Echoes of Praise!
I. INTRODUCTION:
Thinkers and philosophers have always speculated about what the world is made of. It has been the stuff of discussions since the Greeks postulated that all that we can see is made of earth, air, fire, and water, and even those things in the material world which seem to us imperfect may be copies of a higher reality somewhere hidden.
How does everything work together as a whole and how can anything be individual? With the advent of modern science has come the ever increasing ability to look into the microcosm and realize that everything is made of atoms, which are made of protons, neutrons, and electrons. The universe keeps getting smaller and infinitely more complex the further we look and speculate. There are quarks and neutrinos and on into the dizzying quantum world.
One of the latest and most controversial theories that physicists have espoused is what has been labeled "Super String Theory." It says basically that inside all of the empty space at the smallest particulate level of the world that we know are vibrating strings of energy. What holds everything together is vibration or sound. What gives everything its individuality is vibration or sound.
The writer of Genesis paints the portrait of the start of the universe as a massive bang of energy as God said, "Let there be light!" (Gen. 1:1-3). The Psalmists sings, "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth" (Psalm 33:6 KJV). The writer of Hebrews said that Christ both created and upholds all things by the mighty Word of His Power (Heb. 1:1-3). The creative vibrations of God's Voice continue to work around us as the universe expands!
Sound is such a such powerful thing. Our voices produce sound. Our words have the power of life and death (Prov. 18:21).
Today we remember the sound of the praises of the crowd of Jesus' followers that ushered Him into Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday.
Luke 19:28-40 (ESV)
28 And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works 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!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
The events of the first Palm Sunday were so significant that Jesus said that if there was no human voice to draw attention to them that the very fabric of the universe would have begun to cry out as it vibrated in it's being.
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week. Throughout this week we will follow Jesus on His journey towards the cross, His death, burial, descent to the dead, and next Sunday we will celebrate His resurrection.
Holy Week begins and ends with bookends of celebration. We celebrate this morning remembering Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Next Sunday we will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead in hope of our own resurrection and transformation. This morning we can hear the echoes of His first century followers shouting His praises, and we join them in chorus. We go up with Jesus and His disciples to Jerusalem.
We are invited to participate, to echo the praises of our God, to allow ourselves to resonate with the purpose for which we were made.
II. PREACHING THE TEXT:
Luke 19:28 (ESV)
"And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem."
This is a turning point in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus is heading into the final week of His earthly ministry. Although He has been talking about it Luke since 9:31 (cf. 9:51; 13:31-35; 18:31-34) this text begins a focus on a single week of Jesus' life.
It will be played out in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is significant because it is the place where Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, where David built his capital, where Solomon built the temple of the LORD. Jerusalem was the place where God focused the story of His dealings with humanity. And so Jesus heads there...
Luke 19:29 (ESV)
"When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet..."
Along the journey Jesus drew near to two small villages. They are at the foot of the Mount of Olives. It was one of these villages, Bethany, where He would withdraw in the evenings of Holy Week after spending His days teaching in the temple. His friends were there; Mary, and Martha, and Lazarus. Mary was a worshipper. Martha was a worker. Lazarus was a witness. They were the "www." before the advent of the internet. Oh, Lord let Springs of Life Church be a place where you would rest each evening if you were here in the flesh!
Jesus stood at Mount Olivet. This mountain is jam-packed with prophetic significance.
It is a sacred space to Muslims, Jews, and Christians today. All three groups see this mountain as a place from which eschatological events will culminate. A few years ago at an interfaith retreat I was able to sit with a young Muslim clerical student who has since become a friend. He explained the eschatology of one particular branch of Islam and their thoughts on the return of Jesus.
The Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives is the oldest cemetery in the world and is still in use today. Many of those Jews who believe that the Messiah is an individual believe that it is to the Mount of Olives that he will come and this is where the resurrection will begin. Those buried there are buried with their feet facing Jerusalem so that when the resurrection they can arise and walk straight to the newly built temple.
The Mount of Olives had been Jerusalem's border since the time of king David. The ancient Israelite prophet Zechariah wrote:
Zechariah 14:3-5 (ESV)
"Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him."
Jesus knew as He stood there that a moment of destiny was upon Him, the Jewish nation, their Roman occupiers and the world.
He also know that He was not coming in the way that His Jewish brothers thought that Messiah would come. They anticipated a Warrior King who would vanquish their enemies. Perhaps Messiah would come riding on a fiery chariot or a powerful steed. Instead...
"...He sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners (lords) said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.”
For the rest of the Gospel of Luke Jesus is never surprised. He intentionally takes each and every step that he takes. He knows exactly what He is doing. He sends the two disciples into a village to look for a colt that He will ride into Jerusalem as a symbol of Who He is.
He tells them what they will find in the village and what to say as they untie the colt. There are seasons in our lives when we live by the general instructions of the Lord. We follow the principles of Scripture and the leading of the Spirit. But, there are other moments when God gives us more specific instructions. For these disciples this is such a moment. Jesus with prophetic insight as a Man or powerful omniscience as God sends the disciples on an errand and like Samuel's words to Saul tells them exactly what will be. These are moments that build our faith.
There is significance in the answer they were to give to anyone who would ask them why they were unloosing the colt. They were to answer, "The Lord has need of it." It happens just as He predicted. It happens to be the owners of the colt. The Greek word here for "owners" is kuroi (lords). Jesus is saying, "tell the lords of the colt that The LORD has need of it."
Jesus is the Lord. He is the embodiment of YHWH, the One God of Israel (Col 2:9). He is God in a perfect Human existence, the fully Human fully Divine Lord, the Son of God, the Visible Image of the Invisible Father, the Eternal Word, the One Who holds it all together. Jesus tells His disciples that their explanation to those who would ask why they were loosing the colt was simply, "The Lord has need of it." His Word and the declaration of Who He was was enough for His hearers to let go of what they held. His Word was with power. He spoke and the waves were stilled. He spoke and demons were driven out. He spoke and the sick were healed. He spoke and the lost were saved. All of creation that He encountered resonated with the reality of Who He was! The vibrations of His Voice, the Voice of the Creator, changed everything that heard!
The basic Christian declaration is "Jesus is Lord." When we are baptized in Jesus' Name we are declaring that He is Lord, LORD of all creation and therefore Lord of our lives.
The Lord has need of it...
Jesus knew that He was about to fulfill an ever-intensifying accumulation of ancient prophecies...
Luke 19:35-36 (ESV)
"And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road."
Jesus lived His Life intentionally fulfilling prophecy. He was consistently at the right place, at the right time, doing the right things to fulfill the prophetic portrait that the Spirit had painted of Him through the colorful words and actions of the OT prophets.
The Christian canon of Sacred Scripture is made up of 66 distinct pieces of literature bound together in one book written, compiled, and edited under the superintendence of the Holy Spirit. Even today God, through His Spirit, is at work preserving and moving on the minds and hearts of Bible translators so that all people everywhere can have the written word in their own language so that they might come to know the Living Word.
"For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pet 1:21 ESV).
"All Scripture is breathed out by God" (2 Tim 3:16 ESV).
As the writers of Scripture wrote their words they were also immersed in the words of those who had written before them and so they are influenced by the works of prior prophets. Sometimes they quote one another. At other times they allude to one another. And other times they just seem to echo one another. The Scriptures are a unified whole.
There is a prophecy about Jesus that was written by Zechariah which reads, "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" (Zech. 9:9 ESV).
The Gospels of Matthew and Mark directly quote this verse to explain why Jesus orchestrates His triumphal entry into Jerusalem this way. Luke does not quote or allude to it. He just lets Jesus's actions echo Zechariah's prophecy without an explanation.
It was normative for a Davidic king to come riding into Jerusalem at his coronation from the time of Solomon (1 Kings 1:32-40). The placing of garments under a royal personage was a sign of honor (2 Kings 9:13).
It also echoes the literary accounts of triumphal entries of Alexander and the Maccabees among others. This was the way kings arrived after their victories. They did not claim to be kings, it was assumed. Jesus was not asserting His Kingship. It had already been heralded in the Story Luke tells (1:32-35).
There are vibrations, sounds, echoes upholding everything Jesus does in this pivotal moment.
Jesus was a descendent of one of Israel's founding fathers, a son of Jacob named Judah.
Judah received his name when his mother, Leah, decided that she would stop trying to find fulfilment and self-worth in others and decided to "praise the LORD" (Gen. 29:31). Judah means praise. Praise is something that has a sound attached to it! Praise is something that we do with our mouths! There comes a place in each of our lives where we have to decide to praise God no matter what others do.
Before Jacob died, as was customary, he brought his sons together to bless them. The blessing was a prophetic word about what would come about in the children's lives. He makes a strange prediction about Judah. He says:
"He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes" (Genesis 49:11 NIV).
This is an echo resounding through the Bible and finding its fulfilment as Jesus the ultimate descendent of Judah rides into Jerusalem on a colt. Jesus is the Vine and the Branch (John 15:5; Zech. 3:8). In contrast to Judah who is seen as so rich and opulent that he uses wine instead of water to launder his clothes, Jesus will shed His blood which will come to be typified by wine and the blood of grapes and He comes meek and lowly. There are so many echoes! So many vibrations!
Luke 19:37-38 (ESV)
"As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works 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!”
Psalm 118:26 was a part of the Hallel Psalms sung during Passover. How many times had its words echoes through Jerusalem? But this day was different. Before they ever reached the city, they cried out the words that anticipated the coming One, the Messiah (the Christ).
The title Messiah (or Christ) means anointed one. It has significance in the Hebrew Bible and the NT because each time God called someone to fulfill a special purpose in His kingdom they were symbolically anointed with oil. Priests like Aaron and his sons, Israelite kings like Saul, David, Jehu, and Syrian kings like Hazael were all symbolically anointed to fill their offices.
He is the King Who comes in the Name of the LORD was the Messiah or anointed One. He was One who God had placed in position. The disciples of Jesus and the crowd who followed and met him on Palm Sunday were acknowledging that He was the rightful heir to the throne of David, and without realizing it that He was so much more!
In verse 38 we do hear a direct quotation from the book of Psalms (with the edition of the word "King") as the multitude cries out “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!"(Luke 13:35; Psalm 118:26). Something powerful was happening as they acknowledged Him, they saw Him. Jesus had quoted this same Psalm earlier (13:35) when he warned those who refused Him that they would not see Him until they said, "Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the LORD." When we praise Jesus for Who He is we access the benefits of what He does! We resonate with the promises of God! I believe therefore have I spoken! We also believe therefore we speak!
What are you speaking? What are you getting as you speak? Acknowledge the King and you will have the power of the King!
Finally, these disciples echo of Luke's earlier words and another Psalm "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Psalm 148:1; Luke 2:14).
Luke 2:14 (KJV) reads "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."
Heaven's hosts had spoken peace of earth, now earth echoed "peace in heaven"!
God has so designed that it is those who choose to praise Him that see His will done on earth as it is in heaven. What frequency are you resonating on?
There are echoes, echoes everywhere.
Luke 19:39-40 (ESV)
"And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
Some of the Pharisees, not all of them, could only see Jesus as a teacher. Their words were no echoes of God's Glory, but echoes of doubt. They asked Jesus to quieten the praise of His disciples.
Don't let anyone quieten your praise. Oh, things should be done decently and in order to be sure and your praise should never be to draw attention to yourself, but we ought to all be like the Palmist who said, "I will bless the LORD at all times and His praise shall continually be in my mouth" (Psalm 34:1). There will always be people who seek to squelch your praise, don't worry about them. Keep praising.
At the end of our text Jesus makes a statement that has been made into songs and used as a declaration by those who refuse to give up their praise: “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
The Psalms speaks poetically of the entirety of creation speaking God's praise (Psalm 19). The floods are spoken of as clapping their hands and the hills as rejoicing (Psalm 98:8). Praise Him sun and moon and shining stars (Psalm 148:3). There is a symphony of God's praise in all of creation. God is surrounded by a symphony even in the deepest ocean where the whales sings (Psalm 148:7). Everything is vibrating with the sounds of God's Word vibrating as it hold it all together!
III. CONCLUSION:
I like the Hillsong song "So Will I (100 Billion X)." If creation sings your praises, so will I!
The word "universe" means "one song."
All things in our universe are constantly in motion, vibrating. Even objects that appear to be stationary are in fact vibrating, oscillating, resonating, at various frequencies. Resonance is a type of motion, characterized by oscillation between two states. And ultimately all matter is just vibrations of various underlying fields.
An interesting phenomenon occurs when different vibrating things/processes come into proximity: they will often start, after a little time, to vibrate together at the same frequency. They “sync up,” sometimes in ways that can seem mysterious. This is described today as the phenomenon of spontaneous self-organization.
(https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/the-hippies-were-right-its-all-about-vibrations-man/#:~:text=All%20things%20in%20our%20universe,by%20oscillation%20between%20two%20states.)
You will not see me until you say, Blessed is He! You won't see Me until you resonate with the Word of God.
God is inviting each of us to align ourselves with Him and if we do not we will miss out on what God is doing.
Those who received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost spoke in other tongues "the wonderful works of God" (Acts 2:8-11). It was an echo of the greatness of God!
On this Palm Sunday, lets begin with praise!
