So we continue now as we move kind of from the
season of Lent into Holy Week. Like I've said,
Palm Sunday today. Behold your King. Now I mentioned
kind of twice now at the beginning of service
and in the prayer that... Palm Sunday is a little
strange, or a lot of strange, depending on how
you want to look at it, because there's a great
paradox in Palm Sunday. What is a paradox? It's
a vivid understanding of confusion, that there's
something going on that shouldn't be happening,
or shouldn't be happening that way. That the
crowds that shout Hosanna cry for salvation.
But they do so with an intent or a vision for
something very different than what Jesus actually
does. As we understand what those cries in the
messianic context of the King David, they were
wanting a king. They're wanting power. They're
wanting authority. I look at the landscape of
2025 and power and authority look very, very
different. It seems like every day of the week.
That we look at power and we look at authority
and we have people in a power and authority that
are doing things or saying things throughout
the world that some of us look at and go, absolutely,
amen. And other of us look and they gnash their
teeth and they hiss because they are in total
disagreement. That this power ultimately and
authority, if you're going to look at it in any
kind of worldly sort of way, makes really no
sense or it really becomes incompatible with
the scriptures. And Jesus is showing that with
one simple vision here on Palm Sunday. Because
what the people are crying out for is a military
or a militaristic Messiah. Yet Jesus enters not
on a war horse, but a donkey. A foal of a donkey.
One that has never, ever been ridden. And no
one, again, I'm not a soldier, and I know the
army over the last hundred years looks very different
than prior to that. In some ways, I could say
people want him to roll in on like a tank, but
I can't really do that because that's just weird.
But if we're going to go back historically, right,
your major leaders, your captains, all the higher
ranking officials, they all came on these powerful
horses. I don't know too many during the Civil
War said let's ride out in a group of donkeys
and try to conquer this whatever. And we hear
no word of the sword. Though Jesus says multiple
times in the scriptures he could send legions
of angels and just completely wipe everybody
out like Sodom and Gomorrah. But he brings no
sword but brings humility. So let us consider
as we dive in today, Jesus as king, but not like
Caesar or Herod or even King David, but a king
who rules. through a cross. We're going to be
in John chapter 12. We're going to start from
verse 12 to 15. We're going to break it down.
First, the king fulfilled. There's a fulfillment
going on in what Jesus is doing, and we're going
to break that down today. So we'll be in John
12, starting with verse 12. We read out of the
ESV here, but if you brought your own Bible,
have your own app, and you're in a different
translation, totally fine. But we're in the ESV.
The next day, John 12, in verse 12, starts. crowd
that had come to the feast, talking about Passover
in Jerusalem, heard that Jesus was coming to
Jerusalem. So they took off branches of palm
trees and went out to meet him, crying, Hosanna,
blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,
even the king of Israel. And Jesus found a young
donkey and sat on it, just as it was written,
Fear not, daughter of Zion, behold, your king
is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt. So right
there, John is reciting something. He's reciting
one of the minor prophets, Zechariah 9 .9. The
beautiful thing about the minor prophets and
the major prophets, and just really quick, does
anyone know what makes the minor prophets minor
and major prophets major? For lunch and a conversation
with Pastor Jim? The length of it, absolutely,
is not deep theological insight. So you'll be
a value meal, Nikki, because it's not all that
deep. But understand that... It's just length
of book. Minor prophets are minor. Major prophets
are major. If we do the entire book of Isaiah,
it would take probably two years. We're going
to do the entire book of Zephaniah. No, I didn't
say that wrong. I didn't make it up. It's a book
in the Bible. We're going to do that the week
after Easter. It's going to take four weeks.
Totally aside. But understand, Zechariah 9 .9,
a minor prophet is giving a messianic prophecy.
Fear not. Daughter of Zion, us. The Israelites,
Jerusalem, behold, your king is coming, sitting
on a donkey's colt. This is a messianic prophecy
pointing to the righteous and humble king who
will bring blood and all of the control and conquering.
No, he'll bring peace, not war. The donkey symbolizing
humility, peace, and the fulfillment of covenant
hope, not covenant conquest. Understand, there's
the paradox. Understand that that is something
we, whether we like to admit it or not, we kind
of wish we had. Man, it would be much easier
if Christianity was just the lay of the land
and everybody acted that way. And yes, if everybody
acted Christian, truly Christ -like, unfortunately
I have to say it that way, if we actually walked
out how Jesus walked it out, life would be a
lot easier, right? But there's expectations.
Like I said, not too many of us look at Palm
Sunday and go, wow, what a great disappointment.
We go, no, yeah, we're going to take the branches,
we're going to lay down all of it, we're going
to cheer. But there's disappointment. There's
a expectation, kind of unverbal, if you will,
even though they did verbalize it in David messianic
language, that is completely disappointing. Now.
Expectations are interesting. One of the things
that I talk about in premarital with couples
is the idea of communicating verbal expectations.
And part of that is because anyone here that's
ever been in any kind of serious relationship,
right, or engagement or marriage or what have
you, or even in your families, right, if you
have an expectation that you don't verbalize
and then that never comes to be and then you
get mad and disappointed, whose fault is that?
Oh, Wes, not the other person. We'll pray for
you and Cheryl. But understand that... No, it
is you. That expectations, if you have those,
they need to be communicated, right? Carrie does
not read my mind. And for those that are maybe
new or visitors, Carrie is my wife, and she puts
up with me. And, you know, I have to verbalize
expectations. We're going to be married 17 years
in May. We still don't try to read each other's
minds. Partly because we don't want to. That
we hold the expectation of each other that we
will verbalize expectations even if we don't
like what it is. You're still committed to come
back together. You're still committed to talk
it out. But we see this in relationships. We
see this with the depth of relationship takes
work. If you've ever been in my office, there's
a teeter -totter on my desk. And I use that as
a great... representation of healthy relationships
because they're rocky. They're going to go back
and forth. Some days are going to be really high.
Some days are going to be really low. Or, and
I just knock it over, some days relationships
feel like that. There's no rhyme or reason, but
preparing a couple for marriage is a preparation
that come hell or high water. I'm going to get
back on. And I trust my partner is going to come
back on, my spouse, and we're going to do this
together. Now look at that in relationship with
Jesus. Look at that as our relationship with
God. Look at it as Israel's relationship with
God. God was absent. Things went quiet for 400
years. From that last prophecy to John the Baptist,
there's years that go by. Where the Messianic
conversation is just all in hope. Just kind of
all in lineage, verbally, kind of passing it
all down. We're way past Egypt. We're way past
the parting of the Red Sea. And Moses and Joshua,
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, all of those things. We're
way past that. Yet the idea, the expectation
of Messiah or Mashiach is still there. That's
what makes Palm Sunday so breathtaking, so life
-changing, is because Jesus is now stepping into
it. He did that with miracles, signs, and wonders,
and those are all put in the scriptures, all
those messianic prophecies. Over 500 of the who,
what, when, where, why, and how of the Messiah.
He fulfills every one of them. And now he's stepping
into the scene. He's now taking his place. So
one of the things we have to understand is that
Jesus has redemption on the brain. This is Jesus'
heart. Jesus' drive this week is your and my
redemption. Because there's still a job to be
had. There's still a job that Jesus is going
to do. He's preparing. He's walking through.
And whether the Israelites knew it or not or
all the people in Jerusalem, probably 90 % Jews,
he was preparing them as well. The Belgian Confession,
Article 27, reminds us and kind of affirms this
when it says this holy church is preserved by
God against, I believe it's up there, preserved
by God against the rage of the whole world. That
Jesus, the king of the church, enters Jerusalem
to preserve and redeem his people. Fulfilling
God's covenantal promise to reign through his
anointed son. Understand, he's going to go against
the rage of the whole world. Let me ask. When
your significant other is in a mood. I'm just
going to put it that way. Okay? In a mood and
not the fun moods. Okay? Let's just go there.
Right? We're going to stop. We're stopping. Right?
There's probably maybe some built -up rage there.
At least I know it's been for me. Amen? Good.
You didn't say anything. You didn't agree. But
understand that he understands what's going to
happen. Did you ever just stop and think about
that? That as he's on the donkey. And he's seeing
all of these people. He knows what Thursday is
going to be. And we're going to talk about that
on Thursday. He knows what Friday is going to
be. We're going to talk about that online. He
knows that the end of this kind of the school
week, the Monday through Friday, by Friday, he's
going to be dead. Doesn't that make Palm Sunday
not just some regular Sunday? That there is an
expectation that he has. And that what the Belgic
is pulling out of us is that he knows he's going
to go against the rage. The mood of the people
will shift. Hosanna to the son of David. Hosanna
in the highest. Give us Barabbas. They're going
to get an option. And they're going to pick the
wrong one. So you see, this mood changes. That
the king is fulfilling what the king is going
to fulfill, but the king is also going to be
very misunderstood. So let's continue on in verse
16 of John chapter 12. His disciples did not
understand these things at first. But when Jesus
was glorified, then they remembered that these
things had been written about him and had been
done to him. The crowd that had been with him
when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised
him from the dead continued to bear witness.
The only reason why the crowd went to meet him
was that they heard he had done this sign. So
the Pharisees said to one another, you see that
you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has
gone after him. So there's a misunderstanding.
I love that John puts in there the crowd that
was at probably his greatest miracle outside
of himself rising from the dead, but we'll get
there. Was Lazarus dead four days? Completely
dead by Jewish culture and understanding. He
calls him out. He has Mary, Martha visibly shaken,
mad, to the point where Jesus weeps. We talked
about that a couple weeks ago. This same crowd
now has gone out, and the gossip mill has now,
about this, has gone all over. Because let's
face it, that's juicy gossip, isn't it? I mean,
you had like, okay, he fed 5 ,000 men, so that
would have been probably about close to 9 ,000
to 10 ,000 people, if not more, with five loaves
and two fish. That's old hat. He raised a guy
from the dead. Okay, he spit on the ground and
he made a blind guy see. That's old hat. He's
raised Lazarus from the dead. He said that he
is the son of God. He has said he is the son
of man. For some reason, he's passed by two stonings
and was never killed. That's old hat. He raised
Lazarus from the dead. I don't know about you.
I think he would have had me there. I can be
a skeptic. I think I've been like, okay, okay,
these are cool. These are great. I should listen
to what he says. But then he raises Lazarus from
the dead. Nobody else has done anything like
this, and no one else has done it consistently
like he has. Yet they still don't get it. And
if we're being honest, I don't know if we always
get it either. You see, Jesus is praised, but
misunderstood. The crowd desires a political
liberator, but what they get is a suffering servant.
They misunderstand. How do we know they misunderstand?
Because they pull these off the trees or the
bush or whatever, however these grow. They pull
them off. And they're using this for a reason.
Right? It wasn't just cute to watch kids try
to hit each other as they go around or all of
that or try to not hit each other as the three
kids that are probably grounded now for doing
that when they get home. They did it because
it was a nationalistic symbol. It was used during
the Maccabean Revolt. They're using this for
a reason. They're signifying. This signifies
Jewish freedom. They cry Hosanna. But with every
leaf comes with its own agenda. And isn't it
funny? I should have thought about this before.
This is going to take forever. But just remember.
None of these leaves on there can easily be turned
into a whip. And that's exactly what's going
to happen to the Son of Man mere days later.
They don't get that Jesus is anointed for a purpose,
and it doesn't fit their agenda. So let me rabbit
trail here really quick, and this is going to
probably stir up a bunch of you. I look out,
and I know we all have agendas. Some of us hold
them much stronger than others. But understand
that Christ's holiness and anointing has never
been, will never be there to fit your agenda
because he is the king and you are not. He is
the king and I am not. My agenda, day in, day
out, should fit his agenda. not the other way
around. Because if we hold it to where he needs
to come, you know, Jesus, come on up here and
be where I'm at. Oh, friendo, that is a bad place
to be. You are just like the ones that waste
the palm branches, that waste the cries of Hosanna.
Because the anointed messianic king It means
something different. Heidelberg Catechism, question
answer 31, helps us understand why is he called
Christ, meaning anointed. The answer, because
he has been ordained by God the Father and anointed
with the Holy Spirit to be our chief prophet,
teacher, and only high priest and eternal king.
Friend, you and I are not anointed the same way
Jesus was anointed. Our anointing Our gifting
comes after this week. Comes with the call of
the Holy Spirit. Wait for that. Let's get through
the summer. Let's get through our August sermon
series starting Labor Day weekend. We're going
to be all about the Holy Spirit as we dive into
the beginning of the book of Acts. Because the
Holy Spirit has a job to do. But for now, this
Palm Sunday, we recognize that Jesus' kingship
includes teaching truth, interceding for sinners,
and ruling eternity. He's not merely a figurehead.
He is saving, he is reigning, and he is eternal.
So let's just really, let's shoot each other
straight. Let's just be honest. It would have
been a lot better if he would have come and just
conquered, right? It would have been a lot better
if he would have brought his angel legions and
just annihilated it and started everything over.
That wasn't his time yet. How do we know? Because
we journeyed through the book of Revelation last
fall. It's hard to think that was half a year
ago already. More than that. He comes first as
a baby king. He comes through on the foal of
a donkey on Palm Sunday. He will be seen by many
when he rises from the dead after Easter Sunday.
Oh, but friend, he comes back. He comes back
with fire in his eyes. He comes back in the way
a king would. But for now, he's conquering a
different way. He is the king who conquers through
the cross. So we continue in John 12, verse 23
and 25. And Jesus answered them, the hour has
come that the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat
falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone.
But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever
loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his
life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Jesus responds to the growing momentum not by
seizing power, because he totally could have,
right? He had legions of people ready to go.
I'm sure if he would have turned, a lot of bad
things could have happened. A lot of lives could
have been lost. That mass of people was kind
of like an army, wasn't it? It probably looked
a little bit like an army. They're calling for
their general. But that was never Jesus. That
wasn't what he was going to do. That was never
on his mind. And he shows it. Full of a donkey,
not a war horse. We see palm branches, not swords.
And here's the thing. We don't see him going
through that main hallway, that main road in
Jerusalem and getting on some kind of stage.
No, he's going to continue to teach. He's going
to continue to preach. He's going to continue
to heal. He's going to continue to do signs and
wonders until the greatest one, the greatest
sign ever given in the history of the world that
thousands have given their life for happens this
time next week. When we hear that question, who
are you seeking in the empty tomb? The angel
exclaiming, he is not here. He is risen just
as he said. I don't know about you, but that's
the greatest sign and seal of our lives. The
Kansas door helps us understand this. The Kansas
door, one of our three forms of unity, the second
point, article three, or the second head, article
three, this death, Christ's death and resurrection
is of infinite worth and value. abundantly sufficient
to expiate the sins of the whole world. I was
going through candidacy in the Christian Reformed
Church. I did not grow up in the CRC. I didn't
go to Calvin Seminary to get my MDiv. But to
come into the denomination, you have to go through
a time of learning, a time of testing, a time
of proving, so to speak, that you could be a
candidate in the CRC. And I had a preaching professor.
That was going through my sermons. And they were
evaluating the three that I had to give. And
her and I disagreed on a lot. But she said, you
know, Jim, I think your sermons lack creativity.
Okay? Fair. And again, you receive it. You don't
come at it like, no, I'm Billy Graham and you
can't teach me anything. That's a really bad
way to live life. So if you're doing that, please
stop. People can't teach you things. She said,
you end with the cross all the time. I'm going
to lovingly challenge you to not end all of your
sermons on the cross, or at the cross, but maybe
go to the manger, or maybe go to the hill where
he feeds, or a boat where he tells the waters
to be quiet, or go to the empty tomb. You don't
always have to end to the cross. I remember I
wrote a response, and I shared it with my good
friend Joel Shears, who was the lead, and he
took it and he threw it away, and he said, start
again. And I said, maybe I'm a little upset.
And he was able to read it. And so I lovingly
pushed back and I just said, sister, I appreciate
your observation. I said, but without the cross,
the empty tomb is just a grave. The manger is
just a feeding trough. The boat is just a boat.
The cross changes everything. Now, selfishly,
what is she going to say? Is she really going
to come back and be like, you failed? No, because
I would have appealed it and probably would have
won. But understand, friends, that's the sermon.
The cross changes everything. And as you see,
that purple, that recognition of the divine,
of the Davidic, of the Messiah, turns to white.
That is because the job has been done. Our sins
no longer define us. Our sins no longer weigh
us down. That we are lifted up because the king
did his work. And it's sufficient. And this hurts.
It's sufficient whether you like it or not. It's
sufficient whether it meets my temporal needs
or not. It's sufficient whether it makes me happy
or not. We're going to look at Maundy Thursday
very differently this year. We're going to use
a word that you would not associate with Maundy
Thursday. And that word is, come Thursday and
find out. The king's victory is atonement, not
annihilation. His crown is of thorns, never gold
in this life. His throne is a cross, not a seat
in Jerusalem's palace. Because he's the king
we need, not always the king we want. And friend,
that, that's an us problem. That's never been
a his problem. So what do we do with this? Where
do we take this? Well, the first is we need to
know the true king. We need to recognize that
Jesus' kingship is not political, it's not manipulative
or earthly. It is spiritual, it is sacrificial.
And it is eternal. Amen? Okay. So how do we reflect
on that? Reflect this week. And I'm going to
have Dawn put these in the email for this week
for us to reflect on. Do I truly understand the
nature of Christ's rule in my life? Or am I trying
to make Jesus serve my kingdom? For the heart,
love the humble king. Jesus didn't come to conquer
us, but to die for us. Let that humility break
our pride and stir our affections for him and
for the lost. And reflect, am I in awe of the
king of glory entered Jerusalem for me? Am I
in awe of that? Or is it just ho -hum because
you've been in church all your life? If Holy
Week has become ho -hum for you, I rebuke that.
Because I think that's terrible. How could this
week a gift wrap for you and for me just be ho
-hum? Am I in awe that the king of glory entered
Jerusalem for you and for me? And then finally,
how do we take this out? Serve the reigning king.
We serve a risen king who is building his kingdom
through his church. And we are his ambassadors.
Reflect on this with me. How can I reflect his
kingdom values in how I serve, how I forgive,
and how I witness this week? So friends, behold
your king. On Palm Sunday, today, we wave branches,
we sing Hosanna, but we must also bow our knees.
Jesus enters to save, not conform. He goes to
the cross, not because he is weak, but because
he is kingly. So as we walk into this holy week,
our next movement, friends, is to the upper room.
Where our king not only serves, but offers something
profound in the midst of our sorrow. This Maundy's
Thursday, may we consider how Jesus is preparing
his disciples and us for grief. Not by removing
it, but anchoring it in him and what he gives
you. Join us Thursday to meet this suffering
king who will give us something the world can
never take from us. Let's pray.