Save us Now!

Palm Sunday. This year is different than in the past, but then again the day wasn't really something “normal” to begin with. The City of Jerusalem on that day reached a fever pitch as the Rabbi and prophet from Nazareth rode in on the back of a donkey. Could this be the time the change was coming to Israel? Could the oppression from the past several centuries soon be over with once and for all?

The account of this entrance into Jerusalem is one of the few events that all four Gospels record:

· Matthew 21:1-11

· Mark 11:1-10

· Luke 19:28-40

· John 12:12-19

This was the appointed time for Jesus to enter into Jerusalem. It was the week of Passover and He would become the sacrificial Lamb to take away the sins of the world.

The view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives is a breathtaking one (show PowerPoint slide). The image doesn’t do it justice.

They would have taken a road down the side of the Mount of Olives, most likely close to where I walked down heading to the City of Jerusalem. This road (a path now) goes right by the Garden of Gethsemane.

Path down the road (show slide)

Before Jesus and His disciples made this entrance, Jesus has them go into the City of Bethphage and get a colt of a donkey that has never been rode on.

This was to fulfill the prophecy from several hundred years earlier by Zechariah the prophet:

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9)

As Jesus came down the path palm branches and clothes were laid out on the road. (2 Kings 9:13 – we see this happen for a descendent of King David and King Solomon, King Jehu)

The people of Israel wanted the Messiah and they thought this was the time! They were looking for someone who would SAVE THEM and REDEEM THEM RIGHT THERE!

They cried out Hosanna! It is a transliteration of a Hebrew term “hosa” SAVE – with “na” which adds a sense of urgency! Save Now! They wanted to be saved and they made it known as Jesus came into Jerusalem, yet they had other ideas of what this salvation, this redemption was going to look like.

Throughout their history there had been many times they had been SAVED.

· The first example is that of Moses. He had been a redeemer and savior of Israel. He (by the power of God) had brought plaques on the nation of Egypt. Exodus 14:13-14 “13 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” This was right before the Red Sea parted. Moses had saved them! God had raised up this deliver to save them!

· The book of Judges are full of men and women that God raised up to “save” and rescue His people after they sinned and oppression came in. People like Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Ehud, Gideon, and Samson. They would deliver them out of this trial.

· The Kings of Israel were redeemers as well. They were messiahs. King Saul and King David were both messiahed…they were anointed with oil and they were to fight for the people of God

· In the intertestamental time there had been the Maccabees that had “redeemed” Jerusalem and crushing the forces of Antiochus IV Epiphanes after he sacrificed a pig on the altar of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies.

The people of Jerusalem believed that Jesus, this prophet and rabbi from Nazareth of Galilee was there to redeem them from Rome! The forces of Rome had taken over Israel and it had lead to much internal conflict among the Jews. You had some Jews (like Matthew and Zacchaeus) who were tax collectors for the Roman government and despised not only for normally taking more than needed so they could line their own pockets, but also just the fact they were working for the enemy. Then on the other extreme you have the zealots, one of Jesus’ disciples was Simon the Zealot. These Jews wanted to have a coup and overthrow the Roman government and bring their government back to the good ol’ days.

What would this Jesus do? Would He be the Messiah they wanted to Save Them NOW?

Jesus was coming into Jerusalem on that day to indeed save them. Exactly one week later that Victory would be secured…yet it was not a salvation from Rome. It was going to be a salvation from something so much more powerful than that. A salvation from sin, Satan, and eternal separation from God.

He would be the Passover Lamb who would sacrificed for the sin of the world.

As we in this season look at the storm and trial we are in with the coronavirus we are wondering when God will save us? We echo those same calls from the streets of Jerusalem! Save us now! Maybe God wants us to realize that there is a bigger problem than this virus that He wants to save you from. The problem is that if you do not personally know His Son Jesus Christ that You will be separated from Him forever. That is much longer than this self-isolation will ever be. Don’t be distancing yourself from God. He wants to have personal relationship with You. Jesus did indeed come to Seek and to Save that what was lost. Come to Him to save you.