Pave The Way! Series

The Road To Easter

Pt. 1 - Paving The Way

I. Introduction

It is inevitable. I don't really know if the statement they make is true or if it is made merely as result of social pressure or endorsement dollars. What I do know is that they almost always say it. After the big win someone will thrust a camera in the star player's face and scream where are you going and their response is . . . "I'm going to Disneyland." Disneyland is the final destination. The pinnacle. The goal. The crown and the capstone. I have never heard anyone stop and detail the journey they take to get to that location. However, if you have ever taken the road trip to Disneyland then you know that there are some essential and no less meaningful stops along the way . . . Cadillac Ranch, The Vegas Strip, Hoover Dam, The Grand Canyon and many others. The final destination gets all the attention and focus, but the stops along the way are really what make the trip memorable. The same is true when it comes to Easter. As a believer Easter is our focus. It garners all of our attention and in many ways rightfully so. However, just like we do regarding vacation travels, we become so locked in on that final destination that we often overlook and fail to give the proper attention to the stops along the way that were essential and consequential not only in Jesus' life and journey but in ours. I think it is crucial for us to slow down on the way to Easter and walk the road Jesus took to get there. What leads to the empty tomb? What happened on the Tuesday or Thursday before He is raised from the dead? Do you know? Does it matter? Let's walk this road together and see as we head to the Disneyland of our faith . . . Easter!

Text: Matthew 21:1-11 (MSG), Luke 19:39-40 (NIV)

When they neared Jerusalem, having arrived at Bethphage on Mount Olives, Jesus sent two disciples with these instructions: “Go over to the village across from you. You’ll find a donkey tethered there, her colt with her. Untie her and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you’re doing, say, ‘The Master needs them!’ He will send them with you.” This is the full story of what was sketched earlier by the prophet:

Tell Zion’s daughter, “Look, your king’s on his way,

poised and ready, mounted on a donkey, on a colt,

foal of a pack animal.”

The disciples went and did exactly what Jesus told them to do. They led the donkey and colt out, laid some of their clothes on them, and Jesus mounted. Nearly all the people in the crowd threw their garments down on the road, giving him a royal welcome. Others cut branches from the trees and threw them down as a welcome mat. Crowds went ahead and crowds followed, all of them calling out, “Hosanna to David’s son!” “Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!” “Hosanna in highest heaven!” As he made his entrance into Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken. Unnerved, people were asking, “What’s going on here? Who is this?” The parade crowd answered, “This is the prophet Jesus, the one from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Sunday - Triumphal Entry

On at least 3 occasions Jesus has already told the disciples about His impending death. After feeding the 5,000 - In Mark 8 . . . “The Son of Man must suffer many things; be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes; be killed; and be raised again." Again, in Mark 9, following the transfiguration Jesus says, "the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected." Then the third time in Mark 10, Jesus gets very precise when He states, "We are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”

I think it is important to know as we read about Jesus' approach to the city that He was aware of what was about to happen. In fact, in the coming days in the Garden, Jesus would even request that His Father, if possible, find another way. The coming pain, brutality, beating, stripping, spitting, agony of nailed hands, feet and separation from His Father were not a surprise to Jesus. The pressure and stress of all of this is on His mind as He enters the path down the steep slope of the Mount of Olives to approach Jerusalem as the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. He takes this path so that He will enter Jerusalem through the Sheep Gate where the lambs used for the sacrifice of atonement were driven from Bethlehem where they were raised and prepared (do you see what He did there?) to become the ultimate and final sacrifice for man. It is necessary to know that He knew what was coming to understand the implications of this Sunday that we call Palm Sunday on the Road to Easter.