SPEAKER_00: This is the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
SPEAKER_00: Glory to you, Lord Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Now, when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a cult with her.
SPEAKER_00: Untie them and bring them to me.
SPEAKER_00: If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, The Lord needs them, and he will send them at once.
SPEAKER_00: This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the full of a beast of burden.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.
SPEAKER_00: They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.
SPEAKER_00: Most of the crowds spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
SPEAKER_00: And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest.
SPEAKER_00: And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, Who is this?
SPEAKER_00: And the crowd said, This is the prophet, Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Praise to you, Lord Christ.
SPEAKER_01: It was a week that began with Palm Sunday, with the waving of palms and the shouts of Azanna.
SPEAKER_01: It was a week that began with Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.
SPEAKER_01: Of course, there was fulfillment of scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Zechariah would talk about that.
SPEAKER_01: Shout.
SPEAKER_01: Your king comes to you, righteous, and he comes to you on the fold of a donkey.
SPEAKER_01: They would have known that.
SPEAKER_01: It was the beginning of the most incredible week.
SPEAKER_01: We call that week holy week.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus rode into Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to the shouts of Hosanna of save us.
SPEAKER_01: And eventually they turned to cries of crucify him.
SPEAKER_01: This was the beginning of the feast of Passover.
SPEAKER_01: This day that Jesus walked down to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: This is in fulfillment of what Luke wrote about in Luke in chapter 9, verse 51, when we read that Jesus set his eyes, resolutely set his eyes on Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: This is the culmination of that.
SPEAKER_01: He's determined that his path is going to lead him to Jerusalem, and he knows what's before him.
SPEAKER_01: This was the beginning of the Passover feast.
SPEAKER_01: We read about that in Exodus chapter 12.
SPEAKER_01: That moment when God gave instruction to the Israelites through Moses and He said to them, He said, Gather up lambs, one-year-old male lambs, lambs without blemish, lambs without defect.
SPEAKER_01: And they would gather them up, and for four days they they made preparation for that lamb.
SPEAKER_01: And then they were instructed to sacrifice the lamb and take the blood of the lamb and spread it over the doorframe of the house.
SPEAKER_01: And they were instructed to eat the lamb, the meat of the lamb, to eat it all, to do it in haste, because the Lord was getting ready to move.
SPEAKER_01: And it was the blood of the lamb that saved whoever was in the house from the judgment of God.
SPEAKER_01: God would pass over the house because of the blood of the lamb.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus rised into Jerusalem on a donkey.
SPEAKER_01: And the people from surrounding areas would have come, they would have come to Jerusalem to go to the temple.
SPEAKER_01: They would have brought their lambs.
SPEAKER_01: And they would have prepared their lambs to be sacrificed to commemorate that moment in Exodus 12.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus rides in on a donkey.
SPEAKER_01: John would say this, John the Baptist, the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world.
SPEAKER_01: The Lamb of God.
SPEAKER_01: We have to go back to Genesis and chapter 2.
SPEAKER_01: We go back to creation when God created and everything was given to Adam in a garden.
SPEAKER_01: And he was given one prohibition: do not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
SPEAKER_01: For if you do, you will die.
SPEAKER_01: That was the promise of God to Adam.
SPEAKER_01: You will not only die a physical death, but you will experience separation from me, spiritual death.
SPEAKER_01: Paul says in Romans chapter 6, verse 23, Paul says that the wages of sin is death.
SPEAKER_01: He's picking up from Genesis chapter 2.
SPEAKER_01: You will surely die.
SPEAKER_01: The wages of sin is death.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what that is?
SPEAKER_01: That is a mathematical formula.
SPEAKER_01: Think about it.
SPEAKER_01: The wages, the penalty of sin is death.
SPEAKER_01: Sin equals death.
SPEAKER_01: And if you take away sin, there is no death.
SPEAKER_01: And the Lamb of God, who comes to take away the sin of the world, is entering into Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: And we find him going to another garden.
SPEAKER_01: It's the Garden of Gethsemane.
SPEAKER_01: And we're brought into one of the most intimate and revealing moments in all of Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: We heard it today as we reenacted.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus falls on his face.
SPEAKER_01: He falls on his face and he prays, Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.
SPEAKER_01: Yet, not as I will, but as you will.
SPEAKER_01: Some translations say in verse 2039, yet, or but yet, not as I will, but as you will.
SPEAKER_01: Some translations say, nevertheless, not as I will, but you will.
SPEAKER_01: That but, that but yet, that nevertheless, that carries the weight of eternity.
SPEAKER_01: Nevertheless, it's the place where human desire meets divine surrender.
SPEAKER_01: And it happened in that garden.
SPEAKER_01: It's the line between the flesh and the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: It's the line between walking in the flesh and our own will and walking in the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: It's here in this most intimate moment we find the place of surrender.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus doesn't hide his anguish.
SPEAKER_01: He knows what's before him.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't pretend that what's before him is going to be easy.
SPEAKER_01: But he plainly says, Father, let this cup pass from me.
SPEAKER_01: This is raw, unfiltered honesty.
SPEAKER_01: And that's exactly what prayer is.
SPEAKER_01: It's being honest before the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: It's not a place of weakness, but this is a place of honesty.
SPEAKER_01: You know and I know in our flesh we recoil against suffering.
SPEAKER_01: We push back against loss and sacrifice.
SPEAKER_01: We recoil against surrender.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, Lord, I don't want to walk through this.
SPEAKER_01: That's been my prayer.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure that's been your prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I don't I don't want to have to forgive.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I don't want to let go.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I don't want to have to endure this pain.
SPEAKER_01: You see, it's in our flesh.
SPEAKER_01: In our flesh that we always seek comfort, that we always seek control, that we always seek self-preserverseverance.
SPEAKER_01: And yet here's Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.
SPEAKER_01: Fully God, fully man, and he's entering into the very same tension.
SPEAKER_01: What he feels is real.
SPEAKER_01: And what he prays is authentic.
SPEAKER_01: And then there's the turning point.
SPEAKER_01: Then there's the but yet.
SPEAKER_01: Then there's the nevertheless.
SPEAKER_01: It's the hinge point of obedience.
SPEAKER_01: It's submitting his will to his father's will.
SPEAKER_01: And that's the very same for you and for me.
SPEAKER_01: The moment when the will is laid down.
SPEAKER_01: It's not denied, it's not ignored, but it is surrendered.
SPEAKER_01: And it's out of this place.
SPEAKER_01: Out of this place of obedience that we know the very presence of God.
SPEAKER_01: It's out of this place of obedience that we know his favor upon us.
SPEAKER_01: But yet, nevertheless, that's the language of the Spirit overcoming the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: It's what Paul writes about in Galatians, Galatians 5, 17.
SPEAKER_01: He says, the flesh and the spirit, they are in conflict with each other, and we all live in this tension.
SPEAKER_01: But hear this.
SPEAKER_01: Victory isn't found in eliminating the suffering, the struggle.
SPEAKER_01: But victory is found in the but yet, in the nevertheless.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what we see with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: That's what we see with Jesus in this moment in the Garden of Gethsemane.
SPEAKER_01: It's a profound moment.
SPEAKER_01: His strength comes after the but yet, not my will be done, your will be done.
SPEAKER_01: His strength comes after the nevertheless, nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done.
SPEAKER_01: His strength comes from that place of surrender.
SPEAKER_01: And everything changes after that moment.
SPEAKER_01: Did you notice that?
SPEAKER_01: The second time he goes back to pray, this time he says, if this can't happen unless I drink from this cup, then your will be done.
SPEAKER_01: What is he talking about, this cup?
SPEAKER_01: He's talking about the cross.
SPEAKER_01: He knows what's before him.
SPEAKER_01: Everything changes after this prayer.
SPEAKER_01: And we heard he rises with resolve, he's determined.
SPEAKER_01: He faces his betrayal without resistance.
SPEAKER_01: And he walks to the cross with purpose.
SPEAKER_01: It's the but yet, it's the nevertheless that aligns him fully with the Father's will.
SPEAKER_01: And again, for you and me in our lives, it's true.
SPEAKER_01: That peace, that peace that passes all understanding, it comes after surrender.
SPEAKER_01: That clarity, Lord, what do I do?
SPEAKER_01: It comes after obedience.
SPEAKER_01: Power.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I have the strength to do this.
SPEAKER_01: It comes after yielding to the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: This is the pattern of discipleship.
SPEAKER_01: This is what Jesus meant when he says, if you want to follow me, you must deny yourself and take up your cross daily.
SPEAKER_01: Kind of one and done.
SPEAKER_01: When forgiveness is costly, nevertheless.
SPEAKER_01: But yet.
SPEAKER_01: When obedience is inconvenient and untimely, nevertheless.
SPEAKER_01: When our faith is risky, nevertheless.
SPEAKER_01: You see, our lives are built on this.
SPEAKER_01: It's built on surrender.
SPEAKER_01: And for Jesus, for Jesus, we know the rest of the story.
SPEAKER_01: What looked like defeat is victory.
SPEAKER_01: For Jesus, what looked like loss is salvation.
SPEAKER_01: The Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world.
SPEAKER_01: Sin is atoned for out of this place of surrender.
SPEAKER_01: Death is defeated out of the nevertheless, not my will be done, your will be done, and hope is secured.
SPEAKER_01: It's in this place, this place of surrender, that we will not find weakness, but we will find the very power of God.
SPEAKER_01: That we will walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: And we see Jesus constantly in a posture of surrender.
SPEAKER_01: Nevertheless, not my will be done, your will be done.
SPEAKER_01: As we go to Maundday Thursday, as we go to Good Friday, as we come back in a week and celebrate the empty tent.
SPEAKER_01: Father God, we thank you and praise you for the but yet, for the nevertheless.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray for that position of surrender in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: In the strength of the spirit, and not in the flesh, giving in to our will, but to your will.
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.