“Enter the King”
Pastor David Moore
Old Testament reading: Psalm 118:19‐29
Open for me the gates where the righteous enter, and I will go in and thank the Lord. These gates lead to the presence of the Lord, and the godly enter there. I thank you for answering my prayer and giving me victory!
The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Please, Lord, please save us. Please, Lord, please give us success. Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, shining upon us. Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar.
You are my God, and I will praise you!
You are my God, and I will exalt you!
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
The disciples do not have a clear understanding of what it meant for Jesus to be the Messiah. ~D. Moore
Mark 10:35‐37: Then the disciples James and John came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask… Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left and in your glory.” [we want to be great]
Palm Sunday is when we are reminded that Jesus is the King, the King who is going to die for his people. ~D. Moore
Jesus was anointed one of God. Messiah means the anointed one. ~D. Moore
New Testament reading: Matthew 21:1‐11
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 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. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest!”
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
The defining events of Jesus remembered on Palm Sunday:
1. Pomp and circumstance entering the city.
2. Anointing Jesus’ head with oil.
3. Stripped and beaten.
4. Crowned with thorns.
5. Declared that Jesus was the King with a placard on the cross.
The King of the world’s coronation events that happen are all twisted by the wrong people. ~D. Moore
The reason they wanted a political revolution was that it means the problem with the world is those people, those in power, the corrupt leadership who were playing nice with the Romans. Nobody wanted a religious revolution because it meant, and means, that I’m the problem with the world. The world is a troubled place because of my sin, not the distant politics of Jerusalem or Washington D.C. You can see why a political situation is more appealing, both then and now. But the problem Jesus came to solve was not of countries, but of people. Not the population, but of the individual persons. Jesus is not the king they wanted. They wanted a king to make their lives easier, and God gave them a King to help make their lives holy. ~D. Moore
Think about what Christ went through as a man in taking on the sins of the world, and your sins.
This week think about: Jesus, the Messiah, is calling you. The calling is that you confess your sins and ask for forgiveness and restore your holiness before the Messiah of this world.
Have a good week!