1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,300 I want you to know what God is doing in this passage. 2 00:00:07,300 --> 00:00:15,300 I want you to know what God is doing in this passage. 3 00:00:15,300 --> 00:00:21,300 I want you to know what God is doing in this passage. 4 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:39,000 The Lord is my strength and my song. 5 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:41,000 He has become my salvation. 6 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:45,000 Glad songs of salvation are intents of the righteous. 7 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:48,000 The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. 8 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,000 The right hand of the Lord exalts. 9 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,000 The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. 10 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:56,000 I shall not die, but I shall live and recount the deeds of the Lord. 11 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:01,000 The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death. 12 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:06,000 Open to me the gates of righteousness that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. 13 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,000 This is the gate of the Lord. 14 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:13,000 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 15 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:18,000 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 16 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:20,000 This is the Lord's doing. 17 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,000 It is marvelous in our eyes. 18 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:25,000 The Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. 19 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,000 If you want to join me for the next verses. 20 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:30,000 Save us, we pray, O Lord. 21 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:34,000 O Lord, we pray, give us success. 22 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:39,000 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 23 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:43,000 We bless you from the house of the Lord. 24 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,000 God is God, and he has made shine upon us. 25 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:52,000 Bind the festal sacrifice with cords up to the horns of the altar. 26 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:56,000 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you. 27 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:59,000 You are my God, and I will extol you. 28 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:02,000 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, 29 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:06,000 for his steadfast love endures forever. 30 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,000 This is the word of the Lord. 31 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,000 Let's pray. 32 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,000 God, we thank you so much that we're able to gather here today, 33 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,000 and we're able to celebrate Palm Sunday together, 34 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:22,000 and to be able to read the words of the Old Testament 35 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:26,000 that are repeated later on by those who greet Jesus, 36 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:29,000 and just with the same joy and the same excitement, 37 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,000 that your steadfast love endures forever, 38 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:36,000 and we thank you so much for the promises in those words. 39 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:40,000 Help us today as we worship you, and allow this service to glorify you. 40 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:42,000 In Jesus' name. Amen. 41 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:45,000 All right. We're going to be singing together Hosanna, 42 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:51,000 and there's going to be a stampede of children walking around with palm branches. 43 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:56,000 Feel free to join them if you want, or not. Just watch, and it's fun. 44 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,000 Let's go. 45 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:49,000 Stirring hearts are yearning for you. We long for you. 'Cause when we see you, we find strength to faith. 46 00:08:52,000 --> 00:09:20,000 And presence without fears are washed away, washed away. Hosanna. Hosanna. You are the God who sings our praises. 47 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:48,000 Hear the sound of hearts reading to you. We turn to you. In your key broken love made you. 48 00:09:48,000 --> 00:10:16,000 In you, you make all things new. 'Cause when we see you, we find strength to face the day. And presents, all our fears are washed away. 49 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:44,000 Hosanna, Hosanna. You are the God who saves us. We're worthy of all our best. Hosanna, Hosanna. 50 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:55,000 You have your way among us. We welcome you here, Lord Jesus. 51 00:10:55,000 --> 00:11:03,000 Good job. We only lost one shoe. Nobody got their eyes turned down. 52 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:14,000 What God could remember no wrongs we had done. 53 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:23,000 Our mowing comes thrown into the sea with our bottom of shore. 54 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:29,000 Our sins, they are many. His mercy is more. 55 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:34,000 Praise the Lord. 56 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:39,000 His mercy is more. 57 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:44,000 The darkness in every morn. 58 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:49,000 Our sins, they are serious more. 59 00:11:49,000 --> 00:12:01,000 What patience would wait as we constantly roll. 60 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:04,000 The Father is calling us home. 61 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:10,000 He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor. 62 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:15,000 Our sins, they are many. His mercy is more. 63 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:19,000 Praise the Lord. 64 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:25,000 His mercy is more. 65 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:30,000 Stronger than darkness, new every morn. 66 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:35,000 Our sins, they are many. His mercy is more. 67 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:46,000 What riches of kindness He lavished on us. 68 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:50,000 His blood was the payment, His life was the cost. 69 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:55,000 We stood in the morning of death, we could never afford. 70 00:12:55,000 --> 00:13:01,000 Our sins, they are many. His mercy is more. 71 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:12,000 Praise the Lord. His mercy is more. 72 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:17,000 Stronger than darkness, new every morn. 73 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:29,000 Our sins, they are many. His mercy is more. 74 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:34,000 Stronger than darkness, new every morn. 75 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:40,000 Our sins, they are many. His mercy is more. 76 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:46,000 Our sins, they are many. His mercy is more. 77 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:51,000 All right, you may be seated. 78 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:17,000 Let's pray. 79 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:48,000 Let's pray. 80 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,000 Let's pray. 81 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:39,800 As we prepare for communion this morning, we are going to sing Your Great Name. And along 82 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:44,000 with that, if you haven't had a chance to pick up communion elements and you would like 83 00:22:44,000 --> 00:23:02,000 to, they are on the table right as you come in. So let's go ahead and sing together. 84 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:28,000 Lost are saved, find their way at the sound of your great name. All condemned, feel no at the sound of your great name. 85 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:54,000 Every fear has no place at the sound of your great name. The enemy, he has to leave at the sound of your great name. 86 00:23:54,000 --> 00:24:20,000 Jesus, worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us. Son of God and man, who are high and lifted up. Let all the world will praise your great name. 87 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:44,000 All the weak find their strength at the sound of your great name. Hungry souls receive praise at the sound of your great name. 88 00:24:44,000 --> 00:25:10,000 The fatherless, they find their rest at the sound of your great name. Sick are healed, and the dead are raised at the sound of your great name. 89 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:36,000 Jesus, worthy is the Lamb that was laid for us. Son of God and man, who are high and lifted. Then all the world will praise your great name. 90 00:25:36,000 --> 00:26:02,000 Redeemer, my hidden Lord Almighty. My Savior, Defender, you are my King. Redeemer, my hidden Lord Almighty. My Savior, Defender, you are my King. 91 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:28,000 Jesus is the Lamb that was slain for us. Son of God and man, who are high and lifted up. That all the world will praise your great name. 92 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:41,000 Your great name. Your great name. 93 00:26:51,000 --> 00:27:06,000 In John the 12th chapter, right after Jesus has triumphantly entered Jerusalem, it's written beginning in verse 20. 94 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:12,000 Now among some of those who went up to worship at the feast, that's the feast of Passover, there were some Greeks. 95 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:19,000 And those are people who are not Jewish, maybe they're God-fearers, which is a name for those who worship the God of Israel, 96 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:26,000 but are not. They're not proselytes following Jewish religion. 97 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:35,000 They're a son of Philip, and likely they come to Philip because his name is Greek, who is from Bethsaida in Galilee. 98 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:45,000 And they asked him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." And then Philip went and told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 99 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:56,000 And what's remarkable about Philip and Andrew is they both have this gospel track record of bringing people to Jesus. 100 00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:03,000 In fact, in John chapter 1, one of the first people you see bringing somebody to Jesus is Philip. 101 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:11,000 We don't find them mentioned often in the Gospels, but when we do, they are consistently bringing people to Jesus. 102 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:20,000 In fact, when Jesus is getting ready to feed the 5,000, and he will actually ask Philip, "How much is it going to cost?" 103 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:26,000 And Philip begins to do the math, carry the wand, times it by 5,000. And he's like, "I don't know." 104 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:31,000 And Andrew goes, "Hey, we've got a boy over here with a lunch." And he brings this little boy to Jesus. 105 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:38,000 But they don't just do this in the Gospels. As we look at the historical record about Philip and Andrew, 106 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:47,000 they will proclaim the goodness of Jesus and seek to bring people to him until they take their last breath. 107 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:56,000 These are two of Jesus' disciples whose historical and biblical track record is proclaiming Jesus. 108 00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:05,000 And as we come this morning to partake of this bread and this cup, one of the things that we say almost every Sunday in 109 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:15,000 1 Corinthians 15, for as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, remember what it says? We proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 110 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:25,000 You see, Jesus has called not just Philip and Andrew to be proclaimers of the good news, but he has called you and I to proclaim the good news. 111 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:34,000 And in order to proclaim the good news, we first must understand it, we must bring it into our heart, and we must be reminded of it. 112 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:42,000 And Paul, when he's talking to the Corinthian church about the Lord's Supper, and how in general they are not doing things very well, 113 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:50,000 one of the things that he will say to them is that when you sit down to eat this meal, to remember Jesus, to proclaim the good news of the gospel, 114 00:29:50,000 --> 00:30:03,000 he'll say something very simple. He'll say, "We are to examine ourselves." And so this morning I would call you to examine your heart, examine who it is that our lives 115 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:12,000 are proclaiming, because a lot of times we're really good at proclaiming ourselves, or proclaiming our ideas, or proclaiming our 116 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:21,000 opinions, or proclaiming our agenda. And maybe what we need this morning is to repent of proclaiming all of those other 117 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:32,000 things, and to proclaim Jesus. We also see this as Philip goes to Andrew, and Andrew and Philip go to Jesus. We have this invitation 118 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:39,000 to come and see Jesus, and Jesus will say to these many, the Greeks are accompanying them as well. He says, "I'm 119 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:47,000 about to be lifted up, and everybody is going to see me. Not just those who are close to Jerusalem, but 120 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:55,000 everyone will come and see me." And he will say this, "If anyone serves me, he must follow me. For where I am, 121 00:30:55,000 --> 00:31:01,000 there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father and I will honor him." And the message 122 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:07,000 to these Greeks, they come seeking to see Jesus, and they likely get to, the message is that it won't 123 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:13,000 just be for you, but it will be for the whole world. And so this meal is a proclamation, this meal is a 124 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:22,000 moment of repentance, and this meal is an invitation to see Jesus. And I don't know where we all are in 125 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:30,000 this moment, but in our weakness, we can see the strength of our Savior. In our fear, we can see the courage, 126 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:37,000 and take courage in what Jesus has done. And in our hopelessness, we can find hope, and in our loss, 127 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:44,000 we can find comfort. And I want you this morning to see Jesus, the one who goes before us, the one who 128 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:52,000 leads us, the one who dies for us, the one who rises again and gives us his victory. In this moment, I want us 129 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:59,000 to see Jesus. So if you would, pray with me before we partake. 130 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:06,000 Father in heaven, I thank you for the good news of the gospel. I thank you for these examples of faithful 131 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:14,000 proclamation that you have given us. Help us to, as we eat this bread and drink this cup, to remember what 132 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:22,000 it is that we hope in, who it is we follow, where it is we walk, and may we be proclaimers of the good news. 133 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:28,000 May we repent of those things where we have lifted ourselves up more than you, where we have 134 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:36,000 chased after something else than you, and may you draw us to yourself and to see your goodness and your grace, 135 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:42,000 that you would comfort the broken hearts, that you would strengthen those who are struggling to stand, 136 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:47,000 that you would give courage to the fearful, and that you would help us to see your grace. 137 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:50,000 It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 138 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:57,000 So if you would, take the bread with me as Jesus gives it to his disciples and tells them, 139 00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:06,000 "This is my body, which is for you," and then he calls us to remember him. 140 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:13,000 And if you would also take the cup with me, as Jesus will say to the disciples, 141 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:26,000 "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." 142 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:34,000 And let's remember this as well, for as often as you and I eat this bread and drink this cup, 143 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:44,000 we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Before we pray and dive into our time this morning, 144 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:55,000 I want to read to you from Matthew, the 21st chapter, and to hear this account of the triumphal entry, 145 00:33:55,000 --> 00:34:01,000 and just to remind you, this morning we're going to be kind of jumping around Matthew, Mark, Luke, 146 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:09,000 and John to see this event that is occurring and to remind you that each Gospel writer, as they write, 147 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:17,000 it's like looking at a photo album. So if we all gather to see something amazing and we all take a picture of those things, 148 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:24,000 one of the things that's going to be interesting is we're going to see how one person might focus on this 149 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:37,000 and one person might see it in this way, and in the Gospels we have this remarkable privilege of seeing these sort of different pictures of Jesus in the midst of the same event. 150 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:47,000 In fact, in all of the Gospels there are only ten events in the life of Jesus that are recorded in all of the Gospels, 151 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:53,000 and this is the third of them. The rest of them come after this. 152 00:34:53,000 --> 00:35:01,000 And so I'm going to read from Matthew's account, and then we will spend some time together considering what is happening here. 153 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:08,000 So beginning in verse 1, "Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, 154 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:13,000 Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, 'Go into the village in front of you, 155 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:18,000 and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.' 156 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:26,000 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' then he will send them at once.' 157 00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:32,000 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, 'Say to the daughter of Zion, 158 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:39,000 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, on the foal of a beast of burden.' 159 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:45,000 The disciples went and did as Jesus directed. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, 160 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:49,000 and he sat on them. And most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, 161 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,000 and others cut branches from the tree and spread them on the road. 162 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:56,000 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, 163 00:35:56,000 --> 00:36:04,000 'Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!' 164 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:08,000 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, 'Who is this?' 165 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:13,000 And the crowd said, 'This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.' 166 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:17,000 This is the word of the Lord. 167 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:24,000 And there is so many wonderful things in this event and in the things that surround this event. 168 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:26,000 One that was just brought up to me this morning, 169 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:32,000 one of the reasons likely commentators say that they bring the foal of the colt, 170 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:36,000 so the colt is what Jesus will ride into Jerusalem, 171 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:39,000 likely never been ridden before, and as my brother mentioned this morning, 172 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:46,000 this might be the first biblical rodeo that you see in all of Scripture. 173 00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:49,000 So we're going to pray and dive into it this morning. 174 00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:51,000 Father in heaven, we thank you for Jesus. 175 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:53,000 We thank you for grace. 176 00:36:53,000 --> 00:37:00,000 We thank you for this moment where you clearly declare kingship. 177 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:05,000 Help us to see what kind of king that you have sent to us. 178 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:10,000 Help us to see humility and to love and to be drawn near to you. 179 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:14,000 It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 180 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:21,000 And so it's very easy, at least for me, to come to Palm Sunday thinking we've sort of all got this figured out. 181 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:27,000 And probably most of us, in terms of the facts of the events that are recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 182 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:32,000 most of us probably do have this all figured out, right? 183 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:37,000 Jesus is going to grab some guy's donkey and the colt of the donkey, and he's going to ride into town. 184 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:40,000 Everybody's going to be excited. There's going to be palm branches. 185 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:44,000 They're going to be quoting from the 118th Psalm. There's going to be some controversy. 186 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:49,000 Jesus is going to come in, check out what's happening in town, go back to Bethany that night, 187 00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:53,000 and we can close in prayer and be done with this. 188 00:37:53,000 --> 00:38:01,000 It's very easy to come to these sort of very well-known and frequently talked about accounts 189 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:06,000 in the life of Jesus and begin to take them for granted, 190 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:11,000 to not really see any more than the facts that are recorded. 191 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:14,000 It's easy for us to say, "Hey, I know it's going to happen. 192 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:18,000 I don't need to hear the rest of this story." 193 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:23,000 And so we come to this this morning, and this is a text that I've sort of struggled with 194 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:30,000 because it's very easy for me to say, "Well, I've heard these facts a million times since I was a little kid. 195 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:33,000 We've heard about the palms. We've heard about the singing. We've heard about the Psalms. 196 00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:38,000 But I want us to, this morning, not focus on the facts of the event, 197 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:44,000 but rather what Jesus is accomplishing in these facts." 198 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:51,000 Because what we have here is Jesus doing something, I think, that is unexpected. 199 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:57,000 And as we began to read this morning, when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, 200 00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:02,000 Jesus, during this last week of his life, is going to stay in the town of Bethany, 201 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:05,000 likely with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, and the disciples. 202 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:09,000 And every day, he's going to walk down from the top of this mountain down to Jerusalem. 203 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:13,000 It wasn't a very long walk and spend time in Jerusalem. 204 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:20,000 And so as he is walking from Bethany to Jerusalem, there's going to be a little town partway in between, 205 00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:28,000 and he's going to send his disciples through to pick up this mama donkey and the baby donkey. 206 00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:35,000 And likely, this person is a follower of Jesus, because Jesus will tell you, say, "The Lord has need of it." 207 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:39,000 They know who the Lord is, and so they will release it and have no problems. 208 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:45,000 The disciples aren't just simply going into the middle of this and stealing some guy's livestock. 209 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:51,000 And so from Bethpage down the Mount of Olives, Jesus will ride on the donkey. 210 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:57,000 And for us, that's sort of a normal thing that happens during the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday. 211 00:39:57,000 --> 00:40:04,000 But this is a remarkable change from how Jesus, this far, has lived his life, right? 212 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:10,000 Something has dramatically changed in this moment, because everywhere else we see Jesus, 213 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:16,000 with the exception of the time he crosses the Sea of Galilee back and forth with his fishermen friends, 214 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:23,000 he has been on foot. He has been to Jerusalem before now, and he's always walked. 215 00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:29,000 He's walked down the mountain into Jerusalem, walked out of Jerusalem, up the mountain, everywhere he has gone. 216 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:36,000 For the last three years, Jesus has walked, and then all of a sudden, on this particular Sunday, 217 00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:45,000 as they're walking to Jerusalem, something changes, and Jesus says, "Go get me something to ride on." 218 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:49,000 The other thing that is so remarkable about this is that for most of his ministry, 219 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:56,000 Jesus has avoided sort of these big public displays of excitement. 220 00:40:56,000 --> 00:41:02,000 So for example, in John chapter 6, after he feeds the 5,000, and the crowds begin to look at Jesus, and they say, 221 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:07,000 "You know what? This guy can heal the sick. He can feed us. He would make a great king." 222 00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:15,000 When Jesus sees that they want to make him a king, he immediately heads into the mountains and leaves them all behind. 223 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:23,000 But now here are people who are treating him as a king, and Jesus doesn't just accept it, 224 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:28,000 but you will find him encouraging it and defending it. 225 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:34,000 And the next day in the temple, as all the little kids are running around recreating what happened the day before, 226 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:39,000 and the Pharisees go, "Tell them to be quiet." Jesus goes, "They're not wrong. Let me show you the Bible. 227 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:44,000 Out of the mouths of infants and babies, you have ordained praise." 228 00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:54,000 And so Jesus has gone from quietness and walking to now writing and accepting and encouraging this kind of public praise. 229 00:41:54,000 --> 00:42:00,000 But more than that, throughout His ministry, when Jesus comes to heal people, oftentimes He sort of tells them, 230 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:05,000 "Don't make a big deal about this. Don't talk about this. Don't tell everybody about this." 231 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:11,000 Because Jesus, at that point in His ministry, is not seeking sort of this acclimation. 232 00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:17,000 What He is seeking is to simply do good, to share the gospel, to teach His disciples. 233 00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:22,000 But now, He will be in Jerusalem, likely on Monday. 234 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:28,000 All the sick people in Jerusalem come, and Jesus heals them all, in full view of everybody. 235 00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:34,000 You see, something has changed in the ministry of Jesus. 236 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:39,000 You see, what Jesus is doing here, is He is publicly proclaiming Himself. 237 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:48,000 And the reason for this is because Jesus' ministry is about to change. 238 00:42:48,000 --> 00:43:02,000 In Luke chapter 9 and verse 21 and 22, the crowds are around, and He will encourage the disciples not to say what happened to the Mount of Transfiguration. 239 00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:05,000 And here's the reason why they weren't to proclaim. 240 00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:14,000 The Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and on the third day... 241 00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:18,000 Jesus comes down off the Mount of Transfiguration with those three disciples. 242 00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:28,000 He tells them that this is not necessarily the time to talk about this, because there is a time coming when He will be arrested and He will be killed. 243 00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:47,000 And what Jesus is saying, by publicly riding into Jerusalem, by accepting the praise of the crowd, by healing in public, by defending to the religious leaders that this is the right thing to do, it means that this time is now. 244 00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:56,000 Luke chapter 9, the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests of scribes, and be killed, and on the third day rise again. 245 00:43:56,000 --> 00:44:10,000 What Jesus is doing as He accepts all of these things is we are seeing that the time for Him to save mankind is now. And what He is doing in this moment is He is proclaiming salvation. 246 00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:24,000 He is saying, "I am coming here to save." Right? As prophesied in Genesis 3:15, to crush the head of the serpent, as promised to Abraham, "Through you all the nations of the earth will be blessed," 247 00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:36,000 to sit on the throne of David as Isaiah and Jeremiah and the prophets point to me, "I am here to save." And here's the remarkable things. 248 00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:46,000 The crowd looks at this, and they want salvation. In Matthew 21:9, it says, "It's the crowds that went before and after Him and followed Him." 249 00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:53,000 So Jesus, as He comes in, He has crowds in front of Him, crowds behind Him. We learn from one of the other Gospels 250 00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:58,000 that people are coming out of Jerusalem to join the crowds. This is a massive moment. 251 00:44:58,000 --> 00:45:04,000 Here is what they are singing, saying, and what we said and sang this morning. 252 00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:10,000 "Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest." 253 00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:19,000 Now, the word "Hosanna" is not just a word of praise. So, for example, "Hallelujah" is a combination of two Hebrew words 254 00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:26,000 that mean "praise God." And so often we use "Hosanna" in the same way. We say, "Hosanna," meaning to praise God. 255 00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:32,000 That's not what the word means. It comes from two Hebrew words that mean, "I'm begging you to save me." 256 00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:40,000 So these crowds, as Jesus comes into Jerusalem, yes, they're praising Jesus, but they're praising Him by saying, 257 00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:46,000 "You are our only hope. You are our salvation. Lord, save us." 258 00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:54,000 And so Jesus comes to save, and the crowds are calling for Him to save them. 259 00:45:54,000 --> 00:46:00,000 The problem is, is at the heart of this issue, there's two very different ideas of salvation. 260 00:46:00,000 --> 00:46:07,000 The crowds want a political salvation. They want their rulers overthrown, and the taxes taken away, 261 00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:13,000 and the temple reformed from all of its corruption, and Jesus comes to save their eternal soul, 262 00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:19,000 not just to make their physical existence a little bit better. 263 00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:25,000 And what you find is that so often we have a different idea of salvation. 264 00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:30,000 And that might be a maturity issue. And I was thinking about this, if you asked my kids, 265 00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:36,000 one of their favorite places to eat in the world, they'd be like, "Domino's! We love Domino's!" 266 00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:40,000 Now, if you ask me what my favorite place to eat is, it's not going to be Domino's, 267 00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:47,000 and if you're looking at the reviews online, it's probably going to have a few more dollar signs than Domino's does, right? 268 00:46:47,000 --> 00:46:51,000 We have different ideas of what is best. 269 00:46:51,000 --> 00:47:00,000 And this crowd has one idea of what is best, and Jesus has the truth of what is really best. 270 00:47:00,000 --> 00:47:06,000 And what I love about the accounts as we see the salvation that God has brought to us, 271 00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:09,000 God doesn't give us what we want, He gives us what we need. 272 00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:11,000 Isn't that so much better? 273 00:47:11,000 --> 00:47:18,000 Because so many times the thing that I desperately want in my heart of hearts is absolutely the wrong thing. 274 00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:23,000 And the thing that I want least of all so many times is exactly what I need. 275 00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:30,000 And Jesus in His love doesn't just go, "I'm going to quiet them down by giving them something to make them be quiet, to make them shut up." 276 00:47:30,000 --> 00:47:34,000 Jesus shows up and goes, "I'm going to give them exactly what they need. 277 00:47:34,000 --> 00:47:42,000 I'm going to save their souls, the brokenness they've been running from and hiding from and making excuses. 278 00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:47,000 I'm going to take that into myself, and I am going to save these people." 279 00:47:47,000 --> 00:47:52,000 I want you not just to see that Jesus proclaims salvation in these moments. 280 00:47:52,000 --> 00:47:57,000 I want you to see how Jesus goes about doing it. 281 00:47:57,000 --> 00:48:03,000 So as Jesus proclaims salvation, He's going to proclaim it in a way that for all of us, 282 00:48:03,000 --> 00:48:09,000 that for all of these different groups is understandable and addresses their true need. 283 00:48:09,000 --> 00:48:14,000 So this crowd is not a big unified crowd in terms of who they are. 284 00:48:14,000 --> 00:48:20,000 What we find from the Gospels is that there are some people who, like these Greeks we talked about a few minutes ago, 285 00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:23,000 are kind of outsiders. Likely there's foreigners there. 286 00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:27,000 There's going to be some common everyday Jewish people that are there, 287 00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:32,000 and they've known about Jesus, they're celebrating Jesus, they're here to see Jesus. 288 00:48:32,000 --> 00:48:37,000 There's going to be Jesus' disciples and followers, probably a large group at this point, 289 00:48:37,000 --> 00:48:40,000 and there's going to be people who oppose Him. 290 00:48:40,000 --> 00:48:44,000 And so you have this diverse group of people that have gathered, 291 00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:48,000 and Jesus is going to see each of their needs, 292 00:48:48,000 --> 00:48:54,000 and He's going to seek to proclaim salvation to them in a way that is understandable. 293 00:48:54,000 --> 00:49:01,000 And the first way He does it, in the most general way, is that He announces the King is here by showing up 294 00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:07,000 on the back of an animal, riding into a city in the midst of cheering, celebrating crowds. 295 00:49:07,000 --> 00:49:12,000 Luke will say this, "They brought this colt to Jesus, throwing their cloaks on it, 296 00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:18,000 they set Jesus upon it, and as He rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road." 297 00:49:18,000 --> 00:49:23,000 Now, to any Greek or to any Roman, and likely to many Jewish people, 298 00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:30,000 this is a picture of a king entering a city. The reason they're throwing their cloaks on the road 299 00:49:30,000 --> 00:49:36,000 is so that the hooves of the animal the king is riding don't have to touch the common dirt. 300 00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:43,000 And so here Jesus comes and communicates unmistakably that He is a king. 301 00:49:43,000 --> 00:49:50,000 Now, to some of the Jewish people who are there, this would be even more deeply significant. 302 00:49:50,000 --> 00:49:59,000 Because Jesus is not coming as a Roman king or as a Greek conqueror on a war horse with His army marching 303 00:49:59,000 --> 00:50:08,000 before Him and after Him with their chariots and their displays of plunder from battle, but Jesus comes on a donkey. 304 00:50:08,000 --> 00:50:16,000 And this is remarkable, and it communicates to Jesus' Jewish audience because Jewish kings generally did not ride war horses. 305 00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:28,000 They rode donkeys or they rode mules. In fact, one of the remarkable connections to the Old Testament from this passage is when David is about to die 306 00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:37,000 and he has promised that his son Solomon would sit on the throne as David is on his deathbed, 307 00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:43,000 and there's murmurings that one of David's other sons is going to proclaim himself to be king. Do you know what David does? 308 00:50:43,000 --> 00:50:49,000 He gets his mule or his donkey. He sends his employees to do so, his subjects to do that. 309 00:50:49,000 --> 00:50:57,000 And they place Solomon on the back of the mule or the donkey, and then they walk him through Jerusalem, 310 00:50:57,000 --> 00:51:05,000 proclaiming, "This is the king!" And the crowds gather, and you know what they do? They go, "Long live the king!" 311 00:51:05,000 --> 00:51:15,000 And here, in this account, you have another son of David, seated on an animal, coming into Jerusalem, 312 00:51:15,000 --> 00:51:22,000 being proclaimed by the crowds that this is the king. If you are Jewish watching this happen, 313 00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:32,000 they have mistakably a copy of what David did with Solomon. And so, to the foreigners, the Greeks, 314 00:51:32,000 --> 00:51:37,000 and the Romans that see this, they say, "The king is coming." To the Jews that are seeing this, 315 00:51:37,000 --> 00:51:45,000 they say, "The king is coming." And just in case there's any doubt, Matthew points us to Zechariah 9:9 316 00:51:45,000 --> 00:51:54,000 about, "Your king is coming, seated on the colt, or the foal of a donkey." It's clear Jesus is 317 00:51:54,000 --> 00:52:02,000 proclaiming Himself to be king, not just through His actions, but through His fulfillment of prophecy. 318 00:52:02,000 --> 00:52:10,000 And then, Jesus will, dealing with those who seek to oppose Him, will be really, really direct about it. 319 00:52:10,000 --> 00:52:14,000 In Luke chapter 19, we find this: "Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, 320 00:52:14,000 --> 00:52:23,000 Teacher, rebuke your disciples." And He answered, "I tell you, if these, speaking about the crowds, were silent, 321 00:52:23,000 --> 00:52:30,000 the very stones would cry out." And what Jesus is doing there is referencing several psalms 322 00:52:30,000 --> 00:52:36,000 that talk about how creation cries out in worship to God, and here comes the enemy that goes, 323 00:52:36,000 --> 00:52:41,000 "Jesus, we understand the message that You're sending, that You are the king, and that You're coming into this city 324 00:52:41,000 --> 00:52:49,000 as the picture of the Son of David in fulfillment of Messianic prophecy." Stop it! And Jesus will just 325 00:52:49,000 --> 00:52:56,000 simply look at them and very clearly state, "If they don't sing, the rocks will." And can you imagine 326 00:52:56,000 --> 00:53:03,000 what kind of situation that would have put the Pharisees in if the crowd stopped singing, and the 327 00:53:03,000 --> 00:53:10,000 very stones doing it removed every doubt in every person's mind. And I imagine the Pharisees just simply 328 00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:17,000 say, "Well, you know, let the crowd sing, because we don't want that to happen." You see, Jesus, even to 329 00:53:17,000 --> 00:53:29,000 his enemies, is declaring his supremacy, not just as a king, but as a king over all creation. And so Jesus, 330 00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:33,000 as he proclaims his kingship, it's interesting, he doesn't just speak in ways that people understand, 331 00:53:33,000 --> 00:53:39,000 he speaks in how they need. Right? To the Jews and the Romans, he speaks very generally in a picture 332 00:53:39,000 --> 00:53:45,000 that they will understand. To the Jews, he speaks clearly, calling on prophecy. And to the Pharisees, 333 00:53:45,000 --> 00:53:54,000 with their hard hearts that need to be broken and plowed up to see the goodness of God, Jesus speaks 334 00:53:54,000 --> 00:53:59,000 and declares to them a little bit harder. Have you ever seen one of those things with a fire extinguisher 335 00:53:59,000 --> 00:54:06,000 or a fire alarm that says, "In case of emergency, break glass." What Jesus is doing when he confronts 336 00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:11,000 the Pharisees in this manner. He's not just being rude. He's not trying to score points by winning an 337 00:54:11,000 --> 00:54:17,000 argument with them. What he is doing is seeking to break the hardness of their heart so that they can 338 00:54:17,000 --> 00:54:23,000 see the goodness of God. And I want you to see the depth of this salvation. Not just that Jesus 339 00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:31,000 proclaims it. Jesus proclaims it in an understandable manner. But listen to Luke 19. And when he drew near 340 00:54:31,000 --> 00:54:36,000 and saw the city, and so the way that this geography is laid out is Jesus is coming down 341 00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:42,000 the Mount of Olives. All of Jerusalem would have been spread out before him. And in the 342 00:54:42,000 --> 00:54:47,000 midst of these cheering crowds, in the midst of his victory over the Pharisees, by quieting 343 00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:54,000 them, by pointing to his deity, he looks out across this city and he'll say this, "He wept over 344 00:54:54,000 --> 00:55:04,000 it." And that's not just sort of the emotional feeling or a tear going down your cheek. This is a picture of 345 00:55:04,000 --> 00:55:11,000 Jesus sobbing over the city of Jerusalem. And he will say this with tears flowing down his face, "Would 346 00:55:11,000 --> 00:55:18,000 that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace." But they're hidden from your 347 00:55:18,000 --> 00:55:23,000 eyes. And they're not hidden because Jesus is clearly declaring them. They're hidden because the hardness of 348 00:55:23,000 --> 00:55:29,000 their hearts. Not because God isn't showing them, but because they refuse to see it. And 349 00:55:29,000 --> 00:55:35,000 Jesus said, "If you would open your eyes and see the things that make for peace, because as 350 00:55:35,000 --> 00:55:40,000 judgment the days will come upon you, when your enemies set up a barricade around you and surround 351 00:55:40,000 --> 00:55:46,000 you on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children with you, and they will not 352 00:55:46,000 --> 00:55:52,000 leave one stone upon another in you because you did not know the time of your visitation." And this is 353 00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:59,000 such a startling contrast because think about the crowds. They are joyful in celebrating their 354 00:55:59,000 --> 00:56:04,000 Savior. I imagine the disciples are walking with their heads up in kind of a strut in their 355 00:56:04,000 --> 00:56:10,000 steps because Jesus is finally doing what they wanted Him to do. The Pharisees are angry and 356 00:56:10,000 --> 00:56:17,000 watching from the sidelines, and here is Jesus in contrast to all of them, with tears running 357 00:56:17,000 --> 00:56:28,000 down His face, crying over the hard-hearted rejection of Him by the city of Jerusalem. Jesus 358 00:56:28,000 --> 00:56:36,000 weeps, and Jesus sees that for the majority, this moment is just an experience to be had, 359 00:56:36,000 --> 00:56:42,000 not a life to be transformed. They are curious, but they won't dig any further. They are upset, 360 00:56:42,000 --> 00:56:48,000 but they won't dig any further or any deeper to see the truth. And in this, here's what we see: 361 00:56:48,000 --> 00:56:57,000 the love of Jesus. Here comes the King, riding down the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem. Here comes the King, 362 00:56:57,000 --> 00:57:06,000 and He comes, not to rule, but to be ruled over by His enemies. Not to beat and attack His adversaries, 363 00:57:06,000 --> 00:57:16,000 but to be beaten and attacked by His adversaries. Not to ascend to a throne, but to be lift cross. 364 00:57:16,000 --> 00:57:25,000 And He loves and He saves by giving His life. As He goes down this very mountain, surrounded by cheers, 365 00:57:25,000 --> 00:57:32,000 the very mountain that Thursday night He will weep and sweat drops of blood in a garden on this very same mountain, 366 00:57:32,000 --> 00:57:43,000 overlooking this very same city. And it's on this mountain surrounded by cheers that you will hear the soldiers' boots as they come 367 00:57:43,000 --> 00:57:55,000 to take Him away and to arrest Him. And the thing that is remarkable about this is that Jesus declares He is King. 368 00:57:55,000 --> 00:58:01,000 He does it in a way that is understandable. And He does it not to prove that He is right, 369 00:58:01,000 --> 00:58:08,000 but because He deeply loves those. And what I love about this, and that is so remarkable, 370 00:58:08,000 --> 00:58:14,000 is that often times when you and I hear about the love of Jesus, we simply think maybe that's not for me. 371 00:58:14,000 --> 00:58:24,000 Maybe Jesus can't love me. Let me read to you the verses that happened before the triumphal entry in the Gospel of John. 372 00:58:24,000 --> 00:58:29,000 When a large crowd of Jews learned that Jesus was in Bethany before He comes down the mountain, 373 00:58:29,000 --> 00:58:37,000 they came not only on account of Him, but also to see Lazarus. And so they are coming to see Lazarus, 374 00:58:37,000 --> 00:58:44,000 who Jesus has just raised in John chapter 11 from the dead. And so they hear Jesus is back in Bethany, 375 00:58:44,000 --> 00:58:50,000 Lazarus is there who's been raised from the dead. Let's all go see Jesus, and let's all go see Lazarus, 376 00:58:50,000 --> 00:58:56,000 the proof that Jesus can raise people from the dead. Now look at the religious leaders. 377 00:58:56,000 --> 00:59:04,000 So the chief priest made a plan to put Lazarus to death as well. Because on account of him, many 378 00:59:04,000 --> 00:59:10,000 Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. And the religious leaders, according to that verse, 379 00:59:10,000 --> 00:59:19,000 they're going to kill Jesus, and as well, they're seeking to kill Lazarus. And so here is this deep, 380 00:59:19,000 --> 00:59:25,000 abiding, evil plot. We're not just going to kill Jesus, we're going to kill this guy that Jesus 381 00:59:25,000 --> 00:59:32,000 saved. And as Jesus comes down the mountain, these are the people that surround him, and tell him the 382 00:59:32,000 --> 00:59:37,000 crowds are to be quiet, and that Jesus seeks to break up the hardness of their heart by pointing 383 00:59:37,000 --> 00:59:43,000 them to who he is and what he does. And he's not just going to do it now, but the next day as they 384 00:59:43,000 --> 00:59:51,000 beseech him with questions, as he cleanses the temple, this is Jesus reaching out to those hard-hearted 385 00:59:51,000 --> 00:59:58,000 religious people, showing them that there is hope. And I want you to see that even those who are his 386 00:59:58,000 --> 01:00:09,000 enemies, even those that plot to kill him, Jesus loves, and that Jesus weeps over. The Apostle Paul says it 387 01:00:09,000 --> 01:00:16,000 this way, "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came in to save sinners 388 01:00:16,000 --> 01:00:23,000 whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me that is the foremost, Christ Jesus might 389 01:00:23,000 --> 01:00:29,000 display his perfect patience as an example to those who are to believe in him for eternal life." And what the 390 01:00:29,000 --> 01:00:36,000 Apostle Paul says is, "If you think that Jesus doesn't love you, one of the reasons that he saved me, the 391 01:00:36,000 --> 01:00:43,000 Apostle Paul, is so that you could be assured that Jesus loves even his enemies. Those tears Jesus weeps 392 01:00:43,000 --> 01:00:48,000 as he comes down the mountain, they are not just for these crowds who are so caught up in the 393 01:00:48,000 --> 01:00:54,000 excitement and have never gone beyond curiosity. These tears are for the religious leaders who are 394 01:00:54,000 --> 01:01:08,000 actively seeking to kill him and his friends. You are not beyond the love of Jesus." So the question is, how will you 395 01:01:08,000 --> 01:01:18,000 receive Jesus? You see, Jesus welcomes you. He is excited to see us. You see it as he welcomes 396 01:01:18,000 --> 01:01:25,000 the children the very next day, as the Pharisees accuse him and tell him to silence the children, 397 01:01:25,000 --> 01:01:33,000 he will say, "Out of the mouths of babies you have ordained praise." Jesus will welcome you. 398 01:01:33,000 --> 01:01:40,000 And the next day in the temple, Jesus will. In the brokenness of your life, in those hurts, those sorrows, 399 01:01:40,000 --> 01:01:49,000 the remnant of unforgiveness that is turned into bitterness, Jesus can heal your heart and he can restore your soul. 400 01:01:49,000 --> 01:01:57,000 And Jesus might come in and cleanse the temple. The third thing he does on Monday is he comes in 401 01:01:57,000 --> 01:02:02,000 and knocks over all those that are looking for something else. And he says, "You've missed the point." 402 01:02:02,000 --> 01:02:14,000 I want you to see that Jesus loves you. He welcomes you. He heals you. And when necessary, even if it's difficult 403 01:02:14,000 --> 01:02:23,000 and even if it hurts, he will correct us. And this is not just a call for those who are outside of Christianity. 404 01:02:23,000 --> 01:02:29,000 It's a call for those of us who are inside of Christianity. Those of us who have gotten our priorities shifted 405 01:02:29,000 --> 01:02:34,000 and are chasing something else and worshiping something else and focusing on something else, 406 01:02:34,000 --> 01:02:40,000 Jesus is calling to you and I as well, saying, "Come to me. Let me heal the depths of your soul." 407 01:02:40,000 --> 01:02:46,000 All of those things that you're chasing to try to find completeness in, they won't satisfy you. 408 01:02:46,000 --> 01:02:52,000 And maybe Jesus is even coming to call us to repentance by cleansing our temple 409 01:02:52,000 --> 01:02:58,000 as he comes in and turns over our life that we would see that our only hope is in him. 410 01:02:58,000 --> 01:03:01,000 Would you pray with me? 411 01:03:01,000 --> 01:03:08,000 Father in heaven, thank you for calling us to yourself, for inviting us into your family, 412 01:03:08,000 --> 01:03:11,000 for pursuing us even though we were your enemies. 413 01:03:11,000 --> 01:03:17,000 Help us to see your heart for the lost and that we would have the same heart. 414 01:03:17,000 --> 01:03:23,000 That we would weep over those who have not seen your goodness and your kingship. 415 01:03:23,000 --> 01:03:29,000 And that in our lives you would help us to trust you and to follow you as our king. 416 01:03:29,000 --> 01:03:35,000 We thank you that you welcome us, we thank you that you heal us, and we thank you that you correct us. 417 01:03:35,000 --> 01:03:38,000 It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 418 01:03:38,000 --> 01:03:43,000 We're going to stand and sing "This is Amazing Grace." 419 01:03:53,000 --> 01:04:05,000 Who breaks the power of sin and darkness? Whose love is mighty and so much stronger? 420 01:04:05,000 --> 01:04:11,000 The King of glory, the King above all kings. 421 01:04:11,000 --> 01:04:22,000 Who shakes the whole earth with holy thunder? Who leaves us breathless in oar and wonder? 422 01:04:22,000 --> 01:04:29,000 The King of glory, the King above all kings. 423 01:04:29,000 --> 01:04:51,000 This is an ace. This is unfailing love. That you would take my place and my cross. You would lay down your life. 424 01:04:51,000 --> 01:05:20,000 That I would be set free. Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. Who brings our chaos back into order? Who makes the orphan a son and daughter? The King of glory, the King above all kings. 425 01:05:21,000 --> 01:05:49,000 Who rules the nations with truth and justice. Shines like the sun in all of its brilliance. The glory, the King above all kings. This is amazing grace. This is unfailing love. 426 01:05:51,000 --> 01:06:20,980 That you would take my place. That you would bear my cross. You would lay down your life. That I would be set free. Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. 427 01:06:20,980 --> 01:06:50,960 Worthy is the lamb who was slain. Worthy is the king who conquered the grave. Worthy is the lamb who was slain. Worthy is the king who conquered the grave. This is amazing grace. Failing love. That you would take. 428 01:06:50,960 --> 01:07:20,940 That you would bear my cross. You would lay down your life. That I would be set free. Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. 429 01:07:20,940 --> 01:07:33,940 Thank you for your announcements as we get ready to close. First of all, there is no Wednesday evening Bible study this week. We have events on Thursday and Friday, so I would invite you to join us for those as well. 430 01:07:33,940 --> 01:07:50,920 First of all, Thursday night, we have our Passover meal. It's been a few years since we have done this. Passover, in the Old Testament, you find it's about remembering the promises of God, four promises specifically that God will bring us out. 431 01:07:50,920 --> 01:08:20,900 that God will deliver, that God will redeem you, and that God will bring you to be His people. And so we are going to gather. And the wonderful thing about Passover is not just that we're remembering these promises, but you're remembering these promises in a touch that you can feel, that you can taste. And so sort of it's a lot different from any other kind of thing that we've done, and I don't think we've done it since 2019, since before COVID. 432 01:08:20,900 --> 01:08:50,880 I encourage you to join us. It's at 6 p.m. is when we're going to begin. It's a family event. It's, you know, specifically as God is giving instructions for the Passover. He explains that this is supposed to be a moment for adults to teach children. And so it's sort of this wonderful moment where we can all see all the Old Testament points forward to Jesus. So if you're interested in joining us on Thursday, I would just ask that you RSVP. 433 01:08:50,880 --> 01:09:20,860 I've done that to me already. We have a sheet in the back to fill out. The reason for that is it requires some special elements for this. And one of the things that Brent has to do is dig up some horseradish so that we can have herbs together. As you remember, the suffering of slavery followed by the sweetness of the apples and the honey that are mixed together to remind us of the freedom of God. So we need to make sure that we have enough of all these sort of special elements for the symbolic Passover. 434 01:09:20,860 --> 01:09:50,840 meal that we can set up the tables appropriately. So we'd love for you to join us. It's a lot of fun. And that's Thursday at 6 p.m. Also Friday at 6 p.m. we're going to be doing a Good Friday service. If you have not been here for a Good Friday service, it'll be a little darker, a little quieter. It's a time of sort of remembering the cross and seeing the suffering of the cross so that when we contrast that with the joy of the resurrection on Easter, 435 01:09:50,840 --> 01:10:20,820 Sunday, we can see how clearly God brings from suffering to joy and how He comes to our sins and rises again for our victory. It's 40 minutes long, and that will be Friday night at 6 p.m. And so if you haven't talked to me afterwards, we'd love to have you RSVP to our Passover meal. So I'm going to pray. I'm going to read a verse from 1 Timothy that we read just a little bit earlier, and we'll sing the 436 01:10:20,820 --> 01:10:50,800 Doxology. Father in Heaven, thank You for grace. Thank You for loving us. Thank You for these moments to remember the goodness of the Gospel. Be with us as we walk through this week, as we consider Jesus our King, and as we see Him, may we proclaim Him to others just as Jesus has proclaimed to us in a way that is clear and understandable and humble and filled with love. May we be a light in a dark and broken world. It's in Jesus' name we 437 01:10:50,800 --> 01:11:20,780 we pray. Amen. And so Paul in 1 Timothy 1 will say this, we read it just a moment ago, the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost. And so he will explain that Jesus does so, so that others can see that God loves those who seem unlovable and encouraged by that thought, Paul will say this, to the King of Ages, immortal, invisible, the 438 01:11:20,780 --> 01:11:25,780 only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 439 01:11:50,760 --> 01:11:55,760 Praise Father, Son, Holy Ghost. 440 01:12:20,760 --> 01:12:22,760 Father, Son, Holy Ghost. 441 01:12:50,760 --> 01:13:20,740 Father, Son, Holy Ghost. 442 01:13:20,760 --> 01:13:50,740 Father, Son, Holy Ghost. 443 01:13:50,760 --> 01:14:20,740 Son, Holy Ghost. 444 01:14:20,760 --> 01:14:50,740 Son, Holy Ghost. 445 01:14:50,760 --> 01:15:20,740 Son, Holy Ghost.