Sunnyside Church of the Nazarene
Sunday April 10
Luke 19:28–38ESV
Zechariah 9:9ESV
- Jesus
- Here I Am To Worship
- Son Of Heaven
- Call to Worship
Luke 19:28–38 NIV After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They replied, “The Lord needs it.” They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 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 crowd 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!”Some symbolism here that we need to be aware of – put in the back of our minds. This event of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey is connected to an event about 1,000 years earlier when King David made his son Solomon king of Israel. In 1 Kings, David put his son on a mule and instructed his servants to take Solomon through the streets, anoint him, and declare him king.In 2 Kings 9, Israel desperately needed a new king – and the prophet Elisha had Jehu anointed as king (cloak and dagger) and the people spread their cloaks on the ground (rolling out the red carpet) and shouted, “Jehu is king of Israel!”The prophet Zechariah about 450 years before Jesus said -Zechariah 9:9 ESV 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.The Jews in Jesus day would have connected all those dots – we could go a little farther than that. What’s the point? By riding on a donkey into Jerusalem, Jesus was declaring that He was and is King – but I’m not necessarily the king you’re looking for.See they had developed their own idea of what their Messiah should be like. And when Jesus didn’t fit their expectations, they crucified Him. And I wonder how many people miss Jesus because they’re looking for a Savior made in their own imagination, and not who Jesus really is.This morning – as we sing ….SermonIn this text we read earlier, we see Jesus riding on a donkey. It’s easy to see just a man, but this Jesus who rode a donkey was more than just a man. Scripture tells us that He is the Son of God, He was Immanuel, God with us. Scripture tells that in the beginning Jesus was the Word, and the Word was with God and was God the Word became flesh – the Word is Jesus Christ. Word = full representation. So, as we look at Jesus, the man riding on a donkey we see the fullness of God.Last week we talked about God’s attributes – His unchanging perfect character – Divine, Transcendent, Eternal, Faithful, Good, Gracious, Holy. Immutable, Incomprehensible, Just, Living, Love, Merciful, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Self-existent, Self-sufficient, Sovereign, and Omnipotent. All of that wrapped in a mortal body riding on a donkey.So, here’s my question – what was Jesus riding toward? Yes, he was riding toward Jerusalem, but what was waiting for Him there, and knowing what was ahead, why keep riding? I’m certain that as He rode, the words of the prophet Isaiah, written 700 years earlier played in His mind, the words of Zechariah and what was to come.I’m going to read some statements and then Scriptures. Try to imagine the Scriptures, not as me quoting them, but as the thoughts of Jesus. Remember He’s riding and people were crowding around and yelling, “Hosanna in the Highest …!” I imagine that as Jesus rode, the voices faded into the background and He was alone with His thoughts.So, what did He ride toward?He rode toward opposition and false accusations. And in His mind, Jesus was thinking, Isaiah 53:7-9Isaiah 53:7–9 NIV He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.Yet, He rode on.He rode toward betrayal. In His mind,Matthew 26:14–16 ESV Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.Yet, He rode on.He rode toward hatred and rejection (this crowd who was shouting “Blessed … and Hosanna,” would soon shout, “Crucify Him!”). In His mind,Isaiah 53:3Isaiah 53:3 NIV He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.Yet, He rode on.He rode toward abandonment - everyone turned their backs on Jesus – even His closest disciples when they He needed them the most. In His mind,Zechariah 13:7 ESV “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me,” declares the Lord of hosts. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.Mark 14:50 NIV Then everyone deserted him and fled.Yet, He rode on.He rode toward God’s wrath or judgment. In his mind,Jeremiah 25:15 NIV This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.Cup of wrath = God’s full judgement for sin – our sin. And Jesus prayed in the garden,Luke 22:42 NIV “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”Isaiah 53:10 NIV Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.Yet, He rode on. Closer and closer.He rode toward the cross - intense pain, torture, thorns, flogging, nails … a place of mockery and suffering. He rode toward the cross where for the first time in His earthly life, Jesus experienced sin – our sin – and took the full wrath of God upon Him – forsaken by His Father …. And in his mind,Matthew 27:27–31 ESV Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.Isa. 52:13-14Isaiah 52:13–14 NIV See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at him— his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness—Mark 15:34 ESV And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”Yet, He rode on.He rode toward His death – a death that was not His own. A death He did not deserve. No, He did not ride toward His death, but ours. We’re the guilty ones! We’re the lawbreakers, and liars, and thieves, and murderers and …. We’re the ones who deserve judgement and death before a Holy God. And in his mind, Isaiah 53:4–6Isaiah 53:4–6 NIV Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.Yet, He rode on – closer and closer.The fullness of God wrapped up in a man riding on a donkey toward a death we deserved.That’s our God – always riding toward – toward the sinner, toward the downcast, the outcast, the lowly, the hurting, the lost, toward the broken. Riding ever toward the chaos, toward the darkness …. Why? Love. For God so loved He sent His Son. Yet, they missed it. The same people who shouted, “Hosanna in the highest,” were the same people who four days later shouted, “Crucify Him!” How did they miss it?Luke 19:41–44 NIV As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”The fullness of God was wrapped up in a human body right there in front of them and they did not recognize Him. Why? Because they were looking for a different Messiah – one who would deliver them from earthly powers (Rome) – God wanted to save them from spiritual powers (the devil). They wanted saved from their temporary physical sufferings – God wanted to save them from eternal sufferings in Hell. They wanted saved from their oppressors – Jesus wanted to save them from their sin. They were looking for a different Messiah, one of their own making – not who Jesus really was and is.Interesting, how people can see Jesus, the Son of God, right in front of them and not see Him – not recognize Him. Jesus said, “If you only knew what would bring you peace.”What about you? Isaiah 53:7–9ESV
Matthew 26:14–16ESV
Isaiah 53:3ESV
Zechariah 13:7ESV
Mark 14:50ESV
Jeremiah 25:15ESV
Luke 22:42ESV
Isaiah 53:10ESV
Matthew 27:27–31ESV
Isaiah 52:13–14ESV
Mark 15:34ESV
Isaiah 53:4–6ESV
Luke 19:41–44ESV
- Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me)
- Is He Worthy
Sunnyside Church of the Nazarene
503-771-3934
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