A Gentle Savior

Matthew chapter 21, verse 5. Just one little

Matthew 21:5

verse, that means a short sermon, amen? Get back

there to that food. Hey, but the good news is,

is even if I go long, it's okay, because most

of it's in a crock pot, plugged in on warm, so

it'll be hot whenever we get back there. Matthew

Matthew 21:5

chapter 21, verse 5. Most of you have probably

noticed. The palms that Miss Angeline has brought

and put out for us, we thank you for that, and

always for the flowers you put out for us. If

you did not know, this is Palm Sunday. This was

when Jesus came into town not long before he

would be crucified. He came into town with celebration.

There were a lot of people rejoicing, but not

everybody. There were some that were not so happy

to see Jesus coming into town and getting the

reception. that he was getting, and that's what

we see in Matthew chapter 21. We're not going

Matthew 21 · chapter mention

to dig into all the details of it today. If you're

not familiar with what occurred on that day,

I would encourage you this week to read Matthew

21. We'll talk about some of it, but there's

a lot more to consider and to think about. It's

really beautiful to read those words, but that'll

be good homework for you. But we're just going

to look at one little verse today, Matthew chapter

Matthew 21 · chapter mention

21. Verse 5. We'll read it, then we'll pray.

Tell daughter Zion, look, your king is coming

to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, even

on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. Let's

pray. God, we come to you today, and I thank

you that we can come into your house. I thank

you, dear Lord, that you are good to us. I thank

you that you are gracious and that you are patient

with us. I thank you, God, that you are gentle

with us, dear Lord. We thank you for Jesus Christ,

for being who he was. And I pray, dear Lord,

that today, that through your word, we would

see the gentleness of Jesus, God. That perhaps

there are some in this room today, dear Lord,

that need to feel that gentleness in their life,

that compassion in their life today. God, I pray.

that you free us from the worries and the distractions

and the stresses and the pains and the heartaches

of this life today, and that in these few minutes,

your Holy Spirit would speak to us, dear Lord.

God, there are no good words I can say if they

do not come from you, so I pray, God, that it

is your Spirit that speaks through me and to

each one of us today, that we would hear, that

we would grow in you, dear Lord, that we would

trust in you, and that we would find joy in you

this day. And I ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. The scene has been set for Jesus. He had

come and he had accomplished almost all of what

he had come to do. He had come for a purpose.

He had come to bring salvation to all who would

trust in him. And he had spent three years or

so, give or take, doing the work of God, preaching

and teaching. about the Word of God, trying to

point them to what God's Word really meant, what

it stood for, and he wanted them to know that

ultimately he was going to be the one that they

would have to follow if they wanted to find salvation.

And Jesus had imparted this onto his disciples,

and he had been teaching and preaching them,

but the time had come for Jesus to complete his

mission. And Jesus would complete that mission.

By giving his life on the cross. But before that

occurred, Jesus came into town that day. He came

into town as he had many times before. But there

as he came into town that day, he had a very

warm welcome from a large group of people. And

as Jesus rode into town, they began to take off

their coats, and they began to gather up palm

branches, and they began to place them in the

middle of the street. And here come Jesus Christ,

the King of kings, Lord of lords, riding right

down the middle of the street. Now this was all

prophesied. The verse that I just read for you,

it calls us back to Isaiah chapter 62 and Zechariah

Isaiah 62 · chapter mention Zechariah 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9 where God's word said that the Messiah

was going to come, the king was going to come,

and he was going to come in an unexpected way.

At least what you would think when you think

of a king coming into town. And I was thinking

as I was studying. What do you expect a king

to come into town on? What do you expect the

most powerful man on the planet to come into

town? And I was thinking, well, what do kings

and world leaders in our world today drive? I

wanted to show you a few things to give you an

idea. Here's the first one right here. Anybody

ever seen this car before? This is what the Emperor

of Japan rides in. This is what's called a Toyota

Century. You've probably never heard of a Toyota

Century. It's a very rare car. They don't make

very many of them. They started making them in

1967, and it was relatively unchanged until just

the last few years. But this is the newer model

of it. Of course, it's got all the bells and

whistles and all of the luxuries. The next car...

is the car that is driven by the Prime Minister

of India. This is a Mercedes Maybach. You may

have heard of a Maybach before, or maybe not.

You don't... really see them around it's a very

rare car and for good reason they are quite expensive

it's a mercedes which is already nice enough

and then it it goes to the next level they take

it to 11. it's got a massive v12 twin turbo engine

it's got all the bells and whistles and everything

you could possibly imagine The next one on the

list, you might recognize this. This is the car

that the President of the United States rides

in. Now, I'll just say it's a Cadillac because

it is a Cadillac, but not really. It's not really...

like any other Cadillac there is and it's actually

sitting on the on a truck frame on a big truck

frame and it's got these pieces and parts that

that kind of are Cadillac but kind of aren't

stuck on the side of it to make it look like

a Cadillac and it's got everything you could

possibly imagine it's bomb proof and rocket resistant

and it's got its own air supply inside it's got

a blood bank in there with the president's blood.

And there's two of these that go everywhere the

president goes, wherever he goes in the world.

And this is a lap of luxury that our president

rides in. Y 'all will like this next one. This

next car here is one of the many cars of the

Sultan of Brunei. You say, I don't know where

Brunei is. Well, look it up after church. He

has Quite the car collection the Sultan of Brunei

does. This right here is a Rolls Royce Silver

Spirit. Of course, it's all plated in gold, 24

karat gold. It is the ultimate status symbol

of wealth and power. Let's check out this next

one. The next one is the car of the King of England,

the Royal... And I know what some of you are

probably thinking. You're probably saying, well,

that kind of looks like a grandma car. And you're

right. It is a grandma car because it actually

was designed by the Queen of England when she

was still alive. And everything in it is made

for... Let's just say an older person. The floorboards

are super flat with all the mechanical stuff

running far under the car so there are no humps.

The roof is raised really high so she can get

in and out and not bump her head. She even got

a special compartment she could tuck her purse

away in so she wouldn't have to have it sitting

on the floor anywhere. Big windows all the way

around, front and back, even over part of the

roof so that she can be seen by everyone. Next

car on the list. This one's a little different.

This is the presidential car of the president

of Chile. Now, you may say, well, this don't

look very extravagant. And maybe it's not, but

this has been the presidential car since 1970.

It is a 1966 Ford Galaxy 500 XL. And this is

what the president of Chile is ridden around

in. Now, this is quite the collection of cars.

These are the types of vehicles that the most

powerful people in the world drive. They are

the fastest. They are the most extravagant. They

are made to give this symbol of power, this symbol

of wealth. They are made so that everyone can

see them and know their power and their strength

and know that they are the leader, that everyone

can watch them and stand on the sides of the

roads as they drive by in these beautiful cars.

extravagant and powerful cars, and these are

the types of vehicles that the most powerful

people in the world drive. Here we see in our

story today that Jesus Christ, the King of kings,

the Lord of lords, did not come into Jerusalem

that day on anything extravagant at all. You

know, Jesus, he could have snapped his fingers,

and any of those cars that you saw on that screen,

Jesus could have had them, boom, appear right

there in Jerusalem that day. Can you imagine

if Jesus would have come down the road in that

gold car? Man, people would have, they wouldn't

have known what was going on. Their mind would

have been blown. They would have said, what is

that chariot that he's riding in? Where are the

horses at? And you say, they're under the hood.

They say, how did you get horses under the hood?

People wouldn't have known what was going on.

But Jesus Christ, there's something that is beautiful

about Jesus. It's far more beautiful than gold

adorning our wheels, and it's far more beautiful

than horsepower. It's far more beautiful than

the finest leathers from the finest places in

the world. It's far more beautiful than all that.

The beauty of Jesus Christ is in his humility.

It's in his gentleness. And Jesus could have

chosen anything in the world to ride into town

on that day. But of all the things he could have

chosen, he chose a donkey. Of all the things

he could have chosen, this was not the ride of

a king, not the Son of God, not the King of Kings,

not the Lord of Lords. Of all the things, he

couldn't just get just an old raggedy chariot

maybe? Of all the things that Jesus could have

chosen that day, He chose the lowliest thing

that he could. He chose a small donkey. And in

the scripture we read today, it says, Look, your

king is coming to you, gentle and mounted on

a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast

of burden. There was one word that stood out

to me as I was reading this week and studying

and looking at this passage. And we really see

this in Jesus all throughout his ministry. And

that is that Jesus is gentle. Now some of your

translations may differ there. Some may say humble

and some may say lowly and some may say weak

and some say gentle. And all of those words are

slightly different. But in the context of this

verse, they really all mean the same thing. we

see that there was something unique about Jesus

and something beautiful about Jesus. He wasn't

coming to be seen by everyone. He wasn't coming

to be some celebrity. He wasn't coming so that

everyone would bow before him and say, oh, there's

Jesus. He was coming humbly to give his life

on a cross so that our sins could be forgiven.

And that day Jesus came into town as he had spent

the last three years of his life. dealing with

people gently, with compassion and grace and

mercy and love. And that's still how Jesus deals

with us today. Jesus is still a gentle Savior

today. It's the gentleness of Jesus that we need

today because our lives are so full of sin. Our

lives are so full of evil. Our hearts are so

full of just this darkest, nastiest stuff that

there is. And we have done such horrible things

in our life. But I want to tell you today that

whatever your sin may be, That Jesus has died

on the cross. He wants to deal with you gently

today. That Jesus tells us through his word today

that we may be forgiven of our sins if we would

simply come to him. That Jesus has come to carry

our burden for us. And on that day, 2 ,000 years

ago, Jesus came into town on a donkey, a beast

of burden. He rode a beast of burden. And just

a few days later, Jesus would be the one who

would take the burden for you and I so that Jesus

could deal with us gently today. Our sins are

deserving of the wrath of God, of the eternal

punishment of God. But Jesus says, I want to

give you away. I want to deal with you gently.

I'll take the harshness of the wrath of God and

the punishment of God, and I will go to the cross

and give my life so that I can gently deal with

you and give you compassion and let you know

today that if you would just come to Jesus Christ,

your sins would be forgiven. That whatever is

in your heart, whatever you've done, that Jesus

Christ says those things can be wiped away and

it can be washed as white as snow. Today, Jesus

Christ wants to forgive your sins. He wants to

deal with you gently. He wants to take your burden

from you. Jesus was not a flashy and fancy Savior.

Not like the world leaders we see today. He was

a humble man with one mission, to do the will

of God. And he desired to do the will of God

because he loves you. He doesn't love us to stay

in our sin. He doesn't want us to continue on

our evil. He wants us to repent of that, to say,

Lord, I know I've done wrong. I know that I've

sinned, but I believe, Lord Jesus, that you took

my sin when you died on the cross and was raised

again by God. So would you forgive me, dear Lord?

I repent of my sins. Be my Lord and Savior, Lord

Jesus, I want to follow you. That's why Jesus

died on the cross. And so there is forgiveness

for us today. There is hope for us today. The

gentleness of Jesus Christ that was on exhibit

when Jesus came into town on that donkey all

those years ago is here before us today. Matthew

Matthew 11:28

chapter 11 verses 28 and 29 says, Come to me

all you who are weary and burdened and I will

give you rest. All of you, take up my yoke and

learn from me, because I am gentle and humble

in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves.

What a beautiful, beautiful invitation today.

That Jesus says, come to me, I am gentle and

humble, and if you come to me, you will find

rest for yourselves. We need rest today. Life

is tough. It is tough. Even on the best days,

life is tough. You are running in every different

direction with your spouse and with your kids

and with your church and with your job, and everything

is just full force. It's just nonstop. Good days,

bad days. The bad days, it just seems like they

never end, one thing after another. And there

are seasons of our life where we feel that we

cannot go on and we just need rest. And it can

only be found in Jesus Christ who invites us

and says to us, Come to me, I am gentle and humble,

and you will find rest in me. That invitation

is available to every single one of us today.

Just one moment of rest in Jesus Christ is enough

to give us the strength to go for a long time.

Those bad days come one after another after another,

but man, the beauty and the joy and the peace

that comes when we humble ourselves before God

and say, God, I cannot do it. I do not have the

strength. I cannot go on any further. Just that

moment in the presence of God, just one moment

where we feel God's presence, just one moment

where we know the love of Jesus Christ, just

one moment changes our day and changes our week.

Perhaps some of you need that moment today. Even

those who have walked with Christ for a long

time, there are seasons and times in our life

where we just need that moment. Just, God, don't...

Don't forget about me. God, let me know that

you care. Let me know that you love me. God,

I just need some gentleness in the midst of the

harshness that I feel in this world. And if we

just seek Jesus today, just one moment in his

presence, just one moment of his peace, just

one moment of his gentleness gives us the strength

to carry on. Listen to this scripture from Psalm

Psalms 18:35

chapter 18, verse 35. This is David speaking

here. He says, You have also given me the shield

of your salvation. Your right hand has held me

up. Your gentleness has made me great. Isn't

that an interesting use of the words? And all

of the ways that God was with David and blessed

David and the greatness of David that David exhibited.

What does David say here? He says, your gentleness

has made me great. It was the gentleness of God

in dealing with David. It was the gentleness

of God that David experienced. It was the gentleness

of God that gave David the strength in the midst

of his difficult situations. And David says,

it's your gentleness, God, that has made me great.

So perhaps today we need to feel the gentleness

of God, and there is no greater example of the

gentleness of God than that of Jesus Christ.

All those years ago, Jesus came into the town

of Jerusalem to complete his mission. And there

were a large group of people there, and they

were celebrating who Jesus was. They were praising

him, and they were lining the road with palm

branches and with their coats, and they were

rejoicing in the Savior that was prophesied,

the Savior who had come. But not everybody. There

were some that day, and they had seen the same

things as everyone else. They had heard the same

things as everyone else, and they weren't happy

to see Jesus come into town. If you go back and

read in John's account of the triumphal entry,

just a little bit before that, we see a beautiful

miracle of Jesus. We see a miracle where Jesus

raises a man from the dead, a friend of Jesus.

Lazarus had died. Jesus got word. A few days

later, Jesus made his way to the family. Of course,

everybody was mourning. And Jesus goes to the

tomb where Lazarus was buried. And Jesus says,

come on up out of there, Lazarus. And Lazarus

is raised from death to life. Now, obviously,

this caused quite a stir. Word was getting around.

There was a big commotion. And a lot of people

were coming to Jesus. Now, a lot had already

come to him. They had already seen and heard

Jesus do a lot of things. But this is pretty

phenomenal. When you hear of a dead man being

raised, and people were beginning to flock to

Jesus even more and more, and probably some of

these that heard this story were part of those

who were laying those palm branches down. And

while one group had heard of the greatness and

the gentleness and the grace and the power of

Jesus Christ and were celebrating it, there was

another group that had heard the same things,

and do you know what their response was? It's

baffling what their response was. All of these

Pharisees and the chief priests and all of these

leaders, it says in Scripture, the first thing

they say is, look at all these people that are

flocking to Jesus because of what happened to

Lazarus. And do you know what their solution

to the problem is? They said, we must kill Lazarus.

And you know what their second solution to the

problem was? And we must kill Jesus. They had

seen and experienced the power of Jesus Christ.

They had heard the preaching and the teaching

of Jesus. They had seen Jesus bring a dead man

back to life. And instead of listening to Jesus

and to following Jesus and to accepting his compassion

and his gentleness and his love, their solution

to the problem was let's kill Lazarus and kill

Jesus. And so today we have a decision before

us. Through the words of Scripture, maybe you're

familiar with it, maybe you've read the Bible

a lot, maybe you haven't read it much, but if

you haven't, I want to tell you the truth of

the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that is that

God loves you today, and that we are sinners,

and that we are doomed apart. From Jesus Christ.

That there is no way for our sin to be forgiven.

But Jesus Christ loved you so much that he gave

his life on a cross so that you could be forgiven.

And God raised him from the dead once and for

all. And through Jesus Christ our sins can be

forgiven. And through Jesus Christ death will

not have the final say over us if we would just

seek him. That is the truth and the beauty of

the gospel of Jesus Christ. And there is so much

more beauty to be had when you read and see the

Gentiles. of Jesus through Scripture. And so

today we come and we're aware of who Jesus is.

We're aware of the beauty of Jesus. We're aware

of the gentleness of Jesus. We're aware at least

of the one miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from

the dead. And so we know who Jesus is today.

And so the question to you is how will you respond

today? Will you be one who knowing who Jesus

is, who is like those who greeted him and welcomed

him into Jerusalem and said, Jesus, come on in.

Are we those today that hear the gospel of Jesus

Christ and hear of the gentleness of Jesus Christ

and say, Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner. Would you

forgive me? Would you come on in, dear Lord?

I welcome you. I pave the way for you to come

and to change my life and to change my heart.

Or will we be those standing to the side who

know full well who Jesus is, who've seen the

work of Jesus Christ and have heard the word

of Jesus Christ and desire to get rid of him?

Which group will you be today? Maybe your whole

life you've been in that group and you've heard

about Jesus and you've heard about Jesus, but

you've never welcomed Him in. You've watched

Him walk by. You've watched Him pass by. You

don't want to listen to Him. You don't want to

have anything to do with Him. But maybe today

for the first time the Holy Spirit is working

on you and you know that you are doomed to an

eternity in hell apart from Jesus Christ if you

don't repent of your sin. And I pray that today

that each one of us in this room would be those

who would welcome Jesus Christ in. That we would

lay down the palm branches of our heart and say,

Lord Jesus, we rejoice in you today. The gentleness

of Jesus Christ is a beautiful thing. Let us

experience that today and let us be gentle with

those that we encounter. Let's pray. God, we

thank you for your good word. Dear Lord, we thank

you for the humility and the gentleness of who

Jesus is, dear Lord. We live in a world where

we find beauty and wealth and extravagance and

power and showing that off, dear Lord, and we

see that. We've seen it for centuries, dear Lord,

and all the kings and the presidents and the

rulers and the leaders that have come before.

But, dear Lord, that's what makes Jesus unique.

God, we thank you for the humility and the gentleness

of Jesus. That, dear Lord, he didn't come for

himself. For us. He humbled himself dear Lord

to obedience. Obedience that led to death on

a cross dear Lord. He suffered and he bled and

died. And he did that God. For each one of us.

So God I pray today that if there is one in this

room that is struggling. That is struggling with

just the pains and the stresses of life. That

I pray this morning dear Lord that they would

find the gentleness. of Jesus Christ. I pray,

God, that they would just seek you in this moment,

God, that they would have just a moment of reprieve

from their sufferings, God. That in this moment,

you let them know you love them and you care

for them and you're there for them, dear Lord.

Just let them feel your grace this morning, dear

Lord. That we would be those just as David, that

we would profess today that, God, that is your

gentleness that has made us great. God, maybe

there is one in this room today and they do not

know who Jesus Christ is. Maybe they know about

him. Maybe they've heard about him. But maybe

they have never trusted in Jesus Christ. Maybe

they've never asked him to be their Lord and

Savior. Maybe they've never asked to be forgiven

of their sins, God. Maybe they've avoided him

for years, turned a blind eye to the miracles

for years, dear Lord. But I pray today that they

would find the gentleness of Jesus Christ, God.

That we would lay down the palm branches of our

hearts, God. That we would confess our sins to

you, dear Lord. That we would repent of our sins

and that we would seek to have the humility and

the gentleness of Jesus. That we would accept

it and feel it and live that example to those

we encounter. God, I thank you for each one that's

here today. I pray that you'd bless them, dear

Lord. If there's one that's got something going

on, I pray that as we sing in these next few

moments, dear Lord. that your Holy Spirit will

work on. I pray that they would respond to you.

And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.