Triumphal Entry

20180325 Into the Household Psalm 148:1-4 (Opening) 1  Praise the Lord!Praise the Lord from the heavens;  praise him in the heights! 2  Praise him, all his angels;  praise him, all his hosts! 3  Praise him, sun and moon,  praise him, all you shining stars! 4  Praise him, you highest heavens,  and you waters above the heavens!  Introduction Last week, we talked about the Feast of Passover, which is followed by the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread. During those seven days, Jews are not allowed to use or have any leavening in their house; no yeast. On the day before the Passover, the woman of the house would go through the house and remove all the yeast. Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are a commemoration of the final plague God inflicted on Egypt, the death of the first-born, and the first seven days of the journey leaving Egypt. God told Israel that they were to eat the Passover meal ready for travel. They left Egypt in the middle of the night, after all the first born of Egypt had been killed by the destroyer, and they left so quickly they didn’t have time to put leavening in their bread, they just took the dough in the kneading troughs wrapped up in their cloaks. Passover was sort of a combination of Memorial Day and Independence Day for the Jews. They were to remember how God saved them from slavery in Egypt and gave them their independence. Earlier Passovers The Jews were required to go to the Temple every year for the Passover sacrifice and the Feast of Unleavened Bread that followed. Of course, Jesus, being God’s Son, obeyed God’s Law, so He went would be in Jerusalem for every Passover and every other Feast that would require being at the Temple. In fact, the first time in the Gospels we see Jesus at the Temple for Passover is in Luke chapter 2. Luke 2:41-42 41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. This is the time Jesus stayed behind in the Temple to sit with the teachers there, asking and answering questions, while His parents began the journey home to Galilee, leaving Him there for three days. When they found Him, His response to them was simple. Luke 2:49 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Or “about My Father’s business”, depending on your translation. About 18 years later, He did get to His Father’s business. If you follow through John’s gospel, we see three times where Passover is mentioned. The first time is early on in His ministry. After His baptism, His temptation in the desert, and calling His disciples, they all were at a wedding in Cana, where He performed His first recorded public miracle, changing water into wine. Then He traveled to Capernaum, and from there, to Jerusalem for the Passover. John 2:13 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. This is when John records Jesus cleansing the Temple of the greedy moneychangers. The other three gospels include this event during His last Passover, but it’s possible He did it more than one time. He didn’t hide himself during His time in Jerusalem, in fact He attracted a lot of attention while He was there. John 2:23 23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. Jesus attracted many followers during His first trip to Jerusalem in His ministry. Some of them stayed with Him to the end, some of them had problems with His teachings and left saying “This is a hard teaching!” He spent most of the rest of that year back in Galilee, teaching. Jesus’ second Passover is pointed to in John chapter 6. John 6:1-4 1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. That is, it was almost Passover. This was when He feeds the 5000. After that He headed south to Jerusalem for the Passover. After this He avoided Jerusalem and Judea because of the religious leaders were trying to find a way to have Him killed. Preparing for the Passover All four of the Gospel accounts include His last Passover, but we’ll be looking mostly at the account in Luke. Starting around chapter 14 in Luke we see Jesus still in Galilee, teaching in parables. After that He begins traveling south toward Jerusalem, following the traditional path the Jews would take, avoiding Samaria, traveling down the east side of the Jordan river, crossing just north of the Dead Sea. In the beginning of chapter 19, we see Jesus in Jericho, where He meets with Zacchaeus. During dinner He taught them through more parables. Luke 19:28 28 And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. And it was truly up to Jerusalem. Like we learned when we studied the parable of the Good Samaritan, the road to Jerusalem from Jericho was about 18 miles long and went up almost 3300 feet to reach the city. He then travels up the road from Jericho toward Jerusalem, which brings Him to Bethany, less than two miles from the Eastern or “Golden” Gate of Jerusalem, east of the Temple. While He was in Bethany, He stayed with Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. This is when Mary anointed Jesus with the pound of perfumed nard, while Martha was serving food for the dinner. This dinner was probably after the sun went down on the evening of the Sabbath, Sunday by Jewish reckoning. That following morning, Jesus headed to Jerusalem from Bethany. It wasn’t a long trip. Luke 19:29-31 29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” Like I said, it wasn’t a long trip, so Jesus didn’t want to ride the colt because He was tired. He had another purpose in mind. He was fulfilling prophecy. Specifically, He was fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9. Zechariah 9:9 9  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. All four of the gospels tell of Jesus riding on a colt or a donkey, but only Mark points out the fulfilled prophecy, although John alludes to the disciples understanding why Jesus road in on a colt, but they didn’t understand it until after His resurrection. Whether they understood why He was doing it or not, the two disciples He sent to find the colt obeyed Him. Luke 19:32-34 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” All they knew was that Jesus needed it. That’s all they needed to know, really. It’s the same for us. If Jesus really is our Lord and Master, if we know He said to do something, we should obey, and not question Him. To paraphrase something from when I was in the military, when he tells you to jump, you don’t ask why, you ask how high. Knowledge and understanding will come later. Luke 19:35-36 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. The other three gospels include palm branches or leafy branches being spread on the road in front of Jesus as He road the colt into the city. Spreading their cloaks on the ground before Him was a way of showing submission to Him as their King. We see something similar in Second Kings, when Jehu becomes king of the northern kingdom of Israel. After he had defeating Jehoram, the previous king, in battle, he drove his chariot into the city of Jezreel and ordered Jehoram’s grandmother Jezebel be thrown out a high window. Elisha, the prophet, sent his servant to anoint Yehu as king of Israel. 2 Kings 9:11-13 11 When Jehu came out to the servants of his master, they said to him, “Is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you?” And he said to them, “You know the fellow and his talk.” 12 And they said, “That is not true; tell us now.” And he said, “Thus and so he spoke to me, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, I anoint you king over Israel.’” 13 Then in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, “Jehu is king.” Part of the celebration that Jehu had defeated the king and finally removed the influence of Jezebel on the northern kingdom, was to blow trumpets to announce him, and put their cloaks on the ground before him. There were no trumpets in Jerusalem when Jesus entered the city, but there were songs of praise. Matthew tells us there were crowds of people surrounding Jesus as He came into the city, shouting as loud as they could. Matthew 21:9 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” The word Hosanna is transliterated from the Greek into English, but it’s also transliterated into Greek from the Hebrew or Aramaic they were speaking. The word can be used as a noun or a verb. As a verb it means “save us”, and as a noun it means “savior”. The crowd seems to be quoting from Psalm 118, verses 25 and 26. Psalm 118:25-26 25  Save us, we pray, O Lord!  O Lord, we pray, give us success! 26  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  We bless you from the house of the Lord. Of course, the difference between the two is that in Matthew they are saying Son of David, but the Psalm says Yahweh. But they were excited that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, and they seem to have been accepting Him as their King. Of course we know that won’t last very long. Five days in Jerusalem and they’ll decide that He’s no better than a common thief and a murderer, and will ask to have Him executed. Luke’s version of what happened is just a little bit different. Luke identifies the crowd as His disciples. Possibly some of those same disciples who started following Him when he first came to Jerusalem for Passover two years earlier. Luke 19:37-38 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” The main difference of course is who is shouting. Luke has Jesus’ disciples shouting, but Matthew identifies them only as “the crowd that was following Him.” It could be the same group. Luke also only tells us only part of the section of Psalm 118 we looked at, although they may have been saying the same thing as the people in Matthew. Why is it important that they were chanting these things? Well, like I said earlier, there’s the obvious implication that they are accepting Jesus as their King here. This is a dangerous thing to be shouting. Rome knew the Jewish calendar, and had put more soldiers in Jerusalem to be able to keep the peace during the Passover. They knew there would be hundreds of thousands more people in Jerusalem for the next few weeks, possibly staying all the way until the Pentecost, seven weeks after Passover. All of them could have been rounded up and arrested for sedition. Maybe that’s why the Pharisees wanted them to be quiet. Luke 19:39-40 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” Jesus knew that one way or another, there was going to be a pronouncement of His arrival. If the crowds or His disciples didn’t do it, the shouting would have come from the very stones that were by the road, and the stones that made up the walls of the city. Application What can we learn from what Luke is telling us here? We shouldn’t hide the gospel. Jesus said that you don’t hide a light under a basket, you put it on the table, so everyone can see. We need to shine the light of the gospel of Jesus where everyone can see it. When Paul wrote to the congregations in Rome, puts it this way: Romans 1:16-17 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Living by faith is a way of letting our light shine and not being ashamed of the gospel, the good news about Jesus and what He did for us. We need to be telling people about Jesus. We need to be living our faith out in the open, showing our faith and trust in Jesus as our Savior. We need to be shouting in the streets that He is the King. What does it mean that Jesus is our Savior? What is He saving us from? When Paul and Silas were in Philippi, they were arrested for casting a demon out of a slave girl who was helping her owners earn a lot of money by fortune telling. Paul and Silas were in a cell, in chains, and were singing hymns around midnight when there was an earthquake that opened all the doors and broke all the prisoners free. That would have been devastating for the jailer, because he was responsible with his life to keep them in prison. When the jailer saw that all the cells were open, he was going to kill himself, but Paul stopped him. Acts 16:30-33 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. The jailer must have heard the singing during the night and was confused by what he heard. These men were in prison, had been beaten, and were singing and praising their God. That didn’t make sense. Once Paul and Silas explained the gospel to him, he understood and was immersed. The jailer became a Christian because of Paul and Silas shining their light while in jail; one of the darkest places you can be. You need to make Jesus the Lord of your life, and you need to show people that through your actions. Do people know you’re a Christian? Can they tell by your actions? If you were taken to court and accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? This week I want to challenge you to let your light shine, announce that Jesus is Lord of your life, that He has saved you from your sins and gives you Victory. That’s what the crowds around Jesus were shouting and singing about.  Romans 8:18-21 (Closing) 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Bible Study 1 Kings 1:33-34 33 And the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon. 34 And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet there anoint him king over Israel. Then blow the trumpet and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ Mark 11:1-10 1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’ ” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “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!” 11 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. Luke 19:29-40 29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” John 12:12-15 12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 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!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15  “Fear not, daughter of Zion;  behold, your king is coming,  sitting on a donkey’s colt!” 1 Peter 1:3-12 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. 11 events in all four gospels 1. Baptism of John: (Mt. 3:1-17; Mk. 1:1-11; Lk. 3:1-22; Jn. 1:15-34) 2. Feeding of 5000: (Mt. 14:13-21; Mk. 6:30-44; Lk. 9:10-17; Jn. 6:1-15) 3. Peter's Profession: (Mt. 16:13-19; Mk. 8:27-29; Lk. 9:18-20; Jn. 6:66-71) 4. Anointing by Mary: (Mt. 26:6-13; Mk. 14:3-9; Lk. 7:36-50; Jn. 12:1-11) 5. Triumphal Entry: (Mt. 21:1-11; Mk. 11:1-10; Lk. 19:29-44; Jn. 12:12-19) 6. Last Supper: (Mt. 26:17-30; Mk. 14:12-26; Lk. 22:7-23; Jn. 13:1-35) 7. Gethsemane: (Mt. 26:36-56; Mk. 14:32-52 Lk. 22:40-53; Jn. 18:1) 8. The Trials: (Mt. 26:57-27:31; Mk. 14:43-15:20; Lk. 22:47-23:37; Jn. 18:2-19:3) 9. The Crucifixion: (Mt. 27:32-56; Mk. 15:21-41; Lk. 23:26-56; Jn. 19:1-37) 10. His Burial: (Mt. 27:57-28:15; Mk. 15:42-47; Lk. 23:50-56; Jn. 19:38-42) 11. The Resurrection: (Mt. 28:1-10; Mk. 16:1-11; Lk. 24:1-12; Jn. 20:1-18) 16