(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) - Good morning, Church family.
We're gonna go ahead and begin our worship. (gentle music) ♪ Before the throne of God above ♪ ♪ I have a strong and perfect play ♪ ♪ A great high priest whose name is love ♪ ♪ Whoever lives and pleads for me ♪ ♪ My name is graven on his hands ♪ ♪ My name is written on his heart ♪ ♪ I know that while in heaven he stands ♪ ♪ No tongue can bid me fence depart ♪ ♪ No tongue can bid me fence depart ♪ (gentle music) - Come on, Satan.
♪ When Satan tempts me to despair ♪ ♪ And tells me of the guilt within ♪ ♪ Upward I look and see him there ♪ ♪ Who made an end to all my ♪ - Because. ♪ Because the sinless Savior died ♪ ♪ My sinful soul is counted free ♪ ♪ For God the just is satisfied ♪ ♪ To look on him and pardon me ♪ ♪ To look on him and pardon me ♪ (gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ Behold him there, the risen lamb ♪ ♪ My perfect spotless righteousness ♪ ♪ The great unchangeable I am ♪ ♪ The king of glory and the one with ♪ ♪ The one with himself I cannot die ♪ ♪ My soul is purchased by his blood ♪ ♪ My life is in with ♪ ♪ Blessed are you with blessed my Savior ♪ ♪ And my God with blessed my Savior ♪ ♪ The one with himself ♪ ♪ The one with himself I cannot die ♪ ♪ My soul is purchased by his blood ♪ ♪ My life is in with ♪ ♪ Christ our God with Christ my Savior ♪ ♪ And my God with Christ my Savior ♪ ♪ And my God ♪ (gentle music) (gentle music) - All right, good morning.
Welcome to Breen Community Church. We have actually quite a few announcements for me to go through, so let me get started on this. First of all, our all church retreat signups have begun, and we have an early registration that's happening until April 30th. So if you are planning to come to that, and again, this is August 11th through August 13th, that's Friday through Sunday, we will most likely have a service here because there's quite a few people who are not able to go.
We'll have one service here on that Sunday, but the rest of us will be up at the retreat site. And so the early registration fee, so all the information that you need for that, go on the website, go on the church app, and they'll be able to give you more information on that.
And again, you have to register and pay for that by April 30th, and after that, there'll be late registration fee, okay, just to keep that in mind. And as I mentioned before, we don't know exactly how many more years that we're able to do this just 'cause of the size of our church, so I highly encourage you to take advantage of that as we have it this year.
After our Easter service, after our resurrection service, not next Sunday, but the Saturday comes after that, our outreach team on April 15th, so that's a Saturday from 10 to 11, 20 a.m., they're gonna be having an open gospel Q&A meeting, meaning if you have friends or family or people that you know who are interested or seeking, there will be an opportunity on that day, on Saturday morning, to be able to ask questions and interact with other people who will be able to make the gospel more clear to them.
So that's happening on, again, on April 15th, not this coming Saturday, but the Saturday after that. So please let us know if you are planning to come or bring somebody to that event. Our next membership class, not this coming Sunday, but Sunday after, our new round of membership class is happening.
This is a eight-week course from 9 to 10, 20 a.m., and again, Pastor Nate is the one who is taking the sign-up for that, so you can, again, go to our church website, Facebook, our church app, and there will be a place where you can sign up for that.
And again, it's an eight-week course, an hour and a half of the time that we're doing, so please sign up for that. Our members meeting is happening on April 23rd at 1.30 p.m., so if you are planning to, or please make note of that, and that Sunday, we have a, we have lunch not provided that we're selling, okay?
This is for a fundraiser for our South Korea mission trip that's happening this summer, and so please stick around for that, and we'll have lunch provided in that way, and then the members meeting will happen at 1.30. And then softball tournament. We haven't had a softball tournament in about three or four years, and so we're picking that up, and this is a mission fundraiser that we have, and again, the funds are gonna go to help the student.
There's about 20 of us who are headed out to South Korea this summer, and the funds will be used for that. And so if you are interested in playing softball, and you could be in various levels. Some of you guys are excellent, and you've been waiting for this, and so you're gonna come and help us win, and then some of you guys are gonna come to have fun.
So whichever group you're a part of, there is space for you, so just sign up, and then they'll assign you to the proper team, so please come and join and help us out with that, or just give us your money. It's a fundraiser, so anything will be appreciated. So that softball tournament is happening on May 20th.
It's an all-day tournament. This is for the ladies and the men. It's gonna be happening on the same day, okay? Again, this is a tournament not just for within church, but we usually have anywhere from 15 to, and we've had as large as 36 different churches that come, so it's a pretty big tournament.
We're not expecting that big of a tournament this year because we haven't had it for a while, but again, we will be competing against other churches, so please come and participate in that. And then the main thing is, obviously you guys know today is Palm Sunday, so Palm Sunday today is a kickoff for the events that will be taking place this week.
The gospel account of Jesus' last day probably has more information on the last week of Jesus than any other time of his life. In fact, the gospel of John, half of the gospel, is about the last week of Jesus, and so starting off today, each day, starting from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, we're going to be walking through Jesus' last week of timeline.
What did he do on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday? How did that prepare him and get him to the cross so that next Sunday when we come to celebrate his resurrection that we would really be able to understand Jesus' mindset? So we're gonna be walking with him each day. So starting from tomorrow at 7.30, we'll be meeting at church, and one of the pastors will be going over the passage of what Jesus did that day, and then we have a member of our church who's gonna be giving testimony, and we'll have time for some worship and for prayer as well.
And so it'll be about an hour each day, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and then on Thursday, we have a Passover meal. So those of you who participated in that in the past, you know what it is. Basically, on Thursday, Pastor Mark is going to lead us in basically having a Passover meal that Jesus had with his disciples before he went to the cross, and he will be going over the meaning of each of the elements and how that prepared Christ for the cross and for Israel and for his disciples.
And so if you haven't participated in it, that's a great time, and those of you who signed up for it, it will be on the cafe side, especially those of you who have small children. It's a great way to visually show them how God prepared for the coming of Christ and what he was gonna do on the cross through this Passover meal, okay?
So again, that will be taking place there on Thursday, and then Friday, we will be having our Good Friday service here. So it is a communion service, so we ask you to come prepared for that. We are expecting quite a few people to come on Friday night, and so we do have parking variants outside on the street, okay, just here.
Don't just park anywhere, okay? But in front of our church all the way down, if you can't find parking, you can park there. We were able to secure some extra parking for that Friday, so when you come in, the attendants will give you directions where to go, where not to go.
Because we're running out of parking, we've heard from some of our neighbors who don't want us to park there that some of you are just parking and coming. You're risking a tow job, whatever that means. So it's about $440 if you get it towed. That's the last time I remember.
So try not to park there. We're gonna try to put signs there asking you not to park in those areas, but we were able to secure some other parking areas, so when you come in, make sure you're following directions and the attendants will show you where to go, especially this Friday.
Friday's gonna be a pretty packed house. If you come early and you're able to sit in this room, we will have the communion happening here. The cafe is gonna be gutted out and we're gonna be in like a service style just with chairs, and so there will be communion that will be taking place over there as well if you're sitting on that side, okay?
We have about 550 chairs in this room. That's with every single chair packed. Last time we had this, we had about 650. We're expecting more than that this Friday, so a good number of you are gonna end up going to that area. So just when you come in and it's packed, just go to that, and then the parents with small children, if you're coming, that cry room is gonna be reserved for you.
The communion will not be taking place there. You will have to come to the other side to be able to participate in communion, but again, because it is going to be packed, we're gonna have to ask you to help us with that, and then along with that on Sunday, again, even on regular attendance, we have parking issues, so if you are attending the first service and you are planning to go off campus to have lunch or whatever with your family, we ask that you would leave just a little bit earlier, okay?
Instead of leaving at 11, leave like 10 minutes before so that the people who come to the second service, that we would have plenty of parking, right? In about a month, we've secured some parking that's away from our site, so we're gonna have a shuttle system going out, so by then, we'd be okay, but we won't have that for about another month, so until then, we ask that you guys help us out and try to make room for the parking situation, okay?
That's a lot. So if you came to service, please take one of these as a reminder to you, and on our church website and on the Facebook, we will be going through the passages, so if you are not able to come and you just kinda wanna follow along online, there will be on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday that this is the passage that we should do devotions on and to just kinda follow along so that when you come Friday to participate in communion, that your hearts were prepared all week for that, and then when we come to celebrate his resurrection, that we had seven days of preparing our hearts for that celebration as well, okay?
So that's a lot of announcements, but please keep that in mind, and really, I really wanna encourage you to take this week to calibrate our hearts. Like what God desires more than anything else is people who will worship him in spirit and in truth, and spirit and truth worship is not just something you do because you come on Sunday.
It's because you've prepared your hearts, and worship is something that you do as a response to what Christ has done for us, and so we wanna make sure that this week is used for that purpose, and we ask you to do your best to come in, but if you can't, we will have some things online for you as well, okay?
All right, so let me pray for us for our offering, and if you are gonna give electronically, it will be there, and then those of you who are gonna give physically, we have a physical offering box in the back as you are leaving, okay? All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your goodness, your patience, your love that you pour upon us, some of it we are aware of, some of it that we are not aware of.
Lord, as we face this important week, I pray that you would ready our hearts that this worship today would start us off and cause us, Lord God, to be eagerly anticipating the celebration that we will have, and we pray that our Friday communion would really stir our hearts, Lord God, to worship you in spirit and in truth, that all that you have given us, all that you have done for us, that you would receive all the glory and all the worship.
May this offering that we give be given as an act of worship to you, may it be multiplied for your use in your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) Church family, let's all rise together as we come before God.
(upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ Here is love ♪ ♪ Here is love vast as the ocean ♪ ♪ Loving kindness as the flood ♪ ♪ When the prince of life our ransom ♪ ♪ Shed for us his precious blood ♪ One more time, first line. ♪ Here is love vast as the ocean ♪ ♪ Loving kindness as the flood ♪ ♪ When the prince of life our ransom ♪ ♪ Shed for us his precious blood ♪ ♪ Who is love will not remember ♪ ♪ Who can cease to sing his praise ♪ ♪ He can never be forgotten ♪ ♪ Through a half eternal day ♪ (upbeat music) On the mount of crucifixion.
♪ On the mount of crucifixion ♪ ♪ Mountains open deep and wide ♪ ♪ Through the floodgates of God's mercy ♪ ♪ Float a vast and gracious tide ♪ ♪ Grace and love like mighty rivers ♪ ♪ Poured incessant from above ♪ ♪ Heaven's peace and perfect justice ♪ ♪ The guilty world in love ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Here is love that conquered evil ♪ ♪ Christ the first born from the grave ♪ ♪ Death has failed to be found equal ♪ ♪ To the life of him who's in the valley ♪ ♪ In the valley of our darkness ♪ ♪ Dawn is everlasting light ♪ ♪ Perfect love and glorious radiance ♪ ♪ Has prepared us hellish night ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ No love is higher ♪ ♪ No love is higher ♪ ♪ No love is wider ♪ ♪ No love is deeper ♪ ♪ No love is truer ♪ ♪ No love is higher ♪ ♪ No love is wider ♪ ♪ No love is like your love of Lord ♪ ♪ No love is higher ♪ ♪ No love is wider ♪ ♪ No love is deeper ♪ ♪ No love is truer ♪ ♪ No love is higher ♪ ♪ No love is wider ♪ ♪ No love is like your love alone, one more time ♪ ♪ No love is higher ♪ ♪ No love is wider ♪ ♪ No love is deeper ♪ ♪ No love is truer ♪ ♪ No love is higher ♪ ♪ No love is wider ♪ ♪ No love is like your love alone ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Here is love ♪ ♪ Vast as the heavens ♪ ♪ Countless as the stars above ♪ ♪ Are the souls that he has ransomed ♪ ♪ Precious daughters, treasured sons ♪ ♪ We are called to feast forever ♪ ♪ On a love beyond our time ♪ ♪ Glorious Father, Son, and Spirit ♪ ♪ Now with man are intertwined ♪ ♪ We are called ♪ ♪ We are called to feast forever ♪ ♪ On a love beyond our time ♪ ♪ Glorious Father, Son, and Spirit ♪ ♪ Now with man are intertwined ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ When I fear my faith will fail ♪ ♪ Christ will hold me fast ♪ ♪ When the tempter would prevail ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ ♪ I could never keep my hope ♪ ♪ Through life's fearful path ♪ ♪ For my love is often cold ♪ ♪ He must hold me fast ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ ♪ For my Savior loves me so ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ ♪ He will save us ♪ ♪ Those he saves are his delight ♪ ♪ Christ will hold me fast ♪ ♪ Precious in his holy sight ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ ♪ He'll not let my soul be lost ♪ ♪ My promises shall last ♪ ♪ But by him at such a cost ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ ♪ For my Savior loves me so ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ ♪ For my life he bled and died ♪ ♪ Christ will hold me fast ♪ ♪ Justice has been satisfied ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ ♪ Raised with him to endless life ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ ♪ 'Til our faith is turned to stone ♪ ♪ When he comes at last ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ ♪ For my Savior loves me so ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ ♪ For my Savior loves me so ♪ ♪ He will hold me fast ♪ Amen, you may be seated.
All right, if you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 19, and we will be reading from verse 28 to verse 44. Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem kicks off the Passion Week as He is very deliberately, everything that He is doing, is very deliberately preparing His disciples and Himself to head toward the cross and ultimately the resurrection that we will be celebrating on Sunday.
And so today is the kickoff as we remember the triumphal entry. And what significance does that have in what Jesus does on the cross? So let me read, starting from verse 28. After He had said these things, He was going on ahead, going up to Jerusalem, when He approached Bethphage and Bethany near the mount that is called Olivet.
He sent two of the disciples saying, "Go into the village ahead of you. "There, as you enter, you will find a cold tide "on which no one yet has ever sat. "Untie it and bring it here. "If anyone asks you, why are you untying it? "You shall say, the Lord has need of it." So those who were sent went away and found it just as He had told them.
As they were untying the colt, its owner said to them, "Why are you untying the colt?" They said, "The Lord has need of it." They brought it to Jesus and they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it. And He was going, they were spreading their coats on the road.
As soon as He was approaching near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting, "Blessed is the King who comes "in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven "and glory in the highest." Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." But Jesus answered, "I tell you, if these become silent, "the stones will cry out." When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known in this day, "even you, the things which make for peace, "but now they have been hidden from your eyes.
"For the days will come upon you "when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you "and surround you and hem you in on every side. "And they will level you to the ground "and your children within you, "and they will not leave in you one stone upon another "because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." Let's pray.
Gracious Father, we pray for understanding. We pray, Father God, of softening of our hearts. That we may hear and understand and apply all that you have given us through the word. May your word go forth and not return until it has accomplished what you have ordained it to do.
We ask for your guidance and your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Some of you guys may remember years ago, right, if you're a basketball fan, when LeBron James left his hometown team, Cleveland, Ohio, to join another team. Remember the response that they had in Ohio. People were burning his jerseys and hating him, and they were literally going to his house.
And they loved that man and almost saw him as their messiah until he decided to go to another team, Miami Heat. And he was hated, bitterly hated. And I've never seen anybody who's received that much hate from a sports team. And so, when you look back at it, it's like, why were they so angry, right?
He has every right to go to Miami if he thinks that that's where he's gonna win the championship. And part of the reason why I think why Ohio, Cleveland Cavaliers fans were so angry is because they put so much hope in him. And if you know anything about Cleveland, Ohio, the economy is not good.
And even by LeBron himself, he said he grew up in poverty. And so, there's not a lot of things that they can put their hope on. And so, this basketball team kinda was their escape. And LeBron was the guy who would have no chance whatsoever, but here's this messiah figure, right, that comes into town.
And for the first time in their basketball career, that maybe they have some hope that they're going to win the championship. And all of a sudden, when he decides to leave, it wasn't just a basketball player leaving. It was their hopes, their dreams, their joy, their life that was leaving with him.
And I don't think I'm exaggerating. And then part of the reason why they were so angry with him was because of that. It wasn't just a basketball team, kinda like Lakers. If it's not Lakers, it's something else. We have Dodgers, we have Angels, we have Clippers, right? So, we have other teams, right?
But over there, that's it. That's all that they had, right? Palm Sunday is a day where Jesus comes in, supposedly riding, and people are swinging their palm trees and palm branches, meaning that they were welcoming their king. And the reason why there was such a stir for that is because Israel was in a very similar situation for hundreds of years.
They were dominated by a foreign government. They came into the Promised Land thinking that they're gonna live and prosper, and they're going to be the superpower. And at one point, it looked like they might actually have that, but it didn't last long. Just as God said, that if you obey me, you will be blessed.
If you disobey me, you will be cursed. And it doesn't take long for them to fall under that curse, and even under that curse and judgment of God for hundreds of years, one kingdom after another kingdom. So, by the time that Christ appears, they had hundreds of years of oppression from these pagan governments.
And at that time, obviously, the Roman government was the one who was oppressing them. So, throughout their history, we're not just talking about a decade or one generation. We're talking about generation after generation after generation. And no matter how life got, they said, "One day, our Messiah's gonna come, "and he's gonna be the conquering king.
"He's gonna place us back to where we belong." And so, they've been waiting for him, waiting for him. So, you can imagine the kind of stir that they had when Jesus was coming into town. In fact, the Bible has over 100 different prophecies about the coming Messiah, and Jesus fulfills every single one of them.
And if there was any doubt that this was the Messiah, in Zechariah 9, 9, and this is, whether you are a scholar or whether you're just a common person, everybody in Israel knew about this prophecy. When the king comes, he's gonna be riding on a donkey, Zechariah 9, 9.
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! "Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! "Behold, your king is coming to you, "righteous and having salvation, "as he humble and mounted on a donkey, "on a colt, the foal of a donkey." Do you remember, I wasn't on this pulpit for the last two weeks, but a few weeks ago, we were talking about how Jesus' popularity was just booming, right, right off the bat.
They wouldn't leave him alone, right? And he couldn't even teach on the shore, so he had to get on a boat and pull himself away so that he was able to address the crowd. So the crowd was growing, and they were fanatical. They weren't just half-hearted interest. I mean, they were packing up their bags and following everywhere he went.
So by the time he feeds the 5,000, thousands of people just would not leave him alone, right? And he was so tired everywhere he went, even on a boat where professional fishermen think that they're gonna die, Jesus couldn't wake up, he was so tired. That's how popular he was.
So imagine if that kind of popularity happened in the beginning of his ministry, this is three years of this, right? Three years of him healing the sick, walking on the water, calming the storm, healing lepers, three years of this. So imagine the frenzy around Jesus everywhere he went. So if that wasn't enough, right before he comes into Jerusalem, remember what he does in John chapter 11?
He raises Lazarus from the dead. And this was very public. He deliberately waits until he's dead, and he's in there for many days so that they can guarantee that everybody knew that this was, that a miracle took place. In fact, this miracle was so public and so obvious, even the Pharisees and the Sadducees who wanted to get rid of him couldn't deny that a miracle happened.
And so imagine the crowd that gathered together to receive him in Jerusalem. They said typically, historians of that time will say, during the Passover, even without Jesus coming into town, there will be hundreds of thousands of Jews who traveled, some of them, for weeks to get to Jerusalem to be able to celebrate the Passover.
But can you imagine the crowd that gathered together when Jesus was coming in? On top of the regular Jews who were coming into town because of Passover, they had hundreds of thousands probably added to that. Some estimate as large as a million people. Now, in today's number, millions of people, still a lot of people, but at that time, I mean, that was huge.
That was probably the largest crowd that they may have ever seen. And we can't be for sure exactly how many were gathered, but can you imagine the frenzy around this? And Jesus comes in on this donkey to make sure that everybody knew. If anybody had any question of who he was, up to this point, remember every time Jesus would perform a miracle, remember what he would say to them?
Don't tell people. It's not time yet, don't tell people. And even the demons, as they were declaring who he was, Jesus would command them not to say anything to people because he knew this was gonna happen. He knew that people were gonna gather. He knew that people were going to forcefully make him king.
But now is time. There was no question about who he was. He comes in, the scripture says that the people were shaking palm branches, and the significance of the palm branch, typically they did that to receive armies that would go into battle, and if they come back in victory, that's when they would take the palm branches out, and then they would wave it in celebration.
So you have to understand that the palm branch in and of itself, the significance behind that, if your nation went to war, and your soldiers came back defeated, which means that you, your children, your grandchildren, are gonna be slaves. Your life is over. It's not just you lost the battle, and you don't have the proper standing in the world.
It literally means that your life is over. Everybody under that nation, their life is over. So for generations to come, you may be slaves. So can you imagine the celebration of palm branches when they were shaking this, what it signified? See, that's the kind of celebration that was going on when Jesus was coming in.
In fact, Matthew himself, when he describes this stir in Jerusalem, he uses the word seismic, and you know what that word means. Seismic basically is talking about an earthquake, and he said that's the kind of frenzy there was in Jerusalem when Jesus was coming into town. But there's two strange things that they should have noticed.
In the midst of this tremendous parade, people are yelling out, screaming, "Hosanna, hosanna, our Messiah has come to deliver us." That the man who we've been waiting for for hundreds of years, every single problem that we've had, here's our answer. He's our healer, here's our refuge, here's our king.
He's the one who provides, he feeds us. But there's two obvious things that they should have noticed. One, the fact that Jesus was coming on a donkey. Now, we know clearly that this was prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus came, that when the Messiah shows up, he's gonna be riding on a donkey.
But even in their own prophecy, if they were paying attention, they should have asked, and they should have noticed, why is a conquering king coming on a donkey? Because the palm branches and the donkey just did not fit, because the palm branches basically meant that he conquered, or he's kind of come in to conquer.
And yet, in the prophecy, it says, "Your king is coming to you, "righteous and having salvation as he, "humble and mounted on a donkey," on a colt, the foal of a donkey, humble. Why is a conquering king coming humbled? Now, we can look at that as maybe they just kind of skimmed over it, maybe they just weren't thinking critically.
But the second part they should have noticed for sure, in the midst of this tremendous seismic celebration, it says in verse 41 and 42 of Luke chapter 19, "And when he drew near and saw the city, "he wept over it." He wept, right? Have you ever been in a situation where you're celebrating somebody's birthday, and the person that you're celebrating is sitting there and just crying, right?
Would you just keep eating? You know what I mean? I mean, you're there to celebrate that person's birthday, and everybody's celebrating and having food, and the person that you're celebrating, right before you blow out the candle, is just weeping. It would be strange if that's happening, and everybody's like, "Hey, you guys had enough food?" And the person that you're celebrating is weeping.
That's what we see here. Jesus is coming in, they're celebrating, they're giving praise, and he's not just crying, it says that he's weeping. The word here isn't just that he shed tears. The word here in Greek means that he was wailing. It was obvious, it was uncontrollable sobbing. That's the word that is used here to describe Jesus' weeping.
But you know what's interesting is, if you read the account in the Gospels, there's no mention of anybody asking questions, right? Remember when Jesus was telling his disciples that I'm gonna go to the cross, and I'm gonna be rejected by the leaders, and they're gonna kill me, and I'm gonna resurrect on the third day?
And the disciples hear him, and they say, well, who's gonna sit on the left or the right? Right? He said, "I just told you I'm gonna die." Right, and in the Gospel of Mark, he tells them three separate times, and Mark makes it very clear that Jesus made this very clear to his disciples, but they didn't understand.
And because they didn't understand, they just kinda, "Oh, okay," and they just start talking about, well, who's gonna be to the left or to the right, right? They were debating who's the greatest when Jesus just told them he's gonna be beaten and be crucified. Well, we see a similar scene here where you have this parade going on, Jesus is weeping, and there's no mention of anybody even asking questions.
Right, and they say, "Why is he weeping? "What is this weeping about? "Why is he weeping? "We're celebrating. "Like, we're all elated about him coming in. "He's going to be our king, but why is he weeping?" No question asked. They just keep celebrating. Clearly, they did not understand. 'Cause to them, they were receiving him as their king.
This is the guy we've been waiting for for hundreds of years. Our great-great-great-grandfather has been telling us about him coming in, and so for them, this was a great celebration. But from Jesus' perspective, the celebration was the epitome of their rejection because they did not understand why he came.
In John 1:5, he says, "The light shines in darkness, "but the darkness has not understood it." The Pharisees, the Pharisees, I mean, they get a bad name in the New Testament, but they were created because they were concerned about the Hellenistic influence, the secular influence coming into Israel, so they said, "Let's create a group, a holiness group, "because our forefathers went into captivity "because they didn't obey the law." So we're gonna make sure this never happens.
So the word Pharisee basically means holy, to be set apart. We're gonna create this group, and we're gonna make sure that we keep the law so that this never happens. That's why they were so stickler about the law because keeping the law, for them, was an avenue to receive the blessing of God.
And that's why they were constantly concerned, "Hey, you're breaking the Sabbath. "You're not supposed to do that. "You're not supposed to be there." Jesus never broke the law. He broke their tradition. What they thought the law should, how it should be applied. And so they came up with 600 separate laws of that's what the Bible says, but this is how it should be applied, and Jesus didn't follow these rules.
So if Jesus doesn't follow these rules, everybody who loves him isn't gonna follow it either. So the Pharisees wanted to get rid of him because everything that they'd been working for, Jesus was breaking, because they thought the keeping of the law was what was going to cause them to be restored.
The Sadducees, on the other hand, they had a different approach. They thought that if they became wealthy and influential, and if they appeased the Roman government, that eventually that they're gonna be favored. They're gonna be able to live in peace. So when Jesus comes in, and all of a sudden, starts to shake up the nation of Israel, said, "This guy's ruining our work.
"If we're not careful, "the Romans are gonna think that we're, "this guy's starting a rebellion. "They're gonna come squash us." And so in order to maintain what they'd been working for, they had to get rid of this guy. The Zealots, these were the militant guys. These Pharisees, like, oh, they just talk.
They're just about theology. Sadducees, these liberals, they don't even believe in the resurrection. We're gonna make this happen. We're gonna buy weapons, and at the right time, we're gonna overthrow this government. But Jesus comes and says, "He who lives by the sword "shall die by the sword." That he doesn't make any military move against the nation, against Rome.
So if he's not gonna help us, he's gonna hurt us. So they wanted to get rid of him. If you read the Gospels carefully, the Gospels, and we look at Jesus' three years of life, and he kind of builds up, and all these people following him, and then he goes into Jerusalem, and he says, and then he says, "Forget it," and then he goes to the cross.
If you read the Gospel carefully, it is an account of a systematic rejection of Jesus in every part of his life. Remember, in the Gospel of Luke, in the beginning of his ministry, it starts with his rejection. He goes to his hometown to start his ministry, and his own family members, his hometown people who recognize him, "Isn't this Joseph's son?" And then they wanted to throw him off a cliff.
So he escapes, and then he goes into Galilee, and he does ministry there for about a year and a half to two years, performing all these miracles, and after everything that he has done, John chapter 6, 66, it says, "People, they all left him," because Jesus said, "I am the bread.
"You're coming to me because you want me "to answer your prayers, you want me to heal people, "you want me to feed you, but I do these things "so that you would know that I am the bread." So the whole Gospel of John, the seven I am statements, is to correct the false hope that people had.
You're waiting for the light to come, he says, "I am the light, you're waiting for a leader, "I am the good shepherd." And he continues to say, "I am, I am, I am the way "and the truth and the life. "No one comes to the Father but through me." And as a result of Jesus, what he was saying, systematically they reject him.
And then Jesus says, when he was going to the cross, remember what he said? He said, "I must be rejected by the leaders of Israel." So it's systematically, he's rejected by his hometown, he's rejected by the people that he served, he's rejected by the leadership, and then eventually he gets rejected by his own disciples because they didn't understand him either.
Every part of the way, Jesus breaks the false hope that people were hanging upon this Messiah, that before they can understand why he came, he needed to demolish the false hope that they were hanging on Christ for. The biggest hindrance in Christianity, in the church, of truth is the false truth that we have come to embrace.
Some of you immigrated to the United States like I did, and you may remember learning English. I came young enough where I don't really have clear memories of trying to learn English, 'cause I went through ESL early on, and then I remember just speaking English, but I do have those memories.
Some of you guys were born here, so you may not remember. And then some of you guys came later in life, right? We could tell by your accent. 'Cause the later that you came to the United States, the harder it is to get rid of the accent, because you spent a good portion of your life and your childhood speaking another language, and so whenever you pick up another language, you always try to put it into the framework of what you've already gotten.
This is true no matter what country you came from. You can tell how long somebody lived here, even if they speak perfect English, by the level and the thickness of their accent. That's why when you come when it's a young kid, you are able to get rid of the accent because you don't have a lot of things to replace.
Now I say all of this because it's true, even with our view of Christ. It's the false understanding, false hope that we hope in Christ is the biggest hindrance in knowing the true Christ of the Bible. And so we have a tendency to continue to go to things and continue to hope for things that we have learned to embrace.
And so if you've grown up in the church, understanding a false understanding of Christ or an incomplete understanding of Christ, even when you hear the truth, you filter it by what you think, what you've already placed in your own head. And so you have theological accents that keep coming out.
No matter how much you hear the truth, you have a tendency to continue to keep it in that box. See, when Christ showed up, they had all these people had different boxes that they wanted to put Christ and what they expected from him. But Jesus riding on that donkey, being crucified on the cross, didn't fit any of their boxes.
And that's why even though he had every sign, he fulfilled over a hundred prophecies, he raised somebody from the dead, but because he didn't fit the box, he couldn't be the Messiah. And that's why they ended up crucifying him. They wanted a Moses figure to come to deliver them from the bondage of Egypt.
They wanted somebody like Joshua to come and deliver them and restore them back into the promised land. They wanted David to be restored so that they can bring back the glory of the kingdom. They wanted Elijah to be powerful. Until he came to Jerusalem, Jesus fit every part of that, at least in their mind.
Everything he did. There's some odd things that he said that they couldn't fit. So they kind of kept it on the side. Even the disciple, they just go, "Oh, we heard that, but that doesn't make any sense. "Maybe we just don't understand." And just kind of put it on the side.
But when he actually started to go to the cross, they started realizing he doesn't fit. So when the Jesus that you're confronted with doesn't fit the box that you have, you are forced to make a decision. Either the Jesus that's being presented to you is not the Jesus of the Bible, or the Jesus that you think doesn't fit isn't the Jesus of the Bible.
It's one or the other. But you cannot have both. You cannot have the prejudices and the things and the traditions that you've grown up with. And when you open up the scriptures and it doesn't fit, and then you live with this tension where it's neither here nor there. When Christ came into Jerusalem, he shattered their expectations.
And as much as people turned against LeBron James, because all their hopes were shattered when he left, imagine the hatred that they had toward Christ when he disappointed them. Imagine how quickly they wanted to get rid of him, because they had so much hope. And when they lost that hope, as much as they were praising him, they were hating him instantaneously.
It's interesting that in the midst of this, knowing all of this, why did Jesus go through this week? He knew they were gonna reject him. He knew what they were gonna do. He was weeping because he understood that their celebration was a rejection of him. The Bible says that he wept.
He wept. Weeping happens because you care about something so much. And you're saddened. If you're indifferent, you don't cry. You hear that there was some tragedy that happened, you may feel saddened by it, but you're not gonna weep over that. Because you're not connected to that. You can hear about the Holocaust, that's really sad, but how many of you wept over the Holocaust?
Because it's just history. Horrendous history. But it doesn't affect you personally. Weeping happens because something really matters to you. Because it affects you emotionally. Our God is not an indifferent God who just set a bunch of rules and say, try to fulfill it, and if you don't fulfill it, oh well.
Some of you I will give life, and some of you will be judged. In fact, in Exodus 34, five through eight, God introduces himself to the nation of Israel this way. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord.
Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and truth, who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. Now why does he say this? Because the nation of Israel already broke God's command.
Because Moses would not come down fast enough, they got impatient, and Aaron decides that he's going to make this golden calf. He hears Yahweh, and they start worshiping him, God is angered, comes, and he divides the nation of Israel and those who are for him and against him. And so he, after this happens, he chooses to give the commandment a second time.
So God had every reason to destroy them. We would think that after that event happened, wow, they couldn't even last a month after everything that God has done. They rebel against him, he said, we're gonna worship this God. So you would think that God would say enough of these rebellious people, and he would walk away, but instead, those who come to his side, he reminds them of who he is.
He is compassionate. The reason why you are not consumed is because he is a compassionate, gracious, loving, patient God who is eager to forgive sins when sinners repent. You know what's interesting about this word, compassion, here? In Hebrew, the word is rakum. And the word rakum, the root word of rakum means the womb, the mother's womb.
Isn't that a great way to understand the word compassion? It's the mother's womb. In fact, the greatest illustration of this is remember Solomon? You had these two young women who were claiming that that little baby was theirs and there was no way to prove this 'cause one was saying that it was hers and then the other was saying that it was hers.
So Solomon, in his wisdom, says, "Pick up a sword and cut the baby in half." A horrendous thing to do. But the woman who was lying basically said, "Well, if I can't have her, she can't have her either, "so cut the baby in half." And it was the real mother who steps in and said, "How can I allow my child to be cut in half "even if I can't have this child?
"Give it to her." And Solomon knew. And what was his knowledge based upon? Her compassion toward that child. The Bible describes God's compassion as a mother's compassion toward her child. In Isaiah 49, 15 to 16, "Can a woman forget her nursing child "and have no compassion on the son of her womb?
"Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. "Behold, I have inscribed you on the palm of my hand. "Your walls are continually before me." God describes his love toward sinners, toward his people, as a mother's compassion toward her child, the womb. Again in Matthew 23, 37, Jesus says, "Jerusalem, who kills the prophets "and stones those who are sent to her?
"How often I wanted to gather your children together "the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, "and you were unwilling." Again, even Jesus uses that idea of compassion, the womb, to describe God's love toward us. In fact, if you read the New Testament over and over and over again, what was the motivation behind everything that Jesus did?
Matthew 15, 32, he said he had compassion on the 4,000, and that's why he fed them. In Mark chapter 140 and 41, he had compassion on the lepers. Mark chapter five, one through 20, he had compassion on the demon-possessed man. Luke chapter seven, he had compassion on the widow Nain.
Matthew 20, 30, 34, he had compassion on the two blind men. And then in Luke chapter 15, 20, he had compassion on his prodigal son. And I could just sit here for the next 15 minutes just read verse after verse after verse after verse. The motivation behind what moved our Savior was compassion.
Why did Jesus do what he did? Today is the inauguration, it's this beginning of Christ's suffering. That's why we call it the Passion Week. The word passion, where we get the word, basically in Latin it means to suffer. So that's why we call this week Passion Week, and the beginning of it is Palm Sunday.
In the midst of all the celebration, in the midst of a parade, Jesus was suffering. Our understanding of the word passion basically means strong emotions. But the reason why Jesus suffered is because he had strong emotions. He was not indifferent toward us. If he was indifferent toward us, he wouldn't be weeping.
In fact, many of us, because we've been hurt, we've been wronged, maybe some of you guys feel like you've been betrayed by a friend, and the older you get, the more resolved you are that you're not gonna care. You're not gonna get involved in people's lives. You can keep them at a distance, but I'm not going to make myself vulnerable.
Because the moment that I care, I'm putting myself in a position where I can get hurt. So our natural tendency is if you've been hurt, that you're gonna keep people at a distance, that you're gonna become stoic. So you go through the motion, but nothing really bothers you because you've never fully engaged in anything, at least emotionally.
And 'cause we don't wanna be vulnerable. We don't wanna suffer, we don't wanna feel pain. But Jesus was weeping because he engaged with sinners. He didn't have to do that. He could've remained stoic. In fact, if you read the Bible, the greatest judgment of God is indifference, where he pleads, he pleads, he pleads.
And then when a sinner wouldn't repent, how does he describe the judgment? He releases them. He gives them over. Do what you want to do and just releases them. Jesus weeps because he cares, because it affects him. And he suffers because he has strong emotions. The text that I read in Exodus chapter 34 that we read is that Jesus is compassionate, he's gracious, but at the middle of verse seven, this is what he says.
Who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin, yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. That second part of verse seven, it'd be easier. It would make a better sermon if I didn't quote that. I can just leave and say God is compassionate, he's loving, he's patient, and I know you guys have come into this room with guilt and shame, but Jesus forgives because he is patient and compassionate, and he loves us.
And if I ended it there, it'd be a great sermon. To go back and say, oh my God, he loves me, loves me unconditionally, he loves me just the way I am. And yet in verse, middle of verse seven, yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of the fathers and the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.
As much as he is gracious to the third and fourth generation for thousands of years, he says he will punish the sin for fourth and third and fourth generation. He is equally passionate about dealing with sin. How do you reconcile this? How does a God who is this gracious, who is this merciful, who is this patient, is also this vengeful, this harsh?
How do you reconcile this tension? If you were a faithful Jew following the commands, following the prophecies, following the history of Israel, you would have ended the book of Malachi with that same tension. He said that we're under a curse, and this curse has been adding up for generation to generation to generation, and yet prophecies are filled with hope of the Messiah that is coming.
(pages rustling) This is what he does to prepare himself to go to the cross. The tension is finally released, and it is solved at the cross. Because he said he will not leave the guilty on, in other words, he's not going to sweep under the rug sin, and yet you and I are still here.
You and I are here to be able to celebrate, to sing, to come to church, to have hope in Christ. Have you been punished for your sins? Have you paid the price for your sins, just as he said that it was gonna happen? Will your children suffer for the sins that you've committed and your parents have committed?
Obviously not. We're here because he suffered on our behalf. He took upon himself what you and I deserve, and so he deliberately, passionately, took the steps to get to the cross so that you and I would have life and have this life abundantly. As we celebrate this week, as we remember what Christ has done, my prayer is that we don't just walk through this thing and say, oh, historically, this is what happened, and then talk about it like we're talking about the Holocaust or talking about some history or something, some shooting that happened in Nashville, horrendous as it is, but this is for us.
It was whipped for us, for me, for you. There's one thing that Jesus commanded his disciples to do that on the surface, they say, well, how do you practice that? Remember what Jesus said? If somebody slaps you, remember what he told us to do? Turn the other cheek. How many of you have actually ever done that?
Turn the other cheek. Some of you may be deluded. I've never seen it. I've never seen it. So is it just a hyperbole? Jesus is just putting high standards that no one's gonna practice and say, well, to make you feel guilty? Right, if you wanna go into that door, you need to be, your righteousness needs to, so what I'm telling you, you can't do, that's why Jesus did it.
Is that what he's saying, or does he actually expect us to turn the other cheek? If you look at the context carefully, Jesus actually is expecting us to turn the other cheek. I know probably every single one of us, if we're honest, will say, well, we've never seen that.
At best, right, if somebody slaps you, we try not to kill them, right? Because our natural tendency is retribution, not equal justice. Our natural tendency is vengeance. So he said, leave room for the vengeance of God, because he knows our tendency is to take vengeance against anybody who goes against us, right?
That's human, and we see that. So if you don't take vengeance, you're a righteous man. But turn the other cheek? Turn the other cheek to give yourself the other side so they can hurt you, too? That's dumb, that's foolish, why would you do that? But I think all of you will agree with me.
We've all, to some degree, have seen it and experienced it. If you are a parent of teenagers or older, you've experienced it, right? And they say some hurtful, mean things, right? People that literally will give their life to care for you, and when they get angry and they don't get what they want, all kinds of foul things come out of their mouth, and they hit you on your cheek.
And if you don't turn the other cheek, they will die. 'Cause they're homeless. If you strike your parents and they choose not to turn the other cheek, you're homeless. You're gonna starve to death. You can't go to school, you can't pay for your bills, you're homeless. It's because somebody in your life turned the other cheek when you were being a jerk.
You got here. You did it. If you don't have kids, you did it to your parents. We did it, every single one of us. Because our parents loved us the way God loves us. And if we didn't love us that way, we wouldn't be here. (audience laughing) The only reason why we are here is because Jesus wept for us.
He chose to suffer for us. He chose to care for us. That's why he came into Jerusalem. That's why he cleansed the temple. That's why he gave the Olivet Discourse. That's why he allowed himself to be betrayed. That's why he waited to participate in the Passover meal. That's why he allowed himself to be arrested.
That's why he allowed himself to be crucified so that he may resurrect and give us life and give this life abundantly. I pray that as we remember and celebrate the suffering of Christ this week, that it would become as personal to you as possible. That we're not simply celebrating theology or history.
We're celebrating our own lives through the suffering of Christ. Let's pray. Again, as our worship team comes to lead us, to take some time to pray. To pray even today that God would begin to soften our hearts. That each day that we remember the suffering of Christ, that we would be impacted that he did this for me.
And so when we come to the communion table on Friday, there's not just some religious thing that we're doing, but we really are coming, thanking him for what he has done. And so when we come to celebrate on Sunday, that we really would be celebrating with all our heart.
Let's take some time to pray again as our worship team leads us. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) Let's all stand up for the closing praise.
♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Stronger than darkness ♪ ♪ New every more ♪ ♪ As sins they are many ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ What love could ♪ ♪ What love could remember ♪ ♪ No wrongs we have done ♪ ♪ Omniscient all knowing ♪ ♪ He counts not their sum ♪ ♪ Thrown into a sea ♪ ♪ Without bottom or shore ♪ ♪ Our sins they are many ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Stronger than darkness ♪ ♪ New every more ♪ ♪ Our sins they are many ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ What patience ♪ ♪ What patience will wait ♪ ♪ As we constantly roam ♪ ♪ What Father so tender ♪ ♪ Is calling us home ♪ ♪ He welcomes the weakest ♪ ♪ The vilest, the poor ♪ ♪ Our sins they are many ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Stronger than darkness ♪ ♪ New every more ♪ ♪ Our sins they are many ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ What riches of kindness ♪ ♪ He lavished on us ♪ ♪ His blood was the payment ♪ ♪ His life was the cost ♪ ♪ We stood 'neath the debt ♪ ♪ We could never afford ♪ ♪ Our sins they are many ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Stronger than darkness ♪ ♪ New every more ♪ ♪ Our sins they are many ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Stronger than darkness ♪ ♪ New every more ♪ ♪ Our sins they are many ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Stronger than darkness ♪ ♪ New every more ♪ ♪ Our sins they are many ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ - Let's pray.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance on you and give you peace. Amen. ♪ God sent his son ♪ ♪ They called him Jesus ♪ ♪ He came to love ♪ ♪ Heal and forgive ♪ ♪ He lived and died ♪ ♪ To buy my pardon ♪ ♪ An empty grave is there to ♪ ♪ My savior live ♪ ♪ Because he lives ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because he lives ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ Just because he lives ♪ (piano music) ♪ Stronger ♪ - Sorry.
If you're part of the Jubilee Fellowship, the lunch is happening on the cafe side or the cry room at one o'clock, okay? ♪ Let the redeemed declare ♪ ♪ That time and heaven's come ♪ ♪ And the world in awesome ♪ ♪ Joyous ♪