The Triumphal Entry

Well as a lot of you know this Sunday is a special Sunday called Palm Sunday.

And it is not just a special Sunday because we all get Palm branches and get to wave them around in the air

Or that its only one week before Easter

But the reason this Sunday is so special is it is the begining of somthing called Holy week.

And if you are unfirmilure with what Holy week is it is the very last week of Jesus’s life.

And I mentioned this last year but another term you will hear used for this last week of Jesus’s life is Passion week.

And the reason some people call it passion week is because every event that occurs during this last week of Jesus’s life shows what He is passionate about.

And really it shows that He is passionate about you.

In fact this week I really want to encourage you to follow the events that are occuring during this last week of Jesus’s life, whether it is through the Easter Now app on your phone, or a print out I just want to encourage you to follow along.

Because one thing you will notice in the passage we are in today is that the people in this passage are very pasionate about Jesus

I mean they are on fire for Him

but throughout the week they either stop following Him or are actually even the people yelling crucify Him at the end.

But what is crazy about this is that when we look at this week we get so confused how it is possible to go from on fire for Jesus one moment to following whatever everyone else is doing the next.

But the thing is thats exactly what we do with God.

We will be on fire for God when a retreat happens, but then drift away after a couple weeks

We have an encounter with God, but shortly after forget about it.

But here is the thing that I want you to get, because the thing that is simply amazing is that while we may loose our passion for God, He will never loose His passion for you

And my goal for us not just during our time together today, but really also this entire week is for us to see the passion He has for you and not only that but for us to regain and build our passion for Him.

So lets dive into our passage this morning and in case you missed it we are in John 12:12-19 and I know we already heard it, but I want us to just listen again to this first section.

it says this:

John 12:12–15 NIV

12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!” 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: 15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”

So like I mentioned this is the event that begins Passion week and it begins with this passage called the triumphal entrance.

And in Biblical times a triumphal entrance was considered a big deal.

Because whenever you see a triumphal entrance occur in ancient times it would be when a nation would completly crush their enemy in a battle (in fact in order to get a triumphal entrance you had to kill at least 5000 men in batter)

And so as the nation came back into the city people would line the streets and cheer and go crazy cheering for the king.

Its almost like if you have ever been to one of those parades after a sports team wins the superbowl or world series, I mean people are going crazy.

People are cheering, climbing light poles and because they are pumped.

And thats kind of what the triumphal entrance looks like.

And whats so interesting is Jesus enters Jerusalem and we are told that He receives this greeting.

Because people are shouting, they are laying down there coats, they are laying down palm branches,

But the odd thing is Jesus has not really won a battle or anything? He didn’t just come from killing 5000 people

But the reason people are lining the streets is because they have been hearing about Jesus

and all the things he has done

And now they know there is a battle that is about to be won.

Now they think the battle is a battle between themselves and the Romans (who are oppressing them)

But what we see is the battle is against somthing much bigger.

And can I just ask you is there a battle in your life?

Something that is in your life and you have found no way to win?

You feel like there is an addiction that you have been fighting

You feel like you are fighting these thoughts that you know are not good

Is there a battle you are fighting?

Because here is the good news because the battle Jesus has come to crush is the battle of sin.

And sin is something that humanity has wrestled with the fall of men

and now Jesus has come to crush the sin in our life that we struggle with.

But here is the cool thing because in ancient times there were two ways for a king to enter a city,

He would enter either on a donkey- meaning that He desires peace

or He would come on a horse meaning He wanted war.

And even though Jesus is getting ready to rage war on sin He comes to make peace with the people who He is going to war for.

And really thats what Jesus is doing for us because while He wants to wage war on the sin in our life, He has come so we can be in a relationship with Him,

But the crazy thing is that while Jesus is sending this clear message of peace, the people immediately start seeing only what they want to see.

Because like I mentioned the people believed Jesus was here to destroy the Romans, and so since the people wanted see a horse so they saw a horse and because of that they missed out on what God was doing.

Its almost like this: the other day I was renewing my cable and internet plan and if you know me I am a haggler

I am friendly, but I like to talk down the plans.

And so I saw a deal that sounded really good, and so I had a plan to get this deal, plus a little bit off.

And so I decided to call and was talking to the company for awhile

And while I was talking the sales person tried to show me this really good deal but the issue was I had already knew what I wanted so I decided I would not take their advice, because I knew better

So after getting off the phone I was able to get the deal I wanted and I was happy, until I realized the deal the sales person was giving me was actually way better.

But here is the thing because in a sense Jesus is doing this He is coming to give these people somthing amazing that is better then anything they can imagine, but all they see is what they want.

And the issue is when this happens is first off we end up first off missing out on what God is wanting to deliver,

but second off we what will happen to us is what happens to the people in this story because we loose intrest in God because He is not furthering the agenda that they want.

But thats what happens to us and the thing is God has a bigger plan than and it is somthing that is way better then what our agenda is.

And look at this last part of the passage in verses 16-19 because it says this:

John 12:16–19 ESV

16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

So as all this is happening the disciples and the people lining the streets still do not understand what Jesus is doing.

But I love this because this passage says in verse 18 that they have heard what He has done, and this morning you might be hear and not fully understand who Jesus is,

but what would happen if you said “Jesus I may not know you, but I have seen how you have moved, and I want you to move in my life.

Because I believe, when we approach Jesus like this and we come saying God we want your agenda to move not my own, that is when God does something powerful.

But heres is the issue because whenever God is moving Satan wants nothing more than to destroy what God is doing.

If you look at Luke (which is another book of the Bible) it actually tells this story from a different point of view and it mentions that Jesus actually cries because people have missed the mark and He knows the pain that this next week will cause Him

And He knows that while He is giving His life for these people they will end up abandoning Him.

This morning I just want to end by us reflecting what Jesus has done for us during this last week, because we serve a God who is passionate for you.

So much so that during this next week Jesus dies in the most painful way possible so that even though we have fallen short and missed the mark.

Even though we have lost our passion for God before, He has never lost His passion for you.

In fact He is so pasionate that He came to die for you, giving everything.

Will you pray with me?