Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

<<PRAY & bless the children>> <<CW>>

Palm Sunday

<<PRAY & bless the children>> <<CW>>

We call the Sunday before Easter “Palm Sunday” because of the events that took place in Jerusalem on the Sunday before the first Easter.

Jesus came into Jerusalem the week before the Passover, and He came in with a bang.

This was not the first time He had made a commotion in the City during a great festival.

All told, Jesus comes to Jerusalem five times during major feasts over three years, and every time, He proclaims the Gospel and provokes the Pharisees, the scribes, and the Sadducees.

Each time, the opposition to Jesus mounts.

And so does the anticipation.

Around the time of the festivals, people in Jerusalem are asking, “Do you think he’ll show up?”

You are not alone in this room.

And God has a word for you today.

We call the Sunday before Easter “Palm Sunday” because of the events that took place in Jerusalem on the Sunday before the first Easter.

Jesus came into Jerusalem the week before the Passover, and He came in with a bang.

This was not the first time He had made a commotion in the City during a great festival.

All told, Jesus comes to Jerusalem five times during major feasts over three years, and every time, He proclaims the Gospel and provokes the Pharisees, the scribes, and the Sadducees.

Each time, the opposition to Jesus mounts.

And so does the anticipation.

Around the time of the festivals, people in Jerusalem are asking, “Do you think he’ll show up?”

In , Jesus travels to Bethany to the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, just two miles from Jerusalem.

And there, he raises Lazarus from the grave.

This seems to be the tipping point for the leaders.

john 11.47-48

john 11:45-

john 11.53

It was no secret that Jesus had enemies.

They had tried to arrest him, tried to kill him.

But every attempt had failed, and Jesus says it’s because “the hour had not come.”

In , Jesus tells the disciples

And

And from that time, Jesus inexorably walks back towards the city.

Coming first to Jericho, 16 miles from Jerusalem, and then back into Bethany again.

The Passover was quickly approaching, and the people were looking for Jesus, asking one another, “What do you think?

Will he come this time?”

And he traveled on, coming first to Jericho, 16 miles from Jerusalem, and then back into Bethany again.

The Passover was quickly approaching again.

And the people who had come up to Jerusalem to prepare for the Feast were looking for Jesus, asking one another, “What do you think?

Will he come this time?”

The next day, the crowds in Jerusalem for the feast heard that Jesus was on his way.

They cut palm branches to lay before Him as He came into town - a red carpet welcome.

Jesus sent two disciples ahead of Him, who brought a donkey for Him to sit upon, and He rode into town to loud, rejoicing shouts of “Hosanna!

Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”

The next day, the crowds in Jerusalem for the feast heard that Jesus was on his way.

They cut palm branches to lay before Him as He came into town - a red carpet welcome.

Jesus sent two disciples ahead of Him, who brought a donkey for Him to sit upon, and He rode into town to loud, rejoicing shouts of “Hosanna!

Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”

The crowds were proclaiming that this was the Messiah, the promised one, and they were pointing to the raising of Lazarus as the indisputable proof.

It inflamed the anger of those who wanted Jesus dead.

And at just the right moment, in , Jesus turns to the disciples and says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

He knew the leaders had made plans.

He knew what they were going to do.

He knew the crowds who called him the King would turn around and call for him to be crucified.

He knew the leaders had made plans.

He knew what they were going to do.

He knew the crowds who called him the King would turn around and call for him to be crucified.

when the going got tough,

He knew that one of his own friends would sell him out.

He knew that when the going got tough, they’d all leave him alone.

And he knew that the Jews would condemn him and the Romans would crucify him.

But he rode into Jerusalem anyway.

How did he do it?

When every step took him further into the valley of the shadow of death?

How did he keep his face set towards Jerusalem?

The answer to that question is the answer to our question today:

Q.

How can I live in Resurrection hope today when death is still a reality?

And we’re going to look at our text in three sections.

had warned Him to get away from Jerusalem because Herod was trying to kill Him, too.

1 COR REVIEW

All of the distractions, temptations, and sorrows that derail us come back to the chief of all sins, the one that started it all - unbelief.

Adam and Eve ate from the tree because they did not believe that God was good.

They did not trust His plan.

Our anxieties, our fears, our rebellions, our distractedness, our spiritual laziness

Q.

How can I live in Resurrection hope when death is still a reality?

Proposition: The Resurrection gives hope to despairing, defeated, dying people

I. Look to the PROOF (Christ the firstfruits… vv20-22)

<<READ 20-22>>

Paul began the chapter by reminding us of the essence of the Good News about Jesus.

Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, he was buried, he was raised the third day according to the Scriptures, and he was seen alive by a multitude of eyewitnesses.

Mary, Peter, James, John, the twelve, 500 eyewitnesses at once, and even Paul on the road to Damascus - they all saw Jesus, the risen, physical, embodied Lord, and every one of the apostles carried that message into the world.

That’s the Gospel that Paul brought to Corinth, that the Corinthians heard and believed.

But some of the Corinthians were saying that there’s no resurrection of the dead.

In verses 12-19, Paul is showing them that if there’s no resurrection of the dead, then the resurrection of Jesus is thrown out, too.

The Gospel says: Jesus was raised the third day according to the Scriptures.

Well, the Old Testament Scriptures don’t just teach that the Messiah would suffer and be raised the third day.

They also teach that at the end of the age, the dead will be raised.

says

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the firstfruits of that first resurrection - the bodily resurrection of believers to everlasting life in sky-bright glory.

Paul tells the Corinthians that if there’s no future resurrection of the dead, then there’s no resurrection for Jesus to be firstfruits of.

In , Jesus even said “I AM the Resurrection and the Life.

Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, yet shall he live.”

But if there’s no future resurrection, then Jesus wasn’t raised, which means death wins, and our sins are not forgiven, and our faith is futile and useless.

But the Gospel they believed proved otherwise.

The Old Testament predicted it, the eyewitnesses proclaimed it.

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.

He convinced Peter the coward, James the mocker, Thomas the doubter, Paul the persecutor.

Every one of them was changed by the proof of the Resurrection.

He is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.