Meanwhile in Jerusalem
Notes
Transcript
On an early Sunday morning outside of Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples were headed into town. Passover was coming in a few days. This day was different than any other typical Sunday in that Jesus asks his disciples to go into Bethphage, a nearby town, and find a donkey. He tells them where to go and how to do it. When they bring the donkey back to him, He rides this donkey toward Jerusalem. People were gathering for a festival, heard Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, and gathered outside the town to meet him. Jesus had gathered a rather large following and as the people spotted him riding a donkey toward Jerusalem, they gathered palm branches, waving them in the air and spreading their coats on the ground. Their coats may not have been red, but they were certainly rolling out the red carpet for Jesus.
Every year, on the Sunday before Eater, we celebrate Palm Sunday, the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem riding a donkey. The people were singing and praising him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” This is a quote from Psalm 118. If you go and read Psalm 118, you will discover the whole psalm is praising and thanking God for his salvation. The people quoting this line from the psalm may not fully understand what is going to take place over the next week, but they are now looking to him as a Messiah figure. They are ready to crown Jesus king. There is no question, based on ancient Jewish culture, that this was a coronation ceremony.
But today we are going to look at what else was happening in Jerusalem that day. For that, we need to turn to Psalm 24.
Psalm 24 was written by king David. The circumstances are unknown, but many attribute this psalm as something perhaps sung as the ark of the covenant was being brought into Jerusalem. After David took over Jerusalem, he established it as the political and religious center of Israel. He brought the ark from the region of Baale-Judah to establish Jerusalem as the new location for the tabernacle, the place where God dwelled.
When they arrived, it is suggested by some biblical scholars that this may have been the psalm they sang. But let’s look at it together and see how it connects to Palm Sunday:
A Psalm of David.
The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains,
The world, and those who dwell in it.
For He has founded it upon the seas
And established it upon the rivers.
Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
And who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood
And has not sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive a blessing from the Lord
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face—even Jacob.
Selah.
Lift up your heads, O gates,
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
That the King of glory may come in!
Who is the King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O gates,
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
That the King of glory may come in!
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory.
Selah.
There are two main sections here. The first section spans the first six verses, and the second spans the last four. The whole psalm seeks to communicate that God is the king of glory. What does that mean? And what does that have to do with Palm Sunday?
Recognize God’s sovereignty.
Recognize God’s sovereignty.
We don’t see the word sovereign or sovereignty appear in the psalm. Sovereignty is having supreme power or authority. It is self-governance. The United States is a sovereign nation. We are not subject to any other nation’s laws. When we recognize the independence of another nation, we are recognizing their sovereignty, their right to rule themselves. This means that they are free to govern themselves, and are free of any higher governing authority.
In the same way, God is sovereign. He is self-governing. There is no one to which God is accountable to. There is no one to which he takes orders from. Rather, the world and everything in it is under his control. The world is his. He owns it. He established it. He alone dictates how things will work. God is not bound to natural laws. Natural laws are bound to him. He set them in motion. As one who exists outside of space, time, and matter, he is above space, time, and matter.
The next section of the psalm describes how one must approach God. Verse three does not intent to present rhetorical questions. David answers these questions in verse four. There are four requirements here: One who has clean hands, a pure heart, has not lifted his soul to falsehood, or has sworn deceitfully. Let’s translate that for a moment. Clean hands refer to right conduct. What you do outwardly must conform to God’s standards. This refers to how you treat people, property, or anything else not under your control. A pure heart refers to who you are internally. These are proper thought, proper attitudes, and a proper will. Having not lifted your soul to falsehood refers to having not given your allegiance to some other entity. This is having no other gods before him or not worshipping idols. Who can stand before the Lord?
The Bible reveals to us that God is the only true God in existence. Every other god is a false god. Therefore, to worship something other than the one true God is to worship something imaginary or created. God shares his glory with no one. It is him or nothing. There is no middle ground. What God is saying to the world is, “I am sovereign ruler of this world. I want you to recognize that authority now before I come and establish it among you.” God’s desire is to be worshipped for who he is, but he has standards. As God is perfect and holy, those who come into his presence must be so as well.
The problem is we are not. The world is full of broken systems, broken laws, broken families, and broken relationships. Yet, we instinctively know that the way things are is not the way things ought to be. God is telling us as we experience brokenness, “Yes, there is a design, but you broke it.” Departure from God’s design is what the Bible calls sin, and the Bible tells us that everyone has departed from his design (Rom. 3:23). The cost of departing from his design is that now imperfection has to be eradicated.
In the precious metals refining process, the only way to get pure gold, silver, or bronze is to heat it up and remove the impurities, called dross. The impurities cannot become the substance. The impurities have to be removed for the substance to become pure. In a similar way, sin cannot become holiness. Sin must be eradicated for holiness to remain. When we begin to realize this, we understand that we cannot stand before a holy God, not on our own.
But this is precisely why Jesus came. Jesus came to be our substitute. Where we departed from God’s design, Jesus did not. He was perfectly obedient to the Father and then offered himself as a sacrifice. If the wages of sin is death (the burning away of sin), then Jesus offered himself as a substitute for the payment we owe. Jesus paid the debt we owe God, so we are given clean hands and a pure heart not because we arrived at a place of removing all the dross ourselves, but because we receive Christ’s perfect righteousness in exchange for our sin. We stand before God holy and blameless not on our own merits, but on Christ’s work for us.
Those who come to God with clean hands, a pure heart, and unwavering loyalty receive the blessing of righteousness. We receive an audience with the king. For those of us who acknowledge Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, we are granted entrance into the presence of God, who is sovereign over all the earth.
Receive your king.
Receive your king.
The second part of this psalm has a repeated phrase. If you look at verses seven and nine, they are the exact same. It is the call to open Zion’s gates (Zion is another name for Jerusalem) so the king of glory, this sovereign ruler, may come in. It is these words that lead scholars to believe this psalm could have been sung as David brought the ark into Jerusalem in 2 Samuel 6. The gates and ancient doors are personified. This is basically saying, “Let the gates of Jerusalem be opened so she may receive her king!” This is celebratory language. This is an invitation to receive the king. In that time, the ark of the covenant was seen as the very presence of God. Bringing the ark into the city was like bringing God into it.
Who is the king of glory? Who is this sovereign ruler? He is the Lord. What we miss in English is that this is the personal name of God. It was the name the Israelites refused to pronounce out of fear of mispronouncing it and then taking his name in vain. This is not a generic word for God, but God’s personal name. This God is strong and mighty. This God is mighty in battle.
God achieved unbelievable victories on behalf of his people. The Egyptian plagues are what scholars believe to be God’s attacks on Egyptian gods to demonstrate his superiority over them. Israel never would have left Egypt if God did not achieve it. Israel would have never made it to the Promised Land if God had not parted the Red Sea. Israel would have never conquered Jericho, survived the period of the judges, or captured Jerusalem if God had not fought for them.
Do you think you gain victories in life all on your own? Do you think Maria got a place to live and God didn’t have a hand in that? Do you think that we got $40,000 to insulate our gym so quickly because people were kind and generous? Or is it that the Herring family knows God is the ultimate owner of that home? Or that generous donors know that their money is really God’s money? Do you think we will be successful in evangelism in our own strength? Or do you know that if God wants us to reach 20 people with the gospel he is already out there fighting the battle and preparing hearts to receive him?
Have you received your king? Are you submitting yourself to his sovereignty?
Here is what this psalm has to do with Palm Sunday. It became tradition to recite or sing this psalm every Sunday in the temple even before Jesus’ time. So God himself is riding into town on a donkey and praising his name. Meanwhile in Jerusalem, this psalm is being sung as Jerusalem is receiving her king. The coronation ceremony on the streets is paired with the song being sung in Jerusalem. The king has come to Zion!
Anticipate his return.
Anticipate his return.
A day is fixed at some point in the future when Christ will return to establish his kingdom on earth. This kingdom exists now, but will be fully manifested in the future when Christ returns to the earth. Revelation 19:11-16
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.
He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.
From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.
And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
When Jesus returns it will be to place the whole earth under his authority. He alone has the right to rule. He alone is God of the heavens. We rejected the rule of God in the garden and you and I rejected it when we chose our own way instead of his. But at the present time he is reconciling all things back to himself.
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Right now, the Lord is allowing us time to get right with him, to choose to recognize his sovereignty over the whole world, including us. He is giving us time to receive him as king by confessing Jesus as the Lord and Savior who bought our pardon through the sacrifice of his own blood. Are you ready for his return? You are either on his side or you are not. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day of repentance. Today is the day to get right with God. He is coming. Will you be ready to receive him?