Everyone Loves a Parade

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 24th of March, 2024 - Palm Sunday and the sixth and final Sunday in Lent.  A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

Family, today is Palm Sunday and the sixth and final Sunday in our season of Lent, our time to look deep within ourselves to see if we are living as God would have us live.  Today we celebrate our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem for what will be His last trip to the Holy City.

The cross is looming ever closer, almost in sight now as our walk through Lent nearly ends.  We will mark that end, and our Lord’s arrest, this coming Thursday afternoon.  But for today, let us join the crowds and rejoice, for our Savior, God’s Messiah, has come to set us free!

I mentioned in our invocation that Jesus humbled Himself in His service to God and to mankind, and He instructed us to be humble as well.  He never exalted Himself or set Himself higher than anyone else, although He did often knock the Pharisees down a notch or two.  Could He have exalted Himself, could He have bragged and boasted?  Sure, if for no other reason than on the healings and casting out of evil spirits He performed.  But there’s much more.

One source I read noted that there are 48 prophecies in the Old Testament specific to the Messiah.  Mathematician Peter Stoner calculated the probability of one person fulfilling all of just those 48 prophecies to be one in 10 followed by 157 zeros!  I can’t even write that number on a piece of paper, it’s so huge – astronomically huge!  And yet, Jesus fulfilled not only all those 48 specific Messianic prophecies, but over 324 individual prophesies that related to the Messiah!  How great do you think the odds of that would be?!!?

Most of these 324 Jesus would have had no control over, such as the one that said the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.  There are some, though, that as an adult He could perhaps have arranged.  One of these centered on His arrival in Jerusalem.  Please listen and follow along to the last time that Jesus came into the Holy City for the Passover celebration, as recorded by the Apostle Matthew in the 21st chapter of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 11, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”

4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

5 “Tell the daughter of Zion,

‘Behold, your King is coming to you,

Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,

A colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. 8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!

‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’

Hosanna in the highest!”

10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”

11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

--Matthew 21:1-11 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Messiah to set us free from our bondage to sin!  Jesus came to offer salvation to all the world because You love us all.  And He commands us to go and make disciples of all the world.  Sadly, Father, not everyone accepts Your Son Jesus as their Lord.  Please help us reach out to the lost of the world, showing Your love.  Help us lead them in a triumphal parade to Jesus and salvation.  And please forgive us when we hesitate to do Your will and our Lord’s commands.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand Your message today.  Thank You for letting us share in the triumph of our Lord Jesus.  Help us keep the joy of His resurrection in our heart and our actions even as we feel great sorrow thinking of Him suffering on the cross, taking our punishment.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Parades can bring unexpected, and sometimes pleasant, results.  Former St. Louis Cardinals catcher and ABC baseball analyst Tim McCarver related that, “In 1964, after we won the World Series, the pitcher Bob Gibson and I got a call from a team representative who wanted us to be in the Rose Bowl Parade.  The representative told us to bring our wives.  I said I didn't have one.  ‘Well, get married, then,’ he said.  I thought ‘good idea’ and called my girlfriend (hometown sweetheart Anne McDaniel), who I'd been seeing for a while, and asked her to marry me.  We got married two months later.  Twenty-four years later we're still together.”

We might not remember Tim McCarver or Bob Gibson or any of the St. Louis Cardinals World Series winning team of that year, but most of us probably remember 1964.  By today’s standards, it was a much simpler time.  Boys and girls usually dated for quite a long period before becoming engaged and married.  Sports stars could make a decent living playing the games they loved, but they certainly weren’t idolized millionaires.

Some things haven’t changed, like our love of parades.  Or how one simple, off-hand statement can change our life from that moment onward.  The team rep told McCarver and Gibson to bring their wives to join them in the parade.  That was all well and good for Gibson, but McCarver wasn’t married at the time.  The rep had a quick and easy answer to that little glitch – get married!  So McCarver did just that, and they enjoyed a life together for many, many years thereafter.  It’s happy stories like this that add to our love of parades.

As I mentioned, our scripture reading opens with Jesus fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah as spoken in the 9th verse of the 9th chapter of the book bearing his name:  “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!  Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey."  God set this particular plan in motion when He whispered the words to Zechariah centuries earlier.  And Jesus carried it out, fulfilling one more of the over 300 prophecies that spoke of the Messiah.

Matthew doesn’t tell us if the disciples recognized what was happening, but they carried out Jesus’ command, brought the donkey, took off their cloaks to make a clean place for their Master to sit, and helped Him on.  And then they all headed into the city, with some going ahead and some following behind, forming a nice little parade with Jesus on His foal in the center of it all.

For any parade, a good bit of work and preparation goes on beforehand, like McCarver getting married.  And there is usually much that happens afterward, including some necessary “clean up” duties.

As we read Matthew’s account, our parade into Jerusalem seems to have been spontaneous, without any planning, with the people all coming out just to see what all the commotion was about.  Of course, we know that everything was done and came about according to God’s plan, including what occurred prior to this parade into Jerusalem.  Hear what the beloved Apostle John reported in chapter 12 of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 11, of an occurrence just before this…

1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. 8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

--John 12:1-11 (NKJV)

Notice how John referred to Judas Iscariot.  They had been working together, walking alongside Jesus together for three years, but John did not write his account until many years after Jesus was crucified and resurrected.  So by the time of his writing, he knew what Judas had done, he knew the real reason behind the betrayer’s complaint that day when Mary anointed Jesus with expensive, fragrant oil.  And right there, Jesus told them that the time was coming when He would no longer be with them.

Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead earlier in His ministry, was there, too, of course, since it was his house shared with his sisters.  This double attraction – both Jesus and the man He brought back to life – drew a crowd.  It also drew the ire of the chief priests and Pharisees.  They started plotting to have Lazarus killed – again – because some of the people began believing in Jesus for the miracle He performed on Lazarus.  It seems there was no end to the plotting being carried out by the religious leadership of the day.

And like I said, after a parade, there’s always a mess to clean up.  After our parade into Jerusalem, Pontius Pilate was left with the mess created by the Pharisees.  They arrested Jesus, with the help of Judas, and took Him before Caiaphas and the chief priests.  From there He was “paraded” before Herod, the titular king of Judea.  And finally, on Friday morning, He ended up in the hands of Pilate, because the Jews could not put a man to death for breaking their laws, but the Romans could.

After an interrogation, Pilate just could not see any guilt, any fault, with Jesus.  He wanted to let Jesus go, but the crowd was getting noisier and more violent in their ravings and he feared unrest in the streets.  So he tried to make a deal with the people that would spare Jesus’ life.  Hear what the Apostle Mark recorded of this crucial moment in his Gospel account, chapter 15, verses 6 through 15…

6 Now at the feast Pilate was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. 7 And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion. 8 Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them. 9 But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.

11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. 12 Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?”

13 So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!”

14 Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?”

But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!”

15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.

--Mark 15:6-15 (NKJV)

The crowd wanted no deal, no exchange.  They cried out for Jesus’ death, and not just any death but execution by the cruelest means known at the time: crucifixion.  These were the same people now shouting “Crucify Him!” who had shouted “Hosanna” just a few days ago.  The same people, who had cut palm branches from the trees and laid them in the road along with some of their cloaks just so Jesus wouldn’t have to ride in a cloud of dust, now screamed for His execution.

What happened?!!?  How could they turn on Him so quickly?  Were the Pharisees that influential, that convincing?  No, God happened.  God’s will happened.  Everything unfolded as it had to.

Everyone loves a parade.  We’re drawn to them.  We want to see what’s going on, share in the moment.  We watch from the sidelines, clapping and cheering the performances and accomplishments of others.  But if the people at the center of those parades don’t live up to our expectations, we can turn on them in a heartbeat.

So family, be careful, for we’re all part of that parade now.  We’re part of the parade of believers, and Jesus is still at our center.  Many are on the sidelines cheering, but not taking part, not walking alongside us, not helping in the mission Jesus gave us.  And they could turn on us at any moment.

The world hates Jesus, just as much now as when He walked the earth, so the world hates us.  The folks watching the parade go by… well… they’re watching us, watching for us to slip up and act like them instead of like a Christian should.

Let’s keep marching, keep doing our Lord’s work, keep helping others, seeing to their needs, and trying to bring the lost to Jesus.  The parade route is long and the walk tiring, but Jesus is walking with us and will hold us up when we grow weary.

March on, family.  March on.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of God, who came in the flesh to redeem us, and who is coming again to judge us all.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for giving us the faith to be in the parade rather than just watching it go by.  We know that there are certain risks in being under the watchful eye of the world.  We also know there will be some cleaning up to do after the parade is over.  But this time, Father, Your Son Jesus will be doing the cleaning, picking up His believers for their new home in heaven and sweeping the non-believers off to the lake of fire.  Sometimes, Father, we hesitate a bit before stepping out in front of the crowd.  Sometimes we are fearful of the unwanted attention our actions might bring as we try to serve You by helping others.  Forgive us these times, please Father.  Help us be quicker to respond to the needs of others with no concerns for what our good works might cause the world to think of us.  Help us serve You by showing Your love to a weary world.  Guide us around any pitfalls and strengthen our spirits to do Your will.  And please help us do a better job of sharing Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice.  

Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, on this day so long ago You climbed upon a donkey’s back and rode as Your followers led a grand parade into the Holy City of Jerusalem.  The people lined the streets, waving and cheering Your arrival.  No one could foresee how quickly those very same people would turn against You, or how Your own disciple Peter would deny even knowing You.  No one but You, that is.  You knew exactly what was coming, and You went through it anyway, just for us.  Please help us remember the sacrifice You made on our behalf.  Help us joyfully march in the parade serving others with You in the center, rather than merely watching from the sidelines.  Please help us be more understanding, more merciful, more forgiving, remembering that we are all created in our Triune God’s image and that You came to save us all.  And Lord, please help us reach out to the non-believing world with the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Give us the words to say, show us what to do to help bring the lost to You.

Lord Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations and all the false teachings.  Help us fend off his attacks.  Please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You.  Heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.