Binge Jesus Part II: Week 6

Welcome to Church of the Crossing.

My name is Andrew and if you're new, if you're visiting,

I'm so glad that you're here.

Today. We are finishing this series called Binge Jesus.

Each week we've looked at a story in the life

of Jesus from the Gospels in the Bible, And in

just a moment, we're gonna open the Bible to Matthew

chapter twenty one. But before we do that, would you

pray with me, Father God, thank you for the gift

of your word.

God.

We thank you that your word is timeless, it is alive,

It is living, and it speaks to us. It is

not dead, it is not archaic. It is more than history. God,

thank you for your word that speaks to us even now,

that speaks to our problems, that speaks to our lives.

And so God, we've come here to receive from your word.

And with that in mind, God, we ask that your

spirit would supernaturally calm any distraction in our hearts and minds,

that you would draw our attention to You, give us

ears to hear, hearts to understand. God, we want to

receive from your word, and we pray this in Jesus's name. Amen, Well,

Easter is coming. Easter is next Sunday.

And I heard a.

Story about a Sunday school teacher who asked her students

in Sunday school what they remember from Easter.

And one little boy.

Raised his hand and he said, Easter is when all

the family comes over and we eat a big turkey

and watch football. The teacher said, no, that's Thanksgiving. Then

she called on a young girl, and the young girl said,

Easter is when we wake up really early and there's

presence under the tree. The teacher shook her head and said, no,

that's Christmas. And then a little disappointed, the teacher called

on a third boy and he said, Easter is when

Jesus was crucified on the cross and they placed his

body in the grave. And the teacher smiled, and the

boy added, and on Sunday Jesus came out of the grave,

and if he sees his shadow, we have six more

weeks of winter. Easter is coming on next Sunday. But today,

this Sunday is often called Palm Sunday. That's what we

celebrate and remember today is Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday kicks

off a week that is often referred to as Holy

Week or Passion Week. And during this week, starting with

Palm Sunday, we remember and recognize certain moments in the

final week of Jesus before his resurrection. We remember Monday

Thursday when Jesus had the Last Supper, when he washed

his disciples feet and he gave us communion. We remember

a good Friday when Jesus was crucified. Then there's Silent

Saturday when his body was in the grave, and then

Easter Sunday we celebrate his resurrection from the dead.

The hope of the world, the hope for our salvation

on Easter Sunday.

But today is Palm Sunday, and Palm Sunday marks the

day that Jesus entered Jerusalem. Palm Sunday commemorates when Jesus

came into the city before Holy Week started. And so

I want us to read from Matthew chapter twenty one,

starting in verse one, and here's what we read. As

they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethpage on the Mount

of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, go

to the village ahead of you, and at once you

will find a donkey tiede there with her cult by

her Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone

says to you anything, to you, say that the Lord

needs them.

And he will send them right away.

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the

prophet verse five. Say to daughter Zion, see your king

comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey and

on a cult the foal of a donkey. The disciples

went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought

the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on

them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd

spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches

from the trees and spread them on the road. The

crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who

comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the

highest heaven. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred.

And asked who is this.

The crowds answered, this is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth

in Galilee. When Jesus entered into Jerusalem, the whole city

was excited. The whole city was stirred. Verse ten says,

the whole city was stirred, and they.

Asked who is this? They were curious, who is this?

You see, at that time in history, Israel was conquered

by the Roman Empire, and Israel awaited a savior, a

messiah who would deliver them.

From Roman occupation.

So they expected someone to come conquering, somebody to start

a revolution, somebody to come and bring them freedom.

And so when Jesus.

Comes in, the crowd shout Hosannah, which is a Hebrew

word for save or salvation. They call him the son

of David, the great king in Israel's history. Our Savior

Hosanna has come. It makes me think about like an

inauguration for a president, or a coronation for a king

or a queen, or like a Super Bowl parade or

a world championship team parading through the city.

Hosannah, our champion.

With a TV show that Chosen depicts part of what

we just read in a dramatic way. And so we're

gonna watch this clip together right now. If you haven't

seen the show, that's where season four ends. It's kind

of a cliffhanger, and you'll have to look for the

newest season to see where it picks up.

And Jesus entering the city.

This is a big deal in the ministry of Jesus

because up until this point, Jesus's ministry had been primarily

rural or nomadic kind of in the countryside villages and towns.

But on this day, Jesus enters Jerusalem, the capital city.

He goes into the heart of the Jewish population to

present himself to commence Holy Week. Now, Jesus arrived in

Jerusalem on the first day of a week long celebration

called Passover. Passover was a celebration that the Jews celebrated

in Jerusalem.

All the Jewish people.

From the surrounding region would travel into Jerusalem for Passover week.

Historians tell us that the average population of Jerusalem was

maybe twenty to thirty thousand, but during Passover week that

population grew to one hundred and fifty thousand, all of

these out of towners coming in for the Passover.

All week long. It was overrun and overwhelmed with visitors.

And that made me think about here in Indianapolis, we

have the Indy five hundred. Next month and all of

these overtowners from all over the country are going to be.

Coming to Indianapolis.

They say more than three hundred thousand people travel from

out of town to come to Indy for the race.

And even though the race is just on.

One day, there's a whole week long of activities and events.

There's qualifiers and practice rounds and card Day and all

these things building up to one day. I have a

friend who manages a hotel here in Indie, and she

told me that during race week, hotel rates are north

of five hundred dollars a night, and this particular hotel

requires a three night minimum stay and they're booked up.

Weeks in advance, all of these.

Out of towners coming into Indianapolis. So Passover is like

the Jewish Indy five hundred and when Jesus came, they

were waving palm.

Branches, not checkered flags.

But all of these out of towners are coming into

Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.

What is Passover?

Passover was a celebration of festival remembering how God delivered

the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. In Egypt, on

the night before the exodus, every Jewish family gathered in

their home, and they sacrificed a lamb, and they put

the blood of the lamb on the.

Door of their home. Because that night the plague.

Of death came through Egypt, and every Egyptian home without

the mark of the blood of the lamb lost their

firstborn son to the plague of death, except for the

families who had the blood of the lamb.

Death passed over.

The homes marked with the blood of the lamb, and

so ever since then, Jews would celebrate Passover in Jerusalem

and remember how God delivered them and how God saved them.

And every year, each Jewish family in Jerusalem would select

a lamb to sacrifice and share the Passover meal. The

first day of the Passover celebration was called Selection Day.

That's the day that every family selected their lamb for

the sacrifice. And Jesus chose to enter Jerusalem on Selection Day.

This was not an accident, This was not haphazard.

Jesus intentionally and deliberately chose Selection Day, declaring he is

selected by God. He is chosen by God, he is

the true Lamb of God. John the Baptist prophesied in

John chapter one he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, look,

the Lamb of God who takes away.

The sin of the world.

Jesus is the Lamb of God.

Just as the.

Blood of the Lamb save the Israelites that pass over.

Jesus saves us from our sin. Every single one of

us is infected by sin. Every single one of us

is corrupted by sin. My sin might be different than

your sin. Your sin might be different than your neighbor's sin.

But it doesn't matter what style, flavor, or taste our

sin is.

We have a sin problem.

Your sin might be private, it might be a personal

secret that nobody else knows about. But we all have sin,

and our sin condemns us. Our sin separates us from God,

and we all deserve death and punishment for our sin.

We deserve to spend eternity in hell, separated from God.

But God so loved the world, God so loved.

You, that he sent Jesus, the Lamb of God, to

be the final sacrifice for our sin.

To be the ultimate substitute for our sin.

When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the price

to purchase our forgiveness. When he hung on the cross,

he absorbed the wrath of God the payment for our sin.

And when he rose from the dead, he secured eternal life.

That's why John three point sixteen says, for God so

loved the world that he gave his one and only son,

that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have

eternal life. This is good news because Jesus is the

Lamb of God. No animal can save you from your sins,

No sacrifice can purchase your forgiveness. But Jesus, the Lamb

of God, the selected one, the chosen one, the redeemer.

He's the one who saves us from our sin.

He's the Lamb of God.

And so Jesus intentionally and deliberately selected selection day to

come into Jerusalem. As he entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey,

Jesus was making a bold claim.

He was claiming that he is the son of God.

That's a bold claim.

And many of the Jewish religious leaders and pharisees, they

accuse Jesus of blasphemy for making an arrogant claim. But

Jesus had the proof to back it up. If you

examine the Old Testament from the Book of Genesis through

the prophet Malachi, there are more than three hundred Old

Testament prophecies about the Messiah, prophecies about where he would

be born, prophecies about what lineage he would come from,

prophecies about the Messiah, and Jesus fulfilled all of them,

over three hundred prophecies. He fulfilled more than twenty of

them during Holy Week alone. And if you're interested in

learning more about that, in the sermon notes in the

Church app on your phone or device, there's an attachment

that describes the prophecies of Holy Week. But Jesus fulfilled

more than three hundred Messianic prophecies. What are the odds

that one person could fulfill every prophecy? Well, Peter Stoner

wrote a book called Science Speaks, and in the book

he uses modern math and probability to analyze what are

the odds of one person fulfilling just eight of these

Old Testament prophecies? And he chose the eight prophecies that

Jesus couldn't control, things like he would be born in Bethlehem,

the Messiah would be raised in Nazareth, the Messiah would

live in Egypt, the Messiah would come from the tribe

of Judah, and the lineage of King David. These were

things that Jesus could not manipulate. They were predestined before

his birth. And so Peter Stonner analyzed all this, and

he said, what are the chances of one person fulfilling

all eight of these prophecies? And he said the odds

of that are one in ten to the seventeenth. That's

one zero zero zero, zero zero zero, one hundred quadrillion.

And then to paint the picture even further, he says,

take one hundred quadrillion silver dollar coins and spread them

across the state of Texas. There'd be enough coins to

cover Texas two hundred and sixty thousand square miles two

feet deep. And then mark one of those silver a

red X, and mix it up all in the whole bunch.

And then take one person who's blindfolded.

They can walk as far as they want in Texas,

as long as they want, but when they reach down,

they have to pick up, blindfolded, that one coin.

What are the odds of that happening?

The same odds that one person in one lifetime would

fulfill just eight of these messianic prophecies, And yet Jesus

fulfilled more than three hundred of them. When Jesus entered

Jerusalem riding on a donkey on selection day.

He was fulfilling one of those prophecies. Let's return to

our text verse four.

This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet,

say to daughter Zion, see your king comes to you,

gentle and riding on a donkey on the cult the

foal of a donkey. Zachariah wrote this prophecy in the

sixth century BC, more than five five hundred years before

Jesus was born. And yet this wasn't the only prophecy

that Zechariah foretold. Zechariah wrote four prophecies about the Messiah.

The first one he rides on a donkey. Then in

Zacharia eleven we read that the Messiah would be sold

or traded for thirty pieces of silver. Judas betrayed Jesus

for thirty pieces of silver, and Zachariah twelve he writes,

they will look upon the one they have pierced and

will mourn for him.

Jesus was nailed to the cross, his side was pierced.

In Zechariah thirteen, he writes, strike the shepherd, and the

sheep will be scattered. When Jesus was arrested, his disciples fled,

they were scattered from him.

Jesus fulfilled these.

Four prophecies written five hundred years before he was born.

What are the odds of something like that?

I mean, that would be like if five hundred years

ago your great great great great sixteen great grandparent prophesied

that you would be living in Indianapolis, sitting in this sea,

that church at the crossing on Palm Sunday? Do you

even know who you are? Sixteen great great great grandparents

were Jesus fulfilled more than three hundred Messianic prophecies, more

than twenty of them during Holy Week, four of them

from Zechariah.

Okay, I admit you may be thinking, thanks for all

this history.

It's interesting, But what does this history have to do

with me? What does this history have to do with

my life today?

Right now? Let me return to our text and explain.

In verse four this.

Took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet,

say to daughter Zion, see.

Your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a

what on a donkey? See?

The crowd anticipated that the Messiah would be a king,

the Messiah would be a conqueror, The Messiah would be

somebody who was victorious who would lead a revolution against

their oppressors, a great king, and we know that great kings.

Ride horses, not donkeys.

Conquerors ride horses, Revolutionaries ride horses. Heroes, military heroes ride horses.

Not donkeys.

We see throughout history Napoleon, his war horse was called Merango.

George Washington led the American Revolution on horseback.

He famously had.

Two horses shot out from under him in the same battle,

and he lived.

Theodore Roosevelt he rode his horse.

Little texts during the Spanish American War, the rough riders,

heroes ride horses, revolutionaries ride horses. Warriors ride horses, not donkeys, except.

In times of peace.

There's biblical examples of kings and leaders riding donkeys in

times of peace. In Judges, several leaders rode on donkeys

in times of peace. King David, when he returned to

Jerusalem after Absalom's revolt was put down, was accompanied on

donkeys as a sign of peace. You see warriors ride

war horses, peacemakers ride donkeys. And so when Jesus enters

Jerusalem on Selection Day, he's riding a donkey. He's declaring

that he comes in peace, that he brings peace. One

scholar wrote, Jesus rides a donkey rather than a war horse,

and his kingdom will be one of peace.

Rather than coercion.

Another scholar says Jesus comes with reconciliation, as did rulers

who sometimes wrote a donkey in times of peace. I

want to tell you today, Jesus came to bring you peace.

Do you long for peace in your life?

Do the troubles and worries of this world haunt you,

scare you? Do you long for peace?

Is there anxiety and fear that robs you of peace?

Do you ever wake up in the night thinking and worried?

Do you long for peace? Are you gonna fight for

your life and you feel, metaphorically you want to saddle

up your warhorse and go into battle?

Do you long for peace? Jesus brings peace to your

troubled heart.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been trying to

teach my one year old son how to sleep peacefully

through the night. He does not sleep very peacefully. When

we put him to bed, he gets upset and he

gets angry. He's a really happy child during the day,

but at bedtime he screams and he cries, and when

we finally get him to sleep, he only sleeps for

about two hours before.

He wakes up upset and crying and screaming.

And so I go to sleep anxious, and then when

I hear him cry, I get up and adrenaline rushes

through my body. And when I finally get him back

to sleep, it's hard for me to go back to sleep.

And so we're like in this.

Vicious cycle trying to teach him how to sleep peacefully.

But God does work miracles, because this week we had

two nights in a row of a seven hour stretch.

I know that your problems are way bigger.

I know that your stress it's way more serious.

How a little boy sleeps at night.

I wonder if someone listening has gotten some news that's

just rocked your boat, a text that sent stress through

your body. Do you long for peace or a phone

call that's had your mind spiraling, or you were anticipating

a meeting or a conversation or a decision even this

week that's got your mind going and racing. I think

of the parent who's in conflict with an adult child.

They long for peace. The person working multiple jobs just

longing for some peace. And rest.

Consider the one who's fighting cancer, who's tired and weary

of the treatments, the chemo, the symptoms, the side effects.

They just want peace.

There's a college student who's just struggling with all this

pressure to finish, to graduate, to get a job, and

pay off the loans.

They want peace. Do you long for peace.

In a world of chaos, in a world of uncertainty,

in a world of ups and downs, in a world

that is overwhelming at times? Only Jesus can give us peace.

Only Jesus can give us perfect, eternal peace.

Jesus once said, I've told you these things so that

in me you may have peace.

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart,

I have overcome the world. In this world, you will

have trouble. In this world. You will have disappointment.

In this world.

You will have grief. In this world, you will have

pain and suffering. In this world, you will have temptation.

When trouble comes your way. You can have peace when

it's overwhelming. You can have peace when disasters strikes. You

can have peace when the money's run out, when the

marriage is irreconcilable, when the doctor's got bad news.

You can have peace. I want to tell someone today.

That when you're overworked, when you're overwhelmed, when you're overextended, what.

Does Jesus say. He says he has overcome the world.

You can have peace because of Jesus. Jesus tells us peace.

I leave with you my peace. I give you.

I do not give you as the world gives. Do

not let your hearts be troubled. Do not be afraid,

Do not be afraid.

I wonder if someone listening today is afraid.

In particular, you're afraid of what may happen after you die,

after your life on this earth is over. I have

good news because Jesus brings peace between.

You and God.

We mention that every single one of us has a

sin problem. We've been infected, We've been corrupted by sin,

and it separates us from God. Sin has broken our peace.

And you can try to run from your sin problem.

You can try to minimize your sin problem, you can

try to ignore your sin problem. But the fact remain.

Sin is a problem that we cannot fix. You cannot

outrun it, you cannot outwork it, you cannot pay it off.

We are guilty because of our sin.

In fact, we are enemies of God because of our sin,

and God, who is just and holy and righteous. His

only response to sin is to punish sinners. And today

I do not intend to frighten you, but it is

frightening to consider spending eternity separated from God. But Jesus

has made a way to reconcile us with God. Jesus

has made peace between us and God by dying on

the cross for your sin and rising from the dead.

So if you put your faith in him, you do

not have to fear death. You do not have to

fear what happens. You can have peace with God. You

can have hope. Romans five says, Therefore, since we've been

justified through faith, we have peace with God through our

Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you have that peace? Have you trusted Jesus with

your salvation? Have you put your faith in Jesus.

He's the only one who can save He's the only

one who.

Can give us peace.

He accepts anyone who comes to him and confesses their sin.

He forgives anyone who comes to them and puts their

faith in him. If you're listening today and you have

not put your faith in Jesus, make that decision today.

Earlier I mentioned how my son Shepherd struggles to sleep

peacefully through the night. Well last week or a couple

weeks ago, when that big storm and the tornado came

through our area, Shepherd was asleep in his bed. Lauren

and I were awake, and we were watching the weather

and watching the forecast, and then all the electricity went

out in our house, and the wind blew against the

house and shook the house. And Lauren picked Shepherd up

from his bed and we huddled in the hall bathroom

during the worst part of the storm, and Shepherd slept.

Through it all. He wasn't worried. When the storms of

life come, Jesus gives you peace.

When the tornado of anxiety and worry and disappointment wreak

havoc in your life, God hold you close like a parent.

Who holds their child.

When you put your faith and trust in Jesus, you

become a child of God and he will protect you.

That's why Zacharii uses child parent language. He says, rejoice greatly,

daughter Zion, shout, daughter Jerusalem. See your king comes to

you riding on a donkey. You are God's child, and

he will keep you safe, and He will provide you

with peace that this world cannot understand. So right now,

I want to invite each of us to respond to what.

We've heard today.

Would you buy your head and close your eyes with me?

I believe there's two invitations today, two responses. The first

invitation is for anyone listening who does not have peace

with God, who has not put your faith in Jesus.

But you want to do that today, this is your opportunity.

You can do that by simply praying this prayer, repeat

after me, saying, Dear God, I admit that I'm a sinner.

I believe Jesus died for me and rose from the

dead to save me. I confess Jesus is Lord.

God. Will you give me your peace?

As we continue in this response with our heads bowed,

no one else is looking around, It's just me. I

wonder if you prayed that prayer, would you be brave

enough to raise your hand just so I can see

you and I can tell you that God loves you,

that your sins are forgiven, You have a place in heaven.

The worst thing you've done in your life has been

forgiven anyone else.

Thank you.

And now the second invitation is for all of us.

If we want more of God's peace, would.

You just pray this simple prayer.

Say, Dear God, I confess I've been worried. I confess

I've been bothered by filling the blank.

Just fill it in, Just tell them what it is.

And now say, God, give me the faith to trust you,

increase my faith and fill me with supernatural peace. And

now let me pray for all of us. Father, God,

you tell us in the scripture that your peace is

a peace that transcends human understanding, It transcends world explanation.

It guards our hearts and our minds.

And so God, we thank you that we have a

peace that is supernatural, a peace that is otherworldly, that

a peace that is greater.

Than our circumstances.

And so God, I prayed for the individual here who

is in a challenge where they're feeling squeezed and pressed

from all sides, that they will have peace. God, for

the one who is fighting in a conflict or in

a disagreement, that they would have peace. God, for the

marriage that is just on the brink. God, would you

bring peace? God, would you do a miracle work where

we need it? God, would you provide. God, we thank

you that we have peace because of Jesus. We thank

you that he finished it on the cross. We thank

you that he paid the ultimate price. And we glorify

you because the tomb is empty and we have an

eternal hope and a permanent peace. So God, as we

leave here to day, may we walk out leaving filled.

With your peace. And I pray this in Jesus's name. Amen.