Eli tells Samuel: 'if the Lord calls you, say, speak, oh Lord, for your servant is listening,' offered as a prayer for the congregation
9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down. It shall be, if he calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, Yahweh; for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
primary sermon text, the triumphal entry, read and exposited throughout
1 When they came near to Jerusalem, and came to Bethsphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
2 saying to them, “Go into the village that is opposite 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 immediately he will send them.”
4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,
5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
6 The disciples went, and did just as Jesus commanded them,
7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their clothes on them; and he sat on them.
8 A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut branches from the trees, and spread them on the road.
9 The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, “Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
10 When he had come into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”
11 The multitudes said, “This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
parallel account of the triumphal entry, read and compared with Matthew and Luke
1 When they came near to Jerusalem, to Bethsphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,
2 and said to them, “Go your way into the village that is opposite you. Immediately as you enter into it, you will find a young donkey tied, on which no one has sat. Untie him, and bring him.
3 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs him;’ and immediately he will send him back here.”
4 They went away, and found a young donkey tied at the door outside in the open street, and they untied him.
5 Some of those who stood there asked them, “What are you doing, untying the young donkey?”
6 They said to them just as Jesus had said, and they let them go.
7 They brought the young donkey to Jesus, and threw their garments on it, and Jesus sat on it.
8 Many spread their garments on the way, and others were cutting down branches from the trees, and spreading them on the road.
9 Those who went in front, and those who followed, cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
10 Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
11 Jesus entered into the temple in Jerusalem. When he had looked around at everything, it being now evening, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
parallel account of the triumphal entry, including Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, read and exposited throughout
28 Having said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29 When he came near to Bethsphage and Bethany, at the mountain that is called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples,
30 saying, “Go your way into the village on the other side, in which, as you enter, you will find a colt tied, which no man had ever sat upon. Untie it, and bring it.
31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say to him: ‘The Lord needs it.’”
32 Those who were sent went away, and found things just as he had told them.
33 As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 They said, “The Lord needs it.”
35 They brought it to Jesus. They threw their cloaks on the colt, and set Jesus on them.
36 As he went, they spread their cloaks on the road.
37 As he was now getting near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works which they had seen,
38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees from the multitude said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 He answered them, “I tell you that if these were silent, the stones would cry out.”
41 When he came near, he saw the city and wept over it,
42 saying, “If you, even you, had known today the things which belong to your peace! But now, they are hidden from your eyes.
43 For the days will come on you, when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, surround you, hem you in on every side,
44 and will dash you and your children within you to the ground. They will not leave in you one stone on another, because you didn’t know the time of your visitation.”
identified as the first part of the prophecy Matthew quotes: 'say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your salvation is coming'
11 Behold, Yahweh has proclaimed to the end of the earth, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your salvation comes. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.’”
quoted as the prophecy fulfilled by Jesus entering on a donkey: 'rejoice greatly, oh daughter of Zion... behold, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey'
9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
cited to support the idea that all creation proclaims God's glory: 'the heavens are telling the glory of God day after day, night after night'
1 The heavens declare the glory of God. The expanse shows his handiwork.
2 Day after day they pour out speech, and night after night they display knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
4 Their voice has gone out through all the earth, their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5 which is as a bridegroom coming out of his room, like a strong man rejoicing to run his course.
6 His going out is from the end of the heavens, his circuit to its ends; There is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 Yahweh’s law is perfect, restoring the soul. Yahweh’s testimony is sure, making wise the simple.
8 Yahweh’s precepts are right, rejoicing the heart. Yahweh’s commandment is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever. Yahweh’s ordinances are true, and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the extract of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is your servant warned. In keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors? Forgive me from hidden errors.
13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I will be upright. I will be blameless and innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Yahweh, my rock, and my redeemer.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Nick walked the congregation through the accounts of what is commonly called the triumphal entry, drawing on Matthew, Mark, and Luke together. His emphasis was not on the celebration itself but on the gap between what the crowds expected from Jesus and what He actually came to do. He closed with Luke's account of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, which he held up as the heart of the whole passage.
What was said
Jesus and His disciples are making their final ascent to Jerusalem, coming up from Jericho along a road that Pastor Nick compared to the climb from town up to the pass, about 3,500 feet of elevation change over fifteen to seventeen miles. When they reach the slope of the Mount of Olives, Jesus sends two disciples ahead to retrieve a colt on which no one has ever sat. He tells them exactly what they will find and exactly what to say if anyone questions them, and it happens precisely that way.
The colt being unbroken is worth pausing over. Pastor Nick noted that an unbroken donkey is not a calm animal, and yet Jesus rides it without incident. The disciples lay their cloaks on its back as an act of honor, and the crowd spreads cloaks and branches on the road ahead of Him. Matthew alone stops to connect this directly to the prophecies in Isaiah and Zechariah, both of which speak of a king coming humbly, mounted on a donkey, bringing salvation.
The word the crowd is shouting, hosanna, means "save us now." They are using a messianic title, son of David, and they mean it in a political sense. Palm branches, Pastor Nick explained, were a nationalistic symbol in Israel, the equivalent of waving a flag. The crowd is convinced that Jesus is about to establish His kingdom in Jerusalem and throw off Roman rule. They had seen the miracles. They believed He was the Messiah. They just assumed He would do it on their terms.
When Jesus enters the temple area, He heals those who are blind and those who are lame, and children begin shouting the same hosannas. The chief priests and scribes, who Pastor Nick placed closer to the Herodian and Roman-aligned establishment, become indignant at both the healings and the children's praise. The Pharisees in the crowd tell Jesus to silence His disciples. Jesus refuses, pointing back to the psalm that speaks of praise prepared from the mouths of infants, and says that if the people were silenced, the very stones would cry out.
Pastor Nick then stepped back ten chapters in Luke to the verse where Jesus sets His face toward Jerusalem, quoting several translations to show how deliberate and resolute that word is in the Greek. He wanted the congregation to feel the weight of what Jesus was walking toward knowingly, choosing it, and doing so for the sake of the people who were about to reject Him.
Luke, Pastor Nick noted, saves a key moment for the end of his account. Before Jesus enters the city, He stops and weeps over it, and the word Luke uses is not the quiet weeping at Lazarus's tomb but something louder and more uncontained, grief expressed aloud. Jesus mourns because Jerusalem did not recognize the time of its visitation, the moment when God was making a gracious move toward them. He then prophesies the destruction of the city and its temple in terms that map closely onto what happened in 70 AD, and he connected that prophecy back to the earlier line about the stones crying out: the stones of the temple being thrown down are themselves a testimony to who Jesus is.
The application Pastor Nick drew was not narrowly historical. He said the offer God made for peace is Jesus, and that it has to be received on His terms rather than ours. Trying to recruit Jesus to a political program, whether the crowd's nationalism in the first century or anything similar today, puts a person in the position of hushing the children, of pushing back against what God is doing rather than receiving it.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
The pastor described the triumphal entry as 'the melancholy entry' rather than the triumphant one. What do you think he meant by that, and does that framing change how you hear the story?
The crowd waving palm branches was using a nationalistic symbol, expecting Jesus to establish a political kingdom. In what ways do we still bring our own expectations about how God should work when we come to Him?
Speaker 3No. It's actually good because it makes it nice and bright. Like, I have my own light on here. Oh, thanks for asking. I haven't I haven't done this in I don't know how many years.
On we go. Right?
Speaker 1That one more time. Hey, good morning everybody. There's a microphone is on. Would you stand with us and we're going to sing holy, holy, holy. We're going to kind of share the leading of the Carl's usually, if he's playing, he's usually one singing.
So, I'm going to follow him. Our piano player, Judy, is off and a visiting right now. So, we're going to take it over for the band. We'll sing a few pretty traditional hymns in our style. Thank you, Lori for joining us but we're going sing holy, holy, holy to begin with.
Speaker 2Alright. Before the throne is what I wanna sing next, but I wanna share a verse from, Jesus in John eleven twenty five. Give some hope and some some encouragement here. Jesus says, I'm the resurrection and the life, and he who believes in me will live even though he dies. And then another from John eight.
I wanna share this one too. That it's if the son sets you free, you're free indeed.
Speaker 1Amen. Y'all can have a seat. Have a few announcements this morning. And they are. There is a Bible study board back there and there are a bunch of Bible studies on it.
A lot of em are women's Bible studies. Realized that this week. There are a lot more of those though and it maybe that there's not a name on that list and you might be the one to do that Bible study. Who knows? But if you want to, you can contact us and we'll, if you'll say, hey, we're from this place and we're looking for a small group.
We might be able to make a new small group but they're back there. There are bunch of names, bunch of different studies are going And glad to have you. So tonight, youth group. Normally, we have youth group here. Middle school is normally here.
Not tonight. So no youth group happening this afternoon, three to five here. Not happening today. And starting next week, it'll be first be high school, middle school here, three to five, but not tonight. And then high school with the associated all the churches in town that get together.
That'll be at the Tribe Ministry Center on Thursday night, 06:30 to eight. So, three to five is normal but not tonight for middle school, high school, and then high school with all the rest of the high school youth groups around town, 06:30 to eight at Tribe. Awana?
Speaker 2Yep. And Awana is on tomorrow, 05:45 to 07:30. It's a regular club night. And Barb though will be cooking for leaders and their volunteers at 05:15.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2She's looking at me like,
Speaker 1She knows that. She knows that. And normal club nights. So it's not crazy hair night. It's not fake an injury night.
It's not not any it's a normal club night tomorrow night, Iwana. Sewing Peace Conference. So last week, when I looked up in the first service last week, I saw Ken Sandy. Do you all know who that is? Ken Sandy wrote The Peacemaker.
He's really, really, really good. Relational Wisdom three sixty is his ministry and they are doing. He lives in Billings and they're doing the sewing peace conference in Billings, November second through the fifth. Our staff, the whole staff of the church is going all together different vehicles. So, Carl and I could come back and still do church that weekend but the staff is going up for the Sewing Peace Conference, November second through fifth.
If you would like to go, if you'd like to join us, please let us know and we'll figure out help you figure out the logistics for how to make that happen. November second through fifth, billing, sewing peace conference, really good. Ken Sandy, Relational Wisdom, three sixty. Boxes are available. I think I still see one back there.
So, there's at least one I can see in the back back there. Operation Christmas Child. These are boxes Samaritan's Purse sends all around the globe. And if you'd like to bless a child and therefore family or community with a Christmas present, We are going to pack boxes here closer to the deadline, but the due date for these is the November 19. November 19 is the due date.
So that's a little earlier than Christmas, but hey, it's on the way, you all. Christmas is coming, barreling down the tracks. So if you want to, you can look at firstbjackson.org and look for packing restrictions. But you can grab your box today and get it ready. This one.
This is an interesting thing right here. Nick asked an AI who knows what to come up with a slide about cold hands. And this is what it came up with, a penguin with a human hand. Now, would you stand and you can discuss the philosophical everything. No, we're kidding.
Would you stand up? You can greet one another. We're gonna start singing. Join us as soon as you feel comfortable. Glad that you're here.
Speaker 2And that's good though. This is good news from first Corinthians fifth fifteen fifty seven, but thanks be to God. He's the one who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. On that note, John 14, because he lives, you also will live. God Amen.
You can have a seat here for a moment. This is the worship through giving part of the service and I invite the ushers to come on forward and Catherine. She's gonna sing, speak oh Lord. And we we did this last minute and she has a lot of courage to come up here and sing. Doesn't she?
Yeah. Amen. Can we just? From first Samuel three, this is a verse that that stood out to me. Eli says to Samuel, he says, if the Lord calls you, say, speak, oh Lord, for your servant is listening.
Amen. I just I'd like to make that our prayer and our song today. But before we sing, Ray, would you?
Speaker 1Sure. God, thank you for this morning. I thank you for I thank you for the kids that you have brought in to this church, to this family. Lord, I thank you for the little babies and for those that are growing up and the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Would you help us as a congregation, lord, train them up well and love them dearly so that they have a foundation of love and truth and that it's a launching pad lord to go out and do your good work among the people who do not yet know you.
Lord, that's what we're praying for us. For those who have not yet reached out who have not yet bowed the knee, who have not yet accepted the sacrificial death of Christ as their own way to peace with God. Lord, for all of those, we pray this morning that we would be useful to you. That we'd be useful to the kingdom of God. Would you show us as humble and obedient servants, lord, how you would have us live and act and use our words.
In Jesus name, we ask that you would be doing your will and your way among us. Lord, bless whatever goes into these plates. Really or metaphorically. Lord, I pray that it would just be amplified and multiplied to do your good work. In Jesus name, amen.
Amen. Amen. Children singing his praises. Amen. Goodness.
The melancholy entry. This is commonly known as the triumphal entry. And if we were to be on a Palm Sunday here with Easter coming next week, I'd probably still have to present it as triumphal entry when there are kids with palm branches waving and singing hosannas and coming in. It's real hard to call something melancholy because I love to hear children sing God's praises. But I want you to kind of think about it differently.
I have preached. I don't do a whole lot of re preaching, right? I don't do that very often. I have been on this kind of forward journey throughout the whole New Testament and we're about five pages. No, maybe 10 pages if you count Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
10 pages from finishing the New Testament. So, we've done all of the epistles. We've done revelation. We've done the gospel of John and the book of Acts and we're just getting close to the end now and the Sundays that I have preached the same thing over and over have been Palm Sunday and Easter and Christmas. Okay?
Those, we're going to get a dose of that every single year. So I've preached through these verses before. I'm going to try to emphasize in a different place than I normally do but I'll mention all of it because it's hard not to. Here we go. Harmony of the gospels.
This is all that we're looking at today. Okay? These are Mark is shorter. That's common. Mark is almost always a shorter.
Most people believe in the Markan priority where Mark wrote first. The others had access to what Mark wrote. And so in some cases, they added a little here or there. Luke says that he used eyewitness testimony and he went forward with the eyewitness testimony. So he's usually is the longest gospel.
It's not today. Matthew is longer today. This all is the same passage what would commonly be called the triumphal entry. So let's get going. They're on the move.
The last time that we had a place noted was Jericho and I've been telling y'all for weeks that this is on his last journey up before the cross. So, we know that's coming but here we are. Matthew 21 says, when they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethpage at the Mount Of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples saying to them, go into the village opposite you. Mark says, and as they approached Jerusalem, they're coming from Jericho. I'll show you the map in a minute.
As they approached Jerusalem at Bethpage and Bethany near the Mount Of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, said to him, go into the village opposite you. Luke says, same thing. When he approached Bethpage and Bethany, Bethany is where Mary and Martha live. It's where Lazarus was raised. Although, we're not in John, so you're not going to hear that right now, but it just, it's right there.
Okay? It's right there. He approached Bethany and Bethphesians near the mountain that is called Olivet and he sent two of the disciples saying, go into the village ahead of you. So, this is a map you can barely read. I know that.
I'm going blow it up here in a minute But Sea Of Galilee is up top. Dead Sea is down here in the bottom. The very top is Capernaum which Jesus made his locus of operations. And it says that Jesus went out. Luke nine fifty one.
Luke nine fifty one is a very much a mile marker. It says, and Jesus set his face for Jerusalem and we know that he's walking it out. So it says, in the next couple of verses, he set his face for Jerusalem and it says, and they were going to go through Samaria, but they encountered opposition. He said, Jesus sent out his disciples ahead of him to make the way ready. And when they got to Samaria, the Samaritan said, nope.
Not if you're going to Jerusalem. We don't want you here. And so, just like Paul and the missionary journeys was hindered from going into Asia, Jesus was hindered from going through Samaria. Now, he's been through Samaria. He has lots of converts in Samaria but for some reason, they didn't want him back or some of them didn't want him back and so it says, then they went across the Jordan into Perea.
So, here we go. Capernaum down to Samaria and then because they encountered opposition, he changes course and goes across to the other side of the Jordan River, which would be Perea. If you've been following along for the last few weeks, there were about five weeks in a row in Luke where it says they were ministering in Perea, Transjordan across the Jordan River. And gaining big crowds, healing a lot of people. They cross into the area there at Jericho and the two weeks ago, we saw him come in between Old Jericho and New Jericho up against blind Bartimaeus and another blind man and he healed them and then we see Zacchaeus climb the tree.
Little man was he and Jesus calls him down. He's going to his house and today, salvation has come to this house. That's where we are in Jericho. Now, Jericho is and I've said this for the last three or four weeks. Forgive me.
If you live here, you already know this. Jericho is like being here at first be and Jerusalem would be at the top of the pass. It's almost exactly the same in mileage and it's almost exactly the same in elevation change. So, 3,500 feet of elevation change over fifteen, seventeen miles depending on how you go. So, Jesus passes through Jericho and up to Bethpage and Bethany and that's where we find him today at the beginning and that is on the Mount Of Olives looking down on Jerusalem.
So here we are. And immediately, what Jesus says, go into the village opposite you. And when you get into town, you're going to find a donkey tied there and a colt with it. Untie them and bring them to me. And if anyone says anything about it, you shall say, the Lord needs them.
And he will send them back immediately. Don't worry, he'll send them back. Mark says, and immediately, as you enter the city, you'll find a colt tied there and which no one has ever sat upon. Oh my goodness. An unbroken donkey.
Do y'all know much about unbroken donkeys? You ever ride one? My dad got dragged through the mud. We had a little pen for our mules. And when we had a new mule and I watched him drag him through the creek and up the other side and back down through the creek and up the other side.
And I thought, man, that looks like fun. I was a little kid. I was not big enough to be breaking any mules or donkeys or anything. He it did look like fun though. But then I said this morning, it came out of my mouth and nobody understood what I said.
I said, he was so stove up though. He was so sore the next day. Thought, maybe it wasn't as fun as I thought it was. But this is a donkey upon which no one has ever sat. So it's an unbroken animal.
Matthew says it's an a colt and a mama apparently. But Mark says the colt is the important part because that's the one that he's looking for. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone says to you, why are you doing this? Say, the Lord has need of it and immediately, he'll send it back here as soon as he's finished with it.
It'll come back. There, as you enter, you'll find a colt tied on which no one has ever sat. Luke says the same thing. Untie it, bring it here. And if anyone asks you, why are you untying it?
You shall say the Lord has need of it. Now there is a concept in Roman culture and law called Angaria. Angaria is a custom of there's no doubt about whether Roman soldiers could say it. Roman soldiers could bid that you carry their pack for a mile. That's sort of like Angaria.
It's commandeering someone to do what you need them to do for a while. The same thing would apply to livestock that they could call it into service like commandeering a vehicle might be done by police officers today. People argue about whether this is actually Angaria. Jesus could have already arranged this. When he slips off into the wilderness to pray, he could have stopped by and said, hey, I'm gonna send a couple of guys over here to get this thing in the morning.
Okay? He could have done that. We don't know that it was Angaria, but it could have been. You can do that. Landowner or a lord could do that.
I doubt that Jesus would kinda use the Lord had said so like the owner was saying it was okay. Although, he does own it all. I don't think that's what they're saying. Now, this took place. Matthew says, he he says it flatly.
This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled. This is where Matthew is longer than others. Others don't mention this exact reference. Say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to you. Now, are three or four examples in the Old Testament of a king coming in peacefully upon a donkey's colt or donkey.
And they're coming in to show that it's peaceable, humble, and peaceable. So behold your king, capital k. That's Jesus says, come into you humble and mounted on a donkey even on the colt on the fold of a donkey. Now that's the beginning part of that is from Isaiah sixty two eleven. This is to encourage the downhearted.
This prophecy of Isaiah. Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the very end of the earth. Say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your salvation is coming and behold, his reward is with him and his compensation is before him. And then Zechariah nine nine, rejoice greatly, oh daughter of Zion, shout in triumph, triumphant entry. Daughter of Jerusalem, behold, your king is coming to you.
He is righteous and he is endowed with salvation. He is humble and mounted on a donkey even on the colt, the foal of a donkey. So, the disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them. I had a professor in seminary. I had him for two years for Greek and he taught another class that was called missions in Matthew.
Like teaching missions from just the gospel of Matthew. And part of the reason that he taught that class is because often in Matthew when Jesus says do it, they do it. Just like that. So Jesus said, go over there. This is what you're going to see.
Say this when they ask the question and the disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them. A lot of times Matthew will add and immediately, you know, doesn't say it in this case but it's obvious that they did. The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed. Mark says, and they went away and they found a colt tied at the door. Just like Jesus said, outside in the street and they untied it and some of the bystanders were saying to them, what are you doing untying that colt?
What did Jesus just tell them? That's what they're going to say. And they told them just as Jesus had said and they gave them permission. Okay, that's fine. Bring it back when you finish.
Luke. So those who were sent left and they found it just as he had told them and as they were untying the colt, its owners. So Luke, investigative journalist that he is, goes and says, who were those bystanders? He found out they were the owners of the donkeys and said, as they were untying the colt, the owner said to them, why are you untying the colt? And they said, well, the Lord has need of it.
They brought that colt to Jesus and they put their cloaks on it. This unridden donkey, colt, unbroken animal. And so they're they're wanting to soften this bumpy ride that Jesus is about to go on. You've ever ridden an unbroken animal? It can be entertaining.
But they're going to soften it. I think they're probably showing honor to Jesus. Obviously, it goes on to say that people were laying their cloaks out on the road. So, they're putting out the red carpet for Jesus. The disciples themselves put their cloaks on this little donkey's back and then he sat on it.
And it doesn't mention that he bucked him off or that he went on an eight second ride. It doesn't say anything about that. It's a way of showing that he is the prince of peace. And he does control the winds and the waves and even the livestock. He sat on it and many people spread their cloaks.
Matthew saying that the mama was with it might have helped, right? That may have helped the donkey, the young donkey. Many people spread their cloaks on the road laying out the red carpet. Another spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. And Matthew says, and they brought the donkey, colt, laid the cloaks home, sat on the cloaks.
Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road for a donkey to trample over. That is showing honor to Jesus. We want to make way his make make his way straight. The others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the ground. I put that.
And
Speaker 3And ir we're
Speaker 1do to that palm fronds are a nationalistic symbol of Israel. It is no doubt about it. It's like waving all glories. Waving the red, white, and blue. It is to wave that is to say, we ought to be in charge around here.
It's a nationalistic symbol. Even though, remember last week, Herod Archelaus and Herod the Great before him. Herod the Great dies in four BC. Herod Archelaus reigned until six BC when he was banished for poor governance. Both of them were pretend Jewish, not really Jewish.
Remember, Antipater, the Edomite. Herod the great was half breed who married a Hasmonean who had Archelaus. Archelaus, Jesus tells that story last week about the king who goes to establish his kingship and then comes back and it's not a great story for the ones who didn't want him to be their king. This is a presentation of we want to rule. To sway those palm branches is just to say, this is our king.
He's going to establish his kingdom now. Now, last week, the reason he told him the parable, it says, because they were nearing Jerusalem and they thought he was going to establish God's kingdom in Jerusalem right away. And he told that story to say that's not the way this is going to go. He was preparing their hearts for what they would see. So they were unconvinced.
They're waving their palm branches. They want their political way. They were cutting branches, trees, spreading them on the ground in front of them. They brought it to Jesus, brought the dark to Jesus, and they threw their cloaks on the colt and they put Jesus on it. And now as he was going, they were spreading his their cloaks on the road.
And as soon as he was approaching, near the descent of the Mount Of Olives here you go map people. Here's another map. Village of Bethany, village opposite is Beth village of Bethpage. This is the Jericho Road coming in. Switch back around Mount Of Olives.
And that section that I've highlighted there is the descent from the Mount Of Olives towards the purple polygon that you see is the Temple Mount. So the view from there, right there, would have been something sort of like this. Now there was no photography. This is a model. Okay?
It's a model that's in Jerusalem. I cut all the power lines out of the background. I cut all of the, you know, paper cups and guardrails. But this is sort of like what he would have seen. That whole temple mount there is known as Herod's Temple.
It's the second temple. Solomon's Temple had been destroyed. That Babylonian exile that whole time. And then Herod's Temple was built. And Jesus looking down on Jerusalem, that's kinda what he would have seen.
And now the crowds were going ahead of him. There's a big crowd, and there were those who followed who were shouting. So he has this mighty crowd all around him, and they are excited because their guys coming into town right at Passover, best time of the year to take over. There are more of us in town than ever before. Here we are.
We've got the numbers. Rome has been ruling by procurator or by their governors since six AD. So that's been this is '33 ish. That's a long time. Twenty seven years of the Romans being in charge and them being taxed through the nose.
Now, the crowds were going ahead of him and those who are following him were shouting, hosanna. Hosanna means save us now. Save us now, son of David, Messiah. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Save us now from on high.
That's what they're hollering out. God's on our side and we're gonna whoop these Romans. Let's do it. Mark says, and those who went in front and those who followed behind were shouting, Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. David is gonna have a kingdom that will be established forever and that's what they're looking for because right now, Rome is in charge. Save us now from on high. Luke says, and as soon as he was approaching, near the descent of the Mount Of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully and with a loud voice. I I think of every Palm Sunday at home.
There's a hosanna, hosanna, shout on the God with the voice of trial. Praise him. Praise him. Waving the fronds and being really really excited. That is the mood in the room or outside.
God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen. All the miracles that they had seen. What are the what's the purpose of miracles? It's to authenticate the message. Now, Jesus is gonna fulfill the law.
He is fulfilling the law as he goes but on the cross, he's gonna pay the price and the miracles were all to authenticate the message. They were also to establish his messiahship And there were those in front and behind who were recognizing he was the messiah. They were praising God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen with their own eyes and shouting, blessed is the king, the one who ought to be in charge, the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Now, chronological note right here.
Luke then goes on to tell a story I'm gonna wait just a minute to tell. Okay? So, we'll skip that. This is it. '41 to 44.
I usually don't go out of order but I think that Luke saved it for the end for a reason. So, I'll save it for the end of this sermon. Mark 11. Mark's about to close-up. Mark's the shortest of all the gospels.
So, this is the half of the last verse and Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple area. So, down the hill to the Kidron Valley, back up the hill, through the gate. He's there at the temple, Court Of The Gentiles, right there. Palm Sunday, the Sunday before resurrection Sunday, before crucifixion. Jesus entered Jerusalem, came into the temple area.
Matthew says, and when he had entered Jerusalem, all of the city was stirred. Now, the city is gonna be stirred anyway. Y'all know when we get to Memorial Day, you know what's coming. Right? You've been here long enough.
Tourist season's now open. The flood is coming in. They knew that because it's Passover. But when this mighty throng showed up, there's a different and new kind of enthusiasm that they probably were not expecting. In fact, this says, who must be causing this?
Who is this? When they had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred and saying, who is this? And the crowds who are with Jesus were saying, this is Jesus, the prophet. This is the one. This is the one.
He's from Nazareth and Galilee. This is our guy. Come on and join this mighty throne. We're about to whoop some Romans. They're in the temple area probably court of the Gentiles, not in the Holy of Holies, certainly, probably not even within the temple proper, but this says, are in the temple area, and those who were blind, and those who limped came to him in the temple area and he healed them.
Let's don't skip over that. I I mean, we're we know because we've been studying this. That's what Jesus does. Everywhere he goes, he's healing. We know, you know, that's not an easy thing.
Actually, if I were to say, what's important about that? That's all important. Everybody that was coming to him. Now, we saw that in Capernaum. We saw that going through Samaria.
We saw it in Perea. We saw it up in Jericho. We seen it coming up the hill But those who are blind and those who limped came into the temple area and he healed them. Now, I said I wasn't really going to dwell on the book of John, but you got to mention, he just raised the guy from the dead. Okay?
If he's raising a guy from the dead, that is gonna cause a stir. That close two miles from the temple. And in the temple, he's healing everybody. Now, what should that have done? The miracles authenticate the message and they indicate his messiah status.
But when the chief priest and the scribes saw the one admittedly wonderful things. Well, that's you don't see that every day. Chief priest and scribes typically are known to be not Pharisees. Pharisees were people of the people. They're they were less in line with the government, let's say.
The chief priests and scribes were typically Sadducees, maybe even Herodians. If you had to look at it from our current thinking, it would be Pharisees on the right. Right for y'all. Is that right? Right for y'all.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Pharisees were typically on the right and Sadducees were typically on the left. So were the Herodians.
More with the government of Rome. So when the chief priest and the scribe, the people in charge, saw the admittedly wonderful things that he had done and they saw the children who were shouting in the temple area. Can you just see these people? They're like, to all those kids to be quiet. Can I believe those kids are acting up?
Have you ever seen that in church? I have seen that in church. Good grief, kids. They should know better. They should keep those kids under control.
They saw wonderful things happen and and the children were celebrating that. And we just saw recently the children being hindered from coming to Jesus. Right? See the wonderful things that he had done. The children who were shouting in the temple area, what were they shouting?
Save us now, Messiah. Save us now, son of David is a messianic title. Save us now, son of David. And they're the ones who are in charge. Who's going to have to be toppled for him to save them?
Either you get on board with Jesus or you're out and that's what they're hearing in the praises of these kids and so they became, anybody want to take a guess? Joyful? Ecstatic? Delighted? Happy?
Did they start to clap their hands? They became indignant. They became indignant. The chief priests and scribes, that's the way that they're described was indignant. So this is the word It is the third person plural, aorist active indicative from It means they were indignant, they were incensed, they were angry.
If you change just one letter, one letter, that last alpha, if you put an epsilon right there, that it changes it from third person to first person from plural to singular. And the last time that we saw this word in our study was about four Sundays back when it was suffer the children to come unto me. And the people were inhibiting children from coming to Jesus. Actually, it was his disciples that were keeping the children from coming to Jesus and it made Jesus indignant. Anybody that's holding someone back from coming to God, that's what makes Jesus upset And exactly the opposite was true for the chief priests and scribes.
They were indignant incense. They were angry. And yet some of the pharisees wait a second. We've got the left wingers that were indignant and the pharisees now, right wingers are speaking up and saying, Jesus, rebuke your disciples. Teacher, you know better.
So we got left wingers and right wingers. Uh-oh. When they start to agree with each other, goodness gracious. What's going on? Some of the pharisees in the crowd said to him, teacher, rebuke your disciples.
What were they saying? Save us now, son of David. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Save us now.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of Lord. Save us now. Save us now. King, blessed is the king. The one who comes in the name of the Lord.
That's a circumlocution for God, by the way. It's saying, God, save us. They probably didn't know that he was divine not all of them anyway. Peace in heaven, glory in the highest. Peace from on high.
And yet some of the Pharisees, I should say, Emily, you can bring that baby back in here. We're glad when the kids are making noise. That's wonderful. No problem. Yet some of the pharisees in the crowd said to him, teacher, rebuke your disciples.
They became indignant. And they said to him, do you hear what these children are saying? Do you get what they're saying? They're calling you the messiah. Stop them.
Because they didn't believe he was. Even though that they had seen the same miracles. Jesus said to them, yes. I can hear him laughing like, yeah. I hear him.
Yes. Have y'all never read from the mouths of infants and nursing babies? Lord, you have prepared praise for yourself. Have y'all not read that? Did you miss that?
Yeah. All creation is crying out. All creation is attesting to this. And so Jesus replied, I tell you, if these young and stop speaking, the very stones will cry out. Now, I love this.
I think this is cool. Crystal in our kids ministry a few years ago had the kids paint on stones and so there are little rocks. There's one in my office. It's about this big and on the top of the rock, says, praise the Lord. I think it's got a couple of flowers on it.
Praise the Lord on the top of this rock and it's sitting on my shelf in there and then, if you flip it over, it says, or I will. Isn't that great? Praise the Lord or I will. Jesus is agreeing. I tell you, if these kids stop saying this, the stones will cry out.
Now, Psalm 19 tells us that the heavens are telling the glory of God day after day, night after night. They never stop proclaiming God's glory and there's no language. There's no language where that can't be understood. Day after day, the heavens declare and then the firmament agrees. But it's not just this.
Now, I'm going to go in a minute back to what Luke says. Well, we'll kind of move back to that travelogue where they're still outside of the city. Jesus replied, I tell you, if these stop speaking, the stones will cry out. So, 41, Luke saves it for the end. He says, when he approached Jerusalem, when he was getting close, When he approached Jerusalem now, let me back up for 10 chapters.
Just 10 chapters. And I'm going to say just this one verse, but I want you to see how resolute this is. I have a commentary. It's a two volume commentary on the book of Luke. It's one of my favorite commentaries.
It's Darryl Bach. He studied this thoroughly and he includes Luke in two volumes. The first volume is one one to nine fifty And then the second volume is nine fifty one all the way through then to chapter 24. Okay? It is, as he put it, it's a passion narrative with a long introduction.
Nine fifty one says, when the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And as it came to pass, King James, when the time was come that he should be received up into heaven, He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. When the days were approaching New American Standard for his ascension, he was determined to go to Jerusalem. NIV, as the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem, New Living translation. As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely.
Do you hear how determined that is? It's there in the Greek. And everybody reflects it in a slightly different way. New new revised standard says, when the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. Young's literal translation, always long and always precise.
And it came to pass in the completing of the days of his being taken up, that he fixed his face to go to Jerusalem. He knew what lay before him and he walked towards it. And when he approached Jerusalem, Luke says in chapter 19, he saw the city looking somewhat like this.
Speaker 3We're the to to church.
Speaker 1Surrounded by disciples and surrounded by people who are literally singing his praises. It says he wept. He wept. He wept over the city before going in. He wept.
And this is the verb right there. It's the aorist active indicative, third person singular, for all you grammar nourish and play ego. Eclausen, he wept. He wept for or he mourned or he lamented. If you're thinking, well, he does that.
Jesus wept is the shortest verse in the Bible. In John eleven fifty three, I think it is. That's Jesus wept. That's the easiest for the Awana kids to remember. Jesus wept.
It's a different word. That weeping is he he mourned with them. It is. He cried. But this one is deeper to the point of being out loud.
Properly. It is to weep aloud to be expressing uncontainable and audible grief. So y'all, if you get a text message that says LOL, you know that means laugh out loud. This is COL. He was crying out loud.
It was to the point of blubbering. It's it's it's the sense of the word. But it says he cried and then he was saying this. So it's there's no doubt about why he was crying because Luke records it. He was blubbering, crying bitterly and saying, if only you had known, if only you had known on this day, even you Jerusalem.
Oh, when you just say the word, it's like Jerusalem, you who killed the prophets. Jerusalem. Oh, where people set up and want power. If you had known, even you, Jerusalem, if you had known the conditions that actually make for peace. And he's surrounded by people who believe that he's the way to get to that peace, but they think he's gonna do it the way the world does it.
If only you had known on this day, even you, the conditions that make for peace but now, now, oh, there's so much water that's been over this bridge. But now they have been hidden from your eyes. You can't see it. Seeing, they will not see. Hearing, seeing the miracles, they wouldn't believe it.
They're hushing hushing the kids. They're trying to get him to hush the kids. But now they have been hidden from your eyes for the days will come. Jesus is prophesying. The days will come upon you, Jerusalem, when your enemies will put up a barricade against you.
That's a siege ramp. They won't let you in. They won't let anybody in and they won't let you out. They'll put up a barricade against you and they will surround you and they will hem you in on every side and they will level you to the ground, Jerusalem, and they will throw down your children within you and they will not leave upon you one stone on another. Wait just a second.
Jesus just said four verses ago, he just said, if these kids aren't allowed, if you don't accept what they're saying, the stones are gonna cry out. The stones of the temple being toppled is testimony to Jesus' messiahship because he's prophesying it right here on this hillside. They'll level you to the ground. They're gonna throw down your children within you. If you've ever read Josephus' antiquities and you've read the scene of the siege of Jerusalem, it's the most gruesome event you have ever seen.
It's terrible. They will not leave upon you one stone on another because you, Jerusalem, did not recognize the time of your visitation. That time when God intervenes in human affairs, when he makes a gracious move leans towards, you have the opportunity for saying humbly, I will accept the gift you've given lord. I'll accept the direction you've given even if it means death. That's what Jesus did.
He recognized us by the spirit. But because you did not recognize the time of your visitation, all of this is gonna come to pass. This is actually and that other was not a photograph. Like I said, this is a photograph. This is from the known known Dominus Flevit.
I'm not a Latin guy. It's a Catholic church that's built on the spot that we believe it was where Jesus when he was overlooking the cities wept. This means the Lord wept. And this is the scene looking down on the Temple Mount with no temple but the Dome Of The Rock. And that's a that's a recent photograph right there.
And we know that the war is happening right now, right there, all the time. There's been a lot of turmoil. The offer that God has made for peace is Jesus. And the one who can save us now is Jesus. But it has to be on his terms and not on our terms.
And if we've allowed ourself with any political anything other than Christ, we are setting ourselves up against him. We're hushing the children. We are saying, we don't want it that way. We want it our way. Hey, I've decided to follow Jesus.
I was going say, I think it's the last slide. The today is the day of salvation. Today is the day. What we've seen in Luke especially is that there are opportune times for us to for us to have Jesus show us his way and so, I would say today, the altar is always open for prayer. I'm always available if you want to call me or get in touch with me.
I'll be around to the last customer service day. But if you feel that God is making a visitation, that the Holy Spirit is tugging on your heart to to receive Jesus, first of all, or is tugging on your heart that you should forgive somebody or that you should take a step towards the mission of God. If God is visiting your heart right now with something that you should do, I'd say do it. Do it. Have thine own way, Lord.
I've decided to follow Jesus. I'm not going to shy away from it even if it means that I'm setting my face towards your mission for me. Now, for Christ, it was the cross for us. I don't know what it is. Would you pray with me?
God, I believe that you have brought us to this point today to hear hear your word. I pray that you would apply it to our lives in a new way that we may not have considered before and that you'd use it that your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven in each of our individual lives and in our collective life with this church be following after Jesus. Amen. Would you stand with us? If you come Hey, already turned off the microphone.
Come forward. I'll turn off the microphone. I'll quit playing the bass. Amen. I love this one but I'm gonna use a different benediction of that but kind of just pray for us a a quick blessing.
Lord God almighty, may we be unified with you, lord. May we be unified with you so that everything that we do collectively, lord, would would be complementary with an e. Complementary so that it would be completing the other actions of the other humble servants of God that would close the loop for people bringing them into the family of God. May we collectively and individually be speaking a word in favor of the glory of God, the sufficiency of Christ, and the advance of his church. May we all recognize, lord, that we have been called out of and called into.
