Cry out in Praise!

Luke 19:28-40 (NAS95)

Today, we gather to commemorate Palm Sunday and the beginning of the Passion Week. During this holy week of remembrance we will gather five times – today, Thursday night to remember the night Jesus was betrayed, Friday night on Good Friday to remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, at sunrise on Easter Sunday to declare the tomb is empty, and for our Celebration of the Resurrection service at our normal time next week to praise God for our salvation through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. We do all of this to remember what Christ has done for us.

It is for this reason we come to the Lord’s Table today – to remember. First, I am going to read the words of institution given to us by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-28. After I read, we will take a moment of silence to pray and examine ourselves, as instructed by Scripture, then I will lead us in partaking of the elements. Listen now to the words of institution:

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

The Word of the Lord. I invite you into a time of moment of silence to pray and examine yourselves – receive afresh the grace of God for the healing of our souls and the strengthening of our bodies through the ancient rite of the church, given to us by Jesus Christ on the night He was betrayed.

[Moment of Silence followed by the partaking of the elements]

[The bread] Take this, all of you, and eat of it: the body of Christ, broken for you.

[The cup] Take this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of the new and everlasting covenant. Christ’ blood shed for you, and for all who believe, for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.

Prayer

[Transition to Scripture reading] Daniel & Katie Kinnaird are going to read to us from Luke 19:28-40, the Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem to begin the Passion Week:

After He had said these things, He was going on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When He approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you; there, as you enter, you will find a colt tied on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. “If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ” So those who were sent went away and found it just as He had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord has need of it.” They brought it to Jesus, and they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it. As He was going, they were spreading their coats on the road. As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!” When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. “For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

[Daniel & Katie share as the Lord leads them, then pray and release the kids to Children’s Church]

We are in the middle of a sermon series about the strategy of a faithful farmer. The focus of a hardworking farmer is to yield a large crop yield, a bountiful harvest. C. H. Spurgeon preached in 1871, “Preaching is sowing, prayer is watering, but praise is the harvest.”[1]

Today’s Palm Sunday message is called, “Cry out in Praise” because the harvest of Jesus’ triumphal entry was praise! When the religious leaders asked Jesus to rebuke His disciples for praising Him as the coming Messiah and King, Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!” The very creation will declare the glory of God!

Their praise was coming from Psalm 118, which is why the Pharisees were so scandalized. Listen to Pastor James Montgomery Boice explain the significance of what was happening:

When we remember that Psalm 118 is part of the Egyptian Hallel [Hallel means “praise” – Psalms 113-118 are called the Hallel Psalms], that the Hallel was sung by Jews at the time of the Passover, and that it was Passover when Jesus entered Jerusalem and later died on Calvary, it is understandable that these words would have been in the minds of the people who greeted him as he entered the city. Jesus entered Jerusalem on the day the lambs were being taken into the Jewish homes in preparation for the sacrifice. Did the people understand that Jesus was the Son of God and that he was coming to give his life as a ransom to save his people from their sins? No, though some, like Mary of Bethany, seem to have known that he was about to die (see John 12:7). Whether the masses understood it or not, these verses describe what Jesus was doing and was about to do. He had indeed come “in the name of the Lord” to do the will of his Father in heaven, and what he had been sent to do was “save” his people from their sins. He would do it by dying.^[2]

Listen now to Psalm 118, part of the Hallel, from which the disciples praised God during Jesus’ triumphal entry:

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Oh let Israel say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.” Oh let the house of Aaron say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.” Oh let those who fear the Lord say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.” From my distress I called upon the Lord; The Lord answered me and set me in a large place. The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me? The Lord is for me among those who help me; Therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the Lord Than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord Than to trust in princes. All nations surrounded me; In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off. They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me; In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off. They surrounded me like bees; They were extinguished as a fire of thorns; In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off. You pushed me violently so that I was falling, But the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation. The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted; The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. I will not die, but live, And tell of the works of the Lord. The Lord has disciplined me severely, But He has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; The righteous will enter through it. I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me, And You have become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. This is the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. O Lord, do save, we beseech You; O Lord, we beseech You, do send prosperity! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and He has given us light; Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I give thanks to You; You are my God, I extol You. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

The “Hosanna” is proclaimed in verse 25, “O LORD, DO SAVE, WE BESEECH YOU”!

Verse 26 is proclaimed by the crowd, “BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD”!

Unknown to the people, Jesus is the “festival sacrifice” of verse 27, “BIND THE FESTIVAL SACRIFICE WITH CORDS TO THE HORNS OF THE ALTAR.” Jesus is the perfect Passover Lamb, the final atoning sacrifice for our sins. Peter proclaimed this in 1 Peter 1:18-19, “you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

Jesus is the “CHIEF CORNER STONE” of verse 22 –  “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED”! Listen to how Peter proclaimed this truth in Acts 4:8-12:

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people, if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. “He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

If Jesus is the chief corner stone, then what are we to do with our lives? Peter answers that question for us in 1 Peter 2:4-12:

And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,” and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

This is your calling – to proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light! You are now the light of the World through the shed blood of Jesus Christ – the perfect Passover Lamb who entered Jerusalem on the very day the lambs were being taken into the Jewish homes in preparation for the sacrifice. Psalm 118:26-29 concludes:

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and He has given us light; Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I give thanks to You; You are my God, I extol You. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

You can watch this message by clicking HERE.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] C. H. Spurgeon, “The Joy of the Lord, the Strength of His People,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 17 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1871), 717.