Make it Personal
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Introduction:
Greetings brothers and sisters. Its so good to be with you here today as I share what the Lord has placed on my heart for this Palm Sunday service.
My desire is to contrast the greeting at the Triumphal entry with the shouts of crucify Him just days later. And how only by having a personal relationship with Christ can we have the faith needed to stand firm against the lies of the enemy.
Jesus is Greeted as the Messiah
Jesus is Greeted as the Messiah
12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
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.
This scripture is referred to as the Triumphal Entry marks the beginning of passion week or the last week of the earthly ministry of Christ. In only a few days from this point Jesus paid our sin debt on the cross and on the 3rd day rose again forever defeating death, hell and the grave. Aren’t you so grateful today that Jesus made a way for us? Amen! Give Him praise!
As Jesus and His followers leave the Mount of Olives and begin to enter Jerusalem the people lay down palm branches which symbolizes royalty and was a show of respect and honor.
Also, the people are singing “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ The King of Israel!” This is a reference to
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 is often thought of as a declaration of praise, similar to hallelujah, but it is actually a plea for salvation.
The Hebrew words yasha (“deliver, save”) and anna (“beg, beseech”) combine to form the word that, in English, is “hosanna.” Therefore hosanna literally means “I beg you to save!” or “please deliver us!”
With this as our reference point we can see that as Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem, the crowds were perfectly right to shout “Hosanna!” They were acknowledging Jesus as their Messiah, as shown in their address “Son of David.” Theirs was a cry for salvation and a recognition that Jesus is able to save and plea for Him to save them from Roman rule and reestablish a Jewish country.
The people were acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah because of the testimony of those who had been blessed by His miracles. In particular raising Lazarus from the dead which some Bible scholars mark as the pinnacle of Jesus’s miraculous works.
You can imagine how the crowd was feeling. They were under Roman subjugation, and all of their uprisings have failed. Then at the Passover celebration they see Jesus fulfilling prophesy as written in
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.
And in addition to them seeing prophesy fulfilled the testimony of Lazarus was bringing many people to the Lord. So much so that now some of the Jewish leaders were even seeking to kill Lazarus. The joy that the people must have felt as finally their Messiah had arrived and their hopes are fulfilled!
The People Demand the Death of Jesus
The People Demand the Death of Jesus
But then just a days later in our Bible we read of an entirely different account.
13 Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people,
14 said to them, “You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him;
15 no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him.
16 I will therefore chastise Him and release Him”
17 (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast).
18 And they all cried out at once, saying, “Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas”—
19 who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.
20 Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them.
21 But they shouted, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
22 Then he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go.”
23 But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.
24 So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested.
Could this be the same group of people that just a few days before were greeting Jesus as the Messiah they had been waiting for?
So we are left asking the question what changed?
Why Did the Crowds Turn Against Jesus?
Why Did the Crowds Turn Against Jesus?
God’s Word Must Be Fulfilled
God’s Word Must Be Fulfilled
The most simple and direct answer is that God’s word must be fulfilled.
The Lord is sovereign over all and He is holy meaning that He cannot lie. Therefore what He says will happen is in fact going to happen.
And I don’t know about you but that’s great news to me!
You see if not for God’s love for people than we would all be lost in our sins. Yet because God loves people so much He was willing to sacrifice Himself so that you, me and every mother’s child could be reconciled to Him and that heaven can be our home!
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Hear me today if you ever feel unloved or unimportant than stop listening to the lies of the devil and start listening to the word of God! Remember that God loves you and wants a relationship with you and that He sparred no expense to make a way for you to come home and spend your life in His loving presence! You matter to God more than you ever possibly comprehend! Hallelujah! Somebody give God praise and glory in the house!
Today we are also living in a very important time in human history. Most Christians around the world believe we are living in the last days. Personally, I believe we are living in the last days of the last days but that is a different sermon for a different day.
My point here is that that Jesus had to be put to death on the cross to pay the sin debt of the world for all generations because whether people want to accept it or not there is in fact a righteous wrath of the a holy God which is going to be poured out on a sinful wicked world that rejects Him and His ways and instead is selfish, violent and makes themselves god in their own eyes.
But I have some good news for you today which is the powerful attoning blood of Christ shed on Calvary’s cross saves us and all who will trust and believe on Him from the coming judgement of this world! Thank you Jesus! Hallelujah! Somebody give Him praise!
This reality should not only create a sense of peace in the heart of every believer but also a sense of urgency to share the hope and love of the Gospel so that as many people as possible can be saved and have heaven as their home.
At All Church, may we always be a people that not only serves one another inwardly but also looks outwardly and has a compassionate heart on those who do not yet know the Lord. Amen!
So in addition to prophesy being fulfilled another reason that the people turned against Jesus is that the enemy uses division to harden hearts.
The enemy Uses Division to Harden Hearts
The enemy Uses Division to Harden Hearts
The devil is a liar and the father of all lies and uses misinformation to divide and conquer people and this can often be done by placing the wrong expectations in people minds.
For example in today’s text one of the reasons that the Jewish people were so excited to see Jesus as the Messiah is because what they expected from the Messiah. As I mentioned earlier they were living under Roman rule and all of their uprisings were eventually defeated. They were expecting and desiring a military and political leader who would establish a physical earthly kingdom for the Jewish people.
However, Jesus came to establish a spiritual kingdom. His kingdom includes freedom from sin, eternity in heaven, purpose and meaning for your life and a love unlike any other. And after His second coming Jesus will establish a physical earthly kingdom for a thousand years known as the Millenial Reign of Christ.
So as they did many times in the Old Testament the Israelites were desiring and expecting a king like the other nations had and misinterpreting the scriptures. They were looking for a Messiah to find solutions to their problems and to give them victory.
But what they failed to understand is that Jesus is the solution to every problem! Not just for them in that time rather for all people, from all backgrounds, for all time! Praise God!
When they saw Jesus seemingly captured by the Romans, beaten and bloodied they not only felt disappointed and hurt which then led to anger. Then the devil does what he always does and brings ungodly people around to further influence and take advantage of the emotional state of the hurt, confused or angry person.
11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead.
The enemy is using the same tricks today. You see in today’s text the Jewish people knew that Jesus was the Messiah because they saw Him fulfill prophesy and had many eye witness testimonies of His miraculous healings and raising Lazarus from the dead, yet they still sinned and rejected the Lord.
In our day and time there is more access to God’s word than at any other time in human history. In developed nations within a few moments we can access any Bible translation we want, countless commentaries, sermons or Bible studies. While yes there are still more people in the world that we need to provide access to the word of God the point remains that for the majority of the world if someone has a desire to know Jesus than there are resources available.
Yet despite this fact there are many people some even in the church, that do not know the word of God. This is a tremendous issue because the Bible teaches us in Hosea 4:6 that people perish without a knowledge of God’s word.
The enemy knows this situation and is constantly trying to put out misinformation or fake news about God or the people of God. These lies give people the wrong expectations about who God is, what He expects from us and what we can receive from Him.
Similarly to how the devil deceived the Jewish people into not recognizing that Jesus was in fact the real Messiah and they shouted crucify Him there are some people in our time that refuse to invest the time to learn and apply God’s word and make up their idea of who or what God is. Then when things don’t work out the way they think they should they reject the Lord and not only don’t believe but discourage others from doing so as well or even try to stop us as Christians from living out and teaching the true word of God as it’s written in the Bible.
So how can we as faithful believers make sure to not be deceived by the enemy like the crowds in today’s text’s were deceived.
We Must Know Jesus Personally to Remain Strong in Our Walks
We Must Know Jesus Personally to Remain Strong in Our Walks
Simply put we must know Jesus personally to remain strong in our walks and avoid being tricked by the enemy.
We can and should encourage one another in our walks to have a personal relationship with the Lord. This means that individually as well as corporately we are making the time investment to grow closer to Christ through His word, His Spirit, and His love.
This time investment should not seem like work but rather as many in this room can attest spending time with the Lord is actually the best part of our lives. For example, I am a blessed man. I have a fantastic family with a beautiful wife, four fantastic children and an amazing grandson. I have the honor to shepherd and lead this loving and wonderful church family. But as much as I love spending time with my loved ones and believe me I do there is nothing more important in my life than my relationship with Jesus Christ! My personal relationship with the Lord is what gives me the character, the joy and the motivation to be better in every other area of my life. Not because I am good but because of Christ in me. All glory to God!
And while there is much to say just a couple of simple things we can all apply to deepen our walk with Christ are what I call the Christian fundamentals.
The first and most important is to pray. When we pray we begin by praising God and thanking Him and telling Him we love Him and that He alone is the one we worship. Prayer provides an awesome opportunity to access the throne room of God. We can not only communicate but listen to what the Lord is speaking to us. We can not only pray for ourselves but pray for others. And one of the most special components of prayer is feeling the Lord’s presence by His Holy Spirit. There is nothing on earth that can compare with experiencing the presence of God.
Another key component in deepening our walk with Christ is to know His word. As I spoke about a moment ago we must have an appetite for God’s word or we will perish. In fact to better know God we must now His word. This is because His word reveals God’s character about who He is and how He wants us to live.
God is so good the more you learn about His character the more you learn to trust Him. This is because faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ as written in Romans 10:17.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Therefore the more we read, study or hear the word of God the more our faith grows which gives us peace and knowledge. This peace and knowledge is a sure fire effective weapon against the misinformation or divisive tactics of the enemy.
Lastly, in addition to prayer and the word the most effective weapon against the decisive schemes of the enemy is to love God above all things and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus teaches us this very lesson in:
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Simply said the love of Christ in us allows us to love God and love people beyond what we could ever do on our own. So when the evil one tries to manipulate thoughts or emotions his feeble attempts immediately fail because God’s love conquers all sin.
This was never on display more than when Jesus suffered and died on the cross defeating sin once and for all not because he had to but because He loves us. Now that is a reason to give Him praise! Amen!
Closing (soft music):
In closing, we can see from today’s text just how easily some people are blinded to the truth of the Gospel. The very same people who praised Jesus just days later were demanding his execution. But despite that and every other pain that Christ endured He did so out of love. Love for the Father and love for all mankind.
We know that the Lord is coming back soon and that we cannot stop the righteous judgement on a wicked world. But by deepening our personal relationship with Christ through prayer, through His word, by His love and being filled with by the Holy Spirit we will be strong to not be deceived by the lies of the devil. Furthermore we will be properly equipped to share that good news of Christ not just in our words but in our lifestyle so that as many people as can be saved will be saved.
Let our desire to be used to grow the kingdom of Christ and our personal walks with the Lord.
Prayer
Thank you so much for being here and remember our joy is in Jesus!