Palm Sunday Archives - Page 6 of 6

Palm Sunday 2011: A Plot Twist Triumph

Joe Harby on April 17, 2011

Introduction

The triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem is the prelude to His crucifixion, and so it is odd that it has come to be called the triumphal entry. But it actually reveals a good understanding of what was actually happening there. The right hand of the Lord does valiantly (Ps. 118:16), but it turns out to have been the left hand. That it was a left-handed triumph did not keep it from being a triumph. No one thinks that the Greeks lost the Trojan War because the Trojans hauled what they thought to be a trophy of their victory inside the city walls.

The Text

“The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them. Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto GOD the Lord belong the issues from death. But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses” (Psalm 68:17-21).

Summary of the Text

The Bible is filled with many descriptions of triumph. Many of them are of the straight up the middle kind, as here. But when God overcame the rulers of that age, who did not know what He was doing (1 Cor. 2:8), the language of these right-handed triumphs is applied straight across. The psalmist pleads with God to arise and scatter His enemies (v. 1), which the Lord then proceeds to do. The Lord is among myriads of angels, in the holy place (v. 17). He then ascended on high, prefiguring the ascension of the Lord Jesus into Heaven (v. 18; Eph. 4:8). The Ascension looks like a triumph ought to look, but it was prefigured (accurately) by a march of death in faith. God is the God of our salvation, and He daily loads us with benefits (v. 19). The God of our salvation holds all the issues of death in His hand (v. 20). God shall win a complete victory, wounding the head of his enemies (v. 21).

A Most Unusual Triumph

Christ entered the conquered city in triumph before He had conquered it. Usually you have the battle and after that the victory parade. Jesus, the model of all faith, reversed the order. He held a triumphant procession before the battle. This had all been laid out in Scripture beforehand, and Scripture cannot be broken. Jesus knew that, because He saw Scripture rightly. And it did not matter how explicitly He spoke of this plan, spiritual blindness— attached as it is to the wisdom of the world—cannot comprehend it, and cannot overcome it (Jn. 1:5).

But we can understand how it is that they could not understand. Not only did Jesus conduct the victory parade before the victory, but His victory, when He came to it, was accomplished by dying, and not by killing. He crushed the serpent’s head by allowing Himself to be bruised by a crushing blow (Is. 53:5). And so being crushed was actually the crushing blow.

But the lack of spiritual understanding was not because the words were unclear.

“From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day” (Matt. 16:21)

When God Speaks in Code

As Christ entered into His victory, so should we. We are Christians, imitators of Him. What then is your triumphal entry? Have you been demoted, insulted, wronged, or badly handled? Has the Lord of all affliction assigned a portion of that peculiar blessing to you? Do you chafe because Lot pushed ahead of you and chose the choice portion, right next to Sodom? Are you mystified because after Samuel anointed you the next king, all the promotion memos resulted in you hiding from Saul in the wilderness? Why does God persist in thinking that down is the way up?

“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” (Matt. 5:11-12).

This is how God speaks in code; this is how He hides the purloined letter. He says what we would rather not hear, and does so bluntly, overtly, plainly, and with all clarity. If we receive it in faith, the promise is apportioned to us in accordance with our faith. If we say, sorry, we “can’t do that, not after what they did to” us, then the first thing we ought to do is consider the possibility that what they are saying is not false. The promise does not belong to those who reject the terms of it. When we take up our cross to follow Jesus, as He required of us, the process includes exulting in a great victory by faith beforehand.

The Righteous Shall Enter

But Christ is righteous, and we are not. Of course He knows how to do this kind of thing. But how can we approach the “gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter” (Ps. 118:20)? “Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in” (Is. 26:2). How do we enter those gates? Because Christ defeated the devil in this “upside down” fashion, it is possible for sinners to respond to His invitation. Left to our own devices, we would have entered the wrong gate, taken the wrong entry ramp. We would have done the obvious thing. He made it possible for us not to.

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat” (Matt 7:13).

In order to do this right, we have to stop thinking like scholars, and start thinking more like little kids.

“And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 18:3).

“Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Rev. 22:14).

Palm Sunday and the Greeks

Joe Harby on March 28, 2010

Introduction

In the verses immediately prior to our text, we see the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The people received Him gladly in the name of the Lord (vv. 12-13). It is common for preachers to expand on the fickleness of crowds by contrasting this reception with the mob yelling “crucify Him” just a few days later, but we really have no reason for thinking that these were the same people.

Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, fulfilling the word of the prophet (vv. 14-15). The disciples did not understand the import of all this until later, until after Christ’s glorification (v. 16). The word about Lazarus was being spread around (v. 17), and the crowd received Him because of this (v. 18). The Pharisees then said, “Look, this is worthless. The world loves this man” (v. 19). This is how John sets up the episode with the Greeks.

The Text

“And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour” (John 12: 20-26).

Summary of the Text

It is possible that these were Jews of the Dispersion, but in this context, it is much more likely that they were Gentile Greeks. They were there to worship at the feast, which was Passover (v. 20). They came to Philip, who was from (John makes a point of telling us here) the town of Bethsaida in Galilee. Galilee was “of” the Gentiles (Matt. 4:15), and Bethsaida meant “House of Fish.” Jesus had promised Peter that the disciples would be fishers of men, and He was not talking about a cane pole and a quiet trout stream. He was talking about bursting nets and a fishing industry. So these men came to Philip and said they wanted to see Jesus (v. 21). Philip tells his brother Andrew about it, and they both tell Jesus (v. 22). We are not explicitly told whether these Greeks ever met Jesus, but Christ’s cryptic answer tells us what the conditions would have been if they did. This seems to hint at a positive response, however stringent the conditions. The hour was approaching for Christ’s glorification (v. 23), and in this regard He was here talking about the cross (vv. 27-28). A grain of seed that does not die “abideth alone,” but if it goes in the ground and dies, it brings forth much fruit (v. 24). This pattern of “much fruit” is generational. It multiplies because the seed corn that is produced will itself die, and be fruitful as well (v. 25). Christ then closes the loop on the request of the Greeks. They wanted to see Him (v. 21), but Jesus slides right into “serve me” (v. 26). He who would serve must follow (v. 26). Follow where? To death and fruitfulness. For, Jesus says, where I am (in the ground and in the heavens), there also will His servant be (v. 26). If a man does this, the Father will honor him as well (v. 26). As Christ rose, so shall we. If we die as Jesus did, we are glorified in the dying. If we die with Him we will also rise with Him (Rom. 6:5). And if we rise with Him, then we are honored as He was—and this is the place where the fruit is harvested.

“Not Dying” or “Not Rising”

Jesus came into the world to confront the world, and to subvert its entire system. Worldliness and godliness therefore represent two different approaches to the questions about life and living. The world is dedicated to a life that is based on not dying. Given our sinfulness and the curse that God laid on the world, this is a futile and vain endeavor, an impossible standard. This is the core of worldliness—don’t let go, don’t give up, don’t surrender, keep whatever you have in that death grip. And that is just what it is—a death grip. Once matured, this worldliness is the beating heart of Hell.

The core of godliness is this—Jesus came so that we might have life, and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). Who would shy away from abundant life? Well, everyone, just as soon as they discover that this abundant life is on the other side of death. As the old Albert King blues song puts it, “everybody wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die.” As that song also notes, everybody wants to hear the truth, but everybody wants to tell a lie.

Now this is not just worldliness as opposed to godliness on the grand scale—dealing with actual death, for example. It is not just the day before you physically die that the contrast between the two kinds of living is made. Jesus said we were to take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23), which means that these issues are present every day, all day long.

Inexorable Fascination

Once the teaching of Jesus at this point is made clear, it would be easy to believe that throughout the course of human history, we might be able to come up with three Christians tops, if that. But the cross is not the ultimate test that we must pass. It is the ultimate test that the Lord Jesus passed, and because He was glorified in passing it, that glorification draws men inexorably to their fruitful deaths.

“Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die” (John 12:31-32).

We have been contrasting this fruitful death and resurrection with the way of the world. Here it is explicitly. How did Jesus save the world? He did it by judging the world. Now is the judgment of the world, and all its clinging-to-life ways (v. 31). Now the prince of the world was to be cast out—and we are to have a new prince, one who died and rose, not one who clung to everything. And Jesus, lifted up in agony and death, would be glorified, and would draw all men to Him. And this He is in the process of doing, even down to the present hour.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Palm Sunday 2009: To His Own Master

Christ Church on April 5, 2009

Introduction

We have many times addressed how much we need to learn how to define our days in Christian terms. The salvation that Jesus Christ brought to the world was a public salvation. He was crucified in the public square, and His resurrection was not done in secret. Connected to this, we have to recognize that one of the most public aspects of any culture is the calendar they use. The secular state’s attempts to define time in secular terms is simply a desire to seize control of time, within which you may worship your private god . . . on the weekends. We have been resisting this peculiar form of encroachment for many years. But there is another important aspect to all of this. If we wanted to build a Christian library, a good place to start would be with biblical shelves, biblical forms, biblical containers. But we also need to be careful to fill those shelves up with biblical books. We must also be concerned with biblical content for a biblical calendar.

The Text

“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. 18Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. 20Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 21(Touch not; taste not; handle not; 22Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 23Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh” (Col 2:16-23).

Summary of the Text

This is Palm Sunday 2009, and next Lord’s Day is our celebration of Easter. We are finishing the season of Lent, a time of historic preparation for Easter. Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost—these are the bookshelves. What kind of books shall we place there? In our text, note that there is a type of calendar observance concerning which Christians should beware of trouble. There is a type of old calendar observance which ought not to be brought over into the era of Christ (v. 16). The old Judaic calendar was a shadow of Christ, but we now have Christ Himself (v. 17). There is a beguiling attraction to “voluntary humility,” but it is only attractive to those with a puffed up fleshly mind (v. 18). This kind of thing does not hold fast to the Head, and does not grow into the body of Christ as it ought to do (v. 19). If you are dead with Christ to the “rudiments” of the world (v. 20), then why do you submit to decress that say “Don’t, don’t don’t” (v. 21)? These things perish with the using, and are in line with the commandments and ordinances of men (v. 22). And indeed, there is an appearance of wisdomin the aesceticism here, but this kind of thing is of no value in actually checking the indulgence of the flesh (v. 23).

First Things First

If the text says, in the first place, not to let anyone judge you with regard to food or drink, or with regard to holy days, then surely it should be a dubious application for you to begin your application of this text by judging somebody else for their food or drink, or their celebration of a holy day. Surely our application here should be in accordance with the apostle’s instructions—”One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it” (Rom. 14:5-6 ). Paul does not say what particular days were in view here, but surely if it applied to old covenant days that were carried by some over into the time of Christ, it would include observances like Lent. If somebody else observes the calendar differently than you do, then the best thing to do would be to follow the Pauline policy of letting them.

To Your Own Master

So as you and your family mark your days in the light of Christ’s coming, and at this time of year, in the light of His resurrection, what sorts of things should you be concentrating on? When it comes to observances like this, what should you be careful to remember? First, there are two kinds of observances. One remembers Christ and focuses on Him; the other obscures Him. We live after the Incarnation, which certainly allows for commemoration, but ought not to allow for commemorative shadows. Secondly, cling to anything that knits you more tightly to the Head, and not every bright religious idea does that. The discipline that is good for you is discipline that “increaseth with the increase of God.” God is not the one who specializes in taking away, decreasing. Third, discipline is good and necessary, and ascetism is not—which leads to the next point.

No Value

Note this translation of verse 23. “These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (Col 2:23, ESV ). They are of no value in stopping fleshly indulgence because, at bottom, they are fleshly indulgence. There is a very common religious turn of mind that supposes godliness consists of giving things up. As Paul says here, there is an appearance of wisdom in it, and I want to argue it is because there is an element of truth in it. A wise mother says no to a bunch of candy half an hour before dinner—a no that makes way for the yes. God says no to drunkenness because He wants to pour out His Spirit (Eph. 5: 18 ). An athlete in training says no to a number of lawful things so that he may obtain the yes of the trophy. If you havea friend giving things up for Lent, don’t accuse him of doing it the wrong way. Whether he is or not, you are judging him with regard to food and drink the wrong way.

But consider your own case. The counterfeit of godly, balanced discipline lurks nearby, and for conservative Bible believers, it is always right at the elbow, plucking at the sleeve. This is the notion that God is somehow pleased with no in its own right, for its own sake. It is this mentality that has destroyed sabbath keeping in the lives of many. “God says no because . . . because, well, because He just likes to! And He is God, so you have to let Him be like that.” This is a vision of God that lies deep in our bones, and we must learn to mortify it. For those who consider each day alike, God bless you. Keep after it, unto the Lord. Those who want to mark your days and months in terms of the Lord’s coming, His death and resurrection, as we as a congregation have been doing, should lean into it this way. Next year for Lent . . . add something. Read the New Testament. Visit the sick. Give money to famine relief. Memorize three psalms. No doubt you would have to give something up to accomplish such things, but if you did it right, you might not even know what it was.

Penitential Seasons

Christ Church on March 16, 2008

Introduction:
We are nearing the conclusion of the historic season of Lent, the preparation season for the celebration of Easter. This is Palm Sunday, the day in which we mark and celebrate the Lord’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. As we are trying to orient ourselves by and with a Christian year, instead of the secularized civic year, we are certainly taking a step in the right direction. But this does not mean that there are no pitfalls as we move in this direction. We have to remember that the Church has been here before, and we have stumbled before.

The Text:
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD” (Leviticus 23:23-27).

Overview:
In Leviticus 23, the Lord revealed the festivals of Israel to Moses. The weekly sabbath was first (v. 3). The other feasts (Passover/Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Tabernacles) were all celebratory in nature—they were feasts. And in our text, we come to the singular Day of Atonement. On this day, the Israelites were commanded to “afflict their souls.” God required this of Moses (v. 23). The day was set aside as a holy convocation, as a high sabbath, and was marked on a particular day (v. 24). Work was proscribed, as on a regular sabbath, and an offering of fire was required (v. 25). The Lord speaks again (v. 26), and He required the Israelites to afflict their souls (v. 27). There were other times of fasting, obviously, but these appear to have been occasional or individual. In the liturgical calendar of Israel, before the advent of the Messiah, one day out of 365 was set apart for the nation to afflict their souls. The rest of the commemorations were gratitude-soaked and celebratory.

A Weekly Resurrection Day:
In the early Church, celebration of the resurrection was instantaneous. From the very beginning, Christians celebrated and worshipped God on a weekly basis, and they did so moving their observance from the seventh day sabbath of the Jews to the first day of the week, the Lord’s Day. This was done because this was the day on which the Lord rose from the dead. “Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first . . .” (Mark 16:9; cf. Matt. 28:1; Luke 24:1; John 20:19). From the pages of the New Testament down to the present, Christians have been observing the first day of the week as a weekly “Easter.” “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them . . .” (Acts 20: 7). “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come” (1 Cor. 16:2). “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet” (Rev. 1:10).

There are two striking meanings of this new day, this Day that the Lord has made. The first is the obvious meaning, which is that it marks the day of the resurrection. The Lord came back from the dead on the first day of the week (Mk. 16:9), appeared to His disciples on that same day (John 20:19), and then appeared to them again on the following Sunday (John 20:26). But what is the second meaning? This meaning is that God has recreated the heavens and earth. In the old covenant, the seventh-day sabbath was anchored to the old creation in an everlasting way. That seventh-day observance was clearly going to last as long as that created order did. Nothing would suffice to change that day unless it were a change of the created order, unless it were the establishment of a new created order. And this is just what we find. “There remaineth therefore a [sabbath] rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his” (Heb. 4:9-10).

Penitential Seasons?:
Lent began as a period of preparation for Christian baptism—many of the baptisms in the early Church were performed on Easter Day. Over time, as a system of work-righteousness began to establish a deeper hold on the minds and hearts of many professing Christians, the church calendar began to reflect a false understanding of the nature of the gospel. Now we want to return to an explicitly Christian understanding of our days and years, which they certainly had, but we want to do this without making the same mistakes they did.

Traditionally, both Lent and Advent are penitential seasons—not times of overflowing celebrations. This is not something we have sought to cultivate at all, even though we do observe a basic church calendar, made up of what the Reformers called the five evangelical feast days. Our reluctance to adopt the penitential approach to these seasons of the year is not caused by ignorance of the practice. I want to present three arguments here for a rejection of this practice.

First, if we were to adopt this practice, we would be in worse shape than our Old Covenant brethren, who had to afflict their souls only one day out of the year. Why would the time of anticipation of salvation be so liturgically celebratory, while the times of fulfilled salvation be so liturgically glum? Instead of establishing a sense of longing, it will tend to do the reverse.

Second, each penitential season keeps getting interrupted with our weekly Easters. Many who relate exciting movies they have seen to others are careful to avoid “spoilers.” Well, these feasts we have, according to God’s ordinance every seven days, spoil the penitential mood.

And last, what gospel is implicitly preached by the practice of drawing out the process of repentance and forgiveness? It is a false gospel. Now I am not saying that fellow Christians who observe their church year in this way are preaching a false gospel, but I am saying that lex orandi lex credendi—the law of prayer is the law of faith, and over time, this liturgical practice will speak very loudly to our descendants. If we have the opportunity to speak to our descendants, and we do, then I want to tell them that the joy of the Lord is our strength.

Christmas and Easter:
So as we prepare our hearts and minds, along with our families, for the annual celebration of our Lord’s resurrection next Lord’s Day, one other comment should be made. The Incarnation was a glorious event, and we don’t want any diminution of that celebration. But the resurrection of the Lord was what remade the cosmos, and we should strive over time to have our celebration of Easter far surpass the glory of Christmas. We are currently more than a little lopsided—and we shouldn’t try to fix this by reducing what we do at Christmas.