Jesus: Prophet, Priest & King | Palm Sunday at The Village Chapel

So, why do Christians celebrate Palm Sunday?

What's with all the palm waving and the coats flying and the people dancing and singing and all of that?

And why was that first Palm Sunday called the Triumphal Entry of Jesus?

It's true that multitudes celebrated the approach of Jesus, but many of them misunderstood Jesus just as they do even in our own day and time.

Some were clearly expecting a political liberator, and they were soon disappointed.

Jesus doesn't fit neatly into any political system.

Most of the religious leaders on the ground got angry and conspired against Jesus.

And yet, throughout history, millions have come to believe that Jesus knew exactly what he was doing that day.

And uh in the events of the week that followed, he actually directed all of that.

So what are we to make of this person, Jesus of Nazareth?

We have some extra copies of the Bible.

If you would like to study along today and have something in your hand to be able to read the words yourself, just raise your hand up real high.

Someone will be glad to drop uh Bible off at your chair, your seat as well.

Up on the screen, you see the notes and quotes are available by um taking a snap of that, uh following the link on that QR code up on the screen there, and that'll take you to where we're going to be for the next few minutes together.

I want to thank the folks from Harare, Zimbabwe, which is the capital city of Zimbabwe.

I didn't know that.

I had to look that up.

But uh evidently some folks from uh Harare joined us last week, some folks from Auckland, New Zealand, also.

We had folks from Emporia, Kansas, uh Squim, Washington.

Anybody heard of Squim before?

Oh, good, awesome.

Maybe friends of yours, I don't know.

Um, but that's great.

And uh greetings to all of those folks and hope they're able to be with us again this week as we take a look at Jesus, prophet, priest, and king in the Palm Sunday text from Matthew chapter 21.

Matthew 21 · chapter mention

Um, this particular story that you're familiar with, I would think most of you are, as Jesus rides into Jerusalem in the week preceding what we call Holy Week or Passion Week, uh, the events that uh we'll be looking at over the next week ourselves and celebrate, of course, his resurrection next Sunday.

But today we do call Palm Sunday.

Sometimes it's called Triumphal Entry, as I said earlier.

It's in all four Gospels.

You can see that up on the screen as well.

And today we'll be taking a look at the uh Matthean account, which is in chapter 21.

And I'm gonna look at actually verses 1 through 17.

I think that is gonna take in all of what I'd like to say this morning as we think of Jesus and consider who he is, uh why he came, and what roles he actually uh fulfilled and performed in this one particular day that we call Palm Sunday.

Pray with me, if you will, before we read the text.

Our Father, as we've gathered to worship you today, we are aware that we all stand in need of your grace, your mercy, and your forgiveness.

And those aren't just religious words to us.

We need grace, mercy and forgiveness.

Thank you for putting those on offer in the person and work of Jesus.

And on this Palm Sunday, we turn our hearts to you and pray that you will set our voices free to sing aloud, Hosanna.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

Come now, Lord, speak to us through your word.

Give us a clearer vision of your truth, a greater faith in your power, and a more confident assurance of your love for us.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen and amen.

Before I read the text, um, I want you to know this week and next week be my 25th time doing uh Palm Sunday and an Easter message.

And I love it.

I'm like the Hobbits in Tolkien's storylines.

They uh liked to have books filled with things that they already knew, set out fair and square with no contradictions.

And I cannot get enough of Palm Sunday and the Easter story as well.

So, like the Hobbits, let us approach uh this particular story today to be reminded of the truths that never fade.

Um to have them set out fair and square before us, considering what they actually claim, not just the sort of the myth and legendary kind of stuff that we hear and that's attached to it and in lots of different ways in our culture, but what actually happened there in space-time history and what does it signify?

Why is it important?

And today I think we're gonna see how Jesus, indeed, on that first Palm Sunday, um, went public in a bold way that he had not done.

Um, he he there's a prophetic aspect to it, a paradoxical aspect to it, and a very powerful aspect to it.

So let's take a look at Matthew 21, verses 1 through 17, as Jesus approaches Jerusalem.

Matthew 21:1–17

He's coming up from Jericho, 17 miles is the length of trip between Jericho and Jerusalem, but it's quite uh an ascent because Jericho sits a thousand feet below sea level, and Jerusalem sits 2,500 feet above sea level.

Jerusalem is not the highest point in that region, but it's still pretty high up there.

So 3,500 feet above sea level in ascent over a 17-mile period, and I've been there six times.

I've done it in a nice air-conditioned, cushy motor coach.

And it was pretty easy.

And uh to think of Jesus, you know, and his disciples making this trick on foot.

Um, when I I kind of got, you know, the first time I rode up in that motor coach and it was like and we weren't sure the coach was going to make it.

And when you finally do get to the top, they appropriately put on chariots of fire as in the sound system, and you feel like we made it, you know, that's really good.

So they approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, which is uh to the Mount of Olives, and Jesus sent two disciples saying, Go into the village opposite you, likely Beth at Bethany, we're not 100% sure, but likely that.

And immediately you'll find a donkey tied there and a colt with her, untie them and bring them to me.

If anyone says something to you, you shall say, The Lord has need of them, and immediately he will send them.

This took place, that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you, gentle, mounted upon a donkey, even upon a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.

Now that's right out of Zechariah 9:9.

Zechariah 9:9

Matthew, formerly known as Levi, quotes the Old Testament almost 100 times in his this gospel, Matthew's gospel.

He's really connecting the dots between Old Testament prophecy and Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.

He actually uses the word fulfill over and over and over again.

So we know that as a Jewish man who knows the Jewish Old Testament scriptures, he really wants us to see how Jesus is indeed all that the prophets fulfilled.

He is, he is exactly what God said he would be.

And this is fascinating to me.

We don't uh consider this much, but he sends two disciples.

We don't know which ones we it's probably you know, it could be James and John, could be Peter and Andrew, who knows?

But he sends them off to get this donkey and and the colt and to bring them.

And if anybody says anything, the Lord says, tell them the Lord has need of them.

As if you could go to, you know, down to Brentwood there to the uh you know one of the car dealerships or Cool Springs, one of the really nice car dealerships, and say, I want to take that Range Rover right there.

Um wait a minute, you can't just take it.

No, no, the Lord has need of it, you know, and and then you drive off, you know, as if that's all it takes to get that.

By the way, this is the first time we read anywhere in any of the four gospels of Jesus doing anything other than walking.

It's the first time he rides anything at all.

Wagons, horses, donkeys, whatever.

It's the only time.

And uh, it's pretty fascinating that he chose to do that on this colt, this little donkey thing here, like this, making a very public statement, connecting himself to the prophet Zechariah, who 500 plus years before the time of Jesus prophesied that Messiah, God's king, would come into Jerusalem like this.

Verse 6, the disciples went and did just as Jesus had directed them.

I wish verse six was my resume.

And Jim went and did exactly what Jesus told him to do.

Um you probably, if you stop and think about it, you probably wish that was your resume too.

But let's face it, you are sitting next to somebody who does not have that resume, and they are sitting next to you.

And we are all in this together, and we are stumbling forward to follow our Savior and our Lord.

And I'm so glad he speaks clearly with that kind of detail and says, Go to that village, do that, you're gonna find that there.

Did he was is this one of those kind of moments that he had the prophetic thing, or did he set this up in advance?

I've got a clue.

Either way, it's amazing.

And he comes back and makes this awesome public statement in front of everybody, verse 7.

He brought the donkey and the colt, they laid on them their garments on which he Jesus sat.

Most of the multitude spread their garments in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees, spreading them in the road.

And this is much like they would welcome a royal, an approaching royal who's coming in peace.

They would uh they would want to make the road smooth, no potholes.

So this is their you know, T dot going out, filling in the potholes, and making sure that the road looked was really smooth for the approaching dignitary.

I used to live three blocks from here, and there was going to be a presidential debate at Belmont University.

I remember how we got a free new sidewalk out of that whole thing.

Because our sidewalk was not straight, it wasn't smooth.

And I thought that was amazing.

And uh Belmont used to have university used to have all these different events there.

I remember they had the uh they they also had the uh uh one of those uh things where where the people that were sort of mystics and and could kind of read people's minds and all that sort of thing, and and they were putting signs up everywhere about that it was at Belmont University at this certain hall.

And I kept thinking every time I saw those signs, why can't these mystics just read their with what why do they need signs to get over there?

They're like, you shouldn't need that if you're really legitimately able to do that thing.

But Jesus comes in, he knows the Old Testament scripture, he fulfills the Old Testament scripture here, and most of the multitude are spreading garments as if he's an approaching king.

So understands prophecy, and he understands that the Lord's Messiah would be a king, the king that Israel needed.

Um, and so he comes in like that.

The multitudes going before him, verse 9, and those who followed after him were crying out, saying, Hosanna to the son of David! That's a messianic title, by the way.

Don't just hear that through Western ears.

Um, he's literally, you know, uh Matthew is literally with his Jewish mindset, he's literally telling us the people saw Jesus as Messiah that day coming into the city.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

And Hosanna in the highest, this is right out of Psalm 118, they would have known.

This is about Messiah.

And so they yell this, they they throw their palm branches, they're waving those and throwing their coats to smooth out the road and make it smooth so that when he comes into the city, he can come in without you know having to go through a bunch of potholes and all that sort of thing.

And when he entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred.

The last time that happened was uh Matthew chapter 2, when Jesus was born.

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

And all the city was stirred because the wise men came to King Herod in the palace and said, Where is he who is to be born king of the Jews?

And Herod was the king of the Jews.

And when that Eastern despot got all panicky, he killed people.

That's what he did, including his own family members.

And we're told in Matthew 2 that the entire city was stirred, all Jerusalem with him.

And it's an interesting bookend to the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry, the beginning of his life here on this planet as he walked the earth, and now here he's stirring things up.

The question is will he stir you up?

Will he stir me up today?

I hope he does, but in a good way.

Because disruptions can be negative, but disruptions can be positive as well.

So he stirred them up, and they're all saying, Who is this?

Now, Matthew and Mark and Luke and John all want to ask that question.

They want us to answer that question too.

Who is this Jesus?

Who is he?

Why is he significant?

Why are we still talking about him 2,000 years ago?

Really important.

The multitudes were saying, This is the prophet, Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.

So that's what the multitudes were saying as people were, lots of people pressing.

This is, by the way, this is the time of the feast.

This is like rush hour on 10.

I mean, there are, you know, if if if Jerusalem had a normal population of 250,000 or so, as some people estimate, it's now probably a million and a half because of the feast.

I mean, there are campfires everywhere.

There are people uh uh camping out all along the hillside, all along the way, and every house, every hotel, every room is full.

And so the streets are jammed with people.

And there's lots of buzz about Jesus right now.

He goes into the city, verse 12.

He entered the temple and he cast out all those who were buying and selling in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those, and this is an interesting detail, who were selling doves.

Wow, that's live-body detail.

What does Matthew want us to know?

The dove was the sacrificial animal of the poor.

And along the court of Gentiles, those of you who had been over there and seen the ruins, you see the sort of colonnade, this the the street that is literally lined with all of these little portico booths.

And they had made a complete commercial enterprise out of the temple there.

Not only would they sell you a dove, but if you had brought your own dove in thinking it was going to be acceptable as a sacrifice, they, at the booths of Annas, the high priest and Caiaphas, they had the authority to say, no, your animal is not clean.

You'll have to get another one.

Oh, and by the way, we have one for sale right here.

Not only that, they exchanged money and charged interest every time they exchanged money.

If you brought in Roman coins, you would have to use the Jewish shekel to be able to buy that animal.

So they would first exchange your money, so it's called money changers, and then they would charge you on top of that a fee for the exchange, and then a fee for the purchase you're going to make.

And over and over again, they're just commercializing the whole place.

And this does not sit well with Jesus at all, that they're taking it, especially taking advantage of the poor.

And he said to them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer.

You are making it a robber's den.

Here he's quoting kind of a mashup from Isaiah and Jeremiah, but he's literally calling them out.

He is a priest who is cleaning house.

And he's really upset.

And then verse 14 summarizes what he does.

And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.

So the Jewish religious leaders were not only were they not doing what they should be doing, praying P-R-A-Y-I-N-G, they were doing what they should not be doing, praying P-R-E-Y-I I-N-G on the poor.

Jesus turns over their tables, drives them out.

There's coins flying everywhere, birds flapping their wings over, sheep and goats and everything going everywhere, and he's just as upset as he could be.

And he utters what we read in verse 13 there.

You've made it a robber's end, supposed to be a house of prayer.

And then Jesus in verse 14 restores it to what it should be.

And he's healing the blind and the lame in the temple.

And he he goes on, and the chief priests and the scribes, they in verse 15 saw, and this is this is such almost, I can't quite understand how somebody gets this dark.

When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that Jesus had done, and the children who were crying out in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the son of David, what did the chief priests and scribes do?

Say, oh, look at all the people getting healed.

Isn't that a good thing?

Oh, look at all the people praying.

Isn't that a good thing?

No.

They became indignant.

Oh, man.

So now they're mad that what's supposed to be happening is happening.

And they're mad that what they were doing, which they should not have been doing, has been shut down.

They're infuriated.

And they said to Jesus, do you hear what these are saying?

And Jesus said to them, Yes.

Let's just take up an offering and go home.

I mean, that right there.

Yes, I do hear, as a matter of fact, what they're saying and doing.

Yes.

And then he goes, Have you never read?

Which is to put them to shame.

These guys have all the seminary degrees.

These guys have PhDs in Old Testament.

Have you not read?

It's like you missed 101 class on this, right?

Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes, thou hast prepared praise for thyself.

The children, somehow or other, got what the PhDs could not get.

And then verse 17 is Matthew, just kind of wrapping up the day.

And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany.

That's not a person, that's a town, and lodged there.

It's about two miles outside of Jerusalem.

This is such a great event.

I love all this.

Our English Bibles, uh, and and you can uh check me out on this later if you would like to, but our English Bibles do um divide the four uh New Testament Gospels into 89 chapters.

Four of them are they cover the first 30 years of Jesus' earthly life.

We have the birth narratives of Matthew 1 and 2 and Luke 1 and 2, but we don't know much more about those first 30 years of Jesus' life.

There's been a lot of speculation about it, of course.

Of course there would be.

He is the most interesting person that has ever lived.

Of course there's speculation about him.

Is it all true?

I have I no, it's probably not.

Speculation is just that.

Speculation, but we can do some good history here.

Why?

Because we have some eyewitness testimony preserved here.

We have people who can, at the time of these writings, interview eyewitnesses, like Luke does as well.

So the emphasis in the Gospels is on the public ministry of Jesus because 85 of the 89 chapters are on the last three and a half years of Jesus' life.

And 29 of those 85 chapters zoom in on this week.

Palm Sunday, and all that happens in Holy Week, all the way through to the next Sunday and the glorious resurrection of Jesus.

So we're gonna have the cleansing of the temple, the teachings of Jesus, the healing of the Limes.

Of Jesus that we just read about.

We're going to have the Last Supper, the betrayal, the arrest, the interrogation trials, the torture, the crucifixion, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus.

You want to read ahead, John chapter 20 next week, okay?

John 20 · chapter mention

I agree, and I think a lot of us do around here, with the English writer, good friend, personal friend of C.S.

Lewis, Dorothy Sayers, who once said this the Christian faith is the most exciting drama that ever staggered the imagination of man.

And the dogma is the drama.

All right?

So what we're claiming as true, the facts that are presented in the Gospels and in the New Testament, that's what we're saying is really dramatic.

The dog, the content, what's stated and claimed to be true, is so amazing.

It should capture us.

It should never be a meh.

It's never a.

If it has gone still in my heart or in your heart, it's because we've stopped seeing.

We've stopped hearing what the Lord might have been saying.

We always ask four questions of Bible passages.

Our preaching prep team, we do this all the time.

What does God reveal about Himself in this text?

How is humanity's need for redemption exposed?

In what ways are Jesus and the gospel foreshadowed or reflected in this passage?

And what faith response is this text asking for?

Any Bible study you're doing, you can take those same four questions and use them.

This will be posted online if you would like to have those four questions for your Bible study.

But what does this Palm Sandhi text reveal about God?

How does it show what we are really like, we human beings?

What does Palm Sandhi show us about Jesus Himself and the gospel itself?

Um and why Jesus came to earth at all?

And why did he approach Jerusalem that day?

What did he come to do?

And let's make sure that we get to asking the question today.

How should we respond to Jesus in faith today?

I think it's really important.

Now, imagine this parade of people that are following Jesus, if you will.

I like to call them the formerlies and the used to be's.

You know, it's just filled with people, this crowd of people that are the parade that are following Jesus.

Um, who was there?

Surely it looked like a bunch of misfits and outsiders, maybe even some folks like Zacchaeus, the formerly despised and hated chief tax collector, a formerly dead guy named Lazarus, the used to be blind Bartimaeus, the formerly demon-possessed Mary Magdalene, hundreds, if not thousands of used-to-be blind, lame, lepers, lost, deaf, demon-possessed, hopeless, despondent, brokenhearted, people who had lost loved ones, all in the crowd.

And what did they see that day?

Why did they start dancing and singing and shouting, Hosanna?

And was all of it right?

All of it wrong?

Did they get it all right?

I think some of them had it right.

The approach of Jesus on the first Palm Sunday was deliberate.

It was dramatic, and it did demand a response.

And I think it still does today.

Some of the smallest details have been planned for quite a long time.

As we read in the text itself from Zechariah 9:9, rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.

Zechariah 9:9

Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem.

Behold, your king is coming to you.

He's just and endowed with salvation.

Jesus' name means God salvation.

Who else is endowed with salvation more than a guy named Jesus?

He's humble, mounted on a donkey.

Not a war horse, but a donkey.

Now, back in their day, it's true.

Sometimes kings would come in on a donkey.

So there is great truth in the fact that Jesus did not say, go into the village over there and find me a black stallion dressed with all kinds of armor, and it's got bows and arrows and everything hanging out of it for me to shoot at all the bad guys.

He's not a Zorro.

Okay, somebody gets that, yeah.

He's not that, but he is saying he's a king coming in peace.

So don't miss that.

It's a beast of burden, that's true.

But David rode a donkey.

Judah rode a donkey.

A lot of people over the history of the Old Testament rode donkeys.

And if a king was coming to a city in peace or to bring peace or to make a peace deal, they did not come riding on a war stallion.

They came riding on a donkey.

So Jesus is very publicly saying, I am a king, I am the king, I am your king, Jerusalem.

And I come to bring peace.

A lot of them wanted a political messiah.

A lot of people today want a political messiah.

They try to co-opt Jesus for their political cause.

And this happens, listen, I know you're thinking of people from the other side of the aisle, but it happens on all sides of the aisle.

Let me just say that, okay?

So Jesus does not fit neatly into anybody's political system.

Let's get that straight right here at village chapel.

Because we're asking the question, who is Jesus?

And we're asking the question, how should we respond to Jesus?

He is not your Gumby to bend, he's not your play-doh statue to mess with.

He comes as he comes.

And we should look at who he is.

And he came humble, that was his heart.

Not just because he was on a donkey.

And I think it's important that we note that.

Most of the Jews in that day were looking, like I say, for a political uh Messiah to free them from Roman oppression.

But here comes Jesus as a prophet, revealing.

God, he's he's God revealing.

And I'm just gonna say, I'll give you all three of these real quick.

Uh Jesus on Palm Sunday is as prophet, he's God revealing.

As priest, he's God reconciling.

And as king, he's God reigning.

This is a formula that has been used down through the church.

It goes back to John Calvin and even before that, actually.

But but you you can find this threefold office of Jesus in a lot of different sermons.

But here we see Jesus as prophet.

We're even reminded here, because the folks here cry out about to Jesus and they're wondering to know who he is, verse 11.

The multitudes were saying, This is the prophet, Jesus.

They see him as a prophet.

And of course, Matthew, with all of his wisdom about the Old Testament in verse 5, says, look how he connects with Zechariah 9, verse 9, very specific, which we put up on the screen there.

Zechariah 9:9

So Jesus comes as a prophet.

And the prophet, remember, the job of the prophets was to represent God to the people.

And so they would go out to the people and they would say, Thus saith the Lord.

And you could tell if they were a true prophet, if whatever the Lord said, whatever they said the Lord said, if it if they were predicting something in the future, if it actually came true.

If it did not come true, the instruction from the Old Testament was to stone that prophet to death because they weren't speaking the word of the Lord.

They were pretending to.

Let us not pretend to.

But let us say exactly what the Lord would have us to say about who Jesus is.

He comes as prophet, he comes as priest, he comes as king.

And as prophet, he represents the God who speaks.

Not just the God as a statue over there in somebody's shrine that has a face but can't see, can't open a mouth and speak, legs can't walk, hands can't do anything.

No, no, no, no.

This is a real God that speaks.

Genesis 1.

Ten times it says, and God said.

From Genesis 1 all the way to Revelation 22, the Bible is the God who speaks.

So Jesus comes as the prophet who is God speaking to us.

He offers us, yes, wisdom and guidance and instruction through his word, but he also is the way, the truth, and the life.

And he continues to point to himself in his earthly ministry.

Those of us who've studied Luke recently, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, John, all of them during the course of this church's lifetime.

And we keep seeing Jesus accept and receive worship.

We keep seeing Jesus healing people, knowing what's going on inside their hearts, forgiving, claiming the power to forgive sins, something only God can do.

He speaks.

He is God revealing.

Secondly, he is as a priest, Jesus is God reconciling.

So he comes not only to be the priest who cleanses the temple like he does in this text, but also to become the Lamb of God, the ultimate Lamb of God.

The final Lamb of God.

We don't need to do any more animal sacrifice.

And all the animals said, Jesus is the final, the ultimate, the complete sacrifice.

And he has paid the price in full for your sins, my sins.

Past, present, and future.

Somebody shout amen.

Yeah.

That's good.

Yeah, there you go.

That's good.

Jesus is also king, though, isn't he?

As he comes in that day.

He's king reigning.

He quotes uh or uh Matthew quotes uh or yeah, Psalm 118, Zechariah 9, he talks about your king.

He's the Lord over everything, he controls human history, he restores true freedom under his righteous rule.

So if listen, if you are interested in hearing from God about anything in your life, Jesus, as the prophet, Jesus is God speaking.

Okay?

As the priest, Jesus is God reconciling.

And as the king, Jesus is God reigning.

Are you are you looking to hear from God?

Are you looking to be reconciled with God?

Things set right between you and God.

Are you looking for the wisdom of God in your life and you want to know whether something's right or wrong?

You want to, there's so many things you you're trying to figure it out, and you know you need a king because you can't do it yourself.

He is all that you need, as we sang earlier.

Keller, Jesus Christ came not to be served, but to die, to give his life that sets him apart from the founder of every other major religion.

Their purpose was to live and be an example.

Please get this right.

Jesus' purpose was to die and be a sacrifice.

Do you see the big difference there between Christianity and every other world religion that exists?

Lewis entered a room of a bunch of intellectuals trying to debate that subject once.

And they all turned to him and said, Well, he's a Christian.

Let's see what he says.

What's the difference between Christianity and every other religion?

And he said, Oh, that's, I'm paraphrasing, but he said, Oh, that's simple.

Grace.

Yeah.

God doing for us what we can't do for ourselves.

Palm Sunday was a fulfillment of prophecy, the public presentation of the king, and a preview of the kingdom yet to come.

There are eschatological ramifications for what happened that day as well.

One day he will ride into view again.

This time not on a donkey, but on a white horse to set the world right.

That should have got me a Methodist amen, at least.

I'm excited about that.

I don't know about you.

Look at the way people responded, though.

The multitudes misunderstood the approach of Jesus.

Disciples were emboldened, but still confused.

We know this from reading the rest of the account.

They still were, you know, when he's arrested, they scatter like whipped puppies.

The religious leaders wanted to shut down the approach of Jesus.

Stop that.

You see what they're doing?

You hear what they're saying?

And Jesus said, Yeah, I do.

Yes.

The Romans simply ignored the approach of Jesus.

Now look at that screen for a second.

Which of those best describes the disposition of your heart today?

We need to take pastoral look at these passages when we study them, and that's why we have that fourth question that we talked about earlier.

What is the faith response that I should have toward this Jesus who chose to ride into Jerusalem and lay down his life for us?

What's revealed here about Jesus is that he is the unmatched, unique combination of prophet, priest, and king.

Nobody else is all three of those.

Nobody else deserves to be all three of those.

Nobody else can handle that kind of power, sovereignty, and that kind of justice and deal with that power in a truthful way.

He is, he comes as a servant king, not to be served, but to serve.

The drama is obvious.

The real drama is found in the dogma, as Sayers said, though.

This was the return of the king who had now come to lay down his life on a cross to offer salvation freely to you and to me.

Who is Jesus?

How should we respond to Jesus?

Stott says, here's a king who conquers not by force of arms, but by the force of love.

Oh yeah.

Luke tells us he was gut-punched as he wrote him that day.

Luke, the Gentile.

You know, the one Gentile author of a book in the Bible.

And he says, Jesus convulsed with tears because he knew how Jerusalem was going to respond to him and reject him in terms of the uh religious authorities of that day.

There comes a moment, you know, when we think about how we should respond, there comes a moment uh when we're considering who God is.

Uh when uh Lewis described it this way, when children were been playing at burglars, how suddenly, was that a real footstep in the hall?

There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion, man search for God, suddenly draw back.

Supposing we really found him.

We never meant it to come to that.

Worse still, Lewis says, supposing he found us.

And folks, that's exactly what has happened in the gospel.

He has found you.

He has found me.

I wasn't even looking for him.

Most of the time through my day, I'm not even thinking about him.

Maybe you're that way too.

But I want to.

I want to be practicing the presence of Jesus all the time.

He is prophet, priest, and king.

If I want to hear from God, if I want to be reconciled to God and in a right relationship with God, if I want God to be speaking wisdom into my life, to guide me, to lead me, to show me how I can love him more, how I can serve others better, how I can be a part of this church in a better way.

I want Jesus to be the one.

FF Bruce, and I'll close with this quote.

Such a beautiful quote.

We've used it before here at the Village Chapel.

It bears repeating.

In Jesus, the promise is confirmed.

The covenant is renewed, the prophecies are fulfilled, the law is vindicated, salvation is brought near.

Sacred history has reached its climax.

The perfect sacrifice has been offered and accepted.

The great priest over the household of God has taken his seat at God's right hand.

The prophet, like Moses, has been raised up.

The son of David reigns.

The kingdom of God has been inaugurated.

The Son of Man has received dominion from the ancient of days.

The servant of the Lord has accomplished the divine purpose and is now exalted and extolled and made very high.

Hosanna! Yeah.

And he came for you, and he came for me.

There's another week of activities.

I don't want to get too far ahead, but I surely did not want to miss the opportunity to at least give the spoiler alert that he is in charge of every movement of the next week.

And certainly, as we've said so many times here at the Village Chapel, he is in charge of all outcomes.

Take courage in that.

Let's pray.

Lord, thank you for your word.

Thank you that it's living and active, that it fills us with the knowledge of Jesus and his great love for us.

Pray for all soul, all of us souls here today.

No matter where we're at, I pray, Lord, that you would bridge the gap, that you would call our name, that you would draw us to yourself.

Lord, I pray that our souls would respond, that we would turn to you in faith, believing.

Lord, that some who need to today, that are in this room or online watching us, would repent from their sin and turn to you, surrender, bow before you, King, great King of heaven.

Trust in you, prophet and priest Jesus, that you are.

We love you.

We thank you for your kindness and for the free gift you've offered to us in the salvation you've put on offer.

Pray this in your precious name.

Amen and amen.