April 17, 2025 • 24 mins
The rhythm of Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday's triumphant yet misunderstood entry—a king riding on a donkey while crowds wave palm branches, hoping for political liberation but receiving something far more profound. This sermon explores the rich symbolism of Holy Week and how it creates essential spiritual rhythms that help us focus on timeless truths throughout our year.
As we journey through Luke 19, we discover the crowd's expectations didn't align with Jesus' mission. While they waved palm branches—symbols of military victory since the Maccabean Revolt—Jesus wept over Jerusalem, knowing they missed "the way to peace" standing right before them. His path forward would confound everyone: overturning temple tables, claiming divine authority, and ultimately gathering his disciples for one final Passover meal.
The Lord's Supper, instituted during this last meal, transforms the ancient Passover symbols into something revolutionary. The unleavened bread—originally representing Israel's hasty exodus from Egypt—becomes Christ's body broken for us. The cup of blessing becomes the "new covenant" in his blood, establishing a relationship not just with Israel but with all who come to his table.
When we participate in communion today, we're literally dining with the divine. This sacred moment offers weekly transformation as heaven and earth intersect at the table. Jesus welcomes everyone—even Judas was at that first table—reminding us that communion isn't about our worthiness but about God's unconditional love reaching into our brokenness.
As we prepare our hearts for Easter, remember that God's redemptive plan often looks different than expected. The disciples were confused and would soon flee, but God's cosmic redemption was unfolding perfectly. This week, embrace a posture of remembrance and openness to how God might surprise you with resurrection power in unexpected ways.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
First and foremost, welcome to Holy Week.
Today is the start of Holy Week.
Today is Palm Sunday and Ithink some of us might wonder
and say, hey, kyle, I don't knowwhat Holy Week means, but I bet
you can say Holy Moly, what aweek it's been.
Okay, I'll sit down now.
It was good while it lasted.
(00:23):
But this is an interesting timeof year.
We're in the springtime.
I see spring budding.
You know, maybe things aregoing to start blooming here
soon.
I just changed the winter tiresoff my vehicle to summer tires,
which I think in the Midwest islike jinxing yourself.
So if there's a blizzard inlike two weeks, that's my fault.
I'm sorry, guys.
Blizzard in like two weeks,that's my fault.
(00:45):
I'm sorry, guys.
I brought it on us all.
It's also kind of aninteresting time in the lull of
the sports calendar too.
We've got the masters endingtoday, we just had the
basketball ncaa end and it'sgoing to be a while before the
nfl picks back up.
Or maybe it's just a season ora time of transition.
So you know, you've gotgraduations or weddings coming
up, school's going to be out,you're signing up for summer
camps.
There's sort of a rhythm or alife seasonal change that
(01:08):
happens as summer comes around.
But here we are at Palm Sundayand Holy Week, and what do those
words mean?
As we stare into the comingSunday, we stare into Easter
Sunday.
If we remember, easter is themost important weekend in the
Christian year, and sometimes Iwonder if we get that.
(01:30):
Without Easter Sunday and theresurrection of Jesus, our faith
means nothing.
That's why Easter Sunday is soimportant each and every year.
And so today we have our workcut out for us, because I want
us to ask the question what doesit mean for us to enter Easter
(01:50):
week faithfully?
How do we approach EasterSunday next week and how do we
start today preparing our heartsfor that?
So I'll ask the question todaywhat does Palm Sunday mean for
us?
And then we're going to look atLuke, chapter 22, and what that
means when Jesus gathers hisdisciples one last time and
prepares the Lord's Supper.
What does communion and theLord's Supper mean for us every
(02:14):
week as we practice it?
I want to ask that as well.
And then, lastly, I want us tofocus in on what the Lord's
Table means, both for us everySunday that we practice it and
specifically here on Easter week.
So let's jump right in.
What does Holy Week and PalmSunday mean?
Now, one of the things we enjoyevery time we come to Madison
(02:34):
Church on a Sunday is our praiseand worship team, because they
take time to practice, theyprepare each and every week,
they help us enter into a holyspace by making music to our
hearts, to our souls.
Now, if we take a look at theirinstruments up here, we've got
a drum set, we've got a guitar,we've got a keyboard.
(02:54):
And if I were to start walkingover and just playing one of
these instruments, I think youwould quickly realize I am not
qualified to be part of theworship team.
I think if I walked over hereto Jeff's guitar and I started
plucking strings, I'd make sound.
I would make sound, but itwouldn't be music.
And why is that?
(03:16):
I think one of the mostfundamental aspects about music
is rhythm, something I was bornwithout, but I think that rhythm
is an important part of that.
If I go and bang on the drumset without any rhythm, then I
don't sound any different than ahandyman trying to build a deck
(03:36):
in their backyard, and that'sone of the reasons that Holy
Week becomes so important for usto celebrate each and every
year.
It creates a spiritual rhythmfor us, much like in daily
prayer or a daily scripturerhythm that we want to develop,
or much like the Sunday practiceof coming here to celebrate.
It's a rhythm.
It's a spiritual rhythm for us.
Rhythms help us focus onspiritual truths to be reminded
(03:58):
of each year Christmas, that's atime to anticipate God choosing
to become incarnate for us, tomeet us where we're at.
We have Lent, a time toremember that we are dust and to
feel the pain of our sin anddarkness and what oppresses us.
And then Easter, a time tofocus on the power of the
(04:18):
resurrection and what it meansfor us in our lives.
Now, if we tried to celebrateHoly Week every week, it might
tire us out, just like if wetried to run a marathon each and
every week.
We just weren't made for that.
But we are built for a rhythmthat shapes our lives in
different points throughout theyear.
So, for today, we enter intoHoly Week with Palm Sunday.
(04:39):
And what does that mean For us?
To get into that, let's go backa couple weeks to what Stephen
preached on just a few weeks agoin Luke, chapter 19.
Now to set the stage for Luke,chapter 19,.
Remember, the theme of Luke isJesus on his journey to
Jerusalem.
He begins his journey in Luke,chapter 9.
He arrives in Jerusalem at Luke, chapter 19.
(05:01):
And through his wonders, hismiracles, his sayings, he's
gathered large crowds.
That crowd, it's comprised of afew different folks.
You have his disciples, hismost faithful disciples, you
have the religious leaders, thePharisees, and then you have the
simply, the curious, thewonderers, the people who are
drawn to this figure who hasdone great things and said great
(05:24):
things.
So let's look at Luke, chapter19, 29 through 40.
It says this Jesus sent twodisciples ahead.
Go into that village over there, he told them, and as you enter
it you will see a young donkeytied there that no one has ever
ridden.
Untie it and bring it here, andif anyone asks why are you
(05:44):
untying that colt, just say theLord needs it.
So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said, and
sure enough, they were untyingit.
The owners asked them why areyou untying that colt?
And the disciples simplyreplied the Lord needs it.
So they brought the colt toJesus and threw their garments
over it for him to ride on.
And as he rode along, thecrowds began spreading their
garments on the road ahead ofhim, and when he reached the
(06:06):
place where the road starteddown, the Mount of Olives, all
of his followers began to shoutand sing as they walked along,
praising God for all thewonderful miracles they had seen
.
Here.
It is Blessings on the King whocomes in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven and glory inthe highest heaven.
But some of the Pharisees amongthe crowd said Teacher, rebuke
(06:30):
your followers for saying thingslike that.
He replied.
If they kept quiet, the stonesalong the road would burst into
cheers.
That is Palm Sunday.
This is Palm Sunday.
This is Palm Sunday, thetriumphant entry of our King
bringing peace to this earth,peace to us in our pain and
(06:54):
redemption to us in our brokenshame.
And it's not just a restorationof humanity, though, because
even the rocks will cry out,knowing that they too are part
of God's creation.
They will also be redeemedthrough the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus.
Now, we don't see the use ofpalm tree in the Luke's gospel,
(07:15):
but we see it used in in theother gospels the palm branches.
They weigh palm branches as hecomes in, and scholars believe
that the term palm and the useof the palm branches it
represents strength in kind ofthis time period in the world as
a victor would come back, theywould be greeted after they
conquered a land.
They'd be greeted with palmbranches shaking.
Now for the crowd in thismoment, they would be reminded
(07:39):
of a story, a story that wasvery peculiar to Israel.
See, about 150 years beforethis very moment where Jesus is
walking into Jerusalem, therewas a Jewish revolt known as the
Maccabean Revolt, and in that aleader named Simon went and
purged the temple that had beentaken over by some Greeks, a
(08:00):
group of Greeks.
And after Simon purges thetemple and he leads the
Israelites to purify it one moretime, he was a victor by force,
and it's likely that, even aspure the intentions were for the
crowd in this moment, they werealso caught up in longing that
same deliverance.
Just like Simon had deliveredthem from the Greeks, perhaps
(08:22):
Jesus could deliver them fromthe Romans and the Roman
occupation.
And I think that sometimes Iunderstand the crowd in this
moment too, laying down garmentsand singing praises to our king
, but also unable to imagine thereality that is just about to
befall their Lord.
And I also think that they sayin this moment, just like I do
(08:45):
blessed is he who comes in thename of the Lord to deliver us
right and I think I still getlost at that part To deliver us
from the Romans right.
To deliver us just like Mosesdelivered the Israelites from
the Egyptians right, or, fastforwarding to this present
circumstance, our present day,to deliver us from our pain
(09:10):
right, our worldly circumstancesright.
But we don't see a king in thismoment who comes with earthly
occupation in mind.
We don't see that.
Instead, we see a kingship thatdefies all expectations, coming
humbly to serve, coming to givehis life and, in that, to bring
(09:33):
peace across the cosmos,knowing that the path before him
as he comes into Jerusalem willbe painful.
Because if we look again atLuke, chapter 19, verses 41 and
42, right where we left off.
But as he came closer toJerusalem and saw the city ahead
, he began to weep.
How I wish today that all ofyou people would understand the
(09:58):
way to peace.
But now it is too late andpeace is hidden from your eyes.
Jesus in this moment knows thateven in his triumphant entry,
the people still don't fullyunderstand the nature of his
kingdom.
They still don't quite get it,especially the religious leaders
.
So he rides into Jerusalem on adonkey Soon.
(10:19):
He's going to turn over thetables in the temple and then
he's going to claim to be God'sson.
He's about to make a lot ofenemies, not with the Romans at
first, but with the religiousleaders.
It's completely unexpected, andwhat he's going to do is that
he's going to say that he hasauthority over the temple, that
the temple was corrupt, that itno longer represents the God of
(10:40):
Israel, and that's going to besomething that's really
difficult for his disciples tograsp, but it is the path that
leads us to redemption.
So what he's going to do ishe's going to try one last time.
Just a little bit later, inLuke, chapter 22, he gathers his
closest disciples together forone last meal, knowing that
it'll be his last, the Passovermeal, and in that he tries to
(11:02):
tell them the nature of who heis and the nature of a hope
redefined through humility andsacrifice.
And that's where we come to theLord's Supper.
Now I wonder if any one of youhas ever had a meal with someone
you really didn't get alongwith.
You're like well, that's everytime I go home, kyle, I'm like
oh, I get that, I understand.
Or perhaps you've had a mealwith someone and you knew a
(11:25):
secret about someone at thetable but you couldn't share it
and it created a really awkwardsituation.
Or perhaps you've been in afamily gathering or a family
meal and people start bickeringabout who does more for the
family than another and someonefinally screams through.
Can't we all just get along?
That's not what Christmas isabout, or whatever it is.
(11:50):
And I say that because some ofthat is in the background of
Luke, chapter 22.
Jesus is going to call Peterand John to go and prepare the
Passover meal so that they caneat it together.
Now, at this point in Luke,judas is now conspiring against
Jesus and the chief priests andthe scribes are looking
specifically for a way to putJesus to death.
That's in the backdrop of theLord gathering his disciples
(12:12):
together to have this final meal.
Remember, he just entered thecity.
He wept, he turned over thetables at the temple and he
spoke about the temple's futuredestruction.
He had made enemies, again, notwith the Romans yet, but with
the religious leaders.
And once again, peter and Johnare told something very similar
(12:34):
for the triumphant entry, a mancarrying a jug of water will
meet you and follow him into thehouse he enters.
So, just like with the donkey.
Jesus is asking the disciplesto have faith in this process of
restoration with very littleinformation.
And they do, and this man goesand sets up the Passover meal.
Now, with the Passover meal, itwas going to be different than
any time Jesus had celebratedthe Passover before with his
(12:55):
disciples, and it's a practicethat we see now, instituted
every single Sunday here atMadison Church communion, or the
Lord's table, or perhaps you'veheard it called the Eucharist
and other traditions.
That comes from the Greek wordEucharisteo, or to give thanks.
But what is the nature of theLord's table and how do we use
this sacrament that's institutedby Jesus himself in this last
(13:19):
Passover meal in order toprepare our hearts and our minds
for the remembrance of theresurrection and in our daily
lives?
Now let's remember what thePassover was all about.
The Passover, that was thenight of God's final strike
against Egypt, the night thatGod decisively defeats the
Egyptian Pharaoh and releasesIsrael from bondage in the book
(13:42):
of Exodus.
And so every year after that,israel celebrates the Passover
and it leads up to this feastthat has the bread of life and
then the wine of blessing, whichare important symbols now that
connect us to the communiontable that we participate in.
The Passover meal was broken upinto four different movements
and they have four differentcups, and over each cup you say
(14:03):
a blessing, and the blessingsounds something like this
You're actually blessing God forproviding the food.
You're not actually blessingthe food.
It goes like this May you beblessed, o Lord, our God, king
of the world, who creates thefruit of the vine or the bread
of life, depending on what partthey are in.
So let's look at what Jesus doesin Luke, chapter 22, verses 14
and 15.
It says when the time came,jesus and the apostles sat down
(14:26):
together at the table.
Jesus said I have been veryeager to eat this Passover meal
before my suffering begins, forI tell you now that I won't eat
this meal again until itsmeaning is fulfilled in the
kingdom of God.
I won't eat this meal againuntil its meaning is fulfilled
in the kingdom of God.
If I could just ask you to putyourself in the disciples' shoes
just for one moment.
(14:46):
In their eyes, the Passover wasabout celebrating something
that already had happeneddeliverance from the Israelites
from their slavery in Egypt.
In fact, part of the Passovermeal was going to be telling the
entire Exodus story, fromfamine to enslavement to
deliverance.
But now Jesus is saying thisisn't about the past anymore,
it's about the future, thefuture of my suffering, the
(15:10):
future of the kingdom of Godrestructured from a way they
know it to be.
And so the Passover meal alsocontains this unleavened bread
that we celebrate each and everySunday.
Now, what is unleavened bread?
It's bread made without yeast.
So if you use yeast and dough,it'll take some time for the
bread to rise and you wait whilethat process happens.
(15:30):
But unleavened bread you canmake much more quickly.
You don't need the weight forthe dough to rise at all.
You put it together, you rollit out and you bake it.
Why is that important in thePassover?
For that, let's jump to Exodusreal quick.
It tells us in Exodus 12, verse39,.
For the bread, they bake flatcakes from the dough without
(15:51):
yeast that they have broughtfrom Egypt.
It was made without yeastbecause the people were driven
out of Egypt in such a hurrythat they had no time to prepare
the bread or other food.
Sometimes we hear that yeast isused as a metaphor for sin, but
in the original Passoverpractice it was very practical.
It was because of how quicklythey left Egypt and they were
(16:11):
remembering haste as theyremember the Passover.
So what does Jesus do when hegets to this moment in our
Passover celebration?
In Luke 22?
, verse 19,.
He took some bread and he brokeit and he gave thanks, saying
this is my body which is givenfor you.
Do this in remembrance of me.
(16:34):
Again, the disciples would bepuzzled.
The bread is supposed to remindthem of the haste leaving Egypt
.
But Jesus takes this and givesit a new meaning, to point to
the future and his death.
And unfortunately, in just afew hours that will come true.
As he hangs on a Roman cross,he suffocates and he dies.
And somehow that bread beingbroken and given symbolizes that
(17:00):
act for the disciples in thatmoment, for you and for me, if
we stick with the bread for justa moment.
Bread was also a staple food ofthe people.
It represented life, itrepresented sustenance.
So jesus is putting this symbolof life and sustenance before
them, saying this represents mybody.
(17:21):
I am going to die and that willbring you life.
And what about the blood Duringthe first Passover meal?
This comes during the plague,the last plague that falls over
Egypt.
Any Israelite or Egyptian whohad the Passover lamb's blood on
their doorpost was spared fromGod's justice.
(17:43):
That's where we get the wordPassover from.
The angel of death passed overthose homes with the Passover
lamb's blood.
But what do they do when theycome to the cup of wine?
What does Jesus do?
Luke, chapter 22, verse 20.
After supper, he took anothercup of wine and said this cup is
the new covenant between Godand his people, an agreement
(18:04):
confirmed with my blood, whichis poured out as sacrifice for
you.
The disciples confused yetagain because the Passover lamb
was on their minds.
But now Jesus is saying thatthey are ingesting and
participating in a symbol ofJesus' body.
Somehow, it's this man's bloodthat will deliver me.
(18:25):
He also said this is a newcovenant in my blood.
See, god was in a covenant withthe Israelites when he redeemed
them out of slavery, but Jesusis looking forward to this new
relationship that God wouldenter into with God's people,
all of them this time.
And so what does that mean forus?
Each and every week, and comingto Easter week, as we come to
(18:49):
the table, it's important for usto remember that we dine with
Jesus when we participate in theLord's Supper, because the
table is transformative.
It's a reminder that God cameto commune with you, to commune
with me.
All are welcome at that table.
(19:10):
Even Judas was welcome at theLord's table that night.
And how many times do we feellike God is not there, how many
times do we feel as though weare longing for God's presence?
The theology of the Lord's tableis that it is the weekly
opportunity to dine with ourSavior, that it is the weekly
(19:34):
opportunity to dine with ourSavior, a simple moment of
reflection, but also a time whenheaven and earth combine just
for a second and in the presenceof Good Friday coming.
The Lord's table is anopportunity to dine with Jesus,
just as he dined with hisdisciples just hours before he
was arrested, tortured andkilled.
Now, the Lord's Supper is notjust about me or us and our
(19:56):
salvation.
It is a necessity for whatenables us to be part of God's
new creation, part of God's newcovenant.
We taste it on our lips, wereceive it into our soul that we
might go out transformed and todo the kind of work that
welcomes the kingdom of God intothe world.
You might say that it's formingus as disciples and helps
create that missional,incarnational impulse to carry
(20:18):
the gospel forward into thecommunity and as we look towards
Easter week, there's one moremeal that the Passover reminds
us of, and that's the meal fromGenesis, chapter 2, the very
first meals God invites humanityto dine with him.
Then In Genesis 2, chapter 9, itsays this the Lord God made all
(20:41):
sorts of trees grow up from theground, trees that were
beautiful and that produceddelicious fruit.
And in the middle of the gardenhe placed the tree of life and
the tree of knowledge and good,of evil.
And God told humanity you mayfreely eat of the fruit of every
tree in the garden except thetree of the knowledge, of good
and evil.
So if we listen to that closely, adam and Eve were free to dine
(21:05):
of the tree of life.
Humanity had the opportunity tohave communion with God.
But we know that humanity didnot choose that path and we feel
that in our own lives, in ourown hearts, as we try to make
the decision to commune with Godand don't always rise up to
that, don't always want that.
(21:26):
And here it is.
Jesus didn't have Rome or Caesarin his mind when he spoke about
liberation into God's kingdom.
He had another enemy, orPharaoh in mind, a much more
universal and evil Pharaoh, andthat comes at the human heart's
enslavement to darkness, to darkthings.
(21:46):
It leads us to our own slavery.
Uncleanliness wasn't about justbreaking rules.
It's something that's deepinside our hearts because if
we're super honest withourselves, we know that
something is wrong inside of us,something that oppresses us.
We feel the oppression in theworld even today, and I know
that even some of us here feelso strongly that weight over top
(22:09):
of us that it prevents us fromwanting to partake in a Good
Friday service or from wantingto partake in an Easter service
or from wanting to share incommunion with Jesus.
But that is the exact oppositeof what Jesus wants.
The whole point of taking thebread and the cup is to know
(22:29):
that we are not worthy on ourown, but that God became human
to reach us with anunconditional and an infinite
love.
What Jesus is doing in thePassover meal is saying somehow
that his life would be lived onbehalf of others.
Somehow his death would standin the place of others.
(22:49):
He would die so that otherscould live.
Jesus is the victor.
Next Sunday is our moment tocelebrate that death was not
final for our Savior and thatresurrection life is made
possible to everyone who turnstowards him in faith.
The Passover meal, the communionwe partake of every Sunday, is
(23:11):
a weekly opportunity to rememberour new, living, ongoing
reality as a child of God.
It's an opportunity to dinewith the divine, just as God
created us to do, and my hopethis week is that we embrace a
posture of remembering.
I also hope that we canremember that God's plan often
(23:34):
looks different than what weexpect.
The disciples were clueless,they were confused, they debated
with one another and soon theywould be fleeing from the
Savior's side as he was arrested.
But God had a plan, and thisweek we celebrate God's ultimate
(23:54):
plan a plan of redemption forthe cosmos, for the world, for
all of creation, and for you andfor me.
First and foremost, welcome to Holy Week.
Today is the start of Holy Week.
Today is Palm Sunday and Ithink some of us might wonder
and say, hey, kyle, I don't knowwhat Holy Week means, but I bet
you can say Holy Moly, what aweek it's been.
Okay, I'll sit down now.
It was good while it lasted.
(00:23):
But this is an interesting timeof year.
We're in the springtime.
I see spring budding.
You know, maybe things aregoing to start blooming here
soon.
I just changed the winter tiresoff my vehicle to summer tires,
which I think in the Midwest islike jinxing yourself.
So if there's a blizzard inlike two weeks, that's my fault.
I'm sorry, guys.
Blizzard in like two weeks,that's my fault.
(00:45):
I'm sorry, guys.
I brought it on us all.
It's also kind of aninteresting time in the lull of
the sports calendar too.
We've got the masters endingtoday, we just had the
basketball ncaa end and it'sgoing to be a while before the
nfl picks back up.
Or maybe it's just a season ora time of transition.
So you know, you've gotgraduations or weddings coming
up, school's going to be out,you're signing up for summer
camps.
There's sort of a rhythm or alife seasonal change that
(01:08):
happens as summer comes around.
But here we are at Palm Sundayand Holy Week, and what do those
words mean?
As we stare into the comingSunday, we stare into Easter
Sunday.
If we remember, easter is themost important weekend in the
Christian year, and sometimes Iwonder if we get that.
(01:30):
Without Easter Sunday and theresurrection of Jesus, our faith
means nothing.
That's why Easter Sunday is soimportant each and every year.
And so today we have our workcut out for us, because I want
us to ask the question what doesit mean for us to enter Easter
(01:50):
week faithfully?
How do we approach EasterSunday next week and how do we
start today preparing our heartsfor that?
So I'll ask the question todaywhat does Palm Sunday mean for
us?
And then we're going to look atLuke, chapter 22, and what that
means when Jesus gathers hisdisciples one last time and
prepares the Lord's Supper.
What does communion and theLord's Supper mean for us every
(02:14):
week as we practice it?
I want to ask that as well.
And then, lastly, I want us tofocus in on what the Lord's
Table means, both for us everySunday that we practice it and
specifically here on Easter week.
So let's jump right in.
What does Holy Week and PalmSunday mean?
Now, one of the things we enjoyevery time we come to Madison
(02:34):
Church on a Sunday is our praiseand worship team, because they
take time to practice, theyprepare each and every week,
they help us enter into a holyspace by making music to our
hearts, to our souls.
Now, if we take a look at theirinstruments up here, we've got
a drum set, we've got a guitar,we've got a keyboard.
(02:54):
And if I were to start walkingover and just playing one of
these instruments, I think youwould quickly realize I am not
qualified to be part of theworship team.
I think if I walked over hereto Jeff's guitar and I started
plucking strings, I'd make sound.
I would make sound, but itwouldn't be music.
And why is that?
(03:16):
I think one of the mostfundamental aspects about music
is rhythm, something I was bornwithout, but I think that rhythm
is an important part of that.
If I go and bang on the drumset without any rhythm, then I
don't sound any different than ahandyman trying to build a deck
(03:36):
in their backyard, and that'sone of the reasons that Holy
Week becomes so important for usto celebrate each and every
year.
It creates a spiritual rhythmfor us, much like in daily
prayer or a daily scripturerhythm that we want to develop,
or much like the Sunday practiceof coming here to celebrate.
It's a rhythm.
It's a spiritual rhythm for us.
Rhythms help us focus onspiritual truths to be reminded
(03:58):
of each year Christmas, that's atime to anticipate God choosing
to become incarnate for us, tomeet us where we're at.
We have Lent, a time toremember that we are dust and to
feel the pain of our sin anddarkness and what oppresses us.
And then Easter, a time tofocus on the power of the
(04:18):
resurrection and what it meansfor us in our lives.
Now, if we tried to celebrateHoly Week every week, it might
tire us out, just like if wetried to run a marathon each and
every week.
We just weren't made for that.
But we are built for a rhythmthat shapes our lives in
different points throughout theyear.
So, for today, we enter intoHoly Week with Palm Sunday.
(04:39):
And what does that mean For us?
To get into that, let's go backa couple weeks to what Stephen
preached on just a few weeks agoin Luke, chapter 19.
Now to set the stage for Luke,chapter 19,.
Remember, the theme of Luke isJesus on his journey to
Jerusalem.
He begins his journey in Luke,chapter 9.
He arrives in Jerusalem at Luke, chapter 19.
(05:01):
And through his wonders, hismiracles, his sayings, he's
gathered large crowds.
That crowd, it's comprised of afew different folks.
You have his disciples, hismost faithful disciples, you
have the religious leaders, thePharisees, and then you have the
simply, the curious, thewonderers, the people who are
drawn to this figure who hasdone great things and said great
(05:24):
things.
So let's look at Luke, chapter19, 29 through 40.
It says this Jesus sent twodisciples ahead.
Go into that village over there, he told them, and as you enter
it you will see a young donkeytied there that no one has ever
ridden.
Untie it and bring it here, andif anyone asks why are you
(05:44):
untying that colt, just say theLord needs it.
So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said, and
sure enough, they were untyingit.
The owners asked them why areyou untying that colt?
And the disciples simplyreplied the Lord needs it.
So they brought the colt toJesus and threw their garments
over it for him to ride on.
And as he rode along, thecrowds began spreading their
garments on the road ahead ofhim, and when he reached the
(06:06):
place where the road starteddown, the Mount of Olives, all
of his followers began to shoutand sing as they walked along,
praising God for all thewonderful miracles they had seen
.
Here.
It is Blessings on the King whocomes in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven and glory inthe highest heaven.
But some of the Pharisees amongthe crowd said Teacher, rebuke
(06:30):
your followers for saying thingslike that.
He replied.
If they kept quiet, the stonesalong the road would burst into
cheers.
That is Palm Sunday.
This is Palm Sunday.
This is Palm Sunday, thetriumphant entry of our King
bringing peace to this earth,peace to us in our pain and
(06:54):
redemption to us in our brokenshame.
And it's not just a restorationof humanity, though, because
even the rocks will cry out,knowing that they too are part
of God's creation.
They will also be redeemedthrough the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus.
Now, we don't see the use ofpalm tree in the Luke's gospel,
(07:15):
but we see it used in in theother gospels the palm branches.
They weigh palm branches as hecomes in, and scholars believe
that the term palm and the useof the palm branches it
represents strength in kind ofthis time period in the world as
a victor would come back, theywould be greeted after they
conquered a land.
They'd be greeted with palmbranches shaking.
Now for the crowd in thismoment, they would be reminded
(07:39):
of a story, a story that wasvery peculiar to Israel.
See, about 150 years beforethis very moment where Jesus is
walking into Jerusalem, therewas a Jewish revolt known as the
Maccabean Revolt, and in that aleader named Simon went and
purged the temple that had beentaken over by some Greeks, a
(08:00):
group of Greeks.
And after Simon purges thetemple and he leads the
Israelites to purify it one moretime, he was a victor by force,
and it's likely that, even aspure the intentions were for the
crowd in this moment, they werealso caught up in longing that
same deliverance.
Just like Simon had deliveredthem from the Greeks, perhaps
(08:22):
Jesus could deliver them fromthe Romans and the Roman
occupation.
And I think that sometimes Iunderstand the crowd in this
moment too, laying down garmentsand singing praises to our king
, but also unable to imagine thereality that is just about to
befall their Lord.
And I also think that they sayin this moment, just like I do
(08:45):
blessed is he who comes in thename of the Lord to deliver us
right and I think I still getlost at that part To deliver us
from the Romans right.
To deliver us just like Mosesdelivered the Israelites from
the Egyptians right, or, fastforwarding to this present
circumstance, our present day,to deliver us from our pain
(09:10):
right, our worldly circumstancesright.
But we don't see a king in thismoment who comes with earthly
occupation in mind.
We don't see that.
Instead, we see a kingship thatdefies all expectations, coming
humbly to serve, coming to givehis life and, in that, to bring
(09:33):
peace across the cosmos,knowing that the path before him
as he comes into Jerusalem willbe painful.
Because if we look again atLuke, chapter 19, verses 41 and
42, right where we left off.
But as he came closer toJerusalem and saw the city ahead
, he began to weep.
How I wish today that all ofyou people would understand the
(09:58):
way to peace.
But now it is too late andpeace is hidden from your eyes.
Jesus in this moment knows thateven in his triumphant entry,
the people still don't fullyunderstand the nature of his
kingdom.
They still don't quite get it,especially the religious leaders
.
So he rides into Jerusalem on adonkey Soon.
(10:19):
He's going to turn over thetables in the temple and then
he's going to claim to be God'sson.
He's about to make a lot ofenemies, not with the Romans at
first, but with the religiousleaders.
It's completely unexpected, andwhat he's going to do is that
he's going to say that he hasauthority over the temple, that
the temple was corrupt, that itno longer represents the God of
(10:40):
Israel, and that's going to besomething that's really
difficult for his disciples tograsp, but it is the path that
leads us to redemption.
So what he's going to do ishe's going to try one last time.
Just a little bit later, inLuke, chapter 22, he gathers his
closest disciples together forone last meal, knowing that
it'll be his last, the Passovermeal, and in that he tries to
(11:02):
tell them the nature of who heis and the nature of a hope
redefined through humility andsacrifice.
And that's where we come to theLord's Supper.
Now I wonder if any one of youhas ever had a meal with someone
you really didn't get alongwith.
You're like well, that's everytime I go home, kyle, I'm like
oh, I get that, I understand.
Or perhaps you've had a mealwith someone and you knew a
(11:25):
secret about someone at thetable but you couldn't share it
and it created a really awkwardsituation.
Or perhaps you've been in afamily gathering or a family
meal and people start bickeringabout who does more for the
family than another and someonefinally screams through.
Can't we all just get along?
That's not what Christmas isabout, or whatever it is.
(11:50):
And I say that because some ofthat is in the background of
Luke, chapter 22.
Jesus is going to call Peterand John to go and prepare the
Passover meal so that they caneat it together.
Now, at this point in Luke,judas is now conspiring against
Jesus and the chief priests andthe scribes are looking
specifically for a way to putJesus to death.
That's in the backdrop of theLord gathering his disciples
(12:12):
together to have this final meal.
Remember, he just entered thecity.
He wept, he turned over thetables at the temple and he
spoke about the temple's futuredestruction.
He had made enemies, again, notwith the Romans yet, but with
the religious leaders.
And once again, peter and Johnare told something very similar
(12:34):
for the triumphant entry, a mancarrying a jug of water will
meet you and follow him into thehouse he enters.
So, just like with the donkey.
Jesus is asking the disciplesto have faith in this process of
restoration with very littleinformation.
And they do, and this man goesand sets up the Passover meal.
Now, with the Passover meal, itwas going to be different than
any time Jesus had celebratedthe Passover before with his
(12:55):
disciples, and it's a practicethat we see now, instituted
every single Sunday here atMadison Church communion, or the
Lord's table, or perhaps you'veheard it called the Eucharist
and other traditions.
That comes from the Greek wordEucharisteo, or to give thanks.
But what is the nature of theLord's table and how do we use
this sacrament that's institutedby Jesus himself in this last
(13:19):
Passover meal in order toprepare our hearts and our minds
for the remembrance of theresurrection and in our daily
lives?
Now let's remember what thePassover was all about.
The Passover, that was thenight of God's final strike
against Egypt, the night thatGod decisively defeats the
Egyptian Pharaoh and releasesIsrael from bondage in the book
(13:42):
of Exodus.
And so every year after that,israel celebrates the Passover
and it leads up to this feastthat has the bread of life and
then the wine of blessing, whichare important symbols now that
connect us to the communiontable that we participate in.
The Passover meal was broken upinto four different movements
and they have four differentcups, and over each cup you say
(14:03):
a blessing, and the blessingsounds something like this
You're actually blessing God forproviding the food.
You're not actually blessingthe food.
It goes like this May you beblessed, o Lord, our God, king
of the world, who creates thefruit of the vine or the bread
of life, depending on what partthey are in.
So let's look at what Jesus doesin Luke, chapter 22, verses 14
and 15.
It says when the time came,jesus and the apostles sat down
(14:26):
together at the table.
Jesus said I have been veryeager to eat this Passover meal
before my suffering begins, forI tell you now that I won't eat
this meal again until itsmeaning is fulfilled in the
kingdom of God.
I won't eat this meal againuntil its meaning is fulfilled
in the kingdom of God.
If I could just ask you to putyourself in the disciples' shoes
just for one moment.
(14:46):
In their eyes, the Passover wasabout celebrating something
that already had happeneddeliverance from the Israelites
from their slavery in Egypt.
In fact, part of the Passovermeal was going to be telling the
entire Exodus story, fromfamine to enslavement to
deliverance.
But now Jesus is saying thisisn't about the past anymore,
it's about the future, thefuture of my suffering, the
(15:10):
future of the kingdom of Godrestructured from a way they
know it to be.
And so the Passover meal alsocontains this unleavened bread
that we celebrate each and everySunday.
Now, what is unleavened bread?
It's bread made without yeast.
So if you use yeast and dough,it'll take some time for the
bread to rise and you wait whilethat process happens.
(15:30):
But unleavened bread you canmake much more quickly.
You don't need the weight forthe dough to rise at all.
You put it together, you rollit out and you bake it.
Why is that important in thePassover?
For that, let's jump to Exodusreal quick.
It tells us in Exodus 12, verse39,.
For the bread, they bake flatcakes from the dough without
(15:51):
yeast that they have broughtfrom Egypt.
It was made without yeastbecause the people were driven
out of Egypt in such a hurrythat they had no time to prepare
the bread or other food.
Sometimes we hear that yeast isused as a metaphor for sin, but
in the original Passoverpractice it was very practical.
It was because of how quicklythey left Egypt and they were
(16:11):
remembering haste as theyremember the Passover.
So what does Jesus do when hegets to this moment in our
Passover celebration?
In Luke 22?
, verse 19,.
He took some bread and he brokeit and he gave thanks, saying
this is my body which is givenfor you.
Do this in remembrance of me.
(16:34):
Again, the disciples would bepuzzled.
The bread is supposed to remindthem of the haste leaving Egypt
.
But Jesus takes this and givesit a new meaning, to point to
the future and his death.
And unfortunately, in just afew hours that will come true.
As he hangs on a Roman cross,he suffocates and he dies.
And somehow that bread beingbroken and given symbolizes that
(17:00):
act for the disciples in thatmoment, for you and for me, if
we stick with the bread for justa moment.
Bread was also a staple food ofthe people.
It represented life, itrepresented sustenance.
So jesus is putting this symbolof life and sustenance before
them, saying this represents mybody.
(17:21):
I am going to die and that willbring you life.
And what about the blood Duringthe first Passover meal?
This comes during the plague,the last plague that falls over
Egypt.
Any Israelite or Egyptian whohad the Passover lamb's blood on
their doorpost was spared fromGod's justice.
(17:43):
That's where we get the wordPassover from.
The angel of death passed overthose homes with the Passover
lamb's blood.
But what do they do when theycome to the cup of wine?
What does Jesus do?
Luke, chapter 22, verse 20.
After supper, he took anothercup of wine and said this cup is
the new covenant between Godand his people, an agreement
(18:04):
confirmed with my blood, whichis poured out as sacrifice for
you.
The disciples confused yetagain because the Passover lamb
was on their minds.
But now Jesus is saying thatthey are ingesting and
participating in a symbol ofJesus' body.
Somehow, it's this man's bloodthat will deliver me.
(18:25):
He also said this is a newcovenant in my blood.
See, god was in a covenant withthe Israelites when he redeemed
them out of slavery, but Jesusis looking forward to this new
relationship that God wouldenter into with God's people,
all of them this time.
And so what does that mean forus?
Each and every week, and comingto Easter week, as we come to
(18:49):
the table, it's important for usto remember that we dine with
Jesus when we participate in theLord's Supper, because the
table is transformative.
It's a reminder that God cameto commune with you, to commune
with me.
All are welcome at that table.
(19:10):
Even Judas was welcome at theLord's table that night.
And how many times do we feellike God is not there, how many
times do we feel as though weare longing for God's presence?
The theology of the Lord's tableis that it is the weekly
opportunity to dine with ourSavior, that it is the weekly
(19:34):
opportunity to dine with ourSavior, a simple moment of
reflection, but also a time whenheaven and earth combine just
for a second and in the presenceof Good Friday coming.
The Lord's table is anopportunity to dine with Jesus,
just as he dined with hisdisciples just hours before he
was arrested, tortured andkilled.
Now, the Lord's Supper is notjust about me or us and our
(19:56):
salvation.
It is a necessity for whatenables us to be part of God's
new creation, part of God's newcovenant.
We taste it on our lips, wereceive it into our soul that we
might go out transformed and todo the kind of work that
welcomes the kingdom of God intothe world.
You might say that it's formingus as disciples and helps
create that missional,incarnational impulse to carry
(20:18):
the gospel forward into thecommunity and as we look towards
Easter week, there's one moremeal that the Passover reminds
us of, and that's the meal fromGenesis, chapter 2, the very
first meals God invites humanityto dine with him.
Then In Genesis 2, chapter 9, itsays this the Lord God made all
(20:41):
sorts of trees grow up from theground, trees that were
beautiful and that produceddelicious fruit.
And in the middle of the gardenhe placed the tree of life and
the tree of knowledge and good,of evil.
And God told humanity you mayfreely eat of the fruit of every
tree in the garden except thetree of the knowledge, of good
and evil.
So if we listen to that closely, adam and Eve were free to dine
(21:05):
of the tree of life.
Humanity had the opportunity tohave communion with God.
But we know that humanity didnot choose that path and we feel
that in our own lives, in ourown hearts, as we try to make
the decision to commune with Godand don't always rise up to
that, don't always want that.
(21:26):
And here it is.
Jesus didn't have Rome or Caesarin his mind when he spoke about
liberation into God's kingdom.
He had another enemy, orPharaoh in mind, a much more
universal and evil Pharaoh, andthat comes at the human heart's
enslavement to darkness, to darkthings.
(21:46):
It leads us to our own slavery.
Uncleanliness wasn't about justbreaking rules.
It's something that's deepinside our hearts because if
we're super honest withourselves, we know that
something is wrong inside of us,something that oppresses us.
We feel the oppression in theworld even today, and I know
that even some of us here feelso strongly that weight over top
(22:09):
of us that it prevents us fromwanting to partake in a Good
Friday service or from wantingto partake in an Easter service
or from wanting to share incommunion with Jesus.
But that is the exact oppositeof what Jesus wants.
The whole point of taking thebread and the cup is to know
(22:29):
that we are not worthy on ourown, but that God became human
to reach us with anunconditional and an infinite
love.
What Jesus is doing in thePassover meal is saying somehow
that his life would be lived onbehalf of others.
Somehow his death would standin the place of others.
(22:49):
He would die so that otherscould live.
Jesus is the victor.
Next Sunday is our moment tocelebrate that death was not
final for our Savior and thatresurrection life is made
possible to everyone who turnstowards him in faith.
The Passover meal, the communionwe partake of every Sunday, is
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a weekly opportunity to rememberour new, living, ongoing
reality as a child of God.
It's an opportunity to dinewith the divine, just as God
created us to do, and my hopethis week is that we embrace a
posture of remembering.
I also hope that we canremember that God's plan often
(23:34):
looks different than what weexpect.
The disciples were clueless,they were confused, they debated
with one another and soon theywould be fleeing from the
Savior's side as he was arrested.
But God had a plan, and thisweek we celebrate God's ultimate
(23:54):
plan a plan of redemption forthe cosmos, for the world, for
all of creation, and for you andfor me.
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