Palm Sunday 2020

Jesus Prepares To Fulfill the Prophecy About Him

Jesus is coming to the pinnacle of his life. He is about to fulfill what the Father sent Him to do. He is going to defeat Satan, redeem humanity, and establish Himself as the eternal king.

Defeat Satan

The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.

Satan ushered in sin to all of humanity by tempting Adam and Eve to disobey God. As a result of their sin, all humanity is affected by inherited sin. All are guilty before God.

23 for all [a]have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

No man is deserving of salvation because of their own righteousness. It is what Christ did on the cross that frees us from the eternal punishment of our sin.

God laid this out in the third chapter of Genesis

And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall [d]bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

Satan bruised the heal of Jesus when he hung on the cross. Satan thought he won the battle against God by ending the life of Jesus. All he did was bruise his heel. What really happened was Jesus crushed the head of Satan. He did this when He was resurrected from the dead. Jesus made it possible for people to be free from the bondage of inherited sin. Jesus conquered sin and death and ushered in eternal life. Jesus undid what Satan had done. He defeated the works of Satan!

Redeemed Humanity

But He was [h]pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our [i]well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To [j]fall on Him.

Jesus is the sacrificial lamb for humanity. He took the punishment for our sin. He satisfied God’s wrath against humanity by offering up himself as a sacrifice for our sin. Because Jesus was without sin, He could give his life in place of ours to redeem us from the wrath of God that we deserve for our sin.

Establish Himself As King

He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. This is to fulfill Zachariah 9:9

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

Jesus came humbly as the king of peace. He did not ride in on a white stallion, but instead on a lowly donkey. The next time Jesus comes it will not be on a humble donkey it will be on a white horse.

11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.

People Were Laying Down Their Coats and Palm Branches

When Jesus came into Jerusalem, he came with a large entourage. As he made his pilgrimage to Jerusalem for what would be his last passover here on earth, he had a large following with him. Many of the lives he touched came with him to Jerusalem. This was perhaps hundreds maybe even thousands of people. Regardless of the number it was enough to get the attention of all who were in Jerusalem for passover.

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10 When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred,

People were demonstrating signs of submission to the King.

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.

We see the people honoring the position of authority Jesus had as king. In essence this was kind of like the red carpet of a celebrity. Only it wasn’t as extravagant. They were laying down all they had. Most of which were old smelly, dirty clothes. They were laying them down before the king because that is all they had.

Application

Jesus is King today. What are you willing to lay down before Him in order to demonstrate your submission to him. If you are not a Christian I invite you to lay your sin down before him so you can receive the salvation of the king. If you are a Christian I invite you to lay down your strongholds in your life so you can receive the victory over your stronghold. If you have worry or fear in your life lay it down before the king so you can have His peace. JESUS IS ALIVE TODAY AND REMAINS KING ETERNAL. Will you submit to his kingship?

Some People Question Who Jesus Is.

When Jesus came into town, he came in in a fashion that no one else had ever come. He did things in Jerusalem that no one ever did. The things that he did inspired some and infuriated others. The people who saw Jesus as their king celebrated the things that he did in Jerusalem during the passover week. The Pharisees and Sadducees were infuriated by what Jesus did.

Jesus threatened the false religion of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They were comfortable telling others how to be righteous while at the same time living in sin themselves. They denied the Jesus being the Son of God and Messiah. They wanted the people to follow them and not Jesus. What they failed to see was that Jesus could liberate them from sin as well. Unfortunately they did not see a need for liberation in their lives and even if they did Jesus was the last one who could do it.

I find it interesting the question and summation of the crowds in Jerusalem.

I find it

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.”

Application

We must answer this personally. Who is this Jesus. Many people make Jesus what they want him to be. Perhaps like a genie in a bottle, or a 911 operator, or as a name and claim blessing giver. I encourage you to get to know the real Jesus! He reveals himself in his Word first and foremost and demonstrates who he is in daily living. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! He is the Son of God and Savior of the world!