Sermons
HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST
Series: The Glory of ChristHOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST
Pt.10 - “The Glory Of Christ”
Sermon Outline By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / March 29, 2015
Several times in this series we’ve referenced a phenomena that occurs in the gospels called “the Messianic Secret”.
On the surface it may appear a bit perplexing or puzzling: Jesus is telling His disciples to KEEP QUIET about Him.
This “Messianic Secret” phenomena can be seen in Matthew’s gospel (8:3-4; 9:29-31; 12:15-16 & 17:9).
It can also be observed in a more limited way in Luke’s gospel (4:41; 8:56 & 9:21).
After Peter’s confession, “Thou Art The Christ” 4 “Jesus warned them, and instructed them not to tell this to anyone”
¡ In Mark’s gospel this theme is pervasive - - developed most fully.
Mk.1:34 / upon casting out demons 4 He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.
Mk.1:44 / after healing lepers 4 See that you say nothing to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priests
Mk.3:12 / to unclean spirits 4 He earnestly warned them not to make Him known
Mk.5:43 / upon raising Jairus’ daughter 4 He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this
Mk.7:36 / when healing a deaf man 4 He gave them order not to tell anyone
Mk.8:26 / after healing a blind man 4 Do not enter the village
Mk.9:9 / after the transfiguration 4 He gave them (Peter, James & John) not to relate to anyone what they had seen…
until the Son of Man should rise from the dead.
Mt.12:15ff indicates that this was in keeping with the prophecy of Isaiah (Isa.42:2):
“He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the street.”
In others words, His ministry would be not be characterized by great fanfare or ostentation.
The best explanation for this “charge to silence” has two aspects to it.
(1) Jesus needed time to instruct His disciples.
Had Jesus been crucified prematurely they would have been deprived of precious “class time”.
(2) “Jesus forced the disciples to think about ‘the secret’ until they could articulate the secret.
It would all make perfect sense after His death, burial & resurrection. cf. Mk.9:9
In one of Jesus’ parables (Mk.4:26f), He alludes to a small seed that quietly grows to become something substantial.
Wedged in the midst of these parables is Mk.4:22
“For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it should come to light”.
} Read from Lk.19:28-40 |
Jesus’ prayer in Jn.17:1f begins with Jesus saying,
“Father, THE HOUR has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee...”
Jesus has now reached the time when His identity is to become known.
After the transfiguration, Lk9:51 states 4 “He resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem…”
Lk.19:29f records the “triumphal entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem.
Now it is time for the secret to be revealed: Jesus is THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD (vs.38).
THE STORY OF JESUS’ TRIUMPHAL ENTRY
¡ These events took place on what has come to be known as “Palm Sunday” (the Sunday before the Passover/Jn.12:1).
By the way - - today is Palm Sunday.
¡ Vs.29 / Bethany was a small village about 2 miles from Jerusalem on the southwest slopes of Mt Olivet.
Bethpage (of which we know little) was a neighborhood just across the ravine (according to Origen, a third-century writer).
¡ Vs.30 / Jesus sent two of His disciples into the village to find a colt.
These two may have been Peter & John, they were assigned to made arrangements for the Passover. cf. Lk.22:8.
They were to look for “a tied-up colt, on which no one yet has ever sat”
This was a form of identification - - a colt who was still with his mother”
John’s gospel tells of events preceding His triumphal entry.
Evidently Jesus had make prior arrangements - - Vs.31 / “if anyone asks you…tell them ‘the Lord has need of it’.”
¡ Vs.35 / they brought the colt to Jesus, covered it with their garments (for a saddle) and sat Jesus upon it.
Vs.36 / Others spread their garments on the road.
Mt.21:4 indicates that Jesus riding on the donkey was the fulfillment of prophecy (Zech.9:9 in particular).
¡ Vs.37f / As Jesus approached Jerusalem, “the crowd of disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice…
“Blessed is The King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and GLORY in the highest”
Mt.21:9 includes, “Hosanna in the highest”.
Originally, the word, “Hosanna”, was a cry for help - - “God save us!”
As language changed it came to signify “rejoicing and acclamation” - - a shout of praise and honor.
Matthew, Mark & John tell of the people cutting palm branches, waving them and spreading them out before Him.
This was a symbol of rejoicing ordinarily used in the celebration of the feast of tabernacles.
The really important point to notice here is that JESUS IS ENTERING JERUSALEM AS A KING!
? Just as David’s son Solomon rode into Jerusalem on David’s prized mule (1Kgs.1:32-40, in a similar way, Jesus arrives. ?
Only in this case, Jesus is on a borrowed donkey.
¡ Most likely the people were excited with the thought that f-i-n-a-l-l-y Jesus is going to display His power as Messiah.
What they missed was that Jesus was not entering Jerusalem as a WARLORD, but as the PRINCE OF PEACE.
Jesus came as a revolutionary Messiah, but not in the manner the people expected.
Jesus’ goal was not to conquer the infidel Romans, but to make peace with God by atoning for the sins of the people.
¡ Vs.39 notes that not everybody was happy about this turn of events.
Some of the Pharisees demanded that Jesus rebuke His disciples.
¡ Vs.40 shows the GLORY OF JESUS: “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!”
On this momentous occasion, Jesus was telling the Jewish leaders, you are more hard-headed that a rock.
R.C. Sproul notes (The Glory Of Christ/p.126):
“Among the Jewish rabbis there were those who believed that the Messiah would arrive
in one of two ways, depending upon whether or not Israel was worthy of His appearance.
If the nation were worthy, the appearance would be on “clouds of glory”. If the nation was unworthy
- - unprepared spiritually - - then His coming would be by the lowly means of riding on a donkey.”
¡ As we close our study this morning, we want to note the postscript to this story of Jesus’ triumphal entry.
Read from Lk.9:41-44.
¡ It is sad to note that many who were so eager to celebrate Jesus’ exaltation,
were no where to be found when it came to His humiliation - - His “passion” or crucifixion.
The language of praise from this story is taken from a section of the OT Psalms (Ps.113-118) known as “Hallel”.
Hallel is part of “Halleluah” (praise the Lord).
These psalms were sung as the pilgrims entered Jerusalem for the feast of tabernacles and the Passover.
cf. Ps.118:24-25 4 “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
O Lord, do save, we beseech Thee; O Lord, we beseech Thee, do send prosperity!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.”
¡ In retrospect, this “triumphal entry” was a sad day for Jesus.
Vs.41 / “He saw the city and wept over it…”
As we will see in sermons to come, for Jesus there would be NO CROWN without A CROSS.
May it be our earnest prayer, that we would have the strength to follow Jesus’ path to glory.
In Lk.14:27 Jesus states, “whoever does not carry His own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
After our prayer, we will sing together an old song, “Whosoever will may come”.
?
In one sense the gospel of Christ is a grand invitation open for ALL - - it is inclusive.
But on a more sober note, the call of Christ is not an invitation to cheap grace.
In another sense the call of Christ is exclusive - - those who are lacking in full commitment need not apply.
Following Jesus begins in baptism.
It is a death to self. Just as Jesus emptied Himself, so must we.
Following Jesus can only be sustained when we choose to “die daily” in our willingness to imitate Christ.
