HOSANNA, BLESSEDIS THE KING
PALM SUNDAY
DR. JIM DIXON
APRIL 16, 2000
LUKE 19:28-44
100 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, a man was born whose name was Gaius Julius Caesar. He was born of an ancient aristocratic lineage, and today many historians view him as the greatest man of the Roman era. Some historians view Julius Caesar as the greatest man of antiquity. Julius Caesar was himself a historian. His History of the Gaelic Wars is considered a masterpiece of ancient literature. He was also an orator and as an orator in his time he was considered second only to Cicero. He was also a statesman and a politician, and here he was considered second to none. It was Julius Caesar who reformed the Roman calendar, Julius Caesar who codified the Roman law.
It was Julius Caesar who established a vast public library system in the Roman Empire, and it was Julius Caesar who lifted the burden of taxation from the masses. But when historians think of Julius Caesar, they don’t think primarily of a writer or an orator or a statesman or a politician. When they think of Julius Caesar, they think primarily of a conquer, because Julius Caesar was known for conquest. He came to rule most of Europe. He came to rule Northern Africa. He even came to rule parts of the Middle East and Asia. And it was from Asia Minor, from the region of Pontus, that he sent his famous message back to the Roman Senate: “Veni, vidi, vici.” “I came, I saw, I conquered.” And then he returned to the city of Rome, the eternal city, in what historians call his fifth triumphal entry.
Every one of his triumphal entries were the same. He entered the eternal city on his war chariot pulled by a team of white horses, followed by the vast imperial armies of Rome. Crowds lined the Via Sacra as he approached the capitol and they shouted, “Hail Caesar, hail Caesar, hail Caesar!”
This is Palm Sunday, and on Palm Sunday we remember what Bible scholars and church historians call the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into the holy city of Jerusalem. So important is the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem that this event is recorded in all four gospels—Matthew, mark, Luke, and John. Literally millions of people were in this city of Jerusalem that day because it was the Passover. Throughout the holy land, people had made their pilgrimage to the holy city. Jesus did not enter the city on a war chariot pulled by a team of white horses, and he was not followed by vast imperial army. He came on a donkey. He was surrounded by his band of disciple, but the crowds, the multitudes, lined street. As he descended the Mount of Olives into the Kidron Valley, toward the walled city, they lined street and they shouted, “Hosanna, blessed is the king!”
Julius Caesar is nothing. Today he is but a distant memory, 2 billion people, one third of the earth’s population called Jesus Christ Lord. Today we examine the Palm Sunday account and the words of the multitudes, “Hosanna, blessed is the king.” I want us to focus first on the word hosanna. This word is oftentimes viewed as an exclamation of praise. And indeed, when you look at Psalms 118, the word hosanna is an exclamation of praise. And Psalms 113 through 118, which comprises the halil, was sung every morning during the Feast of Tabernacles. And it was concluded with the threefold Hosanna—three shouts of praise. But the word hosanna is not simply an exclamation of praise, because oftentimes this word was a desperate cry for help. And etymologically, the word hosanna comes from a word that in the Palm Sunday account is in the imperative tense. The word is intensified in meaning. So it means “Save!” with an exclamation point.
“Do please save.” That’s what the crowds were shouting as Jesus came into the holy city, “Do please save! Hosannah!” And why? I mean, why were the multitudes crying out for salvation? Why were they saying, “Do please save?” Well, you see in the year 66 BC, 96 years before Palm Sunday, a man named Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, a Roman general and statesman, conquered the city of Jerusalem and the land of Palestine. And this man is known to historians as Pompey the Great. And along with Julius Caesar and Marcus Licinius Crassus, he was a member of the first triumvirate and a ruler of Rome. And when Pompey the Great conquered Jerusalem, and when he conquered Palestine, Israel became a vassal of Rome. And the Jewish people began to wear Roman shackles and they became pawns on the Roman chess board.
They were used to this because prior to the conquest of Rome Israel had been conquered by the Seleucids under Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Prior to the Seleucids, Israel had been conquered by the Greeks under Alexander the Great. And prior to the Greeks, Israel had been conquered by the Medo-Persians under Cyrus, the Great. prior to the Medo-Persians, Israel had been conquered by the Babylonian empire under Nebuchadnezzar the Great. For 600 years, the Jewish people had been oppressed people. For 600 years they had worn shackles. And when Jesus came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, they saw the hope of their salvation. “Please do save!” Hosanna. And they were longing for the Messiah, and they had heard that Jesus of Nazareth was a prophet and a great miracle worker. Perhaps he was the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one. And John’s Gospel tells us that just before Palm Sunday, Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. And he had done this in the presence of many witnesses, and the word had spread throughout Judea and the crowds were at a fever pitch. This man can raise the dead, He can bring down the power of Rome.
But they didn’t understand. Jesus didn’t come into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday to conquer Rome. He came into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday to conquer sin and to conquer death. And the Jewish scribes and the Jewish rabbis and the Jewish scholars had searched the scripture, yet they had missed the obvious. I mean, it is so clear in holy scripture, so clear in the Old Testament, so clear in the Torah and the prophets that the Messiah would be a suffering servant as portrayed in Isaiah 53. And he would die for the sins of us all in substitutionary atonement, giving on his life for our salvation. But somehow they had searched the scriptures and missed it.
I’m reminded of a stupid joke which is pertinent and it’s about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. It seems they went on a camping trip and in the middle of the night, Holmes woke Watson up and said, “Watson, look up. What do you see?” Watson said, “I see millions and millions of stars.” Holmes said, “Well, what does that tell you?” Watson said, “Well, astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically I perceive that Saturn is in Leo. Theologically, I see that God is great and we are small and insignificant. Chronologically, I deduct that it is approximately 3:15 AM, and meteorologically I can see that tomorrow’s going to be a sunny, bright, beautiful, wonderful day. Why do you ask?” And Holmes says, “Watson, you idiot. Someone has taken our tent.”
Now you see there are times when in the midst of our brilliance we miss the obvious. And that’s what the Jewish scholars did when they looked at the Old Testament and the Torah. In the midst of their brilliance, they missed the obvious. But if you’re a Christian, that cannot be true of you. In the midst of your humility, you’ve seen the obvious and you understand that Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to conquer sin and death and you have embraced the cross. And if you’re a Christian, there was a moment when you came to the cross and you shouted, “Hosanna, please do say save me from sin.” You accepted the sacrifice of Jesus on calvary and substitution atonement.
I have a Newsweek Magazine here. It’s the March 27th issue and has Jesus on the cover. Many of you saw it. It portrays Jesus not from the perspective of scripture and not even from the Christian perspective. It portrays Jesus as perceived by Jews and Muslims and Buddhists and Hindus. And it’s absolutely astounding. I mean, it’s astounding to see how popular Jesus is becoming in all the religions of the world. And there are Jewish rabbis who now view Jesus as a great rabbi, Jewish rabbis who now acknowledge that the teachings of Jesus reflect the essence of the Torah. There are Jewish seminaries where now the New Testament is mandatory in the course of study. There are some Jewish rabbis who’ve embraced Jesus as a prophet and some as Messiah.
In the world of Islam, they view the Bible as tainted, but their Koran and even their Hadith, their oral tradition, speak of Jesus. They view Jesus as the holy one, the one born of a virgin. The Muslims view Jesus this way, as born of a virgin, born without sin. He lived without sin. The Muslims don’t even view Muhammad in that way. Muhammad had to be visited by angels and purified and washed before he could enter into ministry. But Jesus is the holy one, and they view Jesus as the great miracle worker. They acknowledged that Muhammad worked no miracles, but they view Jesus as the great miracle worker. They believe in His ascension into heaven and His second coming.
The Hindus view Jesus as an avatar, a manifestation of deity. And they have a tradition that He once visited the east. He became a yoga master guru and He is to be respected as a guru now for all nations and all people.
Buddhists view Jesus as an enlightened master and a god. They view Him as the perfectly enlightened being. Many Buddhists view Jesus as the emanation of the Buddha. There’s an article in here by the Dalai Lama where he has words of praise for Jesus and He views Jesus as nearly divine. How interesting it is to see that the world religions are beginning to discover Jesus and to focus on Jesus in some measure. But you see, Newsweek Magazine rightly points out there’s a difference between Christians and the world religions. You see, Christians accept the cross and Jews and Muslims and Buddhists and Hindus do not. They do not accept the cross. The Jews acknowledge that Jesus died on the cross, but they don’t believe that He provided atonement. The Muslims don’t even believe Jesus went to the cross. They believe Judas went to the cross and they think that a prophet of God would never have been allowed to die by crucifixion.
The Buddhists and the Hindus believe that an enlightened being would never be allowed to die by crucifixion. So they all reject the cross and they all remain in their sin. But you see, if you are a follower of Jesus and you’ve become a Christian, truly you’ve embraced the work of Christ on the cross. And you’ve come in repentance seeking His mercy and His forgiveness, acknowledging that He died. And you said the day you first believed, “Do please save,” and every day you say that as you give Him praise.
Now there’s another phrase, the crowd uttered on Palm Sunday, and this is the second final teaching. And this phrase is “Blessed be the king.” Blessed be the king. Now, the crowds and the multitudes believed that perhaps Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. And the word Messiah, like the word Christ, the Hebrew word Messiah like the Greek word Christ, means “the anointed one.” The priestly and prophetic offices were anointed offices, but there was no office in Israel more anointed than king.
The word Messiah’s primary connotation is king. They viewed Jesus king, but they didn’t understand the depth of His reign. The crowd didn’t understand that He wanted to be enthroned in their heart and He wanted to reign in their soul. They were just looking for political deliverance. Jesus wants to reign in your soul—nothing less than that. He wants to reign in the human heart. And if you’ve attended this church for any period of time, you know that when we close our services and on occasion invite you to pray a prayer of salvation. We always focus not only on the cross but also the crown, and we invite those who would be saved not only to pray a prayer of confession and repentance but a prayer of submission to His reign.
Because you must embrace both the cross and the crown. And if you won’t take Him as Lord, you can’t have Him as Savior. And this of course is the great problem with American Christianity. And I would say it’s the great problem with Christianity globally, that so many have tried to take Jesus as Savior. They’ve embraced the cross, but they’ve ignored the crown. And they claim to be Christians, but they live as they please.
This is a recent issue of Christianity Today magazine and the cover is entitled “Islam USA.” Islam is growing in the world. Perhaps more than a billion men and women in this world are now Muslim. And Islam is growing in the United States of America. And Islam is growing in Europe, where they’re experiencing a post-Christian era. There are five pillars in Islam and the first pillar is called shahadah. This is the public confession “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His prophet.” The second pillar of Islam is called the Salah. And this is ritualistic prayer. Every true Muslim must pray five times a day at the sound of the Minaret, and they must pray prostrate with forehead to the ground facing Mecca. And the third pillar is the sawm. And this refers, this refers to the ritualistic fasting that accompanies the month of Ramadan. If you’re Muslim, you must fast in the month of Ramadan. It’s a daytime fast every day of that month of Ramadan, the month when Muhammad allegedly first received the Koran.
The fourth pillar of Islam is the Zakat. The Zakat is the mandatory almsgiving, the mandatory offering that Muslim must give to support the work of Islam and the Muslim community. And the fifth pillar is the Hajj, which is the mandatory pilgrimage that all able bodied Muslims must make to Mecca. They must circle the Kaaba, they must kiss the black stone which allegedly fell from heaven. And if you’re Muslim, you have to embrace these five pillars.
This is salvation by works. And Muslims believe that each person has two angels. One angel is recording all your good deeds and the other angel’s recording all your bad deeds. And you need to make sure that the angel recording your good deeds has plenty to write. And if not, you might be toast when you reach the judgment seat. It’s salvation by works. And yet the message of Islam is finding fertile ground, listening ears. Even in the American culture now 6 million Americans are Muslim. And by the year 2015, it’s projected that Islam will be the second largest religion in the United States of America. And according to Christianity Today, the day will come where in this nation you will hear the crier over loudspeakers, the sound of the Minaret calling people to prayer in American cities because Islam has grown.
And why is it? Why is salvation by works growing? Well, you see, when Muslims come to this nation, they say to Americans, “Look at your culture. It’s gone to rot. Look at your promiscuity, look at your violence. Look at your erosion of values. Christianity has failed. It has failed to transform your culture.” And they go on to say grace has failed. Christian grace has failed to produce obedience to God. And there’s a lot of Americans who, when they look at a culture in rot, are willing to embrace the moral treadmill of Islam.
The problem has not to do with Jesus, but it has to do with Christians—so many Christians who for so many years have embraced the cross but neglected the crown. There are so many Christians in this culture who’ve gone forward and accepted Christ at some kind of service, trying to get a little fire insurance and then lived however they believed, embracing the cross but rejecting the crown. And I promise you, the Holy Spirit of God is telling Christian pastors all across this nation to challenge their congregation. You must embrace the crown as well as the cross, and you must embrace the kingship of Christ. You must resolve in your heart and soul that you will live for Him as long as you draw breath.
You know, one of my favorite stories concerned Cecil B DeMille. Cecil B DeMille was as one of the most renowned and famous Hollywood movie producers and director. He died in 1959 at the age of 78. He made many biblical epics. One of the epics he made was called King of Kings, and it was the story of Christ. This movie was acclaimed not only by critics but also by clergy. And it was a wonderful portrayal of the life of Jesus. It took them a long time to film the movie. In fact, much of the movie was filmed in the Holy Land. It was Christmas Eve Day when Cecil B DeMille and all of the movie team were there on a hill in Israel. They were going to enact the crucifixion and resurrection. It was Christmas Eve Day when they were beginning to enact the events of Easter.
There they were on Christmas Eve Day, and they had three crosses they had placed on the hillside. And all the actors and all the crew, all the people of Hollywood were there on the hillside. And Cecil B DeMille took the microphone and he did something real unusual. He said, you know, this is Christmas Eve and here we are about to reenact the cross and the crucifixion in this movie King of King. And he says, you know, I think it’d be appropriate if we took a moment of prayer and together we acknowledged Christ the King. Well, he looked out over the Hollywood crowd and he saw some of them smirking and kind of laughing. He thought to himself, this is never gonna fly. They’re gonna run off and smoke a cigarette or have a drink. But he closed his eyes, Cecil B DeMille did, and he began to pray. Suddenly, he heard the song “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem” as the whole Hollywood crowd and all the actors began to sing that Christmas carol. All this while Cecil B DeMille kept his eyes closed and he began to cry.
Finally, he opened his eyes. And when he opened his eyes, he was stunned because all the Hollywood actors and all the directors and all the photographers and everybody were all on their knees. They were all on their knees facing the cross of Christ. And many of them had tears on their face rolling down their cheeks, and Cecil B DeMille said, you know, that was the greatest Christmas Eve I’ve ever experienced.
What an image that is. Hollywood. What an image. I think if it were possible that Hollywood would fall on its knees before Christ the King, what an impact Hollywood would have on this world. But you and I know that’s not likely to happen, not in this age of the world. But I tell you what is more powerful is the church of Jesus Christ on its knees before Christ. That’s what needs to happen. The Church of Jesus Christ on its knees before Christ. No telling what a church could do if it were sold out to Jesus Christ and the service of His kingdom.
This is in addition to Palm Sunday Commitment Sunday, and we have our new campaign called Building on Blessing. I think whenever we have a capital stewardship campaign it tests us as Christians and believers. It tests our commitment to Christ the King, His kingship, because Christ has a vision for this church and He’s revealed that vision to the Elder Board and to the staff. We have articulated that vision to you. And it’s now a test of our submission to His reign. He wants us to create more worship space in the balcony and He wants us to create community and fellowship space, which we don’t have.
And you know, it’s not easy. It’s a great opportunity, but it’s not easy. It’s hard to raise $9 million to bless this church and also bless the inner city, because a percentage of everything given will go to the inner city and help them build and remodel buildings down at the four churches. I mean, it’s hard to think of raising over $9 million, but three families have pledged over $2 million, almost two and a half million dollars. And now the rest is up to us. The rest is up to us. Barbara and I, we turned in our Building on Blessing pledge this past week.
We prayed about that, and if 350 families would give just what we gave, we’d reach our goal of 9 million plus. This is very doable. Barb and I, as we’ve prayed about it, feel like we didn’t pledge enough. We didn’t commit enough. So we’re going to try to do more. And I hope that if you’re a member of this church you feel like you’re part of this church. If you’re just visiting this church, we’re not talking to you. But if you’re a member of this church, we hope and pray you’ll be faithful, because we’re all servants here. We’re all serving Christ. I know it’s the will of Christ that no one who’s a member of this church fail to make a commitment of some sort to this campaign. He said, “I’ll build my church and the powers of hell will not prevail against it.” But He builds through us as we’re faithful to His call and His reign. If you are not ready to turn in your card as you leave, we would ask that you turn it in before this month is over so we can see how God has led us. Let’s first look to the Lord with prayer.