WEBVTT 00:00:06.200 --> 00:00:11.560 Luke chapter 19, verse 28. A special thanks to 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:13.619 Ms. Angela and Mr. Ernest for these beautiful 00:00:13.619 --> 00:00:20.420 flowers that we have in here and out front. Palms. 00:00:20.420 --> 00:00:23.800 Well, I'm sorry. Thanks for the correction. Thank 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:27.780 you for the palms. It is, of course, Palm Sunday. 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:29.820 You may not have known that. You may not even 00:00:29.820 --> 00:00:33.560 know what Palm Sunday is, but that's okay. We're 00:00:33.560 --> 00:00:35.200 going to talk a little bit about that today. 00:00:36.690 --> 00:00:39.070 I'm getting close to Easter. It's a time that 00:00:39.070 --> 00:00:42.950 we just set aside just to praise the Lord, just 00:00:42.950 --> 00:00:45.310 to remember that we have hope, that we have a 00:00:45.310 --> 00:00:47.890 reason to rejoice today, that Jesus Christ came, 00:00:48.149 --> 00:00:51.630 that he was crucified, that he was buried, and 00:00:51.630 --> 00:00:53.689 most importantly, he was resurrected. And so 00:00:53.689 --> 00:00:57.070 because of that, our sins are forgiven, and we 00:00:57.070 --> 00:00:59.929 have a reason to have some hope today. So praise 00:00:59.929 --> 00:01:01.450 the Lord for that, and that's what we come and 00:01:01.450 --> 00:01:04.530 celebrate every week, but we certainly want to 00:01:04.530 --> 00:01:07.180 be reminded of that. around the time of Easter. 00:01:07.879 --> 00:01:13.040 Luke chapter 19, verse 28, Jesus had been ministering 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:16.700 for probably a little over three years. He spent 00:01:16.700 --> 00:01:19.400 time with his earthly ministry traveling from 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:22.540 place to place. He had been healing people and 00:01:22.540 --> 00:01:25.099 he had been teaching people. He had been trying 00:01:25.099 --> 00:01:28.299 to point people to really what God desired the 00:01:28.299 --> 00:01:31.040 people to do. What God really wanted was people's 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:34.000 hearts to be right. It wasn't about outward actions. 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:36.299 It wasn't about going through motions. Jesus 00:01:36.299 --> 00:01:39.040 really taught what really matters is what's in 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.980 your heart. It doesn't matter what goes on on 00:01:41.980 --> 00:01:44.439 the outside if it's not coming from a good place, 00:01:44.540 --> 00:01:48.219 if your motives are bad. And Jesus had received 00:01:48.219 --> 00:01:52.359 a lot of folks that had welcomed him in and were 00:01:52.359 --> 00:01:55.840 grateful to see him, but there were always folks 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:59.019 that really were. coming against Jesus, that 00:01:59.019 --> 00:02:01.599 weren't so happy to see him, that doubted him, 00:02:01.659 --> 00:02:04.079 that were his opposition, that were trying to 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:05.879 stop what he was trying to do. And this was a 00:02:05.879 --> 00:02:08.659 constant struggle throughout Jesus' ministry. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:13.360 And throughout his ministry, Jesus had kind of 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:16.340 avoided, you know, these situations where they 00:02:16.340 --> 00:02:18.000 were trying to corner him and they were already 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:20.460 trying to kill him. I mean, they wanted to get 00:02:20.460 --> 00:02:23.159 rid of him from the get -go, really. And Jesus 00:02:23.159 --> 00:02:25.340 had always kind of made his way out of these 00:02:25.340 --> 00:02:28.659 situations. Jesus had told people that he had 00:02:28.659 --> 00:02:31.400 healed or done great things for. You know, keep 00:02:31.400 --> 00:02:33.819 it quiet. Jesus wasn't trying to draw attention 00:02:33.819 --> 00:02:36.259 to himself. He was trying to complete his mission. 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:41.159 But there came a point where Jesus was going 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:44.979 to have to do what had to be done. And Jesus' 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:49.159 mission was not just to come and to heal people 00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:51.840 and to share with them the good news and to point 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:53.740 them to the Father and to let them know that 00:02:53.740 --> 00:02:56.590 he was the way. to everlasting life, but for 00:02:56.590 --> 00:02:59.710 that mission to be complete, Jesus was going 00:02:59.710 --> 00:03:03.770 to have to give his life on a cross. And so during 00:03:03.770 --> 00:03:07.729 the last week of Jesus' life, Jesus made his 00:03:07.729 --> 00:03:11.590 way into Jerusalem for the final time. He made 00:03:11.590 --> 00:03:15.349 his way into Jerusalem to fulfill what was prophesied 00:03:15.349 --> 00:03:18.610 about him, to do what God the Father had called 00:03:18.610 --> 00:03:20.889 him to do, and that was to give his life as a 00:03:20.889 --> 00:03:24.960 ransom for you and I. For all who have sinned. 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:27.479 And so the time had come, and that's what we 00:03:27.479 --> 00:03:30.460 see in this passage today, is that Jesus is coming 00:03:30.460 --> 00:03:34.280 into Jerusalem for this final week of his life. 00:03:34.500 --> 00:03:40.360 Luke chapter 19, verse 28. Excuse me, verse 29. 00:03:40.500 --> 00:03:47.560 Luke chapter 19, verse 29. As he approached Bethphage 00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:50.360 and Bethany at the place called the Mount of 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:53.919 Olives, He sent two of the disciples and said, 00:03:54.759 --> 00:03:57.879 Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter 00:03:57.879 --> 00:04:00.099 it, you will find a young donkey tied there, 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:04.500 on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring 00:04:04.500 --> 00:04:08.759 it here. If anyone asks you, Why are you untying 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:13.400 it? Say this, The Lord needs it. So those who 00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:16.100 were sent left and found it just as he had told 00:04:16.100 --> 00:04:19.420 them. As they were untying the young donkey, 00:04:19.879 --> 00:04:23.600 Its owner said to them, Why are you untying the 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:27.600 donkey? The Lord needs it, they said. Then they 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:31.000 brought it to Jesus. And after throwing their 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:33.399 robes on the donkey, they helped Jesus get on 00:04:33.399 --> 00:04:36.759 it. As he was going along, they were spreading 00:04:36.759 --> 00:04:40.399 their robes on the road. Now he came near the 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:43.560 path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole 00:04:43.560 --> 00:04:46.860 crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully. 00:04:47.389 --> 00:04:49.910 with a loud voice for all the miracles they had 00:04:49.910 --> 00:04:53.670 seen. The king who comes in the name of the Lord 00:04:53.670 --> 00:04:56.790 is the blessed one. Peace in heaven and glory 00:04:56.790 --> 00:05:00.850 in the highest heaven. Some of the Pharisees 00:05:00.850 --> 00:05:04.009 from the crowd told him, Teacher, rebuke your 00:05:04.009 --> 00:05:09.250 disciples. He answered, I tell you, if they were 00:05:09.250 --> 00:05:13.170 to keep silent, the stones would cry out. Let 00:05:13.170 --> 00:05:15.560 us pray. God, we come to you, we thank you for 00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:18.680 these good words. We thank you for Jesus, for 00:05:18.680 --> 00:05:21.480 coming, for coming into town that day, dear Lord. 00:05:21.560 --> 00:05:24.699 We thank you for what Jesus was going to do in 00:05:24.699 --> 00:05:27.740 the coming days. I pray, dear Lord, that as we 00:05:27.740 --> 00:05:29.860 look at this passage, that we see the humility 00:05:29.860 --> 00:05:33.319 of Jesus, dear Lord. That we see the response 00:05:33.319 --> 00:05:37.379 of the crowds. That we would check our response 00:05:37.379 --> 00:05:40.939 today, dear Lord. As we hear this same good news. 00:05:41.550 --> 00:05:43.550 that happened all these years ago, as we hear 00:05:43.550 --> 00:05:47.790 about Jesus today, God, will we be those who 00:05:47.790 --> 00:05:52.910 rejoice at his coming, or will we be those who 00:05:52.910 --> 00:05:56.410 reject him? God, I pray that you would just let 00:05:56.410 --> 00:05:58.709 your Holy Spirit be among us today, free us of 00:05:58.709 --> 00:06:02.490 distractions and worries, all the things of the 00:06:02.490 --> 00:06:04.509 world that may be competing for our attention. 00:06:04.610 --> 00:06:06.829 I pray that in these few moments you meet us 00:06:06.829 --> 00:06:09.790 where we are, dear Lord. that your Holy Spirit 00:06:09.790 --> 00:06:11.810 would be among us, and that everything that is 00:06:11.810 --> 00:06:14.790 said and done would be for the glory of Jesus 00:06:14.790 --> 00:06:18.970 Christ. And I ask these things in Jesus' name. 00:06:19.930 --> 00:06:27.810 Amen. On July the 23rd, 2009, in a little neighborhood 00:06:27.810 --> 00:06:32.610 in New Jersey, it was a rainy day, and a homeowner 00:06:32.610 --> 00:06:36.740 in a neighborhood had called the police. They 00:06:36.740 --> 00:06:39.279 called the police because there was a kind of 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:42.779 disheveled looking man wearing a pair of black 00:06:42.779 --> 00:06:46.019 sweatpants and two raincoats, kind of wandering 00:06:46.019 --> 00:06:48.680 around the neighborhood and had wandered into 00:06:48.680 --> 00:06:52.240 their yard. And so they called the police and 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:54.040 they said, hey, look, there's this eccentric 00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:56.860 old man and he looks kind of shady and he's in 00:06:56.860 --> 00:07:00.000 our neighborhood. Could you send somebody out? 00:07:00.540 --> 00:07:04.750 And so they did. They sent an officer out. And 00:07:04.750 --> 00:07:07.389 the officer arrived, and sure enough, the man 00:07:07.389 --> 00:07:11.790 was still there. And he asked the guy his name, 00:07:11.910 --> 00:07:15.370 of course. The guy's name was Robert. His friends 00:07:15.370 --> 00:07:18.329 called him Bob, but his name was Robert. And 00:07:18.329 --> 00:07:21.410 the police officer was questioning him, and he 00:07:21.410 --> 00:07:24.509 proceeded to tell the police officer that he 00:07:24.509 --> 00:07:27.610 was on tour with Willie Nelson locally. He was 00:07:27.610 --> 00:07:31.029 on tour. And, of course, the officer knew better 00:07:31.029 --> 00:07:34.339 than that. This old homeless guy was not. on 00:07:34.339 --> 00:07:37.699 tour with Willie Nelson. But the officer nonetheless 00:07:37.699 --> 00:07:41.139 humored the guy and said, well, I'll give you 00:07:41.139 --> 00:07:42.920 an opportunity. The guy said, I don't have my 00:07:42.920 --> 00:07:45.660 ID, but if you'll go back with me to my hotel, 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:50.720 I'll get my ID for you. And so the officer took 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:54.540 the guy back to his hotel, and he pulled out 00:07:54.540 --> 00:07:59.160 his driver's license, and sure enough, he was 00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:03.439 Robert Allen Zimmerman. Now, you probably don't 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:08.220 know Robert Allen Zimmerman, but you probably 00:08:08.220 --> 00:08:13.759 do know Bob Dylan, and that's who it was. This 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:16.579 officer was getting ready to arrest Bob Dylan, 00:08:16.660 --> 00:08:20.319 and he, in fact, was on tour with Willie Nelson. 00:08:20.439 --> 00:08:23.339 And this disheveled old man was simply walking 00:08:23.339 --> 00:08:27.100 around before they got ready to perform that 00:08:27.100 --> 00:08:31.000 night. And here was a legend, a legend. Most 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:35.039 everybody has probably heard of Bob Dylan. You 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:37.860 may have even heard a song of his that you didn't 00:08:37.860 --> 00:08:40.559 know it was him. Or perhaps if you saw him on 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:42.820 the street, perhaps you wouldn't recognize him 00:08:42.820 --> 00:08:48.000 either. But Bob Dylan was a legend. But because 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:50.799 of his appearance, because of what he looked 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:56.840 like, he had been written off as a lunatic. And 00:08:56.840 --> 00:08:58.899 that's kind of similar to what happened with 00:08:58.899 --> 00:09:03.200 Jesus. And Jesus had accomplished many things. 00:09:03.379 --> 00:09:05.259 Man, you look at what Bob Dylan has accomplished. 00:09:05.500 --> 00:09:07.759 He's got all kind of medals. He's won the Pulitzer 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:10.720 Prize. He's a ten -time Grammy winner. He had 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:13.480 all these accomplishments that were well known, 00:09:13.740 --> 00:09:19.279 but not to the people who saw him that day. The 00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:21.159 people who saw him that day didn't see a rock 00:09:21.159 --> 00:09:24.039 star with all these accomplishments. Had they 00:09:24.039 --> 00:09:25.879 been in a stadium and he had been introduced 00:09:25.879 --> 00:09:28.519 and called to the stage, here's Bob Dylan, they 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:30.879 would have cheered. They would have rejoiced. 00:09:32.419 --> 00:09:35.460 But seeing him on the street in sweatpants with 00:09:35.460 --> 00:09:39.759 two raincoats on, they wrote him off. This is 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:45.759 a crazy dude. And so it was with Jesus. Jesus 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:49.720 had accomplished many great things. Jesus had 00:09:49.720 --> 00:09:52.879 healed people. Jesus had healed the sick. He 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:54.899 had raised the dead. He had caused the blind 00:09:54.899 --> 00:09:57.460 to see. He had caused the lame to walk. He had 00:09:57.460 --> 00:10:01.850 caused the deaf to hear. And Jesus' name had 00:10:01.850 --> 00:10:07.549 spread. And some of them wrote Jesus off as a 00:10:07.549 --> 00:10:12.610 lunatic. They said, this dude is crazy. What 00:10:12.610 --> 00:10:14.590 they were looking for, in a sense, was a rock 00:10:14.590 --> 00:10:17.789 star. There were a lot of people who were looking 00:10:17.789 --> 00:10:20.149 for the Messiah because what we call the Old 00:10:20.149 --> 00:10:24.090 Testament was full of prophecies of this Messiah 00:10:24.090 --> 00:10:27.289 who was going to come. And the Messiah that was 00:10:27.289 --> 00:10:29.259 going to come... He was going to be a pretty 00:10:29.259 --> 00:10:32.059 big deal because he was going to free people. 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:35.080 He was going to deliver people. He was finally 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:37.799 going to bring victory for God, for God's people. 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:42.340 And God's people in their mind had a certain 00:10:42.340 --> 00:10:44.419 way that they thought that that was going to 00:10:44.419 --> 00:10:48.039 look. I mean, they knew what kings looked like. 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:52.039 Kings were pretty spectacular folks. I mean, 00:10:52.039 --> 00:10:55.820 they had palaces and they sat on thrones. They 00:10:55.820 --> 00:10:58.379 wore the finest of clothes. They had servants. 00:10:58.740 --> 00:11:01.559 They would speak and things would happen and 00:11:01.559 --> 00:11:04.720 they would rule with an iron fist and they would 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:08.240 let their authority be made known to all that 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:12.179 I am the king and what I do, what I say, you 00:11:12.179 --> 00:11:15.899 do. And they had this expectation, I believe, 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:19.860 of this type of king, that the Messiah would 00:11:19.860 --> 00:11:23.960 come, he'd be ushered in, that his kingdom would 00:11:23.960 --> 00:11:26.879 look... like other worldly kingdoms that kings 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:30.379 had and that he would begin to rule with an iron 00:11:30.379 --> 00:11:35.220 fist. But when Jesus came onto the scene, he 00:11:35.220 --> 00:11:37.919 did not really look like all the other kings. 00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:42.639 There's one thing that is key about when Jesus 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:46.639 came and how Jesus served and how Jesus left 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:49.480 this world. And the key that we see throughout 00:11:49.480 --> 00:11:54.960 the life of Jesus is humility. Jesus did not 00:11:54.960 --> 00:12:00.100 come as a proud king, as a showy king. Jesus 00:12:00.100 --> 00:12:03.899 came with all authority in the world, but he 00:12:03.899 --> 00:12:07.299 didn't lord it over people. Jesus didn't say, 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:10.899 I am the son of God, bow before me. He could 00:12:10.899 --> 00:12:13.340 have said that, and rightfully so. He is the 00:12:13.340 --> 00:12:17.580 son of God, and one day we shall all bow before 00:12:17.580 --> 00:12:21.500 him. Jesus didn't come with that type of heart. 00:12:22.539 --> 00:12:25.779 He came with a humble heart. He even told his 00:12:25.779 --> 00:12:28.379 disciples, he said, look, the rulers that you 00:12:28.379 --> 00:12:31.000 see in this world, that's how they use their 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:34.659 power. They lord it over people. But Jesus told 00:12:34.659 --> 00:12:37.059 his disciples, he said, it must not be that way 00:12:37.059 --> 00:12:42.379 among you. He said, you must be a servant of 00:12:42.379 --> 00:12:47.639 all. Now that's good for us to think about. We 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:50.059 probably don't want to have that type of heart. 00:12:51.480 --> 00:12:53.779 In some ways, have a proud heart. We want to 00:12:53.779 --> 00:12:56.000 be the one that's barking out the orders. We 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:58.059 want to be the one that's in the place of honor. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:01.139 I think our human tendency is we kind of like 00:13:01.139 --> 00:13:03.860 those things. We like feeling like we have the 00:13:03.860 --> 00:13:06.419 power and we like feeling like we have the authority 00:13:06.419 --> 00:13:11.100 and we like feeling like we're somebody. But 00:13:11.100 --> 00:13:14.500 Jesus warns and the scripture warns, hey, you 00:13:14.500 --> 00:13:16.340 got to be careful not to fall into that trap. 00:13:17.820 --> 00:13:21.379 Jesus not only came and told us, What to do? 00:13:22.299 --> 00:13:25.759 Jesus showed us what to do. For three plus years, 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:31.720 Jesus came in humility. He was born, born with 00:13:31.720 --> 00:13:35.139 the cattle. He was born and laid in a manger. 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:39.000 There wasn't any fanfare. There weren't royal 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:41.919 trumpets blasting in the streets. He wasn't laid 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:46.080 in a golden crib. He laid a little hay wrapped 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:50.080 in swaddling clothes. From the get -go, Jesus 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:55.820 came in humility. Jesus' concern was not about 00:13:55.820 --> 00:14:01.019 drawing attention to himself. Jesus' main goal 00:14:01.019 --> 00:14:03.820 and desire from beginning to end was doing the 00:14:03.820 --> 00:14:06.559 will of his Father. That's what Jesus wanted 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:09.759 to do. Father, I want to do your will. I want 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:13.019 to serve you, God. I want to serve these people. 00:14:13.929 --> 00:14:16.610 I want to help these people. I want to show them 00:14:16.610 --> 00:14:18.649 the truth, God. I want to lead them on the way. 00:14:18.750 --> 00:14:22.889 I want to make a way for them. God, they cannot 00:14:22.889 --> 00:14:25.669 do this on their own. They cannot be forgiven 00:14:25.669 --> 00:14:28.970 of their sins on their own. And so Jesus humbly 00:14:28.970 --> 00:14:32.690 came to this old nasty world that's full of all 00:14:32.690 --> 00:14:34.610 the junk that you and I go through, and Jesus 00:14:34.610 --> 00:14:36.509 said, I'm going to come, and I'm going to make 00:14:36.509 --> 00:14:39.769 a path that they can follow me. It takes a lot 00:14:39.769 --> 00:14:44.840 of humility. So Jesus was unlike all the other 00:14:44.840 --> 00:14:47.279 leaders of his day. The other religious leaders, 00:14:47.480 --> 00:14:50.000 it was a lot of them we see in Scripture, and 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:52.080 they just, their heart wasn't right, and Jesus 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:55.240 called them out on that. And Jesus came with 00:14:55.240 --> 00:14:58.759 a whole different heart. He came with a heart 00:14:58.759 --> 00:15:02.679 of humility, and people recognize that. Now, 00:15:02.700 --> 00:15:07.120 I think we would all agree that we probably aren't 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:10.200 drawn as much to leadership. That rules with 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:12.740 an iron fist. We probably aren't drawn as much 00:15:12.740 --> 00:15:15.379 to someone who has the authority that always 00:15:15.379 --> 00:15:18.940 says, I am the one in charge. You do what I say. 00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:23.379 I'm the leader here. Well, that's not very appealing. 00:15:24.899 --> 00:15:28.500 When Jesus came onto the scene, he didn't have 00:15:28.500 --> 00:15:33.720 that heart at all. Jesus just loved people. People 00:15:33.720 --> 00:15:38.600 that other religious leaders didn't love. Jesus 00:15:38.600 --> 00:15:41.059 would hang out with kind of the rough folks, 00:15:41.179 --> 00:15:45.000 the tax collectors and the sinners. And he was 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:46.840 even called out for it. Like, why are you doing 00:15:46.840 --> 00:15:51.279 this? Why are you associating with these lower 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:54.840 people? Because that's who Jesus came to save. 00:15:54.899 --> 00:15:57.720 He said, look, I came to save the sick. It's 00:15:57.720 --> 00:15:59.460 the sick that need a doctor. The well don't need 00:15:59.460 --> 00:16:01.600 a doctor. There were plenty of religious people 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:03.919 that thought they were well, that thought they 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:07.200 were holier than thou. And there wasn't a whole 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:09.440 lot of hope for them if they continued to have 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:14.159 that heart. But Jesus said, I'm here to have 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:16.080 compassion on those of you who are struggling, 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:17.879 those of you who are sick, those of you who know 00:16:17.879 --> 00:16:23.799 your sin. Jesus wasn't okay with their sin. He 00:16:23.799 --> 00:16:25.600 told the woman caught in adultery that was brought 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:27.720 before him. Man, they were ready to stone her. 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:32.580 They were ready. And Jesus so cleverly said, 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:35.789 okay, that's fine. You want to stone her? Well, 00:16:35.809 --> 00:16:37.970 whoever's never sinned before, you go ahead and 00:16:37.970 --> 00:16:43.230 start the stoning. You throw the first one. And 00:16:43.230 --> 00:16:45.509 the scripture says that nobody threw a stone 00:16:45.509 --> 00:16:51.730 and all of her accusers were gone. And Jesus 00:16:51.730 --> 00:16:55.710 said to her, does anybody condemn you? She said, 00:16:55.750 --> 00:16:59.750 no, there was nobody there. And Jesus says, neither 00:16:59.750 --> 00:17:05.180 do I. Perhaps we are not so unlike that woman. 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:09.519 Maybe our sin is not adultery. Maybe it is. But 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:11.599 whatever our sin is, when we read the scripture, 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:17.160 we are brought before Jesus with our sin before 00:17:17.160 --> 00:17:20.720 us. And we feel the condemnation and the guilt 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:23.319 of that. And maybe those around us make us feel 00:17:23.319 --> 00:17:28.259 that even more. But as we sit at the feet of 00:17:28.259 --> 00:17:32.170 Jesus, If we would come and seek him and look 00:17:32.170 --> 00:17:34.089 up to him and acknowledge our sinfulness and 00:17:34.089 --> 00:17:38.410 ask for forgiveness, Jesus would say to you, 00:17:38.470 --> 00:17:41.730 neither do I condemn you either. And he told 00:17:41.730 --> 00:17:46.349 her afterwards, go and sin no more. And so Jesus' 00:17:46.490 --> 00:17:50.109 humility was evident in the way that he treated 00:17:50.109 --> 00:17:54.829 people, the way that he interacted. He's willing 00:17:54.829 --> 00:17:58.470 to associate with anybody. Sadly, the most religious 00:17:58.470 --> 00:18:01.190 people, a lot of them, Didn't want anything to 00:18:01.190 --> 00:18:02.990 do with him. He would have associated with them 00:18:02.990 --> 00:18:06.930 just the same. Anybody who would come to seek 00:18:06.930 --> 00:18:11.549 and to try to learn and to be healed, those with 00:18:11.549 --> 00:18:14.089 faith and those with the desire, Jesus was willing 00:18:14.089 --> 00:18:16.750 to explain to them. Even the disciples, they 00:18:16.750 --> 00:18:18.650 didn't understand a lot of stuff Jesus said. 00:18:18.710 --> 00:18:21.529 They were so clueless. And they'd say, you've 00:18:21.529 --> 00:18:23.630 got to explain that to us. And he would. They 00:18:23.630 --> 00:18:26.569 were slow, and he was so patient with them, as 00:18:26.569 --> 00:18:33.119 he is with us. And we see in this story that 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:37.140 we read today the humility of Jesus once again. 00:18:38.440 --> 00:18:42.099 Now, he didn't come into town with this big, 00:18:42.099 --> 00:18:45.900 beautiful horse that he was riding on. He didn't 00:18:45.900 --> 00:18:49.339 come being toted into town on a gold chair with 00:18:49.339 --> 00:18:53.940 people toting him in for all to see. He didn't 00:18:53.940 --> 00:18:56.759 come with horns blowing. He didn't come wearing 00:18:56.759 --> 00:19:01.130 a fancy robe. He didn't come with anything. That 00:19:01.130 --> 00:19:03.089 probably would have been associated with a king 00:19:03.089 --> 00:19:08.910 coming into town. Instead, he came to town on 00:19:08.910 --> 00:19:13.470 a donkey. That's a pretty lowly animal. Even 00:19:13.470 --> 00:19:16.730 the fact that he came on a donkey showed his 00:19:16.730 --> 00:19:20.750 humility. A beast of burden. Not a war horse. 00:19:21.569 --> 00:19:26.089 Not fancy. Not extravagant. But Jesus continued 00:19:26.089 --> 00:19:29.029 coming into town at the conclusion of his mission. 00:19:29.930 --> 00:19:32.069 In the same way that he had started his mission. 00:19:33.410 --> 00:19:37.190 In humility. Now there were certainly plenty 00:19:37.190 --> 00:19:39.710 of people who recognized who Jesus was. We see 00:19:39.710 --> 00:19:43.569 it in the passage we looked at today. That Jesus 00:19:43.569 --> 00:19:45.509 had told his disciples, go find this donkey. 00:19:45.950 --> 00:19:48.009 If they ask you what's going on, tell them the 00:19:48.009 --> 00:19:50.490 Lord needs it. It all worked out the way Jesus 00:19:50.490 --> 00:19:52.789 said. It was prophesied that the Messiah, the 00:19:52.789 --> 00:19:56.349 Savior would come riding on a donkey. And sure 00:19:56.349 --> 00:19:59.680 enough, Jesus was fulfilling. that Old Testament 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:05.059 passage. And as Jesus began to make his way down 00:20:05.059 --> 00:20:07.880 the road on the donkey, the crowds that were 00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:11.559 rejoicing in him began to humble themselves before 00:20:11.559 --> 00:20:15.759 him. They began to take their robes and their 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:17.640 coats and whatever they were wearing, they began 00:20:17.640 --> 00:20:20.160 to take it off and they began to place it on 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:24.640 the ground so that the king of kings would at 00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:27.829 least have a... a path to walk on that wasn't 00:20:27.829 --> 00:20:30.049 bare ground. He was at least worthy of something. 00:20:31.089 --> 00:20:35.390 And they would take those palm branches and they 00:20:35.390 --> 00:20:38.769 would place them on the ground. And in a sense, 00:20:38.809 --> 00:20:40.809 they were rolling out the red carpet for him 00:20:40.809 --> 00:20:44.529 as best that they could. And people were praising 00:20:44.529 --> 00:20:47.549 and they were rejoicing. This is the one. This 00:20:47.549 --> 00:20:50.849 is the Messiah. This is the King. Hosanna. You 00:20:50.849 --> 00:20:54.130 see that in some of the gospel accounts. Hosanna 00:20:54.130 --> 00:20:57.490 in the highest. That is a praise to the Lord. 00:20:57.569 --> 00:20:59.950 That's acknowledging that Jesus is the Savior. 00:20:59.970 --> 00:21:03.609 Save us, Lord. We praise you. Son of David, they 00:21:03.609 --> 00:21:07.930 said. Acknowledging that, hey, we've read the 00:21:07.930 --> 00:21:10.829 Old Testament Scriptures. And we know that the 00:21:10.829 --> 00:21:13.470 Messiah was to be a descendant of David. And 00:21:13.470 --> 00:21:16.829 we recognize, Jesus, that you are the Son of 00:21:16.829 --> 00:21:20.529 David. We recognize, Jesus, that you are the 00:21:20.529 --> 00:21:26.819 Messiah. And the people rejoice. And they humbled 00:21:26.819 --> 00:21:32.660 himself before Jesus that day. There were some 00:21:32.660 --> 00:21:37.519 who recognized who he was. They weren't sidetracked. 00:21:37.980 --> 00:21:39.819 There were a lot of people who were looking for 00:21:39.819 --> 00:21:43.619 the wrong kind of Jesus. They were looking for 00:21:43.619 --> 00:21:45.900 the wrong kind of Jesus. They were looking for 00:21:45.900 --> 00:21:51.940 that big, fancy, earthly -looking king. And when 00:21:51.940 --> 00:21:56.539 all they saw was this humble, Crazy old man. 00:21:58.539 --> 00:22:01.759 They wrote him off. They said, I don't know who 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:05.900 this guy is. But perhaps they should have paid 00:22:05.900 --> 00:22:08.839 a little more attention to what he was doing 00:22:08.839 --> 00:22:14.259 and to what he was saying. Some in the crowd, 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:18.980 they rejoiced. They said, this guy, this is the 00:22:18.980 --> 00:22:23.500 one. But as we see at the end of the passage, 00:22:24.779 --> 00:22:27.700 There were some that said, what's going on with 00:22:27.700 --> 00:22:29.720 these people? These people are, this is crazy. 00:22:29.980 --> 00:22:33.680 These people need to shut up. And Jesus says, 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:37.279 hey, look, even if everybody was to keep quiet, 00:22:37.339 --> 00:22:43.660 even the stones would cry out. There were some 00:22:43.660 --> 00:22:45.160 in the crowd that day that humbled themselves 00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:49.400 before Jesus. They laid their robes on the ground 00:22:49.400 --> 00:22:51.460 and they laid their palm branches on the ground 00:22:51.460 --> 00:22:55.980 and they rejoiced. But there were others that 00:22:55.980 --> 00:23:01.519 day who rejected him. They had seen him just 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:04.680 as everybody else had. No doubt they had heard 00:23:04.680 --> 00:23:06.319 the stories. At least some of them, they had 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:09.279 to have. You don't see a guy walking around raising 00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:11.160 people from the dead. Word like that kind of 00:23:11.160 --> 00:23:15.400 spreads pretty quick. And they had heard of him. 00:23:17.240 --> 00:23:22.220 But they chose to reject him. Because it wasn't 00:23:22.220 --> 00:23:26.849 the Jesus they were looking for. I don't know 00:23:26.849 --> 00:23:28.829 what kind of Jesus you're looking for today. 00:23:31.269 --> 00:23:33.589 Some people, I think, are looking for a Jesus 00:23:33.589 --> 00:23:36.230 that's just going to be more like a genie in 00:23:36.230 --> 00:23:40.390 the lamp. He just grants our wishes and makes 00:23:40.390 --> 00:23:44.289 all of our problems disappear at once and gives 00:23:44.289 --> 00:23:49.230 us everything that we ever want. But Jesus has 00:23:49.230 --> 00:23:54.579 given us everything that we ever need. I don't 00:23:54.579 --> 00:23:57.640 know what kind of Jesus you're looking for. I 00:23:57.640 --> 00:24:01.240 can only tell you about the Jesus of the Bible. 00:24:02.359 --> 00:24:06.480 He is a Jesus who loves you. He is a Jesus who 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:09.980 gave his life for you. He is a Jesus that did 00:24:09.980 --> 00:24:13.559 not come and rule with an iron fist. He was a 00:24:13.559 --> 00:24:16.660 Jesus that even though all authority had been 00:24:16.660 --> 00:24:19.559 given to him, he did not use it for himself, 00:24:19.660 --> 00:24:25.079 but instead he gave his life for you and I. Jesus 00:24:25.079 --> 00:24:28.799 was a faithful servant. He was a humble servant. 00:24:29.660 --> 00:24:33.259 He was full of love and full of grace and full 00:24:33.259 --> 00:24:36.980 of compassion. I don't know what kind of Jesus 00:24:36.980 --> 00:24:39.460 you're looking for, but I can tell you that's 00:24:39.460 --> 00:24:43.480 the Jesus that you need. For that is the Jesus 00:24:43.480 --> 00:24:48.039 who has compassion on you today, who wants to 00:24:48.039 --> 00:24:51.500 forgive your sins today, who wants to give you 00:24:51.500 --> 00:24:54.839 grace today. Who wants to give you peace today. 00:24:54.920 --> 00:24:57.319 Who wants to give you hope today. And no, I can't 00:24:57.319 --> 00:24:59.799 guarantee you that the Lord's going to make all 00:24:59.799 --> 00:25:04.779 of your problems go away. Perhaps He will. Sometimes 00:25:04.779 --> 00:25:09.680 He very much answers our prayers. But other times 00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:12.180 we still have to go through the struggles of 00:25:12.180 --> 00:25:17.559 life. But I can promise you this. Even if all 00:25:17.559 --> 00:25:21.140 of your problems don't go away, the Lord will 00:25:21.140 --> 00:25:23.680 give you the strength to get through them. And 00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:28.980 a peace that you cannot imagine. And a joy that 00:25:28.980 --> 00:25:31.200 you cannot imagine when you know that your sins 00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:36.559 are forgiven. And that comes from a humble Savior 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:41.799 that we have in Jesus Christ. He has humbly come 00:25:41.799 --> 00:25:44.779 to serve us and has done so by giving His life 00:25:44.779 --> 00:25:48.339 on the cross. Will you humble yourself before 00:25:48.339 --> 00:25:52.990 Him today? We don't have to lay our robes and 00:25:52.990 --> 00:25:57.150 our palm branches down today. But perhaps there 00:25:57.150 --> 00:25:59.390 are acts of service in our life that we can humble 00:25:59.390 --> 00:26:03.349 ourselves and serve Him in some way. That we 00:26:03.349 --> 00:26:05.410 just humble our heart before Him and praise Him. 00:26:06.190 --> 00:26:08.269 That we humble our heart before Him and acknowledge 00:26:08.269 --> 00:26:12.450 our sins and ask Him to forgive us. That we humble 00:26:12.450 --> 00:26:15.130 ourselves and say, Lord, here am I. Send me. 00:26:15.269 --> 00:26:18.029 I want to serve as You have served, dear Lord. 00:26:18.109 --> 00:26:20.920 As You have given me an example. May I serve 00:26:20.920 --> 00:26:24.339 others in that way. May you give me a heart of 00:26:24.339 --> 00:26:28.259 love and grace and compassion. That I live a 00:26:28.259 --> 00:26:31.079 life that is not about me, but about serving 00:26:31.079 --> 00:26:35.680 God the Father. And that's exactly what Jesus 00:26:35.680 --> 00:26:40.960 did. Jesus rode into town all those years ago. 00:26:42.119 --> 00:26:48.099 Some rejoice, others rejected. What about you 00:26:48.099 --> 00:26:50.789 this morning? Will you rejoice in the Messiah 00:26:50.789 --> 00:26:55.509 or will you reject him? The choice is yours. 00:26:55.730 --> 00:26:58.890 Let's pray. God, we come to you this morning. 00:26:58.930 --> 00:27:02.630 We thank you for your good words. I thank you 00:27:02.630 --> 00:27:04.410 for each one that's here today, dear Lord. I 00:27:04.410 --> 00:27:07.329 pray that if we have heard the gospel of Jesus 00:27:07.329 --> 00:27:09.730 Christ and heard that he has come, dear Lord, 00:27:09.910 --> 00:27:13.309 that we would be those who humble ourselves before 00:27:13.309 --> 00:27:16.369 you today. I pray that there are some that don't 00:27:16.369 --> 00:27:18.509 know Jesus. They would repent and seek him today. 00:27:21.039 --> 00:27:22.900 I pray that those who do know Him would rejoice 00:27:22.900 --> 00:27:25.660 in Him. That those who don't would come to know 00:27:25.660 --> 00:27:28.980 Him and rejoice in Him, dear Lord. Help us not 00:27:28.980 --> 00:27:31.519 to be those who walk away here today rejecting 00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:36.160 Him. What a foolish decision that would be. Help 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:38.200 us to be those who have humility and who walk 00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:41.279 in it. And I ask these things in Jesus' name.