March 19, 2016

A Death-Ride of Eternal Proportions!

Palm Sunday, 3/20/16
Luke 19:28-40


A Death-Ride of Eternal Proportions!
I. Jesus rides to be abused and forsaken.
II. Jesus rides to win salvation.


What was the last trip you took? How long ago was it and where did you go? More importantly for our purposes this morning, why did you go? And when your trip was over, did your experience match your expectations? I’m sorry for pushing you into an analysis, but there’s a reason for it. You see, when we make a trip, we’re usually, if not always, perfectly clear on why we’re making that trip. You’re going to visit family members, you want to take in some event in another location, you’re on business or vacation. In fact, even if you don’t have an intended destination—if you’re just out for a Sunday afternoon drive simply to get out of the house and enjoy some scenery—your purpose for making the trip is clear.

But the better question is this: did your trip meet your expectations? You know what I mean. You get back home and you’re thrilled because things turned out exactly as you had hoped. You enjoyed yourself and look forward to making such a trip again soon. Or the exact opposite. Your trip was a disaster. There were delays, mechanical breakdowns, accidents, storms, and worst of all, the time you were hoping to enjoy with loved ones turned out to be miserable and painful. But that’s the way it goes with us. We can be absolutely certain why we’re making the trip but we can’t control the outcome.

But Jesus can. And he did on the most important trip he ever took. As he rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday he was crystal clear on his purpose for doing so. In fact, he announced it to his disciples more than once along the way. He was going to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover and while he was there, he would be handed over to his enemies who would put him to death. But after three days, he would rise again. He was making this trip in order to win salvation for every single sinful human being. He was on a death-ride of eternal proportions. As we stand at the beginning of another Holy Week, how blessed we are to look at this death-ride once again and take in not only its suffering, but also its glory.

Part I.

Have you watched Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of the Christ? It was produced in 2004 and released right about this time of year, as I recall it. I have our church’s copy of it right here. But I’m not sure I can recommend that you view it. The brutality is unbelievable. Not that Gibson overdid it. In fact, his portrayal of the way Jesus was mistreated is likely very close to reality. It’s just too difficult to watch. In my mind, it’s worse than the ISIS murder videos that were released some time ago. The brutality Jesus endured wasn’t over in a second. It went on and on and on. And here’s the astounding truth: as he rode into Jerusalem amid the shouts of “Hosanna!” he knew exactly what was coming.

He rides in knowing the abuse he will face in just 5 days. He knows that one of this disciples who is joining in the shouts of praise now will literally sell him out for 30 pieces of silver. And he’ll do it, of all things, with a kiss! How heinous! How could he? Jesus knows it will happen just as Scripture foretold it would.

He knows that, as soon as the soldiers arrest him, the other 11 will be nowhere to be found, even though just an hour or so earlier, Jesus had told them they would all flee. Their response? “We will never leave you! We are ready to die for you!” Hollow words! How they must have stung Jesus to hear them. As he rode into Jerusalem, he knew they would fail him!

Alone, he would face his accusers. No one defended him. He would stand there listening to all their lies about him. The blasphemy. The refusal to believe what every one of his miracles stated about him—especially his miracle of raising his dear friend Lazarus from the dead. Yes, he was the Son of God. Ironically, they use that very statement to charge him with blasphemy. And he knew it was coming.

Then came the beating, the inhuman beatings. Over and over and over again. Then came the scourging. The leather whips tipped with sharp metal that literally tore the flesh off his back. Surely he was nearly senseless when the brutality ceased. But his suffering wasn’t over yet.

There was still the cross. He carried it himself as far as he could until he stumbled under its weight. When he reached the top of Golgotha, they stripped him of his clothes, stretched him out on that wooden torture chamber and nailed him to it. Then they hoisted it into the pit dug for it and he hung there between the earth and heaven that he had created. And the astounding truth is that he knew that he would face all this as he rode into Jerusalem.

But worst of all, he was forsaken by God. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He was suffering the torment of hell without any help from his heavenly Father. He was truly, now, all alone. The weight of the world’s sin was upon him. He was experiencing the hell that each and every sin deserved. And then he declared it was finished, bowed his head, and died. As God’s people, we know all that happened to him. What’s so astounding for us as Palm Sunday Christians is that he rode into Jerusalem knowing every painful detail. He was keenly aware of not just the physical suffering, but the spiritual suffering he was about to endure. But he rode into Jerusalem any way.

A death-ride of eternal proportions. Jesus rides to be abused and forsaken.

By now you’ve probably heard about the tragedy that occurred late last Tuesday afternoon on a bridge over the Ohio River in Cincinnati. Supposedly a truck rear-ended a car and pushed it off the bridge into the river. Authorities still haven’t recovered the bodies. At this point we don’t know where those people were headed or what they were going to do when they got there, but if they had known tragedy was going to strike, they certainly would never have made that trip.

Tragedy awaited Jesus inside the stone walls of Jerusalem. But this was no accident. In fact, it was God’s plan. He had foretold nearly every event that was going to happen to Jesus five days later. As our all-knowing Savior Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen to him and when it would happen. But he went any way. In fact, he made sure it would happen. Stupidity? The most absurd thing you ever heard? Utter foolishness? Not at all. It was his eternal love for us. He couldn’t stand the thought of eternal tragedy happening to us, so he took it for us. He couldn’t stand the thought of Satan tormenting us forever, so he took it for us. He took all our shame, all our guilt, all our sins to Calvary’s cross. And it all started with a ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. A death-ride of eternal proportions. Jesus rides in to be abused and forsaken.

Part II.

The only thing that’s different about the current presidential campaigning this time around is the intensity. The boundaries have been erased and the candidates are saying some things we’ve never heard before. But one thing is still the same. They all declare what they will do for us if they are elected. In other words, they want us to think it’s really all about us. But it’s difficult for me to think of a single election when that was actually the truth.

But it was all about us when Jesus took his death-ride into Jerusalem. As the eternal Son of God, Jesus needed nothing from anyone. The entire universe which he created was his. The only reason Jesus took that ride was to rescue you. That’s why we spend time each Sunday coming to grips with our sinfulness. If our sins aren’t so bad, then Jesus’ rescue wasn’t so great. The truth is that we faced eternal hell and nothing short of it, and we were powerless to do anything to avoid it. But Jesus could and did. So he rode into Jerusalem.

His death on Calvary’s cross wasn’t just the greatest case of injustice. It was God’s way of dealing with our sins. There was no reason Jesus should be suffering at all. He had done nothing wrong, not a single sin. He was nailed there for our sins.

And the result is that he redeemed us. He bought us back from Satan to God. He ushered us into the kingdom of God where we find peace with God, the light of his truth, and eternal purpose for our existence. Our God has eternal plans for us and he unfolds them in his kingdom of grace. Jesus’ death-ride made that blessed existence our reality.

As members of God’s kingdom, when this life is over, real living begins. Our God intended his creatures to live in his presence forever. Sin ruined that intent, but Jesus’ death-ride made life with our God in heaven our certain reality. It’s not a wish. It’s no dream. It’s not simply a possibility. It’s your reality, your inheritance, your possession. And it’s all yours by faith in Jesus. His death-ride was all about you. Jesus rides to win your salvation.

Because Jesus didn’t say, “This ride is all about me,” we have the blessed opportunity to declare, “This ride is all about me.” And we mean that not in a selfish way, but a saving way. The ugliest week in the life of our Savior is the most beautiful week for our lives. It’s the pinnacle of proof just how he feels about you. In a cold and loveless world, you have a Savior whose love for you is burning. It’s on display in divine design. And it all begins with a death-ride. Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest! Amen.