1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,640 Turn if you would, to Matthew chapter 21. 2 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,800 Matthew 21 is where we will primarily be this morning for 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:25,950 our text. Around the year 198 BC the the 4 00:00:25,950 --> 00:00:30,430 Greeks Seleucid Kingdom had gained a stronghold in Judea. 5 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:35,800 Antiochus the 4th Epiphanes that is the illustrious 1 is what 6 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:38,520 that means. Was the ruler of the empire and 7 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:42,200 persecuted the Jews of Judea and Samaria. 8 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:48,080 He was an evil man and he had usurped the throne of the Greeks 9 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:53,160 as was common in their day. Josephus informs us that 10 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:57,400 Antiochus the 4th would execute anyone performing Jewish 11 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:04,319 practices or or who had possession of Jewish texts on 12 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:09,440 the temple altar. He set up his own altar to Zeus 13 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:13,960 and desecrated the Temple by sacrificing the pig on it. 14 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:21,960 This act in 167 BC was viewed as at least a partial fulfillment 15 00:01:21,960 --> 00:01:27,040 of Daniel's desolation of abomination of desolation. 16 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,400 This led to the Maccabee in revolts, which was led by 17 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:38,040 Matthias and Judas Maccabees. As they entered Jerusalem after 18 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:42,840 their victory, they were greeted by by a crowd of people. 19 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:44,960 They were greeted with a hero's welcome. 20 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:49,200 They've won the freedom to safely continue practicing their 21 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,400 Jewish faith. And the crowds roared in 22 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:56,680 wonderful praise. Many of those in attendance, 23 00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:00,120 both warriors and those welcoming them, took palm 24 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:03,560 branches and they waved them in triumph. 25 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:12,040 And after that moment, the palm branch was stamped into coins 26 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:17,240 and the Maccabean army's return to Jerusalem became the 27 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:23,000 blueprints that the crowds would use to welcome Jesus nearly 200 28 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:27,760 years later. This morning, of course, is the 29 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:31,160 beginning of what we call Holy Week. 30 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:35,120 This is the week that marks Jesus final days before his 31 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:40,520 crucifixion and resurrection. It begins with his triumphal 32 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:44,560 entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and then works through 33 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:46,920 the various occasions that churches recognize. 34 00:02:46,920 --> 00:02:51,480 There's Maundy Thursday, which is which is the day that marks 35 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:57,040 Jesus Last Supper, his his commemorating the Passover with 36 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:00,520 his disciples. And Mondi comes from the Latin 37 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:05,960 mandatum meaning mandate or command because Jesus had given 38 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:12,720 his disciples a command to love one another on that occasion. 39 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:17,560 And then of course Good Friday, marking the occasion of his 40 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:20,800 death. And then of course it all 41 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:25,480 culminating in Resurrection Sunday, Easter Sunday. 42 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:35,640 Now in some sense Holy Week almost began about 8 weeks 43 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:40,120 before this moment. 8 weeks before that first Palm Sunday, 44 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:46,160 Mary and Martha had sent word to Jesus telling him that their 45 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:52,200 their brother Lazarus was sick. Jesus loved Lazarus and his 46 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,760 sisters very very much so, so they fully expected him to 47 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:00,240 immediately come and heal Lazarus. 48 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:09,720 However, when Jesus was told of Lazarus illness, he chose not to 49 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:15,080 go to Bethany. At that time he was in Perea and 50 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,480 Priya is on the other side of the Jordan River. 51 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:21,320 So it was some 15 or 20 miles away. 52 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,480 You can see it there on the right side of the Jordan River, 53 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:29,560 the east side of the Jordan River there Jesus said Lazarus 54 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:34,000 illness wouldn't lead to death his and so his disciples 55 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:38,520 understood that to mean that Lazarus wasn't going to die, 56 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:42,920 right. Jesus in fact stayed two more 57 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:47,160 days in pariah before deciding, OK, it's time to head back into 58 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:52,000 Judea. Now his disciples were concerned 59 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:55,840 because you see the Pharisees were looking to stone Jesus so 60 00:04:55,840 --> 00:04:59,680 it could be dangerous to head towards Jerusalem. 61 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:05,040 Nonetheless, Jesus told his disciples that Lazarus had 62 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:09,960 fallen asleep and that he would go to wake him up, of course. 63 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:13,520 Well, yes, if if he's sleeping, then you're going to wake him 64 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:16,040 up, then that means everything is fine. 65 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:21,880 Lazarus is fine and doing well. It was then that Jesus told them 66 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:25,440 in in plain Arabic, Arabic, Aramaic. 67 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:30,960 In plain Aramaic, he said Lazarus has died and I'm glad I 68 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:35,320 wasn't there. Kind of probably catching them 69 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:37,600 off guard a little bit. Hold on. 70 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:42,120 Why? By the time they got to Bethany, 71 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:47,000 it had already been four days since Lazarus had died. 72 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:50,880 Jesus asked to have the stone rolled away from the tomb and 73 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:56,440 Martha responded it has been four days. 74 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:01,360 Four days. That means by now his body 75 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:04,560 stinks. We don't want to do this. 76 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:11,080 The stone was removed. Jesus gave them a quick lesson 77 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:17,360 and then he said, Lazarus come out and he came out. 78 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:24,040 Word of this miracle began to spread all throughout the region 79 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:27,680 and some went and told the Pharisees what had happened. 80 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:32,560 The Pharisees gathered their counsel together and at Caiaphas 81 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:36,120 suggestion, they began planning to put Jesus to death. 82 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:45,840 They issued a statement, If you know where Jesus is, let us know 83 00:06:45,840 --> 00:06:52,080 so that we can arrest him. With all this going on, the 84 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:58,720 question remained, Would Jesus even come up to Jerusalem for 85 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:04,800 Passover? After this moment, Jesus retired 86 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:07,960 back NA bit to the little town of Ephraim. 87 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:12,040 And Ephraim is up there. You see it there in the north 88 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:14,680 and Bethany is down there near Jerusalem. 89 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:18,920 So Bethany is where Lazarus and Mary and Martha lived. 90 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:26,040 And so Jesus heads N to Ephraim. There he waited for for the 91 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:29,520 right time to to head towards Jerusalem. 92 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:34,640 He knew he needed to go up to Jerusalem for Passover and and 93 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:39,320 hung out in a quiet little spot, kind of out of sight until the 94 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:44,840 right time. This was important because his 95 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:50,560 time hadn't quite yet arrived. As the time drew closer, Jesus 96 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:53,960 and his disciples actually headed back north towards 97 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:59,120 Galilee, and then they crossed over the Jordan to join a large 98 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:03,080 contingency of pilgrims all headed to Jerusalem for 99 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:05,680 Passover. This doesn't make sense when 100 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:10,800 he's already in the southern half of of the area he decides 101 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:13,480 to head. Ephraim would be basically under 102 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:17,840 where above where it says Judea is where Ephraim would be. 103 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:22,600 So he heads back north and then crosses over the river and joins 104 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:28,240 a large contingency of pilgrims who are all headed to Jerusalem 105 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:34,280 for the Passover. Now, along the way, Jesus does 106 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:38,559 some more teaching. He, he performs some miracles. 107 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:46,760 And on the Friday before Palm Sunday, Jesus stops short of 108 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:50,880 Jerusalem. He wanted to see Mary and Martha 109 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:53,080 and and Lazarus and Bethany. So. 110 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:57,480 So he stopped there as the crowd of people continue on to 111 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:02,520 Jerusalem. This move of course, not only 112 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:07,200 got him more time with with his friends, but it was also 113 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:12,360 strategic and helping build the excitement and anticipation as 114 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:16,240 everyone was wondering if Jesus would actually arrive in 115 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:21,320 Jerusalem. So that sets the scene. 116 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:26,280 If you're able, would you stand as we read from this passage? 117 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:31,880 Matthew chapter 21 verses one through 11. 118 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:37,640 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethpage 119 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:41,040 to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent 2 disciples saying to 120 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:44,040 them, Go into the village in front of you, and immediately 121 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:47,640 you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her. 122 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:51,600 Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, 123 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:55,120 you shall say the Lord needs them, and he will send them at 124 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:57,960 once. This took place to fulfill what 125 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,520 was spoken by the prophet, saying, say to the daughter of 126 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:04,720 Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you humble and mounted 127 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:08,200 on a donkey on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. 128 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:11,640 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 129 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:14,640 They brought the donkey in the colt and put on them their 130 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,320 cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowds spread their 131 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:21,800 cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and 132 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:25,480 spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before 133 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:29,760 him and that followed him were shouting Hosanna to the Son of 134 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:31,760 David. Blessed is he who comes in the 135 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:35,040 name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. 136 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:38,480 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, 137 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:42,960 saying, Who is this? And the crowds said This is the 138 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:46,160 prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee. 139 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:55,850 You may be seated. So the king we see here is 140 00:10:55,850 --> 00:10:58,690 preparing to go to Jerusalem at this point. 141 00:10:58,690 --> 00:11:03,050 It was it was Friday, 2 days before Palm Sunday. 142 00:11:03,050 --> 00:11:06,370 And the majority of the group had had gone into Jerusalem 143 00:11:06,370 --> 00:11:10,970 already be because you see, you wanted to get into Jerusalem by 144 00:11:10,970 --> 00:11:15,930 6:00 on Friday evening because at Friday evening, on Friday 145 00:11:15,930 --> 00:11:19,130 evening at 6:00 is when the Sabbath started. 146 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:23,600 So the crowd, the majority of the people had gone up into 147 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:29,160 Jerusalem. So here in the first few verses 148 00:11:29,680 --> 00:11:34,320 we see Jesus foreknowledge and authority. 149 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:38,840 This demons he's demonstrating his foreknowledge and authority 150 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:44,400 in this passage. Jesus and his disciples had had 151 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:49,000 arrived to the Mount of Olives and from there he sent out two 152 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:52,400 disciples. He told them to go in the 153 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:55,800 village, go to the village there in front of them, which was 154 00:11:55,800 --> 00:12:00,480 probably Beth Phage and grab the donkey in the Colts that they 155 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:04,440 would find tied up there. He knew someone would say 156 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:07,120 something, say hold, hold on, why are you grabbing these? 157 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:10,040 Why are you taking these? He knew someone would say 158 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:14,320 something so, so he just he said, hey, just say the Lord 159 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:17,000 needs them. They would know exactly what 160 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:21,000 this meant apparently or or something and then the person 161 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:24,320 would send the donkey in and it's Colts with them. 162 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:28,680 Now it's important for us to understand what's happening 163 00:12:28,680 --> 00:12:32,560 here. Not only was Jesus foretelling 164 00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:36,680 what was going to happen that the men would go into Bethpage 165 00:12:36,680 --> 00:12:40,280 and find these two animals tied up together, be confronted about 166 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:45,120 them, and then be sent on their way with the animals, but Jesus 167 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:51,120 is also tapping into an Old Testament prophecy in the book 168 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:55,800 of Zechariah Chapter 9. This this chapter contains a 169 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:58,480 pronouncement of judgment on Israel's enemies. 170 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:04,760 And then verse 9 reads, rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, 171 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:08,800 shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold, your king is 172 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:12,120 coming to you righteous and having salvation. 173 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:15,640 Is he humble and mounted on a donkey? 174 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:18,880 On a colt? The full of a donkey? 175 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:24,880 Somewhere around the year 500 BC, the prophet Zechariah wrote 176 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:28,440 those words. And here Jesus was some 500 177 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:32,920 years later, more than 500 years later, fulfilling the prophecy. 178 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:38,320 In just a short couple days he would enter the city of Zion, 179 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:42,400 accompanied by loud shouts and rejoicing of the people. 180 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:45,800 They would welcome Him as their King. 181 00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:50,040 This wasn't happenstance. It was intentional, and it 182 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:56,040 demonstrated God's sovereignty over all aspects of life. 183 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:00,200 He was orchestrating the coming moment when Jesus would be 184 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:06,640 revealed to the people. He had known all along how this 185 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:10,360 was going to go down. In Luke 13, there were some 186 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:13,800 Pharisees who who seemed to sympathize with Jesus a bit. 187 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:16,800 And they, they told him, they said, they said leave because 188 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:23,280 Herod, Herod wants to kill you. And as Jesus discusses the time 189 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:27,880 frame with them, he lamented over those who didn't understand 190 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:34,080 what he was doing. Luke 13, verses 34 through 35 191 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:39,800 read O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets, 192 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:42,720 and stones those who are sent to it. 193 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:47,480 How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen 194 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:49,320 gathers her brood under her wings? 195 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:54,480 And you were not willing. Behold, your house is forsaken, 196 00:14:54,480 --> 00:15:00,400 and I tell you, you will not see me until you say, Blessed is he 197 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:03,360 who comes in the name of the Lord. 198 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:09,120 Jesus knew that when he came to Jerusalem at the right time to 199 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:15,160 reveal himself, the people would proclaim him as the one sent by 200 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:18,800 God. He had all authority and 201 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:22,840 foreknowledge here. Now some critics of the gospel 202 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:27,280 accounts have suggested that Jesus didn't really know what he 203 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:29,680 was doing. He he got caught up in the 204 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:33,720 emotion and in the excitement of the moment and, and the crowd, 205 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:36,920 he didn't really know what he was doing. 206 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:41,440 He didn't actually intend to be king. 207 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:48,440 They suggest no Jesus knew exactly what was happening. 208 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:56,040 And we can see his foreknowledge here as he as he says, when, 209 00:15:56,080 --> 00:16:00,680 when I come, you're going to say blessed is he who comes in the 210 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:04,600 name of the Lord. He says this long before this 211 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:08,680 moment. So in this next section we look 212 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:15,160 at Sunday, that is Palm Sunday, and the crowds expectations and 213 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:18,440 their misunderstanding of the King. 214 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:22,840 The disciples had done what Jesus had asked them to do. 215 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:27,440 They brought the mother and her her young Colts and then put 216 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:30,600 their cloaks on them so that Jesus could sit on them. 217 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:35,520 Jesus and the disciples then headed towards the city and on 218 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:40,720 the way they were met by crowds of people, perhaps some 219 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:44,280 accompanied who were behind them, as well as some who had 220 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:46,760 come out of the city to meet the king. 221 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:53,720 In ancient times there would often be a delegation that was 222 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:58,680 sent out of a city to go out to to meet the king. 223 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:01,440 Out on the road. The king who was arriving go 224 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:07,920 out, meet the king, welcome the king and and join him on the way 225 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:13,599 back into the city. John writes in his Gospel John 226 00:17:13,599 --> 00:17:20,680 1213 So they took branches of palm trees, and they went out to 227 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:25,880 meet him, crying out, Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the 228 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:29,240 name of the Lord, even the king of Israel. 229 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:35,520 As these people went out to meet Jesus, they laid down palm 230 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:39,240 branches and even their own cloaks in the road in honor of 231 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:43,240 the King of Israel. Jesus literally received the 232 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:46,160 royal treatment. It was like the red carpet had 233 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:50,960 been rolled out for him. The shouts of the people weren't 234 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:55,200 empty words in that brief moments. 235 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:57,320 They were a proclamation of hope. 236 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:01,240 This was the one who would sit on David's throne and as they 237 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:05,680 proclaimed hosanna they were saying God save us. 238 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:12,040 The crowds proclamations referred to Jesus as both the 239 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:19,720 Son of David and the Son of God. The Son of David and the Son of 240 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:24,960 God. In Psalm 1/18/19 David, David 241 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:29,080 wrote open to me the gates of righteousness that I may enter 242 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,440 through them and give thanks to the Lord. 243 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:36,920 And then in verse 26 of that Psalm he wrote, Blessed is he 244 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:39,680 who comes in the name of the Lord. 245 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:45,320 The people understood what was happening here. 246 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:49,920 Jesus was entering the gates just as David had done as king. 247 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:54,200 And they ascribed David's words. Blessed is he who comes in the 248 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:57,960 name of the Lord. They ascribed those words to 249 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:02,720 this new king. This new king was someone in the 250 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:08,040 line of David and sent by God. So surely this was a strong 251 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:11,840 king. They were looking for a strong 252 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:17,080 king, someone to cast off the Roman authorities, perhaps even 253 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:26,000 another David like warrior passages like Psalm 24 surely 254 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,520 influence their perspective on this exact moment. 255 00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:35,640 Psalm 24, verses 7 through 10 read Lift up your heads, O 256 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:39,360 gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the king of 257 00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:42,720 glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? 258 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:46,400 The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. 259 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:50,320 Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, 260 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:52,520 that the king of glory may come in. 261 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:57,080 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts. 262 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:04,200 He is the King of glory. This Psalm outlined precisely 263 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,280 the type of person they've been waiting for. 264 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:12,680 A King of glory, someone strong, someone who was mighty in 265 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:16,240 battle. Now here Jesus was entering 266 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:21,960 those ancient doors, so he must be the one to bring deliverance. 267 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:28,080 I can only imagine how excited Jesus disciples were to witness 268 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:30,920 this historic moment. They they were looking for a 269 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:35,280 revolutionary, a a Liberator, someone to kick out the Roman 270 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:39,640 occupiers and restore the the golden age of King David's 271 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:45,480 reign. And so for three years his 272 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:47,800 disciples had been looking for this moment. 273 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:52,080 Things are going to change and Jesus was going to stick it to 274 00:20:52,080 --> 00:21:00,600 the man, right? But it's important that we 275 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:06,640 understand a significant factor about Jesus ride into Jerusalem. 276 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:14,720 He rode in on a donkey. This was important for a couple 277 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:17,240 reasons. First of all, yes, it was a 278 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:19,880 fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy. 279 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:28,080 But second, a king wouldn't ride into town on a donkey. 280 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:34,400 Kings rode horses because horses signified power and strength and 281 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:40,240 military might. A donkey on the other hand 282 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:49,480 represented humility, servanthood and peace, all 283 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:53,000 qualities of Jesus life and ministry. 284 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:59,160 You didn't take a donkey into war, you took a horse. 285 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:03,840 But they had the wrong expectations. 286 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:06,560 Something I'll address more on Friday. 287 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:12,520 Jesus didn't live the way people wanted him to, but but rather he 288 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:17,720 subverted the societal and political expectations of him. 289 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:22,680 The manner in which Jesus entered Jerusalem was a sign 290 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:27,640 that he hadn't come to bring the sword, but rather that he'd come 291 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:31,520 to bring peace and overthrow sin and death. 292 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:38,440 His Kingdom isn't like other kingdoms and they had yet to 293 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:47,520 fully grasp that truth. So then they ask, who is this 294 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:51,240 King? Even as they shouted out the 295 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:55,360 proclamation of praise, it was lost on them who Jesus was. 296 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:00,160 It was as though they didn't really know what they were 297 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:03,240 saying. Perhaps they got caught up in 298 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,520 the emotions of the moments and all the excitements. 299 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:10,720 Surely some of the people knew who Jesus was. 300 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:14,480 Some had witnessed his miracles. Some were part of the large 301 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:17,920 group of travellers that that he'd accompanied on the journey 302 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:21,040 from the north and Galilee all the way down to the South. 303 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:29,240 Many had heard about how Jesus had had raised Lazarus back from 304 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:35,840 the dead. But who Jesus actually was, most 305 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:40,480 of them didn't know. Verses 10 through 11 read. 306 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:46,040 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up 307 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:52,800 saying, who is this? And the crowd said, this is the 308 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:56,160 prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee. 309 00:23:58,360 --> 00:24:00,040 This was the best they could come up with. 310 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:07,640 They labeled Jesus a prophet. They simply called him a 311 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:13,360 prophet. This put him at the same level 312 00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:19,480 with Moses and and Elijah, which of course is good company, but 313 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,440 he was more than a prophet. And they said, oh, from 314 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:28,760 Nazareth. Well, nothing good can come out 315 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:33,720 of Nazareth, but nonetheless this is how they labeled him, a 316 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:42,440 prophet from Nazareth. They clearly didn't get it. 8 317 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:47,080 weeks earlier Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead and John 318 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:50,160 11 tells us some of the responses to that miracle. 319 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:56,560 Many of the Jews, therefore, who would come with Mary and had 320 00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,960 seen what He did, believed in him. 321 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:08,360 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what 322 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:13,360 Jesus had done. They're not saying, oh, look how 323 00:25:13,360 --> 00:25:19,560 awesome Jesus is. They're telling the Pharisees, 324 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:25,400 giving them fuel, feeding this fire that they had to, to 325 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:29,000 capture Jesus. It was like Isaiah had 326 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,640 prophesied hundreds of years earlier. 327 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:38,720 Isaiah 6 verses 9 through 10. Isaiah wrote and he said, Go and 328 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:41,440 say to this people that as God said, go and say to this people, 329 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:43,800 keep on hearing, but do not understand. 330 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:45,760 Keep on seeing, but do not perceive. 331 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,880 Make the heart of this people dull in their ears, heavy and 332 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:53,400 blind their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with 333 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:57,440 their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be 334 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:02,440 healed. The forefathers of Jesus 335 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:07,520 contemporaries had had witnessed the things of God, but they did 336 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:10,880 nothing in response to God's working. 337 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:14,720 They couldn't see the work of God right in front of them 338 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:19,200 because their hearts were dull and they'd become insensitive to 339 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:26,120 the things of God. The question then before us this 340 00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:36,600 morning is how will you, how will we respond to the King? 341 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:47,000 I hate to say it, but it's entirely possible for us to be 342 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:51,400 in some ways like those same people who joyfully welcomed 343 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:56,960 Jesus and then days later called for his death. 344 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:02,640 You see, we can come into this place on Sunday morning, we can 345 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:07,120 proclaim Him as King, but then we walk out the door and deny 346 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:13,960 him with the way we live. So how do we guard against this? 347 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:20,800 First of all, maintain sensitivity to the Holy 348 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:25,280 Spirit's. We maintain sensitivity to the 349 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:30,360 Holy Spirit. In order to see Jesus working, 350 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:34,720 we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit to have the eyes to 351 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:39,920 see what He's doing. When we've distanced ourselves 352 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:44,120 from God, then we become dull or numb like Isaiah said, and we 353 00:27:44,120 --> 00:27:47,040 can't see what's right in front of us. 354 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:53,040 All the signs were right there for the people of Israel to 355 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:59,320 place their faith in Jesus. They couldn't see it. 356 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:06,400 Matthew 11 records Jesus frustration with the Jews of his 357 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:11,120 time. Then he began to denounce the 358 00:28:11,120 --> 00:28:14,600 cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because 359 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:18,680 they did not repent. Woe to you, Korres, and woe to 360 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:22,120 you, Beseda, for if the mighty works done in you had been done 361 00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:25,960 in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in 362 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:30,600 sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you it will be more 363 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,760 bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon. 364 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:38,240 These were locations that that were known for their pride. 365 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:41,560 You'll be more bearable for them. 366 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:46,000 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven, You will be 367 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:50,280 brought down to Hades. If the mighty works done in you 368 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:56,800 had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 369 00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:02,200 Jesus chastised these cities where where He performed his 370 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:08,200 miracles because their hearts had grown dull. 371 00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:14,800 If the city of of Sodom, he says, had had seen the same 372 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:22,000 miracles that Jesus had performed, the city of Sodom may 373 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:30,360 not have been destroyed, but these cities had no sensitivity 374 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:39,760 to the Spirit. Next, follow Jesus in a Christ 375 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:45,080 like manner. Follow Jesus in a Christ like 376 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:48,000 manner. I know this should be obvious 377 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:50,880 right? Like how else do you follow 378 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:53,240 Jesus? Right, You follow him in a 379 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:55,200 Christ like manner. But it needs to be said. 380 00:29:56,160 --> 00:30:01,360 Our praise on Sunday morning is great, but if our praise isn't 381 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:06,920 followed by lives of repentance and and faith, then our praise 382 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:12,400 is worthless. Brendan Manning made that famous 383 00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:16,600 statements. The greatest single cause of 384 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:20,720 atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus 385 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:26,080 with their lips and then walk out the door and deny him by 386 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:29,840 their lifestyle. That, he says, is what an 387 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:33,800 unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable. 388 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:43,760 So follow Jesus in a way that resembles how he lived. 389 00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:49,960 Live in humility and servanthood, skewing our 390 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:53,400 culture's obsessions with status and power. 391 00:30:55,320 --> 00:31:01,960 Live in peace with others, showing love to those we might 392 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:07,800 even disagree with. Model Christ's character to all 393 00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,560 that we come in contact with now. 394 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:14,560 As we grow then our lives will be characterized by the fruit of 395 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,720 the Spirit. Lovejoy, peace, patience, 396 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:20,440 kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and 397 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:26,560 self-control. When we walk in the Spirit, then 398 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:31,520 we will exhibit Christlikeness in our behavior. 399 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:39,080 Some of those who followed Jesus only wanted what they can 400 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:45,440 receive from Him. They wanted the blessings, They 401 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:48,280 wanted the healings. They wanted to witness the 402 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:56,480 miracles, the novelty, but they didn't want the change. 403 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:06,360 It's all too easy for someone to just say I believe the harder. 404 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:11,840 The harder thing is saying I surrender. 405 00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:17,560 Jesus is my Lord. He's the one who calls the 406 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:20,760 shots. He transforms me and I'm 407 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:27,480 different today because of Jesus working in my life. 408 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:34,480 It was easy for them to say, Jesus, come, come, liberate us, 409 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:42,840 set us free from Rome. Instead, Jesus was calling them 410 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:49,560 to say, I surrender, to lay it all down. 411 00:32:52,000 --> 00:33:02,680 Has the gospel transformed you? That's why it was given to 412 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:07,480 transform us to to create in us something new. 413 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:12,960 When we place our faith in Jesus, we have become a new 414 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:16,560 creation. We are a completely new type of 415 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:21,200 thing, that old thing. We're not even related to that 416 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:24,680 old thing. We are a completely new 417 00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:30,280 creation. Jesus died so that we could die 418 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:35,160 to our sin, and He lived so that we could live for him. 419 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:41,520 So I love that you're here this morning. 420 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:44,920 I love that you're here to sing his praise. 421 00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:50,920 But it cannot stop here in this building. 422 00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:59,200 We have to take it out those doors lest we to become like the 423 00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:05,120 crowd. Oh, praise Jesus and then go out 424 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:09,600 and deny Him all the rest of the week. 425 00:34:11,679 --> 00:34:13,360 Let's bow our heads and close our eyes 426 00:34:23,710 --> 00:34:26,429 as we close our time this morning. 427 00:34:28,989 --> 00:34:37,440 My encouragement to you is to pray a simple prayer this 428 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:48,040 morning and say, Holy Spirit, help me to be sensitive to you. 429 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:56,320 Holy Spirit, help me to be sensitive to you to to be able 430 00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:58,880 to see your working in front of me. 431 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:10,080 Jesus is still doing miracles around us, bringing lives that 432 00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:15,440 had, that had been dead to sin, bringing lives, resurrecting 433 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:23,600 lives from that grave, setting them free in him, free to live 434 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:28,880 for Jesus. Maybe we'd be diligent to see 435 00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:36,800 those miracles around us. May we also be sensitive to the 436 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:39,720 Holy Spirit's promptings, the Holy Spirit's moving in our 437 00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:46,000 hearts conviction when it's conviction prompting us to reach 438 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:51,360 out to somebody who might be in need of Jesus. 439 00:35:54,880 --> 00:36:01,280 May we have that sensitivity to respond to the Holy Spirit and 440 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:03,400 do whatever the Spirit calls us to do. 441 00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:09,440 God, we come to you this morning. 442 00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:16,840 Not only do we sing and proclaim praise Jesus, blessed is he who 443 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:27,000 comes in the name of the Lord, but we also surrender ourselves 444 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:33,400 to you this morning. We receive your grace, we 445 00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:42,280 receive your mercy, and we say, God, I need your strength to 446 00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:48,560 surrender all I am to you. Would you take it? 447 00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:54,600 Whether it's wholeness that you sense you're walking in, or 448 00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:57,400 whether it's brokenness that you feel in your spirit this 449 00:36:57,400 --> 00:36:59,720 morning, surrender it all to Him. 450 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:10,400 He's the savior, He's the one who can make you whole, He's the 451 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:16,040 one who empowers us to live the new life because of the cross 452 00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:21,960 and resurrection of Jesus. Thank you Jesus for coming into 453 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:25,720 this world, for being the King, for bringing salvation. 454 00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:28,640 It's in Jesus name we pray, Amen.