This week I want to start off with some verses from God’s word, “Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna is the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”” Matthew 21:1-11
This week I want to talk about the triumphant entry. Jesus came into the city being called The King and left in a shroud. I think there are several important lessons we can learn from the way Jesus entered and left Jerusalem. I think the most important lesson for those of us who have been Christians for a while is that being a Christian is not being religious. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary the definition of religion is, “the service and worship of God or the supernatural”. So many people believe that being a Christian is to believe in Jesus and to do good works, and you might just get into heaven. But that is not what Christianity is, it is not a service based religion, in fact it is the opposite. God tells us that there is nothing we can do in our own power to get to heaven, (John 3:5) because Jesus paid it all on the cross. He did what we could not do, He died being perfect, taking the record of our sin with Him and when He rose He left it in the tomb. See there is nothing we can do to bridge the gap between us and God, because we have the nature of sin in our beings. But God being rich in mercy sent His only Son to die for us because He loves us. That is why Jesus enters Jerusalem instead of going away from the religious leaders who wanted to kill Him, like He did so many times before. He went into Jerusalem knowing He was going to be killed, but He did it for you, because that is how much He loves you!This week I want to tell anyone who does not believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior that He loves you more than any other being ever could or will. If you want to accept Him as your Lord and Savior all you have to do is to admit that you are a sinner, believe that He died on the cross for your sins, and confess Him as Lord of your life.This week I want to encourage us as Christians that we should be striving to be more like Jesus every day and to not strive to be religious but to strive to grow in our relationships with Him. Also this week I want to remind you that Jesus loves you so much that He entered Jerusalem knowing He was going to be killed and may have even passed the place where He was going to die just less than a week later.