Sermon - Matthew 21 - Palm Sunday - Choices - April 5, 2020

We were hopeful that we would be back together for Palm Sunday or at the latest Easter Sunday, but that is not in the plans for now. We will continue to worship virtually with pre-recorded sermons and trying out a virtual meeting. As much as we want to be together and have all of the guys make breakfast Easter morning, the right choice, is for us to stay safe and healthy at this time.

Like the decision to worship virtually for now, we all make decisions every day. Some of the choices are simple, like what we are going to eat for dinner. Many decisions are harder like buying a car, buying a house, getting married, to forgive someone, or to hold traditional church services in a time like this.

Life is full of choices. Some are easy and nothing to lose sleep over. Some are a lot more challenging. For example, where to eat lunch is relatively easy, but how about forgiving that person that hurt you? Another might be about sharing the gospel with someone or not as it might strain the relationship.

Life is full of choices and the really important choices tend to have an easy path and a harder path.

Let’s take a look at a couple of examples starting with Noah.

Genesis 6:14-16

“¹⁴ “Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside. ¹⁵ This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. ¹⁶ You are to make a roof, finishing the sides of the ark to within eighteen inches of the roof. You are to put a door in the side of the ark. Make it with lower, middle, and upper decks.”

God gave Noah what seemed like an impossible task. Noah had a choice to make. He could take the easy path and not do what God wanted him to do, or he could take that difficult and challenging path and do as God asked.

Genesis 6:22

“And Noah did this. He did everything that God commanded him.”

Noah made the choice to follow the hard path, how about Moses?

Exodus 3:9-10

“⁹ So because the Israelites’ cry for help has come to me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them, ¹⁰ therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

Moses was standing before the burning bush and God was telling him that he needed to go and be God’s instrument to free the His people. Moses questioned if he was the right man for the job, he questioned if the people would listen to him, he questioned if he would be able to speak in front of them. Moses knew the task before him was challenging and he did not have the power to force Pharaoh to do what God wanted. Moses even asked for God to send someone else, but he eventually came around.  

Exodus 4:20

“So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took God’s staff in his hand.”

Moses made a choice and took what he knew was going to be a difficult road.

Then there is our Lord Jesus.

Matthew 21:1-7

“21 When they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples, ² telling them, “Go into the village ahead of you. At once you will find a donkey tied there with her colt. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them at once.” ⁴ This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: ⁵ Tell Daughter Zion, “See, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” ⁶ The disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt; then they laid their clothes on them, and he sat on them.”

Jesus had a choice to make on that first Palm Sunday. Verse 1 shows us that He choose to head into Jerusalem, then he had to decide if He was going to continue down the road or ride that donkey out of there.  

Jesus knew the scriptures, He knew the prophesies, He knew that the path was going to be painful and ultimately lead to His death.

Zechariah 9:9

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Jesus was right where this prophecy said He was going to be. One might wonder if Jesus climbed on that donkey and in His mind checked off one more prophecy being fulfilled.

He knew that if He followed the prophesies, if He did what He came to earth to do, the task was going to be hard.

Isaiah 53:3-6

“³ He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him. ⁴ Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. ⁶ We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.”

The path Jesus was on would lead Him to be despised, rejected, full of suffering, struck down, pierced, crushed, and punished. As Jesus climbed on that donkey, He was reaffirming His choice to go through hell on earth for those that He loves. He chose to take the hard road because He loves You.  

Matthew 26:2

“You know that the Passover takes place after two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

There is absolutely no doubt! Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen when He climbed on that donkey and road it into Jerusalem. He knew that over the next couple of days His Triumphant entry was going to lead to His death.

Matthew 21:7-11

“⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt; then they laid their clothes on them, and he sat on them. ⁸ A very large crowd spread their clothes on the road; others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. ⁹ Then the crowds who went ahead of him and those who followed shouted: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven! ¹⁰ When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in an uproar, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.””

Jesus understood that His life on earth had a purpose. He made the hard choice to take the difficult path before Him, because it was the right thing to do.

We make decisions every day and the lions share of them are as simple as what we are going to eat for lunch or what shirt are we going to wear. Then there are those choices that there is an easy answer to and a more difficult one that tends to be the correct one.

Normally I would say that a great example would be about going to church or not. The easy choice is to sleep in and think about going next week. Today the question is more around should I study God’s Word, should I watch the sermon Pastor posted, should I put my phone down during the sermon, or should I spend some time in prayer. The easy answer for any of us is to not do any of it since we are not holding traditional services right now and no one will know what I do or don’t do. The other choice, the correct path will require commitment and sacrifice. The path that will strengthen our relationship with our Lord is to read the Bible, watch the sermon, don’t let things distract us, and spend more time in prayer.

How about forgiving someone? In many cases the easy path is to walk away from the problem or the person. Essentially to build a wall in one form or another to protect us from conflict and pain.

Ephesians 4:32

“And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.”

The correct path is to forgive the person that hurt us. It will be hard, there may be confrontation, but our God is the God of restoration and He can heal the hurt and restore a friendship.

How about sharing the gospel with friends and family? The easy path is to not talk about what Jesus has done in our lives. It does not take a lot of effort to hide our faith. The correct path, and what is the more difficult path is to share our faith in Christ openly. People will not want to hear it, it may drive some people away, but we were created to Love Others. If we are hiding our faith from those we care about most, are we truly loving them? Showing them true love is sharing what Jesus has done for us in hope that they too will spend an eternity with the God that loves them. The path is not always easy, but it is the correct path to take.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus rode that Donkey down the path that ultimately lead to His death. He understood that He was making a choice to take the hard road, but He knew that if He wanted to spend an eternity with us, He needed to make the ultimate sacrifice. Out of His Love for us, Jesus made the hard choice and in turn is offering everyone the gift of eternal life.

Jesus headed into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday out of pure love for you. He knew He was going to die, but also knew that was the only sacrifice that would wash away our sins. He also knew that His resurrection on Easter Morning would give us eternal life.

If you are unsure if you will be joining Jesus for an eternity in Glory, please listen carefully. Jesus is the Son of God and it is through faith in Him that your sins can be forgiven. All of us are sinners, none of us can earn our way into heaven. We cannot be good enough, give enough, or do enough. We need Jesus and we need the gift that He has freely given us. If you have not put your faith in Jesus, I encourage you to do so now. If you would like to take the first step in being a follower of Jesus, please say this simple prayer with me.

Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe that you died on the cross to pay for my sins. I believe that you rose from the dead to give me new life. Jesus, I repent of my sins and ask for you to come into my life. I put my trust in you. Thank You Jesus, Amen.

God Bless,

Robert