Hosanna To The King Text: Selected Scriptures Series: The Blood Of Christ, #3 Pastor Lyle L. Wahl April 09, 2017 Theme: The Blood Of Christ Calls Us To Make Jesus King Every Day. Introduction Palm Sunday. This the day we remember Jesus entry into Jerusalem, the great crowds singing and shouting, joyfully welcoming Him, proclaiming Him King, Messiah. Their view of Jesus was literally a view from the crowd. The huge crowd was in an upbeat mood. They had gathered for the Passover Celebration. Jesus entry was on the first day of the week s celebration. The people deeply longed for the Messiah to come, the One from God who would save them, rule over them and free them from the Romans. Many, if not most, had heard of Jesus teaching, and miracles. So, in their excitement and enthusiasm, they shouted Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD; Hosanna in the highest! 1 Even children joined in shouting this, which has been the inspiration for many churches having children enter the sanctuary on Palm Sunday waving palm branches. In their great, festive delight the crowd crowned Him King. But their ecstatic coronation was superficial. In fact, they simply crowned Him King for a Day. On this Palm Sunday I want you took look at this picture with me, and not just of those people then, but also of us now. Many people still respond superficially to Jesus. For us who have genuinely, deeply responded to Him, we want to join the chorus of praise, to shout and sing Hosanna To The King! not just for a day, but every day. That s our central focus this morning as we continue our Easter series, the truth that the blood of Christ calls us to make Jesus King every day.
The Jerusalem Crowd Made Jesus King For A Day. So the crowds quickly and enthusiastically proclaimed and crowned Jesus as their king, but only for the day. As we look at the hasty coronation they held we need to start with that great crowd. Again, they had come to celebrate the Passover the special time God set for them to remember His deliverance of their ancestors from slavery in Egypt. Faithful Jews came from everywhere from within Israel and from far away. The first-century historian Josephus wrote that crowds of over 2.5 million were known for Passover at that time. Josephus is known to have exaggerated, but whatever the numbers, masses of people filled the city wall to wall. At best Jerusalem at that time could accommodate less than 10% of Josephus numbers. The people spilled over to the outlying areas, to the smaller communities close to Jerusalem. This was a huge crowd of people from many different places. A crowd filled with excitement, hope, curiosity. Now let s zero in on the crowd s coronation. Picture the scene: Jesus was coming from Bethany to Jerusalem. That was a distance of over 3 kilometers on a winding road. Thousands, tens of thousands of people lined that road on both sides, behind, and in front of Him. With all those people, it was a very, very slow trip. There was festive singing, shouting, pushing and shoving. The festive celebration turned into a coronation. Matthew records, The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD; Hosanna in the highest! 2 Hosanna! was a hopeful, triumphal shout which literally means Save! or Save us now! Blessed may be a rather routine word to us, and may have been to many of them back then. It was a common way to give, to declare honor God, and sometimes leaders. Together these words indicate they were praising God for Jesus, the long awaited Messiah whom they now welcomed the Messiah many of them undoubtedly hoped first and foremost would finally give them freedom from the Romans and set up His longawaited kingdom. And so, they were crowning Him Messiah, King. What was the result of all of this? Matthew tells us, When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, Who is this? And the crowds were saying, This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee. 3 The celebration spread from the many thousands 2
on the route to the many hundreds of thousands at the Passover. It was a once in a life time, mountain top experience for those people. But, but, those hopeful, joyful crowds made a hasty turn-around. The reality of this is all too clear, all too painfully, sadly, tragically clear. In less than a week, the same Passover crowds turned into a mob demanding Jesus death. Matthew describes it, But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death. But the governor said to them, Which of the two do you want me to release for you? And they said, Barabbas. Pilate said to them, Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ [or, Messiah]? They all said, Crucify Him! And he said, Why, what evil has He done? But they kept shouting all the more, saying, Crucify Him! When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, I am innocent of this Man s blood; see to that yourselves. And all the people said, His blood shall be on us and on our children! Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified. 4 The crowds don t seem to even remember the Hosannas, the joyful expectations of a few short days ago. All of that is gone. The crowd turned on Jesus. Why? How could that, why did that happen? There were some issues in play here. First, their new king attacked the wrong target. Matthew records, And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of praye ;r but you are making it a robbers den. 5 As much as many of the travelers did not like the high-priced monopoly for changing money and buying sacrificial animals, those money changers and merchants were not that important a target for them. What they wanted, whom they expected Jesus to attack were 3
the Romans. But He didn t do that. The whole week was going by and He didn t even suggest He was going to do that. To them He attacked the wrong target. Then too, a second issue was that there was pressure from the religious leaders. Matthew records that when Pilate offered to free Jesus, the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death. Make no mistake, the religious leaders held great power over the people and exercised it when and as they wished. Recall the story of Jesus healing a man blind from birth on a Sabbath day. The religious leaders were incensed and dug for evidence against Jesus. The man s parents refused to tell them how their son was healed because the religious leaders, the apostle John records, had already agreed that if anyone confessed [Jesus] to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. 7 And when the leaders didn t like what the healed man said, they did put him out of, they did excommunicate him from the synagogue. 8 The religious leaders wanted to get rid of Jesus and wielded their power here against Him. Overall the crowds acted hastily without real consideration of Jesus and the implications of what they were doing. While there were undoubtedly some true believers in that triumphal entry crowd, most were not true believers. Most made a hasty decision to proclaim Jesus King, and then a hasty turn-around. The challenge for us today is both basic and far reaching. First, make a sure, certain decision to be a true believer. Then as true believers, make a considered decision to live a life of true discipleship to Christ our Savior, our King. True Disciples Make Jesus King For Every Day. Scripture makes it clear that true disciples make Jesus king for every day. Where does true discipleship begin? We start with the truth that salvation from sin to life with God is offered to all. Remember the familiar statements of Scripture. whoever believes will in [Jesus] have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 9 Then, as God tells us through the apostle Paul, the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. 10 The apostle John made it clear that Whoever confesses that 4
Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him, and he in God. 11 And, Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. 12 In this Easter Season we need to know very clearly that the Christian faith is not religion, but relationship. Not a matter of what we have done, earned or what has been done for/to us, but what we have been given by God s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. As the Bible tells us, by grace you have been saved through faith; it is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. 13 God offers the gift of everlasting life to all. Those who receive His gift are saved from being enemies of God to being His children and Christ s disciples, as we noted last week. It is important to also remember that the gift of everlasting life was provided at great cost. As we have seen in the previous weeks, forgiveness and redemption are provided by the blood of Christ He gave Himself, He poured out His life for us. As the apostle Peter wrote, you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 14 Salvation and a life of discipleship to Christ is offered to all freely by God s grace, but at great cost. Having accepted Christ as Savior we enter, we begin to walk the path of true discipleship. There are a variety of ideas and uses of the term disciple, or discipleship. There also are a variety of words in the language of New Testament that describe it. Sometimes the idea in that era was simply one who was learning from or following a certain teacher or movement in a general way. At other times, the idea is being a committed follower. Jesus statements in the gospels frequently make a clear distinction between the casual and committed follower. A true believer is not automatically a committed disciple. For example, in His sermon on the mount Jesus said, You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. 15 5
True disciples are salt they are agents of preserving truth and godliness in the world, of giving the flavor of the grace and truth of Christ in the world. True discipleship is a difficult path and there is the danger of losing our saltiness, of becoming ineffective in preserving truth and godliness, in giving the flavor of the grace and truth of Christ. True discipleship involves following a difficult path, with careful thought and great sacrifice. Let s explore this way of true discipleship. First, we need to consider the cost. The way of discipleship has a cost which includes God s control, direction and priorities rather than our own. Luke sets the scene in chapter 14 of his gospel as Jesus gets right to this point, Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. (verses 25-27). Don t stumble over hate his own father Jesus strong language is simply yet profoundly pointing out that true discipleship involves the cost of our highest love, our highest devotion being to God. A love that is greater than, has priority over even love for our family and ourselves. The underlying premise is that we are not our own, that we have been bought with a price, with the blood of Christ. The cost of carrying our own cross does not refer to our difficulties and burdens. People who carried their cross in that day were those who were condemned to die by crucifixion. Jesus is telling disciples to assume the position of a condemned man in the sense that we now are to consider ourselves dead to self-rule. Jesus paints other pictures of counting the cost of discipleship. In Luke chapter 14, just before that gospel s record about salt that can become tasteless and worthless, Jesus spoke of counting the cost of building a tower before starting to make sure you had sufficient funds to complete it, and for a king with half the force of his enemy to weigh his resources before engaging the battle. Yes, consider, carefully think through the cost of true discipleship. 6
Then a second part of the way of true discipleship that follows is to make a decisive, total commitment. Romans chapter 6 verse 13 tells us, do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. The force of the words is, stop presenting the members of your body to sin but decisively present yourselves to God. A decisive, total commitment of all that I am or may become, all that I have or may have, this day, and all my days to God. The same call is seen in the opening words of Romans chapter 12, Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship (verse 1). There is a vivid picture of this in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy chapter 15 gives instructions to the Jewish people about bond-servants who were also Jewish (verses 12-18). The situation would arise when people were destitute and, as a result, sell themselves into another s service. God told His people that this could be for a period of no longer than 6 years. The bond-servant would be offered his/her freedom in the 7 th year. The bond-servant, and only the bond-servant, could choose to stay in service under certain conditions: first, if the servant loved his master and second, if the master treated him well. If the servant chose to stay, it was not for another 6 years, but for the rest of his life. His ear was then pierced with an awl to mark this permanent status. That is the question, the decision facing us. We have been freed from slavery to sin. We love God, and He certainly is good to us. So are we going make that decisive, total commitment to Him? Next, we are to live out that commitment each day. Let s go back to Luke chapter 14 picking it up at verse 26 again, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple (verses 26-27). 7
This priority of God over myself, everyone and everything else, which we have already looked at, is expressed as an ongoing action here. So is carrying our own cross, that is, assuming the position of a dead person dead to self-rule. After the decisive commitment there is the daily living out of that commitment. Now we return to Romans chapter 12, where verse 2 instructs us, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Again, this is ongoing action. So, after we make the decisive, total commitment, and with that as our base line we are then to live out that commitment each day. Finally, consider the cost of the penalty for procrastination. It is obvious that not all believers faithfully follow the way of true discipleship. There are a variety reasons, such as thinking It s for the few, the exceptional. Or, I know I should be more serious about my spiritual life, and I will be, someday. There is a penalty for procrastination. Remember Jesus words, Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 16 We talked about salt in the Bible earlier. Salt in Biblical times was very valuable. It was used for seasoning and preserving food, it was used in the sacrifices, along with many other uses. In Palestine it came largely from the Dead Sea. People collected crystalized forms. These forms could easily be contaminated, for example becoming crystalized with clay. If it became contaminated or leeched out it would be useless, not suitable for its purpose. Christians have the purpose of glorifying God, of living for Him and serving Him. Halfhearted, uncommitted Christian living cannot fulfill that purpose. It is a sad picture. Being in the family of God, but not fulfilling their purpose. They have been saved to serve, designed to be good and faithful servants, designed to bring glory to God but have become useless for that purpose. And so Jesus strong concluding words, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 17 Strong words, but also encouraging words we can decide and Jesus will accept us making and living out the decision, or getting back on track. 8
Conclusion The blood of Christ calls us to make Jesus King every day. Today, in the next quiet moments begin an honest evaluation of yourself with respect to Jesus Christ. If you realize that Jesus is not your Savior, or are not sure, make sure. Tell God you know you fail to meet His perfect standards, that you sin, that you are a sinner. Ask God to forgive you of your sins on the basis of Jesus death and resurrection for you. Then thank God for the everlasting life He now gives you and determine to grow in faith. If you know you are a true follower of Christ, evaluate what kind of follower, what kind of disciple you are. Have you really made Him your King each day, today? Are you truly following Him today? Or are you, in a way, just following in a crowd? That is, going along with others, enjoying the high and exciting points, but not making Jesus your King every day? Perhaps you never have faced and made that choice, or, you have slipped off track. Face yourself and Christ s demand squarely. Count the cost, make the commitment and rely on God to carry you through day by day. If by God s grace you have been making Jesus your King every day, living it out not perfectly but consistently, thank God for that grace, for the privilege, opportunities, blessings. 1 Matthew 21:9 2 Matthew 21:8-9. 3 Matthew 21:10-11. 4 Matthew 27:20-26. 5 Matthew 21:12-13. 6 Matthew 27:20. 7 John 9:22. 8 John 9:34. 9 John 3:15, 16. 10 Romans 1:16. 11 1 John 4:15. 9
12 1 John 5:1. 13 Ephesians 2:8-9. 14 1 Peter 1:18-19. 15 Matthew 5:13. 16 Luke 14:34-35. 17 Luke 14::35. 2017 Lyle L. Wahl Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. 10