Worship - Sunday, April 10
2022-04-10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNOEbJvLXOM

Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray.

And then we're going to sing, and the kids are actually going to do something fun while we're singing today. So just cheer them on for that. So, all right. Let's go ahead and get started. We'll go ahead and stand. And today we're going to be reading together out of the book of Jonah, chapter 2, and we're going to be reading verses 7 through 9 together. It starts, "When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord." This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. God, we thank you for the opportunity to gather here today together, and we thank you for those that are watching online with us, and we thank you for the hope that we have of your steadfast love, and we thank you that salvation belongs.

We thank you for Palm Sunday and a time that we can remember when Jesus entered Jerusalem and was welcomed and praised. And we hope that we can have that much enthusiasm as we gather together each week to praise you. Thank you so much for your mercy and your grace, Lord, and allow our service to glorify you today. In Jesus' name. Amen. So today, with that, we're going to be focusing on the word "Hosanna" a lot. So, "Hosanna" is often thought of as a declaration of praise, similar to "Hallelujah," but it's actually a plea for salvation. The Hebrew root words are found in Psalm 118:25, which says, "Save us, we pray, O Lord." The Hebrew words, "Yasha," "deliver and save," and "ana," "beg," "beseech," combined to form the word that in English is "Hosanna." Literally, "Hosanna" means "I beg you to save," or "please deliver us." And so as we think on that, I just wanted to read out of Zechariah 9:9, which says,

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation is he. Humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." And so as we start our service today, we're going to be doing that. We're going to be singing "Hosanna." The kids want to go to the back now. They can do that. They have a special job during this song. So, we're going to sing together. We're going to praise the Lord, and we're going to be just focusing on his salvation and his love for us.

We're turning to you. We turn to you. Hope is stirring. Hearts are yearning for you. We long for you. 'Cause when we see you, we find the strength to face the day. And in your presence, all our fears are washed away. Washed away. Hosanna. Hosanna. You are the God who saves us. Worthy of all our praises. Hear the sound of hearts returning to you. We turn to you. In your kingdom, broken lives are made new. You make all things new. 'Cause when we see you, we find strength. To face the day. And in your presence, all our fears are washed away, washed away. Hosanna, Hosanna. You are the God who saves us. We are ready of all our praises. Hosanna, Hosanna. Come heavy way among us. We welcome you here, Lord Jesus.

Give them a hand. All right. If you'd like or if you want to keep standing, you can. There you go. We're going to be moving on into our prayer and share time next. If you're watching online, there will be a phone number for you to text on the slide to send us any prayer requests you have or anything you'd like to share with us here. We're going to be muted here during that time, so just give us a few minutes as we have that time here together, and then we'll be back and be moving into our time of communion. And so we're going to be singing together in Christ Alone.

My hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song. This cornerstone. This solid ground. Firm through the fiercest drowning storm. What heights of love. What depths of peace. When fears are still. When strife. When strife seeks. My comforter. My all in all. Here in the love of Christ I stand. In Christ alone. Who took on flesh. Fullness of God in helpless faith. This gift of love. And righteousness. Scorned by the ones he came to save. Till on that cross. As Jesus died. The wrath of God. Was satisfied. For every sin. On him was laid. Here in the death of Christ. I live. There in the ground. His body laid. Light of the world by darkness slain. Then bursting forth. In glorious day. Upon the grave he rose again. And as he stands. In victory. Sin's curse has lost its grip on me. For I am his. And he is mine. Brought with the precious blood of Christ. No guilt in life. No fear in death. This is the power of Christ.

The power of Christ in me. From life's first cry. To final death. Jesus commends my destiny. No power of hell. No scheme of man. Can ever pluck me from his hand. Till he returns. Or close me home. Here in the power of Christ I'll stand. No power of hell. No scheme of man. Can ever pluck me from his hand. Till he returns. Or close me home. Here in the power of Christ I'll stand. Good morning. We are glad that you're joining us this morning. This is our prayer and share time. It gives us some time to share those things that we need prayer for and to celebrate those things that God has done for us. So in the interest of protecting privacy, we don't live stream this portion of our service, but we are glad that you're here. If there's a way that we can pray for you, we would love to be able to do that. You can send us a message, or you can leave a comment, or there is a phone number on the side that you can go ahead and text, and we would be happy,

very happy to be able to pray with you. I just want to think with you just a little bit about how we learn to pray. We can learn by reading about prayer. We can see sample prayers, but one of the ways that has been helpful for me on learning to pray is seeing examples of how godly people pray. One of my favorites is in the book of Nehemiah, and it begins with Nehemiah hearing about the destruction of Jerusalem. Now, this is not new information for Nehemiah, but it hits him in a new way, and he will spend an extended period of time in prayer and fasting. We're not talking about just a few minutes or a few hours. We're talking about days and weeks of focused prayer. But then if you go just a little farther in Nehemiah, you will find Nehemiah before the king, and Nehemiah's face is downcast, and the king asks him, "What is wrong?" And that's kind of a loaded question,

because the king has the power over life and death, and so if he doesn't like your answers, it can go very badly for you. And so Scripture will tell us that Nehemiah just very briefly prays, maybe just a few words, "Lord, help me," and then he answers the king. And then throughout the book of Nehemiah, you'll see Nehemiah praying when surrounded with enemies, when facing difficulty. Nehemiah always spends time in prayer, and it's a wonderful lesson for us that there's times we need to be devoted in prayer in sort of an extensive period of time, and then it's also okay when we face those situations to simply very shortly ask God to help us. We need to pray, as Paul says, in all different kinds of ways and for all different kinds of things and all different kinds of people. So would you pray with me this morning? Father in heaven, we thank you for grace. We thank you that you are a good Father who hears our prayers and answers our prayers.

and answers our prayers according to not necessarily what we want, but what we need. We thank you that you watch over us. So we ask that you be with those who are watching this morning. Encourage them. Help them. Be with them as they move through this life. Help us to be an encouragement to them as well. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. So thanks for joining us. We'll be back with you in our service in just a few minutes.

We'll be back to you in our service. So we'll be back to you in our service. We'll be back to you in our service. Let's pray. We'll be back to you in our service. So we'll take you in our service. We'll be back to you in our service. We'll be back to you in our service. We'll be back to you in our service. We'll be back to you in our service. We'll be back to you in our service. We'll be back to you in our service.

I see it now. You love me from the start. I won't forget the faithful God you are. I'm confident. I'm covered in your grace upon grace upon grace. You cover us with grace upon grace upon grace. You wash away my guilt and make me clean. Revealing what you meant for me to be. Mercy bring my heart, now I can see. You love restoring every part of me. Come on. Jesus, I'm yours. Forever I surrender all my heart. I see it now. You love me from the start. I won't forget the faithful God you are. I'm confident. I'm covered in your grace upon grace upon grace. You cover us with grace upon grace upon grace Can't get enough of grace upon grace upon grace You cover us with grace upon grace upon grace

It's your grace on top of grace Grace in the driest desert Grace when I'm feeling warm Grace when I don't believe it Grace found at every turn Grace in the deepest valley Grace when the night is long Grace found in every season Grace has the final word Grace breaks the power of darkness Grace mends a wounded soul Grace moving every mountain Grace fills the deepest void Grace overtakes my battles Grace resurrects these bones Grace lifts me from the ashes Grace is my victory soul Grace is your grace on top of grace Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Praise be to God. All right. Our theme this morning as we approach Palm Sunday and as we prepare our hearts for Good Friday and Easter is that we would see the salvation of the Lord. And in the 130th Psalm, you have this glimpse of the longing for the salvation of the Lord and the fact that salvation belongs only to the Lord. So we're going to pray, and then in a few minutes, we're going to be in Matthew, the 21st chapter. We're going to spend some time there this morning. Let's go ahead and pray. Father in Heaven, I thank You for Your Word. I thank You for the words of Jonah this morning that we have heard that remind us that salvation belongs to You. I thank You for the account of Luke that we have seen, where we see how You open eyes and You invite the outsider into Your family,

and that we learn that Your Son came to seek and save those who were lost, bringing salvation with Him. As we heard the words of the songs of Your people this morning, we hear the hope for salvation, that You would encourage our hearts, that You would strengthen us, that You would fix our eyes upon You in the midst of a troubled and hurting world, that we would help us to see the love that You have for us as we see Your Son entering into Jerusalem this morning. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. One of the things that I love about the Gospels is, in fact, there is four of them. There's an important reason why there is more than one book about Jesus. And I remember growing up when we moved from Arizona to Vermont, we moved to an area that was primarily dairy farmers,

most of whom were Dutch. Many of them were, their kids were second generation, their parents were first generation. I remember one of the first times, it would have been probably second or third grade, that I went over to one of my friends' house, and it was a new experience for me because at dinner table, everybody spoke Dutch. And so I'm sitting there going, "I have no idea what's going on." If you've ever been in this situation, every time somebody laughs when they're speaking another language, the only thing you can think about is now they're laughing about me, right? They're talking, they're just sitting there having a big conversation about me. Probably not happening at all, but that's how you feel. And when we don't understand something, sometimes we get fearful, sometimes we get defensive, sometimes, right, we get frustrated.

And one of the things that I like and I love about how God communicates with us is He does so in a way to bring us to understanding. And so you have four Gospels, Matthew, primarily written to Jewish people. And so if you read through Matthew, one of the things you'll find as he tells God's people that the Messiah has come, he's going to go back continually to all of these Old Testament prophecies, these things that they would have longed for and hoped for, and he'll say, "Look at how Jesus fulfills these prophecies." And then you have Mark, who is writing to Romans, who had a tendency to sort of want to get to the chase, "Show me what Jesus does." And so Mark primarily focuses on the sort of the actions of Jesus. It's interesting, I read a statistic this week that the word "and" is like 1,375 times as used in the Gospel of Mark.

Basically, Jesus did this, and he did this, and he did this, and he did this. Mark, the shortest Gospel, but filled with the most action. And then Luke, as he writes to Theophilus, his first volume, Luke, second volume, Acts, his first volume, he says, "Look, I've gone through, and I've studied, and I've laid this out in an orderly account, and I've talked to the witnesses, and I've interviewed them." And then John, as he writes likely to both Jews and Gentiles, the last Gospel written, as he writes likely to Christians, he writes, and one of the things I love, as he writes to the Gentiles, he'll explain the Jewish stuff. And so as he writes about Jesus turning the water into wine in his first miracle, he'll have this little side note that's like, here's these big pots that you probably don't know about, and here's what they were used for, and he does so that the people can understand.

And one of the reasons we have these four Gospels is because these different cultures needed to hear Jesus in their own language. Same reason why this morning I'm not speaking French, or speaking Greek, or speaking Spanish, because we understand English. And so, God speaks to us in a way that can be understood, right? To the Jews in a way they'd understand, to the Greeks in a way that they would understand, to the Romans in a way that they would understand, so that Jesus would be understood. Now in the four Gospels, you find that there are these pivotal moments, and this account of the triumphal entry of Jesus is one of those, right? As these Gospel writers are writing for their specific audiences, each one of them oftentimes includes little sort of different glimpses of Jesus.

In fact, John will say there's so much about Jesus that if you tried to write it all down, it would fill up every book in the world. But it's interesting that all four Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, include the triumphal entry. And the reason for this is because we are about to enter the most important time in the ministry of Jesus. This last week in the life of Jesus, oftentimes called the Holy Week or the Passion Week, we know more about Jesus' activities in this week than we do about any other portion of His ministry. In fact, somewhere between like a third and 40% of the Gospels are devoted to this last week, and it all begins with the triumphal entry. And the triumphal entry takes place at Passover. It's one of three festivals that were required for Jewish men and oftentimes taking their family to come to Jerusalem.

And because of all of these visitors and pilgrims coming to Jerusalem for Passover, the population of the city would just simply explode. So Jerusalem, and we're not quite sure of the number, but likely around 40,000 people sort of at a normal time during the year. And Passover would add at least 200,000, maybe 250,000. Some commentators will say as much as a million people. And I remember my first year in Winchester, and I remember hearing about this Apple Blossom thing, and I hear a lot of the local people grumble about traffic and busyness and all these people coming into town. And I was like, "How bad can it be?" And then I went to Apple Blossom, and it's like, "Yeah, from now on, I'm going to be out of town when everybody shows up." And that's a small picture of what's happening in Jerusalem. A town of 40,000, all of a sudden, you add 200,000, 250,000,

maybe more people, right? Every available space is full. Everybody with a room for rent is renting out. All your family is coming into town. This city is going to be noisy. It's going to be packed. It's going to be busy. And in all of these people coming to Jerusalem, you have this beautiful picture of unity. The psalm that Brent just read is a psalm that would have been sung by these people as they go uphill to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is at the top of a hill. And these pilgrims, as they come from all over, not just all over Israel, but all over the world, would sing through these psalms. And think about how wonderful that is. That maybe you're coming from Rome, and it's the first time and maybe the only time you'll get to come to Jerusalem.

And you get closer to the city, and you're seeing more and more people, and then all of a sudden somebody breaks into a song, and you know it. Right? It's not a foreign song that you've never heard, but it's one that you sing, and you worship with in your synagogue in Rome. And the guy from Ephesus, or Philippi, or all of these little towns come, and all of a sudden you realize for a moment that you're not alone. We used to go to this conference in Oklahoma, and I remember one of the trademarks of this, there was a restaurant, terrible restaurant, but fun atmosphere. And so everybody, you try to, you know, leave the last session, like they're closing in prayer, and you're making a beeline for the door to get in line, and you're standing there, and the one year, I remember,

everybody just started singing. And it was this sort of weird thing, because I've never experienced anything like that, but it was also wonderful, because it's all these people, no idea who they are, but they're singing the same songs you are. And isn't that a wonderful picture of unity as they come in to the city? And additionally, in addition to all the people, and all the excitement of people that you've never met who sing the same songs and have the same culture, there is this big buzz about Jesus, because Jesus, not too long ago, has gone to a little town about two miles from Jerusalem. He stood in front of a tomb, and he said, "Lazarus, come out!" And Lazarus, who has been dead for three days, walks on out of the tomb. And this has been noticed, it's been talked about, and Jesus' fame has grown.

And so the whispers through the crowd are, "Is Jesus coming? Is He going to be there?" And so we're going to pick it up in Matthew, in the 21st chapter, beginning in verse 1. "Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, 'Go to the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and the colt with her. Untie them and bring them to Me, and if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and He will send them at once.'" This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'"

The disciples went and did as Jesus directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt, and put on them their cloaks, and He sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds went before Him, and those that followed Him were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna to the highest!" And when they entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up saying, "Who is this?" And the crowd says, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee." And so the question that we ask as Jesus enters Jerusalem like this is, "What is the point?" Right? Because Jesus is behaving so differently from the times in the past. If you

remember during His ministry, there will be people who are like, "I'm going to tell everybody!" And Jesus says, "Don't tell everybody." There's times where He has faced opposition. Fronting that opposition, He simply goes somewhere else. But now Jesus, it seems, is intentionally causing a scene. He's intentionally confronting the city of Jerusalem. He's making a declaration in this entrance to Jerusalem. He is saying and doing something that is very specific. First of all, Jesus, as He comes into Jerusalem like this, is proclaiming that He is the promised Savior. And He's not just proclaiming it, He's confirming it. Right? That's what it means when it talks about how He fulfilled what was written by the prophet going back to the book of Zechariah, chapter 9 and verse 9, where we have read that this morning, about here He comes on a donkey, on the foal of a donkey. Jesus

is saying, "That's who I am." He's also, in His choice of an animal, making a pretty serious statement. As He comes not on a war horse, not standing in the back of a chariot being escorted like a Roman general, but as He comes on this humble animal, this beast of burden, to the Jewish people there, it would throw back in their mind to another son of David. If you remember, when David is about to die, there is some confusion among his sons. One's trying to declare himself king here, and so David's wife comes in and says, "You said Solomon would be the king." And so here's what David does. David says, "Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came to the king, and the king said to

them, "Take with you my servants of your Lord, and have Solomon my son. Ride my own mule." Not a donkey, but a beast of burden. Bring him down to Gihon, and let Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet there, anoint him king over Israel, then blow the trumpet, and say, "Long live King Solomon, and then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, for he shall be king in my place, and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah." And so Jesus, by taking a donkey, a beast of burden, just like David prescribed for his son, his own mule, a beast of burden, coming into Jerusalem to this proclamation of joy. He's saying, "Just like that son of David came to Jerusalem to be king over Israel, I am coming to be king over Israel." It's a picture of

Jesus declaring his kingship. The crowds understand this perfectly, right? They understand what Jesus is doing. They understand the claim that he is making. He said, "Why are they taking off their robes and throwing it on the donkey, taking off their robes and throwing them on the street?" There was another king of Israel. His was Jehu. He has a reputation for being a crazy driver. They look out over the city wall and say, "Who is that driving like a madman? Oh, it must be Jehu, son of Nimshi," because that's how he drives. So growing up, mom would always say when we were driving a little crazy, "You're driving like Jehu." And so Jehu comes. He's been anointed king. The prophet comes and speaks to him. And he goes outside, and all his friends say, "What did the prophet say?" "Oh, you know how he is. He's just saying something." I said, "No, no.

What did the prophet say?" He says, "He has joined me king over Israel." Listen to the reaction. "Then in haste," verse 13 of 2 Kings 9, "Then in haste, every man of them took his garment, put it under him on the bare steps, blew the trumpet, and proclaimed Jehu as king." Their reaction to Jehu being the king is to take off their garments, give him a place to stand, and laying them down so he could walk upon them. The crowd here is acknowledging that Jesus is claiming to be king by acting just like Jehu's friends did when he became king. In the words, the crowds acknowledge the salvation of Jesus. As they quote from the 118th Psalm, "Save us, we pray, O Lord. O Lord, we pray, give us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Bless you from the house of the Lord."

They're quoting the 118th Psalm. And the crowds don't just shout about this, but Jesus acknowledges it, and I love this. Because there are some religious leaders, and they're really, really mad, and the crowds are shouting the 118th Psalm about Jesus. And some Pharisees in the crowd will say to Jesus from Luke 19, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." And He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the students would cry out." How embarrassing would that have been for the Pharisees? Jesus, tell the crowds to shut up, because they're proclaiming you king. And so, if Jesus would have done that, and nature itself would have rejoiced. That's not a new thing in the Old Testament. There are psalms about the hills and the trees proclaiming the glory of God. Isaiah 55 said this, "For you shall go out in peace."

And sometimes we've sang a song based on this. "You shall go out in joy, be led forth in peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." And the Pharisees know that there are these references in the Old Testament, and they have to be terrified when they hear Jesus say, "Hey, if the crowds don't proclaim it, you're going to get the trees and the rocks and the hills proclaiming who I am." I want you to see that this is intentional. Jesus isn't riding this donkey because He's tired. It's a two-mile walk from Bethany to Jerusalem. It's not a long walk. Jesus has spent His entire life walking. Jesus is intentional about what He's doing. This is not an accident. This is not a coincidence.

Jesus has a plan. And there's this tendency by some who think of this last week, "Man, Jesus just got Himself into a bad situation," but that's not what is happening. From Genesis 3:15 onward, we see this week and these events predicted. Read through Isaiah 53 and hear about the cross. Luke 9:51, He set His face to go to Jerusalem over and over again. He will tell His disciples, "We're going to go to Jerusalem." And they're going to kill me. This is not an accident. This is intentional by Jesus. And what's remarkable to me is how Jesus reacts to all of this. I imagine the crowds are filled with joy and celebration. I imagine the disciples are walking around and happy about what is happening, right? Jesus is finally getting the recognition that He deserves. And I imagine they're standing tall and they're saying,

yes, it's finally happening. And look at how Jesus responds in Luke, the 19th chapter. When He drew near to the city, He wept over it, saying, "Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace, but they are hidden from your eyes." You have the joy of the crowds, probably the pride of the disciples. And how does Jesus respond to this intentional moment? He responds with tears. Because He knows that there are those in this crowd who are seeking to kill Him. That some in this crowd will reject Him. Some in this crowd, likely not everyone, but some in this crowd will on Friday be shouting something very, very different. And Jesus doesn't respond with anger. He doesn't respond with pride saying, "I'm finally getting the respect I deserve."

Jesus responds with a broken heart. You know why? Because He loves them. Even those who seek to kill Him, His heart breaks for them. You see, Jesus doesn't just come as a King. He comes in love. To invite His people in. He protects, He defends, and He welcomes people in. In verse 12, Jesus entered the temple. Likely this happens on Monday. There's some debate about that. It may have happened now. It may have happened on Monday. Jesus enters the temple and drove out all those who sold and bought in the temple. And He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And He said to them, "It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers." And so the temple is this massive complex.

And in it, you have divided courts. So you have the court of the Gentiles, where anybody could go. You have the court of the women, where Jewish men and women are allowed to go. You have the court of Israel, where Jewish men are allowed to go. You have the inner courts of the temple, where only the priests can go. And in these outer courts, what you have is absolute chaos. We'll find in Mark's account, Mark chapter 11, that because the temple context was so big, you're trying to get from one side of Jerusalem to the other, it's easier just to walk through the temple. It'd be like our neighbors who live back here, instead of driving down the road and pulling in their driveway, just walk through the church on the way to their house.

Can you imagine trying to worship and pray if you're a Gentile in those outer courts, and people are walking through with their bags and their packs, and merchants are traveling through the middle of your area of worship? But more than that, there was blatant dishonesty. There was a tax for the temple, for the upkeep and the maintenance of the temple. That's not a bad thing, but what would happen is the religious leaders of the day would say, "Sorry, your Roman currency can't be used in the temple, so you've got to convert it into the temple coins, so that you can pay the temple tax." And they would not give you a good exchange rate. So it was almost blatant thievery in order for you to help support the temple. But more than that, you were required to bring sacrifices.

Those sacrifices would have to be inspected. And so you would bring your lamb or your pigeons or your sacrifice. They would have their animal inspectors out there. And you go, "Oh, I'm sorry. This animal just won't be able to be sacrificed, but I can trade you in on a new animal." And then he would charge you an excessive price for a new animal. Take your old animal, put it in the pen, and sell it to the next guy for an exorbitant price. Literally, these people are stealing from God's people. And how does Jesus respond? He drove out all who sold and bought in the temple. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he said, "My house shall be called the house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers."

And imagine, for example, Brent mentions the Ethiopian eunuch who would only have been allowed in the court of the Gentiles. And he has traveled a great distance to pray in the temple, and instead he finds himself worshiping in the middle of a highway, and a bunch of people are stealing by changing money or selling sacrifices. And for a brief time, there is quiet and prayer for those people who are seeking to know God because of Jesus. And then the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, the children crying out in the temple, Hosanna to the son of David, they were indignant. And they said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?"

And Jesus said to them, "Yes, have you ever read out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise?" And leaving them, he went out of the city and lodged there. Do you see how Jesus loves the hurt and the broken? There's a lot happening this week. Thursday night, he's going to be arrested. Friday, and into Friday, he's going to be beaten. He's going to be mocked. He's going to go through six trials that are a farce of justice. He's going to be nailed to a cross, and he's going to die. But in that moment, what does he do? Those who are hurt and broken, Jesus takes time to heal and to care about. You see, Jesus comes from the hurt and the broken. And then I love these last verses. The children crying in the temple, "Oh, the son of David!"

And they were indignant. He said to him, "Do you hear what they're saying?" And Jesus says, "Oh yeah, I hear what they're saying." And I love this picture of the children, because there is a tendency among children to copy what they see other people doing. And so, I was talking to my mom about this this morning, when I was probably two years old or maybe a little older, we had a guy come to our church. He was doing a series on Revelation. And I got home and flipped my little rocking chair over like a pulpit. Talked about the angels holding back the four winds in Revelation. And here I am preaching, I guess, in terms of how my life turned out. That probably could be counted as some sort of foreshadowing. Preaching from the book of Revelation at that age.

But that's what these children are doing. They've seen Jesus coming. They've seen the palm branches. And so these children are running through the temple. And they're waving palm branches, and they're praising Jesus. And I imagine, we don't know for sure, I imagine as Jesus moves to the temple, they're kind of escorting Him both in front and back, just like their parents did the day before. And they're celebrating, and the Pharisees go, "These kids are a little too loud to be in church." We're okay with church being used as a highway. We're okay with stealing people's money by having an exorbitant exchange rate. We're okay by disqualifying their sacrifices and selling them another sacrifice with an exorbitant markup. But these children, that is too far. And what does Jesus do? And I love this so much.

"Have you heard them?" He just simply says, "Yes." And then He turns it around, and He goes, "Haven't you read? Have you never read?" So remember the Pharisees, the religious leaders, they would likely have spent so much time in the Word of God, that much of it would have been memorized by intention and simply by familiarity. And He goes, "Do you guys even have a Bible? Have you ever even opened your Bible to read what it says?" And then He just quotes it to them. "Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies, you have prepared praise." And I love that picture, that the noise of the children for Jesus, it's not disruptive, right? It's wonderful praise of the Creator, God. And you see, Jesus, He comes with a broken heart for the city. He loves the hurting and the broken.

He loves the children who are singing His praises. It is beautiful and wonderful. And in fact, if you move through the ministry of Jesus, you will find that Jesus becomes incredibly angry at those who seek to separate Him from those who need Him the most. But the times in Scripture where Jesus, it says, becomes angry are the times where people who surround Him say, "Well, they don't need to talk to Jesus." They're not important enough. Whether it's the children or the hurting or the broken, Jesus loves. This morning, I want you to see that Jesus, first of all, is the King who comes. But secondly, He wants you, right? There's been times where we've probably felt like we were a burden or an obligation. Or you're invited just because you have to be invited. That's not true with Jesus.

He wants the hurting. He wants the broken. He wants the loud kids in church. In fact, He doesn't just want them. He's excited about them. I love that Jesus is excited about us. In our hurts, in our brokenness, in our sin and rebellion. Jesus wants us. It's a wonderful picture. I want you to see that Jesus is your Savior. I want you to see that He wants you. That He has come to break down the barriers. There is hope in our Savior. Salvation, as Jonah says, belongs to the Lord. Or as Psalm 3 says, we'll read in a minute, "Salvation belongs to the Lord." You see, we live in a world that is filled with brokenness. And we see it, Romans 8 talks about how creation is groaning. That creation looks at this world and says, "It's not supposed to be like that."

And Paul says, "We feel it too." As we wait for the restoration, that is what Jesus comes to do. He comes to save. He loves you. He wants you. And He comes and He saves you. Let's pray. Father in Heaven, thank You for grace for Jesus. Thank You for our King who comes, not angrily, not in pride and with great ceremony, but rather who comes humbly to show us that we don't have to be afraid, that we don't have to run, we don't have to hide. He wants to come and He wants to open our eyes. He wants to show us that we are wanted. And He comes and saves us. Not through great strength, but through great sacrifice. And so as our hearts this week focus on the work of Jesus, on the cross,

we focus on His victory through the empty tomb, I just ask that You would encourage us, help us to see that salvation truly belongs to You. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So we're going to stand and sing. Seems appropriate as we have talked about throughout this morning about the greatness, the goodness of God, how He comes to save, for us to sing about His greatness. So let's go ahead and stand as we sing.

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the works Thy hand hath made. I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder, the path throughout the universe displayed. Is my soul, my Savior God to Thee? How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! And when I think that God His Son not sparing, sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in. That on the cross my burden gladly buried, He bled and died to take away my sin. Then sings my soul, my Savior God to me. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!

Then I shall bow in humble adoration, and then proclaim, "My God, how great Thou art!" Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Thank you for those of you who have joined us this morning here in person, and those who have joined online, we're thankful for you. A couple of quick announcements. There will be no Wednesday evening Bible study this week. Instead, we will have a Good Friday service. So we will meet here at 7 p.m. this Friday night, as we remember and consider Jesus dying in our place for our sins. So that's this Friday night at 7 p.m. And then Sunday we gather as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. We see the joy and the victory.

Paul literally says this is the foundation of our Christian faith, that Jesus died for our sins, according to Scripture, was buried, and on the third day rose again. And so I would encourage you to join us both Friday night and Sunday morning. We are excited to do that. So I'm going to have a word of prayer. I'm going to read from just one verse from the third Psalm, and then we will sing the doxology. Father in heaven, I thank you for grace. I thank you for hope. I thank you for your son. Help us this week as we remember the gospel. Help us this not to be a yearly thing, but rather a daily thing for us as we see how the gospel has saved us and transformed us, how it helps us and encourages us.

So we thank you for what you have done for us. Just be with us as we leave this place, that you would encourage us, that you would help us as we fix our eyes upon you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the third Psalm, it just simply ends with these very simple words: Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be upon your people.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him, above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. Amen. Amen.