Gtcotr/ss0401223
We are in one of the most important and exciting seasons of the year. Each spring introduces the idea of a new beginning and of new possibilities. One of the greatest spring adventures in the Bible began about 3500 years when ago Moses led the Children of Israel out of Egypt. This great exodus is commemorated and celebrated each year and we know it as Passover.
Passover is determined by the lunar cycle and begins with the full moon in the middle of the Jewish month of Nissan. Passover this year will begin at sunset this coming Wednesday evening. The western world has a need to make everything about them and to standardize holidays for the sake of convenience and control. This means that the Church, for the most part, does not connect the season we are in with the exodus from Egypt but rather with the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus was crucified during the preparation for the feast of Passover and was raised again on the 3rd day.
Instead of celebrating Passover along with Israel, the Church celebrates Easter, always on a Sunday, because it’s easier that way. I can appreciate the connection since the first resurrection day happened early in the morning, on a Sunday. At any rate: This coming Wednesday is Passover; Next Sunday is Easter!
Today is remembered as Palm Sunday. The first day of the last week of the earthly life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. This week should be filled with memories for God, and it would be nice if we, His children, remembered along with Him. It is the one thing Jesus asked of His disciples before His death … “Remember how I gave My life for you.”
What
should we remember?
1.
Jesus
was the Son of God, but He was also a good man.
a. Everywhere He went people
got better and the devil got angrier.
b. Jesus blessed
everyone, even those who hated Him.
2.
This
was the week Jesus was wrongfully accused by His enemies.
a. They twisted what
Jesus said and used it against Him.
b. They hired people to
provide false testimony against Him.
3.
This
was the week Jesus was secretly arrested.
a. They came for Him at
night, afraid His followers would riot if they arrested Jesus in public.
b. Even then, they came
armed and with a mob.
4.
Jesus
didn’t want His followers to get hurt or arrested themselves, so this is the
week Jesus surrendered Himself peacefully.
a. He could have called
10,000 angels to destroy the world and set Him free.
b. Jesus voluntarily
surrendered Himself to His accusers.
5.
This
was the week Jesus faced His accusers and heard the false charges they levied
against Him in a court of law.
a. They would have judged
Him themselves, but they wanted Him dead and only the Roman court had that
power.
b. The highest Jewish
political leader, the High Priest, backed the lies and protected the liars.
6.
This
was the week Jesus was sent to a higher court who refused to hear His case.
a. Pilate sent Jesus to
Herod … Herod sent Him back to the lower court.
b. It was a political hot
potato and Herod, although he found nothing wrong with Jesus, mocked Him and
let his soldiers make fun of him openly.
7.
This
is the week the court found Jesus had committed no crime worthy of death.
a. But the High Priest
would not be satisfied and caused a public uproar which made Pilate afraid to
not give them what they wanted.
b. The mob, not even
knowing what they were doing, joined in the cry to release a criminal and to crucify
Jesus.
8.
This
is the week Jesus was publicly humiliated, stripped naked, and cruelly beaten
beyond recognition.
9.
This
is the week when that wasn’t enough for His accusers … they wanted Jesus dead.
10. This is the week Jesus was taken to
Golgotha and crucified in public as a common criminal.
11. This is the week all the world turned
dark.
12. This is the week Jesus died for our
sins and was buried.
13. This is the week Jesus was mourned and
His followers were afraid.
14. This is the week His enemies gloated.
15. This week in history ended in a seemingly very public victory for the enemies of Jesus and an overwhelming defeat for all that is good and for the plan of God.
This day began a very sad week in history. Jesus told His disciples to remember the way that He gave His life for them. Not every memory that changes your life for the better is a pleasant memory.
However, even though this was a very sad week in history, the week began with a happy day. Palm Sunday was the fulfillment of a prophecy from hundreds of years earlier. A prophecy from a man named Zechariah. Even in the midst of this week, and although it wasn’t going to end well for the hopes and dreams of so many; and despite the fact that it was going to hurt and that the evil leaders of the day were going to get their way, nonetheless Zechariah prophesied: Rejoice greatly!!!
Zechariah 9:9 ¶ “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.
Matthew 21 NKJV
4 All this was done that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:
5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”
8 And a very great multitude
spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and
spread them on the road.
9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!”
12 ¶ Then Jesus went into the
temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and
overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold
doves.
13 And He said to them, “It
is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it
a ‘den of thieves.’ ”
14 Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.
This is why the leaders of that day and our day hate Jesus so much. Because they know what He will do. Jesus will make it all about the people and not about the leaders.
15 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant.
The
minute we make it all about us and not about others, we start dealing for the
devil. Nothing has changed.
·
The
devil has the same goals he had when he led a rebellion against God in the
heavens and drew away one-third of the heavenly host of angels to follow him.
·
The
devil has the same goals he had in the Garden of Eden when he deceived Adam and
Eve by getting them to question God’s integrity.
· The devil has the same goals today that he had when he tempted Judas to betray Jesus for a few pieces of silver.
God knows there is trouble in this world, and He is well aware of who is causing it. It’s the same old devil using the same old tricks. Remember:
1.
Just
because it’s bad doesn’t mean it’s over.
2.
Don’t
stop your story here.
3. Sunday’s coming!
