WEBVTT 00:00:05.640 --> 00:00:10.960 Luke chapter 19, verse 28. A special thanks to 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:13.019 Miss Angela and Mr. Ernest for these beautiful 00:00:13.019 --> 00:00:19.839 flowers that we have in here and out front. Palms. 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:23.179 Well, I'm sorry. Thanks for the correction. Thank 00:00:23.179 --> 00:00:27.179 you for the palms. It is, of course, Palm Sunday. 00:00:27.339 --> 00:00:29.219 You may not have known that. You may not even 00:00:29.219 --> 00:00:32.929 know what Palm Sunday is, but that's okay. We're 00:00:32.929 --> 00:00:34.570 going to talk a little bit about that today. 00:00:35.609 --> 00:00:38.469 We're getting close to Easter. It's a time that 00:00:38.469 --> 00:00:42.350 we just set aside just to praise the Lord, just 00:00:42.350 --> 00:00:44.710 to remember that we have hope, that we have a 00:00:44.710 --> 00:00:47.270 reason to rejoice today, that Jesus Christ came, 00:00:47.549 --> 00:00:51.030 that he was crucified, that he was buried, and 00:00:51.030 --> 00:00:53.049 most importantly, he was resurrected. And so 00:00:53.049 --> 00:00:56.469 because of that, our sins are forgiven, and we 00:00:56.469 --> 00:00:59.329 have a reason to have some hope today. Praise 00:00:59.329 --> 00:01:00.869 the Lord for that, and that's what we come and 00:01:00.869 --> 00:01:03.929 celebrate every week, but we certainly want to 00:01:03.929 --> 00:01:06.590 be reminded of that around the time of Easter. 00:01:07.390 --> 00:01:12.430 Luke chapter 19, verse 28, Jesus had been ministering 00:01:12.430 --> 00:01:16.129 for probably a little over three years. He spent 00:01:16.129 --> 00:01:18.790 time with his earthly ministry traveling from 00:01:18.790 --> 00:01:21.950 place to place. He had been healing people, and 00:01:21.950 --> 00:01:24.489 he had been teaching people. He had been trying 00:01:24.489 --> 00:01:27.689 to point people to really what God desired the 00:01:27.689 --> 00:01:30.420 people to do. What God really wanted was people's 00:01:30.420 --> 00:01:33.400 hearts to be right. It wasn't about outward actions. 00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:35.680 It wasn't about going through motions. Jesus 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:38.439 really taught what really matters is what's in 00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:41.359 your heart. It doesn't matter what goes on on 00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:43.840 the outside if it's not coming from a good place, 00:01:43.939 --> 00:01:47.579 if your motives are bad. And Jesus had received 00:01:47.579 --> 00:01:51.760 a lot of folks that had welcomed him in and were 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:55.239 grateful to see him, but there were always folks 00:01:55.239 --> 00:01:58.430 that really were... coming against Jesus, that 00:01:58.430 --> 00:02:00.989 weren't so happy to see him, that doubted him, 00:02:01.030 --> 00:02:03.489 that were his opposition, that were trying to 00:02:03.489 --> 00:02:05.269 stop what he was trying to do. And this was a 00:02:05.269 --> 00:02:08.069 constant struggle throughout Jesus' ministry. 00:02:08.530 --> 00:02:12.750 And throughout his ministry, Jesus had kind of 00:02:12.750 --> 00:02:15.729 avoided, you know, these situations where they 00:02:15.729 --> 00:02:17.389 were trying to corner him and they were already 00:02:17.389 --> 00:02:19.849 trying to kill him. I mean, they wanted to get 00:02:19.849 --> 00:02:22.550 rid of him from the get -go, really. And Jesus 00:02:22.550 --> 00:02:24.750 had always kind of made his way out of these 00:02:24.750 --> 00:02:28.080 situations. Jesus had told people that he had 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:30.800 healed or done great things for. You know, keep 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:33.199 it quiet. Jesus wasn't trying to draw attention 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:35.639 to himself. He was trying to complete his mission. 00:02:36.580 --> 00:02:40.560 But there came a point where Jesus was going 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:44.340 to have to do what had to be done. And Jesus' 00:02:44.580 --> 00:02:48.520 mission was not just to come and to heal people 00:02:48.520 --> 00:02:51.259 and to share with them the good news and to point 00:02:51.259 --> 00:02:53.120 them to the Father and to let them know that 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:55.990 he was the way. to everlasting life, but for 00:02:55.990 --> 00:02:59.110 that mission to be complete, Jesus was going 00:02:59.110 --> 00:03:03.169 to have to give his life on a cross. And so during 00:03:03.169 --> 00:03:07.110 the last week of Jesus' life, Jesus made his 00:03:07.110 --> 00:03:10.990 way into Jerusalem for the final time. He made 00:03:10.990 --> 00:03:14.729 his way into Jerusalem to fulfill what was prophesied 00:03:14.729 --> 00:03:17.990 about him, to do what God the Father had called 00:03:17.990 --> 00:03:20.289 him to do, and that was to give his life as a 00:03:20.289 --> 00:03:24.360 ransom for you and I. For all who have sinned. 00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:26.879 And so the time had come, and that's what we 00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:29.860 see in this passage today, is that Jesus is coming 00:03:29.860 --> 00:03:33.680 into Jerusalem for this final week of his life. 00:03:33.900 --> 00:03:39.759 Luke chapter 19, verse 28. Excuse me, verse 29. 00:03:39.900 --> 00:03:46.919 Luke chapter 19, verse 29. As he approached Bethphage 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:49.780 and Bethany at the place called the Mount of 00:03:49.780 --> 00:03:53.310 Olives, He sent two of the disciples and said, 00:03:54.110 --> 00:03:57.289 Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter 00:03:57.289 --> 00:03:59.530 it, you will find a young donkey tied there, 00:03:59.629 --> 00:04:03.909 on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring 00:04:03.909 --> 00:04:08.169 it here. If anyone asks you, Why are you untying 00:04:08.169 --> 00:04:12.810 it? Say this, The Lord needs it. So those who 00:04:12.810 --> 00:04:15.509 were sent left and found it just as he had told 00:04:15.509 --> 00:04:18.810 them. As they were untying the young donkey, 00:04:19.290 --> 00:04:22.990 Its owner said to them, Why are you untying the 00:04:22.990 --> 00:04:27.009 donkey? The Lord needs it, they said. Then they 00:04:27.009 --> 00:04:30.410 brought it to Jesus. And after throwing their 00:04:30.410 --> 00:04:32.790 robes on the donkey, they helped Jesus get on 00:04:32.790 --> 00:04:36.170 it. As he was going along, they were spreading 00:04:36.170 --> 00:04:39.790 their robes on the road. Now he came near the 00:04:39.790 --> 00:04:42.970 path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole 00:04:42.970 --> 00:04:46.269 crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully. 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:49.319 with a loud voice for all the miracles they had 00:04:49.319 --> 00:04:53.060 seen. The king who comes in the name of the Lord 00:04:53.060 --> 00:04:56.180 is the blessed one. Peace in heaven and glory 00:04:56.180 --> 00:05:00.240 in the highest heaven. Some of the Pharisees 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:03.420 from the crowd told him, Teacher, rebuke your 00:05:03.420 --> 00:05:08.639 disciples. He answered, I tell you, if they were 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:12.579 to keep silent, the stones would cry out. Let 00:05:12.579 --> 00:05:14.949 us pray. God, we come to you, we thank you for 00:05:14.949 --> 00:05:18.069 these good words. We thank you for Jesus, for 00:05:18.069 --> 00:05:20.870 coming, for coming into town that day, dear Lord. 00:05:20.970 --> 00:05:24.089 We thank you for what Jesus was going to do in 00:05:24.089 --> 00:05:27.149 the coming days. I pray, dear Lord, that as we 00:05:27.149 --> 00:05:29.250 look at this passage, that we see the humility 00:05:29.250 --> 00:05:32.730 of Jesus, dear Lord. That we see the response 00:05:32.730 --> 00:05:36.769 of the crowds. That we would check our response 00:05:36.769 --> 00:05:40.350 today, dear Lord. As we hear this same good news. 00:05:40.939 --> 00:05:42.939 that happened all these years ago, as we hear 00:05:42.939 --> 00:05:47.199 about Jesus today, God, will we be those who 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:52.319 rejoice at his coming, or will we be those who 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:55.800 reject him? God, I pray that you would just let 00:05:55.800 --> 00:05:58.100 your Holy Spirit be among us today, free us of 00:05:58.100 --> 00:06:01.879 distractions and worries, all the things of the 00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:03.899 world that may be competing for our attention. 00:06:04.019 --> 00:06:06.240 I pray that in these few moments you meet us 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:09.199 where we are, dear Lord. that your Holy Spirit 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:11.199 would be among us, and that everything that is 00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:14.180 said and done would be for the glory of Jesus 00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:18.360 Christ. And I ask these things in Jesus' name. 00:06:19.339 --> 00:06:27.199 Amen. On July the 23rd, 2009, in a little neighborhood 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:32.000 in New Jersey, it was a rainy day, and a homeowner 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:36.139 in a neighborhood had called the police. They 00:06:36.139 --> 00:06:38.680 called the police because there was a kind of 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:42.180 disheveled -looking man wearing a pair of black 00:06:42.180 --> 00:06:45.420 sweatpants and two raincoats, kind of wandering 00:06:45.420 --> 00:06:48.079 around the neighborhood and had wandered into 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:51.639 their yard. And so they called the police, and 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:53.459 they said, hey, look, there's this eccentric 00:06:53.459 --> 00:06:56.220 old man, and he looks kind of shady, and he's 00:06:56.220 --> 00:06:59.040 in our neighborhood. Could you send somebody 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:03.139 out? And so they did. They sent an officer out. 00:07:03.579 --> 00:07:06.519 And the officer arrived, and sure enough, the 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:10.879 man was still there. And he asked the guy his 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:14.439 name, of course. The guy's name was Robert. His 00:07:14.439 --> 00:07:16.420 friends called him Bob, but his name was Robert. 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:20.720 And the police officer was questioning him, and 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:22.980 he proceeded to tell the police officer that 00:07:22.980 --> 00:07:26.660 he was on tour with Willie Nelson locally. He 00:07:26.660 --> 00:07:30.180 was on tour. And, of course, the officer knew 00:07:30.180 --> 00:07:32.939 better than that. This old homeless guy was not. 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:37.079 on tour with Willie Nelson. But the officer nonetheless 00:07:37.079 --> 00:07:40.540 humored the guy and said, well, I'll give you 00:07:40.540 --> 00:07:42.319 an opportunity. The guy said, I don't have my 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:45.060 ID, but if you'll go back with me to my hotel, 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:50.120 I'll get my ID for you. And so the officer took 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:54.480 the guy back to his hotel and he pulled out his 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:59.060 driver's license. And sure enough, he was Robert 00:07:59.060 --> 00:08:03.019 Allen Zimmerman. Now, you probably don't know 00:08:03.019 --> 00:08:08.240 Robert Allen Zimmerman, but you probably do know 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:13.660 Bob Dylan, and that's who it was. This officer 00:08:13.660 --> 00:08:16.699 was getting ready to arrest Bob Dylan, and he, 00:08:16.839 --> 00:08:20.339 in fact, was on tour with Willie Nelson. And 00:08:20.339 --> 00:08:23.060 this disheveled old man was simply walking around 00:08:23.060 --> 00:08:26.800 before they got ready to perform that night. 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:30.810 And here was a legend, a legend. Most everybody 00:08:30.810 --> 00:08:34.769 has probably heard of Bob Dylan. You may have 00:08:34.769 --> 00:08:37.389 even heard a song of his that you didn't know 00:08:37.389 --> 00:08:40.070 it was him. Or perhaps if you saw him on the 00:08:40.070 --> 00:08:42.710 street, perhaps you wouldn't recognize him either. 00:08:43.330 --> 00:08:47.789 But Bob Dylan was a legend. But because of his 00:08:47.789 --> 00:08:51.850 appearance, because of what he looked like, he 00:08:51.850 --> 00:08:56.490 had been written off as a lunatic. And that's 00:08:56.490 --> 00:08:58.629 kind of similar to what happened with Jesus. 00:08:59.789 --> 00:09:03.009 And Jesus had accomplished many things. Man, 00:09:03.009 --> 00:09:04.669 you look at what Bob Dylan has accomplished. 00:09:04.909 --> 00:09:07.190 He's got all kind of medals. He's won the Pulitzer 00:09:07.190 --> 00:09:10.110 Prize. He's a ten -time Grammy winner. He had 00:09:10.110 --> 00:09:12.889 all these accomplishments that were well known, 00:09:13.110 --> 00:09:18.690 but not to the people who saw him that day. The 00:09:18.690 --> 00:09:20.570 people who saw him that day didn't see a rock 00:09:20.570 --> 00:09:23.450 star with all these accomplishments. Had they 00:09:23.450 --> 00:09:25.289 been in a stadium and he had been introduced 00:09:25.289 --> 00:09:27.929 and called to the stage, here's Bob Dylan, they 00:09:27.929 --> 00:09:30.299 would have cheered. They would have rejoiced. 00:09:31.820 --> 00:09:34.860 But seeing him on the street in sweatpants with 00:09:34.860 --> 00:09:39.159 two raincoats on, they wrote him off. This is 00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:45.179 a crazy dude. And so it was with Jesus. Jesus 00:09:45.179 --> 00:09:49.120 had accomplished many great things. Jesus had 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:52.299 healed people. Jesus had healed the sick. He 00:09:52.299 --> 00:09:54.299 had raised the dead. He had caused the blind 00:09:54.299 --> 00:09:56.860 to see. He had caused the lame to walk. He had 00:09:56.860 --> 00:10:01.240 caused the deaf to hear. And Jesus' name had 00:10:01.240 --> 00:10:06.940 spread, and some of them wrote Jesus off as a 00:10:06.940 --> 00:10:12.000 lunatic. They said, this dude is crazy. What 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:13.980 they were looking for, in a sense, was a rock 00:10:13.980 --> 00:10:17.179 star. There were a lot of people who were looking 00:10:17.179 --> 00:10:19.539 for the Messiah because what we call the Old 00:10:19.539 --> 00:10:23.480 Testament was full of prophecies of this Messiah 00:10:23.480 --> 00:10:26.700 who was going to come. And the Messiah that was 00:10:26.700 --> 00:10:28.850 going to come, He was going to be a pretty big 00:10:28.850 --> 00:10:31.690 deal because he was going to free people. He 00:10:31.690 --> 00:10:34.649 was going to deliver people. He was finally going 00:10:34.649 --> 00:10:39.070 to bring victory for God, for God's people. And 00:10:39.070 --> 00:10:41.990 God's people in their mind had a certain way 00:10:41.990 --> 00:10:44.070 that they thought that that was going to look. 00:10:45.429 --> 00:10:48.769 I mean, they knew what kings looked like. Kings 00:10:48.769 --> 00:10:51.789 were pretty spectacular folks. I mean, they had 00:10:51.789 --> 00:10:55.529 palaces and they sat on thrones. They wore the 00:10:55.529 --> 00:10:58.809 finest of clothes. They had servants. They would 00:10:58.809 --> 00:11:01.289 speak and things would happen and they would 00:11:01.289 --> 00:11:04.549 rule with an iron fist and they would let their 00:11:04.549 --> 00:11:08.149 authority be made known to all that I am the 00:11:08.149 --> 00:11:13.690 king and what I do, what I say, you do. And they 00:11:13.690 --> 00:11:16.750 had this expectation, I believe, of this type 00:11:16.750 --> 00:11:20.750 of king, that the Messiah would come, he'd be 00:11:20.750 --> 00:11:24.159 ushered in, that his kingdom would look... like 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:28.120 other worldly kingdoms that kings had and that 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:32.700 he would begin to rule with an iron fist. But 00:11:32.700 --> 00:11:35.299 when Jesus came onto the scene, he did not really 00:11:35.299 --> 00:11:39.240 look like all the other kings. There's one thing 00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:43.799 that is key about when Jesus came and how Jesus 00:11:43.799 --> 00:11:47.820 served and how Jesus left this world. And the 00:11:47.820 --> 00:11:49.980 key that we see throughout the life of Jesus 00:11:49.980 --> 00:11:56.490 is humility. Jesus did not come as a proud king, 00:11:56.830 --> 00:12:00.889 as a showy king. Jesus came with all authority 00:12:00.889 --> 00:12:04.529 in the world, but he didn't lord it over people. 00:12:05.610 --> 00:12:08.450 Jesus didn't say, I am the son of God, bow before 00:12:08.450 --> 00:12:11.649 me. He could have said that, and rightfully so. 00:12:11.929 --> 00:12:15.909 He is the son of God, and one day we shall all 00:12:15.909 --> 00:12:20.529 bow before him. Jesus didn't come with that type 00:12:20.529 --> 00:12:24.730 of heart. He came with a humble heart. He even 00:12:24.730 --> 00:12:27.330 told his disciples, he said, look, the rulers 00:12:27.330 --> 00:12:30.149 that you see in this world, that's how they use 00:12:30.149 --> 00:12:33.669 their power. They lord it over people. But Jesus 00:12:33.669 --> 00:12:36.210 told his disciples, he said, it must not be that 00:12:36.210 --> 00:12:40.669 way among you. He said, you must be a servant 00:12:40.669 --> 00:12:47.029 of all. That's good for us to think about. We 00:12:47.029 --> 00:12:49.450 probably don't want to have that type of heart. 00:12:49.549 --> 00:12:52.570 We probably... in some ways have a proud heart. 00:12:52.710 --> 00:12:54.429 We want to be the one that's barking out the 00:12:54.429 --> 00:12:56.830 orders. We want to be the one that's in the place 00:12:56.830 --> 00:13:00.190 of honor. I think our human tendency is we kind 00:13:00.190 --> 00:13:02.870 of like those things. We like feeling like we 00:13:02.870 --> 00:13:05.250 have the power and we like feeling like we have 00:13:05.250 --> 00:13:07.590 the authority and we like feeling like we're 00:13:07.590 --> 00:13:13.669 somebody. But Jesus warns and the scripture warns, 00:13:13.669 --> 00:13:15.450 hey, you got to be careful not to fall into that 00:13:15.450 --> 00:13:20.580 trap. Jesus not only came and told us, What to 00:13:20.580 --> 00:13:24.799 do? Jesus showed us what to do. For three plus 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:30.519 years, Jesus came in humility. He was born, born 00:13:30.519 --> 00:13:34.539 with the cattle. He was born and laid in a manger. 00:13:34.919 --> 00:13:38.399 There wasn't any fanfare. There weren't royal 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:41.340 trumpets blasting in the streets. He wasn't laid 00:13:41.340 --> 00:13:45.500 in a golden crib. He laid a little hay wrapped 00:13:45.500 --> 00:13:49.500 in swaddling clothes. From the get -go, Jesus 00:13:49.500 --> 00:13:55.240 came in humility. Jesus' concern was not about 00:13:55.240 --> 00:14:00.440 drawing attention to himself. Jesus' main goal 00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:03.240 and desire from beginning to end was doing the 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:05.960 will of his Father. That's what Jesus wanted 00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:09.139 to do. Father, I want to do your will. I want 00:14:09.139 --> 00:14:12.460 to serve you, God. I want to serve these people. 00:14:13.319 --> 00:14:16.000 I want to help these people. I want to show them 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:18.059 the truth, God. I want to lead them on the way. 00:14:18.139 --> 00:14:22.279 I want to make a way for them. God, they cannot 00:14:22.279 --> 00:14:25.080 do this on their own. They cannot be forgiven 00:14:25.080 --> 00:14:28.360 of their sins on their own. And so Jesus humbly 00:14:28.360 --> 00:14:32.100 came to this old nasty world that's full of all 00:14:32.100 --> 00:14:34.039 the junk that you and I go through, and Jesus 00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:35.919 said, I'm going to come, and I'm going to make 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:39.179 a path that they can follow me. It takes a lot 00:14:39.179 --> 00:14:44.240 of humility. So Jesus was unlike all the other 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:46.679 leaders of his day. The other religious leaders, 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:49.399 it was a lot of them we see in Scripture, and 00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:52.019 their heart wasn't right, and Jesus called them 00:14:52.019 --> 00:14:55.200 out on that. And Jesus came with a whole different 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:59.000 heart. He came with a heart of humility, and 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:02.700 people recognize that. Now, I think we would 00:15:02.700 --> 00:15:07.240 all agree that we probably aren't drawn as much 00:15:07.240 --> 00:15:10.230 to leadership. That rules with an iron fist. 00:15:10.470 --> 00:15:13.309 We probably aren't drawn as much to someone who 00:15:13.309 --> 00:15:16.389 has the authority that always says, I am the 00:15:16.389 --> 00:15:20.429 one in charge. You do what I say. I'm the leader 00:15:20.429 --> 00:15:25.169 here. Well, that's not very appealing. When Jesus 00:15:25.169 --> 00:15:28.250 came onto the scene, he didn't have that heart 00:15:28.250 --> 00:15:33.490 at all. Jesus just loved people. People that 00:15:33.490 --> 00:15:38.320 other religious leaders didn't love. Jesus would 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:41.000 hang out with kind of the rough folks, the tax 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:44.860 collectors and the sinners. And he was even called 00:15:44.860 --> 00:15:48.139 out for it. Like, why are you doing this? Why 00:15:48.139 --> 00:15:51.080 are you associating with these lower people? 00:15:52.460 --> 00:15:54.580 Because that's who Jesus came to save. He said, 00:15:54.620 --> 00:15:57.460 look, I came to save the sick. It's the sick 00:15:57.460 --> 00:15:59.240 that need a doctor. The well don't need a doctor. 00:15:59.460 --> 00:16:01.419 There were plenty of religious people that thought 00:16:01.419 --> 00:16:03.820 they were well, that thought they were holier 00:16:03.820 --> 00:16:07.110 than thou. And there wasn't a whole lot of hope 00:16:07.110 --> 00:16:09.309 for them if they continued to have that heart. 00:16:10.289 --> 00:16:14.409 But Jesus said, I'm here to have compassion on 00:16:14.409 --> 00:16:15.990 those of you who are struggling, those of you 00:16:15.990 --> 00:16:17.710 who are sick, those of you who know your sin. 00:16:20.090 --> 00:16:23.549 Jesus wasn't okay with their sin. He told the 00:16:23.549 --> 00:16:25.250 woman caught in adultery that was brought before 00:16:25.250 --> 00:16:28.549 him. Man, they were ready to stone her. They 00:16:28.549 --> 00:16:32.330 were ready. And Jesus so cleverly said, okay, 00:16:32.470 --> 00:16:35.740 that's fine. You want to stone her? Well, whoever's 00:16:35.740 --> 00:16:38.440 never sinned before, you go ahead and start the 00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:42.980 stoning. You throw the first one. And the scripture 00:16:42.980 --> 00:16:46.679 says that nobody threw a stone and all of her 00:16:46.679 --> 00:16:52.179 accusers were gone. And Jesus said to her, does 00:16:52.179 --> 00:16:56.559 anybody condemn you? She said, no, there was 00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:02.750 nobody there. And Jesus says, neither do I. Perhaps 00:17:02.750 --> 00:17:05.769 we are not so unlike that woman. Maybe our sin 00:17:05.769 --> 00:17:09.490 is not adultery. Maybe it is. But whatever our 00:17:09.490 --> 00:17:12.410 sin is, when we read the scripture, we are brought 00:17:12.410 --> 00:17:18.890 before Jesus with our sin before us. And we feel 00:17:18.890 --> 00:17:21.210 the condemnation and the guilt of that. And maybe 00:17:21.210 --> 00:17:23.470 those around us make us feel that even more. 00:17:26.150 --> 00:17:30.500 But as we sit at the feet of Jesus, If we would 00:17:30.500 --> 00:17:32.500 come and seek him and look up to him and acknowledge 00:17:32.500 --> 00:17:36.880 our sinfulness and ask for forgiveness, Jesus 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:39.200 would say to you, neither do I condemn you either. 00:17:40.420 --> 00:17:43.240 And he told her afterwards, go and sin no more. 00:17:44.700 --> 00:17:48.980 And so Jesus' humility was evident in the way 00:17:48.980 --> 00:17:52.220 that he treated people, in the way that he interacted. 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:56.599 He's willing to associate with anybody. Sadly, 00:17:56.759 --> 00:17:59.930 the most religious people, a lot of them, Didn't 00:17:59.930 --> 00:18:01.809 want anything to do with him. He would have associated 00:18:01.809 --> 00:18:05.250 with them just the same. Anybody who would come 00:18:05.250 --> 00:18:09.750 to seek and to try to learn and to be healed, 00:18:09.890 --> 00:18:12.730 those with faith and those with the desire, Jesus 00:18:12.730 --> 00:18:15.869 was willing to explain to them, even the disciples, 00:18:16.029 --> 00:18:18.029 they didn't understand a lot of stuff Jesus said. 00:18:18.089 --> 00:18:20.930 They were so clueless. And they'd say, you've 00:18:20.930 --> 00:18:23.029 got to explain that to us. And he would. They 00:18:23.029 --> 00:18:25.950 were slow, and he was so patient with them, as 00:18:25.950 --> 00:18:32.529 he is with us. And we see in this story that 00:18:32.529 --> 00:18:36.529 we read today the humility of Jesus once again. 00:18:37.809 --> 00:18:41.490 Now, he didn't come into town with this big, 00:18:41.490 --> 00:18:45.309 beautiful horse that he was riding on. He didn't 00:18:45.309 --> 00:18:48.750 come being toted into town on a gold chair with 00:18:48.750 --> 00:18:53.329 people toting him in for all to see. He didn't 00:18:53.329 --> 00:18:56.170 come with horns blowing. He didn't come wearing 00:18:56.170 --> 00:19:00.519 a fancy robe. He didn't come with anything. that 00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:02.480 probably would have been associated with a king 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:08.299 coming into town. Instead, he came to town on 00:19:08.299 --> 00:19:12.859 a donkey. That's a pretty lowly animal. Even 00:19:12.859 --> 00:19:16.119 the fact that he came on a donkey showed his 00:19:16.119 --> 00:19:20.140 humility, a beast of burden. Not a war horse, 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:25.500 not fancy, not extravagant, but Jesus continued 00:19:25.500 --> 00:19:28.420 coming into town at the conclusion of his mission. 00:19:29.319 --> 00:19:31.460 In the same way that he had started his mission. 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:36.579 In humility. Now there were certainly plenty 00:19:36.579 --> 00:19:39.119 of people who recognized who Jesus was. We see 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:42.960 it in the passage we looked at today. That Jesus 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:44.900 had told his disciples, go find this donkey. 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:47.400 If they ask you what's going on, tell them the 00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:49.900 Lord needs it. It all worked out the way Jesus 00:19:49.900 --> 00:19:52.180 said. It was prophesied that the Messiah, the 00:19:52.180 --> 00:19:55.740 Savior would come riding on a donkey. And sure 00:19:55.740 --> 00:19:59.079 enough, Jesus was fulfilling. that Old Testament 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:04.460 passage. And as Jesus began to make his way down 00:20:04.460 --> 00:20:07.279 the road on the donkey, the crowds that were 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:10.960 rejoicing in him began to humble themselves before 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:15.160 him. They began to take their robes and their 00:20:15.160 --> 00:20:17.039 coats and whatever they were wearing, they began 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:19.579 to take it off and they began to place it on 00:20:19.579 --> 00:20:24.019 the ground so that the king of kings would at 00:20:24.019 --> 00:20:27.220 least have a... A path to walk on that wasn't 00:20:27.220 --> 00:20:29.420 bare ground. He was at least worthy of something. 00:20:30.500 --> 00:20:34.680 And they would take those palm branches. And 00:20:34.680 --> 00:20:37.900 they would place them on the ground. And in a 00:20:37.900 --> 00:20:40.000 sense they were rolling out the red carpet for 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:43.480 him as best that they could. And people were 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:46.400 praising and they were rejoicing. This is the 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:49.839 one. This is the Messiah. This is the King. Hosanna. 00:20:49.859 --> 00:20:52.519 You see that in some of the gospel accounts. 00:20:53.099 --> 00:20:56.700 Hosanna in the highest. That is a praise to the 00:20:56.700 --> 00:20:59.000 Lord. That's acknowledging that Jesus is the 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:02.279 Savior. Save us, Lord. We praise you. Son of 00:21:02.279 --> 00:21:06.819 David, they said. Acknowledging that, hey, we've 00:21:06.819 --> 00:21:09.859 read the Old Testament Scriptures. And we know 00:21:09.859 --> 00:21:12.339 that the Messiah was to be a descendant of David. 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:15.980 And we recognize, Jesus, that you are the Son 00:21:15.980 --> 00:21:19.980 of David. We recognize, Jesus, that you are the 00:21:19.980 --> 00:21:26.210 Messiah. And the people rejoice. And they humbled 00:21:26.210 --> 00:21:32.069 himself before Jesus that day. There were some 00:21:32.069 --> 00:21:36.930 who recognized who he was. They weren't sidetracked. 00:21:37.410 --> 00:21:39.230 There were a lot of people who were looking for 00:21:39.230 --> 00:21:43.009 the wrong kind of Jesus. They were looking for 00:21:43.009 --> 00:21:45.309 the wrong kind of Jesus. They were looking for 00:21:45.309 --> 00:21:51.329 that big, fancy, earthly -looking king. And when 00:21:51.329 --> 00:21:55.930 all they saw was this humble... Crazy old man. 00:21:57.990 --> 00:22:01.170 They wrote him off. They said, I don't know who 00:22:01.170 --> 00:22:05.289 this guy is. But perhaps they should have paid 00:22:05.289 --> 00:22:08.230 a little more attention to what he was doing 00:22:08.230 --> 00:22:13.650 and to what he was saying. Some in the crowd, 00:22:13.789 --> 00:22:18.369 they rejoiced. They said, this guy, this is the 00:22:18.369 --> 00:22:22.910 one. But as we see at the end of the passage, 00:22:24.170 --> 00:22:27.109 There were some that said, what's going on with 00:22:27.109 --> 00:22:29.130 these people? These people are, this is crazy. 00:22:29.410 --> 00:22:33.069 These people need to shut up. And Jesus says, 00:22:33.170 --> 00:22:36.670 hey, look, even if everybody was to keep quiet, 00:22:36.730 --> 00:22:43.049 even the stones would cry out. There were some 00:22:43.049 --> 00:22:44.569 in the crowd that day that humbled themselves 00:22:44.569 --> 00:22:48.809 before Jesus. They laid their robes on the ground 00:22:48.809 --> 00:22:50.849 and they laid their palm branches on the ground 00:22:50.849 --> 00:22:55.359 and they rejoiced. But there were others that 00:22:55.359 --> 00:23:00.900 day who rejected him. They had seen him just 00:23:00.900 --> 00:23:04.059 as everybody else had. No doubt they had heard 00:23:04.059 --> 00:23:05.720 the stories. At least some of them, they had 00:23:05.720 --> 00:23:08.660 to have. You don't see a guy walking around raising 00:23:08.660 --> 00:23:10.559 people from the dead. Word like that kind of 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:14.799 spreads pretty quick. And they had heard of him. 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:21.619 But they chose to reject him. Because it wasn't 00:23:21.619 --> 00:23:26.240 the Jesus they were looking for. I don't know 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:28.220 what kind of Jesus you're looking for today. 00:23:30.660 --> 00:23:32.980 Some people, I think, are looking for a Jesus 00:23:32.980 --> 00:23:35.640 that's just going to be more like a genie in 00:23:35.640 --> 00:23:39.799 the lamp. He just grants our wishes and makes 00:23:39.799 --> 00:23:43.680 all of our problems disappear at once and gives 00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:48.640 us everything that we ever want. But Jesus has 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:54.000 given us everything that we ever need. I don't 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:57.039 know what kind of Jesus you're looking for. I 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:00.640 can only tell you about the Jesus of the Bible. 00:24:01.799 --> 00:24:05.880 He is a Jesus who loves you. He is a Jesus who 00:24:05.880 --> 00:24:09.380 gave his life for you. He is a Jesus that did 00:24:09.380 --> 00:24:12.980 not come and rule with an iron fist. He was a 00:24:12.980 --> 00:24:16.079 Jesus that even though all authority had been 00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:18.980 given to him, he did not use it for himself, 00:24:19.059 --> 00:24:24.460 but instead he gave his life for you and I. Jesus 00:24:24.460 --> 00:24:28.200 was a faithful servant. He was a humble servant. 00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:32.660 He was full of love and full of grace and full 00:24:32.660 --> 00:24:36.380 of compassion. I don't know what kind of Jesus 00:24:36.380 --> 00:24:38.859 you're looking for, but I can tell you that's 00:24:38.859 --> 00:24:42.880 the Jesus that you need. For that is the Jesus 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:47.440 who has compassion on you today, who wants to 00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:50.900 forgive your sins today, who wants to give you 00:24:50.900 --> 00:24:54.230 grace today. Who wants to give you peace today. 00:24:54.309 --> 00:24:56.710 Who wants to give you hope today. And no, I can't 00:24:56.710 --> 00:24:59.210 guarantee you that the Lord's going to make all 00:24:59.210 --> 00:25:04.170 of your problems go away. Perhaps He will. Sometimes 00:25:04.170 --> 00:25:09.069 He very much answers our prayers. But other times 00:25:09.069 --> 00:25:11.569 we still have to go through the struggles of 00:25:11.569 --> 00:25:16.950 life. But I can promise you this. Even if all 00:25:16.950 --> 00:25:20.529 of your problems don't go away, the Lord will 00:25:20.529 --> 00:25:23.089 give you the strength to get through them. And 00:25:23.089 --> 00:25:28.369 a peace that you cannot imagine. And a joy that 00:25:28.369 --> 00:25:30.569 you cannot imagine when you know that your sins 00:25:30.569 --> 00:25:35.910 are forgiven. And that comes from a humble Savior 00:25:35.910 --> 00:25:41.210 that we have in Jesus Christ. He has humbly come 00:25:41.210 --> 00:25:44.170 to serve us and has done so by giving His life 00:25:44.170 --> 00:25:47.730 on the cross. Will you humble yourself before 00:25:47.730 --> 00:25:52.829 Him today? I have to lay our robes and our palm 00:25:52.829 --> 00:25:56.910 branches down today. But perhaps there are acts 00:25:56.910 --> 00:25:59.029 of service in our life that we can humble ourselves 00:25:59.029 --> 00:26:03.150 and serve Him in some way. That we just humble 00:26:03.150 --> 00:26:06.130 our heart before Him and praise Him. That we 00:26:06.130 --> 00:26:07.990 humble our heart before Him and acknowledge our 00:26:07.990 --> 00:26:11.849 sins and ask Him to forgive us. That we humble 00:26:11.849 --> 00:26:14.529 ourselves and say, Lord, here am I. Send me. 00:26:14.670 --> 00:26:17.410 I want to serve as You have served, dear Lord. 00:26:17.509 --> 00:26:20.329 As You have given me an example. May I serve 00:26:20.329 --> 00:26:23.730 others in that way. May you give me a heart of 00:26:23.730 --> 00:26:27.650 love and grace and compassion. That I live a 00:26:27.650 --> 00:26:30.509 life that is not about me, but about serving 00:26:30.509 --> 00:26:35.089 God to follow. And that's exactly what Jesus 00:26:35.089 --> 00:26:40.349 did. Jesus rode into town all those years ago. 00:26:41.529 --> 00:26:47.490 Some rejoice. Others reject it. What about you 00:26:47.490 --> 00:26:50.180 this morning? Will you rejoice in the Messiah 00:26:50.180 --> 00:26:54.900 or will you reject him? The choice is yours. 00:26:55.099 --> 00:26:58.279 Let's pray. God, we come to you this morning. 00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:02.019 We thank you for your good words. I thank you 00:27:02.019 --> 00:27:03.799 for each one that's here today, dear Lord. I 00:27:03.799 --> 00:27:06.720 pray that if we have heard the gospel of Jesus 00:27:06.720 --> 00:27:09.160 Christ and heard that he has come, dear Lord, 00:27:09.720 --> 00:27:12.700 that we would be those who humble ourselves before 00:27:12.700 --> 00:27:15.779 you today. I pray that there are some that don't 00:27:15.779 --> 00:27:17.900 know Jesus. They would repent and seek him today. 00:27:20.430 --> 00:27:22.289 I pray that those who do know him would rejoice 00:27:22.289 --> 00:27:25.049 in him. That those who don't would come to know 00:27:25.049 --> 00:27:28.410 him and rejoice in him, dear Lord. Help us not 00:27:28.410 --> 00:27:30.990 to be those who walk away here today rejecting 00:27:30.990 --> 00:27:35.569 him. What a foolish decision that would be. Help 00:27:35.569 --> 00:27:37.609 us to be those who have humility and who walk 00:27:37.609 --> 00:27:40.650 in it. And I ask these things in Jesus' name.