The Road To Easter
Pt. 1 - Paving The Way
I. Introduction
It is inevitable. I don't really know if the statement they make is true or if it is made merely as result of social pressure or endorsement dollars. What I do know is that they almost always say it. After the big win someone will thrust a camera in the star player's face and scream where are you going and their response is . . . "I'm going to Disneyland." Disneyland is the final destination. The pinnacle. The goal. The crown and the capstone. I have never heard anyone stop and detail the journey they take to get to that location. However, if you have ever taken the road trip to Disneyland then you know that there are some essential and no less meaningful stops along the way . . . Cadillac Ranch, The Vegas Strip, Hoover Dam, The Grand Canyon and many others. The final destination gets all the attention and focus, but the stops along the way are really what make the trip memorable. The same is true when it comes to Easter. As a believer Easter is our focus. It garners all of our attention and in many ways rightfully so. However, just like we do regarding vacation travels, we become so locked in on that final destination that we often overlook and fail to give the proper attention to the stops along the way that were essential and consequential not only in Jesus' life and journey but in ours. I think it is crucial for us to slow down on the way to Easter and walk the road Jesus took to get there. What leads to the empty tomb? What happened on the Tuesday or Thursday before He is raised from the dead? Do you know? Does it matter? Let's walk this road together and see as we head to the Disneyland of our faith . . . Easter!
Text: Matthew 21:1-11 (MSG), Luke 19:39-40 (NIV)
When they neared Jerusalem, having arrived at Bethphage on Mount Olives, Jesus sent two disciples with these instructions: “Go over to the village across from you. You’ll find a donkey tethered there, her colt with her. Untie her and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you’re doing, say, ‘The Master needs them!’ He will send them with you.” This is the full story of what was sketched earlier by the prophet:
Tell Zion’s daughter, “Look, your king’s on his way,
poised and ready, mounted on a donkey, on a colt,
foal of a pack animal.”
The disciples went and did exactly what Jesus told them to do. They led the donkey and colt out, laid some of their clothes on them, and Jesus mounted. Nearly all the people in the crowd threw their garments down on the road, giving him a royal welcome. Others cut branches from the trees and threw them down as a welcome mat. Crowds went ahead and crowds followed, all of them calling out, “Hosanna to David’s son!” “Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!” “Hosanna in highest heaven!” As he made his entrance into Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken. Unnerved, people were asking, “What’s going on here? Who is this?” The parade crowd answered, “This is the prophet Jesus, the one from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Sunday - Triumphal Entry
On at least 3 occasions Jesus has already told the disciples about His impending death. After feeding the 5,000 - In Mark 8 . . . “The Son of Man must suffer many things; be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes; be killed; and be raised again." Again, in Mark 9, following the transfiguration Jesus says, "the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected." Then the third time in Mark 10, Jesus gets very precise when He states, "We are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”
I think it is important to know as we read about Jesus' approach to the city that He was aware of what was about to happen. In fact, in the coming days in the Garden, Jesus would even request that His Father, if possible, find another way. The coming pain, brutality, beating, stripping, spitting, agony of nailed hands, feet and separation from His Father were not a surprise to Jesus. The pressure and stress of all of this is on His mind as He enters the path down the steep slope of the Mount of Olives to approach Jerusalem as the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. He takes this path so that He will enter Jerusalem through the Sheep Gate where the lambs used for the sacrifice of atonement were driven from Bethlehem where they were raised and prepared (do you see what He did there?) to become the ultimate and final sacrifice for man. It is necessary to know that He knew what was coming to understand the implications of this Sunday that we call Palm Sunday on the Road to Easter.
As we examine what happens on this special day in Jesus' life I must ask you a question. What would you do if you knew you were headed into the worst week of your life? What if you knew today that tomorrow you would be betrayed, lose friends, be rejected, mocked, lied about and ultimately killed on Friday? Would you mope? Would you run? Would you get depressed? Have a nervous breakdown? Drink until you are numb? Shop to ignore? Isolate and refuse to come out of the house or to answer your phone? I want you to notice what Jesus did! In light of facing the worst and final week of His life He allows a praise service to break out around Him!
I want you to see this truth. When the people begin to throw down their garments and throw down tree branches and shout Hosanna they are literally praising Jesus as the coming King. They are exalting Him and fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9. Psalms 118, and Daniel chapter 9:24-25.
So, this impromptu praise service we call the Triumphal Entry not only fulfills prophecy, it repeats pattern. God established a pattern in Scripture that is repeated now by Jesus! In 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise Him for the splendor of His holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the LORD, for His love endures forever.” Facing insurmountable odds. Facing superior forces. Facing an overwhelming tide. Jehoshaphat obeys God and a pattern is established that is now repeated on Palm Sunday - praise precedes battle! We worship our way into war so that we can worship our way out with the win!
How many of us are so intent on the prophecy of what is coming and the dread of what we are facing that we fail to operate on the pattern? So intent on following the prophecy of you are sick, you are broke, you have made too many mistakes, the chickens are coming home to roost, you made your own bed so that we now fail to follow the pattern as we enter the tough and painful moments of our life. The pattern is clear praise out front.
I want you to get this right because it may make the difference between defeat and victory. But I want to caution you that we must not follow the pattern and praise out of obligation. Well I will just praise because I am supposed to! I don't feel like it and don’t want to participate, but I have to. No, these folks didn't praise out of obligation, they praised out of revelation. They have a sudden revelation that Jesus is the Son of God. The people have a revelation of who He is. The reason you must praise is because you know He is who He says He is. We praise because we have a revelation of His worth. We praise because we have a revelation of His identity. We praise because we have a revelation of Who is on our side! I will praise because I know His power. I know His track record. I will follow the pattern not because I have to, but because He alone is worthy of praise . . . when I feel like it and when I don't. My upcoming misery, my upcoming consequences, my current challenges have no bearing on His worth! Do you have a revelation of who is on the path with you today? If you do, then praise Him! I’m not praising God because I have been good to God! I am praising God because He has been so good to me! When I think about His goodness and what He has done for me I am not operating out of obligation. I am spinning, shouting, singing, bowing out of revelation.
I want you to notice that Luke informs us that it is the church folks who try to get Jesus to stop the worship service. The religious leaders try to stop the song. They try to pause the praise. They try to divert the attention from the divine. And that is exactly what the enemy still tries to do. Our enemy tries to silence praise because he knows it prepares us for what we are about to face.
This praise service prepares Jesus. It propels Jesus. It pronounces Jesus!
Psalms 3:7 - Praise shatters the jawbone of the enemy!
Praise literally silences the one trying to silence us. Our willingness and determination to praise, even in the light of coming trials and tribulations, tells the enemy to shut his mouth!
What is trying to silence your praise? What is trying to get you to hold your tongue? What is trying to get you to duck your head? I remind you that Joseph was thrown into a pit. His jealous brothers are thinking about killing him. But one of his brothers named Judah saves his life and convinces his brothers to sell him rather than killing him. Judah means praise. Praise stops the enemy’s plan to kill him. Praise gets him out of pit. Praise positions him for his victory. Don’t be silent. Don’t keep quiet!
Praise paves the way for The Way!
Praise is God's pavement. It is what God rides in on. He inhabits . . . sets up residence in . . . walks in . . . settles in our praise! Praises are the Lord’s stomping grounds! Praise prepares the way of the Lord. We want to praise after victory. Jesus positions praise as pavement that will usher Him through pain and into also victory.
This day is so important on the Road to Easter because it teaches us that the pattern is worth repeating. It is in light of what you are about to face or what you are going through that you must decide what you are going to going to lay at His feet? Are you going to prepare the way for Him? Are you going to pave the way to deliverance with dance or a dirge? Are you going to pave the way for a miracle with a melody or with misery? Are you going to prepare the way for a change in your marriage with a chorus or a curse?
Want Jesus to ride in? Praise! Want Jesus to show up? Praise! Want Jesus to rescue? Praise!
On that Palm Sunday, the people symbolically paved the path with their garments and branches to signify that Jesus was royalty and that He was arriving as a King to override their bondage to the Romans. They kinged Him.
I want us to follow the pattern. What do you have symbolically that would represent what you are laying down so that Jesus can come in? A pill bottle? I need you to come in in healing. A wedding ring? I need you to come into my relationship. A dollar? I need you to come in in provision. My phone? I need you to come into my schedule, my viewing habits, my contact list. What do you need Him to override? Lay it at His feet this morning and praise Him in front of your victory. Lay these things at His feet and King Him today! Pave the way for Jesus to show up!
