April 13, 2025 • 37 mins
The crowd was electric, the entrance unforgettable. It felt like the game was already won. But now, the cheering has died down—and the real challenge begins.
In Mark 11:7–33, we follow Jesus through the gates of Jerusalem and into the heart of spiritual conflict. What happens when the expectations of victory meet the grind of reality? When faith isn’t about waving palm branches, but about turning over tables and facing hard truths?
This week, Pastor Tim takes us into the second half of the story—where Jesus confronts empty religion, calls out fruitless living, and challenges the foundation of our faith. It’s a moment of reckoning, both then and now.
The celebration was only the tip-off. What comes next will determine how the game is really played.
Recorded April 13th, 2025 Message by Pastor Tim Ward Scripture: Mark 11:7-33
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
So everybody loves a good game, and everybody loves to be on the winning team.
And most people love it when the underdog comes from behind to take the victory.
At least that's, I do. I don't know.
I mean, maybe everybody else doesn't, but I do. I like the underdog to come from behind and win.
(00:21):
If you've watched any of the March Madness NCAA basketball games,
you'll know that the celebration after a victory can be over the top.
In fact, we see this week as Florida won the national championship in the NCAA,
there were parties after party down in Florida, and one gentleman who decided
(00:45):
he wanted to climb on top of a street light, the arm that goes over the street,
he thought he was going to climb on there and do a little dance on it,
and ended up falling to the street below.
Sometimes in our fervor for excitement, we do stupid things.
I have never done anything stupid in my life.
(01:10):
Thou shalt not lie. The spectators storm the floor to congratulate the winning team.
Streamers, confetti, parades, high fives, fans going berserk,
is all part of the celebration of a winning team and their fans.
The celebration after the game oftentimes are more exciting,
(01:32):
or as exciting, and sometimes more exciting than the game itself.
Sometimes the game can be pretty boring, a blowout. But even with the most exciting
win, and even with the most raucous celebration, there's always a letdown.
When the crowds go away, when the heroes come down from their great accomplishments,
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After they've ridden on the fire truck into town to receive the accolades of
their townsmen, there comes a letdown.
When their accomplishments appear to be just normal anymore.
Sometimes the crowds can turn on them.
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Sometimes the crowds can kind of nitpick about how the game was played or how
the coach did a certain play that really wasn't wise or whatever.
But what happens to the crowd when the hard times come? We're going to read
about that from Mark chapter 11 verses 7 through 33.
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When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.
Many people spread their cloaks
on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.
Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
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Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. Hosanna in the highest heaven.
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts.
He looked around at everything. But since it was already late,
he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
The next day, as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.
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Seeing in the distance a fig tree and leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit.
When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.
Then he said to the tree, May no one ever eat fruit from you again.
And his disciples heard him say it.
On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out
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those who were buying and selling there.
He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling
doves and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.
And as he taught them he said is it
not written my house will be called a
house of prayer for all nations but you
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have made it a den of robbers the chief
priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to
kill him for they feared him because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching
when evening came jesus and his disciples went out of the city In the morning, as they went along,
(04:28):
they saw the fig tree withered from the roots.
Peter remembered and said to Jesus, Rabbi, look, the fig tree you cursed has withered.
Have faith in God, Jesus answered.
Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, go, throw yourself into the
sea, and does not doubt in their heart, but believes that what they say will
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happen, it will be done for them.
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have
received it, and it will be yours.
And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone,
forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts,
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the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders came to him.
By what authority are you doing these things? they asked.
And who gave you authority to do this?
Jesus replied, I will ask you one question.
Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
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John's baptism, was it from heaven or of human origin?
Tell me. They discussed it among themselves and said, If we say,
from heaven, he will ask, then why didn't you believe him?
But if we say, of human origin, they feared the people. for everyone held that
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John really was a prophet.
So they answered Jesus, We don't know.
Jesus said, Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
It was Passover time, and Jews had come from the ends of the earth to Jerusalem.
Wherever Jews lived, it was their ambition to observe at least one Passover in Jerusalem.
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In addition to those who had come from far away, there were Jews who had come
from within Palestine itself.
The law required that every adult male Jew who lived within 20 miles of Jerusalem
must come to that holy city for the Passover.
Now, Jerusalem was a town of about size of the Jerusalem city was a city of about 220 acres.
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I don't know how that compares to the size of Richland Center,
but I'm going to guess that it's actually smaller than the size of Richland Center.
In the town of Jerusalem, in the city of Jerusalem, there resided between 40 and 50,000 residents.
Doesn't sound like a lot, but in a 220-acre area, that's one-third of a square
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mile, actually slightly more than one-third of a square mile.
That's a lot. And yet on Passover week,
during that week of Passover leading up to it, there would be anywhere from
180,000 to 250,000 people in Jerusalem,
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wall-to-wall Jews coming to Jerusalem to observe the Passover.
Many of them, I mean, obviously they wouldn't have places to stay,
so they'd sleep out in the fields nearby, just pitching a tent or whatever there needed to be.
As I said earlier, there were many of those.
One count was taken of the number of lambs that was slain during this particular
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Passover feast that it was recorded,
and the number that was recorded was 265,000 lambs that were slain during that time.
And you need to understand that it was a requirement. there must be a minimum
of 10 people in Jerusalem for every lamb that was sacrificed during Passover.
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So coming through the gates of Jerusalem and going during that time,
during that holy week of Passover,
that week leading up to it, there would have been probably 2 million plus people
who had gone through that city.
In fact, probably around 2.7
million people in Jerusalem for the Passover feast that particular year.
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Even if the numbers were exaggerated, the crowds must have been enormous.
Wouldn't you like to have 2,700,000 people in our church on Sunday morning?
Well, maybe not that much, but I'll go for 270.
Wouldn't that be awesome? people coming to worship the Lord our God in the house, in the temple.
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And even as I said, the crowds must have been enormous, and Jerusalem and all
of its surrounding vicinity must have been packed with people because the walled
city, as I said, had a circumference of about two and a half, three miles.
Even then, it was jagged circumference, and the area within that was about a third of a square mile.
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The city is as i said was believed to
have between 30 and 30 and 50 000 people nevertheless the huge passover crowds
swamped the small city obviously not everyone could have stayed overnight there
because there just wasn't enough room there wasn't room in the inn sound like
a story you've heard before.
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Most of them would have stayed in neighboring villages like Bethany,
which is about eight miles away.
Bethany was the city from which Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived,
and that's where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, in Bethany,
about eight miles from Jerusalem.
At Passover time, the Jewish people remembered the deliverance of their ancestors
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from Egyptian bondage when the angel of death passed over their firstborn and
struck dead the firstborn children and cattle of the Egyptians.
This was the last straw for the
Pharaoh, and he finally agreed to let the Israelites grow, begrudgingly.
Nationalistic fever ran high during the time of Jesus as the present generation
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of Israelites chafed under the yoke of Roman oppression.
During Passover, messianic hope and expectations were the strongest.
During Passover, the Sadducees and the Roman guards, who were most concerned about keeping order.
Were obviously and always edgy for fear that some uprising,
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some incident might occur that aroused the smoldering hostility and desire for
freedom, which was always just below the service of an uneasy peace,
just waiting for the right time to explode.
Is that as Jesus headed toward Jerusalem, he was accompanied by an enthusiastic
crowd that had been with him in Bethany and had seen his mighty miracles,
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especially that one of raising his dead friend Lazarus to life about a week earlier.
You remember I've told you that many years before this, a guy came into Jerusalem
riding on a white stallion thinking he was going to lead the revolt.
His name was Maccabees, Judas Maccabees.
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He was later put down, and so was the rebellion.
And then word went on ahead that Jesus was coming into town on this particular day.
A crowd of Passover pilgrims, some of whom were curious, some of whom were well-wishers,
and some of whom were the devout ones who lived in constant readiness to receive
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the Messiah, went to greet Jesus and his followers.
When the joyful crowd from Bethany coming up the hill met with the expected
Jerusalem crowd in the middle of the celebrated atmosphere of the Passover, a spontaneous.
Combustion of excitement and spirit broke out.
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Everyone wanted to see Jesus and to be seen by him.
Jesus, who was riding on a donkey, a humble animal of peace,
was received like a conquering king, only he had come in peace and submission to God's will.
Some cut palm branches from the trees and waved them in the air or spread them along the road.
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Others spread their cloaks on the road, so Jesus' donkey just didn't have to
walk in the dirt of the street.
Amazing, isn't it? The multitudes shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.
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It was spontaneous worship. Matthew's Gospel tells us that when Jesus entered
Jerusalem, there was so much rejoicing that the whole city was moved.
Jesus tells that the Pharisees expressed dismay, remarking that the whole world had gone after him.
This had to have been a very significant day for the disciples who had left
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everything to follow Jesus, for his friends who loved, and for our Lord.
If the writers of the Gospels had put down their pens and ended their accounts
with Palm Sunday's triumphal entry, we would have had a nice,
neatly packaged, essentially trouble-free,
ready-for-primetime TV movie about a success story.
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And they lived happily ever after.
In fact, Hollywood would have ended the happily ever after movie right here
when Jesus, the small-town carpenter-turned-teacher and miracle-working prophet from Nazareth,
rode in triumph to the praises of the multitudes as he entered Jerusalem.
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What better place to end the story than at that moment when Jesus is riding
the crest of popularity, acceptability, respectability, and success.
The world seemed to be falling at Jesus' feet, and as the religious leaders
said, it seems as if the whole world has gone after him.
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Oh, that would be the day when the whole world goes to Jesus.
Isn't it easy to be part of the Palm Sunday crowd shouting and hollering and waving our hands?
Everybody likes to follow a winner when the multitudes are singing Jesus'
praises, when following him is the in thing to do,
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when there are no risks or conveniences or sacrifices to make,
when there are no demands of obedience being placed on us for our time and our talent and our money,
isn't it easy to shout hallelujah and Hosanna.
Yet we know that if the Gospels ended with a Palm Sunday event,
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the story and our salvation would be incomplete.
We would have no salvation. It would be non-existence.
But the Palm Sunday story, as gratifying, as exciting as it is,
simply does not tell the whole story, as we sang about.
Christians who don't go beyond Palm Sunday mentality miss out on the real essence
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of the gospel to really understand who Jesus was,
what he was about, and what he can really do for us and to us and in us and
with us and through us, we have to go beyond Palm Sunday.
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Jesus' last full week of ministry on earth
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before his death, and yet almost everything we know as the gospel revolves around this last week.
Did you know that almost a third of the books of Matthew and Mark,
about a fourth of the book of Luke, was written after the story of Palm Sunday.
Oh, by the way, half of the book of John was written about the story after Palm Sunday.
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It seems like that was extremely important, not even more important than Jesus'
birth, more important than the day, the Palm Sunday.
Apparently, these were the most significant days of Jesus' life and ministry
to the gospel writers and the ones they must wanted to tell us about most importantly.
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They wanted us to know what happened from that time of the triumphal entry through
that week, we call Holy Week, into his crucifixion and then resurrection.
So if we're going to understand the gospel fully, we have to want to be Christians
that God would like us to be.
We must go beyond Palm Sunday in our attitudes toward life. We must go beyond
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Palm Sunday in our devotion to Christ, and we must go beyond Palm Sunday in
our living for God in the boldness of the Holy Spirit. So go with me.
Go with me to that Monday in the cleansing of the temple to attain the fullness
of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We need to go up beyond Palm Sunday and follow Jesus on Monday when he went
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into God's house and saw merchants cheating and scheming and extorting and making
a mockery of God's temple and God's worship.
We must follow Jesus as he drove them out of his father's house with whip.
Yelling, this is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.
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If we are to grow beyond our Palm Sunday naivete, we must first come to grips
with the imperfections of the church.
So many times, seasoned as well as new Christians have become disillusioned
and discouraged because they see so much of the same behavior and attitudes
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in the church as they see in the world.
That was one of the reasons I fled from the church of God.
When my dad was superintendent, I saw so many things in the way the church was
happening and the church was the church of people were living life and ridiculing
and cutting others and blaming others down.
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I thought, if that is Christian love, if that is Christianity, I want nothing of it.
But it was when God himself spoke to me and said, listen, I don't care what the others do right now.
All I care is I want you to be my child and you to live for me.
When God speaks to us, we better listen.
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So many times we see that wrong that's in the church.
We see the attitude that's in the church, and it is wrong for sure.
And yes, we all wish that the church was perfect, but it's not.
However, the church is not made up of perfect people, but rather imperfect people
who are striving to follow the only perfect man.
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Jesus lived a life of perfection. He was the only one that lived that life of perfection,
and at least we should be striving for that perfection, even though we know
that in all of life we will never be completely perfect.
We could be perfect in love, knowing and loving God and surrendering to him,
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but our actions are always going to have some failure to him.
And as in any struggle. Sometimes we fail, and sometimes we succeed,
but we keep striving just the same toward a life of holiness.
And although our temples and our efforts are not perfect, we are still God's house.
Not this building. I mean, it is, but we are God's house. We are God's temple.
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We are made to be His holy handiwork, consecrated and set apart for Him.
And if we are truly walking with God in our personal lives through daily study
and application of God's Word through our own obedience.
Every now and then, Jesus comes by and has a way of bringing us back in line.
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So go with me to Monday when Jesus cleansed the temple,
and then also we must go beyond Palm Sunday and follow Jesus on Tuesday when
he debated with those who criticized him and tried to discredit his teachings.
On Palm Sunday, we become lost in the ecstasy of the crowd and the excitement.
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I don't think they had helium balloons
then, but they certainly had palm branches that were being raised.
We've come lost in the exodus to see a crowd and believe that everybody appreciates what's going on.
But on Tuesday, we discover that righteousness has its enemies.
Have you ever noticed that?
Doing good and doing right does have its enemies.
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Contrary to common observations, not everyone was rejoicing on Palm Sunday.
Not everyone appreciated our acts of praise. Some were jealous because of the
attention Jesus and the church received on Palm Sunday.
They questioned and challenged us not to learn from us, but to ridicule us and bring us down.
They try to take away our joy and cause us to doubt ourselves and our faith.
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But we cannot allow a Tuesday naysayer to take away our Palm Sunday spirit.
We can't allow a Tuesday critic to steal our Sunday joy.
We can't allow a Tuesday devil to deter us from the work of the kingdom.
We can't lose our faith or our faithfulness because of a Tuesday devil who is
critical of the church or the leaders in our church.
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And just like Jesus, we turn the critics aside by not even giving them an audience
and by turning and going about the business of the kingdom.
We simply turn away and follow Jesus.
Like Jesus, all we can do is answer them with the power of God's word and hold
on to the profession of our own faith without failing.
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And then we must move beyond Palm Sunday and follow Jesus on Wednesday when
Judas, one of Jesus' own chosen disciples, made contact with the authorities to betray the Lord.
Now, there's one of the biggest devils of all time, betrayal.
When one who has been close and pushing you forward turns on you and speaks against you.
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Or schemes against you. On Wednesday, according to Matthew and Mark,
while Jesus was dining, he received one of the last kindnesses of his early life.
A woman, out of heartfelt love and gratitude, poured a flask of costly perfume
upon Jesus' head and his feet and lifted his spirit.
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But there was one who complained because he felt that he knew how to use that money better.
One of the painful lessons we learn when we go beyond Palm Sunday is that every
church, every family, every circle of friends or associates has a Judas.
There is always someone who seeks to be in control and is filled with jealousy,
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who seeks to destroy by betrayal, not intentionally necessarily,
but they just want, they feel like they need to have their way about things.
It's interesting to see that the one who did Jesus the most harm was the one
who was in the circle of those that he called to be his church.
There are many churches these days that are being destroyed from the inside out.
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By spirits of dissension and animosity and infighting and rivalry.
Do you know? I don't know if this is a statistic.
In fact, actually, 98.5% of my statistics are made up on the spot.
But I would dare say there's probably as much division.
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In a church of Jesus Christ in these days over the color of paint or the color
of a carpet than anything else. Isn't that interesting?
We talk about the Church of Jesus Christ, and somebody asked me this week,
why are there so many denominations when we all really believe that Jesus is
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Lord? And I said, you know, I said, it's all on the little things.
Our divisions are on the little things. Our disagreements are on the little things.
That was not in my notes. I just gave you that for free. But we need to remember
this, that for every Judas who betrays us in our trust, there's always someone
else waiting to respond to our kindness with an act of love and thanksgiving like this woman,
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who many references refer to her as a woman who was, maybe the woman who was forgiven.
As the prostitute came and poured oil and fragrance on Jesus' head,
one who was discredited by the crowd, one who was hated by the people, came and loved on Jesus.
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For every Judas who tears us down, there was someone else to build us up.
For every Judas who digs a ditch for us to fall in.
There is someone else who fills in that hole and anoints us and aids us in greater service.
For every Judas who hurts us, there is someone else who brings healing. Thanks be to God.
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And then we must move beyond Palm Sunday and follow Jesus on Thursday evening
to the upper room where he sat down with the disciples at his final meal with them.
Go to Thursday when Jesus broke the bread and said to them, take,
eat, this is my body, which is broken for you.
Follow with the disciples as Jesus took the cup of wine.
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And when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, drink of it,
all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for
many for the forgiveness of sins.
When you go beyond Palm Sunday, you will learn to say goodbye to those you love,
and you will be able to make sacrifices for those who love, even though present
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circumstances may indicate that your sacrifices are in vain.
Follow Jesus on Thursday out of the upper room and into the Garden of Gethsemane
and hear his prayer, my Father, if it's possible, may this cup be taken from
me, yet not as I will, but as you will.
When you go beyond Palm Sunday in an intimate walk with the creator of our universe
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through his word, you can pray your way through the darkest hour until you attain
the victory which comes by faith.
Follow Jesus on Thursday as he stands before the accusers with the power to
destroy his human life and never said a word.
When you go beyond Palm Sunday, you can realize that you can have a spirit of
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peace and calmness in the face of Satan's rage.
The accuser of our souls, because he is not the victor. Jesus is.
And we must go beyond Palm Sunday and follow Jesus on Good Friday as he carried
an old rugged cross up Calvary's Hill.
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And remember, Jesus still says to us, If anyone would come after me,
let them leave the security of the Palm Sunday crowd, deny themselves,
and take up their cross and follow me.
Jesus wants us to take up the cross, the cross of suffering,
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the cross of pain, the cross of whatever it takes to follow Jesus and to come after him.
The Jewish followers of Jesus knew exactly what Jesus meant about taking up
the cross. The word he used was the exact word meaning the cross of crucifixion and death.
It was not some sort of mamby-pamby superficial suffering that we believe it
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means when people don't see eye to eyes with us.
Oh, so-and-so is just the cross that I must bear.
Ever heard that? Jewish followers knew that the cross that Jesus was talking
about having to bear meant persecution and death for following Christ.
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That death would come from the persecution at the hands of the Jewish religious leaders.
We are called to surrender ourselves and even suffer death for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Follow Jesus to the tomb where the authorities hastily laid him to wait for
another day to come and prepare his body for final and proper burial.
When you go beyond Palm Sunday, you learn how to bury your pain in the face
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of heartbreaking Calvary experiences and wait upon God being fully obedient
to his death, even at the price of your own life.
And then we must go beyond Palm Sunday to that Saturday, that Sabbath.
Follow Jesus on that Saturday after his crucifixion, which was the Jewish Sabbath day of rest.
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Follow Jesus as he rested in the tomb.
Follow Jesus as we watch his body lie there in the tomb, beaten, whipped, and torn,
thorns having ripped into his skull, body piercing from the nails driven all
the way through his upper hands and through his feet, spear wound in his side,
broken heart, lifeless,
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totally abandoned by the Father and by us and dead.
Nothing was too precious for
Jesus. Nothing was too precious for him to withhold from the Father's use.
Nothing was too good to not be given up. Not even the isolation of death could
keep Jesus from doing the Father's will.
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Not my will, Lord, but yours is what I will do.
Follow Jesus on that Saturday like the Apostle Paul did as he went through numerous
imprisonments, beatings, stonings, and finally execution only for the purpose
of spreading the news about Christ to just one more person.
Paul said, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. No matter what happens, Christ is the victor.
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Hosanna to the King of Kings. I will do whatever this life takes to serve the King of Kings.
I remember one race, cross-country race in high school i
i was running jv that that that race
and i ended the race just in
by first just by quite a bit i was actually but but i ended up that race but
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i had put put so much effort into that three mile race that at the end of the
race when i crossed the line i passed out i didn't even know it i passed out
and they brought me to and and.
Me out of that. I had given up absolutely everything I could for that race.
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There was no more. And I remember coming into my faith in Christ and God telling
me that he was going to use me in the service of the ministry.
And I told God, at the end of this race called Christianity,
at the end of this life where I serve you, I want to die totally depleted.
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I don't want anything left on everything given to you. I don't want any regrets
of knowing that I have not given everything to you.
I think that's the way we should be as well.
We should be living our lives knowing that whatever it is, we have to give totally everything for him.
Follow Jesus on that Saturday like the apostles did when they later surrendered
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their physical lives to death by crucifixion and beheading for the sake of the gospel of Christ.
Peter chose to be crucified upside down on a Roman execution cross because he
could not bear to be equaled with God, with Jesus.
Follow Jesus on that Saturday like countless martyrs of the Christian faith
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have done in total abandonment to the cross of Christ.
Follow Jesus on that Saturday like so many modern martyrs in foreign countries
are doing even now who have died and are dying for their faith because they
refuse to deny the name of Jesus.
They refuse to give that up. Follow Jesus on that Saturday in that absolutely
interminable darkness as he waits for the rest of the story.
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Question is, are you willing to go beyond Palm Sunday to really follow Jesus whatsoever?
But someone might ask, if the Gospels didn't end on Palm Sunday,
does it end there in the grave?
And the answer is a resounding no.
Matthew's Gospel records another chapter after that crucifixion and burial,
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but thanks be to God, there's another chapter.
What Mark's record of Jesus' crucifixion and burial found in chapter 15,
but thanks be to God, there's another chapter.
Luke records this account of the crucifixion and burial, and thanks be to God,
there's another chapter.
And in John, in the Gospel of John, there are two chapters after Jesus' crucifixion
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and burial, because believe me, the story is not over.
Never forget that there's another chapter beyond the crucifixion and death.
There's another chapter beyond the pain and suffering and tribulation.
There's another chapter beyond the heartache and the hurts.
There's another chapter beyond sickness and death. And there most certainly
is another chapter beyond Satan and sin.
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Christ is the victor. It's the chapter that tells the story of some faithful
women who went to the tomb to anoint a dead body,
but instead received a message from living angels about a living Lord whom Calvary
could not destroy, whom death could not keep,
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and whom the grave could not hold.
There's a chapter that tells about the real victory in Jesus,
the victory that goes beyond Palm Sunday through the suffering and peace and
death to the power of the resurrection.
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he dismounted from a donkey.
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But when Jesus arose on Easter Sunday, he arose to never dismount again.
Jesus is the victor.
On the island of Patmos, said, I saw heaven standing open, and there before
me was a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True.
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On his robe and on his thigh he has these words written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The real victory was not seen by any great Palm Sunday multitudes.
It was only seen by the faithful few who walked with Jesus beyond Palm Sunday.
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If we would share in that real victory, then we too must move beyond Palm Sunday
and witness with Jesus in the temple on Monday as he is scorned.
Defend Jesus on Tuesday when he is stalked and accused.
Comfort Jesus and lift him up on Wednesday when he is anointed and yet antagonized and sold out.
Pray with Jesus on Thursday as his heart is broken.
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Bear our cross for Jesus on Friday as he is crucified and wait for Jesus on
Saturday through the long, dark night of the darkness of death.
Then we can shout on Sunday morning, as we receive that news from the angel,
you seek Jesus who was crucified.
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He is not here, for he has risen. He has risen indeed.
Hallelujah. He has risen. Will you go with me beyond the death,
the celebration of Palm Sunday to the death, and then the resurrection of the Christ?
Would you be raised to life again, and still and continually in the life of Christ.
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Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we close this service, this Palm Sunday service,
this Triumphal Entry Sunday service, we know that so much happens in the Holy
Week that follows that, that oftentimes we just kind of go through the week
and we don't even regard what Jesus did,
and what was done to him.
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Father, we pray that you would help us go beyond Palm Sunday,
to the night you took our sin from us and to the morning that you conquered
death for us. In Jesus' name, amen.
So everybody loves a good game, and everybody loves to be on the winning team.
And most people love it when the underdog comes from behind to take the victory.
At least that's, I do. I don't know.
I mean, maybe everybody else doesn't, but I do. I like the underdog to come from behind and win.
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If you've watched any of the March Madness NCAA basketball games,
you'll know that the celebration after a victory can be over the top.
In fact, we see this week as Florida won the national championship in the NCAA,
there were parties after party down in Florida, and one gentleman who decided
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he wanted to climb on top of a street light, the arm that goes over the street,
he thought he was going to climb on there and do a little dance on it,
and ended up falling to the street below.
Sometimes in our fervor for excitement, we do stupid things.
I have never done anything stupid in my life.
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Thou shalt not lie. The spectators storm the floor to congratulate the winning team.
Streamers, confetti, parades, high fives, fans going berserk,
is all part of the celebration of a winning team and their fans.
The celebration after the game oftentimes are more exciting,
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or as exciting, and sometimes more exciting than the game itself.
Sometimes the game can be pretty boring, a blowout. But even with the most exciting
win, and even with the most raucous celebration, there's always a letdown.
When the crowds go away, when the heroes come down from their great accomplishments,
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After they've ridden on the fire truck into town to receive the accolades of
their townsmen, there comes a letdown.
When their accomplishments appear to be just normal anymore.
Sometimes the crowds can turn on them.
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Sometimes the crowds can kind of nitpick about how the game was played or how
the coach did a certain play that really wasn't wise or whatever.
But what happens to the crowd when the hard times come? We're going to read
about that from Mark chapter 11 verses 7 through 33.
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When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.
Many people spread their cloaks
on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.
Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
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Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. Hosanna in the highest heaven.
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts.
He looked around at everything. But since it was already late,
he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
The next day, as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.
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Seeing in the distance a fig tree and leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit.
When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.
Then he said to the tree, May no one ever eat fruit from you again.
And his disciples heard him say it.
On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out
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those who were buying and selling there.
He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling
doves and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.
And as he taught them he said is it
not written my house will be called a
house of prayer for all nations but you
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have made it a den of robbers the chief
priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to
kill him for they feared him because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching
when evening came jesus and his disciples went out of the city In the morning, as they went along,
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they saw the fig tree withered from the roots.
Peter remembered and said to Jesus, Rabbi, look, the fig tree you cursed has withered.
Have faith in God, Jesus answered.
Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, go, throw yourself into the
sea, and does not doubt in their heart, but believes that what they say will
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happen, it will be done for them.
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have
received it, and it will be yours.
And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone,
forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts,
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the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders came to him.
By what authority are you doing these things? they asked.
And who gave you authority to do this?
Jesus replied, I will ask you one question.
Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
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John's baptism, was it from heaven or of human origin?
Tell me. They discussed it among themselves and said, If we say,
from heaven, he will ask, then why didn't you believe him?
But if we say, of human origin, they feared the people. for everyone held that
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John really was a prophet.
So they answered Jesus, We don't know.
Jesus said, Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
It was Passover time, and Jews had come from the ends of the earth to Jerusalem.
Wherever Jews lived, it was their ambition to observe at least one Passover in Jerusalem.
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In addition to those who had come from far away, there were Jews who had come
from within Palestine itself.
The law required that every adult male Jew who lived within 20 miles of Jerusalem
must come to that holy city for the Passover.
Now, Jerusalem was a town of about size of the Jerusalem city was a city of about 220 acres.
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I don't know how that compares to the size of Richland Center,
but I'm going to guess that it's actually smaller than the size of Richland Center.
In the town of Jerusalem, in the city of Jerusalem, there resided between 40 and 50,000 residents.
Doesn't sound like a lot, but in a 220-acre area, that's one-third of a square
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mile, actually slightly more than one-third of a square mile.
That's a lot. And yet on Passover week,
during that week of Passover leading up to it, there would be anywhere from
180,000 to 250,000 people in Jerusalem,
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wall-to-wall Jews coming to Jerusalem to observe the Passover.
Many of them, I mean, obviously they wouldn't have places to stay,
so they'd sleep out in the fields nearby, just pitching a tent or whatever there needed to be.
As I said earlier, there were many of those.
One count was taken of the number of lambs that was slain during this particular
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Passover feast that it was recorded,
and the number that was recorded was 265,000 lambs that were slain during that time.
And you need to understand that it was a requirement. there must be a minimum
of 10 people in Jerusalem for every lamb that was sacrificed during Passover.
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So coming through the gates of Jerusalem and going during that time,
during that holy week of Passover,
that week leading up to it, there would have been probably 2 million plus people
who had gone through that city.
In fact, probably around 2.7
million people in Jerusalem for the Passover feast that particular year.
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Even if the numbers were exaggerated, the crowds must have been enormous.
Wouldn't you like to have 2,700,000 people in our church on Sunday morning?
Well, maybe not that much, but I'll go for 270.
Wouldn't that be awesome? people coming to worship the Lord our God in the house, in the temple.
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And even as I said, the crowds must have been enormous, and Jerusalem and all
of its surrounding vicinity must have been packed with people because the walled
city, as I said, had a circumference of about two and a half, three miles.
Even then, it was jagged circumference, and the area within that was about a third of a square mile.
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The city is as i said was believed to
have between 30 and 30 and 50 000 people nevertheless the huge passover crowds
swamped the small city obviously not everyone could have stayed overnight there
because there just wasn't enough room there wasn't room in the inn sound like
a story you've heard before.
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Most of them would have stayed in neighboring villages like Bethany,
which is about eight miles away.
Bethany was the city from which Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived,
and that's where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, in Bethany,
about eight miles from Jerusalem.
At Passover time, the Jewish people remembered the deliverance of their ancestors
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from Egyptian bondage when the angel of death passed over their firstborn and
struck dead the firstborn children and cattle of the Egyptians.
This was the last straw for the
Pharaoh, and he finally agreed to let the Israelites grow, begrudgingly.
Nationalistic fever ran high during the time of Jesus as the present generation
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of Israelites chafed under the yoke of Roman oppression.
During Passover, messianic hope and expectations were the strongest.
During Passover, the Sadducees and the Roman guards, who were most concerned about keeping order.
Were obviously and always edgy for fear that some uprising,
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some incident might occur that aroused the smoldering hostility and desire for
freedom, which was always just below the service of an uneasy peace,
just waiting for the right time to explode.
Is that as Jesus headed toward Jerusalem, he was accompanied by an enthusiastic
crowd that had been with him in Bethany and had seen his mighty miracles,
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especially that one of raising his dead friend Lazarus to life about a week earlier.
You remember I've told you that many years before this, a guy came into Jerusalem
riding on a white stallion thinking he was going to lead the revolt.
His name was Maccabees, Judas Maccabees.
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He was later put down, and so was the rebellion.
And then word went on ahead that Jesus was coming into town on this particular day.
A crowd of Passover pilgrims, some of whom were curious, some of whom were well-wishers,
and some of whom were the devout ones who lived in constant readiness to receive
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the Messiah, went to greet Jesus and his followers.
When the joyful crowd from Bethany coming up the hill met with the expected
Jerusalem crowd in the middle of the celebrated atmosphere of the Passover, a spontaneous.
Combustion of excitement and spirit broke out.
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Everyone wanted to see Jesus and to be seen by him.
Jesus, who was riding on a donkey, a humble animal of peace,
was received like a conquering king, only he had come in peace and submission to God's will.
Some cut palm branches from the trees and waved them in the air or spread them along the road.
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Others spread their cloaks on the road, so Jesus' donkey just didn't have to
walk in the dirt of the street.
Amazing, isn't it? The multitudes shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.
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It was spontaneous worship. Matthew's Gospel tells us that when Jesus entered
Jerusalem, there was so much rejoicing that the whole city was moved.
Jesus tells that the Pharisees expressed dismay, remarking that the whole world had gone after him.
This had to have been a very significant day for the disciples who had left
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everything to follow Jesus, for his friends who loved, and for our Lord.
If the writers of the Gospels had put down their pens and ended their accounts
with Palm Sunday's triumphal entry, we would have had a nice,
neatly packaged, essentially trouble-free,
ready-for-primetime TV movie about a success story.
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And they lived happily ever after.
In fact, Hollywood would have ended the happily ever after movie right here
when Jesus, the small-town carpenter-turned-teacher and miracle-working prophet from Nazareth,
rode in triumph to the praises of the multitudes as he entered Jerusalem.
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What better place to end the story than at that moment when Jesus is riding
the crest of popularity, acceptability, respectability, and success.
The world seemed to be falling at Jesus' feet, and as the religious leaders
said, it seems as if the whole world has gone after him.
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Oh, that would be the day when the whole world goes to Jesus.
Isn't it easy to be part of the Palm Sunday crowd shouting and hollering and waving our hands?
Everybody likes to follow a winner when the multitudes are singing Jesus'
praises, when following him is the in thing to do,
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when there are no risks or conveniences or sacrifices to make,
when there are no demands of obedience being placed on us for our time and our talent and our money,
isn't it easy to shout hallelujah and Hosanna.
Yet we know that if the Gospels ended with a Palm Sunday event,
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the story and our salvation would be incomplete.
We would have no salvation. It would be non-existence.
But the Palm Sunday story, as gratifying, as exciting as it is,
simply does not tell the whole story, as we sang about.
Christians who don't go beyond Palm Sunday mentality miss out on the real essence
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of the gospel to really understand who Jesus was,
what he was about, and what he can really do for us and to us and in us and
with us and through us, we have to go beyond Palm Sunday.
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Jesus' last full week of ministry on earth
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before his death, and yet almost everything we know as the gospel revolves around this last week.
Did you know that almost a third of the books of Matthew and Mark,
about a fourth of the book of Luke, was written after the story of Palm Sunday.
Oh, by the way, half of the book of John was written about the story after Palm Sunday.
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It seems like that was extremely important, not even more important than Jesus'
birth, more important than the day, the Palm Sunday.
Apparently, these were the most significant days of Jesus' life and ministry
to the gospel writers and the ones they must wanted to tell us about most importantly.
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They wanted us to know what happened from that time of the triumphal entry through
that week, we call Holy Week, into his crucifixion and then resurrection.
So if we're going to understand the gospel fully, we have to want to be Christians
that God would like us to be.
We must go beyond Palm Sunday in our attitudes toward life. We must go beyond
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Palm Sunday in our devotion to Christ, and we must go beyond Palm Sunday in
our living for God in the boldness of the Holy Spirit. So go with me.
Go with me to that Monday in the cleansing of the temple to attain the fullness
of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We need to go up beyond Palm Sunday and follow Jesus on Monday when he went
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into God's house and saw merchants cheating and scheming and extorting and making
a mockery of God's temple and God's worship.
We must follow Jesus as he drove them out of his father's house with whip.
Yelling, this is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.
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If we are to grow beyond our Palm Sunday naivete, we must first come to grips
with the imperfections of the church.
So many times, seasoned as well as new Christians have become disillusioned
and discouraged because they see so much of the same behavior and attitudes
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in the church as they see in the world.
That was one of the reasons I fled from the church of God.
When my dad was superintendent, I saw so many things in the way the church was
happening and the church was the church of people were living life and ridiculing
and cutting others and blaming others down.
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I thought, if that is Christian love, if that is Christianity, I want nothing of it.
But it was when God himself spoke to me and said, listen, I don't care what the others do right now.
All I care is I want you to be my child and you to live for me.
When God speaks to us, we better listen.
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So many times we see that wrong that's in the church.
We see the attitude that's in the church, and it is wrong for sure.
And yes, we all wish that the church was perfect, but it's not.
However, the church is not made up of perfect people, but rather imperfect people
who are striving to follow the only perfect man.
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Jesus lived a life of perfection. He was the only one that lived that life of perfection,
and at least we should be striving for that perfection, even though we know
that in all of life we will never be completely perfect.
We could be perfect in love, knowing and loving God and surrendering to him,
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but our actions are always going to have some failure to him.
And as in any struggle. Sometimes we fail, and sometimes we succeed,
but we keep striving just the same toward a life of holiness.
And although our temples and our efforts are not perfect, we are still God's house.
Not this building. I mean, it is, but we are God's house. We are God's temple.
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We are made to be His holy handiwork, consecrated and set apart for Him.
And if we are truly walking with God in our personal lives through daily study
and application of God's Word through our own obedience.
Every now and then, Jesus comes by and has a way of bringing us back in line.
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So go with me to Monday when Jesus cleansed the temple,
and then also we must go beyond Palm Sunday and follow Jesus on Tuesday when
he debated with those who criticized him and tried to discredit his teachings.
On Palm Sunday, we become lost in the ecstasy of the crowd and the excitement.
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I don't think they had helium balloons
then, but they certainly had palm branches that were being raised.
We've come lost in the exodus to see a crowd and believe that everybody appreciates what's going on.
But on Tuesday, we discover that righteousness has its enemies.
Have you ever noticed that?
Doing good and doing right does have its enemies.
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Contrary to common observations, not everyone was rejoicing on Palm Sunday.
Not everyone appreciated our acts of praise. Some were jealous because of the
attention Jesus and the church received on Palm Sunday.
They questioned and challenged us not to learn from us, but to ridicule us and bring us down.
They try to take away our joy and cause us to doubt ourselves and our faith.
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But we cannot allow a Tuesday naysayer to take away our Palm Sunday spirit.
We can't allow a Tuesday critic to steal our Sunday joy.
We can't allow a Tuesday devil to deter us from the work of the kingdom.
We can't lose our faith or our faithfulness because of a Tuesday devil who is
critical of the church or the leaders in our church.
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And just like Jesus, we turn the critics aside by not even giving them an audience
and by turning and going about the business of the kingdom.
We simply turn away and follow Jesus.
Like Jesus, all we can do is answer them with the power of God's word and hold
on to the profession of our own faith without failing.
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And then we must move beyond Palm Sunday and follow Jesus on Wednesday when
Judas, one of Jesus' own chosen disciples, made contact with the authorities to betray the Lord.
Now, there's one of the biggest devils of all time, betrayal.
When one who has been close and pushing you forward turns on you and speaks against you.
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Or schemes against you. On Wednesday, according to Matthew and Mark,
while Jesus was dining, he received one of the last kindnesses of his early life.
A woman, out of heartfelt love and gratitude, poured a flask of costly perfume
upon Jesus' head and his feet and lifted his spirit.
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But there was one who complained because he felt that he knew how to use that money better.
One of the painful lessons we learn when we go beyond Palm Sunday is that every
church, every family, every circle of friends or associates has a Judas.
There is always someone who seeks to be in control and is filled with jealousy,
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who seeks to destroy by betrayal, not intentionally necessarily,
but they just want, they feel like they need to have their way about things.
It's interesting to see that the one who did Jesus the most harm was the one
who was in the circle of those that he called to be his church.
There are many churches these days that are being destroyed from the inside out.
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By spirits of dissension and animosity and infighting and rivalry.
Do you know? I don't know if this is a statistic.
In fact, actually, 98.5% of my statistics are made up on the spot.
But I would dare say there's probably as much division.
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In a church of Jesus Christ in these days over the color of paint or the color
of a carpet than anything else. Isn't that interesting?
We talk about the Church of Jesus Christ, and somebody asked me this week,
why are there so many denominations when we all really believe that Jesus is
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Lord? And I said, you know, I said, it's all on the little things.
Our divisions are on the little things. Our disagreements are on the little things.
That was not in my notes. I just gave you that for free. But we need to remember
this, that for every Judas who betrays us in our trust, there's always someone
else waiting to respond to our kindness with an act of love and thanksgiving like this woman,
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who many references refer to her as a woman who was, maybe the woman who was forgiven.
As the prostitute came and poured oil and fragrance on Jesus' head,
one who was discredited by the crowd, one who was hated by the people, came and loved on Jesus.
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For every Judas who tears us down, there was someone else to build us up.
For every Judas who digs a ditch for us to fall in.
There is someone else who fills in that hole and anoints us and aids us in greater service.
For every Judas who hurts us, there is someone else who brings healing. Thanks be to God.
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And then we must move beyond Palm Sunday and follow Jesus on Thursday evening
to the upper room where he sat down with the disciples at his final meal with them.
Go to Thursday when Jesus broke the bread and said to them, take,
eat, this is my body, which is broken for you.
Follow with the disciples as Jesus took the cup of wine.
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And when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, drink of it,
all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for
many for the forgiveness of sins.
When you go beyond Palm Sunday, you will learn to say goodbye to those you love,
and you will be able to make sacrifices for those who love, even though present
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circumstances may indicate that your sacrifices are in vain.
Follow Jesus on Thursday out of the upper room and into the Garden of Gethsemane
and hear his prayer, my Father, if it's possible, may this cup be taken from
me, yet not as I will, but as you will.
When you go beyond Palm Sunday in an intimate walk with the creator of our universe
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through his word, you can pray your way through the darkest hour until you attain
the victory which comes by faith.
Follow Jesus on Thursday as he stands before the accusers with the power to
destroy his human life and never said a word.
When you go beyond Palm Sunday, you can realize that you can have a spirit of
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peace and calmness in the face of Satan's rage.
The accuser of our souls, because he is not the victor. Jesus is.
And we must go beyond Palm Sunday and follow Jesus on Good Friday as he carried
an old rugged cross up Calvary's Hill.
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And remember, Jesus still says to us, If anyone would come after me,
let them leave the security of the Palm Sunday crowd, deny themselves,
and take up their cross and follow me.
Jesus wants us to take up the cross, the cross of suffering,
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the cross of pain, the cross of whatever it takes to follow Jesus and to come after him.
The Jewish followers of Jesus knew exactly what Jesus meant about taking up
the cross. The word he used was the exact word meaning the cross of crucifixion and death.
It was not some sort of mamby-pamby superficial suffering that we believe it
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means when people don't see eye to eyes with us.
Oh, so-and-so is just the cross that I must bear.
Ever heard that? Jewish followers knew that the cross that Jesus was talking
about having to bear meant persecution and death for following Christ.
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That death would come from the persecution at the hands of the Jewish religious leaders.
We are called to surrender ourselves and even suffer death for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Follow Jesus to the tomb where the authorities hastily laid him to wait for
another day to come and prepare his body for final and proper burial.
When you go beyond Palm Sunday, you learn how to bury your pain in the face
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of heartbreaking Calvary experiences and wait upon God being fully obedient
to his death, even at the price of your own life.
And then we must go beyond Palm Sunday to that Saturday, that Sabbath.
Follow Jesus on that Saturday after his crucifixion, which was the Jewish Sabbath day of rest.
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Follow Jesus as he rested in the tomb.
Follow Jesus as we watch his body lie there in the tomb, beaten, whipped, and torn,
thorns having ripped into his skull, body piercing from the nails driven all
the way through his upper hands and through his feet, spear wound in his side,
broken heart, lifeless,
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totally abandoned by the Father and by us and dead.
Nothing was too precious for
Jesus. Nothing was too precious for him to withhold from the Father's use.
Nothing was too good to not be given up. Not even the isolation of death could
keep Jesus from doing the Father's will.
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Not my will, Lord, but yours is what I will do.
Follow Jesus on that Saturday like the Apostle Paul did as he went through numerous
imprisonments, beatings, stonings, and finally execution only for the purpose
of spreading the news about Christ to just one more person.
Paul said, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. No matter what happens, Christ is the victor.
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Hosanna to the King of Kings. I will do whatever this life takes to serve the King of Kings.
I remember one race, cross-country race in high school i
i was running jv that that that race
and i ended the race just in
by first just by quite a bit i was actually but but i ended up that race but
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i had put put so much effort into that three mile race that at the end of the
race when i crossed the line i passed out i didn't even know it i passed out
and they brought me to and and.
Me out of that. I had given up absolutely everything I could for that race.
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There was no more. And I remember coming into my faith in Christ and God telling
me that he was going to use me in the service of the ministry.
And I told God, at the end of this race called Christianity,
at the end of this life where I serve you, I want to die totally depleted.
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I don't want anything left on everything given to you. I don't want any regrets
of knowing that I have not given everything to you.
I think that's the way we should be as well.
We should be living our lives knowing that whatever it is, we have to give totally everything for him.
Follow Jesus on that Saturday like the apostles did when they later surrendered
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their physical lives to death by crucifixion and beheading for the sake of the gospel of Christ.
Peter chose to be crucified upside down on a Roman execution cross because he
could not bear to be equaled with God, with Jesus.
Follow Jesus on that Saturday like countless martyrs of the Christian faith
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have done in total abandonment to the cross of Christ.
Follow Jesus on that Saturday like so many modern martyrs in foreign countries
are doing even now who have died and are dying for their faith because they
refuse to deny the name of Jesus.
They refuse to give that up. Follow Jesus on that Saturday in that absolutely
interminable darkness as he waits for the rest of the story.
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Question is, are you willing to go beyond Palm Sunday to really follow Jesus whatsoever?
But someone might ask, if the Gospels didn't end on Palm Sunday,
does it end there in the grave?
And the answer is a resounding no.
Matthew's Gospel records another chapter after that crucifixion and burial,
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but thanks be to God, there's another chapter.
What Mark's record of Jesus' crucifixion and burial found in chapter 15,
but thanks be to God, there's another chapter.
Luke records this account of the crucifixion and burial, and thanks be to God,
there's another chapter.
And in John, in the Gospel of John, there are two chapters after Jesus' crucifixion
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and burial, because believe me, the story is not over.
Never forget that there's another chapter beyond the crucifixion and death.
There's another chapter beyond the pain and suffering and tribulation.
There's another chapter beyond the heartache and the hurts.
There's another chapter beyond sickness and death. And there most certainly
is another chapter beyond Satan and sin.
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Christ is the victor. It's the chapter that tells the story of some faithful
women who went to the tomb to anoint a dead body,
but instead received a message from living angels about a living Lord whom Calvary
could not destroy, whom death could not keep,
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and whom the grave could not hold.
There's a chapter that tells about the real victory in Jesus,
the victory that goes beyond Palm Sunday through the suffering and peace and
death to the power of the resurrection.
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he dismounted from a donkey.
(35:12):
But when Jesus arose on Easter Sunday, he arose to never dismount again.
Jesus is the victor.
On the island of Patmos, said, I saw heaven standing open, and there before
me was a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True.
(35:36):
On his robe and on his thigh he has these words written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The real victory was not seen by any great Palm Sunday multitudes.
It was only seen by the faithful few who walked with Jesus beyond Palm Sunday.
(35:58):
If we would share in that real victory, then we too must move beyond Palm Sunday
and witness with Jesus in the temple on Monday as he is scorned.
Defend Jesus on Tuesday when he is stalked and accused.
Comfort Jesus and lift him up on Wednesday when he is anointed and yet antagonized and sold out.
Pray with Jesus on Thursday as his heart is broken.
(36:22):
Bear our cross for Jesus on Friday as he is crucified and wait for Jesus on
Saturday through the long, dark night of the darkness of death.
Then we can shout on Sunday morning, as we receive that news from the angel,
you seek Jesus who was crucified.
(36:43):
He is not here, for he has risen. He has risen indeed.
Hallelujah. He has risen. Will you go with me beyond the death,
the celebration of Palm Sunday to the death, and then the resurrection of the Christ?
Would you be raised to life again, and still and continually in the life of Christ.
(37:12):
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we close this service, this Palm Sunday service,
this Triumphal Entry Sunday service, we know that so much happens in the Holy
Week that follows that, that oftentimes we just kind of go through the week
and we don't even regard what Jesus did,
and what was done to him.
(37:33):
Father, we pray that you would help us go beyond Palm Sunday,
to the night you took our sin from us and to the morning that you conquered
death for us. In Jesus' name, amen.
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