WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:02.640 Well, happy Master's Sunday. 00:00:02.720 --> 00:00:04.559 I mean Palm Sunday. 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:06.559 Matt made it here. 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:10.800 That was a big deal for Matt to be here while golf is going on. 00:00:11.039 --> 00:00:11.919 Very big deal. 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:13.359 I didn't expect that. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:15.679 Miracles happen, redemption. 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:20.719 So uh some of you have probably been keeping up with this morning. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:24.960 I hadn't kept up with it, but uh it is Master Sunday and Palm Sunday together. 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:30.800 Uh the Master's chairman apparently didn't look at the church calendar, uh, but it is both today. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:36.399 It's down to like Molinare, uh Fanu, uh they're out on the course right now. 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:38.719 Tigers in there, which is a huge deal, right? 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:41.119 We all know you didn't know the other two guys, but you know Tiger. 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:47.119 And so Tiger, just to keep you up with your uh trivia, golf trivia, 14 majors, right? 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:49.920 But he hasn't won a major in 11 years. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:51.920 And since then, kind of his life fell apart. 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:59.679 He's kind of rebuilt his life, he's had like four knee surgeries and four back surgeries, but he's like today, like he could he could do that, like he could do this. 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:01.359 This could happen, right? 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:07.680 Like, and he could he could hit that final putt on the 18th green, and it could actually he could win his 15th. 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:11.120 I mean, there's like huge redemption, he's back 11 years, right? 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:18.400 And then what happens at the Masters is is that that champion, they they they walk up the hill from the 18th screen, they walk up a little hill. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:20.480 Perfect grass, by the way, just amazing. 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:26.879 Walk up a little hill, and they walk across the lawn over to the cabins and where they report their scores. 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:31.200 And all along the way, the crowds just, I mean, it's just crowds and crowds and crowds. 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:39.519 I mean, everybody starts running to get here, and then just this little walkway appears that the golfer, the champion, walks through. 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:42.319 And it's ecstatic for this this guy won. 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:47.920 This is the champion, this is the hero, and he's going to claim, he's going to claim his victory, is what he's going to do. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:49.519 And this is the scene in John 12. 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:50.560 This is the scene. 00:01:50.719 --> 00:02:06.719 It's this sort of ecstatic atmosphere, and crowds are coming because here's this Jewish rabbi who's teaching and has miracles, and he's starting to be well known, and he's showing up, and crowds are showing up, and they're lining the streets and they're cheering for him. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:09.840 And so this story's huge. 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:12.240 And this story's huge for us. 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:16.800 The reason why it's huge for us is this story leads into what's called Holy Week. 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:23.439 This week we have we have Palm Sunday, we have Monday Thursday, that's where Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:27.520 Good Friday, that's where he dies on the cross, and we have Easter, Resurrection Sunday. 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:34.080 So this story, if we can get this story, it's huge for us because we can begin to understand God. 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:40.960 But remember, this scene today, this Palm Sunday triumphal entry, this scene is full of irony. 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:48.319 Because kings ride on horses, and Jesus is on a donkey. 00:02:48.719 --> 00:02:51.680 So it's a symbol of humility, it's a symbol of peace. 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:56.719 Right away, we sort of know like something's up, like something's off here. 00:02:56.960 --> 00:03:01.360 These people want him to be a hero, they're cheering, but he's on a donkey. 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:03.199 Something's going on here. 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:06.719 So I'll reread a bit of the story, John 12, 12 through 15. 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:10.879 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:11.759 All right, so he's on his way. 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:13.039 So they started crowding around. 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:20.960 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, cheering. 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:22.719 They can't believe it, it's unbelievable. 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:27.680 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:32.000 Behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt. 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:33.599 So a few points. 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:40.719 Point number one is this is people are fickle, and we are people. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:45.280 So this week I was working on this sermon. 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:50.080 I had all my notes in Microsoft Word documents, so I can get all my research into a Microsoft Word document. 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:50.800 It's all in there. 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:54.159 It's like eight, ten pages of just like is convoluted. 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:58.800 And then I go back in and I start to form it, and I'm forming it, and I'm I'm kind of in the zone. 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:01.039 It's Tuesday morning, and I'm in the zone. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:06.000 I'm working away, I'm pounding away, I'm going at it, and I'm I'm feeling good about this. 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:07.280 This thing's coming together. 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:09.360 I'm feeling I'm feeling inspired. 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:10.719 I'm at peace. 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:31.680 My life is good, my marriage is good, my parenting's good, my finances are good, I'm at peace with God, everything's good, I have great friends, life is great, this is good, this work is good, and then that little blinking cursor, right, that I'm typing with blink, blink, blink along the way, blink, blink, blink, and then it just turns to the little round thing, right? 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:36.720 And it's just going around and around and around. 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:38.800 I'm like, uh oh. 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:44.160 I hadn't I hadn't saved anything about an hour. 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:46.639 Sit there for a little bit. 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:48.639 Sam's in his office next to me. 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:52.639 We have a very thin wall, so I'm saying words, but it's keeping them very quiet. 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:55.360 I don't want him to hear the words I'm saying. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:00.319 I go to the restroom, come back, giving it some time, right? 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:02.240 I'm gonna give it some time, is what I'm gonna do. 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:03.360 So I'm gonna solve the problem. 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:06.720 Come back still, that little that little round thing. 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:07.680 We hate it, don't we? 00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:13.040 God, we hate that thing, and it's just around and I'd sit there, go, okay. 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:15.439 Well, you know, document recovery, right? 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:16.079 Right? 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:17.920 Auto recovery, we're familiar with this. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:20.560 All of us had this moment, so I'd turn it off. 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:24.079 I know I'm rolling the dice a little bit here, but uh, there's nothing else to do at this point. 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:26.319 So I said, turn it off, turn it back on. 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:30.240 Christy calls me at this point, not the greatest marital conversation of the year. 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:32.959 We'll just go ahead and say that, and then tell her what was going on. 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:36.240 I just let it out on her, what's you know, my emotions. 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:37.920 And so then I get it back. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:40.000 17 documents pop up, right? 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:45.439 So you're like, oh, okay, so it's either one or 17, and so I figure out is number one the most recent or number 17? 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:47.920 Well, number 17 is the most recent, so look at that. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:52.959 I lost about 45 minutes of work, and I am so angry. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:54.959 Anybody? 00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:58.079 Okay, I am so angry. 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:01.680 No peace. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:04.079 My life is horrible. 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:12.480 My finances, my parenting, my marriage, I hate my friends, I hate Steve Jobs, I hate Bill Gates, anybody who's in front of me. 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:18.079 I mean, I am angry, I'm frustrated, I have to redo all this work. 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:21.519 And I was pretty sure that work was amazing. 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:24.319 Like that, that work I lost, the most amazing work. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:27.680 Everything from now on is not gonna be as amazing as that work was. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:33.600 Takes me about 30 minutes to kind of work my way back to where I was. 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:36.160 Fickle. 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:38.800 I mean, what a stupid thing, right? 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:40.079 Isn't that amazing? 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:42.959 I mean, and that that was just me on Tuesday morning, right? 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:44.079 That wasn't even a big deal. 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:50.240 Like that one even like, you know, I had some trauma or like I ruined my life or blew my life up with some behavior. 00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:53.040 That was just like my computer froze. 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:57.120 And that's what that's what it did to me. 00:06:57.839 --> 00:06:58.959 We're fickle. 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:04.959 We're so quickly moved from one position to the next because something happens. 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:14.879 Or he said that, or she said that, or that thing happened, or I'm tired, or I'm frustrated, or I'm angry, I'm hurt. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:19.600 Have you ever been so wonderfully loving to someone? 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:22.959 And you think to yourself, pretty loving guy. 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:28.720 And like 10 minutes later, you're like, how could I be that unloving to the same person that I was so loving to? 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:33.439 Or you're so giving, and then like the next day you're just like hoarding as much as you can, right? 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:40.560 Or you're so unselfish at one moment, then you turn around and you're like, how wow, I'm incredibly, incredibly selfish at the same time. 00:07:41.120 --> 00:08:02.240 Or you had the right view of God, like you're like, I am really walking in the Spirit of God, I'm hearing the redemptive, loving voice of God in my life, and I am I am under the blood of Jesus for my full sufficiency, and I and my guilt is solved, my shame is solved, and I'm walking in that victory, and then all of a sudden it's just like the voice of judgment and condemnation. 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:06.319 Fickle, we are fickle. 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:10.319 People are fickle, and we are we are people. 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:14.160 That's number one, because that's what happens with these people. 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:15.519 John 12. 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:19.600 Hosean out, like Jesus, we are for you. 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:22.560 And then Friday comes. 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:26.319 They're not there. 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:30.399 Now, maybe some of them are there, and they're the ones yelling, crucify him. 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:31.680 We don't know. 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:38.320 Some of them may overlap, but we just know they're not saying the same thing they were saying on Palm Sunday. 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:40.000 People are fickle. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:42.879 Number two, people project on God. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:49.120 And again, we are people. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:52.720 You're actually supposed to be a part of that. 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:54.559 You didn't want to admit it, you're not ready yet. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:55.600 Okay, we'll work on that. 00:08:55.759 --> 00:08:57.440 You remember film strips? 00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:00.879 Anybody remember film strips, like 1980s film strips? 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:04.639 My mom was a media specialist, she managed the film strip machines. 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:07.120 Did you ever get picked to do the film strip machine? 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:09.200 You were the kid in class, got picked. 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:13.919 Did you ever hate the kid who got picked to do the film strip? 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:26.639 So a film strip machine, right, is before smart screens, a little bit at maybe the same time as overhead projectors, but uh before like televisions weren't in the classroom yet, and and there's a little machine, it came on the cart, right? 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:33.600 It was about this big, and a light came up through it, it went out that lens and it went onto the screen at the front of the classroom. 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:37.519 And then you would slide, you take the film out of the little case and put the film in there. 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:55.519 You had a tape machine, you press play, and then the narrator of the you know, Amazon rainforest or whatever would narrate the Amazon rainforest, and then it would beep, and then you, if you were the chosen child, you do you turn it, you flip the dial, so that image would change inside this little machine where the light came up through the image and projected it. 00:09:57.519 --> 00:10:01.679 So the light would shine up, catch the image, and project it. 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:02.799 And that's the point. 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:12.879 What I'm trying to illustrate here is that we put our ideas of God in front of the light and adapt Him to be what we want Him to be for us. 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:16.720 You go, well, Russ, maybe you're projecting right now. 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:17.919 Very possible. 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:19.440 Hopefully not. 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:31.759 Hopefully, the closer we get to the scriptures and the context of the scriptures, hopefully the closer we get to the narrative of the entire scriptures over the redemptive God, that we're getting closer and closer to the right idea of God. 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:36.799 But here are three common just misperceptions projections that we can see in the story. 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:39.840 And the first is like a prosperity projection of God. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:42.720 And this is this is what we basically is going on with the crowd. 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:44.879 They want a political king. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:51.279 They're tired, they're under the burden of the Roman Empire, they're weary. 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:56.240 And here's this guy who seems to have a lot of influence, a lot of power, a lot of social power. 00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:59.519 There's a pretty good chance this guy could do something for us. 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:04.240 He could overthrow this burden in our circumstantial life. 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:06.159 Right? 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:11.679 This prosperity projection would say, well, you know, God's here to make all my circumstances better. 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:21.039 And the problem with that is like God makes some circumstances better, and then some circumstances never get better, or some circumstances got better for a little bit, and then they got worse, and then some got worse, and then they got better. 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:22.320 And that's the problem. 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:26.639 And it just doesn't work because everything doesn't always get better. 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:29.200 There's the power projection. 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:33.759 I don't know whether I should have called it the power projection or like an enemy projection. 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:41.679 It makes God out to be your enemy because he is here to take your autonomy and your power, therefore, he's an enemy of me. 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:44.159 He's not here for my joy and wholeness. 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:46.720 He's here, he's here to take away my power. 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:52.320 And this would be how we see the government and the officials here that want to move to crucify him. 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:56.399 They're a threat to my system and my power. 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:02.799 And we easily think that if we lose our power, we will lose peace. 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:09.759 And the problem, of course, is have you ever had enough power where you were at peace? 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:12.639 And so that doesn't really work. 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:16.399 There's the moralism projection. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:20.559 We see this in the Pharisees in this story in this holy week, right? 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:30.240 If I obey the law that I'm gonna uphold, I'm gonna hold to this, I don't need Jesus to fulfill it for me if I'm gonna do it. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:40.240 If I just get my act together enough, just enough, then God will accept me, absolve me, forgive me. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:42.480 That doesn't work. 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:45.519 Because you've never been obedient enough. 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:47.840 You've never had your act together enough. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:49.679 We don't even know what enough is. 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:53.519 But we dabble in all these. 00:12:53.600 --> 00:13:07.519 We dabble in all these prosperity and power and moralism projections, and yet, and yet, the great story here is that God, God is faithful to us while we don't always understand Him. 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:11.279 A few weeks ago we bought two Chase lounges. 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:12.960 I mean, that's a boring sentence, right? 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:16.159 I wrote that sentence, like, ah, that is a never a life goal. 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:17.200 Let's just say that. 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:21.360 Never a life goal to own two chase lounges. 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:22.240 But we're there. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:23.120 We've done that. 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:25.279 We have two chase lounges in our home. 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:32.000 And so I came home from work one day, and apparently, if you get two chase lounges, you also need pillows to go on the chase lounges. 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:35.279 And so we have some pillows for the chase lounges. 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:36.960 I didn't know we needed as many. 00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:39.440 I'd never I needed one pillow in my life. 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:40.000 I did. 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:46.799 That's all I needed, and now I need more pillows in my life, and so we have a lot more pillows in our in our home now. 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:49.919 A lot of pillows actually in different places, and they're they're layered. 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:51.519 That's also something you do. 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:58.159 And so I came home from work one day, and uh the chase, the the pillows on the chase lounge had been moved. 00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:03.039 One was on the bay window, the other one had been moved to the master bed. 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:13.200 The pillows on the bay window had moved to the chase lounges, and then also another radical move, uh the pillows on the couch had been moved over to the swivel chairs. 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:13.679 Right? 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:15.919 A whole rearrange happened. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:18.000 Christy loves a rearrange. 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:22.639 I can say that she's not here, she's out of town, she's a safe distance from me this morning. 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:29.519 I could have left these pillows in their place, in the box on the front porch, actually, for the rest of my life. 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:31.600 I could have and been very happy. 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:35.039 I actually just don't like to rearrange things. 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:37.759 I just can keep something where it's at forever. 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:39.519 Won't bother me a bit. 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:42.960 But here's the thing, and I kind of hate to admit it. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:45.440 It actually looks better. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:46.879 It's actually better. 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:49.759 That took me about two weeks to admit back to Christy. 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:51.200 It took me two weeks. 00:14:51.440 --> 00:15:00.799 But it does look better in some silly story, but sometimes sometimes things just have to be re-rearranged to get it to where it needs to be. 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:09.360 And we're we're that, because we're people who are fickle and we're people who project and we're people who are unfaithful in general a lot of times. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:12.000 Stuff has to be rearranged in us. 00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:22.399 Whether it be a motive or a behavior or our language, or even our understanding of God. 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:27.519 And then this is what conviction and confession and repentance are about. 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:29.759 It's about us being rearranged. 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:32.960 Sometimes stuff just getting thrown out of the house. 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:38.000 These rearranges happen. 00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:42.000 All this is going on in John 12. 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:44.639 Because these were weary people. 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:49.360 Didn't understand Jesus. 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:57.759 And either they got to rearrange their thinking about Jesus and who he is, or they're just gonna be disillusioned and walk away. 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:06.320 But what's incredible here is that in their fickleness and their projection, he's faithful. 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:09.200 It's a crazy story. 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:12.559 I mean, this Holy Week is a crazy story. 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:23.279 He he faithfully marches through a people he understands are not understanding him, and then he goes and he washes his disciples' feet, of which they don't understand what's going on. 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:28.720 And he is he's God himself in flesh, humbling himself. 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:32.080 And then he's on the cross and he forgives and absolves a criminal. 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:38.320 The criminal didn't have time to like prove himself like he meant what he said, and he says, You're forgiven. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:41.200 He says, Father, don't hold this against them. 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:42.960 They don't know what they're doing. 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:46.320 He's loving his enemies. 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:50.399 Point number three is that God is faithful to us. 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:52.720 We all we all want to know what God is like. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:17:09.279 And maybe this morning you don't want to know what is God like, you don't really care, but I guarantee you one day you will want to know what God is like because your marriage is gonna break apart, or you are gonna break apart, or the job's not gonna work out, or you're gonna lose the money, or you're gonna owe the money. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:13.039 You're gonna be lonely, you're gonna be ashamed. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:16.559 And you're really gonna want to know what God's like. 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:18.720 It's gonna really matter. 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:32.720 The writer of Hebrews says this Jesus, Hebrews 1.3, Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:42.000 So if you want to know, this is what's so great about this week and about Jesus, if you want to know what God's like, just look at Jesus. 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:56.799 We can just look at Jesus to know he's the exact imprint, one who upholds truth and then over and over again redeems and loves and forgives because he is faithful to us. 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:03.200 Theologian Fleming Rutledge says that Palm Sunday is the Trojan horse. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:07.519 She says that Palm Sunday is the Trojan horse of the Christian calendar. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:08.400 You remember this? 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:12.319 There's a war a long time ago, 12th, 13th century BC. 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:14.400 I think they made a movie, Brad Pitt was in a movie about it. 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:17.279 If that gives a little bit of relevant, nobody saw the movie, but it happened. 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:18.160 That movie happened. 00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:22.079 And so it was a 10-year war, and the Greeks are fighting the Trojans. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:24.480 The Trojans are in their city of Troy. 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:26.799 They're holding, they're good, they're sustainable. 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:28.079 They're in the walled city. 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:30.480 The Greeks cannot get to them. 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:34.079 And finally, the Greeks build this big empty horse, right? 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:34.880 Remember this story? 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:36.960 They put a bunch of men in it. 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:39.200 They sail away, they let the Trojans see him. 00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:39.920 They sail away. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:40.559 Oh, they leave. 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:42.640 And the Trojans say, We've we've won. 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:49.839 We've we we've and they open the doors, they pull the horse in as like a you know, this is a trophy of our victory. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:52.319 They all go to sleep that night. 00:18:52.720 --> 00:19:01.039 And during the night, the men come out of the horse, they open the doors, the Greeks sail back, they all come in, they take the city. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:02.240 Right? 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:06.240 And so we get this term that we we hear a lot just in common culture. 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:07.359 It's a Trojan horse. 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:09.039 That's a Trojan horse. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:11.920 And it means it's an illusion, it's a trick. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:19.279 It appears to be one thing, but then it ends up being something entirely different. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:24.160 The triumphal entry is a Trojan horse. 00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:29.920 It appeared to be Jesus was coming to claim victory by power and force. 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:32.640 But he's not. 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:38.160 God wanted to be known as a humble king. 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:45.119 It's a parade into weakness and into death. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:51.200 Hebrews 10, 19 through 23, I close with this. 00:19:51.680 --> 00:20:07.759 Therefore, brothers, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain that is through His flesh. 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:25.839 And since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:30.559 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:35.759 For he who promised is faithful. 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:39.920 Our brothers and sisters, Hosanna, for he has delivered you. 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:41.200 Let's pray together. 00:20:41.759 --> 00:21:05.039 God, thank you for your grace and mercy, and thank you that you came to redeem walking straight into weakness and unto death, as to take the death we deserve, to know the shame we feel, to know the weakness we feel, to absorb all of our sin, that we do not have to pay for it. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:11.359 We do not have to work out of our guilt or shame. 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:15.519 We do not have to work into our worth or forgiveness or righteousness. 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:19.119 The blood of Jesus is enough. 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:36.079 Thank you for this ironic story this morning that rescues us because you are a humble king that desires to rule our hearts with truth, grace, and love. 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:37.039 In Jesus' name. 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:37.920 Amen.