Final Arrangements
Notes
Transcript
29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples,
30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here.
31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ”
32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them.
33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.”
35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.
36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.
37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen,
38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”
40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
Introduction
Introduction
In Zechariah 9 we find a description of a coming King - written approximately 500 years PRIOR to Christ’s birth, and nearly 600 years prior to his death, it outlines His triumphant entry into Jerusalem as a King of Peace.
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.
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.
13 For I have bent Judah as my bow; I have made Ephraim its arrow. I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior’s sword.
Jesus was unquestionably claiming to be King, but He was claiming to be a different kind of King, a King who was different than what men usually thought. He was claiming to be the King of Peace, the King whose kingdom is not of this earth. Throughout Christs life, He showed us He would be righteous, He would offer salvation, and He would be humble and peaceful. He would come to Israel the first time as a humble King and Savior. He would be gentle and peaceful and come riding on a donkey. This is in stark contrast to His second coming
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Preparation
Preparation
29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples,
30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here.
31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ”
32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them.
33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.”
The coming of Jesus was not decided after the fall of man but had been established and fore-ordained from the beginning.
20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you
I do not believe this had been pre-arranged, but had been pre-ordained through the infinite wisdom of God for this donkey colt to be placed for Jesus’ use. The use of a colt donkey indicates an humble entrance – References in 1 Kings show that royalty at that time would have ridden mules or donkeys as a sign of a peaceful entrance.
Unridden Colt – this animal had not been broken – was UNTRAINED – anyone that has knowledge of horses knows that it takes time and training to break a horse to ride. It is unnatural to the animal for the weight of a burden (human or pack) to be placed on its back, and for someone else to control the direction and motion of the animal. Yet this unridden colt was the choice for Christ – and it obeyed. While it may seem unnatural, the animal:
1) knew its creator
16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
2) submitted to His authority.
13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
3) and was untainted – being unridden, it had not been taught unnatural things, and therefore was specially adapted for royal and sacred use.
Even though it was unnatural, it had been predicted.
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.
Instead of a warrior king riding in on a strong and mighty stallion, we see the mild and meek Savior of the world coming in peace on a colt donkey.
While all these things seem amazing by themselves, Christ had also said if anyone asks what they are doing to say “The Lord has need of it”. How would these people have known who the Lord was? And, at this time, why would they acknowledge it? During this time, the Jewish leaders had already made it well know that they would not tolerate people following this man named JESUS! After the healing of the man born blind, the leaders had made it known that any Jew professing to believe in Jesus would be excommunicated from the church.
22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.)
Not only were they ready to throw out believers in Christ, they had already determined how they were to handle this rogue who infiltrated the synagogue and taught this new theology, healing and performing miracles. The chief priests and Pharisees knew if they did not do something to stop Jesus, that all of the Jews would eventually follow Him! They could not allow this to happen,
53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
Why would Jesus allow this to happen? Why would he come into Jerusalem KNOWING there was a plot against Him, and He would eventually be crucified?
42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
God’s great redemption plan had been put into motion, and Jesus was willing to follow through.
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Praise and Adoration
Praise and Adoration
35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.
36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.
37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen,
38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Spreading of cloaks and branches on the road was a Jewish tradition signifying the reception of royalty. My, how times would change! These same ones that called out “Blessed is the King” would soon be saying the words “CRUCIFY HIM”
12 And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?”
13 And they cried out again, “Crucify him.”
14 And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.”
Christ had ushered in Peace to the “City of Peace” – Jerusalem, yet would see a turn of events like none could ever imagine.
1 When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples,
2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,
4 and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.
5 But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”
14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.
16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.
20 When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve.
21 And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
47 While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people.
48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.”
49 And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him.
The Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace had just been betrayed and peace, as Jerusalem knew it, would never be seen again – they had missed their opportunity.
Missed Opportunity
Missed Opportunity
39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”
40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
If the Pharisees were plotting to kill Christ, why had some come out to see His triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem? Jesus was making claims and healing in ways that many had never seen, and He had even gained respect from some of the Pharisees, even though they could not publicly support Him. But Christ knew what was getting ready to happen. He had even waited until the time was right.
1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.
He knew the threats and had avoided the areas where they were hostile to Him UNTIL the appointed time.
57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.
But they apparently hadn’t shown up to arrest Christ, they surely weren’t there to worship Him, it was as though they were there out of curiosity, and when they saw the praise that was being given to Jesus, they couldn’t stand it. “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” What they failed to understand was simple, anyone filled with the Spirit of God has no other way to express themselves OTHER THAN to PRAISE HIM!
13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
Now, knowing this, Jesus explains if those attending did not give Him the deserved praise and glory due to Him, that the rock would cry out for Him! Even nature itself cannot hold back on it’s praise and glory to God, and we can even see God through His creation.
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
So they are without excuse. Just as these Pharisees CHOSE to ignore who Christ is, we also have a choice to make today. Do we choose to follow Christ, or do we continue to reject who He is. If we reject him, as Romans says, we are without excuse.
Closing
The theme of the celebration was peace. Dr. Luke opened his Gospel with the angel's announcement of "peace on earth" (Luke 2:14), but now the theme was "peace in heaven." Because the King was rejected, there could be no peace on earth. Just as there could be no peace on earth because the King was rejected, If WE continue to reject the King, there can be no peace in our lives.
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
But like these scriptures, we too can prepare – we have been given God’s Word and can see God’s glory through His creation. This should cause us to WANT to praise and worship Him. But, we can only TRULY Praise God when we have accepted Him as our Savior.
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
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.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.