The Triumphant Entrance Through the Eyes of Shepherd Benjamin

Anytime you begin a service like we did with baptism, it makes it a special day.

But today is special, not just for our church, but throughout the Christian church, throughout the world.

Today is Palm Sunday.

Today is the Sunday when we celebrate, think about Jesus making what has become known as His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

Could I help you there, sir?

Sir, I know these things of which you speak, the triumphal entry.

May I share them?

Yes. Come on, share with us.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Shalom.

May the peace of God rest upon you this morning.

Rejoice, O daughter of Zion.

Shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem.

For your king comes to you, riding upon a donkey, upon the foal of a donkey.

Those were the words that the prophet Zechariah wrote 500 years before I saw those things that day.

Today, I want to tell you what I saw with these eyes.

The things that I heard with these ears.

And now, what I know in my heart.

You see, my name is Benjamin.

In your language, you would say Benjamin.

I am a shepherd.

I tend the flocks like my ancestors before me.

I live in a small village about six miles south of Jerusalem near Bethlehem.

I was bringing sheep to Jerusalem.

For it was the time of the Passover.

Many people came from far away.

And could not bring the sacrifice that was required.

So we sold sheep that would be for sacrifice.

They were the sheep as prescribed in the law of Moses.

They were without spot, without blemish.

And I came that day with sheep to be sold.

You see, they were normally, for a man like me, from a small village.

There were many people in Jerusalem, always.

There were about 50,000 people that lived in the city.

But now, at Passover, there were...

Who could count?

Because Moses, our great lawgiver, had said 1,400 years earlier,

He wrote that every male of Israel was to come before the Lord three times each year.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread, like now at Passover.

And then again, at the Feast of Weeks.

And the Feast of Booths.

And then he said, and he must not come empty-handed.

So the shepherds would live nearby, would bring sheep for to sell.

That's why I was there that day.

As I walked from my town up toward Jerusalem.

It was a glorious morning.

For the sun came up over the Mount of Olives.

And its rays shone down on the city.

And it gleamed like a jewel.

The walls, those huge rock walls,

almost appeared to be golden in color.

But above all, was the temple.

The center of worship for all Israel.

And I thought as I walked that way,

what a glorious sight.

What our God has done.

When I arrived at Jerusalem,

I thought, things are very different today.

People were stirring.

People going about their business.

And as I walked up those streets that wound through the city,

toward the temple where I would sell the sheep,

I noticed the Roman soldiers.

They seemed to just be everywhere.

But they were different this time.

They seemed to be very watchful.

Very alert.

And you never saw just one.

There were always two, three, four, maybe more.

And one of the things that was very obvious.

They all carried the gladius.

The gladius was that short sword

that they used for fighting very close by.

And I thought,

What?

What are they watching?

They just stood.

And their eyes moved back and forth

as they watched.

And I thought,

What are they watching for?

Are they expecting an uprising?

What?

What?

I did not know.

But I thought,

I must be careful.

For they must know something I do not.

I moved on toward the temple.

And I saw small groups of rabbis

as they talked.

Rabbis do not smile very much on a good day.

But today,

no one smiled.

They were talking about something

that was obviously of great importance.

because their faces were hard.

Their eyes were narrow.

And they spoke quickly.

And their hands moved fast as they talked.

And I thought,

What is this they talk about?

What is this?

First,

there was the soldiers.

And now,

the rabbis.

What is happening here?

I did not know.

Even the common people

spoke in low and quiet tones.

And if a stranger approached,

they stopped talking.

As if they were being very careful

with their words.

I thought,

this is not a normal day

at Passover.

It was then

that I saw

a friend

who was talking to a man

that I did not know.

as I approached,

I heard my friend say,

Do you think he will come?

The man

with which he spoke

saw me

and stopped talking.

And he just

looked at me.

Never moved his head.

Just turned his eyes

toward me.

And then back to my friend

as if to say,

Stop talking.

My friend turned.

And saw me.

He smiled.

And said to his friend,

It's alright.

It's just Benjamin.

It's alright.

And he asked again,

Do you think he will come?

And the man said,

I do not know.

But the entire city

is looking for him.

For the rulers of the people

said,

If anyone knew

where he was,

they should tell them.

For they wanted

to kill him.

I thought,

What?

Kill him?

For what?

What had he done?

my friend,

my friend,

I said,

Why would they kill him?

I said,

I hear

he has opened the eyes

of the blind

that he had caused

the deaf to hear.

He had loosed

the tongue of the dumb

and caused cripples

to walk.

Why would they kill him?

Would they kill him

for these things?

I didn't understand.

My friend said to me,

Yes,

all of these things

are true.

And just a few days ago,

in Bethany,

just beyond

the Mount of Olives,

he raised a man

from the dead

who had been dead

for four days.

and they want

to kill him too.

I thought,

What?

Kill him too?

Why?

As I thought

about these things,

there was a tension

in the air

that was

very much

like,

I thought,

like,

the string

on King David's harp

that you,

bing!

That seemed to be

the atmosphere

in Jerusalem.

It was then,

all of a sudden,

there was

movement.

And it was like

the wave

on the great sea

as the people

moved

toward the gate

that led

to

the Mount of Olives.

I wanted to see

what this was.

So I too

went

when I could

see,

I could see

a people

coming

across the top

of the hill

and down

that road

that wound

down the

Mount of Olives

toward the

Brook Kidron.

and there

were people

from Jerusalem

going up

to meet

them.

And as I

looked,

I could

hear

the words,

I could

see

some

carried palm

branches

and they

laid them

in the road.

I thought,

what is

this?

they do

that for

kings,

for people

of great

power.

What do

they do?

Some

even took

off their

garment

and laid

it in the

roadway.

I thought,

what?

God,

that you

did only,

it was a

symbol

of

submission

to the

authority

of the

one coming.

I thought,

what is

this?

And then

I heard

their voices

as they

said,

Hosanna!

Blessed

is he

who comes

in the

name of

the Lord.

Hosanna

in the

highest.

I thought,

Hosanna!

Save us

now!

What did

they say?

Do they

believe that

this is the

Messiah?

And I

watched

as they

came down,

down,

down the

Mount of

Olives.

And at

one point

they stopped

and it

appeared

that the

prophet,

riding on

the donkey,

was weeping.

I watched.

I did

not know

then

why

he wept.

I would

learn later.

The events

of that

week

in Jerusalem

moved

very

rapidly.

I did

not

understand

it all.

But

later

that week

I heard

that this

prophet

had been

arrested

by the

temple

guard.

He had

been taken

before the

Sanhedrin,

the ruling

body of

our people.

men

and because

of the

witness

of men

that had

been paid

money,

he was

condemned.

But he

was taken

to the

Roman

governor,

Pilate,

where he

was cruelly

treated

and again

falsely

accused.

and there

he was

condemned

to die

by crucifixion.

He was

crucified

between

two

thieves

and died.

when he

died,

it was

noontime

and the

sky became

as black

as midnight

and the

earth shook

as if

something

happened

that had

never happened

before

and would

never happen

again.

there was

a rumor

that three

days later

he rose

from the

dead.

I did

not know

these things

and I

returned

to my

village

and I

thought

about

what I

had seen,

what I

had heard

and I

wondered

what

is God

doing

in Jerusalem?

A few

weeks

passed

and I

was back

in Jerusalem

for the

feast of

Pentecost.

There was

another

crowd

and this

time in

the temple

there was

a crowd

gathered

and one

of the

prophet's

disciples

the one

they call

Cephas

Peter

was addressing

the crowd

and he

was explaining

to them

they had

questions

they said

they had

heard the

sound of

a great

wind

but there

was no

wind

they said

the disciples

of this

prophet

were drunk

and all

kinds of

things

and Peter

was

explaining

no

this was

simply

the

fulfillment

of another

ancient

prophecy

and with

many words

Peter

explained

that this

prophet from

Nazareth

this Jesus

was indeed

the Christ

the hope

of Israel

as I

listened

to those

words

my heart

was stirred

and I

knew

that what

he said

was true

it was

that day

that I

Benjamin

the shepherd

became a

follower

of this

man

Jesus

who is

the Messiah

but it

was also

a sad

day

for me

a great

day

but I

thought

about

Israel

God

you see

one

few weeks

earlier

when the

prophet

rode on

the donkey

and came

to Jerusalem

our

great

God

was

presenting

the Messiah

to his

people

but

he

was

just

as

Isaiah

had

said

despised

and

rejected

what a

sad

day

for

Israel

some

years

later

the

apostle

John

wrote

these

words

referring

to

Jesus

the

Messiah

he

said

he

came

to his

own

creation

think of

that

when

God

became

man

and left

the glory

that was

his

in heaven

and came

to earth

he

came

unto

his

own

creation

and his

own

people

my

people

the

nation

of

Israel

did

not

receive

him

they

rejected

him

what

sad

words

but

John

also

wrote

but

as

many

as

received

him

to

them

he

gave

the

right

the

authority

to

become

the

sons

of

God

even

to

them

that

believe

on

his

name

you

know

my

friends

our

great

God

still

today

makes

that

same

offer

to

you

and

all

heaven

awaits

your

choice

God

awaits

your

choice

what

will

you

do

with

Messiah

will

you

receive

him

as

I

and

now

adopted

into

the

family

of

God

and

am

known

of

God

ah

what

the

relationship

will

you

receive

him

or

will

you

reject

him

God

still

offers

today

would

you

pray

let's

pray

together

father

we

have

heard

this

message

of

good

news

about

why

Jesus

came

into

this

world

why

he

went

to

Jerusalem

on

that

Sunday

father

make it

clear

to

everyone

in this

room

that

you

sent

your

son

into

this

world

to

save

sinners

people

who

recognize

that

they

have

sinned

that

they

have

failed

you

that

they

do

not

have

a

relationship

with

you

lord

if

there's

anyone

in this

room

right

now

that

that

is

where

they

are

away

from

you

so

work

in

them

to

give

them

the

desire

to

trust

Jesus

help

them

to

understand

that

when

he

died

on

the

cross

he

actually

took

their

punishment

the

punishment

that

their

sin

deserves

help

them

to

know

that

if

they

will

call

upon

Jesus

to

save

them

that

he

will

that

you

will

forgive

them

you

will

make

them

your

child

father

we

thank

you

for

that

promise

from

your

word

that

we

just

heard

for

as

many

has

received

him

he

gave

the

right

to

become

children

of

God

even

to

them

that

believe

upon

his

name

so

father

right

now

we

pray

so

work

to

compel

that

man

or

woman

or

young

person

who

does

not

know

Christ

to

call

upon

him

to

save

them

Lord

for

many

of us

in this

room

right

now

we

are

believers

we

do

trust

Jesus

but father

help us

to think

right

now

do

other

people

see

him

in my

life

and

am

I

taking

the

opportunity

that I

have

to share

this

good

news

with

family

members

or

friends

or

classmates

or people

I work

with

or live

near

help us

father

who

have

experienced

the

life

changing

work

that you

do

when you

save

us

help us

father

to

share

that

good

news

of how

that

change

can happen

in other

people's

lives

lives

let's

just be

still

and quiet

in an

attitude

of prayer

heads

bowed

and eyes

closed

and you

listen to

the Lord

and you

respond as

he speaks

to you

right now

I'd be

happy to

pray with

you

here at

the front

right now

you'll come

down during

these next

few minutes

as our

instrumentalists

play

and we

pray