The Sixth Sunday in Lent is the last one, and today is Palm
Sunday.
We know the story
of what happened this day very well.
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.”
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.”
Jesus has
walked all the way to Jerusalem, but now, he gets a donkey and rides into the
last half mile into the city. Why?
To fulfill
an ancient prophecy:
Zechariah
9:9 (NIV)
9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
The prophecy
is over five hundred years old, and it was a proclamation of expectation that
the Messiah would come as a King, Victoriously riding in to proclaim his
rule!
But...Zechariah also proclaims another dimension of the Messiah that the Jews missed, and when you look carefully at the Gospels, the disciples also missed.
But...Zechariah also proclaims another dimension of the Messiah that the Jews missed, and when you look carefully at the Gospels, the disciples also missed.
Zechariah
12:10 (NIV)
10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
Here is the
beginning of the end of Jesus’ journey for us.
He rides in as a King, yes, but also as the one who would suffer and
die.
What the
disciples wanted to see,
What the
crowds wanted to have happen,
What the
religious leaders were plotting against,
What the
Romans would eventually do,
NO One
understood what God was up to.
Jesus rides in as the King...he rides into the middle of the Sin to do something about it. They all missed it, and they created expectations of what God should be and do, and what Jesus was suppose to do and what he was not, and they all missed it.
If we are not careful, in our own lives, we can miss it too.
He entered into Jerusalem, and his entrance created chaos. Tables overturned, religious leaders angry and plotting, Roman officials, politicians, want to get rid of the irritant. That's Jesus. He overthrows the religious sensibilities and cultural norms and declares that those who would follow Him would need to realize that it costs them their life. And the end result is they get His life back.
Luke 9:23-24
And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it."
If we are not careful, in our own lives, we can miss it too.
He entered into Jerusalem, and his entrance created chaos. Tables overturned, religious leaders angry and plotting, Roman officials, politicians, want to get rid of the irritant. That's Jesus. He overthrows the religious sensibilities and cultural norms and declares that those who would follow Him would need to realize that it costs them their life. And the end result is they get His life back.
Luke 9:23-24
And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it."
Think about
this…we think that our waiting and our suffering are signs of God’s absence or
withdrawal, and this shows that it is not true!
God is the God of a sovereign plan and purpose, and nothing is wasted in
our lives.
This is life, and we need to Die in order to Live.
Happy Palm
Sunday to you,
Peace
Comments