Palm Sunday

 

Psalm 118: 26 - 27 Good News Bible

May God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! From the Temple of the Lord we bless you. 27 The Lord is God; he has been good to us.
With branches in your hands, start the festival and march around the altar.

Song: Children of Jerusalem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=776497qHaRQ

Prayer:

Triumphant Lord, We rejoice in your entry into the world and into our lives! Joining with the crowds, we sing your praises and exalt your reign, guide our hearts in true worship,
fill our minds to true understanding.
Fill our disappoints with your humility,
take away our selflessness and sin
put a right and clean spirit with in us.

Lord this world seems full of war

lacking in compassion
lead all people to peace.
Help us to reflect in our lives the glory of your name. Amen

Song: Make way make

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alCQ7fb0hEA

Reading: Matthew records the scene, Chapter 21: verses 1 to 17

1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives,  Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.  3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

4 This took place to fulfil  what was spoken through the prophet: Zechariah

5 “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, & on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

6 The disciples went & did as Jesus had instructed them  7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.  8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. 16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

“Yes,” replied Jesus, Here He quotes from Psalm 8  “have you never read,“‘From the lips of children and infants  you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?

17 And he left them & went out of the city to Bethany, 

where he spent the night.

It was Sunday—the day we now call Palm Sunday. Without a doubt, this wasn’t Jesus’ first visit to Jerusalem. As a devout Jew, He would’ve gone to the city every year for the three great feasts .

1) The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Pesach/Passover)

Passover occurs in the first month of the Jewish religious calendar, the month of Nisan, corresponding to March, April, or sometimes May on our calendar. On the evening before the fifteenth day of the month, Israelites were to sacrifice a lamb and place its blood above their door posts as a sign that the angel of judgment passed over them when they were in Egypt, sparing their lives. After the Egyptians had received judgment, they advise  earnestly for Israel to leave immediately. In preparation for this exodus, the people were to make bread without leaven, for it had no time to rise. They were to eat their meal in haste knowing that the following day would be the day of their deliverance.

As a memorial, the Feast of Unleavened bread continued to be practised throughout the Old Testament times and beyond, a memorial of God’s redemptive acts for His people.

2) The Feast of Weeks (Shavout /Pentecost)

In the same way that the Feast of Unleavened Bread celebrates the origination of the Exodus, the Feast of Weeks—also known as the Feast of Ingathering (Exod. 34:22)—celebrates the culmination of the Exodus at Mount Sinai. The Feast of Weeks occurs seven weeks and one day following Passover, thus the Greek term Pentecost, meaning “the 50th (day),” following the historical account in Exodus 19:1-3 of Israel’s arrival at Sinai fifty days after the Passover.

3) Sukkoth The Feast of Booths

The Feast of Booths is prescribed in Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16. The festival is a week long feast that begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month Tishrei, roughly late-September to mid-October on our modern calendar. The feast begins with a collection of palm and willow branches to be used as a symbol of rejoicing before the LORD (Lev 23:40). All of Israel would camp out in tents for the entire week (23:42), offering all types of sacrifices as burnt offerings to the LORD (Lev 23:37-38). The prescription in Deuteronomy extends participation in the festival not only to (male) Israelite citizens but also to priests, orphans, widows, immigrants, and both male and female children and slaves (Deut. 16:14). The purpose of the Feast of Booths was to remember the giving of the Law and to renew the covenant made between Israel and the LORD (Duet. 31:10-13).

In the past three years, Christ had also ministered and taught in Jerusalem. But this Sunday His coming into the city was radically different.

By riding a young donkey into Jerusalem at a time when thousands of worshippers were coming into the city, Jesus was the centre of attention. Why would He take the place of prominence before thousands of people when for the past three years He’d deliberately kept a low profile? Why would He accept the people’s proclamation that He was King just five days before His death?

We will look at the answer later on.

Song: Ride on ride on in majesty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHeIX8xTpYs

The Gold State Coach was commissioned in 1760 by The King’s Master of the Horse, Francis Hastings, 10th Earl of Huntington, to be used at King George 3rd’s coronation and wedding to Princess Charlotte, but it was such an enormous undertaking in both design and build that the Coach wasn’t ready for use until 1762, when King George III rode in it to the State Opening of Parliament on 25^th November 1762.

The Gold State Coach has been used for every coronation since its completion: Time will tell if King Charles will use this coach but one thing I can also most grantee that he and the queen consort will not be in a Donkey cart. The crowds of People will be waving flags rather than palm leaves.

The special nature of the Gold Coach is that it is reserved for use only by the Sovereign and it is only ever escorted by the Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry dressed in full state livery. Eight white heavy horses known as Windsor Greys will pull it. This breed has been used for the past century. The Coach is made of wood with a thin layer of gold leaf over it. Due to its heavy weight and suspension—weighing four tonnes, it can only be driven at a walking pace.

Jesus did not have a carriage, His is a truly unusual way for a triumphant king to enter a city. Conquering kings normally rode on mighty stallions. But Jesus didn’t come riding a warhorse. This reveals what kind of King Jesus is. He came in meekness and lowliness. Jesus came not for war, but for peace, establishing peace between God and us

Reading: Acts chapter 10:verse 36;Luke wrote  You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

Reading: Luke’s gospel chapter 19: verses 33 to 40 He describes the scene as follows

 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, "Why are you untying the colt?" 34 And they said, "The Lord has need of it." 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near--already on the way down the Mount of Olives--the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." 40 He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."

 What did Jesus mean by this statement? Did He mean that the rocks would literally start shouting praises to the Lord? Most likely, not. The expression the stones will cry out seems to be proverbial and isn’t to be understood as a literal statement. The meaning seems to be that it is more likely that the impossible would happen than for the King of kings to enter His capital city without honour.

In saying that the stones will cry out, Jesus indicates that the people’s acclamations should be encouraged, not suppressed. The people of Jerusalem are expressing great joy, and that joy is so appropriate, so necessary, that, if they did not express praise, it would be appropriate for inanimate objects to fill the void. The idea of rocks crying out in praise to the Lord is poetic, startling imagery. Throughout Scripture there are similar poetic passages that present inanimate objects praising God. For example, in Psalm 114:6, the mountains leap. Isaiah 55:12 says, “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” Throughout Psalm 148, there are numerous examples of created things praising their Creator—the sun, moon, stars, heavens, water, sky, animals, and people. Everyone and everything was created for the pleasure of the sovereign Lord.  Colossians 1:16 says that all creation was made for God’ glory. Everything in creation declares His praise. However, humans are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), so we are the ones who should be praising God.

Let’s look at the Triumphal Entry in  John’s gospel, chapter 12, verses 12 to 19

verses 12 -13

12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!"

This act of praise was to do with the festival feast of Sukkoth The Feast of Booths it was out of season it would very much like us singing Christmas carols at Easter

14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!" 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but they had their epiphany

but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.

17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.

19 So the Pharisees said to one another, "You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.

These words may be also read, “Look how you profit nothing” the Pharisees blame each other for the failure of all their plans

Look, the world is gone after him.—They use terms which express the bitterness of their despair. They who had asked in scorn, “Have any of the of the Pharisees believed on him?” who called “cursed” “this people who know not the law” who followed Him have heard Jews of Jerusalem express their belief in Him; look this Nazarene at the head of a throng of people, to the Pharisees Jesus was a rebel.

A little time ago I asked Why would Jesus accept the people’s proclamation that He was King just five days before His death? Because all He did was the will of this Father

to fulfill the scripture.

 In Jesus's words No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.  Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.  Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.  But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Jesus came to save the world he came to save you and me.

Song: Joy to the world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZhgpb97y7Q

Prayer of thanks

Father God, Your Word is true, and You are faithful. You promised salvation through the Messiah and today we remember that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of our promised Redeemer. We acknowledge our need for salvation from our sins and rejoice that Jesus is our Deliverer. Father God we thank you that your son

Jesus Christ, came to fulfil the law and not to abolish it. That’s why He offered Himself as the sacrificial Passover lamb. He rode on a donkey as a symbol of triumph and victory. All He did,

He Did to give you Glory.

So we today sing our praises and stand amazed in the presence of your son. We give you thanks for His amazing love for us. Amen.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna! to Jesus The Son of God. Lord of Lords and King of Kings wonderful Saviour the prince of peace. What a man.

Amen

Song: I stand amazed in the presence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO2o1arNynM

Shortly after Jesus’ triumphal entry, the people would keep quiet. And, by Friday, they would yell for Him to be crucified

Benediction.

May Christ’s grace enfold you, may Gods love embrace you

may the fellowship of the Holy spirit fill you with peace - this day and always amen.