The King is Coming
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Welcome
1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.
3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.
7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.
8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”
11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday
Today we celebrate Palm Sunday - the day Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, one week before His resurrection.
As Jesus entered the holy city, He neared the culmination of a long journey toward the cross.
He had come to save the lost
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
many times we observe, celebrate special days in the life of the church but we do not understand the significance.
Jesus, riding a donkey, into a city, 2000 years ago.
What’s all the fuss? Palm branches
the only time I think about palm branches is when I am on vacation in a warm Caribbean country.
So, please allow me to share with you the significance of this event.
1. It is a fulfillment of prophecy
1. It is a fulfillment of prophecy
In the penultimate book of the OT, the prophet Zechariah declared, 550 years before:
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Jesus came in fulfillment of numerous OT prophecies.
God did not send the Savior into the world, unannounced, unprepared.
Ever since the fall of man, God speaks and speaks and foretells; prophecies are numerous in the OT
One scholar, J. Barton Payne, found as many as 574 verses in the Old Testament that point to the coming of Jesus.
Alfred Edersheim found 456 Old Testament verses referring to the Messiah.
Conservatively, Jesus fulfilled at least 300 prophecies in His earthly ministry.
One of the most powerful evidence for the inspiration and authenticity of the Bible is prophecy.
God reveals things to come to us so we can be prepared and be reassured He is indeed who he says He is.
No other religious text can boast of prophecy as the Bible.
We can trust God’s Word. What He says, He will do.
2. It signifies the start of Passion Week.
2. It signifies the start of Passion Week.
Palm Sunday marked the start of what is often called “Passion Week,” the final seven days of Jesus’ earthly ministry.
Palm Sunday was the “beginning of the end” of Jesus’ work on earth.
The word passion is from the Latin pati, which simply means “to endure” or “to suffer.”
When we use passion
Zeal, enthusiasm, ‘fired-up by something’
passionate love. Pursue with passion. Someone has a passion for basketball, soccer, taking care of the poor.
Jesus did have a passion.
Isaiah the prophet wrote 700 years before about the Messiah. ‘I have set my face like a flint.”
Luke captures that passion of the Messiah, that laser-like focus when he writes
“He set his face to go to Jerusalem.”
But the word in Passion in Passion Week refers to the suffering, the agony Jesus endured to secure our salvation.
The term passion of Christ refers to the time from Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane to His death on the cross—the time of His greatest suffering.
Prayer was passionate.
Passion Week
Passion Week
The entire week is known as Passion Week.
Sunday - He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey
Monday - He curses the fig tree and clears the temple
Tuesday - Temple controversies - he is questioned by the Pharisees, Sadducees and Herodians; and Olivet discourse [The last days, Matt 24]
Wednesday - He continues to teach in the temple. Sanhedrin refine their plot to kill him
Thursday - Passover meal/Last Supper. Jesus agonizes in prayer in Gethsemane
Friday - He’s betrayed, arrested, abandoned; faces Jewish and Roman trials and crucified
Saturday - [Sabbath]
Sunday - Resurrection.
3. It reminds us of the humility of Jesus
3. It reminds us of the humility of Jesus
1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.
3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”
Bethphage
Jesus gives them instructions -Go into Bethphage
is located less than a mile east of Jerusalem on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives.
It is nearby to Bethany.
Here was Jesus, the King of the Jews, coming to them.
nowhere else in the gospels do we read Jesus riding. He’s always walking.
Now on this day, he comes riding, to fulfill Scripture.
Humble - although He is Lord of Lords, King of Kings, here he is humble.
Not riding a horse, but a donkey.
Not coming to wage war or to conquer armies and empires, to subjugate and terrorize peoples
He comes humbly on a donkey to conquer our hearts
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus rode into Jerusalem humbly, on a colt
This is the same Jesus who was born in a manger, a carpenter’s son, who washed the feet of His disciples.
Today He comes to us humbly also
He doesn’t force Him self upon us
4. It presents Jesus as the King
4. It presents Jesus as the King
The King is coming
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”
The disciples spread their cloaks on the donkey the colt
The crowd spread their cloaks on the ground
Others cut palm branches from the trees and spread them on the road
In strewing their cloaks on the road, the people were giving Jesus the royal treatment
That’s their version of the red carpet treatment
King Jehu was given similar honor at his coronation (2 Kings 9:13).
The King is coming
God is so moving upon the hearts of the people.
The imagery is not lost on them
The revelation is there - this is Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior.
They spread their cloaks on the road and on the donkey.
They cut
Palm branches
Palm branches
John records the detail that the branches they cut were from palm trees (John 12:13).
English Standard Version Chapter 12
So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him
That’s the reason for the name Palm Sunday
5. It highlights Jesus as our Savior
5. It highlights Jesus as our Savior
9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
In their praise of Jesus, the Jewish crowds were quoting Psalm 118:25–26,
25 Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.
Hosanna = “God, save us”; “O save!”
Hosanna = “God, save us”; “O save!”
Here is the Savior coming, humbly, riding on a lowly donkey, the eyes of the people are opened to behold this is the king, the Savior
They begin to shout “Hosanna, God save us. Jesus, save us.”
The King is coming to save us.
Save from pain
sickness
disaster
heartache
shame, guilt
failure
shattered broken dreams
10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”
11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Who is the Savior?
Jesus. Only Jesus.
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
The bread of Life
The living water
the Good Shepherd
6. It prefigures the full revelation of Jesus for all eternity.
6. It prefigures the full revelation of Jesus for all eternity.
2000 years ago, Jesus rode a colt into Jerusalem, the city of the Great King.
There is coming a day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10–11).
Palm Sunday is coming again. In a bigger way
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Will you be there?
We weren’t there 2000 years ago as He rode into Jerusalem.
We weren’t there when He was crucified
We weren’t there when He rose from the grave
We will be there in heaven, with a great multitude, from every nation,
From Jamaica to Nigeria
From Guyana to Canada
From Trinidad & Tobago to Barbados
From Ethiopia to Grenada to Malta
We will be standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches
and we will sing, we will dance, we will shout
Goodbye world, I am no longer with you
“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Jerusalema ikhaya lami, Ngilondoloze
Worthy is the Lamb, seated on the throne, we crown you now with many crowns, you reign victorious.
The King is Coming