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Palm Sunday and the Prophetic Office

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INTRODUCTION

When the Lord entered Jerusalem in His triumphal entry, He was walking steadily toward a triumph that only He really understood. His followers knew that it was a triumph, certainly, but they did not yet know what kind of triumph it was going to be. The Lord was going to die on a cross, and that is why He set His face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51). And this is why, as Chesterton once observed, the cross can never be defeated. It can never be defeated because it is defeat.

THE TEXT

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23:37–39).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The Lord Jesus enters Jerusalem in triumph, and He is met by an enthusiastic crowd of disciples (Matt. 21:1-17). That entry culminated in the second cleansing of the Temple (vv. 12-17). Jesus had cleansed the Temple once before, at the very beginning of His ministry (John 2:13-17). Remember how in the Old Testament, the priest would inspect a leprous house two times before it was condemned (Lev. 14:39). Remember also that Jerusalem contained three main factions—the disciples of Christ, who knew and loved Him (Matt 21:9), the Jesus mobs who were greatly impressed by Him (Matt. 21:26, 46), and the establishment Jews who hated Him (Matt. 12:14).

After the triumphal entry, Jesus told a few parables (not to mention cursing the fig tree) that indicated the coming cataclysmic judgment on Jerusalem. Not only so, but in chapter 22, He has a series of doctrinal collisions with the Pharisees, Herodians, and Sadducees, again with pending judgment in view. And then in chapter 23, the Lord launches into an extended diatribe against the hypocrisy of the religious establishment, and that chapter concludes with our text. Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often they killed prophets and stoned messengers sent to them! How often Christ wanted to gather the children of that fated city under His wings, but their leaders wouldn’t have it (v. 37). Their house is therefore left to them desolate (v. 38). But the one who comes in the name of the Lord is blessed (v. 39).

THE PROPHETIC VOCATION

We know that Jesus Christ is our prophet, our priest, and our king. Our purpose in this message is to consider His role as a prophet, the supreme prophet. Moses foretold the fact that a prophet like Moses would eventually arise (Dt. 18:15), and Jesus is that prophet. Because He is that prophet, He fulfills the prophetic vocation perfectly.

But what is that vocation? What is a prophet called to do? This is almost entirely neglected in our day, and when we do pay attention to it, we often understand just half of the prophet’s task. We think the prophet is supposed to denounce the sins of the people. But it is not nearly so simple.

We begin with shalom, with peace between God and His people. But tragically, second, the people become faithless, and they do so in two directions. They are faithless toward God in their worship (vertical) and as a result they grow faithless toward one another (horizontal). Then third, God gets angry with them. This happens because He is a jealous husband (vertical), and because He cares for the downtrodden and oppressed (horizontal). At the penultimate fourth stage, God’s righteous anger is poured out on the people. And last, God calms down, and balance is restored.

The prophet’s role is two-fold. When the people start to veer off, he is to warn them about the destructive path they are on. This is the part of the prophetic ministry that we understand. A prophet denounces the sins of the people. But when the people don’t turn away from sin in repentance, and God’s anger is aroused, the prophet’s calling is to turn back to Jehovah and demand that He turn away from His wrath.

The Hebrew word shuv means to turn. It refers to a change in behavior. The people are called to turn (shuv), and then God is called upon to turn (shuv). For those who understand who God is, this is audacity without boundaries. But this is what Abraham does (Gen. 18:22-25). This is what prophets do—Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, this is their calling. This is what Jonah was so reluctant to do. Jonah’s problem, as the book bearing his name reveals, is that he was only taking up the first half of the office. And what does the king of Nineveh say?

“But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn (shuv) from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn (shuv) and relent (nhm), and turn away (shuv) from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?” (Jonah 3:8–9, NKJV).

This is the pattern Moses follows. Look closely at this exchange between God and Moses. God says, “Let me at them . . .” “And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves” (Ex. 32:7). And how does Moses talk back? “And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?” (Ex. 32:11).

We need to remember these things. A prophetic ministry does not just argue with the people about God. There is also the audacious element, the one in which we argue with God about the people.

THE RECKONING AT GETHSEMANE

The prophets of old are all types of the coming one, some very clear types (Jeremiah), and others not so much (Jonah). But all of them establish the pattern and all are types. Jehovah wants a prophet to arise, and come before Him to do this.

“So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Meon behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God” (Eze. 22:30–31, NKJV)

“Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, to turn (shuv) away His wrath, lest He destroy them” (Psalm 106:23, NKJV)

Jesus is the one who turned back perfectly in order to stand in the gap, and in order to stand before His Father. And in doing this, He made the choice that led straight to our salvation.

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Psalm 130: That He May Be Feared

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INTRODUCTION

There is no trouble like homebrewed trouble. Whenever we are learning how to eat our own cooking, how to sleep in the beds we made, or how to get along in the troubled relationships that we troubled, the difficulty is learning how to get our arms completely around our own responsibility. That is, how to do it without despair, or rather without despairing finally and completely.

THE TEXT

“A Song of degrees. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice: Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the Lord: For with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities” (Psalm 130:1-8).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This psalm progresses through four stages. The first is raw desire (vv. 1-2), the second confession(vv. 3-4), the third watchfulness (vv 5-6), and the last expectant hope (vv. 7-8).

The psalmist begins in the depths, and from the following context, it appears to be the result of his own sin (v. 1). He cries out to the Lord from the depths (v. 1). He pleads with the Lord to hear him (v. 2), to be attentive to his voice. He then acknowledges that he is a sinful member of a sinful race. If God (Yah) were to catch at our faults and failings, who could stand before Him (v. 3)? But there is forgiveness with God, so that He might then be feared (v. 4). The third section is the time of waiting. He waits for the Lord, his soul waits (v. 5). He waits on the basis of the word of promise. He looks forward to seeing the Lord the same way a night watchman yearn for the morning (v. 6). The last section is an invitation for all Israel to hope in the Lord (v. 7). The reason for this is that with the Lord there is mercy, and there is abundant redemption (v. 7). This God will redeem Israel from all his iniquities (v. 8).

INIQUITIES MARKED

Just imagine a large bowl by the right side of the throne of God. Imagine further how it would fare with you if every time you sinned—in thought, word, or deed—God dropped a small black stone into the bowl. How would it fare with you?

But for some reason there is a conditional here. The psalmist sets this up with an if. If God were to mark iniquities, who could stand? But doesn’t He mark them? No.

“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30–31, NKJV).

One of God’s attributes is His tender mercy (hesed, v. 7).

This command to repent is a command that is based on the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Notice that in our psalm, the forgiveness is based on something. It is based on redemption. In v. 8, it says He shall “redeem Israel.” And in the previous verse (v. 7), it says that in Him there is plenteous redemption. There is an abundance of this redemption—more than enough for you—but redemption remains a purchase. More on this shortly. Suffice it to say for now that redemption is notthe same thing as saying “let bygones be bygones.”

FORGIVEN FEAR

Before looking more closely at the nature of this redemption, let us first consider the result of it.

Notice that this prayer assumes that the result of this forgiveness is fear (v. 4). “There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” This is curious, because the psalm began with desperate fear, calling out to God from the depths.

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” (1 John 4:18, ESV).

There are two kinds of fear, one ungodly and the result of prior ungodliness. The other kind of fear is clean, enduring forever. It is actually a grace of God. Let us have grace (Heb. 12:28) so that we may worship God acceptably in reverence and godly fear.

Lack of forgiveness drives one kind of crawling fear, a craven fear. Complete forgiveness drives the other kind of fear, the fear of God that is a clean and wholesome grace.

A GLAD FEAR, BUT FEAR

Glad redemption and clean fear go well together.

“But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God” (1 Peter 1:15–21).

We were all of us locked up in the dungeons of sin. If only we could get ourselves out of there, we would have been content to live in a grass hut somewhere. That would have been relief enough. But not only did the redemption of God liberate us from that dungeon, it also purchased for us a heavenly mansion (John 14:2), with Christ Himself the architect.

Peter outlines for us the fact that we should spend our lives in fear precisely because of the greatness of the purchase price. If we were just the devil’s cast-offs, discovered at Hell’s great yard sale, say a box of battered twenty-five cent junkers, and God bought us for a quarter, that would have been nice enough. But think. We have been transferred out of a filthy dungeon and into a palace, and then someone takes you aside and whispers in your ear. And you say, “He paid what??!!” The blood of His Son? The only sane response would be to go weak at the knees in fear. A glad fear, but fear.

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Psalm 129: From the Soil of Our Pain

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INTRODUCTION

One of Scripture’s great themes is the theme of deliverance. God first delivers us from the bondage of our sins, and then after this He delivers us from the spite and hate leveled at us by those who hate the fact that we have been delivered from the bondage of our sins. This is a psalm about that second kind of deliverance.

This is the way of the world. No sooner is the man child of Revelation born but the dragon is after him and his mother both (Rev. 12:13). The history of the world is a history of billions of deaths, but the very first one was a martyr’s death (Luke 11:51; Heb. 11:4).

We will be addressing the subject of persecution, and while I will not be making explicit references to our situation here in Moscow, you are invited to make your own applications for use in your prayers. This does apply for the simple reason that these things always apply.

THE TEXT

“A Song of degrees. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: Yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed upon my back: They made long their furrows. The Lord is righteous: He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked. Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion. Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up: Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; Nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom. Neither do they which go by say, the blessing of the Lord be upon you: We bless you in the name of the Lord” (Psalm 129:1-8).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The psalmist has been afflicted “many a time,” and this has been the case from his youth on (v. 1). This was true of him, and all of Israel was invited to join him in his lament. Many a time they have afflicted me (us), and yet have not prevailed (v. 2). The image of plowing is then used, referring probably to the stripes raised by flogging (v. 3). They made long furrows on his back. But the Lord is righteous and intervened—He cut the traces and cords of the oxen pulling the plows of contempt, the machinery of persecution (v. 4). This is followed by the psalmist’s pious wish that those who hate Zion be confounded and turned around (v. 5). Let them be like grass that grows on rooftops, which withers almost immediately (v. 6). Let them not be enough grass for a mower even to bother with, or a harvester to gather (v. 7). The last verse implies a likely custom of that day—when you walked by a field of abundant grain, you would bless it in the name of the Lord (v. 8). Let that not happen with this brown little rooftop grass.

PAPERCUT PERSECUTION

Now whenever American Christians take note of the first stages of our coming persecution, they are often mocked as being nothing more than pampered whiners. “You think you are persecuted because sitcoms make fun of your kind?” But as Christians, we should stand back from this sort of taunt and let our Lord define what persecution looks like. Scurrilous verbal abuse is most certainly included in what He describes, and it is frequently used as the preliminaries for what is coming next.

“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:11–12).

So we may allow the Lord to define what it means to be persecuted, and we are most certainly lied about. But we must also take care not to apply just one half of the passage. When we are lied about—you racists—make sure to rejoice. Make sure to overflow with exceeding gladness.

THE SOIL OF OUR PAIN

Some might think that the metaphor of a plowed back is an odd one. But although it is striking, there is profound sense in it. When the persecutors do their work, their intention is to grow a crop in the soil of our pain. That is what a man intends when he plows a field, is it not? He purposes a crop. That means they want to grow something for themselves out of the travail of the saints.

But what does God do? He allows them to do what they do, and then, when the time is just right, He cuts the traces, and their oxen run off. This is because He makes them do the work for a crop of His own. And when we look at that crop—full, abundant, rich, golden—we can say over the harvest, “bless you in the name of the Lord.” The devil wants to grow despair in the furrows of your affliction. God intends to grow joy.

IMPRECATORY PRAYERS

Notice that this prayer of imprecation is not a matter of taking up personal vengeance. This prayer of cursing is directed that all those who hate Zion (v. 5). Imprecatory psalms are no justification for road rage, nor to be directed at people who happen to inconvenience you. These psalms are not the pins for scriptural voodoo dolls. No—we stand against those who hate the Lord, and who hate all His people.

Now if it is the good pleasure of the Lord to destroy an enemy by making him into a friend, as He did with the apostle Paul, this is something that the sons and daughters of Zion can readily take as a true and genuine blessing. “But they had heard only, that he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. And they glorified God in me” (Gal. 1:23–24).

But if “victory through conversion” is not the will of our God, then we still continue to ask Him to undertake on our behalf. Spurgeon put it this way: “Study a chapter from the Book of Martyrs, and see if you do not feel inclined to read an imprecatory psalm over Bishop Bonner and Bloody Mary. It may be that some wretched nineteenth century sentimentalist will blame you: if so, read another over him.”

CHRIST IS THE ULTIMATE PERSECUTED ONE

The Lord was flogged, and by His stripes we are healed (Is. 53:5; 1 Pet. 2:24). His suffering is ours. But we also learn in Scripture than our suffering is His. “And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 9:4). What is done to the “least of these” is reckoned as done to Christ (Matt. 25:40-45).

Your union with Christ is a precious gift—don’t abuse it by misunderstanding it by misunderstanding the source of your troubles (1 Pet. 4:15). But your identity as a Christian gives you the source of true glory. “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf” (1 Peter 4:16). This is because Christ is in all of it.

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Psalm 128: Deuteronomic Blessing

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INTRODUCTION

One of the features of the modern evangelical world is that we hear conflicting voices. On the one hand we hear those calling for radical discipleship and renunciation. On the other we hear the clamor of those selling what has come to be called the “health and wealth” gospel. It should not surprise us to discover that the Scriptures actually teach us both. And the only way such contraries can be made to agree and walk together is if the Holy Spirit of God is at work.

THE TEXT

“A Song of degrees. Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; That walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine By the sides of thine house: Thy children like olive plants Round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: And thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem All the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, And peace upon Israel” (Psalm 128: 1-6).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

To fear the Lord is to walk in His ways, and when a man does this, God promises a blessing (v. 1). That man shall be blessed in the fact that he will be able to feed himself and his family (v. 2). It shall be well with him. His wife will be a fruitful vine growing around his house (v. 3). Changing the image, his children will be like olive shoots growing up around his table (v. 3). This is the blessing that comes to the man who fears the Lord (v. 4), and this is the second time the fear of the Lord is mentioned. The blessing of the Lord will proceed out of Zion, and such a man will see the good of Jerusalem for all the days of his life (v. 5). He will see the peace of Israel; he will see his children’s children and the blessing upon it (v. 6).

And at this point, let me change back to the orientation of the psalm, which speaks in the second person—you shall be blessed in this way. The third person is fine for instructional purposes, but we want to move past mere instruction. We want to taste the actual blessing.

THE MEANING OF OLIVES

The symbolism of the olive tree is varied, and in this psalm we see a mixture of three of the main images. It represents wealth, it represents righteousness, and it represents Israel. First wealth:

“And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full” (Deut. 6:11; 8:8).

Then blessed righteousness:

“But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever” (Psalm 52:8).

“His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.” (Hosea 14:6)

And then Paul describes nation of Israel as a cultivated olive tree, over against the wild olives of the Gentiles.

“And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree” (Rom. 11:17-24).

Put all these together, and we have Israel, called to covenant, which means she was called to covenantal faithfulness, and to such faithfulness God annexes His promises of prosperity.

THE FEAR OF THE LORD

The precondition for this kind of blessing is the fear of the Lord, emphasized twice in this brief psalm. This is not a craven fear, the kind having to do with fear of punishment (1 John 4:18). It is not the kind of fear that crawls. The Scriptures describe this kind of fear as a grace, as a gift.

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28–29).

But although it is not craven, neither is it casual and breezy. The fear of the Lord does tremble in His presence. “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:11).

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12–13).

But remember that Philippians is the book that exhorts us to constant joy. Therefore, rejoice with fear and trembling. Your Savior is God Almighty.

HOW DEUTERONOMIC BLESSING WORKS

Remember that this is not a vending machine. God is personal in all His dealings with us, which is necessary, as He is the ultimate Person. Remember what you were reminded of recently—there are times when faithful believers miss the hors d’oeuvres, but not one of them misses the banquet. And remember the divide we see in Hebrews 11:32-38.

“Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee . . . Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things” (Deut. 28:45–48).

CHRIST IS THE BLESSED ONE

Our elder brothers, the Israelites, did enjoy various periods of this kind of peace and prosperity. But their tendency was to oscillate in and out of it. This was because of a sinful pattern that would occur over and over again. God would bless them. They would become complacent, and veer off into idolatry. Affliction would arise as a result, and they would cry out to God. He would deliver them, and after waiting for what they thought was a suitable period, they would become complacent and idolatrous again.

Now Christ did not come to erase all these promises. Rather He came to fulfill all the conditions, and inherit all the promises. And because He has done this great thing, and you have been made an heir of all the promises in Him,

“For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Cor. 1:20).

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