WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.720 So today is Palm Sunday. 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:08.080 So we are looking at this story in the scriptures, which is called the triumphal entry. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:15.839 This is Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, heading into the last week, the final week of his life. 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:19.600 So our text is John chapter 12, verses 12 through 15. 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:28.320 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:36.479 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel. 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:43.119 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion. 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:48.240 Behold, your king is coming sitting on a donkey's colt. 00:00:49.439 --> 00:01:01.280 So we're going to talk our way through this passage this morning as to contemplate the story and really discover the heart of Christ that we get to see in this moment and in this story. 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:10.560 Point number one for us this morning is we easily hold false expectations of who God is, how he regards us, and how he operates. 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:14.319 It's so easy for us to fall into false expectations. 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:26.560 Now remember, this story is full of irony in this moment because kings rode in on horses, and yet Jesus is on a donkey, which is a symbol of humility and peace. 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:30.480 And palm branches, if you remember, are a nationalistic symbol. 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:35.599 And then they're singing Hosanna, which means Savior or Save Me. 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:43.840 And so if we add all that up, maybe some of these people here had it all put together from the Old Testament and Jesus' teachings, and they get it, he's headed to the cross. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:57.359 Maybe some people, it's very possible, but it's also very, very possible that a large portion of these people they think that Jesus is coming in some measure to deliver them in a political way from the oppression of Rome. 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:05.280 They had false expectations on some level of who Jesus is for them and who he should be. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:12.080 So this scene is there, and it's like it's like a Super Bowl champ that returns to their city, right? 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:14.479 And they have that parade and everybody lines the streets. 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:19.599 I mean, that's the caliber of excitement here, the expectation. 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:26.639 But when they would think he's going to come in on a war horse, he comes in on a donkey. 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:33.039 And if you remember last week we talked about the difference between a theology of glory and a theology of the cross. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:38.800 And here's just another moment that we get this difference that's so good for us to get. 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:53.199 It says something like maturity in life is at the top of like an endless incline of improvement. 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:53.840 Right? 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:59.280 Like even as a Christian, like if only you're gonna you're just gonna constantly get better. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:05.840 And that being a Christian and maturing or coming into fulfillment will be in the increase of betterment. 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:08.240 That will actually be where it is at. 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:24.479 So both moralism and prosperity gospel are kind of rooted into a theology of glory, which eventually, if you live long enough both in this theology of glory foundation, they will exhaust you and condemn you because you're never quite enough. 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:25.039 Right? 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:29.599 We never quite have it all together, and therefore the whole thing breaks down. 00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:48.879 I mean, that was easy for me for a long time as a Christian to embrace that and without realizing it, that this sort of like false expectation of what a Christian life should be, a constant improvement over time, started to condemn me and exhaust me because I wasn't constantly getting better. 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:52.080 There was just parts of my life that would pop up. 00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:55.120 And then what did that mean if this was my faith? 00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:07.120 But Jesus gives us another way, a theology of the cross, which says, God provides salvation, wholeness, and fulfillment as I die into Christ. 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:11.280 So the practice is not getting better and better and better. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:18.800 The practice is dying in more profound ways into Christ's sufficiency for you. 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:22.319 That life is actually in the sacrifice. 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:23.279 Right? 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:25.839 We get the donkey, we get the cross. 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:35.600 So in the honest facing of our weakness and shame and guilt and hurt, and in our honest facing of our need, that that's actually where life is found. 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:41.199 That's actually where we move into abundant life and eternal life. 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:44.720 And here's what I know at the end of all that. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:46.480 That sounds really kind of philosophical, perhaps. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:51.439 And here's where it hits, I think, just life is it definitely for me. 00:04:51.920 --> 00:05:01.839 God has to break something, constantly has to break something in me to create a heart prepared to receive his grace. 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:07.600 And both the breaking and the receiving is God's grace. 00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:16.480 Because without the breaking, I just go my own way over and over again for self-sufficiency and self-justification. 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:23.920 Point number two is this our false expectations about God must be replaced by God's revelation of himself to us. 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:30.319 So we have false expectations, but fortunately, praise God, he reveals himself to us. 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:34.879 The gift that we have in history is Jesus, that God didn't stay hidden. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:38.560 If we want to know about God, we don't have to go and stare at an oak tree. 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:46.879 As much as I love a good oak tree and I would love to, I love hugging an oak tree or stare at the ocean and experience God and nature. 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:49.519 As much as I do that and I love that. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:55.680 We have the person of Jesus in history to concretely know what God is like. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:01.600 And then the gift of the Bible is that we have truth outside of what we conjure up. 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:05.920 So we have truth to confront our false expectations. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:12.319 And I need that because I can convince myself of all sorts of stuff depending on my emotion of the day. 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:25.279 So we have all these different biblical writers writing in the Bible, and if you've read the Bible enough, you start to realize these different biblical writers take sort of like different slants and tones about God. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:28.639 Now, it's not contradiction. 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:37.120 What this is for us is the gift of different aspects of this one true God for us to relish in even more. 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:48.560 And then we get this biblical arc that's given to us in the scriptures, this meta-narrative of redemption and grace, that we get to understand his justice and his love. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:07:04.319 And then our practice becomes to dive into his word, so his word will dive further into us to reveal our false expectations and falsehoods and the lies we're believing and to be comforted by his truth and grace. 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:08.720 So we have false expectations, but God's revealed himself, and then we have his word. 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:16.079 And so in his Holy Spirit is for him to root out those falsehoods and those lies. 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:19.759 Last week I watched the documentary on Netflix about fake art. 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:21.120 Have you watched this one? 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:22.480 It's called Made You Look. 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:23.360 Has anybody seen this? 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:26.000 It's kind of popped up on kind of like the thing that's popular. 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:26.720 And so I watched it. 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:31.439 It's a story about the biggest scandal in art history. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:37.920 And so it's this gallery in New York, the Nodler Gallery had been around for 150 years. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:40.240 I mean, they made their way through three wars. 00:07:40.319 --> 00:08:00.319 Okay, that's how long this gallery has been in New York selling paintings to collectors and other galleries around the world until a very unassuming lady showed up years ago and started to sell them or have them sell her art on her behalf, about five, six paintings a year. 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:04.160 She had a very vague story about where these paintings originated. 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:10.240 They were mostly abstract, expressionist paintings from like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:11.839 And her story was just enough. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:13.040 Like was just enough. 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:15.680 But she didn't have like any paperwork. 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:20.000 She didn't have any like the trail of origination back to the artists. 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:21.839 But the painting looked really good. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:22.959 Her story was good. 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:27.040 And if it was true, it meant millions and millions and millions of dollars. 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:33.679 I mean, they sold 60 paintings for over$80 million of fake art over the years. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:36.480 Here's one painting they sold. 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:38.159 This is a Mark Rothko. 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:41.840 The one on the right is real, the one on the left is fake. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:43.039 Can't you tell? 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:46.159 And by the way, the one on the left sold for$8 million. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:47.840 That's what they sold it for. 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:53.279 Perhaps you also saw the Westside Elementary art exhibit that they had. 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:03.840 I'm certainly just like a country boy. 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:12.879 Like I taught- I thought Thomas Kincaid was expensive at Lifeway when it was like$70, and I'd walk by and be like, oh my, who's buying that? 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:16.879 That's unbelievable that somebody would go that far. 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:25.600 Alright, so here's what I started to realize is now the painting, the fake one, right? 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:26.799 It's not really fake. 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:28.399 A real guy painted it. 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:31.519 It was a Chinese immigrant artist in Queens. 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:37.519 Like he painted it on real canvas with real paint, and he's a real artist. 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:39.039 It's a real painting. 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:43.039 And then these paintings that he painted, real paintings. 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:44.639 They're not fake paintings. 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:46.320 The painting is actually real. 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:50.159 The expectation upon the painting, that's what's fake. 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:52.879 And they hung all around the world. 00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:57.919 In people's homes and galleries, and maybe we, I don't know. 00:09:58.080 --> 00:09:59.679 I went to the MoMA one time. 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:04.960 Maybe I walked in and marveled at some painting that, you know, like people marveled at them. 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:09.440 And the whole time the painting was real. 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:12.879 It was just a lot more humble than we thought. 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:13.840 Right? 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:15.519 This is this moment in John 12. 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:17.759 Not a perfect illustration, but pretty good. 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:19.840 They wanted King David. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.639 Like they wanted somebody to rule a political nation. 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:25.679 They wanted Moses. 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:51.039 Their expectations here, certainly at the cross, they're not matching what they thought would play out. 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:56.399 So we don't have crowds of supporters at the cross six days from here. 00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:02.080 A couple questions for us to contemplate as to grow in our faith. 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:10.799 And what ways do I attempt to make Jesus my kind of king rather than who he actually is for me? 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:24.399 See, when we have the false expectations and then life, something in life that we think God should have done something and he should have solved something or he should have, and then that doesn't happen, then we're disillusioned. 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:30.559 And then we can so easily blame God or walk away, but God never promised for so much of these things to happen for us. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:32.559 It's just false expectations. 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:39.759 Question number two What false expectations do I have of God that He never promised to give? 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:52.879 So for me, those answers usually lead me toward idols in my heart that like I want something, He never promised it to me, or I want something a certain timeline, never promise that. 00:11:53.360 --> 00:12:03.200 And I sort of like project onto God like my expectations for what I want for my life, and the whole time, he's not on a mission in my life for my comfort. 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:04.960 He never promised that. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:13.759 Point number three. 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:22.399 Jesus as the humble king means Jesus moves into your heart to hold humble reign. 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:23.600 Now, what does that mean? 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:31.919 Well, at first we think God should march into the city like powerful force, powerful force. 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:40.639 But then we realize like if that's how God operates, then like that's how he would like operate in our hearts, like all power, all conquering, all force. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:42.879 And then all of a sudden we're like, I don't know if I want that in my heart. 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:47.279 Like I want that like out in the world, but I don't know if I want that in my own heart. 00:12:48.720 --> 00:13:00.080 And what we see with Jesus on a donkey, and then the humility that he portrays in this final week, is the way in which he brings salvation into our hearts is by a humble reign. 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:02.320 That's not by war. 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:07.679 It's by wooing us with his love and his sacrifice. 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:21.679 I mean, Jesus certainly had moments of force and anger, but as an overarching kind of principle of his life, his heart is a heart of sacrifice, tenderness. 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:27.840 Let's look at just a few verses I pulled just to kind of contemplate this. 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:45.279 Philippians 2, 5 through 7, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:48.159 John 10, 11, Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:51.919 The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:14:06.480 Hebrews 4, 15, for we do not have a high priest, speaking of Jesus, who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:08.080 2 Corinthians 8:9. 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:18.799 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:25.919 And then our text today, John 12, 15, it ended with fear not, daughter of Zion. 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:30.320 Behold, your king is coming sitting on a donkey's colt. 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:41.120 So we don't have to be in fear in our walk with Christ because he became lowly, because he humbled himself. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:52.320 So we we don't just have reverent worship, but we actually have an affectionate walk with him because of his regard to us and the fact that he came into our poverty. 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:55.519 A few years ago, Christy and I went to the Garth Brooks concert. 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:58.639 Yes, I've mentioned Garth Brooks in back-to-back sermons if you're keeping track. 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:00.000 So the concert was at the Benz. 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:02.480 This is, you remember, he came out of retirement. 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:04.159 He came out of retirement. 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:08.240 He had not he had not done a tour in 14 years. 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:12.720 And I didn't think I was a big Garth Brooks uh you know fan. 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:20.320 I had his greatest hits in high school, and I did wear that thing out in my 1985 Toyota four-wheel drive jacked up truck. 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:24.159 I mean, I was kicking that country album in my truck, but we ended up with free tickets. 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:26.399 I hadn't listened to Garth Burst in so long at that point. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:30.320 We ended up with free tickets, so we went down to the bins to watch this concert. 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:31.600 The concert starts. 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:34.480 Sure enough, I know every word to every song. 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:40.000 I am all I had no clue how big of a fan that I was in that stadium. 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:41.360 That stadium. 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:43.200 Not arena, okay? 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:46.080 Not arena, stadium, stadium tour. 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:48.000 Okay, we got to distinguish the difference here. 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:50.480 This is the biggest of the biggest of the big time here. 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:53.360 Place was packed out. 00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:54.720 Everybody singing. 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:59.440 In a case, you're young or you have lived in a cave, okay? 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:08.879 Garth Brooks is the only artist out of all musical artists in history to have released nine albums that achieve diamond status. 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:12.080 Better than the Beatles, is what this guy is. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:14.559 From 1996, 1998. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:23.519 So if we rewind all the way back to 1996, 1998, he tours the world for two years packing stadiums. 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:26.960 For two years straight, he tours the world. 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:33.679 And then in 01, he's still packing stadiums, not arenas, all over the world. 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:34.480 People go not. 00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:41.279 He is at the height of his fame, his influence, his power, his wealth. 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:44.159 But he has three little girls. 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:49.440 And he is destroyed as his marriage. 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:51.759 And they get divorced. 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:54.320 He retired. 00:16:55.600 --> 00:16:57.279 He moves back to Oklahoma. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:16:57.840 Right? 00:16:58.080 --> 00:16:58.720 You know the story. 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:02.399 He moves back to Oklahoma and raises girls. 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:06.319 And he sees his girls every day. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:08.960 He makes their lunches. 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:30.079 Lowers himself. 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:33.200 To be in relationship. 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:34.960 Right? 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:38.319 He became approachable by becoming humble. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:41.359 What a picture of a gospel. 00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:49.279 Sovereign creator God lowers himself into humanity. 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:54.960 Into our poverty, our our littleness, our little Oklahoma. 00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:59.359 And becomes approachable because of that. 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:08.160 Now that's not natural expectations for grace allergic people like us that God would pursue us like that. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:11.119 But that's why he's on a donkey. 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:19.200 That's why he goes to the cross, and our sins are put upon him, and his righteousness is given to us, because that's the pursuit he is on as the loving father to have a relationship with us. 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:22.559 And that's why the passage says, fear not. 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:28.000 So there's this prophet in the Old Testament. 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:31.920 It's actually what this passage is referring to there in verse 15. 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:37.519 The people of Israel, they had just returned from being prisoners in Babylon. 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:42.880 They're rebuilding their country, but then they move into a season of apathy and discouragement. 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:49.039 And then this guy, Zechariah, starts to speak to them about a king will come one day. 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:51.119 King will come one day. 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:54.480 But he won't come by the war bow or the war horse. 00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:56.319 He'll come by humility and love. 00:18:56.400 --> 00:19:00.480 And here's what Zechariah says, Zechariah 9, 9 through 12. 00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:10.400 Behold, your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation as he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:20.000 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations. 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:24.559 His rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. 00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:31.440 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:35.440 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope. 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:40.000 Today I declare that I will restore to you double. 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:48.720 So these people would have remembered being prisoners, or they certainly would have known the stories of their families being prisoners. 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:52.960 And then we get that phrase, and I love that phrase every time I read it. 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:55.359 Prisoners of hope. 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:08.160 It's not to control us. 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:15.119 It's to give us hope and it's to love us and to walk with us in a loving relationship. 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:20.400 So my brothers and sisters, Hosanna, the humble king, reigns with you. 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:21.440 Let's pray together. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:24.319 God, thank you for your grace and mercy to us. 00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:28.559 That we can know you because you came toward us. 00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:34.079 And that what you're like is not left up to our own conjuring. 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:40.000 Forgive us for all the ways that we have expectations upon you that you never promised toward us. 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:57.200 And help us in greater and greater ways to look to the life of Jesus, to know your heart for us, to look to the cross, to know our salvation is secure, and to each day just desire because of your love for us, to love you and walk with you. 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:04.000 I thank you that you are a heavenly father that desires to be with us. 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:06.079 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:06.880 Amen.