Good morning, Wauwatosa. Bible Chapel. I just had to get that out. I don't know why.
Were any of you here two weeks ago when I made that announcement that we were moving?
Remember the water bottle? Now they've given me a glass of water.
Let's see.
All right. Well, it's good to see you all here this morning on this beautiful Palm Sunday, the first day of The Passion Week, actually.
And it's been a… A rather long week at the Sheet House.
This past week. Last Saturday, I kind of came down with a cold and was kind of put up for a while this week, so we got a bit behind in our packing and getting ready to packing and getting ready
To move to Minnesota. So if you all would Pray for us to catch up on that. It's kind of a daunting thing to be moving after 30 years.
We have things that we've pulled out that we forgot we even had. And I think we've had pulled out things that we didn't even know we had. I think our kids knew, but we never knew.
Anyway, you know, the saying that time flies when you're having fun?
Well, I think it goes a lot faster when you have a deadline to meet. I think it goes like That old reference from Star Wars that Han Solo did that run in the Millennial Falcon in 10 parsups or whatever it was. That's what it feels like, like light speed. And I don't know the exact quote, but maybe if you find Neil, he'll let you know.
But that date for our movies. Getting so much closer now.
And it's just, we're very busy. In fact, this afternoon after I'm done here.
Taking a load of stuff up to our storage unit up in Minnesota.
And driving back tomorrow. And then we've been asked to go up and see… our kids easter eggs programs on Thursday. So we'll be coming back Let's see, we'll leave Monday, come back Tuesday, pack up again Wednesday, and leave Thursday, and then we'll be up there for the weekend. And that kind of…
Sums up why we decided to make this move because it's A lot of driving in one week.
And we're not spring chickens anymore. But I just want to say thank you all for your prayers.
And for your comments. It was a hard decision to make and with you're all encouraging us that this is… the thing that we should do, that this is right for us at this time.
Really helps us to feel that this is what God wants us to do. And so we really appreciate that. Thank you so much.
But I'm happy to be here with you today on this first day of Passion Week.
It's… Palm Sunday today because of what the people, what the crowd did when Jesus entered Jerusalem.
Laid down, not only laid down the palm branches which Thank you very much for the palm branches here. But they also were waving the palm branches. And it's a symbol of a joyous occasion.
I was celebrating. And Carmen was talking to Isaac this week and asked Isaac what they did.
Over in Egypt to celebrate Palm Sunday. And he said, actually, the weave the palm branches together.
And they make different designs out of the palm branches. And I thought that was pretty cool.
And when you think of the weaving of the palm branches together, they also use the palm branches In the… celebration of the Feast of the booths? That's what it is.
Feast of the booths. And they used the palm branches as covering.
For these booths so that they have shade and covering from the elements. And so they probably had to weave them together to do that.
So that's kind of neat. Anyway, the title of my message today is A Triumphal Entry Like No Other.
And the… When I thought about this, I thought about how… This could be called a triumphal entry.
Because when you think of triumph. You think of winning something like winning a battle, coming back from a battle triumphant or playing a sports game and winning the World Series or the Super Bowl, which hasn't happened for a while, or winning the Super Bowl, you know, you're triumphant.
Well, it didn't seem like… Jesus was really coming into Jerusalem triumphantly.
In Psalm… Neil read one of these this morning, but in Psalm 24… So we turn to it.
Psalm 24 gives us a picture of The Israelites were probably expecting it.
For a triumphal entry. In Psalm 24, verse 7 says. Lift up your heads, O gates.
And be lifted up, O ancient doors. That the king of glory may come in.
Who is the king of glory? Yahweh, strong and mighty.
Yahweh, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift up yourselves.
Or lift yourselves up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
Who is the king of glory? Yahweh of hosts, he is the King of glory.
And that sounds like a triumphal entry. But his entry into Jerusalem Nothing like that.
I shouldn't say his entry wasn't. His reason for going there wasn't… a triumphal reason.
On the surface and what the world may. Look at. In Psalm 118, which… Our brother Neil read this morning part of it. It continues on this same thing. It says, open to me the gates of righteousness.
I shall enter through them. I shall give thanks to Yah. This is the gate of Yahweh. The righteous will enter through it. I shall give thanks to you, for you have answered me and you have become my salvation.
And in the verse set. Neil read this morning, it says, Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh.
And that blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh is what the crowd was saying when Jesus is saying when Jesus came into Jerusalem.
And… I'm sorry. I've got a big… book up here, but this is one thing when I speak that I can never figure out how to organize because I don't speak enough, I guess, but…
So… Here you have Jesus, this prophet who is supposed to save the Jews from the oppression of the Romans, and he's supposed to bring in his kingdom.
And… He's arriving into the city on a cold, the foal of a donkey.
This is… really… To call it a triumphal entry is really amazing.
But in the believer's eyes, this is a triumphal entry like Like no other.
It really is. And it's one of the Few events in the Lord's life that is recorded in all four gospels.
And… So before I… I start into the message. That's kind of an introduction before I go any further. I'm going to pray and then… We'll read the accounts of the triumphal entries.
Heavenly Father, we do thank you. For your great love for us. We thank you that You sent your son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
To come into this world. And to humble himself.
Even to the point of death on the cross it's just… Amazing, Father, as we think about that and as we consider this Palm Sunday and the triumphal entry. We just pray that you would guide our thoughts today on… The Lord Jesus Christ and on this amazing triumphal entry in Jesus name.
Amen. So I'm going to turn, if you would turn with me first to John.
John chapter 12. See if I can grab the right thread here.
Couldn't find my stick, my stick-em-notes this morning, so… Okay, John chapter 12 and verse 12.
Says… On the next day, the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
Took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet him and began to shout.
Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Even the king of Israel. And Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it, as it is written, fear not, daughter of Zion.
Behold, your king is coming, seated on a donkey. These things his disciples did not understand at first, but when Jesus was glorified, they remembered that these things were written to him.
That these things were written to him. So the crowd who was with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to bear witness about him. For this is the reason also the crowd went and met him because they had heard that he had done this sign.
So the Pharisees said to one another. You see that you are gaining nothing.
Look, the world has gone after him. So in John's account here.
Of the triumphal entry. And each account gives us a different glimpse at what was happening on that day and the things that happened. And in John's account.
We see that the large crowd had actually been with Jesus the night before in Bethany at Lazarus's house.
Jesus stayed at Lazar's house and they were having a meal and the crowd found out that Jesus was there and they all went.
To Lazarus's house. And that's why it says on the next day the crowd who had come to the feast, which was at Lazarus's house.
When they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took up the branches of the palms. So they had They had heard the night before that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem.
And… They went and they went and got palm branches.
To celebrate his arrival. Into Jerusalem, which I find is pretty fascinating. I mean, nobody… told them to go get the palm branches they just… were directed by the Spirit of the Lord to get to palm branches. And they were the ones that were
Singing Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Then if we turn over to the account in Matthew Matthew chapter 21.
We see a different aspect of it here in John, when he talked… about who it was. Matthew doesn't mention it. Matthew just says there's a crowd and I'm going to read the account in Matthew 21, starting in verse 1.
And when they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at 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 cult with her. Untie them and bring them to me.
And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say. The Lord has a need of them.
And immediately, he will send them. And this took place in order that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled saying, say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you lowly and mounted on a donkey.
And on a cold, the foal of a pack animal. I'm going to stop right there and just let you all know that I'm reading from the… Legacy Standard Bible, the LSB. So you might be wondering why all these Yahwehs and it sounds a little different, but that's why.
The LSB uses Yahweh in the Old Testament. Anyway, and his disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them.
And brought the donkey and colt and laid their garments on them. And he sat on their garments in the road. And others were out Cutting branches from trees and and spreading them on the road and the crowds going ahead of him and those who followed 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 into Jerusalem, all the city was saying.
Who is this? And the crowds were saying, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.
So we see here a little bit more In Matthew more about how he got this donkey. In John, it just said.
There was a donkey there and he hopped on it and rode into the city.
In Matthew, we see that it was actually prophesied by the by the… prophet Zechariah, but also that Jesus gave the disciples, the two disciples, instructions on where to get this donkey.
Or did he? I thought this was pretty interesting.
All he said to them was, go into the village opposite you, and immediately you'll see a donkey.
In a cult, the fall of the donkey, bring them here. How big was… that phage.
Was there only one entry to it? There was a village. We know it was fairly small, but it seems like that's not… Very good instructions. If I told you Going to Dausman.
And… find a Tesla and start it up and bring it to me.
Well, would you know where to find that? Would you even know how to start it?
But that's Jesus's instructions. You know, I know you would take out your map, find Dustbin on your phone and drive there, but they didn't have that either. And he just said.
Going to the village immediately. Right away, you'll find a donkey.
Well, obviously… finding him this donkey was prearranged but it wasn't prearranged by Jesus visiting Bethphage there's only We only hear about Bethphage in the stories of triumphal entry. That's the only place it's talked about.
Had Jesus… been there before, we probably would have been had that in scripture before, but it's not there. It's only in these accounts of the triumphal entry.
But it was set up. And we know that by Zechariah 9.9.
Over 500 years ago, Zechariah prophesied that this would happen. And if you want to turn with me to Zechariah.
We'll read that account.
Okay, Zechariah 9.9.
Says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Make a loud shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold your king is coming to you. He is righteous and endowed with salvation.
Lowly and mounted on a donkey. Even on a colt.
The foal of a pack animal. So there we have.
Jesus didn't have to give them any more instruction than that.
He just had to tell him. Go get a donkey in Inu they would get to the right place and get the right donkey. He also knew that as soon as his disciples told them that the Lord has a need of it.
The owner would immediately give them the donkey and the foal.
So… I just thought that was pretty amazing. And then also in in Matthew, we have this last verse about the triumphal entry in verse 10 and And this is pretty interesting too. It says, and when he had entered Jerusalem
All the cities were stirred, saying, Who is this So the city of Jerusalem knew he was coming in. They heard the crowds and they heard all this commotion. And they were like, who is this?
But the crowds who came with Jesus knew exactly who it was, didn't they?
The crowd said, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee. So there's two different people here, people groups here. And I'll come back to that later in my message. But now let's turn to Luke.
The triumphal entry in Luke. In Luke chapter 19.
Starting in verse 28.
And after he had said these things, he was going on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. And it happened that when he approached Bethphage and Bethany near the mount called of olives.
He sent two of his disciples saying, go to the village ahead of you, in which As you enter, you will find a colt tied on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here.
And if anyone asks you, why are you untying it? You shall say, because the Lord has need of it.
So when those who were sent departed, they found it just as He told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owner said to him, what are you untying Why are you untying the colt?
And they said, the Lord has a need of it. And they brought it to Jesus.
And after they threw their garments on the colt and they put Jesus on it, and as he was going, they were spreading their garments on the road.
Now, as soon as he was approaching near the descent of the Mount of Olives.
The whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God, rejoicing with a loud voice.
For all the miracles which they had seen, saying, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace.
In heaven and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, teacher.
Repeke your disciples. But Jesus said to them.
I tell you this. If these were silent, the stones would cry out.
And that's the amazing part in Luke, that we hear Jesus say.
Even if they didn't cry, the stones would cry out. And this is really a recognition here of what the triumphal entry is about.
It's about the Messiah entering into Jerusalem. This is what it is all about. This is a triumphal entry by Jesus.
He hasn't mentioned yet or announced that he is the Messiah.
But he is coming into Jerusalem and the crowd is announcing it for him.
And the Pharisees understood that. And that's why they told them to be quiet.
Or asked him to tell them to be quiet. Because they understood that they understood Jesus was entering in and they were calling him the Messiah.
And so that was… what the triumphal entry was about.
And then we, in the last… When we see Mark in a little bit different in mark as well.
Mark chapter 11. Verse 1.
And as they approached Jerusalem at Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives.
He sent… two of his disciples and said to them, Go into the village opposite you and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. And if anyone says to you, what are you doing? You say, the Lord has need of it, and immediately he…
He will send it back. He will send it back here. And they went away and found the colt tied it at a door outside in the street And they untied it and some of the bystanders were saying to them, what are you doing untying the colt? And they spoke
To them just as Jesus had told them. And they gave them them permission.
And they brought the colt to Jesus and put their garments on it and sat on it. They brought the colt to Jesus and put their garments on it and he sat on it.
And they spread their garments on the road and others spread leafy branches, having cut them from the fields.
And those who went in from those who went in In front, and those who followed were shouting hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father Hosanna in the highest.
And Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple, and after looking around at everything.
He left for Bethany with the twelve Since it was already late.
Excuse me a second. Find that water, hopefully.
So we see in this one in the after his triumphal entry Mark tells us what Jesus did after that.
And he entered Jerusalem and he came into the temple. And after looking around at everything.
He left for Bethany with the twelve. And it's interesting that Mark gives us that account because we know that the next day is when Jesus went into the temple and overturned the tables of all the in the market that they were selling in his house so
So that's how John is a little bit different. Also, John says, blessed is the kingdom of our father David.
Which also we know the Messiah is coming from the line of David. So again, that's just recognizing jesus as… The… As the Messiah.
So… In thinking about this.
I was thinking about all the… celebrations that we have in our society these days. And I was thinking about the dignitaries and presidents and well-known athletes attending all these expensive, lavish public spectacles and many of the rich and famous are there.
And… they come you know wearing all this jewelry and showing off their wares and all and all of that to say look at me.
In fact, we recently had a coronation of… Oh, yes. Charles.
King of England, right? We had this coronation. Don't pay much attention to him. But anyway, I'm sure it was a very lavish event.
That coronation that Charles had. We also have had ticker tape parades for certain events.
I remember back in the back… During the… Apollo 11 when the astronauts landed on the moon. I can remember the ticker tape parade they had for when they returned from the moon And we have championship teams who are given triumphal entry parades into their hometowns after they win their
Big events like the Super Bowl. They even get extended invitations to the White House.
For their wins. All of these celebrations are in sharp contrast to the arrival of the Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Into Jerusalem. And we're going to take a look at what made that entry so different.
First, we'll take a look at the prophecies. There are two in particular that I want to look at. And of course, we've already seen the one of Zechariah in the donkey.
And… When Jesus and his disciples leave Bethany, the home of Lazarus. On their way to Jerusalem.
It's about maybe half a mile or a mile away. Bethany is about two miles from Jerusalem.
Bethphage, from what I gather, was just right on the edge of Jerusalem And I think they said it was the farthest away that bread could be brought into Jerusalem from.
It's fairly close. The two cities are fairly close.
When they stopped when they stopped at that small village of Beth Sage. They were fairly close.
And they stopped there, of course, to get him the donkey.
And… When they…
Let me see. So when Jesus arrives in this triumphal entry, he's… riding on this… colt of a donkey, the foal of a donkey. And I don't know, can you imagine The Lord being seated.
On this small caught this small donkey.
I mean, it would have brought him down to the level of All the people there.
Maybe even below that. He would have been low enough so that he would have been low enough Only the people right in front of him would have really been able to get a clear view of him. People behind him.
Probably didn't get a very good view of him because he was so low on this donkey.
And that's really… in sharp contrast to how we see dignitaries arrive These days. In fact, back in the early 80s, and I know you guys love me talking about some flying experiences that I've had, so I'm going to give you one
Back in the early 80s. I was in Santa Barbara when Ronald Reagan was president.
And Ronald Reagan… The day I was there was… arriving into Santa Barbara.
Now what happens when somebody like the President of the United States comes in, they shut down all the airspace around the airport. And for miles. It was probably shut down the corridor between LA and Santa Barbara was probably shut down too.
They just shut down the whole airspace until he gets Not just when he lands, but until he gets off the airport and where he's headed. And then they open it up.
So why they did this, I don't know. But they let me taxi out And then when I got to the runway, they said.
You're going to have to wait because we have somebody arriving. And I was like Oh, no.
Because I knew that President Reagan had this 688 acre ranch right there on the mountaintop beside the airport. And I thought, oh boy, this is going to be a while.
Nobody else on the airport knew My passengers didn't know until I told them, and then if they weren't listening, they didn't know why we were delayed a couple hours.
But my first officer and I knew. And… When he arrived.
It wasn't exactly for a grand event. It wasn't for coronation or anything. He was just going for… a vacation at his, well, for a rest at his vacation home on his 688 acres.
And that's pretty amazing in itself. He's got a 688 acre vacation home right there in California.
But nonetheless, this arrival was something like I've never seen. It was just this big shell game going on in the air and on the ground.
They had five helicopters. Coming in and all lined up in a row and they'd fly down the runway Actually, it was a taxiway. They'd fly down the taxiway But they didn't land. They went around. And as they went around, they switched places.
And they came in again. And they didn't land. They went around. And they switched places again. And I'm like.
What are they doing? Well, then they came around the third time and one of them landed. I said, finally.
Nope. They came around again. And the next one landed.
And again, in the next, so they did that five times.
Till all of them were landed. And once they all landed, we're looking at him going.
What are these helicopters? What are they going to do now?
And up comes a parade of limos. And now the limos were almost twice as many as the helicopters.
And they all pulled up. By the helicopters.
And the passengers of the helicopters got out, jumped in the limos.
And my first officer and I have… probably the best view of this whole thing going on, because we're sitting at the end of the runway waiting to take off.
And it's all done so that nobody knows where Ronald Reagan is.
And I can tell you for a fact, I have no idea where he was.
In fact, I don't even know that he was there except for… This might shock you.
About a mile off the coast Just outside on the waterfront A battleship is parked.
When Ronald Reagan is at his vacation home, they parked a battleship out in the ocean Right across from him. That's how I knew.
Ronald was home. It was quite interesting. Laugh at it. Well, you should have seen the first officer and I laughing at this whole charade and then thinking.
We're delaying these people for this. Well, as you know, when… presidents come into cities, they shut the whole place down. And the worst is when a president would come in and get a haircut in Chicago.
The busiest airport in the world. And they'd shut it down for two hours before he got there. Then he'd have an hour for his haircut. And two hours after he left, it'd be shut down.
Six hour delay for a haircut. And that's what they do for our dignitaries.
But here we have… The king of kings.
The Lord of Lords, arriving in Jerusalem. It was not so grand or elaborate.
But he was announced and it was announced a sort of coming out event for him. And like I mentioned, it was his coronation as the Messiah.
And…
The other prophecy about this is… It's pretty amazing.
The prophecy of the prophecy Daniel. And let's turn to Daniel 9.
24 and I'm getting a little bit behind here, so I'm going to just Go read.
Daniel 9. And it has to do with weeks, 70 weeks and the Messiah. And Daniel… Chapter 9, verse 24 says, 70 weeks have been determined for your people.
And for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin.
To make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness. To seal up visions.
And prophecy and to anoint the holy of holies. So you are to know.
And have insight that from the going out of a word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah. Until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and 62 weeks.
It will be restored and rebuilt. With the plaza and moat.
Even in times of distress. Then after 62 weeks, the Messiah will be cut off.
And have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary, and its end will come with a flood.
Even to the end, there will be war. Desolations are decreed.
So this… This prophecy of Daniel is talking about the triumphal entry.
And… the word to restore the city came from Exerces in, is that how you say it?
Yeah, Artaxerxes. Thank you. In Nehemiah 2, And… What's amazing is that Jesus's entry was in Nisan AD 30.
Exactly 483 years after Artaxerxes decree.
And… It is to the day of his entry.
And for more information on that, you know, it's David Glock did all the math for me, so I don't have to do any math. So if you want to read about that.
See David Glock's book, Walking with Jesus. He talks about it and he lays out the whole thing and how how they figured out that it was exactly that date that Jesus came into Jerusalem.
And there are… other triumphal entries in the Bible, of course.
Saul and David returning from battle in 1 Samuel 18, 7. After defeating the Philistines and the people are all celebrating the victory as they come into the city.
And the women are singing. Saul has killed his thousands. David is ten thousands.
That kind of irks all a little bit. And then when David… When David brought the ark back to the city in Samuel 6, 16, he came into the city singing and dancing and the city was celebrating because the ark had been returned to
The city of David. And that kind of irks Saul's daughter.
But these are triumphal entries. Triumphal entries, as I said, usually come after something That happened after something big and actually The Lord's triumphal entry did.
And they knew it. In fact, three times in Mark's gospel, the Lord told his disciples what was going to happen to him. After the first time.
Peter rebuked him. He rebuked the Lord, knowing that he was the Messiah. And the Lord said, get thee behind me, Satan.
You don't have God's God. Dust in mind. And so he told them three times that he was going. But as we read earlier, they didn't really understand that until after the resurrection.
And Jesus was going to Jerusalem to be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes to be condemned to death.
And…
Yet, Jesus's entry into Jerusalem was a triumphal entry. And why was it a triumphal entry?
Because he knew the reason why he was going there. He wasn't battling with flesh and blood.
He was going there to defeat death in the grave.
He was going there to do that.
For us. He was going to submit himself to the authorities to be beaten.
Scourged. And as Isaiah says.
In 52. That his visage was marred more than any man, in his form more than the sons of men.
And that's what he did for us. So the triumphal entry was A triumphal entry. He was recognized as the Messiah and he was recognized as our Savior.
And so we think of the triumphal entry and we think of what happened to him there in Jerusalem.
They pierced his hands and feet. He could count all his bones hanging on a cross. And what does the Bible say about one who's hanging on a tree?
They are cursed. Jesus became the curse for us.
Excuse me again.
So in the crowd, remember… there were two groups of people.
Right? There were the city folk City slickers, we'll call them.
Who didn't know what was going on, who didn't know Jesus. They didn't have any idea.
And therein there was the crowd. Who call them those who knew Jesus.
Where are you this morning? Are you a city slicker?
Don't know Jesus? Or are you in that crowd?
That knows the Savior. We read Daniel.
And… His prophecy and at the end of the prophecy He said the wars will continue.
And Jesus says… that the sign of the end times will be wars and rumors of wars natural disasters. And it seems to me those are ramping up.
If you don't know Jesus today. I implore you.
Come to Jesus. He's the Savior who died on that cross for you.
Who suffered and bled and died. Took all your sins upon himself because of his love for you.
Hebrews says. Because of the joy that was set before him. He endured the cross.
Despise the shame. And he is now seated at the right hand of God in glory.
Always there, making intercession for us. Because of what he did on that cross.
Please, if you don't know Jesus. There's no better time than on this Palm Sunday.
To commit yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ let's Let's pray. Father, we just thank you.
For your great love for us, Father. And we don't know… the half of it or the depths of that love that you have for us. But when we think of Our Savior and what the price that he paid for us.
We just give you thanks. And we thank you that you willingly sent Jesus to die for us.
And Father, we know that the day is drawing near. And Father, if there be anyone here that doesn't know Christ as their Savior, I just pray that today.
They would make that commitment. And we give you thanks in Jesus name. Amen.
Thank you.