PALM SUNDAY MESSAGE 05.04.2020

Greetings to all of you in the wonderful and matchless name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Is Palm Sunday all about holding Palm Branches in your hands and taking out a procession just one day in a year or does it have a deeper meaning. Let us try to understand the Heart of Lord, we will go in the scriptures Luke 19:29-31. And it happened as Jesus drew near Bethphage and Bethany, toward the mount called Mount of Olives, He sent two of the disciples, saying, Go into the village across from you, and having entered, you will find a colt tied up, on which no one of men has yet sat. Untie it and bring it. And if anyone asks you, Why are you untying it? You will say this to him, Because the Lord has need of it. We see Jesus calls two of his disciples, why not more than two or only one? Because Jesus himself said in (Matthew 18:19): Again, I say to you that if two of you shall agree on earth as regarding anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by My Father in Heaven.. Sending of two disciples shows that the work of Lord can be accomplished only when two people agree upon it and are ready to obey the Lord without doubt. Obedience makes you a source of deliverance, the colt was tied and when the discipled obeyed Lord Jesus they were able to untie him/set him free. Now let us shift our focus to the colt who was tied. It could not set itself free on its own, it was Jesus the Messiah who sent his disciples to untie it. as it is written in (Luke 19:10): For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. The colt was untied because of two reasons, firstly, Jesus needed it and secondly it allowed itself to be untied. The colt was untied to be used by Jesus. If Jesus sets you free your life is to be used for HIS kingdom’s purpose. So, are you ready to be set free? Are you ready to become Messiah’s colt? Are you willing to surrender yourself to Jesus the Messiah? After untying the colt the disciples put their clothes on the colt and many spread their clothes on the road, this spreading of clothes represent the shunning of carnal self as explained by apostle Paul (Romans 8:7), because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can it be. Not only did the disciples spread their clothes on the way, but many also cut the branches of trees, palm and olive, as these are the trees prominently found in this area. Gospel of John specifically talks about branches of palm trees whereas Gospel of Mark and Matthew talk about just branches of trees. And many spread their garments in the way, and others cut down branches off the trees and scattered them in the way.(Mark 11:8) And a very great crowd spread their garments in the way. Others cut down branches from the trees and spread them in the way.(Matthew 21:8) took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him. And they cried, Hosanna! "Blessed is the King of Israel who comes in the name of the Lord!"(John 12:13) The branches from trees is symbolic representation of laying down of self-righteousness as, earlier mankind in Garden of Eden made vain efforts to hide their sin with self-righteousness by making covering of fig tree for themselves. The multitude was rejoicing and proclaiming him as the Messiah: saying, blessed is the King coming in the name of the Lord! Peace in Heaven and glory in the highest! as mentioned in (Luke 19:38) These proclamations that were being made by the multitude of disciples, is a “Prayer for the Messiah” that is recited by the Jews during the Feast of Tabernacle i.e. Sukkot, mentioned in book of (Psalms 118:25-26): Hoshia-na! Please, Adonai, save now! We beseech You, Adonai, prosper us! Baruch haba b’Shem Adonai—Blessed is He who comes in the Name of Adonai. We bless you from the House of Adonai. This is the reason we see in (Luke 19:39): Some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!”. These Pharisees were asking Lord Jesus to reprimand the crowd who was by reciting this prayer, not only proclaiming Jesus as their King, but also, proclaiming Jesus as their Messiah. Further as we see (Luke 19:40): Jesus answers them saying, “I tell you that if these keep silent, the stones will shout out!”. Jesus in his reply is telling the Pharisees that if these Jews i.e. the crowd stop proclaiming him as their promised Messiah the Lord will then make the very stones on the ground start proclaiming that He is the Messiah. The branches of Palm tree that people were holding in their hands represent the promise of eternal life as Jesus the Messiah as mentioned in (John 10:28): I give them eternal life! They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. In the garden of Eden due to sin mankind was banished, Lord placed two cherubs with revolving swords of flame guarding tree of life i.e. Lord Jesus the Messiah. There was no way mankind could have eternal life. Halleluiah! In the vision given to Prophet Ezekiel regarding the Inner sanctuary i.e. inner temple, it is written (Ezekiel 41:18-19); And it was made with cherubs and palm trees, and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub. And each cherub had two faces, the face of a man was toward the palm tree from here, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree from there. It was made through all the house all around. In this vision, the palm tree between the two cherubs is Jesus, because Palm tree is symbol of life in the desert. In the garden of Eden, God placed two cherubs along with revolving swords of fire to forbid Man from entering into the garden and eating the fruit of the tree of life. In the vision given to Ezekiel, there are cherubs but there aren’t any revolving swords of fire but between the cherubs is the palm tree. Jesus says “I am the way, the truth and the life”. The swords that were forbidding men to reach tree of life have been removed by his grace and tree of life Jesus himself is there between the cherubs so that the word comes true I came that they can have life and life more abundantly. Another important aspect of Cherubs is the two faces one is the face of man which represents Jesus the Messiah as the servant for the mankind like an ox ploughing the field of Gentiles i.e. us. The face of Lion represents Lord Jesus the Messiah as the king of Jews form the lineage of David for the Jews. Jesus is the king for Jews and Gentiles, In (Revelation 7:9-10), John saw: After these things I looked, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palms in their hands. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God sitting on the throne, and to the Lamb. Have we accepted Jesus the Messiah as our king? So that we are part of this great multitude in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus the Messiah has come once in his humbleness riding on a colt, but now He is coming again riding on a white horse crowned as the king of kings, with an Iron scepter to judge the people of earth. If we do not accept him as our King now, we will fail to be a part of the joyous crowd standing before his throne, but will stand in front of him for judgement. Friends make a wise choice; Today is the time. Throw away your false self-righteousness, accept his kingship, surrender in front of him and enter the kingdom of heaven where He is waiting for you to give you eternal life with him. If you have still not accepted Lord Jesus as your personal saviour and you wish to do so now, pray with me this prayer: Jesus, I confess I am a sinner and I need you. I repent and turn my heart towards you. I believe that you died for my sin on the cross and rose again for my justification. Lord Jesus come in my heart, live in me. I accept you as my lord and saviour. Amen and Amen Yeshua ha Messiah is coming soon!!!