>> All right, good morning church family and happy Lord's Day. It is always great to worship together, to see everyone's faces, especially on this Palm Sunday. So we will now begin our service and let us sing together the song His Mercy is More. >> Good morning, everyone. It is a great pleasure to welcome you to Palm Sunday here.

We do have a welcome table outside behind the courtyard for you guys to get more information on our church. I do have a couple of announcements before we continue with our time of praise. So today is Palm Sunday and this week is the Passion Week. We have a testimony and we're going to walk through the week and the events of the life of Jesus.

And then on Thursday, this is closed if you haven't already signed up, but we are having a Passover meal here at the church. And if you have signed up to come, just a reminder that this is a formal event. So come in your Sunday best. If your Sunday best is a T-shirt and shorts, change that.

Come in like you're coming to kind of a wedding, like a very formal feast. So that'll be here on Thursday. And our Good Friday service will also be here at 730 on Friday. So every night at 730 so that we're keeping the times consistent. And Sunday morning, next Sunday is Easter.

And at 6 a.m., we're going to have a sunrise service out in the courtyard. It does get a little chilly. And so if you are sensitive to cold, please bring yourself like a little small blanket or something to keep yourselves warm. So there's a lot happening this week. And so we do hope to see you coming out this week to just reflect together.

Secondly, we are going to have a tea time for the women. So if you are a woman in this ministry, you can go to our website and go to through the various links. I lost my announcements page, but I think it's April 16th is the deadline. And I think the tea time is April 30th.

I got it. And so please keep that in mind. But that does require you to sign up. And so please do that. And our family retreat, if you're a family ministry member, we do have the dates and the hotel site in Palm Desert locked in. So Friday, August 12th to Sunday, August 14th, we will be having a retreat out there.

So please save those dates. A lot of the details are still forthcoming. But those dates we do ask that you block out, get up there Friday evening, and then just come back down on Sunday. We -- after we have a time of praise, our brother Alex is going to come up and share his testimony, and he will be baptized.

So we're going to take a time of offering now. We do have a physical offering in the back. And if you want to send your tithes and offerings through electronic services, the extractions are up there on the screen. So let me pray for us, and then we'll continue with our service.

Lord, we are so glad to be here this morning just to gather with your saints, to give you worship. I pray that as we sing, that you would engage our hearts, that this would not just be a time of lip service, but that our hearts really would offer up praise to you.

And as we hear your word, I pray, Father, that you would cause us to respond appropriately in gratitude and in worship. And now as we offer up our tithes and offerings, Lord, we give back to you just as a symbol of our submission to Christ's lordship over our lives, and to also acknowledge that you are the one who provides all the things that we need, and every good gift comes from you.

And so we pray that this time of offering would be pleasing to you. And as we sing, Lord, would you protect, guard, guide this time, and prepare our hearts to encounter Christ. And so we thank you, Lord, for our time together, and pray this in Jesus' name. All right, church family, for those sitting inside, would you please stand with us as we continue our worship?

Amen. This next song is a new modern hymn that I'd like to introduce. It is called "It Was Finished Upon That Cross." And like the majority of songs that we sing at church, the lyrics are filled with gospel truths. But this song especially emphasizes on all that the Father has done through the Son on the cross to give us victory and salvation to all those who would call on His name.

We are reminded that our debt is paid in full, that our forgiveness is now possible, that His throne has been made accessible, and that death has been defeated. His finished work gives us freedom to live and to worship. So my hope is that this song would remind us of these truths and that we would respond in worship to our God.

So let us sing this song together. How I love the voice of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. He declares His work is finished. He has spoken this hope to me. Though the sun had seized its shining, though the war appeared as lost, Christ hath triumphed over evil. It was finished upon that cross.

Now the curse, it has been broken. Jesus paid the price for me. For the pardon He has offered, great the welcome that I receive. Boldly I approach my Father, clothing Jesus' righteousness. There is no more guilt to carry. It was finished upon that cross. Death was once my great opponent.

Fear once had a hold on me. But the Son who died to save us rose that we would be free indeed. Oh, we're free indeed. Death was once my great opponent. Fear once had a hold on me. But the Son who died to save us rose that we would be free indeed.

Yes, He rose that we would be free indeed. Free from every plan of darkness, free to live and free to love. Death is dead and Christ is risen. It was finished upon that cross. Onward to eternal glory to my Savior and my God. I rejoice in Jesus' victory. It was finished upon that cross.

It was finished upon that cross. It was finished upon that cross. Amen. You may be seated. Hi, I'm Alex Yamaoka, and here's my testimony. So ever since I was six, my perception of God was not the best. I lost my dad in an accident, and I just really despised the circumstance I was placed in.

I was pretty bitter towards God and unfairly blamed Him. During this time, the people around me in church would try to comfort me by referencing Romans 8:28 and telling me that God has a plan for me in all this. The verse says, "And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose." At the time, I didn't really understand what that meant, and it just made me want to distance myself from it, thinking, how do I still love God when everything kind of sucks right now?

So I lived on having the same feeling towards God since that point. I just kept myself occupied with school or work and didn't really think I needed to rely on Him. But soon, I realized that I was getting caught up with worldly desires, such as wanting a better job or career, thinking that my success and status would depend on it.

And with the stress, frustration, and anxiety that followed, it seemed like nothing was working out, and I didn't really know what to do. During this time, I started wishing I could rely on God again, but didn't really know where to start. I was always curious why Christians around me seemed so happy with their life, no matter what their circumstance was.

I wanted that kind of life, but didn't know how they could love and trust God so much. And having the thought of how I disliked God for so long and how I wanted to go to Him just because I hit a low point where my life seemed so selfish, I was hesitant of going back.

But because I wanted this change, I asked a friend from college, and she introduced me to Brian. Being reintroduced to the Gospel, I struggled to find a personal relationship with God. I always heard in me that we are saved because Jesus died for our sins, but I didn't really see how someone dying long ago would help me today.

So each week, I came to church to learn more about God and His character, and had brothers at church who helped me with any questions I had. There came a point where the more I learned about God, the more I felt like I didn't deserve His grace and realized how far away I was from Him.

I understood how full of sin my life was, but didn't have a full understanding of what it meant to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. I knew that all I had to do was accept, but I still felt hesitancy. I then realized that I didn't truly surrender to Christ yet, and that I was still holding on to my worldly standards of what success or joy looked like.

And after praying to God for months to help open up my heart to be able to surrender to Him and be content with His plan, I slowly began to repent of my worldly standards and the bitterness I had towards Him. My false perception of who God is started to change, realizing how wrong and foolish I had been up until now.

My values have shifted from being so focused on my worldly desires to how I can glorify God. I was able to go from just knowing the gospel to believing in it. And looking back now, all the things I felt like that were affecting me so much now feel so small, like they're irrelevant compared to how great God is to us.

I've come to understand the meaning of Romans 8:28 from before, and I'm now able to see what those people were trying to portray as. Only God knows why we go through the things we go through, but the promise of God is that He brings good out of everything. And knowing that gives me a better perspective in understanding His plan and being comfortable putting my trust in Him.

The hesitancy that I used to have in committing to follow Christ, along with the worry and fear of future trials and hardships, are now replaced with the contentment, accepting Christ into my life, and the circumstances that will come from this commitment. Now I've learned not to place any expectations on the world, but to have confidence and trust in the plan God has for me.

Thank you. Thank you, Alex. Let's pray together and ask the Lord for His blessing. Father, we offer up this time to You, asking You to speak, and asking You to cause us just to reflect deeply in worship on the significance of this day. We pray that we would hear, that we would be changed, and that we would truly bring light into the areas of darkness in and around our community.

So we pray that You would protect and guard this time, and that we entrust it into Your hands. In Jesus' name we pray. Well, today is Palm Sunday, which begins the week we annually celebrate as the Passion Week. The word "passion" comes from the Latin word "pati," which means "suffering." So this coming week, we remember and reflect on the sufferings of Christ, His road to the cross, and His being put to death for our sins.

This week we will be reflecting on what is the most important week in all of human history. Over a third of what is written in the four Gospel accounts is devoted to the events of this one week. The Passion Week takes up almost half of the Gospel of John.

So why is so much text devoted to the events of just one single week? It is because this is the most important week in human history. The reason Christ came in human flesh, lived a perfect life, and suffered and died the way He did according to the Scriptures was for the purpose of reconciling sinful man to holy God.

It was so that sin-corrupted people like you and me could have access to the Holy One who created us. So the events of this week are the focal point of human history. The Apostle John, from the very get-go, opens his account of the life of Jesus by alluding to this Passion Week.

So I'm going to read John 1, 9-13 for us. "There was the true light, which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own, and those who were his own did not receive him.

But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God." So the Passion Week is not only the most important week in all of human history, it is also the loneliest and most painful.

God, the creator of the universe, He comes into the world, and He is not only not received, as we just read in John 1, 11, He is despised and rejected. He is abandoned and forsaken. He is betrayed by those He had called brothers and friends. He is ridiculed and mocked, but most painfully, He is rejected by and separated from God the Father, whom He loved perfectly, by whom He was loved perfectly.

So for the first time, He will not have perfect fellowship and union with His Father. God the Father will turn His face away in hatred as He sees the sins of all mankind placed upon the man Christ. And Jesus' perfect union with His Father is fractured not because He had done anything wrong, but because He would take on the sins of the world.

He would take on the sins of you and me. And holy God cannot but look upon sin with utter hatred. And on the cross, Jesus, the sacrificial lamb, is looked upon with this utter hatred. I'm not sure how many of us have ever been looked at with hatred. I was trying to think through, has anyone just hated me?

And I don't think I have been looked at with hatred. And I'm not talking about the simple look of hurt or displeasure or irritation or just a momentary fit of anger. I'm talking about a look of loathing, of absolute disgust and hatred. And if I were to be looked upon by a person, by an enemy, with hatred, my guess is that it will be very uncomfortable for a moment and that I'll naturally just want to hate back.

But it's difficult for me to imagine being looked upon with hatred from someone I dearly love. I've been married a little over 15 years, and I've for sure irritated and upset my wife on very few occasions. And for sure I've seen anger in her face. I've heard it in her voice.

But not once has she looked at me with sheer hatred. It would kill me if I ever saw hatred on the faces of my wife, my kids, my dad, from you guys. The man Jesus had perfect union with his heavenly Father, and when he went to pray to his Father, I'm sure he spoke face to face.

Jesus was the perfect Son with whom God the Father was well pleased. Jesus has not once transgressed or sinned against his Holy Father, whom he loved perfectly, but on the cross, Jesus voluntarily takes on the sins of all humanity, and he bears the hateful wrath of holy, holy, holy God, who hates sin with every part of his being.

For the first time, that perfect and intimate fellowship between God the Father and God the Son is broken. As it has been foretold in Psalm 22, the man Jesus becomes like a despised worm in the side of his Father. I like to use the mosquito, right? He is despised.

And he hears the scoffing and reviling and the sneering of the crowd around him, but it is the rejection from his Father that alone causes him unbearable sorrow. And he breaks his silence at the ninth hour and just cries out in deep anguish, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The Passion Week, it's by far the most painful and loneliest week ever to be experienced by man, and that begins on Palm Sunday.

And it begins with what looks like celebration, and it begins with what appears to be triumph and victory and elation and great hope. It begins with praise and shouts of "Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest.

Hosanna, Hosanna." Normally, in Jesus' day, Jerusalem had a population of about 55,000 people. But during major feasts like the Passover, which Jesus celebrates this week with his disciples, the city would balloon from about 55,000 to about 180,000, as many Jews and even non-devout or devout non-Jews would be coming from out of town to offer sacrifices at the temple.

Perhaps this was the highlight of the year for most Jews. And for Jews during Passover, Jerusalem was the place to be. It was usually a busy and almost festive time, and on this particular Sunday, it would appear that Jesus, making his appearance, riding on a donkey, is a sign of awesome things to come.

And we see from John's account that Jesus had literally just raised Lazarus from the dead, and the news of this miracle was spreading rapidly amongst the people. So the most significant and painful week in all of human history starts off with what appears to be celebration, excitement, and a whole lot of promise.

But it is a week full of pain and rejection, and it starts with rejection on Palm Sunday by the Jews who should have known better. John 1, 10 to 11, let me read that again for us. "He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him.

He came to his own, and those who were his own did not receive him." When we think of Palm Sunday, we think of Jesus entering on a donkey, people laying garments and palm fronds before him and shouting, "Hosanna, Hosanna!" The word "Hosanna" comes from a combination of two Hebrew words, "Yashah," which means to deliver or save, and "Anah," which means to beg or beseech.

"Yashah-nah" means, "Oh Lord, save, give us success, we beg." So this Hebrew phrase is found only once in the entire Old Testament, and it comes from Psalm 118, verse 25, which reads, "Oh Lord, do save, we beseech you. Oh Lord, we beseech you, do send prosperity." So there's much hope.

Perhaps success and salvation and restoration for the nation of Israel was near, and that's how Palm Sunday begins. But things go sour really fast. In fact, things get rough almost immediately. So all too often when we think of Palm Sunday, we don't think about what happens after the triumphal entry, but almost immediately there are challenges that come from the Pharisees in the crowd.

And we read that on Palm Sunday that Jesus is very troubled and anguished in his soul, and as he begins to foretell his death, on Palm Sunday he weeps as he approaches the inner part of the city. He weeps, perhaps, while still riding on the donkey. Luke 19, 41-42, 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." So for the remainder of this morning and our time together, I'm going to walk you through the events of the Palm Sunday.

And in the process, I'd like for us to mull over together two questions. The first one, how in the world did the Jews, especially the Jewish leaders, not receive him? How did they fail to welcome their king, their savior, who had been promised from old? They were experts in the scriptures.

Every Jew was well-practiced in the observance of all the feasts and festivals. They're familiar with them as we are with Christmas. They grew up with it. And all these feasts and festivals pointed to Christ. They were familiar with the prophecies of their coming king, and yet they rejected him and made a mockery of him.

Why did the Jews, especially the Jewish leaders, fail to receive their long-awaited Messiah? The second question I'd like for us to mull over is this. I'd like for us to critically examine our own hearts. Have we ourselves truly received and believed on the promised Messiah, the true light, which has come into the world?

Can we be counted among those who, like it says in John 1:13, "We're born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God"? Because like some of the folks in the crowd, we too can get caught up in the hype, cry out with our mouths, "Hosanna!

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!" And then by means of whatever disappointment, disenchantment, discouragement that gets thrown our way, we turn around and cry out, "Crucify him! Crucify him! I don't want this kind of God! Get him out of my life! He is not my king!" This week, the Passion Week, there's a lot of lip service offered by those, it turns out, who never received him.

And on Sundays, in pews of churches all over the world, there's a lot of lip service. And I'm sure by many who have not received him. So I'd like for us to mull over these questions as we read through Luke's account of Palm Sunday. So I'm going to be walking you through Luke 19 especially, verses 29-44.

So I'm going to encourage you to keep your Bibles open and just track along. And let's take a read through the details of Palm Sunday together according to Luke. Verse 29, "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 colt tied 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?' And they said, 'The Lord has need of it.'" Now, many of the details of the attaining of this colt, we do not know. We do not know who the colt owners are. We do not know their relationship to Jesus or if there had been some previous arrangement that had been made.

We do not know if the owners would understand that "the Lord" meant Jesus of Nazareth. And what we do see here, it's almost comical. The disciples enter this unfamiliar neighborhood. This is not their street. It's not their hood. But they go in. They see the colt tied up. They don't know the owners.

But, following Jesus' instructions, they begin to untie the colt. And the unnamed owners come out and ask, "Why are you untying the colt?" And they simply respond, "The Lord has need of it." This is akin to me having a brand new truck with zero miles parked outside my house.

Then discovering two random strangers, whom I have never met, jimmying the car open. I confront them, "Why are you breaking into my truck?" And these two strangers calmly respond, "The Lord has need of it." And I say, "Okay. No questions asked." How bizarre. If you look at Matthew's account, there are both a colt and a donkey.

If I was preaching out of Matthew's account this morning, these two strangers would be walking a brand new truck and a brand new four-door sedan to the Lord. Why? Because the Lord has need of them, it says in Matthew. So the details of why the owners quickly obliged are not given in any of the four accounts.

But what we do know in Scripture is that an unbroken, never-before-ridden, beast of burden, like this colt or this donkey, is very significant. An unbroken beast of burden, an unblemished heifer, as NASB calls it, was regarded as sacred, as holy, as set apart. So it was prepared for such a task from its birth.

It was being prepared for something special. Numbers 19.2, this is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel. They bring you an unblemished red heifer in which is no defect, on which a yoke has never been placed." So unbroken beasts of burden were set apart as sacred and holy.

They were set apart their entire lives, and they're not cheap. They're set apart to be either slaughtered in sacrifice or to be presented as a gift for a king. The Mishnah is a collection of Jewish oral traditions, and according to the Mishnah, a king would receive this kind of unbroken and unblemished horse.

It was sacred. It was set apart. It was holy. And for the rest of that mule or donkey, colt, or horse's life, no one else is allowed to ride on it except the next king. 1 Kings 1, we see a very old and a very weakened King David having to deal with family feuding in his house.

There's confusion as to who's going to take over as a king. So David weakly gets up, places Solomon on his horse, or donkey. It's actually a donkey. He places him on his donkey to clear up any confusion for the people which of his sons would replace him as king.

So we don't know why the owners of this colt set that particular colt apart, but the fact that it had never been ridden on would immediately communicate to everyone that this animal was being prepared for something special. If you see me buy a car and it never moves, I never drive it, you would think that odd until I tell you it's a gift for a very special person.

And then you'd be like, "Oh, okay." That's what would happen. It was sacred, it was holy. This was a colt perhaps fit for a king. So where are these two strangers taking this special colt? Notice that the disciples are not told to ride it back. They walk it back.

And they walk it to Jesus. And I'm sure this whole exchange did not go unnoticed. It probably drew a crowd. I've traveled through many, many local neighborhoods, slums, villages, and communities in various parts of the world. For six years while I was in Korea, I was abroad 100 days of those years, and usually in some small, random, hidden-away community.

And it's been my experience that in those neighborhoods, slums, villages, and communities, especially in the more rural settings, I expect to draw a crowd as I walk through the neighborhood. People are curious when they see a crowd. And when people get curious, they follow and they often stare. And the crowd of curious people will start to grow.

I can easily imagine the people saying to one another as they're seeing this colt being walked away, "Wait, where are they taking that colt? That colt is being taken to--wait, who? Jesus? Didn't he just raise Martha and Mary's brother from the dead? This man, Jesus of Nazareth, is going to ride on this sacred colt?

No way! Whoa! Could he be the king?" Cultural and Jewish common sense would immediately inform everyone in that neighborhood that this was a very special, perhaps even a kingly moment. So Luke 19, 35 to 36, they brought it to Jesus, and they threw their colts on the colt and put Jesus on it.

As he was going, they were spreading their colts on the road. There are many commoners in this crowd. There are many believers and Jesus followers in this crowd. There are many looky-loos in the crowd. And the gospel accounts also tell us that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were also in this crowd.

And the Pharisees knew their Bibles. So these learned folks who were very literate of what was written in Moses and the prophets may have even understood the significance and symbolism of all this. You see, these sorts of things had been prophesied in both Moses, the law, and the prophets.

The nation of Israel consisted of 12 tribes, each tribe named after one of Jacob's sons. Before Jacob dies, he blesses/curses a few, but he blesses his sons, and Moses recounts all of these blessings in Genesis 49. And the descendants of each of the 12 tribes likely knew their tribal blessing.

They likely had it memorized. And these blessings and even curses were likely passed down from generation to generation. And the prophetic blessing given to Judah, the fourth son, is the longest and most remarkable. Rulers would come from the tribe of Judah. The Messiah, the Christ of God, would come from the tribe of Judah.

Genesis 49, 8-11, "Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's son shall bow down to you. Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who dares rouse him up?

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. He ties his foal to the vine, and his donkey's colt to the choiced vine. He washes his garments in wine, and his robes in the blood of grapes." And again, in one of the darker but still very hopeful periods of Jewish history, the prophet Zechariah reminded the chosen people that God was still faithful to his covenant.

He had not abandoned them. He had not forgotten or forsaken them, even though they no longer had a physical king to lead them, even though their temple had been wiped out, even though for 70 years they were exiled in Babylon. God still cared. And God would one day send the king to lead them and to restore everything.

Yahweh God would be faithful to the house of Judah, Zechariah 9. So Zechariah 9 reads, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you. He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey." So these two prophecies from Moses, one from the prophet Zechariah, would be fulfilled on Palm Sunday.

And I do not think that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were unaware of these prophecies. They just chose not to accept Jesus of Nazareth as the coming king. They had too much to lose. Even though all the facts pointed to Jesus being the Messiah, their foolish hearts were darkened, they suppressed the truth, and they chose to reject the Messiah of God.

After all, he had spoken so negatively about their way of life, about their outward religiosity. There was no way that man could be that king. So they had to reject him. Jesus was no Messiah. Jesus is no king. All he is is trouble. It's been my experience that people don't reject God because evidence or facts are lacking.

They reject God because they don't want God as Lord over their lives. And because they don't want God as Lord over their lives, they will go as far as reinterpreting the facts and the evidence, or even changing the facts and the evidence. Do you know how difficult it is to reason with someone who is in love with their sins and make them repent of their ways?

Have you ever tried to turn someone from his sin that they love? There is no reasoning with them. That's humanly impossible. The Pharisees and teachers of the law had fulfilled prophecy staring at them in their faces, and they still chose not to believe or receive Christ as their Messiah.

So let's turn our attention back to Luke's narrative, verse 37. 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." And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples.

How can you let them say such things about you, mere mortal man? Rebuke your disciples." The crowd is excited. There are many disciples or followers of Jesus now lining the streets. They have seen miracles both small and big. Zacchaeus, if you look earlier at Luke, a man who had spent his entire life cheating people as a tax collector, he was infamous in that town.

He repented. And it wasn't just lip service. He offered to pay back with interest all that he cheated. So if this Jesus could impact this evil man and cause him to repent, wow, he definitely has authority, influence, and power. This is one persuasive man. That's a miracle in and of itself.

But more incredibly, everyone had heard of, and some in this crowd had seen, Jesus call Lazarus, the stinky, rotten corpse of a man, to get up, come out of the tomb. Verse 37 tells us that they began to praise God with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen.

So these people are excited, and many are caught up in the moment, and they are celebrating. It's quite apparent that they don't know exactly what they are celebrating, because in John's account, John 12, 16, even the 12 disciples have no idea actually what's going on. But everyone's excited. And the Pharisees hated this.

We read in verse 39, some of the bolder ones say to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples. Do you hear this?" And here we see conflict is brewing. Most of the Pharisees did not view Jesus of Nazareth being praised favorably. They are dumbfounded that this mere mortal man would even be okay with the crowds treating him like God.

And he does nothing but receives the worship. They are appalled, because from what they've learned, not even the angels would tolerate this. "Get up!" But this man is doing nothing. "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." And instead of rebuking his disciples, Jesus affirms that his being worshipped is actually appropriate to the moment.

This is a holy moment. This is the most important week in all of human history. The attention of all of heaven is on this moment as Jesus fulfills this messianic promise, rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. Worship isn't just appropriate, it's impossible to hold back. We read in Romans that all creation groans with eager expectation of the revelation of the Son of God.

And so I'm sure here there was some cosmic groaning. Because all of creation, except some tainted, corrupted, arrogant man, knew what was happening here. Luke 19, 40, "But Jesus answered, 'I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out.' And 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, surround you, hem you in on every side. 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.'" In other words, Jesus is saying here, you have now just totally missed this.

Though everything was happening before your very eyes, which you've devoted your lifetime to study, you just rejected the Messiah for whom you have been waiting. So the triumphal entry fulfilled prophecy, and that agitated the Pharisees. The mood grows sour very quickly, and you see Jesus' raw emotions. He weeps over the city.

And as he weeps, he forecasts great doom and destruction for those who are in Jerusalem, those whom he loves, and he alludes to the destruction of the temple. And then Jesus and his disciples return to Bethany in the events of what we call Palm Sunday come to an end.

Palm Sunday starts out with shouts of joy and ends with a foretelling of condemnation. I want to read John 1, 9 to 13 again for you. "There was a true light which coming into the world enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him.

He came to his own, and those who were his own did not receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God." The Passion Week is the most important week in human history.

It is a painful and difficult week. Jesus is tried, he suffers, he's crucified, and then he dies. And the world literally and figuratively goes dark. Then he is placed in a tomb. But then comes a crazy plot twist. He does not stay dead. He is raised to life on the third day.

Sin and death have been defeated. And now those who once were far away from God, those who had once been hostile to God, and those who had once lived in outright rebellion toward God, now could be brought near. They now have access. The veil is torn. Now they have access.

And they can now become children of God. But they had to be born again. Not of blood through a mother's womb, as it says in John 3, but born again spiritually by the will of God. So here's a question for you sitting here. Have you been born of God?

What evidence is there to show that you have been born again? In Luke's account, the Pharisees saw Jesus primarily as a teacher, a distinguished rabbi. But they see him as a threat to their way of life, a threat to their traditions, a threat to their status, a threat to their comfort, a threat to their wealth.

But they still acknowledged him and referred to him as a good teacher. In Matthew's account, the crowds do a little bit better. Matthew 21, 10 to 11, "When he had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, 'Who is this?' And the crowds were saying, 'This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth and Galilee.'" In John's account, we see that the people are drawn to Jesus because he had performed a sign.

He had raised Lazarus from the dead. He was a miracle worker. He is a man of influence. John 12, 18 to 19, "For this reason also the people went and met him because they heard that he had performed this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, 'You see that you are not doing any good.

Look, the world has gone after him. Stop that man.'" Now, it's not incorrect to see Jesus as a good teacher or a prophet of God or as a miracle worker. Absolutely, for sure, Jesus is all those things. But he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

And there is salvation in no one else because there is no other name under heaven given to man by which we must be saved. You need to believe this, that he is the only way. You cannot get to God by human effort. You cannot get to God by outward religiosity.

You cannot get to God by simply inheriting your parents' cultural Christianity. You cannot get to God by only mentally acknowledging that he is a good teacher, he is a good prophet, he is a miracle worker, that he speaks truth. You cannot get to God simply by being embarrassed by your sins or by grieving the consequence of your sins.

You know, many people are grieved more by their pain than their offense before a holy, holy, holy God. To get to God, you must believe and unite yourself with him in both his death and resurrection. You must put zero hope in this life. You must hate this life. Jesus closes with that message on Palm Sunday.

John 12, 23 to 26 comes at the end. Jesus answered them saying, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

He who loves his life loses it. He who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him." You and I, in order to have eternal life, in order to be restored to our creator, need to first be joined with Christ in his death.

You need to die before you can be raised to life. Many sitting in pews of today's churches mistakenly believe that they can use God to enjoy a good life here, to have purpose, to have meaning, to feel fulfilled, to grow up and purchase all the nice things, to marry well, to birth well, have many kids, to have all their dreams come true, and then transition into an even better life in heaven.

You must die to this life. You need to die before you can be raised to life. The Passion Week is the most important week in all of human history. It's full of rejection. It's very painful. But as I've said, we need to die before we can be raised to life.

This week, each evening at church, we will be very uncomfortably reflecting on our union with Christ in his death. It'd be nice if one day was devoted to the death and six days was devoted to, "Hallelujah, life is good." No, this is a painful road to the cross. May we spend this week well so that when we gather together next Sunday on Easter, we are overjoyed, we are elated, we are in awe as we cry out, "We are risen!

We are risen indeed!" He is risen. He is risen indeed. But because we've been united with Christ in his resurrection, because he raised to life from the dead, we are also united with him in his resurrection. We are risen indeed. And we will fully understand, or we will better understand, the cosmic significance to what we are singing when we sing, "Hallelujah, Christ is risen from the dead.

Hallelujah." And all throughout eternity, the song will be the same, "Hallelujah, Christ is risen from the dead." Palm Sunday ends with pain, ends with a command to die. And this week, may we reflect on dying well. Amen? Let's pray together. I want to give you guys an opportunity just to reflect and respond to the sermon.

Are you united with Christ in his death? What does that mean? Or are you going to reject this Messiah because it'll cost you too much? Have you accepted him as Savior only and not as Lord because that is impossible? So I encourage you to pray and respond, and then I will wrap us up in prayer.

(Prayer is sung.) (Prayer is sung.) Father, we ask for your help to better understand the events of this week and the road to the cross. Help us to steward this week well in our lives so that next Sunday, as we reflect and celebrate your resurrection, that it will be a day full of exaltation and adulation.

Lord, have your way in us. For this we pray in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Let's all stand for the closing praise. (Prayer is sung.) (Prayer is sung.) (Prayer is sung.) (Prayer is sung.) (Prayer is sung.) (Prayer is sung.) (Prayer is sung.) (Prayer is sung.) (Prayer is sung.) (Prayer is sung.) (Prayer is sung.) (Prayer is sung.) Lord Jesus, this morning we cry out, "Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest." You alone can rescue, you alone can save, and you alone can give us life in abundance.

We pray that this week you would help us walk with you, help us to grieve and hurt with you, so that we can understand your heart. You have said eternal life is to know you, and we want to start this week knowing the sufferings of Christ. We confess we have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer we who live, but Christ, you who live in us. Help us, Lord, to shine your light that is within us brightly to this dark and dying world. Now the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with each and every one of us who has united with Christ in his death, and one day we'll be united fully in his resurrection.

Amen. God sent his son. They called him Jesus. He came to love. He went for a gift. He lived and died to buy my pardon. An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lived. Because he lived, I can face tomorrow. Because he lived, all fear is gone. Because I know he holds the future, and life is worth the living just because he lived.