"Hosanna" Sermon: Matthew 21:1-11

“Hosanna”

[Matthew 21:1-11]

March 25, 2018 Second Reformed Church

Our Scripture brings us near Jerusalem, about a week before the Crucifixion. Jesus is preparing to enter the city and complete the work that He came to do. And Jesus and His disciples stop on the Mount of Olives. And Jesus sends two of His disciples to a nearby village and tells them that when they get to the village, they will see a donkey – a female donkey, with a young colt with her. And Jesus tells the disciples to take them and bring them to Him, and, if anyone should question what they were doing, they are to say, “The Lord needs them.”

How did Jesus know there would be a mother donkey with her colt in the nearby village? How did Jesus know that the owner would respond positively to the disciples cryptically saying “The Lord needs them”?

We’re not told anything more about this interchange and the gathering of the donkey and her colt; it happens just as Jesus says it will. So, here we have a glimpse of the Divinity of Jesus. Jesus knows what animals there will be and where they will be and that the owner will let them go with the simple command, “The Lord needs them.”

More importantly than how Jesus knows what He knows and why the owner of the donkey and the colt respond the way he does, is the question of why Jesus told the disciples to get the donkey and the colt in the first place. It certainly wasn’t too far for Jesus to walk from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem; He was used to walking all over Israel. Why, now, did He command the disciples to bring Him a donkey and her colt?

There are at least three reasons, and the first one is quite explicit in our text:

Jesus tells them to get the donkey and her colt in order to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah: “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

The people of Jesus’ day knew the Scripture well enough that they would see Jesus coming into Jerusalem on a donkey, with her colt, and they would associate what He is doing with this prophecy – that the King of Israel is coming to claim His throne and deliver them.

We will remember that Israel was under Roman rule at this time and a large percentage of the population was looking forward to the day when they would throw off their oppressors and be the people of God, under His rule alone. So, this and other Scriptures like it would have been particularly on the minds of the Jews.

The second reason follows naturally from the first – after three years of telling people not to tell anyone Who He is, now the time has come – Jesus seeks to draw attention to Himself – He is finally, publically proclaiming that He is the King of Israel, the long-awaited Savior.

As He rides into Jerusalem with the crowd around Him, praising Him and glorifying God, all of Jerusalem is swept up in the procession – some welcoming Jesus, others wanting to know Who He thinks He is.

The third reason Jesus commands them to bring the donkey and her colt, we can gather from the idea of dominion that we find as we consider what the Image of God means: our God is a God Who cares about the Creation He created. So, knowing that the donkey has a young colt with her, which would be upset – to say the least – in having her mother taken from her while she is yet so young, Jesus compassionately instructs the disciples not to separate the donkey and her colt, but to bring them both for His Triumphal Entry.

And so, they bring the donkey and the colt to Jesus, and they put their cloaks on the donkey, and as they begin to make their way toward Jerusalem, many other people gather and throw their cloaks on the ground and cut branches from the trees to cushion the donkey’s way as she carries Jesus, God the King and Savior, into Jerusalem.

Let us notice the type of people that laud Jesus and march with Him into Jerusalem, claiming with Him His victorious reign – they are not the rich, the politicians, the influential members of society, and the religious leaders – at least the majority of them are not. How do we know that? Well, no one has a saddle for the donkey – they spread cloaks for Jesus to sit on. No one offers a horse and chariot for this Triumphal Entry. Their offerings – physically – are extremely modest. Jesus is welcomed and lauded by the poor, the outcasts, and the sick – the people He has spent most of His time ministering to.

And the crowds announce Jesus and praise Him by quoting the Psalmist:

“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

What are they saying? What does ‘hosanna” mean?

The word “hosanna” means “Save, we pray ” And it is implied in the word that that salvation that people are looking for is deliverance from the corrupt rule of humans and the restoration of the Rule of God. The intent of the word “hosanna” is the same as when we pray “Thy Kingdom come.”

When the people cry out, “Hosanna to the Son of David ,” they are crying out, “Save, we pray! Through Jesus, God’s King and Savior, the Rightful Heir to the Throne of David, bring us under Your Rule, God, and Yours alone.”

The poor, at least, have grown tired of being under Roman rule and even under the rule of bad kings in Israel and Judah. They have had enough – they want to return to the days before Saul when God alone ruled over them.

Are you tired of petty politics? Are you tired of wars? Are you tired of following God and then following after sin and then following after God and then following after sin? The day is coming when the cry of the people of Israel before Jesus will come in all its fullness. John describes it this way:

“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessings ’ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, ‘To the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever ’ And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen ’ and the elders fell down and worshiped” (Revelation 5:11-14, ESV).

The announcement has been made: Jesus is the legitimate heir to the throne of David, and He will restore the Kingdom of God in all its fullness, with God as the Sovereign Ruler over all in His Kingdom on earth.

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Jesus comes in the Name of the Almighty God – that is, Jesus comes with the authority that comes from God.

Luke records, “One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, ‘Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who is it that gave you this authority.’ He answered them, ‘I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?’ And they discussed it with one another, saying, ‘If we say, “From heaven,” he will say, “Why did you not believe him?” But if we say, “From man,” all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.’ So they answered that they did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things’” (Luke 20:1-8, ESV).

The author of Hebrews writes, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV).

Do we remember what it means to be “seated at the right hand”? To be “seated at the right hand” means “this person’s authority comes from.” So, what the scribes and elders and chief priests could not admit, and what the author of Hebrews explains to us, and what the crowd cries out to Jesus as He makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem is, “Jesus’ Authority comes from God”; “the Authority of Jesus is the Authority of God.”

Thirdly, in emphasis, the crowd cried out, “Hosanna in the highest!” “Save, we pray, in and from the heavens!” “The salvation that we require is from God – and that is the salvation that we receive through Jesus, our Redeemer and Savior.”

The nobodies of Israel flock around Jesus as He rides into Jerusalem, calling attention to Himself, bringing to mind the prophecy of the God-King Who would come and restore the Sovereign Reign of God on earth.

And they cried out from the Scripture:

Jesus is the Legitimate Heir to the Throne of David.

Jesus’ Authority is the Authority of God.

Jesus is the Savior and Redeemer that has been sent from heaven.

But some of the people of Jerusalem couldn’t see – they didn’t understand what was happening, “Who is this?” “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

The only answer that God provides to the request – the petition – “Hosanna!” – is Jesus. Jesus restores and brings the Kingdom of God among us and fulfills it in its fullness in the Kingdom.

Why didn’t everyone understand Who Jesus is? Why didn’t everyone welcome Him as He rode into Jerusalem? Why do the rich and the powerful and the knowledgeable tend to dismiss Him or minimize Him, while the poor and the rejected and the common person more likely see Him for Who He is and receive Him and His Salvation?

Hear this history:

“One of the Pharisees asked [Jesus] to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house, and he took his place at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing beside him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of a woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.’ And Jesus answering said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ And he answered, ’Say it, Teacher.’

“‘A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denari, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now, which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.’ And he said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then turning to the woman he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven – for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.’ And he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ Then those who were at the table began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you, go in peace’” (Luke 7:36-50, ESV).

As it was in Jesus’ day, so it is today: those who understand how great their sin is are more often those who turn to Him for forgiveness and salvation. Jesus Alone answers the cry, “Hosanna – save, we pray!”

I pray we all recognize Him as He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey with her colt in tow.

Let us pray:

Almighty God and Savior, You Who hold all authority as the Sovereign God and Only Ruler for all of eternity, we praise You and rejoice that You chose to send Your Son to live among us under Your Law and then to obediently follow You into Jerusalem, announcing that He is Immanuel – “God with us” – knowing the horror He would face at the hands of sinful human beings – like us – for revealing Who He is. Help us day by day to become more bold in proclaiming Who Your Son is, for we have much to be forgiven for, and Jesus is our Mighty Savior. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

"How It Will Be" Sermon: Isaiah 2:1-4

“How It Will Be”

[Isaiah 2:1-4]

March 18, 2018, Second Reformed Church

Thus far, we saw the prophet, Isaiah, present God’s case against the sin of Judah – the case for sending the Babylonians against Judah to punish them for their sins and take them into captivity.

“The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.”

In this morning’s text, Isaiah delivers the vision of the Word of God that he saw about how it will be for Jerusalem and Judah in the latter days.  This is a vision that would comfort and encourage the captives in Babylon while they lived out their years of exile.  It is a vision that would encourage them not to despair about the future of God’s people (Calvin, 91).  It is a vision of the fulfillment of God’s salvation of the remnant He promises to save.

“It shall come to pass in the latter days”

The question we need to ask as we begin our look at this text is when are “the latter days”?  What time period is God talking about?

In the Old Testament Jewish understanding, there are three time periods in history:  the Old Testament, the coming of the Messiah, and the latter days.  The New Testament understanding embraces what is taught in the Old – as we should expect – and just adds a fourth period – or divides the third into two, so the understanding is:  the Old Testament, the coming of the Messiah, the latter days, and the second coming of the Messiah.

Peter, James, Paul, Luke, and the author of Hebrews all state that they are living in the last days.  The last days or the latter days is the period of time between Jesus’ first coming and His second coming.  We, like the New Testament authors, are living in the last days – we are living in the latter days, which means that what Isaiah prophesies here is happening right now.

First, God is exalting the worship of Himself.

            “that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it,”

            “The mountain of the house of the Lord” is where Jerusalem is built:  Mount Zion.

            When Isaiah tells us that it shall be established as the highest of mountains and lifted about all the hills, is he saying that there will be an extreme change in the topography of the earth?  Currently, Mount Zion’s elevation is just over 2,500 feet, but that pales to Mount Everest’s over 29,000 – and there are 108 mountains that are over 23,000.  Is Isaiah saying that Mount Zion will rise up into the air an additional 27,000 feet?

            No.  When we consider the worship of the ancient world, we see that it was common to believe that the gods lived on top of the mountain – or on top of the hills – and so we have the gods of Mount Olympus, and so forth.

            So, let us look at what Isaiah is saying as symbolic – the mountain will not physically grow taller but the worship of the One and Triune God will grow in triumph and worship over all of the false gods.  The truth and the reality of our God will become greater and greater in the understanding of humanity.  How many people worship Odin, or Zeus, or Mars in the modern world?  Far, far fewer then in the ancient days.  How many more understand that there is One God Who exists in Three Persons and sent His Son to incarnate, live, die, and rise to be the Savior of all those who will believe?  Exponentially more!

            The author of Hebrews writes, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” (Hebrews 1:1-3, ESV).

            In the first coming of Jesus, God revealed the fullness of His salvation plan, fulfilling much of the Old Testament prophecy.  This began the last days, and saving belief in Jesus will continue to expand as the Holy Spirit convicts and converts people, until the last day, “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11, ESV).  As all of humanity walks before the throne of Jesus, every person shall confess that Jesus is God the Lord and Savior.

            As Isaiah says, the nations shall flow up the mountain to worship in Zion – as though a supernatural magnet is drawing nations to Zion!  Not the nation, not a nation, but as God intended from the beginning, the Gospel would be sent to the Jews first, and then to every nation in existence, so God will be worshipped by every type of person in existence.  As God promises Abraham:

“I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” (Genesis 22:17-18, ESV).

Paul explains that God works through the Jews to reveal Himself and His salvation and to secure Himself glory and worship:  “They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 9:4-5, ESV).

And so, all the nations have come to hear that Jesus is God the Christ, and they are streaming up Zion to worship God.  And the knowledge of the salvation of Jesus continues to grow throughout history, and God is all the more greatly magnified, as He triumphs more and more greatly over all the false gods.

And we might hear this and be a little puzzled, because it doesn’t seem like the true worship of God is growing in our area – it doesn’t seem like it is becoming more and more clear to more and more people that Jesus Alone is the Savior.  So, what’s going on?

God is saving His people in His time and by His plan.  God is Sovereign and is not shaken by what happens in one place or another.  So, we are to be obedient and trust Him.

God is exalting the worship of Himself.

Second, God is teaching many His Law, and they will obey.

            “and many peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”

            In response to the revelation that Jesus is God the Savior, many nations will stream towards Zion to worship, and as they do, they will call out to others – they will encourage others to join them – to come with them to the house of the God of Jacob.

            What do we tell others about coming to worship?  What would you say if your friend invited you over for 11 AM on a Sunday morning?

            “Oh, I can’t come over till later, I have to go to church.”

            “Ok, but I can’t make it till about 12:30, I’m going to church – that’s my thing – it makes me feel good.  And I want to make sure I can get some cookies and cake and check out the sale tables.  You just wait for me.”

            Or, “Thanks, I’d love to come over.  But first, why don’t you come with me to church?  We gather together as brothers and sisters to worship God and hear what He has to say and how we can live it out to please Him and have joy in our lives.”

            We are told that the nations will receive the Gospel and respond with joy and bring their friends and neighbors along to hear the Word of God and to do it.  There will be an urgent joy about being in the presence of God and sitting under His Word.

            This has happened in larger groups in the Reformation and in the first Great Awakening.  It may happen to you on one day and not the next.  I remember when something like this happened and I was in attendance, Rev. Iain Murray was preaching.  It was past 9 PM – his allotted time to preach was over, and he said that he had more, but out of respect for the schedule and our sleep, he would stop, and as a man, some three hundred of us in attendance called out together, “Preach, brother!”  God the Holy Spirit was there and moved us to an urgent joy in hearing the Word of God preached.

            May we have an urgent joy to be under the reading and preaching of the Word of God, and to bring along all those we can – knowing that there is One Savior. 

And that’s not all, of course:  God says believers were urgently joyful to worship and to bring others along to hear the Word of God and to obey it – to live it out – to be the people God has called us to be and to do what He has commanded.

Does God’s Word excite you?  Do you want to know what He said and to live it?  Do you want others to know?  Are you concerned for their salvation?  Do you love them that much?  Do you believe that surely?

And God says that as these people come up to Zion to hear the Word of God and know the Savior and learn how to be obedient, and as they bring their friends and family and they hear the Word of God and learn how to live it out, they return to their everyday lives and tell others!

This is a normal response, as we read:

“And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David.’ When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then he touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith be it done to you.’ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, ‘See that no one knows about it.’ But they went away and spread his fame through all that district” (Matthew 9:27-31, ESV).

We cannot keep quiet when God the Holy Spirit stirs our hearts and enflames us with the love of Jesus.  We desire that others know Him and be saved.

And this is the command of Jesus, as well:

“Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things’” (Luke 24:44-48, ESV).

            God is teaching many His Law, and they will obey.

            Third, God reigns over His people in peace.

            “He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

            The first thing we need to notice here is that this text is not about the final judgment where Jesus receives some to Himself and sends others to eternal torture in Hell.  No, this is about Jesus’ reign now in history between His first and second comings.

            The author of Hebrews writes, “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet” (Hebrews 10:12-13, ESV).

            When we see the expression “at the right hand,” we are to understand this to mean that Jesus has the same authority that God the Father has.  Jesus is ruling – He is governing – He is sovereignly reigning over all of Creation right now and forevermore.

            And we might ask, “Well, wasn’t He reigning over everything from the beginning?”  The Son of God has been reigning from eternity past, but He has only reigned in His incarnate human body since “the last days.”

            Jesus is sovereignly reigning over us and all of Creation right now.  And He and the Father have sent the Person of God the Holy Spirit – to indwell us – to guide us and lead us in being one together as the Church.  It is in this way that He judges and settles disputes now, as we are guided by the Holy Spirit, knowing what God has said and how we are to love our brothers and sisters – we do not argue and dispute with each other like the world, but we settle our disputes within the bounds of the Church.

            Rather than attacking each other with swords and spears and other instruments of violence when we are at odds with each other, we are known as a people who work together for the good – for our common advantage.  And in this cultural context, the swords and spears are refashioned into agricultural instruments.

            Paul writes, “From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:16-21, ESV).

            This is the Doctrine of Reconciliation.  Just as Jesus has reconciled us to God the Father, we are to be reconciled to each other.  We are not to seek to injure or go to war with one another, but rather, we are to seek the mutual friendship of one another in Christ.  The Holy Spirit unites us in Christ.  We are one people who seek first and foremost to love and obey God and then to love our fellow Christians that the world would be drawn to our Savior and we would have joy.

            God reigns over His people in peace.

            Two hundred years before Judah was taken into captivity and eight hundred years before this came to pass, God gave Judah this hope – for hope it will be – and so it is:

            God is exalting the worship of Himself.

            God is teaching many His Law, and they will obey.

            And God is reigning over His people in peace.

            Let this be our hope and our reality as we spread the Gospel.

Let us pray:

            Almighty God, we thank You for the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit and ask that He would help us to desire to hear and read Your Word and to hear it preached.  Help us to obey You and to bring others to hear about Who You are and what You have done to save a people for Yourself.  And help us to be a people who are known for our love – especially of our brothers and sisters, so the world will wonder what is going on and come to hear Your Word.  May you be glorified in all these things.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.