Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Special Services / Easter Season 2008
Palm Sunday 2008
Message: ‘The Triumphal Entry: The Big Picture’
Text: Revelation 7:9-17
Introduction: Russian composer, pianist, and conductor Sergei Rachmaninoff was once honored at a dinner hosted by fellow pianist Arthur Rubinstein. During the course of the evening, Rachmaninoff said he thought the Grieg piano concerto the greatest ever written. When Rubinstein said he had just recorded it, Rachmaninoff insisted on hearing it then and there. During coffee, Rubinstein put on the proofs of the record and Rachmaninoff, closing his eyes, settled down to listen. He listened right through without saying a word. At the end of the concerto he opened his eyes and said, “Piano out of tune.”
(Today in the Word, December 15, 1992)
· Rather than hear the blessed by the beauty of the concerto,
· rather than see and appreciate the dexterity of the pianist,
· rather than become overcome by the magnificence of the piece he loved so well,
Rachmaninoff only heard the piano being out of tune. He missed the point, he failed to see the big picture. And I believe that’s true with how we view Palm Sunday.
Explanation: Each year we examine the crowd, the parade, the donkey, Jesus’ tears as he looked over Jerusalem and the children praising God. But I wonder if we, by constantly examining the details, have missed the big picture?
Reading through the Bible in a year has many benefits. One benefit is that you get to see the Bible as a whole…you get to see the big picture, rather than just the parts. This as happened to me as I considered the message for today.
· I found that the story of Palm Sunday didn’t begin on the road to Jerusalem 2000 yrs ago.
· And I found that the story didn’t end when Jesus was crucified.
Transition: Open your Bibles to Zechariah 9:9 (pg. 728 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you) For it’s there that we’ll begin to see the big picture of the Triumphal Entry.
I. The Prophesy Zechariah 9:9-10
Read: Zechariah 9:9-10
What do we see?
· A crowd rejoicing, shouting praise to God
· Jesus, the King coming to the city riding a donkey
· His message is salvation
· His blessing is peace
When the prophet Zechariah wrote this, Israel had nothing to rejoice about, no reason to shout praises to God.
· Only a handful returned from slavery in exile
· the shekinah glory of God had left Jerusalem
· and the temple was destoryed.
· They were a people without hope.
But…Zechariah prophesized of a time when the glory of God would return to Jerusalem, when His message will be salvation and he will bless his people with eternal peace.
Zechariah was speaking of the day when Jesus, the Messiah, would enter Jerusalem as King and rule forever. His prophesy restored hope to God’s people…as they waited for his triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Transition: We get our first glimpse of the Big Picture….hope is on the horizon. So lets journey about 500 yrs in Israel’s future…about 2000 yrs ago for us.
II. The Fulfillment John 12:12-15; Matthew 21:15-16
Read: John 12:12-15; Matthew 21:15-16
This is the story of the very familiar parade that had Jesus as the Grand Marshall. We like parades, don’t we?
ILL: Billy Graham once wrote ‘One of the powerful, enduring images that my wife, Ruth, and I have of our early years together is of the ticker-tape parades in NYC celebrating the end of WWII. The war was finally over and those who were spared from death by the enemy were jubilant beyond words….Emotions ran extremely high…but the emotion that ran deepest…was relief. The war was over!...There was peace.’
Some of you remember those parades. But Dr. Graham didn’t mention another emotion present at that time: the sorrow of those whose sons, husbands, fathers, and brothers weren’t coming home.
Can you remember a time when you cried while others were celebrating? Jesus can…Upon His triumphal entry into Jerusalem 2000 yrs ago, the crowds were shouting and celebrating, they were waving palm branches representing the hope they had for salvation from the tyranny of the Romans. But the One the parade was meant to honor, wept.
Read: Luke 19:41-44 (pg 803 in church bibles)
Zechariah’s prophesy clearly says that this parade would announce to the world that Jesus was the Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That He would bring with him salvation and peace…and restore the hope to a people oppressed by sin.
Jesus wept because the people of his day failed to see the Big Picture. They failed to connect, what was happening right before their eyes, with what the prophet Zechariah had foretold.
· They had placed their hopes on the man Jesus to free them from Roman oppression
· rather than place their hopes on Jesus, the Son of God, to free them from their sin
And they would find no peace
· The shouts of praise would quickly turn into cries of anger and hatred.
· The waving of the palm branches in honor of Jesus would soon turn to the carrying of torches to crucify him.
But, just as in Zechariah’s day, there is still hope … Jesus will rise from the dead!
Transition: Is the Big Picture getting a bit more clear for you? Is it becoming obvious that this was not the ultimate culmination of Zechariah’s prophesy? Let’s journey a bit further in time.
III. The Consummation Revelation 7:9-17
Read: Revelation 7:9-17
Do you see it now? The Big Picture? This scene in Revelation might be called the Triumphal Entry Part II. It’s the complete fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophesy made so many years earlier.
· Not just because of the similarities
· but because of the differences as well.
A. The Gathering Revelation 7:9
Read: Revelation 9:9
Have you ever been in a huge crowd of people?
ILL:
· The largest crowd ever gathered to blow bubbles was 23,680 people in London.
· The largest crowd gathered for a single professional football game was 102,368
Los Angeles Rams vs San Francisco 49ers.
People gather in large crowds for a myriad of reasons. But they all pale in comparison to the great multitude of people gathered in revelation 7. John says it was so huge…no one could number it!
Let’s examine briefly the significant similarities and differences in this huge crowd.
· The crowd in Jesus’ day was made up of those who believed in Jesus and those who didn’t. The crowd in Revelation is made up of only those who have believed in Jesus and the angels who serve Jesus.
· The crowd in Jesus’ day had hope. The crowd in Revelation had the reality of that hope realized.
· The crowd in Jesus’ day lived through Roman oppression and ultimately crucified Jesus, their only hope. The crowd in Revelation had lived through the Great Tribulation and honored Jesus with their praise.
· The crowd in Jesus’ day waved palm branches signifying their hope of victory over the Romans. The crown in Revelation waved palm branches signifying the reality of their victory over sin and death.
And Jesus…the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords is in the center of this glorious and innumerable crowd.
Sidebar: If I can take a brief but important sidebar…I want you to step back and see the Big Picture from another important angle. What we’re looking at is community…ultimate, complete, fellowship of the saints.
· The final hope of the Christian is not to have a private relationship with God in heaven…
· but to stand before God as part of a community of saved people from every part of the world.
And the diversity is as amazing as the size of the community.
· People from every tribe, tongue and nation.
· People from every rung on the socio-economic ladder.
· People from every educational background.
· People from every skin color
· People from every age group
· People who always seemed to be sick in life and people who always were the picture of health
· People who had a lot of friends and people who were alone.
They’re all there, and they are all one…with each other and one with Jesus. United in love and bound to each other by the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
This is what every civilization has dreamed of and hoped for: a world full of love and harmony.
Transition: How did this community get started? It began with the message Jesus taught.
B. The Message Revelation 7:10
Read: Revelation 7:10
The message is salvation.
· It’s the same message the prophet Zechariah gave the people of his day as they looked foreword to Jesus’ coming into Jerusalem…salvation!
· It’s the same message Jesus taught while he walked on the earth…salvation!
· It’s the same message that will be shouted over and over again in heaven by those who have heard Jesus’ message and have said yes!...Salvation!
Salvation from what? Not trouble, not oppression by others. But salvation, freedom from our greatest roadblock to eternity in heaven…sin and death.
Read: Romans 8:1-2 ‘Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
And the text reminds us that this salvation is only from God through faith in Jesus… ‘salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.’ The Lamb is Jesus. Don’t take my word on it.
Read: John 1:29 ‘The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’
Many of the people in the crowd in Jesus’ day missed it, they failed to see the big picture.
I pray you haven’t missed it too.
Transition: In Revelation we find a huge, diverse crowd of people who’ve heard and accepted Jesus’ message of salvation. So what are they doing up there in heaven? Celebrating!
C. The Celebration Revelation 7:11-12
Read: Revelation 7:11-12
There was a celebration in Jesus’ day as well. But they were celebrating for the wrong reasons. Their celebratory actions were later betrayed by their selfish hearts. Not so in Revelation.
· This was a celebration based on truth and reality.
· This was a celebration based on God’s grace towards those who are His.
· This was a celebration based on the awareness of the forgiveness of sins and escape from eternal death.
· This is a celebration based on the character and actions of Jesus Christ on behalf of the God-head.
There were shouts of praise, the waving of palm branches and joy…great joy. And Jesus, the One honored by this gathering, is not crying over the people’s rejection of him as he did the first Triumphal Entry. This time, He’s celebrating with them as their King!
At that Triumphal Entry pt II we’ll see the big picture:
· Not only will be see that Jesus has saved us from the penalty of our sin…
· but we will, for the first time, truly understand and experience the depth of his love for us
Now that will be something to celebrate! Amen?
Transition: But, we’re not done looking at the Big Picture yet. Although it would be good to end here with the celebration…we can’t. With celebration comes responsibility.
D. The Responsibilities Revelation 7:13-14
Read: Revelation 7:13-14
The responsibility of those livng in Zechariah’s day was to look expectantly to the coming of the Messiah and to live rightly before God until then.
The responsibility of those living in Jesus’ day was to receive him as their messiah and tell others of his love and forgiveness.
As we look forward to the Triumphal Entry pt II our responsibility today involves
· waiting expectantly and living rightly before God
· it involves receiving Jesus as our savior and telling others of his free gift of eternal life.
This is how Revelation 7:7-14 makes sense.
The crowd in Revelation is made up of people from every tribe, tongue and nation. How do you suppose that is going to happen?
Read: Acts 1:8 ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
Read: Matthew 28:18-20 ‘Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’
The makeup of the crowd in Revelation makes it clear that we’re to take Jesus’ message of salvation to all who will hear.
· Personally through our relationships and evangelistic outreahes here at CBC
· and globally through our Kingdom Building ministries.
Transition: We’re almost done…even though the celebration we’re reading about in Revelation will go on for all eternity.
E. The Blessings Revelation 7:15-17
Read: Revelation 7:15-17
Listen to the blessings that belong to those who are in this great and diverse crowd in Revelation.
· God will spread out his tent over them. This is the promise of God’s protection.
· They will not hunger or thirst. This is the promise God’s people will have all their needs provided for, in abundance.
· Their strength will not be sapped by the heat. This is the promise that God will comfort them and give them strength.
· Jesus, the Lamb, will be our shepherd. This is the promise we will never have to worry about where we go or what we’ll find along the way. Jesus will always lead us to safe pastures beside still waters. He’ll restore our souls.
· God will wipe away every tear. This is the promise that there’ll be no fear, no anxiety, no sadness, no depression, no guilt in God’s presence…only the fullness of love, joy and peace.
That was the hope of those who lived during Zechariah’s prophesy.
That was the hope that was rejected by those who turned on Jesus in the crowd that first Palm Sunday.
Conclusion
Where do you stand this Palm Sunday: in between what was and what is to be?
First consider…will you be in that great and diverse crowd on that glorious Triumphal entry II? Will you experience the blessings promised to those who are part of that heavenly community? Have you accepted Jesus’ offer of salvation?
· If not, it’s ok. You can do that right now, right here in your seat this morning. It’s actually quite simple. Jesus’ message was forgiveness for sins and eternal life to those who repent and turn to God by placing their trust in Jesus for entrance to heaven.
· So, you’re part is just to respond positively to Jesus’ message by just telling God you’re a sinner and want the forgiveness Jesus offers. Tell God that you place your eternal destination in the death of resurrection of Jesus his Son. Ask him to save you and he will.
Read: Romans 10:13 ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
That’s a promise from Almighty God and he always keeps his promises. Do that and you can be certain that you’ll be a part of the Triumphal Entry pt II in heaven.
Second, for those who already know Jesus as Savior and Lord, are you looking forward to that glorius day or are you nose deep in the stuff of today and can’t see the big picture?
Are you working to build the kingdom of God by living rightly and sharing Jesus’ message of salvation to all who will hear?
Palm Sunday is a time
· to together shout Hosanna to the Lord.
· To praise his name together in this place.
· To give thanks to Jesus not only for what he has done…but for what he is going to do.
Jesus is coming again. Praise the Lord.
Glory to His name.