Jesus was going on up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethpage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples into the next village and told them they would find a donkey and they were to bring that donkey back to Him so He could ride it into Jerusalem. They found the donkey and brought it back to Jesus where they threw their cloaks over it and put Jesus on it. Then, the procession started on its way to Jerusalem. Let’s pick this up by reading -
LUKE 19:36-38
‘As He went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When He came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowed of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Today is Palm Sunday; the day Jesus rode that donkey into Jerusalem. It is also called Passion Sunday. What is the difference? Palm Sunday focuses on the parade of followers Jesus had as He rode the donkey from the Mount of Olives. It focuses on the leafy branches put before Him on the pathway leading into town. And this was to show that they knew He was the king. Of course, they were expecting an earthly king, and Jesus was the Godly king.
Passion Sunday focuses on what Jesus went through during the last week. When we hear the word “passion” we tend to think of a feeling. For instance, the passion of young love; when a young man can only think of that particular young lady. In the original Latin, “passion” is “passio”. Its original meaning meant the suffering one goes through. Mel Gibson’s movie, “the Passion of the Christ” reflected that original meaning. Translated, it was, “the Suffering of the Christ.”
I would hope you come back tonight, as we will cover these areas more in-depth, but now I would like to talk to you about what started today, what it led to next week, and what that led to that impacts us today - Palm Sunday; the cross; and the resurrection.
Next week is the traditional Easter Sunday. It is a time when we acknowledge what Jesus did for us, taking our sins and enduring our punishment – all so that we would not have to. For most of us, we concentrate as much as we can on Easter during Easter, but quickly start concentrating on other things once Easter is over. And we do not bring our full concentration back to the cross until the next Easter.
And so, I thought we would take time today to turn our attention back once again to the cross. Many people read about the Triumphal Entry and then quickly gloss over the cross, and then spend the rest of their attention on the empty tomb or the ascension. It is well that we do look at the entry Jesus made into Jerusalem, and it is also very needed to see the empty tomb for what it really meant.
But we must realize something very important. None of these things mean anything without the cross. It is the story on the cross that ties the beginning and the ending together to make the story complete. It is at the cross where we find the real meaning of Jesus’ ministry here on earth. It is at the cross we find the real meaning of love.
So, I would like to talk about Easter now, and I chose to do this in a format that will, hopefully, bring insight and realization into our mind’s eye today. We are going to discuss just what Easter stands for.
“E” - STANDS FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN
I think the perfect example of showing how we all need to be encouraged rather than continually being discouraged is shown in the story of how a little boy wanted to play darts with his dad. He said, “Daddy, I’ll throw them and you just say, ‘Good job!’”, okay?
In ROMANS 15:4, Paul states,
‘For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.’
1 TIMOTHY 6:17 tells us,
‘Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.’
These verses tell us that we can be encouraged through the Scriptures and we can have hope in the Lord. But we must remember that the only way we can receive this encouragement and hope is through Jesus Christ, as our Savior, and that will keep reminding us of what Jesus did for us on the cross.
We have many storms in our lives and sometimes we feel that there is no way we can make it through the storms, but God promises us that He will never break a bruised reed and He won’t snuff out a burnt wick. When we feel bruised and burnt, God will help us through it, because of what happened on that Easter so many years ago. If Jesus could move the stone to overcome the grave, then He is powerful enough to move the stones that block us in our lives, too.
We have been given a hope through Jesus that we can rely upon to help us. During the time when Germany was divided by the wall, the Communist government built a very tall radio antenna to send out their propaganda. At the top of this huge structure was a big round globe. It seems this caused them more embarrassment than they cared to admit. At a certain point in the day, the sun would reflect from this globe in the form of a huge cross. This cross could be seen over most of the city. The authorities tried to paint over it several times, but it would still show that cross. And it was that cross that gave hope and encouragement to thousands of Christians stuck behind the Berlin Wall. If our God will provide hope to them, He will surely provide hope to you and I.
Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Encourage me, and I will never stop thinking about you or loving you.
“A” STANDS FOR THE ANGEL WHO INVITED THEM TO SEE
When the women went to the tomb, Matthew says the angel told them to go in and look where Jesus had been. God is inviting you to take a look at the evidence today, too. He wants you to investigate it. An empty tomb, undisturbed grave clothes, and a several thousand pound stone that had been moved.
There were over 500 witnesses that saw Jesus after He was raised from the dead. If each one of them were to come up here this morning and give just a ten minute eyewitness testimony, it would take over three days of continual time before they would all be heard. That is a lot of people who could give proof of the resurrection.
“S” STANDS FOR THE SURPRISE OF AGES
All of us have been surprised at different things in our lives. I am reminded of a tragic story about a young soldier returning home from Viet Nam. He landed in California and called his parents in Iowa, saying that he was going to be home for Christmas. His mother was ecstatic. The boy said, “Mom, I am bringing someone else home. He has been badly hurt in the war. He lost both legs and one arm, and his face is very disfigured. He has nowhere else to go, Mom, and I was wondering if he could live with you and dad.”
The mother said that just wouldn’t do. She said they were very sociable and had people over all the time. She said, “Just how would that look, son, to have somebody who looked like that here when others came over?” Then she told the boy she was late for a party and to call her back when he knew for sure when he would be there.
When she returned, she saw a highway patrolman waiting for her. He said that there was a young soldier in a hotel in California who had committed suicide. The patrolman said the soldier must have been in Viet Nam because he only had one arm and was very disfigured. The boy’s mother was very surprised and totally stunned when the patrolman said that the identification papers showed him to be her son. He had no place else to go.
That is how the people in Jesus’ day felt when He arose from the grave. The women were taken by surprise at the empty tomb. Everyone was caught off-guard by the resurrection. The soldiers fainted, the Pharisees tried to conjure up some kind of a story that would get them off the hook, and Jesus Christ rose victorious over sin and death. That is the greatest surprise this earth.
“T” STANDS FOR TELLING OTHERS
After the angel invited the surprised women into the tomb, they were told to go and tell this good news to others. Notice it was considered “good news.”
This is the command given by Jesus that applies to each and every one of us, but it is the one command that so many of us make a choice to flatly ignore. Why? Because we decide that our comfort means more to us than Jesus’ command. We don’t want people to think ill of us, so we have decided to not follow the command of Jesus and we refuse to evangelize. And we do all this while standing in church singing, “I Have Decided To Follow Jesus.”
Here is what Christians have done to Christianity over the years. The first thing we did was to soften the truth so as not to offend anyone who might hear it. That allowed some untruth to seep into what we taught and believed in. The second thing we did was start preaching more and more of the untruth along with some truth – to where the real truth became diluted and unfit for human consumption..
Did you know that a Gallup Poll reveals 78% of Americans believe that churches are untrustworthy with money; 71% say they are dishonest, 61% say they don’t care about people. Is it any wonder why the average church is rapidly losing people today? Bill showed me something he wrote in his Bible. It says, “They won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” And the only way they will know you care if you speak to them from your heart, using words from your mouth.
Someone once told a TV preacher that they were trying to live their lives in such a way as to impact others for Christ. I like what that preacher said to this man. He said that the man’s life is not what will impact others for Christ – it is the Word of God that man uses that will impact other people’s lives. Now, I think we need to live a Godly life so people will see the proper reflection of Christ, but someone won’t go to a movie if they see you playing the part of the hero, will they? You have to tell them about the movie before they understand or have a desire to see it. The same is true with Christianity. People don’t care how you act if they don’t know how much you care. And they will only know you care if you tell them – with words from your mouth.
Do you know how most people come to know Jesus? Do you know what the most effective mode of evangelism is? It’s the same as it has been for a long time. The most effective mode of evangelism is one person inviting another person to come to church with them.
Now you probably thought I was going to say that most effective mode of evangelism is one person telling another person about Jesus Christ. And let me say that that is the ideal way. And that should be and could be the best way. But reality is that over 95% of all Christians come to Christ because someone invited them to a church. Tell me again why you don’t invite people to church.
We struggle with the concept of evangelizing, or telling others the good news about Jesus. Some struggle whether to tell it or not. Others struggle with just how to tell it to others. How people say things and how people react is illustrated in this story.
There was a psychology major that enlisted in the Army. One of the great duties he had to perform was passing out apricots in the chow hall. Now, in case you have never been around the military, none of them really likes apricots. That is just not one of the things a real soldier enjoys eating.
Anyway, he tested what he had learned in psychology on the soldiers coming through his line. He began by saying, “You don’t want any apricots do you?” 100% of the soldiers said they did not. Then, he started saying, “One bowl of apricots or two?” Over half of the soldiers said they wanted two bowls of apricots.
This proves two things. First of all, it proves that soldiers aren’t all that smart when it comes to food, and second, it proves that what we say and how we say it has a definite affect on other people.
Like the woman at the well who went back to her town and said, “Come and see a man who knows all that I’ve done and yet still loves me.”
Now the responsibility for sharing Christ will still fall to each one of us, but people are much more open to receive it once they have come to church and opened their lives to the influence of Godly people. The heart is prepared and then someone shares the gospel with them and they come to know the Lord. But it usually starts when someone else simply asks them to visit their church with them.
“E” STANDS FOR EXCITEMENT
Out of the mouths of babes. Do you remember the newspaper cartoon “FAMILY CIRCUS”? Little Billy and his brother are walking along through a store and looking at all the Easter eggs and candy. He says, “This may be Good Friday, but Sunday’s gonna be even gooder!” Bad English maybe, but very serious and deeply profound.
Those that lined the route as Jesus rode into Jerusalem were excited. Much was going on and it was a festive time. But, what a difference a day makes.
How many of you remember Private Jessica Lynch? She was in a convoy of soldiers traveling down the road and thinking everything was fine. She and the others were thinking about when they were going to be able to go home, and suddenly they were ambushed and came under heavy fire. Like a true hero, she lie there, severely wounded and bleeding, not able to run anywhere even if there had been a place to run. So, she kept firing at the enemy. She ran out of ammunition. Almost all of her comrades lie dying or dead. She got captured.
Once captured, they tortured her in the most inhuman of ways for ten full days. She was in a hospital of sorts, unable to go anywhere. And then a soldier came in and told her to be quiet. He was American and He was going to take her home. You can bet she was excited. As her physical body lay still and wounded, her heart jumped for joy and she later said that the excitement she felt overcame any pain she felt when they moved her.
Her parents had been praying for her return almost 24/7 while she was missing in action. They didn’t know where she was or how she was doing. They didn’t even know if she was still alive. But through fervent prayer, they felt the excitement of pure joy when they got the call saying she had been rescued. What a difference a day makes.
Many of us live continually in day one, the day of the trial. We are getting hit on all sides, and it seems like life itself is unraveling all around us. If you happen to be there right now, my encouragement to you is to remember the hope that Christ affords you. And to remember that one day can, in fact, make a very big difference.
“R” STANDS FOR THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS
Confucius is still in his grave. Buddha is still in his grave. Muhammad is still in his grave. Joseph Smith is still in his grave. It is only in Christianity that we find the One who has come up from His grave and actually defeated death. He is the only spiritual leader who has remained alive and the only one who will remain alive forever.
And it only makes sense that if we want to have eternal life in Heaven; we must go through the only One who is still living, thousands of years after others have died.
A Sunday school teacher had just finished telling her third graders about how Jesus was crucified and placed in a tomb with a great stone sealing the opening. Then, wanting to share the excitement of the resurrection, she asked: "And what do you think were Jesus’ first words when He came bursting out of that tomb alive?"
A hand shot up into the air from the rear of the classroom. Attached to it was the arm of a little girl. Leaping out of her chair she shouted out excitedly "I know, I know!” "Good" said the teacher, "Tell us, what were Jesus first words.” And extending her arms high into the air she said: "TA-DA!"
The resurrected Lord is the central event of our faith. It is literally the "TA-DA" of Christianity. And because of Easter, we know that God in Christ Jesus is more powerful then anything in life, even death.
The resurrection is not just another thing we believe as Christians; it is the very center of our faith. Everything hinges on the resurrection. The road to Jerusalem would make no difference if it were not for the Cross. And the cross would have no meaning had it not been for the resurrection. It is the resurrection from the grave that brings Jesus into the world as our only Savior.
Let me close by giving you hope in the Lord Jesus.
How many of you have heard of Kay Arthur? She is a very knowledgeable Christian writer and lecturer. Thousands of people across the globe have been impacted by the Bible studies she has developed. She is a committed Christian in every sense of the word. But she has not always been so. Let me tell you her story.
There was a time when she was as far away from home as a person could get, and as far away from the Lord as east is to west. She was in her twenties and married to a manic-depressive husband and their marriage was falling apart.
She was having an affair with a married man, and when her husband found out, he threatened to commit suicide. She told him to go ahead, she could use his life insurance money. He did. He hung himself.
As she was driving home from the cemetery, she said she felt like such a failure at everything in her life and she felt anger and pain. She said she shook her fist at the sky and told God that the only thing He could do for her was to die! It wasn’t until later that she realized that is exactly what He did. He died for her.
Maybe you’re here today, and your feeling the same way. Maybe you need some hope in your life. I guarantee you’ll find it in a resurrected Lord named Jesus Christ.
Just as he was buried in a tomb and rose again to new life, through a decision to let Jesus be Lord of your life, you can be buried in the water and rise again to new life; a new life as a saved Christian.
INVITATION
