Right Battle Wrong Field

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord

I find it Ironic that the Jewish people wanted to be liberated from Roman oppression and Jesus came into liberate them from the Pharisee’s oppression. Follow me on this—take notes because God is going to give a one of the biggest gems and in sight into not only why Jesus came to free us, but whom he came to free us from.

Matthew 21:6–11 ESV

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 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!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Palm Sunday is an glorious day as Jesus rode into Jerusalem in victory and ready for battle. This time of year preachers will preach on the God who rode to his death. One who gave the ultimate sacrifice and this is true. In fact to refruit it would be to claim the bible is false, but this morning I want to take a look at the battle field because the Jews expected a savior to come in on a white horse. They expected a Savior to free them come Moses’ stance of Let me people go and pluges or they wanted a Savior like David who was war ready and always geared for battle. Whose weapons, although unconventional, slayed giants. The Jewish people wanted Christ to walk them into glory and He did, but everyone missed it because the battlefield wasn’t against the Roman oppression. The battle field was against the Jewish oppression.

Listen: Some here want Jesus to wage war in our life, but we are looking for the victory on the wrong field. We want Jesus to free us from the Persicution of the world when Jesus came to free you from the persecution of the church.

Can we follow the term Blessed be the name of Lord for a moment. I believe this morning God is going to open the eyes of blind. I believe God is going to not only equip you to win, but to win on the right field. Are you ready?

I first want to direct your attention to the origination of this prophesy. So if you will turn with me to

Psalm 118:26 ESV

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.

Alone this verse doesn’t mean much, but remember last week we discussed victory in context? So lets widen our lens a bit

Psalm 118:1–26 ESV

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly, the right hand of the Lord exalts, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!” I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.

The Psalmist is prophesying this very moment in Matthew. this verse drips with the blood of Jesus.

When the people cry this in MAtthew 21 they are truly stating that their savior has come. They believed in that moment that he was going to take down the Roman empire. They believed he was the coming Messiah. They were ready to wage war and Jesus came to Jerusalem to fight.

But I love the secession of Matthew because just as the Jewish people beg for war and praise God for the mighty victory Jesus jumps off his donkey, crafts himself a whip (kind of reminds you of David right, he crafts himself a weapon of things laying around—David picks up a few stones from a near by crick) and immediately Jesus begins flipping tables and waging war against the religous elite.

The Greatest Christian battle wasn’t fought by Us against the world. It was faught against the wolves in sheeps clothing. It was fought within the confines of the church walls. God’s greatest freedom that day wasn’t the liberation of Jews from the Romans, but rather the religous liberation from those with in the church who sought to make salvation hard to receive. Jesus didn’t clear the way out of Rome he was clearing the way into heaven.

Jesus didn’t fight the battle the Jews wanted; he fought the battle the Jews desperately needed. Jesus saw people taking advantage of the law, making the weight of the law hevier than it was meant to be. Jesus came to liberate the spiritually oppressed. Jesus came to free those who thought they could never measure up; that they woudl be going to hell because they couldn’t afford to pay to have their sins cleansed, or wash their hands at the perscribed time.

After Jesus flips tables we find him cursing a fig tree. Jesus, hungry, looking for nourishment went to claim food from the tree that hadn’t produced any fruit and he cursed it dead. Do you see the war? Do you see the progression:

Jesus went into the temple and fought those fruitless Jews who stood in the way of salvation and then he went to a fruitless tree and killed it.

How will you tell who is a Christian and who is not? Who then is cursed? Those who aren’t showing the fruits of their salvaiton. Jesus waged was agains the christians who state ones skirt is too short, music is too loud, your past is too much for Jesus to rescue you from. Jesus was condeming the fruitless who stood in the way of those waiting to be grafted into the vine and to produce real fruit for the cause of Christ.

We see the fruitless condeming Jesus, putting up another hurdle. In we see the fruitless Christians waging war again and Jesus again enters his battle.

You see this fight in the animal kingdom all the time. Those who think they can rule take on the leader of the pack trying to claim authority. One lion against a few. The leader against those he is leading. The battle ensues, the dust settles and the leader claims his authority once again. The Jews ask: By what authoirty are you here: and Jesus answers: by whose authority did John the baptiser baptise in?

This is like the old western stand off you have one man with one gun another man with another gun. They walk 5 paces turn and shoot—but in this fight Jesus throws down his gun walks away and says you forgot your bullets. in other words if you can’t answer my question I won’t answer yours.

In the bible we page through a few parables and then we find the the phrase.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Jesus stands of again. not against the Roman officials, but rather the religous elite. Some call this the hen house. Those who gossip people out of the church. Some call this the dress code—you don’t look right enough to come into God’s house. Some call this the you aren’t good enough, rich enought, pretty enough—sound like I’m talking to teens, but I have seen these cliques form in adult church.

Jesus wages war and gives them the seven woes, but in the Spirit of Salvation Jesus says if you wish to change sides just cry out:

Matthew 23:39 ESV

For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”

Listen Christ came on Palm Sunday ready for War, but it was a war to fight the stumbling blocks in the church. Christ drew the battles not between the Romans and the Jews, but between the Religous and relationship. As Christians dare I say our greatest battle isn’t against liberals, it isn’t against planned parent hood, it isn’t again gun laws. I believe much of the serves to distract us from the true battle. The Jews were so focused on the outward oppression. Jesus said that we would be condemned. We would be aliens in this world. Jesus said we would be outcast in this world. But Jesus fought to make sure we weren’t outcasts within the body of Christ. He came to fight against the rules that hindered the way to salvation so we could proclaim a gospel free from hinderances and rules. A gospel that shouts come as you are: Although once you come the potter will begin making you a new creation—not the christian; not the Religious Pharisee. In those days those who continued to follow Jesus wanted to be liberated from the rules that dragged them down. They needed to be liberated not from Rome, but from the suppression of the law—that only shows us that we will never measure up. Jesus came to fight and it’s our job as Christians to continue that fight. Yes the way is narrow, but Chirst came to clear the brush and the fallen tress off the path so we wouldn’t fall. We continue that. Palm Sunday is a Sunday of triumphant battle cries that remind us we don’t battle against the world—our battle is not flesh and blood. Our battle is to bring souls into heaven not to make sure they measure up.

You have a calling. You are free to walk in that power and authority. Not to be ashamed of your past, but to announce your past is covered by the blood and your future is to bring as many people into the arms as Christ as you can. The enemy has been defeated. Death has been overcome. Your sins are forgiven and your pain is no more. We must stand up, united in Christ. Dclairing Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.