Welcome to the Panhandle. Pull up a chair, hang out awhile, open your Bibles and let's enjoy God's Word together.
Well here it is almost Resurrection Sunday (Easter). In keeping with the season I found this great Palm Sunday study originally by Rick Ezell.
Ticker-tape parades are not as common today as they once were. Over the past 130 years, there have been 205 ticker-tape parades in New York City, honoring people like Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Jesse Owens, Douglas MacArthur, sports teams like the Yankees and Giants, and most recently, the U.S. women’s soccer team who won the World Cup championship in the summer of 2015. Two of the longest and largest ticker tape parades were given for World War II and Korean War General Douglas MacArthur in 1951, after he was relieved of duty by President Harry S. Truman, and for astronaut John Glenn in 1962.
John 12:12-19
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
"Hosanna!"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Blessed is the King of Israel!"
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,
15 "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey's colt."
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!"
There is someone who lived a long time ago once given a special parade.
1. Jesus Was Given A Parade
On the day that Jesus came to Jerusalem for the Passover a mass of humanity was present.
There were perhaps as many as 2.5 million people crowded into the narrow streets of the holy city of Jerusalem at Passover time.
From the distance, there came a noise—a kind of rhythmic, chant that wafted in louder and louder from the southern gate of the city. People stopped talking to each other and turned toward the sound. A recurring word could be heard: Hosanna. Hosanna. Hosanna. It was more like a cheer than a chant.
As the procession got closer and closer people began to see the dust rising from shuffling feet. People pushed and shoved to get closer to the street. The Hosanna’s got louder and louder, reverberating against stonewalls. I can imagine a man running ahead of the procession. He would be saying something that the people had to strain to hear: “Jesus of Nazareth is coming! The Prophet is coming! The man who raises the dead is coming! Hurry, Jesus is coming!”
The crowd would began to inch closer and closer to the street. Dads would hoisted their children to their shoulders. Teenagers would climb trees lining the streets to see what was going on. Everyone would want to catch a glimpse of this strange, but miraculous teacher they had heard about. What they saw was strange—or, at least, totally unexpected. Jesus moved serenely on the back of a small donkey.
Jesus, the honored celebrity, was the center of attention, the eye of the hurricane. Around Him chaos, but in Him calmness. Rather than confetti and streamers fluttering in the air, there was the sounds of slashing and whooshing of palm fronds as they were placed in front of the donkey’s hooves. Other parade watchers took off their coats and their cloaks and spread them before Jesus, much like a red carpet being rolled out for royalty. It was an incredible scene.
All segments of humanity were at the Palm Sunday procession for Christ Jesus that day. There were:
2. The The Innocent Passers-by
These are the ones who had never seen Jesus before and did not recognize Him. Now they found themselves caught up in the procession. Many were travelers, in Jerusalem for Passover. Perhaps, they had come early that morning to the marketplace to shop. Or maybe they had planned a family outing to picnic on the Mount of Olives. And now they simply got caught up in the historical moment.
It was Jerusalem, the religious center of Jewish life. It was the Passover, one of the most important Jewish high Holy days. They were passers-by here on a pilgrimage and maybe a bit of vacation. So here they were caught up in the moment. They had not come with planes to see this itinerant teacher and miracle worker. They just happened to be present when the parade came by. And they were awed by the majesty of the moment.
It was more than the crowds, the chanting, and the chaos. It was the man at the center of it all, it was Jesus. They saw in Jesus a look of serenity, they since in Him an air of compassion. There was an authority in His manner, but not like that of the Pharisees or Sadducees. There was more to this ordinary looking not so ordinary man, who held their attention.
They were captivated by Jesus, and in that moment they felt a desire they couldn't explain, all they knew was that they wanted what He had. For too long they have wandered aimlessly and traveled meaninglessly spiritually, just going through the motions. Now, they could see what they had sought in the man on the donkey. They were caught unawares. And in an instant they were changed. They knew that they needed to follow Jesus.
That is how it is today. When you have an honest encounter with Christ Jesus you can't help but follow Him. So open your mind, your heart, and your soul to Him today.
3. The Poor
The poor seem to tag alongside the Lord wherever He went. At the parade the poor were among those who sang out Hosanna the loudest. They loved Jesus, they had always loved Him. And why not? Jesus had given them the one thing that the world would never gave them—hope. The hope of a better today studded with forgiveness, grace, and mercy. The hope of a brighter tomorrow filled with an eternal home where the streets are lined with gold leading to a mansion waiting for them.
They were deemed outcast by their society, downtrodden by the wealthy, and despised by the ruling class, but because of Jesus they had hope of a new day, a new beginning, a new start, and a new life. So when Jesus entered the city riding a donkey, a symbol of the lower class—the outcast, the downtrodden, and the forgotten, He was identifying with them.
The poor in the crowd helped blanketed the road with their robes and coats to honor Jesus' gift of hope to them, even though they did not have a robe to spare. Maybe they realized that they couldn’t save themselves by their own merit. Lowering their worn and tattered cloaks to the ground, they humbled themselves, becoming poor in spirit, to reap the rewards of heavenly merit. Their options were all but gone. They had stopped demanding justice; and now they begged for mercy.
On the road to Jerusalem that day, they were given hope and life and all the riches of heaven. Today you to can have that hope, life, and all the riches of heaven by inviting Christ Jesus into your heart.
4. The Political—The Zealots
Yes they were present, too. The Zealots. They were incensed. Despicable Romans, they thought. They despised the arrogance of the ruling Roman government. They hated their pagan practices and beliefs, their gods and goddesses and their debauchery.
They carried sharp, razor-like daggers in their belts. And, if given a chance they would slip behind a Roman and slice their throat and be gone before anyone realized what had happened or who had completed the dastardly dead. They were the original terrorists.
The Zealots saw in Jesus the fulfillment of their desire to be free from tyranny. They saw Him, as a liberator whom they believed would lead them in a fight for freedom against the Romans who occupied their land and dominated the people of Israel. Jesus would be their conquering king, their ruling monarch every bit as great as David. So they welcomed Jesus with palms fronds—an open invitation for Him to be the restorer and ruler of Israel. They were ready to do battle, and with a single word from Jesus they would have fought to the death against the hated Romans.
There was something that puzzled them about Jesus. A conquering king would ride a stallion—a symbol of victory, not a donkey—a symbol of peace. Jesus was offering peace; they wanted war. These folks wanted a revolution, not redemption. They desired deliverance from the hated Romans, not freedom from sin. But the orders to rise up never came. Instead, there was the realization that their destructive ways would not bring the desired changes they had sought. They were to love their enemies, so now they were ready to fight, but not a war of hatred and violence, but instead a battle for love and peaceful nonviolence.
5. The Powerful—The Intolerant
The powerful Pharisees stood back with their ever-watchful eyes glaring at Jesus. They were the narrow-minded, prejudiced, intolerant religious folks with their noses stuck up in the air.
Now Jesus usually refused to take the dominant power-orientated stance of other contemporary leaders. But on this day, he put on the symbols of the Old Testament prophetic utterances. He declared in no uncertain terms, by his posture and bearing, “I am the King.” Jesus even picked the day—The Feast of the Unleavened Bread that celebrated the Jews deliverance from bondage in Egypt and marked the beginning of the wheat harvest.
Only one problem: He picked the day not so much to gain the adulation of the crowd, but to force the issue of His whole reason for coming to earth. His triumphant entry into Jerusalem sealed His doom. It was the catalytic agent that aroused the anger of the religious establishment to a frenzy, setting the stage for the greatest event in human history.
Luke 19:39-40
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"
40 "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
The Pharisees knew what Jesus was doing. That’s why they commanded Him to tell His disciples to stop calling Him a king. But Jesus’ voice pierced the air and said, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” The very stones that the Pharisees carried in their hands. The stones they used to stone people who did not keep the law or adhere to their doctrine. The rocks they wanted to stone Jesus with, but didn’t have the guts.
Sadly there was little change in this group that day. It is still the same today. Many who hear the saving message of Christ Jesus will ignore it because it challenges their status quo. How about you?
6. The Passionate—The Intrusting
Dotted throughout the crowd in Jerusalem that day were people passionate about Jesus because of what He had done for them.
On one side was Bartimaeus, the blind man Jesus healed just last week at Jericho, only twenty miles down the road from Jerusalem. And up ahead was the man who was lame for thirty-eight years and lay by the Pool of Bethesda, waiting for an angel to heal him—then Jesus came. And over there was the man who once had a withered hand until Jesus came along and touched him. And there was Lazarus, tears of joy streaming down his face, because he was dead and now was alive. And beside Lazarus were his sisters Mary and Martha, all of them dear friends of Jesus.
No wonder they cry and dance, shout and sang, smiled and laughed. The One who rode on the donkey before them is the Healer, the Miracle worker. Their lives had been transformed forever. They could not contain their joy, and their excitement.
Have you felt the healing touch of Christ Jesus? Has your life been changed by His wonder-working power? Have, trusted your life to Christ Jesus, and received the gift of eternal life? Were you dead in your sin and now alive in Christ Jesus?
Hurry! The parade is coming and you and I have a chance to be in the parade. Hurry! He who came as a man, who overcame death, who can heal the broken, restore sight to the blind, and raise the dead is on His way. What do you bring to the parade? Jesus wants your crutches, your bandages, and your patches. He’ll take the brokenness of your life and put it back together again. He’ll take the trash of your sin and make you clean and pure. He’ll take your spiritual poverty and make you eternally rich. He’ll take your lifeless today and give you a resurrected tomorrow. He is the hope of the world, and the hope of your life.
Thanks for coming by, I pray you will be able to sit in next week. Until then may the may our Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus bless you and your.
Biblesurfer
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