Palm Sunday _ Worship

Secular:

A coronation… pomp and circumstance

1838 Queen Victoria

Wore a crown of rubies and sapphires surrounding a 309 carat diamond

Scepter held the Star of Africa 516 ½ carats

What a stark contrast to the Lord of the Universe… the Lord Most High!

In the form of a commoner… simple carpenter

Seated not in a chariot… our fancy coach

But on the back of Donkey… the lowliest of the beasts of burden…

Just as 260,000 lambs were sacrificed by Jerusalem’s 2,000,000 people

The streets were lined for the Lamb of God…

Biblical:

NAU Matthew 21:1 When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. 3 "If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them." 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 "SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, 'BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU, GENTLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY, EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A BEAST OF BURDEN.'" 6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. 8 Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. 9 The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!" 10 When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?" 11 And the crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee."

Personal:

Paint… not what you expected…

Looks different in the can

Looks different on the wall

Looks different in your light

Looks different when it dries… but it is still paint

Messiah… in the line of David

Political Master… King

Warrior…

Emancipator… freedom from Roman rule and tyranny

Bridge:

We worship our King!

Not a King of Utility… temporal freedom… service to us

A King of Presence… the Great I Am… for who He is…

Recognizing who Christ is… and who he is through his action… and bowing in Worship before him…. Hosanna in the highest!

Body:

1) The End of a Pilgrimage

v. 21a When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives,

Just as 260,000 lambs led into Jerusalem were sacrificed by 2,000,000 people
The disciples led the Lamb of God into Jerusalem
From 30 years of obscurity to 3 years of ministry to fulfill the will of the Father

- healed the blind in Jericho and drew Zaccheus to faith

- He drew on the friendships Martha, Mary and Lazarus in Bethany rested and prepared for Jerusalem…

John 12:3 Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, 5 "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?" 6 Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it. 7 Therefore Jesus said, "Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. 8 "For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me."

n The End of a Pilgrimage

2) The Exactness of Prophecy

v1b-7 then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. 3 "If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them." 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 "SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, 'BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU, GENTLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY, EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A BEAST OF BURDEN.'" 6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats.

God is in control
Arminian / Openness Theology… how does God know… can they say no? Mark 11:5 Some of the bystanders were saying to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" 6 They spoke to them just as Jesus had told them, and they gave them permission. Never ridden (Luke, Mark) respect…
Jesus’ life marked by two overriding purposes

1) To do Heavenly Father’s Will – John 4:34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. John 5:30 "I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (c.f. Matt 26:39)

2) To fulfill O/T Prophecy about the Messiah - Matt 5:17 "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. Luke 13:33 "Nevertheless I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem. Acts 3:21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time

v. 7 They brought the colt to Jesus and put their coats on it; and He sat on it.

Zech 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

** The colt… lowliest of the two animals… the Suffering Servant… The Passover Lamb

Recognize who He is… the fulfillment of the promises of God

and He is God incarnate!

This is the Lord… Hosanna in the Highest!!
Does not the magnitude of this BLOW YOU AWAY!!

God of precision
Precision in Creation, in Prophecy, in Redemption

n The Exactness of Prophecy

3) The Epitome of Praise.

8 Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. 9 The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!"

coats on road – submission to the monarch, king (over me… my possessions)
palm branches – joy and salvation

Rev 7:9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

Fickle folks… before and after him…. Forgetting the orders of the Pharisees John 11:57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might seize Him.
God used this frenzied crowd… to fulfill the Prophecy… unwittingly they were ushering in a different Messiah than they would have ever imagined!
Hosanna “save souls” God of presence… crowd meant “save our nation… save us from pain… from oppression” God of utility
Jesus did not come to war with the Romans but to be the bridge of peace… reconciling humankind and God!!
Talk about confused… recognized Messiah “Son of David”…
Praising the Messiah they thought they were seeing…

**Anne Murray and Helen Reddy

Phi 2:9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Are we Praising / Worshipping The Christ of Presence?

What does true worship look like?

The Epitome of Praise.

4) The Element of Perplexity

10 When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?" 11 And the crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee."

WHAT?

The prophet…

Who were they praising?

Did not know he promise he fulfilled!

What kind of worship was it… surface…superficial!!

From the road to the city…. Confusion!

In our lives the road to faith – our Saviour

When we arrive… a prophet?

Conclusion:

The End of the Pilgrimage

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The Exactness of Prophecy

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The Epitome of Praise

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The Element in Perplexity

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