Celebrating Jesus: Our King, Victor, and High Priest
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Reflect with me for a moment on the definition of worship. If you look up worship in the dictionary, it means to show honor or reverence for something. Another part of the definition might be to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor or devotion. Some of the examples he gives in the dictionary is a divine being you might show reverence or honor to, a supernatural power, a celebrity, or actual things, material things. [00:33:58] (41 seconds)
But two pastors I've read recently, they expanded the definition a little bit to us, to those of us who are striving in this journey of life and faith. One said this, worship is anything you give your time, attention, and allegiance to. Think about that for a moment. Anything you give considerable time, considerable attention and considerable allegiance to. [00:34:40] (33 seconds)
A second pastor said, but what we choose to pay attention to, to regard as the greatest and highest ideal, and also added what we set our eyes upon. I like that statement, what we set our eyes upon. That means what we focus on, what we put our attention on. And so let's talk about a moment, some of the things that we put our attention on, that we put our eyes on as we consider worship. [00:35:12] (33 seconds)
Hopefully, we worship God, right? We put our eyes upon Him. We give Him attention. We give Him honor. We give Him our reverence, right? But other things, screen time, and this is all screen time. It could be TVs. If you sit in front of the TVs for hours on end, it could be computers. It could be mobile phones. It could be mobile devices, iPads, and the like. You pick your screen or multiples. [00:35:57] (33 seconds)
Activities, it could be golf, tennis, bridge, concerts, sports, basketball, football, college or pro sports, miscellaneous things like stock market, news, education, real estate, cars, watches, readings, and we could go on and on. I could ask you all, and y 'all could add to the list. But the big question for us today is, what do we worship? [00:36:29] (31 seconds)
Worship is so foundational to the Christian faith. And as we look at our symbol today, our symbol, if you remember one thing, our symbol should remind us that we are called to worship the one true God. We're going to look at the palms. We read the scripture. It's a common one. Jesus comes into Jerusalem in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. He's arriving for the final time. [00:36:50] (35 seconds)
And His disciples, along with those who are beginning to line up on the road because they hear He's coming, and they've heard about the great things He has done, like raising Lazarus from the dead. They're coming to see Jesus, and they're coming to celebrate what they hope Jesus is and will be. And so they come to give Him honor, and they come to give Him reverence. [00:37:25] (30 seconds)
We know some several things about His entry into Jerusalem. He came in what's considered the king's way into Jerusalem. Jerusalem, the old city, has several different gates around it. And the king's way came in through the gate of David, King David. And so there, in the king's way, that's where generals enter into the city. It's where King Herod would have entered into the city. [00:38:02] (29 seconds)
And so for Jesus, what they were saying is, they had this great anticipation and hope that he would be the Messiah. And so they were hailing him as a victor as they waved the palm branches. One of the things that Jesus told us, how does it relate to us, is he told us in John chapter 16, verse 33, I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. [00:44:02] (34 seconds)
So when you become a believer, when you're walking the Christian faith, whether you're new to the faith or you've been at it for a long time, we cannot say, oh, I don't know what's happening. I'm having trouble. Maybe I don't believe. That's not it. Jesus said, you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world. Jesus told us that he was the victor. [00:44:37] (27 seconds)
We have scripture in Philippians chapter 2, verses 10 and 11. Paul writes that one day when the king comes, when he comes, returns in glory, every knee at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven on earth and under earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. Friends, we worship the one true king. [00:47:06] (29 seconds)
Friends, may we not look at these palm branches as just pretty things that we focus on once a year, but may they remind us of who Jesus is, and may they remind us of our responsibility to worship him and to give ourselves to him. Amen? Let us pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your amazing love for us. [00:57:09] (28 seconds)
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But two pastors I've read recently, they expanded the definition a little bit to us, to those of us who are striving in this journey of life and faith. One said this, worship is anything you give your time, attention, and allegiance to. Think about that for a moment. Anything you give considerable time, considerable attention and considerable allegiance to. [00:34:40] (33 seconds)
A second pastor said, but what we choose to pay attention to, to regard as the greatest and highest ideal, and also added what we set our eyes upon. I like that statement, what we set our eyes upon. That means what we focus on, what we put our attention on. And so let's talk about a moment, some of the things that we put our attention on, that we put our eyes on as we consider worship. [00:35:12] (33 seconds)
Hopefully, we worship God, right? We put our eyes upon Him. We give Him attention. We give Him honor. We give Him our reverence, right? But other things, screen time, and this is all screen time. It could be TVs. If you sit in front of the TVs for hours on end, it could be computers. It could be mobile phones. It could be mobile devices, iPads, and the like. You pick your screen or multiples. [00:35:57] (33 seconds)
Activities, it could be golf, tennis, bridge, concerts, sports, basketball, football, college or pro sports, miscellaneous things like stock market, news, education, real estate, cars, watches, readings, and we could go on and on. I could ask you all, and y 'all could add to the list. But the big question for us today is, what do we worship? [00:36:29] (31 seconds)
Worship is so foundational to the Christian faith. And as we look at our symbol today, our symbol, if you remember one thing, our symbol should remind us that we are called to worship the one true God. We're going to look at the palms. We read the scripture. It's a common one. Jesus comes into Jerusalem in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. He's arriving for the final time. [00:36:50] (35 seconds)
And His disciples, along with those who are beginning to line up on the road because they hear He's coming, and they've heard about the great things He has done, like raising Lazarus from the dead. They're coming to see Jesus, and they're coming to celebrate what they hope Jesus is and will be. And so they come to give Him honor, and they come to give Him reverence. [00:37:25] (30 seconds)
We know some several things about His entry into Jerusalem. He came in what's considered the king's way into Jerusalem. Jerusalem, the old city, has several different gates around it. And the king's way came in through the gate of David, King David. And so there, in the king's way, that's where generals enter into the city. It's where King Herod would have entered into the city. [00:38:02] (29 seconds)
And so for Jesus, what they were saying is, they had this great anticipation and hope that he would be the Messiah. And so they were hailing him as a victor as they waved the palm branches. One of the things that Jesus told us, how does it relate to us, is he told us in John chapter 16, verse 33, I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. [00:44:02] (34 seconds)
So when you become a believer, when you're walking the Christian faith, whether you're new to the faith or you've been at it for a long time, we cannot say, oh, I don't know what's happening. I'm having trouble. Maybe I don't believe. That's not it. Jesus said, you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world. Jesus told us that he was the victor. [00:44:37] (27 seconds)
We have scripture in Philippians chapter 2, verses 10 and 11. Paul writes that one day when the king comes, when he comes, returns in glory, every knee at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven on earth and under earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. Friends, we worship the one true king. [00:47:06] (29 seconds)
Friends, may we not look at these palm branches as just pretty things that we focus on once a year, but may they remind us of who Jesus is, and may they remind us of our responsibility to worship him and to give ourselves to him. Amen? Let us pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your amazing love for us. [00:57:09] (28 seconds)
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