Palm Sunday - Lisa Seaton

Well, good morning, City First family. We're so glad that each and every one of you are with us. You are in the right place. Turn to your neighbor and say, I'm so glad I get to sit next to you. Now turn to your other neighbor, your second choice, and tell them, but you're my favorite. Thank you. All right, well, today is Palm Sunday, which, like you just heard, means that Easter is only a week away. And across all of our locations, we have 14 services happening, making plenty of space to celebrate our risen king. This Easter, you're gonna wanna bring somebody with you. And what we know about Palm Sunday is it traditionally launches us into Holy Week, the final days leading up to Jesus's death on a cross. And what we need to know is Easter is so much more than just a national holiday. Easter is so much more than let's go to church and grab brunch. Easter is the pinnacle of our faith. And so to help it really come alive to us and for us to not miss it in the hustle and bustle of life, we've got a Holy Week devotional reading plan just for you that you can find on the City First app. Take a couple of minutes every day, read it, and prepare your heart for what Easter really means.

But today, we're gonna be talking about Palm Sunday. And maybe you grew up in church, or maybe you didn't. Maybe you've heard of Palm Sunday, but you don't really know what it means. Well, what I know about you and what I know about me is we really appreciate something a whole lot more if we understand the significance behind it. We appreciate something a lot more if we understand all the trouble that somebody went through to deliver something. And so today, we're gonna unpack the significance of Palm Sunday and how it impacts each and every one of us. And I just wanna give you a heads up that today is gonna be a little bit more teaching than preaching. And as I was preparing this message and thinking about teaching, I was reminded of the very first time I was ever given the opportunity to teach the Bible to somebody. Okay, I grew up in the great state of Ohio, and I grew up going to church in the 90s. Anybody go to church in the 90s? It was like you had church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. Okay, this was like in the ancient of days. And so Wednesday night, there's no kids ministry on Sunday night. You just had to sit in service with your parents on Sunday night for like three hours

and pray somebody packed a snack that they would share with you. And so by the time that I was like 10 or 11, I was like, I gotta mix this up, okay? So our kids pastor at the time, his name was Pastor Chad, and I heard that they needed somebody to teach Sunday school to five-year-olds. And I was like, I know these Sunday school teachers got it made. They do flannel graphs, all these things. I wanna do that. So I went to Pastor Chad. I was like, I'd love to teach these five-year-olds. And he was like, okay, we'd love that. You're in. He allowed me to do that. They didn't give me any curriculum. I don't think these kids had good theology, but we had a good time. And it really planted something inside of me, a love for the Bible and a love to teach the Bible. Well, fast forward just two years ago, okay? I was invited back to my home church in Ohio to preach on a Sunday morning. And Pastor Chad, who was the kids pastor who gave me that first opportunity, is now the senior pastor. And this church is like exploding. God's doing amazing things in it.

So I come back, I'm feeling emotional. I was like, this is a full circle moment for me. It's the first place I taught the Bible and now I'm a pastor in ministry. So I said to Pastor Chad, Pastor Chad, thank you for all those years ago that you would take a chance on a kid like me and give me my first opportunity to teach the Bible. He was like, Lisa, I'm so proud of you. And I wish I could say all those years ago that I saw an anointing on your life or a call of God, but really we were just desperate and you were willing. He was like, ain't nobody wanna teach a five-year-old Sunday school, but you did. I was like, that might just be my story. It's not about ability, it's about availability, right? So heavenly Father, we thank you for who you are. God, I thank you for all these people who made time to be here today to make themselves available to you. God, we're not just here to do church, we're here to encounter the living God. Father, we're so grateful for Palm Sunday and I pray today as we learn about it, that the story would come alive to us, that you would illuminate truths to us. I pray right now that you would break down any barrier that there would be to keep people from receiving this truth and the hope of the word of God. Father, I pray that your Holy Spirit.

minister to each and every heart specifically how it's needed. And I pray that you would help me to get out of the way so you can have your way. And everybody said, amen, amen. Well, when it comes to Palm Sunday, Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, it's documented in all four of the gospels in the New Testament. So you can read about it in Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. And it's important that we know that because it's like God saying, this is really significant. It's been documented multiple times, each with a little bit of a different perspective. But what we have to know is that Palm Sunday didn't start in the New Testament. It actually is part of a bigger story that God has been writing. See, the Bible is made up of many stories, different books, but it's really all one meta story from Genesis to Revelation of God's great love for you and for me. And what's incredible is that God didn't choose to reveal himself primarily through bullet points or systematic theology, but God chooses to reveal himself through story, right? The Bible in our current context is divided up into like neat columns and verses and chapters, but this isn't how the Bible was always this way. This system wasn't in place for like 1,000 years

after scripture was written. And so we have to know that many times because of the way that we currently know the context of the Bible, we might know a verse, but we might not know the whole story. But we have to know the story because it's how God has wired us up, is to think in story, right? Like we don't just remember information, we remember stories. You can forget a list that you wrote down or someone gave you like an hour later, but you remember a story for the rest of your life, right? We're intrigued by stories. It's why when you're watching that show and then it's coming to an end and the white bar pops up, next episode begins in five, four, and you start calculating, if I watch one more, how much sleep can I still get? You're like, I am gonna click it. I'm fine with four hours of sleep. I gotta know how the story ends, okay? And if you love a good story like I do, you love a great author, you'll know that they're kind of acclaimed if they can take a story and interweave things that are cross-reference throughout all their books. So a place, a person, different layers of a story that you don't connect all the dots than they do

and your mind is blown, right? Well, the thing about the Bible is that it wasn't just written by one author in one lifetime. God wrote the Bible using people and God wrote the Bible through 40 different authors who wrote 66 books that make up the Bible over a period of 1,500 years. And the incredible thing is that from Genesis to Revelation, there are nearly 64,000 cross-references. There is no one like our God. And this image represents some of the cross-references that are found in the Bible. And the bar on the bottom, Genesis to Revelation, the different books in the Bible, you see how they all are pointing towards one another. And when I saw this image, it built my faith and it reminded me of how detailed our God is. And our God isn't just detailed with the story of the Bible, God is detailed with your life too. God is in the inner workings of your life. It says in the Bible that God works all things together for the good of those who love him and those who trust him. And maybe right now you're in this story and you're in this chapter in your story and it's not your favorite chapter. Maybe there's difficult things going on right now and things that God never intended you to walk through but he's with you in the middle of it. Yesterday, Adam and I attended a funeral

for someone who's 42 years old that has gone way too soon. Life is difficult, things are hard. And maybe you're in a chapter right now where you're grieving or you can't see how God's gonna make sense of it. But I want you to be encouraged today that though sorrow may last for the night, joy comes in the morning. And I want you to be encouraged today that if you still have breath in your lungs, then God is still writing a story and your best is before you and not behind you. God sees you, he loves you. Don't give up hope, don't give up hope. Trust that God is with you and he's working things out. And I want you to be encouraged today that though sorrow may last for the night, joy comes in the morning. Don't give up hope, don't give up hope. and dozens of times. Trust that God is with you and he's working things out. And in 1 John 1 29, this is right before Palm Sunday, Don't give up hope, don't give up hope. John the Baptist refers to Jesus, he looks at him, Trust that God is with you and he's working things out. and he says, look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Well, what is John the Baptist talking about? Why is he referencing Jesus as the Lamb of God? So we're in the New Testament and he's saying this,

but he's actually referencing context that's derived from the Old Testament. Okay, he's referring all the way back to Exodus when we have Moses and Pharaoh, maybe you've seen the movie, Prince of Egypt, right? And so someone loves Prince of Egypt. And so there's the Israelites and 70 Israelites moved to Egypt because Israel was having a famine, Egypt had provision, Joseph was offering that provision. Well, over the decades, 70 Israelites multiplied to, they say maybe 3 million people. So now the Israelites are growing in population in Egypt and they're becoming so massive in volume, they're successful in everything they do that the Pharaoh starts to feel intimidated that these people could overthrow his people. So Pharaoh begins to really oppress the Israelite people and make them his slaves, bad working conditions, little pays, trying to mitigate their population. And so the Israelites start crying out to God, God, would you save us? God, would you deliver us? God, would you bring freedom to us? And God hears their prayers just how God hears your prayers when you pray to him. And God begins to go into motion and he says, I'm gonna bring freedom to you and I'm gonna use a guy named Moses. Moses at this time is in the wilderness, he had done some really bad things.

He had a really bad stutter, he didn't feel like he had the ability, but he had availability and he had gone back to God and repented and aligned his life with him and God says, I wanna use you. Do you know that God can use anybody? And God says to Moses, I wanna use you, so I want you to go to Pharaoh and I want you to tell him, let my people go. So Moses goes to Pharaoh and he says, Pharaoh, let my people go. Pharaoh's like, nah, I'm not gonna do that. So Moses again goes to Pharaoh, let my people go. Pharaoh's like, are you crazy? I'm not losing my workforce, I'm never gonna do that. So then God starts to throw some weight behind the situation and he says, I'm gonna send 10 plagues to the Egyptians and really get Pharaoh's attention. So God sends locusts that cover the land, God sends flies like every square inch covered in flies, he sends frogs to cover the land, every square inch covered in frogs. Like if you think the Bible's boring, you guys, it's crazy. Like that's crazy stuff. And he's sending all of these things but Pharaoh is not budging. So what we know is that when God sends the very last plague, the 10th one, it's the most severe. And he says that at midnight,

every firstborn would have to die. Says that there would be weeping unlike any weeping that nation had ever heard. And in that moment, every family, both Egyptian and Israelite faced the same reality that somebody in their family that they loved would have to die. But God in his kindness and in his mercy introduces here something powerful. It's the first time we see this, a great exchange, a life for a life. So God tells the Israelite people, his people, in order for you to be spared so that nobody has to die, because that's the punishment, but so that nobody has to die, I'm gonna have a great exchange. And he tells them to do three things. I'm gonna give you two right now and one at the very end. So don't leave early, okay? The two that he says, the things that he says to do, number one, is that they are to select a spotless lamb. Now this lamb had to be spotless, it had to be without blemish, it had to be pure. Why did it have to be pure? Why did it have to be without blemish? It had to be pure without blemish because if you think about it, you need something clean to take care of what's unclean. If you have a mess on your counter, you're not reaching for something dirty to clean that up,

you're reaching for a clean towel, a clean rag to clean up what is dirty. So you need a clean lamb, a spotless lamb. Then he tells them that you have to sacrifice or slaughter this lamb, that everybody would have to slaughter the lamb. This 12.6 tells us that, that we have to slaughter the lamb. And then he goes and he says, not just slaughter the lamb, but there's other things you need to do. I want you to prepare the body of the lamb for a meal so that you can consume it, so that that meal will sustain you as you exit Egypt and you go back to Israel and exit slavery into freedom. And so they were to take this lamb. It had to be sacrificed. And it said that it had to be slaughtered at twilight, which is 3 PM. And then they were to take the blood of the lamb and they were to put it on the outside of their door, on the doorpost, as a covering. And if the death angel saw that covering, it said they would pass over that house. Exodus 12.26, it says, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Anybody starting to see some parallels already? That there's a spotless lamb that's given in the place of another? That the blood brings covering and the life brings salvation? That they would have to be slaughtered at 3 PM, right? What I want you to see here is all the way in Exodus,

this story is not just about this story. It's about the bigger story, that in Scripture, God is always pointing to Jesus. Always pointing to Jesus. So this story doesn't stand alone. It's woven into the meta story. And so God spares the lives of his people. And they're able to leave Egypt and go back to their homeland in Israel. Everybody doing okay? I know we're doing a lot of church history here. But here's why you need to know this, okay? Now you have the context of the origin and the very first Passover. Why is Passover a big deal? This is why. Well, every year since the first Passover, Jewish people still gather together to remember how they were delivered by God from slavery and from the oppression of Pharaoh. And they still gather today. It's kind of like their Independence Day. I was actually invited to participate in a Passover meal about two years ago, and it was incredible to sit and to reflect. And they take so much time to really unpack what God did so they'll never forget the story and what it means for them today. So the first Passover in Egypt that we just learned about, okay, we're gonna pick up now in the New Testament,

which is 1,400 years later. So for 1,400 years now, Passover is celebrated annually. For 1,400 years, people are getting a spotless land. For 1,400 years, Jewish people were gathering for Passover, and they still do to this day. So a lot has changed in 1,400 years, but a lot of things have actually stayed the same. The Jewish people were still facing oppression from government, but this time, instead of facing oppression from the Pharaoh, they were facing oppression from the Roman government. They were once again praying and crying out to God, God, would you save us? Would you bring us freedom? The Israelite people, the Jewish people, would still travel to Jerusalem every year for Passover week. It's the holy city, and it's where they gathered. So 1,400 years after Egypt, Jerusalem is packed. Everybody's gathering. Everybody's coming together to celebrate, okay? I want you to picture a town that's just overflowing with people. It's like spring break in Florida, okay? It's just packed. And the town is buzzing, and people are preparing, and they're getting everything that they need, and they're getting ready to host family that's traveling with them. They're like rolling out the air mattresses, right?

Like you gotta make room. We're gonna have so many people here to celebrate Passover. And one thing that everybody needed to do on this particular day that we're talking about today, Palm Sunday, is that they needed to select their spotless lamb for Passover. Because before Palm Sunday was called Palm Sunday, because Palm Sunday hadn't happened yet, it was called Lamb Selection Day. Everybody say Lamb Selection Day. Lamb Selection Day. Because everybody had to once again select their spotless lamb. Now, if people lived locally in Jerusalem, they would maybe choose to raise their spotless lamb themselves. So they could raise it, they could take care of it, and then there would be sacrifice for Passover. But people who were traveling maybe didn't have the ability to travel with a spotless lamb. Like their airplane wouldn't let them bring an emotional support lamb, so they couldn't do that. Amazon wasn't delivering them, so they had to get a spotless lamb. So some really entrepreneurial people are like, we know what we'll do. We'll raise some lambs, and then we'll sell them to the tourists for a really high price, right? And so in the neighboring town of Bethlehem, there is a stockyard that's like the certified stockyard

where they would raise spotless lambs. So in Bethlehem, outside of Jerusalem, Spotless lambs were born, and they were raised, and then on Lamb Selection Day, they would bring them into Jerusalem through the sheep's gate. And some scholars say that there was a processional of the lambs. So people would gather, whether they were locals, whether they were visiting, they would gather by the sheep's gate. Some scholars say maybe even along the dirt roads, people were gathered lining the road on either side. This was a big event, this was a big deal. They were gonna watch the lambs come from Bethlehem into Jerusalem on this Lamb Selection Day. And maybe people were gathered on either side, and they're watching the lambs come by, and they're going, that one, that's my spotless lamb. Oh, that one, that's gonna be my spotless lamb. Well, what do we know about Jesus is that he's called the Lamb of God. Where was Jesus born? He was born in the town of Bethlehem. And so people are watching this processional of the spotless lambs, but a different lamb is about to enter the scene. So we pick up in Matthew 21, and it says, the disciples went, and they did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt,

and they put on them their cloaks, and Jesus sat on them. Now, why is it significant that Jesus is riding on a donkey? Well, there's two reasons that it's significant. The first one is it's a fulfillment of a prophecy. In Zechariah 9, it says, rejoice, O people of Zion. Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem. Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous, and he is victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey, riding on a donkey's colt. This was written about 500 years before it happened. So Jesus here is not just stumbling into a moment. He's stepping in to fulfill a prophecy that these people would have heard. The second reason it's significant is that in this moment, it's Jesus's public declaration of who he is. See, up until this point, we see Jesus walking everywhere. Every time we read, he's walking. He's walking with his disciples. He's walking, and he's doing miracles. He's walking from town to town. He's walking from place to place. He was always walking. He was walking quietly. He was walking humbly. He was often telling people not to make him known. See, we read all throughout Scripture that Jesus would do miracles, and then he would say, don't tell anybody about it. He'd heal somebody and be like, keep that on the DL.

Okay, if you or me were healing people, we'd be like, post about it, tell everybody about it. Young people would be like, clock it. I just did a miracle. Everybody needs to know, but that wasn't Jesus. Why, was he just being humble? Yes, but also, he did not wanna be outside of God's divine timing, that at the right time, who he was would be revealed. And so over and over and over in the Gospels, we read that Jesus said, don't tell anybody about it. Keep it quiet, later this will be revealed. But on this day, Lamb Selection Day, Jesus rides in on a donkey, and it is like him on a microphone making a public declaration that I am who they think that I am, that I am the Son of God, the Lamb of God, perfect, spotless, unmatched, unrivaled. And as we keep reading, it says, most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road. Another translation says they removed their outer garments and they laid them on the road. Other people went and they cut down palm branches, another fulfillment of Scripture from Psalm 118. They cut down palm branches from the trees and they spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and the crowds that followed him and the crowds that were around him

were shouting, Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And when he entered. In Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred, saying, who is this? And the crowd said, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee. So now it's known that he is the lamb of God, that he is the king of kings, that he is the spotless lamb, the one that's been prophesied and promised. And the people are having this revelation before their eyes, and they begin to get so stirred at the sight that they have to do something. So they begin to take off their outer garments, and they begin to lay on the dusty road. And we have to know that taking off your outer garment in the ancient of days that we read about in the Bible was so significant. An outer garment represented your identity. People would wear different colored garments that would associate with their occupation or their place of status. People would wear outer garments to show their social status. People would wear outer garments as protection from the environment. And in this moment, they take off their outer garments, saying, I recognize that who I am seeing has all authority,

and I wanna bow down in humility. It's not about how I want people to perceive me. It's not about the things of this earth. There's something more going on here. And this sign of removing your outer garments was reserved only for a king. It was an act that was reserved for royalty. So people are acknowledging that Jesus is the king. And the actual translation when you read about laying down your outer garments in this time period, it meant this, you are worthy to walk over whatever belongs to me, whatever I have, whoever I am, God. I lay it before you. Everything I have is yours. My identity isn't in this world. It's not in what I do or what I acquire. My identity is in you. And the people are realizing this at this moment. And other people are so stirred, they lay out their outer garment, and they think, I have to keep praising. I have to keep worshiping. And so they go and they found palm trees and they start cutting off the branches and they start waving them. They lay it on the ground so that Jesus can walk over them. And they're shouting, Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna. The actual translation of Hosanna means God save us. Give us room to breathe.

Give us room to breathe. They were looking for someone to remove their worries and their anxieties. They were looking for someone who could overthrow the oppression of the government. They were looking for someone who could save them. Just how Moses had let them out of slavery from Egypt, they needed somebody to save them, to give them room to breathe again. And so they see Jesus and they start shouting to him, you are worthy to walk over whatever we have. Would you save us? And today on Lamb Selection Day, I pray that we would look to Jesus as the one who saves us and who gives us our identity and who can renew us and redeem us and restore us, that he is the answer to whatever problem that we are facing. Lamb Selection Day. And as the people were worshiping and crying out, save us, we worship you, we exalt you. How did they go from crying Hosanna to a few days later crying crucify him? It's because Jesus didn't answer their prayer how they thought he would answer their prayer. They thought Jesus was coming to relieve them of the things of this earth, but Jesus had something even bigger, even better in mind, a life for life. The sin that they had acquired

would require death as a punishment, but Jesus said, I'm gonna do that for you so that you can be forgiven of your sins, so that you can have heaven forever as your home, that you can walk in peace because of what Jesus would do on a cross. And maybe you've been praying to God to answer something that's going on in your life. Would you be open to him answering it in a way better than what you even thought he could do? That's the kind of God that we serve. And I want to end how we began going all the way back to Exodus when God told them about three things to do with the lamb. The first thing that they were to do was to select a spotless lamb. The second thing they were to do was to sacrifice or slaughter the lamb and then prepare for it. Share that meal. And the third thing that he instructed them to do was to share the lamb. Exodus 12, four. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor. So as a people in Egypt, the Israelites were preparing to exit into their freedom. They were to eat the meal of the lamb, but God said, I don't want any lamb to go to waste. There are people who need the lamb.

There are people who need that sustenance. There are people who need what you have. And on this Palm Sunday, I want to encourage you and urge you city first, would we share the lamb? Would we share the good news? Would we be so stirred in our hearts by what Jesus did for us? That we have to do something, that we have to tell someone, that we have to invite somebody to join us for Easter as city first. Guys, we're having a ton of services. Pastor Jeremy is willing to preach a lot of times because he wants to make room for you to bring your neighbors, your friends, your coworkers to share the lamb, to have the good news of Jesus that you and I have. Would you go ahead and stand to your feet? I want to pray for us and then we're gonna go back into that song, worthy of it all. And I pray it would be personal for you. I pray that it would be a response. God, I lay down whatever I have, it belongs to you. If I've been looking for other people, other things to save me or giving me room to breathe, I look to you, I turn my attention to you. So heavenly Father, we thank you for Palm Sunday. We thank you for Jesus.

We thank you that he changes everything for us. And today we lift your name on high. We worship you because no one is worthy like you are, God. We honor you in this place as a church family. We glorify the name of Jesus, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the spotless lamb. Be glorified in our hearts, be glorified in this moment. We love you, Father. You are worthy. ♪ You are worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You are worthy of it all ♪ ♪ For from you are all things ♪ ♪ And to you are all things you deserve ♪ ♪ Oh, let them hear you today, you are worthy, Lord ♪ ♪ You are worthy of it all, yes you are ♪ ♪ You are worthy of it all ♪ ♪ Oh, we lay it on down before you, Jesus ♪ ♪ For from you are all things ♪ ♪ And to you are all things you deserve ♪ ♪ Oh, sing that again, you are worthy, Lord ♪ ♪ You are worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You are worthy of it all, we give it all to you, Lord ♪ ♪ For from you are all things ♪ ♪ And to you are all things you deserve the glory ♪ ♪ Yes, I know you deserve it all ♪ ♪ For from you are all things and to you are all things ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory ♪ On Lamb Selection Day, maybe you're in here and you've never made the decision to select Jesus as the leader and forgiver of your life.

I can't think of a more perfect time to do that. So I'd like to give you an opportunity. And if you wanna make that decision to follow Jesus, you believe that he is the Son of God, that he died for you and rose again. I wanna invite you to repeat this prayer after me and everyone else can repeat it as well so no one feels left out. Heavenly Father, thank you for your Son, Jesus, that he died for me, forgives my sins, and gives me a fresh start. Today I choose to follow you. And in your name we pray, amen. Amen, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Hey, if you made that decision to follow Jesus, we wanna take a moment and say congratulations because that is the best decision that you could make. And we're so proud of you for making that decision today. Just as your church family, we wanna come alongside you and help you on this journey of following Jesus. We have this thing called the New Beginnings Resource. It's entirely free. You can scan the QR code that is on the screen to access it, but it's gonna explain a little bit more about your decision to follow Jesus today. Yeah, and after you go through that New Beginning Resource,

a great next step would be to sign up for GrowthTrack. It really is set up to help you discover your God-given purpose and design, and we just wanna keep helping you move forward in your journey with Jesus. And so you can sign up on the app or the website to get connected. That's right, we've got a new GrowthTrack starting each and every month, so don't delay, jump into GrowthTrack. And if you need prayer for anything, we'd love to pray with you. Jump on the City First app or the website, and you can submit a prayer request there, and we pray for every request that comes in. So nothing is too big or too small for God, so we would love to take a moment and pray specifically for the requests that you have. And we are so excited to celebrate Easter with you next week, so City First Church Anywhere, we love you. We're praying for a great week, and we'll see you next time.