Celebrating Victory Amidst Suffering: A Palm Sunday Reflection
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You see, Paul is looking at people that he's pouring into, and he's seeing life transformed, and he's seeing people that were worshiping pagan idols, and now they're worshiping the living God. He's seeing marriages that were brutal, and the husband was beating the wife, and now they're a godly family. He was seeing people that were thieves who now are doing things that are honoring to God, people who are living sexually immoral lives who now are living in wholeness. He's seeing that, and he's saying, that's my crown. [00:58:24] (34 seconds)
But this is a matter of perspective. Paul is saying, because of these light and momentary troubles, they are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. Friends, if you cannot look beyond this present life, when you face stuff because you're a follower of Jesus, it's going to be very easy to just say, it's not worth it. It's got to be more than just what you see here and now. You have to be able to look beyond to what is to come. Verse 18, so we fix our eyes, right? We're not just thinking about what's here and now, but we fix our eyes on what, or not what is seen here in this present world, but what is unseen, what is coming. Since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. [00:43:55] (56 seconds)
When our faith has been tested and proven, we're greatly rejoicing. And even seeing these things around us, we can greatly rejoice because we know that God is using them to make us more like Jesus, to prove our faith. And when Jesus comes again and is revealed, we'll experience praise and glory and honor. Verse 8, though you have not seen him, that is Jesus, you love him. And even though you do not see him now, even though you do not see him now, what should you do now? You believe in him and are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy. [00:51:14] (37 seconds)
So, the writer of Hebrews says, And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. So, he's describing the Christian life like a race, like a, maybe like a mudder race, right? You know, it's a long race, going through a lot of hardships. Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Notice, he doesn't suggest it's going to be easy, but persevere in it. There's a race marked out for us. Run it. Fixing our eyes on Jesus. Why fix our eyes on Jesus? Why? Because he is the pioneer and perfecter of faith. [00:33:46] (39 seconds)
But he says, look, I'm coming soon. My reward is with me. So there's something about the fact that we will be rewarded that should be influencing the way we live and act and believe here and now. By the way, we'll talk about a reward at the end, but let me just say that the Bible talks about rewards like crowns. A crown of life. You can imagine what that means. It's meaning we'll have eternal life. A crown of righteousness. A crown of glory. A crown that's incorruptible. I'm sure that what God means by this is more than just a piece of jewelry. [00:32:11] (49 seconds)
And I feel like being resolute is us thinking about what's at the end, seeing the right answer, seeing that there will be heaven, there will be a reward. And because of that, even the hard work of getting there is worth it because we know what's at the end. It says of Jesus in Luke chapter 9, if you know that Luke's gospel has 24 chapters in it, so we're at Luke chapter 9, we're not even to halfway point. And it says this, as the time approached for him, that is Jesus, to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. [00:40:14] (43 seconds)
The cross is God's idea. The father, the son, the Holy Spirit saying, uh, we want to bring resolution to this, uh, sin problem. And the way it's going to happen is, is someone needs to be sinless, live a sinless life, and yet take on sin for all of humanity so that humanity can then be set free from the bondage that Satan has them under. And Jesus has to, or does say, I'll be that one. I'm sure the father, the son, the Holy Spirit, they, they made a plan and, and, and Jesus said, I'll be the one, the second person of the Trinity. I'll be the one who takes on flesh, lives a human life, faces opposition. I'll endure the cross. So first of all, I want you to understand that being a follower of Jesus and, and living into your calling, and there's going to be a cross somewhere. [00:37:11] (52 seconds)
What does it mean that he scorned the shame of the cross? So first of all, let's understand that the cross was shameful to everybody. I talked a lot about it last week because in the Old Testament, it says anybody hung on a tree was considered cursed by God. So in front of the Jews, when Jesus is crucified, he is considered cursed. And in the eyes of the Romans, they would only crucify people that were the worst of the worst. It's terribly shameful. Here he is. He is the most righteous human being, the only perfect human being to have ever lived. He is the one who created the world with the Father and the Son, the triune God. And now he's being nailed to a cross. He had legions, thousands of angels at his disposal, but he's got to just not call on them. And he takes the shame of the cross. [00:46:43] (54 seconds)
That's how God created things, to walk among Adam and Eve and walk among humanity. But then, because of sin, they were banished from the garden of Eden. But we see that God will again be with us and will be with us face to face in an intimate sort of way. We see that Satan comes into the picture in Genesis 3, and that brings a curse and destruction. And we see, at the end of the Bible, we see that there is no longer any curse, and that Satan is not there. Satan is bound, and he is removed. [00:29:34] (35 seconds)
So this morning, even though we know that the crucifixion of Friday is coming, the betrayal of Thursday night is coming. Even though those things are coming, we want you to be ready even to rehearse that we are praising because he deserves. He is the champ. So we're going to praise him this morning. The kids are going to help us even as we begin the service. And so you're going to see some words up on the screen. I want you to know those are kind of to help cue the kids. Let's let the kids set the tone and then we're going to lift our voices as we cut down the nets of praise this morning. [00:04:37] (39 seconds)
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But this is a matter of perspective. Paul is saying, because of these light and momentary troubles, they are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. Friends, if you cannot look beyond this present life, when you face stuff because you're a follower of Jesus, it's going to be very easy to just say, it's not worth it. It's got to be more than just what you see here and now. You have to be able to look beyond to what is to come. Verse 18, so we fix our eyes, right? We're not just thinking about what's here and now, but we fix our eyes on what, or not what is seen here in this present world, but what is unseen, what is coming. Since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. [00:43:55] (56 seconds)
When our faith has been tested and proven, we're greatly rejoicing. And even seeing these things around us, we can greatly rejoice because we know that God is using them to make us more like Jesus, to prove our faith. And when Jesus comes again and is revealed, we'll experience praise and glory and honor. Verse 8, though you have not seen him, that is Jesus, you love him. And even though you do not see him now, even though you do not see him now, what should you do now? You believe in him and are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy. [00:51:14] (37 seconds)
So, the writer of Hebrews says, And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. So, he's describing the Christian life like a race, like a, maybe like a mudder race, right? You know, it's a long race, going through a lot of hardships. Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Notice, he doesn't suggest it's going to be easy, but persevere in it. There's a race marked out for us. Run it. Fixing our eyes on Jesus. Why fix our eyes on Jesus? Why? Because he is the pioneer and perfecter of faith. [00:33:46] (39 seconds)
But he says, look, I'm coming soon. My reward is with me. So there's something about the fact that we will be rewarded that should be influencing the way we live and act and believe here and now. By the way, we'll talk about a reward at the end, but let me just say that the Bible talks about rewards like crowns. A crown of life. You can imagine what that means. It's meaning we'll have eternal life. A crown of righteousness. A crown of glory. A crown that's incorruptible. I'm sure that what God means by this is more than just a piece of jewelry. [00:32:11] (49 seconds)
And I feel like being resolute is us thinking about what's at the end, seeing the right answer, seeing that there will be heaven, there will be a reward. And because of that, even the hard work of getting there is worth it because we know what's at the end. It says of Jesus in Luke chapter 9, if you know that Luke's gospel has 24 chapters in it, so we're at Luke chapter 9, we're not even to halfway point. And it says this, as the time approached for him, that is Jesus, to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. [00:40:14] (43 seconds)
The cross is God's idea. The father, the son, the Holy Spirit saying, uh, we want to bring resolution to this, uh, sin problem. And the way it's going to happen is, is someone needs to be sinless, live a sinless life, and yet take on sin for all of humanity so that humanity can then be set free from the bondage that Satan has them under. And Jesus has to, or does say, I'll be that one. I'm sure the father, the son, the Holy Spirit, they, they made a plan and, and, and Jesus said, I'll be the one, the second person of the Trinity. I'll be the one who takes on flesh, lives a human life, faces opposition. I'll endure the cross. So first of all, I want you to understand that being a follower of Jesus and, and living into your calling, and there's going to be a cross somewhere. [00:37:11] (52 seconds)
What does it mean that he scorned the shame of the cross? So first of all, let's understand that the cross was shameful to everybody. I talked a lot about it last week because in the Old Testament, it says anybody hung on a tree was considered cursed by God. So in front of the Jews, when Jesus is crucified, he is considered cursed. And in the eyes of the Romans, they would only crucify people that were the worst of the worst. It's terribly shameful. Here he is. He is the most righteous human being, the only perfect human being to have ever lived. He is the one who created the world with the Father and the Son, the triune God. And now he's being nailed to a cross. He had legions, thousands of angels at his disposal, but he's got to just not call on them. And he takes the shame of the cross. [00:46:43] (54 seconds)
That's how God created things, to walk among Adam and Eve and walk among humanity. But then, because of sin, they were banished from the garden of Eden. But we see that God will again be with us and will be with us face to face in an intimate sort of way. We see that Satan comes into the picture in Genesis 3, and that brings a curse and destruction. And we see, at the end of the Bible, we see that there is no longer any curse, and that Satan is not there. Satan is bound, and he is removed. [00:29:34] (35 seconds)
So this morning, even though we know that the crucifixion of Friday is coming, the betrayal of Thursday night is coming. Even though those things are coming, we want you to be ready even to rehearse that we are praising because he deserves. He is the champ. So we're going to praise him this morning. The kids are going to help us even as we begin the service. And so you're going to see some words up on the screen. I want you to know those are kind of to help cue the kids. Let's let the kids set the tone and then we're going to lift our voices as we cut down the nets of praise this morning. [00:04:37] (39 seconds)
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