I am Pastor Nathan, and yes, today is Palm Sunday,
and we celebrate the beginning of what is called
Holy Week. This is the week in history where
Jesus rode into Jerusalem on what we refer to
as the triumphal entry. This is the week that
ends in his crucifixion. But more gloriously
than all of that, it's the week that begins anew.
on Sunday with his resurrection. And we're so
excited to be looking at that this week and celebrating
all of that, remembering what all of that means.
And for today, we're talking about this moment
where Jesus rode into Jerusalem. You see, when
a major ruler rides into the city, and it's even
today when it's presidents or rulers in their
limos and all that, everything seems to stop.
Everything is rearranged. Everything is made
to fit that moment. And in the ancient world,
You know, when kings would be coming into a city,
there would often be a huge processional, and
the arrival would be... declared by trumpets
and sounds. And all the people in the city hearing
all of this would stop what they're doing and
look up because when a dignitary came to the
city, it was a big, big deal. And so there was
all this fanfare that would accompany their arrival.
And one of the reasons everybody took notice
when a dignitary would arrive into a town was
because that meant... Major decisions are about
to be made. Major decisions are about to be called
for. When a king would arrive to a town, that
meant that alliances were going to be formed
or broken. That meant that battles were going
to be begun or ended. That meant that decrees
were going to be announced. It meant that either
peace was being offered or judgment was being
declared. And so when the king rode in to a city,
Nobody got to remain neutral. Everybody was affected
and everybody had a response, even if that response
was to look away. And so John chapter 12 is where
we're going to be this morning. This is one of
those moments where the true king rides into
town. And it's just not how everybody was expecting,
right? He arrives in town not on a war horse
as a conquering general, not in a chariot or
accompanied by an armored guard, but instead,
Jesus, the true king, rides in on a borrowed
donkey, one that had never been ridden before.
Not surrounded by soldiers, but by pilgrims.
Common people who had traveled from all over
the place to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the
Passover. He's not brought in with trumpets blaring,
but with palm leaves waving and the people shouting
Hosanna, calling him the King of Israel. See,
the whole city was stirred up on this date and
this time, and yet in the middle of this moment
that we're looking at this morning, there is
a very quiet personal question that was hanging
in the air, and it's the question that hangs
in the air for us today. You see, because when
we come to Palm Sunday, it's like, well, it was
Palm Sunday last year. Churches all over the
world right now, we're all looking at the same
story and talking about the triumphal entry.
And for those of you that have been in church
for a while, you're like, I've heard this story
a thousand times. I've seen every scripture on
this story taught. And we reflect on it every
single year, and yet here we are again. And sometimes
people are like, well, why? And, you know, some
pastors even be like, oh, I don't care about
the holidays. I'm just going to continue through
my verse by verse. But here we are looking at
Palm Sunday again. And it's because every Palm
Sunday we have the opportunity to ask ourselves
this question. When the king rides in, when he
comes near, not to a city but to a soul, to a
life, how? Will we respond? See, many of you
have been walking with the Lord for many years,
but maybe over the last year you've had some
moments of wavering, moments of stumbling, moments
of drifting. I think God repeats himself in Scripture
a lot because he knows that we forget, we ignore,
and we have to come to these places where we
revisit these simple questions. When the king
rides into your life, how will you respond? What
will your response be? Some, when they look at
Palm Sunday, they see a religious event. It's
like one of those church days, right? We got
Christmas. We got Easter. Well, Palm Sunday,
and different faiths and traditions, they have
different moments and times that they see, but
some just see the religious event, and then after
the event is over, they go back to life as usual.
Some, when the king rides in, will... cheer for
his arrival. They will shout out praises as long
as he meets their agenda. Some will feel threatened
and try and push him back out because his presence
represents change. His presence represents challenge
to their own will and their own opinions. And
then a few will recognize who he really is. who's
really sitting on that donkey and choose to follow
him. And so this morning, we're gonna look at
what happens when the king rides in. We're gonna
look at some contrast that we see in the story
here in John 12. We're gonna look at the contrast
between Jesus and religion and ask the question,
what do we do when the king rides into our routines?
When the king rides into our traditions? When
the king rides into what we think in our religious
practice are the things? that make us good or
make us scriptural or make us spiritual. We're
gonna look at the contrast between God's word
and our opinions and ask the question, what do
we do when the king rides in? Exactly as he said
he would. What do we do when the king rides into
our life with his word and says, this is how
I want you to live and this is how I want you
to be, and we say, but, but I have a different
opinion. And then we're going to see a contrast
between following and watching and ask the question,
what do we do when the king rides into our lives
and calls us not just to watch, not just to admire,
but to follow him? Because Palm Sunday, it's
not just about some event that happened a couple
thousand years ago. It's not just another Christian
holiday on the calendar that the church celebrates.
Palm Sunday is and will always be about what
happens in your heart today. What happens in
your life today when the king says, I'm writing
into your life, I'm writing into your routine,
I'm writing into your opinions, and how will
you respond? But before we get into that, we're
going to spend time worshiping our king because
worshiping our king is good. We get to worship
our king. We should worship our king because
everything that this week represents is the foundation
of our lives, our future. We celebrate our savior.
We celebrate our king, and as we'll talk about
later in the study, we're not gonna celebrate
him today just because we think he's coming to
conquer our outward circumstances, but we know
that he's conquered our inward circumstance,
that he dealt with our sin, died on the cross,
paid the penalty and the price that we would
be set free, and that's what we worship him for.
So if you brought your palm branches, feel free.
They're outside. Okay, good. But if you didn't
bring your palm branches, lift your hands, lift
your voice, lift your heart to the King of kings
and the Lord of lords, amen? Let's pray. Father,
we love you. We thank you, God, so much for who
you are. We thank you that you are perfect and
holy and righteous. We thank you, God, that you
put a plan in motion. Years, hundreds, thousands
of years before the fruit of that plan came to
pass, God, and yet you held this plan together
through generations of people, and not just generations
of people, but generations of messed up people.
And yet, Lord, because you are holy and you are
perfect and you are almighty and you are omnipotent,
your plan came to fruition, Lord. That God, you
came to this earth born as a man. Jesus, you
lived as a man, fully God and fully man, and
yet, Lord, you lived in a way that you would
be able to identify with us. God, you lived in
a way that proved your word to be true. You called
us, Lord, not to just watch you and admire you,
but to follow you. And God, you very publicly,
on what this day is celebrating, declared yourself
to be the one true king. And so God, today we
worship you. We celebrate this day that you rode
into Jerusalem. We celebrate what it meant and
what it means to us today, God, and we say you
are our king. You are our Lord. You are our savior.
God, if there's anybody here today that has,
not yet given their life to you, that has not
yet surrendered their will to you and professed
you, Jesus, as God in the flesh and professed
that you died on the cross for them and that,
Lord, that they have willingly just accepted
the free gift of salvation through faith in your
death and resurrection, Lord, I pray today would
be their day. I pray, God, that your Holy Spirit,
even in this very moment, would begin to tug
on their heart, to reveal to them their need
for a Savior, their need for the King of Kings
and Lord of Lords in their life, and that, God,
as you are writing into their life today, that
they would receive you in the right way, in the
proper way. In the life -changing and saving
way, God. We love you. We worship you now. We
thank you for everything. It's in Jesus' name
we pray. Amen. Well, God bless all of you. We
are going to be in John chapter 12 this morning.
The final week of the life of Jesus is given
such weight in Scripture. In the Gospel of Matthew,
40 % of the Gospel is about the last week of
Jesus' life. In the gospel of Mark, 60 % is given
over to that. 33 % of Luke and about 50 % of
the gospel of John is about the final week of
the life of Jesus. If you count up all the chapters
in all four gospels, there's 89 chapters and
four of the 89 cover the first 30 years of Jesus'
life. 85 of those chapters are about the last
three and a half years of his life. And then
29 of those 85 focus on this last week, God's
holy week. Do you think it's important? Yeah,
you know. As we gather today, you know, and looking
into God's word, it's not just another Sunday.
It's not just another Palm Sunday, you know.
We're stepping into the most important week of
human history. With the cross just days away
and the resurrection right after. And today we're
gathered as the body of Christ to celebrate what
is called the triumphal entry. Jesus riding into
Jerusalem in fulfillment of prophecy and starting
this week that would change everything. And what
is happening today is the king is riding into
the city. The king is showing up. He is coming
in. And the details of this moment, they teach
us so much. They remind us of so many things
and the few things we're gonna look at today
is just the difference between Jesus and what
people would call religion. We're gonna look
at how God's word does and should outweigh my
truth in regards to anything, any topic, any
idea. And then we're also gonna look at when
just being a part of the crowd is not enough.
And so join me in John chapter 12 if you'll read
with me starting in verse 12. It says, the next
day. And contextually, this is the day after
Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. So it says,
the next day when the large crowd that had come
to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to
Jerusalem, they took palm branches and went out
to meet him. They kept shouting, Hosanna! Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the
King of Israel. And so this crowd of people that
are greeting him as he enters Jerusalem, gathered
here for this festival, this major holiday in
the Jewish calendar called Passover. So this
group, they're a huge crowd of religious people,
people of faith, people that profess to follow
a faith, and so this... festival that would happen
every year. It was one of three major festivals,
or feasts as they would call them, that all Jewish
men were required to attend if they lived within
a certain distance of Jerusalem. And so these
three feasts were the Feast of Tabernacles, the
Feast of Pentecost, and then Passover. These
holidays, they were huge. They were major, major
moments on their calendar, just like we have
Christmas and we have Easter. And, you know,
we have these big, major holidays that commemorate
major moments in our faith. And so Passover was...
was the holiday that that celebrated and remembered
israel's deliverance from egypt right as we get
into the book of exodus here in june we're going
to be looking at that story how god delivered
his people from the slavery and the bondage of
egypt so this was a major major holiday in the
jewish nation and so over the years and in time
this this holiday this moment of passover became
One of the primary focal points of the Jewish
calendar, it became... really a central element
of their national identity, right? That they
were God's people who God rescued and delivered
from bondage and slavery in Egypt. They were
the people that God brought to the promised land,
fulfilling words that he had given hundreds of
years earlier to the forefather of their faith,
Abraham. He was the one that did all of these
things, and so as God's people, their national
identity was we serve the one true God. But for
many people in Israel, by the time of John 12,
the celebration of Passover had become a routine.
It had become something you just did, something
you did because you have to. Something that,
you know, you had to do or you were a bad Jew,
right? Now, it was just the same thing year after
year for so many of the people. The same road
they would travel because they had to travel
into Jerusalem to come to the temple. They sang
the same songs. They might have said the same
prayers. They had the same rituals. And it had
become this just kind of stagnant thing for them.
This system of worship that God had given to
Israel had been weighed down by layers of human
tradition over the years. What it was meant to
be in this observation and worship of God and
who he is, it had surpassed that to where the
focal point was on the observation and not the
God they were observing. And for many of us in
today's world, church becomes that. Our walk
of faith can become that where things get weighed
down by layers of man -centered tradition instead
of the focus being on who it's all about. We
could start to think, well, we're good people,
we're good Christians, we're all of this stuff
because, well, we're following the rules, right?
Israel was given the Ten Commandments. When they
had reached the point in their walk as God's
people, they kind of were like, hey, God, following
you, yeah, just give us the rules. Just give
us the rules. Tell us what we need to do to be
righteous. We'll follow those rules. And God
said, okay, here's ten. Ten commandments. And
then they went, cool, we can't follow those,
so let's layer on hundreds of other commandments
that are man -made rules on top of that. And
these man -made rules that were layered on top
of the Ten Commandments just created a burdensome
relationship with their God. That their relationship
with God had become this list of duties or you're
bad. And it had become this list of, you know,
do this, don't do this. And if you do these things,
well, God loves you. And if you don't do these
things, then God's mad at you. And then they,
as a nation, started to come to, trust in those
things where, well, if I go to the festivals
like I'm supposed to, then I'm good with God,
but I could just really live however I wanted
to then. And we could find ourselves in that
situation. We could find ourselves calling ourselves
religious people. Because, well, I go to church
and I read my Bible and I worship and I pray.
But if you ever find yourself starting to say,
you know, Why am I going to heaven? And you say,
well, it's because I go to church. It's because
I do this. It's because I do this. It's because
I do this. You've missed the point. We're going
to heaven because of Jesus. We're saved because
of Jesus. We live and breathe because of Jesus.
Not because we do these religious things. Now,
there was a rising expectation in Israel during
this time because of the oppressiveness of their
own faith and what it had become, as well as
the oppression of Rome and the secular governments
and entities around them, that they were expecting
the Messiah to show up at this time. Now, the
Messiah, the Savior, was something that was promised
all the way back in the beginning in Genesis,
and we studied that. But for generations, they
had been looking forward to this Messiah, and
there had been prophecies spoken and details
given that this is how it's going to happen,
and this is who he's going to be, and this is
how you can identify who he is. And so people
were waiting, and at this particular time in
history, there was just this hunger in Israel.
You know, the religious routines weren't enough
anymore. The rituals weren't cutting it. There
was a deep hunger in their hearts because the
rule keeping wasn't changing who they were. And
I believe the people felt it. There was a growing
schism between the common people and the religious
elites. The people who were supposed to be the
ones shepherding and leading the people towards
Jesus had created this situation where they were
like, we are the holy ones. We're better than
you. We are more holy than you. Look at what
we do. Look at our performance. Look at how we're
dressed. And going through the motions just wasn't
satisfying the deep, deep hunger in their hearts.
I believe it's a hunger we all have. Whether
we can name it or not. It's a hunger that my
life means more than what I'm doing right now.
Like, isn't there a purpose? Why do I exist?
Like, I have thoughts and feelings and everything,
and it can't just be an accident of evolution.
It can't be just, oh, yeah, I'm just here for
a bit, and then I die, no big deal, right? There's
this sense that I have identity, and I'm alive,
and I matter, don't I? And what happens is we
go into the world then and try and find fulfillment
in everything but our creator. And so the people
at this time, they were just hungry. They wanted
the reality of a real relationship with God,
not just the outward religion of it. And so Jesus
had performed this miracle, one of many, but
raising Lazarus from the dead, everybody was
like, oh my gosh. And so word is spreading about
that. That Jesus, that guy, the guy we've been
hearing about for a few years now who's healed
the sick and healed the blind, he's coming to
Jerusalem. And at this particular festival, there's
a couple million people there. It was packed
because it was required. And so people start
hearing about he's coming and suddenly everything
shifts. For the people, at least initially, there
was this growing reality of the focus shifting
from the old familiar religious routines of the
feast to this person who was preaching the same
God all of our religious routines worship, but
there's something different about him. There's
something real and tangible and personal about
him. as he's coming to Jerusalem, everybody that's
focused on, oh, the temple and Passover, all
that, suddenly they're like, Jesus. People were
drawn to him. People were drawn to his message.
And so, yeah, we read there, they took out the
palm branches, they go out to meet him, and they
start shouting this phrase, Hosanna, blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the
King of Israel. You see, the Jewish people, they
knew their scriptures. And in Psalm chapter 118,
there was a prophetic psalm that spoke of the
coming king of Israel, the king who would fix
all their problems, the king who would lead the
nation into righteousness. And in that psalm
was this phrase, Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord. And so they're saying
it's the king. He's the one. They're professing
that he's coming as our king. it's almost like
what the people are shouting here is give us
what our religion has not given us. Please come
and do for us what all the sacrifices and ceremonies
have not been able to do. But there is also a
very significant secular element going on as
Rome was the world's power right now and Rome
was in power over Israel and over Jerusalem.
And so the people were like, you know, this king
we've been hearing about for generations, He's
here. He's here to set us free from secular oppression.
He's here to set us free from religious oppression.
I mean, some people were like, he is the Messiah
and he's done miracles and we've seen him. And
so they're saying, Hosanna. And that's what Hosanna
means. Save now. Save us. Jesus had been a breath
of fresh air in the very stagnant religious climate
of the time. He loved people. He healed the broken.
He spoke with authority. He exposed hypocrisy.
Mark 12, verse 37 says, the common people heard
him gladly. And that phrase, common people, I
love that phrase. It's like, it wasn't the people
who... worked in church and were all in full
-time ministry. These are people who just had
their families and went to work and they had
their normal jobs and they had their normal routines
and yet they were Jewish. They believed in God.
They worshipped him but their whole lives weren't
wrapped around what some would say is religion
and faith and you have these religious elites
always coming down on them saying, you're not
doing it right and you're not doing it right
and you're not doing it right. And then Jesus
comes along and he's like, Yeah, you're not doing
it right, but God will help you do it right.
Trust in him. And the common people are like,
oh man, that's way better than what the Pharisees
have been selling us. And it tells us in scripture,
it was the tax collectors and the prostitutes
and the outcasts. They found it easy, strangely
easy to be around him. Not because he excused
their sin, but because he offered grace and truth.
And, you know, church, we are the vessels of
the Holy Spirit in the presence of Christ in
this world. And, you know, it's often said that,
like, oh, the world should never be comfortable
around you. And I agree with that statement to
a point. But if the world is uncomfortable around
you because you are a prideful, arrogant Pharisee,
you're doing it wrong. Because if your self -righteousness
is driving people away, you're not following
the example of Christ. If your religiousness
is to the point where you look down on people,
even inadvertently, you're doing it wrong. Although
people should be uncomfortable around you because
the Holy Spirit is convicting them, they should
also be comfortable around you because you're
about preaching love and grace and truth. Not
excusing sin, but constantly going, yeah, that's
wrong, you shouldn't be doing that, but God could
set you free. God will forgive you, right? It's
that compassion that Christ had. And then what
I love is as Jesus was loving and compassionate
on all the outcasts and the broken and the sinners,
his harshest words were reserved for the religious
elite. You whitewashed tombs, you brood of vipers.
And it just shows us that when we turn our faith
into something that is man -centered, God's like,
I want nothing to do with that. You know, Scripture
doesn't condemn religion outright, right? Sometimes
we hear this phrase like, oh, it's a relationship,
not a religion. And we have to be careful with
that phrase because we can inadvertently create
a situation in people's minds where religion,
bad, Jesus, good. And that's not what the Bible
says. You see, in James 1, verse 27, God through
James actually defines what pure and undefiled
religion is. He says it's to look after orphans
and widows in their distress and to keep oneself
unstained from the world. So it's not Jesus versus
religion in that sense. Religion is a real thing.
The problem is is when it's not Christ -centered,
when it's not others serving, when it's not holy
and selfless. Because that is real religion according
to the Bible. False religion is man -centered
and self -exalting and performance -driven. And
so as Jesus, the king, is riding into Jerusalem
on this Palm Sunday, there's this big contrast
where the common people are like, we're tired
of the man -centered thing. It doesn't change
us. All it does is make wanting to follow God
a burden. I don't want to be a Christian if I
gotta, you know, do this and do that. And the
idea here is Jesus is different. It's like, no,
no, no, it's a relationship with me. And then
it's not about you doing, it's about me changing
you. And it's about me changing your heart and
changing who you are so then, yeah, the religion
you now live is a pure and undefiled religion.
You see, man -centered religion emphasizes the
outward, and Jesus emphasized the inward. That
was the Pharisees' problem. Look at our holy
outfit. We must be more spiritual than you. Look
how long we pray. Look how loud we pray. You
know, there's nothing wrong with dressing up.
There's nothing wrong with saying, these are
my Sunday clothes, right? That's great. My Sunday
clothes, you know, sometimes it's nice pants,
sometimes it's jeans. Most of the time it's jeans.
But that's... That's me. I don't wear button
-up shirts during the week. This is my Sunday
best, right? Some of you are like, you're decked
out. Sister, I mean, every Sunday, you know,
just beautiful. Don't mean to put you on blast
there, but... Some of us, that's not our thing,
right? And it's not, oh, I'm better, you're better.
It's just that this is, right? There's nothing
wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with taking
care of the outside, but it's the problem is
when we take care of the outside and ignore the
inside, that's when we have a problem. You see,
Jesus cares more about what's going on inside
your heart and mind than how polished you look
on the outside. Man -centered religion focuses
on what you can't. do, and Jesus is like, I'm
here to talk about what you can do and who you
can be through me and my grace. You see, legalism,
we've heard that word before, legalistic religion.
It's you can't do that and be godly. That's legalism.
You can't do that and be godly, and you know,
that's... What a religious, a man -centered religious
person does is they walk around and they're like,
you can't do that, and look what I did. And they
have this whole self -righteous thing built into
it. And Jesus is like, look, you're a sinner.
Come as you are. Well, I gotta clean up my life
before I come to Jesus. You can't. That's the
point. You can't clean up your own life. Jesus
says, come to me as you are and watch what I
will do with your life. Man -centered religion
puts up barriers and Jesus pulls those things
down. You see, at the time in Jerusalem, the
religious elite, they were so snooty and arrogant.
And in the temple, they were like, look, Gentiles,
non -Jewish people, they're dirty and they're
foul. And so they actually had a segregation
in the temple because they're like, well, you
know, we go back through the law and stuff, and
we kind of see that we're supposed to be, you
know, the light to the world of who God is, and
so they had this thing called the court of the
Gentiles. You can come to church, but you have
to stay over there, because you're dirty, you're
foul, you're not like us, you're not good like
us, and that's what man -centered religion does,
and Jesus says, come to me, all of you who are
weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Man -centered religion says you have to work
your way to God. Jesus says, I'm the way to God.
Right? You don't have to go on a two -year missions
trip when you're a young adult to be qualified
to be able to go to heaven. You don't have to
stand on the corner on Sunday mornings outside
Christian churches and have your little magazine
rack there and hope people come up to you. And
then when they come up to you and challenge you
in English, you go, oh, no hablo ingles. Because
that's what happens all the time. I'm like, come
on, I wish I spoke Spanish now. It's like, you
don't have to do all these works and things.
Jesus said, look, just let me hold your hand
and I'll lead you there. Every false religion
in the world is centered around human achievement.
Do this, do that, say this, do that, you know.
The gospel says it is finished. The gospel says
it was done before you even got here. That's
what the gospel proclaims. God has done it. And
so just receive by faith what God has done for
you. Just receive it. Here's the receipt. Price
is paid. Just receive it. Trust in it. Believe
all that it means and you'll be transformed.
That's what the gospel says. No wonder the people
in this time saw Jesus as this breath of fresh
air compared to the layers of man -centered religion
that they had put on top of what was intended
to be. A free expression of religion. Verse 14,
it says, Jesus found a young donkey and sat on
it just as it is written. Do not be afraid, daughter
Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a
donkey's colt. His disciples did not understand
these things at first. However, when Jesus was
glorified, then they remembered that these things
had been written about him and that they had
done these things to him. I find it interesting,
you know, John's telling of the story, right?
He's referencing, this is three times so far
in the story where he's quoted and referenced
God's word. They said this, Hosanna, blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And
then he says, he found a donkey and sat on it,
just as it was written. And then he says, after
he was glorified, the disciples remembered these
things were written about him. Why is that important
here? Well, you see, The question to us, the
question at the time for these people, is who
is Jesus? Everybody in the world has an opinion
about Jesus, right? At least here in our country.
You can talk to pretty much anybody and go, hey,
do you know who Jesus is? And most people will
go, oh yeah, and not that their opinion's right,
but they'll have some opinion about who he is.
And we as human beings, I think we put way too
much weight on our opinions. Even Christians
do that. You know, we live in this world today
where opinion trumps fact. I love those videos,
love the videos where there's a conservative
interviewer, you know, like interviewing a liberal.
And they'll go, hey, let me read you a list of
quotes that Trump said. And they read off these
quotes and people are like, yeah, that's terrible.
I disagree with that wholeheartedly. Oh, oh,
oh. And at the end of it, they go, Trump didn't
say those things. Kamala did. And then all of
a sudden, well, right? Facts. But no. We're still
going to believe this way. And, you know, abortion,
you put facts in front of people and they're
like, no, still. And the devil knows what he's
doing. Get people to distrust fact and opinion
will rule. In the Gospels, people had all kinds
of opinions about Jesus, right? He's John the
Baptist. He's Elijah. He's one of the prophets.
In John chapter 9, they say Jesus isn't from
God because he doesn't keep the Sabbath. In John
chapter 10, they say he's a demon and he's insane.
Today, it's... He didn't exist, or he's a great
moral teacher, or he was a great revolutionary
figure, or he's a spiritual guru. Some opinions
are positive, some are negative, some are close
to fact, some are way off in left field, but
John does something here in the writing of his
gospel and here in the telling of this story
that brings us back to Scripture, right? Verse
13, as I said, people quoted Psalm 118. Hosanna,
blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Verse 15, he quotes directly. He says, as it
was written, Zechariah 9 .9, and just to deal
with the donkey thing real quick, right? Why
did Jesus ride in on a donkey? You know, when
kings would ride into towns, they would often
ride in on war horses and show of strength and
all of that. But if a king did ride in on a donkey,
it was because he was coming in peace. And the
donkey, the humble donkey, was meant to be symbolic
of that peace that he was coming in. By riding
this donkey in, he's telling Jerusalem, he's
declaring, one, I'm the king you've been waiting
for, right? Zechariah 9 .9, Psalm 118, and I'm
coming in peace. The donkey wasn't random, right?
It wasn't like Jesus went to the rent -a -car
store and they were like, oh, we're all out of
horses, so all we have is this little donkey
V4 and good luck. No, he did it on purpose. Why?
John is telling us. He did it to fulfill scripture.
Jesus was being very intentional and to do as
God said it would be done. And so he was coming
on this donkey offering peace with God before
the judgment. But the point here, I believe what
John's getting at, is he did it exactly as God's
word said he would. The people said about him
exactly what God's word said they would say about
him. John is emphasizing something here. It doesn't
matter what your opinion is about Jesus. God's
word is true. God's word is fulfilled. Jesus
is who God's word says he is and who he would
be. I mean, Scripture even gave them the timing
of when their king, the Messiah, would show up,
right? In Daniel chapter 9, many of you are familiar
with it. Daniel was given a prophecy of the history
of earth and the end times, and it's called his
70 weeks prophecy. And in this prophecy, God
speaks, or the angel speaks and says, 70 weeks
are decreed for Israel. And so it's talking about
what happens in the world and what's gonna happen
with the nation Israel. And one of the things
that's spoken in here, he just says, from the
command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until
the coming of the Messiah, the Savior that had
been prophesied all the way back starting in
the beginning, there would be 69 weeks of years.
And you might be thinking, what the heck is a
week of years? Right, that makes no sense. The
Hebrew idea here. How many days are in a week?
Seven. So if it's a week of years, how many years?
Seven, right. And he says there'll be 69 of those
from this decree till the coming of the Messiah.
I don't have time to get into all the math and
stuff, but if you account for the calendars used
at the time, calendars had different numbers
of days than our modern calendar, and you count
for leap years and all this stuff, 69 weeks of
years is 173 ,880 days from the command. Now,
historically, we know. Even secular history knows
when the command went forth to rebuild Jerusalem.
Right, it was all destroyed, Israel went into
captivity, then there's a decree, go back and
rebuild it. From that day, we can count the days.
And again, accounting for differences in calendars
and stuff, it comes to a day on the Jewish calendar
that's the 10th of Nisan. Or that day was April
6th, 32 AD. That day, right? The first day of
Passover, that particular year, is the exact
day Jesus shows up riding on a donkey, which
fulfills Zechariah 9 .9, and then the people
start proclaiming what we see in Psalm 118, and
yet they didn't get it. This is why in Luke chapter
19, verse 41, it says this. As he, speaking of
Jesus, approached and saw the city, he wept for
it, saying, if you knew this day, what would
bring peace? but now it is hidden from your eyes.
To put it another way, he's like, you didn't
recognize when God visited you. You didn't recognize
it, but he still holds them accountable for not
knowing what Scripture had already spelled out.
They knew the donkey he was supposed to ride
in on. They knew the exact day the Messiah was
supposed to show up. They knew where the Messiah
was supposed to be born. They had all this stuff
that God had given them, and yet on the exact
day, right? Not day 881, not day 879. The exact
day they celebrate the coming of the king, but
their opinions overrode the truth, you see, because
their opinions about Jesus were he's the coming
king. to deal with our outward circumstances.
He's the coming king to deal with our problems.
He's the coming king to overthrow Rome. And you
know, our opinions about Jesus, they may be good,
bad, close, or way off, but I believe John's
point here is that scripture, only scripture,
is absolutely reliable and accurate when it comes
to who Jesus is and what he came to do. The people
knew. They knew there was a suffering Messiah
that was supposed to come. It was very clearly
spelled out in their Old Testament, in the scriptures
they had, in Isaiah 53. They knew. And yet they
said, no, no, no, no, no. I'd rather have a king
who's going to come deal with Rome and my outward
problems. And he's going to be a conquering king.
And they missed it. They missed it. If you want
real stability in your life, not the shifting
sands of, oh, my truth and your truth and their
truth and how many genders are there? I don't
know. It'll change tomorrow. If you want stability
and truth and not the latest podcaster's opinion
or the latest TikTok theology, then your life
needs to be governed by the word of God because
it is the only absolute truth. It is the only
truth. It's not the opinions of people including
your own opinions. And this is what we're reading
here. This is what John is pointing us back to.
The people said this and they said this and yet
as we go further through the story and as we're
gonna remember on Good Friday that the very same
people who are here have this opinion of Jesus.
He's the coming king. Hosanna, blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord. Many of those
people. Just in a matter of days, they're going
to be standing in the court saying, crucify him.
Their opinion changed. Why? Because he didn't
meet their agenda. He didn't do what they wanted
him to do. Well, he's coming to die for your
sins. Yeah, well, my opinion is you should come
and deal with Rome. And when we let our opinions
trump the word of God, we're wrong. 100 % of
the time. Like if you ever find yourself reading
Scripture and looking at what Scripture says,
and you go, yeah, but, just stop right there.
You're wrong. You know, we look at Scripture
as a people, and we look at what Scripture says
about money and debt. And then we go, yeah, but.
You're wrong. We look at what Scripture says
about... relationships and how a husband is supposed
to treat his wife and how his wife is supposed
to treat his husband and the dynamics that take
place there. And we go, yeah, but you're wrong
if it's contradictory to the Word of God. How
am I supposed to behave in the workplace? You
do what the Word of God says and if you go, yeah,
but you're wrong every time. Yeah, but I grew
up this way. So what? My culture does this. Who
cares? This is how I feel. These are my experiences.
Those are real things. But they do not trump
what the word of God says. And when we do that,
like these people here. Hosanna! Blessed is he
who comes to the king of Israel. Oh. Wait, he
didn't do what my opinion said he should do?
Crucify him. We change so fast. You see, real
freedom, real security comes when we bow our
hearts and minds to his word. That's why we talk
about it. That's why we study it. That's why
here at Hosanna, we're like, know the truth and
live the truth and share the truth. The truth
is Jesus. We study the word. We put huge emphasis
on this. There's a lot of churches around the
country today that have shifted to, we need to
put our emphasis on the weekend experience, right?
You've heard that word. And it's a weird word,
right? Church isn't an experience in the way
that they mean experience, right? Yeah, we'll
share a little bit about the word, but it's more
like a TED Talk. But the experience, right? When
you walk in, everything has to be perfectly polished.
And when you get into the sanctuary, it's like
you're walking into a major concert somewhere.
And don't get me wrong, right? I love lights.
I want to put fog in here. Right? Because when
the lights hit it, it just looks amazing, right?
I'm a drummer. I'm a performer. I don't see anything
wrong with, man, that looks cool. It's not sinful
for things to look cool. But it's wrong if that's
the point and that's the goal. So when we have
fog in here, don't get mad at me, okay? It's
coming. Yes, this is God's house and we want
to take care of things, but no, we want people
to have the experience. We want non -believers
to come to church and go, wow, I liked it here.
This was fun. I had a great time. Yeah, but did
you meet Jesus? Who? Yeah, that TED Talk, the
book they were referencing, it's actually that
entire book is about him. Oh man, he didn't come
up one time. That's a problem. Scripture is the
only reliable truth. Jesus said, I'm the way,
the truth, and the life, and that is truth, period.
He's not a way, he's the way. And truth is always
better than opinion. Always. He came to make
peace. He came to offer salvation. He came to
grant forgiveness and grace and mercy. And his
word, his written word is the only solid foundation
for knowing and following his word. Following
the living word, Jesus. That's why the devil
tries so hard to get us too busy to read it.
Oh, I'll read it tomorrow. I'll read it the next
day, right? I struggle with that too and I teach
the Bible. I would love to be able to stand here
and say, and I read my Bible every day faithfully.
Confession time, I don't. And I fight that same
fight. Lord, I want to get in your word. I want
to be in prayer. And then life happens, right?
It's like, why is it every time I want to get
in the word, something explodes or there's some
fire that starts that I have to go deal with?
Satan. And so it's knowing his word because it
is the only solid foundation. But if we don't
study the word, then we're going to pick up the
opinions of the world, aren't we? And oh, I read
this on TikTok. And I saw this video on YouTube.
And oh, well, yeah, so -and -so said this about
the word. Well, did you go back to the word to
verify it? No, I just took it in and believed
it. And then we're all weirdos. What John is
saying here as he writes his gospel and telling
this story and what we're learning today on Palm
Sunday as he comes in is that whatever people
may think about Jesus, whatever opinion they
have, John is saying, here's what God's word
said. And it was fulfilled exactly as God said
it would. Base your opinion on the truth of God's
word and nothing else. Verse 17. Meanwhile, the
crowd. Running a little late here, huh? which
had been with him when he called Lazarus out
of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued
to testify. Eyewitnesses, they saw it, and they're
going, yeah, and they're telling everybody about
it. This is also why the crowd met him, because
they heard he had done the sign. Then the Pharisees
said to one another, you see, you've accomplished
nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.
So in this story here in John 12, four groups
of people, right, Jesus' disciples. the eyewitnesses
of the resurrection of Lazarus, the crowd who
heard about the resurrection of Lazarus, and
then the Pharisees. All four of these groups
of people are watching Jesus. They're watching
him come in. Some of them watched his miracle.
Others are watching him to see if he's going
to perform more miracles. Some are watching him
and grumbling about the things he did. But if
you survey all four Gospels, They're all watching
the same event. They're all watching. They all
tell the story about this king riding in. But
in every single one of those, and in our lives
today, this Palm Sunday, there has to come a
moment where watching Jesus turns into following
Jesus. There's a difference. Jesus defined it
this way in Matthew 16, verse 24. Then Jesus
said to his disciples, if anyone wants to follow
after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross,
and follow me. Denying yourself does not mean
giving up chocolate for Lent. But for some, that
is the extent of denying yourself for Jesus.
Now, Lent is great. The idea of Lent and yeah.
And if you observe that and you're observing
those things, that's great as long as that is
not the extent. Oh, I gave up chocolate. Denying
yourself means stepping off the throne of your
life and saying, I'm not in charge anymore. You
are, Jesus. Every day. Taking up your cross means
embracing the reality that following Jesus is
going to cost you. Right? The crowd, Hosanna,
blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Oh, he's getting nailed to the cross as a guilty
criminal. Crucify him. It's gonna cost you to
follow Jesus. It's gonna cost reputation and
comfort and maybe relationships and perhaps your
very life. But guess what? It's worth it because
he's worth everything. Then he says, follow me.
That means where Jesus walks, you walk. That
means where he says go, you go. That means when
he says do, you do. It's an alignment of your
life with his. See, the idea is our faith walk.
is to travel with Jesus, not just show up as
a tourist. The disciples, they traveled with
Jesus, and they learned, and they grew, and they
were with him every day, right? Here, you got
some tourists showing up to an event, coming
to visit, and then they see Jesus. Oh, wow, a
new attraction. Oh, he's riding on the donkey,
how cool. It was neat to hang out with him for
a little bit. Tourists are the ones who just
show up temporarily. I like the atmosphere. It's
a fun place to visit. Jesus is cool to hang around.
But when the service ends, Jesus goes back in
the Sunday box until next week. That's tourism.
The tourists aren't really following Jesus. Now,
following him and walking and traveling with
him, that means that we're gathered here on Sunday
and we worship him and we say, you're my king,
you're my Lord, I serve you, Jesus. And then
when we leave here, we still say that and live
that way. And then Monday morning, we're like,
Jesus, you're still walking with me and I'm still
walking with you and you're walking with me in
my marriage. excuse me, I'm walking with you
with my money and my giving and I'm walking with
you in my secret thoughts and my struggles and
I'm thinking about you every day because I'm
journeying with you. I didn't just show up to
an event and get caught up in the excitement
of the moment. It's a life that says he leads
and he guides and he directs and you let him
do that even when it's costly and inconvenient
and hard. You see, Jesus didn't ride into Jerusalem
as a celebrity to be watched or admired. He rode
into Jerusalem as a king calling subjects to
follow him. Is he your king today? Up to this
point, it was public ministry. Jesus had downplayed
his real identity to people. cast out demons,
and the demons are like, we know who you are,
and he's like, shut up. And they did, because
he's the king. He healed people, and they were
like, oh my gosh, I want to tell everybody. He
goes, don't spread the news yet. Even when Peter
confessed, right? Who do people say I am? Oh,
Elijah, John the Baptist, this and that. Who
do you guys say I am? And Peter's the one that
stepped up and said, you are the Christ. You
are the son of God. And he's like, You said well,
but don't tell anybody that yet. Because it wasn't
his time. But here in John 12, it's the triumphal
entry. Why do we call it triumphal, right? Because
the king is arriving. It's this Palm Sunday that
we see where Jesus intentionally staged. This
was the moment. His hour had come. No more hiding
his identity. Now he was very publicly declaring
who he was. Coming to the most crowded feast
of the year, riding in openly on a donkey, fulfilling
Zechariah 9. And then he let the people proclaim
Psalm 118. He was very publicly saying, I am
the king. When the Pharisees told him to rebuke
the crowd in Luke 19, he said, if they are silent,
the stones will cry out. Why? Because it was
true. The truth that he was the king, the coming
king, the savior, the messiah was so true that
if the people shut up, the rocks would cry out.
That's how powerfully strong the truth of who
he is was. And his coming, his proclamation,
his declaration, this whole thing being intentionally
set up the way it was, it was because this was
the moment where he was forcing a decision. A
king was riding into the city and a decision
was required to be made. A decision that would
see him die in days as the Passover lamb in the
very moment where all the actual lambs were being
slaughtered for the people. That he was being
slaughtered as the lamb of God. And everything
that happens on this holy weekend after exposes
the decision that many people had made about
who he was. For many people that day, his triumphal
entry was unfortunately their tragic entry because
they were cheering for the king they wanted,
not for the king he was. They wanted a political
liberator, not a suffering servant. They wanted
a Messiah who would overthrow Rome, but not one
who would overthrow sin in their heart. They
wanted a king that they could say no to. They
wanted a king. who had to ask permission of them
to invade their life and to change their heart
and their behavior. Can you imagine? The audacity?
Yeah, you're my king, but I won't stop doing
that. You're my king, but nope, I will not give
you that day on my calendar. You're my king,
but no, I'm not going to give you of my resources
the way you want me to. Does that sound ridiculous
to anybody else? And yet that's what they wanted.
It's a similar pattern today. Some people want
to follow Jesus simply hoping he will fix their
outward circumstances and make life better. Some
will follow Jesus because, you know, the community
feels good and the vibe is nice. And some even
follow Jesus because they're in a hard season
of life and they go, well, he seems like he might
help. And none of those are wrong desires. Jesus
does help. The community is awesome. He can and
will fix our circumstances, but he cares more
about our bodies and our bills and our broken
hearts. If our primary reason for following him
is what we think he will do for us temporally,
then our faith will be on very shaky ground.
If we cry out that he's king of my life because
we hope he's gonna overthrow our mean boss, when
he doesn't overthrow your mean boss, you will
find yourself saying, ah, never mind, crucify
him. But when you follow him because he is king,
and therefore that means he owns me, I'm his
subject, I'm his servant, he has full control
over my life, then you'll have a stable faith.
A solid walk. When the suffering comes or he
doesn't answer like you hoped, you won't be tempted
to walk away or to back off or to shut down.
The right primary reason to follow Jesus is because
of who he is. That's it. He is God's anointed
one, the Messiah, the Christ. He is the rightful
king and ruler over every life on this planet.
He is the lamb who took our sins to the cross
and paid our debt, our penalty. He is the Lord
of all who rose from the dead and is coming again
in glory. And if our faith is rooted in his identity,
and through his identity we define our identity,
then regardless of what we walk through in life,
our foundation will stand solid. So as the king
rides into your life today, have you been clinging
to your religion? Not pure and undefiled religion,
but maybe your routines, your structures, your
traditions. You know? Well, you didn't do this.
You know, I've had people over the years, you
know, why don't you do communion every week?
I'm like, why do you do it every week? I've gone
back and forth over the years, right? Maybe we
should observe Lent as a church. It's a beautiful
tradition. But every once in a blue moon, there's
someone that says, why don't you follow Lent?
Like we're doing something ungodly by not following
Lent. Or Advent or all the other things. I'm
like, I love Advent, right? I get a calendar
with candy in it for a bunch of days. It's beautiful.
No, there's beautiful things in the traditions,
right? But if we don't follow that particular
tradition, does it mean we're somehow an unspiritual
or ungodly church? Not at all. Because it's not
about traditions. It's about Jesus. So have you
been clinging to your structure and your traditions,
or do you just have a living relationship with
Jesus Christ himself? Does scripture govern all
your thoughts and beliefs about who Jesus is,
or have you been putting your opinions up there?
Right next to the word of God. Have you been
going, well, the Bible says he's my king. But
my opinion is that means something different
than he has full ownership of my life. Are you
just watching or admiring him from afar? Or are
you following him? Right? Does Jesus as the king
simply have some input? into your life? Or are
you denying yourself, taking up your cross and
following him as Lord? This king, this perfect
God who came in the flesh is inviting all of
us this morning to go from our routines to a
relationship with him. Not to say the routines
are evil, but no, they aren't the point. He's
the point. He's inviting us to open the word
and let God correct our understanding and deepen
our understanding. He's inviting us to say, hey,
great, you have opinions, awesome. But if they
contradict with my word, give up those opinions
and live according to my word. He's inviting
us to follow him. not just watch. And so when
the king rides in, my prayer this morning for
all of us is that we don't just wave a branch
and then go home unchanged, but instead we open
the gates of our heart and we invite him in and
we yield ourselves to him as Lord because that
is who he is. Amen? Let's pray. Father God, we
love you. And Lord, I pray, God, that you would
move amongst us your people to submit ourselves
to you as king. Lord, there may be some in here
today that have never truly surrendered to you,
given their life over to you. Maybe there's some
here this morning who have wandered off and just
need to return to you, Lord. And God, I pray
that as your Holy Spirit has been knocking on
their heart this morning, that That they would
be able to simply just pray to you and say, Lord
Jesus, I see you riding into Jerusalem as king
and as a lamb of God. And I confess, Lord, that
I've maybe trusted in my own efforts or my traditions.
Or maybe I've trusted in my own opinions or even
my own way. God, I'm tired of the... emptiness
of a man -centered religion. I'm tired of just
watching you from a distance. Jesus, I believe
that you died on the cross for my sins and rose
from the dead. Today, God, I choose to turn from
my sin. I choose to turn from being my own ruler
and I ask you to forgive me, to save me, and
to be my king. Help me through the power of your
Holy Spirit to follow you as a disciple, as a
servant every day. Help me to be who you've created
me to be. Lord, I trust you. I believe in you.
It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. You know, if
you gave your life to the Lord today, on this
Palm Sunday. Hallelujah. Your life is changed
forever. Yeah. If you're watching online, you
know, responding to the King is the most important,
the most influential, the most impacting decision
you could possibly ever make. Now, are you going
to be a perfect person? No. Are you going to
never make a mistake again? No, you're going
to make mistakes. But the point being is now
get into the Word of God. Start studying the
Word of God. Make it a habit of your life every
day. Worship Him. Pray. Yes, take serious this
relationship you have with Jesus now that the
religion you express in your life would be pure
and undefiled, Christ -centered, selfless. Because
today was the day. He was making that point.
You have to make a decision. And if you've chosen
to submit to him and follow him, you're saved.
You're saved forever. You are now a child of
the king. You're a subject of the kingdom. Praise
God. Hallelujah. And it's not about follow this
list and do this rule and all that. He loves
you anyways, no matter what. But if you do things
his way, life is better. So ask him to empower
you to do that. Ask him to teach you and to mold
you and to shape you. Not so that you earn his
favor, you already have it. But so that you just
live a life that glorifies your king and professes
the faith you have and experiences the blessings
that your king has for you. I look forward to
seeing all of you this Friday at our Good Friday
service as we reflect. on the death of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ on the cross. I look
forward to seeing all of you this Sunday as we
celebrate the resurrection. This week is full
of all those details that changed everything
for us. For many of us, we have unsaved friends
and family that won't come to church with us
except on the holy high holidays. We'll invite
them. Bring them. Oh, my car's not working. Guess
what? Hey, I could pick you up. Pray that God
would give you the opportunity to invite those
you know that don't know Jesus Christ. Because
this Sunday, as we talk about the resurrection
of the Lord, I believe God is going to speak
directly to their hearts about the resurrection
he desires to do in their life. But for today,
let's live, let's walk, let's breathe. Let's
act like. Let's live like servants of the King.
Amen. God bless you guys.