Jesus Is Worthy Of Praise: A Palm Sunday Message.

Jesus is worthy of praise: A Palm Sunday message.

Today in the Christian Calendar is an important day, the Sunday prior to Easter, Palm Sunday, not because of all the palm branches on the way in here or on the platform. It’s called Palm Sunday because as Jesus entered Jerusalem prior to his crucifixion there was a massive celebration of his entering as King, the people were waving palm branches for their new King, well that is who many of the people of the city hoped he would be. They hoped he would be the one who set them free from Roman oppression, they hoped he would be the one who King Herod, the King Herod who killed all those infants when Jesus was a baby was afraid he would be. Living as we do in this age, we know that Jesus was not either of these things, but he was a king, he is in fact now the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords.

The Jewish people had known that the Messiah was coming, they were aware that the prophets and I will soon read here Zechariah’s prophecy, well part of it, about the Christ’s arrival. It was known that from Abraham’s lineage would come one who would bring freedom to God’s people. In part this why we have been doing or deep dive into scripture. So, we develop an idea of Jesus, and who he is as God but also who he was forecast to be. We as Christians have this understanding why God coming into the world was necessary as a man, who was also divine. In fact, one of the persons of the Triune God we worship, the other two persons being The Father and The Holy Spirit.

So Zechariah who lived in the sixth century BC prophecies this:

Zechariah 9:9-12.

9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!

Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim

and the warhorses from Jerusalem,

and the battle bow will be broken.

He will proclaim peace to the nations.

His rule will extend from sea to sea

and from the River[a] to the ends of the earth.

11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,

I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.

12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;

even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.

So that is one of around 456 prophecies about the Messiah.

As I said earlier the Jewish people had known that the Messiah was coming, they were aware that the prophets and I’ve only mentioned here Zechariah’s prophecy well part of it about the Christ’s arrival. It was known that from Abraham’s lineage would come one who would bring freedom to God’s people.

Alfred Edershiem, a Jewish convert to Christianity and a Biblical scholar known especially for his book ‘The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah’ (1883) found 456 prophecies that related to the coming of the Messiah. Three hundred were fulfilled in Jesus’ lifetime. The mathematical probability of this occurring is 1-10 to the power of 17. Apparently if you got that many US silver dollars and spread them over the state of Texas, they would be 2 feet deep. References to the Messiah, and who and how Messiah would be, are spread throughout the Old Testament.

Here is the fulfilment of Zechariah’s prophecy as recorded by Luke, remember here that Luke’s is a record of eye-witness accounts of Jesus life, death and resurrection.

Here is Luke 19:28-40:

28 After he [Jesus] had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples,

30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it here.

31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’”

32 So those who were sent went away and found it as he had told them.

33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

34 They said, “The Lord needs it.”

35 Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.

36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.

37 As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”