As we behold the celebration of what has been called ‘Palm Sunday’ which is the commemoration of what has been known as the ‘triumphal entry’ of Jesus Who was being received as ‘the Messiah’ we learn that Jesus was aware that the things the people thought about it and the reality of what there were really going to do with Jesus were two very different things indeed. Let us make the connection with this fact to our ongoing theme of the year, which is about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ according to Jesus Himself as He stated to His first disciples in John 13:35, which is our annual theme of “Learning to love like Jesus”. “By this shall all men know that you are My disciples if ye have love one to another” Last week’s message: “Love From The Throne Room Leading To The Cross” prepares for today’s topic which we have called: ” Superficial Glory Is Not The End Of The Story”
Old Testament Scripture Reading: Zechariah 9:9 (NASB)
Zec 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
New Testament Scripture Reading: Luke 18:31 – 34 (KJV)
Luk 18:31 Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
Luk 18:32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:
Luk 18:33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
Luk 18:34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
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Transforming Power Statements:
1) The Bible (Old Testament) had foretold with extreme accuracy explicit details about how and what would be done by and to the Messiah as He (Jesus) went about fulfilling it all in the presence of His chosen disciples, who many times did not understand what He was talking about even though they had been told, because it was not what they wanted to hear!
2) It is amazing to understand the sheer necessities of the “Word of God becoming flesh” as a required reality in order for God to fulfill His promises to everyone who believed in His Word, that He would provide an eternal covering for all the sins of believers through the perfect obedience of Messiah on behalf of both man and God!
3) The disciples of Jesus, even though they had been told more than once, could not understand what the reason was for the cross and why they could not accept the superficial glory of the triumphal entry which seemed to be more in line with what they wanted right then rather than a grizzly cross, which God knew must be fulfilled in order for any salvation to ever be made real!