Sermon for the service of April 9, 2017 by Pastor Steve Hopkins[social_warfare buttons=”Facebook”]
Outline:
Popular Opinion Changes, Love Does Not.
- Sunday – Triumphal Entry: The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!” (John 12:12-14, NIV)
- A Quiet Escape: So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the Temple. After looking around carefully at everything, he left because it was late in the afternoon. Then he returned to Bethany with the twelve disciples. (Mark 11:11, NLT)
- Monday – A Dramatic Re-entry: Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there;and he said, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.” Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard. (Luke 19:45-48, NRSV)
- So, for several days, Jesus teaches in the temple and, his opposition grows: Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,and they conspired to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.” (Matthew 26:3-5, NRSV)
- Thursday – Betrayal from within: Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them. (Luke 22:3-4, NRSV)
- Sharing the Passover: While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. (Matthew 26:26-30, NIV)
- At Gethsemane: And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” (Matthew 26:39, NRSV)
- Jesus arrested: “Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the scriptures must be fulfilled.” Then everyone deserted him and fled. (Mark 14:48-51, NIV)
- Friday morning – Jesus tried by the Sanhedrin: Then the high priest said to him, “I demand in the name of the living God – tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Jesus replied, “You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Matthew 26:63-64, NLT)
- Jesus goes before Pilate: Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” (John 18:36, NIV)
- The Crowd Speaks again:“What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them. “Crucify him!” they shouted. (Mark 15:12-13, NIV)
Δ? 1) What (or who) puts Jesus on the cross? 2) What does this mean for me?
- “If the cross of Jesus Christ teaches us anything, it is that God sometimes does his greatest work under a cloak of failure.” (Timothy Tennent)