Palm/Passion
Sunday!
A. Today is Palm Sunday! It marks the beginning of what we call
Passion Week! The
events of this next week are with Christmas (the birth of Christ) the most
important events of Christian History.
B. Actually,
the early Church celebrated Easter before they ever started celebrating
Christmas.
C. I want to look at what happened on this day
nearly 2,000 years ago
and ask ourselves
the question, "Are we doing the same thing today?" Is it happening
all over again?
Prayer
Mark 11:1-11
I. Let's look at what happened here!
A. This was the last time that Jesus would come
into Jerusalem in his
life!
1. His earthly life was so near the end!
2. But you would have never thought it if you
had been in
Jerusalem
on that day!
B. Jesus was given the Royal Treatment!
1. He was recognized as the Messiah, as the
King, because
they recognized
that he fit the prophecy of the Messiah!
a. He
was feeding the hungry!
b. He
was healing the sick!
c. He
was raising the dead!
2. They were giving him their patronage as a
king!
3. This was not only the 12 disciples!
a. Mark records that, "many spread their
garments in
the way"
b. Matthew records, "And a very great
multitude
spread their
garments in the way."
C. These people believed Jesus was the Messiah,
and they praised him!
A.
But where was this great multitude 5 days later
when Jesus stood alone before Pilot? When he went through the mockery of
a trial? When he
was beaten?
1. And
where were they when the crowds called out "Crucify
Him?" Were
they in the crowd?
2. What Hypocrisy!! How could they do this?
3. How could they stand by and watch the one
whom they
Believed to be the Messiah crucified? How
could they go
along with the Chief Priest? It was a dark
night! Oh, the
difference a few days makes!
II. To top it all off, this wasn't the last time this happened to
Jesus!
A. I know of a man and his wife who came to
church every Sunday.
1. They sang praises to God!
2. They prayed beautiful prayers of praise and
thankfulness!
3. They testified! They always had the most beautiful
testimony!
4. At times, they have even been known to clap
their hands
and weep a little bit!
5. They were much like the people that day on
what we call
Palm Sunday! They recognized him as Lord and praised him
as Lord!
A. But
do you know what? When you saw them 4 or
5 days later in
The same week you
wouldn't even know they had a Lord!
1. The man:
a. You would find him telling jokes about people
of
different races
or different sexual orientation; he
really thought
that was funny. Very much unlike
Christ who died
for all people.
b. He treated his wife like his slave and was
very
disrespectful of
her. He even at times lost his
temper and hit
her! He had to keep her in her
place! He was the
boss!
c. He was on an ego trip and thought and acted
like he
was better than
everybody else, what he said went
where ever he
was. He didn't take time to listen
to anyone else or
even consider that he could be
wrong. People hated working and being around
him!
2. His wife:
a. She
too was very prejudice. She didn't tell
the
jokes, but one
time when a black couple was
trying to buy a
house in their neighborhood, she
got a petition
and went to the City Hall to try to
stop it! She didn't want their kind in her
neighborhood!
b. She had always been taught to submit to her
husband, and when
her husband hit her, she
pretty well
figured that she deserved it and
had it coming to
her. After all, she must have
done something
wrong!
c. Her problem was with very low self-esteem; in
fact,
she didn't feel
like what she thought mattered much!
In
fact, when you saw them 4 or 5 days later in the
same week you wouldn't even know
they had a Lord!
C. I know of another couple who also was very
worshipful in their
Sunday worship!
They praised the Lord and showed their love to God very well on Sunday!
1. But
if you saw them 4 or 5 days later through the week,
You would never
know that they had a Lord!
2. Oh,
they didn't do any of the things the other couple
did, but they
just never talked about Christ!
a. they didn't witness about Christ!
b. they didn't mention Christ!
c. they didn't even declare that they thanked
the Lord
for caring for them, for the day, or for
any thing!
d. They never invited you to church! They never
mentioned the church!
3. You just wouldn't ever suspect that they were
Christians!
You would never suspect they had a Lord!
D. These 2 couples are just like the multitude
on that Palm Sunday nearly 2,000
years ago!
1. Things haven't changed much!
2. They worshipped Christ on Sunday and still joined in with the crowd
who cried out "Crucify him" 5 days later!
III. Are we doing it to Christ again?
A.
In case you haven't guessed these couples were
fictional, but
I believe their stories are true! I believe these
couples or people exist in many of the churches across America!
B.
The thing we need to ask ourselves is am I like
one of these
couples? Do I
praise Christ on Sunday and go out that week and crucify Christ again? Oh, what
hypocrisy!!
Conclusion:
A. One more point that needs to be made!
C.
After the way the multitude of people turned
their backs on
Christ and joined the crowd who said "Crucify
him," Jesus still loved them and said, "Father forgive them for they
know not what they do!" Christ wanted to give them another chance!
C. Christ
also wants to give us another chance this morning! How will we respond? As we encounter
Christ at the table this morning, won’t you make a commitment this
morning? Let’s all commit to not crucify
Christ again with the way we live this next week! If you make a first time
commitment, let me know so I can help you with your new journey with God!
Prayer
of Confession
Service
of Communion
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