Palm Sunday Sermon 2020 – Worship Without Understanding
I preached, again! And this time, THERE’S VIDEO!
Because this is in the middle of the C-19 pandemic, so we are not supposed to meet in person.
And a reminder that the notes below are merely my notes, not every word I said in the video!
There is also mention of the children’s lesson based on this sermon that Caitlin recorded earlier!
Read Matthew 21:1-11 before starting:
The Triumphal Entry
21 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Palm Sunday 2020 (The Church Next Door) – Matthew 21:1-11 – Worshiping Without Understanding
Imagine being a 1st Century Jew.
- A hostile government
- Foreign soldiers walking the streets
- Turncoats siding with the hostile government (tax collectors, joining the army)
- Weak and compromising leadership
And here comes Jesus, the one everyone is calling the Savior of Israel! Finally! Someone to throw out the Romans and restore Israel to greatness! Here is a great prophet and king! Save us!
And then there is Jesus. He knows our expectations, but he subverts them. He knows our longings, but He has His purpose.
Triumphal Entry: Celebration
“God has come to do what we expect!”
But the cross … Not what we expected.
“In this world you will have trouble …” (John 16:33)
Triumphal Entry: Worship
Christ still receives worship, even amidst our misunderstanding.
So, the cross … Shows us why He can accept.
So, we should show grace to our brothers & sisters in error of understanding.
January 17: Took Caitlin to the airport, stopped at a favorite coffee shop.
Was updating the owner about my 10-month-old nephew being hospitalized with Hand Foot Mouth, Pneumonia, RSV, and other stuff.
Customer asks if has gotten better, and I mentioned that as a Christian I believe all of the prayers helped get him home on Christmas night.
Oops. Angry atheist. If any god exists, he “royally ****** up with humans. So you probably believe he made your nephew sick, which means he’s evil! If anyone helped your nephew it was the doctors.”
I went from celebrating my God for healing my nephew to getting attacked for my faith.
But I had a peaceful calm the moment this man blew up. And, how come our world is so messed up? “Short answer: sin. God gave us free will, and we choose to mess up this world by rejecting Him. But He plans on fixing it one day.”
I did not get to share the full gospel with this man, but he respected meeting a Christian not afraid to tackle the hard questions. God gave me His grace to peaceably talk with a hostile man, calm him down, and even get a “It was nice talking with you! Have a nice day!” as he left.
Why?
Because I celebrated, without knowing what was coming. (But I also put in the groundwork of worshiping with my heart, soul, mind, and strength, studying the Word and answers people have provided.)
But because of what did come over the week after Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem – the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus – I could still worship Him by loving one who hates Him.
Think back to those worshiping on Palm Sunday: (Matthew 21:11) “This is the prophet Jesus.”
They see Lazarus – the man who was dead just a week earlier! – and think of Elijah and Elisha raising women’s sons.
They see the donkey, and they think of Zechariah 9:9 prophesying the King coming on a donkey, and then probably skipped ahead to Zechariah 14: (vv. 1-5)
Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 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.
Here comes the King, on the Mount of Olives, to fight off the invaders and restore our nation! Especially with the other events of the week:
- Clearing the Temple with zeal for God’s house
- Rebuking and shaming the Pharisees and Sadducees
- Celebrating the Passover, the first time a mighty prophet led Israel out of subjugation into freedom
But our Lord does not meet their expectations. What else happened that week?
The arrest.
The abuse.
The crucifixion.
No one saw it coming. (Even with Jesus’ own warnings!)
If only they had continued reading in Zechariah [14:6-9]:
On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.
On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.
And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.
When coupled with Daniel 9:24,
“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place”,
we see that the Messiah would bring an end to sin and then establish His worldwide, eternal Kingdom.
So, on Palm Sunday, we are reminded of three things:
- Jesus accepts our worship, even when we misunderstand and believe wrongly about Him.
- So, we need to show grace to those we disagree with.
- The disciples did not understand that this King was going to die in just a few days time, and it caused them to scatter. (Self-isolate?) And Jesus still loved them!
- There are many who teach things wrongly, but they may still be our brothers and sisters.
- Though, just as Jesus rebuked and shamed the leadership in His day, we must watch for and correct false teachings.
- If the teachers repent, awesome!
- If not, then we distance ourselves from them.
- NOT EVERYTHING WE DISAGREE WITH IS NECESSARILY FALSE TEACHING!
- Look at George Whitefield and John Wesley: a Calvinist and an Arminian who were dear brothers in Christ.
- So, we need to show grace to those we disagree with.
- We worship and celebrate God without knowing everything that is coming.
- The disciples did not understand that this King was going to die in just a few days time, and it caused them to scatter. (Self-isolate?) But it led to our salvation from sin!
- Palm Sunday during C-19 Pandemic
- Didn’t see it coming, but look at us trusting our Lord and meeting in innovative ways (such as Zoom!)
- We know God leads us through hard things, and we rejoice and share the Gospel. (2 Corinthians 5 – Ambassadors for Christ sharing the message of reconciliation and peace)
- Just as I was ready with an answer for an angry atheist, we are all commanded to be ready to give a reasoned defense for the faith that is within us, especially when bad/hard things happen (1 Peter 3:14-15).
- We remember that our King shall return triumphantly to institute His eternal Kingdom!
- Jesus warned (yes, warned!) and promised us He will return.
- He was the gentle lamb in His ministry, but He is returning as a strong Lion and conquering King!
- We need not imagine what ancient Israelites thought about our coming King. The book of Revelation shows us that God’s wrath will be poured out on the entire earth, all of Creation will be renewed through fire, and His eternal Kingdom shall be established as heaven and Earth become one. [READ Revelation 22:1-7, 20-21]
- Jesus warned (yes, warned!) and promised us He will return.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”
“And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
a simple man of God 