THY WORD IS TRUTH John 17:17

Pastor Ted Whitaker, Ph.D, CLP


Sunday April 5, 2009

Sermon Delivered to Annapolis and Hopedale Presbyterian Churches

Bible quotes: NIV (New International Version) NASB (New American Standard Bible)

“Jesus’ Death on the Cross Foretold"

"Part 6”

Today is the sixth Sunday in lent and we are going again to focus on the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross and what it means for us.


This is the sixth sermon in the series “Jesus Death on the Cross Foretold” and just like in the season of advent we are going to look how God prepared the way for his son to come to earth as God incarnate.


Looking back over the subject of the five Lenten sermons we have had so far, we find in the Old testament prophesy first from prophet Daniel the exact time of Jesus death in the spring of AD 30, 566 years from the decree of the Persian King Artaxerxes in the Book of Ezra to the spring of AD 30 when Jesus of Nazareth died on the cross on the temple mount in Jerusalem.



In the second Lenten sermon was the Prophet King David’s vivid description of a crucifixion with the piercing of hand and feet 1000 years before crucifixion was inverted
as a means of capital punishment by the Roman Empire.



In the third Lenten sermon, we considered the 30 pieces of silver that was thrown to the potter in the temple of the Lord as spoken of by the prophet Zachariah who lived 489 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem but Zachariah spoke of the blood money and the exact price that Judas was paid to betray Jesus.



The fourth Lenten sermon was about the substitutionary sacrifice of a male sheep that had its horn caught in a bush that God provided so that Abrahams long awaited son of the promise Isaac could live.



That rock that Isaac was to be sacrificed is still there on the temple mount the exact place that King Solomon built the temple and that rock still is there under the Mosque of Islam, the Dome of the Rock, that dominates the skyline of the city of Jerusalem to this very day.



The fifth sermon in Lent was about the prophesy of Isaiah of chapter 53 which is called the Messiah chapter that also spoke if the piercing of the Messiah and his suffering and sacrifice on the cross of Calvary.



And now it is Palm Sunday when we celebrate the triumphant entry into Jerusalem of the king of the Jews, the one who comes in the name of the Lord and the descendant of King David who was to ride into Jerusalem riding on a donkey.



What you may ask. You mean that the Messiah’s ride into Jerusalem riding on a donkey was foretold in the Old Testament?


Yes it was.


We hear in the reading of the Old Testament today form the prophet Isaiah these words, “Pass through, pass through the gates!


Prepare the way for the people.


Build up, build up a highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations.


The LORD has made a proclamation to the ends of the earth: ‘Say to the daughter of Zion, See your Savior comes!


See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord”



These words of Isaiah about how the Messiah the Savior would come into Jerusalem was spoke by the mouth of the prophet Isaiah 700 years before Jesus of Nazareth came riding into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday morning.



But then 200 years after Isaiah is dead, in 500 AD the prophet Zachariah give this vivid description of Jesus coming into Jerusalem from chapter 9 verse 9,”Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!



Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem Behold you king is coming to you. He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and riding on a donkey, even a colt, the foal of a donkey.



Zachariah’s description is so vivid that it is almost as if Zachariah was standing there at the gates of Jerusalem (as an eye witness) watching Jesus come in through the gates of the city riding on that small donkey. But Zachariah died in 489 BC (before Christ).



And what did we hear in the New Testament today about the description of the fulfillment of Isaiah’s fore telling of this event.



Here are the words, “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See you king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”



And Jesus knew of Isaiah prophesy about him for listen for we heard in the New Testament reading today Jesus of Nazareth’s instruction to his disciple before he takes his triumphant ride and what were those instructions.



Jesus told his disciples, “go into the city and get a donkey and if anyone asks about what you are doing tell them the Lord has need of it.



And the disciples did as Jesus asked them to do and they laid their cloaks on the foal of a donkey and Jesus sat on it.



And a very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road and cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.



And the crowds went ahead of him and shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest.



And then others asked “Who is this?” The crowds answered, “This is the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”



Well lets pause right here a think about what the words that were being shouted by the crowd mean.



And because of the passage of time the words have a different meaning now than the intended meaning as they were shouted on that first Palm Sunday morning.



If you asked most church goers today what the word Hosanna means, they would probably answer, “Praise You or Praise the Lord”.



And that is probably a good answer to the question because the word “Hosanna” has over the last 2000 years has come to mean praise or blessing.”



But that is not what was intended at that time.



For the crowd was also shouting something else and what was that? Blessed is the He who come in the name of the Lord, Best is the son of David.



So what was the crowd expecting that day?



Well two things.



They expected that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Son of David the person that was promised in the Davidic covenant.



Remember King David was a prophet and while he was alive he spoke of what God has told him directly.



This is recorded in the book of 2 Samuel chapter 23 so the is was spoken by God through the prophet Samuel who anointed King David but the King David speaks to the Messiah in a Psalm written by David after he became king of Israel.


And that Psalm is 89.


Listen to the words of Psalm 89 as King David speaks his descendant that God told him about.


Here are the words of God to King David in Psalm 89.



“I have made a covenant with My Chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, I will establish you seed forever, and build up you throne to all generations.



Later in the Psalm a verse 25 we have a description of the Messiah David’s promised descendant He will cry to Me, Thou art my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.



I also shall make him My first born, the highest kings of the earth. My loving kindness I will keep for him forever and My covenant shall be confirmed in him. So I will establish his descendants forever and his throne as the days of heaven.



But as I have said many times before if God is going to tell us any thing important he is not going to tell us just once.



So to get the full flavor of what was foretold by God about his first born son riding into Jerusalem on palm Sunday morning we need to go to the Davidic covenant as recorded in 2 Samuel by the prophet that anointed the Shepherd boy David as King of Israel.


So what does the prophet Samuel say about the coming Messiah?



Here are his word from 2 Samuel starting at verse 12 of chapter 7 (God speaking to King David), “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you …and I will establish his kingdom.



He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.



I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me…and a few verse later God repeats the promise to David “And you house and you kingdom shall endure before me forever;



your throne shall be established forever.


So these two prophets David and Samuel foretold of a permanent king and kingdom for Israel that would return to set up an everlasting kingdom.



And so after learning that what so you suppose the expectations were when Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday morning!



They want him to overthrow the rule of the Roman Empire that was oppression them and that is evident in their shouts.


So what does Hosanna mean in Hebrew.



It is not one word but two.



The first word is “yasha” (spelled Y A S H A) which means to deliver or avenge and the second word is na (spelled N A) which mean we pray now!



The key word is NOW.



It was not a prayer but a demand and an exhortation.



Deliver us or avenge us now is what the shout of Hosanna meant at that time. And with this understanding, the rest of the events of Holy Week make sense.



For the crowds were not praising the coming king but demanding action from him and when Jesus came into the city in weakness “riding on a baby donkey” instead of in the power of a king that would restore the throne of David they became disappointed and even resentful.



And when He gave himself up to be arrested they became resentful and angry. And later that week, the crowds turn on Jesus and they demand his death.



Let me close in prayer:



Eternal God helps us in this season of lent to understand what You have prepared for us in the death of Your son on the cross of Calvary.


You had your plan of reconciliation and redemption from before Adam and Eve sinned in the garden.


Your prophets told us of the events of Holy Week for over 2000 years of the history of Your chosen people Israel.

Help us to understand that Jesus died not just for Israel but for the sins of the whole world, all of mankind if they repent and turn to You as their Savior.


For all of us were conceived in sin but now we have the invitation of Christ to enter His Kingdom.

The kingdom that has no end as the Redeemed of the Lord.

Amen.