The first day of Passion week – Staying Strong and True to Christ!
Get All Excited About Jesus!
We are grateful to our LORD to be back in person this Palm Sunday - Now let’s go way back into time 2,000 years ago.
ILLUST. Picture yourself standing on an old dirt and weathered stone road leading into an ancient city. The sun shines into your eyes as the afternoon rays make it difficult to see what all the commotion is about. As you make your way down the road you notice a crowd rapidly building front of you. People are leaning over the low stone walls and one another. You see all kinds of children and moms and dads are waving leafy palm branches around, puzzled you turn around to see a man riding towards you. And immediately you recognize that something is not right, he is not riding on a horse as a mighty king commonly would, he, he is riding…a colt of a donkey? Yet, with unbridled happiness men, women and children are shouting and dancing, they are laying down their cloaks and palm branches for this man riding by. Could this be Jesus? The prophet everyone has been talking about? The Miracle worker here? In your city? Someone freely hands a palm frond to you. Instantly you find yourself waving and praising God caught up in the moment with the crowd, surely this will be a day you will not soon forget. HOSANNA HOSANNA!
Close your eyes and imagine the scene for a moment. It is true we live in time and in a day we are likely to never forget – we feel discouraged and under attack by an invisible foe a virus bent on destruction, sent, it would seem from the very pit of hell. Once again, I ask you to, for a few minutes, set that aside the cares of life and be encouraged.
This Sunday we will begin Holy Week with Palm Sunday. This day commemorates the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. It is a day that we are asked to rejoice, to wave palms, to picture ourselves in that crowd, be a part of that moment. And yet the whole time, we know what is coming as the week carries on. We know that Palm Sunday turns into Maundy Thursday (Jesus ministering by washing feet and sharing one Last Supper), and from there we enter Good Friday and the death of Jesus. Followed by the greatest victory of all -- Jesus resurrection from the dead!
READ Luke 19:28-38 The Triumphant Entry.
Why the palm branch? It is a symbol of victory, triumph, peace, and eternal life originating in the ancient Middle East and Mediterranean world. ... A palm branch was awarded to victorious athletes in ancient Greece, and a palm frond or the tree itself is one of the most common of signs for Victory in ancient Rome.
Today, Christians around the world are celebrating Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (which we usually call “Palm Sunday,” because the crowd welcomed Him by spreading palm branches in His path). Those who greeted Him were convinced He was the Messiah (or “anointed one”), sent by God to establish His Kingdom on earth.
That is what happened on the first Palm Sunday, the day Jesus entered Jerusalem "gentle and riding on a donkey." He entered in fulfillment of prophecy. But something else happened that very day as well. While Jesus was making his triumphal entry, the priests were praising God at the Temple. See, it was the first day of the week, and according to their custom of that day the priests were reciting
Psalm 24:
Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
The Lord Almighty—
he is the King of glory (Psalm 24:7-10).
So the people in the streets and the priests at the temple were asking the same question: "Who is this King?" The people said it was Jesus. The priests said it was the Lord Almighty. And in a way that nobody could yet understand, they were both right, because Jesus is the Almighty Lord.
But not everyone in Jerusalem welcomed Him; the very next verse says that “the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?'” But soon many turned against Jesus and demanded His death: “‘What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?’ Pilate asked. They all answered, ‘Crucify him!'” (Matthew 27:22).
However, we are looking at the first day of Passion week – In my message titled Get All Excited About Jesus
1. We stand in AWE of JESUS.
READ Matthew21:1-11
At the beginning of Christianity there was a sense of awe. At the start there was no institutions. There were no rules, and not even any fixed teaching. In the beginning there was an encounter with Jesus.
A Man who appeared. He was born of a woman. He came from a certain tribe, a certain town and spoke a certain language. A Man who ate, slept, sweated and could be touched. A Man finally who suffered, bled and died naked on a cross.
A Man who shattered the limits of what was humanly possible. He healed many with sovereign authority over all diseases, over all demons – thousands of them – authority over the wind, waves, the storm and even over created matter like wine and water.
And so, we as His church remain in awe. “What kind of man is this whom even the wind and sea obey?” (Mark 4:41), asked the disciples. Who is this Man who died and yet lives? And today? Can we stand in awe again? We certainly need to. Jesus - we need a sense of awe before Him. Our attention captured by Him.
When were you last struck with awe for Jesus?
PSALM 33:8 Let the whole world fear the Lord,
and let everyone stand in awe of him. HOSANNA IN HIGHEST!
2. We should be CHEERFUL, THANKFUL, and REJOICE.
READ Philippians 4:4
This word ,”Rejoice,” is not only joy one time when we get saved. It is re-joy over and over again at His goodness to us – Hosanna “I’m saved,” each day from my sins and enemies. I’m one of God’s children made righteous by His son.
We need to be excited about Jesus. It is a powerful testimony that can get others interested in our Jesus. Perhaps He will then become their Jesus too. Get excited about Jesus today. And let that excitement be contagious to those around you.
Hebrews 12:28 Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.
3. We await Jesus’ RETURN.
READ 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18.
The second coming fills us with a hope about the King of kings Jesus. As Charles Spurgeon once said, “Our position towards our Lord is that of waiting for His coming.” We, his children, fix our eyes upon Christ Jesus who came a first time to deal with sin and has promised to come again for us.
Conclusion for today: Today we have tried to put ourselves into the scene as Jesus and his disciples march into Jerusalem. We join them in shouting Hosanna! To our soon returning King we are in awe with hearts full of joy and thankfulness. We join the Apostle John in the last words of the Bible AMEN COME LORD JESUS!