Dr John Andrews | 29th March

Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Always

good to be back at Bridge. Thank you. And I love

sharing with you. I love worshipping with you.

And as I've said many, many times, it's home

from home. So thank you once again for the opportunity.

And as has been said, I'm sort of... kicking

off the Easter conversation because traditionally

in the Christian calendar, this is regarded as

Palm Sunday. And so we're going to think about

Palm Sunday as we begin our Easter conversation.

So if you've got a Bible with you and you want

to follow a reading from the Bible, I'm going

to read from John's version, John chapter 12.

John 12 · chapter mention

So if you're new to church, don't worry about

it. If you're brand new, you're just a visitor

and you're here and you haven't got a Bible with

you. It's a really short reading, so it won't

take very long. But if you are a member of this

church or a Jesus follower, I always encourage

you bring your Bibles so that you can engage

with the text, not only with your ears, but with

your eyes as we read together. Now, just before

we start reading, let me just set a little bit

of a scene for you. We're gonna read from John's

version, but all four gospel writers. talk about

the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Now let me

just pause there to say this as a sort of a little

help in terms of how to read the Bible and how

to engage with the Bible. When you come to the

Gospels especially, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,

if they all record the same story, then that

is a big signal to me and you. they are saying

something really heavy about Jesus. There's something

going on in that story they really, really, really,

really want us to get. Because you have each

of the gospel writers brings their own sort of

take on the life of Jesus. They're not all the

same, although there are great similarities.

So they're not just telling the same story four

ways. They're actually bringing dynamic ideas

into the text for us to get a complete picture

of Jesus. So they do their own individual stuff.

Luke will have his own stuff. Matthew has his

own stuff. John has his own stuff as does Mark.

But when they all quote the same story, that's

a big sign. Me and you should go, ooh, something's

going on here that we should pay a little bit

of extra attention to. And they're probably saying

something there about who Jesus is and what Jesus

has come to do. And Palm Sunday is a classic

example of this. So all four gospel writers have

it. So Matthew has it in chapter 21. Mark has

it in his gospel in chapter 11 and Luke has it,

in fact, Anna read from Luke this morning from

Luke chapter 19. And they all say slightly different

Luke 19 · chapter mention

things, but they're leaning in to a big, big

idea. I'm reading from John's version simply

because, and this is the only reason, simply

because I could have picked any one of the four,

I'm only reading from John because John's the

only one who mentions palms. So with the being

palms Sunday, I thought we'll have to have the

palms in the story. So we will touch on that

in just a moment. So here we go, John chapter

John 12 · chapter mention

12, and we'll read from verse 12, and it says

this. The next day, the great crowd that had

come for the feast heard that Jesus was on his

way to Jerusalem. So the feast there is the Passover,

and the day before, Jesus has been anointed.

for burial by a lady called Mary. So that's the

connection for us as we go to verse 13. So the

crowd, they took palm branches and went out to

meet him, shouting, Hosanna, blessed is he who

comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the

King of Israel. Jesus found a young donkey and

set upon it as it is written. And this is a quote

from the Old Testament part of the Bible. Do

not be afraid, O daughter of Zion. See your king

is coming, seated on a donkey's coat." At first

his disciples did not understand all this. Only

after Jesus was glorified did they realize that

these things had been written about him and they

had done these things to him. Now the crowd that

was with him When he called Lazarus from the

tomb, so that's in chapter 11 of John when he

raises Lazarus from the dead, right? So that

crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus

from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued

to spread the word Many people because they had

heard that he had given this miraculous sign.

That's the raising from the dead Went out to

meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another

see this is getting us nowhere Luke how the whole

world has gone after him. Now at one sense this

story has a magnificent simplicity to it. There's

a gorgeous, very simple idea at the heart of

Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. And we have this

gorgeous connection between Jesus being carried

into Jerusalem by this little cult, this little

foal of a donkey. And of course, at one simple

level, we've got this idea that Jesus needed

the donkey to get into Jerusalem. It's a gorgeous,

beautiful little thought. In fact, if you read

the other gospels that we'll be referring to

throughout this morning. They tell us that Jesus

sent his disciples into the city to find this

little cult. And then Jesus told them, when you

go to get it, someone will say, hey, what are

you doing with that little donkey? And they're

to say something like this, the Lord needs it.

Now there's a gorgeous thought there, a beautiful

devotional thought that actually here's the creator

of the universe and he needs a little donkey.

And I love that idea. And there is a beautiful,

beautiful message to us at the heart of Palm

Sunday that actually the God who made the universe

still needed something in order for him to achieve

what he wanted to achieve. And this morning,

this morning he needs you. And he needs me, and

he needs the church. He needs bridge in order

to carry him. Of course, what is the donkey doing?

The donkey is carrying Jesus into the city so

that Jesus can be seen. And although the donkey's

an important character in the story, of course,

the donkey's not the main character. Jesus is.

And of course, that speaks to us powerfully,

that Palm Sunday reminds us that Jesus needs

us, but it's not about us. It's about him. That

the church, the church's big job, the church's

one job really, is to carry Jesus to the world.

If you're a Jesus follower, our big job, wherever

we are, whatever our job, whatever our family,

whatever our background, our big job is to be

like that little donkey and carry Jesus to our

world. And we could sort of leave it there. And

by the end of my sermon, some of you would hope

that I did leave it there and moved on very,

very quickly. And that's a beautiful thought.

And actually that Jesus needs us. But actually

my life is not about me. My life is really ultimately

about carrying him to our world. What a gorgeous

thought that is. And that's a beautiful devotional

reflection. And I would guess there'd be many

churches over this Palm Sunday will be leaning

into those beautiful ideas and we shouldn't ignore

them. So I wanted to sort of say. that by way

of introduction. But having said all of that,

there's a lot of heavy lifting going on in Palm

Sunday entrance. The gospel writers are wanting

to say very significant things to us. about Jesus

and some of those things we've been singing about

this morning in the context of our worship and

in terms of Palm Sunday there are three big ideas

that I want to draw your attention to and if

you're a Jesus follower these ideas are absolutely

crucial. If you're here searching for Jesus or

searching for meaning or searching for life,

then actually, in these three things I'm about

to say to you, there is in fact the essence of

the life that you are looking for. And you can

find that. And these are three massive ideas

that all four gospel writers are leaning into

because they're saying something massive about

Jesus. So three ideas that I wanna bring. Here's

the first idea. I want you to notice the direction

of travel. Now, John's not explicit here, so

that's where we need to go to other gospel writers,

and the other writers help us with this interesting

piece of information, which just looks like a

piece of information to begin with, but it's

really important. It's sort of an incredible

idea hidden in plain sight. Matthew, I'll quote

Matthew on this. Matthew says this, as they approached

Jerusalem, that's Jesus and his disciples, and

they came to a place called Bethphage. on the

Mount of Olives, Jesus sent his two disciples.

So, we're given a little bit of geography here,

and the geography is something like this. That

Jesus is approaching Jerusalem from the east.

And in fact, we're told that he sort of positions

himself around the Mount of Olives while he sends

his disciples in, they go and get everything

ready for him. Then they bring back this little

donkey and then they make the approach. And so

they're approaching from the east, the Mount

of Olives, and then they are entering Jerusalem

through what's called the East Gate. Now, if

I put a map of Jerusalem up for you, the east

gate in the first century world of Jerusalem

was the closest gate you went to if you wanted

to get to the temple. So there's lots of gates

getting you into Jerusalem, first century Jerusalem,

but the east gate, literally from there, you

are virtually on the temple. So it's the fastest

route to get to the temple. Now, the gospel writers

are telling us that Jesus comes from the east,

from Mount Olives. Hold that thought. And when

he enters on Palm Sunday into Jerusalem, he enters

through the East Gate. And I hear all of you

say, so what? All right, so what, John? Yeah,

I know you're a Bible nerd. You love this sort

of stuff. But so what? Well, that bit of detail

is alerting us to something that's happened before.

And Palm Sunday can't be understood without our

ability to go back into what we call the Old

Testament. and pick up big ideas, connect them

to this moment, and bring them back to Jesus

now as he enters Jerusalem. And to understand

the significance of that east side and east gate,

we gotta go back to a prophet called Ezekiel.

Not everybody's favourite prophet, a hard book

to read. You may or may not have encountered

him. You may or may not like him. But Ezekiel

has something significant to say about this particular

moment. In fact, two things. If you read Ezekiel,

in Ezekiel chapter 10 and in chapter 11, Ezekiel

Ezekiel 10 · chapter mention

tells us about a catastrophic moment. And here's

what he warns. He says, because of the wickedness

of the people of Jerusalem, the people of God,

because they persisted in their wickedness, God

says to them that my glory is going to leave.

So in other words, this idea of the presence

of God the glory of God which would traditionally

been rooted in the temple so God's glory or presence

is centered around this temple God is saying

to the people in chapter 10 and 11 I'm going

to leave because of your wickedness because you

will not listen to me because you persist in

doing the things over and over again I tell you

are wrong to do because of that I'm gonna leave

And I'm not only going to leave the temple, I'm

going to leave the city. And Ezekiel tells us

the route that God leaves. He's going to leave

through the east gate and he's going to stop

at the Mount of Olives before he goes further.

So we get this incredible moment. Ezekiel, hundreds

of years before, is saying God's glory will leave.

And in fact, we know it did because that particular

city and that particular area were taken into

exile by the Babylonians, which was a sign that

God's glory had departed. Now, that sounds like

bad news, but Ezekiel doesn't leave there. In

fact, in chapter 43 of Ezekiel, he says something

really encouraging. He says, actually, the glory

that is left one day will return. Alright? So

that's good news. So he's told the people at

one level, because of your wickedness, God's

presence and glory will leave. Now he's telling

them, God will return. And here's what he says,

chapter 43 of Ezekiel, and it says these words.

Listen carefully to the words. Stay with me now.

The glory of the Lord entered the temple through

the gate facing east. Then the Spirit lifted

me up and brought me into the inner court, and

the glory of the Lord filled the temple. So we've

got two things going on in a man, in a book called

Ezekiel, this prophet, he's prophesying two things.

Number one, there's gonna come a moment in history

which happened. where the glory will leave Jerusalem

and the people will be exiled and Ezekiel says

that glory will depart out of the East Gate and

stop at the Mount of Olives before it departs

but then he says one day, one day the Lord will

return and his glory will return and that glory

will be seen by entering through the East Gate

and coming to fill the temple. And listen, ladies

and gentlemen, it's easy to miss when Jesus just

rides into Jerusalem that day through the East

Gate. It's just easy to miss all of this because

it's not obvious. But when we make the connections,

if our eyes are open, if our ears are open, we're

going, hold on a minute, hold on a minute. Jesus

is entering through this East Gate from the Mount

of Olives. And in fact, Matthew, Mark and Luke

tell us the first place he goes after he enters

Jerusalem is the temple. Wow. Now either that's

a super cool coincidence or something's going

on. Now, if we just had that, that might not

be enough. But John's gospel, in his gospel,

John says this, we read from John earlier on,

earlier in the gospel of John, he says this,

the word, speaking of Jesus, became flesh and

made his dwelling among us. And then he says

this, we have seen his glory. the glory of the

one and only Son who came from the Father full

of grace and truth. Now here's what John's doing.

Now watch this. John is describing the incarnation

of the Son of God as the manifestation of the

glory of God. God has returned. God has come

back, as it were. And John makes that really

explicit for us. And later on, John, when speaking

of Jesus, Jesus says these words, speaking of

himself, he said, destroy this temple and in

three days I will rebuild it. Now it's clear

there in John chapter 2 that Jesus is not speaking

John 2 · chapter mention

of a physical temple. In fact, John makes it

clear to us that Jesus is speaking of himself.

So I want you to see two things happening now.

John set this up in his gospel, which he's hoping

that when Jesus enters Jerusalem, me and you

get this. And here's what he's saying. The person

we call Jesus is the glory of God. He is the

manifestation of God's presence and God's glory

among us and not only is he the glory of God

But he is the temple that carries the glory of

God Now you'll see something that Jesus does

when he enters Jerusalem He goes to the temple

Matthew Mark and Luke tell us this and he doesn't

do anything at the temple He just looks around

and then he goes to where every stain and in

the next day He returns with a whip and he chases

the money lenders and the merchants. out of the

temple. Why? Because he declares they have turned

God's house into a den of thieves. And there's

a whole backstory there of the wicked things

they were doing and exploiting and manipulating

people and literally raking money in off the

back of the poor. So Jesus says you've turned

the house of God into a den of thieves and you've

turned the place of prayer for the nations into

a market house. And Jesus clears the temple.

Now again, there's a cracking Old Testament connection

here because before Passover, every Jewish household

was encouraged to go through the house and sweep

it clean. And what are they sweeping it clean

from? They're cleaning it of the leaven, all

the stuff that God wants removed so that there's

no impurity in the house. So that in the house

then, when they celebrate Passover, when they

celebrate the lambs, then for the exodus of the

people, they're doing it in a clean house. Brothers

and sisters, this is unmissable. And here's what

John is saying, that Jesus, when he entered at

his gate, he is the glory of God. He's returned.

Ezekiel's words have now come to pass. And not

only did Jesus return, but he's the temple that

carries the glory of God. And when he stands

in the temple and cleans the temple out, He's

saying, actually, the glory of God has returned,

not to this building, but the glory of God has

returned because I am the temple. I'm the fulfillment

of all of these ideas. And so when Jesus rides

into Jerusalem from the east, that's not a coincidence.

That's not random. That's deliberate. Every action

of Jesus on Palm Sunday is chosen, deliberate

and special. He's sending out a massive signal

and he's saying to anybody who will listen, pay

attention. The glory of the Lord has returned

but it hasn't returned in a way that you expected

and it hasn't returned to the place that you

expect but it has returned through me. I am the

glory of God. Now, in our 21st century world,

we miss that. But be encouraged, let me just

encourage you, the disciples missed it too. They

didn't understand any of that. In fact, John

tells us explicitly, they did not understand

what was going on here. It would be later that

they would connect the dots between Ezekiel and

the East Gate and the glory of God and Jesus

cleaning out the temple. So when Jesus rides

into Jerusalem that day through the East Gate,

this is not random not coincidental this is a

deliberate action of Jesus to say something and

here's what he's saying and here's what he's

saying to the 21st century world I am the glory

of God That actually he is the manifestation

of God's presence and God's glory in our world

Anna encouraged us to be people who would gaze

on the face of the Lord who would be open to

him not just rush through this but recognize

that Jesus is the glory of the Lord And he does

that by entering through the East Gate. Is that

okay with me? Here's the second we thought I

want you to get so hold that thought as we go

to thought number two really quickly I want you

to look not only in the direction of travel,

but I want you to see the donkey on which he

rode. Now this is important for us. It's not

just a piece of information. It's a sign. It's

a signal. And a little thing to notice is that

in all of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and

John, this is the only time, the only recorded

time we have Jesus riding a donkey. Every other

time he walks. So just from a piece of information,

it's a bit of an outlier moment in the life of

Jesus. This is the only time he rides on a donkey.

And when something like that happens in the Bible,

when the Bible breaks a pattern or changes a

pattern, pay attention to the change of the pattern.

It's asking you to look a bit more closely at

the fact that the pattern has changed. So Jesus

is riding this donkey for the very first time.

And we see him do that for the very first time.

And three gorgeous things quickly about the donkey.

Number one, it's a donkey that no one had ever

ridden on. It's a cult of a donkey. It's a foal.

No human backside had ever sat on this donkey.

Jesus is the first, forgive my language, the

first bum to sit on this donkey. It's a sense

in which there's a beautiful idea here that the

donkey becomes a first fruit offering unto God.

This donkey isn't just any old donkey, this is

a donkey that hasn't been ridden by anybody else.

And Jesus becomes the first person to ride on

it. And of course, there's a gorgeous little

nuance there around the fact that he's able to

ride on it without the little cult struggling.

Somehow Jesus can sit on this thing and it just

obeys him and follows him. The second little

nuance in that idea is if you go back to the

Old Testament again, certain animals when they

were sacrificed for the sins of the people that

brought them, they had to be animals that were

unused. So, for example, you'll see this in both

Numbers and Deuteronomy. A heifer, for example,

if it was being offered for sacrifice, it had

to be a heifer that wasn't used in the field.

It didn't have a yoke on it. In other words,

it had never been pressed into service. It was

something that was given, as it were, as a first

fruit. onto the Lord. So there's a lovely little

nudge there that this un -ridden donkey is offering

something new and fresh to the Lord. But the

second thing to see is connected with the kingship

of Jesus. So again, we got to travel back to

the Old Testament. And there are two big ideas.

massively colliding in this moment of Jesus riding

a donkey. The first one is to do with King David.

Now, if you're not sure who that is, he was a

king of Israel way back at the beginning of the

journey. So the second king of Israel, Saul and

then David. And David, when he's about to make

his son Solomon king, he does something very,

very significant. And you can read this in the

book of Kings. I'll read the language to you.

It says this. Take with you the servants of your

Lord and have Solomon my son ride on my mule

and bring him down to Gihon. Now, it sounds like

it's again an irrelevant piece of information

to me and you, but this is important, really

important that David is parading Solomon as the

king, the new king. But how is he doing that?

Solomon is riding on his donkey. So there's a

sense in which David is sending out a signal

before the coronation of Solomon, before Solomon

is officially made the king. Actually, you get

this idea that because he's riding David's donkey,

this is a sign that Solomon is the king. Okay,

are you with me? Now then we connect that idea

to another prophet in the Old Testament. called

Zechariah. In fact, we mentioned Zechariah's

words in John chapter 12. And Zechariah says

John 12 · chapter mention

these words, possibly, possibly doing two things.

Zechariah's possibly riffing off the David story,

going back the way, grabbing that idea, but then

pushing forward prophetically to the future.

And Zechariah says these words, rejoice greatly,

daughter Zion. Shout, daughter Jerusalem, see

your King comes to you righteous and victorious,

or we could translate that, righteous and having

salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a

colt, the fall of a donkey. Now if you want the

reference, that's Zechariah 9 .9. Now, I know

you're looking at me, you're already a bit glazed

over and have probably maybe lost half the congregation,

but this is absolutely crucially important. Jesus

could have walked into Jerusalem. He walked everywhere

else. Jesus technically doesn't need the donkey

to get into Jerusalem, but Jesus gets the donkey

because he wants to say something through the

donkey. The donkey is speaking to the whole of

that crowd if they have ears to hear and eyes

to see. Jesus is picking up on two massive ideas.

Remember who Jesus is? He's the Messiah. What's

another phrase for the Messiah? He is the son

of David. He's the son of David. He's not a son

of David like Solomon was. David had many sons,

but the Messiah will be the son of David, who

will sit on David's throne forever and make that

throne secure and establish that kingdom. So

when Jesus grabs that little donkey, there's

a son of David vibe going on, but he's also unmistakably,

he's grabbing the Zechariah prophecy that says

you're king, Jerusalem. And look who Zechariah

is speaking to, specifically Jerusalem. He's

not speaking to Israel in general, he's speaking

to Zion and Jerusalem in particular. He's saying

one day Jerusalem, keep your eyes open, one day

the king will come to you sitting on the cult

of a donkey. Not on a great big charger, not

with a great big army. not with a great sword

in his hand. He will come, as Zechariah said,

lowly, humbly, riding on a donkey. And brothers

and sisters, this is why this little donkey becomes

so important. It's not just a cute little thing

and a cool little piece of information. It is

a massive sign. Jesus is saying to the crowd,

for anyone who is easy to hear, or eyes to see,

and he's saying to me and you in the 21st century,

this donkey is screaming at us. And the donkey

is saying, Jesus is the king. The king, not a

king. He's the King. He's God's Messiah King.

He's the Son of David who has come into the world

not just to be the King of Jerusalem, not just

to be the King of Israel, but to be the King

of the whole world. And that's what's going on

in Palm Sunday. That actually when Jesus rides

on that little donkey, he is declaring to the

world I am the son of David and I am the fulfillment

of the Zechariah Prophecy. I am the king of the

world Amen Such an important idea for us to understand

So two thoughts I want you to hold as we go to

the third one number one entering through the

East Gate He's declaring the glory of the Lord

has returned. And actually that glory will ultimately,

brothers and sisters, ultimately be seen on the

cross. A complete contradiction. The glory could

be manifest in a naked man hanging on the cross,

executed by the Romans. But the glory has come.

And because that glory has come through the East

Gate, the whole world can experience the glory

of God. Secondly, the donkey that he rides on

screams to his all. The king has come. The king

has returned. The son of David. There will never

be another son of David. He is the son of David,

the final son of David. and he has come to take

his throne not just over one little country in

the Middle East, but he has come to take his

throne over the whole world. And that's what

we celebrate on Palm Sunday. Here's the third

idea, and I'm drawing to a close. You'll be glad

to hear. Here's the third thought. It's the declaration

of the people, so the direction of travel. The

donkey in which he sits and in the declaration

of the people. Anna read this so beautifully

to us. Was that the NLT you were reading from?

Message? Yeah, beautiful. So a very poetic version

of that lovely moment. And when we read the other

Gospels, they really pick up the power of what

Anna read for us. And Matthew puts it like this.

As the people see Jesus, they start to declare

these words. Hosanna to the son. of David blessed

is he who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna

in the highest now again sorry about this but

it's really important they are riffing off the

old testament so they're quoting a psalm psalm

118 a psalm worthy of your devotional reflection

over Easter week a magnificent psalm a psalm

much quoted in the new testament And they are

riffing off Psalm 118. And here's what Psalm

118 says, Lord save us. In the language of Psalm

118, Hoshiana, Lord save us, save us. It goes

on to say this, Lord grant us success. Blessed

is he who comes in the name of the Lord from

the house of the Lord, we bless you. Now, at

the same time that the people are saying that,

they're putting cloaks and they're also putting.

palm leaves or palm branches down and one of

the symbols of the palm branch which was very

powerful in the time of Jesus was a symbol of

liberation a symbol of victory a symbol of the

casting off of oppression and bringing people

to liberty. And this goes all the way back to

a bit of the history in between the Old Testament

and the New Testament. When a group of people

called the Maccabees, they cast off the oppression

of the Greeks and they set the people of God

free and you have a sort of a Jewish kingdom

re -established right in the middle of the Old

Testament and the New Testament bit. Now that

didn't last very long because the Romans came

along and like squashed that like a bug. But

you got this moment where one of the symbols

of the liberation of the Maccabees was that they

used the palm branch. It was like a code. It

was a symbol. When you held that up, it was a

symbol of defiance. It was a symbol of liberation.

It was a symbol of liberty. So when the people

put down the palm branches, they're literally

saying, at a political sense, we are looking

for the son of David to come and rescue us from

the Romans. We're looking for the salvation of

God to set us free from political oppression.

We're looking for a day when the Messiah will

come, not... the emperor in Rome, not Pilate,

not even Herod, but the son of David will come

as the king and savior of the world and he will

set us free. So these people are crying for salvation,

save us, but probably the salvation they're crying

for is more political than spiritual. They're

looking for a revolution. They're looking for

someone to set them free from the Romans. Now

here's the gorgeous irony, of course. Magnificent

theological irony here. The loiter crying out

for salvation, the one they're crying to literally

is the Savior. He is going to save them. He is

going to set them free. And again, we go back

to the Old Testament. I make no apology for this.

It's like an Old Testament study, but Palm Sunday

doesn't make sense without the Old Testament.

We go back to Isaiah. Here's the prophet Isaiah.

Behold, behold, the Lord is proclaimed to the

end of the earth. Say to the daughter of Zion,

there's that reference again. Behold, your salvation

comes. Behold, his reward is with him. and his

recompenses before him. Zechariah picks up the

language exactly of Isaiah and Zechariah says

this, rejoice daughter of Zion, shout aloud daughter

of Jerusalem, behold your King is coming to you

righteous and having salvation is he or he is

salvation. So when Zechariah prophesied the coming

of this king on the donkey, he's not just saying

he's bringing salvation, he's saying he is salvation.

He is the saviour. And that's what Jesus' name

literally means. The Lord saves. And the one

who was named by God, the Lord saves, is now

sitting on a donkey and riding into Jerusalem

and people are singing Lord save us and they've

no idea what they're singing. And they're actually

singing to someone who in the days to come will

save them. But he won't save them with an army.

He won't save them with a sword. He won't save

them because he crushes the Romans under his

feet. He will save them by yielding up his life

and giving himself completely and totally on

the cross. What it looks like on the surface

is he's failed. has crushed another son of Israel

but no no no he hasn't failed in that moment

on the cross and a few days later when he smashed

the grave to smithereens he said I'm not failing

I'm here to save the world I'm going to change

the world. One other gorgeous little twist brothers

and sisters is that the East Gate was the gate

through which the lambs were taken for the slaughter

on Passover. In fact, our general research points

to the idea that most of the sheep and lambs

bred for slaughter were bred in a little place

called Bethlehem. There's a thought. That the

shepherds who came to visit Jesus when he was

a baby were probably raising the sheep and the

lambs. That would be taken to the temple through

the East Gate For slaughter at the Passover my

goodness gracious me What a thought and here's

now Jesus as he enters the East Gate. He's not

a lamb Come on come on people. What is John call

him John says behold Just like Isaiah says behold

Just like Zechariah says behold. What does John

say behold? The lamb of God who takes away the

sin of the world, not by killing the Romans,

but by dying for the Romans. Come on. What a

story, what an amazing idea that is, brothers

and sisters. It is a juxtaposition of our power

structures. We're living in a world today, and

my goodness, we're watching the TV and listening

to the news, and it's just day after day of utter

madness. People playing power games with our

world. And it's the people who've got the most

power are claiming the victory. Well, let me

show you something about Palm Sunday. The saviour

of the world didn't come with a sword, and he

didn't come with an army, but he changed the

world by giving his life and laying himself down.

He's the king and the saviour of the world. And

that's what we trust in, not the power of men.

Goodness gracious me, half of them don't know

what they're doing. But we trust in the king

of the universe. and the saviour of the world.

The book of Revelation calls Jesus the lion of

the tribe of Judah once. Revelation 5 .5 and

yet we've made a whole song list about that.

Once he's called the lion 28 times in the book

of Revelation. Come on, what's he called? The

lamb. The lamb. The lamb. He overcomes. by his

blood. He doesn't overcome by destroying. He

doesn't overcome by squashing and killing. He

overcomes by laying down his life. And that day

when they sang, Hoshiana, Lord, save us, save

us. Little did they know that the man on the

donkey was the lamb of God who would not only

save them and their children and their children's

children, but he would save the whole world.

And we are here today because Jesus became that

lamb and lay down his life for us. Brothers and

sisters, that is our hope. That is our future.

In that we trust. And I know I'm speaking to

people this morning, you go, what is he talking

about? Well, the first century disciples struggled

with it as well. They didn't understand it. They're

seeing Jesus riding from the east didn't get

it. They're seeing Jesus on a little donkey.

They didn't get it They're seeing Jesus entering

the East Gate They don't get it but after his

death and after his resurrection all the dots

started to connect and then they get it and now

20 centuries later me and you Why should we get

that stuff? But the gospel writers are begging

us. They're begging us. Listen, this is not just

a little ride into Jerusalem. This is Jesus declaring,

I'm the glory of God returned. This is Jesus

declaring, I am the king of the world. This is

Jesus declaring, I am the savior of the world.

That's why the devil hates Jesus. That's why

he hates worship, where Jesus is at the center.

That's why he hates preaching, where Jesus is

at the center. That's why he hates people, where

Jesus is at the center. Because he knows, more

than anybody else, that Jesus is the glory of

God. That Jesus is the king of the world. And

that Jesus is the savior of the world. And that's

what we celebrate today. Do you want to come

in the midst of the madness? Where people, mere

men, Mere men think they are keen. Jesus is keen.

And our hope is not in mere men, our hope is

in the Saviour of the world. Brothers and sisters,

don't reduce Palm Sunday down to a wee analogy

about a wee donkey and a moment and a few palm

leaves. This is one of the greatest moments in

the life of Jesus. It's the coronation before

the coronation. He will be crowned as king on

a cross and established as king through an empty

grave. But as he enters into Jerusalem, he declares

to the world, Luke, for those of you with eyes

to see, those of you that have ears to hear,

Luke, I am the glory of God. I am the king of

the world and I I'm your saviour riding on a

donkey. Come on, stand with me. Let me pray for

you. I hope that's made sense to you. I really

do. One level is just a story of a man getting

into Jerusalem. On another level, it's a declaration

of some of the most amazing ideas in the whole

of the Bible. Jesus becomes the substance of

every shadow and he becomes the fulfillment of

every prophetic word as he rides into the city.

As we go back to our world, a world filled with

craziness and madness and utter. As we go back

to our world. We go back with the confidence.

If you're a Jesus follower, the glory of the

Lord lives in you. Because Jesus lives in you.

If you're a Jesus follower, we go back to our

world with the reality, Jesus is King. Whoever

seems to be in charge on planet Earth, Jesus

is King. And we go back with the message to our

friends, family, to a world that is broken, lost,

anxious, and then utter confusion. We go back

to a world that says the Lamb of God gave himself

for the world. And because of that, we are saved.

And so Lord Jesus, we thank you that you are

the glory of God made manifest among us. Lord

Jesus, we thank you that you are the King of

the world. Seated on a throne that will never

diminish or crumble. A throne that will outlast

every throne in the world. A name that is above

every ruler. A name that is above every principality.

A name that is above every government. A name

that is above every person. The King. of the

whole world. But Lord we declare over our families,

we declare over Bolton, we declare over our country,

we declare over the world that Jesus is the saviour

of the world. We say like those pilgrims of old,

even though they may not have fully understand

what they were singing, we pray save us oh Lord.

Save us oh Lord. Save our families oh Lord. Save

our nation, oh Lord. Save our world, oh Lord.

In the midst of the darkness and craziness, we

declare that you are the savior of the world.

And we pray in the name of Jesus that Lord, those

realities will live in us. Your glory, your kingship,

and the fact that you are our salvation. So Lord,

I pray that as we enter into our Easter journey,

may we enter it into it with hope. May we enter

into it with confidence. May we enter into it,

Lord, with passion and enthusiasm as we were

encouraged at the very beginning of this service.

May we burst into song. Because we know that

you are the glory of God. We know you are the

King of the world. And we know and declare today

that you are the Savior of the world. In Jesus'

name. Amen.