Palm Sunday 2019

Introduction:

A lot can happen in a week!

Even in this past week it was Margie’s, Beth’s, & Ted’s Birthdays!

This morning as many of you know today is Palm Sunday- The historical day, from the Gospels, where a whole city threw a parade for the promised Messiah, Jesus. As Jesus rode into the city, the people threw Palm branches in anticipation of his coming- thus we get the title: “Palm Sunday”. - It’s also known as the “Triumphant Entry Of Christ”. This day marked a time of celebration where Jesus was the worshipped and praised.

This day is insanely interesting and bittersweet for us because even as we read of the celebration we know that Friday is coming- the death of our LORD. The cross is coming—it is the start to the “Holy Week”.

Holy Week? or wholly weak?

We know that many in this same parade will within a few short days change tone and their words of praise will become cursings to death. The crowd—in a very short time goes from shouting Hosanna, Hosanna to shouting Crucify Him, Crucify Him. It seems impossible for us today to go from two extremes of praising this God to wanting Him dead— but I assure you, it is possible, and even more likely than you may first assume.

Transition:

This morning I want to focus our attention on two services both which focused upon Jesus, but with two different results.

Scripture Reading:

If you have your bibles this morning turn with me to two passages one from the Gospel of Matthew and the other from the gospel of Luke. Turn first to Luke chapter 19 beginning in verse 30.

Luke 19:30–40 ESV

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.”

Luke 19:30-

It is believed that Jesus actually entered Jerusalem on 3 different occasions the week before he was crucified… on Saturday, Sunday, and again on Monday. This passage is the second visit from just the day before, this is “Palm Sunday”.

Luke 19

Luke 19:30–44 ESV

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.” 41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Luke 19:28 ESV

28 And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

Matthew 27:15–23 ESV

15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16 And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17 So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. 19 Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” 20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” 23 And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

Luke 19:30-

It is believed that Jesus actually entered Jerusalem on 3 different occasions the week before he was crucified… on Saturday, Sunday, and again on Monday. This passage is the second visit from just the day before, this is “Palm Sunday”.

Matthew 27:15 ESV

15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted.

Keep you place there and then turn to Matthew chapter 27 beginning in verse 15 which records an event later in the same week, “The Holy Week”—an event which is the antithesis to the beginning of the week:

Matthew 27:15–26 ESV

15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16 And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17 So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. 19 Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” 20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” 23 And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” 24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” 25 And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

Matthew 27:15

Luke 19:36–40 ESV

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.”

What happened in between?!? What happened in the hearts and minds of those in the parade in Jerusalem, the Holy city? How can they be so wholly weak?

Luke 19:36 ESV

36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.

The late evangelist, Billy Graham, has been quoted a few times saying, “The greatest mission field in our country to today is in our local church- the people sitting already in our churches.”

Now, I am not sure whether this statement is completely true, but one thing that I do know is that many people know what to say, How to say it, even how to act in it, but when the rubber truly meets that road, there is no personal relationship with Jesus Christ. No salvation- just empty words and possibly even a parade charade motivated by a “mob mentality.”

We see a perfect example of this in our two passages this morning. On Sunday, Jesus rode into the city with the people shouting praises and praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.

On Friday they are shouting give us Barabas, We want him, Crucify Jesus Crucify Him. So why the vast change?

Well there are many possible reasons, but one big reason is that their words did not match their heart. They possessed a casual, convenient faith, rather than a committed faith. They had a religion, but they had missed the person Jesus…

So how can we have a committed faith… How can we be real and sincere? Consistent in all that we do… Well this morning I want to offer you some keys to just such a faith.

Transition:

The first Key is that a committed faith is not self-centered it is Christ-Centered

This sounds obvious, but we often miss it! Especially in America, we tend to say to God, “ Hey God, here is my calendar, here is my agenda! I give it to You, not to change it, but to see where I can squeeze you in-- here or here? What do you think?” We are good at pulling God out or turning to God only when it is convenient or useful. We have to get something from Him. It is about how He might benefit us.

In our first passage, The people praised Jesus as He passed by, but many of them praised him for two reasons. First, because of his miracles. He had healed the sick, raised the dead…They praised Him because he was serving them.

Then second, because they saw in Jesus a way to be politically delivered from the Romans- To be set free from Rome as Israel was set free from Egypt. Their praise was tempered with the attitude of “Jesus, what can you do for me today?”

A few days later at this trial they saw a beaten and disfigured Jesus- A man who no longer looked like a deliverer or a conqueror. Jesus wasn’t the kind of King they were hoping for. They wanted a King to rid them of Roman rule. This Man, Jesus, could not possibly meet their needs. And as words were said about him, they bought into all the lies and quickly changed their position. For them it was all about Me, Me, Me.

There is a legend about an ancient village in Spain. The villagers learned that the king would pay a visit! In a thousand years, a king had never come to that village. Excitement grew! "We must throw a big celebration," The villagers all agreed. But, it was a poor village, and there weren’t many resources. Someone came up with a classic idea. Since many of the villagers made their own wines, the idea was for everyone in the village bring a large cup of their choice wine to the town square, “We’ll pour it into a large vat and offer it to the king for his pleasure! When the king draws wine to drink, it will be the very best he’s ever tasted!”

The day before the king’s arrival, hundreds of people lined up to make their offering to the honored guest. They climbed a small stairway, and poured their gift through a small opening at the top. Finally, the vat was full! The King arrived, was escorted to the square, given a silver cup and was told to draw some wine, which represented the best the villagers had.

He placed the cup under the spigot, turned the handle, and then drank the wine, but it was nothing more than water. You see every villager reasoned, "I’ll withhold my best wine and substitute water, what with so many cups of wine in the vat, the king will never know the difference!" The problem was, everyone thought the same thing, and the king was greatly dishonored.

In a similar fashion, we too hold back selfishly on our best relying on others to pick up the spiritual slack. Today, Palm Sunday of 2019 choose to honor our great King, Jesus Christ by giving him your very best. Withholding nothing… Giving him our all. That is what the cloaks/coats were about in our passage:

Luke 19:35–36 ESV

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.

In Old Testament times, to show their respect to a King, people would put their clothes down for the King to walk on them. The people did this when Jehu was anointed the new King of Israel.

2 Kings 9:12–13 ESV

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.”

Transition:

The second key is that a committed faith is relationship driven.

Many of those who gathered to throw their coats and palm branches onto the street and who shouted praises did so because it was the popular thing to do at the time. They were united in hating the Romans, and they were united in wanting a change. At that one brief moment it became trendy. Perhaps some began doing it with sincere motives, but others soon did it because others were doing it. Later at the trial, shouting crucify Him was the thing to do… In fact for a brief moment it was the trendy thing to do to reverse their accusations of Jesus on another man, to make a criminal, a convicted murderer their hero when they shouted, “we want Barabbas.”

Matthew 27:21 ESV

21 The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.”

Interestingly, a bit of historians believe his name was Jesus Barabbas.

Would we do that? Have we done that?

This happened primarily because this crowd did not have a relationship with either Jesus, the Christ or Jesus Barabbas. They knew neither so they didn’t know which was better.

In our own lives a committed faith comes only through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. One where every day is fresh and new as he personally directs our steps.

In order to have a committed faith we must develop an maintain a personal relationship with Jesus.

The greatest good of the gospel is not forgiveness, justification, or eternal life — as good as these are. The highest, fullest, deepest, sweetest good of the gospel is God himself, enjoyed by his redeemed people. The gospel is the good news that God bought for us the everlasting enjoyment of God.

Transition:

A third Key is that committed faith is not swayed or blocked by our personal trials and crises.

At the parade it was trendy to offer praise…

Luke 19:37 ESV

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,

According to the other Gospel records, many others joined the celebration of praise.

Everyone was doing it But then at the trial, to speak out for Jesus was too risky…Possibly even life threatening.

Bruce Barton et al., Life Application New Testament Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 2001), 336.Everyone was doing it But then at the trial, to speak out for Jesus was too risky…Possibly even life threatening.

Matthew 27:25 ESV

25 And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

Many of us come to the faith expecting everything to go generally smooth and good in our lives… Maybe some slight bad but not too much of it, if something does go bad, not a problem, we just pray to Jesus and He is supposed to fix it… So when the bottom drops out for us… we often ask God Why? Thinking it is not supposed to happen this way—and if we are totally honest, we tend to blame God.

Many of us come to Jesus expecting everything to go Good… Maybe some slight bad but not too much of it… So when the bottom drops out for us… we often ask God Why? Thinking it is not supposed to happen this way.

If our faith is based on our situations or circumstances it will never be solid… It will always be changing based on the season of our life. Several of us have gone to big Christian events. Many packed large stadiums… maybe Promisekeepers, where the praises for God fill the entire arena… Where everyone is praising…

When returning home, while everyone is still glowing from the worship, the euphoria starts to wane. By tomorrow, you face the hard question: can you still worship like that in a world that is not at all praising Him—in fact a world that is mocking laughing and is often angry at Him?

A committed faith takes the good times with the bad times. Knowing that all we are ever promised is that in the midst of both our good and bad; Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us. He will stand with us.

A story is told of A little girl who while walking in a garden noticed a particularly beautiful flower. She admired its beauty and enjoyed its fragrance. “It’s so pretty!” she exclaimed. As she gazed on it, her eyes followed the stem down to the soil in which it grew. “This flower is too pretty to be planted in such dirt!” she cried. So she pulled it up by its roots and ran to the water faucet to wash away the soil. It wasn’t long until the flower wilted and died.

When the gardener saw what the little girl had done, he exclaimed, “You have destroyed my finest plant!”

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t like it in that dirt,” she said. The gardener replied, “I chose that spot and mixed the soil because I knew that only there could it grow to be a beautiful flower.”

God has placed us exactly where we are. We must trust him. In the trusting We eventually see that He is using our pressures, trials, and difficulties to bring us to a new degree of spiritual beauty. True Contentment comes when we accept what God is doing and thank Him for it.

This morning is your faith casual or committed? As we approach this week where our Jesus suffered incredibly for us. In a week where our sins, past, present, and future were the nails that hung him on that cross, doesn’t Jesus deserve a second look. Doesn’t he deserve total control of your life? Doesn’t he deserve a personal relationship with You? This week consider it all… and choose to give it all to him…

Transition:

SO, we should praise and parade celebrating who Jesus is: King of kings & LORD of lords! It certainly is appropriate! But why are you celebrating? are we celebrating because of how He has changed us or are we celebrating because it is another excuse to party?

The best news in the world is that there is no conflict between our greatest possible happiness and God’s perfect holiness. Being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus magnifies him as the greatest treasure and brings us more joy — eternal, infinite joy — than any other delight ever could.

In so many ways we may praise Jesus with our lips, yet in so many aspects of our lives we are living the exact opposite of Jesus.

And how’s that working out for us? are we quick to abandon Jesus when it is no longer popular to live like Jesus did?

Are we happy this way? are we fulfilled/overfilled with joy when we wear our Jesus hat on Sundays only to take it off at home and live like the rest of the world? or are you overfilled with guilt and regret?

We are dying, but Jesus came so that we can live.

But Jesus came so that we can live.

On the first Palm Sunday Jesus’ fans were yelling “Hosanna”!!!

By Friday the residents of the city were screaming “Crucify Him!!!”

Jesus’ followers fled.

Conclusion:

The “parade goers” had Jesus nailed to a Cross.

But that is not how it ends.

The REAL GOOD NEWS is that humility truly does win in the end.

Love is the Only Way.

Evil will be defeated.

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!!!

Praise YHWH! αμην.

Amen.

Palm Sunday 2019

I. A Christ-Centered Faith

II. A Relational-focused Faith

III. A Grounded, Unchanging Faith

So What?