Sunday Morning Service 10:30AM- The King Is Coming ~ Pastor Ryan Nichols

And read verse 11 with me. The Lord will give strength to His people. The Lord will bless His people with peace. And Father, we do thank You for who You are and thank You that You are the Almighty God. And so, Lord, as we take time this morning to learn from You, to learn more of You, I pray that You would move in our hearts by the power of Your Holy Spirit.

In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. Okay, and we have kids that are gonna be singing to us this morning. Ready to go? All right, so they're gonna be gathering down here. So come on in. I'm gonna sit down and let them do their thing. I'm not singing for you. Just don't. You can put your phones away. I have no idea. I tried to count on their way out. I lost count because there was a bunch of them.

That's a whole bunch of kids. And man, didn't they do a good job? I'm always impressed. Yeah, good. If you can get a bunch of kids doing the same thing at the same time, you've really done something. So. All right, open up in your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 21. Matthew 21. Today we come to part two of the series, The King is Coming. Last week we looked at the prophecy of the King.

Today we will look at the arrival of the King. So we'll look at the traditional story of Palm Sunday, which is what today is. When Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. But while you are looking at Matthew 21, I want to read a passage of scripture to you because I think for us to understand the anticipation around the first coming of Jesus, I think it's important to look at a passage of scripture out of the book of Daniel.

Daniel chapter nine sort of gives us the backdrop of the arrival of Jesus, of the Palm Sunday arrival of Jesus. So, we're going to look at the arrival of Jesus. Daniel was a prophet in the Old Testament that was first taken into captivity by the Babylonians. And because of his dedication to the Lord, because of the stand that he had taken for the truth, he found himself in a very high political position within the Babylonian empire.

That position carried on even over into the Medo-Persian empire. And he found himself once again in an amazing position amongst the Medo-Persians. And God gave him great revelations of things that were to come. Well, the year's 539. BC, so 539 years before Jesus arrives on the scene, and he is given this prophecy during the beginning of the Medo-Persian Empire, and it begins in Daniel chapter 9 verse 24. It says this,

70 weeks have been decreed for your people and your city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and 62 weeks. It will be built with plaza and with moat, even in times of distress. There are 60, then after the 62 weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing to do with the people of the Prince who is to come. And so in this prophecy,

Daniel's told that there's a total of 69 sets of seven years. That's what a week is, and that's almost universally accepted amongst Bible scholars, both liberal and conservative alike. So that gives us 483 years. After 483 years, there will be the arrival of the Messiah, but he gives us a specific time stamp. He says 483 years after the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, including the city

and the walls. Now it's kind of fascinating because there's four different decrees that are given for the returning of the children of Israel to go back to Jerusalem. The first decree that was given was given by a guy by the name of Cyrus, who was a Medo-Persian king. Cyrus gave the decree to go back and rebuild the temple. That was the first decree. The second decree came from Darius the king, and he

made a decree that Ezra would go back and help with the rebuilding of the temple, but also with the teaching of the law. Ezra was a prophet. There was a third decree that was made by Artaxerxes that gave Ezra permission and safe passage in order to return with supplies to help rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. And then there was a fourth decree. That fourth decree came by Artaxerxes that the children of Israel could not only rebuild the

temple, but they would also rebuild the wall and the city. I believe that that is the decree that was given to Daniel in this prophecy to restore the temple. The fourth decree was given by Artaxerxes to restore and rebuild the city of Jerusalem. Well, there's a guy by the name of, I think it's Sir Arthur Edmund, who is a great mathematician, and he figured out that from the day that the decree, that fourth decree was given, up until the day that Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, on what we call Palm Sunday, there was exactly 483 years based upon the Jewish calendar of 360 days.

And so on the exact day, Daniel said that Jesus, the Messiah, would be cut off is when Jesus came riding into Jerusalem, representing that last week of Jesus's life. So this Palm Sunday study is so fascinating because it was so predicted, so prophesied down to the day that God had a plan for exactly when his Messiah would come riding in, not as a conquering king, but as a suffering servant to be the king of the people. And so that brings us to where we are in Matthew chapter 21 with what we refer to as the triumphal entry. Starting in Matthew chapter 21, verse 1, it says this.

When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethpage, the Mount of Olives, 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. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, The Lord has need of them, and immediately he will send them. This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet, 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.

The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, and he brought the donkey and the colt, and they laid their coats on them, and he sat on the coats. Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road, and the crowds were going ahead of them. And those who followed were shouting, 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 crowds were saying, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee. So there's a handful of things that we want to look at this morning. The first thing that we'll look at is sort of the setting of the scene, and I would like for you to paint this picture in your mind.

Remember, we're now at this 483 years after the decree to go back and restore and rebuild Jerusalem. All of the prophetic timing was perfect, and Jesus is ready to enter into Jerusalem. It's important to take note of the fact that for the past few weeks of Jesus's life, which, by the way, occupy most of the gospel accounts, Jesus had, as it says in the book of Luke, set his face for Jerusalem. He knew what awaited him in Jerusalem, and he knew what he was heading into, and he did so with a set face to know that he was about to go and ultimately make the sacrifice for humanity.

And so, as he arrives there, at the edge of Jerusalem, so many things had taken place. He had performed so many miracles in those last few weeks leading up to that moment that were so powerful, and so powerful that he was able to do it. And he was able to do it. And he was able to do it. And he was able to do it. And he was able to do it. And he was able to do it.

And he was able to do it. And he was able to do it. And he was able to do it. And he was able to do it. And he was able to do it. Not the least of which was his raising of Lazarus from the dead. He was able to teach in so many fantastic parables and in so many different ways. And, of course, one of the greatest scenes in all of the gospel accounts was the anointing of Jesus's feet by Mary with that expensive bottle of perfume.

As she took something that would have represented her entire life savings, and she shattered that bottle, and she poured it all over his feet. And then she took her hair and she washed his feet. Of course, we saw the true colors of Judas come out at that point in time. He said, could that not have been sold and we could have given the money to the poor? And Jesus said, no, no, no, she did this for my death.

In other words, she's the only one who is really paying attention to what's going on here. She's the only one spiritually in tune with what's about to take place. And this will not be taken from her. As a matter of fact, everywhere that this gospel is preached, the story of what she just did will be told. And so all of that leads up to this moment. And now Jesus stands there on the Mount of Olives,

the Mount of Olives that will be an incredibly important place in his ministry, because not only will it be the beginning of the last week of his life on earth, but this Mount of Olives is also where he will give what we call the Olivet Discourse. When his disciples say, Lord, tell us about the sign of the end of the age and of your coming. What's it going to look like when you become king? And he tells them about the panorama of history that will take place from the time of his resurrection until he comes again to rule.

And interestingly enough, when Jesus arrives the second time, because the king is coming, when he arrives the second time, it says his feet will touch the Mount of Olives and the Mount of Olives will be split in two. This Mount of Olives is an incredibly important place in the life, in the ministry of Jesus. And so as he arrives on this Mount of Olives, you can only imagine the discussion going on amongst his disciples. Probably not spiritual at all, right?

You know what their favorite topic of conversation was? Who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom? Which of us is going to sit at the right hand of Jesus? To which he had to over and over and over again remind them that if you want to be great in God's kingdom, you must learn to be a servant of all. If you want to be great in God's kingdom, you must learn to be a slave of all.

After all, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. And so as discussion is going on around him, what's the plan? What are we doing? The Passover is coming. What's going to be the plan for Passover? Where are we going to eat the Passover? All of the scuttlebutt of discussion was going on around him. Meanwhile, Jesus had a plan.

Before we get into what his plan is, can I just tell you one thing about Jesus and about your life as well? In all of the discussion and all of the things that take place around you and all of the questions that swirl through our heads, can I just remind you that Jesus has a plan? That nothing that is about to take place in your life is going to come as a surprise to him? Nothing that was going to take place in the next week of Jesus' life was going to come as a shock to him, and he already had a plan for how he was going to deal with it.

And nothing about your week, nothing about your life is going to catch God off guard. Nothing is going to catch him by surprise, and he already has a plan for what he wants you to do, and he already has all of those plans laid out in front of you. And if you will just walk with him and trust in him, you will find that you can walk in that plan in your life. And that's what his disciples are going to be reminded of here.

He has a plan for whatever's happening for you, even if it's not for you. Even in this moment. And so Jesus is there with his disciples. They're on the Mount of Olives. And it says Jesus sent two of his disciples. And this is what he said to them. Go into the village opposite you, verse 2. 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 anything to you, you shall say, the Lord has need of them. And immediately he will send them. Now, it starts off by saying he sent two disciples. One thing we do not know is who these two disciples are. One of my favorite passages that I read from any commentary on this particular section of scripture was this.

We don't know who these two disciples are. And it would be foolish for us to take time to conjecture on who they are. But I'm guessing one of them was Peter. You know he was, right? Peter and John. That's who they were. I know it's foolish to conjecture those things. But we know that those are his guys. He had to keep them the closest. He had to give them the most tasks

because they were the most easily distracted. That's just my own thought on it. But he sends them into town. And he gives them the most fascinating instructions possible. He said, you're going to go into the village, and you're going to find a house, and outside of it there's going to be tied a donkey and a colt. Now, this is ancient Israel. I would think that that would not be the most uncommon thing to come across.

Right? There were probably donkeys and colts everywhere. So they're going to have to figure out which one he's talking about. He says, and then what I want you to do is, I want you to grab those two animals, and I want you to bring them to me. And if anyone says, what are you doing with my donkey? You tell them, Jesus needs them. Now, again, we're going to find out that these guys just immediately go.

But the fascinating thing to me is, what did they talk about the whole way that they were on their way there? Right? Jesus wants us to commit grand theft donkey. I don't even know what to do with it. Came up with that with first service. Felt good about it. Thought I'd carry it on to the second service. I'll probably use it again. I feel good. Feel really good right now.

What comes with being a dad or dad jokes? Comes with the package. But can you imagine the conversation that went on? Like, what? We're just supposed to find a donkey and then just take it? Like, I would think that that's a pretty big thing to steal at that point in time. Right? Just imagine. Okay? So tomorrow morning, I look at Jared in the office. We get done with our Monday meeting, and I say,

Jared, here's what I need you to do. Okay? You're going to go up the street, and you're going to find a place that's called Friendly Ford. Right? Outside of Friendly Ford, there is going to be an F-150 and a Ford Ranger parked right next to it. I need you to grab them, and I need you to bring them to me. And if the guy that owns it says anything, say, Jesus needs them.

Right? The fleet of cars I would own at that point in time. I think that's what prosperity preachers do. Right? Man, I can't. Anyway. So, only this is Jesus, and he wants a donkey. Right? So what Jesus probably, what I would actually have to say is, go to Friendly Ford, and there's going to be a Kia. There's a Rio there. I need you to get that, and I need you to bring it to me.

So they're on their way, and they go to get these donkeys. It's just a fascinating story. Obviously, Jesus had already laid out all of the groundwork for this. Or somebody had such a great relationship with the Lord that they knew if that's what he needs from me, that's what it's going to take. It's just a fascinating way to start this story. But we get into a little bit more depth here of why he chose this,

because we see a little bit more depth here of why he chose this, because we see a little bit more depth here of why he chose this, and we see a little bit of a fulfillment of a prophecy, which Matthew is so masterful at pointing out. It says in verse 4, That's a direct quotation out of Zechariah 9, verse 9. You might just write that in the margin of your Bible. Zechariah 9, verse 9.

Zechariah 9, verse 9. It should be showing up on your screen any time now. Zechariah. There it is. I believed in him. Zechariah 9. Now, usually when I quote these things, I say, that's a prophecy, and we move on from there. But this particular time, I really felt prompted to look a little deeper into this prophecy, to look a little bit about who Zechariah was

and the prophecy that was given. Well, Zechariah was almost a contemporary with Daniel, which I thought was kind of interesting. He gave this prophecy. He gave this prophecy in 538 B.C., the year after Daniel gave the 70 weeks prophecy, the year after the nation of Israel had been sent back to rebuild the temple. And part of Zechariah's job was to keep people inspired

for the building of the temple. Well, if you look at chapter 9, what you find is a prophecy against the nations that were surrounding them, especially Tyre and Sidon to the north of them, and how ultimately those enemies of the nations around them were going to be defeated. Most historians agree that the fulfillment of almost all of Zechariah chapter 9 was done by Alexander the Great when he conquered all of those nations around them. And it's so fascinating to read all of this death and destruction, all of this conquering and victory, and then you come to verse 9, and there's almost like this stark contrast between Alexander the Great and all of the conquering that he's about to do and King Jesus.

Because it says, But you say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you, but he's coming to you gentle and on the colt of a donkey, a beast of burden. That word gentle is a very interesting word in the Hebrew. Usually when we hear gentle, it can also be translated humble or lowly or meek. And that's what we think of when we think of Jesus, right?

He was the meekest of all men that lived. And we think of that humble and gentle way about him. But when you do a little bit more digging into that Hebrew word for gentle, you find they can also be translated afflicted or persecuted. And I found that kind of interesting because as Zachariah is giving this prophecy about the coming Savior, as he's giving this prophecy about the coming King in direct contrast to Alexander the Great, who was a great general who conquered the entire known world by the time that he was 30, who was full of hubris and pride, who was full of grandeur and glory, he stands in stark contrast to Jesus who was gentle and who was afflicted and who was persecuted.

He said, the king that you're looking for is not what you think it is. The king that you're looking for is not the king that you're expecting. The king that you're looking for will be a king who will ultimately face affliction and injury, who will ultimately face the persecution of his enemies and will be your suffering servant. You see, they should have been prepared for what this king looked like, but they were not because he was not the king that they expected because they were expecting a conquering king, not a humble servant.

And so it's a fascinating prophecy because it points that out. But the second thing that it points out is it points out that he is gentle and he is mounted on a donkey, even a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. The second thing that's fascinating is he does ride on a donkey. You see, while not uncommon for a king to ride a donkey, that's not what a conquering king would do.

You see, a conquering king would come riding in on a horse. Matter of fact, when Julius Caesar returned after conquering the entire east for Rome and he came back as that general, that conquering general, he came back on a procession that took three days for them to parade in, not only himself on a stallion, but also all of the spoils that he brought in with him. And so as they're reading this, they're going, this is strange to think about a king that comes in riding on a donkey. Because you see, a king that just won a war rides in on a horse.

A king that rides in on a donkey is a king of peace. That's what that actually stands for. It's symbolic of a king of peace. Because not only is Jesus at peace, but Jesus is the author of our peace. And so he is our king of peace. And I don't know who this word is for this morning, but somebody doesn't have peace in their life in here this morning, you're struggling with that.

You got some anxiousness that's ruling. You got some anxiousness that's ruling you right now. And Jesus wants you to know, he wants to be the king of peace in your life. He wants to bring that into your life. And so if you're living in that angst, then that's the word for you, is that Jesus wants to be your king of peace. And so he says he's riding in on this donkey,

on the colt of a donkey. But the last thing I want to point out to you is what it refers to the colt as. It refers to the colt as a beast of burden, at least in this translation it does. And I find that interesting. Because that's what a donkey is, right? A donkey is a beast of burden. It carries the burdens for other people. And I find it fascinating that a beast of burden

carries in the Savior who bore our burden, who bore the burden of our sin. So not only was he the beast of burden, but he was the beast of our burdens. He says, say, all this was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet. Say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming and he's gentle. He's mounted up. He's on a donkey. Even a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.

One last thing I'll point out to you about that is that the children of Israel were given commands for what kings were supposed to do in Deuteronomy chapter 17. And one thing that a king was not supposed to do is he was not supposed to amass horses unto himself, especially if he had to go to Egypt to get those horses. And Jesus fulfilled what a king was really supposed to be. He showed them what a king was really supposed to look like.

And it wasn't a conqueror on a horse. It was a servant on a donkey. Well, as we go on from there, it says in verse six, and the disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them. That's another verse that just sort of jumped out at me as I was studying this, because I think it's kind of fascinating that they just went and did this. From what we read here, no questions.

From what we read here, they just obeyed. And can I tell you that, that this is now the end of three years that they'd spent serving with Jesus. This is the end of three years of him asking them to do mildly off-the-wall things sometimes, right? Of him saying, you should do this, and them going, I don't know, and then finally just obeying. And it's almost like they'd reached a point

where they were like, look, we don't always get what the dude says, right? Like, it never makes really sense at all, but it always works. Like, I don't understand it. I'm reminded of the very first time that they met Jesus. Remember the first time most of them, most of these fishermen, met Jesus? They'd been out fishing all night long, and Jesus shouts, and they hadn't caught anything,

and Jesus shouts, try the other side of the boat, right? Those of us that like to fish, we know that no one wants to hear, you should try this. You're like, oh gosh, I hadn't thought of that. Yeah, good call. The other side of the boat? Like, the fish are locational, right? And so they cast it on the other side of the boat. They're like, that's not gonna work.

We've been fishing all night. He's like, trust me. So they throw the net in, and they bring it more fish than they could ever imagine. It's like, by this point in time, they're like, it never makes sense, but it always works. I got a question for you. Have you learned that in your life yet about Jesus? It may not make sense, but it always works. And the best thing that you can do

is just do what he tells you to do in the moment. And if you don't do it in the moment, you're probably gonna have to do it at some point in time. So you're better off just to obey, even though it may not make sense in the moment, because I promise you, it always works. Well, that's what they do. So they go, and they go and they find the donkey, and they follow all the instructions,

and they bring it to Jesus. It says, From those three verses, I have a handful of questions. Okay, so they bring the donkey and the colt. So have you kept track here of how many animals altogether did they bring? They brought two, right? So here's the question I've always asked in this moment. Did Jesus ride both animals? And did he ride them both at the same time?

He is Jesus, after all. My answer that I have found is that he did not ride both animals. I actually think he only rode one of them, and I think it was the colt. I think he rode the youngest one. And here's the reason why I think he rode the youngest one. It's because, well, let's back up. I don't know very much about animals, right? I mean, I have two dogs,

and they give me all that I want in life when it comes to animals. My family comes to me, they're like, we should get more animals. I'm like, no, you don't feed the ones we own. I'm not going to buy more for me to feed later, right? So I don't know anything about it. But I do know, from listening to my dad, of all people, that if you're going to ride an animal,

you have to break that animal. And that doesn't happen easily. It's a process. And an animal, as we read in one of the other gospel accounts, that's that young and has never been ridden, would not have handled the feeling of a human being on his back very well, because almost every animal in that situation would buck against being ridden by the Savior, being ridden by any human being.

And yet Jesus is the Lord of creation. So Jesus sits on that animal, and even an animal that would normally buck against anybody else that was on it would be docile and moldable to the Savior. I think that's why he rode one animal. That's always the first question that I've got. I think that the mother was brought, because the other thing I know about animals

is if you're going to take its kid, ain't going anywhere without mama, right? So two animals. But the second question that I have is this. Why did they lay coats on the road? I understand why they laid coats on the back of the animal. It would have made it just a little bit more cushioned, a little bit more comfortable for Jesus to ride. But why did they lay coats on the road?

That's a strange thing for me, and I just can't imagine ever doing that, right? I can't imagine D. Trump showing up here in town and me being like, you know, the best thing I can do right now is lay my coat. I don't want to sit in front of him when he walks by. That's just a really odd, this is not our culture, right? And listen, I've thought the same thing about Joe Biden,

so don't do anything with that. But whoever the president is in the moment, I would be like, I don't want to lay my coat in front of him. I really like this coat. But this is what they do. But here's the reason why. This is kind of fascinating. You find that the laying down of the coats was a recognition of loyalty and support. It was actually an ancient Eastern custom

that when a king came to town, they would lay their coat in front of him to show their loyalty and their support to the king. So essentially what they're saying is, you are our king. We're showing you loyalty and support. The fascinating thing is that this exact same crowd, six days later, is going to cry out, crucify him. We have no king but Caesar. It's interesting what happens to us

as far as our loyalty and support. Which, by the way, is why Jesus, every time he gathered a crowd, and they said, you're the greatest ever, it says, they may have believed in him, but he didn't believe in them because he knew what was in the heart of man. Because he knows that we as human beings have a tendency towards fickleness. Not anybody in this room, but other people have a tendency towards fickleness, right?

And so, so the last question I have is, why palm branches? Like, what did we do that for? I should have thought of bringing palm branches and make all of you wave them, right? Like, that's a Palm Sunday thing, right? You go home with a palm branch, you wave the palm branch. I opted out of it. But why the palm branches? Well, here's the answer to that. There's,

there's really a symbolic answer and a historic answer. Palm branches are emblematic of victory and success. If you were to go all the way back to 1 Kings, you would find that when Jehu became king of the northern 10 tribes of Israel, that they greeted him by laying down palm branches in front of him. So, so kind of a fascinating scene that we see as Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem.

Well, so they've laid out the palm branches in front of them. They've laid out the coats in front of them. And it says, and the crowds going ahead of him and those who followed were shouting, Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Now, before we get into this, I want to just, once again, let's just put ourselves

in the scene, okay? Let's just think about what this day would have been like. It's a very exciting day. The, the entire population of Jerusalem would have swelled at this point in time because this is leading up to one of the three feasts that every male that was Jewish had to attend. And so Jewish men from all over the world and their families had made their way

to Jerusalem for this week. So, so some think that the population of Jerusalem could have been anywhere from two to three million people on this particular Palm Sunday. And so it's a, it's a warm day in April. It's Mediterranean climate. So think mid seventies with a nice cool breeze. Everything is just beautiful as it's laid out. The sun is shining down and all of a sudden you look

and off in the distance there is a man, a gentle, simple man riding on a donkey accompanied by a group of disciples. And people start going, I think that's Jesus. I think I know who that guy is. Some of the people who had maybe seen him in ministry knew what was going on. Those who didn't know what was going on were watching what was taking place. And, and, and as they're watching

this scene unfold as Jesus moves into Jerusalem, excitement starts to build. People are laying down palm branches. People are throwing their coats in front of them. And we know how it is when everybody's doing something, we all kind of join in. And there's so much excitement building as Jesus is entering Jerusalem. Let me paint a little picture for you from a scene that happened

in my own life, okay? So quite a few years back now before we had kids, my wife gave me a wonderful birthday gift. I'm a big Chicago Cubs fan and have been since I was a little kid, ever since I could sing, take me out to the ball game with Harry Carey during the seventh inning stretch, right? And I remember the first time that I realized that Let's Go Cubs is not at the end of that song.

I thought that's odd. It's hard, we always sing it. But anyway, so she takes me to Chicago, buys me tickets to a Cubs game. And, and we, we didn't rent a car while we were there. We just rode the train everywhere, which is a fascinating experience. So we get on the train around this place called the Magnificent Mile. That's where all the hotels and stuff are.

And we head into Wrigleyville. So there's multiple stops on the train. And, and when I first got on the train, a handful of us in Cubs t-shirts and Cubs hats, right? Because I'm excited. I'm geeked about the game. I'm my 10-year-old self ready to go. Well, with every stop along the train, more people not in Cubs gear would get off and more people in Cubs gear

would get on. And so, till by the time you got to Wrigleyville, which is where Wrigley Field is, everybody on the train had a Cubs t-shirt or a Cubs hat or both on. And then you got, so the excitement built with every stop. I'm like, more Cubs fans, right? I see a Ryan Sandberg shirt. And so there's just so much excitement until finally we got to Wrigleyville

and we got to Wrigleyville and we got to Wrigleyville. And it's just nothing but Cubs fans everywhere. And we are all excited and you can smell the smells and you can feel the warmth of the sun and you're so excited about a ball game. Picture that, only it's Jerusalem. And the farther that they went into Jerusalem, the longer that Jesus went into Jerusalem,

the more people gathered, the more palm branches showed up, the more people were laying coats in front of Jesus. And the cries continued to build and get louder of people shouting the same thing. Hosanna, Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Which is a direct quotation out of Psalm 118, verse 26.

Psalm 118, verse 26. All of Psalm 118 is what we refer to as a messianic psalm. In other words, that entire psalm gives prophetic revelation of the Messiah that they were waiting to arrive. And so, as these people are shouting out, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, they were not just singing some random song. They were declaring that this is our Messiah.

This is our chosen one. This is our king that is coming to town. This is who all of our hope is. This is the one that's going to set us free. Only they had a wrong view of Jesus at this point in time. Because the messianic psalm that they were singing had nothing to do with setting people free from sin. It had everything to do with setting Israel free from occupation.

And so, as they're declaring Hosanna, save now, they weren't thinking save me now from my sins. They were thinking save me from my situation. Save me from the Roman occupation. Save us and set us free. Be our political deliverer. But they were still declaring it. And Jesus was still accepting it. It's fascinating. Because up to this point in time, every time they tried

to make Jesus king, do you know what he said? It's not my time. It's not time yet. But my time has not yet come. That's what he said every single time. When he fed the 5,000, they were like, let's make him king. He's like, nope, not right now. When he healed the blind, they said, let's make him king. He said, not right now. When he taught with such authority

that they'd never heard before, it said, let's make him king. And he said, not right now. It's not my time. But now, after he has arrived on the day when Daniel said he would arrive, when Messiah comes riding in, they say, Hosanna, son of David. And he says, now's the time. Because the time had finally arrived for Messiah to be cut off. Again, as I pointed out,

that word Hosanna means save now. Save now. And of course, the son of David indicates his Davidic lineage, which would have indicated his kingly line. But again, he was not the king that they expected. He was the king that they wanted. They didn't realize that he would be the one who would set them free from sin. And so this entire scene takes place as Jesus rides into Jerusalem.

And I always wonder, for my own self, what went through Jesus' mind during this time. Because what's going to take place in the life of Jesus over this next week is incredibly intense. And I wonder what all was going through his mind. Because what would take place is number one, he was going to cleanse the temple. That's actually the next thing that he's going to do.

He'll go in and he'll cleanse the temple and say, you've turned my father's house into a house of merchandise. It was always intended to be a house of prayer, which makes him hated by all of the religious leaders at that point in time. He's going to be challenged by every religious leader that's there. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the scribes will all come at Jesus with some of the most intense questions possible.

He knows in the back of his mind that he's about to face some of the most intense pressure he's ever faced. And, you know, he knows he's about to face death and he knows that his week ends one way and one way only. And that's in a tomb after the most horrific death that anyone could die. And I just wonder how much of that was all going through his mind as he's riding into Jerusalem even though he felt the joy of all of the people singing his praises.

He felt the pressure of why he was there. Well, we kind of see the reaction of the people. It says in verse 10, when it entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, who is this? And the crowds were saying, this is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee. He entered Jerusalem and all the city was stirred. That's one of the poorest translations and every translation

uses the same kind of words. One of the poorest translations for those words you can use. This is a powerful word in the Greek. The word can also be used for an earthquake. Like the whole city was shaken by Jesus arriving there. Whether that's, whether that's literal in nature, like, the entire city was shaken because of the noise of the crowds or whether that was

symbolic in nature, the whole city was shaken because that's what happened when Jesus arrived and everybody had one question. Who is this? Isn't it kind of interesting that everybody had to ask the question, who is this? You would think everybody would know who Jesus was. But remember, Jesus had been operating in a little bit of a vacuum here lately. He kind of kept himself

away from a lot of the crowds because they had wanted to take his life. Not to mention, the fact that Jesus was such a simple man. Remember, we talked about this last week. There was nothing physically that would draw us to him. So, obviously, there was nothing physical that would cause you to recognize him. It's not like, oh, that's Jesus. Look at that jawline, right?

I mean, there just wasn't that kind of thing about him. But also remember, at the time when he's ministering, Israel, large, well, not a large country, but still a large area that he's ministering in, it's not like they could just pull up their phone and go, oh, yeah, Jesus of Nazareth. I forgot. That's who that guy is. They had no idea what he looked like.

They'd only heard the stories of what he'd done. And so, as everybody is stirred about what's going on, everybody says, who is that? One of them said, that's the prophet Jesus from Nazareth. It's just such a fantastic way that his ministry ends because if you remember, and you may not, if you remember when Jesus' disciples were first being called, one of them went and found their brother, and they said, hey, we found the Messiah.

He's from Nazareth. It's Jesus, he's from Nazareth. And the brother looks at him and he goes, does anything good come out of Nazareth? Right? Like, has anything good come out of that city? And then in the middle of Jesus' ministry, the religious leaders are like, you're from Nazareth. No prophets ever come out of Nazareth. But now, at the end of his life, they say,

that's the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth. Well, as we wrap up here this morning, I think there's four things that I want to pull out of this about the king that I think that we, should pay attention to.

Number one, Jesus as king was the long-awaited king. He was the long-awaited king. At least 483 years had they been waiting for Messiah to come in and be the one who would ultimately lead the people. Because if you continue on with the prophecy, you will find that this king goes on and conquers and takes over and ends up ruling and reigning at the end of those 70 years.

And so, that's what they're looking for. They're looking for this king and they've been waiting so long for him. But in an even greater sense, they've been waiting a long time for the king who would take away the sin of the world. Because in a greater sense, this long-awaited king had been being waited for since Genesis chapter 3 when the prophecy was given, there will always be enmity between you and the serpent, between your seed and her seed.

Because he, you will bruise his heel, but he, he will crush your head. And so, so this is the long-awaited king. And can I just say, I think there's a couple of points of personal application that are important for us to pay attention to. If you're here this morning and you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, he's your long-awaited king because you've been waiting for some sort of a place of hope in your life and you've been looking and waiting for some place of peace in your life and you've been waiting for a very long time.

And I'm here to tell you right now, you don't have to wait any longer because it's found in Jesus. He is your long-awaited king. But for those of us that are believers, can I remind us that we're still kind of waiting for the king because we saw him show up for the first time. And when he showed up the first time, he was our suffering savior. But we're now waiting

for the second coming of the king when he will no longer be the suffering savior. He will return as the conquering king because the first go-round, he came in lowly and riding on a donkey. The second go-round, he's coming in riding on a stallion and he's bringing the host, the host of heaven, that's us, he's bringing us with him to conquer and to reign. And he is the long-awaited king.

And all we can do is just keep waiting. Amen? Number two, he was the gentle and lowly king. He was the gentle and the lowly king. He was gentle and lowly in the way that he came riding into Jerusalem. He was gentle and lowly in the way that he came into town on the foal of a donkey, with that humble heart, knowing that he was about to become the sacrifice for sin

and he was the suffering servant and he was so gentle and lowly in the way that he came into Jerusalem. But honestly, he was gentle and lowly in the way that he lived his life and the way that he conducted himself in ministry. He was gentle with everybody that came to him. Everybody that truly came to him saw the gentle side of Jesus and that's what they got.

And again, if I could bring a little bit of personal application to that here in this room this morning, those of us that have walked with Jesus for a long time, we can testify to the fact that he is gentle with us. Oh, don't get me wrong, he corrects us. But he's gentle in the way that he does it. And he continues to handle us in a very gentle sort of way.

And again, if you're here this morning and you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, he has been gently working on you your entire life. It's probably what brought you here this morning is that gentle work of Jesus Christ in your life and he continues to be that way to you and you will find on the day that you put your faith in him, you will be able to look back and go, I see exactly what he meant. He was gentle with me that entire time of bringing me to a place of surrender to Jesus. But if I may pull one more point of personal application out of this, if he was the gentle and lowly king, then shouldn't we be that way with people?

Shouldn't we be that way with each other and with the world around us? There is so much of this lacking in the church right now. There is so much of a lack of gentle kindness in the church right now because we either A, want to prove our point, we want to prove somebody else wrong or because we've become lifted up in pride and we can't believe anybody else would struggle with sin. Meanwhile, we have sins of our own that we deal with.

We're not always gentle in our speech and we're not always gentle in our action and we're definitely not always gentle in our attitudes. But listen, if he was the gentle and lowly king, then shouldn't his subjects be gentle and lowly with each other and with the world around us? Perhaps that's what God is calling for us to do. After all, what are we told in the book of Romans?

It's his kindness that leads us to repentance. So number one, he was a long-awaited king. Number two, he was the gentle and lowly king. Number three, he was the misunderstood king. They did not understand why he was there. They did not understand his actions. They didn't understand his attitude. They didn't understand his teaching because he wasn't the political king

they were looking for. He wasn't the conqueror that they were looking for. He wasn't the deliverer that they were looking for because their eyes were only focused on this earth. Their eyes were only focused on the here and now. And so he was misunderstood in everything that he did even up until his death. Being misunderstood. But again, if I may draw a quick point of application

to us, sometimes as Christians we're a little misunderstood sometimes. Especially if you're in any form of leadership. I remember I read this great quote one time and it said an invitation to leadership is an invitation to be misunderstood. And that's okay because Jesus understands that, right? Like Jesus gets that. But the people that finally put their faith

in him, they start to understand. He was the misunderstood king. But then number four, last of all, he was the sacrificial king. He was the sacrificial king. Having the opportunity to work around coaches, I have learned that one of the things that makes coaches great is when they sacrificially love their players. Is when they sacrificially care for them and they put the needs

and the best intentions for the players above their own. I remember watching a football game a few years ago. And it was the one between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills. And it had playoff implications, major playoff implications. And there was an interesting scene that took place in the middle of that game that, that sort of changed the way a lot of us

view football, I think. There was a player by the name of DeMar Hamlin who I'm pretty sure actually died on the field. And they, and they brought him back. Like he had a heart attack on the field and they, and they brought him back. And, and I've never seen a delay of game take that long, ever in my life. I was actually, I was actually in the middle of a hospital visit

for somebody from this church who's now home with Jesus. And, and as I stood in that hospital waiting room while they were working on that individual, it was very surreal to stand there and in real time watch on a football field a player be cared for the way that he was. And, and, and the, the teams were visibly shaken by what had taken place on the field that day. And all I could think was, how do you now go back and just keep getting in a car wreck with another human being?

Like just keep hitting each other like that? Not that there's anything wrong with the game of football, but how do you go from that to now I'm just gonna go back and play this violent game? And I remember watching two grown men who knew that their seasons were on the line, playoff implications were on the line, and they made the very tough decision to say, I don't care what the commissioner of football says, my guys aren't playing. I don't care what this does for me.

I don't care if I get fined. My guys can't play this game. And they both, as men, showed us what it looked like to love sacrificially. Because they, in that moment, they cared less about their record and their career than they did about their guys. Jesus is the sacrificial king. And he continues to show us what that looks like. Because Jesus was in glory with the Father,

at the right hand of the Father, clothed in all of his glory and majesty, with no care in the world because he's God. And he looks down at humanity and he says, I just can't leave them like that. So he took off the clothes of his glory. He put on the clothing of a man. And he came down and dwelt among us to become the sacrifice for us. He was the sacrifice.

He was the sacrificial king. He was the long-awaited king. He was the gentle king. The misunderstood king and the sacrificial king. But just make no mistake. Jesus is the king. Amen? And he is coming again. Let's all stand.

And if you'd bow with me.

Father, we come before you. And Lord, you are so good to us through your word and you're so good to us through your actions. Lord, I thank you for this triumphant moment in your life where you, came riding into town or declaring yourself as king only with the intention to take off those robes and be crucified for us.

Lord, truly it is love so amazing and so divine. And truly it demands my soul, my life, my all.

And so Father, as we go out from this place and as we enter into this holy week, Lord, may we not just approach it as another week, but may we approach it as a week where we are reminded of why we do what we do. Of why we are allowed to do what we do. Of why we have access to the one who created us. Because the one who created us dwelt among us and bore our sin for us.

And so Lord, may this holy week truly be a holy week in our lives. May it be a week of rededication. May it be a week where we truly follow you with all of our heart. And so Father, we thank you and praise you for who you are. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed. I love you all.

Who am I that the highest king will welcome?

I was lost but he brought me in. Oh, his love for me. Oh, his love for me. The sun sets free. Oh, it's free.

I'm a child. I'm a child of God. Yes, I'm free at last. He has ransomed me. His grace runs deep. While I was a slave to sin, Jesus died for me. Yes, he died for me. The sun sets free. The sun sets free. Oh, in the house there's a place for me. I'm a child. Yes, I'm free. I am chosen. I am chosen, not forsaken. Who you say you are for?

Not forsaken. Who you say?

Yes, I am. Son of God. Father, there's a place.

Jesus, you are our king. We thank you for being our humble king. We thank you for being kind to us. We thank you that you are also our conqueror that is coming. That you defend us. You advocate for us. You are our intercessor. We thank you for all you are for us. And I pray that we reflect on who you are, what this week means, what you've done for us. I pray we reflect on your sacrifice this week.

In Jesus' name, amen. Go in peace. Thank you, guys.