A familiar passage for many
The Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem
The Passover celebration is about to take place
Which means Jesus isn’t headed to the city alone as around 2.5 million Jews would be making their way into Jerusalem to celebrate this yearly festival as well
Waiting in Jerusalem are the religious leaders who are ready to arrest and kill Jesus
And Jesus, himself, approaches the Mount of Olives, a little less than a mile away form the city and sends 2 of the disciples ahead into the village to get a colt
But not just any colt but one that has never been ridden
and if anyone ask why you are taking just tell them “the Lord needs it”
So they head into the village
and they find the cold just as Jesus told them they would
they begin to untie it and the owners rightfully ask, “why are you untying our colt”
“the Lord needs it” they say and bring it to Jesus
At first glance this request of Jesus is so weird and seems totally random
but it’s not
Jesus know exactly what He is doing by riding this colt into Jerusalem
He is fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem!
Look, your King is coming to you;
he is righteous and victorious,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
By riding this colt into Jerusalem Jesus is confirming for His people that He is the promised king
the King they had been waiting for 1000s of years to finally come and redeem them
And this isn’t something new Jesus was saying about himself
it’s the very thing the wise men declared about him when they finally made it to Bethlehem when standing before king herod
saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”
Jesus is letting the crowd know… I am the promised king
the one the prophets prophecies about
the king born of a virgin
the king born in Bethlehem
the king who will coming riding in on a donkey
the king who is going to finally and ultimately redeem God’s people
And the people had read their bibles
they knew what was going on
As he was going along, they were spreading their clothes on the road. Now he came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:
Blessed is the King who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest heaven!
Their king had finally arrived
and man are the celebrating
They have lined the street
throwing the garments on their road before him
they are shouting joyfully
“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.”
and “hosanna”
Yet what they are expecting Jesus to do this week by entering Jerusalem as their king couldn’t be more opposite as to what is actually take place
See the Jews weren’t just expecting any king
they were expecting this great and mighty king was was going to come save them from their oppression by the Romans
Their expected king was coming to overthrown the Roman government
become establish Israel as a freed and redeemed nation with a king
finally put an end to their oppression
finally put an end to their exile
finally put an end to their misery
by raising up an army
leading them into battle
and defeating the great roman empire
But they are missing the obvious
Jesus isn’t riding on some might war horse or magnificent stallion bred just for a king
Jesus is riding in on a meek little donkey
a borrowed one that’s not even His
And He isn’t riding into Jerusalem to over throw Rome
He’s riding into Jerusalem to be killed by Rome
He isn’t riding into Jerusalem to raise up an army
He’s riding into Jerusalem to be betrayed by one of his own
He isn’t riding into Jerusalem to free His people from a physical exile
He’s riding into Jerusalem to free his people form a spiritual exile
Can you imagine for a second the weight upon Jesus’ shoulders
He knows what the road before Him has in store
He knows in a few days one of his own will betray him
He knows in a few days He will be put through an unjust trial
He knows in a few days He will be beaten to the point the crowd will be able to tell if he is a human or not
He knows in a few days He will be crowned “king of the Jews” with a crown of throws that are 2” long and will touch his skull
He knows in a few days He will hang on a cross, suffocating on his own blood for hours, until He gives up His spirit
He knows all of that all the while He will looking around at a crowd who is missing it
yet not only missing it but is going to be the same crowd who in 4 days from now when they realize He isn’t going to be King in the way they expected and desired
will go from being the crowd who is shouting “hosanna” to the crowd shouting “crucify Him”
As if that wasn’t enough
He hears some Pharisees in the crowd saying “teacher, rebuke your disciples”
In other words, “you’re the leader of these people, tell them to shut up”
“you are no king”
“you’re just a false prophet, a heretic who deserves to die”
And He answers them…
He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out.”
Yes, they may not see the whole picture
they may not realize what must take place
But they have something correct…
Jesus is king
and even if the crowd was silent as Jesus rode this colt into town, creation itself would declare this truth
But here’s the problem in this passage…
Everyone sees Jesus but no one sees Him clearly
The disciples want a King who fits their desires
The Pharisees reject Him because He doesn’t fit their system
And creation alone gets it right
Jesus is Lord
The problem isn’t that people don’t see Jesus…
it’s that they see Him wrongly
APPLICATION
APPLICATION
So maybe the better question this morning isn’t just…
‘Who is do you say Jesus is?’
The better question is…
What kind of King do you say Jesus is?
Because the crowd in Jerusalem wanted a King of power…
but Scripture shows us a very different kind of King
Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be exploited.
Instead he emptied himself
by assuming the form of a servant,
taking on the likeness of humanity.
And when he had come as a man,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death—
even to death on a cross.
For this reason God highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow—
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth—
and every tongue will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
This is the King they missed
Not a King who conquers by taking life
but a King who conquers by giving His life
Not a King who comes in strength to dominate
but a King who comes in humility to serve
Not a King who avoids suffering
but a King who walks straight into it
And yet it doesn’t end there…
Because this King doesn’t just die for His people
He calls His people to follow Him
And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it, and anyone who loses his life because of me will find it.
And this is where we have to be honest…
Because we don’t just reject Jesus outright
we often redefine Him
we create versions of Jesus that fit what we want from Him
Some of us want a
Fire Insurance Jesus
‘I’ll come to church… I’ll believe He’s real…
just in case hell is real.
But there’s no surrender… no following… no cross
Success Jesus
Jesus is King… as long as my life is working. As long as I’m winning… comfortable… advancing.’
But when that changes… so does our devotion
Political Jesus
a Jesus who exists to support our views…our side… our vision of how the world should work
A Jesus who we can point to and say, ‘See, He agrees with me.’”
But instead of submitting our lives to Him… we try to use Him to support what we already believe
Family Jesus
‘I’m a Christian because that’s what I grew up around.’
But you’ve never actually bowed your life to Him
Miracle Jesus
Jesus is King because I need Him to fix something right now
But what happens when He doesn’t?
Because that’s exactly what’s happening in this passage
They celebrate Him…
they shout ‘Hosanna’…
they call Him King…
as long as He’s the kind of King they want.
But in just a few days…when He doesn’t meet their expectations…
that same crowd will go from shouting ‘Hosanna’ to shouting ‘Crucify Him”
And if we’re not careful…we will do the exact same thing
Maybe not with our words…
but with our lives
When Jesus doesn’t meet our expectations…
we don’t crucify Him
we just stop following Him
GOSPEL
GOSPEL
And here’s what should stop us in our tracks…
Jesus knows all of this.
He knows they don’t fully see Him
He knows their expectations are wrong
He knows many of them will turn on Him in just a few days
And He still rides into Jerusalem
He doesn’t wait for them to figure it out.
He doesn’t say, ‘Once you understand me fully, then I’ll go to the cross.’
He doesn’t say, ‘Once your motives are pure, then I’ll give my life for you.’”
No!
He goes to the cross for people who don’t fully get Him…and for people who will reject Him
And that includes us too
Jesus didn’t wait for you to get it all together.
He didn’t wait for perfect understanding…
perfect motives…
or perfect faith…
He went to the cross knowing exactly where you would get it wrong
RESPONSE
RESPONSE
Believers
Believers
So for those of you who are believers this morning…
let me ask you honestly and not quickly:
what kind of King are you actually following?
Because it is possible…
to sing about Jesus…
to serve in the church…
to know the right answers…
and still be following a version of Him that is shaped more by your preferences than by His Word
Have you subtly reduced Him to a King who exists to make your life work?
A King who blesses your plans…
affirms your direction…
and stays comfortably within your control?
Or have you bowed to the King
who rides in on a donkey…
who walks to a cross…
and who calls you to do the same?”
Because the real Jesus will not fit into the life you’ve already built
He calls you to lay it down
Not because He is harsh… but because He is better
He is a better King than the one you’ve been trying to create
More faithful…
more glorious…
and more worthy…
than anything your desires could design
So maybe for some of you this morning…the call isn’t to start following Jesus
it’s to start following Him as He truly is
Asking the Lord to scrub your eyes of any spiritual blindness
any misunderstanding of Jesus
any personal expectations or desire that we’ve put on him
Unbeliever
Unbeliever
And for some of you in this room, if you’re honest you don’t just misunderstand Jesus
you’ve rejected Him
Maybe you’ve dismissed Christianity as irrational…
or outdated…
or not worth your life.
Maybe you’ve looked at Jesus and decided
“That’s not for me”
But here’s what you need to see this morning…
Jesus has not dismissed you
He rode into Jerusalem knowing
you would question Him…
doubt Him…
even reject Him…
and He still went to the cross
Not because you were seeking Him but while you were still resisting Him
And the cross stands as the clearest declaration
that your sin is real…
but so is His mercy
that your rejection is serious…
but His grace is greater
And this morning…you are not here by accident
The same God who opened blind eyes in this passage
can open your eyes right now to see Jesus as He truly is…
not just as a teacher…
not just as a figure in history…
but as the King
who gave His life so that you could be forgiven…
restored…
and made new.”
And the call is simple… but it will cost you everything:
turn from your sin…
lay down your life…
and trust in Him.
as your King and savior
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
So wherever you find yourself this morning
whether you’ve misunderstood Him or rejected Him
Don’t leave here looking inward…
Look to Him
The King who was not what they expected…but is infinitely better
The King who was not received as He deserved…but still gave Himself fully
The King who didn’t wait for you to see Him clearly… but went to the cross
so that one day…you finally could
My prayer for us church is that we go into this Easter week…
not just acknowledging that Jesus is King
but seeing the kind of King He is
and loving Him more because of it
