Palm Sunday 2025

Music.

We hope you'll be encouraged to live your best life for the Savior.

And now, here's Pastor Jeff.

In 61 BC, the streets of Rome were packed with people straining to get a glimpse of Pompey the Great.

He was returning from a series of military victories, and today was his triumph,

the highest honor a Roman general could receive.

Pompey rode in a magnificent chariot. It was pulled by white horses and they

had musicians out front and they had exotic animals and wagons full of treasures

from the lands that he had conquered.

Behind him were bound prisoners that he had taken in wars from villages and towns.

There were kings and nobles tied up that were paraded behind him like trophies.

And the crowds there applauded and they hailed him and welcomed this conqueror

with pomp and power and pride.

Can you imagine the scene? Now imagine a very different scene.

On a dusty road outside of Jerusalem, another man approaches the city.

There's no army. There's no chariots, no white horses, no prisoners.

Instead of riding a war horse, he rode a borrowed donkey.

His followers, they weren't soldiers. They were fishermen and villagers and

people who had been healed and taught by him and touched by his life.

And the crowd, instead of throwing gold or shouting war cries,

they laid down palm branches and they threw down their old coats and blankets

for him and they cried out, Hosanna.

Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Quite a different entry than Pompeo, right?

This was Jesus's triumphal entry.

As he ushered in the kingdom of God.

This entry didn't display any domination or pride.

It showed humility and grace and happened because of compassion and love for his people.

When you read scripture, you'll find that the triumphal entry of Jesus into

Jerusalem is one of the stories that is in each of the four gospels.

Matthew's account emphasizes the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and Jesus

being hailed as the son of David.

Mark's account is more concise and shorter, and he focuses on the events surrounding

the preparation that took place for the triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

Dr. Luke emphasizes the heart of Jesus as he's seen weeping,

pouring out his emotion and heart for the people of Jerusalem.

Luke writes and he describes Jesus' deep compassion.

And he also foretells, unlike Matthew, Mark, and John, he foretells the city's

forthcoming destruction.

In the gospel of John, there's a focus on the crowd's reaction.

It's really interesting how each gospel gives a different but significant understanding

of what the disciples saw.

And I don't think they understood the significance of this week until after Jesus' resurrection.

Each account provides different perspectives, but together they present this

complete picture of Jesus courageously entering Jerusalem as the promised Messiah

that they had long awaited for, that the prophets foretold.

If you have your Bible, I want you to turn to Matthew 21 this morning,

and we'll be reading verses 1 through 11.

But before we do that, I want to pick up the story in Matthew 20,

Matthew 20:17

verses 17, 18, and 19. And I want to go back there for this reason.

You see, Jesus had already predicted his death to the disciples on two separate occasions.

But here in chapter 20, Jesus begins to reveal the plan, and he tells the disciples

how everything is about to unfold as he begins the final stages of his journey to the cross.

This is go time for Jesus and the disciples.

We've been talking about it. We've heard about it. But now this whole plan of

salvation is being unfolded in front of them.

Here's what Matthew says in verse 17.

Excuse me. While going up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the 12 disciples aside privately

and said to them on the way, see, we're going up to Jerusalem.

The son of man, and he's referring to himself, will be handed over to the chief

priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death.

They will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged, and crucified.

And on the third day, he will be raised.

And so Jesus has gathered his disciples and he's pulled them aside and the plan

of redemption that's been underway since eternity past is now being unfolded.

And Jesus is preparing to enter his final week of earthly ministry.

He'll be handed over to the chief priest. He'll be condemned to death this week.

He'll be handed over to the Romans to be mocked and beaten and crucified.

But he also gives them that glimpse of hope that on the third day,

Jesus will rise again from the dead.

It's real. They'd predicted it, but now it's unfolding. It's becoming real.

One of the things I love about the final verses of Matthew 20,

right before the triumphal entry, is that the heartbeat of Jesus and the heartbeat

of the mission didn't change one bit, even as Jesus headed towards his final days.

In the last verse of Matthew 20, we see a phrase that we looked at last week,

if you were with us together, that said Jesus was moved with compassion.

He looked at his people and they were lost and he was moved with compassion

for the lostness of the people.

Listen to me. It's always been and it will always be the driving motivation

of the mission of God, his love for his created sons and daughters.

He was moved with compassion. Aren't you glad he was moved for compassion?

Man, I am. If you hear one thing today, please hear this, that God loves you so much.

And although he may seem silent at times, he is with you.

Not only is he with you, but he is working behind the scenes of your life in

ways that you and I, we don't understand.

But he loves you and he's working everything out for your best interest.

And for what will maximize your life, but also maximize the glory that he receives from your life.

The glory of God displayed in you and I. He was motivated by compassion.

So let's jump into this triumphal, famous passage, Matthew 21, verses 1 through 11.

Matthew 21:1–11

It says this, When they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at the Mount

of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples, telling them, Go into the village ahead of you.

At once you will find a donkey tied there with a colt.

Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you,

say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them at once.

This took place, very important verse, this took place so that what was spoken

through the prophets might be fulfilled.

Tell daughter Zion, see your king is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey and on a colt.

On donkey and the colt. Then they laid their clothes on them, and he sat on them.

A very large crowd spread their clothes on the road. Others were cutting branches

from the trees and spreading them on the road.

Then the crowds who went ahead of him and those who 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 he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was

in uproar saying, Who is this?

The crowds were saying, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.

So our story begins with Jesus approaching Jerusalem.

But before they arrived, Jesus and the disciples, they had left Bethany,

and they are now to this little city, this little village called Bethphage.

Bethphage, go ahead and put that slide up. Bethphage was a small village located

on the Mount of Olives just east of Jerusalem. It was situated very close to Bethany.

The Mount of Olives overlooked Jerusalem from the east,

and the road from Bethphage to Jerusalem would take Jesus and his disciples

down that western slope to the Mount of Olives, then across the Kidron Valley

and into the city through one of the eastern gates,

likely called the Golden Gate.

It's interesting that as I studied this route that Jesus took and his disciples

took, all of these places have incredible significance and play different roles

in the biblical timeline of Jesus's ministry.

Jesus often taught his disciples there on the Mount of Olives.

You may even find a chapter titled in your Bible, in Matthew 24 or 25,

it might say above it, The Olivet Discourse.

That was a sermon that Jesus taught on the Mount of Olives.

Jesus prayed and is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, also at the base of the Mount of Olives.

According to Acts 1, 10-12, Jesus ascended and went back to heaven from the Mount of Olives.

And one day soon, according to Zechariah 14, he will return and his feet will

touch down at the Mount of Olives.

And scripture actually says this, and the mount will be split in half from east to west.

Talk about an entrance. When Jesus comes back, a mountain is going to split. That's incredible.

Another thing that I found interesting was that Jesus rode across this Kidron

Valley that runs north and south.

Now, if you study the Kidron Valley, you'll know that there was a significance in the books of kings,

that the righteous kings would take the idols that were offered up to false

gods and they would throw them in the Kidron Valley to be destroyed. Right?

There's a significance and meaning that the Kidron Valley carries of spiritual

purification and turning away from sins.

It's a really interesting study. 1 Kings 15, 2 Kings 23, and 2 Chronicles 29, 16.

And here, Jesus rides through the Kidron Valley, and he is bringing spiritual

purification for those who will confess him as Lord and who will turn away from their sin.

It's the same way today.

Jesus came and he wants us to be spiritually purified and turn away from our sin.

This morning, I simply want to pull some characteristics that I saw in this

passage and here in Matthew 21, and then I want to apply it to our lives,

how it can affect us in our daily living in 2025, right? Is that okay with you?

Good, because I have the mic. but see knowledge, knowledge is great.

Knowledge is important, but it's not as important as the application of truth

being applied to our daily lives.

And so instead of diving incredibly deep in this, I want to pull out just some

practical things, three things that I saw that are applicable to our lives.

And the first one is this.

Jesus is gentle.

He's gentle.

Jesus did not come into Jerusalem trying to take it by force.

He came as the king, but he came bringing peace to those who would accept him.

And not everyone did then, and not everyone does now.

Listen to what he said in Matthew 11. He said, come to me, all of you who are

weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

He said, take up my yoke and learn from me because I am lowly and humble in

heart. That's the word gentle.

I am humble in heart, gentle, and you will find rest for your souls.

And then he says, my yoke, my yoke is easy.

And my burden is light. The burden that we put on ourselves because of the world, it's heavy.

When we try to live and attain, it's heavy.

But when we do things God's way, it's freeing. And it sets us free to live for him.

And there is a lightness in living with and doing life with our burden bearer.

And so Jesus' invitation to us today is to come.

Are you weary? Are you burdened? Are you tired?

What does Jesus promise if you come? He says, I will give you rest.

I know your stories.

We're family. I know some of you are exhausted. I know some of you are tired.

I know some of you are weary.

Maybe you're angry. His invitation is to come.

Listen, it is through surrender that we find rest for our souls.

As we surrender, that's when we find rest for our souls. What are you struggling with today?

Is it worry? Is it anxiety or depression?

Maybe you're struggling with loneliness or friendships. Maybe it's an addiction

you're struggling with and you work hard to hide it.

Maybe it's a lack of self-worth because you see yourself differently than the way Jesus sees you.

I don't know what is weighing you down today,

but Jesus came to us gently and he offers us rest so that when we surrender

and allow him to carry our burdens, we will find it.

His word is true.

His burden is light.

When we come to Jesus, he isn't going to crush you with a list of things that

you have to do in order to please him or to be good enough. It's actually quite the opposite.

When we come to him, he releases us from our desire to perform and our desire

to be good enough because scripture says we will never be good enough.

It's not about being good enough. He came and he is enough and he will not break

you. He will not throw on you this list of do's and don'ts.

Look what Isaiah 42 said. I love this verse.

He said, this is my servant. I strengthen him. This is my chosen one. I delight in him.

I have put my spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations.

He will not cry out or shout or make his voice heard in the streets.

He will not break a bruised reed.

He will not put out a smoldering wick. He will faithfully bring justice.

Jesus comes to us in gentleness. He didn't come into Jerusalem that day,

shouting and forcing people to bow down to him.

Jesus never forces anyone to follow him. He simply invites them freely.

It's a choice. He will not force anyone to follow him.

Maybe you're like the life Isaiah described, bruised.

Maybe you find yourself bruised today or battered today. Maybe you find yourself

incredibly fragile today.

Isaiah describes a candle with a wick that's barely lit and it could go out at any moment.

And Jesus says, he's not gonna break a weed or read, or he's not gonna put out

or quench, put out that flame.

And I love that Isaiah adds this phrase to the end of verse three.

He said, he will faithfully bring justice.

Don't a lot of us on a daily base, don't we go through injustices?

We go through injustices all the time, whether through the government or through

family or coworkers or workplaces, even some by churches.

And we find ourselves hurt and we find ourselves angry and we find ourselves alone.

And there's been wrongs and sins that have been done to us and to you.

And we have this desire, this innate desire in us for those wrongs to be righted.

We want someone to go to bat for us, don't we? We want someone to plead our case. Guess what?

God's word teaches us that Jesus brings justice to those who come to him. It may not be today.

It may not even be tomorrow. It may not even come in this lifetime,

but every wrong that's ever been done against you will be made right by the triumphal king.

We don't have to spend or waste our energy trying to get back at people that

have hurt us or who have wronged us or have hurt our kids or have done whatever.

God will take care of it. He will bring judgment. He will bring justice to your situation.

I want to give you one more verse that emphasizes this point,

that Jesus is gentle, and it's from Revelation 3.

He said, see, and this is John, see, I stand at the door and knock.

He's writing about what Jesus is saying.

I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,

I will come into him and eat with him and he with me. What does this mean?

How many of you have seen this picture before? Let me see your hands.

A lot of us, a lot of us. Maybe we've seen it at a church or someone's house.

I actually, I could be wrong about this, but I think my grandma and grandpa

may have had this painting or picture in their home.

It's a pretty famous picture and it's based on this verse here in Revelation.

It shows Jesus outside the door of our hearts and of our lives.

And he's there and he's knocking at the door.

And you can't see it great in this, but there's no doorknob on the outside. It's on the inside.

As I was nerding out over this picture this week, I found out that this painting

is not the original painting depicted Jesus knocking at the hearts the door.

Here's the original painting that was painted in 1851 by William Holman Hunt.

Now, Jesus has a, it's more Catholic looking.

It's definitely old. But one of the things that I love about this picture is

that it shows that it's overgrown.

That door, the heart's door is overgrown.

It's not, it's, you can tell it's not been opened.

And it represents a life that has shut out and not been opened yet to the things of God.

And there's something very important to notice, which I just mentioned briefly.

Only you or only I can open the door of our heart to Jesus Christ.

He doesn't force it open. He's not going to come to your heart's door and kick

it down or open it. He comes to us gently and he just asks if he can be part

of your life because he wants to do life with you.

Jesus is gentle, number one. Number two, Jesus is sovereign.

Let me tell you what that phrase means.

The sovereignty of God means that God has supreme authority,

supreme power, and control over all things.

All things. Well, what about this? All things. What about this? All things.

God is in control of every single thing, everything.

One of the clearest and most obvious signs of God's sovereignty is Jesus's fulfillment of prophecy.

Specifically here in the triumphal entry, we see the prophet Zechariah,

where he foretold that the Messiah would enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey.

Altogether in the New Testament, we see approximately 300 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled.

I've mentioned this before, but it's worth saying again.

The probability that Jesus would have fulfilled even eight prophecies of Scripture

would be only one in 10 to the 17th power.

That's one in—and I'm not even going to try to say it—that's a lot.

I mean, that's, it's unbelievable.

And that is the, that's for eight. Eight prophecies fulfilled.

Not only do we see his sovereignty in the fulfillment of prophecy,

but we also see it in his divine control over every detail in the passage.

Jesus gave specific instructions and details to his disciples about where to

find the donkey and the colt and what to say if they were questioned.

Every single detail happened exactly as Jesus said it would.

What does that mean for us? It means that God is in control over everything

in our lives, every detail.

The Bible teaches us that nothing happens outside of his knowledge,

his will, or his permission.

That he's the ultimate ruler and his purposes will always prevail,

even when we don't understand and we don't understand why.

Isn't that one of the hardest parts of the Christian life? not understanding

why this happened or why that happened or why God would allow bad things to happen to good people?

Why hunger? Why starvation? Why poverty? Why cancer?

Why sicknesses? And we walk through this journey of life and we hurt and we

experience pain and we struggle with relationships and finances and we ask ourselves, is it worth it all?

How could God possibly be in control of this situation that I'm walking through right now?

And we tell ourselves lies that say things are out of control because bad things are happening.

But let me remind you what happened during the week that we are starting to

celebrate. I think one of the biggest things Jesus dealt with during this week

was the burden of knowledge.

Can you imagine knowing everything that's going to happen to you in this time period and this week?

Every betrayal, every blow, every nail, and yet he willingly went through everything

so you and I could be saved.

Listen to some of the things that he went through. I just made a list.

Go ahead and put that up there.

Did I put it in there? Okay. Well, let me give it to you. Here's what happened in this coming week.

He wept over Jerusalem. He was lonely.

He was mocked as a false king. He was rejected by the so-called righteous leaders.

He was betrayed by Judas.

One of his own disciples sold him for 30 silver coins.

He was abandoned by his disciples as they fled in fear when he was arrested in the garden.

Peter, one of his closest friends, denied him three times.

He experienced incredible agony and sorrow to the point of sweating blood while

pleading with his father to see if there's any other way to accomplish salvation

apart from the cross, which he knew was coming.

He would be arrested. He would be bound. He would be treated as a criminal.

He would experience false accusations and lies about him.

Ever had that happen to you? He

endured lies and false testimonies at his trial, yet he remained silent.

He was struck, spat on, blindfolded, mocked by soldiers.

He was brutally whipped to the point that scripture says he was not even recognized as being human.

He faced public humiliation and was stripped naked in front of people.

He was shamed and displayed as a criminal.

He'd have thorns crushed down into his head. Not just little rose.

We're talking huge thorns hit with a rod that went deep into his skull.

He would experience being cut off from the father for the only time in eternity. The only time.

He would bear wrath and judgment for the entire sin of the world,

paying the price for our sins.

Nails would be driven through nerve centers, causing unimaginable shooting pain,

and he would experience hours of torment on the cross.

Crucifixion was designed to prolong suffering, usually lasting days.

He hung there for six hours on the cross, and he did it for you and he did it for me.

He's working all things together for good for those who love him.

Thirdly, the last thing I want you to remember is that Jesus is Lord.

Matthew 21 says, Then the crowds who went ahead of him and those who followed

shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David!

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

Hosanna in the highest heaven!

Each phrase in this verse is steeped in Jewish messianic expectation and scriptural significance.

The term Hosanna is an expression of praise and it's derived from a Hebrew expression

that means save now or save please.

The title son of david is a

messianic term that acknowledged jesus's cultural a

rightful claim to the throne of israel as a descendant of king david which also

was a prophecy and by their shouts they're recognizing that jesus is the long-awaited

messiah that they've heard about that they've been taught about for hundreds

and hundreds and hundreds of years,

generations were believing he would one day be there and here he is,

They thought he'd come in.

Powerful. But he came in gentle.

Completely sovereign.

They awaited the Messiah and they were asking him to save them.

Then they cried out, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

This phrase comes from Psalm 118, verse 26.

Psalms 118:26

As by singing this psalm, they were acknowledging Jesus' divine mission and his divine authority.

The people acknowledged that they truly believed Jesus had come as God's appointed

servant and representative, fulfilling the divine will of the Father.

And this morning on Palm Sunday 2025, I simply want to remind you that Jesus is gentle.

That he loves you and he's moved with compassion for everything that you're going through.

He's sovereign and he so desperately wants to have a relationship with you.

And for you to open up your heart's door to him so he can come in and so that he can make you new.

And here's what that looks like. We repent from our sins and we make him Lord of our lives.

Jesus wasn't and isn't just a good teacher.

He isn't just a prophet. he isn't just a good guy,

he's God's only son sent

from heaven from the Father to take your place and to take my place on the cross

to pay a debt we owed for our sin that only the perfect and sinless son of God could pay,

Most of us in here, I know you. I know you have a relationship with the Lord

and you've let him in that door.

But I just want to challenge you in two other areas.

First, in complete surrender. Are you completely surrendered to his will?

Are you surrendered? Only you know what that means.

But I want to challenge you to surrender every area of your life to confess

your sin to him and to change, to walk, to turn from sin.

Then secondly, I want to remind you because I know I know this flock.

Trust him. Trust him.

In whatever you're facing, whatever you're going through, whatever hard stage

you're walking through, the king is in the room and he's with you. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for sending Jesus to die for us.

How we love you, how we need you, how we desire to turn from our sin and to

walk in righteousness with you.

Would you convict our hearts? Would you help us to do that today and every day of our lives?

And then secondly, Father, would you help us to trust you?

Why do we worry? Why do we fret? Why do we get worked up over situations that we have no control of?

Let us determine in our hearts to trust you because we know you're with us on this journey.

Thank you so much. And we celebrate like they did.

We say, Hosanna, save us, save us now. Make us more like you.

Thank you for your presence in your name. Amen.

You've been listening to the Generations Church Podcast. If you'd like more

information about Generations Church,

feel free to get in touch with us at info at generationchurch.us or head over

to our website www.generationchurch.us.

Thanks for listening.