Written in Blood
Matthew 27:11-26, Hebrews 9:27-28
April 13, 2014
Palm Sunday Message
Morning Service
The following message was preached in phases or stages during the worship service. The praise team prepared appropriate music for each point and provided various thematic elements during the sermon.
All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name plays prior to this point
The Entry
When Jesus enters Jerusalem, it was a city without hope. The Roman government was forcing a heavy oppression on the Jewish people. There was substantial taxation, made worse by crooked tax collectors. The Romans leveled significant restrictions on Jerusalem and the general population that created mass poverty. There were daily crucifixions for various crimes and political reasons.
The people of Jerusalem were searching for hope. They were waiting for a person to lead them out of despair. They were waiting on the Messiah, the Promised One, the Son of David to deliver Israel from the hand of Roman oppression. By all signs, they were waiting for Jesus.
The day of Passover was approaching. Passover was the day of God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt. The people of Jerusalem were filled with the hope that they too would be delivered. There was hope in the hearts of the people that they would soon be free. The people would be free from poverty, they would be free from tyranny and they would be free from pagan influence. This was their hope and it was also their expectation.
As Jesus rides into Jerusalem, it was to a hero’s welcome. It is to immense amounts of praise. It is to a people whose hope has arrived. It is to a place that was about to change. The crowds began to wave palm branches and lay them down as He passed by. This was the sign of a king’s welcome and a hero’s reception.
The shouts filled the air: Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Note:
Palm Branches were distributed to the congregation. The praise team began to wave their branches on cue for the congregation to do the same.
The crowds went wild as Jesus enters Jerusalem because they were filled with hope once again. The expectations of the crowds were at an all-time high. They expected that Jesus had come to set them free politically, to set them free from oppression and to begin a new era of unimagined prosperity. The cheering was overwhelming and intense as Jesus and the disciples made their way through the gates of Jerusalem.
The cries of the crowd are significant. Not only were they proclaiming that Jesus was the Messiah but they were also claiming Him as savior. Hosanna means save us now. The city without hope saw their hope personified in Jesus. These people saw Jesus coming as the start of a new beginning.
During the entry into Jerusalem, Jesus received the praise He rightfully deserved. For one brief moment, Jesus was welcomed praise and celebration. These crowds welcomed Jesus with enthusiasm, excitement and honor. The result was an incredible experience of praise rising to heaven.
Lead Me to the Cross plays prior to this point
Note: The praise team began to wave their palm branches again here on my cue
The Cheering stops
It is ironic that the people waved palm branches before Jesus. They saw Him as a liberator, a savior. The cries of the people shouting Hosanna were in essence crying out long live the king. The enthusiastic greeting of Jesus would quickly come to an end.
The actions of the crowds would soon come to end and the cheering would stop.
The cheering would soon stop. Why did the people stop cheering? Why did their perspective change? The expectations of the people were not met. Jesus did not do what the people wanted or expected for Him to do. The people believed that their hopes were dashed again and so the cheering stopped.
Jesus never raised an army. Jesus did not create an uprising. Jesus did not overthrow the Romans and drive them from Israel. He never did what the people expected. In fact, He did what they least expected.
Jesus drove the moneychangers and the merchants from the Temple courts. He told the people to pay tribute to Caesar. Jesus taught that giving out of poverty was worth far more than giving out of abundance. He taught that to great, you must first be willing to be a servant. Jesus did everything the people did not want and so the cheering stopped.
The attitude of the crowds moved from long live the king to something radically different. Remember the Triumphal Entry happened on Sunday. Jesus clears the temple on Monday. He confronts the chief priests and teachers of the Law on Tuesday. Jesus tells the people to pay taxes to Caesar and confronts the Sadducees on Wednesday. On Thursday, Jesus confronts the Pharisees and Judas begins to put the plan to betray Jesus into motion.
Fast forward from Sunday afternoon to Thursday evening following the Last Supper. Jesus is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane and taken away for trial. He appears before select members of the Sanhedrin and is then held for the night. Friday morning Jesus appears before Pilate.
11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. 12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked him, "Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?" 14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge--to the great amazement of the governor. 15 Now it was the governor's custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" 18 For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. 19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him." 20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. 21 "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered. 22 "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify him!" 23 "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!" 24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" 25 All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" 26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. Matthew 27:11-26
Note: Members of the congregation and the praise team were given instructions to begin shouting crucify Him with the pastor. The praise team added a drum beat with thr shouting for additional emphasis.
The crowds no longer shout Hosanna. They no longer cry long live the king. The crowds instead start shouting crucify Him, crucify Him. Pilate gives in to their demands and sends Jesus to the cross.
Note: I broke my palm branch after the last line here and I threw it on the ground.
O the Blood by Kari Jobe plays prior to this point
The Blood
The sight of blood is something that most people tend to avoid. Blood is unpleasant to see and we try to remove it from our mind. Blood often disgusts us. Blood is seen as distasteful. However, we cannot forget that blood is essential for life.
27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Hebrews 9:27-28
In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Hebrews 9:22
Old Testament Law required the shedding of blood to cover sin. Day after day, priests would make sacrifices for the covering of sin. Why did they make so many sacrifices? Sin always leads to death and the Law bound people to need sacrifices. The death of animals was symbolic of the death that comes through sin. Jesus came to sacrifice Himself for the forgiveness of sin. Jesus came to die the death we deserved. He came to set us free from the Law.
Jesus died because there was no other way to save us. There was no other way to provide our need. He hung on the cross because of our sin. He died because we deserved to.
Jesus shed His blood to pay the price for the sins that we committed and effectively bought our redemption with His own blood.
The term redemption meant to buy back at a costly price for the purpose of freedom. Often this applied to the payment of a ransom. Jesus literally bought us back from the power of sin and death that would have destroyed us. Jesus bought us back with the shedding of the divine blood that coursed through His veins. Jesus bought us back from the power Satan had over us. Jesus bought us back so we could be free.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace Ephesians 1:7
Jesus has given to us a precious and marvelous gift that we may never fully be able to understand. He has offered us life by the means of His death. Jesus gave Himself to buy you back from the darkness of sin and death.
The cross is God’s love letter to humanity written in the blood of Jesus. The truth is simple; Jesus loved us more than life itself. Jesus loved us above everything. One of the traditional names for the Messiah was the Rose of Sharon. Jesus came to earth as God’s perfect rose and allowed Himself to be trampled on the ground of death to give Himself for us. He took our fall and died the death that was ours. Jesus thought of you and I above everything in all creation.
Message closes with Above All
