Sermon Tone Analysis

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Emotion
Anger
Disgust
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Openness
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Anger
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From our Scripture readings this morning we remember the events of Palm Sunday.
And we remember that the events of that day unfolded exactly as Scripture foretold, exactly as it was prophesied by Zachariah hundreds of years prior.
And as Jesus rides into town that day on that donkey, he fulfills the Scriptures.
He is the King coming into his own.
He is the King of Kings going in with the authority to rule.
You see, the Jewish people expected their Messiah to be a King that would lead them out of captivity.
Who would free them from those bonds.
Who would take their captors and drive them from their land.
The problem is the Jews did not realize just who their captor was.
Many of them thought that Rome was the captor that had enslaved the Jews.
Others believed it was King Herod, a corrupt King who just wanted his own way.
But that’s not true.
For you see the real captor in the lives of the Jewish peoples and in the lives of anyone that does not have Jesus as their King, the true captor, the true enslaver was and is Satan.
And Satan had enslaved all human kind for many thousands of years and today Jesus was coming in to show that Satan’s reign was coming to an end.
Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of lords.
He comes riding in on a donkey--humble and lowly.
And he comes during a time of great hustle and bustle—the Passover feast.
It was a special Passover feast so it lasted longer, and had many more people there.
Traditionally Jewish families especially the men would go to Jerusalem for the Passover.
There were millions of Jews there that day.
And they were getting ready to celebrate the Passover.
The beginning of their freedom from their enslavement in Egypt so many years before.
And here comes Jesus.
They will immediately see the connection between what Jesus is doing and the prophecy of Zachariah.
They have seen the things that he’s done around towns and villages.
They know he heels; they know he speaks with wisdom.
Some know him to be a prophet.
Many of them had even heard him say who he is.
They have heard him say that he is the son of God, that he is God, and that they are both the same.
And as he’s coming down the road and the people say and I quote from the Gospel of Mark “Hosanna; Blessed/ is/ he that cometh in the name of the Lord: 10 Blessed/ be/ the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.”
Hosanna is actually a Hebrew word and it means “save we pray”.
The people wanted to be saved but they didn’t realize what they needed to be saved from.
They had their wants and their needs.
They wanted to be freed from an oppressive ruler but they needed to be freed from an oppressive slave master who had deceived everyone into thinking their true enemy was their government, when in fact it was Satan himself.
Now as Jesus comes into town people gather around singing praises to him.
They take off their cloaks and lay them out before Jesus.
They take Palm branches off of trees and lay them before him--preparing the way for Christ.
Preparing the way for the King.
Now as I look back I think about this phrase making way for the King.
Jesus’ ministry began with John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus.
And here as Jesus’ earthly ministry comes to a close the people are preparing the way for him to come in.
John prepared the people for the coming of the King.
And now that the King had come the people were welcoming him in and showing him the way in.
Here comes Jesus coming into Jerusalem.
The capital city of all Israel.
And he is not coming as a visitor.
He is not coming as a stranger to see the sights.
Or to visit a long-lost relative.
He is a King coming into his own.
His going in that day showed everyone that he’s the King.
And he’s coming back to take what is rightfully his.
To rule over what is rightfully his.
But you would think with such a grand entrance there would be speeches, maybe a few miracles but not that day.
You see the speeches and miracles that Jesus makes are always for the benefit of others.
But this was a sign.
A fulfillment of prophecy.
A sign showing their King coming in on that donkey.
And he rode right in straight to the Temple.
And you think he’s going to temple that’s a wonderful thing.
He can teach in the temple or maybe organize his resistance at the temple that’s what everyone thought.
But when he got there he did something completely different.
He got angry.
Now I know a lot of people don’t like to think of Jesus as being someone that can get angry.
But he did; he got angry.
Not all anger is bad.
There is such a thing as righteous anger.
And that anger can be further exemplified in the fact of the coming wrath of God.
Jesus goes into the temple and he sees something that is such an affront to him.
Instead of seeing a place dedicated to prayer and meditation, a place where you could humble yourself before God.
A sanctuary from the clamor and glamour of the outside world, He sees the temple full of vendors and people selling animals for sacrifices.
We read in Jeremiah 7:11 a prophecy of this very day in it we read "Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?
Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.*"
Jeremiah 7:11*
It was a sight.
In Matthew 21 verse 17 Jesus is recorded as saying "…It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.*"
Matthew 21:13*
There is no honest buying or selling going on.
It was all for profit.
People were being misled to purchase poor quality animals.
The sacrifice that people needed to make needed to be a pure one.
And it makes me wonder all these things happening at the Temple how does that reflect on our churches today?
Are we full of all this clamor and glamour?
Are we doing the things that we should be doing?
Are we coming before God holy?
Peaceful?
Truthful?
Or are we bringing nonsense with us that hides God from view.
And the sacrifices that were made at the Temple needed to be pure.
Now perchance some of that was happening in the temple there may have been some honest dealings going on, but the question I have is when these people go in to buy these animals for their sacrifices, is it really still a sacrifice?
Or are they just trying to buy the forgiveness of their sins.
Because to me a sacrifice is something that you give freely.
It’s not something that you pay someone to do for you.
And can you honestly say that going to the Temple, paying someone to give you a sacrifice is an honest representation of your heart?
Does it show that you have a true sense of purpose?
A true sense of loss.
A true sense of remorse.
Does it show that you have a repentant heart?
I don’t think so.
I think it shows that you just don’t care too much about what God thinks.
About how well you can stand before God.
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