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Sermon
by Dr. Jeffrey Jeremiah “Dawn
of a New Era”
In
our lifetime there have been a number of events that have brought an
end to an old way of thinking and living and began a new era. For example, on July 16, 1945: the nuclear age began with the
detonation of the first atomic bomb in the desert of New Mexico.
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court, in Brown vs. the Board of
Education, ushered in the age of desegregation in our public
schools. I think you
can argue that the age of personal computers began the day Paul
Allen and Bill Gates founded Microsoft on April 4, 1975.
And of course, there’s September 11, 2001, when Islamic
terror came to our country and with it all the changes that have
taken place in our lives, especially when we travel by airplane.
Each of these events ended an old way of doing things and
ushered in a new era. On
Palm Sunday, nearly 2000 years ago, Jesus entered Jerusalem
declaring a new beginning. He
declared Himself the king ushering in a new kingdom, a new order of
truth, a new order of reality in human history. That event did not produce a new era in terms of technology,
education, or the military. However,
with His kingdom life would never be the same, because He began a
new order in the realm of the spirit.
In Jesus’ kingdom, we will think differently, we will live
differently. Please
note that Jesus arranged what happened.
What happened this day was not a spontaneous, unplanned
outburst of excitement on the part of the people, in which Jesus
gets caught up. No, it
was all carefully planned by Jesus, as He deliberately made a very
public and open statement about Himself.
There were two ways that Jesus declared He is the king
ushering in a new kingdom. Both
of them are Jewish. Jesus
was a Jew, and He was fulfilling promises God made to the Jews about
the coming king. You may say, “That’s nice for the Jews, but what does it
have to do with me, a non-Jew, 2000 years later?”
We’ll see that these promises Jesus fulfilled are bigger
than the Jews and their religion.
Jesus presents Himself as the king of the Jews, but also as
the king whose reign and rule is universal; it extends to everyone,
to you and to me. First, Jesus
declared He was beginning a new era by riding into Jerusalem on a
donkey. He did this to
fulfill a promise God had made through His prophet Zechariah 520
years before. Matthew tells us of this prophecy in verses four and five:
“This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
‘Say to the daughter of Zion’ [that is, the people of
Jerusalem], ‘See, your king is coming to you, gentle and riding on
a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
To us, a donkey has no significance.
It’s a farm animal, a beast of burden not nearly as
glamorous as a horse. But
to the Jews, the donkey had tremendous significance, because it was
the way their leaders traveled.
When King David appointed his son Solomon to be his
successor, he had his son taken out to be anointed on his personal
mule. By riding into
Jerusalem on a donkey, Jesus very deliberately presented Himself as
the king of the Jews. But in doing this He was saying, “I come to
you gently, humbly and peacefully.
I’m not coming on a war horse, I’m not coming with a
sword in my hand to capture my city.
I am not coming to conquer you, but to convict you.
I am not coming to slay you, but to save you.
Today is the day of salvation.”
The reason I say this is that the whole of Zechariah 9:9
says, “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
On Palm Sunday, Jesus was presenting to His people the one
thing they needed—the way to get right with God, the way to be
saved and accepted and welcomed into God’s kingdom of peace and
hope and meaning and joy. You
might think, the day of salvation may be here for the Jews, but
where’s the universal application?
Let’s look at the rest of the Zechariah passage King Jesus
fulfilled that day. Verse 10 of Zechariah 9 says, “He will proclaim peace to
the nations. His rule
will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the
earth.” Jesus’ kingship is certainly Jewish, but it’s universal,
too. It applies; it has
impact on everyone. Second, Jesus
declared a new era was beginning when He cleansed the Temple. Verse 12 says, “Jesus entered the temple area and drove out
all who were buying and selling there.
He overturned the tables and the money changers and the
benches of those selling doves.”
To explain His violent action, He quoted Isaiah 56:7: “It
is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer, but you
are making it a robber’s den.’” Jesus’ words jump out at us here for at least two reasons.
One is that Isaiah 56 is talking about the coming kingdom of
God. By quoting this
verse, Jesus was saying, “I am the king of this promised kingdom.”
The other significant point is that again, this coming
kingdom is not exclusively Jewish, it’s for everyone.
Listen to Isaiah 56:6-8: “And foreigners who bind
themselves to the Lord to serve Him, to love the name of the Lord
and to worship Him…these I will bring to my holy mountain and give
them joy in my house of prayer…For my house will be called a house
of prayer for all nations.” When
Jesus chooses a prophetic word to interpret His cleansing of the
Temple, He selects one that underscores the fact that He is the
coming king, and the kingdom He has come to establish is “for all
nations,” for all people. A new era was
inaugurated on Palm Sunday, an era of righteousness and salvation to
everyone who will receive and believe in and give their allegiance
to Jesus Christ as Savior, Lord, and King.
The king and His kingdom were established in the events of
the last week of Jesus’ life, as He is betrayed, arrested, tried,
and crucified on the cross. The
king and His kingdom were established in authority and power with
Jesus’ resurrection from the dead on Easter Sunday.
Our celebration
of Palm Sunday looks back to that great day, to those great events,
but it also looks ahead, because we know that Jesus is going to come
again to usher in and establish a new and very different era in the
future. Revelation 19:11-16 tells us that when Jesus comes again, He
will not come on a donkey, but on a white horse.
He will come to bring judgment and to make war.
The armies of heaven will follow Him.
With a sharp sword He will strike down the nations.
This is the name He will be known by: King of kings and Lord
of lords. The first
time Jesus came, He came with gentleness and humility.
When He comes again, He’ll come to wage war against His
enemies, against all who are not His followers, against all who have
not sworn allegiance to Him as King, Savior, and Lord.
He will defeat all His foes, but that’s not all.
In Matthew 25, Jesus promised that with His second coming He
will separate in a final judgment His friends and His foes.
His friends will be welcomed to eternal life, His foes will
be cursed and punished and cast into the eternal fire prepared for
the devil and his followers. Obviously,
the way Jesus presented Himself in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday is very
different from the way He’ll present Himself the second time.
Until then, Jesus’ rule is creating a season of salvation
in world history during which men, women, boys, and girls can still
switch sides and be saved from His coming wrath, judgment, and
condemnation. The
question I pose to you is this:
Whose side are you on? This
season of salvation is one that is gentle, forgiving, patient, and
loving, but it will not last forever.
Jesus is ready to save all who receive Him as Savior, Lord,
and King. Has He saved
you? Have you received
Him? If you have, if
you do call Him Savior, Lord, and King, let me ask you, does your
life show it? Does
Jesus Christ rule in your life, your thoughts, your words, and your
actions? Does He rule
in the way in which you use your time, talents, and the resources
with which He’s blessed you?
Would your spouse or a friend or colleague say about you: “Yes,
Jesus Christ is in charge of his / her life”?
If you have not been saved, if you have not received Jesus
Christ as your Savior, Lord, and King, know that there is still
time, even this morning, to renounce your allegiance to self or
worldly success or money or material possessions or physical
pleasure or whatever else rules you in the place of Jesus Christ.
Anyone or anything else that rules you in the place of Jesus
Christ makes you His enemy. If
you do not acknowledge and receive Christ into your life before He
comes again, it will be too late to switch sides, too late to be
saved from wrath, judgment, and eternal punishment.
This is the era, today is the day of salvation.
You can bow and receive Christ as your King and give Him your
allegiance, be on His side with the salvation, the life, the
victory, and the joy that last forever.
Jesus came to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to usher in a new era,
the era of salvation. It
will not last forever. Now
is the time to be saved. |