Holy Week, starting with Palm Sunday, we lead
into Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Saturday,
or as many traditions call it, an Easter Vigil,
or Easter Vespers, going into Resurrection Sunday.
There are expectations to this week. The church
seems to get fuller for this week. Maybe not
so much today, but next Sunday, Easter, we tend
to see a higher percentage of people come. Maybe
for a week or two, and then usually two, three
weeks later, we're back to whatever normal numbers
are. But there are expectations. A lot of pastors
talk about this in church staffs. This is the
Super Bowl week of the church, right? Or you
have Super Bowl week A is Christmas, B is Easter,
or vice versa. I don't know about you, but I
don't fully understand it. I've said this before.
I have colleagues that fret over what their Easter
message is going to be. I don't look at it that
way. I think it's pretty easy. Read the text.
Tell the story. Don't try to gift wrap the greatest
gift ever given with my words. But give the story
of salvation. Because it's one thing. It's a
little pastor's secret. We don't have to make
this up. It's already written. My job is to just
talk about it. To try to dive a little deeper.
To maybe look at things a little differently.
You don't take away from it. You don't add to
it. It is the word of God. It will accomplish
what it sets out to accomplish. But what happens
when the expectations of something become real
loud in our minds? Let me ask a couple questions.
What are some areas or stages of life where we
tend to have higher expectations than others?
It's a little different question, so I'll give
you a minute to think about it. What is an area
of life or different areas of life where expectations
really start to climb pretty high? That we have
pretty high expectations of a certain season
of life or maybe an event of life? Anybody? When
do you expect a lot in life? Yeah. Motherhood.
Okay. That there's a lot of high expectations
of just the whole season of motherhood, however
long that goes. Absolutely. I thought you were
going to say Mother's Day, because that definitely
has its own expectations as well, right? Others?
Yeah. Standardized. I'm so glad you didn't say
professions of faith. But standardized testing,
sure. Expectations are high, right? You kind
of get that one shot, one opportunity. I cannot
believe I just quoted Eminem in a sermon, but
I, sorry, scratched that from the record. Yeah,
other expectations. If you didn't catch that,
don't worry about it. Other expectations. Yeah.
Why did you point to them when you said weddings?
Oh, very good. Okay, yeah. Make sure Nick and
Andy show up, right? It would have been a real
different wedding, right? If all of a sudden
one of them wasn't there. But good news, I can
report they both were and they both got married.
Other expectations. Yeah. Junior and senior year
of high school. You want to break that down for
us? Yeah, right there. Junior year, you're scoping
out colleges. Senior year, you've got to finish
strong. Right? According to Bethany, freshman,
sophomore year, doesn't matter. But junior, senior
year, absolutely. Others? Politicians. We're
going to leave that one. We're just going to
right turn. Okay? We could take that many different
places. Retirement. Who was that? Was that Elaine?
That's a good one. Retirement. The expectations.
I'm going to love not working. About four days
later, I really wish I had something to do. Right?
Yeah. Or the spouse is going, I really wish you
had something to do. Absolutely. Anyone else?
Vacations. Sure. Yeah. Especially when they don't
go the way you want it to go or they're just
flat out bad. Right? Yeah. I'll give you two
since it's your professional faith day. Your
first job. Absolutely. Much like a wedding. Show
up. Right? Your first job. Yep. You want to show
up. None of you, it's interesting, none of you
said Easter. None of you said Sunday mornings.
As your pastor, I can appreciate that you don't
come with expectations, even though I think you
do. You didn't say it out loud to really not
hurt my feelings, and I appreciate that. We have
expectations. So did the Israelites. There were
expectations all around this guy, Jesus. The
Gospel of Luke really gives us and shows us what
those expectations are. Jesus brought it upon
himself. He enters those pressures by saying
the things he said, doing the things he did,
healing the people he healed. But that expectation
becomes loud. There are moments when a crowd
gets something almost right, right? Where the
expectations really start to come. Think about
the gates of Jerusalem, right? This is Passover.
This is the biggest holiday of their calendar.
And their calendar had a wide berth of a lot
of celebrations that they would do. But Passover
was it, right? I liken that to my first year
and a half of college. I was out in Pella, Iowa
at Central College. Small little town of about,
I don't know, 15 ,000. Kind of the size of Munster
until you get to tulip time. And then all of
a sudden, 15 ,000 becomes 200 ,000 in a week.
And that's not me exaggerating. The place gets
packed. Very similar to what Jerusalem was during
the Passover. Energy, high, real. Excitement,
high, real. Expectation, high, real. But their
understanding in this season was a little bit
off. Maybe you've been to a parade. Maybe you've
gone to some level of a championship game or
maybe the Super Bowl or something like that.
The moment when the crowd is loud, unified, confident,
yet they're not fully aware what's actually happening
behind the scenes. Palm Sunday fits that description.
Palm Sunday is one of those moments. It feels
like a victory parade, right? It was only a tenth
of what our kids were doing during that first
song. This was a massive, right down Broadway,
on the main street of Jerusalem. Jesus is entering,
crowds are gathering, cloaks are thrown on the
road, voices are raised and praised. And Luke
tells us, the whole multitude of his disciples
began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice.
Loud, joyful, hopeful. But if we're honest, Because
the crowd is crying out, but they don't fully
understand what kind of king is entering the
city. They all think they do, and their shouts,
Hosanna, right? Messianic verbiage, we'll get
there. They don't fully understand. Under the
pressure of this moment, something is revealed.
Not just who Jesus is, but what we expect him
to be. I also noticed that none of you, Said,
I have an expectation of Jesus in my life. We're
much like Sunday morning. I think you do. I think
if we're honest, we all have our expectations
of Jesus. So let's dive in. Luke chapter 19 with
our first point. This moment was never an accident.
Moment never an accident. Luke 19, we'll start
in verse 28. Luke 19, starting with verse 28.
And when he had said these things, he went on
ahead going up to Jerusalem. When he drew near
to Bethpage and Bethany at the mount that is
called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples saying,
go into the village in front of you where on
entering you will find a colt tied on which no
one has ever sat. Untie and bring it here. If
anyone asks you, why are you untying it? You
shall say this, the Lord has need of it. So those
who were sent away, so those who were sent. Luke
gives us a lot of detail here. It's what I love
about the Gospel of Luke. A lot of details. Doctors,
details. Luke thinks that way. His writer wrote
that way. But he gives us a lot of details that
we can easily miss if we move too quickly. Especially
if you've been in church even longer than a year.
The Palm Sunday message is really the same message
every year. But if we pass by too quickly, we're
going to miss some things. Jesus doesn't just
ride into Jerusalem. It's not just happenstance.
Like, what are we going to do today? Jesus planned
this. Go into the village. You will find a colt
tied. Untie it, bring it here. If anyone asks,
say the Lord is in need of it. It's not spontaneous.
This isn't him rolling the dice. I hope the colt's
there. I hope that the owner's okay with it.
No, this is intentional. Carefully designed and
arranged. Much like creation. And that matters
because what Jesus is doing is not simply entering
a city. But he is staging a moment. of revelation
now we can't try to get on jesus's level the
bible says his ways are higher than our ways
and we shouldn't really try but if we really
can dive into the details luke is emphasizing
obedience and precision the cult is exactly where
jesus said it would be the question is asked
exactly the way jesus predicts and the response
is given exactly as instructed Because, let's
be honest, right? That this is, in some ways,
theft. That some of us, more on the pragmatic
or pessimistic side, we go, Jesus is an accomplice
to theft. He tells these disciples to go find
a cult that technically doesn't belong to him.
Our good Kuyperian theology would say it does
belong to him. Everything, every square inch
belongs to Christ. But he tells his disciples
to go do this. And the owner could have had a
very different response, right? Let's bring it
to 2026, right? And let's bring it to a car,
not a colt, okay? A car never been driven. I
know this is getting pretty thin, but you can
follow me, right? But let's say Jesus says, go
into this town, find this car, get into it. The
key will be in there because I don't think Jesus
would say hotwire it. I don't think that's okay.
But the key's in there. If the owner says, what
are you doing? Say, the Lord's in need of it.
Okay, take my car. That's kind of weird in 2026,
right? I've probably seen too many movies or
shows to where what usually happens in this scenario.
Anybody? What usually would happen in this scenario?
Yeah, yeah. The disciples get shot, okay, depending
on what kind of town they're in when they do
this carjacking or this cultjacking, okay? And
so, but everything seems to go, or not seems,
it goes exactly the way Jesus says. And what's
funny is Jesus isn't reacting to the moment,
isn't he? Or he's not. He's just walking into
it. He's going, this is a, yeah. That's what
you get when you're the savior of the world,
when you are the omnipotent God, what you say.
For some of us, we don't like that. It binds
us a bit. We're like, well, I want that power.
Well, you don't want to be God, believe me. You
do not want that job. But he is controlling the
moment, and here's where it gets really interesting.
During Passover, Jerusalem would already be on
edge. Historically speaking, thousands of pilgrims
are arriving, national identity is heightened,
and Roman authorities were on alert for what?
For lunch and a conversation with Pastor Jim.
What are the Romans worried about? A revolt,
right? Oh, uprising, revolt. Okay, you and Max
fight it out who gets the lot. She just got married,
okay? So she just got a ton of money. I'll take
you out. Okay, so understand that, yeah, they're
worried about rebellion. They're worried about
revolt. Absolutely. Historically, Roman governors
like Pontius Pilate, who we're going to see this
week, would offer enter Jerusalem during major
festivals, not on a donkey. That the high elite
leaders would actually do exactly what Jesus
does, but do it in a very different way. This
would be like the Macy's Day Parade, the Rose
Bowl Parade, and the Munster Fourth of July Parade,
all mixed together. And they would come in on
the most glorious war horse ever, not to be praised
by the pilgrimage Israelites of Passover, but
to say, we own... Very different kind of parade,
right? He would come, war horse, soldiers, banners,
visible power, a show of dominance reminding
Rome is in control. But that's not what happens.
Now we hold next to this image of Jesus. Likely
at the same time, another procession could be
happening, right? No soldiers, no weapons, no
banners, no empire, just a cloak, just dust,
a borrowed colt. And a crowd shouting scripture.
This is not just a humble entrance. This is a
counter procession. This is a deliberate contrast.
This is the pressure of the moment. Pontius Pilate,
all of the other high elites, they would have
gone this way with it. Jesus comes in this way
with it. Two kingdoms entering the city. One
built on power. One built on peace. But here's
Luke's deeper point. Jesus is not hiding his
identity. He is forcing the question. This is
the moment where everything becomes public. Because
up until now, what has Luke showed us? Especially
if you've been following along in the gospel
and reading through it over these last couple
weeks. Jesus is withdrawn from crowds. He has
told people to keep quiet. He has avoided premature
confrontation. But now he steps into the center
stage of it. Why? Because his time has come.
This is the beginning of the final movement toward
the cross. The Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day
12, reminds us Christ is our king who governs
us by word and spirit and defends and preserves
us. But here's the key. He doesn't establish
this kingship by force. There's no war horse.
There's no pomp and circumstance in a militaristic
or political way. He reveals it, and he's going
to let it be rejected. Because the king rules
not by coercion, but by sacrifice. And this is
where this presses on us. This is where in 2026
we should feel this. Because we often want Jesus
to react to us. We want him to fit our plans.
We want him to respond to our needs in a very
specific way. But Luke is showing us something
different. Jesus is not reacting. He's leading.
He's not adjusting to the moment. He's fulfilling
his mission. And that means following him is
not always comfortable because this kingdom does
not move in the direction we expect. Jesus does
not always move in the way we want him to move.
But pastor, I pray about it. I fast about it.
I talk to other people about it. I post prayer
hand emojis just for that reason. Sorry, friends,
that's not how it works. When you submit, we
should cry out like that kid's doing. In all
of the understanding of who we are, your will
be done. But, pastor, I don't like that. Well,
guess what? In a couple days, that Good Friday
service, Crown Point, 909 East Greenwood Avenue,
7 o 'clock, Crown Point, we're going to hear
the same thing come out of Jesus' mouth. Not
my will. but your will be done. And that's not
about a promotion at a job. That's not about
trying to get new brakes on your car. That has
to do with whether or not he was going to go
to the cross. And guess what he does? The king
enters, not quietly, not accidentally, but intentionally.
And now the question is no longer hidden. It
is out in the open, which takes us to verse 36
with our point two. Praise can be loud without
being deep. Hang in there. The umbrella, this
is going to hurt, guys. Okay? This one's going
to hurt. I'm going to start with me, and then
we're all going to get it. Starting with verse
36. And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks
on the road. As he was drawing near, already
on the way to the Mount of Olives, the whole
multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and
praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty
works that they had seen, saying, Blessed is
the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace
in heaven and glory in the highest. Love that,
right? Blessed be the king in the name of the
Lord. Blessed is he. They're messianic psalms.
They are quoting Psalm 119. True praise, right?
But it's not with understanding. Because within
days, some of these same voices will fall silent
or maybe even turn. To say that the same crowd
that's saying Hosanna is the same crowd that
crucifies actually can be kind of debunked. Some
are probably the same. But understanding that
Palm Sunday reminds us that it is possible to
praise Jesus without truly surrendering to him.
And guess what, friends? How many Sundays in
a year? 52? We do a Thanksgiving service. We
do a Maundy Thursday service. Let's throw the
candlelight service in there. Maybe just for
fun, two more services. So 57 services a year
we do here at Munster Church. And we can do it
in the wrong way. We can do praise and worship
without submitting our lives to Christ, without
giving that over, and that is not how it's supposed
to be. Palm Sunday is calling all of us out.
We can sing loudly. We can show up faithfully.
We can celebrate emotionally, but still misunderstand
what Jesus came to do in your life, in my life,
in the life of the church. The catechism reminds
us that true faith is not just knowledge. But
what else? It's a knowledge and a trust. That
gut feeling, that trust. Under pressure, shallow
praise in this moment is exposed. Yet what we're
going to see is that Jesus is the king who will
not be silenced. Verse 39. And some of the Pharisees
in the crowd said to him, Teacher, rebuke your
disciples. He answered, I tell you, if these
were silent, the very stones would cry out. Don't
you love this scene? The Pharisees are like,
this is too much. I kind of see them going, la,
la, la, la, la, like they don't like it. This
is not what they would want. Jesus is getting
all the hype. They're probably worried on the
Jesus side, but they're also worried because
of the rebellion there, potentially in their
minds, and the Rome side. Like, keep it quiet
over here. This other guy's doing something over
here. In other words, they're telling Jesus to
make it stop. This is too much, they think. This
is too bold. This is too dangerous. But Jesus
responds, if this creation isn't going to cry
out, this creation will cry out. And guess what?
He can't. He can say those things. And what we
don't even realize is how staggering of a statement
that is. So he has said he is the son of man.
He has said he is the Messiah. He is now saying
he is the creator. Creation itself will always
recognize the creator. In our lives, part of
our job as believers is to recognize the creator.
Guess what? It's not us. That we are creation.
We recognize our king, our creator. If people
refuse to praise, creation will take their place.
Why? Because this moment's not optional. This
is the arrival of the king. This is the turning
point of history. This is the moment that everything
had been moving toward this moment. All of the
Torah, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,
all of the historical books, all of the prophets,
major, minor, all the wisdom literature, all
of it is pointing toward this week. The king
will be recognized. And the question is not if
there will be praise. The question is, who is
going to give it? And let's be honest, we miss
it. And Jesus' response should really strike
our heart. He weeps over missed peace. Little
rabbit trail. One of the hardest things in the
church is conflict between congregation members,
right? When you have sheep, it's sheep versus
sheep, for whatever reason. They took your normal
parking spot, they took your seat you normally
get, they got the last cup of coffee, whatever
it was, or stuff deeper, because none of that
really matters. But understanding that we can
hurt one another. Sheep can bite other sheep.
Shepherds try to do our best, but even shepherds
can hurt sheep, sheep can hurt shepherds. It
can happen. That's why Jesus spends so much time
talking about conflict resolution and bringing
peace, restoration, those kind of things. When
we miss an opportunity to bring peace to a fellow
brother or sister, or to receive that peace,
whether a disagreement, right? We're going to
go through a next week, week and a half, where
a potential huge decision about this church is
going to get made. And there are going to be
some people that do not like it. There are going
to be some people that look at it in a completely
different way. Okay. That is part of this. And
we may do this. I hope we don't war over that.
Because that peace is there. That peace is for
us to give and for us to receive. And Jesus sees
this missed opportunity in verse 41 and he weeps
over it. 41 to 44. Then he drew near and saw
the city. He wept over it saying, would that
you, even you, had known on this day the things
that make for peace. But now they are hidden
from your eyes. For the days will come upon you
when your enemies will set up a barricade around
you and surround you and hem you in on every
side and tear you down to the ground, you and
your children within you, and they will not leave
one stone upon another in you because you did
not know the time of your visitation. What in
the world is Luke talking about here? He's weeping.
No other gospel points this part out. Luke does,
though. This weeping. It's not a quiet sadness.
This is a deep, visible grief. Why? Would you
that have known the things that would make for
peace. But Jesus, the crowds are celebrating.
Yet Jesus is weeping. Because they missed it.
They wanted a political king. They wanted someone
to overshadow the other people going through
the gates of Jerusalem on the other sides. But
what Jesus is bringing is spiritual peace. We
want the immediate victory, the immediate change.
But he's bringing eternal salvation. They want
control. He is offering surrender. And because
they reject him, Jesus foretells destruction.
This isn't just what's going to happen at the
end of this week. He's talking about Jerusalem
as a whole historically. And guess what? Jerusalem
fell. 70 AD, the temple destroyed, the city overrun.
Why? Because you did not know the time of your
visitation. Friends, they missed the moment.
They had it. It was served up on a beautiful
platter. All the little intricacies of this Palm
Sunday mean something. But they miss it. So what
does that look like in our life? When the king
comes close. When the king sometimes comes right
here, right in your face. And yet we still miss
him. And here's where the passage presses in
on us. Because Palm Sunday is not just about
them, it's about us. Jesus still comes near,
doesn't he? Through his word, through his spirit,
through worship, through those moments of conviction.
And the answer is, do you recognize him? Or do
we reshape him to fit what we're comfortable
with? One thing we've seen through this entire
sermon series is Jesus is going to enter that
uncomfortability. Yet sometimes we want him just
to be the comfortable Jesus. And so we resist
him as our king. But the one thing that Heart
of Our Catechism Lord's Day 1 reminds us is that
we belong, body and soul, to Jesus Christ. Not
partially, but completely. We can't say, Jesus,
I give you my 99 .9%. I'm just going to keep
that 0 .1 % here. I'm going to keep it in my
pocket. I'm just going to keep it with me. You
can't see it. Stay away. We can't do that. But
we belong, body and soul, in life and in death,
to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. Why? Because
he's paid for your sins. How? With his precious
blood. And that means his authority is not something
we admire. Oh, Jesus, you're great. Way to go,
Jesus. No, we submit our lives to it. As hard
as it is, as much as we want that control, we
submit our lives. So don't let this week just
come and go, friends. The crowds cried out today.
Their voices filled the road, filled the streets.
Praise echoed through the city. Expectations
were high. But they did not understand. They
didn't know where the road was leading this week.
Because the road does not stop at this celebration.
It moves forward. It moves forward to a table.
A table where bread will be broken, a cup will
be lifted, and Jesus will say, this is my body
given for you. From the table we will move to
a garden, a place of prayer where the weight
of sin presses so on the Son of Man, but we will
hear those faithful words, not my will, but your
will be done. And then we'll be invited to watch
there. To see obedience under pressure. To see
surrender that saves. Why? Because from the garden,
it will move through the lies and the beatings
and the floggings and the mockery to the cross.
Where the shouting will change. The praise will
turn to accusation. Where the king will be lifted
up, high and lifted up, not in triumph of in
praise, but in a bloody... sacrifice. And then
we'll be invited to stand there, to face the
reality of my sin, the reality of your sin, to
see the depth of his love, to sit in the darkness
and not rush away from the moment. Because friends,
then, only then, the cross moves to a tomb. A
silence, a waiting, a stillness where everything
seems unresolved and chaos seems to fill the
conversation. Chaos, confusion. But then we move
to the morning where the stone is rolled away,
where death itself is undone, where the king
is revealed, not just as savior, but as risen
Lord. So today we cry out, but in this week we
follow. To the table, to the garden, to the cross.
Don't turn away. Lean in. Because only those
who walk with him through the darkness will fully
understand the light of Easter morning. So this
week, my friends, come. Come to the table. Come
to the cross. Come to the empty tomb. And follow
your king. Let's pray.