©2003 Larry Huntsperger Peninsula Bible Fellowship

04/04/04

A Week Unlike Any Other

3/23/97 Palm Sunday: A Week Unlike Any Other

“It was a week unlike any other, a week in which victory and defeat, heaven and hell, exhilaration and utter despair stood side by side and marched against me. It was a week in which the world I wanted seemed at last within my grasp, a week in which my flesh guzzled sweet, rich gulps of hope, staggering under its intoxication. It was a week in which blinding light turned to blackness and despair. It was a week in which everything I longed for, everything I sought, everything I trusted surged into my life in one great, glorious climax and failed me utterly. It was a week in which the Master plunged his hand deep within me, grabbed my heart of flesh, and crushed it in his almighty grip. It was a week I would not exchange for all the wealth in the world, nor choose to live again for the same compensation.”

Those are the words

I believe Peter might have used

to describe the final few days of Christ’s human life on this earth.

We are going to take a two-week break

from our study of my life’s greatest surprises

to look at parts of that week.

Today is the day that we traditionally call ‟Palm Sunday”.

We do that because of these words recorded for us in Matthew 21:1-11

describing Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem

just a few days prior to his death and Resurrection.

And when they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them, and bring them to Me. And if anyone says something to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them." Now this took place that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold your King is coming to you, Gentle, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'" And the disciples went and did just as Jesus had directed them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid on them their garments, on which He sat. And most of the multitude spread their garments in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees, and spreading them in the road. And the multitudes going before Him, and those who followed after were crying out, saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!" And when He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?" And the multitudes were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee."

As most of you know,

the first four books of the New Testament,

Matthew,

Mark,

Luke,

and John are the books that we call ‟the Gospels”.

(That word “Gospel”, by the way,

is not a title we chose for those accounts,

it is a title God Himself chose for them.

Do you know what those words means?

It means “GOOD NEWS” -

the Good News according to Matthew,

and Mark,

and Luke,

and John.

I mention that simply because

if you ever read those books,

or any portion of them

and what you read does not sound to you

like the best news you’ve ever heard,

it simply means you have failed to understand correctly what’s being said.

When God calls something He has said to us “GOOD NEWS”

I promise you it really is!)

Those first four books are four separate historical accounts

of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Each of them is written from a distinctly unique perspective,

each with a specific audience in mind.

Chronologically the first to be written

was Mark, not Matthew,

and then Matthew and Luke followed.

These three were written within 20 or 30 years after Christ’s departure,

written to meet the urgent need among Christians

for a reliable record of the life of Christ

that was easily available for those coming into the family of God.

The Gospel of John was written many years latter,

by a very old John,

the last living member of the original band of 12 disciples,

written to complete the account of Christ’s life

as seen

and felt through John’s eyes.

These 4 New Testament books

contain a total of 89 chapters.

They cover a span of about 33 years,

from the conception and birth of Christ

through His resurrection and ascension into heaven.

Of those 89 chapters

30 chapters deal exclusively

with the events surrounding the last week of Christ’s life here on this earth.

More than 1/3 of the Gospel record

deals with less than one tenth of one percent of the actual time He spent here.

The reason, I think, is obvious -

if we understand correctly

what happened during that final week

and why,

we will understand Christ - Who He is,

why He came,

and what He accomplished.

If we do not correctly understand

what happened during that final week,

and why,

we will never understand anything else He did.

Obviously, in two Sundays

there is no way we can cover 30 chapters of the Gospel record.

But we are going to look at how that week began

and how it ended

in order to help us get a feel

for what took place and why.

Today we are going to look at how that week started,

and in the brief time we have this morning

maybe the best way I can help us

understand this thing we call the ‟Triumphal Entry”

is to allow us see this event

from 4 distinctly different perspectives.

And we need to begin by getting our own perspective correct.

You see, we suffer from seeing these events

through the fog of 2000 years of church tradition,

and through having the historical records

bound within a leather cover

that has ‟HOLY BIBLE” printed in gold on the front.

Don’t get me wrong -

it really is HOLY

and it certainly is God’s written communication of Himself to us.

But sometimes we forget

that this Book is not only a HOLY record,

it is also an HISTORICAL record

about real people

and real places

and real historical events.

The nation of Israel at the time of Christ

was roughly the same size as the Kenai Peninsula.

Actually, the Peninsula is a little larger.

So if it helps you to think more in terms of

Homer,

and Seward,

and Kenai,

and Soldotna

than in terms of Galilee

and Bethlehem

Jericho

and Jerusalem, that's fine.

But let’s begin by looking at this Triumphal Entry event

through the eyes of the masses.

You see, for the past four years

there had been this MAN walking around the Peninsula.

He had been born and raised... where?

Well, just to help us relate,

let’s say it was in some neglected little community like Hope, Alaska.

Everybody knew how to get to Hope, of course,

but almost nobody actually went there,

and until a few years ago

no one even knew this Man existed.

But then He began to teach,

and to teach in a way that people had never heard before.

He talked about God as if...

well, as if He had just finished having breakfast with Him,

and He was now sharing

some of the things the two of them

had talked over during their morning meal.

He had a way of dissolving all the lines

between the physical world

and the world of the spirit -

He had a way of making trust in God

seem more natural,

and more reasonable,

and more logical,

and more necessary than breathing.

He had spoken both of great good

and of great evil in the world,

but the lines He drew between the two

were all different than the lines

anyone else had ever drawn.

The churches in the area listened grudgingly, guardedly at first,

but gradually, one by one,

they all turned against Him

because He failed to support their denomination,

or their attendance drive,

or their favorite cause or program.

But even though the organized institutions turned away from Him,

still the people came to hear Him,

at first a few,

and then more and more and more

until eventually they were always there - listening, watching, following Him everywhere.

And it wasn’t just the teaching,

it was the tricks He did as well.

No, that isn’t quite right - it wasn’t tricks,

it was the POWER He seemed to have.

There was that time when those high school students pushed their way through the crowd

caring their friend with them on a stretcher.

He was their age,

just a kid, really,

but he was paralyzed from the waist down.

When Jesus saw him He asked the boy if he wanted to be well.

The tears that welled up in the boy’s eyes

was the only answer Jesus needed.

He reached down,

took his hand,

pulled him to his feet,

and the boy walked, and then jumped, and then ran in circles around his Healer.

And there were hundreds of others as well -

thousands, really.

By now there was hardly a person in that whole region

who didn’t know somebody

or know somebody who knew somebody who had been healed by this Man’s words or touch.

You see, that’s the way it would have been here, now, on the Kenai Peninsula,

and that’s the way it was in Israel in the first century.

And now, at last, Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

coming to the heart of this little nation,

coming publicly, openly,

apparently coming at last to lead,

to take control,

to strip those corrupt rulers of their power

and bring Israel once again into the power

and glory

and prestige it had once known under King David so many years before.

And on that particular day,

with thousands of pilgrims pouring into the city

in celebration of one of Israel’s most important feast days,

when Jesus appeared on the scene

the crowds literally went wild.

This was the way it was suppose to be -

this was God’s Man,

God’s time,

God’s way,

and now at last victory,

and freedom,

and prosperity would role across the nation like a flood.

People started pulling off their coats and shirts

and flinging them before the donkey Jesus was riding.

Then they started ripping the branches off the trees

to pave the way for the coming King.

Such a man as this

should not be allowed to walk over dirt - somehow the road before Him had to be paved.

And for the crowds - this was clearly the first great step toward victory.

This was the candidate for which

they had all been waiting.

He wasn’t Democrat,

or Republican,

or Independent,

or Libertarian,

He was just us,

one of us,

living His life in the same dirt and odors and turmoil of life that we live in.

He understood,

and He was coming to make everything right.

Now let the party begin!

And then there was a second perspective on the Palm Sunday Parade,

the perspective of the Rulers of this tiny nation -

both the political and religious rulers.

They, too, had been watching this Man’s rise in popularity,

but they had seen it through very different eyes.

And they had all unanimously reached their conclusions months before -

this Man had to be eliminated.

One way or another He had to be removed.

They saw how the people responded to Him,

how the masses hung on His words,

how they followed Him everywhere.

And they knew their security,

and their control,

and their very existence depended upon getting rid of Him.

They had a plan, of course,

and it was a good one.

There was, within Jesus’ inner circle a weak link,

a man they could buy,

a man who knew where this Jesus would be every minute,

a man who would tell them

where and when they could get Him

when the crowds were not there to protect and defend.

But not during the feast, of course.

The crowds were too big,

His popularity was too great,

it would be far too risky.

You know,

those two groups - the masses crying, ‟Hosanna!”,

and the Jewish leaders crying, ‟This Guy has got to go!”

represent well

the way most of our world responds to Christ today.

We still have the masses - the multitudes of people who look to Jesus

as a resource for their agenda.

With some their agenda is religious,

and religious folk always want Jesus on their side.

They have to be selective, of course,

in which quotations they use

and how they interpret them,

but it’s not hard to do.

With some the agenda is political - “GOD BLESS AMERICA!”

With some it’s financial - Jesus has always sold very well.

With some the agenda is far more personal - freedom from pain,

or addiction,

or disease.

Every one of those men and women

who trotted along side that donkey that day brought their own agenda to the Lord,

and they were even willing to make this man their King

if He could help them get what they wanted.

Some of them remembered filling their bellies

with the bread He had created out of nothing

and they hoped there would be lots more

once He was King.

Some of them had been healed,

or needed to be healed,

and had hopes that His rise to power

would bring unending health and prosperity to the nation.

Some of them were watching the Roman Government

rip the lion’s share of their profits out of their pockets

and they hoped this Man’s Kingship

would put an end to the tyranny.

Some of them just liked to party

and this Man’s parties were the best they had ever seen.

But they all came with their agenda.

They had no problems with a God

who would cooperate with their agenda.

They didn’t expect miracles, of course -

at least not all the time,

but if there was a chance He could help

they would wave their branches

and toss their coats down before Him.

But they had their bottom line.

And if He didn’t follow their script

they would find some other resource.

And let me tell you what the Lord said to the masses,

to all of those people who came to Him

with their agendas for Him to fulfill.

Talk about an ideal opportunity for a speech!

Here they all were - crammed around Him

in anticipation,

hanging on His every word,

ready and waiting for Him to point the way.

Now listen to what He said,

‟.................................................”

NOTHING!

Not one word.

Because there is nothing to be said

to those who come to God with their own agenda.

Not because He does not care about them

or feel their pain.

Just one day latter,

Jesus looked out over those masses

and said:

Matt. 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

You see,

those masses had chosen to ignore

the one crucial factor

in a man’s relationship with his God -

that relationship cannot begin with man’s dependance upon God’s power,

it can only begin

with man’s submission to God’s will.

And submission was not an option.

They would determine the agenda

and follow only as long

as their ‟King” ‟led” the direction they wanted to go.

Did you ever wonder how all those people in Jerusalem

could change so fast?

How one day they were flinging down their clothes

and crowning Him King,

and less than a week latter

they were crying out, ‟Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

The answer is simple:

Once they saw

that His hope of political and social power was gone forever -

they knew He was no longer of value

to their personal agenda.

He had failed in the political arena of power

and now was the time to switch their allegiance and back the winner.

And that’s the way the masses

always respond to Jesus -

as long as there’s a chance

He might be useful to them

they’ll wave His banner

and sing His songs.

But let Him tamper with their agenda

and they’ll walk away from Him in a heartbeat.

“Oh ya, I tried Jesus,

but it didn’t work for me.”

Which, translated, means, “He didn’t give me what I wanted

when I wanted to get it.”

And then there are those who respond to Jesus

the way those political and religious leaders did.

To their credit

in one respect

they saw this Man far more clearly than did the masses marching at His side.

They knew He was dangerous.

They knew He had power.

They knew that who He was

and what He taught

would devastate their world and destroy their power

if it was not stopped.

And our world is flooded with such men and women today.

Instinctively they hate this Jesus - because they know He has the power

to devastate their lives and their world.

In the name of free speech

and the personal rights of the individual

and the separation of church and state

they attack and destroy

anything that bares the scent of His Kingship

or His authority

or His morality.

Because they, like those Jewish Rulers so long ago,

know that this Jesus does not negotiate,

and He does not compromise.

What He seeks is their submission to Him,

and submission is not an option.

There was a third group of people in the parade that day,

though, to be honest,

I’m certain that, on that morning

a casual observer could not have distinguished them from the masses.

You’ll recognize the names of some of them -

Peter and Andrew,

James and John,

Philip and Nathaniel,

Mary and Martha and their brother, Lazarus.

These were the ones that Jesus referred to as His “little flock”.

On that particular day,

marching into Jerusalem,

if you could have seen any outward difference between them and the masses,

it would have been in that they were the ones waving palm branches in both hands

rather than in just one.

You see, their futures, too, were bound up in the success of this Man,

and they wanted a crown on His head more than any of the others.

But there was a difference between them and the masses,

a difference that, on that day only Christ could see,

because He could see their hearts,

but a difference that became evident to all just five days later.

For, when the masses were all gone,

and the political leaders were gloating in their victory,

and when what Jesus held in His hands

was not a crown, but rather a massive wooden cross,

they were still there,

mourning His loss,

because what they wanted most of all was not His success,

what they wanted was Him.

But there is a fourth perspective

on this Triumphal Entry

that I want us to see before we close today,

and that is the perspective of Christ Himself.

You see, He knew from the very beginning

why He had come to Jerusalem that day.

He had come to die.

Two days before His death

He told His disciples one more time:

Matt. 26:2 "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be delivered up for crucifixion."

They couldn’t hear it then, of course.

But He knew from the very beginning.

And not only did He know it,

He carefully orchestrated the whole thing.

He chose the day of His own death,

He chose the means.

And then He carefully put it all together.

Do you know why He allowed that triumphal entry?

Because He knew the leaders had to be driven through fear

to act immediately - in accordance with HIS time schedule.

And that required thousands and thousands of people

crying out, ‟Hosanna! Hail to the coming King! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”.

We’re out of time,

so let me see if I can summarize

what I want us to see here

in just a couple of sentences.

The true perspective on that triumphal entry

is not that of the masses who looked at Jesus

as a means to their ends,

nor is it that of the rulers

who viewed Jesus

as their greatest enemy

and a threat to the life they wanted to live,

nor was it even the perspective of His little flock

who still understood almost nothing about what He came to do.

It is the perspective of

Christ Himself,

who came not as the Teacher,

not as the Prophet,

not at that point as the King,

and not as the enemy,

but as the Savior

to offer Himself and His death

as the perfect sacrifice for our sinfulness.

2 Cor. 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

But we’re just half way through

to where we want to be

because Jesus’ life did not end on that cross.

But we’ll have to wait until next week

for the rest of the story.