Throughout her history the Church has celebrated the mighty
works of God. One good example of this is Passover, the rescue of the Church
from the slavery of Egypt. Starting from the days of Moses that event was
remembered and celebrated every year. Another good example of this is the
Church's remembering and celebrating Jesus' resurrection from the dead. That
also has been celebrated every year for quite a long time. Unfortunately, the
celebration of this event has been has been tampered with by the world. For so
many these days, the celebration of the resurrection isn't actually about
anyone's resurrection. It's about bunnies and colored eggs and empty
proclamations about life being renewed. And that is sad. The Church needs to
reclaim her celebrations. But why? Why is this important? It's important
because celebrations are supposed to teach. Celebrations are supposed to
explain life. Memorial Day once had lessons to teach. It no longer does. Now,
it's just how we mark the beginning of summer festivities. The celebrations of
the Church are intended to teach. That is what they are for. They teach us that
there is a God who rescues His people from slavery. There is a God who walks
with them through what sometimes feels like a desert. There is a God who dies for
their sins. There is a God who gives them life. We celebrate so that we can be
taught. We celebrate so that we can understand life. We celebrate so that we
can live well. We need to reclaim the celebration of Jesus' resurrection so
that we can learn important lessons about life and pass them on to our children
and their children.
With that in mind I am going preach about the resurrection
of Jesus. But I am going to preach it in a way that is a little bit different.
I'm going to preach a sermon that has three parts. That's not so different.
This is what's a bit different. I'm going to preach just the first part today, Palm
Sunday. I'll preach the second part on Good Friday at our remembrance of the
crucifixion of our Lord. I'll preach the third part, the climax, Easter Sunday,
at our celebration of Jesus' resurrection. My desire is for you to be able to
celebrate Jesus' resurrection in a way that is fitting, in a way that will
teach.
Today, we look at Jesus' fateful entry into Jerusalem, what
we call Palm Sunday. The first thing I'm going to do is simply recount what
happened. Jesus has been ministering throughout Judea and the surrounding
regions for something like three years. But the climax of all of that has
arrived. So, He travels to Jerusalem. Jewish crowds are also on their way to
Jerusalem. They are on their way to celebrate Passover. Seeing Jesus entering
the city, they lay down their cloaks as a path, wave palm leaves in the air and
shout the praises of one of the Psalms.
Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!
Those are the historical facts. That's what happened. But
what does it mean? What is going on here? What is Jesus doing? Psalm 24 will
help explain.
Lift up your heads, O gates! And be
lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this
King of glory? The Lord, strong
and mighty, the Lord, mighty in
battle!
It's a coronation. Jesus enters Jerusalem to be crowned as
the King of glory. And note how He is described. He is the one who is 'mighty
in battle'. Battle? Does Jesus fight battles? Oh, yes, He fights battles. He's
been fighting battles for three years. In fact, He enters Jerusalem to fight
the most important battle of His life. But whom is He fighting? Who is the
enemy? This is where knowing something of the big picture is so very helpful.
And key to understanding the big picture is this defining comment by God back
when Adam and Eve had just committed that first sin. God has spoken to Adam and
then to Eve. Now, He speaks to Satan.
I will put enmity between you and
the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.
God has just started a war. Enmity. He has divided all of
humanity into two groups: the children of the devil and the children of Eve;
that is, those who are in rebellion against their Creator and those He has
rescued to Himself. The history of the world is about the battles between these
two groups. That's what Noah's flood was about. That's what David and Goliath
was about. That's what Elijah and the prophets of Baal was about. And that's
what Palm Sunday was about. Jesus enters Jerusalem as the one who is mighty in
battle. And He arrives in order to fight the critical battle of this war. He
arrives to do battle with Satan himself. Everything hinges on what happens
here. This battle will determine who wins the war.
Now, every war has had its reasons. Those reasons can be
about territory, fame, commerce, natural resources, national pride. What's the
point of this war between Jesus and Satan? This war is all about lordship. Who
is lord over the nations? Who is ruler of this world? Up to this point, with
the tiny, and often inconsistent, exception of Israel, Satan has been lord over
the nations. Jesus knows that. Listen to how He described His adversary to His
disciples.
I will no longer talk much with
you, for the ruler of this world is coming.
Jesus describes Satan as 'the ruler of this world.' That
means that his offer at the temptation was real.
… the devil took him to a very high
mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he
said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
All the kingdoms of the world were his to offer. He really
was 'the ruler of this world'. The war was fought over this simple question.
Who will be lord over the nations? To whom do the nations owe their allegiance?
Who is the acknowledged leader? Will it be Satan or Jesus?
The question was real, the war was real and that critical
battle was real. Thinking that Jesus could have lost that battle and thus the
war raises many puzzling questions. But regardless, do not think that that must
mean that it was all something like 'make believe', that Jesus couldn't
possibly have lost, that Jesus was just going through the motions. The war was
real and the battle was real.
We all know how this turned out. There is no suspense here.
The battle was fought on Good Friday and victory was declared on Easter Sunday.
On Friday evening I will look at how Jesus fought His battle and on Sunday I
will look at what's different now that He is victorious. But today I want to
remind you about the question behind this war, 'Who is lord over the nations?'
I want to do that because the war is not over. There are still many battles to
fight, many battles that you must fight. And they are real battles,
battles that you can lose. So, Peter's first-century warning still applies.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your
adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour.
You have an enemy, and he wants to destroy you. You must
beat him. What will help you to defeat your adversary is understanding what the
battles are about. The battles are about lordship. Who is Lord? To whom do the
nations owe their allegiance? Who is to be acknowledged as leader? This is what
is behind the large questions of our era: political questions like the proper
role of government, gender issues like sexual identity, social question like
how a nation is to care for those in need, and how we should train the next
generation. These are the large questions of our days, and they all need to be
answered in terms of the issue of lordship. If Jesus is acknowledged as Lord,
then certain answers will follow. If not, then very different answers will
follow. This is what is also behind the more personal questions we all face:
what is my calling, how do I invest my life, what risks should I take, why
bother trying to change, what does it mean to stand for what is right. These
questions are also answered in terms of lordship. If Jesus is acknowledged as
Lord, then certain answers will follow. If not, then very different answers
will follow.
This isn't news for most of you. You know about the
importance of Jesus as Lord of your life, and you are working on growing in
your understanding of what that means for you and yours. And 'well done' for
doing that. My point here is simply to remind you of what you know so that you
can be prepared for what's coming. In the first century when the apostles
roamed and preached, saying, 'Jesus is Lord', was dangerous. The people of that
culture understood that as a threat to life as they knew it, and they reacted
against it, sometimes brutally. We are returning to those times. You can see it
all around. You already feel it in various ways. Trying to live according to
the truth that Jesus is Lord will get you into trouble. The war continues.
There are battles to fight. And that will be hard.
So, let me remind you of a couple of things. And these are
tied to something that I have talked about before. You have a covenant
relationship with Jesus. That means that you have certain obligations. They can
be summed up easily. You are to live in a way that acknowledges that Jesus is
Lord. And that will affect every aspect of your life. You must fight the
battles - battles on the job, in the neighborhood, in your family - with this
battle cry: 'Jesus is Lord!' But there is the other side that you also need to
cling to. Since it is a covenant relationship that means that Jesus also has certain
obligations. As your Lord He is obligate to care for you, to guide you, to
protect you. He has promised to do all of that. And He always keeps His
promises. So, as you work at keeping your obligations, acknowledging Jesus as
Lord, take heart. Jesus will also keep His obligations and make sure you make
it.