Save! We Pray!
Matthew 21 1-17
21 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Jesus at the Temple
12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.
“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,
“‘From the lips of children and infants
you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”
17 And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
The word hosanna is the word of Palm Sunday! It means, Oh Lord Save, or Save, we pray! Save from what?
This is the really important question! It was important for them and it is important for us as well. If you were to ask God to save you today, what would you seek salvation from? A corrupt culture? A physical ailment? A very sticky habit? A tough relationship? People seek salvation from different things!
For our present story, Isaiah 52:13- 53:15 Describes this present ministry of Jesus. It is crystal clear!!
And yet Here is an example, perhaps the most profound historical example of a people who miss what God is doing to save them even though they think they are invested in His work. Jesus is a week away from Crucifixion, accomplishing the salvation from sin needed by people. And this story is wonderful and it is horrible. And it should excite us and it should frighten us! We should never assume that we would be the ones who “see.”
Isaiah 53: 1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
Isaiah 55:3 3 Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.
Isaiah 55: 6 6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Jesus’ name in Hebrew: Jeshua, means Jehovah is salvation!
Matthew 1: 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
What is the salvation provided by Christ? Is this the salvation that we seek?
- God Saves from Death
Hosanna! “Oh Save, we pray!!”
- Death as loss of God Himself
God doesn’t die and He doesn’t go away!
Our awareness of God is extinguished because of sin.
And it seems to me that this happens in the areas of life where we sin.
For example:
If we are attached to pride for life, then competition and success is what feeds our soul. The more we commit to pursuing that for life, the less we see God, the less we understand our destruction because of it.
Jewish leaders are fully invested in pride in their religious position.
“Lord I thank you that I am not like him.” (Comparison with others is dangerous and a complete waste of time.)
“The loved the places of honor.” (Jesus says take the lowest place)
The disciples argue about which of them was the greatest. Jesus says the greatest is to be servant of all. Was that true of Him? Yes it was. You see, He is the Word of God!
Sin of pride disarmed by the command to be considerate of the needs and desires of others and then serve them.
Sin of greed disarmed by the command to give!
Sin of sensuality disarmed by fasting from the pleasures that trouble us.
If we think we are dying if we:
have a financial setback,
if someone else wins and we do not,
if we can’t pursue pleasure when we want,
if we have to give,
if we have to serve,
then we are missing life.
- Death as separation from blessing
God has a created order and purpose for all of creation. When we act in a manner that fits that order, we attract His blessing. When we sow chaos, we reap chaos. Genesis 3 curse.
The issue of the temple in this story is about blessing!
Isaiah 55: 3 Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.
4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples.
5 Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you, because of the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.”
Isaiah 56:
6 And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant—
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
God’s promise to Abraham is in play here. He will be a blessing to the nations!
Genesis 12:2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
- Death as the cessation of life
There is a finality to death. A wasted life, and a loss of existence! We can get to the point where life is no longer a possibility!
There is more death to come. What will that feel like? Really? Are we deciding if it is worth it to sacrifice our existence of death now for life now and in the future?
Transition: God saves from death, and He uses Jesus to do so!
So, Jesus provides salvation, how is salvation presented? What makes it available?
- God Saves by His Word
Just as God creates light to dispel darkness and form and fullness to resolve formlessness and emptiness, God saves by His Word. And Jesus is the Word of God.
- He speaks and gives understanding
There is a huge disparity in understanding on Palm Sunday!
“O Lord Save!”
Who in the crowd needs Jesus to save them? What is the right answer? Everyone in the crowd.
Who in the crowd is prevented from Jesus saving them because they don’t believe they need His salvation?
Isaiah 53: 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
Jesus quotes from Isaiah 56, just shortly in the Book of Isaiah past where His ministry of salvation from sin is described! (Incidently, the Ethiopian Eunuch does just the opposite of these folks. He is reading from Isaiah 53. He does not understand. But Isaiah 56 says God will save even the Eunuchs and the foreigners who seek Him. He will make a covenant with THEM!!)
- He acts and creates opportunity
14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. (He gave them life) 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
Life vs Indignant at Jesus. Indignant: feeling or showing anger because of something unjust or unworthy
What right does Jesus have to establish the proper use of the temple? He is giving understanding, acting as the Word of God. Understanding of His authority and understanding of the kingdom of God as it relates to reaching out to the nations!
- Jesus Christ is the agent of God’s salvation
Salvation from sin in every sense!
Reunited to God.
Reunited with God’s blessing every day! He gives the Spirit!
Protected from the complete and final death in the future! He goes and prepares a place, He comes again to take us to be with Him!
So, Jesus speaks and acts as the Word of God to bring salvation to whom?
III. God Saves Those Who Listen to His Word
- The mere existence of God’s word is not enough
If Jesus isn’t the proof of this, then nothing is!
“ears to hear”
“eyes to see” John 9 parable miracle.
Merely hearing the word: James 1
God’s word must be trusted!
The message at the Transfiguration: “Listen to Him!”
“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
Peter’s testimony to you:
II Peter 1:
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
Whoever believes in Him will not perish!
It is those who follow that believe! We don’t believe what Jesus says about heaven and hell and not believe what He says about how to live now. It is the same gospel for both!
- God’s ways are not our ways
Isaiah 55:
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
- God’s ways are the ways of life
10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.”
0 Comments