MCC Podcasts
Palm Sunday
you guys on this Palm Sunday. We're finishing our series of theology matters. Big words We've taken these whole bunch of theological terms and said this is about the truth. And dictates how we should live. And so it matters big time. So we parsed some big words and we And how will we live these things out? And we're at the end of that in the Easter, in the book of first Timothy. So I hope you're reading that. But we get to this conclusion here and this is a word that I picked on Palm Sunday. Soteriology. I tried to make it work in April Fools and decided there was no way. I didn't know how that was going to work. We don't do April Fools at our house. Do you guys do April Fools at your house? No. Because way back when Linda and I were dating there was an April Fools joke. It didn't go well. And it will never go well. And we're not to speak of it again. So we don't do April Fools. But man, I was so funny. I did learn my lesson. And have I ever done an April Fools joke on you ever since? See? That was like 28 years ago. And I still quake like March 31st. I didn't do it again. Yeah, you would do. All right. Soteriology. Soteriology. Here's the definition of soteriology. It is the study of the nature of our salvation. Soteriology is about salvation. It's the study of the nature of our salvation through Jesus Christ. It's studying what's the deal with our salvation? What do we know about our salvation? What's the nature of it? That Jesus saved us. And this is super appropriate on this Palm Sunday. We call this Passion Sunday as well. We could probably call it Jesus on his way to the cross to die for us Sunday. That's what this is. It is the five days before his arrest and crucifixion. This is the beginning of the story of Jesus' week where he gave his life for us. So it's about salvation. So we're going to ask the question by looking at this text and looking at this experience of Palm Sunday, we're going to ask the question, if soteriology is studying the nature of our salvation, we're just going to simply ask the question. So what kind of a savior is he? What do we know about him? And now this is a huge conversation. We could just talk forever about the different ways that we would understand the salvation of Jesus, even how it was accomplished. How does the tone happen? How did he purchase us? Those kinds of words. But to go to sort of set as an outline for us, I thought we would use our Palm Sunday texts to recount how Jesus presented himself as he entered Jerusalem on his way to the cross and how people responded to him. To ask the question, what kind of a savior is he? And so that's going to be our outline. I want to read a short version of that harmony of the text and we'll start in Matthew so that you hear it again. As they approached Jerusalem and came to Beth Fage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent them to disciples, saying to them, go to the village ahead of you, and at once you'll find a donkey tied there with her cult by her and then tie them and bring them to me. If anyone says to you, say the Lord needs them and he'll send them right away. This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet. This is in Zechariah. Say to daughter Zion, see your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a cult, the full of a donkey. The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They taught the donkey and the cult and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road. Now, by the way, I just, I didn't say this first gathering, but some Josephus estimated that at one point, just after the life of Jesus, there were 2.5 million people who showed up for the Passover celebration. So when you see the little Jesus movie and there's six people in robes with palm branches, they're talking about a huge crowd of people. We're in Jerusalem. And they spread these, they cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then John carries on the conversation. They took palm branches and went out to meet him shouting, "Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel." Another writer's added some other phrases that he heard in the crowd. Luke 19 went on then to say, "Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teach your rebuke your disciples." I tell you, Jesus replied, "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." And back to Matthew, when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this? Who is this? What kind of Savior are we talking about? What's going on here?" That's our question for the morning. And I really will use as an outline that John's use of those three exclamations. He sort of summed up the eight or nine things that all the gospel writers are talking about that they were proclaiming and yelling and screaming and waving and millions of people. I mean, it was nuts. And he summed it up and he said, "There's these three things." And this is the outline that I got from those three things. What kind of Savior is he? He's a victorious, present king. I already got a hallelujah. I haven't even got started yet. That was awesome. Thank you. He's a victorious, present king. And if you look back at the John 12, verse 13, you see the three things and it relates to that. And I want to just start by going through those things. First, he's victorious. The people cried out, Hosanna and Nona and the children cried out, "Hosanna." And Hosanna, we've tried to teach you here in the worship ministry has tried to teach you a few times just about this word, Hosanna, then it means save or save now. It's a cry. It's like a prayer. Save. Save us. Save us now. But it's also a cry of praise. You save. You save God. You're the saving God. And it came to become just a general expression of praise in the life of Israel. And so it meant all of those things. It was like, "Yes, God, praise God. You save." You're the Savior. You're the saving God. Save us. You saved us. Save us now. Save God. You've been a Savior. You can save us. You've saved us. Praise God. It's just a cry of expression of praise. And this is what it came to be for them. The branches, especially the palms that they had waved and they cut in the fields nearby and they put them on the road. These had become, for them, it traditionally had become a symbol of victory over their enemies. And so they waved them at, they waved palms at like all the the feasts that Israel had when they would sing these praise Psalms, Psalm 113 to 118, the Hallelujah, Psalms. They would sing those Psalms. These people quoted Psalm 118, which is one of them. Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. It's right out of Psalm 118. And they would, when they would, all of the Israel's feasts, they would say they would sing these Psalms. And when they would get to the word hosanna, they would wave the palm branches because it was a symbol of victory over enemies. It was a symbol of triumph. And they would say, you're the God who has rescued your people from all of the things that we've gone through, from all of the stuff that we've been subject to with our enemies, from all of the weight that we've been under, you've rescued us. You're the saving God. And so they would save these branches. In fact, at those festivals, these palm branches became, their name for them, was hosannas. So this was part of their celebration. And when they had heard about all that Jesus was doing and all that Jesus had done, and they recognized that this was probably the Savior. What kind of Savior? They were like, you're the victorious Savior. And they lifted their palm branches saying, you've rescued us. This is what they were saying. They were hoping, are you the messiah? Are you the one who was to come? Are you the one that we were hoping for? Because if you are, you save us. So save us God. It was a messianic cry to God. Now they thought maybe he was more of a political or a, going to be a military, more of a political or military Savior. And so they might have that somewhat wrong. And this is one of the reasons why Jesus got on a donkey and rode into Jerusalem because that was contrary to what a war horse, where a king, a fighting king with that time would ride war horses. And this was more of a throwback. This is the, he was showing that he's a messiah of God as Zechariah talked about. And the Zechariah attacks that we had. It says, rejoice greatly O daughter of Zion. Shout-o daughter of Jerusalem. See, your king comes to you. And Zechariah actually has a phrase in there that says, righteous and having salvation. Gentle and riding on a donkey on a cult on the fall of a donkey came on this normal beast of burden, not a war horse, but it was still a triumphant procession. We call it that this is his triumphal entry. Well, where's the triumph friends? It's some dude on a donkey. The triumph is, they recognized that he was the saving God who rescued them from their enemies. He was the messiah who would protect and lead God's people going forward forever. This is what their hope was anyway. They weren't sure how it was going to work itself out. And some people had some misconstrued ideas, but they still said, you are God's savior. And so it was a triumphal procession. This is who he is, the victorious savior. He has brought forgiveness and victory over sin and death. So for us, Hosanna becomes our truest cry as Christians, because we get the whole story. And Jesus did go to the cross. And he was raised on Easter Sunday. And we have that word in that gospel to us now, and we've received the free gift of salvation. We become Hosanna people. We become people who go, I get that. You've had the victory. Paul, we say, save us now, God. And that transaction can happen because of what Jesus has done. And then we go, and then you keep saving God. Now that we know, and we go, and you save, you save our friends and our neighbors in this world, and you keep saving me every day. And so we become palm wave and maniac kind of people. That's who we get to be. Paul said to the Corinthians, but thanks be to God that he always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ. Do you know what that picture is, Prince? A triumphal procession that Jesus came in doing, and that that was modeled after? That when the Warring Kings came back from battle, having secured safety, and rescuing, and salvation for their enemies? But the other thing, when they came back, and they marched down the road, into the city, following in the procession behind them, were the other captive kings to show that they're locked and bound and can't have any more of their way with us. And the people from our land, who had been captive in foreign lands, have been set free. And they came behind the victorious king holding their chains as they marched into the city, and all of the people in the city would wave palm branches and say, "Hosanna, God has saved." This is a triumphal procession, and Paul says, "Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ." Because friends, we walk behind him every day going, "Here's my chains, I've been set free." That's what we get to do. That's who we are. He's a victorious Savior, and we will wave these palms friends every day we're Palm Sunday people. Come on now. And we'll be waving them every day for the rest of our lives into eternity. In fact, John said in Revelation, when he got a glimpse into heaven, when he got a glimpse into heaven, he said, "I saw a multitude from every tribe, and every tongue, and every people, and every language standing before the throne, and before the lamb." And they were wearing white robes, and they were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God, and to the lamb who sits on the throne." And then the elders and the angels all fell down and worshipped God, saying, "Amen, praise and glory, and wisdom and honor, and thanks to God forever and ever our men, because he has had the victory over our sin and death." What kind of a Savior is he? He is a victorious Savior. He has won our freedom friends, and we follow him in procession holding our chains high that we've been set free. Second, he's present. The second thing that John records that they were saying was, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." This coming in the name of the Lord, coming in the name of the Lord, become...Blessed is he who comes as a representative of God. And Colossians tells us that Jesus, in fact, was the exact representation of God. He was God incarnate. He was God in the flesh. And this praise, blessed is... When we ascribe it to Jesus, it's blessed is the reality that God in the flesh has come to us. What kind of a Savior is he? He is a present Savior. God has come to us. This is what they were worshiping. It wasn't some transaction in heaven where God did whatever he needed to do in heaven and called a heavenly court and just said, "That's it. Now people are forgiven." God himself became flesh and came down to earth to defeat sin and to set up residence with his people and to walk with them and to show them who he is and what he is about. This is what God did. That's the incarnation. God came to be with us. The message... Gene, what's his name we wrote that said...what's his name? Like, he's my buddy. That was his name. Eugene Peterson wrote in the message. He wrote, "The word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood. He came to be with us." And this is what they were worshiping. You see, Jesus had personally walked with them. That's why there was such a great crowd that came out to him. They were there for the Passover feast. But Luke says they began to praise God for all the miracles they had seen. There were people who were coming from front of him. There were people who were coming from behind him. There were people who John said the people who had seen Lazarus get raised from the dead, told everybody about it. And then those people had heard about other miracles and the word continued to spread and then they came. All these people who had had Jesus in their midst and they came and responded to that Savior and said, "God is present." That's what kind of a Savior he is. He is a victorious, set us free Savior, but he is a present Savior who is here. And he has come to us, you guys, not just them on Palm Sunday. And he remains with us by his spirit. So we live in the joy and the adventure and the care of a present God who indwells us when we come to know Jesus, and by his spirit. So our cry is blessed as he who has come. Blessed is he who has come, God incarnate has come and now sent his spirit to come and live inside of us. Blessed is our present Savior. Yeah, we're not just Palm Sunday people every week. We're Christmas people every week. He came down. And so then we're Palm Sunday people. And he's our victorious Savior. We always think of this word and we go, "Oh man, we love God's word." And some people call it, "This is our road map. God gave us a map for life." Some people call it our instruction manual. And I guess that's okay or whatever. But you know the thing is, the cool thing about what kind of a Savior he is, you guys, is that he didn't go here up and having all right, he did some stuff, you're forgiven now. And now here's a road map. So really good luck with that and try not to really make me too mad, okay? That's not what he did, did he? He didn't go, "Here's a map figured out." Have you ever been, have you ever had all the maps in the world and been incredibly lost? Smart fun, my tale, right? I mean, you're just like, "Ah, it's still on where I am." You can have a map, friends, what we need is a guide. And he came to be with us and guide us on this journey of following him, of being his people and living out this road map that he has for us. And so we go, "What kind of Savior is he? He is a victorious Savior. He is a present Savior." And third, those are both ways to describe as well, that he is the king. He is a present, victorious king. He's a king. Their last cry was, and there were some versions of this and the other gospels. Blessed is the king of Israel. They believed that he was the long-awaited, long-expected, messianic, from the throne and from the line of King David, king of God's people forever. That's what they believed he was going to be. Now, they also thought, again, they had all kinds of other misunderstandings about it, but they thought those had started to get a clue. He's the messianic king. That's what kind of a Savior he is. He's a king. Now, let's talk about that for a minute. Well, and by the way, we know that the donkey, part of the donkey idea was David's royal mouth was a donkey. And he said, and the prophet said, "The David's sons and the one whom will be the king in the line of David, the messiah king, he will ride on a donkey." And so Jesus got himself, "Go get me a donkey," and he got on, and he said to everybody, "David's son." Here it is. So we proclaimed himself this king. And then they, of course, getting that, put their cloaks on the ground so that the king's beast of burden even would not defile itself by touching the dirt on the road. They saw that he was royalty, that he was the king. So they responded to his coming, but they responded to him coming to lead them, friends. What kind of a Savior is he? He is a leading king. Listen, the Savior is a king, and the king is the Lord. And friends, we are subject to the Lord. So we're subject to our Savior. This is about his rule and his reign. They made him misunderstood what his rule and reign would look like, political, military, whatever. They may have misunderstood that, but we know he's the king of the kingdom of God. He's the king of our lives, and we give our lives to him and submit ourselves to him. We've entrusted ourselves to this victorious and present king, and our entire lives are overarched by this one ever-present reality, that whatever the king wants, then I'm all about that. I've given myself to whatever it is to love him and serve him and obey him. I ask one question, and that is what pleases the king, my Savior? That's what I'm about. Do we need our bells wrong and remember that? What pleases the king? One of the funnest shows that I got hooked on after DVDs started coming out with all the old television shows was West Wing. And I've probably mentioned this to you before because it was kind of fun to see the inner workings of the whole political deal and all the craziness there. It makes you go, oh, please, politics. That's what that show made you do. But one of the things I loved about it, and I always responded to it and it gave me chills, was no matter what was going on with those folks, the inner circle that had been called to serve the President, to live in that team of advisors, his chief of staff, and other important people, would no matter whatever was going on with that group of people, whether they were in trouble, whether they were getting fired, whether they were getting promoted, whether they were asked to clean the bathrooms, where they were told to sit down and shut up. No matter what was happening, those people had exactly one response and that was I serve at the pleasure of the President. Everything they did, I serve at the pleasure of the President. Friends, our Savior is a king. And one question we live with and that is what pleases my king? That's what I'm about. That's the nature of our salvation. That's the word soteriology. He is a victorious, present king. So the big difference. That's the big word. The big difference really comes down to one thing. Is he my king? If he has had victory over my sin and death, if he is ready to be present in my life, if he calls me to lordship, his lordship, am I in? Is he my king? All this magnifies who Christ is, all of their praises lifted up who Jesus was and it comes back down to us asking is he my king? Matthew. At the end, summed it up, he said that when Jesus went into Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and they asked, who is this? Who is this Jesus? Jesus insisted all through his encounters with people that each of us ask the question and settle the answer. Who is this? Is he my king? Three times in the gospels, but this looks the one occasion, but three gospels recorded. Jesus asked Peter, hey, who do people say that I am? Remember this? One place he words it who? Who do the crowds say I am? What's going on out there about what everybody says I am? And Peter answers the question, well, I think some people are saying this, and some people are saying that, and some people are postulating this, and Peter gives this little answer, but you know, Peter's answer wasn't the point of the question because then Peter is like, oh, Jesus is like, huh? And then Jesus goes, and what about you? Who do you say that I am? It was like he dismissed all of that other stuff. It doesn't matter what all the people think. It doesn't matter what the crowds think. It doesn't matter what you think the other people think. It doesn't matter whether they agree with you or disagree with you. Who do you say that I am? Peter settled the issue. That was where he said you are the Christ, the son of the living God, who has come into the world. And that's when Jesus said, yep, and on that rock I'm going to build my church. People who say I've settled the answer. Is he my king? What pleases my king? Who has rescued me and come to be with me? What pleases my king? Who do you say that I am? The big difference that soteriology makes is this question. If Jesus is portrayed in the scriptures as a victorious, present, king, what about you? Who do you say that he is? I want you to know something. That question comes from the heart of the Lord to you and it doesn't come from a heart of a Lord who sits on high with his weapons posed intimidating you by your fear of his reprisal if you get it wrong or if you reject him. My friends, this is Jesus who came and the scriptures record that as he was going into Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a couple of hundred feet higher in elevation as he came down the road toward the city of Jerusalem and the temple mount and he could see the city and he could see the temple and all of his heart for God's people was sort of expressed in front of him. This is the Jesus who at that moment Luke records wept over the city. It's only the second time that was Jesus has been recorded as having wept. He wept over the city and he said oh Jerusalem if you only knew what would bring you peace. And yet you don't know God is coming to you. He wept over the prospect that some would miss that he is their king. Who is his? Is he my king? Another band come up and I'm just asking a couple questions as they get ready and respond in worship. But thank friends. Is he your king? If he's the victorious savior have you been rescued? Are your chains held high? Have you received from him the grace and the forgiveness and the power to set you free from the bondage that you had from your enemy and from your sin? So Jesus is forgiveness offers. If he's the victorious king have you been rescued because even this morning all you need to do is say yes. You save me God and you have to wait no longer. Is he your king? Is he your victor? If he's the present king is he your king present in your life? Do you walk with our God every day? Do you live in the adventure of following Jesus of allowing Jesus to minister to you and to call you and to impact your life and to lead you on an unfathomable adventure of your life making sense according to what he has for you and not just what you have for you Have you received that kingship in your life? And if he is the king do we need again to be reminded? Today you serve at the pleasure of the Savior. What pleases my king today? Is that what you're about? Friends, if God's been tugging at your heart to give your life to the king you wait no longer. Today is the day of salvation. You say yes to Jesus today. If you've been in a far off land you've acknowledged Jesus as king but you left the kingdom a long time ago and you've been out there. Friends, you've got to wait no longer to come back. Many of us have been so far away for so long that we thought to ourselves the yuckiness of being lost and without my saving present king is probably better than the yuckiness of coming and facing that king again and I'm telling you right now that's a lie from the devil to get you not to come back. You come back if he is a victorious present king then he's never left you and don't wait any longer. You come worship him today as your king. No matter where you've been the rest of us we will worship him in response. The rest of us become waving maniacs. The rest of us go oh man that's right this is my king. Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest. He's had victory over sin and death for all of us. He's present by his spirit for every single one of us and he is our king and we are subject to him. Go church in the name of Jesus our Savior and live out that victory and his presence and his lordship in your life and go tell your story because we're all Hosanna people. Praise God for what he's done in and through so many of our lives. This is awesome so thanks for celebrating together. We'd love you. If you desire Just come up front and focus on the prayer team, we'll ask you, hey, how can I pray for you?