Sunday
03/25/18 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s
Sermon Title: “Jesus fulfilled all of the prophesies”
(“The Power of the Resurrection” Series – Part 4 of
5)
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
New Testament
Scripture: Philippians 2:5-11
Gospel Lesson:
Mark 11:1-11
My sisters and brothers in Christ, my friends, welcome once
again on this our Palm or Passion Sunday. This is the Sunday that we celebrate
Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, as palms were laid in his path and were
waved in the air. As this happened, the crowd shouted, as I just read in this
morning’s Gospel of Mark reading:
“Hosanna! Blessed
is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our
ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
(Mk. 11:9b-10, NRSV).
Today, as prophesied by scripture, Jesus the Christ, our
savior enters into the holy city of Jerusalem, to Zion, to the shouts of Hosanna!
Our king enters triumphant and in glory, only soon to be tried, to suffer, to be
crucified, and to die for us all. This day though is one of celebration and
great excitement! For today, the King of Glory comes, and the nation rejoices!
This morning, I am continuing on with my five week sermon
series on the “The Power of the Resurrection” of Jesus Christ. For the last
three weeks, I have been talking about how Jesus’ trial, crucifixion, death,
and his resurrection, aren’t merely historical events. While I believe that
they are historical events, and that there are many reasons to believe them, these
are also realities that still continue to change people even today in 2018. The
power of all that this Holy Week is, and all that the resurrection will be on
Easter Sunday, are so powerful that they can change us psychologically,
emotionally, and spiritually. We can become, as scripture says, a “New Creation”
in Christ. The story of Jesus Christ, I believe, is the greatest story that has
ever been told, and I also believe that Jesus Christ can still change us in
mighty way today. For nearly 2,000 years people have given their lives to
Christ, become followers of him, and have and continue to draw power from his
life, death, and resurrection. This is why my sermon series is called, “The
Power of the Resurrection”. The power of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection
has changed people, cultures, and the world.
Thus far in this sermon series, I have preached that Jesus’
trial, crucifixion, death, and resurrection, are real and powerful because, among
many other reasons, “Jesus proclaimed his own resurrection” in all four
gospels. I also discussed the powerful conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who became
the Apostle Paul, who was a strong voice for the power of Christ, Christ’s
death, and Christ’s resurrection. Last Sunday, I discussed broadly how the
scriptures of the Old Testament, and even some in the New Testament made claims
about the coming of Christ, his life, his death, and his resurrection.
This morning, I want to get a little more specific with
some of what the scripture actually says about the coming of Christ. This
sermon therefore, is called “Jesus fulfilled all of the Prophesies”.
So,
just what did the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible and maybe a little bit of
New Testament claim about the coming of the Messiah, the Christ? Further, did
Jesus fulfill those prophetic claims that were foretold of him?
Well many folks who don’t believe in
the historical or the apostolic Christian faith might say, “No, Jesus did not
fulfill these prophetic claims”. Our Jewish brothers and sisters would likely
say this. Yet, since Jesus was alleged to have worked on the Sabbath, which
meant healing people and gleaning food from fields, and well as ministering to
people considered fallen and sinful, well then he broke the Jewish law. Jesus
then, in a very legalistic Jewish sense is not eligible to be the Messiah. Yet Jesus
tells us that he is the “New Covenant” and that he is the “Lord of the Sabbath”.
Due to all of this, the majority of Christians historically would say that
Jesus was and is the savior, the Messiah that those before him said he would be.
So what are some of these many claims
in scripture about Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the savior? Well depending on
your reading of scripture, or where you do your research, there could be as
many as dozens to hundreds of scriptures that have lead Christian scholars to believe
that prophecies about Jesus Christ were being made. In fact, one place I did
research said that there are 353 scriptures that foretold or discussed the life
of Jesus Christ.
Let me just share a handful of
examples of this. In Exodus 3:14, God tells Moses that his name is:
“I Am Who I am” (Ex. 3:14, NRSV).
Then in
the gospel of John 8:58, Jesus says:
“Very truly, I
tell you, before Abraham was, I am” (Jn.
8:58, RSV).
Jesus
is making the direct connection to God in the Book of Exodus, and he is saying
I am he, I am the Messiah, I am God in the flesh.
In Exodus 12:21-27, we have the story
of the Passover, and the Jewish people sacrificing a pure and spotless Lamb.
The blood of this Lamb was put on their doorways to protect them from the angel
of death that was to Passover there homes. In 1 Corinthians 5:7, the Apostle
Paul tell us that Jesus is the new Passover, the new pure and spotless lamb. The
blood of Christ will cover the doorways of our hearts, and we will not see
death with Christ, only eternal life.
What we see then, is a very direction connection
to the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible, and the coming of Christ and his
revelation in the New Testament.
In Exodus 12:46, it says of him who is
to come, that he will not break one bone in his body. In the gospel of John
19:31-36, as Jesus is being crucified and died, the scripture says that not one
bone was broken in Jesus’ body.
Psalm 23:1 says that God is the Good Shepherd. In John 10:11 Jesus says that he is the Good
Shepherd. In Psalm 69:21 it says that the Messiah would be given vinegar to
drink. In Matthew 27:34 Jesus said that he thirsted, and one of the roman
guards then soaked a sponge with vinegar and sour wine, put it on a hyssop
branch, and lifted it for Christ to drink from.
Psalm 129:3, it says that the Messiah
will be scourged, as Christ in gospel of Matthew 27:26 was scourged with a
cat-o-nine tails by the roman soldiers. In our own reading from Psalm 118 for
this morning, it says in 118:22-23:
“The stone that the builders
rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” (Ps. 118:22-23, NRSV).
Jesus then says in Matthew 21:42-43:
Jesus said
to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders
rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is
amazing in our eyes’? (Mt.
21:42-43, NSRV).
Essentially then, and these are
literally but a few, there are multiple scriptures in the Old Testament or the
Hebrew Bible that are referenced as being fulfilled in the New Testament. Further,
in Luke 24:44, Jesus literally himself says:
“Then
he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with
you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the
psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44, NRSV).
So of just the handful of Old
Testament prophecies that I just read to you that would be fulfilled in Jesus
Christ, Jesus then tells us that all of these prophecies will be fulfilled in
him. This is why my sermon title is called, “Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies”.
So you might asking right about now,
well what on earth does this have to do with Palm or Passion Sunday, and our
gospel reading from the gospel of Mark for this morning?
This, in the Book of Zechariah, the Prophet
Zechariah says in 9:9 this:
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout
aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey”
(Zech. 9:9, NRSV).
Does this
prediction written many years before Christ sound like what happened in this morning’s
gospel reading? Let’s look again at this morning’s reading from the gospel of
Mark. The gospel reading once again says:
“When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and
Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said
to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it,
you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring
it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord
needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” They went away and found a
colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of
the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told
them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought
the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread
their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in
the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming
kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Then he entered
Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at
everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve” (Mk. 11:1-11, NRSV).
Now once again, the prophet Zechariah
says in 9:9:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout
aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey
(Zech. 9:9, NRSV).
Just as a reminder also, our reading
for this morning from Psalm 118:26 says:
“Blessed is the one who comes in
the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord” (Psalm 118:26, NRSV).
In the gospel
of Matthew narrative, the disciples get Jesus a colt and donkey. So while there
are some discrepancies between the gospel accounts, what the prophet Zechariah
predicted long before this day, came true as Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem on
this day to the shouts of Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord! This is significant, because it not only reinforces who Christ was and
is, that he existed, that he died for us, and that he rose again, but it also shows
us that this is still significant for us today.
In this sermon
series so far, we have discussed that Jesus “Predicted his own resurrection,”
that the “Apostle Paul proclaimed it,” last week that the “Scripture prophesied
it,” and this week that “Jesus fulfilled all of the prophesies” written about
him. Jesus again himself said that he would fulfill all of the prophesies
written about him.
So I believe
therefore, that Jesus was and is the Messiah, our savior, and I believe that he
lived as God in the flesh on earth, that he loved, healed, forgave, died for
us, and rose again on the third day. I also believe that can and will change
our hearts, our minds, and our lives if we let him into our hearts, minds, and
lives.
In this season
of Lent, has the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Christ changed us.
Are we growing spiritually? Are we being changed? Are we different that we
were, because we have the love and resurrection power of Jesus Christ flowing
through us?
It is my
prayer that we would claim all that Jesus is in our lives in this season of
Lent, that we would pray and continue to call upon the Holy Spirit to change
us, so that God may use us to then transform the world.
Today, the one
in whom many prophesied and said would come, the Messiah, I believe entered
into Jerusalem this day in a triumphant display. He entered not in most ostentatious
of ways, but humble and lowly, as the crowd shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord!”
This story
will continue to play out this week, as we will gather this Thursday at 7:00 pm
at the Freeville UMC to hear and experience the Last Supper and all that
transpired that night. This Friday our road then leads us to the cross to Christ.
Next Sunday on Easter we celebrate his triumphant resurrection. So again I pray
that God would move in us this day and always, so that we to might continue to be
transformed in Christ, and thus shout “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord!” Amen.
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