Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Special Services / Easter Season 2005

Palm Sunday 2005

Title: ‘A time to laugh and a time to cry’                                                                                                     Main Text: Luke 19:36-44

Introduction: Americans like parades.
•    New Years Day wouldn’t be the same with out the Mummers Parade in Phila.
•    Thanksgiving Day would be a whole lot of cooking, eating and sleeping without the Macy’s Parade in NY and the Rose Bowl Parade in Cal.
•    Memorial Day wouldn’t be the same w/o our Pioneer Girls marching in the Oceanport parade.

There’s something exciting that causes people to want to stand, often in the cold, straining to get a closer look at the bands, floats and the clowns!.

This morning I’d like to take you back to that first ‘Palm Sunday’ parade over 2000yrs ago. It had all the elements of a great parade:
•    A major holiday (Passover)
•    Estimates of over 20-30 thousand people in the crowd
•    Great music…except it was the people in the crowd who did the singing
•    And the Grand Marshall was Jesus of Nazareth.

Transition: Open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.  Chapter 19, verse 36…pg. 803 if you are using the church bible. Let’s join the parade already in progress.
 
A Time to Laugh        Luke 19:36-40
Read: Vs 36-40

As Jesus rode the donkey on his way to Jerusalem, there were several things on his mind. He knew what was going on in the lives of his people and what was going on in their hearts.

The Jews were under heavy oppression by the Romans. The taxes were exorbitant, restrictions on everything, and numerous executions, by crucifixion, of Jews who did not follow the company plan..the Roman Plan.

The Jews were looking for someone to free them from the burden of Roman rule, much like the burden their ancestors experienced under Egyptian rule. Who would be the Moses? Could it be Jesus? After all, they had seen or at least heard that like Moses, Jesus had done many miraculous things

•    He healed the sick,
•    He feed a great crowd with only a little boys lunch,
•    He even brought people back from the dead.
•    He taught with great authority.

The time was right. They knew that the promised King would be crowned at the Feast of the Passover. And here Jesus was, fulfilling an ancient prophesy that the King of Israel would enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey. Victory would soon be theirs. Freedom from Roman oppression was just around the bend…Jesus, the Messiah was coming…“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Someone shouts..then another, then a hundred shout…then a thousand shout together as one voice… ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.!’

Others in Jerusalem begin to hear the commotion and they run outside the city gates to see the parade, to see Jesus. Is he the Messiah? Can it be true?...As Jesus gets closer the crowd gets ever larger. They all shout together, as if well rehearsed,  ‘peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’ 

The cheers, and shouts of praise could be heard for miles…even into the city of Jerusalem itself. As Jesus traveled past the crowd he saw the familiar faces of people who had every right to cheer and shout because Jesus had touched them in some way. They were not strangers to Jesus, he knew them by name, he knew their life story. As he passed by, perhaps, in the crowd Jesus saw…

•    Bartimaeus, no longer a blind man in beggar clothes, Jesus touched him and restored his sight.
•    Zacchaeus, a man who repaid his debt to those he had cheated and got right with God all because Jesus noticed him and had a meal with him.
•    The lepers could never have thought of entering Jerusalem, never have hoped to be part of any crowd, besides other lepers, they were there,
      in the crowd because Jesus touched them and they were cured.
•    Perhaps Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus were there, both touched by the love of Jesus and brought back to life after they had died.

These people who were touched by the tender, loving hand of Jesus Christ, together, with those who were curious about who Jesus was, shouted out with Joy, with Praise, with every ounce of their being ‘Hosanna! To the Son of David!, Blessed in he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!’

Can you see it? Can you hear the enthusiasm of the crowd? Can you look beneath the praise and see the grateful hearts of those Jesus touched?

Well, not everyone was happy, excited and thankful that day. The Roman soldiers had to work. They were ordered by Pontius Pilate to keep the peace but not to interfere as long as things were calm. They heard about Jesus but were indifferent to his cause. As long as things were going OK, they would leave Jesus alone. And they did just that.

While some praise Jesus and others were indifferent to him, some were angry, and all they wanted was to see Jesus dead. The religious leaders of Israel felt threatened because
•    Jesus didn’t do ‘church’ like they did
•    Jesus didn’t relate to God the way they taught everyone to
•    And Jesus was stealing their thunder, their glory, the love of the people they thought they should have.

They had enough, so they told Jesus to tell the crowd to stop singing, to stop shouting, to be more dignified. Jesus told them ‘If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out!’

Why? Why would the stones cry out? You see, what was happening was bigger than the parade, the crowd and the religious leaders. All history pointed to this very moment when Jesus would be proclaimed as King. The anticipation was such that if the people failed to shout their praise…the rocks, the earth would burst forth with shouts of praise.

God wanted the world to know that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and there is no other. Jesus alone is King.

Did you know that the rocks actually did cry out once when God’s people remained silent? It happened at Jesus death. There was no one to proclaim his great victory. The disciples ran away and hid, so the earth shook and there was a great quake in Jerusalem…the rock refused to remain silent.  What a sad commentary on God’s people who keep their praise, and thanks to themselves.

There is a time to laugh, to sing, to shout, to praise God unashamedly.

Transition: Yes, there was a feeling of celebration, of joy, of thanksgiving in the presence of Jesus as he passed by the faces in the crowd. Then the parade stopped. What happened next? Why did Jesus stop? Did we miss something? Turn to Luke 19: 41-44.

A Time to Cry             Luke 19:41-44
Read: Lk. 19:41-44

Jesus, seeing Jerusalem as he descended the Mt. of Olives and approached the East Gate, stopped and wept, he cried. Understand something. Jesus didn’t just stop and a single tear flowed across his cheek like some cheesy moment on a soap opera. The Greek word here for wept actually means

Def: Wept: a soul and gut wrenching, sobbing. To burst into tears with a shaking and trembling of the body. It is the same word used when Lazarus’ sisters cried, wailed at his tomb when he died and it is the same word used after Peter denied Christ three times and the rooster crowd. The Bible says
that Peter wept bitterly.

Why was Jesus crying when everyone else was celebrating? It wasn’t because he saw his own death. That’s why he came to Jerusalem.

No, Jesus was crying for the lost souls of Jerusalem because they failed to recognize his offer of salvation.
•    Instead of freedom from the burden of sin
•    Instead of eternal life in heaven,

they chose to remain bound by sin and it’s penalty…death..and perhaps without knowing it, they chose judgment.

Physically Jerusalem would be completely destroyed by the Roman Titus in 70AD. But Jesus was even more concerned about the spiritual judgment that awaited all those who reject him…Judgment that would place them for all eternity in Hell, the place of actual torment, pain and suffering…    forever.
 
The very sight of lost people broke Jesus’ heart and brought him to tears. He is deeply moved when he sees that so many people are not responding to his offer of forgiveness and eternal life in heaven. Listen to God’s heart for the lost.

Read: Ezek. 33:11‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?’

Conclusion
Even today, Jesus looks out over the cities of the world he has created: Like Oceanport, Eatontown, Rumson, Long Branch, Little Silver, West Long Branch, Monmouth Beach, Ocean, Wanamassa, Tinton Falls. What does he see when he looks into the faces of the people who live there?

•    Jesus sees people who are his, who have placed their faith in him to forgiven their sins. People who on Sunday, when Jesus is present in corporate worship,
     willingly praise him, express their joy and give thanks for his work in their lives.
•    Jesus also sees people who are indifferent to him. Who go about their lives without much thought of Jesus or what he offers. People whose lives may be going
     pretty well so there is no need for religion.
•    Jesus sees people who are angry and who openly reject Jesus and what he offers.  People who persecute his church and suppress his truth.

He sees them all…and he weeps for them all.

•    Jesus weeps for the Christian because while they are joyful and thankful on Sundays, while they are somewhat willing to express their joy and thankfulness to
     other Christians on Sunday morning, they are often unwilling to do so during the rest of the week…
        -to those who truly need to hear it
        -to those who are lost, those who are without Christ, and facing an eternity  in Hell.

    Jesus weeps for Christians because while they enjoy the celebration, they often don’t want to stop long enough to see
        -the despair of the lost,
        -the cries of the lonely,
        -the broken hearts of those who are  searching for love in all the wrong places.

And the truth is, these people live in our homes, attend our schools, work in our building and live in our neighborhoods, they are all around us.
Is your heart broken for them? Have you ever wept for them?

For the Christian there is a time to laugh and a time to cry…and both honor God, both further his kingdom. And     God expects both from the Christian.

•    Jesus also weeps for the lost in our cities, in our communities, in our schools and workplaces and in our homes.
        -He weeps when he sees a husband  beat his wife…his children.
        -He weeps for those trapped by drugs, alcohol, gambling, pornography.
        -He weeps over the graves of students who have been killed by their peers in school.
        -He weeps at lives torn apart, kids without families, hearts that are empty.
        -He weeps for those who are indifferent to Jesus who think that as long as their life is OK they don’t need him.
        -He weeps for those who are angy and reject him.

Jesus cries ‘O Eatontown. If you had only known on this day what would bring you peace.’ Our communities, our friends, our families are devastated and
•    It’s not a problem of poverty,
•    It’s not a problem of drugs or alcohol,
•    It’s not a problem with government
•    It’s not a problem of poor education.
•    It is a sin problem and only Jesus has the cure.

Jesus wept because his heart was broken. Broken because the people failed to recognize who he was and then act upon it. And they faced eternal judgment.

Could it be true today. Could God be offering forgiveness for your sin through faith in Jesus and you aren’t recognizing the offer? Many of the people of Jesus’ day missed their opportunity to find peace, joy and forgiveness..to evade judgment. Many people today do the same thing. But, there is still hope! One last text.

Read: Jn 1:11-12 ‘He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of  God.’

Don’t miss this opportunity to know peace with God that comes from the forgiveness of your sin.  Believe Jesus died for you. Receive his forgiveness and you will become a child of God….for all eternity. And you will have a reason this Palm Sunday to celebrate.