Today is Palm Sunday – it is a day we remember that Jesus came into Jerusalem
Matthew 21:1-11New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
21 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying 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. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”[a]
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna[b] to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”[c]
“Hosanna[d] in the highest heaven!”
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
2 Corinthians chapter 13 verse Examine Yourselves
…4For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you. 5Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test? 6But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.…
What season are you in.
Every life has it’s seasons – I spoke to a child and he said basically I am only a child and he was – I spoke to a youth and he said I am young I need to enjoy life – I spoke to a young parent and he said I have responsibilities now – I spoke to a man in his fifties and he said it is time to slow down I spoke to an old man and he said I have had a great life.
E very life has it’s seasons and it is important to understand what season you are in and to live your life according to what God has planned for this season of your life.
Jesus had had an incredible journey.
He was born in dramatic circumstances surrounded by heavenly testimonies and worldly violence lived in a remote and often scorned village - grew up in anonymity a carpenters son and apprentice at thirty years of age he struck out in dramatic and prophetic fashion – he walked and preached and God worked miracles through him He shook a nation the world trembled and the evil forces of the day rallied against him – Up to the point of palm Sunday everyone had heard of him and every one had reacted – some in adoration and worship and others in fear and tyranny. Poised on the edge of the pool of suffering Jesus takes a breath and dives in knowing that life as he has known it will never be quite the same again.
Jesus was facing change.
You face change too every day but there are seasonal changes and you need to know we all need to know when they happen and how to respond.
Because the Palm procession is the doorway to that change we do well to examine our own lives in light of what Jesus does here because we too cqn learn how to adapt to change gears to shift up or down to the next stage that Jesus has called us too.
If you have got the new heart that God has planned for you then you are going to want to examine yourself – that examination inevitably will lead you to the cross.
Lets explore how Jesus transitions from being the wanderin – nomadic leader and teacher, preacher and prophet, King in waiting to the era when he sill be the saviour of the world.
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
21 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying 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. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”[a]
When Jesus does this dramatic move a whole lot of things are happening at once. It will take more words to explain them than to read what actually happened.
Jesus transitions and is about to ride his donkey into Jerusalem as a King.
This places spiritual fulfilment in direct conflict with the current powerbases in Jerusalem.
On one side was the puppet king herod and his string of minions and Pilot backed by the unbendable steel fisted roman occupying forces. On the other side was God himself who through the Prophets hundreds of years before had predicted
5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’a
Jesus could recognise from the scriptures his destiny – He understood God’s purpose for his life and he does not hesitate to act on it.
There it is the number one key to knowing how to transition.
Know God’s will – Know who you are in Christ – and follow God’s leading.
When you do you set in course a set of domino’s that will fulfil God’s destiny for your life.
Jesus knows that this is his time to suffer for the sin of the world but he also knows Jerusalem – God’s people the Jews need to choose. So he places the choice before them.
Just like God did centuries before through Balaam God lets a
donkey speak. Jesus comes into Jerusalem on an animal of peace. If a King entered a city on a horse it was war. If he came on a donkey he came in peace.
On this day God came in peace in the person of his son Jesus Christ. The choice to receive him or not belonged to Jerusalem.
Know God’s will – Know who you are in Christ – and follow God’s leading.
When it comes to knowing God’s call it has already been given to you read Matthew 28 verse 19 – you are to be a disciple maker in some way the only question is which season are you in and when does your role change.
As John Piper puts it, “There are three kinds of Christians when it comes to world missions: zealous goers, zealous senders, and the disobedient.”), Wesley sailed to Georgia to pastor. His experience proved to be a failure. A woman he courted in Savannah married another man. When he tried to enforce the disciplines of the "holy club" on his church, the congregation rebelled. A bitter Wesley returned to England.
On May 24, 1738, he had an experience that changed everything. He described the event in his journal:
"In the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."
The moral and spiritual fervor of the meetings is expressed in one of Wesley's most famous aphorisms: "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."
. Wesley, in fact, never slowed down, during his ministry he traveled over 4,000 miles annually, preaching some 40,000 sermons in his lifetime.
The second thing that happened is that Jesus celebrated the change and in so doing burnt the bridges on his old way of life.
In the world we do this sort of thing all the time. I remember being in a company once where one of our technicians Mr Schroeder retired as a technician after 65 years service – we had a office party at the Kelvin hotel in Invercargill and there was a great celebration to mark Charlies transition from employment to retired.
We do the same thing when people get married there is a great celebration because there can be no going back – life will never be the same and we do the same thing at many different stages of life.
The important thing here is to identify and to mark our changes. It is to mark the change that God is calling us to make so that our lives count for something.
We see this when Elisha burns his plow and kills his oxen marking the end of his farming career
1 Kings 19:21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. Heburned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people,
o To be willing to make the changes seems to be the thing CT STudd founder of WEC once said "Only one life, 'twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last."
A couple of facts about Studd are interesting as we observe the changes he made in his life:- By the time Studd was sixteen he had become an expert cricket player and at nineteen was captain of his team at Eton College. He played for England in the 1882 match won by Australia which was the origins of the Ashes.
Studd was saved in 1878 at the age of 18. After six years in a backslidden state, but was restored to faith when he went to hear the American evangelist DL Moody.
Studd decided to go to China as a missionary (1885). Once there, he followed the early practice of the Mission by living and dressing in Chinese fashion. At 25 he gave away an inheritance he had received from his father's estate. He and his wife served in China until 1894.
Two very important transitions here – in Studds life transition from Sports hero to missionary – transition from privileged wealthy man to humble missionary – major transitions that produced much fruit.
Jesus of course is the major influence for this. When he enters Jerusalem he
Once said "Some wish to live within the sound of Church or Chapel bell; I want to run a Rescue Shop within a yard of hell."�CT Studd
In Jesus case the transition was complete by the definite change of direction like all great direction changes it is maked by irreversible changes When he told the disciples to get the donkey, Jesus referred to himself as 'The Lord,' a definite proclamation of his divinity.
• By riding into Jerusalem on a the colt of a donkey, Jesus fulfilled an ancient prophecy in Zechariah 9:9: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." (ESV) This was the only instance in the Gospels in which Jesus rode an animal.
• Throwing cloaks in the path of someone was an act of homage and submission. The people were recognizing Jesus as the promised Messiah. Now it was out there undeniable in public Jesus was the one who had come to be the saviour.
• The people's cries of 'Hosanna' came from Psalm 118:25-26. Hosanna means "save now." Despite what Jesus had foretold about his mission, the people were looking for a military Messiah who would overthrow the Romans and restore Israel's independence. Jesus entering the doorway to Jerusalem meant that he was riding into a well prepared trap one he was willing to enter tu fulfil god’s call on his life.
Question for Reflection About the Palm Sunday Story:
The crowds refused to see Jesus as he truly was, placing their personal desires on him instead. Who is Jesus for you? Is he someone whom you want to satisfy your selfish wants and goals, or is he Lord and Master who gave up his life to save you from your sins? Does Jesus’ transition inspire you enough to move to the next stage that God is calling you to enter in your own life?
(Some Sources: The New Compact Bible Dictionary, edited by T. Alton Bryant; New Bible Commentary, edited by G.J. Wenham, J.A. Motyer, D.A. Carson, and R.T. France; and the ESV Study Bible, Crossway Bibles. Additions by me.)
Thirdly and finally.
Transitions will inevitably produce reactions!!! 10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
When Jesus obeyed God then it raised serious questions about who he was. People were surprised by what had happened and the Holy spirit was stirring up the people coming into Jerusalem for the Passover into doing something incredibly strange to their eyes.
The question on their lips then is Who is this?
Today all of the world is defined by the answer to that question – who is Jesus Christ?
When you answer that question with your own life it will inevitably produce reactions.
1. THE WELSH REVIVAL OF 1904-05 - Oliver W. Price
2. TRUE REVIVAL (Wales) - P. Fredrick Fogle
3. THE POWER OF EVANGELISM IN THE WELSH REVIVAL - Dr. Alvin L. Reid
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1. THE WELSH REVIVAL OF 1904-05 - Oliver W. Price
During the spring of 1904 a young Welshman named Evan Roberts was repeatedly awakened at 1:00 a.m. He met with God until 5:00 a.m. The Welsh revival followed. Churches were packed for prayer meetings. In a prayer meeting for young people, Pastor Joseph Jenkins asked for testimonies. A young girl named Florrie Evans, who had only been a believer a few days, rose and with a trembling voice said simply, "I love Jesus with all my heart." The other young people's hearts were melted. A powerful spiritual awakening that brought 100,000 people to Christ was under way.
On November 7th, 1904 Moraih Chapel was filled to capacity for a prayer meeting that lasted until 3:00 a.m. Soul winning spread through the coalmines. Profane swearing stopped. Even the miners' horses were puzzled when their masters stopped cursing. Orders to the Bible Society "for Scriptures from Wales during November and December, were over three times the amount for the corresponding months of 1903..." The Times said this resulted from the Welsh revival, adding that this demand showed no sign of falling off.
"The mighty and unseen breath of the Spirit was doing in a month more than centuries of legislation could accomplish" the pastor of Saint John's-Wood Presbyterian Church declared on Sunday, January 1st, 1905 according to the London Times.The Welsh revival "had a great effect" in healing spiritual carelessness among Christians and "the growing bitterness which has accentuated our unhappy divisions", the Bishop of Bangor declared on January 2nd, 1905. He called "congregations to meet together often for united prayer."
The Times added that "the religious revival in Wales continues...with unabated zeal." Huge crowds were attending the meetings. Bible verses covered the doors down in the coalmines. "At Swansea the Poor Law guardians...dealt with revival cases in which people...have taken their parents from the workhouse. The Welsh revival movement has shown no sign of flagging...", The Times pointed out on January 10th. Entire congregations were on their knees in fervent prayer and "for the first time there was not a single case of drunkenness at the Swansea Petty Sessions."
On January 11th The Times noted that David Lloyd-George, who later became the British Prime Minister, said the Welsh revival gave hope "that at the next election Wales would declare with no uncertain sound against the corruption in high places which handed over the destiny of the people to the horrible brewing interest..." Lloyd-George even saw one of his political rallies taken over by the Welsh revival. He was impressed as a young girl prayed in the presence of 2,000 people. He said in one town the tavern sold only 9 cents worth of liquor drinks on Saturday night!
Why did all this happen because one Welshman called Evan Roberts chose to walk through the door that God had called him to walk through.
Will you walk through the door that God is placing before you.
Are you prepared to transition to the next stage of your life.?
If you are then these three stages may well be key for you
Know God’s will – Know who you are in Christ – and follow God’s leading.
identify and to mark our changes. Burn our bridges if you like!
Thirdly understand that The important thing here is to identify and to mark our changes. It is to mark the change that God is calling us to make so that our lives count for something.
