Palm Sunday: A Lesson in Missing the Point March 19, 2015

Transcription

1 Palm Sunday: A Lessn in Missing the Pint March 19, 2015 Indeed, I cunt everything as lss because f the surpassing wrth f knwing Jesus Christ my Lrd Philippians 3:8 Intrductin: We can ften take things fr granted. Yesterday I went dwn t Huntingtn Beach fr a Memrial service fr an uncle that I had nt see in years but wh I grew up with fr the beginning years f my life. Abut 10 years ag he decided he had enugh and left his wife and 9 kids and mved dwn frm the Bay Area t live the rest f his life n his wn. Over the last few years it seemed that his heart sftened, ne by ne his kids wrked thrugh frgiveness issues, and each had a different stry f hw the divide in their relatinship was beginning t mend. As I listened ne by ne t my cusins share, laugh, and cry as they remembered their dad, it struck me nt nly hw easy it is t live in regret (a cnversatin fr anther time), but als hw much we can easily take fr granted. Smetimes we have gracius gifts right in frnt f us but we miss them because we ften lk passed them. The truth can be presented clearly but we miss it because we are distracted, fcusing n smething (r anything else), and instead f living in jy and cntentment, we cntinue a never-ending and exhausting jurney that leads t misery. As we apprach Easter this year, we recgnize that it is all at nce the greatest f days, the culminatin f redemptive histry, bringing life frm death fr all wh believe, and a largely missed r misunderstd event. We may knw sme f the nuts and blts, but have nt thught thrugh the events r implicatins themselves. This mrning I want t apprach the last week f Jesus life a little differently. The Passin Week (r Palm Sunday t Easter Sunday - which makes up nearly 40% f the gspels) is hugely imprtant, but is ften difficult t piece tgether hw all the events fit tgether in perfect harmny. S here are a few gals r principles as we apprach ur understanding f this week: 1. We affirm the Inerrancy f Scripture, and believe that each f the gspel accunts fit tgether perfectly, telling a full stry f Jesus' life - We believe that we can harmnize the accunts f the NT t understand hw Jesus rchestrated events in His life, nt cntradicting r brrwing the facts, but each were inspired by the Hly Spirit t write exactly what Gd wuld have them t write We want t knw Jesus, particularly His humanity, s that we can knw Him (Phil. 3:7-11) and fllw in His steps (1 Pet. 2:21) - Salvatin is abut Gd, and Jesus' wrk brings us int a wrshipful relatinship with Him. Jesus nt nly becmes a Savir, but a Lrd that is knwable and wants us t fllw Him. He lived life in a way that we can emulate, by being dependant n the Father and the Spirit, and lived it perfectly. We want t knw Him in His sufferings and hw He suffered, s that we can be like Him. S we want t understand hw He lived, nt as Superman dressed up like Clark Kent, but as a real man, flesh and bld, wh faced this life just like us. I. The Way Jesus Entered: The Offer f a Humble King Jhn 12:14-15 And Jesus fund a yung dnkey and sat n it, just as it is written, 15 "Fear nt, daughter f Zin; behld, yur king is cming, sitting n a dnkey's clt!" Zechariah 9:9 Rejice greatly, O daughter f Zin! Shut alud, O daughter f Jerusalem! behld, yur king is cming t yu; righteus and having salvatin is he, humble and munted n a dnkey, n a clt, the fal f a dnkey. 1 Fr a great read f the gspels and Passin week, invest in a "Harmny f the Gspels" by Rbert L. Thmas and Stanley N. Gundry, r "One Perfect Life" by Jhn MacArthur 1

2 Palm Sunday: A Lessn in Missing the Pint March 19, 2015 A. A King rides in We start this stry at ne f the mst earth-shattering events this wrld has ever seen. As Jesus crested the Mt. f Olives and entered int Jerusalem fr the last Passver f His life, the city erupted in unisn. B. A King rides alne Jesus came int the city riding a dnkey, which was a clear fulfillment f OT prphecy. A dnkey was nt necessarily an dd mde f transprtatin fr a king (see 2 Sam 18:9 as Absalm rde a dnkey after he made himself king), but the fact that Jesus rle alne, humbly. Cnquering kings wuld ride in with an enturage, with peple trumpeting ahead and cnquered kings in shackles. But Jesus came int His city as King, but did s humbly, alne, riding reslute t His awaiting death. II. The Gift Jesus Offered: The Offer f a Natinal King Jhn 12:12-13 The next day the large crwd that had cme t the feast heard that Jesus was cming t Jerusalem. 13 S they tk branches f palm trees and went ut t meet him, crying ut, "Hsanna! Blessed is he wh cmes in the name f the Lrd, even the King f Israel!" Psalm 118:23-26 This is the LORD's ding; it is marvelus in ur eyes. 24 This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejice and be glad in it. 25 Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! 26 Blessed is he wh cmes in the name f the LORD! We bless yu frm the huse f the LORD. A. The Messianic Shut The crwd shuted a familiar Psalm tgether, a Hilel Psalm, ne that anticipated the inauguratin f messiah. This was recited year after year, and s it made sense that they shuted, Hsanna!, Blessed is He wh cmes in the name f the Lrd!. Hsanna is a transliteratin f the Hebrew wrd that means "Save nw", r "save us", and that is what they recgnized in Jesus as He entered. B. The Messianic Hpe This was an apprpriate respnse. Jesus was truly ffering Himself t His peple as their Messiah, and their hpe was that He wuld fulfill all that had been prphesied. Jesus entered in n the exact day that He decided, and Luke says that if the peple were silent, the rcks themselves wuld cry ut, as creatin itself recgnized what was ging n, that redemptin was near. C. The Messianic Miss The prblem f the stry is the prblem we face tday. Jesus came t ffer Himself as King, but He did it n His terms alne. When it was realized that He was the nly way, there was a turn frm acclaim t a desire t kill, mainly amng the religius leaders. They wuld see fit that Jesus wuld nt take away their cntrl and pwer, and were willing t cmprmise their wn beliefs t kill the One wh culd actually bring abut what they lnged fr the mst. III. The Events Jesus Orchestrated: The Offer f an Persnal King Questin #1 Hw did all the peple knw where and when t shw up? Questin #2 Hw did Jesus get back int a city that was lking t arrest Him at first sight? Questin #3 If the peple welcmed Him n Sunday, why did He die by Friday? Events that put Jesus in Jerusalem n the perfect day f Messianic Presentatin (r Palm Sunday) 2

3 Palm Sunday: A Lessn in Missing the Pint March 19, 2015 FEAST OF DEDICATION - DECEMBER - JERUSALEM (Jhn 10:22-39) - 3 1/2 Mnths between the end f this feast and the week befre Passver Jhn 10:24 - If yu are the Christ, tell us plainly Jhn 10: I tld yu, and yu d nt believe...the wrks that I d in my Father's name bear witness abut me, but yu d nt believe, because yu are nt part f my flck. My sheep hear my vice, and I knw them, and they fllw me. I gave them eternal life and they will never perish, and n ne will snatch them ut f my hand. My Father, wh has given them t me, is greater than all, and n ne is able t snatch them ut f the Fathers hand. I and the Father are ne. Jhn 10:31 - The Jews picked up stnes again t stne Him - This was n the basis r accusatin f blasphemy - because a man was making Himself equal with Gd Jesus cuntered by pinting t the wrks that He was ding, and they shuld believe based n them. They sught instead t arrest Him, but He escaped frm their hands Jesus is nw a fugitive, they have tried t kill and seek t arrest Him. S He travels acrss the Jrdan River t the place where Jhn had been baptizing and waited there (Jhn 10:40-41). This place is called Perea. Why did Jesus g here? This was ut f the jurisdictin f the verseers in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was verseen by the Sanhedrin frm a religius side and Pilate plitically. After Herd the great died (sn after Jesus was brn), the territries were divided up between sns f Herd and appintees frm Rme. Herd's sn Antipas was given rule ver the areas f Galilee and Perea. Pilate wuld have wanted t appease the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, since his jb was tw fld: 1) cllect taxes, 2) keep the peace. Antipas did nt need t appease the Jews in Jerusalem because it was nt his area f gvernance, thus this was Jesus avid and evade tactic fr the time being. EVADING & TEACHING IN PEREA (Luke 13:22-17:10) Luke 13: Pharisees frm Jerusalem try t cnvince Jesus t cme back Their ply was t cnvince Jesus that Herd was a bigger threat t Him than they were. This was partially true. Jesus called Herd Antipas a fx (nt a psitive term) and knew the insidius side f Herd, since it was he wh put Jhn the Baptist t death after being seduced by his step daughter (Matt. 14:1-12). Jesus knew their play, and again pinted t His wrks as prf f wh He was, and reiterated that when the fullness f time wuld cme (twice He uses - tday, tmrrw, and the third day, which is a Jewish figure f speech meaning fullness), He wuld g t Jerusalem. He lamented ver the fact that Jerusalem killed the prphets f ld, and hw He lnged t gather them in His arms. 3

4 Palm Sunday: A Lessn in Missing the Pint March 19, 2015 Then He tld the Pharisees standing there: I tell yu, yu will nt see me until yu say, "Blessed is he wh cmes in the name f the Lrd!" This is exactly what was shuted when Jesus entered int Jerusalem n Palm Sunday. But if Jesus was a fugitive and culdn't get back int the city withut getting arrested, and the qualificatin He gave t the Pharisee's was a saying that they wuld never say, hw in the wrld did Jesus rchestrate this? HEALING OF LAZARUS SETS THE STAGE FOR RE-ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM (Jhn 11:1-54) Jesus was apprached t g back t Bethany t heal his friend Lazarus. This was ging back int the danger zne t the pint that the disciples said, Rabbi, the Jews were just nw seeking t stne yu, and are yu ging there again?"(8), and Thmas said, "Let's als g, that we may die with Him." (16). Jesus lved Lazarus, but was s cncerned fr His friend that He waited 2 mre days befre travelling t visit His friend (6). This was the nly time we see Jesus purpsely delaying ding a miracle, and He did it t bring glry t Gd and t glrify the Sn f Gd thrugh it (4) This was ne f Jesus mst pignant, visible, and practive miracles. In Jewish culture, they did nt embalm bdies, s after 4 days nt nly was the spirit f that persn truly gne, but the decmpsitin prcess wuld have started (see verse 39). In ther wrds, after 4 days, a persn was cnsidered gd and dead. Secndly, there wuld have been a large grup gathered t murn Lazarus, and many wh were frm Jerusalem. Thirdly, Bethany was abut 2 miles frm Jerusalem, s the results f this miracle wuld reverberate there. This miracle slidified the desire f the religius leaders t kill Jesus (53). The Pharisees already sught t kill Him fr blasphemy, but nw the Sadducees were nw n bard. The Sadducees cntrlled the temple and did nt believe in the resurrectin, s the fact that Jesus did such a clear miracle was a persnal affrnt t them. The reasn nw t kill Jesus was nt religius, it was persnal and sinful. "What are we t d? Fr this man perfrms many signs. If we let Him g n like this, everyne will believe in Him, and the Rmans will cme and take away bth ur place and ur natin." (47-48) Jesus tk His disciples and went t a small village called Ephraim t the nrth, near Samaria, which put Him n the utskirts f Judea's jurisdictin. JESUS TRAVELS WITH PILGRIM SAINTS TO THE PASSOVER (Luke 17:11-19:27; Matt. 19:1-20:24; Mark 10:1-52) Frm Ephraim, Jesus still desired and set abut t enter Jerusalem fr the Passver, and here He had a master strke. Luke 17:11 says smething strange if we understand the gegraphy f the land. Frm Ephraim, the text says, "On the way t Jerusalem (suth f His lcatin), He was passing alng between (r literally "in the heart f") Samaria and Galilee. This means that Jesus went Nrth t g Suth. But why was this such a master strke? Passing thrugh Samaria wuld have prvided cver frm His enemies, since Jews did nt like Samaritans (they were viewed as Jewish half-breeds, since they were a result f cmprmising with Assyria - see 2 Kings 17 fr the back stry) 4

5 Palm Sunday: A Lessn in Missing the Pint March 19, 2015 Jesus was frm Galilee, s this was His hmeland and He knew the lay f the land very well This put Him back in the jurisdictin f Herd Antipas This prvided cver by travelling with the pilgrim saints cming fr Passver. Grups wuld travel tgether fr safety purpses (this was seen when Jesus' parents "lst" Him when He was 12 travelling back frm Passver - Luke 2:41-52) We knw that there were 2 main rutes frm Galilee t Jerusalem - the Ridge and the Rift - We knw that Jesus tk the Rift Rute, which again wuld have kept Him ut f sight until He was ready t appear. He crssed the Jrdan and entered thrugh Jerich (Luke 18:35, 19:1) befre making His way t Bethany He taught specifically abut His kingdm, requirements f it, and the fact that He was ging t die. He als did miracles alng the way (10 lepers, blind man - Luke 17:12-19; Matt. 20:29-34), and this created anticipatin frm the thrng that was with Him making their way int Jerusalem. This all set the stage fr His cming int the city exactly the way He wanted. JESUS PREPARES TO ENTER JERUSALEM TRIUMPHANTLY (Jhn 11:55-12:11) Jesus entered back int Bethany 6 days befre the Passver, mst likely heading int Friday night, which is Shabbat. Since Bethany was a Sabbath zne away frm Jerusalem, He wuld be safe t stay there until Sunday. Jhn 11:55-56 says there were sme wh had gne ahead f the grup t purify themselves befre Passver. Since there were s many peple flding int Jerusalem, ne had t get there early in rder t get it dne befre the festival started. The general cnsensus questin seemed t be: D yu think He'll shw up? D yu think He'll cme at all? This was due t the fact that the Pharisees had put ut an arrest rder fr Jesus as sn as He was seen. After Mary aninted Jesus bdy, a large crwd learned that Jesus was cming. This was mst likely prmpted by the travelling crwd Jesus had been with. They learned the answer t their questin: He's cming, and it's n Sunday mrning! This is what thse wh had seen Lazarus already had been testifying in Jerusalem (Jhn 12:17-18) The text is clear that the crwd was excited t see Jesus, but they als wanted t see Lazarus. Why the intrigue with Lazarus? Passver was a feast when Gd delivered His peple frm a freign pwer. If this Messiah culd raise peple frm the dead, they liked their dds in taking n Rme militarily. As a result, the chief priests made plans nt nly wanted t kill Jesus, but wanted t kill Lazarus (again). Cncluding Thughts Jesus mved heaven and earth t be Passver Lamb that was needed. Nt nly did Gd rdain it befre the fundatin f the wrld, Jesus faithfully delivered, nt as Superman, but as a faithful man, wh was as wise as a serpent yet harmless as a dve (Matt. 10:16) 5

6 Palm Sunday: A Lessn in Missing the Pint March 19, 2015 Jesus ffered Himself truly t His peple, but He ffered Himself n His terms, nt theirs This is what Jesus cntinues t d tday. There is n salvatin withut Jesus, and anyne wh desires Him must enter the narrw dr (Luke 13:24), must bear his wn crss and cunt the cst (Luke 14:25-30) and renunce all that he has cannt be His disciple (Luke 13:33). Jesus ffers Himself t us, in a similar but dramatically different way. Twice we have seen a call f "Blessed is He wh cmes in the name f the Lrd". Once when Jesus was evading the Pharisees, and nce as He entered the city. He said that that phrase wuld be shuted ne mre time, and its when He cmes again. On Tuesday f Passin week Jesus pssessed the Temple, and befre He left, He prphesied that they wuld see Him again when they shuted this (Matthew 23:38). The implicatin is tw fld fr us: 1) Jesus will return t be the King t His peple Israel, and He will reign n this earth in Jerusalem, and will gather His wn as a mther hen gathers her hens under her wings. 2) He is ffering salvatin NOW t thse wh are willing t believe, repent f their sin, turning t Him, and fllwing Him with all that we have. His arms are pened wide. He has dne all the wrk, and He calls us t enter int His rest, fllwing His example in suffering, as we lk t the future with Him, n lnger at this earth alne fr happiness. Questins t discuss: 6