Robert E. Cushman - "Blessed Is He That Cometh!" (April 7, 1963)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(liturgical music) | 0:18 | |
- | So let us offer under God, | 0:55 |
our unison prayer of confession, let us pray. | 0:57 | |
Eternal God thou unseen source of power. | 1:03 | |
We confess our unfaithfulness to Jesus Christ. | 1:07 | |
We who like ancient Jerusalem have welcomed Him | 1:11 | |
with professions of loyalty, | 1:14 | |
have crucified Him before the week ended. | 1:16 | |
Amid the way weirdness of a violent world. | 1:20 | |
We have denied His faith and forsaken His way. | 1:23 | |
We have not walked kindly with one another, | 1:27 | |
nor humbly with thee, nor honorably with ourselves. | 1:30 | |
We ask thy forgiveness and restoration | 1:35 | |
through this same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. | 1:38 | |
here are the gracious words of our Lord Jesus Christ | 1:44 | |
unto all who truly repent and turn to Him, | 1:47 | |
"Come on to me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, | 1:52 | |
and I will give you rest. | 1:57 | |
Him that cometh onto me, I will in no wise cast out." | 2:00 | |
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. Amen. | 2:06 | |
And now as our savior Christ has taught us, | 2:12 | |
let us pray together saying our Father who art in heaven, | 2:15 | |
hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, | 2:20 | |
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 2:24 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 2:28 | |
and forgive us our trespasses, | 2:31 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us | 2:33 | |
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 2:37 | |
For Thine is the kingdom, | 2:42 | |
the power and the glory forever. Amen. | 2:43 | |
(liturgical music) | 3:13 | |
The scripture lesson is found in the 21st chapter | 7:29 | |
of the gospel, according to St. Matthew. | 7:33 | |
"And when they drew near to Jerusalem | 7:41 | |
and came to Bethphage to the Mount of Olives, | 7:44 | |
then Jesus sent two disciples saying to them, | 7:48 | |
'Go into the village, opposite you. | 7:52 | |
And immediately you will find an ass tied | 7:54 | |
and a colt with her. | 7:57 | |
Untie them and bring them to me. | 8:00 | |
If anyone says anything to you, | 8:03 | |
you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them.' | 8:05 | |
And he will send them immediately.' | 8:09 | |
This took place to fulfill | 8:13 | |
what was spoken by the prophet saying, | 8:15 | |
'Tell the daughter of Zion, | 8:17 | |
behold, your king is coming to you, | 8:20 | |
humble and mounted on an ass | 8:23 | |
and on a colt, the foal of an ass.' | 8:26 | |
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. | 8:30 | |
They brought the ass and the coat, | 8:35 | |
and put their garments on them and he sat there on. | 8:37 | |
Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road | 8:43 | |
and others cut branches from the trees | 8:46 | |
and spread them on the road. | 8:48 | |
And the crowds that went before Him | 8:50 | |
and that followed Him shouted, 'Hosanna to the son of David, | 8:53 | |
blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord. | 8:58 | |
Hosanna in the highest.' | 9:02 | |
And when He entered Jerusalem, | 9:05 | |
all the city was stirred saying, 'Who is this?' | 9:07 | |
And the crowd said, | 9:12 | |
'This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.'" | 9:14 | |
Here the lesson ends. | 9:21 | |
(liturgical music) | 9:26 | |
The Lord be with you. | 12:38 | |
- | And with your spirit. | 12:41 |
- | Let us pray. | 12:43 |
Oh God who are glorious and holiness, | 12:47 | |
full of love and compassion, abundant in grace and truth. | 12:51 | |
All thy works praise Thee and all the earth. | 12:57 | |
By glory is revealed in Jesus Christ Thy son. | 13:01 | |
Therefore we praise Thee | 13:07 | |
Father, son, and holy spirit, one God. | 13:09 | |
Blessed be Thy name above all names forever. | 13:14 | |
All mighty God our Father, who has so loved the world | 13:23 | |
as to send Thy son to seek | 13:28 | |
and save our rebellious creatures. | 13:30 | |
We give thanks for the grace by which he came among us | 13:34 | |
as a servant, meek, and lowly. | 13:38 | |
The friend of sinners and the companion of the poor. | 13:42 | |
We remember with joy that the common people heard Him gladly | 13:48 | |
and the multitude welcomed Him with Palm branches | 13:53 | |
and songs of praise. | 13:57 | |
Grant us grace, oh God, | 14:01 | |
to join with all our hearts | 14:03 | |
in the spiritual triumph of the prince of peace | 14:05 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 14:11 | |
Almighty God, who has taught us to pray for others, | 14:17 | |
hear our prayers of intercession. | 14:22 | |
Hear us as we pray | 14:27 | |
for those who have been unfortunate in life | 14:29 | |
and bruised in spirit. | 14:32 | |
For those who have toiled without success. | 14:35 | |
For those who are lonely and hurt. | 14:39 | |
For those who have endured with no outside encouragement. | 14:43 | |
For all these, our Father, | 14:49 | |
we pray that sure knowledge of Thy boundless compassion | 14:51 | |
made known to us in Thy lonely bruise and suffering son. | 14:56 | |
Oh God who has called our nation to a place of trust | 15:03 | |
and responsibility throughout the world. | 15:07 | |
We only humbly Thee for all the ways | 15:11 | |
in which thou has blessed and guided us unto this day. | 15:13 | |
We confess before Thee, with shame, | 15:19 | |
all that has been evil in our history | 15:21 | |
and all that now makes us, an unworthy nation before Thee. | 15:25 | |
Take from this nation, pride, greed, and injustice. | 15:32 | |
And temper it with a spirit of unselfish service | 15:40 | |
Here I say as we pray for this university, | 15:49 | |
may knowledge be increased among us | 15:53 | |
and may scholarship flourish. | 15:56 | |
We pray for all who teach here and all who learn, | 15:59 | |
that in humility of heart, they may ever look unto Thee, | 16:04 | |
the fountain of all wisdom. | 16:08 | |
Grant that all who served this university in any capacity | 16:12 | |
may labor as unto Thee. | 16:17 | |
Oh God, we pray for Thy church. | 16:23 | |
Baptize her afresh | 16:26 | |
with a life-giving spirit of Jesus Christ. | 16:27 | |
Bestore up on her a more imperative response to duty. | 16:32 | |
A swifter compassion with suffering | 16:37 | |
and utter loyalty to Thy will. | 16:41 | |
Help her to proclaim boldly the coming of Thy kingdom. | 16:46 | |
Fill her with the prophet scorn of tyranny | 16:51 | |
and with Christ light tenderness | 16:55 | |
for the heavy Laden and the downtrodden. | 16:57 | |
Bid her seize from seeking her own life, lest she lose it. | 17:03 | |
Make her value to give up her life to the world. | 17:09 | |
That like her crucified Lord, | 17:14 | |
she may come into Thy kingdom by the path of the cross. | 17:16 | |
All this we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 17:24 | |
Now our Father hear us as we pray for ourselves, | 17:32 | |
make us perfect in Jesus Christ. | 17:37 | |
Out of His fullness, | 17:41 | |
may we all receive and rest in Him forever more. | 17:42 | |
May His passion be our deliverance, His wounds our healing. | 17:48 | |
His cross, our redemption and His death, our life. | 17:57 | |
Suffering with Him here, may we reign with Him hereafter. | 18:07 | |
And bearing now His cross, | 18:14 | |
may we hear after wear His crown. | 18:17 | |
Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. | 18:23 | |
Oh thou in whom we live and move and have our being, | 18:29 | |
at this time we offer and present onto Thee ourselves, | 18:34 | |
our spirits and bodies, our thoughts and desires, | 18:39 | |
our words and deeds to be a reasonable, | 18:44 | |
holy and living sacrifice under Thee, | 18:48 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. | 18:52 | |
(liturgical music) | 19:04 | |
- | Almighty God, from whose bounty we have all received, | 26:05 |
accept this offering of Thy people. | 26:10 | |
And so follow it with Thy blessing | 26:13 | |
that it may promote peace and Goodwill among man, | 26:16 | |
and advanced Thy kingdom | 26:20 | |
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. | 26:23 | |
(liturgical music) | 26:48 | |
- | Let us pray. | 26:57 |
Grace be unto you and peace from God the father, | 27:01 | |
and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. | 27:05 | |
In Matthew's gospel the lesson for the day we read, | 27:15 | |
"And the multitude that went before Him | 27:21 | |
and that followed cried saying, | 27:24 | |
'Hosanna to the son of David, | 27:26 | |
blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, | 27:29 | |
Hosanna in the highest.'" | 27:35 | |
As in the season of lent, | 27:40 | |
Christians retrace the toilsome steps | 27:43 | |
of their Lord to the Mount of Calvary. | 27:47 | |
They do not forget that in some mysterious way, | 27:51 | |
Palm Sunday is a glad day in the long, | 27:55 | |
long memory of the Christian Church. | 27:58 | |
From the first it was such a day. | 28:02 | |
It was a day of rejoicing for the Pilgrim throng | 28:05 | |
that accompany Jesus to Jerusalem. | 28:09 | |
Coming up for the celebration of the Passover, | 28:13 | |
the Pilgrims from Galilee and beyond Jordan | 28:16 | |
swelled the company of Jesus' followers. | 28:20 | |
As they recognize the prophets of Galilee | 28:24 | |
with His disciples, | 28:27 | |
they broke into noisier claim hailing Jesus | 28:29 | |
in words of historic messianic import. | 28:33 | |
That recalled the words of the Old Testament prophets. | 28:37 | |
Somehow the ancient phrase | 28:42 | |
is formed on the lips of one or two | 28:45 | |
were passed along to become a chorus. | 28:49 | |
Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, | 28:53 | |
Hosanna to the son of David, Hosanna in the highest. | 28:58 | |
Evidently the contrast between the kingly role, | 29:04 | |
they ascribed to the prophet of Nazareth, | 29:08 | |
and His lowly mount quite escaped Him. | 29:11 | |
Seemingly they took no notice that he rolled upon a donkey, | 29:15 | |
a humble beast of burden. | 29:20 | |
And a memorial symbol of patient service | 29:23 | |
and uncomplaining endurance. | 29:26 | |
It did not occur to them that Jesus, | 29:30 | |
after the fashion of the older prophets, | 29:32 | |
might be enacting the meaning of His message and mission. | 29:35 | |
And that the words of Zachariah might be the clue. | 29:39 | |
"Rejoice greatly, oh daughter of Zion. | 29:44 | |
Shout oh doctor of Jerusalem, | 29:48 | |
behold thy king cometh onto thee is just | 29:51 | |
and having salvation. | 29:56 | |
Lowly and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt, | 29:58 | |
the foal of an ass." | 30:03 | |
The throng was excited. Now it didn't festival mood. | 30:06 | |
It moved it no question of Jesus' real identity | 30:11 | |
or hidden meaning that might attach to His kingship, | 30:12 | |
crowds do not reflect, they react. | 30:13 | |
It was enough to be carried on the upwelling | 30:25 | |
tired of their own spontaneous enthusiasm. | 30:26 | |
They rejoiced in the reputation | 30:33 | |
of the celebrated prophet of Nazareth in Galilee. | 30:36 | |
He was their own countrymen. | 30:41 | |
And with Him for a moment and with high expectations, | 30:44 | |
they were glad to be identified. | 30:49 | |
But we know that the two molt and the shouting died | 30:53 | |
and that the exalted gladness | 30:58 | |
of the first Palm Sunday was soon to pass. | 31:00 | |
The fidelity of a crowd is as substantial | 31:04 | |
as the measure of its understanding | 31:08 | |
and of understanding this crowd had not enough. | 31:11 | |
And shortly in retrospect Jesus' disciples, | 31:16 | |
had to view the acclaim of their master on Palm Sunday. | 31:20 | |
It was only a passing interval | 31:25 | |
of welcome relief in Jesus fateful | 31:28 | |
and relentless march to Jerusalem and to Golgotha. | 31:32 | |
From the north country, | 31:38 | |
the Mount of transfiguration you will remember, | 31:40 | |
Jesus had steadfastly set His face like Flint, | 31:44 | |
to go to Jerusalem. | 31:50 | |
Here was the seat of theocratic authority and power. | 31:52 | |
Here was the Citadel Lavon bending and hostile resistance | 31:59 | |
to His mission, His message, and His person. | 32:04 | |
Here was Mount Zion and the temple that crowned the hill | 32:09 | |
that enthroned established cultic law and practice. | 32:15 | |
Here in Jerusalem, | 32:20 | |
Jesus was set upon making His final appeal | 32:23 | |
for the obedience of Israel, | 32:28 | |
to the imperatives of God's kingdom. | 32:30 | |
Here He was to confront decisively and climatically | 32:34 | |
the of reaction. | 32:38 | |
And here also was to be settled for all time to come. | 32:41 | |
The question of His own identity | 32:46 | |
and the real meaning of His kingship. | 32:48 | |
And now the moment of arrival was at hand. | 32:53 | |
And the long way is behind Him. | 32:58 | |
And before Him beyond the brow of the Mount of Olives | 33:01 | |
lies the wall city of Jerusalem. | 33:06 | |
Honduras gates, glistening temple, | 33:10 | |
and around Jesus and His followers is the throng of pilgrims | 33:14 | |
converging on the holy city, they all gust city of David. | 33:19 | |
We do not know what sparked the recognition | 33:25 | |
of the prophet of Nazareth by the festival throng. | 33:28 | |
As he rode astride, a lonely beast of burden | 33:32 | |
accompanied by His disciples band, | 33:35 | |
He was recognized and hailed in language | 33:38 | |
that surely recall the long awaited | 33:41 | |
Messiah of Israel's ancient hope. | 33:45 | |
Hear the words again, | 33:48 | |
Hosanna to the son of David, | 33:52 | |
blessed is He that cometh is in the name of the Lord. | 33:56 | |
Now knew better than the one acclaimed the hidden mockery. | 34:01 | |
Yet it was all so spontaneous and with all soul right, | 34:08 | |
even if for the wrong reason. | 34:12 | |
But when the Pharisees | 34:17 | |
enjoined Jesus to rebuke His disciples | 34:18 | |
for their scandalously exorbitant praise, | 34:21 | |
Jesus justly replied, | 34:25 | |
"I tell you that if thee shall hold their peace, | 34:27 | |
the stones will cry out." | 34:31 | |
Our Lord fully understood | 34:35 | |
that the joyous acclaim of the throng, | 34:37 | |
was based upon some misunderstanding and miss identification | 34:40 | |
of His role and purpose. | 34:46 | |
Yet that he found in it a right instinct, | 34:50 | |
is attested by His adroit and perfectly calculated reply | 34:53 | |
to the complaining priests and scribes. | 34:59 | |
"Did he never read?" He asked. | 35:02 | |
Out of the miles of babes and sucklings | 35:06 | |
thou has perfected praise. | 35:09 | |
Jesus irony is crystal clear in all of this episode. | 35:13 | |
And yet he knew that the untutored | 35:17 | |
and half childish recognition of His mission and message | 35:20 | |
by the Pilgrim throng was nevertheless | 35:25 | |
a partial comprehensive. | 35:29 | |
It was plainly to be honored | 35:32 | |
for such truth as it comprehended and embraced. | 35:34 | |
And it was much to be preferred to the poor blind | 35:39 | |
obstinate and craft the obliquity | 35:43 | |
of rulers, Priests, and scribes. | 35:47 | |
Whose minds were fast closed, | 35:50 | |
indeed impervious to neutral. | 35:54 | |
Yes. Out of the miles of babes and sucklings | 35:59 | |
thou has perfected praise. | 36:04 | |
Except you become as a little child, | 36:07 | |
you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. | 36:09 | |
If there had to be a choice, | 36:14 | |
then Jesus had always made it clear | 36:17 | |
that over sophistication, not simplicity, | 36:21 | |
is the great deceiver. | 36:25 | |
And so we may confidently believe | 36:29 | |
there was for Jesus on the first Palm Sunday, | 36:32 | |
a measure of satisfaction and joy | 36:36 | |
in the glad recognition of the crowd. | 36:39 | |
And for Jesus' disciples, | 36:43 | |
it doubtless was a triumphal entry. | 36:46 | |
However trench, | 36:50 | |
for them it was at least a momentary fulfillment of hopes | 36:52 | |
they had half abandoned | 36:57 | |
or no longer there to entertain | 36:59 | |
in view of Jesus repeated warnings | 37:02 | |
of His own eventual betrayal and death. | 37:05 | |
Never quite to be forgotten where the shouted Hosanna's, | 37:09 | |
the waving palms, and the crowds tumultuous to claim. | 37:14 | |
But in accordance with their worst misgivings | 37:20 | |
and against their irrepressible but deepest hopes, | 37:25 | |
the disciples were to learn | 37:31 | |
that the exaltation of the crowds, | 37:33 | |
was only a brilliant and fleeting interlude. | 37:36 | |
It was like a shaft of glorious sunlight | 37:43 | |
that momentarily illuminates a darkening landscape | 37:47 | |
in the face of an advancing storm. | 37:51 | |
As we know, the storm broke. | 37:55 | |
And we move quickly | 37:58 | |
out of the joy and gladness of Palm Sunday, | 37:59 | |
into the deepening gloom and menacing shadows | 38:02 | |
of the final days of Jesus' earthly ministry. | 38:06 | |
So rapid is the descent into the darkness | 38:10 | |
of Gethsemane and Golgotha, | 38:14 | |
that it is easier for us as it was for the disciples | 38:18 | |
to account the Hosanna's of Palm Sunday as hollow mockery, | 38:22 | |
than was on Hosanna's praise. | 38:27 | |
And with pier in vain, | 38:30 | |
among the throngs that followed Jesus to His crucifixion. | 38:31 | |
For the remnants of that Pilgrim ban that on Sunday, | 38:37 | |
had hailed His entry with words of messianic acclaim. | 38:41 | |
If there were remnants present, | 38:48 | |
they were silent and then conspicuous now. | 38:50 | |
Had they been mistaken about Jesus' real identity? | 38:54 | |
The answer is plainly, yes. | 39:02 | |
They had expected and overpowering deliver | 39:07 | |
are not a prisoner or under sentence of debt. | 39:12 | |
But the prevailing witness of the gospels is that | 39:16 | |
not only were these mistaken about Jesus real identity | 39:20 | |
so was everyone else. | 39:25 | |
Not the fouls of Jesus only, | 39:28 | |
but even His intimate disciples were mistaken. | 39:31 | |
Consider the disciples, consider their fear, | 39:35 | |
their uncertainty, their indecision, | 39:40 | |
and their desertion of Jesus in the hour of crisis. | 39:43 | |
And Peter's denial | 39:49 | |
following upon His vehement protestations of loyalty, | 39:50 | |
all of this points to imperfect understanding | 39:55 | |
of Jesus' mission and consequently of His identity. | 39:59 | |
And not only Peter, | 40:03 | |
but such other prominent disciples as James and John. | 40:06 | |
At a late hour in Jesus' ministry, | 40:11 | |
these to reveal a painful misunderstanding | 40:13 | |
of Jesus' intention and work. | 40:18 | |
Almost at the last they secretly asked | 40:22 | |
for places of preeminence in the messianic age to come. | 40:26 | |
It was then that Jesus disclosed | 40:32 | |
with rare and on the custom directness, | 40:35 | |
the nature of His ministry. | 40:39 | |
It is a ministry of uttermost service, | 40:42 | |
not a rulership of earthly prerogative and supremacy. | 40:45 | |
"The son of man." He said, | 40:51 | |
"Came not to be served, but to serve. | 40:54 | |
Not to make claims, but to give His life a ransom for many." | 40:58 | |
Doubtless to the disciples, | 41:06 | |
these words were veiled in mystery, | 41:09 | |
a mystery that was sharply to be embodied in the cross. | 41:12 | |
But even in the cross, the embodied mystery remained. | 41:17 | |
It remains for us to this day when we enter into it | 41:23 | |
and take in the magnitude | 41:29 | |
of the spiritual achievement it in shrine. | 41:31 | |
When we do, we know, and in reverence confess, | 41:35 | |
that we stand shamed and overpowered | 41:41 | |
by the supreme moral event in the history of our race. | 41:43 | |
In its spiritual vision and majesty, | 41:49 | |
it remains in comparably and unapproachably the highest. | 41:53 | |
It is the sign of the cross incomparable | 42:00 | |
and hung somehow mysteriously between heaven and earth | 42:05 | |
and somehow as a bridge between them. | 42:09 | |
In the cross, | 42:13 | |
somehow we do know that God becomes identified with man | 42:15 | |
and man with God. | 42:19 | |
And then this coalescence, | 42:21 | |
the identity of the prophet, Jesus of Nazareth is revealed. | 42:23 | |
Who does not feel this is not to be blamed, | 42:30 | |
but to be pitied. | 42:35 | |
For he has lost the capacity of deeper moral sensibility | 42:37 | |
and often not through grossness of life, | 42:42 | |
but through atrophy of His powers. | 42:46 | |
The truth is none could know | 42:50 | |
the identity of Jesus before Calvary. | 42:53 | |
It could not be seen in prospect. | 42:57 | |
The simple pilgrims did divine, | 43:00 | |
a charismatic greatness in the prophet of Nazareth, | 43:04 | |
attested to them by His word and work in Galilee, | 43:08 | |
within the slender limits of their vision they might exalt | 43:13 | |
on His entry into Jerusalem. | 43:17 | |
But neither they nor the disciples, | 43:20 | |
much less the secular eyes Sadducees | 43:22 | |
or the fanatical Pharisees, | 43:26 | |
could probe the dimensions | 43:29 | |
of Jesus' vision of His vocation under God. | 43:31 | |
It was appropriate that all Jerusalem | 43:36 | |
should be stirred saying, "Who is this?" | 43:38 | |
None could expect an answer. | 43:43 | |
The fact is the answer was not available. | 43:46 | |
It had not yet been given. | 43:50 | |
It could not be given. | 43:53 | |
Saved by Jesus Himself as the outcome of an inward struggle. | 43:55 | |
The issue of which was still pending | 44:01 | |
and was to be settled only by a deed of final victory | 44:04 | |
over all temptation, pay a small. | 44:07 | |
It was to be a deed of absolute and in detectable commitment | 44:12 | |
to God on behalf of deviant and wayward man. | 44:18 | |
And therefore on Palm Sunday, | 44:24 | |
Jerusalem asks saying, "Who is this?" | 44:27 | |
The answer is not available. | 44:31 | |
It is only in the making. | 44:34 | |
Yet it was already in the making | 44:36 | |
long before the entry into Jerusalem. | 44:39 | |
If therefore we look at the events of Palm Sunday, | 44:43 | |
now in the light of the deed of Good Friday, | 44:48 | |
we may find a clue to the meaning of the triumphal entry | 44:53 | |
and because our Lord purposefully put it there. | 44:58 | |
Why did Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a donkey? | 45:04 | |
There is no evidence that Jesus ever transported Himself | 45:09 | |
by land sail on foot. | 45:13 | |
Now on His entrance into Jerusalem, | 45:17 | |
He forsakes His custom deliberately | 45:19 | |
and takes not to horseback | 45:23 | |
the manner of princes and warriors, but to donkey back. | 45:25 | |
Do you not see the irony, even the whimsy in it? | 45:34 | |
The preventing conception of Messiah was that of king. | 45:39 | |
Can you imagine a king making entrance to His Royal city, | 45:45 | |
not on a donkey Marilee, but on a donkey's colt? | 45:50 | |
For those who might have eyes to see | 45:59 | |
the irony, the whimsy and with all the purpose, | 46:02 | |
if ness of Jesus' action, this becomes plain. | 46:06 | |
To all who can perceive Jesus is saying what He says, | 46:12 | |
to pilot in the hour of His trial. | 46:16 | |
"My kingdom is not of this world. | 46:20 | |
That is, it is not your world. | 46:25 | |
Your world of claims and counter claims, | 46:30 | |
of status seeking, of prerogative, | 46:33 | |
and inforce supremacy over men's will. | 46:36 | |
The kingdom I represent is God's not man, nor even mine." | 46:41 | |
But the point was missed by the disciples | 46:50 | |
and the Pilgrim throngs, | 46:54 | |
sensing that they were in the presence | 46:57 | |
of prophetic greatness, | 46:59 | |
it was enough for them that Jesus rode and did not walk. | 47:01 | |
It was only in retrospect | 47:07 | |
in the after days of the early church, | 47:09 | |
that Jesus meaning was recovered | 47:11 | |
from the writings of the prophet Zacharia | 47:13 | |
and recorded in the Mathean Version of the triumphal entry, | 47:16 | |
only then, was it seen to be a triumph, but of humility? | 47:21 | |
"Tell ye the daughter of Zion, | 47:29 | |
behold thy king cometh unto thee, | 47:32 | |
meek and riding upon an ass and upon a colt, | 47:35 | |
the foal of an ass." | 47:41 | |
But now the early church was divining the identity of Jesus. | 47:44 | |
Now they knew in the light of the cross | 47:50 | |
that He came as He said, | 47:53 | |
not to be ministered onto, not to claim prerogatives, | 47:56 | |
equal and commensurate with His station, | 48:02 | |
but to minister and to serve. | 48:04 | |
In truth His kingdom was not of this world, | 48:08 | |
but He was revealed as the king in the realm of the spirit. | 48:12 | |
There He was king of Kings and Lord of Lords, | 48:19 | |
that is in perfect obedience onto God. | 48:25 | |
And in entire service to man. He was Bartholomeus king, yes. | 48:29 | |
But He was the miking came, Bartholomeus pray offs. | 48:36 | |
For Jesus Himself had taught in work, | 48:41 | |
He had enacted in life, He had embodied in death, | 48:44 | |
and He had received in the resurrection. | 48:48 | |
The truth of the beatitudes, | 48:51 | |
blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. | 48:53 | |
On the first Palm Sunday, | 49:01 | |
all Jerusalem was stirred say, "Who is this?" | 49:04 | |
The answer was not fully available. | 49:10 | |
Jesus was in process of making the answer. | 49:13 | |
We know Him or may know Him as the ironical. | 49:17 | |
Yes, the whimsical, the mysterious one, | 49:23 | |
not simply the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. | 49:28 | |
For in the cross, | 49:32 | |
He ever lastingly identifies Himself | 49:34 | |
for those who will stop to see, to gaze, | 49:37 | |
to ponder, and to learn. | 49:42 | |
In the cross of His entire self offering He is, | 49:46 | |
in the centurion's words, | 49:51 | |
words of dawning realization, truly the son of God. | 49:54 | |
So likewise, if we come to see, | 50:02 | |
and with the centurion at the foot of the cross, | 50:07 | |
enter somewhat into the mystery that is embodied there. | 50:10 | |
We will be better abled | 50:16 | |
than the Pilgrims on the first Palm Sunday, | 50:18 | |
to declare with confidence, | 50:22 | |
blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. | 50:26 | |
Amen. Let us pray. | 50:33 | |
Oh king of man, master of human life, | 50:44 | |
lettered into the glory by way of the cross | 50:48 | |
and to whom all authority is given | 50:52 | |
both in heaven and on earth, | 50:54 | |
enter now into our lives and make Thy kingdom there, | 50:57 | |
and subdue the world in us, | 51:02 | |
by the might of Thy love through Jesus Christ our Lord. | 51:05 | |
And now may the blessing of God almighty, | 51:13 | |
Father, son, and holy spirit | 51:16 | |
be among you and abide with you now and evermore. Amen. | 51:19 | |
(liturgical music) | 51:27 | |
(bell dings) | 52:57 | |
(liturgical music) | 53:13 |
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