For Palm Sunday

 

Sermon Notes: Your King Comes!

Intro: Our Lenten journey to Easter via the Cross this coming week will take us through Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday today. We might imagine what it was like, with our own mini parade, waving palm branches, shouting Hallelujah, meaning Praise Yahweh in Hebrew, and Hosanna, Save us. We have the advantage of history knowing all that happened that day, and in the intense week that followed, but Palm Sunday looked different to those on the other side of history.

​

I. Going to Jerusalem

A. Up until they left Bethany on the six mile road to Jersualem, and the Mt of Olives overlook of Jerusalem came into view, the disciples had probably dreaded what they expected for that day. Several months earlier, they had left the pagan village of Caesarea Philippi, supposedly where the entrance to the deep underground cave, where the evil gods of the underworld resided, was thought to be the gates of hell. There, Peter had made his bold declaration of faith, which Jesus said would be the rock He would build His church on. The future looked bright...for a moment, until Jesus announced they would now be going to Jerusalem where He must die. Only recently, they’d experienced a somewhat violent confrontation there with the religious leaders that they didn’t want to repeat. Needless to say, the disciples tried to talk Him out of it, but once their Master set His mind on something, it was not changed.

B. So, for the next 6 months they journey to Jerusalem where they would celebrate Passover. Now, Jesus began to talk more about His death there, which they were struggling to understand. Peter, James, and John had witnessed His Transfiguration, where they saw Him in His divine nature talking with Moses and Elijah. But they didn’t know that Moses and Elijah were preparing Jesus for His impending death and Resurrection.

​

II. Luke 19:28-44

A. As they approached the Mt of Olives, Jesus sends two of the disciples ahead to find the donkey colt He already knew He would ride on his descent into Jerusalem. Riding on a donkey was unlike their Master, but they also knew well the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey.” They would have understood that His riding on a donkey was symbolic of a king coming in peace. Maybe coming into Jerusalem wouldn’t be as bad as they feared.

B. The disciples with the colt joined Jesus at the Mt of Olives overlook of Jerusalem, 2700 feet below, where the road that led into Jerusalem began. They would have expected the city to be crowded with pilgrims coming for the start of Passover. But they didn’t expect a crowd lining the street into Jerusalem, anxiously awaiting His arrival. Word had spread rapidly about the miracle worker coming to Jerusalem. He had stopped in Bethany few weeks earlier, where He had called Lazarus from the tomb, where he had lain dead for four days. It was an unprecedented miracle. Hearing about it, many had come to see the living Lazarus for themselvesSeeing that, the Sadducees, who didn’t believe in miracles or life after death, began plotting the death of Lazarus, evidence of this miracle, as well as the death of Jesus, who was turning the people against them and their beliefs. So, by the time Jesus and the disciples came to the Mt of Olives overlook, the crowds had already lined the street into Jerusalem, eagerly awaiting the miracle worker as their long awaited Messiah.

C.  Perhaps you remember the historic Cavaliers championship parade in June 2016 in Cleveland. The massive celebration drew an estimated 1.3 million people, eagerly awaiting their champions. As the team arrived, “the crowd went wild”, as one sportswriter wrote. The roaring praises, and the pressing crowd would have matched Jerusalem’s crowd that day. In their frenzy, they were ready to make Him King, perhaps expecting fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy, perhaps their overwhelming hope that the Messiah had come to free them from Roman oppression.

D. So, as Jesus, the Twelve, and some followers paused to take in the now cheering, palm waving crowd, what were they thinking? The disciples, expecting the worst, must have been jubilant. Maybe it wasn’t going to be bad. One disciple, Judas Iscariot, their treasurer, who was already profiting from stealing from the common funds, must have been thinking that as Treasurer of Jesus’ Kingdom about to be established, he would have access to great personal wealth in his future. Perhaps the reversal of his mistaken expectations resulted in his despair driven suicide.

E. Jesus, of course, already knew what lay ahead. Perhaps He was reflecting about a similar victory celebration 1000 years earlier, that David alluded to in Psalm 24, quoted in our Call to Worship, and the basis of our Opening Hymn, Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates. The occasion was the Ark of the Covenant, believed to be the Presence of God, being brought into Jerusalem, shortly after David’s conquest of the pagan fortress city that he made the capital of the reunited Israel and Judah. The Ark of the Covenant was a sacred, acacia wood chest overlaid with gold, constructed during the Exodus per God’s instructions, containing the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s rod, and a jar of manna.

F. Serving as a portable throne for God's presence, it featured a "mercy seat" lid with two golden cherubim. serving as a direct link to God,  It was central to Jewish worship and divine interaction, considered the most holy vessel to the Israelites. When moving to another location, it could only be transported with golden poles, inserted through rings on the ark, resting on the shoulders of four Levite Priests. On extended stays, it was housed in the reassembled mobile Tabernacle, in the area designated as the Holy of Holies, until Solomon built the permanent Temple. It was the Presence of God, separated by a Veil, being too holy, unapproachable by sinful man, except the Chief Priest, entering once a year, to sacrifice for Israel’s sin.

G. A fortress city like Jerusalem had large gates. In the Old Testament,

the tall gates of a city were guarded by watchkeeping soldiers in the area above the gates called heads. Visiting dignitaries would send an advance runner to announce their arrival so the gates could be opened in welcome. In the passage from Psalm 24 as our Call to Worship, the watchman challenges the identity of the advance herald of an arriving party. The advance herald announces the King of Glory is coming. In the ensuing exchange, the watchman asks “Who is this King of Glory?” The advance herald identifies the King of Glory as the Almighty Lord, mighty in battle.

H. This psalm of David was written as a poem about the Holy Ark of the Covenant being brought into Jerusalem for the first time. Since God Himself was believed to be present between the cherubim on the top corners of the Ark, it was celebrated as the King of Glory entering the gates, with their heads lifted to allow the Almighty God to enter. One choir was stationed outside the gates, another positioned inside the gates, for the welcoming celebration of enthusiastic residents cheering its arrival.

I. There is a Latin phrase, ‘sensus plenior’, meaning “fuller sense”, which conveys that OT authors subconsciously (yet guided by the Holy Spirit) sometimes wrote about present things, as well as futuristic events of Jesus’ life, beyond the horizon of their knowledge. So the deeper meaning behind their words—the sensus plenior—wouldn’t be fully understood until Christ. So, although David was writing about the Ark of the Covenant coming to Jerusalem in Psalm 24, it also anticipates the Palm Sunday arrival of the promised Messiah to Jerusalem in the distant future.

J. Jesus, as human, would have intimately known Psalm 24, divinely aware of its alluding to the scene before Him, that would also fulfill Zecharaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah coming to Jerusalem. The Lord Jesus, the Lord Almighty, the King of Glory. Then, Jesus begins to descend the hill into Jerusalem, and the crowd erupts with hosannas, hallelujah, Son of David, save us.

K. The religious leaders try to get Jesus to silence the crowd. They may have feared the Romans perceiving a riot was forming and violently disperse the crowd, but they feared even more that Jesus would be made King, ending their power over the people. But this was the parade the Father had planned, and David had written about. Nothing could change its course. Jesus tells them that if they were silenced, the very stones would cry out. God will never be silenced, nor The King of Glory denied.

L. The disciples may have joined in the frenzied celebration, perhaps it was a sign that the future was good. But, as Jesus overlooked the city, He stopped, weeping over the city. He foresaw the destruction that would soon come to Jerusalem. He knew that in a few days after wanting Him to be king, they would reject Him, calling for His Crucifixion. Jesus knew that was His purpose, but He wept, sobbingly, for the people that would experience defeat and suffering because they hadn’t recognized the time of God’s coming to them.

M. The crowd would have made Jesus their King that very day. But that

wasn’t what Jesus had come for. It was like the crowd coming for a Taylor Swift concert, finding Gaithers Gospel music instead. Jesus hadn’t come to be King. He’d come to be the sacrifice that would free us from sin’s power. To die, taking our sins to the grave, so His Resurrection would be triumph over death to establish His eternal Kingdom enabling forgiveness that allowed us entrance to His Kingdom. Despite the crowd’s initial intent, it did not crown Jesus as king. Nor did they notice He had entered the city, not by the main gate as a VIP, but rather by the Sheep Gate, the closest to the Temple Altar where Passover lambs were brought to be sacrificed. The Sacrificial lamb would be killed on the Day of Passover, Friday, at 3 PM for Israel’s sins. It would be the exact time when Jesus, the Perfect Lamb, would surrender His life as the sacrifice for us on the cross.

​

III. Revelation 19:1-21

A. On  the future side of history, Jesus will one day lead another parade, as we read in our lesson from Revelation. This time, the parade will be overlooking not just Jerusalem, but all the world. John’s writing would not be from a sensus plenior, but as prophecy of the actual future. As John continues his description of his view of heaven, he sees a rider on a white horse, wearing many crowns, indicating the completeness and universality of His reign, surpassing all earthly rulers, called Faithful and True, which we know as the Resurrected Jesus. His robe is dipped in blood, the blood He sacrificed for us. His name is the Word of God, Logos in Greek, the term John also uses to refer to Him in his Gospel. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.“ John identified Jesus as present at Creation, and now the One who will return to restore Creation to Himself. The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

B. This time the waiting crowd isn’t waving palm branches and shouting praises and hallelujahs. Led by the beast, the Antichrist, the kings of the earth and their armies have gathered together to wage war against Jesus, and His army. But unlike the Jerusalem reception, it ends abruptly. The Antichrist, and the False Prophet, the one who had  helped in deceiving the people, suggested to be the False Church, are captured, and the two thrown alive into the lake of fire, and the world armies killed. Satan is also captured and thrown into the Abyss as the Millenium, the 1000 years of peace when Christ reigns on earth with His saints, begins

 

Conclusion: Thinking back to the Jerusalem crowd,  where we would have been in that crowd? Waving palm branches, shouting Hosanna, recognizing Him as the Savior, the Messiah?  Or with the short sighted crowd, seeing Him only as the One to meet their immediate needs?  Or maybe one of those disillusioned by seeing him ride in on a donkey instead of a mighty war horse?  But it all goes back to the questions Jesus asked the disciples at the start of their journey to Easter via the Cross. Who do people say that I am? But more importantly, who do you say that I am?  Your answer to that question may determine where you will be when

Jesus rides down with His army of saints.  In the army of the people, or the army of the Christ the Son of the Living God?  Amen

.