Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Matthew chapter 21 as we look at this first Palm Sunday and we prepare for the remembrance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We tend to look at this time in sadness in what God had to do to redeem sinful man and with great joy and thanksgiving in what God has done to redeem sinful man. I know, opposite ends of the spectrum but that is just the reality! Before we get to our text this morning in Matthew, let me share with you these words because what you have your faith, your hope in really does matter! We are told:
Mr. Tabor is famous in Colorado history. He was a successful mining man, having made millions from his “matchless mine” near Cripple Creek, Colo. He divorced his wife that he might marry the beautiful divorcee, Baby Doe. This illicit marriage became one of the outstanding social events of the early West. The President of the United States was invited to the wedding – and he came.
But soon misfortune overtook them and Mr. Tabor lost his money. He died a broken-hearted and a poor man. Just before his death he gave “Baby Doe” this final admonition: “Have faith in the matchless mine; never give it up; it will give you back all that I have lost.” Baby Doe, the now forlorn and again widow took him at his word. She lived near, and guarded the matchless mine for the next 36 years of her desolate life, and stayed near the mine, in the face of repeated court ousters and crushing adversity.
In 1935 she died in a dilapidated shack near the mine, her hopes never realized. Her life was a dismal failure and she came to a sad end because she put hope and faith in the wrong object.
- Christian Victory
How true that is and folks, the object of our faith is very important and what we believe in is very important. We can come to all kinds of worthless conclusions, but my prayer as we go through God’s Word is that we would see the reason Jesus has come and apply those truths into our lives. With that said, let’s begin reading in Matthew chapter 21, starting in verse 1 as Jesus makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem as the Messiah, the first Palm Sunday!
Let me set the stage for what is taking place here, this last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry. The time frame is given to us in John chapter 12. We are told that six days before the Passover Jesus spent the Sabbath at the house of Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead, the brother of Mary and Martha. Their home was located in Bethany, on the eastern slopes of the Mount of Olives. And then in John 12:12 we are told, “The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.”
That means that Jesus rode through Jerusalem on a Sunday and five days later was the Passover, on Thursday that year! Why is this so important to us? Because the Scriptures tell us that Jesus is our Passover Lamb. In I Corinthians 5:7 Paul makes this point as he wrote, “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” Thus, Jesus was crucified on Passover and that means this day, Palm Sunday as we call it, must be special and it is!
You see, on the 10th of Nisan families, in preparing for Passover, would choose a lamb for their sacrifice and they would observe this lamb for the next 5 days for any spot or blemish. If they did find any spot or blemish they could not sacrifice this lamb. Thus, on this day, the 10th of Nisan when families were picking their Passover lamb, the Passover Lamb was going to be inspected as He rode into Jerusalem as the Messiah. Jesus would be inspected by the people, by the religious leaders and finally by Pilate as they looked to see if they could find any spot or blemish in Him. They were looking to find any inherited or acquired sin in His life. And after this intense inspection, Pilate rightly said, “I find no fault in this Man.” Luke 23:4.
It is as Peter tells us regarding Jesus, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” That is so important, for if Jesus had any spot or blemish, any inherited sin or acquired sin in His life, then He could not be the sacrificial Lamb, He could not have paid the price for our sin because He had His own sin!
Paul, in Hebrews 4:15 tells us, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” The Amplified Bible puts this verse like this, “For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning.” You see, He did not sin and thus, He could and was and is the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world, He was and is the perfect sacrifice and the work has been completed on the cross of Calvary for us. All we must do is receive it by faith.
Now when we think of a king making a triumphal entry, we think of all the pomp and circumstance that goes with it, the fan-fare. Of this John MacArthur makes these interesting remarks. He tells us:
Most people today have little first-hand knowledge of a genuine monarchy. Those who hold the title of king or queen in modern societies are often rulers in name only, having little if any governmental power or responsibility An elaborate coronation is often the only notice they will ever have of any consequence. But until modern times the coronation of a monarch involved the display of great splendor and pageantry. The king would be dressed in the most expensive robes and jewels and would be driven through his capital city in an ornate carriage drawn by stately horses. Accompanying him would be his courtiers and foreign dignitaries, and following that would be a large retinue of the nation's finest soldiers. In many countries high-ranking religious leaders would also participate.
At the climax of the events, the king would be presented with a scepter or would stand on a sacred stone or participate in some other ritual signifying the transfer of power and authority into his hands. Musicians would play and sing, and the crowds would break into spontaneous choruses of praise to their sovereign. Every part of the ceremony was designed to highlight the majesty, glory, power, and dignity of the king.
At her coronation in 1838, Queen Victoria of England wore a crown encrusted with giant rubies and sapphires surrounding a 309-carat diamond. Her scepter was capped with an even larger diamond, cut from the Star of Africa and weighing 516 1/2 carats.
Matt 21:1-11 portrays the most significant coronation the world has yet seen, but it was a coronation in marked contrast to the kind just described. It was a true coronation of a true King. He was affirmed as King and was, in a sense, inaugurated into His kingship. But there was no pomp, no splendor, and a nondescript sort of pageantry.
Traditionally, this coronation has been called Jesus' triumphal entry. It was his last major public appearance before His crucifixion and was an extremely important event in His divine ministry on earth, an event that is frequently dramatized but seldom studied carefully or understood for its true significance.
- John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Matthew
With that said, let’s examine these verses we have read this morning a little closer because I believe there are some very important points that the Holy Spirit wants us to understand and apply to our lives to either draw us to Jesus or to strengthen our faith. Thus, we need to see these things and also believe them, apply them to our lives.
VERSE 1
Keep in mind that Jesus was in Bethany, which was a small village on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives. It was about 2 miles from Jerusalem. Now there were two roads from Bethany to get to Jerusalem that Jesus could have taken. One of the roads was around the southern end of the Mount of Olives, which I don’t believe Jesus took. I believe he took the road that crosses over the summit of the Mount of Olives for he looked down upon the city.
As they come to Bethphage, which was another small town near Bethany, located on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives, Jesus is preparing to make His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, but first, He will send two of His men on a mission.
VERSES 2-6
These two men were to pick up a colt, the foal of a donkey and this donkey. It is this colt that Jesus would ride into Jerusalem and possibly the mother donkey came along to help this colt out. It seems that Jesus prearranged this donkey and colt pick-up because as His men get these donkeys, if anyone was to question them about taking them, they were to say, “ . . . ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” And that is exactly what happened as they picked up this colt and donkey!
Now, what is interesting to me is that some 520 years prior to this event taking place, in around 487 BC, the prophet Zechariah wrote these words, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah 9:9. Matthew is telling us that Jesus is the fulfillment of what the prophet Zechariah spoke of! That is just one of the over 333 prophecies spoken of Jesus in His first coming that came to pass down to the tiniest detail!
Why is Jesus riding a donkey and not some horse? Because the first time that Jesus came He came as a man of peace and this is illustrated for us as He rode into Jerusalem on this donkey, this unbroken donkey. But, when He comes again He will not come as a man of peace riding a donkey but on a white horse as He comes to put down sin and establish His kingdom here on earth. He will come again in VICTORY!
VERSES 7-9
Keep in mind that Passover is coming and Jerusalem has swelled to over 2 million people who have come to celebrate this feast. During a census taken about ten years after this time, the number of sacrificial lambs slaughtered at the Passover was determined to be some 260,000. Because one lamb was allowed to be offered for up to ten people, the worshipers in Jerusalem that week could have numbered over 2,000,000. It is not likely that the number then would have been much higher than during this last Passover that Jesus celebrated, indicating that the city was teeming with people.
So as Jesus is riding on this donkey, this colt the people are shouting Hosanna and as He is coming over the top of the Mount of Olives and into Jerusalem, He stops and He begins to weep as He looks over the city. And we read of this in Luke 19:41-44, “Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
“Wept” is better rendered “wailed” or Jesus burst forth in tears, sobbing over Jerusalem and her people who didn’t recognize what day it was! Should they have known? You bet, as we will see in a few minutes. In fact, they should have known to the exact day the Messiah would come, and even if they were off, He was with them over 3 years teaching and healing, fulfilling what the Old Testament prophets said the Messiah would be. In fact, of this day, we read in Psalm 118:24 “This is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” And could you imagine what was going through the minds of the people as they saw Jesus weeping, wailing over Jerusalem and what was coming upon her for her rejection of Jesus as the Messiah! But, as we will see, they missed the point; they missed what was going on right before them because they had other ideas about this day and what it meant to them!
Now this destruction that was to come in 70 AD by Titus and the Romans was going to be beyond comprehension. Josephus tells us that the famine, the food shortage as the Romans surrounded the city was so bad that the people began to eat each other to survive. He goes on to say: (Wars of the Jews, 5.12.1-3).
“All hope of escaping was now cut off from the Jews, together with their liberty of going out of the city. Then did the famine widen its progress, and devour the people by whole houses and families; the upper rooms of women and infants that were dying by famine, and the lanes of the city were full of the dead bodies of the aged; the children also, and they young men wandered about the market places like shadows, all swelled with the famine, and fell down dead wheresoever their misery seized them. For a time the dead were buried; but afterwards, when they could not do that, they had them cast down from the wall into the valleys beneath. When Titus, on going his rounds along these valleys, saw them full of dead bodies, and the thick putrefaction running about them, he gave a groan, and spreading out his hands to heaven, called to God to witness this was not his doing.” (Cited in Spurgeon. He adds: “There is nothing in history to exceed this horror. But even this is nothing compared with the destruction of the soul.”
Like back then people today have choices to make. Paul tells us in Hebrews 2:2-3, “For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.” And in Hebrews 10:29-31 we read, “Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,’ says the Lord. And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” There is no excuse for us if we reject the truth that is before us!
Now, as Jesus begins to make His way into Jerusalem, the crowds of people who have come to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, thousands of them began to praise and worship Him, singing Psalm 118, part of the Hallel Psalms or the Messianic Psalms (Psalms 113-118). It is as Psalm 24:7-10 tells us, “Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.” We will deal with what they were shouting in a minute because that is what I want to focus on this morning.
But lets look at this one issue first because it is interesting to me. You see, this is the only time Jesus allowed the people to recognize Him as the Messiah the King. Other times when the people wanted to make Him king He moved away from them as John 6:15 tells us. We read “Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.”
Why did Jesus avoid this recognition except for this day? Because this is the fulfillment of what the prophet Daniel spoke of over 600 years before this took place. In Daniel 9:24-25 we are told, “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixtytwo weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.”
Daniel prophesied this exact day! In Daniel chapter 9, we are told that 483 years will pass until the Meshiach Nagid or the Messiah the King would come. Using the Babylonian calendar of 360 days, for that is where Daniel was captive, and it comes to 173,880 days from the starting point to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the King comes. According to Nehemiah chapter 2 that command was given by king Artaxerxes to Nehemiah on March 14, 445 BC. So from March 14, 445 BC to March 14, 32 AD is 476 years, remember there is no year from 1 BC to 1 AD.
The reason it is 476 years is because we have 365 days per year and thus, you would divide 173,880 by 365 and you would come to 476 years. Same number of days! Then we take the 476 years and multiply it times 365 days a year, our calendar, and add 116 days for the leap years, we come to 173, 856 days, but we are still 24 days short. In adding those 24 days from March 14, we come to 173, 880 days, which brings us to April 6, 32 AD, we call it Palm Sunday! The exact day that was spoken of came to pass! That is why Jesus held them accountable, for not knowing the day of His visitation because He told them when it would be. I wonder how many will be taken by surprise by His second coming because they negate what the Scriptures say and the signs of the times that are before us!
What I find interesting here is that the people where shouting Hosanna but they had another idea of what they thought Jesus should be doing. And try to picture the thousands of people that are traveling to Jerusalem, singing the Hallel Psalms or the Messianic Psalm, which were Psalms 113-118, they encounter the Messiah they are singing about! And what was their response to what they saw, who they had just encountered? Let’s read through these verses beginning in verse 9 of Matthew chapter 21 and you will see an interesting picture emerge and that is not necessarily good!
VERSES 9-11
Again, there was much excitement, as you can imagine. The people were placing their garments on the ground in front of Jesus, they were placing palm branches on the ground in front of Jesus, and they were singing Psalm 118 as He is riding into Jerusalem, through the east gate as the Meshiach Nagid or the Messiah the King! And we are told that when He entered the east gate the whole city shook! The word, “moved” in verse 10 is the Greek word SEIO and from this word we get our English word Seismic from. You see, as Jesus came into the city the whole city shook, not physically, but truly mentally, emotionally as the people are taking all this in and trying to figure out in their own minds what is going on, is this really it?
And, as we have seen, as they laid their garments in front of Jesus, as they placed the palm branches in front of Jesus, they also were shouting out loud, “ . . . ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” Hosanna in the highest!’” The word, “Hosanna” means “save now!” But what does that mean? What did the people think that Jesus came to save them from? First of all let me share with you what the Bible says in regards to why Jesus came and then what the people were thinking. And, as you will see, they are not the same!
The Bible tells us very clearly why Jesus came, it was to save man from his sin, to restore that relationship back with the Father, which sin had broken! In Matthew 1:21 the angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph, prior to the birth of Jesus that, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” You don’t have to be a theologian to understand that. Jesus came to save man from his sins, something he could not do on his own, but God did for us completely!
And, of course, Jesus tells us in John 3:16-17 that the reason the Father sent Him, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” It would have been easy for Jesus to condemn sinful man because he was sinful; there was no hope for man. But He has come the first time not to condemn us because we are already condemned apart from Christ, but to save us! It can’t be any clearer than that and yet, even today many miss the point of why Jesus came and we will discuss that in a few minutes.
First of all, what were the people thinking? What were they thinking they were being saved from? I don’t believe that sin was what they were thinking of because of the times they were facing. And thus, the cry to “SAVE NOW!” that was being shouted to Jesus, what were they thinking, what was their cry about? I believe that some, probably most of them, wanted to be freed from the Roman bondage they were in, they were desperate to be saved from Rome. You see, they did believe in two Messiahs, Messiah Ben David who was the ruling and reigning king and then Messiah Ben Joseph who was the suffering servant.
Of course with all the Roman oppression they were facing, they were not looking for Messiah Ben Joseph, but Messiah Ben David, the ruling and reigning king who would free them from the Roman bondage they were in. They wanted Jesus on their own terms and thus, they ignored the reason why Jesus came so they could fulfill their own desires.
You see, they were more interested in their own physical needs, what they wanted, the here and now. They were not as interested in their spiritual needs, the eternal life! Think about what they were asking. They wanted Jesus to destroy Rome, that wicked empire, but not their cherished sins. They were happy with their superficial religion and saw no need for a personal relationship! But again, that is not why Jesus came. He did not come to offer some kind of panacea of eternal peace, some kind of magic potion. He was not concerned with the external peace but what He had to offer was even more valuable, it was the internal peace with God that only comes from Jesus Christ!
Paul tells us this very thing in Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Here is the problem we have and Paul lets us know. That every person who has rejected Jesus as their Lord and Savior is at war with God, they are fighting against Him! Paul said in Romans 8:7-8, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” The war is fought because we want to do our own thing, we think God is some kind of cosmic kill joy who is ruining all our fun, or we can even be neutral about God, but the reality is, if you are not for Him then you are against Him! We tend to enjoy sin not realizing that sin is like a cancer that slowly consumes our bodies!
The good news is our eyes have been opened and we have received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and by grace through faith we have been declared justified before God, we are at peace with God, no longer fighting against Him because, as Ephesians 2:14a says, “For He Himself is our peace . . .” Jesus is our peace! That is not to say we don’t struggle, as Spurgeon tells us, “I am delighted to find that sin stings you, and that you hate it. The more hatred of sin the better. A sin-hating soul is a God-loving soul. If sin never distresses you, then God has never favored you.” Folks, we are not at peace with sin or the Devil or this world, we are at peace with God, which then puts sin, the Devil and this world at war with us!
Now let me also say this, you can never experience the peace OF God in your life until you first make peace WITH God, and, as I have said, that is only done through Jesus. Once we make peace WITH God, Paul tells us “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Or as The Amplified Bible puts it, “Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition ( definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7.
What a glorious promise to each of us, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding but is very real in our lives once we make peace WITH God through Jesus Christ! We might not understand it, but when we are going through a difficult time, we can feel it; we know the peace OF God in our lives! But again, these people who were coming to celebrate the Passover didn’t realize who was before them, The Passover Lamb who came to save them from their sins and not from the Roman bondage they were facing.
The crowds of people wanted to make Jesus King, but He came to be crucified. Now, you may be wondering how I came to the conclusion that these Jews had those feelings. The answer is simple. This same crowd of people that were singing out,
“ . . . ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” Hosanna in the highest!’” would be crying out in just a few days, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”
Why did they change from praise to contempt? Why did they go from their approval of what He was doing to great disapproval of what He was doing, so much so they wanted Him dead? Because when they did not get what they wanted, when things were not going the way they thought they should, when Jesus didn’t come through, they saw no need for Jesus! How fickle we can be! But don’t be too hard on these people because folks, we are really no different!
As I have said, Jesus is not some kind of good luck charm, some magic genie in a bottle. You don’t rub the magic lamp and get your wish or by saying the name of Jesus at the end of your prayer He has to give you what you are praying for! And let’s face it, many cash Jesus in when they don’t get what they want, they in a sense put Him to death in their life!
Look at the unsaved person who is in need, they are in a very difficult situation and they ask God to help them and when He doesn’t come through the way that they want, then they push God aside!
Let me share with you this story of Ted Turner and I think you will see what I mean. We are told in an interview with Ted Turner:
A
journalist asked why a man, famous for his impiety [sinfulness],
would back a film directed by Christian Ron Maxwell that portrays
the faith of the generals leading the Civil War in such a positive
light-especially in a historical, almost documentary-type film
that, by its very nature, isn’t destined to top the box office.
Turner said his image of ignorance and impiety to Christianity is inaccurate.
“That’s the rap on me-that I’m impious. (But) I’ve read the Bible from cover to cover twice.” Turner is a natural debater. He spouted off a list of religious activities of his childhood to prove his knowledge of Christianity. He said that while he attended a Christian school in Chattanooga, he was required to study the Bible in class each semester for six years. He even volunteered for a Billy Graham crusade and “was born again seven times.” He said he was in the habit of praying an hour a day in his teens.
What shook his devotion (and with this revelation, Turner turned quiet and lowered his head), was the sickness and death of his younger sister. When he was 15, his 12-year-old sister developed terminal lupus, which over the course of five years, destroyed her body and her mind.
“I prayed for [her] an hour a day,” Turner said. “She used to go around the apartment and run into the padded walls and say, ‘God, I’m in such pain; please let me die.’ My family broke apart. I prayed so much. She said, ‘God, please let me die.’ She couldn’t say a whole lot of things, but she would say, “Teddy, you’re my brother. I know you.”
His voice oozed hurt and anger. “I said, ‘How could God let my sister suffer so much? She never did anything wrong. She was 12 years old. At that time, I was going to be a missionary. I was going to dedicate my life to what I really believed … But my religious faith got shaken. I mean, I prayed an hour a day for my sister.”
Turner’s pain has gone unhealed. The famous atheist indeed believes in God. And he is very angry with Him. Rod Dreher of National Review Online noted, “It's not so much that Turner doesn't believe in God as he doesn't want to give God, who allowed his sister to be crushed by disease, the satisfaction of recognition.”
- Cara Baker, February 24, 2003
That is a sad and tragic story but folks, the issue is we are all going to die; it is just a matter of time. It is not if we will die, but when and the bigger issue is where are you going when you die. I am sorry to say that Ted Turner, unless he repents and receives Jesus as his Lord and Savior is going to be separated from God for eternity and all that hate he had for God will make no sense to him then. But God did not do what he wanted and many are like that today, and thus, they put Jesus to death in their life as I have said!
For us as Christians, we too can turn our backs on God when things don’t go the way we want. We tend to think that God is around to make us happy and I am sorry to say, no I am not sorry to say, He is not here to make us happy, but holy people! But, since people want to be happy more than holy, they let their marriages fall apart, they lie, they cheat, they even steal to get what they feel they deserve so they can be happy and in doing so they move away from God!
Jesus came to set us free from our sin – “SAVE NOW!” was the cry and it was a salvation from sin. Once we come to Him and receive that free gift of salvation, then the sanctification process begins as God is making us into holy people, separated from the world and in that there is great joy! And think about it; if all that Jesus gives to us is salvation, isn’t that enough? It isn’t if you are not secure in where you are going.
And I think in the society we are living in today, we believe that it is our right to have everything and when we don’t get it we complain, we fight for it and yet the Bible says that we are salves of Christ, bondslaves and that means we have freely given all our rights over to Him to be used for His glory! May we not lose sight of that. You see, as we look at all that God has done for us, we can rest in Him and we can rejoice in what He has done in His first coming and look with great hope and anticipation in His second coming!
Once we truly understand what we have been saved from, we will not focus on the temporary but the eternal! When we truly understand what we have been saved from, we will not focus on the physical but the spiritual. If we don’t then we will have a hard time rejoicing in the Lord and we will complain about this and complain about that! But, when your hope is in Jesus, you have nothing to complain about because all that He has promised, He will bring to pass.
As I close this morning, as we celebrate Palm Sunday and prepare for the Passover and the Feast of Firstfruits or the crucifixion and the resurrection, may we rejoice in Him and all He has done for us, giving us eternal life with Him. Let me leave you with this to think about because yes, the first time He came as a suffering servant, but He is coming again as the reigning King! He is going to be crowned one day that is perfect in its timing and it will be befitting of who He is. The times of rejection will be over, and at His name, “ . . . every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:10-11.
Remember, the first time that Jesus came He came to bring salvation to man. But when He comes again, He will come to display His sovereignty. In fact, His great and ultimate coronation in that day is described by John in Revelation 5:8-14 where we are told, “Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.’ Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!’ And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!’ Then the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.”
If you don’t know Jesus this morning, may you receive His salvation into your life by faith. If you know Jesus as Lord and Savior, may you go out with joy and be lead forth with His peace in your life for He has come to save us from our sin and He is coming to be placed on the throne, to rule and reign for 1,000 years on this earth!