Showing posts with label Palm Sunday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Palm Sunday. Show all posts

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Isaiah 52:1-12 - "The Lord’s Coming Salvation" (PALM SUNDAY)

As we begin to focus on the  last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry, we begin with His significant  triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This  event is described in all four gospels [1] and is  specifically prophesied   by the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 9:9)  and in so many other indirect ways  in the  Old Testament, such as this passage which we have just read in  Isaiah, which precedes  the  famous Isaiah 53 passage  which we shall  consider   on  Easter  Friday  and also on a special occasion  on   Saturday.

Today we remember the occasion   when Jesus, as  the  chosen  servant   of God[2] came, riding on a humble donkey   to fulfil  the work that the Father  had given  Him to do in laying down His life for His people[3]. As He entered  the city,  He was most   surprisingly  received  in the manner of  a conquering King, although “he had no  form or majesty  that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him…”  (53:2), and yet the crowd  received Him  with  these words, "Hosanna[4] to the Son of David”. This   was tantamount to saying (and so  it was understood  by the Pharisees e.g. in Lk 19:39) that He was the long expected Messiah of Israel.    

In Luke’s account of the triumphal entry, Jesus  following His entrance  is deeply disturbed at what He sees. In fact He weeps over Jerusalem  (see Lk  19:41- 44 ; and see  also  Lk  13:34 – 35).  This act is followed  by the famous  temple cleansing (Lk. 19:45-48; Matt 21:12-17)
It is particularly   Lk  13:34 – 35 that gives us an insight  into  the spiritual state of Jerusalem. It was  this city  that  had killed the prophets. It was this city that would kill the Son of God, and amazingly, Jesus  knew that  this was going to happen! What was the purpose for which Jesus rode into Jerusalem to lay down His life?   It was  to hand Himself over to wicked men  to do what they had wanted to do all along, BUT  in this  atrocious act  He  would make atonement for  sin! By His  death He would  secure  eternal life for  all his own people,  for all those “who did receive Him, who believed  in His Name” (John 1:12). It was  ultimately  to secure for them a  future, not in this earthly Jerusalem, but  in the new, the heavenly Jerusalem, the home of every true believer  which Jesus went to prepare in John 14:1-4  and of which  we read in   Revelation 21.

Now we know from the history of Jerusalem  that she had been  besieged and captured many times. In the days of  Israel’s  occupation of Jerusalem[5], this city was  sacked  eventually by the Babylonians in around  586 BC. She  was  burned and destroyed and her  people taken into exile in  Babylon, just as  Isaiah and Jeremiah and others had said. But before that, approximately 135  years  earlier,  in the days of Isaiah,  this city  was also threatened by the Assyrians  who did in fact capture the northern territory of Israel and with it 10 tribes, who were sent into  exile in 722 BC (2 Kings 17:5ff).   All prophets, particularly the  major  prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah, and later the Lord Jesus, God’s final Revelation (Hebr. 1:1-3) saw  that the continued rebellion  of this city  that had experienced  so much  of God’s favour, in terms of hosting  the temple of God, and therefore  the visible presence of God in Israel, that this city  would  face the wrath of God.  This leading  city  of the Jews   had lost the vision   of God in her midst.

Now Isaiah’s  prophecy  can be divided into two parts. The first part,  Chapters  1-35  focus on God’s judgement on Israel, the northern kingdom,   by  Assyria; then there is a ‘bridge’  in Chapters 36-39 before the prophecy closes with the second major part  in chapters 40 – 66,  where we find  a vision of the  return of the remnant from Babylon.
The point is this. Isaiah’s vision is big!  Not only does he  include future events from his own perspective in about 722 BC;  Isaiah sees  the restoration of Israel  after the Babylonian captivity, much later in 520 BC, when he was long dead. But more  than that, Isaiah’s  prophecy anticipates  the  ministry and mission of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ (whom we shall meet as the suffering servant in  Isaiah 53) more than 700 years later! And from our perspective Isaiah  foresees  even more than that. He foresees  the rule  and restoration  of all things under Christ  in  days to come, which, from our perspective,  is STILL  in the future!

Now from the present perspective  of Isaiah, and  from Christ’s  perspective, when He rode into Jerusalem, and also  from our own perspective, this earthly Jerusalem  was and is  anything but a holy city.   But  Isaiah  sees  beyond that  and he  like His Messiah, the Lord Jesus look  to the far future  when things will look very different. And it all began  on that day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem. On this day  He came to  Jerusalem  to  secure the future  of  the inhabitants  of a far greater Jerusalem. He came to  do this   in His death  and resurrection  which is described  in Isaiah 53. In preparation for that I want you then to take a look with me at this text[6] which precedes the phenomenal  events of Isaiah 53, just as the triumphal entry     preceded the phenomenal events of the week that lay ahead:

1.Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.
Obviously,  the prophet is not speaking here of  a political  entity  called  Jerusalem. He is speaking  of  that future city where  there  shall be no sin – the heavenly Jerusalem of  Revelation 21. That  is the city that Jesus ultimately  came to establish when He came riding into  this sinful Jerusalem, that killed the prophets, and therefore the prophet continues …

2. Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. What did the Lord Jesus  achieve  in his death and resurrection?  He  purchased  freedom  for a people in the dust, a people enslaved by sin. He freed them  for citizenship in the new Jerusalem,  by the shedding of His blood.

3.  For thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” What does this   mean?  In context  this  would refer to the Babylonian captivity. Babylon acquired   Judah and paid nothing for  her when they took her captive in 586 BC. However,  roughly 70 years later under Cyrus  the Persian and then Artaxerxes [7]  she was freed  without the payment of money,  when men like Ezra and Nehemiah led the people back to Jerusalem  from captivity, being in fact supported by the Babylonians to rebuild Jerusalem[8]. But in a greater sense it would mean  that the sin which our  first father Adam committed, and of which we had borne the fruit, would now  be borne  by Christ in His death, BUT no  one has  to pay for their redemption. It was free for those who would take it.    This  was the purpose for which  Jesus  came to ride into the city! 

4 For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. Israel’s first stint away from their   earthly Jerusalem in Canaan  was  experienced when they had lived  for 430 years in  Egypt, after which they returned under Moses and Joshua  to Canaan, their promised land.  Then  David  established the   physical Jerusalem  for Israel, but under  the often foolish rule of his  grandsons, substantial chunks of the kingdom were gradually lost – first under the  Assyrians, who   claimed the northern kingdom of Israel.  
In Christ’s day the  Jews were oppressed  by the  Romans, and the Jews hoped for  their Messiah  to return to  deliver them from the  Roman yoke. But was this ultimately the yoke  that  they needed to be  delivered from? Was not the yoke of sin their ultimate problem?  And who alone could effectively deal  with sin, if not the Son of God? And so Jesus rode into Jerusalem …
  
5 Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day my name is despised. Many a time when Israel was  attacked by her enemies (no doubt, due to their own foolishness, which resulted in the hand of God being lifted from them),  their enemies  were  blaspheming the  name of God  when they  taunted  Israel: “Where now is your God?”  (e.g. Ps 42:10;  115:2; Joel 2:17). In truth, this was also  the  general attitude of the Jews   to Jesus. When he hung on the cross they mocked Him, saying: “He saved others, let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One.”(Lk. 23:35). The truth was that in continually  mocking Christ they were continually mocking the work of God. And so Christ rode into Jerusalem on  this day  to make a distinction between the righteous and the unrighteous!  

6 Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.” In the  historical context  the  release from Babylonian captivity and the rebuilding of Jerusalem would be  a true testimony  to the power of God.  Nehemiah confirms this in Neh.6:15,16  when he says, “… all the nations around us …perceived that this work  had been  accomplished with the help of our God !” But in a greater sense  the greatest work  would be the   establishment  of the  eternal city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, which would be populated by  those who had been redeemed by the blood of Jesus.  Jesus came riding  into  Jerusalem  to  declare that He would do this ON THE CROSS!   This  is  therefore what gives rise to the next verse!  Here is the gospel  of the good news   for all the people… for all the nations !

7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” Paul quotes this passage in Rom 10:15.  The point is that whatever historical situation brought  the good news  in Isaiah’s day, he was looking much further, when our  Messiah  made the gospel  terms  effective  by His death and resurrection .For this reason Jesus came riding into Jerusalem.

8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy;  for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion.  In the  historical setting this  was accomplished  when God restore the Jews to liberty under the leadership of men  like  Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Yet again,  and in a greater sense, these things were fulfilled in Christ’s coming into Jerusalem  for this purpose – that He might lay down His life for a great number of people  and to establish  for them a city whose foundations cannot be shaken.

9 Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.  Historical deliverance happened  under Cyrus, (2 Chron. 36:22,23). The  Lord  displayed his power among the Medes and Persians, but afterwards he made it visible to all the nations. But again, see the ultimate fulfilment  in this  text. The Abrahamic covenant  is being fulfilled, as not only Jews but  gentiles  were participating in the salvation of God in Christ. All this began  to be fulfilled  in Christ riding into Jerusalem  to lay down His life for  Jews and gentiles. 

11 Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord. 12 For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. In context  this was a call to  all  the Jews to leave Babylon, and to leave the things of Babylon behind. Those  that were  carrying the vessels of the Lord ( i.e. the vessels  for the temple), the priests, these were to be  especially consecrated. 
The redeemed would not need to  leave in haste as they had done when they left Egypt in the Exodus. They were completely free. God would go before to lead them and behind to protect them as they journeyed to their Promised Land (cf. Exodus 13:21-22; Exodus 14:19-20). In our context, it is important that we need to leave the city of destruction and make sure that we are on the  road to the heavenly  Jerusalem. (Pilgrims Progress)  

Here then,  in this  part of  Isaiah’s prophecy  the dual implications of the prophet's promises are very clear.  The Babylonian captivity  formed the background  to what  Isaiah  said, but  Isaiah  had the larger issue of slavery to sin in mind.  Return to the land was in view, but even more so, the opportunity to return to the Lord through spiritual redemption was his greater focus. God would deal with the result in Israel's case, captivity, but He would also and more importantly deal with the great cause of  every man's   problem, namely sin !

All this Jesus  came to do when he rode on that donkey  into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  
Hallelujah, what a Word! 
Hallelujah, what a Saviour! 
AMEN .




[1] Matthew 21: 1- 11 ; Mark 11:1-11 ; Luke 19:28-40; John 12:12-19
[2] Note the four servant   passages  in this regard :  42:1-9; 49:1-7 ; 50:4-11 ; 52:13-53:12
[3] i.e. as the Lamb of God for His sheep
[4]  Lit. “save now”
[5] This city was captured by David from the Jebusites  in  2 Samuel 5:6-10 , after which it was called “the city of David”
[6] The proper  parameters for this text is  Isaiah 51:1-52:12. The chapter division at 52:1 is unfortunate . Similarly  the chapter division should not begin with 53:1, as it does, but should start at 52:13.
Outline of Ch.  51:1- 52:12 : 1. A threefold  call  to listen :  i.e.  51 : 1; 4; 7   2. A threefold  exhortation to awake  : 51:9;17 & 52:1  
[7] Ezra 1:1; 4:7
[8]  Ezra 1:2ff ;Neh. 2:8

Sunday, March 29, 2015

PALM SUNDAY - Matthew 21: 1-11 - "God’s purpose in sending Christ to die”

Today is Palm Sunday - the day on which we remember that Jesus had entered into Jerusalem for the last time (Matt 21: 1-11), before He died on the cross. “The hour had come!” (Jn. 17:1). The hour had come for Him to die, and His death would accomplish the salvation of an innumerable multitude from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages[1]

The apostle Paul reminds the Galatian Christians who were in danger of losing the gospel, “but when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons…” (Gal. 4:4,5). 

So we learn that God has a perfect time table … the hour had come … the fullness of time had come … . There was nothing arbitrary about Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem. He was sent by the Father .[2] He was a man on a mission and no one would detract Him from that. Matthew 16: 21 records His determination : “From that time[3] Jesus began to show his disciples that he MUST go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” . 

He MUST go. He is sent, but for what purpose is He sent ? 

This past week a terrible tragedy unfolded as the 28 year old co-pilot of a German airline, en route from Düsseldorf in Germany to Barcelona in Spain, deliberately caused an Airbus 320 with 144 passengers on board to crash into the French Alps. A German magazine, “Der Spiegel” (27/03/2015) [4] reported that he had been suffering from depression, and that he had been under some form of treatment. The investigators found torn up sick leave notes from the doctor in his home. He never informed his employer of his condition. On that fateful Tuesday , 24th March he must have decided ‘that his hour had come to die’, and after the pilot had left the cockpit , he locked the cockpit and sent the plane into descent and its passengers into death. How terrible that he made this decision without regard for the lives of the many others that were with him on that plane on that day. And oh, how our Christian hearts should bleed today for hopeless men and women, who take their lives, and the lives of others into their own hands, causing so much suffering through their selfish acts.

By contrast, when Jesus knew that His hour had come to die, He had the very opposite view to Andreas Lubitz in mind. By His death He would not destroy, but thankfully He would save so very, very many lives, so many that Revelation 7:9 can speak of a great multitude that no one could count, standing before the throne of the Lamb in heaven in thankful, adoring worship. They worship Him for the fact that by His death He had saved them all from the wrath of God which was awaiting them, were it not for Him who rescues us from the coming wrath (1 Thess. 1:10). Truly, it was the death of our death in the death of Christ . [5]

So, on this Lord’s day we remember at least 4 purposes why Jesus came from Matthew 21. 
The purposes are sequential and interconnected. 

1. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem He had come to die! In fact, He had told His disciples that this would happen on at least three occasions preceding our text in Matthew 21 [6]. It appears that Andreas Lubitz did apparently mention to his ex-girlfriend that “one day everybody will know my name” [7], but I can assure you that no –one is remembering him fondly or praising him today for what He did in sending so many to their death. Jesus, by way of contrast is remembered today in heaven and on earth by us and countless other thankful worshippers for his death, by which so many that believe on Him have escaped from the second death , the lake of fire spoken of in Revelation 20:14. 

2. Jesus had to die, for He needed to fulfill the Scriptures. In Matthew 21:4,5 the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 is quoted in support of this : “This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden’”. Christ was the promised Messiah of the Old Testament. He came to fulfil the prophesies of the OT. If Jesus had not come the mystery of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53 might never have been solved. But because Jesus did come and fulfil all that is written in the law and the prophets [8] , the eunuch of Acts 8:26-40 on his return from Jerusalem to Ethiopia in Africa , reading Isaiah 53 , wondering who Isaiah was talking about , was helped when Philip, sent by the Lord to explain that passage, helped him to see that this was referring to the Lord Jesus . The result was that the Ethiopian believed in Jesus and was baptised , and we expect to meet him in heaven, before Jesus’ throne in glory . 

3. Jesus had to die to take away the sin of the world. The crowds shouted “Hosanna”, which translated means “save we pray!” Save from what? Matthew 1:21 helps us here. The Lord was named “Jesus”, for it was said concerning Him that “He will save His people from their sins“. So, here is a major reason why we celebrate Easter. Jesus came to die to save His people from their sins . John the Baptist said this concerning Him when he saw Him : “Look , the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29). 
We need to briefly explain what is meant by “Christ taking away the sin of the world “, for this is one of the most misunderstood and misapplied texts in the Bible . We will consider this in a more detailed way on “Good Friday”, when we shall ask the question “For whom did Jesus die?”. But, clearly this cannot mean that all the people of this world , past , present and future are automatically freed from the curse of sin, and are forgiven for their sins, because Christ died. It is clear that many people in this world do not believe in the Lord Jesus. It is also clear that many people in the world do believe in the Lord Jesus, having placed their faith in Him, having repented from their sin and having asked Him for forgiveness from their sin. It is clear that there remains a great work to do in the world to make the gospel of Jesus Christ known in the world. That is why the task of evangelism and missionary service to the world remains an imperative for the church , because so many are not yet saved from the coming wrath! 

In what sense then has Jesus come to take away the sin of the world? We need to understand the “ world” in terms of “ worldwide” and not in terms of “everyone in the world”. We see this explained by Jesus in John 10. Here He explains that He is the Good Shepherd and here He speaks about His sheep hearing His voice (10:3,4). The sheep are His chosen people . He explains that these are those whom the Father had given Him out of the world (Jn. 17:6). In Jn. 10:11,15 He explains that here in Judea there are His chosen sheep among the Jews and also His chosen sheep in the world among the gentiles. (Jn. 10:16). The church is made up of Jews and gentiles[9] and it made up from all the nations in the world .[10] It is in that sense Jesus lays down His life for His sheep from all over the world. 

4. Supremely, Jesus had to die to do His Father’s will. He rides into Jerusalem in the Name of the Lord – His Father (Matt. 21:9). Ultimately Jesus comes, because it is His Father’s will. His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane leaves us in no doubt about that! “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as you will.” (Matt. 26:39, 42, 44). The writer to the Hebrews says in Hebr.10:5-10: 
"Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." 

That means that God the Father has willed that Jesus should die to justify and sanctify God’s elect people. God the Father has an elect people in this world – loved before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4,5) . The question is how could they be justified since they were sinners? How could they be made righteous since they were a fallen race? 

The answer is this : The Father in love sent His Son, and today we praise the Father for the active obedience of His Son. Because Jesus obeyed His Father’s will we have been justified and sanctified by His sacrifice on the cross , and because of Him we can go to heaven , knowing that there is now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus . (Rom. 8:1) 

UNDERSTANDING GOD’S PURPOSE IN SENDING HIS SON 

1. Jesus came to die 

2. To fulfil the scriptures 

3. To take away the sin of the world 

4. To do the will of the Father 

John 3 : 16 summarizes the purpose : “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” 

The answer to the question “ Why did God sent His Son into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to die on Good Friday?” is now answered : Because God loves His chosen people on account of His Son ! AMEN ! 








[1] Revelation 7:9


[2] John’s Gospel in particular has numerous reference to this fact : e.g. Jn. 5:37; 6:38,39,44,57 etc.


[3] This follows Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ ( Matt 16:13-20)


[4] http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/andreas-l-hinweise-auf-psychische-erkrankung-von-germanwings-pilot-a-1025835.html


[5] The title of an Essay by John Owen


[6] Matt. 16:21; 17:22-23; 20 :18-19


[7] http://www.bild.de/bild-plus/news/ausland/flug-4u9525/er-droht-eines-tages-wird-jeder-meinen-namen-kennen-40333936,var=a,view=conversionToLogin.bild.html


[8] Luke 24:26,27


[9] See Eph. 3:1-13


[10] Rev 5:9 ; 7:9

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