Love Came To Town

24, March 2002

Dakota Community Church

Love Came To Town

Introduction:

It’s Palm Sunday.

- What does the day mean to you if anything?

- Just one more week to chocolate heaven?

- The day we get the leaf at church?

- Actually it is the day of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

- Image what it must have been like on that day almost 2000 years ago.

- This week I want you to think about and read about the events that were unfolding.(Over come the numbing effect of religion)

- In your notes lets read:

Matthew 21:1-11

1As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethpage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."

4This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

5"Say to the Daughter of Zion,

’See, your king comes to you,

gentle and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ "[1]

6The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

"Hosanna[2] to the Son of David!"

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"[3]

"Hosanna[4] in the highest!"

10When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?"

11The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

Luke 19:39-40

39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"

40"I tell you," he replied, "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

John 12:19

19So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!"

- Jesus could have set up His Kingdom right then and there

- But that would have been a temporary Kingdom

- He refused their crown and a week later was run out of town by the same crowd now shouting “Crucify”

Mark 15:25-32

25It was the third hour when they crucified him. 26The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. 27They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left.[1] 29Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30come down from the cross and save yourself!"

31In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. "He saved others," they said, "but he can’t save himself! 32Let this Christ,[2] this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

- Scientists tells us that self-preservation is a very basic instinct, that whenever we encounter danger, we automatically seek to protect ourselves.

- ILL. If we stumble we put our hands out to break the fall. If we’re riding in an automobile, & suddenly it appears that we’re going to crash, we automatically brace ourselves. And even though experts say that is not the wisest thing to do, we automatically do it because self-preservation is a basic instinct in man.

- So it is quite natural for the enemies of Jesus to stand beneath the cross of our Lord & reason logically that Jesus would want to save His own life.

- They reasoned this way: "If He really is the Son of God, then He has the power to come down from the cross. And if He has the power to come down from the cross, then He will come down because that’s the natural thing to do."

- Therefore, when Jesus did not come down from the cross, they assumed that He did not have the power, & therefore He was not the Son of God. Their conclusion was this: "He saved others, but Himself He cannot save!" That was their conclusion, a logical conclusion, but a false conclusion.

You see: Jesus could have saved Himself.

1. He could have saved Himself by not going to Jerusalem.

- He could have stayed in Galilee. His ministry had gone well there.

- In Galilee He had preached the Sermon on the Mount & thousands of people had come to listen.