From Praise to Condemnation: The True Journey of Jesus
Summary
On this beautiful Palm Sunday, we gather to reflect on the journey of Jesus from being hailed as a king to being condemned as a criminal. This transition is not just a historical event but a profound lesson for us today. As Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowds celebrated Him, laying down cloaks and palm branches, shouting "Hosanna," which means "save us." This act was a declaration of submission to His authority. However, within just five days, the same voices that praised Him called for His crucifixion. This drastic change prompts us to ask: what happened in those five days?
Jesus' actions during this time were pivotal. He cleansed the temple, confronting greed and corruption. He challenged the fruitlessness of the religious leaders and exposed hypocrisy. He spoke of kingdom allegiance over political allegiance, which upset many. These actions and teachings were hard truths that the people were not ready to accept. They expected a Messiah who would overthrow the Roman Empire and establish a worldly kingdom. Instead, Jesus came to establish a spiritual kingdom, one that required humility, service, and sacrifice.
This story is a mirror for our own lives. How often do we start our journey with Christ with enthusiasm, only to falter when faced with hard truths or unmet expectations? Jesus' teachings challenge us to examine our own faith. Are we following Him for who He truly is, or for who we want Him to be? Are we willing to submit to His authority, even when it means confronting uncomfortable truths?
As we reflect on this Holy Week, let us remember that Jesus is our Savior. He saved us from sin, death, and the power of evil. This recognition should transform our lives, leading us to live fully submitted to Him. Let us not be like those who laid down cloaks only to pick them up again, but rather, let us throw ourselves at the foot of the cross, fully surrendered to His will.
Key Takeaways:
- The Nature of True Submission: The act of laying down cloaks was a symbol of submission to Jesus' authority. True submission to Christ means laying down our own desires and expectations, even when His path challenges our understanding. [07:34]
- Confronting Hard Truths: Jesus' teachings during Holy Week were hard for many to accept. As believers, we must be willing to confront and wrestle with the hard truths of Scripture, allowing them to transform us rather than abandoning them when they challenge our comfort. [15:43]
- The Danger of Emotional Faith: The crowds' shift from "Hosanna" to "crucify Him" highlights the danger of a faith based solely on emotions. True faith must be anchored in the truth of God's Word, not just in how we feel. [20:16]
- Jesus' True Kingdom: The people expected a Messiah who would establish a worldly kingdom. Jesus came to establish a spiritual kingdom, one that requires humility and service. We must align our expectations with His true mission. [25:23]
- Recognizing Jesus as Savior: Understanding Jesus as our Savior transforms our lives. He saves us from sin and death, and this recognition should lead us to live fully submitted to Him, not just in times of crisis but in every aspect of our lives. [31:43]
Youtube Chapters:
- [00:00] - Welcome
- [07:34] - Choosing a Football Team
- [15:43] - Palm Sunday: King to Criminal
- [20:16] - Jesus' Actions During Holy Week
- [25:23] - Confronting Hard Truths
- [28:33] - Emotional Faith vs. Truth
- [31:43] - Jesus' True Kingdom
- [33:37] - Who is Jesus to You?
- [35:52] - Revival and True Submission
- [37:32] - Jesus as Savior
- [39:37] - Worship and Reflection
Study Guide
Bible Study Discussion Guide
Bible Reading:
- Matthew 21:1-11
- Luke 23:18-21
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Observation Questions:
1. What actions did the crowd take to show their submission to Jesus as He entered Jerusalem? How did this change by the end of the week? [15:43]
2. What were some of the key actions and teachings of Jesus during the five days between His entry into Jerusalem and His crucifixion? [20:16]
3. How did the religious leaders and the crowd react to Jesus' teachings and actions during Holy Week? [25:23]
4. What was the significance of the crowd shouting "Hosanna" and later "Crucify Him"? What does this reveal about their understanding of Jesus' mission? [31:43]
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Interpretation Questions:
1. How does the act of laying down cloaks symbolize true submission to Jesus' authority, and what does this teach us about our own submission to Christ? [15:43]
2. In what ways did Jesus' actions during Holy Week challenge the expectations of the people and religious leaders? How might this apply to our own expectations of Jesus today? [20:16]
3. What does the shift from "Hosanna" to "Crucify Him" reveal about the nature of emotional faith versus faith grounded in truth? [28:33]
4. How does recognizing Jesus as Savior transform our understanding of His mission and our response to His teachings? [31:43]
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Application Questions:
1. Reflect on a time when your expectations of Jesus did not align with His teachings. How did you respond, and what did you learn from that experience? [20:16]
2. Consider the areas in your life where you might be resisting true submission to Jesus' authority. What steps can you take to fully surrender those areas to Him? [15:43]
3. How can you ensure that your faith is anchored in the truth of God's Word rather than fluctuating emotions? What practices can help you stay grounded? [28:33]
4. Identify a hard truth from Scripture that you have struggled to accept. How can you wrestle with this truth in a way that leads to transformation rather than abandonment? [25:23]
5. Think about the expectations you have of Jesus. How can you align them more closely with His true mission of establishing a spiritual kingdom? [31:43]
6. In what ways can you live out the recognition of Jesus as your Savior in your daily life, beyond times of crisis? [37:32]
7. How can you cultivate a lifestyle of revival, where your actions reflect a life fully submitted to Jesus as Savior and King? [35:52]
Devotional
Day 1: True Submission to Christ's Authority
True submission to Christ involves laying down our own desires and expectations, even when His path challenges our understanding. The act of laying down cloaks and palm branches as Jesus entered Jerusalem was a powerful symbol of submission to His authority. However, true submission goes beyond symbolic gestures; it requires a heart fully surrendered to His will. This means being willing to let go of our own plans and desires, trusting that His ways are higher and better than ours. It involves a daily decision to follow Him, even when it leads us into uncomfortable or challenging situations. [07:34]
Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV): "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Reflection: What is one area of your life where you find yourself holding back from surrendering to Jesus? What would surrendering this area to Him actually look like in terms of daily habits?
Day 2: Embracing Hard Truths
Jesus' teachings during Holy Week were hard for many to accept, as they challenged the status quo and exposed hypocrisy. As believers, we must be willing to confront and wrestle with the hard truths of Scripture, allowing them to transform us rather than abandoning them when they challenge our comfort. This requires humility and a willingness to be corrected and refined by God's Word. It means being open to the possibility that we may need to change our attitudes, behaviors, or beliefs in light of what Scripture reveals. [15:43]
Hebrews 4:12 (ESV): "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
Reflection: Think of a recent time when a passage of Scripture challenged you. How did you respond, and what steps can you take to allow God's Word to transform you in that area?
Day 3: Anchoring Faith Beyond Emotions
The crowds' shift from "Hosanna" to "crucify Him" highlights the danger of a faith based solely on emotions. True faith must be anchored in the truth of God's Word, not just in how we feel. Emotions can be fleeting and unreliable, but God's Word is steadfast and unchanging. As believers, we are called to build our faith on the solid foundation of Scripture, allowing it to guide and sustain us through all circumstances. This means prioritizing time in God's Word and seeking to understand and apply its truths to our lives. [20:16]
Matthew 7:24-25 (ESV): "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock."
Reflection: Reflect on a time when your faith was primarily driven by emotions. How can you begin to anchor your faith more deeply in the truth of God's Word today?
Day 4: Aligning with Jesus' True Kingdom
The people expected a Messiah who would establish a worldly kingdom, but Jesus came to establish a spiritual kingdom that requires humility and service. We must align our expectations with His true mission, recognizing that His kingdom is not of this world. This means prioritizing spiritual values over worldly success and seeking to serve others rather than seeking power or recognition. It involves a shift in perspective, where we view our lives and actions through the lens of God's eternal kingdom rather than temporary earthly gains. [25:23]
John 18:36 (ESV): "Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.'"
Reflection: In what ways have you been seeking a worldly kingdom rather than Jesus' spiritual kingdom? How can you begin to align your priorities with His true mission today?
Day 5: Recognizing Jesus as Savior
Understanding Jesus as our Savior transforms our lives. He saves us from sin and death, and this recognition should lead us to live fully submitted to Him, not just in times of crisis but in every aspect of our lives. This involves acknowledging our need for His grace and allowing His love to shape our identity and actions. It means living with the assurance of His salvation and letting that assurance guide our decisions, relationships, and purpose. [31:43]
Titus 2:11-12 (ESV): "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age."
Reflection: How does recognizing Jesus as your Savior impact your daily life? What changes can you make to live more fully in light of His salvation today?
Quotes
The question is what happened in five days that caused these people to abandon their faith and their belief in order to embrace something different see because what happened in the middle is very important and I think it'll even speak to so many of us that start off the race on the right foot we start off following following following Jesus passionately wholeheartedly submitted in part until something strikes the nerve something happens whatever that we later find ourselves maybe no longer following him to the extent that God has called us to I want to start out of the book of Matthew chapter 21 verses 1 through 11 the Bible says this as they approached Jerusalem and they came to Bethpage on the Mount of Olives Jesus sent two of his disciples and he said to them go to the village ahead of you and at once you're gonna find a donkey. [00:11:13] (57 seconds)
Now a very large crowd they spread their cloaks on the road while others cut branches from the trees and they spread them on the road verse 9 says this the crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed they shouted hosanna to the son of david hosanna meaning save us or savior blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord hosanna savior save us in the highest heaven and now when jesus entered jerusalem the whole city was stirred and they asked who is this and the crowds answered this is jesus the prophet from nazareth in galilee here is jesus coming into the town on a sunday i want to fast forward to friday friday he has already been arrested he's already been betrayed he's now being brought before pilate and the people and pilate is trying to convince the crowd that jesus has done nothing wrong and now he is appealing to the crowd. [00:13:28] (59 seconds)
But the whole crowd shouted away with this man release barabbas to us barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city and for murder wanting to release jesus pilate appealed to them again here is this unbeliever this non -jewish person that is going to bat for jesus and jesus's own people can't see that they are standing before the truth but they kept shouting crucify him, crucify him. So here's Jesus. He's coming into the city. This is Holy Week. He's coming into town. He's getting ready to ride in his triumphal entry. The disciples have taken their cloaks and they've placed it on the colt so that Jesus could sit upon that. That's significant because that was a sign of submission. [00:13:28] (54 seconds)
The disciples were letting Jesus know that we too are submitted to your lordship. We too are submitted to you as king. And so that takes place and now they ride into the city and now the people begin to take their cloaks off and they too begin to lay it on the floor so that the colt that Jesus is upon can walk over the cloaks. That is also symbolic. They didn't just do it for the sake of it so the donkey wouldn't step in a puddle. They did it because it was a sign of surrender. It was a sign that said we too are submitted to your authority Jesus. We too are submitted to your kingship. So you have this moment in where the 12 disciples have declared with their actions we are submitted to you as king. [00:14:14] (47 seconds)
You have the Jewish community in that city that is also declaring with their actions we are submitted to you as king and we are submitted to your lordship. And then you fast forward five days and those very same people that said they were submitted to his lordship, the very same people that cried out, Hosanna, save us, are the very same people that are now yelling, crucify him. The question is what happened? Why in the world would these people turn on Jesus so quickly? Why would they turn their backs on him? Well, in order for us to answer that, we have to look at what happened in between those five days. There's a lot of things. Jesus actually did a lot of ministry within that time span. [00:14:52] (44 seconds)
And I've kind of narrowed it down to a few peculiar days and a particular days in things that show why it could possibly have happened. See, after Jesus wrote in on Monday, he began to cleanse the temple. See, what Jesus was doing is he was confronting greed and the corrupt religion. Do you know why Jesus was upset when he came into the temple and he started flipping tables, took his belt off, started whipping fools like a Latin mom going through the house chasing her son? Because Jesus was upset at the weight that the greedy people had put on his people. People would come in from all over during this time to offer sacrifices in the temple. But they would have to come into the temple ground and they would have to purchase an animal in order to be sacrificed. [00:15:42] (44 seconds)
Jesus flipped the tables and they lost their means of making income during those few days when the sacrifices would be offered. So people were angry. Then on Tuesday, Jesus, he's like, that's not enough. I got to go make some more people mad. Jesus has a moment when he's talking with his disciples and there's a fig tree and it withers and he's teaching them in the temple. And what Jesus is confronting is the fruitlessness and empty religion of the Pharisees. Tuesday continues to go on. Jesus has second service and he continues to teach parables and he continues to confront. And what does he do? He exposes hypocrisy in the church. He challenges the hypocrisy amongst the Sadducees and the Pharisees. [00:17:24] (44 seconds)
That wasn't enough. Jesus said, I'm going to add a Spanish service. So he goes on. And then Jesus is now having a political conversation. So now Jesus is talking politics. And he says, render unto Caesars what's unto Caesars and what's God's unto God's. They try to tap Jesus. in this political question. So Jesus is declaring kingdom allegiance over political allegiance, right? Because we know that Jesus was a Republican. Oh, I'm sorry, he was a Democrat. No, he was the lamb of God that was slain upon the cross. That's who he was. So he's making some nationalists a little upset. He continues to go on with the final debates and he has about the seven woes. [00:17:38] (44 seconds)
Woe to you because of this, this woe to you because of that. And so Jesus is now condemning the religious hypocrisy. That was not enough. The evening would come and Jesus would continue his discourse and he would prepare his followers for the future. He would talk about the temple being destroyed and rebuilt in three days. And that made the religious people angry and wanted to kill him. And it was after that moment that they said enough is enough. Wednesday would come and he would be betrayed by Judas, Judas would say it's enough. Do you know why Judas said it was enough? Do you know why Judas sold Jesus out? I've shared this in other sermons in different series, but the reason that Judas quite possibly sold Jesus out on Wednesday, I think he was giving Jesus a little bit of a buffer to see if he was gonna do what he wanted him to do. [00:18:19] (51 seconds)
Judas sold Jesus out because it's believed that Judas was a part of a sect called the Iscariots, or these dagger men. And these dagger men were believed to carry swords, these daggers around them with them, everywhere they went. Do you know why they carried those swords? They carried those swords because they believed that at any time the Messiah would come. And when the Messiah would come, he would wage war on the Roman Empire and the Roman rule. And so they figured if he comes to fight, we gotta fight with him. So we're gonna carry our strap and we're gonna be ready to go when this happens. So Judas is following Jesus for his own selfish gain, and his own selfish ambition. Judas is following Jesus based on a lie and a truth that he created, which Jesus said he would never do. [00:19:32] (44 seconds)
And so when he's dealing with the deep disappointment, he determines that he's gonna sell Jesus out. I think we sell Jesus out when we're most disappointed with him. And I mean selling him out like we get angry, upset, frustrated, we turn away from him. and we stop praying, we stop leaning into the things of God. So he's betrayed, and then he's anointed for death come Friday, the civil trial before Pilate and Herod. And Jesus is condemned by fearful leaders and a manipulated crowd. What is the reason that they crucified Jesus? What was the reason that they went from Hosanna, Hosanna to crucify him? Because Jesus addressed the following issues. He addressed money, he addressed religion, he addressed authority, he addressed politics, and he addressed life after death. [00:20:32] (49 seconds)
How many of you have ever been going to Thanksgiving dinner? Christmas dinner, you're in your car, and you and your spouse are having a conversation, or your mom and dad are having a conversation with you. Pepito, whatever you do, don't bring up politics. Michelle, whatever you do, do not talk about church. There's like these things that you don't talk about because they're sensitive issues, they're taboo issues. And Jesus says, no, we're gonna go there. No, we're gonna absolutely go there, and we're gonna lean in there. So what happened within those five days is Jesus essentially brought such a strong teaching of truth that he rebuked the religious system of that time and caused people's eyes to be open and question the corrupt religious system of that time. [00:20:59] (47 seconds)
And so the religious people were upset because they would lose their means of income, they would lose their authority, they would lose their status if they actually knew the truth because he is the truth. Sometimes the truth is hard to swallow, especially when you're convicted with a scriptural truth. When Jesus gives you a hard truth. See, when scripture says something we don't like, we either explain it away or we walk away. Too many of you are basing your religious spiritual life on your feelings. Well, I don't feel that that's correct. I don't feel, who gives a rip how you feel? It's true. You can feel whatever you want as long as we come back to at the end of the day, this is truth. [00:21:47] (45 seconds)
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