The Cross And The Resurrection: Gate into Jerusalem
The Gate Into Jerusalem
Date: March 28, 2010 |
Scripture Reference: Matthew 21:1-11
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from the Series: The Cross and The Resurrection
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SCRIPTURE
And it's all began on Palm Sunday. Let me put it this way. What happened on Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday morning
Follow along as I read Matthew 21:1-11.
21 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,
2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. May the Holy Spirit add blessings to our text this morning! Amen...
SERMON
As we begin The Cross and Resurrection series, I want to ask you a question: Have you ever thought of how significant DOORS are in life?
This week it hit me that it is possible to outline our entire life by simply listing the main DOORS that we go through. For example, the FIRST door we each go through after we come into this world is a hospital door. Ironically a hospital door is usually the LAST door you go through at the end of this life. In between those two thresholds are several other special doors. There's the door that leads to elementary school and another that takes you into the hallowed halls of your high school. Shortly after high school graduation you leave your home by that familiar door you've gone in and out of so many times for 14 or 15 years… and you head off for college where you go through classroom doors into rooms that help you learn the things that will prepare you for your life's work. On top of that, many times you meet your help-mate by going through the doors of college life.
I remember one person by name RAJA STARTED HIS COLLEGE AT Garden City College, his class was sitting in the auditorium for orientation. One of the administrators told these brand new college students to look to their left and then to their right. They did… and she said that there was a very high probability that they had just seen their future spouses…and she was right in many cases. Fortunately that's not the way it worked for Raja. He found his bride by walking through a youth Alive classroom door.
Well, however you find your spouse, when you get married you usually carry your bride…or are carried by your groom… across the threshold into your first home. Do you remember that joyous moment when you went through that door? Then kids come along and when they get old enough and its time for them to go to school you watch as they step through the doorway of a big yellow bus.
Well, I imagine that right now you are thinking of all kinds of significant doors in your own life: the door to your first car or the door to your first office, etc. I mean, we have no trouble thinking of the significant doors of life because there are so many of them. Doors lead to so many important things!
Perhaps the best proof of this principle is seen in the doors Jesus went through during this pivotal week and I've brought this all up
'
The Cross and The Resurrection this year.
This morning we'll begin with the door our choirs have already sung about and we just read about the door or more accurately the GATE that Jesus went through into Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday. Sunday
17
M
arch 2013,
when we gather we
'll look at what happened after Jesus and the disciples went through The door that led to the Upper Room where they shared the Passover Meal. The following Sunday,
24
march 2013;
I want you to think of all the courtroom doors Jesus went through…
where He endured the trials that led to His crucifixion entitled - "Why Cling to the Cross?". And on the Good Friday I want you to know- "
Cross Purposes".
And then on
Resurrection
Sunday morning we
'll meet to rejoice in the most important door of all - the stone door that Jesus broke through when He rose from the dead and left His tomb. My hope is that all this will help us to understand anew what Jesus meant when He said He was the DOOR… the WAY for us to have our sins forgiven.
But… back to the first sermon the Gate into Jerusalem. As we focus on the events of Palm Sunday I want us to seek answers to this question:
"What made that particular door or GATEWAY so significant
-
not only to Jesus
'
earthly ministry back then…
but to our lives here and now?
"
This was a good choice for lodgings for two reasons. First, all of Jerusalem would be packed with Jews coming to celebrate the Passover. When Jesus came into this world the INNS of Bethlehem were all full with no vacancies and ironically the same could be said about the INNS in Jerusalem during that last holy week - so it was wise indeed to stay in Bethany. But a second reason I think Jesus decided to stay where He did is because He knew what lay ahead. Think of it. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus had been His friends for years. The comfortable nature of old friendships like theirs was just what He needed. In their home He would be able to enjoy the sustaining power of good meals shared with good friends. Okay, that's the setting -let's get back to our question. Why was this DOOR -this GATEWAY -so important? I want to cite three reasons and here's the first:
(1) It was significant… because going through it was the PLAN all along.
As verse 5 of our text reminds us, hundreds of years earlier Jesus' journey through this gate had been foretold. In Zechariah 9:9 the prophet described the scene as our timeless God revealed it to him. He wrote: "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
"
"
""
Well, as God in the flesh, Jesus of course knew these prophecies. He knew the plan and He followed it to the nth degree. He secured a beast of burden to ride…but not just any donkey or horse… a young donkey COLT that had never been ridden… because He wanted there to be no doubt that He was claiming to be the MESSIAH. He chose the beginning of Passover week for His entrance - a week that was pregnant with meaning when it came to the reason for the Messiah's coming….
Well, the Jews of Jesus' day missed the Passover connection but they knew their "Bibles" enough to remember the words of Zechariah and Isaiah and therefore they would have known the claim Jesus was making. This is why they responded as they did by laying palm branches on the road for Jesus' colt to walk on. Some even remembered that when Solomon became Israel's king, he was presented on the donkey of his father David. We know this because of what they said in verse 9,
"Hosanna to the Son of DAVID!
" So, with their words and actions they were acclaiming Jesus to be their rightful king. They recognized that He was the Messiah Who had come,
"
'
"
"
Now, please note- up until this point Jesus had avoided public acclaim but not any more. No-now He embraced it. And He did because He knew this was the plan. He knew that going through this door the way He did was essential for Him to complete the task assigned Him. In fact, in his account Mark tells us that Jesus was at the FRONT of this pre-resurrection parade. Nowhere else do we find Him at the head of the multitude: not when He descended the mountain after the Sermon on the Mount… not after He left Capernaum…. not as He entered the village of Nain. Before this day Jesus chose to be SURROUNDED by people rather than OUT IN FRONT! but not today. He set the pace because He knew the significance of this first DOOR of Holy Week, including what lay on the other side of that door: His arrest, trial, the beatings - His crucifixion.
He resolutely entered that gate knowing that the cross was on the other side. And His disciples should have known as well because He had told them three times exactly what was to occur. For example, in Matthew 20:18-19 He said,"We are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be turned over to the leading priests and the teachers of the law, and they will say that He must die. They will give the Son of Man to the non-Jewish people to laugh at Him and beat Him with whips and crucify Him. But on the third day He will be raised to life again."
Please note Jesus' detailed knowledge of the event. He told them WHO: "The leading priests and teacher of the law.
"
"
"
Max Lucado writes,"The journey to the gate at Jerusalem didt begin in Jericho. It didn't begin in Galilee. It didn't begin in Nazareth. It didn't even begin in Bethlehem. The journey to the cross began long before. As the echo of the crunching of the fruit was still sounding in the garden, Jesus was leaving for Calvary.n'"
I don't know about you- but understanding this gives me a lot of comfort - for a couple reasons. First, it shows me that God has a plan. Fulfilled prophecy like this shows that He works His purposes out. The world may seem out of control but God never is. The nightly news reports may make us feel like no one is at the helm but Someone is. God is in control. He knows what He is doing.And He has told us this in His Book. The Bible tells us what will happen in the last days. We know God has already won the victory. We know He's prepared an eternal home for us. We can REST in that knowledge no matter how unsettling life becomes. But another reason Jesus- journey through this gate comforts me -is because it shows me how much God loves me. He loved me enough to willingly die in my place… which leads me to mention a second thing about this door.
(2) It is significant… because Jesus had to go through it in order to SAVE us.
The Bible says that we are all naturally born sinners-
in desperate need of saving and as Paul said in 1st
Timothy 1:15,"Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.
The only way to do that was to pay the price for our sins which means Jesus had to die the death we all deserve so He had to go through that gate. He had to get to the cross on the other side.
"
In Scotland there is a lighthouse called Old William's Light. I'm sure like all lighthouses these days it's been automated by now, but there was a time when it was operated by a man-a man who kept the light in operating order and turned it on whenever it was needed. Weather permitting, he only left his important post two times a week: to go to town to get groceries and on Sundays to go to church. One day people realized he hadn't made his weekly trip into town for supplies… and when he didn't show up at church his friends were worried so they went to the lighthouse and found the man unconscious. There had been a bad storm that week and apparently the light house keeper had slipped on the rocks and broken his leg, but he had known that the light needed to be lit. So, he had agonizingly crawled up those long winding stair steps to the top where he threw the switch turned on the beacon. He was too weak to crawl back down so he just laid there. In his weakened condition, as he laid their in the top of that drafty tower, he caught pneumonia. His friends took him back to the hospital but it was too late. He died a few days later. After the funeral, a ship captain came out and said, "I want to erect a monument to this man."Why is that"the friends asked."Because I was a captain of a ship that night and was caught in the storm. I did not know where I was and was headed for the rocks. Then the light came on and I was able to see where I was.""He said, "This is the first time in my life I can truly says somebody died that I might live.""
Well, he was wrong. Two thousand year ago on that hill called Calvary Christ died to that captain could live…so you could live…so I could live. Jesus climbed not a light house tower but a cross for you and me. He went through the Jerusalem gate, knowing the cross was on the other side…the cross where He would take our sin on Himself.
St. Jerome was one of the early Church Fathers. He is best known for his translation of the Bible from Greek into Latin. In fact, Jerome's translation, known as the Vulgate, served as the official Bible of the church for about a thousand years. It is said that near the end of his life, Jerome was living near Bethlehem translating some of the Bible when he had a dream. In the dream, Jesus appeared to him. He was so overwhelmed by the appearance of Jesus that he felt he just had to give Him something so he got some money and offered it, saying "Here! This is yours.
"
Jesus said, "I don't
want it.
"
Jerome brought some more possessions. But Jesus said,
"I don
'
t want them either.
"
And Jerome said,
"If there is anything in the world that I can give You, tell me what it is. Tell me! What do You want? What do You want me to give You
?"
He said he dreamed that Jesus looked at him and said this:
"Give me your sin. That
'
s what I came for.
"
Well, Jerome's dream was real-because that's why Jesus came. He came to take away our sin.But it's not only WHAT Jesus did on the other side of that gate that makes it so special. It's also the WAY He walked through it.
(3) You see, Jesus'expression - His reaction to everything that was happening - it helped remind us what God is really like.
Now-as Christians -as people of the Book -we know that the best way to understand God is to understand Jesus. We know the Bible teaches that in Jesus God became touchable…knowable.For example, Hebrews 1:3 says, "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being.
"
-the King of Kings
-God in the flesh
-did a very Un-kingly thing. HE WEPT.
Now, I want us to pause here and note that one of the most prominent portraits of God throughout the Bible is that of a king.
- Psalm 10:16 says, "The Lord is King forever and ever."
- Psalm 47:7 says, "He is the King of all the earth."
- Psalm 89:18 says,"The Holy One of Israel is our King."
- And…from the very beginning of His life, Jesus is addressed as a king. Remember? Referring to Jesus, the angelic messengers announced to Mary:"the Lord shall give unto Him the THRONE of His father David: And He shall REIGN over the house of Jacob forever.(Luke 1:32-33)."
- And….later the wise men came to visit the Christ child with the question,"Where is He that is born King of the Jews?(Matthew 2:2)."
- In His very first message Jesus proclaimed that, "The KINGDOM of Heaven was near!(Matthew 4:17)"
- Even the penitent thief on the cross realized that he hung next to royalty for he said,"Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.(Luke 23:42)."
- So, borrowing from the wording of Revelation 19:16, we know that on that first Palm Sunday, the "King of kings and Lord of lordsrode into town."
- And… whereas Jesus- entry into Jerusalem was a big deal... Matthew says "the whole city was stirred..."
Even so, it was unlike the processionals of the earthly rulers of that period of history because as I said, when Jesus approached the city, He began to weep… and kings of that day did
n't weep….at least not in public on a day like this.
But Jesus is not like earthly kings. So as He rode through the crowds waving palm branches and shouting His praises, instead of smiling and giving a typical
-royalty wave," He wept. " He wept because His heart was broken by what He saw in the hearts of those people. He knew they had already rejected Him and the blessings He had come to bring. He knew that in just five days their cheers would turn into demands for His death.
Do you remember Jesus' words from Luke's account of this day? Luke 19:41-44 says, "And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it, saying,
"
""
Well, it should be somewhat familiar to us here at TPHI because we studied the book of Daniel together recently a book that tells us that 500 years earlier an angel appeared to Daniel and told him of certain dramatic events to be marked off on God's timetable events that would affect Israel directly and the surrounding nations indirectly. They would all occur in what is now known as the seventy weeks or 490 years (Daniel 9:24-27).
The first week would start with the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem under the decree of the Persian king Artaxerxes, which was done on March 28, 445B.C. Over the next sixty-nine weeks or 483 years, Jerusalem would be restored and rebuilt until the Messiah would come. In Daniel's great prophecy of the 70 weeks, God had revealed the specific time in which the Messiah would be presented to the nation Israel. Although on that first Palm Sunday the nation was unmindful of the divine timetable, Christ was obviously conscious that this day in which He made His entry into Jerusalem was the specific day foretold by Daniel.He knew everything was right on schedule… to the day. But they didn't or WOULDN'T- see this and because of they wouldn't- because they rejected Jesus they would experience God?s judgement. This is what Jesus was talking about. He was weeping and saying, "Even now if you would open your eyes and repent and respond… it
's not too late!
"
We sigh and think they should have seen. They should known! It was right there for them to read in the book of Daniel. How could they be so blind! But?we do the same thing. We know what God would have us do. It's right here in His book! But still we disobey Him and face the inevitable painful consequences of our sin.
Well, Jesus' response on that first Palm Sunday tells us what God's reaction is to our rebellion. Jesus showed us that God doen't sit in Heaven and gloat over our foolishness. He doesn't think,"Well, they deserve the pain they are experiencing! The fools!
"
"
INVITATION AND FINAL CHALLENGE
When I read of God using those two words in response to man's creation I can't help but think of a human parent in the delivery room-rejoicing over the birth of his children. Do you know what I'm talking about parents? Do you remember the joy you felt when you first laid eyes on that little one? I do! My response was to jump up and down! Do you know what God's response to us is? Zephaniah 3:17 says God composes songs to reflect His joyous love for each of us. If you doubt me on this turn to that text…better yet listen as I read:
"
God will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing!
"
How does that make you feel? Think of it. God writes songs about His love for you and me! No wonder Jesus wept knowing what the children He loved so much would face! My point is that the King Who came to town that first Psalm Sunday watches you every day of your life. You are more important to Him than anything in the universe. God desperately loves us….and because of that love, this all-powerful, invincible King makes Himself vulnerable….He allows Himself to be moved by our lives. Everyone of our attitudes and actions affects God. When we disobey Him, we not only break a rule….we break His heart. When we sin, we don't "just commit an infraction. No!"
we shake our fists at Someone Who has extended bloody, nail-punctured hands to save us. And that of course is exactly what happened on the other side of that Jerusalem Gate. Our King Jesus hung in agony on the cross out of love for you and for me….because God is a king Who would rather die than live without His subjects. Philip Yancey writes,"In a nutshell, the Bible from Genesis 3 to Revelation 22 tells the story of a God reckless with desire to get His family back. Jesus embodies the promise of a God Who will go to any length to win us back…
"
But, there is one other way that Jesus is unlike earthly kings. The KING OF KINGS allows you to decide whether or not to give Him your allegiance. You can sit on the throne of your life or you can ask Him to sit there. It is up to you. Yes, one day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord…but now…in this life, it is your decision. You choose whether or not to let Him rule. We close this service with a time in which we invite you to make that all important decision- the decision to bow down and admit your sin to Jesus asking for His forgiveness….committing to follow Him as Lord. If you've never made that decision I encourage you to do so today. Jesus is indeed the DOOR: the only way to come into relationship with God. In fact, I invite you to publicly respond to God's rule. Leave your seat and come down the aisle and share that commitment with me. It could be that you are already a Christian and you feel Our Lord commanding you to join this church -to move your membership here so you can serve Him in this place. We would love to have you in this church family if that is God's will! So come! Whatever your decision, I promise you this. When you allow Jesus to rule, your life will change, in wonderful, unbelievable ways and this morning we invite you experience that kind of change. Won't you come forward as we sing?
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