Palm Sunday: The Great Preparation
God's Covenant of Redemption • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsThis sermon called, "Palm Sunday: The Great Preparation", was given by Pastor Dick Bickings on Sunday, April 2, 2023 at New Life Bible Fellowship Church, Millsboro, DE.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
We call today, Palm Sunday, and the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, we call Passion Week. Though the chronology of each day of Passion Week is difficult to determine (except for resurrection Sunday), some have suggested the following:
Palm Sunday (Triumphal Entry)
Holy Monday & Tuesday (Cleansing the temple, interaction with the religious leaders)
Spy Wednesday (Judas arranged his betrayal of Jesus with the Chief Priests)
Maundy (comes from the latin, 'mandatum', or 'command' which refers to the instructions Jesus gave his disciples at the Last Supper) Thursday (the Last Supper)
Good Friday (Crucifixion)
Black Saturday (Jesus descends into hades)
Resurrection Sunday (Jesus raises from the dead)
Though it may be difficult to chronologically place some of these events, one thing is for certain that they did happen during that week. But before we just think of all this as a religious history lesson, I want to be quick to declare to you that all events that occured throughout history up to this point and culminating with the events of this week, were planned in eternity past, in the counsel of the Godhead. Before one molecule was created, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit covenanted together to redeem a people who were not yet created. A people who when created would rebel against their creator and would incur God’s wrath and subsequent judgment.
So why would God bother to create such people? And if so, why not destroy them and start over? These are searching questions which are beyond the scope of our message this morning, and are for another message sometime down the road. But this we know, that God’s Covenant of Redemption would bring maximum glory to God as it vividly displayed his glorious attributes of love, mercy and grace, teamed up with his equally glorious attributes of holiness, justice and righteousness.
So as we go through this mini series called, God’s Covenant of Redemption, which will include three messages, one this morning, one on Good Friday, and the final one on Easter Sunday, I want us to realize that the carefully scripted chain of events whereby the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, using the sinful wills of men, brought about the eternal design and decrees of the Godhead for the redemption and justification of a people that they would call their own from the masses of sinful humanity, to become trophies of God’s glory.
So let’s now begin this morning by realizing that up to the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus ministry was focused on meeting the needs of people, teaching and revealing the truth of who he was and who his Father was, and training His disciples. Now, beginning with the triumphal entry, Jesus was focused on one thing, the cross! Everything that happened that final week was carefully chosen by him as The Great Preparation for the sacrifice that he was about to make.
Text: Matthew 21:1-11
Text: Matthew 21:1-11
1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Main Idea: The Triumphal Entry Commenced the Events of the Passion Week Which Were the Final Preparation for the Covenant of Redemption.
Main Idea: The Triumphal Entry Commenced the Events of the Passion Week Which Were the Final Preparation for the Covenant of Redemption.
Jesus time had come to expose his true identity, and implement his purpose ( Lk 9:51)
51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
So we begin with the...
I. Prepared Announcement of the King (1-8)
I. Prepared Announcement of the King (1-8)
You will note that the triumphal entry into Jerusalem was not a verbal discourse by Jesus, but a display of fulfilled prophecy that brought about this announcement.
Prior to his entry into Jerusalem, Jesus prepared his disciples for this final stage of his earthly ministry, and for the third time he reminds them (Matt 20:17-19):
17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”
(1-3) Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” -
(1) Bethphage - traditionally located less than a mile east of Jerusalem on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives. Jesus had been in Bethany (according to Mark, Luke and John’s account, which was near Bethphage), the place where Mary and Martha lived, and where Mary had anointed Jesus feet with perfume, and also where their newly raised-from-the-dead brother Lazarus lived.
(2) Jesus commanded his disciples to do something that may have seemed a bit strange to them, however, when compared alongside the quoted prophecy from Zechariah 9, it made good sense.
(3) Also note that Jesus plainly refers to himself as the Lord, the sovereign orchestrator of these events.
Verse 5 begins with the affirmation:
(5a) This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, - Matthew, whose audience was many Jewish and whose purpose in writing was to proclaim that Jesus was the King of the Jews, the promised Messiah, and to make sure that his readers understood that their scriptures had prophesied this very moment.
(5b) ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ” - Jesus understood that this was a prophesy concerning himself as we read in:
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.
(6-8) The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. - From this prophecy, and with the obedience of his disciples, Jesus provided several symbols to help in his announcement:
Colt:
the donkey and the colt. Matthew alone mentions two animals. Having the mother donkey move alongside her unbroken colt would be the best way to calm it during the noisy entrance into Jerusalem.
The fact that It had never been used (Luke 19:30) made it fit for a sacred purpose (Num. 19:2; 1 Sam. 6:7).
The prophecy in (Zech. 9:9) was a public claim to messiahship (Behold your King), but a messiahship of a distinctive kind, since the donkey was the animal of a man of peace. A conquering king would ride a horse, therefore, if Jesus was the military leader they were seeking, he would not be riding on a donkey. The people seemed to have recognized the kingship part, but not the humble, and mounted on a donkey part, with its emphasis on peace. Remember our Christmas passage from Isaiah 9:
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
First and foremost, Jesus was the one that would bring peace between God and man. Without peace with God, there would never be peace with man.
Remember that the hostilities that we have towards one another are symptomatic of the hostility we have against the authority and power of the eternal sovereign God!
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
Clothes (gesture of honor reserved for royalty) - put on them their cloaks. The clothing evidently served as a saddle. The clothes on the road also formed a triumphal carpet (like rolling out the red carpet).
Palm branches (Palm branches were called "Hosannas", signifying victory that the king would accomplish) - in this case, the victory would be won over the evil tyranny of sin and death, conquering Satan and appeasing the wrath of his father.
As a result of Jesus announcement, there was a:
II. Public Acclaim of the People (9-11)
II. Public Acclaim of the People (9-11)
(9) And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna: "Save, now" (Ps118:25-26)
25 Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
Note that Ps. 118, called a Hallel Psalm, was sung at Passover and considered a Messianic Psalm.
Why would they think this was the time? (Jn 12:1, 17-18 )
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
From John’s version of the triumphal entry we find the following words:
17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.
Son of David: The right to be King (Is 9:7)
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord - The name of God always denotes:
Authority of God
Attributes of God
Approving signature of God
However, with all the excitement and public acclaim regarding about Jesus, sadly, the crowd seemed to be caught up in a mob frenzy and was not convinced that Jesus was indeed the messiah as we read next:
(10-11) 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Jesus, who had fulfilled all prophesy, performed miracles, taught the crowds the things of God, lived a sinless life and who had clearly declared who he was and why he had come, was in the final analysis despised and rejected of men. This same mob who so publically acclaimed that Jesus was the Son of David, would six days later with the same mob frenzy, yell, “Crucify him”. For, there is another group who declared their hatred for Jesus all along, and where instrumental in influencing this mob, as we look finally at the:
III. Pointed Animosity of the Religious Leaders (John 12:9-19)
III. Pointed Animosity of the Religious Leaders (John 12:9-19)
The Leader’s animosity was a result of being self-focused (Jn12:19 )
19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”
The Leader's animosity was a result of being self-deceived (Jn12:9-10 )
9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well,
So What?
So What?
Who is Jesus? Is he to you a means to happiness and success? Do you want him as long as he makes your life easy, but reject him if things get tough?
Do we understand that Jesus first and foremost came to redeem us from the wrath of God on our sin, as the prince of peace?
Are you a person of control? Is the idea of humbly confessing your sin and giving the lordship of your life to Jesus appalling to you?